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.