Shortly After The King's Son Came
To Tripolis To Visit His Father, And Seeing Our Company, He Greatly
Fancied Richard Burges, Our Purser, And James Smith.
They were both
young men, therefore he was very desirous to have them to turn Turks;
but they would
Not yield to his desire, saying, "We are your father's
slaves and as slaves we will serve him." Then his father the king sent
for them, and asked them if they would turn Turks; and they said: "If
it please your Highness, Christians we were born and so we will remain,
and beseech the king that they might not be enforced thereunto." The
king had there before in his house a son of a yeoman of our Queen's
guard, whom the king's son had enforced to turn Turk; his name was John
Nelson. Him the king caused to be brought to these young men, and then
said unto them, "Will you not bear this, your countryman, company, and
be Turk as he is?" and they said that they would not yield thereunto
during life. But it fell out that, within a month after, the king's
son went home to Gerbi again, being five score miles from Tripolis, and
carried our two foresaid young men with him, which were Richard Burges
and James Smith. And after their departure from us they sent us a
letter, signifying that there was no violence showed unto them as yet;
yet within three days after they were violently used, for that the
king's son demanded of them again if that they would turn Turk.
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