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 XVIII. Hague, Ianuary 29. S. N. 69. (Book 18)

SIR,

I Have since my last received both yours of the 8th and 12th; The first accom∣panied by my Powers and Instructions, which are full, and clear to those Ends we have lately had in our Eye. I shall use them to my best Endeavours, according to His Majesty's Intentions, particularly the last Article, and see not any thing at present to make me despair of Success, in case the natural quickness of Counsels in France, and slowness in Holland, suffer what we are about, to be effected in time.

The State of this Matter, according to the present Dispositions I meet with here, I have entertain'd my Lord Arlington with, more at large this Post, and so shall for∣bear your trouble in the Repetition.

I am glad, in the mean time, to find you so positive; That if Spain perform

on their part, you shall prevail with Swe∣den to go as far with us as the Guaranty of the Peace at Aix, in its extent; For of that I can yet draw no confident Hopes from the Swedish Ministers here, though they are both inclin'd to it.

I was very sorry to give my Lord Ar∣lington an Account in my last, of a new unlook'd for Stop given my former hopes of concluding suddenly the only Article which remains disputed in our Marine Pro∣positions: Monsieur de Witt has since en∣tertain'd me with a larger Account of the Jealousies raised upon that Matter among the Indian Directors at Amsterdam, com∣ing likewise from Monsieur Van Benning∣her; But I find nothing new in it, beyond the Suspicions they have conceived of our intending something they think not of, by desiring a General Article for prevention only of an Inconvenience, which we have not yet suffer'd, or at least before we think fit to give any one Instance of it, to instruct them only in the Nature of the Grievance we apprehend: But I shall en∣large no further upon it, since Monsieur de Witt tells me, That Monsieur Van Ben∣ninghen resolves to give you a large Ac∣count from Amsterdam of all that is sug∣gested there upon this Subject. For the Pensioner, he seems to have no other Re∣flections yet upon it, then that such a

Clause, if we, that is, our Merchants, have any reserved Meaning in it, should upon change of Ministers, or Conjunctures, be made the occasion of new Disputes be∣tween us, as he says Sir George Downing's Interpretation of those Words in the Treaty of 62, Litem inceptam prosequi, or de poursuivre leur procez entamè; Drawing that which was intended for a legal Decisi∣on before the Judges where it was begun, to a political Decision between the King's Ministers and the States, was, in short, the Ground of the last War: How truly he says this, I know not, but, I believe, he truly means to prevent all occasions of fu∣ture Quarrels between us, while we are of that mind: And therefore I am still in hopes of his Endeavours to pass this Arti∣cle, if that Suspition may be taken away▪ Which, perhaps, one or two Instances ei∣ther of what we have suffer'd, or what we apprehend, would do. In the mean time I cannot perswade him to what you seem to agree in declaring, That without this Point they yield us nothing in all the rest: For they think it is a very great Matter they yield in the Description of une ville bloquèe ou assiegè••, to be both by Land, as well as Sea, which cannot be done there: so that he says, we gain the Liberty of Trading with all Nations, with whom they may be at War, and lie before their Havens with their Fleets, which was a

Point could never be gain'd of them in Cromwell's Time. They think likewise they yield a great deal in that of the case where one Company has contracted for the sole buying up any Commodity of any Nation: But I have no reason to think you are very well pleased with my repre∣senting their Arguments or Discourses up∣on this Subject, no more than they are with yours, tho' both, perhaps, be neces∣sary; And therefore I shall not enlarge this Trouble beyond the Assurances of my being always,

SIR,

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