Part 3
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.