That fierce and predatory people had for long years held the Mediterranean as a sort of a private lake into which no nation might send its ships without paying tribute.

With singular cowardice, all the European peoples had acquiesced in this conception save England alone.

The English were feared by the Algerians, and an English pass--which tradition says the illiterate Corsairs identified by measuring its enscrolled border, instead of by reading--protected any vessel carrying it.

American ships, however, were peculiarly the prey of the Algerians, and many an American sailor was sold by them into slavery until Decatur and Rodgers in 1805 thrashed the piratical states of North Africa into recognition of American power.

In 1794, however, the Americans were not eager for war, and diplomats strove to arrange a treaty which would protect American shipping, while Congress prudently ordered the beginning of six frigates, work to be stopped if peace should be made with the Dey.