On 27 November 1776 a case got here earlier than Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the Court docket of King’s Bench, during which, the Morning Chronicle reported, proceedings had been repeatedly interrupted by the ‘loud and hearty laughs’ of all in attendance. The reason for such mirth was the studying aloud of a set of letters written by the Chevalier d’Eon, a French spy and diplomat, and complainant within the case.
D’Eon was no stranger to the English courts. In 1764 he was tried and located responsible of libel for the publication of Lettres, Mémoires & Negociations Particulières du Chevalier d’Eon, a scandalous work that criticised the then French ambassador to Britain, the Comte de Guerchy. By 1776, nonetheless, d’Eon was better-known for the exceptional hearsay that the Chevalier was, the truth is, the Chevalière; not a person however a lady. Such a tantalising hearsay had impressed the gamblers of 18th-century London, with tens of 1000’s of kilos wagered – within the type of insurance coverage insurance policies – on his proving feminine.
On 10 September Charles Théveneau de Morande, a French blackmailer and spy, had revealed a letter within the Public Ledger insisting not solely that d’Eon was a lady but additionally that ‘she’ had a monetary curiosity in these insurance coverage insurance policies:
I declared on oath that Miss D’Eon was a lady, and I now acquaint the world that I shall show it. Let her contradict me, if she will be able to.
In response, d’Eon pursued a libel motion in opposition to Morande; the November 1776 case was to determine whether or not this motion ought to proceed.
Within the weeks earlier than 27 November, d’Eon, Morande, and their witnesses offered statements to the court docket. D’Eon’s witnesses confirmed that Morande had written the letter and tacitly implied that d’Eon was male, clarifying of their statements that ‘the phrases Miss D’Eon and She all through the mentioned libel are used and supposed to indicate’ the Chevalier d’Eon. Hooked up to d’Eon’s assertion was a replica of the Public Ledger containing Morande’s libellous letter.
The primary argument put ahead by Morande’s counsel was that the King’s Bench didn’t entertain circumstances the place the plaintiff was as responsible because the defendant; complainants ‘should go into Court docket with clear fingers’. Morande’s defence was subsequently framed round three letters, purportedly written by the Chevalier d’Eon, which proved that d’Eon was as responsible of libel and slander as Morande (allegedly) was. When these letters had been produced, William Claudius d’Aubarede, a colonel within the French service, confirmed that the letters had been in d’Eon’s handwriting. To submit them as proof, John Goy – a person who ‘very nicely understands the French and the English languages’ – was summoned to court docket to supply translations.
The primary letter was a replica of the certificates of sauf-conduit (secure conduct) that Louis XVI had granted to d’Eon in August 1775. Morande was concerned in its negotiation and claimed that d’Eon requested to be known as a lady within the doc, ‘apprehending that she [d’Eon] must be uncovered to some hazard with sauf-conduit underneath the title of a person, when the truth is she was a lady’. Although remodeled a yr earlier this certificates, acknowledging d’Eon as feminine within the eyes of the French court docket, was not but public information. Till, that’s, it was produced as proof right here.
The second letter written by d’Eon was despatched to Morande on 3 August 1776. D’Eon had beforehand fallen out with Morande as a result of d’Eon believed Morande to be cashing in on the wagers regarding his intercourse. To defend his honour, d’Eon had frequently challenged Morande to a duel. Morande, believing d’Eon to be a lady, frequently refused. To get round this, d’Eon – writing as ‘Mademoiselle d’Eon’ within the letter – claimed that her ‘brother’ the Chevalier d’Eon would gladly duel in her place. Each ‘siblings’ advised:
Mr de Morande both to maintain himself quiet or to go and get himself bougred in good French … She [Mademoiselle d’Eon] pities her [Mrs de Morande] very sincerely to have for a husband a person so corrupted, so wrongheaded, and so fiery, who is just harmful to ladies and kids; however under no circumstances to the Chevalier d’Eon.
The ultimate letter produced by Morande, written by d’Eon on 8 August, continued the tirade:
I’ll deal with you solely as they do your nation asses, that’s to say caning and kicking your arse with my foot … Adieu for the final time coward, rogue, within the expectation that thou mayest quickly give the mob of London thy blessing with thy broad ft at Tyburn.
On 27 November the translations of those letters had been learn out in court docket to nice amusement. Lord Mansfield, satisfied that d’Eon was as equally responsible of libel as Morande, dismissed the case.
This may occasionally have abruptly ended the authorized proceedings between d’Eon and Morande, however proof of d’Eon writing letters as ‘Mademoiselle d’Eon’ and a proper certificates by the French king treating d’Eon as a lady had now been produced in an English court docket of legislation. These wagering that d’Eon was feminine now took the policymakers to court docket to get them to pay out. Three King’s Bench circumstances in 1777 involved these wagers. In every case, the jury thought the insurance policies legitimate and located in favour of the events wagering that d’Eon was feminine.
By this level, too, d’Eon had returned to France as a lady, underneath the certificates of secure conduct produced within the November 1776 case. However there was to be a ultimate twist within the story for these anticipating a windfall now the matter of d’Eon’s intercourse was seemingly resolved. At a gathering of main judges in January 1778, Lord Mansfield declared that any insurance policies negatively impacting a 3rd get together, akin to wagers on d’Eon’s intercourse, had been invalid. Right here, the letters produced within the November 1776 case had been additionally talked about. Some judges argued that if these letters had not been produced as a part of d’Eon and Morande’s dispute, the following wager circumstances could by no means have come to move.
The letters had been solely just lately found within the King’s Bench collections on the Nationwide Archives, enclosed in John Goy’s translations. These letters, and the authorized information created as a part of these circumstances, present us with a useful perception into the enigmatic Chevalier d’Eon throughout this transitional interval in his life.
Daniel Gosling is Principal Authorized Information Specialist on the Nationwide Archives.
