hed the United States, after faithfully
discharging the errand of the Dey, he found that it was unlikely that
either he or any other officer would be forced to carry any further
tribute to the Barbary pirates. For, while the tribute paid to Algiers
had merely changed the attitude of that country from open hostility to
contemptuous forbearance, it had brought the other Barbary states
clamoring to the United States for tribute. Tunis and Tripoli demanded
blood-money; and each emphasized its demand by capturing a few Yankee
merchantmen, and selling their crews into slavery.

The agents or ambassadors sent by the United States to these powers
were treated with the utmost contempt; and while their lives were
often in danger, their property was always considered the fair prey of
the Barbarian ruler to whose domain they were sent. To Tunis was sent
Gen. William Eaton, an American politician, who has left a record of
his experiences in the land of the Bey. Some of the entries in his
journal are very pithy. Thus under the date of Aug. 11, 1799, he
wrote,--

"Some good friend had informed the Bey that I had an elegant Grecian
mirror in my house. To-day he sent a request for it, pretending that
he wanted it for the cabin of his pleasure-boat, now about to be
launched. So it is. If the consuls have a good piece of furniture, or
any other good thing which strikes the Bey's fancy, he never hesitates
to ask for it; and they have no alternative but to give it. They have
suffered this to become usance also.

"12th. Sent the Bey the mirror."

A letter from Gen. Eaton to the Secretary of State, in 1801, tells of
the capacity of the Bey. A fire in the regal palace destroyed fifty
thousand stand of small-arms. The next day the monarch ordered Eaton
to procure from the United States ten thousand stand to help make up
the loss. Eaton demurred. "The Bey did not send for you to ask your
advice," said the prime minister, "but to order you to communicate his
demands to your Government."

Eaton still protested, pointed out the fact that the United States had
already paid the Bey heavy tribute, and asked when these extortionate
demands were to end.

"Never," was the cool response; and the interview ended.

But by this time the United States authorities had perceived the error
they had committed in temporizing with the Barbary powers. They had
quieted Algiers by the payment of a heavy tribute, and the gift of a
frigate. But this had only ex