Letters written by Sir William Temple during his being ambassador at The Hague, to the Earl of Arlington and Sir John Trevor, Secretaries of State to K. Charles II wherein are discovered many secrets hitherto concealed / published from the originals, under Sir William Temple's own hand ; and dedicated to the Right Honourable Sir Thomas Littleton, Speaker of the House of Commons, by D. Jones, Gent.

LETTER XVII. Hague, Ianuary 25. S. N. 6••▪ (Book 17)

SIR,

I Hope my Letter last Post to my Lord Arlington, will excuse my not having that Busie Day acknowledged the Ho∣nour of two I received from you since my last, of the 1st and 5th; The first of them will have received its Answer by my last Dispatch upon the Marine Affair, with the Article as I have hopes to pass it here, in case it be approved in England; The last containing only the Promise of my In∣structions, and your Complements to Monsieur Van Benninghen, will need no re∣turn: For I shall acquit my self of them at his Return from Amsterdam, where, I hope, he will do us Service in our Marine Busi∣ness: But I can assure by Advance, that he is much your Servant, and upon all oc∣casions does you Justice, which is as much as you need desire, and more then falls to every Man's Share from his Friends.

I mention'd in my last, to my Lord Ar∣lington, a Writing sent hither from Swe∣den, to prove us and the Dutch obliged to pay their Subsidies, which is long, and di∣gested by Civil Lawyers rather than Statesmen, or Merchants; And therefore I trouble you not with sending a Tran∣script of it, but have copied out in the en∣closed Paper, the Parts that I most reflect∣ed upon, not so much for their Strength of Argument, but for an Indication of the Temper with which it was written. For as to the first, I think all may be answer'd in two Words; First, that we never pro∣mised it, and then, That we never intend∣ed it. Nor is it very fair to say, The King has so interpreted it, because he was once content to pay his Share in case of dividing the Sum, nor in the course of the Writing to make themselves pass for the only Prin∣cipal that was of weight to make the Peace, for which they draw into Argument, Expressions we have used to that purpose, with intention only to oblige Spain to do them the Reason we desire.

I have since discoursed this to Monsieur Silvercrown, and told him, I thought it better this Paper might not be avowed by any Authority in Sweden, while we were in hopes of obtaining their Satisfaction from Spain, and upon the pursuit of it,

as we are at present; And upon his pressing the necessity of finding some speedy way to satisfie them, for fear they should be indu∣ced to take their Measures with France: I told him I would not suspect that, knowing they were engaged in this Alliance by other Considerations than that of such Sums of Money; That however, such Ar∣guments might be used to Holland, but not to us; For if by Sweden's, or Holland's fault the Business of our Triple-Alliance should break, and each Party be left to take their own Measures with France, we could very well give both of them the start of us in that Pursuit, and yet come sooner and best to the End: For we understood our selves so well as to know we were more considerable to France, either for or against them, then not only they, or Holland▪ but then all the Nations of Christendom besides; And if we were at any time to be bought, there would be more given for us, than for them all.

He confest it, and assur'd me of all his Endeavours to temper and represent Mat∣ters so in Sweden, as to bring all to a good Issue, if Spain proves any thing reasona∣ble: And, in pursuit of that, I assur'd him of His Majesty's utmost Endeavours, and of my having received the most pres∣sing Commands.

Well, I hope our turn will yet one Day come, of speaking as boldly in our Negoti∣ations, as any of our Neighbour Kings; For what has been may be again. The French give us a good Example, and will in time, I suppose, come with the Roman Ambassador to draw a Circle about the Prince they Treat with, and command an Ay, or No, before they stir out. they are great Designs to be driven on all at a time, to have a Fleet of a Hundred Men of War, with all Brass Guns, to Esta∣blish a Trade in the Indies, to value their own Manufactures by Exclusion of all o∣thers, to resume all the Domain of the Crown, to suppress utterly all those of the Religion in France, to conquer Flanders, and to be the sole and positive Arbiter of all Differences among his Neighbours. Unto the Issue of all these, must go a great deal of Time and good Fortune, and Neg∣ligence or Ill Counsels of other Princes and States.

In Spain, I doubt not, they will find e∣nough of both, but if what the Baron d'Isola promises be true, I hope not enough to hinder the Effect of our Triple-Alli∣ance; Though I am, I confess, better sa∣tisfied of the Parts, than the Plainness, and Sincerity of that Minister: Other∣wise he makes us believe there will be

Two hundred Thousand Dollars ready to advance upon the Swedish Subsidies, and gives hope of the rest at easie Terms, in case they like the Project of our Gua∣ranty.

I have nothing to encrease this Trou∣ble, beyond the Assurances of my being always,

SIR,

Your most Obedient, and most Humble Servant, W. Temple.