LOUIS XVIII. Letter signed "Louis" [to Charles Joseph Du Houx de Viomesnil]. Blankenburg [east of Leipzig], then in the States of the Duke of Brunswick, June 6, 1797. 3/4 p. in-4. "Far from seeking... to harm what may be advantageous to you, I shall myself contribute to it with the greatest pleasure, but I cannot yet know what influence the peace which seems soon to be concluded may have on the fate of my army and on the other ways in which I could employ your zeal and your talents. I confess that I am reluctant to see you embark on a career which would prevent me from disposing of you from one moment to the next, but if, once peace is concluded, I foresee that your services might not be useful to the State for some time, I would see you take advantage of the generous offers of the Emperor of Russia with true satisfaction...". The future Marshal de Viomesnil (1734-1827), who, before the Revolution, fought in Germany, Corsica and America, served in Martinique, took part in the Condé army's emigration campaigns, entered the service of Russia in (1798), then Portugal. Louis XVIII made him Peer de France (1814) and Marshal (1816).