(_Continued from_ Vol. ix., p. 101.)
It will be remembered that the last English royal letters which we sent
were translations of those from Henry VIII. to L'Isle Adam; and finding
none recorded of Edward VI., Mary I., Elizabeth, James I, Charles I. (or
from Cromwell), we come to the reign of Charles II. We have now before us
ten letters bearing the autograph of this monarch, all of which we hope to
forward in due course according to their dates. The two of the earliest
date are as follow. The first was written to introduce the English Admiral,
Sir Thomas Allen, who had been sent with a squadron into the Mediterranean
to protect English commerce; and the second, to claim from the Order a
large amount of property which belonged to Roger Fowke, the English consul
at Cyprus, and had been seized by a Maltese commander in one of his cruises
against the Turks in the neighbourhood of that island. Their perusal will
serve to show the deep interest taken by Charles II. in all which related
to the commercial affairs or legal rights of his subjects.