No. IX.
Charles the Second by the
Grace of God, of
To the most illustrious
and most high Prince, the Lord Nicholas Cottoner,
Grand Master of the Order of
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 sometime
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
Your
Highness' good Cousin and Friend,
CHARLES
REX.