ORIGINAL ENGLISH ROYAL LETTERS TO THE GRAND MASTERS OF MALTA.
(Continued from Vol. ix., p. 101.)
It will be remembered that the last English royal letters which we sent were translations of those from Henry VIII. to L'Isle Adam; and finding none recorded of Edward VI., Mary I., Elizabeth, James I, Charles I. (or from Cromwell), we come to the reign of Charles II. We have now before us ten letters bearing the autograph of this monarch, all of which we hope to forward in due course according to their dates. The two of the earliest date are as follow. The first was written to introduce the English Admiral, Sir Thomas Allen, who had been sent with a squadron into the Mediterranean to protect English commerce; and the second, to claim from the Order a large amount of property which belonged to Roger Fowke, the English consul at Cyprus, and had been seized by a Maltese commander in one of his cruises against the Turks in the neighbourhood of that island. Their perusal will serve to show the deep interest taken by Charles II. in all which related to the commercial affairs or legal rights of his subjects.
William Winthrop.
Malta.
No. VII.
Charles the Second by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.
To the most illustrious and most high Prince, the Lord Nicholas Cottoner, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, our well-beloved cousin and friend—Greeting:
Most illustrious and most high Prince, our well-beloved cousin and friend.
Having deemed it fitting to despatch a squadron of ships under the command of our well-beloved and valiant Sir Thomas Allen, Knight, for the protection of the freedom of navigation and commerce of our subjects in the Mediterranean Sea, which is never too sure, and sometimes becomes endangered, we have determined to request your highness, by right of amity, to permit him and our ships under his command, as friends, to touch, in case of need, at any of the coasts of your highness' dominions; and also to allow our ships to make use of your highness' harbours, whenever it may become necessary to refit or re-victual them; and that they may purchase at a proper price those things which they may require, and experience such other offices of friendship and humanity as may be needful: and as we no way doubt of your highness' amicable feelings towards us and ours, we are desirous that your highness should be assured that on any opportunity offering, we will reciprocate with equal readiness and benevolence.
It only remains for us to express our wishes for your highness' perfect health and prosperous success everywhere.
Given in our Palace of Westminster, on the 17th day of the month of January, in the year of our Lord 1667-68.
Your Highness' good Cousin and Friend,
Charles Rex.
No. VIII.
Charles the Second by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.
To the most illustrious and most high Prince, the Lord Nicholas Cottoner, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, our well-beloved cousin and friend—Greeting:
Most illustrious and most high Prince, our well-beloved cousin and friend.
Some years have elapsed since we first addressed letters to your highness concerning certain goods and merchandise, to the value of 4500 pieces of eight, which had been unjustly seized by some of the ships which it is customary to despatch annually from your highness' island to cruise against the Turks in the neighbourhood of Cyprus, from our subject Roger Fowke, a person for many reasons by us well beloved, and our consul in the island of Cyprus; and also concerning the sentence which, after many delays and much trouble, had been at last unjustly given in favour of your people.
Farther complaints have, however, been received from our subject, stating that our letters have had little effect with your highness, and that he, already wearied with long expectation, has not had anything restored, that his expenses are increasing to a great amount, and that little or no hope remains of reparation for his loss.
Painful, indeed, was it to us to hear our subject relate such injustice on the part of the Knights of Malta; we, however, thought is right to make it clearly appear that nothing has remained untried to bring back to more sane counsels the generous minds of the Maltese; and therefore, under the advice of our Privy Council, we deemed proper to refer, without loss of time, the complaint of our subject, together with the letters which we formerly addressed to your highness, and those which your highness latterly wrote to us, to our advocate in our High Court of Admiralty, Sir Robert Wyseman, Knight; who, having well considered the whole, has expressed his opinion in the following terms:
"I have read and seriously pondered the petition of Roger Fowke, transmitted to me by your Majesty's special mandate; as also the letters written by your Majesty to the Grand Master of the Order of Malta in favour of the above-mentioned, and those from the said Grand Master in reply; and it is evident to me, after mature examination, that your Majesty has done so much, and that it is proved that the sentence of the Maltese Tribunal against the said Roger Fowke was pronounced contrary to right and justice (as is clearly shown in the letters written by your Majesty to the Grand Master); that therefore it appears to be incumbent on me only to set forth to your Majesty, and to the Lords of the Privy Council, whether it be my opinion that sufficient satisfaction has been given by the Grand Master's letters to your Majesty, who by the above-cited letters demand restitution; and if not, whether in consequence it be lawful to your Majesty to grant the so-called letters of reprisal, on which subject I beg humbly to submit to your Majesty, and to the singular prudence and judgment of the above-mentioned Lords, this my opinion; that is to say, that the answers of the Grand Master are so far from being in any way satisfactory, that from them it may be easily perceived that the above-mentioned Grand Master, although he does not deny in express terms reparation for his loss to the above Roger, nevertheless does not decree anything certain on this head; from which your Majesty may reasonably conclude that the said reparation was refused. Nor does it tend to his defence that he asserts that all that was done by his tribunal was done by solemn sentence, that the judges were men of great reputation, and that it is to be believed that the reasons produced by both sides were justly considered; for judicial authority is not of the same value as regards foreigners and subjects. It is not lawful for subjects to demand a re-examination of the sentence pronounced by their superiors, although to foreign princes it entirely appertains to make such demand, in cases interesting themselves or their subjects; otherwise, if all given sentences were considered as freeing nations from reprisals, such decrees might perhaps be obtained in any case, even though manifestly unjust; and consequently it is by all agreed to be a just cause for reprisals, not only when justice is not rendered, but also when in any case, not of a doubtful nature, judgment may have been given against right; although certainly, in cases of a doubtful nature, the presumption would be in favour of those who may have been elected as public judges. Had the Grand Master indicated to your Majesty that the said Roger Fowke might have preferred an appeal against the sentence pronounced against him to a superior tribunal, and that by the negligence of the said Roger the first sentence had become affirmed, in that case the remedy demanded by your Majesty would have been untenable; but the said Grand Master makes no mention of such appeal: I am therefore of opinion that nothing in the law of nations could militate against the lawfulness of your Majesty's granting letters of reprisal in the manner demanded.
(Signed) Robert Wyseman."
Without doubt the law of nations would warrant our extorting from the hands of your highness' subjects, by issuing letters of reprisal, that which we have not been able to obtain after so many years by means of the letters written in favour of our beloved subject and friend; and the deplorable state of the said Roger requires that we should now exact by our own authority that which we have in vain sought to obtain by means of simple communications. But taking into serious consideration the lamentable present state of Christianity, and the daily augmentation of the large empire of our common enemy, and how distinguished has been the valour of the Maltese knights, always constantly exposing themselves as a bulwark to so pertinacious an enemy, it would be very painful to us to be compelled to have recourse to reprisals, or to any such severe mode of proceeding, for the reparation of the loss. The glory also of the Christian name, so often valiantly defended, has caused us willingly to believe that we must not yet despair of obtaining from your highness' authority that reparation for his loss which our subject hopes to obtain by reprisal, and therefore, putting aside the remedy of right, and our Privy Council persuading us to milder measures, we have thought proper by this letter to seriously request your highness, by that justice which is the duty of princes, and of the defenders of Christianity, to deign to procure without delay to our trustworthy subject, who has suffered so great an injustice from the Maltese Tribunal, and who is exhausted by the delays of so many years, full compensation for all his losses, including also the amount of his expenses; so that we may never have cause to regret that we, putting aside the law of nations, have till now abstained from reprisal, and so that henceforth the world may eulogise the Maltese as not being less just than valiant.
We have only now to recommend your highness and all your Knights to the most good and most great God.
Given in our Palace of Whitehall on the 29th day of April, of the year of Human Redemption 1668, and of our reign the twentieth.
Your Highness'
Good Cousin and Friend,
Charles Rex.
Raphael Cottoner, to whom the last letter was addressed, ascended the Maltese throne in October, 1663, on the decease of his brother Raphael.
All historians agree in stating that he was a man of a noble carriage, high and honourable character, and withal a clever diplomatist. He died in March, 1680, after a happy and glorious rule, in the seventy-third year of his age, and seventeenth of his reign. The following letter written by him may be of sufficient interest to excuse its length. Its perusal will show the great respect which was paid by the Order of St. John to an English monarch, and the "incorruptible" manner in which justice was administered at this island nearly two centuries ago.
To the King of Great Britain.
Most serene and invincible King:
A short time since John Ansely, the attorney of Roger Fowke, delivered to us your most serene Majesty's gracious letters, in reply to mine regarding the affair of the said Roger; from which, not without great disturbance of mind, I perceived how incorrectly what had taken place had been reported to your Majesty. But my grief was in some measure assuaged by your Majesty's continued benignant protection of this my Order; through which it came to pass that it was determined to abstain from granting the letters of reprisal which it was the opinion of your Majesty's advocate in the High Court of Admiralty, inserted in the above-mentioned Royal Letters, might have been granted to the aforenamed Roger, for which I truly return your Majesty my most sincere and humble thanks. The above Roger still claims of right the sum of 4,500 pieces of eight, which he asserts had been formerly seized by some armed ships of this island; from which sum, together with the expenses incurred, or to be incurred, he forms another greater sum of about 24,500, which he also claims.
But as it would sufficiently appear from your Majesty's letter, which contains the above-mentioned opinion of the said advocate, and also from the verbal report made to me by the said John Ansely, that your Majesty felt persuaded that the said Roger had both lost his cause before the Judge of the Prize Court, and subsequently been denied an appeal to the Supreme Court, and, lastly, that his attorney had been treated with violence, rather than under any order of right, I, to confess the truth, being much mortified, cannot but endeavour, with all due respect in my power, to demonstrate the real state of the case to your Majesty; and hope, by a more faithful narrative of all that occurred, to convince your Majesty of that equal distribution of justice which in this place is constantly observed, both to the inhabitants and foreigners, with incorruptible honesty.
Before, however, beginning to explain the affair from its commencement, it behoves me to inform your Majesty, that not only subjects of Christian Princes, but Greeks and Armenians, and other persons subject to the rule of the Turks, the bitterest enemies of this Order, are continually coming to these islands for the purpose of instituting or continuing suits at law against the captains of our ships and other inhabitants, yet we have never heard from them that justice is either denied or refused. I therefore humbly beseech your Majesty to consider, and with benignant mind to reflect, what faith ought to be given to those who have dared to affirm that any contrary course had been pursued or tolerated by me against the said Roger; and the more so, as it has been the constant wish of my Order to deserve well of your Majesty's subjects, and to take particular care of all foreigners. This we trust will be sufficiently shown from the fact of our always having employed one of the principal lawyers to undertake the defence of foreigners; not indeed altogether gratuitously, but under such laws and restrictions that he must remit to them the third part of the usual stipend which it is customary to receive from the inhabitants, and even my knights. From which it may be concluded how well and how honourably foreigners are treated here, and how unlikely it is that justice should be denied to any of those who it is proved are favoured with such grace and love.
But to return to the affair in question, I humbly submit to your Majesty, that in the year of our salvation 1661, John, called De St. Amand, acting as attorney in the name of the above-mentioned Roger, appeared before the aforesaid judge of the Prize Court, demanding the restitution of different kinds of merchandise, which he asserted had been seized by certain captains of ships; but it not appearing to the said judge that he had produced convincing proofs of the fact, they were declared inadequate, and not sufficiently legal. From this decision the said attorney, as is usual in such controversies, appealed, on the 10th of July, 1662, to the Supreme Court of Audience in council, at which I, together with the Chief Grand Crosses of my Order, assist; but he afterwards of his own accord neglected to follow up said appeal.
Subsequently, in the year 1665, there appeared another attorney of the said Roger furnished with letters from your most serene Majesty, to whom I immediately explained that I had no right to order the actual restitution of the money demanded; but that if he would act according to law, and seek it by a judgment, I promised to give my co-operation, which I undoubtedly would have done; so that he might have been permitted by the said Court of Audience to recommence the suit, although it had been in a former instance deserted. But the attorney having replied that he was not furnished with this authority, left the island of his own free will and accord.
From that time no other person has appeared, except the above-mentioned John Ansely, who
recently delivered to me your Majesty's above-mentioned letter; which I having thought proper to communicate to my Council, I procured that the venerable brethren Henry de Estampes Valancay, the Grand Prior of Campania, and Don Gregory Caraffa, Prior of Rocella, should be deputed commissioners to examine this case. And they having heard what the said Ansely had to say, offered to him in any name, and in that of all my Order, an opportunity to make an appeal which had been deserted; but the said Ansely, for want of proper authority as he stated, did not accept the proposition.
Such being the case, I reverently submit to your most serene Majesty the following arguments, to which I earnestly entreat your Majesty to apply your Royal attention, and your Majesty's accustomed serenity and clemency.
In the first place, it is possible that the said Roger may have been really deprived of his property; but it does not follow that the proofs adduced by him of that fact were perfectly convincing, or entirely in accordance with the law. And even if they had been such, they might have appeared otherwise to the said judge of the Prize Court; and it is on this account that the Superior of Ten rescind the decrees of the Inferior Tribunals.
Secondly, the omission to continue the above-cited appeal, can in no way be attributed to the judges of this island; neither is it true that any threats were made use of towards the above-mentioned attorney. Such a course would have been diametrically opposed to the statutes of my Order; neither would its members have dared to act in such a manner, either against foreigners or the inhabitants my subjects, without incurring a heavy responsibility.
Finally, as it is impossible for my knights, putting aside the order of right, and neglecting the rule of our statutes, to restore to the above-mentioned Roger that which he claims, nothing remains in our power but to grant him the faculty of again prosecuting his right before the above-mentioned Court of Audience as in law so often and earnestly offered to the aforenamed attorney. Nor certainly can it be presumed, that your Majesty in your clemency and justice can desire anything farther. To this conclusion I am the more drawn from the decision of the advocate of the Admiralty himself, for he proposes the granting of letters of reprisal not for any other reason than that he supposed justice had been denied to the said Roger, and that he had been precluded from the remedy of a Court of Appeal. This having been an erroneous conclusion, the entire foundation of the above-mentioned opinion is wholly removed. And it is the more to be hoped that this decision will be approved of by your most serene Majesty, as my necessary subjection to the Apostolic See and to the Roman Pontiff cannot be unknown to your Majesty. From which it necessarily results that so large a sum could not be taken arbitrarily or by force from the parties concerned, without grave reprehension and prejudice, and also without infringing the forms of right as prescribed in the statutes above alluded to.
Confiding therefore in the singular clemency of your Majesty, I entertain a hope that your Majesty, moved by so many and such valid reasons, and considering also the high respect of this my Order towards your Majesty, will be pleased to direct the said Roger not to prosecute his right by other means than by action at law before the said Court of Audience. And that he at length will cease to excite the mind of your Majesty against the innocent by any such vain and unjust complaints; and that he refrain from any more seeking so inopportune and final a remedy of right, as the concession of letters of reprisal against an Order obediently subject to the wishes of your Majesty, and most ready to do anything for the advantage and utility of your Majesty's subjects, as those who daily touch at these islands to re-victual or refit their ships can testify. And now, in my own name, and in that of my Order, I humbly submit all this to your Majesty by these letters, as I shall also do shortly by a Nuncio, whom I shall send to your Majesty with the necessary documents, in order more clearly to prove the truth of my statements.
In the mean time, most submissively kissing your Majesty's most serene hands, I devotedly implore the benignity of the Most High and the Most Great God to grant to your Majesty prosperity in all things.
Given at Malta, on the eighteenth day of February, in the year 1669.
Your Serene Majesty's
Most obedient Servant,
Cottoner.
To the above submissive letter the following reply was sent:
No. IX.
Charles the Second by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. &c. &c.
To the most illustrious and most high Prince, the Lord Nicholas Cottoner, Grand Master of the Order of Malta. Our well-beloved cousin and friend, Greeting:
Most illustrious and most high Prince, our well-beloved cousin and friend.
Your highnesses letters of —— February, having been delivered to us by the Nuncio selected by your highness for that purpose, we caused Roger Fowke, our subject and Consul in the island of Cyprus, in whose favour we sometimes since addressed your highness, to be summoned before
Us, and having well pondered the grounds and reasons in which your highness' replies are based, we judged it right to announce farther to our said subject, that in our opinion the power of appeal to the Supreme Court of Audience offered to him by your highness, after his attorney's previous neglect in the first instance, ought not by any means to be slighted; and that it did not seem to Us there remained, all things considered, any other hope of future remedy. This we did the more willingly, in order to prove to your highness more clearly, that being so dear, and so highly esteemed by Us, as is your highness personally, and all your knights, that we have preferred accepting any mode of properly settling this affair, rather than, by recurring to any harsher measures, diminish our friendship and affection towards so celebrated an Order. This, our determination, We have also made known by our letters to the Grand Prior of France; and of which testimony may be borne by the bearer of the present, to whom we have thought proper particularly to recommend the urging of your highness, in Our name, to see that such certain and speedy method of justice be established in the affair of our subject as may be lawful, and as was offered; and such as may afford new and sound proof of our ancient amity, and establish and affirm a mutual faith worthy of the Christian name.
In the mean time, We, from our heart, recommend your highness, and all your knights, to the safeguard of the Most Good and Most Great God.
Given from our Palace of Westminster on the 7th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1669, and of our reign the twenty-first.
Your Highness' good Cousin and Friend,
Charles Rex.
No. X.
Charles by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. &. &c.
To the most eminent Prince, the Lord Nicholas Cottoner, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, our very dear cousin and friend, Greeting:
We apprehend that long since it must have come to the knowledge of your eminence, that a vessel of war of our Royal fleet, named the "Sapphire," went ashore some months ago on the coasts of Sicily; and was so much damaged, that she became entirely unseaworthy. We have however heard, that some guns which belonged to the said ship have been taken to the island of Malta, and there preserved. Having, in consequence, ordered our well-beloved and faithful subject Rudolf Montague, the Master of the Horse of our most serene Consort, and our Minister near his most Christian Majesty, to send there some fitting person to inquire after any remains of the said wreck, and to depose of them in a manner most advantageous to Us, we, as friends, beg your eminence to be pleased to interpose your authority; so that the persons already sent, or hereafter to be sent by our said Minister, may experience no delays nor impediments, but rather find all favour and due aid from each and every chief of the arsenal, ports and customs, and other officers to whom it may appertain; which we, in a similar case, will endeavour fully to reciprocate to your eminence.
In the mean time we recommend, with all our heart, your eminence to the protection of the Most Good and Most Great God.
Given from our Palace of Whitehall, on the 28th day of November, 1670.
Your Eminence's good Cousin and Friend,
Charles Rex.