Transcriber’s Note: The original publication has been replicated
faithfully except as shown in the Transcriber’s Amendments at the end of
the text. Words in italics are indicated like _this_. But the publisher
also wanted to emphasize items in sentences already italicized, so he
printed them in the regular font which is indicated like this: _The
pirates then went to +Hispaniola+._ Superscripts are indicated like this:
M^r Caron de Beaumarchais. Footnotes are located near the end of the
Historical Introduction chapter.
* * * * *
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Portrait of Beaumarchais, by Nattier, 1765]
BEAUMARCHAIS
_And the War of
American Independence_
BY
ELIZABETH S. KITE
_Diplôme d’instruction Primaire-Supérieure, Paris, 1905
Member of the Staff of the Vineland Research Laboratory_
WITH A FOREWORD BY
JAMES M. BECK
_Author of “The Evidence in the Case”_
TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME ONE
ILLUSTRATED
[Illustration]
BOSTON
RICHARD G. BADGER
THE GORHAM PRESS
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY RICHARD G. BADGER
All Rights Reserved
Made in the United States of America
The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A.
TO THE MEMORY OF
MY BROTHER
“_We have been surprised that no descendant of Beaumarchais was invited to
represent France at the unveiling of that Statue of Liberty, upon the
pedestal of which his name would not be out of place by the side of that
of Lafayette. Since 1870 Mr. Bigelow has invited his compatriots to ask
themselves seriously if they have done their whole duty towards the memory
of Beaumarchais._”
E. Lintilhac.
“_Beaumarchais et ses oeuvres_,”
Paris, 1887.
FOREWORD
If “good wine needs no bush” and a “good play needs no epilogue,”--and we
have high authority for both these maxims,--then it should also be true
that a good book needs no prologue, especially where, as in the case of
_Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence_, the author has
prefaced a valuable contribution to history by a scholarly and effective
introduction.
Notwithstanding this, it gives me pleasure to introduce Miss Elizabeth S.
Kite’s work to the American public by a tribute to its value as a timely
contribution alike to the truth of history and the spirit of patriotism.
In these “times that try men’s souls,” the latter consideration may be the
more important.
The historic tie, which binds together the two great Republics (France and
the United States) in, please God, an indissoluble alliance, cannot be too
constantly emphasized at this time.
It is difficult for America to play the full part, which it should play in
the present world tragedy of supreme interest, unless its people have a
conscious sense of their vital interest in the great issues of the titanic
struggle. Unfortunately our century-old policy of isolation has until
recent months given them a somewhat provincial view of world politics. The
balance of power and similar questions, which were primarily of European
origin and interest, but which vitally affect the whole world in these
days, when Civilization is unified by the centripetal ties of steam and
electricity, were until recent months only of academic interest to the
average American, who like Gallio, “cared for none of these things.” The
result was that at the beginning of the world war, the average American
felt that we were not as a nation concerned with the causes of the
quarrel, and to this narrow and apathetic attitude is to be justly
attributed America’s temporary infidelity to its noblest ideals and vital
interests for a period of nearly three years. Fortunately, this policy of
narrowing isolation is at an end. President Wilson’s epoch-making message
of January 9, 1918, dealt with world-wide problems from a cosmopolitan
attitude that would have been impossible less than twelve months ago. The
transformation of America from a politically hermit nation to _a_, if not
_the_, leading world power has been amazing in its swiftness.
Even at the beginning of the world crisis, one circumstance gave America a
partial, although an inadequate, appreciation that America had a direct
relation to the issues of the world war. It was the instinctive feeling
that the American people owed something to its ancient ally, France. It
was not that the average American believed that France’s interests were
our interests, but a subconscious feeling of gratitude stirred America’s
emotions and slowly developed an ever-growing sentiment that America could
not stand idly by, when its ancient ally was in danger of destruction as a
world power.
The submarine peril gave to America a practical interest in the war, but
as it affected only a small portion of the nation, the denial of our
rights on the high seas did not have an appeal to the American people,
which, of itself, would have reconciled them to the inevitable sacrifices
of the war. In the soul of America, there was always a deeper, even if a
subconscious feeling, which powerfully moved her emotions and sympathies;
and that feeling was one of deep solicitude for the great nation, which,
in our hour of peril, had come to our relief and whose destruction as a
beneficent world force would have been an irreparable disaster to
Civilization. This feeling of gratitude--and republics are not always
ungrateful--was powerfully stimulated by the admiration with which we
witnessed the heroism of France in beating back a more powerful invader on
the Marne, and later in the titanic struggle at Verdun, and on the Somme.
This factor in America’s epoch-making departure from its traditional
policy of isolation would have been even greater had the average American
known sufficient of his own history to realize the full measure of his
country’s obligation to France. It is an extraordinary fact that the
average American has scant knowledge of his own history, with the
exception of the few basic and elementary facts which are taught in the
schools. As a very practical people we are more interested in the living
present and the future, and are too little concerned with our past. If the
American reads history at all, he is more apt to study the Napoleonic
wars, which always have had a fascinating interest for Americans because
of the dramatic features of Napoleon’s career, and because in his earlier
career he represented the democratic principle of the “career open to
talent”.
If this lack of knowledge of American history were not so, this book would
not be as much of a revelation to the average American, as I am confident
it will be. I venture to say that not one in a hundred Americans ever
heard of Beaumarchais as one of the earliest and most effective friends of
the Colonies in their epic struggle for independence.
The writer of this foreword studied the facts, which are so effectively
and attractively narrated in this volume, some years ago; and although he
always had been from early boyhood a student of history, the facts were
then new to him and came with the force of a revelation. Since then, I
have taken occasion to make many inquiries among educated Americans, and
found few who had any adequate knowledge of the facts narrated in this
book.
I have made a number of addresses on the same subject, which Miss Kite has
so fully and ably treated, and I have found few in any audience, even of
educated Americans, to whom the story of Beaumarchais did not come as a
new and almost incredible chapter in history.
In my book, _The War and Humanity_, in discussing America’s lack of vision
and the failure of its colleges and universities to teach adequately to
the American youth their own history, I took occasion to say that if the
ten most brilliant students of the senior classes of the ten leading
universities were asked the simple question, “How did aid first come to
America from France” that not five per cent could answer the question
correctly. I referred to the secret aid which Beaumarchais secured for the
armies of Washington, without which the American Revolution might have
ended in a fiasco before Dr. Franklin reached Paris in his quest for such
aid.
The great diplomat’s services in France in securing the formal alliance of
1778, and the immense prestige which he there enjoyed, have served to
obscure the inestimable services of his predecessors in the great work,
like Beaumarchais and Silas Deane. For it is true beyond question that
before Dr. Franklin ever left America on his great mission, France was
secretly aiding the Colonies, and that no one was more responsible for
that aid than the distinguished author of _The Barber of Seville_ and _The
Marriage of Figaro_. All that the average American knows of the subject is
that Dr. Franklin was well received in France, and that after the battle
of Saratoga, the French Government decided to enter into a formal alliance
with America; and sent to Washington its armies and navies under
Rochambeau and De Grasse, and that among the chivalrous volunteers was
Lafayette, a household name in every American home. Without depreciating
the chivalrous services of the knightly Marquis, his contribution to the
foundation of the American nation from a practical standpoint was less
than that of Beaumarchais; but while Lafayette’s name is lisped with
affectionate gratitude by every American child, the names of America’s
earlier friends in France, like Beaumarchais and the great foreign
Minister, Vergennes, are almost unknown.
Had Beaumarchais’s services in sending arms and munitions to Washington’s
army, when they were so imperatively needed, been better known, there
might have been a less dangerous agitation in the American Congress for an
embargo on the shipment of arms and munitions to France in those earlier
days of the present war, when France stood at a great disadvantage with
its powerful adversary by reason of its comparative lack of equipment.
It is this circumstance that makes Miss Kite’s book a valuable
contribution to the cause of patriotism. Every American who reads it will
have a deeper sense of obligation to France; and in the trying days that
are coming to America, this inestimable debt to France requires
restatement, and this book thus renders a timely and patriotic service.
Apart from this consideration, Miss Kite’s book is a very interesting
contribution to the portrait gallery of biography. It tells us of one of
the most fascinating personalities that history has ever known. It reads
like a romance of Dumas. Indeed, I always think of Beaumarchais as a
D’Artagnan in the flesh. If the facts were not so well authenticated they
would be regarded as the wildest romance.
Beaumarchais was a true child of the Renaissance. I sometimes think that
in the lengthening vista of the centuries to come, the Renaissance--that
indeterminate period--will be regarded as having ended with the coming of
the steamship and the railroad. Until the dawn of the present industrial
era, men still differed but slightly from the wonderful children of the
golden Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci was reincarnated in Benjamin
Franklin. The stupendous genius of such men as Da Vinci and Michael Angelo
can have no parallel in present times, for the industrial era is the age
of specialization.
Similarly Beaumarchais was an Eighteenth Century reincarnation of
Benvenuto Cellini, and like him, was a strange mixture of genius and
adventurer. Unlike Cellini, Beaumarchais with all his failings had a
certain nobility of character, which will endear him to all, who follow in
this notable biography his extraordinary career.
In some respects a camoufleur, he yet played the part of a hero throughout
his trying and arduous career, and rendered a great service to the coming
of the democratic era. As a litterateur, he was as brilliant as Richard
Brinsley Sheridan; as a publicist, he was another Junius; as a financier,
something of a Harriman; as a secret emissary of the French Government,
something of a Sherlock Holmes; as a diplomat, as clever as Talleyrand.
A farseeing statesman, he was one of the extraordinary characters of an
extraordinary era. His influence in precipitating the French Revolution
was recognized by Napoleon himself, when he said that the memorials of
Beaumarchais in his great struggle against the corrupt judiciary of
France, which in their destructive force are nothing under-valued to the
polemics of Junius, was “the Revolution in action.”
There is no need to commend Miss Kite’s book to the reader, for even
though she had not treated an exceptionally interesting subject with
literary skill, yet the subject matter is of such fascinating interest
that the story tells itself.
The only limitation will be that the average reader, because of the
intensely dramatic character of the story, will wonder whether the book is
romance or fiction. It is only necessary to refer such doubters to the
French archives where it will be found that all that Miss Kite has told is
as well authenticated as any biography, and thus again the ancient adage
is vindicated that “truth is stranger than fiction.”
JAMES M. BECK.
PREFACE
In 1905 while in London I availed myself of the opportunity to attend the
courses in general history given by the late Dr. Emil Reich at various
educational centers--Gresham College, the Polytechnique, the University of
London, etc. The originality and force of his method of teaching attracted
me strongly, though the desire to be able to reply to his attacks upon the
people of my own country was the most powerful incentive that led me to
follow him to every corner of London where his courses were given.
The most frequently reiterated accusation made against Americans was that
of ingratitude, as shown by our utterly ignoring the services of
Beaumarchais in the cause of American Independence. This made me
indignant.
Having studied United States history since my childhood and being familiar
with almost everything written on the subject, I naturally asked myself if
it were possible that this man, whose name I knew only in connection with
French literature, had any conspicuous part to play in the securing of our
independence. The idea seemed to me as absurd and impossible as it was
novel.
For nine months I listened to these accusations without the slightest
change in my attitude and without even a dawning of real interest in the
subject so frequently referred to. Then I went to Paris to complete a
three months’ course of study. On my return I again took up general
history under Dr. Reich. It so fell out, that his first lecture was upon
the American Revolution. It was most illuminating. This time he approached
the subject directly and without any remarks offensive to American pride.
Before he had finished, I found myself wondering where I could learn more
in regard to a matter which seemed to be very interesting. The next day,
following his advice, I went to the British Museum, where to my amazement
I found so many volumes in French, German, and Italian, and also some
English translations, all dealing with this subject, that I was compelled
to admit that America did seem to be alone in her ignorance of all that
France had done for her. Moreover, as I turned and returned the pages of
that monumental work of H. Doniol’s, _La Participation de la France dans
L’établissement des Etats-Unis_, and read or glanced over the memoirs of
Beaumarchais to the king and to his ministers, and their replies, I
realized that Dr. Reich had known very well what he was saying and that
what he said was true.
Under his direction then, this book was compiled--for it claims to be very
little else than a bringing together of the documentary material bearing
upon the subject, and so arranged as to make a continuous story. But this
“bringing together” soon came to be a labor of love, for I found like
Gudin, that it was impossible to know Beaumarchais intimately and to
appreciate him only moderately.
But in 1906, when I left London, the time was not ripe for the production
of the work, because the attitude of the American public was very much
like my own during those few months when the subject was first brought to
my attention. It was laid aside, and I waited. In the twelve years that
have intervened, I occasionally have drawn forth a few chapters to read to
a group of friends, whose interest has always assured me that some day the
American Public would be ready to meet “their friend”--as Beaumarchais
always styled himself in regard to them.
Finally in the fall of 1916 I received, through Miss Adelaide Fitch of the
Hannah Arnett Chapter of the D. R.’s of Vineland, New Jersey, an
invitation to speak upon this subject before that body. Without doubt a
very real interest was awakened among my hearers and as a result of such
encouragement I confided to Miss Fitch my entire manuscript, which I had
not read myself in ten years, and with her I continued, during the winter
that followed, to live over again the joys of my first discovery of
America’s “Friend.” When the French Commission arrived in the United
States in April, 1917, public interest began rapidly to center in France.
Her aid to America was no longer a matter of indifference. The time seemed
ripe and so the work was prepared for publication.
My thanks are here tendered to the many friends who have aided me by their
interest or by their practical help--first, to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Fels in
whose hospitable London home the work was begun; to Fraulein Hedwig
Appell, whose sympathetic interest brightened many a dark hour in those
far off London days; to Miss Mary Starbuck of Nantucket, Massachusetts,
whose intelligent criticisms often have been of great value; to my nephews
Joshua A. Cope and St. Alban Kite, to Miss Adelaide Fitch, Miss Eleanor
Gray, Miss Jane Griffiths, Miss Flora Otis, Mrs. H. S. Wood--all of whose
friendly reassurances have kept the embers glowing under the ashes of
deferred hope. Among the many others who have aided directly or indirectly
in the preparation of the book I would thank Mr. Joseph P. Byers, Madame
Schwaar and Mademoiselle Schwaar of Philadelphia; Dr. Henry H. Goddard,
Dr. C. T. Jones of Vineland, New Jersey; and the Religious of the Cenacle,
New York, and of the Sacred Heart and of the Holy Child Jesus,
Philadelphia, whose interest and prayers have constantly followed the
work.
Morton, Pa., ELIZABETH S. KITE.
May 1, 1918.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Foreword 9
By Hon. James M. Beck.
Preface 17
Historical Introduction 27
CHAPTER I
Early life--Trained by his Father to the Trade of Watchmaker--
Invents an Escapement for Watches--First Lawsuit--_Horloger
du Roi_--Enters the Court of Versailles as _Contrôleur
clerc d’office_--First Marriage--Assumes the name of
Beaumarchais--Death of his Wife--Becomes Music Master to
the Princesses of France--Attracts the Attention of Paris
du Verney 43