[267] The few extant letters—written in Latin—of William Du Gard bear the signature: "Guil. du Gard." Now an Englishman would naturally sign "Dugard" or "Du Gard" (Bodleian MSS. Rawl. A. 9. 123). He certainly knew French and received intelligence from the Continent. The very slender clue that relates his family to Jersey is yielded by the mention of one William Du Gard, born in Jersey in 1677 (Rawl. MSS. T. 4o 6, 202).
[268] Calendars of State Papers, Dom., 1649-1650, p. 500. Three months before he had been called upon to enter into £300 recognizances. Ibid. p. 523.
[269] The following information is yielded by the State Papers: Du Gard signs an agreement on 7th March 1649-50, Dom. 1650, p. 27; the next day he gives sureties in £1000, p. 514; 2nd April, he recovers his press, pp. 76, 535; but must enter into £500 recognizances, p. 515; 11th September, he becomes once more headmaster of Merchant Taylors' School, p. 235. The Council, among other orders concerning the diffusion of Parliamentary publications abroad, directs the Customs to "permit Mons. Rosin to transport Customs free the impression of a book in French relating some proceedings of Parliament against the late king, for dispersion in foreign parts" (Dom. 1650, p. 527).
[270] Dom. 1660, p. 223.
[271] Further information on Du Gard may be found in Masson, Life of Milton, Ch. Wordsworth, Who Wrote Eikon Basiliké? and the Dictionary of National Biography. No one, however, seems to have taken the trouble to read Du Gard's letters in the Bodleian Library and to connect him with the Nouvelles ordinaires de Londres.
[272] To M. Jusserand we owe the appreciation on Milton penned in 1663 by Ambassador Cominges for his royal master, Louis xiv., Shakespeare en France sous l'ancien régime, p. 107. Two letters of Elie Bouhéreau, a physician of La Rochelle, asking, in 1672, for information on Milton, were published in Proceedings of the Huguenot Society, vol. ix. pp. 241-42. I pointed out a few years ago (Revue critique, 21st November 1904) Bayle's severe strictures on Milton in the Avis aux réfugiés, 1690. The appreciation of Cominges alone is quoted both by J. Telleen, Milton dans la littérature française, and J. G. Robertson, Milton's Fame on the Continent.
[273] The book is entitled Εικονοκλαστης ou Réponse au Livre intitulé Εικων Βασιλικη ou le Pourtrait de sa Sacrée Majesté durant sa solitude et ses souffrances. Par le Sr. Jean Milton. Traduite de l'Anglois sur la seconde et plus ample édition. A Londres. Par Guill. Du Gard, imprimeur du Conseil d'Etat. 1652.
[274] Manuscript notes in the margin have recorded the names of two Paris subscribers: MM. de la Mare and Paul du Jardin. Cardinal Mazarin seems to have been a reader of the paper, for he writes to the Count d'Estrades, 23rd April 1652: "S'il est vrai, comme les Nouvelles publiques de Londres le portant, que la République d'Angleterre soit en termes de s'accommoder avec Messieurs les Etats."
[275] For instance, eaux fortes (strong waters) for eaux-de-vie, p. 167; moyens efficacieux, p. 633; toleration, p. 691; éjection des ministres scandaleux, p. 770; retaliation, p. 96; lever et presser (to press) des soldats, p. 169; sergent en loy (sergeant at law), p. 213; le récorder seroit demis (dismissed) de sa charge, p. 221, etc.
[276] Au parc dit Hide park, p. 64; la place dite Tower Hill, p. 152; la rue dite le Strand, p. 156; la paroisse dite Martin-des-Champs, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, p. 182; la prison dite la Fleet, p. 370; l'île dite Holy Island, p. 442, etc.