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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beaumarchais and the War of American
-Independence Vol. 2 of 2, by Elizabeth S. Kite
-
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-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
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-Title: Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence Vol. 2 of 2
-
-Author: Elizabeth S. Kite
-
-Release Date: July 26, 2012 [EBook #40340]
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-Language: English
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@@ -10439,362 +10408,4 @@ RICHARD G. BADGER, PUBLISHER, BOSTON
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+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40340 ***
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@@ -1,10803 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beaumarchais and the War of American
-Independence Vol. 2 of 2, by Elizabeth S. Kite
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-Title: Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence Vol. 2 of 2
-
-Author: Elizabeth S. Kite
-
-Release Date: July 26, 2012 [EBook #40340]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEAUMARCHAIS ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Roberta Staehlin, Turgut Dincer and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
-
-
-
-
-
-  Transcriber's Note
-
-  This book was published in two volumes, of which this is the second.
-  The first volume was released as Project Gutenberg ebook #37960,
-  available at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37960.
-
-  Two incorrect index sub-entries for Beaumarchais have been corrected:
-    jealousies aroused against -- page changed from 6 to 304
-    judged by parliament Maupeou -- page changed from 24 to 100
-
-
-
-
-                              BEAUMARCHAIS
-
-                            _And the War of
-                         American Independence_
-
-                                   BY
-
-                           ELIZABETH S. KITE
-
-        _Diplôme d'instruction Primaire-Supérieure, Paris, 1905
-        Member of the Staff of the Vineland Research Laboratory_
-
-                           WITH A FOREWORD BY
-                             JAMES M. BECK
-                _Author of "The Evidence in the Case"_
-
-                              TWO VOLUMES
-                              VOLUME TWO
-
-                              ILLUSTRATED
-
-                             [Illustration]
-
-                                 BOSTON
-                           RICHARD G. BADGER
-                            THE GORHAM PRESS
-
-
-                  COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY RICHARD G. BADGER
-
-                          All Rights Reserved
-
-                  Made in the United States of America
-
-                   The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.
-
-
-"_The faith of a believer is a spring to which uncertain convictions
-yield; this was the case of Beaumarchais with the King in the cause of
-American Independence._"
-
-                              _Gaillardet, in Le Chevalier d'Eon._
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
-                               CHAPTER XV
-                                                                   PAGE
-
-    Curious History of the Chevalier d'Eon--Secret Agent of Louis
-      XV--The Chevalier Feigns to Be a Woman--Curiosity of London
-      Aroused--Necessity for the French Government to Obtain
-      Possession of State Papers in d'Eon's Hands--Beaumarchais
-      Accepts Mission--Obtains Possession of the Famous Chest        13
-
-
-                              CHAPTER XVI
-
-    Beaumarchais's Earliest Activities in the Cause of American
-      Independence--First Steps of the Government of
-      France-Bonvouloir--Discord Among Parties in
-      England--Beaumarchais's Memoirs to the King--Meets Arthur
-      Lee--Lee's Letter to Congress--King Still Undecided--Curious
-      Letter of Beaumarchais, with Replies Traced in the
-      Handwriting of the King                                        31
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XVII
-
-    Beaumarchais's English Connections--With Lord Rochford--With
-      Wilkes--Meets Arthur Lee--Sends Memoirs to the King--His
-      Commission to Buy Portuguese Coin--Called to Account by
-      Lord Rochford--Vergennes's Acceptance of his Ideas--Article
-      in _The Morning Chronicle_                                     56
-
-
-                            CHAPTER XVIII
-
-    Memoirs Explaining to the King the Plan of His Commercial
-      House--Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.--The Doctor Dubourg--Silas
-      Deane's Arrival--His Contract with Beaumarchais--Lee's
-      Anger--His Misrepresentations to Congress--Beaumarchais
-      Obtains His Rehabilitation                                     77
-
-
-                              CHAPTER XIX
-
-    Suspicions of England Aroused Through Indiscretions of Friends
-      of America--Treachery of du Coudray--Counter Order Issued
-      Against Shipments of Beaumarchais--Franklin's Arrival--England's
-      Attempt to Make Peace Stirs France--Counter Order
-      Recalled--Ten Ships Start Out--Beaumarchais Cleared by
-      Vergennes                                                     104
-
-
-                               CHAPTER XX
-
-    The Declaration of Independence and Its Effect in
-      Europe--Beaumarchais's Activity in Getting Supplies to
-      America--Difficulties Arise About Sailing--Lafayette's
-      Contract with Deane--His Escape to America--Beaumarchais's
-      Losses--Baron von Steuben Sails for America in Beaumarchais's
-      Vessel, Taking the Latter's Nephew, des Epinières, and His
-      Agent, Theveneau de Francy--The Surrender of
-      Burgoyne--Beaumarchais Finds Himself Set Aside While Others
-      Take His Place--Faces Bankruptcy--Vergennes Comes to His
-      Assistance                                                    126
-
-
-                              CHAPTER XXI
-
-    De Francy Sails for America--His Disappointment in the New
-      World--Beaumarchais Recounts His Grievances against the
-      Deputies at Passy--Rejoices Over American Victories--Manoeuvers
-      to Insure Safety to His Ships--The Depreciation
-      Of Paper Money in America--De Francy Comes to the Aid of
-      Lafayette--Contract between Congress and De Francy Acting
-      for Roderigue et Cie.--Letters of Lee to Congress--Bad Faith
-      of that Body--Deane's Signature to Documents Drawn up by
-      Franklin and Lee--Beaumarchais's Triumph at Aix--Gudin
-      Seeks Refuge at the Temple--Letters of Mlle. Ninon             154
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XXII
-
-    Deane's Recall--Beaumarchais's Activity in Obtaining for Him
-      Honorable Escort--Letters to Congress--Reception of
-      Deane--Preoccupation of Congress at the Moment of His
-      Return--Arnold and Deane in Philadelphia the Summer of
-      1778--Deane's Subsequent Conduct--Letters of Carmichaël
-      and Beaumarchais--_Le Fier Roderigue_--Silas Deane Returns
-      to Settle Accounts--Debate Over the "Lost Million"--Mr.
-      Tucker's Speech--Final Settlement of the Claim of the
-      Heirs of Beaumarchais                                         184
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XXIII
-
-    The _Mariage de Figaro_--Its Composition--Difficulties
-      Encountered in Getting it Produced--It is Played at
-      Grennevilliers--The First Representation--Its Success--
-      _Institut des pauvres mères nourrices_--Beaumarchais
-      at Saint Lazare                                               212
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XXIV
-
-    The Marine of Beaumarchais--Success of His Business
-      Undertakings--His Wealth--Ringing Plea of Self-Justification
-      in the Cause of America, Addressed to the Commune of Paris,
-      1789--The Beautiful House Which He Built in Paris--His
-      Liberality--His Friends--His Home Life--Madame de
-      Beaumarchais--His Daughter, Eugénie                           233
-
-
-                              CHAPTER XXV
-
-    House of Beaumarchais Searched--The 10th of August--Letter
-      to his Family in Havre--Letter of Eugénie to her
-      Father--Commissioned to Buy Guns for the Government--Goes
-      to Holland as Agent of _Comité de Salut Public_--Declared
-      an Emigré--Confiscation of his Goods--Imprisonment of his
-      Family--The Ninth Thermidor Comes to Save Them--Life During
-      the Terror--Julie again in Evidence--Beaumarchais's Name
-      Erased from List of Emigrés--Returns to France                253
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XXVI
-
-    Beaumarchais After his Return from Exile--Takes Up All his
-      Business Activities--Marriage of Eugénie--Her Portrait Drawn
-      by Julie--Beaumarchais's Varied Interests--Correspondence with
-      Bonaparte--Pleads for Lafayette Imprisoned--Death of
-      Beaumarchais--Conclusion                                      273
-
-   Bibliography                                                     291
-
-   Index                                                            295
-
-
-                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
-
-                                                            FACING PAGE
-
-   P. A. Caron de Beaumarchais                             Frontispiece
-
-   Charles de Beaumont                                               26
-
-   Charles Gravier--Comte de Vergennes                               54
-
-   Silas Deane                                                       78
-
-   William Carmichaël                                               104
-
-   Lafayette                                                        126
-
-   General John Schuyler                                            140
-
-   General Baron von Steuben                                        152
-
-   Robert Morris                                                    166
-
-   The Temple                                                       182
-
-   Cæsar Augustus Rodney--Attorney General of the U. S.             200
-
-   John Jay                                                         220
-
-   D'Estaing                                                        232
-
-   The Bastille                                                     240
-
-   House of Beaumarchais                                            252
-
-   Madame de Beaumarchais                                           270
-
-
-
-
-                             BEAUMARCHAIS
-
-                  _And the War of American Independence_
-
-
-
-
-                               CHAPTER XV
-
-
-_Figaro--"Feindre d'ignorer ce qu'on sait, de savoir tout ce qu'on
-ignore; d'entendre ce qu'on ne comprend pas, de ne point ouïr ce qu'on
-entend; surtout de pouvoir au delà de ses forces; avoir souvent pour
-grand secret de cacher qu'il n'y en a point; s'enfermer pour tailler des
-plumes, et paraître profond, quand on n'est, comme on dit, que vide et
-creux; jouer bien ou mal un personage; répandre des espions et
-pensionner des traîtres; amollir des cachets, intercepter des lettres,
-et tâcher d'ennoblir la pauvreté des moyens par l'importance des objets;
-voilà toute la politique ou je meure."_
-
-_Le Comte--"Eh! c'est l'intrigue que tu définis!"_
-
-_Figaro--"La politique, l'intrigue, volontiers; mais, comme je les crois
-un peu germaines, en fasse qui voudra!"_
-
-                         _Le Mariage de Figaro, Act III, Scene V._
-
-
-    Curious History of the Chevalier d'Eon--Secret Agent of Louis
-      XV--The Chevalier Feigns to Be a Woman--Curiosity of London
-      Aroused--Necessity for the French Government to Obtain Possession
-      of State Papers in d'Eon's Hands--Beaumarchais Accepts
-      Mission--Obtains Possession of the Famous Chest.
-
-
-It was the summer of 1775. The moment was approaching when the attention
-of Europe would be directed towards the events transpiring on the other
-side of the Atlantic, in that New World, of which the old was as yet
-scarcely conscious. The stand for freedom, for individual rights, for
-the liberty of expansion which was there made, was destined to rouse the
-warmest sympathies amongst all classes, especially in France. The
-enthusiasm which greeted the resistance of the colonies rapidly became a
-national sentiment which the French government was unable to suppress or
-even to keep within bounds. To direct this enthusiasm into a practical
-channel that should lead to immediate and efficient support of the
-insurged colonies whilst awaiting the active intervention of the
-government, was to be primarily the work of one man, and that man was
-Beaumarchais.
-
-But in starting for London on the present occasion, he was unconscious
-of the historic importance which this journey was destined to assume.
-The mission with which he was charged was one of the most singular with
-which any government ever seriously commissioned one of its agents.
-
-There was living at this time in London the Chevalier d'Eon de Beaumont,
-who was a former agent of the occult diplomacy of Louis XV, and who at
-this time was an exile from his country, to which he had been forbidden
-to return in consequence of the scandalous and disgraceful quarrel that
-had occurred between him and the French Ambassador, the Comte de
-Guerchy, years before. Although publicly disgraced, he retained the
-secret confidence of the old King, who allowed him an annual income of
-12,000 francs. The present government was willing to continue this
-pension, but on condition that the chevalier give up the secret
-correspondence of the late King, which remained in his possession, and
-of which it was very important that the French government should obtain
-control. It was to negotiate the remittance of this correspondence that
-Beaumarchais was commissioned the summer of 1775. The oddity of the
-character with which he had to deal, rather than the actual nature of
-the mission, was what made the negotiation so difficult and the
-proceedings so unusual.
-
-Several years previous, about 1771, a rumor began to circulate in
-England that the Chevalier in question was really a woman disguised.
-Although one of the most belligerent of characters, who "smoked, drank
-and swore like a German trooper," it appears that "the rarity of his
-blond beard and the smallness of his form (Gaillardet)," "a certain
-feminine roundness of the face, joined to a voice equally feminine,
-contributed to give credit to the fable (note of M. de Loménie, _sur le_
-Chevalier d'Eon)." There were also certain facts in the life of the
-chevalier which supported this theory; among others it was known that as
-a very young man he had been sent by Louis XV in the guise of a woman to
-the court of St. Petersburg, where he had succeeded in being admitted as
-reader to the Empress Elizabeth.
-
-As the Chevalier d'Eon was a widely known personage in English society,
-the matter took on great proportions and became a subject of betting
-according to the _manière anglaise_. D'Eon, who seems to have cared
-primarily for one thing, namely, notoriety of whatever sort, secretly
-encouraged the dispute, although he wrote at the same time to the Comte
-de Broglie: "It is not my fault if the court of Russia during my sojourn
-here, has assured the court of England that I am a woman.... It is not
-my fault if the fury of betting upon all sorts of things is such a
-national malady among the English that they often risk more than their
-fortunes upon a single horse.... I have proved to them, and I will prove
-it as often as they wish, that I am not only a man, but a captain of
-dragoons, with his arms in his hands." And yet he was able to keep the
-world in a state of complete mystification as to his true sex, up to the
-time of his death in 1810.
-
-Voltaire says of him: "The whole adventure confounds me. I cannot
-understand either d'Eon, or the ministers of his time, or the measures
-of Louis XV, or those being made at present. I understand nothing of the
-whole affair." In his _Mémoires sur le Chevalier d'Eon de Beaumont_, M.
-Gaillardet says: "The history of the Chevalier d'Eon was one of the most
-singular and most controverted enigmas of the 18th century. That century
-finished without its being known what was the veritable sex of that
-mysterious being, who after being successively doctor of law, advocate
-in the Parliament of Paris, censor of belles-lettres, secretary of
-embassy at St. Petersburg, captain of dragoons, Chevalier de Saint
-Louis, minister plenipotentiary to London, suddenly, at the age of 46
-years announced himself to be a woman, assumed the costume of his new
-rôle, and conserved it until the time of his death in 1810."
-
-As we shall presently see, and for reasons wholly justifiable, it is
-Beaumarchais who works this transformation in the life of d'Eon. Nothing
-in relation to his strange character is so passing strange as the fact
-that the King and his minister, and above all that Beaumarchais himself,
-the cleverest of men--should have been completely duped by the Chevalier
-as to the matter of his sex. It even went so far as to be generally
-believed that the _demoiselle_ d'Eon was seriously in love with
-Beaumarchais, and the latter himself believed it. In the most skillful
-way the chevalier endeavored to make use of this deceit to further his
-own ends. Failing in this, and having made the fatal avowal and received
-the King's orders to assume the garb of a woman, the fury of d'Eon knew
-no bounds. Powerless to wreak his vengeance in any other way, he
-endeavored by calumny and abuse to thwart the career of the man upon
-whom he had been able to impose only in the matter of his sex.
-Beaumarchais readily excused all the insults cast at him, believing as
-he did, that this is the manner of revenge of the strange creature, "his
-amazon"--(as d'Eon is familiarly called in the correspondence between
-himself and the minister Vergennes)--for finding that her love is not
-requited.
-
-But to return to the facts of the case: D'Eon, at the time of the death
-of Louis XV was living in constant hope of being restored to favor and
-allowed to return to France. His pension of 12,000 francs had proved all
-too small for his support and he was heavily in debt. No sooner had the
-young king, Louis XVI, mounted the throne than the Chevalier sent word
-to Vergennes, minister of foreign affairs, announcing that he had in his
-possession important letters which were of such a nature that should
-they fall into the hands of the English, it might precipitate a war
-between the two nations. An agent was therefore dispatched to enter into
-negotiations. "Understanding," says Gaillardet, "that if he did not
-profit by this occasion, he would have little to expect from the new
-reign, d'Eon resolved to put a high price on the papers in his
-possession. He demanded: first, that he be solemnly justified of the
-imputations directed against him by his enemies--especially the family
-of the Comte de Guerchy; second, that all the sums, indemnities,
-advances, etc., due him for the past 26 years, be paid, amounting in all
-to 318,477 livres, 16 sous."
-
-Unable to come to any reasonable terms, the negotiations were broken
-off and the agent returned to France. He was replaced by another who was
-equally unsuccessful, and for a time the matter was dropped.
-
-In the meantime noise of the affair reached the English government, and
-d'Eon soon had the satisfaction of receiving large offers from that
-quarter if he would consent to give up the papers. The Chevalier,
-whatever his faults, or the violence of his character, was not a
-traitor; he had no intention of giving the papers in his possession to
-the English at any price, but he was well satisfied that their value
-should be thus enhanced.
-
-In the meantime, his pension was suspended and finding himself without
-funds, "he borrowed 5,000 pounds from his devoted friend and protector,
-the Lord Ferrers, giving him as security a sealed chest, which, Ferrers
-supposed, contained the famous correspondence. He took care, however,"
-says Gaillardet, "to withdraw from that deposit precisely the personal
-documents of the late King, which were the most important for the court
-of France and for himself. These papers contained a plan for the
-restitution of the Stuarts, a descent upon England, and other dreams,
-constituting what d'Eon called _le grand projet_ of Louis XV."
-
-At this juncture Beaumarchais appeared on the scene. "To interest the
-latter in his cause, and give him a mark of confidence (Gaillardet)
-d'Eon avows with tears that he is a woman, and this avowal was made with
-so much art that Beaumarchais did not conceive the least doubt."
-
-D'Eon recounted the history of the papers in his possession, and the
-offers which he had resisted. Charmed to oblige a woman so interesting
-by her sorrows, her courage, her _esprit_, Beaumarchais addressed at
-once touching letters to the King in favor of his new friend. "When one
-thinks," he writes, "that this creature, so much persecuted, belongs to
-a sex to which one forgives everything, the heart is touched with a
-sweet compassion." "I do assure you, Sire," he writes elsewhere, "that
-in taking this astonishing creature with dexterity and gentleness,
-although she is embittered by twelve years of misfortune, she can yet be
-brought to enter under the yoke, and to give up all the papers of the
-late King on reasonable conditions."
-
-As to the motives which could have induced le chevalier d'Eon to avow
-himself a woman, his biographer, already quoted, gives the following
-explanation:
-
-"His military and diplomatic career was about finished; disgraced, he
-would disappear from the scene of the world and fall into obscurity. But
-precisely shadow and silence were a horror to him. If there was a
-mystery in his existence, if they learned that he was a woman, he would
-become the hero of the day and of the century; his services would then
-appear extraordinary. This metamorphosis would attract to him the
-attention of Europe, and enable him more easily to obtain satisfaction
-from the French government, who would no longer refuse a woman the price
-of blood shed and services rendered."
-
-Both Gaillardet and Loménie, after a careful examination of all the
-correspondence in relation to the affair between the Chevalier d'Eon and
-Beaumarchais, assure us that not a line exists which does not prove that
-the latter was completely deceived as to the matter of the sex of the
-Chevalier.
-
-Lintilhac, however, thinks that he has found proofs to the contrary in a
-letter which begins, "Ma pauvre Chevalière, or whatever it pleases you
-to be with me...." London, Dec. 31, 1775. Gudin, in his life of
-Beaumarchais, says, "It was at a dinner of the Lord Mayor Wilkes that I
-encountered d'Eon for the first time. Struck to see the cross of St.
-Louis shining on his breast, I asked Mlle. Wilkes who that chevalier
-was; she named him to me. 'He has,' I said, 'the voice of a woman.' It
-is probably from that fact that the talk has all come. At that time I
-knew nothing more about him; I was still ignorant of his relations with
-Beaumarchais. I soon learned them from herself. She avowed to me with
-tears (it appears to have been the manner of d'Eon--note of Loménie)
-that she was a woman, and showed me her scars, remains of wounds which
-she had received, when, her horse killed under her, a squadron of
-cavalry passed over her body and left her dying on the plain."
-
-"No one," says Loménie, "could be more naïvely mystified than is Gudin.
-In the first period of the negotiation, d'Eon is full of attentions for
-Beaumarchais; he calls him his 'guardian angel' and sends him his
-complete works in fourteen volumes; for this curious being, this
-dragoon, woman and diplomat, was at the same time a most fruitful
-scribbler of paper. He has characterised himself very well in the
-following letter: 'If you wish to know me, Monsieur the Duke, I will
-tell you frankly that I am only good to think, imagine, question,
-reflect, compare, read, write, to run from the rising to the setting
-sun, from the south to the north, and to fight on the plain or in the
-mountains ... or I will use up all the revenues of France in a year, and
-after that give you an excellent treatise on economy. If you wish to
-have the proof, see all I have written in my history of finance, upon
-the distribution of public taxes.'"
-
-This, then, was the strange being with whom Beaumarchais had to deal. On
-the 21st of June, 1775, he received from Vergennes the following letter,
-which shows in the best possible light the credit which the secret agent
-of the government had already acquired. He wrote:
-
-   "I have under my eyes, Monsieur, the report which you have given
-   M. de Sartine of our conversation, touching M. d'Eon; it is of
-   the greatest exactitude; I have taken in consequence the orders
-   of the King. His Majesty authorizes you to assure to M. d'Eon the
-   regular payment of the pension of 12,000 francs.... The article
-   of the payment of his debts is more difficult; the pretensions of
-   d'Eon are very high in that respect; they must be considerably
-   reduced if we are to come to any arrangement.... M. d'Eon has a
-   violent character, but I do him the justice to believe that his
-   soul is honest, and that he is incapable of treason.... It is
-   impossible that M. d'Eon takes leave of the English King; the
-   revelation of his sex does not permit it; it would be ridiculous
-   for both courts.... You are wise and prudent, you know mankind,
-   and I have no doubt but that you will be able to arrange the
-   affair with d'Eon, if it can be done. Should the enterprise fail
-   in your hands, we shall be forced to consider that it cannot
-   succeed and resolve to accept whatever may come from it.... I am
-   very sensible, Monsieur, of the praises which you have been so
-   good as to give me in your letter to M. de Sartine. I aspire to
-   merit them, and accept them as a gage of your esteem, which will
-   always be flattering to me. Count, I beg you, upon my own, and
-   upon the sentiments with which I have the honor to be very
-   sincerely, Monsieur, etc.
-
-                                                    "De Vergennes.
-   "A Versailles, June 21st, 1775."
-
-July 14, 1775, Beaumarchais wrote to M. de Vergennes announcing that he
-had obtained possession of the keys of the famous chest, which he had
-sealed with his own seal and which was deposited in a safe place.
-"Whatever happens, M. le Comte, I believe that I have at least cut off
-one head of the English hydra ... the king and you may be quite certain
-that everything will rest in _statu quo_ in England, and that no one
-can abuse us from now to the end of the negotiation which I believe
-about finished." But in the meantime, while undertaking the settlement
-of the affair with d'Eon, the active mind of Beaumarchais had become
-enflamed with an ardent zeal for the cause of liberty, as it was being
-then defended on the other side of the Atlantic. "One of the first,"
-says Gaillardet, "he had embraced the cause of the Americans, had
-espoused it with a sort of love that partook of idolatry.... He followed
-every phase with an interest which nothing discouraged, not ceasing to
-hope in the midst of reverses, triumphing and clapping his hands at
-every victory.... He excused their faults, exalted their virtues, plead
-for them with all the faculties of his _esprit_ and of his soul, before
-those whom he wished to interest in their fate."
-
-Every voyage back to Paris, which the interests of his mission
-necessitated, every letter which it occasioned, was made to subserve
-itself to this one end which transcended all others; namely, to rouse
-the young King from that state of indecision and indifference to which
-he was born, and where he seemed likely to remain.
-
-In the next chapter this subject will be taken up in all its detail; for
-the present it is necessary only to remind the reader that the matter of
-which we are now treating is all the while secondary in the mind of
-Beaumarchais. It is, however, of vital importance in that, at the
-beginning, it offers the avenue of approach to the King and his
-ministers which might otherwise have been wanting. Through the masterly
-way in which he settled the affair with d'Eon, the confidence of the
-King and of his minister was secured. Before the affair was terminated,
-an open channel had been established which permitted the whole current
-of the genius of Beaumarchais to flow direct to its goal.
-
-It will be remembered that the Chevalier d'Eon had borrowed five
-thousand pounds of his friend the English Admiral, Lord Ferrers, and had
-left him as security the chest containing the famous correspondence of
-the late King. Before it could be delivered to Beaumarchais there were
-many difficult questions to settle, the chief one being the Chevalier's
-return to France, owing to the resentment still felt by the family of
-the Comte de Guerchy towards the Chevalier, and the latter's well known
-violence of temper. The King and M. de Vergennes demanded absolute
-oblivion of the past and a guarantee that no further scandals should
-arise. This was difficult to assure, owing to the fiery nature of the
-Chevalier. Already, as we have seen, the latter had avowed "with tears"
-that he was a woman.
-
-August 7th, 1775, M. de Vergennes wrote to the King, "If your Majesty
-deigns to approve the propositions of the Sieur de Beaumarchais to
-withdraw from the hands of the Sieur d'Eon the papers which it would be
-dangerous to leave there, I will authorize him to terminate the affair.
-_If M. d'Eon wishes to take the costume of his sex_, there will be no
-objection to allowing him to return to France, but under any other form
-he should not even desire it."
-
-In a letter to Beaumarchais, the 26th of the same month, M. de Vergennes
-wrote: "Whatever desire I may have to see, to know, and to hear M.
-d'Eon, I cannot hide from you a serious uneasiness which haunts me. His
-enemies watch, and will not pardon easily all that he has said of
-them.... If M. d'Eon would change his costume everything would be
-said.... You will make of this observation the use which you shall judge
-suitable."
-
-The idea appeared not only good to Beaumarchais, but to offer, perhaps,
-the only solution to the difficulty. He therefore made this the
-condition of settlement of the debts of d'Eon, the continuation of his
-pension, as well as of his being allowed to return to France. The same
-motives which had actuated the Chevalier to declare himself a woman
-worked now in favor of what Beaumarchais, endowed with full power in his
-regard, demanded of him. Realizing, as M. de Vergennes had done, that if
-the matter were not now adjusted, it would never be again taken up;
-realizing too that his notoriety would be increased tenfold by this
-metamorphosis, he decided to submit to what was imposed upon him.
-
-Early in October, Beaumarchais wrote to M. de Vergennes: "Written
-promises to be good are not sufficient to arrest a head which enflames
-itself always at the simple name of Guerchy; the positive declaration of
-his sex and the engagement to live hereafter in the costume of a woman
-is the only barrier which can prevent scandal and misfortunes. I have
-required this and have obtained it."
-
-As a matter of fact, on the 5th of October, the Chevalier signed the
-famous contract, in which he promised to deliver the entire
-correspondence of the late King, declared himself a woman and engaged to
-"retake and wear the costume of that sex to the time of his death;" and
-he added with his own hand, "which I have already worn on divers
-occasions known to his Majesty." The agent of the French Government on
-his side agreed to deliver a contract or pension of 12,000 francs, as
-well as "more considerable sums which shall be remitted for the
-acquittal of the debts of the Chevalier in England." "Each of the
-contractants," said Loménie, "reserved thus a back door; if the more
-considerable sums did not seem considerable enough, the Chevalier
-intended to keep a portion of the papers, so as to obtain still more
-funds. Beaumarchais, on his side, had no intention of paying all the
-debts which it should please the Chevalier to declare, and had demanded
-of the King the faculty to _batailler_--to employ his own
-expression--with the demoiselle d'Eon, from 100,000 to 150,000 francs,
-reserving the right to give him the money in fractional parts, and to
-extend or retract the sum according to the confidence which that cunning
-personage should inspire."
-
-After the contract was signed, Beaumarchais still holding the money in
-reserve, demanded the papers of which it was questioned. The chest was
-produced. Suddenly realizing, however, that he had no authority to open
-the chest and to examine the contents, and having but small confidence
-in the veracity of the chevalier, he hastened back to Versailles,
-obtained the desired permission, and reappeared in London with his new
-commission. On opening the chest he found indeed that papers of but
-small importance were contained therein. D'Eon, blushing, confessed that
-the letters of which the French government desired to obtain possession
-were hidden under the floor of his room in London.
-
-"She conducted me to her room," wrote Beaumarchais, "and drew from under
-the floor five boxes, well sealed and marked, 'Secret Papers to remit to
-the King alone', which she assured me contained all the secret
-correspondence, and the entire mass of the papers which she had in her
-possession. I began by making an inventory, and marking them all so that
-none could be withdrawn; but, better to assure myself that the entire
-sequence was there contained, I rapidly ran over them, while she made
-the inventory."
-
-This want of honor in the Chevalier, whose security left with the Lord
-Ferrers had been proved of comparatively little value, dispensed
-Beaumarchais, so he considered, from the necessity of acquitting the
-full debt contracted by d'Eon. This was afterwards most bitterly
-reproached to him by the Chevalier. In a letter to Lord Ferrers,
-Beaumarchais wrote: "I have lived too long and know mankind too well to
-count upon the gratitude of anyone, or to feel the least annoyance when
-I see those fail whom I have the most obliged." (From a letter dated
-Jan. 8, 1776, to Lord Ferrers,--Gaillardet.)
-
-The note of 13,933 pounds sterling first addressed to M. de Vergennes
-had since been increased by 8,223 pounds sterling, of which d'Eon
-demanded the payment. Beaumarchais, however, true to the interest of the
-King and his minister, to their great satisfaction, terminated the
-transaction for a little less than 5,000 pounds sterling. From the
-determined refusal of Beaumarchais to increase the sum arose the wild
-fury of d'Eon, who saw his last hope escape him. His invectives against
-Beaumarchais, his abuse, all had their origin here.
-
-"I assured this demoiselle," wrote Beaumarchais to Vergennes, "that if
-she was prudent, modest and silent, and if she conducted herself well, I
-would render so good an account of her to the minister of the King, and
-even to His Majesty, that I hoped to obtain for her new advantages. I
-did this the more willingly because I had still in my possession nearly
-41,000 francs, from which I expected to recompense every act of
-submission and of sobriety on her part, by acts of generosity approved
-successively by the King and by you, Monsieur le Comte, but only as
-favors, and not as acquittals. It was in this way that I hoped still to
-dominate and bring into subjection this fiery and deceitful creature."
-
-Early in December, Beaumarchais appeared in Versailles with his famous
-chest, containing at last the entire mass of papers, the negotiation of
-which had occupied the minister of Louis XVI since the time of the
-latter's accession to the throne. Overjoyed at the successful
-termination of the affair, the King and his minister testified their
-satisfaction with warmth.
-
-[Illustration: CHARLES DE BEAUMONT dit Mademoiselle le Chevalier D'Eon
-1728-1810]
-
-A very honorable discharge was given their agent with a certificate
-which terminated thus:
-
-   "I declare that the King has been very well satisfied with the
-   zeal which he has shown on this occasion, as well as with the
-   intelligence and dexterity with which he has acquitted himself of
-   the commission which his Majesty has confided to him. The King
-   has therefore ordered me to deliver the present attestation to
-   serve him at all times and in all places where it may be
-   necessary.
-
-   "Made at Versailles, the 18th of December, 1775.
-
-   "Signed: Gravier de Vergennes."
-
-The matter of the papers was indeed settled; they were safe in the hands
-of the government, and all uneasiness in regard to them was at an end;
-not so Beaumarchais with his _amazone intéressante_. Furious to find
-that his exorbitant demands upon the French government had miscarried,
-d'Eon thought only of wreaking his vengeance upon Beaumarchais. After
-exhausting himself with very "masculine abuse" upon his "austere friend"
-(Loménie), he suddenly, with the same art with which he had avowed
-himself a woman, set about convincing Beaumarchais that he was in love
-with him, uttering bitter reproaches for the cruelty, hardness and
-injustice with which he had treated an unhappy woman, who in a moment of
-weakness had revealed herself to him. "Why," cried this disguised
-dragoon, "why did I not remember that men are good for nothing upon this
-earth but to deceive the credulity of women, young and old?... I still
-thought that I was only rendering justice to your merits, admiring your
-talents, your generosity; I loved you already no doubt; but this
-situation was still so new for me that I was very far from realizing
-that love could be born in the midst of trouble and sorrow."
-
-In a note, M. de Loménie remarked that what there was specially
-_piquant_ in this correspondence of d'Eon and Beaumarchais is that the
-former, while posing as a woman, "often gives an enigmatic turn to his
-phrases, as though he wished to establish for the day when the fraud
-would be unveiled, that he had been able to dupe a man as clever as the
-author of the _Barbier de Séville_, and that he duped him in mocking at
-him to his very face, without being suspected. Beaumarchais, for his
-part, amused himself at the expense of that _vieille Dragonne_ in love,
-and confirmed himself more and more in the error as d'Eon more adroitly
-simulated the anger of an offended old maid."
-
-Beaumarchais wrote to M. de Vergennes: "Everyone tells me that this
-crazy woman is crazy over me. She thinks that I undervalue her, and
-women never forgive similar offenses. I am very far from doing so; but
-who could ever have imagined that to serve the King well in this affair,
-I should have been forced to become gallant cavalier to a _capitaine de
-dragons_? The adventure appears to me so ridiculous that I have all the
-trouble in the world to regain my seriousness so as suitably to finish
-this memoir."
-
-If d'Eon had the satisfaction of duping Beaumarchais in a certain sense,
-he failed utterly in inducing him to loosen the strings of the royal
-purse which he carried, and without which nothing was accomplished.
-Finding that Beaumarchais was inexorable on this point, all the pent-up
-fury of the chevalier blazed forth. He began at once addressing
-interminable memoirs to the minister Vergennes, full of accusations
-against his agent, couched in the coarsest and most violent language,
-attributing to the latter all the epithets that fall so glibly from his
-pen, "the insolence of a watchmaker's boy, who by chance had discovered
-perpetual motion."
-
-"Beaumarchais," said Loménie, "received these broadsides of abuse with
-the calm of a perfect gentleman: 'She is a woman,' he wrote to M. de
-Vergennes, 'and a woman so frightfully surrounded that I pardon her
-with all my heart; she is a woman--that word says everything.'"
-
-But exactly this was what the chevalier did not want; he did not want to
-be pardoned by Beaumarchais; he wanted a quarrel with him, and to have
-his accusations credited by the minister. He succeeded in neither of his
-objects, although his resentment and his desire for revenge augmented
-rather than diminished with time. Returned to France, he openly accused
-Beaumarchais of having retained for himself money that was destined for
-him. His abuse was so violent that in self-defense the accused man
-appealed for justification to the minister, and received the following
-letter, which bears date of January 10th, 1778:
-
-   "I have received, Monsieur, your letter of the 3rd of this month,
-   and I have not been able to see without surprise that the
-   demoiselle d'Eon imputes to you having appropriated to yourself
-   to her prejudice the funds which she supposes to have been
-   destined for her. I have difficulty in believing, Monsieur, that
-   this demoiselle has been guilty of an accusation so calumnious;
-   but if she has done so, you should not have the slightest
-   disquietude or be in the least affected; you have the gage and
-   the guarantee of your innocence in the account which you have
-   given of your management of the affair, in the most approved
-   form, founded upon the most authentic titles, and in the
-   discharge which I have given you of the approval of the King. Far
-   from the possibility of your disinterestedness being suspected, I
-   have not forgotten, Monsieur, that you made no account of your
-   personal expenses, and that you never allowed me to perceive any
-   other interest than to facilitate to the demoiselle d'Eon the
-   means of returning to her native land.
-
-   "I am very perfectly, Monsieur, your very humble and very
-   obedient servitor,
-
-                                                   "De Vergennes."
-
-Beaumarchais was at this time far too deeply engaged in his gigantic
-mercantile operations to be seriously disturbed by the accusations of
-the Chevalier d'Eon. Far greater difficulties were to overwhelm him, and
-still more signal ingratitude was to be his portion. He will accept that
-too, in very much the same spirit in which he has accepted all the rest.
-
-
-
-
-                               CHAPTER XVI
-
-
-"_Vor der Ankunft Dean's und Franklin's, Beaumarchais war ohne Frage,
-der bestunterrichtete Kenner Englands und der Vereinigten Staaten auf
-dem continent._"
-
-                       _Bettelheim_, "_Beaumarchais: Eine Biographie._"
-
-
-    Beaumarchais's Earliest Activities in the Cause of American
-      Independence--First Steps of the Government of
-      France--Bonvouloir--Discord Among Parties in
-      England--Beaumarchais's Memoirs to the King--Meets Arthur
-      Lee--Lee's Letter to Congress--King Still Undecided--Curious
-      Letter of Beaumarchais, with Replies Traced in the Handwriting
-      of the King.
-
-
-No record of the actual awakening of Beaumarchais's interest in the War
-of American Independence has ever been brought to light, but certain it
-is that for nearly a year before the date of any document contained in
-the French Archives, Beaumarchais was the "real, though secret, agent of
-the Minister Vergennes in London."
-
-The earliest written allusion to any definite commission from the
-government in regard to this matter is found in the letter of
-Beaumarchais to Vergennes, written July 14, 1775, a part of which,
-relating to the Chevalier d'Eon, is given in the previous chapter. After
-announcing exultantly the possession of the keys to the famous chest of
-which it had just been questioned, he continued: "I would return at once
-to give the details of what I have accomplished if I were only charged
-with one object; but I am charged with four, and find myself obliged to
-leave for Flanders with milord Ferrers and in his vessel. It would not
-be just that the _King and M. de Sartine_ were less content than the
-_King and M. de Vergennes_....
-
-"In politics, it is not sufficient to work, one must succeed....
-
-"I shall take no repose until I have informed you in regard to the
-veritable state of things in England, a knowledge of which becomes more
-important from day to day. As soon as I shall be as tranquil over the
-objects of M. de Sartine as I am now over '_notre amazone_' (the
-Chevalier d'Eon) I shall return to Versailles....
-
-"I profit by the first sure occasion of dropping a letter into the post
-at Calais, to tell you, without its being known in London, that I have
-just put into the hands of the King, the papers and the creature that
-they have wished to use against him at any price.
-
-"I say, 'without its being discovered in London,' because it is a great
-question to find out what my object is, but what can be gotten from a
-man who neither speaks nor writes?
-
-"I am with the most respectful devotion, M. de Comte ... etc....
-Beaumarchais" (letter given by Gaillardet in his _Mémoires sur le
-Chevalier d'Eon_).
-
-Beaumarchais's mission to Flanders is alluded to in another place by
-Gaillardet, without, however, giving any authority for the statement
-which he made. He said, "The court of Louis XVI still hesitated to
-follow Beaumarchais in the adventurous career whither he was drawing it,
-so to speak, with a tow-line, ... although Holland and Spain were
-already engaged by his efforts to embrace the cause of France and the
-United States against England."
-
-Doniol in his _Histoire de la Participation de la France dans_
-_l'Etablissement des Etats-Unis_, said: "Franklin before returning to
-America had treated with armorers and merchants of England, Holland and
-France for the furnishing and transmitting of munitions of war to the
-colonies. These operations were centralized in London, and Beaumarchais
-did not remain ignorant of them.... He knew, heard, and prepared many
-things."
-
-Although "no special memoir, no private archive has up to the present
-revealed the intimate details (Doniol, II, 31)," it seems certain that
-the plans of Beaumarchais centered in the dispatching of funds, or if
-possible, of ammunitions of war, to the insurged colonies, and that the
-head of these operations was to be in the Low Countries. To further
-these projects, the most profound secrecy was necessary, not only to
-ensure their success, but to prevent the government from being
-compromised. This fact accounts sufficiently for the almost total lack
-of documents relative to these negotiations. What facilitated them was
-the profound discord which existed at this time in England itself, and
-especially the diversity of opinion in relation to the uprising among
-the colonists. No one realized the deep significance of this fact for
-the interest of France and of America better than Beaumarchais, and no
-one knew so well how to turn it to the advantage of both these
-countries. It goes without saying that had England been united in her
-desire to crush America and united in her attempts to prevent foreign
-interference, the history of the war would have been very different from
-what it was.
-
-As a matter of fact in England "a party, small indeed in numbers, but
-powerful from its traditions, its connections, and its abilities, had
-identified itself completely with the cause of the insurgents, opposed
-and embarrassed the Government in every effort to augment its forces and
-to subsidize allies, openly rejoiced in the victories of the Americans,
-and exerted all its eloquence to justify and encourage them." (Lecky,
-III, 545.)
-
-"This glorious spirit of Whiggism," said Chatham in a speech delivered
-in January, 1775, "animates three millions in America, who prefer
-poverty with liberty, to gilded chains and sordid affluence, who will
-die in defence of their rights as freemen.... All attempts to impose
-servitude upon such men, to establish despotism over such a mighty
-continental nation, must be vain, must be fatal. We shall be forced
-ultimately to retreat. Let us retreat while we can, not when we must."
-
-From the beginning, the members of the Opposition had emphasized the
-danger to Great Britain that would arise from a prolonged struggle with
-the colonies, foreseeing that they later would be forced into an
-alliance with France. (Walpole's last Journal, 11-182.)
-
-At this time the Americans had no sympathy for the French and no desire
-to incur any debt of gratitude towards them. "France had hitherto been
-regarded in America, even more than in England, as a natural enemy. Her
-expulsion from America had been for generations one of the first objects
-of American patriots, and if she again mixed in American affairs it was
-naturally thought that she would seek to regain the province she had
-lost." (Lecky, 111, 453.) To ask aid of her was at first an intolerable
-thought to the greater number among the Revolutionary party--necessity
-alone finally drove them to the step. Even then, it was with no
-intention of accepting the help with gratitude, as subsequent events
-proved: It was a means to an end, and the less said about it, the sooner
-it was obliterated or forgotten, the better for all concerned.
-
-The attitude of France towards America was of a totally different
-nature. There was never any feeling of animosity against Americans
-engendered by those wars which finally terminated so disastrously for
-the French in the peace of 1763. As these wars had all been of European
-origin, the resentment of the French fell upon the English alone. The
-very name America had a wild, sweet charm for every Frenchman's ear. For
-him the red man was no savage foe, but a friend and brother. Side by
-side they penetrated together the dense fastnesses of the primeval
-forests, ascended the rivers, climbed the mountains, shot the cataracts;
-at night they lay down under the same tent, shared the same meals and
-smoked together the pipe of peace. The dread which kept the English
-settlers hovering near the coast was unknown to the French. Thus they
-were able to explore and claim for the great Sun-King the vast central
-region, part of which bears his name to the present day. Not only was
-the thought of these great possessions alluring to adventurers and
-traders; philosophers and thinkers as well looked into the future and
-saw the part that they were to play in the development of the race. In
-1750 Turgot had uttered the following words, "Vast regions of America!
-Equality keeps them from both luxury and want, and preserves to them
-purity and simplicity with freedom. Europe herself will find there the
-perfection of her political societies, and the surest support of her
-well-being." But since 1763 the fruit of French explorations on the
-continent of America had been in the hands of the English; a few sugar
-islands among the West Indies alone remained to them. Their foot-hold in
-America was gone, but not their love for America. More than this a
-generosity of nature, joined to a tolerance of, and admiration for
-qualities not of the same type as their own, has always been a marked
-characteristic of the French. It was therefore in the very nature of
-things that the nation should have been roused to enthusiasm by the
-news of the heroic resistance of the colonies, especially when it is
-taken into consideration that every blow dealt by the defenders of
-liberty, was aimed directly at the "triumphant political rival of
-France."
-
-But the people of the nation were not its government, and at the time of
-the uprising in America, France was ruled by a king, weak indeed in
-character yet absolute in power, in whose divine right to rule, his
-ministers as well as himself, believed. It was not, therefore, to be
-expected that the French government would look with favor upon the
-rebellious subjects of any nation, whether friend or foe. It was in the
-nature of things that they should hesitate before encouraging measures
-that were intended to aid revolt. As late as March 5, 1775, M. de
-Vergennes had written to the French ambassador in London bidding him
-quiet the fears of the English government in regard to the probable
-interference of France. "The maintenance of peace with England," he
-wrote, "is our unique object."
-
-The French government, however, could not wholly resist the tide of
-public sentiment or remain altogether unmoved by considerations of
-interest. It was thought well to send some prudent and sagacious agent
-to the New World to try the public temper and to see if the interference
-of France actually was desired. A man admirably fitted for the task
-recently had arrived in London from the French West Indies, who in
-returning, had passed through the colonies, and who knew them well,
-leaving many acquaintances there. This man was Bonvouloir. The 7th of
-August, 1775, M. de Vergennes wrote to the French Ambassador, "The King
-very much approves the mission of Bonvouloir." (Bancroft--IV--360) "His
-instructions," he wrote to the ambassador a little later, "should be
-verbal and confined to the two most essential objects: the one to make
-a faithful report to you of the events and of the prevailing disposition
-of the public mind; the other to secure the Americans against jealousy
-of us. Canada is for them _le point jaloux_: they must be made to
-understand that we do not think of it in the least." (Quoted from J.
-Durand's _New Materials for the History of the American Revolution_,
-1889, p. 1-16, Bonvouloir.)
-
-On the 8th of September he set sail. The result of his mission, although
-it promised nothing to the colonies, was to them at least an
-encouragement. Already in the Summer of 1775 a motion had been made in
-Congress and strongly supported by John Adams, to send an ambassador to
-France. "But Congress still shrank from so formidable a step, though it
-agreed, after long debates and hesitation, to form a secret committee to
-correspond with friends in Great Britain, Ireland, and other parts of
-the world." (Adams's Life, I, 200-202.) It was with this secret
-committee, of which the celebrated Dr. Franklin was a prominent member,
-that Bonvouloir came in touch.
-
-Although the French government had taken this one preliminary step, she
-remained to all appearances as indifferent to the cause of the colonists
-as she was to the condition of affairs in England. Beaumarchais began
-deluging her with such volumes of information on both these subjects,
-that almost in spite of herself, her own interest was aroused. "The
-energy of a believer is a force to which undecided convictions
-yield--and this was the case with the King in regard to the schemes of
-Beaumarchais." (Gaillardet.)
-
-But before entering into a consideration of those schemes, it would be
-well to glance at the actual condition of England herself. We already
-have spoken of the division existing in her midst, but the greatest
-difficulty which the English government had to encounter was the one
-that she has had to face in 1914 when she found herself suddenly
-plunged into war with another country, namely that of raising a
-formidable army. Then as now, the hatred of conscription was so deep
-rooted in the English people that even the government of Lord North did
-not dare to resort to it. "To raise the required troops on short notice
-was very difficult.... The land tax was raised to four shillings in the
-pound. New duties were imposed; new bounties were offered. Recruiting
-agents traversed the country.... Recruits, however, came very slowly.
-There was no enthusiasm for a war with English settlers. No measure
-short of conscription could raise at once the necessary army in England
-and to propose conscription would be fatal to any government." (Lecky,
-III, 455.)
-
-In her dilemma, England found herself reduced to the infamous measure of
-hiring German soldiers to fight for her against her own subjects. The
-shameful conduct of the Landgrave of Hesse, the Duke of Brunswick and
-the Prince of Waldeck, has been immortalized by Germany's great poet,
-Schiller, in his _Kabale und Liebe_; "In England they excited only
-contempt and indignation." (Lecky) Moreover, the disorders arising from
-the press-gang service ran high, while "after three expulsions, the
-famous demagogue Wilkes" still retained his seat in Parliament, and in
-1774 had been made Lord-Mayor of London. At a public dinner he had been
-heard to exclaim insolently, "For a long time the King of England has
-done me the honor of hating me. On my side, I have always rendered him
-the justice of despising him; the time has come to decide which has the
-better judged the other, and to which side the wind will make the heads
-fall." This divided condition among the people themselves justified the
-assertion of Beaumarchais, made in his memoir to the King: "Open war in
-America is less pernicious to England than the intestine war which
-seems likely to break out before long in London; the bitterness between
-the parties has risen to the highest excesses since the proclamation of
-the King, declaring the Americans rebels." Beaumarchais in this was only
-voicing the general opinion. But "The English People," says Loménie,
-"with that national sentiment and good sense which often has
-characterized them in great crises, baffled these previsions. The defeat
-of the English troops weakened the opposition more than the ministry.
-Everything became subordinate to the necessity of combatting with
-energy; and the irritation, instead of augmenting, cooled down
-considerably."
-
-As the war progressed, party-feeling disappeared while the actual entry
-of France into the struggle developed a unity of purpose among the
-English which would have been very disastrous to the new nation, had it
-existed in the beginning.
-
-The summer of 1775 was passed by Beaumarchais, ostensibly in
-negotiations with the chevalier d'Eon, in reality with plans and
-arrangements made with other European powers to join France in the
-secret support of the colonies. No word written or spoken of these
-negotiations escaped him, so that we can judge of their nature only from
-the results. "The middle of September," says Doniol (p. 134, I) "having
-arranged his combinations, he returned to Versailles to emphasize the
-necessity of France's conducting herself as the future ally of the
-Americans, that is, to come to an understanding with them in regard to
-the aid necessary for the development of their revolt."
-
-M. de Vergennes seems to have been his first confidant. It was decided
-to act on the mind of the King. A memoir was to be drawn up and given to
-M. de Sartine who should believe himself the unique confidant. This plan
-was disclosed in the following letter which Beaumarchais wrote to
-Vergennes:
-
-                                                   "Sept. 22, 1775
-   "Pour vous seul;
-
-   "M. le comte: M. de Sartine gave me back the paper yesterday, but
-   said nothing to me of the affair. Now in relation to the secret
-   which I let him think I was guarding from you, relative to my
-   memoir to the King, I thought it better that I wrote to you an
-   ostensible letter which you could carry or send to His Majesty
-   and if you were not charged by him with a reply, at least I
-   should receive one from your bounty to console me for having
-   taken useless pains. Send, I beg you, a blank passport, if you
-   think I should await the orders of the King in London, in case he
-   has not the time now, to decide the matter well. Of all this,
-   please be kind enough to inform me. Everything being understood
-   thus between us, it will be to your advantage to write to me so
-   obscurely that no one but myself can divine the object of your
-   letter, if you should send it to me by way of the ambassador."
-   ...
-
-   The "ostensible" letter, which was written at the same time for
-   the purpose of making an impression upon the King, was sent to
-   the latter the next day by Vergennes with the following note:
-
-   "I see, Sire, by the letter of the Sieur de Beaumarchais which I
-   have the honor to join to this, that he himself already has had
-   that of reporting to Your Majesty the notions he collected in
-   London, and what profit he thinks can be drawn from them." ...
-   After asking for the King's orders, he continued, "I requested M.
-   de Beaumarchais, who was to leave to-night for London, to defer
-   starting until to-morrow at noon....
-
-                                                    "De Vergennes.
-   "A Versailles, le 23 Septembre 1775."
-   (Quoted from Doniol I, 133.)
-
-The "ostensible" letter is addressed to Vergennes but is really a second
-appeal to the King. In it Beaumarchais dared to state forcefully the
-embarrassment into which the King's silence plunged him. He says:
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte,
-
-   "When zeal is indiscreet, it should be reprimanded; when it is
-   agreeable, it should be encouraged; but all the sagacity in the
-   world, would not enable him to whom nothing is replied, to divine
-   what conduct it is expected he should maintain.
-
-   "I sent yesterday to the King through M. de Sartine, a short
-   memoir which is the resumé of the long conference which you
-   accorded me the day before; it is the exact state of men and
-   things in England; it is terminated by the offer which I made you
-   to suppress for the time necessary for our preparations for war,
-   everything which by its noise, or its silence could hasten or
-   retard the moment. There must have been question of all this in
-   the council yesterday, and this morning you have sent me no word.
-   The most mortal thing to affairs of any kind is uncertainty or
-   loss of time.
-
-   "Should I await your reply or must I leave without having
-   received any? Have I done well or ill to penetrate the sentiments
-   of those minds whose dispositions are becoming so important for
-   us? Shall I allow in the future these confidences to come to
-   nothing and repel them instead of welcoming them--these overtures
-   which should have a direct influence upon the actual resolution?
-   In a word, am I an agent useful to his country, or only a
-   traveller deaf and dumb? I ask no new commission. I have too
-   serious work for my own personal affairs to finish in France for
-   that, but I would have felt that I had failed in my duty to the
-   King, to you, to my country, if I allowed all the good I might
-   bring about and all the evil which I might prevent to remain
-   unknown.
-
-   "I wait your reply to this letter before starting. If you have no
-   answer to make me, I shall regard this voyage as blank and nul;
-   and without regretting my pains, I will return instantly to
-   terminate in four days what remains to do with d'Eon and come
-   back without seeing anyone; they will indeed be very much
-   astonished, but another can do better perhaps; I wish it with my
-   whole heart."
-
-The memoir which had been sent to the King by way of M. de Sartine, the
-21st September, 1775, shows in its first sentence that another memoir
-had preceded it. Beaumarchais wrote:
-
-                                                          "Au Roi:
-
-   "Sire,
-
-   "In the firm confidence which I hold, that these extracts which I
-   address to Your Majesty are for you alone, I will continue, Sire,
-   to present to you the truth in all points known to me, which seem
-   to me to be of interest to your service, without having regard to
-   the interests of anyone else whomsoever. I left London under
-   pretext of going to the country and have come running from London
-   to Paris, to confer with MM. de Vergennes and de Sartine upon
-   objects too important and too delicate to be confided to the care
-   of any courier.
-
-   "Sire, England is in such a crisis, such a disorder within and
-   without, that she would touch almost upon her ruin if her rivals
-   were in a state seriously to occupy themselves with her
-   condition. Here is the faithful exposition of the situation of
-   the English in America; I hold these details from an inhabitant
-   of Philadelphia arrived from the colonies, after a conference
-   with the English ministers, whom his recital has thrown into the
-   greatest trouble and petrified with fear. The Americans, resolved
-   to suffer everything rather than yield, and full of that
-   enthusiasm of liberty which has often rendered the little nation
-   of Corsica so redoubtable to the Genoese, have thirty-eight
-   thousand men, effectively armed and determined, under the walls
-   of Boston; they have reduced the English army to the necessity of
-   dying of hunger in that city, or of going elsewhere to find
-   winter quarters, something which it will do immediately. Nearly
-   eight thousand men well armed and equally determined, defend the
-   rest of the country without a single cultivator having been taken
-   from the land, or a workman from the manufactories. Every one who
-   was employed in the fisheries, which the English have destroyed,
-   has become a soldier and wishes to revenge the ruin of his family
-   and the liberty of his country; all who followed maritime
-   commerce, which the English have stopped, have joined the
-   fishermen to make war upon their common persecutors; all those
-   working in the ports have served to augment this army of furious
-   men, whose every action is animated by vengeance and rage.
-
-   "I say, Sire, that such a nation must be invincible, especially
-   having behind her sufficient country for a retreat, even if the
-   English were to become masters of the coast, which is far from
-   being said. All sensible people are convinced in England that the
-   English colonies are lost for the metropolis, and that is also my
-   opinion."
-
-   Then follows an account of the discord prevailing within the
-   country itself, as well as an account of the secret negotiations
-   being carried on by members with Spain and Portugal. He concluded
-   thus:
-
-   "Résumé. America escapes from the English in spite of their
-   efforts; the war is more vividly illuminated in London than in
-   Boston.... Our ministry, uninformed and stagnant, remains passive
-   while events are occurring which touch us most closely....
-
-   "A superior and vigilant man would be indispensable in London
-   to-day....
-
-   "Here, Sire, are the motives of my trip to France, whatever use
-   Your Majesty may make of this memoir I count upon the virtue, the
-   goodness of my Master, trusting that he will not allow these
-   proofs of my zeal to turn against me, in confiding them to
-   anyone, which would only augment the number of my enemies. They
-   will, however, never hinder me from serving you so long as I am
-   certain of the protection of Your Majesty.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-Of the secret deliberations of the council and the resolutions arrived
-at we can judge only from the letter of Beaumarchais addressed to
-Vergennes the night of the 23rd of September. The King had read the
-"ostensible" letter, and as Beaumarchais hoped, had been more stirred by
-it. He had conferred with his minister and had given his orders.
-Vergennes hastened to communicate them to Beaumarchais who left the same
-night for London. Later he wrote:
-
-
-                               "Paris the 23rd of September, 1775.
-   "Monsieur le Comte:
-
-   "I start, well informed as to the intention of the King and of
-   yourself. Let your Excellency have no fears; it would be an
-   unpardonable blunder in me to compromise in such an affair the
-   dignity of my master, or of his minister: to do one's best is
-   nothing in politics; the first man who offers himself can do as
-   much. Do the best that can possibly be done under the
-   circumstances is what should distinguish from the common
-   servitor, him whom His Majesty and yourself Monsieur le Comte,
-   honor with your confidence in so delicate a matter. I am, etc.
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-But the French government was slow to move. They were willing to make
-use of the indefatigable zeal of their secret agent in collecting
-information, but they were in no haste to commit themselves by any act
-that might bring them prematurely into conflict with England. Rightly
-enough, they wished to wait until the colonists themselves had arrived
-at a decision. "France," says Lecky, "had no possible interest in the
-constitutional liberties of Americans. She had a vital interest in their
-independence." No one realized this fact better than Beaumarchais, and
-for exactly this reason he continued to urge, with unabated ardor that
-France should consent to give the colonists the secret, yet absolutely
-indispensable aid, which he had been preparing; the fear which tormented
-him was that through lack of means of effective resistance they should
-reconcile themselves with the mother country. Still apparently occupied
-with the affair of d'Eon, late in November he appeared again at
-Versailles. On the 24th in a letter to Vergennes relating to the change
-of costume decided upon for the Chevalier, Beaumarchais wrote: "Instead
-of awaiting the reply, which should bear a definite decision, do you
-approve that I write the King again that I am here, that you have seen
-me trembling lest in a thing as easy as it is necessary, and perhaps the
-most important that he will ever have to decide, his Majesty should
-choose the negative?
-
-"Whatever else happens I implore the favor of being allowed an audience
-for a quarter of an hour, before he comes to any decision, so that I may
-respectfully demonstrate to him the necessity of undertaking, the
-facility of doing, the certainty of succeeding, and the immense harvest
-of glory and repose which this little sowing will yield to his reign....
-In case you have orders for me, I am at the hotel of Jouy rue des
-Recollets."
-
-The "seed" which Beaumarchais demanded, which should bring such a
-harvest of prosperity and glory to France was a sum of money, 2,000,000
-francs perhaps, which he proposed to send as specie, or converted into
-munitions of war through such channels as he had prepared in other
-countries. During the first period of Beaumarchais's activity in our
-cause, no idea of his personal intervention except as transmitter of the
-funds of the government, appeared to have entered his mind. The icy
-coldness with which his advances were met did not in the least chill his
-ardor--he only looked about for some new avenue of approach. His plans
-had been disapproved, not to say rejected.--The 7th of December he
-addressed another memoir to the King, couched in such respectful
-language, so warm and glowing from his inmost heart, that its daring
-boldness was almost forgotten. (In his _New Materials for the History of
-the American Revolution_, Durand gives the Memoir in full.--The
-selections here given are taken from his translation of the original.)
-
-                                                           "Au Roi
-
-   "Sire: Your Majesty's disapproval of a plan is, in general, a law
-   for its rejection by all who are interested in it. There are
-   plans, however, of such supreme importance to the welfare of your
-   Kingdom, that a zealous servant may deem it right to present
-   them more than once, for fear that they may not have been
-   understood from the most favorable point of view.
-
-   "The project which I do not mention here, but of which Your
-   Majesty is aware through M. de Vergennes, is of this number; I
-   rely wholly upon the strength of my reasons to secure its
-   adoption. I entreat you, Sire, to weigh them with all the
-   attention which such an important affair demands.
-
-   "When this paper is read by you, my duty is done. We propose,
-   Sire, and you judge. Yours is the more important task, for we are
-   responsible to you, while you, Sire, are responsible to God, to
-   yourself, and to the great people to whom good or ill may ensue
-   according to your decision.
-
-   "M. de Vergennes informs me that Your Majesty does not deem it
-   just to adopt the proposed expedient. The objection, then, has no
-   bearing on the immense utility of the project, nor on the danger
-   of carrying it out, but solely on the delicate conscientiousness
-   of Your Majesty.
-
-   "A refusal due to such honorable motives would condemn one to
-   silence, did not the extreme importance of the proposed object
-   make one examine whether the _justice_ of the King of France is
-   not really interested in adopting such an expedient. In general
-   it is certain that any idea, any project opposed to justice
-   should be discarded by every honest man.
-
-   "But, Sire, the policy of governments is not the moral law of its
-   citizens.... A kingdom is a vast isolated body, farther removed
-   from its neighbors by a diversity of interests, than by the sea,
-   the citadels, and the barriers which bound it. There is no common
-   law between them which ensures its safety.... The welfare and the
-   prosperity of each impose upon each, relations which are
-   variously modified under the name of international law, the
-   principle of which, even according to Montesquieu, is to do the
-   best for one's self as the first law, with the least possible
-   wrong to other governments as the second.' ...
-
-   "The justice and protection which a king owes to his subjects is
-   a strict and rigorous duty; while that which he may offer to
-   other states is never other than conventional. Hence it follows
-   that the national policy which preserves states, differs in
-   almost every respect from the civil morality which governs
-   individuals....
-
-   "It is the English, Sire, which it concerns you to humiliate and
-   to weaken, if you do not wish to be humiliated and weakened
-   yourself on every occasion. Have the usurpations and outrages of
-   that people ever had any limit but that of its strength? Have
-   they not always waged war against you without declaring it? Did
-   they not begin the last one in a time of peace, by a sudden
-   capture of five hundred of your vessels? Did they not humble you
-   by forcing you to destroy your finest seaport?... humiliation
-   which would have made Louis XIV _plutôt manger ses bras_ than not
-   atone for? A humiliation that makes the heart of every true
-   Frenchman bleed.... Your Majesty is no longer ignorant that the
-   late king, forced by events to accept the shameful treaty of
-   1763, swore to avenge these indignities.... The very singularity
-   of his plan only the better discloses his indignation....
-
-   "Without the intestine commotions which worry the English they
-   already would have profited by the state of weakness and disorder
-   under which the late king transmitted the kingdom to you, to
-   deprive you of the pitiful remains of your possessions in
-   America, Africa, and India, nearly all of them in their hands,
-   and yet Your Majesty is so delicate and conscientious as to
-   hesitate!
-
-   "An indefatigable, zealous servant succeeds in putting the most
-   formidable weapon in your hand, one you can use without
-   committing yourself and without striking a blow, so as to abase
-   your natural enemies and render them incapable of injuring you
-   for a long while....
-
-   "Ah, Sire, if you believe you owe so much to that proud English
-   people, do you owe nothing to your own good people in France, in
-   America, in India? But if your scruples are so delicate that you
-   have no desire to favor what may injure your enemies, how, Sire,
-   can you allow your subjects to contend with other European
-   powers, in conquering countries belonging to the poor Indians,
-   the African Savages or the Caribs who have never wronged you? How
-   can you allow your vessels to take by force and bind suffering
-   black men whom nature made free and who are only miserable
-   because you are powerful? How can you suffer three rival powers
-   to seize iniquitously upon and divide Poland under your very
-   eyes?...
-
-   "Were men angels, political ways might undoubtedly be disdained.
-   But if men were angels there would be no need of religion to
-   enlighten them, of laws to govern them, of magistrates to
-   restrain them, of soldiers to subdue them; and the earth instead
-   of being a faithful image of hell, would be indeed a celestial
-   abode. All we can do is to take men as they are, and the wisest
-   king can go no farther than the legislator Solon, who said: 'I do
-   not give the Athenians the best laws, but only those adapted for
-   the place, the time and the people for whom I make them.' ...
-
-   "I entreat you, Sire, in the name of your subjects, to whom you
-   owe your best efforts; in the name of that inward repose which
-   your Majesty so properly cherishes; in the name of the glory and
-   prosperity of a reign begun under such happy auspices; I entreat
-   you, Sire, not to be deceived by the brilliant sophism of a
-   false sensibility. _Summum jus, summa injuria._ This deplorable
-   excess of equity towards your enemies would be the most signal
-   injustice towards your subjects who soon suffer the penalty of
-   scruples out of place.
-
-   "I have treated the gravest questions summarily, for fear of
-   weakening my arguments by giving them greater extension, and
-   especially through fear of wearying the attention of Your
-   Majesty. If any doubts still remain, Sire, after reading what I
-   have presented to you, efface my signature, and have this attempt
-   copied by another hand, in order that the feebleness of the
-   reasoner may not diminish the force of the argument, and lay this
-   discussion before any man instructed by experience and knowledge
-   of worldly affairs; and if there is one, beginning with M. de
-   Vergennes, who does not agree with me, I close my mouth; ...
-
-   "Finally, Sire, I must confess to being so confounded by your
-   Majesty's refusal, that, unable to find a better reason for it, I
-   conjecture that the negotiator is an obstacle to the success of
-   this important affair in the mind of Your Majesty. Sire, my own
-   interest is nothing, that of serving you is everything. Select
-   any man of probity, intelligence and discretion, who can be
-   relied upon; I will take him to England and make such efforts as
-   I hope will attain for him the same confidence that has been
-   awarded to myself. He shall conduct the affair to a successful
-   issue, while I will return and fall back into the quiet obscurity
-   from which I emerged, rejoicing in having at least begun an
-   affair of the greatest utility that any negotiator was ever
-   honored with.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-   _Post Scriptum._
-
-   "It is absolutely impossible to give in writing all that relates
-   to this affair at bottom on account of the profound secrecy
-   which it requires, although it is extremely easy for me to
-   demonstrate the safety of the undertaking, the facility of doing,
-   the certainty of success, and the immense harvest of glory and
-   tranquillity which, Sire, this small grain of seed, sowed in
-   time, must give to your reign.
-
-   "May the guardian angel of this government incline the mind of
-   Your Majesty. Should he award us this first success, the rest
-   will take care of itself. I answer for it."
-
-Consider for a moment that the loyal subject who dared to write thus to
-an absolute king, his master, was a civilly degraded man, incapable in
-the eyes of the law of fulfilling any public function. It is the same
-man to whom had been addressed several years previously, the famous
-letter from some English admirer, which was inscribed "To Beaumarchais,
-the only free man in France," and it was delivered to him.
-
-No special attention seems to have been paid to this memoir. At least no
-outward sign was given; and Beaumarchais after waiting several days,
-resorted to another measure. He addressed a letter to the King upon the
-very inconsequent subject of the costume which the Chevalier D'Eon
-should assume and the disposition that should be made of his man's
-attire. To such questions, at least, Louis XVI would not fear to give a
-definite answer--perhaps he might be induced to take an additional step
-and half unconsciously to decide weightier matters. The expedient was
-worth a trial and Beaumarchais resorted to it. In writing the letter he
-left a wide margin and humbly begged the King to write the answer
-opposite each question.
-
-"The autograph," said Loménie, "is interesting. The body of the piece is
-written in the hand of Beaumarchais and signed by him; the replies to
-each question are traced in the margin, in a handwriting fine, but
-uneven, weak, undecided, where the v's and t's are scarcely indicated.
-It is the hand of the good, though weak and unhappy sovereign whom the
-revolution was to devour seventeen years later.... Below is written and
-signed in the hand of Vergennes, 'All the additions are in the
-handwriting of the King.'"
-
-   "Essential points which I implore M. de Vergennes to present for
-   the decision of the King to be replied to on the margin:
-
-   [Sidenote: In the provinces only.]
-
-   "Does the King accord the demoiselle d'Eon permission to wear her
-   cross of St. Louis on her woman's attire?
-
-   [Sidenote: Yes.]
-
-   "Does His Majesty approve the gratification of 2000 pounds which I
-   allowed that demoiselle for her Trousseau?
-
-   [Sidenote: She must sell it.]
-
-   "Does His Majesty allow her the entire disposition of her man's
-   attire?
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-   [Sidenote: Good.]
-
-   "The King not being able to refuse a recognition in good form of
-   the papers which I have brought back from England, I have begged
-   M. de Vergennes, to implore His Majesty to add with his own hand,
-   several words showing his approval of the way in which I have
-   filled my mission. That recompense, the dearest to my heart, may
-   one day be of great utility to me....
-
-   [Sidenote: That you received none.]
-
-   "As the first person whom I will see in England is milord
-   Rochford, and as he is likely to ask me in secret the reply of
-   the King of France to the prayer which the King of England made
-   through me, what shall I reply?
-
-   [Sidenote: Perhaps.]
-
-   "If that lord wishes secretly to engage me to see the monarch
-   shall I accept or not?
-
-   [Sidenote: It is useless.]
-
-"If that minister ... wishes to bring me into connection with other
-ministers, or if the occasion in any way arises shall I accept or not?"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Finally Beaumarchais brought forward the demand for which the rest of
-the letter is but a cloak, the one burning question for the answer of
-which he had waited so long and in vain and to which Louis XVI still
-made no reply:
-
-   "And now I ask before starting, the positive response to my last
-   memoir; but if ever question was important, it must be admitted
-   that it is this one. I answer on my head, after having well
-   reflected, for the most glorious success of this operation for
-   the entire reign of my master, without his person, or of that of
-   his ministers, or his interests being in the least compromised.
-   Can anyone of those who influence His Majesty against this
-   measure answer on his head to the King for the evil which will
-   infallibly come to France if it is rejected?
-
-   "In the case that we shall be so unhappy as that the King should
-   constantly refuse to adopt a plan so simple and so wise, I
-   implore His Majesty to permit me to take note for him of the date
-   when I arranged this superb resource, in order that one day he
-   may render me the justice due to my views, when it will only be
-   left to us bitterly to regret not having followed them.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-[Illustration: CHARLES GRAVIER--COMTE DE VERGENNES]
-
-"The temerity of the secret agent," says M. de Loménie, "in the end
-prevailed over the prudence of the King; but for the moment ...
-Beaumarchais was obliged to start for London knowing only that d'Eon
-must sell his old clothes."
-
-For the moment the hopes of Beaumarchais seemed wholly shattered.
-"Intrigues of the court," said Doniol, "controlled the actions of M. de
-Vergennes, and made him feel the danger. The minister was visibly the
-butt of serious attacks, Beaumarchais was in consequence held at a
-distance. Everything seemed to be compromised. He seized the occasion of
-the new year to write to M. de Vergennes.
-
-                                                 "January 1, 1776.
-   "Monsieur le comte:
-
-   "It is impossible to be so deeply touched as I am with your
-   favors without being very much so by your apparent coldness. I
-   have examined myself well, and I feel that I do not merit it. How
-   could you know that I had carried my zeal too far, if you do not
-   first enter with me into the details of what I have done or ought
-   to have done?
-
-   "Great experience with men, and the habit of misfortune, have
-   given me that watchful prudence, which makes me think of
-   everything and direct things according to the timid or courageous
-   character of those for whom I do them."
-
-Thus the year 1775 ended and the new year began with but little
-encouragement for the agent of the King in the cause of America; but his
-was a heart that did not easily lose courage. More than this, matters
-were really advancing; the timid policy of the King and the objections
-of the ministers began to give way to "the quiet and uniform influence
-of M. de Vergennes, which imperceptibly overcame the scruples of the
-inexperienced Prince, who never comprehended the far reaching influence
-of the question." (Bancroft--History of America, IV, p. 363.)
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII
-
-
-"_It was absolutely necessary to the existence and prosperity of France
-that the great commercial power and assumed preponderance of Great
-Britain and her attempted monopoly of the seas should be broken. The
-revolt of the American Colonies was her opportunity._"
-
-_George Clinton Genet in Magazine of American History, Nov., 1878._
-
-
-   Beaumarchais's English connections--With Lord Rochford--With
-     Wilkes--Meets Arthur Lee--Sends Memoir to the King--His Commission
-     to Buy Portuguese Coin--Called to Account by Lord
-     Rochford--Vergennes's Acceptance of his Ideas--Article in _The
-     Morning Chronicle_.
-
-
-As has been stated already, Beaumarchais during his stay in London came
-in touch with all classes. It was Lord Rochford whom he had known
-intimately at Madrid who introduced him at the court of St. James. It
-was d'Eon and Morande who brought him into touch with the brilliant,
-daring Wilkes, then Lord Mayor of London.
-
-Around the latter's table the most pronounced members of the opposition,
-as well as the leading Americans then in London, were wont to assemble.
-It was here that Beaumarchais met the young and gifted representative of
-America, Arthur Lee, who was destined to bring so much discord into all
-continental relations with America. The bitterness which subsequent
-developments brought out in his character had not then shown itself.
-
-During the winter of 1776, Lee was replacing Franklin in London. Ardent
-and intelligent, with decided personal charm he captivated Beaumarchais.
-In fact it was primarily through Lee that Beaumarchais came in touch
-with the pulse of American life and from him that he acquired that
-ardent sympathy with the sons of the new world, which never left him.
-
-Both Beaumarchais and the Count de Lauragais, another agent of France in
-London, urged the French minister to permit Lee to appear before him, to
-plead in person the cause of his country. But on this point Vergennes
-was inexorable, and Arthur Lee was not permitted to come to Versailles.
-
-Most of the correspondence which passed between Beaumarchais and the
-French ministers during the early part of 1776 is lacking, but the
-following memoir addressed to the king, February 29, 1776, shows that a
-decided advance had been made:
-
-
-                                           "_La Paix ou la Guerre_
-   "To the King alone:
-
-   "The famous quarrel between America and England which is soon
-   going to divide the world and change the system of Europe,
-   imposes upon every power the necessity of examining well how the
-   event of this separation will influence it, either to serve its
-   ends or to thwart them.
-
-   "But the most interested of all is certainly France, whose sugar
-   islands have been, since the peace of 1763, the constant object
-   of regret and of hope to the king of England....
-
-   "In the first memoir placed before Your Majesty three months ago
-   by M. de Vergennes, I tried to prove that the sense of justice of
-   Your Majesty could not be offended in taking wise precautions
-   against this enemy who never has shown herself delicate in those
-   which she has taken against us.
-
-   "To-day when a violent crisis is advancing upon us with great
-   strides, I am obliged to warn Your Majesty that the conservation
-   of our American possessions and the peace which you so desire
-   depends solely upon this one proposition--_We must aid the
-   Americans!_
-
-   "This is what I will prove to you.... The King of England, the
-   ministers, the parliament, the opposition, the nation, the
-   English people, parties, in a word, which tear the state to
-   pieces, all agree that it is not to be hoped that they can bring
-   back the Americans, even if the great efforts which they now put
-   forth should be able to subdue them. From this, Sire, the violent
-   debates between the ministry and the opposition, the action and
-   reaction of opinions admitted or rejected, do not in the least
-   advance matters, they serve, however, to throw much light upon
-   the subject....
-
-   "The fear exists in England that the Americans, encouraged by
-   their successes and perhaps emboldened by some secret treaty with
-   France and Spain, will refuse the same conditions of peace to-day
-   which they demanded with clasped hands two years ago. On the
-   other hand the Sieur L. (Lee) secret deputy of the colonies at
-   London, absolutely discouraged at the uselessness of the efforts
-   which he has made through me to obtain from the French Ministry
-   aid of powder and munitions of war--said to me to-day,
-
-   "'For the last time, is France absolutely decided to refuse us
-   all aid and has she become the victim of England and the laughing
-   stock of Europe, by this unbelievable torpor?'
-
-   "Obliged myself to reply positively, I await your last reply to
-   his offer before I give my own.
-
-   "'We offer,' he says, 'to France as a price of her secret aid, a
-   secret treaty of commerce which will enable her to reap during a
-   certain number of years after the peace, all the benefits with
-   which we have for the last century enriched England, besides a
-   guarantee of her West Indian Possessions according to our power.
-
-   "'If this is rejected, Congress immediately will make a public
-   proclamation and will offer to all nations of the world what I
-   secretly offer to you to-day.... The Americans, exasperated, will
-   join their forces to those of England and will fall upon your
-   sugar islands--of which you will be deprived forever.' ...
-
-   "Here, Sire, is the striking picture of our position. Your
-   Majesty sincerely wishes to maintain peace. The means to conserve
-   peace, Sire, will make the _résumé_ of this memoir.
-
-   "Admit all the foregoing hypotheses and let us reason. _This
-   which follows is very important._
-
-   "Either England will have the most complete success in the
-   campaign over the Americans; or the Americans will repel the
-   English with loss; or England will adopt the plan of abandoning
-   the colonies to themselves and separating in a friendly manner;
-   or the opposition taking possession of the ministry, will bring
-   about the submission of the colonies on condition of their being
-   reinstated as in 1763.
-
-   "Here are all the possibilities brought together. Is there a
-   single one which does not instantly bring upon us the war which
-   you desire to avoid? Sire, in the name of Heaven, deign to
-   examine the matter with me.
-
-   "First, if England should triumph over America, it can only be at
-   an enormous expense of men and money, now the only indemnity
-   which England will propose to make on her return, will be the
-   capture of our sugar islands.... Thus Sire, it will only remain
-   for you, the choice of beginning too late an unfruitful war, or
-   to sacrifice to the most disgraceful inactivity your American
-   colonies and to lose two hundred and eighty millions of capital
-   and more than thirty millions of revenue.
-
-   "Second, if the Americans win, the moment they are free from the
-   English, the latter in despair at seeing their possessions
-   diminished by three fourths, will be still more anxious to
-   indemnify themselves by the easy capture of our islands, and one
-   may be sure that they will not fail in attempting it.
-
-   "Third, if the English imagine themselves forced to abandon the
-   colonies to themselves, which is the secret desire of the king,
-   their loss being the same and their commerce equally ruined the
-   result remains the same for us.
-
-   "Fourth, if the opposition comes into power and concludes a
-   treaty with the American colonies, the Americans, outraged
-   against the French whose refusal to aid alone forces them to
-   submit to England, menace us from to-day forth, to take away the
-   islands by joining forces with the English....
-
-   "What shall we do in this extremity to win peace and to save our
-   islands?
-
-   "_Sire the only means is to give help to the Americans_, so as to
-   make their forces equal to those of England.... Believe me Sire,
-   the saving of a few millions to-day soon may cause a great deal
-   of blood to flow, and money to be lost to France....
-
-   "If it is replied that we cannot aid the Americans without
-   drawing upon us a storm, I reply that this danger can be averted
-   if the plan be adopted which I have so often proposed, to aid the
-   Americans secretly....
-
-   "If your Majesty has no more skillful man to employ, I am ready
-   to take the matter in charge and will be responsible for the
-   treaty without compromising anyone, persuaded that my zeal will
-   better supplement my lack of dexterity, than the dexterity of
-   another could replace my zeal.... Your Majesty knows better than
-   anyone that secrecy is the soul of action and that in politics a
-   project made known, is a project lost.
-
-   "Since I have served you sire, I have never asked for any favor.
-   Permit, O my master, that no one be allowed to prevent my working
-   for you and my whole existence is consecrated to you.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-Under the outward show of indifference the French government had been
-steadily moving toward the point aimed at by its secret agent. Early in
-March Vergennes had placed a list of considerations before the king in
-which the future actions of the government were outlined. Beaumarchais
-had been recalled in order to deliberate with the ministers, and when
-all was arranged, he returned to London to continue the work there.
-
-But the enemies of the cause of America were not slumbering and in spite
-of his precautions he found that he was being watched. "Beaumarchais,"
-says Doniol, "already under the suspicion of the police of the foreign
-office, of being employed with that with which he was really occupied,
-had been furnished with a letter by M. de Sartine, which gave him a
-mission in the name of the king to buy up ancient Portuguese coin, to be
-used in the islands."
-
-Beaumarchais wrote to Vergennes, April 12, 1776, "I wrote yesterday to
-M. de Sartine thanking him as well as the king for having furnished me
-with the means of sleeping tranquilly in London. Certain that you will
-deliver him my dispatch I lay down my pen, because for eight hours I
-have been writing and making copies, and I am exhausted.
-
-   "Deign to remember sometimes, M. le Comte, a man who respects you
-   and who even dares in his heart to add a more tender sentiment.
-   Beaumarchais."
-
-The following letter bears the date, April 12th, 1776; but as
-Beaumarchais later explains, it really was written on the 16th. It shows
-the intimate relation which existed between him and Lord Rochford, as
-well as the skill and address of Beaumarchais in extricating himself
-from a very difficult situation.
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte:
-
-   "While England assembled at Westminster Hall is judging the
-   Duchess of Kingston, I will give you an account of a serious
-   conversation which took place between Lord Rochford and myself."...
-
-   The lord, after informing Beaumarchais of a letter he had just
-   received from King George of England appointing him to the
-   vice-royalty in Ireland, continued: "But I must not omit to read
-   you the last phrase of the letter of the King, M. de
-   Beaumarchais, because it regards you particularly.
-
-   "'A vessel from Boston, charged with letters and merchandise from
-   Congress for a merchant of Nantes, with orders to exchange for
-   munitions of war, has been brought to Bristol. This circumstance,
-   joined to that of two French gentlemen, secretly in communication
-   with Congress, and having, it is said, hidden relations with
-   persons in London, has singularly alarmed our council....
-
-   "'Several evilly informed persons have endeavored to cause
-   suspicions of this connivance to fall upon you. What do you think
-   of all this? I know very well that you are here to finish with
-   d'Eon; on this point I wish to trust your word alone, as I have
-   already said to the king.'
-
-   "'Before replying, Milord,' I said, 'to that which regards me,
-   permit me to speak first of the vessel from America. Not that I
-   have orders from our ministers, but following my own light. I
-   have learned already of the arrival of the American vessel at
-   Bristol, but I was no more astonished that it was charged for a
-   merchant of Nantes, than if it had been one for Amsterdam, or
-   Cadiz, or Hamburg. The insurgents have need of munitions, and
-   have no money to buy them, they are forced, then, to hazard their
-   raw materials in order to exchange them, and any port whatever
-   where they can find munitions is naturally as good as any other.'
-
-   "'But, Monsieur, has not France given orders in her ports in
-   regard to this? Have we not the right to expect the merchants of
-   Nantes to be punished?'
-
-   "'Milord, you have permitted me the right to speak frankly. I
-   will do it all the more freely since I have no commission and
-   what I say will compromise no one. Indeed, Milord, do you wish
-   our administration to deal harshly with the people of Nantes? Are
-   we at war with anyone? Before asking this question of me, let me
-   ask a preliminary one of you. Because England has a private
-   quarrel with someone, what right has she to restrict our
-   commerce? What treaty obliges us to open or close our ports
-   according to the wish of the British nation? Certainly, Milord, I
-   scarcely can believe that anyone would dare to raise so
-   unbelievable a question, the solution of which might have
-   consequences which England has great interest not to provoke....
-
-   "'Nothing prevents you from chasing the Americans as much as you
-   like, seizing them whenever you can,--except under the cannon of
-   our forts, by the way! But require of us to disturb our merchants
-   because they have dealings with people with whom we are at peace,
-   whether we regard them as your subjects or a people become free,
-   ... in truth that is asking too much! I do not know what the
-   administration would think of such a demand, but I know very well
-   that it seems to me decidedly more than out of place.'
-
-   "'I see, Monsieur, that you are crimson with anger.' (In truth M.
-   le Comte, the fire had mounted to my face, and if you disapprove,
-   that I have shown so much heat, I ask your pardon.)
-
-   "'Milord,' I replied, with gentleness and modesty, 'you who are
-   English and patriotic, you should not think evil that _un bon
-   Français_ should have pride for his country.'
-
-   "'Therefore, I am not in the least offended.'"
-
-   The conversation now turned on the delicate matter of
-   Beaumarchais's mission. After showing his credentials for the
-   buying up of Portuguese coin and frankly affirming that the
-   affair with d'Eon was settled so far as he was concerned, he
-   continued, "'If there should be any pretended French agents in
-   England, I am sure that if they could be captured, the government
-   would disavow them, and even punish them....
-
-   "'And now, Milord, I offer you my sincere compliments for that
-   which the king destines for you. If you accept the Vice-Royalty,
-   I hope you will remember your ancient friendship for M. Duflos
-   whom I recommend to you afresh. I hope you will charge him with
-   the details of your house in Ireland as you have in France. He
-   promised me this.' (This Duflos, M. le Comte, is a Frenchman whom
-   I long ago secured for Lord Rochford; he is absolutely devoted to
-   me, and through him you will always have certain news of the most
-   intimate interior of the vice-royalty. I am a little like Figaro,
-   M. le Comte, I do not lose my head for a little noise.)
-
-   "By the way, the Hessian troops have started. They took the oath
-   of allegiance to England the 22nd of March.
-
-   "The Americans have actually twelve vessels of from twenty-two to
-   forty-four pieces of cannon, and twelve or fifteen of twenty
-   pieces, and more than thirty of twelve pieces, which gives them a
-   navy almost as respectable as that of the English, and for the
-   last two and a half months the insurgents have lost only one
-   vessel brought into Bristol, which is indeed worthy of remark.
-
-   "I count upon your goodness to hope that my recommendations for
-   Aix are not forgotten. [In allusion to his suit with the count de
-   La Blache, still pending.] It is not just that I be judged in the
-   South when I am nine hundred miles away in the North.
-
-   "Receive my respects, my homage, and the assurance of my perfect
-   devotion.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-   (Doniol I, 407.)
-
-On the 26th of the same month, M. de Vergennes wrote to his secret
-agent, "almost as though he spoke to an ambassador." (Doniol.)
-
-   "I have the satisfaction of announcing to you that His Majesty
-   very much approves the noble and frank manner with which you
-   repelled the attack made upon you by Lord Rochford in relation to
-   the American vessel destined for Nantes and conducted to Bristol.
-   You have said nothing which His Majesty would not have prescribed
-   you to say if he had foreseen that you would be obliged to answer
-   in regard to a matter so far removed from the business with which
-   you are charged. Receive my compliments, Monsieur. After having
-   assured you of the approbation of the king, mine cannot seem very
-   interesting to you; nevertheless, I cannot refuse myself the
-   satisfaction of applauding the wisdom and firmness of your
-   conduct and renewing the assurances of my entire esteem. I have
-   not neglected your commission for Aix. M. le Garde des Sceaux
-   assured me that it would remain in suspense till your return.
-
-   "I am very perfectly
-
-                                                    "de Vergennes.
-
-   "Versailles, April 26th, 1776."
-
-   Post Scriptum.
-
-   "The king approves, that you do not refuse the overtures the Lord
-   Rochford may make to you. You are prudent and discreet. I should
-   be without uneasiness even if you had a more important commission
-   than that which M. de Sartine has given you. It was well,
-   however, that you had it, since it served to disperse the
-   suspicions aroused by your frequent voyages to London. It must be
-   admitted that the English whom we believe to be men are really
-   far less than women, if they are so easily frightened.... Nothing
-   equals the sincere attachment with which I have the honor to be,
-   Monsieur, your very humble, etc.
-
-                                                   "de Vergennes."
-
-The same day Beaumarchais addressed the count with a letter from London
-which runs as follows:
-
-   "M. le Comte:
-
-   "I profit by this occasion to entertain you with freedom upon the
-   only really important matter at present, America and all that
-   pertains to it. I reasoned a long time, day before yesterday,
-   with the man you thought best to prevent coming to France.
-   (Arthur Lee.) He incessantly asks if we are going to do
-   absolutely nothing for them. And without wasting time in
-   repeating to me how very important their success is to France
-   because he does us the honor of believing that we agree with him
-   on that point, he tells me simply, 'We need arms, powder, and
-   above all engineers; only you can help us, and it is to your
-   interest to do so.'
-
-   "The Americans are as well placed as possible; army, fleet
-   provisions, courage, everything is excellent, but without powder
-   and engineers how can they conquer or even defend themselves? Are
-   we going to let them perish rather than loan them one or two
-   millions? Are we afraid of losing the money?
-
-   "Weakness and fear is all that one sees here....
-
-   "It is clear that the ministry is silent because it has nothing
-   to reply. Fear and anger on one side, weakness and embarrassment
-   on the other, this is the real condition. You would be still more
-   convinced of this truth if you will recall the nature of their
-   treaties with Germany and if you examine the rate of the new
-   loan.... And when this is well proved, is it really true, M. le
-   Comte, that you will do nothing for the Americans?
-
-   "Will you not have the goodness to show once more to the King how
-   much he can gain, without striking a blow, in this one campaign?
-   And will you not attempt to convince His Majesty that this
-   miserable pittance which they demand, and over which we have been
-   disputing for more than a year, will bring to us all the fruits
-   of a great victory without undergoing the dangers of a combat?
-   That this help can give to us while we sleep, all that the
-   disgraceful treaty of 1763 made us lose? What greater view can
-   occupy the council of the king and what force your pleading will
-   take on if you show the reverse of the picture and count what the
-   defeat of the Americans will cost us. Three hundred millions--our
-   men--our vessels, our islands, etc.... because their forces once
-   united against us, their audacity augmented by their great
-   success, it is only certain that they will force these same
-   Frenchmen to support a fatal war which two millions now would
-   avert.
-
-   "In spite of the danger which I run in writing these daring
-   things from London, I feel myself twice as much French in London
-   as at Paris. The patriotism of this people stirs my own...."
-
-As may be seen from this letter, Arthur Lee still inspired complete
-confidence in the agent of the French government, so much indeed that
-Beaumarchais gladly disclosed to him the plans which he had formed for
-coming to the aid of the Americans.
-
-So certain was he that France would ultimately yield to the necessity of
-giving them secret support that he no doubt spoke with indiscreet
-assurance on the subject. Exactly what passed between the two men will
-never be known, but what is certain is, that during the spring of 1776,
-Arthur Lee addressed to the secret committee of Congress a letter in
-which he says:
-
-   "In consequence of active measures taken with the French Embassy
-   in London, _M. de Vergennes has sent me a secret agent to inform
-   me that the French court cannot think of making war on England
-   but that she is ready to send five million worth of arms and
-   ammunition to Cap Français to be thence sent to the colonies._"
-
-A careful analysis of this important missive will at once make clear the
-profound misunderstanding which arose in the mind of the secret
-committee of Congress regarding the true state of affairs in France. So
-completely was every statement perverted that though the whole bears a
-semblance of truth yet in reality nothing could be further removed from
-it.
-
-For instead of sending an agent to confer with Arthur Lee, M. de
-Vergennes had steadily refused to enter into any relation whatever with
-him. Instead of promising munitions of war for which Beaumarchais had
-been pleading so long and so ardently, the government continued to
-refuse to compromise itself by making any statement regarding them.
-
-And yet in judging Arthur Lee, whether he intentionally distorted the
-truth or only indulged in what he considered a harmless exaggeration, we
-must not forget that this letter with its assurances of help, arriving
-at the moment which it did, had a profound influence in shaping men's
-minds for independence.
-
-As regards Lee himself, the letter had the effect of greatly augmenting
-his credit with Congress. Silas Deane was already on his way to France,
-charged with an express commission to secure munitions of war on credit,
-so it was determined to join Arthur Lee to the commission as soon as it
-could be brought about.
-
-But to return to the French court. The first intimation of anything like
-an avowed approval of the plans of Beaumarchais is to be found in a
-letter of M. de Vergennes under date of May 2, 1776. He wrote:
-
-"I have received the first of this month, Monsieur, the letter with
-which you honored me, written the 26th of last month."
-
-Then follows a lengthy preamble in which the count, speaking as an
-observer of men and one used to dealing with them, continues:
-
-"This preface is not destined to refute your foresight, which on the
-contrary I praise and approve. But do not suppose that because your
-plans are not immediately acted on, that they are rejected. Although the
-method which I employ is sure, I am forced to curb the desire which I
-feel to express to you all my thoughts, therefore, I rely upon your
-sagacity to divine them. Think well and you will find that I am nearer
-to you than you imagine.... A thousand thanks, Monsieur, for the news
-items which you communicate to me, they have been seen and relished....
-I have delivered the letter which you recommended to me; if an answer
-comes I will forward it to you. I flatter you that you know my
-friendship and attachment for you.
-
-                                                   "de Vergennes."
-
-In fact the hindrances were gradually disappearing from the path of the
-minister. In a résumé, in all probability drawn up by Vergennes himself,
-entitled, "_Réflexions sur la nécessité de secourir les Américains et de
-se préparer à la guerre avec l'Angleterre_," without date, but placed by
-Doniol the first of May, 1776, the following passages occur:
-
-
-"There is no obstacle, and it is even necessary to aid the insurgents
-indirectly by means of munitions or of money....
-
-"We are to make no agreement with them until their independence is
-established. The aid must be veiled and hidden, and appear to come from
-commerce so that we can always deny it.
-
-"It would be sufficient for an intelligent merchant, faithful and
-discreet, to be stationed in each one of the ports, where the American
-vessels would come to land their cargoes--he would treat directly with
-their captains and would mask the shipments to prevent the reproach of
-the court of England."--Doniol.
-
-
-This was not at all what Beaumarchais had been planning and preparing.
-In the next chapter we shall see him with his usual flexibility abandon
-his own ideas and adopt those of the ministry, since they tended to the
-same end. In the meantime he was addressing the following letters to
-Vergennes:
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte:
-
-   "There is nothing very important here but the news of the
-   evacuation of Boston, which arrived three days ago....
-
-   "The government assumes an air of approbation, of mystery, of
-   intelligence even. It wishes to have it considered as a ruse of
-   the ministry, but that does not take. It is too certain that the
-   impossibility to hold Boston from lack of provisions has driven
-   the English away....
-
-   "All this confirms what I announced in my last dispatch, that the
-   Americans are in good condition everywhere, engineers and powder
-   excepted. I thank you for your obliging goodness in regard to my
-   affair at Aix. I thank you also for the honorable encouragement
-   which the approbation of the king and your own gives to my
-   enterprise.... Say what you will, M. le Comte, a little
-   exaltation in the heart of an honest man, far from spoiling him
-   for action vivifies everything he touches, and enables him to do
-   more than he would have dared to promise from his natural
-   capacity. I feel this exaltation, it remains for my prudence to
-   direct it in a way that turns to the good of the affairs of the
-   king. Conserve for me his esteem, Monsieur le Comte.
-
-   "Ah, Monsieur le Comte, as a favor ... some powder and engineers!
-   It seems to me that I never wanted anything so much...."
-
-                                             (Given by Gaillardet.)
-
-                              Five days later; London, May 8, 1776.
-
-   ... "I say then, the time approaches when the Americans will be
-   masters at home.... If they have the upper hand, as everything
-   seems to point to that end, will we not have infinitely to
-   regret, Monsieur le Comte, not to have ceded to their prayers?
-   If, far from having acquired the right to their gratitude, as we
-   could easily do at small cost and without risk, we will have
-   alienated them forever? As they will have conquered without us,
-   they will revenge themselves for our hardness to them. What are
-   two or three millions advanced without compromising ourselves?
-   Because I can engage my sacred faith to make any sum you wish
-   reach them at second hand by way of Holland, without risk or
-   other authorization than that which exists between us. A small
-   effort will perhaps suffice, because I know that the Virginians
-   have now an abundant manufacture of saltpeter, and that the
-   Congress has decided that powder shall be made in every place
-   instead of at Philadelphia as formerly. Beside this, Virginia has
-   seven thousand regular troops, and seventy thousand militia, iron
-   in abundance, and she makes almost as many arms as all the rest
-   of America together.
-
-   "But engineers, engineers and powder! Or the money to buy them!"
-
-                                                     (Gaillardet.)
-
-Three days later, London, May 11, 1776.... "All the quarrels for the
-last eight days are in relation to the _quomodo_ of the evacuation of
-Boston. The opposition and the ministry are openly tearing out each
-other's eyes about it. The whole affair consists of the doctors deciding
-how the sick man died. Let them dispute over that great coffin. The
-couriers arrive at every moment.... To-morrow all the news of the
-American papers will be printed in the English ones. The whole affair
-begins to clear up. You were certainly very near me as you said, when I
-imagined you very very far." (Gaillardet.)
-
-                                            "London, May 17, 1776.
-
-   ... Eight days ago a pack boat from Virginia sent by Lord Dunmore
-   brought news to the government, but it was so bad that it was
-   thought advisable to say that the chest containing the mail was
-   washed overboard in a storm. Admirable ruse! Effort of superior
-   genius! Yesterday another vessel arrived from Canada. A man
-   jumped into a boat and the vessel pushed out again. That man
-   hurried straight to London without stopping. No one can find out
-   his errand. From these incidents comes the refrain; the news must
-   be very black since it is kept such a mystery."
-
-                                                     (Gaillardet.)
-
-Thus ended the first phase of the activity of Beaumarchais in the cause
-of the Americans. In a few more days he was back in France ready to turn
-the force of his mind, the power of his intellect and all the energy of
-his being into the development of that vast mercantile establishment
-which was for a time to supply the colonies with munitions of war and
-other necessities.
-
-As a proof that no one ever was able to pass from grave to gay with more
-facility than Beaumarchais, we will close the present chapter with a
-rather lengthy extract from an article which appeared in the London
-_Morning Chronicle_ shortly before his return to France:
-
-From the _Morning Chronicle_, London, May 6, 1776.
-
-   "Monsieur, the Editor:
-
-   "I am a stranger, full of honor. If it is not to inform you
-   absolutely who I am, it is at least to tell you in more than one
-   sense who I am not.
-
-   "Day before yesterday, at the Pantheon, after the concert and
-   during the dance, I found under my feet a lady's mantle of black
-   taffeta, lined with the same and bordered with lace. I am
-   ignorant to whom this mantle belongs, never having seen, even at
-   the Pantheon, her who wore it and all my investigations since
-   have not enabled me to learn anything in relation to her.
-
-   "I therefore beg you, M. the Editor, to announce in your paper
-   this lost mantle so that it may be returned faithfully to
-   whomever shall reclaim it.
-
-   "But that there may be no error in relation to it, I have the
-   honor to announce to you that the person who lost it wore a pink
-   plume that day in her hair; I think she had diamond pendants in
-   her ears, but I am not so sure of that as of the rest. She is
-   tall and well formed, her hair is a silvery blonde; her
-   complexion dazzlingly white; her neck is fine and gracefully set;
-   her form slender, and the prettiest little foot in the world. I
-   have even remarked that she is very young. She is lively and
-   distracted; her step is light and she has a decided taste for the
-   dance.
-
-   "If you ask me, M. the Editor, why, having noted her so well, I
-   did not at once return her mantle, I shall have the honor to
-   repeat what I said to you before, that I have never seen this
-   person; that I do not know either her features, or her eyes, or
-   her costume, or her carriage, and do not know who she is, or what
-   she is like.
-
-   "But if you insist upon knowing how I am able to so well define
-   her, never having seen her, I in turn will be astonished that so
-   exact an observer as you do not know that the simple examination
-   of a lady's mantle is sufficient to give of her all the notions
-   by which she could be recognized.
-
-   "Now suppose, Monsieur, that on examining this mantle, I found in
-   the hood some stray hair of a beautiful blonde attached to the
-   stuff, also some bits of down escaped from the feathers, you will
-   admit that a great effort of genius would not be needed to
-   conclude that the hair and the plume of that blonde must in every
-   way resemble the samples which have detached themselves. You feel
-   that perfectly. And since similar hair never grew from skin of
-   uncertain whiteness, analogy will have taught you as it has
-   taught me, that this beautiful silvery hair must have a dazzling
-   complexion, something which no observer can dispute with us
-   without dishonoring his judgment.
-
-   "It is thus that a slightly worn spot in the taffeta on the two
-   lateral parts of the interior of the hood which could not have
-   come from anything but a repeated rubbing of two small hard
-   bodies in movement, showed me that, not that she wore the
-   pendants on that particular day, but that she does so ordinarily;
-   and that it is hardly probable between you and me, that she would
-   have neglected this adornment on a day of conquest or of grand
-   assembly, both which are one. If I reason badly do not spare me,
-   I beg you. Rigor is not injustice.
-
-   "The rest goes without saying. It can easily be seen that it was
-   sufficient for me to examine the ribbon which was attached to the
-   mantle at the neck, and to knot it at the place rumpled by the
-   ordinary usage to see that the space enclosed being small, the
-   neck daily enclosed in that space must also be very fine and
-   graceful. No difficulty there.
-
-   "Suppose again, Monsieur, if on examining the body of the mantle
-   you should have found upon the taffeta the impression of a very
-   pretty little foot, marked in gray dust, would you not have
-   reflected as I did, that had any other woman stepped on the
-   mantle since its fall, she would certainly have deprived me of
-   the pleasure of picking it up? Therefore it would have been
-   impossible that the impression of the shoe came from any other
-   person than her who lost the mantle. It follows, you would have
-   said that if the shoe was small the foot must be smaller still.
-   There is no merit in my having recognized that; the most careless
-   observer, a child would have found that out.
-
-   "But this impression made in passing and even without being felt,
-   announces, besides an extreme vivacity of step, a strong
-   preoccupation of mind to which grave, cold, or aged persons are
-   little susceptible. I therefore very simply concluded that my
-   charming blond is in the flower of her age, very lively and
-   distracted. Would you not have thought the same, M. the Editor?
-
-   "The next day in recalling that I had been able to pick up the
-   mantle in a place where so many people passed (which proves that
-   it fell at the very instant) without having been able to see who
-   lost it (which proves that she was already far away), I said to
-   myself, 'Assuredly this person is the most alert beauty of
-   England, Scotland and Ireland; and if I do not join America to
-   the rest, it is only because they have become of late _diablement
-   alerte_ in that country.'
-
-   "In giving you this mantle, M. the Editor, permit me to envelop
-   myself in my own and that I sign myself,
-
-                                           "_L'Amateur français._"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII
-
-
-_Look upon my house, gentlemen, from henceforward as the chief of all
-useful operations to you in Europe, and my person as one of the most
-zealous partisans of your cause, the soul of your success and a man most
-deeply impressed with the respectful esteem with which I have the honor
-to be...._
-
-  _"Roderigue Hortalès et Compagnie"
-    Beaumarchais to the Secret Committee of Congress, Aug. 15, 1776._
-
-
-    Memoir Explaining to the King the Plan of His Commercial
-      House--Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.--The Doctor Du Bourg--Silas
-      Deane's Arrival--His Contract with Beaumarchais--Lee's Anger--His
-      Misrepresentations to Congress--Beaumarchais Obtains His
-      Rehabilitation.
-
-
-On the 24th of May, 1776, Beaumarchais returned to France. He wrote to
-the Count de Vergennes the same night:
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte,
-
-   "I arrive very tired, completely exhausted. My first care is to
-   ask you for your orders and the hour when you will be so good as
-   to give me audience. It is three o'clock in the morning. My negro
-   will be at your levée, he will be back for mine. I hope he will
-   bring me the news which I desire with the greatest impatience,
-   which is to go in person, and assure you of the very respectful
-   devotion with which, I am,
-
-   M. le Comte, your very humble and very obedient servitor,
-
-   Beaumarchais."                                           (Doniol.)
-
-[Illustration: SILAS DEANE]
-
-No written statement was ever made of the exact arrangement arrived at
-between the minister and his confidential agent. What is certain is that
-as soon as the latter understood the new plan of procedure he brought at
-once to the aid of the undertaking the whole force of his powerful mind
-as well as the experience of those years passed under the tutelage of
-old Du Verney, and in his attempted enterprise at the court of Spain.
-
-A letter without date, published for the first time by George Clinton
-Genet in the _Magazine of American History_, 1878, written by
-Beaumarchais to the King, gives a clear statement of how he proposed to
-proceed in founding this new mercantile house which should hide from all
-the world and even from the Americans themselves the connivance of the
-Government in the operations:
-
-   "To the King Alone:
-
-   "While state reasons engage you to extend a helping hand to the
-   Americans, policy requires that Your Majesty shall take abundant
-   precaution to prevent the secret succor sent to America from
-   becoming a firebrand between France and England in Europe.... On
-   the other hand, prudence wills that you acquire a certainty that
-   your funds may never fall into other hands than those for whom
-   you destined them. Finally, the present condition of your
-   finances does not permit you to make so great sacrifice at the
-   moment as passing events seem to require.
-
-   "It becomes my duty, Sire, to present to you, and it is for your
-   wisdom to examine the following plan, the chief object of which
-   is to avoid, by a turn which is absolutely commercial, the
-   suspicion that your majesty has any hand in the affair.
-
-   "The principal merit of this plan is to augment your aid so that
-   a single million ... will produce the same results for the
-   Americans as if your Majesty really had disbursed nine millions
-   in their favor.... Your Majesty will begin by placing a million
-   at the disposition of your agent, who will be named Roderigue
-   Hortalès et Cie.; this is their commercial name and signature,
-   under which I find it convenient that the whole operation shall
-   be carried out.... One half million exchanged into Portuguese
-   pieces, the only money current in America, will be promptly sent
-   there, for there is an immediate necessity for the Americans to
-   have a little gold at once to give life to their paper money,
-   which without means of making it circulate already has become
-   useless and stagnant in their hands. It is the little leaven that
-   is necessary to put into the paste to raise it and make it
-   ferment usefully.
-
-   "Upon that half million no benefit can be obtained except the
-   return of it in Virginian tobacco, which Congress must furnish to
-   the house of Hortalès, who will have made a sale in advance to
-   the Farmers-General of France, by which they will take the
-   tobacco from them at a good price; but that is of no great
-   consequence.
-
-   "Roderigue Hortalès counts on employing the second half million
-   in the purchase of cannon and powder, which he will forward at
-   once to the Americans."
-
-Here follows an exposition of the proceedings, with an explanation of
-how, supposing the king permits him to buy powder at actual cost price
-from the magazines, instead of buying it in the market of France,
-Holland, or elsewhere, the money invested by the king will increase not
-in double progression, 1-2-4-8, etc., but in triple progression,
-1-3-9-27, etc.
-
-   "Your Majesty will not be frightened at the complicated air that
-   this operation assumes under my pen, when you remember that no
-   commercial speculation is carried on or succeeds by any more
-   simple or more natural means than this.
-
-   "I have treated this affair in so far, Sire, in the spirit of a
-   great trader, who wishes to make a successful speculation and I
-   have developed to you the unique secret by which commerce in bulk
-   augments the prosperity of all states that have the good sense to
-   protect it....
-
-   "If the return in tobacco and the sale of the product take place
-   as I have pointed out, Your Majesty soon will find yourself in a
-   position to send back by the hands of Hortalès et Cie. the three
-   millions provided for from the price and profits of these
-   returns, to recommence operations on a larger scale."
-
-Then follow considerations upon the advisability of employing Holland or
-French vessels for the transport of the munitions to Cape Francis,
-chosen by Hortalès et Cie. as the first depot of commerce.
-
-   "Holding to the choice of French vessel charged to the account of
-   Roderigue Hortalès et Cie., Congress, or rather Mr. Adams,
-   Secretary of Congress, will be alone forewarned by the agent in
-   England that a vessel is carrying to him at Cape Francis both
-   goods and munitions, which are to be returned in Virginian
-   tobacco, so that he may send to the Cape upon a vessel loaded
-   with tobacco an agent who will bear his power to receive both and
-   to send back by the captain of Hortalès et Cie. the entire return
-   in tobacco or at all events a recognition that he owes Hortalès
-   et Cie. the balance of the amount for which he may not have been
-   able to furnish return."
-
-So far in Beaumarchais's mind, the mercantile undertaking was to be for
-the king, only cloaked by the appearance of a mercantile house. But it
-seems that the French government, anxious to evade all possible risk and
-wishing to deny all connivance in the transactions, decided to remain
-entirely foreign to the operation.
-
-"We will give you secretly," said the government, "a million. We will
-try to obtain the same amount from the court of Spain.... with these two
-millions and the co-operation of private individuals, whom you will
-associate in your enterprise, you will found your house and at your own
-risk and perils you will provision the Americans with arms and
-munitions, and objects of equipment and whatever is necessary to support
-the war. Our arsenals will deliver to you these things, but you will
-replace them or pay for them. You shall not demand money of the
-Americans, because they have none, but you shall ask returns in
-commodities of their soil, the sale of which we will facilitate in our
-country.... In a word, the operation secretly sanctioned by us at the
-outset must grow and develop through its own support. But on the other
-hand, we reserve the right of favoring or opposing it according to
-political contingencies. You will render us an account of your profits
-and losses, while we will decide whether we should grant you new
-subsidies or discharge you of all obligations previously made."
-(Loménie, II, p. 109.)
-
-In this transaction, the responsibility of the agent to the United
-States had no consideration. "The advances of the government were simply
-a guarantee to Beaumarchais against loss." (Durand, p. 90.)
-
-The difficulties and dangers of this undertaking have been admirably
-summed up by M. de Loménie. "They were of a nature to cause any other
-man than Beaumarchais to hesitate.... He threw himself into this,
-however, with all his usual intrepidity, and the tenth of June, 1776, a
-month before the United States had published their Declaration of
-Independence, he signed the famous receipt which, kept secret under the
-monarchy, delivered to the United States in 1794, under the republic,
-occasioned a suit lasting fifty years, and to which we shall return. The
-receipt read thus:
-
-   "'I have received of M. Duvergier, conformably to the orders of
-   M. de Vergennes, on the date of the 5th of this month, the sum of
-   one million, for which I shall render count to my said Sieur
-   Comte de Vergennes.
-
-                                          "'Caron de Beaumarchais.
-
-   "'Good for a million of _livres tournois_.
-
-   "'At Paris, this 10th of June, 1776.'
-
-"Two months later, Spain advanced the like sum, besides which
-Beaumarchais had associated with himself numerous private individuals in
-France and elsewhere, so that his first sending to the Americans
-surpassed in itself alone, three millions." (Loménie, II, p. 110.)
-
-Early in June the vast mercantile house of Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.
-was established at Paris, while agents, clerks, and employees of every
-sort were installed at the center of operations, as well as at the
-various sources of supplies and in the seaports, Beaumarchais remaining
-the head and center of action, in every place.
-
-It so happened at this time, that a complete change was being made in
-the equipment of the French army, so that the arsenals and forts were
-charged with munitions of war, which the government was willing to
-dispose of at a nominal price.
-
-Before the arrival of Beaumarchais on the scene of action, the Comte de
-Vergennes had countenanced and furthered the operations begun by
-Franklin before he left London. Among the agents employed by the latter
-were the Brothers Mantaudoin of Nantes, who had undertaken the
-transportation of munitions of war to the Americans. (Doniol, I, p.
-373.)
-
-Another agent and intimate friend of Franklin was a certain Doctor
-Dubourg, a man more or less widely known as a scientist, but possessing
-as well a decided taste for mercantile operations. He had entered
-heartily into the cause of the Americans, and was very zealous in
-forwarding munitions of war to the insurgents. He seems at the beginning
-to have possessed to a considerable degree the confidence of the French
-minister, who deigned to correspond with him in person, and to consult
-him on several occasions. But as it became necessary "to act on a
-grander scale, the intervention of the friend of Franklin was no longer
-sufficient." (Doniol, p. 374.) The "faithful and discreet agent" spoken
-of in the _Réflexions_ had long been fixed in the mind of the Minister
-of War. The good doctor who knew nothing of the relationship between the
-famous author of the _Barbier de Séville_ and the French Government or
-of his interest and services in the cause of American Independence, all
-along had been secretly aspiring to a complete control of the
-transactions. What succeeded in convincing him that he was the man
-destined for the place was that early in June, 1776, Silas Deane, the
-agent of the Secret Committee of Congress, arrived in Paris charged with
-a letter from Franklin to his "dear good friend Barbeu Dubourg," with
-express instructions to regard this latter as "the best guide to seek
-after and to follow." (Doniol, V. I, p. 485.)
-
-Elated at this mark of esteem shown him by the colonies, the good doctor
-undertook to fulfill then to the letter the instructions of Congress and
-to prevent Silas Deane from coming in contact with anyone but himself.
-Deane soon realized that though "inspired with the best intentions in
-the world," the doctor would be a "hindrance rather than the essential
-personage pointed out by Franklin." (Doniol.) He therefore insisted so
-strongly upon meeting the French minister that Dubourg was forced to
-yield. The meeting took place the 17th day of July, 1776.
-
-"It must be said of Silas Deane at this important meeting that he
-fulfilled the intention of his mandate not only with intelligence, but
-with a fecundity of reasoning which could only come from a vigilant
-patriotism. All the impression which he could desire to produce and
-which was hoped from his mission flowed from his replies." (Doniol, V.
-I, p.491.)
-
-The Comte de Vergennes appeared to refuse to give the aid asked, but he
-led Silas Deane to understand that a confidential agent would take the
-matter in charge. This confidential agent was no other than
-Beaumarchais.
-
-Four days before this interview, the Doctor Dubourg had learned to his
-great disappointment where the confidence of the minister had been
-placed. Knowing nothing of the real situation, he thought to dissuade
-the latter from his choice by attacking the private character of the man
-who had usurped his place. The effect of his letter upon the Comte de
-Vergennes can be judged from the fact that the latter immediately
-communicated it to Beaumarchais himself, who was charged with the reply.
-
-The Doctor wrote:
-
-   "Monseigneur:
-
-   "I have seen M. de Beaumarchais this morning and conferred with
-   him without reserve. Everyone knows his wit, his talents, and no
-   one renders more justice to his honesty, discretion and zeal for
-   all that is good and grand; I believe him one of the most proper
-   men in the world for political negotiations, but perhaps at the
-   same time, the least proper for mercantile enterprises. He loves
-   display, they say that he keeps women; he passes in a word for a
-   spendthrift and there is not a merchant in France who has not
-   this idea of him and who would not hesitate to enter into the
-   smallest commercial dealings with him. Therefore, I was very much
-   astonished when he informed me that you had charged him not only
-   to aid you with his advice but had concentrated on him alone the
-   _ensemble_ and the details of all the commercial operations....
-
-   "I represented to him that in taking the immense traffic and
-   excluding those who already had run so many dangers and endured
-   so many fatigues ... it would be doing them a real wrong.... But
-   I return to my first and principal reflection and implore you,
-   Monseigneur, to weigh it well. Perhaps there are a hundred,
-   perhaps a thousand persons in France with talents very inferior
-   to those of M. de Beaumarchais, who would fill better your views,
-   inspire more confidence, etc., etc...."
-
-The reply of Beaumarchais, first published by M. de Loménie, and since
-become so famous, is in the former's most characteristic style. It had
-its part to play as we shall see, in the trouble which came to its
-author, and was partly responsible for the non-recognition of his
-services by the American people. The good doctor always retained a
-grudge against his brilliant and preferred rival. From him Doctor
-Franklin imbibed in the beginning such a prejudice against the
-indefatigable friend of the American cause, that he always avoided him
-as much as possible. From the reply, a copy of which Beaumarchais sent
-at the same time for the amusement of the ministers, we quote the
-following:
-
-                                          "Tuesday, June 16, 1776.
-
-   "Eh! What has that to do with our affairs, that I am a man widely
-   known, extravagant, and who keeps women? The women that I keep
-   for the last twenty years are your very humble servants. They
-   were five, four sisters and one niece. For three years two of
-   these women are dead, to my great regret. I keep now only three,
-   two sisters and a niece, which is still extravagant for a private
-   individual like myself. But what would you have thought if,
-   knowing me better, you should have learned that I push scandal so
-   far as to keep men as well; two nephews, very young and good
-   looking, even the very unhappy father who brought into the world
-   this scandalous voluptuary? As for my display, that is even
-   worse. For three years, finding lace and embroidered garments too
-   petty for my vanity, have I not affected the pride of having my
-   wrists always garnished with the most beautiful fine muslin? The
-   most superb black cloth is not too elegant for me, at times I
-   have been known to push dandyism so far as to wear silk when it
-   was very hot, but I beg you, Monsieur, do not write these things
-   to M. the Comte de Vergennes; you will end in losing for me his
-   good opinion.
-
-   "You have reasons for writing evil of me to him, without knowing
-   me. I have mine for not being offended, although I have the honor
-   of knowing you; you are, Monsieur, an honest man so inflamed with
-   the desire to do a great good that you have thought you could
-   permit yourself a little evil to arrive at it.
-
-   "This thought is not exactly the thought of the _évangile_ but I
-   have seen a good many persons accommodate themselves to it. But
-   let us cease to speak lightly; I am not angry because M. de
-   Vergennes is not a small man and I hold to his reply. That those
-   to whom I apply for advances may distrust me I admit, but let
-   those who are animated with true zeal for their common friends
-   look twice before they alienate themselves from an honorable man
-   who offers to render every service and to make every useful
-   advance to those same friends. Do you understand me now,
-   Monsieur?
-
-   "I will have the honor of meeting with you this afternoon. I have
-   also that of being with the highest consideration, Monsieur, your
-   very humble and very obedient servitor, well known under the name
-   of Roderigue Hortalès et Compagnie."
-
-It was on the 17th of July that Silas Deane and Beaumarchais met for the
-first time. Both men recognized at once in the other the man for whom
-each was looking. Both had warm, generous and unselfish natures; both
-had their minds fixed upon one object alone, the procuring and sending
-of aid as quickly as possible to the insurged colonies. In excusing
-himself to Congress for discarding the services of the "dear, good
-friend" of Franklin, Mr. Deane wrote: "I have been forced to discourage
-my friend on seeing where the confidence of M. de Vergennes was placed."
-At the same time he does ample justice to the kindness and interest
-manifested by Dubourg.
-
-"M. Dubourg has continued," wrote Deane, "to render me every assistance
-in his power.... His abilities and connections are of the first class in
-this kingdom and his zeal for the cause of the colonies is to be
-described only by saying that at times they are in danger of urging him
-beyond both."
-
-Beaumarchais, on his side, finding Silas Deane empowered by Congress to
-act directly, ceased to communicate with Arthur Lee.
-
-Already a change had come in their relationship. Returned to France and
-finding the government bent upon another form of offering aid to the
-Americans, it had become necessary to break his connections with Lee.
-Unable to explain the true nature of the enterprise, being bound to
-absolute secrecy, Beaumarchais wrote the 12th of June, 1776: "The
-difficulties which I have found in my negotiations with the ministers
-have forced me to form a company which will cause aid to reach your
-friends immediately by the way of _Cap Français_."
-
-Naturally enough this meager information was very unsatisfactory to Lee;
-more than this, he had hoped to play himself a principal rôle in the
-enterprise (Spark's _Life of Franklin_, p. 449).
-
-From Beaumarchais he learned that Silas Deane had arrived from the
-colonies empowered to treat with the ministers who had refused steadily
-to permit his own appearance at Versailles; more than this, he learned
-that Beaumarchais had entered at once into negotiations with the agent
-of Congress and that he, Arthur Lee, was being consulted by no one.
-"Enraged and disappointed," continued Sparks, "Lee hurried to Paris,
-where he endeavored to bring about a quarrel between Deane and
-Beaumarchais. Failing in this, he returned to London, vexed in his
-disappointment and furious against Deane." To avenge himself he wrote to
-the committee in congress that the two men were agreed together to
-deceive at once the French Government and the Americans by changing what
-the former meant to be a gratuitous offering into a commercial
-speculation. (Silas Deane Papers.)
-
-As can readily be seen, these letters arriving in Philadelphia before
-any report from Deane, predisposed Congress--two of whose members were
-brothers of Arthur Lee, against the measures Deane was taking with
-Beaumarchais. But for the moment, no one interfered with their
-operations and both men were too intent upon the all-important matter in
-hand to speculate upon the possible results of the irritation of Doctor
-Dubourg, or the anger and jealousy of Arthur Lee. Deane, however,
-fearing lest the noise of Lee's visit to Paris should offend the French
-Minister, addressed to the latter the following letter:
-
-   "Sir: I was informed this morning of the arrival of Arthur Lee.
-   This was a surprise to me, as I know of no particular affair that
-   might call him here, and considering the extreme jealousy of the
-   British ministry at this time and that Mr. Lee was the agent of
-   the colonies in Great Britain, and known to be such, I could wish
-   unless he had received some particular orders from the United
-   Colonies that he had suspended his visit, as I know not otherwise
-   how he can serve me or my affairs--with profound gratitude I say
-   it--now in as favorable a course as the situation of the times
-   will admit. I have the honor to be,
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-(From Spark's _Dip. Correspondence_, p. 40.)
-
-Immediately after their first meeting, Beaumarchais had addressed a
-letter to Deane of which the following is an extract:
-
-                                             "Paris, July 18, 1776.
-
-   "I have the honor to inform you that for a long while I have
-   formed the project of aiding the brave Americans to shake off the
-   yoke of England.... I have spoken already of my plans with a
-   gentleman in London (Arthur Lee), who says he is very much
-   attached to America; but our correspondence since I left England
-   has been followed with difficulty and in cipher; I have received
-   no reply to my last letter, in which I fixed certain points of
-   this great and important affair. Since you are clothed, Monsieur,
-   with a character which permits me to have confidence in you, I
-   shall be very well satisfied to recommence, in a more certain
-   and regular manner, a negotiation which till now has been barely
-   touched...."
-
-Silas Deane replied:
-
-   "Paris, Hôtel Grand-Villars, July 20, 1776.
-
-   "Monsieur:
-
-   "Conformably with your demand in our interview yesterday, I
-   enclose a copy of my commission and an extract of my
-   instructions, which will give you the certitude that I am
-   authorized to make the acquisitions for which I addressed myself
-   to you....
-
-   "In regard to the credit which we demand and which I hope to
-   obtain from you, I hope that a long one will not be necessary. A
-   year is the most that my compatriots are in the habit of asking;
-   and Congress having engaged a great quantity of tobacco in
-   Virginia and Maryland which will be embarked as soon as ships can
-   be procured, I do not doubt but considerable returns in nature
-   will be made within six months, and the whole be paid for within
-   the year. I shall press Congress for this in my letters.
-   Nevertheless, events are uncertain, and our commerce is exposed
-   to suffer; but I hope that whatever comes you will soon receive
-   sufficient returns to be enabled to wait for the rest. In case
-   that any sum whatever remains due after the expiration of the
-   accepted credit, it is of course understood that the usual
-   interest will be paid you for the sum.
-
-   "I am with all the respect and attachment possible, your, etc.
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-In his reply to this letter Beaumarchais after accepting the conditions
-offered by the agent of Congress ends thus:
-
-   "As I believe I have to do with a virtuous people, it will
-   suffice for me to keep an exact account of all my advances.
-   Congress will be master to decide whether I shall be paid in
-   merchandise at their usual value at the time of their arrival or
-   to receive them at the buying price, the delays and assurances
-   with a commission proportional to the pains and care, which is
-   impossible to fix to-day. I intend to serve your country as
-   though it were my own, and I hope to find in the friendship of a
-   generous people the true recompense for my work which I
-   consecrate to them with pleasure."
-
-In a lengthy letter written the 24th of July, 1776, the agent of
-Congress set forth the difficulties of the enterprise in which they are
-engaged.
-
-He manifested also with warmth his grateful recognition of the services
-of Beaumarchais. He wrote to him:
-
-                                          "Paris, July 24th, 1776.
-
-   "Monsieur:
-
-   "I have read with attention the letter which you have done me the
-   favor to write the 22nd, and I think that your propositions for
-   the regulation of the price of merchandise are just and
-   equitable. The generous confidence which you place in the virtue
-   and justice of my constituents inspires me with the greatest joy
-   and gives me the most flattering hopes for the success of this
-   enterprise, for their satisfaction as well as yours, and permit
-   me to assure you again that the United Colonies will take the
-   most effective measures to send you returns, and to justify in
-   all respects the sentiments which animate you toward them.
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-Nothing could be clearer and more explicit than the understanding
-arrived at between Beaumarchais and Deane. The latter possessed full
-power to act, and the former relied unreservedly upon the good faith of
-the American Congress. In the meantime Deane wrote, introducing his new
-friend to the Committee of Secret Correspondence.
-
-                                           "Paris, August 18, 1776.
-
-   " ... I was directed to apply for arms, etc., for 25,000 men....
-   This I wished to get of the ministry direct, but they evaded it
-   and I am now in treaty for procuring them through the Agency of
-   M. Chaumont and M. Beaumarchais, on credit of eight months, from
-   the time of their delivery. If I effect this as I undoubtedly
-   shall, I must rely on the remittance being made this fall and
-   winter, without fail, or the credit of the colonies will
-   suffer...." (Spark's _Diplomatic Correspondence_, V. I, p. 28.)
-
-Three days earlier he had written, "I find M. de Beaumarchais possessed
-of the entire confidence of the ministry; he is a man of wit and genius,
-and a considerable writer on comic and political subjects. All my
-supplies come through his hands, which at first greatly discouraged my
-friends...."
-
-At the same time Beaumarchais, inflamed with zeal for the cause of
-liberty, and wholly unconscious of the effect which his sincere but
-fantastic letters would have upon the unexpansive nature of the men to
-whom they were addressed, wrote the following to Congress:
-
-                                          "Paris, August 18, 1776.
-
-   "Gentlemen:
-
-   "The respectful esteem which I bear towards that brave people who
-   so well defend their liberty under your conduct has induced me to
-   form a plan concurring in this great work by establishing an
-   extensive commercial house ... to supply you with necessaries of
-   every sort that can be useful for the honorable war in which you
-   are engaged. Your deputies, gentlemen, will find in me a sure
-   friend, an asylum in my home, money in my coffers, and every
-   means of facilitating their operations whether of an open, or of
-   a secret nature. I will, so far as possible, remove all obstacles
-   that may oppose your wishes, from the politics of Europe.... The
-   secrecy necessary in some parts of the operations which I have
-   undertaken for your service, requires also on your part a formal
-   resolution that all vessels and their demands should be directed
-   constantly to our house alone, in order that there may be no idle
-   chatting or loss of time, two things that are the ruin of
-   affairs....
-
-   " ... I shall facilitate your unloading, selling, or disposing of
-   that which I do not wish.... For instance, five American vessels
-   have just arrived in the port of Bordeaux laden with salt fish;
-   though this merchandise coming from strangers is prohibited in
-   our ports, yet as soon as your deputy had told me that these
-   vessels were sent to him by you to raise money by the sale for
-   aiding him in his purchases in Europe, I took such care that I
-   secretly obtained from the government an order for the landing
-   without notice being taken....
-
-   "I shall have a correspondent in each seaport town, who on the
-   arrival of your vessels shall wait on the captain and offer every
-   service in his power.... Everything which you wish to arrive
-   safely in any country in Europe ... shall go with great
-   punctuality through me, and this will save much anxiety and many
-   delays. I request you, gentlemen, to send me next spring, if it
-   is possible, ten or twelve thousand hogsheads or more if you can
-   of tobacco of the best quality from Virginia.
-
-   "You will understand well that my commerce with you is carried on
-   in Europe; that it is in the great ports of Europe that I make
-   and take returns. However well founded my house may be and though
-   I have appropriated many millions to your trade alone, yet it
-   would be impossible for me to support it, if all the dangers of
-   the sea, of exports and imports were not entirely at your
-   risks....
-
-   "Your deputy shall receive as soon as possible full power and
-   authority to accept what I shall deliver to him, to receive my
-   accounts, examine them, make payments upon them or enter into
-   engagements which you shall be bound to ratify as the head of the
-   brave people to whom I am devoted. In short, you may always treat
-   of your interests directly with me.
-
-   "Notwithstanding the open opposition which the King of France and
-   his ministers show, and ought to show, to the violation of
-   foreign treaties ... I dare promise you, gentlemen, that my
-   indefatigable zeal shall never be wanting to clear up all
-   difficulties, soften prohibitions, and, in short, facilitate all
-   operations of commerce....
-
-   "One thing can never diminish; it is the avowed and ardent zeal
-   which I have in serving you to the utmost of my power....
-
-   "Look upon my house, then, gentlemen, henceforth, as the chief of
-   all useful operations to you in Europe and my person as one of
-   the most zealous partisans of your cause, the soul of your
-   success, and a man most deeply impressed with the respectful
-   esteem with which I have the honor to be, etc.
-
-                                      "Roderigue Hortalès et Cie."
-
-"It must be admitted," says Loménie, "that the letters of Beaumarchais
-were curious enough by their medley of patriotism and commercialism,
-both equally sincere with him, to inspire distrust in the minds already
-prejudiced. Imagine serious Yankees, who nearly all before having made
-war had been merchants, receiving masses of stuff, embarked often in
-secret, during the night, and whose bills presented in consequence
-certain irregularities, accompanied with letters in which Beaumarchais
-associated protestations of enthusiasm, offers of limitless services,
-political counsels and demands for tobacco, indigo, and salt fish.
-
-"The calculating minds of the Yankees were naturally inclined to think
-that a being so ardent and fantastic, if he really existed, was playing
-a commercial comedy concurred in by the government and that one might
-with all security of conscience utilize his remittances, read his
-amplifications, and dispense with sending him tobacco," which, as we
-shall soon see, was exactly what happened.
-
-Infinite difficulties and complications, however, were to arise before
-even the first shipments could leave the ports of France, and in August
-the cargoes were not yet collected.
-
-The sixteenth of August Beaumarchais wrote to Vergennes:
-
-   "It is decided that all vessels coming from America shall be
-   addressed to the house of Hortalès.... So many things must be
-   carried on together without counting the manufacture of cloth and
-   linen, that I am forced to take on more workers. This affair
-   _politico-commerçante_ is becoming so immense that I shall drown
-   myself in details as well as the few aids which I have employed
-   up to the present time, if I do not add more. Some will travel,
-   some reside in the seaports, the manufactories, etc.
-
-   "I have promised tobacco to the Farmers-General, and I ask it of
-   the Americans. Their hemp will be a good commodity. At last I
-   begin to see the way clear for my business. The only thing which
-   I do not see are those fatal letters-patent of which I have
-   neither wind nor news.... M. de Maurepas tells me every time he
-   sees me, 'It is attended to, it is finished.' ... I should have
-   had them Tuesday. Here it is Friday, but the letters have not
-   come. At the end of the session of parliament this delay of three
-   days makes me lose three months, because of vacation. I am not
-   angry but distressed to see my condition so equivocal and my
-   future uncertain." (Doniol, V. I, p. 513-14.)
-
-As shown in the above letter, Beaumarchais while beginning his
-extraordinary operations for the Americans was not forgetful of his own
-interests. He was still a civilly degraded man with no solid basis upon
-which to build. Gudin, in his history of Beaumarchais, says: "Arriving
-from London, May, 1776, he presented a petition to the council in order
-to obtain letters of relief; that is, letters of the king by which it
-was permitted him to appeal from the judgment rendered against him,
-although the delay accorded by law had long expired.
-
-"The development of his projects called him to the west coast of France;
-he did not wish to go until his request was admitted.
-
-"'Go all the same,' M. de Maurepas said to him. 'The council will
-pronounce very well without you.'"
-
-The projects alluded to by Gudin were, of course, his mercantile
-operations for supplying the Americans with munitions of war. But so
-well did Beaumarchais guard his secret, that his dearest friend knew as
-little of the real nature of his enterprise as the rest of the world. In
-his visit to the ports of France during the summer of 1776, Gudin
-accompanied him. Their reception at Bordeaux is described by the latter.
-
-Here as elsewhere, Beaumarchais hid his real occupation under the show
-of seeking amusement.
-
-"When it was known," says Gudin, "of our arrival, invitations poured in
-upon us from every side; the women received him as the most amiable of
-men, the merchants as the most intelligent, the crowds as the most
-extraordinary; we passed several days in the midst of festivities....
-All the while Beaumarchais was preparing new commercial combinations.
-
-"One evening, on entering, he found several letters from Paris; he read
-them while I was preparing for bed, hurried by fatigue to repose myself.
-I asked him if he was satisfied with his news.
-
-"'Very well,' he said to me without the least emotion. I was soon
-asleep. In the morning I felt myself pulled by the arm; I wakened,
-recognized him and asked if he were ill.
-
-"'No,' he replied, 'but in half an hour we leave for Paris.'
-
-"'_Eh, pourquoi?_ What has happened? Have you been sent for?'
-
-"'The council has rejected my demands.'
-
-"'_Ah, ciel!_ and you said nothing to me last evening?'
-
-"'No, my friend, I did not wish to disturb your night. It was enough
-that I did not sleep. I have been thinking all night of what there is
-for me to do. I have decided, my plan is formed and I go to execute
-it....'
-
-"Sixty hours later we were in Paris.
-
-"'Eh, what,' he said to M. de Maurepas, who was somewhat surprised to
-see him so promptly, 'while I was running to the extremities of France
-to look after the affairs of the king, you lose mine at Versailles.'
-
-"'It is a blunder of Mormesnil (the minister of justice). Go find him,
-tell him that I want him, and come back together.'
-
-"They explained themselves all three. The matter was taken up under
-another form, the council judged differently, the request was granted
-and letters of relief obtained the 12th of August, 1776."
-
-This, however, was but the first step. The letters patent simply allowed
-Beaumarchais the privilege of having his case brought up a second time
-for judgment. At this juncture, a new difficulty presented itself. In
-the words of Loménie: "It was the end of August; the parliament was
-about to enter on its vacation and it did not wish to take up the matter
-until afterwards. But Beaumarchais did not adjourn so easily anything
-once begun. He went again to M. de Maurepas, and persuaded that one is
-never better served than by himself he did with the first minister what
-we have seen him do with the king. He drew a note for the first
-president of Parliament and for the solicitor-general, had M. de
-Maurepas to sign two copies of the note and send one to each of the
-above officials." The notes ran thus:
-
-                           "Versailles, this 27th of August, 1776.
-
-   "That part of the affairs of the king with which M. de
-   Beaumarchais is charged, requires, Monsieur, that he make several
-   voyages very shortly. He fears to leave Paris before his case has
-   been tried. He assures me that it can be done before vacation. I
-   do not ask any favor as to the ground of the affair, but only
-   celerity for the judgment; you will oblige him who has the honor
-   to be, very truly yours, etc.
-
-                                                       "Maurepas."
-
-In the same way, Beaumarchais served himself through Monsieur de
-Vergennes, obtaining with the same facility the favor which he desired.
-He wrote:
-
-                                               "August 29th, 1776.
-
-   "I had the honor of seeing M. le Comte de St.-Germain
-   yesterday.... I was very well received.... After two hours'
-   conversation, he wished to keep me to dinner. But can a miserable
-   unfortunate who is running after the solution of his lawsuit take
-   time to dine? I left him, but I have hope that he will be an
-   additional protector. If all is not well, at least all is not
-   bad. I have drawn up a letter intended to correct the fault
-   committed.
-
-   "It is your reply to his letter. Pardon, M. de Comte, if I have
-   taken the liberty of acting as your secretary. For so long I have
-   been attached to you by all possible titles, if you approve of
-   the letter there is only a signature and an envelope necessary."
-   (Doniol, V. I, p. 574.)
-
-M. de Loménie continued: "This was still not sufficient for
-Beaumarchais. He wished the Attorney-General Seguier to speak and to be
-eloquent in his favor; for this he wrote a letter to Maurepas,
-accompanied by another note, rather more expressive, for M. Seguier, a
-note which the minister copied with the same docility as the preceding
-one." It runs as follows:
-
-   "Versailles, this 30th of August, 1776.
-
-   "I learn, Monsieur, by M. de Beaumarchais, that if you have not
-   the goodness to speak on his affair it will be impossible for him
-   to obtain a judgment before the 7th of September. That part of
-   the affair of the king with which M. de Beaumarchais is entrusted
-   requires that he make a voyage very soon; he fears to leave Paris
-   before he is restored to his estate as citizen; it has been so
-   long now that he suffers, and his desire in this respect is truly
-   legitimate. I ask no favor as to the ground of the affair, but
-   you will oblige me infinitely if you will contribute towards
-   having him judged before vacation.
-
-   "I have the honor to be, etc. Maurepas."
-
-The trial took place. Beaumarchais chose for his defense a lawyer,
-Target, who had remained firm during the entire existence of the
-parliament Maupeou, refusing to plead before it. "Beaumarchais," says
-Loménie, "always faithful to his taste for _mise en scène_, wrote him a
-letter which circulated everywhere and which commenced with the words,
-'The Martyr Beaumarchais to the Virgin Target.'"
-
-An immense concourse of people thronged the judgment hall the day
-appointed for the trial; and when, after the pleading of Target and the
-recommendation of Seguier, the restored parliament annulled by a solemn
-decree the decree of the parliament Maupeou, the wildest excitement
-prevailed. Beaumarchais immediately addressed the following letter to
-Vergennes:
-
-                           "Paris, this Friday, September 6, 1776.
-
-   "M. le Comte,
-
-   "I have just been judged, _déblâmé_, amidst a universal concourse
-   of applause. Never did so unfortunate a citizen receive greater
-   honor. I hasten to announce to you the news, begging you to place
-   my gratitude at the feet of the king. I am so trembling with joy
-   that my hand can scarcely write all the respectful sentiments
-   with which I am, Monsieur le Comte, your very humble and very
-   obedient servitor, Beaumarchais.
-
-   "Do me the kindness, M. le Comte, to announce this very happy
-   news to M. de Maurepas and to M. de Sartine. I have four hundred
-   persons about me who applaud and embrace me and make an infernal
-   noise, which seems to me superb harmony."
-
-The happy man was carried in triumph amid the enthusiastic shouts of the
-populace from the great chamber of justice to his carriage.
-
-The next day he published a discourse which he had intended to deliver,
-but from which he had been dissuaded.
-
-It will be remembered that Beaumarchais had been consulted by the
-ministers in regard to the principles on which the new parliament should
-be recalled, and that they had not dared to carry out the justice and
-the liberality of his ideas. Although as we have seen, Beaumarchais
-utilized the ministers pretty much as he desired, he did so without in
-the least compromising his own freedom.
-
-In this daring address he combated the existing abuses of the present
-parliament, as he before had done those of the Parliament Maupeou.
-
-"He contributed," says Loménie, "without being conscious of it, to
-prepare the ruin of the parliament which applauded him. He combated
-their abuses and caused to enter into the minds of the masses the
-necessity for judicial reform."
-
-M. de Loménie says elsewhere: "Beaumarchais at this moment, reinstated
-in his rights as a citizen, enjoying the brilliant success of his
-_Barbier de Séville_, already invested with the intimate confidence of
-the government in the American question; well received at court, popular
-in the city; directing the dramatic authors in their struggle for
-literary liberty, might be considered as a man who had at last conquered
-evil fortune; nevertheless, he was not yet disengaged from the fetters
-of his past. His first suit with the Comte de la Blache, which had been
-the origin of his trials and of his celebrity, existed still in the
-midst of his triumphs, and held in check his fortunes and his honor."
-
-This man, confident of the ministry in the affairs of the United States,
-the popular author of the _Barbier de Séville_, was under the blow of
-an iniquitous sentence which declared him indirectly a forger, and
-placed his goods at the discretion of an enemy.
-
-In 1775, the first judgment had been revoked and the affair sent before
-the parliament which met at Aix in the south of France.
-
-The zeal which we have seen Beaumarchais display in carrying rapidly to
-a successful termination the matter of his rehabilitation was now turned
-toward the _retarding_ of the judgment in the other case.
-
-The Comte de la Blache, on the other hand, vexed at seeing the rapidly
-rising fortunes of his adversary, endeavored by every means in his power
-to hasten the decision. Overwhelmed with the multiplicity of his
-undertakings, Beaumarchais appealed to M. de Vergennes, urging that the
-case be allowed to stand in _statu quo_ for the present. In a letter
-from the minister, dated June 2, 1776, the following passage occurs:
-
-   "I saw yesterday, in relation to your affair at Aix, M. le Guard
-   of the Seals, who immediately gave orders to write to M. de la
-   Tour, the first president of the tribunal, to the effect that all
-   ultimate procedure should be suspended.... You know, Monsieur,
-   the sincerity of my interest for all that concerns you.
-
-                                                   "de Vergennes."
-
-Thus with a comparatively tranquil mind, the indefatigable agent of the
-government was able to turn his attention to the gigantic commercial
-enterprise which he already had well in hand.
-
-We shall not, therefore, be surprised to see him rise above all adverse
-circumstances, and notwithstanding the disloyalty of some of his
-agents, the fury of the English Ambassador, the opposition of the
-government itself, actually succeed in landing immense cargoes on the
-American coast in time for the great decisive campaign of 1777.
-
-[Illustration: Wm. Carmichaël]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX
-
-
-_"I should never have completed what I have but for the generous, the
-indefatigable and spirited exertions of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, to
-whom the United States are in every account greatly indebted, more so
-than to any other person on this side the water."_
-
-_Silas Deane to Congress, November 29, 1776._
-
-
-   Suspicions of English Aroused Through Indiscretions of Friends of
-     America--Treachery of du Coudray--Counter Order Issued Against
-     Shipments of Beaumarchais--Franklin's Arrival--England's Attempt to
-     Make Peace Stirs France--Counter Order Recalled--Ten Ships Start
-     Out--Beaumarchais Cleared by Vergennes.
-
-
-While Beaumarchais, through the intervention of the Ministry, was
-bringing his own personal interests to a successful termination, he was
-at the same time carrying vigorously forward his operations in the cause
-of America. These operations were the most difficult. In the words of
-Loménie: "It was a question of an officially prohibited commerce, which
-prohibition was under the vigilant supervision of the English
-Ambassador,--and could receive the official support of the French
-government only on condition that it was carefully hidden. The least
-indiscretion, the slightest diplomatic embarrassment occasioned by the
-affair would immediately transform this support into persecution. It was
-under these conditions that the author of the _Barbier de Séville_
-was obliged to extract without noise and in small quantities, from the
-different arsenals of the state, 200 pieces of cannon, mortars, bombs,
-bullets, 25,000 guns, 100 tons of powder; to manufacture the stuffs
-necessary for the equipment of 25,000 men, collect all these objects in
-the different ports and send them to the insurgents without arousing the
-suspicion of the English Ambassador."
-
-It was, however, humanly impossible that suspicions should not be
-aroused; too many people were interested in the cause of America; too
-many were eager to aid in the struggle of the colonies for liberty.
-Especially was the _cher bon ami_ of Dr. Franklin constantly bringing
-things to the brink of exposure through his officious intermeddling.
-Although he knew nothing of the real basis upon which the commercial
-house, Roderigue Hortalès et Cie., was founded, yet he was very well
-aware that Beaumarchais had supplanted him in the confidence of the
-ministers. Forced to see himself set aside, Dubourg none the less
-continued collecting supplies on his own account, which he forwarded to
-the insurgents. His indiscreet zeal led him often into grave
-difficulties.
-
-"With the best intentions in the world," says Doniol, "he was in danger
-of interfering with, rather than aiding the cause he hoped to serve."
-
-The letters of Beaumarchais to Vergennes during this period constantly
-revert to this theme, "Dubourg must be made to keep silence and not to
-compromise the ministry." "If," he writes in another place, "while we
-are closing the doors on one side, someone opens the windows on the
-other, it is impossible that the secret does not escape." At length
-quite out of patience at some new and serious indiscretion which the
-good doctor in his simplicity had told to Beaumarchais himself, the
-latter wrote to Vergennes, "Is there then no way to stop the mouth of
-that cruel gossiper?... As he told me I could scarcely refrain from
-dealing him a blow, but I restrained myself, simply turning my back and
-walking away.... I depend upon you, M. le Comte, to deliver us from this
-fatal and mischief-making agent."
-
-But Dubourg was by no means the only person interested in the cause of
-America who was sowing snares in the pathway of Beaumarchais and of
-Deane. At the worst, the good doctor was only indiscreet, he was never
-guilty of that personal ambition which in times of great crisis delights
-to bring ruin upon the schemes of others, and which uses all its power
-to thwart those enterprises which it cannot lead. Many enemies of this
-latter type were destined soon to manifest themselves. On the 1st of
-October, 1776, Silas Deane wrote to Congress of a certain Mr. Hopkins of
-Maryland, then in Paris, who without official authority was interesting
-himself in the same cause. "Offended at some supposed personal slight,
-he formed the dark design," says Deane, "of defeating at one stroke my
-whole prospect as to supplies.... However thunderstruck I was, as well
-as my friend Monsieur Beaumarchais at this treachery ... we exerted
-ourselves and truth prevailed.... It would be too tedious to recount
-what I have met with in this way.... I do not mention a single
-difficulty with one complaining thought for myself.... I am happy in
-being so far successful, and that the machinations of my enemies, or
-rather the enemies of my country ... have been brought to nought."
-
-But perhaps the most dangerous enemy in the pathway of Deane and
-Beaumarchais was a man in whom from the first they had reposed the most
-entire confidence. This was Trouson du Coudray, a French officer of rank
-and genius, a personal friend of the minister of war, the Comte St.
-Germain, who had been the military preceptor of le Comte d'Artois. He
-had afterwards been stationed at the garrison of Metz, where he was
-associated with the drawing out of old arms and of replacing them by
-ones of more recent date. As it was precisely these old arms which the
-French Government was willing to part with to Hortalès et Cie.,--at a
-reasonable price, du Coudray was admirably placed to further the
-proceedings of its agent. Had he been truly disinterested in his
-proffered services, his coöperation would have been invaluable. As a
-matter of fact, "this officer," says Doniol, "certainly capable, was one
-of those who whatever employment is made of their services, look first
-to the personal advantage they can draw from them. Having fascinated
-Deane and Beaumarchais, he succeeded in having himself named one of the
-staff officers of artillery and was to go out to the colonies in command
-of the chief vessel of Hortalès et Cie., the _Amphitrite_. Deane at once
-wrote to Congress, announcing the great acquisition which he had made.
-He bestowed the highest praise upon du Coudray, but at the same time
-evinced a fear lest Congress might consider that he had overstepped the
-bounds of his commission in appointing him to so high a rank. He excused
-himself for having been forced to confer upon the officer special marks
-of favor in order to secure his services, which, he felt sure, would, in
-the end, justify him for the step he had taken. He humbly expressed a
-hope that Congress would not consider as too high the salary he had
-promised, and begged it to confirm the wisdom of his choice."
-
-Du Coudray was not long in showing himself unworthy of the confidence
-thus reposed in him. It was this unfortunate step of Deane, afterwards
-imputed to him as a crime by Arthur Lee, which was the chief cause of
-his subsequent recall and the semi-disgrace inflicted upon him.
-Beaumarchais, being as deeply inculpated as Deane, fell equally in the
-opinion of American patriots. But as yet, no foreshadowing of coming
-events had dampened the zeal of the colonial commissioner, or of his
-indefatigable friend. On October 15, 1776 (Spark's _Dip. Corres._, I, p.
-51), a contract was signed M. de Monthieu, Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.
-and Silas Deane, for furnishing armed vessels and merchandise on
-condition that risks and perils be on account of the U. S. and that "in
-case the vessels be detained in American ports more than two months,
-without returning them laden with the cargoes proposed, wages and
-expenses shall be paid by the United States."
-
-While Deane was thus busily engaged in carrying out the commission with
-which he was entrusted, he was being left, as far as Congress was
-concerned, absolutely without support or approval. Communication between
-the two continents was slow in those days, and it has been shown already
-that before Deane was able to send any definite information to Congress
-of his reception by the French Government, Lee had forestalled him by
-giving that body his own private and unfounded interpretation of the
-relation entered into between the commissioner and the agent of the
-French Government. When Lee's letter reached America, Congress was
-deeply engrossed with the weightier matters which were forcing
-themselves upon its attention, owing to the decisive step which it was
-about to take in declaring itself free from British rule. The matter,
-therefore, was allowed to rest in _statu quo_ for the present. Congress
-preferred to await developments before setting on foot any
-investigations, and so, though Deane continued to give frequent and full
-accounts of all his transactions, no reply was ever made to any of his
-letters. This rendered his situation cruel in the extreme. Wholly
-unsuspicious by nature, it never occurred to him that an enemy was
-busily at work, undermining his character and poisoning the minds of his
-compatriots in regard to the disinterestedness of the motives which
-actuated him. His irritation began at last to manifest itself. "For
-heaven's sake," he wrote in a letter to Congress, dated October 1, 1776
-(Spark's _Diplomatic Correspondence_, Vol. II), "if you mean to have any
-connection with this kingdom, be more assiduous in getting your letters
-here. I know not where the blame lies, but it must lie heavy somewhere,
-when vessels are suffered to sail from Philadelphia and elsewhere, right
-down to the middle of August, without a single line. This circumstance
-was near proving a mortal blow to my whole proceedings."
-
-October 17th of the same year he says:
-
-   "Warlike preparations are daily making in this kingdom and in
-   Spain. I need not urge the importance of immediate remittances
-   towards paying for the large quantity of stores I have engaged
-   for, and I depend that this winter will not be suffered to slip
-   away unimproved. I have the honor to be, etc.
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-By the end of November, notwithstanding the delays and discouragements
-encountered by the agents of the two governments, several vessels had
-been loaded with supplies and were about to set sail. Silas Deane wrote
-to Congress, Nov. 29th, 1776.
-
-   "I should never have completed what I have, but for the generous,
-   the indefatigable, and spirited exertions of M. Beaumarchais, to
-   whom the United States are on every account greatly indebted,
-   more so than to any other person on this side the water ...
-   therefore I am confident you will make the earliest and most
-   ample remittances." After giving further details, he proceeds: "A
-   nephew of Beaumarchais, a young gentleman of family, education
-   and spirit, makes a voyage to America with M. Ducoudray (in the
-   various documents, the name of this officer appears, sometimes
-   written as above by Mr. Deane, but more often 'du Coudray,' which
-   is the correct form) and is ambitious of serving his first
-   campaign in your cause. I recommend him therefore to your
-   particular patronage and protection, as well on account of the
-   great merits of his uncle, as on that of his being a youth of
-   genius and spirit.... I have confidently assured his uncle that
-   he will receive protection and paternal advice from you, and am
-   happy in knowing that you will fulfill my engagements on that
-   score.
-
-   "I cannot in a letter do full justice to M. de Beaumarchais, for
-   his address and assiduity in our cause. His interest and
-   influence, which are great, have been exerted to the utmost, in
-   the cause of the United States."
-
-On the 3rd of December, 1776, in a letter to John Jay written when the
-last measures were being taken for the despatching of the vessels
-equipped by Hortalès et Cie., Deane thus expressed himself:
-
-   "If my letters arrive safely they will give you some idea of my
-   situation:--without intelligence, without orders, and without
-   remittances, yet boldly plunging into contracts, engagements,
-   negotiations, hourly hoping that something will arrive from
-   America.
-
-   "By M. du Coudray I send 30,000 guns, 200 pieces of brass cannon,
-   30 mortars, 4,000 tents, and clothing for 30,000 men, with 200
-   tons of gunpowder, lead balls, etc., etc., by which you may judge
-   we have some friends here. A war in Europe is inevitable. The
-   eyes of all are on you, and the fear of your giving up, or
-   accommodating is the greatest obstacle I have to contend with.
-   Monsieur Beaumarchais has been my minister in effect, as this
-   court is extremely cautious and I now advise you to attend
-   carefully to the articles sent you. I could not examine them
-   here. I was promised they should be good, and at the lowest
-   price, and that from persons in such station that had I hesitated
-   it might have ruined my affairs....
-
-   "Large remittances are necessary for your credit, and the
-   enormous price of tobacco, of rice, of flour and many other
-   articles, gives you an opportunity of making your remittances to
-   very good advantage. Twenty thousand hogsheads of tobacco are
-   wanted immediately for this kingdom, and more for other parts of
-   Europe." ... (_Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay_,
-   1890, p. 97.)
-
-In spite of the remonstrances of Deane, Congress continued deaf and dumb
-in regard to their Commissioner, neither condemning nor approving his
-acts, but passing all by with like indifference. In the meantime,
-Beaumarchais was pushing forward his gigantic operations, being taken
-with "a sort of drunkenness of activity and of confidence in himself,
-which," says Doniol, "turned him at times from precautions. He was at
-this juncture, really a political agent. He had indicated to M. de
-Maurepas a plan of finance which would enable France to arm itself,
-without increasing taxation, and the mission had been given him to study
-the execution of the plan with M. Necker, who had been called to the
-management of the Treasury. He had discussed with Deane, perhaps
-somewhat with Vergennes, the creation of a bank, in view of making loans
-on the lands of America." (_Doniol_ II, p. 57.)
-
-Extracts from a Memoir by Beaumarchais, addressed to Vergennes, in
-regard to a loan to be made to the Congress: "Supposing always," he
-wrote, "that your intention is neither to let America perish nor to
-force her to arrange with England through lack of the succor which is
-indispensable for her defense, if you can procure it; supposing also
-that my work and my ministry have not ceased to be agreeable to you; I
-have found a means of supporting the Americans without disbursing
-considerable sums, which you do not possess, but which the Americans
-cannot dispense with.
-
-"If you look upon me as the important advocate of that nation before the
-Ministry of France,--an employment which I have assumed because it was
-as noble as it was useful to my country; knowing that I have not done
-this without your secret agreement, you must hear me to-day, even aid
-me, if you do not wish to leave without results a plan which is without
-danger." After developing the details of his scheme for rendering more
-effective aid to the Americans, Beaumarchais continues, "As you see, M.
-le Comte, this is only an extension adroitly given, to that which I have
-been doing for the last year. For the past two weeks I have been buried
-in the meditations and the correspondence which this work requires.
-To-day I am in condition to treat secretly with you and M. de Maurepas.
-Any evening which you wish, I will attend upon your orders."
-
-Things were moving, however, far too slowly for the impatient spirit of
-Beaumarchais. The 14th of October he had written to Vergennes.
-
-   "Every time that I think how we hold in our hands the destiny of
-   the world, and that we have the power to change the system of
-   things--and when I see so many advantages, so much glory ready to
-   escape, I regret infinitely not to have more influence over the
-   resolutions of the councils, and not to be able to multiply
-   myself, so as to prevent the evil on one hand, and aid the good
-   on the other. I know too well your patriotism to fear offending
-   you in speaking thus....
-
-   "I expect to be at Fontainebleau Thursday at the latest. Until
-   then I shall not sleep until I have finished the work on Finance,
-   promised to M. de Maurepas."
-
-Obstacles of every kind were being thrown in the path of Beaumarchais,
-though he remained ignorant of their source. He continued to insist that
-the government permit him to carry forward what it had encouraged him to
-commence. His letters of this period testify to "a consciousness of
-being hampered, a desire to act, fear of being too presumptive in his
-demands, and intentions of rendering effective service." (_Doniol_ II,
-p. 58.) He thought the delays came from Maurepas, whose coldness had
-distressed him, so he urged Vergennes to plead for him. "If I were not
-certain," he wrote, November 12, 1776, "that I do not displease you in
-desiring you to raise as far as possible the obstacles which retard my
-course, I would not have the indiscretion to make observations when it
-seems I ought simply to submit. But I know that you are as much annoyed
-as I by all that tends to spoil my plans. This idea consoles me and
-enables me not to lose patience...." "Do not," he pleads, "do not, M. le
-Comte, look upon my impatience as insubordination, it is nothing but
-zeal." Then he proceeded to urge Vergennes to send him an order through
-the minister of war, the Comte de St. Germain, that there be delivered
-to him 2,000 hundredweight of powder, which would enable him to set
-sail, and he ended by saying how he had "_le coeur bien serré_ to see
-how things are going or in reality, not going."
-
-The fall of New York offered an opportunity for Beaumarchais to press
-his solicitations, urging that the Americans had been beaten only from
-lack of supplies. "If I were asking a personal favor," he wrote to
-Vergennes, "I would have patience, but I shall lose it if you do not
-come to my assistance." On the second of October he had written:
-"Everything about me follows me with talk and does all that it can to
-ruin me. Across all these bitter things I walk with assurance to my
-ends; unless a pistol shot stops me, I will be found ready to treat with
-all who present themselves. My zeal and my disinterestedness are the
-basis of my defense. I have no important paper about me--everything is
-secure."
-
-In the midst of so many hidden dangers Beaumarchais was soon made to
-feel a still graver one. The French government suddenly began to thwart
-all his operations, and this without a word of warning or explanation.
-The fact was that the suspicions of the Court of St. James had been
-thoroughly aroused, and, pressed by the English Ambassador, the minister
-had been forced to take a stand. The fifteenth of November the English
-Court notified the Spanish Ambassador that everything was known, and the
-twenty-second of the same month, they expressed themselves still more
-strongly through other avenues. Vergennes was informed that the aid
-being rendered by France was no longer a secret. Something had to be
-done immediately to allay the fears of the English, and from this had
-arisen the apparent hostility of the ministers.
-
-Even had there been no one directly to blame for these disclosures,
-entire secrecy still could not have been maintained. The very
-multiplicity of the operations, "the goings and comings of Deane and
-Beaumarchais and their intermediaries, the confidence that was inspired
-by the support of the government leading to indiscretions, all this
-divulged the acts." (_Doniol_ II, 35.) More than this, officers
-enrolled, or those who wished to be, were spread about in the
-cafés and public places, in Paris or the seaports, awaiting the moment
-of embarkation. All these men, "infatuated and needy," were under the
-control of du Coudray, who was expecting to sail on the largest of
-Beaumarchais's ships, _l'Amphitrite_, a vessel of 480 tons, which
-already had received its cargo, and was only awaiting the presence of
-the officer in order to set sail. For some unaccountable reason, he had
-returned to Versailles without giving any notice. He remained there for
-more than a week, causing a delay which threatened to spoil everything.
-Beaumarchais, supposing that the ministry was at fault, wrote to
-Vergennes in the following impatient manner: "Everything has gone,
-everything is waiting. Why cannot I have the whole management of the
-affair? Then nothing would be delayed and my vessels would already be in
-America." The truth was that du Coudray, relying upon his powerful
-support at court, had gone to Versailles in order to succeed in escaping
-if possible from the hands of Beaumarchais, so as not to go over as his
-envoy. He had all along been lengthening "by every means in his power
-the delay in getting off, had sown discontent among the enrolled,
-sending away such as he could not gain, had encouraged complaint,
-confided the place of embarkation to indiscreet persons, and then threw
-upon Beaumarchais the blame of the noise which he himself had made."
-(_Doniol_ II, 61.) In addition to all the rest, Beaumarchais was guilty
-of a particular indiscretion of his own. Having gone the 6th of
-December, 1776, to Havre, under the assumed name of Durand, in order to
-superintend, without arousing suspicion, the despatching of three of his
-vessels, the _Amphitrite_, _La Seine_, _La Romaine_, he could not resist
-the temptation of busying himself at the same time with his literary
-productions. Displeased with the way in which his famous comedy, _Le
-Barbier de_ _Séville_, was being performed, he imprudently collected
-the actors, making them rehearse the play under his direction. His
-presence in the seaport thus became known; the English Ambassador was
-notified and the latter at once addressed to the Government the most
-vehement remonstrances.
-
-"On the 16th of December a counter order was issued and sent to Havre
-and Nantes, prohibiting the officers from embarking and the vessels from
-setting out. But when the counter order reached Havre, _l'Amphitrite_,
-which bore the greater part of the officers and munitions, already had
-set sail. The _Seine_ and the _Romaine_ were alone sequestered,
-Beaumarchais then returned with all haste to Paris, in order to obtain
-the revocation of the counter order." (Loménie II, p. 136.)
-
-But in the meantime, an event had happened which, as soon as it became
-known, roused the French people to the highest pitch of enthusiasm,
-while it deepened the distrust and anger of the English Ambassador. This
-event was the arrival of Dr. Franklin upon the shores of France.
-Beaumarchais already had announced the fact in a letter to Vergennes.
-"The noise," he said, "caused by the arrival of Mr. Franklin is
-inconceivable.... The courageous old man allowed the vessel to make two
-captures, in spite of the personal danger he ran."
-
-Though the French people might welcome with heartfelt enthusiasm, the
-venerable old democrat and philosopher, yet his presence at this moment
-was a serious matter to the Court of France. The Government was moving,
-it is true, directly towards open war with Great Britain, but she was as
-yet very unwilling that the English should have cause of offense in her
-attitude towards the country which had now declared itself free and
-independent. All the supplies which she was allowing to be sent by
-Hortalès et Cie. went out in vessels bound direct to her West Indian
-possessions, and were ostensibly intended for her own colonists, so that
-the English Government had no legal right to interfere. England
-therefore redoubled her watchfulness at the court of her rival, and
-knowing as she very well did that it was in every way to the interest of
-France to aid the Americans in their fight for liberty, she was all the
-more determined to harass and thwart every operation which tended in
-that direction.
-
-All this time the Americans were far too deeply engrossed with the
-difficulties of their own situation to spend much thought upon those
-that surrounded their friends in Europe. On the 26th of September,
-Congress had appointed three commissioners to the Court of France. Silas
-Deane already on the spot had been retained; to him were added Benjamin
-Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The latter declining to serve, was
-replaced by Arthur Lee, who was still in London.
-
-Immediately after setting foot in France, Franklin wrote to his _cher,
-bon ami_, the Doctor Dubourg, a letter full of warm expressions of
-friendship and of polite messages to Madame. He enclosed under the same
-cover a letter to Silas Deane, begging his dear friend to see to its
-speedy delivery. The letter to Deane informed him of his new
-appointment, and gave orders that Lee be summoned immediately to join
-them. He bore with him no letter from Congress, nor any message relating
-to the past services of Deane, news of which, in fact, had hardly
-reached the colonies at the time of the doctor's embarkation.
-
-Franklin had no personal interest in the work already accomplished,
-since his _cher, bon ami_ had been set aside, as soon as Deane saw
-"where the confidence of the Government was placed." From the first he
-had determined not to interfere in the quarrel that existed between Lee
-and Deane, and he steadily refused to enter into the merits of the zeal
-displayed by Beaumarchais under cover of Hortalès et Cie. Warned against
-him by so many of his friends, and having particular reasons for not
-showing marked favor to Deane (the suspicious jealousy of Lee's
-character threatened from the start to thwart the entire object of the
-commission), he chose the course of ignoring all that already had been
-accomplished. For the moment Deane, himself, seemed alienated from
-Beaumarchais. Vexed at the delay in despatching the supplies (for he
-knew nothing of the counter-order issued by the Government), irritated
-by Lee, annoyed at the indifference of Franklin and dismayed by the
-silence of Congress, Deane in turn assumed an attitude of cold
-indifference which perplexed and disquieted his friend. The new duties
-which were forced upon him, the change in the character of his mission,
-occupied for the time all his thoughts.
-
-As soon as the three commissioners were united in Paris, Franklin wrote
-asking for an audience with the minister of foreign affairs, M. de
-Vergennes. "Sir," he wrote, "we beg leave to acquaint your Excellency
-that we are appointed and fully empowered by the Congress of the United
-States of America to propose and negotiate a treaty of amity and
-commerce between France and the said states.... (Doniol II, 112.)" The
-minister, however, really anxious to further the plans of Beaumarchais,
-was slow to give additional umbrage to the English Ambassador by
-receiving the three commissioners whose presence in Paris it was
-impossible to hide.
-
-Already Franklin had taken up his quarters in Passy, where he held a
-little court of his own. Imbert de St. Amand, in his _Les Beaux Jours de
-Marie Antoinette_, has given a vivid picture of the impression made upon
-the inhabitants of Paris by the presence in their midst of the aged
-philosopher. "The idol of the day," he says, "in that Paris, so
-capricious and so versatile, was Franklin--that peasant, that
-septuagenarian philosopher, that learned democrat, that man of the
-future--was acclaimed by the French aristocracy. The philanthropists,
-the apologists of perpetual peace, demanded war with loud cries. Louis
-XVI, notwithstanding his scruples of conscience, allowed himself to be
-won over. The apartments of Versailles filled themselves with solicitors
-of peril and of glory. All the young nobility wished to start at once.
-What transport! what madness! what valor in those paladin philosophers,
-those chivalrous democrats, having the double passion of glory and
-liberty, full of superb illusions, of generous follies, and so eloquent,
-so amiable, so brave! With what gaiety these quitted their pleasures,
-their châteaux, their theatres, to live the life of a soldier, to go to
-seek the other side of the Atlantic, perils and unknown dangers!"
-
-All this excitement caused by the presence of Franklin did not tend to
-lessen the vigilance of the English, although from the first they had
-hope that if France could be prevented from aiding the Colonies,
-Franklin might in the end be obliged to enter into negotiations with
-England. It was precisely this fear which haunted the French Government
-and induced the King to revoke the counter-order issued to prevent the
-sailing of the ships of Hortalès et Cie. Happy at last in gaining
-permission to leave port, Beaumarchais thought only of despatching his
-retarded vessels, when he learned that the _Amphitrite_, the one ship
-that had set out before the arrival of the counter-order, was at
-Lorient, a seaport on the west coast of France, whither it had been
-brought by du Coudray "under the pretext that bad weather encountered in
-the channel had shown the defective condition of the vessel." (_Doniol_
-II, p. 314.)
-
-Beaumarchais, still deceived, wrote to Vergennes: "_L'Amphitrite_, after
-sixteen days of bad weather, has been obliged to return for a moment to
-take on fresh provisions, those on board having been saturated by the
-sea. This is what I have from M. du Coudray, who asks that it be kept
-secret, and who expects to depart in a few days."
-
-The treachery of this officer could not, however, long remain secret.
-"The English Ambassador, learning the details, complained loudly to
-Vergennes, who, irritated to find himself again compromised, laid the
-blame on Beaumarchais withdrawing the permission newly accorded to set
-sail." (Loménie II, p. 137.) Du Coudray then wrote a long letter full of
-lame excuses. Beaumarchais, furious on learning the truth, replied as
-follows:
-
-                                         "Paris, January 22, 1777.
-
-   "As your conduct, sir, in this affair is inexplicable, I will not
-   waste time in trying to comprehend it. All that concerns me is to
-   guarantee myself and my friends against occurrences of the same
-   kind in future. As the veritable owner, therefore, of the
-   _Amphitrite_, I send herewith an order to Captain Fautrelle, to
-   take absolute command. You are sagacious enough to see that I
-   have not taken so decisive a step without previously consulting
-   powerful and judicious friends. Have the kindness, sir, to
-   conform to it, or find another vessel to take you wherever you
-   please, with no pretension on my part to hinder you in any
-   respect, except in matters which relate to myself and which tend
-   to injure me."
-
-When Deane learned of the disgraceful conduct of the man in whom he had
-reposed such entire confidence, he withdrew the commission which he had
-granted him, and the 8th of February wrote to Beaumarchais. "The
-strange, ungrateful and perfidious conduct of this man, mortifies and
-embarrasses me strangely, and as I wish with all my heart that I had
-never seen him, I wish equally that he may never see America."
-Beaumarchais at once forwarded this letter to Vergennes, begging him to
-prevent du Coudray from setting out for the new world. An order from
-Vergennes arrived commanding him to return to his garrison at Metz.
-Instead of obeying, he hastened to Versailles, where, as has been shown,
-he had powerful protection. He succeeded in being privately presented to
-Franklin and through the intervention of the ministers of war and the
-navy, du Coudray received from Franklin a recommendation to Congress,
-which recommendation Deane himself finally consented to sign, although
-with reluctance, for he informed Beaumarchais at once of the act,
-assuring him that he had done no more than admit that du Coudray was a
-good officer. Vergennes, not wishing a quarrel either with the Comte de
-St. Germain or with M. de Sartine (minister of war and the navy), was
-obliged to close his eyes to the action of the officer, who at once
-hastened to set sail for America. (See _Doniol_ II, p. 317.)
-
-The 11th of February, Beaumarchais wrote to Vergennes: "Everyone knows
-the evil which that officer wishes to do me. Having made to myself a law
-to explain to no one the wise and pressing motives which oppose
-themselves to the departure of that officer, and owing to the necessity
-of preventing his indiscretions, I am liable to be taxed with a design
-to persecute him, whom on the contrary I have from the first endeavored
-to advance and have aided in sincere good faith.... It is neither in my
-character nor in my principles to revenge myself on anyone--I should be
-obliged to pass my life at that odious business...."
-
-"Neither the orders of Vergennes nor the interference of Beaumarchais or
-Deane having prevented du Coudray from crossing the Atlantic, the evil
-which followed was inevitable. Arrived in America, he hastened to accuse
-Beaumarchais of the very acts which he himself had attempted to perform,
-and he accused not him alone, but in consequence Silas Deane of
-complicity, as well as the Comte de Vergennes." (_Doniol_ II, p. 353.)
-
-"Dreaming of great position in America, he built upon the order to
-retain him on the continent, and gave it out as an intrigue of
-Beaumarchais." He at once issued a pamphlet to Congress, in which he
-explained, "It is to my credit alone, and to my zeal in your service,
-that you are indebted for the extent of the aid accorded to your
-commissioner, and in nothing to the Sieur de Beaumarchais; everything
-was finished when he arrived." He further dilated upon the greed of gain
-which characterized the French agent, and accused him of fraud in his
-dealings with the colonies. To minds already prepossessed with similar
-ideas, this pamphlet was not calculated to increase the confidence of
-Congress in the good faith either of their commissioner or of his
-friend. During the two months preceding the open exposure of the perfidy
-of this officer, the difficulty of the situation of Beaumarchais hardly
-can be overestimated. "Denounced by the conspiracies of du Coudray as
-being only incited by desire for lucre; obliged to resort to complicated
-expediencies in order to spare the Government the recriminations of the
-English, constrained to defend himself against the mistrust aroused even
-in the spirit of M. de Vergennes by his at times inevitable
-indiscretions; forced to fall back on justifications which might seem
-equivocal, he lent himself to doubt, even to suspicion." (_Doniol_ II,
-p. 308.) On the 30th of January he wrote to M. de Vergennes:
-
-   "When one writes to a minister whom one respects and cherishes,
-   one is very much embarrassed to find terms to explain a fact like
-   the one that suffocates me. After Mr. Deane had shown during a
-   month a very bad humor, and saying to myself the whole time that
-   there was something very mysterious in the delay of the vessels
-   at Havre, I was anxious to have an explanation of his offensive
-   tone. He replied that, tired himself of not knowing where the
-   blame lay, he had the honor to send you a memoir by M. Lee, and
-   that the latter reported that Your Excellency had clearly assured
-   him that for a long while there had been no obstacle on the part
-   of the ministry and that if I said there was, it could only be an
-   imposture of mine or of M. Montieu. Pardon, M. le Comte, if after
-   swallowing all the other bitter pills without complaint, this
-   rests in my throat and strangles me in passing. Your Excellency
-   will perhaps be so good as to cast a glance over the four letters
-   that I join to this, written by me to M. de Sartine the 3rd,
-   18th, 22d and 29th of January. They will inform you of the true
-   state of affairs if it is possible that you are ignorant of it,
-   and you will tell me afterwards up to what point you order me to
-   keep silent and sacrifice myself. This blow crushes me and makes
-   me desire that my whole conduct as a vigilant man and faithful
-   servitor be promptly examined and with the utmost rigor. It is
-   impossible for me to take an instant's repose until you have
-   accorded me this grace. Read, I beg you, my letters to M. de
-   Sartine and judge of my suffering."
-
-Vergennes immediately replied, and the whole situation grew brighter.
-Beaumarchais wrote the next day, February 1, 1777, "I sincerely thank
-you for your goodness in tranquilizing me. I have force against
-everything except your discontent. Never judge me without hearing me,
-this is the only favor I ask. I know well that you are accused of
-irresolution, which is very far from your character. Afterwards they
-cast upon me the reflections of their discontent, making you speak, so
-that I may feel it more keenly--I will never believe anything again. I
-have the intimate consciousness that I do my best and even the best that
-can be done under the circumstances. Across all the obstacles that
-surround me, a small success pays me for great labor. I feel myself
-already light-hearted again since yesterday's letters have told me that
-three of my vessels have started." Beaumarchais was thus after so many
-delays given full power to act. On the 4th of February, 1777, he wrote
-to Vergennes:
-
-   "At last I have my delivery.... It is a pity that the Dutch
-   should be destined to have the principal gain from the transport
-   of these materials. No matter, the most important thing is, not
-   to let America come to grief through lack of good munitions...."
-
-By the beginning of March ten vessels of Roderigue Hortalès et Cie. were
-floating towards America. The seventh of that month he announced the
-fact to Vergennes: "Never," he wrote, "has commercial affair been pushed
-with so much vigor, in spite of obstacles of every nature which have
-been encountered. May God give it good success!"
-
-"Beaumarchais," says M. de Loménie, "naturally expected soon to receive
-very many expressions of gratitude from Congress, as well as very much
-Maryland and Virginia tobacco. He did not even receive a reply to his
-letters." Nevertheless, he continued to send out ships laden with
-supplies, all through the spring and summer, receiving from his agents
-alone information of their safe arrival.
-
-The failure of Congress to ratify the conditions offered by its
-commissioner would have brought to ruin the commercial house of
-Roderigue Hortalès et Cie. in spite of the subsidy of two millions with
-which it had been founded, had not the Government again come to its
-assistance. But though the ministers in general, and Vergennes in
-particular, never entirely deserted Beaumarchais, other and wholly
-different measures for aiding the Americans were now seriously occupying
-their attention. The colonies in declaring themselves free from British
-rule had forced upon France the necessity of coming to some definite
-decision. This she was slow in doing, but so inevitable was it that she
-should take an active part in the great struggle that already the
-measures necessary for the arming and equipping of her forces were being
-discussed in her councils, while the nation, gone mad with enthusiasm,
-was urging her forward in the pathway which could lead to nothing but
-open war.
-
-[Illustration: LAFAYETTE]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX
-
-
-_"Never Greece, never Rome, never any people of the ancient world,
-exposed the motives of its independence with a more noble simplicity,
-nor based them upon more evident truths."_
-
-  _Gudin de la Brenellerie, Histoire de Beaumarchais._
-
-
-   The Declaration of Independence and Its Effect in
-     Europe--Beaumarchais's Activity in Getting Supplies to
-     America--Difficulties Arise About Sailing--Treachery of du
-     Coudray--Lafayette's Contract with Deane--His Escape to
-     America--Beaumarchais's Losses--Baron von Steuben Sails for America
-     in Beaumarchais's Vessel, Taking the Latter's Nephew, des
-     Epinières, and His Agent, Theveneau de Francy--The Surrender of
-     Burgoyne--Beaumarchais Finds Himself Set Aside While Others Take
-     His Place--Faces Bankruptcy--Vergennes Comes to His Assistance.
-
-
-"The Act," says _Doniol_ (I, p. 561), "which proclaimed to the civilized
-world the institution of the American Republic and which was destined to
-open a new phase of civilization, was announced in Europe only as an
-incident, secondary to the resistance of the rebels.
-
-"The English Government would not admit that the solemn act produced any
-visible emotion in London. In the beginning Garnier, the French
-Ambassador, was no more struck than the cabinet of London by the page of
-political philosophy put into being by the declaration of Congress, and
-which was to respond so loudly in the country of Voltaire and the
-Encyclopædia." In France, "when it became known," continues Doniol, "it
-produced the most vivid sensation which was possible to create a century
-ago by the means of publicity then existing."
-
-But though the action of the colonies was greeted with wild enthusiasm
-by the populace, the government remained cold and undemonstrative. Silas
-Deane had written to Congress, January 17, 1777, "The hearts of the
-French people are universally for us and the opinion for an immediate
-war with Great Britain is very strong, but the court has its reasons for
-postponing a little longer."
-
-The chief cause of the apparent inaction of the government arose from
-the ruined condition of its finances. Beaumarchais, as was seen in the
-last chapter, already had been commissioned to draw up a plan of finance
-which should aid in the present crisis. This he had done, basing his
-scheme of reform upon the wise and prudent measures adopted by the great
-Sully. He endeavored to prove that these reforms would, if put into
-execution, cause such an increase of revenue as would enable France
-safely to declare war, without increasing the rate of taxation or
-incurring the risk of bankruptcy. His scheme, however, had been set
-aside. On the 30th of March, 1777, he addressed a lengthy memoir to the
-prime minister, M. le Comte de Maurepas, of which the following is an
-extract:
-
-   " ... I have doubtless explained badly my ideas of help for the
-   Americans, since it seems that you have not adopted them. The
-   fear of giving you too much to read makes me concise to the point
-   of being perhaps obscure.... Read the letter of M. Deane....
-   Judge if a good Frenchman, a zealous subject of the King, a good
-   servitor of M. de Maurepas, who respects him and wishes to see
-   his administration honored among all the people of the world,
-   judge if he can support your constant refusal to lend him a hand,
-   the earnest solicitations of America at bay, and the insolent
-   triumph of armed England.... M. le Comte, spare your servitors
-   the sorrows of one day hearing you reproached with having been in
-   a position to save America at small cost and you have not done
-   it, to tear her from the yoke of England and to unite her to us
-   by commerce, and that you have neglected it.
-
-   "Hear me, I pray you; you distrust too much your own powers and
-   my resources; and above all I fear that you do not sufficiently
-   esteem the empire, which your age and your wisdom gives you over
-   a young prince whose heart is formed, but whose politics are
-   still in the cradle. You forget that that fresh young soul has
-   been turned and brought back from very far. He is tractable,
-   helpless, weak in his whole being. You forget that while dauphin,
-   Louis XVI had an invincible repugnance to the old parliaments,
-   yet that their recall honored the first six months of his reign;
-   you forget also that he swore never to be vaccinated, yet that
-   eight days afterwards he had the vaccine in his arm. No one is
-   ignorant of this, and no one will excuse you for not employing
-   the beautiful power of your place in causing to be adopted the
-   great things which you have in your mind.
-
-   "If you find my liberties too daring, go back to their respectful
-   motives, and you will pardon them to my attachment.
-
-   "It was not play on my part, M. le Comte, when attaching myself
-   to you, I said with feeling: 'I shall never have a day of true
-   happiness, if your administration passes away without having
-   accomplished the three greatest acts which could illustrate it:
-   the humiliation of England by the union of America and France;
-   the re-establishment of the finances, following the plan of
-   Sully, which I have placed several times at your feet, and the
-   rendering of civil existence to protestants.... These three
-   things are to-day in your hands; I wish only the honor of having
-   often recalled them to you. What work, M. le Comte, what success
-   more beautiful, could crown your career? After such actions,
-   there is no death. The dearest existence of man, his reputation,
-   survives all and becomes eternal. Hear me then, I beg you, in
-   favor of the Americans. Remember that the deputies await my
-   answer to dispatch a courier who will carry encouragement or
-   desolation into Congress.... Do not render my pains unfruitful,
-   through not concurring in them, and may the recompense of my
-   works be the honor of having made them acceptable to you!
-
-   "I am, with the most respectful devotion, M. le Comte,
-
-                                   "Your very, etc.,
-                                                "de Beaumarchais."
-
-
-To all this Maurepas made no reply, and the unhappy agent, still
-harassed and thwarted in his plans, wrote to Vergennes:
-
-                                                  "April 13, 1777.
-
-   " ... If I do my duty, as M. de Maurepas had before the goodness
-   to say to me, in presenting without ceasing and under all its
-   faces, the picture of so important an affair, permit me to
-   represent to you, M. le Comte, what you know better than I, that
-   loss of time, silence and indecision are even worse than refusal.
-   Refusal is a deed, one can act afterwards, but from nothing,
-   nothing ever comes--it remains nothing...."
-
-[Illustration: GENERAL JOHN SCHUYLER]
-
-In the same letter he warmly pleaded his own cause. "In so far as I work
-alone," he said, "my secret is secure. If the indiscretion of the
-officers of the _Amphitrite_ and their foolish chief make known the
-destination of the vessel, what can I do more than you? I defy any man
-in this country, beginning with the ministers themselves, to cite either
-what name, what charge, from what port and for what destination I have
-sent the vessels dispatched since.... In a word, M. le Comte, now that
-all is in operation, when the first pains and labors of so vast an
-establishment have obtained a certain success, when my profound disdain
-for the idle gossip of society has turned aside the babblers and now
-that I can assure the happy consequence of the enterprise, do you refuse
-to concur any longer? and does my active perseverance inspire the same
-in no one?... In the name of Heaven, of honor, of the interests of
-France, retard no longer your decision, M. le Comte! Confer again with
-M. de Maurepas. No object is more important, and none so pressing.
-
-"In the instant of closing this letter, I receive one from Nantes, by
-which I am informed of the refusal to provide sailors, and so my richest
-ship is stopped at the moment it is ready to sail.... I implore you, M.
-le Comte, promptly to arrange with M. de Sartine what is necessary for
-the departure of my vessel.... I hope to go myself for your orders upon
-very many objects Thursday evening, if you do not send them before. I
-recommend the Americans to your remembrance and their advocate to your
-good will.... The hour of the post has passed while I was writing. I
-send this therefore by a man on horseback."
-
-In striking contrast to the outspoken and independent tone assumed by
-Beaumarchais when addressing the ministers, is the friendly yet
-authoritative manner which he employs when it is question of a
-subordinate. To de Francy, his confidential agent, he had written
-February 28, 1777, in relation to the dispatching of the _Amphitrite_,
-after it had been brought back by du Coudray: "We shall have to say,
-like Bartholo (one of the characters in the _Barbier de Séville_) '_le
-diable est entré dans mon affaire_,' and remedy as best we may the evil
-that is past, by preventing its happening again. Give the enclosed
-letter to M. du Coudray. I send it to you open, in order that you may
-reply in my behalf to his objections, should he make any. Show to
-Captain Fautrelle, the enclosed order which we give him, in quality of
-proprietor of the vessel which he commands, and take his word of honor
-to conform to it entirely. I received yesterday a letter from my nephew
-along with yours. As unreasonable as the rest of them, my nephew seems
-to be unwilling to go back to his place on the _Amphitrite_. You can
-understand the little attention which I pay to such childishness. Simply
-recommend him again to the special care of M. de Conway and to the
-Chevalier de Bore. Command the captain to receive on board M. le Marquis
-de la Rouërie, who comes to us with special recommendations. Give to the
-Captain the general rule and the secret of the route. If the force of
-circumstances obliges him to put into Santo Domingo, arrange with him
-and M. de Conway not to stop there, but to write to the governor of the
-island in order to notify him that the fear of some unlucky encounter,
-alone prompted the drawing up of the fictitious order in regard to the
-destination of the _Amphitrite_, and take from him a new fictitious
-order for France, in order to shelter yourself by that order in case you
-encounter an English vessel between Santo Domingo and the true
-destination of the ship. You know very well that all the precautions of
-the Ministry are taken in accord with us; it is upon this that we can
-count.
-
-"As soon as the _Amphitrite_ has set sail, go on to Nantes, where, by
-the way, you will probably find _le Mercure_ started, because it is
-ready now to set sail. Good-bye, my dear Francy. Come quickly back to
-Paris. You have trotted about enough for this time; other work awaits
-you here: but I will be there to divide it with you. Bring me back this
-letter."
-
-The fear of a possible reconciliation of the colonies with Great
-Britain, which constantly haunted the agent of the French Government,
-had of late been greatly augmented. The 8th of March, 1777, he had
-written to Vergennes:
-
-   "Sunday morning.
-
-   "M. le Comte; Another letter you will say. Will they never stop!
-   Eh! how can I stop, M. le Comte, when new objects unceasingly
-   excite my attention and my vigilance? A private secretary of Lord
-   Germaine arrived yesterday, secretly sent to Messrs. Deane and
-   Franklin. He brings propositions of peace. The most superb
-   recompenses are promised him if he succeeds." ...
-
-   Monday morning, he wrote ... "America is doing the impossible to
-   hold her own. But be sure that she cannot go much farther without
-   you, or without a reconciliation with Great Britain.... While I
-   am treating with you, I warn you that England is secretly
-   attempting to treat with M. Franklin.... Deane is regarded as a
-   formidable obstacle to any project of adjustment: They will
-   attempt to dislodge him at whatever price. My news is so positive
-   as to the intention of the ministers that my conjectures become
-   facts. They have the project to compel Deane to leave France, and
-   to make of him the expiatory victim." A short time before
-   Beaumarchais had written to the same minister: "The doctor
-   Franklin at this moment, wishes to send away M. Deane from
-   France. My special object is to prevent his leaving. The manly
-   firmness of this Republican alone, can arrest the insinuations
-   of every kind employed against the doctor."
-
-As a matter of fact, Franklin was well aware of the dismay which the
-noise of his secret communications with agents of Great Britain had
-caused the ministers, nor did he desire to allay their suspicions. He
-knew well the value for France of an alliance with the colonies, at
-least supposing the fact of their independence. He knew, also, how far
-it was to the interest of England to prevent such an alliance. So long
-as France remained outwardly inactive, Franklin did nothing to allay the
-fears of the one government nor to weaken the hopes of the other,
-although there can be no doubt that in his heart he was bent only upon
-concluding a treaty with France. In March, 1777, he wrote: "I did not
-come to make peace, but to procure the aid of European powers to permit
-us to defend our liberty and our independence, which it is certainly to
-their interest to guarantee, because our great and growing commerce will
-be open, and cease to be the monopoly of England.... I think we shall be
-capable with a little help, of defending our possessions long enough, so
-that England will be ruined if she persists in destroying us.... I
-flatter myself to live to see my country established in peace and
-prosperity, while Great Britain will no longer be so formidable a figure
-among the powers of Europe." There also seems no doubt but that he had
-at last secretly concurred with Deane in aiding the escape of Lafayette
-from the restrictions imposed upon him by the French government,
-although subsequently, the whole blame was allowed to rest upon Deane
-alone.
-
-The situation in regard to Lafayette was as follows: Some time during
-the year 1775, the young Marquis who was then scarcely eighteen, and who
-was serving under the Comte de Broglie at the garrison of Metz, was
-present at a dinner given in the fortress where the English Duke of
-Gloucester was guest. The latter was bitterly opposed to the policy of
-George III in regard to America, and at table spoke freely of the
-uprising among the colonists; it was then, so Lafayette tells us in his
-memoirs, that he formed the resolution of offering his services to the
-insurgents. Through the intervention of De Broglie, the Baron von Kalb,
-a Prussian general serving in France, introduced to Silas Deane on
-November 5, 1776, the young marquis with two of his cousins who had
-formed the same determination to offer their services to America. Silas
-Deane received them with enthusiasm, and promised all high positions in
-the American Army (see _Doniol_ Vol. II, p. 63). Eleven other officers
-were added and the entire group were to sail from Havre on _La Seine_,
-one of the fleet of Hortalès et Cie. when the order already spoken of,
-came from the government to prevent further operations of the house.
-Moreover, a special prohibition was issued regarding the young officers,
-because it was of great importance for the French Government to seem to
-oppose the enlistment of such prominent members of the high nobility as
-Lafayette and his colleagues. Nothing daunted, Lafayette, whose fortune
-made him independent, bought a vessel of his own, _La Victoire_, and
-having decided "to go in spite of everything and without regard to
-consequences" secretly negotiated with Deane, and set sail, April 20,
-1777, with some twenty other commissioned officers.
-
-The agreement which had been drawn up between them was signed by
-Lafayette, the Baron von Kalb, and Silas Deane; it bore the date of
-December 7, 1776, although it was not really issued until February,
-1777. This discrepancy was owing to the fact that since the arrival of
-Franklin in December, Deane's commission had changed in nature, so that
-he no longer was empowered to enlist officers for the American service.
-The date of December 7, 1776 had been chosen because on that day the two
-noblemen had been presented to the American Commissioner and an informal
-engagement entered into. This was immediately before the arrival of
-Franklin in France.
-
-The true patriotism which inspired Deane led him to adopt this
-subterfuge, feeling as he did that the services of so brilliant an
-officer as Lafayette, and one belonging to such an illustrious house,
-would be of sufficient value to his country to warrant the irregularity
-of the act. The Baron von Kalb had originally, it would seem, stipulated
-with Deane for a considerable salary, part of which was to be paid in
-advance. (See _Our French Allies_, Stone, p. 39.) Deane rightly
-understood the effect which would be produced in the different courts of
-Europe by the daring deed of the young nobleman and foresaw the
-consequent fury of the English which could not help but hasten the final
-decision of the ministry. Therefore he willingly concurred in the
-designs of Lafayette, aiding them to the utmost of his power (_Doniol_,
-Vol. II, Chap. VII). Congress afterwards disavowed all the commissions
-granted by Deane, so that most of the officers were obliged to return to
-France. Lafayette and the Baron von Kalb, having fortunes of their own,
-were willing to serve without pay; they were therefore given
-appointments. The romantic escape of the young nobleman caused all the
-commotion that was expected of it. The Capital went wild with
-exultation, openly vindicating his act, while the anger of the English
-knew no bounds.
-
-England, indeed, had good grounds for discontent with the conduct of her
-rival. "Public opinion in London," says Doniol, "was more and more for
-war. France everywhere was accused of aiding the colonies.... It was
-said that open war was preferable to the insidious peace which we
-pretended to maintain while according every advantage to the revolted
-colonies."--(_Doniol_ II, p. 455.) Other causes of grievance, especially
-in regard to the protection granted to American vessels in all French
-ports, were constantly coming up. "England," says Doniol, "incriminated
-especially the authorities of Martinique. According to Lord Weymouth,
-the Americans armed openly in the island, favored by the most notable
-persons. So much pressure was brought to bear upon the French Government
-by the English Ambassador, that, not yet ready for war, it was forced to
-grant the satisfaction which was demanded. As in previous instances, the
-blow fell heaviest upon Beaumarchais. July 1, 1777, he wrote:
-
-   "I have just received news that afflicts me.... M. de Bouille,
-   the new governor of Martinique, has notified the merchants that
-   it is agreed between the courts of France and England, that the
-   English Navy seize the French vessels coming from their islands,
-   taking all the commodities of America which they find.... This is
-   so impossible, that though I have read it, I still cannot believe
-   it!
-
-   "Afternoon.... I am indeed, in despair to receive the
-   confirmation of that trying announcement. It seems certain that
-   France has ceded to the English the right to seize all French
-   vessels coming from the islands, which are charged with American
-   commodities. What distress, M. le Comte, could have brought about
-   such an arrangement?... I learn by letters from Cape Francis of
-   the 18th of May, that the cargo of the _Amétie_, happily arrived
-   in that port, has started for America, divided on several
-   American and Bermudan vessels, bought at my cost at Santo Domingo
-   for....
-
-   "P. S. You are not to blame, M. le Comte, for the consequences of
-   that sorrowful convention with the English. Your hands were tied
-   to sign it. But I am in despair. I made my payment of the 30th
-   yesterday, selling all the paper money which I had, at a
-   disadvantage. A quarter of an hour is so important, that a
-   million arriving the next day could not repair the lack of but
-   thirty thousand _louis d'or_. I was compelled to pay yesterday
-   £184,328 2s., and £21,864 8s. 4d. remain unpaid from the 15th on
-   which I have only received £200,000 instead of £221,864 8s. 4d.
-   From now until the 15th, I must pay £268,304 8s. 3d. I am lacking
-   therefore £490,168 16s. 7d. with the loss of my paper money, and
-   the three last payments which I must replace so as to be abreast
-   of my affairs. I therefore beg you to send me an order for
-   5,000,000 fr., after that I can go forward, but as my destination
-   is not a matter of indifference, I shall have the honor of
-   conferring with you about it."
-
-The documents deposited in the bureau of foreign affairs, show that M.
-de Vergennes "taking into consideration the desperate situation into
-which Beaumarchais found himself thrown, owing to the obstinate refusal
-of Congress to send him returns, had advanced successively, the 13th
-May, 1777, 400,000 livres, the 16th of June, 200,000 livres, and the 3rd
-of July 474,496 livres." (_Loménie_ II, p. 145.) By this means alone,
-Beaumarchais was able to continue his active services in the cause of
-America.
-
-Although the court of Louis XVI were making pretense of not favoring the
-Americans, they already had decided on war and were endeavoring to bring
-the court of Spain to a similar decision.
-
-"The 26th of June," says Doniol, "a memoir was addressed to the Spanish
-cabinet explaining the seasonableness of associating themselves
-positively with the colonies, and in consequence, of making war upon
-England."
-
-"By the means so far employed," wrote Vergennes, "the reconciliation of
-the colonies with Great Britain cannot be prevented; those means have
-been all that have been prudent, but they will not suffice any longer;
-it is necessary that the assistance become sufficiently effective to
-assure a total separation and so compel the Americans to gratitude."
-
-Madrid was finally forced to follow the course laid out for it at
-Versailles; but before openly declaring their alliance, both courts
-awaited some decisive act of the Americans. The capture of Burgoyne
-determined the King, although several months more elapsed before the
-treaty was actually signed.
-
-But if the court was thus apparently inactive, Beaumarchais continued as
-assiduous as ever in aiding the Americans, and this notwithstanding the
-coldness of the commissioners, the total absence of returns and the
-unbroken silence of the Continental Congress. The Hon. John Bigelow, in
-his admirable paper _Beaumarchais, the Merchant_, speaking of
-Beaumarchais at this period, said: "He received no tobacco, nor money,
-nor thanks, nor even a letter from Congress.... His funds were
-exhausted, and all his expectations of returns were disappointed.... At
-last, reduced to extremities, he resolved to send a confidential agent
-to the United States, to obtain, if possible some explanation of results
-so chilling to his enthusiasm, and for which he was so poorly prepared.
-For this mission he selected a young man named Theveneau de Francy, a
-person of considerable talent, generous and enthusiastic, but poorly
-trained for the delicate duty assigned him. De Francy embarked for the
-United States at Marseilles on the 26th of September, 1777, on board of
-one of Beaumarchais's ships, carrying twenty-four guns, called _Le
-Flammand_."
-
-"De Francy," says Loménie, "went out with the double mission of
-obtaining justice from Congress for the past, and to prevent cargoes
-from being delivered gratis in the future."
-
-But before entering into a consideration of his mission, let us pause to
-note among the passengers of the _Flammand_ a now justly celebrated
-personage, who was destined to render such effective aid in training the
-American troops; this was Baron von Steuben. In his life of that famous
-Prussian officer, Frederick Kapp has given a detailed account of the
-incidents which led up to his entering the American service. The French
-minister of war, the Comte de St. Germain, had long been a pronounced
-admirer of the military tactics employed by the king of Prussia. He had
-endeavored to have those tactics introduced into the French army but
-without success. Being on intimate terms with the Baron, the latter made
-a halt in Paris with the intention of visiting his friend at Versailles
-on the occasion of a voyage to England in the spring of 1777. Having
-notified the count of his desire to wait upon him, the Baron was
-surprised to be requested not to come to Versailles, but to meet him at
-the arsenal in Paris. "You have arrived very apropos," the count said;
-opening a map and pointing to America, he continued, "Here is your field
-of action, here is the Republic you must serve. You are the very man she
-needs at this moment. If you succeed, your fortune is made and you will
-acquire more glory than you can hope for in Europe for many years to
-come." He then pictured the bravery, the resources of the Americans, and
-intimated the possibility of an open alliance. After this he sketched
-the other side of the situation; spoke of the disadvantages under which
-the Americans labored: bad training, lack of order and discipline among
-the troops, and ended by saying "You see now why you must not be seen at
-Versailles." The Baron, however, seemed but little touched by the
-eloquent appeal of his friend. He told the count that he was no longer
-young, that he had no ambition; though he was without fortune, yet his
-position was all that he desired.
-
-After a second interview, his interest seemed somewhat aroused. The
-Count gave him a letter to Beaumarchais, who introduced him to Deane;
-and Deane took him to Passy to see Franklin. Both commissioners seemed
-anxious that Steuben should enter the service. "But," says his
-biographer, "when Steuben mentioned a disbursement for the expenses of
-his journey, they expressed some doubts of their power to grant it. Mr.
-Deane made no difficulties; Franklin, however, made several. He spoke a
-great deal of presenting him with a couple of thousand acres of land,
-... but Steuben did not care for them.... As to any advances, Franklin
-positively declared that it was out of the question; he told him this
-with an air and manner to which Steuben, as he remarked in a letter
-written at that time, 'was then little accustomed,' whereupon he
-immediately took leave, without any further explanation.
-
-"He went thence to M. de Beaumarchais, telling him that he intended to
-set out immediately for Germany, and that he did not wish to hear any
-more of America. As soon as Beaumarchais was informed of the cause of
-Steuben's resolution, he said to him, that if he wanted nothing but
-money, a thousand _louis d'or_ and more were at his disposal. Steuben
-thanked him for his generous offer, but said his determination was
-fixed. The Count of St. Germain endeavored to dissuade him, but to no
-effect.
-
-"Arrived at Rastadt, he found a very persuasive letter from M. de
-Beaumarchais, who wrote that the Comte de St. Germain expected his
-prompt return to Versailles; that a vessel was ready at Marseilles for
-his embarkation, and that Beaumarchais's funds were entirely at the
-Baron's disposal.
-
-"Prince William of Baden, with whom Steuben conferred, urged him to
-accept; accordingly he returned to Paris, August 17, 1777."
-
-On the 26th of September he set sail. Beaumarchais wrote to Congress:
-
-   "The art of making war successfully being the fruit of courage
-   combined with prudence, knowledge and experience, a companion in
-   arms of the great Frederic, who stood by his side for twenty-two
-   years, seems one of the men best fitted to second M. Washington."
-
-   Baron von Steuben was well received in America. As he asked for
-   no pay, and wished to enter the army as a simple volunteer, no
-   objection was made to his enlistment. He soon was raised to a
-   position suitable to his rank and talents. A little more than a
-   year after his arrival, Beaumarchais, overjoyed at the success
-   which had attended the Baron, wrote to his agent, Theveneau de
-   Francy: "Recall me often to the memory of M. the Baron von
-   Steuben.
-
-   "I congratulate myself from that which I learn of him, to have
-   given so great an officer to my friends, the free men of America,
-   and to have forced him in a way to follow that noble career. I am
-   in no way disquieted about the money that I lent him for his
-   voyage. Never have I made an investment which gave me greater
-   pleasure, because I have been able to put a man of honor in his
-   true place. I learn that he is Inspector General of all the
-   American troops. Bravo! Tell him that his glory is the interest
-   of my money, and that I do not doubt but at that title, he will
-   pay me with usury."
-
-On the same vessel went also the nephew of Beaumarchais, the son of his
-elder sister married to the watchmaker, De Lépine, who on entering the
-American service took the name of des Epinières. It was the same of whom
-Beaumarchais had spoken impatiently on the occasion of his refusing to
-continue his voyage upon the _Amphitrite_, when du Coudray had brought
-that vessel back to port. That he had his way, is proved by the fact
-that his name is mentioned amongst the six aids who accompanied the
-Baron von Steuben to America. An idea of the young man's character may
-be gained from the following brief extract of a letter written by him
-the evening of an engagement: "Your nephew," he wrote, "my very dear
-Uncle, may perhaps lose his life, but he will never do a deed unworthy
-of one who has the honor of belonging to you. This is as certain as the
-tenderness which he always will have for the best of uncles." According
-to Loménie, he never returned to France, but died on the field of
-battle, after having attained the rank of Major.
-
-At the time when the Baron von Steuben set sail for America,
-Beaumarchais was no longer the confidential agent of the government. As
-has been seen, Franklin had from the first, refused to treat with him,
-while Lee's influence at home and abroad was at all times used to bring
-about his ruin. More than this "everything," says Doniol, "seemed to
-cost too much; they (Franklin and Lee) had allowed themselves to be
-persuaded that Beaumarchais ought to serve them for nothing. The
-_Barbier de Séville_, as he was called familiarly, passed with too many
-people for gaining great profit, for there not to be many interested in
-ruining him. It was also of the utmost importance to England to
-interfere with his operations, and the English Ambassador fed the
-flames.... Dubourg had his part to play ... but whatever the reasons, it
-remains true that Franklin never missed an opportunity openly to contest
-the operations of Roderigue Hortalès et Cie., and to attempt to bring
-them to naught." (Doniol II, 611.) Other intermediaries, therefore,
-began to be employed.
-
-Although less recognition was given to Beaumarchais by the government,
-the ministers continued to make use of his advice. "At the moment," says
-Doniol, "when he was treated with the greatest coldness, his counsels
-were appropriated.... They used his political estimates almost in the
-terms in which he expressed himself, sometimes textually. At the end of
-October he was admitted to discuss with Vergennes and Maurepas the
-definite stand to take in offering propositions of alliance with the
-American colonies. Three months later when the King was about to sign
-the treaty, it was evident that the Secretary of State had demanded of
-Beaumarchais a résumé of their discussion. This résumé entitled,
-_Mémoire particulière pour l'Etat_," was drawn up by Beaumarchais under
-circumstances peculiarly distressing. It was at the moment when he first
-realized with absolute certainty that his coöperation in the aid soon to
-be freely and openly accorded the Americans was no longer desired.
-Nevertheless, he continued to express himself with the same manly vigor
-as previously. After setting forth the actual situation of France and
-Spain with regard to England, he said: "What remains for us to do?
-
-"Three courses are open to us. The first is worth nothing, the second is
-the most sure, the third, the most noble; but a wise combination of the
-third and second could instantly raise the King of France to be the
-first power of the civilized world.
-
-"The first course, which is worth nothing, absolutely nothing, is to
-continue to do what we are doing, or rather what we are not doing; to
-remain longer passive by the side of the turbulent activity of our
-neighbors, and obstinately to refuse to take sides while still awaiting
-events." After setting forth at length the actual condition of affairs
-in England, the perils which menaced France, the desire which actuated
-all parties in Great Britain to make peace with America while wreaking
-their vengeance upon France, he continues warningly, "But the first step
-towards peace being once taken, be sure that it will be too late for
-France to declare in favor of America." Then follows a narration of
-preparations then making in England to take France unawares. "After
-having become the laughing stock of all Europe," cries the daring
-advocate of the alliance, "a fatal war and the bankruptcy of America
-will be the worthy reward of our inaction.
-
-"The worst course therefore, of all the courses, is now, to take no
-course and to attempt none in conjunction with America, waiting until
-England shall have closed up every way; something which will certainly
-happen very shortly.
-
-"The second course which I regard as the most sure, would be to accept
-publicly the treaty of alliance proposed to us for more than a year by
-America, ... As soon," he says, "as the English learn that there is no
-longer any hope to treat with a country which has treated with us, they
-will instantly make war upon us, declaring us to be aggressors." ... One
-objection after another that might present itself to the minds of the
-ministers is then taken up and weighed, especially in relation to the
-ignorance which existed among them with regard to the "extent of the
-powers entrusted to the legation at Passy, the uncertainty of the
-consent of Congress, the possible mobility of an assembly of which the
-majority was the only law, and which made them fearful that France might
-have to regret too late, a step which naturally would exasperate the
-English.
-
-"These fears, Beaumarchais knew how to turn aside by reasons and
-considerations (_Doniol_ II, p. 742) which would not have been out of
-place in the mouth of a minister."
-
-The third course open to France, "the noblest of all," was to declare to
-the English in a manifesto which should be announced at the same time
-to the other potentates of Europe, that the King of France, after
-having, through delicacy and regard to England, long remained a passive
-spectator of the war existing between England and America, to the great
-disadvantage and injury of French Commerce; "that conditions being so
-and so," which he proceeded to clearly define, "His Majesty obliged by
-circumstances to decide upon some definite course ... and not wishing to
-declare war against England, nor to insult her ... His Majesty contents
-himself with declaring that he will hold the Americans for independent,
-and desires to regard them as such from henceforward, relatively to
-their commerce with France, and the commerce of France with them." ...
-
-"After drawing up his manifesto, Beaumarchais entered into the
-exposition of the measures to take, and discussed the shades of opinion
-of each minister exactly as though he had been part of the council....
-It is not one of the least singularities of the times to see the author
-of the _Barbier de Séville_ deliberating as it were with the ministers,
-saying 'I would do' and putting himself naïvely in the place of the King
-of France." (_Loménie_, II, p. 160.)
-
-It was early in December that news of the surrender of Burgoyne reached
-Europe. "The joy of the news of Saratoga brought Beaumarchais to Passy,
-in spite of the bitter griefs which he had against the Commissioners."
-(_Doniol_ II, 646.) The same day he wrote to Vergennes:
-
-                                                "December 5, 1777.
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte:
-
-   " ... Yesterday I was at Passy with the courier who arrived from
-   Congress, and I passed the morning in comforting my heart with
-   the excellent news of which we had that moment received the
-   announcements.
-
-
-   "I came back to Paris, bringing M. Grand in a light carriage with
-   a postillion and two horses. The carelessness of my postillion
-   ... caused us to be overturned.... Mr. Grand had his shoulder
-   broken; the violence of the fall made me bleed profusely at the
-   nose and mouth;--a piece of broken glass entered my right arm--the
-   negro who followed was badly hurt. See me then prostrated, but
-   more ill in mind than body ... it is not the postillion who kills
-   me, but M. de Maurepas. Nevertheless the charming news from
-   America is a balance to my soul.... I am the voice which cries
-   from the depths of my bed, '_De profundis clamavi ad te Domine;
-   Domine exaudi orationem meam_.' Although you received the
-   _Gazette_ of Boston yesterday, I will send you the extract which
-   I myself made to insert in _le Courrier d'Europe_. It is just
-   that I give them in England by my phrases all the poniard thrusts
-   which their Ambassador gives me here with his. I salute you,
-   respect and cherish you, and will sign, if I can with my wounded
-   arm, the assurance of the unalterable devotion with which I am,
-   etc.
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-Two days later, he wrote:
-
-   "M. le Comte:
-
-   "Your honorable and sweet interest consoles me for everything. In
-   thanking you for the counsels which you have been so good as to
-   give me I can assure you that I did not allow myself to be too
-   vivacious in the letter of which I sent you a copy; I cannot
-   explain myself in writing, but you will be much more surprised
-   than I, because you are less acquainted with the persons of whom
-   it is a question, when I give you an account of all that has
-   happened. I always have put a great difference between the honest
-   deputy Deane, and the insidious Lee, and the silent Dr. Franklin.
-
-   "The movement which the news of America has given to all idle
-   heads is inconceivable; the English of the cafés do not know
-   where to hide themselves;--but all that is nothing like so curious
-   as what will take place in London from the shock of the different
-   reports. I await the details with a pleasure equal to all the
-   trouble which they have tried to make me. I thank you for the
-   interest which you take in my health. I am getting up to-day for
-   the first time, and to-morrow I hope to go out.... Receive with
-   your ordinary goodness the assurances of the very respectful
-   devotion with which I am, etc.
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-Wounded in body and sick at heart, the zealous patriot and vigilant
-friend of America continued to give notice to the government of the news
-which, through his agents and friends in London, he received before
-anyone else.
-
-Thursday, the 11th of December, he wrote:
-
-   "To M. le Comte de Vergennes, to be communicated, if he pleases,
-   to M. le Comte de Maurepas.
-
-   "M. le Comte:
-
-   "Although I find it difficult to use my right arm, still I must
-   force it to aid me in announcing to you that I received last
-   night very particular news from London. Everything is in such a
-   state of fermentation since the news of Burgoyne that the crisis
-   has arrived, when the deceived King, the audacious ministry, and
-   the most corrupt parliament must cede to the cries of a furious
-   nation....
-
-   "What is the true moral sense of this crisis? It is, that
-   whichever one of the two nations, France or England, recognizes
-   first the independence of America, she alone will reap all the
-   fruits, while that independence will certainly be ruinous to the
-   one which allows her rival to get the advance. This word sums up
-   everything; this moment accomplishes everything. As to the
-   details, in spite of my grievances and my sufferings, if my poor
-   body can endure the _broutage_, and if you have the time and the
-   desire to receive me to-day, or better, to-morrow, my postillion
-   has orders to await yours.
-
-   "I renew, with the same devotion, M. le Comte, the assurances of
-   the very profound respect of the poor turned and overturned
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-A few days later he had still more startling news to announce; a
-mysterious stranger had arrived in Paris, had visited M. Deane, had
-dined with him, remaining more than two hours. At the end of that time,
-a lackey of Mr. Deane came into the street, looked anxiously about;
-seeing a cab (which was none other than the one in the employ of
-Beaumarchais) he asked if it was engaged; being told that it awaited two
-ladies, the lackey entered the house and soon the mysterious stranger
-came into the street and went away on foot, followed, of course, by the
-cab.
-
-Two more days passed, and at the end of that time, Beaumarchais was able
-to give more definite information. The mysterious stranger proved to be
-a secretary of the Lord Germaine. "Beaumarchais," says Doniol, "informed
-as usual before all others, dispatched at once a notice to the
-ministers. He had followed the English Emissary from the moment of his
-arrival, informed himself of what he already had accomplished, found out
-his lodgings and notified the ministers, who sent at once an agent to
-confer with Deane." (_Doniol_ II, 64.) Vergennes hastened to inform the
-Court of Spain of the secret actions of England, with a design to rouse
-it to action. The moment was indeed a critical one, for the English
-government was leaving nothing undone to come to terms with the
-Americans.
-
-January 1, 1777, Beaumarchais wrote to Vergennes:
-
-   "I hasten to inform you that an emissary from Lord North arrived
-   in Paris yesterday. He has been watched ever since he left
-   London. He has orders to gain the deputation at Passy at any
-   price whatever. This is the moment or never, to cry _tu dors
-   Brutus_. But I know that you are not asleep. From your side you
-   see very well that I do not keep bad guard either.... Be sure
-   that the English ministers are working seriously to make peace
-   with America, and that it is of as much value to the nation that
-   they make it, as it is for Lord Chatham and others.... And so
-   peace with America is absolutely resolved; this is what has been
-   very expressly communicated to me. As for myself, I am informed
-   by the same avenue that the minister of France has given the
-   Americans here help of money by means of Messrs. Grand, that the
-   English ministers know it on good authority and that I am shifted
-   off, which annoys no one in England. I easily believe it. Then I
-   have lost the fruits of the most noble and unbelievable labors,
-   by the very means that lead others to glory; I have several times
-   guessed as much by the strange things which have struck me in the
-   conduct of the Americans towards me.... Miserable human prudence,
-   thou canst save no one when intrigue is bent upon ruining us.
-
-   "M. le Comte, you are the man upon whose equity I have the most
-   counted; you have not even refused at times esteem and
-   well-wishing to my active zeal. Before I perish as merchant, I
-   demand to be fully justified as agent and trader. I demand to lay
-   before you my accounts, in order that it be proved well that no
-   one else could have done so much with so little means across so
-   many difficulties. It is certain that this summer M. le Comte de
-   Maurepas permitted me to send guns to America, and he promised me
-   that when they were gone I should be reimbursed, because he
-   feared at that time the indiscretion of those about M. le Comte
-   de St. Germain. I bought them, sent them and gave my notes which
-   fall due soon, and yet M. de Maurepas seems to have forgotten his
-   promise. This article and the charging of my vessel at Rochefort,
-   arrives at more than 800,000 francs.
-
-   "By the unbelievable retention of my vessel in port, everyone
-   considers me lost and demands his money; nevertheless, though
-   ready to perish through this delay and money not reimbursed, I do
-   not lose my head. You can judge of that by the cold and reasoned
-   work which I put into your hands Saturday. But I avow that I am
-   at the end of my courage and my strength by the assurance that
-   Messrs. Grand have secured the confidence which I believed I so
-   well merited.[1] This breaks my heart. I have fulfilled the most
-   thorny of tasks; I must be allowed to prove that I have fulfilled
-   it well; it is in giving my accounts that this truth will
-   appear....
-
-   "Be happy, M. le Comte, this year and all years. No one merits to
-   be so, more than you, and no one desires it more truly than
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-   [1] Beaumarchais had aided in placing Grand on firm
-   footing with the American Commission (Doniol II, 613).
-
-Although no longer made use of as intermediary, the former agent of the
-government was not wholly abandoned by Vergennes.
-
-A few days previously Beaumarchais had written:
-
-   "M. le Comte: I felt yesterday the sweet influences of your
-   goodness. If I did not obtain what I asked for, at least
-
-   I could judge by the gentle tone of the prohibitions that they were
-   less directed against me than forced by events and promises already
-   made. To lose much money is a great evil, when one has very little;
-   but to carry in one's heart the mortal sorrow of displeasing when one
-   has done one's best, and even the best that could be done, under the
-   circumstances, is a state which kills me. Receive, M. le Comte the
-   warmest testimony of my gratitude."
-
-On the 22nd of January, 1778, the discarded agent handed in the résumé
-required of him by the ministers. In writing to Vergennes he said: "This
-sorrowful Memorial (_Mémoire Particulière, pour les ministres du Roi, et
-une manifeste pour l'Etat_) which at another time, and on another
-subject, I could have finished in two hours, has taken me eight days to
-write, my head being so confused by the frightful medley of objects
-which it contains, and in regard to which I claim your justice while
-invoking your mercy.
-
-"I even thought for four days that it had become useless through delay,
-and abandoned everything to work upon my consular balance-sheet. By a
-_tour de force_, I put myself on my feet for twelve or fifteen
-days;--But _grand Dieu_, is this to live? The more I assume a tranquil
-air, the more my secret torment increases. I have examined myself well,
-I have not done the least wrong, and in going over my papers to assure
-myself of my state, I have been frightened at all it has been necessary
-to overcome in the last two years, to arrive where I am. If I am to be
-aided, you cannot do it too quickly or too secretly for the letters of
-change are like death, they wait for no one.... If I am not to be,
-Amen--I have done what I ought, and more than what I could. I learn by
-sure news that my two vessels of Marseilles are certainly at
-Charlestown. This, in spite of France and England. Sixty-six cannons,
-twenty-two mortars, bombs and bullets in proportion; eighty thousand
-weight of sulphur and my poor guns which have not yet been paid for. All
-this is in America, by my indefatigable labor, and I have had to deceive
-all the world, with unbelievable pains, in order to make this shipment
-secretly. Ah, M. le Comte, it is my balance sheet which will show what
-an active man you have allowed to be lost and dishonored if you permit
-this fearful misfortune to accomplish itself. I have no courage to talk
-of England, because in truth I am dying of sorrow."
-
-[Illustration: GENERAL BARON VON STEUBEN]
-
-That the Comte de Vergennes did not lend an altogether deaf ear to this
-cry of despair, may be judged from the following letter, dated February
-15, 1778,
-
-   "M. le Comte:
-
-   "You have seemed to take a too obliging interest in my fearful
-   situation, for me to allow you to remain ignorant a moment of the
-   excessive joy which I have felt since yesterday. Yesterday, my
-   teeth clenched with fury to be without news, I waited the moment
-   to close my case, refusing to make any payment the 15th, which
-   falling due to-day Sunday, was exigible yesterday, the 14th.
-   Read, M. le Comte, read I implore you what I received at 2
-   o'clock, and what I replied this morning, see, my joy is
-   excessive. I am no longer exposed to the dishonor of a
-   bankruptcy, which, notwithstanding all my efforts, I could never
-   have justified, without an involuntary and fatal indiscretion. M.
-   le Comte de Maurepas received me Monday, like a corsaire who had
-   failed in respect to our flag. I did not say a word, I would have
-   had too much to say. I withdrew, death in my heart. Not that I
-   thought the interests of America abandoned. I know very well that
-   they are not....
-
-   "The profound silence which I have imposed upon myself for the
-   past two months, since the departure of the brother of M. Deane,
-   secretly embarked at Bordeaux and bearing ... but this shall be
-   matter for another letter. It is just that M. de Maurepas learns
-   through me of this affair, for if the fear of the most frightful
-   misfortune has rendered me pressing solicitor, I am not a man
-   without virtue; it will be the strongest proof which I can offer
-   of the resignation with which I know how to support the coldness
-   and disdain of those who have protected me. Ah! but I am again
-   saved. It is to you that I render a million thanks for all the
-   efforts which you have made in my favor. Never will I forget the
-   generous efforts which you have made to save me from ruin...."
-
-The moment of the open alliance between France and America was now
-hastening forward. With it, ends the first phase of the war of the
-United States against England, "phase heroic by its enterprise, its
-constancy, its privations, by the serenity of its chief and by the
-results obtained, if one considers the nature and quality of the
-soldiers." (_Doniol_ III, 260.)
-
-It was to this period that the activities of Beaumarchais in the cause
-of America essentially belong. The operations, however, now so well
-under way, he continued to carry on through his agent de Francy, though
-from henceforward they are wholly private in character.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXI
-
-
-_"Any crisis which puts in peril all that society undertakes to secure
-to us by its laws, uncovers our hearts to the world, strips our native
-selfishness of all its disguises, and makes us appear to each other
-pretty nearly as bad as we must always appear to the angels."_
-
-_Hon. John Bigelow in "Beaumarchais the Merchant."_
-
-
-   De Francy Sails for America--His Disappointment in the New
-     World--Beaumarchais Recounts His Grievances against the Deputies
-     at Passy--Rejoices Over American Victories--Manoeuvers to Insure
-     Safety to his Ships--The Depreciation of Paper Money in America--De
-     Francy Comes to the Aid of Lafayette--Contract between Congress
-     and De Francy Acting for Roderigue et Cie.--Letters of Lee to
-     Congress--Bad Faith of that Body--Deane's Signature to Documents
-     Drawn up by Franklin and Lee--Beaumarchais's Triumph at Aix--Gudin
-     Seeks Refuge at the Temple--Letters of Mlle. Ninon.
-
-
-Theveneau de Francy arrived in the States the 1st of December, 1777. He
-was the bearer of letters to Congress from Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.,
-filled with polite reminders of the fact that great advances had been
-made for arms, ammunition, etc., and that it was very important that
-much tobacco should be returned as soon as possible. (Spark's
-_Diplomatic Correspondence_, Vol. 1, p. 112.)
-
-De Francy, young and enthusiastic, had set out full of admiration for
-the brave people with whom he had to deal. A little experience, however,
-convinced him that it was no easy or brilliant task which lay before
-him. On the 14th of December, two weeks after his arrival, he addressed
-a lengthy letter to his superior, in which, after giving details of the
-voyage, he proceeded to describe the condition of the country to which
-he had come. He begged Beaumarchais to obtain for him a captain's
-certificate from the Ministry, "for," he said disconsolately, "it is all
-I am likely to get out of this enterprise. Government currency is in
-such poor credit that the 28 per cent. you promised me, to-day is worth
-only ½ per cent. The paper money is so discredited that merchants
-prefer keeping their merchandise to selling it at any price for paper.
-The farmers bring nothing to market, so that everything is selling at
-the most extravagant prices; chickens sold for $25.00 after the capture
-of Burgoyne. There is no doubt that what you have done has been
-presented here in a false light. I expect to have many prejudices to
-destroy, and many heads to set right, for the sending of several vessels
-without invoices (a thing which, to tell the truth, is unprecedented)
-and the errors found in the bills of lading of the _Amphitrite_
-especially, have caused it to be suspected that the shipments were not
-made for a merchant. I have explained to General Whipple the reason for
-this apparent disorder, and have made him admit that it was inevitable.
-Nevertheless, there were articles furnished at Havre, which differ so
-widely from what was delivered, that the General told me that our
-correspondent in this country is either a poor merchant or a swindler.
-For example: on my invoice there are 62 boxes or barrels of tinned iron.
-Captain Fautrelle has delivered but 41.... They have given him notice of
-missing boxes, but will they ever arrive?"
-
-In his second letter, written two days later, he announced that Silas
-Deane had been recalled and John Adams appointed to replace him. He
-recommended Beaumarchais to put his affairs in order and get his
-accounts regulated at once, "for," said he, "Mr. Adams has the
-reputation of being the first statesman on the continent and he has in
-fact an air, _extrêmement fin_. I fear that, aided by his colleagues, he
-may be disposed to play sharp with you. Be on your guard.
-
-"The Colonel Langdon thinks that the affair of the officers has had
-something to do with the recall of Deane. I am almost sure that it is
-the work of that famous politician of Spain and Berlin, Arthur Lee. It
-is he in part who has alienated Doctor Franklin from you, and no doubt
-he will do what he can to have his opinion adopted by Deane's
-successor."
-
-"I have not yet been able to obtain direct news of your nephew but I am
-assured that he is in the Army and well placed, and that he has received
-honorable mention. As to his contract with Deane, I warn you not to
-reckon upon that. I do not doubt that he will obtain by his own merits,
-the grades which Mr. Deane promised him, but Congress will give no heed
-to a contract made with him. Mr. Deane has far exceeded his powers in
-granting commissions to officers who were recommended to him in the
-beginning of his sojourn in France. He had not even the right to make a
-lieutenant, consequently nearly all who came out with commissions signed
-by him, and who have not wished to serve until they were placed, have
-been obliged to return. If M. du Coudray had not died, they would have
-been greatly embarrassed to place him.... Almost all our officers who
-brought letters of recommendation, and have conducted themselves well,
-have advantageous places. La Rouërie is colonel and much esteemed. The
-Marquis de Lafayette has been wounded in the leg. This did not prevent
-his keeping the saddle, however, all day. He cried, 'There, I am
-wounded, now I am content.'"
-
-In the meantime, Beaumarchais had written to de Francy from Paris, "I
-profit, my dear Francy, of every occasion to send you news; let it be
-the same with you, I beg of you. Although it is to-day the 20th of
-December, 1777, my largest ship has not yet set sail; but this is the
-common lot of all merchantmen destined for America. The ministry fears
-that our commerce will take away too many sailors at a time when the
-state may have need of them from one day to another. The most rigorous
-orders have been given in all the ports, and especially in the ports
-where I arm. It seems that the force and capacity of my ships have made
-Lord Stormont attack the ministry in a way to make them fear that he
-suspects them of favoring an operation, which in truth, is carried on
-without them and in spite of them. Ready to set sail, my artillery has
-been taken from me, and the delay in getting it back or in forming
-another is what detains me in port. I struggle against obstacles of
-every kind, but as I struggle with all my force, I hope to conquer with
-patience, and courage and very much money. The enormous loss which all
-this occasions me seems to touch no one. The minister is inflexible;
-there is no one, even to Messrs. the deputies at Passy, who do not
-pretend to the honor of thwarting me,--me--the best friend of their
-country. At the arrival of my vessel, the _Amphitrite_, which at last
-unloaded at Lorient a small cargo of rice and indigo, they had the
-injustice to seize upon it, saying that it was sent to them and not to
-me; but, as M. de Voltaire has very well said, 'Injustice in the end
-produces independence.' They have very probably taken my patience for
-weakness, and my generosity for stupidity. In proportion as I have been
-attached to the interests of America, in so far I have been offended by
-the dishonest liberties which the deputies of Passy have wished to take
-with me. I have written them a letter of which I send you a copy, and
-which they have left without reply up to the present. While waiting, I
-have left the cargo in the hands of MM. Berard brothers, of Lorient, and
-in so doing I have not believed myself to have deviated in any way from
-the frank and generous attitude I always have maintained towards
-Congress, but simply to use my legitimate right in regard to the first
-and very small return which they make upon an enormous advance; that
-cargo is worth about 150,000 livres. You can see the great difference
-between that drop, and the ocean of the debt owing me." (Note of
-Loménie, "Franklin and Lee, who in this instance acted in spite of
-Deane, did not dare insist, and the cargo remained for Beaumarchais.")
-
-"As for you, my dear, I suppose you have arrived and that you have
-obtained from Congress a reasonable adjustment, such as the situation of
-America permits them to give. I hope that following my instructions, you
-have obtained and will continue to obtain much tobacco, and I expect
-that my vessels will find their return cargoes ready to be embarked as
-soon as they arrive where you are. I still hope that if events should
-retard my vessels still longer, that you will send me at least by _le
-Flammand_ a ... cargo that will deliver me from the horrible pressure in
-which I find myself.
-
-"I do not know whether I flatter myself, but I count upon the honesty
-and equity of Congress as I count upon mine or yours. The deputies here
-are not in comfortable circumstances, and pressing need often make men
-indelicate; this is the way I explain the injustice which they tried to
-do me. I do not despair even of winning them back to me by the
-gentleness of my remonstrances and the firmness of my conduct."
-
-Loménie says, "This explanation may seem strange ... but the fact is
-that the deputies from America received no more remittances from
-Congress than Beaumarchais. Silas Deane had been obliged to borrow from
-the latter the funds absolutely necessary for his personal expenses.
-Arthur Lee tried later to make use of this fact to inculpate Deane ...
-but it has been well proved that necessity alone forced Deane to
-contract the debt. As for Franklin, he was a little richer when he
-landed in France, because he wrote to his colleague, Silas Deane, from
-Quiberon, December, 1776; 'Our vessel has brought indigo to the value of
-about 3000 pounds sterling which will be at our orders to pay our
-expenses.' ...
-
-"During the year 1777, the French Government itself gave money at
-different times to the deputies at Passy, up to the moment when it
-passed to them, through the Banker Grand, the two millions, which were
-used partly to support the agents and under-agents of America in France,
-and partly to buy munitions for Congress."
-
-To return to Beaumarchais's letter:
-
-   "It is very unfortunate my friend, for the cause of the colonies
-   that their interests in France have been confided to several
-   persons at once; a single one would have succeeded better. As for
-   what regards myself I must do M. Deane the justice to say that he
-   is ashamed and sorry both together, at the conduct of his
-   colleagues with me, of which the blame belongs entirely to M.
-   Lee.
-
-   "I am having trouble also with the provincial Congress of South
-   Carolina, and I wrote by L'Estargette to M. the President
-   Rutledge demanding justice from himself to himself. L'Estargette,
-   who will correspond with you, will inform you of the success
-   which follows my just demands.
-
-   "Across all these annoyances, the news from America overwhelms me
-   with joy. Brave, brave people! whose military conduct justifies
-   my esteem, and the beautiful enthusiasm felt for them in France.
-   In a word, my friend, I only want returns in order to be in a
-   condition to serve them anew, to meet all my engagements, so as
-   to be able to make others in their favor.
-
-   "It seems to me, from what I hear, that our French soldiers have
-   done wonders in all the battles in Pennsylvania. It would have
-   been a disgrace for me, for my country, for the name of a
-   Frenchman, if their conduct had not been equal to the nobility of
-   the cause they had espoused....
-
-   "The City of London is in a terrible commotion; the ministry at
-   bay--the opposition triumphant, and the King of France, like a
-   powerful eagle, hovering above all these events, reserves to
-   himself another moment of pleasure to see the two parties,
-   divided between the hope and fear of his decision, which will
-   have such a great weight in the quarrel of the two hemispheres.
-
-   "To prescribe to you your conduct when you are three thousand
-   miles from me would be foolishness ... serve me to the best of
-   your ability is the only way to render yourself useful to me, to
-   yourself, and to become interesting to the Americans themselves.
-
-   "Do as I do; despise small considerations, small measures, small
-   resentments. I have associated you in a magnificent cause; you
-   are the agent of a just and generous man. Remember that success
-   is always uncertain, that the money due me is at the risk of a
-   great concourse of events, but that my reputation is my own, as
-   you are to-day the artisan of yours. Let it be good my friend,
-   then all will not be lost, even if everything else should be. I
-   salute you, esteem you, and love you."
-
-In the postscriptum which follows, "we see Beaumarchais," says Loménie,
-"applying the resources of comedy to politics, and ingeniously
-combining the means to elude the ministerial orders, as he would have
-arranged a theatrical play."
-
-   "Here," wrote Beaumarchais in the postscriptum, "is what I have
-   thought out relative to my large vessel--_le Fier Roderigue_. I
-   must keep my word given to M. de Maurepas, that my ship is to
-   carry only seven or eight hundred soldiers to Santo Domingo, and
-   that I will return without touching the continent. Nevertheless,
-   its cargo is very valuable to Congress and to me; it consists in
-   ready made clothing for the soldiers, cloth, blankets, etc. It
-   carries an artillery of sixty-six bronze cannons, ... and much
-   other merchandise.
-
-   "After much thinking, it seems to me that you might arrange
-   secretly with the committee of Congress, to send two or three
-   American corsaires immediately to Santo Domingo. One of them will
-   send its gun-boat to Cape Francis ... then M. Carabasse
-   (Beaumarchais's agent at the Cape) will go aboard her with M. de
-   Montaut, the captain of my vessel _le Fier Roderigue_. They will
-   arrange together that when my vessel sets out, the American
-   Corsaire will capture it under any pretext he chooses, and carry
-   it off. My captain will protest violently, and threaten to
-   complain to Congress. The vessel will be taken to where you are.
-   The Congress will disavow the brutal act, liberate my vessel,
-   with obliging excuses for the French flag; during the time this
-   takes, you will have unloaded the cargo quickly, and filled the
-   ship with tobacco, and you will send her back to me with just
-   what you have been able to gather together. As the bearer of
-   this, M. Carmichaël, returns directly, you will have time to
-   arrange this manoeuver either with the Secret Committee of
-   Congress, or directly with a friendly and discreet corsair. By
-   this means, M. de Maurepas will be disengaged from his promise
-   made to others, I from mine to him, because no one can oppose
-   himself to violence, and my operation will have been successful
-   in spite of all the obstacles which cross my path.... My vessel
-   starts before the 15th of January. It bears orders to wait news
-   from you at Cape Francis. After all that I am doing, the Congress
-   cannot longer doubt, I hope, that the most zealous partisan of
-   the republic in France is your friend
-
-                                      "Roderigue Hortalès et Cie."
-
-Commenting upon the above letter, James Parton has written:
-
-   "Such was Caron de Beaumarchais; unique among merchants and men.
-   Whether it was by those or by other manoeuvers that the ship was
-   enabled to reach America, no one has informed us. Certain it is
-   that she arrived safely at Yorktown, Virginia, and was loaded
-   with tobacco for her return. I trust M. de Maurepas was
-   satisfied." (_Life of Franklin_, Vol. II, p. 271.)
-
-The next letter in this series which has been preserved to us is from De
-Francy and is dated May 14, 1778. In it he announced that it was the
-twelfth since his arrival, all of which he feared had failed in reaching
-their destination. Continuing his account of the disorderly consequences
-of the depreciation of paper money, he said, "I have just extricated the
-Marquis de Lafayette from a serious mistake into which he had fallen
-unsuspectingly.
-
-"You have, of course, heard of the excessive depreciation of paper
-money. At one moment in Pennsylvania it reached the point of absolute
-worthlessness. The expenses of the Marquis at this time, as he received
-no pay, were absolutely enormous. He at first borrowed money on bills of
-exchange at 2 for 1, afterwards at 3 for 1. He supposed that was
-borrowing at the rate of $2 for $1 and $3 for $1; instead, the rate was
-2 and 3 pounds Pennsylvania currency for 1 pound sterling. The pound
-sterling was worth 34 shillings Pennsylvania currency. He had signed the
-bills presented to him without reading them and his expenses far
-exceeded the amount he supposed them to reach. I informed him of his
-error and ... have advanced him very considerable sums on account of the
-House ... my arrangement with him is that he shall reimburse the
-principal in one year in Paris, paying 6 per cent., the same as Congress
-allows you."
-
-The allowance of 6 per cent. made by Congress to Beaumarchais, to which
-De Francy here alludes, had been settled in a contract drawn up the 6th
-of April, 1778 duly signed, sealed and delivered to the indefatigable
-agent, of which the following is the substance: (The contract in full is
-given by Durand, p. 119-126 in his _New Material for the History of the
-American Revolution_.)
-
-   "To whom it May Concern:
-
-   "Whereas, Roderigue Hortalès et Cie. have shipped or caused to be
-   shipped ... considerable quantities of cannon, arms, ammunition,
-   clothing, and other stores, most of which have been safely landed
-   in America ... and Whereas as Roderigue Hortalès et Cie., willing
-   and desirous to continue supplying those stores ... provided
-   satisfactory assumption be made and assurance given for the
-   payment in France of the just cost, charges, freight of the
-   cargoes already shipped as well as those to be hereafter
-   shipped....
-
-   "Now know ye that John Baptist Lazarus Theveneau de Francy, agent
-   of Peter Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, as representative of the
-   house of said Roderigue Hortalès et Cie., by him especially
-   appointed and empowered to act ... in virtue of the powers in him
-   trusted, to contract, agree and engage to and with M. Ellery,
-   Jas. Forbes, Wm. Henry Dayton, Wm. Hurer, Esq., a Committee of
-   commerce, properly appointed and authorized by the delegates of
-   the United States of America in Congress assembled to enter into,
-   execute, ratify and confirm this contract for and in behalf of
-   the said United States as follows:
-
-   "1st. That the cost and charges of the cargoes already shipped
-   shall be fairly stated in current prices ... at the date of
-   shipment.
-
-   "2nd. The freight to be charged agreeably to contract entered
-   into by Caron de Beaumarchais, Silas Deane, and M. Monthieu.
-
-   "3rd. All orders to be transmitted to Messrs. Roderigue Hortalès
-   et Cie. or their agents, subject to the inspection and control of
-   an agent appointed under the authority of Congress, who shall
-   have liberty to inspect the quality of such merchandise.
-
-   "4th. All articles hereafter shipped to be provided as nearly as
-   possible to order ... and not higher than the current price ...
-   attended with most moderate charges.
-
-   "5th. Good ships shall be chartered or bought at moderate price
-   for transportation of the stores.
-
-   "6th. That agents appointed under the authority of Congress,
-   shall have free liberty to inspect the quality, and require the
-   prices of all articles to be shipped for the account of the
-   United States, with power to reject such as they judge unfit or
-   too high priced; they shall also be party in the charters and
-   purchasing of ships to be employed in the service.
-
-   "7th. Bills on the House of Roderigue Hortalès et Cie., for
-   24,000,000 _livres tournois_, annually, shall be honored and
-   paid....
-
-   "In consideration whereof, the said William Ellery, James Forbes,
-   William Henry Dayton, William Durer, Esq., Committee of Commerce
-   for Congress ... agree and engage with Roderigue Hortalès et
-   Cie., by their said agent as follows:
-
-   "1st. That remittances shall be made by exports of American
-   produce ... for the express purpose of discharging the debt
-   already justly due, or thereafter to become justly due in
-   consequence of this agreement....
-
-   "2nd. That all cargoes ... for the discharge of said debt, be
-   addressed to Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.... subject to the
-   inspection and control of an agent appointed under the authority
-   of congress, who shall have liberty to inspect the quality of
-   such merchandise, assent to or reject the prices offered,
-   postpone the sales and do everything for the interests of his
-   constituents.
-
-   "3rd. That the customary interest of France not exceeding 6 per
-   cent. per annum shall be allowed on the debt already due, or that
-   from time to time, shall be due to the said Roderigue Hortalès et
-   Cie.
-
-   "4th. That any payments of Continental Currency in America ...
-   shall be computed at the current, and equitable course of
-   exchange at the date of payment ... and interest to be discounted
-   on the amount from that date.
-
-   "5th. That remittances to be made for the purpose of discharging
-   the debt now due, or to become due to the said Roderigue Hortalès
-   et Cie., shall be made at such times and seasons, as shall be
-   most convenient for the American interest, but are to continue
-   until the entire debt, principal and interest, shall be fully and
-   fairly discharged.
-
-   "6th. That a commission of 2½ per cent. shall be allowed to
-   the said Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.... on all charges and monies
-   paid and disbursed by them for the account of the United States.
-
-   "In witness whereof the contracting parties have hereunto set
-   their hands and seals, this 16th day of April in the year of our
-   Lord, 1778.
-
-   Signed: "William Ellery,
-            James Forbes,
-            William Henry Dayton,
-            William Durer,
-            Jean Baptiste Lazarus Theveneau de Francy.
-
-   Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of
-
-                                             Charles Thomson,
-                                           Secretary of Congress."
-
-[Illustration: ROBERT MORRIS]
-
-Naturally enough, having obtained a contract of such precise
-stipulations, signed, not as formerly, by an agent three thousand miles
-from the seat of Congress, but by a committee chosen from the bosom of
-that body, de Francy thought the greatest difficulty of his mission
-already accomplished, and Beaumarchais, when he received the glad
-tidings, set about with renewed vigor, the gathering together and
-dispatching of supplies. The Americans, however, still found reasons for
-delaying the fulfillment of their part of the contract; and it was only
-after two more months of ceaseless activity that de Francy succeeded in
-getting enough tobacco to freight the _Fier Roderigue_ for its return
-voyage. Which cargo, the second that had reached Beaumarchais, was
-destined when it arrived in France to be seized upon by Lee, as that of
-the _Amphitrite_ had been, with the same results. In a letter to
-Beaumarchais, June, 1778, de Francy announced the order which he had
-received for the delivery of the tobacco, "The rest of the letter," says
-Bigelow, "is filled with complaints of the bad faith of these
-republicans, who refuse him the vessels they had promised to carry off
-his tobacco, and urges Beaumarchais to send out at least six himself."
-
-A letter dated July 11th is filled with still more bitter complaints.
-"In spite of the most formal engagements," he wrote, "these people find
-the means of obstructing all business, the pretext for breaking promises
-the most solemn." In a word, he thinks it better to suspend business
-until "laws better established put a bridle upon the bad faith which
-reigns in the country." A little later he wrote: "If this business were
-to be continued, which I do not advise unless you have special reasons,
-it would be one of the greatest commercial operations ever engaged in,
-if one could only rely upon the good faith of these republicans. But
-they have no principle and I desire sincerely to see all your accounts
-closed with them.
-
-"I believe Carmichaël is the only one who appreciates all you have done
-for this country. He arrived at York two days ago, before I went to
-Virginia. The moment of our meeting was one of the most agreeable that I
-have passed in this country. We did not quit each other for two days.
-During these two days, I rendered him a service by letting him into the
-private character of all the members of Congress. I told him those who
-were his friends, and those who were opposed to his nomination as
-Secretary of Legation. In gratitude I hope he will serve you well.... I
-made the President feel that your letter to M. Sartine clearly
-demonstrated that the assertions of du Coudray and Lee were vile and
-infamous lies. The force and energy of this letter astonished him. He
-could not help saying to me that he would not have believed that anyone
-could have written with such freedom to a minister in France....
-
-"I believe Carmichaël is your friend; if I am mistaken, I never wish to
-speak to an American again, as long as I live." Then follows a most
-doleful picture of the discord, selfishness, and greed, which seemed to
-reign everywhere. Upon this part of the letter, Hon. J. Bigelow has
-commented admirably. He says:
-
-   "A little more experience with the world would probably have
-   taught the young man that any crisis which puts in peril all that
-   society undertakes to secure to us by its laws, uncovers our
-   hearts to the world, strips bare our native selfishness of all
-   its disguises, and makes us appear to each other, pretty nearly
-   as bad as we must always appear to the angels. There is no doubt
-   but the revolted colonists, struggling for their very existence,
-   appeared disadvantageously to a sentimental enthusiast like de
-   Francy, but we have yet to hear of any people while having so
-   much at risk, appearing better.
-
-   "Of course after having been kept so long without tobacco, and
-   treated with undisguised distrust as a swindler or as the agent
-   of one, de Francy takes very dyspeptic views of the men who
-   compose the Continental Congress."
-
-As a matter of fact, he hits off one after another of our great heroes
-with anything but the reverential tone which we are wont to use in
-referring to them. "President Laurens," he says, "is a very upright
-merchant, but no more; in important affairs he is an old woman." "Samuel
-Adams is an old fox who has genius." "The famous Hancock is precisely
-the _Corbeau revêtu_." "Robert Morris works for himself while working
-for the Republic." "General Washington," here his tone changes, "has
-honor, courage, and a truly disinterested patriotism.... I have seen
-much of him and I really believe he is the first man on the continent,
-although to tell you the truth, he is very difficult to know well...."
-
-The unaccountably bad faith of Congress began to arouse the suspicions
-of the agent of Beaumarchais, which he hastened to communicate to his
-superior. On the 31st of July, 1778, de Francy wrote: "I have not been
-able to obtain a perusal of the letters of Lee. Two of his brothers,
-members of Congress, had possession of the foreign correspondence during
-the past year, and they have abstracted all his letters for fear they
-would be prejudicial to him; but I cannot doubt but you are there
-painted in the blackest colors. I know at least that anonymous letters
-were written against you, filled with lies, insults, and atrocities; and
-what is of a marked fatality, your excessive zeal for the Americans has
-been the basis of the lies of Lee, and of all the misgivings with regard
-to you. Doubtless you recollect that at the commencement of 1776, while
-you were in London, you promised this little doctor, then humble and
-suppliant, that if the Americans fully decided never to reunite with
-England, you would send out under the name of Roderigue Hortalès et
-Cie., all the succor of which they would have need; and the enthusiasm
-which then animated you, gave great latitude to your promise. At least,
-the doctor so communicated it; and to give importance to what he said,
-he made an ambassador of you, and instead of naming you, he remarked
-that the promise came from the ambassador of France. Behold here the
-origin of his elevation! His brothers have strongly supported his high
-pretensions and he was named agent. He was obliged to maintain what he
-had written, but fearing lest the reserve of the ministers towards the
-agents in France should make Congress suspect that the French Ambassador
-never had spoken to him in England, he abandoned his first assertion and
-then wrote that it was you who called upon him in London to make him
-such beautiful promises on the part of the French Minister. The Memoir
-of du Coudray attests, on the other hand, that the minister put you
-forward that he might disavow you if he desired. Congress readily
-allowed itself to be persuaded that everything that arrived on your
-vessels was a present, or at least a loan from your government which it
-might acquit at its pleasure.
-
-"When after my arrival at York, I announced my purpose and the
-reclamations I came to make, I did not find a single member of Congress
-disposed to believe that it was an individual who had rendered them such
-signal services, and that he was to be paid for them, as it was
-impossible to find on this continent a man who would ever have attempted
-for the freedom of his country the one-hundredth part of what you have
-done.... True Americans are infinitely rarer here than in Paris, and I
-am satisfied there is not one whose zeal approaches yours."
-
-As a sample of what Lee had been writing to Congress, the few following
-passages quoted at random, will suffice: "Upon this subject of returns I
-think it my duty to say ... that the ministry have repeatedly assured me
-that no returns are expected for these subsidies." At another time he
-wrote, speaking of a shipment just being made, "this is gratis as
-formerly, and what has been sent I have paid for; so that those
-merchants Hortalès et Cie. have no demand upon you; nor are you under
-any necessity of sending effects to them, unless you think it a proper
-market for some things, as it certainly is for fish." (See _Vindication
-of Arthur Lee_.)
-
-"These assertions," says Loménie (Vol. II, p. 178), "offering the
-advantage of dispensing America from all gratitude and all payment to
-Beaumarchais, Congress was naturally disposed to adopt." It must be
-remembered, however, that at this moment the party which upheld Arthur
-Lee, headed by his two brothers and Samuel Adams, were at the height of
-their power, so that the opposite side, in whose ranks stood the upright
-and clear-sighted John Jay, was temporarily overruled.
-
-Before inserting the last letter which we give of de Francy, a short
-explanation is necessary. Already the reader has been apprised through
-these letters, of the difficult position in which Silas Deane had been
-placed, through the secret disavowal of his acts by Congress, even while
-he still remained their credited commissioner in France. Unconscious of
-the perfidy of Lee, yet thoroughly distrusting him, dismayed at the
-attitude of Franklin, who explained nothing, but who took from the first
-the part of ignoring all Deane's previous transactions, the latter was
-forced to submit for the present to this embarrassing state of affairs,
-and to place his whole hope of adjustment in the equity of Congress in
-which he still firmly believed. Slowly it began to dawn on him, that the
-ground of his colleagues' resentment to him was largely a matter of
-money. In the beginning Deane, realizing to the full the lack of trained
-military men among the insurgents, had freely promised commissions of
-high rank, with proportionately high pay, to the French officers who
-came to him well recommended and who had a desire to serve. As most of
-these men were either unable or unwilling to provide their own equipment
-and traveling expenses, Deane had advanced them money in the name of
-Congress, but taking it, not from his own resources, for he had none,
-but from those of his friend Beaumarchais, with the understanding, of
-course, that it should all be repaid.
-
-When Franklin arrived, Deane soon realized that repayment would be very
-difficult, and dreading to face the effect which the whole truth would
-have produced, he had begged Beaumarchais to delay sending in his
-accounts until Congress should have ratified his agreements. This
-Beaumarchais, with characteristic generosity, readily conceded. De
-Francy wrote: "You appear still to have the blindest confidence in Deane
-and you neglect your own interests.... Well, now, on February 16th, when
-Deane passed the morning with you, they had written to Congress--(I have
-seen the letter signed by the three agents)--that you got possession of
-the cargo of the _Amphitrite_ contrary to their expectations, and that
-they did not oppose it because their political situation did not permit
-them to come to any explanation with you. They add that they had been
-informed that you had sent an agent to Congress to solicit the payment
-of a very considerable debt, but that it was not necessary to settle
-anything with this agent; that the commercial venture to which it
-related was a mixed business which it was necessary to sift before
-closing the account; that they would occupy themselves with the
-business, and that it was better to leave it with them to arrange with
-you.
-
-"I will make no reflections upon this transaction; I will only say that
-it appears to me very extraordinary, an incredible weakness even, that
-Mr. Deane should have consented to sign what it pleased his colleagues
-to write, up to the very moment when you had the generosity to sacrifice
-everything for him and he knew it. You can well imagine, that with such
-news, doubts are reinforced, objections multiplied, etc., etc."
-
-Of the recall of Deane, already announced in a previous letter of De
-Francy, we shall speak at length, in another chapter. For the present
-let us return to France to follow Beaumarchais in his private career as
-citizen.
-
-It will be remembered that when, in 1776, the restored parliament had
-annulled the decree of the parliament Maupeau, Beaumarchais had
-petitioned the Ministers to obtain for him the adjournment of the final
-decision in the matter of the suit instituted against him by the Comte
-de la Blache so many years before. "This suit," says Loménie (Vol. II,
-p. 54), "which had been the origin of his tribulation, and of his
-celebrity, still subsisted, and in the midst of his triumphs held his
-fortune and his honor in check.... The Count de la Blache, seeing the
-credit of his adversary so rapidly growing, urged on with all his force
-the final decision. Beaumarchais was in less haste; occupied in
-organizing his operations with America, and in reconquering his civil
-existence, he did not wish to terminate the other case until he had
-assured himself very well of his position.
-
-"The decisive combat came off at Aix in July, 1778. The author of the
-_Barbier de Séville_, accompanied by the faithful Gudin, started for
-Provence. He was going at the same time to despatch two vessels from
-Marseilles for the United States and to finish with the most desperate
-of his enemies."
-
-"At Marseilles," says Gudin in his memoir, "Beaumarchais covered the
-part he played in public affairs, by the veil of amusements or his
-private business."
-
-Of the memoirs which he published at Aix, in relation to this important
-suit, Loménie has said: "They contain passages which are not below the
-best to be found in the memoirs against Goëzman ... one feels a man who
-is conscious of his power, who conducts vast operations, who enjoys a
-great celebrity and who considers his social importance as equal at
-least to that of a field-marshal.
-
-"The city of Aix seemed predestined to famous lawsuits. In the same
-place where Mirabeau was soon to come to give forth the first bellowings
-of his eloquence, was seen to glitter the sparkling fancy of the
-_Barbier de Séville_. Vainly, the Count de la Blache surrounded himself
-with six lawyers, and prepared from very far back his triumph.... At the
-end of a few days, Beaumarchais had conquered the public."
-
-"You have completely turned the city," his attorney said to him. His
-triumph was complete; a definite decree of Parliament disembarrassed
-him forever of the Comte de la Blache. The latter was condemned to
-execute the agreement drawn up and signed, du Verney, 1770.
-
-"The affair," says Gudin, "was examined with the most scrupulous
-attention and judged after fifty-nine seances. The legatee, all of whose
-demands were rejected, was condemned, and his memoirs were suppressed."
-
-Beaumarchais, in turn, was condemned to pay 1,000 _écus_ to the poor of
-Aix as a punishment for the severe witticisms against his antagonist, in
-which he had indulged in his memoirs. They were also publicly condemned.
-Beaumarchais, however, was triumphant. Overwhelmed with joy to find his
-honor and his fortune restored to him, he desired only that the good
-people of Aix should rejoice with him. Instead, therefore, of the 1,000
-_écus_ demanded of him, he instantly doubled the sum, requesting that it
-might be distributed in dowries to twelve or fifteen poor, but worthy
-young women; the benediction of so many families happily established
-seeming to him the most beautiful which he could draw upon himself.
-
-"The intoxication of this triumph, after so many years of uncertainty
-and combat, the enthusiasm with which he was received by the people of
-Aix," are graphically described by Gudin in a letter written at the
-moment of his triumph.
-
-"All the city," wrote Gudin, "which subsists on suits, was in a state of
-the greatest impatience. While the judges deliberated, the doors of the
-court house were besieged; women, idlers, and those interested, were
-under the trees of a beautiful avenue not far off. The cafés, which
-bordered this promenade, were also filled. The Comte de la Blache was in
-his well lighted salon, which looked out on this avenue. Our friend was
-in a quarter at some distance away. Night came; at last the doors of the
-court house opened and these words were heard: 'Beaumarchais has
-gained;' a thousand voices repeated them, the clapping of hands spread
-down the avenue. Suddenly the windows and doors of the Comte were
-closed, the crowd arrived with cries, and acclamations, at the house of
-my friend; men, women, people who knew him and those who knew him not,
-embraced him, and congratulated him; this universal joy, the cries and
-transports overcame him, he burst into tears, and see him, like a great
-baby, let himself fall fainting into my arms. It was then who could
-succor him, who with vinegar, who with smelling salts, who with air;
-but, as he himself has said, the sweet impressions of joy do no harm. He
-soon returned to himself, and we went together to see and thank the
-first president.... On returning ... we found the same crowd at the
-house; tamborines, flutes, violins succeeded before and after supper;
-all the fagots of the neighborhood were piled up and made a fire of
-joy.... The mechanics of the place composed a song, and came in a body
-to sing it under his windows. Every heart took part in his joy, and
-everyone treated him like a celebrated man, to whose probity, due
-justice had at length been rendered."
-
-Gudin's enthusiasm for his friend was destined, however, to a singular
-recompense. Arrived in Paris, he had composed a lengthy epistle to
-Beaumarchais (Loménie II, p. 66), which began as follows:
-
-"The severe justice of Parliament has confounded the malice of thy
-enemies, though they had hoped that the dark art, which a _vile senator_
-in unhappy times had made to incline the balance, would surprise the
-prudence of our true magistrates."
-
-This chef-d'oeuvre, composed of a hundred or more verses, had been
-inserted in a copy of _Courrier de l'Europe_, which was published in
-London, and which had altered the text by putting at the place of the
-words, "of a _vile senator_"--"_a profane senate_," so that the personal
-allusion to the judge Goëzman was transformed into an allusion to the
-whole parliament Maupeou. But most of the members of this judicial body
-had gone back to their places in the grand council, from whence Maupeou
-had drawn them. Irritated at the triumph of Beaumarchais, and not daring
-to attack a man so strong in the favor of the public and the confidence
-of the ministers, "they seized this opportunity of scourging
-Beaumarchais over the back of his friend."
-
-The latter was absent from Paris, busy with the despatching of vessels
-from one of the seaports, when, suddenly, a warrant, "issued," says
-Loménie, "without the slightest warning, came to surprise the pacific
-Gudin." As he sat at table one evening with his mother and niece, a
-letter was handed him, which proved to be from a friend, Mme. Denis,
-niece of Voltaire. He glanced it through and there read the startling
-announcement: "You are about to be arrested, and that for verses printed
-in the _Courrier de l'Europe_. You have not an instant to lose."
-
-"I lost none," wrote Gudin. "Having read the letter, I quitted the table
-without a word and passed into my room, where I hastily dressed myself,
-and then took refuge at the house of Beaumarchais. I read the letter to
-Mme. Beaumarchais....
-
-"My first care was to send a messenger to prepare my mother for the
-strange visit she was about to receive, and bidding her not to alarm
-herself, and to reply that she did not know where I was, and that it was
-possible I was with Beaumarchais at a hundred leagues from Paris."
-
-After calling about him several of his friends, men of experience, they
-deliberated what was to be done. "Do not allow yourself to be taken,
-these men of the grand council hate Beaumarchais, and are quite capable
-of revenging themselves upon his friend...."
-
-"I decided therefore to withdraw into the enclosure of the Temple. This
-castle, ... so scandalously taken by Philipp the Bel from the Templars,
-and since ceded to the Chevaliers of Malta, was at this time, owing to
-the privileges of that order, an asylum, not for criminals, but for any
-person, who, without having given serious offense, found himself in
-difficulty, as for instance, a debt, a challenge, in a word, an affair
-like the present. (The Temple, famous for being the stronghold in which
-a few years later the royal family was imprisoned, and from which Louis
-XVI was led to execution, was subsequently destroyed by Napoleon. It
-stood near the present Place de la République. Much of its site is now
-occupied by the _Magasins du Temple_, the great second-hand shops of
-Paris.)
-
-"The custom was to inscribe one's name upon the bailiff's register on
-entering the Temple; he asked me why I had come to claim the privileges
-of the place.
-
-"'Is it debts?'
-
-"'I have none.'
-
-"'An attack?'
-
-"'My enemies, if I have any, have never used any weapon against me
-except their pen.'
-
-"'A quarrel at cards, or an affair with a woman?'
-
-"'I never play cards, and I have never caused either disorder in a
-family, nor scandal in a house of joy.'
-
-"'But why then?'
-
-"'For verses, which grave personages do not find to be good, verses
-printed I don't know how in London, denounced, I don't know why in
-Paris, and which the grand council, who has not the control of books and
-is in no way judge of what takes place in England, pretends to be
-injurious to a tribunal which no longer exists.'"
-
-"Beaumarchais, on his return to Paris, learned of my adventure, and was
-justly angry. He came and took me from my retreat. 'Be sure,' he said,
-'they will not dare to arrest you in my carriage or in my house.'"
-
-"At the end of several days," says Loménie, "Beaumarchais had succeeded
-in liberating his friend; nothing could paint better his situation at
-this period than the tone of his letters to the ministers, especially to
-the keeper of the seals:
-
-"'Monseigneur,' he wrote, 'I have the honor to address to you the
-petition to the council of the King, of my friend Gudin de la
-Brenellerie, who unites to the most attractive genius the simplicity of
-a child, and who, in your quality of protector of the letters of France,
-you would judge worthy of your protection if he had in addition the
-honor of being known to you.'"
-
-Beaumarchais thus was able to ignore the smoldering resentment of his
-enemies and to press forward his vast enterprises. The war had now
-broken out between France and England. French merchantmen went to sea
-completely at the mercy of events. The French flag, instead of a
-protection, was now a signal for attack. It was therefore clear that if
-Beaumarchais was to continue his mercantile operations, it must be upon
-a new basis. But before we follow him into the equipping of armed
-vessels to protect his merchant fleet, let us linger a moment, that we
-may gain a still nearer view of Beaumarchais, the man.
-
-The popular enthusiasm which everywhere had welcomed the uprising
-amongst the colonists continued to voice itself in every quarter of
-France and on all occasions where it was a question of the rights of
-man. The wild joy which had greeted the triumph of Beaumarchais at Aix
-was due largely, Gudin tells us, to the fact that for the first time in
-the annals of that city a nobleman had been so signally humiliated as
-had been his antagonist. In this general desire for a recognition of
-human rights, the aristocracy of France themselves took the lead.
-Rousseau, calling so loudly for human beings, men and women, to leave
-the lines marked out for them by authority and tradition and to return
-to nature as their guide, was heard, not only in the remotest hamlet of
-the realm, but his voice found echo in its lordly castles and its palace
-halls. In _Emile_, he traced the revolution which was to take place in
-the instruction and training of the child; in _La Nouvelle Heloïse_, he
-laid down a scheme of morals, the teaching of which was directly opposed
-to the Christian code. The effect of these teachings upon contemporary
-France could not be more strikingly exemplified than in the following
-letter addressed to Beaumarchais by a girl of seventeen. It gives at the
-same time an idea of the confidence which the name of the latter
-inspired among the masses of the people. The letter is written from Aix
-and is dated not long after the successful termination of his suit:
-
-   "Monsieur:
-
-   "A young person crushed under the weight of her anguish, comes to
-   you and seeks consolation. Your soul, which is known, reassures
-   her for a step which she dares take, and which, were it anyone
-   else, would remain without consequences. But are you not Monsieur
-   de Beaumarchais, and do I not dare hope that you will deign to
-   take my cause and direct the conduct of a young and inexperienced
-   girl? I am myself that unfortunate who comes to lay her sorrows
-   in your bosom; deign to open it to me. Allow yourself to be
-   touched with the recital of my woes.... Ah! if there are hard
-   hearts, yours is not of that number.... Shall I say to you,
-   Monsieur, that I feel in you a more than ordinary confidence? You
-   will not be offended; my heart tells me to follow that which it
-   inspires. It tells me that you will not refuse me your succor.
-   Yes, you will aid me, you will support despised innocence; I have
-   been abandoned by a man to whom I have sacrificed myself. I avow,
-   with tears that I yielded to love, to sentiment and not to
-   vice.... I enjoyed a certain consideration; it has been taken
-   from me. I am only seventeen, and my reputation is lost already.
-   With a pure heart and honest inclinations I am despised by
-   everyone. I cannot endure this idea; it overwhelms me and I am in
-   despair.... Ah, Monsieur, lend me your aid, reach out to me your
-   generous hand, cause to spring up in my oppressed soul, hope and
-   consolation. I do not wish to injure the perfidious one who has
-   betrayed me; no, I love him too much. It is at the foot of the
-   throne that I wish to carry my plaint. If you will deign to aid
-   me, I promise myself everything. You have powerful protectors,
-   Monsieur; you know the Ministers, they respect you. Say to them
-   that a young person implores their protection, that she sighs and
-   groans night and day; that she desires only justice.... (The
-   ungrateful one must in the end do me justice.) I can say without
-   presumption that I am not unworthy of his tenderness. He opposes
-   nothing to my happiness but my fortune, which is not sufficient
-   to arrange his affairs, which are not in too good order. He has
-   no aversion to me. There is nothing about me to inspire it. The
-   only crime of which I am culpable is to have loved him too well.
-   Do not abandon me, Monsieur; I put my destiny in your hands....
-   If you are kind enough to reply to this, be so good as to address
-   your letter to M. Vitalis, rue de Grand-Horloge, at Aix, and
-   above the address simply to Mlle. Ninon. You will be so good as
-   to pardon me, Monsieur, if I still hide my name.... I know that
-   with you I have nothing to fear, but still a certain fear that I
-   cannot conquer, that I would not know how to define, holds me
-   back. You have connections in Aix; I am very well known here. In
-   small towns one knows everything; you know how they talk. I
-   implore you, do not divulge the confidence which I have taken the
-   liberty of making to you.... Monsieur, I have the honor to be,
-   with sentiments of the most perfect consideration, your very
-   humble and very obedient servant,
-
-                                                          "Ninon."
-
-[Illustration: THE TEMPLE]
-
-"Let one imagine a similar letter," says Loménie, "suddenly falling from
-six hundred miles away, upon a man forty-six years of age, the busiest
-man of France and Navarre, who had need to confer every morning with the
-Ministers, who had forty ships on the seas, who pleaded against the
-comedians, who was preparing a pamphlet against the English Government,
-who was busy founding a bank, who dreamed of editing Voltaire; surely
-this man would throw into the waste basket the sorrows of a young and
-unknown girl. Not in the least. Beaumarchais had time for everything.
-Here is his reply to Mlle. Ninon:
-
-   "'If you are really, young stranger, the author of the letter
-   which I have received from you, I must conclude that you have as
-   much intelligence as sensibility, but your condition and your
-   sorrows are as well painted in this letter as the service which
-   you expect of me is little. Your heart deceives you when it
-   counsels you an act like the one which you dare conceive; for
-   although your misfortune might secretly interest all sensible
-   persons, its kind is not one whose remedy can be solicited at the
-   foot of the throne. Thus, sweet and interesting Ninon, you
-   should renounce a plan whose futility, your inexperience alone
-   hides from you. But let me see how I can serve you. A half
-   confidence leads to nothing and the true circumstances of an open
-   avowal might perhaps furnish me the means of seeing how the
-   obstacles may be removed which separate a lover from so charming
-   a girl. But do not forget that in desiring me to keep the matter
-   secret you have told me nothing. If you sincerely believe me the
-   gallant man whom you invoke, you should not hesitate to confide
-   to me your name, that of your lover, his position and yours, his
-   character and the nature of his ambition; also, the difference in
-   your fortunes, which seems to separate you from him.' He next
-   attempts to persuade the young girl to forget a man who has shown
-   himself so unworthy of her regrets. 'Forget him, and may this
-   unhappy experience of yours hold you in guard against similar
-   seductions. But if your heart cannot accept so austere a counsel,
-   open it to me then entirely, that I may see, in studying all the
-   connections, whether I can find some consolation to give you,
-   some view which will be useful and agreeable.
-
-   "'I promise you my entire discretion, and I finish without
-   compliment, because the most simple manner is the one that should
-   inspire the most confidence. But hide nothing from me.
-
-                                                   'Beaumarchais.'
-
-"Mademoiselle Ninon," continues Loménie, "asked for nothing better than
-to unburden her poor heart; she addressed to Beaumarchais an avalanche
-of letters of which several contain no less than twelve pages; she gave
-her name, the name of her seducer, and recounts her little romance with
-a curious mixture of naïveté, of precocity, sensitiveness, intelligence
-and garrulity. This _Provençale_ of seventeen is literally saturated
-with the _Nouvelle Heloïse_.
-
-"'Fatal house,' she cried, in speaking of the place where she first met
-her lover, ''tis thou which causes my pains.' She has all its
-contradictions, ... protesting that if she has left the path of virtue,
-she has only all the more felt the worth of a pure and virtuous soul.
-'Lovely innocence,' she cried, 'have I lost thee? Ah! no, no; I have
-sounded to the remotest depths of my heart; it is too sensitive, but it
-is still honest. I implore you, Monsieur, do not believe it corrupt.'
-
-"Whether," continues Loménie, "these rather wordy dissertations of the
-little philosopher in skirts gave to Beaumarchais the idea that it would
-be too difficult to correct such an exalted brain, or whether it was
-that the work which was crushing him on every side prevented his
-following this strange correspondence, true it is that he replied no
-more to the long letters of Mlle. Ninon, although she addressed to him
-the most melancholy reproaches. But what could he do? The war had just
-broken out between France and England. Beaumarchais, who had had his own
-part in bringing about that result, was engaged himself in the conflict;
-he drew up political memoirs, he armed vessels; where could he find the
-time to reply to the confidences of Mademoiselle Ninon? Nevertheless it
-would seem that these letters interested him because he has classed them
-in a package by themselves, upon which he has written with his own hand:
-'Letters of Ninon, or affair of my young client, unknown to me.'"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXII
-
-
-"_After the perplexing and embarrassing scenes you have just had to pass
-through, it must give you the most solid joy to see an armament going
-out to America.... I congratulate you on this great and glorious event,
-to which you have contributed more than any other person._"
-
-   "_Silas Deane to Beaumarchais._"
-   _March 29, 1778._
-
-
-"_It seems to me that we cannot consistently with our own honor or
-self-respect pay off an undisputed debt with a doubtful or disputed
-gift._"
-
-_Speech of Mr. Tucker of Virginia, Relative to the Claims of
-Beaumarchais, 1824._
-
-
-   Deane's Recall--Beaumarchais's Activity in Obtaining for Him
-     Honorable Escort--Letters to Congress--Reception of
-     Deane--Preoccupation of Congress at the Moment of His
-     Return--Arnold and Deane in Philadelphia the Summer of
-     1778--Deane's Subsequent Conduct--Letters of Carmichaël and
-     Beaumarchais--Le Fier Roderigue--Silas Deane Returns to Settle
-     Accounts--Debate Over the "Lost Million"--True Story of the "Lost
-     Million"--Mr. Tucker's Speech--Final Settlement of the Claim of the
-     Heirs of Beaumarchais.
-
-
-In accounting for the recall of Deane, Wharton, in the beginning of his
-Diplomatic Correspondence, Vol. I, p. 560, says:
-
-"Deane had, or was supposed to have had, a considerable amount of
-business patronage which to Arthur Lee's eye gave too much opportunity
-for speculation, and not only did he suppose that Deane made use of this
-opportunity for his own benefit, but he himself desired to have the
-entire control of the business side of the mission placed in the hands
-of his brother William Lee, then, through the influence of Wilkes,
-alderman of London. The close connection which existed between Lee in
-Paris and the center of the opposition in London was not unknown to the
-French Ministry."
-
-From the first, Vergennes had distrusted Lee, and held him at a
-distance. "Having had occasion," says Loménie (Vol. I, p. 115), "to
-study closely the work of the deputation at Passy, I am able to affirm
-that Lee never had any credit with the French Government, who, rightly
-or wrongly, suspected him of having secret relations with the English
-Cabinet.... It is this which perfectly explains his permanent irritation
-against his two colleagues."
-
-Doniol (Vol. I, p. 368) affirms positively, "spies of the foreign office
-were in communication with him and he aided them to arrive even to M. de
-Vergennes."
-
-"In his heart," continues Doniol, "he had an antipathy for France, which
-was shared by the majority of his countrymen. He was willing to accept
-everything from us, but on condition that no obligation be incurred."
-
-"It is certainly not too much to say," says Jared Sparks in his _Life of
-Franklin_ (Vol. I, p. 450), "that the divisions and feuds which reigned
-for a long time in Congress with respect to the foreign affairs of the
-United States are to be ascribed more to Lee's malign influence than to
-all others."
-
-It was the same that at the most perilous moment of the war, which was
-precisely this same winter of 1778, was exerting itself to the utmost of
-its power to place a creature of its own at the head of the American
-forces. So bitter had party spirit become, that a member from New
-England, whose patriotism was undisputed, had allowed himself to write
-in a letter which has been preserved: "I would rather that the whole
-cause should come to ruin, than that Mr. Washington should triumph."
-
-Lee succeeded so well in poisoning the minds of Congress with regard to
-their commissioner that after much discussion a resolution was passed on
-December 8, 1777, recalling Deane. The reason given being the importance
-of obtaining information as to the true state of affairs in Europe.
-
-"It was originally proposed," says Parton (_Life of Franklin_, Vol. I,
-p. 250), "to accompany the resolution of recall by a preamble of
-censure. But John Jay took the defence of his absent friend and
-succeeded in getting the offensive preamble condemning a servant of the
-public unheard, stricken out." "In this case," continues Parton, "Jay
-was warmly his friend and defender, and not on this occasion only, but
-whenever he was attacked by Congress."
-
-Franklin also warmly pleaded his cause by letter. Knowing that Congress
-had received unfavorably the foreign officers sent over by Deane, he
-wrote as follows:
-
-"I, who am on the spot, and who know the infinite difficulty of
-resisting the powerful solicitations of great men, ... I hope that
-favorable allowances will be made to my worthy colleague on account of
-his situation at that time, as he long since has corrected the mistake
-and daily proves himself to my certain knowledge an able, faithful,
-active and extremely useful servant of the public." (Parton, _Life of
-Franklin_, Vol. II, p. 350.)
-
-Franklin indeed might well plead for his friend in regard to the
-commissioning of officers, since, as has been seen, it was he who was
-responsible for the departure of du Coudray for America.
-
-When the news of his recall reached Deane, he was filled with
-consternation. It was easy for him to pierce the thin veil of the reason
-given. The treatment which he already had received from Congress seemed
-the guarantee of further trouble.
-
-He at once communicated his fears to Beaumarchais and his resolution not
-to return to America until a satisfactory explanation of the charges
-held against him were given. Beaumarchais, however, warmly urged his
-complying with the command of Congress, assuring him that his presence
-and the positive proof of his integrity which he would bear with him
-quickly would dispel the gathering storm.
-
-Deane seems to have been convinced that the wisest course would be to
-yield to authority; accordingly, he at once set about his preparations
-for the journey. Beaumarchais, equally active, addressed a lengthy
-memoir to the ministers.
-
-The memoir is given in full in the Deane papers (Vol. II, p. 399). In
-it, with characteristic boldness, he prescribes the rôle necessary for
-each minister to play, in order that Deane's enemies may be outwitted.
-Though Beaumarchais was no longer entrusted with the millions which were
-being handed over to the Americans, yet from the tone of his memoir
-there can be no doubt that he was still an indulged favorite.
-
-   "March 13, 1778.
-
-   "Secret Memoir to the King's Ministers, Sent to the Comte de
-   Vergennes:"
-
-   (After explaining clearly the character and ambitions of Lee, his
-   English connections, his influence in Congress, Beaumarchais
-   continued:) "To succeed in his design, it was necessary to
-   dispose of a colleague so formidable as Mr. Deane. This he has
-   done by rendering him in many respects an object of suspicion to
-   Congress.
-
-   "Having learned that foreign officers demanding commissions were
-   not received favorably by the American Army, he put the worst
-   construction upon the conduct of his colleague who sent them,
-   maintaining that Mr. Deane arbitrarily and in spite of good
-   advice, was responsible for the sending.... Another reason is the
-   officious zeal displayed by M. Lee in constantly writing to
-   Congress that all merchandise, etc., was a present.... Nothing
-   then is easier than for the adroit Lee to blacken the conduct of
-   Mr. Deane by representing it as the result of underhand measures
-   contrived to support demands for money in which he expected to
-   share; and this explains the silence, more than astonishing, that
-   Congress has observed in regard to over ten letters of mine full
-   of details."
-
-Then he draws a faithful picture of Deane's situation and speaks of his
-having at first formed the determination not to return until charges
-should be communicated to him.
-
-   "I have, however, urged him to go back to face the storm. 'Lee,'
-   I have said, 'accuses you of having arbitrarily sent officers to
-   America; your complete defense is in my portfolio. I have in my
-   possession a cipher letter from this time-serving Lee, urging me
-   to send engineers and officers to the assistance of America, and
-   the letter is written before your arrival in France.'"
-
-Then he urged the importance for French interests to have so true and
-tried a friend as Mr. Deane back in America.
-
-   "I would desire," he wrote, "a particular mark of distinction,
-   even the King's portrait or some such noticeable present to
-   convince his countrymen that not only was he a creditable and
-   faithful agent, but that his personality, prudence and action
-   always have pleased the French Ministry.... I strongly recommend
-   his being escorted by a fleet.... Once justified before
-   Congress, his opinion becomes of immense weight and influence....
-   His enemies will remain dazed and humiliated at their own
-   failure.... Should the ministry be unable to grant a fleet as he
-   wishes, he ought at least to have a royal frigate to be furnished
-   by M. de Sartine. His friend Beaumarchais will with pleasure
-   undertake the composition of an explanatory and defensive memoir.
-   He should have a testimonial, laudatory of his conduct, and this
-   important writing is the province of the Comte de Vergennes.
-   Finally I believe that there should be accorded to him some
-   special favor, showing the esteem entertained for him personally
-   and this would properly come from M. le Comte de Maurepas in the
-   name of the king. (This seems to have been the only suggestion
-   not carried out by the ministers.)
-
-   "There is not a moment to lose...."
-
-Beaumarchais then recommended that everyone assume a dejected air at the
-news of Deane's recall, so that the enemies of the latter might be
-thrown off their guard. "If it is thought advisable, I will even quit
-Paris as one driven to despair. My lawsuit at Aix will furnish an
-excellent excuse. I suggest in addition that a reliable person accompany
-Mr. Deane, to return in the same frigate under order to await his
-convenience, bringing back the result of M. Deane's labors with
-Congress....
-
-"Upon the assurance that these considerations be regarded as just, I
-will neglect everything else until I have completely vindicated Mr.
-Deane."
-
-If anything could be more curious than the tone of the above memoir, it
-is the docility with which each minister filled the rôle mapped out for
-him. Not only was the portrait of the King with the personal
-testimonials given to Deane, but a fleet was sent out under the popular
-Comte d'Estaing to bear him safely to America, and with him the first
-minister sent by France to the new world went as his companion, charged
-with orders to follow closely his interests in the ensuing combat.
-
-To the president of Congress he bore the following letter from the Comte
-de Vergennes:
-
-   "Versailles, March 25, 1778.
-
-   "Monsieur Deane being about to return to America, I seize this
-   occasion with pleasure to give my testimony to the zeal, activity
-   and intelligence with which he has conducted the interests of the
-   United States and for which it has pleased his Majesty to give
-   marks of his satisfaction."
-
-To Deane himself Vergennes wrote the same day:
-
-   "March 26, 1778.
-
-   "As I am not, Sir, to have the honor of seeing you again before
-   your departure I pray you to receive here my wishes that your
-   voyage may be speedy, short, and happy, and that you may find in
-   your own country the same sentiments which you inspired in
-   France. You could not, sir, desire anything to be added to that
-   which I feel for you and which I shall keep as long as I live.
-   The King, in order to give a personal proof of the satisfaction
-   which he has had in your conduct, charged me to communicate it to
-   the Congress of the United States. This is the object of the
-   letter which Mr. Gérard will give you for Mr. Hancock. He will
-   also give you a box ornamented with a portrait of the king. You
-   will not refuse to carry into your country the image of its best
-   friend."
-
-On the 23rd of March, Beaumarchais had written to Congress in a letter
-in which he set forth the proofs in his possession of the innocence of
-Deane.
-
-   "These, gentlemen," he wrote, "were the real motives that
-   determined us both in sending you the officers. As I have never
-   treated with any other, as my firm never has transacted business
-   with any other in France, and as the other commissioners have
-   been lacking even in common civility towards me, I testify that
-   if my zeal, my advances of money, and my shipments of supplies
-   and merchandise have been acceptable to the august Congress,
-   their gratitude is due to the indefatigable exertions of Mr.
-   Deane throughout this commercial affair.
-
-   "I hope that the honorable Congress, rejecting the insinuations
-   of others, who are desirous of appropriating for themselves the
-   credit of the operations, will accept in perfect faith the
-   present declaration of the man most capable of enlightening them
-   and who respectfully signs himself and his firm, gentlemen,
-   yours, etc.
-
-                                           "Caron de Beaumarchais,
-
-   "Secretary to the King and Lieutenant-General of the King's
-      Hunt, known in America under the title of his firm, Roderigue
-      Hortalès et Cie."
-
-Before quitting France, Silas Deane addressed a letter to Beaumarchais,
-dated March 29, 1778. Obliged to quit France during the absence of his
-friend, he wrote thanking him for his letter to Congress, which he hoped
-would throw light upon the vexed question. "It is unhappy," he said,
-
-   "that the short time allowed me to prepare for my voyage will not
-   admit of our making at least a general settlement of our
-   accounts.... I hope to return to France early in the fall;
-   immediately after my return it shall be my first business to
-   adjust and settle with you the account for your several
-   expeditions and disbursements.... After the perplexing and
-   embarrassing scenes you have had to pass through, it must give
-   you the most solid joy to see an armament going out which will
-   convince America and the world of the sincere friendship of
-   France, and their resolution to protect its liberties and its
-   independence.
-
-   "I again congratulate you on this great and glorious event, to
-   which you have contributed more than any other person....
-
-   "I shall improve my first opportunity of writing to you, and rely
-   on being honored with a continuance of your correspondence and
-   friendship. Wishing that you ever may be happy and fortunate, I
-   am, etc.,
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-The misgivings which had haunted the American commissioner seemed
-entirely to disappear during his voyage, so confident was he of being
-able to justify himself before Congress, and if ever commissioner had
-the right to look forward with joy to setting foot again on his native
-land, that commissioner was Deane. When he had gone out two years
-previously he had left his country poor, unrecognized and not yet
-decided to declare its independence. By his unhesitating and
-indefatigable zeal, aided by that of Beaumarchais, supplies and officers
-of priceless value had been sent to its aid, arriving at the moment when
-they were most needed.
-
-Mistakes had been made, it is true, but those mistakes were all of a
-nature that no man of honor need blush to acknowledge. Far from having
-enriched himself during those two years of service, he had spent not
-only all his own private savings, but had been obliged to draw very
-heavily upon the generosity of his friend, since all the stores brought
-with him from America had fallen into the hands of the English. In the
-words of Parton, "He was returning now the acknowledged minister of a
-victorious nation, the honored guest of a French Admiral, bringing back
-a powerful fleet (twelve line of battleships and four frigates) to aid
-his country, and accompanied by an ambassador of the King of France!
-Well might he write exultingly to the president of Congress, well might
-he expect a warm welcome and a hasty adjustment of his claims; as the
-proud French vessel was dropping anchor in Delaware Bay, July 10, 1778,
-he wrote: 'I shall embark this afternoon ... and I hope soon to have the
-honor of presenting my respects to your Excellency and the Honorable
-Congress in person....'
-
-No reply came to him from Congress. No one paid him the smallest
-attention. His testimonials were ignored and even the presence of the
-French fleet had no power to rouse Congress from a stony indifference.
-He was in despair.
-
-"He had brought with him," said Parton, "only a hundred pounds, not
-expecting to be detained in America many weeks. When at last given
-audience, he told his story to distrustful and estranged employers. All
-the friends of Arthur Lee, all the ancient foes of France, and a large
-proportion of the faction who desired to put Horatio Gates into the
-place of Washington, were disposed to believe the foul calumnies sent
-over by every ship from Paris."
-
-As a matter of fact the time of his arrival in Philadelphia was not well
-suited to a fair consideration of Deane's claims. The city recently had
-been evacuated by the British Army. During the occupation, Toryism had
-been rampant and the state was retaliating with indictments for treason.
-Disputes over questions of jurisdiction engaged the civil authorities in
-quarrels with Arnold, the commander of the garrison, who numbered among
-his sympathizers Silas Deane and the mercantile class.
-
-Arnold, after his brilliant exploits at Saratoga, had seen himself
-thrust aside at the moment of victory to make way for Gates. Wounded at
-Saratoga, and burning for revenge, Arnold was already so much disgusted
-with the Continental Congress that he began seriously to wish to see
-Great Britain triumph.
-
-Washington had put him in command of the garrison at Philadelphia in
-June, 1778. The reigning belle of the Quaker City was at that moment
-Miss Margaret Shippen, "the most beautiful and fascinating woman in
-America." She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, who along with his
-whole class, was eager for the war to come to an end through a speedy
-adjustment with Great Britain, whose liberal offers, since the surrender
-of Burgoyne, seemed more than satisfactory to their moderate patriotism.
-
-No sooner had Arnold entered into his new post than he fell a captive to
-the charms of the young woman in question, then under twenty years of
-age.
-
-"As no one kept a finer stable of horses, nor gave more costly dinners
-than Arnold," it was natural that he should invite the Tory friends of
-the young lady whose hand he hoped to win. Although he was "thirty-five
-years of age and a widower with two sons" ... his handsome face, his
-gallant bearing and his splendid career, made him acceptable. In the
-fall their engagement was publicly announced, while the Tory sentiments
-of the commander of the fort of Philadelphia became definitely fixed.
-
-The bitterness of his own grievances against Congress led him to give
-ear willingly to the complaints poured out by the exasperated French
-commissioner, whose patriotism was also rapidly vanishing in the gulf of
-his private wrongs.
-
-It was during this summer of association between Arnold and Deane that
-the sentiments of the latter underwent the profound change which induced
-a subsequent conduct so disappointing to his dearest friends. Silas
-Deane never has been accused of treason to his country, for he was
-incapable of such an act as that which rendered Arnold an object of
-contempt to our enemies even--but that he was untrue to his own past
-cannot be denied. No one in the beginning had been a warmer advocate of
-independence or had worked so indefatigably for an alliance with France.
-In the end, this was completely reversed. The unfortunate course which
-he took to avenge himself for the atrocious wrongs heaped upon him by
-the party in Congress then in power led him to exile, where he died
-destitute and dishonored. However, "the most bitter reproach," says
-Wharton, "ever heaped upon this loyal patriot was that he had joined
-hands in friendship with the traitor Arnold."
-
-While the condemnation of Lee at the bar of history seems unanimous, it
-is unfair to allow the blame of his conduct to rest wholly upon him, for
-it must be shared by that party in Congress which was dominant during
-most of the existence of the body, and which supported the pretensions
-of Lee and shared his antagonisms.
-
-A consideration of the complex causes which led to the ruin of Deane is
-in place here, only as these causes relate to his connection with
-Beaumarchais. Up to a certain point the credit of the two men is
-inseparable, and it must not be forgotten that the same party which
-planned Deane's downfall was also the one that tried to prevent the
-alliance with France, and was unwilling to admit any debt of gratitude
-to Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.
-
-Gérard de Rayneval, first ambassador of France to America, who
-accompanied Deane on the occasion of his recall, attributes the action
-of Congress at this time to an "_esprit d'ostracisme_, which," he says,
-"already has begun to make itself felt against those men who, having
-rendered important services, are no longer deemed necessary...."
-
-The private secretary of Deane while in France, W. Carmichaël, had
-returned to America some time before. Having aided Beaumarchais and
-Deane in the shipment of supplies to the new world, there was no one who
-understood better the exact nature of the difficulties against which
-they had labored, or the real debt of gratitude owed them by America.
-Under date of September 3, 1778, he wrote to Beaumarchais from
-Philadelphia:
-
-   "I have written you twice lately about your affairs, so that I
-   have the pleasure of repeating that Congress begins to feel its
-   lack of attention to you and to realize that it was too ready to
-   believe the base insinuations of others, which I truly believe
-   would have had no weight if du Coudray had not circulated such
-   prejudicial reports concerning you.... I have applied myself with
-   my whole power to convince my compatriots of the injustice and
-   ingratitude with which you have been treated and this before the
-   arrival of Deane, and I flatter myself to have had some success.
-   His efforts have been the same, so that justice, although tardy,
-   should now prevail. I wish for the honor of my compatriots that
-   it had never been necessary for us to plead for you.
-
-   "M. de Francy is in Virginia and works sincerely and
-   indefatigably for your interests. I expect him here soon.
-
-   "Your nephew spent several weeks with me, but is now commanded
-   with his general to join the army under the orders of General
-   Sullivan. He is a brave young man who makes himself loved very
-   much when he is known; he has all the vivacity of his age and
-   desires to distinguish himself. General Conway assures me that he
-   conducted himself like a young hero at the battle of the
-   Brandywine. I take the liberty of entering into these details
-   because I know they will delight his mother, since bravery always
-   has been a powerful recommendation to the fair sex, and she will
-   be charmed to find so much in her own son.... I do not know
-   whether I shall be continued in my place as Secretary of the
-   Embassy at your court, or be employed in some other department.
-
-   "Dr. Franklin certainly will be continued at the Court of
-   Versailles, and an attempt will be made to force the Lees to fall
-   back into the obscurity from which they have lifted themselves,
-   but whether this will succeed is doubtful. We have as many
-   intrigues and cabals here as you and your friends suffer from on
-   the other continent. And why not? Are we not sovereign states and
-   are we not friends and allies of Louis XVI?
-
-   "I beg you to believe me always, Yours,
-
-                                                  "W. Carmichaël."
-
-The spirit of the letter, as well as the news it brought, must have been
-consoling to the heart of Beaumarchais. But in the meantime, he had been
-pushing forward his vast commercial enterprises and with his usual vigor
-prepared himself for new dangers to which the open alliance with France
-exposed his undertaking. He wrote to De Francy:
-
-   "I am dispatching the _Zephyr_, so that you may know that I am
-   ready to put to sea a fleet of more than twelve vessels at whose
-   head is _le Fier Roderigue_, which you sent back to me and which
-   arrived safely the first of October. This fleet will carry six
-   thousand tons, and it is armed absolutely for war. So arrange
-   yourself in consequence. If my ship, the _Ferragus_, leaves
-   Rochefort in September, keep it there to join my fleet in
-   returning. This is an armament which I hold in common with M. de
-   Montieu.... Allow the ships to remain in port no longer than is
-   absolutely necessary, for although strong and well armed, our
-   enemies must not be allowed to interfere with their return.
-
-   "They will not arrive until some time in February, as they are to
-   make a detour to provision our colonies with flour and salt
-   provisions, of which they are in great need, and the payment of
-   which, sent to us in bills of exchange upon our treasurers before
-   the return of the fleet, will enable us to meet the terrible
-   outlay which this armament costs us.... You will receive by the
-   _Fier Roderigue_ all my accounts with Congress.... The result is
-   that Congress will pay for nothing which it does not receive, or
-   that was destroyed en route. I join the exact account of what I
-   have received from Congress, in spite of the unjust deputation at
-   Passy who have disputed every return cargo and who would have
-   seized upon that of _La Thérèse_ if M. Pelletier, instructed by
-   me, had not sold it by authority. This perpetual injustice makes
-   me indignant and has made me take the resolution to have no more
-   to do with the deputation as long as that rogue Lee is there....
-
-   "I have been promised, my dear Francy, your commission of
-   captain. I hope to be happy enough to send it by _le Fier
-   Roderigue_, but do not count upon it until you see it in your
-   hands. You know our country; it is so vast that it is a long way
-   from the place where things are promised to the place where they
-   are given. In a word, I have not received it yet, although it has
-   been promised....
-
-   "I have received no other money from the comte de Pulaski than
-   that which he himself gave me. I send you his exact account. He
-   should write me but I have heard nothing. I approve of what you
-   have done for M. de Lafayette. Brave young man that he is. It is
-   to serve me as I desire, to oblige a man of his character. I have
-   not yet been paid for the money I advanced to him but I have no
-   uneasiness about that.
-
-   "As for you my dear de Francy, I will write you later what I will
-   do for you. If you know me, you will expect to be well treated.
-   Your fate is hence forth attached to mine. I esteem you and love
-   you and you will not have long to wait for the proof of it.
-   Remember me often to Baron von Steuben. I congratulate myself
-   after all I hear of him, for having given so great an officer to
-   my friends the _free men_, and for having in a way forced him to
-   follow that noble career. I am not in the least disturbed by the
-   money I lent him. Never have I made a use of funds the investment
-   of which gratified me as much as this does, since I have
-   succeeded in putting a man of honor in his true place. I learn
-   that he is inspector-general of all the troops; bravo! Tell him
-   that his glory is the interest on my money and at that title I
-   have no doubt he will repay me with usury.
-
-   "I have received a letter from M. Deane and also one from Mr.
-   Carmichaël; assure them of my warm esteem. Those two are brave
-   republicans. They have given me the hope that I may soon embrace
-   them both in Paris, which will not, however, prevent me from
-   writing them by the _Fier Roderigue_, who is very proud to find
-   himself at the head of a small squadron, and who I hope will _ne
-   se laissera pas couper les moustaches_, on the contrary he
-   promises to do some cutting for me,
-
-   "Adieu, my Francy, I am yours for life,
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-Silas Deane returned to France in 1781, to settle all his accounts. On
-the 6th of April of that year the indebtedness to Beaumarchais by
-Congress was fixed by him at 3,600,000 _livres_ after the deduction of
-all receipts and comprising the interest promised. This sum, then,
-Beaumarchais demanded of Congress.
-
-[Illustration: CÆSAR AUGUSTUS RODNEY
-
-_Attorney General of the U. S._]
-
-Two years passed. Congress paid no attention to the demand. In 1783,
-another emissary, Mr. Barclay, arrived from America in the capacity of
-consul-general, and with the mission to revise all the accounts rendered
-by Silas Deane. Beaumarchais refused to submit to this treatment, but
-Mr. Barclay told him Congress would pay nothing until there had been a
-new inspection of the accounts. After a year Beaumarchais was forced to
-submit.
-
-In revising the statement made by Deane, Mr. Barclay admitted all the
-claims, but gratified Congress by lessening commissions, expenses, etc.
-Still Congress refused to pay the new and reduced accounts. Soon after
-this, an incident arose which determined Congress to postpone payment
-indefinitely.
-
-In the fall of 1783, after signing the treaty which ended the war, the
-United States wished to borrow six millions from the French Government.
-It was decided to grant the request and at the same time to make an
-exact recapitulation of all the sums already furnished, whether loaned
-or presented.
-
-In the first class were announced eighteen millions; then another loan
-of ten millions from Holland, guaranteed by the king of France and of
-which he paid the interest; finally the six millions about to be loaned.
-This constituted a sum of thirty-four millions which the United States
-promised to refund at future times. Finally the King announced as a
-gift, the three millions conveyed to the colonists before her treaty of
-Alliance in 1778, and six millions given in 1781. It was therefore nine
-millions which the king of France relinquished without expecting any
-return, and this in addition to the enormous expenditure made in sending
-the fleets and armies of France to America. (See _Loménie_ Vol II, p.
-186.)
-
-The statement was signed by Franklin and received without comment by
-the United States, but three years later, in 1786, Franklin made the
-discovery that the king of France stated that three millions had been
-given to the cause of independence in America before 1778, whereas he,
-Franklin, had received but two millions.
-
-What had become of the other million?
-
-Inquiry was at once made of the United States banker in France, and an
-explanation demanded. After much difficulty it was learned that this
-million was one delivered by the royal treasurer on the 10th of June,
-1776.
-
-"It was," says M. de Loménie, "precisely the million given to
-Beaumarchais, but the reticence of Vergennes showed that an embarrassing
-mistake had been made, though unconsciously, by the royal treasurer."
-
-It was impossible in 1786 for the French government to avow the secret
-aid she had given to the colonies before her open recognition of
-American Independence. The two millions given to Franklin in 1777
-through the banker, Grand, after France had decided upon the policy of
-open recognition, but before the act, had never been a secret--but the
-million given to Beaumarchais, while really intended to help the
-American cause, had been conveyed to him under stress of secrecy at a
-time when it was unsafe to submit to writing even the most informal
-engagement in regard to it.
-
-Whatever the stipulations made concerning the use of the money, they
-were verbal and have never been revealed. Nothing could attest the
-profound confidence inspired in the magistracy by Beaumarchais more than
-this absence of documents relative to the loan. There can be no doubt
-that whatever the arrangement made by Vergennes, he was satisfied with
-the account rendered him by Beaumarchais, for we find him coming
-repeatedly to the latter's aid when the failure of Congress to return
-cargoes, placed the house of Hortalès and Company in danger of
-bankruptcy. The confidence of the minister is also further attested by
-his refusal to deliver the receipt for the million, signed by
-Beaumarchais, on the 10th of June, 1776, and so become a handle to the
-calumny which Congress was directing against him.
-
-To summarize the exposition of that conscientious historian, Loménie:
-"Why," he asks, "did the government insert this million in the list of
-those given directly to America? Was it simply a recapitulation of the
-accounts of the treasury made without thought of the inconvenience that
-might result for Beaumarchais; or did the government really intend
-Beaumarchais to render an account of it to the United States?... We have
-the right to affirm that the government never intended that he should be
-accountable for it to anyone but to the minister.
-
-"By refusing constantly to name the person to whom the million had been
-given, the minister said implicitly; 'I class this million with those
-given gratuitously because in effect it was given; but since it was not
-given to you, and as the man to whom it was given, engaged himself by
-his receipt to render an account of it to me, and not to you, that man
-cannot be accountable except to me. If I asked to have the million
-returned, you would then have the right to demand it of him who received
-it; but since I ask nothing, I am the one to decide whether that
-million, gratuitously given by me, shall profit you or the man to whom I
-gave it. It was given to aid in a secret operation very useful to you,
-but which, by your refusal to acquit and by losses which he has
-experienced in his commerce with you, seems to have been more harmful
-than fruitful to him.'" (See _Loménie_, Vol. II, p. 190.)
-
-Of all this that was transpiring Beaumarchais knew nothing, nor could he
-obtain from Congress any explanation of their reason for totally
-ignoring their debt to him. At last his patience at an end, on the 12th
-of June, 1787, he wrote to the President of Congress as follows:
-
-   "A people become sovereign and powerful may be permitted,
-   perhaps, to consider gratitude as a virtue of individuals which
-   is beneath politics; but nothing can dispense a state from being
-   just, and especially from paying its debts. I dare hope,
-   Monsieur, that touched by the importance of the affair and by the
-   force of my reasons, you will be good enough to honor me with an
-   official report as to the decision of the honorable Congress
-   either to arrange promptly to liquify my accounts, or else to
-   choose arbiters in Europe to decide the points debated, those of
-   insurance and commission as M. Barclay had the honor of proposing
-   to you in 1785; or else write me candidly that the sovereign
-   states of America, forgetting my past services, refuse me all
-   justice: thus I shall adopt the method best suited to my
-   interests which you have despised, to my honor which you have
-   wounded, although without losing the profound respect with which
-   I am of the General Congress and of you, Monsieur le President,
-   the very humble, etc.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-It was at this juncture that Beaumarchais, stung by the reproaches of
-his own countrymen, made a ringing vindication of his acts in the cause
-of American independence, which will be given in the next chapter.
-
-The reply which Congress made to the letter above quoted, was to appoint
-Arthur Lee to examine the accounts.
-
-"The work was soon done," says Loménie, "_d'un tour de main_. Arthur Lee
-pretended to discover that instead of 3,600,000 livres owing
-Beaumarchais, he not only had nothing to reclaim but on the other hand
-owed 1,800,000 francs to the United States!" The absurdity of this
-account could not fail to appear to Congress, and after four years more
-of protestations, in 1793 it confided a new examination of the debt to
-"that most distinguished American Statesman, Alexander Hamilton," who
-established the sum owing Beaumarchais as 2,280,000 francs, but at the
-same time he proposed to suspend payment until the question of the lost
-million was settled.
-
-In the meantime the Revolution was advancing upon France with awful
-strides. Already the royalistic government had fallen, that government
-whose greatest glory was its noble service to the cause of American
-independence.
-
-When in 1794 Gouverneur Morris applied to Buchot, then minister of
-Foreign affairs for the new French government, there was no one left who
-knew or cared for the details that had prevented Vergennes from
-producing that famous receipt. At the demand of Congress, therefore, it
-was given to Morris.
-
-Armed now with what it chose to consider as proof that Beaumarchais
-wilfully had appropriated to himself a million livres intended by the
-French Government for it, Congress refused all settlement.
-
-They not only repudiated the payment of the 2,600,000 livres surplus of
-the debt honorably acknowledged by Deane, who alone knew the immense
-advances that had been made by Beaumarchais to cover the expenses of the
-commissioner as well as of the officers whom he had commissioned, but
-that august body considered that it might even dispense with paying the
-1,800,000 livres surplus over and above the million, out of the sum
-accorded by Alexander Hamilton in which he ignored those advances,
-together with a part of the commission and interest freely granted by
-Congress in the contract already quoted in this volume, and arranged by
-the agent of Beaumarchais, Theveneau de Francy, in 1778.
-
-Congress refused all this, arguing that, as M. de Loménie says: "Since
-the interest of the million given in 1776 will absorb the difference,
-therefore we owe nothing, and will pay nothing."
-
-The interest on the surplus, as it would have much more than absorbed
-the million in question, they, of course, conveniently ignored.
-
-This turn in his affairs with Congress was a crushing blow to
-Beaumarchais, but it did not prevent him, during the entire remainder of
-his life, pleading with the representatives of the American people to
-pay their debt to him.
-
-But at the moment when Congress held triumphantly aloft the receipt for
-the 1,000,000 livres, and flaunted it in his face, Beaumarchais was in
-no position to defend himself, for the Revolution which had overwhelmed
-France had so shattered and ruined his fortune that he was obliged to
-take refuge in a garret in Hamburg. Here, devoured by anguish,--unable
-to obtain news from home, knowing only that his goods had been
-confiscated, that his wife, his daughter, and his sisters had been
-thrown into prison, his thoughts turned to the people for whom he had
-performed such herculean labors and to them he addressed one last
-appeal. This was in April, 1795.
-
-"Congress," says Loménie, "remained deaf to all his reclamations; not
-only it allowed him to die without liquidating the debt, but during the
-thirty-six years following his death, all the governments which
-succeeded one another in France, and all the ambassadors of those
-governments, vainly supported the demand of the heirs of Beaumarchais."
-
-During the years which follow his death, from 1799 to 1835, "The claims
-of the heirs of Beaumarchais" occupy congress after congress of the
-United States. In the progress of the suit all the French governments,
-from the Empire under Napoleon down to the reign of the "bourgeois
-King," Louis Phillippe, always take the stand of Vergennes. The
-following letter from the Duc de Richelieu, dated the 20th of May, 1816,
-may be said to express the attitude of the French Government in the
-whole matter. He wrote:
-
-   "The notes successively presented by the ministers of France are
-   so particular and positive, that they seem to remove all doubt on
-   the facts of the subject in dispute, and consequently all
-   hesitation as to the decision to be given. It was in fact stated
-   that the French Government had no concern in the commercial
-   transactions of M. de Beaumarchais with the United States.
-
-   "By this declaration it was not only intended to convey the idea
-   that the government was in no ways interested in the operations
-   or in his chances of loss or gain, but a positive assurance was
-   also given that it was wholly unconnected with them; whence it
-   results that in relation to them France is to be considered
-   neither as a lender, a surety nor as an intermediate agent. The
-   whole of these transactions were spontaneous on the part of M. de
-   Beaumarchais and the right and agency derived from them appertain
-   exclusively to him....
-
-   "The million delivered on the 10th of June immediately reached
-   its intended destination and a simple authorization of the King,
-   but a few months subsequent to the payment of the sum, was the
-   only document which finally placed the expenditure in the regular
-   train of fiscal settlement.
-
-   "I am therefore warranted, Sir, after a fresh examination of the
-   facts, in presenting the declaration of the above as stated, and
-   in considering it a matter of certainty that the million paid on
-   the 10th of June was not applied to the purchase of shipments
-   made to the United States at that period by M. de
-   Beaumarchais....
-
-   "There is no member of the Government who can be ignorant of the
-   services rendered by the head of that family to your cause and
-   the influence produced on its early successes by his ardent zeal,
-   extensive connections and liberal employment of his whole
-   fortune.
-
-   "Be pleased, Sir, to receive, etc., etc.
-
-       Signed                                         "Richelieu."
-
-This claim, so repeatedly stated before Congress, was taken up and
-examined by a succession of committees which seem each to have adopted
-the views of the French Government. To the honor of the United States
-let it be stated that such men as John Jay and Thomas Jefferson, had
-from the first recognized the debt due to Beaumarchais and had urged the
-payment of the debt. Later it was James Madison, Cæsar Rodney, William
-Pinkney and others, who similarly urged Congress to appropriate the
-money to liquidate the claim.
-
-To close this long debate we have selected a few paragraphs taken here
-and there from reports of committees, terminating with an extract from a
-speech delivered by Mr. Tucker of Virginia, in order to demonstrate
-clearly that the enlightened opinion of the most representative
-Americans always has stood for the recognition of this claim.... "Only
-two points," the report says, "are to be decided: Did Mr. Beaumarchais
-receive from the French Government 1,000,000 livres in behalf of or on
-account of the United States? If so, has he, or his representative at
-any time accounted with the United States for their expenditure?... On
-the face of the instrument itself it appears that Beaumarchais was to
-account to Vergennes and not to the United States, for the expenditure
-of the money.... This contradicts the idea that he was accountable to us
-for its application.... The engagement of Beaumarchais was positive,
-express and unqualified to account to Vergennes and to him only for the
-money received. The United States are no parties to the instrument;
-there is no stipulation to render them any account of the
-expenditure.... It is not easy to conceive on what principle he ought
-twice to account for the same money.... The French government have
-uniformly declared that they furnished no supply of arms or military
-stores. Vergennes is full and explicit; he states that all the articles
-furnished by Beaumarchais are on his private account, who had settled
-with the artillery department for them by giving orders or bills for
-their value. This expressly excludes the idea that the million livres in
-question were intended to be applied to the payment in advance of the
-account of Beaumarchais.... This construction was acquiesced in by our
-government in the contract of 1783, when we knew neither the date nor
-the person to whom the money was paid....
-
-" ... The United States allege that the French Government paid this debt
-for them. The Government through their ministers declare officially that
-they did not. There seems therefore no room for dispute. Considering
-that the sum of which the million livres in question made a part, was a
-gratuitous grant from the French Government to the United States, and
-considering that the declaration of that Government clearly states that
-that part of the grant was put into the hands of M. de Beaumarchais as
-its agent, not as the agent of the United States, and that it was duly
-accounted for by him, to the French Government; considering also the
-concurring opinion of two attorneys-general of the United States that
-the said debt was not legally sustainable in behalf of the United
-States; I recommend the case to the favorable attention of the
-legislature whose authority alone can finally decide on it. Signed
-
-                                          "James Madison,
-                                          "C. A. Rodney,
-                                          "Wm. Pinkney.
-                                               "January 31, 1817."
-
-From the speech of Mr. Tucker of Virginia, 1824:
-
-"Mr. Chairman: It is well known to most of the assembly that in the
-first years of the Revolution, M. de Beaumarchais furnished military
-supplies and clothing to the amount of several million livres....
-
-"The merits of this claim have hitherto hinged upon the fact whether the
-million in question was received by Beaumarchais for the purpose of
-supplies or not; ...
-
-"In regard to this there is the solemn declaration of M. de Vergennes
-that the king had furnished nothing. Again there can be no doubt that M.
-de Beaumarchais must have been held accountable to his government for
-the million, for whatever purpose it was put into his hands.... If it
-was intended for such services as those for which secret service money
-is employed, it is said, and it seems not improbable, that the vouchers
-in such cases are destroyed.... But there could be no reason to destroy
-them if they related merely to the purchase of supplies....
-
-"On weighing all the considerations there is some preponderance of
-testimony that M. de Beaumarchais received the million in dispute for
-the purpose of supplies, and if France had been passive on this occasion
-or if we had paid any valuable consideration to her for this million I
-should think that we were justified in charging M. de Beaumarchais with
-that amount. But when it is recollected that we received these supplies
-directly from him, having arranged the settlement of the account on our
-own terms; that the million that we claim as a credit was paid not by
-us, but by France, and that, as an act of bounty; and when France
-insists that it was for another purpose; ... it seems to me that we
-cannot, consistently with our honor or self respect, pay off an
-undisputed debt with a doubtful or disputed gift....
-
-"As an individual, I could never seek to give the bounty of a benefactor
-a direction which he objected to, for the purpose of making a discount
-from the acknowledged debt of a third person.
-
-"Sirs:--in this matter France is right or she is wrong.... Then the
-error consists in claiming our gratitude for 9,000,000 livres instead of
-8,000,000 ... which can in no way affect the claim of M. de
-Beaumarchais.... The whole present difficulty comes from the mistake of
-Dr. Franklin in the treaty of 1783....
-
-"Assuredly if our agent had signed a treaty under a mistake as he
-himself states, that mistake should be rectified with the French
-Government which should give us a satisfactory explanation or hold us
-bound in gratitude for only 8,000,000 livres, neither of which can
-affect the claims of M. de Beaumarchais....
-
-"Mr. Chairman: We ought to be consistent with ourselves with regard to
-the declaration of the French Government. When M. de Vergennes declared
-to our commissioners in September 1778, that the military supplies were
-furnished by M. de Beaumarchais, we acquiesced in that assurance and
-required no further proof....
-
-"On every ground then, Mr. Chairman, I am free to say, I would vote at
-once for the appropriation to the whole amount of this claim ... and I
-hope the committee will adopt the resolution for that purpose offered by
-the Committee."
-
-But the government of the United States still refused to listen to
-reason. However, in 1835, under pressure of necessity, the United States
-having a claim against France which it wished to bring forward, offered
-the heirs of Beaumarchais the choice of taking 800,000 francs and
-considering the affair closed, or nothing. The heirs chose the former
-and so at last ended the long drawn out debate regarding "the lost
-million."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIII
-
-
-"_It was to take from the Ministers all idea of my ambition, to conjure
-the storm, that I began again to amuse myself with frivolous theatrical
-plays, while guarding a profound silence upon my political actions._"
-
-_Petition to MM. the Representatives of the Commune of Paris by P. A.
-Caron de Beaumarchais._
-
-
-   The _Mariage de Figaro_--Its Composition--Difficulties Encountered
-     in Getting it Produced--It is Played at Grennevilliers--The First
-     Representation--Its Success--_Institut des mères
-     nourrices_--Beaumarchais at Saint Lazare.
-
-
-Several years before Beaumarchais had written in answer to the
-question,--"What gives you so gay a philosophy?"
-
-"The habit of misfortune, I hasten to laugh at everything so as not to
-be obliged to weep."
-
-So now in 1778 after seeing Deane recalled, his own service ignored, and
-jealousies aroused even among the ministers themselves he turned from
-all this bitterness, to develop in his own inimitable way, the gay
-scenes of his _Mariage de Figaro_.
-
-"In this piece," says Gudin, "the combinations were so new, the
-situations so varied that one would be tempted to believe that such a
-work would have absorbed all the faculties of the mind of its author
-during many years, but for him it was only a relaxation from the many
-and diverse affairs in which he was engaged."
-
-M. de Maurepas said to him one day, "And how, occupied as you are, have
-you been able to write it?"
-
-"I, M. le Comte! I composed it the day when the ministers of the King
-had sufficient leisure to go together to the Redoute."
-
-"Are there many repartees equal to that in your comedy? If so, I answer
-for its success," retorted Maurepas; for just the day before all the
-ministers had gone in a body to spend several hours at one of the new
-and fashionable pleasure gardens of Paris known as the Redoute.
-
-But having written his play was very far from having it produced, for
-the daring boldness of the author since the marvelous success of his
-first comedy was known not to have diminished. The authorities rightly
-suspected that the new play would contain even more pointed criticisms
-upon the existing social order than had the _Barbier_. To be produced in
-public it must first pass the censors and have the approbation of the
-king.
-
-La Harpe has said of this play, "It took much wit to write it--but not
-so much as to get it played."
-
-Letters given by Loménie show that already in October, 1781, the actors
-of the Théâtre-Français had seen the piece and were discussing with
-Beaumarchais the distribution of the parts. The author had appealed to
-the lieutenant of police to name a censor and asked as a special favor
-that the play should not leave his office. Six weeks later Beaumarchais
-learned that the king had read his play and that it had been condemned.
-
-Madame Campan in her Memoires speaks of the incident.
-
-Marie Antoinette who had always liked and protected Beaumarchais said to
-the King,
-
-"Will the piece not be played?"
-
-"Certainly not," answered the King, "it is detestable. Why, the Bastille
-would have to be pulled down if that were allowed!"
-
-The situation against which the versatile author had to contend was the
-positive prohibition by the supreme head of authority--the King himself,
-but who was seconded, however, by very few of those personages who were
-nearest to him. In fact this very prohibition excited the curiosity of
-the court to such an extent that everyone from the loftiest personages
-down, and notably the Duke d'Artois, brother of Louis XVI, was demanding
-the favor of hearing Beaumarchais read his play.
-
-"Every day," explained Madame de Campan, "one hears on every side, 'I
-have heard,' or 'I shall hear the piece of Beaumarchais.'"
-
-Flattered as the author must have been by the enthusiasm of the
-courtiers, he was far too clever to lose his head or grant lightly the
-privilege of a reading.
-
-"Even the most considerable personages of the realm," says Loménie,
-"obtained the privilege on condition that they asked at least twice. The
-Princess Lamballe, for instance, personal friend of the queen, had a
-violent desire to have Beaumarchais read the _Mariage de Figaro_ in her
-salon. She sent an ambassador to him, one of the greatest nobles of the
-court, the oldest son of the Maréchal de Richelieu, the Duc de
-Fronsac--an ardent patron of the _Mariage_.--Beaumarchais refused to see
-him. The duc wrote next day:
-
-   "You closed your door against me yesterday which was not well.
-   However, I do not hold against you enough malice to prevent me
-   from speaking of the negotiation with which I am charged by Mme.
-   the Princess of Lamballe--and I propose you come next Wednesday
-   to Versailles to dine with me, after which we will go to her.
-   Your very humble servant, etc.
-
-                                              "Le duc de Fronsac."
-
-Beaumarchais evidently refused a second time for again the Duke wrote
-another letter, more urgent, to which the author finally yielded.
-
-The grand Duke (afterward Paul I) and Duchess of Russia, while visiting
-Versailles in the spring of 1782, also became ardent supporters of the
-piece, after Beaumarchais had accorded them the privilege of a reading.
-
-Strong now with the support of so many notables, he took occasion to
-write a vigorous letter to M. the _Garde des Sceaux_, to which august
-personage he began by apologizing for bothering him with such a
-"frivolous subject" but ended by a very ardent plea that his play be
-permitted to appear before the public.
-
-"In June of 1783," says Loménie, "Beaumarchais, who, it must not be
-forgotten, conducted twenty other operations at the same time, seemed on
-the point of succeeding.... By the influence of some one unknown, the
-comedians received an order to learn the piece so that it might be
-played before the court of Versailles. Later it was decided that it
-should be performed in Paris itself at the _hôtel des Menus-Plaisirs_."
-
-Everything was ready, even the tickets were out, when suddenly an
-express order of the king arrived, forbidding the performance. "This
-prohibition of the king," says Madame de Campan, "seemed like an attack
-upon the liberty of the public. The disappointed hopes of the people
-excited discontent to such an extent that the words, '_oppression_,'
-'_tyranny_' were never pronounced in the days before the fall of the
-throne, with so much passion and vehemence."
-
-Beaumarchais could well afford, as he writes, "to put his piece back in
-its portfolio, waiting until some event should draw it out again," for
-the prohibition of the king had acted only as the most serviceable
-advertisement. Therefore he had not long to wait.
-
-Being in England on business the latter part of the summer, he received
-a letter from the Duc de Fronsac, from which the following is an
-extract:
-
-   "Paris, the 4th of September, 1783.
-
-   "I hope, Monsieur, that you will not object that I shall write to
-   obtain your consent to have the _Mariage de Figaro_ played at
-   Grennevilliers.... You know that I have for several years turned
-   over my estate of Grennevilliers to M. de Vaudreuil. M. le Comte
-   d'Artois comes there to hunt the 18th and Madame the Duchess de
-   Polignac with her society comes to supper. Vaudreuil has asked me
-   to arrange a spectacle, for there is a good enough hall. I told
-   him that there was nothing more charming than the _Mariage de
-   Figaro_, but that we must have the consent of the king. _We have
-   secured that and_ I went running to find you and was astonished
-   and distressed to find that you were far away in the north.
-
-   "Will you not give your consent that the piece be played? I
-   promise you that I will do my utmost to have it well given. M. le
-   Comte d'Artois and his whole society are waiting with the
-   greatest eagerness to see it, and certainly it will be a great
-   step in advance towards having it given at Fontainebleau and
-   Paris.... I, in particular, have the greatest desire and I beg
-   you to reply quickly, quickly. Let it be favorable, I beg you,
-   and never doubt my gratitude and the esteem and friendship with
-   which I shall always be, Monsieur, yours, etc.
-
-                                              "Le duc de Fronsac."
-
-"While the duc de Fronsac," says Loménie, "sent after Beaumarchais, the
-comte de Vaudreuil who was arranging the festival in honor of the comte
-d'Artois and Madam de Polignac, waited with impatience for the consent
-of Beaumarchais. We have under our eyes a letter of the comte written to
-the duc de Fronsac which was found among the papers of Beaumarchais,
-apparently because the latter fearing some sudden change of feeling in
-the King, had requested that the duc give him the entire correspondence,
-in order that he might be in a position to prove that he had acted only
-at the urgent solicitations of the courtiers.
-
-"This circumstance enables us to observe closely what was passing in
-those frivolous heads that were soon to be stricken off, and to realize
-with what blind impatience those thoughtless patricians aspired to be
-pointed out by Figaro for the contempt of the masses."
-
-In this letter of the count, after running over a half dozen plays that
-do not satisfy him, he says:
-
-   "Fearing the permission of M. de Beaumarchais would not reach us
-   in time we will postpone the spectacle for three or four days so
-   it will not be given until the 21st or the 22nd. Will you please
-   see that the comedians hold themselves ready for that date? But
-   _hors du 'Mariage de Figaro,' point de salut_ (our only salvation
-   is in the _Mariage de Figaro_). Thank you a thousand times, my
-   dear Fronsac, for all your trouble. I know that it is for these
-   ladies and M. the comte d'Artois, who join in my gratitude.
-   Receive the renewed expression of my deep regard which is yours
-   for life;
-
-                                          "Le comte de Vaudreuil."
-
-Again to quote Loménie:
-
-"Beaumarchais, then in England, learned that nothing was now lacking but
-his own consent to play the piece prohibited by the king several months
-before. He returned immediately to Paris and it was he now who was the
-one to make the conditions. He was not satisfied simply to amuse the
-court, but wished rather to reach the public and to make them laugh at
-the expense of the court, which was a very different matter. If,
-however, the one would lead to the other, Beaumarchais would be charmed
-to gratify MM. de Vaudreuil and de Fronsac, but before consenting to the
-representation taking place at Grennevilliers, he required that the
-favor be accorded him of a new censure. Singular request!
-
-"'But,' they said to him, 'your play has already been censored,
-approved, and we have the permission of the king.'
-
-"'No matter, it must be censored again.'
-
-"To M. de Breteuil he wrote, 'they found me a little difficult in my
-turn and they said it was only because I was so sought after; but since
-I desired _absolutely_ to _fix public opinion_ by a new examination of
-the piece, I insisted, and so they have accorded me the severe
-historian, Gaillard of the French Academy.'
-
-"This," continues Loménie, "was well thought out. Just before a court
-festival, where all were eagerly awaiting the representation, what
-censor, no matter how arbitrary, would dare interfere by spoiling their
-joy and provoking the anger of the powerful lords who ordered the
-festival? And so, as was to be expected, the report of the censure was
-'completely favorable.'"
-
-But Beaumarchais was not yet satisfied. "The play approved once more,"
-he wrote in his memoirs to M. de Breteuil, "I carried my precaution so
-far that I required before I would consent to its being played at the
-festival, the express promise of the magistracy that the
-Comédie-Française might consider it as belonging to their theater and I
-dare certify that that assurance was given by M. Lenoir, who certainly
-believed everything complete as did I myself."
-
-"To appreciate the diplomatic value," continues Loménie, "of this
-passage, and the art with which Beaumarchais in the suppleness of his
-tenacity knew how to bind over the people who inconvenienced him, and
-that he could not openly attack, it is well to recall that at this
-moment he was struggling against an express prohibition of the
-representation of his play by the king, a prohibition that his majesty
-consented to lift only for one day, in a particular house and that only
-to gratify his brother the Comte d'Artois and M. de Vaudreuil."
-
-Beaumarchais, on his side, was sincere in not wishing to let it be
-played at Grennevilliers except on condition that he be formally
-promised that sooner or later it would be given to the public; but since
-he did not dare to push the matter so far, he saw the way to take one
-step in advance, by inventing the beautiful paraphrase that had just
-been read, which became a sort of vague engagement contracted with him
-and upon which he would depend very soon to push matters still further.
-
-On these conditions he finally accorded the permission asked, and M. de
-Vaudreuil thanked him in a letter which proves as far as he was
-concerned, that he accepted the engagement in the sense understood by
-Beaumarchais. He wrote:
-
-[Illustration: JOHN JAY]
-
-"The comte de Vaudreuil has the honor to thank M. de Beaumarchais for
-the kindness which he has shown in allowing his piece to be played at
-Grennevilliers. The comte de Vaudreuil has seized with alacrity this
-opportunity of giving to the public a chef d'oeuvre which it awaits with
-impatience. The presence of Monseigneur the comte d'Artois and the real
-merit of this charming piece will in the end destroy all the obstacles
-which have retarded its representation. The comte de Vaudreuil hopes
-very soon to be able to thank M. de Beaumarchais personally.
-
-   "This Monday, Sept. 15th, 1783."
-
-"The success of this representation at Grennevilliers was such," to
-continue the account of Loménie, "that a complete change operated in
-Beaumarchais's attitude toward the piece. Resigned hitherto under the
-royal prohibition, working slowly and carefully to gain ground, he now
-became impatient, pressing and almost imperious. It is clear to anyone
-who will reflect, that on the day when Louis XVI permitted at the
-insistence of the Queen, the Comte d'Artois and M. de Vaudreuil to the
-representation at Grennevillier, he placed himself where he would be
-unable long to resist public curiosity, carried now to the heights by
-that very representation, of which everyone spoke, and by the address of
-Beaumarchais." It was not, however, until March, 1784, that the desired
-permission was given.
-
-"The picture of that representation of _Le Mariage de Figaro_," says
-Loménie, "is in all the chronicles of the times, it is the best
-remembered scene of the eighteenth century. All Paris from earliest
-morning, pressed the doors of the Théâtre-Français; the greatest ladies
-dining in the boxes of the actresses so as to be sure of their
-places--the guards dispersed, the doors broken down, the iron railings
-giving way before the crowd of assailants. When the curtain rose upon
-the scene, the finest reunion of talent which the Théâtre-Français had
-ever possessed was there with but one thought, to bring out to the best
-advantage a comedy, flashing with _esprit_, carrying one away in its
-movement and audacity, which if it shocks some of the boxes, enchants,
-stirs, enflames and electrifies the parterre."
-
-And what is this play that roused such wild enthusiasm a century and
-more ago, and which to-day, although its political significance has long
-vanished, would still give its author, had he done nothing but create
-its characters, a right to a place among the immortals?
-
-"The _Mariage de Figaro_," to quote his own words, "was the most trivial
-of intrigues:
-
-"A great Spanish nobleman, in love with a young girl whom he wishes to
-seduce, and the efforts of that same girl and of him to whom she is
-engaged, and of the wife of the nobleman united to outwit his
-designs--and he an absolute master whose rank, fortune and prodigality
-render all powerful its accomplishment--that and nothing more."
-
-The characters are those in the main of the _Barbier_: the Comte
-Almaviva, the Comtesse Rosine, and the valet Figaro, are old friends.
-But there are new ones, the page Cherubim, and Suzanne, lady's maid to
-the Comtesse--"Always laughing, tender, full of gaiety, of _esprit_, of
-love and delicious!--but good."
-
-"Like the _Barbier_," says Lintilhac, "it is here a question of
-marriage, but it is the valet this time who is to marry and the
-obstacles which retard this desired _dénouement_ arise, not from the
-jealousy of a guardian, or the resistance of a father but from the
-covetousness of a young libertine master.... It is the master who is
-outwitted, the valet and his fiancée who triumph, and in this
-_dénouement_ lies the whole secret of the wild enthusiasm with which the
-piece was greeted. Right here lies the Revolution."
-
-But the master is as truly painted in the play as the other characters.
-"The Comte Almaviva," says Imbert de Saint Amand, "is the old régime,
-Figaro is the new society. Almaviva is corrupt, but he is always _comme
-il faut_. Even in his anger he remains the man of good society; no doubt
-his faults are great; he is a libertine from ennui, jealous from
-vanity, but he is not odious, not ridiculous."
-
-But to return to Lintilhac:
-
-   "We may see that Figaro, by the aid of two clever women and his
-   own _esprit_ has the opportunity to interest the public and to
-   bring all to a happy ending.
-
-   "'Be on your guard that day, M. Figaro! First put the clocks in
-   advance so as to be a little surer of marrying. Get rid of
-   Marceline who wants to marry you herself--take all the money and
-   the presents, let the count have his way, in little things; drub
-   Basil roundly, ... (Act I, Scene II). And let us finish the
-   programme which the fat doctor interrupts,--giving yourself full
-   rein, invective politics, graft and those who live by it;
-   ridicule censorship, and the law, as well as those who abuse
-   both--banter privileges and the privileged and all that attaches
-   itself to either, in a word--open the way for the men of genius
-   who are preparing there below in the obscure crowd, and who wish
-   to emerge.
-
-   "But the time to laugh, _la folle journée_ commences. _Quel
-   imbroglio!_ Twenty times everything seems finished, and suddenly,
-   an unexpected incident, but always arising out of the situation,
-   throws forward in rapid movement that brilliant group of
-   personages. They seek, they evade one another, group themselves
-   in tableaux turn by turn, animated and gracious, laughing or
-   grotesque....
-
-   "And the new song to the old music! And the scene which a moment
-   ago framed these charming groups, suddenly fills with the noise
-   of the crowd and the whole village which sings. _Quel crescendo_
-   of gaiety!...
-
-   "Take the most ingenious comedy of Lope de Vega, or Calderon, add
-   the gaiety of Regnard, the comique of George Dandin, the amusing
-   of Vadé, and one will scarcely have in imagination the
-   equivalent of the scene on the night which terminates the
-   _Mariage de Figaro_."
-
-   And his faithful friend Gudin says of it: "In this piece the
-   parterre applauded not only scenes founded upon true
-   _comique_--that of situations, new characters, like Cherubim and
-   Bridoison--but also the courageous man who dared undertake to
-   combat by ridicule the libertinage of the great lords, the
-   ignorance of magistrates, the venality of officers and the
-   unbecoming way of pleading of lawyers.
-
-   "Beaumarchais might perhaps consider himself more authorized in
-   this than anyone else since he had been calumniated so
-   outrageously by great lords, and injured by the insolent
-   pleadings of lawyers, and _blâmé_ by bad judges.... Let us dare
-   to say what is true, that since Molière no author had better
-   understood the human heart, or better painted the manners of his
-   time."
-
-And his latest critic, Lintilhac, a hundred years after Gudin,
-corroborates his judgment. "By the creation of Figaro, Beaumarchais is
-the first comic French author after Molière, the incomparable painter of
-character."
-
-Of the famous monologue of the piece, Gudin says, "I remember that when
-the author composed it in a moment of enthusiasm, he was alarmed himself
-at its extent. We examined it together; I regarded it with severe
-attention. Everything seemed to me in its place; not a word could be
-omitted without regretting it. Every phrase had a moral or a useful
-object proper to cause the spectator to reflect either on human nature
-or on the abuses of society."
-
-Of its moral significance Beaumarchais has commented in his preface to
-the play: "An author has but one duty; to correct men in making them see
-themselves as they are, whether he moralizes in laughing or weeps in
-moralizing."
-
-And let us now close this brief summary of the famous play by the
-description given by Imbert de Saint-Amand in "_La fin de l'ancien
-Régime_."
-
-"Beaumarchais, that marvelous wit, was scarcely aware perhaps of the
-weight of his attacks and of the gravity of the piece. He did not desire
-the fall of the throne any more than the overturning of the altar, at
-heart he was monarchic.... The first representation was given April 27,
-1784, by the Comédie Française.... The success went to the stars.
-Beaumarchais himself could not help crying out, 'There is something more
-astounding than my piece, it is its success.' ... Actors and actresses
-surpassed themselves. Every word told. Each bit of satire was welcomed
-by acclamations and bravos without end. The public recognized itself in
-the portrait of Figaro. 'Never angry, always gay, giving over the
-present to joy and not worrying about the future any more than the
-past,--lively, generous, _generous_!'
-
-"'Like a robber,' says Bartolo.
-
-"'Like a lord,' replies Marceline.
-
-"What joy for all that assembly, his definition of a courtier:
-
-"Figaro--'I was born to be a courtier.'
-
-"Suzanne--'They say it is a very difficult business.'
-
-"Figaro--'Receive, take, ask, that is the secret in three words.'
-
-"What joyous laughter at the reflection, very true, by the way:
-
-"Le Comte--'The domestics here take longer to dress than their masters.'
-
-"Figaro--'That is because they have no valets to help them.'
-
-"What an excellent remark upon the chances for functionaries:
-
-"Le Comte--'With character and intelligence you may one day be promoted
-in office.'
-
-"Figaro--'Intelligence will advance me? Monsieur is making sport of
-mine--to be mediocre and cringing, one can arrive at anything.'
-
-"And after this very subtle observation, what a picture of diplomacy:
-
-"'Pretend to be ignorant of what everyone knows, and to know what others
-do not know, seem to understand what nobody comprehends, not to hear
-what all hear, and most of all appear able to do the impossible. Seem
-profound when one is only empty; spread spies, pension traitors, loosen
-seals, and intercept letters; magnify the poverty of the methods by the
-importance of the object,--that's politics, or I'm a dead man.'
-
-"The diplomats who were in the audience were transported with pleasure
-in hearing their business so exactly judged.
-
-"The great ladies went into ecstacies at the remark of Suzanne to the
-countess: 'I have noticed how a knowledge of the world gives an ease to
-ladies well brought up, so they can lie without showing it.'
-
-"They applauded with enthusiasm that democratic observation, but
-profoundly true of this same Suzanne: 'Do you think women of my position
-have hysterics? That is a malady which is only to be found in the
-boudoir.'
-
-"The great lords, always surrounded with flatterers and parasites,
-applauded with transport that phrase of Figaro to Basil: 'Are you a
-prince that you must be servilely flattered? Suffer the truth, wretch,
-since you cannot pay a liar.'
-
-"But the moment when the enthusiasm became delirium, frenzy--the moment
-when the dukes and peers, the ministers, the _cordons rouges_, the
-_cordons bleus_--were transported to the seventh heaven of acclaim, was
-when the daring _Barbier_ transformed himself into a tribune and said
-to all of them in the monologue under the chestnut tree:
-
-"'Because you are a great lord you believe yourself a great genius.
-Rank, fortune, position, all that make you so proud! What have you done
-to deserve so many gifts? You have taken the trouble to be born, nothing
-else!'
-
-"The functionaries charged with the censure were particularly enchanted
-with this phrase of the same monologue: 'On condition that I do not
-speak in my writings, either of authority, or religion, or politics, or
-morals, or of people in position, or bodies in favor, or anyone who
-holds to anything, I am allowed to write, to print everything freely
-under the inspection of two or three censors.'
-
-"The ministers charged to fill public functions found the following
-phrase very just: 'They thought of me for a position, but by ill luck I
-was suited to it; they needed a calculator, it was a dancer who received
-it.'"
-
-"The _Mariage de Figaro_" says Loménie, "was presented sixty-eight times
-consecutively, something unheard of in that day. The receipts for the
-first presentation amounted to 6,511 livres, that of the sixty-eighth
-was 5,483. During eight months, from the 27th of April, 1784, to the
-10th of January, 1785, the piece had brought to the Comédie Française
-(not counting the fiftieth presentation which at Beaumarchais's request
-had been given for the benefit of the poor) a gross sum of 347,197
-livres, which left when all expenses were deducted, a net profit to the
-Comedians of 293,755 livres, except the part of the author which was
-valued at 41,499 livres....
-
-"This sum the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_, as if to sanctify the
-piece, consecrated to works of charity.
-
-"'I propose,' he wrote in the _Journal de Paris_, the 12th of August,
-1784, '_un institut de bienfaisance_, to which any woman recognized as
-needy and inscribed in her parish, can come, her infant in her arms and
-with her certificate from the parish priest, say to us, "I am a mother
-and a wet nurse, I gain twenty sous a day, my infant makes me lose
-twelve." Let us give her nine livres a month in charity.... So if the
-comedians have gained two hundred thousand francs from my Figaro, my
-nursing mothers will have twenty-eight thousand which with the thirty
-thousand of my friends, will produce a whole regiment of _marmots_
-stuffed with maternal milk.'"
-
-"This institute," continues Loménie, "of _les pauvres mères nourrices_,
-encountered obstacles at Paris which prevented its establishment in that
-city; but since the idea was good it did not remain fruitless. The
-Archbishop of Lyon, M. de Montazet, adopted it. He accepted the help and
-money of Beaumarchais, and the _Institut de bienfaisance maternelle_, if
-I am not mistaken still in existence in Lyon, was the outcome of the
-_Mariage de Figaro_. Beaumarchais was one of its most constant
-protectors and in 1790 he sent six thousand francs to it and received in
-return the following letter signed by three of the most respectable and
-important inhabitants of Lyon:
-
-                                  "'Lyon, the 11th of April, 1790.
-
-   "'Monsieur:
-
-   "'To speak to you of the success of _l'Institut de bienfaisance
-   maternelle_, is to entertain you in regard to your own work. The
-   idea of it is yours, therefore the plan of the work belongs to
-   you. You have aided it with your generous gifts and more than two
-   hundred children saved to the country, already owe their lives to
-   you. We consider ourselves happy to have contributed to it and
-   our gratitude will always equal the respectful sentiments with
-   which we are Monsieur, etc., _Les administrateurs de l'Institut
-   de bienfaisance maternelle_.
-
-                           "'Palerne de Sacy, Chapp et Tabareau.'"
-
-It was jealousy, Gudin tells us, that prevented the establishment of the
-institute at Paris. A storm of protest arose from his enemies on every
-hand.
-
-"It is not enough," they wrote, "to have gained at the bar the crown of
-Cicero and Parru; to have received at the theater, from the hands of
-Thalie, the laurels of Molière, he must needs add to the just applause
-with which he is greeted, the cries of joy and benediction of the
-unfortunate!... From this feeble stream of money will flow rivers of
-milk and crowds of vigorous infants." An engraving was circulated
-showing Figaro helping mothers and opening the prison doors of poor
-debtors....
-
-Gudin says: "The design made known, redoubled the solicitation of the
-unfortunates addressed to him as well as the insults which the envious
-poured upon him. He scarcely could open a letter which did not contain
-either a demand for charity if it was signed, or a series of invectives
-if it were anonymous."
-
-One of these letters contained a curious request, not for money, as was
-usually the case, but asking that the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_,
-send the applicant a ticket to his play. "Misfortune," he wrote, "has
-driven me to despair, but before ending my life I desire once more to
-indulge in unrestrained laughter."
-
-With characteristic generosity, Beaumarchais sent at once a message, to
-inquire into the cause of the young man's misfortune and not only gave
-him the desired ticket but restored hope to his distressed mind, found a
-position for him and warmed him back to a desire for life.
-
-"But thus," Gudin tells us, "while with his wife, his daughter, his
-sisters, and a few friends, he was receiving the applause of the people
-and the benedictions of the fathers of families--a frightful outrage and
-one without motive was inflicted upon him by authority.
-
-"I was supping with him; we were at the table when the commissioner
-Chenu was announced and asked to speak privately with Beaumarchais. They
-passed into an adjoining room.
-
-"We knew that the commissioner was his friend, still the conference made
-us uneasy. At length they came out together. Beaumarchais embraced us,
-as he said he would be obliged to go out and perhaps to pass the night
-away from home. He begged us not to be uneasy and that the next day we
-should be informed as to the cause of his going.
-
-"These words, far from calming, troubled us. We could not doubt that he
-had been arrested, but why? Where would they take him? Perhaps to the
-Bastille?...
-
-"Not to the Bastille, nor to Vincennes, but to St. Lazare, a prison
-house of correction for delinquent youths, he, a man of mature age, of
-the constancy, of the fortune of M. de Beaumarchais, treated as a
-depraved adolescent! It was a cowardly outrage.
-
-"His enemies were charmed to see him thus humiliated. The consternation
-was general. Lafayette, the Prince de Nassau-Siegen, and other noblemen
-appealed instantly in his favor. At the end of five days he was
-liberated....
-
-"I went with his wife and daughter and the Commissioner Chenu to bring
-him the news of his release. His first reaction was to refuse liberty.
-
-"'I have done nothing to merit having lost it,' he said, 'I shall not go
-from here until judged and justified....'
-
-"If he had not been husband and father, his obstinacy would no doubt
-have carried him to the point of demanding justice of the king against
-the king himself ... but he could not permit himself to pierce the
-hearts of his wife and daughter by condemning them to eternal tears in
-the vain hope of tearing from power the avowal of an injustice....
-
-"Princes, Marshals of France, persons of every rank had inscribed their
-names at his door during his detention and came to felicitate him on his
-return...."
-
-And what was the cause that had operated to bring about this sudden
-outburst of power directed against the author of the _Mariage de
-Figaro_?
-
-It was this. In a dispute carried on with vigor in the pages of _le
-Journal de Paris_, between Beaumarchais and certain anonymous attacks
-directed against him, the former had made use of the expression, "After
-having been forced to conquer _lions_ and _tigers_ to have my comedy
-played...."
-
-"_Lions_ and _tigers_!" Evidently the daring man meant the King and
-Queen of France! The news was brought at once to the royal presence.
-Louis XVI, already annoyed beyond measure at the success of the play, to
-the performance of which he had been forced to consent in spite of
-himself, only needed some pretext to vent his displeasure, "so without
-rising from the card table at which he was seated," says Loménie, "he
-wrote, if we may credit the authority of the author of _Souvenirs d'un
-Sexagénaire_, M. Arnault, ... upon the back of a seven of spades, in
-pencil, the order for the immediate arrest of Beaumarchais and joining
-insult to rigor, something which no sovereign is permitted to use, he
-ordered him conducted, not to an ordinary prison, but one ridiculous and
-shameful for a man of his years, to Saint-Lazare, where depraved
-adolescents were detained.
-
-"To treat as a young good-for-nothing, a man of his age and celebrity, a
-man to whom confidential missions were entrusted, who carried the
-secrets of state, who was charged with the most important operations,
-and whose talents were a powerful attraction to the public and to the
-aristocracy, was not only a gross injustice, it was a most serious
-fault, because it became manifest to everyone how pernicious the
-influence of uncontrolled power might become even in the hands of the
-best prince. This arbitrary act is the only one of its kind that can be
-held as a reproach to Louis XVI....
-
-"The next day, when the motive was demanded for that incarceration, the
-government said nothing, as it had nothing to say, for it would have
-been difficult to make anyone believe that Beaumarchais intended to
-compare Louis XVI to a _tiger_. The public became uneasy and began to
-murmur, and the day after to murmur loudly."
-
-"Every one," says Arnault, "felt himself menaced, not only in his
-liberty but in his reputation." The fourth day there was a general
-movement of indignation.... The fifth day Beaumarchais was turned out of
-prison almost in spite of himself ... and Loménie continues:
-
-"A few days' reflection had made the king realize that he could not
-decently admit the intention given to the author, and coming back to the
-sentiments of justice and goodness so natural to him, he almost begged
-Beaumarchais to come out of prison, and set about in every way to make
-up to him for the wrong done him. Grimm affirms that nearly all the
-ministers were present at the first performance of the play after his
-release, which was made the most brilliant possible, when they had the
-slight unpleasantness of hearing this passage of the famous monologue
-applauded with fervent energy: 'Not being able to debase the spirit,
-they take revenge in abuse.'"
-
-[Illustration: D'ESTAIGN.]
-
-Louis XVI, very soon after this, hastened to make amends in the noblest
-manner and the one most worthy of a sovereign who felt that he had done
-wrong. "_Le Barbier de Séville_," says Grimm, "was given at the little
-theater of the Trianon, and the very distinguished favor was accorded
-the author to be present at the performance."
-
-In the chapter on the _Barbier_ we have spoken already of this striking
-scene, where the queen herself, the Comte d'Artois, M. de Vaudreuil,
-etc., were the actors. There is one more line to this touching picture
-which we have from the pen of Gudin.
-
-"A zealous partisan of royalty, after making himself trusted by those in
-power and in the guise of a Sans-culotte, had penetrated to the presence
-of the unhappy queen, then prisoner in the Temple. He was able to speak
-to her and asked if there were anyone of whom she could think who might
-help her, and he suggested Beaumarchais. The queen's countenance
-instantly fell.
-
-"'Alas,' she said, 'he now has it in his power to avenge himself for the
-insult once offered him.'" And Gudin adds, "She did not know the heart
-of Beaumarchais or that if it had been possible, now that she was in
-trouble, he would have come to her relief with far more alacrity than in
-the hey day of her power."
-
-But the storm now gathering, that was to sweep the mighty from their
-seats, was destined also to vent its fury upon the man of the people
-whose riches and honors long had been the objects of their jealous rage.
-Twice he owed his safety to the poor whom he had assisted, but in the
-general _débâcle_ which followed there was no opportunity for his wit or
-his ingenuity to save him; the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ and the
-_Barbier_ was forced himself to bend before the storm.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIV
-
-
-_"In my feeble childhood I was always astonished to see that the cheval
-de bronze had its foot in the air, but never advanced.... Sad emblem of
-my affairs, which like this image seem always to march, but which have
-no movement."_
-
-                     _Beaumarchais to Ramel, Minister of Finance._
-
-
-   The Marine of Beaumarchais--Success of His Business
-     Undertakings--His Wealth--Ringing Plea of Self-Justification in the
-     Cause of America, Addressed to the Commune of Paris, 1789--The
-     Beautiful House Which He Built in Paris--His Liberality--His
-     Friends--His Home Life--Madame de Beaumarchais--His Daughter,
-     Eugénie.
-
-
-Since the official declaration made by the French Government to the
-Court of London, recognizing the independence of the United States,
-England had considered that war had been declared, and on June 18, 1778,
-she struck the first blow.
-
-"Beaumarchais," says Loménie, "disposed himself to make war as well as
-to carry on commerce. See him now demanding sailors from the Minister of
-the Navy, M. de Sartine, for the service of his great vessel, _le fier
-Roderigue_!
-
-                              "'Paris, the 12th of December, 1778.
-
-   "'Monsieur:
-
-   "'If I presented myself to-day before you, and if I had the honor
-   to propose to you to construct and arm a vessel of this
-   importance, as one able to take the place of a vessel of the
-   King, wherever I should send it, do you think, Monsieur, that you
-   would refuse cannon and the title of Captain of a battleship to
-   its Commander? How then can it be less precious when all is ready
-   than if it were still to be built?
-
-   "'I beg your pardon; but the multiplicity of objects which occupy
-   you may very easily hide from you the importance of my armament,
-   consecrated to the triple employment of encouraging the commerce
-   of France by my example and my success, of promising to provision
-   the islands most in need, and of conducting to the continent of
-   America, in the most stormy times, a French merchant fleet
-   important enough to convince the new states by this effort of the
-   great desire of France to support the new commercial bond that
-   already joins us....
-
-   "'It is to your wisdom that I present these serious matters, and
-   I dare say that there are none more worthy of the attention and
-   protection of an enlightened minister such as you.
-
-                                         "'Caron de Beaumarchais.'
-
-"_Le Fier Roderigue_," continues Loménie, "set sail, with her sixty
-cannon, convoying ten merchantmen. At the Isle of Granada it encountered
-the fleet of the Admiral d'Estaing, which prepared to give battle to
-that of the English Admiral Biron. Sighting the beautiful vessel of
-Beaumarchais passing in the distance, the admiral made a sign for it to
-come. Seeing that it belonged to His Majesty, Caron de Beaumarchais, he
-assigned it to its post of battle without the authorization of its
-proprietor, allowing the unfortunate merchantmen which this vessel was
-protecting to go on at the mercy of the seas and of the English. _Le
-Fier Roderigue_ resigned itself bravely to its fate, and took a glorious
-part in the Battle of Granada and contributed its part to making the
-English Admiral retire, but its captain was killed and it was riddled
-with bullets. The evening of the combat the Comte d'Estaing, feeling the
-need of consoling Beaumarchais, wrote to him a letter, which he sent
-through the Minister of the Navy, the like of which is not often found
-in the archives of a dramatic poet:
-
-        "'On board the Languedoc, the 12th of July, 1779.
-
-   "'I have only the time to write you that _le Fier Roderigue_ has
-   held her post in line, and contributed to the success of the arms
-   of the king. You will pardon me all the more readily for having
-   used her, since your interests will not suffer from it, be sure
-   of that. The brave M. de Montaut unfortunately was killed. I will
-   urge the minister without ceasing for the favor of the state, and
-   I hope you will aid me in soliciting that which your navy has
-   very justly merited.
-
-   "'I have the honor to be, with all the sentiments which you have
-   so well known how to inspire, Monsieur, your very humble and
-   obedient servant,
-
-   "'Estaing.'
-
-"The minister hastened to send the letter to Beaumarchais, who replied
-as follows:
-
-                                       "'Paris, September 7, 1779.
-
-   "'Monsieur:
-
-   "'I thank you for having sent me the letter of the Comte
-   d'Estaing. It is noble of him, in the moment of his triumph, to
-   have thought that a word from his hand would be very agreeable to
-   me.... Whatever may happen for my affairs, my poor friend Montaut
-   died on the bed of honor, and I feel the joy of a child to know
-   that my vessel has contributed to take from the English the most
-   fertile of their possessions....
-
-   "'You know my tender and respectful devotion,
-
-                                                  "'Beaumarchais.'
-
-"However, the joy of the patriot," continued Loménie, "was somewhat
-mitigated by the distress of the merchant. The report of the captain,
-second in command of the _Fier Roderigue_, arrived at the same time, and
-though it contributed equally to the glory of Beaumarchais, it was very
-disastrous from the point of view of his coffer. He, therefore,
-addressed a vigorous appeal to the King, asking for an indemnity which
-would save him from ruin." That the request was subsequently granted, we
-may judge from the following extract from a letter to Necker, written a
-little more than a year after the date of the battle, and given by
-Gudin:
-
-   "Paris, July 18th, 1780.
-
-   "You have rendered, Monsieur, an act of justice in my regard, and
-   you have done it with grace, which has touched me more than the
-   thing itself. I thank you for it; but I owe you more important
-   thanks upon the indemnity, which the King has been so good as to
-   offer me for the enormous losses which the campaign with
-   d'Estaing has caused me."
-
-Loménie asserts that the indemnity had been fixed at 2,000,000 francs,
-and was to be paid in installments, the last coming to him in 1785.
-
-But to return to the American Congress. After long debates a reversal of
-parties had placed at the head of that body the honorable John Jay, who
-hastened to address Beaumarchais with the first letter which came to him
-from Congress, although his earliest shipment of supplies had been made
-almost two years previously:
-
-   "By express order of Congress, sitting in Philadelphia, to M.
-   de Beaumarchais.
-
-                                                "January 15, 1779.
-
-   "Sir:
-
-   "The Congress of the United States of America, recognizing the
-   great efforts which you have made in their favor, presents to you
-   its thanks, and the assurance of its esteem. It laments the
-   disappointments which you have suffered in the support of these
-   States. Disastrous circumstances have prevented the execution of
-   its desires; but it will take the promptest measures to acquit
-   itself of the debt which it has contracted towards you. The
-   generous sentiments and the breadth of view, which alone could
-   dictate a conduct such as yours, are the eulogy of your actions,
-   and the ornament of your character. While, by your rare talents,
-   you have rendered yourself useful to your prince, you have gained
-   the esteem of this young Republic and merited the applause of the
-   New World.
-
-   "John Jay, President."
-
-This beautiful expression of the best feeling in the States must have
-been soothing to the heart of Beaumarchais. That he understood the
-attitude of America and knew very well the complexity of the situation
-in which the young republic found itself involved, may be judged from
-the following extract from his _Mémoire justicative à la cour de
-Londres_, printed in the first collection of his works and written in
-1779. He says:
-
-"In truth, my ardent zeal for my new friends might well have been a
-little wounded at the cold reception which was made to brave men whom I
-had myself brought to expatriate themselves for the service. My pains,
-my work, and my advances were immense in this respect. But I am
-afflicted only for our unhappy officers, because even in the very
-refusal of the Americans, I don't know what exultation, what republican
-pride attracted my heart, and showed me a people so ardent to conquer
-their liberty, that they feared to diminish the glory of success in
-allowing strangers to divide with them the perils. My soul thus is
-composed; in the greatest evils it searches with care, and consoles
-itself with the little good which it encounters. And so, while my
-efforts had so little fruit in America ... sustained by my pride, I
-disdained to defend myself, leaving the evil-minded to their proper
-channel.
-
-"The idle of Paris envied my happiness, and were jealous of me as a
-favorite of fortune and of power; and I, sad plaything of events, alone,
-deprived of rest, lost for society, exhausted by insomnia and troubles,
-_tour à tour_ exposed to the suspicions, the ingratitude, anxieties, to
-the reproaches of France, England and America; working day and night and
-running to my goal by constant effort across a thorny land--I exhausted
-myself with fatigue and advanced little. I felt my courage revived when
-I thought that a great people would soon offer a sweet and free retreat
-to all the persecuted of Europe; that my fatherland would be revenged
-for the humiliation to which it had been subjected by the treaty of
-1763; in a word, that the sea would become open to all commercial
-nations; I was supported by the hope that a new system of politics would
-open in Europe."
-
-[Illustration: THE BASTILLE]
-
-But notwithstanding all his difficulties and losses, the affairs of
-Beaumarchais were advancing steadily. His merchant fleet, after the
-Treaty of Paris, signed in September, 1783, was no longer subject to the
-risks of war, and soon began to bring him in vast returns. But as late
-as March of this same year, we find him writing to Vergennes, in a
-letter quoted by Gaillardet:
-
-   "The taking of my two vessels cost me more than 800,000 livres,
-   and since the publicity of my losses I have been drawn upon,
-   through fear, for a similar sum. Remittances have come to me from
-   America, and now unfortunately their payment is suspended. I have
-   two new vessels at Nantes, one of 12,000 tons, which I destined
-   for China, and which I am now unable to sell.
-
-   "I have 80,000 livres worth of bales of merchandise on the
-   _Aigle_, destined for Congress, and the _Aigle_ has been taken. A
-   sudden inundation, which happened at Morlaige, has submerged two
-   warehouses where I had 1,000,000 pounds of tea. The whole is
-   damaged to-day.
-
-   "Day before yesterday, at the instant of payment, the exchange
-   agent of Girard by his fraudulent bankruptcy carried off near
-   30,000 livres.
-
-   "Two vessels must be sent to the Chesapeake before the middle of
-   May if I am not to lose all the miserable remains of the tobacco
-   of my stores in Virginia, the main part of which was burned by
-   the English, because for four years _le Fier Roderigue_ has been
-   detained at Rochefort, where it has at last decayed. This is the
-   most trying time of my life; and you know M. le Comte that for
-   three years I have had over 200,000 livres in disuse, because of
-   the enormous mass of parchments which M. de Maurepas ordered me
-   secretly to buy, wherever I found them. I shall perish if M. de
-   Fleury does not promptly arrange with you to throw me the 'on
-   account' which I demand, as one throws a cable to him whom the
-   current carries away. I always have served my country well, and I
-   will serve it still without recompense; I wish none. But in the
-   name of Heaven, of the King, of compassion and of justice,
-   prevent me from perishing or from hiding shamefully in a foreign
-   country the little courage and talent which I always have sought
-   to render useful to my country and to my King. What I ask is of
-   the most rigorous equity and I will receive it as a favor.
-
-   "I present to you the homages of him who has not slept for two
-   months, but who is none the less, with the most respectful
-   devotion, M. le Comte, your very humble and very obedient
-   servitor,
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-But let us now turn from this gloomy picture and cast a glance at the
-home life of this man so buffeted before the world.
-
-Bonneville de Marsangy, in his life of Madame de Beaumarchais has drawn
-the picture for us. He says:
-
-"Beaumarchais, in consequence of the noise which continued to be made
-about his name, was none the less one of the personages the most sought
-after of the capital. Whatever he says about it, the fact is that he
-lived in great style. His stables contained as many as ten horses. He
-kept open table; strangers of distinction, desirous of knowing the
-popular author of so many celebrated works, solicited the honor of being
-presented to him. He received men of distinction in politics, in letters
-and arts, and women the most sought after, in the midst of whom the
-mistress of the house shone in the first rank by her _esprit_, her
-education, and her charms.... Nearly every evening in the Hotel
-Boulevard St. Antonie, there was talking, music, playing, although the
-master never took part in play. His _esprit_ was equally free, equally
-alert, his fancy inexhaustible. It is there he loved to read his new
-productions, and he excelled at that. Arnault recounts one of these
-literary reunions at which he assisted, 'in a great circular salon,
-partly ornamented with mirrors, partly with landscapes of vast
-dimensions, and half of which was occupied by seats for placing the
-auditors. Upon an estrade, furnished with a desk, stood the armchair of
-the reader. There, as in a theatre, Beaumarchais read, or rather played
-his dramas; because it is to play, if one delivers a piece in as many
-different inflexions of the voice as there are different personages in
-the action; because it is to play if one gives to each one of the
-personages the pantomime which should characterize him.'" (Arnault,
-_Souvenirs d'un sexagénaire_, Vol. IV.)
-
-And Gudin adds another touch to the portrait of this many-sided man;
-after speaking of the loss of his mother, dying in her eighty-third
-year, he said:
-
-"Beaumarchais came at once to see me, offered me all the consolations of
-friendship, and reclaimed the promise which we had given one another
-long ago, to unite the rest of the days which nature reserved to us.
-
-"It is thus that I found in the family of my friend all those attentions
-which could sweeten the irreparable loss of the tenderest mother and one
-whom I had quitted almost never."
-
-In 1787 Beaumarchais had accumulated a sufficient fortune to contemplate
-the building of a superb residence, for which he already had bought the
-land in that section of the City of Paris now occupied by the Boulevard
-which bears his name. It was directly opposite the Bastille, and was not
-yet completed on the memorable 14th of July, 1789, when the ancient
-fortress was destroyed. This residence cost the owner one million six
-hundred and sixty-three thousand francs. "_Une folie_," Napoleon called
-it. When in 1818, the government bought the property so as to make way
-for the new boulevard, they paid the heirs of Beaumarchais only five
-hundred thousand francs. As an investment, therefore, it was far from
-successful; but as a residence, it was, while it lasted, one of the
-sights of the city, and was regarded as such. It was the very last word
-in elegance and comfort, and rivaled the most sumptuous palaces of the
-capital. In the beginning, it was always open to the public, but so vast
-became the horde of visitors, that very soon entrance was obtainable
-only by tickets (though these were never refused to anyone who asked
-politely for them).
-
-Although the storm of the Revolution was gathering already, its shadow
-had not yet fallen upon Beaumarchais, who did not foresee either its
-fury or the extent of the devastation it was to carry in its train.
-
-After the fall of the Bastille he had been appointed by the _Maire_ of
-Paris to superintend the demolition of the structure so as to prevent
-damage to buildings in the neighborhood. Soon after he was named member
-of the Municipal Council, but, says Loménie, "denunciations soon began
-to rain upon him. All the adversaries of his numerous lawsuits and all
-those whom his riches irritated denounced him to the fury of the masses,
-as one who upheld authority, or who was hoarding wheat or arms. His
-house, situated at the very entrance to that terrible suburb, the center
-of the mob, presented itself as a sort of insolent provocation, which
-naturally called for the visits of the people." To rid himself of these
-dangerous visits became his constant preoccupation; first demanding
-official visits, then placarding about him the results of these visits,
-stating that nothing suspicious had been found in his possession, again
-distributing about him all the money possible, and suggesting to the
-municipality all sorts of charitable institutions, because "disorder and
-misery always march in company." Among the accusations persistently made
-against him was that he had enriched himself at the expense of the
-American people, and that he had sent them arms and munitions for which
-he charged them a hundred times their value. Stung to the quick by the
-falsehood of these accusations, coming as they did from his own
-countrymen, he made a ringing protest of self-defense to the commune of
-Paris in September, 1789, in which he said:
-
-   "You condemn me to speak well of myself by speaking so ill of
-   me.... Attacked by furious enemies, I have gained, perhaps with
-   too much brilliancy, all the lawsuits undertaken against me,
-   because I never have brought an action against anyone, although
-   for the greatest benefits I have received almost universally, I
-   dare say it, unheard of and constant ingratitude....
-
-   "Since I have been attacked upon this point I am going to state
-   before you all the unheard of labors, which a single man was able
-   to accomplish in that great work. Frenchmen, you who pride
-   yourselves to have drawn the desire and ardor of your liberty
-   from the example of the Americans, learn that that nation owes me
-   very largely her own. It is time that I should say it in the face
-   of the universe, and if anyone pretends to contest what I say,
-   let him rise and name himself; my proofs will reply to the
-   imputations which I denounce....
-
-   "These accusations, as vague as despicable, relate to the
-   Americans whom I served so generously; I, who would be reduced to
-   the alms which I scatter, had not noble foreigners, taken in a
-   free country, associated me with the gains of a vast commerce,
-   while I associated them to my constant losses with America! I,
-   who dared form all the plans of help necessary to that people,
-   and offered them to our ministers; I, who dared blame their
-   indecision, their weakness, and so loudly reproach them with it,
-   in my proud reply to the English manifest by Gibbon; I, who dared
-   promise a success which was very far from being generally
-   admitted....
-
-   "All that I could obtain after a great deal of trouble ... was to
-   be allowed to proceed on my own responsibility without the
-   assistance of the government in any way, on condition of being
-   stopped if the English made the least complaints, and of being
-   punished if they produced proofs--which put so many hindrances in
-   the way of my maritime operations, that to help the Americans, I
-   was obliged to mask and to disguise my works in the interior; the
-   expeditions, the ships, the manufactures of the contractors, and
-   even to the reason of trade, which was a mask like the rest.
-
-   "Shall I say it, Frenchmen? The King alone had courage, and as
-   for me I worked for his glory, wishing to make him the prop of a
-   proud people who burned to be free; because I had an immense debt
-   to fulfil towards that good king.... Yes, the King, Louis XVI,
-   who assured to the Americans their liberty, who gives you yours,
-   Frenchmen, gave back to me also my estate. Let his name be
-   honored in all the centuries. Then, leaving aside the labors
-   which I am ready to expose in a work where I will prove that I
-   sent at my risks and perils, whatever could be had of the best in
-   France, in munitions, arms, clothing, etc., to the insurgents who
-   needed everything, on credit, at the cost price, leaving them
-   masters to fix the commission which they would one day pay to
-   their friend (for so they called me); and that after twelve
-   years, I am still not paid. I declare that the measures which I
-   am making at this moment before their new federal court, to
-   obtain justice of them,--faithful report which a committee of the
-   Treasury has just given of what is due me, is the last effort of
-   a very generous creditor. But I will publish everything, and the
-   universe shall judge us. Omitting, I say, all the details of my
-   work, of my services towards that people, I will pass to the
-   testimony which was given me by the agent, the minister of
-   America, before he left France. His letter of March 18th, 1778,
-   bears these words:
-
-     'After the perplexing and embarrassing scenes you have had to
-     pass through, it must give you the most solid joy to see an
-     armament going out to America.... I again congratulate you on
-     this great and glorious event, to which you have contributed more
-     than any other person.
-
-                                                    'Silas Deane.'
-
-   "Alas, that was the last of my successes. A minister of the
-   department to whom I showed that letter, alas, though up to that
-   time he had treated me with the greatest kindness, suddenly
-   changed his tone, and his style. I did my best to persuade him
-   that I did not pretend in any way to appropriate to myself that
-   glory, but to leave it entirely to him. The blow had carried, he
-   had read the praise; I was lost in his favor. It was to take from
-   him all idea of my ambition, to avert the storm, that I
-   recommenced to amuse myself with frivolous theatrical plays,
-   while keeping a profound silence upon my political actions. But
-   that helped nothing. It is very true that a year later, the
-   general Congress, having received my vivid complaints upon the
-   delay of payment, wrote me the ... letter by the Honorable Mr.
-   John Jay, their president, the 15th of Jan. 1779....
-
-   "If it was not money, it was at least gratitude. America, nearer
-   the great services which I had rendered her, was not yet where
-   she disputed her debts, fatiguing me with injustice, to wear out
-   my life, if possible, and succeed in paying nothing. It is also
-   true that the same year, the respectable Mr. Jefferson, to-day
-   their minister in France, then Governor of Virginia, struck by
-   the fearful losses which the depreciation of paper money would
-   inflict upon me, wrote, to my general agent in America, M. de
-   Francy, in these terms:
-
-                                              "'December 17, 1779.
-
-     "'Monsieur:
-
-     "'I am very much mortified that the depreciation of paper money,
-     of which no one, I think, had the least idea at the time of the
-     contract, passed between the supercargo of the _Fier Roderigue_
-     (war vessel of mine, very richly charged, the cargo of which had
-     been delivered on credit to Virginia, which state owes me still
-     almost the whole, after more than twelve years have passed), and
-     that state has enveloped in the general loss M. de Beaumarchais,
-     who has merited so well of us, and who has excited our greatest
-     veneration by his affection for the true rights of man, his
-     genius, his literary reputation, etc.
-
-                                      Signed, "'Thomas Jefferson.'
-
-   "In the work, which I am going to publish, where I will show the
-   proofs of the excellence of all my shipments to that people,
-   after exact inspection which they themselves made, before the
-   departure of my vessels, well attested by their ministers, and
-   the excuses which he made me, of which I have all the originals,
-   the surprise will be to see the patience with which I have
-   supported all the invectives of my enemies. But it would have
-   been to disgrace _the greatest act of my life_, the honorable
-   part which I had in the liberty of America, if I had mingled it
-   with the discussions of a vile law suit.... It was my scorn, my
-   indignation, which made me keep silence. It is broken; I will
-   hold my tongue no more on that great object, _the glory of my
-   entire life_. They say that my sordid avarice has been the cause
-   of the misfortunes of the American people. _My_ avarice, mine,
-   whose life is only a circle of generosity, of benevolence. I will
-   not cease to prove it, since their savage libels have rendered so
-   many men unjust. Not a single being, who went at that time from
-   Europe to America, without having pecuniary obligations to me, of
-   which nearly all are due me still; and no Frenchman has suffered
-   in that country whom I have not aided with my purse. I invoke a
-   witness, whom it does you honor to respect, the very valiant
-   general of your troops. Ask him if my services did not hunt out
-   unfortunate Frenchmen in every corner of America.
-
-   "Render justice to my good heart, noble Marquis de Lafayette;
-   Your glorious youth, would it not have been ruined without my
-   wise counsel and the advances of my money? You have very well
-   repaid all that was loaned you by my orders; and I say it to your
-   glory, you have added fifty louis more than were due to me, to
-   join that money to the charitable institution which I was
-   founding of the _pauvres mères nourrices_....
-
-   "And you, Baron von Steuben, Comtes Pulasky, Bienousky, you,
-   Tronçon, Prudhomme, and a hundred others, who have never
-   acquitted their debts to me, come out of your tombs and speak!
-
-   "Fifteen hundred thousand francs at least, of services rendered,
-   fill a portfolio, which probably will never be acquitted by
-   anyone, and more than a thousand unfortunates whose needs I have
-   anticipated are ready to raise their voice in my favor.... The
-   third of my fortune is in the hands of my debtors, and since I
-   have aided the poor of Sainte-Marguerite, four hundred letters at
-   least are on my desk from unfortunates, raising their hands to
-   me.... My heart is torn, but I cannot reply to all.
-
-                                             "September 2, 1789."
-
-But from the accusations of his enemies, and the pleadings of his own
-cause, let us turn, before worse calamities overtake him, to contemplate
-anew the charming picture, which the interior of his home presents.
-
-It was in 1791 that he took his family to occupy the splendid new
-residence which we have just now mentioned. Its mistress Madame de
-Beaumarchais was a woman of rare intelligence and energy of character;
-"her physiognomy," says Bonneville, "offered an expression full of
-vivacity and intelligence. The eye is superb, tempered by long lashes,
-heightened by the daring arch of the brows; the mouth is admirably well
-formed; the chin full, the complexion brilliant.... The reputation for
-beauty of Madame de Beaumarchais was general. The public ratified on all
-occasions, the praise of her friends. It is traditional in her family
-that she rarely left her home without being recognized and followed at a
-distance by a cortège of admirers, drawn not only by the celebrity of
-the name she bore, but also by the prestige of her bearing. Often, even,
-she was obliged to gain her carriage to avoid the importunity of the too
-flattering attentions.
-
-"Beaumarchais, as he confesses perhaps superfluously, was far from being
-a devotee; still he respected the beliefs of others; he had desired
-especially that his daughter should be brought up piously. Eugénie was
-at this moment a pupil at the convent of Bon Secours; her father often
-went there to visit her. The Superior, who had had proof of the generous
-and good heart of the father of her pupil, permitted herself to speak of
-one of the school-mates of Eugénie who was unable to pay the expenses of
-her education. The author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ replied at once in
-the following delicate manner:
-
-                                                  "'July 27, 1790.
-
-   "'I send you, Madame, a bill of 200 livres for your unfortunate
-   pupil. This is for the year. I will have the honor of giving to
-   you or to her, in money, the first time I go to the convent,
-   three louis, which will make six francs a month for this year,
-   the same as I give to my daughter; but I conjure you, Madam, that
-   my help does not force or press her vocation. I should be
-   distressed if she were in any way thwarted as to her future. I
-   have not the honor of knowing her; it is the good which you have
-   said of her which determined me. That she remains free, and less
-   unhappy, this is all the thanks I ask; keep the secret for me. I
-   am surrounded with virulent enemies.'
-
-"One cannot," continues Bonneville, "hide oneself more gallantly, to do
-good.
-
-"The prioress hastened to divulge the secret; and to the rough draft of
-the letter of Beaumarchais found among his papers, is attached a note in
-which his young protégée expressed with emotion all her gratitude to her
-benefactor."
-
-The violences directed against the religious establishments soon forced
-Beaumarchais to bring his daughter home. It was about this time that we
-find a letter, addressed by the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_, to
-the Municipal officers of Paris, begging, with his characteristic
-energy, that the churches be opened, and more masses be said in the
-Quartier-Vieille-rue-du-Temple.
-
-"In this letter," says Loménie, "it is the husband, the brother, but
-especially the father who speaks. The author of the _Mariage de Figaro_
-adored his only daughter, he had just brought her home from the convent,
-and if he went himself very little to mass, he was not sorry to have her
-go for him. It is this side of Beaumarchais, so good, so simple, so
-jovial, so gay, that makes us love him, and which comes out with special
-force in a song which he wrote to celebrate the young girl's return
-under her father's roof. This song has been classed as one of the best
-of the poetic inspirations of Beaumarchais. The turn _naïf_ of the old
-popular songs is found in it, combined with a graceful mixture of
-friendliness, finesse and gaiety."
-
-The charm of these verses, which it is impossible to render into
-English, gave the song a great popularity, and it circulated widely.
-
-In it, there was question of the marriage of Mlle. Eugénie, where the
-father jestingly says: "My _gentilhomme_, is that all you are?
-
-   "Parchment and blazonry will never open my house.
-
-   "_If someone really tender,
-   Sings thee songs in the air,
-   Let me hear them
-   For thy Father sees clear
-   And I will say if there is reason
-   That he should enter here._
-
-   "_Should some excellent young man
-   See heaven in thy eyes,
-   Say to him 'Beautiful astronomer,
-   Speak to that good old man,
-   He is my father, and there is reason
-   That he should choose his son-in-law.'_
-
-   "_If he has some talent
-   What matters his fortune?
-   Judge, writer, soldier,
-   Esprit, virtue, sweet reason--
-   These are the titles valued here._"
-
-"The result of all this was that Beaumarchais was deluged," says
-Loménie, "with the most singular demands in marriage for his daughter.
-Here it is from a nobleman, but one who makes no point of his blazon,
-who despises the fortune which he has not, who esteems only virtue, and
-who aspires to marry Mlle. Eugénie and her dot; there, from a father,
-perfectly unknown to Beaumarchais, who begs him to keep the daughter for
-his son, still in college; farther on it is a captain, who has only his
-sword, but who is worthy of being a Marshal of France. Politely to turn
-aside this avalanche of virtuous and disinterested suitors, the father
-of Eugénie wrote a letter which, with slight modifications, serves him
-for all, and of which the following is a sample:
-
-                                             "Paris, May 21, 1791.
-
-   "Although your letter, Monsieur, appears to have its origin in a
-   simple jest, since it is serious and honest, I owe you a reply.
-
-   "You have been deceived regarding my daughter. Scarcely fourteen
-   years old, she is far from the time when I will allow her to
-   choose a master, reserving for myself in this only, the right to
-   advise. Perhaps you are quite ignorant of the exact situation. I
-   have only lately taken my daughter from the convent; the joy of
-   her return drew from my indolence a song, which after having been
-   sung at my table, went the rounds. The tone _bonhomme_ which I
-   there took, joined to the jest of her future establishment, has
-   made many persons think that I already thought of her settlement.
-
-   "But may I be preserved from engaging her before the time when
-   her own heart will give her a consciousness of what it all means,
-   and Monsieur, this will be an affair of years, not of months.
-
-   "What the song says jestingly, however, will certainly be my rule
-   to enlighten her young heart. Fortune touches me less than
-   talents and virtue, because I wish her to be happy....
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-But the young girl's presence under her father's roof was to be of short
-duration. Very soon, his anxiety for their safety led him to dispatch
-his family to Havre. For, says La Harpe,
-
-"His house was placed at the entrance of that terrible faubourg like the
-Palace of Portici at the foot of Vesuvius.... The eruption of the
-volcano was as yet only at rare intervals; that of the faubourg was at
-every moment. It is inconceivable that under the lava always boiling,
-that house was not engulfed."
-
-So it is here we will leave him to await alone,--except for his faithful
-Gudin--the coming of the storm, which his own writings had done so much
-to rouse, but which he neither desired, nor, to the end, comprehended.
-
-[Illustration: HOUSE OF BEAUMARCHAIS]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXV
-
-
-"_I know very well to live is to combat, and perhaps I should be
-afflicted at this if I did not know that in return to combat is to
-live._"
-
-   _Caron de Beaumarchais._
-
-"_--Often broken-hearted, always consoled by the sublime principle
-of the compensation of good and evil--which was the ground of his
-optimism ..._"
-
-   _Lintilhac in Beaumarchais et Ses OEuvres._
-
-
-   House of Beaumarchais Searched--The 10th of August--Letter to his
-     Family in Havre--Letter of Eugénie to her Father--Commissioned to
-     Buy Guns for the Government--Goes to Holland as Agent of _Comité
-     de Salut Public_--Declared an Emigré--Confiscation of his
-     Goods--Imprisonment of his Family--The Ninth Thermidor Comes to
-     Save Them--Life During the Terror--Julie again in
-     Evidence--Beaumarchais's Name Erased From List of Emigrés--Returns
-     to France.
-
-
-Early in 1792, Beaumarchais embarked in a new political and commercial
-operation which, says Loménie, "was destined to embarrass his fortune
-and to be the torment of his latter days. France was without arms and he
-undertook to procure them for her. It is difficult to understand that a
-man sixty years old, rich, fatigued by a most stormy existence,
-afflicted with increasing deafness, surrounded with enemies, and
-desirous only of repose should have allowed himself to be induced to
-attempt to bring into France sixty thousand guns detained in Holland
-under circumstances which rendered this operation as dangerous as it was
-difficult."
-
-However, Gudin tells us, "he had only the choice of dangers. To have
-refused to procure the arms would have marked him for disfavor. He
-therefore chose the danger of being useful to his country. This
-resolution exposed him to the risk of being pillaged and assassinated,
-but in the end it saved his life.... During the days of frenzy which
-preceded the overthrowing of the throne, the most hostile menaces
-sounded around his house."
-
-The populace insisted that he had stored it with wheat and guns. In vain
-Beaumarchais protested, in vain he placarded the walls of his garden
-with official statements proving that the house had been searched and
-that nothing had been found. The fury of the mob was not to be appeased.
-Finally on the 8th of August, the threatenings became so ominous that he
-was persuaded to spend the night in the home of a friend, who had sought
-safety outside Paris, leaving an old domestic alone in charge.
-Beaumarchais says:
-
-"At midnight the valet, frightened, came to the room where I was,
-'Monsieur,' he said to me, 'get up, the people are searching for you,
-they are beating the doors down, someone has turned traitor, the house
-will be pillaged.' ... The frightened man hid in a closet while the mob
-searched the house." When morning came, he returned to his own home,
-around which the threatenings still continued without ceasing.
-
-Gudin says: "He received the most alarming notices, and the day after
-the imprisonment of the king, August 10th, a great multitude set out in
-the direction of his house, threatening to break down the iron gates if
-they were not immediately opened. I and two other persons were with him.
-
-"At first his desire was to open the doors and to speak to the
-multitude. But persuaded that secret enemies conducted the crowd, and
-that he would be assassinated before he could open his mouth, we induced
-him to leave the house by a side entrance.... As we were but four we
-decided to separate in the hope of deceiving those who sought him....
-
-"Whatever the cause, once admitted and masters of the situation, someone
-proposed to swear that they would destroy nothing. The populace swore
-and kept its word. Always extreme, it even swore to hang anyone who
-stole anything. It visited the whole house, the closets, the granaries,
-the cellars, and the apartments of the women and my own. They wished to
-hang my own domestic, who seeing the crowd, ran from room to room with
-some of my silver hidden in her pocket; they thought she was stealing,
-and she was forced to call in the other domestics as witnesses. They
-searched everywhere and found only the gun, hunting case, and sword of
-the master of the house, these they did not disturb.
-
-"Thirsty from excitement and fatigue, that breathless troop, instead of
-opening a cask of wine, satisfied itself with water from the fountain.
-They even left the master's watch hanging at the head of his bed, and
-other articles of jewelry about the rooms.... A troup conducted by a
-magistrate would not have been more exact in its perquisition, or more
-circumspect in its conduct.
-
-"Truth here resembles fable,--something extraordinary always mingled
-itself with the events which came to Beaumarchais. This conduct of the
-populace was the fruit of the benefits which he had poured upon the poor
-of his neighborhood. If he had not been loved, if he had not been dear
-to his domestics, all his goods would have been dissipated by pillage."
-
-The next day Beaumarchais wrote to his daughter in Havre:
-
-                                                 "August 12, 1792.
-
-   " ... My thoughts turned upon thy mother, and thee and my poor
-   sisters. I said with a sigh, 'My child is safe; my age is
-   advanced; my life is worth very little and this would not
-   accelerate the death by nature but by a few years. But my
-   daughter! Her mother! They are safe? Tears flowed from my eyes.
-   Consoled by this thought I occupied myself with the last term of
-   life, believing it very near. Then, my head hollow through so
-   much contending emotion, I tried to harden myself and to think of
-   nothing. I watched mechanically the men come and go; I said, 'The
-   moment approaches,' but I thought of it as a man exhausted, whose
-   ideas begin to wander, because for four hours I had been standing
-   in this state of violent emotion which changed into one like
-   death. Then feeling faint, I seated myself on a bank and awaited
-   my fate, without being otherwise alarmed."
-
-"When the crowd had retired," says Gudin in his narrative, "Beaumarchais
-returned and dined in his home, more astonished to find all undisturbed
-than he would have been to have seen the whole devastated...."
-
-"And so we continued to live alone in that great habitation, occupied in
-meditating on the misfortunes of the state and sometimes upon those
-which menaced us....
-
-"On the 23rd of August, upon awakening I perceived armed men in the
-streets, sentinels at the doors and under the windows. I hastened to the
-apartment of my friend--I found him surrounded by sinister men occupied
-in searching his papers and putting his effects under seal. Tranquil in
-the midst of them, he directed their operations. When they were through,
-they took him with them and I was left alone in that vast palace,
-guarded by _sans culottes_ whose aspect made me doubt whether they were
-there to conserve the property, or to give the signal for pillage."
-
-Beaumarchais had been carried off to the _mairie_ (police court) "where
-he defended himself so perfectly," continues Gudin, "that his denouncers
-were confounded and about to liberate him when Marat denounced him
-anew.... He was sent to l'Abbaye along with others whose virtues were a
-title of proscription.
-
-"At the end of a week his name was called. General consternation in the
-prison.
-
-"'You are called for.'
-
-"'By whom?'
-
-"'M. Manuel. Is he your enemy?'
-
-"'I never saw him.' Beaumarchais went out. All the assembly sat silent.
-
-"'Who is M. Manuel?' demanded Beaumarchais.
-
-"'I am he. I come to save you. Your denouncer, Colmar, is declared
-culpable--he is in prison--you are free.' ...
-
-"Two days later came the September massacres. And thus a second time his
-life was saved. 'Long afterwards he learned that a woman to whom he had
-rendered an eminent service had solicited Manuel to obtain the liberty
-of her benefactor.'" (_Gudin_, p. 430.)
-
-"It would seem natural," says M. de Loménie, "that in such a moment, the
-author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ would consent to set aside the matter
-of the guns and occupy himself with his own personal safety."
-
-He consented, however, to hide himself during the day outside Paris, but
-every night he returned on foot by byways and across ploughed fields, to
-urge the ministers to make good the promises of their predecessors and
-make it possible for him to obtain the sixty-thousand guns from Holland
-which he had promised the nation.
-
-"The fact was," says Loménie, "that on the one hand, until those guns
-were delivered, he remained an object of suspicion to the people, while
-on the other he believed that the minister Lebrun was trying to exploit
-the matter to his own credit while leaving to Beaumarchais, if
-necessary, all the responsibility of failure. This was what rendered him
-so tenacious, that he tormented even Danton who, by the way, could not
-help laughing to see a man so badly compromised who should be thinking
-only of his safety, obstinately returning every night to demand the
-money which had been promised as a deposit, and to obtain a commission
-for Holland."
-
-Finally Lebrun consented to give the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ a
-passport to Holland and promised to have the necessary money ready for
-him at Havre.
-
-"He set out," says Lintilhac, "on the 22nd of September, 1792, with
-Gudin, directing himself toward Havre, where, after so many emotions, he
-wished to press his wife and his daughter in his arms. From there, he
-passed to England where he was arrested, imprisoned, then set free. As
-soon as Madame de Beaumarchais knew that her husband was safe, she
-returned to Paris to be nearer, so as to defend his interests. A noble
-task which she accomplished at the peril of her life.
-
-"The departure of Beaumarchais, the motive of which remained a secret,
-emboldened his enemies who renewed their accusations. The 28th of
-November a second decree was rendered against him as suspected.
-Immediately seals were placed upon all the houses which he owned in
-Paris. Madame de Beaumarchais hastened to protest the accusations
-against her husband and against the placing of the seals. With great
-difficulty she finally obtained a decree dated February 10, 1793, which
-accorded to her husband a delay of two months to present his defense and
-at the same time the immediate removal of the seals. He wrote from
-London, December 9, 1792, to his family:
-
-   "'My poor wife and thou, my dear daughter. I do not know where
-   you are, nor where to write to you, neither by whom to give you
-   news. Still I learn by the gazette that seals have been placed
-   for the third time on my property and that I am decreed, accused
-   for this miserable affair of the guns of Holland.... Be calm, my
-   wife and my sisters. Dry thy tears, my sweet and tender child!
-   they trouble the tranquillity of which thy father has need to
-   enlighten the National Convention upon grave subjects which it is
-   important it should know.'"
-
-Beaumarchais returned immediately to France, drew up a memoir for his
-justification, secured the removal of the seals at Paris; but the
-municipality of Strausborg maintained those which it had imposed.
-Beaumarchais grew impatient, addressed a petition to the minister of the
-interior who sent a dispatch to the administrator of that department of
-the Bas-Rhein. Again, the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ is
-vindicated and absolved.
-
-The troubles of Beaumarchais showed no signs of diminishing either in
-number or perplexity. In the month of January, 1793, the English
-government, having joined the coalition against France, was on the point
-of herself taking possession of the sixty-thousand guns for which
-Beaumarchais had so long been negotiating.
-
-"He, however," says Loménie, "did not lose his head, having already had
-wind of the project. At the very time when he was imprisoned in London
-he had induced an English merchant ... by means of a large commission
-... to become the purchaser of those same guns and to maintain them in
-his name at Tervère as English property, until the real owner could
-dispose of them. But the fictitious owner could not hold them long,
-because the English ministers said to him, 'Either you are the real
-owner or you are not; if you are, we are ready to pay for them; if you
-are not, we intend to confiscate them.' ...
-
-"The English merchant remaining faithful to the engagement with
-Beaumarchais, resisted; affirmed the guns to be his property, invoked
-his right to dispose of them as he pleased, and this respect for law
-which distinguishes the English Government above all other governments,
-left the question undecided. The guns remained at Tervère under guard of
-an English battleship." (_Loménie_, Vol. II, p. 424.)
-
-"Things were at this pass when the committee of public safety informed
-Beaumarchais that he must secure the arms, or else prevent their falling
-into the hands of the English; failing which his family and goods in
-default of his person would answer for the success of the operation."
-And so, early in June, 1793, again he left France on this most difficult
-mission.
-
-"To enter into all the details of his interminable _tours et détours_,
-going from Amsterdam to Basle, from Basle to Hamburg, from Hamburg to
-London ... all which he directed like a very ingenious _intrigue de
-comédie_ ... would be too long. He was able to keep the guns at Tervère
-and when the moment seemed to him favorable, he supplicated the
-committee of public safety with loud cries, to order the General
-Pichegru to come and carry off the guns; but the committee absorbed by a
-thousand things made no reply.... The only missive he ever received
-from them was the following, dated, _5 pluviose, An II_ (January 26,
-1794), written by Robert Lindet, 'You must be quick, do not await
-events. If you defer too long, your service will not be appreciated.
-Great returns are necessary and they must be prompt. It is of no use to
-calculate the difficulties, we consider only results and success.'"
-
-"Not only," continues Loménie, "did the Committee abandon Beaumarchais
-to himself, but with a thoughtlessness which is another sign of the
-times, they allowed their agent to be put upon the lists as an _émigré_,
-which act entailed the confiscation of his property.
-
-"Madame de Beaumarchais went at once to the committee of public safety,
-explained that her husband was _not_ an _émigré_, since he had left the
-territory of the republic because of an official mission, and provided
-with a regular passport, and her proof in her hand, she succeeded in
-having the decree withdrawn and the seals removed from the property.
-Beaumarchais had at this time taken refuge in Hamburg.
-
-"He found himself," says Loménie, "in the most cruel situation both
-materially and morally. He knew that the revolutionary tribunal was
-fixed permanently at Paris, that it struck without pity mothers, wives,
-and daughters of the absent ones, and that the bloody knife never ceased
-to fall. The unfortunate man was in torture. Eugénie tried to comfort
-her father in the unconscious tranquillity of a young girl. Every
-precaution had been taken to hide from her the horrible tragedy which
-was being enacted about her; she presented a striking contrast with the
-terrible reality of the times.
-
-"She walked alone and melancholy in the lovely garden, while the dismal
-car passed along the terrace perhaps. But in her sad dreaming, she did
-not turn her head; she admired the earliest advances of spring. On March
-11th, she wrote to her father,
-
-"'The verdure of our trees is beginning to appear, the leaves develop
-from day to day, and flowers already beautify thy garden. It would be
-very lovely, if we could walk here with thee. Thy presence would add a
-charm to everything which surrounds us. There is no happiness for me but
-what thou partakest in. We are only happy through thee, oh my tender
-father!'"
-
-The very next day measures were taken which ended in the annulling of
-the decree rendered by the _comité de salut public_ in which the _comité
-de sûreté générale_, which had taken its place, once more declared
-Beaumarchais to be an _émigré_, replaced the seals upon his property,
-confiscated his revenues and on the 5th of July, 1794, arrested his
-wife, his two sisters, and his daughter.
-
-They were shut up in the convent of Port-Royal which had been changed
-into a prison and which, says Loménie, "by an atrocious irony was called
-_Port-Libre_, where they waited their turn to mount the fatal cart that
-should conduct them to the guillotine." The ninth _thermidore_ came to
-put an end to these butcheries. Eleven days later, another decree of the
-_comité de sûreté générale_, again established, gave to the _Citoyennes_
-Caron their liberty.
-
-During this frightful period of the terror, Beaumarchais, still at
-Hamburg, deprived of all communication with his family, was a prey to
-the most terrible mental agony. His correspondence shows that he had
-moments of the deepest despair when he asked himself if he were not
-losing his mind.
-
-"Where shall I address thee?" he wrote his wife. "Under what name? What
-shall I call thee? Who are thy friends? Whom can I consider mine? Ah,
-without the hope of saving my daughter, the atrocious guillotine would
-be sweeter to me than my horrible condition."
-
-It was at this period that the following address to the American people
-was written.
-
-   "Americans: Though I have served you with an indefatigable zeal,
-   I have in my life received only bitterness for recompense, and I
-   die your creditor. Permit then in dying that I will to my
-   daughter the debt which you owe me. Perhaps after I am gone,
-   other injustices, from which I cannot defend myself, will rob me
-   of all I possess so nothing will be left for her, and perhaps
-   Providence has ordained by your delay in paying me, that through
-   you she will be spared absolute want. Adopt her as a worthy child
-   of the state. Her mother, equally unfortunate, and my widow, will
-   conduct her to you. Let her be looked upon as the daughter of a
-   citizen! But if after these last efforts, if after all has been
-   said, I must still feel that you will reject my demands--If I am
-   to fear that you will refuse her arbitrators; at last, desperate,
-   ruined in Europe as well as by you, your country being the only
-   one in which I could beg without shame--what would remain for me
-   to do, but to supplicate Heaven to give me the strength to take
-   the voyage to America?
-
-   "Arrived in your midst, mind and body weakened, unable to
-   maintain my rights, should I there be forced, my proofs in my
-   hand, to have myself carried to the doors of your National
-   Assembly, and, holding aloft the cap of liberty, with which I
-   helped as much as anyone to adorn your heads--to cry out 'Give an
-   alms to your friend, whose accumulated services have only had
-   this recompense, _date obolum Belisario_!'
-
-                             "Pierre-Augustin Caron Beaumarchais."
-
-It was precisely to save her daughter, that Madame de Beaumarchais had
-broken all communication with her husband, retaken her family name and
-thought only of making herself forgotten.
-
-"The Revolutionary laws," says Gudin, "ordained the divorce of the wives
-of _émigrés_, under pain of being suspected and of running the risk of
-death that could not be inflicted upon their husbands. Madame de
-Beaumarchais, worthy of the courageous man whose hand she had received,
-went to the Revolutionary Committee and with that firmness which
-inspired respect and that grace which embellished every action, said,
-'Your decrees oblige me to demand a divorce. I obey, although my
-husband, charged with a commission is not an _émigré_ and never had the
-thought: I attest it and I know his heart. He will justify himself of
-this accusation, as he has of all the rest, and I shall have the
-satisfaction of marrying him a second time, according to your new
-laws.'"
-
-"Such was the effect of his destiny," observes this eighteenth century
-philosopher, "that he was obliged to renew the knot of his own marriage
-at the same time that he occupied himself with the marriage of his
-daughter."
-
-The condition of the family of Beaumarchais when they found themselves
-once more free, was far from enviable. Their revenues had been seized
-and their beautiful home was ordered to be sold. Eugénie felt only
-horror for the place and persuaded her mother to live in a small house.
-Gudin had gone into the country and Julie, the faithful sister of
-Beaumarchais, went to live alone with an old servant in the deserted
-palace of her brother, which was now guarded by agents of the Republic
-and which bore written upon its walls, "_Propriété nationale_."
-
-"If, as I hope," says Loménie, "the reader has retained an agreeable
-impression of Julie, it will be a pleasure perhaps to see again that
-intelligent, merry, courageous face which neither age, privations, nor
-dangers had been able to change.
-
-"A picture of the domestic and inner life of three women, once rich,
-forced to face the difficulties of a fearful epoch will give details of
-interest to that period which history itself cannot furnish.
-
-"During the time when the head of the household was proscribed, it was
-Madame Beaumarchais, a person of rare merit who joined to all feminine
-graces a truly virile energy of character, who bore the weight of the
-situation and while working on one hand to prevent the sale of her
-husband's property, tried on the other, to have his name erased from the
-fatal list; and all the time was obliged to provide for her family with
-what she had been able to save from the wreck of their fortune. On her
-side Julie guarded the house of her brother, kept her sister-in-law in
-touch with events at the house, and urged her to resistance in the
-animated and original tone which characterised her.
-
-"'Morbleu! my child,' she wrote her after the Terror, 'let us quickly
-get the decree suppressed. Even the fruits, the same as last year, are
-requisitioned; the cherries being ripe, they are to be picked to-morrow
-and sold, and the rest as it ripens, and then close the garden to the
-profane and the gluttons! Isn't it sweet to have lived here alone for
-six months, and only be allowed to eat the stones of the fruit? And even
-they are sold with the rest. It is for the birds that I am sorry ...
-nevertheless, it is a pity that the agency had to interfere this year;
-... See if thou cannot prevent this brigandage by a firm protest at the
-agency....
-
-"'And here a pound of veal has been brought me which costs twenty-eight
-francs, and at even that it is a bargain, for it might sell for thirty.
-Rage! Fury! Malediction! One cannot even live by ruining oneself and
-devouring three times one's fortune. How happy those who have gone
-before! They feel neither the confusion in my head, nor my eye which
-weeps, nor the flame which devours me, nor my tooth which sharpens
-itself to eat twenty-eight francs worth of veal; they feel none of these
-evils.'
-
-"Those twenty-eight francs worth of veal, which Julie consumed with
-humorous anger, bring us to say a word of the curious state of want
-which was produced by the constant depreciation of paper money after the
-Terror. It is still Julie who informs us how people lived at that time;
-her sister-in-law had just given her four thousand francs in paper money
-and she returned an account of the use to which she put them that
-December 1794.
-
-"'When you gave me those four thousand francs, my good friend, my heart
-beat fast. I thought you suddenly had lost your reason to give me such a
-fortune; I slipped them quickly into my pocket and spoke of other
-things, so that you would forget them.
-
-"'Returned home and quick, some wood, some provisions, before the prices
-go higher! And see Dupont (the old servant) who runs, exhausts herself!
-And lo, the scales fall from my eyes when I see the result of four
-thousand, two hundred, and seventy-five francs.
-
-   "'One load of wood                     1,460 fr.
-
-     Nine pounds of candles                 900
-
-     Four pounds of sugar                   400
-
-     Three litrons (six qts.), of grain     120
-
-     Seven pounds of oil                    700
-
-     A dozen wicks                           60
-
-     A bushel and a half potatoes           300
-
-
-     Laundry bill for one month             215
-
-     One pound of powder for the hair        70
-
-     Three ounces of pomade (that used to be
-       three sous)                           50
-                                          _________
-                                          4,275 fr.
-
-   Over and above this is the provision for
-   the month, butter, eggs, at 100 francs,
-   as you know, and meat from 25 to 30
-   francs a pound and all else in
-   proportion                               576
-
-   Bread, there has been none for two days;
-   we only get it every other day--for the
-   last ten days I have only bought 4
-   pounds at 45 fr.                         180
-                                          _________
-                                          5,022 fr.
-
-"'When I think of this royal expenditure which costs me from eighteen to
-twenty thousand francs without allowing myself the least luxury,
-_J'envoie au diable le régime_.'
-
-"Shortly after this the value of paper money decreased still more and
-the price of commodities increased in alarming proportion. In another
-letter to her sister-in-law Julie gave the following details:
-
-"'Ten thousand francs which I have scattered in the last two weeks, give
-me such a fright, seize me with such pity that I no longer know how to
-count my income. In the last three days, wood has risen from 4,200
-francs to 6,500 and all the costs of transporting and piling are in
-proportion, so that my load of wood has cost me 7,100 francs. Every week
-it costs from 700 to 800 francs for a _pot-au-feu_, and other meat
-without counting butter, eggs, and a thousand other details; laundry
-work has increased so that 8,000 francs are not enough for one month.
-All this makes me impatient and I solemnly affirm that I have not for
-two years allowed myself a luxury, or gratified a single whim, or made
-any other expenditures but for the house; nevertheless the needs I have
-are urgent enough to make me need potfulls of money.'
-
-"But if the sister of Beaumarchais is at the point of famine, the wife
-and the daughter are no better off; I see in the correspondence of
-Madame de Beaumarchais that one of her friends went the rounds of the
-neighborhood to try to obtain some bread which was becoming rarer than
-diamonds; 'I am told,' she wrote, the 5th of June 1795, 'that at Briare,
-flour is to be had, if that is true I will make a bargain with some
-country man and send it direct to you by the barge which goes from
-Briare to Paris, but that will greatly increase the cost. Please tell me
-what you think, while waiting I still hope to get hold of a small loaf
-somewhere. Oh, if I had the gift of miracles, I would send you, not
-manna from heaven--but good bread and very white!'
-
-"When Beaumarchais in exile, learned all the deprivations from which his
-family suffered he learned also that they had sufficient moral courage
-to support them. Gaiety had not wholly disappeared from that interior
-which used to be so joyous; even if exposed to starvation, the frightful
-guillotine no longer operated and one began to breathe more freely."
-
-One of his old friends wrote to him, "See now the soup tureen of the
-family arrive, that is to say, upon the mahogany table (there is no such
-thing as a cloth) is a plate of beans, two potatoes, a carafe of wine,
-with very much water. Thy daughter asks for a white poodle to use as a
-napkin and clean the plates--but no matter, come, come; if we have
-nothing to eat we have plenty to laugh about. Come, I tell thee, for
-thy wife needs a miller since thy _salon_ is decorated with a flour
-mill; while thy Eugénie charms thee upon her piano, thou wilt prepare
-her breakfast, while thy wife knits thy stockings, and thy future
-son-in-law turns baker; for here everyone has his trade and that is why
-our cows are so well guarded.
-
-"It is too droll to see our women, without perruque in the morning,
-filling each one her occupation, because you must know that each one of
-us is at their service and because in our _régime_, if there are no
-masters, there are at least valets. This letter costs thee at least a
-hundred francs counting the paper, pens, the oil of the lamp, because
-for economy's sake I came to thy house to write it. We embrace thee with
-all our hearts."
-
-And his faithful Gudin wrote him, though in much more somber strain,
-from his retreat in the country: "My most ardent desire, my friend, is
-to see you again and to press you to my heart; but circumstances are
-such that I had to leave Paris where I could no longer subsist. I have
-taken refuge in a little hamlet fifty miles away, where there are
-thirteen peasant cabins. The house which I inhabit was a tiny priory,
-occupied once by a single monk." And after a very long and profoundly
-pessimistic discourse upon the sad condition of affairs which he likens
-to the barbarity which formerly engulfed Greece and Egypt and Assyria,
-Sicily, and Italy, he terminates thus:
-
-"Adieu my good friend, I would have wished to have talked to you of
-yourself, of your family, of those whom you love, the regrets which we
-feel to meet no more together. Our hearts like your own, are crushed
-with sorrow.... I embrace you and sigh for the happy moment that will
-unite us.
-
-                                                          "Gudin."
-
-[Illustration: MADAME DE BEAUMARCHAIS]
-
-Now that his anxieties for his family were allayed, Beaumarchais was
-not idle, for his stay in Hamburg was occupied in drawing up memoirs
-upon matters of public utility, in commercial negotiations, and in
-agreeable companionships with distinguished _émigrés_ who like himself
-were anxiously awaiting the moment when they could return to France.
-
-As for Beaumarchais, the affair of the 60,000 guns had ended,
-distressingly enough for his coffers, by the English carrying them off.
-They consented, however, at the urgent request of the merchant friend,
-to pay an arbitrary sum which was, however, far below their real value,
-but saved Beaumarchais from complete ruin. The affair ended, his only
-desire was to return home. This he was prevented from doing because of
-the proscription unjustly continued against him, which all the efforts
-of his friends and his family had been as yet unable to have removed.
-
-Finally a member of the committee which he was serving, the same Robert
-Lindet before mentioned, wrote in his behalf to the minister of police,
-Cochon, the following letter:
-
-   "You have asked me to enlighten you regarding the second mission
-   of Citizen Beaumarchais, and upon the exact time when that
-   mission ended or should end.
-
-   "In charging the Citizen Beaumarchais with a mission, the
-   committee of public safety proposed to itself two objects. The
-   first was to procure the 60,000 guns deposited in the armory at
-   Tervère, as objects of commerce; the second was to prevent these
-   guns from falling into the power of the enemy.
-
-   "The Committee was obliged to pay for them only at the agreed
-   price on condition that they should be delivered and placed at
-   their disposition in one of the ports of the Republic, within
-   five or six months, The negotiation might take longer, but these
-   terms were used to excite the zeal of the Citizen Beaumarchais.
-
-   "Before the expiration of the term he sent from Holland to Paris,
-   the Citizen Durand, his friend, who had accompanied him on his
-   journey, to give an account of the obstacles which delayed the
-   execution of the enterprise and to propose measures which he
-   thought were needful.
-
-   "Citizen Durand was sent back to Citizen Beaumarchais with a
-   revised passport, which ran thus; 'to conduct him to his
-   destination and to continue his mission;' because it seemed
-   important to procure the guns for the government at whatever time
-   that should be found possible, and also that the enemy should be
-   prevented from seizing and distributing them in Belgium among the
-   partisans of the house of Austria.
-
-   "The department of Paris placed the Citizen Beaumarchais upon the
-   list of _émigrés_ and placed seals upon his property.
-
-   "The committee decreed that since the Citizen Beaumarchais was on
-   a mission he should not be treated as an _émigré_, because he was
-   absent on a mission for the government. The department removed
-   the seals.
-
-   "Some time after, the citizen Beaumarchais was replaced on the
-   list of _émigrés_. There had been no new motive. The mission was
-   not finished, his negotiations continued to be useful, he had not
-   been recalled.... However, they persisted in considering him an
-   _émigré_!... the presence of citizen Beaumarchais in a foreign
-   country was necessary up to the moment when the secret of his
-   mission having been divulged, the English carried off the guns
-   from the armory at Tervère to their ports, which they did last
-   year.
-
-   "Nothing would then have prevented citizen Beaumarchais from
-   returning to France because he could no longer hope to be able
-   to fulfil his mission; but his name still rested on the list of
-   _émigrés_ and he could not return until it was erased.
-
-   "It was an injustice ever to have placed it upon the list of
-   _émigrés_, since he was absent for the service of the Republic.
-
-                                                  "Robert Lindet."
-
-   "To the Minister of Police."
-
-
-This letter and the ardent solicitations of the wife and friends of the
-proscribed man, finally induced the committee to have his name erased
-from the list of _émigrés_, and so after three years of absence the
-author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ was able to return to his native land.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXVI
-
-
-"_Qu'étais'je donc? Je n'étais que moi, et moi tel que je suis resté,
-libre au milieu des fers, serein dans les plus grands dangers, faisant
-tête a tous les orages, menant les affaires d'une main et la guerre de
-l'autre, paresseux comme un âne et travaillant toujours, en butte à
-mille calomnies, mais, heureux dans mon intérieur, n'ayant jamais été
-d'aucune coterie, ni litéraire, ni politique, ni mystique, n'ayant fait
-de cour à personne, et partout repoussé de tous.... C'est le mystère de
-ma vie, en vain j'essaie de le résoudre._"
-
-
-   Beaumarchais After His Return from Exile--Takes Up All His
-     Business Activities--Marriage of Eugénie--Her Portrait Drawn by
-     Julie--Beaumarchais's Varied Interests--Correspondence with
-     Bonaparte--Pleads for Lafayette Imprisoned--Death of
-     Beaumarchais--Conclusion.
-
-
-"On his return to Paris, July 5th, 1796, Beaumarchais," says Loménie,
-"found himself faced with a fortune ruined, not alone as so many others
-had been in the general crisis, but still more, by the confiscation of
-his revenues, the disappearance of his papers, and of the debts owing to
-him. His beautiful house was going to destruction, his garden torn up.
-While on one hand his debtors had disembarrassed themselves of their
-obligations by settling with the state in paper money, his creditors
-were waiting to seize him by the throat. He had accounts to give to, and
-to demand of the State, who, after confiscating his fortune, held still
-745,000 francs deposited by him when he undertook the mission to secure
-the 60,000 guns...."
-
-Not to go into all the perplexing details of the decisions and counter
-decisions rendered by the State, the anxieties, the almost insuperable
-difficulties that surrounded him on every side, let it suffice to say
-that with old age advancing apace, he still retained almost the same
-vigor, the same tenacity of purpose, the same indefatigable energy that
-have characterized him through life. Without ceasing, he drew up
-memoirs, conferred with the ministers, worked day and night to
-re-establish his fortune, so that those dear to him might not be left in
-want.
-
-That he eventually succeeded in this may be judged by the fact that his
-family continued to inhabit their splendid residence until 1818, when
-the French government under the Restoration bought it for purposes of
-public utility. Moreover, the report rendered after his death by his
-bookkeeper, shows that the fortune which he was able to will his family
-rose very near the million mark, and this, not counting the debts owing
-him and lawsuits still pending, notably that with the United States.
-
-But at the moment of his return to France it was not simply with his
-shattered fortune that Beaumarchais's mind was occupied. During their
-sojourn at Havre in 1792, the wife and daughter of Beaumarchais had made
-the acquaintance, says Bonneville, "of a young man of distinguished
-family, Louis André Toussaint Delarue, whose sister, a woman of
-remarkable intelligence, had married M. Mathias Dumas, a soldier with a
-very great future, who, after having taken part brilliantly in the war
-of American Independence as aide-de-camp of Rochambeau, was now Adjutant
-General of the Army under the orders of Lafayette, and had attached to
-him his young brother-in-law as _officier d'ordonnance_.... In 1792
-they all found themselves waiting in Havre for an opportunity to escape
-into England."
-
-It was there that M. Delarue met Mlle. Eugénie.... The two young people
-coming together under these unusual circumstances soon learned to love
-one another. His determination to obtain her hand in marriage was not at
-all affected by the fact that at that moment the entire possessions of
-her father were lost. Beaumarchais on his return to France, touched by
-so much constancy and devotion, hastened to assure the happiness of the
-young people. "Five days after my arrival," he wrote to a friend, "I
-made him the beautiful present.... They will at least have bread, but
-that is all, unless America discharges her debt to me, after twenty
-years of ingratitude."
-
-They were married June 15th, 1796, Eugénie being nineteen, and her
-husband twenty-eight years of age. On the eve of her marriage, the Aunt
-Julie sketches for a friend the portrait of the young girl, in which she
-shows her as one in every way worthy of her father's affection--and with
-a character which, while indicating many contradictory possibilities,
-had, nevertheless, great charm and lovableness as well as intellectual
-force. It shows, too, that the terrible experiences through which she
-had passed, had left their trace upon her. Time, however, softened this
-very complex and somewhat formal young lady. "Dying in 1820 the daughter
-of the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_," says Loménie, "left in the
-hearts of all who knew her, the memory of a person of charming vivacity,
-of _finesse_ and goodness; loving and cultivating the arts with passion,
-an excellent musician, woman of the world, and at the same time an
-accomplished mother."
-
-The young man whom she married proved himself in every way worthy of
-her. In 1789 he was aide-de-camp of General Lafayette, and later held
-honorable official positions under the empire, the Restoration, and the
-government of July. In 1840 he was made _maréchal de camp de la garde
-nationiale_, which post he held until 1848 when he resigned, at the age
-of eighty-four years. "In 1854," writes Loménie, "he still lives,
-surrounded in his flourishing old age by the respectful affection of all
-those who know how to appreciate the noble qualities of his heart and
-his character."
-
-But to return to Beaumarchais; hardly had he found himself reunited to
-his family than he wrote to his faithful Gudin, bidding him return. The
-Revolution, however, had left this good man so destitute that he was
-obliged to request a loan in order to make the journey. This was at once
-promised. He wrote, August 26, 1796, "I start as soon as I shall have
-received the ten louis.... My whole heart glows at the thought of
-finding myself again under the roof with your happy family. And Oh, I
-shall see you again! How I regret that aerostatic machines are not
-already perfected.... But any conveyance is good, if it only conducts me
-to you. Adieu my good friend; keep well. I will write you the moment of
-my setting out."
-
-Of their meeting, he writes later, "I came from the depths of my retreat
-to embrace my friend. Meeting after so many years, after so many
-atrocious events, was it not to be saved from the dangers of shipwreck
-and to find ourselves upon the rocks? It was in a way like escaping from
-the tomb, to embrace each other among the dead, after an unhoped for
-resurrection."
-
-Beaumarchais's activities of this period continued to be the most
-varied. He entered with interest into the changing fortunes of the
-republic--which he accepted and over whose future he tried at times to
-become enthusiastic. In March, 1797, he had written to a friend:
-
-   "Yesterday's dinner, my dear Charles, is one that will long
-   remain in my memory because of the precious choice of _convives_
-   which our friend Dumas [General Mathieu-Dumas, brother-in-law of
-   M. Delarue] had assembled at the house of his brother. On former
-   occasions when I dined with the great ones of the State, I have
-   been shocked at the assemblage of so many whose birth alone
-   allowed them to be admitted. _Des sots de qualité, des imbéciles
-   en place, des hommes vains de leurs richesses, des jeunes
-   impudents, des coquettes_, etc. If it was not the ark of Noah, it
-   was at least the court of the _Roi Petaut_; but yesterday out of
-   twenty-four persons at table, there was not one whose great
-   personal merit would not have given him a right to his place. It
-   was, I might say, an excellent _extrait_ of the French Republic,
-   and I, who sat silent, regarding them, applied to each the great
-   merit which distinguished him. Here are their names:" And then,
-   after making the inventory, he terminates thus:
-
-   "The dinner was instructive, in no way noisy, very agreeable, in
-   a word such as I do not remember to have ever before experienced.
-
-                                             "Caron Beaumarchais."
-
-"Four months later," says Loménie, "_un coup d'état_ had proscribed
-nearly every one of those twenty-four _convives_."
-
-"The deputies of the people," says Gudin, "were taken from their sacred
-seats, locked up in portable cages like wild beasts, tossed on board
-vessels and transported to Guyan." This _coup d'état_ cooled very
-considerably the republican ardor of Beaumarchais; "He was totally at a
-loss," continues Gudin, "to understand either the men or their doings;
-he failed to comprehend anything relative to the forms or the means
-employed in those times without rule or principle. He called upon
-reason, which had helped him triumph so many times; reason had become a
-stranger, she was, if we dare say it, a species of _émigrée_ whose name
-rendered suspicious anyone who invoqued her."
-
-But though Beaumarchais was forced to leave the political revolution to
-take its course without attempting to change it, his mind ever alert,
-found innumerable points of contact with the age in which he lived.
-"Although afflicted with almost complete deafness we see him," says
-Loménie, "rising above his personal preoccupations and the sorrows that
-assailed him, to apply his mind with the whole force of his
-indefatigable ardor to questions of public utility, to literary affairs,
-and a thousand other incidents foreign to his own interests. Now he
-points out with indignation, in the journals of the times, the
-unbelievable negligence which permits the body of Turenne, rescued from
-the vandalism of the Terror, to remain forgotten and exposed among
-skeletons of animals in the _Jardin des Plantes_, until he finally
-brings about a decree of the Directory which puts an end to this
-scandal; again he writes letters and memoirs upon all subjects of public
-interest ... now to the government, now to such deputies as Baudin des
-Ardennes, who represent ideas of moderation and legality.
-
-"He bestirred himself for the agents of rapid locomotion, aided Mr.
-Scott in the development of aerostatic machines; celebrated in verse a
-motor called the _velocifère_, talked literature and the theatre with
-amiable Collin d'Harleville, or pleaded still with the Minister of the
-Interior for the rights of dramatic authors against the actors, ... and
-occupied himself at the same time with having his drama _La Mère
-Coupable_ brought again before the public."
-
-This drama which had been written immediately preceding the outbreak of
-the Revolution, had been read and accepted by the Théâtre Français in
-1791, but following this, Beaumarchais had been chosen by the Assembly
-of Dramatic Authors to represent their interests before the _corps
-législatif_, which was about to pronounce judgment, and he had acquitted
-himself with so much ardor that a rupture had followed between himself
-and the Théâtre Français. Another troupe of the neighborhood demanded
-the play with so much insistence that he allowed them to produce it upon
-their new theatre; here it was performed for the first time in June,
-1792. But the piece was so poorly played that its success was
-indifferent. During the time of the Revolution its performance was not
-to be thought of, but it will not be considered surprising that one of
-Beaumarchais's first concerns, after the settlement of the most pressing
-of his family affairs, was to have the piece brought again before the
-public and played at the Comédie Française. This was effected in May,
-1797. Its complete success brought a great happiness to his declining
-years.
-
-The characters of _La Mère Coupable_ are the same as those of _Le
-Barbier_, and _Le Mariage de Figaro_--although from a literary
-point-of-view it is very far from rivaling the two earlier productions,
-"the subject," says Loménie, "taken in itself, is at the same time, very
-dramatic and of an incontestable morality."
-
-Among the numerous letters, written or received by Beaumarchais in
-regard to this drama, is one addressed by him to the widow of the last
-of the Stuarts, the Countess of Albany, who happening to be in Paris in
-1791 had begged Beaumarchais to give a reading of _La Mère Coupable_, in
-her salon. He replied:
-
-                                       "Paris, 5th February, 1791.
-
-   "Madame la Comtesse:
-
-   "Since you insist absolutely upon hearing my very severe work, I
-   cannot refuse you. But observe that when I wish to laugh, it is
-   _aux éclats_; if I must weep, it is _aux sanglots_. I know
-   nothing between but _l'ennui_. Admit then, anyone you wish
-   Tuesday, only keep away those whose hearts are hard, whose souls
-   are dried, and who feel pity for the sorrows that we find so
-   delicious.... Have a few tender women, some men for whom the
-   heart is not a chimera, and who are not ashamed to weep. I
-   promise you that painful pleasure, and am with respect, Madame la
-   Comtesse, etc.,
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-But from his own interests let us turn with him again to those of
-national importance.
-
-"As ardent an imagination as that of Beaumarchais," says Loménie, "could
-not be expected to remain a stranger to the universal enthusiasm which
-in 1797 was inspired by the youthful conqueror of Italy."
-
-Through the intervention of the General Desaix, Beaumarchais who had
-celebrated in prose and verse the movements of the young conqueror
-across the Alps, was able to address a letter to him directly, to which
-he received the following concise reply:
-
-   "Paris, the 11 _germinal_ An VI, March, 1798.
-
-   "General Desaix has handed me, citizen, your amiable letter of
-   the 25 _ventose_. I thank you for it. I shall seize with
-   pleasure, any circumstance which presents itself, to form the
-   acquaintance of the author of _La Mère Coupable_.
-
-   "I salute you,
-
-                                                      "Bonaparte."
-
-"Thus," says Loménie, "for the General Bonaparte, Beaumarchais is above
-all else, the author of _La Mère Coupable_. Can this be an indication of
-a literary preference for this drama, or a certain political repugnance
-for the _Mariage de Figaro_, or simply the result of the fact that _La
-Mère Coupable_ had recently been placed upon the stage? This is a
-question that seems difficult to answer.
-
-"I find," continues Loménie, "among the papers confided to me by the
-family of Beaumarchais, another letter of Bonaparte, at that time first
-Consul, addressed to Mme. de Beaumarchais after the death of her
-husband, which is a reply to a petition. It reads:
-
-   "Paris, _vendémiaire_ An IX.
-
-   "Madame:
-
-   "I have received your letter. I will bring into this matter all
-   the interest which the memory of a justly celebrated man merits,
-   and that yourself inspires.
-
-                                                      "Bonaparte."
-
-In one of the _mauvais vers_ (from a literary viewpoint) with which
-Beaumarchais in his old age commented upon the career of the great
-general, is one which, says Loménie, "honors his sensibility." It was
-written in 1797, and runs thus:
-
-   "Young Bonaparte, from victory to victory,
-   Thou givest us peace, and our hearts are moved;
-   But dost thou wish to conquer every form of glory?
-   Then think of our prisoners of l'Olmutz."
-
-The allusion in the verse was to Lafayette and his fellow-prisoners, who
-for five years had been detained, first in a prison in Prussia, and
-later in the Austrian fortress of Olmutz. In 1792, Lafayette had been
-declared a traitor by the National Assembly after the fateful tenth of
-August, and been forced to cross the frontier and give himself up to the
-Austrians, who were then fighting against France. He was held as a
-prisoner of State. His wife and family, having been unable to secure his
-release, were permitted to share his captivity with him. Napoleon, who
-never had entertained a very high opinion of the military capacity of
-Lafayette, nevertheless stipulated for his release and for that of his
-fellow-prisoners in the treaty of Campo Formio, which was signed during
-the year 1797.
-
-But to return to the private life of Beaumarchais. Gudin, after visiting
-his friend, had not consented to remain under his roof, feeling that now
-he would be a burden and so had returned to his country retreat to await
-events. It was there that he learned of the joy that was about to crown
-the old age of his friend. He wrote to Beaumarchais:
-
-"I remember the songs you made for Eugénie, when you cradled her on your
-knees, and it seems to me that I can hear you sing others for her child.
-Kiss her for me, my dear friend, compliment her for me, and all of you
-rejoice over your domestic happiness; it is the sweetest of all, the
-most real perhaps."
-
-For Beaumarchais, this was indeed the crowning blessing of this life. On
-January 5th, 1798, Madame Delarue gave birth to a daughter, Palmyr, as
-they called her. This event caused her grandfather to give way to
-"transports of joy," though at first his only thought was "for his
-beloved Eugénie."
-
-With the reëstablishment of Beaumarchais's fortune, Gudin, who had in
-the meantime settled his own affairs, returned to live with his friend.
-
-"I came again," he says, "to my native city, delighted to see my friend,
-and to find his family augmented. We tasted the sweetness of friendship
-the most intimate. I saw him abandon himself in our conversations to the
-most vivid hope for the prosperity of the state and of our arms.
-
-"Beaumarchais, at this time, was full of force and of health. Never were
-his days devoured by so many plans, projects, labors and enterprises....
-His age allowed us to hope that we might retain him a long while.
-
-"We had spent the day together in the midst of his family, with one of
-his oldest friends. He had been very gay and had recalled in the
-conversation several events of his youth, which he recounted with a
-charming complacency.... I did not leave him until ten o'clock; he
-retired at eleven, after embracing his wife. She was slightly
-indisposed; he recommended her to take some precautions for her
-health,--his own seemed perfect. He went to bed as usual, and wakened
-early. He went to sleep again and wakened no more. He was found next
-morning in the same attitude in which he placed himself on going to
-bed."
-
-An attack of _apoplexie foudroyante_ had carried him off at the age of
-sixty-seven years and three months. This was on the 18th of May, 1799.
-
-The suddenness of the death of Beaumarchais caused, as may be imagined,
-the most profound sorrow to his family and friends.
-
-Madame de Beaumarchais wrote a few days after his death:
-
-"Our loss is irreparable. The companion of twenty-five years of my life
-has disappeared, leaving me only useless regrets, a frightful solicitude
-and memories that nothing can efface.... He forgave easily, he willingly
-forgot injuries.... He was a good father, zealous friend, defender of
-the absent who were attacked before him. Superior to petty jealousies,
-so common among men of letters, he counselled, encouraged all, and aided
-them with his purse and his advice.
-
-"To the philosophic eye, his end should be regarded as a favor. He left
-this life, or rather, it left him, without struggle, without pain, or
-any of those rendings inevitable in the frightful separation from all
-those dear to him. He went out of life as unconsciously as he entered
-it."
-
-"The inventory," says Gudin in his narrative, "which is made at a man's
-death, often reveals the secrets of his life. That of Beaumarchais
-showed us that to succor families in distress, artists, men of letters,
-men of quality, he had advanced more than 900,000 francs without hope
-that these sums ever should be repaid. If one adds to these, sums that
-he had lavished without leaving the least trace, one would be convinced
-that he had expended more than 2,000,000 in benevolences."
-
-The mortal remains of Beaumarchais were laid to rest in a sombre avenue
-of his garden which he himself had prepared. "In planting his garden,"
-says Gudin, "he had consecrated a spot for his eternal rest.... It was
-there that we placed him. It was there that his son-in-law, his
-relatives, his friends, a few men of letters, paid him their last
-respects, and that Colin d'Harleville read a discourse which I had
-composed in the overflowing of my sorrow, but which I was not in a
-condition to pronounce."
-
-"A beautiful copy of the Fighting Gladiator," says Lintilhac, "decorated
-the entrance to the ostentatious mansion where camped _la vieillesse
-militante_ of Beaumarchais. The posture of the combat, like the face of
-the gladiator, betrayed a manly agony. What expressive symbol of his
-life and work!"
-
-In pausing now to cast a backward glance over the achievements of this
-one man, we scarcely can fail to admit with Lintilhac that Beaumarchais
-was not boasting when he wrote toward the end of his life: "I am the
-only Frenchman, perhaps, who never has demanded anything of anyone, and
-nevertheless, among my great labors, I count with pride, to have
-contributed more than any other European towards rendering America
-free."
-
-That he ever looked upon his work in the cause of American Independence,
-as his strongest claim to immortality among men, can be judged from his
-constant return to the subject and especially from what he says in his
-memoir of self-justification delivered before the Commune of Paris in
-September, 1789. (Given in Chapter XI.) It may be said that the very
-persistence of his reclamations in this regard was responsible for the
-indifference with which they were universally received. A man so rich,
-so happy, so prosperous, so gay, so universally successful in all his
-undertakings, could not expect to be taken seriously when he loudly
-decried the universal ingratitude of mankind, even though his
-accusations might be just. What Beaumarchais essentially lacked, as La
-Harpe has pointed out, was above everything else, _measure_ and _good
-taste_. He was too ostentatious, too expansive, talked too much of
-himself, pushed himself forward with too much noise, was too brilliant,
-too daring, too successful; and yet, as M. de Loménie has said in the
-remarkable résumé of the character of Beaumarchais given at the end of
-his work: "It does not seem to us possible to contest the fact that
-Beaumarchais is one of those men who gains the most by being seen at
-close range and that he is worth infinitely more than his reputation."
-And the same author continues:
-
-"Beaumarchais had implacable enemies; but one very important point is to
-be noted, namely that all those who attacked him with fury either knew
-him very little, or did not know him at all; while those who lived
-intimately with him loved him passionately. All the literary men who
-knew him in life, and who spoke of him after his death, have spoken
-with affection and esteem. Two minds as different as those of La Harpe
-and Arnault meet, in regard to him, with the same expressions of
-sympathy, and I have not found a trace in all the papers left after his
-death of a single man who, after knowing him intimately, became his
-enemy. On the contrary, I constantly have found testimonials of
-attachment that are far from common. I have found that friendships,
-begun in his youth, when he was a simple watchmaker, or _contrôleur_ of
-the house of the king, follow him for thirty or forty years without ever
-changing or weakening, but on the contrary, redouble in intensity and
-manifest themselves in the greatest tenderness, and in the most
-disinterested ways....
-
-"The goodness of the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_, extended not
-only to those about him. Gudin affirms that M. Goëzman fallen into
-misery was succored by him; that Baculard was on his register for 3,600
-frs. which were never returned.
-
-"A charming trait of his character often has been remarked, in relation
-to the inscription engraved upon the collar of his little dog, which was
-as follows:--'I am Mlle. Follette; Beaumarchais belongs to me. We live
-on the Boulevard.'
-
-"We can therefore say with La Harpe and Arnault who knew him, that
-although the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_, was followed all his
-life by black calumnies, he resembled in nothing the portrait which his
-enemies have left us of him. It is true that his good qualities are
-often somewhat veiled by _légèreté d'esprit_ and _défaut de tenue_. His
-friend d'Atilly painted him to nature, when he said, '_he has the heart
-of an honest man_, but he often has _the tone of a bohemian_.' The
-frivolity of the century in which he lived had too much colored his
-ideas ... and indeed equitably to judge the character of the man in its
-entirety, one must not forget either the situation in which he found
-himself, or the century in which he lived."
-
-Louis de Loménie wrote in 1854, more than half a century after the death
-of Beaumarchais. Since the appearance of his work, many others have
-taken up the pen to discuss the pros and cons of this many-sided
-character. The last of these, M. Eugène Lintilhac, calls attention to
-the crowd of obliges from the scepter to the shepherd's crook. "What man
-in need," he says, "great lord or modest author, ever came and knocked
-at his door, without carrying away consolation in words and species? To
-how many oppressed, mulattos, slaves, Jews, protestants has he not held
-the hand?"
-
-Sainte-Beuve says somewhere, that the Society of Dramatic Authors should
-never assemble without saluting the bust of Beaumarchais. It can do so
-henceforward because they have placed in the hall where their meetings
-are held, a marble bust of its founder.
-
-On the one hundredth anniversary of the first production of the _Mariage
-de Figaro_, on April 27, 1884, the play was performed again at the
-Théâtre Français. At the close of the performance the bust of
-Beaumarchais was brought forward, and crowned while Coquelin recited
-verses to his praise written for the occasion by M. Paul Delair.
-
-Thus to have survived a veritable death from oblivion, and to have come
-after a century of neglect into a resurrection of honor and fame, is
-sufficient proof of the real greatness of the literary genius of
-Beaumarchais to convince all unbelievers. This has been the act of
-reparation accorded him by France. The debt of gratitude owed him by
-America is still unpaid. It remains to be seen whether the same
-resurrection of honor awaits him among us.
-
-This book is a first attempt to state fully the facts of the life of
-Beaumarchais for the American people, so that they may know the man who
-was their friend, even before they came into existence as a nation, and
-it is put out in the hope that they may share the sentiment renewed in
-M. Eugène Lintilhac and so forcibly expressed by Gudin--"I soon found
-that I could not love him moderately when I came to know him in his
-home."
-
-And so with this expression of a friend's esteem, let us leave
-Beaumarchais in company with his faithful Gudin, Gudin, "whose great
-work," says Lintilhac, "_the History of France_, still sleeps in the
-_Bibliotèque Nationale_, ... but whose author has found a surer path to
-glory in taking the first place in the cortège of his illustrious
-friend,--Beaumarchais."
-
-Although America has been slow to recognize the claims of Beaumarchais
-to her gratitude, yet Time, the great leveler, is restoring all things
-to their place; and to-day, if our "friend" is cognizant of what history
-is doing, he realizes that this same United States, which his services
-did so much to found, is repaying this debt with interest so far as
-money goes, but still more with warm affection and heartiest friendship
-cemented by the life blood of both nations--and to-day he repeats what
-he wrote in December, 1779--
-
-   "As for me, whose interests lose themselves before such grand
-   interests; I, private individual, but good Frenchman, and sincere
-   friend of the brave people who have just conquered their liberty;
-   if one is astonished that my feeble voice should have mingled
-   with the mouths of thunder which plead this great cause, I will
-   reply that one is always strong enough when one has right on his
-   side....
-
-   "I have had great losses. They have rendered my labors less
-   fruitful than I hoped for my independent friends, but as it is
-   less by my success than by my efforts that I should be judged, I
-   still dare to pretend to the noble reward which I promised
-   myself; the esteem of three great nations; France, America, and
-   even England.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-
-
-
-BIBLIOGRAPHY
-
-
-   _Beaumarchais et son Temps par Louis de Loménie_, Paris, 1850.
-      Translated by H. S. Edwards. N. Y. 1857
-
-   _Histoire de Beaumarchais, Gudin de la Brenellerie._ Edited by
-      Maurice Tourneux, 1888
-
-   _OEuvres Complètes, précédées d'une notice sur sa vie et ses
-      ouvrages par Saint Marc Gerardin_, 1828, 6 tomes
-
-   _Nouvelle Edition Augmentée de quatre pièces de Théâtre et des
-      documents divers inédits avec une introduction par M. E.
-      Fournier, ornée de vingt portraits, etc._ 1876
-
-   H. Doniol--_Histoire de la Participation de la France dans
-      l'établissement des Etats-Unis_, 5 tomes. Paris, 1886-1892
-
-   E. Lintilhac--_Beaumarchais et ses oeuvres; précis de sa vie et
-      histoire de son esprit, etc._ Paris, 1887
-
-   _Beaumarchais the Merchant._ Hon. John Bigelow in _Hours at
-      Home_, June 1870
-
-   _Marie Thérèse Amélie Caron de Beaumarchais d'après sa
-      correspondence inédite par Bonneville de Marsangy_, 1890
-
-   _Bibliographic des oeuvres de Beaumarchais._ H. Cordier, 1883
-
-   _Beaumarchais: eine Biographie._ A. Bettleheim, 1886
-
-   _Mémoires sur le Chevalier d'Eon, suivis de douze lettres
-      inédites de Beaumarchais._ F. Gaillardet, 1866
-
-   _New Material for the History of the American Revolution._ J.
-   Durand, 1889
-
-   _Diplomatic Correspondence._ Francis Wharton
-
-   _Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution._ J.
-      Sparks, 1829-1830
-
-   _Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin._ James Parton, 1864
-
-   _Deane Papers_, (6 vols.). 1887
-
-   _A Vindication of Arthur Lee, designed as a refutation of the
-      charges found in the writings of Benjamin Franklin, as exhibited
-      by Jared Sparks_, etc. 1894
-
-   _Beaumarchais: étude par P. Bonnefon_, 1887
-
-   _Beaumarchais and Sonnenfels._ A. von Arnett
-
-   _Mémoires de Beaumarchais. Nouveile édition, précédée d'une
-      appréciation tirée des Causeries du Lundi par M. Sainte-Beuve_,
-      1878
-
-   _Cours de Littérature ancienne et moderne par La Harpe_,
-   1799-1803
-
-   _A History of England, in the 18th Century._ By W. E. H. Lecky (4
-      Vols.) 1887
-
-   _Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay_, 1890-93
-
-   _Judgement--qu'approuve le nouvel échappement de montres du Sieur
-      Caron_, 1754
-
-   _Claims of the Heirs of Beaumarchais Against the United States._
-      House Documents
-
-   _Report of the Committee of Claims on the Petition of the Heirs
-      of Beaumarchais._ 1812-1817
-
-   _Le Barbier de Séville._ 1902. 20th Century Text-Books
-
-   _Life of F. W. von Steuben_, with an Introduction by George
-      Bancroft, 1859, by F. Kapp
-
-   _Beaumarchais._ Vortrag von Dr. S. Born, 1881
-
-   _Beaumarchais._ A. Hallays, 1897
-
-   _La Fin de l'ancien Régime._ 1879. Imbert de St. Amand.
-
-   _Les Femmes de la cour de Louis XV._ 1876. Imbert de St. Amand
-
-   _Les beaux jours de Marie Antoinette_, Imbert de St. Amand
-
-   _The Lost Million._ Charles J. Stillé
-
-   _Silas Deane._ Paper read before the American Historical
-      Association of Boston and Cambridge, 1887, by Charles Islam
-
-   _The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution._
-      Charlemagne Tower, 1895
-
-   _The American Revolution._ 2 vols. John Fiske, 1891
-
-   _House Documents_, Vol. 9. Report 111. Fifteenth Congress, First
-      Session.
-
-
-
-
-INDEX
-
-
-   Aix,
-     Beaumarchais doubles fine imposed on him at, ii. 174
-     lawsuit in progress at, ii. 173
-     recommendations for, ii. 65
-
-   Alfort,
-     professional school at, i. 45
-
-   Alliance,
-     open, between America and France, ii. 153
-
-   Ambassador,
-     English, complains to Vergennes, ii. 120
-     first French, sent to America, ii. 190, 193
-
-   America,
-     Cause of, aided by Beaumarchais's financial training
-       under Du Verney, ii. 78
-     love of, by French, ii. 35
-     wild sweet charm of, for Frenchmen, ii. 35
-
-   Americans,
-     addressed by Beaumarchais from Hamburg, ii. 263
-     distrusted motives of French, ii. 34
-     eulogized by Beaumarchais, ii. 43
-     looked on French as natural enemies, ii. 34
-
-   America's,
-     "friend," final word of, ii. 288, 289
-
-   Ammunition,
-     from France, i. 31
-
-   Amphitrite,
-     again sets sail, ii. 131
-     cargo of, taken by Beaumarchais, ii. 172
-     errors found in bills of lading of, ii. 155
-     indiscretion of officers, ii. 136
-     put in command of Captain, ii. 120
-     returns to port, ii. 119
-     sets sail, ii. 116
-     the vessel of Beaumarchais, ii. 107
-
-   Angellucci, Guillaume,
-     author of libel, gives written agreement, i. 258
-
-   Archbishop of Lyon,
-     adopts idea of Beaumarchais, ii. 227
-
-   Archives, Secret,
-     edited by H. Doniol, i. 36
-
-   Armament,
-     goes out to America, ii. 192
-
-   Arnault, M.,
-     Memoirs of, ii. 230, 241
-
-   Arnold, Benedict, i. 32
-     gave costly dinners, ii. 194
-     put in command at Phila, ii. 194
-     Tory principles fixed, ii. 194
-
-   Artois, Comte d',
-     comes to Grennevillier, ii. 216
-     takes part of Figaro, i. 284
-
-   August 10th,
-     mob enters house of Beaumarchais, ii. 255
-
-   Austria, Empress of,
-     sends diamond ring to Beaumarchais, i. 266
-     Beaumarchais demands audience with, i. 262
-
-
-   _Barbier de Séville, Le_,
-     author of, demands settlement, i. 282
-     brilliant preface to, i. 275
-     first performance a failure, i. 273
-     first prohibition to produce, i. 272
-     last play staged at Le Petit-Trianon, i. 285
-     permission granted to perform, i. 273
-     second performance of, great success, i. 274
-     story of, i. 276
-
-   Baron von Steuben,
-     at Valley Forge, i. 32
-     invoked by Beaumarchais, ii. 247
-
-   Barry, Mme. du, i. 249
-     libel against, destroyed, i. 253
-     sustains Maupeou, i. 175
-
-   Bastille, ii. 214
-     opposite house of Beaumarchais, ii. 241
-
-   Beaumarchais, Caron de, i. 35
-     activity of, i. 287
-     addresses daring memoir to King, ii. 46ff.
-     addresses President of Congress, ii. 203
-     again faces bankruptcy, ii. 239
-     anxiety for health of father, i. 99
-     appeals to La Borde, i. 243
-     appeals to ministers, ii. 258
-     arrives in Paris, ii. 77
-     arrives in Vienna, i. 262
-     attempts to buy guns, ii. 254
-     avenges his sister, i. 88ff.
-     begs M. de Sartine to intercede,
-     begs to read his play to Mesdames, i. 151
-     buried in garden, ii. 284
-     bust of, crowned, ii. 287
-     buys titles of nobility, i. 71
-     carried in triumph, ii. 101
-     charity of, arouses enmity, ii. 228
-     claims of the heirs of, i. 40
-     commissioned to settle affairs of D'Eon, ii. 18
-     compared to Grandison, i. 143
-     compared with Figaro, i. 270
-     composes popular song, i. 267
-     composes song on return from Vienna, i. 268
-     confers with ministers on problems of finance, ii. 111
-     confined in l'Abbaye, ii. 257
-     consulted by ministers, i. 254
-     dares accuse King of false sensibility, ii. 49
-     death of, ii. 283
-     déblâmé, ii. 100
-     defends ancestors, i. 237
-     defends himself, i. 221
-     demands account from actors, i. 282
-     demands aid for America, ii. 58
-     demands a new censor of his M. de F., ii. 218
-     demands return of thirty-five louis, i. 75
-     demands settlement, i. 293
-     destroys libel against Mme. du Barry, i. 253
-     destroys libel directed against Queen, i. 256
-     determines to visit Empress of Austria, i. 260
-     difficulties of his position, i. 66
-     directs ministers in regard to recall of Deane, ii. 187f.
-     disavows du Coudray, ii. 120
-     discloses plans of secret aid to Lee, ii. 57
-     distaste for gambling, i. 74
-     dog, little, of, ii. 286
-     duel forced upon him, i. 63
-     enters Secret Service, i. 249
-     excuses violence of D'Eon, ii. 26
-     faces bankruptcy, ii. 137
-     faces ruin, ii. 151ff.
-     fantastic letter of, to Congress, ii. 92ff.
-     freed by Manuel, ii. 257
-     gains lawsuit at Aix, ii. 174
-     gay life at Madrid, i. 100ff.
-     generosity of, i. 81, ii. 284
-     gives Comedians lesson in accounts, i. 295
-     goes to Spain, i. 84
-     home life of, recounted by Gudin, i. 72
-     honorable position at court, i. 105
-     honored by invitation to Petit-Trianon theatricals, i. 283, ii. 232
-     humbles himself, i. 199
-     impatient at delays, ii. 112
-     imprisoned at St. Lazare, ii. 229
-     indiscretion of, ii. 115
-     induces Steuben to go to America, ii. 140, 141
-     infatuated with Lee, ii. 57
-     inflamed for cause of liberty, ii. 22
-     initiated into finance, i. 71
-     invites authors to dinner, i. 299
-     jealousies aroused against, i. 304ff.
-     judged by parliament Maupeou, ii. 100
-     lawsuit with Comte de le Blache, i. 167
-     learns he is set aside in aiding America, ii. 149
-     letter to de Francy, ii. 159ff.
-     letter to Dubourg, ii. 86
-     life of, by E. Lintilhac, i. 126
-     loudly reclaims the fifteen louis, i. 208
-     made gifts of first two dramas, i. 292
-     meets Gudin, i. 170
-     meets her who becomes his third wife, i. 245
-     meets Madame Lévêque, i. 156
-     meets Pauline, i. 108
-     memoirs of, criticised by Lintilhac, i. 215ff.
-     memoirs to King regarding America, ii. 38
-     merchant, the, i. 36
-     more attractive than other men, i. 179
-     music master to Mesdames, i. 59
-     nephew of, recommended to care of Congress, ii. 110
-     objection to card playing, i. 100
-     pays tuition of pupil, ii. 248
-     plans to go himself to Santo Domingo, i. 115
-     plays _comédie_ on stage of life, i. 260
-     plea of self justification, ii. 243ff.
-     pleads for Lafayette imprisoned, ii. 281
-     preparations for voyage to Spain, i. 85ff.
-     prepares to leave London, ii. 73
-     private character, i. 172
-     private life, ii. 240ff.
-     proudly reclaims rights, i. 200
-     reads _Le Barbier_ to friends, i. 189
-     receives written order from King, i. 257
-     recommends Deane be escorted by fleet, ii. 188
-     replies to Mlle. Ninon, ii. 181
-     replies to Lord Rochford, ii. 63, 64
-     reposes full confidence in Deane, ii. 89
-     restored to his rights as Citizen, ii. 100
-     retires to Flanders, i. 243
-     returns from exile, ii. 273
-     returns from Spain, i. 103
-     saved by Mesdames, i. 64
-     saved by Vergennes, ii. 152
-     second wife dies, i. 162
-     secret missions of, i. 249
-     seeks safety from mob, ii. 254
-     sends in his _règlement de comptes_ with Pauline, i. 137
-     sends "ostensible" letter to Vergennes, ii. 41
-     sends uncle to Santo Domingo, i. 109
-     sent to For-l'Evêque, i. 191
-     serious side of education of, i. 144
-     serves himself through the Ministers, ii. 98, 99
-     starts for London, i. 252, ii. 44
-     still pleads for aid to be sent to America, ii. 67
-     still used by Ministers, ii. 143ff.
-     stops at Nuremberg, i. 260
-     tact of, with royal pupils, i. 60
-     takes Gudin from Temple, ii. 178
-     thrown into prison, i. 264
-     touched by child's letter, answers, i. 202
-     unites family, i. 83
-     unable to obtain explanation, ii. 202
-     uncle dies at Santo Domingo, i. 114
-     uses attitude of English Lord to gain end, i. 257
-     victimized by widow of father, i. 247
-     warns ministers of English spies, ii. 132
-     writes angry letter to Janot de Miron, i. 117, 118
-     writes de Francy, ii. 157
-     writes for the _Morning Chronicle_, ii. 73
-     writes to Vergennes regarding America, ii. 31
-
-   Beaumarchais, Julie de,
-     accuses brother of levity, i. 121
-     after the terror, ii. 265ff.
-     as authoress, i. 79
-     attacked by Goëzman, i. 236
-     describes family love making, i. 115
-     literary aptitudes of, i. 236
-     maliciousness of, i. 131
-     writes tenderly to brother, i. 128
-
-   Beaumarchais, Madame de, i. 36, ii. 240
-     beauty of, ii. 247
-     imprisoned at Port-Royal, ii. 262
-     protests decree of Revolutionary Tribunal, ii. 258
-
-   Bertrand, le grand, i. 236
-     attacks Beaumarchais, i. 227
-
-   Bigelow, Hon. John, i. 36
-     comments on letter of de Francy, ii. 168
-     defends memory of Beaumarchais, ii. 138
-
-   Blache, Comte de la, i. 165
-     appeals to the parliament Maupeou, i. 177
-     brought Beaumarchais before tribunal at Aix, ii. 173
-     contests settlement, i. 167
-     lawsuit of, ii. 101
-
-   Boisgarnier, Jeanne Marguerite de, i. 79
-     courted by Janot de Miron, i. 116
-     death of, i. 235
-     marries J. de M., i. 124
-     plays charades of her brother, i. 142
-
-   Bon Secours,
-     Mlle. Eugénie attends convent of, ii. 248
-
-   Bonvouloir,
-     instructions to, i. 30, ii. 37
-
-   Brenellerie, Gudin de la,
-     _Historie de Beaumarchais_, i. 36
-
-   Breteuil, M. de,
-     memoirs to, ii. 218
-
-   Buchot,
-     gives out receipt of Beaumarchais for 1,000,000 livres, ii. 204
-
-   Burgoyne,
-     entrapped at Saratoga, i. 32
-     news of surrender of, reaches England, ii. 147
-     surrender of, ii. 145
-
-
-   Caillard,
-     invents calumnies against Beaumarchais, i. 167
-     supports the parliament Maupeou, i. 176
-
-   Calumny,
-     as described by Basil, i. 278
-
-   Campo Formio,
-     treaty of, ii. 282
-
-   Canada,
-     "_le point jaloux_," ii. 37
-
-   Cape Henry,
-     Battle of, i. 33
-
-   Carmichaël, Wm., ii. 161
-     returns to America, ii. 196
-     writes to Beaumarchais, ii. 196
-
-   Caron, André-Charles, i. 45
-
-   Caron, le père,
-     courts Madame Henry, i. 122, 123
-     death of, i. 247
-     devotion to son, i. 82
-     letter of, i. 46ff.
-     marries second time, i. 124
-     marries third time, i. 246
-     meets the Princesses, i. 61
-     retires from business, i. 78
-
-   Caron, Marie Louise,
-     settles in Spain, i. 80
-
-   Caron, Pierre-August,
-     assumes name of Beaumarchais, i. 59
-     becomes inmate of palace of Versailles, i. 58
-     born, i. 43
-     _contrôleur clerc d'office_, i. 57
-     devotes himself to study, i. 57
-     escapades of i. 45
-     _horloger du roi_, i. 53
-     invention crowned by Academy, i. 52
-     marries widow, i. 58
-     "_Maudite musique_" denounced by father, i. 48
-     petitions Royal Academy of Sciences, i. 51
-     wife of, dies, i. 58
-     writes _Le Mercure_, i. 49
-
-   Chamfort,
-     accepts invitation of Beaumarchais, i. 303
-
-   Charles I. of England,
-     judicial murder of, i. 161
-
-   Chartres, duc de,
-     honors Beaumarchais, i. 242
-
-   Chaulnes, duc de,
-     determines to kill Beaumarchais, i. 183
-     goes to Louvre to find Beaumarchais, i. 185
-     sent to Vincennes prison, i. 190
-     strange character of, i. 179
-
-   Chevalier du S., i. 115, 129
-     carries off Pauline, i. 136
-
-   Chenu, the commissioner,
-     arrests the duc de Chaulnes, i. 188
-     carries out order of King, ii. 230
-
-   Chevalier D'Eon,
-     abuses Beaumarchais, ii. 26
-     agent of Louis XV., ii. 14
-     declares himself a woman, ii. 19
-     disguised as woman in St. Petersburg, ii. 15
-     exiled to London, ii. 14
-     reasons for change of sex of, ii. 19
-
-   Chinon,
-     The forest of, i. 159
-
-   Clavico, Joseph, i. 217
-     adventures with, i. 91ff.
-     immolated by Goethe, i. 96
-     signs declaration, i. 93
-     successes of i. 96
-
-   Clôture, compliment de, i. 279ff.
-
-   Colin d'Harleville,
-     reads discourse over grave of Beaumarchais, ii. 284
-
-   Collé,
-     replies to Beaumarchais, i. 301, 302
-
-   Colonists,
-     forbidden to extend settlements, i. 27
-     had no sympathy with the French, i. 29
-     turn to France, i. 29
-
-   Comédie des Italiens,
-     refuses the _Barbier_, i. 173
-
-   Comédie française,
-     refused to permit singing, i. 279
-
-   Comedy,
-     morality of, i. 146
-     the serious, i. 145
-
-   _Compte rendu_,
-     of Beaumarchais, i. 292
-
-   Condé, Prince of,
-     dispute with Beaumarchais, i. 107
-
-   Congress,
-     Continental, devoid of power, i. 28
-     debt of, to Beaumarchais fixed by Deane, ii. 199
-     disavows all commissions of Deane, ii. 135
-     draws up contract with agent of Beaumarchais, ii. 163ff.
-     holds aloft famous receipt, ii. 205
-     ignores letter of Deane, ii. 193
-     parties of, reversed, ii. 236
-     petitioned again and again by French Government, ii. 205
-     sent Barclay to revise account of Beaumarchais, ii. 200
-     strange silence of, ii. 202
-     urged to admit claim, ii. 208
-
-   Constant, _le petit_,
-     writes to Beaumarchais in prison, i. 201
-
-   Conti, Prince de,
-     honors Beaumarchais, i. 242
-
-   Cordilières,
-     convent of, i. 192
-
-   Cornwallis,
-     defeat of, i. 33
-
-   Cotignac,
-     amusing story of, i. 65
-
-   Coudray, Tronson du,
-     at Metz, ii. 106
-     fascinates Deane and Beaumarchais, ii. 107
-     gives pretext of bad weather, ii. 119
-     good officer, ii. 121
-     issues pamphlet against Deane and Beaumarchais, ii. 122
-     openly thwarts plans of Deane and Beaumarchais, ii. 115
-     placed in command of Amphitrite, ii. 115
-     unworthy of confidence, ii. 107
-
-   Counter order revoked, ii. 119
-
-
-   Dauphin, i. 60
-
-   Deane, Silas, i. 37
-     accompanied by first French Ambassador to America, ii. 190
-     addresses Beaumarchais, ii. 191
-     addresses letter to Congress, ii. 193
-     associated with Arnold, ii. 194
-     changes date of contract with Lafayette, ii. 134
-     commended by King, ii. 190
-     commended by Vergennes, ii. 190
-     communicates fears to Beaumarchais, ii. 187
-     compact between Beaumarchais and, ii. 90, 91
-     defended by Franklin, ii. 186
-     defended by John Jay, ii. 186
-     difficult situation of, ii. 171
-     embarrassing position of, ii. 118
-     given portrait of King, ii. 189
-     guest of French Admiral, ii. 193
-     insists on meeting French Minister, ii. 84
-     a loyal patriot, ii. 195
-     manly firmness of, ii. 132
-     meets Beaumarchais, ii. 87
-     meets Lafayette with Von Kalb, ii. 134
-     no traitor, ii. 195
-     papers of, ii. 187
-     receives news of his recall, ii. 187
-     reluctantly signs recommendation of Du Coudray, ii. 121
-     returns to France, ii. 199
-     sent by Franklin to Dubourg, ii. 83
-     sent to Paris, i. 31
-     signs contract with Lafayette and Von Kalb, ii. 134
-     starts for France, ii. 69
-     writes to Congress, ii. 92
-
-   Delarue, Louis-André-Toussaint,
-     meets family of Beaumarchais, ii, 274
-
-   Delarue, Mme.
-     gives birth to daughter, ii. 282
-
-   Des Epinières,
-     Beaumarchais demands he return to post, ii. 131
-     commended by Gen. Sullivan, ii. 197
-     nephew of Beaumarchais, i. 80
-     nephew of Beaumarchais goes to America with Steuben, ii. 142
-     writes to uncle, ii, 142
-
-   Diderot,
-     founder of new literary School, i. 148
-     replies to Beaumarchais, i. 302, 303
-
-   Doligny, Mlle.,
-     created rôle of Rosine, i. 279
-     letter of, i. 290
-
-   Doniol, II.
-     monumental work of, ii. 32
-
-   Dorat, M., i. 299
-
-   Dramatic authors,
-     rights of, i. 288
-     rights of, recognized by Napoleon, i. 307
-
-   Dubourg, Barbeu,
-     discredits Beaumarchais with Franklin, ii. 85
-     friend of Franklin, ii. 83
-     greets Franklin, ii. 117
-     officious zeal of, ii. 105
-     tries to discredit Beaumarchais with Vergennes, ii. 84
-
-   Duras, M. le Maréchal de,
-     confers with Beaumarchais, i. 298
-
-   Du Verney, Paris,
-     dies, i. 163
-     tutelage of Beaumarchais under, of use in cause of America, ii. 78
-
-
-   England,
-     difficulties of recruiting in, ii. 38
-     parties in, ii. 33
-
-   Estaing, Admiral D',
-     commandeers _Le Fier Roderigue_, ii. 234
-     writes to Beaumarchais, ii. 235
-
-   _Eugénie_,
-     _La vertue malheureuse_, i. 149ff.
-     success in England, i. 149
-
-   Eugénie, Mlle.,
-     daughter of Beaumarchais, i. 246
-     marries M. Delarue, ii. 275
-     returns home, ii. 249
-     sent to convent school, ii. 248
-     suitors of, ii. 250
-     writes to her father, ii. 262
-
-
-   Ferrers, Lord,
-     friend of Chev. D'Eon, ii. 25
-
-   Figaro,
-     creation of, i. 147, 269
-     creation of, ranks Beaumarchais with Molière, ii. 223
-     first conception of, i. 271
-
-   Flanders,
-     Beaumarchais retires to, i. 243
-
-   Follette, Mlle.,
-     little dog of B., ii. 286
-
-   For-l'Evêque,
-     Beaumarchais sent to, i. 191
-
-   France,
-     aid to America openly avowed, i. 33
-     attitude of, towards America, ii. 35
-     betrayed, i. 29
-     disclaims Canada, ii. 37
-     important rôle played by, i. 33
-     no intention of claiming part of New World, i. 30
-     still demurs, ii. 45
-
-   Francis, Cape,
-     base of mercantile operations with America, ii. 80
-
-   Francy, Theveneau de,
-     gives impressions, ii. 167ff.
-     letter to, ii, 132
-     reports on conditions in America, ii. 156
-     sets out for America, ii. 154
-     writes Beaumarchais of Deane's recall, ii. 156
-
-   Franklin, Benjamin,
-     arrives in France, i. 116
-     at Versailles, i. 32
-     defends Deane in letter to Congress, ii. 186
-     idol of Paris, ii. 119
-     intentionally arouses suspicions of French Government, ii. 133
-     overlooks a million, ii. 201
-     won over by du Coudray, ii. 121
-     steadily refuses to treat with Beaumarchais, ii. 142
-     writes Dubourg, ii. 117
-
-   French,
-     generosity of, ii. 35
-     loved America, ii. 35
-     motives of, distrusted by Americans, ii. 34
-
-   Fronsac, duc de,
-     wishes to hear _Le Mariage de Figaro_, ii. 216
-
-
-   Gaillardet,
-     life of Chev. D'Eon, ii. 16
-
-   Garrick,
-     adapts _Eugénie_ to English audience, i. 149
-
-   Gates, Horatio, i. 32
-     Congress in favor of, to replace Washington, ii. 193
-
-   George III.,
-     appealed to by Louis XV., i. 251
-
-   Gérard, de Rayneval,
-     accompanies Deane, ii. 190
-     First French Ambassador to America, ii. 195
-
-   Goethe,
-     reads memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 231
-     writes drama _Clavico_, i. 231
-
-   Goëzman, Counsellor,
-     accuses Beaumarchais of attempt at corruption, i. 209
-     aided by Beaumarchais, ii. 286
-     attacks Julie, i. 236
-     presided over the parliament Maupeou, i. 177
-
-   Goëzman, Madame,
-     confrontation of, with Beaumarchais, i. 223ff.
-     demands two hundred louis, i. 204
-     demands fifteen louis for the secretary, i. 206
-     memoir of, i. 222
-     refuses to return the fifteen louis, i. 207
-
-   Government,
-     English, redoubles watchfulness, ii. 117
-     of France, embarrassed by presence
-     of Franklin, ii. 116
-     of France, slow to move, ii. 36
-
-   Grand, M.,
-     Banker in Paris, ii. 146
-
-   Grasse, Comte de,
-     off Cape Henry, i. 33
-
-   Grennevilliers,
-     festival of, ii. 216
-
-   Gudin de la Brenellerie,
-     accused of writing memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 219
-     alone in house of Beaumarchais, ii. 257
-     gives account of triumph of Beaumarchais, ii. 174
-     goes to live with Beaumarchais, ii. 241
-     meets Beaumarchais, i. 170
-     returns to join friend, ii. 276
-     seeks refuge in _le Temple_, ii. 176
-     seized by the duc de Chaulnes, i. 184
-
-   Guerchy, Comte de,
-     quarrel with D'Eon, ii. 14, 23
-
-   Guilbert, Marie-Joseph,
-     settles in Spain, i. 80
-
-
-   Hamburg,
-     Beaumarchais at, ii. 260
-
-   Hamilton, Alex.,
-     revises account of Beaumarchais with Congress, ii. 204
-
-   Havre,
-     Beaumarchais goes to, ii. 115
-     family seeks safety at, ii. 251
-
-   Heirs of Beaumarchais,
-     claims of, settled, ii. 211
-
-   Héloise, La Nouvelle, ii. 179
-
-   Hessians,
-     hired to fight Americans, ii. 38
-     start for America, ii. 64
-
-   Hinterland, i. 27
-
-   Holland,
-     engaged by Beaumarchais to unite with Spain and France, ii. 32
-
-
-   Independence,
-     American, Beaumarchais intervenes in cause of, i. 250
-     declared by Congress, ii. 126
-     war of America, important rôle of Beaumarchais in, i. 267
-
-   _Institut de bienfaisance_, ii. 227
-
-   Institute for Nursing Mothers, ii. 228
-
-
-   Jay, John,
-     correspondence of, ii. 111
-     defends Deane, ii. 186
-     writes Beaumarchais, ii. 236
-
-   Jefferson,
-     sends letter to Beaumarchais, ii. 245
-
-
-   Kaunitz, Chancellor, i. 264
-     suspicions of, i. 266
-
-
-   La Borde,
-     aids Beaumarchais, i. 243
-
-   Lafayette, Marquis de, i. 37
-     about to sail on Beaumarchais's vessel, ii. 134
-     dinner at Metz, ii. 133
-     forced to borrow from Beaumarchais, ii. 162
-     pleads for Beaumarchais imprisoned, ii. 229
-     returns borrowed money with interest, ii. 247
-     sets sail for America, ii. 134
-
-   La Harpe,
-     comments on du Verney, i. 69
-     defends character of Beaumarchais, i. 219
-     eulogizes Beaumarchais, i. 213
-     eulogizes memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 238
-     final characterization of Beaumarchais, ii. 285
-     invitation of Beaumarchais accepted by, i. 301
-     refuses invitation to dine with authors, i. 299
-
-   Lamballe, Princess de,
-     invites Beaumarchais, ii. 214
-
-   _La Mère Coupable_,
-     first played, ii. 278
-
-   Lawsuit,
-     against Comedians, i. 287
-     of the fifteen louis, a master stroke, i. 214
-
-   Lee, Arthur,
-     added to commission in France, ii. 117
-     comes to Paris, ii. 89
-     condemned at bar of history, ii. 195
-     connections with Beaumarchais broken, ii. 88
-     denounces Deane and Beaumarchais to Congress, ii. 88
-     distrusted by Vergennes, ii. 185
-     effects of letter of, to Congress, ii. 108
-     enraged against Deane and Beaumarchais, ii. 88
-     in London, ii. 57
-     jealous of Deane, ii. 185
-     meets Beaumarchais, ii. 56
-     not permitted to come to France, ii. 66
-     poisoned Congress against Deane, ii. 186
-     revises account of Beaumarchais, ii. 203
-     summoned to join Deane and Franklin, ii. 117
-     Vergennes refuses to see, ii. 89
-     writes to Congress, misrepresenting action of French
-       Government, ii. 68
-
-   Lebrun,
-     gives passport to Beaumarchais, ii. 258
-
-   _Le Mariage de Figaro_, i. 39
-
-   Lepaute,
-     plagiarism of, detected, i. 52
-     watchmaker to the Luxembourg, i. 51
-
-   Lepin, Françoise,
-     sister of Beaumarchais, i. 180
-
-   Lenormant d'Etioles,
-     festival given by, i. 268
-     gives festival, i. 142
-     second marriage of, i. 201
-
-   _Les deux Amis_, i. 157
-
-   _Le Temple_,
-     chosen as refuge by Gudin, ii. 177
-     prison of, ii. 232
-
-   _Lettres de Cachet_,
-     Beaumarchais a victim of, i. 190
-
-   Libel,
-     against Mme. du Barry destroyed, i. 253
-     against Queen destroyed, i. 256
-
-   Lindet, Robert,
-     makes appeal for Beaumarchais, ii. 270
-
-   Lintilhac, Eugène,
-     _Beaumarchais et ses oeuvres_, i. 36
-
-   Living,
-     high cost of, after the terror, ii. 266ff.
-
-   Loménie, Louis de,
-     _Life and Times of Beaumarchais_, i. 36
-
-   Louis XV., i. 56, ii. 14
-     death of, i. 253
-     dies, i. 242
-     _le grand projet de_, ii. 18
-     occult diplomacy of, i. 249
-     parliament of, destroyed by fifteen louis, i. 231
-
-   Louis XVI.,
-     ascends throne, i. 254
-     hesitates, ii. 32
-     inflicts outrage without motive on Beaumarchais, ii. 230
-     refuses to commit himself regarding aid to America, ii. 53
-     replies in own hand writing to questions of Beaumarchais, ii. 52f.
-     seeks to undo wrong done Beaumarchais, ii. 231
-     won over to American cause, ii. 70
-
-
-   _Mariage de Figaro, Le_, i. 39
-     Beaumarchais composes, ii. 212
-     Monologue of, ii. 223
-     permission given to play, ii. 215
-     permission revoked, ii. 215
-     proceeds go to charity, ii. 226
-     returns from, ii. 226
-     story of, ii. 221
-
-   Marie-Antoinette,
-     attacked in libel, i. 256
-     in the Temple, ii. 232
-     protectress of Beaumarchais, i. 267
-     takes the part of Rosine, i. 283
-
-   Marie-Thérèse, Empress of Austria,
-     receives Beaumarchais, i. 263
-
-   Marmontel, i. 173
-
-   Maupeou,
-     Chancellor, dissolves parliaments, i. 174
-     the parliament, i. 174
-     the parliament, abolished, i. 254
-     the parliament, Beaumarchais called before, i. 177
-     the parliament, judges Beaumarchais, i. 240
-     the parliament, sentence of, annulled, ii. 100
-     the parliament, supported by Voltaire, i. 219
-
-   Maurepas, le Comte de,
-     Beaumarchais works for, ii. 113
-     Beaumarchais addresses memoir to, ii. 127ff.
-     promises letters-patent, ii. 96
-     uses Beaumarchais as political agent, ii. 111
-
-   Meinières, Madame de,
-     enchanted by memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 232f.
-     compares Beaumarchais to Demosthenes, Cicero, etc., i. 233
-
-   Memoir,
-     Beaumarchais addresses new, to King, ii. 42ff.
-
-   Memoirs of Beaumarchais
-     praised by Mme. de Meinières, i. 232f.
-     read by Goethe, i. 230
-     read by Voltaire, i. 219
-     read in Philadelphia, i. 231
-
-   _Mémoire justicative de Beaumarchais_, ii. 237f.
-
-   Ménard, Mlle, de,
-     _femme d'esprit_, i. 173
-     painted by Greuze, i. 179
-     takes refuge in convent, i. 191
-
-   Mercantile project outlined to King by Beaumarchais, ii. 78ff.
-
-   Mesdames, i. 59ff., 84, 151
-
-   Metz,
-     famous dinner at, i. 35
-
-   Meudon, i. 63
-
-   Miron, Janot de,
-     aids in writing memoirs, i. 236
-     marries Mlle. Boisgarnier, i. 120
-     writes Beaumarchais, i. 116
-
-   Morande, Theveneau de, French libelist, i. 251
-
-   Morris, Robert, i. 39
-
-
-   Napoleon,
-     characterizes house of Beaumarchais, ii. 241
-     recognizes rights of dramatic authors, i. 307
-     writes Beaumarchais, ii. 280
-
-   New York,
-     fall of, effect in Paris, ii. 113
-
-   Nivernais, duc de,
-     suggests change in _Eugénie_, i. 152
-
-   Nuremberg, i. 260
-     Burgomaster of, i. 261
-
-
-   Opposition, The,
-     in England, favors Insurgents, ii. 34
-
-
-   Paris du Verney,
-     early life, i. 69
-     founds Ecole Militaire, i. 67
-     notices Beaumarchais, i. 68
-
-   Parliaments,
-     reëstablished, i. 242
-
-   Passy,
-     deputies at, thwart Beaumarchais, ii. 157
-     deputies at, uncomfortable position of, ii. 158
-     Franklin takes up quarters at, ii. 118
-
-   Pauline,
-     charming Creole, i. 108
-     fortune of, i. 109
-     marries the Chevalier du S., i. 140
-
-   People,
-     English, respect of, for law, i. 252
-     of France, enthusiastically greet Franklin, ii. 116
-     the, of France, support Beaumarchais, i. 214
-
-   Philadelphia,
-     evacuated by British, ii. 193
-
-   Philadelphian,
-     reads memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 231
-
-   Poland,
-     division of, declared iniquitous by Beaumarchais, ii. 49
-
-   Polignac, Mme. la duchesse de,
-     hears _Le Mariage de Figaro_, ii. 216
-
-   Pompadour, Madame de, i. 53
-
-   Port-Libre,
-     family of Beaumarchais imprisoned at, ii. 262
-
-
-   Receipt, Famous,
-     for "lost million," ii. 82
-
-   Rochambeau, Comte de,
-     at Yorktown, i. 33
-
-   Rochford, Lord,
-     aids Beaumarchais to gain ends, i. 257
-     complains to Beaumarchais, ii. 62
-     friendship for Beaumarchais, i. 101
-     intimate with Beaumarchais, ii. 56
-     King bids Beaumarchais encourage friendship of, ii. 66
-
-   Roderigue Hortalès et Cie,
-     assumed name, ii. 79
-     commercial house of, ii. 77
-
-   _Roderigue, Le Fier_,
-     takes part in Battle of Granada, ii, 234
-     vessel of Beaumarchais, ii. 161
-
-   Ronac,
-     assumed name of Beaumarchais, i. 261
-
-   "_Ronde_,"
-     of Beaumarchais, ii. 250
-
-   Roosevelt, Theodore,
-     erects Statue to Rochambeau, i. 34
-
-   Rousseau, J. J.,
-     effect of teaching of, shown in letter, ii. 179
-     reads the memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 219
-
-   Russia,
-     Crown Prince of, supporter of _Le Mariage de Figaro_, ii. 215
-
-
-   Saint-Amand, Imbert de,
-     account of _Le Mariage de Figaro_ given by, ii. 224ff.
-     _Le Barbier de Séville_ given at Le Petit-Trianon, i. 285
-     Recounts reception of Franklin, ii. 118f.
-
-   St. Antoine,
-     hotel Boulevard, i. 240
-
-   Sainte-Beuve, M. de,
-     eulogizes Beaumarchais, i. 230
-     invocation of Beaumarchais, i. 229
-     gives honor to memory of Beaumarchais, i. 289
-
-   St. Petersburg, ii. 15
-     50 representations given in, of _Barbier de Séville_, i. 275
-
-   Saratoga,
-     Arnold wounded at, ii. 194
-     mock hero of, i. 32
-     victory of, news of, reaches Paris, ii. 145
-     victory of, turning point of war, i. 31
-
-   Sartine, M. de,
-     appealed to by Beaumarchais, i. 255
-     explains imprisonment, i. 266
-     friendly to Beaumarchais, i. 197
-     grants permission to play _Le Barbier_, i. 272
-     intercedes for Beaumarchais i. 211
-     Lieutenant General of police, i. 177
-     secures written order for Beaumarchais from King, i. 257
-
-   Sauvigny, M., i. 299
-
-   School for Rakes,
-     adapted from _Eugénie_ of Beaumarchais, i. 149
-
-   Seals,
-     placed on house of Beaumarchais, ii. 258
-
-   Secret aid,
-     impossible to avow, ii. 201
-
-   Sedaine, i. 173
-     correspondence with Beaumarchais, i. 305, 306
-
-   Shippen, Miss Margaret,
-     belle of Philadelphia, ii. 194
-
-   Spain, i. 80, 84
-     Beaumarchais's intimacy at Court of, aids in affairs
-       with America, ii. 78
-     engaged by Beaumarchais to aid America, ii. 32
-     preparing to aid America, ii. 109
-     urged to join France in war on England, ii. 137
-
-   Steuben, Baron von, i. 38
-     called on by Beaumarchais, ii. 247
-     life of, by Kaft, ii. 139
-     sees deputies at Passy, ii. 140
-     takes des Epinières to America as aid, ii. 142
-     urged to lend services to America, ii. 137, 138
-     visits Paris, ii. 139
-
-   Sully,
-     Beaumarchais recommends prudent measures of, ii. 127, 128
-
-
-   Terror,
-     Reign of, i. 246
-
-   Théâtre Français,
-     Comedians of, refuse account, i. 293
-
-   Toryism,
-     rampant in Philadelphia, ii. 193
-
-   Tourneux, Maurice,
-     Edits life of Beaumarchais by Gudin, i. 36
-
-   Trianon, _Le Petit_, i. 283
-
-   Tucker, Mr.,
-     of Virginia, address of, in favor of Beaumarchais, ii. 209
-
-
-   Valley Forge,
-     Winter at, i. 32
-
-   Vallière, duc de la, i. 105, 200
-
-   Vaudreuil, M. de,
-     at Grennevilliers, ii. 218
-     thanks Beaumarchais, ii. 219
-
-   Venice,
-     enthusiasm for _Eugénie_, i. 150
-
-   Vergennes, Comte de,
-     addresses Beaumarchais like an Ambassador, ii. 65
-     aids Beaumarchais, ii. 125
-     approves change of costume of D'Eon, ii. 23
-     augments credits of Beaumarchais, ii. 85
-     Chevalier D'Eon demands ransom from, ii. 17
-     discountenances Dubourg, ii. 84
-     finally overcomes scruples of King, ii. 54
-     praises Beaumarchais, ii. 29
-     replies to Beaumarchais, ii. 124
-     speaks at last, ii. 69
-
-   Versailles,
-     Beaumarchais reappears at, i. 252
-     court of, i. 32
-
-   _Victoire, La_,
-     vessel bought by Lafayette, ii. 134
-
-   Voltaire,
-     eulogizes the memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 215
-
-   Vrillière, duc de la,
-     keeps Beaumarchais in prison, i. 197
-     releases Beaumarchais, i. 212
-
-
-   War declared on England, ii. 233
-
-   Washington, George,
-     at Valley Forge, i. 32
-
-   Wilkes, Lord Mayor,
-     insolence of, ii. 38
-     members of opposition, meet at home of, ii. 56
-
-
-
-
-STUDIES IN AMERICAN HISTORY
-
-
-   BEAUMARCHAIS, AND THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. Two volumes.
-   Illustrated. _By Elizabeth S. Kite._
-
-   THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC LANDS, FROM 1840 TO 1862.
-   FROM PRE-EMPTION TO HOMESTEAD. _By George M. Stephenson._
-
-   GEORGIA AS A PROPRIETARY PROVINCE--THE EXECUTION OF A TRUST. _By
-   James Ross McCain._
-
-   LINCOLN, THE POLITICIAN. _By T. Aaron Levy._
-
-   THE AGRICULTURAL PAPERS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. _Edited by Walter
-   Edwin Brooke, Ph.B._
-
-
-RICHARD G. BADGER, PUBLISHER, BOSTON
-
-
-
-
-
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-Independence Vol. 2 of 2, by Elizabeth S. Kite
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beaumarchais and the War of American
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40340 ***</div>
 
 <div class="box">
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@@ -12199,385 +12160,7 @@ Brooke, Ph.B.</i></p>
 
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diff --git a/40340.txt b/40340.txt
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index c646c30..0000000
--- a/40340.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10803 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Beaumarchais and the War of American
-Independence Vol. 2 of 2, by Elizabeth S. Kite
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-Title: Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence Vol. 2 of 2
-
-Author: Elizabeth S. Kite
-
-Release Date: July 26, 2012 [EBook #40340]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEAUMARCHAIS ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Roberta Staehlin, Turgut Dincer and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
-
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-
-
-
-  Transcriber's Note
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-  This book was published in two volumes, of which this is the second.
-  The first volume was released as Project Gutenberg ebook #37960,
-  available at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37960.
-
-  Two incorrect index sub-entries for Beaumarchais have been corrected:
-    jealousies aroused against -- page changed from 6 to 304
-    judged by parliament Maupeou -- page changed from 24 to 100
-
-
-
-
-                              BEAUMARCHAIS
-
-                            _And the War of
-                         American Independence_
-
-                                   BY
-
-                           ELIZABETH S. KITE
-
-        _Diplome d'instruction Primaire-Superieure, Paris, 1905
-        Member of the Staff of the Vineland Research Laboratory_
-
-                           WITH A FOREWORD BY
-                             JAMES M. BECK
-                _Author of "The Evidence in the Case"_
-
-                              TWO VOLUMES
-                              VOLUME TWO
-
-                              ILLUSTRATED
-
-                             [Illustration]
-
-                                 BOSTON
-                           RICHARD G. BADGER
-                            THE GORHAM PRESS
-
-
-                  COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY RICHARD G. BADGER
-
-                          All Rights Reserved
-
-                  Made in the United States of America
-
-                   The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.
-
-
-"_The faith of a believer is a spring to which uncertain convictions
-yield; this was the case of Beaumarchais with the King in the cause of
-American Independence._"
-
-                              _Gaillardet, in Le Chevalier d'Eon._
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS
-
-
-                               CHAPTER XV
-                                                                   PAGE
-
-    Curious History of the Chevalier d'Eon--Secret Agent of Louis
-      XV--The Chevalier Feigns to Be a Woman--Curiosity of London
-      Aroused--Necessity for the French Government to Obtain
-      Possession of State Papers in d'Eon's Hands--Beaumarchais
-      Accepts Mission--Obtains Possession of the Famous Chest        13
-
-
-                              CHAPTER XVI
-
-    Beaumarchais's Earliest Activities in the Cause of American
-      Independence--First Steps of the Government of
-      France-Bonvouloir--Discord Among Parties in
-      England--Beaumarchais's Memoirs to the King--Meets Arthur
-      Lee--Lee's Letter to Congress--King Still Undecided--Curious
-      Letter of Beaumarchais, with Replies Traced in the
-      Handwriting of the King                                        31
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XVII
-
-    Beaumarchais's English Connections--With Lord Rochford--With
-      Wilkes--Meets Arthur Lee--Sends Memoirs to the King--His
-      Commission to Buy Portuguese Coin--Called to Account by
-      Lord Rochford--Vergennes's Acceptance of his Ideas--Article
-      in _The Morning Chronicle_                                     56
-
-
-                            CHAPTER XVIII
-
-    Memoirs Explaining to the King the Plan of His Commercial
-      House--Roderigue Hortales et Cie.--The Doctor Dubourg--Silas
-      Deane's Arrival--His Contract with Beaumarchais--Lee's
-      Anger--His Misrepresentations to Congress--Beaumarchais
-      Obtains His Rehabilitation                                     77
-
-
-                              CHAPTER XIX
-
-    Suspicions of England Aroused Through Indiscretions of Friends
-      of America--Treachery of du Coudray--Counter Order Issued
-      Against Shipments of Beaumarchais--Franklin's Arrival--England's
-      Attempt to Make Peace Stirs France--Counter Order
-      Recalled--Ten Ships Start Out--Beaumarchais Cleared by
-      Vergennes                                                     104
-
-
-                               CHAPTER XX
-
-    The Declaration of Independence and Its Effect in
-      Europe--Beaumarchais's Activity in Getting Supplies to
-      America--Difficulties Arise About Sailing--Lafayette's
-      Contract with Deane--His Escape to America--Beaumarchais's
-      Losses--Baron von Steuben Sails for America in Beaumarchais's
-      Vessel, Taking the Latter's Nephew, des Epinieres, and His
-      Agent, Theveneau de Francy--The Surrender of
-      Burgoyne--Beaumarchais Finds Himself Set Aside While Others
-      Take His Place--Faces Bankruptcy--Vergennes Comes to His
-      Assistance                                                    126
-
-
-                              CHAPTER XXI
-
-    De Francy Sails for America--His Disappointment in the New
-      World--Beaumarchais Recounts His Grievances against the
-      Deputies at Passy--Rejoices Over American Victories--Manoeuvers
-      to Insure Safety to His Ships--The Depreciation
-      Of Paper Money in America--De Francy Comes to the Aid of
-      Lafayette--Contract between Congress and De Francy Acting
-      for Roderigue et Cie.--Letters of Lee to Congress--Bad Faith
-      of that Body--Deane's Signature to Documents Drawn up by
-      Franklin and Lee--Beaumarchais's Triumph at Aix--Gudin
-      Seeks Refuge at the Temple--Letters of Mlle. Ninon             154
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XXII
-
-    Deane's Recall--Beaumarchais's Activity in Obtaining for Him
-      Honorable Escort--Letters to Congress--Reception of
-      Deane--Preoccupation of Congress at the Moment of His
-      Return--Arnold and Deane in Philadelphia the Summer of
-      1778--Deane's Subsequent Conduct--Letters of Carmichael
-      and Beaumarchais--_Le Fier Roderigue_--Silas Deane Returns
-      to Settle Accounts--Debate Over the "Lost Million"--Mr.
-      Tucker's Speech--Final Settlement of the Claim of the
-      Heirs of Beaumarchais                                         184
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XXIII
-
-    The _Mariage de Figaro_--Its Composition--Difficulties
-      Encountered in Getting it Produced--It is Played at
-      Grennevilliers--The First Representation--Its Success--
-      _Institut des pauvres meres nourrices_--Beaumarchais
-      at Saint Lazare                                               212
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XXIV
-
-    The Marine of Beaumarchais--Success of His Business
-      Undertakings--His Wealth--Ringing Plea of Self-Justification
-      in the Cause of America, Addressed to the Commune of Paris,
-      1789--The Beautiful House Which He Built in Paris--His
-      Liberality--His Friends--His Home Life--Madame de
-      Beaumarchais--His Daughter, Eugenie                           233
-
-
-                              CHAPTER XXV
-
-    House of Beaumarchais Searched--The 10th of August--Letter
-      to his Family in Havre--Letter of Eugenie to her
-      Father--Commissioned to Buy Guns for the Government--Goes
-      to Holland as Agent of _Comite de Salut Public_--Declared
-      an Emigre--Confiscation of his Goods--Imprisonment of his
-      Family--The Ninth Thermidor Comes to Save Them--Life During
-      the Terror--Julie again in Evidence--Beaumarchais's Name
-      Erased from List of Emigres--Returns to France                253
-
-
-                             CHAPTER XXVI
-
-    Beaumarchais After his Return from Exile--Takes Up All his
-      Business Activities--Marriage of Eugenie--Her Portrait Drawn
-      by Julie--Beaumarchais's Varied Interests--Correspondence with
-      Bonaparte--Pleads for Lafayette Imprisoned--Death of
-      Beaumarchais--Conclusion                                      273
-
-   Bibliography                                                     291
-
-   Index                                                            295
-
-
-                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
-
-                                                            FACING PAGE
-
-   P. A. Caron de Beaumarchais                             Frontispiece
-
-   Charles de Beaumont                                               26
-
-   Charles Gravier--Comte de Vergennes                               54
-
-   Silas Deane                                                       78
-
-   William Carmichael                                               104
-
-   Lafayette                                                        126
-
-   General John Schuyler                                            140
-
-   General Baron von Steuben                                        152
-
-   Robert Morris                                                    166
-
-   The Temple                                                       182
-
-   Caesar Augustus Rodney--Attorney General of the U. S.             200
-
-   John Jay                                                         220
-
-   D'Estaing                                                        232
-
-   The Bastille                                                     240
-
-   House of Beaumarchais                                            252
-
-   Madame de Beaumarchais                                           270
-
-
-
-
-                             BEAUMARCHAIS
-
-                  _And the War of American Independence_
-
-
-
-
-                               CHAPTER XV
-
-
-_Figaro--"Feindre d'ignorer ce qu'on sait, de savoir tout ce qu'on
-ignore; d'entendre ce qu'on ne comprend pas, de ne point ouir ce qu'on
-entend; surtout de pouvoir au dela de ses forces; avoir souvent pour
-grand secret de cacher qu'il n'y en a point; s'enfermer pour tailler des
-plumes, et paraitre profond, quand on n'est, comme on dit, que vide et
-creux; jouer bien ou mal un personage; repandre des espions et
-pensionner des traitres; amollir des cachets, intercepter des lettres,
-et tacher d'ennoblir la pauvrete des moyens par l'importance des objets;
-voila toute la politique ou je meure."_
-
-_Le Comte--"Eh! c'est l'intrigue que tu definis!"_
-
-_Figaro--"La politique, l'intrigue, volontiers; mais, comme je les crois
-un peu germaines, en fasse qui voudra!"_
-
-                         _Le Mariage de Figaro, Act III, Scene V._
-
-
-    Curious History of the Chevalier d'Eon--Secret Agent of Louis
-      XV--The Chevalier Feigns to Be a Woman--Curiosity of London
-      Aroused--Necessity for the French Government to Obtain Possession
-      of State Papers in d'Eon's Hands--Beaumarchais Accepts
-      Mission--Obtains Possession of the Famous Chest.
-
-
-It was the summer of 1775. The moment was approaching when the attention
-of Europe would be directed towards the events transpiring on the other
-side of the Atlantic, in that New World, of which the old was as yet
-scarcely conscious. The stand for freedom, for individual rights, for
-the liberty of expansion which was there made, was destined to rouse the
-warmest sympathies amongst all classes, especially in France. The
-enthusiasm which greeted the resistance of the colonies rapidly became a
-national sentiment which the French government was unable to suppress or
-even to keep within bounds. To direct this enthusiasm into a practical
-channel that should lead to immediate and efficient support of the
-insurged colonies whilst awaiting the active intervention of the
-government, was to be primarily the work of one man, and that man was
-Beaumarchais.
-
-But in starting for London on the present occasion, he was unconscious
-of the historic importance which this journey was destined to assume.
-The mission with which he was charged was one of the most singular with
-which any government ever seriously commissioned one of its agents.
-
-There was living at this time in London the Chevalier d'Eon de Beaumont,
-who was a former agent of the occult diplomacy of Louis XV, and who at
-this time was an exile from his country, to which he had been forbidden
-to return in consequence of the scandalous and disgraceful quarrel that
-had occurred between him and the French Ambassador, the Comte de
-Guerchy, years before. Although publicly disgraced, he retained the
-secret confidence of the old King, who allowed him an annual income of
-12,000 francs. The present government was willing to continue this
-pension, but on condition that the chevalier give up the secret
-correspondence of the late King, which remained in his possession, and
-of which it was very important that the French government should obtain
-control. It was to negotiate the remittance of this correspondence that
-Beaumarchais was commissioned the summer of 1775. The oddity of the
-character with which he had to deal, rather than the actual nature of
-the mission, was what made the negotiation so difficult and the
-proceedings so unusual.
-
-Several years previous, about 1771, a rumor began to circulate in
-England that the Chevalier in question was really a woman disguised.
-Although one of the most belligerent of characters, who "smoked, drank
-and swore like a German trooper," it appears that "the rarity of his
-blond beard and the smallness of his form (Gaillardet)," "a certain
-feminine roundness of the face, joined to a voice equally feminine,
-contributed to give credit to the fable (note of M. de Lomenie, _sur le_
-Chevalier d'Eon)." There were also certain facts in the life of the
-chevalier which supported this theory; among others it was known that as
-a very young man he had been sent by Louis XV in the guise of a woman to
-the court of St. Petersburg, where he had succeeded in being admitted as
-reader to the Empress Elizabeth.
-
-As the Chevalier d'Eon was a widely known personage in English society,
-the matter took on great proportions and became a subject of betting
-according to the _maniere anglaise_. D'Eon, who seems to have cared
-primarily for one thing, namely, notoriety of whatever sort, secretly
-encouraged the dispute, although he wrote at the same time to the Comte
-de Broglie: "It is not my fault if the court of Russia during my sojourn
-here, has assured the court of England that I am a woman.... It is not
-my fault if the fury of betting upon all sorts of things is such a
-national malady among the English that they often risk more than their
-fortunes upon a single horse.... I have proved to them, and I will prove
-it as often as they wish, that I am not only a man, but a captain of
-dragoons, with his arms in his hands." And yet he was able to keep the
-world in a state of complete mystification as to his true sex, up to the
-time of his death in 1810.
-
-Voltaire says of him: "The whole adventure confounds me. I cannot
-understand either d'Eon, or the ministers of his time, or the measures
-of Louis XV, or those being made at present. I understand nothing of the
-whole affair." In his _Memoires sur le Chevalier d'Eon de Beaumont_, M.
-Gaillardet says: "The history of the Chevalier d'Eon was one of the most
-singular and most controverted enigmas of the 18th century. That century
-finished without its being known what was the veritable sex of that
-mysterious being, who after being successively doctor of law, advocate
-in the Parliament of Paris, censor of belles-lettres, secretary of
-embassy at St. Petersburg, captain of dragoons, Chevalier de Saint
-Louis, minister plenipotentiary to London, suddenly, at the age of 46
-years announced himself to be a woman, assumed the costume of his new
-role, and conserved it until the time of his death in 1810."
-
-As we shall presently see, and for reasons wholly justifiable, it is
-Beaumarchais who works this transformation in the life of d'Eon. Nothing
-in relation to his strange character is so passing strange as the fact
-that the King and his minister, and above all that Beaumarchais himself,
-the cleverest of men--should have been completely duped by the Chevalier
-as to the matter of his sex. It even went so far as to be generally
-believed that the _demoiselle_ d'Eon was seriously in love with
-Beaumarchais, and the latter himself believed it. In the most skillful
-way the chevalier endeavored to make use of this deceit to further his
-own ends. Failing in this, and having made the fatal avowal and received
-the King's orders to assume the garb of a woman, the fury of d'Eon knew
-no bounds. Powerless to wreak his vengeance in any other way, he
-endeavored by calumny and abuse to thwart the career of the man upon
-whom he had been able to impose only in the matter of his sex.
-Beaumarchais readily excused all the insults cast at him, believing as
-he did, that this is the manner of revenge of the strange creature, "his
-amazon"--(as d'Eon is familiarly called in the correspondence between
-himself and the minister Vergennes)--for finding that her love is not
-requited.
-
-But to return to the facts of the case: D'Eon, at the time of the death
-of Louis XV was living in constant hope of being restored to favor and
-allowed to return to France. His pension of 12,000 francs had proved all
-too small for his support and he was heavily in debt. No sooner had the
-young king, Louis XVI, mounted the throne than the Chevalier sent word
-to Vergennes, minister of foreign affairs, announcing that he had in his
-possession important letters which were of such a nature that should
-they fall into the hands of the English, it might precipitate a war
-between the two nations. An agent was therefore dispatched to enter into
-negotiations. "Understanding," says Gaillardet, "that if he did not
-profit by this occasion, he would have little to expect from the new
-reign, d'Eon resolved to put a high price on the papers in his
-possession. He demanded: first, that he be solemnly justified of the
-imputations directed against him by his enemies--especially the family
-of the Comte de Guerchy; second, that all the sums, indemnities,
-advances, etc., due him for the past 26 years, be paid, amounting in all
-to 318,477 livres, 16 sous."
-
-Unable to come to any reasonable terms, the negotiations were broken
-off and the agent returned to France. He was replaced by another who was
-equally unsuccessful, and for a time the matter was dropped.
-
-In the meantime noise of the affair reached the English government, and
-d'Eon soon had the satisfaction of receiving large offers from that
-quarter if he would consent to give up the papers. The Chevalier,
-whatever his faults, or the violence of his character, was not a
-traitor; he had no intention of giving the papers in his possession to
-the English at any price, but he was well satisfied that their value
-should be thus enhanced.
-
-In the meantime, his pension was suspended and finding himself without
-funds, "he borrowed 5,000 pounds from his devoted friend and protector,
-the Lord Ferrers, giving him as security a sealed chest, which, Ferrers
-supposed, contained the famous correspondence. He took care, however,"
-says Gaillardet, "to withdraw from that deposit precisely the personal
-documents of the late King, which were the most important for the court
-of France and for himself. These papers contained a plan for the
-restitution of the Stuarts, a descent upon England, and other dreams,
-constituting what d'Eon called _le grand projet_ of Louis XV."
-
-At this juncture Beaumarchais appeared on the scene. "To interest the
-latter in his cause, and give him a mark of confidence (Gaillardet)
-d'Eon avows with tears that he is a woman, and this avowal was made with
-so much art that Beaumarchais did not conceive the least doubt."
-
-D'Eon recounted the history of the papers in his possession, and the
-offers which he had resisted. Charmed to oblige a woman so interesting
-by her sorrows, her courage, her _esprit_, Beaumarchais addressed at
-once touching letters to the King in favor of his new friend. "When one
-thinks," he writes, "that this creature, so much persecuted, belongs to
-a sex to which one forgives everything, the heart is touched with a
-sweet compassion." "I do assure you, Sire," he writes elsewhere, "that
-in taking this astonishing creature with dexterity and gentleness,
-although she is embittered by twelve years of misfortune, she can yet be
-brought to enter under the yoke, and to give up all the papers of the
-late King on reasonable conditions."
-
-As to the motives which could have induced le chevalier d'Eon to avow
-himself a woman, his biographer, already quoted, gives the following
-explanation:
-
-"His military and diplomatic career was about finished; disgraced, he
-would disappear from the scene of the world and fall into obscurity. But
-precisely shadow and silence were a horror to him. If there was a
-mystery in his existence, if they learned that he was a woman, he would
-become the hero of the day and of the century; his services would then
-appear extraordinary. This metamorphosis would attract to him the
-attention of Europe, and enable him more easily to obtain satisfaction
-from the French government, who would no longer refuse a woman the price
-of blood shed and services rendered."
-
-Both Gaillardet and Lomenie, after a careful examination of all the
-correspondence in relation to the affair between the Chevalier d'Eon and
-Beaumarchais, assure us that not a line exists which does not prove that
-the latter was completely deceived as to the matter of the sex of the
-Chevalier.
-
-Lintilhac, however, thinks that he has found proofs to the contrary in a
-letter which begins, "Ma pauvre Chevaliere, or whatever it pleases you
-to be with me...." London, Dec. 31, 1775. Gudin, in his life of
-Beaumarchais, says, "It was at a dinner of the Lord Mayor Wilkes that I
-encountered d'Eon for the first time. Struck to see the cross of St.
-Louis shining on his breast, I asked Mlle. Wilkes who that chevalier
-was; she named him to me. 'He has,' I said, 'the voice of a woman.' It
-is probably from that fact that the talk has all come. At that time I
-knew nothing more about him; I was still ignorant of his relations with
-Beaumarchais. I soon learned them from herself. She avowed to me with
-tears (it appears to have been the manner of d'Eon--note of Lomenie)
-that she was a woman, and showed me her scars, remains of wounds which
-she had received, when, her horse killed under her, a squadron of
-cavalry passed over her body and left her dying on the plain."
-
-"No one," says Lomenie, "could be more naively mystified than is Gudin.
-In the first period of the negotiation, d'Eon is full of attentions for
-Beaumarchais; he calls him his 'guardian angel' and sends him his
-complete works in fourteen volumes; for this curious being, this
-dragoon, woman and diplomat, was at the same time a most fruitful
-scribbler of paper. He has characterised himself very well in the
-following letter: 'If you wish to know me, Monsieur the Duke, I will
-tell you frankly that I am only good to think, imagine, question,
-reflect, compare, read, write, to run from the rising to the setting
-sun, from the south to the north, and to fight on the plain or in the
-mountains ... or I will use up all the revenues of France in a year, and
-after that give you an excellent treatise on economy. If you wish to
-have the proof, see all I have written in my history of finance, upon
-the distribution of public taxes.'"
-
-This, then, was the strange being with whom Beaumarchais had to deal. On
-the 21st of June, 1775, he received from Vergennes the following letter,
-which shows in the best possible light the credit which the secret agent
-of the government had already acquired. He wrote:
-
-   "I have under my eyes, Monsieur, the report which you have given
-   M. de Sartine of our conversation, touching M. d'Eon; it is of
-   the greatest exactitude; I have taken in consequence the orders
-   of the King. His Majesty authorizes you to assure to M. d'Eon the
-   regular payment of the pension of 12,000 francs.... The article
-   of the payment of his debts is more difficult; the pretensions of
-   d'Eon are very high in that respect; they must be considerably
-   reduced if we are to come to any arrangement.... M. d'Eon has a
-   violent character, but I do him the justice to believe that his
-   soul is honest, and that he is incapable of treason.... It is
-   impossible that M. d'Eon takes leave of the English King; the
-   revelation of his sex does not permit it; it would be ridiculous
-   for both courts.... You are wise and prudent, you know mankind,
-   and I have no doubt but that you will be able to arrange the
-   affair with d'Eon, if it can be done. Should the enterprise fail
-   in your hands, we shall be forced to consider that it cannot
-   succeed and resolve to accept whatever may come from it.... I am
-   very sensible, Monsieur, of the praises which you have been so
-   good as to give me in your letter to M. de Sartine. I aspire to
-   merit them, and accept them as a gage of your esteem, which will
-   always be flattering to me. Count, I beg you, upon my own, and
-   upon the sentiments with which I have the honor to be very
-   sincerely, Monsieur, etc.
-
-                                                    "De Vergennes.
-   "A Versailles, June 21st, 1775."
-
-July 14, 1775, Beaumarchais wrote to M. de Vergennes announcing that he
-had obtained possession of the keys of the famous chest, which he had
-sealed with his own seal and which was deposited in a safe place.
-"Whatever happens, M. le Comte, I believe that I have at least cut off
-one head of the English hydra ... the king and you may be quite certain
-that everything will rest in _statu quo_ in England, and that no one
-can abuse us from now to the end of the negotiation which I believe
-about finished." But in the meantime, while undertaking the settlement
-of the affair with d'Eon, the active mind of Beaumarchais had become
-enflamed with an ardent zeal for the cause of liberty, as it was being
-then defended on the other side of the Atlantic. "One of the first,"
-says Gaillardet, "he had embraced the cause of the Americans, had
-espoused it with a sort of love that partook of idolatry.... He followed
-every phase with an interest which nothing discouraged, not ceasing to
-hope in the midst of reverses, triumphing and clapping his hands at
-every victory.... He excused their faults, exalted their virtues, plead
-for them with all the faculties of his _esprit_ and of his soul, before
-those whom he wished to interest in their fate."
-
-Every voyage back to Paris, which the interests of his mission
-necessitated, every letter which it occasioned, was made to subserve
-itself to this one end which transcended all others; namely, to rouse
-the young King from that state of indecision and indifference to which
-he was born, and where he seemed likely to remain.
-
-In the next chapter this subject will be taken up in all its detail; for
-the present it is necessary only to remind the reader that the matter of
-which we are now treating is all the while secondary in the mind of
-Beaumarchais. It is, however, of vital importance in that, at the
-beginning, it offers the avenue of approach to the King and his
-ministers which might otherwise have been wanting. Through the masterly
-way in which he settled the affair with d'Eon, the confidence of the
-King and of his minister was secured. Before the affair was terminated,
-an open channel had been established which permitted the whole current
-of the genius of Beaumarchais to flow direct to its goal.
-
-It will be remembered that the Chevalier d'Eon had borrowed five
-thousand pounds of his friend the English Admiral, Lord Ferrers, and had
-left him as security the chest containing the famous correspondence of
-the late King. Before it could be delivered to Beaumarchais there were
-many difficult questions to settle, the chief one being the Chevalier's
-return to France, owing to the resentment still felt by the family of
-the Comte de Guerchy towards the Chevalier, and the latter's well known
-violence of temper. The King and M. de Vergennes demanded absolute
-oblivion of the past and a guarantee that no further scandals should
-arise. This was difficult to assure, owing to the fiery nature of the
-Chevalier. Already, as we have seen, the latter had avowed "with tears"
-that he was a woman.
-
-August 7th, 1775, M. de Vergennes wrote to the King, "If your Majesty
-deigns to approve the propositions of the Sieur de Beaumarchais to
-withdraw from the hands of the Sieur d'Eon the papers which it would be
-dangerous to leave there, I will authorize him to terminate the affair.
-_If M. d'Eon wishes to take the costume of his sex_, there will be no
-objection to allowing him to return to France, but under any other form
-he should not even desire it."
-
-In a letter to Beaumarchais, the 26th of the same month, M. de Vergennes
-wrote: "Whatever desire I may have to see, to know, and to hear M.
-d'Eon, I cannot hide from you a serious uneasiness which haunts me. His
-enemies watch, and will not pardon easily all that he has said of
-them.... If M. d'Eon would change his costume everything would be
-said.... You will make of this observation the use which you shall judge
-suitable."
-
-The idea appeared not only good to Beaumarchais, but to offer, perhaps,
-the only solution to the difficulty. He therefore made this the
-condition of settlement of the debts of d'Eon, the continuation of his
-pension, as well as of his being allowed to return to France. The same
-motives which had actuated the Chevalier to declare himself a woman
-worked now in favor of what Beaumarchais, endowed with full power in his
-regard, demanded of him. Realizing, as M. de Vergennes had done, that if
-the matter were not now adjusted, it would never be again taken up;
-realizing too that his notoriety would be increased tenfold by this
-metamorphosis, he decided to submit to what was imposed upon him.
-
-Early in October, Beaumarchais wrote to M. de Vergennes: "Written
-promises to be good are not sufficient to arrest a head which enflames
-itself always at the simple name of Guerchy; the positive declaration of
-his sex and the engagement to live hereafter in the costume of a woman
-is the only barrier which can prevent scandal and misfortunes. I have
-required this and have obtained it."
-
-As a matter of fact, on the 5th of October, the Chevalier signed the
-famous contract, in which he promised to deliver the entire
-correspondence of the late King, declared himself a woman and engaged to
-"retake and wear the costume of that sex to the time of his death;" and
-he added with his own hand, "which I have already worn on divers
-occasions known to his Majesty." The agent of the French Government on
-his side agreed to deliver a contract or pension of 12,000 francs, as
-well as "more considerable sums which shall be remitted for the
-acquittal of the debts of the Chevalier in England." "Each of the
-contractants," said Lomenie, "reserved thus a back door; if the more
-considerable sums did not seem considerable enough, the Chevalier
-intended to keep a portion of the papers, so as to obtain still more
-funds. Beaumarchais, on his side, had no intention of paying all the
-debts which it should please the Chevalier to declare, and had demanded
-of the King the faculty to _batailler_--to employ his own
-expression--with the demoiselle d'Eon, from 100,000 to 150,000 francs,
-reserving the right to give him the money in fractional parts, and to
-extend or retract the sum according to the confidence which that cunning
-personage should inspire."
-
-After the contract was signed, Beaumarchais still holding the money in
-reserve, demanded the papers of which it was questioned. The chest was
-produced. Suddenly realizing, however, that he had no authority to open
-the chest and to examine the contents, and having but small confidence
-in the veracity of the chevalier, he hastened back to Versailles,
-obtained the desired permission, and reappeared in London with his new
-commission. On opening the chest he found indeed that papers of but
-small importance were contained therein. D'Eon, blushing, confessed that
-the letters of which the French government desired to obtain possession
-were hidden under the floor of his room in London.
-
-"She conducted me to her room," wrote Beaumarchais, "and drew from under
-the floor five boxes, well sealed and marked, 'Secret Papers to remit to
-the King alone', which she assured me contained all the secret
-correspondence, and the entire mass of the papers which she had in her
-possession. I began by making an inventory, and marking them all so that
-none could be withdrawn; but, better to assure myself that the entire
-sequence was there contained, I rapidly ran over them, while she made
-the inventory."
-
-This want of honor in the Chevalier, whose security left with the Lord
-Ferrers had been proved of comparatively little value, dispensed
-Beaumarchais, so he considered, from the necessity of acquitting the
-full debt contracted by d'Eon. This was afterwards most bitterly
-reproached to him by the Chevalier. In a letter to Lord Ferrers,
-Beaumarchais wrote: "I have lived too long and know mankind too well to
-count upon the gratitude of anyone, or to feel the least annoyance when
-I see those fail whom I have the most obliged." (From a letter dated
-Jan. 8, 1776, to Lord Ferrers,--Gaillardet.)
-
-The note of 13,933 pounds sterling first addressed to M. de Vergennes
-had since been increased by 8,223 pounds sterling, of which d'Eon
-demanded the payment. Beaumarchais, however, true to the interest of the
-King and his minister, to their great satisfaction, terminated the
-transaction for a little less than 5,000 pounds sterling. From the
-determined refusal of Beaumarchais to increase the sum arose the wild
-fury of d'Eon, who saw his last hope escape him. His invectives against
-Beaumarchais, his abuse, all had their origin here.
-
-"I assured this demoiselle," wrote Beaumarchais to Vergennes, "that if
-she was prudent, modest and silent, and if she conducted herself well, I
-would render so good an account of her to the minister of the King, and
-even to His Majesty, that I hoped to obtain for her new advantages. I
-did this the more willingly because I had still in my possession nearly
-41,000 francs, from which I expected to recompense every act of
-submission and of sobriety on her part, by acts of generosity approved
-successively by the King and by you, Monsieur le Comte, but only as
-favors, and not as acquittals. It was in this way that I hoped still to
-dominate and bring into subjection this fiery and deceitful creature."
-
-Early in December, Beaumarchais appeared in Versailles with his famous
-chest, containing at last the entire mass of papers, the negotiation of
-which had occupied the minister of Louis XVI since the time of the
-latter's accession to the throne. Overjoyed at the successful
-termination of the affair, the King and his minister testified their
-satisfaction with warmth.
-
-[Illustration: CHARLES DE BEAUMONT dit Mademoiselle le Chevalier D'Eon
-1728-1810]
-
-A very honorable discharge was given their agent with a certificate
-which terminated thus:
-
-   "I declare that the King has been very well satisfied with the
-   zeal which he has shown on this occasion, as well as with the
-   intelligence and dexterity with which he has acquitted himself of
-   the commission which his Majesty has confided to him. The King
-   has therefore ordered me to deliver the present attestation to
-   serve him at all times and in all places where it may be
-   necessary.
-
-   "Made at Versailles, the 18th of December, 1775.
-
-   "Signed: Gravier de Vergennes."
-
-The matter of the papers was indeed settled; they were safe in the hands
-of the government, and all uneasiness in regard to them was at an end;
-not so Beaumarchais with his _amazone interessante_. Furious to find
-that his exorbitant demands upon the French government had miscarried,
-d'Eon thought only of wreaking his vengeance upon Beaumarchais. After
-exhausting himself with very "masculine abuse" upon his "austere friend"
-(Lomenie), he suddenly, with the same art with which he had avowed
-himself a woman, set about convincing Beaumarchais that he was in love
-with him, uttering bitter reproaches for the cruelty, hardness and
-injustice with which he had treated an unhappy woman, who in a moment of
-weakness had revealed herself to him. "Why," cried this disguised
-dragoon, "why did I not remember that men are good for nothing upon this
-earth but to deceive the credulity of women, young and old?... I still
-thought that I was only rendering justice to your merits, admiring your
-talents, your generosity; I loved you already no doubt; but this
-situation was still so new for me that I was very far from realizing
-that love could be born in the midst of trouble and sorrow."
-
-In a note, M. de Lomenie remarked that what there was specially
-_piquant_ in this correspondence of d'Eon and Beaumarchais is that the
-former, while posing as a woman, "often gives an enigmatic turn to his
-phrases, as though he wished to establish for the day when the fraud
-would be unveiled, that he had been able to dupe a man as clever as the
-author of the _Barbier de Seville_, and that he duped him in mocking at
-him to his very face, without being suspected. Beaumarchais, for his
-part, amused himself at the expense of that _vieille Dragonne_ in love,
-and confirmed himself more and more in the error as d'Eon more adroitly
-simulated the anger of an offended old maid."
-
-Beaumarchais wrote to M. de Vergennes: "Everyone tells me that this
-crazy woman is crazy over me. She thinks that I undervalue her, and
-women never forgive similar offenses. I am very far from doing so; but
-who could ever have imagined that to serve the King well in this affair,
-I should have been forced to become gallant cavalier to a _capitaine de
-dragons_? The adventure appears to me so ridiculous that I have all the
-trouble in the world to regain my seriousness so as suitably to finish
-this memoir."
-
-If d'Eon had the satisfaction of duping Beaumarchais in a certain sense,
-he failed utterly in inducing him to loosen the strings of the royal
-purse which he carried, and without which nothing was accomplished.
-Finding that Beaumarchais was inexorable on this point, all the pent-up
-fury of the chevalier blazed forth. He began at once addressing
-interminable memoirs to the minister Vergennes, full of accusations
-against his agent, couched in the coarsest and most violent language,
-attributing to the latter all the epithets that fall so glibly from his
-pen, "the insolence of a watchmaker's boy, who by chance had discovered
-perpetual motion."
-
-"Beaumarchais," said Lomenie, "received these broadsides of abuse with
-the calm of a perfect gentleman: 'She is a woman,' he wrote to M. de
-Vergennes, 'and a woman so frightfully surrounded that I pardon her
-with all my heart; she is a woman--that word says everything.'"
-
-But exactly this was what the chevalier did not want; he did not want to
-be pardoned by Beaumarchais; he wanted a quarrel with him, and to have
-his accusations credited by the minister. He succeeded in neither of his
-objects, although his resentment and his desire for revenge augmented
-rather than diminished with time. Returned to France, he openly accused
-Beaumarchais of having retained for himself money that was destined for
-him. His abuse was so violent that in self-defense the accused man
-appealed for justification to the minister, and received the following
-letter, which bears date of January 10th, 1778:
-
-   "I have received, Monsieur, your letter of the 3rd of this month,
-   and I have not been able to see without surprise that the
-   demoiselle d'Eon imputes to you having appropriated to yourself
-   to her prejudice the funds which she supposes to have been
-   destined for her. I have difficulty in believing, Monsieur, that
-   this demoiselle has been guilty of an accusation so calumnious;
-   but if she has done so, you should not have the slightest
-   disquietude or be in the least affected; you have the gage and
-   the guarantee of your innocence in the account which you have
-   given of your management of the affair, in the most approved
-   form, founded upon the most authentic titles, and in the
-   discharge which I have given you of the approval of the King. Far
-   from the possibility of your disinterestedness being suspected, I
-   have not forgotten, Monsieur, that you made no account of your
-   personal expenses, and that you never allowed me to perceive any
-   other interest than to facilitate to the demoiselle d'Eon the
-   means of returning to her native land.
-
-   "I am very perfectly, Monsieur, your very humble and very
-   obedient servitor,
-
-                                                   "De Vergennes."
-
-Beaumarchais was at this time far too deeply engaged in his gigantic
-mercantile operations to be seriously disturbed by the accusations of
-the Chevalier d'Eon. Far greater difficulties were to overwhelm him, and
-still more signal ingratitude was to be his portion. He will accept that
-too, in very much the same spirit in which he has accepted all the rest.
-
-
-
-
-                               CHAPTER XVI
-
-
-"_Vor der Ankunft Dean's und Franklin's, Beaumarchais war ohne Frage,
-der bestunterrichtete Kenner Englands und der Vereinigten Staaten auf
-dem continent._"
-
-                       _Bettelheim_, "_Beaumarchais: Eine Biographie._"
-
-
-    Beaumarchais's Earliest Activities in the Cause of American
-      Independence--First Steps of the Government of
-      France--Bonvouloir--Discord Among Parties in
-      England--Beaumarchais's Memoirs to the King--Meets Arthur
-      Lee--Lee's Letter to Congress--King Still Undecided--Curious
-      Letter of Beaumarchais, with Replies Traced in the Handwriting
-      of the King.
-
-
-No record of the actual awakening of Beaumarchais's interest in the War
-of American Independence has ever been brought to light, but certain it
-is that for nearly a year before the date of any document contained in
-the French Archives, Beaumarchais was the "real, though secret, agent of
-the Minister Vergennes in London."
-
-The earliest written allusion to any definite commission from the
-government in regard to this matter is found in the letter of
-Beaumarchais to Vergennes, written July 14, 1775, a part of which,
-relating to the Chevalier d'Eon, is given in the previous chapter. After
-announcing exultantly the possession of the keys to the famous chest of
-which it had just been questioned, he continued: "I would return at once
-to give the details of what I have accomplished if I were only charged
-with one object; but I am charged with four, and find myself obliged to
-leave for Flanders with milord Ferrers and in his vessel. It would not
-be just that the _King and M. de Sartine_ were less content than the
-_King and M. de Vergennes_....
-
-"In politics, it is not sufficient to work, one must succeed....
-
-"I shall take no repose until I have informed you in regard to the
-veritable state of things in England, a knowledge of which becomes more
-important from day to day. As soon as I shall be as tranquil over the
-objects of M. de Sartine as I am now over '_notre amazone_' (the
-Chevalier d'Eon) I shall return to Versailles....
-
-"I profit by the first sure occasion of dropping a letter into the post
-at Calais, to tell you, without its being known in London, that I have
-just put into the hands of the King, the papers and the creature that
-they have wished to use against him at any price.
-
-"I say, 'without its being discovered in London,' because it is a great
-question to find out what my object is, but what can be gotten from a
-man who neither speaks nor writes?
-
-"I am with the most respectful devotion, M. de Comte ... etc....
-Beaumarchais" (letter given by Gaillardet in his _Memoires sur le
-Chevalier d'Eon_).
-
-Beaumarchais's mission to Flanders is alluded to in another place by
-Gaillardet, without, however, giving any authority for the statement
-which he made. He said, "The court of Louis XVI still hesitated to
-follow Beaumarchais in the adventurous career whither he was drawing it,
-so to speak, with a tow-line, ... although Holland and Spain were
-already engaged by his efforts to embrace the cause of France and the
-United States against England."
-
-Doniol in his _Histoire de la Participation de la France dans_
-_l'Etablissement des Etats-Unis_, said: "Franklin before returning to
-America had treated with armorers and merchants of England, Holland and
-France for the furnishing and transmitting of munitions of war to the
-colonies. These operations were centralized in London, and Beaumarchais
-did not remain ignorant of them.... He knew, heard, and prepared many
-things."
-
-Although "no special memoir, no private archive has up to the present
-revealed the intimate details (Doniol, II, 31)," it seems certain that
-the plans of Beaumarchais centered in the dispatching of funds, or if
-possible, of ammunitions of war, to the insurged colonies, and that the
-head of these operations was to be in the Low Countries. To further
-these projects, the most profound secrecy was necessary, not only to
-ensure their success, but to prevent the government from being
-compromised. This fact accounts sufficiently for the almost total lack
-of documents relative to these negotiations. What facilitated them was
-the profound discord which existed at this time in England itself, and
-especially the diversity of opinion in relation to the uprising among
-the colonists. No one realized the deep significance of this fact for
-the interest of France and of America better than Beaumarchais, and no
-one knew so well how to turn it to the advantage of both these
-countries. It goes without saying that had England been united in her
-desire to crush America and united in her attempts to prevent foreign
-interference, the history of the war would have been very different from
-what it was.
-
-As a matter of fact in England "a party, small indeed in numbers, but
-powerful from its traditions, its connections, and its abilities, had
-identified itself completely with the cause of the insurgents, opposed
-and embarrassed the Government in every effort to augment its forces and
-to subsidize allies, openly rejoiced in the victories of the Americans,
-and exerted all its eloquence to justify and encourage them." (Lecky,
-III, 545.)
-
-"This glorious spirit of Whiggism," said Chatham in a speech delivered
-in January, 1775, "animates three millions in America, who prefer
-poverty with liberty, to gilded chains and sordid affluence, who will
-die in defence of their rights as freemen.... All attempts to impose
-servitude upon such men, to establish despotism over such a mighty
-continental nation, must be vain, must be fatal. We shall be forced
-ultimately to retreat. Let us retreat while we can, not when we must."
-
-From the beginning, the members of the Opposition had emphasized the
-danger to Great Britain that would arise from a prolonged struggle with
-the colonies, foreseeing that they later would be forced into an
-alliance with France. (Walpole's last Journal, 11-182.)
-
-At this time the Americans had no sympathy for the French and no desire
-to incur any debt of gratitude towards them. "France had hitherto been
-regarded in America, even more than in England, as a natural enemy. Her
-expulsion from America had been for generations one of the first objects
-of American patriots, and if she again mixed in American affairs it was
-naturally thought that she would seek to regain the province she had
-lost." (Lecky, 111, 453.) To ask aid of her was at first an intolerable
-thought to the greater number among the Revolutionary party--necessity
-alone finally drove them to the step. Even then, it was with no
-intention of accepting the help with gratitude, as subsequent events
-proved: It was a means to an end, and the less said about it, the sooner
-it was obliterated or forgotten, the better for all concerned.
-
-The attitude of France towards America was of a totally different
-nature. There was never any feeling of animosity against Americans
-engendered by those wars which finally terminated so disastrously for
-the French in the peace of 1763. As these wars had all been of European
-origin, the resentment of the French fell upon the English alone. The
-very name America had a wild, sweet charm for every Frenchman's ear. For
-him the red man was no savage foe, but a friend and brother. Side by
-side they penetrated together the dense fastnesses of the primeval
-forests, ascended the rivers, climbed the mountains, shot the cataracts;
-at night they lay down under the same tent, shared the same meals and
-smoked together the pipe of peace. The dread which kept the English
-settlers hovering near the coast was unknown to the French. Thus they
-were able to explore and claim for the great Sun-King the vast central
-region, part of which bears his name to the present day. Not only was
-the thought of these great possessions alluring to adventurers and
-traders; philosophers and thinkers as well looked into the future and
-saw the part that they were to play in the development of the race. In
-1750 Turgot had uttered the following words, "Vast regions of America!
-Equality keeps them from both luxury and want, and preserves to them
-purity and simplicity with freedom. Europe herself will find there the
-perfection of her political societies, and the surest support of her
-well-being." But since 1763 the fruit of French explorations on the
-continent of America had been in the hands of the English; a few sugar
-islands among the West Indies alone remained to them. Their foot-hold in
-America was gone, but not their love for America. More than this a
-generosity of nature, joined to a tolerance of, and admiration for
-qualities not of the same type as their own, has always been a marked
-characteristic of the French. It was therefore in the very nature of
-things that the nation should have been roused to enthusiasm by the
-news of the heroic resistance of the colonies, especially when it is
-taken into consideration that every blow dealt by the defenders of
-liberty, was aimed directly at the "triumphant political rival of
-France."
-
-But the people of the nation were not its government, and at the time of
-the uprising in America, France was ruled by a king, weak indeed in
-character yet absolute in power, in whose divine right to rule, his
-ministers as well as himself, believed. It was not, therefore, to be
-expected that the French government would look with favor upon the
-rebellious subjects of any nation, whether friend or foe. It was in the
-nature of things that they should hesitate before encouraging measures
-that were intended to aid revolt. As late as March 5, 1775, M. de
-Vergennes had written to the French ambassador in London bidding him
-quiet the fears of the English government in regard to the probable
-interference of France. "The maintenance of peace with England," he
-wrote, "is our unique object."
-
-The French government, however, could not wholly resist the tide of
-public sentiment or remain altogether unmoved by considerations of
-interest. It was thought well to send some prudent and sagacious agent
-to the New World to try the public temper and to see if the interference
-of France actually was desired. A man admirably fitted for the task
-recently had arrived in London from the French West Indies, who in
-returning, had passed through the colonies, and who knew them well,
-leaving many acquaintances there. This man was Bonvouloir. The 7th of
-August, 1775, M. de Vergennes wrote to the French Ambassador, "The King
-very much approves the mission of Bonvouloir." (Bancroft--IV--360) "His
-instructions," he wrote to the ambassador a little later, "should be
-verbal and confined to the two most essential objects: the one to make
-a faithful report to you of the events and of the prevailing disposition
-of the public mind; the other to secure the Americans against jealousy
-of us. Canada is for them _le point jaloux_: they must be made to
-understand that we do not think of it in the least." (Quoted from J.
-Durand's _New Materials for the History of the American Revolution_,
-1889, p. 1-16, Bonvouloir.)
-
-On the 8th of September he set sail. The result of his mission, although
-it promised nothing to the colonies, was to them at least an
-encouragement. Already in the Summer of 1775 a motion had been made in
-Congress and strongly supported by John Adams, to send an ambassador to
-France. "But Congress still shrank from so formidable a step, though it
-agreed, after long debates and hesitation, to form a secret committee to
-correspond with friends in Great Britain, Ireland, and other parts of
-the world." (Adams's Life, I, 200-202.) It was with this secret
-committee, of which the celebrated Dr. Franklin was a prominent member,
-that Bonvouloir came in touch.
-
-Although the French government had taken this one preliminary step, she
-remained to all appearances as indifferent to the cause of the colonists
-as she was to the condition of affairs in England. Beaumarchais began
-deluging her with such volumes of information on both these subjects,
-that almost in spite of herself, her own interest was aroused. "The
-energy of a believer is a force to which undecided convictions
-yield--and this was the case with the King in regard to the schemes of
-Beaumarchais." (Gaillardet.)
-
-But before entering into a consideration of those schemes, it would be
-well to glance at the actual condition of England herself. We already
-have spoken of the division existing in her midst, but the greatest
-difficulty which the English government had to encounter was the one
-that she has had to face in 1914 when she found herself suddenly
-plunged into war with another country, namely that of raising a
-formidable army. Then as now, the hatred of conscription was so deep
-rooted in the English people that even the government of Lord North did
-not dare to resort to it. "To raise the required troops on short notice
-was very difficult.... The land tax was raised to four shillings in the
-pound. New duties were imposed; new bounties were offered. Recruiting
-agents traversed the country.... Recruits, however, came very slowly.
-There was no enthusiasm for a war with English settlers. No measure
-short of conscription could raise at once the necessary army in England
-and to propose conscription would be fatal to any government." (Lecky,
-III, 455.)
-
-In her dilemma, England found herself reduced to the infamous measure of
-hiring German soldiers to fight for her against her own subjects. The
-shameful conduct of the Landgrave of Hesse, the Duke of Brunswick and
-the Prince of Waldeck, has been immortalized by Germany's great poet,
-Schiller, in his _Kabale und Liebe_; "In England they excited only
-contempt and indignation." (Lecky) Moreover, the disorders arising from
-the press-gang service ran high, while "after three expulsions, the
-famous demagogue Wilkes" still retained his seat in Parliament, and in
-1774 had been made Lord-Mayor of London. At a public dinner he had been
-heard to exclaim insolently, "For a long time the King of England has
-done me the honor of hating me. On my side, I have always rendered him
-the justice of despising him; the time has come to decide which has the
-better judged the other, and to which side the wind will make the heads
-fall." This divided condition among the people themselves justified the
-assertion of Beaumarchais, made in his memoir to the King: "Open war in
-America is less pernicious to England than the intestine war which
-seems likely to break out before long in London; the bitterness between
-the parties has risen to the highest excesses since the proclamation of
-the King, declaring the Americans rebels." Beaumarchais in this was only
-voicing the general opinion. But "The English People," says Lomenie,
-"with that national sentiment and good sense which often has
-characterized them in great crises, baffled these previsions. The defeat
-of the English troops weakened the opposition more than the ministry.
-Everything became subordinate to the necessity of combatting with
-energy; and the irritation, instead of augmenting, cooled down
-considerably."
-
-As the war progressed, party-feeling disappeared while the actual entry
-of France into the struggle developed a unity of purpose among the
-English which would have been very disastrous to the new nation, had it
-existed in the beginning.
-
-The summer of 1775 was passed by Beaumarchais, ostensibly in
-negotiations with the chevalier d'Eon, in reality with plans and
-arrangements made with other European powers to join France in the
-secret support of the colonies. No word written or spoken of these
-negotiations escaped him, so that we can judge of their nature only from
-the results. "The middle of September," says Doniol (p. 134, I) "having
-arranged his combinations, he returned to Versailles to emphasize the
-necessity of France's conducting herself as the future ally of the
-Americans, that is, to come to an understanding with them in regard to
-the aid necessary for the development of their revolt."
-
-M. de Vergennes seems to have been his first confidant. It was decided
-to act on the mind of the King. A memoir was to be drawn up and given to
-M. de Sartine who should believe himself the unique confidant. This plan
-was disclosed in the following letter which Beaumarchais wrote to
-Vergennes:
-
-                                                   "Sept. 22, 1775
-   "Pour vous seul;
-
-   "M. le comte: M. de Sartine gave me back the paper yesterday, but
-   said nothing to me of the affair. Now in relation to the secret
-   which I let him think I was guarding from you, relative to my
-   memoir to the King, I thought it better that I wrote to you an
-   ostensible letter which you could carry or send to His Majesty
-   and if you were not charged by him with a reply, at least I
-   should receive one from your bounty to console me for having
-   taken useless pains. Send, I beg you, a blank passport, if you
-   think I should await the orders of the King in London, in case he
-   has not the time now, to decide the matter well. Of all this,
-   please be kind enough to inform me. Everything being understood
-   thus between us, it will be to your advantage to write to me so
-   obscurely that no one but myself can divine the object of your
-   letter, if you should send it to me by way of the ambassador."
-   ...
-
-   The "ostensible" letter, which was written at the same time for
-   the purpose of making an impression upon the King, was sent to
-   the latter the next day by Vergennes with the following note:
-
-   "I see, Sire, by the letter of the Sieur de Beaumarchais which I
-   have the honor to join to this, that he himself already has had
-   that of reporting to Your Majesty the notions he collected in
-   London, and what profit he thinks can be drawn from them." ...
-   After asking for the King's orders, he continued, "I requested M.
-   de Beaumarchais, who was to leave to-night for London, to defer
-   starting until to-morrow at noon....
-
-                                                    "De Vergennes.
-   "A Versailles, le 23 Septembre 1775."
-   (Quoted from Doniol I, 133.)
-
-The "ostensible" letter is addressed to Vergennes but is really a second
-appeal to the King. In it Beaumarchais dared to state forcefully the
-embarrassment into which the King's silence plunged him. He says:
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte,
-
-   "When zeal is indiscreet, it should be reprimanded; when it is
-   agreeable, it should be encouraged; but all the sagacity in the
-   world, would not enable him to whom nothing is replied, to divine
-   what conduct it is expected he should maintain.
-
-   "I sent yesterday to the King through M. de Sartine, a short
-   memoir which is the resume of the long conference which you
-   accorded me the day before; it is the exact state of men and
-   things in England; it is terminated by the offer which I made you
-   to suppress for the time necessary for our preparations for war,
-   everything which by its noise, or its silence could hasten or
-   retard the moment. There must have been question of all this in
-   the council yesterday, and this morning you have sent me no word.
-   The most mortal thing to affairs of any kind is uncertainty or
-   loss of time.
-
-   "Should I await your reply or must I leave without having
-   received any? Have I done well or ill to penetrate the sentiments
-   of those minds whose dispositions are becoming so important for
-   us? Shall I allow in the future these confidences to come to
-   nothing and repel them instead of welcoming them--these overtures
-   which should have a direct influence upon the actual resolution?
-   In a word, am I an agent useful to his country, or only a
-   traveller deaf and dumb? I ask no new commission. I have too
-   serious work for my own personal affairs to finish in France for
-   that, but I would have felt that I had failed in my duty to the
-   King, to you, to my country, if I allowed all the good I might
-   bring about and all the evil which I might prevent to remain
-   unknown.
-
-   "I wait your reply to this letter before starting. If you have no
-   answer to make me, I shall regard this voyage as blank and nul;
-   and without regretting my pains, I will return instantly to
-   terminate in four days what remains to do with d'Eon and come
-   back without seeing anyone; they will indeed be very much
-   astonished, but another can do better perhaps; I wish it with my
-   whole heart."
-
-The memoir which had been sent to the King by way of M. de Sartine, the
-21st September, 1775, shows in its first sentence that another memoir
-had preceded it. Beaumarchais wrote:
-
-                                                          "Au Roi:
-
-   "Sire,
-
-   "In the firm confidence which I hold, that these extracts which I
-   address to Your Majesty are for you alone, I will continue, Sire,
-   to present to you the truth in all points known to me, which seem
-   to me to be of interest to your service, without having regard to
-   the interests of anyone else whomsoever. I left London under
-   pretext of going to the country and have come running from London
-   to Paris, to confer with MM. de Vergennes and de Sartine upon
-   objects too important and too delicate to be confided to the care
-   of any courier.
-
-   "Sire, England is in such a crisis, such a disorder within and
-   without, that she would touch almost upon her ruin if her rivals
-   were in a state seriously to occupy themselves with her
-   condition. Here is the faithful exposition of the situation of
-   the English in America; I hold these details from an inhabitant
-   of Philadelphia arrived from the colonies, after a conference
-   with the English ministers, whom his recital has thrown into the
-   greatest trouble and petrified with fear. The Americans, resolved
-   to suffer everything rather than yield, and full of that
-   enthusiasm of liberty which has often rendered the little nation
-   of Corsica so redoubtable to the Genoese, have thirty-eight
-   thousand men, effectively armed and determined, under the walls
-   of Boston; they have reduced the English army to the necessity of
-   dying of hunger in that city, or of going elsewhere to find
-   winter quarters, something which it will do immediately. Nearly
-   eight thousand men well armed and equally determined, defend the
-   rest of the country without a single cultivator having been taken
-   from the land, or a workman from the manufactories. Every one who
-   was employed in the fisheries, which the English have destroyed,
-   has become a soldier and wishes to revenge the ruin of his family
-   and the liberty of his country; all who followed maritime
-   commerce, which the English have stopped, have joined the
-   fishermen to make war upon their common persecutors; all those
-   working in the ports have served to augment this army of furious
-   men, whose every action is animated by vengeance and rage.
-
-   "I say, Sire, that such a nation must be invincible, especially
-   having behind her sufficient country for a retreat, even if the
-   English were to become masters of the coast, which is far from
-   being said. All sensible people are convinced in England that the
-   English colonies are lost for the metropolis, and that is also my
-   opinion."
-
-   Then follows an account of the discord prevailing within the
-   country itself, as well as an account of the secret negotiations
-   being carried on by members with Spain and Portugal. He concluded
-   thus:
-
-   "Resume. America escapes from the English in spite of their
-   efforts; the war is more vividly illuminated in London than in
-   Boston.... Our ministry, uninformed and stagnant, remains passive
-   while events are occurring which touch us most closely....
-
-   "A superior and vigilant man would be indispensable in London
-   to-day....
-
-   "Here, Sire, are the motives of my trip to France, whatever use
-   Your Majesty may make of this memoir I count upon the virtue, the
-   goodness of my Master, trusting that he will not allow these
-   proofs of my zeal to turn against me, in confiding them to
-   anyone, which would only augment the number of my enemies. They
-   will, however, never hinder me from serving you so long as I am
-   certain of the protection of Your Majesty.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-Of the secret deliberations of the council and the resolutions arrived
-at we can judge only from the letter of Beaumarchais addressed to
-Vergennes the night of the 23rd of September. The King had read the
-"ostensible" letter, and as Beaumarchais hoped, had been more stirred by
-it. He had conferred with his minister and had given his orders.
-Vergennes hastened to communicate them to Beaumarchais who left the same
-night for London. Later he wrote:
-
-
-                               "Paris the 23rd of September, 1775.
-   "Monsieur le Comte:
-
-   "I start, well informed as to the intention of the King and of
-   yourself. Let your Excellency have no fears; it would be an
-   unpardonable blunder in me to compromise in such an affair the
-   dignity of my master, or of his minister: to do one's best is
-   nothing in politics; the first man who offers himself can do as
-   much. Do the best that can possibly be done under the
-   circumstances is what should distinguish from the common
-   servitor, him whom His Majesty and yourself Monsieur le Comte,
-   honor with your confidence in so delicate a matter. I am, etc.
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-But the French government was slow to move. They were willing to make
-use of the indefatigable zeal of their secret agent in collecting
-information, but they were in no haste to commit themselves by any act
-that might bring them prematurely into conflict with England. Rightly
-enough, they wished to wait until the colonists themselves had arrived
-at a decision. "France," says Lecky, "had no possible interest in the
-constitutional liberties of Americans. She had a vital interest in their
-independence." No one realized this fact better than Beaumarchais, and
-for exactly this reason he continued to urge, with unabated ardor that
-France should consent to give the colonists the secret, yet absolutely
-indispensable aid, which he had been preparing; the fear which tormented
-him was that through lack of means of effective resistance they should
-reconcile themselves with the mother country. Still apparently occupied
-with the affair of d'Eon, late in November he appeared again at
-Versailles. On the 24th in a letter to Vergennes relating to the change
-of costume decided upon for the Chevalier, Beaumarchais wrote: "Instead
-of awaiting the reply, which should bear a definite decision, do you
-approve that I write the King again that I am here, that you have seen
-me trembling lest in a thing as easy as it is necessary, and perhaps the
-most important that he will ever have to decide, his Majesty should
-choose the negative?
-
-"Whatever else happens I implore the favor of being allowed an audience
-for a quarter of an hour, before he comes to any decision, so that I may
-respectfully demonstrate to him the necessity of undertaking, the
-facility of doing, the certainty of succeeding, and the immense harvest
-of glory and repose which this little sowing will yield to his reign....
-In case you have orders for me, I am at the hotel of Jouy rue des
-Recollets."
-
-The "seed" which Beaumarchais demanded, which should bring such a
-harvest of prosperity and glory to France was a sum of money, 2,000,000
-francs perhaps, which he proposed to send as specie, or converted into
-munitions of war through such channels as he had prepared in other
-countries. During the first period of Beaumarchais's activity in our
-cause, no idea of his personal intervention except as transmitter of the
-funds of the government, appeared to have entered his mind. The icy
-coldness with which his advances were met did not in the least chill his
-ardor--he only looked about for some new avenue of approach. His plans
-had been disapproved, not to say rejected.--The 7th of December he
-addressed another memoir to the King, couched in such respectful
-language, so warm and glowing from his inmost heart, that its daring
-boldness was almost forgotten. (In his _New Materials for the History of
-the American Revolution_, Durand gives the Memoir in full.--The
-selections here given are taken from his translation of the original.)
-
-                                                           "Au Roi
-
-   "Sire: Your Majesty's disapproval of a plan is, in general, a law
-   for its rejection by all who are interested in it. There are
-   plans, however, of such supreme importance to the welfare of your
-   Kingdom, that a zealous servant may deem it right to present
-   them more than once, for fear that they may not have been
-   understood from the most favorable point of view.
-
-   "The project which I do not mention here, but of which Your
-   Majesty is aware through M. de Vergennes, is of this number; I
-   rely wholly upon the strength of my reasons to secure its
-   adoption. I entreat you, Sire, to weigh them with all the
-   attention which such an important affair demands.
-
-   "When this paper is read by you, my duty is done. We propose,
-   Sire, and you judge. Yours is the more important task, for we are
-   responsible to you, while you, Sire, are responsible to God, to
-   yourself, and to the great people to whom good or ill may ensue
-   according to your decision.
-
-   "M. de Vergennes informs me that Your Majesty does not deem it
-   just to adopt the proposed expedient. The objection, then, has no
-   bearing on the immense utility of the project, nor on the danger
-   of carrying it out, but solely on the delicate conscientiousness
-   of Your Majesty.
-
-   "A refusal due to such honorable motives would condemn one to
-   silence, did not the extreme importance of the proposed object
-   make one examine whether the _justice_ of the King of France is
-   not really interested in adopting such an expedient. In general
-   it is certain that any idea, any project opposed to justice
-   should be discarded by every honest man.
-
-   "But, Sire, the policy of governments is not the moral law of its
-   citizens.... A kingdom is a vast isolated body, farther removed
-   from its neighbors by a diversity of interests, than by the sea,
-   the citadels, and the barriers which bound it. There is no common
-   law between them which ensures its safety.... The welfare and the
-   prosperity of each impose upon each, relations which are
-   variously modified under the name of international law, the
-   principle of which, even according to Montesquieu, is to do the
-   best for one's self as the first law, with the least possible
-   wrong to other governments as the second.' ...
-
-   "The justice and protection which a king owes to his subjects is
-   a strict and rigorous duty; while that which he may offer to
-   other states is never other than conventional. Hence it follows
-   that the national policy which preserves states, differs in
-   almost every respect from the civil morality which governs
-   individuals....
-
-   "It is the English, Sire, which it concerns you to humiliate and
-   to weaken, if you do not wish to be humiliated and weakened
-   yourself on every occasion. Have the usurpations and outrages of
-   that people ever had any limit but that of its strength? Have
-   they not always waged war against you without declaring it? Did
-   they not begin the last one in a time of peace, by a sudden
-   capture of five hundred of your vessels? Did they not humble you
-   by forcing you to destroy your finest seaport?... humiliation
-   which would have made Louis XIV _plutot manger ses bras_ than not
-   atone for? A humiliation that makes the heart of every true
-   Frenchman bleed.... Your Majesty is no longer ignorant that the
-   late king, forced by events to accept the shameful treaty of
-   1763, swore to avenge these indignities.... The very singularity
-   of his plan only the better discloses his indignation....
-
-   "Without the intestine commotions which worry the English they
-   already would have profited by the state of weakness and disorder
-   under which the late king transmitted the kingdom to you, to
-   deprive you of the pitiful remains of your possessions in
-   America, Africa, and India, nearly all of them in their hands,
-   and yet Your Majesty is so delicate and conscientious as to
-   hesitate!
-
-   "An indefatigable, zealous servant succeeds in putting the most
-   formidable weapon in your hand, one you can use without
-   committing yourself and without striking a blow, so as to abase
-   your natural enemies and render them incapable of injuring you
-   for a long while....
-
-   "Ah, Sire, if you believe you owe so much to that proud English
-   people, do you owe nothing to your own good people in France, in
-   America, in India? But if your scruples are so delicate that you
-   have no desire to favor what may injure your enemies, how, Sire,
-   can you allow your subjects to contend with other European
-   powers, in conquering countries belonging to the poor Indians,
-   the African Savages or the Caribs who have never wronged you? How
-   can you allow your vessels to take by force and bind suffering
-   black men whom nature made free and who are only miserable
-   because you are powerful? How can you suffer three rival powers
-   to seize iniquitously upon and divide Poland under your very
-   eyes?...
-
-   "Were men angels, political ways might undoubtedly be disdained.
-   But if men were angels there would be no need of religion to
-   enlighten them, of laws to govern them, of magistrates to
-   restrain them, of soldiers to subdue them; and the earth instead
-   of being a faithful image of hell, would be indeed a celestial
-   abode. All we can do is to take men as they are, and the wisest
-   king can go no farther than the legislator Solon, who said: 'I do
-   not give the Athenians the best laws, but only those adapted for
-   the place, the time and the people for whom I make them.' ...
-
-   "I entreat you, Sire, in the name of your subjects, to whom you
-   owe your best efforts; in the name of that inward repose which
-   your Majesty so properly cherishes; in the name of the glory and
-   prosperity of a reign begun under such happy auspices; I entreat
-   you, Sire, not to be deceived by the brilliant sophism of a
-   false sensibility. _Summum jus, summa injuria._ This deplorable
-   excess of equity towards your enemies would be the most signal
-   injustice towards your subjects who soon suffer the penalty of
-   scruples out of place.
-
-   "I have treated the gravest questions summarily, for fear of
-   weakening my arguments by giving them greater extension, and
-   especially through fear of wearying the attention of Your
-   Majesty. If any doubts still remain, Sire, after reading what I
-   have presented to you, efface my signature, and have this attempt
-   copied by another hand, in order that the feebleness of the
-   reasoner may not diminish the force of the argument, and lay this
-   discussion before any man instructed by experience and knowledge
-   of worldly affairs; and if there is one, beginning with M. de
-   Vergennes, who does not agree with me, I close my mouth; ...
-
-   "Finally, Sire, I must confess to being so confounded by your
-   Majesty's refusal, that, unable to find a better reason for it, I
-   conjecture that the negotiator is an obstacle to the success of
-   this important affair in the mind of Your Majesty. Sire, my own
-   interest is nothing, that of serving you is everything. Select
-   any man of probity, intelligence and discretion, who can be
-   relied upon; I will take him to England and make such efforts as
-   I hope will attain for him the same confidence that has been
-   awarded to myself. He shall conduct the affair to a successful
-   issue, while I will return and fall back into the quiet obscurity
-   from which I emerged, rejoicing in having at least begun an
-   affair of the greatest utility that any negotiator was ever
-   honored with.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-   _Post Scriptum._
-
-   "It is absolutely impossible to give in writing all that relates
-   to this affair at bottom on account of the profound secrecy
-   which it requires, although it is extremely easy for me to
-   demonstrate the safety of the undertaking, the facility of doing,
-   the certainty of success, and the immense harvest of glory and
-   tranquillity which, Sire, this small grain of seed, sowed in
-   time, must give to your reign.
-
-   "May the guardian angel of this government incline the mind of
-   Your Majesty. Should he award us this first success, the rest
-   will take care of itself. I answer for it."
-
-Consider for a moment that the loyal subject who dared to write thus to
-an absolute king, his master, was a civilly degraded man, incapable in
-the eyes of the law of fulfilling any public function. It is the same
-man to whom had been addressed several years previously, the famous
-letter from some English admirer, which was inscribed "To Beaumarchais,
-the only free man in France," and it was delivered to him.
-
-No special attention seems to have been paid to this memoir. At least no
-outward sign was given; and Beaumarchais after waiting several days,
-resorted to another measure. He addressed a letter to the King upon the
-very inconsequent subject of the costume which the Chevalier D'Eon
-should assume and the disposition that should be made of his man's
-attire. To such questions, at least, Louis XVI would not fear to give a
-definite answer--perhaps he might be induced to take an additional step
-and half unconsciously to decide weightier matters. The expedient was
-worth a trial and Beaumarchais resorted to it. In writing the letter he
-left a wide margin and humbly begged the King to write the answer
-opposite each question.
-
-"The autograph," said Lomenie, "is interesting. The body of the piece is
-written in the hand of Beaumarchais and signed by him; the replies to
-each question are traced in the margin, in a handwriting fine, but
-uneven, weak, undecided, where the v's and t's are scarcely indicated.
-It is the hand of the good, though weak and unhappy sovereign whom the
-revolution was to devour seventeen years later.... Below is written and
-signed in the hand of Vergennes, 'All the additions are in the
-handwriting of the King.'"
-
-   "Essential points which I implore M. de Vergennes to present for
-   the decision of the King to be replied to on the margin:
-
-   [Sidenote: In the provinces only.]
-
-   "Does the King accord the demoiselle d'Eon permission to wear her
-   cross of St. Louis on her woman's attire?
-
-   [Sidenote: Yes.]
-
-   "Does His Majesty approve the gratification of 2000 pounds which I
-   allowed that demoiselle for her Trousseau?
-
-   [Sidenote: She must sell it.]
-
-   "Does His Majesty allow her the entire disposition of her man's
-   attire?
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-   [Sidenote: Good.]
-
-   "The King not being able to refuse a recognition in good form of
-   the papers which I have brought back from England, I have begged
-   M. de Vergennes, to implore His Majesty to add with his own hand,
-   several words showing his approval of the way in which I have
-   filled my mission. That recompense, the dearest to my heart, may
-   one day be of great utility to me....
-
-   [Sidenote: That you received none.]
-
-   "As the first person whom I will see in England is milord
-   Rochford, and as he is likely to ask me in secret the reply of
-   the King of France to the prayer which the King of England made
-   through me, what shall I reply?
-
-   [Sidenote: Perhaps.]
-
-   "If that lord wishes secretly to engage me to see the monarch
-   shall I accept or not?
-
-   [Sidenote: It is useless.]
-
-"If that minister ... wishes to bring me into connection with other
-ministers, or if the occasion in any way arises shall I accept or not?"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Finally Beaumarchais brought forward the demand for which the rest of
-the letter is but a cloak, the one burning question for the answer of
-which he had waited so long and in vain and to which Louis XVI still
-made no reply:
-
-   "And now I ask before starting, the positive response to my last
-   memoir; but if ever question was important, it must be admitted
-   that it is this one. I answer on my head, after having well
-   reflected, for the most glorious success of this operation for
-   the entire reign of my master, without his person, or of that of
-   his ministers, or his interests being in the least compromised.
-   Can anyone of those who influence His Majesty against this
-   measure answer on his head to the King for the evil which will
-   infallibly come to France if it is rejected?
-
-   "In the case that we shall be so unhappy as that the King should
-   constantly refuse to adopt a plan so simple and so wise, I
-   implore His Majesty to permit me to take note for him of the date
-   when I arranged this superb resource, in order that one day he
-   may render me the justice due to my views, when it will only be
-   left to us bitterly to regret not having followed them.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-[Illustration: CHARLES GRAVIER--COMTE DE VERGENNES]
-
-"The temerity of the secret agent," says M. de Lomenie, "in the end
-prevailed over the prudence of the King; but for the moment ...
-Beaumarchais was obliged to start for London knowing only that d'Eon
-must sell his old clothes."
-
-For the moment the hopes of Beaumarchais seemed wholly shattered.
-"Intrigues of the court," said Doniol, "controlled the actions of M. de
-Vergennes, and made him feel the danger. The minister was visibly the
-butt of serious attacks, Beaumarchais was in consequence held at a
-distance. Everything seemed to be compromised. He seized the occasion of
-the new year to write to M. de Vergennes.
-
-                                                 "January 1, 1776.
-   "Monsieur le comte:
-
-   "It is impossible to be so deeply touched as I am with your
-   favors without being very much so by your apparent coldness. I
-   have examined myself well, and I feel that I do not merit it. How
-   could you know that I had carried my zeal too far, if you do not
-   first enter with me into the details of what I have done or ought
-   to have done?
-
-   "Great experience with men, and the habit of misfortune, have
-   given me that watchful prudence, which makes me think of
-   everything and direct things according to the timid or courageous
-   character of those for whom I do them."
-
-Thus the year 1775 ended and the new year began with but little
-encouragement for the agent of the King in the cause of America; but his
-was a heart that did not easily lose courage. More than this, matters
-were really advancing; the timid policy of the King and the objections
-of the ministers began to give way to "the quiet and uniform influence
-of M. de Vergennes, which imperceptibly overcame the scruples of the
-inexperienced Prince, who never comprehended the far reaching influence
-of the question." (Bancroft--History of America, IV, p. 363.)
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII
-
-
-"_It was absolutely necessary to the existence and prosperity of France
-that the great commercial power and assumed preponderance of Great
-Britain and her attempted monopoly of the seas should be broken. The
-revolt of the American Colonies was her opportunity._"
-
-_George Clinton Genet in Magazine of American History, Nov., 1878._
-
-
-   Beaumarchais's English connections--With Lord Rochford--With
-     Wilkes--Meets Arthur Lee--Sends Memoir to the King--His Commission
-     to Buy Portuguese Coin--Called to Account by Lord
-     Rochford--Vergennes's Acceptance of his Ideas--Article in _The
-     Morning Chronicle_.
-
-
-As has been stated already, Beaumarchais during his stay in London came
-in touch with all classes. It was Lord Rochford whom he had known
-intimately at Madrid who introduced him at the court of St. James. It
-was d'Eon and Morande who brought him into touch with the brilliant,
-daring Wilkes, then Lord Mayor of London.
-
-Around the latter's table the most pronounced members of the opposition,
-as well as the leading Americans then in London, were wont to assemble.
-It was here that Beaumarchais met the young and gifted representative of
-America, Arthur Lee, who was destined to bring so much discord into all
-continental relations with America. The bitterness which subsequent
-developments brought out in his character had not then shown itself.
-
-During the winter of 1776, Lee was replacing Franklin in London. Ardent
-and intelligent, with decided personal charm he captivated Beaumarchais.
-In fact it was primarily through Lee that Beaumarchais came in touch
-with the pulse of American life and from him that he acquired that
-ardent sympathy with the sons of the new world, which never left him.
-
-Both Beaumarchais and the Count de Lauragais, another agent of France in
-London, urged the French minister to permit Lee to appear before him, to
-plead in person the cause of his country. But on this point Vergennes
-was inexorable, and Arthur Lee was not permitted to come to Versailles.
-
-Most of the correspondence which passed between Beaumarchais and the
-French ministers during the early part of 1776 is lacking, but the
-following memoir addressed to the king, February 29, 1776, shows that a
-decided advance had been made:
-
-
-                                           "_La Paix ou la Guerre_
-   "To the King alone:
-
-   "The famous quarrel between America and England which is soon
-   going to divide the world and change the system of Europe,
-   imposes upon every power the necessity of examining well how the
-   event of this separation will influence it, either to serve its
-   ends or to thwart them.
-
-   "But the most interested of all is certainly France, whose sugar
-   islands have been, since the peace of 1763, the constant object
-   of regret and of hope to the king of England....
-
-   "In the first memoir placed before Your Majesty three months ago
-   by M. de Vergennes, I tried to prove that the sense of justice of
-   Your Majesty could not be offended in taking wise precautions
-   against this enemy who never has shown herself delicate in those
-   which she has taken against us.
-
-   "To-day when a violent crisis is advancing upon us with great
-   strides, I am obliged to warn Your Majesty that the conservation
-   of our American possessions and the peace which you so desire
-   depends solely upon this one proposition--_We must aid the
-   Americans!_
-
-   "This is what I will prove to you.... The King of England, the
-   ministers, the parliament, the opposition, the nation, the
-   English people, parties, in a word, which tear the state to
-   pieces, all agree that it is not to be hoped that they can bring
-   back the Americans, even if the great efforts which they now put
-   forth should be able to subdue them. From this, Sire, the violent
-   debates between the ministry and the opposition, the action and
-   reaction of opinions admitted or rejected, do not in the least
-   advance matters, they serve, however, to throw much light upon
-   the subject....
-
-   "The fear exists in England that the Americans, encouraged by
-   their successes and perhaps emboldened by some secret treaty with
-   France and Spain, will refuse the same conditions of peace to-day
-   which they demanded with clasped hands two years ago. On the
-   other hand the Sieur L. (Lee) secret deputy of the colonies at
-   London, absolutely discouraged at the uselessness of the efforts
-   which he has made through me to obtain from the French Ministry
-   aid of powder and munitions of war--said to me to-day,
-
-   "'For the last time, is France absolutely decided to refuse us
-   all aid and has she become the victim of England and the laughing
-   stock of Europe, by this unbelievable torpor?'
-
-   "Obliged myself to reply positively, I await your last reply to
-   his offer before I give my own.
-
-   "'We offer,' he says, 'to France as a price of her secret aid, a
-   secret treaty of commerce which will enable her to reap during a
-   certain number of years after the peace, all the benefits with
-   which we have for the last century enriched England, besides a
-   guarantee of her West Indian Possessions according to our power.
-
-   "'If this is rejected, Congress immediately will make a public
-   proclamation and will offer to all nations of the world what I
-   secretly offer to you to-day.... The Americans, exasperated, will
-   join their forces to those of England and will fall upon your
-   sugar islands--of which you will be deprived forever.' ...
-
-   "Here, Sire, is the striking picture of our position. Your
-   Majesty sincerely wishes to maintain peace. The means to conserve
-   peace, Sire, will make the _resume_ of this memoir.
-
-   "Admit all the foregoing hypotheses and let us reason. _This
-   which follows is very important._
-
-   "Either England will have the most complete success in the
-   campaign over the Americans; or the Americans will repel the
-   English with loss; or England will adopt the plan of abandoning
-   the colonies to themselves and separating in a friendly manner;
-   or the opposition taking possession of the ministry, will bring
-   about the submission of the colonies on condition of their being
-   reinstated as in 1763.
-
-   "Here are all the possibilities brought together. Is there a
-   single one which does not instantly bring upon us the war which
-   you desire to avoid? Sire, in the name of Heaven, deign to
-   examine the matter with me.
-
-   "First, if England should triumph over America, it can only be at
-   an enormous expense of men and money, now the only indemnity
-   which England will propose to make on her return, will be the
-   capture of our sugar islands.... Thus Sire, it will only remain
-   for you, the choice of beginning too late an unfruitful war, or
-   to sacrifice to the most disgraceful inactivity your American
-   colonies and to lose two hundred and eighty millions of capital
-   and more than thirty millions of revenue.
-
-   "Second, if the Americans win, the moment they are free from the
-   English, the latter in despair at seeing their possessions
-   diminished by three fourths, will be still more anxious to
-   indemnify themselves by the easy capture of our islands, and one
-   may be sure that they will not fail in attempting it.
-
-   "Third, if the English imagine themselves forced to abandon the
-   colonies to themselves, which is the secret desire of the king,
-   their loss being the same and their commerce equally ruined the
-   result remains the same for us.
-
-   "Fourth, if the opposition comes into power and concludes a
-   treaty with the American colonies, the Americans, outraged
-   against the French whose refusal to aid alone forces them to
-   submit to England, menace us from to-day forth, to take away the
-   islands by joining forces with the English....
-
-   "What shall we do in this extremity to win peace and to save our
-   islands?
-
-   "_Sire the only means is to give help to the Americans_, so as to
-   make their forces equal to those of England.... Believe me Sire,
-   the saving of a few millions to-day soon may cause a great deal
-   of blood to flow, and money to be lost to France....
-
-   "If it is replied that we cannot aid the Americans without
-   drawing upon us a storm, I reply that this danger can be averted
-   if the plan be adopted which I have so often proposed, to aid the
-   Americans secretly....
-
-   "If your Majesty has no more skillful man to employ, I am ready
-   to take the matter in charge and will be responsible for the
-   treaty without compromising anyone, persuaded that my zeal will
-   better supplement my lack of dexterity, than the dexterity of
-   another could replace my zeal.... Your Majesty knows better than
-   anyone that secrecy is the soul of action and that in politics a
-   project made known, is a project lost.
-
-   "Since I have served you sire, I have never asked for any favor.
-   Permit, O my master, that no one be allowed to prevent my working
-   for you and my whole existence is consecrated to you.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-Under the outward show of indifference the French government had been
-steadily moving toward the point aimed at by its secret agent. Early in
-March Vergennes had placed a list of considerations before the king in
-which the future actions of the government were outlined. Beaumarchais
-had been recalled in order to deliberate with the ministers, and when
-all was arranged, he returned to London to continue the work there.
-
-But the enemies of the cause of America were not slumbering and in spite
-of his precautions he found that he was being watched. "Beaumarchais,"
-says Doniol, "already under the suspicion of the police of the foreign
-office, of being employed with that with which he was really occupied,
-had been furnished with a letter by M. de Sartine, which gave him a
-mission in the name of the king to buy up ancient Portuguese coin, to be
-used in the islands."
-
-Beaumarchais wrote to Vergennes, April 12, 1776, "I wrote yesterday to
-M. de Sartine thanking him as well as the king for having furnished me
-with the means of sleeping tranquilly in London. Certain that you will
-deliver him my dispatch I lay down my pen, because for eight hours I
-have been writing and making copies, and I am exhausted.
-
-   "Deign to remember sometimes, M. le Comte, a man who respects you
-   and who even dares in his heart to add a more tender sentiment.
-   Beaumarchais."
-
-The following letter bears the date, April 12th, 1776; but as
-Beaumarchais later explains, it really was written on the 16th. It shows
-the intimate relation which existed between him and Lord Rochford, as
-well as the skill and address of Beaumarchais in extricating himself
-from a very difficult situation.
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte:
-
-   "While England assembled at Westminster Hall is judging the
-   Duchess of Kingston, I will give you an account of a serious
-   conversation which took place between Lord Rochford and myself."...
-
-   The lord, after informing Beaumarchais of a letter he had just
-   received from King George of England appointing him to the
-   vice-royalty in Ireland, continued: "But I must not omit to read
-   you the last phrase of the letter of the King, M. de
-   Beaumarchais, because it regards you particularly.
-
-   "'A vessel from Boston, charged with letters and merchandise from
-   Congress for a merchant of Nantes, with orders to exchange for
-   munitions of war, has been brought to Bristol. This circumstance,
-   joined to that of two French gentlemen, secretly in communication
-   with Congress, and having, it is said, hidden relations with
-   persons in London, has singularly alarmed our council....
-
-   "'Several evilly informed persons have endeavored to cause
-   suspicions of this connivance to fall upon you. What do you think
-   of all this? I know very well that you are here to finish with
-   d'Eon; on this point I wish to trust your word alone, as I have
-   already said to the king.'
-
-   "'Before replying, Milord,' I said, 'to that which regards me,
-   permit me to speak first of the vessel from America. Not that I
-   have orders from our ministers, but following my own light. I
-   have learned already of the arrival of the American vessel at
-   Bristol, but I was no more astonished that it was charged for a
-   merchant of Nantes, than if it had been one for Amsterdam, or
-   Cadiz, or Hamburg. The insurgents have need of munitions, and
-   have no money to buy them, they are forced, then, to hazard their
-   raw materials in order to exchange them, and any port whatever
-   where they can find munitions is naturally as good as any other.'
-
-   "'But, Monsieur, has not France given orders in her ports in
-   regard to this? Have we not the right to expect the merchants of
-   Nantes to be punished?'
-
-   "'Milord, you have permitted me the right to speak frankly. I
-   will do it all the more freely since I have no commission and
-   what I say will compromise no one. Indeed, Milord, do you wish
-   our administration to deal harshly with the people of Nantes? Are
-   we at war with anyone? Before asking this question of me, let me
-   ask a preliminary one of you. Because England has a private
-   quarrel with someone, what right has she to restrict our
-   commerce? What treaty obliges us to open or close our ports
-   according to the wish of the British nation? Certainly, Milord, I
-   scarcely can believe that anyone would dare to raise so
-   unbelievable a question, the solution of which might have
-   consequences which England has great interest not to provoke....
-
-   "'Nothing prevents you from chasing the Americans as much as you
-   like, seizing them whenever you can,--except under the cannon of
-   our forts, by the way! But require of us to disturb our merchants
-   because they have dealings with people with whom we are at peace,
-   whether we regard them as your subjects or a people become free,
-   ... in truth that is asking too much! I do not know what the
-   administration would think of such a demand, but I know very well
-   that it seems to me decidedly more than out of place.'
-
-   "'I see, Monsieur, that you are crimson with anger.' (In truth M.
-   le Comte, the fire had mounted to my face, and if you disapprove,
-   that I have shown so much heat, I ask your pardon.)
-
-   "'Milord,' I replied, with gentleness and modesty, 'you who are
-   English and patriotic, you should not think evil that _un bon
-   Francais_ should have pride for his country.'
-
-   "'Therefore, I am not in the least offended.'"
-
-   The conversation now turned on the delicate matter of
-   Beaumarchais's mission. After showing his credentials for the
-   buying up of Portuguese coin and frankly affirming that the
-   affair with d'Eon was settled so far as he was concerned, he
-   continued, "'If there should be any pretended French agents in
-   England, I am sure that if they could be captured, the government
-   would disavow them, and even punish them....
-
-   "'And now, Milord, I offer you my sincere compliments for that
-   which the king destines for you. If you accept the Vice-Royalty,
-   I hope you will remember your ancient friendship for M. Duflos
-   whom I recommend to you afresh. I hope you will charge him with
-   the details of your house in Ireland as you have in France. He
-   promised me this.' (This Duflos, M. le Comte, is a Frenchman whom
-   I long ago secured for Lord Rochford; he is absolutely devoted to
-   me, and through him you will always have certain news of the most
-   intimate interior of the vice-royalty. I am a little like Figaro,
-   M. le Comte, I do not lose my head for a little noise.)
-
-   "By the way, the Hessian troops have started. They took the oath
-   of allegiance to England the 22nd of March.
-
-   "The Americans have actually twelve vessels of from twenty-two to
-   forty-four pieces of cannon, and twelve or fifteen of twenty
-   pieces, and more than thirty of twelve pieces, which gives them a
-   navy almost as respectable as that of the English, and for the
-   last two and a half months the insurgents have lost only one
-   vessel brought into Bristol, which is indeed worthy of remark.
-
-   "I count upon your goodness to hope that my recommendations for
-   Aix are not forgotten. [In allusion to his suit with the count de
-   La Blache, still pending.] It is not just that I be judged in the
-   South when I am nine hundred miles away in the North.
-
-   "Receive my respects, my homage, and the assurance of my perfect
-   devotion.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-   (Doniol I, 407.)
-
-On the 26th of the same month, M. de Vergennes wrote to his secret
-agent, "almost as though he spoke to an ambassador." (Doniol.)
-
-   "I have the satisfaction of announcing to you that His Majesty
-   very much approves the noble and frank manner with which you
-   repelled the attack made upon you by Lord Rochford in relation to
-   the American vessel destined for Nantes and conducted to Bristol.
-   You have said nothing which His Majesty would not have prescribed
-   you to say if he had foreseen that you would be obliged to answer
-   in regard to a matter so far removed from the business with which
-   you are charged. Receive my compliments, Monsieur. After having
-   assured you of the approbation of the king, mine cannot seem very
-   interesting to you; nevertheless, I cannot refuse myself the
-   satisfaction of applauding the wisdom and firmness of your
-   conduct and renewing the assurances of my entire esteem. I have
-   not neglected your commission for Aix. M. le Garde des Sceaux
-   assured me that it would remain in suspense till your return.
-
-   "I am very perfectly
-
-                                                    "de Vergennes.
-
-   "Versailles, April 26th, 1776."
-
-   Post Scriptum.
-
-   "The king approves, that you do not refuse the overtures the Lord
-   Rochford may make to you. You are prudent and discreet. I should
-   be without uneasiness even if you had a more important commission
-   than that which M. de Sartine has given you. It was well,
-   however, that you had it, since it served to disperse the
-   suspicions aroused by your frequent voyages to London. It must be
-   admitted that the English whom we believe to be men are really
-   far less than women, if they are so easily frightened.... Nothing
-   equals the sincere attachment with which I have the honor to be,
-   Monsieur, your very humble, etc.
-
-                                                   "de Vergennes."
-
-The same day Beaumarchais addressed the count with a letter from London
-which runs as follows:
-
-   "M. le Comte:
-
-   "I profit by this occasion to entertain you with freedom upon the
-   only really important matter at present, America and all that
-   pertains to it. I reasoned a long time, day before yesterday,
-   with the man you thought best to prevent coming to France.
-   (Arthur Lee.) He incessantly asks if we are going to do
-   absolutely nothing for them. And without wasting time in
-   repeating to me how very important their success is to France
-   because he does us the honor of believing that we agree with him
-   on that point, he tells me simply, 'We need arms, powder, and
-   above all engineers; only you can help us, and it is to your
-   interest to do so.'
-
-   "The Americans are as well placed as possible; army, fleet
-   provisions, courage, everything is excellent, but without powder
-   and engineers how can they conquer or even defend themselves? Are
-   we going to let them perish rather than loan them one or two
-   millions? Are we afraid of losing the money?
-
-   "Weakness and fear is all that one sees here....
-
-   "It is clear that the ministry is silent because it has nothing
-   to reply. Fear and anger on one side, weakness and embarrassment
-   on the other, this is the real condition. You would be still more
-   convinced of this truth if you will recall the nature of their
-   treaties with Germany and if you examine the rate of the new
-   loan.... And when this is well proved, is it really true, M. le
-   Comte, that you will do nothing for the Americans?
-
-   "Will you not have the goodness to show once more to the King how
-   much he can gain, without striking a blow, in this one campaign?
-   And will you not attempt to convince His Majesty that this
-   miserable pittance which they demand, and over which we have been
-   disputing for more than a year, will bring to us all the fruits
-   of a great victory without undergoing the dangers of a combat?
-   That this help can give to us while we sleep, all that the
-   disgraceful treaty of 1763 made us lose? What greater view can
-   occupy the council of the king and what force your pleading will
-   take on if you show the reverse of the picture and count what the
-   defeat of the Americans will cost us. Three hundred millions--our
-   men--our vessels, our islands, etc.... because their forces once
-   united against us, their audacity augmented by their great
-   success, it is only certain that they will force these same
-   Frenchmen to support a fatal war which two millions now would
-   avert.
-
-   "In spite of the danger which I run in writing these daring
-   things from London, I feel myself twice as much French in London
-   as at Paris. The patriotism of this people stirs my own...."
-
-As may be seen from this letter, Arthur Lee still inspired complete
-confidence in the agent of the French government, so much indeed that
-Beaumarchais gladly disclosed to him the plans which he had formed for
-coming to the aid of the Americans.
-
-So certain was he that France would ultimately yield to the necessity of
-giving them secret support that he no doubt spoke with indiscreet
-assurance on the subject. Exactly what passed between the two men will
-never be known, but what is certain is, that during the spring of 1776,
-Arthur Lee addressed to the secret committee of Congress a letter in
-which he says:
-
-   "In consequence of active measures taken with the French Embassy
-   in London, _M. de Vergennes has sent me a secret agent to inform
-   me that the French court cannot think of making war on England
-   but that she is ready to send five million worth of arms and
-   ammunition to Cap Francais to be thence sent to the colonies._"
-
-A careful analysis of this important missive will at once make clear the
-profound misunderstanding which arose in the mind of the secret
-committee of Congress regarding the true state of affairs in France. So
-completely was every statement perverted that though the whole bears a
-semblance of truth yet in reality nothing could be further removed from
-it.
-
-For instead of sending an agent to confer with Arthur Lee, M. de
-Vergennes had steadily refused to enter into any relation whatever with
-him. Instead of promising munitions of war for which Beaumarchais had
-been pleading so long and so ardently, the government continued to
-refuse to compromise itself by making any statement regarding them.
-
-And yet in judging Arthur Lee, whether he intentionally distorted the
-truth or only indulged in what he considered a harmless exaggeration, we
-must not forget that this letter with its assurances of help, arriving
-at the moment which it did, had a profound influence in shaping men's
-minds for independence.
-
-As regards Lee himself, the letter had the effect of greatly augmenting
-his credit with Congress. Silas Deane was already on his way to France,
-charged with an express commission to secure munitions of war on credit,
-so it was determined to join Arthur Lee to the commission as soon as it
-could be brought about.
-
-But to return to the French court. The first intimation of anything like
-an avowed approval of the plans of Beaumarchais is to be found in a
-letter of M. de Vergennes under date of May 2, 1776. He wrote:
-
-"I have received the first of this month, Monsieur, the letter with
-which you honored me, written the 26th of last month."
-
-Then follows a lengthy preamble in which the count, speaking as an
-observer of men and one used to dealing with them, continues:
-
-"This preface is not destined to refute your foresight, which on the
-contrary I praise and approve. But do not suppose that because your
-plans are not immediately acted on, that they are rejected. Although the
-method which I employ is sure, I am forced to curb the desire which I
-feel to express to you all my thoughts, therefore, I rely upon your
-sagacity to divine them. Think well and you will find that I am nearer
-to you than you imagine.... A thousand thanks, Monsieur, for the news
-items which you communicate to me, they have been seen and relished....
-I have delivered the letter which you recommended to me; if an answer
-comes I will forward it to you. I flatter you that you know my
-friendship and attachment for you.
-
-                                                   "de Vergennes."
-
-In fact the hindrances were gradually disappearing from the path of the
-minister. In a resume, in all probability drawn up by Vergennes himself,
-entitled, "_Reflexions sur la necessite de secourir les Americains et de
-se preparer a la guerre avec l'Angleterre_," without date, but placed by
-Doniol the first of May, 1776, the following passages occur:
-
-
-"There is no obstacle, and it is even necessary to aid the insurgents
-indirectly by means of munitions or of money....
-
-"We are to make no agreement with them until their independence is
-established. The aid must be veiled and hidden, and appear to come from
-commerce so that we can always deny it.
-
-"It would be sufficient for an intelligent merchant, faithful and
-discreet, to be stationed in each one of the ports, where the American
-vessels would come to land their cargoes--he would treat directly with
-their captains and would mask the shipments to prevent the reproach of
-the court of England."--Doniol.
-
-
-This was not at all what Beaumarchais had been planning and preparing.
-In the next chapter we shall see him with his usual flexibility abandon
-his own ideas and adopt those of the ministry, since they tended to the
-same end. In the meantime he was addressing the following letters to
-Vergennes:
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte:
-
-   "There is nothing very important here but the news of the
-   evacuation of Boston, which arrived three days ago....
-
-   "The government assumes an air of approbation, of mystery, of
-   intelligence even. It wishes to have it considered as a ruse of
-   the ministry, but that does not take. It is too certain that the
-   impossibility to hold Boston from lack of provisions has driven
-   the English away....
-
-   "All this confirms what I announced in my last dispatch, that the
-   Americans are in good condition everywhere, engineers and powder
-   excepted. I thank you for your obliging goodness in regard to my
-   affair at Aix. I thank you also for the honorable encouragement
-   which the approbation of the king and your own gives to my
-   enterprise.... Say what you will, M. le Comte, a little
-   exaltation in the heart of an honest man, far from spoiling him
-   for action vivifies everything he touches, and enables him to do
-   more than he would have dared to promise from his natural
-   capacity. I feel this exaltation, it remains for my prudence to
-   direct it in a way that turns to the good of the affairs of the
-   king. Conserve for me his esteem, Monsieur le Comte.
-
-   "Ah, Monsieur le Comte, as a favor ... some powder and engineers!
-   It seems to me that I never wanted anything so much...."
-
-                                             (Given by Gaillardet.)
-
-                              Five days later; London, May 8, 1776.
-
-   ... "I say then, the time approaches when the Americans will be
-   masters at home.... If they have the upper hand, as everything
-   seems to point to that end, will we not have infinitely to
-   regret, Monsieur le Comte, not to have ceded to their prayers?
-   If, far from having acquired the right to their gratitude, as we
-   could easily do at small cost and without risk, we will have
-   alienated them forever? As they will have conquered without us,
-   they will revenge themselves for our hardness to them. What are
-   two or three millions advanced without compromising ourselves?
-   Because I can engage my sacred faith to make any sum you wish
-   reach them at second hand by way of Holland, without risk or
-   other authorization than that which exists between us. A small
-   effort will perhaps suffice, because I know that the Virginians
-   have now an abundant manufacture of saltpeter, and that the
-   Congress has decided that powder shall be made in every place
-   instead of at Philadelphia as formerly. Beside this, Virginia has
-   seven thousand regular troops, and seventy thousand militia, iron
-   in abundance, and she makes almost as many arms as all the rest
-   of America together.
-
-   "But engineers, engineers and powder! Or the money to buy them!"
-
-                                                     (Gaillardet.)
-
-Three days later, London, May 11, 1776.... "All the quarrels for the
-last eight days are in relation to the _quomodo_ of the evacuation of
-Boston. The opposition and the ministry are openly tearing out each
-other's eyes about it. The whole affair consists of the doctors deciding
-how the sick man died. Let them dispute over that great coffin. The
-couriers arrive at every moment.... To-morrow all the news of the
-American papers will be printed in the English ones. The whole affair
-begins to clear up. You were certainly very near me as you said, when I
-imagined you very very far." (Gaillardet.)
-
-                                            "London, May 17, 1776.
-
-   ... Eight days ago a pack boat from Virginia sent by Lord Dunmore
-   brought news to the government, but it was so bad that it was
-   thought advisable to say that the chest containing the mail was
-   washed overboard in a storm. Admirable ruse! Effort of superior
-   genius! Yesterday another vessel arrived from Canada. A man
-   jumped into a boat and the vessel pushed out again. That man
-   hurried straight to London without stopping. No one can find out
-   his errand. From these incidents comes the refrain; the news must
-   be very black since it is kept such a mystery."
-
-                                                     (Gaillardet.)
-
-Thus ended the first phase of the activity of Beaumarchais in the cause
-of the Americans. In a few more days he was back in France ready to turn
-the force of his mind, the power of his intellect and all the energy of
-his being into the development of that vast mercantile establishment
-which was for a time to supply the colonies with munitions of war and
-other necessities.
-
-As a proof that no one ever was able to pass from grave to gay with more
-facility than Beaumarchais, we will close the present chapter with a
-rather lengthy extract from an article which appeared in the London
-_Morning Chronicle_ shortly before his return to France:
-
-From the _Morning Chronicle_, London, May 6, 1776.
-
-   "Monsieur, the Editor:
-
-   "I am a stranger, full of honor. If it is not to inform you
-   absolutely who I am, it is at least to tell you in more than one
-   sense who I am not.
-
-   "Day before yesterday, at the Pantheon, after the concert and
-   during the dance, I found under my feet a lady's mantle of black
-   taffeta, lined with the same and bordered with lace. I am
-   ignorant to whom this mantle belongs, never having seen, even at
-   the Pantheon, her who wore it and all my investigations since
-   have not enabled me to learn anything in relation to her.
-
-   "I therefore beg you, M. the Editor, to announce in your paper
-   this lost mantle so that it may be returned faithfully to
-   whomever shall reclaim it.
-
-   "But that there may be no error in relation to it, I have the
-   honor to announce to you that the person who lost it wore a pink
-   plume that day in her hair; I think she had diamond pendants in
-   her ears, but I am not so sure of that as of the rest. She is
-   tall and well formed, her hair is a silvery blonde; her
-   complexion dazzlingly white; her neck is fine and gracefully set;
-   her form slender, and the prettiest little foot in the world. I
-   have even remarked that she is very young. She is lively and
-   distracted; her step is light and she has a decided taste for the
-   dance.
-
-   "If you ask me, M. the Editor, why, having noted her so well, I
-   did not at once return her mantle, I shall have the honor to
-   repeat what I said to you before, that I have never seen this
-   person; that I do not know either her features, or her eyes, or
-   her costume, or her carriage, and do not know who she is, or what
-   she is like.
-
-   "But if you insist upon knowing how I am able to so well define
-   her, never having seen her, I in turn will be astonished that so
-   exact an observer as you do not know that the simple examination
-   of a lady's mantle is sufficient to give of her all the notions
-   by which she could be recognized.
-
-   "Now suppose, Monsieur, that on examining this mantle, I found in
-   the hood some stray hair of a beautiful blonde attached to the
-   stuff, also some bits of down escaped from the feathers, you will
-   admit that a great effort of genius would not be needed to
-   conclude that the hair and the plume of that blonde must in every
-   way resemble the samples which have detached themselves. You feel
-   that perfectly. And since similar hair never grew from skin of
-   uncertain whiteness, analogy will have taught you as it has
-   taught me, that this beautiful silvery hair must have a dazzling
-   complexion, something which no observer can dispute with us
-   without dishonoring his judgment.
-
-   "It is thus that a slightly worn spot in the taffeta on the two
-   lateral parts of the interior of the hood which could not have
-   come from anything but a repeated rubbing of two small hard
-   bodies in movement, showed me that, not that she wore the
-   pendants on that particular day, but that she does so ordinarily;
-   and that it is hardly probable between you and me, that she would
-   have neglected this adornment on a day of conquest or of grand
-   assembly, both which are one. If I reason badly do not spare me,
-   I beg you. Rigor is not injustice.
-
-   "The rest goes without saying. It can easily be seen that it was
-   sufficient for me to examine the ribbon which was attached to the
-   mantle at the neck, and to knot it at the place rumpled by the
-   ordinary usage to see that the space enclosed being small, the
-   neck daily enclosed in that space must also be very fine and
-   graceful. No difficulty there.
-
-   "Suppose again, Monsieur, if on examining the body of the mantle
-   you should have found upon the taffeta the impression of a very
-   pretty little foot, marked in gray dust, would you not have
-   reflected as I did, that had any other woman stepped on the
-   mantle since its fall, she would certainly have deprived me of
-   the pleasure of picking it up? Therefore it would have been
-   impossible that the impression of the shoe came from any other
-   person than her who lost the mantle. It follows, you would have
-   said that if the shoe was small the foot must be smaller still.
-   There is no merit in my having recognized that; the most careless
-   observer, a child would have found that out.
-
-   "But this impression made in passing and even without being felt,
-   announces, besides an extreme vivacity of step, a strong
-   preoccupation of mind to which grave, cold, or aged persons are
-   little susceptible. I therefore very simply concluded that my
-   charming blond is in the flower of her age, very lively and
-   distracted. Would you not have thought the same, M. the Editor?
-
-   "The next day in recalling that I had been able to pick up the
-   mantle in a place where so many people passed (which proves that
-   it fell at the very instant) without having been able to see who
-   lost it (which proves that she was already far away), I said to
-   myself, 'Assuredly this person is the most alert beauty of
-   England, Scotland and Ireland; and if I do not join America to
-   the rest, it is only because they have become of late _diablement
-   alerte_ in that country.'
-
-   "In giving you this mantle, M. the Editor, permit me to envelop
-   myself in my own and that I sign myself,
-
-                                           "_L'Amateur francais._"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII
-
-
-_Look upon my house, gentlemen, from henceforward as the chief of all
-useful operations to you in Europe, and my person as one of the most
-zealous partisans of your cause, the soul of your success and a man most
-deeply impressed with the respectful esteem with which I have the honor
-to be...._
-
-  _"Roderigue Hortales et Compagnie"
-    Beaumarchais to the Secret Committee of Congress, Aug. 15, 1776._
-
-
-    Memoir Explaining to the King the Plan of His Commercial
-      House--Roderigue Hortales et Cie.--The Doctor Du Bourg--Silas
-      Deane's Arrival--His Contract with Beaumarchais--Lee's Anger--His
-      Misrepresentations to Congress--Beaumarchais Obtains His
-      Rehabilitation.
-
-
-On the 24th of May, 1776, Beaumarchais returned to France. He wrote to
-the Count de Vergennes the same night:
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte,
-
-   "I arrive very tired, completely exhausted. My first care is to
-   ask you for your orders and the hour when you will be so good as
-   to give me audience. It is three o'clock in the morning. My negro
-   will be at your levee, he will be back for mine. I hope he will
-   bring me the news which I desire with the greatest impatience,
-   which is to go in person, and assure you of the very respectful
-   devotion with which, I am,
-
-   M. le Comte, your very humble and very obedient servitor,
-
-   Beaumarchais."                                           (Doniol.)
-
-[Illustration: SILAS DEANE]
-
-No written statement was ever made of the exact arrangement arrived at
-between the minister and his confidential agent. What is certain is that
-as soon as the latter understood the new plan of procedure he brought at
-once to the aid of the undertaking the whole force of his powerful mind
-as well as the experience of those years passed under the tutelage of
-old Du Verney, and in his attempted enterprise at the court of Spain.
-
-A letter without date, published for the first time by George Clinton
-Genet in the _Magazine of American History_, 1878, written by
-Beaumarchais to the King, gives a clear statement of how he proposed to
-proceed in founding this new mercantile house which should hide from all
-the world and even from the Americans themselves the connivance of the
-Government in the operations:
-
-   "To the King Alone:
-
-   "While state reasons engage you to extend a helping hand to the
-   Americans, policy requires that Your Majesty shall take abundant
-   precaution to prevent the secret succor sent to America from
-   becoming a firebrand between France and England in Europe.... On
-   the other hand, prudence wills that you acquire a certainty that
-   your funds may never fall into other hands than those for whom
-   you destined them. Finally, the present condition of your
-   finances does not permit you to make so great sacrifice at the
-   moment as passing events seem to require.
-
-   "It becomes my duty, Sire, to present to you, and it is for your
-   wisdom to examine the following plan, the chief object of which
-   is to avoid, by a turn which is absolutely commercial, the
-   suspicion that your majesty has any hand in the affair.
-
-   "The principal merit of this plan is to augment your aid so that
-   a single million ... will produce the same results for the
-   Americans as if your Majesty really had disbursed nine millions
-   in their favor.... Your Majesty will begin by placing a million
-   at the disposition of your agent, who will be named Roderigue
-   Hortales et Cie.; this is their commercial name and signature,
-   under which I find it convenient that the whole operation shall
-   be carried out.... One half million exchanged into Portuguese
-   pieces, the only money current in America, will be promptly sent
-   there, for there is an immediate necessity for the Americans to
-   have a little gold at once to give life to their paper money,
-   which without means of making it circulate already has become
-   useless and stagnant in their hands. It is the little leaven that
-   is necessary to put into the paste to raise it and make it
-   ferment usefully.
-
-   "Upon that half million no benefit can be obtained except the
-   return of it in Virginian tobacco, which Congress must furnish to
-   the house of Hortales, who will have made a sale in advance to
-   the Farmers-General of France, by which they will take the
-   tobacco from them at a good price; but that is of no great
-   consequence.
-
-   "Roderigue Hortales counts on employing the second half million
-   in the purchase of cannon and powder, which he will forward at
-   once to the Americans."
-
-Here follows an exposition of the proceedings, with an explanation of
-how, supposing the king permits him to buy powder at actual cost price
-from the magazines, instead of buying it in the market of France,
-Holland, or elsewhere, the money invested by the king will increase not
-in double progression, 1-2-4-8, etc., but in triple progression,
-1-3-9-27, etc.
-
-   "Your Majesty will not be frightened at the complicated air that
-   this operation assumes under my pen, when you remember that no
-   commercial speculation is carried on or succeeds by any more
-   simple or more natural means than this.
-
-   "I have treated this affair in so far, Sire, in the spirit of a
-   great trader, who wishes to make a successful speculation and I
-   have developed to you the unique secret by which commerce in bulk
-   augments the prosperity of all states that have the good sense to
-   protect it....
-
-   "If the return in tobacco and the sale of the product take place
-   as I have pointed out, Your Majesty soon will find yourself in a
-   position to send back by the hands of Hortales et Cie. the three
-   millions provided for from the price and profits of these
-   returns, to recommence operations on a larger scale."
-
-Then follow considerations upon the advisability of employing Holland or
-French vessels for the transport of the munitions to Cape Francis,
-chosen by Hortales et Cie. as the first depot of commerce.
-
-   "Holding to the choice of French vessel charged to the account of
-   Roderigue Hortales et Cie., Congress, or rather Mr. Adams,
-   Secretary of Congress, will be alone forewarned by the agent in
-   England that a vessel is carrying to him at Cape Francis both
-   goods and munitions, which are to be returned in Virginian
-   tobacco, so that he may send to the Cape upon a vessel loaded
-   with tobacco an agent who will bear his power to receive both and
-   to send back by the captain of Hortales et Cie. the entire return
-   in tobacco or at all events a recognition that he owes Hortales
-   et Cie. the balance of the amount for which he may not have been
-   able to furnish return."
-
-So far in Beaumarchais's mind, the mercantile undertaking was to be for
-the king, only cloaked by the appearance of a mercantile house. But it
-seems that the French government, anxious to evade all possible risk and
-wishing to deny all connivance in the transactions, decided to remain
-entirely foreign to the operation.
-
-"We will give you secretly," said the government, "a million. We will
-try to obtain the same amount from the court of Spain.... with these two
-millions and the co-operation of private individuals, whom you will
-associate in your enterprise, you will found your house and at your own
-risk and perils you will provision the Americans with arms and
-munitions, and objects of equipment and whatever is necessary to support
-the war. Our arsenals will deliver to you these things, but you will
-replace them or pay for them. You shall not demand money of the
-Americans, because they have none, but you shall ask returns in
-commodities of their soil, the sale of which we will facilitate in our
-country.... In a word, the operation secretly sanctioned by us at the
-outset must grow and develop through its own support. But on the other
-hand, we reserve the right of favoring or opposing it according to
-political contingencies. You will render us an account of your profits
-and losses, while we will decide whether we should grant you new
-subsidies or discharge you of all obligations previously made."
-(Lomenie, II, p. 109.)
-
-In this transaction, the responsibility of the agent to the United
-States had no consideration. "The advances of the government were simply
-a guarantee to Beaumarchais against loss." (Durand, p. 90.)
-
-The difficulties and dangers of this undertaking have been admirably
-summed up by M. de Lomenie. "They were of a nature to cause any other
-man than Beaumarchais to hesitate.... He threw himself into this,
-however, with all his usual intrepidity, and the tenth of June, 1776, a
-month before the United States had published their Declaration of
-Independence, he signed the famous receipt which, kept secret under the
-monarchy, delivered to the United States in 1794, under the republic,
-occasioned a suit lasting fifty years, and to which we shall return. The
-receipt read thus:
-
-   "'I have received of M. Duvergier, conformably to the orders of
-   M. de Vergennes, on the date of the 5th of this month, the sum of
-   one million, for which I shall render count to my said Sieur
-   Comte de Vergennes.
-
-                                          "'Caron de Beaumarchais.
-
-   "'Good for a million of _livres tournois_.
-
-   "'At Paris, this 10th of June, 1776.'
-
-"Two months later, Spain advanced the like sum, besides which
-Beaumarchais had associated with himself numerous private individuals in
-France and elsewhere, so that his first sending to the Americans
-surpassed in itself alone, three millions." (Lomenie, II, p. 110.)
-
-Early in June the vast mercantile house of Roderigue Hortales et Cie.
-was established at Paris, while agents, clerks, and employees of every
-sort were installed at the center of operations, as well as at the
-various sources of supplies and in the seaports, Beaumarchais remaining
-the head and center of action, in every place.
-
-It so happened at this time, that a complete change was being made in
-the equipment of the French army, so that the arsenals and forts were
-charged with munitions of war, which the government was willing to
-dispose of at a nominal price.
-
-Before the arrival of Beaumarchais on the scene of action, the Comte de
-Vergennes had countenanced and furthered the operations begun by
-Franklin before he left London. Among the agents employed by the latter
-were the Brothers Mantaudoin of Nantes, who had undertaken the
-transportation of munitions of war to the Americans. (Doniol, I, p.
-373.)
-
-Another agent and intimate friend of Franklin was a certain Doctor
-Dubourg, a man more or less widely known as a scientist, but possessing
-as well a decided taste for mercantile operations. He had entered
-heartily into the cause of the Americans, and was very zealous in
-forwarding munitions of war to the insurgents. He seems at the beginning
-to have possessed to a considerable degree the confidence of the French
-minister, who deigned to correspond with him in person, and to consult
-him on several occasions. But as it became necessary "to act on a
-grander scale, the intervention of the friend of Franklin was no longer
-sufficient." (Doniol, p. 374.) The "faithful and discreet agent" spoken
-of in the _Reflexions_ had long been fixed in the mind of the Minister
-of War. The good doctor who knew nothing of the relationship between the
-famous author of the _Barbier de Seville_ and the French Government or
-of his interest and services in the cause of American Independence, all
-along had been secretly aspiring to a complete control of the
-transactions. What succeeded in convincing him that he was the man
-destined for the place was that early in June, 1776, Silas Deane, the
-agent of the Secret Committee of Congress, arrived in Paris charged with
-a letter from Franklin to his "dear good friend Barbeu Dubourg," with
-express instructions to regard this latter as "the best guide to seek
-after and to follow." (Doniol, V. I, p. 485.)
-
-Elated at this mark of esteem shown him by the colonies, the good doctor
-undertook to fulfill then to the letter the instructions of Congress and
-to prevent Silas Deane from coming in contact with anyone but himself.
-Deane soon realized that though "inspired with the best intentions in
-the world," the doctor would be a "hindrance rather than the essential
-personage pointed out by Franklin." (Doniol.) He therefore insisted so
-strongly upon meeting the French minister that Dubourg was forced to
-yield. The meeting took place the 17th day of July, 1776.
-
-"It must be said of Silas Deane at this important meeting that he
-fulfilled the intention of his mandate not only with intelligence, but
-with a fecundity of reasoning which could only come from a vigilant
-patriotism. All the impression which he could desire to produce and
-which was hoped from his mission flowed from his replies." (Doniol, V.
-I, p.491.)
-
-The Comte de Vergennes appeared to refuse to give the aid asked, but he
-led Silas Deane to understand that a confidential agent would take the
-matter in charge. This confidential agent was no other than
-Beaumarchais.
-
-Four days before this interview, the Doctor Dubourg had learned to his
-great disappointment where the confidence of the minister had been
-placed. Knowing nothing of the real situation, he thought to dissuade
-the latter from his choice by attacking the private character of the man
-who had usurped his place. The effect of his letter upon the Comte de
-Vergennes can be judged from the fact that the latter immediately
-communicated it to Beaumarchais himself, who was charged with the reply.
-
-The Doctor wrote:
-
-   "Monseigneur:
-
-   "I have seen M. de Beaumarchais this morning and conferred with
-   him without reserve. Everyone knows his wit, his talents, and no
-   one renders more justice to his honesty, discretion and zeal for
-   all that is good and grand; I believe him one of the most proper
-   men in the world for political negotiations, but perhaps at the
-   same time, the least proper for mercantile enterprises. He loves
-   display, they say that he keeps women; he passes in a word for a
-   spendthrift and there is not a merchant in France who has not
-   this idea of him and who would not hesitate to enter into the
-   smallest commercial dealings with him. Therefore, I was very much
-   astonished when he informed me that you had charged him not only
-   to aid you with his advice but had concentrated on him alone the
-   _ensemble_ and the details of all the commercial operations....
-
-   "I represented to him that in taking the immense traffic and
-   excluding those who already had run so many dangers and endured
-   so many fatigues ... it would be doing them a real wrong.... But
-   I return to my first and principal reflection and implore you,
-   Monseigneur, to weigh it well. Perhaps there are a hundred,
-   perhaps a thousand persons in France with talents very inferior
-   to those of M. de Beaumarchais, who would fill better your views,
-   inspire more confidence, etc., etc...."
-
-The reply of Beaumarchais, first published by M. de Lomenie, and since
-become so famous, is in the former's most characteristic style. It had
-its part to play as we shall see, in the trouble which came to its
-author, and was partly responsible for the non-recognition of his
-services by the American people. The good doctor always retained a
-grudge against his brilliant and preferred rival. From him Doctor
-Franklin imbibed in the beginning such a prejudice against the
-indefatigable friend of the American cause, that he always avoided him
-as much as possible. From the reply, a copy of which Beaumarchais sent
-at the same time for the amusement of the ministers, we quote the
-following:
-
-                                          "Tuesday, June 16, 1776.
-
-   "Eh! What has that to do with our affairs, that I am a man widely
-   known, extravagant, and who keeps women? The women that I keep
-   for the last twenty years are your very humble servants. They
-   were five, four sisters and one niece. For three years two of
-   these women are dead, to my great regret. I keep now only three,
-   two sisters and a niece, which is still extravagant for a private
-   individual like myself. But what would you have thought if,
-   knowing me better, you should have learned that I push scandal so
-   far as to keep men as well; two nephews, very young and good
-   looking, even the very unhappy father who brought into the world
-   this scandalous voluptuary? As for my display, that is even
-   worse. For three years, finding lace and embroidered garments too
-   petty for my vanity, have I not affected the pride of having my
-   wrists always garnished with the most beautiful fine muslin? The
-   most superb black cloth is not too elegant for me, at times I
-   have been known to push dandyism so far as to wear silk when it
-   was very hot, but I beg you, Monsieur, do not write these things
-   to M. the Comte de Vergennes; you will end in losing for me his
-   good opinion.
-
-   "You have reasons for writing evil of me to him, without knowing
-   me. I have mine for not being offended, although I have the honor
-   of knowing you; you are, Monsieur, an honest man so inflamed with
-   the desire to do a great good that you have thought you could
-   permit yourself a little evil to arrive at it.
-
-   "This thought is not exactly the thought of the _evangile_ but I
-   have seen a good many persons accommodate themselves to it. But
-   let us cease to speak lightly; I am not angry because M. de
-   Vergennes is not a small man and I hold to his reply. That those
-   to whom I apply for advances may distrust me I admit, but let
-   those who are animated with true zeal for their common friends
-   look twice before they alienate themselves from an honorable man
-   who offers to render every service and to make every useful
-   advance to those same friends. Do you understand me now,
-   Monsieur?
-
-   "I will have the honor of meeting with you this afternoon. I have
-   also that of being with the highest consideration, Monsieur, your
-   very humble and very obedient servitor, well known under the name
-   of Roderigue Hortales et Compagnie."
-
-It was on the 17th of July that Silas Deane and Beaumarchais met for the
-first time. Both men recognized at once in the other the man for whom
-each was looking. Both had warm, generous and unselfish natures; both
-had their minds fixed upon one object alone, the procuring and sending
-of aid as quickly as possible to the insurged colonies. In excusing
-himself to Congress for discarding the services of the "dear, good
-friend" of Franklin, Mr. Deane wrote: "I have been forced to discourage
-my friend on seeing where the confidence of M. de Vergennes was placed."
-At the same time he does ample justice to the kindness and interest
-manifested by Dubourg.
-
-"M. Dubourg has continued," wrote Deane, "to render me every assistance
-in his power.... His abilities and connections are of the first class in
-this kingdom and his zeal for the cause of the colonies is to be
-described only by saying that at times they are in danger of urging him
-beyond both."
-
-Beaumarchais, on his side, finding Silas Deane empowered by Congress to
-act directly, ceased to communicate with Arthur Lee.
-
-Already a change had come in their relationship. Returned to France and
-finding the government bent upon another form of offering aid to the
-Americans, it had become necessary to break his connections with Lee.
-Unable to explain the true nature of the enterprise, being bound to
-absolute secrecy, Beaumarchais wrote the 12th of June, 1776: "The
-difficulties which I have found in my negotiations with the ministers
-have forced me to form a company which will cause aid to reach your
-friends immediately by the way of _Cap Francais_."
-
-Naturally enough this meager information was very unsatisfactory to Lee;
-more than this, he had hoped to play himself a principal role in the
-enterprise (Spark's _Life of Franklin_, p. 449).
-
-From Beaumarchais he learned that Silas Deane had arrived from the
-colonies empowered to treat with the ministers who had refused steadily
-to permit his own appearance at Versailles; more than this, he learned
-that Beaumarchais had entered at once into negotiations with the agent
-of Congress and that he, Arthur Lee, was being consulted by no one.
-"Enraged and disappointed," continued Sparks, "Lee hurried to Paris,
-where he endeavored to bring about a quarrel between Deane and
-Beaumarchais. Failing in this, he returned to London, vexed in his
-disappointment and furious against Deane." To avenge himself he wrote to
-the committee in congress that the two men were agreed together to
-deceive at once the French Government and the Americans by changing what
-the former meant to be a gratuitous offering into a commercial
-speculation. (Silas Deane Papers.)
-
-As can readily be seen, these letters arriving in Philadelphia before
-any report from Deane, predisposed Congress--two of whose members were
-brothers of Arthur Lee, against the measures Deane was taking with
-Beaumarchais. But for the moment, no one interfered with their
-operations and both men were too intent upon the all-important matter in
-hand to speculate upon the possible results of the irritation of Doctor
-Dubourg, or the anger and jealousy of Arthur Lee. Deane, however,
-fearing lest the noise of Lee's visit to Paris should offend the French
-Minister, addressed to the latter the following letter:
-
-   "Sir: I was informed this morning of the arrival of Arthur Lee.
-   This was a surprise to me, as I know of no particular affair that
-   might call him here, and considering the extreme jealousy of the
-   British ministry at this time and that Mr. Lee was the agent of
-   the colonies in Great Britain, and known to be such, I could wish
-   unless he had received some particular orders from the United
-   Colonies that he had suspended his visit, as I know not otherwise
-   how he can serve me or my affairs--with profound gratitude I say
-   it--now in as favorable a course as the situation of the times
-   will admit. I have the honor to be,
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-(From Spark's _Dip. Correspondence_, p. 40.)
-
-Immediately after their first meeting, Beaumarchais had addressed a
-letter to Deane of which the following is an extract:
-
-                                             "Paris, July 18, 1776.
-
-   "I have the honor to inform you that for a long while I have
-   formed the project of aiding the brave Americans to shake off the
-   yoke of England.... I have spoken already of my plans with a
-   gentleman in London (Arthur Lee), who says he is very much
-   attached to America; but our correspondence since I left England
-   has been followed with difficulty and in cipher; I have received
-   no reply to my last letter, in which I fixed certain points of
-   this great and important affair. Since you are clothed, Monsieur,
-   with a character which permits me to have confidence in you, I
-   shall be very well satisfied to recommence, in a more certain
-   and regular manner, a negotiation which till now has been barely
-   touched...."
-
-Silas Deane replied:
-
-   "Paris, Hotel Grand-Villars, July 20, 1776.
-
-   "Monsieur:
-
-   "Conformably with your demand in our interview yesterday, I
-   enclose a copy of my commission and an extract of my
-   instructions, which will give you the certitude that I am
-   authorized to make the acquisitions for which I addressed myself
-   to you....
-
-   "In regard to the credit which we demand and which I hope to
-   obtain from you, I hope that a long one will not be necessary. A
-   year is the most that my compatriots are in the habit of asking;
-   and Congress having engaged a great quantity of tobacco in
-   Virginia and Maryland which will be embarked as soon as ships can
-   be procured, I do not doubt but considerable returns in nature
-   will be made within six months, and the whole be paid for within
-   the year. I shall press Congress for this in my letters.
-   Nevertheless, events are uncertain, and our commerce is exposed
-   to suffer; but I hope that whatever comes you will soon receive
-   sufficient returns to be enabled to wait for the rest. In case
-   that any sum whatever remains due after the expiration of the
-   accepted credit, it is of course understood that the usual
-   interest will be paid you for the sum.
-
-   "I am with all the respect and attachment possible, your, etc.
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-In his reply to this letter Beaumarchais after accepting the conditions
-offered by the agent of Congress ends thus:
-
-   "As I believe I have to do with a virtuous people, it will
-   suffice for me to keep an exact account of all my advances.
-   Congress will be master to decide whether I shall be paid in
-   merchandise at their usual value at the time of their arrival or
-   to receive them at the buying price, the delays and assurances
-   with a commission proportional to the pains and care, which is
-   impossible to fix to-day. I intend to serve your country as
-   though it were my own, and I hope to find in the friendship of a
-   generous people the true recompense for my work which I
-   consecrate to them with pleasure."
-
-In a lengthy letter written the 24th of July, 1776, the agent of
-Congress set forth the difficulties of the enterprise in which they are
-engaged.
-
-He manifested also with warmth his grateful recognition of the services
-of Beaumarchais. He wrote to him:
-
-                                          "Paris, July 24th, 1776.
-
-   "Monsieur:
-
-   "I have read with attention the letter which you have done me the
-   favor to write the 22nd, and I think that your propositions for
-   the regulation of the price of merchandise are just and
-   equitable. The generous confidence which you place in the virtue
-   and justice of my constituents inspires me with the greatest joy
-   and gives me the most flattering hopes for the success of this
-   enterprise, for their satisfaction as well as yours, and permit
-   me to assure you again that the United Colonies will take the
-   most effective measures to send you returns, and to justify in
-   all respects the sentiments which animate you toward them.
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-Nothing could be clearer and more explicit than the understanding
-arrived at between Beaumarchais and Deane. The latter possessed full
-power to act, and the former relied unreservedly upon the good faith of
-the American Congress. In the meantime Deane wrote, introducing his new
-friend to the Committee of Secret Correspondence.
-
-                                           "Paris, August 18, 1776.
-
-   " ... I was directed to apply for arms, etc., for 25,000 men....
-   This I wished to get of the ministry direct, but they evaded it
-   and I am now in treaty for procuring them through the Agency of
-   M. Chaumont and M. Beaumarchais, on credit of eight months, from
-   the time of their delivery. If I effect this as I undoubtedly
-   shall, I must rely on the remittance being made this fall and
-   winter, without fail, or the credit of the colonies will
-   suffer...." (Spark's _Diplomatic Correspondence_, V. I, p. 28.)
-
-Three days earlier he had written, "I find M. de Beaumarchais possessed
-of the entire confidence of the ministry; he is a man of wit and genius,
-and a considerable writer on comic and political subjects. All my
-supplies come through his hands, which at first greatly discouraged my
-friends...."
-
-At the same time Beaumarchais, inflamed with zeal for the cause of
-liberty, and wholly unconscious of the effect which his sincere but
-fantastic letters would have upon the unexpansive nature of the men to
-whom they were addressed, wrote the following to Congress:
-
-                                          "Paris, August 18, 1776.
-
-   "Gentlemen:
-
-   "The respectful esteem which I bear towards that brave people who
-   so well defend their liberty under your conduct has induced me to
-   form a plan concurring in this great work by establishing an
-   extensive commercial house ... to supply you with necessaries of
-   every sort that can be useful for the honorable war in which you
-   are engaged. Your deputies, gentlemen, will find in me a sure
-   friend, an asylum in my home, money in my coffers, and every
-   means of facilitating their operations whether of an open, or of
-   a secret nature. I will, so far as possible, remove all obstacles
-   that may oppose your wishes, from the politics of Europe.... The
-   secrecy necessary in some parts of the operations which I have
-   undertaken for your service, requires also on your part a formal
-   resolution that all vessels and their demands should be directed
-   constantly to our house alone, in order that there may be no idle
-   chatting or loss of time, two things that are the ruin of
-   affairs....
-
-   " ... I shall facilitate your unloading, selling, or disposing of
-   that which I do not wish.... For instance, five American vessels
-   have just arrived in the port of Bordeaux laden with salt fish;
-   though this merchandise coming from strangers is prohibited in
-   our ports, yet as soon as your deputy had told me that these
-   vessels were sent to him by you to raise money by the sale for
-   aiding him in his purchases in Europe, I took such care that I
-   secretly obtained from the government an order for the landing
-   without notice being taken....
-
-   "I shall have a correspondent in each seaport town, who on the
-   arrival of your vessels shall wait on the captain and offer every
-   service in his power.... Everything which you wish to arrive
-   safely in any country in Europe ... shall go with great
-   punctuality through me, and this will save much anxiety and many
-   delays. I request you, gentlemen, to send me next spring, if it
-   is possible, ten or twelve thousand hogsheads or more if you can
-   of tobacco of the best quality from Virginia.
-
-   "You will understand well that my commerce with you is carried on
-   in Europe; that it is in the great ports of Europe that I make
-   and take returns. However well founded my house may be and though
-   I have appropriated many millions to your trade alone, yet it
-   would be impossible for me to support it, if all the dangers of
-   the sea, of exports and imports were not entirely at your
-   risks....
-
-   "Your deputy shall receive as soon as possible full power and
-   authority to accept what I shall deliver to him, to receive my
-   accounts, examine them, make payments upon them or enter into
-   engagements which you shall be bound to ratify as the head of the
-   brave people to whom I am devoted. In short, you may always treat
-   of your interests directly with me.
-
-   "Notwithstanding the open opposition which the King of France and
-   his ministers show, and ought to show, to the violation of
-   foreign treaties ... I dare promise you, gentlemen, that my
-   indefatigable zeal shall never be wanting to clear up all
-   difficulties, soften prohibitions, and, in short, facilitate all
-   operations of commerce....
-
-   "One thing can never diminish; it is the avowed and ardent zeal
-   which I have in serving you to the utmost of my power....
-
-   "Look upon my house, then, gentlemen, henceforth, as the chief of
-   all useful operations to you in Europe and my person as one of
-   the most zealous partisans of your cause, the soul of your
-   success, and a man most deeply impressed with the respectful
-   esteem with which I have the honor to be, etc.
-
-                                      "Roderigue Hortales et Cie."
-
-"It must be admitted," says Lomenie, "that the letters of Beaumarchais
-were curious enough by their medley of patriotism and commercialism,
-both equally sincere with him, to inspire distrust in the minds already
-prejudiced. Imagine serious Yankees, who nearly all before having made
-war had been merchants, receiving masses of stuff, embarked often in
-secret, during the night, and whose bills presented in consequence
-certain irregularities, accompanied with letters in which Beaumarchais
-associated protestations of enthusiasm, offers of limitless services,
-political counsels and demands for tobacco, indigo, and salt fish.
-
-"The calculating minds of the Yankees were naturally inclined to think
-that a being so ardent and fantastic, if he really existed, was playing
-a commercial comedy concurred in by the government and that one might
-with all security of conscience utilize his remittances, read his
-amplifications, and dispense with sending him tobacco," which, as we
-shall soon see, was exactly what happened.
-
-Infinite difficulties and complications, however, were to arise before
-even the first shipments could leave the ports of France, and in August
-the cargoes were not yet collected.
-
-The sixteenth of August Beaumarchais wrote to Vergennes:
-
-   "It is decided that all vessels coming from America shall be
-   addressed to the house of Hortales.... So many things must be
-   carried on together without counting the manufacture of cloth and
-   linen, that I am forced to take on more workers. This affair
-   _politico-commercante_ is becoming so immense that I shall drown
-   myself in details as well as the few aids which I have employed
-   up to the present time, if I do not add more. Some will travel,
-   some reside in the seaports, the manufactories, etc.
-
-   "I have promised tobacco to the Farmers-General, and I ask it of
-   the Americans. Their hemp will be a good commodity. At last I
-   begin to see the way clear for my business. The only thing which
-   I do not see are those fatal letters-patent of which I have
-   neither wind nor news.... M. de Maurepas tells me every time he
-   sees me, 'It is attended to, it is finished.' ... I should have
-   had them Tuesday. Here it is Friday, but the letters have not
-   come. At the end of the session of parliament this delay of three
-   days makes me lose three months, because of vacation. I am not
-   angry but distressed to see my condition so equivocal and my
-   future uncertain." (Doniol, V. I, p. 513-14.)
-
-As shown in the above letter, Beaumarchais while beginning his
-extraordinary operations for the Americans was not forgetful of his own
-interests. He was still a civilly degraded man with no solid basis upon
-which to build. Gudin, in his history of Beaumarchais, says: "Arriving
-from London, May, 1776, he presented a petition to the council in order
-to obtain letters of relief; that is, letters of the king by which it
-was permitted him to appeal from the judgment rendered against him,
-although the delay accorded by law had long expired.
-
-"The development of his projects called him to the west coast of France;
-he did not wish to go until his request was admitted.
-
-"'Go all the same,' M. de Maurepas said to him. 'The council will
-pronounce very well without you.'"
-
-The projects alluded to by Gudin were, of course, his mercantile
-operations for supplying the Americans with munitions of war. But so
-well did Beaumarchais guard his secret, that his dearest friend knew as
-little of the real nature of his enterprise as the rest of the world. In
-his visit to the ports of France during the summer of 1776, Gudin
-accompanied him. Their reception at Bordeaux is described by the latter.
-
-Here as elsewhere, Beaumarchais hid his real occupation under the show
-of seeking amusement.
-
-"When it was known," says Gudin, "of our arrival, invitations poured in
-upon us from every side; the women received him as the most amiable of
-men, the merchants as the most intelligent, the crowds as the most
-extraordinary; we passed several days in the midst of festivities....
-All the while Beaumarchais was preparing new commercial combinations.
-
-"One evening, on entering, he found several letters from Paris; he read
-them while I was preparing for bed, hurried by fatigue to repose myself.
-I asked him if he was satisfied with his news.
-
-"'Very well,' he said to me without the least emotion. I was soon
-asleep. In the morning I felt myself pulled by the arm; I wakened,
-recognized him and asked if he were ill.
-
-"'No,' he replied, 'but in half an hour we leave for Paris.'
-
-"'_Eh, pourquoi?_ What has happened? Have you been sent for?'
-
-"'The council has rejected my demands.'
-
-"'_Ah, ciel!_ and you said nothing to me last evening?'
-
-"'No, my friend, I did not wish to disturb your night. It was enough
-that I did not sleep. I have been thinking all night of what there is
-for me to do. I have decided, my plan is formed and I go to execute
-it....'
-
-"Sixty hours later we were in Paris.
-
-"'Eh, what,' he said to M. de Maurepas, who was somewhat surprised to
-see him so promptly, 'while I was running to the extremities of France
-to look after the affairs of the king, you lose mine at Versailles.'
-
-"'It is a blunder of Mormesnil (the minister of justice). Go find him,
-tell him that I want him, and come back together.'
-
-"They explained themselves all three. The matter was taken up under
-another form, the council judged differently, the request was granted
-and letters of relief obtained the 12th of August, 1776."
-
-This, however, was but the first step. The letters patent simply allowed
-Beaumarchais the privilege of having his case brought up a second time
-for judgment. At this juncture, a new difficulty presented itself. In
-the words of Lomenie: "It was the end of August; the parliament was
-about to enter on its vacation and it did not wish to take up the matter
-until afterwards. But Beaumarchais did not adjourn so easily anything
-once begun. He went again to M. de Maurepas, and persuaded that one is
-never better served than by himself he did with the first minister what
-we have seen him do with the king. He drew a note for the first
-president of Parliament and for the solicitor-general, had M. de
-Maurepas to sign two copies of the note and send one to each of the
-above officials." The notes ran thus:
-
-                           "Versailles, this 27th of August, 1776.
-
-   "That part of the affairs of the king with which M. de
-   Beaumarchais is charged, requires, Monsieur, that he make several
-   voyages very shortly. He fears to leave Paris before his case has
-   been tried. He assures me that it can be done before vacation. I
-   do not ask any favor as to the ground of the affair, but only
-   celerity for the judgment; you will oblige him who has the honor
-   to be, very truly yours, etc.
-
-                                                       "Maurepas."
-
-In the same way, Beaumarchais served himself through Monsieur de
-Vergennes, obtaining with the same facility the favor which he desired.
-He wrote:
-
-                                               "August 29th, 1776.
-
-   "I had the honor of seeing M. le Comte de St.-Germain
-   yesterday.... I was very well received.... After two hours'
-   conversation, he wished to keep me to dinner. But can a miserable
-   unfortunate who is running after the solution of his lawsuit take
-   time to dine? I left him, but I have hope that he will be an
-   additional protector. If all is not well, at least all is not
-   bad. I have drawn up a letter intended to correct the fault
-   committed.
-
-   "It is your reply to his letter. Pardon, M. de Comte, if I have
-   taken the liberty of acting as your secretary. For so long I have
-   been attached to you by all possible titles, if you approve of
-   the letter there is only a signature and an envelope necessary."
-   (Doniol, V. I, p. 574.)
-
-M. de Lomenie continued: "This was still not sufficient for
-Beaumarchais. He wished the Attorney-General Seguier to speak and to be
-eloquent in his favor; for this he wrote a letter to Maurepas,
-accompanied by another note, rather more expressive, for M. Seguier, a
-note which the minister copied with the same docility as the preceding
-one." It runs as follows:
-
-   "Versailles, this 30th of August, 1776.
-
-   "I learn, Monsieur, by M. de Beaumarchais, that if you have not
-   the goodness to speak on his affair it will be impossible for him
-   to obtain a judgment before the 7th of September. That part of
-   the affair of the king with which M. de Beaumarchais is entrusted
-   requires that he make a voyage very soon; he fears to leave Paris
-   before he is restored to his estate as citizen; it has been so
-   long now that he suffers, and his desire in this respect is truly
-   legitimate. I ask no favor as to the ground of the affair, but
-   you will oblige me infinitely if you will contribute towards
-   having him judged before vacation.
-
-   "I have the honor to be, etc. Maurepas."
-
-The trial took place. Beaumarchais chose for his defense a lawyer,
-Target, who had remained firm during the entire existence of the
-parliament Maupeou, refusing to plead before it. "Beaumarchais," says
-Lomenie, "always faithful to his taste for _mise en scene_, wrote him a
-letter which circulated everywhere and which commenced with the words,
-'The Martyr Beaumarchais to the Virgin Target.'"
-
-An immense concourse of people thronged the judgment hall the day
-appointed for the trial; and when, after the pleading of Target and the
-recommendation of Seguier, the restored parliament annulled by a solemn
-decree the decree of the parliament Maupeou, the wildest excitement
-prevailed. Beaumarchais immediately addressed the following letter to
-Vergennes:
-
-                           "Paris, this Friday, September 6, 1776.
-
-   "M. le Comte,
-
-   "I have just been judged, _deblame_, amidst a universal concourse
-   of applause. Never did so unfortunate a citizen receive greater
-   honor. I hasten to announce to you the news, begging you to place
-   my gratitude at the feet of the king. I am so trembling with joy
-   that my hand can scarcely write all the respectful sentiments
-   with which I am, Monsieur le Comte, your very humble and very
-   obedient servitor, Beaumarchais.
-
-   "Do me the kindness, M. le Comte, to announce this very happy
-   news to M. de Maurepas and to M. de Sartine. I have four hundred
-   persons about me who applaud and embrace me and make an infernal
-   noise, which seems to me superb harmony."
-
-The happy man was carried in triumph amid the enthusiastic shouts of the
-populace from the great chamber of justice to his carriage.
-
-The next day he published a discourse which he had intended to deliver,
-but from which he had been dissuaded.
-
-It will be remembered that Beaumarchais had been consulted by the
-ministers in regard to the principles on which the new parliament should
-be recalled, and that they had not dared to carry out the justice and
-the liberality of his ideas. Although as we have seen, Beaumarchais
-utilized the ministers pretty much as he desired, he did so without in
-the least compromising his own freedom.
-
-In this daring address he combated the existing abuses of the present
-parliament, as he before had done those of the Parliament Maupeou.
-
-"He contributed," says Lomenie, "without being conscious of it, to
-prepare the ruin of the parliament which applauded him. He combated
-their abuses and caused to enter into the minds of the masses the
-necessity for judicial reform."
-
-M. de Lomenie says elsewhere: "Beaumarchais at this moment, reinstated
-in his rights as a citizen, enjoying the brilliant success of his
-_Barbier de Seville_, already invested with the intimate confidence of
-the government in the American question; well received at court, popular
-in the city; directing the dramatic authors in their struggle for
-literary liberty, might be considered as a man who had at last conquered
-evil fortune; nevertheless, he was not yet disengaged from the fetters
-of his past. His first suit with the Comte de la Blache, which had been
-the origin of his trials and of his celebrity, existed still in the
-midst of his triumphs, and held in check his fortunes and his honor."
-
-This man, confident of the ministry in the affairs of the United States,
-the popular author of the _Barbier de Seville_, was under the blow of
-an iniquitous sentence which declared him indirectly a forger, and
-placed his goods at the discretion of an enemy.
-
-In 1775, the first judgment had been revoked and the affair sent before
-the parliament which met at Aix in the south of France.
-
-The zeal which we have seen Beaumarchais display in carrying rapidly to
-a successful termination the matter of his rehabilitation was now turned
-toward the _retarding_ of the judgment in the other case.
-
-The Comte de la Blache, on the other hand, vexed at seeing the rapidly
-rising fortunes of his adversary, endeavored by every means in his power
-to hasten the decision. Overwhelmed with the multiplicity of his
-undertakings, Beaumarchais appealed to M. de Vergennes, urging that the
-case be allowed to stand in _statu quo_ for the present. In a letter
-from the minister, dated June 2, 1776, the following passage occurs:
-
-   "I saw yesterday, in relation to your affair at Aix, M. le Guard
-   of the Seals, who immediately gave orders to write to M. de la
-   Tour, the first president of the tribunal, to the effect that all
-   ultimate procedure should be suspended.... You know, Monsieur,
-   the sincerity of my interest for all that concerns you.
-
-                                                   "de Vergennes."
-
-Thus with a comparatively tranquil mind, the indefatigable agent of the
-government was able to turn his attention to the gigantic commercial
-enterprise which he already had well in hand.
-
-We shall not, therefore, be surprised to see him rise above all adverse
-circumstances, and notwithstanding the disloyalty of some of his
-agents, the fury of the English Ambassador, the opposition of the
-government itself, actually succeed in landing immense cargoes on the
-American coast in time for the great decisive campaign of 1777.
-
-[Illustration: Wm. Carmichael]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX
-
-
-_"I should never have completed what I have but for the generous, the
-indefatigable and spirited exertions of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, to
-whom the United States are in every account greatly indebted, more so
-than to any other person on this side the water."_
-
-_Silas Deane to Congress, November 29, 1776._
-
-
-   Suspicions of English Aroused Through Indiscretions of Friends of
-     America--Treachery of du Coudray--Counter Order Issued Against
-     Shipments of Beaumarchais--Franklin's Arrival--England's Attempt to
-     Make Peace Stirs France--Counter Order Recalled--Ten Ships Start
-     Out--Beaumarchais Cleared by Vergennes.
-
-
-While Beaumarchais, through the intervention of the Ministry, was
-bringing his own personal interests to a successful termination, he was
-at the same time carrying vigorously forward his operations in the cause
-of America. These operations were the most difficult. In the words of
-Lomenie: "It was a question of an officially prohibited commerce, which
-prohibition was under the vigilant supervision of the English
-Ambassador,--and could receive the official support of the French
-government only on condition that it was carefully hidden. The least
-indiscretion, the slightest diplomatic embarrassment occasioned by the
-affair would immediately transform this support into persecution. It was
-under these conditions that the author of the _Barbier de Seville_
-was obliged to extract without noise and in small quantities, from the
-different arsenals of the state, 200 pieces of cannon, mortars, bombs,
-bullets, 25,000 guns, 100 tons of powder; to manufacture the stuffs
-necessary for the equipment of 25,000 men, collect all these objects in
-the different ports and send them to the insurgents without arousing the
-suspicion of the English Ambassador."
-
-It was, however, humanly impossible that suspicions should not be
-aroused; too many people were interested in the cause of America; too
-many were eager to aid in the struggle of the colonies for liberty.
-Especially was the _cher bon ami_ of Dr. Franklin constantly bringing
-things to the brink of exposure through his officious intermeddling.
-Although he knew nothing of the real basis upon which the commercial
-house, Roderigue Hortales et Cie., was founded, yet he was very well
-aware that Beaumarchais had supplanted him in the confidence of the
-ministers. Forced to see himself set aside, Dubourg none the less
-continued collecting supplies on his own account, which he forwarded to
-the insurgents. His indiscreet zeal led him often into grave
-difficulties.
-
-"With the best intentions in the world," says Doniol, "he was in danger
-of interfering with, rather than aiding the cause he hoped to serve."
-
-The letters of Beaumarchais to Vergennes during this period constantly
-revert to this theme, "Dubourg must be made to keep silence and not to
-compromise the ministry." "If," he writes in another place, "while we
-are closing the doors on one side, someone opens the windows on the
-other, it is impossible that the secret does not escape." At length
-quite out of patience at some new and serious indiscretion which the
-good doctor in his simplicity had told to Beaumarchais himself, the
-latter wrote to Vergennes, "Is there then no way to stop the mouth of
-that cruel gossiper?... As he told me I could scarcely refrain from
-dealing him a blow, but I restrained myself, simply turning my back and
-walking away.... I depend upon you, M. le Comte, to deliver us from this
-fatal and mischief-making agent."
-
-But Dubourg was by no means the only person interested in the cause of
-America who was sowing snares in the pathway of Beaumarchais and of
-Deane. At the worst, the good doctor was only indiscreet, he was never
-guilty of that personal ambition which in times of great crisis delights
-to bring ruin upon the schemes of others, and which uses all its power
-to thwart those enterprises which it cannot lead. Many enemies of this
-latter type were destined soon to manifest themselves. On the 1st of
-October, 1776, Silas Deane wrote to Congress of a certain Mr. Hopkins of
-Maryland, then in Paris, who without official authority was interesting
-himself in the same cause. "Offended at some supposed personal slight,
-he formed the dark design," says Deane, "of defeating at one stroke my
-whole prospect as to supplies.... However thunderstruck I was, as well
-as my friend Monsieur Beaumarchais at this treachery ... we exerted
-ourselves and truth prevailed.... It would be too tedious to recount
-what I have met with in this way.... I do not mention a single
-difficulty with one complaining thought for myself.... I am happy in
-being so far successful, and that the machinations of my enemies, or
-rather the enemies of my country ... have been brought to nought."
-
-But perhaps the most dangerous enemy in the pathway of Deane and
-Beaumarchais was a man in whom from the first they had reposed the most
-entire confidence. This was Trouson du Coudray, a French officer of rank
-and genius, a personal friend of the minister of war, the Comte St.
-Germain, who had been the military preceptor of le Comte d'Artois. He
-had afterwards been stationed at the garrison of Metz, where he was
-associated with the drawing out of old arms and of replacing them by
-ones of more recent date. As it was precisely these old arms which the
-French Government was willing to part with to Hortales et Cie.,--at a
-reasonable price, du Coudray was admirably placed to further the
-proceedings of its agent. Had he been truly disinterested in his
-proffered services, his cooeperation would have been invaluable. As a
-matter of fact, "this officer," says Doniol, "certainly capable, was one
-of those who whatever employment is made of their services, look first
-to the personal advantage they can draw from them. Having fascinated
-Deane and Beaumarchais, he succeeded in having himself named one of the
-staff officers of artillery and was to go out to the colonies in command
-of the chief vessel of Hortales et Cie., the _Amphitrite_. Deane at once
-wrote to Congress, announcing the great acquisition which he had made.
-He bestowed the highest praise upon du Coudray, but at the same time
-evinced a fear lest Congress might consider that he had overstepped the
-bounds of his commission in appointing him to so high a rank. He excused
-himself for having been forced to confer upon the officer special marks
-of favor in order to secure his services, which, he felt sure, would, in
-the end, justify him for the step he had taken. He humbly expressed a
-hope that Congress would not consider as too high the salary he had
-promised, and begged it to confirm the wisdom of his choice."
-
-Du Coudray was not long in showing himself unworthy of the confidence
-thus reposed in him. It was this unfortunate step of Deane, afterwards
-imputed to him as a crime by Arthur Lee, which was the chief cause of
-his subsequent recall and the semi-disgrace inflicted upon him.
-Beaumarchais, being as deeply inculpated as Deane, fell equally in the
-opinion of American patriots. But as yet, no foreshadowing of coming
-events had dampened the zeal of the colonial commissioner, or of his
-indefatigable friend. On October 15, 1776 (Spark's _Dip. Corres._, I, p.
-51), a contract was signed M. de Monthieu, Roderigue Hortales et Cie.
-and Silas Deane, for furnishing armed vessels and merchandise on
-condition that risks and perils be on account of the U. S. and that "in
-case the vessels be detained in American ports more than two months,
-without returning them laden with the cargoes proposed, wages and
-expenses shall be paid by the United States."
-
-While Deane was thus busily engaged in carrying out the commission with
-which he was entrusted, he was being left, as far as Congress was
-concerned, absolutely without support or approval. Communication between
-the two continents was slow in those days, and it has been shown already
-that before Deane was able to send any definite information to Congress
-of his reception by the French Government, Lee had forestalled him by
-giving that body his own private and unfounded interpretation of the
-relation entered into between the commissioner and the agent of the
-French Government. When Lee's letter reached America, Congress was
-deeply engrossed with the weightier matters which were forcing
-themselves upon its attention, owing to the decisive step which it was
-about to take in declaring itself free from British rule. The matter,
-therefore, was allowed to rest in _statu quo_ for the present. Congress
-preferred to await developments before setting on foot any
-investigations, and so, though Deane continued to give frequent and full
-accounts of all his transactions, no reply was ever made to any of his
-letters. This rendered his situation cruel in the extreme. Wholly
-unsuspicious by nature, it never occurred to him that an enemy was
-busily at work, undermining his character and poisoning the minds of his
-compatriots in regard to the disinterestedness of the motives which
-actuated him. His irritation began at last to manifest itself. "For
-heaven's sake," he wrote in a letter to Congress, dated October 1, 1776
-(Spark's _Diplomatic Correspondence_, Vol. II), "if you mean to have any
-connection with this kingdom, be more assiduous in getting your letters
-here. I know not where the blame lies, but it must lie heavy somewhere,
-when vessels are suffered to sail from Philadelphia and elsewhere, right
-down to the middle of August, without a single line. This circumstance
-was near proving a mortal blow to my whole proceedings."
-
-October 17th of the same year he says:
-
-   "Warlike preparations are daily making in this kingdom and in
-   Spain. I need not urge the importance of immediate remittances
-   towards paying for the large quantity of stores I have engaged
-   for, and I depend that this winter will not be suffered to slip
-   away unimproved. I have the honor to be, etc.
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-By the end of November, notwithstanding the delays and discouragements
-encountered by the agents of the two governments, several vessels had
-been loaded with supplies and were about to set sail. Silas Deane wrote
-to Congress, Nov. 29th, 1776.
-
-   "I should never have completed what I have, but for the generous,
-   the indefatigable, and spirited exertions of M. Beaumarchais, to
-   whom the United States are on every account greatly indebted,
-   more so than to any other person on this side the water ...
-   therefore I am confident you will make the earliest and most
-   ample remittances." After giving further details, he proceeds: "A
-   nephew of Beaumarchais, a young gentleman of family, education
-   and spirit, makes a voyage to America with M. Ducoudray (in the
-   various documents, the name of this officer appears, sometimes
-   written as above by Mr. Deane, but more often 'du Coudray,' which
-   is the correct form) and is ambitious of serving his first
-   campaign in your cause. I recommend him therefore to your
-   particular patronage and protection, as well on account of the
-   great merits of his uncle, as on that of his being a youth of
-   genius and spirit.... I have confidently assured his uncle that
-   he will receive protection and paternal advice from you, and am
-   happy in knowing that you will fulfill my engagements on that
-   score.
-
-   "I cannot in a letter do full justice to M. de Beaumarchais, for
-   his address and assiduity in our cause. His interest and
-   influence, which are great, have been exerted to the utmost, in
-   the cause of the United States."
-
-On the 3rd of December, 1776, in a letter to John Jay written when the
-last measures were being taken for the despatching of the vessels
-equipped by Hortales et Cie., Deane thus expressed himself:
-
-   "If my letters arrive safely they will give you some idea of my
-   situation:--without intelligence, without orders, and without
-   remittances, yet boldly plunging into contracts, engagements,
-   negotiations, hourly hoping that something will arrive from
-   America.
-
-   "By M. du Coudray I send 30,000 guns, 200 pieces of brass cannon,
-   30 mortars, 4,000 tents, and clothing for 30,000 men, with 200
-   tons of gunpowder, lead balls, etc., etc., by which you may judge
-   we have some friends here. A war in Europe is inevitable. The
-   eyes of all are on you, and the fear of your giving up, or
-   accommodating is the greatest obstacle I have to contend with.
-   Monsieur Beaumarchais has been my minister in effect, as this
-   court is extremely cautious and I now advise you to attend
-   carefully to the articles sent you. I could not examine them
-   here. I was promised they should be good, and at the lowest
-   price, and that from persons in such station that had I hesitated
-   it might have ruined my affairs....
-
-   "Large remittances are necessary for your credit, and the
-   enormous price of tobacco, of rice, of flour and many other
-   articles, gives you an opportunity of making your remittances to
-   very good advantage. Twenty thousand hogsheads of tobacco are
-   wanted immediately for this kingdom, and more for other parts of
-   Europe." ... (_Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay_,
-   1890, p. 97.)
-
-In spite of the remonstrances of Deane, Congress continued deaf and dumb
-in regard to their Commissioner, neither condemning nor approving his
-acts, but passing all by with like indifference. In the meantime,
-Beaumarchais was pushing forward his gigantic operations, being taken
-with "a sort of drunkenness of activity and of confidence in himself,
-which," says Doniol, "turned him at times from precautions. He was at
-this juncture, really a political agent. He had indicated to M. de
-Maurepas a plan of finance which would enable France to arm itself,
-without increasing taxation, and the mission had been given him to study
-the execution of the plan with M. Necker, who had been called to the
-management of the Treasury. He had discussed with Deane, perhaps
-somewhat with Vergennes, the creation of a bank, in view of making loans
-on the lands of America." (_Doniol_ II, p. 57.)
-
-Extracts from a Memoir by Beaumarchais, addressed to Vergennes, in
-regard to a loan to be made to the Congress: "Supposing always," he
-wrote, "that your intention is neither to let America perish nor to
-force her to arrange with England through lack of the succor which is
-indispensable for her defense, if you can procure it; supposing also
-that my work and my ministry have not ceased to be agreeable to you; I
-have found a means of supporting the Americans without disbursing
-considerable sums, which you do not possess, but which the Americans
-cannot dispense with.
-
-"If you look upon me as the important advocate of that nation before the
-Ministry of France,--an employment which I have assumed because it was
-as noble as it was useful to my country; knowing that I have not done
-this without your secret agreement, you must hear me to-day, even aid
-me, if you do not wish to leave without results a plan which is without
-danger." After developing the details of his scheme for rendering more
-effective aid to the Americans, Beaumarchais continues, "As you see, M.
-le Comte, this is only an extension adroitly given, to that which I have
-been doing for the last year. For the past two weeks I have been buried
-in the meditations and the correspondence which this work requires.
-To-day I am in condition to treat secretly with you and M. de Maurepas.
-Any evening which you wish, I will attend upon your orders."
-
-Things were moving, however, far too slowly for the impatient spirit of
-Beaumarchais. The 14th of October he had written to Vergennes.
-
-   "Every time that I think how we hold in our hands the destiny of
-   the world, and that we have the power to change the system of
-   things--and when I see so many advantages, so much glory ready to
-   escape, I regret infinitely not to have more influence over the
-   resolutions of the councils, and not to be able to multiply
-   myself, so as to prevent the evil on one hand, and aid the good
-   on the other. I know too well your patriotism to fear offending
-   you in speaking thus....
-
-   "I expect to be at Fontainebleau Thursday at the latest. Until
-   then I shall not sleep until I have finished the work on Finance,
-   promised to M. de Maurepas."
-
-Obstacles of every kind were being thrown in the path of Beaumarchais,
-though he remained ignorant of their source. He continued to insist that
-the government permit him to carry forward what it had encouraged him to
-commence. His letters of this period testify to "a consciousness of
-being hampered, a desire to act, fear of being too presumptive in his
-demands, and intentions of rendering effective service." (_Doniol_ II,
-p. 58.) He thought the delays came from Maurepas, whose coldness had
-distressed him, so he urged Vergennes to plead for him. "If I were not
-certain," he wrote, November 12, 1776, "that I do not displease you in
-desiring you to raise as far as possible the obstacles which retard my
-course, I would not have the indiscretion to make observations when it
-seems I ought simply to submit. But I know that you are as much annoyed
-as I by all that tends to spoil my plans. This idea consoles me and
-enables me not to lose patience...." "Do not," he pleads, "do not, M. le
-Comte, look upon my impatience as insubordination, it is nothing but
-zeal." Then he proceeded to urge Vergennes to send him an order through
-the minister of war, the Comte de St. Germain, that there be delivered
-to him 2,000 hundredweight of powder, which would enable him to set
-sail, and he ended by saying how he had "_le coeur bien serre_ to see
-how things are going or in reality, not going."
-
-The fall of New York offered an opportunity for Beaumarchais to press
-his solicitations, urging that the Americans had been beaten only from
-lack of supplies. "If I were asking a personal favor," he wrote to
-Vergennes, "I would have patience, but I shall lose it if you do not
-come to my assistance." On the second of October he had written:
-"Everything about me follows me with talk and does all that it can to
-ruin me. Across all these bitter things I walk with assurance to my
-ends; unless a pistol shot stops me, I will be found ready to treat with
-all who present themselves. My zeal and my disinterestedness are the
-basis of my defense. I have no important paper about me--everything is
-secure."
-
-In the midst of so many hidden dangers Beaumarchais was soon made to
-feel a still graver one. The French government suddenly began to thwart
-all his operations, and this without a word of warning or explanation.
-The fact was that the suspicions of the Court of St. James had been
-thoroughly aroused, and, pressed by the English Ambassador, the minister
-had been forced to take a stand. The fifteenth of November the English
-Court notified the Spanish Ambassador that everything was known, and the
-twenty-second of the same month, they expressed themselves still more
-strongly through other avenues. Vergennes was informed that the aid
-being rendered by France was no longer a secret. Something had to be
-done immediately to allay the fears of the English, and from this had
-arisen the apparent hostility of the ministers.
-
-Even had there been no one directly to blame for these disclosures,
-entire secrecy still could not have been maintained. The very
-multiplicity of the operations, "the goings and comings of Deane and
-Beaumarchais and their intermediaries, the confidence that was inspired
-by the support of the government leading to indiscretions, all this
-divulged the acts." (_Doniol_ II, 35.) More than this, officers
-enrolled, or those who wished to be, were spread about in the
-cafes and public places, in Paris or the seaports, awaiting the moment
-of embarkation. All these men, "infatuated and needy," were under the
-control of du Coudray, who was expecting to sail on the largest of
-Beaumarchais's ships, _l'Amphitrite_, a vessel of 480 tons, which
-already had received its cargo, and was only awaiting the presence of
-the officer in order to set sail. For some unaccountable reason, he had
-returned to Versailles without giving any notice. He remained there for
-more than a week, causing a delay which threatened to spoil everything.
-Beaumarchais, supposing that the ministry was at fault, wrote to
-Vergennes in the following impatient manner: "Everything has gone,
-everything is waiting. Why cannot I have the whole management of the
-affair? Then nothing would be delayed and my vessels would already be in
-America." The truth was that du Coudray, relying upon his powerful
-support at court, had gone to Versailles in order to succeed in escaping
-if possible from the hands of Beaumarchais, so as not to go over as his
-envoy. He had all along been lengthening "by every means in his power
-the delay in getting off, had sown discontent among the enrolled,
-sending away such as he could not gain, had encouraged complaint,
-confided the place of embarkation to indiscreet persons, and then threw
-upon Beaumarchais the blame of the noise which he himself had made."
-(_Doniol_ II, 61.) In addition to all the rest, Beaumarchais was guilty
-of a particular indiscretion of his own. Having gone the 6th of
-December, 1776, to Havre, under the assumed name of Durand, in order to
-superintend, without arousing suspicion, the despatching of three of his
-vessels, the _Amphitrite_, _La Seine_, _La Romaine_, he could not resist
-the temptation of busying himself at the same time with his literary
-productions. Displeased with the way in which his famous comedy, _Le
-Barbier de_ _Seville_, was being performed, he imprudently collected
-the actors, making them rehearse the play under his direction. His
-presence in the seaport thus became known; the English Ambassador was
-notified and the latter at once addressed to the Government the most
-vehement remonstrances.
-
-"On the 16th of December a counter order was issued and sent to Havre
-and Nantes, prohibiting the officers from embarking and the vessels from
-setting out. But when the counter order reached Havre, _l'Amphitrite_,
-which bore the greater part of the officers and munitions, already had
-set sail. The _Seine_ and the _Romaine_ were alone sequestered,
-Beaumarchais then returned with all haste to Paris, in order to obtain
-the revocation of the counter order." (Lomenie II, p. 136.)
-
-But in the meantime, an event had happened which, as soon as it became
-known, roused the French people to the highest pitch of enthusiasm,
-while it deepened the distrust and anger of the English Ambassador. This
-event was the arrival of Dr. Franklin upon the shores of France.
-Beaumarchais already had announced the fact in a letter to Vergennes.
-"The noise," he said, "caused by the arrival of Mr. Franklin is
-inconceivable.... The courageous old man allowed the vessel to make two
-captures, in spite of the personal danger he ran."
-
-Though the French people might welcome with heartfelt enthusiasm, the
-venerable old democrat and philosopher, yet his presence at this moment
-was a serious matter to the Court of France. The Government was moving,
-it is true, directly towards open war with Great Britain, but she was as
-yet very unwilling that the English should have cause of offense in her
-attitude towards the country which had now declared itself free and
-independent. All the supplies which she was allowing to be sent by
-Hortales et Cie. went out in vessels bound direct to her West Indian
-possessions, and were ostensibly intended for her own colonists, so that
-the English Government had no legal right to interfere. England
-therefore redoubled her watchfulness at the court of her rival, and
-knowing as she very well did that it was in every way to the interest of
-France to aid the Americans in their fight for liberty, she was all the
-more determined to harass and thwart every operation which tended in
-that direction.
-
-All this time the Americans were far too deeply engrossed with the
-difficulties of their own situation to spend much thought upon those
-that surrounded their friends in Europe. On the 26th of September,
-Congress had appointed three commissioners to the Court of France. Silas
-Deane already on the spot had been retained; to him were added Benjamin
-Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The latter declining to serve, was
-replaced by Arthur Lee, who was still in London.
-
-Immediately after setting foot in France, Franklin wrote to his _cher,
-bon ami_, the Doctor Dubourg, a letter full of warm expressions of
-friendship and of polite messages to Madame. He enclosed under the same
-cover a letter to Silas Deane, begging his dear friend to see to its
-speedy delivery. The letter to Deane informed him of his new
-appointment, and gave orders that Lee be summoned immediately to join
-them. He bore with him no letter from Congress, nor any message relating
-to the past services of Deane, news of which, in fact, had hardly
-reached the colonies at the time of the doctor's embarkation.
-
-Franklin had no personal interest in the work already accomplished,
-since his _cher, bon ami_ had been set aside, as soon as Deane saw
-"where the confidence of the Government was placed." From the first he
-had determined not to interfere in the quarrel that existed between Lee
-and Deane, and he steadily refused to enter into the merits of the zeal
-displayed by Beaumarchais under cover of Hortales et Cie. Warned against
-him by so many of his friends, and having particular reasons for not
-showing marked favor to Deane (the suspicious jealousy of Lee's
-character threatened from the start to thwart the entire object of the
-commission), he chose the course of ignoring all that already had been
-accomplished. For the moment Deane, himself, seemed alienated from
-Beaumarchais. Vexed at the delay in despatching the supplies (for he
-knew nothing of the counter-order issued by the Government), irritated
-by Lee, annoyed at the indifference of Franklin and dismayed by the
-silence of Congress, Deane in turn assumed an attitude of cold
-indifference which perplexed and disquieted his friend. The new duties
-which were forced upon him, the change in the character of his mission,
-occupied for the time all his thoughts.
-
-As soon as the three commissioners were united in Paris, Franklin wrote
-asking for an audience with the minister of foreign affairs, M. de
-Vergennes. "Sir," he wrote, "we beg leave to acquaint your Excellency
-that we are appointed and fully empowered by the Congress of the United
-States of America to propose and negotiate a treaty of amity and
-commerce between France and the said states.... (Doniol II, 112.)" The
-minister, however, really anxious to further the plans of Beaumarchais,
-was slow to give additional umbrage to the English Ambassador by
-receiving the three commissioners whose presence in Paris it was
-impossible to hide.
-
-Already Franklin had taken up his quarters in Passy, where he held a
-little court of his own. Imbert de St. Amand, in his _Les Beaux Jours de
-Marie Antoinette_, has given a vivid picture of the impression made upon
-the inhabitants of Paris by the presence in their midst of the aged
-philosopher. "The idol of the day," he says, "in that Paris, so
-capricious and so versatile, was Franklin--that peasant, that
-septuagenarian philosopher, that learned democrat, that man of the
-future--was acclaimed by the French aristocracy. The philanthropists,
-the apologists of perpetual peace, demanded war with loud cries. Louis
-XVI, notwithstanding his scruples of conscience, allowed himself to be
-won over. The apartments of Versailles filled themselves with solicitors
-of peril and of glory. All the young nobility wished to start at once.
-What transport! what madness! what valor in those paladin philosophers,
-those chivalrous democrats, having the double passion of glory and
-liberty, full of superb illusions, of generous follies, and so eloquent,
-so amiable, so brave! With what gaiety these quitted their pleasures,
-their chateaux, their theatres, to live the life of a soldier, to go to
-seek the other side of the Atlantic, perils and unknown dangers!"
-
-All this excitement caused by the presence of Franklin did not tend to
-lessen the vigilance of the English, although from the first they had
-hope that if France could be prevented from aiding the Colonies,
-Franklin might in the end be obliged to enter into negotiations with
-England. It was precisely this fear which haunted the French Government
-and induced the King to revoke the counter-order issued to prevent the
-sailing of the ships of Hortales et Cie. Happy at last in gaining
-permission to leave port, Beaumarchais thought only of despatching his
-retarded vessels, when he learned that the _Amphitrite_, the one ship
-that had set out before the arrival of the counter-order, was at
-Lorient, a seaport on the west coast of France, whither it had been
-brought by du Coudray "under the pretext that bad weather encountered in
-the channel had shown the defective condition of the vessel." (_Doniol_
-II, p. 314.)
-
-Beaumarchais, still deceived, wrote to Vergennes: "_L'Amphitrite_, after
-sixteen days of bad weather, has been obliged to return for a moment to
-take on fresh provisions, those on board having been saturated by the
-sea. This is what I have from M. du Coudray, who asks that it be kept
-secret, and who expects to depart in a few days."
-
-The treachery of this officer could not, however, long remain secret.
-"The English Ambassador, learning the details, complained loudly to
-Vergennes, who, irritated to find himself again compromised, laid the
-blame on Beaumarchais withdrawing the permission newly accorded to set
-sail." (Lomenie II, p. 137.) Du Coudray then wrote a long letter full of
-lame excuses. Beaumarchais, furious on learning the truth, replied as
-follows:
-
-                                         "Paris, January 22, 1777.
-
-   "As your conduct, sir, in this affair is inexplicable, I will not
-   waste time in trying to comprehend it. All that concerns me is to
-   guarantee myself and my friends against occurrences of the same
-   kind in future. As the veritable owner, therefore, of the
-   _Amphitrite_, I send herewith an order to Captain Fautrelle, to
-   take absolute command. You are sagacious enough to see that I
-   have not taken so decisive a step without previously consulting
-   powerful and judicious friends. Have the kindness, sir, to
-   conform to it, or find another vessel to take you wherever you
-   please, with no pretension on my part to hinder you in any
-   respect, except in matters which relate to myself and which tend
-   to injure me."
-
-When Deane learned of the disgraceful conduct of the man in whom he had
-reposed such entire confidence, he withdrew the commission which he had
-granted him, and the 8th of February wrote to Beaumarchais. "The
-strange, ungrateful and perfidious conduct of this man, mortifies and
-embarrasses me strangely, and as I wish with all my heart that I had
-never seen him, I wish equally that he may never see America."
-Beaumarchais at once forwarded this letter to Vergennes, begging him to
-prevent du Coudray from setting out for the new world. An order from
-Vergennes arrived commanding him to return to his garrison at Metz.
-Instead of obeying, he hastened to Versailles, where, as has been shown,
-he had powerful protection. He succeeded in being privately presented to
-Franklin and through the intervention of the ministers of war and the
-navy, du Coudray received from Franklin a recommendation to Congress,
-which recommendation Deane himself finally consented to sign, although
-with reluctance, for he informed Beaumarchais at once of the act,
-assuring him that he had done no more than admit that du Coudray was a
-good officer. Vergennes, not wishing a quarrel either with the Comte de
-St. Germain or with M. de Sartine (minister of war and the navy), was
-obliged to close his eyes to the action of the officer, who at once
-hastened to set sail for America. (See _Doniol_ II, p. 317.)
-
-The 11th of February, Beaumarchais wrote to Vergennes: "Everyone knows
-the evil which that officer wishes to do me. Having made to myself a law
-to explain to no one the wise and pressing motives which oppose
-themselves to the departure of that officer, and owing to the necessity
-of preventing his indiscretions, I am liable to be taxed with a design
-to persecute him, whom on the contrary I have from the first endeavored
-to advance and have aided in sincere good faith.... It is neither in my
-character nor in my principles to revenge myself on anyone--I should be
-obliged to pass my life at that odious business...."
-
-"Neither the orders of Vergennes nor the interference of Beaumarchais or
-Deane having prevented du Coudray from crossing the Atlantic, the evil
-which followed was inevitable. Arrived in America, he hastened to accuse
-Beaumarchais of the very acts which he himself had attempted to perform,
-and he accused not him alone, but in consequence Silas Deane of
-complicity, as well as the Comte de Vergennes." (_Doniol_ II, p. 353.)
-
-"Dreaming of great position in America, he built upon the order to
-retain him on the continent, and gave it out as an intrigue of
-Beaumarchais." He at once issued a pamphlet to Congress, in which he
-explained, "It is to my credit alone, and to my zeal in your service,
-that you are indebted for the extent of the aid accorded to your
-commissioner, and in nothing to the Sieur de Beaumarchais; everything
-was finished when he arrived." He further dilated upon the greed of gain
-which characterized the French agent, and accused him of fraud in his
-dealings with the colonies. To minds already prepossessed with similar
-ideas, this pamphlet was not calculated to increase the confidence of
-Congress in the good faith either of their commissioner or of his
-friend. During the two months preceding the open exposure of the perfidy
-of this officer, the difficulty of the situation of Beaumarchais hardly
-can be overestimated. "Denounced by the conspiracies of du Coudray as
-being only incited by desire for lucre; obliged to resort to complicated
-expediencies in order to spare the Government the recriminations of the
-English, constrained to defend himself against the mistrust aroused even
-in the spirit of M. de Vergennes by his at times inevitable
-indiscretions; forced to fall back on justifications which might seem
-equivocal, he lent himself to doubt, even to suspicion." (_Doniol_ II,
-p. 308.) On the 30th of January he wrote to M. de Vergennes:
-
-   "When one writes to a minister whom one respects and cherishes,
-   one is very much embarrassed to find terms to explain a fact like
-   the one that suffocates me. After Mr. Deane had shown during a
-   month a very bad humor, and saying to myself the whole time that
-   there was something very mysterious in the delay of the vessels
-   at Havre, I was anxious to have an explanation of his offensive
-   tone. He replied that, tired himself of not knowing where the
-   blame lay, he had the honor to send you a memoir by M. Lee, and
-   that the latter reported that Your Excellency had clearly assured
-   him that for a long while there had been no obstacle on the part
-   of the ministry and that if I said there was, it could only be an
-   imposture of mine or of M. Montieu. Pardon, M. le Comte, if after
-   swallowing all the other bitter pills without complaint, this
-   rests in my throat and strangles me in passing. Your Excellency
-   will perhaps be so good as to cast a glance over the four letters
-   that I join to this, written by me to M. de Sartine the 3rd,
-   18th, 22d and 29th of January. They will inform you of the true
-   state of affairs if it is possible that you are ignorant of it,
-   and you will tell me afterwards up to what point you order me to
-   keep silent and sacrifice myself. This blow crushes me and makes
-   me desire that my whole conduct as a vigilant man and faithful
-   servitor be promptly examined and with the utmost rigor. It is
-   impossible for me to take an instant's repose until you have
-   accorded me this grace. Read, I beg you, my letters to M. de
-   Sartine and judge of my suffering."
-
-Vergennes immediately replied, and the whole situation grew brighter.
-Beaumarchais wrote the next day, February 1, 1777, "I sincerely thank
-you for your goodness in tranquilizing me. I have force against
-everything except your discontent. Never judge me without hearing me,
-this is the only favor I ask. I know well that you are accused of
-irresolution, which is very far from your character. Afterwards they
-cast upon me the reflections of their discontent, making you speak, so
-that I may feel it more keenly--I will never believe anything again. I
-have the intimate consciousness that I do my best and even the best that
-can be done under the circumstances. Across all the obstacles that
-surround me, a small success pays me for great labor. I feel myself
-already light-hearted again since yesterday's letters have told me that
-three of my vessels have started." Beaumarchais was thus after so many
-delays given full power to act. On the 4th of February, 1777, he wrote
-to Vergennes:
-
-   "At last I have my delivery.... It is a pity that the Dutch
-   should be destined to have the principal gain from the transport
-   of these materials. No matter, the most important thing is, not
-   to let America come to grief through lack of good munitions...."
-
-By the beginning of March ten vessels of Roderigue Hortales et Cie. were
-floating towards America. The seventh of that month he announced the
-fact to Vergennes: "Never," he wrote, "has commercial affair been pushed
-with so much vigor, in spite of obstacles of every nature which have
-been encountered. May God give it good success!"
-
-"Beaumarchais," says M. de Lomenie, "naturally expected soon to receive
-very many expressions of gratitude from Congress, as well as very much
-Maryland and Virginia tobacco. He did not even receive a reply to his
-letters." Nevertheless, he continued to send out ships laden with
-supplies, all through the spring and summer, receiving from his agents
-alone information of their safe arrival.
-
-The failure of Congress to ratify the conditions offered by its
-commissioner would have brought to ruin the commercial house of
-Roderigue Hortales et Cie. in spite of the subsidy of two millions with
-which it had been founded, had not the Government again come to its
-assistance. But though the ministers in general, and Vergennes in
-particular, never entirely deserted Beaumarchais, other and wholly
-different measures for aiding the Americans were now seriously occupying
-their attention. The colonies in declaring themselves free from British
-rule had forced upon France the necessity of coming to some definite
-decision. This she was slow in doing, but so inevitable was it that she
-should take an active part in the great struggle that already the
-measures necessary for the arming and equipping of her forces were being
-discussed in her councils, while the nation, gone mad with enthusiasm,
-was urging her forward in the pathway which could lead to nothing but
-open war.
-
-[Illustration: LAFAYETTE]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX
-
-
-_"Never Greece, never Rome, never any people of the ancient world,
-exposed the motives of its independence with a more noble simplicity,
-nor based them upon more evident truths."_
-
-  _Gudin de la Brenellerie, Histoire de Beaumarchais._
-
-
-   The Declaration of Independence and Its Effect in
-     Europe--Beaumarchais's Activity in Getting Supplies to
-     America--Difficulties Arise About Sailing--Treachery of du
-     Coudray--Lafayette's Contract with Deane--His Escape to
-     America--Beaumarchais's Losses--Baron von Steuben Sails for America
-     in Beaumarchais's Vessel, Taking the Latter's Nephew, des
-     Epinieres, and His Agent, Theveneau de Francy--The Surrender of
-     Burgoyne--Beaumarchais Finds Himself Set Aside While Others Take
-     His Place--Faces Bankruptcy--Vergennes Comes to His Assistance.
-
-
-"The Act," says _Doniol_ (I, p. 561), "which proclaimed to the civilized
-world the institution of the American Republic and which was destined to
-open a new phase of civilization, was announced in Europe only as an
-incident, secondary to the resistance of the rebels.
-
-"The English Government would not admit that the solemn act produced any
-visible emotion in London. In the beginning Garnier, the French
-Ambassador, was no more struck than the cabinet of London by the page of
-political philosophy put into being by the declaration of Congress, and
-which was to respond so loudly in the country of Voltaire and the
-Encyclopaedia." In France, "when it became known," continues Doniol, "it
-produced the most vivid sensation which was possible to create a century
-ago by the means of publicity then existing."
-
-But though the action of the colonies was greeted with wild enthusiasm
-by the populace, the government remained cold and undemonstrative. Silas
-Deane had written to Congress, January 17, 1777, "The hearts of the
-French people are universally for us and the opinion for an immediate
-war with Great Britain is very strong, but the court has its reasons for
-postponing a little longer."
-
-The chief cause of the apparent inaction of the government arose from
-the ruined condition of its finances. Beaumarchais, as was seen in the
-last chapter, already had been commissioned to draw up a plan of finance
-which should aid in the present crisis. This he had done, basing his
-scheme of reform upon the wise and prudent measures adopted by the great
-Sully. He endeavored to prove that these reforms would, if put into
-execution, cause such an increase of revenue as would enable France
-safely to declare war, without increasing the rate of taxation or
-incurring the risk of bankruptcy. His scheme, however, had been set
-aside. On the 30th of March, 1777, he addressed a lengthy memoir to the
-prime minister, M. le Comte de Maurepas, of which the following is an
-extract:
-
-   " ... I have doubtless explained badly my ideas of help for the
-   Americans, since it seems that you have not adopted them. The
-   fear of giving you too much to read makes me concise to the point
-   of being perhaps obscure.... Read the letter of M. Deane....
-   Judge if a good Frenchman, a zealous subject of the King, a good
-   servitor of M. de Maurepas, who respects him and wishes to see
-   his administration honored among all the people of the world,
-   judge if he can support your constant refusal to lend him a hand,
-   the earnest solicitations of America at bay, and the insolent
-   triumph of armed England.... M. le Comte, spare your servitors
-   the sorrows of one day hearing you reproached with having been in
-   a position to save America at small cost and you have not done
-   it, to tear her from the yoke of England and to unite her to us
-   by commerce, and that you have neglected it.
-
-   "Hear me, I pray you; you distrust too much your own powers and
-   my resources; and above all I fear that you do not sufficiently
-   esteem the empire, which your age and your wisdom gives you over
-   a young prince whose heart is formed, but whose politics are
-   still in the cradle. You forget that that fresh young soul has
-   been turned and brought back from very far. He is tractable,
-   helpless, weak in his whole being. You forget that while dauphin,
-   Louis XVI had an invincible repugnance to the old parliaments,
-   yet that their recall honored the first six months of his reign;
-   you forget also that he swore never to be vaccinated, yet that
-   eight days afterwards he had the vaccine in his arm. No one is
-   ignorant of this, and no one will excuse you for not employing
-   the beautiful power of your place in causing to be adopted the
-   great things which you have in your mind.
-
-   "If you find my liberties too daring, go back to their respectful
-   motives, and you will pardon them to my attachment.
-
-   "It was not play on my part, M. le Comte, when attaching myself
-   to you, I said with feeling: 'I shall never have a day of true
-   happiness, if your administration passes away without having
-   accomplished the three greatest acts which could illustrate it:
-   the humiliation of England by the union of America and France;
-   the re-establishment of the finances, following the plan of
-   Sully, which I have placed several times at your feet, and the
-   rendering of civil existence to protestants.... These three
-   things are to-day in your hands; I wish only the honor of having
-   often recalled them to you. What work, M. le Comte, what success
-   more beautiful, could crown your career? After such actions,
-   there is no death. The dearest existence of man, his reputation,
-   survives all and becomes eternal. Hear me then, I beg you, in
-   favor of the Americans. Remember that the deputies await my
-   answer to dispatch a courier who will carry encouragement or
-   desolation into Congress.... Do not render my pains unfruitful,
-   through not concurring in them, and may the recompense of my
-   works be the honor of having made them acceptable to you!
-
-   "I am, with the most respectful devotion, M. le Comte,
-
-                                   "Your very, etc.,
-                                                "de Beaumarchais."
-
-
-To all this Maurepas made no reply, and the unhappy agent, still
-harassed and thwarted in his plans, wrote to Vergennes:
-
-                                                  "April 13, 1777.
-
-   " ... If I do my duty, as M. de Maurepas had before the goodness
-   to say to me, in presenting without ceasing and under all its
-   faces, the picture of so important an affair, permit me to
-   represent to you, M. le Comte, what you know better than I, that
-   loss of time, silence and indecision are even worse than refusal.
-   Refusal is a deed, one can act afterwards, but from nothing,
-   nothing ever comes--it remains nothing...."
-
-[Illustration: GENERAL JOHN SCHUYLER]
-
-In the same letter he warmly pleaded his own cause. "In so far as I work
-alone," he said, "my secret is secure. If the indiscretion of the
-officers of the _Amphitrite_ and their foolish chief make known the
-destination of the vessel, what can I do more than you? I defy any man
-in this country, beginning with the ministers themselves, to cite either
-what name, what charge, from what port and for what destination I have
-sent the vessels dispatched since.... In a word, M. le Comte, now that
-all is in operation, when the first pains and labors of so vast an
-establishment have obtained a certain success, when my profound disdain
-for the idle gossip of society has turned aside the babblers and now
-that I can assure the happy consequence of the enterprise, do you refuse
-to concur any longer? and does my active perseverance inspire the same
-in no one?... In the name of Heaven, of honor, of the interests of
-France, retard no longer your decision, M. le Comte! Confer again with
-M. de Maurepas. No object is more important, and none so pressing.
-
-"In the instant of closing this letter, I receive one from Nantes, by
-which I am informed of the refusal to provide sailors, and so my richest
-ship is stopped at the moment it is ready to sail.... I implore you, M.
-le Comte, promptly to arrange with M. de Sartine what is necessary for
-the departure of my vessel.... I hope to go myself for your orders upon
-very many objects Thursday evening, if you do not send them before. I
-recommend the Americans to your remembrance and their advocate to your
-good will.... The hour of the post has passed while I was writing. I
-send this therefore by a man on horseback."
-
-In striking contrast to the outspoken and independent tone assumed by
-Beaumarchais when addressing the ministers, is the friendly yet
-authoritative manner which he employs when it is question of a
-subordinate. To de Francy, his confidential agent, he had written
-February 28, 1777, in relation to the dispatching of the _Amphitrite_,
-after it had been brought back by du Coudray: "We shall have to say,
-like Bartholo (one of the characters in the _Barbier de Seville_) '_le
-diable est entre dans mon affaire_,' and remedy as best we may the evil
-that is past, by preventing its happening again. Give the enclosed
-letter to M. du Coudray. I send it to you open, in order that you may
-reply in my behalf to his objections, should he make any. Show to
-Captain Fautrelle, the enclosed order which we give him, in quality of
-proprietor of the vessel which he commands, and take his word of honor
-to conform to it entirely. I received yesterday a letter from my nephew
-along with yours. As unreasonable as the rest of them, my nephew seems
-to be unwilling to go back to his place on the _Amphitrite_. You can
-understand the little attention which I pay to such childishness. Simply
-recommend him again to the special care of M. de Conway and to the
-Chevalier de Bore. Command the captain to receive on board M. le Marquis
-de la Rouerie, who comes to us with special recommendations. Give to the
-Captain the general rule and the secret of the route. If the force of
-circumstances obliges him to put into Santo Domingo, arrange with him
-and M. de Conway not to stop there, but to write to the governor of the
-island in order to notify him that the fear of some unlucky encounter,
-alone prompted the drawing up of the fictitious order in regard to the
-destination of the _Amphitrite_, and take from him a new fictitious
-order for France, in order to shelter yourself by that order in case you
-encounter an English vessel between Santo Domingo and the true
-destination of the ship. You know very well that all the precautions of
-the Ministry are taken in accord with us; it is upon this that we can
-count.
-
-"As soon as the _Amphitrite_ has set sail, go on to Nantes, where, by
-the way, you will probably find _le Mercure_ started, because it is
-ready now to set sail. Good-bye, my dear Francy. Come quickly back to
-Paris. You have trotted about enough for this time; other work awaits
-you here: but I will be there to divide it with you. Bring me back this
-letter."
-
-The fear of a possible reconciliation of the colonies with Great
-Britain, which constantly haunted the agent of the French Government,
-had of late been greatly augmented. The 8th of March, 1777, he had
-written to Vergennes:
-
-   "Sunday morning.
-
-   "M. le Comte; Another letter you will say. Will they never stop!
-   Eh! how can I stop, M. le Comte, when new objects unceasingly
-   excite my attention and my vigilance? A private secretary of Lord
-   Germaine arrived yesterday, secretly sent to Messrs. Deane and
-   Franklin. He brings propositions of peace. The most superb
-   recompenses are promised him if he succeeds." ...
-
-   Monday morning, he wrote ... "America is doing the impossible to
-   hold her own. But be sure that she cannot go much farther without
-   you, or without a reconciliation with Great Britain.... While I
-   am treating with you, I warn you that England is secretly
-   attempting to treat with M. Franklin.... Deane is regarded as a
-   formidable obstacle to any project of adjustment: They will
-   attempt to dislodge him at whatever price. My news is so positive
-   as to the intention of the ministers that my conjectures become
-   facts. They have the project to compel Deane to leave France, and
-   to make of him the expiatory victim." A short time before
-   Beaumarchais had written to the same minister: "The doctor
-   Franklin at this moment, wishes to send away M. Deane from
-   France. My special object is to prevent his leaving. The manly
-   firmness of this Republican alone, can arrest the insinuations
-   of every kind employed against the doctor."
-
-As a matter of fact, Franklin was well aware of the dismay which the
-noise of his secret communications with agents of Great Britain had
-caused the ministers, nor did he desire to allay their suspicions. He
-knew well the value for France of an alliance with the colonies, at
-least supposing the fact of their independence. He knew, also, how far
-it was to the interest of England to prevent such an alliance. So long
-as France remained outwardly inactive, Franklin did nothing to allay the
-fears of the one government nor to weaken the hopes of the other,
-although there can be no doubt that in his heart he was bent only upon
-concluding a treaty with France. In March, 1777, he wrote: "I did not
-come to make peace, but to procure the aid of European powers to permit
-us to defend our liberty and our independence, which it is certainly to
-their interest to guarantee, because our great and growing commerce will
-be open, and cease to be the monopoly of England.... I think we shall be
-capable with a little help, of defending our possessions long enough, so
-that England will be ruined if she persists in destroying us.... I
-flatter myself to live to see my country established in peace and
-prosperity, while Great Britain will no longer be so formidable a figure
-among the powers of Europe." There also seems no doubt but that he had
-at last secretly concurred with Deane in aiding the escape of Lafayette
-from the restrictions imposed upon him by the French government,
-although subsequently, the whole blame was allowed to rest upon Deane
-alone.
-
-The situation in regard to Lafayette was as follows: Some time during
-the year 1775, the young Marquis who was then scarcely eighteen, and who
-was serving under the Comte de Broglie at the garrison of Metz, was
-present at a dinner given in the fortress where the English Duke of
-Gloucester was guest. The latter was bitterly opposed to the policy of
-George III in regard to America, and at table spoke freely of the
-uprising among the colonists; it was then, so Lafayette tells us in his
-memoirs, that he formed the resolution of offering his services to the
-insurgents. Through the intervention of De Broglie, the Baron von Kalb,
-a Prussian general serving in France, introduced to Silas Deane on
-November 5, 1776, the young marquis with two of his cousins who had
-formed the same determination to offer their services to America. Silas
-Deane received them with enthusiasm, and promised all high positions in
-the American Army (see _Doniol_ Vol. II, p. 63). Eleven other officers
-were added and the entire group were to sail from Havre on _La Seine_,
-one of the fleet of Hortales et Cie. when the order already spoken of,
-came from the government to prevent further operations of the house.
-Moreover, a special prohibition was issued regarding the young officers,
-because it was of great importance for the French Government to seem to
-oppose the enlistment of such prominent members of the high nobility as
-Lafayette and his colleagues. Nothing daunted, Lafayette, whose fortune
-made him independent, bought a vessel of his own, _La Victoire_, and
-having decided "to go in spite of everything and without regard to
-consequences" secretly negotiated with Deane, and set sail, April 20,
-1777, with some twenty other commissioned officers.
-
-The agreement which had been drawn up between them was signed by
-Lafayette, the Baron von Kalb, and Silas Deane; it bore the date of
-December 7, 1776, although it was not really issued until February,
-1777. This discrepancy was owing to the fact that since the arrival of
-Franklin in December, Deane's commission had changed in nature, so that
-he no longer was empowered to enlist officers for the American service.
-The date of December 7, 1776 had been chosen because on that day the two
-noblemen had been presented to the American Commissioner and an informal
-engagement entered into. This was immediately before the arrival of
-Franklin in France.
-
-The true patriotism which inspired Deane led him to adopt this
-subterfuge, feeling as he did that the services of so brilliant an
-officer as Lafayette, and one belonging to such an illustrious house,
-would be of sufficient value to his country to warrant the irregularity
-of the act. The Baron von Kalb had originally, it would seem, stipulated
-with Deane for a considerable salary, part of which was to be paid in
-advance. (See _Our French Allies_, Stone, p. 39.) Deane rightly
-understood the effect which would be produced in the different courts of
-Europe by the daring deed of the young nobleman and foresaw the
-consequent fury of the English which could not help but hasten the final
-decision of the ministry. Therefore he willingly concurred in the
-designs of Lafayette, aiding them to the utmost of his power (_Doniol_,
-Vol. II, Chap. VII). Congress afterwards disavowed all the commissions
-granted by Deane, so that most of the officers were obliged to return to
-France. Lafayette and the Baron von Kalb, having fortunes of their own,
-were willing to serve without pay; they were therefore given
-appointments. The romantic escape of the young nobleman caused all the
-commotion that was expected of it. The Capital went wild with
-exultation, openly vindicating his act, while the anger of the English
-knew no bounds.
-
-England, indeed, had good grounds for discontent with the conduct of her
-rival. "Public opinion in London," says Doniol, "was more and more for
-war. France everywhere was accused of aiding the colonies.... It was
-said that open war was preferable to the insidious peace which we
-pretended to maintain while according every advantage to the revolted
-colonies."--(_Doniol_ II, p. 455.) Other causes of grievance, especially
-in regard to the protection granted to American vessels in all French
-ports, were constantly coming up. "England," says Doniol, "incriminated
-especially the authorities of Martinique. According to Lord Weymouth,
-the Americans armed openly in the island, favored by the most notable
-persons. So much pressure was brought to bear upon the French Government
-by the English Ambassador, that, not yet ready for war, it was forced to
-grant the satisfaction which was demanded. As in previous instances, the
-blow fell heaviest upon Beaumarchais. July 1, 1777, he wrote:
-
-   "I have just received news that afflicts me.... M. de Bouille,
-   the new governor of Martinique, has notified the merchants that
-   it is agreed between the courts of France and England, that the
-   English Navy seize the French vessels coming from their islands,
-   taking all the commodities of America which they find.... This is
-   so impossible, that though I have read it, I still cannot believe
-   it!
-
-   "Afternoon.... I am indeed, in despair to receive the
-   confirmation of that trying announcement. It seems certain that
-   France has ceded to the English the right to seize all French
-   vessels coming from the islands, which are charged with American
-   commodities. What distress, M. le Comte, could have brought about
-   such an arrangement?... I learn by letters from Cape Francis of
-   the 18th of May, that the cargo of the _Ametie_, happily arrived
-   in that port, has started for America, divided on several
-   American and Bermudan vessels, bought at my cost at Santo Domingo
-   for....
-
-   "P. S. You are not to blame, M. le Comte, for the consequences of
-   that sorrowful convention with the English. Your hands were tied
-   to sign it. But I am in despair. I made my payment of the 30th
-   yesterday, selling all the paper money which I had, at a
-   disadvantage. A quarter of an hour is so important, that a
-   million arriving the next day could not repair the lack of but
-   thirty thousand _louis d'or_. I was compelled to pay yesterday
-   L184,328 2s., and L21,864 8s. 4d. remain unpaid from the 15th on
-   which I have only received L200,000 instead of L221,864 8s. 4d.
-   From now until the 15th, I must pay L268,304 8s. 3d. I am lacking
-   therefore L490,168 16s. 7d. with the loss of my paper money, and
-   the three last payments which I must replace so as to be abreast
-   of my affairs. I therefore beg you to send me an order for
-   5,000,000 fr., after that I can go forward, but as my destination
-   is not a matter of indifference, I shall have the honor of
-   conferring with you about it."
-
-The documents deposited in the bureau of foreign affairs, show that M.
-de Vergennes "taking into consideration the desperate situation into
-which Beaumarchais found himself thrown, owing to the obstinate refusal
-of Congress to send him returns, had advanced successively, the 13th
-May, 1777, 400,000 livres, the 16th of June, 200,000 livres, and the 3rd
-of July 474,496 livres." (_Lomenie_ II, p. 145.) By this means alone,
-Beaumarchais was able to continue his active services in the cause of
-America.
-
-Although the court of Louis XVI were making pretense of not favoring the
-Americans, they already had decided on war and were endeavoring to bring
-the court of Spain to a similar decision.
-
-"The 26th of June," says Doniol, "a memoir was addressed to the Spanish
-cabinet explaining the seasonableness of associating themselves
-positively with the colonies, and in consequence, of making war upon
-England."
-
-"By the means so far employed," wrote Vergennes, "the reconciliation of
-the colonies with Great Britain cannot be prevented; those means have
-been all that have been prudent, but they will not suffice any longer;
-it is necessary that the assistance become sufficiently effective to
-assure a total separation and so compel the Americans to gratitude."
-
-Madrid was finally forced to follow the course laid out for it at
-Versailles; but before openly declaring their alliance, both courts
-awaited some decisive act of the Americans. The capture of Burgoyne
-determined the King, although several months more elapsed before the
-treaty was actually signed.
-
-But if the court was thus apparently inactive, Beaumarchais continued as
-assiduous as ever in aiding the Americans, and this notwithstanding the
-coldness of the commissioners, the total absence of returns and the
-unbroken silence of the Continental Congress. The Hon. John Bigelow, in
-his admirable paper _Beaumarchais, the Merchant_, speaking of
-Beaumarchais at this period, said: "He received no tobacco, nor money,
-nor thanks, nor even a letter from Congress.... His funds were
-exhausted, and all his expectations of returns were disappointed.... At
-last, reduced to extremities, he resolved to send a confidential agent
-to the United States, to obtain, if possible some explanation of results
-so chilling to his enthusiasm, and for which he was so poorly prepared.
-For this mission he selected a young man named Theveneau de Francy, a
-person of considerable talent, generous and enthusiastic, but poorly
-trained for the delicate duty assigned him. De Francy embarked for the
-United States at Marseilles on the 26th of September, 1777, on board of
-one of Beaumarchais's ships, carrying twenty-four guns, called _Le
-Flammand_."
-
-"De Francy," says Lomenie, "went out with the double mission of
-obtaining justice from Congress for the past, and to prevent cargoes
-from being delivered gratis in the future."
-
-But before entering into a consideration of his mission, let us pause to
-note among the passengers of the _Flammand_ a now justly celebrated
-personage, who was destined to render such effective aid in training the
-American troops; this was Baron von Steuben. In his life of that famous
-Prussian officer, Frederick Kapp has given a detailed account of the
-incidents which led up to his entering the American service. The French
-minister of war, the Comte de St. Germain, had long been a pronounced
-admirer of the military tactics employed by the king of Prussia. He had
-endeavored to have those tactics introduced into the French army but
-without success. Being on intimate terms with the Baron, the latter made
-a halt in Paris with the intention of visiting his friend at Versailles
-on the occasion of a voyage to England in the spring of 1777. Having
-notified the count of his desire to wait upon him, the Baron was
-surprised to be requested not to come to Versailles, but to meet him at
-the arsenal in Paris. "You have arrived very apropos," the count said;
-opening a map and pointing to America, he continued, "Here is your field
-of action, here is the Republic you must serve. You are the very man she
-needs at this moment. If you succeed, your fortune is made and you will
-acquire more glory than you can hope for in Europe for many years to
-come." He then pictured the bravery, the resources of the Americans, and
-intimated the possibility of an open alliance. After this he sketched
-the other side of the situation; spoke of the disadvantages under which
-the Americans labored: bad training, lack of order and discipline among
-the troops, and ended by saying "You see now why you must not be seen at
-Versailles." The Baron, however, seemed but little touched by the
-eloquent appeal of his friend. He told the count that he was no longer
-young, that he had no ambition; though he was without fortune, yet his
-position was all that he desired.
-
-After a second interview, his interest seemed somewhat aroused. The
-Count gave him a letter to Beaumarchais, who introduced him to Deane;
-and Deane took him to Passy to see Franklin. Both commissioners seemed
-anxious that Steuben should enter the service. "But," says his
-biographer, "when Steuben mentioned a disbursement for the expenses of
-his journey, they expressed some doubts of their power to grant it. Mr.
-Deane made no difficulties; Franklin, however, made several. He spoke a
-great deal of presenting him with a couple of thousand acres of land,
-... but Steuben did not care for them.... As to any advances, Franklin
-positively declared that it was out of the question; he told him this
-with an air and manner to which Steuben, as he remarked in a letter
-written at that time, 'was then little accustomed,' whereupon he
-immediately took leave, without any further explanation.
-
-"He went thence to M. de Beaumarchais, telling him that he intended to
-set out immediately for Germany, and that he did not wish to hear any
-more of America. As soon as Beaumarchais was informed of the cause of
-Steuben's resolution, he said to him, that if he wanted nothing but
-money, a thousand _louis d'or_ and more were at his disposal. Steuben
-thanked him for his generous offer, but said his determination was
-fixed. The Count of St. Germain endeavored to dissuade him, but to no
-effect.
-
-"Arrived at Rastadt, he found a very persuasive letter from M. de
-Beaumarchais, who wrote that the Comte de St. Germain expected his
-prompt return to Versailles; that a vessel was ready at Marseilles for
-his embarkation, and that Beaumarchais's funds were entirely at the
-Baron's disposal.
-
-"Prince William of Baden, with whom Steuben conferred, urged him to
-accept; accordingly he returned to Paris, August 17, 1777."
-
-On the 26th of September he set sail. Beaumarchais wrote to Congress:
-
-   "The art of making war successfully being the fruit of courage
-   combined with prudence, knowledge and experience, a companion in
-   arms of the great Frederic, who stood by his side for twenty-two
-   years, seems one of the men best fitted to second M. Washington."
-
-   Baron von Steuben was well received in America. As he asked for
-   no pay, and wished to enter the army as a simple volunteer, no
-   objection was made to his enlistment. He soon was raised to a
-   position suitable to his rank and talents. A little more than a
-   year after his arrival, Beaumarchais, overjoyed at the success
-   which had attended the Baron, wrote to his agent, Theveneau de
-   Francy: "Recall me often to the memory of M. the Baron von
-   Steuben.
-
-   "I congratulate myself from that which I learn of him, to have
-   given so great an officer to my friends, the free men of America,
-   and to have forced him in a way to follow that noble career. I am
-   in no way disquieted about the money that I lent him for his
-   voyage. Never have I made an investment which gave me greater
-   pleasure, because I have been able to put a man of honor in his
-   true place. I learn that he is Inspector General of all the
-   American troops. Bravo! Tell him that his glory is the interest
-   of my money, and that I do not doubt but at that title, he will
-   pay me with usury."
-
-On the same vessel went also the nephew of Beaumarchais, the son of his
-elder sister married to the watchmaker, De Lepine, who on entering the
-American service took the name of des Epinieres. It was the same of whom
-Beaumarchais had spoken impatiently on the occasion of his refusing to
-continue his voyage upon the _Amphitrite_, when du Coudray had brought
-that vessel back to port. That he had his way, is proved by the fact
-that his name is mentioned amongst the six aids who accompanied the
-Baron von Steuben to America. An idea of the young man's character may
-be gained from the following brief extract of a letter written by him
-the evening of an engagement: "Your nephew," he wrote, "my very dear
-Uncle, may perhaps lose his life, but he will never do a deed unworthy
-of one who has the honor of belonging to you. This is as certain as the
-tenderness which he always will have for the best of uncles." According
-to Lomenie, he never returned to France, but died on the field of
-battle, after having attained the rank of Major.
-
-At the time when the Baron von Steuben set sail for America,
-Beaumarchais was no longer the confidential agent of the government. As
-has been seen, Franklin had from the first, refused to treat with him,
-while Lee's influence at home and abroad was at all times used to bring
-about his ruin. More than this "everything," says Doniol, "seemed to
-cost too much; they (Franklin and Lee) had allowed themselves to be
-persuaded that Beaumarchais ought to serve them for nothing. The
-_Barbier de Seville_, as he was called familiarly, passed with too many
-people for gaining great profit, for there not to be many interested in
-ruining him. It was also of the utmost importance to England to
-interfere with his operations, and the English Ambassador fed the
-flames.... Dubourg had his part to play ... but whatever the reasons, it
-remains true that Franklin never missed an opportunity openly to contest
-the operations of Roderigue Hortales et Cie., and to attempt to bring
-them to naught." (Doniol II, 611.) Other intermediaries, therefore,
-began to be employed.
-
-Although less recognition was given to Beaumarchais by the government,
-the ministers continued to make use of his advice. "At the moment," says
-Doniol, "when he was treated with the greatest coldness, his counsels
-were appropriated.... They used his political estimates almost in the
-terms in which he expressed himself, sometimes textually. At the end of
-October he was admitted to discuss with Vergennes and Maurepas the
-definite stand to take in offering propositions of alliance with the
-American colonies. Three months later when the King was about to sign
-the treaty, it was evident that the Secretary of State had demanded of
-Beaumarchais a resume of their discussion. This resume entitled,
-_Memoire particuliere pour l'Etat_," was drawn up by Beaumarchais under
-circumstances peculiarly distressing. It was at the moment when he first
-realized with absolute certainty that his cooeperation in the aid soon to
-be freely and openly accorded the Americans was no longer desired.
-Nevertheless, he continued to express himself with the same manly vigor
-as previously. After setting forth the actual situation of France and
-Spain with regard to England, he said: "What remains for us to do?
-
-"Three courses are open to us. The first is worth nothing, the second is
-the most sure, the third, the most noble; but a wise combination of the
-third and second could instantly raise the King of France to be the
-first power of the civilized world.
-
-"The first course, which is worth nothing, absolutely nothing, is to
-continue to do what we are doing, or rather what we are not doing; to
-remain longer passive by the side of the turbulent activity of our
-neighbors, and obstinately to refuse to take sides while still awaiting
-events." After setting forth at length the actual condition of affairs
-in England, the perils which menaced France, the desire which actuated
-all parties in Great Britain to make peace with America while wreaking
-their vengeance upon France, he continues warningly, "But the first step
-towards peace being once taken, be sure that it will be too late for
-France to declare in favor of America." Then follows a narration of
-preparations then making in England to take France unawares. "After
-having become the laughing stock of all Europe," cries the daring
-advocate of the alliance, "a fatal war and the bankruptcy of America
-will be the worthy reward of our inaction.
-
-"The worst course therefore, of all the courses, is now, to take no
-course and to attempt none in conjunction with America, waiting until
-England shall have closed up every way; something which will certainly
-happen very shortly.
-
-"The second course which I regard as the most sure, would be to accept
-publicly the treaty of alliance proposed to us for more than a year by
-America, ... As soon," he says, "as the English learn that there is no
-longer any hope to treat with a country which has treated with us, they
-will instantly make war upon us, declaring us to be aggressors." ... One
-objection after another that might present itself to the minds of the
-ministers is then taken up and weighed, especially in relation to the
-ignorance which existed among them with regard to the "extent of the
-powers entrusted to the legation at Passy, the uncertainty of the
-consent of Congress, the possible mobility of an assembly of which the
-majority was the only law, and which made them fearful that France might
-have to regret too late, a step which naturally would exasperate the
-English.
-
-"These fears, Beaumarchais knew how to turn aside by reasons and
-considerations (_Doniol_ II, p. 742) which would not have been out of
-place in the mouth of a minister."
-
-The third course open to France, "the noblest of all," was to declare to
-the English in a manifesto which should be announced at the same time
-to the other potentates of Europe, that the King of France, after
-having, through delicacy and regard to England, long remained a passive
-spectator of the war existing between England and America, to the great
-disadvantage and injury of French Commerce; "that conditions being so
-and so," which he proceeded to clearly define, "His Majesty obliged by
-circumstances to decide upon some definite course ... and not wishing to
-declare war against England, nor to insult her ... His Majesty contents
-himself with declaring that he will hold the Americans for independent,
-and desires to regard them as such from henceforward, relatively to
-their commerce with France, and the commerce of France with them." ...
-
-"After drawing up his manifesto, Beaumarchais entered into the
-exposition of the measures to take, and discussed the shades of opinion
-of each minister exactly as though he had been part of the council....
-It is not one of the least singularities of the times to see the author
-of the _Barbier de Seville_ deliberating as it were with the ministers,
-saying 'I would do' and putting himself naively in the place of the King
-of France." (_Lomenie_, II, p. 160.)
-
-It was early in December that news of the surrender of Burgoyne reached
-Europe. "The joy of the news of Saratoga brought Beaumarchais to Passy,
-in spite of the bitter griefs which he had against the Commissioners."
-(_Doniol_ II, 646.) The same day he wrote to Vergennes:
-
-                                                "December 5, 1777.
-
-   "Monsieur le Comte:
-
-   " ... Yesterday I was at Passy with the courier who arrived from
-   Congress, and I passed the morning in comforting my heart with
-   the excellent news of which we had that moment received the
-   announcements.
-
-
-   "I came back to Paris, bringing M. Grand in a light carriage with
-   a postillion and two horses. The carelessness of my postillion
-   ... caused us to be overturned.... Mr. Grand had his shoulder
-   broken; the violence of the fall made me bleed profusely at the
-   nose and mouth;--a piece of broken glass entered my right arm--the
-   negro who followed was badly hurt. See me then prostrated, but
-   more ill in mind than body ... it is not the postillion who kills
-   me, but M. de Maurepas. Nevertheless the charming news from
-   America is a balance to my soul.... I am the voice which cries
-   from the depths of my bed, '_De profundis clamavi ad te Domine;
-   Domine exaudi orationem meam_.' Although you received the
-   _Gazette_ of Boston yesterday, I will send you the extract which
-   I myself made to insert in _le Courrier d'Europe_. It is just
-   that I give them in England by my phrases all the poniard thrusts
-   which their Ambassador gives me here with his. I salute you,
-   respect and cherish you, and will sign, if I can with my wounded
-   arm, the assurance of the unalterable devotion with which I am,
-   etc.
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-Two days later, he wrote:
-
-   "M. le Comte:
-
-   "Your honorable and sweet interest consoles me for everything. In
-   thanking you for the counsels which you have been so good as to
-   give me I can assure you that I did not allow myself to be too
-   vivacious in the letter of which I sent you a copy; I cannot
-   explain myself in writing, but you will be much more surprised
-   than I, because you are less acquainted with the persons of whom
-   it is a question, when I give you an account of all that has
-   happened. I always have put a great difference between the honest
-   deputy Deane, and the insidious Lee, and the silent Dr. Franklin.
-
-   "The movement which the news of America has given to all idle
-   heads is inconceivable; the English of the cafes do not know
-   where to hide themselves;--but all that is nothing like so curious
-   as what will take place in London from the shock of the different
-   reports. I await the details with a pleasure equal to all the
-   trouble which they have tried to make me. I thank you for the
-   interest which you take in my health. I am getting up to-day for
-   the first time, and to-morrow I hope to go out.... Receive with
-   your ordinary goodness the assurances of the very respectful
-   devotion with which I am, etc.
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-Wounded in body and sick at heart, the zealous patriot and vigilant
-friend of America continued to give notice to the government of the news
-which, through his agents and friends in London, he received before
-anyone else.
-
-Thursday, the 11th of December, he wrote:
-
-   "To M. le Comte de Vergennes, to be communicated, if he pleases,
-   to M. le Comte de Maurepas.
-
-   "M. le Comte:
-
-   "Although I find it difficult to use my right arm, still I must
-   force it to aid me in announcing to you that I received last
-   night very particular news from London. Everything is in such a
-   state of fermentation since the news of Burgoyne that the crisis
-   has arrived, when the deceived King, the audacious ministry, and
-   the most corrupt parliament must cede to the cries of a furious
-   nation....
-
-   "What is the true moral sense of this crisis? It is, that
-   whichever one of the two nations, France or England, recognizes
-   first the independence of America, she alone will reap all the
-   fruits, while that independence will certainly be ruinous to the
-   one which allows her rival to get the advance. This word sums up
-   everything; this moment accomplishes everything. As to the
-   details, in spite of my grievances and my sufferings, if my poor
-   body can endure the _broutage_, and if you have the time and the
-   desire to receive me to-day, or better, to-morrow, my postillion
-   has orders to await yours.
-
-   "I renew, with the same devotion, M. le Comte, the assurances of
-   the very profound respect of the poor turned and overturned
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-A few days later he had still more startling news to announce; a
-mysterious stranger had arrived in Paris, had visited M. Deane, had
-dined with him, remaining more than two hours. At the end of that time,
-a lackey of Mr. Deane came into the street, looked anxiously about;
-seeing a cab (which was none other than the one in the employ of
-Beaumarchais) he asked if it was engaged; being told that it awaited two
-ladies, the lackey entered the house and soon the mysterious stranger
-came into the street and went away on foot, followed, of course, by the
-cab.
-
-Two more days passed, and at the end of that time, Beaumarchais was able
-to give more definite information. The mysterious stranger proved to be
-a secretary of the Lord Germaine. "Beaumarchais," says Doniol, "informed
-as usual before all others, dispatched at once a notice to the
-ministers. He had followed the English Emissary from the moment of his
-arrival, informed himself of what he already had accomplished, found out
-his lodgings and notified the ministers, who sent at once an agent to
-confer with Deane." (_Doniol_ II, 64.) Vergennes hastened to inform the
-Court of Spain of the secret actions of England, with a design to rouse
-it to action. The moment was indeed a critical one, for the English
-government was leaving nothing undone to come to terms with the
-Americans.
-
-January 1, 1777, Beaumarchais wrote to Vergennes:
-
-   "I hasten to inform you that an emissary from Lord North arrived
-   in Paris yesterday. He has been watched ever since he left
-   London. He has orders to gain the deputation at Passy at any
-   price whatever. This is the moment or never, to cry _tu dors
-   Brutus_. But I know that you are not asleep. From your side you
-   see very well that I do not keep bad guard either.... Be sure
-   that the English ministers are working seriously to make peace
-   with America, and that it is of as much value to the nation that
-   they make it, as it is for Lord Chatham and others.... And so
-   peace with America is absolutely resolved; this is what has been
-   very expressly communicated to me. As for myself, I am informed
-   by the same avenue that the minister of France has given the
-   Americans here help of money by means of Messrs. Grand, that the
-   English ministers know it on good authority and that I am shifted
-   off, which annoys no one in England. I easily believe it. Then I
-   have lost the fruits of the most noble and unbelievable labors,
-   by the very means that lead others to glory; I have several times
-   guessed as much by the strange things which have struck me in the
-   conduct of the Americans towards me.... Miserable human prudence,
-   thou canst save no one when intrigue is bent upon ruining us.
-
-   "M. le Comte, you are the man upon whose equity I have the most
-   counted; you have not even refused at times esteem and
-   well-wishing to my active zeal. Before I perish as merchant, I
-   demand to be fully justified as agent and trader. I demand to lay
-   before you my accounts, in order that it be proved well that no
-   one else could have done so much with so little means across so
-   many difficulties. It is certain that this summer M. le Comte de
-   Maurepas permitted me to send guns to America, and he promised me
-   that when they were gone I should be reimbursed, because he
-   feared at that time the indiscretion of those about M. le Comte
-   de St. Germain. I bought them, sent them and gave my notes which
-   fall due soon, and yet M. de Maurepas seems to have forgotten his
-   promise. This article and the charging of my vessel at Rochefort,
-   arrives at more than 800,000 francs.
-
-   "By the unbelievable retention of my vessel in port, everyone
-   considers me lost and demands his money; nevertheless, though
-   ready to perish through this delay and money not reimbursed, I do
-   not lose my head. You can judge of that by the cold and reasoned
-   work which I put into your hands Saturday. But I avow that I am
-   at the end of my courage and my strength by the assurance that
-   Messrs. Grand have secured the confidence which I believed I so
-   well merited.[1] This breaks my heart. I have fulfilled the most
-   thorny of tasks; I must be allowed to prove that I have fulfilled
-   it well; it is in giving my accounts that this truth will
-   appear....
-
-   "Be happy, M. le Comte, this year and all years. No one merits to
-   be so, more than you, and no one desires it more truly than
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-   [1] Beaumarchais had aided in placing Grand on firm
-   footing with the American Commission (Doniol II, 613).
-
-Although no longer made use of as intermediary, the former agent of the
-government was not wholly abandoned by Vergennes.
-
-A few days previously Beaumarchais had written:
-
-   "M. le Comte: I felt yesterday the sweet influences of your
-   goodness. If I did not obtain what I asked for, at least
-
-   I could judge by the gentle tone of the prohibitions that they were
-   less directed against me than forced by events and promises already
-   made. To lose much money is a great evil, when one has very little;
-   but to carry in one's heart the mortal sorrow of displeasing when one
-   has done one's best, and even the best that could be done, under the
-   circumstances, is a state which kills me. Receive, M. le Comte the
-   warmest testimony of my gratitude."
-
-On the 22nd of January, 1778, the discarded agent handed in the resume
-required of him by the ministers. In writing to Vergennes he said: "This
-sorrowful Memorial (_Memoire Particuliere, pour les ministres du Roi, et
-une manifeste pour l'Etat_) which at another time, and on another
-subject, I could have finished in two hours, has taken me eight days to
-write, my head being so confused by the frightful medley of objects
-which it contains, and in regard to which I claim your justice while
-invoking your mercy.
-
-"I even thought for four days that it had become useless through delay,
-and abandoned everything to work upon my consular balance-sheet. By a
-_tour de force_, I put myself on my feet for twelve or fifteen
-days;--But _grand Dieu_, is this to live? The more I assume a tranquil
-air, the more my secret torment increases. I have examined myself well,
-I have not done the least wrong, and in going over my papers to assure
-myself of my state, I have been frightened at all it has been necessary
-to overcome in the last two years, to arrive where I am. If I am to be
-aided, you cannot do it too quickly or too secretly for the letters of
-change are like death, they wait for no one.... If I am not to be,
-Amen--I have done what I ought, and more than what I could. I learn by
-sure news that my two vessels of Marseilles are certainly at
-Charlestown. This, in spite of France and England. Sixty-six cannons,
-twenty-two mortars, bombs and bullets in proportion; eighty thousand
-weight of sulphur and my poor guns which have not yet been paid for. All
-this is in America, by my indefatigable labor, and I have had to deceive
-all the world, with unbelievable pains, in order to make this shipment
-secretly. Ah, M. le Comte, it is my balance sheet which will show what
-an active man you have allowed to be lost and dishonored if you permit
-this fearful misfortune to accomplish itself. I have no courage to talk
-of England, because in truth I am dying of sorrow."
-
-[Illustration: GENERAL BARON VON STEUBEN]
-
-That the Comte de Vergennes did not lend an altogether deaf ear to this
-cry of despair, may be judged from the following letter, dated February
-15, 1778,
-
-   "M. le Comte:
-
-   "You have seemed to take a too obliging interest in my fearful
-   situation, for me to allow you to remain ignorant a moment of the
-   excessive joy which I have felt since yesterday. Yesterday, my
-   teeth clenched with fury to be without news, I waited the moment
-   to close my case, refusing to make any payment the 15th, which
-   falling due to-day Sunday, was exigible yesterday, the 14th.
-   Read, M. le Comte, read I implore you what I received at 2
-   o'clock, and what I replied this morning, see, my joy is
-   excessive. I am no longer exposed to the dishonor of a
-   bankruptcy, which, notwithstanding all my efforts, I could never
-   have justified, without an involuntary and fatal indiscretion. M.
-   le Comte de Maurepas received me Monday, like a corsaire who had
-   failed in respect to our flag. I did not say a word, I would have
-   had too much to say. I withdrew, death in my heart. Not that I
-   thought the interests of America abandoned. I know very well that
-   they are not....
-
-   "The profound silence which I have imposed upon myself for the
-   past two months, since the departure of the brother of M. Deane,
-   secretly embarked at Bordeaux and bearing ... but this shall be
-   matter for another letter. It is just that M. de Maurepas learns
-   through me of this affair, for if the fear of the most frightful
-   misfortune has rendered me pressing solicitor, I am not a man
-   without virtue; it will be the strongest proof which I can offer
-   of the resignation with which I know how to support the coldness
-   and disdain of those who have protected me. Ah! but I am again
-   saved. It is to you that I render a million thanks for all the
-   efforts which you have made in my favor. Never will I forget the
-   generous efforts which you have made to save me from ruin...."
-
-The moment of the open alliance between France and America was now
-hastening forward. With it, ends the first phase of the war of the
-United States against England, "phase heroic by its enterprise, its
-constancy, its privations, by the serenity of its chief and by the
-results obtained, if one considers the nature and quality of the
-soldiers." (_Doniol_ III, 260.)
-
-It was to this period that the activities of Beaumarchais in the cause
-of America essentially belong. The operations, however, now so well
-under way, he continued to carry on through his agent de Francy, though
-from henceforward they are wholly private in character.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXI
-
-
-_"Any crisis which puts in peril all that society undertakes to secure
-to us by its laws, uncovers our hearts to the world, strips our native
-selfishness of all its disguises, and makes us appear to each other
-pretty nearly as bad as we must always appear to the angels."_
-
-_Hon. John Bigelow in "Beaumarchais the Merchant."_
-
-
-   De Francy Sails for America--His Disappointment in the New
-     World--Beaumarchais Recounts His Grievances against the Deputies
-     at Passy--Rejoices Over American Victories--Manoeuvers to Insure
-     Safety to his Ships--The Depreciation of Paper Money in America--De
-     Francy Comes to the Aid of Lafayette--Contract between Congress
-     and De Francy Acting for Roderigue et Cie.--Letters of Lee to
-     Congress--Bad Faith of that Body--Deane's Signature to Documents
-     Drawn up by Franklin and Lee--Beaumarchais's Triumph at Aix--Gudin
-     Seeks Refuge at the Temple--Letters of Mlle. Ninon.
-
-
-Theveneau de Francy arrived in the States the 1st of December, 1777. He
-was the bearer of letters to Congress from Roderigue Hortales et Cie.,
-filled with polite reminders of the fact that great advances had been
-made for arms, ammunition, etc., and that it was very important that
-much tobacco should be returned as soon as possible. (Spark's
-_Diplomatic Correspondence_, Vol. 1, p. 112.)
-
-De Francy, young and enthusiastic, had set out full of admiration for
-the brave people with whom he had to deal. A little experience, however,
-convinced him that it was no easy or brilliant task which lay before
-him. On the 14th of December, two weeks after his arrival, he addressed
-a lengthy letter to his superior, in which, after giving details of the
-voyage, he proceeded to describe the condition of the country to which
-he had come. He begged Beaumarchais to obtain for him a captain's
-certificate from the Ministry, "for," he said disconsolately, "it is all
-I am likely to get out of this enterprise. Government currency is in
-such poor credit that the 28 per cent. you promised me, to-day is worth
-only 1/2 per cent. The paper money is so discredited that merchants
-prefer keeping their merchandise to selling it at any price for paper.
-The farmers bring nothing to market, so that everything is selling at
-the most extravagant prices; chickens sold for $25.00 after the capture
-of Burgoyne. There is no doubt that what you have done has been
-presented here in a false light. I expect to have many prejudices to
-destroy, and many heads to set right, for the sending of several vessels
-without invoices (a thing which, to tell the truth, is unprecedented)
-and the errors found in the bills of lading of the _Amphitrite_
-especially, have caused it to be suspected that the shipments were not
-made for a merchant. I have explained to General Whipple the reason for
-this apparent disorder, and have made him admit that it was inevitable.
-Nevertheless, there were articles furnished at Havre, which differ so
-widely from what was delivered, that the General told me that our
-correspondent in this country is either a poor merchant or a swindler.
-For example: on my invoice there are 62 boxes or barrels of tinned iron.
-Captain Fautrelle has delivered but 41.... They have given him notice of
-missing boxes, but will they ever arrive?"
-
-In his second letter, written two days later, he announced that Silas
-Deane had been recalled and John Adams appointed to replace him. He
-recommended Beaumarchais to put his affairs in order and get his
-accounts regulated at once, "for," said he, "Mr. Adams has the
-reputation of being the first statesman on the continent and he has in
-fact an air, _extremement fin_. I fear that, aided by his colleagues, he
-may be disposed to play sharp with you. Be on your guard.
-
-"The Colonel Langdon thinks that the affair of the officers has had
-something to do with the recall of Deane. I am almost sure that it is
-the work of that famous politician of Spain and Berlin, Arthur Lee. It
-is he in part who has alienated Doctor Franklin from you, and no doubt
-he will do what he can to have his opinion adopted by Deane's
-successor."
-
-"I have not yet been able to obtain direct news of your nephew but I am
-assured that he is in the Army and well placed, and that he has received
-honorable mention. As to his contract with Deane, I warn you not to
-reckon upon that. I do not doubt that he will obtain by his own merits,
-the grades which Mr. Deane promised him, but Congress will give no heed
-to a contract made with him. Mr. Deane has far exceeded his powers in
-granting commissions to officers who were recommended to him in the
-beginning of his sojourn in France. He had not even the right to make a
-lieutenant, consequently nearly all who came out with commissions signed
-by him, and who have not wished to serve until they were placed, have
-been obliged to return. If M. du Coudray had not died, they would have
-been greatly embarrassed to place him.... Almost all our officers who
-brought letters of recommendation, and have conducted themselves well,
-have advantageous places. La Rouerie is colonel and much esteemed. The
-Marquis de Lafayette has been wounded in the leg. This did not prevent
-his keeping the saddle, however, all day. He cried, 'There, I am
-wounded, now I am content.'"
-
-In the meantime, Beaumarchais had written to de Francy from Paris, "I
-profit, my dear Francy, of every occasion to send you news; let it be
-the same with you, I beg of you. Although it is to-day the 20th of
-December, 1777, my largest ship has not yet set sail; but this is the
-common lot of all merchantmen destined for America. The ministry fears
-that our commerce will take away too many sailors at a time when the
-state may have need of them from one day to another. The most rigorous
-orders have been given in all the ports, and especially in the ports
-where I arm. It seems that the force and capacity of my ships have made
-Lord Stormont attack the ministry in a way to make them fear that he
-suspects them of favoring an operation, which in truth, is carried on
-without them and in spite of them. Ready to set sail, my artillery has
-been taken from me, and the delay in getting it back or in forming
-another is what detains me in port. I struggle against obstacles of
-every kind, but as I struggle with all my force, I hope to conquer with
-patience, and courage and very much money. The enormous loss which all
-this occasions me seems to touch no one. The minister is inflexible;
-there is no one, even to Messrs. the deputies at Passy, who do not
-pretend to the honor of thwarting me,--me--the best friend of their
-country. At the arrival of my vessel, the _Amphitrite_, which at last
-unloaded at Lorient a small cargo of rice and indigo, they had the
-injustice to seize upon it, saying that it was sent to them and not to
-me; but, as M. de Voltaire has very well said, 'Injustice in the end
-produces independence.' They have very probably taken my patience for
-weakness, and my generosity for stupidity. In proportion as I have been
-attached to the interests of America, in so far I have been offended by
-the dishonest liberties which the deputies of Passy have wished to take
-with me. I have written them a letter of which I send you a copy, and
-which they have left without reply up to the present. While waiting, I
-have left the cargo in the hands of MM. Berard brothers, of Lorient, and
-in so doing I have not believed myself to have deviated in any way from
-the frank and generous attitude I always have maintained towards
-Congress, but simply to use my legitimate right in regard to the first
-and very small return which they make upon an enormous advance; that
-cargo is worth about 150,000 livres. You can see the great difference
-between that drop, and the ocean of the debt owing me." (Note of
-Lomenie, "Franklin and Lee, who in this instance acted in spite of
-Deane, did not dare insist, and the cargo remained for Beaumarchais.")
-
-"As for you, my dear, I suppose you have arrived and that you have
-obtained from Congress a reasonable adjustment, such as the situation of
-America permits them to give. I hope that following my instructions, you
-have obtained and will continue to obtain much tobacco, and I expect
-that my vessels will find their return cargoes ready to be embarked as
-soon as they arrive where you are. I still hope that if events should
-retard my vessels still longer, that you will send me at least by _le
-Flammand_ a ... cargo that will deliver me from the horrible pressure in
-which I find myself.
-
-"I do not know whether I flatter myself, but I count upon the honesty
-and equity of Congress as I count upon mine or yours. The deputies here
-are not in comfortable circumstances, and pressing need often make men
-indelicate; this is the way I explain the injustice which they tried to
-do me. I do not despair even of winning them back to me by the
-gentleness of my remonstrances and the firmness of my conduct."
-
-Lomenie says, "This explanation may seem strange ... but the fact is
-that the deputies from America received no more remittances from
-Congress than Beaumarchais. Silas Deane had been obliged to borrow from
-the latter the funds absolutely necessary for his personal expenses.
-Arthur Lee tried later to make use of this fact to inculpate Deane ...
-but it has been well proved that necessity alone forced Deane to
-contract the debt. As for Franklin, he was a little richer when he
-landed in France, because he wrote to his colleague, Silas Deane, from
-Quiberon, December, 1776; 'Our vessel has brought indigo to the value of
-about 3000 pounds sterling which will be at our orders to pay our
-expenses.' ...
-
-"During the year 1777, the French Government itself gave money at
-different times to the deputies at Passy, up to the moment when it
-passed to them, through the Banker Grand, the two millions, which were
-used partly to support the agents and under-agents of America in France,
-and partly to buy munitions for Congress."
-
-To return to Beaumarchais's letter:
-
-   "It is very unfortunate my friend, for the cause of the colonies
-   that their interests in France have been confided to several
-   persons at once; a single one would have succeeded better. As for
-   what regards myself I must do M. Deane the justice to say that he
-   is ashamed and sorry both together, at the conduct of his
-   colleagues with me, of which the blame belongs entirely to M.
-   Lee.
-
-   "I am having trouble also with the provincial Congress of South
-   Carolina, and I wrote by L'Estargette to M. the President
-   Rutledge demanding justice from himself to himself. L'Estargette,
-   who will correspond with you, will inform you of the success
-   which follows my just demands.
-
-   "Across all these annoyances, the news from America overwhelms me
-   with joy. Brave, brave people! whose military conduct justifies
-   my esteem, and the beautiful enthusiasm felt for them in France.
-   In a word, my friend, I only want returns in order to be in a
-   condition to serve them anew, to meet all my engagements, so as
-   to be able to make others in their favor.
-
-   "It seems to me, from what I hear, that our French soldiers have
-   done wonders in all the battles in Pennsylvania. It would have
-   been a disgrace for me, for my country, for the name of a
-   Frenchman, if their conduct had not been equal to the nobility of
-   the cause they had espoused....
-
-   "The City of London is in a terrible commotion; the ministry at
-   bay--the opposition triumphant, and the King of France, like a
-   powerful eagle, hovering above all these events, reserves to
-   himself another moment of pleasure to see the two parties,
-   divided between the hope and fear of his decision, which will
-   have such a great weight in the quarrel of the two hemispheres.
-
-   "To prescribe to you your conduct when you are three thousand
-   miles from me would be foolishness ... serve me to the best of
-   your ability is the only way to render yourself useful to me, to
-   yourself, and to become interesting to the Americans themselves.
-
-   "Do as I do; despise small considerations, small measures, small
-   resentments. I have associated you in a magnificent cause; you
-   are the agent of a just and generous man. Remember that success
-   is always uncertain, that the money due me is at the risk of a
-   great concourse of events, but that my reputation is my own, as
-   you are to-day the artisan of yours. Let it be good my friend,
-   then all will not be lost, even if everything else should be. I
-   salute you, esteem you, and love you."
-
-In the postscriptum which follows, "we see Beaumarchais," says Lomenie,
-"applying the resources of comedy to politics, and ingeniously
-combining the means to elude the ministerial orders, as he would have
-arranged a theatrical play."
-
-   "Here," wrote Beaumarchais in the postscriptum, "is what I have
-   thought out relative to my large vessel--_le Fier Roderigue_. I
-   must keep my word given to M. de Maurepas, that my ship is to
-   carry only seven or eight hundred soldiers to Santo Domingo, and
-   that I will return without touching the continent. Nevertheless,
-   its cargo is very valuable to Congress and to me; it consists in
-   ready made clothing for the soldiers, cloth, blankets, etc. It
-   carries an artillery of sixty-six bronze cannons, ... and much
-   other merchandise.
-
-   "After much thinking, it seems to me that you might arrange
-   secretly with the committee of Congress, to send two or three
-   American corsaires immediately to Santo Domingo. One of them will
-   send its gun-boat to Cape Francis ... then M. Carabasse
-   (Beaumarchais's agent at the Cape) will go aboard her with M. de
-   Montaut, the captain of my vessel _le Fier Roderigue_. They will
-   arrange together that when my vessel sets out, the American
-   Corsaire will capture it under any pretext he chooses, and carry
-   it off. My captain will protest violently, and threaten to
-   complain to Congress. The vessel will be taken to where you are.
-   The Congress will disavow the brutal act, liberate my vessel,
-   with obliging excuses for the French flag; during the time this
-   takes, you will have unloaded the cargo quickly, and filled the
-   ship with tobacco, and you will send her back to me with just
-   what you have been able to gather together. As the bearer of
-   this, M. Carmichael, returns directly, you will have time to
-   arrange this manoeuver either with the Secret Committee of
-   Congress, or directly with a friendly and discreet corsair. By
-   this means, M. de Maurepas will be disengaged from his promise
-   made to others, I from mine to him, because no one can oppose
-   himself to violence, and my operation will have been successful
-   in spite of all the obstacles which cross my path.... My vessel
-   starts before the 15th of January. It bears orders to wait news
-   from you at Cape Francis. After all that I am doing, the Congress
-   cannot longer doubt, I hope, that the most zealous partisan of
-   the republic in France is your friend
-
-                                      "Roderigue Hortales et Cie."
-
-Commenting upon the above letter, James Parton has written:
-
-   "Such was Caron de Beaumarchais; unique among merchants and men.
-   Whether it was by those or by other manoeuvers that the ship was
-   enabled to reach America, no one has informed us. Certain it is
-   that she arrived safely at Yorktown, Virginia, and was loaded
-   with tobacco for her return. I trust M. de Maurepas was
-   satisfied." (_Life of Franklin_, Vol. II, p. 271.)
-
-The next letter in this series which has been preserved to us is from De
-Francy and is dated May 14, 1778. In it he announced that it was the
-twelfth since his arrival, all of which he feared had failed in reaching
-their destination. Continuing his account of the disorderly consequences
-of the depreciation of paper money, he said, "I have just extricated the
-Marquis de Lafayette from a serious mistake into which he had fallen
-unsuspectingly.
-
-"You have, of course, heard of the excessive depreciation of paper
-money. At one moment in Pennsylvania it reached the point of absolute
-worthlessness. The expenses of the Marquis at this time, as he received
-no pay, were absolutely enormous. He at first borrowed money on bills of
-exchange at 2 for 1, afterwards at 3 for 1. He supposed that was
-borrowing at the rate of $2 for $1 and $3 for $1; instead, the rate was
-2 and 3 pounds Pennsylvania currency for 1 pound sterling. The pound
-sterling was worth 34 shillings Pennsylvania currency. He had signed the
-bills presented to him without reading them and his expenses far
-exceeded the amount he supposed them to reach. I informed him of his
-error and ... have advanced him very considerable sums on account of the
-House ... my arrangement with him is that he shall reimburse the
-principal in one year in Paris, paying 6 per cent., the same as Congress
-allows you."
-
-The allowance of 6 per cent. made by Congress to Beaumarchais, to which
-De Francy here alludes, had been settled in a contract drawn up the 6th
-of April, 1778 duly signed, sealed and delivered to the indefatigable
-agent, of which the following is the substance: (The contract in full is
-given by Durand, p. 119-126 in his _New Material for the History of the
-American Revolution_.)
-
-   "To whom it May Concern:
-
-   "Whereas, Roderigue Hortales et Cie. have shipped or caused to be
-   shipped ... considerable quantities of cannon, arms, ammunition,
-   clothing, and other stores, most of which have been safely landed
-   in America ... and Whereas as Roderigue Hortales et Cie., willing
-   and desirous to continue supplying those stores ... provided
-   satisfactory assumption be made and assurance given for the
-   payment in France of the just cost, charges, freight of the
-   cargoes already shipped as well as those to be hereafter
-   shipped....
-
-   "Now know ye that John Baptist Lazarus Theveneau de Francy, agent
-   of Peter Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, as representative of the
-   house of said Roderigue Hortales et Cie., by him especially
-   appointed and empowered to act ... in virtue of the powers in him
-   trusted, to contract, agree and engage to and with M. Ellery,
-   Jas. Forbes, Wm. Henry Dayton, Wm. Hurer, Esq., a Committee of
-   commerce, properly appointed and authorized by the delegates of
-   the United States of America in Congress assembled to enter into,
-   execute, ratify and confirm this contract for and in behalf of
-   the said United States as follows:
-
-   "1st. That the cost and charges of the cargoes already shipped
-   shall be fairly stated in current prices ... at the date of
-   shipment.
-
-   "2nd. The freight to be charged agreeably to contract entered
-   into by Caron de Beaumarchais, Silas Deane, and M. Monthieu.
-
-   "3rd. All orders to be transmitted to Messrs. Roderigue Hortales
-   et Cie. or their agents, subject to the inspection and control of
-   an agent appointed under the authority of Congress, who shall
-   have liberty to inspect the quality of such merchandise.
-
-   "4th. All articles hereafter shipped to be provided as nearly as
-   possible to order ... and not higher than the current price ...
-   attended with most moderate charges.
-
-   "5th. Good ships shall be chartered or bought at moderate price
-   for transportation of the stores.
-
-   "6th. That agents appointed under the authority of Congress,
-   shall have free liberty to inspect the quality, and require the
-   prices of all articles to be shipped for the account of the
-   United States, with power to reject such as they judge unfit or
-   too high priced; they shall also be party in the charters and
-   purchasing of ships to be employed in the service.
-
-   "7th. Bills on the House of Roderigue Hortales et Cie., for
-   24,000,000 _livres tournois_, annually, shall be honored and
-   paid....
-
-   "In consideration whereof, the said William Ellery, James Forbes,
-   William Henry Dayton, William Durer, Esq., Committee of Commerce
-   for Congress ... agree and engage with Roderigue Hortales et
-   Cie., by their said agent as follows:
-
-   "1st. That remittances shall be made by exports of American
-   produce ... for the express purpose of discharging the debt
-   already justly due, or thereafter to become justly due in
-   consequence of this agreement....
-
-   "2nd. That all cargoes ... for the discharge of said debt, be
-   addressed to Roderigue Hortales et Cie.... subject to the
-   inspection and control of an agent appointed under the authority
-   of congress, who shall have liberty to inspect the quality of
-   such merchandise, assent to or reject the prices offered,
-   postpone the sales and do everything for the interests of his
-   constituents.
-
-   "3rd. That the customary interest of France not exceeding 6 per
-   cent. per annum shall be allowed on the debt already due, or that
-   from time to time, shall be due to the said Roderigue Hortales et
-   Cie.
-
-   "4th. That any payments of Continental Currency in America ...
-   shall be computed at the current, and equitable course of
-   exchange at the date of payment ... and interest to be discounted
-   on the amount from that date.
-
-   "5th. That remittances to be made for the purpose of discharging
-   the debt now due, or to become due to the said Roderigue Hortales
-   et Cie., shall be made at such times and seasons, as shall be
-   most convenient for the American interest, but are to continue
-   until the entire debt, principal and interest, shall be fully and
-   fairly discharged.
-
-   "6th. That a commission of 21/2 per cent. shall be allowed to
-   the said Roderigue Hortales et Cie.... on all charges and monies
-   paid and disbursed by them for the account of the United States.
-
-   "In witness whereof the contracting parties have hereunto set
-   their hands and seals, this 16th day of April in the year of our
-   Lord, 1778.
-
-   Signed: "William Ellery,
-            James Forbes,
-            William Henry Dayton,
-            William Durer,
-            Jean Baptiste Lazarus Theveneau de Francy.
-
-   Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of
-
-                                             Charles Thomson,
-                                           Secretary of Congress."
-
-[Illustration: ROBERT MORRIS]
-
-Naturally enough, having obtained a contract of such precise
-stipulations, signed, not as formerly, by an agent three thousand miles
-from the seat of Congress, but by a committee chosen from the bosom of
-that body, de Francy thought the greatest difficulty of his mission
-already accomplished, and Beaumarchais, when he received the glad
-tidings, set about with renewed vigor, the gathering together and
-dispatching of supplies. The Americans, however, still found reasons for
-delaying the fulfillment of their part of the contract; and it was only
-after two more months of ceaseless activity that de Francy succeeded in
-getting enough tobacco to freight the _Fier Roderigue_ for its return
-voyage. Which cargo, the second that had reached Beaumarchais, was
-destined when it arrived in France to be seized upon by Lee, as that of
-the _Amphitrite_ had been, with the same results. In a letter to
-Beaumarchais, June, 1778, de Francy announced the order which he had
-received for the delivery of the tobacco, "The rest of the letter," says
-Bigelow, "is filled with complaints of the bad faith of these
-republicans, who refuse him the vessels they had promised to carry off
-his tobacco, and urges Beaumarchais to send out at least six himself."
-
-A letter dated July 11th is filled with still more bitter complaints.
-"In spite of the most formal engagements," he wrote, "these people find
-the means of obstructing all business, the pretext for breaking promises
-the most solemn." In a word, he thinks it better to suspend business
-until "laws better established put a bridle upon the bad faith which
-reigns in the country." A little later he wrote: "If this business were
-to be continued, which I do not advise unless you have special reasons,
-it would be one of the greatest commercial operations ever engaged in,
-if one could only rely upon the good faith of these republicans. But
-they have no principle and I desire sincerely to see all your accounts
-closed with them.
-
-"I believe Carmichael is the only one who appreciates all you have done
-for this country. He arrived at York two days ago, before I went to
-Virginia. The moment of our meeting was one of the most agreeable that I
-have passed in this country. We did not quit each other for two days.
-During these two days, I rendered him a service by letting him into the
-private character of all the members of Congress. I told him those who
-were his friends, and those who were opposed to his nomination as
-Secretary of Legation. In gratitude I hope he will serve you well.... I
-made the President feel that your letter to M. Sartine clearly
-demonstrated that the assertions of du Coudray and Lee were vile and
-infamous lies. The force and energy of this letter astonished him. He
-could not help saying to me that he would not have believed that anyone
-could have written with such freedom to a minister in France....
-
-"I believe Carmichael is your friend; if I am mistaken, I never wish to
-speak to an American again, as long as I live." Then follows a most
-doleful picture of the discord, selfishness, and greed, which seemed to
-reign everywhere. Upon this part of the letter, Hon. J. Bigelow has
-commented admirably. He says:
-
-   "A little more experience with the world would probably have
-   taught the young man that any crisis which puts in peril all that
-   society undertakes to secure to us by its laws, uncovers our
-   hearts to the world, strips bare our native selfishness of all
-   its disguises, and makes us appear to each other, pretty nearly
-   as bad as we must always appear to the angels. There is no doubt
-   but the revolted colonists, struggling for their very existence,
-   appeared disadvantageously to a sentimental enthusiast like de
-   Francy, but we have yet to hear of any people while having so
-   much at risk, appearing better.
-
-   "Of course after having been kept so long without tobacco, and
-   treated with undisguised distrust as a swindler or as the agent
-   of one, de Francy takes very dyspeptic views of the men who
-   compose the Continental Congress."
-
-As a matter of fact, he hits off one after another of our great heroes
-with anything but the reverential tone which we are wont to use in
-referring to them. "President Laurens," he says, "is a very upright
-merchant, but no more; in important affairs he is an old woman." "Samuel
-Adams is an old fox who has genius." "The famous Hancock is precisely
-the _Corbeau revetu_." "Robert Morris works for himself while working
-for the Republic." "General Washington," here his tone changes, "has
-honor, courage, and a truly disinterested patriotism.... I have seen
-much of him and I really believe he is the first man on the continent,
-although to tell you the truth, he is very difficult to know well...."
-
-The unaccountably bad faith of Congress began to arouse the suspicions
-of the agent of Beaumarchais, which he hastened to communicate to his
-superior. On the 31st of July, 1778, de Francy wrote: "I have not been
-able to obtain a perusal of the letters of Lee. Two of his brothers,
-members of Congress, had possession of the foreign correspondence during
-the past year, and they have abstracted all his letters for fear they
-would be prejudicial to him; but I cannot doubt but you are there
-painted in the blackest colors. I know at least that anonymous letters
-were written against you, filled with lies, insults, and atrocities; and
-what is of a marked fatality, your excessive zeal for the Americans has
-been the basis of the lies of Lee, and of all the misgivings with regard
-to you. Doubtless you recollect that at the commencement of 1776, while
-you were in London, you promised this little doctor, then humble and
-suppliant, that if the Americans fully decided never to reunite with
-England, you would send out under the name of Roderigue Hortales et
-Cie., all the succor of which they would have need; and the enthusiasm
-which then animated you, gave great latitude to your promise. At least,
-the doctor so communicated it; and to give importance to what he said,
-he made an ambassador of you, and instead of naming you, he remarked
-that the promise came from the ambassador of France. Behold here the
-origin of his elevation! His brothers have strongly supported his high
-pretensions and he was named agent. He was obliged to maintain what he
-had written, but fearing lest the reserve of the ministers towards the
-agents in France should make Congress suspect that the French Ambassador
-never had spoken to him in England, he abandoned his first assertion and
-then wrote that it was you who called upon him in London to make him
-such beautiful promises on the part of the French Minister. The Memoir
-of du Coudray attests, on the other hand, that the minister put you
-forward that he might disavow you if he desired. Congress readily
-allowed itself to be persuaded that everything that arrived on your
-vessels was a present, or at least a loan from your government which it
-might acquit at its pleasure.
-
-"When after my arrival at York, I announced my purpose and the
-reclamations I came to make, I did not find a single member of Congress
-disposed to believe that it was an individual who had rendered them such
-signal services, and that he was to be paid for them, as it was
-impossible to find on this continent a man who would ever have attempted
-for the freedom of his country the one-hundredth part of what you have
-done.... True Americans are infinitely rarer here than in Paris, and I
-am satisfied there is not one whose zeal approaches yours."
-
-As a sample of what Lee had been writing to Congress, the few following
-passages quoted at random, will suffice: "Upon this subject of returns I
-think it my duty to say ... that the ministry have repeatedly assured me
-that no returns are expected for these subsidies." At another time he
-wrote, speaking of a shipment just being made, "this is gratis as
-formerly, and what has been sent I have paid for; so that those
-merchants Hortales et Cie. have no demand upon you; nor are you under
-any necessity of sending effects to them, unless you think it a proper
-market for some things, as it certainly is for fish." (See _Vindication
-of Arthur Lee_.)
-
-"These assertions," says Lomenie (Vol. II, p. 178), "offering the
-advantage of dispensing America from all gratitude and all payment to
-Beaumarchais, Congress was naturally disposed to adopt." It must be
-remembered, however, that at this moment the party which upheld Arthur
-Lee, headed by his two brothers and Samuel Adams, were at the height of
-their power, so that the opposite side, in whose ranks stood the upright
-and clear-sighted John Jay, was temporarily overruled.
-
-Before inserting the last letter which we give of de Francy, a short
-explanation is necessary. Already the reader has been apprised through
-these letters, of the difficult position in which Silas Deane had been
-placed, through the secret disavowal of his acts by Congress, even while
-he still remained their credited commissioner in France. Unconscious of
-the perfidy of Lee, yet thoroughly distrusting him, dismayed at the
-attitude of Franklin, who explained nothing, but who took from the first
-the part of ignoring all Deane's previous transactions, the latter was
-forced to submit for the present to this embarrassing state of affairs,
-and to place his whole hope of adjustment in the equity of Congress in
-which he still firmly believed. Slowly it began to dawn on him, that the
-ground of his colleagues' resentment to him was largely a matter of
-money. In the beginning Deane, realizing to the full the lack of trained
-military men among the insurgents, had freely promised commissions of
-high rank, with proportionately high pay, to the French officers who
-came to him well recommended and who had a desire to serve. As most of
-these men were either unable or unwilling to provide their own equipment
-and traveling expenses, Deane had advanced them money in the name of
-Congress, but taking it, not from his own resources, for he had none,
-but from those of his friend Beaumarchais, with the understanding, of
-course, that it should all be repaid.
-
-When Franklin arrived, Deane soon realized that repayment would be very
-difficult, and dreading to face the effect which the whole truth would
-have produced, he had begged Beaumarchais to delay sending in his
-accounts until Congress should have ratified his agreements. This
-Beaumarchais, with characteristic generosity, readily conceded. De
-Francy wrote: "You appear still to have the blindest confidence in Deane
-and you neglect your own interests.... Well, now, on February 16th, when
-Deane passed the morning with you, they had written to Congress--(I have
-seen the letter signed by the three agents)--that you got possession of
-the cargo of the _Amphitrite_ contrary to their expectations, and that
-they did not oppose it because their political situation did not permit
-them to come to any explanation with you. They add that they had been
-informed that you had sent an agent to Congress to solicit the payment
-of a very considerable debt, but that it was not necessary to settle
-anything with this agent; that the commercial venture to which it
-related was a mixed business which it was necessary to sift before
-closing the account; that they would occupy themselves with the
-business, and that it was better to leave it with them to arrange with
-you.
-
-"I will make no reflections upon this transaction; I will only say that
-it appears to me very extraordinary, an incredible weakness even, that
-Mr. Deane should have consented to sign what it pleased his colleagues
-to write, up to the very moment when you had the generosity to sacrifice
-everything for him and he knew it. You can well imagine, that with such
-news, doubts are reinforced, objections multiplied, etc., etc."
-
-Of the recall of Deane, already announced in a previous letter of De
-Francy, we shall speak at length, in another chapter. For the present
-let us return to France to follow Beaumarchais in his private career as
-citizen.
-
-It will be remembered that when, in 1776, the restored parliament had
-annulled the decree of the parliament Maupeau, Beaumarchais had
-petitioned the Ministers to obtain for him the adjournment of the final
-decision in the matter of the suit instituted against him by the Comte
-de la Blache so many years before. "This suit," says Lomenie (Vol. II,
-p. 54), "which had been the origin of his tribulation, and of his
-celebrity, still subsisted, and in the midst of his triumphs held his
-fortune and his honor in check.... The Count de la Blache, seeing the
-credit of his adversary so rapidly growing, urged on with all his force
-the final decision. Beaumarchais was in less haste; occupied in
-organizing his operations with America, and in reconquering his civil
-existence, he did not wish to terminate the other case until he had
-assured himself very well of his position.
-
-"The decisive combat came off at Aix in July, 1778. The author of the
-_Barbier de Seville_, accompanied by the faithful Gudin, started for
-Provence. He was going at the same time to despatch two vessels from
-Marseilles for the United States and to finish with the most desperate
-of his enemies."
-
-"At Marseilles," says Gudin in his memoir, "Beaumarchais covered the
-part he played in public affairs, by the veil of amusements or his
-private business."
-
-Of the memoirs which he published at Aix, in relation to this important
-suit, Lomenie has said: "They contain passages which are not below the
-best to be found in the memoirs against Goezman ... one feels a man who
-is conscious of his power, who conducts vast operations, who enjoys a
-great celebrity and who considers his social importance as equal at
-least to that of a field-marshal.
-
-"The city of Aix seemed predestined to famous lawsuits. In the same
-place where Mirabeau was soon to come to give forth the first bellowings
-of his eloquence, was seen to glitter the sparkling fancy of the
-_Barbier de Seville_. Vainly, the Count de la Blache surrounded himself
-with six lawyers, and prepared from very far back his triumph.... At the
-end of a few days, Beaumarchais had conquered the public."
-
-"You have completely turned the city," his attorney said to him. His
-triumph was complete; a definite decree of Parliament disembarrassed
-him forever of the Comte de la Blache. The latter was condemned to
-execute the agreement drawn up and signed, du Verney, 1770.
-
-"The affair," says Gudin, "was examined with the most scrupulous
-attention and judged after fifty-nine seances. The legatee, all of whose
-demands were rejected, was condemned, and his memoirs were suppressed."
-
-Beaumarchais, in turn, was condemned to pay 1,000 _ecus_ to the poor of
-Aix as a punishment for the severe witticisms against his antagonist, in
-which he had indulged in his memoirs. They were also publicly condemned.
-Beaumarchais, however, was triumphant. Overwhelmed with joy to find his
-honor and his fortune restored to him, he desired only that the good
-people of Aix should rejoice with him. Instead, therefore, of the 1,000
-_ecus_ demanded of him, he instantly doubled the sum, requesting that it
-might be distributed in dowries to twelve or fifteen poor, but worthy
-young women; the benediction of so many families happily established
-seeming to him the most beautiful which he could draw upon himself.
-
-"The intoxication of this triumph, after so many years of uncertainty
-and combat, the enthusiasm with which he was received by the people of
-Aix," are graphically described by Gudin in a letter written at the
-moment of his triumph.
-
-"All the city," wrote Gudin, "which subsists on suits, was in a state of
-the greatest impatience. While the judges deliberated, the doors of the
-court house were besieged; women, idlers, and those interested, were
-under the trees of a beautiful avenue not far off. The cafes, which
-bordered this promenade, were also filled. The Comte de la Blache was in
-his well lighted salon, which looked out on this avenue. Our friend was
-in a quarter at some distance away. Night came; at last the doors of the
-court house opened and these words were heard: 'Beaumarchais has
-gained;' a thousand voices repeated them, the clapping of hands spread
-down the avenue. Suddenly the windows and doors of the Comte were
-closed, the crowd arrived with cries, and acclamations, at the house of
-my friend; men, women, people who knew him and those who knew him not,
-embraced him, and congratulated him; this universal joy, the cries and
-transports overcame him, he burst into tears, and see him, like a great
-baby, let himself fall fainting into my arms. It was then who could
-succor him, who with vinegar, who with smelling salts, who with air;
-but, as he himself has said, the sweet impressions of joy do no harm. He
-soon returned to himself, and we went together to see and thank the
-first president.... On returning ... we found the same crowd at the
-house; tamborines, flutes, violins succeeded before and after supper;
-all the fagots of the neighborhood were piled up and made a fire of
-joy.... The mechanics of the place composed a song, and came in a body
-to sing it under his windows. Every heart took part in his joy, and
-everyone treated him like a celebrated man, to whose probity, due
-justice had at length been rendered."
-
-Gudin's enthusiasm for his friend was destined, however, to a singular
-recompense. Arrived in Paris, he had composed a lengthy epistle to
-Beaumarchais (Lomenie II, p. 66), which began as follows:
-
-"The severe justice of Parliament has confounded the malice of thy
-enemies, though they had hoped that the dark art, which a _vile senator_
-in unhappy times had made to incline the balance, would surprise the
-prudence of our true magistrates."
-
-This chef-d'oeuvre, composed of a hundred or more verses, had been
-inserted in a copy of _Courrier de l'Europe_, which was published in
-London, and which had altered the text by putting at the place of the
-words, "of a _vile senator_"--"_a profane senate_," so that the personal
-allusion to the judge Goezman was transformed into an allusion to the
-whole parliament Maupeou. But most of the members of this judicial body
-had gone back to their places in the grand council, from whence Maupeou
-had drawn them. Irritated at the triumph of Beaumarchais, and not daring
-to attack a man so strong in the favor of the public and the confidence
-of the ministers, "they seized this opportunity of scourging
-Beaumarchais over the back of his friend."
-
-The latter was absent from Paris, busy with the despatching of vessels
-from one of the seaports, when, suddenly, a warrant, "issued," says
-Lomenie, "without the slightest warning, came to surprise the pacific
-Gudin." As he sat at table one evening with his mother and niece, a
-letter was handed him, which proved to be from a friend, Mme. Denis,
-niece of Voltaire. He glanced it through and there read the startling
-announcement: "You are about to be arrested, and that for verses printed
-in the _Courrier de l'Europe_. You have not an instant to lose."
-
-"I lost none," wrote Gudin. "Having read the letter, I quitted the table
-without a word and passed into my room, where I hastily dressed myself,
-and then took refuge at the house of Beaumarchais. I read the letter to
-Mme. Beaumarchais....
-
-"My first care was to send a messenger to prepare my mother for the
-strange visit she was about to receive, and bidding her not to alarm
-herself, and to reply that she did not know where I was, and that it was
-possible I was with Beaumarchais at a hundred leagues from Paris."
-
-After calling about him several of his friends, men of experience, they
-deliberated what was to be done. "Do not allow yourself to be taken,
-these men of the grand council hate Beaumarchais, and are quite capable
-of revenging themselves upon his friend...."
-
-"I decided therefore to withdraw into the enclosure of the Temple. This
-castle, ... so scandalously taken by Philipp the Bel from the Templars,
-and since ceded to the Chevaliers of Malta, was at this time, owing to
-the privileges of that order, an asylum, not for criminals, but for any
-person, who, without having given serious offense, found himself in
-difficulty, as for instance, a debt, a challenge, in a word, an affair
-like the present. (The Temple, famous for being the stronghold in which
-a few years later the royal family was imprisoned, and from which Louis
-XVI was led to execution, was subsequently destroyed by Napoleon. It
-stood near the present Place de la Republique. Much of its site is now
-occupied by the _Magasins du Temple_, the great second-hand shops of
-Paris.)
-
-"The custom was to inscribe one's name upon the bailiff's register on
-entering the Temple; he asked me why I had come to claim the privileges
-of the place.
-
-"'Is it debts?'
-
-"'I have none.'
-
-"'An attack?'
-
-"'My enemies, if I have any, have never used any weapon against me
-except their pen.'
-
-"'A quarrel at cards, or an affair with a woman?'
-
-"'I never play cards, and I have never caused either disorder in a
-family, nor scandal in a house of joy.'
-
-"'But why then?'
-
-"'For verses, which grave personages do not find to be good, verses
-printed I don't know how in London, denounced, I don't know why in
-Paris, and which the grand council, who has not the control of books and
-is in no way judge of what takes place in England, pretends to be
-injurious to a tribunal which no longer exists.'"
-
-"Beaumarchais, on his return to Paris, learned of my adventure, and was
-justly angry. He came and took me from my retreat. 'Be sure,' he said,
-'they will not dare to arrest you in my carriage or in my house.'"
-
-"At the end of several days," says Lomenie, "Beaumarchais had succeeded
-in liberating his friend; nothing could paint better his situation at
-this period than the tone of his letters to the ministers, especially to
-the keeper of the seals:
-
-"'Monseigneur,' he wrote, 'I have the honor to address to you the
-petition to the council of the King, of my friend Gudin de la
-Brenellerie, who unites to the most attractive genius the simplicity of
-a child, and who, in your quality of protector of the letters of France,
-you would judge worthy of your protection if he had in addition the
-honor of being known to you.'"
-
-Beaumarchais thus was able to ignore the smoldering resentment of his
-enemies and to press forward his vast enterprises. The war had now
-broken out between France and England. French merchantmen went to sea
-completely at the mercy of events. The French flag, instead of a
-protection, was now a signal for attack. It was therefore clear that if
-Beaumarchais was to continue his mercantile operations, it must be upon
-a new basis. But before we follow him into the equipping of armed
-vessels to protect his merchant fleet, let us linger a moment, that we
-may gain a still nearer view of Beaumarchais, the man.
-
-The popular enthusiasm which everywhere had welcomed the uprising
-amongst the colonists continued to voice itself in every quarter of
-France and on all occasions where it was a question of the rights of
-man. The wild joy which had greeted the triumph of Beaumarchais at Aix
-was due largely, Gudin tells us, to the fact that for the first time in
-the annals of that city a nobleman had been so signally humiliated as
-had been his antagonist. In this general desire for a recognition of
-human rights, the aristocracy of France themselves took the lead.
-Rousseau, calling so loudly for human beings, men and women, to leave
-the lines marked out for them by authority and tradition and to return
-to nature as their guide, was heard, not only in the remotest hamlet of
-the realm, but his voice found echo in its lordly castles and its palace
-halls. In _Emile_, he traced the revolution which was to take place in
-the instruction and training of the child; in _La Nouvelle Heloise_, he
-laid down a scheme of morals, the teaching of which was directly opposed
-to the Christian code. The effect of these teachings upon contemporary
-France could not be more strikingly exemplified than in the following
-letter addressed to Beaumarchais by a girl of seventeen. It gives at the
-same time an idea of the confidence which the name of the latter
-inspired among the masses of the people. The letter is written from Aix
-and is dated not long after the successful termination of his suit:
-
-   "Monsieur:
-
-   "A young person crushed under the weight of her anguish, comes to
-   you and seeks consolation. Your soul, which is known, reassures
-   her for a step which she dares take, and which, were it anyone
-   else, would remain without consequences. But are you not Monsieur
-   de Beaumarchais, and do I not dare hope that you will deign to
-   take my cause and direct the conduct of a young and inexperienced
-   girl? I am myself that unfortunate who comes to lay her sorrows
-   in your bosom; deign to open it to me. Allow yourself to be
-   touched with the recital of my woes.... Ah! if there are hard
-   hearts, yours is not of that number.... Shall I say to you,
-   Monsieur, that I feel in you a more than ordinary confidence? You
-   will not be offended; my heart tells me to follow that which it
-   inspires. It tells me that you will not refuse me your succor.
-   Yes, you will aid me, you will support despised innocence; I have
-   been abandoned by a man to whom I have sacrificed myself. I avow,
-   with tears that I yielded to love, to sentiment and not to
-   vice.... I enjoyed a certain consideration; it has been taken
-   from me. I am only seventeen, and my reputation is lost already.
-   With a pure heart and honest inclinations I am despised by
-   everyone. I cannot endure this idea; it overwhelms me and I am in
-   despair.... Ah, Monsieur, lend me your aid, reach out to me your
-   generous hand, cause to spring up in my oppressed soul, hope and
-   consolation. I do not wish to injure the perfidious one who has
-   betrayed me; no, I love him too much. It is at the foot of the
-   throne that I wish to carry my plaint. If you will deign to aid
-   me, I promise myself everything. You have powerful protectors,
-   Monsieur; you know the Ministers, they respect you. Say to them
-   that a young person implores their protection, that she sighs and
-   groans night and day; that she desires only justice.... (The
-   ungrateful one must in the end do me justice.) I can say without
-   presumption that I am not unworthy of his tenderness. He opposes
-   nothing to my happiness but my fortune, which is not sufficient
-   to arrange his affairs, which are not in too good order. He has
-   no aversion to me. There is nothing about me to inspire it. The
-   only crime of which I am culpable is to have loved him too well.
-   Do not abandon me, Monsieur; I put my destiny in your hands....
-   If you are kind enough to reply to this, be so good as to address
-   your letter to M. Vitalis, rue de Grand-Horloge, at Aix, and
-   above the address simply to Mlle. Ninon. You will be so good as
-   to pardon me, Monsieur, if I still hide my name.... I know that
-   with you I have nothing to fear, but still a certain fear that I
-   cannot conquer, that I would not know how to define, holds me
-   back. You have connections in Aix; I am very well known here. In
-   small towns one knows everything; you know how they talk. I
-   implore you, do not divulge the confidence which I have taken the
-   liberty of making to you.... Monsieur, I have the honor to be,
-   with sentiments of the most perfect consideration, your very
-   humble and very obedient servant,
-
-                                                          "Ninon."
-
-[Illustration: THE TEMPLE]
-
-"Let one imagine a similar letter," says Lomenie, "suddenly falling from
-six hundred miles away, upon a man forty-six years of age, the busiest
-man of France and Navarre, who had need to confer every morning with the
-Ministers, who had forty ships on the seas, who pleaded against the
-comedians, who was preparing a pamphlet against the English Government,
-who was busy founding a bank, who dreamed of editing Voltaire; surely
-this man would throw into the waste basket the sorrows of a young and
-unknown girl. Not in the least. Beaumarchais had time for everything.
-Here is his reply to Mlle. Ninon:
-
-   "'If you are really, young stranger, the author of the letter
-   which I have received from you, I must conclude that you have as
-   much intelligence as sensibility, but your condition and your
-   sorrows are as well painted in this letter as the service which
-   you expect of me is little. Your heart deceives you when it
-   counsels you an act like the one which you dare conceive; for
-   although your misfortune might secretly interest all sensible
-   persons, its kind is not one whose remedy can be solicited at the
-   foot of the throne. Thus, sweet and interesting Ninon, you
-   should renounce a plan whose futility, your inexperience alone
-   hides from you. But let me see how I can serve you. A half
-   confidence leads to nothing and the true circumstances of an open
-   avowal might perhaps furnish me the means of seeing how the
-   obstacles may be removed which separate a lover from so charming
-   a girl. But do not forget that in desiring me to keep the matter
-   secret you have told me nothing. If you sincerely believe me the
-   gallant man whom you invoke, you should not hesitate to confide
-   to me your name, that of your lover, his position and yours, his
-   character and the nature of his ambition; also, the difference in
-   your fortunes, which seems to separate you from him.' He next
-   attempts to persuade the young girl to forget a man who has shown
-   himself so unworthy of her regrets. 'Forget him, and may this
-   unhappy experience of yours hold you in guard against similar
-   seductions. But if your heart cannot accept so austere a counsel,
-   open it to me then entirely, that I may see, in studying all the
-   connections, whether I can find some consolation to give you,
-   some view which will be useful and agreeable.
-
-   "'I promise you my entire discretion, and I finish without
-   compliment, because the most simple manner is the one that should
-   inspire the most confidence. But hide nothing from me.
-
-                                                   'Beaumarchais.'
-
-"Mademoiselle Ninon," continues Lomenie, "asked for nothing better than
-to unburden her poor heart; she addressed to Beaumarchais an avalanche
-of letters of which several contain no less than twelve pages; she gave
-her name, the name of her seducer, and recounts her little romance with
-a curious mixture of naivete, of precocity, sensitiveness, intelligence
-and garrulity. This _Provencale_ of seventeen is literally saturated
-with the _Nouvelle Heloise_.
-
-"'Fatal house,' she cried, in speaking of the place where she first met
-her lover, ''tis thou which causes my pains.' She has all its
-contradictions, ... protesting that if she has left the path of virtue,
-she has only all the more felt the worth of a pure and virtuous soul.
-'Lovely innocence,' she cried, 'have I lost thee? Ah! no, no; I have
-sounded to the remotest depths of my heart; it is too sensitive, but it
-is still honest. I implore you, Monsieur, do not believe it corrupt.'
-
-"Whether," continues Lomenie, "these rather wordy dissertations of the
-little philosopher in skirts gave to Beaumarchais the idea that it would
-be too difficult to correct such an exalted brain, or whether it was
-that the work which was crushing him on every side prevented his
-following this strange correspondence, true it is that he replied no
-more to the long letters of Mlle. Ninon, although she addressed to him
-the most melancholy reproaches. But what could he do? The war had just
-broken out between France and England. Beaumarchais, who had had his own
-part in bringing about that result, was engaged himself in the conflict;
-he drew up political memoirs, he armed vessels; where could he find the
-time to reply to the confidences of Mademoiselle Ninon? Nevertheless it
-would seem that these letters interested him because he has classed them
-in a package by themselves, upon which he has written with his own hand:
-'Letters of Ninon, or affair of my young client, unknown to me.'"
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXII
-
-
-"_After the perplexing and embarrassing scenes you have just had to pass
-through, it must give you the most solid joy to see an armament going
-out to America.... I congratulate you on this great and glorious event,
-to which you have contributed more than any other person._"
-
-   "_Silas Deane to Beaumarchais._"
-   _March 29, 1778._
-
-
-"_It seems to me that we cannot consistently with our own honor or
-self-respect pay off an undisputed debt with a doubtful or disputed
-gift._"
-
-_Speech of Mr. Tucker of Virginia, Relative to the Claims of
-Beaumarchais, 1824._
-
-
-   Deane's Recall--Beaumarchais's Activity in Obtaining for Him
-     Honorable Escort--Letters to Congress--Reception of
-     Deane--Preoccupation of Congress at the Moment of His
-     Return--Arnold and Deane in Philadelphia the Summer of
-     1778--Deane's Subsequent Conduct--Letters of Carmichael and
-     Beaumarchais--Le Fier Roderigue--Silas Deane Returns to Settle
-     Accounts--Debate Over the "Lost Million"--True Story of the "Lost
-     Million"--Mr. Tucker's Speech--Final Settlement of the Claim of the
-     Heirs of Beaumarchais.
-
-
-In accounting for the recall of Deane, Wharton, in the beginning of his
-Diplomatic Correspondence, Vol. I, p. 560, says:
-
-"Deane had, or was supposed to have had, a considerable amount of
-business patronage which to Arthur Lee's eye gave too much opportunity
-for speculation, and not only did he suppose that Deane made use of this
-opportunity for his own benefit, but he himself desired to have the
-entire control of the business side of the mission placed in the hands
-of his brother William Lee, then, through the influence of Wilkes,
-alderman of London. The close connection which existed between Lee in
-Paris and the center of the opposition in London was not unknown to the
-French Ministry."
-
-From the first, Vergennes had distrusted Lee, and held him at a
-distance. "Having had occasion," says Lomenie (Vol. I, p. 115), "to
-study closely the work of the deputation at Passy, I am able to affirm
-that Lee never had any credit with the French Government, who, rightly
-or wrongly, suspected him of having secret relations with the English
-Cabinet.... It is this which perfectly explains his permanent irritation
-against his two colleagues."
-
-Doniol (Vol. I, p. 368) affirms positively, "spies of the foreign office
-were in communication with him and he aided them to arrive even to M. de
-Vergennes."
-
-"In his heart," continues Doniol, "he had an antipathy for France, which
-was shared by the majority of his countrymen. He was willing to accept
-everything from us, but on condition that no obligation be incurred."
-
-"It is certainly not too much to say," says Jared Sparks in his _Life of
-Franklin_ (Vol. I, p. 450), "that the divisions and feuds which reigned
-for a long time in Congress with respect to the foreign affairs of the
-United States are to be ascribed more to Lee's malign influence than to
-all others."
-
-It was the same that at the most perilous moment of the war, which was
-precisely this same winter of 1778, was exerting itself to the utmost of
-its power to place a creature of its own at the head of the American
-forces. So bitter had party spirit become, that a member from New
-England, whose patriotism was undisputed, had allowed himself to write
-in a letter which has been preserved: "I would rather that the whole
-cause should come to ruin, than that Mr. Washington should triumph."
-
-Lee succeeded so well in poisoning the minds of Congress with regard to
-their commissioner that after much discussion a resolution was passed on
-December 8, 1777, recalling Deane. The reason given being the importance
-of obtaining information as to the true state of affairs in Europe.
-
-"It was originally proposed," says Parton (_Life of Franklin_, Vol. I,
-p. 250), "to accompany the resolution of recall by a preamble of
-censure. But John Jay took the defence of his absent friend and
-succeeded in getting the offensive preamble condemning a servant of the
-public unheard, stricken out." "In this case," continues Parton, "Jay
-was warmly his friend and defender, and not on this occasion only, but
-whenever he was attacked by Congress."
-
-Franklin also warmly pleaded his cause by letter. Knowing that Congress
-had received unfavorably the foreign officers sent over by Deane, he
-wrote as follows:
-
-"I, who am on the spot, and who know the infinite difficulty of
-resisting the powerful solicitations of great men, ... I hope that
-favorable allowances will be made to my worthy colleague on account of
-his situation at that time, as he long since has corrected the mistake
-and daily proves himself to my certain knowledge an able, faithful,
-active and extremely useful servant of the public." (Parton, _Life of
-Franklin_, Vol. II, p. 350.)
-
-Franklin indeed might well plead for his friend in regard to the
-commissioning of officers, since, as has been seen, it was he who was
-responsible for the departure of du Coudray for America.
-
-When the news of his recall reached Deane, he was filled with
-consternation. It was easy for him to pierce the thin veil of the reason
-given. The treatment which he already had received from Congress seemed
-the guarantee of further trouble.
-
-He at once communicated his fears to Beaumarchais and his resolution not
-to return to America until a satisfactory explanation of the charges
-held against him were given. Beaumarchais, however, warmly urged his
-complying with the command of Congress, assuring him that his presence
-and the positive proof of his integrity which he would bear with him
-quickly would dispel the gathering storm.
-
-Deane seems to have been convinced that the wisest course would be to
-yield to authority; accordingly, he at once set about his preparations
-for the journey. Beaumarchais, equally active, addressed a lengthy
-memoir to the ministers.
-
-The memoir is given in full in the Deane papers (Vol. II, p. 399). In
-it, with characteristic boldness, he prescribes the role necessary for
-each minister to play, in order that Deane's enemies may be outwitted.
-Though Beaumarchais was no longer entrusted with the millions which were
-being handed over to the Americans, yet from the tone of his memoir
-there can be no doubt that he was still an indulged favorite.
-
-   "March 13, 1778.
-
-   "Secret Memoir to the King's Ministers, Sent to the Comte de
-   Vergennes:"
-
-   (After explaining clearly the character and ambitions of Lee, his
-   English connections, his influence in Congress, Beaumarchais
-   continued:) "To succeed in his design, it was necessary to
-   dispose of a colleague so formidable as Mr. Deane. This he has
-   done by rendering him in many respects an object of suspicion to
-   Congress.
-
-   "Having learned that foreign officers demanding commissions were
-   not received favorably by the American Army, he put the worst
-   construction upon the conduct of his colleague who sent them,
-   maintaining that Mr. Deane arbitrarily and in spite of good
-   advice, was responsible for the sending.... Another reason is the
-   officious zeal displayed by M. Lee in constantly writing to
-   Congress that all merchandise, etc., was a present.... Nothing
-   then is easier than for the adroit Lee to blacken the conduct of
-   Mr. Deane by representing it as the result of underhand measures
-   contrived to support demands for money in which he expected to
-   share; and this explains the silence, more than astonishing, that
-   Congress has observed in regard to over ten letters of mine full
-   of details."
-
-Then he draws a faithful picture of Deane's situation and speaks of his
-having at first formed the determination not to return until charges
-should be communicated to him.
-
-   "I have, however, urged him to go back to face the storm. 'Lee,'
-   I have said, 'accuses you of having arbitrarily sent officers to
-   America; your complete defense is in my portfolio. I have in my
-   possession a cipher letter from this time-serving Lee, urging me
-   to send engineers and officers to the assistance of America, and
-   the letter is written before your arrival in France.'"
-
-Then he urged the importance for French interests to have so true and
-tried a friend as Mr. Deane back in America.
-
-   "I would desire," he wrote, "a particular mark of distinction,
-   even the King's portrait or some such noticeable present to
-   convince his countrymen that not only was he a creditable and
-   faithful agent, but that his personality, prudence and action
-   always have pleased the French Ministry.... I strongly recommend
-   his being escorted by a fleet.... Once justified before
-   Congress, his opinion becomes of immense weight and influence....
-   His enemies will remain dazed and humiliated at their own
-   failure.... Should the ministry be unable to grant a fleet as he
-   wishes, he ought at least to have a royal frigate to be furnished
-   by M. de Sartine. His friend Beaumarchais will with pleasure
-   undertake the composition of an explanatory and defensive memoir.
-   He should have a testimonial, laudatory of his conduct, and this
-   important writing is the province of the Comte de Vergennes.
-   Finally I believe that there should be accorded to him some
-   special favor, showing the esteem entertained for him personally
-   and this would properly come from M. le Comte de Maurepas in the
-   name of the king. (This seems to have been the only suggestion
-   not carried out by the ministers.)
-
-   "There is not a moment to lose...."
-
-Beaumarchais then recommended that everyone assume a dejected air at the
-news of Deane's recall, so that the enemies of the latter might be
-thrown off their guard. "If it is thought advisable, I will even quit
-Paris as one driven to despair. My lawsuit at Aix will furnish an
-excellent excuse. I suggest in addition that a reliable person accompany
-Mr. Deane, to return in the same frigate under order to await his
-convenience, bringing back the result of M. Deane's labors with
-Congress....
-
-"Upon the assurance that these considerations be regarded as just, I
-will neglect everything else until I have completely vindicated Mr.
-Deane."
-
-If anything could be more curious than the tone of the above memoir, it
-is the docility with which each minister filled the role mapped out for
-him. Not only was the portrait of the King with the personal
-testimonials given to Deane, but a fleet was sent out under the popular
-Comte d'Estaing to bear him safely to America, and with him the first
-minister sent by France to the new world went as his companion, charged
-with orders to follow closely his interests in the ensuing combat.
-
-To the president of Congress he bore the following letter from the Comte
-de Vergennes:
-
-   "Versailles, March 25, 1778.
-
-   "Monsieur Deane being about to return to America, I seize this
-   occasion with pleasure to give my testimony to the zeal, activity
-   and intelligence with which he has conducted the interests of the
-   United States and for which it has pleased his Majesty to give
-   marks of his satisfaction."
-
-To Deane himself Vergennes wrote the same day:
-
-   "March 26, 1778.
-
-   "As I am not, Sir, to have the honor of seeing you again before
-   your departure I pray you to receive here my wishes that your
-   voyage may be speedy, short, and happy, and that you may find in
-   your own country the same sentiments which you inspired in
-   France. You could not, sir, desire anything to be added to that
-   which I feel for you and which I shall keep as long as I live.
-   The King, in order to give a personal proof of the satisfaction
-   which he has had in your conduct, charged me to communicate it to
-   the Congress of the United States. This is the object of the
-   letter which Mr. Gerard will give you for Mr. Hancock. He will
-   also give you a box ornamented with a portrait of the king. You
-   will not refuse to carry into your country the image of its best
-   friend."
-
-On the 23rd of March, Beaumarchais had written to Congress in a letter
-in which he set forth the proofs in his possession of the innocence of
-Deane.
-
-   "These, gentlemen," he wrote, "were the real motives that
-   determined us both in sending you the officers. As I have never
-   treated with any other, as my firm never has transacted business
-   with any other in France, and as the other commissioners have
-   been lacking even in common civility towards me, I testify that
-   if my zeal, my advances of money, and my shipments of supplies
-   and merchandise have been acceptable to the august Congress,
-   their gratitude is due to the indefatigable exertions of Mr.
-   Deane throughout this commercial affair.
-
-   "I hope that the honorable Congress, rejecting the insinuations
-   of others, who are desirous of appropriating for themselves the
-   credit of the operations, will accept in perfect faith the
-   present declaration of the man most capable of enlightening them
-   and who respectfully signs himself and his firm, gentlemen,
-   yours, etc.
-
-                                           "Caron de Beaumarchais,
-
-   "Secretary to the King and Lieutenant-General of the King's
-      Hunt, known in America under the title of his firm, Roderigue
-      Hortales et Cie."
-
-Before quitting France, Silas Deane addressed a letter to Beaumarchais,
-dated March 29, 1778. Obliged to quit France during the absence of his
-friend, he wrote thanking him for his letter to Congress, which he hoped
-would throw light upon the vexed question. "It is unhappy," he said,
-
-   "that the short time allowed me to prepare for my voyage will not
-   admit of our making at least a general settlement of our
-   accounts.... I hope to return to France early in the fall;
-   immediately after my return it shall be my first business to
-   adjust and settle with you the account for your several
-   expeditions and disbursements.... After the perplexing and
-   embarrassing scenes you have had to pass through, it must give
-   you the most solid joy to see an armament going out which will
-   convince America and the world of the sincere friendship of
-   France, and their resolution to protect its liberties and its
-   independence.
-
-   "I again congratulate you on this great and glorious event, to
-   which you have contributed more than any other person....
-
-   "I shall improve my first opportunity of writing to you, and rely
-   on being honored with a continuance of your correspondence and
-   friendship. Wishing that you ever may be happy and fortunate, I
-   am, etc.,
-
-                                                    "Silas Deane."
-
-The misgivings which had haunted the American commissioner seemed
-entirely to disappear during his voyage, so confident was he of being
-able to justify himself before Congress, and if ever commissioner had
-the right to look forward with joy to setting foot again on his native
-land, that commissioner was Deane. When he had gone out two years
-previously he had left his country poor, unrecognized and not yet
-decided to declare its independence. By his unhesitating and
-indefatigable zeal, aided by that of Beaumarchais, supplies and officers
-of priceless value had been sent to its aid, arriving at the moment when
-they were most needed.
-
-Mistakes had been made, it is true, but those mistakes were all of a
-nature that no man of honor need blush to acknowledge. Far from having
-enriched himself during those two years of service, he had spent not
-only all his own private savings, but had been obliged to draw very
-heavily upon the generosity of his friend, since all the stores brought
-with him from America had fallen into the hands of the English. In the
-words of Parton, "He was returning now the acknowledged minister of a
-victorious nation, the honored guest of a French Admiral, bringing back
-a powerful fleet (twelve line of battleships and four frigates) to aid
-his country, and accompanied by an ambassador of the King of France!
-Well might he write exultingly to the president of Congress, well might
-he expect a warm welcome and a hasty adjustment of his claims; as the
-proud French vessel was dropping anchor in Delaware Bay, July 10, 1778,
-he wrote: 'I shall embark this afternoon ... and I hope soon to have the
-honor of presenting my respects to your Excellency and the Honorable
-Congress in person....'
-
-No reply came to him from Congress. No one paid him the smallest
-attention. His testimonials were ignored and even the presence of the
-French fleet had no power to rouse Congress from a stony indifference.
-He was in despair.
-
-"He had brought with him," said Parton, "only a hundred pounds, not
-expecting to be detained in America many weeks. When at last given
-audience, he told his story to distrustful and estranged employers. All
-the friends of Arthur Lee, all the ancient foes of France, and a large
-proportion of the faction who desired to put Horatio Gates into the
-place of Washington, were disposed to believe the foul calumnies sent
-over by every ship from Paris."
-
-As a matter of fact the time of his arrival in Philadelphia was not well
-suited to a fair consideration of Deane's claims. The city recently had
-been evacuated by the British Army. During the occupation, Toryism had
-been rampant and the state was retaliating with indictments for treason.
-Disputes over questions of jurisdiction engaged the civil authorities in
-quarrels with Arnold, the commander of the garrison, who numbered among
-his sympathizers Silas Deane and the mercantile class.
-
-Arnold, after his brilliant exploits at Saratoga, had seen himself
-thrust aside at the moment of victory to make way for Gates. Wounded at
-Saratoga, and burning for revenge, Arnold was already so much disgusted
-with the Continental Congress that he began seriously to wish to see
-Great Britain triumph.
-
-Washington had put him in command of the garrison at Philadelphia in
-June, 1778. The reigning belle of the Quaker City was at that moment
-Miss Margaret Shippen, "the most beautiful and fascinating woman in
-America." She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, who along with his
-whole class, was eager for the war to come to an end through a speedy
-adjustment with Great Britain, whose liberal offers, since the surrender
-of Burgoyne, seemed more than satisfactory to their moderate patriotism.
-
-No sooner had Arnold entered into his new post than he fell a captive to
-the charms of the young woman in question, then under twenty years of
-age.
-
-"As no one kept a finer stable of horses, nor gave more costly dinners
-than Arnold," it was natural that he should invite the Tory friends of
-the young lady whose hand he hoped to win. Although he was "thirty-five
-years of age and a widower with two sons" ... his handsome face, his
-gallant bearing and his splendid career, made him acceptable. In the
-fall their engagement was publicly announced, while the Tory sentiments
-of the commander of the fort of Philadelphia became definitely fixed.
-
-The bitterness of his own grievances against Congress led him to give
-ear willingly to the complaints poured out by the exasperated French
-commissioner, whose patriotism was also rapidly vanishing in the gulf of
-his private wrongs.
-
-It was during this summer of association between Arnold and Deane that
-the sentiments of the latter underwent the profound change which induced
-a subsequent conduct so disappointing to his dearest friends. Silas
-Deane never has been accused of treason to his country, for he was
-incapable of such an act as that which rendered Arnold an object of
-contempt to our enemies even--but that he was untrue to his own past
-cannot be denied. No one in the beginning had been a warmer advocate of
-independence or had worked so indefatigably for an alliance with France.
-In the end, this was completely reversed. The unfortunate course which
-he took to avenge himself for the atrocious wrongs heaped upon him by
-the party in Congress then in power led him to exile, where he died
-destitute and dishonored. However, "the most bitter reproach," says
-Wharton, "ever heaped upon this loyal patriot was that he had joined
-hands in friendship with the traitor Arnold."
-
-While the condemnation of Lee at the bar of history seems unanimous, it
-is unfair to allow the blame of his conduct to rest wholly upon him, for
-it must be shared by that party in Congress which was dominant during
-most of the existence of the body, and which supported the pretensions
-of Lee and shared his antagonisms.
-
-A consideration of the complex causes which led to the ruin of Deane is
-in place here, only as these causes relate to his connection with
-Beaumarchais. Up to a certain point the credit of the two men is
-inseparable, and it must not be forgotten that the same party which
-planned Deane's downfall was also the one that tried to prevent the
-alliance with France, and was unwilling to admit any debt of gratitude
-to Roderigue Hortales et Cie.
-
-Gerard de Rayneval, first ambassador of France to America, who
-accompanied Deane on the occasion of his recall, attributes the action
-of Congress at this time to an "_esprit d'ostracisme_, which," he says,
-"already has begun to make itself felt against those men who, having
-rendered important services, are no longer deemed necessary...."
-
-The private secretary of Deane while in France, W. Carmichael, had
-returned to America some time before. Having aided Beaumarchais and
-Deane in the shipment of supplies to the new world, there was no one who
-understood better the exact nature of the difficulties against which
-they had labored, or the real debt of gratitude owed them by America.
-Under date of September 3, 1778, he wrote to Beaumarchais from
-Philadelphia:
-
-   "I have written you twice lately about your affairs, so that I
-   have the pleasure of repeating that Congress begins to feel its
-   lack of attention to you and to realize that it was too ready to
-   believe the base insinuations of others, which I truly believe
-   would have had no weight if du Coudray had not circulated such
-   prejudicial reports concerning you.... I have applied myself with
-   my whole power to convince my compatriots of the injustice and
-   ingratitude with which you have been treated and this before the
-   arrival of Deane, and I flatter myself to have had some success.
-   His efforts have been the same, so that justice, although tardy,
-   should now prevail. I wish for the honor of my compatriots that
-   it had never been necessary for us to plead for you.
-
-   "M. de Francy is in Virginia and works sincerely and
-   indefatigably for your interests. I expect him here soon.
-
-   "Your nephew spent several weeks with me, but is now commanded
-   with his general to join the army under the orders of General
-   Sullivan. He is a brave young man who makes himself loved very
-   much when he is known; he has all the vivacity of his age and
-   desires to distinguish himself. General Conway assures me that he
-   conducted himself like a young hero at the battle of the
-   Brandywine. I take the liberty of entering into these details
-   because I know they will delight his mother, since bravery always
-   has been a powerful recommendation to the fair sex, and she will
-   be charmed to find so much in her own son.... I do not know
-   whether I shall be continued in my place as Secretary of the
-   Embassy at your court, or be employed in some other department.
-
-   "Dr. Franklin certainly will be continued at the Court of
-   Versailles, and an attempt will be made to force the Lees to fall
-   back into the obscurity from which they have lifted themselves,
-   but whether this will succeed is doubtful. We have as many
-   intrigues and cabals here as you and your friends suffer from on
-   the other continent. And why not? Are we not sovereign states and
-   are we not friends and allies of Louis XVI?
-
-   "I beg you to believe me always, Yours,
-
-                                                  "W. Carmichael."
-
-The spirit of the letter, as well as the news it brought, must have been
-consoling to the heart of Beaumarchais. But in the meantime, he had been
-pushing forward his vast commercial enterprises and with his usual vigor
-prepared himself for new dangers to which the open alliance with France
-exposed his undertaking. He wrote to De Francy:
-
-   "I am dispatching the _Zephyr_, so that you may know that I am
-   ready to put to sea a fleet of more than twelve vessels at whose
-   head is _le Fier Roderigue_, which you sent back to me and which
-   arrived safely the first of October. This fleet will carry six
-   thousand tons, and it is armed absolutely for war. So arrange
-   yourself in consequence. If my ship, the _Ferragus_, leaves
-   Rochefort in September, keep it there to join my fleet in
-   returning. This is an armament which I hold in common with M. de
-   Montieu.... Allow the ships to remain in port no longer than is
-   absolutely necessary, for although strong and well armed, our
-   enemies must not be allowed to interfere with their return.
-
-   "They will not arrive until some time in February, as they are to
-   make a detour to provision our colonies with flour and salt
-   provisions, of which they are in great need, and the payment of
-   which, sent to us in bills of exchange upon our treasurers before
-   the return of the fleet, will enable us to meet the terrible
-   outlay which this armament costs us.... You will receive by the
-   _Fier Roderigue_ all my accounts with Congress.... The result is
-   that Congress will pay for nothing which it does not receive, or
-   that was destroyed en route. I join the exact account of what I
-   have received from Congress, in spite of the unjust deputation at
-   Passy who have disputed every return cargo and who would have
-   seized upon that of _La Therese_ if M. Pelletier, instructed by
-   me, had not sold it by authority. This perpetual injustice makes
-   me indignant and has made me take the resolution to have no more
-   to do with the deputation as long as that rogue Lee is there....
-
-   "I have been promised, my dear Francy, your commission of
-   captain. I hope to be happy enough to send it by _le Fier
-   Roderigue_, but do not count upon it until you see it in your
-   hands. You know our country; it is so vast that it is a long way
-   from the place where things are promised to the place where they
-   are given. In a word, I have not received it yet, although it has
-   been promised....
-
-   "I have received no other money from the comte de Pulaski than
-   that which he himself gave me. I send you his exact account. He
-   should write me but I have heard nothing. I approve of what you
-   have done for M. de Lafayette. Brave young man that he is. It is
-   to serve me as I desire, to oblige a man of his character. I have
-   not yet been paid for the money I advanced to him but I have no
-   uneasiness about that.
-
-   "As for you my dear de Francy, I will write you later what I will
-   do for you. If you know me, you will expect to be well treated.
-   Your fate is hence forth attached to mine. I esteem you and love
-   you and you will not have long to wait for the proof of it.
-   Remember me often to Baron von Steuben. I congratulate myself
-   after all I hear of him, for having given so great an officer to
-   my friends the _free men_, and for having in a way forced him to
-   follow that noble career. I am not in the least disturbed by the
-   money I lent him. Never have I made a use of funds the investment
-   of which gratified me as much as this does, since I have
-   succeeded in putting a man of honor in his true place. I learn
-   that he is inspector-general of all the troops; bravo! Tell him
-   that his glory is the interest on my money and at that title I
-   have no doubt he will repay me with usury.
-
-   "I have received a letter from M. Deane and also one from Mr.
-   Carmichael; assure them of my warm esteem. Those two are brave
-   republicans. They have given me the hope that I may soon embrace
-   them both in Paris, which will not, however, prevent me from
-   writing them by the _Fier Roderigue_, who is very proud to find
-   himself at the head of a small squadron, and who I hope will _ne
-   se laissera pas couper les moustaches_, on the contrary he
-   promises to do some cutting for me,
-
-   "Adieu, my Francy, I am yours for life,
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-Silas Deane returned to France in 1781, to settle all his accounts. On
-the 6th of April of that year the indebtedness to Beaumarchais by
-Congress was fixed by him at 3,600,000 _livres_ after the deduction of
-all receipts and comprising the interest promised. This sum, then,
-Beaumarchais demanded of Congress.
-
-[Illustration: CAESAR AUGUSTUS RODNEY
-
-_Attorney General of the U. S._]
-
-Two years passed. Congress paid no attention to the demand. In 1783,
-another emissary, Mr. Barclay, arrived from America in the capacity of
-consul-general, and with the mission to revise all the accounts rendered
-by Silas Deane. Beaumarchais refused to submit to this treatment, but
-Mr. Barclay told him Congress would pay nothing until there had been a
-new inspection of the accounts. After a year Beaumarchais was forced to
-submit.
-
-In revising the statement made by Deane, Mr. Barclay admitted all the
-claims, but gratified Congress by lessening commissions, expenses, etc.
-Still Congress refused to pay the new and reduced accounts. Soon after
-this, an incident arose which determined Congress to postpone payment
-indefinitely.
-
-In the fall of 1783, after signing the treaty which ended the war, the
-United States wished to borrow six millions from the French Government.
-It was decided to grant the request and at the same time to make an
-exact recapitulation of all the sums already furnished, whether loaned
-or presented.
-
-In the first class were announced eighteen millions; then another loan
-of ten millions from Holland, guaranteed by the king of France and of
-which he paid the interest; finally the six millions about to be loaned.
-This constituted a sum of thirty-four millions which the United States
-promised to refund at future times. Finally the King announced as a
-gift, the three millions conveyed to the colonists before her treaty of
-Alliance in 1778, and six millions given in 1781. It was therefore nine
-millions which the king of France relinquished without expecting any
-return, and this in addition to the enormous expenditure made in sending
-the fleets and armies of France to America. (See _Lomenie_ Vol II, p.
-186.)
-
-The statement was signed by Franklin and received without comment by
-the United States, but three years later, in 1786, Franklin made the
-discovery that the king of France stated that three millions had been
-given to the cause of independence in America before 1778, whereas he,
-Franklin, had received but two millions.
-
-What had become of the other million?
-
-Inquiry was at once made of the United States banker in France, and an
-explanation demanded. After much difficulty it was learned that this
-million was one delivered by the royal treasurer on the 10th of June,
-1776.
-
-"It was," says M. de Lomenie, "precisely the million given to
-Beaumarchais, but the reticence of Vergennes showed that an embarrassing
-mistake had been made, though unconsciously, by the royal treasurer."
-
-It was impossible in 1786 for the French government to avow the secret
-aid she had given to the colonies before her open recognition of
-American Independence. The two millions given to Franklin in 1777
-through the banker, Grand, after France had decided upon the policy of
-open recognition, but before the act, had never been a secret--but the
-million given to Beaumarchais, while really intended to help the
-American cause, had been conveyed to him under stress of secrecy at a
-time when it was unsafe to submit to writing even the most informal
-engagement in regard to it.
-
-Whatever the stipulations made concerning the use of the money, they
-were verbal and have never been revealed. Nothing could attest the
-profound confidence inspired in the magistracy by Beaumarchais more than
-this absence of documents relative to the loan. There can be no doubt
-that whatever the arrangement made by Vergennes, he was satisfied with
-the account rendered him by Beaumarchais, for we find him coming
-repeatedly to the latter's aid when the failure of Congress to return
-cargoes, placed the house of Hortales and Company in danger of
-bankruptcy. The confidence of the minister is also further attested by
-his refusal to deliver the receipt for the million, signed by
-Beaumarchais, on the 10th of June, 1776, and so become a handle to the
-calumny which Congress was directing against him.
-
-To summarize the exposition of that conscientious historian, Lomenie:
-"Why," he asks, "did the government insert this million in the list of
-those given directly to America? Was it simply a recapitulation of the
-accounts of the treasury made without thought of the inconvenience that
-might result for Beaumarchais; or did the government really intend
-Beaumarchais to render an account of it to the United States?... We have
-the right to affirm that the government never intended that he should be
-accountable for it to anyone but to the minister.
-
-"By refusing constantly to name the person to whom the million had been
-given, the minister said implicitly; 'I class this million with those
-given gratuitously because in effect it was given; but since it was not
-given to you, and as the man to whom it was given, engaged himself by
-his receipt to render an account of it to me, and not to you, that man
-cannot be accountable except to me. If I asked to have the million
-returned, you would then have the right to demand it of him who received
-it; but since I ask nothing, I am the one to decide whether that
-million, gratuitously given by me, shall profit you or the man to whom I
-gave it. It was given to aid in a secret operation very useful to you,
-but which, by your refusal to acquit and by losses which he has
-experienced in his commerce with you, seems to have been more harmful
-than fruitful to him.'" (See _Lomenie_, Vol. II, p. 190.)
-
-Of all this that was transpiring Beaumarchais knew nothing, nor could he
-obtain from Congress any explanation of their reason for totally
-ignoring their debt to him. At last his patience at an end, on the 12th
-of June, 1787, he wrote to the President of Congress as follows:
-
-   "A people become sovereign and powerful may be permitted,
-   perhaps, to consider gratitude as a virtue of individuals which
-   is beneath politics; but nothing can dispense a state from being
-   just, and especially from paying its debts. I dare hope,
-   Monsieur, that touched by the importance of the affair and by the
-   force of my reasons, you will be good enough to honor me with an
-   official report as to the decision of the honorable Congress
-   either to arrange promptly to liquify my accounts, or else to
-   choose arbiters in Europe to decide the points debated, those of
-   insurance and commission as M. Barclay had the honor of proposing
-   to you in 1785; or else write me candidly that the sovereign
-   states of America, forgetting my past services, refuse me all
-   justice: thus I shall adopt the method best suited to my
-   interests which you have despised, to my honor which you have
-   wounded, although without losing the profound respect with which
-   I am of the General Congress and of you, Monsieur le President,
-   the very humble, etc.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-It was at this juncture that Beaumarchais, stung by the reproaches of
-his own countrymen, made a ringing vindication of his acts in the cause
-of American independence, which will be given in the next chapter.
-
-The reply which Congress made to the letter above quoted, was to appoint
-Arthur Lee to examine the accounts.
-
-"The work was soon done," says Lomenie, "_d'un tour de main_. Arthur Lee
-pretended to discover that instead of 3,600,000 livres owing
-Beaumarchais, he not only had nothing to reclaim but on the other hand
-owed 1,800,000 francs to the United States!" The absurdity of this
-account could not fail to appear to Congress, and after four years more
-of protestations, in 1793 it confided a new examination of the debt to
-"that most distinguished American Statesman, Alexander Hamilton," who
-established the sum owing Beaumarchais as 2,280,000 francs, but at the
-same time he proposed to suspend payment until the question of the lost
-million was settled.
-
-In the meantime the Revolution was advancing upon France with awful
-strides. Already the royalistic government had fallen, that government
-whose greatest glory was its noble service to the cause of American
-independence.
-
-When in 1794 Gouverneur Morris applied to Buchot, then minister of
-Foreign affairs for the new French government, there was no one left who
-knew or cared for the details that had prevented Vergennes from
-producing that famous receipt. At the demand of Congress, therefore, it
-was given to Morris.
-
-Armed now with what it chose to consider as proof that Beaumarchais
-wilfully had appropriated to himself a million livres intended by the
-French Government for it, Congress refused all settlement.
-
-They not only repudiated the payment of the 2,600,000 livres surplus of
-the debt honorably acknowledged by Deane, who alone knew the immense
-advances that had been made by Beaumarchais to cover the expenses of the
-commissioner as well as of the officers whom he had commissioned, but
-that august body considered that it might even dispense with paying the
-1,800,000 livres surplus over and above the million, out of the sum
-accorded by Alexander Hamilton in which he ignored those advances,
-together with a part of the commission and interest freely granted by
-Congress in the contract already quoted in this volume, and arranged by
-the agent of Beaumarchais, Theveneau de Francy, in 1778.
-
-Congress refused all this, arguing that, as M. de Lomenie says: "Since
-the interest of the million given in 1776 will absorb the difference,
-therefore we owe nothing, and will pay nothing."
-
-The interest on the surplus, as it would have much more than absorbed
-the million in question, they, of course, conveniently ignored.
-
-This turn in his affairs with Congress was a crushing blow to
-Beaumarchais, but it did not prevent him, during the entire remainder of
-his life, pleading with the representatives of the American people to
-pay their debt to him.
-
-But at the moment when Congress held triumphantly aloft the receipt for
-the 1,000,000 livres, and flaunted it in his face, Beaumarchais was in
-no position to defend himself, for the Revolution which had overwhelmed
-France had so shattered and ruined his fortune that he was obliged to
-take refuge in a garret in Hamburg. Here, devoured by anguish,--unable
-to obtain news from home, knowing only that his goods had been
-confiscated, that his wife, his daughter, and his sisters had been
-thrown into prison, his thoughts turned to the people for whom he had
-performed such herculean labors and to them he addressed one last
-appeal. This was in April, 1795.
-
-"Congress," says Lomenie, "remained deaf to all his reclamations; not
-only it allowed him to die without liquidating the debt, but during the
-thirty-six years following his death, all the governments which
-succeeded one another in France, and all the ambassadors of those
-governments, vainly supported the demand of the heirs of Beaumarchais."
-
-During the years which follow his death, from 1799 to 1835, "The claims
-of the heirs of Beaumarchais" occupy congress after congress of the
-United States. In the progress of the suit all the French governments,
-from the Empire under Napoleon down to the reign of the "bourgeois
-King," Louis Phillippe, always take the stand of Vergennes. The
-following letter from the Duc de Richelieu, dated the 20th of May, 1816,
-may be said to express the attitude of the French Government in the
-whole matter. He wrote:
-
-   "The notes successively presented by the ministers of France are
-   so particular and positive, that they seem to remove all doubt on
-   the facts of the subject in dispute, and consequently all
-   hesitation as to the decision to be given. It was in fact stated
-   that the French Government had no concern in the commercial
-   transactions of M. de Beaumarchais with the United States.
-
-   "By this declaration it was not only intended to convey the idea
-   that the government was in no ways interested in the operations
-   or in his chances of loss or gain, but a positive assurance was
-   also given that it was wholly unconnected with them; whence it
-   results that in relation to them France is to be considered
-   neither as a lender, a surety nor as an intermediate agent. The
-   whole of these transactions were spontaneous on the part of M. de
-   Beaumarchais and the right and agency derived from them appertain
-   exclusively to him....
-
-   "The million delivered on the 10th of June immediately reached
-   its intended destination and a simple authorization of the King,
-   but a few months subsequent to the payment of the sum, was the
-   only document which finally placed the expenditure in the regular
-   train of fiscal settlement.
-
-   "I am therefore warranted, Sir, after a fresh examination of the
-   facts, in presenting the declaration of the above as stated, and
-   in considering it a matter of certainty that the million paid on
-   the 10th of June was not applied to the purchase of shipments
-   made to the United States at that period by M. de
-   Beaumarchais....
-
-   "There is no member of the Government who can be ignorant of the
-   services rendered by the head of that family to your cause and
-   the influence produced on its early successes by his ardent zeal,
-   extensive connections and liberal employment of his whole
-   fortune.
-
-   "Be pleased, Sir, to receive, etc., etc.
-
-       Signed                                         "Richelieu."
-
-This claim, so repeatedly stated before Congress, was taken up and
-examined by a succession of committees which seem each to have adopted
-the views of the French Government. To the honor of the United States
-let it be stated that such men as John Jay and Thomas Jefferson, had
-from the first recognized the debt due to Beaumarchais and had urged the
-payment of the debt. Later it was James Madison, Caesar Rodney, William
-Pinkney and others, who similarly urged Congress to appropriate the
-money to liquidate the claim.
-
-To close this long debate we have selected a few paragraphs taken here
-and there from reports of committees, terminating with an extract from a
-speech delivered by Mr. Tucker of Virginia, in order to demonstrate
-clearly that the enlightened opinion of the most representative
-Americans always has stood for the recognition of this claim.... "Only
-two points," the report says, "are to be decided: Did Mr. Beaumarchais
-receive from the French Government 1,000,000 livres in behalf of or on
-account of the United States? If so, has he, or his representative at
-any time accounted with the United States for their expenditure?... On
-the face of the instrument itself it appears that Beaumarchais was to
-account to Vergennes and not to the United States, for the expenditure
-of the money.... This contradicts the idea that he was accountable to us
-for its application.... The engagement of Beaumarchais was positive,
-express and unqualified to account to Vergennes and to him only for the
-money received. The United States are no parties to the instrument;
-there is no stipulation to render them any account of the
-expenditure.... It is not easy to conceive on what principle he ought
-twice to account for the same money.... The French government have
-uniformly declared that they furnished no supply of arms or military
-stores. Vergennes is full and explicit; he states that all the articles
-furnished by Beaumarchais are on his private account, who had settled
-with the artillery department for them by giving orders or bills for
-their value. This expressly excludes the idea that the million livres in
-question were intended to be applied to the payment in advance of the
-account of Beaumarchais.... This construction was acquiesced in by our
-government in the contract of 1783, when we knew neither the date nor
-the person to whom the money was paid....
-
-" ... The United States allege that the French Government paid this debt
-for them. The Government through their ministers declare officially that
-they did not. There seems therefore no room for dispute. Considering
-that the sum of which the million livres in question made a part, was a
-gratuitous grant from the French Government to the United States, and
-considering that the declaration of that Government clearly states that
-that part of the grant was put into the hands of M. de Beaumarchais as
-its agent, not as the agent of the United States, and that it was duly
-accounted for by him, to the French Government; considering also the
-concurring opinion of two attorneys-general of the United States that
-the said debt was not legally sustainable in behalf of the United
-States; I recommend the case to the favorable attention of the
-legislature whose authority alone can finally decide on it. Signed
-
-                                          "James Madison,
-                                          "C. A. Rodney,
-                                          "Wm. Pinkney.
-                                               "January 31, 1817."
-
-From the speech of Mr. Tucker of Virginia, 1824:
-
-"Mr. Chairman: It is well known to most of the assembly that in the
-first years of the Revolution, M. de Beaumarchais furnished military
-supplies and clothing to the amount of several million livres....
-
-"The merits of this claim have hitherto hinged upon the fact whether the
-million in question was received by Beaumarchais for the purpose of
-supplies or not; ...
-
-"In regard to this there is the solemn declaration of M. de Vergennes
-that the king had furnished nothing. Again there can be no doubt that M.
-de Beaumarchais must have been held accountable to his government for
-the million, for whatever purpose it was put into his hands.... If it
-was intended for such services as those for which secret service money
-is employed, it is said, and it seems not improbable, that the vouchers
-in such cases are destroyed.... But there could be no reason to destroy
-them if they related merely to the purchase of supplies....
-
-"On weighing all the considerations there is some preponderance of
-testimony that M. de Beaumarchais received the million in dispute for
-the purpose of supplies, and if France had been passive on this occasion
-or if we had paid any valuable consideration to her for this million I
-should think that we were justified in charging M. de Beaumarchais with
-that amount. But when it is recollected that we received these supplies
-directly from him, having arranged the settlement of the account on our
-own terms; that the million that we claim as a credit was paid not by
-us, but by France, and that, as an act of bounty; and when France
-insists that it was for another purpose; ... it seems to me that we
-cannot, consistently with our honor or self respect, pay off an
-undisputed debt with a doubtful or disputed gift....
-
-"As an individual, I could never seek to give the bounty of a benefactor
-a direction which he objected to, for the purpose of making a discount
-from the acknowledged debt of a third person.
-
-"Sirs:--in this matter France is right or she is wrong.... Then the
-error consists in claiming our gratitude for 9,000,000 livres instead of
-8,000,000 ... which can in no way affect the claim of M. de
-Beaumarchais.... The whole present difficulty comes from the mistake of
-Dr. Franklin in the treaty of 1783....
-
-"Assuredly if our agent had signed a treaty under a mistake as he
-himself states, that mistake should be rectified with the French
-Government which should give us a satisfactory explanation or hold us
-bound in gratitude for only 8,000,000 livres, neither of which can
-affect the claims of M. de Beaumarchais....
-
-"Mr. Chairman: We ought to be consistent with ourselves with regard to
-the declaration of the French Government. When M. de Vergennes declared
-to our commissioners in September 1778, that the military supplies were
-furnished by M. de Beaumarchais, we acquiesced in that assurance and
-required no further proof....
-
-"On every ground then, Mr. Chairman, I am free to say, I would vote at
-once for the appropriation to the whole amount of this claim ... and I
-hope the committee will adopt the resolution for that purpose offered by
-the Committee."
-
-But the government of the United States still refused to listen to
-reason. However, in 1835, under pressure of necessity, the United States
-having a claim against France which it wished to bring forward, offered
-the heirs of Beaumarchais the choice of taking 800,000 francs and
-considering the affair closed, or nothing. The heirs chose the former
-and so at last ended the long drawn out debate regarding "the lost
-million."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIII
-
-
-"_It was to take from the Ministers all idea of my ambition, to conjure
-the storm, that I began again to amuse myself with frivolous theatrical
-plays, while guarding a profound silence upon my political actions._"
-
-_Petition to MM. the Representatives of the Commune of Paris by P. A.
-Caron de Beaumarchais._
-
-
-   The _Mariage de Figaro_--Its Composition--Difficulties Encountered
-     in Getting it Produced--It is Played at Grennevilliers--The First
-     Representation--Its Success--_Institut des meres
-     nourrices_--Beaumarchais at Saint Lazare.
-
-
-Several years before Beaumarchais had written in answer to the
-question,--"What gives you so gay a philosophy?"
-
-"The habit of misfortune, I hasten to laugh at everything so as not to
-be obliged to weep."
-
-So now in 1778 after seeing Deane recalled, his own service ignored, and
-jealousies aroused even among the ministers themselves he turned from
-all this bitterness, to develop in his own inimitable way, the gay
-scenes of his _Mariage de Figaro_.
-
-"In this piece," says Gudin, "the combinations were so new, the
-situations so varied that one would be tempted to believe that such a
-work would have absorbed all the faculties of the mind of its author
-during many years, but for him it was only a relaxation from the many
-and diverse affairs in which he was engaged."
-
-M. de Maurepas said to him one day, "And how, occupied as you are, have
-you been able to write it?"
-
-"I, M. le Comte! I composed it the day when the ministers of the King
-had sufficient leisure to go together to the Redoute."
-
-"Are there many repartees equal to that in your comedy? If so, I answer
-for its success," retorted Maurepas; for just the day before all the
-ministers had gone in a body to spend several hours at one of the new
-and fashionable pleasure gardens of Paris known as the Redoute.
-
-But having written his play was very far from having it produced, for
-the daring boldness of the author since the marvelous success of his
-first comedy was known not to have diminished. The authorities rightly
-suspected that the new play would contain even more pointed criticisms
-upon the existing social order than had the _Barbier_. To be produced in
-public it must first pass the censors and have the approbation of the
-king.
-
-La Harpe has said of this play, "It took much wit to write it--but not
-so much as to get it played."
-
-Letters given by Lomenie show that already in October, 1781, the actors
-of the Theatre-Francais had seen the piece and were discussing with
-Beaumarchais the distribution of the parts. The author had appealed to
-the lieutenant of police to name a censor and asked as a special favor
-that the play should not leave his office. Six weeks later Beaumarchais
-learned that the king had read his play and that it had been condemned.
-
-Madame Campan in her Memoires speaks of the incident.
-
-Marie Antoinette who had always liked and protected Beaumarchais said to
-the King,
-
-"Will the piece not be played?"
-
-"Certainly not," answered the King, "it is detestable. Why, the Bastille
-would have to be pulled down if that were allowed!"
-
-The situation against which the versatile author had to contend was the
-positive prohibition by the supreme head of authority--the King himself,
-but who was seconded, however, by very few of those personages who were
-nearest to him. In fact this very prohibition excited the curiosity of
-the court to such an extent that everyone from the loftiest personages
-down, and notably the Duke d'Artois, brother of Louis XVI, was demanding
-the favor of hearing Beaumarchais read his play.
-
-"Every day," explained Madame de Campan, "one hears on every side, 'I
-have heard,' or 'I shall hear the piece of Beaumarchais.'"
-
-Flattered as the author must have been by the enthusiasm of the
-courtiers, he was far too clever to lose his head or grant lightly the
-privilege of a reading.
-
-"Even the most considerable personages of the realm," says Lomenie,
-"obtained the privilege on condition that they asked at least twice. The
-Princess Lamballe, for instance, personal friend of the queen, had a
-violent desire to have Beaumarchais read the _Mariage de Figaro_ in her
-salon. She sent an ambassador to him, one of the greatest nobles of the
-court, the oldest son of the Marechal de Richelieu, the Duc de
-Fronsac--an ardent patron of the _Mariage_.--Beaumarchais refused to see
-him. The duc wrote next day:
-
-   "You closed your door against me yesterday which was not well.
-   However, I do not hold against you enough malice to prevent me
-   from speaking of the negotiation with which I am charged by Mme.
-   the Princess of Lamballe--and I propose you come next Wednesday
-   to Versailles to dine with me, after which we will go to her.
-   Your very humble servant, etc.
-
-                                              "Le duc de Fronsac."
-
-Beaumarchais evidently refused a second time for again the Duke wrote
-another letter, more urgent, to which the author finally yielded.
-
-The grand Duke (afterward Paul I) and Duchess of Russia, while visiting
-Versailles in the spring of 1782, also became ardent supporters of the
-piece, after Beaumarchais had accorded them the privilege of a reading.
-
-Strong now with the support of so many notables, he took occasion to
-write a vigorous letter to M. the _Garde des Sceaux_, to which august
-personage he began by apologizing for bothering him with such a
-"frivolous subject" but ended by a very ardent plea that his play be
-permitted to appear before the public.
-
-"In June of 1783," says Lomenie, "Beaumarchais, who, it must not be
-forgotten, conducted twenty other operations at the same time, seemed on
-the point of succeeding.... By the influence of some one unknown, the
-comedians received an order to learn the piece so that it might be
-played before the court of Versailles. Later it was decided that it
-should be performed in Paris itself at the _hotel des Menus-Plaisirs_."
-
-Everything was ready, even the tickets were out, when suddenly an
-express order of the king arrived, forbidding the performance. "This
-prohibition of the king," says Madame de Campan, "seemed like an attack
-upon the liberty of the public. The disappointed hopes of the people
-excited discontent to such an extent that the words, '_oppression_,'
-'_tyranny_' were never pronounced in the days before the fall of the
-throne, with so much passion and vehemence."
-
-Beaumarchais could well afford, as he writes, "to put his piece back in
-its portfolio, waiting until some event should draw it out again," for
-the prohibition of the king had acted only as the most serviceable
-advertisement. Therefore he had not long to wait.
-
-Being in England on business the latter part of the summer, he received
-a letter from the Duc de Fronsac, from which the following is an
-extract:
-
-   "Paris, the 4th of September, 1783.
-
-   "I hope, Monsieur, that you will not object that I shall write to
-   obtain your consent to have the _Mariage de Figaro_ played at
-   Grennevilliers.... You know that I have for several years turned
-   over my estate of Grennevilliers to M. de Vaudreuil. M. le Comte
-   d'Artois comes there to hunt the 18th and Madame the Duchess de
-   Polignac with her society comes to supper. Vaudreuil has asked me
-   to arrange a spectacle, for there is a good enough hall. I told
-   him that there was nothing more charming than the _Mariage de
-   Figaro_, but that we must have the consent of the king. _We have
-   secured that and_ I went running to find you and was astonished
-   and distressed to find that you were far away in the north.
-
-   "Will you not give your consent that the piece be played? I
-   promise you that I will do my utmost to have it well given. M. le
-   Comte d'Artois and his whole society are waiting with the
-   greatest eagerness to see it, and certainly it will be a great
-   step in advance towards having it given at Fontainebleau and
-   Paris.... I, in particular, have the greatest desire and I beg
-   you to reply quickly, quickly. Let it be favorable, I beg you,
-   and never doubt my gratitude and the esteem and friendship with
-   which I shall always be, Monsieur, yours, etc.
-
-                                              "Le duc de Fronsac."
-
-"While the duc de Fronsac," says Lomenie, "sent after Beaumarchais, the
-comte de Vaudreuil who was arranging the festival in honor of the comte
-d'Artois and Madam de Polignac, waited with impatience for the consent
-of Beaumarchais. We have under our eyes a letter of the comte written to
-the duc de Fronsac which was found among the papers of Beaumarchais,
-apparently because the latter fearing some sudden change of feeling in
-the King, had requested that the duc give him the entire correspondence,
-in order that he might be in a position to prove that he had acted only
-at the urgent solicitations of the courtiers.
-
-"This circumstance enables us to observe closely what was passing in
-those frivolous heads that were soon to be stricken off, and to realize
-with what blind impatience those thoughtless patricians aspired to be
-pointed out by Figaro for the contempt of the masses."
-
-In this letter of the count, after running over a half dozen plays that
-do not satisfy him, he says:
-
-   "Fearing the permission of M. de Beaumarchais would not reach us
-   in time we will postpone the spectacle for three or four days so
-   it will not be given until the 21st or the 22nd. Will you please
-   see that the comedians hold themselves ready for that date? But
-   _hors du 'Mariage de Figaro,' point de salut_ (our only salvation
-   is in the _Mariage de Figaro_). Thank you a thousand times, my
-   dear Fronsac, for all your trouble. I know that it is for these
-   ladies and M. the comte d'Artois, who join in my gratitude.
-   Receive the renewed expression of my deep regard which is yours
-   for life;
-
-                                          "Le comte de Vaudreuil."
-
-Again to quote Lomenie:
-
-"Beaumarchais, then in England, learned that nothing was now lacking but
-his own consent to play the piece prohibited by the king several months
-before. He returned immediately to Paris and it was he now who was the
-one to make the conditions. He was not satisfied simply to amuse the
-court, but wished rather to reach the public and to make them laugh at
-the expense of the court, which was a very different matter. If,
-however, the one would lead to the other, Beaumarchais would be charmed
-to gratify MM. de Vaudreuil and de Fronsac, but before consenting to the
-representation taking place at Grennevilliers, he required that the
-favor be accorded him of a new censure. Singular request!
-
-"'But,' they said to him, 'your play has already been censored,
-approved, and we have the permission of the king.'
-
-"'No matter, it must be censored again.'
-
-"To M. de Breteuil he wrote, 'they found me a little difficult in my
-turn and they said it was only because I was so sought after; but since
-I desired _absolutely_ to _fix public opinion_ by a new examination of
-the piece, I insisted, and so they have accorded me the severe
-historian, Gaillard of the French Academy.'
-
-"This," continues Lomenie, "was well thought out. Just before a court
-festival, where all were eagerly awaiting the representation, what
-censor, no matter how arbitrary, would dare interfere by spoiling their
-joy and provoking the anger of the powerful lords who ordered the
-festival? And so, as was to be expected, the report of the censure was
-'completely favorable.'"
-
-But Beaumarchais was not yet satisfied. "The play approved once more,"
-he wrote in his memoirs to M. de Breteuil, "I carried my precaution so
-far that I required before I would consent to its being played at the
-festival, the express promise of the magistracy that the
-Comedie-Francaise might consider it as belonging to their theater and I
-dare certify that that assurance was given by M. Lenoir, who certainly
-believed everything complete as did I myself."
-
-"To appreciate the diplomatic value," continues Lomenie, "of this
-passage, and the art with which Beaumarchais in the suppleness of his
-tenacity knew how to bind over the people who inconvenienced him, and
-that he could not openly attack, it is well to recall that at this
-moment he was struggling against an express prohibition of the
-representation of his play by the king, a prohibition that his majesty
-consented to lift only for one day, in a particular house and that only
-to gratify his brother the Comte d'Artois and M. de Vaudreuil."
-
-Beaumarchais, on his side, was sincere in not wishing to let it be
-played at Grennevilliers except on condition that he be formally
-promised that sooner or later it would be given to the public; but since
-he did not dare to push the matter so far, he saw the way to take one
-step in advance, by inventing the beautiful paraphrase that had just
-been read, which became a sort of vague engagement contracted with him
-and upon which he would depend very soon to push matters still further.
-
-On these conditions he finally accorded the permission asked, and M. de
-Vaudreuil thanked him in a letter which proves as far as he was
-concerned, that he accepted the engagement in the sense understood by
-Beaumarchais. He wrote:
-
-[Illustration: JOHN JAY]
-
-"The comte de Vaudreuil has the honor to thank M. de Beaumarchais for
-the kindness which he has shown in allowing his piece to be played at
-Grennevilliers. The comte de Vaudreuil has seized with alacrity this
-opportunity of giving to the public a chef d'oeuvre which it awaits with
-impatience. The presence of Monseigneur the comte d'Artois and the real
-merit of this charming piece will in the end destroy all the obstacles
-which have retarded its representation. The comte de Vaudreuil hopes
-very soon to be able to thank M. de Beaumarchais personally.
-
-   "This Monday, Sept. 15th, 1783."
-
-"The success of this representation at Grennevilliers was such," to
-continue the account of Lomenie, "that a complete change operated in
-Beaumarchais's attitude toward the piece. Resigned hitherto under the
-royal prohibition, working slowly and carefully to gain ground, he now
-became impatient, pressing and almost imperious. It is clear to anyone
-who will reflect, that on the day when Louis XVI permitted at the
-insistence of the Queen, the Comte d'Artois and M. de Vaudreuil to the
-representation at Grennevillier, he placed himself where he would be
-unable long to resist public curiosity, carried now to the heights by
-that very representation, of which everyone spoke, and by the address of
-Beaumarchais." It was not, however, until March, 1784, that the desired
-permission was given.
-
-"The picture of that representation of _Le Mariage de Figaro_," says
-Lomenie, "is in all the chronicles of the times, it is the best
-remembered scene of the eighteenth century. All Paris from earliest
-morning, pressed the doors of the Theatre-Francais; the greatest ladies
-dining in the boxes of the actresses so as to be sure of their
-places--the guards dispersed, the doors broken down, the iron railings
-giving way before the crowd of assailants. When the curtain rose upon
-the scene, the finest reunion of talent which the Theatre-Francais had
-ever possessed was there with but one thought, to bring out to the best
-advantage a comedy, flashing with _esprit_, carrying one away in its
-movement and audacity, which if it shocks some of the boxes, enchants,
-stirs, enflames and electrifies the parterre."
-
-And what is this play that roused such wild enthusiasm a century and
-more ago, and which to-day, although its political significance has long
-vanished, would still give its author, had he done nothing but create
-its characters, a right to a place among the immortals?
-
-"The _Mariage de Figaro_," to quote his own words, "was the most trivial
-of intrigues:
-
-"A great Spanish nobleman, in love with a young girl whom he wishes to
-seduce, and the efforts of that same girl and of him to whom she is
-engaged, and of the wife of the nobleman united to outwit his
-designs--and he an absolute master whose rank, fortune and prodigality
-render all powerful its accomplishment--that and nothing more."
-
-The characters are those in the main of the _Barbier_: the Comte
-Almaviva, the Comtesse Rosine, and the valet Figaro, are old friends.
-But there are new ones, the page Cherubim, and Suzanne, lady's maid to
-the Comtesse--"Always laughing, tender, full of gaiety, of _esprit_, of
-love and delicious!--but good."
-
-"Like the _Barbier_," says Lintilhac, "it is here a question of
-marriage, but it is the valet this time who is to marry and the
-obstacles which retard this desired _denouement_ arise, not from the
-jealousy of a guardian, or the resistance of a father but from the
-covetousness of a young libertine master.... It is the master who is
-outwitted, the valet and his fiancee who triumph, and in this
-_denouement_ lies the whole secret of the wild enthusiasm with which the
-piece was greeted. Right here lies the Revolution."
-
-But the master is as truly painted in the play as the other characters.
-"The Comte Almaviva," says Imbert de Saint Amand, "is the old regime,
-Figaro is the new society. Almaviva is corrupt, but he is always _comme
-il faut_. Even in his anger he remains the man of good society; no doubt
-his faults are great; he is a libertine from ennui, jealous from
-vanity, but he is not odious, not ridiculous."
-
-But to return to Lintilhac:
-
-   "We may see that Figaro, by the aid of two clever women and his
-   own _esprit_ has the opportunity to interest the public and to
-   bring all to a happy ending.
-
-   "'Be on your guard that day, M. Figaro! First put the clocks in
-   advance so as to be a little surer of marrying. Get rid of
-   Marceline who wants to marry you herself--take all the money and
-   the presents, let the count have his way, in little things; drub
-   Basil roundly, ... (Act I, Scene II). And let us finish the
-   programme which the fat doctor interrupts,--giving yourself full
-   rein, invective politics, graft and those who live by it;
-   ridicule censorship, and the law, as well as those who abuse
-   both--banter privileges and the privileged and all that attaches
-   itself to either, in a word--open the way for the men of genius
-   who are preparing there below in the obscure crowd, and who wish
-   to emerge.
-
-   "But the time to laugh, _la folle journee_ commences. _Quel
-   imbroglio!_ Twenty times everything seems finished, and suddenly,
-   an unexpected incident, but always arising out of the situation,
-   throws forward in rapid movement that brilliant group of
-   personages. They seek, they evade one another, group themselves
-   in tableaux turn by turn, animated and gracious, laughing or
-   grotesque....
-
-   "And the new song to the old music! And the scene which a moment
-   ago framed these charming groups, suddenly fills with the noise
-   of the crowd and the whole village which sings. _Quel crescendo_
-   of gaiety!...
-
-   "Take the most ingenious comedy of Lope de Vega, or Calderon, add
-   the gaiety of Regnard, the comique of George Dandin, the amusing
-   of Vade, and one will scarcely have in imagination the
-   equivalent of the scene on the night which terminates the
-   _Mariage de Figaro_."
-
-   And his faithful friend Gudin says of it: "In this piece the
-   parterre applauded not only scenes founded upon true
-   _comique_--that of situations, new characters, like Cherubim and
-   Bridoison--but also the courageous man who dared undertake to
-   combat by ridicule the libertinage of the great lords, the
-   ignorance of magistrates, the venality of officers and the
-   unbecoming way of pleading of lawyers.
-
-   "Beaumarchais might perhaps consider himself more authorized in
-   this than anyone else since he had been calumniated so
-   outrageously by great lords, and injured by the insolent
-   pleadings of lawyers, and _blame_ by bad judges.... Let us dare
-   to say what is true, that since Moliere no author had better
-   understood the human heart, or better painted the manners of his
-   time."
-
-And his latest critic, Lintilhac, a hundred years after Gudin,
-corroborates his judgment. "By the creation of Figaro, Beaumarchais is
-the first comic French author after Moliere, the incomparable painter of
-character."
-
-Of the famous monologue of the piece, Gudin says, "I remember that when
-the author composed it in a moment of enthusiasm, he was alarmed himself
-at its extent. We examined it together; I regarded it with severe
-attention. Everything seemed to me in its place; not a word could be
-omitted without regretting it. Every phrase had a moral or a useful
-object proper to cause the spectator to reflect either on human nature
-or on the abuses of society."
-
-Of its moral significance Beaumarchais has commented in his preface to
-the play: "An author has but one duty; to correct men in making them see
-themselves as they are, whether he moralizes in laughing or weeps in
-moralizing."
-
-And let us now close this brief summary of the famous play by the
-description given by Imbert de Saint-Amand in "_La fin de l'ancien
-Regime_."
-
-"Beaumarchais, that marvelous wit, was scarcely aware perhaps of the
-weight of his attacks and of the gravity of the piece. He did not desire
-the fall of the throne any more than the overturning of the altar, at
-heart he was monarchic.... The first representation was given April 27,
-1784, by the Comedie Francaise.... The success went to the stars.
-Beaumarchais himself could not help crying out, 'There is something more
-astounding than my piece, it is its success.' ... Actors and actresses
-surpassed themselves. Every word told. Each bit of satire was welcomed
-by acclamations and bravos without end. The public recognized itself in
-the portrait of Figaro. 'Never angry, always gay, giving over the
-present to joy and not worrying about the future any more than the
-past,--lively, generous, _generous_!'
-
-"'Like a robber,' says Bartolo.
-
-"'Like a lord,' replies Marceline.
-
-"What joy for all that assembly, his definition of a courtier:
-
-"Figaro--'I was born to be a courtier.'
-
-"Suzanne--'They say it is a very difficult business.'
-
-"Figaro--'Receive, take, ask, that is the secret in three words.'
-
-"What joyous laughter at the reflection, very true, by the way:
-
-"Le Comte--'The domestics here take longer to dress than their masters.'
-
-"Figaro--'That is because they have no valets to help them.'
-
-"What an excellent remark upon the chances for functionaries:
-
-"Le Comte--'With character and intelligence you may one day be promoted
-in office.'
-
-"Figaro--'Intelligence will advance me? Monsieur is making sport of
-mine--to be mediocre and cringing, one can arrive at anything.'
-
-"And after this very subtle observation, what a picture of diplomacy:
-
-"'Pretend to be ignorant of what everyone knows, and to know what others
-do not know, seem to understand what nobody comprehends, not to hear
-what all hear, and most of all appear able to do the impossible. Seem
-profound when one is only empty; spread spies, pension traitors, loosen
-seals, and intercept letters; magnify the poverty of the methods by the
-importance of the object,--that's politics, or I'm a dead man.'
-
-"The diplomats who were in the audience were transported with pleasure
-in hearing their business so exactly judged.
-
-"The great ladies went into ecstacies at the remark of Suzanne to the
-countess: 'I have noticed how a knowledge of the world gives an ease to
-ladies well brought up, so they can lie without showing it.'
-
-"They applauded with enthusiasm that democratic observation, but
-profoundly true of this same Suzanne: 'Do you think women of my position
-have hysterics? That is a malady which is only to be found in the
-boudoir.'
-
-"The great lords, always surrounded with flatterers and parasites,
-applauded with transport that phrase of Figaro to Basil: 'Are you a
-prince that you must be servilely flattered? Suffer the truth, wretch,
-since you cannot pay a liar.'
-
-"But the moment when the enthusiasm became delirium, frenzy--the moment
-when the dukes and peers, the ministers, the _cordons rouges_, the
-_cordons bleus_--were transported to the seventh heaven of acclaim, was
-when the daring _Barbier_ transformed himself into a tribune and said
-to all of them in the monologue under the chestnut tree:
-
-"'Because you are a great lord you believe yourself a great genius.
-Rank, fortune, position, all that make you so proud! What have you done
-to deserve so many gifts? You have taken the trouble to be born, nothing
-else!'
-
-"The functionaries charged with the censure were particularly enchanted
-with this phrase of the same monologue: 'On condition that I do not
-speak in my writings, either of authority, or religion, or politics, or
-morals, or of people in position, or bodies in favor, or anyone who
-holds to anything, I am allowed to write, to print everything freely
-under the inspection of two or three censors.'
-
-"The ministers charged to fill public functions found the following
-phrase very just: 'They thought of me for a position, but by ill luck I
-was suited to it; they needed a calculator, it was a dancer who received
-it.'"
-
-"The _Mariage de Figaro_" says Lomenie, "was presented sixty-eight times
-consecutively, something unheard of in that day. The receipts for the
-first presentation amounted to 6,511 livres, that of the sixty-eighth
-was 5,483. During eight months, from the 27th of April, 1784, to the
-10th of January, 1785, the piece had brought to the Comedie Francaise
-(not counting the fiftieth presentation which at Beaumarchais's request
-had been given for the benefit of the poor) a gross sum of 347,197
-livres, which left when all expenses were deducted, a net profit to the
-Comedians of 293,755 livres, except the part of the author which was
-valued at 41,499 livres....
-
-"This sum the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_, as if to sanctify the
-piece, consecrated to works of charity.
-
-"'I propose,' he wrote in the _Journal de Paris_, the 12th of August,
-1784, '_un institut de bienfaisance_, to which any woman recognized as
-needy and inscribed in her parish, can come, her infant in her arms and
-with her certificate from the parish priest, say to us, "I am a mother
-and a wet nurse, I gain twenty sous a day, my infant makes me lose
-twelve." Let us give her nine livres a month in charity.... So if the
-comedians have gained two hundred thousand francs from my Figaro, my
-nursing mothers will have twenty-eight thousand which with the thirty
-thousand of my friends, will produce a whole regiment of _marmots_
-stuffed with maternal milk.'"
-
-"This institute," continues Lomenie, "of _les pauvres meres nourrices_,
-encountered obstacles at Paris which prevented its establishment in that
-city; but since the idea was good it did not remain fruitless. The
-Archbishop of Lyon, M. de Montazet, adopted it. He accepted the help and
-money of Beaumarchais, and the _Institut de bienfaisance maternelle_, if
-I am not mistaken still in existence in Lyon, was the outcome of the
-_Mariage de Figaro_. Beaumarchais was one of its most constant
-protectors and in 1790 he sent six thousand francs to it and received in
-return the following letter signed by three of the most respectable and
-important inhabitants of Lyon:
-
-                                  "'Lyon, the 11th of April, 1790.
-
-   "'Monsieur:
-
-   "'To speak to you of the success of _l'Institut de bienfaisance
-   maternelle_, is to entertain you in regard to your own work. The
-   idea of it is yours, therefore the plan of the work belongs to
-   you. You have aided it with your generous gifts and more than two
-   hundred children saved to the country, already owe their lives to
-   you. We consider ourselves happy to have contributed to it and
-   our gratitude will always equal the respectful sentiments with
-   which we are Monsieur, etc., _Les administrateurs de l'Institut
-   de bienfaisance maternelle_.
-
-                           "'Palerne de Sacy, Chapp et Tabareau.'"
-
-It was jealousy, Gudin tells us, that prevented the establishment of the
-institute at Paris. A storm of protest arose from his enemies on every
-hand.
-
-"It is not enough," they wrote, "to have gained at the bar the crown of
-Cicero and Parru; to have received at the theater, from the hands of
-Thalie, the laurels of Moliere, he must needs add to the just applause
-with which he is greeted, the cries of joy and benediction of the
-unfortunate!... From this feeble stream of money will flow rivers of
-milk and crowds of vigorous infants." An engraving was circulated
-showing Figaro helping mothers and opening the prison doors of poor
-debtors....
-
-Gudin says: "The design made known, redoubled the solicitation of the
-unfortunates addressed to him as well as the insults which the envious
-poured upon him. He scarcely could open a letter which did not contain
-either a demand for charity if it was signed, or a series of invectives
-if it were anonymous."
-
-One of these letters contained a curious request, not for money, as was
-usually the case, but asking that the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_,
-send the applicant a ticket to his play. "Misfortune," he wrote, "has
-driven me to despair, but before ending my life I desire once more to
-indulge in unrestrained laughter."
-
-With characteristic generosity, Beaumarchais sent at once a message, to
-inquire into the cause of the young man's misfortune and not only gave
-him the desired ticket but restored hope to his distressed mind, found a
-position for him and warmed him back to a desire for life.
-
-"But thus," Gudin tells us, "while with his wife, his daughter, his
-sisters, and a few friends, he was receiving the applause of the people
-and the benedictions of the fathers of families--a frightful outrage and
-one without motive was inflicted upon him by authority.
-
-"I was supping with him; we were at the table when the commissioner
-Chenu was announced and asked to speak privately with Beaumarchais. They
-passed into an adjoining room.
-
-"We knew that the commissioner was his friend, still the conference made
-us uneasy. At length they came out together. Beaumarchais embraced us,
-as he said he would be obliged to go out and perhaps to pass the night
-away from home. He begged us not to be uneasy and that the next day we
-should be informed as to the cause of his going.
-
-"These words, far from calming, troubled us. We could not doubt that he
-had been arrested, but why? Where would they take him? Perhaps to the
-Bastille?...
-
-"Not to the Bastille, nor to Vincennes, but to St. Lazare, a prison
-house of correction for delinquent youths, he, a man of mature age, of
-the constancy, of the fortune of M. de Beaumarchais, treated as a
-depraved adolescent! It was a cowardly outrage.
-
-"His enemies were charmed to see him thus humiliated. The consternation
-was general. Lafayette, the Prince de Nassau-Siegen, and other noblemen
-appealed instantly in his favor. At the end of five days he was
-liberated....
-
-"I went with his wife and daughter and the Commissioner Chenu to bring
-him the news of his release. His first reaction was to refuse liberty.
-
-"'I have done nothing to merit having lost it,' he said, 'I shall not go
-from here until judged and justified....'
-
-"If he had not been husband and father, his obstinacy would no doubt
-have carried him to the point of demanding justice of the king against
-the king himself ... but he could not permit himself to pierce the
-hearts of his wife and daughter by condemning them to eternal tears in
-the vain hope of tearing from power the avowal of an injustice....
-
-"Princes, Marshals of France, persons of every rank had inscribed their
-names at his door during his detention and came to felicitate him on his
-return...."
-
-And what was the cause that had operated to bring about this sudden
-outburst of power directed against the author of the _Mariage de
-Figaro_?
-
-It was this. In a dispute carried on with vigor in the pages of _le
-Journal de Paris_, between Beaumarchais and certain anonymous attacks
-directed against him, the former had made use of the expression, "After
-having been forced to conquer _lions_ and _tigers_ to have my comedy
-played...."
-
-"_Lions_ and _tigers_!" Evidently the daring man meant the King and
-Queen of France! The news was brought at once to the royal presence.
-Louis XVI, already annoyed beyond measure at the success of the play, to
-the performance of which he had been forced to consent in spite of
-himself, only needed some pretext to vent his displeasure, "so without
-rising from the card table at which he was seated," says Lomenie, "he
-wrote, if we may credit the authority of the author of _Souvenirs d'un
-Sexagenaire_, M. Arnault, ... upon the back of a seven of spades, in
-pencil, the order for the immediate arrest of Beaumarchais and joining
-insult to rigor, something which no sovereign is permitted to use, he
-ordered him conducted, not to an ordinary prison, but one ridiculous and
-shameful for a man of his years, to Saint-Lazare, where depraved
-adolescents were detained.
-
-"To treat as a young good-for-nothing, a man of his age and celebrity, a
-man to whom confidential missions were entrusted, who carried the
-secrets of state, who was charged with the most important operations,
-and whose talents were a powerful attraction to the public and to the
-aristocracy, was not only a gross injustice, it was a most serious
-fault, because it became manifest to everyone how pernicious the
-influence of uncontrolled power might become even in the hands of the
-best prince. This arbitrary act is the only one of its kind that can be
-held as a reproach to Louis XVI....
-
-"The next day, when the motive was demanded for that incarceration, the
-government said nothing, as it had nothing to say, for it would have
-been difficult to make anyone believe that Beaumarchais intended to
-compare Louis XVI to a _tiger_. The public became uneasy and began to
-murmur, and the day after to murmur loudly."
-
-"Every one," says Arnault, "felt himself menaced, not only in his
-liberty but in his reputation." The fourth day there was a general
-movement of indignation.... The fifth day Beaumarchais was turned out of
-prison almost in spite of himself ... and Lomenie continues:
-
-"A few days' reflection had made the king realize that he could not
-decently admit the intention given to the author, and coming back to the
-sentiments of justice and goodness so natural to him, he almost begged
-Beaumarchais to come out of prison, and set about in every way to make
-up to him for the wrong done him. Grimm affirms that nearly all the
-ministers were present at the first performance of the play after his
-release, which was made the most brilliant possible, when they had the
-slight unpleasantness of hearing this passage of the famous monologue
-applauded with fervent energy: 'Not being able to debase the spirit,
-they take revenge in abuse.'"
-
-[Illustration: D'ESTAIGN.]
-
-Louis XVI, very soon after this, hastened to make amends in the noblest
-manner and the one most worthy of a sovereign who felt that he had done
-wrong. "_Le Barbier de Seville_," says Grimm, "was given at the little
-theater of the Trianon, and the very distinguished favor was accorded
-the author to be present at the performance."
-
-In the chapter on the _Barbier_ we have spoken already of this striking
-scene, where the queen herself, the Comte d'Artois, M. de Vaudreuil,
-etc., were the actors. There is one more line to this touching picture
-which we have from the pen of Gudin.
-
-"A zealous partisan of royalty, after making himself trusted by those in
-power and in the guise of a Sans-culotte, had penetrated to the presence
-of the unhappy queen, then prisoner in the Temple. He was able to speak
-to her and asked if there were anyone of whom she could think who might
-help her, and he suggested Beaumarchais. The queen's countenance
-instantly fell.
-
-"'Alas,' she said, 'he now has it in his power to avenge himself for the
-insult once offered him.'" And Gudin adds, "She did not know the heart
-of Beaumarchais or that if it had been possible, now that she was in
-trouble, he would have come to her relief with far more alacrity than in
-the hey day of her power."
-
-But the storm now gathering, that was to sweep the mighty from their
-seats, was destined also to vent its fury upon the man of the people
-whose riches and honors long had been the objects of their jealous rage.
-Twice he owed his safety to the poor whom he had assisted, but in the
-general _debacle_ which followed there was no opportunity for his wit or
-his ingenuity to save him; the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ and the
-_Barbier_ was forced himself to bend before the storm.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXIV
-
-
-_"In my feeble childhood I was always astonished to see that the cheval
-de bronze had its foot in the air, but never advanced.... Sad emblem of
-my affairs, which like this image seem always to march, but which have
-no movement."_
-
-                     _Beaumarchais to Ramel, Minister of Finance._
-
-
-   The Marine of Beaumarchais--Success of His Business
-     Undertakings--His Wealth--Ringing Plea of Self-Justification in the
-     Cause of America, Addressed to the Commune of Paris, 1789--The
-     Beautiful House Which He Built in Paris--His Liberality--His
-     Friends--His Home Life--Madame de Beaumarchais--His Daughter,
-     Eugenie.
-
-
-Since the official declaration made by the French Government to the
-Court of London, recognizing the independence of the United States,
-England had considered that war had been declared, and on June 18, 1778,
-she struck the first blow.
-
-"Beaumarchais," says Lomenie, "disposed himself to make war as well as
-to carry on commerce. See him now demanding sailors from the Minister of
-the Navy, M. de Sartine, for the service of his great vessel, _le fier
-Roderigue_!
-
-                              "'Paris, the 12th of December, 1778.
-
-   "'Monsieur:
-
-   "'If I presented myself to-day before you, and if I had the honor
-   to propose to you to construct and arm a vessel of this
-   importance, as one able to take the place of a vessel of the
-   King, wherever I should send it, do you think, Monsieur, that you
-   would refuse cannon and the title of Captain of a battleship to
-   its Commander? How then can it be less precious when all is ready
-   than if it were still to be built?
-
-   "'I beg your pardon; but the multiplicity of objects which occupy
-   you may very easily hide from you the importance of my armament,
-   consecrated to the triple employment of encouraging the commerce
-   of France by my example and my success, of promising to provision
-   the islands most in need, and of conducting to the continent of
-   America, in the most stormy times, a French merchant fleet
-   important enough to convince the new states by this effort of the
-   great desire of France to support the new commercial bond that
-   already joins us....
-
-   "'It is to your wisdom that I present these serious matters, and
-   I dare say that there are none more worthy of the attention and
-   protection of an enlightened minister such as you.
-
-                                         "'Caron de Beaumarchais.'
-
-"_Le Fier Roderigue_," continues Lomenie, "set sail, with her sixty
-cannon, convoying ten merchantmen. At the Isle of Granada it encountered
-the fleet of the Admiral d'Estaing, which prepared to give battle to
-that of the English Admiral Biron. Sighting the beautiful vessel of
-Beaumarchais passing in the distance, the admiral made a sign for it to
-come. Seeing that it belonged to His Majesty, Caron de Beaumarchais, he
-assigned it to its post of battle without the authorization of its
-proprietor, allowing the unfortunate merchantmen which this vessel was
-protecting to go on at the mercy of the seas and of the English. _Le
-Fier Roderigue_ resigned itself bravely to its fate, and took a glorious
-part in the Battle of Granada and contributed its part to making the
-English Admiral retire, but its captain was killed and it was riddled
-with bullets. The evening of the combat the Comte d'Estaing, feeling the
-need of consoling Beaumarchais, wrote to him a letter, which he sent
-through the Minister of the Navy, the like of which is not often found
-in the archives of a dramatic poet:
-
-        "'On board the Languedoc, the 12th of July, 1779.
-
-   "'I have only the time to write you that _le Fier Roderigue_ has
-   held her post in line, and contributed to the success of the arms
-   of the king. You will pardon me all the more readily for having
-   used her, since your interests will not suffer from it, be sure
-   of that. The brave M. de Montaut unfortunately was killed. I will
-   urge the minister without ceasing for the favor of the state, and
-   I hope you will aid me in soliciting that which your navy has
-   very justly merited.
-
-   "'I have the honor to be, with all the sentiments which you have
-   so well known how to inspire, Monsieur, your very humble and
-   obedient servant,
-
-   "'Estaing.'
-
-"The minister hastened to send the letter to Beaumarchais, who replied
-as follows:
-
-                                       "'Paris, September 7, 1779.
-
-   "'Monsieur:
-
-   "'I thank you for having sent me the letter of the Comte
-   d'Estaing. It is noble of him, in the moment of his triumph, to
-   have thought that a word from his hand would be very agreeable to
-   me.... Whatever may happen for my affairs, my poor friend Montaut
-   died on the bed of honor, and I feel the joy of a child to know
-   that my vessel has contributed to take from the English the most
-   fertile of their possessions....
-
-   "'You know my tender and respectful devotion,
-
-                                                  "'Beaumarchais.'
-
-"However, the joy of the patriot," continued Lomenie, "was somewhat
-mitigated by the distress of the merchant. The report of the captain,
-second in command of the _Fier Roderigue_, arrived at the same time, and
-though it contributed equally to the glory of Beaumarchais, it was very
-disastrous from the point of view of his coffer. He, therefore,
-addressed a vigorous appeal to the King, asking for an indemnity which
-would save him from ruin." That the request was subsequently granted, we
-may judge from the following extract from a letter to Necker, written a
-little more than a year after the date of the battle, and given by
-Gudin:
-
-   "Paris, July 18th, 1780.
-
-   "You have rendered, Monsieur, an act of justice in my regard, and
-   you have done it with grace, which has touched me more than the
-   thing itself. I thank you for it; but I owe you more important
-   thanks upon the indemnity, which the King has been so good as to
-   offer me for the enormous losses which the campaign with
-   d'Estaing has caused me."
-
-Lomenie asserts that the indemnity had been fixed at 2,000,000 francs,
-and was to be paid in installments, the last coming to him in 1785.
-
-But to return to the American Congress. After long debates a reversal of
-parties had placed at the head of that body the honorable John Jay, who
-hastened to address Beaumarchais with the first letter which came to him
-from Congress, although his earliest shipment of supplies had been made
-almost two years previously:
-
-   "By express order of Congress, sitting in Philadelphia, to M.
-   de Beaumarchais.
-
-                                                "January 15, 1779.
-
-   "Sir:
-
-   "The Congress of the United States of America, recognizing the
-   great efforts which you have made in their favor, presents to you
-   its thanks, and the assurance of its esteem. It laments the
-   disappointments which you have suffered in the support of these
-   States. Disastrous circumstances have prevented the execution of
-   its desires; but it will take the promptest measures to acquit
-   itself of the debt which it has contracted towards you. The
-   generous sentiments and the breadth of view, which alone could
-   dictate a conduct such as yours, are the eulogy of your actions,
-   and the ornament of your character. While, by your rare talents,
-   you have rendered yourself useful to your prince, you have gained
-   the esteem of this young Republic and merited the applause of the
-   New World.
-
-   "John Jay, President."
-
-This beautiful expression of the best feeling in the States must have
-been soothing to the heart of Beaumarchais. That he understood the
-attitude of America and knew very well the complexity of the situation
-in which the young republic found itself involved, may be judged from
-the following extract from his _Memoire justicative a la cour de
-Londres_, printed in the first collection of his works and written in
-1779. He says:
-
-"In truth, my ardent zeal for my new friends might well have been a
-little wounded at the cold reception which was made to brave men whom I
-had myself brought to expatriate themselves for the service. My pains,
-my work, and my advances were immense in this respect. But I am
-afflicted only for our unhappy officers, because even in the very
-refusal of the Americans, I don't know what exultation, what republican
-pride attracted my heart, and showed me a people so ardent to conquer
-their liberty, that they feared to diminish the glory of success in
-allowing strangers to divide with them the perils. My soul thus is
-composed; in the greatest evils it searches with care, and consoles
-itself with the little good which it encounters. And so, while my
-efforts had so little fruit in America ... sustained by my pride, I
-disdained to defend myself, leaving the evil-minded to their proper
-channel.
-
-"The idle of Paris envied my happiness, and were jealous of me as a
-favorite of fortune and of power; and I, sad plaything of events, alone,
-deprived of rest, lost for society, exhausted by insomnia and troubles,
-_tour a tour_ exposed to the suspicions, the ingratitude, anxieties, to
-the reproaches of France, England and America; working day and night and
-running to my goal by constant effort across a thorny land--I exhausted
-myself with fatigue and advanced little. I felt my courage revived when
-I thought that a great people would soon offer a sweet and free retreat
-to all the persecuted of Europe; that my fatherland would be revenged
-for the humiliation to which it had been subjected by the treaty of
-1763; in a word, that the sea would become open to all commercial
-nations; I was supported by the hope that a new system of politics would
-open in Europe."
-
-[Illustration: THE BASTILLE]
-
-But notwithstanding all his difficulties and losses, the affairs of
-Beaumarchais were advancing steadily. His merchant fleet, after the
-Treaty of Paris, signed in September, 1783, was no longer subject to the
-risks of war, and soon began to bring him in vast returns. But as late
-as March of this same year, we find him writing to Vergennes, in a
-letter quoted by Gaillardet:
-
-   "The taking of my two vessels cost me more than 800,000 livres,
-   and since the publicity of my losses I have been drawn upon,
-   through fear, for a similar sum. Remittances have come to me from
-   America, and now unfortunately their payment is suspended. I have
-   two new vessels at Nantes, one of 12,000 tons, which I destined
-   for China, and which I am now unable to sell.
-
-   "I have 80,000 livres worth of bales of merchandise on the
-   _Aigle_, destined for Congress, and the _Aigle_ has been taken. A
-   sudden inundation, which happened at Morlaige, has submerged two
-   warehouses where I had 1,000,000 pounds of tea. The whole is
-   damaged to-day.
-
-   "Day before yesterday, at the instant of payment, the exchange
-   agent of Girard by his fraudulent bankruptcy carried off near
-   30,000 livres.
-
-   "Two vessels must be sent to the Chesapeake before the middle of
-   May if I am not to lose all the miserable remains of the tobacco
-   of my stores in Virginia, the main part of which was burned by
-   the English, because for four years _le Fier Roderigue_ has been
-   detained at Rochefort, where it has at last decayed. This is the
-   most trying time of my life; and you know M. le Comte that for
-   three years I have had over 200,000 livres in disuse, because of
-   the enormous mass of parchments which M. de Maurepas ordered me
-   secretly to buy, wherever I found them. I shall perish if M. de
-   Fleury does not promptly arrange with you to throw me the 'on
-   account' which I demand, as one throws a cable to him whom the
-   current carries away. I always have served my country well, and I
-   will serve it still without recompense; I wish none. But in the
-   name of Heaven, of the King, of compassion and of justice,
-   prevent me from perishing or from hiding shamefully in a foreign
-   country the little courage and talent which I always have sought
-   to render useful to my country and to my King. What I ask is of
-   the most rigorous equity and I will receive it as a favor.
-
-   "I present to you the homages of him who has not slept for two
-   months, but who is none the less, with the most respectful
-   devotion, M. le Comte, your very humble and very obedient
-   servitor,
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-But let us now turn from this gloomy picture and cast a glance at the
-home life of this man so buffeted before the world.
-
-Bonneville de Marsangy, in his life of Madame de Beaumarchais has drawn
-the picture for us. He says:
-
-"Beaumarchais, in consequence of the noise which continued to be made
-about his name, was none the less one of the personages the most sought
-after of the capital. Whatever he says about it, the fact is that he
-lived in great style. His stables contained as many as ten horses. He
-kept open table; strangers of distinction, desirous of knowing the
-popular author of so many celebrated works, solicited the honor of being
-presented to him. He received men of distinction in politics, in letters
-and arts, and women the most sought after, in the midst of whom the
-mistress of the house shone in the first rank by her _esprit_, her
-education, and her charms.... Nearly every evening in the Hotel
-Boulevard St. Antonie, there was talking, music, playing, although the
-master never took part in play. His _esprit_ was equally free, equally
-alert, his fancy inexhaustible. It is there he loved to read his new
-productions, and he excelled at that. Arnault recounts one of these
-literary reunions at which he assisted, 'in a great circular salon,
-partly ornamented with mirrors, partly with landscapes of vast
-dimensions, and half of which was occupied by seats for placing the
-auditors. Upon an estrade, furnished with a desk, stood the armchair of
-the reader. There, as in a theatre, Beaumarchais read, or rather played
-his dramas; because it is to play, if one delivers a piece in as many
-different inflexions of the voice as there are different personages in
-the action; because it is to play if one gives to each one of the
-personages the pantomime which should characterize him.'" (Arnault,
-_Souvenirs d'un sexagenaire_, Vol. IV.)
-
-And Gudin adds another touch to the portrait of this many-sided man;
-after speaking of the loss of his mother, dying in her eighty-third
-year, he said:
-
-"Beaumarchais came at once to see me, offered me all the consolations of
-friendship, and reclaimed the promise which we had given one another
-long ago, to unite the rest of the days which nature reserved to us.
-
-"It is thus that I found in the family of my friend all those attentions
-which could sweeten the irreparable loss of the tenderest mother and one
-whom I had quitted almost never."
-
-In 1787 Beaumarchais had accumulated a sufficient fortune to contemplate
-the building of a superb residence, for which he already had bought the
-land in that section of the City of Paris now occupied by the Boulevard
-which bears his name. It was directly opposite the Bastille, and was not
-yet completed on the memorable 14th of July, 1789, when the ancient
-fortress was destroyed. This residence cost the owner one million six
-hundred and sixty-three thousand francs. "_Une folie_," Napoleon called
-it. When in 1818, the government bought the property so as to make way
-for the new boulevard, they paid the heirs of Beaumarchais only five
-hundred thousand francs. As an investment, therefore, it was far from
-successful; but as a residence, it was, while it lasted, one of the
-sights of the city, and was regarded as such. It was the very last word
-in elegance and comfort, and rivaled the most sumptuous palaces of the
-capital. In the beginning, it was always open to the public, but so vast
-became the horde of visitors, that very soon entrance was obtainable
-only by tickets (though these were never refused to anyone who asked
-politely for them).
-
-Although the storm of the Revolution was gathering already, its shadow
-had not yet fallen upon Beaumarchais, who did not foresee either its
-fury or the extent of the devastation it was to carry in its train.
-
-After the fall of the Bastille he had been appointed by the _Maire_ of
-Paris to superintend the demolition of the structure so as to prevent
-damage to buildings in the neighborhood. Soon after he was named member
-of the Municipal Council, but, says Lomenie, "denunciations soon began
-to rain upon him. All the adversaries of his numerous lawsuits and all
-those whom his riches irritated denounced him to the fury of the masses,
-as one who upheld authority, or who was hoarding wheat or arms. His
-house, situated at the very entrance to that terrible suburb, the center
-of the mob, presented itself as a sort of insolent provocation, which
-naturally called for the visits of the people." To rid himself of these
-dangerous visits became his constant preoccupation; first demanding
-official visits, then placarding about him the results of these visits,
-stating that nothing suspicious had been found in his possession, again
-distributing about him all the money possible, and suggesting to the
-municipality all sorts of charitable institutions, because "disorder and
-misery always march in company." Among the accusations persistently made
-against him was that he had enriched himself at the expense of the
-American people, and that he had sent them arms and munitions for which
-he charged them a hundred times their value. Stung to the quick by the
-falsehood of these accusations, coming as they did from his own
-countrymen, he made a ringing protest of self-defense to the commune of
-Paris in September, 1789, in which he said:
-
-   "You condemn me to speak well of myself by speaking so ill of
-   me.... Attacked by furious enemies, I have gained, perhaps with
-   too much brilliancy, all the lawsuits undertaken against me,
-   because I never have brought an action against anyone, although
-   for the greatest benefits I have received almost universally, I
-   dare say it, unheard of and constant ingratitude....
-
-   "Since I have been attacked upon this point I am going to state
-   before you all the unheard of labors, which a single man was able
-   to accomplish in that great work. Frenchmen, you who pride
-   yourselves to have drawn the desire and ardor of your liberty
-   from the example of the Americans, learn that that nation owes me
-   very largely her own. It is time that I should say it in the face
-   of the universe, and if anyone pretends to contest what I say,
-   let him rise and name himself; my proofs will reply to the
-   imputations which I denounce....
-
-   "These accusations, as vague as despicable, relate to the
-   Americans whom I served so generously; I, who would be reduced to
-   the alms which I scatter, had not noble foreigners, taken in a
-   free country, associated me with the gains of a vast commerce,
-   while I associated them to my constant losses with America! I,
-   who dared form all the plans of help necessary to that people,
-   and offered them to our ministers; I, who dared blame their
-   indecision, their weakness, and so loudly reproach them with it,
-   in my proud reply to the English manifest by Gibbon; I, who dared
-   promise a success which was very far from being generally
-   admitted....
-
-   "All that I could obtain after a great deal of trouble ... was to
-   be allowed to proceed on my own responsibility without the
-   assistance of the government in any way, on condition of being
-   stopped if the English made the least complaints, and of being
-   punished if they produced proofs--which put so many hindrances in
-   the way of my maritime operations, that to help the Americans, I
-   was obliged to mask and to disguise my works in the interior; the
-   expeditions, the ships, the manufactures of the contractors, and
-   even to the reason of trade, which was a mask like the rest.
-
-   "Shall I say it, Frenchmen? The King alone had courage, and as
-   for me I worked for his glory, wishing to make him the prop of a
-   proud people who burned to be free; because I had an immense debt
-   to fulfil towards that good king.... Yes, the King, Louis XVI,
-   who assured to the Americans their liberty, who gives you yours,
-   Frenchmen, gave back to me also my estate. Let his name be
-   honored in all the centuries. Then, leaving aside the labors
-   which I am ready to expose in a work where I will prove that I
-   sent at my risks and perils, whatever could be had of the best in
-   France, in munitions, arms, clothing, etc., to the insurgents who
-   needed everything, on credit, at the cost price, leaving them
-   masters to fix the commission which they would one day pay to
-   their friend (for so they called me); and that after twelve
-   years, I am still not paid. I declare that the measures which I
-   am making at this moment before their new federal court, to
-   obtain justice of them,--faithful report which a committee of the
-   Treasury has just given of what is due me, is the last effort of
-   a very generous creditor. But I will publish everything, and the
-   universe shall judge us. Omitting, I say, all the details of my
-   work, of my services towards that people, I will pass to the
-   testimony which was given me by the agent, the minister of
-   America, before he left France. His letter of March 18th, 1778,
-   bears these words:
-
-     'After the perplexing and embarrassing scenes you have had to
-     pass through, it must give you the most solid joy to see an
-     armament going out to America.... I again congratulate you on
-     this great and glorious event, to which you have contributed more
-     than any other person.
-
-                                                    'Silas Deane.'
-
-   "Alas, that was the last of my successes. A minister of the
-   department to whom I showed that letter, alas, though up to that
-   time he had treated me with the greatest kindness, suddenly
-   changed his tone, and his style. I did my best to persuade him
-   that I did not pretend in any way to appropriate to myself that
-   glory, but to leave it entirely to him. The blow had carried, he
-   had read the praise; I was lost in his favor. It was to take from
-   him all idea of my ambition, to avert the storm, that I
-   recommenced to amuse myself with frivolous theatrical plays,
-   while keeping a profound silence upon my political actions. But
-   that helped nothing. It is very true that a year later, the
-   general Congress, having received my vivid complaints upon the
-   delay of payment, wrote me the ... letter by the Honorable Mr.
-   John Jay, their president, the 15th of Jan. 1779....
-
-   "If it was not money, it was at least gratitude. America, nearer
-   the great services which I had rendered her, was not yet where
-   she disputed her debts, fatiguing me with injustice, to wear out
-   my life, if possible, and succeed in paying nothing. It is also
-   true that the same year, the respectable Mr. Jefferson, to-day
-   their minister in France, then Governor of Virginia, struck by
-   the fearful losses which the depreciation of paper money would
-   inflict upon me, wrote, to my general agent in America, M. de
-   Francy, in these terms:
-
-                                              "'December 17, 1779.
-
-     "'Monsieur:
-
-     "'I am very much mortified that the depreciation of paper money,
-     of which no one, I think, had the least idea at the time of the
-     contract, passed between the supercargo of the _Fier Roderigue_
-     (war vessel of mine, very richly charged, the cargo of which had
-     been delivered on credit to Virginia, which state owes me still
-     almost the whole, after more than twelve years have passed), and
-     that state has enveloped in the general loss M. de Beaumarchais,
-     who has merited so well of us, and who has excited our greatest
-     veneration by his affection for the true rights of man, his
-     genius, his literary reputation, etc.
-
-                                      Signed, "'Thomas Jefferson.'
-
-   "In the work, which I am going to publish, where I will show the
-   proofs of the excellence of all my shipments to that people,
-   after exact inspection which they themselves made, before the
-   departure of my vessels, well attested by their ministers, and
-   the excuses which he made me, of which I have all the originals,
-   the surprise will be to see the patience with which I have
-   supported all the invectives of my enemies. But it would have
-   been to disgrace _the greatest act of my life_, the honorable
-   part which I had in the liberty of America, if I had mingled it
-   with the discussions of a vile law suit.... It was my scorn, my
-   indignation, which made me keep silence. It is broken; I will
-   hold my tongue no more on that great object, _the glory of my
-   entire life_. They say that my sordid avarice has been the cause
-   of the misfortunes of the American people. _My_ avarice, mine,
-   whose life is only a circle of generosity, of benevolence. I will
-   not cease to prove it, since their savage libels have rendered so
-   many men unjust. Not a single being, who went at that time from
-   Europe to America, without having pecuniary obligations to me, of
-   which nearly all are due me still; and no Frenchman has suffered
-   in that country whom I have not aided with my purse. I invoke a
-   witness, whom it does you honor to respect, the very valiant
-   general of your troops. Ask him if my services did not hunt out
-   unfortunate Frenchmen in every corner of America.
-
-   "Render justice to my good heart, noble Marquis de Lafayette;
-   Your glorious youth, would it not have been ruined without my
-   wise counsel and the advances of my money? You have very well
-   repaid all that was loaned you by my orders; and I say it to your
-   glory, you have added fifty louis more than were due to me, to
-   join that money to the charitable institution which I was
-   founding of the _pauvres meres nourrices_....
-
-   "And you, Baron von Steuben, Comtes Pulasky, Bienousky, you,
-   Troncon, Prudhomme, and a hundred others, who have never
-   acquitted their debts to me, come out of your tombs and speak!
-
-   "Fifteen hundred thousand francs at least, of services rendered,
-   fill a portfolio, which probably will never be acquitted by
-   anyone, and more than a thousand unfortunates whose needs I have
-   anticipated are ready to raise their voice in my favor.... The
-   third of my fortune is in the hands of my debtors, and since I
-   have aided the poor of Sainte-Marguerite, four hundred letters at
-   least are on my desk from unfortunates, raising their hands to
-   me.... My heart is torn, but I cannot reply to all.
-
-                                             "September 2, 1789."
-
-But from the accusations of his enemies, and the pleadings of his own
-cause, let us turn, before worse calamities overtake him, to contemplate
-anew the charming picture, which the interior of his home presents.
-
-It was in 1791 that he took his family to occupy the splendid new
-residence which we have just now mentioned. Its mistress Madame de
-Beaumarchais was a woman of rare intelligence and energy of character;
-"her physiognomy," says Bonneville, "offered an expression full of
-vivacity and intelligence. The eye is superb, tempered by long lashes,
-heightened by the daring arch of the brows; the mouth is admirably well
-formed; the chin full, the complexion brilliant.... The reputation for
-beauty of Madame de Beaumarchais was general. The public ratified on all
-occasions, the praise of her friends. It is traditional in her family
-that she rarely left her home without being recognized and followed at a
-distance by a cortege of admirers, drawn not only by the celebrity of
-the name she bore, but also by the prestige of her bearing. Often, even,
-she was obliged to gain her carriage to avoid the importunity of the too
-flattering attentions.
-
-"Beaumarchais, as he confesses perhaps superfluously, was far from being
-a devotee; still he respected the beliefs of others; he had desired
-especially that his daughter should be brought up piously. Eugenie was
-at this moment a pupil at the convent of Bon Secours; her father often
-went there to visit her. The Superior, who had had proof of the generous
-and good heart of the father of her pupil, permitted herself to speak of
-one of the school-mates of Eugenie who was unable to pay the expenses of
-her education. The author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ replied at once in
-the following delicate manner:
-
-                                                  "'July 27, 1790.
-
-   "'I send you, Madame, a bill of 200 livres for your unfortunate
-   pupil. This is for the year. I will have the honor of giving to
-   you or to her, in money, the first time I go to the convent,
-   three louis, which will make six francs a month for this year,
-   the same as I give to my daughter; but I conjure you, Madam, that
-   my help does not force or press her vocation. I should be
-   distressed if she were in any way thwarted as to her future. I
-   have not the honor of knowing her; it is the good which you have
-   said of her which determined me. That she remains free, and less
-   unhappy, this is all the thanks I ask; keep the secret for me. I
-   am surrounded with virulent enemies.'
-
-"One cannot," continues Bonneville, "hide oneself more gallantly, to do
-good.
-
-"The prioress hastened to divulge the secret; and to the rough draft of
-the letter of Beaumarchais found among his papers, is attached a note in
-which his young protegee expressed with emotion all her gratitude to her
-benefactor."
-
-The violences directed against the religious establishments soon forced
-Beaumarchais to bring his daughter home. It was about this time that we
-find a letter, addressed by the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_, to
-the Municipal officers of Paris, begging, with his characteristic
-energy, that the churches be opened, and more masses be said in the
-Quartier-Vieille-rue-du-Temple.
-
-"In this letter," says Lomenie, "it is the husband, the brother, but
-especially the father who speaks. The author of the _Mariage de Figaro_
-adored his only daughter, he had just brought her home from the convent,
-and if he went himself very little to mass, he was not sorry to have her
-go for him. It is this side of Beaumarchais, so good, so simple, so
-jovial, so gay, that makes us love him, and which comes out with special
-force in a song which he wrote to celebrate the young girl's return
-under her father's roof. This song has been classed as one of the best
-of the poetic inspirations of Beaumarchais. The turn _naif_ of the old
-popular songs is found in it, combined with a graceful mixture of
-friendliness, finesse and gaiety."
-
-The charm of these verses, which it is impossible to render into
-English, gave the song a great popularity, and it circulated widely.
-
-In it, there was question of the marriage of Mlle. Eugenie, where the
-father jestingly says: "My _gentilhomme_, is that all you are?
-
-   "Parchment and blazonry will never open my house.
-
-   "_If someone really tender,
-   Sings thee songs in the air,
-   Let me hear them
-   For thy Father sees clear
-   And I will say if there is reason
-   That he should enter here._
-
-   "_Should some excellent young man
-   See heaven in thy eyes,
-   Say to him 'Beautiful astronomer,
-   Speak to that good old man,
-   He is my father, and there is reason
-   That he should choose his son-in-law.'_
-
-   "_If he has some talent
-   What matters his fortune?
-   Judge, writer, soldier,
-   Esprit, virtue, sweet reason--
-   These are the titles valued here._"
-
-"The result of all this was that Beaumarchais was deluged," says
-Lomenie, "with the most singular demands in marriage for his daughter.
-Here it is from a nobleman, but one who makes no point of his blazon,
-who despises the fortune which he has not, who esteems only virtue, and
-who aspires to marry Mlle. Eugenie and her dot; there, from a father,
-perfectly unknown to Beaumarchais, who begs him to keep the daughter for
-his son, still in college; farther on it is a captain, who has only his
-sword, but who is worthy of being a Marshal of France. Politely to turn
-aside this avalanche of virtuous and disinterested suitors, the father
-of Eugenie wrote a letter which, with slight modifications, serves him
-for all, and of which the following is a sample:
-
-                                             "Paris, May 21, 1791.
-
-   "Although your letter, Monsieur, appears to have its origin in a
-   simple jest, since it is serious and honest, I owe you a reply.
-
-   "You have been deceived regarding my daughter. Scarcely fourteen
-   years old, she is far from the time when I will allow her to
-   choose a master, reserving for myself in this only, the right to
-   advise. Perhaps you are quite ignorant of the exact situation. I
-   have only lately taken my daughter from the convent; the joy of
-   her return drew from my indolence a song, which after having been
-   sung at my table, went the rounds. The tone _bonhomme_ which I
-   there took, joined to the jest of her future establishment, has
-   made many persons think that I already thought of her settlement.
-
-   "But may I be preserved from engaging her before the time when
-   her own heart will give her a consciousness of what it all means,
-   and Monsieur, this will be an affair of years, not of months.
-
-   "What the song says jestingly, however, will certainly be my rule
-   to enlighten her young heart. Fortune touches me less than
-   talents and virtue, because I wish her to be happy....
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-But the young girl's presence under her father's roof was to be of short
-duration. Very soon, his anxiety for their safety led him to dispatch
-his family to Havre. For, says La Harpe,
-
-"His house was placed at the entrance of that terrible faubourg like the
-Palace of Portici at the foot of Vesuvius.... The eruption of the
-volcano was as yet only at rare intervals; that of the faubourg was at
-every moment. It is inconceivable that under the lava always boiling,
-that house was not engulfed."
-
-So it is here we will leave him to await alone,--except for his faithful
-Gudin--the coming of the storm, which his own writings had done so much
-to rouse, but which he neither desired, nor, to the end, comprehended.
-
-[Illustration: HOUSE OF BEAUMARCHAIS]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXV
-
-
-"_I know very well to live is to combat, and perhaps I should be
-afflicted at this if I did not know that in return to combat is to
-live._"
-
-   _Caron de Beaumarchais._
-
-"_--Often broken-hearted, always consoled by the sublime principle
-of the compensation of good and evil--which was the ground of his
-optimism ..._"
-
-   _Lintilhac in Beaumarchais et Ses OEuvres._
-
-
-   House of Beaumarchais Searched--The 10th of August--Letter to his
-     Family in Havre--Letter of Eugenie to her Father--Commissioned to
-     Buy Guns for the Government--Goes to Holland as Agent of _Comite
-     de Salut Public_--Declared an Emigre--Confiscation of his
-     Goods--Imprisonment of his Family--The Ninth Thermidor Comes to
-     Save Them--Life During the Terror--Julie again in
-     Evidence--Beaumarchais's Name Erased From List of Emigres--Returns
-     to France.
-
-
-Early in 1792, Beaumarchais embarked in a new political and commercial
-operation which, says Lomenie, "was destined to embarrass his fortune
-and to be the torment of his latter days. France was without arms and he
-undertook to procure them for her. It is difficult to understand that a
-man sixty years old, rich, fatigued by a most stormy existence,
-afflicted with increasing deafness, surrounded with enemies, and
-desirous only of repose should have allowed himself to be induced to
-attempt to bring into France sixty thousand guns detained in Holland
-under circumstances which rendered this operation as dangerous as it was
-difficult."
-
-However, Gudin tells us, "he had only the choice of dangers. To have
-refused to procure the arms would have marked him for disfavor. He
-therefore chose the danger of being useful to his country. This
-resolution exposed him to the risk of being pillaged and assassinated,
-but in the end it saved his life.... During the days of frenzy which
-preceded the overthrowing of the throne, the most hostile menaces
-sounded around his house."
-
-The populace insisted that he had stored it with wheat and guns. In vain
-Beaumarchais protested, in vain he placarded the walls of his garden
-with official statements proving that the house had been searched and
-that nothing had been found. The fury of the mob was not to be appeased.
-Finally on the 8th of August, the threatenings became so ominous that he
-was persuaded to spend the night in the home of a friend, who had sought
-safety outside Paris, leaving an old domestic alone in charge.
-Beaumarchais says:
-
-"At midnight the valet, frightened, came to the room where I was,
-'Monsieur,' he said to me, 'get up, the people are searching for you,
-they are beating the doors down, someone has turned traitor, the house
-will be pillaged.' ... The frightened man hid in a closet while the mob
-searched the house." When morning came, he returned to his own home,
-around which the threatenings still continued without ceasing.
-
-Gudin says: "He received the most alarming notices, and the day after
-the imprisonment of the king, August 10th, a great multitude set out in
-the direction of his house, threatening to break down the iron gates if
-they were not immediately opened. I and two other persons were with him.
-
-"At first his desire was to open the doors and to speak to the
-multitude. But persuaded that secret enemies conducted the crowd, and
-that he would be assassinated before he could open his mouth, we induced
-him to leave the house by a side entrance.... As we were but four we
-decided to separate in the hope of deceiving those who sought him....
-
-"Whatever the cause, once admitted and masters of the situation, someone
-proposed to swear that they would destroy nothing. The populace swore
-and kept its word. Always extreme, it even swore to hang anyone who
-stole anything. It visited the whole house, the closets, the granaries,
-the cellars, and the apartments of the women and my own. They wished to
-hang my own domestic, who seeing the crowd, ran from room to room with
-some of my silver hidden in her pocket; they thought she was stealing,
-and she was forced to call in the other domestics as witnesses. They
-searched everywhere and found only the gun, hunting case, and sword of
-the master of the house, these they did not disturb.
-
-"Thirsty from excitement and fatigue, that breathless troop, instead of
-opening a cask of wine, satisfied itself with water from the fountain.
-They even left the master's watch hanging at the head of his bed, and
-other articles of jewelry about the rooms.... A troup conducted by a
-magistrate would not have been more exact in its perquisition, or more
-circumspect in its conduct.
-
-"Truth here resembles fable,--something extraordinary always mingled
-itself with the events which came to Beaumarchais. This conduct of the
-populace was the fruit of the benefits which he had poured upon the poor
-of his neighborhood. If he had not been loved, if he had not been dear
-to his domestics, all his goods would have been dissipated by pillage."
-
-The next day Beaumarchais wrote to his daughter in Havre:
-
-                                                 "August 12, 1792.
-
-   " ... My thoughts turned upon thy mother, and thee and my poor
-   sisters. I said with a sigh, 'My child is safe; my age is
-   advanced; my life is worth very little and this would not
-   accelerate the death by nature but by a few years. But my
-   daughter! Her mother! They are safe? Tears flowed from my eyes.
-   Consoled by this thought I occupied myself with the last term of
-   life, believing it very near. Then, my head hollow through so
-   much contending emotion, I tried to harden myself and to think of
-   nothing. I watched mechanically the men come and go; I said, 'The
-   moment approaches,' but I thought of it as a man exhausted, whose
-   ideas begin to wander, because for four hours I had been standing
-   in this state of violent emotion which changed into one like
-   death. Then feeling faint, I seated myself on a bank and awaited
-   my fate, without being otherwise alarmed."
-
-"When the crowd had retired," says Gudin in his narrative, "Beaumarchais
-returned and dined in his home, more astonished to find all undisturbed
-than he would have been to have seen the whole devastated...."
-
-"And so we continued to live alone in that great habitation, occupied in
-meditating on the misfortunes of the state and sometimes upon those
-which menaced us....
-
-"On the 23rd of August, upon awakening I perceived armed men in the
-streets, sentinels at the doors and under the windows. I hastened to the
-apartment of my friend--I found him surrounded by sinister men occupied
-in searching his papers and putting his effects under seal. Tranquil in
-the midst of them, he directed their operations. When they were through,
-they took him with them and I was left alone in that vast palace,
-guarded by _sans culottes_ whose aspect made me doubt whether they were
-there to conserve the property, or to give the signal for pillage."
-
-Beaumarchais had been carried off to the _mairie_ (police court) "where
-he defended himself so perfectly," continues Gudin, "that his denouncers
-were confounded and about to liberate him when Marat denounced him
-anew.... He was sent to l'Abbaye along with others whose virtues were a
-title of proscription.
-
-"At the end of a week his name was called. General consternation in the
-prison.
-
-"'You are called for.'
-
-"'By whom?'
-
-"'M. Manuel. Is he your enemy?'
-
-"'I never saw him.' Beaumarchais went out. All the assembly sat silent.
-
-"'Who is M. Manuel?' demanded Beaumarchais.
-
-"'I am he. I come to save you. Your denouncer, Colmar, is declared
-culpable--he is in prison--you are free.' ...
-
-"Two days later came the September massacres. And thus a second time his
-life was saved. 'Long afterwards he learned that a woman to whom he had
-rendered an eminent service had solicited Manuel to obtain the liberty
-of her benefactor.'" (_Gudin_, p. 430.)
-
-"It would seem natural," says M. de Lomenie, "that in such a moment, the
-author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ would consent to set aside the matter
-of the guns and occupy himself with his own personal safety."
-
-He consented, however, to hide himself during the day outside Paris, but
-every night he returned on foot by byways and across ploughed fields, to
-urge the ministers to make good the promises of their predecessors and
-make it possible for him to obtain the sixty-thousand guns from Holland
-which he had promised the nation.
-
-"The fact was," says Lomenie, "that on the one hand, until those guns
-were delivered, he remained an object of suspicion to the people, while
-on the other he believed that the minister Lebrun was trying to exploit
-the matter to his own credit while leaving to Beaumarchais, if
-necessary, all the responsibility of failure. This was what rendered him
-so tenacious, that he tormented even Danton who, by the way, could not
-help laughing to see a man so badly compromised who should be thinking
-only of his safety, obstinately returning every night to demand the
-money which had been promised as a deposit, and to obtain a commission
-for Holland."
-
-Finally Lebrun consented to give the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ a
-passport to Holland and promised to have the necessary money ready for
-him at Havre.
-
-"He set out," says Lintilhac, "on the 22nd of September, 1792, with
-Gudin, directing himself toward Havre, where, after so many emotions, he
-wished to press his wife and his daughter in his arms. From there, he
-passed to England where he was arrested, imprisoned, then set free. As
-soon as Madame de Beaumarchais knew that her husband was safe, she
-returned to Paris to be nearer, so as to defend his interests. A noble
-task which she accomplished at the peril of her life.
-
-"The departure of Beaumarchais, the motive of which remained a secret,
-emboldened his enemies who renewed their accusations. The 28th of
-November a second decree was rendered against him as suspected.
-Immediately seals were placed upon all the houses which he owned in
-Paris. Madame de Beaumarchais hastened to protest the accusations
-against her husband and against the placing of the seals. With great
-difficulty she finally obtained a decree dated February 10, 1793, which
-accorded to her husband a delay of two months to present his defense and
-at the same time the immediate removal of the seals. He wrote from
-London, December 9, 1792, to his family:
-
-   "'My poor wife and thou, my dear daughter. I do not know where
-   you are, nor where to write to you, neither by whom to give you
-   news. Still I learn by the gazette that seals have been placed
-   for the third time on my property and that I am decreed, accused
-   for this miserable affair of the guns of Holland.... Be calm, my
-   wife and my sisters. Dry thy tears, my sweet and tender child!
-   they trouble the tranquillity of which thy father has need to
-   enlighten the National Convention upon grave subjects which it is
-   important it should know.'"
-
-Beaumarchais returned immediately to France, drew up a memoir for his
-justification, secured the removal of the seals at Paris; but the
-municipality of Strausborg maintained those which it had imposed.
-Beaumarchais grew impatient, addressed a petition to the minister of the
-interior who sent a dispatch to the administrator of that department of
-the Bas-Rhein. Again, the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ is
-vindicated and absolved.
-
-The troubles of Beaumarchais showed no signs of diminishing either in
-number or perplexity. In the month of January, 1793, the English
-government, having joined the coalition against France, was on the point
-of herself taking possession of the sixty-thousand guns for which
-Beaumarchais had so long been negotiating.
-
-"He, however," says Lomenie, "did not lose his head, having already had
-wind of the project. At the very time when he was imprisoned in London
-he had induced an English merchant ... by means of a large commission
-... to become the purchaser of those same guns and to maintain them in
-his name at Tervere as English property, until the real owner could
-dispose of them. But the fictitious owner could not hold them long,
-because the English ministers said to him, 'Either you are the real
-owner or you are not; if you are, we are ready to pay for them; if you
-are not, we intend to confiscate them.' ...
-
-"The English merchant remaining faithful to the engagement with
-Beaumarchais, resisted; affirmed the guns to be his property, invoked
-his right to dispose of them as he pleased, and this respect for law
-which distinguishes the English Government above all other governments,
-left the question undecided. The guns remained at Tervere under guard of
-an English battleship." (_Lomenie_, Vol. II, p. 424.)
-
-"Things were at this pass when the committee of public safety informed
-Beaumarchais that he must secure the arms, or else prevent their falling
-into the hands of the English; failing which his family and goods in
-default of his person would answer for the success of the operation."
-And so, early in June, 1793, again he left France on this most difficult
-mission.
-
-"To enter into all the details of his interminable _tours et detours_,
-going from Amsterdam to Basle, from Basle to Hamburg, from Hamburg to
-London ... all which he directed like a very ingenious _intrigue de
-comedie_ ... would be too long. He was able to keep the guns at Tervere
-and when the moment seemed to him favorable, he supplicated the
-committee of public safety with loud cries, to order the General
-Pichegru to come and carry off the guns; but the committee absorbed by a
-thousand things made no reply.... The only missive he ever received
-from them was the following, dated, _5 pluviose, An II_ (January 26,
-1794), written by Robert Lindet, 'You must be quick, do not await
-events. If you defer too long, your service will not be appreciated.
-Great returns are necessary and they must be prompt. It is of no use to
-calculate the difficulties, we consider only results and success.'"
-
-"Not only," continues Lomenie, "did the Committee abandon Beaumarchais
-to himself, but with a thoughtlessness which is another sign of the
-times, they allowed their agent to be put upon the lists as an _emigre_,
-which act entailed the confiscation of his property.
-
-"Madame de Beaumarchais went at once to the committee of public safety,
-explained that her husband was _not_ an _emigre_, since he had left the
-territory of the republic because of an official mission, and provided
-with a regular passport, and her proof in her hand, she succeeded in
-having the decree withdrawn and the seals removed from the property.
-Beaumarchais had at this time taken refuge in Hamburg.
-
-"He found himself," says Lomenie, "in the most cruel situation both
-materially and morally. He knew that the revolutionary tribunal was
-fixed permanently at Paris, that it struck without pity mothers, wives,
-and daughters of the absent ones, and that the bloody knife never ceased
-to fall. The unfortunate man was in torture. Eugenie tried to comfort
-her father in the unconscious tranquillity of a young girl. Every
-precaution had been taken to hide from her the horrible tragedy which
-was being enacted about her; she presented a striking contrast with the
-terrible reality of the times.
-
-"She walked alone and melancholy in the lovely garden, while the dismal
-car passed along the terrace perhaps. But in her sad dreaming, she did
-not turn her head; she admired the earliest advances of spring. On March
-11th, she wrote to her father,
-
-"'The verdure of our trees is beginning to appear, the leaves develop
-from day to day, and flowers already beautify thy garden. It would be
-very lovely, if we could walk here with thee. Thy presence would add a
-charm to everything which surrounds us. There is no happiness for me but
-what thou partakest in. We are only happy through thee, oh my tender
-father!'"
-
-The very next day measures were taken which ended in the annulling of
-the decree rendered by the _comite de salut public_ in which the _comite
-de surete generale_, which had taken its place, once more declared
-Beaumarchais to be an _emigre_, replaced the seals upon his property,
-confiscated his revenues and on the 5th of July, 1794, arrested his
-wife, his two sisters, and his daughter.
-
-They were shut up in the convent of Port-Royal which had been changed
-into a prison and which, says Lomenie, "by an atrocious irony was called
-_Port-Libre_, where they waited their turn to mount the fatal cart that
-should conduct them to the guillotine." The ninth _thermidore_ came to
-put an end to these butcheries. Eleven days later, another decree of the
-_comite de surete generale_, again established, gave to the _Citoyennes_
-Caron their liberty.
-
-During this frightful period of the terror, Beaumarchais, still at
-Hamburg, deprived of all communication with his family, was a prey to
-the most terrible mental agony. His correspondence shows that he had
-moments of the deepest despair when he asked himself if he were not
-losing his mind.
-
-"Where shall I address thee?" he wrote his wife. "Under what name? What
-shall I call thee? Who are thy friends? Whom can I consider mine? Ah,
-without the hope of saving my daughter, the atrocious guillotine would
-be sweeter to me than my horrible condition."
-
-It was at this period that the following address to the American people
-was written.
-
-   "Americans: Though I have served you with an indefatigable zeal,
-   I have in my life received only bitterness for recompense, and I
-   die your creditor. Permit then in dying that I will to my
-   daughter the debt which you owe me. Perhaps after I am gone,
-   other injustices, from which I cannot defend myself, will rob me
-   of all I possess so nothing will be left for her, and perhaps
-   Providence has ordained by your delay in paying me, that through
-   you she will be spared absolute want. Adopt her as a worthy child
-   of the state. Her mother, equally unfortunate, and my widow, will
-   conduct her to you. Let her be looked upon as the daughter of a
-   citizen! But if after these last efforts, if after all has been
-   said, I must still feel that you will reject my demands--If I am
-   to fear that you will refuse her arbitrators; at last, desperate,
-   ruined in Europe as well as by you, your country being the only
-   one in which I could beg without shame--what would remain for me
-   to do, but to supplicate Heaven to give me the strength to take
-   the voyage to America?
-
-   "Arrived in your midst, mind and body weakened, unable to
-   maintain my rights, should I there be forced, my proofs in my
-   hand, to have myself carried to the doors of your National
-   Assembly, and, holding aloft the cap of liberty, with which I
-   helped as much as anyone to adorn your heads--to cry out 'Give an
-   alms to your friend, whose accumulated services have only had
-   this recompense, _date obolum Belisario_!'
-
-                             "Pierre-Augustin Caron Beaumarchais."
-
-It was precisely to save her daughter, that Madame de Beaumarchais had
-broken all communication with her husband, retaken her family name and
-thought only of making herself forgotten.
-
-"The Revolutionary laws," says Gudin, "ordained the divorce of the wives
-of _emigres_, under pain of being suspected and of running the risk of
-death that could not be inflicted upon their husbands. Madame de
-Beaumarchais, worthy of the courageous man whose hand she had received,
-went to the Revolutionary Committee and with that firmness which
-inspired respect and that grace which embellished every action, said,
-'Your decrees oblige me to demand a divorce. I obey, although my
-husband, charged with a commission is not an _emigre_ and never had the
-thought: I attest it and I know his heart. He will justify himself of
-this accusation, as he has of all the rest, and I shall have the
-satisfaction of marrying him a second time, according to your new
-laws.'"
-
-"Such was the effect of his destiny," observes this eighteenth century
-philosopher, "that he was obliged to renew the knot of his own marriage
-at the same time that he occupied himself with the marriage of his
-daughter."
-
-The condition of the family of Beaumarchais when they found themselves
-once more free, was far from enviable. Their revenues had been seized
-and their beautiful home was ordered to be sold. Eugenie felt only
-horror for the place and persuaded her mother to live in a small house.
-Gudin had gone into the country and Julie, the faithful sister of
-Beaumarchais, went to live alone with an old servant in the deserted
-palace of her brother, which was now guarded by agents of the Republic
-and which bore written upon its walls, "_Propriete nationale_."
-
-"If, as I hope," says Lomenie, "the reader has retained an agreeable
-impression of Julie, it will be a pleasure perhaps to see again that
-intelligent, merry, courageous face which neither age, privations, nor
-dangers had been able to change.
-
-"A picture of the domestic and inner life of three women, once rich,
-forced to face the difficulties of a fearful epoch will give details of
-interest to that period which history itself cannot furnish.
-
-"During the time when the head of the household was proscribed, it was
-Madame Beaumarchais, a person of rare merit who joined to all feminine
-graces a truly virile energy of character, who bore the weight of the
-situation and while working on one hand to prevent the sale of her
-husband's property, tried on the other, to have his name erased from the
-fatal list; and all the time was obliged to provide for her family with
-what she had been able to save from the wreck of their fortune. On her
-side Julie guarded the house of her brother, kept her sister-in-law in
-touch with events at the house, and urged her to resistance in the
-animated and original tone which characterised her.
-
-"'Morbleu! my child,' she wrote her after the Terror, 'let us quickly
-get the decree suppressed. Even the fruits, the same as last year, are
-requisitioned; the cherries being ripe, they are to be picked to-morrow
-and sold, and the rest as it ripens, and then close the garden to the
-profane and the gluttons! Isn't it sweet to have lived here alone for
-six months, and only be allowed to eat the stones of the fruit? And even
-they are sold with the rest. It is for the birds that I am sorry ...
-nevertheless, it is a pity that the agency had to interfere this year;
-... See if thou cannot prevent this brigandage by a firm protest at the
-agency....
-
-"'And here a pound of veal has been brought me which costs twenty-eight
-francs, and at even that it is a bargain, for it might sell for thirty.
-Rage! Fury! Malediction! One cannot even live by ruining oneself and
-devouring three times one's fortune. How happy those who have gone
-before! They feel neither the confusion in my head, nor my eye which
-weeps, nor the flame which devours me, nor my tooth which sharpens
-itself to eat twenty-eight francs worth of veal; they feel none of these
-evils.'
-
-"Those twenty-eight francs worth of veal, which Julie consumed with
-humorous anger, bring us to say a word of the curious state of want
-which was produced by the constant depreciation of paper money after the
-Terror. It is still Julie who informs us how people lived at that time;
-her sister-in-law had just given her four thousand francs in paper money
-and she returned an account of the use to which she put them that
-December 1794.
-
-"'When you gave me those four thousand francs, my good friend, my heart
-beat fast. I thought you suddenly had lost your reason to give me such a
-fortune; I slipped them quickly into my pocket and spoke of other
-things, so that you would forget them.
-
-"'Returned home and quick, some wood, some provisions, before the prices
-go higher! And see Dupont (the old servant) who runs, exhausts herself!
-And lo, the scales fall from my eyes when I see the result of four
-thousand, two hundred, and seventy-five francs.
-
-   "'One load of wood                     1,460 fr.
-
-     Nine pounds of candles                 900
-
-     Four pounds of sugar                   400
-
-     Three litrons (six qts.), of grain     120
-
-     Seven pounds of oil                    700
-
-     A dozen wicks                           60
-
-     A bushel and a half potatoes           300
-
-
-     Laundry bill for one month             215
-
-     One pound of powder for the hair        70
-
-     Three ounces of pomade (that used to be
-       three sous)                           50
-                                          _________
-                                          4,275 fr.
-
-   Over and above this is the provision for
-   the month, butter, eggs, at 100 francs,
-   as you know, and meat from 25 to 30
-   francs a pound and all else in
-   proportion                               576
-
-   Bread, there has been none for two days;
-   we only get it every other day--for the
-   last ten days I have only bought 4
-   pounds at 45 fr.                         180
-                                          _________
-                                          5,022 fr.
-
-"'When I think of this royal expenditure which costs me from eighteen to
-twenty thousand francs without allowing myself the least luxury,
-_J'envoie au diable le regime_.'
-
-"Shortly after this the value of paper money decreased still more and
-the price of commodities increased in alarming proportion. In another
-letter to her sister-in-law Julie gave the following details:
-
-"'Ten thousand francs which I have scattered in the last two weeks, give
-me such a fright, seize me with such pity that I no longer know how to
-count my income. In the last three days, wood has risen from 4,200
-francs to 6,500 and all the costs of transporting and piling are in
-proportion, so that my load of wood has cost me 7,100 francs. Every week
-it costs from 700 to 800 francs for a _pot-au-feu_, and other meat
-without counting butter, eggs, and a thousand other details; laundry
-work has increased so that 8,000 francs are not enough for one month.
-All this makes me impatient and I solemnly affirm that I have not for
-two years allowed myself a luxury, or gratified a single whim, or made
-any other expenditures but for the house; nevertheless the needs I have
-are urgent enough to make me need potfulls of money.'
-
-"But if the sister of Beaumarchais is at the point of famine, the wife
-and the daughter are no better off; I see in the correspondence of
-Madame de Beaumarchais that one of her friends went the rounds of the
-neighborhood to try to obtain some bread which was becoming rarer than
-diamonds; 'I am told,' she wrote, the 5th of June 1795, 'that at Briare,
-flour is to be had, if that is true I will make a bargain with some
-country man and send it direct to you by the barge which goes from
-Briare to Paris, but that will greatly increase the cost. Please tell me
-what you think, while waiting I still hope to get hold of a small loaf
-somewhere. Oh, if I had the gift of miracles, I would send you, not
-manna from heaven--but good bread and very white!'
-
-"When Beaumarchais in exile, learned all the deprivations from which his
-family suffered he learned also that they had sufficient moral courage
-to support them. Gaiety had not wholly disappeared from that interior
-which used to be so joyous; even if exposed to starvation, the frightful
-guillotine no longer operated and one began to breathe more freely."
-
-One of his old friends wrote to him, "See now the soup tureen of the
-family arrive, that is to say, upon the mahogany table (there is no such
-thing as a cloth) is a plate of beans, two potatoes, a carafe of wine,
-with very much water. Thy daughter asks for a white poodle to use as a
-napkin and clean the plates--but no matter, come, come; if we have
-nothing to eat we have plenty to laugh about. Come, I tell thee, for
-thy wife needs a miller since thy _salon_ is decorated with a flour
-mill; while thy Eugenie charms thee upon her piano, thou wilt prepare
-her breakfast, while thy wife knits thy stockings, and thy future
-son-in-law turns baker; for here everyone has his trade and that is why
-our cows are so well guarded.
-
-"It is too droll to see our women, without perruque in the morning,
-filling each one her occupation, because you must know that each one of
-us is at their service and because in our _regime_, if there are no
-masters, there are at least valets. This letter costs thee at least a
-hundred francs counting the paper, pens, the oil of the lamp, because
-for economy's sake I came to thy house to write it. We embrace thee with
-all our hearts."
-
-And his faithful Gudin wrote him, though in much more somber strain,
-from his retreat in the country: "My most ardent desire, my friend, is
-to see you again and to press you to my heart; but circumstances are
-such that I had to leave Paris where I could no longer subsist. I have
-taken refuge in a little hamlet fifty miles away, where there are
-thirteen peasant cabins. The house which I inhabit was a tiny priory,
-occupied once by a single monk." And after a very long and profoundly
-pessimistic discourse upon the sad condition of affairs which he likens
-to the barbarity which formerly engulfed Greece and Egypt and Assyria,
-Sicily, and Italy, he terminates thus:
-
-"Adieu my good friend, I would have wished to have talked to you of
-yourself, of your family, of those whom you love, the regrets which we
-feel to meet no more together. Our hearts like your own, are crushed
-with sorrow.... I embrace you and sigh for the happy moment that will
-unite us.
-
-                                                          "Gudin."
-
-[Illustration: MADAME DE BEAUMARCHAIS]
-
-Now that his anxieties for his family were allayed, Beaumarchais was
-not idle, for his stay in Hamburg was occupied in drawing up memoirs
-upon matters of public utility, in commercial negotiations, and in
-agreeable companionships with distinguished _emigres_ who like himself
-were anxiously awaiting the moment when they could return to France.
-
-As for Beaumarchais, the affair of the 60,000 guns had ended,
-distressingly enough for his coffers, by the English carrying them off.
-They consented, however, at the urgent request of the merchant friend,
-to pay an arbitrary sum which was, however, far below their real value,
-but saved Beaumarchais from complete ruin. The affair ended, his only
-desire was to return home. This he was prevented from doing because of
-the proscription unjustly continued against him, which all the efforts
-of his friends and his family had been as yet unable to have removed.
-
-Finally a member of the committee which he was serving, the same Robert
-Lindet before mentioned, wrote in his behalf to the minister of police,
-Cochon, the following letter:
-
-   "You have asked me to enlighten you regarding the second mission
-   of Citizen Beaumarchais, and upon the exact time when that
-   mission ended or should end.
-
-   "In charging the Citizen Beaumarchais with a mission, the
-   committee of public safety proposed to itself two objects. The
-   first was to procure the 60,000 guns deposited in the armory at
-   Tervere, as objects of commerce; the second was to prevent these
-   guns from falling into the power of the enemy.
-
-   "The Committee was obliged to pay for them only at the agreed
-   price on condition that they should be delivered and placed at
-   their disposition in one of the ports of the Republic, within
-   five or six months, The negotiation might take longer, but these
-   terms were used to excite the zeal of the Citizen Beaumarchais.
-
-   "Before the expiration of the term he sent from Holland to Paris,
-   the Citizen Durand, his friend, who had accompanied him on his
-   journey, to give an account of the obstacles which delayed the
-   execution of the enterprise and to propose measures which he
-   thought were needful.
-
-   "Citizen Durand was sent back to Citizen Beaumarchais with a
-   revised passport, which ran thus; 'to conduct him to his
-   destination and to continue his mission;' because it seemed
-   important to procure the guns for the government at whatever time
-   that should be found possible, and also that the enemy should be
-   prevented from seizing and distributing them in Belgium among the
-   partisans of the house of Austria.
-
-   "The department of Paris placed the Citizen Beaumarchais upon the
-   list of _emigres_ and placed seals upon his property.
-
-   "The committee decreed that since the Citizen Beaumarchais was on
-   a mission he should not be treated as an _emigre_, because he was
-   absent on a mission for the government. The department removed
-   the seals.
-
-   "Some time after, the citizen Beaumarchais was replaced on the
-   list of _emigres_. There had been no new motive. The mission was
-   not finished, his negotiations continued to be useful, he had not
-   been recalled.... However, they persisted in considering him an
-   _emigre_!... the presence of citizen Beaumarchais in a foreign
-   country was necessary up to the moment when the secret of his
-   mission having been divulged, the English carried off the guns
-   from the armory at Tervere to their ports, which they did last
-   year.
-
-   "Nothing would then have prevented citizen Beaumarchais from
-   returning to France because he could no longer hope to be able
-   to fulfil his mission; but his name still rested on the list of
-   _emigres_ and he could not return until it was erased.
-
-   "It was an injustice ever to have placed it upon the list of
-   _emigres_, since he was absent for the service of the Republic.
-
-                                                  "Robert Lindet."
-
-   "To the Minister of Police."
-
-
-This letter and the ardent solicitations of the wife and friends of the
-proscribed man, finally induced the committee to have his name erased
-from the list of _emigres_, and so after three years of absence the
-author of the _Mariage de Figaro_ was able to return to his native land.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXVI
-
-
-"_Qu'etais'je donc? Je n'etais que moi, et moi tel que je suis reste,
-libre au milieu des fers, serein dans les plus grands dangers, faisant
-tete a tous les orages, menant les affaires d'une main et la guerre de
-l'autre, paresseux comme un ane et travaillant toujours, en butte a
-mille calomnies, mais, heureux dans mon interieur, n'ayant jamais ete
-d'aucune coterie, ni literaire, ni politique, ni mystique, n'ayant fait
-de cour a personne, et partout repousse de tous.... C'est le mystere de
-ma vie, en vain j'essaie de le resoudre._"
-
-
-   Beaumarchais After His Return from Exile--Takes Up All His
-     Business Activities--Marriage of Eugenie--Her Portrait Drawn by
-     Julie--Beaumarchais's Varied Interests--Correspondence with
-     Bonaparte--Pleads for Lafayette Imprisoned--Death of
-     Beaumarchais--Conclusion.
-
-
-"On his return to Paris, July 5th, 1796, Beaumarchais," says Lomenie,
-"found himself faced with a fortune ruined, not alone as so many others
-had been in the general crisis, but still more, by the confiscation of
-his revenues, the disappearance of his papers, and of the debts owing to
-him. His beautiful house was going to destruction, his garden torn up.
-While on one hand his debtors had disembarrassed themselves of their
-obligations by settling with the state in paper money, his creditors
-were waiting to seize him by the throat. He had accounts to give to, and
-to demand of the State, who, after confiscating his fortune, held still
-745,000 francs deposited by him when he undertook the mission to secure
-the 60,000 guns...."
-
-Not to go into all the perplexing details of the decisions and counter
-decisions rendered by the State, the anxieties, the almost insuperable
-difficulties that surrounded him on every side, let it suffice to say
-that with old age advancing apace, he still retained almost the same
-vigor, the same tenacity of purpose, the same indefatigable energy that
-have characterized him through life. Without ceasing, he drew up
-memoirs, conferred with the ministers, worked day and night to
-re-establish his fortune, so that those dear to him might not be left in
-want.
-
-That he eventually succeeded in this may be judged by the fact that his
-family continued to inhabit their splendid residence until 1818, when
-the French government under the Restoration bought it for purposes of
-public utility. Moreover, the report rendered after his death by his
-bookkeeper, shows that the fortune which he was able to will his family
-rose very near the million mark, and this, not counting the debts owing
-him and lawsuits still pending, notably that with the United States.
-
-But at the moment of his return to France it was not simply with his
-shattered fortune that Beaumarchais's mind was occupied. During their
-sojourn at Havre in 1792, the wife and daughter of Beaumarchais had made
-the acquaintance, says Bonneville, "of a young man of distinguished
-family, Louis Andre Toussaint Delarue, whose sister, a woman of
-remarkable intelligence, had married M. Mathias Dumas, a soldier with a
-very great future, who, after having taken part brilliantly in the war
-of American Independence as aide-de-camp of Rochambeau, was now Adjutant
-General of the Army under the orders of Lafayette, and had attached to
-him his young brother-in-law as _officier d'ordonnance_.... In 1792
-they all found themselves waiting in Havre for an opportunity to escape
-into England."
-
-It was there that M. Delarue met Mlle. Eugenie.... The two young people
-coming together under these unusual circumstances soon learned to love
-one another. His determination to obtain her hand in marriage was not at
-all affected by the fact that at that moment the entire possessions of
-her father were lost. Beaumarchais on his return to France, touched by
-so much constancy and devotion, hastened to assure the happiness of the
-young people. "Five days after my arrival," he wrote to a friend, "I
-made him the beautiful present.... They will at least have bread, but
-that is all, unless America discharges her debt to me, after twenty
-years of ingratitude."
-
-They were married June 15th, 1796, Eugenie being nineteen, and her
-husband twenty-eight years of age. On the eve of her marriage, the Aunt
-Julie sketches for a friend the portrait of the young girl, in which she
-shows her as one in every way worthy of her father's affection--and with
-a character which, while indicating many contradictory possibilities,
-had, nevertheless, great charm and lovableness as well as intellectual
-force. It shows, too, that the terrible experiences through which she
-had passed, had left their trace upon her. Time, however, softened this
-very complex and somewhat formal young lady. "Dying in 1820 the daughter
-of the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_," says Lomenie, "left in the
-hearts of all who knew her, the memory of a person of charming vivacity,
-of _finesse_ and goodness; loving and cultivating the arts with passion,
-an excellent musician, woman of the world, and at the same time an
-accomplished mother."
-
-The young man whom she married proved himself in every way worthy of
-her. In 1789 he was aide-de-camp of General Lafayette, and later held
-honorable official positions under the empire, the Restoration, and the
-government of July. In 1840 he was made _marechal de camp de la garde
-nationiale_, which post he held until 1848 when he resigned, at the age
-of eighty-four years. "In 1854," writes Lomenie, "he still lives,
-surrounded in his flourishing old age by the respectful affection of all
-those who know how to appreciate the noble qualities of his heart and
-his character."
-
-But to return to Beaumarchais; hardly had he found himself reunited to
-his family than he wrote to his faithful Gudin, bidding him return. The
-Revolution, however, had left this good man so destitute that he was
-obliged to request a loan in order to make the journey. This was at once
-promised. He wrote, August 26, 1796, "I start as soon as I shall have
-received the ten louis.... My whole heart glows at the thought of
-finding myself again under the roof with your happy family. And Oh, I
-shall see you again! How I regret that aerostatic machines are not
-already perfected.... But any conveyance is good, if it only conducts me
-to you. Adieu my good friend; keep well. I will write you the moment of
-my setting out."
-
-Of their meeting, he writes later, "I came from the depths of my retreat
-to embrace my friend. Meeting after so many years, after so many
-atrocious events, was it not to be saved from the dangers of shipwreck
-and to find ourselves upon the rocks? It was in a way like escaping from
-the tomb, to embrace each other among the dead, after an unhoped for
-resurrection."
-
-Beaumarchais's activities of this period continued to be the most
-varied. He entered with interest into the changing fortunes of the
-republic--which he accepted and over whose future he tried at times to
-become enthusiastic. In March, 1797, he had written to a friend:
-
-   "Yesterday's dinner, my dear Charles, is one that will long
-   remain in my memory because of the precious choice of _convives_
-   which our friend Dumas [General Mathieu-Dumas, brother-in-law of
-   M. Delarue] had assembled at the house of his brother. On former
-   occasions when I dined with the great ones of the State, I have
-   been shocked at the assemblage of so many whose birth alone
-   allowed them to be admitted. _Des sots de qualite, des imbeciles
-   en place, des hommes vains de leurs richesses, des jeunes
-   impudents, des coquettes_, etc. If it was not the ark of Noah, it
-   was at least the court of the _Roi Petaut_; but yesterday out of
-   twenty-four persons at table, there was not one whose great
-   personal merit would not have given him a right to his place. It
-   was, I might say, an excellent _extrait_ of the French Republic,
-   and I, who sat silent, regarding them, applied to each the great
-   merit which distinguished him. Here are their names:" And then,
-   after making the inventory, he terminates thus:
-
-   "The dinner was instructive, in no way noisy, very agreeable, in
-   a word such as I do not remember to have ever before experienced.
-
-                                             "Caron Beaumarchais."
-
-"Four months later," says Lomenie, "_un coup d'etat_ had proscribed
-nearly every one of those twenty-four _convives_."
-
-"The deputies of the people," says Gudin, "were taken from their sacred
-seats, locked up in portable cages like wild beasts, tossed on board
-vessels and transported to Guyan." This _coup d'etat_ cooled very
-considerably the republican ardor of Beaumarchais; "He was totally at a
-loss," continues Gudin, "to understand either the men or their doings;
-he failed to comprehend anything relative to the forms or the means
-employed in those times without rule or principle. He called upon
-reason, which had helped him triumph so many times; reason had become a
-stranger, she was, if we dare say it, a species of _emigree_ whose name
-rendered suspicious anyone who invoqued her."
-
-But though Beaumarchais was forced to leave the political revolution to
-take its course without attempting to change it, his mind ever alert,
-found innumerable points of contact with the age in which he lived.
-"Although afflicted with almost complete deafness we see him," says
-Lomenie, "rising above his personal preoccupations and the sorrows that
-assailed him, to apply his mind with the whole force of his
-indefatigable ardor to questions of public utility, to literary affairs,
-and a thousand other incidents foreign to his own interests. Now he
-points out with indignation, in the journals of the times, the
-unbelievable negligence which permits the body of Turenne, rescued from
-the vandalism of the Terror, to remain forgotten and exposed among
-skeletons of animals in the _Jardin des Plantes_, until he finally
-brings about a decree of the Directory which puts an end to this
-scandal; again he writes letters and memoirs upon all subjects of public
-interest ... now to the government, now to such deputies as Baudin des
-Ardennes, who represent ideas of moderation and legality.
-
-"He bestirred himself for the agents of rapid locomotion, aided Mr.
-Scott in the development of aerostatic machines; celebrated in verse a
-motor called the _velocifere_, talked literature and the theatre with
-amiable Collin d'Harleville, or pleaded still with the Minister of the
-Interior for the rights of dramatic authors against the actors, ... and
-occupied himself at the same time with having his drama _La Mere
-Coupable_ brought again before the public."
-
-This drama which had been written immediately preceding the outbreak of
-the Revolution, had been read and accepted by the Theatre Francais in
-1791, but following this, Beaumarchais had been chosen by the Assembly
-of Dramatic Authors to represent their interests before the _corps
-legislatif_, which was about to pronounce judgment, and he had acquitted
-himself with so much ardor that a rupture had followed between himself
-and the Theatre Francais. Another troupe of the neighborhood demanded
-the play with so much insistence that he allowed them to produce it upon
-their new theatre; here it was performed for the first time in June,
-1792. But the piece was so poorly played that its success was
-indifferent. During the time of the Revolution its performance was not
-to be thought of, but it will not be considered surprising that one of
-Beaumarchais's first concerns, after the settlement of the most pressing
-of his family affairs, was to have the piece brought again before the
-public and played at the Comedie Francaise. This was effected in May,
-1797. Its complete success brought a great happiness to his declining
-years.
-
-The characters of _La Mere Coupable_ are the same as those of _Le
-Barbier_, and _Le Mariage de Figaro_--although from a literary
-point-of-view it is very far from rivaling the two earlier productions,
-"the subject," says Lomenie, "taken in itself, is at the same time, very
-dramatic and of an incontestable morality."
-
-Among the numerous letters, written or received by Beaumarchais in
-regard to this drama, is one addressed by him to the widow of the last
-of the Stuarts, the Countess of Albany, who happening to be in Paris in
-1791 had begged Beaumarchais to give a reading of _La Mere Coupable_, in
-her salon. He replied:
-
-                                       "Paris, 5th February, 1791.
-
-   "Madame la Comtesse:
-
-   "Since you insist absolutely upon hearing my very severe work, I
-   cannot refuse you. But observe that when I wish to laugh, it is
-   _aux eclats_; if I must weep, it is _aux sanglots_. I know
-   nothing between but _l'ennui_. Admit then, anyone you wish
-   Tuesday, only keep away those whose hearts are hard, whose souls
-   are dried, and who feel pity for the sorrows that we find so
-   delicious.... Have a few tender women, some men for whom the
-   heart is not a chimera, and who are not ashamed to weep. I
-   promise you that painful pleasure, and am with respect, Madame la
-   Comtesse, etc.,
-
-                                                   "Beaumarchais."
-
-But from his own interests let us turn with him again to those of
-national importance.
-
-"As ardent an imagination as that of Beaumarchais," says Lomenie, "could
-not be expected to remain a stranger to the universal enthusiasm which
-in 1797 was inspired by the youthful conqueror of Italy."
-
-Through the intervention of the General Desaix, Beaumarchais who had
-celebrated in prose and verse the movements of the young conqueror
-across the Alps, was able to address a letter to him directly, to which
-he received the following concise reply:
-
-   "Paris, the 11 _germinal_ An VI, March, 1798.
-
-   "General Desaix has handed me, citizen, your amiable letter of
-   the 25 _ventose_. I thank you for it. I shall seize with
-   pleasure, any circumstance which presents itself, to form the
-   acquaintance of the author of _La Mere Coupable_.
-
-   "I salute you,
-
-                                                      "Bonaparte."
-
-"Thus," says Lomenie, "for the General Bonaparte, Beaumarchais is above
-all else, the author of _La Mere Coupable_. Can this be an indication of
-a literary preference for this drama, or a certain political repugnance
-for the _Mariage de Figaro_, or simply the result of the fact that _La
-Mere Coupable_ had recently been placed upon the stage? This is a
-question that seems difficult to answer.
-
-"I find," continues Lomenie, "among the papers confided to me by the
-family of Beaumarchais, another letter of Bonaparte, at that time first
-Consul, addressed to Mme. de Beaumarchais after the death of her
-husband, which is a reply to a petition. It reads:
-
-   "Paris, _vendemiaire_ An IX.
-
-   "Madame:
-
-   "I have received your letter. I will bring into this matter all
-   the interest which the memory of a justly celebrated man merits,
-   and that yourself inspires.
-
-                                                      "Bonaparte."
-
-In one of the _mauvais vers_ (from a literary viewpoint) with which
-Beaumarchais in his old age commented upon the career of the great
-general, is one which, says Lomenie, "honors his sensibility." It was
-written in 1797, and runs thus:
-
-   "Young Bonaparte, from victory to victory,
-   Thou givest us peace, and our hearts are moved;
-   But dost thou wish to conquer every form of glory?
-   Then think of our prisoners of l'Olmutz."
-
-The allusion in the verse was to Lafayette and his fellow-prisoners, who
-for five years had been detained, first in a prison in Prussia, and
-later in the Austrian fortress of Olmutz. In 1792, Lafayette had been
-declared a traitor by the National Assembly after the fateful tenth of
-August, and been forced to cross the frontier and give himself up to the
-Austrians, who were then fighting against France. He was held as a
-prisoner of State. His wife and family, having been unable to secure his
-release, were permitted to share his captivity with him. Napoleon, who
-never had entertained a very high opinion of the military capacity of
-Lafayette, nevertheless stipulated for his release and for that of his
-fellow-prisoners in the treaty of Campo Formio, which was signed during
-the year 1797.
-
-But to return to the private life of Beaumarchais. Gudin, after visiting
-his friend, had not consented to remain under his roof, feeling that now
-he would be a burden and so had returned to his country retreat to await
-events. It was there that he learned of the joy that was about to crown
-the old age of his friend. He wrote to Beaumarchais:
-
-"I remember the songs you made for Eugenie, when you cradled her on your
-knees, and it seems to me that I can hear you sing others for her child.
-Kiss her for me, my dear friend, compliment her for me, and all of you
-rejoice over your domestic happiness; it is the sweetest of all, the
-most real perhaps."
-
-For Beaumarchais, this was indeed the crowning blessing of this life. On
-January 5th, 1798, Madame Delarue gave birth to a daughter, Palmyr, as
-they called her. This event caused her grandfather to give way to
-"transports of joy," though at first his only thought was "for his
-beloved Eugenie."
-
-With the reestablishment of Beaumarchais's fortune, Gudin, who had in
-the meantime settled his own affairs, returned to live with his friend.
-
-"I came again," he says, "to my native city, delighted to see my friend,
-and to find his family augmented. We tasted the sweetness of friendship
-the most intimate. I saw him abandon himself in our conversations to the
-most vivid hope for the prosperity of the state and of our arms.
-
-"Beaumarchais, at this time, was full of force and of health. Never were
-his days devoured by so many plans, projects, labors and enterprises....
-His age allowed us to hope that we might retain him a long while.
-
-"We had spent the day together in the midst of his family, with one of
-his oldest friends. He had been very gay and had recalled in the
-conversation several events of his youth, which he recounted with a
-charming complacency.... I did not leave him until ten o'clock; he
-retired at eleven, after embracing his wife. She was slightly
-indisposed; he recommended her to take some precautions for her
-health,--his own seemed perfect. He went to bed as usual, and wakened
-early. He went to sleep again and wakened no more. He was found next
-morning in the same attitude in which he placed himself on going to
-bed."
-
-An attack of _apoplexie foudroyante_ had carried him off at the age of
-sixty-seven years and three months. This was on the 18th of May, 1799.
-
-The suddenness of the death of Beaumarchais caused, as may be imagined,
-the most profound sorrow to his family and friends.
-
-Madame de Beaumarchais wrote a few days after his death:
-
-"Our loss is irreparable. The companion of twenty-five years of my life
-has disappeared, leaving me only useless regrets, a frightful solicitude
-and memories that nothing can efface.... He forgave easily, he willingly
-forgot injuries.... He was a good father, zealous friend, defender of
-the absent who were attacked before him. Superior to petty jealousies,
-so common among men of letters, he counselled, encouraged all, and aided
-them with his purse and his advice.
-
-"To the philosophic eye, his end should be regarded as a favor. He left
-this life, or rather, it left him, without struggle, without pain, or
-any of those rendings inevitable in the frightful separation from all
-those dear to him. He went out of life as unconsciously as he entered
-it."
-
-"The inventory," says Gudin in his narrative, "which is made at a man's
-death, often reveals the secrets of his life. That of Beaumarchais
-showed us that to succor families in distress, artists, men of letters,
-men of quality, he had advanced more than 900,000 francs without hope
-that these sums ever should be repaid. If one adds to these, sums that
-he had lavished without leaving the least trace, one would be convinced
-that he had expended more than 2,000,000 in benevolences."
-
-The mortal remains of Beaumarchais were laid to rest in a sombre avenue
-of his garden which he himself had prepared. "In planting his garden,"
-says Gudin, "he had consecrated a spot for his eternal rest.... It was
-there that we placed him. It was there that his son-in-law, his
-relatives, his friends, a few men of letters, paid him their last
-respects, and that Colin d'Harleville read a discourse which I had
-composed in the overflowing of my sorrow, but which I was not in a
-condition to pronounce."
-
-"A beautiful copy of the Fighting Gladiator," says Lintilhac, "decorated
-the entrance to the ostentatious mansion where camped _la vieillesse
-militante_ of Beaumarchais. The posture of the combat, like the face of
-the gladiator, betrayed a manly agony. What expressive symbol of his
-life and work!"
-
-In pausing now to cast a backward glance over the achievements of this
-one man, we scarcely can fail to admit with Lintilhac that Beaumarchais
-was not boasting when he wrote toward the end of his life: "I am the
-only Frenchman, perhaps, who never has demanded anything of anyone, and
-nevertheless, among my great labors, I count with pride, to have
-contributed more than any other European towards rendering America
-free."
-
-That he ever looked upon his work in the cause of American Independence,
-as his strongest claim to immortality among men, can be judged from his
-constant return to the subject and especially from what he says in his
-memoir of self-justification delivered before the Commune of Paris in
-September, 1789. (Given in Chapter XI.) It may be said that the very
-persistence of his reclamations in this regard was responsible for the
-indifference with which they were universally received. A man so rich,
-so happy, so prosperous, so gay, so universally successful in all his
-undertakings, could not expect to be taken seriously when he loudly
-decried the universal ingratitude of mankind, even though his
-accusations might be just. What Beaumarchais essentially lacked, as La
-Harpe has pointed out, was above everything else, _measure_ and _good
-taste_. He was too ostentatious, too expansive, talked too much of
-himself, pushed himself forward with too much noise, was too brilliant,
-too daring, too successful; and yet, as M. de Lomenie has said in the
-remarkable resume of the character of Beaumarchais given at the end of
-his work: "It does not seem to us possible to contest the fact that
-Beaumarchais is one of those men who gains the most by being seen at
-close range and that he is worth infinitely more than his reputation."
-And the same author continues:
-
-"Beaumarchais had implacable enemies; but one very important point is to
-be noted, namely that all those who attacked him with fury either knew
-him very little, or did not know him at all; while those who lived
-intimately with him loved him passionately. All the literary men who
-knew him in life, and who spoke of him after his death, have spoken
-with affection and esteem. Two minds as different as those of La Harpe
-and Arnault meet, in regard to him, with the same expressions of
-sympathy, and I have not found a trace in all the papers left after his
-death of a single man who, after knowing him intimately, became his
-enemy. On the contrary, I constantly have found testimonials of
-attachment that are far from common. I have found that friendships,
-begun in his youth, when he was a simple watchmaker, or _controleur_ of
-the house of the king, follow him for thirty or forty years without ever
-changing or weakening, but on the contrary, redouble in intensity and
-manifest themselves in the greatest tenderness, and in the most
-disinterested ways....
-
-"The goodness of the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_, extended not
-only to those about him. Gudin affirms that M. Goezman fallen into
-misery was succored by him; that Baculard was on his register for 3,600
-frs. which were never returned.
-
-"A charming trait of his character often has been remarked, in relation
-to the inscription engraved upon the collar of his little dog, which was
-as follows:--'I am Mlle. Follette; Beaumarchais belongs to me. We live
-on the Boulevard.'
-
-"We can therefore say with La Harpe and Arnault who knew him, that
-although the author of the _Mariage de Figaro_, was followed all his
-life by black calumnies, he resembled in nothing the portrait which his
-enemies have left us of him. It is true that his good qualities are
-often somewhat veiled by _legerete d'esprit_ and _defaut de tenue_. His
-friend d'Atilly painted him to nature, when he said, '_he has the heart
-of an honest man_, but he often has _the tone of a bohemian_.' The
-frivolity of the century in which he lived had too much colored his
-ideas ... and indeed equitably to judge the character of the man in its
-entirety, one must not forget either the situation in which he found
-himself, or the century in which he lived."
-
-Louis de Lomenie wrote in 1854, more than half a century after the death
-of Beaumarchais. Since the appearance of his work, many others have
-taken up the pen to discuss the pros and cons of this many-sided
-character. The last of these, M. Eugene Lintilhac, calls attention to
-the crowd of obliges from the scepter to the shepherd's crook. "What man
-in need," he says, "great lord or modest author, ever came and knocked
-at his door, without carrying away consolation in words and species? To
-how many oppressed, mulattos, slaves, Jews, protestants has he not held
-the hand?"
-
-Sainte-Beuve says somewhere, that the Society of Dramatic Authors should
-never assemble without saluting the bust of Beaumarchais. It can do so
-henceforward because they have placed in the hall where their meetings
-are held, a marble bust of its founder.
-
-On the one hundredth anniversary of the first production of the _Mariage
-de Figaro_, on April 27, 1884, the play was performed again at the
-Theatre Francais. At the close of the performance the bust of
-Beaumarchais was brought forward, and crowned while Coquelin recited
-verses to his praise written for the occasion by M. Paul Delair.
-
-Thus to have survived a veritable death from oblivion, and to have come
-after a century of neglect into a resurrection of honor and fame, is
-sufficient proof of the real greatness of the literary genius of
-Beaumarchais to convince all unbelievers. This has been the act of
-reparation accorded him by France. The debt of gratitude owed him by
-America is still unpaid. It remains to be seen whether the same
-resurrection of honor awaits him among us.
-
-This book is a first attempt to state fully the facts of the life of
-Beaumarchais for the American people, so that they may know the man who
-was their friend, even before they came into existence as a nation, and
-it is put out in the hope that they may share the sentiment renewed in
-M. Eugene Lintilhac and so forcibly expressed by Gudin--"I soon found
-that I could not love him moderately when I came to know him in his
-home."
-
-And so with this expression of a friend's esteem, let us leave
-Beaumarchais in company with his faithful Gudin, Gudin, "whose great
-work," says Lintilhac, "_the History of France_, still sleeps in the
-_Biblioteque Nationale_, ... but whose author has found a surer path to
-glory in taking the first place in the cortege of his illustrious
-friend,--Beaumarchais."
-
-Although America has been slow to recognize the claims of Beaumarchais
-to her gratitude, yet Time, the great leveler, is restoring all things
-to their place; and to-day, if our "friend" is cognizant of what history
-is doing, he realizes that this same United States, which his services
-did so much to found, is repaying this debt with interest so far as
-money goes, but still more with warm affection and heartiest friendship
-cemented by the life blood of both nations--and to-day he repeats what
-he wrote in December, 1779--
-
-   "As for me, whose interests lose themselves before such grand
-   interests; I, private individual, but good Frenchman, and sincere
-   friend of the brave people who have just conquered their liberty;
-   if one is astonished that my feeble voice should have mingled
-   with the mouths of thunder which plead this great cause, I will
-   reply that one is always strong enough when one has right on his
-   side....
-
-   "I have had great losses. They have rendered my labors less
-   fruitful than I hoped for my independent friends, but as it is
-   less by my success than by my efforts that I should be judged, I
-   still dare to pretend to the noble reward which I promised
-   myself; the esteem of three great nations; France, America, and
-   even England.
-
-                                          "Caron de Beaumarchais."
-
-
-
-
-BIBLIOGRAPHY
-
-
-   _Beaumarchais et son Temps par Louis de Lomenie_, Paris, 1850.
-      Translated by H. S. Edwards. N. Y. 1857
-
-   _Histoire de Beaumarchais, Gudin de la Brenellerie._ Edited by
-      Maurice Tourneux, 1888
-
-   _OEuvres Completes, precedees d'une notice sur sa vie et ses
-      ouvrages par Saint Marc Gerardin_, 1828, 6 tomes
-
-   _Nouvelle Edition Augmentee de quatre pieces de Theatre et des
-      documents divers inedits avec une introduction par M. E.
-      Fournier, ornee de vingt portraits, etc._ 1876
-
-   H. Doniol--_Histoire de la Participation de la France dans
-      l'etablissement des Etats-Unis_, 5 tomes. Paris, 1886-1892
-
-   E. Lintilhac--_Beaumarchais et ses oeuvres; precis de sa vie et
-      histoire de son esprit, etc._ Paris, 1887
-
-   _Beaumarchais the Merchant._ Hon. John Bigelow in _Hours at
-      Home_, June 1870
-
-   _Marie Therese Amelie Caron de Beaumarchais d'apres sa
-      correspondence inedite par Bonneville de Marsangy_, 1890
-
-   _Bibliographic des oeuvres de Beaumarchais._ H. Cordier, 1883
-
-   _Beaumarchais: eine Biographie._ A. Bettleheim, 1886
-
-   _Memoires sur le Chevalier d'Eon, suivis de douze lettres
-      inedites de Beaumarchais._ F. Gaillardet, 1866
-
-   _New Material for the History of the American Revolution._ J.
-   Durand, 1889
-
-   _Diplomatic Correspondence._ Francis Wharton
-
-   _Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution._ J.
-      Sparks, 1829-1830
-
-   _Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin._ James Parton, 1864
-
-   _Deane Papers_, (6 vols.). 1887
-
-   _A Vindication of Arthur Lee, designed as a refutation of the
-      charges found in the writings of Benjamin Franklin, as exhibited
-      by Jared Sparks_, etc. 1894
-
-   _Beaumarchais: etude par P. Bonnefon_, 1887
-
-   _Beaumarchais and Sonnenfels._ A. von Arnett
-
-   _Memoires de Beaumarchais. Nouveile edition, precedee d'une
-      appreciation tiree des Causeries du Lundi par M. Sainte-Beuve_,
-      1878
-
-   _Cours de Litterature ancienne et moderne par La Harpe_,
-   1799-1803
-
-   _A History of England, in the 18th Century._ By W. E. H. Lecky (4
-      Vols.) 1887
-
-   _Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay_, 1890-93
-
-   _Judgement--qu'approuve le nouvel echappement de montres du Sieur
-      Caron_, 1754
-
-   _Claims of the Heirs of Beaumarchais Against the United States._
-      House Documents
-
-   _Report of the Committee of Claims on the Petition of the Heirs
-      of Beaumarchais._ 1812-1817
-
-   _Le Barbier de Seville._ 1902. 20th Century Text-Books
-
-   _Life of F. W. von Steuben_, with an Introduction by George
-      Bancroft, 1859, by F. Kapp
-
-   _Beaumarchais._ Vortrag von Dr. S. Born, 1881
-
-   _Beaumarchais._ A. Hallays, 1897
-
-   _La Fin de l'ancien Regime._ 1879. Imbert de St. Amand.
-
-   _Les Femmes de la cour de Louis XV._ 1876. Imbert de St. Amand
-
-   _Les beaux jours de Marie Antoinette_, Imbert de St. Amand
-
-   _The Lost Million._ Charles J. Stille
-
-   _Silas Deane._ Paper read before the American Historical
-      Association of Boston and Cambridge, 1887, by Charles Islam
-
-   _The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution._
-      Charlemagne Tower, 1895
-
-   _The American Revolution._ 2 vols. John Fiske, 1891
-
-   _House Documents_, Vol. 9. Report 111. Fifteenth Congress, First
-      Session.
-
-
-
-
-INDEX
-
-
-   Aix,
-     Beaumarchais doubles fine imposed on him at, ii. 174
-     lawsuit in progress at, ii. 173
-     recommendations for, ii. 65
-
-   Alfort,
-     professional school at, i. 45
-
-   Alliance,
-     open, between America and France, ii. 153
-
-   Ambassador,
-     English, complains to Vergennes, ii. 120
-     first French, sent to America, ii. 190, 193
-
-   America,
-     Cause of, aided by Beaumarchais's financial training
-       under Du Verney, ii. 78
-     love of, by French, ii. 35
-     wild sweet charm of, for Frenchmen, ii. 35
-
-   Americans,
-     addressed by Beaumarchais from Hamburg, ii. 263
-     distrusted motives of French, ii. 34
-     eulogized by Beaumarchais, ii. 43
-     looked on French as natural enemies, ii. 34
-
-   America's,
-     "friend," final word of, ii. 288, 289
-
-   Ammunition,
-     from France, i. 31
-
-   Amphitrite,
-     again sets sail, ii. 131
-     cargo of, taken by Beaumarchais, ii. 172
-     errors found in bills of lading of, ii. 155
-     indiscretion of officers, ii. 136
-     put in command of Captain, ii. 120
-     returns to port, ii. 119
-     sets sail, ii. 116
-     the vessel of Beaumarchais, ii. 107
-
-   Angellucci, Guillaume,
-     author of libel, gives written agreement, i. 258
-
-   Archbishop of Lyon,
-     adopts idea of Beaumarchais, ii. 227
-
-   Archives, Secret,
-     edited by H. Doniol, i. 36
-
-   Armament,
-     goes out to America, ii. 192
-
-   Arnault, M.,
-     Memoirs of, ii. 230, 241
-
-   Arnold, Benedict, i. 32
-     gave costly dinners, ii. 194
-     put in command at Phila, ii. 194
-     Tory principles fixed, ii. 194
-
-   Artois, Comte d',
-     comes to Grennevillier, ii. 216
-     takes part of Figaro, i. 284
-
-   August 10th,
-     mob enters house of Beaumarchais, ii. 255
-
-   Austria, Empress of,
-     sends diamond ring to Beaumarchais, i. 266
-     Beaumarchais demands audience with, i. 262
-
-
-   _Barbier de Seville, Le_,
-     author of, demands settlement, i. 282
-     brilliant preface to, i. 275
-     first performance a failure, i. 273
-     first prohibition to produce, i. 272
-     last play staged at Le Petit-Trianon, i. 285
-     permission granted to perform, i. 273
-     second performance of, great success, i. 274
-     story of, i. 276
-
-   Baron von Steuben,
-     at Valley Forge, i. 32
-     invoked by Beaumarchais, ii. 247
-
-   Barry, Mme. du, i. 249
-     libel against, destroyed, i. 253
-     sustains Maupeou, i. 175
-
-   Bastille, ii. 214
-     opposite house of Beaumarchais, ii. 241
-
-   Beaumarchais, Caron de, i. 35
-     activity of, i. 287
-     addresses daring memoir to King, ii. 46ff.
-     addresses President of Congress, ii. 203
-     again faces bankruptcy, ii. 239
-     anxiety for health of father, i. 99
-     appeals to La Borde, i. 243
-     appeals to ministers, ii. 258
-     arrives in Paris, ii. 77
-     arrives in Vienna, i. 262
-     attempts to buy guns, ii. 254
-     avenges his sister, i. 88ff.
-     begs M. de Sartine to intercede,
-     begs to read his play to Mesdames, i. 151
-     buried in garden, ii. 284
-     bust of, crowned, ii. 287
-     buys titles of nobility, i. 71
-     carried in triumph, ii. 101
-     charity of, arouses enmity, ii. 228
-     claims of the heirs of, i. 40
-     commissioned to settle affairs of D'Eon, ii. 18
-     compared to Grandison, i. 143
-     compared with Figaro, i. 270
-     composes popular song, i. 267
-     composes song on return from Vienna, i. 268
-     confers with ministers on problems of finance, ii. 111
-     confined in l'Abbaye, ii. 257
-     consulted by ministers, i. 254
-     dares accuse King of false sensibility, ii. 49
-     death of, ii. 283
-     deblame, ii. 100
-     defends ancestors, i. 237
-     defends himself, i. 221
-     demands account from actors, i. 282
-     demands aid for America, ii. 58
-     demands a new censor of his M. de F., ii. 218
-     demands return of thirty-five louis, i. 75
-     demands settlement, i. 293
-     destroys libel against Mme. du Barry, i. 253
-     destroys libel directed against Queen, i. 256
-     determines to visit Empress of Austria, i. 260
-     difficulties of his position, i. 66
-     directs ministers in regard to recall of Deane, ii. 187f.
-     disavows du Coudray, ii. 120
-     discloses plans of secret aid to Lee, ii. 57
-     distaste for gambling, i. 74
-     dog, little, of, ii. 286
-     duel forced upon him, i. 63
-     enters Secret Service, i. 249
-     excuses violence of D'Eon, ii. 26
-     faces bankruptcy, ii. 137
-     faces ruin, ii. 151ff.
-     fantastic letter of, to Congress, ii. 92ff.
-     freed by Manuel, ii. 257
-     gains lawsuit at Aix, ii. 174
-     gay life at Madrid, i. 100ff.
-     generosity of, i. 81, ii. 284
-     gives Comedians lesson in accounts, i. 295
-     goes to Spain, i. 84
-     home life of, recounted by Gudin, i. 72
-     honorable position at court, i. 105
-     honored by invitation to Petit-Trianon theatricals, i. 283, ii. 232
-     humbles himself, i. 199
-     impatient at delays, ii. 112
-     imprisoned at St. Lazare, ii. 229
-     indiscretion of, ii. 115
-     induces Steuben to go to America, ii. 140, 141
-     infatuated with Lee, ii. 57
-     inflamed for cause of liberty, ii. 22
-     initiated into finance, i. 71
-     invites authors to dinner, i. 299
-     jealousies aroused against, i. 304ff.
-     judged by parliament Maupeou, ii. 100
-     lawsuit with Comte de le Blache, i. 167
-     learns he is set aside in aiding America, ii. 149
-     letter to de Francy, ii. 159ff.
-     letter to Dubourg, ii. 86
-     life of, by E. Lintilhac, i. 126
-     loudly reclaims the fifteen louis, i. 208
-     made gifts of first two dramas, i. 292
-     meets Gudin, i. 170
-     meets her who becomes his third wife, i. 245
-     meets Madame Leveque, i. 156
-     meets Pauline, i. 108
-     memoirs of, criticised by Lintilhac, i. 215ff.
-     memoirs to King regarding America, ii. 38
-     merchant, the, i. 36
-     more attractive than other men, i. 179
-     music master to Mesdames, i. 59
-     nephew of, recommended to care of Congress, ii. 110
-     objection to card playing, i. 100
-     pays tuition of pupil, ii. 248
-     plans to go himself to Santo Domingo, i. 115
-     plays _comedie_ on stage of life, i. 260
-     plea of self justification, ii. 243ff.
-     pleads for Lafayette imprisoned, ii. 281
-     preparations for voyage to Spain, i. 85ff.
-     prepares to leave London, ii. 73
-     private character, i. 172
-     private life, ii. 240ff.
-     proudly reclaims rights, i. 200
-     reads _Le Barbier_ to friends, i. 189
-     receives written order from King, i. 257
-     recommends Deane be escorted by fleet, ii. 188
-     replies to Mlle. Ninon, ii. 181
-     replies to Lord Rochford, ii. 63, 64
-     reposes full confidence in Deane, ii. 89
-     restored to his rights as Citizen, ii. 100
-     retires to Flanders, i. 243
-     returns from exile, ii. 273
-     returns from Spain, i. 103
-     saved by Mesdames, i. 64
-     saved by Vergennes, ii. 152
-     second wife dies, i. 162
-     secret missions of, i. 249
-     seeks safety from mob, ii. 254
-     sends in his _reglement de comptes_ with Pauline, i. 137
-     sends "ostensible" letter to Vergennes, ii. 41
-     sends uncle to Santo Domingo, i. 109
-     sent to For-l'Eveque, i. 191
-     serious side of education of, i. 144
-     serves himself through the Ministers, ii. 98, 99
-     starts for London, i. 252, ii. 44
-     still pleads for aid to be sent to America, ii. 67
-     still used by Ministers, ii. 143ff.
-     stops at Nuremberg, i. 260
-     tact of, with royal pupils, i. 60
-     takes Gudin from Temple, ii. 178
-     thrown into prison, i. 264
-     touched by child's letter, answers, i. 202
-     unites family, i. 83
-     unable to obtain explanation, ii. 202
-     uncle dies at Santo Domingo, i. 114
-     uses attitude of English Lord to gain end, i. 257
-     victimized by widow of father, i. 247
-     warns ministers of English spies, ii. 132
-     writes angry letter to Janot de Miron, i. 117, 118
-     writes de Francy, ii. 157
-     writes for the _Morning Chronicle_, ii. 73
-     writes to Vergennes regarding America, ii. 31
-
-   Beaumarchais, Julie de,
-     accuses brother of levity, i. 121
-     after the terror, ii. 265ff.
-     as authoress, i. 79
-     attacked by Goezman, i. 236
-     describes family love making, i. 115
-     literary aptitudes of, i. 236
-     maliciousness of, i. 131
-     writes tenderly to brother, i. 128
-
-   Beaumarchais, Madame de, i. 36, ii. 240
-     beauty of, ii. 247
-     imprisoned at Port-Royal, ii. 262
-     protests decree of Revolutionary Tribunal, ii. 258
-
-   Bertrand, le grand, i. 236
-     attacks Beaumarchais, i. 227
-
-   Bigelow, Hon. John, i. 36
-     comments on letter of de Francy, ii. 168
-     defends memory of Beaumarchais, ii. 138
-
-   Blache, Comte de la, i. 165
-     appeals to the parliament Maupeou, i. 177
-     brought Beaumarchais before tribunal at Aix, ii. 173
-     contests settlement, i. 167
-     lawsuit of, ii. 101
-
-   Boisgarnier, Jeanne Marguerite de, i. 79
-     courted by Janot de Miron, i. 116
-     death of, i. 235
-     marries J. de M., i. 124
-     plays charades of her brother, i. 142
-
-   Bon Secours,
-     Mlle. Eugenie attends convent of, ii. 248
-
-   Bonvouloir,
-     instructions to, i. 30, ii. 37
-
-   Brenellerie, Gudin de la,
-     _Historie de Beaumarchais_, i. 36
-
-   Breteuil, M. de,
-     memoirs to, ii. 218
-
-   Buchot,
-     gives out receipt of Beaumarchais for 1,000,000 livres, ii. 204
-
-   Burgoyne,
-     entrapped at Saratoga, i. 32
-     news of surrender of, reaches England, ii. 147
-     surrender of, ii. 145
-
-
-   Caillard,
-     invents calumnies against Beaumarchais, i. 167
-     supports the parliament Maupeou, i. 176
-
-   Calumny,
-     as described by Basil, i. 278
-
-   Campo Formio,
-     treaty of, ii. 282
-
-   Canada,
-     "_le point jaloux_," ii. 37
-
-   Cape Henry,
-     Battle of, i. 33
-
-   Carmichael, Wm., ii. 161
-     returns to America, ii. 196
-     writes to Beaumarchais, ii. 196
-
-   Caron, Andre-Charles, i. 45
-
-   Caron, le pere,
-     courts Madame Henry, i. 122, 123
-     death of, i. 247
-     devotion to son, i. 82
-     letter of, i. 46ff.
-     marries second time, i. 124
-     marries third time, i. 246
-     meets the Princesses, i. 61
-     retires from business, i. 78
-
-   Caron, Marie Louise,
-     settles in Spain, i. 80
-
-   Caron, Pierre-August,
-     assumes name of Beaumarchais, i. 59
-     becomes inmate of palace of Versailles, i. 58
-     born, i. 43
-     _controleur clerc d'office_, i. 57
-     devotes himself to study, i. 57
-     escapades of i. 45
-     _horloger du roi_, i. 53
-     invention crowned by Academy, i. 52
-     marries widow, i. 58
-     "_Maudite musique_" denounced by father, i. 48
-     petitions Royal Academy of Sciences, i. 51
-     wife of, dies, i. 58
-     writes _Le Mercure_, i. 49
-
-   Chamfort,
-     accepts invitation of Beaumarchais, i. 303
-
-   Charles I. of England,
-     judicial murder of, i. 161
-
-   Chartres, duc de,
-     honors Beaumarchais, i. 242
-
-   Chaulnes, duc de,
-     determines to kill Beaumarchais, i. 183
-     goes to Louvre to find Beaumarchais, i. 185
-     sent to Vincennes prison, i. 190
-     strange character of, i. 179
-
-   Chevalier du S., i. 115, 129
-     carries off Pauline, i. 136
-
-   Chenu, the commissioner,
-     arrests the duc de Chaulnes, i. 188
-     carries out order of King, ii. 230
-
-   Chevalier D'Eon,
-     abuses Beaumarchais, ii. 26
-     agent of Louis XV., ii. 14
-     declares himself a woman, ii. 19
-     disguised as woman in St. Petersburg, ii. 15
-     exiled to London, ii. 14
-     reasons for change of sex of, ii. 19
-
-   Chinon,
-     The forest of, i. 159
-
-   Clavico, Joseph, i. 217
-     adventures with, i. 91ff.
-     immolated by Goethe, i. 96
-     signs declaration, i. 93
-     successes of i. 96
-
-   Cloture, compliment de, i. 279ff.
-
-   Colin d'Harleville,
-     reads discourse over grave of Beaumarchais, ii. 284
-
-   Colle,
-     replies to Beaumarchais, i. 301, 302
-
-   Colonists,
-     forbidden to extend settlements, i. 27
-     had no sympathy with the French, i. 29
-     turn to France, i. 29
-
-   Comedie des Italiens,
-     refuses the _Barbier_, i. 173
-
-   Comedie francaise,
-     refused to permit singing, i. 279
-
-   Comedy,
-     morality of, i. 146
-     the serious, i. 145
-
-   _Compte rendu_,
-     of Beaumarchais, i. 292
-
-   Conde, Prince of,
-     dispute with Beaumarchais, i. 107
-
-   Congress,
-     Continental, devoid of power, i. 28
-     debt of, to Beaumarchais fixed by Deane, ii. 199
-     disavows all commissions of Deane, ii. 135
-     draws up contract with agent of Beaumarchais, ii. 163ff.
-     holds aloft famous receipt, ii. 205
-     ignores letter of Deane, ii. 193
-     parties of, reversed, ii. 236
-     petitioned again and again by French Government, ii. 205
-     sent Barclay to revise account of Beaumarchais, ii. 200
-     strange silence of, ii. 202
-     urged to admit claim, ii. 208
-
-   Constant, _le petit_,
-     writes to Beaumarchais in prison, i. 201
-
-   Conti, Prince de,
-     honors Beaumarchais, i. 242
-
-   Cordilieres,
-     convent of, i. 192
-
-   Cornwallis,
-     defeat of, i. 33
-
-   Cotignac,
-     amusing story of, i. 65
-
-   Coudray, Tronson du,
-     at Metz, ii. 106
-     fascinates Deane and Beaumarchais, ii. 107
-     gives pretext of bad weather, ii. 119
-     good officer, ii. 121
-     issues pamphlet against Deane and Beaumarchais, ii. 122
-     openly thwarts plans of Deane and Beaumarchais, ii. 115
-     placed in command of Amphitrite, ii. 115
-     unworthy of confidence, ii. 107
-
-   Counter order revoked, ii. 119
-
-
-   Dauphin, i. 60
-
-   Deane, Silas, i. 37
-     accompanied by first French Ambassador to America, ii. 190
-     addresses Beaumarchais, ii. 191
-     addresses letter to Congress, ii. 193
-     associated with Arnold, ii. 194
-     changes date of contract with Lafayette, ii. 134
-     commended by King, ii. 190
-     commended by Vergennes, ii. 190
-     communicates fears to Beaumarchais, ii. 187
-     compact between Beaumarchais and, ii. 90, 91
-     defended by Franklin, ii. 186
-     defended by John Jay, ii. 186
-     difficult situation of, ii. 171
-     embarrassing position of, ii. 118
-     given portrait of King, ii. 189
-     guest of French Admiral, ii. 193
-     insists on meeting French Minister, ii. 84
-     a loyal patriot, ii. 195
-     manly firmness of, ii. 132
-     meets Beaumarchais, ii. 87
-     meets Lafayette with Von Kalb, ii. 134
-     no traitor, ii. 195
-     papers of, ii. 187
-     receives news of his recall, ii. 187
-     reluctantly signs recommendation of Du Coudray, ii. 121
-     returns to France, ii. 199
-     sent by Franklin to Dubourg, ii. 83
-     sent to Paris, i. 31
-     signs contract with Lafayette and Von Kalb, ii. 134
-     starts for France, ii. 69
-     writes to Congress, ii. 92
-
-   Delarue, Louis-Andre-Toussaint,
-     meets family of Beaumarchais, ii, 274
-
-   Delarue, Mme.
-     gives birth to daughter, ii. 282
-
-   Des Epinieres,
-     Beaumarchais demands he return to post, ii. 131
-     commended by Gen. Sullivan, ii. 197
-     nephew of Beaumarchais, i. 80
-     nephew of Beaumarchais goes to America with Steuben, ii. 142
-     writes to uncle, ii, 142
-
-   Diderot,
-     founder of new literary School, i. 148
-     replies to Beaumarchais, i. 302, 303
-
-   Doligny, Mlle.,
-     created role of Rosine, i. 279
-     letter of, i. 290
-
-   Doniol, II.
-     monumental work of, ii. 32
-
-   Dorat, M., i. 299
-
-   Dramatic authors,
-     rights of, i. 288
-     rights of, recognized by Napoleon, i. 307
-
-   Dubourg, Barbeu,
-     discredits Beaumarchais with Franklin, ii. 85
-     friend of Franklin, ii. 83
-     greets Franklin, ii. 117
-     officious zeal of, ii. 105
-     tries to discredit Beaumarchais with Vergennes, ii. 84
-
-   Duras, M. le Marechal de,
-     confers with Beaumarchais, i. 298
-
-   Du Verney, Paris,
-     dies, i. 163
-     tutelage of Beaumarchais under, of use in cause of America, ii. 78
-
-
-   England,
-     difficulties of recruiting in, ii. 38
-     parties in, ii. 33
-
-   Estaing, Admiral D',
-     commandeers _Le Fier Roderigue_, ii. 234
-     writes to Beaumarchais, ii. 235
-
-   _Eugenie_,
-     _La vertue malheureuse_, i. 149ff.
-     success in England, i. 149
-
-   Eugenie, Mlle.,
-     daughter of Beaumarchais, i. 246
-     marries M. Delarue, ii. 275
-     returns home, ii. 249
-     sent to convent school, ii. 248
-     suitors of, ii. 250
-     writes to her father, ii. 262
-
-
-   Ferrers, Lord,
-     friend of Chev. D'Eon, ii. 25
-
-   Figaro,
-     creation of, i. 147, 269
-     creation of, ranks Beaumarchais with Moliere, ii. 223
-     first conception of, i. 271
-
-   Flanders,
-     Beaumarchais retires to, i. 243
-
-   Follette, Mlle.,
-     little dog of B., ii. 286
-
-   For-l'Eveque,
-     Beaumarchais sent to, i. 191
-
-   France,
-     aid to America openly avowed, i. 33
-     attitude of, towards America, ii. 35
-     betrayed, i. 29
-     disclaims Canada, ii. 37
-     important role played by, i. 33
-     no intention of claiming part of New World, i. 30
-     still demurs, ii. 45
-
-   Francis, Cape,
-     base of mercantile operations with America, ii. 80
-
-   Francy, Theveneau de,
-     gives impressions, ii. 167ff.
-     letter to, ii, 132
-     reports on conditions in America, ii. 156
-     sets out for America, ii. 154
-     writes Beaumarchais of Deane's recall, ii. 156
-
-   Franklin, Benjamin,
-     arrives in France, i. 116
-     at Versailles, i. 32
-     defends Deane in letter to Congress, ii. 186
-     idol of Paris, ii. 119
-     intentionally arouses suspicions of French Government, ii. 133
-     overlooks a million, ii. 201
-     won over by du Coudray, ii. 121
-     steadily refuses to treat with Beaumarchais, ii. 142
-     writes Dubourg, ii. 117
-
-   French,
-     generosity of, ii. 35
-     loved America, ii. 35
-     motives of, distrusted by Americans, ii. 34
-
-   Fronsac, duc de,
-     wishes to hear _Le Mariage de Figaro_, ii. 216
-
-
-   Gaillardet,
-     life of Chev. D'Eon, ii. 16
-
-   Garrick,
-     adapts _Eugenie_ to English audience, i. 149
-
-   Gates, Horatio, i. 32
-     Congress in favor of, to replace Washington, ii. 193
-
-   George III.,
-     appealed to by Louis XV., i. 251
-
-   Gerard, de Rayneval,
-     accompanies Deane, ii. 190
-     First French Ambassador to America, ii. 195
-
-   Goethe,
-     reads memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 231
-     writes drama _Clavico_, i. 231
-
-   Goezman, Counsellor,
-     accuses Beaumarchais of attempt at corruption, i. 209
-     aided by Beaumarchais, ii. 286
-     attacks Julie, i. 236
-     presided over the parliament Maupeou, i. 177
-
-   Goezman, Madame,
-     confrontation of, with Beaumarchais, i. 223ff.
-     demands two hundred louis, i. 204
-     demands fifteen louis for the secretary, i. 206
-     memoir of, i. 222
-     refuses to return the fifteen louis, i. 207
-
-   Government,
-     English, redoubles watchfulness, ii. 117
-     of France, embarrassed by presence
-     of Franklin, ii. 116
-     of France, slow to move, ii. 36
-
-   Grand, M.,
-     Banker in Paris, ii. 146
-
-   Grasse, Comte de,
-     off Cape Henry, i. 33
-
-   Grennevilliers,
-     festival of, ii. 216
-
-   Gudin de la Brenellerie,
-     accused of writing memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 219
-     alone in house of Beaumarchais, ii. 257
-     gives account of triumph of Beaumarchais, ii. 174
-     goes to live with Beaumarchais, ii. 241
-     meets Beaumarchais, i. 170
-     returns to join friend, ii. 276
-     seeks refuge in _le Temple_, ii. 176
-     seized by the duc de Chaulnes, i. 184
-
-   Guerchy, Comte de,
-     quarrel with D'Eon, ii. 14, 23
-
-   Guilbert, Marie-Joseph,
-     settles in Spain, i. 80
-
-
-   Hamburg,
-     Beaumarchais at, ii. 260
-
-   Hamilton, Alex.,
-     revises account of Beaumarchais with Congress, ii. 204
-
-   Havre,
-     Beaumarchais goes to, ii. 115
-     family seeks safety at, ii. 251
-
-   Heirs of Beaumarchais,
-     claims of, settled, ii. 211
-
-   Heloise, La Nouvelle, ii. 179
-
-   Hessians,
-     hired to fight Americans, ii. 38
-     start for America, ii. 64
-
-   Hinterland, i. 27
-
-   Holland,
-     engaged by Beaumarchais to unite with Spain and France, ii. 32
-
-
-   Independence,
-     American, Beaumarchais intervenes in cause of, i. 250
-     declared by Congress, ii. 126
-     war of America, important role of Beaumarchais in, i. 267
-
-   _Institut de bienfaisance_, ii. 227
-
-   Institute for Nursing Mothers, ii. 228
-
-
-   Jay, John,
-     correspondence of, ii. 111
-     defends Deane, ii. 186
-     writes Beaumarchais, ii. 236
-
-   Jefferson,
-     sends letter to Beaumarchais, ii. 245
-
-
-   Kaunitz, Chancellor, i. 264
-     suspicions of, i. 266
-
-
-   La Borde,
-     aids Beaumarchais, i. 243
-
-   Lafayette, Marquis de, i. 37
-     about to sail on Beaumarchais's vessel, ii. 134
-     dinner at Metz, ii. 133
-     forced to borrow from Beaumarchais, ii. 162
-     pleads for Beaumarchais imprisoned, ii. 229
-     returns borrowed money with interest, ii. 247
-     sets sail for America, ii. 134
-
-   La Harpe,
-     comments on du Verney, i. 69
-     defends character of Beaumarchais, i. 219
-     eulogizes Beaumarchais, i. 213
-     eulogizes memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 238
-     final characterization of Beaumarchais, ii. 285
-     invitation of Beaumarchais accepted by, i. 301
-     refuses invitation to dine with authors, i. 299
-
-   Lamballe, Princess de,
-     invites Beaumarchais, ii. 214
-
-   _La Mere Coupable_,
-     first played, ii. 278
-
-   Lawsuit,
-     against Comedians, i. 287
-     of the fifteen louis, a master stroke, i. 214
-
-   Lee, Arthur,
-     added to commission in France, ii. 117
-     comes to Paris, ii. 89
-     condemned at bar of history, ii. 195
-     connections with Beaumarchais broken, ii. 88
-     denounces Deane and Beaumarchais to Congress, ii. 88
-     distrusted by Vergennes, ii. 185
-     effects of letter of, to Congress, ii. 108
-     enraged against Deane and Beaumarchais, ii. 88
-     in London, ii. 57
-     jealous of Deane, ii. 185
-     meets Beaumarchais, ii. 56
-     not permitted to come to France, ii. 66
-     poisoned Congress against Deane, ii. 186
-     revises account of Beaumarchais, ii. 203
-     summoned to join Deane and Franklin, ii. 117
-     Vergennes refuses to see, ii. 89
-     writes to Congress, misrepresenting action of French
-       Government, ii. 68
-
-   Lebrun,
-     gives passport to Beaumarchais, ii. 258
-
-   _Le Mariage de Figaro_, i. 39
-
-   Lepaute,
-     plagiarism of, detected, i. 52
-     watchmaker to the Luxembourg, i. 51
-
-   Lepin, Francoise,
-     sister of Beaumarchais, i. 180
-
-   Lenormant d'Etioles,
-     festival given by, i. 268
-     gives festival, i. 142
-     second marriage of, i. 201
-
-   _Les deux Amis_, i. 157
-
-   _Le Temple_,
-     chosen as refuge by Gudin, ii. 177
-     prison of, ii. 232
-
-   _Lettres de Cachet_,
-     Beaumarchais a victim of, i. 190
-
-   Libel,
-     against Mme. du Barry destroyed, i. 253
-     against Queen destroyed, i. 256
-
-   Lindet, Robert,
-     makes appeal for Beaumarchais, ii. 270
-
-   Lintilhac, Eugene,
-     _Beaumarchais et ses oeuvres_, i. 36
-
-   Living,
-     high cost of, after the terror, ii. 266ff.
-
-   Lomenie, Louis de,
-     _Life and Times of Beaumarchais_, i. 36
-
-   Louis XV., i. 56, ii. 14
-     death of, i. 253
-     dies, i. 242
-     _le grand projet de_, ii. 18
-     occult diplomacy of, i. 249
-     parliament of, destroyed by fifteen louis, i. 231
-
-   Louis XVI.,
-     ascends throne, i. 254
-     hesitates, ii. 32
-     inflicts outrage without motive on Beaumarchais, ii. 230
-     refuses to commit himself regarding aid to America, ii. 53
-     replies in own hand writing to questions of Beaumarchais, ii. 52f.
-     seeks to undo wrong done Beaumarchais, ii. 231
-     won over to American cause, ii. 70
-
-
-   _Mariage de Figaro, Le_, i. 39
-     Beaumarchais composes, ii. 212
-     Monologue of, ii. 223
-     permission given to play, ii. 215
-     permission revoked, ii. 215
-     proceeds go to charity, ii. 226
-     returns from, ii. 226
-     story of, ii. 221
-
-   Marie-Antoinette,
-     attacked in libel, i. 256
-     in the Temple, ii. 232
-     protectress of Beaumarchais, i. 267
-     takes the part of Rosine, i. 283
-
-   Marie-Therese, Empress of Austria,
-     receives Beaumarchais, i. 263
-
-   Marmontel, i. 173
-
-   Maupeou,
-     Chancellor, dissolves parliaments, i. 174
-     the parliament, i. 174
-     the parliament, abolished, i. 254
-     the parliament, Beaumarchais called before, i. 177
-     the parliament, judges Beaumarchais, i. 240
-     the parliament, sentence of, annulled, ii. 100
-     the parliament, supported by Voltaire, i. 219
-
-   Maurepas, le Comte de,
-     Beaumarchais works for, ii. 113
-     Beaumarchais addresses memoir to, ii. 127ff.
-     promises letters-patent, ii. 96
-     uses Beaumarchais as political agent, ii. 111
-
-   Meinieres, Madame de,
-     enchanted by memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 232f.
-     compares Beaumarchais to Demosthenes, Cicero, etc., i. 233
-
-   Memoir,
-     Beaumarchais addresses new, to King, ii. 42ff.
-
-   Memoirs of Beaumarchais
-     praised by Mme. de Meinieres, i. 232f.
-     read by Goethe, i. 230
-     read by Voltaire, i. 219
-     read in Philadelphia, i. 231
-
-   _Memoire justicative de Beaumarchais_, ii. 237f.
-
-   Menard, Mlle, de,
-     _femme d'esprit_, i. 173
-     painted by Greuze, i. 179
-     takes refuge in convent, i. 191
-
-   Mercantile project outlined to King by Beaumarchais, ii. 78ff.
-
-   Mesdames, i. 59ff., 84, 151
-
-   Metz,
-     famous dinner at, i. 35
-
-   Meudon, i. 63
-
-   Miron, Janot de,
-     aids in writing memoirs, i. 236
-     marries Mlle. Boisgarnier, i. 120
-     writes Beaumarchais, i. 116
-
-   Morande, Theveneau de, French libelist, i. 251
-
-   Morris, Robert, i. 39
-
-
-   Napoleon,
-     characterizes house of Beaumarchais, ii. 241
-     recognizes rights of dramatic authors, i. 307
-     writes Beaumarchais, ii. 280
-
-   New York,
-     fall of, effect in Paris, ii. 113
-
-   Nivernais, duc de,
-     suggests change in _Eugenie_, i. 152
-
-   Nuremberg, i. 260
-     Burgomaster of, i. 261
-
-
-   Opposition, The,
-     in England, favors Insurgents, ii. 34
-
-
-   Paris du Verney,
-     early life, i. 69
-     founds Ecole Militaire, i. 67
-     notices Beaumarchais, i. 68
-
-   Parliaments,
-     reestablished, i. 242
-
-   Passy,
-     deputies at, thwart Beaumarchais, ii. 157
-     deputies at, uncomfortable position of, ii. 158
-     Franklin takes up quarters at, ii. 118
-
-   Pauline,
-     charming Creole, i. 108
-     fortune of, i. 109
-     marries the Chevalier du S., i. 140
-
-   People,
-     English, respect of, for law, i. 252
-     of France, enthusiastically greet Franklin, ii. 116
-     the, of France, support Beaumarchais, i. 214
-
-   Philadelphia,
-     evacuated by British, ii. 193
-
-   Philadelphian,
-     reads memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 231
-
-   Poland,
-     division of, declared iniquitous by Beaumarchais, ii. 49
-
-   Polignac, Mme. la duchesse de,
-     hears _Le Mariage de Figaro_, ii. 216
-
-   Pompadour, Madame de, i. 53
-
-   Port-Libre,
-     family of Beaumarchais imprisoned at, ii. 262
-
-
-   Receipt, Famous,
-     for "lost million," ii. 82
-
-   Rochambeau, Comte de,
-     at Yorktown, i. 33
-
-   Rochford, Lord,
-     aids Beaumarchais to gain ends, i. 257
-     complains to Beaumarchais, ii. 62
-     friendship for Beaumarchais, i. 101
-     intimate with Beaumarchais, ii. 56
-     King bids Beaumarchais encourage friendship of, ii. 66
-
-   Roderigue Hortales et Cie,
-     assumed name, ii. 79
-     commercial house of, ii. 77
-
-   _Roderigue, Le Fier_,
-     takes part in Battle of Granada, ii, 234
-     vessel of Beaumarchais, ii. 161
-
-   Ronac,
-     assumed name of Beaumarchais, i. 261
-
-   "_Ronde_,"
-     of Beaumarchais, ii. 250
-
-   Roosevelt, Theodore,
-     erects Statue to Rochambeau, i. 34
-
-   Rousseau, J. J.,
-     effect of teaching of, shown in letter, ii. 179
-     reads the memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 219
-
-   Russia,
-     Crown Prince of, supporter of _Le Mariage de Figaro_, ii. 215
-
-
-   Saint-Amand, Imbert de,
-     account of _Le Mariage de Figaro_ given by, ii. 224ff.
-     _Le Barbier de Seville_ given at Le Petit-Trianon, i. 285
-     Recounts reception of Franklin, ii. 118f.
-
-   St. Antoine,
-     hotel Boulevard, i. 240
-
-   Sainte-Beuve, M. de,
-     eulogizes Beaumarchais, i. 230
-     invocation of Beaumarchais, i. 229
-     gives honor to memory of Beaumarchais, i. 289
-
-   St. Petersburg, ii. 15
-     50 representations given in, of _Barbier de Seville_, i. 275
-
-   Saratoga,
-     Arnold wounded at, ii. 194
-     mock hero of, i. 32
-     victory of, news of, reaches Paris, ii. 145
-     victory of, turning point of war, i. 31
-
-   Sartine, M. de,
-     appealed to by Beaumarchais, i. 255
-     explains imprisonment, i. 266
-     friendly to Beaumarchais, i. 197
-     grants permission to play _Le Barbier_, i. 272
-     intercedes for Beaumarchais i. 211
-     Lieutenant General of police, i. 177
-     secures written order for Beaumarchais from King, i. 257
-
-   Sauvigny, M., i. 299
-
-   School for Rakes,
-     adapted from _Eugenie_ of Beaumarchais, i. 149
-
-   Seals,
-     placed on house of Beaumarchais, ii. 258
-
-   Secret aid,
-     impossible to avow, ii. 201
-
-   Sedaine, i. 173
-     correspondence with Beaumarchais, i. 305, 306
-
-   Shippen, Miss Margaret,
-     belle of Philadelphia, ii. 194
-
-   Spain, i. 80, 84
-     Beaumarchais's intimacy at Court of, aids in affairs
-       with America, ii. 78
-     engaged by Beaumarchais to aid America, ii. 32
-     preparing to aid America, ii. 109
-     urged to join France in war on England, ii. 137
-
-   Steuben, Baron von, i. 38
-     called on by Beaumarchais, ii. 247
-     life of, by Kaft, ii. 139
-     sees deputies at Passy, ii. 140
-     takes des Epinieres to America as aid, ii. 142
-     urged to lend services to America, ii. 137, 138
-     visits Paris, ii. 139
-
-   Sully,
-     Beaumarchais recommends prudent measures of, ii. 127, 128
-
-
-   Terror,
-     Reign of, i. 246
-
-   Theatre Francais,
-     Comedians of, refuse account, i. 293
-
-   Toryism,
-     rampant in Philadelphia, ii. 193
-
-   Tourneux, Maurice,
-     Edits life of Beaumarchais by Gudin, i. 36
-
-   Trianon, _Le Petit_, i. 283
-
-   Tucker, Mr.,
-     of Virginia, address of, in favor of Beaumarchais, ii. 209
-
-
-   Valley Forge,
-     Winter at, i. 32
-
-   Valliere, duc de la, i. 105, 200
-
-   Vaudreuil, M. de,
-     at Grennevilliers, ii. 218
-     thanks Beaumarchais, ii. 219
-
-   Venice,
-     enthusiasm for _Eugenie_, i. 150
-
-   Vergennes, Comte de,
-     addresses Beaumarchais like an Ambassador, ii. 65
-     aids Beaumarchais, ii. 125
-     approves change of costume of D'Eon, ii. 23
-     augments credits of Beaumarchais, ii. 85
-     Chevalier D'Eon demands ransom from, ii. 17
-     discountenances Dubourg, ii. 84
-     finally overcomes scruples of King, ii. 54
-     praises Beaumarchais, ii. 29
-     replies to Beaumarchais, ii. 124
-     speaks at last, ii. 69
-
-   Versailles,
-     Beaumarchais reappears at, i. 252
-     court of, i. 32
-
-   _Victoire, La_,
-     vessel bought by Lafayette, ii. 134
-
-   Voltaire,
-     eulogizes the memoirs of Beaumarchais, i. 215
-
-   Vrilliere, duc de la,
-     keeps Beaumarchais in prison, i. 197
-     releases Beaumarchais, i. 212
-
-
-   War declared on England, ii. 233
-
-   Washington, George,
-     at Valley Forge, i. 32
-
-   Wilkes, Lord Mayor,
-     insolence of, ii. 38
-     members of opposition, meet at home of, ii. 56
-
-
-
-
-STUDIES IN AMERICAN HISTORY
-
-
-   BEAUMARCHAIS, AND THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. Two volumes.
-   Illustrated. _By Elizabeth S. Kite._
-
-   THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE PUBLIC LANDS, FROM 1840 TO 1862.
-   FROM PRE-EMPTION TO HOMESTEAD. _By George M. Stephenson._
-
-   GEORGIA AS A PROPRIETARY PROVINCE--THE EXECUTION OF A TRUST. _By
-   James Ross McCain._
-
-   LINCOLN, THE POLITICIAN. _By T. Aaron Levy._
-
-   THE AGRICULTURAL PAPERS OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. _Edited by Walter
-   Edwin Brooke, Ph.B._
-
-
-RICHARD G. BADGER, PUBLISHER, BOSTON
-
-
-
-
-
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