The Count de Broglio’s offers for the surrender of the King’s
papers—D’Eon’s conditions—Failure of the transaction—Proposal
of marriage to (Mademoiselle) D’Eon—Beaumarchais—The Madame
Dubarry scandal—De Vergennes’ instructions to Beaumarchais—That
minister’s high opinion of D’Eon—Beaumarchais’ success in
treating with D’Eon.
So far as the ministers were concerned, the Chevalier D’Eon was regarded
in the light of a rebel and traitor, when all of which he could have
stood convicted was, like poor Clinker, ‘hunger, wretchedness, and
want; but de Broglio and the King knew otherwise. The compromising
papers with the existence of which we have become so familiar, were
still in his possession, and their immediate recovery having become
an absolute necessity, the count was directed to arrange in a kindly
and generous spirit for their surrender. He accordingly sent to London
the Marquis de Prunevaux, an officer of distinction and a kinsman of
the Duke de Nivernois, to propose the following conditions:—D’Eon to
give up every document relating to the late King’s private or official
correspondence; to give his word of honour to abstain, ever thereafter,
from writing anything of a nature likely to awaken the recollections of
his contentions with de Guerchy and de Praslin, and to avoid all such
places where he would be liable to meet the Countess de Guerchy and her
children. In return, he should receive a life-pension of twelve thousand
livres,[280] have his military rank restored to him, all charges
pending against him should be withdrawn, and a safe conduct signed by
the King granted, enabling him to return to France and live in any part
of the country most agreeable to himself. But D’Eon had lost his beloved
master, whose slightest wish had ever been a law to him; he knew that
his occupation was gone, but he thought he might recover the position
he had lost if he played his cards well, and accordingly rejected the
terms, substituting his own instead, in which he asked—(1) that his
conduct should be purged of the calumnies imputed to it by the Duke de
Praslin and the Count de Guerchy, and that he should be reinstated in the
diplomatic rank and title he had held, as was done to the celebrated La
Chalotais;[281] and (2) that all sums and indemnities due to him during
the past twenty-one years, amounting altogether to 13,933_l._ sterling,
or 318,477 livres, should be paid to him in full.
In urging his claims to a sum of such large proportions, the Chevalier’s
argument was a repetition of what he had advanced in days gone by, when
soliciting Louis XV. and de Broglio for pecuniary assistance:—
‘All the debts I have contracted in England are the natural
consequences of the orders I received from the King being
contradictory to those of the Duke de Praslin; a natural
consequence of the means to which I had recourse in defence of
my honour and of my life; a natural consequence of the measures
I adopted to prevent my person and papers from being carried
off out of England, and a natural consequence of the criminal
proceedings I was obliged to institute against the late Count
de Guerchy, for having poisoned me at his table, and for having
ordered and bribed de Vergy to assassinate me in London; also
for having sought to kidnap me—all atrocious crimes of which I
adduced proofs at the trial, notwithstanding the indignation
of the French Court, notwithstanding the presence of the
ambassador, who owed his escape from the punishment he richly
merited simply to a _nolle prosequi_ mercifully granted by the
King of England, in answer to his supplication, and to the
everlasting disgrace of the said ambassador.’[282]
[Sidenote: NEGOTIATORS NONPLUSSED.]
De Prunevaux remonstrated that the sum demanded was prodigious.
‘Prodigious for you,’ replied D’Eon, ‘who insist on crown
pieces doing duty in a country where guineas are fingered!
Prodigious in your native Morvan, where a horse costs two
louis, an ox six livres, and an ass a crown; but as for me, I
have been living for the last thirteen years in London, where a
turkey costs six livres before it is roasted!’
Notwithstanding a four months’ residence in London, De Prunevaux could
not prevail upon the Chevalier to leave England, for he insisted, after
the example of the brave and virtuous La Chalotais, on a temporary
re-establishment in his post of plenipotentiary which he occupied with
distinction, and from which Madame de Pompadour, with a cabal of the
great, by little and base intrigues expelled him; deeming all pecuniary
satisfaction beneath his honour, gold being but a means and not the
object of great souls.[283]
De Broglio’s friendly remonstrances and reproaches were without effect
upon D’Eon, who became the more obdurate from the moment that de
Prunevaux resolutely, and once for all, refused to entertain any such
idea as his reinstatement to his former official position. De Prunevaux
was succeeded by Captain Pommereux of the Grenadiers, ordered to treat
with D’Eon on the basis of an indemnity; but the only concession the
Chevalier would make being to reduce his claim to 256,000 livres, de
Vergennes submitted to the King that since a high sum was still persisted
in, it would be unwise to underrate the importance of keeping on good
terms with the Chevalier, and recommended that for the present, at least,
his quarterly allowance should be paid as before, anticipating that
he would become more tractable with time, and if less importance were
attached to the recovery of the papers of which he was the depositary.
Louis XVI. approved, but said that he had never read a more impertinent
or ridiculous letter than D’Eon’s,[284] and were it not for the safety of
the documents, he should certainly send him about his business.[285] I
cannot conclude this paragraph without noticing that the gallant captain
became so thoroughly persuaded, during his stay in London, of the truth
of the reports on the presumed sex of the Chevalier, that he became
enamoured of the heroine, and actually proposed marriage before taking
his departure for France!
[Sidenote: THE DUBARRY SCANDAL]
There now appears on the scene a remarkable man, one who, relying upon
his abilities, of which he was singularly vain, was prepared to act as
mediator, and by pursuing a policy of something like oppression, bring
D’Eon to his bearings. This was no less an individual than Beaumarchais,
the watchmaker’s apprentice, lieutenant-general of the royal hunt,
champion of the Americans in revolt against Britain, and in the secret
service of Louis XVI., but more universally known, perhaps, as the author
of ‘Le Barbier de Seville,’ a play first published with the authority of
that sovereign, and unjustly condemned for a season as being a plagiary
on Molière’s ‘École des Femmes.’ When D’Eon and Beaumarchais met for the
first time, the latter was in London on a mission from the King, in which
D’Eon was likewise concerned, and it is scarcely to be doubted he was
under instructions from de Vergennes to make the Chevalier’s acquaintance
with a view to entering eventually into further relations with him. By
Beaumarchais’ management were shaped the destinies of D’Eon, who has
left a record of how they met and what their intercourse, in a written
statement he addressed to the Count de Vergennes, on May 27, 1776,[286]
and from which we quote the following passages:—
‘There was in 1773, and there still is, in England, a libelling
adventurer named Théveneau de Morande, the counterpart of
the Sieur Goudard described by me elsewhere. He had set up a
newspaper called “Le Gazetier Cuirassé,” a sort of laboratory
for defamation of character, in which he abused everybody and
dealt in slander. Before printing “Le Gazetier Cuirassé,” he
wrote to all those persons (including M. de Voltaire) whom it
was his intention to defame, to demand a certain sum of money
if they did not wish such abominations to be made public. The
Marquis de Villette, one of those to whom he had written,
replied:—
‘“You scoundrel! You demand fifty louis that you may not
publish certain facts in which I am concerned; if you give me
one hundred, I will supply you with many other facts far more
curious and private, which you can add to your manuscript. I
await your answer.”
‘2. In a letter dated July 6, 1773, Louis XV. and his secret
minister, the Count de Broglio, instructed the Chevalier D’Eon
to find out whether M. de Morande was really at work on “Notes
on the Life of Madame la Comtesse Dubarry,”[287] and what sum
would suffice to induce M. de Morande to give up his MS. and
the publication of it.’
To which the Chevalier D’Eon replied, under date of July 13-18, 1773:—
‘You could not have recourse to anybody more able to assist
and bring to a satisfactory termination the affair you have
mentioned to me, M. Morande being a countryman of mine, who
boasts of being connected with a branch of my family in
Burgundy.... For two months I refused to make his acquaintance
for very good reasons. He has so frequently called since,
that I have occasionally received him rather than be annoyed
by a young man of an exceedingly turbulent and impetuous
disposition, who knows no bounds, and without any respect for
things sacred or profane. Such is the man.... _Fœnum habet in
cornu, tu Romane, caveto._ This is why I keep him at a certain
distance....
‘He is a man who swindles several rich people in Paris through
fear of his pen. He has produced the most outrageous libel
it is possible to conceive against the Count de Lauraguais,
with whom he picked a quarrel. The King of England (himself so
frequently attacked in the papers) asked, with reference to
this affair, what he thought of English liberty.’
‘I have nothing to complain of, Sire,’ replied the count, ‘it
treats me like a King.’
‘I am not aware that Morande is at work on the scandalous
account of the Dubarry family; but I have very strong
suspicions that such is the case. If it should be so, there
is nobody in a better position than I am to negotiate for
its being relinquished; he is very fond of his wife, and I
undertake to get her to do anything I wish.... I believe that
if he were offered 800 guineas he would be quite satisfied. I
know that he is in want of money just now, and I will do my
best to arrange for a smaller sum. But, sir, to tell you the
truth, I should be delighted if the money were given to him by
some other person, so that nobody will suppose that I have
made a single guinea by such a business.’
* * * * *
‘3. M. D’Eon is on the point of concluding the bargain in
consideration of the sum of 800_l._ sterling, M. Morande giving
his bond that he will pay 1,000_l._ sterling to the poor of the
parish, should he hereafter be convicted before a tribunal, of
having caused to be printed any work to the prejudice of the
late King, of his mistresses or ministers.’
‘4. M. D’Eon receives another letter from the Count de Broglio,
dated August 26, 1773, approved by the King, in which he is
instructed to suspend his negotiations with Morande, seeing
that the celebrated Count Dubarry had taken other measures; but
he is to watch Morande and his publications.’
‘5. Secret emissaries of police arrive in London for the
purpose of kidnapping Morande. The scheme fails, and the
frightened emissaries promptly make their escape to Paris.’
‘6. Under censure of the Parliament of Paris, Beaumarchais is
on the point of being arrested, when he takes refuge in the
King’s wardrobe, an asylum worthy of such a personage.’
‘7. M. de la Borde, the late King’s valet-de-chambre,[288]
confides to Beaumarchais, in the gloom of the wardrobe, that
the King’s heart is saddened by a rascally libel on the amours
of the charming Dubarry, in the course of being written in
London by the scoundrel Morande.’
‘8. ... The Sieur Caron entertains hope of success in fawning
to his master’s love affairs, humbling his enemies and
increasing his own fortune. He communicates to la Borde his
design of going to London, and secretly bribing with gold the
already corrupted Morande. This project is communicated by la
Borde to Louis XV., who deigns to give his approval.’
‘9. Accordingly, Beaumarchais arrives in London _incognito_,
escorted by the Count de Lauraguais _in publico_.’
‘10. The day of their arrival, Morande calls on M. D’Eon to
inform him that two French noblemen had been to see him that
morning, with their pockets full of gold, to invite him to
suppress his work against the Countess Dubarry; but not wishing
to conclude any arrangement without first consulting M. D’Eon,
who was the first to commence negotiations on this business,
the two noblemen had remained in their coach at the corner of
the street, and desired to confer with him.’
‘11. M. D’Eon asks Morande the names of these two French
noblemen, and whether they bring letters to him from Versailles
or Paris.... Morande declares they wish to preserve the
strictest incognito.’
‘12. M. D’Eon replies that he has no wish to confer with
unknown individuals; they might be emissaries of police who
would induce him to say what he would rather leave unsaid;
that the love affairs of kings were ticklish matters to meddle
in.... The only advice he could offer to Morande, encumbered as
he is with a wife and family and debts, in so expensive a place
as London, and pursuing a dangerous avocation comparable to
that of a highwayman, would be to exact the largest sum out of
the richest gilt coach he might meet. His own coach could only
offer 800_l._ sterling for the suppression of the libel....’
‘13. A few days later, M. D’Eon learns that the two unknown
nobles are, the unknown noble, Caron de Beaumarchais, and the
most illustrious and well-known noble, Louis François Brancas,
Count de Lauraguais, and that they had concluded an agreement
with Théveneau de Morande, in the name of Louis XV., for the
suppression of his libel in consideration of the sum of 1,500
louis, in cash, and a life-pension of 4,000 francs, to be
reduced to a life-pension of 2,000 livres in favour of his
wife, should she survive him....’[289]
‘14. Morande not ceasing to trouble M. D’Eon with his obtrusive
visits, the latter was induced to tell him that he was curious
to make the acquaintance of such a man as Beaumarchais, because
the papers he had published gave him reason to suppose, judging
by the boldness of his style and opinions, that there was still
a man left in Paris.’
‘15. ... Morande brought him to my house when he came to London
for the third time, and thus we saw each other, led no doubt
by a curiosity natural to extraordinary animals to meet one
another.’
‘16. In May, 1775, I saw this rake whom I might call, without
offence, by the name of that animal who with his eyes turned
up, and his snout to the ground, searches for truffles in my
country. After several interviews and conferences, he became
acquainted with some of the circumstances of my political and
physical condition.’
‘17. He was profuse in his offers to be of service at
Versailles, and I accepted. Like a drowning man abandoned, so
to say, by the late King and his private minister for high
reasons of state, to the current of an infected river, I hung
on for an instant to the boat of Caron as I would to a red-hot
rod of iron. Although I took the precaution to protect my hands
with gauntlets, I had my fingers burnt after all....’
[Sidenote: BEAUMARCHAIS’ HEART TOUCHED.]
According to Loménie,[290] D’Eon _solicited the assistance of
Beaumarchais_, and that he might the more effectively enlist his
sympathies, confessed to him, with tears, that he was a female, which,
never doubting, and delighted at the prospect of obliging a woman become
interesting by her daring courage, political talents and misfortunes, and
wishing also to bring to a successful issue a somewhat difficult task,
Beaumarchais wrote some touching words to Louis XVI. in favour of his
client.
‘When it is considered that this creature, so persecuted, is of
a sex to which all is forgiven, the heart is moved with sweet
compassion.... I venture to assure you, Sire, that in treating
this wonderful creature with tact and gentleness, even though
she be soured by twelve years of misfortune, she will be easily
prevailed upon to submit herself, and give up the whole of the
late King’s papers on reasonable conditions.’
Having familiarised himself with D’Eon’s story, his difficulties and
necessities, Beaumarchais returned to Versailles, and exaggerating the
importance of the hidden secret correspondence, although he had not
seen any of it, pleaded the cause of his new client, and secured for
himself the congenial employment of treating for the King’s papers by
instructions contained in a letter from the Count de Vergennes, in which
allusion is made for the first time to the Chevalier’s change of sex,
although spoken of throughout in the masculine gender.
‘... You have the King’s authority to agree to every reasonable
guarantee upon which M. D’Eon may insist, for the regular
payment of his pension of 12,000 livres, on the understanding,
however, that he will not claim an annuity to that amount when
out of France; the capital to be devoted to the realisation of
this sum is not at my disposition, and I shall experience much
difficulty in obtaining it; but it is easy enough to convert
the pension into a life-annuity, of which the title-deed would
be given up. The liquidation of debts will be a difficult
matter, M. D’Eon’s claims in this respect being very great, and
he must reduce them considerably to enable us to come to terms.
As you are not to allow it to appear that you are sent to him
on a mission, you will enjoy the advantage of his having to
wait upon you, and you will thus be in a position to dictate
terms. M. D’Eon is of a violent disposition, but I believe him
to be an honest fellow, and I will do him the justice to say
that I am quite persuaded he is incapable of treachery. It is
impossible for M. D’Eon to take leave of the King of England;
the disclosure of his sex renders such a thing impracticable;
it would be casting ridicule upon the two Courts ... a
certificate will be granted, provided he remains satisfied
with the praise that his zeal, intelligence, and loyalty have
merited; but we cannot compliment him on his moderation and
submission, and in no case must there be any allusion to his
disputes with M. de Guerchy. You are an enlightened man, and
I have no misgivings that you will make a good bargain with
D’Eon, if such a thing is to be done at all. If you fail, then
we must take it for granted that we cannot expect to meet
with success, and make up our minds for the worst. Our first
feelings will be disagreeable, but the consequences will be
terrible to D’Eon. It is very humiliating to an exile to turn
traitor. He becomes an object of contempt.’[291]
[Sidenote: STILL APPRECIATED.]
Even though the Count de Vergennes was thus engaged in determining the
final disposal of D’Eon, such was the opinion continued to be entertained
of his devotion to his country, of his abilities and usefulness, that
we see him recommended by that minister to the new French ambassador in
London, as being a _man_ fully competent to obtain information of which
they stood in need, and this at a time that France was still guided by
a feeling of hostility towards the rebels against British authority in
America.
_The Count de Vergennes to the Count de Guines._
‘Versailles, June 23, 1775.
‘... You will be good enough not to neglect any opportunity for
assuring his Britannic Majesty of the King’s sentiments towards
him, and his wish for the establishment of the most perfect
understanding between them as sovereigns, on the basis of the
peace and friendship that so happily exists. The principles of
moderation and justice by which the King is constantly guided,
and which directs him in all his resolutions, should serve to
reassure his Britannic Majesty on the nature of our views,
sought to be misrepresented by the enemies to public peace.
Far from desiring to take advantage of England’s difficulties
under the present aspect of affairs in America, we would rather
be able to assist in extricating her. The spirit of revolt,
wherever it may break out, is always a dangerous example.
There are mental as well as physical maladies, and both may
become contagious.... We have no wish to carry our precautions
to such a point as to alarm the English. I request that you
will keep a strict watch over the changes we may expect to
see, and especially over what Lord Chatham might effect on the
mind of the King of England, should he yield, as reported, to
the solicitations of that prince for the purpose of drawing
him towards himself. Perhaps M. D’Eon will be able to procure
for you some interesting information on this subject. If you
believe in the possibility of entertaining direct relations
with him, I know that he will not refuse to be of service to
you. His heart is ever French, although his misfortunes and
hasty temperament seem sometimes to have estranged him. He has
friends in the opposition, which is by no means a bad channel
for obtaining information.’[292]
To resume. Beaumarchais’ earliest success consisted in obtaining from
the Chevalier the keys of an iron safe said to contain the King’s secret
papers, and which Lord Ferrers was supposed to hold as security from
D’Eon for the loan of five thousand pounds.
‘... I place at your disposal, Captain D’Eon, a brave officer,
an accomplished diplomatist, and possessing all the virile
qualities of manhood so far as his head is concerned. I bring
to the King the keys of an iron safe securely sealed with my
own seal, and in safe deposit, and containing all the papers
it is necessary for the King to have. It is thus that I
served the late King in the case of another exile whose pen
was dreaded.[293] At any rate, the King and you may remain
perfectly well assured that matters in England will remain _in
statu quo_ during my absence, when completing with you the task
I have commenced with D’Eon.... I take advantage of the first
sure opportunity for having a letter posted at Calais to inform
you, without its being known in London, that I have placed in
the King’s hands certain papers, and an individual whom it was
sought, at any price, to employ against him ... people are
curiously inquiring what I am doing here!...’[294]
[Sidenote: SUBMISSION!]
The letter intimating to Beaumarchais, for the first time, that D’Eon
should, in the future, be considered a female, was succeeded two months
later by another ministerial despatch, in which allusion is made, also
for the first time, to the necessity for his complete change of sex by
the assumption of female attire; the Count de Vergennes, as will be
noticed, still referring to the Chevalier by employing the personal
pronoun of the masculine gender.
‘... However great my desire to see, to know, and to converse
with M. D’Eon, I do not conceal from you that I have one
cause for anxiety. His enemies are on the alert, and will not
easily forgive him for all he has said of them. Should he come
here, however prudent and circumspect he may be, they might
impute to him conduct in opposition to the reserve imposed by
the King; denials and justifications are always embarrassing
and odious to the well-meaning. Should M. D’Eon consent to
disguise himself, all would be well; it is a proposition that
can emanate from himself alone; but in his own interest it is
desirable that he should avoid, at least for some years, a
residence in France and necessarily in Paris. You may make such
use of these observations as you think proper.’[295]
Having displayed his keys at Versailles, and assured de Vergennes
that four days would suffice to regulate affairs finally with D’Eon,
Beaumarchais returned to London, the first step he took being to inform
the Chevalier, in the clearest terms, that as the primary condition of
all future negotiations it was absolutely necessary she should agree
to resuming female attire. D’Eon became very noisy upon receiving
intimation for which he was so little prepared, and persistently refused
to assent; but the determined attitude and dictatorial bearing assumed by
Beaumarchais were not without effect, and for the first time in his life,
perhaps, he quailed, and in the end, yielded.
‘All this has afforded me the opportunity for becoming better
acquainted with the creature with whom I have to deal ... the
feeling of resentment against the late ministers and their
friends of thirty years’ standing is so strong in her, that
too great a barrier cannot be placed between the contenders.
Written promises to be prudent do not suffice to keep in
check one whose blood boils at the simple mention of Guerchy.
The positive declaration of her sex, and her promise to live
for ever after in female attire, will be the only means of
putting an end for the future to all kind of clamour and its
consequences. I have been resolute in exacting this, and have
succeeded.’[296]