Joseph comte de PUISAYE (1755-1827) royalist general, leader - Lot 616

Lot 616
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Joseph comte de PUISAYE (1755-1827) royalist general, leader - Lot 616
Joseph comte de PUISAYE (1755-1827) royalist general, leader of the Breton Chouannerie; he organized the landing at Quiberon. MANUSCRIT signed, Mémoire pour être soumis aux Ministres de Sa Majesté Britannique..., May 24, 1807; 41-page folio sewn notebook, with handwritten letterhead "Royalistes de France. Important memoir on the Royalist cause in France, addressed to Edward COOKE, Under-Secretary of State for War, of which the present copy, signed by the Count de Puisaye, was intended for Viscount MELVILLE, former British Minister of War (1794-1801), First Lord of the Admiralty (1804-1805), member of the Privy Council. Cooke asked for "a memoir, on the resources that the interior of France can still offer, to the royalist cause; and a plan for the direction of the means of execution"... The royalist cause still has resources, and "it is only from the interior of France that the salvation of the world can emerge"... The opportunities to restore the Monarchy were constantly sabotaged by false loyalists, undermined by the ignorance of the causes of the Revolution among the advisers of the Princes, and prevented by greed, speculation and intrigues which inspired distrust in the British government, whereas England was the only power which could support the efforts of the French royalists. Puisaye denounces in particular the misdeeds of Martin de Nantiat, who arrived in London in 1793 as an emissary of Marshal de Castries, and whose correspondence, now in Puisaye's hands, testifies to his negligence and perfidy: several pages of excerpts from letters follow, in which this émigré boasts of his credit in the British Parliament, reports that Pitt is corresponding with Robespierre, and multiplies outrages against members of the British royal family, etc.; "he is not the only one who has been in contact with the British government, but he has been the only one who has been in contact with the British government. It is not difficult to judge what the fate of the Quiberon expedition was inevitably to be", after which Puisaye became the object of persecution and calumny: "that I was sold to England, that I was Pitt's man, that I had been of intelligence, with him, to have the officers of the French navy slit their throats, and to deliver the emigrants, en masse, to the rage of the executioners of their King"... And to quote letters from Allègre, Georges, Mercier la Vendée, Verteuil, the Count of Artois, Abbé Guillot, etc. Finally, the count of La Châtre and the abbot Pericaud came to find Puisaye in his retreat: "I told them that I saw no other way to stop the intrigues, than by stopping the division; and that the first thing to do, was that the representative of the King, agreed with H.R.H. Sir, for the conduct of the business. M. de La Châtre replied to me that this was impossible, and alleged to me the King's orders, of which he has informed you. The unexpected return of M. Prigent having once again brought me back to London, I hastened to send Mylord Castlereagh the report that this officer made to me. The letters of my friends which were attached to it, confirmed the truth of it, from point to point. Messrs Guillevic and St Hillaire are generally despised: my former friends have kept their confidence in me"... However, the British government could impose silence on those who abuse the confidence of Monsieur... As for Puisaye, having come on the invitation of Lord Melville and having benefited from a naturalization "by the laws of Canada, and by letters patent of denizâtion", he considers himself as an Englishman. "When we have closed the door of the offices to the intriguers who besiege them, and that by this means, the security of the operations will be assured; and that the ministers of H.M. will do me the honor of appealing to me, I am ready to give them the details and the plans that they will judge appropriate to ask of me"...
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