_Look upon my house, gentlemen, from henceforward as the chief of all
useful operations to you in Europe, and my person as one of the most
zealous partisans of your cause, the soul of your success and a man most
deeply impressed with the respectful esteem with which I have the honor
to be...._
_“Roderigue Hortalès et Compagnie”
Beaumarchais to the Secret Committee of Congress, Aug. 15, 1776._
Memoir Explaining to the King the Plan of His Commercial
House—Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.—The Doctor Du Bourg—Silas
Deane’s Arrival—His Contract with Beaumarchais—Lee’s Anger—His
Misrepresentations to Congress—Beaumarchais Obtains His
Rehabilitation.
On the 24th of May, 1776, Beaumarchais returned to France. He wrote to
the Count de Vergennes the same night:
“Monsieur le Comte,
“I arrive very tired, completely exhausted. My first care is to
ask you for your orders and the hour when you will be so good as
to give me audience. It is three o’clock in the morning. My negro
will be at your levée, he will be back for mine. I hope he will
bring me the news which I desire with the greatest impatience,
which is to go in person, and assure you of the very respectful
devotion with which, I am,
M. le Comte, your very humble and very obedient servitor,
Beaumarchais.” (Doniol.)
[Illustration: SILAS DEANE]
No written statement was ever made of the exact arrangement arrived at
between the minister and his confidential agent. What is certain is that
as soon as the latter understood the new plan of procedure he brought at
once to the aid of the undertaking the whole force of his powerful mind
as well as the experience of those years passed under the tutelage of
old Du Verney, and in his attempted enterprise at the court of Spain.
A letter without date, published for the first time by George Clinton
Genet in the _Magazine of American History_, 1878, written by
Beaumarchais to the King, gives a clear statement of how he proposed to
proceed in founding this new mercantile house which should hide from all
the world and even from the Americans themselves the connivance of the
Government in the operations:
“To the King Alone:
“While state reasons engage you to extend a helping hand to the
Americans, policy requires that Your Majesty shall take abundant
precaution to prevent the secret succor sent to America from
becoming a firebrand between France and England in Europe.... On
the other hand, prudence wills that you acquire a certainty that
your funds may never fall into other hands than those for whom
you destined them. Finally, the present condition of your
finances does not permit you to make so great sacrifice at the
moment as passing events seem to require.
“It becomes my duty, Sire, to present to you, and it is for your
wisdom to examine the following plan, the chief object of which
is to avoid, by a turn which is absolutely commercial, the
suspicion that your majesty has any hand in the affair.
“The principal merit of this plan is to augment your aid so that
a single million ... will produce the same results for the
Americans as if your Majesty really had disbursed nine millions
in their favor.... Your Majesty will begin by placing a million
at the disposition of your agent, who will be named Roderigue
Hortalès et Cie.; this is their commercial name and signature,
under which I find it convenient that the whole operation shall
be carried out.... One half million exchanged into Portuguese
pieces, the only money current in America, will be promptly sent
there, for there is an immediate necessity for the Americans to
have a little gold at once to give life to their paper money,
which without means of making it circulate already has become
useless and stagnant in their hands. It is the little leaven that
is necessary to put into the paste to raise it and make it
ferment usefully.
“Upon that half million no benefit can be obtained except the
return of it in Virginian tobacco, which Congress must furnish to
the house of Hortalès, who will have made a sale in advance to
the Farmers-General of France, by which they will take the
tobacco from them at a good price; but that is of no great
consequence.
“Roderigue Hortalès counts on employing the second half million
in the purchase of cannon and powder, which he will forward at
once to the Americans.”
Here follows an exposition of the proceedings, with an explanation of
how, supposing the king permits him to buy powder at actual cost price
from the magazines, instead of buying it in the market of France,
Holland, or elsewhere, the money invested by the king will increase not
in double progression, 1-2-4-8, etc., but in triple progression,
1-3-9-27, etc.
“Your Majesty will not be frightened at the complicated air that
this operation assumes under my pen, when you remember that no
commercial speculation is carried on or succeeds by any more
simple or more natural means than this.
“I have treated this affair in so far, Sire, in the spirit of a
great trader, who wishes to make a successful speculation and I
have developed to you the unique secret by which commerce in bulk
augments the prosperity of all states that have the good sense to
protect it....
“If the return in tobacco and the sale of the product take place
as I have pointed out, Your Majesty soon will find yourself in a
position to send back by the hands of Hortalès et Cie. the three
millions provided for from the price and profits of these
returns, to recommence operations on a larger scale.”
Then follow considerations upon the advisability of employing Holland or
French vessels for the transport of the munitions to Cape Francis,
chosen by Hortalès et Cie. as the first depot of commerce.
“Holding to the choice of French vessel charged to the account of
Roderigue Hortalès et Cie., Congress, or rather Mr. Adams,
Secretary of Congress, will be alone forewarned by the agent in
England that a vessel is carrying to him at Cape Francis both
goods and munitions, which are to be returned in Virginian
tobacco, so that he may send to the Cape upon a vessel loaded
with tobacco an agent who will bear his power to receive both and
to send back by the captain of Hortalès et Cie. the entire return
in tobacco or at all events a recognition that he owes Hortalès
et Cie. the balance of the amount for which he may not have been
able to furnish return.”
So far in Beaumarchais’s mind, the mercantile undertaking was to be for
the king, only cloaked by the appearance of a mercantile house. But it
seems that the French government, anxious to evade all possible risk and
wishing to deny all connivance in the transactions, decided to remain
entirely foreign to the operation.
“We will give you secretly,” said the government, “a million. We will
try to obtain the same amount from the court of Spain.... with these two
millions and the co-operation of private individuals, whom you will
associate in your enterprise, you will found your house and at your own
risk and perils you will provision the Americans with arms and
munitions, and objects of equipment and whatever is necessary to support
the war. Our arsenals will deliver to you these things, but you will
replace them or pay for them. You shall not demand money of the
Americans, because they have none, but you shall ask returns in
commodities of their soil, the sale of which we will facilitate in our
country.... In a word, the operation secretly sanctioned by us at the
outset must grow and develop through its own support. But on the other
hand, we reserve the right of favoring or opposing it according to
political contingencies. You will render us an account of your profits
and losses, while we will decide whether we should grant you new
subsidies or discharge you of all obligations previously made.”
(Loménie, II, p. 109.)
In this transaction, the responsibility of the agent to the United
States had no consideration. “The advances of the government were simply
a guarantee to Beaumarchais against loss.” (Durand, p. 90.)
The difficulties and dangers of this undertaking have been admirably
summed up by M. de Loménie. “They were of a nature to cause any other
man than Beaumarchais to hesitate.... He threw himself into this,
however, with all his usual intrepidity, and the tenth of June, 1776, a
month before the United States had published their Declaration of
Independence, he signed the famous receipt which, kept secret under the
monarchy, delivered to the United States in 1794, under the republic,
occasioned a suit lasting fifty years, and to which we shall return. The
receipt read thus:
“‘I have received of M. Duvergier, conformably to the orders of
M. de Vergennes, on the date of the 5th of this month, the sum of
one million, for which I shall render count to my said Sieur
Comte de Vergennes.
“‘Caron de Beaumarchais.
“‘Good for a million of _livres tournois_.
“‘At Paris, this 10th of June, 1776.’
“Two months later, Spain advanced the like sum, besides which
Beaumarchais had associated with himself numerous private individuals in
France and elsewhere, so that his first sending to the Americans
surpassed in itself alone, three millions.” (Loménie, II, p. 110.)
Early in June the vast mercantile house of Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.
was established at Paris, while agents, clerks, and employees of every
sort were installed at the center of operations, as well as at the
various sources of supplies and in the seaports, Beaumarchais remaining
the head and center of action, in every place.
It so happened at this time, that a complete change was being made in
the equipment of the French army, so that the arsenals and forts were
charged with munitions of war, which the government was willing to
dispose of at a nominal price.
Before the arrival of Beaumarchais on the scene of action, the Comte de
Vergennes had countenanced and furthered the operations begun by
Franklin before he left London. Among the agents employed by the latter
were the Brothers Mantaudoin of Nantes, who had undertaken the
transportation of munitions of war to the Americans. (Doniol, I, p.
373.)
Another agent and intimate friend of Franklin was a certain Doctor
Dubourg, a man more or less widely known as a scientist, but possessing
as well a decided taste for mercantile operations. He had entered
heartily into the cause of the Americans, and was very zealous in
forwarding munitions of war to the insurgents. He seems at the beginning
to have possessed to a considerable degree the confidence of the French
minister, who deigned to correspond with him in person, and to consult
him on several occasions. But as it became necessary “to act on a
grander scale, the intervention of the friend of Franklin was no longer
sufficient.” (Doniol, p. 374.) The “faithful and discreet agent” spoken
of in the _Réflexions_ had long been fixed in the mind of the Minister
of War. The good doctor who knew nothing of the relationship between the
famous author of the _Barbier de Séville_ and the French Government or
of his interest and services in the cause of American Independence, all
along had been secretly aspiring to a complete control of the
transactions. What succeeded in convincing him that he was the man
destined for the place was that early in June, 1776, Silas Deane, the
agent of the Secret Committee of Congress, arrived in Paris charged with
a letter from Franklin to his “dear good friend Barbeu Dubourg,” with
express instructions to regard this latter as “the best guide to seek
after and to follow.” (Doniol, V. I, p. 485.)
Elated at this mark of esteem shown him by the colonies, the good doctor
undertook to fulfill then to the letter the instructions of Congress and
to prevent Silas Deane from coming in contact with anyone but himself.
Deane soon realized that though “inspired with the best intentions in
the world,” the doctor would be a “hindrance rather than the essential
personage pointed out by Franklin.” (Doniol.) He therefore insisted so
strongly upon meeting the French minister that Dubourg was forced to
yield. The meeting took place the 17th day of July, 1776.
“It must be said of Silas Deane at this important meeting that he
fulfilled the intention of his mandate not only with intelligence, but
with a fecundity of reasoning which could only come from a vigilant
patriotism. All the impression which he could desire to produce and
which was hoped from his mission flowed from his replies.” (Doniol, V.
I, p.491.)
The Comte de Vergennes appeared to refuse to give the aid asked, but he
led Silas Deane to understand that a confidential agent would take the
matter in charge. This confidential agent was no other than
Beaumarchais.
Four days before this interview, the Doctor Dubourg had learned to his
great disappointment where the confidence of the minister had been
placed. Knowing nothing of the real situation, he thought to dissuade
the latter from his choice by attacking the private character of the man
who had usurped his place. The effect of his letter upon the Comte de
Vergennes can be judged from the fact that the latter immediately
communicated it to Beaumarchais himself, who was charged with the reply.
The Doctor wrote:
“Monseigneur:
“I have seen M. de Beaumarchais this morning and conferred with
him without reserve. Everyone knows his wit, his talents, and no
one renders more justice to his honesty, discretion and zeal for
all that is good and grand; I believe him one of the most proper
men in the world for political negotiations, but perhaps at the
same time, the least proper for mercantile enterprises. He loves
display, they say that he keeps women; he passes in a word for a
spendthrift and there is not a merchant in France who has not
this idea of him and who would not hesitate to enter into the
smallest commercial dealings with him. Therefore, I was very much
astonished when he informed me that you had charged him not only
to aid you with his advice but had concentrated on him alone the
_ensemble_ and the details of all the commercial operations....
“I represented to him that in taking the immense traffic and
excluding those who already had run so many dangers and endured
so many fatigues ... it would be doing them a real wrong.... But
I return to my first and principal reflection and implore you,
Monseigneur, to weigh it well. Perhaps there are a hundred,
perhaps a thousand persons in France with talents very inferior
to those of M. de Beaumarchais, who would fill better your views,
inspire more confidence, etc., etc....”
The reply of Beaumarchais, first published by M. de Loménie, and since
become so famous, is in the former’s most characteristic style. It had
its part to play as we shall see, in the trouble which came to its
author, and was partly responsible for the non-recognition of his
services by the American people. The good doctor always retained a
grudge against his brilliant and preferred rival. From him Doctor
Franklin imbibed in the beginning such a prejudice against the
indefatigable friend of the American cause, that he always avoided him
as much as possible. From the reply, a copy of which Beaumarchais sent
at the same time for the amusement of the ministers, we quote the
following:
“Tuesday, June 16, 1776.
“Eh! What has that to do with our affairs, that I am a man widely
known, extravagant, and who keeps women? The women that I keep
for the last twenty years are your very humble servants. They
were five, four sisters and one niece. For three years two of
these women are dead, to my great regret. I keep now only three,
two sisters and a niece, which is still extravagant for a private
individual like myself. But what would you have thought if,
knowing me better, you should have learned that I push scandal so
far as to keep men as well; two nephews, very young and good
looking, even the very unhappy father who brought into the world
this scandalous voluptuary? As for my display, that is even
worse. For three years, finding lace and embroidered garments too
petty for my vanity, have I not affected the pride of having my
wrists always garnished with the most beautiful fine muslin? The
most superb black cloth is not too elegant for me, at times I
have been known to push dandyism so far as to wear silk when it
was very hot, but I beg you, Monsieur, do not write these things
to M. the Comte de Vergennes; you will end in losing for me his
good opinion.
“You have reasons for writing evil of me to him, without knowing
me. I have mine for not being offended, although I have the honor
of knowing you; you are, Monsieur, an honest man so inflamed with
the desire to do a great good that you have thought you could
permit yourself a little evil to arrive at it.
“This thought is not exactly the thought of the _évangile_ but I
have seen a good many persons accommodate themselves to it. But
let us cease to speak lightly; I am not angry because M. de
Vergennes is not a small man and I hold to his reply. That those
to whom I apply for advances may distrust me I admit, but let
those who are animated with true zeal for their common friends
look twice before they alienate themselves from an honorable man
who offers to render every service and to make every useful
advance to those same friends. Do you understand me now,
Monsieur?
“I will have the honor of meeting with you this afternoon. I have
also that of being with the highest consideration, Monsieur, your
very humble and very obedient servitor, well known under the name
of Roderigue Hortalès et Compagnie.”
It was on the 17th of July that Silas Deane and Beaumarchais met for the
first time. Both men recognized at once in the other the man for whom
each was looking. Both had warm, generous and unselfish natures; both
had their minds fixed upon one object alone, the procuring and sending
of aid as quickly as possible to the insurged colonies. In excusing
himself to Congress for discarding the services of the “dear, good
friend” of Franklin, Mr. Deane wrote: “I have been forced to discourage
my friend on seeing where the confidence of M. de Vergennes was placed.”
At the same time he does ample justice to the kindness and interest
manifested by Dubourg.
“M. Dubourg has continued,” wrote Deane, “to render me every assistance
in his power.... His abilities and connections are of the first class in
this kingdom and his zeal for the cause of the colonies is to be
described only by saying that at times they are in danger of urging him
beyond both.”
Beaumarchais, on his side, finding Silas Deane empowered by Congress to
act directly, ceased to communicate with Arthur Lee.
Already a change had come in their relationship. Returned to France and
finding the government bent upon another form of offering aid to the
Americans, it had become necessary to break his connections with Lee.
Unable to explain the true nature of the enterprise, being bound to
absolute secrecy, Beaumarchais wrote the 12th of June, 1776: “The
difficulties which I have found in my negotiations with the ministers
have forced me to form a company which will cause aid to reach your
friends immediately by the way of _Cap Français_.”
Naturally enough this meager information was very unsatisfactory to Lee;
more than this, he had hoped to play himself a principal rôle in the
enterprise (Spark’s _Life of Franklin_, p. 449).
From Beaumarchais he learned that Silas Deane had arrived from the
colonies empowered to treat with the ministers who had refused steadily
to permit his own appearance at Versailles; more than this, he learned
that Beaumarchais had entered at once into negotiations with the agent
of Congress and that he, Arthur Lee, was being consulted by no one.
“Enraged and disappointed,” continued Sparks, “Lee hurried to Paris,
where he endeavored to bring about a quarrel between Deane and
Beaumarchais. Failing in this, he returned to London, vexed in his
disappointment and furious against Deane.” To avenge himself he wrote to
the committee in congress that the two men were agreed together to
deceive at once the French Government and the Americans by changing what
the former meant to be a gratuitous offering into a commercial
speculation. (Silas Deane Papers.)
As can readily be seen, these letters arriving in Philadelphia before
any report from Deane, predisposed Congress—two of whose members were
brothers of Arthur Lee, against the measures Deane was taking with
Beaumarchais. But for the moment, no one interfered with their
operations and both men were too intent upon the all-important matter in
hand to speculate upon the possible results of the irritation of Doctor
Dubourg, or the anger and jealousy of Arthur Lee. Deane, however,
fearing lest the noise of Lee’s visit to Paris should offend the French
Minister, addressed to the latter the following letter:
“Sir: I was informed this morning of the arrival of Arthur Lee.
This was a surprise to me, as I know of no particular affair that
might call him here, and considering the extreme jealousy of the
British ministry at this time and that Mr. Lee was the agent of
the colonies in Great Britain, and known to be such, I could wish
unless he had received some particular orders from the United
Colonies that he had suspended his visit, as I know not otherwise
how he can serve me or my affairs—with profound gratitude I say
it—now in as favorable a course as the situation of the times
will admit. I have the honor to be,
“Silas Deane.”
(From Spark’s _Dip. Correspondence_, p. 40.)
Immediately after their first meeting, Beaumarchais had addressed a
letter to Deane of which the following is an extract:
“Paris, July 18, 1776.
“I have the honor to inform you that for a long while I have
formed the project of aiding the brave Americans to shake off the
yoke of England.... I have spoken already of my plans with a
gentleman in London (Arthur Lee), who says he is very much
attached to America; but our correspondence since I left England
has been followed with difficulty and in cipher; I have received
no reply to my last letter, in which I fixed certain points of
this great and important affair. Since you are clothed, Monsieur,
with a character which permits me to have confidence in you, I
shall be very well satisfied to recommence, in a more certain
and regular manner, a negotiation which till now has been barely
touched....”
Silas Deane replied:
“Paris, Hôtel Grand-Villars, July 20, 1776.
“Monsieur:
“Conformably with your demand in our interview yesterday, I
enclose a copy of my commission and an extract of my
instructions, which will give you the certitude that I am
authorized to make the acquisitions for which I addressed myself
to you....
“In regard to the credit which we demand and which I hope to
obtain from you, I hope that a long one will not be necessary. A
year is the most that my compatriots are in the habit of asking;
and Congress having engaged a great quantity of tobacco in
Virginia and Maryland which will be embarked as soon as ships can
be procured, I do not doubt but considerable returns in nature
will be made within six months, and the whole be paid for within
the year. I shall press Congress for this in my letters.
Nevertheless, events are uncertain, and our commerce is exposed
to suffer; but I hope that whatever comes you will soon receive
sufficient returns to be enabled to wait for the rest. In case
that any sum whatever remains due after the expiration of the
accepted credit, it is of course understood that the usual
interest will be paid you for the sum.
“I am with all the respect and attachment possible, your, etc.
“Silas Deane.”
In his reply to this letter Beaumarchais after accepting the conditions
offered by the agent of Congress ends thus:
“As I believe I have to do with a virtuous people, it will
suffice for me to keep an exact account of all my advances.
Congress will be master to decide whether I shall be paid in
merchandise at their usual value at the time of their arrival or
to receive them at the buying price, the delays and assurances
with a commission proportional to the pains and care, which is
impossible to fix to-day. I intend to serve your country as
though it were my own, and I hope to find in the friendship of a
generous people the true recompense for my work which I
consecrate to them with pleasure.”
In a lengthy letter written the 24th of July, 1776, the agent of
Congress set forth the difficulties of the enterprise in which they are
engaged.
He manifested also with warmth his grateful recognition of the services
of Beaumarchais. He wrote to him:
“Paris, July 24th, 1776.
“Monsieur:
“I have read with attention the letter which you have done me the
favor to write the 22nd, and I think that your propositions for
the regulation of the price of merchandise are just and
equitable. The generous confidence which you place in the virtue
and justice of my constituents inspires me with the greatest joy
and gives me the most flattering hopes for the success of this
enterprise, for their satisfaction as well as yours, and permit
me to assure you again that the United Colonies will take the
most effective measures to send you returns, and to justify in
all respects the sentiments which animate you toward them.
“Silas Deane.”
Nothing could be clearer and more explicit than the understanding
arrived at between Beaumarchais and Deane. The latter possessed full
power to act, and the former relied unreservedly upon the good faith of
the American Congress. In the meantime Deane wrote, introducing his new
friend to the Committee of Secret Correspondence.
“Paris, August 18, 1776.
“ ... I was directed to apply for arms, etc., for 25,000 men....
This I wished to get of the ministry direct, but they evaded it
and I am now in treaty for procuring them through the Agency of
M. Chaumont and M. Beaumarchais, on credit of eight months, from
the time of their delivery. If I effect this as I undoubtedly
shall, I must rely on the remittance being made this fall and
winter, without fail, or the credit of the colonies will
suffer....” (Spark’s _Diplomatic Correspondence_, V. I, p. 28.)
Three days earlier he had written, “I find M. de Beaumarchais possessed
of the entire confidence of the ministry; he is a man of wit and genius,
and a considerable writer on comic and political subjects. All my
supplies come through his hands, which at first greatly discouraged my
friends....”
At the same time Beaumarchais, inflamed with zeal for the cause of
liberty, and wholly unconscious of the effect which his sincere but
fantastic letters would have upon the unexpansive nature of the men to
whom they were addressed, wrote the following to Congress:
“Paris, August 18, 1776.
“Gentlemen:
“The respectful esteem which I bear towards that brave people who
so well defend their liberty under your conduct has induced me to
form a plan concurring in this great work by establishing an
extensive commercial house ... to supply you with necessaries of
every sort that can be useful for the honorable war in which you
are engaged. Your deputies, gentlemen, will find in me a sure
friend, an asylum in my home, money in my coffers, and every
means of facilitating their operations whether of an open, or of
a secret nature. I will, so far as possible, remove all obstacles
that may oppose your wishes, from the politics of Europe.... The
secrecy necessary in some parts of the operations which I have
undertaken for your service, requires also on your part a formal
resolution that all vessels and their demands should be directed
constantly to our house alone, in order that there may be no idle
chatting or loss of time, two things that are the ruin of
affairs....
“ ... I shall facilitate your unloading, selling, or disposing of
that which I do not wish.... For instance, five American vessels
have just arrived in the port of Bordeaux laden with salt fish;
though this merchandise coming from strangers is prohibited in
our ports, yet as soon as your deputy had told me that these
vessels were sent to him by you to raise money by the sale for
aiding him in his purchases in Europe, I took such care that I
secretly obtained from the government an order for the landing
without notice being taken....
“I shall have a correspondent in each seaport town, who on the
arrival of your vessels shall wait on the captain and offer every
service in his power.... Everything which you wish to arrive
safely in any country in Europe ... shall go with great
punctuality through me, and this will save much anxiety and many
delays. I request you, gentlemen, to send me next spring, if it
is possible, ten or twelve thousand hogsheads or more if you can
of tobacco of the best quality from Virginia.
“You will understand well that my commerce with you is carried on
in Europe; that it is in the great ports of Europe that I make
and take returns. However well founded my house may be and though
I have appropriated many millions to your trade alone, yet it
would be impossible for me to support it, if all the dangers of
the sea, of exports and imports were not entirely at your
risks....
“Your deputy shall receive as soon as possible full power and
authority to accept what I shall deliver to him, to receive my
accounts, examine them, make payments upon them or enter into
engagements which you shall be bound to ratify as the head of the
brave people to whom I am devoted. In short, you may always treat
of your interests directly with me.
“Notwithstanding the open opposition which the King of France and
his ministers show, and ought to show, to the violation of
foreign treaties ... I dare promise you, gentlemen, that my
indefatigable zeal shall never be wanting to clear up all
difficulties, soften prohibitions, and, in short, facilitate all
operations of commerce....
“One thing can never diminish; it is the avowed and ardent zeal
which I have in serving you to the utmost of my power....
“Look upon my house, then, gentlemen, henceforth, as the chief of
all useful operations to you in Europe and my person as one of
the most zealous partisans of your cause, the soul of your
success, and a man most deeply impressed with the respectful
esteem with which I have the honor to be, etc.
“Roderigue Hortalès et Cie.”
“It must be admitted,” says Loménie, “that the letters of Beaumarchais
were curious enough by their medley of patriotism and commercialism,
both equally sincere with him, to inspire distrust in the minds already
prejudiced. Imagine serious Yankees, who nearly all before having made
war had been merchants, receiving masses of stuff, embarked often in
secret, during the night, and whose bills presented in consequence
certain irregularities, accompanied with letters in which Beaumarchais
associated protestations of enthusiasm, offers of limitless services,
political counsels and demands for tobacco, indigo, and salt fish.
“The calculating minds of the Yankees were naturally inclined to think
that a being so ardent and fantastic, if he really existed, was playing
a commercial comedy concurred in by the government and that one might
with all security of conscience utilize his remittances, read his
amplifications, and dispense with sending him tobacco,” which, as we
shall soon see, was exactly what happened.
Infinite difficulties and complications, however, were to arise before
even the first shipments could leave the ports of France, and in August
the cargoes were not yet collected.
The sixteenth of August Beaumarchais wrote to Vergennes:
“It is decided that all vessels coming from America shall be
addressed to the house of Hortalès.... So many things must be
carried on together without counting the manufacture of cloth and
linen, that I am forced to take on more workers. This affair
_politico-commerçante_ is becoming so immense that I shall drown
myself in details as well as the few aids which I have employed
up to the present time, if I do not add more. Some will travel,
some reside in the seaports, the manufactories, etc.
“I have promised tobacco to the Farmers-General, and I ask it of
the Americans. Their hemp will be a good commodity. At last I
begin to see the way clear for my business. The only thing which
I do not see are those fatal letters-patent of which I have
neither wind nor news.... M. de Maurepas tells me every time he
sees me, ‘It is attended to, it is finished.’ ... I should have
had them Tuesday. Here it is Friday, but the letters have not
come. At the end of the session of parliament this delay of three
days makes me lose three months, because of vacation. I am not
angry but distressed to see my condition so equivocal and my
future uncertain.” (Doniol, V. I, p. 513-14.)
As shown in the above letter, Beaumarchais while beginning his
extraordinary operations for the Americans was not forgetful of his own
interests. He was still a civilly degraded man with no solid basis upon
which to build. Gudin, in his history of Beaumarchais, says: “Arriving
from London, May, 1776, he presented a petition to the council in order
to obtain letters of relief; that is, letters of the king by which it
was permitted him to appeal from the judgment rendered against him,
although the delay accorded by law had long expired.
“The development of his projects called him to the west coast of France;
he did not wish to go until his request was admitted.
“‘Go all the same,’ M. de Maurepas said to him. ‘The council will
pronounce very well without you.’”
The projects alluded to by Gudin were, of course, his mercantile
operations for supplying the Americans with munitions of war. But so
well did Beaumarchais guard his secret, that his dearest friend knew as
little of the real nature of his enterprise as the rest of the world. In
his visit to the ports of France during the summer of 1776, Gudin
accompanied him. Their reception at Bordeaux is described by the latter.
Here as elsewhere, Beaumarchais hid his real occupation under the show
of seeking amusement.
“When it was known,” says Gudin, “of our arrival, invitations poured in
upon us from every side; the women received him as the most amiable of
men, the merchants as the most intelligent, the crowds as the most
extraordinary; we passed several days in the midst of festivities....
All the while Beaumarchais was preparing new commercial combinations.
“One evening, on entering, he found several letters from Paris; he read
them while I was preparing for bed, hurried by fatigue to repose myself.
I asked him if he was satisfied with his news.
“‘Very well,’ he said to me without the least emotion. I was soon
asleep. In the morning I felt myself pulled by the arm; I wakened,
recognized him and asked if he were ill.
“‘No,’ he replied, ‘but in half an hour we leave for Paris.’
“‘_Eh, pourquoi?_ What has happened? Have you been sent for?’
“‘The council has rejected my demands.’
“‘_Ah, ciel!_ and you said nothing to me last evening?’
“‘No, my friend, I did not wish to disturb your night. It was enough
that I did not sleep. I have been thinking all night of what there is
for me to do. I have decided, my plan is formed and I go to execute
it....’
“Sixty hours later we were in Paris.
“‘Eh, what,’ he said to M. de Maurepas, who was somewhat surprised to
see him so promptly, ‘while I was running to the extremities of France
to look after the affairs of the king, you lose mine at Versailles.’
“‘It is a blunder of Mormesnil (the minister of justice). Go find him,
tell him that I want him, and come back together.’
“They explained themselves all three. The matter was taken up under
another form, the council judged differently, the request was granted
and letters of relief obtained the 12th of August, 1776.”
This, however, was but the first step. The letters patent simply allowed
Beaumarchais the privilege of having his case brought up a second time
for judgment. At this juncture, a new difficulty presented itself. In
the words of Loménie: “It was the end of August; the parliament was
about to enter on its vacation and it did not wish to take up the matter
until afterwards. But Beaumarchais did not adjourn so easily anything
once begun. He went again to M. de Maurepas, and persuaded that one is
never better served than by himself he did with the first minister what
we have seen him do with the king. He drew a note for the first
president of Parliament and for the solicitor-general, had M. de
Maurepas to sign two copies of the note and send one to each of the
above officials.” The notes ran thus:
“Versailles, this 27th of August, 1776.
“That part of the affairs of the king with which M. de
Beaumarchais is charged, requires, Monsieur, that he make several
voyages very shortly. He fears to leave Paris before his case has
been tried. He assures me that it can be done before vacation. I
do not ask any favor as to the ground of the affair, but only
celerity for the judgment; you will oblige him who has the honor
to be, very truly yours, etc.
“Maurepas.”
In the same way, Beaumarchais served himself through Monsieur de
Vergennes, obtaining with the same facility the favor which he desired.
He wrote:
“August 29th, 1776.
“I had the honor of seeing M. le Comte de St.-Germain
yesterday.... I was very well received.... After two hours’
conversation, he wished to keep me to dinner. But can a miserable
unfortunate who is running after the solution of his lawsuit take
time to dine? I left him, but I have hope that he will be an
additional protector. If all is not well, at least all is not
bad. I have drawn up a letter intended to correct the fault
committed.
“It is your reply to his letter. Pardon, M. de Comte, if I have
taken the liberty of acting as your secretary. For so long I have
been attached to you by all possible titles, if you approve of
the letter there is only a signature and an envelope necessary.”
(Doniol, V. I, p. 574.)
M. de Loménie continued: “This was still not sufficient for
Beaumarchais. He wished the Attorney-General Seguier to speak and to be
eloquent in his favor; for this he wrote a letter to Maurepas,
accompanied by another note, rather more expressive, for M. Seguier, a
note which the minister copied with the same docility as the preceding
one.” It runs as follows:
“Versailles, this 30th of August, 1776.
“I learn, Monsieur, by M. de Beaumarchais, that if you have not
the goodness to speak on his affair it will be impossible for him
to obtain a judgment before the 7th of September. That part of
the affair of the king with which M. de Beaumarchais is entrusted
requires that he make a voyage very soon; he fears to leave Paris
before he is restored to his estate as citizen; it has been so
long now that he suffers, and his desire in this respect is truly
legitimate. I ask no favor as to the ground of the affair, but
you will oblige me infinitely if you will contribute towards
having him judged before vacation.
“I have the honor to be, etc. Maurepas.”
The trial took place. Beaumarchais chose for his defense a lawyer,
Target, who had remained firm during the entire existence of the
parliament Maupeou, refusing to plead before it. “Beaumarchais,” says
Loménie, “always faithful to his taste for _mise en scène_, wrote him a
letter which circulated everywhere and which commenced with the words,
‘The Martyr Beaumarchais to the Virgin Target.’”
An immense concourse of people thronged the judgment hall the day
appointed for the trial; and when, after the pleading of Target and the
recommendation of Seguier, the restored parliament annulled by a solemn
decree the decree of the parliament Maupeou, the wildest excitement
prevailed. Beaumarchais immediately addressed the following letter to
Vergennes:
“Paris, this Friday, September 6, 1776.
“M. le Comte,
“I have just been judged, _déblâmé_, amidst a universal concourse
of applause. Never did so unfortunate a citizen receive greater
honor. I hasten to announce to you the news, begging you to place
my gratitude at the feet of the king. I am so trembling with joy
that my hand can scarcely write all the respectful sentiments
with which I am, Monsieur le Comte, your very humble and very
obedient servitor, Beaumarchais.
“Do me the kindness, M. le Comte, to announce this very happy
news to M. de Maurepas and to M. de Sartine. I have four hundred
persons about me who applaud and embrace me and make an infernal
noise, which seems to me superb harmony.”
The happy man was carried in triumph amid the enthusiastic shouts of the
populace from the great chamber of justice to his carriage.
The next day he published a discourse which he had intended to deliver,
but from which he had been dissuaded.
It will be remembered that Beaumarchais had been consulted by the
ministers in regard to the principles on which the new parliament should
be recalled, and that they had not dared to carry out the justice and
the liberality of his ideas. Although as we have seen, Beaumarchais
utilized the ministers pretty much as he desired, he did so without in
the least compromising his own freedom.
In this daring address he combated the existing abuses of the present
parliament, as he before had done those of the Parliament Maupeou.
“He contributed,” says Loménie, “without being conscious of it, to
prepare the ruin of the parliament which applauded him. He combated
their abuses and caused to enter into the minds of the masses the
necessity for judicial reform.”
M. de Loménie says elsewhere: “Beaumarchais at this moment, reinstated
in his rights as a citizen, enjoying the brilliant success of his
_Barbier de Séville_, already invested with the intimate confidence of
the government in the American question; well received at court, popular
in the city; directing the dramatic authors in their struggle for
literary liberty, might be considered as a man who had at last conquered
evil fortune; nevertheless, he was not yet disengaged from the fetters
of his past. His first suit with the Comte de la Blache, which had been
the origin of his trials and of his celebrity, existed still in the
midst of his triumphs, and held in check his fortunes and his honor.”
This man, confident of the ministry in the affairs of the United States,
the popular author of the _Barbier de Séville_, was under the blow of
an iniquitous sentence which declared him indirectly a forger, and
placed his goods at the discretion of an enemy.
In 1775, the first judgment had been revoked and the affair sent before
the parliament which met at Aix in the south of France.
The zeal which we have seen Beaumarchais display in carrying rapidly to
a successful termination the matter of his rehabilitation was now turned
toward the _retarding_ of the judgment in the other case.
The Comte de la Blache, on the other hand, vexed at seeing the rapidly
rising fortunes of his adversary, endeavored by every means in his power
to hasten the decision. Overwhelmed with the multiplicity of his
undertakings, Beaumarchais appealed to M. de Vergennes, urging that the
case be allowed to stand in _statu quo_ for the present. In a letter
from the minister, dated June 2, 1776, the following passage occurs:
“I saw yesterday, in relation to your affair at Aix, M. le Guard
of the Seals, who immediately gave orders to write to M. de la
Tour, the first president of the tribunal, to the effect that all
ultimate procedure should be suspended.... You know, Monsieur,
the sincerity of my interest for all that concerns you.
“de Vergennes.”
Thus with a comparatively tranquil mind, the indefatigable agent of the
government was able to turn his attention to the gigantic commercial
enterprise which he already had well in hand.
We shall not, therefore, be surprised to see him rise above all adverse
circumstances, and notwithstanding the disloyalty of some of his
agents, the fury of the English Ambassador, the opposition of the
government itself, actually succeed in landing immense cargoes on the
American coast in time for the great decisive campaign of 1777.
[Illustration: Wm. Carmichaël]