into his Master's Favour, by his very great Assiduity, agreeable Temper, and by a vast Complaisance to enter into his Pleasures. He establish'd himself so firmly in the King's Favour that the Count de Flemming look'd upon him as the only Rival he had to fear, and therefore he never much lik'd him. The Count de Lagnasco was employ'd in several Embassies; and when he had finish'd that at Rome, which was his last, there was a Talk that he was to go Ambassador to Vienna, and that the young Count de Wackerbart was to go to Rome. I must further acquaint you that M. de Lagnasco was happy in all respects, even in Marriage, not only with his first, but his second Wife, who, when he married her, was a young, rich, brisk Widow. His first Wife was the Daughter of the Count de Noyelles, Lieutenant-General in Holland, a Lady of great Virtue, esteemed by all the People at the Hague, and possess'd of a considerable Estate, of which, dying young, and without Issue, she made her Husband sole Heir.

Francis, Count de Montmorency, is a Name too well known to speak of his Extraction. He was a Colonel in France when he went into the Service of Augustus II. who receiv'd him with that Demonstration of Esteem which that King was so ready to grant to Persons of Merit. His Majesty first appointed him Major-General of his Forces, and some time after he declar'd him a Lieutenant-General, and Captain of his Horse-Guards. At that time the Count married Madame Potschin, Widow of the Great General of Lithuania; a Lady whose Birth, Qualities, and Fortune, recommended her for a very considerable Match. The Countess de Montmorency, in the time of her former Husband, went to Paris for the Recovery of her Health, and receiv'd extraordinary Honours at the French Court, where she was admir'd for her Politeness,

the Delicacy of her Sentiments, and the Ease with which she express'd them in the Language of France; from whence they conceiv'd an advantagious Idea of the Court of Augustus II. not imagining how 'twas possible for the Manners of a Foreign Lady so much to resemble their own. She is also as much rever'd at Dresden as at Paris; and all that know her, agree she is highly to be valued for her Sentiments.

Antoinetta of Lichtenstein, Countess of Wallenstein, is Wife to Leopold Count de Wallenstein, heretofore Great Master of the Queen's Houshold; a Lady both belov'd and honour'd at this place, for her Virtues and civil Deportment; and as she is preparing to follow her Husband into Silesia, she will carry with her the Esteem of their Majesties, and leave the Court sorry for her Absence.

XVI. Of the Foreign Ministers who reside at this Court.

Francis-Charles Count de Wratislaw, one of the Emperor's Privy Council, and Knight of the Orders of Russia and Poland, resides at this Court in quality of Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic Majesty. He is descended from one of the greatest Families in the Kingdom of Bohemia, and a Family which has given wise Ministers to the august House of Austria. This Gentleman has been for a long time in the Management of the most important Affairs: He was Ambassador for the Kingdom of Bohemia to the Dyet of the Empire at Ratisbon; From thence he went in the same Character to Poland, where he was present at the Dyet of Grodno. The Emperor afterwards nam'd him Great Master of the Houshold to the Princess Royal and Electoral, now Queen of Poland. The Count having worthily acquitted himself of that Office, was for several Years Ambassador

at Russia, where he concluded that happy Alliance subsisting between the two Empires, and acquired the Esteem of the Empress, who honor'd him with her Order of St. Andrew; Augustus II. having before given him that of the White Eagle.

This Minister, since his Return from Muscovy, has moreover been charg'd by the Emperor with important Commissions to the Courts of Prussia, Brunswic, and Holstein. At length he is come back again to this Court, as Ambassador from his Imperial and Catholic Majesty; and officiates also as Great Master of the Queen's Houshold. This Nobleman is of a middling Stature, of a happy Physiognomy, is civil, beneficent, and loves Grandeur and Pleasures, but does not abandon himself to them so far as to neglect the Interests of his Master, whose Affairs he negociates with a noble Candour which has render'd him as much esteem'd at the Courts where he has resided, as he is beloved for his Affability and Politeness. His Wife is the Countess of Kinski, whose Father was Great Chancellor of Bohemia, under the Emperor Leopold, and whose Brother is now in that Office under the most August Charles VI.

Hermann-Charles Keyserling, Plenipotentiary Minister from the Empress of the Russians, is of a Family of Note in Courland. He study'd at Koningsberg in Prussia. After he had visited the principal Courts of Germany, and return'd to his own Country, he was made Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to the Dutchess of Courland, Anne of Muscovy, the present Empress, who employ'd him in several Commissions to the Courts of Prussia and Poland. Nevertheless he quitted her Service for one of the judicial Offices in that Country.

When Anne came to the Throne, the States of Courland deputed M. Keyserling to that Princess,