BIB_ID
404356
Accession number
MA 4644.77
Creator
Berard, Louis, active 18th century.
Display Date
1708 November 26.
Credit line
Purchased, 1989.
Description
1 item (3 pages, with address) ; 22.9 x 17.7 cm
Notes
Address panel with seal and postmark to "His Grace The Duke of Leeds / at his house in James Street / Westminster / England / London." Lines have been drawn through the street address and the word "Wimbleton" added below.
Docketed.
The letter is double-dated November 15 / 26, 1708.
Louis Berard was hired by the Duke of Leeds to tutor his grandsons William Henry Osborne, Earl of Danby (1690-1711) and Peregrine Hyde Osborne, Viscount Dunblane (1691-1731). He provided weekly accounts of the education of the two boys in this collection of letters.
Docketed.
The letter is double-dated November 15 / 26, 1708.
Louis Berard was hired by the Duke of Leeds to tutor his grandsons William Henry Osborne, Earl of Danby (1690-1711) and Peregrine Hyde Osborne, Viscount Dunblane (1691-1731). He provided weekly accounts of the education of the two boys in this collection of letters.
Provenance
Purchased on the Fellows Fortieth Anniversary Fund from the Carl & Lily Pforzheimer Foundation, 1989.
Summary
Apologizing for not having written earlier but explaining that The Hague is full of a "multitude of Business & acquaintances"; telling the Duke that the yacht which is to take Lady Bridget back to England has not yet arrived, and that there are a number of other English people--including the Duke of Manchester, recently come from Venice--also waiting for passage; mentioning that they are just about to travel to "Honslardick" (probably Huis Honselaarsdijk, the palace of the princes of Orange) in the King of Prussia's yacht, "whither Monsieur Smettan & his Lady would have waited upon my Lady Marchioness, were they not busy about preparing a great Entertainement against to Morrow; which is the day wherein will be solemnized at Berlin the marriage of the king of Prussia with a Princess of Mecklebourg"; telling the Duke that he has drawn on an additional £100 of credit to cover her Ladyship's expenses while the money she has requested from England is in transit; promising to send his abstract of the accounts soon and giving an explanation for the delay: "My Ladys' & My Lords Expences have been so Intermixed that I could not clear my accounts at the End of the Last quarter"; writing that they hear that Maximilian II Emanuel, the Elector of Bavaria, is near Brussels, creating a diversion to draw forces away from the siege of the citadel of Lille: "he has but 14000 men with him, & ther' are 6000 in the town, which hope to defend the town, till they are succoured"; adding that Prince Eugene has joined with the Duke of Marlborough in order to force a passage over the "River Eseault" to relieve Brussels: "if they can perform it, the french will be in no good Condition about Gand & Bridges [probably Ghent and Bruges]. We long to hear what will succeed, as being of great consequence, either for or against us. God be pleased to work for us as he has been pleased to do hitherto."
Catalog link
Department