Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence Volume I Part 15

?All this was just, but Beaumarchais, not over confident in human justice, went to the duke de la Vrilli?re to a.s.sure himself that he was free. Not finding the n.o.bleman at home he addressed a note to Sartine, lieutenant-g?n?ral of police, to ask the same question. This latter replied that he was perfectly at liberty, then for the first time Beaumarchais ventured to stir abroad. But he counted even then prematurely on the justice of the court. The very small mind of the duc de la Vrilli?re was offended that the tribunal of the marshals of France should discharge arrests given by him and so to teach the tribunal a lesson and to show his authority, on the 24th of February he sent Beaumarchais to For-l?Ev?que.?

As may be imagined, this was a terrible blow to a man of his active temperament and especially at this time when his enemy the Comte de la Blache was capable of using the advantage thus acquired to complete his ruin. Nevertheless his first letter from prison shows his usual serenity of mind. He wrote to Gudin: ?In virtue of a _lettre sans cachet_ called _lettre de cachet_ signed Louis and below Philippeaux, recommended--Sartine, executed--Buchot, and submitted Beaumarchais, I am lodged, my friend, since this morning at For-l?Ev?que, in an unfurnished room at 2160 livres rent where I am led to hope that, except what is necessary I shall lack nothing. Is it the family of the duke whom I have saved a criminal suit who have imprisoned me? Is it the ministry whose orders I have constantly followed or antic.i.p.ated? Is it the dukes and peers of the realm with whom I am in no way connected? This is what I do not know, but the sacred name of ?King? is so beautiful a thing that one cannot multiply it or employ it too frequently _?propos_. It is thus that in every country which is governed by police they torment by authority those whom they cannot inculpate with justice. Wherever mankind is to be found, odious things happen and the great wrong of being in the right is always a crime in the eyes of power, which wishes to punish unceasingly, but never to judge.?

The two rivals were thus very securely lodged for the present and Mademoiselle M?nard, the unwilling pretext of all the trouble, was quite safe from her tormentor. Before the rendering of the sentence, however, which confined the duc de Chaulnes to the prison of Vincennes, in the fear which the violence of his character inspired, this ?beautiful Helen,? says Lom?nie, ?went and threw herself at the feet of M. de Sartine, imploring his protection.? The next day she wrote a letter communicating her fixed resolve to retire to a convent. Other letters follow and four days after the terrible scene which has been described, Mademoiselle M?nard entered the _couvent des Cordeli?res, faubourg Saint-Marceau, Paris_.

M. de Sartine had entrusted the very delicate, not to say hazardous mission of seeing the young woman in question safely lodged in a convent, to a worthy priest, l?abb? Dugu?. This very respectable, very good and very _na?f_ abb?, wrote the same evening a lengthy letter to the lieutenant-general of police in which he showed himself very anxious not to compromise his own dignity as well as not to incur the enmity of a great duke still at liberty, whose character was universally known.

After explaining the difficulties he had encountered, and his just uneasiness in finding himself entangled in what to him was a very embarra.s.sing affair, he humbly begged that the duke be prevented from disturbing the young woman, the circ.u.mstances of whose history he has been forced to hide from the good sisters of the Cordeli?res. If the interference of the duke could be prevented, he hoped that the repose, joined to the sweetness of the appearance and character of this _?afflig?e recluse?_ would work in her favor in this home of order and prevent his pa.s.sing for a liar, or even worse, as though being in fault for irregular conduct.

?I left the ladies,? he continues, ?well disposed for their new pensionaire, but I repeat, what disgrace for me, if jealousy or love, equally out of place, find her out and penetrate even to her parlor there to exhale their scandalous or their unedifying sighs.?

The good abb?s fears in regard to the young woman were, however, groundless, for as we have seen, by the 19th of February the duc de Chaulnes was safe in the fortress of Vincennes.

Lom?nie continues: ?This _afflig?e recluse_, as the good abb? Dugu? said, was not at all made for the life of a convent, she had scarcely enjoyed the existence within its protecting walls a fortnight before she felt the need to vary her impressions, and she abruptly returned to the world, tranquilized by the knowledge of the solidity of the walls of the ch?teau de Vincennes which separated her from the duc de Chaulnes.?

Beaumarchais, inactive at For-l?Ev?que, having heard of Mademoiselle M?nard?s return to the world wrote her a most characteristic letter full of brotherly advice in which is shown his tendency to regulate the affairs of those in whom he feels an interest, as well as a certain chagrin perhaps, that the young woman in question should enjoy her liberty when he, Beaumarchais, is forced to remain inactive at For-l?Ev?que.

He wrote: ?It is not proper that anyone should attempt to curtail the liberty of others, but the counsels of friends.h.i.+p ought to have some weight because of their disinterestedness. I learn that you, Mademoiselle, have left the convent as suddenly as you entered it. What can be your motives for an action which seems imprudent? Are you afraid that some abuse of authority will force you to remain there? Reflect, I beg you, and see if you are more sheltered in your own home, should some powerful enemy think himself strong enough to keep you there? In the painful condition of your affairs having no doubt exhausted your purse by paying your pension quarter in advance, and furnis.h.i.+ng an apartment in the convent, ought you to triple your expense without necessity? The voluntary retreat where sorrow and fear conducted you, is it not a hundred times more suited to you than those lodgings from which your feelings should wish to separate you by great distance? They tell me that you weep. Why do you do so? Are you the cause of the misfortunes of M. de Chaulnes or of mine? You are only the pretext, and if in this execrable adventure anyone can be thankful, it ought to be you who have no cause to reproach yourself and who have recovered your liberty from one of the most unjust tyrants and madmen who ever took upon themselves the right of invading your presence.

?I must also take into account what you owe the good and worthy abb?

Dugu?, who to serve you, has been obliged to dissimulate your name and your trouble in the convent, where you were sheltered on his word. Your leaving, which seems like a freak, does it not compromise him with the superiors of the convent, in giving him the appearance of being connected with a black intrigue, he who put so much zeal and compa.s.sion into what he did for you? You are honest and good, but so many violent emotions may have thrown your judgment into some confusion. You need a wise counsellor who will make it his duty to show you your situation just as it is, not happy, but bearable.

?Believe me, my dear friend, return to the convent where I am told you have made yourself loved. While you are there, discontinue the useless establishment which you keep up against all reason. The project which it is supposed that you have of returning to the stage is absurd. You should think of nothing but tranquilizing your mind and regaining your health. In a word, whatever your plans for the future, they cannot and ought not to be indifferent to me. I should be informed, for I dare say that I am the only man whose help you should accept without blus.h.i.+ng. In remaining in the convent it will be proved that there is no intimate connection between us, and I shall have the right to declare myself your friend, your protector, your brother, and your counselor.

Beaumarchais.?

But all these remonstrances were in vain. Mademoiselle M?nard persisted in remaining in the world. Beaumarchais resigned himself as she became very useful in soliciting his release. Her name, however, very soon disappears from the papers of Beaumarchais. His own affairs take on so black an aspect that he had little time to busy himself with those of others. As for the duc de Chaulnes before leaving prison he addressed a humble letter to M. de Sartine in which he promised never again to torment Mademoiselle M?nard nor to interfere with Beaumarchais, asking only that the latter keep himself at a distance.

Thus ends the famous quarrel whose consequence had so profound an effect upon the career of Beaumarchais as we shall see in the next chapter.

CHAPTER IX

_?La Jeunesse--Mais quand une chose est vraie....

Bartholo--Quand une chose est vraie! si je ne veux pas qu?elle soit vraie, je pr?tends qu?elle ne soit pas vraie. Il n?y aurait qu?a permettre ? tous ces faquins-l? d?avoir raison, vous verrez bient?t ce que deviendrait l?autorit?.?_

_?Le Barbier de S?ville,? Act II, Scene VII._

Beaumarchais at For-l?Ev?que--Letter to his Little Friend-- Second Trial in the Suit Inst.i.tuted Against Him by the Count de la Blache--Efforts to Secure an Audience with the Reporter Go?zman--Second Judgment Rendered Against Beaumarchais--He Obtains his Liberty--Loudly Demands the Return of his Fifteen Louis.

Although Beaumarchais?s first letter from For-l?Ev?que sounded philosophical, his situation was cruel in the extreme. Lom?nie says: ?This imprisonment which fell in the midst of his suit against the Comte de la Blache did him frightful harm; his adversary profiting by the circ.u.mstance, worked without relaxation to blacken his character before the judges, multiplying his measures, his recommendations, his solicitations; and ardently pressing the decision of his suit, while the unhappy prisoner whose fortune and honor were engaged in this affair, could not even obtain permission to go out for a few hours to visit the judges in his turn.

?M. de Sartine showed him the greatest good-will but he was unable to do more than mitigate his situation, his liberty depending on the minister.

?Beaumarchais had begun by pleading his cause before the Duke de la Vrilli?re, as a citizen unjustly imprisoned. He sent him memoir after memoir proving ably that he had done no wrong; he demanded to know why he had been detained, and when M. de Sartine warned him in a friendly way that this tone would lead to nothing, he replied with dignity, ?The only satisfaction of a persecuted man is to render testimony that he is unjustly dealt with.??

While he was consuming himself in vain protestations, the day for the judgment of his suit approached. To the demands of M. de Sartine soliciting permission for Beaumarchais to go out for a few hours each day the duc de la Vrilli?re replied always, ?That man is too insolent, let him follow his affair through his attorney!? and Beaumarchais, indignant and heart-broken, wrote to M. de Sartine:

?It is completely proved to me that they desire that I shall lose my suit, if it is possible for me to lose it, but I admit that I was not prepared for the derisive answer of the duc de la Vrilli?re to solicit my affair through my attorney, he who knows as well as I, that it is forbidden to attorneys. Ah, great heavens! cannot an innocent man be lost without laughing in his face! Thus, Monsieur, have I been grievously insulted, justice has been denied me because my adversary is a man of quality, I have been put in prison, I am kept there, because I have been insulted by a man of quality. They even go so far as to blame me for enlightening the police as to the false impressions they have received, while the immodest gazettes Les Deux-Ponto and Hollande unworthily dishonor me to please my adversary. A little more and they would say that it was very insolent in me to have been outraged in every way by a man of quality, because what is the meaning of that phrase, ?He has put too much boasting into this affair?? Could I do less than demand justice and prove by the conduct of my adversary that I was in no way wrong? What a pretext for ruining an offended man, that of saying, ?He has talked too much about his affair.?

As if it were possible to talk of anything else! Receive my sincere thanks, Monsieur, for having notified me of this refusal and this observation of M. the duc de la Vrilli?re, and for the happiness of the country may your power one day equal your sagacity and your integrity! My grat.i.tude equals the profound respect with which I am, etc.,

?Beaumarchais.

This March 11th, 1773?

But the correspondence of Beaumarchais with M. de Sartine did not advance matters in the least. What M. the duc de la Vrilli?re exacted before everything else was that he cease to be insolent, that is to demand justice, and that he ask for pardon.

Beaumarchais resisted this for about a month, when on the 20th of March he received a letter without signature, written by a man who seemed to interest himself in the situation and who endeavored to make Beaumarchais understand that under an absolute government, when anyone has incurred disgrace at the hands of a minister, and that minister keeps one in prison when one has the greatest possible interest to be free, it is not the thing to do to plead one?s cause as an oppressed citizen but to bow to the law of force and speak like a suppliant.

What would Beaumarchais do? He was on the brink of losing a suit most important for his fortune and his honor, his liberty was in the hands of a man unworthy of esteem, because the duc de la Vrilli?re was one of the ministers the most justly disdained by history, but the situation was such that this man disposed at will of his destiny. Beaumarchais resigned himself at last, humiliated himself. See him in the part of suppliant.

?Monseigneur,

?The frightful affair of M. the duc de Chaulnes has become for me a succession of misfortunes without end, and the greatest of all is that I have incurred your displeasure in spite of the purity of my intentions.

Despair has broken me and driven me to measures which have displeased you, I disavow them Monseigneur, at your feet, and beg of you a generous pardon, or if it seems to you that I merit a longer imprisonment, permit me to go during a few days to instruct my judges in the most important affair for my fortune and my honor, and I submit after the judgment to whatever pain you may impose. All my family weeping join their prayers to mine. Everyone speaks, Monseigneur, of your indulgence and goodness of heart. Shall I be the only one who implores you in vain. You can with a single word fill with joy a host of honest people whose grat.i.tude will equal the very profound respect with which we are all, and I in particular, Monseigneur, your, etc.,

?Beaumarchais.

From For-l?Ev?que, March 21, 1773.?

The duc de la Vrilli?re was satisfied in his petty vanity, so a reply was soon forthcoming. The next day, March 22nd, the minister sent to M. de Sartine the authorization to allow the prisoner to go out during the day, under the conduct of an agent of police, but obliging him to eat and sleep at For-l?Ev?que.

In the meantime, however, another disgrace was threatening him. Some enemy had taken advantage of his absence to attack his rights as _lieutenant-g?n?ral des cha.s.ses_. ?From the depths of his prison,? wrote Lom?nie, ?he reclaimed them immediately in a letter to the duc de La Valli?re where he appeared proud and imposing as a baron of the middle ages.?

?Monsieur le duc,

?Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, lieutenant-g?n?ral at the court of justice of your _capitainerie_, has the honor of representing to you that his detention by order of the king has not destroyed his civil estate. He has been very much surprised to learn that in violation of the regulation of the _capitainerie_ of May 17th which says that every officer who does not bring valid excuse for not being present at the reception of a new officer will be deprived of his _droit de bougies_, etc., etc. The exact.i.tude and zeal with which the suppliant has always fulfilled the functions of his charge to the present day makes him hope, Monsieur le duc, that you will be so good as to maintain him in all the rights of the said charge against every kind of enterprise or infringement. When M. de Schomberg was in the Bastille the king permitted him to do his work for _les Suisses_ which he had the honor to command. The same thing happened to the M. the duc du Maine.

?The suppliant is perhaps the least worthy of the officers of your _capitainerie_ but he has the honor of being its lieutenant-g?n?ral and you will certainly not disapprove, Monsieur le duc, that he prevents the first office of that _capitainerie_ to grow less under his hands or that any other officer takes upon himself the functions to its prejudice.

Caron de Beaumarchais.?

In striking contrast to this picture of Beaumarchais defending so proudly his rights before a great n.o.ble, is another, also drawn by his own hand, in a letter to a child of six years in which all the warmth and goodness of his heart, as well as the delicacy of his sentiments, manifest themselves.

We already have mentioned the fact that as secretary to the king, Beaumarchais was the colleague of M. Lenormant d??tioles, the husband of Madame de Pompadour. After the death of his first wife in 1764, he had married a second time and he now had a charming little son, six and a half years old. Beaumarchais, intimate with the family, completely had won the heart of this little boy whose pretty ways were a constant reminder of the child he had lost. Learning that his friend was in prison, the child spontaneously wrote the following letter:

?Neuilly, March 2nd, 1773.

Monsieur,

?I send you my purse, because in prison one is always unhappy. I am very sorry that you are in prison. Every morning and every evening I say an Ave Maria for you. I have the honor to be, Monsieur, your very humble and very obedient servitor

Constant.?

Beaumarchais instantly replied:

?My good little friend Constant, I have received with much grat.i.tude your letter and the purse which you joined to it. I have made a just division of what it contained among the prisoners, my companions, according to their different needs, while I have kept for your friend Beaumarchais the best part, I mean the prayers, the Ave Marias, of which I certainly have need, and so have distributed to the poor people who suffer imprisonment all that the purse contained. Thus intending to oblige only a single man you have acquired the grat.i.tude of many. This is the ordinary fruit of such good actions as yours.