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diff --git a/75490-0.txt b/75490-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..abfa317 --- /dev/null +++ b/75490-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7217 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75490 *** + + + + + +D’EON DE BEAUMONT + +[Illustration: THE CHEVALIER D’EON 1770 + +_From the Portrait by Huquier_] + + + + + D’EON DE BEAUMONT + HIS LIFE AND TIMES + + COMPILED CHIEFLY FROM UNPUBLISHED + PAPERS AND LETTERS BY OCTAVE HOMBERG + AND FERNAND JOUSSELIN AND NOW TRANSLATED + INTO ENGLISH BY ALFRED RIEU + + LONDON: MARTIN SECKER + NUMBER FIVE JOHN STREET ADELPHI MCMXI + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + I + + FROM TONNERRE TO ST. PETERSBURG + + Childhood—His first Successes and Friends—Enters Diplomatic + Service—Employed also by Louis XV. in his “Secret” + Diplomacy—Mission to Russia—Attached to Chevalier Douglas in + negotiating the Alliance of France and Russia—Triumphant Return + to Paris 17-43 + + II + + DIPLOMATIC AND MILITARY + + Returns to Russia to join Marquis de L’Hospital—Embassy of + Baron de Breteuil—Carries the Ratification of the Treaty with + Russia to France, 1758—Gives up Diplomacy for the Army and is + appointed Aide-de-Camp to Marshal de Broglie—His brilliant + Services during the Seven Years’ War—Enters the Diplomatic + Service again and accompanies the Duc de Nivernais to London 44-60 + + III + + IN LONDON + + Difficult Negotiations in London to bring about the Peace + of 1763—The English Government entrusts d’Eon to carry the + Ratification of the Treaty to Paris—He receives the Cross of + St. Louis—The Comte de Guerchy appointed to succeed the Duc + de Nivernais as Ambassador in London—D’Eon acts as Minister + Plenipotentiary in the Interim—Arrogates to himself the Style + and Position of Ambassador and quarrels with the Duc de Praslin + and de Guerchy 61-80 + + IV + + CONTENTION WITH DE GUERCHY + + Comte de Guerchy arrives in London—D’Eon is disgraced and takes + Steps to revenge himself—Accuses de Guerchy of attempting + to murder him—The de Vergy Case—Mission of Carrelet de la + Rozière—The Duc de Choiseul urges d’Eon to return to France + and to restore the Secret Service Papers to the King—His + Extradition refused by the English Government—D’Eon’s Letter to + his Mother 81-99 + + V + + LAWSUITS AND A PENSION + + Embittered and libellous Contention with de Guerchy—Publishes + _Lettres, Mémoires et Negociations_ in London—Louis XV. sends + Emissaries to him—D’Hugonnet arrested in Calais, and the Secret + Correspondence endangered—Opens Proceedings against de Guerchy, + who is pronounced guilty by an English Jury—The King grants a + Pension to d’Eon, who decides to remain in England 100-123 + + VI + + BIRTH OF AN IDEA + + While in England continues in Secret Service of the + King—Correspondence with Comte de Broglie—Offers his Services + to the King of Poland, but Louis XV. opposes the Scheme—D’Eon’s + Popularity in London—The Bets regarding his Sex—Leaves London + and travels in England under assumed Name—Entertains the Idea + of passing as a Woman 124-144 + + VII + + THE MORANDE CASE + + Secret Service on behalf of Louis XV. and of Madame du + Barry—The Morande Case—Negotiation with Beaumarchais—Publishes + _Les Loisirs du Chevalier d’Eon_—Louis XV. loses Interest + in the Secret Diplomacy, of which his Ministers had grown + suspicious—Favier and Dumouriez imprisoned and Comte de Broglie + exiled—Death of the King—Louis XVI. discontinues the Secret + Service—On the Comte de Broglie’s Recommendation d’Eon receives + a Pension—Fresh Pretensions of the Chevalier 145-166 + + VIII + + METAMORPHOSIS + + Louis XVI. refuses the Chevalier’s Claims—Creditors become + pressing, and d’Eon deposits his valuable Documents with + Earl Ferrers—His Lack of Means forces him to adopt the Plan + of passing as a Woman—His Avowal to Beaumarchais—Consents to + sign a Declaration in due Form—Comte de Vergennes sends a Safe + Conduct to the Chevalière d’Eon for her Return to France 167-186 + + IX + + RETURN OF A HEROINE + + The Chevalière arrives in France—Reception accorded at + Tonnerre—Stays at Versailles and presented at Court—Impressions + of her Family, Friends and Contemporaries—Popularity of the + new “Heroine” in France and her Success both at Court and + in Parisian Society—Her voluminous Correspondence—Fresh + Disturbance with Beaumarchais—Feminine Garments, contrary to + Arrangement, being discarded d’Eon is arrested and sent to + Dijon Castle 187-234 + + X + + TONNERRE ONCE MORE + + Imprisonment at Dijon—Set at Liberty and exiled to Tonnerre—New + Plans and fresh Movements—Attempts to equip _La Chevalière + d’Eon_—In Paris during winter of 1780-1781—Returns to Tonnerre + and lives quietly among Neighbours—In 1785 is called to London + on Private Business 235-255 + + XI + + LONDON AND THE END + + Returns to London and settles with his Creditors—His + former Popularity revived—Endeavours to sell his Library + and Collections—First News of the Revolution—La Citoyenne + Geneviève d’Eon an ardent Jacobin—Petitions the National + Assembly—In order to obtain a Living gives Public Fencing + Competitions—Wounded at Southampton, 1796—Illness and Old + Age—Dies in London, May, 1810 256-275 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + THE CHEVALIER D’EON, 1770 _Frontispiece_ + (_From a Portrait by Huquier_) + + LA CHEVALIÈRE D’EON _Facing page_ 48 + (_From the Painting by Angelica Kaufmann after + Latour_) + + MADEMOISELLE DE BEAUMONT ” 96 + (_From a Caricature in the ~London Magazine~, + September 1777_) + + LA CHEVALIÈRE D’EON, 1782 ” 128 + (_From a Contemporary Oil-painting_) + + THE CHEVALIER D’EON ” 160 + (_From an Engraving published in 1810_) + + MDLLE. D’EON “RIPOSTING” ” 176 + (_From a Contemporary Caricature_) + + THE CHEVALIER D’EON ” 256 + (_From a Cast taken after Death_) + + + + +AUTHORITIES CITED + + +_Papiers Inédits de d’Eon._ + +_Lettres, Mémoires et Negociations particulières du Chevalier d’Eon._ +Londres, 1764. + +Boutaric. _Correspondance secrète inedite de Louis XV._ Paris 1866. + +Duc de Broglie. _Le Secret du Roi._ Paris, 1888. + +_Mémoires du Duc de Luynes._ + +_Mémoires du Marquis d’Argenson._ + +_Archives des Affaires Etrangères._ + +Gaillardet. _Mémoires sur la Chevalière d’Eon._ + +La Messelière. _Voyage à Saint-Petersbourg._ Paris, 1803. + +Vandal, A. _Louis XV. et Elizabeth de Russie._ Paris, 1896. + +De La Fortelle. _Vie Militaire, politique et privée de Mlle. +Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon de Beaumont._ +Paris, 1779. + +Perey, Lucien. _Un Petit-Neveu de Mazarin._ Paris, 1893. + +Campan, Madame. _Mémoires sur la vie privée de Marie-Antoinette._ + +MSS. of the Christie Collection, cited by Telfer. + +Walpole, Horace. _Letters._ + +Bachaumont. _Journal d’un Observateur._ + +Telfer, B. _The Strange Career of the Chevalier d’Eon de Beaumont._ + +_Mémoires de Jacques Casanova._ Bruxelles, 1871. + +De Loménie. _Beaumarchais et son Temps._ + +Grimm. _Correspondance Littéraire._ Paris, 1812. + +Georgel, Abbé. _Mémoires._ + +Fromageot. _La Chevalière d’Eon à Versailles (Le Carnet historique et +littéraire, 1900)._ + + + + +PREFACE + + +After the death of the Chevalier d’Eon in London in extreme poverty in +the year 1810, a mass of his unpublished papers and letters, which he +had carefully preserved all his life, fell into the hands of one of his +creditors, and lay neglected for nearly a hundred years in an English +bookseller’s shop. There it was that the authors of this book were +fortunate enough to discover them by chance at a sale. + +These private documents, in addition to the state papers in the archives +of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the municipal records of his +native town of Tonnerre, enable his biographers to follow the career of +the Chevalier with particularity, and to set at rest what was for so long +a vexed question, the mystery of his sex. It was a deliberate step, the +assumption of femininity, by which to regain a waning popularity. After a +brilliant military and diplomatic career, as well as repeated employment +in the secret service of Louis XV., his ill-judged conduct in London +covered him with disgrace at Versailles. Some fresh action was demanded +to reinstate himself in public notice, and as rumour persistently named +him a woman he felt the time had come to play the part. As the result of +long negotiation he was permitted to return to France. There he became +the heroine of the hour, and the ingenuity of his personification induced +belief in the Chevalière not only in Louis XVI. and his ministers, but +also—a more difficult matter—in the friends of his youth. + +These unpublished papers are of further value, for they include +correspondence with many notable people of d’Eon’s day, and serve to +reflect not only his own personality but those prominent in a society +which differed in its striking contrasts from that of any other +historical period. + + + + +D’EON DE BEAUMONT + +HIS LIFE AND TIMES + + + + +I + +FROM TONNERRE TO ST. PETERSBURG + + +“If you want to know what I am, Monsieur le Duc, I tell you frankly +that I am of use only for thinking, imagining, questioning, reflecting, +comparing, reading, writing, or to run from east to west, from north to +south, to fight over hill and dale. Had I lived in the time of Alexander +or of Don Quixote, I should certainly have been Parmenion or Sancho +Panza. Taken out of my element I will squander the entire revenue of +France in the course of a twelvemonth without committing a single folly, +and afterwards present you with an able treatise on economy.” + +Such was the portrait the Chevalier d’Eon sketched of himself for the +Duc de Praslin, at the height of the crisis which shaped his destiny; +and it is exact enough. To show all he could do, to fulfil his destiny +to the end, he should have lived in a country and at a period more +favourable to adventures than was France in the eighteenth century; +strongly organised and firmly established as it was by Louis XIV. Owing +to his lack of respect for this powerful hierarchy and to his efforts +to upset its stability for his own ends, d’Eon, who had begun life as a +gentleman, ended his days equivocally as an adventurer. In his haste to +improve a fortune which was too lagging and parsimonious for his taste, +he exceeded the bounds of legitimate ambition. He set aside all restraint +in his behaviour, forced and wasted his talent, ruined at one stroke +the brilliant prospects to which his courage and intelligence entitled +him, and, passing from one adventure to another, concluded by playing +for over forty years, with skill and tenacity worthy of a better part, +the strangest masquerade on record. He says himself with reference to +the people of Tonnerre, his fellow-townsmen: “They are like the flints +that are found in their vineyards; the harder they are struck the more +fire they give out.” This picturesque image admirably illustrates his +own history and the epic struggle which he maintained with increasing +stubbornness against all who thwarted his ambition. + +Nevertheless, his character is an interesting one, and well repays +study. Throughout the calculated extravagance of his adventures, d’Eon’s +indomitable energy persists, and the scandal caused by his conduct a +century and a half ago should not blind us to his genuine services. +There is a sustained interest in following d’Eon into many countries +from Russia to England, and into many surroundings from the court of the +Empress Elizabeth or the camp of Marshal de Broglie to the palace of +Versailles and the shops of London, wherever, in fact, the Chevalier’s +adventures led him for a period of more than sixty years; at one time as +a diplomatist, again as a dragoon, or, as Latour represents him in one +of his charming pastels, as a woman. + +“Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée, son of the noble Louis +d’Eon de Beaumont, director of the King’s demesnes, and of Dame Françoise +de Charenton”—so runs the baptismal certificate—was born at Tonnerre, on +October 5, 1728. He was of petty noble descent and fairly well connected, +and through the situations filled by his kinsmen was sure of finding +patrons of high position. His father had three brothers, all of whom were +in established positions: one, André-Timothée d’Eon de Tissey, advocate +in Parliament and Censor-Royal, was principal secretary to the Duc +d’Orléans; another, Jacques d’Eon de Pommard, advocate in Parliament, was +one of the confidential secretaries to the Comte d’Argenson, Minister of +War; and the third, Michel d’Eon de Germigny, Knight of St. Louis, was +one of the twenty-five gentlemen of the King’s Scottish Guard. + +D’Eon’s first years were not marked by any extraordinary or even +noteworthy event. He was put out to nurse at Tonnerre, than which nothing +could be more commonplace; less so, however, was the gratitude he always +retained for this early care. From London, June 1, 1763, he wrote to his +old nurse and foster-mother, informing her that he was ensuring her an +annual pension of a hundred livres, in recognition of the trouble he had +given her. When he was old enough to learn, the care of his education +was entrusted to M. Marcenay, the curé of the Church of St. Peter. At +the age of twelve he was sent to Paris, and completed his studies at the +College Mazarin with distinction. Doctor of Civil and of Canon Law, he +was called to the bar of the Parliament, and at the same time entered +the service of M. Bertier de Sauvigny as secretary, who was a friend of +his family, and intendant of the district of Paris. In 1749 he lost in +the course of five days his father and his eldest uncle, the latter of +whom he presently succeeded in the post of Censor-Royal. Besides these +relatives he had lost other friends who had already shown interest +in him, and whose support would have been invaluable—the Duchesse de +Penthièvre, Marie d’Este, and the Comte d’Ons-en-Bray, President of the +Academy of Science. The losses, however, were not without effect on his +career, for he wrote eulogiums in their honour which attracted attention, +and were inserted in the newspapers and literary magazines of the time. +This testimony of gratitude towards his deceased patrons, the origin of +his public reputation, increased the goodwill of the influential people +interested in his early years. He was received into the intimacy of old +Marshal de Belle-Isle, and frequented the house of the charming Duc de +Nivernais, a perfect type of nobleman, whom he met again as ambassador +in London at the height of his prosperity. He was also known to the +Prince de Conti, who, much engrossed by politics and poetry, was ever +in quest either of a rhyme or of a throne, and was equally unfortunate +in both. The fascination of his ready wit, the lively and original +character of his conversation, his taste for music, and especially for +Italian music, together with that genuine talent for the greatly prized +art of fencing which had obtained for him the title of Grand Prévôt, +soon made him appreciated and sought after in society. Various serious +publications—a historical essay on finance, and also two volumes of +political considerations on the administration of ancient and modern +nations—attracted the attention of influential people, saved him from +all suspicion of frivolity, and won for him the reputation both of an +accomplished gentleman and an indefatigable worker, one which followed +him throughout his career. + +In truth, d’Eon was in search of a career, not being the man to remain +long contented with empty social successes. He harassed his patrons, +with true Burgundian zeal and tenacity, in order to obtain from them +employment in which he might win distinction, and perhaps too the favour +and goodwill of the King. Exactly what he wished for happened. The Prince +de Conti, who, as his most influential patron, was doubtless the most +importuned, could not fail to notice the genius for intrigue, the courage +and the adventurous disposition of this “little d’Eon.” Seeing in the +young man a valuable recruit for the difficult enterprise which was then +being planned mysteriously in the King’s cabinet, he spoke of his protégé +to Louis XV., and d’Eon was chosen to accompany the Chevalier Douglas to +Russia, and second him in the dangerous mission with which he was to be +entrusted. + +So from the first d’Eon found himself engaged in delicate and +confidential affairs. He formed part of that secret ministry which +the King, with the assistance of the Prince de Conti, the Comte de +Broglie, and M. Tercier, chief clerk at the Foreign Office, directed +in person, and employed to support, or more frequently to oppose and +secretly to ruin, the official policy which he discussed with the +ministers of State. What this strange and mysterious policy was, this +conspiracy against himself, by means of which Louis XV. apparently +desired to take his revenge for the insignificant part in the management +of important affairs to which his indolence and timidity had reduced +him, has been made known since Boutaric’s curious publication of the +secret correspondence, and the interesting work written later by the +Duc de Broglie from the material in the archives of the Ministry for +Foreign Affairs and the papers of his ancestor. The deplorable result of +this secret diplomacy, which did not repair any, or hardly any, of the +blunders of the official policy, and was finally reduced to impotence by +its own conflicting intrigues, is also known, and will appear in part +in these pages. But what will never be known are the endless windings +of this labyrinth, which had blind alleys even for the most initiated, +and in which the King himself at times lost his way; for, writing one +day to Tercier to give him his instructions, he was obliged to confess +that he was becoming somewhat perplexed by the intricacies of all these +affairs. The secret diplomacy mysteriously superseded the official +diplomacy, and extended wherever the King’s representatives were sent. +Sometimes the ambassador himself was admitted into the secret service, +and so found himself confronted by the difficult task of reconciling +the instructions—frequently at variance—of the King and of the Minister +for Foreign Affairs; more often, a secretary of the embassy, or some +subordinate agent, was selected to play this part, becoming thus the +spy of his own chief. While ministers and official ambassadors were as +a rule chosen by the favourite of the time, the agents of the secret +correspondence were enlisted by the King himself, who, out of excessive +mistrust or a stirring of pride, often selected them from among the +enemies of the reigning mistress. All the correspondents of this obscure +policy were paid, or rather suborned, by the King out of his privy purse. +The secret minister, who was first the Prince de Conti and afterwards +the Duc de Broglie, answered for their discretion; their reports were +despatched by safe and indirect means, and then forwarded through the +medium of Tercier and Lebel, the valet, to the King, who took as much +pleasure in reading, annotating and answering them as he showed weariness +when he presided at a cabinet council. + +The origin of the secret diplomacy, the object and the organisation of +which underwent frequent modifications, appears to have been the project +cherished by the King, and more especially by the interested party, +of securing for the Prince de Conti the throne of Poland. As for the +idea itself, it may possibly have been suggested to Louis XV. by the +correspondence he kept up at the beginning of his reign with the Marshal +de Noailles. His illness at Metz and the love his people had shown him on +that occasion had, it would seem, illuminated for him his kingly duty, +and so for a time he displayed an ardent desire to conduct himself well, +and a certain determination to devote himself to the government of his +country. + +The secret correspondence gives evidence of such inclinations, but +reveals at the same time that lack of decision, that prodigious +selfishness, that spirit of mistrust and dissimulation which spoiled all +the King’s good qualities, and rendered useless the perspicacity and +good sense with which he was so plentifully endowed. The Duc de Luynes +says of him that he spoke and thought _historically_ of public affairs: +this word expresses wonderfully well, not only Louis XV.’s judgment and +penetration, but also the egoistic indifference and dilettanteism with +which he followed what his grandfather had called the “trade of king.” +History has repeatedly shown the consequences of such a disposition both +in a statesman and in a sovereign. + +In 1745 several Polish noblemen, disquieted by the state of anarchy and +impotence into which their country had fallen, repaired to Paris with +the object of attaining a more assured future by offering the crown to +a French prince. They thought of the Prince de Conti, grandson of the +man who had been called to the throne of Poland in the reign of Louis +XIV. The King authorised the Prince de Conti to accept their offers, and +resolved to attend to the matter himself, without mentioning it to his +ministers. + +Thenceforth he made the Prince come to his study to work with him; but +the very precautions taken to ensure the secrecy of their conferences +excited the curiosity and elicited the comments of the whole court. +One Sunday they noticed that scarcely had the King left his chapel +when he shut himself up with the Prince, and that several secretaries +had been sent for, who spent the whole day busily employed in staining +paper. Another day they saw the Prince go to his Majesty’s apartments, +carrying, with an air of great mystery, some large portfolios. The +Marquis d’Argenson, who relates the incident, set himself to find out the +secret which had thus become common talk. He succeeded in discovering +that the matter in question was to secure the throne of Poland for the +Prince; and in his Memoirs, under date of March 31, 1753, he expresses +himself as follows:— + + Here is one of several secrets of which I have just been + informed. The long and frequent labours of the Prince de Conti + with the King solely concern the project for making the Prince + King of Poland. I had already seen that this project was being + secretly elaborated and was known to the King only; but I could + not believe he thought of it seriously. Meanwhile he has been + persuaded it is a simple matter—for it is ever thus that great + and ruinous projects are made to appear to superficial and + unsystematic minds. That is the beginning of these assiduous + and oft-repeated efforts of the Prince de Conti with the King, + for the Prince sometimes receives despatches when out hunting, + and forthwith scribbles a few lines which he sends to the King + by his messengers. Only the other day he came to work with the + King, and returned to the Isle-Adam immediately afterwards. + This secret correspondence cannot be attributed to other + matters of state for he has no influence in any other affairs. + +On this last point d’Argenson’s perspicacity was at fault, for the Prince +de Conti’s influence, aided besides by the King’s partiality for this +kind of conspiracy, had proved powerful enough to spread the network of +secret diplomacy over nearly the whole of Europe. The chief object was +still the throne of Poland; but the means of ensuring its conquest had +increased and widened, which, as often happens, proved detrimental to the +success of the enterprise. + +The mission with which d’Eon was to be entrusted was connected with the +intricate scheme of these mysterious negotiations. For fourteen years +diplomatic relations had been discontinued between France and Russia. +The irregular and discourteous proceedings, which had led to the Marquis +de la Chétardie being somewhat unceremoniously escorted to the frontier +at the time of his last embassy, had left Elizabeth with a feeling of +resentment which her liking for Louis XV. had not entirely effaced, +and which the Grand Chancellor, Bestuchef, an avowed enemy of France, +did all he could to promote and to revive. The personal sentiments +of the Empress, her dislike for Englishmen and Prussians, were known +at Versailles, and since that deplorable rupture attempts had been +repeatedly made to renew relations, which seemed all the more important +in proportion as the friendship of the King of Prussia appeared more +deceptive and treacherous. Many envoys had set out, bearing letters from +Louis XV. to Elizabeth, but all had failed. Russia was far from being +easy of access, and Bestuchef’s agents, who kept a good watch at the +frontier, had managed to detect all these political smugglers. One of +them, the Chevalier de Valcroissant, had avoided detection; but, having +been followed and recognised in the interior of the empire, he was +arrested and confined in the fortress of Schlüsselburg, on Lake Ladoga, +where his jailers were barbarous enough to put him into irons. The +wretched man had been in prison for a year when the enterprise which had +turned out so badly for him was attempted again. + +Among the Prince de Conti’s protégés was Sir Mackenzie Douglas, who had +come to offer his services to France. His attachment to the Stuarts had +compelled him to seek refuge in flight, and his hatred of the English +left no doubt as to the eagerness with which he would undertake a +mission directed against them. Douglas had given proofs of his courage +in accompanying the Pretender in his romantic wanderings. A knowledge of +mineralogy enabled him to give his journey the plausible appearance of +a scientific expedition. His English nationality and his ability were +relied on to avert all suspicions. + +The scheme thus devised was approved by the King, who deemed it prudent +to impart it to his ministers, doubtless the better to conceal the +essential part of the negotiations. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, +Monsieur Rouillé, gave his sanction, and countersigned Douglas’ mission. + +The instructions, which were delivered to Douglas by the Prince de Conti +immediately after they had been submitted to the King (they were written +in small characters and enclosed in the false bottom of a tortoise-shell +snuff-box), specified the route he was to take and the principal subjects +upon which he was to obtain information. + +He was directed to leave as an ordinary traveller, supplied with the +usual passport; to enter Germany through Suabia, so as to avoid the great +capitals, and to pass thence into Bohemia, “under pretext of visiting +for his personal instruction the several mines in that kingdom.” From +Bohemia he was to proceed to Saxony, not omitting to inspect the mines at +Freiberg, and after spending a few days at Dantzig he was to continue his +journey to St. Petersburg, passing through Prussia, Courland and Livonia. + +He had strict injunctions to become acquainted with the progress of the +negotiations undertaken by Sir Hanbury Williams, the British ambassador, +with a view to obtaining troops from Russia. He was, subsequently, to +examine the resources of that country; the state of its finance and +commerce; to note the number of the troops and fleets; to learn the +extent of the influence wielded by Count Bestuchef and Count Woronzow; +to study the factions of the court; and to find out as far as possible +the sentiments of the Empress herself. He was directed, besides, but +cursorily and without insistence, to inquire into “the views of Russia in +regard to Poland, both immediately and for the future.” Lastly, he was to +observe the utmost discretion, and was never to risk anything through the +post except the briefest intimations, written in a cryptic phraseology, +which had been agreed upon beforehand, and the alleged subject of which +was the purchase of furs. Sir Hanbury Williams became the black fox, and +Bestuchef the lynx; squirrel skins were to signify troops in the pay of +England, and so forth. + +All these preparations were completed during the summer of 1755; and +Douglas was able to begin his journey with no more ado than would an +ordinary English tourist. + +There are no documents relating to the journey itself; it is only known +that Douglas arrived safely at St. Petersburg in the beginning of +October, 1755, and that he was received and treated there as an English +gentleman travelling for amusement and instruction. But so far he had +only fulfilled the easiest part of his mission; he had still to reach +the Empress. The difficulties were great, for Sir Hanbury Williams, the +British ambassador, being aware of Elizabeth’s personal feelings, was +keeping a good watch, and had arranged with Bestuchef that no Englishman +should be admitted at court unless he were presented by himself. Douglas, +therefore, applied to him, as a loyal subject of the King of England to +his natural protector, requesting the ambassador to present him to the +Czarina. Sir Hanbury, however, was on his guard, for the journey of this +Scottish Catholic who had come to Russia to pursue geological studies, +and was so anxious to see the Empress, appeared to him highly suspicious. +He therefore warned Bestuchef to have his fellow-countryman carefully +watched; and Douglas, informed that Valcroissant’s fate threatened him, +crossed the frontier post-haste. It seemed to be a fresh defeat; but less +than five months afterwards, in the spring of 1756, Douglas returned to +St. Petersburg. Before long he was admitted everywhere, even to the great +audience chamber, where he solemnly presented to the Czarina letters +accrediting him as Minister Plenipotentiary, charged with renewing +diplomatic relations. D’Eon was there to assist the new minister, whom he +was seconding in his official mission, as secretary of embassy. + +What had passed during the winter, and who was responsible for this +remarkable change? How was it that Douglas, who was defeated at St. +Petersburg, had conquered from Paris? Historians disagree on this point; +and the absence of clear, positive and authentic documents further +increases the mystery. Tradition attributes the success of the enterprise +to d’Eon, who is said to have arrived secretly in Russia in Douglas’ +company, and to have found the means of prolonging his stay there after +the Chevalier’s flight. The legendary story is full of romantic details +of the artifices devised by the young man to elude the watchful eye of +Bestuchef, and to reach the Empress. + +The story goes that little d’Eon, taking advantage of his slender figure, +his delicate beardless face, and his feminine voice, assumed the name, +attire and habits of a young girl. In this manner the Chevalier Douglas +introduced his niece, Mademoiselle Lia de Beaumont, to Count Woronzow, +Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, and the avowed enemy of the Chancellor. +Perceiving how useful this new ally might be to his policy, Woronzow +undertook to obtain his admission at court as maid-of-honour to the +Empress. D’Eon was not slow to ingratiate himself with Elizabeth, and +then resolved to disclose his deception, and the hidden purpose of his +journey, by delivering to the Czarina the King’s letters which he had +brought with him, concealed in the binding of one of Montesquieu’s +books. The romantic nature of the adventure amused and captivated the +Empress, who, far from bearing him ill-will, was grateful to little +d’Eon for his daring and for his message, and entrusted him with her +reply to the King, which was entirely favourable to the renewal of +friendly relations between the two courts. It was then that the Chevalier +Douglas returned at the head of the official mission in which d’Eon +participated—undisguised this time, in the capacity of secretary of +embassy, a fact which joins tradition to history. + +This story is mentioned by most of the historians of the period in +serious works, and even in the otherwise well-substantiated account which +Gaillardet wrote, fifty years ago, to establish “the truth about the +mysteries of the life of the Chevalier d’Eon.” Like all traditions, it is +an amalgam composed of much fiction and a substratum of truth, and, like +most, it is grounded on evidence and even on a few documents which make +it look genuine. + +Nevertheless, the objection still holds good that it is wildly +improbable; and this is the chief argument put forward by the Duc de +Broglie, and, after him, by M. Albert Vandal, in favour of its rejection +as an ingenious and romantic concoction. + +But that is not all; even the examination of authentic documents, far +from throwing light on this minor historical point, tends to increase its +obscurity. There have been discovered among d’Eon’s private papers the +originals of several letters which he received from Tercier, when he was +preparing to leave France for Russia. These letters show that he took his +departure in the beginning of June, 1756, and seem to prove that this +was his first journey, being sent to St. Petersburg on that occasion—but +on that occasion only—to assist Douglas in bringing about the alliance +of the two courts, and the realisation of the Prince de Conti’s secret +ambition. + +In that case the honour of having obtained official recognition for +Douglas at St. Petersburg must be ascribed to another; but it will +be seen that d’Eon undertook and conducted to a successful issue +negotiations of so delicate a nature that no one can be said to suffer +by comparison with him. The clever intermediary of the reconcilement +of Louis XV. and Elizabeth appears to have been simply a worthy French +merchant of St. Petersburg, called Michel, the care of whose own +affairs did not prevent him from applying himself with as much ability +as disinterestedness to those of his country. This Michel, a native of +Rouen, was often obliged, in the course of business, to travel all the +way from St. Petersburg to the town of his birth, and had already, in +1753, carried a private message to Versailles from the Empress, in which +she expressed herself willing to forget the offensive behaviour of La +Chétardie and to renew friendly relations with a monarch in whom she had +never ceased to take great interest. + +Regard for a policy directed at that time against Russia had prevented +Louis XV. from responding to these first overtures. Elizabeth did not +risk a second rebuff; but she let it be understood that her personal +sentiments had not changed. According to La Messelière, afterwards +secretary of embassy in Russia to the Marquis de L’Hospital, a +miniature-painter named Sompsoy, who was reproducing the Czarina’s +features, learnt from her positive proof of her friendly sentiments. When +he assured her, in the course of a sitting, that Louis XV., as well as +his subjects, revered the name of Elizabeth he was rewarded by “a smile +of which he caught the expression, and which made the success of the +portrait.” La Messelière adds that the Empress, having thought the matter +over, gave the artist “more sittings than he required for the painting,” +and concluded by charging him to inform the King that French gentlemen +might count on a warm reception at her court. Sompsoy discharged the +commission faithfully, but it was thought undesirable to entrust him with +the reply, for it would have necessitated at the same time the disclosure +both of the King’s secret correspondence and of the Prince de Conti’s +projects. It was agreed, therefore, that he should remain in Paris, and +Douglas be sent to Russia in his place. + +We have seen how and why he failed in his first mission; but before he +had left St. Petersburg the excellent idea occurred to him of conferring +with the Sieur Michel, whose services and goodwill he could count upon, +informing him who had sent him and for what purpose. Michel, unperturbed +by the risk he was running in associating with one who was already +under suspicion, introduced him to Woronzow, who apprized the Empress. +Elizabeth expressed herself willing to receive an envoy-extraordinary +from the King, and Douglas, armed with this promise, coolly eluded +Bestuchef’s spies, and took his departure for France. During his absence +Michel continued to negotiate with Woronzow, and let the Chevalier know +when the opportune moment arrived for his reappearance. Douglas then +returned to St. Petersburg; but he deemed it prudent to travel under +an assumed name, and to conceal himself on his arrival in his friend’s +house, who passed him off as one of his clerks. Here d’Eon rejoined +him, despatched officially by Monsieur Rouillé, Minister for Foreign +Affairs, to the Vice-Chancellor, Woronzow, to act as his “companion and +confidential man, whose sole duties should consist in looking after +a fine library and transacting some important business with France.” +D’Eon was indeed surprised to find Count Woronzow’s “fine library” on a +single shelf, whereas he, a humble private person, had left at the Comte +d’Ons-en-Bray’s a large room and six chests full of books. Douglas was +delighted to keep so earnest a collaborator, and forthwith informed the +Minister for Foreign Affairs of the decision to which he had just come in +regard to the young secretary: + +“I am very greatly pleased at the arrival of M. d’Eon,” he wrote; “I +have been long acquainted with his zeal, and his attachment to his work. +He will be most useful to me, and also of good service to the King. +Besides, he is steady and prudent. I introduced him yesterday evening +to the Vice-Chancellor, Count Woronzow, who received him kindly and +courteously, and seemed greatly pleased with him. Upon consideration, he +was not of his former opinion; he now thinks that the original plan for +the accomplishment of his mission should not be followed, for particular +reasons known to the Empress, which I shall have the honour of specifying +later.” + +Chevalier Douglas and d’Eon were exerting themselves at that time to +thwart the combined intrigues of the Chancellor, Bestuchef, and the +British ambassador, Sir Hanbury Williams. This they succeeded in doing, +thanks to the support of Woronzow and also that of Count Ivan Schouvalow, +at that time the favourite of the Empress. Douglas, accompanied by d’Eon, +was solemnly received in audience as the Envoy of the King of France. +Nevertheless, their enemies did not consider themselves beaten, taking +many measures and even attempting assassination, if we are to believe +La Messelière, who relates that pistols were fired one night at their +windows. But their credit with Elizabeth became greater than ever, and +the negotiations soon took, at least in part, an extremely favourable +turn. + +These negotiations were, indeed, twofold, comprising those of which +the Minister for Foreign Affairs was kept informed, and those of which +reports were sent directly to the King and the Prince de Conti through +the medium of Tercier. The object of the official mission was to bring +about the reconciliation of the two countries, to detach Russia from the +English alliance so as to compel her to sign the treaty which France had +just concluded with her old enemy, Austria. That of the secret commission +was to induce the Empress to favour a French prince’s candidature for the +throne of Poland, and even to engage her affections on behalf of Conti. +That prince aspired to a throne and, if he could not reign in his own +right in Poland, was quite resigned to participate as Elizabeth’s consort +in the government of a great empire. Moreover, the realisation of either +of these ambitious dreams would have served the political interests of +France equally well. Whether Conti was king in Poland or the Czarina’s +consort in Russia, Louis XV. had the aid of an ally capable of flanking +his enemies: Frederick, with whom he had just fallen out, and Maria +Theresa, with whom he had just been reconciled, but upon whose prolonged +fidelity he hardly ventured to count. + +Everything had been thought of to draw Elizabeth into this intrigue. +Tercier had entrusted to d’Eon a quarto volume of _L’Esprit des Lois_, +in the binding of which, between two pieces of cardboard, enclosed and +bound up in the same calfskin, were concealed private letters from the +King to the Empress, as well as several cyphers. One was for d’Eon’s +correspondence with the King and Tercier, another for d’Eon’s use +in communicating with the Prince de Conti and M. Monin, and a third +designed to enable Elizabeth or her confidant, Woronzow, to correspond +at any time with Louis XV. through the medium of Tercier, without the +ministers and ambassadors becoming aware of it. Elizabeth, who did not +share the King’s fondness for dissimulation, and never concealed even her +wildest caprices, proved insensible to the attraction of this mysterious +correspondence. She declined the cypher, but received d’Eon, and +consented to listen to the King’s and the Prince de Conti’s overtures. +She showed, however, no inclination to marry the Prince, and even avoided +pledging herself in regard to Poland. All she promised was to appoint +Conti Commander-in-Chief of the Russian troops, with the title of Duke of +Courland, provided the King granted his cousin permission to accept her +offer and to proceed to St. Petersburg. And there, on another account, +the matter stopped, for while d’Eon was negotiating for him in Russia +the Prince was ruining his prospects at Versailles. By incurring the +displeasure of the Marquise de Pompadour, whom he had believed himself +strong enough to set at defiance and to ridicule almost openly, he lost +favour with the King, who ceased to place the secret diplomacy at the +disposal of his ambitious cousin. D’Eon received instructions to protract +the negotiation and to correspond in future only with Tercier and the +Comte de Broglie, who succeeded the Prince de Conti as secret minister in +the middle of the year 1757. + +If the private parleys met with only partial success, which was soon +made altogether useless by Conti’s disgrace, the result of the official +mission was more satisfactory. Thanks to the patient and persistent +efforts of Douglas and d’Eon, the treaty concluded some months before +between Bestuchef and Sir Hanbury Williams was annulled. Russia remitted +to England the subsidies she had already received, but recalled her +troops; it was decided that the eighty thousand men, who were already +assembled in Livonia and Courland for the service of England and Prussia +should change sides and unite with the armies of Louis XV. and Maria +Theresa. At the same time it was resolved that, in order to indicate more +clearly the character of the relations about to be established between +France and Russia, there should be an interchange of ambassadors of high +rank between the two courts. The choice of France fell on the Marquis +de L’Hospital, and that of Russia on Count Bestuchef, the Chancellor’s +brother. + +Russia, then, had broken off her alliance to join the new Franco-Austrian +coalition. This unexpected change caused some surprise in France, but +met with general commendation, and the success of the negotiations +appeared to be assured. Such was not the case, however, for an objection +raised by Bestuchef, who was striving to revenge himself for his defeat +by sowing discord among his triumphant opponents, very nearly caused the +whole affair to be reconsidered, and threatened for a time to wreck the +transactions. + +In soliciting Russia’s ratification of the treaty just concluded at +Versailles, France and Austria had entertained the idea of stipulating +for one exception to the general alliance which they were about to +contract with the cabinet of St. Petersburg. This exception concerned +Turkey, France’s old ally, and certainly a source of danger to Russia +less formidable than was Russia to her. + +It soon occurred to Bestuchef to make this restriction the +stumbling-block of the alliance to which he was so strongly opposed. He +endeavoured to make Elizabeth believe that should she assent to this +humiliating condition she would be profaning the ancient Muscovite gospel +and disowning the duty held sacred by her predecessors—the delivery of +Constantinople. In treating with Austria he artfully urged that it was +no more to her interest than to Russia’s to bind herself with regard to +Turkey, her past enemy and her future prey. This argument prevailed at +Vienna, the cabinet being all the more easily persuaded as hostilities +had been resumed, and as Frederick’s victorious advance in Austrian +territory had already raised apprehensions far greater than any that +conjectural events could inspire. Austria, therefore, entered eagerly +into an alliance with Russia, and, conscious of the immediate danger, +took no account of France’s allies, the Turks. + +Then it was that Douglas began to fear he would lose all the fruits +of his labour, and, though d’Eon advised him to stand his ground, +he resolved to have recourse to an expedient devised by Austria’s +representative at St. Petersburg, Count Esterhazy, a man devoid of +scruples as to the means of attaining his ends. It was agreed that the +Porte should be guaranteed against the alliance in an ostensible treaty +to be transmitted to Constantinople, but that the exceptional clause +should be itself annulled by an article called _secrétissime_. This +despicable artifice, a real humiliation for France, allowed Russia full +scope for her aggressive designs, while giving to the Turks a false and +dangerous security. + +Douglas consented; but, happily, his transactions aroused the utmost +indignation at Versailles, and the ratification to the agreement was +refused. The official and the secret ministers were for once of the +same mind, and each of them sent to Douglas bitter reproaches for his +weakness, and his want of dignity, and the King, however great his desire +to obtain official recognition for the reconciliation, shared those +opinions. + +Douglas was extremely mortified at the reproaches which assailed him +from all quarters, and was at a loss how to save both his threatened +reputation and the result of all his prolonged negotiations. It was d’Eon +who got him out of this scrape. + +Having first secured the support of Elizabeth’s favourite, Schouvalow, +who had been recently won over to the French party, the intrepid young +diplomat made a sudden attack on the terrible Bestuchef. He had a wordy +quarrel with him which greatly entertained the favourite, and even the +Empress, who endured, rather than liked, the omnipotent Chancellor. +Bestuchef was beside himself with rage, but finally gave in, not daring +to thwart Elizabeth in her increasing desire to enter into an alliance +with France. The _secrétissime_ clause was torn up, and the Chevalier +Douglas hastened to inform the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the happy +issue of the dispute. So far, indeed, did his satisfaction and his +gratitude surpass his natural jealousy that he even insisted that d’Eon +himself should be the bearer to the court of Versailles of Elizabeth’s +ratification to the treaty, and the Russian plan of army operations for +the ensuing campaign. The Empress was not less thankful to the young +French secretary for the victory he had gained over her own Chancellor, +and, to crown the irony of the situation, it was Bestuchef himself whom +she made her mouthpiece. Shortly before his departure, d’Eon was invited +to call on the Chancellor, who received him graciously, overwhelmed him +with congratulations, and presented him with three hundred ducats as a +token of the Czarina’s favour. He set out in high spirits, his wallet +filled with Elizabeth’s money and the most flattering testimonials from +the Chevalier Douglas, who was generous enough not to bear him a grudge +for the services he had rendered him. + +On approaching Warsaw he met an imposing procession, “the main part of +which was made up of twenty-three berlins and twenty-three waggons.” +Couriers, equerries and numerous liveried servants were crowding round +the luxuriously appointed coaches, astonishing the peasants, unaccustomed +to the sight of so resplendent a pageant. It was the embassy of the +Marquis de L’Hospital, who was on his way to St. Petersburg, where he was +to take the place of Douglas. No expense had been spared to make that +mission as famous for the rank of the secretaries attached to it as for +the splendour of the carriages by which it was conveyed. The ambassador +was escorted by the Marquis de Bermond, the Marquis de Fougères, the +Baron de L’Hospital, the Baron de Wittinghoff, M. de Teleins, and the +Comte de La Messelière, whose account of the journey has been handed down +to us. + +Availing himself of this chance meeting, d’Eon retraced his steps as far +as Bialestock, and accompanied the Marquis de L’Hospital to the house +of the great Polish General Branicky. On the way he gave the ambassador +the latest news of the Russian court, informed him that the annulment of +the secret clause was an accomplished fact, doubtless without concealing +the active part he had taken in the successful transaction, and left him +overjoyed at not having so unpleasant a matter to settle on entering +upon his functions at St. Petersburg. D’Eon then urged on the six horses +which he had attached to his chaise, and crossed the plateaux of Moravia +and Silesia post-haste. Stopped on the road by a band of four hundred +Prussian deserters, he threw to them part of the Czarina’s ducats, and +reached Vienna at nightfall. Here, despite his furious protestations, +the customs’ officials prevented him from entering the city, and he had +to resign himself to waiting in a guard-room of hussars until he could +obtain a pass from the embassy. He was thinking of staying at Vienna for +the arrival of the Comte de Broglie, the new secret minister, who was on +his way to his post in Poland, when news came of the Austrian victory won +at Prague, on May 6, over the King of Prussia. He at once set out again, +never halting, exhausting his horses, and driving at such reckless speed +that he fell headlong and broke his leg. Barely allowing time to have his +injury attended to he continued his journey with the same hot haste, and +arrived at Paris, prostrate, and burnt up with fever, but outstripping +by thirty-six hours the courier sent by Prince Kaunitz to the Austrian +ambassador at the court of France, and so bringing simultaneously the +first tidings of two happy events. + +Louis XV. was glad of the message and highly pleased with the messenger, +whose unflagging zeal impressed and flattered him the more as it emanated +from one of the agents of his secret correspondence. He instantly +despatched his own surgeon to the limping courier, and a few days later +sent him a gratuity from the privy purse, a gold snuff-box ornamented +with pearls, and a commission as lieutenant of dragoons. This last mark +of favour d’Eon prized more highly than all the others, and it did much +to hasten his recovery, which promptly followed. He was the first to +acknowledge that by falling he had picked up a fortune, since, thanks +to his broken leg, he was now a lieutenant of dragoons honoured by the +King, having henceforward, both literally and figuratively, a foot in +the stirrup. Nevertheless, he remained in the diplomatic service, his +initial success showing how profitably he might still be employed in +that career, and he had to rest content for a few years with an honorary +rank in the army. During the period of compulsory relaxation which ensued +after his return to Paris, d’Eon occupied his time in drawing up notes +relating to his mission. + + + + +II + +DIPLOMATIC AND MILITARY + + +D’Eon’s active mind, stimulated by success and hope, adapted itself ill, +it is true, to this temporary rest, and the flattering reception he +met with at Compiègne from the King and the court did not help him to +restrain his impatience. He called at the Hôtel du Temple to acquaint +Conti with the indifferent result of his mission, and to obtain the +Prince’s directions for pursuing the affair, in view of his departure. +The duchy of Courland and the command-in-chief of the Russian troops +were no longer in question. Louis XV. seemed already to have lost his +interest in that project, and, if he permitted d’Eon to see his former +secret minister, he deferred giving him instructions with regard to it; +and, through fear of embroiling the already critical situation at St. +Petersburg, soon definitely abandoned the interests of a cousin who had +ventured to incur the displeasure of Madame de Pompadour. + +Meanwhile d’Eon’s departure had just been fixed for the end of September. +The Minister for Foreign Affairs had granted his earnest request; +Tercier, too, was anxious that he should rejoin his post; and the +Marquis de L’Hospital, who had been impressed by his shrewdness and the +experience of Russian affairs he had shown in their brief interview, was +also urging him to return to St. Petersburg. + +In point of fact, the marquis found himself, almost from the moment of +his arrival, in an extremely false and annoying position. He had been +despatched to Russia for the purpose of cementing the friendly relations +between the two courts; but an apparently insignificant incident occurred +which hindered his mission, and threatened to compromise an alliance so +arduously obtained, and to wreck the new policy whereby past blunders +were to be remedied. + +Elizabeth, who had never been deterred from making advances to +France—frequently complimentary, sometimes of pecuniary interest, +but in either case politely evaded—had just found an opportunity for +demonstrating her friendly feelings towards the King at the same time +as her sympathy for her new allies. Godmother of the child to which the +Grand Duchess was about to give birth, she desired that Louis XV. should +stand godfather. She devoted to this end all the energy and tenacity of +a woman intent upon the gratification of a whim, and when the council +suggested the choice of some other god-parent she replied: “No, no; I +will have none but Louis XV. and myself....” Upon this, Woronzow sounded +the Marquis de L’Hospital, who communicated the imperial proposal to the +Minister for Foreign Affairs. + +With an obstinacy that would be unaccountable had he not given numerous +examples of similar scruples, the King refused to accept “engagements +which constrain him to see that, as far as possible, the child be +brought up in the Catholic faith.” Elizabeth was greatly vexed by this +repulse to her advances, and the motives were calculated to surprise +her on the part of a monarch whom she had good reasons for believing +to be even more sceptical than herself. She chose no other godfather, +and the child was baptised in her arms. The Marquis de L’Hospital, +fearing that the wound dealt her royal and feminine self-esteem would +be adroitly envenomed by the party hostile to France led by Bestuchef, +was impatiently awaiting d’Eon’s return, knowing his favour with the +Empress. The able secretary did not disappoint his chief’s expectations; +thoroughly acquainted with every intrigue of a palace in which he +had been plotting for two years, he worked to such good purpose that +Woronzow’s party got the upper hand again and soon became strong enough +to attack the omnipotent Chancellor. At the time of his passing through +the Russian lines, d’Eon had ascertained beyond doubt the existence of a +secret correspondence between Apraxin and the Chancellor. The marshal’s +inaction after the victory he had gained over the Prussian troops at Gros +Jägersdorf, and the defeat to which he had exposed himself at Narva, made +it manifest that instructions contrary to those he had received from +his sovereign had been transmitted to him surreptitiously. Apprised by +d’Eon, who had discovered the hiding-place of Bestuchef’s secret papers, +Woronzow did not hesitate to denounce to the Czarina the treason which +threatened completely to foil a campaign so successfully begun. Elizabeth +passed over definitely to the French party, and Bestuchef’s disgrace was +decreed a few days later. + +When, in the course of an audience granted by the Empress to the Marquis +de L’Hospital, upon his recovery after a long illness, the ambassador +complained of ill usage on the part of the Chancellor which was quite +inconsistent with the sovereign’s kindness, “Count Bestuchef, who, +according to etiquette, was standing behind the Empress, on her right, +rushed forward like a madman, and went out, with his eyes glittering, +boding some catastrophe for the night.” He withdrew to his palace; +but the next day the Empress bade him attend her council. He pleaded +sickness, but was obliged to comply with a second order. The following +account of his arrest, too graphic not to have been taken from life, has +been handed down to us by La Messelière:— + + Bestuchef, thinking that his intrigues had not yet been + unravelled, stepped into his coach with the pomp and + circumstance of his rank. On reaching the gates of the Palace + he was greatly astonished to see the guard of grenadiers, who + usually presented arms to him, surround the carriage by a + movement made from the right and left. A lieutenant-general of + the guard arrested him and got up beside him, to conduct him + back to his palace under escort. What was his surprise upon his + arrival at seeing it invested by four battalions, grenadiers + at the door of his study and seals affixed to all his papers. + As was customary, he was stripped to the skin, and all razors, + knives, scissors, pins, and needles were taken from him. His + cruel and immovable character made him smile sardonically, + notwithstanding all the evidence against him that was to be + found in his papers. Four grenadiers, with fixed bayonets, kept + a constant watch over the four corners of the bed, the curtains + of which remained open. All attempts had failed to discover a + note which the Chancellor had written in anticipation of his + arrest, and which he intended to send to the Grand Duchess. He + asked to see his physician, Boirave, who was summoned, and on + his approach to feel his pulse Bestuchef tried to slip this + note into his hand; but the doctor, not understanding what + was expected of him, let it fall to the ground. The major on + guard picked it up, and its contents were never known. The poor + doctor, thinking he was going to be involved, was so alarmed + that he died of the shock three days afterwards. + +The Chancellor’s papers left no room for doubt as to his secret schemes. +Charged with high treason, it was owing to Elizabeth’s mercy that he was +not condemned to death, and was exiled to Siberia. Over eighteen hundred +persons were arrested; Apraxin had just committed suicide, and a movement +more favourable to French interests was in course of formation at the +instigation of Woronzow, who succeeded his rival in office. + +[Illustration: LA CHEVALIERE D’EON + +_From the Painting by Angelica Kaufmann after Latour_] + +D’Eon, whose part in this affair was so active and successful, had, +according to La Messelière, unwittingly saved his own head. At all +events, he had a claim upon Woronzow’s gratitude, and fresh titles to +Elizabeth’s confidence; consequently the idea was mooted of attaching +d’Eon to the service of Russia, and a formal request to that effect was +made by the Marquis de L’Hospital to the Abbé de Bernis. The Minister +for Foreign Affairs and M. Tercier, being at one in this matter, were +not at all opposed to the scheme, suggested, no doubt, by the Czarina +herself, whereby an agent esteemed at the same time by the ministry +and the secret service should be established at her court. D’Eon, +although flattered by this proposal, which he never omitted to mention +in the rough drafts of his memoirs, did not think fit to accept it. +The favour which he enjoyed at Versailles, a career brilliantly opened +in diplomacy, the scope given to his aspirations in the army—all gave +promise of a sufficiently enviable future for him in his own country. +He knew, too, that foreigners seldom attained to high places in Russia. +Fortune was particularly fickle there, and her wheel was more often than +not broken on the road to Siberia. Lastly, his health was beginning to +suffer from the effects of the severe climate; and he did not hesitate +to refuse. “Had I a bastard brother,” he wrote to Tercier, “be assured I +should prevail upon him to accept such an offer, but for myself, who am +legitimate, I should be glad to die like a faithful dog in a ditch in my +native land.” In thanking the Abbé de Bernis, “he begged him to dismiss +him from his memory whenever there was a question of his destiny removing +him entirely from France.” + +The Minister for Foreign Affairs did not insist, and even congratulated +him upon his attachment to his country. At that time, moreover, d’Eon +had other projects in view. He was tired of Russia, where he feared +his energies would be wasted for many years to come, while he aspired +to other spheres of action. He had followed from his distant post the +disastrous campaign of 1757, which ended in the crushing defeat of the +French army at Rosbach. Couriers arriving at the embassy in March +brought no better news. Hanover had just been evacuated, and the Comte +de Clermont’s troops, compelled to quit Westphalia, had to cross the +Rhine again. Everywhere hostilities were being resumed with fresh vigour. +D’Eon, who had been for some time impatiently waiting an opportunity for +making his first campaign, was longing to join his regiment before the +end of the war: “To do so after peace had been declared would,” he said, +“be too great a blow to his honour and his self-esteem.” + +He determined, therefore, to apply (April 14) to the Minister for War +for a captain’s commission. Marshal de Belle-Isle did not refuse him +such rapid promotion. Less than three months afterwards d’Eon received a +commission as captain on half-pay; but he had again to exercise patience +and give up for the moment his warlike plans. + +Circumstances prevented him from leaving St. Petersburg, the King’s +secret diplomacy necessitating his presence near the ambassador on whom +he was constantly to keep watch, and whose actions he had often to +prompt. The Duc de Choiseul, Bernis’ successor as Minister for Foreign +Affairs, had just informed the Marquis de L’Hospital of the treaty, +signed December 30, 1758, which drew Louis XV. and Maria Theresa more +closely together in a policy directed against Prussia. The ambassador’s +task was to obtain Russia’s adhesion to the agreement. He was, besides, +to give the Czarina to understand that her mediation between France and +England would be welcomed by the cabinet of Versailles, who in return +would show less devotion to the interests of Poland. As circumstances +might make the Grand Duchess’s support invaluable, they would be obliged +to pay her greater deference, whereat it was hoped the Empress would not +take umbrage. + +Such double-dealing was not calculated to attract the ambassador, who, +disliking intrigues, would not have been successful and did not take +part in it. He had found favour with Elizabeth, and was particularly +anxious to retain her esteem. His witty conversation, his good manners, +and a liberality which Louis XV. called extravagant, had won for him the +sympathies of the court. If he possessed all the qualities of the man +of high rank whom his government had sought as a worthy representative +of France at a stately court, his age, his infirmities, and a want of +natural energy prevented him from reaping the advantages of an alliance +which he confined himself to maintaining and strengthening as best he +could. He deemed that to be the most important part of his mission, +and relied upon d’Eon, to whom he had become genuinely attached, for +the management of current affairs. So highly did he value his young +secretary’s attainments, and his experience of Russian people and +affairs, that he made it a practice never to come to a decision without +first consulting “his little d’Eon,” whose functions as secret agent were +thus singularly facilitated. Consequently the ambassador did not omit to +communicate to him the instructions he had just received from the Duc de +Choiseul. + +D’Eon was already aware of their purport. But he had learned too, by a +letter from Tercier, that the King would by no means consent to Elizabeth +extending her dominions at the expense of Poland; such an aggrandisement +being calculated to give her a preponderance in Northern Europe which +the offer of mediation would strengthen. On those terms Louis XV. +preferred to continue the war with England. In short, he desired no +change in the attitude which had been adopted towards the Grand Duchess. +D’Eon, without revealing his source of inspiration, pointed out these +considerations to the Marquis de L’Hospital, who contented himself with +negotiating the ratification to the treaty, and awaited more urgent +orders before broaching the other points. These orders soon arrived. +Choiseul, put out of patience by an inaction so inconsistent with the +instructions transmitted, wrote a letter to the ambassador, the intimate +and affectionate character of which alone mitigated the asperity of the +language, and in which he gave him the option of obeying or of applying +for his recall. + +D’Eon renewed his entreaties to the Marquis de L’Hospital, and did all +he could to dissuade him from launching out into intrigues which might +not meet with the King’s approval. So he managed to defer the project for +over a year, and the defeats inflicted upon Frederick by the Russians +made the minister abandon it of his own accord. + +Unable to obtain what he desired from an ambassador whom his friendship +prevented him from reprimanding, Choiseul decided to appoint a colleague +to the marquis, with the title of minister plenipotentiary, and +despatched to St. Petersburg the Baron de Breteuil, a young man enabled +by his talents, his distinguished appearance, and his high rank to +ingratiate himself with the Grand Duchess and the young count. The King +approved this mission officially; but as it was prejudicial to the +interests of his personal policy he resolved to counteract its effects by +admitting the baron to the secret correspondence. Accordingly he signed a +long letter, indited by Tercier, instructing d’Eon to let the new envoy +know the King’s private designs. + +D’Eon’s functions were thus about to become considerably restricted. +After intriguing during five years and acting as intermediary in the +secret correspondence between Louis XV. and Elizabeth, after working at +the negotiations of several treaties, he found his diplomatic career +hindered, and so he again entertained the idea of applying for active +service in the army. He had, moreover, kept up a friendly intercourse +with the superior officers of his regiment, having corresponded on +several occasions with his colonel, the Marquis de Caraman, and his +comrade, Captain de Chambry. He had even been considerate enough to look +for furs for the Duc de Chevreuse, colonel-general of dragoons, who had +acknowledged the delicate attention in a friendly note. + +The historical studies to which he devoted the leisure left him by the +negotiations (the mere titles of which show clearly that he lacked the +sense of proportion in all he did) could not reconcile d’Eon to the kind +of life which he led in Russia. In the month of July, 1760, he lost all +patience, his health being seriously impaired, and he entreated the +Marquis de L’Hospital for permission to return to France: + + Your Excellency is aware that for over eighteen months I have + been more often ill than well. M. Poissonier has seriously + advised me to leave Russia, in order that I may recover my + former strength by breathing my native air. Though I fear + neither death nor physicians, and though I am fully persuaded + that the medical profession has not the privilege of alarming + your secretaries of embassy, yet I feel the approach of a + general collapse, which is more convincing than all the + doctors’ arguments, and warns me not to spend a fifth winter in + Russia.... By gaining still more experience of politics, I may + aspire to follow some better trade than that of a scribe and a + pharisee. + +De L’Hospital did not detain d’Eon any longer, and commissioned him to +convey to Versailles the ratifications to the treaty of 1758 and to the +maritime convention concluded between Russia, Sweden and Denmark. + +D’Eon left St. Petersburg with the fixed determination of never +returning, and carried away with him eulogistic testimonials from +the Marquis de L’Hospital and the Baron de Breteuil, and letters of +recommendation to the Minister for War. The Czarina graciously presented +him with a snuff-box ornamented with diamonds, and upon his taking leave +of Woronzow, the Chancellor said: “I am sorry you are going away, even +though your first journey here, with the Chevalier Douglas, cost my +sovereign more than two hundred thousand men and fifteen million roubles.” + +As on the first occasion, the bearer of excellent news, d’Eon again met +with a warm reception in Paris and at Versailles. The Duc de Choiseul +caused a pension of two thousand livres to be conferred upon him out of +the privy purse, and promised to do something for his career. + +D’Eon, whom the journey had exhausted, had just been attacked by +small-pox, and was obliged to take care of himself and to await until +the spring the realisation of his long-cherished wish. At last, in the +month of February, 1761, he was able to ask the Duc de Choiseul, Minister +for War, “for permission to serve as aide-de-camp to the Marshal and the +Comte de Broglie in the army of the Upper Rhine, and for his transference +to the regiment of d’Autichamp’s dragoons, in the same army, the +colonel-general’s regiment doing duty that year on the coast.” + +The minister was anxious to comply with his request by despatching him +to the army; but this official sanction was insufficient for d’Eon; he +required further the consent of the King. The Comte de Broglie, whose +aide-de-camp he wished to become, and who, in fact, continued to attend +to the business of the secret diplomacy from the army, submitted his +desire to the sovereign, and obtained the following reply:— + + ... I do not think we have need at present of the Sieur d’Eon; + you may, therefore, take him as your aide-de-camp, and it will + be all the better as we shall know where to find him in case of + necessity. + +D’Eon was immediately appointed and started without delay for the army, +where he at once entered active service. At Höxter he was entrusted +with the removal of the ammunition and some of the King’s stores +which had been left in the fortress: these he put on board the boats +moored on the banks of the Weser, and crossed the river several times +under the enemy’s fire. A little later, in an action at Ultrop, near +Löft, he was wounded in the face and thigh. On November 7, 1761, when +commanding the grenadiers of Champagne and the Swiss, he attacked the +Scottish Highlanders, who were ambushed in the mountain gorges close to +the camp of Einbeck, dislodging them and pursuing them as far as the +English quarters. Lastly, at Osterwieck, when in command of a small +detachment of only about a hundred dragoons and hussars, he fearlessly +charged the Frankish Prussian battalion of Rhes, which had intercepted +the communications of the French army near Wolfenbüttel. So sudden was +his attack that the enemy, put to confusion, laid down their arms, +enabling him to take eight hundred prisoners. The Prince Xavier de Saxe +profited by this daring exploit in advancing his troops and occupying +Wolfenbüttel. All these great feats, which d’Eon was wont to recount +complacently, and which he bade his biographer, La Fortelle, relate, are +attested besides by the certificate delivered to him by the Marshal and +the Comte de Broglie on his leaving the army: + + Victor-François, Duc de Broglie, Prince of the Holy Empire, + Marshal of France, Knight of the Royal Orders, Commander in + Alsace, Governor of the town and castle of Béthune, and in + command of the French army on the Upper-Rhine; + + And Charles, Comte de Broglie, Knight of the Royal + Orders, Lieutenant-General of the King’s armies, and + Quartermaster-General of the army of the Upper Rhine. + + We certify that M. d’Eon de Beaumont, captain of the regiment + of dragoons of d’Autichamp, has made the last campaign with + us as our aide-de-camp; that during the whole of the said + campaign we very frequently employed him in carrying the orders + of the general, and that he has, upon several occasions, + given proofs of the greatest intelligence and of the greatest + valour; notably at Höxter, in executing, in presence of, and + under fire of, the enemy the perilous operation of removing + the powder and other stores of the King; at the reconnaissance + and at the battle of Ultrop, where he was wounded in the + head and in the thigh; and near Osterwieck, where, as second + captain of a detachment of eighty dragoons under the orders + of M. de Saint-Victor, commanding the volunteers of the army, + they charged the Frankish Prussian battalion of Rhes with such + effect and determination that they took them prisoners of war, + notwithstanding the superior number of the enemy. + + In testimony whereof, we have delivered to him this + certificate, signed with our hand, and have affixed thereunto + our seals. + + Cassel, December 24, 1761. + + THE MARSHAL DUC DE BROGLIE. + THE COMTE DE BROGLIE. + +The original of this certificate has been lost, but d’Eon published the +text himself in London in 1764, at the time of his quarrels with the +Comte de Guerchy, when the Marshal and the Comte de Broglie were still +alive, so that the accuracy of the testimony cannot well be questioned. + +It was at this time that d’Eon met a man in de Broglie’s army who +exercised later a decisive influence over his destiny, ruining his +regular career, and launching him in a series of adventures, one more +bizarre than another, which involved the ruin of his brilliant qualities, +and the loss, through an extravagant metamorphosis, of his manly dignity. +The Comte de Guerchy, future ambassador of France in England, was then +lieutenant-general in Marshal de Broglie’s army. On August 19, 1761, the +day that the French army crossed the Weser below Höxter, Captain d’Eon +was commissioned by his chief to deliver to him the following order:— + + The Marshal requests the Comte de Guerchy to order the brigades + of infantry on the right bank of the Weser to take at once + 400,000 cartridges which are there, and which a storekeeper of + artillery will distribute to them, to the place to which M. + d’Eon, the bearer of this note, will conduct them. + + Given at Höxter, August 19, 1761. + + THE COMTE DE BROGLIE. + + _P.S._—It is desirable that a staff officer should at once + accompany M. d’Eon to effect this distribution to the troops + under your orders. + +Is it true, as d’Eon asserted later in the libel which he published +in London against the ambassador, that the Comte de Guerchy contented +himself with putting the order in his pocket, saying to d’Eon: “If +you have a supply of ammunition, you have only to remove it to a park +of artillery you will find at half-a-league’s distance,” and that, in +spite of discipline, the young aide-de-camp had to gallop after the +lieutenant-general to recover the order, and to take it upon himself +to carry out the marshal’s instructions? The Comte de Guerchy naturally +took care not to admit the truth of the story, which he treated as a wild +fabrication, and the tardy and interested testimony of so biassed and +insincere a person as d’Eon can only be accepted with extreme caution. + +However that may be, it is interesting to record this first meeting on +the battlefield of two officers who were destined three years later, as +colleagues in the same embassy, to quarrel so violently and to astonish +the whole of Europe by the scandal of their dispute. + +Yet despite his exemplary conduct in the army and the ability he +displayed in discharging the duties of a dragoon on real battlefields +after following in embassies what he called “the trade of a scribe and +pharisee,” d’Eon quitted the service before the month of September 1762, +when the preliminaries of peace were signed. Towards the end of December, +1761, he returned to Paris in compliance with an order from the ministry. +There was some question of sending him back to St. Petersburg, where he +had so successfully made his first diplomatic campaign, and of appointing +him successor to the Baron de Breteuil. Once more he was about to change +his career, by gaining another promotion. He left Cassel, where he +chanced to be with Marshal de Broglie’s staff, taking away with him the +certificate which recorded his brilliant military exploits, and reached +France in the beginning of the year 1762. Hardly had he set out when the +Czarina died, bearing away to her grave d’Eon’s prospects of an embassy. +If, notwithstanding his comparatively inferior rank and origin, he had +seemed in the eyes of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the King +peculiarly qualified for the accomplishment of a confidential mission +to the Empress, who had known him for several years and had frequently +given him proofs of her good-will, the accession of a new sovereign at +St. Petersburg considerably diminished the importance of these particular +reasons, and the impetuous Burgundian was thwarted once again in his +aspirations by the obstacle of caste. + +In fact, instead of sending d’Eon to Russia, where the ministry decided +upon leaving the Baron de Breteuil, they conceived the idea of turning +the young diplomatist’s indefatigable zeal and remarkable talents to +profitable account in the negotiations for peace. The Duc de Choiseul +appointed him secretary to the Duc de Nivernais, selected as the most +subtle and expert arbitrator in the whole of France for the difficult +task of concluding peace with England. + + + + +III + +IN LONDON + + +If the conclusion of peace with England presented difficulties, the +choice of the arbitrator was an excellent one. The Duc de Nivernais met +with a thoroughly good reception in English society, which was able to +appreciate the qualities of a true nobleman, and recognised them in the +person of the new French ambassador. The son of the Duc de Nevers and of +a princess of the Spinola family, he had married Hélène de Pontchartrain. +To the influence which his birth and his alliance gave him he had been +able to add the intimate friendship of Madame de Pompadour, gained by +organising those dramatic entertainments at Versailles by means of which +the favourite succeeded in retaining the King’s interest. In the numerous +notes which she sent him the marquise hardly ever omitted to call him “my +dear little husband”; nicknames had been brought into fashion by the King +himself, and this one serves to show on what an intimate footing the duke +was treated at the palace. He had talents, however, more genuine and more +rare than the qualities necessary to a good courtier. + +As ambassador to the Holy See in 1748, at the time that the _Unigenitus_ +bull was promulgated, he succeeded at once in astonishing the Romans +by the splendour of his retinue, and in gaining the confidence of Pope +Benedict XIV. by the ability of his diplomacy. Sent afterwards to +Berlin, he managed to captivate Frederick, but unfortunately too late +to detach Prussia from the English alliance, an understanding secretly +arrived at. The failure of his mission was due entirely to the tardiness +and hesitation of the King’s government. For this reason nobody blamed +him for it, and the general opinion was that he was the man most likely +to obtain the least stringent terms for a treaty which had become +indispensable to France. An accomplished nobleman and able negotiator, +a witty talker and charming writer, as well as a good horseman and +musician, he was at home in every society. No one then had a better +chance of reconciling two nations which pride themselves equally on being +judges of good breeding, and the English gave him a warm reception, +Horace Walpole going so far as to say that France had sent them the best +she had to offer. + +Nivernais had been selected as the most able ambassador, and d’Eon was +appointed to assist him as the cleverest and best-informed secretary. + +Having already taken part, on several occasions, in extremely delicate +and important transactions, he was likely to be an invaluable adviser +for his chief and to develop in his ingenious mind many an expedient +for the negotiation. They embarked at Calais together on September 11, +1762, and reached London as soon as the 14th, thanks to the swift horses +of the Duke of Bedford. If the English seemed eager to receive the +ambassador of France, they were not in so great a hurry to proceed with +the negotiations for peace. The Opposition, which desired to continue +the war, were on the watch for an opportunity for breaking them off and +for upsetting Lord Bute’s ministry. The news of the taking of Havana, +which was received in London on October 1, turned everyone’s head, and +the King and the cabinet became more exacting under pressure of public +opinion, demanding Florida, which France had still, under difficulties, +to obtain from Spain. “That wretched Havana, my little husband,” wrote +Madame de Pompadour to the Duc de Nivernais, “I am alarmed about it.” It +was important that the preliminaries of peace should be signed before the +opening of Parliament, the Opposition being intent upon overthrowing the +ministry, and resuming hostilities. Nivernais was afraid, besides, that +another British naval victory would make the terms of the treaty still +less favourable: “I fear now,” he wrote to Choiseul, “that Lisbon will be +taken before that confounded signature.” + +Lisbon was not taken, for on November 5 Choiseul was able to inform +Nivernais that the preliminaries of peace had just been signed at +Fontainebleau, adding, with self-complacency somewhat irritating for +the ambassador, whose task in London had proved less profitable, that +he had been raised on that occasion to the peerage, with the title of +Duc de Praslin. A large share of the success of this first agreement, +which, notwithstanding all that it cost France, was regarded at the +French court as highly advantageous, was due indeed to the mission of the +Duc de Nivernais. Are we to believe that in order to induce the English +ministers to conclude peace, in spite of the Opposition, the French +ambassador was obliged to bribe them, as was boldly asserted in London +some years later, at the time of the action for libel brought against Dr. +Musgrave? It would not have been in the least improbable, for it is known +that more than once during the long struggle which fills the history +of the eighteenth century, England and France endeavoured to bribe one +another. At all events d’Eon relates how he succeeded one day, at the Duc +de Nivernais’ house, in alluring Mr. Wood, Under Secretary of State, by +the offer of some good wine from Tonnerre, and how he took copies, while +this latter was drinking copiously, of the papers he had brought in his +portfolio. Among these there happened to be the ultimatum about to be +transmitted to the Duke of Bedford, the British ambassador at the court +of Versailles. Thanks to this impudent trick, Choiseul, already apprised +of all the difficulties about to be raised, was enabled to come to terms +with the Duke of Bedford, expeditiously and without taking any risks. +This amusing story was given considerable publicity throughout France, +and the papers of the Opposition soon published it in England, taking +advantage of it to heckle the cabinet. + +The preliminaries signed, there was nothing more for the two governments +to do but to come to an agreement on certain minor points and the actual +wording of the treaty. This task, somewhat ungrateful and difficult on +account of Choiseul’s anxiety about recovering some of the concessions +he had made in his great haste to negotiate before the opening of +Parliament, kept Nivernais and d’Eon occupied for three more months; +the definite treaty being signed only on February 10. This disastrous +peace, which cost France a fine colonial empire full of still finer +possibilities, was welcomed there with transports of joy, while in +England it raised genuine reprobation. D’Eon was too ambitious not to +turn to good account the transactions in which he had taken part. Two +personal experiences had taught him that it was always profitable to +bear good news to the court, and that the King showed his pleasure +on such occasions by granting favours to the messenger. He had won +a lieutenancy in the dragoons by bringing to Versailles the Empress +Elizabeth’s ratification to the Treaty of Versailles, and three years +later a life-pension of two thousand livres by discharging a similar +commission. The new treaty which had been so earnestly desired and so +well received in France should evidently obtain from him still greater +advantages, only he must reach the King himself, not surreptitiously, +as the agent of the secret correspondence, but before the whole court, +as the accredited secretary of an official embassy. D’Eon, who thought +nothing was impossible, urged his chief to request the British Government +to grant him the favour of conveying the ratifications to the treaty to +Versailles. Such a selection on the part of a foreign government for +a mission regarded as highly honorific was unprecedented and contrary +to all usage. Nevertheless, the ambassador consented to make the +application, however irregular, although the Duc de Praslin considered it +to be doomed to failure. The Minister for Foreign Affairs put Nivernais +on his guard, assuring him that the court of St. James’ would certainly +not entrust such a mission to a French secretary. It would appear +also that the minister, out of patience at the aspirations with which +premature successes had inspired d’Eon, was anxious to put him in his +place. “He is young,” he wrote, “and has still time enough to be of good +service and to earn distinction. I take an interest in his welfare and +will gladly put him in the way of gaining advance by time and work.” + +In spite of de Praslin’s sceptical conjectures, the Duc de Nivernais +obtained for “his little d’Eon” the difficult favour he had requested. +This success was a clearer indication of Nivernais’ great influence at +the court of St. James’ than any testimonial; and the ambassador did not +omit to banter the minister on his incredulity: + + I am very glad you were stupid enough to believe it impossible + that the French secretary—my little d’Eon—should be the bearer + of the King of England’s ratifications. The fact is, you did + not fully realise the great kindness and esteem which your + ambassador enjoys here, and it is just as well that you have + done so, for otherwise you would be capable of despising me all + your life, while now you will doubtless have some regard for me. + +D’Eon reached Paris on February 26, as bearer of the ratifications. +Praslin did not fail to remark that he had made “great haste,” but, +without grudging him his success, exerted himself in his behalf. On March +1, he informed Nivernais that the Cross of Saint Louis and a gratuity +were to be conferred upon his little d’Eon by the King: “I think he +will be satisfied,” he added; “as for me, I am delighted, for he is a +handsome young fellow and a hard worker, and I am his well-wisher.” D’Eon +met with a warm reception at court, and took good care not to forget +the commissions with which his chiefs had charged him. He gave Madame +de Pompadour news of the wretched health of her “little husband,” and +delivered to her some purses from England which she pronounced to be very +ugly and “coarse as ropes.” The favourite thought d’Eon was “an excellent +person,” and considered it “a great act of politeness on the part of +the English to entrust him with the treaty.” Congratulating Nivernais +upon having terminated his work, she urged him to return and “repair his +health by the good air of France.” + +As the Duc de Nivernais had accomplished to his master’s satisfaction the +delicate and difficult negotiation for which he had been sent to London, +the Duc de Praslin could not think of prolonging an embassy from which +his friend had reaped every advantage and honour, and which was hardly +better than an honourable exile for that wealthy and literary nobleman. +The choice of a successor had, moreover, preoccupied Nivernais himself +for several months. He had thought of his friend, the Comte de Guerchy, +lieutenant-general of the King’s armies, who had earned distinction in +the Seven Years’ War, and enjoyed a great reputation for courage at +Versailles. A fearless soldier, Guerchy had never been afforded the +opportunity of proving himself a diplomat, and even his friends doubted +his qualifications for that career. Such was the opinion of de Praslin, +who replied, on January 8, 1763, to the proposals which the Duc de +Nivernais had just made: + + I am still much concerned about Guerchy. I am not sure, + however, that we are doing him a good service by appointing + him ambassador in London.... I dread his despatches like fire, + and you know how defective despatches injure a man and his + work. A minister is often judged less by the manner in which he + conducts business than by the account he gives of it.... But + he cannot write at all; we must not deceive ourselves on this + point. + +Nevertheless, Guerchy was named for the post—first, because it was +not deemed desirable that Nivernais’ candidate should be rejected—the +ambassador being in high favour at Versailles—secondly, because Praslin, +in spite of his too just opinion of Guerchy’s merits, was glad to oblige +two of his intimate friends at the same time. On February 16, 1763, the +Duc de Nivernais was apprised of this selection in London. It was settled +that d’Eon should remain at the embassy for the purpose of assisting his +new chief, and wielding the pen in his stead. In the interim he was even +left in charge, and, upon Nivernais’ earnest recommendation, Praslin +agreed to give him the title of Resident Minister. D’Eon was still in +France when Nivernais recalled him to London to commit the embassy to +his care. He was somewhat long in complying with his chief’s order, and +even gave out that he was ill. In reality, the intrigues of the secret +diplomacy were detaining him in Paris. + +The Comte de Broglie was at that time an exile in his estates in +Normandy. He had been involved in the disgrace of his brother, the +marshal, to whom the Marquise de Pompadour, notwithstanding facts and +the force of public opinion, had attributed the responsibilities really +incurred by Soubise during the Seven Years’ War. Louis XV., unable to +oppose the favourite openly, but unwilling to be deprived of his secret +minister’s services, resigned himself to transferring the headquarters +of his private diplomacy to the Château de Broglie. It was during this +temporary seclusion that the Comte de Broglie matured a plan for the +invasion of England which had been formed a long time before, but the +recent hostilities had prevented its execution. If the conclusion of +peace put back the opportunity for doing so, it allowed, at least, of the +conditions and means likely to lead to a successful issue being studied +on the spot. The King and the minister understood better than the nation +the fatal terms of the Treaty of Versailles, and were anxious to prepare +themselves quickly for counteracting its effects. Accordingly Louis XV. +examined with interest the plan submitted to him, and sent it back to +Tercier with his approval. It was at this latter’s house that d’Eon and +the Comte de Broglie, who was passing through Paris at the time, met for +the purpose of organising this perilous mission. D’Eon’s position in +London and his experience of intrigues of this description enabled him to +conduct the researches, and a colleague was given to him—his cousin, the +Sieur d’Eon de Mouloize, who should take charge of the documents in the +event of the discovery of the scheme. As for the technical part, it was +to be entrusted to an engineer, Carrelet de la Rozière. Lastly, the basis +of a cypher to be employed in the affair was arranged. The King gave his +instructions himself: + + The Chevalier d’Eon will receive through the Comte de Broglie + or M. Tercier my orders on the surveys to be made in England, + whether on the coast or in the interior of the country, and he + will comply with the instructions he will receive to that end, + as if he received them direct from me. It is my desire that he + shall observe the greatest secrecy in this affair, and that he + shall not make any communications thereon to any living person, + not even to my ministers wheresoever they may be. + +These instructions were precisely stated and commented upon by the Comte +de Broglie in a letter which he sent, on May 7, 1763, to the Chevalier +d’Eon in London. He recommended him to observe the utmost prudence in his +conduct, apprising him that the Comte de Guerchy’s suspicious character +would render his secret mission extremely difficult, and urged him to +take every conceivable precaution for the safety of the papers connected +with the correspondence. The Count appointed him tutor to M. de la +Rozière, adding: “He is a somewhat wild pupil, but you will be pleased +with him.” In conclusion he congratulated himself upon having d’Eon as +“lieutenant in so important an affair, which may contribute to the safety +and even to the prosperity of the nation,” and thanked him for the zeal +and devotion which he had never ceased to show to the Marshal de Broglie +and to himself. + +D’Eon’s attachment to the exiled de Broglies had awakened the suspicions +of the Duc de Praslin, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs did not +hesitate to subject the young representative of the King at the court +of St. James’ to a regular interrogatory, in the presence of his senior +clerk, Sainte-Foy, and the Comte de Guerchy. He began by abruptly asking +him to give an account of the battle of Villinghausen, at which he +was present while serving in the dragoons. D’Eon did not require much +pressing, and boldly laid to the charge of Soubise all the blunders +officially imputed to the Duc de Broglie. Praslin, who was striding +impatiently up and down the room, suddenly interrupted him, exclaiming: +“I know it to have been just the opposite of what you say, and this from +one of my intimate friends who was also there.” And he turned to the +Comte de Guerchy. “But, my dear d’Eon, you surely did not witness all you +tell me.” + +“The minister pulled a long face,” d’Eon relates, “and gave a sardonic +smile, for I persisted in assuring him, as I shall do to the end of my +days, that I had indeed seen and heard what I had told him.” The duke +concluded by saying: “It is your attachment to the Broglies that makes +you speak as you do.” “Faith, sir,” d’Eon replied, “it is my attachment +to the truth. You question me, and I can only tell you what I myself +know.” + +Upon leaving the minister, Sainte-Foy rebuked d’Eon and advised him not +to remain “in a country where he would never make his fortune, but to +return to England.” + +Another attempt to discover d’Eon’s real sentiments towards the Broglie +party was made—more discreetly this time—by the Duchesse de Nivernais, +who, chancing one day to be alone with him, asked if he was not in +correspondence with M. de Broglie. “No, madam,” replied d’Eon, “and I am +sorry for it, as I am very fond of Marshal de Broglie, but I do not wish +to weary him with my letters; I am satisfied with writing to him on New +Year’s Day.” “I am very glad to hear this for your sake, my dear little +friend,” continued the duchess. “Let me tell you in confidence that +intimacy with the House of Broglie might be of injury to you at court, +and in the estimation of Guerchy, your future ambassador.” + +D’Eon had barely arrived in London, where the Duc de Nivernais, longing +for departure, was impatiently awaiting him, when he was invested “in +the prescribed forms” with the Cross of the Order of Saint Louis by +his chief, at his own request. He had brought with him presents from +the King to the Sardinian minister, one of the negotiators of the +peace. Count Viry accepted “his Majesty’s favours with great pleasure +and gratitude.” The presents consisted of the King’s portrait set in +diamonds, accompanied by an autograph letter, a Gobelin tapestry, and a +Savonnerie carpet. The first idea of the happy recipient of these gifts +was to go to the Prime Minister, Lord Bute, and show them to him. The +latter, Nivernais relates, “took them at once to the King of England, who +considered they were magnificent and the letter charming.” + +On May 4, the Duc de Nivernais was received in a farewell audience by +George III., and two weeks later he set out for France, tired of London +fogs, and happy to be again at Versailles, and at the Academy, and on his +beautiful estate at St. Maur. + +D’Eon became his own master in London, and began immediately to play the +part and to lead the life of an ambassador. He kept open house, and among +his visitors there were de Fleury, the Chevalier Carrion, a friend of the +Duc de Nivernais, “a deputation of the Academy of Sciences which was to +go to the Equator for the purpose of measuring the terrestrial meridian,” +scholars and men of letters, among them Duclos, Le Camus, Lalande, and La +Condamine. The Comtesse de Boufflers, who had captivated the Prince de +Conti and the frequenters of the Hôtel du Temple by her wit and elegance, +did not disdain, when on a visit to London, to do the honours of the +embassy, as the following note testifies:— + + Madame de Boufflers and Lady Mary Coke will come to dine with + M. d’Eon on Monday if that suits him, and will bring Lady + Susannah Stuart. Madame de Boufflers will, perhaps, avail + herself of M. d’Eon’s offer by bringing two other friends of + hers if they have returned to town, which she, however, thinks + unlikely. She presents her compliments to M. d’Eon, and begs + to say that she will help him to do the honours of the dinner + to the ladies, both as a fellow-countrywoman and as one quite + ready to be counted among his friends. + + She has to inform M. d’Eon that Lord Holderness has returned, + and that he therefore should be invited. + +Thanks to the Duc de Nivernais, who did not consider himself quits with +him, and was still exerting himself on his behalf in France, he received +letters in July accrediting him minister plenipotentiary to the King of +England. + +Fortune and distinctions had come apace to “little d’Eon.” In less than +two years he had risen from the post of secretary of embassy to that of +Louis XV.’s representative to his Britannic Majesty, and had exchanged +the title and uniform of a captain of dragoons for the position of a +minister plenipotentiary. The obscure gentleman of Tonnerre could +henceforth entertain on an equal footing the ambassadors of the highest +rank and the great dignitaries of the court of St. James’. He took care +not to miss the opportunity, and on August 25, St. Louis’ day, he gave +a gala dinner, at which Lord Hertford, Lord March, David Hume, and the +whole diplomatic corps were present. So sudden a success intoxicated him. +But everything was extraordinary in the career of this young man of quite +mediocre extraction, who, employed occasionally in secret diplomacy, was +afterwards received into the regular service by favour; rewarded for his +services by a lieutenancy of dragoons, and who, when barely thirty-six, +was representing the King of France at the most magnificent court of +Europe, after that of Versailles, and carrying on the mission of the Duc +de Nivernais, a peer of the realm. D’Eon did not realise how surprising +this rapid ascent through the most rigid aristocracy and the most +exclusive classes appeared to the onlookers, nor how scandalous to his +rivals. It was more in keeping with his character to abuse his advantages +than to preserve them. His survey of the ground that had been covered, +the remembrance of innumerable obstacles he had surmounted, far from +teaching him prudence, only increased his presumption. He did not believe +he was at the zenith of his fortune, but merely at the outset. His head +was turned, although, anticipating reproaches, he denied it. He wished to +access himself in the eyes of the English, his countrymen, his minister, +and even of his King. + +He continued to assume the position of ambassador until they should +decide to confer the title upon him, and so raise him to the same +rank as the premier lords of France. But if his determination never +waned, if the resources of his active mind never diminished throughout +this wild enterprise, his money was rapidly dwindling away. The +almoner, the equerry, the five cooks and butlers, the four footmen, the +porter, the two coachmen, the two grooms, and others, who formed his +household, had to be paid, and, as his emoluments were insufficient +for the purpose, d’Eon was obliged to apply to the Duc de Praslin for +additional subsidies. He did so with admirably feigned moderation +and disinterestedness, explaining that the appointment of minister +plenipotentiary, for which he had never asked, compelled him, much +against his will, to wear a few decent clothes and a little lace: + + The appointment of minister plenipotentiary, for which I never + asked, has certainly not turned my head, thanks to a little + philosophy; it has only involved me in heavier expenses, as the + enclosed account testifies. When I was secretary of embassy I + went about plainly dressed in my uniform and cambric cuffs; + now, much against my will, I must wear a few decent clothes and + a little lace. If the King’s affairs are in a bad state, mine + are going from bad to worse. Your kindness and your sense of + justice will not suffer this. Soon I shall complete ten years’ + service as a diplomatist, without having become richer or more + proud. Many promises have been made to me, but promises and + promisers have vanished. Till now I have sown much and reaped + little. When the happy time comes for my release from politics, + I shall be obliged to abscond and become bankrupt, unless you + are humane enough to help me with some additional donation. + The more zealously and courageously I work, the poorer I + become: my youth is passing away, and I have nothing left + but bad health, which is growing worse every day, and debts + to the amount of over twenty thousand livres. These various + little debts have been worrying me for so long that my mental + capacities are completely absorbed and are no longer free, + as I should wish, to serve the King’s interests. The time of + reckoning appearing to be imminent, I entreat you to decide + upon my present and future prospects, and upon the favours I am + to expect from your sense of justice and kind-heartedness.... + +The Duc de Praslin was all the less inclined to grant the request as he +had received at the same time serious complaints against d’Eon from the +Comte de Guerchy. Not satisfied with incurring debts, the Chevalier had +already spent a part of the future ambassador’s stipend. He regarded +these emoluments as his own, for he would not admit that after being +in the first rank he was once more in a subordinate position, that “he +should descend from peer to peasant.” He persisted with Burgundian +tenacity in his fanciful dream of gaining the title as well as the +functions of ambassador, and of succeeding his former chief, Nivernais, +in London. In spite of the warnings which he received from every quarter, +and of the counsels of moderation which his best-informed and most +devoted patrons, Sainte-Foy, the chief secretary of the Foreign Office, +and the Duc de Nivernais himself, continually urged upon him, he would +not yield and ended by receiving a well-deserved reproof from the Duc de +Praslin: + + I could never have believed that the title of minister + plenipotentiary would cause you so quickly to forget the + point whence you started, and I had no reason to expect that + your aspirations would increase in proportion as you received + new favours. In the first place, I gave you no ground for + anticipating the reimbursement of your former journey to + Russia, because three of my predecessors upon whom you made a + similar demand had not, it appeared, found it legitimate. In + the second place, you complain to me of empty promises having + been made, but surely such has not been my way of dealing with + you. Remember that I received you at Vienna when I had no + reason for obliging you, for you were a perfect stranger to + me. Upon your arrival you were ill, and I looked after you. + When you left me you were uncertain as to your prospects here, + and it was I who obtained the pension which was conferred + upon you. Two years afterwards, being without employment, you + applied to me, and I gave you the most suitable post and the + most favourable opportunity for rising to notice. Lastly, when + you brought the ratification of the treaty with England to + us, the expenses of your journey were paid, and his Majesty + rewarded you as if you had made ten campaigns in the field. If + you are not yet satisfied, I shall be obliged to discontinue + employing you, for fear of being unable to recompense your + services adequately. But I prefer to believe you will feel + the truth of my statements, and put your trust in future + rather in my good will than in such groundless claims. I + must not forget to mention that I have not noticed that the + character of plenipotentiary involved M. de Neuville in any + expenses here; his style of living is the same as when he was + in the service of the Duke of Bedford. I cannot conceive the + necessity for this extraordinary outlay at the expense of + the Comte de Guerchy, which is quite out of place. I do not + conceal from you my displeasure at your having involved in so + great expenditure one in whom I take such an interest, and + who trusted in you on my recommendation. I hope that you will + be more circumspect in your demands for the future, and more + sparing in your use of other people’s money, and that you will + endeavour to be as useful to him as you have been to the Duc de + Nivernais. + +The Duc de Praslin was singularly mistaken if he expected to have the +last word with his impetuous correspondent. D’Eon, far from giving in, +was exasperated by such sensible advice, and, giving full vent to his +ill-humour, replied the same day: + + As soon as I learned, Monsieur le Duc, that the title of + minister plenipotentiary was to be conferred upon me against my + will, I had the honour of writing to the Duc de Nivernais that + I regarded the title rather as a misfortune than as a boon. + + The point whence I started, when very young, was my native + town, Tonnerre, where I possess a small property and a house + fully six times as large as that occupied in London by the + Duc de Nivernais. The point whence I started in 1756 was the + Hôtel d’Ons-en-Bray, Rue de Bourbon, Faubourg St. Germain. + I am the friend of the owner of that mansion, which I left + against his will to make three journeys to Russia and to other + courts in Europe, to join the army, to come to England, and to + bring four or five treaties to Versailles, not as courier, but + as a man who had contributed to the framing of them. I have + frequently travelled when very ill, and once with a broken + leg. Nevertheless, I am prepared to return to the place whence + I started, if such be my fate. I shall recover my former + happiness there. The points whence I started are those of being + a gentleman, a soldier, and a secretary of Embassy—all of them + naturally leading to the position of a minister at foreign + courts. The first gives a claim to it; the second confirms the + idea and endues with the necessary firmness for such a post; + but the third is the school for it.... + + If a marquis had accomplished one-half the things which I have + accomplished in ten years, he would ask no less than the title + of duke or of marshal. As for me, my aspirations are so modest + that I ask to be nothing at all here, not even secretary of + Embassy. + +D’Eon, who felt excited that day, and courted disgrace for the pleasure +of indulging in witticisms, was not yet satisfied. By the same post he +sent similar impertinencies to the Comte de Guerchy, who had not ceased +exhorting him to be more circumspect in his behaviour: + + ... I take the liberty of observing to you on the character + which chance has given me, that Solomon said, a long time + ago, everything here below was vanity, opportunity, mere + accident, happiness, and misfortune, and that I am more + than ever persuaded Solomon was a great preacher. I will + modestly add that the chance which gave the title of minister + plenipotentiary to a man who has negotiated successfully during + the last ten years was perhaps not one of the blindest. What + has come to me by chance might come to another by good luck.... + + A man, no matter who, can only form an estimate of himself by + comparison with one or many men. There are several proverbs + which serve to prove the truth of this. It is commonly said: + _He is as stupid as any thousand—he is as wicked as any four—he + is as mean as any ten—men_. This is the only scale by which + we can be guided except in certain cases where men measure + themselves by women. An ambassador, no matter who, may be + worth half a man, a whole man, twenty, or ten thousand men. + The question is to determine how a minister plenipotentiary, + who is a captain of dragoons, and has completed ten political + campaigns (without counting campaigns in the field), stands + relatively to an ambassador who is a lieutenant-general, and is + making his début.... + + I have already had the honour, sir, of thanking you sincerely + for all your kind offers of assistance. As to my prospects, I + frankly confess I am a second edition of Sister Anne in Blue + Beard, who was always watching but saw nothing coming, and this + often induces me to sing that beautiful song: + + _Belle Philis, en désespère_ + _Alors qu’on espère toujours._ + + + + +IV + +CONTENTION WITH DE GUERCHY + + +In his letter to the Duc de Praslin d’Eon called to mind “the point +whence he started,” and only found cause to pride himself on his success. + +This was a fair estimate of himself, though not a very modest one; but +it showed little knowledge of his time. Having obtained when still quite +young a rank and distinction which, to a man of his birth, should have +appeared an unlooked-for consummation of his whole career, he could +neither rest satisfied nor even equip himself with patience. Above all +he could not resign himself to being put back. After contributing to +an important negotiation as secretary to an enlightened and brilliant +ambassador, whose tradition and bearing he had striven to maintain as +minister plenipotentiary, he found himself compelled to act again as +secretary under the orders of a chief new to diplomacy, wanting in ideas +and resources, and bent on reaping the advantages of a fat living from +his embassy. + +Short of money, and irritated by the recriminations which the expenses of +his temporary administration had obtained for him, d’Eon angrily awaited +his ambassador. + +The Comte de Guerchy arrived on October 17. “He received me with +hypocritical politeness,” d’Eon relates, “and asked me in a wheedling +tone if I did not regret having sent him my letter of September 25. I +replied quietly: ‘No, sir; my letter was perhaps a somewhat sharp, but a +fair, rejoinder to your attack of September 4, and were you to address to +me such another letter, I should be obliged to send you a similar reply.’ +‘Come, come, my dear M. d’Eon,’ he retorted. ‘I see you are rather a +quarrelsome person.’ Thereupon he drew from his pocket my letters of +recall, which he handed to me with a grieved air, expressing his regret +and assuring me once more of his friendship and attachment. I answered +him only with a look ... and bowing distantly I withdrew, taking with me +that official document of my disgrace.” + +If d’Eon was as successful as he relates in concealing his mortification +and in maintaining his composure, which was hardly his wont, the Duc de +Praslin’s letter must have roused bitter reflections. Not only was he +recalled to Paris, but he was forbidden to appear at court. This meant +utter disgrace, exile and a severe check, if not an end, to his career. +Too irritated to give way to despondency, and still hoping that Louis +XV. would intervene on behalf of his secret agent, he determined upon +awaiting events and deferring his departure as long as possible. His +imagination, which was never at a loss for an expedient, supplied him +with a complete plan of resistance in the scandalous contest which he did +not hesitate to wage against the orders of his ambassador, the Minister +for Foreign Affairs, and the King. The next day, upon delivering the +papers of the embassy to de Guerchy, d’Eon informed him that he was not +in the least hurry to obtain his audiences of leave. Being accredited +by letters bearing the King’s signature, he could only be recalled, he +contended, by an act in the same form. Regarding, therefore, as null and +void the letters of recall which he had received, and which were signed +with the stamp alone, he declared his intention of awaiting “further +orders from his court.” + +De Guerchy pointed out to him in violent language the extreme impropriety +of his behaviour, and the consequences to which it exposed him; then, +growing gradually more and more heated, he told him—according to +d’Eon—that “he should soon get the mastery over his obstinacy, and that, +moreover, his ruin was already decided upon.” + +With a view to putting an end to an equivocal situation and depriving +d’Eon of every means of resistance, Guerchy went so far as to ask the +court of St. James’ to hasten the audiences of leave of his embarrassing +colleague. D’Eon allowed the step to be taken, but was most opportunely +hindered from proceeding to the palace on the appointed day. All these +chicaneries exasperated him and made him completely lose his presence of +mind. A single incident was enough to make the dispute public, and to +give this diplomatic intrigue an unexpected notoriety. + +A Frenchman, the Sieur Treyssac de Vergy, arrived during the month of +September. Advocate of the Bordeaux Parliament, he gave himself out to +be a man of letters, made a parade of his grand acquaintances, and even +boasted of having come to England with the promise of being appointed +minister plenipotentiary in place of d’Eon. Upon calling at the embassy, +he was somewhat harshly dismissed by d’Eon himself, who gave him to +understand that he would not be received unless he brought with him the +letters of introduction of which he had made mention. De Vergy protested, +asserting that he was on intimate terms with the Comte de Guerchy; +nevertheless, he promised to produce the recommendations required of him. +D’Eon had not seen this strange visitor again, but had received extremely +unfavourable reports concerning him from Paris. He was described as +being a mere adventurer, over head and ears in debt, and of doubtful +reputation, who imposed upon people under an assumed name. Consequently, +the Chevalier was greatly surprised to meet de Vergy, with whom de +Guerchy was, or pretended to be, unacquainted, at a reception given by +the ambassador soon after his arrival. He showed his astonishment at +seeing him at the embassy without an invitation, and during the course +of a somewhat heated altercation “insulted him, and challenged him to +a duel on foot or on horseback,” and was only calmed at de Guerchy’s +intervention. + +On the following day d’Eon happened to be dining at Lord Halifax’s, in +the company of Lord Sandwich and the Comte de Guerchy. He was too excited +by the events of the previous day to maintain his composure, even before +the English ministers, and the ambassador’s presence only served to +aggravate him the more. He thought it a good opportunity for declaring +that he would not leave England before being recalled in a regular +manner, and that, besides, he could not, in any case, dream of taking +his departure before settling an affair of honour. The affair of honour +in question was the quarrel of the previous day, which he complacently +related to his hosts, informing them that he expected a visit from de +Vergy on the morrow, that he should accept his challenge, and kill +his adversary. When the English ministers reproached him with causing +a scandal, and reminded him of the duties attached to his official +position, he replied that “if he was a minister plenipotentiary he was +above all a dragoon.” “Well, then,” retorted Lord Halifax, “were you even +the Duke of Bedford himself, I should have to give you in charge of the +guards.” “I have not the honour of being the Duke of Bedford; I am M. +d’Eon, and have no need of any escort.” + +He was so heated that Guerchy joined Lord Halifax in making every effort +to calm him. D’Eon heeded neither entreaties nor threats and, pleading +an engagement at his club, attempted to make his escape. Thereupon the +minister ordered the passage to be barred, and d’Eon, beside himself +with rage, exclaimed that he never could have believed it possible for +a minister plenipotentiary to be kept a prisoner, in the presence of +his ambassador, at the residence of a secretary of state. The scene was +becoming tragi-comic. Lord Halifax and de Guerchy felt that they must put +an end to it, so as to avoid a far greater scandal than the one they had +tried to prevent. They began again to argue with d’Eon, who gradually +grew calmer, and finally consented to sign a paper whereby he gave his +word of honour to the Earls of Sandwich and Halifax not to fight M. de +Vergy, and “not to insult him in any way, without previously informing +the said earls of his intention.” + +D’Eon made a copy of his engagement and caused Lord Halifax, Lord +Sandwich and the Comte de Guerchy to sign it. + +This extraordinary scandal, brought about quite as much by the +ambassador’s tactlessness as by the very undiplomatic excitement of his +impetuous minister plenipotentiary, had its sequel the next day. D’Eon +himself has written an account of it too graphic to be omitted. + +“The affair passed without a blow being struck. My position was far more +difficult than his, for I had promised not to molest him, and I could +not foresee that the brave Vergy was the man to take alarm at my every +movement. But when I secured the door, intending to detain him until the +ambassador’s servants for whom I had sent arrived, he at once began to +rush round the room, crying, ‘Do not touch me, do not touch me!’ ‘What!’ +I replied, smiling, ‘you come to me in fighting trim, and are afraid +lest I should touch you!’ A few dragoon-like expletives interlarded in +this speech led him to mistake the window for the door; and noticing his +pallor and his action, I said: ‘If you jump, I will push you; but take +care, for you will find a moat and pikes below.’ This remark sufficed to +stop him. + +“Then, handing a paper to him, I said: ‘I require you to read this +note and sign it in duplicate.’ He ran through it so hastily that on +returning it to me he asked for a delay of three weeks in order that he +might receive letters from Paris. ‘If your mind was not so confused,’ +I replied, ‘you would see that I give you a month.’ And taking him by +the arm, I led him to my bedroom, where my writing-table stands. Upon +entering he cried out: ‘Do not kill me!’ I did not know what to make +of this exclamation, when suddenly I saw de Vergy’s eyes fixed on my +Turkish sabre and my cavalry pistols, which I had brought back from the +war in Germany. I then understood the cause of his excessive alarm, and +at once laid one of the pistols on the floor, putting my foot on it lest +it should bite the so-called de Vergy. ‘You see I am not going to hurt +you or even to come near you,’ I said. ‘Now, sign with a good grace.’ +Thereupon he resigned himself gallantly to signing the note in duplicate, +and—I think it necessary to add—he did so with his hat under his arm and +one knee on the floor. He did not see fit to take a copy of the note, +although I suggested that he should do so; he was in too great a hurry to +reach the door.” + +Vergy made straight for a justice of the peace, to whom he gave a +dramatic account of what had just passed, and obtained a summons against +d’Eon. The Chevalier, who still enjoyed diplomatic immunity, did not +think fit to reply. Besides, he was far too preoccupied by his disputes +with his ambassador, which were daily growing more serious. He accused +de Guerchy of an attempt to poison him, declaring that on October 28, +when he dined at the embassy for the last time, Chazal, the butler, +had mixed with a certain brand of wine from Tonnerre, to which he was +known to be partial, so strong a dose of opium “that he all but fell +into a lethargy,” and was obliged to keep his room for several days. The +following day the ambassador, accompanied by two of his secretaries, +came to inquire after his health, and d’Eon imagined that de Guerchy +wished to acquaint himself with the plan of his apartments, with a view +to discovering the hiding-place of the secret papers. Upon his visitor +being announced, he even hastened to the room of his cousin, d’Eon de +Mouloize, and asked his secretary to come—“in order,” as he said, “to +prevent a sudden attack.” He kept telling his friends of all these +persecutions, and assured them he was constantly watched. His servant, +having to put a new lock on the door of his lodging, naturally sent for +the nearest locksmith, who happened to be the locksmith of the embassy. +D’Eon then thought that he was at the mercy of the Comte de Guerchy, +apprehending an attack upon his person, and the immediate seizure of +his papers. Accordingly, driven to distraction and no longer able to +contain himself, he discharged his servant, and convoked his faithful +comrades to a secret meeting, at which it was resolved that he should +move immediately. D’Eon, who was never prevented by any circumstance from +indulging his mania for writing, has left us a kind of official report +of the proceedings, which well depicts his state of mind: “The Council +of Three,” he writes, “after discussing at some length the question of a +change of lodgings, has decided that the furniture and clothes shall be +conveyed to-morrow morning on a barrow, because everything can be removed +in two or three journeys.... All these batteries are ready to be unmasked +in case of need, and the garrison is fully determined, in the event of a +capitulation, to leave the fortress, with drums beating, torches alight, +and all the honours of war—_et operibus eorum cognoscetis eos_.” + +D’Eon was not obliged to adopt the war-like proceedings with which he +threatened his ambassador. He took up his residence in the house of +Carrelet de la Rozière, his kinsman, and his colleague in the secret +mission with which he was entrusted, bringing with him arms and baggage; +and then, still suffering from the same obsession, he transformed his +new habitation, situated in the very centre of London, into a real +stronghold, occupied and commanded by soldiers. + +De Guerchy was accustomed by now to d’Eon’s ways, and yet this +surreptitious and sudden departure filled him with amazement, and made +him all the more anxious because he began to despair of settling the +accounts which d’Eon owed him, but always deferred paying. On November 9, +he wrote to him in his ambassador’s style, which the Duc de Praslin had +so justly dreaded: + + I learned yesterday that you had left the house which I rented + for you and for those whom Lord Holland’s residence, which I + occupy, was unable to accommodate. I do not know what can be + the reason for so hasty a determination on your part, or why + you omitted to inform me of it. The day that I came to inquire + after your health, hearing you were unwell, I forgot to mention + the account which you have to settle, for the various sums + of money you have drawn on my credit. You told me, some time + since, you would let me have it within two days, and I beg you + will bring it or send it to me immediately. + +D’Eon did not send the account required of him, but he proceeded to the +King’s levee, and, as soon as his Majesty had retired, he approached +the ambassador, saying: “I did not answer your letter of this morning, +because I rose late. If I have any accounts to settle, I shall settle +them with my court when I am asked to do so. The minister plenipotentiary +of France has lived at the expense of the King, just as the ambassador +now lives. I am delighted at the opportunity you have given me of stating +that I never was, and never will be, your steward.” And, without giving +de Guerchy time to reply, he made him a “deep bow,” and hastened back to +his stronghold. Summoning his council, he exerted his utmost eloquence +in convincing M. de la Rozière that, to judge by the turn of events, +the secret documents were in imminent danger of being discovered. They +were voluminous enough to prove embarrassing, and difficult to conceal +in the event of a surprise visit. D’Eon spoke to such good purpose +that de la Rozière offered to convey part of them to France. The +mission was a perilous one, though his somewhat obscure office and the +discreet attitude he had adopted made it easier for him than for anybody +else. D’Eon entrusted him with a large number of the documents in his +possession; but he was careful to keep the most important and the most +compromising, those which could serve him as a weapon, or at any rate +as a guarantee which he would know how to turn to account. These papers +naturally included the minutes concerning the mission which kept him in +England, the studying of plans for a military invasion. + +Charged with the mysterious parcel, de la Rozière set out for Paris a +few days later, taking with him, besides, in an envelope addressed to M. +Tercier, letters which were to be delivered to the King and the Comte +de Broglie. In them d’Eon told of all the plots which he imagined he +had discovered; the attempts which had been made to poison, to abduct +and to watch him. He even boasted of having “humiliated and mystified +his ambassador,” and “of having fought like a dragoon for the King, his +secret correspondence, and the Comte de Broglie.” + +These letters, full of such obvious exaggerations, produced an effect in +Paris contrary to that which d’Eon had expected. The King felt that in +the keeping of such a hare-brained individual his correspondence might +at any moment be seized by his ambassador, and sent to his ministers. +The entire scheme of his secret diplomacy, which he had concealed so +carefully, would thus be discovered. Without consulting the Comte de +Broglie, or even M. Tercier, Louis XV. hastened to take his precautions. + +He despatched a courier to his ambassador in London informing him that +he had just countersigned a letter from the Duc de Praslin, demanding +d’Eon’s extradition. In the event of d’Eon’s arrest, Guerchy was to take +charge of “all the papers he might find in the Sieur d’Eon’s possession, +without communicating their contents to anybody.” These documents were +to be “kept entirely, and without exception, secret,” and, being first +carefully sealed, were to remain in the keeping of the ambassador, who +was to deliver them to the King in person on his next journey to Paris. +The Sieur Monin, secretary to the Comte de Guerchy, and a friend of +d’Eon, was entrusted with the mission of discovering the place where +these papers had been deposited. + +Louis XV. thought he had thus guarded against every event, expecting to +make sure of Guerchy’s discretion by the semi-confidential attitude he +had adopted towards him, and prevent him from imparting his discoveries +to the Duc de Praslin. Tercier and the Comte de Broglie were dismayed by +the hasty step taken by the King, who informed them of it the following +day. They knew that Guerchy was blundering enough to reveal everything +inadvertently, even if his attachment to the house of Choiseul did not +tempt him to commit an indiscretion which would betray the secret of the +King’s private policy. If such disclosures were necessarily mortifying +for the King, they were to be dreaded by the secret agents, upon whom the +ministers would assuredly vent their rage. Consequently, the Comte de +Broglie, much alarmed, at once made known to the King his apprehensions +with regard to the instructions sent to Guerchy, and Tercier communicated +to him equally pessimistic reflections. Louis XV., relieved at having +escaped so imminent a danger, made a point of reassuring his counsellors: +“If Guerchy betrays the secret,” he wrote, “he betrays me, and will be a +lost man. If he is a man of honour, he will not do so; if he is a knave, +he deserves to be hanged. It is very clear that you and the Comte de +Broglie are uneasy. Be reassured, I am quite calm.” + +Guerchy, to do him justice, does not appear to have abused the King’s +confidence. Whether he perceived the danger to which disclosures exposed +him, or whether he preferred to regard the King’s letter as a mark of +confidence of which he wished to prove himself worthy, he divulged the +matter only to Madame de Guerchy, who kept the secret loyally. The +ambassador was glad enough, moreover, to have at his disposal fresh +weapons against d’Eon, for he was at a loss to know what he should do +next. Threats having failed, he had tried flattery, suggesting to the +Duc de Choiseul that he should write a letter full of promises to d’Eon. +The minister had consented, couching his letter in the most affectionate +terms: + + Whatever detains you in England, my dear d’Eon? Abandon the + diplomatic career and your ministerial disputes with M. de + Guerchy, and join me here, where I intend to employ you + usefully in the army. I promise you will be quite free from + annoyance in my service. As the military contract will shortly + expire, I have requested M. de Praslin to recall you. Nothing + should prevent you from coming now, and you will please me + greatly by joining me at Versailles without delay. I await you, + my dear d’Eon, with the great interest which, as you know, I + take in you. + +In spite of the alluring terms of this letter, d’Eon was not tempted to +relinquish the barren and interminable contest which he had undertaken +against his ambassador, in order to seek again, on real battlefields, +successes worthier of his brilliant past. Fully aware of the reception +which awaited him in France, he limited himself to declining the Duc de +Choiseul’s proposals respectfully and gratefully. + +He was determined not to quit London, where every citizen’s residence was +protected so effectually by law. Such a safeguard was indeed calculated +to astonish a Frenchman of the eighteenth century, and de Guerchy was +not yet accustomed to it. So unused was he to English customs that he +could not save his government from an unpleasant miscalculation. Hardly +had he received the King’s further instructions than he hastened to +submit to the English ministers the demand for extradition transmitted +to him by the Duc de Praslin. However great their desire to deliver the +unfortunate ambassador out of his embarrassments, the English ministers +did not consider they were justified in coming, on their own initiative, +to a decision so contrary to the laws and spirit of their country, and +they referred the matter to the Privy Council. Guerchy made a second +still more urgent application to the secretaries of state, but in vain; +and the King of England only expressed to the ambassador “his regret +at being unable to comply with the request of his cousin, the King of +France, since the laws of his kingdom did not empower him to do so.” + +The defeat was the more mortifying for Guerchy as he had involved +his government in these unskilful tactics, and he found but slight +compensation in the formal discharge which the chamberlain of the King of +England caused to be delivered to d’Eon: + + SIR,—The King your master has informed the King my master that + you are no longer his Minister at the Court of St. James’, + and has at the same time required of the King to forbid you + the court, and I deeply regret to have to inform you that I + have this morning received orders from the King my master to + communicate to you his intentions on that point. + + I have the honour to be ... + + GOWER, + Chamberlain to the King of England. + +This polite, but explicit, note marks the end of the Chevalier d’Eon’s +ordered career, confirming, in the name of the King of England, the +revocation of the minister plenipotentiary of the King of France, +brought about by his excessive ambition. Officially repudiated by the +sovereign who had sent him and by the sovereign who had received him, +d’Eon was now divested of his dignity. Anybody else would have given +way to despondency, and asked pardon. The Chevalier, however, became +more insolent and intractable than ever. Unable to believe his patrons +had deserted him, and relying, in spite of everything, on the secret +support of the King, d’Eon deemed himself still capable of holding his +own against Guerchy. It was, in fact, the latter who was obliged to own +himself beaten, and to give an account of his defeat to the King in +person: + + I have been expecting to execute the orders contained in the + letter your Majesty did me the honour to address to me from + Fontainebleau on November 4, before replying to it, but I + have found it quite impossible to do so, notwithstanding the + various means employed. Your Majesty will have been informed, + by my despatch, of the obstacles I meet in my endeavours to + possess myself of d’Eon’s papers, for he persistently refuses + to deliver them to me, in spite of the order he has received + from M. de Praslin in the name of your Majesty. This shows his + lack of wisdom, which, however, is not elsewhere apparent. Your + Majesty will also have been informed that the court of St. + James’ has authoritatively refused my request, replying that + it is against the laws of the country. Nevertheless, the King + of England and his ministers are extremely anxious to get rid + of d’Eon. I have found it impossible to seize him, either by + force or by stratagem, because he no longer lives in my house, + nor has he been here since running to such extremes.... + + I am deeply grieved, Sire, at being unable to furnish your + Majesty upon this occasion with proofs of the fervent zeal by + which I shall be actuated throughout my life.... + +D’Eon had once more evaded Guerchy’s plots, and had laughed at the +ambassador’s official steps as he did at his secret intrigues. He had +beguiled Monin, de Guerchy’s secretary, with false confidences, and had +let him believe that the important documents which he possessed were +not in England. As for the police officers sent from Paris to carry +him off, he intimidated them, only going out in the company of several +people and remaining for the most part entrenched in his lodging. “His +bedroom, sitting-room, study, and staircase were undermined; and he kept +a lamp burning throughout the night.... The garrison consisted of several +dragoons of his old regiment, and some deserters picked up in London, who +occupied the ground-floor.” These precautions, which would appear to be +a gross fabrication had they not been the work of an adventurer anxious +above all to impress public opinion, were quite superfluous. English law +was a surer protection to d’Eon than “the four brace of pistols, the +two guns, and the eight sabres of his arsenal,” and Lord Halifax, when +questioned as to the fate that awaited him, replied: “He had better keep +quiet; tell him his behaviour is abominable, but his person inviolable.” + +[Illustration: MADEMOISELLE DE BEAUMONT + +_From a Caricature in the London Magazine, Sept. 1777_] + +Sure henceforth of being unmolested, d’Eon obstinately refused to come +to terms, and de Guerchy, having exhausted his means of coercing a man +who “put his minister’s letters of recall in his pocket and refused to +return the ministerial papers,” decided upon drawing up an official +statement of his refusal. He proceeded to d’Eon’s lodging towards the +end of December, and the drawing-up of the report gave rise to a scene +in which the Chevalier lost all self-control. Striding up and down the +room, he gesticulated, and declared “that he would rather die than +deliver up the King’s papers, and that they would have to take them at +the muzzle of his gun.” D’Eon signed this statement, which was destined +to furnish Versailles with a formal proof of his folly. Louis XV. had +ceased, moreover, to take any interest in d’Eon, dreading his disputes +and bitterly regretting “the choice of such an agent.” He determined upon +keeping him at a distance, without appearing to desert him entirely; and +if d’Eon obtained fresh favours in the sequel he owed them to the fear +he inspired rather than to the esteem he had won by his former services. +The King wrote to Tercier on December 30: “I do not believe that M. d’Eon +is mad, but he is presumptuous and a very extraordinary person. I think +we must allow some time to elapse and support him with a little money; +let him remain where he is in safety, and above all let him refrain from +fresh action.” + +Harassed by these several persecutions to which his pride had exposed +him, and openly blamed in Paris and at Versailles, d’Eon found himself +deserted, even by his friends. The little Burgundian town which had never +ceased to follow his career with interest, while predicting a brilliant +future for him, now re-echoed the general reprobation. His relatives +began to doubt if he was in his right senses, and his aged mother was +thinking of coming to London herself, to implore his submission to the +King’s orders. But d’Eon wrote to her at the end of this eventful year, +with his wonted triumphant self-assurance: + + I have received, my dear mother, all the woeful and piteous + letters you have taken the trouble to write to me. Why weepest + thou, woman of little faith? as Scripture says. What is there + in common between your affairs at Tonnerre and my political + affairs in London? Go on planting your cabbages in peace, + weeding your garden, and eating its fruit; drink the milk of + your cows and the wine of your vines, and spare me the idle + chatter of Paris and Versailles, and your tears, which grieve + but do not comfort me. Not that I am in need of consolation, + for I am not in the least sad, and my heart plays the violin + and even the double-bass, as I have already written to you, + because I do my duty, and my enemies, who call themselves great + men, do not perform theirs—being guided in their actions by + caprice and personal interests, and not in the least by the + interests of justice and the welfare of the King and country. + Let them do as they please, I will do as I think proper.... I + do not fear the thunderbolts of these little Jupiters, be they + far or near. That is all I have to say; therefore set your + mind at ease, as mine is, and if you come to see me in London + I shall be delighted, and I will take as good care of you as + I do of the court despatches and the accounts of the Comte de + Guerchy, which he will not have except on good grounds, with + colours flying, ammunition at hand, and drums beating. He shall + not even have the envelopes of the letters, I swear it to you + by all that is sacred, unless he brings to me an authentic + order from the King, my master and his, and this is what he has + not been able to effect hitherto. + + ... If you wish to do what is best, remain quietly in your + charming retreat at the gate of Tonnerre, and do not return to + Paris unless the court pays your travelling expenses in some + surer way than it has mine, and remember that, whether men + praise or blame you, you are none the better or the worse. _The + glory of the righteous is in their conscience, and not in the + praise of men._ + + + + +V + +LAWSUITS AND A PENSION + + +The storm of which d’Eon appeared to think so lightly was far from +abating, however, for de Guerchy, enraged by his failure, had not yet +given up the fight. He began by attacking his adversary’s partisans, +and had just obtained from the minister an order recalling M. d’Eon +de Mouloize to France, and arbitrarily divesting him of his rank of +lieutenant of cavalry. Then, having exhausted all the resources of +official pressure, he tried less circuitous means—launching out in +a paper war which originated in the incident that occurred at Lord +Halifax’s. The English newspapers had given a discreet explanation of the +dispute on the following day. They were unfavourable to the ambassador, +who realised that the laughter was not with him. Desirous of publishing +his own version of the incident, he employed the services of a writer +called Goudard, singularly unskilful in the profession by which he earned +his livelihood. In exchange for a few guineas, Goudard delivered to de +Guerchy a little pamphlet of a harmless description, but in which the +facts were related in a light so favourable to the ambassador that d’Eon +naturally felt prompted to reply. De Guerchy knew by experience how quick +d’Eon was at repartee, and hoped that his adversary, unable to resist +such a temptation, would expose himself in consequence to the penalties +of English law, so severe in matters of libel. + +However, whether he did not deem himself insulted, or whether he +suspected a trap, d’Eon kept quiet, and the ambassador was once more +disappointed in his expectations. At this juncture de Vergy came to +offer his services to de Guerchy for a modest consideration. He, too, +had reasons for taking offence at the pamphlet, and this pretext was +sufficient to envenom matters. Accordingly he published a little brochure +openly attacking the Chevalier. This time d’Eon thought it necessary +to reply, but in doing so he made use of language mild enough to put +an end to the discussion. This did not suit the ambassador, who never +allowed his sense of dignity to prevent him insisting on the last word. +He pursued the petty warfare, making one blunder after another, and +issued his “Contre-Note,” a genuine piece of bathos, a severe and absurd +condemnation of d’Eon. This publication produced the singular effect of +animating persons unconcerned in the quarrel. Anonymous lampoons written +in English were distributed among the public, also manuscript pamphlets, +some taking d’Eon’s part and some the ambassador’s. Vergy, Lescalier, +late clerk at the embassy, Henry Fielding, Justice of the Peace in +London, took up the quarrel. A woman even, called Bac de Saint-Amand, +signed a few pages which were deemed so comic that a second edition was +rapidly exhausted. + +For three months, during which over twenty different publications were +produced, d’Eon contained himself; but his patience, as also his funds, +was daily diminishing. Deserted by the King and without resources he +wrote to the Duc de Choiseul asking him for permission to enter the +service of England with two of his cousins, since, as he said, “he could +not obtain justice in M. de Guerchy’s proceedings.” At the same time +he made a last appeal to the Duc de Nivernais for support, in humbler +and more friendly terms, but in which the threatening allusions were +also clear. These letters remained unnoticed, as well as those he sent +to the Duc de Broglie and to Tercier. Impelled by necessity as much +as by a desire for revenge, d’Eon then determined upon making use of +his last weapons against de Guerchy. On March 22, 1764, he published a +book, full of impertinence and gross allusions to the ambassador and the +ministers. It consisted of a vehement account of all his contentions +with de Guerchy, written in a sarcastic tone, at times full of wit, and +throughout aggressive. D’Eon reproduced, besides, the letters he had +ventured to address to his ambassador and those he had received from him; +intimate letters in which de Guerchy displayed, in a heavy, involved +style, all his shabby parsimony and perplexity at the outset of his +diplomatic career. Lastly, in a third part, d’Eon gave extracts from +the correspondence exchanged between the Duc de Praslin and the Duc de +Nivernais, which the latter had communicated to him, and in which the two +friends expressed themselves freely and confidentially upon the subject +of de Guerchy’s meagre qualifications. + +These disclosures, so painful and humiliating for the ambassador, made a +great stir in London. Fifteen hundred copies of the work were sold in the +course of a few days. But the scandal did not in the least produce the +desired effect. D’Eon only lost much of the sympathy which his wit and +good-humour had formerly won for him, and which all his wanton insults +had not yet exhausted. Walpole, writing at this time to the Earl of +Hertford, British Ambassador in Paris, reflects faithfully the opinion of +Englishmen, who blamed d’Eon severely, though not without regret: + + D’Eon has published (but to be sure you have already heard + so) a most scandalous quarto, abusing Monsieur de Guerchy + outrageously, and most offensive to Messieurs de Praslin and + Nivernais. In truth, I think he will have made all three + irreconcilable enemies. The Duc de Praslin must be furious + at de Nivernais’ carelessness and partiality for d’Eon, and + will certainly grow to hate de Guerchy, concluding the latter + can never forgive _him_. D’Eon, even by his own account, is + as culpable as possible, mad with pride, insolent, abusive, + ungrateful, and dishonest—in short, a complication of + abominations, yet originally ill-used by his court, afterwards + too well; above all, he has great malice, and great parts to + put that malice in play.... The Council have met to-day to + consider what to do upon it. Most people think it difficult for + them to do anything. Lord Mansfield thinks they can; but I fear + he is a little apt to be severe in such cases. + +The Privy Council approved Lord Mansfield’s intentions. If the work was +not, strictly speaking, libellous, it contained defamatory insinuations +which admitted of the application of the act. Moreover, the whole +diplomatic corps supported de Guerchy in his demand for an inquiry, and +the Attorney-General brought an action for libel against d’Eon in the +King’s name, which was tried a few months later. + +The sensation in London was enormous, and even greater in Paris, +where the author of the scandal was far more severely condemned, as a +contemporary who kept a diary of political and literary events relates, +under date of April 14: + + M. d’Eon de Beaumont’s book has made a great stir here. + It contains letters attributed to Messieurs de Praslin, + de Nivernais, and de Guerchy, annotated by the inaccurate + editor. They give a poor idea of the talent, the wit, and the + statecraft of those who wrote them. The work is preceded by a + preface in which M. d’Eon sets forth his motives for publishing + these letters. His infamous behaviour, and the incongruity + between his conduct and his style in the statements denote a + malicious madman. + +And he adds, under date of April 26: + + The trial of M. d’Eon has begun, who is exciting much interest + just now as the author of a most scandalous libel and most + atrocious calumnies. + +The volume so severely and justly condemned by public opinion was +destined not only to rouse indignation at Versailles, but also to cause +the utmost anxiety. Indeed, there was everything to fear from a man whose +mind was so disordered. D’Eon had confined himself so far to talking +about his own affairs; but it was by no means certain that he would +prove equally circumspect for the future, or that he would refrain from +divulging the secret and delicate negotiations in which he had been +implicated, at the time of the conclusion of the last treaties. + +The Duc de Praslin decided that the book should be torn up; but while +giving this order he bethought himself of treating with the author. The +King encouraged him to do so, for he shared his minister’s apprehensions, +having just examined two letters addressed by d’Eon to Tercier, who did +not wish to answer them. Moreover, they expressed only too plainly their +author’s intentions: + + I will never be the first to desert the King or my country + (wrote d’Eon in one of them); but if, unhappily, the King and + my country should think fit to sacrifice me by deserting me, I + shall be obliged, in spite of myself, to abandon the latter, + and in doing so, I will justify myself before the whole of + Europe, and nothing will be easier, as you are well aware. + + I will not conceal from you, sir, that the enemies of France, + believing they may be able to take advantage of the cruel + position in which I find myself, have invited me to enter + their service. Whatever the benefits they offer, I cannot be + influenced, and I shall be guided under these circumstances by + honour only. I have answered as became me. + + ... The leaders of the opposition have offered me any money + I demand, on condition that I deliver to them my papers and + letters, under seal, promising to return them to me in exactly + the same state when the money is brought to me. I unbosom + myself to you, and you must feel how repugnant to me must be + such an expedient.... But if I am entirely forsaken, and if, + between this and April 22, Easter Sunday, I do not receive a + promise, signed by the King or by the Comte de Broglie, to the + effect that reparation will be made to me for all the ills I + have endured at the hands of M. de Guerchy—then, sir, I declare + to you, formally and authentically, I shall lose all hope, + and in forcing me to clear myself entirely before the King of + England, his ministry, and the two Houses of Parliament, you + must make up your mind to a war at no distant period, of which + I shall surely be but the innocent cause, and this war will be + inevitable. The King of England will be driven into it by the + force and nature of circumstances, by the voice of the nation + and the opposition. + +Louis XV., who did not go so far as to believe that d’Eon had in his +portfolio the means of bringing about war with England, took the danger +with which he was threatened coolly enough; but he was aware that his +secret was in peril. M. de Praslin had not concealed his earnest desire +“to see d’Eon safe in France, under lock and key.” The minister had even +sent police officers to England, with orders to secure d’Eon, but only +alive. Louis XV., however, “could not believe his agent was a traitor.” +He judged him more justly and dispassionately than his secret ministers. +Notwithstanding his faults, his pride and his imprudence, d’Eon was +incapable of committing a disloyal action. If he had been induced to +write such compromising letters, he had done so only under compulsion, +and when driven to extremities by the excessive severity, or by the +equally excessive weakness, of the means employed against him, and also +by the obstinate silence preserved towards him by the Comte de Broglie +and Tercier. On learning of the death of Madame de Pompadour, which +occurred at this time, he believed that the secret ministers were at +last publicly to enjoy their credit with the King. But his hopes were +shattered: Louis XV. continued his double game, and the Comte de Broglie +did not feel powerful enough to take advantage of the situation by +obtruding himself upon the King, nor did he venture even to plead d’Eon’s +cause. + +Deserted by everybody, the Chevalier was extremely flattered by the +offers of the Liberal party, which compared him to Wilkes, the idol +of the people and the victim of a trial for libel. His popularity was +increased rapidly in London, where his name was cheered after that of the +patriot, but he was flattered chiefly because it was hoped that he might +divulge some scandalous details with regard to the conclusion of the last +peace. The Liberals expected him to furnish them with formidable weapons +against Lord Bute, the late ministers and their successors, who were said +to have been bribed by France. Though d’Eon did not intend to respond to +their advances, he did not reject them, and he boasted of them to the +secret ministers, hoping to obtain by intimidation the aid which had been +denied to his entreaties. He was not altogether unsuccessful, since he +was causing the King grave anxiety, if not on the score of the peace of +Europe, at least on that of his secret correspondence. At the Comte de +Broglie’s suggestion, Louis XV. despatched M. de Nort to England, with +the mission of pacifying de Guerchy, but also with formal instructions +to conciliate d’Eon by advice and promises, and to discover at least the +nature of his demands. D’Eon, who had frequently met de Nort at the Comte +de Broglie’s, welcomed him with enthusiasm, and proved unexpectedly +moderate, believing that his rehabilitation was now imminent. + +Hardly had he read the Comte de Broglie’s letter, brought by M. de +Nort, when, elated with the alluring promises and the flattery which it +contained, he wrote to the King on the spur of the moment: + + SIRE,—I am innocent, and have been condemned by your ministers; + but from the moment that your Majesty wishes it, I place my + life, and the recollection of every outrage I have experienced + from the Comte de Guerchy, at your Majesty’s feet. Be + persuaded, Sire, that I will die your faithful subject, and + that I am more than ever in a position to serve your Majesty + for your great secret plan, of which you must never lose sight + if you wish your reign to be the period of France’s greatness, + and the humiliation and, perhaps, the total destruction of + England, which is the only power really always hostile and + formidable to your kingdom. + + I am, Sire, your Majesty’s faithful servant in life and in + death, + + D’EON. + +In writing this note, d’Eon allowed himself to be guided by his first +impulse, and he realised afterwards that he had been too hasty. He was +pleased to regard the Comte de Broglie’s letter as an earnest of more +extensive negotiations. In this he was entirely mistaken, for if M. de +Nort was disposed to let things take their course, he was obliged to +confine himself to the terms of the letter, which contained a promise of +a sum of money not stated, and the assurance of royal protection, but no +reference to his reinstatement, nor to any redress of the injuries he had +suffered at the hands of de Guerchy. + +The infliction of this fresh and more bitter disappointment was a +blunder. It was irritating him unnecessarily, and at the same time +increasing his arrogance and infatuation by idle parleys. The Chevalier +became aware the day after de Nort’s arrival that he had been greatly +deceiving himself, and, in a fit of temper, he sent the Comte de +Broglie’s letter back to the messenger, adding that, “since he was not +being dealt with fairly,” he would rather remain, “like the goat in the +fable, at the bottom of the well into which the King’s and the Comte de +Broglie’s orders, and the personal hatred of de Guerchy’s friends, had +cast him.” M. de Nort did not lose courage, and exerted himself to make +him listen to reason; but d’Eon proved intractable and Tercier’s urgent +letters did not meet with greater success. Feeling he had gone too far, +however, in not providing himself with any loophole for the future, d’Eon +declared that he could not reasonably be expected to give up the only +weapons with which he could defend himself against M. de Guerchy in his +judicial proceedings. The ambassador had but to desist from his action +for the negotiations to be immediately simplified. Thus rebuffed, M. de +Nort deemed that there was nothing more for him to do in London. He had +not succeeded better, moreover, in the case of M. de Guerchy. + +The time was indeed ill-chosen for urging the ambassador to be moderate. +Never was he so near the attainment of his object, so sure before long +of having the Chevalier at his mercy. The humiliation he had just +experienced had, moreover, greatly increased his irritation. He was +awaiting the result of the trial for libel, counting on English law +for the conviction of his enemy, and already keeping in readiness for +his capture a few carefully chosen myrmidons, despatched to him, at his +request, by the Duc de Praslin. “A vessel, manned by twenty-one armed +men, was moored at Gravesend,” and they had “detached a little six-oared +boat which lay between Westminster and London Bridge,” and into which he +was to be put as soon as they had seized upon his person. The admirers +whom d’Eon had found in the slums of London, among the mariners and the +rabble of the port, came immediately to report this to him, by which +means the Chevalier eluded once more the pursuit of the prematurely +triumphant ambassador. D’Eon wrote letters to the Lord Chief Justice, the +Earl of Mansfield, to Lord Bute and to Mr. Pitt, which he had printed, +and which the newspapers published. In these letters he represented +what plots were being laid against him, appealed to public opinion, and +requested the ministers to take measures for his safety. + +Mr. Pitt alone replied by a few lines: + + Considering the extremely delicate nature of the circumstances, + you will not, I trust, disapprove of my confining myself to + regretting a state of affairs with regard to which I am unable + to offer the advice you do me the honour of soliciting. + +The agitations fostered by d’Eon were sufficient to protect him against +de Guerchy’s attempts, in a country where the liberty of the individual +was so effectively safeguarded. Summer was approaching, and he set out +for Staunton Harold, the seat of his friend, Earl Ferrers, while the +ambassador returned to France on leave of absence. + +Autumn brought de Guerchy back to London, where the action for libel +was on the point of being tried. The cabinet had all but assured the +ambassador that he should obtain a favourable verdict, authorising him +to seize d’Eon and his papers. Meanwhile d’Eon, of whom everything could +be expected but a retreat, failed to make his appearance in court. His +counsel asked for an adjournment, alleging that the defendant had not had +sufficient time to summon the witnesses whom he intended to produce; the +judges refused the application and proceeded with the case. The desired +verdict was given, d’Eon being found guilty; but when the officers of +the law called at his residence to notify the sentence they found his +apartments empty—the Chevalier had departed. Foreseeing that the trial +would turn against him, he had taken refuge in furnished lodgings in +the city, together with his cousin de Mouloize. So safe did he think +himself, and so little did he trouble himself about his concealment, that +he narrowly escaped being arrested forthwith by “two messengers of State +who entered the house of Mrs. Eddowes, where the Sieur d’Eon was supposed +to have taken refuge, with a warrant and a number of armed soldiers.” +“The police officers,” relates d’Eon, “burst open doors, cupboards, and +valises, in their search for me, and only found my cousin, de Mouloize, +who was quietly warming himself beside the fire with Mrs. Eddowes +and another lady. The other lady was she who is generally called the +Chevalier d’Eon.” + +The English ministers, goaded by de Guerchy, and furious at the +blundering of the police officers, as well as at the laxity of their +chief, were growing impatient. Lord Halifax, extremely displeased that +d’Eon was still at large, was surprised at the Solicitor-General’s +absence at this critical moment, and requested him to return hastily, +in order that the affair might be no further delayed, and that the +culprit might be arrested legally and brought before the court to receive +sentence. All these measures proved ineffectual, for d’Eon had hidden +himself, his recent adventure having taught him to be more prudent. +He had set his spies to work, going out “only with all the vigilance +a captain of dragoons should observe in time of war,” and was engaged +in his retreat upon a “brilliant and exhaustive defence” against the +cabal of the court. He was preparing the crowning act of his folly, the +set-piece of the firework display with which to astound the ambassador. +His “brilliant defence” was about to cause an unprecedented scandal, in +London and Paris, unique in the annals of diplomacy. Having disdained to +answer the notice of action served on him in the Court of King’s Bench, +he was about to summon the ambassador of France before the grand jury of +the Old Bailey on a charge of attempted poison and murder. + +In fact, d’Eon renewed all his former accusations, having discovered an +invaluable witness and gathered fresh proofs. At his instigation the +Sieur Treyssac de Vergy reappeared upon the scene. Imprisoned for debt +and deserted by the ambassador whom he had served with his pen, but from +whom he had been unable to procure any help, Vergy turned to d’Eon quite +repentant, promising to give evidence in support of extremely grave +disclosures. He again affirmed that he had come to England by order of +the ministers, who had made him understand that they desired “to bring +d’Eon into disgrace; but that a skilful and an alien hand must do this.” +No sooner had de Guerchy arrived in London than he brought about the +events which, thanks to d’Eon, were already notorious. Vergy declared +himself ready to sigh his statements, and to recapitulate them, for +greater safety, in his will. In 1774, he again repeated them, when on the +point of death, as the Chevalier’s papers prove. + +However suspicious, such evidence was extremely compromising in the eyes +of a British jury. Guerchy would not be convinced, refusing to believe +that anybody could credit these fabrications, which “were enough to +make one shudder.” More astonished than alarmed he merely remarked that +“d’Eon had crowned his rascality.” The Chevalier was exulting openly; +however, in order to avoid breaking with the secret minister, he strove +to interest the Comte de Broglie in his behalf, and to induce him to make +common cause with him. In a letter accompanying a copy of Treyssac de +Vergy’s lengthy deposition he wrote: + + The horrible plot is at last disclosed. I can now say to M. + de Guerchy what the Prince de Conti said to the Marshal de + Luxembourg before the battle of Steenkerque: “Sangaride! this + is a great day for you, my cousin! You will be indeed a clever + man if you get out of this mess.” ... The King cannot but be + persuaded now of the truth; it is as clear as daylight.... I + have informed the Duke of York and his brothers of the truth + and heinousness of the conspiracy against you, the Marshal de + Broglie, and myself. They will inform the King, the Queen, and + the Prince of Wales. M. de Guerchy, who has been unfavourably + received since his return, is disturbed beyond measure, + notwithstanding his recklessness, and I know that the King of + England is disposed to be just towards the Marshal and myself. + Do your part and do not desert me as you appear to be doing. I + will defend myself to the last drop of my blood, and fearlessly + serve your house notwithstanding that you desert me, for you + send me no money, whereas I am struggling on your behalf. Do + not abandon me and do not drive me to despair. I have expended + more than twelve hundred pounds in carrying on my war, and yet + you send me nothing. It is abominable, and allow me to say that + I should never have believed it. + +The Comte de Broglie, who naturally desired to have nothing to do +with such a campaign, refrained from sending the funds which d’Eon so +insolently solicited. Several months before he had ceased to submit to +the King the claims of his secret agent; but this time, realising the +imminence of the scandal which d’Eon was about to cause, he asked Louis +XV. to allow him to proceed to London in person. The King agreed to the +Comte de Broglie’s proposal, and sought for a plea on which to obtain M. +de Praslin’s approval of this mission. The design was abandoned, however, +owing to an incident which threatened his secret diplomacy and completely +absorbed his attention. D’Eon’s valet, a man named Hugonnet, who had +been employed formerly as courier by the Marquis de L’Hospital, and +afterwards by the Duc de Nivernais, was arrested at Calais when bearing +despatches from Drouet, private secretary to the Comte de Broglie. +Long suspected of being the intermediary of the secret correspondence, +of which the ministers had some inkling, he had succeeded hitherto +in baffling the spies set to watch him. Less fortunate this time, he +was forcibly detained on applying at the offices of the Admiralty for +his passport. “Upon his stating his name,” d’Eon relates, “the naval +commissioner at once pointed his sword at his breast saying that he made +him a state prisoner. Two grenadiers took him to M. de la Bouillie, +commandant of Calais, who seized the bundle of papers and caused the +said Sieur Hugonnet to be placed in close custody. He was then made to +undress, his clothes and even the heels of his boots ripped open. A week +later an officer of police arrived from Paris who had Hugonnet fettered +and handcuffed, and removed him to the Bastille, chained by the waist to +the coach-box of a post chaise.” + +Hugonnet’s arrest brought about that of Drouet. The Duc de Praslin +thought he had at last a proof of the Comte de Broglie’s correspondence +with the criminal of the state, d’Eon, and he hastened to apprise +the King of his discovery and his suspicions. Louis XV., seeing his +secret again in danger, did not think of stopping the inquiry by simply +expressing his will. He preferred the deplorable expedients to which his +weakness had already led him to resort. Irresistibly attracted at all +times by double-dealing, he contrived a comedy of which the subordinate +agents of the ministers were to be at once the confidants and the +actors. He sent for M. de Sartine, lieutenant of police, and ordered him +“to lay aside all papers which might be seized in this affair concerning +the Comte de Broglie, Durand, and Tercier.” Satisfied with this skilful, +but still more strange, move, he wrote to Tercier making this admission, +unexpectedly humble on the part of an absolute monarch: “I have +unburdened myself and confided in de Sartine. He seemed pleased, and we +must hope that his discretion and this mark of confidence will guide him +aright. If we are disappointed, we will see what is to be done.” + +Sartine had, at first, shown himself flattered with the secret +unexpectedly entrusted to him; but it was not without misgivings that +he undertook a dangerous part which was equally incompatible with his +character and his office, and exposed him besides to the Duc de Praslin’s +resentment. Indeed, so diffident had the Comte de Broglie found him that, +in order to overcome his hesitation, he was obliged to reprimand him +twice and to assure him that he could not refuse the service the King +expected of him. Drouet’s papers were in consequence carefully sorted, +and only a few unimportant letters were left to be investigated. Though +the documents in question were now in safety there was still some fear of +indiscretion on the part of the two prisoners, and Louis XV. was obliged +to apply, directly and under the seal of secrecy, to M. de Jumilhac, +Governor of the Bastille, in order that he should allow Tercier to enter +the prison and communicate to Drouet and Hugonnet the depositions which +the Comte de Broglie “had been more than fifteen hours preparing.” So +well did each actor know his part, and so minutely was every detail +foreseen, that the comedy was a complete success. No clear sign of a +compromising correspondence could be traced, and de Praslin, who was +present at the investigation, was forced to accept a judgment by which +he was not really deceived. “I know well enough they are playing the +fool with me,” he said to de Sartine angrily, as he left the court. But, +conjecturing that he was running counter to a superior will, he resolved +to await events before reopening the case. + +Drouet was released after a few days; but Hugonnet was left in the +Bastille, it being feared that too much indulgence would arouse +suspicions. During his detention, which lasted over two years and a half, +he lost all the savings of the calling whereby he had lived. In 1778 he +was reduced to poverty, and if he obtained some slight compensation it +was due entirely to the pressing appeals in his behalf which d’Eon made +to M. de Sartine. + +This incident, which had created so many different impressions at +Versailles, had revived the hopes of revenge which de Guerchy nourished +against his adversary and de Broglie’s partisans, and the news of +this fresh defeat proved a bitter disappointment which increased the +ambassador’s ire. + +At this juncture strange reports began to be circulated about d’Eon, +which were countenanced at the embassy, always ready to be malignant. +The reserved habits of the Chevalier and the total absence of feminine +intrigues in his life had long since excited ironical curiosity. Even the +least perfidious tongues mocked the weakness of his constitution, others +suspected him of being a woman; but many, attracted by the unusual, +ascribed both sexes to the Chevalier. However strange and absurd such +an assertion may appear, there is no doubt that it was made, and that +it met, at this time as well as later, with amazing credulity. Other +less ridiculous but more formidable insinuations, emanating from the +same enemies, attributed to him the authorship of a defamatory pamphlet, +published in the form of an anonymous letter addressed to the Lord Chief +Justice. D’Eon was obliged to protest, and published a reply haughty +enough to refute such accusations; but public attention, which he had +courted so frequently, was now fixed upon him so persistently that +several of the satirical works which it was becoming the fashion to treat +with rigour were laid to his account. He was regarded as the author of a +“dialogue between Mr. Frugality and Mr. Truth,” the ambassador and the +ex-minister plenipotentiary of France being easily recognised under these +pseudonyms. In Paris it was thought his bitter style was discernible +in a work in six parts entitled: _L’espion chinois ou l’envoyé secret +de la cour de Pékin pour examiner l’état present de l’Europe._ This +was attributing to d’Eon many more books than he could possibly have +produced. Engrossed by the judicial proceedings he had instituted against +his ambassador, he had, with the assistance of his secretary and his +lawyers, collected and often suggested the depositions of his witnesses. +The grand jury of the Old Bailey met on March 1, 1765, and found a true +bill against the Comte de Guerchy for conspiracy against the life of +the Chevalier d’Eon. The case caused an extraordinary sensation. M. de +Guerchy was expecting to be arrested at any moment; his butler, Chazal, +who was accused of having administered the poison, had just taken flight, +and also one of the secretaries who had written some of the libels. The +cabinets of London and Paris were exasperated; Louis XV. and the Comte de +Broglie thought it inconceivable that an ambassador could be delivered +up to foreign tribunals. De Guerchy’s situation was all the more serious +because the English law was founded on a number of intricate and not very +well-known precedents. The case in point had been provided for by an +extremely old statute, which jurisprudence had had no occasion to revoke. +Only one case could be cited as an exact parallel, a trial which had led +to the execution of the Portuguese Ambassador in the time of Cromwell. + +De Guerchy could not believe that a similar fate awaited him; but the +spirit of the English people had so frequently afforded him surprise +that uncertainty increased his dejection, and drove him on to the most +incautious measures. He was deeply humiliated, and his pitiful attitude +was a source of infinite joy to d’Eon, who, triumphant, arrogant and +full of threats, gave free rein to his malicious banter. “Considering +the actual state of affairs,” he wrote to the Comte de Broglie, “it is +absolutely necessary that the arrangement proposed by you should be at +once concluded, and that you should be here without loss of time, say +by the 20th of this month.... This is the last letter I shall have the +honour of writing to you on the subject of the poisoner, that scoundrel +de Guerchy, who would be broken alive on the wheel in France, did he meet +with his deserts. But, by the grace of God, he will only be hanged in +England.... I give you my word of honour that ere long de Guerchy will +be arrested as he leaves the court, and taken to prison in the city of +London. His friend Praslin will try to set him free if he can; but it is +more likely that the friend to deliver him will be the executioner.” + +The above ironical predictions were not fulfilled. So strange a finding +could not justify the application of an expired law. The English cabinet +would have dreaded the consequences, had they not already realised the +injustice, and the absurdity even, of such a course. They at once began +to search for a means of avoiding the danger of their immutable laws, and +found one in the very arcana of their statutes. The suit was removed by +writ of _certiorari_ into the Court of King’s Bench. This new tribunal +declared the indictment suspended, and, without settling the main point +at issue, granted a _nolle prosequi_ in favour of the ambassador. + +The case was definitely withdrawn. The Comte de Guerchy was obliged +to content himself with the paltry expedient which he had urgently +demanded, but which did not efface in public opinion the disgrace of +this scandalous trial. He retained the esteem of the ministers and of +all discerning persons, but the general feeling in England was hostile +to him. The King’s interference in a purely judicial matter was much +criticised, and Lord Chesterfield, writing to his son, Philip Stanhope, +questioned its legality. Among the people there was an outburst of +indignation which threatened the person of the ambassador himself. The +mob did not spare Guerchy their hisses, and one day they even stopped +his coach. He had to hide his Cross of the Order of the Holy Spirit and +declare that he was not the French ambassador but merely his secretary. +Nevertheless, the threatening crowd followed him to the embassy, where +the lacqueys hastily closed the gates, thus giving the police time to +arrive and put an end to a disturbance which might have had extremely +serious consequences. + +De Guerchy’s position in London was becoming so intolerable that he took +leave of absence and spent several months in France. In 1776 he made +another short stay in England, and never afterwards returned. Durand was +appointed his successor as minister plenipotentiary. He was one of the +most faithful agents of the secret service, and had already represented +the King in Poland. + +D’Eon did not wait for the arrival of the new envoy, with whom he had +been long acquainted, before attempting, by entreaties and intimidations, +to resume his negotiations with the Comte de Broglie. The latter, still +indulgent towards him, consented, deeming the opportunity favourable. The +Chevalier made no further difficulty about delivering the royal warrants +for his mission (but these only) to the new minister plenipotentiary, +and, as is stated in the report drawn up at the time, he presented them +“in good condition, folded in a parchment cover addressed to the King, +and enclosed and cemented within a brick adapted for the purpose, removed +from the walls of the cellar.” + +In exchange for these papers, Louis XV. earnestly solicited by de Broglie +and Tercier, and above all dreading d’Eon’s indiscretions and disputes, +granted him a favour of which he deigned to inform him by his own hand: + + As a reward for the services rendered to me by M. d’Eon in + Russia, in my army, and in the execution of other commissions + entrusted to him, I am pleased to bestow upon him a yearly + allowance of twelve thousand livres, which I shall cause to be + paid to him punctually at the expiration of every three months, + wherever he may be, except in a country with which I am at war; + and this until such time as I may think proper to nominate him + to some post, the emoluments of which will greatly exceed the + present allowance. + + LOUIS. + +So flattering a testimonial, which showed that his many scandalous +intrigues were forgiven, if not forgotten, would have pacified a man less +incensed. Sheltered by a minister plenipotentiary’s pension from the +complete destitution in the midst of which he had been struggling for +three years, anybody else but d’Eon would have gladly availed himself +of this second opportunity for wiping out the past, in order to resume +later a career greatly compromised, indeed, but in which his acknowledged +talents still afforded him some prospects of advancement. Such was far +from being the case, however; his destiny had driven him into adventures, +and from this time adventures attracted him. + +De Guerchy had died on his return to France. His health, undermined, +it was said, by the anxieties of his embassy, never recovered from +the final blow—the ridicule, if not disgrace, of his condemnation, to +which he speedily succumbed. D’Eon’s hatred of this name which had +proved so fatal to him was not disarmed by the death of his enemy, +whom he continued to pursue with his pen. He was quite prepared for a +fresh outburst of indignation against himself, in consequence of de +Guerchy’s death, for which he felt sure he would be held responsible, and +conjectured that he would meet with a hostile reception at court, should +he venture to return to France. + +The ministers’ resentment, which he had so freely mocked and scoffed +at, and the anger of the house of de Guerchy, then all powerful, were +sufficiently cogent reasons for his abandoning any idea of return. In +England, where the judgment by which he was declared to be outlawed had +just been annulled by the suit he had won against the ambassador, he +was assured of a safe asylum and a degree of liberty that he could not +hope to find elsewhere. Accordingly, he resigned himself to remaining +there, fully determined to improve, by every possible means, a position +he regarded as quite unjustly lowered, and to sustain that notoriety to +which he had grown accustomed, and which had become indispensable to him. + + + + +VI + +BIRTH OF AN IDEA + + +While demanding the restitution of the warrant commissioning d’Eon to +make surveys in England with a view to an invasion of that country, +Louis XV. had no intention of depriving himself of any services his +secret agent could still render him in the capacity of informant. He knew +that d’Eon had a thorough knowledge of the country, that he was well +received in the upper classes of English society, and that he enjoyed +genuine popularity, and consequently invaluable influence, in the lower. +The King was anxious only to recover possession of a document bearing +his own signature, which in the hands of an adventurer might prove +dangerous, if not to French diplomacy, at least to the security of the +secret correspondence. But, in his haste to make sure of the Chevalier’s +silence, he omitted to demand the restitution of other papers which +touched him less personally—namely, the instructions for the mission, +written by the Comte de Broglie, and the entire correspondence relating +to that subject, not to mention original despatches and copies which +had been kept by d’Eon after his temporary position at the embassy. +D’Eon had carefully refrained from parting with such precious documents, +which might yet enable him to bring pressure to bear upon a government +from whom he had received more promises than pay. Appeased by de +Guerchy’s death, and less apprehensive, he applied himself again to the +secret correspondence. Moreover, the Comte de Broglie gave him every +encouragement in his letters. He tried also to make him realise the full +extent of the last royal favours, and recommended him “to conduct himself +with modesty and wisdom in future, and to abandon the romantic pose for +the attitude and speech of a sensible man. Thus, and in course of time,” +he added, “your talents will be remembered.... With an honest heart and a +brave spirit, but not a fierce or violent one, the hatred and envy of the +whole universe may be overcome.” + +In another letter, written somewhat later, in which one can see the +personal anxiety caused by the weapons remaining in his correspondent’s +hands, the Comte de Broglie urged d’Eon to win the good-will of M. +du Châtelet, the new ambassador, by delivering to M. Durand, who +was returning to France, “the ministerial and other papers of every +description” which were still in his possession. He concluded as follows: +“I have received nothing from you since the letter I wrote to you in +cypher at the end of last month. You have not acquainted me with what has +passed in the interior of England. I recollect, and have not concealed +from his Majesty, that you attribute the fact to the absence of your +friend, Mr. Cotes, from the capital, but your ingenuity should supply the +deficiency.” + +The reproach itself proves how greatly the Comte de Broglie prized +the information supplied by his correspondent. Entirely divested of +any official position, d’Eon was still a newsmonger to whom the +King’s secret counsellors constantly applied, and whose communications +frequently influenced them in their decisions. His cultivated mind and +natural curiosity had enabled him to acquire knowledge of state affairs +while engaged in diplomatic negotiations. Unreasonable in his personal +resentments, pretentious and imprudent in all that concerned himself, +in politics he was a discerning judge, an accurate, and frequently a +shrewd, observer. His fertile imagination, though wanting in tact, gave +facts a graphic and original turn. The portraits he sketched, with a +slight tendency towards caricature, were nevertheless faithful. “D’Eon,” +says the Duc de Broglie, “was the precursor, if not the first, of those +political reporters who play so important a part in the destinies of all +the European parliaments.” He delighted and excelled in his task. + +If d’Eon declined to follow the Comte de Broglie’s interested advice on +the subject of the “ministerial papers,” he at all events showed that +he was affected by the reproaches he had incurred for his negligence. +Thus, during the course of rather over seven years, we find him drawing +up reports, which he entitled “political letters,” and which he sent to +the secret minister, either corresponding in cypher under his own name, +or openly under the name of William Wolf. In these reports he discourses +on war and finance; gives brief statements of home administration and +colonial aspirations; relates carefully parliamentary debates and party +quarrels; and does not omit to mention the little incidents of the +court and the intrigues of the diplomatists. In one of his letters, +selected from among many others, in which he expatiates on the question +of _General Warrants_—a burning question in England at that time—he +reports the love affairs of the royal princes. The Duke of York, +surprised with a lady by her jealous husband, had just received a sword +thrust in the shoulder; his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, on the +point of contracting a secret marriage, was to be sent abroad. The Duke +of Brunswick neglected his wife because he had discovered that she had +contracted the king’s evil, which had broken out on the leg. + +In this same letter, after this scandalous gossip (which, however, is not +always a negligible quantity in politics), d’Eon touches lightly upon +a matter of the greatest interest—namely, the overtures made to him by +Lord Bute, the ex-minister, with a view to an eventual restoration of +the Stuarts. Concerning this the Chevalier stated as his own point of +view that “men and matters were not sufficiently matured.” The Comte de +Broglie hastened to reply that he should follow up the proposals without +binding himself; but the project, so frequently considered by France, +was once again abandoned. In the same year d’Eon informed the cabinet of +Versailles and Prince Masseran, the Spanish Ambassador, of “England’s +design to invade Mexico and Peru in the approaching war, on the plan +devised by the Marquis d’Aubarède, who was in receipt of a pension from +England.” But the sphere of his inquiries was not confined to England; +the correspondence he entertained with acquaintances in Russia enabled +him in 1769 to apprise the King of an expedition which the Empress was +then planning against the Turks, and which actually took place eight +months later. + +[Illustration: LA CHEVALIERE D’EON 1782 + +_From a Contemporary Oil-painting_] + +In an affair that occurred at the same time, and caused a great stir +in London, d’Eon played a more active part, which, thanks to his great +ability, obtained for him the approbation of the two courts and of the +whole of English society. At this time the Liberal party, which had been +increasing from day to day under the leadership of Wilkes, made a last +effort to overthrow the cabinet. Dr. Musgrave, one of the leaders of the +party, had just issued a virulent _Address to the Gentlemen, Clergy, and +Freeholders of the County of Devon_. In this document he renewed the +insinuations against which d’Eon had already protested in the papers +as early as the year 1764, and which represented that the Princess of +Wales, Lord Bute, the Duke of Richmond, Lord Egremont, and Lord Halifax +had received money from France at the time of the conclusion of the +treaties. Dr. Musgrave further stated that he was prepared to support +his charge by fresh evidence, which he had obtained during a recent stay +in Paris, and asserted that the overtures had been made through the +medium of the Chevalier d’Eon, in whose possession the papers relating to +that affair had assuredly remained. Finally, in a direct attack on Lord +Halifax, he reproached him for having refused from personal motives to +prosecute a public inquiry with regard to d’Eon’s papers, or to examine +the Chevalier himself. He invited that nobleman to justify his acts +before Parliament. The Secretary of State did not hesitate to accept +Dr. Musgrave’s challenge, and triumphantly refuted his accusations in +an eloquent speech. Parliament declared them to be groundless, and +severely reprimanded the orator who had formulated them. D’Eon, besides, +contributed in some measure to Lord Halifax’s success, protesting before +the debate against the pamphlet by “depositions and publications.” At +an early stage of the affair he addressed the following letter to Dr. +Musgrave, which was reproduced by the periodicals of the day: + + You will permit me to believe that you never knew any more + of me than I have the honour of knowing of you, and if in + your letter of August 12 you had not made a wrong use of my + name, I should not now find myself obliged to enter into a + correspondence with you. You pretend that in the summer of + 1764 overtures were made in my name to several members of + Parliament, purporting that I was ready to impeach three + persons (two of whom were peers and members of the Privy + Council), of having sold the Peace to the French, and you + seem to found thereupon the evidence of a charge which you + yourself made against Lord Halifax. Therefore, I hereby declare + that I never made, or caused to be made, any such overture, + either in the winter or the summer of 1764, nor at any other + time.... I now call upon you to make public the name of the + audacious person who has made use of mine to cover up his own + odious offers.... I swear to you, on my word of honour, and + before the public, that I never entered into any negotiation + for the sale of papers, and never either by myself, or any + agent authorised by me, offered to disclose that the Peace + had been sold to France. If Lord Halifax had caused me to be + cited, he might have known by my answers what my thoughts + were, that England rather gave money to France than France to + England, to conclude the last Peace, and that the happiness + I had in concurring in the work of making peace has inspired + me with sentiments of the justest veneration for the English + commissioners who were employed in it.... In order to enable + you to be as prudent as patriotic, I sign this letter and + therein give you my address, that to maintain your own sense + of justice you may furnish me with the means of publicly + confounding those slanderers who have dared to make use of my + name, in a manner still more opposed to real facts than to the + dignity of my character. + +This reply was received with equal satisfaction by the two governments, +who, having no interest in throwing too searching a light on the facts +of the case, did not fail to add their approbation to that which public +opinion had already bestowed upon the Chevalier. + +However, if he had had no intercourse with Dr. Musgrave, d’Eon had been +able to secure the attachment of another popular member of Parliament, +the celebrated John Wilkes. He had even proposed, for a moment, that the +cabinet of Versailles should assist the great agitator in conspiring +against the house of Hanover. The Comte de Broglie almost suffered +himself to be persuaded; but the King refused to engage in so rash an +undertaking; and Drouet, the count’s secretary, was despatched to London +to put a stop to the enterprise. D’Eon, nevertheless, had not broken with +Wilkes; and, thinking that he might make use of him in another way, he +wrote to the Count de Broglie: + + Do you desire a riot at the opening of Parliament after the + next election? If so, I must have so much for Wilkes and so + much for the others.... Wilkes costs us very dearly, but the + English have the Corsican Paoli, whom they lodge and feed on + our account. He is a bomb which they keep loaded to throw in + our midst at the first conflagration. Let us keep bomb for bomb. + +These numerous intrigues testify to the ingenuity and activity which +d’Eon did not cease to display at every turn. He was ever on the +watch, ever ready to follow the first trail which chance or even his +imagination supplied. Though wounded in his self-love and disappointed +in his ambition, d’Eon did not resign himself to becoming useless, to +being forgotten. Elated by too rapid a success, he was attacked with +a malady rarer at that time than at the present day—the passion for +advertisement. He must attract attention, even at the risk of incurring +blame, preferring the questionable reputation of an adventurer to the +obscurity of an honest servant of the King. Besides, he thought that by +rendering the King new services, even should they be unsolicited, he +would be strengthening his claim to a pension which was paid to him with +no regularity. The privy purse was indeed often empty, as most of the +private letters reveal. The Chevalier was in consequence sadly in want +of money; he petitioned the Duc de Choiseul, renewed his complaints to +the Duc d’Aiguillon, who, thanks to Madame du Barry’s protection, had +just succeeded the Duc de Praslin as Minister for Foreign Affairs; and he +entreated the Comte de Broglie. “I am dying of starvation,” he wrote to +the count, “between the two pensions you have granted me, like Buridan’s +ass between the two bundles neither of which he could reach with his +mouth.” He was in despair, and although he had always refused the offer +of the English Cabinet, which promised him an equal, but more punctually +remunerated, post if he applied for letters of naturalisation, he would +willingly have quitted the service of France, provided it was for the +benefit of a friendly nation. + +Indeed, he was seriously thinking of transferring his allegiance to +Poland, where the nobles had just chosen Stanislas Poniatowsky, the +favourite of Catherine II., as their king. During his residence in +Russia d’Eon had been at great pains to ingratiate himself with that +brilliant prince, and his efforts had been crowned with success. On the +election of Stanislas, he therefore hastened to present his respectful +congratulations to the new king, and informed him that he should be +extremely happy to enter his service. Stanislas having answered him +kindly and having even invited him to join him at Warsaw as soon as +he could, d’Eon at once wrote to him a grateful and effusive letter, +of which he kept a copy, and in which he dwelt complacently upon his +capabilities, with a view, no doubt, to obtaining a more advantageous +offer. + + Even if I had not the good fortune of being bound to you by + affection from my youth, I could not fail to be deeply moved by + the reply of February 26, with which your Majesty has deigned + to honour me. Were I to follow the first impulse of my heart, + I should set out immediately in order to enjoy the inestimable + privilege of paying my court to you in Poland; but my duty + compels me first to crave your permission. + + Time and again have I been tempted to offer my services + to your Majesty, both in the army and in diplomacy; but my + misfortunes have always made me fear that your Majesty might + look upon my offer as interested, and as coming solely from my + want of employment. + + I will take the liberty of stating that I have an income + of fifteen thousand livres and a library of three thousand + volumes, consisting in large part of rare books and of ancient + and modern manuscripts. With these and a little circle of + English noblemen who are friendlily disposed towards me I live + the quiet life of an exiled philosopher in a free country. But + your greatest misfortune and your happiness and your extreme + kindness remind me, Sire, that as I am only forty and enjoy + good health, and as I still possess my courage, my sword, and + some experience of war and politics, I might be able to serve + and avenge the cause of a king who knows me personally, a king + whose goodness is his glory, and who, like Socrates, loves + truth, and like Titus loves men. + + If my poor talents can be of use to your Majesty you have but + to command, and I will wing my flight with the remains of + my small fortune, in order to devote them to your Majesty’s + service. + + _P.S._—On my return from Lord Ferrers’ seat I went immediately + to pay my court to his Highness the young Prince Poniatowski, + who has been entirely successful in London. He has done me the + honour of accepting my invitation to a philosophical dinner + with M. de Lind, his worthy mentor, and of promising me to + forward this letter to your Majesty. Should you vouchsafe to + cause an answer to be sent, I beg you will not transmit it + through France but through the medium of his Highness the + Prince, your nephew, or of your envoy in London. + +D’Eon, still worried by the recollection of his scandalous dispute, did +not omit to send with his letter a copy of the “literary productions +which he had,” he said, “been compelled to publish during his past +unhappy dissension with the deceased ambassador of France, M. de Guerchy.” + +D’Eon’s papers do not admit of the belief that he received an answer to +that letter, but if so, it was by word of mouth and by the interposition +of a chamberlain of the King of Poland who happened to be in London. +At all events, d’Eon must certainly have hesitated to follow up that +attractive design, for M. de Broglie, of whom he had asked permission +to enter the service of Poland, replied that it was “the wish of the +King” that he should not leave London without his Majesty’s orders, that +“there was no other place where he could be in greater safety from the +malice of his enemies or where he could serve the King more usefully.” +He advised him to keep up a correspondence with the King of Poland, +overwhelmed him with compliments, and mentioned in conclusion that his +Majesty was convinced “of his attachment and loyalty.” If d’Eon’s object +in confiding his design to the secret minister was merely to raise the +price of his work and to sound the King’s intentions concerning him, he +might have realised that the services he had rendered in voluntary exile +had not sufficed to blot out from the King’s mind the recollection of his +follies. He sincerely considered himself a political victim, and thought +he had much in common with the unfortunate Cato, to whom an eminent +doctor of divinity of Oxford had once compared him. + +The Comte de Broglie’s letter must have confirmed his proud conviction; +but at the same time it vexed him greatly, for he was too cautious to be +deceived by the count’s handsome promises and to fail to see that what +was demanded of him was his self-effacement. No cruder punishment could +have been meted out to him. + +In the course of his contentions with the ambassador d’Eon had not +scrupled to make use of one invective after another; but he had, +perforce, exposed himself in his turn to most offensive repartees. A +strange insinuation had been made against him which had not remained +unnoticed, and which, cleverly turned to account and well circulated, +had finally excited the curiosity of a people ever on the watch for +eccentricities. One of the pamphleteers in de Guerchy’s pay had raised +doubts as to the nature of the Chevalier’s sex, whose “dragoon’s +uniform,” he said, “concealed a woman or a hermaphrodite.” D’Eon’s frail +appearance, small stature, slender figure, and the delicate features of +his almost beardless face lent colour to this idea. He was not known +to have had any of those amorous adventures of which it was unusual at +that time to make a mystery. D’Eon, who, in the heat of the controversy, +had probably attached no importance to that strange insult, had taken +no notice of it. Besides, he must have felt it less than anybody else, +for he was wont to speak openly “of the singular lack of passion of his +temperament,” taking in good part the banter which neither the Marquis +de L’Hospital nor the Duc de Nivernais had spared him. His acquaintances +in London had often expressed surprise at the discrepancy in such an +exuberant personality. John Taylor, a contemporary of d’Eon, relates, in +his _Records of My Life_, that “several marriages with ladies of good +family, and with large fortunes, had been proposed to him at the country +seats he visited; but that upon all such occasions he immediately left +the house, whence it was inferred he quitted the place on account of his +being really of the female sex.” + +The French ambassador (at that time M. du Châtelet) was persuaded that +d’Eon was a woman, and had not been slow to inform the King of the public +report which was spread upon Princess Daschkow’s arrival in London. The +princess, a niece of Woronzow, the Grand Chancellor of Russia, who had +so effectually assisted the Empress Catherine II. to rid herself of her +royal husband and to ascend the throne, was living in exile by the order +of her sovereign. She had taken refuge in England and had not omitted +to relate at court and in society that the Chevalier d’Eon, whom she +knew well at St. Petersburg, and whose eccentricities were the topic +of every conversation, had presented himself at the imperial palace +attired as a woman, and that the Empress Elizabeth, deceived by the +disguise, had admitted the young officer of dragoons into the circle of +her maids of honour. This story, which confirmed the most credulous in +their convictions and excited the curiosity of the sceptics, made the +question of d’Eon’s sex the topic of the day, and led to a succession +of those bets which were then so common in London, and for which the +most trifling incident served as a pretext. Insurance policies were +effected at Brooks’s and White’s, the quotations being posted up in the +coffee-houses; and the memoranda which have been handed down to us show +that the stakes frequently reached a thousand pounds. + +The news thus spread soon crossed the Channel, causing no less +astonishment in Paris, where it was eagerly discussed in fashionable +as well as official circles. Bachaumont, the literary and political +chronicler of the time, states in his _Mémoires_, under date of September +25, 1771: “The reports which have been countenanced for several months +to the effect that the Sieur d’Eon, that fiery person so celebrated for +his adventures, is only a woman dressed in man’s clothing, the confidence +with which the rumour has been received in England, and the wagers for +and against amounting to over a hundred thousand pounds, have revived the +attention of Paris about that strange man....” This testimony, which can +easily be verified by the newspapers of the day, does not in the least +exaggerate the interest with which the French public continued to follow +d’Eon in his exploits. It would be difficult to believe such extravagant +statements if the portraits of the hero and the most varied caricatures +which were published at that time had not come down to us, and if traces +of that curiosity were not to be found in the periodicals and magazines +of the various capitals. Journalists, artists, song-writers and minor +poets exercised their talents in his honour to their hearts’ content. +Thus, among so many transient documents, we find in the _Almanach des +Muses_ of 1771 the following verses, flattering in their credulity and +kind in their irony:— + + À MADEMOISELLE * * * + QUI S’ETAIT DÉGUISÉE EN HOMME + + Bonjour, fripon de Chevalier, + Qui savait si bien l’art de plaire + Que par un bonheur singulier + De nos beautés la plus sévère, + En faveur d’un tel écolier, + Déposant son ton minaudier + Et sa sagesse grimacière, + Pourrait peut-être s’oublier, + Ou plutôt moins se contrefaire. + Mon cher, nous le savons trop bien, + (Le ciel en tout est bon et sage), + Pour un si hardi personnage + Dans le fond vous ne valez rien. + Croyez moi: reprenez un rôle + Que vous jouez plus sûrement. + Que votre sexe se console, + Du mien vous faites le tourment + Et le vôtre, sur ma parole, + Vous doit son plus bel ornement. + Hélas, malheureux que nous sommes! + Vous avez tout pour nous charmer; + C’est bien être au-dessus des hommes + Que de savoir s’en faire aimer! + + D’ARNAUD. + +This revival of popularity was anything but displeasing to the vain +Chevalier, whom the ambassador’s death had reduced to a state of +comparative oblivion. He did not hesitate to brave ridicule, having +furnished sufficient proofs of virility, sword, sabre or pen in hand, +and took delight in being talked about. Ladies, especially, showed +curiosity, and seemed almost anxious to reckon the dashing Chevalier as +one of themselves. Their curiosity encouraged them to ask him point blank +for the answer to the enigma, as the daughter of Wilkes, the member of +Parliament, did, with audacious ingenuousness: + + Miss Wilkes presents her compliments to Monsieur the Chevalier + d’Eon, and is very anxious to know if he is really a woman, as + everybody asserts, or a man. It would be extremely kind of the + Chevalier to impart the truth to Miss Wilkes, who earnestly + entreats to be informed of it. It would be kinder still of him + if he would come and dine with her and her papa, to-day or + to-morrow, or, in fact, as soon as he is able to do so. + +If curiosity expressed so candidly was quite charming, the much more +practical interest which the uncertainty had awakened in the gambling +world was manifested with greater boldness and impatience. It was also +harder to baffle, and d’Eon soon experienced again the disadvantages +of celebrity. Not only did the papers report the wagers day by day, +but extremely satirical caricatures began to appear. Anxious to drive +d’Eon to extremities, those who had laid wagers became more and more +impertinent, and at last went so far as to assert that the Chevalier +shared in the insurance policies made on his sex. This insinuation +decided d’Eon to break the silence he had preserved until then, by making +an energetic protest. On March 20, he proceeded to the Exchange, and to +several neighbouring coffee-houses, and there, in uniform, walking-stick +in hand, he compelled “the money-broker Bird, who was the first to start +one of these impudent insurances, to beg his pardon.” Bird assured him, +in the face of his apologies, that, following an Act of Parliament, he +and other bankers besides had the right to effect the most extraordinary +wagers, even with regard to the royal family, except so far as concerned +the life of the King, the Queen and their children. D’Eon, who relates +this incident in a letter to the Comte de Broglie, adds: “Yielding +the choice of weapons, I challenged the most incredulous and the most +insolent of the entire assembly (which numbered several thousands) to +fight; but not one of those male adversaries in this great city dared +either to cross sticks or to fight me, although I stayed among them from +noon until two o’clock.” This swaggering tirade had not exactly the +desired effect; for although his antagonists, intimidated by so expert +a swordsman, did not accept the challenge, their curiosity was still as +intense as ever, and became so aggressive that the Chevalier was obliged, +a few days later, to furnish more obvious proofs “of a sex which he +stamped in a most virile fashion on the faces of two insolent fellows.” +Incessantly exposed to such impertinences, and informed that several +wealthy gamblers were determined to kidnap him, by stratagem or by force, +d’Eon realised that he could not hope to avoid so great a humiliation +by hiding himself in London, as he had formerly succeeded in doing, or +even by shutting himself up in his house in Brewer Street. Accordingly, +he resolved to follow the advice of his friend, Earl Ferrers, and to +accept that nobleman’s hospitality at his seat at Staunton Harold. +Thence he intended to repair to Ireland, to spend several months there, +and not to return until the disturbance had subsided. He therefore set +out without taking leave of any of his friends, and apprised only the +Comte de Broglie of his flight. In his letter he protested emphatically +against the reports accusing him of having an interest in the policies +of insurance, and concluded by this evidently sincere confession, +which fully explains many acts of his adventurous life: “I am terribly +mortified at being what nature has made me, and that the natural lack of +passion in my temperament, which has prevented my engaging in amorous +intrigues, should induce my friends in France, in Russia, and in England +to imagine, in their innocence, that I am of the female sex; and the +malice of my enemies has strengthened all this.” + +D’Eon travelled in the north of England under an assumed name and, after +spending a few weeks in Scotland, was preparing to proceed to Ireland +when news reached him through the papers which obliged him to alter his +plans. His friends, alarmed at his disappearance and fearing that he had +fallen a victim to some attempt on the part of those interested in the +wagers, were causing inquiries to be made in London and had published his +description. His creditors, no less concerned, had just demanded that the +doors of his lodging should be sealed; lastly, he was publicly accused +of participation in the wagers. Dreading lest the indiscreet zeal of the +officers of the law should lead to the discovery of his papers, d’Eon +hastily returned to London. Upon his arrival he at once repaired to the +Mansion House, and delivered to the Lord Mayor a deposition under oath +to the effect that he was “not interested to the value of one shilling, +directly or indirectly, in the policies of insurance” made on his sex. +_The Public Advertiser_ published this affidavit the same evening, and +d’Eon, anxious to clear himself from such an imputation in the sight +of his chief, sent him an extract from the newspaper, not without +accompanying it by fresh protestations. “It is not my fault,” he wrote, +“if the rage for betting on all matters is a national failing among +Englishmen. I have given proof, and will again do so to their hearts’ +content, that I am not only a man, but a captain of dragoons with sword +in hand.” + +It is strange to find d’Eon claiming, in July 1771, so energetically +(for it was the last time that he did so without ambiguity) his real +sex. From that moment he began to entertain the idea of the audacious +farce which he only decided to enact some time later, and the plot of +which was suggested by his contemporaries themselves. His resolution to +transform himself into a woman was formed between the months of July +1771 and April 1772. If he still abstained for over a year from avowing +his supposed sex to his protectors, if he still hesitated to make his +transformation public, he proved more communicative with a friend, who +informed the secret minister, and so indirectly the King. D’Eon first +confided in Drouet, secretary to the Comte de Broglie, who happened to +be in London at the time. The latter had not omitted to rally d’Eon on +the subject of the sex which was already being ascribed to him in Paris +also, whereupon d’Eon exclaimed, and, to his interlocutor’s profound +astonishment, asserted that he really was a woman. His parents, he said, +misled at his birth by doubtful appearances, and being particularly +anxious, as in every noble family, to have a male heir, had compelled him +to assume a sex other than that which nature had bestowed upon him. His +disposition and education had enabled him to play his part in public, +and his talents to achieve a brilliant career. D’Eon exerted in support +of this theory all the eloquence of which he was capable, and as Drouet +remained incredulous he indulged in an unseemly comedy, which he revived +at a later period in the presence of the adventurer Morande, and thereby +managed entirely to convince the Comte de Broglie’s secretary. Upon his +return Drouet at once reported the unexpected discovery to his master, +who wrote to the King, in May 1772: + + I must not forget to inform your Majesty that the suspicions + entertained on the sex of this extraordinary personage are + well founded. The Sieur Drouet, whom I had ordered to do his + best to verify them, has assured me, since his return, that + he has succeeded, and that he is able to certify ... that the + Sieur d’Eon is a woman and nothing but a woman, of whom he has + all the attributes.... He begged the Sieur Drouet to keep the + secret, justly observing that if discovered his occupation + was gone.... May I entreat your Majesty to be pleased to + permit that the confidence he has reposed in his friend be not + betrayed, and that he will have no cause to regret what he has + done.... + +It is difficult to believe that this letter can have sufficed to +convince so shrewd a monarch, who had long since taken d’Eon’s measure. +Like Voltaire, Louis XV. must have regarded all this as an absurd sham, +the first news of which had, some months previously, left him sceptical. +The very astonishment he had then shown disproves the assertion that the +sovereign was the Chevalier’s secret accomplice. But that is the theory +which Casanova has ventured to sustain in his _Mémoires_: + + The King alone knew, and always had known, that d’Eon was a + woman, and the entire quarrel between the sham Chevalier and + the Foreign Office was a farce which the King allowed to be + played out for his own amusement.... Nobody ever possessed in a + more marked degree the great royal virtue called dissimulation. + Faithful guardian of a secret, he was delighted when he felt + certain that none but he was aware of it. + + + + +VII + +THE MORANDE CASE + + +Louis XV., as his correspondence shows, was unaware of the secret of his +former agent’s real sex or, more probably, indifferent to the question. +As for d’Eon, he had only just decided finally to adopt the expedient, +beginning to realise that his career was at an end, and that the only +asylum he could hope for in France was at Tonnerre, or, as was even more +likely, in the Bastille. He had not much more to lose as a man, and was +seriously considering the advantages he should obtain from assuming +the sex which the public attributed to him so persistently. Sensation, +popularity, notoriety and fresh pecuniary resources were the stakes of a +hazardous game, but one in which, in d’Eon’s opinion, the gain outweighed +the risk, and he therefore decided to take his chance as soon as a +favourable opportunity offered. + +Meanwhile he had not thought fit to make the Comte de Broglie directly +acquainted with the change. The latter pretended to ignore it, and +continued to employ his services as formerly, an urgent and particularly +delicate affair just then needing his co-operation. The fact was a +report had just been spread in Madame du Barry’s set to the effect that +a scandalous work against herself, in which even the person of the King +was not spared, was about to be published in London, and thence to be +circulated on the continent. + +The author of this pamphlet was a certain Théveneau de Morande, who, +having incurred the displeasure of the King’s tribunals, had sought in +England the refuge of which all people like himself availed themselves +at the time. A clever adventurer, and an intriguer of the worst type, +he openly trafficked in London in scandal and slander. In a little +blackmailing newspaper, which he edited himself, he disseminated the +most odious calumnies to the prejudice of ministers and people about +the court, which he interlarded with scandalous anecdotes current at +Versailles, and “notices on several opera dancers, the whole”—Bachaumont +concludes—“forming a most pernicious composition.” + +This publication, in the style of the Paris _Colporteur_, was called _Le +Gazetier Cuirassé_, and displayed on the title-page a print “representing +the gazetteer in the uniform of a hussar, with a little pointed cap on +his head, and a face expressive of sardonic laughter, aiming to right +and left the cannons, bombshells, and all the artillery which surround +him.” This dishonest livelihood, however, did not satisfy Morande, who, +not content with demanding sums of money directly from the persons whom +it was his intention to blackmail, produced more voluminous works of an +equally depraved nature. + +Well and promptly informed by needy correspondents whom he employed in +France, he imparted the latest news from Versailles to his acquaintances +in London. “Madame du Barry,” he wrote in one of his bulletins, “has +given balls to the high nobility during the carnival, and bodyguards have +been posted in all the avenues, just as at the residence of Madame la +Dauphine. Neither the young Prince nor the Princesses were present, but +the Duc de Chartres and the Comte de la Marche made their appearance for +a moment with the King. Mimi opened the ball with the Prince de Chimay. +Madame du B—— was mightily disappointed to see so few guests. As for +me, they are hanging me, burning me, erecting altars to me in Paris; in +short, they are as eager to buy my book as I am to sell it.” Indeed, M. +des Cars was actively engaged in suppressing the scandal, and he had +induced the Comte de Broglie to write to d’Eon instructing him to make +terms with the blackmailer. D’Eon’s reply was not long in coming: + + You could not have recourse to anybody more able to assist + and bring to a satisfactory conclusion the affair you have + mentioned to me, M. Morande being a countryman of mine, + who boasts of being connected with a branch of my family + in Burgundy. As soon as he arrived in London, three years + ago, he wrote to me that he was a countryman of mine, and + that he wished to see me and make my acquaintance. For two + years I refused for very good reasons. He has so frequently + called since, that I have occasionally received him rather + than be annoyed by a young man of an exceedingly turbulent + and impetuous disposition.... He has married his landlady’s + daughter, who was in the habit of attending to his room. + (They have two children, and live on good terms together.) + He is a man who blackmailed several rich people in Paris by + means of his pen, and has libelled the Comte de Laraguais in + the grossest possible manner. The King of England (himself + so frequently attacked in the papers) asked the Count, with + reference to this affair, what he thought of the liberty of + the English press. “I have nothing to complain of, Sire,” he + replied, “it treats me like a king.” + + I am not informed that Morande is engaged on a scandalous + account of the du Barry family; but I have very strong + suspicions that such is the case. If it should be so, there is + nobody in a better position than myself to negotiate for its + suppression. He is very fond of his wife, and I undertake to + persuade her to do anything I wish. I might even induce her to + carry off the manuscript, but that might make a quarrel between + them; in which case I should be compromised, and another, and + more annoying affair would ensue. I believe that if Morande + were offered eight hundred guineas he would be quite satisfied. + I know that he is in want of money just now, and I will do my + best to arrange for a smaller sum. But, sir, to tell you the + truth, I should be delighted if the money were given to him by + some other person, so that nobody will imagine that I have made + a single guinea by such a transaction. + +If d’Eon despised this intriguer as much as he said he did, he had +nevertheless always kept him on good terms, and was far more intimate +with him than he wished it to appear. Morande was continually offering +his services, whether to assist him in “some literary productions upon +which he was engaged,” or to write, “with true Burgundian zeal, the +biography of the enigmatical Chevalier.” D’Eon did not long remain +indifferent to his incessant flattery and respectful assurances of +devotion; he even entertained him, and supplied him with money. +Morande, his insolvent debtor, and now his guest, soon confided to him +his blackmailing projects. These d’Eon often urged him to give up, and +if unsuccessfully, he was still in a position where money arrangements +for that end could be easily made. The Comte de Broglie’s orders were +in consequence promptly executed. Morande entered readily into terms +of composition with “his countryman and companion in exile,” as he was +pleased to call him. In a few days the bargain was made, d’Eon obtaining +a promise written and signed by the hand of the Sieur Morande whereby +the latter pledged himself “not to confide this negotiation to a single +creature.” He promised besides “not only to refrain from printing his +work against the family of the Marquis and the Comtesse du Barry, but +also to sacrifice it entirely, and to deliver faithfully to the Chevalier +d’Eon all the memoranda and copies, according to the stipulations of the +agreement.” + +The negotiation had been conducted by d’Eon with great rapidity and +genuine skill; the terms were relatively moderate; and there was every +indication that the King’s ratification and that of the interested family +would not be long in forthcoming. Such, however, was far from being +the case—either because Madame du Barry did not desire to employ the +services of the Comte de Broglie, whom she particularly disliked, and +whose assistance had been sought without her consent; or, more probably +perhaps, because she scorned to think her reputation at the mercy of +these scandalous disclosures. Less anxious about public opinion than +were her own courtiers, “she appeared to be easy about a matter which +should have concerned her so much,” and when the conditions obtained by +d’Eon were submitted to her she replied somewhat evasively, “that they +must be considered.” The matter was never “discussed more thoroughly.” +The King shared the favourite’s indifference to that which concerned +himself personally, and deemed, with like good sense, that it was best +not to trouble oneself about slanders which threatened to increase in +proportion to the importance attached to them by the people concerned. +Accordingly he wrote to the Comte de Broglie: “This is not the first +time I have been abused in like fashion; they are the masters, I do not +hide that from myself. Surely, they can only repeat what has been said +about the du Barry family. It is for them to do as they choose, and I +will fall in with their views.” This note throws no new light on Louis +XV.’s character; but it is not one of the least striking testimonies of +the innate unconscientiousness and the complete lack of moral feeling in +a monarch otherwise full of shrewdness and good sense. A few days later, +the Comte de Broglie received a letter from the King ordering him to +suspend the negotiations begun by d’Eon. + +M. du Barry had at last thought it advisable to look to the honour of +his house. He had sent to London an emissary selected from among the +hangers-on of his set, assisted by the police. This adventurer was as +ill-noted as Morande himself, but less cunning, and he regarded his +mission chiefly as an opportunity for a pleasant, well-remunerated +journey. As soon as he arrived in London he had an interview with +Morande, during the course of which he astounded him by his influential +acquaintances, his fictitious post in the household of the Comte +d’Artois, and dazzled him by the brilliancy of his promises. Morande +raised his price proportionately, at once broke with d’Eon, and +introduced everywhere in London the emissary who had been sent to him. +But after a few weeks the Sieur de Lormoy, having squandered the sum +of money with which he had been provided, and being unable to persuade +Morande to moderate his new demands, left London surreptitiously, without +having done anything but incur debts to the amount of a thousand pounds. +Morande, disappointed and extremely irritated, was on the point of +publishing his work, when the du Barry family sent another negotiator, +chosen this time by M. de Sartine himself—Caron de Beaumarchais, the +pamphleteer, who was not yet the successful author of the _Mariage de +Figaro_, but merely the boisterous and litigious antagonist of President +Goëzman. + +D’Eon has left another version of that mission which is neither likely +nor in good taste, and appears to have been inspired by the bitter hatred +he entertained against Beaumarchais to the end of his days. + +“The Sieur Caron de Beaumarchais,” he says, “under censure of the +Parliament of Paris, and on the point of being arrested in accordance +with the judgment, takes refuge in the King’s wardrobe, an asylum +worthy of such a personage. M. de Laborde, the King’s valet, confides +to Beaumarchais, in the gloom of the wardrobe, that the King’s heart is +saddened by a scurrilous libel on the love affairs of the charming du +Barry, which is being written in London by the scoundrel Morande. + +“Forthwith, the romantic and gigantic heart of the Sieur Caron swells +with idle fancies; his ambition rises to the height of the waves of the +sea which he will have to cross.... He communicates to Laborde his idea +of going to London, and secretly bribing with gold the corrupt Morande. +This project is imparted by Laborde to Louis XV., who deigns to give his +approval. Accordingly, the Sieur Caron de Beaumarchais arrives in London +_incognito_, escorted by the Comte de Lauraguais _in publico_.” + +The day of their arrival Morande called on d’Eon, if we may believe the +latter, and informed him of the advantageous offers he had just received. +He did not wish to accept them without consulting the Chevalier, who was +the first to open up negotiations, and mentioned that “two gentlemen +desired to confer with the Chevalier d’Eon,” and were awaiting him “in +their coach at the corner of the street.” D’Eon, extremely dignified, +refused to see strangers who had brought no letters of introduction “from +official persons, and might be emissaries of police.” He then dismissed +Morande, observing “that the love affairs of kings being very delicate +matters for anybody to meddle in, he was exposing himself to the dangers +associated with the occupation of a highwayman; that such being the case +he was justified in exacting the largest sum out of the richest gilt +coach he might meet, and that his own only contained eight hundred pounds +sterling.” + +A few days later, the Chevalier “learned that the two gentlemen were the +unknown Caron de Beaumarchais and the most illustrious and well-known +Louis François de Brancas, Comte de Lauraguais.” They had concluded, +almost without discussion, an extremely liberal agreement with Charles +Théveneau de Morande, whereby an annuity of 4000 livres was settled on +that adventurer, and one of 2000 livres on his wife, after his death. In +addition to that, Morande gained a sum of 32,000 livres, which was handed +to him in exchange for the manuscripts. + +D’Eon, after casting up the items of the bargain and adding the expenses +and emoluments of the “ambassadors extraordinary,” asserts that the libel +cost the court the respectable sum of 154,000 livres, and expresses great +indignation at such deplorable extravagance. He was, moreover, all the +more inclined to be critical as he had been excluded from a negotiation +which he had all but concluded with greater skill and moderation, and had +been counting on his success to regain the King’s favour. + +Beaumarchais, who, as we shall see presently, had a lively private +interview with his opponent a little later, hastily returned to France to +turn his advantage to account, while d’Eon consoled himself by publishing +a work which was the fruit of his long years of inactivity, and which he +entitled philosophically, _Les Loisirs du Chevalier d’Eon_. Studiously +and patiently did he beguile his leisure. In his shady retreat in Petty +France, the garden of which bordered on the park, he indulged in the +gravest meditations, to judge by the subjects discussed in these thirteen +octavo volumes. War, administration, general politics, foreign affairs, +one after another, are studied at length; even finance is not neglected, +and suggests to the author such judicious observations, such prudent +measures of reform, that the King of Prussia took care, it is said, to +point them out to his ministers. He is, at any rate, reported to have +done so in a London newspaper! Very favourably received in Berlin, the +work owed its success in London chiefly to a daring dedication, which, on +the other hand, prevented its sale in the Paris booksellers’ shops, and, +particularly, in that of Antoine Boudet, in the Rue Saint Jacques. The +most eloquent petitions, the most influential recommendations failed to +appease M. de Sartine’s wrath against a book published under the auspices +of the Duc de Choiseul, whose signal disgrace had just created so great +a sensation and aroused so much indignation. D’Eon had placed himself of +his own accord under the duke’s patronage in the following terms:— + +“In dedicating this work to you, Monsieur le Duc, I was not seeking +a protector, for I am sufficiently protected by my liberty and my +innocence. I sought a great man, and I have found him in his retreat at +Chanteloup.” + +If history has not ratified d’Eon’s judgment of Choiseul, it must be +remembered how ungrateful and difficult was the task of a minister +whose foreign policy was almost continually counteracted by the secret +action of the sovereign, and whose initiative, often very happy, in +home politics was well-nigh paralysed by the hostile caprices of the +favourite. A victim of Madame du Barry’s resentment, whom his mordant +wit had not spared, Choiseul bore serenely and proudly an exile during +which the court, and even the royal princes, visited him. Such a fine +attitude attracted d’Eon, and all the more because vanity made him +compare the lot of the exile with his own, and regard the fallen minister +as another victim of the same intrigues and the same favourites. Pride +or, to be more correct, bravado had similarly prompted him to write to +the duke, at the time of his disgrace, a letter evidently inspired by a +desire of impressing the world by his noble sentiments: + + MONSIEUR LE DUC,—You have long honoured me by your good-will + and your undisguised protection. The latter you withdrew from + me only out of consideration for the Duc de Praslin, my enemy + and your relative and colleague. + + I have always been glad of your good-will and have never + complained of your desertion. + + Now that your fair-weather friends are about to disown and + forsake you in the hour of your disgrace, I draw nearer to you + and lay at your feet the homage of my devotion and gratitude, + which will endure to the end of my days. + + Pray accept them, and believe me your very humble and devoted + servant, + + THE CHEVALIER D’EON. + +Louis XV., who had once more sacrificed his minister to his favourite, +no longer even bethought himself of making up, as formerly, for +his disgraceful surrenders by clandestine intrigues. The secret +correspondence, at which he had laboured every day for fifteen years, did +not interest him any more. The letters published by Boutaric testify to +the fact, barely including a few notes from the King for the years 1773 +and 1774. + +Such indifference on the part of the King continually exposed the +secret correspondence, formerly guarded so jealously, to the danger of +discovery. Moreover, the ministers had not been long in suspecting its +existence. The Duc d’Aiguillon, who had guessed the part played by the +Comte de Broglie, was now watching for an opportunity for detecting +the intrigue, and also for revenging himself on a hidden rival whose +arrogance had exasperated him. The still somewhat mysterious excursion +of two agents of the secret service, Favier and Dumouriez, who appear +to have attempted at that time to enter into a negotiation with Prussia +to the prejudice of Austria, supplied the long-sought means of putting +the Comte de Broglie in a false position. The duke caused a report to be +spread at Versailles that a conspiracy had lately been discovered, and +gave orders for the imprisonment in the Bastille of Favier and Dumouriez, +who had just been arrested—the former in Paris, and the latter at The +Hague, on his way to Germany. Failing to discover anything sufficiently +compromising on the persons of these two subordinate agents, he made +bold to suggest to the King that the Comte de Broglie’s papers should be +seized. + +Louis XV. replied, with feigned indifference, that he saw no reason for +doing so; that the count, it was true, submitted to him, from time to +time, reports relating to foreign affairs; but that these were historical +matters, without any political tendency. D’Aiguillon was obliged to +content himself with this explanation, and knew how to make the best +of his ill success. Favier and Dumouriez appeared alone before three +commissioners, one of whom the King had taken the precaution of seeing +should be M. de Sartine, duly apprised as on a former occasion; they +were sentenced to a few months’ imprisonment, Favier being sent to the +fortress of Doullens, and Dumouriez to the castle of Caen. + +As for the Comte de Broglie, whom the King had screened, guided by +selfish motives rather than by a sense of justice, he only escaped +imprisonment to be exiled. His arrogant character made it impossible +for him to endure the mistrust in which he was held at court since the +discovery of the intrigue. Conjecturing that the Duc d’Aiguillon was +responsible for his disgrace, he wrote to him so imprudent a letter +that, on its being communicated to the King, he was forthwith exiled to +Ruffec. Louis XV. was not sorry to find a pretext for ridding himself of +a devoted, but at times indiscreet, servant, whose zeal had become more +and more importunate. Consequently, he paid no heed to the submissive +and apologetic letters which the count sent to him from Ruffec, to the +entreaties of the countess, or even to the appeals of the marshal. +Nevertheless, he did not wish, or did not dare, entirely to withdraw +his confidence from the secret minister, who, exiled and disgraced +officially, continued to correspond clandestinely with the King’s private +agents from his remote provincial residence. + +The Comte de Broglie’s occupation was not destined to last long. It was +now devoid of interest and utility, and was a mystery to nobody. The +agents of Austria had made the cabinet of Vienna acquainted with the +secret correspondence, and it kept the other courts of Germany punctually +informed. In France even the ministers were now aware of the intrigue, +and the court had had some inkling of it through the disclosures of the +Cardinal de Rohan, to whom a spy in the _cabinet noir_ had confided it. + +When Louis XV. died his secret was common property, and the policy on +which he had vainly expended so much ingenuity, and sacrificed so much +devotion, ended in a scandal which the death of the King himself was +alone powerful enough to suppress. France did not lose a sovereign in +this worn-out old man, become the plaything of a worthless woman, and +even the agents of the secret service had no cause to regret a protector +who had never made demands on their devotion without sacrificing them +afterwards to his peace of mind. Consequently, they were not far from +joining in the general rejoicings. By way of funeral oration, d’Eon wrote +to the Comte de Broglie, only a few months after the King’s death: + + It is time, after the cruel loss we have experienced of our + _Counsellor-in-Chief_ at Versailles, who, in the midst of + his own court, had less power than a king’s advocate at the + Châtelet, who, through incredible weakness ever suffered his + faithless servants to triumph over his faithful secret ones, + and favoured his avowed enemies rather than his real friends; + it is time, I say, that you should inform the new King (who + loves truth, and of whom it is said that he is as firm as his + illustrious grandfather was weak) of your having been the + secret minister of Louis XV. for upwards of twenty years, and + of my having been under-minister, under his orders and yours. + +D’Eon, whose estimation of his services, and the functions which had been +entrusted to him, was far from modest, then recapitulated his claims and +grievances, compared himself with La Chalotais and expressed his hopes of +a similar reinstatement, concluding as follows:— + + As for you, Monsieur le Comte, you will know better than I + how to represent by what jealousy, treachery, baseness, and + foul vengeance the Duc d’Aiguillon keeps you still an exile + at Ruffec, without your having ceased to be the friend and + secret minister of the late King, until his death. Posterity + could never believe in these facts, had not you and I all the + necessary documents to establish them, together with others + still more incredible. Had the late good King not expelled the + Jesuits from his kingdom, and had he had a Malagrida for his + confessor, nobody would then have wondered; but, by the grace + of God, I hope the new King will soon deliver you and me out + of our embarrassments. I trust that no Jesuit will ever be his + confessor, friend, or minister, whether he be disguised as + priest, chancellor, duke, peer, courtier, or courtesan. + +Louis XV.’s secret minister had not waited for that letter before +attempting to regain favour with the new monarch. He was obliged to +present his defence in writing, being still in exile at Ruffec, and +feeling the burden of the suspicions aroused by Louis XV.’s obstinacy in +keeping so compromising a collaborator at a distance. He had to contend +with all those who had formerly envied him; and Marie Antoinette’s +influence on her husband, and her intention of participating in the +administration of public affairs, did not improve the case of the man who +had secretly attacked the Austrian alliance. + +He therefore sent, on May 13, 1774, a memorandum to Louis XVI., in which +he informed him of the various negotiations of the secret correspondence, +and also of the places where the late King might have concealed his +papers and letters, but which showed above all his anxiety to clear +himself and to explain the part he had played personally. A fortnight +later he wrote again to the King; but this time it was chiefly d’Eon’s +conduct which he strove to explain and justify. In defending d’Eon, +the Comte de Broglie was serving his own ends, and the very terms of +his letter prove that he was aware of that fatal joint responsibility. +“I conceive it to be possible,” he wrote, “that your Majesty has heard +him unfavourably spoken of, and that you will therefore be astonished +to find him included among the number of those persons honoured with +the confidence of the late King.” He admitted that d’Eon’s excessive +hastiness had given rise to “unseemly incidents,” but did not conceal +the fact that the Chevalier was first provoked by the Comte de Guerchy’s +want of tact. He concluded: “This curious person (since the Sieur d’Eon +is a woman) is, even more than most others, a mixture of good and bad +qualities, and he carries both to extremes.” The Comte de Broglie +therefore urged upon the King that it would be wise to continue to +pay to Mademoiselle d’Eon the pension conferred upon the Chevalier by +Louis XV. For himself he asked more, and intimated that he would not +deliver the secret papers until he should have been able to justify +himself completely before a special commission. Louis XVI., who had +bethought himself for a moment of continuing the secret policy of his +predecessor, soon abandoned this project under the influence of Marie +Antoinette herself, urged by her mother. His immediate care then was to +pay off the staff of the secret service. In order to put an end to the +Comte de Broglie’s claims, he gave him an opportunity of justifying his +conduct before three commissioners—De Muy, Vergennes and Sartine—who did +justice unreservedly to the discretion, penetration and ability which +Louis XV.’s secret minister had shown during the course of extremely +delicate negotiations. Such striking testimony might satisfy the count’s +conscience, but it did not restore him to royal favour. Louis XVI. +obstinately refused to confer a peerage, or even the least reward, upon +his grandfather’s faithful and unfortunate servant. He confined himself +to settling the pensions of the subordinate agents, henceforward deprived +of all employment by the abolition of the secret service. + +[Illustration: THE CHEVALIER D’EON + +_From an Engraving published in 1810_] + +Among these d’Eon alone was not included. The ministers thought that +the figure of the pension which Louis XV. had conferred upon him was +excessive, and hesitated to ensure payment in the same proportions. +The motive for such liberality still existed, however, since numerous +political papers were still in d’Eon’s possession. The Comte de Vergennes +had been able to satisfy himself of this fact, and he wrote to the King +on August 22: + + M. de Muy and I have already seen the entire correspondence + which the Comte de Broglie has entertained with the Chevalier + d’Eon since he made return to his own country impossible. + We are preparing a report which we shall have the honour of + communicating to your Majesty, as well as the means we propose + to employ for recalling a man whom it would be unwise to allow + to remain in England. + +The means in question were really suggested by the Comte de Broglie, who +interceded on d’Eon’s behalf and undertook to induce him to come to an +agreement. It was he who persuaded the King to continue the payment in +full of the pension conferred upon the Chevalier by Louis XV. in the year +1766, and to authorise him to return to France. + +In return, d’Eon was to surrender the secret papers and give his word +of honour that he would desist from provoking or attacking in writing a +family which he had already so unjustly persecuted. Such were the offers +transmitted to d’Eon by the Comte de Vergennes in a letter approved +by the King. It was decided that the Marquis de Prunevaux, captain in +the regiment of Burgundian Cavalry, should proceed to London for the +express purpose of conducting that negotiation. He was to deliver to the +Chevalier a safe conduct, together with a note in which the Comte de +Broglie exhorted him to submit readily and gratefully to the King’s will. +“For my own part,” wrote the former secret minister in conclusion, “I am +delighted to have been able to contribute to your securing a liberal and +honourable retiring pension in your own country.” + +What the Comte de Broglie regarded as an honourable pension was in +d’Eon’s estimation a wretched gratuity, which in no wise indemnified +him for the pecuniary losses he had sustained, and the disgrace he +had incurred in consequence of his obedience to royal commands. Since +the death of Louis XV. he had never ceased to profess himself “ready +to submit to anything that might be agreeable to the new King,” but +such feigned humility was merely the result of fear. He was afraid of +being forgotten in London, and strove by the bait of the secret papers +to involve Louis XVI. in a negotiation which he hoped to turn to good +account. + +Upon the arrival of the negotiator, he promptly forgot the +disinterestedness he had displayed, and set about discussing eagerly the +terms of the bargain. He did not doubt that this was a final opportunity +offered him for deliverance once for all out of the unhappy plight to +which his foolish pride had reduced him. An unexpected event revived his +hope of reinstatement. Treyssac de Vergy, who had been implicated in his +quarrels with the Comte de Guerchy, had just died, and, in a will which +d’Eon immediately caused to be published in the papers, certified anew +the truth of all the ambassador’s plots and nefarious designs, of which +he confessed he had been the unwitting agent. The adventurer’s confession +_in extremis_ was credited in London; Sir John Fielding declared d’Eon’s +innocence to be “clear as daylight,” and Mr. Charles, tutor to the royal +children, sent to the Chevalier the congratulations of Lord Bute, the +minister. “The Chevalier’s old friend [Lord Bute],” he wrote, “to whom +Charles has shown the enclosed document [a copy of the will], rejoices at +the favourable turn affairs appear to be taking.” + +So well, indeed, did D’Eon think things were getting on, that he +protested strongly when the Marquis de Prunevaux made him acquainted +with the Comte de Vergennes’ decision and offers. He declared heatedly +that the terms were unacceptable, as they did not take into account “the +amends due to his honour and the money owed by the court” to the former +minister plenipotentiary. He proved so untractable that de Prunevaux +forthwith informed the minister of the Chevalier’s frame of mind, which +had completely upset their calculations. De Vergennes, perceiving that +d’Eon’s moments of repentance were brief, charged the Comte de Broglie to +make a last effort to persuade his former agent, who thereupon received +a letter of judicious recommendations and salutary warnings. “Upon my +return from Ruffec,” wrote the count, “I was greatly surprised to hear +that you had not accepted the Comte de Vergennes’ offers.... I confess I +do not see what grounds you have for such a refusal. I trust, therefore, +you will listen to reason, consider your duty and your own interests, +and redeem your faults, which prolonged resistance would aggravate +irretrievably.” + +But d’Eon would not listen to advice, urging that a minister +plenipotentiary of France and a knight of the Order of Saint Louis +could not “run away like so many despicable Frenchmen who had duped the +generous English.” “He had promised,” he added, “never to quit the +island before he had met his engagements.” The Marquis de Prunevaux +concluded that his mission was at an end, and returned to Paris, bringing +back nothing but a letter, at once humble and threatening, in which +d’Eon permitted himself to state his own terms for returning to the +King and the minister. He asked that he should be reinstated, if only +temporarily, in the diplomatic rank and title he had held, and that the +indemnities included in the enclosed detailed statement should be paid +to him in full. It was, as M. de Loménie has justly remarked, the most +impertinent _compte d’apothicaire_ (exorbitant bill) conceivable. Not +only did d’Eon claim his captain’s pay for a period of fifteen years, +as well as the reimbursement of his extravagant expenses during his +ostentatious administration _ad interim_, but even the reimbursement of +the “great expenses occasioned by his twelve years’ residence in London,” +which amounted to the modest sum of 100,000 livres. His claims became +completely farcical when the sum of 6000 livres was demanded for having +refused Prince Poniatowsky’s present of a diamond of that value. + + Item (the Chevalier continued)—the Comte de Guerchy + dissuaded the King of England from making the + present of a thousand guineas to M. d’Eon which + he confers upon ministers plenipotentiary who + reside at his court 24,000 livres + + Item for several family papers lost by Hugonnet + at the time of his arrest 27,000 livres + + Item, to having been unable to look after his + vineyards in Burgundy from 1763 to 1773 15,000 livres + +When a few other no less imaginary monetary payments are added to the +above, the sum total amounted to between 200,000 and 250,000 livres. + + + + +VIII + +METAMORPHOSIS + + +The Comte de Vergennes, astounded and indignant, was obliged, although +regretfully, to communicate to the King the extraordinary bill he had +just received. + + It is only remarkable (he wrote to his master) for its + diffuseness and for the presumption and avidity which it + reveals: it is throughout a fresh example of his extraordinary + eccentricity. I wish I could spare your Majesty the perusal + of this lucubration; but I cannot refuse the demands of this + strange person without your Majesty’s orders. + + The Sieur d’Eon sets so high a price on the surrender of the + papers, of which he was the depositary, that all hope of + recovering them must be abandoned for the present. But as it + might be unwise to deprive him of all resources, by compelling + him to make an ill use of the deposit, if your Majesty + approves, things might be allowed to remain as they were on + your Majesty’s accession to the throne. + +Louis XVI. said that he had never read “a more impertinent and ridiculous +document than d’Eon’s statement, and but for the importance of the papers +in his possession, he should certainly send him about his business.” +Moreover, he thought it useless to spend 12,000 livres a year for the +safety of a secret which was decreasing in value day by day. D’Eon +accordingly remained in London. He must have owned to himself that he +had seriously injured his prospects by showing too much avidity, but he +would not admit it officially, and he hastened, as usual, to inform the +public of the negotiation which had been opened with him and which had +failed, according to a London paper, because “the Chevalier deemed all +pecuniary satisfaction beneath his honour, gold being but a means and not +the object of great souls.” + +It was, indeed, gold that d’Eon required. Harassed by his creditors, +he resolved to pledge, and also to put in safe keeping, his precious +correspondence, which he deposited with his friend Lord Ferrers, an +English peer and an admiral. The latter advanced 100,000 livres on a +sealed coffer containing the secret papers. This sum of money was not +sufficient, however; in order to procure fresh supplies, and also, no +doubt, to emerge from an inaction which weighed on him, he tried hard +to obtain a situation. He even applied abroad, offering his services to +the new Spanish ambassador, Prince Masseran, who replied declining his +proposal. + +Continual failures and fresh disappointments revived in d’Eon, more +and more persistently, the idea which had already occurred to him as +a venturesome and quasi-heroic means of extricating himself from his +quandary. It was a difficult way of recovering his vanishing popularity; +but he had little to lose and everything to gain. The deception which +circumstances had formerly suggested to him might well become his last +resort; and consequently he allowed the report, which he was afterwards +to turn to account, to spread without any further contradiction. When the +public were tired of repeating that d’Eon was a woman the papers took up +the tale; and a portrait even appeared of the “modern Minerva.” This was +the engraving which d’Eon took care to send to his old friend, M. de la +Rozière, then Governor of St. Malo, who, quite amazed, acknowledged its +receipt: + + During my stay in Paris an English print was brought to me in + your name, in which you are represented as Minerva, and the + inscription of which so astonished me that I still hesitate to + believe that the present came from you directly. I beg you will + explain the meaning of this, which I cannot regard but as a + pleasantry until you assure me that it is not so. + +D’Eon took good care not to satisfy his correspondent’s curiosity on +the point, which was about to become the talk of the town. But in order +to effect the transformation with all proper brilliance, he required an +auxiliary whose renown would further add to his own celebrity, and nobody +could serve his purpose better than Beaumarchais, the intrepid and witty +adversary of President Goëzman. That is why, as he wrote later on, “like +a drowning man abandoned by the King and his ministers to the current of +an infected river, he endeavoured to cling to the boat of Caron.” + +At the time of the negotiation relating to the libel published in London +against Madame du Barry, d’Eon, foreseeing all the advantages he might +reap from such intercourse, had already laboured hard to make the +acquaintance of Beaumarchais, his intermediary being no less a person +than Morande himself, the author of the memoir, who had undertaken +to bring about a meeting. “Beaumarchais is at my disposal,” he wrote +to d’Eon; “he is an adorable man, and I see truth flowing from his +pen. He writes so gracefully that I feel consumed with envy. Voltaire +never approached him for style. You will form your own opinion of him +to-morrow.” But the following day, Beaumarchais, put on his guard, +perhaps, by the suspicious patronage assumed by d’Eon, begged to be +excused on the score of work, and Morande, vexed, was obliged to write to +the Chevalier: “M. de Beaumarchais will not stir abroad until Thursday +evening, as he has much business to attend to, which prevents him from +seeing anybody.” D’Eon related afterwards that Beaumarchais and he met +spontaneously, “led, no doubt, by a curiosity natural to extraordinary +animals to seek each other’s society.” The explanation is ingenious but +incorrect, for, after buying Morande’s libel on Madame du Barry, and +studying the cause of the American rebels, Beaumarchais returned to +Paris, and it was only during his second visit to London, in May, 1775, +that d’Eon was at last able to make his acquaintance. The Chevalier made +up for lost time, and his intriguing skill won over the susceptible +Beaumarchais to his cause. The witty author, who seems to have made it +his profession to cover his contemporaries with ridicule, became not +only his intercessor but his dupe, for d’Eon was clever enough to amuse +himself at his expense. + +Weepingly the Chevalier made his distressing confession to Beaumarchais, +admitting that he was a woman, and drawing so touching a picture of +his misfortunes that no sooner had his interlocutor returned home than +he wrote to the King: “When it is considered that this creature, so +persecuted, is of a sex to which all is forgiven, the heart is touched +with gentle compassion.... I venture to assure you, Sire, that by +treating this wonderful creature with tact and kindness, even though she +be soured by twelve years of adversity, she will be easily prevailed upon +to be submissive.” + +Beaumarchais, then, was completely duped by d’Eon, as his friend Gudin +was also. Their mistake makes it easier to understand how the King +and his minister could be deceived, in their turn, by the positive +assertions made to them in regard to a matter which had already been +confirmed in England by public opinion. Besides, had not Drouet, three +years previously, made the same surprising communication to the Comte de +Broglie, who had attached sufficient importance to it to inform Louis XV.? + +Moved by d’Eon’s situation, Beaumarchais, therefore, resolved to +intervene in his behalf. He proposed to Vergennes that he should resume +the negotiations, which he hoped to bring to a successful issue. The +minister gave his consent and specified the conditions of the agreement. +With regard to the financial question, he directed Beaumarchais “to let +things take their course, so as to be in a position to dictate terms,” +adding: “M. d’Eon is of a violent disposition, but I believe him to be +an honest fellow, and I will do him the justice to say that I am quite +persuaded he is incapable of treachery.” + +[Illustration: MDLLE. D’EON “RIPOSTING” + +_From a Contemporary Caricature_] + +The settling of the amount of the indemnity was the most serious, but +not the only, difficulty. For d’Eon had actually claimed the right of +obtaining an audience of the King of England on taking leave. Vergennes +proved inflexible on that point: “It is impossible,” he wrote, “for +M. d’Eon to take leave of the King of England; the disclosure of his +sex renders such a thing unpermissible; it would be casting ridicule +upon the two courts. The substitution of a written attestation will +be a delicate matter; it may be granted, however, provided he remains +satisfied with the praise that his zeal, intelligence, and loyalty have +merited.” Relying on his instructions Beaumarchais had not much trouble +in convincing d’Eon, who himself was quite willing to come to terms. He +obtained a first sign of obedience, and thereupon hastened to proclaim +his victory to the minister: + + Be that as it may, Monsieur le Comte, I believe I have severed + one of the heads of the English hydra. I place at your disposal + Captain d’Eon, a brave officer, an accomplished diplomatist, + and possessing all the virile qualities of manhood as far as + his head is concerned. He brings to the King the keys of an + iron safe, securely sealed with my own seal, and containing all + the papers it is necessary for the King to recover. + +It was, indeed, an important result; but another was necessary, which +alone, in Vergennes’ opinion, could completely reassure the court in +preventing for ever any recurrence of the scandal. Since he was a +woman, d’Eon should declare the same officially, and wear in future the +attire of his real sex. The Chevalier was hardly prepared for the last +stipulation. He protested and entreated, but, seeing there was nothing +to be gained by further resistance, in the end he yielded; apprehending, +moreover, that he could not persist in his refusal without exciting +suspicions as to the reality of his presumed sex, which would spoil +everything. On October 7, 1775, Beaumarchais announced his victory to +the Minister for Foreign Affairs: “Written promises to be prudent do +not suffice to restrain one whose blood boils at the mere mention of de +Guerchy. The positive declaration of her sex, and her engagement to live +henceforth in female attire, are the only means of averting scandal and +misfortunes. I have been resolute in exacting this, and have succeeded.” + +The semi-official negotiator had now come to a definite understanding +with the strange rebel who had kept in check the French ambassador, the +ministers, and the King himself. But it would seem that this affair +was destined to be extraordinary from beginning to end, and the climax +surpassed all that the most fertile imagination could conceive. In order +that he might ratify the agreement concluded between himself and d’Eon, +a kind of official character was conferred on Beaumarchais, who was +promoted, from the post of secret agent which he had hitherto filled, +to the rank of ambassador—ambassador to the Chevalière d’Eon. Invested +with full powers, as if the matter in question were the negotiation +of some important treaty, Beaumarchais signed, in the King’s name, a +covenant into which d’Eon entered, thus treating with his sovereign on +a footing of equality. The document, in its solemn form, is a comedy +unquestionably more brilliant than any that Beaumarchais ever composed; +but the merit is not due to the creator of _Figaro_, for only d’Eon could +enjoy to the full the humour of the situation. The complete text of this +unprecedented diplomatic deed runs as follows:— + + We, the undersigned, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, + specially entrusted with the private instructions of the King + of France, dated Versailles, August 25, 1775, communicated to + the Chevalier d’Eon in London, of which a copy certified by me + shall be appended to the present act, on the one part; + + And Demoiselle Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-André-Timothée + d’Eon de Beaumont, spinster of age, hitherto known by the name + of the Chevalier d’Eon, squire, formerly captain of dragoons, + knight of the royal and military order of Saint Louis, + aide-de-camp to Marshal the Duc and to the Comte de Broglie, + minister plenipotentiary of France at the Court of Great + Britain, late doctor of civil law and of canon law, advocate in + the Parliament of Paris, Censor Royal for History and Belles + Lettres; sent to Russia with the Chevalier Douglas, for the + purpose of effecting the reconciliation of the two courts, + secretary of embassy to the Marquis de L’Hospital, ambassador + plenipotentiary of France at the court of her Imperial Majesty + of all the Russias, and secretary of Embassy to the Duc de + Nivernais, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from + France to England for the conclusion of the late peace, are + agreed upon what follows, and have hereunto subscribed our + names: + + Art. I. That I, Caron de Beaumarchais, do require, in the + name of the King, that all official and private papers having + reference to the several political negotiations with which + the Chevalier d’Eon has been entrusted in England, notably + those concerning the peace of 1763, correspondence, minutes, + copies of letters, cyphers, etc., at present deposited with + Earl Ferrers, Peer of the Realm, and Admiral, of Upper Seymour + Street, Portman Square, London, ever a particular friend of + the said Chevalier d’Eon in the course of his misfortunes and + law-suits in England, that the said papers, enclosed in a + large iron safe of which I have the key, be delivered to me + after having been initialled by me and by the said Chevalier + d’Eon, and of which the inventory shall be added and appended + to the present act, as a proof that the said papers have been + faithfully delivered. + + Art. II. That all papers of the secret correspondence between + the Chevalier d’Eon, the late King, and the several persons + entrusted by his Majesty to entertain that correspondence, + designated in the letters by the names deputy, solicitor, + in the same way in which his Majesty himself was styled the + counsellor, etc. ... which secret correspondence was concealed + beneath the flooring of the bed-chamber of the said Chevalier + d’Eon, whence it was withdrawn by him, on October 5 of the + present year, in my presence alone, being carefully sealed and + addressed: _To the King only, at Versailles_; that all the + copies of the said letters, minutes, cyphers, etc., shall be + delivered to me, likewise attested with initials, and with an + exact inventory, the said secret correspondence consisting of + five portfolios or thick volumes in quarto. + + Art. III. That the said Chevalier d’Eon is to desist from every + kind of proceeding, judicial or personal, against the memory of + the late Comte de Guerchy, his adversary, the successors to his + title, the members of his family, etc., and undertakes never + to revive any such proceedings under whatsoever form, unless + he be forced thereto by judicial or personal provocation on + the part of some relative, friend, or adherent of that family; + for which there can no longer be any apprehension, his Majesty + having, in his wisdom, taken every necessary precaution to + prevent the recurrence, in the future, of any such unseemly + quarrels, whether on the one side or on the other. + + Art. IV. And to the end that an insurmountable barrier be + for ever raised between the contending parties, and that + all ideas of law-suits or personal quarrels, no matter + whence they arise, be permanently nullified, I require, + in the name of his Majesty, that the disguise which has + to this day enabled a woman to pass for the Chevalier + d’Eon shall entirely cease, and without seeking to blame + Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon + de Beaumont for a concealment of condition and sex, the + responsibility of which rests entirely with her relatives, + and whilst rendering justice to the prudent, decorous, and + circumspect conduct she has at all times observed in the + dress of her adoption whilst preserving a manly and vigorous + bearing; I require, absolutely, that the ambiguity of her + sex, which has afforded inexhaustible material for gossip, + indecent betting, and idle jesting liable to be renewed, + especially in France, which her pride would not tolerate, + and which would give rise to fresh quarrels that could only + serve, perhaps, to palliate and revive former ones; I require, + absolutely, I say, in the name of the King, that the phantom + Chevalier d’Eon shall entirely disappear, and that the public + mind shall for ever be set at rest by a distinct, precise, + and unambiguous declaration, publicly made, of the true sex + of Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon de + Beaumont before she returns to France, and by her resumption of + female attire; with all of which she should the more readily + comply just now, considering how interesting she will appear + to both sexes, alike honoured by her life, her courage, and + her talents. Upon which conditions, I will deliver to her the + safe conduct on parchment, signed by the King and his Minister + for Foreign Affairs, which allows her to return to France and + there remain under the special and immediate protection of his + Majesty, who is desirous not only of according protection and + security under his royal word, but who is good enough to change + the yearly pension of 12,000 livres granted by the late King in + 1766, which has been punctually paid to her to this day, into + a life-annuity of the same amount, with an acknowledgment that + the capital of the said annuity has already been provided and + advanced by the said Chevalier d’Eon in furthering the concerns + of the late King, _besides other larger sums, the total of + which will be remitted by me for the liquidation of her debts + in England_, with a copy on parchment of the deed for the said + annuity of 12,000 livres tournois, dated September 28, 1775. + + And I, Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon + de Beaumont, hitherto known as the Chevalier d’Eon, as above + styled, submit to the whole of the above conditions imposed in + the name of the King, solely that I may afford to his Majesty + the greatest possible proofs of my respect and submission, + although it would have been far more agreeable to me had he + deigned to employ me again in his army or in the diplomatic + service, in compliance with my earnest solicitations and in + accordance with my seniority. And because, excepting some + exhibition of feeling, rendered in a measure excusable by a + legitimate and natural desire to defend myself and by the + most justifiable resentment, his Majesty is pleased to allow + that I have always conducted myself bravely as an officer, + and that I have been a laborious, intelligent, and discreet + political agent, I submit to declaring publicly my sex, to my + condition being established beyond a doubt, to resume and wear + female attire until death, unless, taking into consideration + my being so long accustomed to appear in uniform, his Majesty + will consent, on sufferance only, to my resuming male attire + should it become impossible for me to endure the embarrassment + of adopting the other, after having tried to accustom myself + to it at the _Abbaye-Royale_ of Bernardine Ladies of Saint + Antoine-des-Champs, Paris, or at any such other convent as I + might select, to which I wish to withdraw for some months on + arriving in France. + + I declare that I entirely desist from all proceedings, judicial + or personal, against the memory of the late Comte de Guerchy + and his successors, promising never to renew them unless driven + to such a step by judicial proceedings, as above stated. + + I further pledge my word of honour that I will deliver to M. + Caron de Beaumarchais all official and secret papers, whether + concerning the embassy or the aforesaid secret correspondence, + without reserving or retaining to myself a single document, + upon the following conditions, to which I entreat his Majesty’s + approval:— + + 1. Seeing that the letter of the late King, my most honoured + lord and master, dated Versailles, April 1, 1766, by which he + insured to me the annual pension of 12,000 livres until such + time as he should improve my position, is of no further service + to me so far as the said pension is concerned, which has been + changed, to my advantage, by the King his successor, into a + life-annuity of like amount—that the original letter should + remain in my possession as testimony of the honour the late + King deigned to bestow on my loyalty, my innocence, and my + irreproachable conduct during all my misfortunes, and in all + matters he deigned to confide to me, whether in Russia, whilst + serving in his army, or in England. + + 2. That the original receipt given to me in London on July + 11, 1766, by M. Durand, minister plenipotentiary in England, + in exchange for the secret order of the late King, dated + Versailles, June 3, 1763, delivered to him by me, intact, + and of my own free-will, shall remain in my possession, as + authentic testimony of the complete submission with which I + surrendered the secret order in the own hand of the King my + master, which of itself justified my conduct in England, so + often described as being obstinacy by my enemies, and which, in + their ignorance of my extraordinary situation in relation to + the King, they have even dared to qualify as high treason. + + 3. That his Majesty will deign, as a special favour, to satisfy + himself at the expiration of every six months, as did the late + King, of my being alive and of my whereabouts, to prevent my + enemies from ever again being tempted to undertake anything to + the prejudice of my honour, my liberty, my person, and my life. + + 4. That the cross of Saint Louis, won by me at the peril of my + life, in combats, sieges, and battles in which I took part, + where I was wounded, and served as aide-de-camp to the general, + and as captain of dragoons and of volunteers in Marshal + Broglie’s army, with bravery to which all the generals under + whom I served have borne witness, shall never be taken from me, + and that the right to wear it on any garments I may adopt shall + be conceded to me for life. + + And if I may be permitted to add a respectful demand to these + conditions, I would venture to observe that, at the moment I + am about to obey his Majesty in consenting to abandon for ever + my male attire, I am entirely destitute of everything—linen, + clothing, and apparel suited to my sex, and that I have no + money to procure even ordinary necessaries, M. de Beaumarchais + knowing well to whom the amount destined in part payment + of my debts is owing, and of which I do not wish to touch + one penny myself. Consequently, although I have no right to + expect further favours from his Majesty, I do not refrain from + soliciting at his hands the gift of a sum of money for the + purchase of my female outfit, this unexpected, extraordinary, + and compulsory expense not being my own idea, but solely in + obedience to his orders. + + * * * * * + + And I, Caron de Beaumarchais, still as afore styled, do leave + with the said Demoiselle d’Eon de Beaumont the original letter + conferring so much distinction, which the late King wrote to + her from Versailles, April 1, 1766, when granting her a pension + of 12,000 livres, in acknowledgment of faithful services. + + I further leave with her M. Durand’s original document. Neither + of these papers can be taken from her by me without a severity + that would ill accord with the benevolent and equitable + intentions at present entertained by his Majesty towards the + said Demoiselle d’Eon de Beaumont. As to the cross of Saint + Louis, which she desires to retain with the right of wearing + it in female attire, I must admit that, notwithstanding the + extreme kindness with which his Majesty has deigned to trust + to my prudence, zeal, and intelligence in the conduct of + this affair, I am afraid I should be exceeding my powers in + determining so delicate a question. + + Considering, on the other hand, that the cross of the royal + and military order of Saint Louis has ever been regarded + solely as the proof of, and reward for, valour, and that + several officers who were thus decorated, having abandoned the + military career for the church or the law, continued to wear + on their new garments this honourable evidence that they had + worthily performed their duties in a calling fraught with great + dangers; I do not think that there can be any objection to a + like indulgence being granted to a valorous maiden who, having + been brought up in male attire by her parents, and having + courageously fulfilled all the perilous duties imposed by the + profession of arms, may not have been aware of the impropriety + of adopting the attire in which she had been compelled to live, + until it became too late to change, and is therefore not in the + least to blame for not having done so until now. + + Considering, also, that the rare example offered by this + extraordinary maiden is not likely to be followed by those + of her sex, and can have no consequences; that had Jeanne + d’Arc, who saved the throne and the states of Charles VII., + fighting in male attire, obtained during the war, as has the + said Demoiselle d’Eon de Beaumont, some military reward or + other decoration, such as the cross of Saint Louis, it does + not appear that, her task being completed, the King would have + deprived her of the honourable reward for valour when requiring + her to resume the garments of her sex, nor that any chivalrous + French knight would have considered the distinction as being + profaned because it ornamented the breast and attire of a woman + who, on the field of battle, had ever shown herself worthy of + being a man. + + I, therefore, venture to take it upon myself, not in + the capacity of envoy, lest I should abuse the power + confided to me, but as a man persuaded of the rectitude + of the principles I have just enunciated; I take it + upon myself, I say, to leave with the Demoiselle + Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon de + Beaumont the cross of Saint Louis, and liberty to wear it on + her female attire, without, however, its being understood that + I bind his Majesty to this act should he disapprove my conduct + on this point; promising only, in the event of any difficulty + arising, that I will plead with his Majesty on her behalf, and, + if necessary, establish her right thereto, which I believe to + be legitimate, with all the power of my pen and the strength of + my heart. + + With regard to the request made by the said Demoiselle d’Eon + de Beaumont to the King, for a sum of money to enable her + to procure a female outfit—although such a matter is not + included in my instructions, I will not delay taking it into + consideration, such an outlay being, as a fact, the necessary + consequence of the instructions of which I am the bearer, to + the effect that she is to assume the garments of her sex. I + therefore allow her, for the purchase of a female outfit, a sum + of 2000 crowns, on condition that she will not carry away with + her from London any of her clothing, arms, or any male apparel, + lest the desire to wear them should at any time be stimulated + by the sight of them. I consent to her retaining one complete + suit of uniform of the regiment in which she has served, the + helmet, sabre, pistols, musket, and bayonet, as souvenirs of + her past life, just as are preserved the relics of loved ones + now no more. Everything else will be given up to me in London, + to be sold, the proceeds to be disposed of in such way as his + Majesty may direct. + + And this act has been made out in duplicate, between + us, Pierre-Augustin-Caron de Beaumarchais, and + Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon de + Beaumont, under private seal, giving to it, on one side and the + other, the whole force and assent of which it is susceptible, + and we have, each of us, affixed the seals of our arms, in + London, the fifth day of October, 1775. + + (Signed) CARON DE BEAUMARCHAIS. + D’EON DE BEAUMONT. + +The safe deposited with Lord Ferrers was opened and d’Eon added to +the bundle of papers five boxes which he had kept hidden beneath his +flooring, securely sealed and directed: _Secret papers to be given +to the King only...._ “I began by taking an inventory of them,” says +Beaumarchais, who narrates this incident, “and affixed my initials to +each sheet so that none could be abstracted; but, to make quite sure that +they completed the collection, I hastily glanced through them.” + +D’Eon did not omit to inform his former chief of his transformation. On +December 5, 1775, he wrote to the Comte de Broglie: + + MONSIEUR LE COMTE.—It is time to undeceive you. For a captain + of dragoons, and aide-de-camp in war and politics, you have had + but the semblance of a man. I am only a maiden who would have + perfectly well sustained my part until death, had not politics + and your enemies rendered me the most unfortunate of women, as + you will see by the enclosed documents.... + + I am respectfully, Monsieur le Comte, your most humble and most + obedient servant, + + GENEVIÈVE-LOUISE-AUGUSTE D’EON DE BEAUMONT. + +D’Eon simulated his gratitude to Beaumarchais by prolonging a +mystification which must have vastly amused him, and which the author +of the wittiest comedies of his day countenanced with astounding +ingenuousness. Beaumarchais became the object of the most feminine +flattery on the part of d’Eon, who styled himself “his little +_dragonne_,” and, expressing himself in the same terms as Rosina in the +_Barber of Seville_, wrote to him: “You are made to be loved, and I feel +that my greatest anguish would be having to hate you.” And on another +occasion: “Till now, I only thought of doing justice to your merits, +admiring your talents and your generosity; I no doubt already loved you! +But the feeling was so novel to me, that I was far from believing that +love could be begotten in the midst of distress and pain.” + +The manœuvre was entirely successful, and Beaumarchais allowed himself +to be completely deceived by such declarations, and even appeared to be +considerably flattered, although he made a show of taking them as a jest. + + Everybody tells me (he wrote to Vergennes) that this crazy + woman is in love with me; but who the devil would ever have + supposed that in order to serve the King zealously I should + have to become the gallant knight of a captain of dragoons? The + adventure is so ridiculous that I find it very difficult to + write about it seriously. + +Although Beaumarchais professed himself weary of such sentimentalism, it +was not he, but d’Eon, who put an end to it. The flirtation of the new +Chevalière did not go so far as to make her despise money matters, and +when the question arose of settling the items of the sums appropriated +to the payment of debts there was a struggle between d’Eon’s avidity +and Beaumarchais’ parsimony. The correspondence of the two lovers soon +assumed a bitter tone, and d’Eon was thoroughly incensed by a notice +which appeared at this time in _The Morning Post_ to the effect that the +insurance policies on his sex had been revived, the bets running seven to +four that the Chevalier was a woman, and that a nobleman who had taken +part in such transactions had undertaken to elucidate the question within +a fortnight. D’Eon did not fail to attribute the notice to Beaumarchais, +whom he accused of being associated with Morande in scandalous and +indecent speculations on his sex. At the same time he challenged Morande +to a duel; but the latter, being well acquainted with d’Eon’s renown as +a fencer, was only too glad of the excuse that his honour prevented him +from fighting a woman. He did not think it unfair, however, to publish a +scurrilous libel against the new Chevalière, which caused some sensation. +Annoyed by importunate Englishmen, who had been stimulated by such +incidents to revive their bets, d’Eon resolved to write to the Comte de +Vergennes to inform him of his approaching arrival in France. The reply +which he received was most encouraging: + + I have received, Mademoiselle, the letter you did me the + honour to write on the 1st of this month. Had you not given + way to feelings of mistrust, which, I am persuaded, were + not expressive of your real sentiments, you might have been + enjoying, for some time past, in your native land, that + tranquillity which should now, more than ever, be the object + of your desires. If you are thinking seriously of returning, + the way is still open to you. You know the conditions imposed: + the most absolute reserve regarding the past; every precaution + to be taken to avoid meeting those persons whom you regard + as being the cause of your misfortunes; and, finally, the + resumption of the garments of your sex. You can no longer + hesitate, seeing the publicity given to this in England. + You are, no doubt, aware that our laws do not tolerate such + disguises. I have only to add that if, after a trial, you + should not feel at home in France, you will be free to proceed + elsewhere to suit your own pleasure. + + I have written the above in compliance with the King’s orders. + Let me add that the safe conduct with which you have been + supplied suffices, so that you may now do as you please. If you + decide upon pursuing a wise course, I will congratulate you; + otherwise I shall only be able to pity you for not responding + to the kind master who offers you a helping hand. Set your mind + at rest, because when in France you will be able to communicate + with me directly, without the aid of any intermediary. + +D’Eon, however, did not wish to leave England without endeavouring to put +an end to the wagers which were being transacted on his sex. He brought +an action before Lord Mansfield for the annulment of those disgraceful +contracts; but being non-suited by a judgment which considered him to +be a woman, since the King of France treated him as such, he contented +himself with lodging an appeal, and hastened to return to his native +land. + + + + +IX + +RETURN OF A HEROINE + + +D’Eon left London on August 13, 1777, and embarked for France the same +night. However glad he was to return to his native land, and to revisit +his home and his fertile, vine-bedecked Burgundy, his meditations cannot +have been free from bitterness. Fifteen years had passed since his last +journey: at that time he was the Duc de Nivernais’ “little d’Eon,” +the Comte de Choiseul’s protégé, and was bringing to Versailles the +ratifications of an important treaty. His wallet was not so full of state +papers as his heart of dreams and expectations. Fortune smiled upon his +ardent youth, bringing him brilliant rewards and giving him glimpses of a +promising future. He had been well received at Versailles, honoured with +the notice of Madame de Pompadour, and had returned to London wearing the +Cross of Saint Louis on his breast. Shortly afterwards he was appointed +minister plenipotentiary, and, thanks to a temporary vacancy, had +represented his sovereign most pompously for two months at the embassy. +He experienced at that time the rapture of triumph, but immediately +afterwards all the rancour of a sudden disgrace. First came the harassing +proceedings and the disdainful attitude of the Comte de Guerchy; then a +struggle full of snares and subtilties; and finally the bold stroke of +the action brought against his rival, and his exultation at the scandal +caused by the condemnation of the ambassador of France. But it was a +perilous victory fraught with danger, which had roused the indignation +of Paris and Versailles, and occasioned his desertion by the King and, +successively, by all his powerful friends. Struggles and vicissitudes had +been his lot, reducing him by degrees to despair, and finally inciting +him to that expedient—suggested by the tenacious idea of the public—long +contemplated, and more than once rejected before being finally adopted. + +He was now returning vanquished. The “little d’Eon,” once so petted by +the Marquis de L’Hospital, whom the Duc de Choiseul had introduced to +the Duc de Nivernais as a “very good-looking fellow,” on account of his +blue eyes with their bold and intelligent look and his slender but supple +and well-proportioned figure, was now a man of fifty, with an awkward +gait and a harsh voice; his firm chin displayed the stubbly growth of an +ill-shaven black beard. He had kept the manners and style of a dragoon +as well as the uniform; that beloved grey uniform, with red cuffs and +facings, which he never consented to lay aside during his residence +in London, and which made him a figure familiar alike to ministers of +state and to the man in the street. He was naturally as reluctant to +assume feminine attire as he was to resign himself to the manner of life +conformable to his new sex. Notwithstanding the strange document in which +he had formally acknowledged his womanhood, he desired to remain a man +at least in so far as dress was concerned, and endeavoured to induce the +Comte de Broglie to relent on that point. He averred that his fondest +hope was to continue his military career in the army, where, thanks to +his good conduct, he had never offered a bad example to anybody; but at +the same time he expressed his readiness to comply with all the King’s +orders, whether his Majesty commanded him to live in the world dressed in +mob-cap and petticoats, or even to “retire into a convent and cover his +dragoon’s head with the sacred veil.” + +How much sincerity was there in these bombastic declarations? Did he +realise, in a last lucid interval, that the loss of his dragoon’s uniform +involved the ruin of all the noble aspirations of his youth, wantonly +sacrificed to an inordinate, and henceforward vain, ambition? Does this +unwavering attachment to the symbol of discipline and a regular career +betoken a last regret for the secure and honourable existence that would +have been his had he but bridled his desires? Perhaps; but possibly it +was merely another pretence, an indirect means of prolonging an ambiguous +situation and of imposing on the world at large. The decision of the +English courts and the command of the King of France had made a woman of +him; but the reluctance he showed to assuming the garments of his new +sex tended to confirm the opinion of those who still considered him a +man. By declaring so openly that he was being compelled to wear female +apparel d’Eon evidently intended to convey the impression that the sex +was as distasteful to him as the garb, and that the King’s will, to +which he must perforce submit, could in no degree modify nature. He thus +averted the difficulties of the moment, while preparing the way for a +reappearance in male attire at some future date. Voltaire alone, among +his contemporaries, appears to have seen through the pretence, to which +he does justice by a somewhat unkind comparison: “I cannot believe,” +he writes from Ferney to the Comte d’Argental, “that the Chevalier or +the Chevalière d’Eon, whose chin is adorned with a very thick and very +prickly black beard, is a woman. I am inclined to think that he has +carried the eccentricity of his adventures to the point of aspiring to +change his sex in order to escape the vengeance of the House of Guerchy, +just as Pourceaungnac disguised himself as a woman to escape from justice +and the apothecaries.” + +Moreover, while protesting loudly against the King’s command, by which +his helmet was converted into a mob-cap, d’Eon strove to turn his new +condition to account, and to attain fresh and still greater notoriety +by his metamorphosis. He relates himself how, passing through Saint +Denis, on his way to Versailles, he made Dom Boudier lead him to the +mother-superior of the Carmelite convent, no less a person than Madame +Louise de France. Before drawing the curtains of the parlour the daughter +of Louis XV. asked, it is said, how Mademoiselle d’Eon was dressed, and +on being told that she was still in riding-boots and uniform, having +only just arrived from London, “Madame Louise exhorted her invisible +interlocutor to assume the attire and to lead the life of a Christian +woman.” However, notwithstanding the wise counsel of the venerable +princess, and in spite of the formal condition imposed by Vergennes in +his letter of July 12, it was only at Versailles, where he arrived +equipped as a dragoon, that d’Eon finally yielded, and complied with an +order which was renewed in the following terms:— + + IN THE KING’S NAME + + “Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon de + Beaumont is hereby commanded to lay aside the uniform of a + dragoon, which she is in the habit of wearing, and resume the + garments of her sex, and is forbidden to appear in any part of + the kingdom in other garments than those suitable to women. + + “Given at Versailles, August 27, 1777. + + “(Signed) LOUIS GRAVIER DE VERGENNES.” + +When the Chevalier, at his wits’ end, again objected to the Minister +for Foreign Affairs that his modest means did not enable him to procure +a suitable outfit, Marie Antoinette, affected by the misfortunes of +so intrepid a woman, gave orders (if we are to believe d’Eon and his +biographers) for the outfit to be made up at her own expense. It is +certain, at all events, that Mademoiselle Bertin, the celebrated milliner +and dressmaker to the Queen, was the first to have the singular honour +of enveloping the fiery captain of dragoons in the austere and decorous +petticoats of an elderly spinster of quality. For the rest of his +wardrobe d’Eon had recourse to Mademoiselle Maillot, a humbler milliner, +and to Madame Barmant, “manufacturer of flexible and elastic corsets.” +The Sieur Brunet, wigmaker, Rue de la Paroisse, received an order for a +“headdress composed of three tiers.” + +While so many nimble fingers were arranging ribbons and laces or +stiffening with whalebone the stays destined to cause d’Eon so much +discomfort, the Chevalier took advantage of the few days during which he +was still at liberty to wear his uniform, and hastened to take the coach +which was to bear him to his old mother. + +He reached the little Burgundian town on September 2. If it is true that +towns have, as it were, faces in which we are pleased to recognise the +characteristics of their most famous men, Tonnerre seems wonderfully to +symbolise d’Eon’s disposition and to illuminate his memory. Rocky and +mountainous, it has at first sight a bold and animated air. In a brisk, +determined manner the streets scale, as though to storm, the rock whence +the church of Saint Pierre commands the town, surrounded by the double +zone of the river and a range of pleasantly wooded hills. One might +fancy that the little town, shut up in its natural prison, had put on +that bluff and rebellious look, that somewhat disorderly and straggling +appearance, as a protest against its pleasing but restricted site. + +The evening that d’Eon arrived, crossing the bridge over the rushing +Armençon, Tonnerre was illuminated, all the inhabitants rejoicing, +as though for the return of a prodigal son, or rather of a prodigal +daughter. “More than twelve hundred persons,” writes d’Eon (probably +not without exaggeration), “came to meet me, with cannon, guns, and +pistols. My mother, although informed so long ago of my positive return +to France, could not believe it, and fainted away in my arms, while my +nurse burst into tears. The next day the whole town came in a body to my +house before I was out of bed. There I was, encamped in a room without +any curtains, mirrors, hangings, or chairs. Such a reminder of my former +campaigns pleases me more than a palace.” The jovial humour displayed by +the Chevalier does not appear to have made him forget the distressful +tone it is wise to adopt towards a correspondent from whom a favour is +expected, and he goes on in his exaggerated way, writing to Vergennes: +“I found my patrimonial estate, consisting chiefly of vineyards, in a +sadly dilapidated state. One would think that a company of hussars had +taken possession of it as well as my house, and the river Armençon has +flooded my gardens. But if anything can make my life worth living,” he +says in conclusion, “it is my enjoyment of the pure friendships which my +countrymen, both of the town and of the neighbouring villages, from the +greatest to the humblest, have so kindly shown; they have of their own +accord paid me the honours which would be due only to you and to Mgr. the +Comte de Maurepas if you were to pass through Tonnerre on your way to +your country house, and he to his estate of Saint Florentin.” + +In spite of the great pleasure he undoubtedly felt at being in the midst +of his family and of his countrymen, wonder-struck at his adventures and +escapades, d’Eon was not the man to content himself long with provincial +celebrity. Experience had probably taught him that nobody is a prophet in +his own country, and that the comedy which he was about to act required +a larger and more magnificent stage, as well as a more intelligent +audience. The Minister for Foreign Affairs was growing impatient at his +delay in executing the King’s orders, and Mademoiselle Bertin averred +that his presence was necessary for the last trying-on of his costume. + +He at once left Tonnerre and proceeded to Versailles, whence he hastened +to inform the Comte de Vergennes of his return, of his tardy obedience, +and the mortification it caused him. “It is about ten days since I +returned,” he wrote to the minister, “and a week since I complied with +your injunctions, as Mademoiselle Bertin must have assured you at +Fontainebleau. I am doing my utmost to adapt myself to my sad lot in the +privacy of my apartments. Now that I have laid aside my sabre and my +uniform, I am as embarrassed as a fox which has lost its tail. I try to +walk in pointed shoes with high heels, but I have more than once nearly +broken my neck; and instead of making a courtesy I frequently remove +my wig and my three-tiered headdress, mistaking them for my hat or my +helmet. I am not unlike Catherine Petrovna, whom Peter the Great carried +away by force from a guard-house at the siege of Derpt, and exhibited at +his court before she had been taught to walk on her two hind legs.” + +D’Eon, to judge by his contemporaries, did not exaggerate the ridiculous +aspect of his new accoutrements, and if, as he himself said, it is +difficult to change in a day one’s “garments, resolutions, opinions, +language, complexion, fashion, tone, and behaviour,” he at least found +consolation in eccentricity and affectation for the physical discomfort +he experienced. Nevertheless, he led a retired life in the Rue de +Conti, at Versailles, having politely declined the invitation of the +Sieur Jamin, a priest of Fontainebleau, who, “without having the honour +of his acquaintance,” offered him, “in the event of his coming to court +at Fontainebleau, extremely agreeable lodgings, not for gaiety but for +walks in the forest,” and assured his guest “that his incognito would be +respected there, and that he would be at liberty to dress as he thought +fit.” The kind invitation of this “pious person” did not tempt d’Eon, +who was not yet prepared to brave the curiosity of the court. He was +anxious, moreover, to make that event as dramatic as possible, and set +his wits to work to insure its success. A few months before his arrival +in France, he had asked M. de la Chèvre to act as “his herald,” and the +latter boasted of having “prepared the way with the greatest possible +enthusiasm and with indefatigable zeal.” There was also a certain Sieur +Dupré, formerly tutor to two English noblemen, who “had opened the eyes +of a large number of people, at the Chevalier Lambert’s and the Vicomte +de Choiseul’s.” “They have not yet recovered from their surprise,” he +wrote to d’Eon, “and come to me for an explanation of this political +phenomenon; if I were not so well informed I should frequently be at a +loss for an answer.” D’Eon, who was now quite enjoying this masquerade, +was everywhere, countenancing all reports, discreetly receiving some +of his old acquaintances, and informing his influential friends of his +return to France. + + I am delighted to hear, sir, that you are back in France (wrote + the Duc de Broglie in reply), and that you are able to enjoy, + in the bosom of your family, the tranquillity of which you have + been so long deprived. + +The Dowager Countess d’Ons-en-Bray, wife of President Legendre, who had +known d’Eon from his early childhood, and was naturally one of the first +to be informed of his return, could not help smiling when she pictured +the man whom she had known as a law student, an expert fencer and a +gallant secretary of the embassy in the petticoats of the Chevalière. She +consequently received the new adventure, of which the hero gave her an +amusing account, with the utmost incredulity. + + Your letter (she replied) made me laugh—at your sallies + until I cried, and for joy because you had not forgotten me, + Mademoiselle or Monsieur—I am afraid of telling a lie. I admit + I am still sceptical on the subject of your metamorphosis, + and yet I will not take the liberty of clearing my doubts by + following the example of the good apostle Thomas. Mademoiselle, + be it so; it makes it easier for me to tell you how eagerly + I look forward to seeing you again on your return from + Versailles. I am sending these proofs of my gratitude for your + remembrance to that town, as I do not know where your feminine + charms are residing in Paris. Are they adorned with feathers? + In my opinion the only headdress suitable to you is that of + Mars, whom you resemble as far as courage and disposition are + concerned. The two rivals whose acquaintance you desire to + renew are with me at present. They are more than ever anxious + to see you, as you may imagine, and one of them, a big boy + who occupies your old apartment, would certainly be pleased + to share it with you; but as a mother of a family who must + look after her household I should have to be quite sure you + were a dragoon before inviting you to associate day and night + with my children. As it is, they will restrict themselves + to the attentions due to the fair sex, and are keeping some + sugar-sticks for you, to cure your lungs which are affected + at present by atmospheric influences. Take good care of your + health, Mademoiselle, and in whatever shape you may make your + reappearance in our midst, rest assured that we shall always be + greatly interested in your welfare in memory of past proofs of + your attachment, which will ever be an earnest of mine. + +As incredulous as Madame d’Ons-en-Bray with regard to the change of +sex, Madame Tercier, widow of Louis XV.’s former secret minister who +had so long corresponded with d’Eon, was surprised not to have seen the +Chevalier again since his return, and reproached him sharply for not +having yet called on the Comte de Broglie, while apparently guessing the +cause of his hesitation. + + I am not astonished to hear (she wrote) that you find it so + difficult to accustom yourself to the new disguise which you + are about to assume, and which inconveniences and embarrasses + you, as well it may. In the estimation of your friends you will + ever be a brave man and a faithful subject; they will love you + equally well, and will value your friendship, no matter how you + dress. I beg you will put me at the head of your most devoted + friends, and likewise all the members of my family, who send + many kind regards. + +Madame Tercier’s friendly reproaches and affectionate messages had not +the desired effect, d’Eon remaining in his lair, as he said, “like a +fox without a tail.” Nor did Madame d’Ons-en-Bray’s barley-sugar succeed +in curing the cold which kept him so opportunely confined to his room. +Embarrassed in his petticoats, he remained invisible. Meanwhile, the +report of his arrival, his adventures, and his strange transformation +rapidly spread beyond the somewhat restricted circle of his intimate +friends and soon reached the ears of the Queen, who was immediately +seized with a desire to see this modern Amazon. “She sent a footman,” +relates Madame Campan, “to tell my father to bring the Chevalier to her +apartments. My father thought it his duty first to inform the minister of +her Majesty’s desire. The Comte de Vergennes expressed his approval of +this prudent course and bade him accompany him. The minister conferred +with the Queen for a few minutes, after which her Majesty left her +apartment with him, and, seeing my father in the adjoining room, was good +enough to express her regret for having disturbed him to no purpose. +She added, with a smile, that a few words which the Comte de Vergennes +had just said to her had cured her completely of her curiosity.” If, in +spite of the King’s official recognition of his new sex, d’Eon was not +received in private audience by the Queen, he did not hesitate to show +his new garments at Versailles, and chanced on several occasions to be +in the galleries of the palace when their Majesties passed through. On +October 21, 1777, the Feast of St. Ursula, as he takes care devoutly +to record, the Chevalier d’Eon, late captain of dragoons and minister +plenipotentiary from France to London, “resumed his first robe of +innocence to make his appearance at Versailles, in conformity with the +injunctions of the King and his ministers.” The entry of this “political +phenomenon,” or of this “amphibian,” as Voltaire most contemptuously +called him, created a sensation at court. Everybody wished to see the +extraordinary woman, who was plainly dressed and adorned merely with a +Cross of Saint Louis, won on the battlefield as well as in embassies. + +Some, formerly enemies of Choiseul, delighted in contributing to the +success of the Comte de Guerchy’s fiery adversary; but the majority, +impelled by curiosity, chiefly showed perplexity at the sight of this +pathological wonder, who, with all the appearance and the manners of +a man, professed to be a woman. Several contemporaries have described +d’Eon as they saw him on that occasion, and it must be admitted that +their portraits are far from flattering. “She looks more than ever like +a man now that she is a woman,” asserted a newspaper of the time, with +reference to the Chevalier. “Indeed, it is impossible to believe that +a person who shaves and has a beard; whose proportions and muscular +development are herculean; who jumps in and out of a carriage without +assistance and goes upstairs four steps at a time, belongs to the +female sex.... She dresses in black. Her hair is cut in a circle, like +a priest’s, and is plastered with pomade, powdered, and surmounted by a +black cap, such as pious ladies wear. She still wears flat, round heels, +being unaccustomed to the high, narrow ones worn by women.” D’Eon, in +whom the elegant and fashionable paper recognises none of the charms +of the fair sex, had not wished to carry his masquerade too far; but if +he abstained from using rouge, which was still in vogue, he does not +appear to have been entirely free from feminine coquetry, sometimes +wearing “black dresses _en raz de Saint Maur_,” more often “sky-blue +skirts with narrow, puce-coloured stripes,” or even, “reddish-brown +figured twill skirts,” as we gather from the accounts of Mademoiselle +Maillot, his dressmaker. But in spite of his efforts to attain elegancy, +d’Eon remained supremely ridiculous. “The long train of his gown and +his triple row of ruffles” contrasted so unhappily with “his deportment +and behaviour, which were those of a grenadier, that he had an air of +unmistakable vulgarity.” Such are the unkind terms in which Madame Campan +expresses herself in her _Mémoires_, which she wrote after d’Eon’s death, +at a time when, enlightened as to the Chevalier’s real sex, she could not +entirely conceal her vexation at having been hoaxed by one whom she and +her family had befriended. + +The opinion of d’Eon’s contemporaries on his appearance, his attire and +his manner is, moreover, as unanimous as it is unflattering. “However +plain, however prudish her large black head-dress may be,” says Grimm in +his _Correspondance Littéraire_, under date of October 25, 1777, “it is +difficult to conceive anything more extraordinary, and, if it must be +said, more indecent, than Mademoiselle d’Eon in petticoats.” The Abbé +Georgel, secretary to the famous Cardinal de Rohan, who was introduced +to the Chevalière, sketches her portrait in his _Mémoires_ with a few +touches of the pen. “Her garments, to which she could not accustom +herself,” he writes, “gave her so awkward and embarrassed an appearance, +that she only made one forget that defect by her flashes of wit and her +very humorous account of her adventures.” + +The transformation naturally created great astonishment; but, apart from +a few inhabitants of Tonnerre, who had excellent reasons for not changing +their first opinion, did not meet with obstinate incredulity. The sex +henceforth official of the Chevalière d’Eon was accepted and respected. +The person most interested lent himself, moreover, to corroborating it, +and the very embarrassment which he affected, as well as his reluctance +to adapt himself to his new life, were but masterly artifices for further +concealing his subterfuge. Besides ensuring his safety in France and the +payment of a pension which was now his only resource, his masquerade +obtained for him a revival of that popularity of which he had always +been passionately fond. From the day of his presentation at court his +popularity steadily increased, growing to that extraordinary celebrity +which, at the present day, still preserves his name from oblivion. +He became at this time the subject of every conversation, exciting +universal curiosity. The most inflated letters of congratulation and +the most extravagant tokens of admiration reached him from strangers, +wonder-struck by his amazing adventure, while his old friends assailed +him with extremely humorous notes. One of them, the Duc de Chaulnes, who +had known him in London in the heat of his contentions with Guerchy, +wrote to him, with reference to the latest events: + + I do not know if the Chevalière d’Eon recollects having seen + the Chevalier d’Eon, surrounded by grenadiers, giving, in 1764, + a page of the _Guerchiade_ to the Duc de Picquigny; but I _do_ + know that the Duc de Chaulnes remembers it full well, and + likewise his or her—for I no longer know where I am—handsome + behaviour towards him. I am very much inclined to think, for + instance, that your mutual friend will find much more of the + Chevalier in the Chevalière than he desires. As for me, who am + only a good-natured man, and your neighbour, I would fain know + at what hour I may come and talk with Mademoiselle for a few + moments, as I was wont to talk with Monsieur. As you have quite + recently retired from politics, perhaps you will prefer to come + to my house, which is only a few steps distant from yours. But + I would rather spare you the trouble, provided, however, it be + neither to-morrow, Saturday, nor Monday. I hope you will excuse + these ifs and buts, which are quite out of place in a letter + destined to express my profound gratitude for all the kindness + you have shown me and for the friendship of the late Chevalier. + I trust, Mademoiselle, you will do justice to my respect. + +D’Eon’s friends did not, indeed, know “where they were,” nor what style +to assume. In a gracious letter of invitation to supper, the Marquise Le +Camus, deeming his “society unquestionably desirable,” began as follows:— + + Brave Being, had I your facility for writing, I should not + be in difficulties at the first word. I have, therefore, + sought for the epithet which I think most suitable to what you + deserve. I hope you will approve of my attributing to you no + precise sex, by placing you above both, for fear of making a + mistake. + +Those who had known d’Eon from his early childhood, and had never lost +sight of him during his adventurous career, were still more embarrassed. +Such was the case of Madame Campan’s father, M. Genêt, chief clerk at the +Ministry for Foreign Affairs, who confessed with kindly irony that the +French language was wanting in epithets adapted to the condition of his +strange correspondent. “In order to avoid styling cardinals _Monseigneur_ +as they demand,” he says, “dukes write to them in Italian; and I, unique +being, whose model I find only among the gods of the ancients, will make +use of the English tongue, the appellatives of which have no precise +gender, and which scarcely acknowledges any female besides a cat and a +ship, to address you in a manner worthy of you and the sublime mysteries +of which you are the emblem. I will therefore call you: _My Dear Friend_, +meaning thereby: _mon cher ou ma chère amie, ad libitum_.” + +Those who had met “little d’Eon” at the Prince de Conti’s, in the fine +reception rooms of the Temple, when he was seeking his fortune and +his fate, reminded the illustrious Chevalière of their acquaintance +in begging to be received. He himself, still imperturbable, continued +to play his part of fashionable phenomenon, and felt a supercilious +satisfaction in duping his contemporaries, or, at least, in exciting +their astonishment. Some he beguiled by his account of the dramatic +events in which he had been implicated; others he captivated by racy +stories told with inexhaustible animation. His odd manners never became +tiresome, and he was ever in request, his friends finding it difficult to +tear themselves away. + + I am leaving with the regret of not having been able to offer + you my tribute of admiration (wrote the Chevalier de Bonnard, + tutor to the Duc de Chartres’ children). I enclose a letter + from my aunt, your cousin. I shall tell her, in three days’ + time, that I have seen you, and that you surpass your great + reputation. She will congratulate herself, no doubt, and will + be distressed on my account that I have not availed myself + longer and more often of a piece of good fortune which I fully + appreciate. + +The interest and curiosity which d’Eon had aroused had not won for him +merely success at court. The report of his adventure had carried his name +far beyond the frontiers. In England, where he had particularly attracted +attention, the public were curious to know every detail. Miss Wilkes, +who, in an interesting note which has already been reproduced, had asked +d’Eon from the first to let her know the truth, inquired of the Baron de +Castille what sort of reception the celebrated Chevalière had met with +at Versailles, and the baron in sending “extremely tender messages” to +d’Eon, from the Lord Mayor’s daughter, added: “I have replied to Miss +Wilkes, my dear heroine; I interpreted your sentiments and, as a witness +of your success at court, I told her many things about you.” + +The echoes of the affair coming from London and Paris had aroused the +sceptical curiosity “of the old valetudinarian of Ferney,” who anxiously +questioned his faithful friend, the Comte d’Argental, concerning the true +condition of a guest who had very indiscreetly announced his intention of +paying a visit to the famous patriarch of French literature. + + I absolutely must speak to you about the amphibious creature + who is neither male nor female, and is at the present moment, I + am told, dressed as a woman, wearing the order of Saint Louis + on her bodice, and enjoying, like yourself, a pension of 12,000 + francs. Is all that quite true? I do not think you are likely + to be one of his friends if he be of your own sex, nor one of + his lovers if he be of the other. You are better able than + anybody else to explain this mystery to me. He or she has sent + me word by an Englishman of my acquaintance, that he or she is + coming to Ferney, and I am much embarrassed in consequence. I + entreat you to solve this enigma for me. + +D’Eon’s old comrades in the dragoons had not shown any particular +incredulity, though he had led their life in the army, and they heartily +welcomed the new heroine. The Baron de Bréget, at one time captain in +d’Autichamp’s regiment, who had campaigned with him on the Rhine, asked +him, a few months after the change, if he might “flatter himself that he +still lived in the remembrance of his former brother-in-arms.” + + I only returned from the seat of war a week ago (he wrote), and + I hasten to beg my good friend to allow me to call and pay my + renewed homage. I most respectfully entreat Mademoiselle d’Eon + to permit me frankly and heartily to embrace my old comrade in + the regiment. + +In a letter written at the same time, the Comte de Chambry, another +captain in the same regiment, bitterly reproached d’Eon for not having +informed him of his return. + + I hope (he added) to find in the Chevalière d’Eon the same + feelings of friendship as in the captain of dragoons.... As for + me, in whatever form he appears, I shall always take the same + interest in him, and am eager to assure him myself of the fact. + +The Marquis d’Autichamp, colonel and owner of the regiment in which d’Eon +had served, had been one of the first to be apprised by the latter of his +metamorphosis. + + It is but too true, my dear and gallant Colonel (the Chevalier + had written), that, compelled to obey the command of the King + and of the law, I have resumed my gown, for the edification of + weak-minded persons who were scandalised by the great liberty + taken by a young girl who, from prudence, had hidden and + entrenched her virtue in your regiment of dragoons, in order + that it might be better protected. My stratagem having been + discovered, proved, and made public in a Court of Justice, + people were surprised to find that I am still a woman. + Consequently, the Court, as a reward or punishment, forces me + to end my days as I began them, _en cornette_ (mob-cap). + +Whereupon the gallant colonel at once answered: + + I was much attached to you when you were a captain of dragoons. + The new form you have assumed has never prejudiced you in my + estimation, and although it forces me to respect you all the + more, it does not deprive me of the pleasure of loving you, and + I hasten to assure you of both these sentiments. + +The same feeling of kindly credulity, the same affectionate expressions +are found in the letters of all d’Eon’s old brother officers, and bear +witness to the pleasant impression he had made on them. The case, though +extraordinary, had seemed to them credible; moreover, it was not without +a precedent, as the Baron de Castille hastened to inform the Chevalière +in the following letter: + + Madame de Laubespin will tell you of the girl-dragoon of + the regiment of Belzunce, who has again been to see me this + morning. He is most anxious to be introduced to you, and + I am convinced that you will find him interesting. He is + twenty-seven years old, is nearly five foot five, and has a + pleasant face and a beautiful, well-dressed head of hair. He + is a junior officer at the Invalides, and wears the insignia + of a veteran. The Duc d’Aiguillon gave him the two crossed + swords when he was discovered upon receiving a sword-thrust + in his hip. He was presented by the Prince de Beauvau to the + late King, when hunting at Fontainebleau, and he asked him many + questions. + +It seems, too, that the adventure of the famous Chevalière had turned the +heads of several ladies. Among his papers d’Eon left a whole bundle of +letters written to him by “young women of exceptional height,” desirous +“of changing their sex as far as appearance was concerned,” in order to +be able to enlist and serve in the army. The bundle also included the +epistles addressed to him by a few madmen, disturbed, as often happens, +by the revelation of a curious personality. + +This odd collection, together with notes from his friends, his old +comrades, and even strangers who wrote to him directly after his return, +leaves no doubt whatever as to the astonishment which the affair +excited, and the amazing credulity with which it was generally accepted. + +While d’Eon’s unbounded vanity found endless satisfaction in this +unhoped-for welcome, the ministers who had flattered themselves that +the avowal of his sex and his compulsory change of attire would be +accompanied by the resumption of all needful propriety and consideration, +were obliged to acknowledge that they had been strangely mistaken. Not +only did d’Eon, in his new costume, attract everybody’s attention; but, +unable to accustom himself to headdresses, stays and petticoats, he +began, notwithstanding the King’s prohibition, to dress frequently as a +man again. To prevent a fresh scandal, M. de Vergennes decided to give to +the extravagant Chevalière a vigilant guardian. M. Genêt, chief clerk at +the Foreign Office, a friend of d’Eon’s and also a Burgundian, seemed the +very person for this difficult task. On his estate at Petit-Montreuil, +in the immediate neighbourhood of the Comte de Polignac and of M. de +Vergennes, he happened to have a pretty cottage, where the petulant +Chevalière might be able to resign herself to the quiet existence which +she was expected to lead. It was thought that she would find the society +of Madame Genêt and her daughters, all attached to the service of the +Queen, less austere than that of the Ursuline, Bernardine or Augustine +sisters, into one of whose convents she had offered to retire in the +first joy of her return. Genêt, therefore, urged her to join his family, +and had the quarters of his “illustrious heroine” repaired in great +haste. There being prospects of a severe winter, he tried to tempt her +by the promise of “very warm rooms” in her little house. “How I dislike +to see you,” he said, “boxed up as you are!” Such tender pressure did +not easily overcome d’Eon’s reluctance to submit to a guardianship in +which he recognised the will of the minister. Consequently he hesitated +a long time, and only decided towards the middle of December to accept +the hospitality of the kindly Burgundian family, in whose midst he was +received with cordiality. + +From that day the relations between d’Eon and the Genêts and Campans +naturally became more intimate, and led to a daily exchange of kind +offices, which we find mentioned in d’Eon’s papers. One day M. Campan +thanked him very pompously for an essay on natural history, which he +considered “pleasantly conceived, but rather long”; d’Eon, it is true, +was not addicted to brevity. Another time, Madame Campan asked d’Eon, +in a most affected style, for a simple remedy against deafness for +the princes. The Queen’s woman of the bedchamber, who had not yet the +grievance against d’Eon of having been duped by him, overwhelmed him with +invitations. “On April 24, 1778, the whole Genêt family,” she writes, +“are coming to spend the evening at M. Campan’s. She would be overjoyed +if Mademoiselle d’Eon would do them the honour of accompanying them; she +would only meet her old friends at supper, and Madame Campan begs that +she will come without the least ceremony.” + +D’Eon was present at all the parties arranged by the Queen’s women of +the bedchamber. If, perchance, he refused to accompany them, Sophie +Genêt would despatch a note to him, in her schoolgirlish hand, to +entreat him to reconsider his decision; at the same time she dreaded +being importunate, “for that would mean sadness to her hosts.” When they +went on a visit to their Uncle Genêt de Charmontaut at his charming seat +at Mainville, near Melun, word was at once sent to d’Eon, who allowed +himself to be persuaded by such pressing invitations. So entirely did he +captivate the modest lord of the manor, that the latter could not find +words flattering enough to thank him for coming, nor terms humble enough +to excuse his frugal hospitality. + +D’Eon always showed gratitude to the family which had received him so +cordially. Very faithful in his friendships, he was equally generous, +notwithstanding his small means. He was constantly sending to them +various Burgundian produce from Tonnerre; truffles, at that time highly +prized and not much known; venison, and especially wine from his own +vineyards, which M. Amelot, the Comte de Vergennes, and the Duc de +Chaulnes, as they themselves admitted, liked particularly. + + I have received, my dear friend (wrote Genêt), two delicious + presents from you in one week, both calculated to rejoice the + heart—namely, your portrait as a dragoon, which M. Bradel has + sent to me, and with which I am much pleased, and a cask of + your excellent wine. We shall place the portrait on the table + while drinking your health. You are aware of our devotion to + you, and we rely on your friendship, knowing, as we do, the + kindness of your heart. + +But d’Eon was able to prove his attachment better than by these small +attentions; for with the prudence and authority of a dowager, who takes +pleasure in the part she is acting, he succeeded in bringing about the +happiness of one of his young friends, Adelaide Genêt, if we may rely +on a letter which she wrote to him the day after her marriage with M. +Auguié. According to M. Genêt, it was “a successful piece of work, which +was crowned beyond all expectation” by the Queen herself. + +D’Eon must have found his patriarchal life very monotonous, and after a +few weeks “the charm of Petit-Montreuil covered with snow” vanished. He +could think of nothing but fame, success and publicity, and avoided with +difficulty the attention of these unimportant people who wished to meet +this strange prodigy. His fame was then universal, and everywhere people +were courting a heroine who was as modest as she was brave, and whom her +contemporaries could only compare to Joan of Arc or Jeanne Hachette. + +D’Eon had so ardently wished for and so cleverly planned this apotheosis +that, of course, he meant to play a part in it. So he never missed an +opportunity of escaping from his retreat; and, as Genêt said of him, “he +was as fond of Paris as any dandy.” Among his old acquaintances, the +Comtesse de Boufflers, the witty mistress of the Prince de Conti, “the +idol of the Temple,” as Madame du Deffand called her, had been one of the +first to express a wish to meet again the former minister plenipotentiary +by whose side she had done the honours of the embassy in London: + + M. d’Usson has told me, Mademoiselle, that you have not + forgotten that we had the pleasure of meeting you in England, + and that you seemed anxious to renew the acquaintance then + begun. I, too, am most anxious to see again one who will be for + ever famous on account of the remarkable events of her life as + well as her many great qualities, and I shall be delighted if + you will come and dine with me at the Temple next Friday. + +In truth the audacious adventurer had become the favourite guest, the +“lion” for whose presence at their receptions hostesses contended. On +the little invitation-cards, which d’Eon religiously kept, appear the +names of the cleverest women and the most distinguished people. The most +inaccessible drawing-rooms opened their doors to this phenomenon, and not +one of the least curious signs of the levity of the eighteenth century +may be found in this childish credulity of a society which openly paraded +its scepticism. The decadent and exhausted intellects of that period, +divorced from all serious ideas and indifferent to both the advancement +of science and to the beauty of art, concerned themselves with nothing +but the bizarre. At a time when they were unable to read the signs of the +tremendous social upheaval which was germinating around them, idlers at +the court and unattached officers made _bon-mots_ and told highly spiced +stories for the amusement of the ladies who held what was known as a +_bureau d’esprit_. + +D’Eon excelled in this kind of thing; his imagination, his inexhaustible +spirits, his unexpected sallies made his audience forget the occasional +coarseness of his oft-told tales. He attracted, in short, by a carefully +guarded and mysterious eccentricity. He was even liked for the admirably +feigned modesty which made him appear only at small social gatherings; +for he prided himself on avoiding inquisitive people, and on being so +indifferent to the attention he attracted that his friends found it +necessary to press him to keep his engagements. + +“The Duc de Luynes is longing to see you, and so is his father-in-law, M. +de Laval,” wrote his friend Reine. “He told me he had asked you to dine +with him; since you are in Paris, do go to see the Duchess, and be so +good as to present our respects to her.” + +If it seems strange that he should have received invitations, couched in +most courteous terms, from the Comte de la Rochefoucauld, M. de Villaine, +the Marquis de Chaponay, the Vicomtesse de Breteuil; that he should have +become the assiduous guest of the Duchesse de Montmorency and the Vicomte +de la Ferté, is it not stranger still that this extraordinary person had +the entry of the drawing-rooms of the upper middle classes and of the +legal notabilities, who formed at that time a very cultured and exclusive +society? He excited the same curiosity among these people; and Talon, +Fraguier, Tascher, Tanlay, Nicolaï, d’Agnesseau were all anxious to +entertain him and sent their coaches to fetch him. + +One day the Comte de Polignac “begs him to come to his garret in +the Tuileries and share an informal meal in military fashion. The +Chevalière,” he adds, “will find there some good coffee preceded by +cutlets, also a man of her acquaintance whom she will be glad to see. +Everything will be served to the minute and without any fuss.” Another +time the Baron de Castille tells him of the famous Cardinal de Rohan’s +desire to know the Chevalière. + +“I have given your address to Prince Louis,” he informs him; “he will +either call on you while you are at Versailles, or request you to call +on him; the short time he had at his disposal in Paris did not allow of +his going to see you.” On Wednesday, March 11, 1778, as he carefully +enters in a diary most scrupulously kept from day to day, d’Eon lunched +with Voltaire. The day which he began with such a curious interview +was strangely crowded with engagements, for he dined with the Comtesse +de Béarn, and then proceeded to Madame de Marchais for supper. At this +time he had already left Petit-Montreuil and settled down in the Rue de +Conti, where he found it easier to lead the life which he neither could +nor wished to avoid. His reception at court was as flattering as his +reception in town. He attended the gala performances, which he watched +from the box of Madame de Marchais, whose husband had been formerly +gentleman of the bedchamber to Louis XV. Judging by the portrait he has +left, d’Eon particularly admired her: + +“She is an amiable little woman,” he says, “very witty, extremely pretty, +and well made, with fair hair that reaches down to her heels, large blue +eyes, and teeth as white as ivory. She was,” he goes on to say, “the +friend of the late Marquise de Pompadour. She is a candlelight beauty +who spends her days in the bath, in reading or writing, in her boudoir +or at her toilet. She is only to be seen at night, or after the play at +Court is over, when company meets at her house to partake of a delicious +supper.” + +D’Eon seems, in fact, as his little diary shows, to have admired the +charming hostess no less than he appreciated her suppers. He spent most +of his evenings at her house, and when, occasionally, he did not make +his appearance, the little coterie which he enlivened by his gaiety was +quite anxious about his health. If news reached them that he was ill, +all the ladies hastened to his house. “Princess Sapieha, inquiring after +him, sends to him the calabash syrup which she has recommended to him, +and she sincerely hopes it will help to cure him.” On another occasion +the Marquis de Comeiras, major-general of the King’s armies, acted as +spokesman for d’Eon’s intimate friends, and expressed their anxiety in +the following terms:— + + I was more grieved than astonished, dear comrade, to hear, + yesterday, that your throat was bad, that you had asked to + be excused from going to Madame de Brige’s, and that she had + sent you some broth. I told all that to Madame de Marchais + last night: she at once wanted to send you some soup, another + lady some beef-tea.... The Princesse de Montbarrey is very + anxious to see you at her house; I have promised to mention + this to you. They flatter me very much, my dear old comrade, by + thinking that you are at my disposal. The fair sex, wishing to + see their heroine, is constantly speaking to me of her. + +Indeed d’Eon’s popularity was at its height, and he did his best to +sustain it. Conceiving the idea of handing down to posterity the record +of his exploits, he set about composing a series of fantastic accounts of +his resumption of feminine dress, and also some important notes relating +to the negotiations in which he had taken part. These various projects +were not published, and are contained in the voluminous collection of his +papers, d’Eon contenting himself with offering to the admiration of his +contemporaries _The Military, Political, and Private Life of Mademoiselle +d’Eon, known until 1777 by the Name of Chevalier d’Eon_. He himself +edited the greater part, which appeared in the _Fastes Militaires_; but +the signature of M. de la Fortelle, which figures on the title-page of +the work, enabled the Chevalier to sing his own praises—praises to which +he considered himself honestly entitled—without infringing the laws of +modesty. Three thousand copies were specially printed off and sold in +England, or distributed among friends, to whom the donor also sent his +portrait, either engraved or etched. + +All the engravers of the time were anxious to reproduce the features +of the heroic Chevalière, who, of course, took good care not to refuse +them such a favour. D’Eon was portrayed as a dragoon, with a helmet or +a cocked hat; half-length, full-length or on horseback; as a woman, +supplied with an elegant bust, bedecked with lace, and wearing a very +fascinating cap; or as a dowager, soberly dressed in a tight-fitting +black bodice, relieved by the Cross of Saint Louis. Other prints +represent him as Minerva, wearing a sort of morion which is anything but +antique, and on which the owl, the goddess’s emblem, has been replaced +by the cock, which figures in the coat-of-arms of the d’Eon family. +But equally interesting are the emblems, the inscriptions and the +mottoes that surround these portraits. D’Eon, who prided himself on his +learning as well as his courage, borrowed from antiquity the most pompous +allusions from the classics, boldly inscribed round his own portrait the +lines that the Latin poets had consecrated to the most redoubtable heroes +and to the most fiery amazons of Greece and Rome. These prints, of which +there were many and various, met with great success and are still much +sought after. + +They were to be found at Bradel’s studio, or at the shop of Esnault and +Rapilly; but the hero himself circulated them with the utmost liberality. +He had one engraved for his old comrades: “Dedicated to the Dragoons,” +ran the inscription, and they delighted in studying the features of the +illustrious captain, and in making of his exploits an inspiring example. +At least that is what was asserted by the Abbé Moullet de Monbar, +chaplain of the regiment of Ségur’s dragoons. + + I have not the happiness of seeing you, Mademoiselle (he wrote + to d’Eon), but I enjoy seeing your portrait, which attracts + many visitors to my room, where it is the only ornament. + This portrait penetrates my very soul when I gaze upon it. I + see before me a heroine greater than the amazons and all the + celebrated women of antiquity, a soldier full of spirit and + daring, a faithful and patriotic minister plenipotentiary, + who commands respect for his king and himself; I see before + me an illustrious and interesting character, who will prove a + perplexing phenomenon for the ages to come. + +The thanks received from persons of high rank, though expressed in a +less pompous style, were not less ardent or less flattering. Chancellor +Maupeon wrote: “This attention from you has given me great pleasure; be +assured, Mademoiselle, that nothing could exceed the esteem and affection +I feel for you.” + +The Duc de Guines, former ambassador of France in London, received “with +much gratitude the present” which he had asked of d’Eon through the +medium of the Comtesse de Broglie, his sister-in-law. As for the personal +friends of the Chevalier, they never tired of the prints which he heaped +on them, and praised to the full the charm of Latour’s pastel or the +bold grace of Bradel’s engraving. “Your print is superb,” exclaimed +Genêt, “particularly about the eyes, which are those of Bellona herself. +The look is as haughty as if you were face to face with Beaumarchais. +I defy him to bear it. Truth and honesty shine from it, and it is the +thunderbolt which will annihilate him.” + +Since death had delivered him from de Guerchy, d’Eon had found in +Beaumarchais a new and no less determined adversary. Their quarrel had +arisen just as that to which the ambassador had fallen a victim—out of +a question of money. D’Eon did not hesitate to proclaim aloud that he +had been duped by Beaumarchais, and that at the time of their covenant +the latter had appropriated a sum of 60,000 livres, which was to have +been set apart for indemnifying Lord Ferrers. This allegation, to +which d’Eon gave considerable publicity, was welcomed by the enemies +of the author of _The Barber of Seville_, who, naturally enough, were +many. The complacently-told story of the ridiculous romance by which +he allowed himself to be carried away for a time, set court and town +shaking with laughter. For once the celebrated pamphleteer was obliged +to admit that the laughter was not with him, and, after having so +often diverted himself at the expense of his contemporaries, he had to +endure their raillery. Certain impromptu comedies which were performed +at that time in fashionable circles, and some burlesques inspired by +the carnival, which represented him as engaged in making love to the +virile Chevalière, exasperated him beyond measure. The point was all the +more telling as d’Eon amused himself by acting his own part—that of an +artless maiden—with an improvised Beaumarchais. Seeing himself held up +to ridicule in this manner, and accused of such incredible blindness, +Beaumarchais was put out of countenance, and completely lost his temper. +Not knowing how to retaliate, he complained to M. de Vergennes, the +Minister for Foreign Affairs, begging him to vindicate his character from +the calumnies that were being publicly circulated about him: + + As long as the Demoiselle d’Eon contented herself with writing + ill of me to you in reference to the services I rendered her + in England, or of sending word to you to the same effect, I + treated her ingratitude with silent contempt, as you are aware, + regretting her folly without complaining. I concealed her + faults and attributed them to the weakness of a sex to which + all is forgiven.... Now she no longer tries to injure me from + a distance, nor in writing; but in Paris, in the best houses, + where she is received out of curiosity, and even at dinner, + before lacqueys, she is base enough to accuse me of having + appropriated 60,000 livres, which sum, she says, was a portion + of the money confided to me for her use.... I do not wish the + Demoiselle d’Eon to be punished, I pardon her; but I entreat + his Majesty to permit me to make my justification as public as + the insult which has been offered to me. + +Beaumarchais had no trouble in obtaining the vindication which he +desired. M. de Vergennes wrote to him a most flattering letter, giving +him permission to publish it; making acknowledgments to the great +scrupulousness of the negotiator who “without claiming the reimbursement +of his personal expenses, had, throughout the transaction, shown no other +interest than that of facilitating the Demoiselle d’Eon’s return to her +native land.” + +Beaumarchais was too well pleased with this testimony not to hasten +to publish it, adding thereto, by way of postscript, an open letter +addressed to d’Eon, in which he showed himself disdainful if generous: + + May this gentle treatment, which you so little deserve, make + you reflect seriously and teach you to govern yourself, since + the many services rendered by me have neither inspired you + with justice nor with gratitude. Such a change of conduct is + necessary to your own peace of mind, believe me, who while + pardoning would rue the day when first I met you, if it were + possible to regret having placed ingratitude personified under + obligation. + +The author of _The Barber of Seville_ had only sought to justify himself +before the public by issuing those documents, for he knew his adversary +too well to entertain the hope of reducing him so easily to silence. +Brought before the tribunal of public opinion, whose approval he had +ever courted, stung to the quick by Beaumarchais’ disdain, humiliated by +the minister’s offensive language, d’Eon replied at once with malicious +irony. His letter to the Comte de Vergennes is too long to be cited here +in full; but a few passages will be sufficient to indicate the tone: + + Now that I have obeyed the King’s commands by resuming female + attire on the feast day of St. Ursula; now that I am living + in tranquillity and peace in the habit of a vestal, and that + I have completely forgotten Caron and his boat, judge of my + surprise in receiving an epistle from the said Caron, enclosing + copies, duly certified, of a letter he addressed to you, and of + your reply. + + Although I know my Beaumarchais by heart, I must admit, + Monseigneur, that his imposture and the way he sets about + causing its acceptance have nevertheless astonished me. + + Was it not M. de Beaumarchais who, unable to persuade me to + be dishonest and to support him in his speculations on my + sex, spread the report all over Paris that he was to marry me + after I had spent seven months at the Abbey of the Ladies of + St. Anthony, when, as a fact, he was within an inch of being + espoused to my cane, while in London? But his name alone is a + remedy against nuptial love; the acheronic ring about it would + frighten any _dragonne_, however resolute she might be. + + I must warn you, Monseigneur, that fictitious Demoiselles + d’Eon, wearing the order of Saint Louis, have made their + appearance in more than one fashionable house in Paris. They + were jesters who said the most absurd things about all the + acquaintances of the real Chevalière d’Eon, but chiefly + with reference to the agreeable, honourable, and courageous + Pierre-Augustin-Caron de Beaumarchais.... This scene, of which + there have been an infinite number of variations, was repeated, + I am told, last week, while I was quietly working and sleeping + in my retreat at Petit-Montreuil. Does M. de Beaumarchais, so + fond of hoaxing others, desire to have the monopoly of such a + privilege?... + + Let me tell you, Monseigneur, that all the integrity of the + four ministers joined to your own, even adding to it that of + the chief clerks, would fail to make an honest man of M. de + Beaumarchais in this business. The searching light which his + past conduct throws on his character has compelled me much to + my regret to class him with those by whom one must be hated in + order to retain any self-respect. + +To add further to the irony of this curious epistle, and to win over +to his cause the sex whose heroine he flattered himself he had become, +d’Eon, assuming the tone of an outraged woman, ended the letter with a +most fantastic invocation which he entitled: + + _The Appeal of Mademoiselle d’Eon to her Contemporaries_ + + M. de Beaumarchais has sought to deprive me of that + consideration so conducive to my peaceful existence. I put him + to confusion by ridiculing his impotent rage. He is a Thersites + who should be whipped for having dared to be insolent to his + betters, whom he ought to respect. I denounce and abandon him + to the whole feminine sex of my time, as one who would fain + have exalted himself at the expense of a woman, and avenged his + frustrated hopes by humiliating a woman, who, of all others, + has at heart the glory of her sex. + +This appeal to the feelings and pride of her feminine contemporaries +met with a ready response, and d’Eon, who had not failed to scatter +broadcast the newspapers which published this strange polemic, received +the heartiest congratulations from far and near. “The elevation of her +sentiments” were contrasted with “the horror with which her antagonist +fills all thinking and sentient persons.” “Unaware of the motives which +prompt the Minister for Foreign Affairs to employ such an agent,” wrote +a contemporary of d’Eon, “I think it desirable that he should at least +prevent his encouraging imitators. Mankind were too much to be pitied if +Beaumarchais should form others after his own pattern.” + +At Caen, “where all the honest folk of the province wished to see him,” +his malicious appeal met with great success. “I received it at the house +of the Comtesse de la Tournelle,” wrote a certain Count d’Ormesson, +“where all the nobility of the neighbourhood were assembled, as there +have been balls and theatrical performances for four successive days. +I cannot describe the effect it produced. Everybody was delighted with +your style and the simple and straightforward way in which you tell your +adversary his faults.” + +The bitter enmity which Beaumarchais had brought down on himself in +every quarter had doubtless contributed to d’Eon’s success; yet that +would not of itself entirely explain the interest which attached to the +most insignificant doings of the Chevalière. In spite of his eccentric +behaviour, and the scandal he created, d’Eon had succeeded in pleasing +serious and soberminded people, while at the same time he won over the +populace by his art of self-advertisement. His keen perception had +gauged the power of the press, then still in its infancy, and since +his residence in England he had not ceased to exploit himself in the +newspapers. No doubt he shared with many others the merit of having +bravely done his duty on the field of battle; but such modest deeds, +already made much of when they were known to have been accomplished +by a woman, had become exaggerated, in the flattering brilliancy of +enthusiastic accounts, into veritable triumphs. “The Chevalière was a +unique heroine, whose whole life belonged to her contemporaries.” Such +was certainly d’Eon’s opinion. Accordingly, no sooner had his dispute +with Beaumarchais subsided than he thought it necessary to announce in a +rhodomontade, which now appears absurdly pompous, the verdict of the Lord +Chief Justice, annulling the decision as to the validity of the wagers +regarding his sex. Men of affairs and scholars even did not hesitate to +congratulate the illustrious Chevalière. M. de Lalande, with the gravity +befitting an astronomer and an academician, wrote to her: + + I heartily rejoiced when I saw that you had subjected England + to the laws of honour, while at the same time punishing in + France the rashness of the man who would have feared the + Chevalier, but thought he might brave the Chevalière. Your + jests are at once as bitter and amusing as your style is + noble and majestic when you write to a minister. Permit me, + Mademoiselle, to send this letter to you by one of my friends + who has never seen a heroine, and is longing to pay his + respects to you; allow him to present mine also, with this + tribute of admiration, gratitude, and esteem. + +Another member of the French Academy, the Comte de Tressan, whom d’Eon +had thanked for a book that had recently appeared by sending two of her +works, replied in the same eulogistic vein, adding: + + The letter with which you have honoured me fills me with + gratitude: it is an equal distinction to merit your + approbation, whether as a soldier or as an academician. + + Your letter, Mademoiselle, having been forwarded on Tuesday + last to Paris, I would have hastened to call on you, to thank + you in person; but being seized that day with a sort of + catarrh accompanied by fever, I wrapped myself up well and + returned at once to my hermitage. Feeling better, I seize the + first opportunity of telling you how extremely touched I am + by the kindness of the one person in the world whom I have + always admired, whether wielding the sword or the pen. You + have realised in your person the valour of both Morphiso and + Bradamante, so nobly sung by Ariosto. But you have done more, + you have parried the attacks of the spoiled child to whom + everybody yields, and you set an example to the world of a mind + which is proof against every form of weakness. You were born, + Mademoiselle, to vanquish the warrior, the diplomat, and love + itself, and deserve the worship of the friends who have the + honour of living with you and of enjoying the charm as well as + the advantage of listening to you. There is no one of either + sex who does not feel some emulation when listening to you, + no one who is not moved by your speech and encouraged by your + example to become still braver or more virtuous. As soon as + I am able to return to Paris, Mademoiselle, I will hasten to + assure you of the regard, the attachment, and the admiration + which I have for you. + +While welcoming these polite speeches with all the sensibility of a +woman of his time, d’Eon had already thought of an excellent way of +“vanquishing love,” and was forming projects for retiring into a convent +for a few months. Full of his part, and taking a malicious pleasure in +the comedy, he chose the most equivocal situations, and amused himself in +playing the cynical dilettante. Having obtained permission, through M. de +Reine, to retire to the convent of Saint Louis, at Saint Cyr, he had been +obliged to give up the idea, “as the Bishop of Chartres, who was then +in Rome, could alone grant so rare a favour.” On being acquainted with +the Chevalière’s desire, the nuns had, without the slightest hesitation, +admitted her to their parlour for want of the coveted cell, and d’Eon, +short as had been his visit, had left among the venerable dames a +pleasant impression which is expressed in the following note:— + + Our Mother-Superior, Madame de Montchevreuil, has given me a + most agreeable commission, Mademoiselle, in charging me to + assure you once more of the pleasure which your visit has + afforded us, and also to express the esteem with which you + have inspired all the inhabitants of our house. She wishes to + convince you of the sincerity of these sentiments, and she + suggests Monday or Tuesday next as the day for the second visit + with which you propose to honour us. But, Mademoiselle, as it + is always well to hasten the enjoyment of that which affords + us legitimate pleasure, we trust that your choice will fall + on Monday.... I remind you of your promise, which you cannot + fail to fulfil without being untrue to yourself. As for myself, + who had the honour of being in attendance on you and of seeing + you more frequently, I beg to assure you that to my esteem + and admiration for the Chevalier d’Eon I add my attachment to + Mademoiselle.... + +On reading this letter d’Eon was full of gratitude to these saintly +women and of humility towards himself. He remembered that in his youth +his knowledge of Holy Writ had won for him the degree of Doctor of Canon +Law, and his answer to the invitation he had received was couched in the +language of an earnest, devout and repentant person. In a few pages, the +writing of which must have afforded him the keenest enjoyment (he kept +three copies of this letter), d’Eon succeeded in judging himself with an +impartiality that would have been meritorious in any other circumstance. + + ... I purpose going alone (he wrote), so that nothing shall + divert my attention whilst on my way to the house of the Lord’s + elect, and that I may be the better able to benefit by the + holiness of your discourse, which is the living expression of + the purity of your lives, and of the peace that reigns in your + hearts. + + When I compare the happiness of the solitude you enjoy, which + I have ever delighted in without being able to experience its + pleasure, with my terribly restless life in the world and in + the various armies and courts of Europe during the last forty + years, I feel how far I have been removed from the God of + humility and consolation by the demon of glory. Like a foolish + virgin I have been running after the shadows of things, while + you, wise virgins, possess the substance through steadfastly + abiding in the house of the Lord, and in the path of virtue. + _Erravi a viâ justitiae et sol intelligentiae non luxit in + me._ I pray that God may preserve all our sex from the passion + of vainglory. I alone know what it has cost me to rise above + myself! Alas! what restless nights I have passed for the sake + of a few brilliant and happy days! It is better to admire from + afar the example I have set than to imitate it.... + +Together with this lengthy homily, and as if to counter-balance the +effect produced by such humble declarations, d’Eon was careful to +send his own portrait and his pamphlets. He also promised to read to +his correspondent a few letters addressed to his uncle “by Madame de +Maintenon and her bosom friend, the Comtesse de Caylus,” of which he +possessed the originals. Sister de Durfort replied immediately: + + You are to be admired in everything, Mademoiselle, whether + wielding the pen or the sword; your letter is delightful, and + I shall keep it as carefully as a miser keeps his hoard. It + reveals the treasures of your inner life, which are still more + precious than your well-known moral, political, and martial + virtues, to which I pay the homage they deserve. Our Mother + Superior and all the ladies here thank you, Mademoiselle, for + the engraving you have sent. Your features cannot be too often + portrayed in an age when heroic deeds are few and when heroines + would be unknown but for you. + +Two days later the mother-superior invited d’Eon to witness a taking of +the veil at the convent. Hearing that d’Eon was unwell she expressed the +hope that the illustrious patient’s fever would soon abate, and, with a +view to her recovery, she sent some leverets and partridges “from the +preserves of the community.” + +Such delicate attentions, and above all the fervent admiration of these +saintly ladies, embarrassed d’Eon, who sank under the burden of his +remorse in this onset of courtesy and humility. + + I am leaving, Madame, the Abbey of Haute-Bruyère, where + Mademoiselle de Torigny, after having refused a most + advantageous marriage, from a worldly point of view, has + left all in order to espouse the poverty and sufferings of + the cross of Jesus Christ, and lead the life of the holy + women who, by the purity and sweetness of their lives, render + their solitude and their religion as attractive as their + society. This spectacle, almost incredible, which I had never + before witnessed, has saddened me and stirred my soul more + than anything, however marvellous, that I ever beheld in my + campaigns. + + It is no doubt to humble my pride, and to confound my worldly + courage, that you wish me to witness again, on Monday next, the + touching sacrifice of the two royal victims of your convent, + who, like two innocent white doves, are to be plucked and + immolated before my eyes on the altar of the King of Kings. + + Notwithstanding the martial spirit with which men and soldiers + credit me, I cannot but feel from the bottom of my heart that + I am a coward, when I behold the greatness and extent of the + sacrifice you offer up to God. Until now I have only sacrificed + my body in serving my King and my country, that is in serving + my own ends; the horse I mounted in the combats and battles in + which I have fought has done as much as I, while you, Mesdames, + have offered to God and to your community the entire sacrifice + of yourselves, body and soul; you have kept back nothing save + your innocence and submission. + + It is very kind of Madame de Montchevreuil to send me + leverets and partridges for my dinner; one dish and some + salad constitute a good meal in my opinion. Happily I am not + addicted to sensual pleasures. I can sleep on straw on the + ground, and can live on bread and water. Our Lord said that man + does not live by bread alone, but by the word of God; I will + therefore strive to feed my soul with His word while listening + attentively to the excellent sermon that will be preached in + your church, on Monday next, at the holy sacrifice of your two + victims. + +After reading d’Eon’s works “with dragoon-like voracity,” Sister de +Durfort began to realise that the remorse of the author of _Lettres, +Mémoires et Negociations_ was far from being groundless. Without +deceiving herself as to the difficulty of transforming this “hero in +the eyes of the world” into a “heroine of religion,” she strove, with +touching simplicity, to bring him to repentance. “You are right,” she +wrote, “in saying that I should have more trouble in bringing you back to +a state of grace than Madame d’Eon had in bringing you into the world. +However, I do not despair: with so much courage, firmness, constancy, +valour, and intrepidity—in short, great as you are—it needs but one +effort to make a saint of you....” + +D’Eon appears soon to have realised how ungenerous it was of him +to take advantage of her credulity, for he put a stop to the pious +correspondence. Far from entertaining the idea of taking the veil, as +his venerable correspondent had hoped, the Chevalière had no more ardent +desire than to doff the mob-cap and resume the soldier’s helmet. Too +active for the part which he was reduced to play, for the life of the +court, the visits and entertainments, the tedium of which he tried to +forget by writing incessantly; tired, also, of the perpetual mystery +of which he was at once the author and the victim, d’Eon regretted his +old life of adventure. The American War appeared to him a favourable +opportunity for resuming it, and no sooner had hostilities begun with +England than he solicited de Sartine and de Vergennes for permission to +re-enter the army. But he met with a positive and quite comprehensible +refusal on the part of the two ministers, who desired nothing better than +to hear the last of him. + +He entreated the Comte de Broglie to support his petition, which the +count declined to do, rather ungratefully reproaching d’Eon—who had +never ceased to be faithful to him and had defended him in awkward +situations—for having referred to him. + + I have received, Mademoiselle (he replied), the letter you have + taken the trouble of writing to me, together with the copy of + M. de Sartine’s letter. I must point out to you with regard + to the latter that, although I fully appreciate the motives + which have actuated you in so far as I am concerned, it would + undoubtedly have been better had you abstained from mentioning + my name. + + I hope that you may obtain the permission which you require, + but I think it extremely unlikely. In that case I trust you + will never do anything that may be construed into the least + resistance to the King’s will. + +Embittered by such fresh disappointments, and irritated by his +sedentary life, which was beginning to tell upon his health, d’Eon +resolved—notwithstanding the refusal he had already met with—to write a +letter to M. de Maurepas, which he was foolish enough to publish, and +also an open letter to several great ladies at court. The two documents +brought down upon the author prompt retribution which, it must be +admitted, their extravagant tone fully justified. + + I would not for an instant encroach on the valuable time + that you devote to the glory and welfare of France; but, + animated by the desire to contribute to both myself, in so far + as my humble position allows, I must represent to you most + firmly and respectfully that the year of my female novitiate + having expired, it is impossible for me to pass on to a full + profession. The expenses are beyond my means, and my income is + too limited. Such being the case, I can neither be of use to + the King, nor to myself, nor to my family, and my sedentary + life is ruining the buoyancy of my body and mind. From my youth + up I have always led a most active life and, whether in the + army or in diplomacy, inaction is fatal to me. + + I renew, Monsieur, my entreaties that you will obtain the + King’s permission for me to re-enter his service, and, as + there is no fighting on land, that I be allowed to serve as + a volunteer in the fleet of the Comte d’Orvilliers. I have + managed to live in petticoats in time of peace, from a desire + to obey the orders of the King and of his ministers, but I find + it impossible to do so in time of war. I am sick with vexation, + and ashamed to be in such a position when I might be serving my + King and country with the zeal, the courage, and the experience + that God and my own efforts have granted me. I am ashamed and + distressed to be quietly living in Paris on the pension which + the late King deigned to give me, when there is fighting to be + done elsewhere. I am always ready to sacrifice both my pension + and my life to his august grandson. I returned to France under + your auspices, Monseigneur, I therefore confidently commend my + present and future fate to your generous protection. + +_An Open Letter addressed by the Chevalière d’Eon to several Great Ladies +at Court_ + + MADAME LA DUCHESSE,—Foreseeing that there will be less fighting + on land this year than last, I earnestly entreat you to use + your influence with the ministers, in favour of my petition + (as stated in the enclosed copy of my letter to the Comte de + Maurepas) to serve as a volunteer in the fleet of the Comte + d’Orvilliers. Your name, Madame, is one to which military glory + is familiar, and, as a woman, you must love the glory of our + sex. I have striven to sustain that throughout the late war + with Germany, and in negotiating at European courts during the + last twenty-five years. There is nothing left for me to do but + to fight at sea in the Royal Navy. I hope to acquit myself in + such a way that you will not regret having fostered the good + intention of one who has the honour to be, with profoundest + respect, faithfully yours, + + LA CHEVALIÈRE D’EON. + +Tired of d’Eon’s eccentricities, weary of his attacks on Beaumarchais, +and informed, moreover, that he had laid aside his female clothes, the +ministers took strong measures. + +On Saturday, March 20, at an early hour and without any warning, +Mademoiselle d’Eon was arrested at her house in the Rue de Noailles, +by two officers of police, and invited to enter a coach, which started +off at once. While the Sieur Clos, equerry and counsellor of the King, +assisted by his clerk, searched his house in vain, d’Eon was being +driven, by easy stages, towards Dijon Castle, where, by a royal decree, +he remained for a whole month. + + + + +X + +TONNERRE ONCE MORE + + +Now that the archives of the Bastille are accessible to historians, +prison life in the eighteenth century is no longer enveloped in mystery, +and this famous fortress, looked upon as the symbol of despotism, appears +rather to have been a sort of hostelry where the best society was +temporarily and involuntarily brought together. In spite of the meagre +comforts that the abode could offer, the inmates were almost free to keep +up their customary style of living. The most favoured, waited upon by +their valets, had their regular reception days, entertained at supper, +and were at liberty to pass through the prison-gates on merely pledging +their word that they would return before sunset. The less important +inmates were tolerably well catered for on payment of ten francs a day, +visited their neighbours in their respective cells, and found sufficient +relaxation in games of _faro_, _bouillotte_ or _biribi_. Those of a more +serious turn of mind, who soon tired of such a regimen, whiled away the +time in contriving plans of escape, which were often crowned with success. + +The prison in the castle of Dijon, though equally formidable in +appearance, was not less hospitable, and the recalcitrant Chevalière +found herself even better placed than on her first arrival in Burgundy, +when, crowned with the aureole of misfortune, she had received the +warmest reception. The Abbé Pioret, senior priest at St. John’s, the +prisoners’ parish church for the time being, was one of the first to +inquire after his old comrade, and to offer her such consolations as were +in keeping with her condition and her present circumstances. He reminded +her of the days of her childhood and of their intercourse at Versailles, +and ended as follows:— + + As it is the duty of a pastor to seek his sheep, particularly + when they are, like yourself, inclined to wander from the fold, + I hope you will allow me to call upon you; kindly let me know + the hour which will be most convenient to you. + +On the following day visitors streamed into the castle in such numbers +that the governor was obliged to give the sentinel “instructions not +to admit anybody to the Chevalière’s cell.” So unusual and unexpected +an order astonished M. Calon, former councillor of parliament, and M. +Buchotte de Vermond, who at once complained to the Chevalière of having +been brutally dismissed. In lieu of visitors d’Eon received letters of +condolence or of congratulation from all quarters, and his old comrades +in the dragoons, who had followed his adventures step by step, sent a +fresh token of their affection by Major d’Arras, “begging to be reassured +as to the prisoner’s fate.” As a matter of fact, the rigour of his +confinement was diminishing every day, and before a week was over d’Eon +was not only permitted to receive in his cell the leading citizens of +Dijon and the numerous visitors who had solicited an audience out of +curiosity, but even to entertain a few friends at dinner. While he was +cheerfully resigning himself to his misfortune, and relishing “the trout, +crayfish, chickens, woodcocks, and snipe,” washed down with the venerable +_Clos-Vougeot_ supplied by the Sieur Gaudelet, innkeeper and purveyor to +the castle, his brother-in-law was endeavouring to shorten his detention. + +O’Gorman had been the more surprised and disquieted by the Chevalière’s +disappearance, as on coming to Versailles on the very day of her arrest, +to accompany her to Tonnerre, he had found the door of the house sealed +up and the maid still “upset by the shock caused by the arrest.” La +Grenade, d’Eon’s valet, having been unable to tell him whither his master +had been taken, O’Gorman proceeded at once to the audience-chamber of M. +Amelot, where the chief clerk informed him that d’Eon was a prisoner at +Dijon. He was assured, however, “that neither the King nor his ministers +had any desire to harm the Chevalière, and that her resistance to and +disregard of the King’s orders had alone given rise to such violent +measures.” She would even be at liberty “to retire to her paternal home,” +as soon as she should show a “submissive disposition to live quietly and +unostentatiously in her own province.” + +Before long d’Eon himself seemed to wish for what was required of him. +He did nothing further to foster the disturbance caused by his every +movement, and submitted quietly to his punishment. Such a satisfactory +frame of mind revived the good-will of his powerful friends. The Marquis +de Vergennes advised him to write a humble letter to his brother, +the minister, and added thereto “his most urgent recommendation.” +But his most able defender was the Bishop of Mâcon, who cleverly +pleaded his protégé’s cause by representing to the ministers that “too +great a sensation” was being caused at Dijon by the presence of the +Chevalière. Lastly, the search made at her house, far from confirming the +insinuations of her enemies, who were disposed to accuse her of being a +spy in the service of England, had on the contrary proved nothing but +“facts redounding to her credit.” Accordingly the ministers granted a +pardon after a month’s imprisonment, enjoining her to repair immediately +to Tonnerre and not to leave the town without the King’s permission. + +D’Eon hastened to obey; but before leaving Dijon he did not omit to +give Marlet, the sculptor, an order for several little medallions to +commemorate his residence in the capital of Burgundy. + +Quieted by his long series of adventures, and dreading no doubt the +bitterness of his enemies, who wished for nothing better than to see him +“confined in a convent for the rest of his days,” d’Eon made up his mind +to lead, in Burgundy, the quiet life of a maiden lady of quality—a life +“he had so often envied,” he said, with more resignation than sincerity. +The small pension from the King enabled him to put his house at Tonnerre +in repair; he added a wing to it, embellished his park, through which the +river Armençon ran, with “terraces and flower-beds,” and even managed to +have a chapel pulled down which intercepted the view from his windows, +“without falling out with Holy Mother Church.” He exchanged “a box-tree +for a marjoram” with the prior of Saint Martin, planted new vines, and +superintended the gathering of the grapes, the wine from which reached +the capital in due course and graced the board of M. Amelot and of the +Marquis de Vergennes. He kept his best vintages for his old protectors, +who were both touched by the attention and appreciative of the gift. + + I have received, Mademoiselle, the sixty-five bottles of wine + from Tonnerre, which you mentioned in your letter. I would + rather you had not deprived yourself of them, for I did not + need this token of your sentiments to be convinced of your + attachment to M. de Broglie. The proofs which you have never + ceased to give him, persuade me that they will never change. I + accept the assurance with the deepest gratitude. + +This note seems to have been the last that d’Eon received from this +influential family, whose dependant he had been in his youth, and whose +zealous champion he had afterwards become. The Broglies were by this time +so completely neglected that their state was worse than disgrace, and +the death of the count, whose health had been undermined by injustice +and disappointments, dealt a blow to his house from which it was slow to +recover. It was this painful moment that d’Eon had chosen for proving +that he had not forgotten the minister’s patronage during a career so +sadly and prematurely brought to a close. His new life left him time for +reflecting on his past errors, and although he endeavoured to appear +content with his lot, he could not conceal his regrets or convince his +correspondents. On the same day, January 1, 1780, General de Monet, who +knew all his adventures, wrote to him: + + I envy the tranquillity you must enjoy with your Penates. I + trust that you look upon it with your habitual philosophy, of + which your life has given you so many opportunities of making + good use. Your leisure hours are probably well employed for + the benefit of posterity, and the thoughts which fortunate + or unfortunate circumstances (it is difficult to say which) + give you time to leave in writing, will be a great boon for + instruction, and also a means of adding new lustre to the + interesting history of your life. But be that as it may, to + tell you the truth, I would rather you were in Paris than + at Tonnerre, although you would only see there many people + agitated by the reforms which our ministers have wisely deemed + necessary and just for procuring funds to continue the war + without the imposition of new taxes. It is preferable at such + critical moments to be far from the tumult. + +D’Eon was indeed thinking of following the advice of his correspondent, +and leaving to posterity a detailed account of his exploits. The short +sketch which he had written of his life on his return to France seemed +to him insufficient, for it contained no reference to the chief event +in his career, his contentions with de Guerchy, and also his secret +mission in England; but the moment would have been ill-chosen, and +might have furnished his enemies with fresh grounds for complaint. He +therefore occupied himself with less dangerous works, planning a book +on agriculture, and continually corresponding on this subject with M. +de Buffon, who sent his works to him, discussed with him the merits +of new treatises, and even consented to provide him with the documents +that he lacked. The Marquis de Poncins submitted to him his new book on +“agriculture and war,” saying that his glory would be complete “if to +the approbation of the greatest of kings, were added that of the most +illustrious woman who had ever figured in the annals of the world.” De +Lalande and Cassini kept him informed of their discoveries. But such +interesting correspondence being insufficient, in d’Eon’s opinion, “to +dispel the stupefying fumes which one inhales in the country,” he worked +assiduously at drawing up, with the help of M. de Palmus, the d’Eon +family tree. He set about this with the smallest display of modesty, or +rather with the fertile imagination of which he had already given so many +proofs. After having exhausted the lineage of his immediate ancestors, +who during the two preceding centuries had done little to prove their +nobility in Burgundy, he unearthed far more remote forebears in Brittany, +and even claimed alliance with the greatest houses of that province. +Among those families a few had survived who did not seem very flattered +at the relationship claimed by the illustrious Chevalière, and, indeed, +declined his offer somewhat insistently. D’Eon consequently found himself +engaged in a lengthy law-suit against M. de Kergado, on which occasion he +distributed, as was his wont, a great many notes and pamphlets; but the +case went against him. No sooner was this affair ended than d’Eon again +began to feel, with increasing intensity, the burden of his idleness, of +which he could not rid himself, and he was once more seized with the +nostalgia of adventure. He tried to escape from the province to which +he was confined by order of the King, as in a prison, and renewed his +entreaties for permission to place at the disposal of America a sword +which, though rusty, could still render useful service. As before, he met +with the same unqualified refusal, and although his petition obtained +for him the liberty of returning to Paris and Versailles, when he should +desire to do so, he was much depressed by his failure. But he was not +the man to own himself beaten, and though he was prevented fighting in +person he was determined, nevertheless, to find means of distinguishing +himself in the coming campaign. He could not go to the war, but he would +send a representative, and his scheme for fighting by proxy consisted in +equipping a frigate which was to bear the name of the _Chevalière d’Eon_. + +The _Journal de Paris_ published, on September 8, 1780 and January 8, +1781, letters exchanged between Messrs. Le Sesne, shipowners in Paris, +and the Chevalière d’Eon. In their first letter these gentlemen begged +to be allowed to give the name of the illustrious Chevalière to one of +the two vessels which they were fitting out at Granville as privateers, +at England’s expense. This frigate was built to carry forty-four cannon, +eighteen and twenty-four pounders, broadside, and fourteen eight-pounders +on her quarter-deck and forecastle, eighteen howitzers and twelve swivel +guns, with a crew of four hundred and fifty picked men under the command +of an experienced and distinguished captain, who would take charge of the +whole expedition. + +“We feel sure, Mademoiselle,” continued Messrs. Le Sesne and Co., “that +once so commendable a name has been submitted to the promoters of this +enterprise everyone will endeavour to share the glory attached to it, and +to imbue himself with the spirit that animates you for the advantage and +prosperity of the State.” + +The tone of d’Eon’s reply to this flattering request was proud, dignified +and patronising. + + I received this morning the letter which you did me the honour + of writing to me yesterday, for the purpose of obtaining + my permission to give my name to the frigate which you are + building at Granville. + + I am too sensible of the honour that you pay me, and too + deeply impressed by the patriotic sentiments that stimulate + your spirit, zeal, and courage for the service of the King, + against the enemies of France, not to do on this occasion all + you wish, so as to contribute promptly and efficaciously to the + beneficial and glorious end which you have in view. + + I am aware, too, Gentlemen, of the care you will devote to the + selection of a good captain, of experienced officers, and of + the brave volunteers they will take with them. + + With such wise precautions, economy in your finance, and great + intrepidity in action, your enterprise should be crowned with + success. + + All I regret is that I am unable to accompany the expedition + either as combatant or as spectator; but if my personal esteem + can increase your zeal, the sparks emitted from my eyes and the + fire from my heart should mingle with your cannon at the first + call of glory. + +Together with this reply, Messrs. Le Sesne published another letter, in +which they expressed their great gratitude to the “heroic Chevalière” +for the invaluable patronage which she deigned to confer upon them, +and declared that they could not find a better way of showing their +appreciation than by submitting to Mademoiselle d’Eon the choice of the +captain, officers and volunteers of the frigate which was to bear her +name. + +This letter was followed by another reply from d’Eon, stamped with the +humility that befits a hero. + + I have to answer the last letter with which you honoured me on + December 4. + + Had I foreseen the consequences that resulted from the reply + which I thought it my duty to give to your flattering request + that I should name one of your frigates, I would carefully have + refrained from accepting such an honour. + + The praise which that compliance causes you to bestow upon me, + gives an idea of my talents and my merit which is quite at + variance with the opinion I ought to have of them. + + As to the choice of the captain, the officers, and the + volunteers who are anxious to distinguish themselves on the + vessel which you are fitting out, I believe, Gentlemen, that + once a career so glorious and so useful to the government is + open to our soldiers and sailors, they will come in crowds to + risk their fortunes and their lives for the right of pursuing + it. I therefore consider this choice much more difficult on + account of the great number of competitors than on account of + their courage and merit, such qualities being natural to all + French soldiers, whom I am better able to applaud and imitate + than I am to criticise. + +There was, indeed, no lack of men in quest of adventures who applied for +posts on the _Chevalière d’Eon_. D’Eon’s papers include numerous letters +of application, and there was a rumour even that the Chevalière herself +would embark on the vessel which was to bear her name. + +Unfortunately, the shareholders’ money did not flow into the offices +of Messrs. Le Sesne and Co., Rue de Bailleul, at the same rate as the +offers of service. An extract from the _Journal de Paris_, containing the +letters exchanged between the shipowners and the Chevalière d’Eon, had +been issued in form of a prospectus and addressed to all persons thought +likely to take an interest in the matter. Even the vignette representing +the _Chevalière d’Eon_ surrounded by the enemy’s vessels, and firing +two broadsides at once, did not induce people to subscribe, and the +undertaking had to be abandoned. Such a turn of affairs did not answer +the purpose of those to whom d’Eon had already distributed appointments +on the frigate. A certain “mestre de camp de dragons,” who signs only +with his initial, and had been chosen to command the ship, wrote to +him on July 14, 1781, from Granville, where he had gone to watch the +preparations for the expedition: + + The equipment of the _Chevalière d’Eon_, my faithful old + friend, is not taking the turn that I would have wished + for your sake, as well as for M. Le Sesne’s and mine, + notwithstanding all the efforts I have made and am still + making. I must not conceal from you the fact that the vessel + destined to bear your name exists as yet only in M. Le + Sesne’s imagination, and that there is not in the dockyard + at Granville a single foot of timber for the framing of the + ship. M. Le Sesne, it is true, had bought a certain quantity + of wood for that purpose, which was seized, as it had not been + paid for, and in order to avoid disagreeable consequences a + certain M. Agaste has lately been sent here to prevent legal + proceedings; but all that does not, and will never, further the + building of the vessel _La Chevalière d’Eon_. + +The scheme formed by Messrs. Le Sesne and Co. failed, therefore, for want +of money, and d’Eon found himself obliged to disband the officers and +crew whom he had enlisted to fight under his colours. The idea, however, +was not lost; for a few months later, other shipbuilders, Messrs. Charet +and Ozenne, of Nantes, gave the name of _Chevalière d’Eon_—a name which +they considered, no doubt, a symbol of successful audacity—to one of +the vessels they were fitting out to convey the commodities which, in +spite of the naval war, were being exchanged with the French colonies in +America and India. + +D’Eon, discouraged doubtless by the failure of the first enterprise, does +not appear to have concerned himself about this fresh undertaking; but +he remained in Paris whither this business had called him. He did not +return to court, and only resided in the capital during the winter of +1780-81. At that time he was living in the house of Madame de Brie, in +the Rue de Grenelle-Saint-Germain, leading a quiet life with his friend +Drouet, formerly secretary to the Comte de Broglie. His old acquaintances +came to call upon him. Madame Tercier invited him to dinner, promising +“to talk of secret affairs until they should be obliged to stop for +want of breath.” The Marquis de Courtenvaux, a relative of Louvois, who +called him “sa chère payse,” would send his coach to fetch the Chevalière +“at the swing-bridge of the Tuileries.” They would go together to visit +the Abbey of Port Royal des Champs and the Château of Bagatelle, the +property of the Comte d’Artois; or else, crossing the much-frequented +Bois de Boulogne, they would go to hear the beautiful singing of the +Ladies of the Abbey of Longchamp, who, during Lent, attracted the most +fashionable and, it would seem, the least devout society. D’Eon led the +life of a tourist, being eager to see the beauties and the curiosities +of a town which he had left more than twenty years before, and which he +had not been able to explore on his return from England, occupied as he +then was with his disguise. The diary which he kept at that time leads +us to suppose that he was not indifferent to the attractions, new to +him, of the boulevards. Although he did not frequent the _Café Turc_, +the _Babillards_ and the _Café Sergent_, where an elderly spinster of +quality would have felt out of place, he greatly enjoyed the _Théâtre des +Danseuses du Roi_, where Nicollet had lately made changes, and instead +of pantomimes, real plays were being performed. He even visited Curtius’ +famous shop, where the “_mannequins illuminés_” could be seen, the +figures in wax of the royal family and of the leading people of the day. +On being informed of his arrival, the impresario wished to avail himself +of the opportunity for taking his portrait. But we must conclude that +d’Eon did not care to appear in effigy amidst the illustrious company +assembled in the _Salons du Boulevard du Temple_, for Curtius wrote, +some time after, begging him to grant him this favour. D’Eon was unable +to fall in with these renewed entreaties, for he had already left Paris. +Curtius’ letter followed him to Tonnerre, whither he had retired at the +beginning of spring, to look after his small property. + +From that date to the year 1785 nothing worthy of note occurred to +disturb, or even to relieve, the monotony of his life. Famous travellers +did not fail to call upon him on their way through Tonnerre; they +devoted the time of changing horses to conversation with the Burgundian +heroine, admiring this odd phenomenon, by no means the least interesting +curiosity on their route. Prince Henry of Prussia, whose acquaintance +d’Eon had made in Germany, wished to meet the former captain of dragoons +again. He did not think it beneath his dignity to have supper with the +Chevalière and her aged mother, who was very nervous in the presence of +so illustrious a guest. The Comte d’Albon, an intrepid traveller who +had the gift of shrewd observation as well as a rare talent for telling +stories, scribbled on a sheet of paper, which he hastily sealed with a +crown-piece, the following laconic note of regret:— + + The Comte d’Albon greets, embraces, and loves Mademoiselle + d’Eon with all his heart. He is passing through Tonnerre in a + post-chaise and is in despair at being in so great a hurry as + to be unable to see her and tell her once more how sincere are + the sentiments that he has avowed to her for life. + +D’Eon was received with cordiality in neighbouring country houses: at +Persey, by the Comte d’Ailly; at Croûtes, by the Vicomte de Lespinasse; +and especially at Anci-le-Franc, where all the members of the Louvois +family met in summer—the Marquis and the Marquise de Louvois, the +Marquis de Courtenvaux and Madame de Souvré. Entertainments, balls and +theatricals, in which every guest was called upon to take part, followed +one another in rapid succession. D’Eon supplied costumes, “some laced +coats of brown camlet,” and he himself, whose life was one long comedy, +was one of the actors, though the part was a small one for so great a +virtuoso. + +Ever in great request at the châteaux of the neighbourhood, he was in +the eyes of the inhabitants of Tonnerre, and of all Burgundians, the +distinguished countryman, the provincial celebrity, whose undisputed +privilege it was to preside at all public gatherings. Thus Father Rosman +invited him to witness the distribution of prizes at the Royal Military +College of Auxerre. “Your presence,” he wrote, “can but stimulate the +zeal and the emulation of our pupils preparing for the army, in which +you have distinguished yourself. I add my entreaties to those of your +admirers (that is to say to those of the whole town).” + +The officers of the Languedoc dragoons, whose regiment had crossed the +Weser by the side of the squadron commanded by d’Eon, came in a body from +Joigny to visit him at Tonnerre, and a few months afterwards invited +him to take part in an entertainment which they were giving in honour +of their colonel’s wife. D’Eon sent the following reply to the Comte +d’Osseville, major and secretary of the regiment:— + + It is with the feelings of the heart of a young woman grafted + on that of an old captain of dragoons, that I received + yesterday the very kind invitation with which you have + honoured me, in your name as well as in that of all your + brother officers. It would have been a great pleasure for me + to place myself under the colours of Languedoc on the day of + the entertainment which you have organised for the Comtesse + d’Arnouville, who, while allowing only her husband to enchain + her heart, has nevertheless succeeded in captivating all the + dragoons as well as all those who have the good fortune to know + her. It is indeed much to my regret and vexation that I am + obliged to remain at home, on account of a kind of sunstroke + that seized me while watching the making of a terrace on the + bank of the river Armençon during the great heat we had a + week ago. I am in the doctor’s hands, and extremely sorry to + have met with this disappointment. I trust that after your + entertainment and the review by the inspector you will find + time to visit some of the country-houses in the neighbourhood + of Tonnerre, and that you, or some of the officers, will avail + yourselves of the opportunity for spending a few days with + Mademoiselle d’Eon, who will ever consider it an honour to + receive and entertain her old brother officers to the best of + her ability. + + I earnestly beg you will express to the Comte and Comtesse + d’Arnouville, and to all the officers of the Languedoc + regiment, my deep regret on this occasion. + +Not only was the Chevalière the patroness of the dragoons, but she also +held a rank among the Freemasons, and, in spite of her sex, which should +have excluded her, was summoned to the solemn assemblies of the Lodge of +the Nine Sisters. + + I consider myself happy (wrote the F— to her) to act as + mouthpiece for the sisters of the R—, L—, who beg that you will + favour them by your presence at the funeral service in memory + of their deceased brothers. I enclose the invitation card for + this ceremony, in which you have a prominent place as a mason, + as an author, and as one who is now the glory of her sex, and + was once the pride of ours. + + Mademoiselle d’Eon alone has the right of crossing the barrier + which excludes the more beautiful half of the world from our + labours. The exception begins and ends with you; do not neglect + to avail yourself of the privilege, and if you do us the favour + of complying with my wishes, add a second favour by arriving + early, so as to see the whole ceremony, which would not be + complete without you. + +So firmly established was d’Eon’s popularity in Burgundy, that the poets +who sang the charms of this fertile province would have considered they +had forgotten its chief attraction had they omitted to celebrate the +achievements of their strange countryman. The Prior of Chablis composed +a little poem in Latin on Tonnerre, drawing a flattering portrait of the +Chevalière, while acknowledging, however, that her martial gait was not +in keeping with her virginal attire. + +So much celebrity led his fellow-citizens and his old comrades to suppose +that his influence was equally great, and never doubting that he was +in high favour at court, and with men in office, they hoped to obtain +through him every kind of favour. Naturally a great many dragoons sought +his aid. They aspired to an order or a pension, a pass or a furlough. +D’Eon was flattered by such requests and received them with untiring good +grace, laying his numerous acquaintances under contribution and even +applying to persons whom he did not know, but who, in his opinion, could +not fail to know him. Answers such as that of the Marquis de d’Espinay +Saint-Luc, who assured him that “the regard due to his celebrity was +a sure guarantee of the effect of his protection,” confirmed d’Eon +in his favourable appreciation of himself. So in one year, 1783, he +endeavoured to obtain for his protégés appointments in the navy, in the +administration of taxes, and even in the King’s household. + +The religious orders ever found in him a kindly advocate. The Abbé de +Molly-Billorgues, on hearing that Madame Elizabeth, the King’s sister, +was to have a household of her own, begged him to obtain from M. Amelot +the title of chaplain to the Princess. The Abbé de Lacy requested to +be attached to a certain regiment. On another occasion d’Eon applied +directly to the Bishop-Duke of Langres, Mgr. de la Luzerne, in favour +of a prior who was afraid of being dispossessed of a living obtained by +a “surreptitious decree.” A little later he wrote to the Archbishop of +Paris, recommending to him a curate of Epineul, who was uncongenially +situated in his present position. + +At this time, too, when all his follies appear to have been blotted +out from the memory of his contemporaries by the celebrity he had +attained, d’Eon thought of his relatives who were then in a poor plight. +His brother-in-law was penniless, having contracted numerous debts at +Tonnerre; and d’Eon, who was obliged to devote several payments of his +pension to meeting them, solicited for O’Gorman first an inspectorship of +post-houses, then a consulate in America. He took particular interest in +his eldest nephew, and intended adopting him; meanwhile he allowed him +to bear the name of d’Eon. On leaving the Military College the Chevalier +O’Gorman d’Eon, on the advice of his uncle, volunteered for the American +War. D’Eon gave him 700 livres for his equipment, and, his services +being accepted by the Comte de la Bretonnière, he embarked on board the +_Ceres_. “M. de Treville promised to do all he could to contribute to the +promotion of the young officer”; and M. d’Estaing “took as much interest +in him as in the modern Joan of Arc,” whose “loyal knight” the intrepid +sailor would have desired to be. No sooner had the young man arrived in +America than he gave proofs of his bravery, and Count Macnamara hastened +to let the Chevalière know how happy he was “to have such a comrade +with him.” The future seemed to smile on this young officer whom his +chief treated so familiarly, and d’Eon, who had afforded him an opening, +followed him, in imagination, into those distant countries which he +longed to visit himself. The heroine of Tonnerre, shut up in her humble +abode, saw in her nephew the realisation of her hopes. She paid but +little heed apparently to the storm that was brewing in France, and was +so soon to burst out. She entertained a regular correspondence with the +generals and admirals who were fighting in the Colonies; and they felt +flattered when she congratulated them upon their victories. + + Every letter that you are kind enough to send to me, + Mademoiselle, fills me with new joy (writes the Marquis + de Bouillé). I take the keenest possible interest in your + relations and protégés, who, as such, could not have better + claims on my notice. + + M. Rougeot is at present in command of the artillery in the + regiment of Martinique; it was not possible to find a better + post for him. Young O’Gorman has been very ill; I have obtained + a reward for him, which is all I can do for the present. Later + on perhaps some favourable opportunity may offer. + + I have been very successful hitherto; Fortune has treated me + with special favour; but if you were not the Chevalière d’Eon + I would say that Fortune is a woman and consequently addicted + to caprice. Poor Grasse has had a terrible proof of this; he + is old, it is true, and I am still young, and she loves youth; + I will therefore continue to court her, and should she prove + obdurate I must use violence. You see I think like an old + soldier. + +Young O’Gorman being no longer able to support the brave marquis in his +hand-to-hand fight with fortune, d’Eon wrote at once, inquiring anxiously +about his return, and, thanks to M. de Sartine, obtained for him a +commission as lieutenant. + + I am delighted to hear, Mademoiselle, that your nephew is + included in the list of promotions in the navy; I congratulate + you and am pleased to have been able to use my influence on + his behalf. I have no doubt but that he will follow the good + example set by his family. His elder brother’s success does not + surprise me. They will both win distinction if they follow your + advice. + +While d’Eon was making these successful efforts to launch his nephews +in an honourable career, he contemplated quitting not only Tonnerre but +France. The peace which had just been concluded with England enabled him +to return to that country, where he had learned to love liberty. Besides, +business of an urgent nature called him there: his extensive library +and his valuable collection of weapons had remained in the hands of +creditors whom he had been unable to indemnify, and who kept threatening +to sell the property left as security. He appealed once more to the Comte +de Vergennes for assistance, and, in spite of a peremptory refusal, +persisted in his determination. + +In the middle of the summer of 1785 he returned to Paris, where the +Duchesse de Montmorency offered him hospitality. He saw his old and +faithful friends again—the Campans, the Fraguiers, the Tanlays, and made +the acquaintance of a family destined for a brilliant future, being +introduced to the Comtesse de Beauharnais, who soon became infatuated +with him. There seems, at this time, to have been a revival of that same +curiosity which he had formerly excited; but the urgent affairs which +called him to London obliged him to disregard it, and on November 25, +1785, he left his native country, to which he never returned. + + + + +XI + +LONDON AND THE END + + +The business which called him to London was, indeed, a complicated +one. For several years one of his creditors, to whose care he had +confided his library and papers on leaving England, a man named Lautem, +claimed from his debtor, who turned a deaf ear, the payment of a sum +of £400. Obtaining nothing from d’Eon himself he had applied to the +Comte de Vergennes, and had not omitted to enforce his request by a +gentle threat: “D’Eon’s effects,” he said, “are a security and not a +deposit; I could therefore have them sold, but I do not wish to sell +state papers. Born at Brussels, a subject of his Imperial Majesty, an +ally of the King of France, I have no desire to amuse Englishmen at +the expense of a Frenchman who has been my tenant; but Mademoiselle +d’Eon no longer deserves any consideration on my part.” The Minister +for Foreign Affairs replied through the chief clerk, Durival, that “the +arrangements which the King had deigned to authorise, in Mademoiselle +d’Eon’s favour, for facilitating her return to France, and the fact that +she had then surrendered her political correspondence, did not allow of +the supposition that she had left any of value” in the keeping of the +Sieur Lautem. It would seem, however, that the Comte de Vergennes was +not quite sure, for though he did not send the £400 demanded he at least +offered 200 louis. But Lautem did not accept these terms, and proceeded +to advertise the sale by auction, in London, of all the papers belonging +to the Chevalier. The effect of this announcement was immediate. D’Eon +at once received permission to visit England in person for the purpose +of winding up his affairs, and a sum of 6000 livres was given to him, +for the payment of his creditors. He returned to London on November 18, +1785, and took up his old quarters in the house of the Sieur Lautem, +displaying so little ill-feeling that it is difficult to believe that +debtor and creditor had not come to an understanding on the matter. +Besides his landlord, Lautem, d’Eon paid his most exacting creditors. +Having recovered his books and documents, he was able to resume his +literary labours, for to the end of his days he was an inveterate scribe. +The events in which he had been mixed up increased in importance, in his +accommodating imagination, as they became more remote, and formed the +basis of statements constantly laid aside and then resumed, in a fresh, +more grandiloquent and more elaborate form. He again issued pamphlets +broadcast in English society, and entertained the public through the +columns of the papers, which found in him at the same time a fertile and +ingenious correspondent and an attraction to please readers eager for +something out of the common. So anxious was he to bestir himself that he +even consented to employ the adventurer Morande once again, though he had +formerly treated him with scant courtesy. The latter, however, did not +seem to bear him any malice. “I loved you sincerely,” he wrote, “and you +seemed to be attached to me; an ill wind has passed over us, tossing us +hither and thither for a space; but after ten years of calm we should be +quite ourselves again.” + +[Illustration: THE CHEVALIER D’EON + +_From a Cast taken after Death_] + +Morande was indeed quite himself again, for intrigue was his natural +element, and he had lost nothing but dignity in his successive gyrations. +It was he who acted as middleman between d’Eon and the London publishers, +business men, and, occasionally, moneylenders. Not that the Chevalière +d’Eon was bereft of acquaintances; she had many in good society, and even +among people of high rank. Upon arriving in London d’Eon was received +by M. Barthélemy, chargé d’affaires during the absence of the French +ambassador, the Marquis de la Luzerne, to whom the Comte de Vergennes had +especially recommended him. It would seem that honest Barthélemy never +for a moment entertained a doubt upon the subject of d’Eon’s personality. +Throughout his residence in London, he was particularly gallant and +attentive to his illustrious countrywoman, continually sending his coach +to fetch her to dine at the embassy, waiting upon her when she accepted +the invitation of some member of the English nobility, and calling on her +several times a week “to pay his court to her.” Between the years 1785-89 +he wrote no fewer than a hundred and seventy-eight notes and letters to +her, which were all found among the papers left by the Chevalier. The +invitations are all couched in amiable and respectful terms, such as the +following, addressed to “Mademoiselle la Chevalière d’Eon”:— + + The Duc de Piennes and the Chevalier de Caraman, who have just + returned from Newmarket, are coming to dine with me to-morrow. + I cannot tell you, Mademoiselle, how anxious I am to hear that + you are free and that you will be kind enough to join us. No + entertainment is complete without you. We shall be a small + party, for there is no time to invite others of our mutual + acquaintance. + +Moreover, the Bishop of Langres had recommended d’Eon very warmly to +his brother, the Marquis de la Luzerne, the French ambassador, who, by +a strange coincidence, happened to have met the Chevalier when in the +army with Marshal de Broglie. The following letter, addressed to the +Chevalière on her return to London, refers to their old intercourse in +the days of their youth:— + + The Bishop of Langres has been absent a long time in the + country, Mademoiselle, and only delivered your letter to + me when I was on the point of starting for England. I was + much gratified to see that you thought of me, and that you + remembered our youth. Be assured that I have followed your + career since then with much interest, and that I have always + deeply regretted that our different occupations have kept us + apart. I shall be delighted to see you again in London, and to + express to you by word of mouth my feelings of old and tender + attachment. + +Either at the house of his friend, Barthélemy, or at the ambassador’s, +with whom he always kept up the pleasant intercourse so strangely renewed +after an interval of several years, d’Eon met all the distinguished +Frenchmen living in London or passing through it. Among them were the +Duc de Chaulnes and the Marquis du Hallay, the Prince de la Trémoille +and the Marquis d’Hautefort, Prince Rezzonico, nephew of Pope Clement +XIII., M. de Calonne, and the former Abbé du Bellay, vicar-general of the +diocese of Tréguier. He thus kept in touch with the best French society. +Never neglecting an opportunity for putting pen to paper, he kept up, +besides, a most voluminous correspondence. Several of his friends also +informed him regularly of what was passing in France. Thus Drouet, his +old colleague in the secret service, confided to the Comtesse Potocka a +letter in which, after expressing his ardent desire to see him back again +in France, tells of the great scandal of the day, the trial of Cardinal +de Rohan—“l’affaire du collier”: + + This important case has never been so much discussed as at the + present moment. M. Cagliostro is making many partisans by a + memorandum he has published. As many people regard him as a + swindler, a charlatan, an empiric, and judge him by his conduct + at Warsaw where he was staying in 1777, I went yesterday to see + Count Rzewusky, who that same year was all-powerful in Poland. + He told me that when Cagliostro arrived he did not conceal the + fact that he had some knowledge of physics and medicine, and + even of alchemy. A certain Prince Poninsky, experimenting in + the latter, became very intimate with him, and having seen his + wife he fell in love with her. Shortly afterwards he offered + her some diamonds, which she refused. Thereupon he appealed to + her husband, and succeeded, by dint of entreaties, in inducing + him to allow his wife to accept the diamonds. Having failed + to obtain what he desired from Madame de Cagliostro, and not + wishing to be a dupe, Poninsky denounced Cagliostro as a + swindler, and obtained permission to take back his diamonds + which would have been returned to him had he asked for them. + + A few days before the arrival of Cagliostro at Warsaw the + sister of Count Rzewusky, fearing lest she should lose her + sight on account of an eye-complaint which completely baffled + the doctors, consulted Cagliostro, who cured her entirely in + the course of a few days. This lady, who is very rich, offered + him two thousand ducats, which he refused. She renewed her + offer through her brother, who met with no better success; + and neither the one nor the other has been able to persuade + Cagliostro to accept the smallest token of gratitude. + +The worthy Drouet concluded with Count Rzewusky, who declared that he was +ready to sign a statement of all these facts with his own blood, that +Cagliostro might well have been the victim of some plot; a hypothesis +calculated to please d’Eon, who had become more and more inclined to see +snares and pitfalls everywhere. + +A little later the same Drouet sent news of his family: his +brother-in-law, O’Gorman, had obtained the Cross of Saint Louis; his +eldest nephew was doing very well. “Before long,” Drouet adds, “he will +be promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel; and in three years’ time +he will make a good marriage, which will render him independent. His two +younger brothers went abroad last October for a two years’ cruise; at +the end of the expedition they will both receive their commissions as +lieutenants in the navy.” And Drouet exhorts “sa chère amie” to love her +nephews as they thoroughly deserve it. He also begs her to be patient in +the settlement of her affairs. + +This liquidation was indeed a long business. No sooner had d’Eon arrived +in London than he entered an action against the heirs of Lord Ferrers. +He accused the late earl of not having employed for the payment of his +debts, as stipulated by special mandate, the money remitted to him in +exchange for the papers of the secret correspondence, in execution of the +covenant signed, on October 5, 1775, by the Sieur Caron de Beaumarchais +and the Demoiselle d’Eon. He won his suit as far as the main point was +concerned, but the judgment could not be carried into effect on account +of the impediments of every description raised by the heirs. Consequently +d’Eon wrote, on April 1, 1787, to his friend M. de la Flotte, chief +clerk at the Foreign Office, complaining that “this restitution of money +which was to have made her happy and serene was becoming the worry of +her life.” He expressed himself extremely sorry to be still living in +England; but added that, as long as he could not return to France with +honour, he would not return at all. + +While waiting for the money that was owing to him he endeavoured to earn +his living—for he must live—by some other means. In the intervals between +the receptions to which he was invited, and at which he mixed in the best +society, he occupied himself with every kind of business. Once he traced +a young man who had run away to London; another time he assisted by his +support and letters of introduction a countryman of his, the Sieur Petit, +who wished to start a business house in the city. Shortly afterwards +he devoted his attention to the sale of an estate, the marquisate of +Cailly, in Normandy, which the Duchesse de Montmorency-Boutteville wished +to part with, and for which d’Eon hoped to find a purchaser among his +English friends. His intercourse with the duchess was quite of a friendly +character, the latter writing to him, on March 30, 1788, that she kept a +room ready for him in her house at Petit-Montreuil when he should return +to France. A few months later d’Eon wrote to Barantin, the Keeper of +the Seals, offering for sale a number of valuable manuscripts collected +by himself during the course of his chequered life. The nucleus of the +collection consisted of a valuable series of the Maréchal de Vauban’s +papers, for which d’Eon asked so high a price that in 1791 he had not yet +found a purchaser. He had somewhat exaggerated notions as to the interest +and importance of the manuscripts. + +But the correspondence of the versatile Chevalière was not connected +only with money matters, for d’Eon had too complex a nature not to rise +on occasion above material questions. Even during the time that he was +struggling against misfortune he daily exchanged most humorous letters +with all sorts of people. Some items of his correspondence were charming; +it may suffice to quote that of the Abbé Sabatier de Castres, attached to +the household of the Dauphin. It is not perhaps free from affectation, +but is a perfect example of the style used between themselves by the most +polite society of the time: + + MADEMOISELLE,—M. de Lançon, who has been so good as to bring + me your charming letter himself, will be rewarded for it by + the pleasure of delivering my reply to you. He has just told me + that he is going to leave for London to-morrow, and I hasten + to take advantage of his journey to tell you how flattered + I feel, and how grateful I am to you, for the ten pages to + which you have treated me. I should complain less bitterly + of your absence if it procured for me from time to time such + epistles. Never has so sad a nation as the English been spoken + of more gaily, neither has a gay and light-hearted nation such + as ours been discussed more rationally and philosophically. + You alone, Mademoiselle, possess the gift of expressing + humorously profound and earnest thought. It is indeed a pity + that you have not practised the art of Thalia! You would have + been more successful than most of our present writers of + comedy, who only excite the hilarity of the ignorant and the + vicious, such as the author of the _Marriage of Figaro_, who + (speaking of marriage) has just married his mistress in order + to legitimatise a girl six or eight years old whom she had + borne him. Now that he is rich, people assert that his wife, + who, they say, is his fourth, will be happier with him than her + predecessors. + + I am sorry, but not surprised, that the brother and heir of + Lord Ferrers is not like him as far as honesty is concerned; + _sorry_ because it makes you suffer; _not surprised_ because of + three of my brothers, whose fortunes I have made at the expense + of my own, not one would sacrifice so much as a sovereign to + oblige me, such is their ingratitude and love of money. + + M. de Chalut, who enjoys good health and is in excellent + spirits, notwithstanding his eighty-two years, was greatly + touched by your kind offer, and would avail himself of it, if + he did not know that the pictures he could sell are not worth + half the money it would cost, in carriage and duty, to send + them to England. The last time I saw him, he asked me to thank + you again and pay his respects to you. No doubt you know that + he has married his adopted daughter to M. Deville, who was + formerly private secretary to the Comte de Vergennes and is now + farmer-general, and that by the marriage settlement he gives + him a hundred thousand crowns. M. de Lançon will tell you the + rest, in case you are not acquainted with this event. I envy + him, since he will see you in five or six days, and it follows + that I should set out for England too were I not detained here + by the necessity of supervising the illustrations and the + printing of the work with which I have been entrusted for the + Dauphin. I flatter myself that I shall not be forgotten in + your libations. On Monday M. de Lançon and M. Le Vasseur dine + with me, and it is to your health and that of the inestimable + traveller that we shall quaff the champagne which I keep for + great occasions. Sell your library at once, you have no need of + it; your own ideas are better than those found in books. Try to + get as much money as you can for it—money is necessary to those + who make so noble a use of it as you do—and then come back to + Paris where, no doubt, you will not find Princes of Wales to + court you, but many persons who, without being heir-apparents, + are none the less fully aware of your worth, and love you + better than the best princes could. + + Excuse this scribble. My wish to avail myself of M. Lançon’s + departure has made me write in a hurry and with a bad pen, + but it is thoughtfully and with all my heart that I repeat + to you the assurance of the feelings of esteem, admiration, + attachment, and respect which I have dedicated to you for life, + and with which I am your most humble obedient servant, + + THE ABBÉ SABATIER DE CASTRES. + +D’Eon was busy paying off his last creditors, and preparing for his +return to France, when grave news reached London. The Revolution was +beginning, that at least was the general opinion in England, for in +France many of those destined to fall victims of the emancipation of +the people were still under the greatest illusions about it. A curious +letter addressed to d’Eon, July 2, 1789, by M. de Tanlay, parliamentary +councillor, supplies proof of it. + + So you would make war on us again in England? It would be very + ill-advised. I think the English people need peace as much as + we do, and we are taking measures which will give France more + national energy than she has ever had, for we shall manage our + affairs and those of the King for ourselves. I can understand + that others may base their hopes upon a momentary revolution of + our system of government, but when the nation has everything to + gain by it, when it is seen to be animated by patriotism such + as is guiding us at the present moment, when a monarch makes so + many sacrifices of his glory for the welfare of his people, it + is in no wise the time to think of obtaining an advantage over + us. I trust that this temporary effervescence will subside, and + that we shall be permitted peacefully to establish a form of + government which will for ever ensure the happiness of France, + provided the work of reform be well directed, as there is good + reason to believe it will be. + +M. de Tanlay’s idyllic dreams were not realised: the Bastille was taken, +the Tuileries invaded, and war declared. His correspondent did not fail, +however, to applaud “the victories of liberty.” The Chevalière d’Eon +became the Citoyenne Geneviève, and—whether from conviction or, perhaps, +too, with a view to increasing her fame by this new means of courting +popularity—posed on every occasion as the most ardent Jacobin. + +At her instigation a great number of Frenchmen living in London +assembled at Turnham Green, on July 14, 1790, “to celebrate publicly the +anniversary of the glorious Revolution, and to take the civic oath.” +D’Eon read a speech written in the declamatory and sentimental style of +the time, and his harangue was so highly appreciated that all the English +papers reproduced it immediately. + +At the same time as the French gathering over six hundred Englishmen met +under the auspices and presidency of Lord Stanhope, to celebrate the +glorious anniversary and to express “their desire for an eternal alliance +between the English and French nations, which would for ever ensure +peace, liberty, and happiness throughout the whole world.” + +D’Eon was unable to attend the English meeting, being detained among +his countrymen, but he sent a present, the arrival of which excited the +greatest enthusiasm. It consisted of “a stone taken from the arch of one +of the principal gates of the Bastille, which has endured the musketry +volleys of our brave Parisians.” + +The very next day he received a most grateful acknowledgment from Lord +Stanhope. + + I have to return you many thanks for your valuable gift and the + kind letter which you have done me the honour of writing to + me. We held a meeting yesterday of six hundred and fifty-two + friends of the indefeasible rights of man, to celebrate the + brilliant victory which liberty has lately won in France over + despotism and tyranny. By a unanimous resolution we expressed + the desire which has animated us, ever since your glorious + Revolution, to ally ourselves with France. Nothing was wanting + yesterday but a stone from the Bastille; we became aware of our + need only when we had the pleasure of receiving it from you, + and our satisfaction was all the greater in that it was sent + from one so famous in history. + +By such striking proofs of civism d’Eon felt sure of concentrating upon +himself the attention of French patriots. He had also sent his nephew +to offer his services to the Legislative Assembly, and had entrusted +him with the presentation of a petition. The “Citoyenne d’Eon” stated +that although she had worn the dress of a woman for fifteen years, she +had never forgotten that she was formerly a soldier; that since the +Revolution she felt her military ardour revive and that, ready to abandon +her cap and petticoats, she demanded her helmet, her sword, her horse, +and her rank in the army. + + In my eager impatience (she wrote) I have sold everything + but my uniform, and the sword which I wore during my first + campaign. My library is reduced to manuscripts by Vauban, which + I have preserved as an offering to the National Assembly, for + the glory of my country, and the instruction of the brave + generals employed in her defence. + +The reading of the above was interrupted several times by bursts of +applause, and, mention having been made of it in the minutes, the +petition was referred to the War Committee, where it has remained buried +for ever. + +But if d’Eon appealed in vain to the Republic to accept his services, he +was, on the other hand, urgently invited to side with the King and to +join at Coblentz the army of those emigrants among whom the ungrateful +Convention had included him. He received from one of the faithful +royalists who had followed the princes beyond the frontiers the following +curious letter:— + + Is it possible, my dear heroine, that you still hesitate to + join the French nobility who are gathering together from + Coblentz to Houdenarde? At the moment of writing there is + nobody left in France but infirm old nobles and children. What + will all the others say if they do not see you arrive either + at Mons, Ath, Brussells, or Coblentz? If you wait much longer + you will not come in time to reap much glory, and then all the + brave knights of France will say to you what Henri IV. said to + Crillon: “Go hang yourself, brave Crillon!” Many are surprised + not to see you where true honour leads, and among those who do + not know you some call you a demagogue. Upon hearing such an + odious accusation I laid my hand on the sword which you had + made for me, and told them that I answered for it on the said + weapon which you gave me, that they would see you ere long, + and if not, the same weapon would be sent to you together with + a spindle. I do not tell you that, my dear heroine, in order + to excite your enthusiasm, for I believe you to be too well + disposed to require it, but really to assure you that I am and + wish ever to be your valiant knight. + + On reaching Coblentz, where I am going, call upon my friend, + M. de Preaurot, to whom the princes have confided the duty of + receiving all new arrivals. Before long no honest folks will + stay in France except those who cannot do otherwise, whether + on account of their infirmities or their want of means. Many + are helped by those who are in a position to do so. I think we + have reached the time when you can outshine the Maid of Orléans + herself: what a distinction for our good town of Tonnerre, + whence I have heard that knowing your sound principles they + rely upon your not abandoning the cause of honour. + +And lower down, in another hand, we learn: + + The old-fashioned baroness can add nothing to the style of the + brave knight who writes this letter, except the wish to see her + heroine arrive soon. She begs her to direct her reply to M. + Mazorel, post-office, Tournay, who will take charge of it. + +D’Eon wrote in the margin of this letter that he did not answer it. But +it was in vain that he avoided compromising himself with royalists and +aristocrats; the loyalism of his republican sentiments did not obtain for +him from the Convention the recovery of the pension which royalty had +conferred upon him, and which had not been paid to him since 1790. + +In order to procure the bare necessaries of life he was obliged to +resort to the sword which he was no longer permitted to use in the +service of his country, and was reduced to taking part in public fencing +competitions. In default of glory on the field of battle, he attained, +at all events, real fame in the schools. He had as adversaries the best +fencers in England, the Chevalier St. George himself, and beat them +all on more than one occasion. D’Eon was far from being a novice in +the art, having distinguished himself therein as far back as the year +1750, when he was a young advocate, and was writing learned historical +treatises and essays on political economy, in order to attract notice. +His adventurous life and his military career had led him to develop +the science of fencing, and consequently his already advanced age did +not prevent his justifying a reputation which his adopted sex rendered +piquant and unusual. Although d’Eon generally wore his old uniform of +the dragoons when fencing in public, yet at several matches he appeared +in a semi-feminine costume. In this odd accoutrement he took part, in +September 1793, in a tournament at which the Prince of Wales presided +in person; he gained a brilliant victory over an English officer. Some +prints, which are now much sought after, perpetuated the memory of this +curious match. So profitable did he find these exhibitions of his rare +skill that he resolved to undertake a series of tours in the provinces. +The English papers report his victories at Dover, Canterbury and Oxford. +In the course of one of these journeys there occurred, at Southampton, on +August 26, 1796, the unlucky accident which brought a sudden end to the +fencing-matches in which the Chevalière d’Eon still distinguished herself +at the age of sixty-nine. Her adversary’s foil broke off, wounding her +severely. D’Eon published in the papers the certificate of the physicians +who attended him, together with an address in which, after thanking +the public for the interest they had taken in him, he declared with +bitterness that henceforth he would be reduced “to cut his bread with his +sword.” + +His wound kept him confined to his bed for four months. As soon as he +could be moved, he was taken back to London, where he had still to go +through a long convalescence. An old English lady, Mrs. Mary Cole, a +friend of his, received him into her house, and tended him to the end of +his life with the most touching devotion. D’Eon’s sensational career was +now at an end, and his life terminated in the quietest way possible. He +himself remarks, with a touch of melancholy: “My life is spent in eating, +drinking, and sleeping; praying, writing, and working with Mrs. Cole, +repairing linen, gowns, and headdresses.” + +Still, in spite of age and sickness, d’Eon never quite resigned himself +to his sad lot, and remained to the end as indomitable in his energy as +he was tenacious in his hope of better days to come, renewing his appeals +for permission to return to France and preparing for his departure. He +succeeded in interesting in his cause the Citoyen Otto, the Commissioner +of the Republic in London, through whom he sent, on June 18, 1800, to +Talleyrand, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, a lengthy petition in which +he recapitulated his services and enumerated his misfortunes. + + I have fought the good fight; I am seventy-three years of + age; I have a sabre-cut on my head, a broken leg and two + bayonet-thrusts. In 1756 I contributed largely to the reunion + of France and Russia. In 1762 and 1763 I laboured night and day + to establish peace between France and England. I was in direct + and secret correspondence with Louis XV. from 1756 to the year + of his death. My head belongs to the war department, my heart + to France, and my gratitude to Citizen Charles Max Talleyrand, + the worthy minister for foreign affairs, who will do me + justice, and will not leave me to die of despair and starvation. + +Despair was not a salient feature in d’Eon’s character, for at the moment +he sent this doleful letter he was engaged in preparing an edition of +Horace, and an Englishman offered him, with a view to this work, a +collection of all the old editions of the Latin poet from 1476 to 1789. +His poverty was such, however, that he was reduced to pawning his Cross +of Saint Louis and his jewels; but at the same time he obtained from +Citizen Otto a passport to Paris and Tonnerre. His friends in France did +not fail to encourage him in his projects, and promised him their support. + +Barthélemy, formerly chargé d’affaires in London during the Revolution +and now a senator highly esteemed by Bonaparte, offered to present to +the all-powerful First Consul the Chevalière, famous of yore, who had +assisted him more than once to do the honours of the French embassy. This +is what his friend Falconnet wrote to him, on September 13, 1802: + + But you, my illustrious friend, what will you do? I still + advise you to set out. The longer you wait the harder you will + find it. Remember the man in Horace: + + Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis; at ille + Labitur, et labetur in omne volubilis ævum. + + Make a bundle of your valuables, and take them with you. + Arrange for the other things to follow you as you require + them. Mrs. Cole will see that they are sent, and you will + receive everything. Senator Barthélemy will only be too happy + to present you to the First Consul, and I have no doubt but + that you will obtain, if not the whole, at least part of your + pension. When you are here everything will go well. At a + distance nothing goes as it should. Come, and to begin with + take furnished lodgings; even this circumstance may not be + indifferent to your success. The world will be more ready to + pity the lot of a heroine whom no party can reproach, when she + is seen, at her age, deprived of all resources. + +But whether old age and sickness prevented his departure, or whether +he was discouraged by so many vain efforts and expected nothing from +the change, d’Eon remained in London. He went through a time of great +need, although several of his old friends, and even some members of the +English aristocracy, continued to take an interest in him and to help +him until the end of his days. The Marchioness of Townshend, the Duke of +Queensberry, and Mrs. Crawford regularly provided him with money. His +infirmities compelled him to keep his bed during the last two years of +his life, and throughout that sad time he was tended affectionately by +Mrs. Cole, the friend whose house he shared. Several months before his +death he sent for a French physician, Dr. Élisée—formerly attached to the +“Pères de la Charité” at Grenoble. When, on May 21, 1810, d’Eon breathed +his last, the doctor was not less surprised than Mrs. Cole on discovering +the real sex of this extraordinary individual, who, notwithstanding old +age, want and sickness, had taken a pride in playing his part to the +bitter end. A certificate of the post-mortem examination made it possible +to record officially the answer to this singular problem, which for forty +years had excited so much curiosity and given rise to so many disputes. +But, published at a time when public attention was being claimed by so +many great contemporary events, this document, which definitely settled +a point of dispute in the annals of the eighteenth century, was scarcely +noticed. It is only in our time that patient scholars have unearthed +it from the depths of English archives. Mystery no longer enshrouds +the enigma that baffled even the perspicacity of a Voltaire or of a +Beaumarchais. + +Freed from the disguise which she had assumed, and to which tradition +still faithfully adheres, the legendary Chevalière d’Eon resumes his true +aspect in the form of the daring and brilliant adventurer, ruined by +his inordinate pride, whose life will remain for all time as one of the +strangest challenges that history has ever offered to fiction. + + THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75490 *** |