Report to the Right honourable the master of the rolls upon the documents in the archives and public libraries of Venice / by Thomas Duffus Hardy.
- Thomas Duffus Hardy
- Date:
- 1866
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report to the Right honourable the master of the rolls upon the documents in the archives and public libraries of Venice / by Thomas Duffus Hardy. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.
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![depriving himself of them. They may, perhaps, he needed should the Tories hold up their heads as they are expected to do, unless the Com- mittee of 21 appointed to give information against the late ministry convicts some of the accused of high treason, which seems very doubtful, and otherwise the royal party will lose ground. Marlborough is univer- sally disliked, and the King has done too much for him. So far as I myself am concerned I can but speak well of the ambassador (Nicolo Trono), I do not pledge myself for his official conduct. The pre- valent opinion is that he has abandoned himself to the guidance of the Spanish ambassador, the Marquis of Monteleone. Some time ago people pretended that the King paid his addresses to the ambassadress, but it was an ephemeral attachment, and owing to the sagacity of Madame Kilmanseck, and of the Shrewsbury [Adelhida Paliotti, Duchess of Shrewsbury], in order to oust the Schulenburg, rather than to any passion on the part of his Majesty. The ambassadress moreover is a novice [ povera figlia, silly girl ?], and the Princess of Wales told me she knew not how to sustain her rank, and that these other ladies always take precedence of her. I return most humble thanks to your Excellency for your very gracious instructions, and for the news you give me of Dona Maria Celeste, of the departure as already effected from Vienna of her Excellency Zane, and of the Turkish war, with regard to which last, the King told me that should the Emperor not make an attack in Hungary, it is from lack of money and provisions, and not from disinclination to fulfil his engagements. London, tt June 1715. 14 EltOJI THE SAME TO THE SAME. My pictures do not meet with the success which I anticipated for them in this country. The Italians have indiscreetly cheated a number of persons by selling at an exorbitant price one thing for another, creating .such universal suspicion that the English no longer trust any one soever. The rjla.n which I am attempting is to dispose of them by a lottery, which lias already commenced, but hitherto the result is unfavourable owing to the present disturbances. From the King I have not yet received the slightest douceur (dolcezza) beyond the billet for my lodging, nor have 1 the courage to drop the slightest hint on the subject being too well :iware of the expenses incurred by his Majesty. The 700,OOOL do not suffice for the expenses of his household. At the close of the year he had a debt of 20,000J. The English absorb everything with unheard of avidity, and from his private Hanoverian purse the King has to defray the expenses of all his German ministers and other dependants in England, so that by ascending the throne, instead of gaining wealth, he is but bur- dened with heavier costs. Your Excellency, however, suggests that I should make a statement to him, and should some r.otable change take place in the aspect of affairs I will endeavour to ofit by the hint, for which I return the most humble thanks. On Tuesday the ambassador [Trono] went to audience, having previously told me that he had a ducal missive to present, that he was to ask the King for ships and troops, and must have a long audience. Scarcely had he entered the royal presence ere he returned with a very red face, not having remained with his Majesty sufficient time to recite a Paternoster. 1 should be curious to know what the substance of his despatch will be with regard to this incident. He will certainly dress it tip, for although no longer assisted by the Spanish ambassador, the Marquis of Monteleone, nor by the envoy from P^rma, Count Gazola, he has nevertheless no lack of aid from the Abbate Conti, a very able individual, through whose medium he, Trono, has become rather familiar with Sir , a gentleman in waiting on the Prince of Wales. To tell the truth, although the King has never said anything to me on the subject, I know through a good channel that his Majesty does not approve of Trono's intimacy with the Spanish minister Monteleone, a personage so much suspected at this Court.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21021284_0105.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
