FOR JUNE, 1810. A Pew Series. The birth Number. MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF THE CHEVALIER D'EON. THE following life of the Chevalier D'Eon has been compiled with much care from a document which we believe to have || been by his own hand. The facts will speak for themselves: Charles, Genevieve, Louisa, Augusta, Andrea, Timothea, D'Eon du Beaumont, Doctor of Civil and Canon Law, Advocate of the Parliament of Paris, Censor | General for Belles Lettres and History in that metropolis, Captain of Dragoons, and Aid-du-Camp successively to the Count and Field Marshal Broglio, Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis, Secretary of Embassy to the Marquis de 'Hospital, Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Russia, Secretary of Embassy to the Duc de Nivernois, Ambassador from the Court of France to that of England, and afterwards Minister Plenipotentiary himself at the same Court, was born August the 5th, 1728, at Tonnerre in Burgundy. His family is mentioned as a very ancient and illustrious one, in the Genealogical Dictionary of De Bois de la Chesnaye. His grandfather and father were successively Under-Intendants of the Generality of Paris, and his mother was Francois du Charenton, daughter of M. du Charenton, Ecuyer, who was Commissaire Ordonnateur de Guerre to the French Armies in Spain and Italy. At six years of age he was sent to his aunt at Paris, where he began to receive his education. At fourteen years of age he was sent to the College Mazarin in that city, as a day-scholar, where he was no less distinguished for his proficiency in literature than for the regularity of his conduct. When he had completed his education at that seminary, he learned to ride the great horse and to fence; which latter exercise was always one of his favourite pursuits, He then became Doctor of Civil and of Canon Law; and was called to the bar of the Parliament of Paris. His love of literature did not still forsake him, and he found time to publish many small miscellaneous pieces; as, the "Life of Langlet du Fresnoy," in the "Année Literaire" of Freron; the "Funeral Eulogium of Marie d'Este, Duchess of Pen thievre;" and another on the Count d'Ons en Bray, President of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, both in Latin, and in the same periodical work. The late excellent Prince of Conti introduced him in 1755 to Louis XV. as a person very capable to conduct a business he had much at heart (a reconciliation between his Court and that of Russia). D'Eon having succeeded in this very arduous undertaking (in which he was engaged without any public charac ter), was again sent to that Court, in 1757, in conjunction with the Chevalier Douglas, as a man, and in an open and arowed diplomatique situation. Their negociations were so powerful, that they prevailed upon the Empress Elizabeth to join the L12 armies of France and of Austria with four- soner. in 1762 his Sovereign intended to score thousand troops, which she had ori-have sent him Ambassador to Russia, to ginally destined for the assistance of the King of Prussia. On his return to Paris the same year, he was commissioned to communicate the plan of the Russian military campaigns to the Court of Vienna; and whilst he was at that Court, the news arriv ed of the famous battle of Prague. The Count de Broglio entrusted him with dis patches to the Court of France, giving an account of the victory obtained over the King of Prussia. replacele Baron de Breteuil, but the death of the Emperor Peter the Thud having occasioned some change in the politics of that Court, this appointment did not take place. In September, however, of the same year he was sent to London, as Secre ary of Embassy to the Duc de Niverno's, Ambassador from France to that Court, to conclude the Peace of 1763. His conduct in this business was so agreeable to the King of England, that he desired (contrary to the usual eriquette on these occasions) that he might carry to France the ratification of the treaty of peace concluded be. tween his Court and that of Versailles; and his own Sovereign, as a mark of his appro. bation, honoured him with the Order of St. Louis. When M de Niverno's quitted his Embassy, D'Eon was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Lon Charged with these dispatches, and with the treaty concluded between Russia and France, D'Eon set out in a post-waggon for Paris. He had not, however, proceeded above fifteen leagues on his journey, when at the famous mountain of Meich in Lower Austria (two hundred and fifty leagues from Paris), and late at night, his carriage was overturned, and he broke one of the bones of his aucle. He stopped | don. His disputes with M. de Guerchy, who scceeded M. de Nivernois, are told with great spirit (and with the "Pieces Justificatives" appended), in one large volume 4to. entitled, "Lettres, Memoires, and Negociations particulières du Che merely to have it set, and pursued his journey with such expedition, that he reached Versailles six-and-thirty hours sooner than the courier dispatched from the Court of Vienna to that of France; and without getting out of his carriage hevalier D'Eon, Londres, 1764." Whatever part the French Ministry might chuse to take in these disputes, his Sovereign still continued to honour him with his protec delivered his dispatches into the hands of M. de Rouille, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. They were immediately taken to Louis XV. who ordered a lodging |tion and confidence, and he remained in epistolary correspondence with him till the time of his death. Louis XV. had from time to time given him pensions of different values: one of three thousand livers in 1757; another of two thousand livers in 1760; and in 1766 a third, from his own privy purse, of twelve thousand livres, thus stated in the warrant: to be prepared for him, and sent one of his surgeons to attend him. He was confined to his bed for three months, and on his recovery was presented by his Sovereigu with a Lieutenancy of Dragoons (a situation he had been long anxious to obtain), and was sent a third time to Petersburgh, as Secretary of Embassy to the Marquis de l'Hospital. He returned from that Court "En reconnaissance des services que le in 1759; and, being desirous to distinguish | Sieur D'Eon m'a rendus, tant en Russie que dans mes armées, et d'autres commissions que je lui ai données, Je veux bien lui assurer un traitement annuel de douze himself in his military profession, he was permitted to join his regiment in Germany, as Capitaine des Dragons et des Volontiers de l'Armée, and as Aid-du-Camp | mille livres, que je lui ferai payer exacte to the Count and Marshal de Broglio. At the battle of Ultrop our hero was twice wounded. At that of Ostervich, at the head of fourscore dragoons and forty hus sars, he charged the Franc Battaillon Prussen de Rhées, which he completely routed, and took the Commanding Officer pri ment tous les six mois, dans quelque pays qu'il soit, hormis en temps de guerre chez mes ennemis, et ce jusqu'à ce que je juge a propos de lui donner quelque poste, dont les appointments soient plus considerables que le present traitement. "LOUIS. "A Versailles, le 1 Avril, 1766." And here we enter upon circumstances of D'Eon's life now rendered as mysterious in its origin, as it is wonderful in its successful, concealment for so many years. Some faint rumours had spread at various preceding periods, that M. D'Eon was a woman, especially at Petersburgh, on account of the total indifference, and even aversion as to all affairs of gallantry constantly exhibited by D'Eon in that voluptuous court, where intrigue is well known to have mixed itself on most occasions with political events. Not that the manners or deportment of D'Eon were either harsh or forbidding towards women, but the extreme caution with which he always for the money thus deposited. The particulars of the transaction are told in the Preface of the Catalogue Raisonnée of his books and MSS. which concludes in the following manner: "Mademoiselle D'Eon, ne voulant pas que ses creanciers de Londres puissent souffrir de cet acte d'injustice, donne avis qu'elle fera un sacrifice general de tout ce queile possede a Lond es, et fera vendre publiquement, les 10 d'Avril prochain 1791, chez le Sieur Christie, Auctionner, dans sa Grande Salle en Pall-Mall, a Londres, tous ses Livres et Manuscrits dont les Catalogues sont ci-joints, ainsi que ses Estampes, Meubles, Effets, Habits, Uni avoided any private or particular inter-formes, Robes Jupons et Saniers, Pistolets, course with them, gave strength to the doubts excited as to his sex. D'Eon accordingly, both in France and England, assumed the female dress, and from the year 1777 down to his death, was universally regarded as a woman. The first few years after this metamorphosis were passed by M. D'Eon in France, where, if the mepits of the newly established Demoiselle are to be estimated by the reception she met at the court of Louis XVI. and the expressions of esteem and respect made to her by almost every person of consideration in the kingdom, she was deserving of the highest praise. About the year 1785, M. D'Eon returned to England, where he has resided ever since. The French revolution, fatal to so many other establishments, deprived him also of his pension. For a few subsequent years the sale of part of his effects, and the profits of a public fencing exhibition in various parts of the United Kingdom, enabled M. D'Eon to subsist with decency, but the increasing weight of age and infirmities, gradually rendered him incapable of these exertions, and for many years past he has been strugJing with poverty and distress. Fusils, Bayonnettes, Sabres, Epees, Cuirasses, Corps, Casques, Dentelles, Diamans, Bijoux, et generalement tout ce qui compose la Garderobe d'un ancien Capitaine de Dragons, et celle d'une Demoiselle, qui ne veut rien emporter de cette isle que son honneur et le regret de la quitter "Elle ne pourra se consoler de l'injustice des hommes, que par le passage suivant de l'Ecriture:-Ce que les hommes retiennent injustement aux hommes, Dieu leur rendra dix fois la valeur. Ce que les hommes retiennent injustement aux filles, Dieu le leur rendra au centuple." For the last twenty years he lived rather a secluded life, for many years residing in a house near the Surrey side of Westminster Bridge, in a private manner. He died on Tuesday, May 22, 1810, at a very adwanced age. It was implicitly believed to the last that the Chevalier was a female, of which sex for several years past he (for so we may now speak) wore the attire, &c. However, this curious question, and which; will even now excite no small degree of interest in various circles, was on the day after his decease set at rest, the body being dissected in the presence of some professional gentlemen, and the Earl of Yarmouth, Sir Sidney Smith, Hon. Mr. Lyttleton, Mr. Douglas, and several other persons of consideration. The following is a cerrect copy of the certificate of the pro His Sovereign, to enable him to pay some debts he had contracted during the time he had the honour to serve him in his diplomatic character in England, sent over to this country an agent with a very considerable sum of money for that pur-fessional gentleman who operated on the pose. This he entrusted to an English nobleman, who died soon afterwards; and with the heirs of him he was long at law occasion: "I hereby certify, that I have inspected and dissected the body of the Chevalier (Signed) "T. COPELAND, Surgeon, Golden-square." D'Eon, in the presence of Mr, Adair, Mr. | Perses, des Grecs, des Romains, et sur les Wilson, and Le Pere Elizee, and have differentes Situations de la France, par found the male organs in every respect Rapport aux Finances, depuis l'Etablisseperfectly formed. ment des Francs dans la Gaule jusqu's Present." 2 tomes, 12mo. 1758. About thirty-six years ago policies were opened to ascertain the sex of this extra "Les Esperances d'un Bon Patriote dans l'Annee Literaire de Freron." "Note remise a son Excellence M. de ordinary non-descript, to the amount of Guerchy, par le Chevalier D'Eon." Lon 200,0001, which was eventually decided and paid, upon surgical certificate, that the reputed Chevalier was a female. He made a will, in which he had appointed Sir Sidney Smith his executor, but it never was signed. The following is a catalogue of the principal literary performances of the Cheva lier D'Eon: "Essai Ilistorique sur less differentes Situations de la France, par Rapport aux Finances sous le Regne de Louis XIV. et la Regence du Duc d'Orleans." 1754.12mo. "Considerations Historiques sur les Inpots des Egyptiens, des Babyloniens, des dies. 1763. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. HYMENEA IN SEARCH OF A HUSBAND. [Continued from page 215.] " WINTER now approached, and Clarissa, eager to partake in those splendours of the fashionable world to which her rank and her fortune entitled her, per- || suaded her husband to leave the country for London; and a house was accordingly taken for them in one of the most fashionable streets. Those who are in a capacity to entertain may be entertained in their turn; those who can receive others at dinners, routs, and suppers, may receive an equivalent in similar invitations to themselves. The fortune of Sir William and Clarissa, therefore, opened every door to their admission, and no party was complete in which they were not seen. They soon became diştinguished for their mutual elegance and extravagance; and though Sir William's "It is unnecessary to say, that possessed of wealth, beauty, and an acknowledged rank in the world, Clarissa and her husband were received with an ardour of wel-gravity of temper could not but see and "Nonsense," said Clarissa, "you are fixed in attention on his strange figure, and he is in admiration at yours." come amongst the fashionable societies of the metropolis. So much, at least, must be acknowledged with respect to the beau monde, that it opens wide its arms to receive all those who approach, and that very little is required to admission besides the qualifications necessary to bear a part, momentarily dissapprove this thoughtless profusion, like many wiser men he gradually surrendered up his own superior sense to the influence of his wife. "Whence is it Hymenæa, that even men of the best understanding are thus unreasonably governed, I was about to say "This conversation was interrupted by the departure of the object of their at. tention, and the arrival of morning visitors, who came to invite them to a masquerade to be held at the Opera House the same evening." "Your ladyship will be at the masquerade to night," said Colonel Lounge. "Not I," said Clarissa; "I am wearied with the town, I have been here three months, and do not really believe that with the exception of the time I am in bed that I have been at home twelve hours in the whole." by the least reasonable of women. I am he seems to me a madman, see how he afraid, there is a current principle, or do-stares." mestic proverb, which misleads most men, and too frequently ruins many. Submit in little things and you may govern in great ones, says one of the wiseacres who has written on the economy of married life. The misfortune, however, is, that the government of the wife, and the submission of the husband, are gradually rendered habitual; they begin in little things, and extend to great things, all distinction is lost between trifles and importance, and the wife becomes the despot of the house, and the uncontrouled administrator of the time and fortune of her husband. Now, though a woman myself, I cannot hesitate to say, that this indulgence has the worst effect, and more particularly, as it is ordinarily found in those cases in which the wife is of all reasonable creatures the least calculated for such confidence and management. The young and the beautiful are those who actually possess this influence, and govern their husbands and fortunes with this unlimited sway. I should not quarrel with those who would give this power to discreet elderly matrons, but it is truly distressing to see a girl just emancipated from a boarding-school the uncontrouled mistress of thousands, and making ducks and drakes of her husband's acres, till she leaves him without money or land. "To return, however, to my story.Clarissa and her husband being one morning at breakfast in the drawingroom, and her husband seemingly in fixed attention at the window, Clarissa demanded of him what it was that so occupied him." "I am looking at that queer figure in the street," said he; "he has planted himself opposite this house, and seems to be looking at me." " Clarissa went to the window, and her husband pointed out to her the object which had taken his attention. He was a fellow in a slouched hat like those worn by the coal-heavers, with a watchman's coat." What is there in him?" said Clarissa. "I know not," said Sir William; "but "And why should you madam," said Lady Squander; "surely home is not the scene of a lady of fashion. It is a place to sleep in, and a place where your friends may find you; but what have you and I to do with what belongs to country housewives, that can neither make bread, nor drink gooseberry-wine." "This was laughed at as a piece of wit, and Clarissa, who had made up her mind not to go to any parties or places of amusement for ten days to come, did not suffer her friends to depart without engaging herself to accompany them to the masquerade in the evening. So much for good resolutions. "Sir William, who had stept out during this morning visit, returned to dinner, and asking the servants where their lady was, and receiving for answer that she was in her dressing-room, he hastily ascended and entered the room in some abrupt |