, a French adventurer, of whose private life little is known, and
, a French
adventurer, of whose private life little is known, and
whose public history is not of the most reputable kind, requires, however, some notice, as the author of various
publications, and an agent in some political transactions
which once were deemed of importance. He styled himself
advocate in the parliament of Bourdeaux. The first notice
of him occurs about 1763, when he had a concern in the
quarrel between the count de Guerchy, ambassador extraordinary from the court of France, and the chevalier
D‘Eon, (see D’EoN). About this time D‘Eon published a
letter to the count de Guerchy, by which we learn that
De Vergy solicited his (D’Eon’s) acquaintance, which he
declined unless he* brought letters of recommendation,
and that De Vergy, piqued at the refusal, boasted of being
perfectly well known to the count de Guerchy, which
proved to be a falsehood. This produced a quarrel between D‘Eon and De Vergy, and a pamphlet in answer
to D’Eon’s letter, and another answer under the title of
“Centre Note.
” After the more celebrated quarrel between de Guerchy and D‘Eon, De Vergy published a
parcel of letters from himself to the due de Cboiseul, in
which he positively asserts that the count de Guerchy prevailed with him to come over to England to assassinate
D’Eon. He even went farther, and before the grand
jury of Middlesex, made oath to the same effect. Upon
this deposition, the grand jury found a bill of intended
murder against the count de Guerchy; which bill, however, never came to the petty jury. The king granted
a noli prosequi in favour of De Guerchy, and the attorney-general was ordered to prosecute De Vergy, with
the result of which order we are unacquainted; but it
is certain that De Vergy, in his last will, confesses his
concern in a plot against D'Eon, and intimates that he
withdrew his assistance upon finding that it was intended to affect the chevalier’s life. After the above
transaction, we find him in 1767, publishing “Lettre
centre la Raison,
” or, “A Letter against Reason, addressed to the chevalier D'Eon,
” in which he repeats some
of the hacknied doctrines of the French philosophical
school, and professes himself a free-thinker. This was
followed by a succession of novels, entitled “The Mistakes
of the Heart;
” “The Lovers
” “Nature
” “Henrietta;
” “The Scotchman;
” and “The Palinode,
” written
in remarkably good English, and with much knowledge of
human nature; but scarcely one of them is free from the
grossest indelicacies. He wrote also, in 1770, “A Defence of the duke of Cumberland,
” a wretched catchpenny.
De Vergy died Oct. 1, 1774, aged only forty-two, and
remained unburied until March, his executor waiting for
directions from his family. He had desired in his will that
his relations would remove his body to Bourdeaux, but it
was at last interred in St. Pancras church-yard.