Modesty. Sir W. T. never presum'd to set himself in Competition with any of those illustrious Persons; he is no Stranger to their Merits or Character, but is afraid that Monsieur de Cros has proposed some Models to him which he never intends to follow himself. It was not Sir W. T's Bookseller that called him One of the greatest Men of this Age, as Monsieur de Cros falsely insinuates, p. 5. but a reverend Prelate of our Church, who published the Memoirs without the Author's Consent or Privity; and who, in his Advertisement to the Reader, does not stile him Un des Grands Hommes de ce Siecle, as Monsieur du Cros maliciously has printed it, but only an Ornament to Learning and to his Country: So that this being a Mystery to no body in England, he wonders how some People come to make such Blunders about it in Holland. But by this and several Instances of the like Nature, any man may easily guess what famous Exploits Monsieur de Cros designs to perform with the Help of his Hero.

To make good the Charge of Presumption with which Monsieur de Cros taxes the Author of the Memoirs, he cites a Passage, p. 6. which be found accidentally at the first opening of his Book; and assures his Noble Lord, that he doubts not but he shall be able in a short time to produce several others to the same Effect. The Negotiations which I had managed at the Hague, at Brussels, and at Aix la Chappelle, and saved Flanders out of the hands of France in 1668, made them believe that I had some Credit amongst the Spaniards, as well as in Holland. Indeed, as he has cited this Passage, any one would believe, that all the Glory and Merit of Preserving Flanders was intirely owing to Sir W. T's Conduct; and with this wrong Scent Monsieur de Cros runs along very furiously, talks of erecting Statues, of the Ingratitude of Spain and Holland, with abundance of other bitter things, with which his Indignation plentifully furnishes him at all times. But our Comfort is, that this Passage is nothing near so criminal and arrogant in the Original as our Letter-monger would have it; and therefore it may not be mal à propos to cite it fairly. [A]This I suppose gave some Occasion for my being again design'd for this Ambassy, who was thought to have some Credit with Spain as well as Holland, from the Negotiations I had formerly run through at the Hague, Brussels, and Aix la Chapelle, by which the remaining Parts of Flanders had been saved out of the Hands of France in the Year 1668. In the first Citation it looks as if Sir W. T's Management of the Treaty had wholly occasioned the Preservation of Flanders, whereas in the latter, if it meets with a true Construction, nothing more is meant, but that the Negotiations at the abovementioned Places, in which Sir W. T. had his share amongst the other Ministers that acted there, retrieved Flanders from ruin. If we may believe Monsieur de Cros, he will positively tell us p. 8. that all the Merit and Glory of the Peace as well as of the Triple League, ought in justice to be ascribed to the generous Resolution and Constancy of the States-General, who employ'd, upon this Occasion, a Minister who far surpassed Sir W. T. in Prudence, in Experience and all Abilities. Sir W. T. has nothing to quarrel with Monsieur de Cros for upon this last Article; (tho, as he is sure, no one is the worse for his Calumnies, so he thinks no one is the better for his Commendations,) nor is he insensible what a generous Part the States-General acted at this important Conjuncture, when the publick Repose of all Europe so much depended upon their Resolutions and Conduct: Only he thinks it hard that England should not be allowed the least Share in the Turn of these Affairs, and that the Ministers of so powerful a Crown should be passed over in Silence without any Mention or Acknowledgement, as if they had been reckoned abroad for so many Cyphers.

After this Fit of Passion is over, the Weather begins to clear up with our Author, and, during this Interval, he makes bold to acquaint his Lordship, p. 8. that he does by no means design in this Place to examine Sir W. T's Memoirs to the Bottom; No, he will take some better Opportunity for that, and then, if God spares him with Life and Health, he fairly promises him a Volume of Remarks, at least as big as Sir W. T's Book. Those Persons that are never so little vers'd in the true Character of Monsieur de Cros, need not be informed that he promises mighty things, and performs just nothing at all. This unlucky shifting off his Resentments to a fitter Occasion, (tho 'tis certain he can never meet with a more proper one to unload himself of them) looks like making Exceptions to the Ground when a man is to meet his Adversary with his Sword in his Hand in the Field. In common Prudence he ought to have acquitted one part of the Debt now, and then the World would have been so civil as to have taken his Word for the Payment of the rest. However let this terrible Day come as soon as it will, Sir W. T. is under no Agonies at the thought of it: For let our Monsieur scribble a Cart-load of Books if he pleases, 'tis a sad but undeniable Truth, that 'tis in his Power to injure no man breathing by them but only his Bookseller.

Had I the Vanity like him, says the modest, self-denying Monsieur de Cros, p. 8. to print my Memoirs in my Life-time, I have now a very fair Pretence to do it. Well, certainly there never dropt in this World so unwary a Passage as this from the Pen of a Counsellor of State and all that! For who will now be ever brought to believe that Monsieur de Cros is acquainted with the Intrigues of other People, and consequently in a Capacity of writing Memoirs, who is a meer Stranger at Home, and so utterly unacquainted with himself. If I had the Vanity; No, never fear it, do but consult a certain thing called a Looking-Glass every Morning, and thou mayst with a safe Conscience say good morrow to one of the compleatest Pieces of Vanity in the Universe. But once more, If I had the Vanity like him, meaning Sir W. T. What Occasion Monsieur de Cros had to pubblish so unjust and invidious a Calumny, no body can tell but himself; for had he consulted either the Reverend Publisher's Epistle to the Reader, or Sir W. T.'s to his Son, or lastly maintained any manner of Correspondence with his old Acquaintance in England, it had been impossible for him to make so gross, so unpardonable a Mistake. All or any of these must certainly have convinced him that Sir W. T. knew no more of the publishing of the Memoirs than his ungenerous Adversary Monsieur de Cros.

Well, but to pursue him in his Reveries; I should publish, says our mortal Foe to Vanity, p. 9. juster and more solid Memoirs than Sir W. T. has done, if I had any Inclinations to appear in Print; and yet to see what a strange Spirit of Contradiction possesses some people, he adds in the very next Lines that follow, Not that I have the Presumption to imagine my self