Epistle to Lord Mansfield—Voltaire on D’Eon—Anxiety to get
quit of petticoats—Mademoiselle D’Eon de Beaumont in peaceful
retreats—Applies for active service in the fleet—Returns to
male attire, is arrested, and confined—Being liberated goes
home—Arrival in London—Fences before the Prince of Wales—Mr.
Angelo—Mademoiselle D’Eon and Phillidor at chess—Advertised
sale of library—Treatment by a British peer the cause
thereof—Earl Ferrers’ bond—Sale of jewellery.
There appeared at about this time in England the translation of a letter
in verse from D’Eon to Lord Mansfield, on the decision he had pronounced
in the late trial. In his preface the translator frankly states that he
has taken the liberty of deviating a little from the original, especially
where Mademoiselle, in her address to his lordship, and in the warmth of
her imagination, had seemed to have forgotten that she was in petticoats.
The title page is illustrated with a plate representing the Chevalière
in a double character, the right half of her body being in the dress of
a dragoon with drawn sword in hand, the left half appearing as a buxom
woman waving a fan.[343]
A variety of similar grotesque likenesses made their appearance, one
by Bradel, in Paris, also representing the Chevalière in both sexes.
Other portraits, however, were in glorification of the heroine, the most
remarkable being that published in _mezzo-tinto_ by S. Hooper, of Ludgate
Hill, in which she appears as Pallas.[344]
One of these prints having found its way to Voltaire, to whom D’Eon was
not entirely a stranger, the old sage wrote to his friend d’Argental:—
‘They have sent me a Chevalier D’Eon represented as Minerva,
and a supposed warrant of the King conferring a pension of
twelve thousand livres on this amazon, and commanding her
to observe the most respectful silence, as was enjoined on
the Jansenistes in other times. Here is a nice problem for
history. Some Academy of Inscriptions will prove the case to be
most authentic. D’Eon will be a Maid of Orleans who will not
have been burnt. It will be seen how we have improved in our
customs.’[345]
D’Eon’s affected gaiety at length gave way; she fell into a state of
melancholy, and then became quite ill, physically and morally. The
Queen’s physician, Lasone, and the King’s physician, Lieutard, were
ordered to hold a consultation, and terminated their visit by saying to
the patient: ‘Be comforted, dear lady; yours is an incurable complaint,
and will disappear as it came.’[346]
But it was not in D’Eon’s nature to repose in moody silence, and she
poured out her sorrows in pitiful appeals to the Counts de Sartines, de
Vergennes, and de Broglio, praying, for the sake of her health, which
was being seriously injured from want of exercise and the compulsory
abandonment of the active habits of a lifetime, that she should be
permitted to wear male attire, at least on Sundays and festivals; she was
ashamed and sick at heart to be in petticoats, idly enjoying a pension
instead of serving her King and country as she had been doing for so many
years; and, further, she asked to be employed in the war that was on the
eve of breaking out, France being about to become the active ally of the
Americans.
[Sidenote: SIGHING FOR ENGLAND.]
The Chevalière had been exerting herself to save France from meddling
in the War of Independence, undertaking to prove that the reasons
alleged in the manifesto of the French Court were not founded either on
philosophical or political arguments,[347] representations to which de
Vergennes, who was easily accessible to her, was disposed to give his
attention. But Beaumarchais had everything to gain by the prosecution of
the war, and secured to himself all access to the French Court, to the
exclusion of D’Eon, who found it impossible to approach either King or
ministers. Individually, de Vergennes’ treatment of D’Eon had always been
considerate, and at times indulgent, and since all her supplications to
the several ministers had been treated with callous indifference, she
imagined she might succeed in disburdening herself of the yoke imposed
upon her by getting back to London if she could but secure his interest
and influence. ’Tis said that James I. of England thought that if he
were ever to be confined in a prison, he should wish that prison to be
a library. D’Eon pleaded hard that her books and some valuable MSS.,
all ‘so dear to her purse and to her heart,’ were in London, where
she desired to live in retirement with them for her companions. Her
metamorphosis, her long illness, the war, the almost sudden death of
Lord Ferrers, and the non-payment of monies legitimately due to her, had
despoiled her of health and fortune, and she reminded the minister that
the pledges contained in his letter of July 12, 1777, confirming the
intentions of the late King in his order of April 1, 1766, left her at
liberty to go whithersoever she would.[348]
The reply, in his Majesty’s name, was a firm refusal.
[Sidenote: ADDRESS TO THE LADIES OF ST. CYR.]
If D’Eon had sinned, she was as surely suffering. There was no hope
whatever of escape from her bondage, and with her high spirit seemingly
humbled, she sought, or pretended to seek for comfort in the consolations
of religion. She retired, she says, speaking of herself, to different
convents, that she might acquire the customs, habits, occupations and
virtues which most became her, and if she had offered a bad example in
wearing the King’s uniform in time of war, she made ample reparation by
wearing, in time of peace, the Queen’s uniform amongst the ladies at
Court; then she adds, comically enough, that it was to the edification of
the Church and of her neighbours she retired frequently to the ‘Abbaye
Royale des Dames de Hautes-Bruyères,’ to the ‘Maison des Demoiselles de
St. Cyr,’ and to the ‘Monastère des Filles de Ste. Marie.’ In accepting
the invitation to visit the ladies at St. Cyr, D’Eon thus wrote to Madame
——, one of the inmates:—
‘I cannot in any other way acknowledge the kindness and
courtesy of yourself, Madame, of the Lady Superior, and of the
ladies of St. Cyr, than in giving you my word as a _chevalier_
that I shall do myself the honour, and consider it my duty, to
be at St. Cyr on Monday next, the 14th, at such hour as may be
most convenient to you. I purpose going alone, so that nothing
shall divert my attention whilst on my way to the house of the
Lord’s elect, and that I may be the better able to benefit
by the holiness of your conversation, which is the living
expression of the peace that reigns in your hearts, and in the
purity of your existence. When I compare the happiness of the
solitude you enjoy, and in which I have ever delighted, without
being able to experience the pleasure of it, to my terribly
agitated existence in the several armies and European Courts
during the last forty years, I feel how much I have been
removed from the God of humility by the demon of glory; I feel
that if I had done for Him the hundredth part of what I had the
happiness to do for Louis XV. and for myself, instead of now
wearing a red ribbon, I might some day have worn, together with
yourselves, the crown of immortality which God has promised
to wise virgins. Like a foolish virgin, I have been running
after the shadow of things, whilst you, wise virgins, possess
the substance through steadfastly abiding in the house of the
Lord, and in the path of virtue. _Erravi a viâ justitiæ et sol
intelligentiæ non luxit in me._ My only consolation to-day is,
that I have had the happiness of preserving intact the flower
of purity, the pledge so precious and frail, alas! of our
existence and of our faith—and this in the confusion of camps,
battles, and sieges.... The only mercy I now ask of God is, not
to die in the hands of physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries,
but that a cannon ball may carry me off; otherwise, to let me
die in solitude.... I pray, Madame, that God may preserve all
of our sex from the passion for vain glory, and the love of
arms, which is the most serious and dangerous. I alone know
what it has cost me to rise above myself. Alas! what restless
nights have I not passed for the sake of a few bright and happy
days! Truly, it is better to admire from afar the example I
have given, than to imitate it. My happiness is nothing but
smoke, _fumus_, and I admit that all is vanity of vanities in
this world! Until I am able to present to you the original,
allow me to offer you the best portrait that has been issued of
me in England. I am represented as Pallas. Another is about to
be published in Paris, as announced in the “Gazette de France,”
and of which you shall have a copy....[349]
‘LA CHEVALIÈRE D’EON.’
‘Versailles, Rue de Noailles,
‘Pavillon Marjon, September 12, 1778.’
D’Eon’s strength of character enabled her to shape her deportment at the
several retreats she visited with honourable and scrupulous observance
of the rules of those institutions, conduct induced from prudential
considerations, and she spent her time in the profuse waste of paper,
writing prayers of her own composition, cunningly adapted to one in her
singularly anomalous position, _e.g._:—
‘God of armies, it was through Thy inspiration that I followed
the standards of the most Christian King, in the last war. It
was Thou who gavest me the shield of faith, the breast-plate
of chastity, the helmet of truth, the sword of justice, and
the courage _du dragon_. I earnestly long to rejoin the army
in this new war; give me the prudence of Judith, the wisdom
of Deborah, the courage of Jeanne d’Arc, and the valour of
Jeanne Hachette, so that it may be said that by the weakness
of my arm Thou hast wrought great things. _Quia fecisti mihi
mirabilia!_’[350]
At each of the homes where she stayed the Chevalière was supplied with
formulas of prayer in MS., copied for her own special edification, as
stated on the title-page of each pamphlet:—‘Oraisons de l’Eglise pour
tous les temps de l’année Mpt. copié pour Mademoiselle D’Eon pendant
sa retraite, en 1778, à l’Abbaye Royale des Dames de Hautes-Bruyères,
dépendante de la célèbre Abbaye de Fontevrault fondée l’an 1100, par le
bien-heureux Robert d’Arbrissel. Réflexions Morales. Sentiments de Piété.
Sentiments sur l’Oraison Mentale.’
[Sidenote: A VOLUNTEER FOR SERVICE AFLOAT.]
It is clear that the Chevalière was by no means yielding to the supposed
advantageous influences by which she was surrounded, no benefit being
conferred on her agitated mind by the religious austerity in the midst
of which so many of her days were being passed. The profound meditations
in which she indulged with others were not those of the cloister, her
thoughts being too actively engaged in evolving to herself scheme after
scheme for obtaining freedom from the restraint imposed by her hated
petticoats, chafing as she was to join the King’s forces. It is true
that the war being necessarily a naval one, it was not the soldiers of
France who were called to the strife; but D’Eon showed herself equal to
the occasion when addressing herself, this time to the Count de Maurepas,
president of the council, more pathetically and entreatingly than to any
of the other ministers:—
‘... I must represent to you most humbly and most firmly
that the year of my female novitiate having expired, it is
impossible for me to continue a profession of that sex. The
expenses are beyond my means, and my income is too limited....
This very sedentary life is completely ruining the elasticity
of my body and mind.... I renew this year my entreaties that
you will obtain the King’s permission for me to re-enter
his service, and there being no fighting on land, that I be
allowed to serve as a volunteer in the fleet of the Count
d’Orvilliers.[351] I have managed to live in petticoats in time
of peace, from a desire to obey the orders of the King and of
his ministers, but I find it impossible to do this in time of
war.... Assist me, Monseigneur, to escape out of the lethargic
state into which I have been plunged ... it is _a matter of
great moment to the glory of the house of de Guerchy that I
should be allowed to continue my military career; at least such
is the general opinion in the army in France, and I might say
all over enlightened Europe; whereas my present inconsistent
course of life gives cause for the gravest misconstructions,
and affords material to the maliciously disposed_. I have
always thought and acted as did Achilles. _I am not at war with
the dead_, and I do not destroy the living _unless they are the
first to attack me_. You have my written word of honour for
this.... You are not aware that it is I who support my mother,
my sister, my brother-in-law, and my three nephews in the
King’s service; that I am still in debt in London, where I have
left the whole of my library and my papers in chambers, for
which I am paying 24 francs a week.... You must be aware that
to play the part of a maid at Court is one of the most stupid
imaginable, so long as I am still able to play that of a lion
in the army....’[352]
D’Eon must have been fully persuaded that escape out of her state of
wretchedness was impossible, and that the pen and ink agitation, in which
she was repeating so much sad nonsense, would prove fruitless, for, in
writing, on the very next day, to her nephews who were about leaving to
take part in the war, she playfully observed that the King, or rather his
presiding minister, absolutely refused to allow her to join the forces,
through fear, no doubt, that the indomitable English who in other days
had burned, in Normandy, the Maid of Orleans, might now be guilty of
drowning, in America, the Maid of Tonnerre! Whatever the intentions of
the ministers with regard to the epicene D’Eon, her allusions to the de
Guerchy family, and her ill-concealed desire to avenge herself on the son
of her old and deceased enemy, could only have served to confirm them in
their earliest resolution that she should not, under any circumstances,
be liberated from the thraldom into which she had yielded her person.
[Sidenote: AT HOME!]
Neglected by all at Court, and perhaps despised, as she conceived
herself to be, the Chevalière resolved upon throwing off the badges of
her servitude, and again appearing as a captain of dragoons; but she
was immediately arrested and conveyed to the castle of the old Dukes of
Burgundy, at Dijon, where she remained confined during the space of two
months. Consenting to take things in a more philosophic spirit, and
return to her laces and skirts, she was permitted to reappear in Paris,
and there, on September 20, was confirmed, by order of the King and
the Count de Vergennes, the draft of a deed granting a life-annuity of
twelve thousand livres, out of the funds of the Department for Foreign
Affairs, unto ‘Charlotte-Geneviève-Louisa-Augusta-André-Timothée D’Eon de
Beaumont, formerly known as the Chevalier D’Eon;’ this being the first
occasion upon which she was officially styled by her new appellations.
After this D’Eon completely disappeared from society, having gone to live
with her aged mother at Tonnerre, where travellers, impelled by natural
curiosity, made it a point to see her if they could. In this way she
entertained at her table Prince Henry of Prussia, brother to Frederick
the Great, who had met her in Germany during the war.
D’Eon does not appear to have absented herself from Tonnerre until
about the middle of 1785, when she went to stay with the Duchess de
Montmorency-Bouteville, and at the Hôtel des Dames de France, in the
Rue de Baume, Paris. France and England being again at peace, since
September 1783, she was maturing her plans for obtaining permission
to return to London, where she was anxious to recover the money that
was owed to her, and save from dispersion the property she had left in
charge of her landlord, who, unable to obtain any advance upon the rent
due, had already, upon one occasion, publicly advertised for sale the
‘valuable library and curious manuscripts of the Chevalière D’Eon, to
refund himself for the space occupied by the said library in his house
during seven years’—a sale the Chevalière succeeded in arresting by some
arrangement with her creditor.[353] It was not, however, until the
rulers of France conceived the right moment had arrived, and they were
as good as their word, that D’Eon received official intimation of her
movements being relieved from all restriction, with freedom to leave
France if she chose, and with scarcely a day’s delay she made her exit
from Paris in a post-chaise, attended by her maid, arriving in London on
November 17, and putting up at her old chambers in Brewer Street. She was
well received by her friends of former days, amongst whom are specially
named Lord Tamworth, Colonel Kemys Tynte,[354] and Mrs. Church.
[Sidenote: CARLTON HOUSE.]
With no other resources but the modest pension of 12,000 livres, D’Eon
was hard pushed for very existence in the face of her liabilities, many
of ancient date, notwithstanding the five thousand pounds sterling paid
by Louis XVI. to extricate her out of her difficulties, for the monetary
transactions between the French Chevalière and the English peer resulted
in grievous distress to the former, as we shall presently see. Forced
by reason of this to live in strict seclusion, we almost lose sight of
her until April 9, 1787, the day appointed for an assault-at-arms in
the presence of the Prince of Wales at Carlton House, and to which,
as a fencer of distinguished reputation, she was invited. D’Eon and
Mr. Angelo, Sen., were nominated by his Royal Highness judges for the
occasion, there being present several of the most accomplished fencers
of the day, such as the mulatto, the celebrated Saint-George, and his
companions Fabien and de la Motte; also Angelo, Jun., Nogee, Reda,
Rolland, and Goddard. The novelty of a lady in petticoats engaging the
most experienced and able masters excited much mirth, even those who had
known her _en culottes_ being not a little surprised at the skill she
displayed in fencing with Saint-George. Her petticoats did not incommode
her in the least, but it was clear that the late captain of dragoons
proved herself to be more expert at the _risposte_ than a courtesy, and
at handling a foil more gracefully than she did a fan. Quoting from
another newspaper:—
‘The most remarkable occurrence of the fencing match at Carlton
House was the assault between Monsieur de Saint-George and
Mademoiselle D’Eon, the latter though encumbered, as she
humorously declared herself, with three petticoats, that
suited her sex much better than her spirit, not only parried
skilfully all the thrusts of her powerful antagonist, but even
touched him by what is termed a _coup de temps_, which all
his dexterity could not ward off. We hear that a celebrated
painter has undertaken to hit off the semblance and attitude
of the hero and heroine in this very interesting scene.[355]
Mademoiselle D’Eon had modesty enough, on her hitting Monsieur
de Saint-George, to set it down to his complaisance; but the
latter candidly declared that he had done all in his power
to ward against it. A gentleman present assures us that
nothing could equal the quickness of the repartee, especially
considering that the modern Pallas is nearly in her sixtieth
year, and had to cope with a young man equally skilful and
vigorous.’
Upon another occasion of the Chevalière’s appearing before the Prince of
Wales, this time at the King’s Theatre, she was dressed in armour, with a
casque and feather, representing Minerva or the Maid of Orleans.[356]
When Mr. Angelo died near Eton, in 1801, D’Eon deplored the loss of one
of her oldest and best friends, for they had known each other fifty-five
(_sic_) years, and she was indebted to him for many acts of kindness.
The Chevalière, Wilkes, and the elder Sheridan were frequent guests at
Angelo’s table, in his house in Carlisle Street, Soho Square, where they
often sat for hours over the bottle, in lengthened arguments upon the
politics of the day. D’Eon was Angelo’s most constant guest and bosom
friend, staying at his house sometimes for weeks, and materially assisted
him in his Treatise on Fencing. It was there that old Hone and Cosway met
her. She had experienced the greatest pleasure in teaching young Angelo
how to handle a foil, until at last they became strong antagonists, the
latter, after reaching manhood, often taking much pains to put her out
of humour. Speaking of her as a _maître d’armes_, Angelo found that _he_
was violent and _bien opiniâtre_, though by no means a _ferrailleur_.
Whatever _he_ executed was correct and scientific.
Other announcements in the papers of the day show how the Chevalière
turned to equally good account her skill in chess.
MADAME LA CHEVALIÈRE D’EON.
CHESS CLUB, PARSLOE’S HOUSE, ST. JAMES’ STREET.
This day, at two o’clock precisely, Mr. Phillidor will play
three games at once against three good chess-players, two
of them without seeing the boards, and the third on looking
over the table. He most respectfully invites the members of
the chess-club to honour him with their presence. Ladies and
gentlemen who are not members of this club may be provided with
tickets at five shillings each at the above-mentioned house to
see the match. Madame la Chevalière D’Eon will be one of Mr.
Phillidor’s adversaries.[357]
In 1788, when the country was sorrowing at symptoms of aberration in
George III., the Chevalière issued an ‘Epître aux Anglais dans leurs
tristes circonstances présentes’ (8vo. 48 pp.), complimentary to the
Prince of Wales, which was well received and quickly reached a second
edition.
CATALOGUE OF THE SCARCE BOOKS AND VALUABLE MANUSCRIPTS OF
THE CHEVALIÈRE D’EON, formerly MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY from
_France_ to _England_ at the Peace of 1763, &c. &c.
Who is about to quit LONDON, and to return to PARIS,
containing
A great number of curious MANUSCRIPTS, both Ancient and Modern,
and a very large Collection of DICTIONARIES and FRENCH BOOKS,
and many in the GREEK, LATIN, and ENGLISH, and also in the
ORIENTAL Languages, collected by herself, in the course of her
Travels.
Which will be publicly sold by AUCTION,
BY MR. CHRISTIE,
At his GREAT ROOM in PALL MALL, on Thursday, the 5th of May,
and following days, 1791.[358]
At the same time will be sold her MAHOGANY BOOK CASES, her
PRINTS, HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE, SWORDS, TRINKETS, JEWELS, and, in
general, all her WEARING APPAREL, constituting the WARDROBE of
a CAPTAIN of DRAGOONS and a FRENCH LADY.
Quale decus rerum, si Virginis AUCTIO fiat,
Balteus, et Manicæ, et Cristæ, Crurisque sinistri
Dimidium Tegmen!...
... Tu felix, Ocreas vendente Puella.—JUV.
N.B.—Mr. CHRISTIE assures the Public that the name of the
Chevalière D’Eon is written with her own hand, in the first
page of every one of her Books; and that the Preface to the
Catalogue of them contains AN INTERESTING NARRATIVE OF THE VERY
EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF Mdlle. D’Eon. The Catalogue has been
divided into Six different Parts, to facilitate the transport
of it into Foreign Countries: they are now united in one
catalogue.
Price ONE SHILLING.
CATALOGUES may be had at the Place of Sale; at Mr. DEBRETT’S,
_Piccadilly_; at Mr. SEWELL’S, in _Cornhill_; and at M. DE
BOFFE’S, _Gerard Street_.
Printed by T. SPILSBURY & SON, No. 57, _Snow Hill, London_.
M.DCC.XCI.
[Sidenote: A SAD TALE.]
We pass over the intermediate years until 1791, when the Chevalière burst
upon London with the sudden announcement that her precious books and
MSS. were about to be sold by public auction. The catalogue, prepared by
herself, opens with an address to the Public,[359] in which are given
the reasons which place her under the necessity of disposing, during
her lifetime, of all she possesses. She had returned to London in 1785
for no other purpose than that of paying her creditors and collecting
what was due to her, but she had been unable to succeed in this double
object of her wishes. The reigning King of France, she went on to say,
sensible of her military and political services, as well as of her
innocence and the misfortunes she had experienced, had generously caused
to be remitted to Washington, Earl Ferrers, through M. de Beaumarchais,
on October 17, 1778, the sum of 5,000_l._ sterling, to be employed by
the said Earl Ferrers, according to his promise, towards the discharge
of her debts, so that she might be in a position to leave England
honourably. Notwithstanding, however, the earl’s honour and probity,
and his friendship for the Chevalière, he discharged a part only of her
debts, and without first asking her consent, kept 3,000_l._ for his own
private use, undoubtedly with the intention of returning the money, D’Eon
having asked him to settle with her creditors, and especially with Mr.
Duval, the King’s jeweller, who had advanced several sums during the
Chevalière’s law-suits and distresses in London. Being urged to satisfy
these claims, his lordship acknowledged that he had applied 3,000_l._
towards completing the furniture of his seat,[360] the working of a
lead-mine, and of a lime-pit in his park of Staunton Harold, which
had since produced an income of 600_l._ Being dissatisfied with this
employment of her money, D’Eon wrote from London to entreat that upon
his lordship’s return to town, he would afford to herself and to her
creditors some security for the speedy reimbursement of the money. Lord
Ferrers replied in three separate letters.
[Sidenote: BREACH OF TRUST.]
‘Staunton Harold, December 24, 1775.
‘I have so much business to settle here that if I am not
obliged to go to London on account of the Duchess of Kingston’s
trial,[361] I think I shall not come there before the month of
May; and it being requisite for you to have some voucher to
produce for the money you have in my hands, in case anything
should happen to me, you will be pleased to let me know your
Christian name, in order that I may send you by the stage a
bond for the sum due to you, which bond will bear an interest
of five per cent. And having been disappointed with respect to
a sum of money which was to be paid to me last month for an
estate sold for the purpose of settling my affairs, I should
take it as a particular favour of you to leave this money in
my hands for one year at the above-mentioned interest. It is
all the same to me, as I receive of others the same interest
I pay you. Should you in the interim want any money for the
settlement of your affairs, you may draw on me whenever you
please, which indeed seems to me to be much better than to
remit you at present in bank notes, for reasons which I once
told you. The gout has left me; I find myself, thank God, very
well, and am,
‘Your sincere and very affectionate,
‘FERRERS.’
* * * * *
‘... You inform me of your coming here very soon; as you know
that I shall always be happy to see you, there is no occasion
for me to say anything on that subject.... Newcomb[362] is
at present in Derby, and had some time ago the misfortune of
breaking his arm.... This has prevented me from sending you
the hundred guineas you want for the present, but shall remit
you this sum in the course of next week. I have at present no
money in the hands of my bankers in London, having withdrawn
the same from them to have here a ready supply of cash for the
mine, which proves already richer than I expected.... Having no
furnace built, I cannot yet make money of it. This has rendered
me very poor at present, that is to say, until the time when I
shall receive my rents.... Farewell, and be assured of my being
your sincere friend,
‘FERRERS.’
* * * * *
‘... Since the time I had the honour of seeing you last, I have
been very ill, the gout having attacked my lungs so seriously
that I did not know what to think of it. I have by this time
deposited the bond of 3,000_l._ with Mr. Woty[363] for you, in
case I should die. It has been ready this great while, and is
dated December 26, 1775, bearing interest of five per cent.
for that time.... If the gout permits I shall in a month be in
London.... Assuring you that I am,
‘Your very faithful,
‘FERRERS.’
[Sidenote: A PEER’S BOND.]
Alarmed at this intelligence, D’Eon repaired to the seat of his
lordship,[364] who, fearing he should die, had signed a bond at five per
cent. interest, payable at the expiration of five years instead of one
year, as he had promised. D’Eon was not greatly pleased at this fresh
delay, but finding there was no alternative, she accepted this bond,
dated December 26, 1775, and payable in 1780, and transferred it, jointly
with Lord Ferrers, to Mr. John Duval, on August 11, 1777, as security
for the Chevalière’s debt to him, Lord Ferrers binding himself, verbally
also, to be punctual to his engagement.
_Earl Ferrers’ Bond._
‘Know all men by these presents, that I, the Right Honourable
Washington, Earl Ferrers, am held and firmly bound to Charles
Genovesa Louisa Augusta Andrea Timothea D’Eon de Beaumont,
Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis, now of
Brewer’s Street, Golden Square, in the County of Middlesex,
in the penal sum of Six Thousand Pounds, of good and lawful
money of Great Britain, to be paid to the said Charles Genovesa
Louisa Augusta Andrea Timothea D’Eon de Beaumont, or his
certain Attorney, Executors, Administrators, or Assigns. For
which payment to be well and faithfully made, I bind myself, my
Heirs, Executors, and Administrators, firmly by these presents.
Sealed with my Seal; dated this twenty-sixth day of December,
in the sixteenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George
the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth; and in the
year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.
‘The condition of this obligation is such, that if the above
bounden Washington, Earl Ferrers, his Heirs, Executors, and
Administrators, shall and do well and truly pay or cause to
be paid to the said Charles Genovesa Louisa Augusta Andrea
Timothea D’Eon de Beaumont, his certain Attorney, Executors,
Administrators, or Assigns, the full sum of Three Thousand
Pounds, of good and lawful money of Great Britain, on or
before the twenty-sixth day of December, which will be in
the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty,
with interest for the same after the rate of five pounds _per
centum_, per annum, then this obligation to be void, or else to
remain in full force.
[Illustration: L.S.]
‘(Signed) FERRERS.’
‘Sealed and delivered (being first duly stamped) in the
presence of
‘(Signed) W. WOTY.
‘(Signed) JOHN NEWCOMB.’
‘Passed by order of Mr. John Duval and Son, at London, August
11, 1777.
‘(Signed) THE CHEVALIER D’EON.’
Relying upon his lordship’s honour and Mr. Duval’s probity, D’Eon left
London for France with her mind quite at ease. The following year Lord
Ferrers died, as did also Mr. Duval. It was impossible for D’Eon to
return to England to obtain payment of the bond and reimburse the heirs
of Mr. Duval, the King’s ministers having ordered his detention in
France, and it was not until 1785 that she was able to attend to the
affair in person. Being then again in England, she prevailed upon a
common friend to treat with Robert, Earl Ferrers, brother and heir to the
late earl, to obtain payment, but finding that his lordship only wished
to gain time and keep her out of her money, she was obliged to bring an
action against him in the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which she
gained, on February 6, 1787, the funds for conducting the prosecution
having been supplied by Lord Tamworth, in entire disapproval of his
father’s conduct. Two months later this earl, who, according to Walpole,
‘deserved his ancient honours,’ died, referring to which event a daily
paper observed:—
‘The death of Lord Ferrers, announced in the papers a few
days ago, will, in all likelihood, prove an unfortunate
event for the Chevalier D’Eon. The principal object of her
return to England was to solicit the payment of four thousand
pounds, deposited, by order of the present King of France, in
the hands of the late Earl Ferrers to pay the debts of the
Chevalière, which hath not been effected to this day. The son,
Lord Tamworth, now Earl of Ferrers, who, to his honour be it
said, highly blamed the legal contestation maintained on this
subject by his late father, will, by putting an end to all
further delay, derive great credit from this act of justice in
favour of so extraordinary a character, whose concerns cannot
but be warmly espoused by all who are acquainted with her,
and the sufferings she has undergone, after having fought the
battles of her country, and managed its interests as an able
negotiator.’[365]
[Sidenote: AN HEIR’S FAITHLESSNESS.]
The will of the late earl contained directions that all his late
brother’s and his own debts should be paid, and although the new earl,
as Lord Tamworth, had befriended D’Eon and made handsome promises,
he no longer thought it his duty, after succeeding to the title, to
discharge the debt of honour. It should be stated that the only sums
received by the Chevalière from the day that Washington, Earl Ferrers,
had appropriated the 3,000_l._ in 1775, to the year 1791, amounted to
150_l._, paid in three instalments of 50_l._ each, between April 21 and
November 26, 1776. After her return from France, she endeavoured to
recover her money or the interest due; but all was in vain, and being
determined that her creditors should not be the sufferers, she felt
obliged to offer even her beloved library for sale, resolved ‘to carry
nothing with her out of the island but her integrity and her regret at
leaving it.’
It is impossible not to feel some sympathy for the unfortunate Chevalière
in this ignoble treatment by a succession of British peers, with all of
whom she had long been on terms of intimate friendship, even though the
moral to be deduced by the circumstances is, that the would-be biter
herself became the bitten one! Turning back a few pages to the time when
Beaumarchais was conducting the mission entrusted to him by Louis XVI.,
Lord Ferrers appears as a creditor of D’Eon for 5,000_l._, and as if to
give colour to the claim, it was represented by the supposed creditor
and debtor that the iron safe filled with important documents had been
deposited with the English nobleman in security for the debt, a story
that cannot be regarded otherwise than as a pure invention. It is clear
enough that in her anxiety to secure a sufficiently large advance out of
the funds supplied by the King, who was fully disposed to liberality, but
with which Beaumarchais was most unwilling to part, D’Eon had secured
the earl’s sanction to the entry, in her list of liabilities, of this
imaginary debt. Never for a moment doubting the genuineness of the claim
after his first suspicions had been removed, or suspecting complicity
in any kind of deception, Beaumarchais paid the money, but instead
of immediately passing on the whole to D’Eon’s creditors, as he had
promised to do, his lordship boldly retained 3,000_l._ for his own use
and benefit, in the conviction that the Chevalière would be in no hurry
to expose her own share in the double dealing, by publicly resenting the
breach of trust of which he had been guilty. The Chevalière discovered,
but too late, the blunder she had committed in trusting to her would-be
friend, and submitted tamely enough to the earl’s shameless and unfeeling
settlement, by which she was required to wait five years for her little
capital, and not one year as originally convened.
[Sidenote: DONE!]
The breach of trust became something worse as years rolled by, and none
of Washington, Earl Ferrers’ successors, after having adorned themselves
with the coronet, cared to recognise their obligation towards the needy
and ill-used knight. D’Eon had awaited the pleasure of the several
earls during fifteen years, before making the fearless exposure of
their conduct and giving public expression to her feelings thereon, in
the preface to her catalogue. When bitterly tried, a decade later, by
fresh reverses of fortune, she renewed her efforts (October 1802) to
recover what was her own, this time through Admiral Shirley, a brother
of the deceased earl, Washington. She sent to him a copy of the bond,
a calculation of the interest due on her capital of 3,000_l._ during
twenty-seven years, and a proposal for the final adjustment of the
affair. The encumbered condition of the Ferrers’ estates would have
rendered nugatory any further promises, even if any such had been held
out to the Chevalière, who reduced her demands to a minimum by asking
for 500_l._ wherewith to pay pressing calls, and a yearly allowance of
100_l._ for the remainder of her days, no great exaction, seeing that
she was then in her seventy-fifth year! Upon these conditions she was
prepared to surrender the bond to the admiral, to be disposed of as he
might think proper. It does not appear what notice was taken of this
proposition by the deceased earl’s brother, but it is very certain that
so late as January 1805, the Chevalière had not received one farthing
from the Ferrers family![366]
Scarcely had the distribution of D’Eon’s Catalogue taken place, than
sympathising friends made up a purse to meet her immediate necessities; a
subscription list was opened at Mr. Hammersley’s, the banker, Pall Mall,
where, in a very short time, the sum of 465_l._ 5_s._ was collected,
100_l._ being a contribution from the Prince of Wales. Another expression
of feeling was a public entertainment given for D’Eon’s benefit, on June
29, 1791, by the managers of Ranelagh,[367] ‘in consideration of her
having been deprived of a considerable part of her fortune by the odious
detention of a deposit.’
[Sidenote: SALE OF JEWELLERY.]
The troubles with which France was being agitated found an echo in the
heart of the unfortunate Chevalière. The news of the King’s flight, and
the abolition of all orders of chivalry by the National Assembly, she
received as sure warnings of coming distress to herself; and when the
Legislative Assembly summoned all emigrants to make their appearance in
France by a certain date, under pain of death if they disregarded the
decree, she quickly made up her mind to obey the national will and return
to her country. In the midst of her many apprehensions there seemed to be
one gleam of comfort—for she became persuaded that the hour was at hand
when she should be liberated from her state of womanhood. The sale of
some of her property took place on February 17, 1792, when were disposed
of at Mr. Christie’s, in Pall Mall, seventy-three lots of ‘valuable and
elegant jewels, a few fine prints, valuable coins, medals, plate, &c.,
the property of Mademoiselle the Chevalière D’Eon,’ which realised the
sum of 348_l._ 17_s._ 7_d._, some of the more valuable lots having been
bought in.
The latter included—
A pair of single drop brilliant earrings of _singular beauty, colour and
perfection_, 155_l._
A diamond cross and chain, _the stones of matchless beauty and
perfection_, 110_l._
A pair of single drop brilliant earrings, 109 guineas.
A tortoise-shell lined snuff-box mounted in gold with miniature, and
cypher on the reverse side (the gift of the Empress Elizabeth), 2½
guineas.
The personal ornaments sold comprised five pairs of gold drops, one pair
in brilliants; eleven pairs of earrings, one pair in brilliants and one
pair in roses; two crosses, one being in diamonds, with chain; five
necklaces; one bracelet with miniature of the Chevalière in military
uniform; two hoop brilliant rings; three watches, one being set in
brilliants.[368]