I consider myself happy (wrote the F— to her) to act as mouthpiece for the sisters of the R—, L—, who beg that you will favour them by your presence at the funeral service in memory of their deceased brothers. I enclose the invitation card for this ceremony, in which you have a prominent place as a mason, as an author, and as one who is now the glory of her sex, and was once the pride of ours. Mademoiselle d’Eon alone has the right of crossing the barrier which excludes the more beautiful half of the world from our labours. The exception begins and ends with you; do not neglect to avail yourself of the privilege, and if you do us the favour of complying with my wishes, add a second favour by arriving early, so as to see the whole ceremony, which would not be complete without you. So firmly established was d’Eon’s popularity in Burgundy, that the poets who sang the charms of this fertile province would have considered they had forgotten its chief attraction had they omitted to celebrate the achievements of their strange countryman. The Prior of Chablis composed a little poem in Latin on Tonnerre, drawing a flattering portrait of the Chevalière, while acknowledging, however, that her martial gait was not in keeping with her virginal attire. So much celebrity led his fellow-citizens and his old comrades to suppose that his influence was equally great, and never doubting that he was in high favour at court, and with men in office, they hoped to obtain through him every kind of favour. Naturally a great many dragoons sought his aid. They aspired to an order or a pension, a pass or a furlough. D’Eon was flattered by such requests and received them with untiring good grace, laying his numerous acquaintances under contribution and even applying to persons whom he did not know, but who, in his opinion, could not fail to know him. Answers such as that of the Marquis de d’Espinay Saint-Luc, who assured him that “the regard due to his celebrity was a sure guarantee of the effect of his protection,” confirmed d’Eon in his favourable appreciation of himself. So in one year, 1783, he endeavoured to obtain for his protégés appointments in the navy, in the administration of taxes, and even in the King’s household. The religious orders ever found in him a kindly advocate. The Abbé de Molly-Billorgues, on hearing that Madame Elizabeth, the King’s sister, was to have a household of her own, begged him to obtain from M. Amelot the title of chaplain to the Princess. The Abbé de Lacy requested to be attached to a certain regiment. On another occasion d’Eon applied directly to the Bishop-Duke of Langres, Mgr. de la Luzerne, in favour of a prior who was afraid of being dispossessed of a living obtained by a “surreptitious decree.” A little later he wrote to the Archbishop of Paris, recommending to him a curate of Epineul, who was uncongenially situated in his present position.