FLORIAN - The Most Traveled Man on Earth

Enjoying more other fathers the love and talents of his children, which were the result of
his endeavors; enjoying the society of a few intimate friends, and above all the friendship
of my brothers, who for some time came to share our shabby life, he was [still] happy
then.
It was only in Louisiana that he was truly unfortunate. I cannot depict to you, Monsieur,
his despair at seeing himself reduced to not fulfilling his promises. He thought it a crime
to have invested the fruits of the assiduous and painful labors of his daughters. I have
seen him even in his moments of anguish invoke a fever to his aid. I can attribute his
premature end only to the failures and the worries he experienced – at least if they were
not the immediate cause, it was the continuation. Alas, if his mind had been at ease, the
fever perhaps would not have made such rapid progress. His last moments, however,
were very calm. He recognized his condition and had the courage to conceal it from his
children, for fear of alarming them; they were all with him – do not ask me to tell you
more.
<strong>The</strong>re remains to tell you of my family. My father, M. Ledet Desegray, fled to New York
in ’92 [1792], at which place he died mourned by all those who had the good fortune to
know him.
My grandfather Beaugeard, Treasurer of the Etats of Brittany, was also a victim of
fanaticism. He was also known in France for his immense fortune, for the use of
which—judge this! – they called him “the Son of God, the Father of the Poor.” His son,
my mother’s brother, was Secretary to the Queen [Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI].
He had the good fortune, on August tenth [1792], to save the life of the King, catching on
his arm the dagger thrust which was intended for him (the King). 97 As long as they lived,
he continued to render them what services he could; since their tragic death he has been
living in Brittany.
Perhaps I should tell you that all my relatives were initiated into your mysteries. 98
It meant very little to me, Monsieur, to have lost my position and the fortune that I could
have hoped for in France. I regretted, it is true, my fate, since it separated me from my
parents and relatives, but I did have consolation in the bosom of my family [by marriage],
which many other émigrés did not have. Born under the same roof, raised with him to
whom my destiny was bound by the dearest ties, I was able to be happy everywhere with
him, as indulgent and tender a husband, as good a father, a good brother, good friend, and
a good master.
His behavior was never other than good, and the emptiness which his loss has left me
cannot be compared to anything I could have imagined until this moment, as you may
97 On 10 August 1792 a mob and some organized revolutionaries attacked the Tuileries and seized the
King. This famous date marked the end of the monarchy in France. <strong>The</strong> King was forced to march out of
the Palace through a gauntlet of revolutionary guards who were supposed to protect him from the mob. It
is likely that this attempted assassination took place then. This incident is not reported in standard French
histories, and may be a new footnote in history.
98 It is clear that the reference here is to Masonic mysteries. French cousin-in-law Hughes de Boiry reports
that Pierre Beaugeard also was a Freemason in St Malo and in Rennes.
122