Tardy and very partial justice was at last rendered the heirs of Beaumarchais by the United States Government, when in 1835 their claims were settled by the payment of a portion of the debt owed to him; but as a personality he still remains unknown to us. The study which follows aims at portraying this unusual character in its true colors; it does not attempt to make of him an ideal hero, faultless and blameless; but it endeavors to show him as he was, full of violent contrasts, of limitless resource and energy, raising constantly about him a whirlwind of opposition, loved by his family and friends, hated by those whom he outstripped in the rapidity of his advancement, plunging from one gigantic enterprise into another, never at rest; ready at all times to come to the aid of distress which presented itself in any form, entering with sympathetic interest into the minutest details, always with time for everything, but above all, with persistent determination demanding justice, and in the pursuit of this aim, rousing the antagonism of all classes; attacking fearlessly time-honored institutions,--literary, social and judicial,--so that he becomes one of the most powerful undermining forces which finally brought about the total collapse of the old regime. In his adventurous career, the part which he played in the War of American Independence forms but an incident. Though the primary object of this book is to show what that part really was, yet it is necessary to study his life and character in order to understand why Beaumarchais was interested in our cause, and how it came about that he was able to render us such signal service. FOOTNOTES: [1] See Bancroft, Vol. III, p. 62. [2] See John Fiske’s _American Revolution_, Vol. I, p. 244. [3] J. Fiske’s _American Revolution_, Vol. I, p. 243. [4] J. Fiske’s _American Revolution_, Vol. II, pp. 27-32. [5] H. Doniol, Vol. I, p. 129. [6] See Turgot’s Address to the King; Bancroft, Vol. IV, p. 369. [7] See Durand’s _New Material for the History of the American Revolution_, p. 6. [8] For an account of the cabal formed for replacing Washington in his command, see Fiske’s _American Revolution_, Vol. II, p. 32. [9] H. Doniol, _La Participation de la France dans l’établissement des Etats-Unis_, Paris, ’86-’92, in five folio volumes. [10] _Histoire de Beaumarchais_, by Paul Philippe Gudin de la Brenellerie. Edited by Maurice Tourneux, Paris, 1888.