Impotence of German Espionage—Berlin's Sleuths and Diplomats equally bad—Training Secret-Service Men—Insistence on Facts—Naval Agents and their Knowledge—The Fatuity of German Ambitions—Practice _versus_ Theory—A Bismarck Touch—"Dirty Little Lieutenants"—An American War Correspondent in the Field CHAPTER XVI DIPLOMATIC, SOCIAL, CHURCH SPIES 255 No Sex Mystery about D'Eon—The Chevalier's Great Courage—His Trip to Russia in Woman's Dress—Empress rewards him—Spies for Louis XV.—Proves an Apt Soldier—Minister in London—Is removed and recalled—Receives Fat Pension—His Return to France—Resumes Female Attire—Disappoints the Curious—Death in 1810—Comte d'Antraigues—Napoleon's Opinion of—His Real Importance—Murdered in London—Diplomatic Secrets rarely divulged—Popular Misconceptions of Diplomatic Spies—Napoleon's _Cabinet Noir_—Prussian Spies at every Court—The "Posen" Case—Social Spies ubiquitous—The Lower Types—The Tausch Bureau—London's Peer Spy—A Self-constituted Social Cerberus—His Courage in Action—Rise and Fall of the "Prince"—Sainfoin's Derby—The Meyerling Tragedy—Church Espionage—The Spanish Inquisition—Its Terrors and Tortures—Congregational and School Spies CHAPTER XVII AMERICAN SECRET SERVICE 282 Few Spies in America—Political Spies active—Charles I. and his Spies—Louis XVI. and De Kalb—Washington and his Spies—James Rivington's Work—Secession Dreams in 1812—The Mexican and Civil Wars—Southern Female Spies—Their Cleverness and Exploits—Belle Boyd and her Corps—The Whisky Ring Spies—Custom House Spies—American Newspaper Spies CHAPTER XVIII NAPOLEON, HIS MISTRESS AND—A SPY 298 The Long Arm of British Diplomacy—Its fateful World Rôle—Spying on Bonaparte—Romance of a Captain's Wife—Madame Fourès and Bonaparte—Getting rid of a Husband—John H. Barnett, British Agent—Bonaparte's Unscrupulousness—The Harem of Elfi Bey—Thrashing an Unfaithful Wife—Self-sacrifice of Fourès—Napoleon's Narrow Escape CHAPTER XIX CONCLUSION—BIBLIOGRAPHY 309 INDEX 317 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fouché _Frontispiece_ Henri Le Caron _To face page_ 40 The Duchess of Portsmouth " " 128 Frederick the Great " " 162 The Chevalier d'Eon " " 256 I THE ETHOS OF THE SPY