On the 25th of July, 1785, the schooner Maria, Captain Stevens,
belonging to a Mr. Foster, of Boston, was taken off Cape St. Vincent's,
by an Algerine cruiser; and five days afterwards, the ship Dauphin,
Captain O'Bryan, belonging to Messrs. Irwins of Philadelphia, was taken
by another, about fifty leagues westward of Lisbon. These vessels, with
their cargoes and crews, twenty-one persons in number, were carried into
Algiers. Mr. John Lambe, appointed agent for treating of peace between
the United States and the government of Algiers, was ready to set out
from France on that business, when Mr. Adams and myself heard of these
two captures. The ransom of prisoners being a case not existing when
our powers were prepared, no provision had been made for it. We thought,
however, we ought to endeavor to ransom our countrymen, without waiting
for orders; but at the same time, that acting without authority, we
should keep within the lowest price which had been given by any other
nation. We therefore gave a supplementary instruction to Mr. Lambe to
ransom our captives, if it could be done for two hundred dollars a man,
as we knew that three hundred French captives had been just ransomed by
the Mathurins, at a price very little above this sum. He proceeded to
Algiers; but his mission proved fruitless.
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