D’Eon surrenders the King’s papers—Earl Ferrers’ share in their custody—Covenant between Beaumarchais and D’Eon, who receives permission to return to France—and is ordered to resume female attire.
The next few weeks were employed in arranging the terms of that Covenant by which D’Eon irrevocably bound himself to renounce his style as a man, and appear for ever thereafter in the character of a female, that being the sex to which he more properly belonged. During this interval also the iron safe was opened, and its contents declared by Beaumarchais to be far from meriting the importance attached to them. D’Eon insisted, on the contrary, that they were very precious, including, as they did, the earliest instructions supplied to the Duke de Nivernois on his proceeding to England; the earliest despatches of that minister giving the secret details of the negotiations for peace; and the family pact of the House of Bourbon, together with the secret convention—the whole of which were made up into four bundles; but he admitted that the papers of the greatest consequence were not in the iron safe at all. To produce these he took Beaumarchais to his residence, led him into his bedroom, and from beneath the flooring withdrew four parcels securely sealed and directed: Secret papers to be given to the King only, which, he avowed, completed the collection. D’Eon then drew up a list of the whole, in detail, Beaumarchais affixing his initials and a numeral to each sheet as he hastily perused it.
In conferring with Lord Ferrers, whose name appeared on D’Eon’s list as one of his principal creditors, Beaumarchais shrewdly observed that either the debt owed to him was imaginary, or his debtor had been imposing upon him, by obtaining large sums of money on the security of papers held to be of considerable importance, but which papers had never really been consigned to him, they having been concealed in his own residence. To this Lord Ferrers replied that he regretted Beaumarchais should seek to create a breach between his friend the Chevalier and himself—he little cared to which sex he belonged—as he valued him for the spirit he showed and for his virtues. He had not been deceived, he said, on the nature of the papers in the iron safe, represented to have been State papers, and having seen the inventory of them, signed by Beaumarchais himself, he was more than ever convinced of the Chevalier’s honesty and truthfulness, such papers being all he could have desired as security for his money. Even had his creditor died, he might have easily recovered what was owed to him, for the Court of France, or at any rate, the British Court, would have paid ten times the sum he claimed, rather than that publicity should be given to their contents. He was surprised, he added, at the dishonourable treatment by the French Court and its ministers of so extraordinary a person as the Chevalier D’Eon, who had worthily served his country, and yet had been so badly used.
Defending himself against the charge of having deceived Lord Ferrers, D’Eon says:—
‘M. de Beaumarchais makes me aver, upon his own private authority, what I never thought of or said. When I deposited the iron safe with his lordship he never even asked to see the outside coverings of the papers. He trusted entirely to my word when I declared to him that it contained State papers, and the detailed list signed by M. de Beaumarchais has proved to his lordship that I told the truth.... I know how to conduct myself abroad, and especially amongst the natural enemies of France, with the prudence and policy acquired by long experience and a residence of twenty-two years in foreign lands. Mine was consequently an act of wisdom and prudence, in not revealing to an admiral, an English peer allied to the royal family, the fact of my holding secret correspondence with the King, and that the said voluminous correspondence was hidden beneath the flooring of my bed-chamber. It was for me alone to know this, and that the papers were near a mine of gunpowder which would have blown all into the air had any attempt been made to drive me out of my last retrenchment. How can M. de Beaumarchais distinguish by the name of deceit the reticence I have necessarily observed towards everybody except himself, coming to me as he did, in behalf of the King and of his minister? Should he not rather blush at having betrayed to an English nobleman, through a feeling of revenge, my secret, which was that of the late King, who commanded me not to breathe a word thereon to any living soul? But M. de Beaumarchais thinks that all secrets, even the most important of State secrets, are but green-room secrets.’[297]
In the Covenant[298] between Beaumarchais and D’Eon, settling the terms for the surrender of the King’s papers, and the return of the latter to France, the emendations and alterations, as they appear in footnotes, are written in the Chevalier’s hand.
‘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, and of which a copy certified by me shall be annexed 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 Duke and to the Count de Broglio, minister plenipotentiary from 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 effecting the reconciliation of the two Courts, secretary of Embassy to the Marquis de l’Hôpital, ambassador plenipotentiary from France at the Court of her Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, and secretary of Embassy to the Duke de Nivernois, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from France to England for the conclusion of the late peace, are agreed upon what follows, and have 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, &c., at present deposited with Lord Ferrers, Earl, Peer, and Admiral, of Upper Seymour Street, Portman Square, London, ever a particular friend of the said Chevalier D’Eon in the course of his troubles 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 annexed 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—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, the cyphers, &c., shall be delivered to me, equally 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 Count de Guerchy, his adversary, the successors to his title, the members of his family, &c., 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 be no longer 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 female to pass for the Chevalier D’Eon, shall entirely cease, and without seeking to blame Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-André-Timothée D’Eon de Beaumont for a concealment of condition and sex, the responsibility of which rests entirely with her relatives,[299] 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 his pride would not tolerate, and which would give rise to fresh quarrels that could only serve, perhaps, to palliate and renew 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-André-Timothée D’Eon de Beaumont before she returns to France—her resumption of female attire settling for ever the public mind with regard to her; with all of which she should the more readily comply just now,[300] considering how interesting she will appear to both sexes, all being in like manner honoured by the incidents of 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, and which has been paid to her punctually to this day, into a life-annuity of the same amount, with an acknowledgement that the capital for 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,[301] 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-André-Timothée D’Eon de Beaumont, spinster of age, 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 from a legitimate and natural desire to defend oneself, and the most justifiable resentment, his Majesty is pleased to allow that, as an officer, I have always behaved with bravery, 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[302] 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 the 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 relinquish all proceedings, judicial or personal, to the prejudice of the late Count de Guerchy and of his successors, promising never to renew them unless forced 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 above said 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 troubles, 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,[303] in exchange for the secret order of the late King, dated Versailles, June 3, 1763, delivered by me to him, intact, and of my own free-will, shall remain in my possession, as authentic testimony of the complete submission with which I gave up the secret order in the own hand of the King my master, which of itself justified the course of 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 Broglio’s army, with bravery to which all those 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 being well aware who is to receive the amount destined in part payment of my debts, and of which I do not wish to touch one sou. 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 uniquely in obedience to his orders.”
‘And I, Caron de Beaumarchais, still as above styled, I 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 awarding her a pension of twelve thousand 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 harshness 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 exceeding 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 uniquely 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 greater 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 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 guerdon 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 dress of a female 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 quality 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, &c. 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 in 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 2,000 crowns, on condition that she will not bring 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-Augusta-André-Timothée D’Eon de Beaumont, under private seal, giving to it, on one side and the other, the most complete force and assent, and we have, each of us, affixed the seals of our arms, in London, the fifth day of October, 1775.[304]
‘(Signed) Caron de Beaumarchais.
‘D’Eon de Beaumont.’
When the wording of this Covenant had been first agreed upon, Beaumarchais went to Staunton Harold, paid a large portion of the sum presumably owing to Lord Ferrers, then left for France, returning almost immediately, bringing with him three warrants the production of which was indispensable to the signing of the Covenant no longer delayed, and effected on November 4. Those warrants, all bearing the same date, we reproduce in full—the first confers on Beaumarchais full powers to negotiate with D’Eon for the surrender of the official and secret correspondence of Louis XV.—the second grants permission to D’Eon to return to France—the third requires the Demoiselle D’Eon to reassume female attire, the right to wear the cross of Saint Louis being at the same time conceded to her.
I.
In the King’s Name.
‘His Majesty being informed that there are in the possession of the Sieur D’Eon de Beaumont sundry papers relating to secret negotiations and correspondence with the late King, his most honoured grandfather, and with some of his Ministers of State, and it being his Majesty’s desire that these papers should be withdrawn, he has to this end empowered and commissioned by these presents the Sieur Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais to proceed to London, there to discover all the documents in question, to withdraw them out of the hands or custody of whoever may have them, to take charge of them, to bring them to France, and to deliver them for his Majesty. His Majesty authorises the Sieur Caron de Beaumarchais to make all such arrangements and dispositions as he may deem necessary, with the view of enforcing all the conditions that prudence will suggest, for the complete execution of the commission confided to him, his Majesty being pleased to trust to his intelligence and zeal in this matter. And as assurance of his will, his Majesty has of his own hand signed the present order, which he has caused to be countersigned by me, Councillor, Secretary of State for his commands and finance.
‘Louis.
‘(Signed) Gravier de Vergennes.’
‘At Versailles, August 25, 1775.’
To a certified copy of the above warrant was appended the following affirmation:—
‘And upon the 4th day of November, 1775, all minutes and the original ministerial correspondence during the embassage of the Duke de Nivernois, and during the ministry of the Chevalier D’Eon; the despatches, letters, memorandums, notes and instructions of the Dukes de Choiseul and de Praslin, and of the Ministers of the English Court, as well as the minutes of the correspondence between the Chevalier D’Eon and the King, Louis XV., from 1762 to 1774, have been faithfully delivered to me.[305]
‘Caron de Beaumarchais.’
II.
In the King’s Name.
‘His Majesty having been pleased to cause information to be laid before him of the different commissions, both public and private, which the late King, his most honoured grandfather, heretofore most graciously confided for his service, as well in Russia as in England and other places, to Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-André-Timothée D’Eon de Beaumont, and of the manner in which he executed them, as also of the said D’Eon de Beaumont’s military service, his Majesty was convinced that, as an officer and as a minister, in politics, in war, and upon every occasion, he has given such indisputable proofs of attachment to his country, and of zeal for the King’s service, as render him worthy of the protection which his Majesty is pleased to grant him; and his said Majesty, willing that the said D’Eon de Beaumont should partake of his royal favour, deigns to continue the pension of twelve thousand livres per annum, which the late King, his grandfather, granted to him in 1766, and which has been paid to him to this day without interruption. His Majesty, moreover, being willing that the unhappy quarrels which broke out so publicly, to the scandal of Europe, should be for ever buried in oblivion, imposes absolute silence for the future in that respect, not only upon the said D’Eon de Beaumont, but also upon all his officers and subjects; upon this condition his Majesty grants permission to the said D’Eon de Beaumont to return into his kingdom, to remain there, and to attend to his affairs in full liberty, as also to choose any other country which he shall think proper, according to the choice given him by the late King, dated April 1, 1766. His Majesty, moreover, willing that, upon no occasion, at no time, and in no place whatever, the said D’Eon shall be troubled, disquieted, or molested in his honour, his person, or his fortune, by any of the ministers—past, present, or future, or by any other person, either about the negotiations or commissions, whether public or secret, with which the late King had honoured him, or from any other cause resulting from his quarrels, disputes, and law-suits, which by these presents are for ever abolished, as hath been said above; is pleased to grant to the said D’Eon de Beaumont safeguard and entire security for his person, and to put him under his said Majesty’s special and immediate protection and safeguard, charging the said D’Eon de Beaumont to observe the strictest silence, and to demean himself upon all occasions like a submissive, respectful, and faithful subject; and as an assurance of the authenticity of his royal will in this respect, his Majesty has signed this order and safeguard with his own hand; and in order to prevent all persons from pretending ignorance, hath caused it to be countersigned and delivered to the said D’Eon de Beaumont by me, Councillor, and Secretary of State for his Foreign Affairs, and for his commands and finances.[306]
‘Louis.
‘(Signed) Gravier de Vergennes.’
‘At Versailles, the 25th day of August, 1775.’
III.
In the King’s Name.
‘Demoiselle Charles-Geneviève-Louise-Auguste-André-Timothée D’Eon de Beaumont, spinster of age, hitherto known as the Chevalier D’Eon, formerly captain of dragoons, knight of the royal and military order of Saint Louis, and minister plenipotentiary in England, &c., is hereby required to resume immediately the garments of her sex, never again to lay them aside, and she is forbidden, under pain of disobedience, to reappear in France otherwise than in female attire. Upon this condition only, and others fully set forth in the special safe-conduct which we have this day granted to her, she may, in perfect security on my royal word, return to her own country, there to enjoy the freedom, the honours, favours, and benefits that have been accorded to her by our illustrious and most honoured grandfather, as well as by ourselves, in consideration of her military and political services, without any fear of molestation to her person, honour, and property by any of my late, present, or future ministers, or by any other person of whatsoever rank or quality. And his Majesty, desiring to mark by special favour his sense of the public and secret services, in war and in diplomacy, which the said Demoiselle D’Eon de Beaumont has had the good fortune to render during upwards of twenty consecutive years to the late King, his most honoured grandfather, decrees that the cross of his royal and military order of Saint Louis, won by the said Demoiselle D’Eon de Beaumont at the peril of her life, in combats, sieges, and battles in which she took part, when she was wounded and employed as aide-de-camp to the general, also as captain of dragoons and of volunteers in the army of de Broglio, with bravery to which all the generals under whom she has served have attested, shall never be taken from her, and that the right to wear it in female attire shall belong to her until death.[307] And as an assurance of the authenticity of his will in this respect, his Majesty has of his own hand signed the present order; and to prevent all persons from pretending ignorance, hath caused it to be countersigned and delivered to the said Demoiselle D’Eon de Beaumont by me, Councillor, Secretary of State for his Foreign Affairs, and for his commands and finances.[308]
‘Louis.
‘(Signed) Gravier de Vergennes.’
‘At Versailles, the 25th day of August, 1775.’