Letters written by Sir W. Temple, Bart., and other ministers of state, both at home and abroad containing an account of the most important transactions that pass'd in Christendom from 1665-1672 : in two volumes / review'd by Sir W. Temple sometime before his death ; and published by Jonathan Swift ...

To Monsieur de Witt.

Antwerp. Febr. 27. S. N. 1668.

SIR,

I Have received much Satisfaction as well a•• Honour by yours of the 25th, and am very glad to observe the same Conformity of Sentiments between us since we parted, that there ever was while I resided at the Hague. I shall write to you now with my own Ink; ha∣ving already done it with that of the Mar∣quess, who would not be satisfied, 'till I sent you that Dispatch: And I was forced to shew him my Letter before I sealed it, to see whe∣ther it were agreeable with what he had desi∣red me to tell you up∣on that occasion.

I had at my first Au∣dience prest him so closely to declare him∣self upon the Alterna∣tive, and surmounted all his Excuses upon de∣fect of Powers, by de∣siring that he would do it by way of Limitati∣on, not to be ratifyed 'till the Queen of Spain's further Pleasure; that at last he told me he would comply, provi∣ded France could be brought to ratify their Renunciation in Form in the Parliament of Paris; to content them∣selves with an Equiva∣lent for the Cities ta∣ken, which advance so far into the Heart of the Country: And last∣ly, if in case of a Re∣fusal from France, he might be assured before hand of the Assistance of England and Holland by a common Concert.

I told him, That for the two Points of the Renunciation and the Equivalent; he might reckon from our

joint Offices upon all we could obtain from France in favor of Spain. For, as to the Equiva∣lent, our own Interest oblig'd us to it, that we might leave so much a stronger Barrier be∣tween France and Hol∣and: And as for the Re∣nunciation, we desir'd it too, but do not con∣ceive it a Thing upon which Spain ought to be too stiff; since our Guaranty was the only strong and solid Renun∣ciation that could be made upon this occasi∣on: And for the As∣surance he desir'd, of being assisted in case of a Refusal from France; I did not doubt, but he had heard at least, the substance of our se∣cret Articles to that purpose; because their Ambassador at the Hague had told me, that a Jew of Amster∣dam had sent him a Copy of them; by which he must needs be well inform'd of our

mutual Obligations, as well as of our Intenti∣ons not only to assist Spain in case of a Refu∣sal from France, but to engage our selves in the Quarrel by an open War of all our Forces against that Crown.

After much Discourse to this Purpose, I thought fit for his en∣tire satisfaction upon the Article of our as∣sisting Spain; to let him know clearly, how far he might hope from us in the Point of the Re∣nunciation, and to re∣move a Thought which Don Estavan de Gamar∣ra had given him as co∣ming from me, That there was something in the Articles, by which it should appear, that we would not force Spain in case of a Refusal: For these Reasons, I say, I thought good to read to him our three separate Articles, with∣out giving him a Copy; for he profest to me, that he never receiv'd

one from the Jew, tho' he did the substance of them both from him, and the Baron de Bar∣geyck. I do not know, whether I did well in shewing them to him; but if you think other∣wise, I hope you will excuse me upon my good Intentions, and my usual plain dealing, to inform freely those I treat with, of what they have to hope or to fear. The Marquess took no Offence at our two first Articles; and onely said, He could not comprehend, why the States being newly Enemies to Portugal, and having still a Con∣troversie with them, should desire so much to see them strength∣ned by a Peace with Spain. I told him, my Opinion was; That they drove on this Af∣fair, because they be∣liev'd, that without a Peace with Portugal, Spain would not reco∣ver it self enough to

make head against France, and reduce Af∣fairs of Christendom to the Ballance that is ne∣cessary. He was satis∣fied with this Answer, and spoke no more of the Business of the Re∣nunciation: But, upon That of the Assistance we promis'd; he said, That the Words of the third Article were strong enough, but in too general Terms; and that after he should have accepted the Al∣ternative, France might yet, during the next Month, or April, make some Enterprises upon the Places on this side, before the new Levies could be raised, and take some of them, if he were not furnished with three or four thou∣sand Foot, which might be easily done from Holland: And tho' I told him, that we could not concert further with him before he had accepted the Alter∣native, and by that

means cast the Refu∣sal upon France, and by consequence, the Force of our Arms in case of a War, which we would not de∣clare 'till we were assur'd upon which Side the Refusal would lye; For all that, he would not be satisfied 'till I had writ you that Letter; from which howe∣ver, I lookt for no other Effect, than to let him understand from you, what he had already learnt enough from me.

On Sunday-Morn∣ing your Deputies arriv'd, and we had a joynt Audience with the Marquess, whereof they will send you an account. I shall only tell you, That as we prest him very much upon the Alternative, and he

on the contrary, prest us to a Concert for the Defence of Flan∣ders, and in the mean while to make our Preparations for War; I told him thereupon, what Pre∣parations the King my Master had al∣ready made, and those also made by the States on their side; but I desir'd him by his declaring himself upon the Al∣ternative, to let us know, against which of the two Parties such great Prepara∣tions must be em∣ploy'd. I leave it to your Deputies to en∣tertain you with an Account of the long Discourses he made upon this occasion, which however were moderate enough to∣wards our common Intentions. But we

finish'd them all, by giving him a Memo∣rial to the same Ef∣fect with what we had told him; upon which having re∣ceiv'd an Answer ye∣sterday in the Eve∣ning, we dispatch'd it away this Morning to the Ministers at Paris, to forward the Suspension of Arms, if possible, by our accepting the Truce proposed by France, to the end of March.

Yesterday came Letters from Spain: And tho' I have not seen the Marquess since, (who went early this Morning for Brussels) yet, by what I have learnt from other Hands, I have reason to think, that Don Juan may be at present upon his Journey hither, and perhaps at Sea,

and that he brings along with him con∣siderable Supplies both of Men and Money. The Talk runs, that he has eight thousand Spa∣niards, six hundred thousand Crowns in Specie, and eight hundred thousand in Returns. But of these Particulars I cannot assure you at present. I have al∣ready inform'd your Deputies more at large in what I have learnt upon the Sub∣ject of Don Juan; as I shall continually do before-hand of all things that I think you would be glad to know from hence: And I believe they will tell you, That there is no need to desire me to use them with all Confidence whereof they hav

already receiv'd Proofs enough since we met here: And, they will be in every thing the more ac∣ceptable to me, by how much I see they are in Esteem with you, and in Credit with the States, as in∣deed they deserve both from their Qualities and their Persons.

Pray give me the Liberty to desire you will send a Copy of this Letter to the Dutch Ambassadors at London, with Di∣rections to shew it my Lord Arlington; because I cannot so well trust the Nieu∣port-Pacquet, too much expos'd to the Inspection of the French; and I am not yet so perfect in my Cipher as to write

long Letters in it upon these Affairs.

I desire you will remember me to my Friends at the Hague, and believe me, as much as any Man in the World,

Sir,

Your, &c.