l28 Proceedings of the Rot/al Irish Academy. 



I came across some letters which appear to belong to Marsh's Library. The 

 letters run from 1662 to 1685, but are mostly of the years 1663-4-5 and 

 1684-5, and are addressed to M. Bouhereau, who was afterwards, as of course 

 you know, the first Librarian of your library. 



" There are four bundles of original letters, and one bundle of copies of 

 similar letters with translation, I have been unable to find the originals of 

 these copies. 



"A copy of a memorandum by Dr. Travers [rather, the Eev. T. E. W. 

 Cradock] on the Bouhereau mss. which accompanied the letters, states that 

 these papers are tied up in thirteen separate bundles wrapped each in blue 

 paper. The letters which I have found are wrapped in old-fashioned blue 

 paper ; and three of the bundles are numbered : no. eleven, no. twelve, and 

 no. thirteen. Their identity is therefore, I think, clearly established; and 

 as they are of much interest to any student of Huguenot history, I should be 

 glad to restore them to your custody." 



A day or two afterwards ]\Ir. Le Fanu brought the long-lost letters back 

 to their original home ; but I had not time to investigate their contents until 

 February, 1905. It was just as well that the pressure of more important 

 business prevented my attempting to make public the results of my 

 investigations on these letters; for in December, 1905, I learnt from the 

 Eev. T. K. Abbott, s.f.t.c.d., that Lord Iveagh had offered to the Library of 

 Trinity College, Dublin, a quantity of letters addressed to Dr, Bouhereau, 

 which he had purchased from the representatives of Dr. Travers. 



When I laid the facts of the case before Dr. Abbott, he very kindly 

 undertook to suggest to Lord Iveagh that the letters should rather be 

 restored to Marsh's Library, where they would be at home. His lordship 

 graciously assented ; and six bundles of documents were committed to my 

 custody on the 8th January, 1906, by Mr. Henry S. Guinness. I have since 

 ascertained from a friend of Dr. Travers that when the Huguenot archives 

 were restored to La Eochelle in 1862, the then Library-keeper, the 

 Eev. T. E. W. Cradock, presented the private letters to his assistant. 

 Dr. Travers, on the ground that they were not worth preservation in the 

 Library. On the death of Dr. Travers, his representatives gave some of the 

 letters to this friend, who transferred them to Dr. J. J. Digges La Louche, 

 and the rest were purchased by Lord Iveagh. Dr. La Touche edited in 

 1903, for the Huguenot Society of London, the Begisters of the French 

 Cunformccl Churclies of St. Patrick and St. Mary, DvMin ; a volume of 

 which I have made much use for the purposes of this memoir. 



We have twenty-three letters copied, as being of special interest, for 

 Dr. La Touche. The originals of these, with perhaps one exception, have 



