The Secret Correspondence established by Louis XV. in 1750-1752, originally for the purpose of gratifying the Prince de Conti’s ambition for sovereignty, in the interests of Poland, and of securing the alliance and co-operation of several of the smaller Powers, against the aggression of Austria and Russia, proved, in course of years, of inestimable benefit to the King, personally. Insuperable timidity, and the consciousness of a lack of self-confidence, were weaknesses that ill-befitted an absolute monarch, for Louis XV. could never summon courage to confront his ministers. The Chevalier D’Eon de Beaumont very tersely portrays the besetting sin of his sovereign, where he describes it as a deficiency in the needed strength of character to control, as became a king, his ministers and ambassadors, all of whom he mistrusted and avoided, making reparation in secret for the follies they committed publicly. ‘Après nous le déluge’ are the well-known words of comfort offered by the Marquise de Pompadour, into whose hands the direction of affairs was lapsing, when seeing the King sorely oppressed with grief upon learning the news of the disaster at Rosbach; and perhaps it is true that the secret correspondence, of the existence of which the favourite was entirely ignorant, was useful in averting the coming storm during the term of his reign. Selfish and self-indulgent almost beyond conception, Louis XV. had no spirit to grapple with difficulties where they presented themselves, except in regard to the relations of France with Foreign Powers, when he could perfectly well rouse himself to action; not openly, lest the views of his ministers should be in opposition to his desires, but covertly and frequently to their confusion. It was the duty of the secret agents at the several capitals of Europe, who were always connected in some way with his Embassies, to keep his Majesty informed of all that was passing, and it became his custom to instruct them to bring about the realisation of his policy, regardless of the directions of his ministers. Louis XV. took an interest and a delight in foreign affairs, therefore to him the secret correspondence had its uses; otherwise—it was leading to destruction.
One of the earliest and most remarkable of the King’s secret agents, for his employment as such dated from the year 1754 or 1755, was D’Eon de Beaumont, who, as a diplomatist, evinced spirit equal to that of Lord Whitworth under circumstances that have passed into history, and exhibited much of the bravery and daring of the famous Hugh Elliot, without, however, the similar advantage of being enabled to deal all his blows by the light of day, his training from youth having been in the direction rather of intrigue.
Since no history of Louis XV. can have any pretensions to completeness if the name of D’Eon de Beaumont be excluded, it is not a little surprising that the individual acts, as well as the official services of so extraordinary a personage have never been brought together before the world. This blank the author endeavours to fill.
In 1836, Gaillardet published a memoir of the Chevalier D’Eon, meretricious and spurious in its details, which speedily reached a second edition, and attained a popularity that caused it to be pirated and reproduced, very extensively, in ‘Un Hermaphrodite,’ Louis Jourdan indiscreetly lending his name for its authorship! Although Gaillardet announced that his book was produced out of material supplied by the D’Eon family at Tonnerre, its contents proved to be in great measure scandalous fabrications. Feeling himself, as he advanced in years, called upon to make some kind of reparation, this author gave, in 1866, a new edition under the title ‘Mémoires sur la Chevalière D’Eon. La Vérité sur les Mystères de sa Vie,’ in the preface to which, styled ‘Un Acte de Contrition, &c.,’ he candidly avows that his first edition was in great part a fiction. In this later edition Gaillardet reproduces, together with other interesting matter, numerous documents that are preserved at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where, by rare good fortune, he obtained permission to search the archives; and that so distinguished an academician as the Duke de Broglie (familiar to Englishmen as having been first minister in the Conservative days of the French Republic), as well as other well-known authors, should have availed themselves of this work, may be accepted as sufficient guarantee of its worth and reliability. As becomes a conscientious biographer, Gaillardet allows the documents he produces to speak for themselves, without himself undertaking to pass judgment on his subject; a safe course adopted in the following pages, where scrupulous care is taken to authenticate all that is adduced.
In his engaging work, ‘Le Secret du Roi,’ the Duke de Broglie treats at some length on the part taken by D’Eon in the secret correspondence of Louis XV. Unhappily, the Duke seems desirous of avenging the agony of mind his ancestor the Count de Broglio must have endured, upon certain occasions of the threatening attitude assumed by the Chevalier, and he evidently finds it impossible to forgive the Minister Plenipotentiary, D’Eon, for being more clever, abler, and readier-witted than the French Ambassador with whom it was his misfortune to be connected; for his Grace takes frequent occasion to traduce him, and calls attention to his ‘assertions mensongères,’ without clearly substantiating the grave charges—a hard measure where the person assailed is beyond the possibility of vindicating the accusation. The fact is that D’Eon related unpleasant truths, and exposed startling facts, as will be manifested in due course.
Few persons, in all probability, have left behind them so much matter in MS. as did the Chevalier D’Eon, if we except perhaps the Duke of Berwick and the noted Saint-Simon, of whom Chateaubriand said: ‘... il avait heureusement un tour à lui; il écrivit à la diable pour l’immortalité.’ Like Saint-Simon, the Chevalier sketched admirable portraits, and like Saint-Simon too, he commenced in early youth to write his impressions, keeping to himself, through life, all he had written. There is evidence, amongst the papers the author has consulted, that D’Eon never contemplated an autobiography. ‘It has ever been my opinion,’ he wrote, ‘and I am even persuaded, that it is impossible for an author to write a just history of his own life; for he is either lifted to the height of vanity by pride so inseparable from the human heart, or else feigned modesty debases him to hypocritical humility. There are, at Versailles, public depôts of the Ministries for War and for Foreign Affairs, and Louis XV. has left his private papers of the Secret Correspondence. It is there that the faithful historian should seek the truth if he has the courage to tell it.’ Unfortunately, there is reason for apprehending that many MSS., some of consequence, are lost. Père Elisée, the Chevalière’s medical attendant, had a large number of his papers, which were seen in the possession of M. Nicolas de Chenart, about the years 1824-1828, by a correspondent, in ‘Notes and Queries.’ They may now possibly form a part or the whole of the collection of D’Eon MSS. at the British Museum, and at Tonnerre where they are numerous. Another large portion passed into the hands of Mr. Christie, to whom the Chevalière was indebted for many favours. The first and last of these collections have been well sifted by the author, the chief difficulty experienced being the making a judicious selection. It was quite possible to have enlarged on the acts and writings of the Chevalier or Chevalière D’Eon, by the introduction of additional portraits, anecdotes, and letters of interest, but—happy is the biographer who escapes the charge of tedious prolixity! The author feels that although the material at his disposal has been greatly condensed, the thread of the narrative is maintained in its completeness, without the omission of any incident of importance in the life of the most singular and of one of the most extraordinary individuals of the last century.
There can be no exaggeration in the assertion that the life of the Chevalier or Chevalière D’Eon de Beaumont is unique in the history of the world. At any rate, the author is prepared to confess his ignorance of any record of its equal.
Cases of females having occupied the position of men, whether for a limited period or during their entire existence, are without number, striking instances of both, within the recollection of the present generation, being those of Captain (Marie Jeanne) Dubois, who served in Napoleon’s Russian campaign, and of a medical officer in the service of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, who have passed away of late years. Upon the other hand, few men have disguised themselves as females, the most notable example of the kind, perhaps, being that afforded by the Comtesse des Barres, who for thirty years led a dissolute and discreditable life, but was perfectly well known to be the Abbé de Choisy. The biographer of this creature, Thoulier d’Olivet, says of him: ‘But what sort of a hero is he whose portrait I am to describe? A Court Abbé? ... what do I say? A Court Abbé! A coquette who had one thousand times greater taste for beauty spots and ribbons, one thousand times more the desire to please, than any professional coquette. It may be said that Nature made a mistake, and that it was her intention to create a female;’ then, quoting a lady’s estimate of the Abbé: ‘... male or female, ever carrying matters to extremes, whether absorbed in studies or in trifles. Deserving of esteem, because of undaunted courage, contemptible because of the coquetry of a young maiden, and in whichever character, at all times engaged in the pursuit of pleasure.’ The Chevalier D’Eon, whose ambiguity of sex was suggested in infancy and maintained until death, cannot be classed with either of the above. Female or male, D’Eon appeared as either in obedience to command, having done good service to King and Country, and we have the authority of John Britton, who was in the habit of meeting the Chevalière almost daily, during a period of three years, that she was respectable and respected, and of refined manners. The uncertainty of her sex occupied every mind. In branding the tale of Pope Joan as being false and deserving the name, Gibbon shows himself to be at fault with regard to D’Eon. ‘... I would not pronounce it (the tale) incredible. Suppose a famous French chevalier of our own times to have been born in Italy, and educated in the Church instead of in the army; her merit or fortune might have raised her to St. Peter’s chair; her amours would have been natural....’
D’Eon’s immediate ancestors were in the habit, it would appear, of writing their family name, Déon. Upon being accredited Resident, and afterwards Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Great Britain, Louis XV. was pleased to distinguish the Chevalier’s name by substituting E for e, changing Déon to D’Eon, orthography the author has observed with reference to the Chevalier. Late in life, the Chevalière wrote her name, occasionally d’Eon, at other times D’eon, until the French Revolution, when, for a season, her signature appears as Déon, bearing the prefix, La Citoyenne Geneviève.
In concluding these introductory remarks, the author has one pleasant duty left, that of offering his acknowledgments to Mr. James H. B. Christie, of Framingham, Norwich, and King Street, St. James’, and of expressing his obligations to that gentleman for the liberality and freedom with which he has been permitted to consult the interesting MSS., short of which it would have been simply impossible to produce, in its present form, the account of this Strange Career.
London, December, 1884.