Translation / modern text
Madam, my dear niece. I believe that Mr [uncertain name] will have wished to show you that the only troubles into which he brings me are the wound I feel. […] I have received signs of it here, and hope for his justice, and that he will be willing [passage illegible]. For the rest, I beg you to [difficult passage] the affairs I spoke to you about; I would not trouble him with them now if I had not been asked about them. I shall be obliged to you, my dear niece; please believe me most sincerely. [Incomplete date: 14…]. [Marginal note: partial reading; the author says that he is extremely embarrassed]. [Cover address:] To the lady voivode of Ruthenia, in Podkamień.
Original wording — transcription
Madame ma chère Niepce. Je crois que Monsieur [nom incertain] aura bien voulu vous témoigner que les embarras seuls où il me fait trouver sont de la plaie que je ressens. […] j’en ay reçu icy des marques, et espère de sa justice, et le peu en cœur qu’il voudra [passage illisible]. Du reste je vous supplie de [passage difficile] les affaires dont je vous ay parlé, et desquelles je ne l’importuneray si présentement on ne me les avoit demandées; et vous seray obligée, ma chère Niepce, et de me croire très parfaitement. A 14[?].
[Annotation marginale:] [Lecture partielle:] […] à l’occasion, et embarrassé extrêmement […].
[Adresse sur la couverture:] Madame la Palatine de Russie, en Podkamien.
Reading notes
P. 17 has a separate salutation to the niece and the author’s closing signature; p. 18 is the cover addressed to the voivode’s wife of Ruthenia in Podkamień. The surviving date fragment appears to read ‘à 14’, without month or year. The text is partly difficult to read; the translation includes the legible passages and explicitly marks the gaps.