M. de Masch, Envoy from the King of Prussia, is a very fit Person to manage the Interests of the King his Master in this Country, where a Minister ought to be civil and popular. The late King appointed him Governor to the Princes of Brandenbourg Culmbach, the eldest of whom is actually the Prince Regent of Bareith. M. de Masch has inspired those Princes with such Sentiments as do him Honour. He was a Privy Counsellor of the Regency of Cleves, when the King sent him into this Country, where he has been so happy as to put an End to the long Disputes that had subsisted[106] between
his Prussian Majesty, and the Prince of Nassau Orange, concerning the Succession to the Estate of the late King William III.
M. de Brosse, a Frenchman by Birth, manages Affairs here for the[107]King of Poland, in whose Service he is a Major General. He has acquired very great Esteem, owing to his Talents, his Politeness, and his fine Understanding. He observes great Decorum in his Family; nevertheless, he makes a grand Appearance.
M. de Sporck, Minister here from the King of Great Britain, as Elector of Brunswic-Lunenbourg, is a Gentleman of good Extraction. He came very young into Business; and as he is on the Spot to take for his Pattern his Father-in-Law, the Grand Pensionary of Holland, one of the wisest Ministers of his Time, ’tis to be presumed he will make a great Progress. He lives as grand as most Envoys. His Lady is very well behaved, and does the Honours of her Family to Perfection.
I am not acquainted with the Envoys of[108]Sweden and[109]Denmark. M. d’Ayrolles takes care of the Interests of the King of Great Britain, and acquits himself like a Gentleman of long Experience in Business.
Don Lewis d’Acunha, the Plenipotentiary Minister of the King of Portugal, has been for a long Time trusted with the most important Embassies. He was his Majesty’s second Ambassador at the Congress of Utrecht, which Employment he afterwards had in England, then in France, and now again here, where he makes a Figure worthy of his Character. He has the Reputation of being an able Negotiator, and a crafty Politician. He is very polite, is fond of Grandeur, and when he was younger, was no Enemy to Gallantry.
Thus, Sir, have I given you an Account of most of the Foreign Ministers who reside at the Hague. Those of the States are not many. M. de Slingeland the Grand Pensionary is at the Head of ’em. The consummate Wisdom of this Minister, who is grown grey in the Direction of the Secrets of this State, is acknowledged universally. The Republic deems him as one of its principal Pillars, and Europe ranks him amongst its greatest Ministers. He was heretofore Secretary of the Council of State, when the Hague was what Rome was formerly under a Sixtus V. the Centre of Politics. He succeeded the late M. Hoornbeck in the Office which he now holds, and exercises this painful Employment with universal Approbation. Tho’ he is well stricken in Years, and very much troubled with the Gout, he gives Application to Business[110].
His Second is the Gressier Fagel, one of the greatest Genius’s of the State, who is to be reverenced for his great Age, and respected for his Virtue, for his Learning, his Candour, and for that noble Freedom which accompanies his Words and his Actions. Being a Lover of Learning, he has a Library, which is a most learned Collection;
and a Cabinet of Medals, and of the most rare antique Stones. His House is adorned with Pictures, done by the most able Masters, with Vessels, Urns, and all the most precious Things which Antiquity has left, of which there is nothing but what he takes a Pleasure to shew to the curious Connoisseurs. ’Tis pity that this Minister, who has every Quality for which the greatest Men are reverenced, cannot live for ever.