THE Present Interest OF TANGIER.  
TAngier is a pleasant City as any in the world, in a most wholesome Air, pure and free from all Infection, situate in a most rich and fruitful Soil, able to yield all things needful to the life of man. There is no pleasure or delight, but this Country, if open, would afford to the Inhabitants, without the assistance of Foreign Nations. The Air is temperate, and cooled with the annual Brise's in the Summer, called Etesian Winds; and often purged from the Distempers, which otherwise might reign there, by the Easterly and Westerly winds. By this means it happens that it is neither very hot in the Summer, nor excessive cold in the Winter, but temperate, and agreeable with the disposition of our humane bodies. The Moors thereabouts live commonly to a great age: I have seen many amongst them about Eighty and Ninety years of age, very lusty. And since Tangier belonged to England, none can say that ever the Plague hath been in that City, or that there hath been any Infection to carry away the Inhabitants, proceeding from the Air or Country. I confess many have died in this place, but most through their own Follies, Debaucheries, and Lust; which have destroyed here many of his Majesty's good Subjects. If we could beg such a Wind from Almighty God, as to drive from thence these Infections, our English bodies would be very healthy, and Tangier would not be so odious to the Nation.  
It was built by the Phoenicians, if Procopius may be believed: for he tells us of a Pillar near Tingi, where these words were engraven in the Phoenician Language: Nos fugimus à facie Josuae filii Nun. They were then the greatest Traders of the world; they chose this place for that purpose, to enrich themselves by that Art. Of all the Cities of the world, I know none better situate for Command and Trade than this: It lies at the mouth and passage of all the Levant-Trade; no Ship can go in or out of the straits, but Tangier must see it in the day; and in the night four or five Men of War cruising to and fro, some in, others out of the Mediterranean, may take all the Ships that sail that way: none can escape, without a strong Convoy, which would be too chargeable for the Dutch, French, and other Northern Merchants. If Argier were situate where Tangier is now, all its Enemies must forbear Trading: and if Tangier were in the hands of the Moors, or of the French, or some other Prince strong at Sea, our Nation were undone, and our Merchants must bid farewell to the straits in time of War. It is an easy matter for the Prince of Tangier therefore to command our Northern world, and to give Laws to Europe and Africa. The situation of Rome, of Carthage, of Constantinople, of London, Paris, and other Imperial Cities, is nothing near so advantageous for that purpose as Tangier, if all things be considered.  
The Country and Soil is fruitful in Corn, Honey, Cattle, Beef, Sheep, Goats, Camels, Horses, and Buffles. The Woods are full of Bees, and wild Beasts that have excellent Furs. The Earth would bear good Wines of all sorts: for there are the sweetest Grapes of the world. Here are all manner of Eastern Fruits, Pomgranats, Oranges, Melons, Lemons, Figs, etc. So that if our English did husband the ground about Tangier, there is nothing that we fetch from Spain, Italy, Greece, or France, but we might have it there. It is the nearest Plantation that belongs to England, within a fortnight or three weeks sailing from the Downs.  
So that if all things be considered, it seems no little wonder that Tangier hat not flourished since it is in the hands of such a powerful Nation as the English. But our unhappiness there, is not to be ascribed to the place, the Air, or Country, but to several other things which I shall here set down, not only for the public satisfaction, but that we may understand the true causes of the People's aversion for Tangier, and be better able to remove them for the future.  
First, I shall begin with Religion. It was never there truly encouraged, but in the short Governments of the Earl of Tiveot and Colonel Norwood. We can never expect a City will flourish, when all manner of Debaucheries, Profaneness, Irreligion, and Idolatry, shall have the liberty to appear without a check; when the Governors themselves have been the Examples to encourage the contempt of Virtue and Piety; when either openly or privately they have made it their business to ruin the Protestant Interest, and to call those persons in question for their Lives, who have been the greatest supporters of it. Let profane men think what they will, there was never yet a City or a Nation that ever prospered since the beginning of the world, that slighted the Religion of the Country. The Romans Prosperity is ascribed by St. Austin to their sincere profession of their Idolatries. In Tangier too many have cast off all respects due to the God that hath made them, and mind nothing but Debauchery and Lewdness: others have harkened to the solicitations of some Popish Priests, and make profession of that Religion, that they might by the means of their Absolutions, enjoy their Vices and filthiness without remorse of Conscience. For the benefit of Trade, and the encouragement of Strangers, all sorts of Religions should be allowed; but it is against all policy, that the English Subjects and Officers that receive from the King their Livelihood, should be suffered to change their Religions as often as their Garments, and wantonly to profess which they please. Not only from hence, but from several other passages, Religion hath received great discouragements, to the open scandal of the Protestant Profession, and the dishonour of the Church of England in the eyes of the Nations round about.  
The second cause of Tangier's unhappiness is, that most of the persons that have been sent thither, have never intended to inhabit there, but have been needy, and greedy, and have only designed to live there a while to fill their Purses, and then to return for England with their Gains. By this means the soberer Inhabiters of Tangier, from whose industry and good behaviour only we can reasonably expect Prosperity, impoverish the City, and discourage the rest. And many other inconveniencies proceed from hence, to his Majesty's prejudice and of the place. To remedy this inconveniency, such Laws should be enacted as might encourage sober men to live there, and discourage their departure upon such unhandsome terms as they commonly leave the Garrison.  
The third cause is, the difference and variance between Traders and Soldiers, encouraged too much by the Ruler's covetousness, and the Citizen's poverty and wants; and the unreasonableness of both, unwilling to comply with one another: For this discourageth all wealthy persons from inhabiting there, because they are not countenanced, nor have those Liberties which it hath pleased his Majesty to grant them. Some in a late Governors' time, for frivolous accounts, have been called in question for their Lives, condemned contrary to all Law and Reason, to gratify his displeasure, and others of the female Sex. These, and such like proceed, ruin Tangier, and hinder it from that Prosperity and Wealth which it might easily attain to.  
Fourthly, Tangiers ill fate, since it is in the English hands, is due to the ill Reports spread abroad of the place by the vulgar sort, encouraged by the many persons dead there through their own miscarriages, and the ill usages of Popish Officers, who to my knowledge have valued more ten or twenty shillings at Payday, than the lives of their Soldiers; and have not treated them like men, much less like Christians. I have saved the lives of a great many of my Neighbours, when they have wanted necessaries: for which good deed I have been reproved by some Irish Officers, who expected their Pay between their death and the following muster. The meanest Soldier must be encouraged, and not suffered to want when fallen into a sickness, though most times through his own intemperance. I dare affirm, and will offer to prove, that the unmercifulness of the Officers, and the neglect of Physicians and Apothecaries, who though paid for that purpose by his Majesty, have killed the three parts of those that are dead in Tangier. I have sometimes buried three or four in a day, dead for want of that which his Majesty hath provided for them in case of sickness.  
Fifthly, Another cause of Tangiers unhappiness, is, the strange Victories of the Moors, and the sad Massacre of the English, when they have gone out against them in the open field; with the vast opinion of valour they have gained amongst us, through our unskilfulness, or rather unadvisedness, and their successes. The Defeat of Fines's Party on the first third of May, and of my Lord Tiveot and his Company on the second, have struck a great terror into our English hearts, and caused us to look upon a Moor as an excellent Soldier: but truly we are mistaken: I know their valour, and the strength of their Country, more than any that hath yet been in Tangier; for when I have been amongst the Moors, I have inquired many things concerning their Order, Militia, Numbers, etc. which I perceive we are ignorant of.  
The greatest strength of the Moors Army, is in their Horse and Lance Foot: they have, Armed partly with Guns, and partly with Lances; but they have no great Guns, neither do they know how to manage them, nor carry them into the field. They fight in disorder, without Ranks or Files, the Horse by themselves, and the Foot by themselves. In set Battles, which have seldom been seen in this Country, the Horse make up the Van and the Rear, and the Foot the main Body; so that many times the Foot have nothing for them to do, but to destroy the Defeated Enemy, when the Horse hath routed and terrified them. But they are for Ambushes and Surprises, because their Country is very proper for that purpose. Muley Arxid overcame Gayland in this manner; as he had before ruined Bembouka. In this Country they have but little or no standing Army; all is made up of their several Divisions, or Companies of Arabs scattered about, who know their distinct Monkadems or Colonels under whom they are to fight, and to whom they are to repair in all Alarms. But they cannot subsist long in one place, because they have no Purveyors, nor other Provisions but what every Man brings with them, unless it be some small quantity which the place where they lie may afford them in case of necessity. They fight in the same manner as the Roman Authors have represented the Ancient Mauri; neither are they better skilled in martialling an Army, or fight. Let any man that knows the Art of of War compare them with us, and judge whether we may not be able to encounter them. If they have had successes against us, it is through our weakness and unpreparedness. We have marched against them only with Muskets and Swords, and they have come against us with Horse and Lance: before our Men had time to discharge their Muskets, the Horse and the Lance had disordered our Men, broken their Ranks, and cut them all to pieces on a sudden. Had we a wall of Pikes to oppose against them, lined with Muskets, all the Horse of Barbary could do us no mischief, and we might safely march through the Country. An example we have lately had of a worthy Commander, Sir Palms Fairburne, who made his Retreat with his Party without any considerable loss, only with the assistance of a stand of Pikes, which kept off the Moors Horse, whilst his Foot fired upon them. Their Foot signify nothing, their Horse have no Guns, or very few, only Pistols. For their Infantry, they are unskilful in the managing of a Gun, neither have they the courage to stand a shot. The Portugueses seldom encountered with the Moors, but they had the Victory; therefore we must ascribe all our losses to the unadvisedness of our Commanders, and the disorder of our Men, and their want of those defensive Weapons which were able to keep off the fury of the Moors Horse. I dare engage with five or six thousand English, against above twenty thousand Moors, if the English may have those Arms and Provisions that become them. Such is the weakness of this Country, that they can scare bring together, under one Commander, twenty thousand men; for they are all divided under several head of Families, since the death of the last Emperor of Morocco, and will not consent to set up a Monarch again. He therefore that hath the longest Sword gets the Victory, and the chief command. In this case, it is an easy matter for us to make an interest for ourselves, by encouraging some party, and imitating the Romans policy, who never ventured against a Nation or People, but with the assistance of some of their own Soldiers. But it is our unhappiness, that we know not what is done amongst the Moors; we live in Tangier within the Walls and Lines, and unless we send a Flag of Truce for some pitiful business, we scarce see the face of a Moor in a years time, but at a distance, unless some of them come to bring Provisions to us. But we have never sent any to understand their Country, to search into their strength and dependencies, to examine their Interest, their inclinations, and those other things which we might improve to the advantage of Tangier. If any be sent for that purpose, he must not be a Nobleman; for they care not to see any greater state amongst them, than they observe. Their greatest Princes live as King Evander in Virgil. As they have a great respect for Clergymen, I think such a one, if ingenious, and acquainted with the Language of the Country, might do much good, either to persuade them to a Trade and Peace with us, or to understand those particulars, which might cause us to secure the Interest of Tangier: that may be done either by Peace or War. But let us be well assured of this, that whilst we keep only the Walls of Tangier, we shall only spend Money; it will never bring any profit to our King, unless the Country be opened for us; which may be easily done, with little or no expense: and now, instead of several thousand pounds which His Majesty spends in the maintaining of Tangier, it shall not only maintain itself, but yield a considerable Revenue to the Crown of England. For the future it may be rendered a dreadful City to the Moors, Spaniards, Turks, and French, and keep in the incursions of those of Argier. If Tangier were in that condition, Men would desire to go over and inhabit there, for the conveniency of Trade; some neighbour Factories would settle there, and we should vent all the Commodities of Wool which lie upon our hands, amongst the Africans; for now the Dutch and French furnish them. We should secure our Merchants from the Pirates of Argier, for than they would not dare to break with us upon every slight occasion. When the Vandals Conquered Africa, it was stronger than it is now, and they had not the advantage of Guns as we have, yet they found but little difficulty to subdue the Inhabitants, who were then assisted by the Romans and Grecians.  
I could offer many things for the good of Tangier, from my knowledge of the Country since the beginning of the world; but I know not how acceptable these things will be. I am certain, if a right course were taken, the Mole, which hath been long building, might be speedily finished; Tangier might be made the most prosperous and hopeful City that belongs to England; and it should repay to His Majesty all that hath been expended in the keeping of it since it was ours. If I be required, I shall be willing, not only to give a further Account, but also to be instrumental in the promoting of the good of Tangier.  
FINIS.