Refusal of the British Government to deliver D’Eon—A force
organised to kidnap him—Mines and garrisons his house against
intrusion—De Guerchy reports to Louis XV. his failure to obtain
the secret papers—D’Eon’s letter to his mother—Publication
of official and private letters of ministers, ambassadors,
&c.—Consternation produced in consequence—Applies to enter the
service of a foreign State—Appeals to de Broglio and Tercier on
his situation—A conciliatory letter the result.
In hastening to make a formal demand for the arrest of D’Eon and seizure
of all his papers, the French ambassador was feeling satisfied that
the days of his obnoxious subordinate were numbered, but ‘one of the
qualities of a great general is the glance, in war, that reveals to him
the advantages and disadvantages of the field on which the contest is
about to take place. Had General de Guerchy known this, would he ever
have selected the ground of liberty in London and Westminster to wage
an unjust and despotic war against the Chevalier D’Eon? But this would
not be matter for surprise, when it was once known that at the battle of
Minden he gave the marvellous advice to place cavalry in the centre and
infantry on the wings. The result of the two actions could not but be
similar.’[146]
The Chevalier was perfectly safe. Lord Halifax sent the case, ‘which
was of a very extraordinary kind and without any known precedent,’ for
the consideration of the Advocate and Solicitor-General, and eventually
had to inform the French ambassador that, ‘according to the law of the
kingdom, it would be impossible to justify the seizure either of the
person or of the papers’ of the Chevalier D’Eon.[147]
Since he could not be legally apprehended, the attempt was to be made,
under de Guerchy’s authority, to kidnap the Chevalier, and for this
purpose some twenty-five to thirty French police officers and spies, in
charge of an officer, and who had already been some days in London, were
watching a favourable opportunity for seizing and putting him into a
six-oared boat in readiness at Westminster, whence he was to be conveyed
to a small vessel, manned by twenty armed men, lying at Gravesend.
The Chevalier was fully aware of the proceedings of his enemies, and took
his precautions accordingly. The security of the King’s papers being
his first care, he confided a portion of them to de la Rosière, and
actually sent him to France, there to remain, at least for a time. Then,
to ensure himself from the abduction with which he was now threatened
by an organised force, having concealed the remainder of the papers in
his apartments, he converted them into a stronghold after the following
manner:—His bedroom, sitting-room, and study on the first floor were
mined, also the staircase, which he further intrenched. He kept a lamp
burning throughout the night, and had a red-hot poker at his side during
the day. His arsenal included four brace of pistols, two guns, and eight
sabres. The garrison consisted of several dragoons of his old regiment,
for whom he had sent, and some deserters he picked up in London, all
trusty men, who occupied the basement with orders to admit the police
officers should they at any time seek to enter, and then cut off their
retreat while he defended the intrenchment. It was arranged that, in
the event of his being worsted, he should make a preconcerted signal
to intimate that they were to run for their lives, whilst he fired the
mine.[148]
[Sidenote: ‘NOT SO BLACK A DEVIL.’]
Thus prepared, D’Eon resolutely awaited eventualities. De Guerchy made
one other advance, after failure of the demand for extradition. He sent
a conciliatory letter to the Chevalier, by one of the gentlemen at the
Embassy, in which he renewed application for the surrender of the King’s
papers. The reception with which the attaché met may well be gathered by
the nature of D’Eon’s reply:—
‘London, December 1, 1763,
‘At four o’clock in the morning.
‘Sir,—M. Prémarets fled from my house in such a hurry last
night that he gave me no time, either to read the whole of your
Excellency’s letter or to speak to him. I invited him, however,
to dinner, and to drink some good wine from Tonnerre; but he
became unnecessarily alarmed, and insisted upon running away.
Although a dragoon, I am not so black a devil as people would
make me, and if your Excellency could see into my heart, you
would find a very pure and a very clear conscience.... With
regard to the King’s papers for which you ask me, it is with
an aching heart that I am obliged to tell your Excellency I
cannot have the honour of delivering them without an express
order from the King, and I beg that you will communicate this
to those at Court. If you have such an order, be good enough to
send it to me by my friend M. Monin; he has known me long, and
must be fully persuaded that I will not only obey the orders
of my master, but will die for him if needs be. I value my
life at four _sous_, and those four _sous_ I give to the poor.
Your Excellency requires no length of time to obtain an order
from the King, and if in the interim you should require any
information in the interests of the service, I will give all
it is in my power to communicate. Do not judge me hastily, and
do not condemn me as yet; the future may teach you something.
I repeat to you my entreaty to be thoroughly persuaded, that
I have never wished to fail in my respect towards the Duke
de Praslin and towards yourself; but bear in mind that I am
determined to be otherwise, if you persist in continually
seeking to force me to forget my duty, my sense of honour, of
equity, and of liberty. Recollect, that when St. Peter was
asleep on the Mount of Olives, he was thus reproached by his
Master: “_Spiritus quidem promptus est, caro vero infirma._”
I therefore beg of you, sir, to allow me to sleep in peace in
London, where I will firmly await the spies that have been sent
to watch me....’[149]
The Chevalier was thus proving himself to be more than a match for the
ambassador, who was finally obliged to confess to the King his complete
failure in every effort he had made to execute his Majesty’s commands.
_The Count de Guerchy to Louis XV._
‘London, December 6, 1763.
‘Sire,—I have been expecting to execute the orders contained
in the letter your Majesty did me the honour to address to me
from Fontainebleau on November 4, before replying to it; but
I have found it quite impracticable to do so, notwithstanding
the various means employed. Your Majesty will have been
informed, by my despatch, of the obstacles with which I meet
in my endeavours to possess myself of D’Eon’s papers, for
he persistently refuses to deliver them to me, in spite of
the order he has received from M. de Praslin in the name of
your Majesty.[150] This is one of the peculiarities of his
insanity, which, however, does not affect him on all points.
Your Majesty will also have been informed that the Court of
London has authoritatively refused my request, in saying that
it was against the laws of the country. At any rate, the King
of England and his ministers are very anxious to get rid of
this individual. I have not been able to seize upon his person,
either by force or by stratagem, because he is no longer with
me, nor has he been here since going to such extremes. I have
communicated to Monin your Majesty’s commands as directed;
he tells me he has good reason for believing, as the result
of several questions he has put to D’Eon, that no papers
concerning your Majesty, personally, have been brought to
London, and he thinks it more probable that they have been left
in Paris.... I deem it expedient to send this letter by M. le
Bel. I am deeply grieved, Sire, at not being able to furnish
your Majesty upon this occasion with proofs of the fervent zeal
by which I will be actuated through life.’
ENCLOSURE.
_Memorandum from M. Monin to the King._
[Sidenote: A FAITHFUL DEPOSITARY.]
‘In consequence of his Majesty’s commands signified to Monin,
he has been doubly diligent in devising means for recovering
the papers his Majesty desires to possess. The glimmers of
hope he has sometimes entertained, warranted as they were by
a certain air of confidence and openness of heart on the part
of M. D’Eon, have vanished, and all those means to which the
ambassador has had recourse have proved unavailing. Monin has
restricted himself to seeking to discover where the papers are
kept or concealed. M. D’Eon has admitted to having deposited
them in different places without naming them, but of one fact
Monin is certain, and it is this. Previous to M. de Guerchy’s
departure for England, M. D’Eon lodged a box, containing
papers, with M. Tercier, where he, Monin, saw it; and so
soon as he had learnt of M. D’Eon’s recall, he deemed it his
duty, as a faithful and zealous subject, to recommend to M.
Tercier that he should obtain his Majesty’s instructions as
to its contents. I have no doubt [_sic_] that M. Tercier, who
considered the recommendation as expedient and important, has
acted accordingly; this portion of his Majesty’s secrets should
therefore be in his hands.’[151]
We have been obliged to reproduce, almost at length, the communications
received by the King from de Guerchy, because they show how successfully
D’Eon was keeping at bay, or misleading all those, whose hands he
considered were lifted against him. ‘I have at last received a letter
from M. de Guerchy with Monin’s memorandum enclosed, which I send
to you,’ wrote Louis XV. to Tercier; and then the King betrays his
uneasiness and restless anxiety for the safety of his papers, and yet his
objection to having them in his own possession or anywhere about him,
fearing perhaps a repetition of the scene in the month of June. ‘Take
care of the Sieur de la Rosière, or rather of his papers, for it is known
that he is here, and if he were visited all might be discovered.’[152]
De Guerchy’s next step was to submit to Lord Halifax, so far as the
wording was concerned, and with the desire that it should be inserted in
the official newspaper, a paragraph to the effect that the Chevalier was
to be excluded, in the future, from the British Court.[153] His request
was complied with, and an exact translation of the notice, under date of
the ambassador’s letter, appeared in an early number of the _Gazette_:—
‘St. James’, December 6.
‘The Most Christian King having, upon his Ambassador Count
de Guerchy’s arrival here, sent to the Chevalier D’Eon de
Beaumont, who had the character of Minister Plenipotentiary to
this Court, his revocation from hence, with a letter addressed
to his Britannic Majesty; and having been informed that M.
D’Eon persisted in refusing to pay obedience to his orders,
and to present the King his master’s letter; his said Most
Christian Majesty therefore wrote a second letter to the King,
and commanded his Ambassador to present the same immediately,
which, having been accordingly done, his Majesty has been
pleased to declare that the said M. D’Eon has no longer any
character here, and has forbid him the Court.’[154]
[Sidenote: THE COUNT DE BROGLIO’S ALARM.]
Thus divested of his dignity, the Chevalier was also declared guilty of
high treason, and all arrears of emoluments due to him were forfeited to
the Crown—a pitiful situation naturally evoking very warm sympathy on the
part of his old chief and well-wisher, the Count de Broglio, who himself
had long been paying the penalty of his devotion to their mystery-loving
royal master.[155] But, apart from personal considerations for D’Eon,
the dangers to be apprehended from such limitless persecution were
considerable, as the count took immediate occasion to remind the King.
‘It is an incontestable fact that the Sieur D’Eon is driven to
despair; that without your Majesty’s favour he will meet with a
miserable fate in France, and that he possesses sure means of
making a large fortune in England.... If, in revenge for the
bad treatment he is experiencing, and impelled by the necessity
of obtaining a living, he should publish your Majesty’s
instructions, which he holds, were he even to communicate
them to English ministers, what might not be the unfortunate
results? Should we not have to apprehend that the sacred person
of your Majesty would be compromised, and that a declaration of
war on the part of England would be inevitable?’
The count concluded his letter by enjoining that the ambassador should
leave D’Eon in peace, and that one of his friends should be sent with an
order signed by the King, requiring him, in warm-hearted terms, to return
to France, with the special assurance that royal protection should not
fail him.[156]
The calamity which befell the Chevalier did not visit him alone; it
encompassed his mother and other relatives, and even their dependants
at home. He was tenderly attached to his only parent, upon whom he had
long since settled his little property, yet to her solicitude and gentle
warnings he replied with all the vehemence of his strong and stormy
nature.
[Sidenote: ‘TO MY DEAR MOTHER.’]
_To Madame D’Eon de Beaumont, Tonnerre._
‘London, December 30, 1763.
‘I have received, my dear mother, all the woeful and piteous
letters you have taken the trouble to write to me. _Why weepest
thou, woman of little faith?_ as it is said in Scripture.
Remember that our Lord, in the famed Temple of Jerusalem, said
to his mother: _Woman, what have I to do with thee?_ yet the
mother was older than the Son. How this word _woman_, &c.,
caused the Scribes and Pharisees to laugh, and has shocked all
the Doctors of the New Law, even those of Sorbonne! I will
say to you with greater tenderness: my mother, what is there
in common between your affairs at Tonnerre, and my political
affairs in London? Do go on planting your cabbages in peace,
weeding your garden and enjoying its fruit; drink the milk of
your cows and the wine of your vines, and leave me in peace
to the foolish sayings at Paris and Versailles. Dry up your
tears, which grieve without comforting me. I am not in need
of consolation, because I am not in the least sad.... I do my
duty, and my adversaries, who call themselves great men, do
not perform theirs—being guided in their actions by caprice
and personal interests, and not in the least degree in the
interests of justice, and for the welfare of the King and
country. Let them do as they please, I will do as I think
proper.... I do not fear the thunderbolts of these little
Jupiters, be they far or near. This is all I have to say,
therefore have your mind at ease, as is mine, and if you come
to see me in London I shall be delighted, and I will take as
good care of you as I do of the Court papers, which M. de
Guerchy will not have except on good grounds, with colours
flying, match alight, ammunition at hand, and drums beating. He
shall not even have the envelopes of the letters, I swear it to
you by all that is sacred, unless he brings to me an authentic
order from the King, my master and his, and this is what he has
not been able to effect hitherto.
‘Do not believe I am insane, because reports to that effect
have reached Paris. I can assure you that my acts, in my
supposed state of madness, would be acts of wisdom on the
part of certain ambassadors. I am, and shall continue to be,
the faithful servant of the King, but I am not, nor do I wish
to be, the sordid servant of certain nobles, his worthless
varlets. To those who tell you that your son is a wild animal
reared in the forests of Burgundy or of Champagne (M. de
Guerchy has already said this to me), reply as I and my friend
Jean Jacques do, that nature treats all animals abandoned to
her care with a certain predilection that seems to show how
jealous she is of this right. The horse, the cat, the bull,
and even the ass, should they become ambassadors, are usually
taller, of a more robust constitution, more vigorous, stronger,
and more courageous in forest-land than when living amongst
us; they lose half these advantages in becoming domesticated;
and it might be said that all our concern in well treating
and feeding those animals, only tends to degenerate them. It
is the same with man; in becoming social and the slave of the
great, or of those who ape to be so, he becomes weak, timid,
servile, and his inactive and effeminate style of living
suffices to unnerve his strength and courage.... As to my huge
brother-in-law, Mr. Gorman,[157] let him attend to his own
affairs in Paris, I do not need his advice or that of any other
person.... Let everybody mind his own business. I know my own
affairs, not a soul in the world shall poke his nose into them,
or I will singe his moustache.... Since you cannot voler as
birds do, as great ladies and great gentlemen do, I will turn
over to you, with great pleasure, my pension of 2,000 livres
on the privy purse, which, in addition to what you possess,
will enable you to live comfortably in some convent near
Paris.... If you wish to do what is best, remain quietly in
your charming retreat at Tonnerre, and do not return to Paris
unless the Court pays your travelling expenses in some surer
way than it has mine, and remember, that whether men praise or
blame you, you are none the better or the worse. _The glory
of the righteous is in their conscience, and not in the praise
of man._ I embrace you tenderly.... If you continue to weep, I
shall have to supply you with some of the English East India
Company’s pocket-handkerchiefs, and you will no longer be my
mother if you are not the virtuous woman spoken of by Solomon,
and which I have not as yet been able to find anywhere....
Be at ease—these enemies are harmless as sheep; they are
mischievous rather than dangerous.’[158]
D’Eon’s determination not to deliver any of the papers in his possession,
left no alternative to de Guerchy other than to obtain from him an
official statement in writing of his refusal to obey the King’s
orders. This was effected at the residence of the Chevalier, who, ever
apprehensive of treachery on the part of the ambassador’s emissaries,
whenever and wherever he met them, held himself in readiness armed, and
levelling his gun at the witnesses, cried, ‘It is at the end of this that
you will find the King’s papers; come and take them.’[159]
Mention has been made of the publication of a couple of pamphlets by
direction of de Guerchy, as being one of the measures to which his
Excellency resorted for bringing the Chevalier into disrepute.[160]
They had reference to the scene at Lord Halifax’s house on the evening
of October 26, and to the minister plenipotentiary’s intercourse with
Treyssac de Vergy. D’Eon never missed the opportunity for committing pen
to paper, and in his turn published a lengthened statement, likewise in
the form of a pamphlet.[161] It was a faithful recital of facts, and
as such, he immediately forwarded a copy to his good friend the Duke
de Choiseul, who, not being one of the executive triumvirate engaged
in doing the will of the Marquise de Pompadour, had but a few weeks
previously offered the Chevalier his protection and restoration to the
army.[162] On issuing the ‘Note,’ he wrote to the King and to his secret
confidants that he was avenging his honour thus infamously attacked, and
hoped to receive orders which he had no desire to see nullified by any
precipitate conduct on his part.... Great was his dismay at the nature of
Tercier’s communication in reply.
‘Versailles, December 27, 1763.
‘Your enemies have become all-powerful; far from diminishing,
their influence over the King has increased, and they rule him
completely. You are not unaware that Madame de Pompadour is
the cause of all your troubles. You and the Count de Broglio
are lost, if you do not avail yourself of all the courage
and all the prudence with which you are endowed by Heaven,
to save yourself from being compromised, or from having your
person seized and your papers carried off. You and the Count
de Broglio have only to rely, but in secret, upon the King
who cannot abandon you, but whose policy would sacrifice you
entirely, perhaps, to his mistress and to his ministers,
notwithstanding his great regard for you. Rely upon my
unalterable devotion.’
* * * * *
‘Such is the language of one of those in whose words it is
his Majesty’s pleasure that I should place the most implicit
confidence!’ observes D’Eon. ‘I weigh it with all the respect
due to the throne. The safety of the King’s correspondence, of
that of the Count de Broglio, and of my own, is entrusted to
me, to my prudence and to my courage. Secretly, my King will
support me if I escape out of the hands of his ministers, who
will exact from him, though to his regret, the sacrifice of my
person. What could be more outrageous! No matter, my mind is
made up. My enemies invite me into the arena; I will rush upon
them and overwhelm them if I can; but I will not contend except
with my own weapons, and I will not expose my sovereign. I am
recommended to be bold and prudent. My answer to the Count de
Guerchy’s “Contre-Note” will be the publication of my “Letters
and Memoirs.” I avenge every imputation and crush my adversary;
so much for courage. My chiefs, my relatives, my protectors and
my friends speak in my favour by their letters and by mine, and
if the base and ridiculous character of my adversary becomes
thus revealed, he will only owe the exposure to the pure and
simple publication of his friends’ and his own letters; so much
for prudence.’
The ‘Contre-Note’[163] was a third pamphlet de Guerchy had the
weakness to employ Goudard to write, in vindication of himself and in
severe condemnation of D’Eon; it was a retort to the ‘Note’ that had
been addressed to him. D’Eon kept his word. The ‘Lettres, Mémoires,’
&c., which made their appearance, in quarto and octavo editions, are
frequently referred to in this work. The volume, divided into three
parts, opens with a violent and virulent attack on the French ambassador,
giving rise, in due course, to an action for libel, and is followed
by the Chevalier’s correspondence with the Dukes de Praslin and de
Nivernois, M. de Sainte-Foy, the Count de Guerchy, and others. Part II.
relates to D’Eon’s personal interests during his residence in London,
and Part III. gives some particulars of his services, with copies of
certificates, despatches, and letters, all favourable to himself. The
epigraph consists of three lines borrowed from Voltaire:—
‘Pardonnez; un soldat est mauvais courtisan.
Nourri dans la Scythie, aux plaines d’Arbazan,
J’ai pu servir la cour, et non pas la connaître.’
The motto is _Vita sine litteris mors est_, and the post face at the end
of Part II. is inscribed:—
‘If the precious selection that forms this little
correspondence greatly offends the authors of the injustice
from which I am suffering, I will give a second edition of
Letters, without extracts and without blanks; the text will
be as genuine as the book of Genesis, where the points of the
Massorets will not be employed.’
The Chevalier was at no loss to justify himself for having thus exposed
the private correspondence of French ministers. When he saw that de
Guerchy and de Praslin made it their business to despatch courier after
courier to each other, and secretly spread reports upon the subject
of his affairs, he made up his mind to publish what disconcerted
their measures. Nobody was able to conceive how a young captain of
dragoons could have the temerity to be the first to impugn an old
lieutenant-general, Knight of the King’s Orders, his Majesty’s Ambassador
Extraordinary, a friend of thirty years’ standing of the Ministers of
France, a favourite of the King, and allied to several powerful houses;
but everybody was able to perceive, without any difficulty, that it was
the lieutenant-general and favourite ambassador who had commenced the
attack, and that the captain, minister plenipotentiary, was obliged
to defend himself. Was there cause for libel in writing against a
poisoner, an assassin, who commenced by hiring scribblers to tarnish his
reputation? Was there cause for libel in publicly defending, when openly
and publicly assailed, one’s honour, life, and liberty? Every law, human
and divine, justifies such defence. In every suit, in every contention,
in every quarrel, the aggressor is specially to be distinguished from the
aggressed, the oppressor from the oppressed! Offensive war is the act
of a tyrant; he who defends himself is justified. Had the count given
the Chevalier good wine at his table, in the place of poison, there
never would have been any dissension between them. The chief cause of
the Chevalier’s falling into disgrace with the French ambassador, lay
in the former’s evil or good luck, in seeing the latter take to flight
on the right bank of the Weser, when, being under fire of the English
and Hanoverians at the passage of that river, the Marshal de Broglio’s
order was delivered, directing him to give his support and distribute
ammunition to the troops. The recollection of that incident must have
been exceedingly disagreeable to the count, for when the Chevalier
reminded him, upon the memorable evening at Lord Halifax’s, that they
had served together during the war, de Guerchy told Lord Halifax, in the
presence of the other English ministers, that he had never met D’Eon, nor
was he at all concerned to know who were the aides-de-camp to the Count
and the Duke de Broglio. In reply, D’Eon maintained that he might perhaps
remember having entertained him at his head-quarters upon more than one
occasion, to discuss the hot pastry for which his cook was famous, and
that when retreating from Einbeck, his column having missed its way, he
had put it on the right road to Northeim.[164]
The giving his volume to the world produced the greatest consternation
amongst those of the ruling powers whose private letters, several of an
exceedingly delicate nature, had thus been made public, and in exposing
the secrets of ministers, D’Eon spared his friends as little as he did
his bitterest enemies, the King only, in whom his faith was implicit,
being held sacred by his daring spirit. The publication was no leap in
the dark, but an ill-considered act, an irreparable blunder which brought
upon him the extreme of gratuitous misery, and desertion by all those in
authority.
No sooner was this book out of the printer’s hands than the Count de
Guerchy secured a copy, and sat for several hours with his wife poring
over its contents. Some satirical passages on their love of economy
having led to a quarrel between the two, they threw the volume at each
other’s heads. ‘Could I have foreseen such a thing,’ said the Chevalier
upon being informed of the circumstance, ‘I should have issued the book
in a wooden binding!’[165]
[Sidenote: HORACE WALPOLE.]
As the publication caused a panic at Versailles, so was the sensation in
London enormous. This is what Walpole had to say about it:—
‘D’Eon has published (but to be sure you have already heard
so) a most scandalous quarto, abusing Monsieur de Guerchy
outrageously, and most offensive to Messieurs de Praslin
and Nivernois. In truth I think he will have made all three
irreconcilable enemies. The Duke de Praslin must be enraged as
to the Duke’s carelessness and partiality to D’Eon, and will
certainly grow to hate Guerchy, concluding the latter can never
forgive _him_. D’Eon, even by his own account, is as culpable
as possible, mad with pride, insolent, abusive, ungrateful,
and dishonest—in short, a complication of abominations, yet
originally ill-used by his Court, afterwards too well; above
all, he has great malice, and great parts to put that malice
in play. Though there are even many bad puns in his book, a
very uncommon fault in a French book, yet there is much wit
too. Monsieur de Guerchy is extremely hurt.... I could write
pages to you upon this subject, for I am full of it—but I will
send you the book. The Council have met to-day to consider what
to do upon it. Most people think it difficult for them to do
anything. Lord Mansfield thinks they can’—Walpole disliked the
judge, and adds—‘but I fear he has a little alacrity on the
severe side in such cases.’[166]
As I shall have occasion to return to Walpole, or rather to his letters,
I would limit myself in the interests of this history, seeing that the
opinions to which he gave expression were immatured except by his own
specious judgment, hastily and prematurely formed, to quoting Macaulay’s
estimate of that _gentleman usher at heart_. ‘He sneered at everybody,
put on every action the worst construction which it could bear,’ and we
are told, further, that he ‘spelt every man backward.’
[Sidenote: DRIVEN TO SEEK EXPATRIATION.]
A painful sense of oppression was produced on D’Eon by Tercier’s letter
of December 27, and nothing, not even his vigorous mind, could rouse him
out of the state of despondency into which he had fallen. To his kindest
of protectors, the Duke de Nivernois, he said, ‘... all my trust is in
your tender friendship for me, and all my fear lies in your weakness for
your friends.’ If the power of his enemies was too great, he continued,
to enable the duke to break asunder the chain of error, of falsehood,
and of iniquity, he should only ask permission, for himself and his two
cousins, to enter the service of a foreign State, a request they made
with their hearts plunged in the bitterest grief; for there were none
more ready than they to shed the last drop of their blood for the King
they adored, and their native land which they cherished.
‘... Since my zeal, my services, and my disinterestedness have
incriminated me in my own country, I must, in spite of myself,
seek a country where I shall be at liberty to lead the life of
a good citizen. That country is found for me, Monsieur le Duc,
this you know, and I will not hide it from you....’
In an enclosure, under flying seal, addressed to his other good friend
the Duke de Choiseul, he thus expressed himself:—
‘... Your cousinship to the Duke de Praslin, and private
reasons, will no doubt have prevented you from rendering to
me that justice which is my due, and which exists in your
heart.... Forced as I am, by the revolting injustice I am
experiencing, by the suppression of my pension out of the privy
purse, and by the numerous enemies that my zeal, blind no doubt
in the cause of my country, or that the envy of traitors to
that same country have excited against me; I find myself under
the grievous necessity of entreating you to do me the favour,
to send the King’s permission that I, and two of my cousins,
may enter the service of a foreign Power....’[167]
To D’Eon’s surprise, these letters remained unnoticed. He appealed to the
King, to the Count de Broglio, to Tercier, for support in his perplexing
situation, but nothing came. All were silent. Yet, for his own sake,
the count had never been callous to the cries of the Chevalier, nor was
he so now, for D’Eon’s doom, were the designs against him carried to a
successful issue, would be the harbinger of his own fate. He followed
up his suggestion of December 6 to the King, by proposing that his
secretary, the Chevalier Nort, should be sent to England to conciliate
D’Eon. The King approved, but with his customary dilatoriness nothing
was done. Then were brought the news of the recall from exile of the de
Broglios, and of the moribund condition of the Marquise de Pompadour, and
wearisome darkness, the poor proscribed one thought, would give place
to light, and relief be at hand! Still nothing came, though weeks had
passed; to remain thus disregarded and treated with silent contempt was
more than the Chevalier’s nature could endure. He again addressed himself
to Tercier, this time openly throwing the gauntlet, with what results
will be known hereafter.
[Sidenote: PROOF AGAINST CORRUPTION.]
_To the Solicitor._[168]
‘London, March 23, 1764.
‘Sir,—Although the recall of the Marshal and of the Count de
Broglio should be as useful and as necessary to the King’s
service as to the ends of justice, in the settlement of my
affairs, I cannot conceal from you my surprise at the complete
silence of yourself and of the Count de Broglio, in the cruel
position into which the wickedness, to say nothing more, of the
Count de Guerchy has plunged me, and his enmity, particularly
to the house of Broglio, which is the real origin of my
misfortunes.
‘Your silence and my position are such, that I send M.
Nardin[169] to Paris, to his friend la Rosière; he will
relate to him, in person, all that has taken place since his
departure, and the latter will deliver to you this letter, to
request urgently that you will give me a categorical reply
as to what I am or am not to expect, so that I may be guided
accordingly. It is very sad, that after having sacrificed
myself so willingly for the benefit and honour of the King’s
service, I should have recourse to such explanations, or
rather to such extremities. You must feel all the force of
what I wish to say. I will never be the first to desert the
King or my country, but if, unhappily, the King and my country
should think proper to sacrifice me by deserting me, I shall
be obliged, in spite of myself, to abandon the latter, and in
doing so, I will justify myself before the whole of Europe, and
nothing will be easier to me, as you are well aware. I admit
that such a sacrifice will be hard for me, but it will also
cost France dearly, and the very idea of this makes me shed
tears. Yet, such are the extremes and the fatal resolutions
which might be engendered by the ingratitude and intrigue that
sustains an ambassador, so unworthy of the title as is the
Count de Guerchy.
‘I will not conceal from you, sir, that the enemies of France,
believing they may be able to take advantage of the cruel
position in which I find myself, have invited me to enter
their service. Whatever the benefits they offer, I cannot be
influenced, and I shall be guided under these circumstances
by my honour only; I have answered as became me, and have
said that I could not enter into any engagement, as I still
considered myself in the service of the King; and my King
abandons me! And yet, from the very first, I have only acted
in conformity with his great secret project, and his written
orders which I will defend with my life.
‘You ought to know that scarcely had the Count de Guerchy
superseded me here, than the subject was broached to him of the
second demolition of the lunette and other works at Dunkirk,
and that this second demolition, which I had successfully
averted and set aside during the period of five months, was
accomplished to the shame and prejudice of France.[170] I am
truly ashamed for my country.
‘The leaders of the opposition have offered me any money I
require, on condition that I deliver to them my papers and
letters, under seal, promising to return them to me in exactly
the same state when the money is brought to me.[171] I unbosom
myself to you, and you must feel how repugnant to me must be
such an expedient. And yet, if I am forsaken, what would you
have me do? As to the papers of the Counsellor and of his
deputy, I guard them more jealously than ever; I have them all,
also Rosière’s. The cypher alone I burnt in his presence, and
the whole are so well concealed in my study, that by means of
a mine I have myself contrived, and several trains that lead
to it from different parts of my room, I can in an instant
blow my little study, the would-be rescuers, the papers and
my own self, fifty feet into the air. But, if I am entirely
forsaken, and if, between this and April 22, Easter Sunday, I
do not receive a promise, signed by the King or by the Count
de Broglio, to the effect that reparation will be made to me
for all the ills I have endured at the hands of M. de Guerchy,
then, sir, I declare to you formally and authentically, I shall
lose all hope, and in forcing me to embrace the cause of the
King of England, of his ministry and of the Houses of the Lords
and Commons, _you must make up your mind to a war at no distant
period, of which I shall surely be but the innocent cause,
and this war will be inevitable_. The King of England will be
driven into it by the nature of circumstances, by the voice of
the nation, and by the opposition which is gaining, rather than
losing, in strength. Here, sir, is my confession, and here are
all the evils that will have been prepared by M. de Guerchy and
his gang. Behold your great project, so glorious for the King
and so advantageous to France, turning against you. Your reply,
sir, fully authentic, and signed by the Counsellor, or at least
by his deputy, will inform me if, by next Easter at the latest,
I am to remain an honest Frenchman, or become, in spite of
myself, an honest Englishman.’[172]
The King took the matter coolly enough. He knew his man, and must have
been full well persuaded that he could safely rely upon his loyalty and
attachment to his person, and that there was consequently no immediate
cause for alarm. When informed for the first time of the tempting offers
made to the Chevalier in England, he merely said: ‘I do not believe
that D’Eon will become an Englishman, for he has nothing to gain from
the ministry, and what will he do if he joins the opposition? Send him
two hundred ducats ...’ and then he wrote word to Tercier, ‘... I have
nothing to say as regards the Sieur D’Eon. I doubt that we should
have war, no matter what he were to say; but we must prevent such an
exposure.’ Still, as if impressed with the obvious necessity for being
wise in time, his Majesty added, ‘I approve of the despatch of the Sieur
de Nort; make every necessary arrangement accordingly.’[173]
[Sidenote: PUBLICATION OF ‘LETTRES,’ ETC., JUSTIFIED.]
It is possible that Tercier, who was in the habit of keeping D’Eon
informed of all that was passing at Court, so far as he was concerned,
had told him before their correspondence was interrupted that the King
‘did not at all care to see the “Mémoires” in print.’[174] At any rate,
in a second letter in which he pressed his case, and which quickly
followed the first, we find the Chevalier offering some passing words of
explanation on the course he had pursued.
‘London, March 27, 1764.[175]
‘Sir,—I hope that M. Nardin, whom I despatched on the morning
of the 23rd to rejoin his friend La Rosière, and to cause to be
remitted to you through him a very urgent letter from myself,
is actually with you, and in a position to relate to La Rosière
all that has occurred here during the last four months. The
Count de Guerchy having thought proper to publish a lying
apology for his conduct, or what is rather a libel against
myself, full of wickedness and slander, I patiently waited
awhile, and was then obliged to reply to it by unanswerable
statements and letters. I have consequently published what
I had to say, and have expressly made a bulky volume of it,
that the project of our great secret affair may be the more
completely screened.
‘Our poor ambassador, quite at his wit’s ends, has no idea
beyond that of blind vengeance; he has been to his friend the
Duke of Bedford, a man even more violent than himself; he
has been to all the other ministers to get them to see the
book; but all this has only turned to my advantage. He is at
present moving heaven and earth, together with the Duke of
Bedford, to have me seized by force or by stratagem, that I
may be sent to France. I was warned last night by a friend of
the Duke of Bedford, that the Count de Guerchy has not left
a stone unturned to excite the duke’s wrath against me. This
same person also warned me yesterday morning that at a council
held at St. James’, the ministers had deliberated upon the
means to be employed for arresting me and handing me over to
France; but he could not tell me to what decision they had
arrived. This, sir, is of the greatest consequence, and it is
important that his Majesty should be good enough to order the
Count de Guerchy to leave me in peace. I give you notice, most
earnestly, that the first person who comes to my house, or
attacks me in the street, will at once fall, no matter who he
is, and I am quite indifferent as to the consequences. I again
give you notice, that several leaders of the opposition send
daily to see whether I am safe, and at the first attempt at
violence against me, the embassy and all that it contains will
be torn to pieces by what is here known as the mob, that is to
say, the mariners and rabble from the city, who are at the call
of the opposition. You are sensible of all the disasters about
to take place. The Count de Guerchy ignores the whole of this;
he is not bright enough to apprehend all that is going on,
and even if he were, he would not report, but rather conceal
from the King what he knew. You are aware that I have never
deceived you; I should be loth to do so under such important
and pressing circumstances, and I must not conceal from you,
that if I am once taken, after having so long and carefully
cautioned you, and the King affords no relief, in such a case
I will no longer consider myself bound to preserve the secret,
and shall be obliged, thus driven to extremities, to justify
my conduct; a still greater misfortune than the firing of the
French embassy by the people.’
[Sidenote: THE PERSECUTING DUKE DE PRASLIN.]
These resolute letters had their consequences. M. Nort was hurried
off to London with the King’s secret instructions, taking with him a
conciliatory letter from the Count de Broglio, a sum of money for D’Eon,
and special directions to effect an arrangement, if possible, between the
ambassador and the turbulent captain of dragoons.[176] De Praslin, on
his part, had sent his own agent to England, with orders to take D’Eon
_alive_, above everything, it being his intention to confine him when
secured, in the Bastille.[177] ‘You must admit that his private letters
are deserving of this,’ said Louis XV. to Tercier; ‘but it is more
essential that he should be conciliated and my papers recovered.’