SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 
191 
he thanks Portland for the present of a chain, which, he 
says, is more than he deserves for the little work he has done, 
and accepts it only on condition that he would allow a portrait 
of the King (William III.) to be attached to it, and speaks of 
his collection of medals. He then begs Portland to give his 
protection to his nephew, and to enable him to see “ the 
houses/' and to tell him to write his opinions to Le Notre, who 
was probably to furnish plans for these places. The nephew 
was Claude Desgots, who was born about 1655, and died in 
1734, and was a favourite pupil of Le Notre, and directed for 
him the works at Chantilly. He went to England in 1698, 
and returned to France when his work was finished, “ with 
praise and presents,” in 1700. 1 
In the second letter from Le Notre to Portland, dated 
July nth, 1698, he thanks him for the kindness shown to this 
nephew, and says with what pleasure he had heard how much 
the Earl had admired Chantilly, and regrets that an attack of 
jaundice had prevented him from personally showing him over 
it. He begs Portland to submit his drawings to the King, and 
asks that any instructions he might have to give might be ex¬ 
plained to his nephew (Desgots). Le Notre ends by hoping he 
may again have the pleasure of showing the beauties of Ver¬ 
sailles, etc., to Portland. There is no word of recollection of any 
place in England, although this letter would seem a favourable 
moment for recalling any former acquaintance with places he 
was about to lay out. It is probable that the drawings were 
plans for the garden at Windsor, as, in a letter written at Paris 
on March 7th, 1698, from the Earl of Portland to William III., 
the following passage occurs : “ M. Le Nostre me fera un plan 
pour les jardins projettez a Windsor.” 2 It is not known 
whether Le Notre actually designed anything for Portland 
himself ; there is no record of his employment at Bulstrode, 
the Earl's place in England, or at Zorgoliet, near The Hague, 
although his garden there was a fine one, in the French 
style. 
1 M. Edouard Andre quotes me Le Mercure de France, which says : 
William III., “ le renvoya avec louanges et presents, 1700.” 
2 Extract from a letter in the possession of the Duke of Portland at 
Welbeck Abbey. 
