‘There is as great a singularity in the character of the Chevalier D’Eon, as _in our ignorance of his sex_. The rule of his life is peculiar to himself; no other man or woman would, in the same position, write and behave as he does. Is it reason, virtue, or caprice that dictates his conduct, and makes him in his manners the reverse of our men of fashion? Let our readers judge from the following fact. Our courtiers adore the man upon whom fortune smiles, and rail at him as soon as he is no longer in favour; the Chevalier follows an unjustly disgraced minister in his exile, and there pays him the tribute of praise he refused him in the time of his prosperity. When the French Court conceal their esteem for the Duke de Choiseul, and bend the knee to the favourite they despise, to that duke the Chevalier dedicates his “Loisirs”—him he openly dares to commend! That oddity will not make a fortune at St. James’; it cannot be applauded when folly holds the place of merit, and immorality rides triumphant over the ruins of religion!’[252] The work was well received, and especially, it was said, at Berlin, where the notices it contained on political administration, and particularly that branch relating to finance, caused so favourable an impression on the ministers, for they found therein a quantity of new and extremely useful ideas, that his Prussian Majesty ordered they should immediately be put into operation for the benefit of the public and of the Government.[253] [Sidenote: FEMALE OR MALE?]