Sir Hanbury Williams and Count Woronzoff—The Empress
Elizabeth’s message to France—Chevalier Douglas, French Chargé
d’Affaires in Russia with D’Eon as secretary—Commencement of
the Seven Years’ War—Count Apraxin’s defection—D’Eon leaves
for Versailles—Trait of character—Reception by Louis XV. and
ministers—Proceeds to Russia—The will of Peter the Great—Count
Bestoujeff’s opinion of D’Eon—Prince Poniatovsky and his
diamond—D’Eon as a fencer—Bestoujeff’s arrest—D’Eon again
invited to take service in Russia.
Leaving Paris under the name of Léonard, for the second time as the
King’s secret envoy to Russia, but armed upon this occasion with private
credentials from M. Rouillé, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and ‘a great
deal of money to dispose of,’ Douglas passed through Dantzig, and Riga
where he falsely represented himself as envoy extraordinary from France
to Russia, and was accordingly received as such by the governor of that
town. With equal disregard to the truth, he made it his business upon
this journey to spread the report that in the treaty concluded between
England and Prussia there was a secret article whereby the former Power
was to pay to the latter an annual subsidy of 200,000_l._! He arrived
at St. Petersburg on April 22 (N.S.), requested an interview of the
Vice-Chancellor at 9 P.M. for the same evening—obtained it—and forthwith
delivered a letter from M. Rouillé, with friendly messages on the part
of the King. Shortly afterwards he was presented at Court as a Scottish
gentleman in the service of France, to the delight of Louis XV. and his
ministers.[20]
When questioned by Sir Hanbury Williams, the Vice-Chancellor admitted
that Douglas was entrusted with a commission from the King of France,
although not in an official capacity. He could give no information on
the nature of that commission, but Sir Hanbury might rest assured that
the Court of Russia would not enter into anything with France that
could be prejudicial to the interests of England. It was not the first
time, he said, that France had made overtures to Russia, but he was too
well acquainted with the French nation ever to be their dupe, and he
should not fail to give further information when in a position to do so.
Within twenty-four hours of this conversation, the Chancellor Bestoujeff
declared to Sir Hanbury that he was kept quite out of the secret, and
knew nothing of Douglas’ return until his arrival at Riga.[21]
[Sidenote: SECOND JOURNEY TO RUSSIA.]
When D’Eon again made his appearance at St. Petersburg, Douglas was
simply delighted. ‘I am very greatly pleased at the arrival of M.
D’Eon,’ he wrote to M. Rouillé; ‘I have been long acquainted with his
intelligence, his zeal, and attachment to his work. He will be very
useful to me, and also of good service to the King. He is steady and
prudent....’[22]
Chancing to call one morning on Count Woronzoff, the British ambassador
was not admitted. In the court-yard was Douglas’ coach. The next day
Woronzoff sent for Baron Wolff, to tell him the reason he had not
received Sir Hanbury was because Douglas being with him, he did not
know whether the English ambassador would have liked to meet him. Sir
Hanbury, who naturally looked upon Douglas as a rebel of the first water,
since he was actually in the service of England’s enemies, replied that
if such was the message, the excuse was worse than the fault, for he
refused to be put upon a level with such a fellow as Douglas.
The Treaty of Versailles (May 1, 1756) had placed Douglas and Count
Esterhazy upon an entirely new footing. Their lengthened conferences,
at first held secretly in a third place, and their growing intimacy,
prevented Sir Hanbury from conversing any longer with the Austrian
minister on matters of business. French subjects were invited to consider
themselves under the protection of the Empress-Queen’s ambassador, and
Russia’s ministers at foreign courts were instructed to live on good
terms with those of France. Such were the political changes in progress,
when Elizabeth openly professed her desire to renew diplomatic relations
with the King of France.
M. Rouillé’s courteous letter of February 9, presented to the
Vice-Chancellor by Douglas upon the same evening of his arrival at St.
Petersburg, and in which, by way of precaution, should the letter have
miscarried, the secret envoy was spoken of as being a librarian, was as
courteously answered under date of April 20 (O.S.). A long ‘Mémoire,’
also handed to Douglas for transmission to the French minister, in reply
to the friendly advances made by Louis XV., and in which are expressed
her Imperial Majesty’s views on drawing closer together the improving
relations between Russia and France, contains this passage:—
‘It would be very agreeable to her Imperial Majesty if the
Chevalier Douglas was more fully authorised or accredited as
Chargé d’Affaires, so as to render it possible for both sides
to treat with greater authority on the other matters included
in his instructions, and serve not only to the glory and to
the mutual advantage of the two Courts, but also to their
prompt reunion. Yet, notwithstanding the insufficiency of the
Chevalier’s authorisation, he will continue to be treated with
distinction, and listened to with consideration, as being a
person sent to this country on the part of his Most Christian
Majesty.’[23]
[Sidenote: APPOINTED SECRETARY OF LEGATION.]
In July, Douglas was accredited Chargé d’Affaires to the Court of Russia,
taking up his residence at the Apraxin Palace, near the Summer Palace,
D’Eon being appointed Secretary of Legation, and entrusted with the
secret correspondence; communicating with the Prince de Conti, and with
the King through Tercier, and still the medium of intercourse between
the Empress and Woronzoff on the one hand, and Louis XV. on the other;
by which arrangement Douglas was enabled to entertain uninterrupted
relations with Elizabeth and Woronzoff on subjects of a nature to be kept
concealed from Bestoujeff Riumin.
As the Treaty of Subsidies, an acknowledged fact between England and
Russia, was set at naught by England’s Neutrality Treaty with Prussia,
so did Elizabeth cast the former to the winds, and in due course unite
herself to the French-Austrian alliance, in spite of all that Catherine
and Bestoujeff could do to prevent such a thing. Frederick’s sarcasms had
no more spared the Empress of Russia and the Empress-Queen than Madame
de Pompadour, and the licentious Elizabeth thought it worth her while to
retaliate by expressing her indignation at the King of Prussia’s little
concern in matters of religion. ‘He does not believe in God! He never
goes to Church! There is nothing that is sacred in his eyes!’ Some years
had passed since she uttered those words; she had not forgiven him, now
she was joining the coalition against that monarch, and so was about to
begin what is known as the Seven Years’ War.
The eighty thousand men for whom Sir Hanbury had bargained were assembled
in Livonia under Count Apraxin,[24] the firm friend of Bestoujeff, when
they shortly entered Poland. The war was commenced by the Austrians, the
first to receive Frederick’s fire and under Marshal Daun to defeat him
at Kolin (June 18), afterwards marching upon Berlin and bearing away all
the tribute money they could collect. Their German allies invaded Prussia
from Saxony, the Swedes not long delaying in entering Pomerania, and
the French attacking out of Hanover after having occupied Embden (July
3). Hearing that Apraxin had taken Memel, Frederick sent Field-Marshal
Lewald with twenty-five thousand men to keep him in check, and a battle
was fought at Gross-Jägersdorff near Königsberg (August 30), in which the
Russians overpowered the enemy simply through force of numbers. Frederick
being left with about twenty thousand men only, began to fear that all
was lost, when the astounding intelligence reached him that the Russians,
‘who were more easily killed than beaten,’ were withdrawing towards their
own frontier—a movement executed during the illness, believed to be
serious, of Elizabeth, who no sooner heard of Apraxin’s strange doings,
than she ordered him to be recalled and his conduct investigated. But
the field-marshal did not long survive his return, and why he failed to
follow up the advantages he had gained by the most complete of victories,
was never explained by himself. Later, his reasons were guessed!
[Sidenote: SECOND RETURN TO VERSAILLES.]
D’Eon had quitted St. Petersburg in April, entrusted by the Empress with
private letters to Maria Theresa and Louis XV.; he was the bearer to the
Courts of Vienna and Versailles of Elizabeth’s friendly assurances that
the Treaty of Subsidies with England was no longer of effect, and that
the eighty thousand men she had assembled in Livonia and Courland should
henceforth act in concert with the forces of Austria and France. He was
also charged to deliver the ratification to the Treaty of Versailles,
the plan to be pursued by the Russian army in its operations with the
Austrian and French troops, and other papers of considerable importance
relating to secret transactions in which he had borne a part; and,
further, he was commissioned by Count Schouvaloff to take with him fifty
thousand livres in gold, being a gift from the Empress to Voltaire, who
had received her Majesty’s commands to write the life of Peter—specie
D’Eon lodged with the bankers Hermani and Dietrich, at Strasburg, on his
way through that town.
In her letter to the King, Elizabeth referred to D’Eon in flattering
terms as having been instrumental in conducing to the happy results which
necessitated the journey he was about to take, and ‘as a mark of her
favour’ she presented him with a gratuity of three hundred ducats.[25]
When D’Eon first went to Russia, one commission entrusted to him was to
obtain for the Prince de Conti, from the Empress, the command-in-chief of
the Russian army and the principality of Courland; the secret aim of the
prince being, through such means, to work his way gradually to the throne
of Poland, and to that of Russia by marrying Elizabeth. Douglas and D’Eon
had met with success on the two first points, which alone had been mooted
to the Empress, and D’Eon’s errand to Versailles included the Empress’
and Woronzoff’s assurances to the prince that he should have the command
of the army and the principality of Courland, if the King would....[26]
The rest is obliterated by D’Eon in his letter.
One result of Douglas’ and D’Eon’s labours was the appointment of an
ambassador to the Court of Russia in the person of the Marquis de
l’Hôpital; but a whole year having elapsed between that minister’s
nomination and departure for his post, it so happened that when D’Eon got
to Bieloyēstok on his way to Vienna, the two met, to the great advantage
of the marquis, as he himself subsequently avowed; for he was supplied
with so much useful practical information, upon a country of which he
knew literally nothing, as a somewhat hurried interview would allow.
It was nightfall on the day that D’Eon got to the gates of Vienna, where
a little incident occurred which serves to illustrate at least one trait
in his character.
Although provided with passports that should have assured freedom from
all kind of molestation or delay, the Customs’ officers refused to allow
him to enter the city without first searching his effects. Obstinately
objecting to submit to what he considered a gross indignity, but feeling
himself under the circumstances to be the weakest, he made up his mind to
pass the night outside the walls. A sergeant of hussars going his rounds
offered the stranger a shelter in the guard-room. There being no French
ambassador at Vienna, D’Eon sent, in the early morning, an account of
his night’s adventure to Baron de Toussaint, a favourite of the Emperor,
which resulted in the dismissal of the two Customs’ officers and the
promotion of the sergeant to the rank of lieutenant.[27]
[Sidenote: TIMELY ARRIVAL AT VIENNA.]
At Vienna D’Eon found the Count de Broglio, French minister to Poland,
who had received orders to pass through that capital, and there concert
such alterations as might be considered advisable in the plan prepared
by Marshal D’Estrées for the ensuing campaign; a measure facilitated by
D’Eon’s timely appearance with the Russian plan of operations and his
intimate knowledge of Russian affairs, which proved of invaluable service
to the count. During his hurried stay at Vienna, news were received of
the battle of Prague (May 6), ‘the bloodiest battle of the age,’ as
Frederick called it, and de Broglio at once despatched him to carry the
gratifying intelligence to Versailles. The hot haste in which he had
travelled from St. Petersburg was not to be compared to the diligence
he employed in bearing such additional good tidings; he managed to
outstrip by thirty-six hours the special courier sent by Prince Kaunitz
to Count Staremberg, Austrian ambassador at Paris, although he reached
his destination with a broken leg, caused by the overturning of the
coach in his headlong journey; the accident and its cause only serving
to intensify the interest already felt in the young secretary, who was
attended by the King’s own surgeon immediately upon arrival.
D’Eon met with a most flattering reception by the Cardinal de Bernis,
Foreign Minister, and Marshal de Belle-Isle, Minister of War, and a month
or two later he received a handsome gold snuff-box, with portrait, from
the King, inside which he found a gratuity from the privy purse, and,
what he prized most, a commission as lieutenant of dragoons.
D’Eon’s employment being still secret, and chiefly so in the King’s
service, as well as public in the quality of Secretary of Legation, he
was bound to apply for permission to convey to the Prince de Conti the
message entrusted to him at St. Petersburg. It was granted by the King.
_Louis XV. to Tercier._
‘July 20, 1757.
‘Since M. D’Eon is commissioned by M. Woronzoff to see Prince
de Conty, he must see him, but he is to give you an exact
account of the Prince de Conty’s reply. As this will some day
become publicly known, I must be informed of it by other means
than these....’
* * * * *
‘August 7, 1757.
‘... The Sieur D’Eon must not communicate to anybody what he
knows of the secret....’[28]
D’Eon had several interviews and some secret correspondence with the
Prince de Conti upon the success of his mission to St. Petersburg; but
the Prince and Madame de Pompadour were no longer on good terms, she
being too exacting to suit his pride, and the King would or could not
make up his mind in favour of his kinsman.
_Louis XV. to Tercier._
‘Fontainebleau, September 15, 1757.
‘... If the Empress of Russia really summons the Prince de
Conty to the command of her armies, and desires to give him
Courland, until something better turns up, I shall be very
glad; but for the present I can no longer take a direct part
other than that of not offering any opposition, and give my
consent when nothing else will be wanted.... I approve of your
giving a cypher to the Sieur D’Eon, if he has not yet left....’
* * * * *
‘September 21, 1757.
‘... When I am morally satisfied that the Empress of Russia
destines him (the Prince de Conti) for the command of her army
and for Courland, I will give all authority and permission
required of me. Until then I am quite averse to it, for fear
of taking a false step, which might do us more harm than
good....’[29]
D’Eon was anxious to take to Russia a decided answer of some sort, and
when on his next journey he halted five days at Strasburg by desire
of the Prince, who hoped to overtake him there with some favourable
settlement of his case. But nothing came.
[Sidenote: THE WILL OF PETER THE GREAT.]
D’Eon never wasted his time. Whilst laid up under surgical treatment,
enduring no little suffering from the resetting of a broken limb, he
worked at collating a mass of useful information he had obtained in
Russia from various sources, producing a valuable ‘Mémoire,’ upon which
he was complimented by King and ministers. In this ‘Mémoire,’ Gaillardet
includes a document which has been the subject-matter of frequent
controversy, its authenticity being discredited and derided—the will of
Peter the Great; but he negligently omits to state where he consulted
the copy of the will in D’Eon’s own hand, and as we have been unable to
verify the existence of such a copy we forbear reproducing it, because
otherwise it has no place here, and leave the task to some one more
favoured than we could expect to be, in searching amongst the French
archives.
In a monograph which appeared at Brussels in 1863,[30] the author fathers
the will of Peter the Great on Napoleon I., and ascribes the earliest
publication of it to Lesur in his ‘Des Progrès de la puissance Russe,
depuis son origine jusqu’au commencement du XIXᵐᵉ siècle,’ printed in
1812 under the immediate superintendence of the French Government, at
the time that the Emperor was preparing for the invasion of Russia.
In this pamphlet Gaillardet (in whose fanciful story of the Chevalier
D’Eon, edition of 1836, the author read the will) is charged with having
reproduced the will from the pages of Lesur.
On receiving his commission in the army D’Eon applied for active service,
having grown tired and become disgusted with the intrigues of a life
at Court, and the sight of troops in Courland, Prussia, Silesia, and
Moravia, when upon his journey from Russia, having ‘only served to
inspire him with martial ardour.’ But he was too precious and too useful
in Russia to be allowed to have his own way. The Marquis de l’Hôpital
was pressing him to return to St. Petersburg. ‘My dear little fellow, I
have learnt with pain of your accident, and with great pleasure of your
interviews with the Old and New Testaments.[31] Come, live out the Gospel
with us, and rely upon my friendship and esteem.’ To which Douglas added:
‘I also embrace you, my dear cripple, and hope you will have left before
the arrival of this letter to join your worthy protector, who will be a
father to you.’ Over and above all, the King’s ministers expressed the
wish that D’Eon should return to Russia with the least possible delay
to perform a particular piece of service, for which he was specially
qualified.
[Sidenote: THIRD JOURNEY TO RUSSIA.]
It so happened that D’Eon had discovered the existence of a secret
correspondence between the grand-duke, assisted by Bestoujeff, and the
King of Prussia, whose interests they preferred to serve, Apraxin and
Todleben, the Empress’s two generals in command of her army on the field;
the design being to keep the Russian troops in a state of inaction, and
thus deprive the newly-allied Courts of the advantages to be derived from
the treaties so happily brought about by Douglas and himself. D’Eon alone
seemed to have knowledge of this surreptitious intercourse, and being
required to bring it to light it was manifest that he should return to
Russia.
_Cardinal de Bernis to the Marquis de l’Hôpital._
‘Compiègne, July 24, 1757.
‘Sir,—The King has been pleased to take into favourable
consideration your request that M. D’Eon de Beaumont should
serve under your orders as First Secretary to your Embassy,
and his Majesty has the more willingly resolved upon so doing,
as the knowledge acquired by M. D’Eon on the government and
administration of Russia, gives just grounds for assuming
that he will be of great use to you and to the King’s
service....’[32]
In September D’Eon left Paris, again as the sole confidential
correspondent of Louis XV. He was supplied with copies of the
instructions sent to the French ambassador at St. Petersburg and of those
from Prince Kaunitz to Count Esterhazy, and he was ordered to concert
measures with Count Woronzoff for disclosing to the Empress the Grand
Chancellor’s treachery. He also took with him a letter to Woronzoff,
in which Tercier repeated the King’s desire to entertain a secret
correspondence with the Empress.[33] Douglas was at the same time on his
way to Versailles, having been recalled at the request of Bestoujeff, who
was informed by the French ambassador that the recall was an accomplished
fact, done as a favour to him.[34]
_Cardinal de Bernis to the Marquis de l’Hôpital._
‘Fontainebleau, September 13, 1757.
‘I send to you, my dear ambassador, our dear little D’Eon,
with whom I hope you will be pleased. He is most intelligent,
zealous, and of a highly amiable disposition. His fortune[35]
lies in his hands as it does in yours. If you are as satisfied
with his conduct and diligence as I hope and wish you may be,
he may depend upon my being careful to, &c....’[36]
The announcement of D’Eon’s approaching arrival was received with
ill-concealed concern by the Grand Chancellor, who suggested to the
Marquis de l’Hôpital the desirability of this appointment being
cancelled. He represented D’Eon to be a dangerous person whom they would
not cease to mistrust, for they believed him capable of overturning the
empire; an unguarded speech, producing a result contrary to what was
desired by Bestoujeff, for de l’Hôpital only called the more loudly for
his new secretary, whose presence was feared by the Prussian party.[37]
D’Eon was now in Russia for the third time.
Meeting the English ambassador at dinner one evening, the conversation
turned upon the trial and execution of Admiral Byng. D’Eon observed that
for his part he was very sorry for the admiral. ‘Why?’ inquired the
ambassador. ‘Because,’ replied D’Eon, ‘he was a great friend to France:
he never did her any harm!’
Invited upon another occasion to join in an English dance, D’Eon said
that his business at St Petersburg was not to dance English dances, but
to make the English jump!’[38]
[Sidenote: PRINCE PONIATOVSKY’S DIAMOND.]
D’Eon relates an incident that occurred in November, shortly after his
arrival at St. Petersburg. Prince Poniatovsky, envoy extraordinary from
Poland, wrote to ask him for certain information on events then passing,
his letter being accompanied by a diamond of the value of eight thousand
livres. As a matter of course D’Eon handed over the letter and the bribe
to the ambassador, by whom the gem was immediately returned to the
Polish minister, who got into such a passion that he threw it into the
fire. De l’Hôpital reported the circumstance to the Cardinal de Bernis,
and the King’s promise was made that such an act of fidelity should be
rewarded by the presentation to the secretary of a sum of equal value
to the diamond; but Bernis’ disgrace and exile caused the matter to be
forgotten.[39]
D’Eon was well known to Poniatovsky, who did not forget him in
after years, his proficiency in the art of fencing being one of the
accomplishments that rendered him a favourite with those at Court, and
he frequently dined with the grand-duke, with Prince Charles (for a
time Duke of Courland), or with Poniatovsky, the evenings being spent
in fencing. If pressure of work prevented him from accepting the
invitations he received, the French ambassador was scolded by those
personages for having detained him at the Embassy.[40]
On February 24, 1758, the Grand Chancellor, Bestoujeff Riumin, was
arrested by order of Elizabeth, whilst presiding at a council of
ministers. Amidst his papers, which were all seized, was found a scheme
for disposing of certain persons obnoxious to him, amongst whom were
included Douglas and D’Eon.[41] He was charged with high treason, the
French and Austrian ambassadors being loud in their condemnation of
his criminal purposes. At the same time were arrested several other
persons having constant access to the Grand-Duchess Catherine, such, for
instance, as her secretary, her tutor in the Russian language, jeweller,
&c., and she herself became the object of so great obloquy that she
demanded permission to withdraw to Germany, a step the Empress refused to
sanction.
The conjectures formed to account for Bestoujeff’s perfidy were various,
but it was generally accepted that Elizabeth, having been seriously
indisposed and her death apprehended, the Grand Chancellor was anxious
to secure Catherine’s favour by withholding the Russian forces from
taking part in further hostilities against Frederick. He also aimed at
securing the succession of her child to the exclusion of the grand-duke,
his father, with the nomination of herself to the regency, or even her
own elevation to the throne. This view of the case received confirmation
in after years, for Bestoujeff was never permitted to return from exile
until the accession of Catherine.
[Sidenote: THE ARREST OF COUNT BESTOUJEFF.]
When under arrest, Bestoujeff was treated with unusual consideration,
notwithstanding the general feeling against him from his known intimacy
with Apraxin, the cause of so much national disgrace. He was detained
for a time a prisoner in his own house, escaping the tortures to which
others, equally compromised with himself, had been subjected; and,
although designated ‘a traitor grown old in iniquity,’ it was decreed
in the imperial manifesto ordering his trial, that ‘no severity was to
be employed for the purpose of exacting his evidence or confession; but
whatever he chose to say was to be noted.’
Bestoujeff was exiled to one of his estates, and Woronzoff succeeded him
as Grand Chancellor.
After the Bestoujeff affair, the Empress renewed her efforts—this time
through his superiors—to induce D’Eon to enter her service.
_The Marquis de l’Hôpital to the Cardinal de Bernis._
‘St. Petersburg, June 29, 1758.
‘... I have proposed to M. D’Eon, in compliance with your
wishes, again to attach him to the Court of Russia; but he
says that he will not serve other master than the King for all
the gold in the world; that he is sensible of his obligations
towards you, and that he is too respectfully devoted to you to
think of seeking elsewhere the rewards you will bestow upon him
for serving under your orders and to your satisfaction as he is
now doing.
* * * * *
_The Cardinal’s Reply._
‘Versailles, August 1, 1758.
‘I cannot do otherwise than approve the motives which induce
M. D’Eon to refuse employment offered to him by the Court of
Russia. They are the results of his zeal to the King’s service,
and of his attachment towards yourself....’[42]
* * * * *
_M. D’Eon to M. Tercier._
‘I have given the Marquis de l’Hôpital to understand all my
reasons, and this without any difficulty. I am satisfied,
considering his friendship towards me, that he would be sorry
were I to leave him, and in forfeiting his friendship I should
gain his secret contempt. I have therefore declared to him,
not on political grounds, but with all the candour and truth
of which a Burgundian is capable, that I will never leave the
service of France for that of all the emperors and empresses
in the universe, and that no motives can cause me to change my
way of thinking—neither honours nor riches. I tell you what I
think. I prefer to live from hand to mouth in France to being
in the enjoyment of an income of one hundred thousand livres
in fear and bondage. _Regnare nolo, dum liber non sum mihi._
This is the profession of my faith. I am satisfied that neither
the Abbé de Bernis nor you will take my way of thinking amiss.
Had I a bastard brother, be assured I should prevail upon him
to accept such an offer, but for myself, who am legitimate,
I am glad to die like a faithful dog in a ditch in my native
land.’[43]
* * * * *
_M. D’Eon to the Cardinal de Bernis._
‘... Whilst having the honour of thanking you for your good
intentions, and the prospects you have in view in my behalf, I
entreat you at once to do me the favour to dismiss me from your
memory whenever there is a question of my destiny removing me
entirely from France. Since I came to St. Petersburg, my maxim
has ever been to keep my back turned upon Siberia, too happy to
have escaped being sent there. I long for and look towards my
native country....’
* * * * *
_The Cardinal de Bernis to M. D’Eon._
‘Versailles, August 1, 1758.
‘... You will be informed by the Marquis de l’Hôpital that,
far from being distressed at your refusal to accept the post
offered to you at the Court of Russia, the motives which induce
you not to accept it meet with entire approbation. Continue
to serve his Majesty with the same zeal you have hitherto
displayed. It will at all times be a pleasure to me to bring to
the favourable notice of the King your services, your labours,
and your abilities.’[44]
[Sidenote: HONOUR AND REWARD.]
It was not at the hands of the Empress of Russia that D’Eon cared to
receive honours. For his important services at the Court of that monarch
he was promoted by Louis XV. to the rank of captain of dragoons, and
awarded a pension of two hundred ducats, to be paid by the Count de
Broglio out of the secret service money.
In the course of this year D’Eon found time to publish a work, in
two volumes, entitled ‘Confédérations Historiques sur les Impôts des
Egyptiens, des Babyloniens, des Perses, des Grecs, des Romains, et sur
les différentes situations de la France, par rapport aux Finances, depuis
l’établissement des Francs dans la Gaule jusqu’à present.’[45]