I, servant of God, and Emperor of
Marocco and King of Mauritania,
whom God preserve in all
his undertakings, &c.
I Salute you and the rest of the captains.
As for the captives you have taken, they belong to several places, and are not all my subjects; and what I do is out of charity, as they are Muhamedans, being forced to go to sea for want of maintenance. As for those that are my soldiers, they go to sea to fight and to die in my quarrels; but, those Moors that you have taken, are inconsiderable and of no account.
Henceforward I shall have ships as big as yours, if not bigger, hoping to take some of your ships and captains, and cruise for you in your English seas, as you do for us in these.
I have written letters to the King of England, in which are kind expressions: And when you had Tangier, all things were given to you as you wanted, and all done out of kindness; and now that you have left Tangier for the Moors, whatever His Majesty of Great Britain wants, either by sea or by land, it shall be granted, so that there be a peace betwixt the two crowns; for which I pass my word and faith.
Now, I have written several letters to his Majesty of Great Britain, to which I have received as yet no answer; but, when it (the answer) reaches my hands, I hope there will be a good accommodation between us.
You have taken several of our ships and destroyed others, and you are cruising on our coast, which is not the way to make a good peace, neither the actions of honesty in you.
God be praised that you have quitted Tangier and left it to us, to whom it did belong: from henceforward we shall keep it well supplied with stores, for it is the best port of our dominions.
As for the captives you have taken, you may do as you please with them, heaving them into the sea, or otherwise destroying them. The English merchants that are here resident, shall satisfy all their debts, which being done, none of them shall remain in my country.
LETTER. III.