But for the invasion of steam, the Barbary corsairs might still be with us

For a thousand years – from 830 to 1830 – from the days when the Amalfitans worn the proud title of “Defenders of the Faith” up to those of the sentimental poet Waiblinger (1826), these shores were infested by Oriental ruffians, whose activities were an unmitigated evil. It is all well and good for Admiral de la Graviere to speak of “Gallia Victrix” – the Americans, too, might have something to say on that point. The fact is that neither European nor American arms crushed the pest. But for the invasion of steam, the Barbary corsairs might still be with us.

N. Douglas, Old Calabria (1915), 139