L30/14/203/12

Sent from Baron Juel, Raunholt (In French):

24 May 1778

From: 1778 To: 1778

Translation: What grateful thanks do I not owe you My dear my Lord, for the tokens of friendship and the kindness that you have just repeated in your letter of 16th April. I know of few things in the world which give me as much pleasure as the hour of receiving news of you and I assure you that these sentiment are both genuine and sincere. The newspapers, which these days inform me of the political situation and are my only source of information, have announced the return of your brother to England. I vow that this seemed so unlikely that I was lost in conjecture when I tried to guess the reason, as I could not imagine the circumstances, which I am sure must cause a you pain and affliction. It is in the nature of things that this separation must have been painful to you and I share acutely all the moments, which must be all too frequent, when you find yourself going over the past. The number of gout sufferers increases prodigiously in all climates, I vow that I do not wish on my friends, not but what it always seems to have the virtue of allowing one to reach a great age, and this is what I hope in your case, my dear my Lord, also the doctors claim that kidney stones and the gout have almost the same basis. Mr St Saphorin has strongly requested the Hague: and I hope that he is happy there, and above all that his stay will seem to him to be less expensive than that in Madrid. From several points of view it is certain that Holland is a fearfully expensive country; and the circle of people which makes up Society is so small that everyone knows everything before it happens. I hope that the "Polonnaise" will return to her as nothing would create a worse impression than her appearance in Holland. You are very good to want to know the details of the kind of life I lead in retirement. First I must begin by assuring you that it is only the great law of necessity that obliged me to give up a career that I enjoyed very much. The death of my mother provided me with an inheritance and an establishment which, in Denmark, pass for a good and comfortable fortune. My country house is very comfortable without being magnificent. The garden has some admirable corners; and these areas in need of improvement are, bit by bit gaining the shape of an English Walk. UP to the present I have decided nothing about marriage, however in the end I suppose I will find it a necessity, especially in the country where it is difficult to find company. As for service at Court, I know that your goodness and friendship for me make you want for me that which I vow would suit me by taste and principle, but I try not to hope for it too much. Meanwhile the Court has granted me an ordinary pension of 300 pounds sterling, which it grants to returning Ministers. Finally my dear Ambassador, that is enough chatter and I will be careful of what I write to others whose way of thinking is not as well known to me as your own. It was in Vienna that I met St Elisabeth for the first time and I am sure that his little peccadilloes date from there, where he was as I knew him in Madrid; but it is however true that one cannot swear to anything. "I desire very much my dear friend four you and your country; that Spain vil kept the neutrality in these circumstances. It is still a very particular thing that you remain at that Court when the french Ambassador left England; and it is of very great importance, and deserves a very great reward for the services of the English Ambassador at Madrid. Since the reception of your honorable letters; I always read and paid a great Attention to the Articles in the Newspapers from Spain and I wish out all my heart that your Lordship may got al those success that a good patrician and have. a short time before I vent from the Hague I meet Lord Abingdon how to my why did travel whit you" [In English] Certainly Viry reacted imprudently; but I vow that I find it fairly strange that as little as he is attached to this country, he does not prefer that of his wife. M. d'Aig-Blanche is no great thing, and behaved very badly towards to Viry because he was a Savoyard, and there you have the basis of the story and the reason for the persecution. Farewell my dear my Lord, do not tire of giving your news to a country dweller who loves and cherishes you. Your faithful friend and servant, P.S. A thousand tender good wishes for dear Mr Robinson. I do not yet despair of being able to embrace you, hoping always to meet my friends in Spa and to pass the season there with them. "Count Rechtern is exactly on the same terms in his country as in Spain and for everybody very indifferent. He bought great many things before he left Holland and I believe why vil make a great trade;" [IN ENGLISH], at last I am come to an end.

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Juel,
Abingdon,
Viry,
Rechtern,
Saphorin