The Sun.
London, England, 1810-05-25 00:00:00

THE CREP A URN D'EON.

This singular Personage, whose .cleat') we yester-
day announced, has made so remarkable an appear"
ance in the world, thathe is naturally eei objeet of
public curiosity. He was, during a f'frear part of
his life in this country, and once held in it a diplo-
matic station. The following accoent, which we
have chiefly extracted from the Annual Register,
probably contains the most authentic particulars re-
speeting the extraordinary suspicion that erincipAY
contributed to bring publicity on his diameter.
" This gentleman, at the time of his first corniog
over to England, was Captain of Dragoons in 04
French service, and Secretary to the Duke de Nl'
vernois, in which charaaer he behaved so much to
the Duke's satisfaaion, that that Nobleman, 01)°1'
his departure for France, got M. D'Eon appointed
Minister Plenipotentiary in his room.
" In a little time after, however, the Count de
Guerchy being appointed Ambassador from
,the
Court of Versailles, the Chevalier D'Eon received
orders, or rather was requested, to act as secretarY
or assistant to the new Ambassador. This, it SeetPsh
mortified the Chevalier to such a degree, that pre':
tending the letter of fecal which
.accompanied it
was a forgery, as a correspondent and intimate
friend likewise, and neighbour of the French Prnoc
Minister,- gave him no notice of it, he absolute!!'. -
refused to deliver it, and thereby drew on hintselt
the censure of his own Court, as mentioned in attr
last year's. chronicle. •
" Upon this, the Chevalier, with a view of excul'
pacing himself, or from a motive of revenge, or per-
haps both, published a succin& account of all the 11C;.
gociations in which he had been engaged, expose'
soniesecrets of the French Court, and rat her than spare
his enemies, revealed some things. to the prejudice
of his best friends. Among other persons very freely
treated in this publication was the Count de Guercbfo
and it was this treatment that drew on him the fore-
going prosecution for a libel on his Excellency.
was but natural that this behaviour should draw 01?
M. D'Eon the resentment of the Court of France e;
or, at least, that the Chevalier should apereheo°,
it. Whether or,nOt, therefore, that Court solicited
his being given up, which is very probable; reports
were spread, not, only that it had been done s'.) but
even had, on being refused, sent over-persons to kid'
nap the Chevalier, and carry him off by force ..°C
fraud, since it could not come at him by fair
; means.
" If the Chevalier himself was not the author of
these reports, he at least credited them so far, that
lie wrote four letters to complain of ti -ese designs
against him, as known to. him by undoubted auth°-
rity ; one to Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, anotbcr
to Lord Bute, a third to Lord Temple, and a fourth
to Mr. Pitt;, and to ask their advice if, as he had C 00:
traded no debt, and behaved himself in all things °'
a dutiful subject, he might not. kill the first mad
t
l'-
who should attempt to arrest him, since he could 11..
consider such arrest in any other light than to 'l4O
nap him; weakly alleging,: that were the laws ete
condemn him for so doing, which he could' not., ".
said, conceive, the spirit of them must feel tilt'
stroke. But if he really knew from undoubted alt:
thorny, that there was a design against his P-ee
son, and the villains entrusted with the. Oce
cation of that design, he might easily have P'
vented it, and in a legal way by act. inforbl3t!°r
against them. "What became of the Citecaii:l 31,1%
his vial is not known. About lout months ane'r r
house in Scotland-yard was forcibly ransacked ict.
him, and in doing it a door broke open by 'le',
persons, some of them well known, in consequenceil
they said, of orders from above ;' a thin.; not at 's,
improbable, considering into whet misdemeleoc``,„
it is reasonable to' think, the Chevali.r's
1 lion and ignorance of our laws might have bf:tl":',.er
him; misdemeanours, perhaps, sufficient to j's')cir
even more violent proceedings in searching for, a'
:apprehending the persons guilty of them.
" In the year 1777, we find such strong ooebta
entertained of his sex as 10 produce wagers to 3 Orr
amount, and a curious trial before Lord Man4iclu
" The a&ion was brought, by Mr. Hayes, S;lr;
geon in Leicester-fields, against Jacques, a I.o°"er
4
and underwriter, for the recovery of 7001.: the 5`
Mr. Jacques having about six years ago, revel'eoti
premiums of 15 guineas per cent. for every one
0,
which he stood engaged to return too guineas eti la
ever it should be- eroved Chat the Chevalier IY.P°
was aanally a woman.
for
" Mr. BULLER opened the cause as Connie' ,
Mr. Hayes. He stated the. fairness of the tr.ao3"o,
tiona and the justifiable nature of the demand, to
Mr. Hayes, the plaintiff, thought :himself DOW-,
be in possession of that proof which, would del,e err
mine the sex of the Chevalier D'Eon, and for el.
render the case indisputable."
" In proof of this fact Mr. Le Gout and I`f
iy
De Morande were called, who declared positiyeo.
the person called the Chevalier D'Eon to be a'

' man.
4•
" Mr. Mansfield, on the part of the defenulat•
~,
pleaded that this was one of those gambling, l't;
decent, and unnecessary cases, that ought never ac
be permitted to come into a Court,of. Justice
besides the inutility and indecency of the case, t.
plaintiff had taken advantage of his client, being t 1
possession of intelligence that enabled him to `lr.
with greater certainty, althqugh with such greof
odds on his side ; that thetplaintiff, at 'the time cc
laying the wager, knew that the Court of 1431;4.
treated with the Chevalier as a w“man, to grant `/"..0
a pension, and that the French Court most 'bete.
some strong circumstances to imbibe that '"le
therefore he hoped that the Jury would reprobate
such wagers. The defendant's Counsel did not 11,
tempt to contradict the plaintiff's evidence, by Pr()
.
ing the masculine gender.
" Lord Mansfield expressed his abhorrence of flit
whole transa&ion, and the More so their bringing t
, into a Court of Justice, when it might have been,sei
r‘o
tied elsewhere, wishing it had been in his power'
concurrence with the Jury, to have made both
ties lose; but as the law had not expressly PrVre
bited it, and the wager was laid, the question he")d,
them was, who had won. His Lordship obser°re
that the indecency of the proceeding arose "le
from the unnecessary questions asked than front Er,
case itself; that the witnesses had declared they Pei(
fedly knew the Chevalier d'Eon to be a woman 3
she is not a woman, they are certainly perjtire:id
there was, therefore, no need of inquiring how, '1.;0„
by what mode, they knew it, which was all the
decency,

recter-

ppCar'
jea of
►art of
di plo-
ich we

.0 ister,

vs re-
cipallY

owing
de N!•
!Lich to

upon
Mitllea

unt dc
in
_tile
weit•ed

cretary

iee.tith

uleii It

itiniate
Prito°
olutelr
oilr

,I.
eXCLo

or per'
the nee
liposed
U 7 spore
ejudioe
; freely
Jet chf*
lie fore"
cy. It
Lraw on

?ranee -;
,reheod
solicited
reports
Ji bat
; 10 kiP
once c 4"
by fair

thor of
that
desigtis
auth°-
another
fourta
ad con'
)irigs as
.st roar!
o°'
to kid,:
laws '-
not., he
Z:el 01°
,led L-10'

liS
le ese-
ve
she
„tier -
lied for
by si%
quenceii
ot st
„rico!"

.‘..
ndis.rci
) jisfiv
tor, apd

doubt..
' IVS) 3 i 3
14.1 Cid.
brOl<l
the 531,
received`r one 0:

- •
D'Ecrl

n for
~rartiYaand, a
[IGO= °
I deter
for ever

nd Mr'
)siLiveiY.
vo'

uisPb.
ig, iof;
,eve
1113se, .
tbe
eing 1°
-to 1#
tl
• gar
gr-
utile 0
ant Ito
sr DO°
ide'l,
prob3le
not at"

Y Pr°l! '

of the
igiog "
sC;t'
probi-
pop,
beforie
serve",„'
iriorg
orn the
ey
lan •
rejl•••t1
,
111 e ill

" M to the fraud suggested, or the piaintitt knoV7=
'ag_more than the dclendant, he seemed to think
there. was no found.itlon for it-. His Lordship then
recited a wager entered into by two gentlemen in his
own
,pregerite, about the dimensions of theYends
de Meoicis, fur 1001. ; one of the gentlemen said,
' I will not deceive you, I tell vou fairly, I have
been there and measured it myself.' Well,' says
the other, and do you think I I,otild be such a tool
as tt lay ill had not: measured it.' I will :lay .for
all that:4

" His Lordship then went on to state to the Jury,
that this Chevalier.had 'publicly appeared as a man;
'tad been employed by the Court of France as a man,
'as a military a civil office, and as a Minister
of State here and it, Russia that there was all.the
presilmptionagainst the plaintiff, and the onus pro-
handi lay -upon him, which might never bare been
come at; lor it appeared, the only proposition of a
. discnicry of sex that bad been made to the Chevalier,,
by some gentlemen upon
.an excursion had Been re-
sented -by ilAot;,_who had instantly .quitte:ll their
'company on that account. It might therefqre•have
rieierb-en'in bi- power to' have proved his wager,
but for some accideotal quarrels between D'Eon and
some of her countrymen. His Lordship wan there-
fore olopinion,_ that the Jury would find a verdict.,
for the -plaintif
" The Juay .without hesitation gave a vet di4t for
the plaintiff-7001. and 405.. ,
" Oil Saturday Las!, the policy business trespett-
ing the sex of d'Eon, was soletimbi, argued
before Lord
.MANsFI4.:LD,. in the Court of: King's
Bench, .when the defendant. pleaded a Late Att
Parliament. for the non-payinent .of the pOicy he
had under-written, which siatute provides, :Shat no
Insurance-shalt be valid, where the person :insuring
cannot prove -an antecedent interest it, the:
.person
or thing insured..—The Chie! Justice admitted the
statute to be binding in the present instaince ;. by,
_Which decision all. the insurers in the .abot e 1121137
aaion will now be deprived of the golderi harvest
they so tong expected." - -
From-the ) ear 1778, we heard little of the Che-
valier, except that he mass frequently engaged in
lions of fencing, in which he was pecu7
liarly skilful. 17,1.vards the cit.,,e life he livedretired near 'hits it : f;)r. 11:, last two yerai s,e had
been :Jilt-led with illness, arid had bee,: attended
by thu fete Eiizee, who during that time never sus-
pected hitn. to bts. a male. On Monday eight he
died, abollt ten o'cloCk',- and t;e Pete coming Emu
•day,_ ascertained oy accident ttiti real sex. iStruck
with this discovery, he requ sted some. En ii.it Sur-
geons to assist on the next day in opening the b0r.4)..
Acc,,rdingly on Wednesday' he was attei,Jed by
',Mr. Wilson, Mr. Copeland, Mr. R.ng, jun. and
Bertin. Lord Yarmouth, Mr. L)itleron, and
:other persons of chstittalorl were present. The booy
was examined, and proved beyond 0011bli, ss-,4111
be seen by the following certificate to be a Male :

, .
" I hereby certify, that I have inspeaeil anil dislieeted the
body of the Chevalier 1)' Lon, in the presence of 'Mr Adair,
Alr. Wilson, and Le Pere elizee, and have found the male
oigAis in every respedcoriedly .twiried. .
(Signed) "T. COP L LAN D, Suri.eon, Goldelj-square."

SPOR riNG INTEL LIGEIVCE.:

NEWMARKET SECOND S'PRING MEETING, Oho

THUR.SD +y, MAY 24.
Sweepstakes of 3ogs. each. ACIOSS the Flpt.

:Mr. Craven's Black Diamond, 7st. loth. -
Sir C. Sunoury's Fair Star, gst. 2
Gen. Gower's c. by Worthy, 7st. 41b. -; 3
Mr. Payne's c. by Waxy, out of Tarantula, Cst; 21b. beat
icy Jersey's Antonio, Bst. 71b. Across the Flat, zio,.gs.

Fifty Pounds for 3-yr olds. Est. 24b. ; 4-yr olds, 8 ,t. ;
olds, Bst. 716. ; 6.yr olds and aged, Bst. alb. T. M. M.

-
C.
Ld Grosvenor's ch. I. Antonio, 3 yrs
Mr. Douglas's b. c. by Dick Andrews, dam by Adamant,

4 yrs - - 7 7.
Ld C. Somerset's ch. c. Speculatibn, 4 yrs - 3
Mr. Shakespear's l. .by bobtail, 7st. ralb. beat Gen.
Grosvenor's The Young Lochinvar, Sat. 71b. l'wo-yr old
Courses zoogs.

,Sweepstakes of zoogs. each, h. ft. To start at the Ditch,
and end with the Ab. ti.• .

Ld Foley's Spaniard, 4 yrs 7st. loth.
Mr. 13atson's Cecilia, 5 yrs fist.
Ld Darlington's Kober's, $ yrs Bst. 121 b.
Ld Grosvenor's Eaton,.6 yrs gst. ►lb.

.. . .- .
, • 2, to 1 agst Eaton.- -
Mr. F. Craven's Yorkshire Grey, Bst. gib. heat Gen.
Grosvenor's The Young Lochinvar, 7st. slb. B. M. sogs.
Sweepstakes of boogs. each. D. I. ,
Ld Darlington's Musician, Bst. ialb. - ' - r
Ld jersey's Langton, Bst. glb. '., 2
D. of Rutland's Salvator, 7st. 7113 i . 3

About half after five o'clock on Wednesday morn-
ing, ,the ancient mansion of the Noel family, at
Exton, near Stathford, was discovered to be on fire ;
before any assistance could be procured, tlie,dining-
room, the drawing-room, library, and all ttie-apart-
rnents immediately adjoining, were in flames;
_and
a short time only had• elapsed before the whole of
the rooms, east of •the great hall, were a heap of
ruins. There was. not time to save any part of the
valuable library, which, together with the whole of
the, furniture, and some expensive pieures (among
which %vas a landscape worth one thousandguine,as),
were entirely destroyed. Gainsborough's Woosl-
man," narrowly escaped ; and Northeote's admi-
"Table painting of " Captain Englefield in the Cen-
tatir," together with a few -others of the extensive.
collet:lion, were not saved wit bout extreme:difficulty.
The loss cannot yet be ascertained, but froth appear-
ances it Must be very great.
.About half of the
house is zompletely in ruins. Only w very small
sum is insured.

SMITHFIELD MARKET, MAY 25.
This day's Market was but thinly supplied with
ditferent kinds of Cattle; Beef, Mutton, Pork,
V(.-al, and Lamb, sold at last prices ; and the trade
for the most part was rather flat.—The sales in the
Hay Market were not lively.; Hays, and Clover
fetched lasi prices ; Straw has got op in price.—
The t,ndertnentio.ncd prices and nut-,.1%..rs are an ac-
curate,statement

To sink the off_d per stone of Elb.
Beef 4s. 4d.. to 6s. od. Mutton 4s. 4d. to 6s. 4d. Veal
Ss. cd to 7s. od. Pork ss. od. to 7s. od. lamb ss. od. to
(1.

Feasts 733. Sheep and Lambs 4700. Calves 2.10. Pigs
290.

SMITHFIELD HAYMARKET.
Hay 41. Os. od. to 61 Jos od. Straw 21. ios. od. to 31.
c:1. Clover 51. Ob. od. to 71. 103. od.

"CcRN EXCHANGE, MAX 25.--ghe supply of
-sty to-day is considerable, mostly this week's
ar tineign, :about. 20,000 quarters; which
ca .- h a vy.sales; acid at rather lower prices; but
lit, Lc lar gum .in any oilier boas of grain.

DIPPRIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF PEERS,

THURSDAY, MAY 24.

COMMISSION.

Thb Royal Assent.was notified by Commission to
thirty-seven Public and, Private Bills. 'Athong the
Public Bills were, the Additional Exchequer An-
nuities Bid, the Duke of Brunswick's Annuity Bill,
the Irish Schools. Endowment Bill, &c.
-The Commssioners were, the, Lord Chancellor,
Earl Bathurst, and Lord Walsingharm
'Several Local. and Private Bills were brought up
from th;: Commons, and read a first time.
The Bills on the table were forwarded in their
respective stages.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE gave notice, that on
Monday next he should. moVe. the third reading of
the Embetzlement Bill.

The Duke of, Mowritose, presented a 'Petition
from certain l,andholders, &c.. in the county Gf
Stirling, praying for a repeal of the Bill prohibiting
the Distil(midi) of • SPiriis from Grain.—Ordered to
lie on the table.—Adjourned.

HOUSE OF .COMMONS,
THURSDAY, MAY 24.

The Deputy Usher of the Black Rad summoned
this House to. the House of Yeers, to hear the
Royal 'Assent, .by Chin.hission, to the 'following►
Bills i—The Duke of Brunswick's Annuity &11, tl►e
Exchequer Loan Bill; the Irish Malt'Bil, the Irish
Endovk ed Schools Bills, and several other Bills of a
private nature;

Mr', WESTERN brought up the Report on the
Poor Empioyment Bill. • The Amendments were
.re :,c1 and agt eed to.

Lord HENNIKER broug-ht in' a Bill to repeal the
Act of 7th James, Which provides- fur the punish-
ment of Women delivered of aistards. The Ain was
read a first'time, and ordered to' be printeJ, and then
read a second titre. -

The Report of the Comrnittte of Supply was,
brought up, the Resolutio,s oweed to, and :Bills
brdel ed accordingly.
_ • _

On the tootion-c-A- Mr,• ARTObi, the Loati Bill
the 'Excise Oilicers',Buperannualion Bill, and the
Isle ot M m Cdstoms ConsoWation Bill, were se-
verally read a third time, and passed.
Tuelsie of Man Smnggling.Bill was rod a second
time, as•.w...is the Lowlands Distillers'•,BN, and
tn-! Wareh,using GoodS Bilk; • ordered to be com-
mitted to-morrow.

• The Six Millions Exchequer Bill, and the Pen-
sion Duty Bill, imtat tin ough.a Committe'e. The Re-
i.ort as ordered to be, receivc-d to-morrow. -

A ..lessage.from the Lords, announced that their
.Locdswps had agreed to soz,erat Pr...vale Bills.
Toe-Judg.! Advocate'; Free Package and Letter
Bill.was read a first time. .

Leave was given to bring in a Bill tore-build the
:Church. of St. Paul, Sbadwell. •

Tijk. 141G1-I,IVAYS.

Sir Jona SINCLAIR moved, .that the Report of the
.Corurnitice on -the Highways,' &c.. be taken into
consi .ieration.

M. WHITBREAD noticed a variety of amend-
meats which had been • made in the Committee,
which could not _meet the, object of the Bill, and
having several alterations to in order to render
the B:11 more perfect, he suggested the propriety
of having better intormation, and for Wit purpose'
moyed tota:e is re-committed.

•
.To this suggestion Sir J. SDICLAI ti acceded ; and
after a few ouservations fruit) Mr. G. Vansittart, the
Report; was re-committed.
The Foreign Timber Bill was read a first time,
and ordered to be read a second time this day se'll7r
night. . .

-114i..-RoSig brought in ,the British Fisheries Con.
tinuatiquil:ll, which v‘ts read afirst time ; as was
also the Bdi tor.encouraging the growth of Flax.
Sir J.-NgArPORT presented a A-)etilion trurn the
Merchants and Traders of Waterford against the
Prizage on the table.

VOTE OF CREDIT-MESSAGE FROM HIS MA-
IESTY.

The CHANCELLOR 61 the EACHEQUER brought
down-the following Message &Qin his Majesty
G. R.

His Majesty, relying on the experienced zeal and alli:dion
'of his faithful Commons, and considering the great import.
ance of providing for any emergency, recommends to them to
take such measures as may enable him to disappoint and de.
teat the designs of the enemy, and to adopt such'proceedings
as the exigence of afEiirs may require. . -

The Message was ordered to be referred to the
Committee of Supply to morrow.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER gave notice,
that he should tormorrow, in the Committee of
Supply, submit a proposition for the Relief of the
Poor Clergy of Scotland.

The Report of the Committee to consider of the
necessity of imposing a Duty of ten shillings on
every ton of Coals brought nearer to London than
the stone at' Staines,bridge, was brought up and
agreed to ; and, after some observations from Sir M.
Ridley; Mr. H.,Coinbe, Sze. a Bill was Ordeyed,
The Assessed'Taxes Bill was read a second time,
and committed for Wednesday. •