Description:

The King Orders "Lord Nelson's return to resume the Command of the Fleet in the Mediterranean" 5 Weeks Before His Death at Trafalgar

In this important letter, Foreign Secretary Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, directs British Consuls James Mario Matra to maintain good relations with Emperor Mulay Suleiman (1766-1822) of Morocco and to report any intelligence he obtains to Admiral Horatio Nelson or other British admirals or authorities at Gibraltar. After a brief respite, warfare between the United Kingdom and France had again erupted in May 1803, when the British declared war.

Vice-Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) was mortally wounded during the great British naval victory over the combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805, just days after having this letter delivered.

ROBERT STEWART, VISCOUNT CASTLREAGH, Manuscript Letter Signed, to James Mario Matra, September 14, 1805, London, England. 4 pp., 8" x 12.25". Expected folds; very good. Ex-Malcolm Forbes and Sotheby's July 15, 1993.

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.

Complete Transcript
Downing Street, 14th Septr 1805
Sir,
His Majesty's Ministers have judged it expedient in the present state of affairs to take the opportunity of Lord Nelson's return to resume the Command of the Fleet in the Mediterranean, to send a Present to The Emperor of Morocco, for the purpose of marking the just sense entertained by The King of the readiness shewn on all occasions by His Imperial Majesty to supply the wants of the British ships and of the Garrison of Gibraltar.
The Articles composing the Present (of which a List is enclosed) will be forwarded to you by Lord Nelson, with a Letter from The King for His Imperial Majesty, and a communication from himself, and you will avail yourself of the earliest opportunity to offer them to The Emperor with suitable observations upon the mutual Interests of The King, and of His Imperial Majesty to cultivate, by every friendly act, the harmony and good understanding which have so long subsisted between them.
The attention which has recently been shewn to the two Merchants Abd al Khalik Aashaashee and The Hajee Abd al Kerneem ben al Talib in this country will afford another opportunity of evincing the disposition of The King to promote the wishes of His Imperial Majesty. I inclose to you Copies of the correspondence which has passed between His Majesty's Ministers and these persons together with a translation of the letter which they brought from The Emperor and a Copy of His Majesty's answer.
I need not make any observation to impress upon your mind the extreme importance of cherishing at all times, but particularly in the present conjuncture, the amical dispositions of The Emperor, and of the leading people in his service; or the necessity of your communicating to Lord Nelson and to The Lieutenant Governor of Gibraltar, by the quickest possible means, all the intelligence which you may be able to procure of the designs and movements of the Enemy.
I have the honor to be / Sir
Your most obedient / humble servant
Castlereagh

Mr. Consul Matra.

Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1769-1822) was born in Dublin and attended St. John's College, Cambridge, for a year in 1786-1787. He was elected a member of the Irish Parliament in 1790, and after spending time in France, returned to the Irish Parliament in 1793. In the 1790s, he aided in the suppression of the United Irishmen. In 1796, when his father became the Earl of Londonderry, Stewart became Viscount Castlereagh. After serving in the Cabinet of Henry Addington, Castlereagh became the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in the new government of William Pitt in 1804. After Pitt's death in 1806, Castlereagh resigned, but he was soon reappointed as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in 1807 in the government of the Duke of Portland. A controversy with Foreign Secretary George Canning led to a duel between the two in September 1809, in which Castlereagh wounded Canning in the thigh. Both ministers resigned in the wake of public outrage over the duel. In 1812, Castlereagh returned to the government as Foreign Secretary, a position he held for the next ten years. He also became leader of the House of Commons after the 1812 assassination of Spencer Perceval. He helped orchestrate the quadruple alliance between the United Kingdom, Austria, Russia, and Prussia and played a key role at the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815. He also aided through a series of treaties in the suppression of the African slave trade after Great Britain abolished it in 1807. Despised in both Great Britain and Ireland and overworked, Castlereagh killed himself while still in office in 1822. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, and his pallbearers included a former, the current, and two future prime ministers.

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 an appointment as consul at Tangier, Morocco, a position he held until his death in March 1806.

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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