And for that you do affirm in them, that the Sultan of Afrangie is your enemy, and an enemy to your people, in whatsoever place le be, from the first until now; and for that he hath lift up himself proudly, and set himself ns the king of the world: Yet, what is he besides his exceeding pride, and baughty mind? Inthis therefore is our joy increased, and our Society confirmed; for that he and his company are our enemies in this world, and in the world to come; so that we shall cause them to lie, in what place sever we shall meet them, a public death.
And moreover you do affirm, that you desire peace and friendship with To God be praise and thanks for the greatness of His grace! This therefore is our serious will and honourable purpose truly in this writing, that you may send from your people unto our Bandar, to trade and to traffic: And that whosoever shall be sent unto us, in your Highness name, and to whomsoever you shall prescribe the time, they shall be of a joint company, and of common privileges: for this Captain and his company. so soon as they came unto us, we made then of an absolute society. And we have incorporated them into one Corporation and common dignity: And we have granted them liberties, and have showed them the best course of traffic. And to manifest unto them the love and brotherhood between us and you in this world, there is sent, by the hand of this Captain, according to the Custoni, unto the famous city, a ring of Gold beautified with a ruby, richly placed in his seat; two vestures woven with Gold, embroidered with Gull, inclosed in a red box of Tzin.[1]
Written in Tarich of the year 1011 of Mahomet. Peace be unto you.
(B) is also in the Bodleian library at Oxford, and is numbered MS. Douce Or. e. 4. This is undoubtedly an original document, for it bears the stamp of Sultan ‘Ala’u ’d-Din Shah of Acheen, and is evidently in the handwriting of a native. The letter is not dated, but being a letter of authority to Captain "Harry Middleton" for trading purposes, we are able to fix the date with some certainty, for we know that Sir Henry Middleton went out with Sir James Lancaster in 1601, and was appointed at Acheen to the command of a vessel named the "Susan" and sent to Priaman, a place a few miles north of the present town of Padang on the west coast of Sumatra, whence he carried home a cargo of pepper. His return was minuted 21 June 1603, which was nearly two months before the arrival of Sir James Lancaster. Moreover this letter bears strong internal evidence of being written at the same time, if not by the very sane person as the origins! letter from which A. was copied, and the fact that they both belong to the Douce mss. would lead to the conclusion that they both came from the same source. The similarity of spelling will be seen to be quite
- ↑ or China.
