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LETTER LIV.: To the Same. - Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, Complete Works, vol. 4 Familiar Letters; Miscellaneous Pieces; The Temple of Gnidus; A Defence of the Spirit of Laws [1777]

Edition used:

The Complete Works of M. de Montesquieu (London: T. Evans, 1777), 4 vols. Vol. 4.

Part of: Complete Works of Montesquieu, 4 vols.

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LETTER LIV.

To the Same.

ON account of the uncertainty I am in, whether you will wait for me or not, I write to you once more, before my departure. You are a canon of Tournay; and I cultivate meadows; I shall want fifty pounds weight of the seed of the Flanders trefoil, which may be sent to me from Dunkirk by Bourdeaux. I hope you will be so kind as to charge some friend of yours at Tournay with this commission, for which I shall pay you as a gentleman, or what is much better as a merchant, and when you come to la Brede, you shall see your trefoil bloom in all its glory. Remember, Sir, that all my meadows are of your creation; they are children whose education you are still to superintend. I shall certainly see you soon, but that must not hinder you from telling agreeable accounts of the Pretender to Mrs. Betty* . She will be the more careful of you in consequence. I will notify to you by a letter on purpose the day of my arrival, which at present is unknown to me. But were I not to write, and should appear before you without any previous information given; in such a case I say, you can readily move your night-sack, your breviary, and your medals, into my son’s apartment. When next you see Madame Dupreé de St. Maure, ask that lady if she has received a letter from me. Present my respects to her, and to Mr. de Trudaine our very valuable friend. Abbé, once more I say, wait for me.

Since you are of opinion that I should write to the Auditor Bertolini, I inclose a letter to you, for him. I embrace you with all my heart.

[* ]A native of Ireland, the president’s housekeeper in Paris, and who was very zealous in the cause of the Pretender.