Although I took the liberty, Sir, to request, in my last letter, your protection with M. Colbert,[182] for the payment of my appointment, and, above all, for the payment of those of the first six months of the year 1676, for which I have long had the orders, I have not yet been able to obtain them. I am, however, forced by my pressing necessities to renew my request, and to supplicate you most humbly to procure me this favour from M. Colbert. I trust, Sir, you will be kind enough to afford me this mark of your affection, which is the greatest I can possibly receive, in the embarrassment in which I at present find myself; and that you will be always persuaded that I am, with profound respect, and unalterable attachment,
Sir, &c.
The Abbé d’Estrades.[183]
[177] Lewis Emmanuel Ferdinand Portocarrero, second son of the Marquis of Almenara: created a Cardinal in 1669, by Clement IX.; Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain, 1677; commander of the order of the St. Esprit, and Bishop of Palestrina. Was also, at different periods of his life, Viceroy of Sicily, Ambassador at Rome, Lieutenant-General at sea, and twice Governor of Spain. Died at Madrid, September 14th, 1709.
[178] Cosmo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, son of Ferdinand II. and Victoria Della Rovere, heiress of the Dukes of Urbino. Succeeded his father in 1670, and died in 1723, aged 81 years. He was a weak, narrow-minded, and bigoted Prince; and was the Duke of Tuscany, whose travels in England, in the reign of Charles II. have been published.
[179] At that time Ambassador to France, from the Republic of Venice.
[180] The Grand Vizier, at this moment, was Achmet Coprogli, the most illustrious, perhaps, of all the ministers who have ever governed the Ottoman Empire. He inherited the eminent talents of his father, Mahomet Coprogli, whom he succeeded as Grand Vizier, in 1661; and was superior to him in humanity and generosity. His military exploits were also more considerable. In 1669, he successfully concluded the siege of Candia, which had lasted twenty-two years. He died in 1678; having for seventeen years sustained the throne, and rendered illustrious the reign of his feeble and indolent master, Mahomet IV.
[181] Of Guastalla.
[182] John Baptist Colbert, one of the most eminent men of the many who adorned and illustrated the reign of Lewis XIV. He was an able and honest financier, a great statesman, and an enlightened patron of letters and arts. The blots in his character were, his persecution of Fouquet, and his enmity to the virtuous Arnaud de Pomponne, to the disgrace of whom he largely contributed. He was made Comptroller-general of the Finances, in 1664; Secretary of State for the Marine, in 1669; and died in 1683.
[183] From the Archives of the Office for Foreign Affairs, at Paris.