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                                LETTER
                                 FROM

                          Monsieur _de CROS_,

    Who was an Embassador at the Treaty of _Nimeguen_, and a
    Resident at _England_, in K. _Charles_ the Second's Reign.)
    To the Lord ----

                               BEING AN
                                ANSWER
                                  TO
                           Sir _Wm TEMPLE_'s
                               MEMOIRS,

    Concerning what passed from the Year 1672, until the Year 1679.

                                LONDON,

  Printed for _Abel Roper_ at the _Mitre_, near _Temple-Bar_, 1693,




                  A LETTER from Mons. _de Cros_, &c.


_My Lord_,

I have been informed of the Calumnies that Sir _W. T._ hath caused to
be Printed against me. I know very well that Sir _W._ is of great
Worth, and deserves well; and that he hath been a long time employed,
and that too upon important occasions; but I am as certain, that he
had but a small share in the Secrecy of the late King _Charles_'s
Designs in the greatest part of the Affairs, for which he was
employed, from 72, till 79, which is the main Subject of his Work.

This Consideration alone might not perhaps have given me the
curiosity, or at least, any great earnestness to read his Memoirs; and
I might have very well judged that I could draw from them no
sufficient light and insight for the discovery of so many Intrigues.

Nay besides, I might have doubted whether or no these Memoirs might
not have been his own Panegyrick upon himself, and the diminution and
undervaluing of the real Worth and Glory of several Persons of
Quality, and distinguished by their Merit; whose Fortune and
Reputation Sir _W. T._ hath so much envied: for I am particularly
acquainted with Sir _W_'s Pride. He looks upon himself to have the
greatest Reach, to be the wisest and ablest Politician of his Time;
and a man may perceive abundance of Satyrical Reflexions scattered
here and there in his Work against most illustrious Persons, and that
he hath stuffed his Memoirs with his own Praise, and the fond
over-weening Opinion he hath of himself.

Without doubt this is quite different from that Sincerity and Modesty
which reigns throughout the Memoirs of _Villeroy_, in the Negotiations
and Transactions of _Jeanin_, in the Letters of Card. _Dossat_, those
mighty and truly eminent Persons, esteemed as such by the greatest
Princes of their Age; and even still are to this day, by the ablest
Politicians, with much more Justice and Glory than Sir _W_'s
Book-Seller stiles him, _One of the Greatest Men of this Age_. It had
been Sir _W_'s duty to have regulated himself according to their most
excellent Pattern.

I shall at present only quote one Passage, which I accidentally light
on at the first opening his Book, whereby one may easily guess at the
greatness of his presumption; in a short time, _My Lord_, I shall give
you occasion to observe many others. _The Negotiations_, saith he,
_that I managed and transacted at the_ Hague, _at_ Brussels, _at_ Aix
la Chapelle, _which saved_ Flanders _from the_ French _Churches, in
68. made People believe I had some Credit and Reputation amongst the_
Spaniards, _as well as in_ Holland.

'Twas a Piece of strange Ingratitude of the _Hollanders_ and
_Spaniards_, as well as of his own dear Country-men, so much concern'd
for the preservation of _Flanders_, not to rear him a Statue, which,
he saith, somewhere else, Mr. _Godolphin_ had promised him. Could
Sir. _W. T._ have done any thing to deserve it more; or was there any
thing more worthy of Triumph than to have preserved _Flanders_, a
Country so important to the _Spaniard_, and the only Bulwark of
_Holland_ and _England_? But Sir _W._ was apt to believe he could not
find any one who was better able to hammer out his own Glory than
himself; and he flattered himself with the Opinion that he should
erect himself as many Statues, as there are places in his Memoirs,
crouded with intolerable and ridiculous Vain-glory.

It was not the Negotiations, my Lord, that Sir _W._ tells us he
managed at the _Hague_, _Brussels_, and at _Aix la Chappelle_, which
saved _Flanders_ from the hands of the _French_, in 1668. The _French_
published that they were beholding to the most Christian Kings
Moderation for that Peace; who was willing to put a stop to the
progress and course of his victorious Arms. But the truth of it is,
they most justly ascribed all the Merit, and all the Glory of the
Peace, and of the Triple League, to the generous resolution and
stedfastness of the States-General. They made use, upon this occasion,
of a Minister of State far beyond Sir _W._ in Prudence, Experience,
and Capacity, one, who was in the Opinion even of his Enemies, the
most able Manager of Affairs of his Age.

I shall not undertake, my Lord, in this place, strictly to examine Sir
_W. Temple_'s _Memoirs_: I will do it shortly if God spare me with
Life; nay, and I promise you a Volume of Remarks, at least, as large
as his Book.

If, like him, I had the Vanity to procure the printing of Memoirs,
during my life-time, I could now have a fair pretence so to do, and
without all question I should publish more just and solid ones than
his are. Not, that I have the presumption to judge my self more
capable to do it; but, in several places he relates some things
falsly, whereof I am much better informed. The only Hero of my piece
shall be Truth, without Complaisance or Flattery; without Passion, no
not so much as against him: So that I shall do him the satisfaction
and kindness to instruct him better, even touching divers Matters,
which he performed and executed, without knowing so much as the reason
why he was made to act so.

It is not likewise, because I have been one of the Council of the King
his Master; yet I have had the Happiness, during some Years, to
partake in the Confidence of a Minister of State, who was in several
important, weighty Occasions, as it were the _Primum Mobile_ of that
Conduct and Management that surprized all the World. You know, my
Lord, what Credit he had, and of what nature his Intelligences were.
Sir _W._ may well imagine that I did not ill improve this able
Ministers Confidence, when Sir _W._ tells us, _That I had wholly
devoted my self to him_.

Men are not ignorant likewise, that oftentimes I have had some access
to the King's Ministers of State, and even near to the King himself,;
it did more especially appear, in the business for which I took my
Journey to _Nimeguen_; and it would be a great shame that a Man _more
cunning and subtil than them all_, according to the King's own
testimony, as Sir _W._ relates it, should not have had (considering so
much freedom of access and easiness) the address and cunning to dive
into the most hidden Springs of Deliberations and Resolutions, wherein
the _Swede_ and my Master had so great an Interest.

Be therefore assured, my Lord, that after my Death, nay perhaps,
whilst I am alive, if need require, and if I be obliged thereto, there
will appear some Memoirs, which will divulge some Matters the truth
whereof is still so carefully concealed, Sir _W._ doth ingeniously
confess that hitherto he was ignorant of them; He, who hath so much
quickness of Penetration, and seems to make us believe that he was the
King his Master's Confident.

You your self, my Lord, have often urged me to acquaint you with such
important Secrets, and of such great Consequence; and altho' I could
not possibly refuse, upon the account of that honour you do me to
afford me any share in your Favours, to let you have a glympse of one
part of what pass'd in one of the most important Negotiations of that
time; yet you had so much Generosity as not to take the advantage of
it you might have done, to the infallible ruine, as was believed, of a
Minister whom you take for one of your greatest Enemies; yet on this
occasion one could not well lay any thing to his charge, besides his
blind obedience to the Will of his Master.

The Truth of it is, I am not obliged to have the same Considerations
that with held me at that time, but yet I preserve a profound respect
for the Memory of the late King, and also a great respect for some
Persons, who are even at this time of the day so much concerned, that
I should hold my tongue, if it were not for that reason, it would be a
very easie matter for me, to make appear without any more adoe, how
basely Sir _W._ is mistaken in what he delivers concerning divers
Negotiations of _England_; and especially concerning my Journey to
_Nimeguen_.

My Design is not at all, my Lord, to write you a Letter full of
Invectives against Sir _W._ I shall not descend to the Particulars of
his Behaviour, and shall tell you no more of them at present, than
what is needful to let your self and every body else judge that I have
means in my hand to be revenged for the Injury he hath done me.

They will be without doubt more just Invectives, than those that he
fills his Book withal. He set upon me first. He writes out of a Spirit
of Revenge, with a great deal of Heat and Passion, and like a Man that
believ'd himself touch'd and wrong'd to the purpose. As for my part,
my Lord, I protest I write to you in cold Blood, I do so much scorn
the Injury that Sir _W._ affects to do me, that I should but laugh at
it, if my silence was not able to persuade you, and those persons
whose esteem of me doth do me so much honour, that I have but small
care of my reputation.

Sir _W._ hath shined a long time, 'tis true; but yet he hath borrowed
all his Splendour first of all from the protection of a Lord, whom he
betray'd at last, of whom he speaks too insolently in his Memoirs and
with abundance of Ingratitude; and then again he advanced himself by
the protection of certain other persons to whom he was devoted, to the
prejudice of his bounden Duty: _He did so well insinuate himself_
(that I may make use of the Terms he makes use of in speaking of me)
into the Favours and into the Confidence of those, near to whom it was
necessary for him to have access, that he might have been in a
capacity to render considerable Services to the King his Master, and
to his Country, if so be he had made better use of this advantage;
but he kept it just after the same manner as he had got it; that is to
say, that he often came short of exact Faithfulness and Loyalty, which
a Minister of State is obliged to maintain inviolably even in the
least Matters, that doth plainly appear in his Memoirs.

The late King of England _perceived_ it, and was so far convinced of
it, that he never made use of him in the last Commissions he committed
to his charge, to the States-General; but only out of Consideration of
the Acquaintance he had there, who made people conjecture that Sir
_W._ might have some Credit amongst the _Spaniards_, as well as in
_Holland_, as he himself assures us he had.

Neither was he employed, but only upon some Occasions, wherein one
would not employ a Man who was a Favourite of the Prince, or for whom
he had any value, or in whom he might confide; 'tis a Truth owned and
confess'd by Sir _W._ himself in his Memoirs; and a Man may judge of
it by the so opposite false steps, that he complains, they caused him
to make, and by all the things that were done contrary to the Measures
that he had taken, just as if the Court had had a mind to expose him.

Besides, the King slighted him after the Peace at _Nimeguen_, and laid
him aside, making very little use of him; it was not, what he would
make us believe, his love for his own ease, and his Indispositions of
body, that made him decline his Employments. Never did Man desire more
to have an hand in Affairs; he was removed by reason of the King's
secret dissatisfaction at his Services, by that Conduct and
Management, which in executing the King's Orders, when they were
contrary to his Opinion, and disliking to his Friends, smelt very much
like perfidiousness and Treachery, as may principally appear in
whatsoever he did for to evade and frustrate the King's Orders,
contained in the dispatch I left with him at the _Hague_, to
_Nimeguen_, for the conclusion of the Peace, by Order of his Majesty.

It is concerning this business that has made so great a noise for
which Sir _W._ takes occasion to reproach me, that I am going to
relate you some Particulars in the Reflections, that I am obliged to
make upon what he says concerning my self. Do not expect, my Lord,
that I should teach you here the true Cause of so extraordinary a
Resolution which so much surprized Sir _W._ with which Pensioner
_Fagel_ was so much astonished, and which in Sirs _W_'s opinion did
entirely change the Fate of _Christendom_.

I should please him very much, if I should discover so important a
Secret, in which many persons in the late and present Reigns have been
concerned. I do not doubt but Sir _W._ extremely desires it; he knows
very well the greater knowledge of these Practices would perhaps raise
a great deal of trouble in the Parliament to some people, whose Ruine
he desires at the bottom of his Heart, being little concerned for the
reputation of the late King, and envious of the esteem of those that
protected him, and who have bestowed so many favours upon him.

As for my self at this Conjuncture, in which K. _William_ endeavours
the repose of _Christendom_, and the Happiness of _England_ with so
much Zeal and Glory, I will not stir up the envy and hatred which has
too much appeared in _England_; and, which may perhaps be a great
Obstacle to that Union which is so necessary to the happy Execution of
the Undertakings of this great Monarch.

There arrived, said Sir _W. at that time from_ England, _one whose
name was_ de Cros. I shall not stop, my Lord, upon this Term of
Contempt, _One called_; it is a very malicious Expression, in respect
of my self; the late King of _England_ himself did me the Honour to
treat me in Passports, in his Letters, in his Commissions which he
charged me with: It is very impudent and rude to speak so of a Man,
who is of a good Family, who has had the honour of being employed for
almost twenty years, and whom a great Prince and a King have not
disdain'd to use as Councellor of State.

_He was_ (continues Sir _W._) _a French Monk who had lately quitted
his Frock for a Petticoat_. Here is a reproach which ill becomes an
Ambassador of a Monarch, who is Defender of the Faith, and of the
Protestant Religion; of one who declared so openly at _Nimeguen_, that
he would have nothing to do with the Pope's _Nuncio_. I do not know,
my Lord, that it is a disgrace to be a Monk; and much less, to have
been one formerly: There are indeed amongst them, as well as amongst
the rest of Mankind, some miserable Wretches, of a mean Birth, and of
a disorderly and infamous Life; People of no use, without Honour, and
without Reputation: Sir _W.T._ thought, without doubt, that I was of
that Number; but there are likewise several very famous for the
Sanctity of their Lives, of an extraordinary Merit, and of the
greatest Quality, Sons of Princes and Kings, and Kings themselves, and
Popes: But if this sort of Life is not now, as formerly it was, so
certain a Character of a good and honest Man, do's Sir _W._ think he
can dishonour me, in reproaching me for leaving a Profession which
himself thinks so contemptible, for a _Petticoat_?

It will not be material in this place to say how I was engaged therein
in my tender years. There is nothing more usual in _France_, _Spain_
and _Italy_, where ancient Houses do sacrifice a good part of their
Families in Monasteries; 'tis a Maxim, to say the truth, most cruel
and horrid.

Neither will I relate how, and after what manner I came out of it;
however, it was not for a Petticoat. I have remained several years
without so much as having any inclination to it; and it hath been
apparent that I have had much a-do, and was very much unresolved as to
this Choice.

There was too great advantage to throw off my Frock for the Petticoat
that I have taken, not to do it. It is a Petticoat of a Scotch Stuff,
and which hath been a greater Ornament, and done the Crown of
_England_ more good than Sir _W._ himself; if he do not know it, the
History of _England_ and _Scotland_ in these late Times may inform
him. I shall enlarge no further, that I may not engage my self to
publish the Misfortunes and Disorders of Sir _W_'s Family; which, I
suppose would not be like a Gentleman. I have no reason that I know
of, to complain, neither of his Lady, nor his Son, nor of his
Daughters.

Besides, had I even cast off the Monk's Habit for a Petticoat, I
should have done no more than a great many worthy deserving Persons
have done; yea, some of the Pope's _Nuncio's_, Cardinals, Bishops,
Kings and Princesses too, who have quitted the Veil for the Breeches,
whose Posterity, I make no question is highly esteemed and reverenced
by Sir _W._

_I did so well insinuate my self_, saith Sir _W. into the Court of_
Sweden, _that I obtained from thence a Commission to be a kind of an
Agent in_ England. That is very dirty. I have had the management of
Affairs and the Quality of Envoy, when Sir _W._ had no more than that
of an Agent or Resident at _Brussels_. I was Envoy at the Court of
_England_ before ever I was in _Sweden_, or before ever I had any
acquaintance there.

I went the first time to _Sweden_ just at that time the late King of
_England_ sent me into _Sweden_ and _Denmark_, about the beginning of
the Year 1676. The Pretence was for to demand the free passage of
Letters; which the King of _Denmark_ refused, for hastening the
Congress of _Nimeguen_, in procuring the expedition of Passports,
requisite to the Ministers of State who were to compose the Assembly;
and also to urge the Departure of the Embassadors belonging to those
two Northern Crowns. But now the true Cause was quite another Matter,
and of greater consequence; not for the King of _England_, but indeed
for another Potentate.--That shall be made appear some time or other
in my Memoirs.

Had I been a kind of a _Swedish_ Agent, I should not have defended
myself in that Point; I should have held it as a great piece of
Honour, since it could not chuse but be very glorious and splendid, to
have the Affairs of so great a King, in such important Conjunctures as
those were, committed to ones charge and care; but at the very time
Sir _W._ speaks of, I was dignified with the Quality of Envoy
Extraordinary from the Duke of _Holstein Gottorp_, acknowledged and
received at the Court of _England_ for such.

Sir _W._ knows that very well, there was sent him divers Memoirs to
_Nimeguen_ whilst the Mediation lasted, which I had delivered in at
_London_, concerning the re-setling my Master; but the Interest and
Concerns of this Prince were so indifferent to him, that I was fain to
beg of my Lord Treasurer to recommend them more particularly to Sir
_Leoline Jenkyns_.

Moreover, you may see Sir _W.T._ mentions in his Memoirs all the
Potentates that had any interest in the Peace of _Nimeguen_, except
the Duke of _Holstein Gottorp_, notwithstanding he had two Ministers
at the Congress, and although _France_ had stipulated for his
re-establishment in the second Article or Condition of the Peace, such
who shall peruse the Memoirs of Sir _W_ might be apt to think that the
Duke of _Holstein_ was reckoned as no body in the World, and that he
had no part at all in what pass'd in Christendoom, from the commencing
of the War in 1672, until the conclusion of the Peace 1679. But Thanks
be to God Sir _W._ is not the Steward of Glory and Immortality.

Sir _W._ therefore must have often read my Name and Character in the
Letters, and Orders of the Court, and cannot have forgot that he came
to render me a Visit at my Lodgings, at such time as he, by the King's
Order, was to confer with me upon what account Monsieur _Olivencrantz_
might be obliged to pass from _Nimeguen_ into _England_. That
_Swedish_ Embassador lodg'd at that time in my house.

'Tis true indeed, as the Interests of my Master were inseparable from
those of _Sweden_, I found my self engaged to be very much concerned
in the Interests of that Crown in whatsoever might depend on my care:
There was an Envoy extraordinary from _Sweden_ at _London_; and yet
for all that, the _Swedish_ Ambassadors did me the Honour to maintain
a very regular Correspondence by Letters with me: The King of
_England_ was also graciously pleased to hear me in what concerned the
Affairs of the _Swede_, although I was no otherwise authorized for it.
Monsieur _Olivencrantz_, his Voyage to _London_ was contrived first of
all by the King and my self, without the least medling or intervention
of any one of his Ministers; and then again in the Negotiation,
whereof my Voyage to _Nimeguen_ was a Consequence, the Restitution of
_Sweden_ was especially insisted upon.

All this made many Men believe, that I was intrusted with the
Management of the Affairs of this Crown; and Monsieur _Van Beuninguen_
believed it so to be, in the Letter he writ to the Lords
States-General, which hath since been printed; where he speaks with so
much uncertainty concerning the Voyage I was about to make to
_Nimeguen_, and about this Negotiation, that it was evident it was a
very great Secret.

_Since his being at_ London, saith Sir _W._ speaking of me, _he hath
wholly devoted himself to Monsieur_ Barillon, _the_ French
_Ambassador, under pretence to act for the Interests of_ Sweden.
Monsieur _Barillon_ was not at that time in _London_, when I was sent
thither, he came not thither till a long time after; I found Monsieur
_le Marquis de Ruvigni_ there, whom Monsieur _Courtin_ succeeded; and
after that Monsieur _Barillon_ came to take the place of Monsieur
_Courtin_.

I never devoted my self to this Ambassador, and I never had any
Correspondence or was in League with him prejudicial to my Duty. Nay,
it happened the King of _England_ one day, having a design more
especially to take into Consideration the _Swedish_ Interests,
Monsieur _de Barillon_ diverted him from it; whether for fear lest a
particular Peace should be clapp'd up between the _Northern_ Crowns,
or else out of Jealousie, that he might leave the Glory of the
Restitution of this Crown to the King his Master; and depriving it of
all other relief, might keep it in the mean time in a greater
dependance.

I was so much put to it, and fell out with Mr. _Barillon_ so much
thereupon, that I did not so much as speak to him in 3 or 4 months;
nay, one day as the King was at Dinner I cast in his teeth what had
past in the presence of _Monsieur Wachmeister_, Envoy-Extraordinary
from the King of _Sweden_. I do not question but Monsieur
_Wachmeister_ remembers it well enough; he is no less worthy to be
believed, than he is brave and undaunted.

And now after this manner I became all one with the Ambassador of
_France_. But yet I must confess that at such time as he stickled for
my Master's Interest and that of the _Swede_, I was intirely devoted
to him, thinking my self most happy that I was enabled to pay my most
humble Services to such a great Monarch, whose Subject I have the
honour to be, without failing in my Loyalty and Allegiance, which I
ought to pay him before all others whatsoever.

Whereupon, my Lord, I shall tell you one thing, in which _Monsieur_ de
_Ruvigni_, at present Lord _Galloway_, cannot but agree with me, no,
nor _Monsieur Olivencrantz_ neither. The departure of this Ambassador
for _England_, occasioned shrewd suspicions both at _Nimeguen_ and
_London_ to the _French Ambassadors_. Monsieur _Barillon_ was much
alarm'd at it, especially when he saw that Monsieur _Olivencrantz_
lodged at my House, and when he knew that I had offered a Project,
upon which I had the Honour sometimes to be in debate with my Lord
Treasurer, Monsieur _Barillon_ put all in practice to sift him to the
bottom; nevertheless all the offers of this _French_ Embassador proved
ineffectual, and wrought thing upon this Man; who, if a man would give
credit to Sir _W.T._ was intirely devoted to Mons. _Barillon_, and yet
Mons. _Barillon_ found him not to be corrupted or bribed.

One would think, my lord, that Sir _W.T._ has a mind to make Men
believe, that I was only sent into _Holland_ to carry him a Dispatch
from the Court; for he is always harping upon this String, when he
mentions my Voyage: Yet please to take notice, my Lord, That he
confesseth that it was I, _who procured this Dispatch_.

What means the King then, when he says, That _I had been too cunning
for them all_? There is not so much Prudence and great Abilities
required in a _Courier_; it is sufficient that he be expeditious. But
this Message must needs have been Honourable, to employ an Envoy
extraordinary of one of the greatest Princes of the Empire, except it
be what Sir _W._ hath been pleased to say, That I was so much devoted
to the King; yea, and to Monsieur _Barillon_ too, and so little tender
of my Master's Dignity, that I would comply with any Offices.

If I were a Courier or Messenger, Monsieur _T._ hath at least done me
a good Office, in representing me to be, what I would not have the
Confidence to believe my self; namely, that I was an able Messenger, a
Courier of the Cabinet, and very deep in the King's Trust and
Confidence. For before ever Monsieur _T._ spoke of this Dispatch,
which as he says, the Court sent him, to be kept as a mighty Secret,
_Pensioner_ Fagel, says he, _knew all the Contents, and was quite
stun'd at it_. Du Cross _had industriously informed the Deputies of
the Town_, (1 Copy from Monsieur _T._) _and had told them that the two
Kings were intirely agreed on the Conditions of Peace; that he had
carried Orders to Monsieur_ T. _to go to_ Nimeguen, _and that at his
Arrival there he would find the Letters of my Lord_ Sunderland, _the_
English _Ambassador, at_ Paris, _with all the Articles as they are
concluded between the two Crowns_.

Here is, I acknowledge, a very expert Messenger, very knowing in the
Secret, and very forward in the work, in 4 or 5 hours time, that I had
been at the _Hague_. Monsieur _T._ will be much more stun'd than
Monsieur _Fagel_ was, when he shall know hereafter what past at the
_Hague_, in that little time that I was there, not having discovered
what it really was, neither then, nor since. It was most certainly,
something of greater importance than to tell the Deputies of the Towns
the Contents of the Dispatch, with which I was intrusted. And Monsieur
_T._ will see cleerly one day, how far _this only incident did change
the Fate of_ Christendome.

_I pretend not_, adds Monsieur _T. to determine by whose Means, and
how_ du Cross, _obtained this Dispatch_. And a little lower, _All that
I could learn at Court, about this matter, was, that his Orders were
made up one morning, in an hours time, at the Dutchess of_ Portsmouths
_apartment, by the intervention of Monsieur_ Barillon.

It's pity, that an _English_ Ambassadour, that all the King his
Master's Council (if one can believe it) that a Man, who if he had
pleased himself, might have been several times Secretary of State,
should be so little informed, I will not say during his absence, while
he remained at the _Hague_, and at _Nimeguin_, but even since his
return into _England_, of what past there, and chiefly in that very
affair, wherein Monsieur _T._ was more exercised than in any other
Business that he ever undertook.

But how he could be know it, since neither the Duke of _York_ nor my
Lord Treasurer, nor hardly the King himself (if we may believe
Monsieur _T._) knew any thing of it; And _that these Orders were made
in one morning, in an hours time, at the Dutchess of_ Portsmouths
_Apartment, by the Interception of Monsieur_ Barillon.

Observe now, if you please, my Lord, the Malice of Monsieur _T._ in
Relation to Monsieur _Williamson_, on whom he would give in this
place, the Character of Perfidy, as he hath done in diverse other
parts of his Memoirs. Monsieur _T._ ought to have had at least, some
respect for the King, whose Orders Monsieur _Williamson_ did Execute.

_I never talkt of it_, says Monsieur _T. to the Secretary of State_
Williamson, as if he would lay that he was sufficiently perswaded
that Monsieur _Williamson_ was a Man altogether for _France_, and that
he was intirely devoted as well as my self, to Monsieur _Barillon_,
and that he was the Author of this Dispatch.

Is it not clear that Monsieur _T._ would make us imagine that Monsieur
the _Chevalier Williamson_, Secretary of State, the _French_
Ambassador, and the Dutchess of _Portsmouth_ promised these Orders. As
for me, tho' I had the Dispatch given me, yet he does not accuse me
openly in this place of bearing any other part in this Affair, than
only as a Messenger entrusted with the Conveyance. And not only so,
but I never went to the Dutchess of _Portsmouths_ Lodgings, she having
an irreconcilable aversion for me, and I for her.

Can there be a greater absurdity than this? To endeavour to perswade
his Readers that the most important affair of that time, on which
depended (says Monsieur _T._) _The Fate of Christendom was concluded
and made up, in one hours time, in the apartment of the Dutchess of_
Portsmouth, _by the Intervention of Monsieur_ Barillon.

Monsieur _T._ is accustomed so little to spare the King's Reputation,
that he fears not on this occasion, to prostitute it, in a strange
manner. He does not only charge him with partiality and connivance, in
suffering _Valentiennes_, _Cambray_, St. _Omer_, and several other
places in _Flanders_, to be taken, without Murmur or Opposition; But
the King of _England_ obliged as much as could be, in the Quality of a
Mediator, and more through the Interest of his Kingdoms to procure the
Repose of Christendom, yet corrupted by the _French_ Ambassadours, and
by the Charms of a Mistress, Sacrifices all _Europe_, and his own
Estate, to a Power that is naturally an Enemy to _England_. And this
without Ceremony, in an hours time, without the advice of his Council,
and hides himself in the Apartment of a Woman, as if he was sensible
that he went about an action the most unworthy of the Majesty of a
Prince, and the most opposite to the Felicity of his People that could
be. For what other Construction can any one make of what Monsieur _T._
says, and can any man conclude, otherwise when he reads this worthy
passage in his Memoirs?

Certain it is, that this Dispatch was made up by Monsieur
_Williamson_, and by the Kings Order. And since the King was pleased
to avoid opening his mind hereon to Monsieur _T._ giving him no other
answer, but that I had been _more cunning than all of 'em_; Monsieur
_T._ might possibly Address himself to Monsieur _Williamson_, who, it
may be, might tell him, _by whose means, and how_ Du Cross _had
obtained this Dispatch_.

'Tis plain that Monsieur _T._ despairs of penetrating into this
Affair; that he knows not where about he is when he speaks of it; and
that he only seeks to blacken the Reputation of the King and his
Ministers. If the Peace of _Aix la Chapelle_ is his Favourite, because
he hath the Vanity to believe it to be intirely his own work; 'tis
easie seen that the Peace of _Nimeguen_ is his Aversion, because he is
ashamed to have had so small a Part in it as he had, and that the most
glorious part of his Life is not to be found in that Negotiation.

I would have this Complaisance for Monsieur _T._ though he treats me
so ill; I would, at least, in some part, draw him out of this great
incertainty, on the subject of the Dispatch which I brought him.

He is deceived, when he imputes this Resolution to the Intrigues and
Perswasions of _France_. It was neither managed, nor taken, nor
dispatcht, at the Dutchess of _Portsmouth_'s; nor was it by the means
or intervention of Monsieur _Barillon_. That Ambassadour had no part
in it, but on the very Instant when the affair was concluding. He was
not so much as present at the Expedition, as he had not been at any
time at the Deliberations. The Marquiss of _Ruvigny_, the Son, carryed
the first News to the King, his Master, the same day that I parted for
_Nimeguen_. Monsieur _Williamson_ knew well what was contained in the
Dispatch to Monsieur _T._ in which there was nothing very mysterious.
But he was never privy to the secret of the Negotiation, and tho' he
was present when I took my leave of the King in Secretary _Coventry_'s
Office, yet he was then ignorant of the true subject of my Voyage, and
perhaps he never knew it.

The King was not at all precipitate, and the affair was not concluded
and dispatcht in an hours time. It was treated on, and deliberately
considered near Three weeks. There was time given to the Ambassadours
of _Swedeland_ to resolve themselves, and make their Answer. The
King's design was doubtless aimed for the good of _Europe_, and the
publick tranquility, but in truth, he had not in his Eye, nor did he
certainly believe _that happy Fate of Christendome_, for which
Monsieur _T._ labours so earnestly in consort with some particular
Persons, Enemies to the State, Seditious, and Disturbers of the
Publick Repose.

But _the King said pleasantly_, adds Monsieur _T._ _that the Rogue_
(Coquin) du Cross _had outwitted them all_. If Monsieur _T._ had not
made the King say this, and had said it himself, I might have applied
to him, with as much Justice as any man in the World, these Verses
which I have read somewhere,

Coquin, _he calls me, with mighty disdain_.

Doubtless, I should answer Monsieur _T._ thus,

_Seek your_ Coquins _elsewhere, you're one your self_, But the Person
of Kings is sacred. Besides, Can that be an abuse, which is spoken
_pleasantly_, without the least design perhaps of offending. For
_Coquin_ is a word which the Late King of _England_ often used, when
he spoke of People for whom he had notwithstanding Respect and
Consideration. 'Tis true, he used the word also very familiarly, when
he was angry, but at such times he spoke with indignation, and not
pleasantly.

The Parliament presented an Address to the King (as Monsieur _T._
reports) in which they represented the Progress of the _French_ Arms,
and desired him to stop it before it became more dangerous to
_England_, and the other Neighbouring Countries. _Don Bernard de
Salinas_ (continues Monsieur _T._) said to certain Members of the
Commons, that this Address had so exasperated the King, that he said
those who were the Authors of it were a Company of _Coquins_.

I remembred at my Arrival in _England_, in 1675, before I was to go
into _France_ in Quality of an Envoy, whither I acknowledge his most
Christian Majesty would not permit me to come, either because they had
informed him that I had embraced the Protestant Religion, or it may be
because the King of _France_ would not receive his own Subjects, in
the Quality of Ministers of other Princes. It happened, I say, that
the King of _England_ (to whom also I had a Commission) bid the
_Marquiss of Ruvigni_, one Evening, bring me to his Cabinet, and
himself come in with me.

The King enquired of me, at the first, what news I could tell him of
the Condition of the _Swedes_ Army in _Pomerania_, through which I
past, and exprest much concern that the _Constable Wrangle_, not
minding to pass forward into the Empire (as Monsieur _T._ says) had
thereby different pretences, had attacked the Elector of _Branderburg_
as vigorously and with as much success as he could. I told the King
the reason, which concerns not my present subject to report here.

Afterwards, I having informed the King of the State of _Germany_, the
King believing that I was to pass into _France_, spoke to me in these
very words. _Monsieur, tell the King, my Brother, that it is much
against my mind that I have made Peace with these_ Coquins, _the_
Hollanders, _Monsieur the Marquiss of_ Ruvigny, _who stands here,
knows it well_.

Sometime before the making of this Peace, the King talking with
Monsieur _de Shrenborn_ Envoy from _Mayence_, told him also, in
Relation to the _Hollanders, In a little time, Monsieur, I will bring
these_ Coquins _to Reason_. Monsieur _de Barillon_ writ to the Count
_d' Avaux_, the _French_ Ambassadour at the _Hague_, certain
Discourses which the King had concerning the _Hollanders_. The Count
_d' Avaux_ made use of this to encrease the just Suspitions of the
_Estates_. He carried the Letters of Monsieur _Barillon_, to Monsieur
_Fagel_. Whereupon, the _States_ made a terrible Complaint, and the
King of _England_ said on this Occasion to the Duke of _Lauderdale_,
that _Monsieur_ Barillon, _and the Count_ d' Avaux _were_ Coquins.

Had the King called me _Coquin_, seriously, I ought not to think it
any very strange thing; since he hath treated in the same manner the
most powerful and wisest Republick of the World, to whom he had so
great Obligations; two Ambassadours of his most Christian Majesty, of
extraordinary merit, and as honest Men as _France_ ever had; and also
the greatest Lords of his own Kingdom who were Authors of the Address
which the Commons presented him.

There is also this difference, that the King, speaking of those Lords,
those Ambassadours, and the _Hollanders_, he called them _Coquins_ in
anger, but when he spoke of me, he said it _pleasantly_ (according to
Monsieur _T._) _and that I was a cunning_ Coquin, _more cunning than
the Duke of_ York, _my Lord Treasurer, the Secretary of State_
Williamson, _and even the King himself_.

Either I am much deceived, or all the Ministers of the Confederates
that were then at _London_, would have been all _Coquins_ at this
rate, and Monsieur _Temple_ himself, and would have deceived those who
abused and deceived them. For besides, there is more credit methinks
on such like Occasions, _to be a cunning Rogue_, and to pass for a
more able Man than the most able Ministers of State, than to be the
laughing-stock, and the Fool of a _Monk_ and a sort of Agent; Sir
_William Temple_, and some others, were truly so on this occasion.

But I would acquaint Sir _W. Temple_ of what he has not perhaps heard
of, as he has done the like to me, I do not invent it to revenge my
self, and if I would make use of falshoods, I might make recourse to
more heinous Affronts; the truth of my Remarks upon his Memoirs, shall
be my full satisfaction. What I shall relate may be found in my
Letters upon that account to the Prince my Master, and his Ministers:
I took no particular care to divulge it immediately to Mounsieur
_Barillon_, to whom I was so much devoted; were he alive he might
witness that as well as the Aversion the King of _England_ always bore
to Sir _W. Temple_; and the little Esteem he had of him at bottom.
Upon my return from _Nimeguen_ to _London_, I went immediately to
Court, as soon as I came there I meet Prince _Rupert_, who askt me
with a sterne Countenance if the Peace was Concluded, I answered him
in the Affirmative, upon which he cryed out and said, _O
Dissimulation_. After having had the Honour to give his Majesty an
account of what was past, I told him of the ill humour I perceived Sir
_W. T._ to be in, and what I knew of his neglect of his Majesties
Orders; The King seemed very angry with Sir _W_'s. Proceedings, and
said, _he was a very impertinent R---- to find fault with my
Commands_.

But if the late K. of _England_, did not approve of my Conduct in the
affairs of _Nimeguen_, which in effect he declared at first in Publick
not to be pleased with, in which he play'd his part to admiration: If
against his will, I had truly inform'd the several Deputies at the
_Hague_, how that the two Kings of _England_ and _France_ were
intirely agreed upon Conditions of Peace; if this accident changed the
Destiny of _Christendom_, and what endeavours soever the English Court
had made, there were no ways to repair the Breach. If I was a Fool, a
peice of an Agent, or a Knave, How comes it that the King suffer'd me
to stay in _England_ near a year? nay, as long as my Master thought
fit. Why was the King so civil to me? Why did he recompence me for my
Voyage from _Nimeguen_? Upon what account did the King bestow several
other Favours upon me? How comes it, that I haveing made a great
Entertainment and Fireworks, to shew my joy for the Re-establishment
of the Duke my Master to his Teritories, that the whole Court should
do me that Honour as to be present thereat?

It was not my quality of Envoy Extraordinary of the Duke _de Gottorp_,
that hindred the King to express some kind of resentment against me,
and thereupon to bid me avoid the Kingdom. I do well remember the King
was just upon the point of making Mounsieur _Van Beuningen_ Ambassador
to the States General, to withdraw and get him out of the Land,
because he had got the word _Connivance_, to be foisted into a
Memorial he presented to the King, for the recalling of the English
Forces, which bore Armes in _France_.

_Don Barnard de Salinas_ was the Spanish Envoy; the King made much of
him, yea and loved him for the particular care he had in _Flanders_ of
the education of the E. of _Plym._ one of the Ks. Sons, He did nothing
but report up and down, that the King gave the Authors of the Address,
presented to his Majesty, by the House of Commons no better name than
Rogues. The King had his liberty to reject this Address, as indeed he
did, and no ways apprehended the Consequences of it at that time; yet
for all that, he banished _Don Bern. de Salinas_, not in the least
considering his Character, nor the Kindness wherewith he had always
honoured this Minister; Yea and he Banished him too, without any
respect to the King of _Spain_.

But, for me who had abused and deceived the D. of _York_, My Lord
Treasurer, ay, and the K. himself, who had overthrown all those fair
and vast Projects, which the Confederates had contrived at _London_
and _Nimeguen_; and Sir _W. T._ at the _Hague_, which had disclosed
the Kings dispatches, a _master piece of Secrecy, who was the cause of
quite changing the Fate of Christendom_: for me, I say, against whom
the P. of _Orange_ had written, and caused to be written so many
thundering Letters, against whom all the Ministers of the Confederates
called for Vengeance; against whom Sir _W. T._ levelled more of his
endeavours to destroy me than the Court did to repair this Breach, and
patch up the business, it lets me alone, it does not make the least
complaint to the Duke my Master; the K. does me a great many favours,
and laughs in his Sleeve at the Surprise, at the Sorrow, and
Complaints of the Confederates, and Sir _W. T._

After all that, can any body reasonably believe that the K. of
_England_ might have lookt upon me as _a Rogue_: And when he told Sir
_W. T._ after a droleing manner that I was a _Rogue and had out witted
them all_, may it not be probable, that he had a mind to jeer him,
and to make him sensible that he was taken but for Fool? It was very
like so to be.

I have not gone about, My Lord, to say in this place what I might say,
to wipe of all those scandalous impressions that Sir _W. T._ hath such
a desire to fasten upon me; I suppose I have given your Lordship
sufficiently to understand, that what he hath been pleased to say upon
this Theme of me, proceeds from inveterate Spite and Malice.

But, what way is there to get clear of one of the most Haughty, and
most Revengeful of men, who in his Memoires falls foul upon the
reputation even of the greatest Minister, who casts aspersions on the
Duke of _Lauderdale_, that most Zealous, and most Faithful Minister,
that ever the King was Master of; on My Lord _Arlington_ whom Sir _W._
is bound to respect as his Master, who was his Benefactor, that raised
him from his sordid obscurity, and as it were from the Dunghill, to
bring him into play, This ingreatful person forsooke him, that he
might catch at the shadow and appearance of mending his Fortune; he
would not have stuck to ruin My Lord _Arlington_ by base indirect
means: This is no hard matter to make out, even by Sir _W. T._ his own
Memoirs, but yet I am acquainted with some particulars upon this
Subject that make my hair stand an end, nay, and I have not only
learnt them from My Lord _Arlingtons_ own mouth, but also from a noted
Minister of those times.

What a piece of impudence to call in question and tax the Principal
Ministers, and the soberest Magistrates of _Holland_, viz. Monsieur
_de Beverning_, Monsieur _Valknier_ and others, generally esteemed by
every body. To arraign them, I say, some for Avarice, others for
Partiality, I had almost said for betraying their Trust. But above
all, to give such disadvantagious representations of the E. of
_Rochester_, and of Sir _Leoline Jenkyns_; that, it would have been
all one if he had said, that Sir _Leoline_, was a man of the other
World, a plain downright Ideot, void of insight and Experience: And
that _Law. Hyde_, now E. of _Rochester_, was a Lord altogether
unacquainted with, and no ways fit for the imployment the King gave
him at _Nimeguen_; nevertheless, Sir _Leoline_ was made Secretary of
State, and no notice at all taken of Sir _W._

As for _Laurence Hyde_, Sir _W._ speaks first of him, as if he were a
Youth, that should have been sent to the University, _I plainly
perceive_, saith he, _that the chief design of that Commission was to
introduce Mr._ Hyde _into this sort of employment, and to let him
understand the manner how the men behave themselves in the same_, then
he adds, _He excused himself out of modesty, to have any thing to do
with any Conference, and Compiling Dispatches_. Was it out of the
respect he owed to Sir _W. T._ or for want of Capacity, that My Lord
shewed so much modesty, that he would neither make Dispatches, nor
meddle with Conferences, what, he who had been ingaged already, as he
was afterwards in very important Affairs; who had been Embassadour in
the principal Courts of _Europe_, who was chosen as Chief of the
Embasie at _Nime__guen_, one who in all respects is so far above Sir
_W.T._ for all these great qualities; yet My Lord, affords Sir _W._
just as much _difference_, as a petty Scholar does a famous Pedant.
And to reward him, Sir _W. T._ would make him pass in the world, for
an Embassadour that was but at best his Scholar.

I make account to tell you, what Sir _W._ dare not acknowledge. Mr.
_Hyde_, being more subtile, and of greater Abilities than Sir _W._ and
of that quality too, that was not to be exposed, would not intermeddle
in a Mediation, which was like to suffer so gross Indignities, as the
Mediation of _England_ suffered at the Treaty of _Nimeguen_. One time
or other I shall publish those indignities in my Memoires, together
with the weakness, and tameness wherewith they were content to suffer
them.

But now, if Sir _W. T._ hath not spared such Illustrious persons as
these: No, not so much as My Lord Treasurer, at present Marquis of
_Caermarthen_, laying something to his charge, whom also he does not
do that right and Justice, which is due to so great a Minister of
State, one of the greatest Wits of the Age, for business; a person so
Loyal to the King his Master, that he sacrificed himself for his sake;
and after all, so full of zeal for his Country, that he hath bethought
himself of all expedients, and hath not feared to expose himself to
peril and utter undoing, that he might deliver it from the mischiefs
that threaten it; If Sir _Will._ hath not spared the Kings person,
whose Dignity and Reputation he so often sacrifices, can I hope to
escape his foul mouthed Language.

Peradventure he had better have done something else, & something
wiser; great Confident of Princes and Ks. the sole preserver of
_Flanders_, as he is, than to have entred the list with _a Monk, with
a kind of an Agent, and with a cunning Knave_. But his desire of
revenge hath prevailed, he believes himself cruelly wrong'd, and he is
in the right on't, for that at the _Hague_ and at _Nimeguen_, which he
was confident would be the Theatre of his Glory, they made him act a
disgraceful ridiculous part. He imagines I am partly the cause of it,
either because that my Voyage to _Nimeguen_ might have been the effect
of my Negotiation, which he might have gathered by the Kings answer,
or, because I might have done nothing in _Holland_, but administer
cause of Suspicions and Umbrages, that hasten'd on the Peace, in spite
of his Teeth, and Reverst the Treaty he had but lately concluded at
the _Hague_.

My Lord, If I be not mistaken, here is another occasion of Sir _W.T._
being vext at me. There was a Treaty a foot between _England_ and
_Spain_, for which purpose Sir _W._ was employ'd without any other
design in reference to _England_, but to abase the Parliament, and no
other on the _Spaniards_ side, but only to add a little more
reputation to their Affairs. Now the Parliament got nothing by it, and
the greatest advantage accrued to the Spaniard, who upon this occasion
made him really believe it, and so took him for a Cully. A sad
acknowledgment for having _alone saved_ Flanders _for_ Spain! I
ridiculed this Treaty, I made observations thereon, that were
published in _Holland_, and men judged that the observations were
well grounded: After that, and after the business of _Nimeguen_, I was
not to expect any Encomiums from so unjust a person as Sir _W. T._ but
still he might have writ more like a Gentleman, and have spoken of me
without ever loosing the respect which he owed to my Master, without
doing so great an injury in my person, both to my Name, and Family out
of a merry humour, for in whatsoever past, I performed the duty of a
Minister, both zealous and most faithful; Nay, and I did nothing but
even by concurrance and good likeing of the King of _England_.

I beseech you, My Lord, conserve for me the honour of your gracious
favour, and be fully perswaded, that I shall be all my life long, with
much respect.

                                               _Your most humble_, &c.


                                FINIS.




                                  AN
                            ADVERTISEMENT,
                            Concerning the
                           Foregoing Letter.


_It is now some Months ago since the Foreign Journals gave us to
understand, that_ Mousieur de Cross, _the Ingenious Author of the
foregoing Treatise, was meditating an Answer to Sir_ William Temple's
_Memoirs. As nothing more sensibly touches us, than to have our
Reputation wounded by those Persons whom we never injured. We are not
to admire that our Author who thought himself unjustly attacked in
these_ Memoirs, _took the first opportunity to justifie his
proceedings to the World; and if he sometimes falls out into severe or
indecent Language, it is to be remembred that he was not the first
Agressor, but that his Adversary taught him the way. How well_ M. de
Cross _has acquitted himself in this Affair, I will by no means take
upon me to determine. Let the Reader, without prejudice or partiality,
consider what both Parties say, and then let him judge for himself._

_When these_ Memoirs _first appeared in publick, I remember the_
Criticks _in Town were much divided in their Sentiments about them;
some found fault with the Stile, as too luscious and affected; others
censured the Digressions, as Foreign to the Business in hand, and
particularly the Story of Prince_ Maurice's _Parrot, that (to use Sir_
William's _own Expression_, p. 58.) spoke, and asked, and answered
common Questions, like a reasonable Creature. _Lastly, the Graver sort
of_ People _were scandalized to see several Persons eminent both for
their Station and Quality, and some of them still Living, treated with
so much Freedom, and with so little Ceremony; adding, that the Author
every where appeared too full of himself, which I find is the very
Character, which the_ French _Relator of the Negotiation at_ Nimeguen,
_has been pleased to bestow upon him._

_Indeed, as for the Language of the_ Memoirs, _a Man needs but turn
over half a dozen Pages to be convinced that the first Objection
is just and reasonable. Every Leaf almost stands charged with_
Gallicisms, _more or less; and indeed 'tis odd enough to see a Man of
Sir_ William Temples's _Constitution, who all along declares such an
invincible Aversion to the_ French _Nation, so fondly doting upon
their Expressions, even where he had no necessity to use them. But at
the same time, I confess, I am of opinion, that his Digressions are
not so faulty, it being not amiss in a just History, but especially
in_ Memoirs, _to relieve a serious Scene, now and then, with something
that is diverting and agreeable. As for the last Objection, I have
nothing to say to it at present, since it is not improbable but that
the following Book of_ Monsieur de Cross _may prevail with him to
attempt his own Justification._


                                FINIS.




                         TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES


1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.

2. Long "s" has been modernized.

3. Apart from changes listed above, printer's inconsistencies in
spelling and punctuation have been retained.





End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Letter from Monsieur de Cros,... being
an answer to Sir Wm Temple's memoirs... [1693], by Monsieur de Cros

*** 