active 17th century Simon Du Cros

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 ”

“ He carried the Letters of Monsieur Barillon, to Monsieur Fagel. Whereupon, the States [Pg 24] 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 ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 perfidi [Pg 9] ousness 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 [Pg 11] 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ He looks upon [Pg 3] 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 ”