Roche, James, _Critical and Miscellaneous Essays by an Octogenarian, etc._ Cork, 1850. 2 vols. Taylor, John, _Records of my Life, etc._ London, 1832. 2 vols. Vandal, Albert, _Louis XV. et Elizabeth de Russie, etc._ Paris, 1882. 24 livres tournois = 1_l._ 1_s._ 3 ditto = 1 écu 1 écu = 2_s._ 7½_d._ [Illustration] CHARLES-GENEVIÈVE-LOUIS-AUGUSTE-ANDRÉ-TIMOTHÉE CHARLOTTE-GENEVIÈVE-LOUISA-AUGUSTA-ANDRÉE-TIMOTHÉE-MARIE D’EON DE BEAUMONT. Doctor of Civil and of Canon Law, and Advocate of the Parliament of Paris. Censor Royal for History and Belles-Lettres. Sent to Russia, first secretly, then officially, with the Chevalier Douglas for the Purpose of re-establishing friendly Relations between that Country and France. Secretary of the Embassy Extraordinary at the Court of Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Elizabeth. Captain of Dragoons and Aide-de-Camp to Marshal the Duke and to the Count de Broglio. Secretary of the Embassy Extraordinary from France to Great Britain for concluding the Peace of 1763. Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis. Resident, and afterwards Minister Plenipotentiary from France to Great Britain, and, finally, a Lady at the Court of Marie Antoinette, and an occasional and honoured Inmate at L’Abbaye Royale des Dames de Hautes Bruyères, La Maison des Demoiselles de St. Cyr, and at the Monastère des Filles de Ste. Marie. THE CHEVALIER D’EON DE BEAUMONT. CHAPTER I. Birth of D’Eon de Beaumont and registry as a male-child—Parentage—Consecrated to the Virgin Mary and admitted to the Sisterhood—Pursues studies as a boy—Early display of abilities—As secret agent, is sent to Russia by Louis XV.—Reception at St. Petersburg—Enemies and friends—Leaves for Versailles—Invited to enter the service of Russia. ‘The deeper the search in the annals of my family,’ wrote the subject of this Memoir, ‘the purer, more stainless, and more distinguished will it prove to be. One member only, Eon de l’Étoile,[1] was condemned by the Council of Rheims in the year 1148; but how many emperors, kings, and men of letters have been condemned and proscribed by popes and councils, legally or illegally. There is a vast difference between condemnation by the priesthood for gross errors in matters of religion, and condemnation by judges for the crimes of high treason, assassination, murder, and poisoning.