Nederlandse historische bronnen 10

11*

Hague, 24th September 1730 NS

My Dear Lord, Captain Gee who will have the honour of giving you this letter, desir'd me to recommend him to your protection; he married a sister of Sir Charles Hotham's⁴⁵, was with him at Berlin, and has since been with me here. I am affraid

45 Sir Charles Hotham, Baronet, 1693-1738, brother-in-law of Chesterfield. A favourite of George II. Sent on an unsuccessful mission to Berlin in early 1730 to negotiate Anglo-Prussian royal marriages.

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he is a whoremaster, but considering how common that crime is, in this deprav'd age, I hope your Lordship will forgive it him.

I wish your commission at Paris⁴⁶ prove as agreable to you, as you had reason to expect it would, which considering all things I very much doubt; the droiture of the French intentions begins to be a little suspected both here and in England, and they seem very much inclin'd to do either too much or too little⁴⁷. But whatever happens to make your hours of business disagreable, you have the comfort of being in a place, where your hours of pleasure are sure to be well employ'd, and that's the main point⁴⁸; that every hour of your life, may turn out perfectly to your satisfaction, no man upon earth wishes more sincerely, than, My Dear Lord - - -

46 Waldegrave, created Earl Waldegrave in 1729, had been appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary at Paris. He left Vienna on 7 June and reached Paris on 21 June 1730.

47 Britain and the United Provinces were dissatisfied with the French stance in the 1730 allied conferences at Fontainebleau that failed to settle a plan for war against Austria. Newcastle to Waldegrave, Horatio Walpole and Stephen Poyntz, envoys in Paris, 27 July 1730 OS, BL, Add., num. 32769, f. 36-37; Charles Holzendorf, Chesterfield's secretary, to Tilson, 8 Aug. 1730, PRO, num. 84/307, f. 157.

48 Paris was notorious as a centre for gambling and debauchery, and many British tourists took advantage of these facilities, Daily Advertiser, 27 Jan. 1736 OS, BL, Add., num. 51345, f. 73.