He was at work at four o'clock in
the morning and he spent his long days in toil for his country.
He believed that England was the tyrant of the seas, "the monster
against whom we should be always prepared," a greedy, perfidious
neighbor, the natural enemy of France.
From the first days of the trouble in regard to the Stamp Act
Vergennes had rejoiced that England's own children were turning
against her. He had French military officers in England spying on
her defenses. When war broke out he showed no nice regard for the
rules of neutrality and helped the colonies in every way
possible. It was a French writer who led in these activities.
Beaumarchais is known to the world chiefly as the creator of the
character of Figaro, which has become the type of the bold,
clever, witty, and intriguing rascal, but he played a real part
in the American Revolution. We need not inquire too closely into
his motives. There was hatred of the English, that "audacious,
unbridled, shameless people," and there was, too, the zeal for
liberal ideas which made Queen Marie Antoinette herself take a
pretty interest in the "dear republicans" overseas who were at
the same time fighting the national enemy. Beaumarchais secured
from the government money with which he purchased supplies to be
sent to America.
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