[Illustration: EDICT OF THE EMPEROR MOROCCO. _Vol. II., page 153._]
_To His Sheriffian Majesty_ THE SULTAN OF MOROCCO.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MAJESTY,--I come supported by the sanction and approval of the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain, and on behalf of my co-religionists in England, my native country, as well as on the part of those in every part of the world, to entreat Your Majesty to continue the manifestation of Your Majesty's grace and favour to my brethren in your Majesty's Empire.
That it may please Your Majesty to give the most positive orders that the Jews and Christians dwelling in all parts of Your Majesty's dominions shall be perfectly protected, and that no person shall molest them in any manner whatsoever in anything which concerns their safety and tranquillity; and that they may be placed in the enjoyment of the same advantages as all other subjects of Your Majesty, as well as those enjoyed by the Christians living at the ports of your Majesty's Empire: such rights were granted, through me, by His Imperial Majesty Abd-ool-Medjid, the late Sultan of Turkey, by his Firman, given to me at Constantinople, and dated 12th Ramazan, 1256, and, in the month of May last, confirmed by His Imperial Majesty Abdul Aziz, the present Sultan of Turkey.
Permit me to express to Your Majesty my grateful appreciation of the hospitable welcome with which Your Majesty has honoured me, and to offer to Your Majesty my heartfelt wishes for Your Majesty's health and happiness, and for the prosperity of Your Majesty's dominions.
In the Name of God, the Merciful and Gracious There is no power but in God, the High and Mighty.
Be it known by this our Royal Edict--may God exalt and bless its purport and elevate the same to the high heavens, as he does the sun and moon!--that it is our command, that all Jews residing within our dominions, be the condition in which the Almighty God has placed them whatever it may, shall be treated by our Governors, Administrators, and all other subjects, in manner conformable with the evenly-balanced scales of Justice, and that in the administration of the Courts of Law they (the Jews) shall occupy a position of perfect equality with all other people; so that not even a fractional portion of the smallest imaginable particle of injustice shall reach any of them, nor shall they be subjected to anything of an objectionable nature. Neither they (the Authorities) nor any one else shall do them (the Jews) wrong, whether to their persons or to their property. Nor shall any tradesman among them, or artizan, be compelled to work against his will. The work of every one shall be duly recompensed, for injustice here is injustice in Heaven, and we cannot countenance it in any matter affecting either their (the Jews) rights or the rights of others, our own dignity being itself opposed to such a course. All persons in our regard have an equal claim to justice; and if any person should wrong or injure one of them (the Jews), we will, with the help of God, punish him.