Progress of the war—The Duke de Choiseul’s designs against
England—Change of policy—D’Eon’s advice to the French
ambassador—Approved by Louis XV.—D’Eon’s failing health—The
Marquis de l’Hôpital—Baron de Breteuil admitted to the secret
correspondence—The King’s secret orders to D’Eon—Testimonies
to his abilities—Leaves Russia for the last time—Gift
from the Empress—On the staff of the Marshal and Count
de Broglio—Distinguished services during the campaign of
1761—Exile of the Broglios—Death of Elizabeth.
Apraxin’s defection was a fine thing for Frederick. Two great events
followed—the humiliating defeat of the French at Rosbach (October 31),
by Seidlitz and his cavalry, shall we say? and the battle of Leuthen
(December 5), in which eighty thousand Austrians were worsted by thirty
thousand Prussians. And thus ended the campaign of 1757. The following
year Field-Marshal Fermor, Apraxin’s successor, entered Eastern Prussia,
occupied Königsberg, and was beaten by Frederick at Zorndorff (August 25,
1758). Prince Soltikoff, who replaced Fermor, was also about to lose a
battle at Künersdorff (August 12, 1759); but the day ended happily for
him, his ninety thousand men having almost annihilated the forty-eight
thousand Prussians by whom he was opposed.
This much of what the Russians did, and we shall have got to the end of
1759, after an illustration, from concurrent testimony, of D’Eon’s share
in the progress of the war.
Let us first turn to the pages of Vandal.[46]
[Sidenote: FRENCH DESIGNS ON ENGLAND.]
On December 30, 1758, was signed by Louis XV. and Maria Theresa a treaty
in confirmation of their previous treaty still in force, except that it
determined with greater precision respective obligations; France, for
instance, binding herself to keep an army of 100,000 men in Germany.
Elizabeth was invited to join, and she did so. Of this matter the
Duke de Choiseul, for some months Minister for Foreign Affairs, was
completely ignorant. There was a time, it was but short, when the duke
in his patriotic desire to recover influences lost to France through the
feeble administration of the Cardinal de Bernis, his predecessor, had
determined upon not entertaining any idea of capitulating with England,
so long as soldiers, guns and ships remained, and on prosecuting the war
against Prussia until France met with success. A partisan of Austria, his
feelings towards Russia were of a different nature, but he was wisely
inclined to turn to the best account the alliance with those Powers. As
regards Russia, he instructed the ambassador at St. Petersburg (January
9, 1759) to tell Woronzoff, for the information of the Empress, that
if the King were to desire peace for the happiness of his people and
the repose of Europe, it should only be on conditions honourable to his
Majesty and his allies, and which would ensure general tranquillity; but
that so far from contemplating such a thing, every arrangement was made
for effectively continuing the war during the present and a succeeding
campaign, to the end of bringing the enemy to just and reasonable terms.
That the Empress might have undoubted proofs of his Majesty’s sentiments
on the subject, and to do away with every possible misunderstanding, the
King was disposed to conclude, jointly with the two Empresses, or with
the Empress of Russia alone, such convention as might be considered
necessary for strengthening their union, thereby giving fresh assurances
that his Majesty would only act in concert with his allies, communicating
with them on all points with that entire confidence which should exist
between Powers bound by friendly ties, and whose interests were in common.
Unable to cope with Great Britain on the seas, the Duke de Choiseul
formed a plan of invasion, in which he sought the co-operation of Russia
and Sweden, whose spheres of action would be the Scottish coast. ‘Should
fifty thousand men perish in the first expedition,’ he wrote to Count
Bernstorff, ‘the King has signed the determination to send other fifty
thousand, and we shall not be discouraged so long as we have men in
France.’[47] The hesitations of those Powers, the destruction of the
French fleets in the East Indies, off Cape Lagos, and in Quiberon Bay,
and of the flotilla prepared for the invasion of England, upset the whole
of the duke’s schemes, and gave him good cause to change his tactics.
He would now hail peace if he could. He turned to de l’Hôpital (July 8,
1759), and desired him to seize an early opportunity for feeling his way
with the Grand Chancellor, and suggesting to that minister, as a private
opinion of his own, the desirability of Russia’s mediation between
Austria and Prussia, whereby she would secure to herself the gratitude
of Europe. De Choiseul believed that if the Germanic Powers could but
arrange their differences, Russia might become useful in bringing about
an understanding between France and England.
[Sidenote: THE DUKE DE CHOISEUL AT FAULT.]
De l’Hôpital—gouty, good-natured, and easy-going—had made it a practice
never to act without first consulting his confidential secretary. That
secretary, at the present time, was D’Eon, who recommended that no notice
whatever should be taken of the minister’s letter. De l’Hôpital agreed.
At the expiration of a couple of months de Choiseul again wrote, this
time impatiently and reproachfully.
‘Allow me to tell you, my dear Marquis, that you amuse
yourself somewhat too much at playing the ambassador, and that
you do not sufficiently attend to its responsibilities. My
despatch, No. 48, will have given you some idea of the King’s
system, which, however, you have not as yet turned to profit.
Apparently, you have not been able to do so, but you should
have informed me whether you understand, and how you understand
his Majesty’s instructions upon a project as delicate as it
is advantageous. Reflect seriously upon it; I speak to you as
a friend, I unfold to you our system, and if you are not so
thoroughly satisfied with it as we are, you are too good a
servant to the King not to say so; and in such a case, since
you do not wish to change your ideas, t’were far better that
you should, under pretext of illness, give up your Embassy
rather than be employed in a task, of the advantages of which
you are not persuaded. This avowal on your part would, I assure
you, please the King as much as your success, for which we
hope, in the negotiations. The Marchioness de l’Hôpital has
spoken to me of your desire to be created a duke; I wish with
all my heart I could serve you. Enable yourself to solicit this
favour by the obligations under which the King will be to you.
I tell you simply this: there are but two ways; either to carry
out the views contained in the despatch No. 48, and in this
private letter, or come away. I prefer the first to the last,
but the last will also succeed if you promptly give up the
first, for I shall certainly represent that you cannot return
without receiving some special reward.’[48]
We will let D’Eon lift the veil of Louis XV.’s diplomacy in his own
words:—
‘In 1759, the Duke de Choiseul had prevailed upon the Empress
of Russia, by means of negotiations through the Marquis de
l’Hôpital, to offer her mediation towards securing peace, when
I at the same time received the King’s orders to use my best
efforts with the Empress, and the Grand Chancellor Woronzoff,
to prevail upon her Majesty to withdraw her mediation, and
to exhort her to continue the war, without allowing the Duke
de Choiseul or the Marquis de l’Hôpital to know what I was
about—all of which I executed to the great satisfaction of the
King, as I can prove by evidence bearing his signature; and for
these incontestable facts I appeal to the reliable testimony of
the Count de Broglio.’[49] ‘... It was I, who, by secret orders
from my master, unknown to the great Choiseul, caused the late
war to last three years longer.’[50]
Turning again to Vandal, we find the King’s approval of D’Eon’s counsel
to de l’Hôpital, and verification of the former’s statement in the
paragraph above quoted.
‘No reference is here made, either to the instructions sent
to the Marquis de l’Hôpital, directing him to enter upon
negotiations for terminating the German war, by means of, and
by the mediation of the Empress of Russia, or to what has
prevented them. The inconvenience which might have resulted
from the influence and dangerous preponderance which Russia
would in this way have acquired, and the real advantages she
would have procured for herself, are too well known to be
repeated here. It is, therefore, a matter for congratulation,
so far as the interests of the King are concerned, that the
Marquis de l’Hôpital, yielding in this instance to the prudent
advice of the Sieur D’Eon, had allowed the opportunity to slip,
which he had been eagerly enjoined to seize.’[51]
[Sidenote: DISLIKE TO RUSSIA.]
Four years of anxious and hard toil in a climate which did not suit him
had told on D’Eon’s health, until he felt seriously inconvenienced from
scurvy and an affection of the eyes, and his return to France became
but a question of time. He was longing for home. Apart from his dislike
to life at Court, where he felt that ‘it was impossible for a simply
virtuous, non-intriguing and dispassionate man to succeed,’ he had made
up his mind that Russia was not a country for a freeman to live in. He
could not forget that he and five other officers attached to the Embassy
had to lay aside their uniforms, to avoid the insults offered by soldiers
and people of the lower class, at times when France was meeting with
reverses, such as those at Rosbach and Minden; and the mortification he
endured at hearing the Empress’ words of comfort to his chief, the French
ambassador. It was reported that D’Eon had determined upon not remaining
in Russia because he had seen the daughter of Pope Urban X. (_sic_), who
was married to the gardener of a boyar, receive twenty blows with a stick
for several days consecutively; and because the said boyar and thirty
other boyars were broken on the wheel, two years afterwards, for their
share in some Court broil. He mentions this report of himself without
adding any comment, but relates an anecdote which clearly confirms his
unfavourable opinion of the country he was in. A Russian nobleman said to
him one fine summer’s day:—
‘Sir, all Europe is exasperated against us; but look around,
where you will, and you see beautiful fertile plains teeming
with corn and game.’ ‘Prince,’ replied D’Eon, ‘I see a crow
yonder on the plain, and I regret that I have not my gun with
me. I would shoot it off-hand, because, having wings, it
remains in a country of slavery, instead of making use of them
and flying away into Poland, a land of liberty!’[52]
D’Eon applied for permission to resign on the score of ill-health, and
to be allowed to join his regiment, but his departure was necessarily
postponed until a suitable successor could be found. For his own part
de Choiseul became convinced that de l’Hôpital was no longer fitted for
the post of ambassador at St. Petersburg, an opinion shared by the King
for quite different reasons, which need not be entered into here. De
l’Hôpital, however, was an old and faithful servant to the Crown and
deserving of every consideration, so that it was felt to be impossible
to recall him abruptly, and such a step was likely to give offence to
the Empress, who had taken a fancy to him, and received him at her
Court with favour and distinction. As a solution of the difficulty, de
Choiseul conceived the idea of appointing a colleague to the marquis with
subordinate rank, who should eventually succeed him on his resignation,
which, considering his age and increasing infirmities, could not long be
delayed. This colleague should be a personal friend of his own, to whom
he might confide and entrust his policy and intentions, and he nominated
the Baron de Breteuil, a young man of twenty-seven, of distinguished
appearance and refined manners. The Count de Broglio, however, also had
his candidate, M. Durand, a gentleman attached to the Embassy at Warsaw,
the King’s secret agent in that capital, initiated in the system, well
conversant in Russian affairs, and therefore eminently qualified to
serve the King’s private interests at the Court of Russia in the room of
D’Eon. This nomination the duke resolutely refused to entertain. He had
undeniably good cause to suspect the existence of some occult influence
to his disadvantage, having already found himself thwarted in his plans,
in various quarters, without being able to trace the obstruction to its
source, and had determined upon carrying his point, which he completely
succeeded in doing, by prevailing upon the King to sign the Baron de
Breteuil’s credentials as minister plenipotentiary. No sooner had the
minister’s choice become an irrevocable fact, than the Count de Broglio
and Tercier urged upon the King the expediency of admitting the baron
to the secret correspondence, and informing him that he should best be
pleasing his master by not carrying out the orders of the minister. The
King had great objection to the admission of new disciples, but there
appeared to be no alternative, and after a little hesitation his Majesty
yielded to the recommendations of his advisers.[53]
[Sidenote: THE BARON DE BRETEUIL.]
_Louis XV. to the Baron de Breteuil._
‘February 26, 1760.
‘Monsieur le Baron de Breteuil,—In consideration of the
favourable reports I have received with reference to yourself,
I have decided upon nominating you my minister plenipotentiary
in Russia, and admitting you to a secret correspondence with
me, which I have never wished to conduct through my Minister
for Foreign Affairs. The Count de Broglio, who will deliver
to you this letter, and M. Tercier, are alone concerned
in the management, and you will accept whatever they may
say to you as coming from me. You will deliver to them the
instructions you have already received, and which you will
yet receive from the Duke de Choiseul before your departure,
and you will communicate to them any verbal instructions you
may have received from him, upon the subject of your mission,
so that being acquainted thereupon, they may prepare special
and secret instructions, from their knowledge of my wishes,
on the affairs of Russia and Poland. Those instructions will
be supplied to you with all despatch, so soon as I shall have
approved them.
‘In the meantime, I order you to postpone your departure until
you receive them, under any pretext convenient to yourself,
and I charge you, at your peril, to keep this secret from
everybody, no matter who, with the exception of the Count de
Broglio and M. Tercier, and I rely upon your fidelity and your
obedience.[54]
LOUIS.’
* * * * *
_Louis XV. to M. D’Eon._
‘Sieur D’Eon,—Reasons of a private nature, in addition to my
confidence in the abilities of the Baron de Breteuil and in
his zeal for my service, have induced me to make known to him
the direct correspondence I hold with Russia, unknown to my
Minister for Foreign Affairs, and to my ambassador. He is also
informed of your having been admitted to this secret, for the
purpose of facilitating the correspondence, as well as for
communicating to me, directly, such particulars as you may
consider it necessary to lay before me. The exactitude with
which you have acquitted yourself of this duty, so far as your
position and the distances that divide places have enabled
you, satisfies me that you will afford me fresh proofs of your
zeal during the stay of the Baron de Breteuil at the Court of
Petersburg. I have given him to understand it is my intention
that you should serve under his orders as secretary, for the
sole purpose of carrying on the secret correspondence. You will
receive a salary of three thousand livres from the Minister
for Foreign Affairs, to which I will add two hundred ducats
annually, as a mark of my satisfaction at the manner in which
you have served me, and because I rely upon your continuing
to do so. You will communicate to the Baron de Breteuil, with
the greatest exactitude of which you are capable, laying aside
partiality and prejudice, all the ideas you have formed on
the character of the Empress of Russia, of her ministers,
and of those who are employed in public affairs. You will
also communicate your views on the conduct pursued from the
commencement of the war to the present time, and what you
believe might have been done to ensure success to the common
cause, and what it is that has retarded it. You will write
out the whole of this in a memorandum which you will give
him, sending to me a copy, in cypher, by the earliest safe
opportunity; in fact, you will communicate to him everything
that you may consider of benefit to my service, whether as
regards the past or the future. You will, however, await the
information he will give you upon the subject of his secret
instructions, that you may supply yourself with a copy, and
take into consideration the best means to be adopted for their
being carried out successfully. They will serve as your guide
in all you will say, whether as regards what has been done or
what is to be done.
‘This, my mark of confidence in the Baron de Breteuil, is a
proof of how fully I am persuaded that he will execute my
orders with zeal and ability. Notwithstanding the sincerity of
his intentions, which I do not doubt, it is just possible that
he may err as to the means to be adopted for giving effect to
my secret instructions; you will in such a case expose to him,
deferentially, your views.[55]
‘In the King’s hand. Approved 7th March, 1760.’
[Sidenote: FAILING HEALTH.]
On August 23, 1760, de l’Hôpital informed the Minister for Foreign
Affairs that M. Poissonnier,[56] the Empress’s private physician,
had recommended D’Eon’s instant departure from Russia, his ailments
threatening serious consequences.
‘I have already had the honour of acquainting you with M.
D’Eon’s services and abilities. I entreat that you will be good
enough to recommend him to the favourable notice of the King,
and ask his Majesty to reward his services and zeal by granting
him a pension equal to the whole or part of the annual salary
he has enjoyed since he has been with me.’
In a private communication to the same minister, de l’Hôpital reminded
the duke that D’Eon’s services in foreign affairs were well known; he
had not a little contributed to a renewal of the alliance with Russia,
and had exerted himself with zeal equal to his activity and intelligence.
Such men were deserving of the protection of ministers such as he was,
and of the favours he had a right to expect.... The state of poor
D’Eon’s health was unsatisfactory, and his private affairs were in a bad
condition; and yet his family had long and usefully served the King and
State.[57]
‘I cannot write in too high terms of his merits, his industry,
and integrity,’ said de l’Hôpital in a letter to the Minister
for War; ‘he seems bent on following a military career....
He is anxious to serve in a regiment of foot by purchase of
a captain’s commission.... You must remember that in 1757 he
brought to you a treaty and the news of the battle of Prague,
with a broken leg, and diligence that astonished you.... I
will answer for it that M. D’Eon will never disgrace his
supporters....’
The old marquis followed up these strong recommendations of his young
friend with a graceful tribute to his mother at Tonnerre.
‘Madame,—I send back to you a son worthy of all your
tenderness; I feel that I should give him back to you, so that
we may preserve him for the King’s service, for yourself, and
for me.... I could not part with your son without giving you a
proof of my sincere friendship and esteem for him....’
* * * * *
_The Baron de Breteuil to the Duke de Choiseul._
‘St. Petersburg, August 2, 1760.
‘... This secretary was sent here secretly by M. Rouillé
together with the Chevalier Douglas, at the commencement of
the negotiations with this Court. M. de l’Hôpital is greatly
concerned. I have known him only since my arrival here, but
he appears to me to be steady, clever, and talented, and one
who has applied himself with advantage to political affairs,
and to special acquaintance with this country.... He has gained
the esteem and friendship of a great many persons at this
Court.’[58]
[Sidenote: FINAL DEPARTURE FROM RUSSIA.]
Previous to quitting the capital, D’Eon went to Peterhof to take leave of
the Empress, who required he should promise to return to Russia so soon
as he had recovered his health. In parting from Woronzoff, the colleague
with whose aid he had accomplished so much, the Grand Chancellor said:—
‘I am sorry you are going away, even though your first trip
here, with Douglas, cost my Sovereign more than two hundred
thousand men and fifteen million roubles.’ ‘I agree,’
replied D’Eon, ‘but your Excellency should at the same time
admit, that your Sovereign and your Excellency yourself have
thereby acquired fame and glory that will last as long as the
world.’[59]
D’Eon carried away with him a souvenir from the Empress, consisting of a
snuff-box with her cipher in diamonds.
Sick and faint, D’Eon left St. Petersburg for the third and last time in
August 1760, taking with him the ratifications to the Treaty of December
30, 1758, and the ratifications to the Maritime Convention concluded
between Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. Travelling through Finland, Livonia,
Courland, Poland, and Hungary, as fast as horses could carry him, he
reached Vienna completely exhausted and scarcely able to move. His
friend, the Count de Choiseul,[60] received him in comfortable quarters
and supplied all his wants; but he was restless and impatient to complete
his journey, which he did in equally imprudent haste. Sickening of
small-pox at Paris, a long illness and convalescence entirely unfitted
him during several months for any kind of employment.
Upon his recovery, D’Eon was received by the King, who was pleased to
confer upon him a life pension of two thousand livres, under warrant
dated December 24, 1760, ‘in acknowledgment of his zeal and ability
as secretary of Embassy in Russia, a post he has held for several
years,’[61] and by the following February he was well enough to be able
to realise his dearest and long-deferred wish, that of active service on
the field. He requested the Minister for War to transfer him from his
own regiment, the dragoons of the Colonel-General, doing duty on the
coasts of France, to the regiment of dragoons of the Marquis d’Autichamp,
in the army on the Upper Rhine, and applied for permission to serve as
aide-de-camp to the Marshal and the Count de Broglio, with both of which
solicitations the Minister readily complied, the King specially approving
of D’Eon’s being on the staff of those officers, remarking that they
should know where to find him if he were wanted.[62] This appointment
was a great compliment, for the marshal was intractable in the selection
of officers to serve on his staff, and most punctilious in surrounding
himself with scions of the noblest families.[63]
[Sidenote: DISTINGUISHED MILITARY SERVICES.]
We first hear of D’Eon after joining the army as having been present at
the battle of Villinghausen,[64] then with the French force that crossed
the Weser on August 19. He was under orders that day to remove the powder
waggons to a place of safety on the opposite side of the river, and this
under the heavy fire of the enemy—‘a perilous operation,’ as allowed
by the Duke de Broglie; and being across he was to find the Count de
Guerchy, and deliver to that officer a written order from the marshal.
‘The Marshal requests the Count de Guerchy to cause the
immediate distribution by the storekeeper, amongst the brigades
of infantry on the right bank of the Weser, of four hundred
thousand cartridges, deposited in a place that M. D’Eon, the
bearer of this note, will point out.
‘Done at Höxter, August 19, 1761.
‘THE COUNT DE BROGLIO.’
‘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.’[65]
Had de Guerchy promptly carried out the marshal’s instructions the
ammunition would have been instantly removed, the enemy’s fire would have
ceased, and the lives of one officer and several grenadiers, occupying
a redoubt which covered the two bridges of boats on the Weser, to the
right and left of Höxter, would have been spared. But upon reading the
note the general preferred to gallop out of the way, shouting, as he
went: ‘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.’ D’Eon
gave spur after him, saying, that since he did not wish to, or was
unable to execute the marshal’s order, he might return it, and he should
do his best to execute it or cause it to be executed. ‘Take the order,
sir,’ said de Guerchy, returning the note, ‘and carry it out according to
your own judgment.’ The enemy’s fire being largely directed to where the
powder waggons had been removed, and there being no time to lose, D’Eon
took it upon himself to distribute the cartridges, with the assistance of
several officers of artillery who had volunteered their services.[66]
D’Eon was next engaged in a reconnaissance and action at Ultrop, where
he was wounded in the head and thigh; and later (November 7), when at
the head of the grenadiers of Champagne and of a body of Swiss, he
dislodged the Scottish highlanders in the gorge of the mountain at
Einbeck, near Meintos, and pursued them to the English camp; a service
he performed with the greatest difficulty, owing to the tenacity of the
enemy in keeping up a rapid fire. In the latter engagement he carried the
following despatch:—
_The Count de Broglio to the Marshal de Broglio._
‘On nearing the village of Eime, I found the Marquis de
Lostanges watching the advanced posts of the enemy, which he
took to be their rear-guard, with the cavalry, carabineers, and
other troops he had with him during the night. I united him
with M. Despies and the six battalions of grenadiers. We agreed
upon the plan for attacking this pretended rear-guard, and
drove it back beyond the village of Meintos. M. de Lostanges,
who commanded the right column, was the first to perceive the
enemy’s camp in two lines, masking the two roads to Vikensen
and Kapelagen on a level with Furvol; this retarded our
projects. It being already late and the days now short we
purpose retreating. I send M. D’Eon to withdraw the Swiss and
grenadiers of Champagne, who are holding in check the Scottish
highlanders lining the wood on the crest of the mountain,
whence they have caused us much annoyance. I say no more,
because M. D’Eon, who will afterwards give you this note, will
himself relate the incidents of this attack. I send him off at
once that he may have time to look for you and find you before
night.
‘THE COUNT DE BROGLIO.’
‘Written on the field of battle near the village of Meintos, in
the gorge of the mountains of the camp of Einbeck, November 7,
1761.’
At Osterwiek, some six to seven hundred Frankish Prussians having
intercepted communication with Wolfenbüttel, which was being besieged by
Marshal Xavier de Saxe, M. de Saint-Victor was ordered to dislodge them
from their position with a few volunteers, twenty hussars, and eighty
dragoons of the regiment of d’Autichamp and of de la Ferronaye, in charge
of D’Eon. The little detachment of horse was bravely led, and the exploit
proved a brilliant one, for the enemy’s battalion was completely routed
and every man made a prisoner.
The dispute between the Marshals de Soubise and de Broglio as to who
was in the right and who in the wrong at the battle of Villinghausen,
had never come to an end; for de Broglio, as became the first soldier
of France, refused to be put on a par with the hero of Rosbach. The
campaign of 1761 being virtually over, de Broglio felt it was quite time
the matter were resolved; and having obtained permission to return to
Versailles, hoping to justify his conduct in person, he delivered to
the Duke de Choiseul, now Minister for War, for delivery to the King,
a lengthy statement particularising the events of July 15 and 16; but
the Marquise de Pompadour had taken care that her favourite should not
be the sufferer, and nothing the marshal could have urged was likely to
serve his cause, or alter de Pompadour’s determination to punish him.
His Majesty disapproved of the marshal’s ‘Mémoire’ as being contrary
to the interests of his service and a bad example in his kingdom, and
ordered him to retire to his country seat, there to remain until further
notice.[67]
On leaving Cassel for Versailles, the Marshal and Count de Broglio were
accompanied by their aide-de-camp D’Eon, who separated himself from
the army never to return to it, through no fault, however, or wish of
his own. Short as was his military career, it was at least brilliant,
the qualities he displayed of a brave soldier meeting with the high
commendation of his superiors, to whom he had become so closely attached
by the nature of his duties.
‘We certify that M. D’Eon de Beaumont, captain of the regiment
of dragoons of d’Autichamp, formerly Caraman, has served under
our orders as our aide-de-camp; that during the whole of the
campaign of 1761 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 the 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 thigh; and near Osterwiek[68] where, as second
captain of a troop 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, countersigned by our
secretary, and have affixed thereunto our seals.
‘Done at Cassel, December 24, 1761.
‘L.S. The Marshal Duke de Broglio.
‘L.S. The Count de Broglio.
‘By Order, DROUET.’
It was the fate of the Count de Broglio, for no ostensible reason, to
share the exile of his brother, but with that spirit of contradiction
and fickleness inherent in Louis XV., he was retained on the staff of
the secret correspondence and ordered to continue his customary duties,
the King telling Tercier he was _forced_ to act as he did. The truth is
that the King could scarcely do without him, and had felt the force of
the remonstrance the count had the courage to offer when on the point of
leaving Paris for the family estate. ‘Your Majesty may recollect that for
several years past I have foreseen the storm which to-day bursts over me.
The very marks of your Majesty’s favour have gathered it about me,’—words
that were but the echo of others the count had addressed to the King
years before, when similarly misunderstood and suspected by his Majesty’s
ministers.
‘... I only know how to obey, and I should never have been
placed in the position of upholding, even in the smallest
degree, the reputation I have gained for obstinacy and hardness
of heart, were I not obliged to execute secret instructions
that are frequently in opposition to direct orders, with which
it is difficult to reconcile them....’[69]
We are purposely dwelling on these murmurings of the Count de Broglio
that we may be the better able to show hereafter that he was not the only
victim, amongst the confidential correspondents and agents, to the King’s
caprice and selfish indifference.
[Sidenote: ACCESSION OF CATHERINE II.]
The new year opened with an event—perhaps upon the whole unfortunate for
France—the not altogether unexpected death of Elizabeth (January 5); and
the accession of Peter III. was the signal for a cessation of hostilities
and a complete change of front on the part of Russia. The new Tsar
agreed with Frederick to a truce, which developed into an alliance, and
afforded him the opportunity for gratifying his tastes for all that was
German, and further alienating the respect and sympathy of his people. In
her struggle against her husband, for liberty and even life, Catherine
turned to France for succour—a circumstance that called for decision and
steadfastness of purpose on the part of the French representative at her
Court; but the Baron de Breteuil proved himself unequal to the occasion
by his pusillanimity and hesitation,[70] and Catherine effected her will
independently of French support. The disease was quickly acknowledged and
the remedy as quickly found. De Breteuil was to be replaced by D’Eon upon
the recommendations of the Duke de Choiseul and of the Count de Broglio,
although on different grounds; the King readily approving, because in him
would be combined with the minister plenipotentiary what was of greatest
importance to his Majesty—a well-tried secret correspondent.[71] Other
events, however, bid fair to change these plans. The Emperor was disposed
of, and Catherine, in grasping the sceptre, said: ‘If I go to war it
will be to suit my own convenience, and not to please others, as was the
case with the Empress Elizabeth.’ From various causes Louis XV. refused
to continue with Catherine the secret correspondence he had entertained
with her predecessor, and D’Eon’s services were consequently no longer
required at the Russian capital. De Breteuil was suffered to remain at
his post until, too glad to escape the ever-increasing difficulties of
his position, he was removed, at his own request, to Stockholm.