502 Original Autograph Letters. [MAY, 



From Beaumarchais to the Duke d'Aremberg. 



11 Paris [no date probably about 1780.] 

 (The commencement omitted as destitute of interest.) 



" According to promise, I called, my dear Duke, upon Lauraguais.* 

 On my entrance he rose, and without giving me time to let him know the 

 nature of my affair, he exclaimed, ' Come what will, debts of honour, as 

 well as dishonourable debts must all share the same fate.' I mentioned 

 your name. ' D'Aremberg,' continued the facetious fellow, ' behaved 

 very kindly to me, but he must come in with the other creditors, and a 

 poor dividend, alas ! he will obtain. You have, of course, heard of my 

 bankruptcy ; my man of business tells me that it exceeds five millions 

 (200,000/.), and that, when all my affairs are well settled, which he thinks 

 will take up two or three years, my creditors may perhaps receive 2 \ per 

 cent, on the amount of their bills. I owe D'Aremberg 40,000 livres : he 

 has large estates in Germany and Flanders, and I am told that his grand 

 veneur is unfit for the situation he holds. I will, if the Duke accepts of 

 my services, engage with him, and I do not think there are many persons 

 in Europe who can compete with me in the knowledge of horses, dogs, 

 and every thing appertaining to the chase. Eight thousand livres must 

 be my annual salary, and in five years we should be quits : propose the 

 plan to him ; he cannot fail to be delighted with my offer.' I smiled at 

 the suggestion ' Aye, aye,' continued the loquacious nobleman, ' I fear 

 you entertain doubts as to my qualifications; why, sir, I can assure you 

 that thousands of persons who have visited me at Manicamp can vouch 

 for my superior skill in these matters. Every groom, jockey, and horse in 

 my possession came from England, and my friend Dorset could not boast 

 of a finer stud. The last horse I purchased cost me one thousand guineas, 

 the highest sum ever paid for a racer, but I was nearly off the bargain, 

 because I made the owner give me a receipt for nine hundred and ninety- 

 nine guineas and twenty shillings, as I was determined to avoid the round 

 numbers of 1000. But now the only treasure that remains to me is this' 

 pointing to a ring on his finger a treasure which no earthly power 

 shall prevail upon me to part with. It enables me to bear up with all 

 my misfortunes it is my sole consolation : this, sir, is my wife my be- 

 loved wife !' I thought of the refuge for lunatics, and my countenance 

 probably expressed my feelings. ' No, sir, I am not mad ; this ring, or 

 rather part of it, was once a beautiful and amiable woman : she rendered 

 me, during her life-time, the happiest of mortals, and when her soul winged 

 its flight to the celestial regions, I was determined that so much beauty 

 and loveliness should not become the prey of vile reptiles. I applied to 

 Vanderberg, the chemist, who, having placed the remains in a sheet of 

 Asbestos, it was committed to the flames, and reduced by violent heat to 

 a small quantity of powder, which afterwards, by some chemical prepara- 

 tion, was converted into a blue vitrified substance : here it is, sir, set in a 

 gold ring the very quintessence of my adorable partner !" At this mo- 

 ment some person was announced ; I took my hat, and wished Lauraguais 

 a good morning." 



* The Duke de Lauraguais was one of the most eccentric and profligate noblemen who 

 li'.ed before the Revolution, He was remarkable for his Anglomania, his extravagance 

 and his scandalous amours. He became a bankrupt to an enormous amount. On hear- 

 ing that a receiver-general had failed for nearly a million, he exclaimed in a public cof- 

 fee-room, " Only think of the horrid circumstance ! My name was upon the lips of every 

 one, and now, alas ! I shall be forgotten, a receiver- general having failed for twice the sum 

 I owe ! " 



