Free For Love of Country by William C. Hammond

being forced to find more expedient methods of doing business. The bad news—and it is bad news—is that the added expense of obtaining non-American ships and crews is putting a considerable strain on our earnings, as you no doubt noted when you received your recent distributions. Call it what you will, we have no choice. We must serve the customers we have to the best of our ability, while at the same time seeking out new customers in new markets that have no trade constraints.”
    â€œWhat new markets?” Lavinia wanted to know.
    â€œThe Orient is certainly one. It’s quite lucrative, as merchants from Salem have discovered. In Canton we can exchange sugar and molasses for teas, calicoes, nankeens, and silks, then sell those goods here and in England at steep prices. Sweden and Russia are two other possibilities. Those countries—”
    Elizabeth Cutler threw up her hands. “Sugar and silk, teas and nankeens,” she wailed, her voice a testament to agony and despair. “That’s all well and good, William, but in God’s name will you please tell me what all this has to do with Caleb!”
    Her husband reached out to soothe her. “We were just coming to that, my dear.” He nodded again at Richard, who rose to his feet. That
simple act drew the eyes of the room to him, since up to this point everyone who had spoken had remained seated.
    â€œWhat I am about to tell you,” he said, “I have already reviewed with Father and Uncle William. And with Katherine. It was her letter to her brother Jeremy last winter that inspired what we are now proposing to do. However, we agreed not to settle on any course until we spoke with you today. This must be a family decision, for reasons that will become clear in a moment.”
    He paused a moment, drew in a breath. “Whatever we might do to free Eagle ’s crew, we can expect no further assistance from the American government. It couldn’t do much even if it had a mind to, since it will take months, perhaps years, to establish whatever form of government is decided upon in Philadelphia and to allow that government to frame our foreign policy. That’s the reality of it. There’s no point in wasting time debating it. Now that the French have abandoned us, we have no one to turn to but ourselves. So it is to ourselves that we will turn.”
    He withdrew a small piece of paper from his waistcoat pocket. “The dey of Algiers,” he said, consulting the paper, “is demanding $59,496 in ransom for Captain Dickerson and the twenty members of his crew. That number, of course, includes Caleb. It calculates to $2,833 a man, on average. Mr. Lamb assumed that he could secure their release for half that amount. He was mistaken. The dey would not have accepted that sum even if Lamb had brought the money with him. It was a mistake we do not intend to make. We will have the entire amount the dey demands, and we will deliver it to him in gold and silver and Spanish pieces of eight. The dey has made it clear that he will not accept paper currency.”
    Family members exchanged glances.
    Lavinia said: “You say ‘we,’ Richard. Who actually is going to do this?”
    â€œI am. Congress is prepared to grant me temporary status as an agent acting on its behalf in Algiers. My orders are to sail there, pay the ransom to free Eagle ’s crew, gather information about Algiers, and then sail to Toulon, to the naval hospital there. While Eagle ’s crew is being seen to, I am to travel to Paris and report to Captain Jones, passing on to him what information I have managed to obtain. Our minister in Paris, Mr. Jefferson, has already informed Captain Jones that Congress desires him to lead a delegation to Barbary, at a date still to be determined. His mission will be to negotiate the freedom of all Americans held in the Barbary States and to do whatever is necessary to ensure a
lasting peace in the area.