To throw a veil over this mysterious negociation, and in order to blind the eyes of the prying public, the pretty Frenchman who lives in Petty France, has for this fortnight past been roaring out in every coffee-house he frequents, that Mr. ********, the go-between above-mentioned, has betrayed his most sacred secrets to the D. of G. and the whole B———d junto. This flimsy, gausy device, was no sooner made public, but it was seen through by every tyro in politics. And the Frenchman was compelled by his new employers to lay aside the mask. He was ordered by this new sett of masters, who will always tyrannize over him in proportion to the pension they give him: he was ordered I say flatly to deny every circumstance in Dr. Musgrave’s patriotic letter, and boldly to assert, “that he never entered into any treaty for the sale of his papers.” Nothing is so easy to a Frenchman, especially if they have been once initiated into the diplomatic corps, as to assert one thing for another, where they know they cannot for the present moment be detected. But what will the good people of England think of the veracity of this same Frenchman, when I call upon him in this public manner to declare for what reason, at whose instigation, and for what valuable consideration in money, he suppressed the publication of those three letters relative to the late peace-makers?
I know, Mr. Printer, I speak ænigmatically to the generality of your readers, when I talk of three letters. But the D. of B———d understands me; Lord B—— understands me; and D’Eon, if he has any regard for truth, ought to blush at the bare mention of those three letters. There is but one moral tie can bind a French gentleman, that is, his word of honour. Let D’Eon then, if he dare, lay his hand upon his Croix de St. Louis, and swear, upon his honour, that he never received directly or indirectly, without equivocation, or mental reservation, any money, pension, emolument, or promise, for suppressing the publication of the three letters in question, and he shall either be credited, or publickly confuted, by
The BRITISH SPY.
To the PRINTER.
Doctor Musgrave’s address to the freeholders of the county of Devon, and the Chevalier D’Eon’s answer to it, having engrossed the public attention, give me leave, first, to consider the nature and tendency of the address, and then to make a few remarks on the Chevalier’s answer.
Mr. Musgrave has told us a series of facts within his own knowledge, the authenticity of which are corroborated by the names of the parties concerned, and the periods in which they were transacted. He tells us, that Sir George Yonge, Mr. Fitzherbert, and other members of parliament, informed him at different times, that the Chevalier D’Eon was really to impeach three persons of selling the peace to the French—that Sir George Yonge in particular told him, that he understood the charge could be supported by written as well as by living evidence. By the direction of Dr. Blackstone, Mr. Musgrave went to Lord Halifax on the 10th of May, 1765, and delivered to him an exact narrative of the intelligence he had received at Paris concerning the late peace, and at the same time gave him copies of four letters to and from Lord Hertford. On the 17th of May, 1765, just seven days after he delivered the narrative to Lord Halifax, Mr. Fitzherbert told the Doctor, that overtures were then making to the Chevalier D’Eon to get his papers from him for a stipulated sum of money. Lord Halifax, although repeatedly pressed by Doctor Musgrave to enquire into the truth of the charge, first, objected to all public steps that would lead to the truth, to avoid giving an alarm; and, at last, absolutely refused to take any cognizance of it, either in private or public. Thus frustrated in every application to the secretary of state, the Doctor carried his papers to the Speaker, who very readily allowed the expediency of their being laid before the House of Commons, but at the same time peremptorily refused to promote the enquiry.
This, Sir, is the substance of Dr. Musgrave’s address, which carries with it such a face of authenticity, that nothing but a public investigation of the facts can exculpate the parties concerned. As to the tendency of it, every unprejudiced reader must allow, that the public good, and not an inclination to aggravate the guilt of any particular person, was his object.
If the allegations contained in the address are not fairly stated—if Doctor Musgrave has been guilty of injuring private characters, and of imposing falshoods on the public—why, in God’s name, is he not contradicted?—Why do not the accused exculpate themselves?—Why are not the public undeceived?—Why should they be silent whose conduct is principally arraigned, and a vindication, such as it is, be published by a man, whose veracity in this respect is by no means to be relied on? For when his papers were purchased from him, the condition of the obligation no doubt was, that their contents should be buried in oblivion.
When the official conduct of a secretary of state, or of any other servant of the crown, is arraigned, the public have an undoubted right to be satisfied either of their guilt or innocence, in order that the law of the land may in either case take effect. When the character of an honest man is unjustly and publicly attacked, he will not postpone the vindication of his innocence until a legal enquiry can be set on foot in a court of law; he ought to exculpate himself through the same channel he has been accused. Therefore, until Doctor Blackstone tells us the conversation that passed between him and Mr. Musgrave, previous to his waiting on Lord Halifax—Until Lord Halifax informs us whether Doctor Musgrave did or did not deliver to him a narrative of the intelligence he had received at Paris, concerning the peace in 1764, and likewise publish the copies of the four letters to and from Lord Hertford; which, as they are of a public nature, his politeness need not stumble at—Until Sir George Yonge and Mr. Fitzherbert publicly deny every circumstance relative to their several conversations with Doctor Musgrave, especially what passed between Mr. Fitzherbert and him on the 17th day of May, 1765—And until the Speaker acquaints us with the reason why he allowed the expediency of laying these important papers before the House of Commons, and at the same time refused to promote the enquiry—Until all these matters are promulged and sufficiently authenticated, the impartial and dispassionate part of mankind must and will give credit to the facts contained in the address.