[1] Accused of being a fanatic, Eon de l’Estoile was committed to prison by the Council of Rheims on March 22, 1148, and died a few days later of the ill-treatment to which he was subjected by those in whose charge he was placed. See De Bois de la Chesnaye’s Genealogical Dictionary, for the D’Eon family.
[2] Ch. MSS. 161.
[3] Ch. MSS.
[4] De la Fortelle, 126.
[5] Ch. MSS.
[6] Rede’s Anecdotes and Biography. London, 1779.
[7] Valcroissant obtained his liberty after a twelvemonth’s confinement, through the instrumentality of D’Eon. Lett. Mém. &c. 1, 5.
[8] Russia Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[9] Gaill. 373-377.
[10] This correspondence, arranged by Woronzoff and D’Eon, was not fully commenced until 1757. See Mémoire on the Secret Correspondence in Russia, 1757-1774, by the Count de Broglio. Boutaric, ii. 465.
[11] D’Eon to the Count de Vergennes, May 28, 1776: Archives des affaires étrangères. Gaill. 23. D’Eon to Louis XVI.: Ch. MSS. 861.
[12] Russia Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[14] Russia Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[15] Campan, i. 190
[16] Note Book, dated 1754: Ch. MSS.
[17] Elizabeth was much prepossessed in favour of the English. Being a great admirer of their fashions, and wishing to introduce them at her Court, she had dolls sent to her in the various dresses worn, and which were fitted by Miss Church of St. James’s Street.
[18] Russia Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[19] A tradition exists to the effect that Count Woronzoff’s palace in the Sadovaya Oulitza, St. Petersburg, now occupied by the Corps des Pages, was constructed with English guineas. Later, in 1758, the count received a gratuity of fifty thousand roubles from Louis XV.
[20] In acknowledging the receipt of despatches of May 12 and 18, brought to Paris by Michel the merchant, M. Rouillé warmly congratulates Douglas, in the name of the King, by letter dated June 18, on the distinction with which he had been received by the Ministers of Russia and even the Empress herself.—Copies of French Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[21] Russia Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[22] Lett. Mém. &c., iii. 6.
[23] Copies of French Correspondence in Russia Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[24] Prince Tcheckbatoff says of Apraxin: The field-marshal was entirely devoid of military talents. Whilst awaiting orders at Riga he astonished the people by his display of wealth, and when moving with the army indulged in all the comforts and luxuries to be found only in a large city, and this in the midst of the sound of arms or in fatiguing marches. His tents extended over the space of a small town, five hundred horses being required to transport his baggage. Apraxin was a heavy, unwieldy man, fond of ladies’ society. Apraxin is described by Sir Hanbury Williams as very corpulent, lazy, luxurious, and certainly not brave.
[25] M. Wolkhoff to D’Eon, April 15/27, 1757. Lett. Mém. &c. iii. 6. Gazette d’Utrecht, xiii. 1757.
[26] D’Eon to the Count de Broglio, June 12, 1775: Archives des affaires étrangères. Gaill. 71.
[27] Lett. Mém. &c. i. 48.
[28] Boutaric, i. 222, 223.
[29] Poutaric, i. 86, 224. Vandal, 307.
[30] Napoléon I. auteur du testament de Pierre le Grand: par G. Berkholz. (Bruxelles, à l’Office de Publicité, 1863.)
[31] Terms not understood.
[32] Lett. Mém. &c. iii. 9.
[33] Vandal, 327.
[34] Russia Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[35] This is the fifth or sixth minister who is anxious to make my fortune. Fortune, however, unhappily wears a wig, and is continually slipping away from my grasp. The next time we meet I shall seize her by the hair.—Note by D’Eon.
[36] Lett. Mém. &c. iii. 11.
[37] De la Fortelle, 33.
[38] Note-book, dated 1754: Ch. MSS.
[39] Loménie, i. 414.
[40] Ch. MSS. In his Mémoires Secrets, &c. (London, 1781), Petit de Bachaumont states that D’Eon was sent as fencing-master to the Grand-Duke Peter, who had wished for one; a piece of information he obtained in all probability from the Count de Guerchy, who told George III. a similar story. He adds that D’Eon was at the same time entrusted to arrange with the grand-duke for the reception of a French ambassador at St. Petersburg; as manifest an absurdity, there being at the Russian Court no person more hostile to French interests than Peter.
[41] La Messalière, 77.
[42] Lett. Mém. &c. iii. 14.
[43] Gaill. 74.
[44] Lett. Mém. &c. iii. 15.
[45] An English version of portions of this work appeared in the Political Register for 1766, &c.
[46] Vandal, 348 et seq.
[47] Duke de Choiseul to Count Bernstorff, July 29, 1759. ‘Si j’étais maître,’ de Choiseul used to say, ‘nous serions vis-à-vis de l’Angleterre comme l’Espagne vis-à-vis des Maures; si l’on prenait ce parti, l’Angleterre serait détruite d’ici à trente ans.’ Louis XV. thought differently.
[48] Private, from the Duke de Choiseul to the Marquis de l’Hôpital, October 2, 1759. Vandal, 360.
[49] D’Eon to Louis XVI.: Ch. MSS. 861.
[50] D’Eon to Beaumarchais, January 7, 1776. Gaill. 406.
[51] Secret instructions to the Baron de Breteuil, April 1, 1760. Affaires étrangères, Vandal, 373.
[52] Ch. MSS.
[53] Vandal, 265 et seq.
[54] Flassan, vi. 289.
[55] Flassan, vi. 190.
[56] A distinguished physician at the French Court, sent by Louis XV. to attend upon the Empress, who had complained to the King of her physical sufferings.
[57] Lett. Mém. &c. iii. 17.
[58] Lett. Mém. &c. iii. 19-20.
[59] De la Fortelle, 40. Writing under the persuasion that D’Eon was of the female sex, Flassan, vi. 110, says:—‘Woronzoff and D’Eon were the intermediaries in the correspondence between Louis XV. and Elizabeth.’ Capefigue, Louis XV. et la Société du XVIIIᵐᵉ Siècle, Paris, 1842, says, iv. 32: ‘By means of his renown, D’Eon was enabled to accomplish the most delicate and most difficult missions ... his correspondence with Louis XV. is eminently remarkable ... he was chiefly instrumental in arranging the treaty of alliance between France and Russia.’
[60] French ambassador at Vienna, afterwards created Duke de Praslin.
[61] Lett. Mém. &c. iii. 24.
[62] Louis XV. to the Count de Broglio, May 31, 1761. Boutaric, i. 265.
[63] De Broglie, i. 384.
[64] See Scots Mag. vol. xxiii. for Marshal de Broglio’s account of this action.
[65] Lett. Mém. &c. i. 145.
[66] D’Eon to the Duke de Choiseul, January 12, 1764, and MS. notes. Lett. Mém. &c. i. 145.
[67] Louis XV. to Marshal de Broglio. De Broglie, i. 438.
[68] I would here say what I have said to my generals, that the success of this little enterprise is due chiefly to the Chev. de la Tulley, Captain of the de la Ferronaye dragoons, and to M. Casette, formerly Lieutenant of the d’Autichamp dragoons. Note by D’Eon, Pièces Relatives, &c. 31.
[69] The Count de Broglio to Louis XV., February 19, 1762, and March 24, 1758. De Broglie, ii. 5; i. 300.
[70] The Marquis de l’Hôpital had retired the preceding autumn.
[71] Louis XV. to Tercier, June 1, June 19, July 28, 1762. Boutaric, i. 274, 275, 277. D’Eon received a gratuity of three thousand livres from the King (probably as a salve to the disappointment he must have felt at missing promotion). Louis XV. to Tercier, August 31, 1762. Ibid. i. 278.
[72] D’Eon to the Count de Broglio, July 1, 1762. De Broglie, ii. 105. Peter III. was assassinated July 14, 1762.
[73] Madame Campan, the contemporary who notices the employment of D’Eon as reader to Elizabeth, employs the term lecteur. I do not know on what equally reliable authority the duke uses the word lectrice.
[74] De Broglie, ii. 607. I have not been able to consult the original work.
[75] Peter III.
[76] Lett. Mém. &c. i. 382.
[77] Countess Catherine Woronzoff was the maiden name of this lady.
[78] Lett. Mém. &c. i. 104.
[79] Lett. Mém. &c. MS. notes, 99, 101.
[80] The Duke de Choiseul, during whose ministry (1764) the Jesuits were expelled from France, the Order being wisely suppressed by Clement XIV. in 1773.
[81] Lett. Mém. &c. MS. note, i. v. Junius taunts the Duke of Grafton on his wife’s infidelity. This lady, a daughter of Lord Ravensworth, obtained a divorce from the duke in 1769, and was afterwards married to the Earl of Ossory.
[82] The Duke de Nivernois to the Duke de Praslin, January 12, 1763. De Broglie, ii. 107. Gaill. 92.
[83] European Mag. vol. xiv.
[84] The Duke de Nivernois to the Duke de Praslin, October 2, November 14, 1762. Lett. Mém. &c. i. 246.
[85] The signatories were—the Duke of Bedford, the Duke de Praslin, and the Marquis Grimaldi.
[86] D’Eon left London with the ratifications of the definite treaty on February 23rd, and delivered them to the Duke of Bedford on the 26th. France Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[87] The Duke de Nivernois was little aware that he was saying a great truth. Note by D’Eon.
[88] The Duke de Nivernois Correspondence. Lett. Mém. &c.
[89] The Duke de Nivernois Correspondence. Lett. Mém. &c.
[90] France Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[91] January 8, 1763. Lett. Mém. &c. iii. 74.
[92] The Duke de Nivernois Correspondence. Lett. Mém. &c.
[93] Mém. de la Chevalière D’Eon. Gaill. 115.
[94] De Pompadour.
[95] Ch. MSS. 951.
[96] De Broglie, ii. 105.
[97] Written circa 1806. The Count de Broglio died in 1781.
[98] Ch. MSS. 814, 767. ‘Preamble to Will.’
[99] This highly esteemed order, instituted in 1693 by Louis XIV., fell in abeyance in 1830.
[100] The presents, valued at fifty thousand crowns, consisted of his Majesty’s portrait set in diamonds, a costly Savonnerie carpet, and superb Gobelin tapestry. They were shown by Lord Bute to the King, who considered they were magnificent, and the letter charming.
[101] De Broglie, ii. 97.
[102] Boutaric, i. 295.
[103] July 27, 1763; ibid. i. 297.
[104] ‘His brain of whipped cream enclosed within a head of Rouen porcelain, relates pleasantly a quantity of tittle-tattle, accompanied by little nothings.’—D’Eon on the Duke de Choiseul. Ch. MSS.: ‘Comparing what has passed between the Duke de Choiseul and us at different times, there does not appear to have been the same frankness and veracity in the latter part of this negotiation as we had hitherto experienced in that minister.’—Duke of Bedford to the Karl of Egremont, Paris, February 16, 1763. France Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[105] Tête de dragon.
[106] May 17, 1763. De Broglie, ii. 119.
[107] Boutaric, i. 293.
[108] Regnier, Count de Guerchy, was frequently admitted into the private apartments of the Pompadour. He never missed the opportunity for replacing on her foot her fallen slipper, or carrying her candlestick to her small boudoir or private closet. Such little services were of great weight in the mind of de Pompadour and of every Messaline at Court. Ch. MSS. ‘Preamble to Will.’
[109] Gaill. 117. The Duke de Broglie maintains (Le Secret du Roi, ii. 138) that not a word of this pretty tale can be accepted as true—in the first place, because in the year 1763, de Pompadour, already in failing health, enjoyed in appearance only the honours to which she had been accustomed; and because the discovery of the secret by de Pompadour, on becoming known to Tercier, would have been immediately communicated by that gentleman to the Count de Broglio, amongst whose papers is not to be found the least trace of any reference to so important an incident. The duke’s assumptions, unsupported by counter-evidence, do not appear to justify his unqualified rejection of the story. His Grace deplores more than once the want of other papers, for the absence of which he is unable to account.
[110] Later, in the Musée des Souverains.
[111] Mém. de la Chevalière D’Eon. Gaill. 117.
[112] France Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[113] D’Eon to the Count de Broglio, July 21, 1763. De Broglie, ii. 125.
[114] Treyssac de Vergy to the Duke de Choiseul, p. 25. Pièces Relatives, &c.
[115] De Praslin, who was exceedingly lean, took a great dislike to fat people. The first time he saw Favier, secretary to the Count de Broglio, a man of stout proportions, he said, ‘You appear to me to be a worthless fellow, for you are very fat.’ This fat and a good appetite was the cause of all that worthy man’s misfortunes at the hands of Praslin.... The best thing he can do to recover the good graces of the duke is to die of consumption. Note by D’Eon. See Boutaric, for de Praslin’s persecutions of this man.
[116] The Duke de Nivernois Correspondence. Lett. Mém. &c.
[117] A Testament ab irato is one drawn up under the influence of choler; it is not only null and void according to custom and written law, but it is rescinded and destroyed in the Parliament of Paris. Note by D’Eon.
[118] ‘Eight’ in 4to. and 8vo. editions of Lett. Mém. &c.; altered by D’Eon to ‘nine.’ Ch. MSS.
[119] De Broglie, ii. 122.
[120] The mistress of the Prince de Conti, and aspiring to be his wife. Walpole describes her as being an Anglomane.
[121] Ch. MSS. 977.
[122] Lett. Mém. &c. i.
[123] France Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[124] Autograph letter. Boutaric, i. 298.
[125] Campan, i. 190.
[126] De Broglie, ii. 139.
[127] D’Eon MSS. Gaill. 128.
[128] France Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[129] Ch. MSS. 782.
[130] ‘You will see by my letter of yesterday that I was aware of the Sieur D’Eon’s recall....’—Louis XV. to Tercier, October 12, 1763. Boutaric, i. 299. It seems clear enough that the order of recall did not originate with the King. How just were the Chevalier’s conclusions!
[131] Ch. MSS. 789, 769, 946.
[132] Ch. MSS.
[133] Lett. Mém., &c. xxxiii. MS. notes.
[134] No authorised duel had taken place in France since the reign of Henri II., when La Châteigneraie was killed in single combat with Jarnac. A decree of the Legislative Assembly, dated September 17, 1792, abolished prosecution for duelling, and rescinded all punishments for duels fought after July 14, 1789. Since 1832-33, the Court of Cassation has decreed death at a duel to be murder anticipated by the law.
[135] ‘High words arose at a nobleman’s house in Great George Street between two foreign gentlemen, and some hard expressions dropping, a challenge ensued; but the company present interposing, and a party of the Guards being sent for, further mischief was prevented.’ Scots Magazine, vol. xxv.; Daily Advertiser, October 28, 1763, and other newspapers.
[136] Note, &c. 16.
[137] Lettre d’un Français à M. le Duc de Nivernois à Paris (October 1763, by M. Goudard.) 2. Lettre à M. de la M——, Ecuyer, &c. (by M. Treyssac de Vergy, November 19, 1763) D’Eon sent copies to the Duke de Choiseul, ‘that he might have an idea of the real liberty enjoyed in England.’
[138] The Count de Guerchy to the Duke de Choiseul, November 12, 1763.—De Broglie, ii. 151.
[140] D’Eon acquits the Countess of having had any part in the plot against his life. Of a house rendered illustrious by its virtues and courage, she would never have consented to such an act. Was she to be reproached for having married an unknown poisoner? She was, perhaps, to be reproached for avarice and ugliness, but for this, nature was to blame. As for her soul it was pure and Christian.—‘Preamble to Will.’ Ch. MSS.
[141] Ch. MSS. 737.
[142] Boutaric, i. 299-310.
[143] Boutaric, i. 302, 303.
[144] Boutaric, i. 302-304.
[145] De Broglio, ii. 148.
[146] Ch. MSS. 786.
[147] France Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[148] Ch. MSS. 669. So late as September 1764, the Chevalier made a declaration before his friend Sir John Fielding, and other magistrates, to the effect that with the support of a band of men he was retaining for the purpose, he should resist by force any attempt on the part of the French constables to kidnap him. The house, 32 Brewer Street, remains unchanged.
[149] Lett. Mém. &c. i. 109.
[150] ‘D’Eon has replied by putting it (the order) into his pocket.’—Louis XV. to Tercier, December 30, 1763. Boutaric, i. 310.
[151] Boutaric, i. 307.
[152] Boutaric, i. 309.
[153] France Correspondence, Public Record Office.
[154] Old newspapers.
[156] The Count de Broglio to Louis XV., December 6, 1763. De Broglie, ii. 155.
[157] Chevalier, or as he was sometimes called Doctor, O’Gorman, related to the Thomond family, was married in 1757 to D’Eon’s sister, whose dowry was a valuable property in Burgundy. O’Connell maintained he had thereby spoiled his pedigree. Roche, who was well acquainted with him, describes his stature as exceeding six feet five inches. O’Gorman spent his time in genealogical studies, when not more profitably employed in Ireland, selling the produce of his wife’s vineyards.