I have laid your letter before our Lord the Sultan, and His Majesty has taken into consideration all you state in it, and (may God render him powerful) has commanded me to reply to it and to state that your departure from these blessed dominions causes great grief and sorrow, as it was sure to do, for you are one of the wise and judicious persons of your illustrious Government, who have from ancient times mediated between them and the Sherifian Government with friendship, sincerity, and consideration, as is known to all, and about which there can be no dispute, and which at all times has been continuously renewed, proved, and confirmed by the strength and power of God. And the fact that your exalted Queen selected a sagacious person like yourself, of excellent social qualities, pleasant to have relations with, and seeking to do good, for service in this country for so long a time, is a proof of her sincere friendship and of her desire to promote good feeling and to strengthen the bonds of union between the two friendly Sovereigns, and is a sign whereby is known Her Majesty’s extreme judiciousness, wisdom, and judgment; for a person gives proof of his judgment and condition by one of these things, viz. his envoy, his letter, or his present. His Sherifian Majesty (may God render him powerful) has commanded me to convey the expression of his sincere thanks and best acknowledgments to your beloved Queen, and to yourself also, O friend, and invoked on Her Majesty an increase of power, greatness, dignity, and grandeur; and on you, blessings on yourself, on your family, children, relatives, and posterity.
I am to add that what you state regarding the confidence that was reposed in you by our Lord and Master, His Sherifian Majesty’s sire (may God sanctify him), is true and well known to every one, and His Sherifian Majesty (may God render him powerful) likewise reposes confidence in you and regards you as a sincere friend, and that your remark that the friendship between the two Governments has undergone no change during the term of your office is also true, for the friendship between the two Governments is the result of your services, verifying the opinion held of you by your illustrious Government, the soundness of their judgment and the accuracy of their discernment regarding yourself, and it (the friendship) has through your assistance increased in purity, constancy and growth, in love and affection, in word and deed. And as to what you say that you will not grow weak in your devotion to His Sherifian Majesty and to his subjects, this is in accordance with the opinion formed of you, and is what is confidently expected of you, for such is the disposition of persons of a friendly and affectionate character, whether they be near or far.
I have taken leave in your name of the Uzirs and officers of the Sherifian Court whom you mentioned, and they all reciprocated your affection and gave expression to it, and praised you, and invoked blessings on you, and were not sparing in their expressions of sorrow and grief at your departure, and recited the lines of the ancient poet:—
‘Though severed in body we suffer no hurt; for our hearts are united, welded by pure love.’
With regard to your statement that if God prolongs your life, and it is agreeable to His Sherifian Majesty, you will visit the Sherifian Court (exalted by God), and that, should your Government approve, you would come with the object you mention, our Lord (may God make him glorious) has commanded me to reply that he prays your life may be prolonged by the power of God, and that you may continue in happiness and health, leading an agreeable life; and if your Government sanction your coming with this object, you are welcome, and such sanction will be agreeable to His Sherifian Majesty (may God assist him), for it (your Government) desires for you and for His Sherifian Majesty only what is good, and you seek only to promote the welfare of them both, and how indeed could your Government refuse to grant its sanction for what is beneficial? Our friendship for you is everlasting, and its freshness will never fade day or night. May God be gracious on the leave-taking, and not forbid the meeting.
Finished the last day of Ramadan, 1303 (July 3, 1886).
Mohammed Mefadal Ben Mohammed Gharrit.
On his retirement, Her Majesty was pleased to make Sir John a Privy Councillor, and, though no longer holding a responsible post, he was constantly appealed to on Morocco affairs by the British Government.
‘The Foreign Office,’ he writes, in December, 1886, to his daughter, Mrs. Brooks, ‘continue to send me dispatches about Morocco to be reported on, and, when I make suggestions as to actions, they are adopted. This is pleasing to me, and Government, though they rather bother me with their consultations, flatter me by their continued confidence in my counsels.’
The Emperor of Austria sent Sir John his portrait set in brilliants on the lid of a golden casket or snuff-box, and by special permission of Her Majesty he was allowed to accept the order of the Grand Cross of the Danebrog from the King of Denmark—for whom as for Austria he had so long acted as Agent in Morocco. The Danish order was the only one he was permitted to accept of the many foreign decorations bestowed on him during his long career.