Southern shield., 1840-03-28
FRANCE AND A.GIERS.

War Tn Africa show that the French are making way successfully against their se- mi Darharous foes It is Father singular that during the whole course of history, in- cluding period of so many years, no per manent conquestS have ever been made by European powers over the Mahcmetan nations occupying the southern shores of the MediteFaneaI.- is the more re inaIkable from the fact that a vast extent of coas. lay open and bordering upon sea winch was continually traversed by the vessels oi Christian nations, so that means of access were always at hand Nor have causes of grievance been wanting. To say nothing of the old grudge which gave such intense ardour to the crusades, and which was never extinguished, the inhabitants ol the Barbary countries in later times were a notorious race of pirates. who deemed 1t q most meritorious act to pillage every Christian vessel that came in the way ol their corsairs, and to make slaves of the crew This practice was continued as . regular custom age after age, and so far from resenting it in the way that would seem ,nnrt sseturai for high spirited and powerful nations, that is by exterminatlng tne wfole nest of marauding robbers, the matter came to be looked upon as thing of course; Flu ropean captives reduced to slavery were redeemed by heavy ransoms, and the right of the plunderer thus to cnslaye the citi zens of every country was virtually ac- knowledged In more recent days immu- nity from this species of outrage was pur- chased by the payment of an annual stip- end; a sort of black mail--and the Dey of Algiers reckoned among his tributaries some of the proudest sovereigns ot Europe It was no longer ago than 1894 that the lordly ruffans of the red flag attempted to levy this exaction from their republican contemporaries on this side of the water; twas paid in lead and cast ron--a species of currency sufficiently metallic, but not convertible to much advantage. We may thank tne Barbary gentry to giving us an occasion to discover for ourselves and to show the world the first decided adaptation of our taste for naval combats. It was in the harbor of Tripoli, that the heroic spirit of the American republic, which afterwards confronted the first maratime power of the world, first displayed its true quality in the sonl of Decatur
 North Africa, now known under the name of the Barbary States, was subject 10 the Roman sway, and constituted large province, including various subordinate ones-Nlauritania, Numuda, Getulia, Sc It was to this region that Cato retreated in in the hope of preserving some remnant of the commonwealth sacred to pristine free dom, Upon the decline of the Roman pow CT the country was over run by the Sara cens, who not choosing to stop onthe shores of the Mediterranean, crossed over into Spain and even penetrated for into France.
 -Ihe Christian nations of Europe seemed t9 D7 " i.ii >-1'~ttirfg these iIarraers and seldom carried war-irrio Africa The conquest of the Spaniards under Ximenes, the great Cardinal, though prosecuted with much vigor for time and apparently with every prospect of success, were socn sus- pended and finally abandoned The ex- pedition of Charles the fifth accomplished no great results.-What Napolcons' schemes were in connection with his Egyp- tian campaign, its difficult to say-grand and comprehensive no doubt, after tIie cha racter of his genius. The designs of France at present seem to look towards perma. nent occupation Europe is returning the visitation of the middle ages; and Barbary, long accustomed to attack is now, O. blged to stand upon the defensive. Some specuIator upon European politics say that the French King has 1t in view to establish a kingdom in Africa for enc of his sons. Ii would be very we'll for the cause of civ ilization if he should succeed in doing SO The vast resources of that fine country have been lying unproductive for ages. Since the days of Carthagenian greatness. when the galleys of that maratime repub- lie swept the Mediterranean from one end to the other, and if we may believe old chronicles even ventured beyond inc Pil- lars of Hercules or, in modern phrase, the Straits of Gibraltar, and boldly steered into the Atlantic-snce that epoch no great commercial city has risen on the African coast while on the other side of tho midland sea, the Italian cities, particularly Venice, reached the highest point of mer- cantile magnifcence and splendor.
 The French occupation of Northern Ali rica may be followed by an important event in another view-that is, in connection with the introduction of civilization in other quarters of that vast continent The dis covery of the Niger's mouth, the settle ments which are going on upon the Wes- tern coast, together with the increasing trade which several commercial nations, and Great Britain especially. are endeavor-