APPENDIX. CAPTURE OF BONA BY THE FRENCH. (FROM THE ARABIC.) AT the foot of page 145, I have a note from "An unpublished account of the Capture of Bona by the French," written by the Secretary of the chief Kadi (judge) of that city. When I extracted that note, I had no intention of publishing the "Account;" but various considerations have led me to change my mind, and I am sure it will be read by many with great interest. To the Christian, the site of Bona is endeared, inasmuch as not far from it are the ruins of Hippo, the see of one of the greatest fathers of the Church. Augustin, who filled the whole Christian world with the fame of his abilities, when converted to the religion of Jesus, returned to Africa, and lived upon his own estate for nearly three years retired from the world. He was then induced by some friends to proceed to Hippo, where he was, through the urgent desires of the people, ordained a presbyter to Valerius, the bishop of that city. Here, he not only occupied himself in instructing and edifying those entrusted to his care, but took an active part in opposing various heresies which then harassed the African Church. Valerius, anxious to preserve the purity of his Church, took care to get Augustin elected Bishop of Hippo, in conjunction with himself. After the decease of the former, Augustin continued to discharge his duties with very great zeal. Possidonius says of him: "In his writings the holy man appears; but those who could have heard and seen him speak in public, and particularly in private conversation, would have seen still more." He died at Hippo,* whilst that city was besieged by the Vandals, in the year 430. Bona is called by the Arabs, Annaba. Before the French took possession of it, the city contained about four thousand inhabitants. During the reign of Louis XIV. they carried on an extensive trade with France. Not far from the city, there are coral banks, which give employment, not only to a great portion of the native fishermen, but also to many French and Italians. The manuscript of the account of the capture of Bona was given to me, at Malta, by James Richardson, Esq., late editor of the "Malta Times." He says of the author, -"If a political offender is to be valued according to the price put upon his head, I may value our narrator at something considerable, as the Bey offered a good sum for him when he finally escaped." With very few immaterial alterations, I left the secretary's account as I received it. He himself calls it"The news (or history) of Bona, and what happened in it, and to its people formerly," and proceeds as follows:When the French had taken the country of Algiers, * See the Religious Tract Society's "History of the Church of Christ before the Reformation," vol. ii. p. 330. The reader will find, from a note in another part of this work, that the Bishop of Hippo died near Morocco. The argument there advanced is, to my own mind, quite conclusive; however, Hippo is the place generally assigned by church historians. and made themselves masters of it, it happened on a certain day, that they sent to the people of Bona a letter, in which it was mentioned, "I have taken Algiers, and entered it with peace; I have not done damage to any one of its people: now, I desire that you surrender to me the city of Bona, and I will come to it with peace also, like I have done to Algiers. Fear nothing at all.” When the Bey of Constantina heard of this letter, he sent us also a letter, and addressed us after this manner: "It is necessary that you give me the town, and what is in the citadel. Take care that you do not surrender the city to the French. If you are afraid of the French, hoist the English flag. But, for myself, I cannot defend you in anything." The people of the city were in great inquietude; they were afraid of the Bey of Constantina, as well as of the French. One day the people assembled in the great mosque, and held a council upon their actual state, in order to decide in what manner they could save themselves from their enemies. And they agreed that they should give up the city to the French. They accordingly sent letters to the French consul at Tunis, and thus advised him :-" It is necessary, if you have the intention to take Bona and its people, to come to us immediately. If you have no such design, inform us, that we may take some measures for our own state and security against our enemy; for there is neither power nor force left with us." Then the consul of Tunis sent us a letter, and said: "It is necessary that you govern the city, and guard it night and day, and that you do your uttermost until the French troops come to you; thus you will become very precious to the French, and you will not have fear of anything." We remained up night and day, and guarded ourselves and our country, until this affair reached the Bey of P |