THE TRAGICALL LIFE AND DEATH OF MVLEY ABDALA MELEK the late King of Barbarie With A PROPOSITION OR PETITION TO ALL Christian Princes annexed therevnto VVritten by a Gentleman imployed into those parts Printed at Delph ANNO 1633. TO THE MOST ILLVSTRIOVS AND HOPEFVLL young Prince CHARLES Prince Elector Palatine of the Rhyne c. MOST ILLVSTRIOVS PRINCE The great respect I receiued from your Highnes at Leyden two severall times after my comming out of Barbarie and the great desire your Highnes expressed as becometh Princes to vnderstand and be informed in foraigne afaires and the State of other countries hath encouraged me hauing novv againe been imployed into that countrie to present to your Highnes for a Nevv-years-gift this short relation of the life death of the late King Muley Abdala Melek as vvas related to me by vvaie of discourse onlie at seuerall times by those vvho for the most part vvere eye-vvitnesses Oculati testes VVhich also may serue your Highnes for matter of discourse and further information likewise to discerne betwixt a blessed Christian gouernment vvhereunto God hath ordained you and a cruell tyrannous Mahometan gouernment as is the Turkish vnder vvhich those miserable mis-belieuers yea and manie Christians likevvise there in most miserable slauerie groane the Lord deliuer them from it And giue vs grace to make vse of it both Prince people and acknovvledge our owne happines Prince vvho commaund ouer Christian obedient and dutifull subiects and subiects vvho liue vnder so peaceable and Christian a gouernement bona si sua norit agricola free from tyrannie rebuel as and tumults vvhereunto that countrie of Barbaric hath this long time been subiect Such is the miserable state and condition of tyrannie and of tyrants euen of Kings as your Highnes may perceiue by the sodaine fearefull and miserable end of this King qualis vita sinis ita his life vvas bloodie and so it ended in blood in his owne blood And thereafter may your Highnes and all other yong Princes vvho haue so good tuitors and ouerseërs to informe them learne as that famous Buchanan tuitor to your grand Father King Iames of blessed memorie in his epistle dedicatorie before his Tragaedie called Baptistes admonisheth vvorthie to be read ouer and ouer and remembred of all yong Princes his vvords as I remember are these maturé odisse quod tibi semper est fugiendum VVhich I pray God both your Highnes and all other Princes may remember and make vse of Hoping your Highnes vvill accept of this small present out of a Barbarous countrie for vvant of a better vvhither I should haue returned for the releasse of the remainder of my poore countrymen in captiuitie vnder the new King Muley Elvvalid vpon a new treatie Hauing alreadie been a means to releasse aboue two hundreth and threescore from Sallie and threescore mee as yet remaining vnder this king at Morocco and Sallie by them taken againe vpon a late breach besides vvhat are dispersed vp and dovvne the countrie all promised by that King to be releassed vpon his treatie VVhither I say I should haue returned long before this time longed and long looked for by those poore captiues For the captiue hasteneth to be loosed c. as it is in the Prophet But vvhether I shall returne at all or those poore captiues be loosed or releassed at all is in Gods hands vvho can make their verie enemies and all those that haue caried them avvaie captiues to pitie them othervvise no hope at all And so I leaue them to Gods mercie and both them all others in like distresse both there and elsvvhere to your Highnes and all other Christian princes to commiscrate according to a proposition or petition I haue hereunto annexed highlie concerning them in honour to consider of vvhich is also in Gods hands For the hearts of Kings as Salomon saith are in Gods hands he turneth thē vvhich vvaiesoeuer he pleaseth In the meane time as my dutie is hauing been imployed in these affaires I can but sollicit and petition though vvithout effect in hope contrarie to hope hauing hitherto receiued so small encouragement but discouragements and so goe on mourning still and like to doe finis vnius mali gradus futuri One crosse after an other still readie to receiue me VVhich I must beare patientlie so commaunded so resolued To take vp the crosse of Christ and follovv him vvhither soeuer he commaundeth from one conntrie to an other from one part of the vvorld to an other and to the vvorlds end Quem statues finem Rex magne laborum And so goe on mourning still as I haue don these manie years Hoc continuis agimus annis a countinuall mourner euer since the death of prince Henry my maister novv renewed by the death of your Royall Father that renovvmed King of Svveden vvho died that verie day of the month prince Henry died the 6. of Nouember the date after the povvder plot ominous For both vvhich the vvhole church of Christ hath cause to mourne and that continuallie not onlie outvvardlie but invvardlie euerie familie a part as vvas that great mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon For that good King Iosiah continuallie continuis annis euen to posteritie to be continued I say as vvas that for these two so good Kings so sodainlie so vntimelie taken avvate To mourne I say continuallie and invvardlie for our sins vvhich are the cause of these disasters Verus luctus est occultus that is the true mourning so to condole and mourne And so let vs continue our mourning and goe on mourning still euerie familie a part euerie true Christian a part to beare a part in this so great a mourning vvith our deare mother the church that comfortles Rachel vvho vveepeth for her children and vvill not be comforted because they are not Yea let the vvhole church of Christ renevve her vveeping and mourning againe till it Echo againe not onlie the last vvords vltima verba as it is in Seneca Sed totos reddat Troiae gemitus for her children first and last taken from her one after an other because they are not Queene Elizabeth of famous memorie is not King Iames is not Prince Henry is not And the other hopefull young prince Henry your brother is not Your Royall Father the King of Bohemia is not The King of Svveden is not Hovv is the valiant man fallen that deliuered Israel Besides other vvorthies the old prince of Orange and others they are not Yea manie other poore Christian soules of late slaine massacred perished and lost both vnder the Antichristian Mahometan tyrannie they are not For vvhom the vvhole church of Christ hath cause to mourne neuer more cause neuer more seasonable VVherunto now I betake myself euen to praiers and teares the vveapons of Gods church VVhich shall be the second part And my Account hereafter mentioned the third and last If God permit and other obstacles hinder not And
so rest Your Highnes humble seruant IOHN HARRISON THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MVLEY ABDALA MELEK the late King of Barbarie IF Plutarch vvho did vvrite and paralel the lives and acts of the most famous men of those times vvere novv living to vvrite and paralel on the contrarie the lives and acts of the most infamous men of the vvorld I think he vvould haue much adoe to finde out a fit match either auncient or moderne vvherevnto to paralel the late King of Barbarie Muley Abdala Melek yea rather I thinke he vvould leave him vnparalel'd And so must I only setting dovvne so much as in that short time I staid at Morocco vvhich vvas but tvvo monthes hath been related to me by vvay of discourse by such both of our ovvne nation and others as vvere for the most part eye-vvitnesses vvhich is scarce the hundreth part of his cruel acts and mad-pranks he plaid in that short time of his raigne vvhich vvas scarce foure yeares mad-pranks I may call them for so is he commonlie called the mad King He vvas Son to Mulay Sidan by a negra so by complexion a molato The Mores in that respect vvhether of vviues or concubines making no difference of succession but commonlie the eldest though by a concubine carieth the crovvne and sometimes the yonger getteth the blessing from the elder quo iure c. capiat qui capere potest He vvas extraordinarilie giuen to drinke vvine and strong drinke vvhich added to his naturall disposition vvhich needed not inclyned to crueltie euen from his infancie Of a manlie stature and of a most couragious disposition A good horseman vvith his launce target vvould euer be the first man in the face of his enemies vvho indeed durst neuer look him in the face but presently faces about his svvord making vvaie for him vvhich waie soeuer he vvent Such vvas his resolusion viam inveniam aut faciam So that it may be doubted vvhether his courage or crueltie vvere greater and in these tvvo respects I vvil be bold to saie as before not to be paraleld by any As by these fevv passages gessing at Hercules by his foote may easelie appeare And euen before he vvas King began to play his prize like Hercules furens his arme and svvord still in action cutting and killing at his pleasure vpon euery slight occasion At one time he killed one of his ovvne blood the blood royall onlie for tasting a litle of his svveet meates by stealth Sweet meates must haue sowre sauce An other the chieffest of the cast of the Shebanites allied vnto him by mariage of his Praedecessours into that cast hauing vvronged one of his servants he taketh some fevv of his servants not aboue ten at the most vvith him goeth desperatlie among all the Shebanites to the â—ent of this man being the valiantest amongst them all challenged him of the vvrong vvho slighted him being then not King mounted on horsebacke discharged his pistoll at him but missed whoÌ„ presently this yong Prince drawing his sword slue hand to haÌ„d maugre al the Shebanits came of cleare An other time a Levantado or rebell one of their saints comming against his Father Muley Sidan vvith 3000. horse like to surprize him on a sodaine he vvith his drums musik and ensignes and not aboue fortie horse vvent out against him chardged so furiously as put them al to flight pursued the victory as they say vvith his ovvne hand vvounded the Levantado that he dyed his head after brought in to Muley Sidan hanged vp in the Alcasaua and quarters likevvise on the vvals of Morocco on the gates of the citie Hauing be ore challenged his Father of neglect and too much securitie of vvhom not only his enemies but euen his Father as they say stood in feare yet his Father calling him Father Such is the praeposterous maner of the Moores to call their eldest Son Father out of a reuerence as they say they giue to him being the first born to be as it seemeth Pater familias Father of the familie for the time to come other reason I can not giue of their praeposterous inversion of that relation or rather confusion for the Father to call his Son Father Our Heauenly Father I am sure did not so the King of Kings Thou art my Son c. as it is in the Psalmes Nor Dauid the King in that his patheticall expression of his Fatherly affection far beyond theirs yea beyond all expression Absalon my Son my Son After his comming to be King some of the frends of the Leuantado hauing by stealth taken dovvne his quarters to bury them he commanded a great number of the neighbours heads who dvvelt neere there aboutes to be cut of executing many vvith his ovvne hands as he met them in the streets And not long after immediatlie vpon the death of his Father being nevvlie proclaimed King his brother Muley Flvvallid this King comming against him vvith a great force better affected of the comminaltie than the other in respect of his crueltie vvhich they greatlie feared and not vvithout cause as aftervvards they found Muley Abdala Melek giuing order first for his ordnance to be dischardged immediatlie after himself being the first man hauing but a fevv horse chardged so furiouslie and so throughlie as he rovvted them all vvhervpon his brother fled tovvards Sallie but not long after vvas betrayed brought back againe by Alkaid Hamuda dvvelling neare Azamore vvhose horma or sanctuarie he tooke invited and encouraged by him to some further attempt but indeed betrayed vvho after vsed him in a verie base vnseemlie manner stripping him beating him and carying him chained vpon a horse to the King VVherevpon the King they say vvhen he savv him relented yea vvept not vsing any extremitie but rather out of his lion-like magnanimitie contemning vvhat either he or any other had don or could doe against him Yet did his brother liue in continuall feare diuers times threatned by the King in his mad humor sending to him to prepare himself and to knovve vvhat kinde of death he vvould dye but by mediation of his sisters and others still put of At one time the King being at Saffia in his drunken humor the sentence pronounced and an Alkaid presentlie sent tovvards Morocco vvhere his brother was then prisonner to execute it but the next morning the King comme to himself and by mediation as before reversed and a messenger dispatched to countermaund the other vvhom he ouertooke but at Tansift a riuer vvithin foure myles of Morocco commanded vpon his life to ouertake him the other making no great hast othervvise it had been executed One time at Saffia his Almahalla or campe vvherein his brother Muley Semyn vvas then comming to pitch neare thereaboutes he in steed of a vvarning piece to remoue further of shot a bullet amongst them An other time as I heard in iest among the market folke yet did no hurt but killed an asse An other time in
executed any of the Moores that they had tvvo or three heads meaning to cut of but one he left none vvishing as it seemeth like that Romane tyrant that all the Romanes had but one neck he vvould cut them all of at once So Muley Abdala Melek the Moores of vvhom he vvas Flagellum the onlie vvhip that euer vvas And as some thinke the best King for the Moores that euer vvas requiring not a blocke but AEsops storke to keepe them in subiection they othervvise prone to rebellion affecting alteration and innovation as their refran or proverb is Everie day a new cus-cus euerie day a nevv vvife and euerie day a nevv King And though he vvas thus cruell and tyrannous to the Moores and others yet did he favour much and respect the English to vvit the captiues both before and after he vvas King Making one of them once to ride behinde him but vvithall bidding him not sit too closse to him for filling him full of lyce Threatning sometimes but yet neuer giuing any of them so much as a blovve VVho in his fathers time were kept in chaines both by the neck and legs but he comming to be king releassed them and made them his gunners giuing them free leaue to goe vp and dovvne vvhere they vvould at their pleasure and doe almost vvhat they vvould and not a Moore that durst controll them but rather stood in avve of them Though their allovvance but short yet hauing that libertie they made the better shift And somtimes the king himself in a good humor vvould giue them money yea and sometimes in his mad humor Yet did he cause some English boyes perforce to turne Moores cutting them and making them capadoes or eunuches but aftervvards as they say repented saying he vvould neuer more force Englishmen to turne Moores for he found them better seruants to him being christians then Moores for that being christians they vvould stand by him and stay vvith him but being Moores run avvaie from him hauing more libertie and opportunitie And as he vvas as I may say contrarie to his nature thus favourable to the captiues so vvas he likevvise to the Merchants or others that came as hoare He being at Saffia one time standing vpon the vvals an English boate comming as hoare he called to one of the men to come to him vvho not knovving him to be the king al the while stood talking vnto him vvith his hatt on his head in Spanish after the King going into the castle called one of the English captiues to him asking him if his countriemen had no better maners bidding him gofetch the partie to him vvho being come the King vvould say nothing to him but only made him to attend there a good time and caused the English captiue vvhom he loued vvell to be committed to prison in the others steed and chaines to be put on him But the next day sent for him causing his svvord to be restored to him and so in a mad humor made him both vvith his svvord about his side and chaines about his legs to vvalke after him round about the vvals talking and iesting vvith him familiarlie as he vvas vvont and then after this chaines also vvere taken from him This onlie he did in iest to teach Englishmen good maners against an other time But to the Moores his iests vvere in good earnest a vvord and a blovve At the same place at Saffia he vvould take the vvomen a vvashing at the sea side vpon the sands set them vpon their heads cause vvater to be powred vvith reverence be it spoken into their vnseemly parts to see if it vvould come out at the mouth againe He mustered all the faire vvomen in Morocco vvhereof it seemeth he had a Catalogue causing them all at once on a sodaine to come forth into his great garden called Monsarat being a mile in length planted vvith Orange and lemmon trees and all kinde of fruits and there pitch their tents for 14. daies together praetending a pilgrimage vvith his vvomen to Gometta tovvards the hils of Atlas no man to come neare them no not their husbands but only their negras seruing maids himself onlie vvalking the round all these vvomen dailie and nightlie sitting and attending in their tent doores as he passed by to vievv them modestie mâ—y not repeat the rest At Gometta there is the monument of Siddie Blabbas one of their great saints and there a great stonne vpon vvhich the Moores vse to rub their bellies saying it cureth the chollicke and diuers other diseases Som Christians say this Siddie Blabbas vvas saint Augustine and that vpon this ston he preached both vvhich savour of superstition But Muley Abdala Melck had no such devotion for he vvent not there at all nor those vvomen neither almost famished and starved vvith hunger and cold for no man durst come neare them all that time to bring them any provision This vvas one of his tragicomicall parts One of the Englishmen vvhom he loued aboue the rest vvho had the chardge of one of his chieffe horses vvhich vvas verie vnrulie vvould bite any man that came neare him therfore alvvaies fast tyed vp the king comming into his rovva or stable spying some thing amisse about the horse vvould not strike the Englishman but commanded the horse to be let loose the Englishman to stand fast by him suffering the horse to bite him at his pleasure eueÌ„ the flesh froÌ„ his armes durst not stir till the king called to him An other time the same Englishman complayning to him that he had nothing to eate saue barlie the King caused the horse his Sabadera or bag in vvhich they vse to giue them provander to be hanged about the English mans necke full of barlie as they doe vpon their horses heads and so made him eate the barlie like a horse An other time the King hauing taken offence at some thing threatned to kill the Englishman and that vvithout delay an Alkaid vvilling to saue his life offered the King I knovve not how manie hundreth Duccats for him to buy him of the King VVhy thou foole said the King doest thou thinke I meane to kill him No I vvould not for so manie thousand Duccats but to the Moores as I said before his iests and threats vvere in good earnest One of his Negros vvhom he loued and called brother hauing offended him being in his Obadia that statelie pallace vvalking in his garden a little paradise in the middest vvhereof are diuers pleasant tankes or ponds he caused him to be cast into one of them forbidding any to come neare him to help him out againe at length hauing vvalked a turne or tvvo bade one goe pull him out vvho brought him vvord he vvas drovvned VVhat my brother drovvned said he Goe pull him out and burie him there vvas all the mourning An other he caused to eate his ovvne excrement asking hovv it relished Yea he himself cut a peece of the brawne of a mans
forced and are daily taken perforce I say and circumcised yea made Eunuches and so disabled at once both from being men and Christian men othervvise most shamefullie abused by those filthy sodomites not to be vttered Quis Italia fando c. temperet a lachrymis Indignities I say maiora lachrymis don not onlie to those poore Christians but euen to Christ Iesus himself and his vvhole Church and so to be apprehended vvithout any Nationall difference vvhose members vve all are and ought to haue a fellovv-feeling of one an others miseries or els vve are no Christians at all nor vvorthy that name I say hauing been an eye-vvitnes of those great miseries and indignities don to the poore members of Iesus Christ and consequently to himselfe as a poore member of his bodie I could not but be sensible thereof And present the bodies and soules of those poore members of Christ like that Leuite in the booke of Iudges dismembred cut in peeces and quartered to the eyes likevvise of all the tribes of Israel that is to say the vvhole church of Christ both Prince and people of vvhat nation soeuer all members of that his mysticall bodie all alyke interest therein obliged like the Israelites to ioyne together as one man to right and revenge euen vvith the hazard of their liues estates these so great injuries and indignities consider of it take aduice and speake your mindes Open thy mouth for the dumme in the cause of all those that are appointed to destruction Those poore sheepe appointed for the slaughter the slaughter both of bodie soule bought vvith so deare a price vvhose blood els vvill be required required I say at the hands of all those to vvhom God hath giuen power meanes For to vvhom much is giuen of him much shall be required but vvant hearts and mindes to right and redresse it speak your mindes Consider of it noble Princes and States by your Embassadors one vvith an other both for the present hovv to relieue all those poore soules that are in miserie both vnder the Turks and Moores and hovv to prevent the miseries of others for the time to come like to be taken by their ships at sea more and more and made slaues that is to say more than miserable if not preuented VVhich a fevv good ships had Christian Princes considered of it all this time and been so minded that is to say of one minde hinc illae lachrymae might haue prevented and may yet for the time to come To youe I speak most noble Princes and States that are of one minde consider of it take aduice speak your minds And in youe to the whole church of Christ let it be a freevvill offering both of Prince and people to Christ Iesus tovvards this so Christian honourable and charitable a vvorke A seacond redemption of his poore distressed members out of the hands of those infidels verie easie to be tamed and subdued vvith no great chardges to any out of a voluntarie contribution of manie And if I vvere vvorthie to advise and this my proposition and petition to take effect this free vvill offering or contribution to be deposited in the hands of the Lords the States Generall of the vnited Prouinces and the Prince of Orange vvho haue so great store of ships and can most convenientlie manage such affaires by sea and are so noble and so honourable as no doubt they vvould advance it to the vtmost That so this sacred seruice being managed by one vndertaking State consisting of so manie vvise States-men and prudent Senators may by Gods blessing receiue better successe than those expeditions in former times frustrated by the dissention of diuers Princes vndertakers as in the Turkish history may appeare The greatnes of vvhich Monarchie novv dravveth to a period as that of Rome magnitudine laboranssua both the one and the other as I said before novv in these last daies to be finallie destroyed and the Kingdome of Iesus Christ to be erected neuer to be dâ—stroyed c. I speak not these things of my self neither doe I now come from my self but haue the holy Prophets Apostles and Disciples of my Lord and Sauiour Christ Iesus for my vvarant And in his name onlie and no other euen from the King of Kings doe I novv come I magnifie my imployment more than an Embassadour and yet vvithall a petitioner to treat and entreat in the behalfe of his poore afflicted members vvho are not able buth vvith prayers and teares to treat or entreat for themselues Open thy mouth for the dumme in the cause of all those that are appointed to destruction There is my commission there is my vvarrant And I must in dutie and vvill stand vpon it it standing so highlie vpon the King my maisters honour the King of Kings expecting novv hovv I shall be receiued the successe vvhereof I refer to him And so conclude vvith prayers teares the vveapons of Gods church Quid enim nisi vota supersunt Praying God to put into the hearts of Christian princes vvith one mind to fulfill his vvil for the finall destruction both of that Antichristian this Mahometan tyrannie and the finall establishment of his aeternall Monarchie neuer to be destroyed AMEN AMEN FINIS Isa. 51. 14 Pâ— 46 The 6. Stilo 〈◊〉 in The 1â— Stilo novo Zec. 12 12. â—2 18. Isa. 51. A cast is a tribe or kinred Cus-cus a dish of meat in great request with them Gago froÌ„ whence al their gold cometh conquered by his praedecessors