Description:

James Matra
Tangier, Morocco, ca. 1803-1804
Important 1803 Archive From British Consul to Morocco Re: Napoleon, King of Spain & America, 27pp
Archive
JAMES MARIO MATRA. Archive of 7 letters, to Charles Yorke, 1803-1804, Tangier, Morocco. 27pp, measuring between 8" x 10" (smallest) to 8" x 12.75" (largest). In this series of letters to Home Secretary Charles Yorke, British Consul Matra reports on affairs in Morocco during the reign of Mulay Suleiman (1766-1822). After a brief respite, warfare between the United Kingdom and France again erupted in May 1803, when the British declared war. General toning; expected folds and creases; some edge tears. Otherwise, in very good condition.

This small but rich archive includes many details about Anglo-Moroccan relations during the early months of the War of the Third Coalition against France. Especially interesting are the strained relations between the United States and Morocco after a Moroccan vessel captured an American merchant ship and was then captured in turn by an American frigate. Consul Matra describes the resulting negotiations and includes a translation of the orders the Moroccan captain had from the Governor of Tangier and a letter from the Sultan to all consuls in Tangier.

As British Consul in Tangier, Matra supported the British Royal Navy with supplies and intelligence on the movement of French and Spanish forces. He corresponded regularly with admirals of the British Mediterranean fleet and mediated communications between the British government and that of Sultan Mulay Suleiman. He dealt with matters of trade involving British merchants and provided updates on the political and economic affairs of Morocco. The archive also includes discussions of a Spanish offer of land in North Africa for supplies of corn and the negotiations involved.

Excerpts include:

-September 20, 1803: "H[is]. I[mperial]. M[ajesty]. disapproved of the treatment he [the American consul] had received & assured him of his protexion & friendship; the Orders to the Moorish Commanders were doubted or attributed to mistake...."
"In the midst of this African shuffle the mask was torn off by the arrival of a Courier on the night of the 16 from Mogadore, to inform us that on the 1st inst, Orders from the Emperor arrived there to seize on all Americans & their Property, in consequence of which a Brig then unloading & her Crew were taken. The Consul found means next day to acquaint the Commodore [of an American ship at Tangier] with this; as in this case there would be no [?], nor blunders of the Governor of Tangier he left the Bay immediately."
[Translation of letter from Sultan Mulay Suleiman to Consuls in Tangier:] "Your Letter has reached our presence exalted by God, in which you represent to us the act of our Servant Hashash in arresting the American Consul when he received advice of the taking our Ship the fighter for the Islam. We neither ordered nor will we order the Consul to be arrested. Should War ensue between us and his Nation he shall be sent to his Country in security, both with respect to his person and his property."

-October 17: "The Emperor gave an Order to deliver up the American Brig seized in Mogadore, & was promised in return his Frigate taken by them, & which arrived here on the next day; when the dispute was so far adjusted, the Emperor requested the Trepoline to be given to him, on his promise that she should not return to Tripoly during the War with the States. She was as fair a prize as ever was taken, but as they were determined to settle, certainly was not an object worth contending for; she was granted, has since arrived, and Muly Suleiman for the third time has confirmed the Treaty made by the States with his Father.... No satisfaction was given, nor none demanded for the sudden & unprovoked hostility of the Moor, nor for the violent treatment of the American Consul. Had the War continued it was the American plan to declare the whole coast blockaded, except the export of live stock for Gibraltar Spain & Portugal; had it gone to that extremity, there would have been a complete revolution in the Country in less than three months."

-March 17, 1804: "this part of the Country has been kept in a state of the greatest anxiety for near a month past respecting the fate of the Emperor.... We now Sir know that H.I.M. was for more than three weeks dangerously ill...."
"The long promised Present from the States of America has been delivered; one Hundred Land Gun Carriages for twenty four and eighteen Pounders, they are remarkably well finished, of oak, with Iron Axletrees. They were ordered at Washington so soon as it was known that the Emperor had attacked their Commerce but the vessel which was freighted to bring them out had a long passage & stopping at a French Port with Dispatches for their Ambassador was embargoed for three months, because they were fitting out two Sail of the Line."

James Mario Matra (ca. 1746-1806) was born in New York City to a Corsican father named James Magra, who had moved to Dublin, Ireland, studied medicine and changed his surname to Matra, and then migrated to New York. The younger Magra settled in England and entered the Royal Navy in 1761. He joined James Cook's voyage of exploration to Australia in 1768-1770. On that voyage, he befriended English botanist Sir Joseph Banks, with whom he remained a lifelong friend. Some evidence suggests Magra was the anonymous author of "A Journal of a Voyage Round the World", published in England in 1771 about Cook's voyage. In 1775, Magra petitioned the King to revert his surname to Matra to claim a Corsican inheritance. In 1777, Matra requested leave from his position as consul in Tenerife in the Canary Islands to deal with family matters in British-occupied New York City. He was secretary of the embassy in Constantinople from 1778 to 1780. In 1783, he proposed establishing a settlement in New South Wales, especially for American loyalists displaced by the American Revolutionary War. In 1786, Matra received appointment as consul at Tangier, Morocco, a position he held until his death.

Charles Philip Yorke (1764-1834) was a Member of Parliament from 1790 to 1810 for Cambridgeshire and from 1812 to 1818 for Liskeard. In 1801 he served as Secretary at War in Prime Minister Henry Addington's government and in 1803 transferred to serve as Home Secretary, a position he held from August 1803 to May 1804.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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