Portrait of Catherine II.—Her opinion of D’Eon and
its fidelity—Portrait of Lord Sandwich—Of the Duke de
Nivernois—D’Eon, secretary of Embassy in London—Two ‘smart
pieces of work’—Kindness to French prisoners—Treaty of
Peace with England—D’Eon takes the ratifications to
Versailles—Delight of King and Ministers—The Marquise de
Pompadour—The Count de Guerchy nominated ambassador at St.
James’—The Duke de Praslin’s estimate of his qualities—The Duke
tests D’Eon’s loyalty towards himself—The Prince de Soubise at
Villinghausen—D’Eon’s respect for the Broglios—Is invested with
the Cross of Saint Louis.
Among D’Eon’s acquirements was accuracy in the delineation of portrait
character, amusement in which he freely indulged. Describing Catherine
II. during the last days of Peter’s short reign, he says:—
‘The Empress is of prepossessing appearance; she is generally
of an amiable disposition, although very cunning, intriguing,
and vindictive. Her greatest ambition is to control affairs of
importance; she is competent for administration. Her sympathies
are entirely English, although she speaks French with great
facility of expression. She is very fond of reading, and most
of her time, since her marriage, has been spent in devouring
the works of such modern French and English authors as treat
most vigorously and most liberally on morality, nature, and
religion. A work condemned in France is sure to meet with her
entire approval. She is never without the works of Voltaire,
‘De l’Esprit’ of Helvetius, encyclopædias, and the writings of
Jean Jacques Rousseau. She prides herself on her courage, on
being strong-minded and a philosopher; in a word, she is by
nature a little _savante_. She suggests to her husband changes
that may result in the fall of this Emperor of apes, in the
hope of reigning in his stead as regent.’[72]
Notwithstanding the sagacity and exactitude, to use the Duke de Broglie’s
own words, with which this portrait is drawn, testifying to a certain
amount of personal knowledge of the subject, the duke, in support of his
theory that D’Eon could not at any time have been reader (_lectrice_)[73]
to Elizabeth, reproduces a letter of questionable accuracy from Catherine
II. to Grimm, to show how complete a cipher he must have been at the
Russian Court. It is dated April 13, 1778.
‘The Empress Elizabeth never had a reader’ (_lectrice_) wrote
her Majesty, ‘and M. or Mademoiselle D’Eon was not better
known to her than to me, who have only known him as a sort of
political drudge (_galopin politique_) in the service of the
Marquis de l’Hôpital and of the Baron de Breteuil.’[74]
[Sidenote: CATHERINE’S DEPRECIATION OF D’EON.]
We need not stop to inquire why the Empress Catherine, attached as she
was, when grand-duchess, to the party against which all D’Eon’s assaults,
by command of his sovereign, were directed; and who sat up for nights,
translating into French from the Russian, for the edification of Sir
Hanbury Williams, all such decisions of the Council as were favourable to
France, should have thus expressed herself with regard to the secretary
of a brilliant French Embassy; and this in his adversity, twenty-two
years after his certain appearance at the Court of Russia for the first
time. Apart from D’Eon’s own observation that he dined occasionally
at the table of the grand-duke, there exists a letter which tends to
controvert the assertion of her Majesty.
_The Marquis de l’Hôpital to M. D’Eon._
‘Plombières, August 13, 1762.
‘... And so the bully[75] has ceased to exist! What a page he
will fill in history! Now let us see to the new Catherine.
She has all the courage and the qualities requisite for
making a great Empress, and I have agreeable recollections of
having heard you frequently say so; her firmness, on certain
occasions, has always been to your taste. It should also be
admitted that you discovered the hidden virtues of the Princess
Dashkoff; it is true that you have known her and cultivated
her friendship since her earliest youth, and that you and the
Chevalier Douglas encouraged her romantic temperament.’[76]
We have here, at any rate, the testimony of the French ambassador to
D’Eon’s personal knowledge of the Empress Catherine, and of his intimacy
with the Princess Dashkoff,[77] of whom we will have something to say
hereafter.
In taking leave of Russia and its concerns, as we must now do, we are
brought to the close of the Seven Years’ War, and our attention turns
for a time to the relations of France with Great Britain during the
administration of Lord Bute.
[Sidenote: THE EARL OF SANDWICH.]
The preliminaries of the notable peace of 1763, between France and
England, were signed at Fontainebleau on November 3, 1762, the ambassador
selected to conduct the negotiations in England being the Duke de
Nivernois, once ambassador at Rome, and sent to Berlin in trying
circumstances (1756) to endeavour to treat with Frederick. Gaillardet and
the Duke de Broglie fall into the same singular error in attributing to
this nobleman a portrait by D’Eon, the latter adding disdainfully—‘the
portrait was in all probability one that pleased D’Eon, for in his
official correspondence the same is applied, word for word, to Lord
Sandwich.’ That it was intended for the libertine English peer, of whom
it was said
Search earth, search hell, the devil cannot find
An agent, like Lothario, to his mind,
is clear enough, although even upon its first appearance the Duke de
Praslin thought fit to apply the sketch to himself, and showed his
resentment towards the author of it in a very tangible manner.
‘Sincerity and cheerfulness are the chief characteristics of
this minister, who in every office and embassage enjoyed by
him has always appeared, like Anacreon, crowned with roses and
singing of joys in the midst of the most arduous labours. He
is by nature inclined to idleness; nevertheless, he toils as
if unable to live at rest, and abandons himself to this easy
and idle life so soon as he feels he is free. His natural
capacities and his happy state of cheerfulness, his sagacity
and his activity in affairs of importance, never give him cause
for uneasiness, nor do they produce _wrinkles on his forehead_;
and although it is necessary to have lived a long time with
a minister to be able to describe his character, to say what
degree of courage or weakness he possesses, how far he is
prudent or cunning, I am able to say, from the present moment,
that —— is shrewd and discerning without being deceitful
or crafty. He is but little susceptible to hatred and to
friendship, although on several occasions he has appeared to be
completely under the influence of the one or the other; for, on
the one hand, he is separated from his wife, he hates her and
does her no harm; on the other, he has a mistress, he cherishes
her and does her no great good. Upon the whole, he is certainly
one of the merriest and most agreeable ministers in Europe.’[78]
Repudiating the charge of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, D’Eon says:—
‘Unable to apply to himself all the good in this portrait, the
Duke de Praslin has applied to himself all the evil as suiting
him best; such, for instance, as the wrinkles or horns on his
forehead, weakness and knavery, the little loved wife, the much
loved mistress, neither of which is the better nor the worse
in consequence. M. D’Eon will learn by this how circumspect
one should be. He will take it as a rule that every time the
portrait of a ridiculous man at a foreign court is depicted,
there will always be somebody at Versailles to resemble
him.’[79]
D’Eon has not left us without a rough outline of the Duke de Nivernois,
to whom he was devotedly attached.
‘... His only fault is the coquetry to please everybody;
coquetry which often secures to us more enemies than true
friends, but which, notwithstanding, has never chilled the
sentiments of admiration and gratitude that I have vowed to
him.... Is any greater proof needed of the coquetry and desire
to please everybody than this _exemplum_?
‘In Paris the duke houses and boards a Jesuit, who dines
regularly every day at his table; and yet he is a friend of
thirty years’ standing of the destructor of the Order of
Jesuits.[80] Whilst in London he absolutely wished to be a
friend at Court and in favour in the city; a friend of the
party in the majority, and of the party in the minority;
he also sought, comically enough, to reconcile the Duke of
Newcastle and Lord Bute, Mr. Pitt and the Duke of Bedford. He
was enamoured of thirty thousand maidens, and pretended to be
dying of love whenever he met the charming Duchess of Grafton,
and this because the duke, her husband, was one of the leaders
of the Opposition.’[81]
D’Eon would have preferred a soldier’s career had he been free to choose.
Ministers combined to dissuade him, the Duke de Praslin bidding him
‘hang up his sword,’ there being nothing for him to do in the army, and
the Duke de Nivernois invited him to become his secretary of Embassy
in London. D’Eon felt that four years’ service as secretary in Russia,
‘under critical and most important circumstances,’ to use de Nivernois’
own words, entitled him rather to advancement, and in accepting the
post in London purely from personal regard for the duke, he took the
liberty of making it a condition that he should return to France with the
ambassador at the termination of his mission.
[Sidenote: ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND.]
Accompanied by this secretary the duke crossed the Channel in September.
When his lean figure appeared at the place of embarkation at Calais, an
English sailor said to his mate, ‘I say, d’ye see how thin that duke
is? I remember him as a fine fat fellow. This is how we’ve skinned the
French swells in the war.’ And so greatly struck by his appearance was an
English gentleman (Mr. C. Townsend, one of the _Flag_ party) on seeing
him for the first time that he exclaimed: ‘What! the French have sent
over the preliminaries of a man to sign the preliminaries of peace!’
In the course of the transactions on the Treaty of Peace, D’Eon executed
a somewhat adroit, though entirely indefensible act, which caused no
little mirth and secret joy at Versailles. The negotiations so happily
commenced met with an obstacle, and being checked in their progress a
sort of crisis supervened, when Mr. Wood, Under Secretary of State,
called on the Duke de Nivernois to confer on certain contested points,
and having his portfolio with him was indiscreet enough to say that it
contained the final instructions and ultimatum which Lord Egremont had
directed him to transmit to the Duke of Bedford, the King’s ambassador at
the Court of Versailles. Upon hearing this the duke looked at D’Eon, and
then cast his eye on the portfolio. D’Eon quickly caught at the sense of
this pantomime. It would be a matter of great importance to the French
Court to know the nature of the instructions and the terms of this ‘fatal
ultimatum.’ He made a sign to the duke, who at once invited Mr. Wood to
stay to dinner and talk over matters. He wished him, he said, to taste
some samples of good wine from Tonnerre.... The bait took, and whilst
the duke and Mr. Wood were enjoying their bumpers, D’Eon extracted from
the portfolio Lord Egremont’s despatches, caused exact copies to be
taken, and forwarded them instantly to Versailles, the French courier
arriving twenty-four hours earlier than Mr. Wood’s. When the Duke of
Bedford called to broach the subject, de Choiseul and de Praslin, already
apprised of the difficulties about to be raised, and of the British
ambassador’s final instructions, were readily enabled to come to terms.
This was a smart piece of work in de Nivernois’ opinion,[82] and de
Praslin declared there was nobody like D’Eon, and that he was quite
deserving of all the King’s favours.
[Sidenote: A HARD-WORKING SECRETARY.]
D’Eon was instrumental in smoothing away another difficulty. The Duke de
Nivernois had altered several articles in the ultimatum of the treaty, an
act which gave umbrage to the English ministers, and Count Viri apprised
him that if he did not withdraw the alterations he might as well leave
the country; to which the duke replied that neither his honour nor
dignity would allow of his withdrawing an ultimatum given in the name of
the King. Matters were looking serious, when D’Eon proposed that the duke
should tell Lords Bute and Egremont of his secretary’s excess of zeal in
making alterations unknown to himself. ‘Every tongue will rail, every
mouth open upon me,’ continued D’Eon. ‘With all my heart; and if you
choose you may also say that you will send me back to France.’ The duke
caught at the idea, and had the generosity to explain to de Praslin and
to the King his indebtedness to D’Eon.[83]
The conduct of the secretary of Embassy during progress of the
negotiations was all that his superiors could desire, and he earned the
gratitude of many a French prisoner by his exertions in administering to
their comfort. Scarcely a letter left the ambassador that was not replete
with the highest encomiums.
_The Duke de Nivernois to the Duke de Praslin._
‘D’Eon is at work as usual from morning to night. I cannot
sufficiently extol his zeal, vigilance, amiability of
disposition, and activity.... When the state of my health will
force me to quit this country, in the spring, I will, with
your permission, leave our little D’Eon until my successor
is appointed, and I promise that he will do well and be
favourably received. He is very active, very discreet, never
exhibiting curiosity or officiousness; never giving cause for
mistrust or acting defiantly, _quod est inveniendum_, because
here the majority of men are like the most unmanageable of
horses....’[84]
On February 10, 1763, Mr. Richard Neville Neville left Paris for
London with the Treaty of Peace signed that same evening by the
plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, France, and Spain;[85] a treaty that
compelled France to part with all the territory she had acquired in
Germany, England retaining the whole of Canada, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton,
the Gulf and River of St. Lawrence, Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica,
Tobago, Senegal, some territory to the east of the Mississippi, and
Minorca. Spain received Louisiana from France in exchange for Florida,
given up to England, France being permitted to retain Belle-Isle,
Martinique, and Guadaloupe—also Chandernagor and Pondicherry, on
condition that they should not be fortified, and further engaging to
demolish the defences at Dunkirk.
‘Such were the results,’ says an eminent French writer of our
times, ‘of the Seven Years’ War. Fortunate for England and
Prussia, of little cost to Austria, to whom an irreparable loss
was simply made too evident; of no moment to Russia, who had
availed herself of it for training her army, but most fatal
to France, which had entrusted her colonies, her navy, her
finances, and her military honour, to her debased nobles....
The minister himself who signed the Treaty of Paris will in
time be considered too intelligent and too proud to be the
servant of Louis XV. when France, falling a step lower, will
have passed out of the hands of Madame de Pompadour into the
still viler hands of Madame Dubarry.’
[Sidenote: TAKES TREATY OF PEACE TO FRANCE.]
It was an unprecedented mark of favour on the part of George III. to
confide to D’Eon the ratifications to the Treaty for conveyance to his
Majesty’s ambassador at Versailles.[86] In announcing to de Praslin the
approaching departure of his secretary on the proud mission, de Nivernois
claimed for him, in accordance with usage, a gratuity of equal value—one
thousand crowns—to that about to be received from his own Government by
Mr. Neville for having brought the Treaty to London. De Praslin insisted
that no English minister would ever think of entrusting such precious
documents to a foreigner; it would be contrary to rule and custom, and it
would therefore be idle to expect that D’Eon should be selected for the
duty. It was the duke’s anxiety, he said, to serve his secretary, that
had blinded him to facts and precedent. D’Eon was still young enough to
be of good service, and he should take care to afford him the opportunity
for earning distinction. When, later, the Foreign Minister had to
acknowledge his mistake, he considered the choice of D’Eon to be a very
straightforward proceeding on the part of the King of England and of his
ministers, who were giving proofs of the nobility of their sentiments,
and inspiring the desire and hope for the establishment and maintenance
of good relations and lasting concord between the two Courts. ‘I am very
glad you were stupid enough[87] to believe it impossible that the French
secretary—my little D’Eon—should be the bearer of the King of England’s
ratifications,’ wrote De Nivernois in reply.[88]
_The Duke de Nivernois to Louis XV._
‘London, February 17, 1763.
‘Sire,—M. D’Eon, Captain in the d’Autichamp regiment of
dragoons, and my Secretary of Embassy, takes to the Duke of
Bedford the ratifications to the Treaty of Peace; it is a
compliment on the part of the King of England. This prince
avails himself with pleasure of a Frenchman for so honourable
and important a mission, and I consider such a step, which is
out of the usual course, as striking evidence of his desire for
unity and cordial relations. I cannot refrain, Sire, upon this
occasion, from bearing witness to the zeal and abilities of M.
D’Eon, and I must truthfully assure your Majesty that he is in
every way most worthy of your Majesty’s protection and favour
as a diplomatist and soldier.’
D’Eon attributed his good luck to the kindness of the King of England,
of Lord Bute, Count Viri, the Duke de Nivernois, and to his own
_savoir-faire_. ‘He brings me luck,’ said Louis XV., who received him
warmly, and shortly afterwards conferred upon him the Cross of the Royal
and Military Order of Saint Louis, a gratuity of six thousand livres, and
raised his salary to the maximum of one thousand crowns. De Praslin was
delighted, said D’Eon was a good-looking fellow, a hard worker who had
performed his mission with great diligence, and awarded him a gratuity
of two thousand crowns. Even the Marquise de Pompadour expressed her
satisfaction, in a letter to de Nivernois, at seeing one who it was said
was an excellent person, and had served his King in several countries,
employed to bring the Treaty to France. She considered it a great act of
politeness on the part of the English to entrust him with the Treaty.
She liked the King of England, who was full of candour and humanity, and
possessed every virtue that constituted a good king.[89]
[Sidenote: THE COUNT DE GUERCHY.]
It had been arranged from the beginning that the Duke de Nivernois’
embassage should end with the completion of the negotiations, the
minister nominated to succeed him being the Count de Guerchy, with whom
we are already acquainted. ‘I must do him the justice to say,’ wrote
the British ambassador in Paris, ‘that de Guerchy has a universal good
character as a soldier and a man of honour.’[90] But the Duke of Bedford
was greatly led into error in this estimate of the character of a
nobleman who was selected regardless of any qualification but that of
rank, his strongest recommendation being his marriage with a lady of the
House of Harcourt, and his only claims to the highest ambassadorial post
in the gift of the King being the favour of the Marquise de Pompadour
and a short period of obscure service in the war. He is described by
Gaillardet as one of those gentlemen who live nobly in noble idleness,
who are charitable until their own purse is touched, ostentatious until
called upon to spend, ambitious of high office for the sake of the title,
and of the title for the sake of the emolument; esteeming a good estate
preferable to a good education; and persuaded that one always knows
enough when of good birth, in good health, and possessing a good income.
De Praslin’s own opinion of the man he was about to employ as ambassador
in London is best gathered from what he says of him to de Nivernois:—
‘I am still very much concerned about de Guerchy. I am not
sure, however, that we are doing him good service by appointing
him ambassador in London. He is not liked in this country. I
dread his despatches like fire, and you know how defective
despatches disparage a man and his office. A minister is often
judged less by the manner in which he conducts business than
by the account he gives of it. I believe that our dear friend
will do well. I do not think I have anybody better fitted. But
he cannot write at all; we must not deceive ourselves on this
point.’[91]
De Nivernois was out of health when he accepted the mission to England
at the urgent instance of the King and of his old friend the Count de
Choiseul, shortly afterwards created Duke de Praslin, and he never ceased
to complain of his physical sufferings from the day he began to live
in a climate that did not suit him. He had always hoped to leave ‘his
little D’Eon’ in charge until de Guerchy’s nomination was officially
notified. He trembled for that poor novice in politics when he thought
of the difficulties he should experience in a country where people were
far from being like ordinary men; for this envoy of an absolute monarch,
puzzled and perplexed in all probability at the large distribution of
political power in England, and the number of those who shared in the
responsibilities of government, gave it as his opinion that to conduct
negotiations in the country to which he had been accredited was nothing
short of hard labour!
We cannot resist quoting here, in their place, a few lines from a letter
of de Praslin to his friend in London, which serve to expose, with what
has already been said, the worth and honesty of purpose of the men who
were directing the affairs of France.
‘You make me ill, my dear friend, in continually telling me
that you are so.... it is true that we are both engaged in a
calling that does not suit us; you will soon be out of it,
and I assure you that I should be pleased had I a similar
prospect.’[92]
[Sidenote: THE DUKE DE PRASLIN’S SUSPICIONS.]
The opportunity for leaving D’Eon in charge on the departure of the
ambassador seeming to be lost, de Nivernois recommended him for
appointment as Resident, an arrangement desirable in the interests of the
King’s service, and one which would enable de Guerchy to receive such
valuable assistance as no other person but the secretary of Embassy was
qualified to render, for he was fully competent to continue the work he,
the ambassador, had commenced. D’Eon’s presence was preferable to that of
a stranger. Lord Bute had taken a fancy to him, which was saying a great
deal, and was a piece of luck that might not fall to a new-comer. On the
other hand, D’Eon was being informed by M. Sainte Foy, senior clerk at
the Foreign Office, that it was earnestly desired he should remain with
de Guerchy, and yet de Praslin was slow in paying the smallest attention
to de Nivernois’ frequent recommendations in his favour. De Praslin had
his reasons; he doubted D’Eon’s loyalty towards himself, and suspected
him of being in correspondence with the exiled de Broglios. He should
put him to the test, and how this was accomplished shall be related in
D’Eon’s own words:—
‘One evening about midnight, towards the end of March, the
Duke de Praslin put me through a kind of interrogatory. Sainte
Foy was a witness. The duke said: “You were at the battle of
Villinghausen, M. D’Eon; tell me all you saw and all you know
with regard to that action.” I did so conscientiously, relating
to him all I saw with my own eyes. My recital not being either
to his taste or to that of the Count de Guerchy, his satellite,
who was present, he interrupted me frequently by stamping his
foot; and rising from his chair he said to me several times:
“I know it to have been the contrary to what you say, and
this from one of my intimate friends who was also there.” He
alluded to the Count de Guerchy. He then looked at Sainte
Foy. At every reply I made, the duke looked cross and gave a
sardonic smile. “But, my dear D’Eon, you surely did not witness
all you relate?” I persisted in assuring him, as I should do
to my life’s end, that I had perfectly well seen and heard
what I had told him. The duke concluded by saying: “It is your
attachment to the de Broglios that makes you speak as you do.”
“Faith, sir!” I replied; “it is my attachment to the truth. You
question me, and I can only tell you what I myself know.” After
we had left the minister, Sainte Foy scolded me in a friendly
way for my want of policy. “My dear D’Eon,” he said, “I fear
you will never make your fortune in this country. Be off to
England as quickly as you can.” “I wish for nothing better,”
was my reply.’[93]
Eighteen years after the battle of Villinghausen, D’Eon wrote:—
‘I maintain in 1779 what I asserted in 1763 at Versailles;
yes, I say and maintain, notwithstanding my regard for the
Prince de Soubise, notwithstanding my contempt for the
Marquise,[94] notwithstanding my indifference as to the good
or evil the Choiseuls may do to me, that had Soubise’s army
actually attacked the enemy on the morning of July 16, 1761,
in compliance with the Marshal de Broglio’s urgent request on
the nights of July 15 and 16 (of which the Chevalier Nort,
aide-de-camp to the Marshal, was the bearer), after the
important advantage obtained by the Marshal at Villinghausen
the evening of the 15th, it was clear to the whole of de
Broglio’s army, with the exception of the cowardly fawners to
the party at that time in power at Court; I say it was clear
that the English and Hanoverian army would have been beaten and
irremediably routed. I am far from being wanting in gratitude
to my protectors and from entertaining the slightest feeling of
hatred towards the Prince de Soubise. I respect his heart-bred
virtues as I do his distinguished birth. Had he been as great
a general as he is brave and attached to his King and country,
and generous towards his friends and enemies, he would be
worthy of being at the head of all the armies of Europe. Too
much kind-heartedness, too much faith in the ignorant and in
those intriguers who were obsequious to him, restrained him a
hundred times, as on the morning of July 16, from executing
what he had wished and what he had already ordered; that is
to say, to advance on the enemy, to attack and defeat him in
concert with the Marshal de Broglio.’[95]
A few days after his interview with de Praslin, D’Eon was asked
confidentially by the Duchess de Nivernois if he was not in
correspondence with M. de Broglio. ‘No, madam,’ said D’Eon, ‘and I am
sorry for it, as I am very fond of the Marshal de Broglio, but I do not
wish to trouble him with my letters; I am satisfied with writing to him
on each New Year’s Day.’
‘I am very glad to hear this for your sake, my dear little friend,’
continued the duchess. ‘Let me tell you in confidence that intimacy with
the House of de Broglio might be of injury to you at Court, and in the
mind of de Guerchy, your future ambassador.’
[Sidenote: THE PRINCE DE SOUBISE.]
D’Eon had not strayed from the truth, for it was the Count de Broglio,
whose name had not been mentioned in the two conversations just related,
who was his frequent correspondent, and not the marshal, with whom he
communicated but seldom, supplying him with the news of the day, but
chiefly with Court gossip. Speaking of de Soubise in a letter to the
marshal, D’Eon says:—
‘’Twere well if the prince fought the enemy single-handed,
because this athlete before girding himself for the fight was
anointed with Court oil only, and it is not adapted to ward off
the blows of an enemy. It might be said—there is a chance of
luck, because the fate of arms is uncertain. This is not true.
The fate of arms is uncertain to a great captain; but to a bad
captain it is always certain.’[96]
Referring in after years to his interview with de Praslin, on the subject
of the battle of Villinghausen, we find D’Eon saying:—
‘They tried to induce or to force me to speak ill of the
Marshal de Broglio and his campaigns. I could not have done
so even had I wished it, because I have always known the
Marshal and his brother to be solely engaged in the interests
of the King’s service, and in all such plans and operations
as should best accrue to the advantage and to the glory of
the French arms, and of those of their allies. The Marshal
practised every military virtue in his own person, and it
was an admirable thing to witness that, although beyond the
reach of all competitors, he contested with himself for glory
of which he sought to deprive his earlier actions, by the
performance of still more brilliant deeds. I have always been
devotedly attached to the late dear Count de Broglio,[97]
not so much because he liked me and because he was the secret
minister of Louis XV., but because I ever found in him the _vir
probus et propositi tenax_ of whom Horace speaks; and this,
notwithstanding his numerous enemies, or, rather, the number
of those who envied him for his merits. Ever as brave in the
Cabinet as on the field, he was at all times faithful to God,
the King, his country, his brave soldiers and his word. When,
in days gone by, we were serving together, and he called me
the _Chevalier Bayard sans peur et sans reproche_, he did so
because he did not know me as thoroughly and as well as I knew
him.’[98]
On March 30 D’Eon arrived in London, and was on the same day invested
with the Cross of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis[99] by
the Duke de Nivernois, at his own request as had been pre-arranged. He
had brought with him some costly presents from his royal master to the
Count Viri, Envoy Extraordinary from the King of Sardinia (well known in
English history as being engaged in secret negotiations with Lord Bute),
in recognition of his valuable services, being the first to mediate for
peace between Great Britain and the two illustrious Houses of Bourbon,
the King’s thanks being conveyed to the Sardinian minister in a letter
from de Praslin.[100]