No. XV
Charles the Second by the grace
of God, of
To the most eminent prince the
Lord Nicholas Cotoner, Grand Master of the Order of
Most eminent Prince, our
well-beloved cousin and friend.
Not only by the letters of Sir
John Narbrough, knight, whom we appointed in right
and power to be the admiral of our fleet in the Mediterranean sea, but also
from other sources, we have heard how benignantly your eminence, both by
command and example, and all the sacred Order of Malta, have treated him and
the other commanders of our ships, as such so that they could not have been
better at home, and in our dockyards, than in your port of Malta. This is,
indeed, a sign of great friendship, and the more so that our kingdoms and seas
are so far distant from the usual navigation of the sacred Order of Malta, that
few occasions could be expected to offer themselves to us of reciprocating the
friendship of your eminence. Some other mode, therefore, must be sought by which
we may testify our gratitude and affection towards your eminence and the other
members of your most sacred Order, to do which we shall willingly embrace and
studiously search every opportunity which may offer.
In the mean time we heartily
recommend your eminence and all your military Order to the safeguard of the
Most High and Most Good God.
Given from our
Your
Eminence’s good Cousin and Friend
CHARLES
REX.