The Comte de Vergennes, astounded and indignant, was obliged, although
regretfully, to communicate to the King the extraordinary bill he had
just received.
It is only remarkable (he wrote to his master) for its
diffuseness and for the presumption and avidity which it
reveals: it is throughout a fresh example of his extraordinary
eccentricity. I wish I could spare your Majesty the perusal
of this lucubration; but I cannot refuse the demands of this
strange person without your Majesty’s orders.
The Sieur d’Eon sets so high a price on the surrender of the
papers, of which he was the depositary, that all hope of
recovering them must be abandoned for the present. But as it
might be unwise to deprive him of all resources, by compelling
him to make an ill use of the deposit, if your Majesty
approves, things might be allowed to remain as they were on
your Majesty’s accession to the throne.
Louis XVI. said that he had never read “a more impertinent and ridiculous
document than d’Eon’s statement, and but for the importance of the papers
in his possession, he should certainly send him about his business.”
Moreover, he thought it useless to spend 12,000 livres a year for the
safety of a secret which was decreasing in value day by day. D’Eon
accordingly remained in London. He must have owned to himself that he
had seriously injured his prospects by showing too much avidity, but he
would not admit it officially, and he hastened, as usual, to inform the
public of the negotiation which had been opened with him and which had
failed, according to a London paper, because “the Chevalier deemed all
pecuniary satisfaction beneath his honour, gold being but a means and not
the object of great souls.”
It was, indeed, gold that d’Eon required. Harassed by his creditors,
he resolved to pledge, and also to put in safe keeping, his precious
correspondence, which he deposited with his friend Lord Ferrers, an
English peer and an admiral. The latter advanced 100,000 livres on a
sealed coffer containing the secret papers. This sum of money was not
sufficient, however; in order to procure fresh supplies, and also, no
doubt, to emerge from an inaction which weighed on him, he tried hard
to obtain a situation. He even applied abroad, offering his services to
the new Spanish ambassador, Prince Masseran, who replied declining his
proposal.
Continual failures and fresh disappointments revived in d’Eon, more
and more persistently, the idea which had already occurred to him as
a venturesome and quasi-heroic means of extricating himself from his
quandary. It was a difficult way of recovering his vanishing popularity;
but he had little to lose and everything to gain. The deception which
circumstances had formerly suggested to him might well become his last
resort; and consequently he allowed the report, which he was afterwards
to turn to account, to spread without any further contradiction. When the
public were tired of repeating that d’Eon was a woman the papers took up
the tale; and a portrait even appeared of the “modern Minerva.” This was
the engraving which d’Eon took care to send to his old friend, M. de la
Rozière, then Governor of St. Malo, who, quite amazed, acknowledged its
receipt:
During my stay in Paris an English print was brought to me in
your name, in which you are represented as Minerva, and the
inscription of which so astonished me that I still hesitate to
believe that the present came from you directly. I beg you will
explain the meaning of this, which I cannot regard but as a
pleasantry until you assure me that it is not so.
D’Eon took good care not to satisfy his correspondent’s curiosity on
the point, which was about to become the talk of the town. But in order
to effect the transformation with all proper brilliance, he required an
auxiliary whose renown would further add to his own celebrity, and nobody
could serve his purpose better than Beaumarchais, the intrepid and witty
adversary of President Goëzman. That is why, as he wrote later on, “like
a drowning man abandoned by the King and his ministers to the current of
an infected river, he endeavoured to cling to the boat of Caron.”
At the time of the negotiation relating to the libel published in London
against Madame du Barry, d’Eon, foreseeing all the advantages he might
reap from such intercourse, had already laboured hard to make the
acquaintance of Beaumarchais, his intermediary being no less a person
than Morande himself, the author of the memoir, who had undertaken
to bring about a meeting. “Beaumarchais is at my disposal,” he wrote
to d’Eon; “he is an adorable man, and I see truth flowing from his
pen. He writes so gracefully that I feel consumed with envy. Voltaire
never approached him for style. You will form your own opinion of him
to-morrow.” But the following day, Beaumarchais, put on his guard,
perhaps, by the suspicious patronage assumed by d’Eon, begged to be
excused on the score of work, and Morande, vexed, was obliged to write to
the Chevalier: “M. de Beaumarchais will not stir abroad until Thursday
evening, as he has much business to attend to, which prevents him from
seeing anybody.” D’Eon related afterwards that Beaumarchais and he met
spontaneously, “led, no doubt, by a curiosity natural to extraordinary
animals to seek each other’s society.” The explanation is ingenious but
incorrect, for, after buying Morande’s libel on Madame du Barry, and
studying the cause of the American rebels, Beaumarchais returned to
Paris, and it was only during his second visit to London, in May, 1775,
that d’Eon was at last able to make his acquaintance. The Chevalier made
up for lost time, and his intriguing skill won over the susceptible
Beaumarchais to his cause. The witty author, who seems to have made it
his profession to cover his contemporaries with ridicule, became not
only his intercessor but his dupe, for d’Eon was clever enough to amuse
himself at his expense.
Weepingly the Chevalier made his distressing confession to Beaumarchais,
admitting that he was a woman, and drawing so touching a picture of
his misfortunes that no sooner had his interlocutor returned home than
he wrote to the King: “When it is considered that this creature, so
persecuted, is of a sex to which all is forgiven, the heart is touched
with gentle compassion.... I venture to assure you, Sire, that by
treating this wonderful creature with tact and kindness, even though she
be soured by twelve years of adversity, she will be easily prevailed upon
to be submissive.”
Beaumarchais, then, was completely duped by d’Eon, as his friend Gudin
was also. Their mistake makes it easier to understand how the King
and his minister could be deceived, in their turn, by the positive
assertions made to them in regard to a matter which had already been
confirmed in England by public opinion. Besides, had not Drouet, three
years previously, made the same surprising communication to the Comte de
Broglie, who had attached sufficient importance to it to inform Louis XV.?
Moved by d’Eon’s situation, Beaumarchais, therefore, resolved to
intervene in his behalf. He proposed to Vergennes that he should resume
the negotiations, which he hoped to bring to a successful issue. The
minister gave his consent and specified the conditions of the agreement.
With regard to the financial question, he directed Beaumarchais “to let
things take their course, so as to be in a position to dictate terms,”
adding: “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.”
[Illustration: MDLLE. D’EON “RIPOSTING”
_From a Contemporary Caricature_]
The settling of the amount of the indemnity was the most serious, but
not the only, difficulty. For d’Eon had actually claimed the right of
obtaining an audience of the King of England on taking leave. Vergennes
proved inflexible on that point: “It is impossible,” he wrote, “for
M. d’Eon to take leave of the King of England; the disclosure of his
sex renders such a thing unpermissible; it would be casting ridicule
upon the two courts. The substitution of a written attestation will
be a delicate matter; it may be granted, however, provided he remains
satisfied with the praise that his zeal, intelligence, and loyalty have
merited.” Relying on his instructions Beaumarchais had not much trouble
in convincing d’Eon, who himself was quite willing to come to terms. He
obtained a first sign of obedience, and thereupon hastened to proclaim
his victory to the minister:
Be that as it may, Monsieur le Comte, I believe I have severed
one of the heads of the English hydra. I place at your disposal
Captain d’Eon, a brave officer, an accomplished diplomatist,
and possessing all the virile qualities of manhood as far as
his head is concerned. He brings to the King the keys of an
iron safe, securely sealed with my own seal, and containing all
the papers it is necessary for the King to recover.
It was, indeed, an important result; but another was necessary, which
alone, in Vergennes’ opinion, could completely reassure the court in
preventing for ever any recurrence of the scandal. Since he was a
woman, d’Eon should declare the same officially, and wear in future the
attire of his real sex. The Chevalier was hardly prepared for the last
stipulation. He protested and entreated, but, seeing there was nothing
to be gained by further resistance, in the end he yielded; apprehending,
moreover, that he could not persist in his refusal without exciting
suspicions as to the reality of his presumed sex, which would spoil
everything. On October 7, 1775, Beaumarchais announced his victory to
the Minister for Foreign Affairs: “Written promises to be prudent do
not suffice to restrain one whose blood boils at the mere mention of de
Guerchy. The positive declaration of her sex, and her engagement to live
henceforth in female attire, are the only means of averting scandal and
misfortunes. I have been resolute in exacting this, and have succeeded.”
The semi-official negotiator had now come to a definite understanding
with the strange rebel who had kept in check the French ambassador, the
ministers, and the King himself. But it would seem that this affair
was destined to be extraordinary from beginning to end, and the climax
surpassed all that the most fertile imagination could conceive. In order
that he might ratify the agreement concluded between himself and d’Eon,
a kind of official character was conferred on Beaumarchais, who was
promoted, from the post of secret agent which he had hitherto filled,
to the rank of ambassador—ambassador to the Chevalière d’Eon. Invested
with full powers, as if the matter in question were the negotiation
of some important treaty, Beaumarchais signed, in the King’s name, a
covenant into which d’Eon entered, thus treating with his sovereign on
a footing of equality. The document, in its solemn form, is a comedy
unquestionably more brilliant than any that Beaumarchais ever composed;
but the merit is not due to the creator of _Figaro_, for only d’Eon could
enjoy to the full the humour of the situation. The complete text of this
unprecedented diplomatic deed runs as follows:—
We, the undersigned, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais,
specially entrusted with the private instructions of the King
of France, dated Versailles, August 25, 1775, communicated to
the Chevalier d’Eon in London, of which a copy certified by me
shall be appended to the present act, on the one part;
And Demoiselle Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-André-Timothée
d’Eon de Beaumont, spinster of age, hitherto known by the name
of the Chevalier d’Eon, squire, formerly captain of dragoons,
knight of the royal and military order of Saint Louis,
aide-de-camp to Marshal the Duc and to the Comte de Broglie,
minister plenipotentiary of France at the Court of Great
Britain, late doctor of civil law and of canon law, advocate in
the Parliament of Paris, Censor Royal for History and Belles
Lettres; sent to Russia with the Chevalier Douglas, for the
purpose of effecting the reconciliation of the two courts,
secretary of embassy to the Marquis de L’Hospital, ambassador
plenipotentiary of France at the court of her Imperial Majesty
of all the Russias, and secretary of Embassy to the Duc de
Nivernais, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from
France to England for the conclusion of the late peace, are
agreed upon what follows, and have hereunto subscribed our
names:
Art. I. That I, Caron de Beaumarchais, do require, in the
name of the King, that all official and private papers having
reference to the several political negotiations with which
the Chevalier d’Eon has been entrusted in England, notably
those concerning the peace of 1763, correspondence, minutes,
copies of letters, cyphers, etc., at present deposited with
Earl Ferrers, Peer of the Realm, and Admiral, of Upper Seymour
Street, Portman Square, London, ever a particular friend of
the said Chevalier d’Eon in the course of his misfortunes and
law-suits in England, that the said papers, enclosed in a
large iron safe of which I have the key, be delivered to me
after having been initialled by me and by the said Chevalier
d’Eon, and of which the inventory shall be added and appended
to the present act, as a proof that the said papers have been
faithfully delivered.
Art. II. That all papers of the secret correspondence between
the Chevalier d’Eon, the late King, and the several persons
entrusted by his Majesty to entertain that correspondence,
designated in the letters by the names deputy, solicitor,
in the same way in which his Majesty himself was styled the
counsellor, etc. ... which secret correspondence was concealed
beneath the flooring of the bed-chamber of the said Chevalier
d’Eon, whence it was withdrawn by him, on October 5 of the
present year, in my presence alone, being carefully sealed and
addressed: _To the King only, at Versailles_; that all the
copies of the said letters, minutes, cyphers, etc., shall be
delivered to me, likewise attested with initials, and with an
exact inventory, the said secret correspondence consisting of
five portfolios or thick volumes in quarto.
Art. III. That the said Chevalier d’Eon is to desist from every
kind of proceeding, judicial or personal, against the memory of
the late Comte de Guerchy, his adversary, the successors to his
title, the members of his family, etc., and undertakes never
to revive any such proceedings under whatsoever form, unless
he be forced thereto by judicial or personal provocation on
the part of some relative, friend, or adherent of that family;
for which there can no longer be any apprehension, his Majesty
having, in his wisdom, taken every necessary precaution to
prevent the recurrence, in the future, of any such unseemly
quarrels, whether on the one side or on the other.
Art. IV. And to the end that an insurmountable barrier be
for ever raised between the contending parties, and that
all ideas of law-suits or personal quarrels, no matter
whence they arise, be permanently nullified, I require,
in the name of his Majesty, that the disguise which has
to this day enabled a woman to pass for the Chevalier
d’Eon shall entirely cease, and without seeking to blame
Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon
de Beaumont for a concealment of condition and sex, the
responsibility of which rests entirely with her relatives,
and whilst rendering justice to the prudent, decorous, and
circumspect conduct she has at all times observed in the
dress of her adoption whilst preserving a manly and vigorous
bearing; I require, absolutely, that the ambiguity of her
sex, which has afforded inexhaustible material for gossip,
indecent betting, and idle jesting liable to be renewed,
especially in France, which her pride would not tolerate,
and which would give rise to fresh quarrels that could only
serve, perhaps, to palliate and revive former ones; I require,
absolutely, I say, in the name of the King, that the phantom
Chevalier d’Eon shall entirely disappear, and that the public
mind shall for ever be set at rest by a distinct, precise,
and unambiguous declaration, publicly made, of the true sex
of Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon de
Beaumont before she returns to France, and by her resumption of
female attire; with all of which she should the more readily
comply just now, considering how interesting she will appear
to both sexes, alike honoured by her life, her courage, and
her talents. Upon which conditions, I will deliver to her the
safe conduct on parchment, signed by the King and his Minister
for Foreign Affairs, which allows her to return to France and
there remain under the special and immediate protection of his
Majesty, who is desirous not only of according protection and
security under his royal word, but who is good enough to change
the yearly pension of 12,000 livres granted by the late King in
1766, which has been punctually paid to her to this day, into
a life-annuity of the same amount, with an acknowledgment that
the capital of the said annuity has already been provided and
advanced by the said Chevalier d’Eon in furthering the concerns
of the late King, _besides other larger sums, the total of
which will be remitted by me for the liquidation of her debts
in England_, with a copy on parchment of the deed for the said
annuity of 12,000 livres tournois, dated September 28, 1775.
And I, Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon
de Beaumont, hitherto known as the Chevalier d’Eon, as above
styled, submit to the whole of the above conditions imposed in
the name of the King, solely that I may afford to his Majesty
the greatest possible proofs of my respect and submission,
although it would have been far more agreeable to me had he
deigned to employ me again in his army or in the diplomatic
service, in compliance with my earnest solicitations and in
accordance with my seniority. And because, excepting some
exhibition of feeling, rendered in a measure excusable by a
legitimate and natural desire to defend myself and by the
most justifiable resentment, his Majesty is pleased to allow
that I have always conducted myself bravely as an officer,
and that I have been a laborious, intelligent, and discreet
political agent, I submit to declaring publicly my sex, to my
condition being established beyond a doubt, to resume and wear
female attire until death, unless, taking into consideration
my being so long accustomed to appear in uniform, his Majesty
will consent, on sufferance only, to my resuming male attire
should it become impossible for me to endure the embarrassment
of adopting the other, after having tried to accustom myself
to it at the _Abbaye-Royale_ of Bernardine Ladies of Saint
Antoine-des-Champs, Paris, or at any such other convent as I
might select, to which I wish to withdraw for some months on
arriving in France.
I declare that I entirely desist from all proceedings, judicial
or personal, against the memory of the late Comte de Guerchy
and his successors, promising never to renew them unless driven
to such a step by judicial proceedings, as above stated.
I further pledge my word of honour that I will deliver to M.
Caron de Beaumarchais all official and secret papers, whether
concerning the embassy or the aforesaid secret correspondence,
without reserving or retaining to myself a single document,
upon the following conditions, to which I entreat his Majesty’s
approval:—
1. Seeing that the letter of the late King, my most honoured
lord and master, dated Versailles, April 1, 1766, by which he
insured to me the annual pension of 12,000 livres until such
time as he should improve my position, is of no further service
to me so far as the said pension is concerned, which has been
changed, to my advantage, by the King his successor, into a
life-annuity of like amount—that the original letter should
remain in my possession as testimony of the honour the late
King deigned to bestow on my loyalty, my innocence, and my
irreproachable conduct during all my misfortunes, and in all
matters he deigned to confide to me, whether in Russia, whilst
serving in his army, or in England.
2. That the original receipt given to me in London on July
11, 1766, by M. Durand, minister plenipotentiary in England,
in exchange for the secret order of the late King, dated
Versailles, June 3, 1763, delivered to him by me, intact,
and of my own free-will, shall remain in my possession, as
authentic testimony of the complete submission with which I
surrendered the secret order in the own hand of the King my
master, which of itself justified my conduct in England, so
often described as being obstinacy by my enemies, and which, in
their ignorance of my extraordinary situation in relation to
the King, they have even dared to qualify as high treason.
3. That his Majesty will deign, as a special favour, to satisfy
himself at the expiration of every six months, as did the late
King, of my being alive and of my whereabouts, to prevent my
enemies from ever again being tempted to undertake anything to
the prejudice of my honour, my liberty, my person, and my life.
4. That the cross of Saint Louis, won by me at the peril of my
life, in combats, sieges, and battles in which I took part,
where I was wounded, and served as aide-de-camp to the general,
and as captain of dragoons and of volunteers in Marshal
Broglie’s army, with bravery to which all the generals under
whom I served have borne witness, shall never be taken from me,
and that the right to wear it on any garments I may adopt shall
be conceded to me for life.
And if I may be permitted to add a respectful demand to these
conditions, I would venture to observe that, at the moment I
am about to obey his Majesty in consenting to abandon for ever
my male attire, I am entirely destitute of everything—linen,
clothing, and apparel suited to my sex, and that I have no
money to procure even ordinary necessaries, M. de Beaumarchais
knowing well to whom the amount destined in part payment
of my debts is owing, and of which I do not wish to touch
one penny myself. Consequently, although I have no right to
expect further favours from his Majesty, I do not refrain from
soliciting at his hands the gift of a sum of money for the
purchase of my female outfit, this unexpected, extraordinary,
and compulsory expense not being my own idea, but solely in
obedience to his orders.
* * * * *
And I, Caron de Beaumarchais, still as afore styled, do leave
with the said Demoiselle d’Eon de Beaumont the original letter
conferring so much distinction, which the late King wrote to
her from Versailles, April 1, 1766, when granting her a pension
of 12,000 livres, in acknowledgment of faithful services.
I further leave with her M. Durand’s original document. Neither
of these papers can be taken from her by me without a severity
that would ill accord with the benevolent and equitable
intentions at present entertained by his Majesty towards the
said Demoiselle d’Eon de Beaumont. As to the cross of Saint
Louis, which she desires to retain with the right of wearing
it in female attire, I must admit that, notwithstanding the
extreme kindness with which his Majesty has deigned to trust
to my prudence, zeal, and intelligence in the conduct of
this affair, I am afraid I should be exceeding my powers in
determining so delicate a question.
Considering, on the other hand, that the cross of the royal
and military order of Saint Louis has ever been regarded
solely as the proof of, and reward for, valour, and that
several officers who were thus decorated, having abandoned the
military career for the church or the law, continued to wear
on their new garments this honourable evidence that they had
worthily performed their duties in a calling fraught with great
dangers; I do not think that there can be any objection to a
like indulgence being granted to a valorous maiden who, having
been brought up in male attire by her parents, and having
courageously fulfilled all the perilous duties imposed by the
profession of arms, may not have been aware of the impropriety
of adopting the attire in which she had been compelled to live,
until it became too late to change, and is therefore not in the
least to blame for not having done so until now.
Considering, also, that the rare example offered by this
extraordinary maiden is not likely to be followed by those
of her sex, and can have no consequences; that had Jeanne
d’Arc, who saved the throne and the states of Charles VII.,
fighting in male attire, obtained during the war, as has the
said Demoiselle d’Eon de Beaumont, some military reward or
other decoration, such as the cross of Saint Louis, it does
not appear that, her task being completed, the King would have
deprived her of the honourable reward for valour when requiring
her to resume the garments of her sex, nor that any chivalrous
French knight would have considered the distinction as being
profaned because it ornamented the breast and attire of a woman
who, on the field of battle, had ever shown herself worthy of
being a man.
I, therefore, venture to take it upon myself, not in
the capacity of envoy, lest I should abuse the power
confided to me, but as a man persuaded of the rectitude
of the principles I have just enunciated; I take it
upon myself, I say, to leave with the Demoiselle
Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon de
Beaumont the cross of Saint Louis, and liberty to wear it on
her female attire, without, however, its being understood that
I bind his Majesty to this act should he disapprove my conduct
on this point; promising only, in the event of any difficulty
arising, that I will plead with his Majesty on her behalf, and,
if necessary, establish her right thereto, which I believe to
be legitimate, with all the power of my pen and the strength of
my heart.
With regard to the request made by the said Demoiselle d’Eon
de Beaumont to the King, for a sum of money to enable her
to procure a female outfit—although such a matter is not
included in my instructions, I will not delay taking it into
consideration, such an outlay being, as a fact, the necessary
consequence of the instructions of which I am the bearer, to
the effect that she is to assume the garments of her sex. I
therefore allow her, for the purchase of a female outfit, a sum
of 2000 crowns, on condition that she will not carry away with
her from London any of her clothing, arms, or any male apparel,
lest the desire to wear them should at any time be stimulated
by the sight of them. I consent to her retaining one complete
suit of uniform of the regiment in which she has served, the
helmet, sabre, pistols, musket, and bayonet, as souvenirs of
her past life, just as are preserved the relics of loved ones
now no more. Everything else will be given up to me in London,
to be sold, the proceeds to be disposed of in such way as his
Majesty may direct.
And this act has been made out in duplicate, between
us, Pierre-Augustin-Caron de Beaumarchais, and
Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-Andrée-Timothée d’Eon de
Beaumont, under private seal, giving to it, on one side and the
other, the whole force and assent of which it is susceptible,
and we have, each of us, affixed the seals of our arms, in
London, the fifth day of October, 1775.
(Signed) CARON DE BEAUMARCHAIS.
D’EON DE BEAUMONT.
The safe deposited with Lord Ferrers was opened and d’Eon added to
the bundle of papers five boxes which he had kept hidden beneath his
flooring, securely sealed and directed: _Secret papers to be given
to the King only...._ “I began by taking an inventory of them,” says
Beaumarchais, who narrates this incident, “and affixed my initials to
each sheet so that none could be abstracted; but, to make quite sure that
they completed the collection, I hastily glanced through them.”
D’Eon did not omit to inform his former chief of his transformation. On
December 5, 1775, he wrote to the Comte de Broglie:
MONSIEUR LE COMTE.—It is time to undeceive you. For a captain
of dragoons, and aide-de-camp in war and politics, you have had
but the semblance of a man. I am only a maiden who would have
perfectly well sustained my part until death, had not politics
and your enemies rendered me the most unfortunate of women, as
you will see by the enclosed documents....
I am respectfully, Monsieur le Comte, your most humble and most
obedient servant,