government, the sultan insisted that this article should be amended so that he would protect, maintain, and return them at his own expense, as, he said, the stipulation was contrary to the usage of the Arabs and to the rights of hospitality. Though the sultan's kingdom has long since been broken up, the convention still appears in the compilation of treaties of the United States, and in its fifth article will be seen this insertion, "for the sultan can never receive any remuneration whatever for rendering succor to the distressed."[1]
To the letter of the President, the sultan replied in most expressive terms, the opening paragraph of which reads as follows: "In the name of God, amen. To the most high and mighty Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of America, whose name shines with so much splendor throughout the world. I pray most sincerely that on the receipt of this letter it may find his Highness, the President of the United States, in high health, and that his happiness may be constantly on the increase. On a most fortunate day and at a happy hour, I had the honor to receive your Highness's letter, every word of which is clear and distinct as the sun at noonday and every letter shone forth as brilliantly as the stars in the heavens: your Highness's letter was received from your faithful and highly honorable representative and ambassador, Edmund Roberts, who made me supremely happy in explaining the object of his mission, and I have complied in every respect with the wishes of your honorable ambassador, in concluding a treaty of friendship and commerce between our
- ↑ Treaties of the United States, 745.
