286 



SLAVERY SLEID ANUS. 



prisoners according to the usages of European na- 

 tions; 4. that he should conclude peace with the 

 king of the Netherlands on the same terms. As 

 no answer followed, the fleet sailed up the hay, 

 and, at two o'clock, the admiral's vessel lay within 

 pistol shot of the battery. The firing continued 

 from two o'clock till nine, at which time the Euro- 

 pean cannons, 702 in number, had silenced the 

 Algerine, amounting to about 1000; and, as the 

 city had suffered terribly, a peace was concluded 

 next day. An additional clause abolished all con- 

 sular presents, with the exception of the personal 

 presents; and these were never to amount to more 

 than 500 sterling. The dey, moreover, was 

 obliged to liberate the imprisoned consul, and pay 

 him 3000 piasters. Respecting piracy nothing 

 was settled, and no guaranteee asked. The re- 

 sult, therefore, was, that the government of 

 Algiers had declared the slavery of white captives 

 abolished, but retained the right to make war upon 

 any European power. This peace was concluded 

 between Omar Pacha, and Britain and the Nether- 

 lands, August 28, 1816 (on the 6th of the month 

 of Schawal, in the year 1231 of the Hegira). The 

 dey returned 382,500 piasters, which he had 

 already received from Naples and Sardinia, and 

 gave up 1211 Christian slaves to lord Exmouth. 

 (On his first expedition to Algiers, Tunis, and 

 Tripoli, lord Exmouth had procured liberty for 

 1792 slaves.) The British loss in the battle 

 amounted to 128 killed and 691 wounded; that of 

 the Dutch to thirteen killed and fifty-two wounded. 

 On the other hand, 5000 janizaries and 6000 Moors 

 were killed, besides many women and children. 

 Of the Algerine navy, only one brig and one 

 schooner, with some smaller vessels of war, escaped. 

 See the Narrative of the Expedition to Algiers in 

 the Year 1816, under the Command of Lord Ex- 

 mouth (London, 1819), by Salaine, his lordship's 

 interpreter. 



The final extirpation of the band of robbers at 

 Algiers, so long desired, was occasioned by the 

 wish of the Polignac ministry to divert the atten- 

 tion of the public from the internal administration 

 of France. (See our article France.') The imme- 

 diate cause of the war against that state was quite 

 trifling. Algiers had claims upon France for sup- 

 plies furnished to the armies of the republic in Italy 

 and Egypt claims for which the dey could not 

 obtain satisfaction. He at last wrote to the king 

 of France himself, through the consul of a common 

 friend. But no answer was returned; and when, 

 at a public audience, in April, 1827, he asked the 

 French consul the reason of this, the latter is said 

 to have made an insolent reply; upon which the 

 incensed dey struck him in the face with his fan. 

 War was declared soon after against Algiers, but 

 was carried on with no energy until the Polignac 

 ministry sent an expedition thither in 1830, splen- 

 didly fitted out, and commanded by marshal Bour- 

 mont and admiral Duperre. It consisted of nine 

 ships of the line, twenty-five frigates, six corvettes, 

 twenty-five brigs, and eight steam-boats, besides 

 bomb-vessels, 400 transports, and an army, admir- 

 ably equipped, and comprising 37,331 men. May 

 25, the ships sailed from Toulon, reunited at 

 Palma, in Majorca, after having been separated by 

 a storm, and reached the coast of Africa on June 

 13. The forces landed at Torre Chica, or Sidi 

 Ferruch, five leagues west of Algiers. No troops 

 were stationed to defend the coast, and, on the 

 14th, early, the landing began. A single circum- 



stance will show how complete had been the equip- 

 ment of the expedition. The packages, sacks, 

 barrels, &c., had been covered with a double 

 water-proof envelope, so that, if occasion required, 

 they might be thrown into the sea, and washed on 

 shore by the waves uninjured. The plan was put 

 in operation at the time when a heavy gale ren- 

 dered all ordinary communication with the shore 

 utterly impossible, and enabled the army already 

 landed to receive supplies from the fleet. On the 

 29th, the field-pieces of the French arrived before 

 Algiers, which was taken on the 4th of July. The 

 dey was allowed to retire with his family to any 

 place out of Africa, and the country was occupied 

 in the name of the French. Since the revolution 

 of the same month in France, the office of governor 

 of the conquered country has been held by several 

 different persons. 



SLEEP; one of the most mysterious phenomena 

 in the animal world. Similar appearances may also 

 be observed in the vegetable kingdom. In sleep, 

 the organs of sense, the power of voluntary motion, 

 and the active powers of the soul, suspend their 

 operation, in order to collect new strength. The 

 vital activity, however, is in full vigour; the func- 

 tions of the heart and the lungs (breathing, and the 

 circulation of the blood) continue, but are more 

 calm and equable than during the waking season; 

 the nutrition of the system, the secretion and ab- 

 sorption of the juices, &c., are carried on more 

 undisturbedly and perfectly. Hence sleep is not 

 really a state of inactivity, but very partially to be 

 compared to death. Man requires most sleep 

 during infancy, and least during the period of 

 active manhood. During this period, two hours 

 before midnight and five after it seem to be suffi- 

 cient; superabundance or deficiency of sleep soon 

 produces evil effects. It is well not to have the 

 sleeping room occupied during the day time. It 

 should be well ventilated, cool, quiet, without 

 flowers or any strong odour. The bed should be 

 hard rather than soft, and the body should be 

 relieved from ligatures. A short slumber after 

 dinner (siesta} seems to be necessary to the inhabi- 

 tants of warm climates: in colder climates it is 

 unnecessary, and frequently injurious. The dor- 

 mant state of some animals presents an interesting 

 phenomenon. See Dormant State. 



SLEIDANUS, JOHN (properly Philipson), born 

 at Sleida, not far from Cologne, in 1506, was one 

 of the most distinguished publicists of his age. He 

 studied law at Liege, Cologne, Louvain, Paris, and 

 Orleans; was for some time in the service of king 

 Francis I. of France, and went, in 1542, to Stras- 

 burg. The princes of the Smalcaldic league (q.v.) 

 made him its historiographer. The corporation of 

 Strasburg employed him on important missions, 

 and appointed him, in 1542, professor of law. The 

 Protestants sent him, in 1545, to the king ol Eng- 

 land, and, at a later period to the council of Trent, 

 where he was much esteemed. He corresponded 

 with the most distinguished and learned men of his 

 time, and died at Strasburg in 1556. He acquired 

 much reputation by his work De Statu Reliyionis 

 et ReipubliccB Imper. Caroli V. (Strasburg, 1555, 

 folio), of which professor Ranke says, in his Zur 

 Kritik neuerer Geschichtschreiber (Berlin and Leip- 

 sic, 1824), "it is, throughout, documentary;" but 

 he shows that it is necessary to weigh these docu- 

 ments, and the sources of the writer's statements 

 The best edition was published by Am Eride 

 (Frankfort on the Maine, 1785, 3 vols.), with 



