PREFACE

T HOUGH much has been wri tten about Cagliostro ,most of i t is confined to articles in encyclopedias andmagazines , or to descriptive paragraphs in worksdeal ing with magic

,freemasonry and the period in

wh ich he l ived .

1 This mater ial may be descr ibed as afootnote wh ich has been raised to the dignity of apage of h istory. I t is based on contempora ry recordsinspired by envy

,hatred and contempt in an age

notor iously passionate, revengeful and unscrupulous . !

I t is, moreover, extremely superficial , being merely arepetition of i nformation obtained second -hand bycompilers apparently too ignorant or too lazy to maketheir own investigations . Even M . Funck-B rentano

,

whose bril l iant h i storical monographs have earned h ima deservedly h igh reputation , i s not to be rel ied upon .

I n the sequel 2 to h i s entertain ing account of the affairof the Diamond Necklace, the brief chapter he devotesto Cagl iostro contains so many inaccuracies as tosuggest that, l ike the majori ty of h i s predecessors, hewas content to impart h is information without prev ious ly taking the trouble to examine the sources fromwh ich i t was derived .

I t has been said that every book on Cagl iostro1 Prior to the present volume no complete biography of Cagl iostro

has been published in English .

2 LaMortde laR eine Les suites a’e l

’afiaz

’

rea’ze eol/z

’

er. Tran slatedinto English under the title of Cagliostro and Company .

V

Preface

mus t be a book again st him. With th is opin ion I

totally disagree . I n choosing Cagliostro as thesubject of an historical memoir I was guided at first, I

admit,by the bel ief that he was the arch- impostor he

is popularly supposed to be. With h is mystery ,magic

,and highly sensational career he seemed just

the sort of picturesque personal ity I was in search of.

The moment , however, I began to make myresearchesl was astonished to find how l ittle foundation therewas in point offact for the popular conception . Thedeeper I went into the subj ect—how deep th i s hasbeen the reader may gather from the B ibl iography

,

wh ich contains but a portion of the material I hav esifted— the more convinced I became of the fallacyof this conception. Under such circumstances thereseemed but two alternatives open to me : either toabandon the subject altogether as unsuited for thepurpos e I had in V i ew, or to follow the l ine of leastresistance and , dishonestly adhering to the old method

,

which from custom had almost become a’e r z'

gnen r , helpto perpetuate an impression I bel ieved to be unfoundedand unjust .On reflection I have adopted n either cou rse

.

I rritation caused by the ignorance and carelessnessof the so-called “ authorities ” awoke a fresh andunexpected interest in their victim and I decided tos t ick to the subject I had chosen and treat it for thefirst time honestly. As Baron de Gleichen says inhis Souven i rs , Enough ill has been said of Cagl iostro

.

I intend to speak well of h im,because I th ink this i s

always preferable providing one can,and at least I

shall not bore the reader by repeating what he ghasalready heard .

v i

Preface

Such a statement made in connection with such acharacter as Cagl iostro is popularly supposed to bewill , no doubt, expose me to the charge of having“ wh i tewashed him . Th i s , however , I emphaticallydeny.

“Whitewash ing, as I understand th is term ,

i s a plausible attempt to portray base or detestablecharacters as worthy of esteem by pall iating their vicesand attributing noble motives to their cr imes . Th ismanner of treating h i stor i cal figures is certainly notone of wh ich I can be accused

,as those who may have

read previous biograph ical books of mine will admit .Whatever sympathy for Cagl iostro my researches mayhave evoked it has always been exceeded by contemptof those who

,combining an unreasoning prejudice with

a slovenly system of compilation,have repeated the

old charges against h im with parrot- l ike stupidity .

The object of this book i s not so much an attemptto vindicate Cagl iostro as to correct and revise, i fpossible, what I bel i eve to be a false judgment ofh istory.

W . R . H . TROWBR IDGELondon , Augnst I 9 I 0 .

v ii

BIBLIOGRAPHY

T HE books and documents relating to Cagl ios tro are

very numerous . Their value , however, is so questionable that in making a cr i t ical choice i t is extremelydifficul t to avoid including many that are worthless.

I n the F rench Arch ivesA a

’

oss ier entitled Documents al’

aide a’

esguels la police de Pari s a

e/eerefié aétabl ir, lors a

’

u proees da Col lier, one Cagl i osz‘ro n

’

efai l antre

gu’

un aven turier nommé josep/z B alsamo, guz’

avai l def/a se’

journe a

Pari s en 1 772

Lettre adressée par un anonyme au commissaire Fontaine, remisede Palerme, le 2 Nov.

, 1 786.

P lainte adressée aM . de Sartine par J . Balsamo contre sa femme.

Ordre de M . de Sartine au commissaire Fontaine de dresserproces

n verbal de la capture de la dame Balsamo, 2 3 Jan v ier, 1 773 .

Procés-verbal de capture de la dame Balsamo, 1 Fevrier, 1 773 .

Interrogato ire de la dame Bal samo, zo Fevrier, 1 773.

Rapport au Min istre.

The above have also been pr inted in fu l l in EmileCampardon

’

s Mar ie An toinel le of le P roeés a’n Col l ier .

The following documen ts are unprintedProcés -verbal de capture des s ieur et dame Cagliostro.

Proces-verbal de perquis ition fait par le commissaire Chesnon le2 3 Aout, 1 785 , chez le s ieur Cagl iostro.

Interrogatoire de Cagliostro le 30 Janv ier, 1 786.

1X

Bibliography

I n the French Archives (conti nued)Minute des confrontation s des témo in s de Cagliostro .

Frocks-verbal de la remise faite aCaglios tro, lors de sa m1se en

liberté, des efl'

ets sais is a son domicile le jour de sa mise en étatd ’arrestation .

Journal du l ibraire Hardy.Copie d’une lettre écrite de Londres par un officier frangais remise

aParis le 1 9 Juillet 1 786 .

Lettre au peuple francais .

Publ ished WorksVie de Joseph Balsamo, connu sous le nom de Comte Cagliostro

extraite de la procédure in struite contre Iui a Rome, en 1 790 ,

traduite d’apres l’original italien , imprimé ala Chambre Apostol ique .

Courier de l ’Europe, gazette anglo-frangaise, September, October,November, 1 786 ; also Gazette de Hollande, Gazette d’ Utrecht,Gazette de Leyde, Gazette de Florence, Courier du Bas -Rhin ,

Journal de Berlin , Public Advertizer, Feuille Villageoise, and

Mon iteur Un iverse] .Cagliostro démasqué aVarsovie en 1 780 .

Nachricht von des berii chtigten Cagliostro aufenthalte in Mitau,im jahre 1 779 (Countess Elisa von der Recke) .Lettres sur la Suisse en 1 78 1 (I . B . de Laborde) .Geschichten , geheime und rathselhafte Men schen (F. Bulau) ; or

the French tran slation byWilliam DuckettPersonnages En igmatigues .

Souven irs de Baron de Gleichen .

Souven irs de la Marquise de Crequy.Correspondance Iittérai re (Grimm) .Mémoires récréatifs , scientifiques, et anecdotiques du phys icien

aéronaute G. E . Roberson .

Mémoires authentiques de Comte Cagliostro (spurious, by theMarquis de Luchet).Mémoires de Brissot, Abbé George], Baronne d’Oberkirch, Madame

duHausset, Grosley, Bachaumont, Métra, Casanova, Comte Beugnot,

and Baron de Besenval .

C3 81i°5 tT° = La Frame-Magonnerie et l’

Occultisme au XVI I I‘

siécle (Henri d’

Alméras ).

X

Bib liography

Othodox ie Magonn ique (Ragon ) .La Franc-Maconne, ou Revelation s des Mysteres des FrancsMacons .

Annales de l’origine du Grand Orient en France .

Acta Latomorum (Thory) .Mémoires pour serv ir al ’histoire du Jacobin isme (Abbé Barruel) .Histoire du Merveilleux (Figuier) .Histoire de la Fran c-Magonnerie (Clavel) .Histoire ph ilosophique de laMaconnerie (Kauffmann et Cherpin ) .Les Sectes et les soc iété s secretes (Comte Le Couteulx de

Canteleu) .Schlosser’s History of the Eighteenth Century .Histoire de la Revolution Francaise Les RévolutionnairesMystiques (Louis Blane) .Histoire de France XVI I I"s1eele (Henri Martin ) .Histoire de Fran ce : L’

Affaire du Coll ier (Michelet) .Recueil de toutes les p ieces (3 1 ) qui ont paru dans l ’affaire deM . le Cardinal de Rohan .

Marie An toinette et le Procés du Collier (Emile Campardon ) .L

’Afi'

aire du Collier (Fun ck-Brentano) .T he Diamond Necklace (Henry Vizetelly) .Marie An toin ette et le Procés du Collier (Chaix d’Est-Ange) .La Dern iere Piece du fameux Coll ier.Mémoire du Sieur Sacchi.Lettre de Labarthe al’archéologue Seguier.Lettre d’un Garde du Roi (Manuel) .Lettres du Comte de Mirabeau a sur Cagliostro et Lavater.Requete au Parlement par le Comte de Cagliostro .

Mémoire pour le Comte de Cagl iostro, demandeur, contreM . Chesnon le fils et le s ieur de Launay.Lettre au Peuple Anglais par le Comte de Cagliostro.

T heveneau de Morande (Paul R ob iquet) .LiberMemorialis de Caleostro dum esset R oboretti .Alessandro di Cagliostro. Impostor orMartyr ? (Charles Sotheran ) .Coun t Cagliostro (Critical and Miscellan eous Essays Carlyle) .Vieux papiers , v ieilles maison s (G. Lenotre) .Italian ische Reise (Goethe) .

CONTENTS

PART I

T HE POWER or PREJUDICEI I G IUSEPPE BALSAMO

PART II

CAGLIOSTRO I N LONDONI I E IGHTEENTH CENTURY OCCULT ISMMASKED AND UNMASKED

IV T HE CONQUEST or THE CARDINALCAGLIOSTRO I N PARIST HE D IAMOND NECKLACE AFFAIRCAGLIOSTRO RETURNS TO LONDON“NATURE’S UNFORTUNA’

I‘

E CH I LDINDEX

031113 1 10OFP '

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

COUNT CAGLIOSTRO Fron tz'

spz‘

ere

CARDINAL DE ROHANCOUNTESS CAGLIOSTROMESMEREMMANUEL SWEDENBORGADAM WEISHAUPTCouNTEss ELISA VON DER RECKE

HOUDON’

S BUST OF CAGLIOSTROCOUNTESS DE LAMOTTEMAR IE ANTO INETTELORD GEORGE GORDONT HEVENEAU DE MORANDEA MASONIC ANECDOTEPH ILIP JAMES DE LOUTHER BOURG

XV

CAGLIOST RO

PART I

CHAPTER I

THE POWER OF PREJUD ICEI

T HE mention of Cagl iostro always suggests themarvellous

,the mysterious , the unknown . There is

something cabalistic in the very sound of the namethat

,considering the occult phenomena performed by

the strange personal ity who assumed it, i s curiouslyappropriate . As an incogn ito i t is , perhaps, the mostsuitable ever invented . The name fits the man l ikea glove ; and , recall ing the mystery in wh ich hiscareer was wrapped

,one involuntarily wonders i f i t has

ever been cleared up . I n a word , what was Cagl iostroreally ? Charlatan , adventurer, swindler, whose impostures were final ly exposed by the ever-memorableNecklace Affair i n which he was impl icated ? O r“ friend of humanity

,

” as he claimed,whose benefac

tions excited the enmity of the envious,who took

advantage of his misfo rtunes to calumniate and ruinhim ? Knave , o r martyr—wh i ch ?This question is more easily answered by saying

what Caglios tro was not than what he was . I t hasbeen stated by competent judges —and all who have

B

s tudied the subject will agree wi th them— that there is,perhaps

,no other equally celebrated figure in modern

history whose character is so baffling to the biographer.

Documents and books relating to him abound , but theypossess l ittle or no value . The most interesting arefrequently the most unrel iable . The fact that materials o quest ionable should provide as many reasons forrejec t ing i ts evidence—wh ich is

,by the way , almost

ent i rely hostile- as for accepting i t , has inducedtheosophists

,spiritual ists

,occul t ists

,and al l who are

s ympathetically drawn to the mys terious to becomehis apologis ts . By these amiable V i sionaries Cagl iostrois regarded as one of the princes of occul tism whosemyst ical touch has revealed the arcana of the spiritualworld to the in i t iated

,and i llumined the path along

which the speculative scientist proceeds on enteringthe labyrinth of the supernatural . To them the striking contrasts with which his agitated existence waschequered are unimpeachable witnesses in h i s favour

,

and they stubbornly refuse to accept the unsat isfactoryand contemptuous explanation of h i s miracles givenby those who regard him as an impostor

.

Unfortunately, greater weight is attached to pol icereports than to theosoph ical eulogies ; and somethingmore s ubstant ial than the enthusiasm of the occultis tsis required to support their con tention

.However

,those

who take th is extravagant ( I had almost said ridiculous)V iew of Cagliostro may obtain what cons olation theycan from the fact—which cannot be stated too emphatical ly—that though i t is utterly impossible to granttheir prophet the halo they would accord h im

,i t is

equally impos sible to accept the verdict of his enemies .In real ity, i t is by the evil that has been said and

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Cagliostro

might,stil l left the truth i n doubt -only served to

strengthen his prejudice. I t could surely be no innocent victim of injustice who aroused contempt somalevolent

,hatred so universal . The mystery in

which he masqueraded was alone sufficient to excitesuspicion. And yet, whispered the conscience of thehistorian enraged at the mendacity of the witnesses heconsulted

,what noble ideals, what lofty aspirations

misjudged , misunderstood , exposed to ridicule, peltedwith calumny

,may not have sought shelter under that

mantle of mystery“ Looking at thy so attractively decorated pr ivate

theatre, wherein thou acteds t and liv eds t, ” he exclaims,“ what hand but i tches to draw aside thy curtainoverhaul thy paste-boards , paint-pots, paper -mantles,stage- lamps ; and turning the whole inside out, findti me i n the middle thereof !And suiting the action to the word he clutches w i th

an indignant hand at that metaphor1cal curtain ; butin the very act of drawing it aside h i s old ingrainedprejudice asserts i tself. Bah ! what else but a fraud

moment to cross the threshold of h istory,Carlyle

dropped the curtain h is fingers itched to draw asideand proceeded to empty all the vials of h is wrathon Cagliostro .

I n his br ill iant essay, in theDiamona’Necé lace, in the4

T he Power of Prejudice

Fron cé R evolution—wherever he meets h im —he brandshim as a “ King of Liars ,

” a Prince of S coundrels,

”

an “ Arch -Quack,” “ Count Front of B rass -Pinch

b eckos trum,

” “ Bubby-jock ,” “ a babbl ing

,bubbling

Turkey-cock , et cetera. But such violence defeats i tsintention . When on every page the h is torian ’s cons cience is smitten with doubts that prejudice cannotsucceed in still ing, the cri t ical and inquis i tive readercomes to the conclusion he knows less about the realCagl iostro at the end than he did at the beginn ing .

He has merely seen Carlyle in one of his fine l iteraryrages ; i t is al l very interesting and memorable , butby no means what he wanted . As a matter of fact

,in

th is instance Carlyle ’s j udgment is absolutely at sea ;and the modern biographers of Cagl iostro do not evenrefer to i t .Nevertheless, these wr i ters have come pretty much

to the same conclusion . M . Henri d’

Alméras , whosebook on Cagl iostro is the best, speaking of thequestionable evidence that so incensed Carlyle

,

declares “ the h istorian , even in handl ing i t with care ,finds h imself wil ly n illy adopting the old prejudice .

That Is to say , every book written on Cagl iostro , evenunder the pretext of rehabil i tat ing him

,can only be

a book again st h im .

” But while holding to the oldconventional opinion , he considers that “ a rogue s o

picturesque disarms anger, and deserves to be treatedwith indulgence.” D

’

Alméras pictures Cagliostro asa sort of clown , wh ich i s certainly the most curiousV iew ever taken of the “ F ron t of B rass

,

” and evenmore unjustifiable than Carlyle ’s .

“What a good-natured , amusing , or iginal rascal !he exclaims “ The Figaro of more intelli

5

Cagliostro

gent than Diafo irus , and more cunning than Scapin .

And with what imperturbable serenity did he l ie i nfiv e or six languages , as well as in a gibberish thathad no meaning at all . To lie l ike that giv es one agreat superiority over the majority of one ’s fellow-men .

He did not l ie because he was afraid to speak thetruth , but because , as in the cas e of many another,falsehood was in h im an excessive development of theimagination . He was himself, moreover, the firstvict im of his l ies . By the famil iar phenomenon ofauto-suggestion

,he ended by bel ieving what he said

from force of saying it. I f he was successful , in acertain s ense , he deserved to be .

”

From all of wh ich i t may be gathered that whetherCagliostro is depicted as an Apostle of Light by h i sfriends the occultists

,or a rank impostor by h is enemies ,

of whom Carlyle is the most implacable and d’

Alméras

the most charitably incl ined,the real man has been as

effectually h idden from V iew by prejudice as by themystery in which he wrapped h imself. But heavythough the curtain is that conceals h im

,i t i s perhaps

possible for the hand that “ i tches ” to draw it aside .

As a matter of fact, no real ly honest attempt has everbeen made to do so . I t is true i t is only a fleeting

,

somewhat nebulous, gl impse that can be obtained ofthis singular personal ity. There is

,moreover

,one

condition to be observed . Before th is gl impse can beobtained it is essential that some attempt should bemade to d iscover, i f possible, wko Cagl ios tro was.

T he Power of Prejudice

I I

Considering that one has only to turn to thebiographical dictionaries and encyclopedias to find i tdefini tely asserted that “ Count Cagl ios tro was thebes t known of many al iases assumed by GiuseppeBalsamo

,a Sicil ian adventurer born in Palermo in

1 743 or 1 748, the above'

statement would appear tobe directly contrary to recorded fact. For thoughbiograph ical dictionaries and encyc lopedias arenotoriously superficial and frequently misleading , theyare perhaps in this instance accurate enough for thepurpos e of casual inquiry , wh ich is after all what theyare compiled for . I ndeed

,this Balsamo legend is so

plausible an explanation of the mystery of Cagl ios tro’

s

origin that, for lack of any other, i t has satis fied allwho are entitled to be regarded as authorities. Theevidence, however, on which they have based thei rbelief is circumstantial rather than posit ive.Now circumstantial evidence, as everybody knows ,

is not always to be trusted. There are many cases onrecord of persons having been condemned on thestrength of i t who were afterwards found to be innocent. I n th is particular case

,moreover

,doubts do

exist, and all“ authorities ” have admitted the fact .

Those prejudiced against Cagl iostro have agreed toattach no importance to them

,those prej udiced in h i s

favour the greatest. To the occultists they are therock on which their faith in h im is founded . Thei ropinion, however, may be ruled aside as untenable ,for the doubts are ent i rely of a n egativ e character, andsuggest no counter- theory of identity whatever.

examining—not so much for the purpose of question ingthe accuracy of the “ authorities

”

as to show how theBalsamo legend

,which plays so important a part in the

history of Cagliostro , originated .

I t was not t il l Cardinal Rohan entangled h im in theDiamond Necklace Affair that the name of Cagl iostrohi therto familiar only to a l imited number of peoplewho

,as the case might be, had derived benefit or

suffered misfortune from a personal experience of hisfabulous powers

,acquired European notor iety .

The excitement caused by th is cause celéére, as iswellknown

,was intense and universal . The arrest of the

Cardinal in the Oeil-de-Boeuf at Versail les, i n thepresence of the Court and a great concourse of peoplefrom Paris

,as he was about to celebrate mass in the

Royal Chapel on Assumption Day, on the charge ofhaving purchased a necklace for l ivres forthe Queen , who denied all knowledge of the transaction ; the subsequent disappearance of the j eweland the suspicion of intent to swindle the j ewellerwhich attached itself to both Queen and Cardinal thefurther impl ication of the Countess de Lamotte

,with

her strangely romantic h istory ; of Cagl iostro , with h ismystery and magic ; and of a host of other shadypersons—these were elements sensational enough tostrike the dullest imagination

,fire the wildest cur ios ity

,

and rivet the attention of al l Europe upon the actorsIn so unparalleled a drama.After the Cardinal , whose posi tion as Grand

Almoner of France (a sort of French Archbishop ofCanterbury, so to speak) made him the protagonist ofth is drama, the self- styled Count Cagl iostro was the

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T he Power of Prejudice

figure in whom the publ ic were most interested . Theprodigies he was s aid to have performed , magnified byrumour

,and his strange undecipherable personal ity

gave h im an importance out of all proportion to thesmall part he played in the famous Affair of theNecklace. Speculation as to h is origin was natural lyrife . But neither the pol ice nor the lawyers couldthrow any l ight on his past . The evidence of theCountess de Lamotte , who in open court denouncedh im as an impostor formerlyknown as Don T is cio,

aname under wh ich she declared he had fl eeced manypeople in var ious parts of Spain , was too palpablyuntrustworthy and ridiculous to be treated seriously.

Cagliostro himself did,indeed

,attempt to satisfy

curiosity, but the fantastic account he gave of h iscareer only served—as perhaps he intended—to deepenits mystery .

The more it was baffled , the keener became thecuriosity to discover a secret so cleverly guarded .

The “ noble traveller,

” as he described h imself withridiculous pomposity on h i s examination

,confessed

that Cagl iostro was only one of the several nameshe had as sumed in the course of h is l i fe. An al ias—he had termed it incogn ito— i s always suspicious .Coupled, as i t was in his case, with alchemical e x periments, prognostications, sp ir itual ist Seances , and quackmedicines, i t suggested rascal i ty . From r idicule tocalumny is but a step , and for every voice raised indefence of h is honesty there were a dozen to decryh im .

On the day he was set at l iberty— for he had nodifficulty in proving h is innocence—eight or tenthousand people came en masse to offer him their

9

Cagliostro

congratulations.The court-yard, the s taircase , the

very rooms of h is hous e in the Rue St . Claude werefilled wi th them . But this ovation , flattering though i twas to his vanity

,was intended les s as a mark of

respect to him than as an i nsult to the Queen , who wasknown to regard the verdict as a s tigma on her honour ,and whose waning popularity the hatred engenderedby this s candalous affair had completely obl iterated .

Banished the following day by the Government,which s ough t to repair the pres tige of the throneby persecuting and cal umniating thos e who might bedeemed instrumental in shattering it, Cagl iostro los twhat l i ttle credi t the trial had left h im . Wfioev erhe was

,the world had made up its mind w/eat he

was,and its opinion was wholly unfavourable to the

“ noble trav eller .”From France

,wh ich he left on J une 2 1

,1 786 ,

Cagliostro went to England . I t was here , i n thefollowing September, that the assertion was made forthe first t ime by the Cour ier a

’e l

’

E urope, a Frenchpaper publ ished in London , that he was GiuseppeBalsamo . This announcement

,made with every

assurance of its accuracy, was at once repeated by

other journals throughout Europe. I t would beinteres ting, though not particularly important, to knowhow the Cour ier de l ’E urope obtained its information .

I t is permiss ible, however, to conjecture that theAnglo-French journal had been informed of therumour current in Palermo at the time of Cagl ios tro

’

s

Imprisonment in the Bastil le that he was a native ofthat city, and on investigating the matter decidedthere were sufficient grounds for identifying h im withBalsamo.

I O

T he Power of Prejudice

Be th i s as i t may , i t is the manner in which thestatemen t made by the Cour ier a

’o l

’

E urope appearsto be confirmed that giv es the whole theory itsweight .On December 2 , 1 876

— dates are important fac torsin the evidence—Fon taine

,the chief of the Paris

pol ice,received a very curious anonymous letter

from Palermo . The writer began by saying that hehad read in the Gazette a

’e Leyu

’e of September 2 5 an

art ic le taken from the Cour ier a’o l

’

E urope stating thatthe “ famous Cagl iostro was called Balsamo ,

” fromwh ich he gathered that the B alsamo referred to wasthe same who in 1 773 had caused his wife to be shutup in Sainte Pelagie at Paris for havi ng desertedhim , and who had afterwards appl ied to the courtsfor her release . To confirm Fontaine in th is opin ion ,he gave h im in detail the his tory of th i s Balsamo ’scareer, wh ich had been imparted to h im on June 2

by the said Balsamo ’s uncle,Antonio Bracon ieri,

who was firmly convinced that h is nephew , of whomhe had heard nothing for some years

,was none other

than Cagl iostro . As he learnt th i s the day afterCaglios tro

’

s acquittal and release from the Bas ti l le ,the news : of wh ich could not have reached Palermoin less than a week

,i t proves that Bracon ieri

’

s conv iction was formed long before the Press began tomamtam i t .I n fact the anonymous writer stated that th i s

conviction was prevalent in Palermo as far back asthe previous year

,when the news arrived there of the

arres t of Cagl iostro in connection with the D iamondNecklace Affair .He went on to say that he had personally r idiculed

I 1

Cagliostro

the report at the time, but having reflected on thegrounds that Bracon ieri had given him for bel ievingit “he had come to the conclusion that CountCagl iostro was Giuseppe Balsamo OI Palermo or thatAntonio Bracon ieri , his uncle, was a scoundrel worthyof being the uncle of M . le Comte de Cagl iostro .

As i t was not til l November 2 that th is somewhat ingenuous person sent anonymously to Fontainethe information he had received on June 2 fromBracon ieri , his reflections on the veracity of thelatter

,one suspects, were scarcely compl imentary .

However, such doubts as he might sti l l have cher ishedwere finally set at rest on October 3 1 , whenAntonio Bracon ieri met h im in one of the chiefthoroughfares of Palermo and showed him a Gazettea’o Florence which confirmed everyth ing Bracon ieri

had told him more than four months before. Hereupon , the anonymous individual , convinced at lastbeyond the shadow of a doubt that the “

soi -cl i san t

Count Cagl iostro was really Giuseppe Balsamo ofPalermo, ” decided to inform the ch ief of the Parispol ice of h is discovery.

to unearth this anonymous letter together with theofficial report upon it in the National Archives

,and as

his Opinion is the one commonly accepted,i t wil l be

sufficient to quote what he has to say on the subject.

“The adventures, ” he asks , of Giuseppe Balsamo

and those of Ales sandro Cagl iostro— do they belongto the history of the same career ? Was the individualwho had his wife shut up in Sainte Pelagie in 1 773

1 2

T he Power of Prejudice

the same who in 1 786 protested so vehemently againstthe impr isonment of h is wife ? 1

“ Everything goes to prove i t . The CountessCagl iostro was born in Rome ; Balsamo ’s wife wasl ikewise a Roman . The maiden name of both wasFelician i .

“Madame Balsamo was married at fourteen ; theCountess Cagl iostro at the time of her marriage wasstil l a child.

Cagliostro stated at h i s trial that h is wife did notknow how to write Madame Balsamo at Aer trial alsOdeclared she could not wri te .

Her husband at any rate could . At the time ofhis petition against h is wife Balsamo signed twodocuments wh ich are stil l to be seen in the Arch ives .By comparing— as Fontaine had done— these twosignatures with a letter wr itten whilst in the Bastilleby Cagl iostro the experts declared the writing ofBalsamo and that of Cagliostro to be identically thesame .

“Furthermore, according to the statement ofAntonioBracon ieri , Balsamo had frequently wr i tten him underthe name of Count Cagl iostro. Nor had he inventedthe name

,for Giuseppe Cagl iostro of Messina

,steward

of the Pr ince of Villafranca,was Bracon ieri ’s uncle

,and

consequently Giuseppe Balsamo ’s great-uncle.“ I f to these probabil it ies one adds certain minor

resemblances—such as Caglios tro’

s declaration thatCardinal Orsin i and the Duke of Alba could vouch forthe truth of the account he gave of h imsel f, who were

1 On hearing that hi s wife had been arrested as well as himself inconnection with the NecklaceAffair, Cagliostro man ifested the wildestn ef.

3

personages by whom Balsamowas known to have beenemployed ; the fact that Cagl iostro spoke the S ic il iand ialect

,and that Balsamo had employed magic in his

swindling operations—it is scarcely credible that l ivesand characters s o identical

i

could belong to two

different beings .The arguments in favour of th i s hypothes i s are very

plausible and apparently as convincing as such circums tantial evidence usually is . I t i s possible , however,as s tated above , to question the accuracy of the

conclusion thus reached for the following reasons .( 1 ) The basis of the supposition that the Countess

Cagl iostro and Madame Balsamo were the same restsentirely on coincidence.Granted that both happened to be Romans, that

the maiden name of both was Fel ician i , that both weremarried extremely young, and that neither could wr ite .The fact that both were Romans is no argument atal l . Though their maiden name was Felic ian i , i t wasa comparatively common one—there were severalfamil ies of Fel ician i in Rome , and for that matter allover I taly. Madame Balsamo ’s father came fromCalabria . Her Christian name was Lorenza . Thestatement that the Countess Cagl ios tro was l ikewisecalled Lorenza and changed her name to Seraphina

,by

which she was known,is based entirely on supposition .

That both were married very young and that neitherknew how to write, scarcely calls for comment . I tal ianwomen usually married in early girlhood

,and very few

,

i f any, of the class to which Seraph ina Cagl iostroand Lorenza Balsamo belonged could wri te

.

The tes timony of the experts as to the remarkable S ImIlar1ty between the writing of Balsamo and

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Cagliostro

Cagl iostro and Balsamo given as probabil i t ies forsupposing them identical in considering that Caghos troused as references the names of Cardinal Orsin i andthe Duke of Alba

,by whom Balsamo was known to

have been employed at one time, the fantast ic accounthe gave of himself at his trial should b e remembered .

One of the principal reasons for disbel ieving h im wasthe fact that these personages were dead and so unableto verify or deny his statement . Again , though the

S ici l ian dialect was undoubtedly Balsamo ’s mothertongue

,no one could ever make out to what fiatois

Caglios tro’

s extraordinary abracadabra of accent belonged. But nothing can be weaker than to advancetheir use of magic and alchemy as a reason for identifying them . Magic and alchemy were the commonstock- in - trade of every adventurer in Europe in the

eighteenth century.

So much for cri ticism of the “ official proof.There is, however, another reason for doubting the

identity of the two men . I t i s the most powerful ofall , and has h i therto apparently escaped the attentionof those who have taken this singular theory ofidentification for granted .

The description of Balsamo ’s features given byAnton Io Bracon ieri resembles that which others havegiven of Caglios tro

’

s personal appearance as far as it

goes . Unfortunately, i t merely proves that both wereshort, had dark complexions, and pecul iarly brighteyes . As for their noses

, Bracon ieri describedBalsamo

’

s as being e’

crase; i t is a much more forcibleand unflattering term than has ever been appl ied to

I 6

T he Power of Prejudice

the by no means uncommon shape of Caglios tro’

s

nasal organ . There were many pictures of Cagl iostros cattered over Europe at the time of the NecklaceAffair. I n Palermo, where the interest taken in h imwas great, few prin ts ellers

’ windows, one wouldimagine, but would have contained his portrait .Bracon ieri certainly is l ikely to have seen it ; andhad the resemblance to Balsamo been undeniable, hewould surely have attached the greatest importanceto i t as a proof of the identity he desired to establ ish .

As a'

matter of fact, he barely mentions i t .Again , one wonders why nobody who had known

Balsamo ever made the least attempt to identifyCagl iostro wi th h im either at the time of the tr ial orwhen the articles in the Cour ier a

'e [ E urope brought

him a second time prominently before the publ ic .Now Balsamo was known to have l ived in London in1 77 1 when his conduct was so suspic ious to the pol icethat he deemed it advisable to leave the country . Heand h i s wife accordingly went to Paris

,and it was here

that , i n 1 773 , the events occurred which brought bo thprominently under the notice of the authorities . Sixyears after Balsamo ’s disappearance from London

,

Count Cagl iostro appeared in'

that city,and becoming

involved with a set of swindlers in a manner that madehim appear a fool rather than a knave

,spent fou r months

In the K ing’s Bench j ail . How is i t,one asks

,that

the London pol ice, who “ wanted Giuseppe Balsamo,

utterly failed to recognize h im in the notoriousCagl iostro ?

Now granting that the pol ice,as well as the

persons whom Balsamo fleeced i n London in 1 77 1 ,

had forgotten him in 1 777, and that al l who couldC I 7

Cagliostro

have recognized him as Caglios tro in 1 786 , when

the Cour ier a’e l

’

E urope exposed him ,were dead ,

is i t probable that the same coincidences would repeat°

s ? I f the Parisian pol ice , who were

wife in 1 773 ,i s i t at all l ikely that the various peopl e

the Balsamos had known in their two-years’

residencein Paris would all have died i n the meantime ?

People are always to be found to ident i fy criminalsand

suspic ious characters to whom the attention of the

police is prominently drawn . But before the sort ofSherlock Holmes proces s of identification employedby the Cour ier cle l

’

E urape and the Parisian pol ice , nota soul was ever heard to declare that Cagl io s tro andBalsamo were the same .

To the reader who,knowing l ittle or nothing of

Cagl iostro,takes up th is book with an unbiassed

mind,the above objections to the Bals amo legend may

s eem proof conclusive of its fals i ty . This would ,however

,be to go further than I , who attach much

greater importance to these doubts than his torians areincl ined to do, care to admit. They merely show thati t is neither right nor excusable to treat as a convictionwhat i s purely a conjecture .

I f this conclusion,wrapping as i t does the origin

and early l ife of Cagl iostro once more in a veil ofmystery

,be accepted

,i t will go far to remove the

prejudice which has hitherto made the answer tothat other and more important question “What

was Cagl iostro ? ” so unsatisfactory .

I 8

CHAPTER I I

G I U S E P P E B A L S AM O

THERE could be no better il lustration of the perplex ities that confront the biographer of Cagl iostro at everystage of his mysterious career than the uncertainty thatprevails regarding the career of Giuseppe Balsamohimself. For rightly or wrongly, their iden t i ty has solong been taken for granted that the history of one hasbecome indissolubly l inked to that of the other .Now, not only is i t extremely difficul t , when not

altogether impos s ible,to verify the information we

have concerning Bals amo,but the very integrity of

those from whom the information is derived , i squestionable . These tainted sources , so to speak,from which there meanders a confused and mazel ike stream of contradictory details and unv erifiab le

episodes,are ( 1 ) Balsamo

’s wife , Lorenza , ( 2 ) theEditor of the Cour ier de 1

’

E urope, and (3) theI nquisit ion-biographer of Cagl ios tro .

Lorenza ’s s tatement is mainly the itinerary of thewanderings of herself and husband about Europefrom their marriage to her impri sonment in Pari s in1 773. Such facts as it purports to give as to thecharacter of their wanderings are very meagre, andcoloured so as to dep ict her in a favourable l ight . Thea’os s ier containing the particulars of her arrest i s in

C 2 1 9

Cagliostro

the Archives of Paris , where it was discovered by theFrench Government in 1 786 , and where i t is sti l l to beseen

.Query considering the suspi cious circumstances

that led to its discovery, i s the ab ss ier a forgeryOpposed to the evidence of the Cour ier de l ’E urope

are the character,secret motives, and avowed enmity

of the Editor.As to the l ife of Balsamo, 1 publ ished anonymously

in Rome in 1 79 1 , under the auspices of the I nquisition ,into whose power Cagl iostro had fallen , the tone of

hostil ity in which it is written , excessive even from anultra-Catholic poin t of view

,i ts lack of precision, and

the absence ofdates which makes it impossible to'

v erifyits statements, have caused cr i tics of every shadeof Opinion , to consider it partial ly, i f not wholly,unauthenticated .

I t purports to be the confession of Cagl iostro,

extracted either by torture or the fear of torture,during

his trial by the I nquisi tion . That Cagl iostro didindeed “ confess is quite l ikely . But what sort ofvalue could such a confession poss ibly have ? Themanner in which the I nquisition conducted i ts trialshas rendered its verdicts suspect the world over

.His

condemnation was decided on from . the very start,as

the charge on which he was arrested proves—as willbe shown in due course—and to escape torture

,perhaps

also in the hope of acquittal,Cagl iostro was ready

enough to oblige his terrible judges and “ confesswhatever they wished

.

T hIS book is nowvery rare . T he French vers ion is the moreavailable. It Is entitled Vie def osepfi B alsamo connu sous le nomdeComte Caglzostro, ex traite de la procéa

’ure in struite contre lui 21 R ome

en 1 79o; traduzte d’

apres l’original i talien , imprimé a la Cfiambre

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Giu seppe Balsamo

I t is,moreover, a question whether the adventures

related in the Vie dejosep/t B alsamo are those of one orof several persons . As it is qu ite inconceivable that theCagliostro of the Necklace Affair could ever have beenthe very ordinary adventurer here depicted, i t has beensuggested— and there is much to s upport the viewthat Giuseppe Balsamo , as known to his tory, i s a sort ofcomposite individual manufactu red out of al l the roguesof whom the I nquis i tion -writer had any knowledge.One th ing , however, may be confidently asserted

whether the exploits of Giuseppe Balsamo were partiallyor wholly h is, imaginary or real , they are at any ratetypical of the adventurer of the age.Like Cagl iostro , he boasted a noble origin , and

never failed on the various occasions of changing hisname to give h imself a title . There is , however, noreason to suppose that he was in any way related to , oreven aware of the existence of the aristocratic familyof the same name who derived tfiei r t i tle from thel i ttle town of Balsamo near Monza in the M ilanese .AS a matter of fact the name was a fairly commonone in I taly, and the Balsamos of Palermo were ofno consequence whatever . Nothing is known ofGiuseppe ’s father

,beyond the fact that he was a

petty tradesman who became bankrupt, and died atthe age of forty-five, a few months after the birthof h i s son . Pietro Balsamo was t/tougfit to be ofmixed J ewish and Moori sh extraction

,wh ich would

account for h is obscuri ty and the sl ight esteem inwh ich h i s name was held in Palermo

,where the

Levantines were the scum of the population .

Such scant c onsideration as the family may haveenjoyed was due enti rely to Giuseppe ’s mother, who

2 1

Cagliostro

though of humble birth was of good , honest S ic il ians tock .

Through her he could at least claim to havehad a great-grandfather, one Matteo Martello , whomi t has been supposed Caglios tro had in mind when inhis fantastic account of hims el f at the time of theNecklace Affair he claimed to be descended fromCharles Martel

,the founder of the Carlovmgian

dynasty.This Matteo Martello had two daughters ,

the youngest of whom Vincenza married GiuseppeCagl iostro of Messina

,whose name and relationship

to Giuseppe Balsamo is the ch ief argument in theattempt to prove the identi ty of the latter with Cagl iostro . Vincenza

’

s elder sister married GiuseppeBracon ieri and had three children , Fel ice, Matteo , andAntonio Bracon ieri . The former was Giuseppe

’s mother.He had also a sister older than himself, Maria, whobecame the wife of Giovanni Capitummino . On thedeath of her husband she returned with her childrento l ive with her mother, all of whom Goethe met whenin Palermo in 1 787.

The poverty in which Pietro Balsamo died obl igedhis widow to appeal to her brother for assistance .

Fortunately they were in a position and wil l ing to cometo her rel ief. Matteo, the elder, was chief c lerk inthe post-office at Palermo ; while Antonio was bookkeeper in the firm of J . F . Aubert Co . Bothbrothers, as well as their sister, appear to have beendeeply rel igious , and it is not unl ikely that the severi tyand repression to which Giuseppe was continual ly subjected may have fostered the spir it of rebell ion , alreadylatent in him , which was to turn h im into the blackguard he became

.

I t manifested itself at an early age . F rom the2 2

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Cagliostro

persistent and finally succeeded in wear ing out thepatience of the long- suffering monks .From the manner in which he attained h is object

Carlyle detects in him a “ touch of gr im humour—or

deep world- irony,as the Germans cal l it— the surest

sign,as is often said

,of a character naturally great .”

I t was a universal custom in all rel igious assoc iationsthat one of their number during meals should readaloud to the others passages from the Lives of theSaints . This dull and unpopular task having one daybeen al lotted to Giuseppe—probably as a pun ishment—he straightway proceeded, careless of the con se

quences , to read out whatever came into h is head,substituting for the names of the Saints those of themost notable courtezans of Palermo . The effect ofth is daring sacrilege was dire and immediate. Withfis t and foot the scandal ized monks instantly fel l uponthe boy and having belaboured h im , as the saying is ,within an inch of his l ife

,i ndignantly packed him back

to Palermo as hopelessly incorrigible and utterly nu

worthy of ever becoming a Benfratello .

No fatted calf, needless to say, was killed to celebrate the return of the prodigal . But Giuseppe havinggained h is object, took whatever chastisement he re

ceiv ed from his mother and uncles philosoph ically,and

left them to swal low their mortification as best theycould . However, sorely tried though they were , theydid not even now wash their hands of h im. Somehow

-jus t how it would be difficult to say— one forms avague idea he was never without a plausible excuse forhis conduct . Adventurers

,even the lowest

,more or

less understand the art of pleasing ; and many l i ttlethings seem to indicate that with all h is viciousness h is

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Giu seppe Balsamo

disposition was not unattractive . On the contrarythere is much in the character of h is early v illain ies tosuggest h is powers of persuasion were considerable .Thus

,after his expulsion from Cartegirone the

I nquisit ion -biographer tells us that he took lessons indrawing for which

,no doubt , he must have given s ome

proof of talent and incl ination . Far , however, fromshowing any disposition to conform to the wishes ofhis uncles

,who for his mother’s sake, i f not for h i s

own , continued to take an interest in him , the boyrapidly went from bad to worse . As neither reproofnor restraint produced any effect on his headstrongand rebell ious nature he appears to have been permitted to run wild

,perhaps because he had reached an

age when it was no longer possibl e to control hisactions . Nor were the acquaintances he formed ofthe sort to counteract a natural tendency to vic iousness. He was soon hand in glove with all the worstcharacters of the town .

“ There was no fight or street brawl , says the indignant I nquisition -biographer, “ i n wh ich he was notinvolved , no theft of wh ich he was not suspected .

The band of young desperadoes to wh ich he belongedfrequently came into coll is ion with the n igh t-watch

,

whose prisoners , i f any, they would attempt to set free .

Even the murder of a canon was attributed to h im bythe gossips of the town .

”

I n a word Giuseppe Balsamo became a ver i tableApache destined seemingly sooner or later for thegalleys or the gallows . Such a character

,i t goes wi th

out saying, could not fail to attract the notice of thepol ice . He more than once saw the inside of thePalermo jail but from lack of sufficient proof

,or from

2 5

intercession of his estimable uncles , as often as he wasarrested he was let off again .

Even his drawing- lessons, while they lasted , wereperverted to the most ignoble ends . To obtain themoney he needed he began , l ike all th ieves , with pettythefts from his relations . One of h is uncles was hisfirst vict im . I n a s imilar way he derived profit froma love-affair between h is sister and a cous in . As theirparents put obstacles in the way of their meetingGiuseppe offered to act as go-between . I n a rashmoment they accepted his aid , and he profited by theoccasion to substi tute forged letters in the place ofthose he undertook to del iver, by means of which hegot possession of the presents the unsuspecting loverswere induced to exchange. Encouraged by the skil lhe displayed in imitating hand -writing and copyingsignatures-“ which seems to have been the extent ofh is talent for drawing—he turned it to account in otherand more profitable ways . Somehow— perhaps byhints dropped by himself in the right quarter—h i sproficiency in th is respect

,and his readiness to give

others the benefit of i t for a consideration,got known .

From forging tickets to “the theatre for his companions,

he was employed to forge leave-of—absence passes formonks, and even to forge a wil l in favour of a certainMarquis Maurigi, by which a rel ig ious Inst i tut ion wasdefrauded of a large legacy.

There is another version of th is affair which theI nquisition-wr i ter has naturally ignored

,and from which

i t would appear that i t was the marquis who was defrauded of the legacy by the rel igious institution . Butbe this tr ifl ing detail as i t may

, the fact remains that2 6

Giu seppe Balsamo

the forgery was so successfully effected that it was notdiscovered till several years later, when some attemptwas made to bring Balsamo to justice

,wh ich the im

possibil i ty of as certaining whether he was al ive ordead

,rendered abortive.

Such sums of money, however, as he obtained inth is way must of necessity have been small . I t couldonly have been in copper that his “ Apache fri endsand the monks paid h im for the theatre- tickets andconvent-passes he forged for them . Nor was the notaryby whom he was employed to forge the will

,and who

,

we are told,was a relation , l ikely to be much more

l iberal . I n Palermo then, as to -day , scores of just suchyouths as Giuseppe Balsamo were to be found readyto perform any villainy for a fifty centime piece. Heaccordingly sought other means of procuring the moneyhe needed and as none , thanks to his compatr iots ’notorious credul ity, was l ikely to prove so remunerativeas an appeal to their love of the marvellous

,he had

recourse to what was known as “ sorcery.

”

I t is to the questionable significance attached tothis word that the prejudice against Cagl iostro

,whose

wonders were attr ibuted to magic , has been very largelydue. For it is only of comparatively recent date thatsorcery ” s o- cal led has ceased to be anathema

,owing

to the belated investigations of science,wh ich i s always

,

and perhaps with reason , suspicious of occult phenomena

,by wh ich the indubitable existence of certain

powers— as yet only partial ly explained— active i nsome

,passive in others

,and perhaps latent in all

human beings , has been revealed . And even still,

so great is the force of tradition , many judging fromthe frauds frequently perpetrated by persons claim

2 7

ing to possess these secret powers, regard with suspic ion ,if not with downright contempt , al l that is popularlydesignated as sorcery, magic, or witchcraft .

-But this is not the place to discuss the methodsby which those who work miracles obtain their results.Suffice i t to say

,there has been from time immemorial

a belief in the abi l i ty of certain persons to control theforces of nature . Nowhere is th is bel ief stronger thanin Sicily . There the “ sorcerer ” i s as common as thepriest ; not a vil lage but boasts some sibyl , seer, orwonder-worker. That all are not equal ly efficient,goes wi thout saying. Some possess remarkablepowers

,which they themselves would probably be

unable to explain . Others, l ike Giuseppe Balsamo ,are only able to deceive very simple or fool ish peopleeasy to deceive.From the single instance c ited of Giuseppe ’s ski ll

in this direction one infers h is magical gifts were ofthe crystal -gazing , sand -divination kind— the ordinarykind with which everybody is more or less famil iar,i f only by name. According to the I nquisitionbiographer, one day whilst he and his companionswere idl ing away the time together the conversationhaving turned upon a certain girl whom they al l knew

,

one of the number wondered what she was doing atthat moment, whereupon Giuseppe immediately offeredto gratify him . Marking a square on the ground hemade some passes with his hands above i t

,after which

the figure of the girl was seen in the square playingat tressette with three of her friends . So great wasthe effect of th i s exhibition of clairvoyance

,thought

transference, hypnotic suggestion , what you will , uponthe amazed Apaches that they went at on ce to look

2 8

Giuseppe Balsamo

for the girl and “ found her i n the same attitudeplaying the very game and with the very persons thatBalsamo had shown them .

The fact that such phenomena are of qu ite commonoccurrence and to be witnessed any day in large citiesand summer-resorts on payment of fees

,varying

according to the renown of the performer, has robbedthem if not of their attraction at least of their wonder.One has come to take them for granted . Whatevermay be the scientific explanation of such occult—theword must serve for want of a better—power asGiuseppe possessed

,he himself

,we may be sure ,

would only have been able to account for i t as sorcery.

”

He was not l ikely to be a whit less supersti t ious thanthe people with whom he associated. I ndeed , h isfaith in the efficacy of the magic propert ies attr ibutedby vulgar superst ition to sacred things would appearto have been greater than his faith in his ownsupernatural powers .I t is reported of h im on one occasion that “ under

pretext of curing his s ister,who he s aid was possessed

of a devi l , he obtained from a priest in the country al ittle cotton dipped in holy oil

,

” to wh ich , doubtless ,he attached great importance as the means of successfully performing some wonder he had no confidence inh is own powers to effect . Such cryptic attributes ashe had been endowed with must have been veryS l ight , or undeveloped , for there is no reference whatever to the marvellous in the swindles of h is subsequent history in which one would expect h im tohave employed it . Very probably whatever magnetic ,hypnotic , or telepathic faculty he possessed was firstdiscovered by the apothecary under whom he was

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Cagliostro

placed in the laboratory at Cartegirone, who, l ike allof his kind

,no doubt, experimented in alchemy and

kindred sciences . I f so,he certainly did not stay long

enough with the Benfratelli to turn his mysterioustalent to account or to obtain more than the merestgl impse of the “ sorcery

,of wh ich , though banned by

the Church,the monasteries were the secret nursery.

Be this as i t may,needless to say those who had

witnessed Giuseppe’s strange phenomenon requ i redno further proof of his marvellous power

,wh ich

rapidly noised abroad and exaggerated by rumou rgave the young “

s orcerer a reputation he onlywanted an opportunity of explo iting for al l i twas worth . How long he waited for this opportunityis not stated , but he was st il l in h is teens when i teventually turned up in the person of a certain ninnyof a goldsmith named Marano

,

” whose superstit ion,

avarice, and gull ibi l ity made him an easy dupe .

One day in conversation with th i s man,who had

been previously nursed to the proper pitch of cupidity,

as one nurs es a constituency before an election,

Giuseppe informed him under pledge of the strictestsecrecy that he knew of a certain cave not far fromPalermo , i n which a great treasure was buried.

According to a superstition prevalent in S ici ly,where

belief in such treasure was common,i t was supposed

to be guarded by demons,and as i t would be necessary

to hire a priest to exorcize them,Giuseppe offered to

take Marano to the spot and assist him in l ift ing thehidden wealth for the consideration of “ sixty ouncesof gold .

” 1

Whatever objection Marano might have had to1 Ab o ut £30 .

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Cagliostro

I I

At this stage in Balsamo’

s career even the I nquis ition -biographer ceases to vouch for the accuracyof what he relates .

“ Henceforth,

” he confesses , we are obl iged toaccept Caglios tro

’

s own assertions —wrung from h imin the torture chamber of the Castle of S t . Angelo , beit remembered without the means of ver i fying them

,

as no further trace o f h is doings is to be foundelsewhere .Considering that accuracy, to wh ich no importance

has been attached in all previous books on Cagl iostro ,i s the main object of this , after such a statement thecontinuation of Balsamo ’s h istory would appear to besuperfluous . Apart

,however

,from thei r romantic

interest,Balsamo ’s subsequent adventures are really

an aid to accuracy . For the character of the man asrevealed by them wil l be found to be so dissimilar toCaglios tro

’

s as to serve more forcibly than any argument to prove how sl ight are the grounds for identifyingthe two .

By relating what befel l Balsamo on fleeing fromPalermo one may judge

,from the very start

,of the

sort of faith to be placed in his I nqu is ition -biographer.I n Cagl iostro

’

s own account of his l i fe—wh ich will beduly reported in i ts proper place— h i s statements inregard to the “ noble Althotas

,that remarkable

magician by whom he avowed he was brought up,were regarded as absolutely r idiculous. Neverthelessfor the sole purpose apparently of prov ing Cagl ios tro

’

s

identity with Balsamo the I nqu i si t ion -biographer drags3 2

Giu seppe Bal samo

this individual whose very existence is open to doubtInto the l i fe of the latter, and unblushingly plunges thetwo into those fabulous and ludicrous adventures

,of

which the description caused so much mirth at thetime of the Necklace Affai r.Thus the imaginative I nquisi tion -biographer de

clares i t was at Messina, whither he went on leavingPalermo

,that Balsamo met the “ noble Althotas ,

whose power “ to dematerial ize h ims elf” was, to judgefrom the last occasion on which he was reported tohave been seen in the flesh at Mal ta , only another wayof saying that he was clever i n evading the pol ice .

But as Balsamo after having “ overrun the wholeearth with Althotas emerges once more into something l ike real ity at Naples, in the company of therenegade priest who had assisted in the fleecing ofMarano

,i t i s not unreasonable to suppose that th is

c i ty and not Messina was his immediate destinationon leaving Palermo .

He did not stay long, however, at Naples . Owingeither to a quarrel with the priest over their i l l -gottenfunds

,or to a h int from the pol ice whose suspicions h is

conduct aroused , he went to Rome . The statementthat on h is a rr ival he presented a letter of introductionfrom the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta—oneof h is adventures with Althotas— to the Baron deB rettevil le

,the envoy from Malta to the Holy See

,by

whom in turn he was introduced to Cardinals Yorkand Ors ini , i s scarcely worth refuting . For i f thePalermo Apache ever entered the salon of a Romannoble i t could of course only have been v ia the escal ierde serv ice.

The I nquisition-biographer,however

,quickly re

D 33

Jai l? ! 9 ,

Cagliostro

duces h im to a situation much more in keeping withhis character and condition .

“ Not long ,”

he says ,after his arriv al in Rome , Balsamo was s entenced tothree days in jai l for quarrel l ing wi th one of thewaiters at the sign of the Sun , where he lodged .

”

On his releas e , he was , as is highly probable forced tol ive by h is wits

,and instead of consorting with

Cardinals and diplomatists turned his attention todrawing. But as h is talent in th is respect appearsto have been as l imited as h i s knowledge of theoccult, i t is not surpr is ing that the revenue hederived from the sketches he copied , or from oldprints

,freshened up and passed off as or iginals , was

precarious .Love

,however

,i s the great consoler of poverty.

About this time Balsamo conceived a violent passionfor Lorenza Fel ician i

,the fourteen -year-old daughter

of a “ smel ter of copper who l ived in an alley close tothe Church of the Trinita de ’ Pellegrin i—one of thepoorest quarters of Rome . Marriage followed thelove-making

,and Lorenza

,in spite of her tender years

,

i n due course became h i s wife. This event— which isone of the few authenticated ones in Balsamo ’s careertook place in April 1 769 i n the Church of SanSalvatore in Campo .

”

As the sale of her husband ’s pen -and - i nk sketches,

which in Lorenza’s estimation at least were superb,

”

was not remunerative at the bes t of times,the young

couple made their home at first with the bride’s parents .And now for perhaps the only time in h i s l i fe a decentand comfortable existence was open to Balsamo . Hehad a young and , according to al l accounts , a beautifulwife, whom he loved and by whom he was loved ; he

34

Giu seppe Balsamo

had a home,and the chance of adopting his father- in

law’s more lucrative,i f less congenial , trade— of settl ing

down,in a word

,and turn ing over a new leaf. Bu t

he was a born blackguard and under the C ircumstancesi t is not surprising that he should have had thenostalgie de la éoue. I n other words his Apachenature ass erted i tself, and he had no sooner marriedthan he proceeded with revolting cynicism to turnhis wife ’s charms to account .But Lorenza

,being at this stage of her career as

innocent as she was ignorant , very natural ly objectedto h is odious proposal . By dint, however, of persuasionand argument he finally succeeded in indoctrinat i ng herwi th h i s vi ews

,to the great indign at ion of her parents

,

who,scandal ized by such conduct

,after freq uent

altercations finally turned the couple out of the house.Whereupon Lorenza dec ided to abandon any remaining scruples she had and assist her husband to thebes t of her abil i ty .

Among the acquaintances they made in th is waywere two S icil ians of the worst character, OttavioN icastro

,who finished on the gallows

,and a sel f

styled Marquis Agl iata . The latter being an accom

plished forger was not long in discovering a s imilartalent i n the husband of Lorenza

,by whose charms he

had been smitten . He accordingly proposed to takeh im into partnersh ip , a proposition which Balsamowas ready enough to accept . N icas tro , however, feeli ng h imself sl ighted by the close intimacy between thetwo

,from which he was excluded , i nformed the police

of their doings ; but as he was fool ish enough toquarrel with them beforehand, they suspected hisintention

,and defeated it by a hurried fl ight .

D 2 35

Cagliostro

I f Lorenza is to be bel ieved , their intention was togo to Germany

,and it was perhaps with

‘

this end inview that Agl iata had

,as the I nquisi tion-biographer

asserts,previously forged the brevet of a Prussian

colonelcy for Balsamo . At any rate , once out of thePapal S tates they proceeded very leisurely , swindl ingright and left as they went. At Loretto they obtained“ fifty sequins ” from the governor of the town by meansof a forged letter of introduction from Cardinal Orsini .I n this way they got as far as Bergamo , where thecrafty Agliata dec ided to adopt different tactics. Heaccordingly gave out that he was a recru iting agent ofthe K ing of Prussia but by some chance the suspic ionsof the authorities were aroused

,whereupon Agliata,

having somehow got wind of the fact,without more

ado decamped, leaving the Balsamos to shift for themselves . Scarcely had he gone when the sé irr i arr ivedto arrest h im . Not finding h im

,they seized the

Balsamos as his accomplices they,however

,suc

ceeded in clearing themselves,and on being released

were ordered to leave the town . As Agl iata had goneoff with al l the money, they were obliged to sel l theireffects to obey th is injunction ; and not daring toreturn to Rome, they proceeded to Mi lan , where theyarr ived almost desti tute .Beggary was now their only means of existence, but

even beggary may be profitable providing one knowslzow to beg. According to the Countess de Lamotte

,

who spoke from experience, there was only one way ofasking alms, and that was in a carriage . I n fine

,to

get on”

as a beggar,as in every profession

,requires

abil i ty. I t is the kind of abil i ty w i th wh ich Balsamowas abundantly gifted . Aware that the pilgrims he’

36

Giuseppe Balsamo

saw wandering about I taly from shrine to shrinesubs isted on wayside chari ty, he conceiv ed the ingen ious expedient of imitating them . As the obj ectiveof th is expiatory vagabondage he s elected St .James of Compos tella, one of the most popularshrines at the time in Christendom , and consequentlyone to which a pi lgrimage might mos t easily beexploi ted .

So setting out from M ilan , staff in hand , mumblingpaternosters

,fumbl ing their beads

,begging their way

from village to village, from presbytery to presbytery,and constantly on the alert for any chance of improvingtheir condition

,the couple took the road to Spain .

Of this tou r along the Riviera to Barcelona, wherethe “ pilgrimage ” ended , Lorenza , on being arrestedthree years l ater in Paris , gave an account which theI nquisition -biographer has embel l i shed , and wh ich inone particular at least has been ver ified by no less aperson than Casanova .

As i t happened,th is prince of adventurers—who

in obedience to a time-honoured convention is nevermentioned in pr int , by English wr iters é ien en tendu ,

without condemnation, though i n pr ivate conversationpeople wax eloquent enough over h im—was h imselfwandering about the South of France at the time .

Arriving in Aix-en -Provence in 1 770 ,he actually

stopped in the same inn as the Balsamos,who excited

h i s curios i ty by their lavish distribution of alms tothe poor of the town . Being a man who never misseda single opportunity of improving any acquaintance thatchance migh t throw in h is way

,he cal led upon the

couple , and recorded his impression in thos e fas c inat ing Memoirs of h is, of which the authenticity is now

37

Cagliostro

ful ly establ ished and , what is more to the point , ofwhich all the details have been v erified.

1

I found the female pilgrim ,

” he says , seated in achair looking like a person e x ha

flus ted with fatigue ,and interesting by reason of her youth and beauty

,

s ingularly heightened by a touch of melancholy andby a crucifix of yellow metal s ix inches long whichshe held in her hand. Her compan ion , who wasarranging shells on his coat of black baize , made nomovement—he appeared to intimate by the looks hecast at his wife I was to attend to her alone .

From the manner in wh ich Lorenza conductedherself on this occasion She appears to have hadremarkable aptitude for acting the role her husbandhad given her.

We are going on foot,she said in answer to

Casanova’s ques tions, “ l iv ing on charity the better toobtain the mercy of God

,whom I have so often

offended . Though I ask only a sou in charity,people

always giv e me pieces of s i lver and gold - a h intCasanova did not take— “

s o that arr iving at a townwe have to distribute to the poor all that remains tous

, in order not to commit the sin of los ing confidencein the Eternal Providence

.

Whatever doubts Casanova may have had as toher veracity, the I nquisition -biographer most certainlyhad none . He declares that the “ silver and gold ofwh ich she and her husband were so lavish at Aix was

1 T o in fer from th is, however, as many writers have done, thatCasanova

’

s ev idence proves Cagliostro and Balsamo to b e thesame i s absurd. He never met the Cagl iostros in hi s l ife . In statingthat they were the Balsamos whom he had met in 1 770 he merelyrepeats what he had read in the papers . H is Memoirs were notwritten till many years later.

38

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Cagliostro

to as having known the Balsamos in 1 772 came forwardto corroborate what he said or to identify them withthe Caglios tros , i t is impossible to ver i fy h i s evidence .From the fact

,however

,that it was commonly accepted

at the time,and is stil l regarded as substantially trust

worthy, entirely éecause Cagl iostro aosolutely den iedanyknowledge of té e B alsamos , the reader may judge at

once of the bitterness of the prejudice against Cagl i ~ostro as well as of the value to be attached to suchproof. ”

According to the Cour ier de l ’E urape, Balsamo andhis wife arriv ed in London from Lisbon in 1 77 1 , andafter l iving for a while in Leadenhall Street movedto New Compton Street, Soho . They were , we aretold

,in extreme poverty, which Lorenza—to whom vice

had long ceased to be repugnant— endeavoured toalleviate by the most despicable expedients . As shehad but indifferent success

,Balsamo

,having quarrelled

with a painter and decorator by name of Pergolezz i , bywhom he had for a few days been employed

,assisted

her in the infamous rdle of blackmailer.Their most profitable victim appears to have beena Quaker,

”

who, i n spite of the rigorous standard ofmoral i ty prescribed by the sect to which he belonged

,

occas ionally deigned to make some secret concessionto the weakness of human nature . Decoyed byLorenza, th is individual was discovered by her husbandin so compromising a situation that nothing short ofthe paymen t of one hundred pounds could moll i fyBalsamo

’

s feigned indignation and avert the disgracewith which he threatened the erring and terrifieddis ciple of Will iam Penn

.

Their ill -gotten gains , however, did not last long ;40

Giu seppe Balsamo

and wh ile Lorenza promenaded the streets in the vainquest for others victims, Balsamo was once moreobl iged to have recourse to his artistic talents . ButFortune remained hostile , and even went out of her wayto vent her spite on the couple. For a certain Dr .Moses Benamore ,

described as “ the envoy of the Kingof Barbary

,

” was induced to purchase some of Balsamo ’sdrawings

,payment of which the artist was obl iged to

seek in the courts . The case, however, was decidedagainst him

,and since

,after paying the costs to wh ich

he was condemned,he was unable to pay his rent ,

his landlord promptly had h im arrested for debt .To extricate him from this predicament, Lorenza

adopted tactics which,according to the I nqu is ition

biographer,had proved effective under s imilar circum

s tances in Barcelona . I nstead of endeavouring toexcite admiration in the streets

,she now sought to stir

the compassion of the devout. Every day she was tobe seen on her knees in some church or other, with aweather- eye open for some gull ible dupe whilst shepiously mumbled her prayers . I n th i s way shemanaged to attract the attention of the charitable S irEdward Hales

,or as she calls h im “ S ir Dehels ,” who

not only procured Balsamo’s release from jail,but on

the strength of his pen-‘and- ink sketches employed h imto decorate the ceil ings of some rooms at h i s countryseat near Canterbury—a task for wh i ch he had not theleast qual ification . Four months later

,after ru ining

his cei l ings,

“ S ir Deb els caught his rascally prote’ge’making love to his daughter

,whereupon the Balsamos

deemed it advisable to seek another country toexploit .

4 1

Cagliostro

IV

Fortune,l ike Nature

,i s non-moral . I f proof of

so palpable a fact where required no more suitableex ample could be ci ted than the good luck thatcame to the Balsamos at the very moment they leastdeserved it.Leaving England as poor as when they entered it ,

they found whilst crossing the Channel between Doverand Calais

,i f not exactly a fortune , what was to prove

no mean equivalent in the person of a certain M .

Duplessis de la Radotte . This gentleman , formerlyan official in I ndia

,had on its evacuation by the French

found an equally lucrative post in h is native country asagen t of the Marquis de Pr ie . Very sus ceptible tobeauty, as Lorenza was quick to detect , he no soonerbeheld her on the deck of the Dover packet thanhe sought her acquaintance . Lorenza

,one imagines

,

must have been not only particularly attract ive andskilled by considerable practice in the art of attraction

,

but a very good sailor ; for i n the short space of theChannel crossing she so far succeeded in captivatingDuplessis that on reach ing Calais he offered her a seatin his carriage to Paris . Needless to say

,i t was not

the sort of offer she was l ikely to refuse ; and wh i l eher husband trotted behind on horseback she turnedher opportuni ty to such account that Duplessis wasinduced to invite both the husband and wife to be h isguests in Paris.But to cut a long story short : as the resul t of the

Giuseppe Balsamo

leave her husband and l ive under h is “ protection . Th i swas not at al l to Balsamo ’s taste , and he

’

appealed tothe courts for redress . He won his case

,and Lorenza

,

according to the law in such matters , was arrested andimpris oned in Sainte Pé lagie , the mos t famous —orinfamous— penitentiary for women in France dur ingthe eighteenth century .

Th is event occurred in 1 773 , i f the doss ier discovered in the French Archives i n 1 783 , wh ichcontains the statement Lorenza made at the time

,i s to

be regarded as authentic . That n one of the numerouspeople referred to in the doss ier with whom theBalsamos were very closely connected should havecome forward during the Necklace Affair and iden tified Cagl iostro , lays the genuinenes s of this celebrateddocument open to doubt . I s it l ikely that al l thesepeople had died in the fourteen years that elapsed ? I fnot

,why did not those who s ti l l l ived attempt to

satisfy the boundless curios i ty that the mysteriousCagl iostro excited ? He could not have changed outof al l recognit ion during th is period , for according toGoethe

,in Palermo those who remembered Balsamo

discovered, or thought they discovered , a l ikeness to h imin the publ ished portraits of Cagl iostro . I n any case

,

however much Cagl ios tro’

s appearance may havechanged

,his wife ’s most certainly had not . At th i rty

the Coun tess Cagl iostro possessed the freshness of a girlof twenty . Had she been Lorenza Balsamo

,she would

have been very quickly recognized .

But from these doubts wh ich shake one ’s faith,not

only in the doss ier to wh ich so much importance has43

Cagliostro

been attached,but in the Balsamo legend itself, let us

return to the stil l more unauthenticated doings of ouradventurers .I t was not long before Balsamo repented of h is v en

geance .On his intercession h is wife was released , and

shortly afterwards,to avoid arrest on h is own score,

the couple disappeared . The I nquisition-biographerstates vaguely that they went to “ Brussels andGermany. But it is not a matter of any importance .

A few months later, however , Giuseppe Balsamo mostunquestionably reappeared in h i s native ci ty , where heastonished all his kindred, to whom alone he madehimself known

,by the splendour in wh ich he

returned .

Somewhere in the interval between h is fl ight fromParis and h i s arrival in Palermo he had metamor

phosed himself into a Marchese Pellegrin i, and by theaid of Lorenza picked up a prince . Never before hadthey been so flush . The Marchese Pellegrin i had h iscarriage and valet, one Laroca,

” a Neapol itan barber,

who afterwards started business on his own account as anadv enturer. The Marchesa had her prince and h ispurse, and what was to prove of even greater value ,his influence to draw upon . For a wh i le

,i ndeed

,so

great was his luck , Balsamo even had thoughts ofs ettl ing down and l iving On the fortune Lorenza hadplucked from her prince . He actually h ired a hous eon the outskirts of Palermo with this intention . Buthe counted without Marano

,that “ ninny of a gold

smith ,”

from whose vengeance he had fled yearsbefore. For Marano was stil l l iv ing

,and no sooner

Giuseppe Bal samo

once more in Palermo than he had him seized andclapt into pr ison .

The matter, no doubt, must have had very seriousconsequences for the Marchese Pellegrin i had i t notbeen for the powerful interes t of Lorenza’s prince . Asthis epis ode in Balsamo’s career is one of the veryfew concerning which the information is authentic , i t i sworth wh i le describing .

“ The manner of h is escape,says Goethe , who was

told what he relates by eye -witnesses,deserves to be

described . The son of one of the first S icil ianprinces and great landed propri etors

,who had

,more

over, fi l led important posts at the Neapol i tan Court ,was a person that uni ted with a strong body andungovernable temper al l the tyrannical caprice wh ichthe rich and great , without cultivation , th ink themselves entitled to exh ibi t .

Donna Lorenza had contr ived to gain th i s man ,and on him the fictitious Marchese Pellegrini foundedhis security . The pr ince had testified openly that hewas the protector of th is strange pair

,and h i s fury

may be imagined when Giuseppe Balsamo,at the

instance of the man he had cheated , was cast intoprison . He tri ed various means to del iver h im

,and

as these would not prosper,he publ icly

,i n the

President’

s ante - chamber, threatened Marano’

s lawyerwith the frightfulles t misusage if the sui t were notdropped and Balsamo forthwith set at l iberty. Asthe lawyer decl ined such a proposal he clutched h im

,

beat him , threw h im on the floor,trampled h im with

h is feet , and could hardly be restrained from stil lfurther outrages , when the President himself camerunning out at the tumult and commanded peace .

45

Caglio stro

This latter,a weak

,dependent man , made no

attempt to punish the injurer ; Marano and h islawyer grew fainthearted

,and

,

Balsamo was let go .

There was not so much as a reg istration in the courtbooks specifying his dismissal , who occasioned i t, or

how it took place .

“ The Marchese Pellegr in i , Goethe adds, “ quicklythereafter left Palermo

,and performed var ious travels ,

whereof I could obtain no clear information .

”

Nor apparently could anybody else , for on leavingPalermo ‘th is time the Balsamos vanished as com

pletely as if they had ceased to exist . The Cour ier de1’

E urope and the I nquisition- biographer, however, werenot to be dismayed by any such tr ifl ing gap in thechain of evidence they set themselves to stringtogether. Unable to discover the least trace ofBalsamo

,they s eized upon two or three other

swindlers,who may or may not have been the creations

of their dis tracted imagination,and boldly labelled

them Balsamo .

Lorenza’s honest copper-smelting father andbrother are dragged from Rome to join in theswindl ing operations of herself and husband . Thebrother is whisked off with them to Malta and Spain

,

where he is abandoned as an incubus,apparently

because he objected to exploit h is good looks after themanner of h i s s ister . Then

,as i t is necessary in some

way to account for Caglios tro’

s occult powers,Balsamo

suddenly takes up the study of alchemy,and in the

moments he snatches from the preparation of beautysalves

”

and “ longevity pills,picks an occasional

pocket .But the most bare-faced of all these problematic

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Cagl iostro

barbarous dialect—how could he have succeeded ashe did ? ”

How,indeed ! The transformation is obviously

so improbable that the puzzled reader will very l ikelycome to the conclusion that, whoever Cagl iostro mayhave been

,he could certainly never have been Giuseppe

Balsamo .

But enough of speculation ; let us now turn ou rbelated attention to the man whose career under theimpenetrable in cogn ito of Count Cagl iostro is thesubject of th is book .

PART I I

CHAPTER I

CAGLIOSTRO IN LONDON

SOME time in J uly 1 776— the exact date is

unascertainable— two foreigners of unmistakable re

spectab ility, to judge by thei r appearance , i f not ofdistinction

,arrived in London and engaged a suite of

furnished apartments in Whitcombe S treet,Leicester

Fields . They called themselves Count and CountessCagl iostro ; and thei r landlady, who lost no time inletting everybody in the house , as well as her neighbours

,know she had people of tit le as lodgers , added

that she bel ieved they were I tal ian , though so far asshe could unders tand from the Count’s very brokenEngl ish they had last come from Portugal . A day ortwo later she was able to inform her gossips

,which no

doubt she did with even greater satisfaction , that herforeign lodgers were not only titled but undoubtedlyrich , for the Countess had very fine j ewels and theCount was engaged In turning one of the rooms hehad rented into a laboratory , as he intended to devoteh imself to the study of physics and chemistry

,subjects

,

i t seemed,i n wh ich he was keenly interested .

Their fi rst visi tor was a Madame B levary, a ladyin reduced circumstances who lodged in the same

E 49

Cagliostro

house . Hearing they had come from Portugal , andbeing herself a nat ive of that country, she sought thei racquaintance in the hope of deri ving some personalbenefi t from it. I n th i s she was not d isappointed ;for the Countess

,who knew no Engl ish , required a

companion,and as Madame B levary was conversan t

wi th several languages and had the manners of agentlewoman

,she readi ly obtained the post on the

recommendation of the landlady .

Among the acquaintances Madame B levary in

formed of her good fortune,which she was no doubt

induced to dilate upon, was a certain Vi tell ini , an

ex-J esuit and professor of languages . Like her, hetoo had fallen on hard times ; but in his case the loveof gambl ing had been h i s ruin . H e was also , as i thappened , almost equally devoted to the study ofchemistry , on a knowledge of which he particularlypiqued himself. No sooner

,therefore

,did he learn

that Count Cagl iostro had a s imilar hobby,and a

laboratory into the bargain,than he persuaded Madame

B levary to introduce him to the Count , i n the hOpethat he too might profit by the acquaintance as she

had done . As a result of th i s i ntroduction,Vitell ini

succeeded in ingratiating himself into the favour ofCagliostro, who employed him in the laboratory as anas s istant .S tinginess was a qual ity of which neither the

Coun t nor his wife was ever accused . On thecon trary, as even those most prejudiced against themhave been obliged to admit

,they were exceedingly

generous . With them , however , generosity was oneof thos e amiable weaknesses that are as pern icious intheir effect as a vice . There were fewwho experienced

50

Cagl iostro in London

it but abused i t in some way . I t was so in thisinstance .

Vitell in i,who was at bottom more of a fool than a

knave,i n the first flush of exc i tement over the sudden

turn of tide in h is fortunes which had long been at thelowest ebb

,began to brag to his acquaintances in the

gambl ing—dens and coffee -houses he frequented of hisconnect ion wi th Cagliostro , whom he described as “ anextraordinary man

,a true adept

,whose fortune was

immense,and who possessed the secret of transmuting

metals .

”

Such praise natural ly excited the curiosity ofVitellin i

’

s acquaintances , who in the i r turn were eagerto meet the benevolent foreigner . Thus by the indiscretion of Vitell in i

, C agl iostro was soon besiegedby a crowd of shady people whose in tentions wereso apparent that he was obl iged in the end to refuseto receive them when they called . But th is onlyexasperated them and one in particular , Pergo lezz ithe painter and decorator by whom the reader wil lrecall Bal samo was for a t ime employed threatenedto blas t the reputation of the Count by ci rculating areport throughout London that he was ignorant andnecessitous , of ob s cure birth , and had once beforeresided in England.

” 1

Vitell ini , needless to say, perceiv ing the effect of

1 Cagliostro, however, Ignored this threat, which one can scarcelybelieve he would have done had he had any reason to fear it. Nor

did Pergolezzi put it into effect and it was not till ten years later,when Cagliostro returned to Lon don thoroughly discredited, that the

Editor of the Courier a’

e l’

E urope got wind of it in some way and

twisted it into hi s Balsamo theory of accounting for the mysteriousCagliostro . Whether Pergolezzi was liv ing at the time is unknownin any case the threat which Cagliostro now ignored contained no

men tion of B alsamo.

E 2S I

Cagliostro

his folly,now hastened to put a curb on his tongue lest

he too should be shown the door. But as the sequelwil l prove

,discretion came to h im too late to benefit

h im . For Madame Blevary, who also entertained insecret a similar Opinion of her patron ’s wealth andknowledge

,was one of those whose cupidity had been

excited by Vitellin i ’s gossip . She at least had theadvantage of being on the inner s ide of the Count

’

s

door,and she determined wh ile she had the chance

to profit by it .To this effect she bethought hersel f of “ one Scott,

a man of ambiguous character,and the pl iabil i ty of

whose principles was such that he was ever ready toconvert them to the interest of the present moment .”I t was accordingly arranged between them that Scottshould impersonate a Scotch nobleman

,i n which guise

i t was hoped the Cagl ios tros would be effectuallydeceived as to his i ntentions. A severe il lness , however, with which she was suddenly seized , and duringwhich th e Caglios tros

“ suppl ied her with everynecessary comfort,

” prevented Madame B levary frompersonally introducing her confederate. Neverthelessshe did not abandon the idea she had conceived

,and

i l l though she was , she sent word to Cagl iostro that“ Lord Scott, of whom she had often spoken to him ,

had arrived in town and proposed to h imself thehonour of introduction that afternoon

.

Entirely unsuspicious of the treachery of a womanwho owed so much to their generosity

,the Count and

Coun tes s received “ Lord Scott ” on h is arrival . H isappearance , i t s eems , did not exactly tally wi th suchnot ion s as Cagl iostro had formed either of the man orh is rank. But Scott succeeded in dispell ing h is dis

5 2

Cagliostro in London

appointment,and swindling him into the bargain

,by

way of gentle beginning, out of 1; 1 2 in Portuguesemoney which he undertook to get exchanged for itsEnglish equivalent , afterwards declaring wi th wellfeigned mortification “ he had lost i t through a holein his pocket .

”

A Giuseppe Balsamo, one imagines , would havebeen the last person in the world to be taken i n by sucha story. Cagliostro , however, swallowed it withouthes itation ; and begging Scott, who confusedly regrettedhe was in no position to make good the loss, to th ink nomore about it , invi ted him to come to dinner the next day.

Whether Madame B levary got a share of these orsubsequent spoils i s not known , for at th i s point shedisappears from the scene al together. Perhaps She

died of that severe il lness in wh ich she received fromthe Caglios tros wh i le betraying them so many proofsof their generosity and humanity . I n any case , herplace was most completely fi l led by Lady Scott , ” whowas at th is period presented by Scott to the Cagliostros ,and from whom in an incredibly short t ime she

managed to borrow on her simple note of hand 2 00 .

I I

Owing to the prej udice against Cagl iostro,a con

struction wholly unfavourable to him has been placedupon the extraordinary ser ies of events that now ensued .

Th is construction,however, cannot be allowed to pass

unchallenged . For it is based solely on the accusationsof the Editor of the Cour ier de l ’E urope, who was thebitter enemy of Cagl iostro . Now though it may be

53

Cagliostro

the cus tom in France for the accused to be consideredguilty till he proves his innocence , the contrary is thecus tom in England , where fortunately i t requiressomething more than the mere word of a s ingle andprofessedly hostile witness to condemn a man . TheEditor of the Cour ier de l

’

E urope declared thatupwards of twenty persons would confirm h is

s tatements . None , however, offered to do so . Undersuch circumstances , as we are reduced to deal ing withprejudices

,I shall i n th i s particular i nstance confess

to one in favour of an ancient Engl ish principle ofjustice

,and give Cagl iostro the benefit of the doubt .

His word at leas t is as much entitled to respect as thatof the Editor of the Cour ier de l ’E urope. There is ,moreover

,much in h is spir i ted defence even worthy of

credence.

Having found him so easy to dupe, the crew bywhom he was surrounded naturally devoted theirattent ion to increasing the friendsh ip they had formedwi th h im and h is wife . Not a day passed but LordScott and his lady paid the Count and Countess a visi t

,

and as i t was their habit to drop in j ust before dinneror supper they soon managed to obtain thei r meals atthe expense of the hospitable foreigners.On one of these occasions the conversation having

turned on a lottery in which h is guests were interested,

Cagl iostro was reminded of “ a manuscript he had foundin the course of his travels which contained manycurious cabal is tic operations by aid of which the authorset forth the possibil i t ies of calculating winningnumbers .

”

But since the matter was not one i n wh ichhe had h i therto taken any part icular interest

,he was

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Cagliostro

lucky numbers,but he is on a plane above the ordinary

gambler.Th is

,however

,was a d ist inct ion that Scott, who

was merely a vulgar sharper, was incapable of ei thermaking h imself or appreciating when made . Afterhis success in testing the system he bel ieved i t to beinfall ible . To be refused so simple a means of makinga fortune was intolerable . I n h i s exasperation hedropped the role of Scotch nobleman altogether andappeared in his real character as the common rogue hewas

,whereupon Cagl iostro promptly showed h im the

doorand refused to have any further intercoursewith h im .

Lady Scott, however, a few days later forcedherself upon the Countess, and endeavoured to exciteher compassion with the relation of a pitiful story, inwhich she declared that Scott, by whom she had beenbetrayed, had decamped wi th the profi t arising fromthe lottery, leaving her and three ch i ldren entirelydesti tute . The Countess , touched by th is imaginarytale , generously interceded in

,

her behalf with theCount, who sent her a guinea and a number for thefollowing day .

”

Miss Fry, to give her her real name ,no s ooner obtained th i s number than she and S cottrisked every penny they could raise upon it. Fortuneonce more favoured them and they won on thisoccasion the sum of fifteen hundred gu ineas

.

I n the first moment of exu ltation M iss Fry at oncerushed off to the Cagl ios tros with the whole of herwinnings, wh ich she offered to the Count as a tokenof her gratitude and confidence in him

.But Cagl iostro

was not to be caught in th is cunningly laid snare . Hereceived her very coldly and refused to concern h imselfin her affairs .

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Cagliostro in London

I f you will take my advice , he said , “ you will gointo the coun try with your three ch ildren and l ive onthe interest of your money . I f I have obl iged you , theonly return I desire is that you will never more re -entermy doors .But M iss Fry was not to be got r id of in th is

fash ion . Dazzled by the golden shower the Count’spredictions had caused to rain upon her, she sighedfor more numbers, and to obtain them she had re

course to Vitel l in i , in the hope that as he was stil lemployed by the Count he might succeed in gettingthem for her. So eager was she to procure them thatshe gave Vitel l in i twenty guineas i n advance as anearnes t of her s inceri ty and to increase h is zeal in thematter.But though Vitel l in i was

,needless to say, only too

eager to obl ige her, Cagl iostro was not to be persuadedto grati fy h im . Hereupon , Miss Fry, repenting of herl iberal ity, made a debt of her gift, and had Vitell in i ,who was unable to repay her, imprisoned . Cagl iostro ,however, generously came to the rescue , and obtainedhis release . This action awoke a belated sense ofgratitude in the fel low , wh ich he afterwards ineffectuallyattempted to prove .

But to return to M iss Fry . Having failed to turnVitell in i to account, she determined to approach theCountess and lay her, i f possible , under an obligation .

After cons ider ing various schemes by wh ich th is wasto be effected , she “ purchased of a pawnbroker adiamond necklace for which she paid {I She thenprocured a box with two compartments

,in one of

wh ich she placed the necklace , and in the other somesnuff of a rare qual i ty that she knew the Countess

57

Caglio stro

l iked,and watch ing for an opportun ity of finding her

alone,managed to get access to her.

I n the hands of a Miss Fry , the Countess, who wasthe most amiable

,pl iable, and insignificant of creatures ,

was l ike wax . Cleverly turning the conversation so asto suit her purpose, Miss Fry casually produced thebox and opening the compartment containing the snuffprevailed upon the Countess to take a pinch . Afterthis i t was an easy matter to persuade her to keep thebox. Two days later the Countess discovered thenecklace. As she had been forbidden to receive anypresents from Miss Fry, she at once reported thematter to her husband . He was for returning thenecklace at once

,but as the Countess , who doubtless

had no desire to part with it , suggested that to do soafter having had it so long in her possession wouldappear “ indel icate , Cagliostro fool ishly consented tolet her keep it . As to retain the gift without acknowledging it would have been stil l more indel icate

,Miss

Fry was accordingly once more permitted to resumeher visits .Fully al ive to the fact that she was only received

on sufferance, she was naturally very careful not tojeopardize the posi tion she had recovered with somuch difficul ty by any indiscretion . She by no means

,

however, los t sight of the object she had in V i ew.

Hearing that the Cagl ios tros were moving to SuffolkS treet, she hired a room In the same house whereit was impossible to avoid her. As she had toldCagl iostro that she i ntended to follow h is advice andl iv e in the country wi th her three ch i ldren— a fict ionto wh ich she still adhered—he naturally inquired thereason of her continued residence in London

.She

58

Caglio stro in London

gave a lack of the necessary funds as her excuse , andhinted , as he had broached the subject , that he shouldextr icate her from her embarrassment by giving hernumbers for the French lottery .

”

The Count ignored the hint. But in considerat ionof the necklace she had given the Countess

,and with

the hope of being entirely r id of her,he gave her £50

to defray the expense of her journey into the country .

Th is was, however , not at al l to Miss Fry’s taste . Shewanted numbers for the French lottery

,and meant to

have them too , or know the reason why , as the sayingis . Accordingly , the next day she trumped up somefresh story of debts and absconding creditors

,and

,

appeal ing to the compassion of the Countess,implored

her to intercede with the Count to give her thenumbers she wanted .

Cagliostro was now thoroughly annoyed . Tosettle the matter once for al l

,he told her that “ he

bel ieved the success of the system was due more tochance than to calculation but whether i t was effectedby the one or the other he was res olved to have nofurther concern in anyth ing of that nature . Themanner in wh ich these words were uttered was tooemphatic to permit M iss Fry to Continue to cherishthe least hope of ever being able to induce Cagl iostroto change h i s mind . S ti l l , even now she refused toaccept defeat . The numbers had become to her l ikemorphia to a morp/zin euse and preci s ely as the latterto obtain the drug she craves will resort to the mos tdesperate stratagems , so M iss Fry determined toexecute a scheme she had long premeditated bywh ich Cagliostro was to be compel led to give her thenumbers .

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Caglio stro

I I I

This scheme,described by arl ardent defender of

Cagl iostro against the violent denunciations of theEditor of the Cour ier de l ’E urope as

“ the most diabol icthat ever entered into the heart of i ngratitude,” wasnothing more nor less than a sort of muscular blackmail . Taking advantage of his ignorance of Engl ish ,Cagliostro was to be arrested on a false charge andsimultaneously robbed of the precious manuscript bywhich he predicted the numbers .To assist in the execution of her plan M iss Fry,

who was the l i fe and soul of the conspiracy, had thehelp of a barrister named Reynolds , “ who , notwith

standing h i s expertness in the petti fogging finesse of thelow law

,could not preserve himself from an ignomin ious

exhibition in the pillory a rough known as B road ;and , of course , Scott .When everyth ing was arranged

,Miss F ry brought

an action against Cagl iostro to recover £1 90,the writ

for which was served by Reynolds,apparently by

bribing the sheriff’s officer . Thus armed,he proceeded

to Caglios tro’

s house accompanied by the others,and

wh i le he explained to the amazed Count, who had

never seen him before, the obj ect of h is vis i t and theauthori ty for what he did , Scott and Broad broke intothe laboratory, where they found and took possessionof the manuscript and the note -of-hand for the twohundred pounds the Count had lent Miss Fry

,who

during these highly criminal proceedings had theshrewdnes s to wait on the stairs ” withou t . Reynoldsthen conducted Cagl iostro to a spong ing-house

,from

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Cagliostro in Lon don

which he was released the following day by depositingwith Saunders

,the sher iff’s officer, “j ewels worth three or

four hundred pounds .”

The conspirators,however

,baffled by the release

of Cagl iostro,from whom they had obtained noth ing

but the note-of-hand and the manuscr ipt , of which theycould make neither head nor tai l

,at once renewed

their persecution . This time they procured a warrantfor the arrest of both himself and h is wife on thecharge of practising witcncraft. The fact that i t waspossible to obtain a warrant on so r idiculous a charge ,which both those who made it, as well as the officialby whom the warrant was granted

,were perfectly aware

would be dismissed with contempt the moment i t wasinves tigated

,explains how easy i t was, under the

corrupt and ch aotic state of the legal system of theper iod

,to convert the protection of the law into a

persecution . I ndeed,unauthenticated though they

are,none of the legal proceedings in which Cagliostro

was now involv ed are improbable . On the contrarytheir probabil ity is so great as almost to guaranteetheir credibil i ty .

By a bribe— for i t can scarcely be termed bailCagl iostro and his wife escaped the inconvenience ofbeing taken to jai l before the investigation of thecharge on which they were apprehended . Seeingthat their victim was not to be terrified , h is persecutors tried other tactics . Reynolds was deputedto persuade h im

,if possible

,to explain the system

by which he predicted the winn ing numbers .

But Cagl iostro indignantly refused to gratify h imwhen he called , whereupon Scott , who had remainedwithout the door

,his ear glued to the key-hole ,

6 1

Caglio stro

perceiving that the eloquence of Reynolds failed toproduce the desired effect, suddenly burst into the room ,

and “ presenting a pistol to the breast of the Count,

threatened todis charge it that instan t unless he consentedto reveal the secrets they demanded .

”

This species of bluff, however, was equally fut i l e .

Cagl iostro regarded the bully and his pistol withcontemptuous composure—particularly as he did notdischarge i t . He assured h im that noth ing was to beaccomplished by sol icitations or threats , but as he desiredto be left in peace he was ready “ to th ink no more ofthe note-of-hand they had robbed him of, and wouldeven let them have the effects he had depositedwi th Saunders

,the sheriff S officer , on condit ion the

proceedings against h im were dropped and themanuscript returned .

Seeing there was no better al ternative , Reynoldsand Scott decided to accept the proposi tion

,and

immediately went with Cagl iostro to Saunders ’ houseto settle the matter. But Saunders

,real izing that

Caglios tro’

s troubles were due to his gull ibi l i ty, ignorance of English , and apparent fortune , was tempted tores erve the plucking of so fat a bird for h ims elf. Heaccordingly advis ed the Count not to compromisethe matter, but to bring in his turn an action forrobbery against the crew of sharpers in to whose powerhe had fallen . Cagl iostro was easi ly induced to acceptthis advice, and with the aid of Saunders procuredfour warrants for the arrest of Scott

,Reynolds

,B road

,

and Miss Fry . The las t,however

,aware that the

charge against her could not be substantiated,as

she had not personal ly been present at the t ime ofthe robbery, made no attemp t to escape , and was

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Cagliostro

I occupied,says Cagl iostro , the finest apartment

in the house. There was always a seat at my table fora chance comer. I defrayed the ex penses of the poorprisoners confined there

,and even paid the debts of

some,who thus obtained their freedom . Of these ,

one Shannon,a Chemis t

,

” i s quoted by him as beingready to testify to the truth of the statement . Be thisas i t may

,after six weeks Cagl iostro once more returned

to h is rooms in Suffolk Street to the “ sensible regretof Saunders.But scarcely had he arrived when he was served

for the third time wi th a wr i t issued at the instigationof Miss F ry for “ a debt of At the instance ofSaunders

,an I tal ian merchant named Badiol i was

induced to be his surety. Saunders , whose interestin his affairs was inspired by the profi t he calculated onderiving from them , als o recommended h im to engageas counsel to defend h im a certain Friddle whomCagliostro had met in the sponging-

.house Thussupported, and conscious of Innocence , he awaited h istrial with comparative composure .The case came on in due course at the King ’s

Bench , but Friddle , discovering that it was to be triedby Lord;Mansfield, whom he dared not face, backedout of i t altogether. Left without counsel at the lastmoment, Cagl iostro was driven in desperation to defendhis cause himself. As his knowledge of Engl ish wasvery imperfect

,he was obl iged to have an interpreter ,

and , none other apparently being available , he employedVitell ini . But as Vitel l in i , either owing to excitementcaused by the responsibil i ty he was suddenly cal ledupon to assume

,or to an equally imperfect knowledge

of Engl ish , could not make himself understood , Lord64

Cagliostro in London

Mansfield , to avoid further confusion , and perceivingfrom the charge of witchcraft that the case was trivial

,

suggested a compromise and recommended a Mr.Howarth as arbitrator. To this proposal Cagl iostrowas compelled

,and Miss F ry was only too glad

,to

consentThe first th ing Howarth had to decide was M is s

Fry ’s first claim to £1 90 , which she alleged she hadlent the Count. As she had no proof whateverto advance in support of her claim

,i t was at once

set aside . The charge of witchcraft was also wi thS imilar expedit ion dismis s ed as “ fr ivolous .”I n her attempt to substantiate her other claim to

£2 00 ,Miss Fry and her witness Broad very nearly

perjured themselves . They both asserted that themoney had been expended “ i n purchasing sequins ”for Cagl iostro . Questioned by Howarth as to howhe had obtained the sequins , Broad repl ied that hehad “ bought them of a merchant whose name hecould not recol lect .” At th i s Howarth

,whose

suspicions were naturally aroused by such a reply,observed that “ i t must have been a very large amountof sequins to represent £2 00 , and he did not bel ieveany merchant would have such a quantity on hand.

”

Broad hereupon declared he had not bought themof one merchant , “ but of about fourscore.

” But onbeing pressed by Howarth he could not rememberthe names or places of abode of any of them .

Nor could M iss Fry assist him to disentangleh imself. She stated that “ a J ew of whose name shewas ignorant had brought the sequins to her .” Afterthis there was nothing for Howarth to do but dismis sthe charge , which he did with a severe reprimand .

”

F 6 5

Cagliostro

Miss Fry,however

,was not to be beaten without a

further effort. She demanded that the necklace shouldbe returned to her

,which she declared she had only

len t to the Countess. To this Cagl iostro saw fit toprotest

,but as Vitel l in i failed to express his reasons

intell igibly,Howarth came to the conclusion that the

necklace at least belonged to Miss F ry. He thereforeordered the Count to return it to her, and pay the costsof the arbitration into the bargain .

This decision,however

,by no means put an end to

the troubles of Cagl iostro.

Whether at h is own request , or by order of Howarth ,he seems to have been given a few days in which toconform to the rul ing of the arbitrator. But Badiol i ,his surety, no sooner learnt the resul t of the case than ,dreading lest Cagl iostro should decamp and leave h imto pay the costs and compensate M iss Fry , be resolvedto release himself from his obl igations by surrender ingthe Count . Keeping his intention a profound secret,he paid a friendly vis i t to Cagl iostro

,and at the close

carried him off for a drive in the park . On their way ,”

says an anonymous author of the only contemporarybook in defence of Cagliostro

,

“ they al ighted ata judge’s chambers , where M r. Badiol i said he hadbusiness to settle . They then again entered the coach ,which in a short time stopped before an edifice ofwhich the Count was ignoran t . However

,his com

panion entering, he fol lowed h i s example ; when Mr.Badioli , making a sl ight apology, desired h im to waitthere a few minutes

,saying wh ich he left h im .

Minutes and hours elapsed,but no M r. Badiol i

appeared . The Count then endeavoured to returnthrough the door at wh ich they had entered

,but found

66

Cagliostro in London

himself repu lsed , though he was ignorant of thecause . He remained t i l l evening in the greatestagitation of mind

,roving from place to place, when

he attracted the observation of a foreigner, whohaving heard his story

,and made the necessary

inquiries,informed h im that he was a prisoner i n

the K ing’s Bench .

“Two days had elapsed before the Countess wasable to obtain any information concerning him .

I V

The conduct of Badiol i,who had taken so

treacherous an advantage of h is ignorance of theEngl ish language and law

, was to Cagl iostro theunkindest cut of all . After such convincing proofsof its hostil i ty , to continue to struggle againstadversity seemed no doubt futile . He accepted thesituation apathetical ly. More than a month elapsedbefore he apparently took steps to procure h is releas eev en then the proceedings wh ich resul ted in hisl iberation from the King’s Bench pri son do notappear to have been instituted by himsel f, but by acertain O ’

Re illy. Now as th is good Samar i tan waspreviously unknown to h im , there i s reason to supposethat he was delegated by the Esperance Lodge ofFreemasons , of which the Count was a member, toassist h im . For O

’

R e illy was the propr ietor of theKing’s Head in Gerard Street where the EsperanceLodge assembled .

1 Were all the suppos itz'

on s on which the gen eral opin ion of

Cagliostro i s based as reasonable as the present, there would be no

cause for complaint on that score.

F 2 67

Cagliostro

Through the instrumental ity of O ’

Re illy, for whosekindness on th is occasion Cagl iostro was ever aftergrateful

,fresh bail was procured . But as the summer

vacation had commenced,Miss Fry had the r ight

which she was only too glad to avail hersel f of—torefuse to accept the bai l offered til l the end of thevacation . O

’

Re illy,however, was not a Saunders

his interest in the Count was not mercenary, andbeing fully conversant with the intricate workingsof the law

,he appl ied directly to Lord Mansfield ,

who at once ordered Miss Fry ’s attorney to acceptthe bail .Considering the ev iderfces Cagl iostro had had of

this woman ’s fury,i t was not surpris ing that he should

have attributed the extraordinary circumstances thatnow occurred to her vindictive ingenuity. As he waspreparing to leave the King’s Bench , M r. Crisp

,the

under-marshal of the prison,i nformed him that one

Aylett had lodged a detainer against h im by name ofMel isa Cagl iostro , otherwise J os eph Balsamo, for adebt of g; The Count demanded with theutmost surprise the meaning of th is new intrigue.Crisp repl ied that Aylett declared the sum specifiedwas due to him as his fee

,with interest added

,

from one Joseph Balsamo,by whom he had been

employed in the year 1 772 to recover a debt of aDr. Benamore .

”

I t mattered not in the least that Cagl iostroprotested “ he had never seen Aylett

,and did not

bel ieve Aylett had ever seen h im,or that Ayle tt

h imself did not appear in person . As the law thenstood , Crisp’s statement was sufficient to detain theunfortunate Count , whom he in h is turn was anxious

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Cagliostro in London

to bleed wh i le he had the chance . Accordingly,while admitting that without Aylett ’s consent hewas not empowered to accept the bai l which Cagl ios tro eagerly offered h im , Crisp was only ready tolet h im go “ i f he could deposit in h is hand thirtypounds to indemnify h im.

To this proposition Cagl iostro consented , but ashe had not the cash upon him he asked Crisp if hewould accept its equivalent in plate

,promising to

redeem it the next day . H is request was granted ,and Cagl iostro remained in K ing’s Bench whileO

’

Re illy went to the Countess for the plate inquestion

,which consisted

'

of “ two soup- ladles, twocandlesticks

,two salt-cellars , -two pepper-castors , six

forks,six table- spoons

,nine knife-handles with blades ,

a pair of snuffers and stand , all of s ilver .”The next day, true to his promise , the Count paid

Cr isp thirty pounds . Crisp , however, i nstead ofgiving back the plate

,declared that Aylett had been

to h im in the meantime, and on learning that hehad freed the pri soner was h ighly exasperated anddemanded the plate , wh ich had consequently beengiven him . As Aylett, on the other hand , whenquestioned declared that C r isp “ was a l iar

,

” “ i t wasimpossible , says Cagl iostro, “ for me to ascertain bywhom I was plundered .

”

Of all the incidents in th is series of “ injustices,

as he termed i t, of wh ich he was the v ictim the mos tcurious is undoubtedly the unexpected advent ofAylett upon the scene in a role totally unconnectedwith the development , so to speak , of the plot ofthe play . Cons idering that he was the firs t personon record to state that Cagl ios tro was Giuseppe

69

Cagliostro

Balsamo,i t i s worth wh i le inqu iring into h i s reason

for doing so and the value to be attached to i t .Aylett’s reputation

,to begin wi th , was such as

to render the truth of any statement he might makeextremely doubtful

,i f not to inval idate it al together.

Like Reynolds and Friddle, he was a rascally attorneywho had been “ convicted of perj ury and exposedin the pillory . Granting that he had defendedBalsamo in h i s action against D r. Benamore

, andwas sufficiently struck by the resemblance of

Cagliostro to his old cl ient as to bel ieve them tobe the same person

,h i s conduct on the present

occasion was decidedly ambiguous . According to h i ss tatement, “ happening one day in 1 777 to be inWestminster Hall

,he perceived a person that he

immediately recognized as Balsamo , whom he hadnot seen since 1 772 . I nstead of accosting him thenand there, he decided to find out where he l ived andafter much difficul ty learnt that the person he had seenand bel ieved to be Balsamo was in the K ing’s Benchprison and that h is name was Cagl iostro whereupon

,

wit/tout taking té e least s tep to ascertain wAetlter hewas r iglet or not in leis surmise

,he laid a detainer

against him for the money Balsamo owed h im . N0record of any kind exists as to what passed betweenAylett and Cagl iostro when they final ly met

,or in fact

whether they met at all .That Aylett would

,after having rece ived

Cagl ios tro’

s plate or money from Crisp,have admitted

he had made a mistake is,judging from the man ’s

character, not to be credited . But what renders th iss ingular matter still more questionable is the fact thatthe Editor of the Cour ier de l ’E urope nine years later,

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h is trial as ordered by the arbitrator— the date namedfor the settlement was still some weeks off - it i s,under the c ircumstances and considering all that hasbeen said against h im

,decidedly to h i s credit that he

remained and fulfil led h is obl igations .He states—and there i s no reason to disbel ieve

him— that O ’

Re illy and J ames , after the final settlement of h is case

,tried hard to persuade h im to

commence an action against Aylett for perjury ,another against Crisp for swindling, and one of blackmail against Fry

,Scott, Reynolds and Broad . He

was,however

,not to be beguiled into any such costly

and uncertain undertakings .“ The injustices

,he s ays , “ I had experienced

rendered me unjust to mysel f, and attributing to thewhole nation the faults of a few individuals I determined to leave a place in wh ich I had found neitherlaws , justice, nor hospital i ty .

”

Accordingly, having given O’

R e illy, with whomhe continued in close communicat ion , a power ofattorney to use in case of need

,he left for B russels

“ with no more than fifty pounds in cash and som ejewels.”

He afterwards asserted that duri ng the eighteenmonths he had resided in London he had beendefrauded of 3000 guineas .I n th is a hostile wr i ter—with sheep - l ike fidel ity to

popular prejudice—sees “ the native excellence ofEngl ish talent, when the most accompl ished swindlerof the swindling eighteenth century was so hobbled

,

duped , and despoiled by the aid of the masterly fictionsof Engl ish law.

”

I t is possible, however, to draw another and more72

Cagliostro in Lon don

sensible inference from th is legal escroquer ie of whichCagliostro was the dupe

,than one based on mere

prejudice. As h is fame , needless to say , l ies not i nproved charges of embezzlement, but in the secrets ofthe crucible and the mysteries of Egyptian Masonry,i t 18 clearly by his adventures in the laboratory andthe lodge rather than by those which led h im to theKing’s Bench and the Basti ll e that he is to be judged.

Since i t is a ques tion of swindl ing,i t i s perhaps just as

well to bear in mind the cé aracter of these accompl ishedimpostures to which so much obloquy has beenattached . Accordingly, before attempting to drawaside the figurative curtain which conceals h im

,as

Carlyle ’s “ hand itched to do,i t i s essential to examine

the fabric, so to speak , of the curtain i tself —in otherwords

,to get some idea of what was understood by

the Occult in Caglios tro’

s day.

AS I have no intention of entering this labyrinth ofperpetual darkness which none but an adept is capableof treading

,I shal l merely stand on the threshold .

There,at any rate, i t i s l ight enough for the reader to

s ee as much as is neces sary for the present purpose .

73

CHAPTER I I

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY OCCULTISMI

MAN,at once instinctively mistrusting h i s own

power,and inspired by the love of the marvellous

wh ich is inherent in human nature , has from thebeginn ing invoked

,or invented , as you wil l , the

invisible powers of an inaccessible sphere .

’

H istoryis fi l led with the phenomena aris ing from th i s innatetendency to believe in the supernatural , wh ich wh i lev arying in form according to epochs , places , andcus toms are at bottom identical . Bel ief in the supernatural is

,indeed

,the basic pr i nciple of pr imi t ive

man ’s first conception of community of interest , thegerm from which rel igion , social order, c ivi l izationhave developed .

I n the beginning rel igion and magic were one .

All the priests of Egypt and the East were i nvestedwith supernatural and mysterious powers of whichthey long possessed the monopoly. These powerswere precisely the same as those of the mediums ofthe present day ; but the effects they produced nodoubt appeared infinitely greater owing to the boundless credul ity, simpl ic ity, and ignorance of those whowitnessed them .

By degrees, as civil ization after civ i l ization perished,knowledge became more diffused . Magic passed fromthe sanctuary to the street. The Pagan world was

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fi l led wi th astrologers,sorcerers , sibyls , sooth - sayers

,

wonder-workers of al l descriptions . I n the M iddleAges

,when Christian ity final ly s uperseded Paganism

,

the supernatural once more took up its abode inrel igion . Demonology , which had survived all therevolutions of antiquity, and wh i ch sti l l exists withoutmuch fundamental difference under other forms allover the world

,assimilated its elf to the dogmas of the

Church . The Popes affi rmed the popular bel ief insorcery, magic and diabol ic posses s ion . But thesupernatural phenomena associated with the bel ief inthese th ings were regarded as the work of the devil

,

in whose existence the Christian world bel ieved asimpl icitly as in the existence of God ; so while theChurch sanctioned th is bel ief as one of the mysteriesof rel igion it waged a merciless war again t all personssuspected of having commerce with demons . Fromits terrible ban the mystical visionaries alone wereexempt . These persons , ascetics all , the sanctityof whos e reputations was unquestioned and whosehal lucinations were due to hysteria , epilepsy, orneurotic ism

,were canonized .

Towards the close of the seventeenth century, withthe revival of a tolerant and enl ightened ph i losophy

,

the devil had grown old and accusations of sorcerywere rare . But the bel ief in the supernatural s ti l lcontinued to thrive ; and in the century of universalscepticism , the century of Voltaire and the Encyclopedis ts , when faith in everyth ing til l then veneratedwas exploded

,that in the marvellous alone survived .

"The more civ i l ization adv ances,

” wrote Voltai re,

the more noise does supersti tion make .

”

On the eve of the French Revolution,Mesmer

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electrified the world with his an imal magneti sm .

With th is discovery the bel ief in the supernaturalentered a n ew and more wonderful phase . Themarvellous had passed from a grossly mater ial toa purely spiritual plane. The magnetism of Mesmerwas followed by the hypnotism of the Marquis dePuysegur, with its attendant trai n of table - turning and telepathy, clairvoyance and clai raudience ,spiri tual ism

,theosophy

,and Christian science . To

day the whole system of the hermetic ph i losophy of theEgyptians and H indus has been re -discovered , re

deciphered,and restored with the most aston ish ing

results and the most conspicuous success to th eamazement of the world .

Never has the bel ief in the supernatural been moreflourish ing and more invincible than at the present .S ide by side with the positivism of modern s ciencemarches the mysticism of the occult

,equally confident

and undaunted,and equally victorious . Not a l ink

in the chain that connects the phenomena of themediums and adepts of to -day with those of theChaldaeans has been broken . Madame Blavatskyand Mrs . Eddy are the latest descendants of HermesTrismegistus , who whether regarded as man , god ,or the personification of all the knowledge of h i sremote times, i s the parent of all the wonder-workers ,scientific as wel l as unscientific

,of the world . The

prodigies of these priestesses of theosophy andChris tian science, wh ich are the last and mostpopular manifestations of the marvellous , are noless significant , and much more wonderful becausemore inexpl icable, than those of a Ramsay or a Curie.As to the future of this faith in the supernatural

,

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Those who devoted their l ives to these th ingswere divided into three classes—alchemists, astrologers,and the motley tribe of quacks and charlatans, whomay be summed up for sake of conven ience under thename of sorcerers . Thes e divisions, however, wereby no means hard and fast . United by a commonidea each class dabbled in the affairs of the others .Thus astrologers and sorcerers were often alchemists,and alchemists seldom confined their attention solelyto the search for the el ix i r v itae and the philosopher’sstone.As the alchemists

,owing to their superior know

ledge,and the results they obtained , were more

considered than the astrologers and sorcerers , alchemydeveloped into a science at an early date. Theobs curity in which its origin is involved is a S ignof its antiquity . Some enthusiasts bel ieve i t to becoeval with the creation of man . Vincent de Beauvaiswas of the opinion that all the antediluvians must havehad some knowledge of alchemy , and ci tes Noah ashaving been acquainted with the el ix i r v itae,

“ otherwis e he could no t have l ived to so prodigious an ageand begotten children when upwards of five hundred .

”

Others have traced i t to the Egyptians , from whomMoses was bel ieved to have learnt it . Martin i , on theother hand

,affi rms that alchemy was practised by;

the Chinese two thousand five hundred years beforethe birth of Christ . But though a bel ief in the transmutation of metals was general in the Roman Empire

,

the practice of alchemy does not appear to havereceived much consideration before the eighth century.

At th is period the discoveries of Gebir,an Arabian

alchemist, gave so great a stimulus to the quest of78

E ighteen th Cen tury Occu ltism

the philosopher ’s stone and the el ixir of l ife that heis generally regarded as the creato r of these picturesquedelusions, which for a thousand years had so greata hold on the popular imagination .

Banned and fostered in turn,and often at the same

time, by the Church practised in all classes of societyand by all sorts and conditions of people ; regardedwith admiration and con tempt ; alchemy has playedtoo v ast and important a role in the h istory ofhumanity to be despised , wild and romantic thoughthis rOle has been . Nothing could be more unjustand absurd than to judge it by the Charlatans whoexploited it . The alchemists whom history stil lremembers were in real i ty the pioneers of civil ization

,

who,venturing ahead of the race befogged in dens e

forests of ignorance and s uperstition,cut a road

through to the l ight , along which mankind travelledslowly in their wake. Not only were these fantasticspiri ts of l ight the parents of modern science andphys ics

,but they have helped to adorn l i terature and

art. Some idea of their importance may be gatheredfrom the many words in common use that they havegiven to the language , such as : cruci éle, amalgam,

alcokol , potasé ,laudan um, precip i tate, saturation , dis

ti l lation ,qu in tessence, afi n ity ,etc .

The alchemists often stumbled upon discoveriesthey did not seek . Science is thus indebted to Gebirfor the first suggest ion of corrosive subl imate

,the red

oxide of mercury, nitric ac id , and nitrate of si lver ;to Roger Bacon for the telescope , the magic lantern ,and gunpowder ; to Van Helmont for the propertiesof gas ; to Paracelsus , the most extraordinary of themall

,for laudanum . I t is to h im also that medicine

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owes the idea of the cl in ic . As in chemistry so inother sciences the most important dis coveries weremade by men who had a marked taste for alchemictheories . Kepler was guided in h is investigations bycabal istic considerations .

The search for gold and youth , however, wereonly one phase of alchemy . I t was too closely al l iedto what was known as “ mag ic not to be confoundedwith i t. Inthe popular estimation the alchemists wereall magicians . Most , perhaps all, of the s o- cal ledoccult phenomena so famil iar to us tod ay wereperformed by them . Long before such things asanimal magnetism , hypnotism , telepathy, ventriloquism ,

autosuggestion , etc . , had a name , the alchemists haddiscovered them , though they themselves were asunable to explain or account fo r the wonders theyperformed as the ignorant world that witnessed them .

Albertus Magnus had the power to delude wholecrowds, precisely as I ndian necromancers do at thepresent. Cornel ius Agrippa “ at the request ofErasmus and other learned men called up from thegrave many of the great philosophers of antiquity

,

among others C icero , whom he caused to re -del iverh i s celebrated oration for Rosc ius.” He also showedLord Surrey, when on the continent, “ the resemblancein a glass ” of h i s mistress

,the fair Geraldine .

“ Shewas represented on a couch weeping for her lover .Lord Surrey made a note of the exact time at wh ichhe saw this vision and afterwards ascertained that h ismistres s was so employed at the very minute Thefamous Dr . Dee , whose whole l ife was devoted to thesearch for the phi losopher ’s stone

,was an accompl ished

crystal -gazer and spiri t-rapper.

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the rules of their ph i losophy, of wh ich chastity wasthe mos t rigorous and important, they could ignorehunger or thirst

,enjoy perfect h ealth , and prolong

their l ives indefinitely. Of the occult knowledge theypossessed

,that of transmuting metals into gold was

stripped of its old significance . The philosopher’

sstone was no longer to be regarded as merely themeans of acquiring r iches

,but the instrument by wh i ch

mankind could command the service of the spiri ts ofthe invisible world .

They denied that these were the horrible andterri fying demons with wh ich the monks had peopledthe unseen

,but mild , beautiful , and b eneficen t sprites,

anxious to be of service to men . I n the Rosicrucianimagination there existed in each element a race ofspirits pecul iar to it . Thus the air was inhabited bySylphs , the water by Undines , the earth by Gnomes,and the fire by Salamanders. I t was by them that al lthat was marvellous was done. I n the course of thei rdevelopment the mystical tendencies of the Rosicrucians became more and more pronounced. Thusthey finally came to regard the ph ilosopher’s stone as

s ignifying contentment, the secret of wh ich was ‘ compared in the mystical phraseology they adopted toa spirit that l ived with in an emerald and convertedeverything near i t to the h ighest perfection i t wascapable of.I n fine, Rosicrucianism may be descr ibed as the

bridge over wh ich the bel ief in the supernatural passedfrom sorcery, witchcraft, and the grossest superstit ionto the highly spiritual ized form in which it is manifes ted at the present . The transit

,however

,was not

effected without interruption . Towards the beginning8 2

E ighteen th Cen tury Occultism

of the eighteenth century the bridge,undermined by

the mockery and scepti cism of the age , collapsed .

About fifty years later it was reconstructed by Swedenborg on a new and spiri tual istic system . I n the meantime, as wil l be seen , superstition adri ft on the oceanof unbel ief, clutched credulously at every straw thatfloated by.

I I

The old bel ief in alchemy as a magical sc ience d idnot survive the seventeenth century. I t is true thecredulous and ignorant

,deluded by swindlers and

impostors,long continued to regard alchemy as super

natural ; but the bona-fide alchemists themselves , whowere able and intell igent men

,had begun to under

stand the nature of thei r discoveries . The symbol icinterpretation of the philosopher’s stone led to a newconception of the uses of the crucible . The alchemistsof the eighteenth century

,dur ing wh ich the name

was sti l l in common use,though its original s ign i

fication had become obsolete,were really amateur

chemists. From pseudo- science modern sc ience wasbeginn ing to be evolved .

The great changes,however, that upset the convio

tions and disintegrated the whole fabr i c of society ofthe eighteenth century

,were favourable to the increase

and spread of superstition . The amaz ing recrudes

cence of the bel ief in the supernatural , wh ich was oneof the most conspicuous features of the age , was thedirect resul t of the prevail ing infideli ty and indifference . Persecuted , banned , anathemat ized , but neverexterminated , i t crept from the h iding-places in whichit had lurked for centuries

,and in the age of unbel ief

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emerged boldly into the l igh t of day . The forms itassumed were many and various .I n 1 72 9 Jansenism—a s ort of evangel ical move

ment in the Church of Rome—which in its war withJ esuit ism in the previous century had been crushed ,but not exterminated

,took adv an tage of the apathy of

the time to reassert itsel f. To do this with successi t was necessary to make a powerful appeal to thepopular imagination

,and as no means are as sure of

producing effect as supernatural ones , the world wass tartled by a series of miracles performed at the graveof Deacon Paris

,a famous martyr in the cause of

Jansenism . Thes e miracles,which at first took the

form of cures such as at the present day are to beseen at Lourdes

,soon acquired fame . All sorts of

people , whom the doctors were unable to restore tohealth , began to flock to the J ansenist Cemetery of St .Medard, where it was discovered that other gravesbeside that of Deacon Paris

,and finally the whole

cemetery shared the heal ing properties of his ashes .The h itherto simple character of the cures waschanged . They were accompanied by extraordinaryconvulsions, considered more divine than the curesthemselves, in which the bones cracked, the body wasscorched with fever, or parched with cold , and theinval id fell into a prophetic transport .The noise of these pathological phenomena attracted

immens e crowds to the Cemetery of St . Medard ,where the spectators, who were drawn out of mere idlecuriosity, as well as those who came to be cured

,were

seized or pretended to be seized wi th the convulsivefrenzy. The popularity of St . Medard induced theJ ans enists to attach s imilar virtues to other cemeteries .

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disassociate themselves from the convuls ionnai res , whoformed themselves into a sect, which existed down tothe Revolution .

To -day medical science has stripped the convul

s ionnaires of S t. Medard of the last rag of thesupernatural , but in the eighteenth century only thesane intell igence of the ph ilosophers divested them ofal l claims to wonder. Their fame spread throughoutEurope and helped in its way to emphas ize the trendof publ ic opinion in wh ich the boundless credul ity andignorance of the many advanced side by side throughthe century with the sceptic ism and enl ightenment ofthe few .

So strong was the passion for the marvellous thatthe least mys tification acquired a supernatural s ign ificance . I n Cathol ic Germany a curé named Gassnerwho exorcised people possessed of devils and cured thesick by a touch had over a mill ion adherents . I nEngland, “ D r.” Graham with h i s “ celestial bed , h isel ixirs of generation

,and h is mud -baths

,acquired

an immense reputation. I n Switzerland,Lavater, an

orthodox Lutheran pastor,read character and told the

future by the phys iognomy with astonish ing success .At Leipsic , SchrOpfer, the propr ietor of a café ,

flattered credul ity so cleverly that bel ief in h is abil i tyto communicate with the invisible World survived evenhis exposure as an impostor. His h istory is not withoutdramatic interest . Gifted with a temperament stronglyincl ined to mysticism he became so infatuated with thestudy of the supernatural that he abandoned h isprofession of cafetier as beneath h im and turned h i scafé into a masonic lodge where he evoked the soulsof the dead, damned and saved alike . Some of those

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who witnessed these apparit ions bel ieving theyrecognized relations or friends, went mad , a fate thatwas not long in overtaking S chrOpfer h imself.I ntoxicated by the immense vogue he obtained

,he

next turned h i s lodge into a pr ivate hotel in wh ich hereceived only persons of rank , as suming h imsel f that ofa colonel in the French army to wh ich he declaredhe was entitled as “ a bastard of the Prince de Conti .”Unfortunately at Dresden , wh i ther he had gone toevoke the shade of a K ing of Poland for the benefi tof the Duke of Courland , his imposture was exposed .

S chrOpfer hereupon returned to Leipsic and aftergiving a grand supper to some of h i s most faithfuladherents blew out h i s brains . Nevertheless

,th i s

did not prevent many from continuing to bel ieve in h i sevocations . A report that he had predicted he wouldhimself appear after h i s death to h i s fol lowers at agiven hour in the Rosenthal at Leipsic

,caused a

vast concourse of people to assemble in that promenadeon the day specified in the expectation of beholdingh i s shade .

Still more remarkable than the credul i ty that clungto imposture after i ts exposure , was the credul i ty thatdiscovered supernatural powers in persons who didnot even pretend to possess them . The curiosity thatscented the marvel lous in the impenetrable mystery inwh ich i t pleased the sel f- styled Count de Saint-Germainto wrap himself, induced h im to amuse h imself at theexpense of the credulous . With the aid of his valet,who entered into the j est, he contrived to wrap hisvery existence in mystery . He had only to speak ofpersons who had been dead for centuries to convincepeople he had known them . Many bel ieved he had

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Cagl iostro

witnessed the Crucifixion,merely because by a sigh or

a hint he conveyed that impression when the subjectwas mentioned. No absurdity was too extravagant torelate of him that was not credited. Even his servantwas s upposed to have moistened h is l ips at theFountain of Youth .

As the century advanced the folly increased .

Rumours began to be current that agitated thepopular mind—rumours of secret societies bound byterrible oaths and consecrated to shady designs ,rumours of the impending fulfilment of old and awfulprophecies ; rumours of vampires and witches ; ofs trange coincidences and strange disappearancesrumours in which one may trace the origin of thehaunting suspicion to wh ich the Reign of Terror wasdue. All the superstitions regarding the unseen worldhad their vogue. I n Protestant countr ies interpretersof the Apocalypse were rife . Everywhere the deadcame back to affright the l iving

,led by the “Wh i te

Lady, Death’s messenger to the Hohenzollerns .I n such an atmosphere i t was not surprising that

the 6aguet div inatoi re of Mesmer should have seemedmore wonderful than the scientific discoveries ofNewton and Lavoisier. Cagl iostro had only to appearto be welcomed , only to provide credul ity with fres hoccul t novelties to win a n iche in the temple of fame .

I I I

Occultism , however, l ike human nature of wh ich i ti s the mystical repl ica, has its spir i tual as well as i tsmater ial S ide , and from the depths of gros s supers ti

tion is capable of mounting to the heights of pure88

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Sweden with the intention of giving h imself up enti relyto science. He published a scientific review and

gained some reputation as an inventor. At the age oftwenty-eight Charles XI I appointed h im assessor ofmines ; and three years later Queen U lrica raised h imto the rank of nobil ity, by wh ich his name was changedfrom Swedberg

,as his family was original ly cal led , to

the more euphonious and ari stocratic Swedenborg.

Being of an exceedingly inqu i ring and ph i losoph icalmind and having plenty of leisure he naturally widenedthe area of h i s investigations . For many years hesought to find the scientific explanation of the universe .

This quest and the intensi ty with wh ich he pursuedi t insensibly led h im to seek to discover the connectionbetween the soul and the body, the relation of the finiteto the infinite . From th is stage , to wh ich he had beenled no doubt by the force of heredity— h is father, aLutheran bishop and professor of theology bel ievedhimself i n constant intercourse with angels— it was buta step

‘ to the supernatural . The scientist , however,takes a long time in turning into the mystic . Swedenborg was fifty-seven before the transformation wasaccomplished .

Th is event occurred in London in 1 745 .

I was dining,” he says , one day very late at my

hotel in London , and I ate with great appeti te, whenat the end of my repast I perceived a sort of fog wh i chobstructed my view, and the floor was covered withh ideous reptiles . They disappeared

,the darkness was

dispersed, and I plainly saw in the midst of a br ightl ight, a man S itt ing in the corner of the room ,

who saidin a terrible voice, Do not eat so muckFrom the character of th is vis ion

,Do not

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Swedenborg’s heavenly visitor was Lutheran—a faithbe it said

,to which Swedenborg adhered as devotedly

as Saints Francis and Theresa didto theirs— and whenhe appeared he dressed accordingly, wearing neitherthe Stigmata nor the Crown of Thorns without whichno good Cathol ic would have recognized h im . Hespoke a mystical jargon wh ich was often so absurd asto be unintell igible .The Unseen World , as revealed to Swedenborg was

the exact counterpart of the seen . I t was inhabited byspirits of both sexes— the good ones dwelt in Heavenand the bad ones in Hell . They had the same occu

pations as people on the earth . They marr i ed andbegot ch ildren

,among other th ings and Swedenborg

was present at one of these celestial weddings . Theyalso had “ schools for infant angels ; un ivers ities forthe learned and fairs for such as were commercially inclin ed— particularly for the Engl ish and Dutch angelsFor the spirits of the Unseen had all l ived in the seen .

According to Swedenborg,man never dies. The

day he experiences what he call s death is the day of h i seternal resurrection . Christ was the ruler of both theseworlds . He was the one and only God . All humandesire would be consummated when the two worldsshould become one, as they had been in the beginning,before the Fall. On th i s day the New J erusalemwould be establ ished on earth . To hasten th i s event,i t was necessary to seek the lost word ” or primit iveinnocence.

”

This was Swedenborg’s idea of theph i losopher’s stone, wh i ch he declared was to be foundin the doctrines he taught . Should any person betempted to seek it elsewhere

,he was advised to go in

quest of it in Asia , “ among the Tartars

9 2

Eighteen th Cen tury Occultism

It was some time , however, before he became athome in the spiritual world . Time ceas ed to have anysignificance to him . He would l ie for days in a trancefrom which he would awake at night “ to wrestl e withevil spirits ” to the terror of his household. Sometimeshis soul would escape altogether from his body andborne on the wings of the I nfinite, journey throughImmensity from planet to planet .” To these travels ,the most marv ellous that imagination has ever taken ,we owe the A rcana Ccelestia and Tfie N ewjerusalem.

These books translated from the Latin i n which theyhad been dictated to him by the Almighty had aprodigious success . I n Protestant countries—whichhe pers onal ly canvassed— especial ly in Sweden andEngland where he made the most converts, they wereregarded as the gospel of a new rel igion

,the B ible of

the Church of the New J erusalem .

Show me four persons ” said Fontenel le ,who

swear i t is midnight when i t 15 noon , and I wil l Showyou ten thousand to bel ieve them .

Firmly conv inced that he was in daily intercourseW ith the Almighty , Swedenborg soon convinced others .For his was the faith which removes mountains . Hehad , moreover, a maj estic appearance and a magneticpersonal ity which rendered ridicule silent in his presence, and inspired the confidence and love of all whocame in contact with him . Three extraordinaryinstances of h is power to communicate with the un

seen world are c ited by h i s followers. Even Kant,

the philosopher, was struck by them ,though he con

fesses that on'

inqu iry he dismissed them as havingno foundation but report . Nevertheless there werethousands who did not doubt , l eas t of al l Queen Ulrica .

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Cagliostro

Had Swedenborg not related to her the contents of aletter known only to herself and her brother who hadbeen dead for yearsThat the sentimental Lutheran ized Gnostic ism he

preached should have been received with enthusiasmin Protestant Europe is not surpr is ing . The peoplesof the North are naturally mystical . Nothing thatappears to them in the guise of rel igion is too fantasticto be refused a hearing. I n England the more fantasticthe more certain is i t of success . Swedenborgianismwas to the “ illumin ized J erusalemites of Manchester,where alone they numbered twenty thousand, merelya very del icious recéaufie

’

e of a diet to wh ich theirimagination was special ly addicted. The eagernesswith wh ich i t was accepted in England was dueentirely to appetite .Much more remarkable was the influence of

Swedenborg in the Cathol ic world . Naturally itmanifested itself differently in different nations , assuming the character pecul iar to each . Thus , whilstin England supernatural ism under the influence ofSwedenborg became a rel igious craze

,i n France i t

grafted itsel f upon philosophy,and in Germany infected

the secret societies in which the theori es of the F renchphilosophers found active pol itical expression .

The secret of this universal appeal is not far toseek. I t was one of the articles of faith with the oldRosicrucians that by them “ the triple diadem of thepope should be reduced to dust.” The theosophy ofSwedenborgpresumed the l iberty

,equal ity

,and fratern

i ty of mankind. I t was at once the spiri tual negationand defiance of the arrogant supremacy of both Churchand State. Occultism , which has ever proclaimed the

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of France under his successors was so supreme thatthe decay of French civi l ization in the eighteen thcentury may be regarded as a so rt of mirror i n whichthe process of the disintegration of European societygeneral ly is reflected. Already as early as 1 704 , elevenyears before the death of Louis X IV , when autnor

i ty sti ll seemed to be everywhere dominant , Leibnitzdetected “ all the signs of the general Revolution withwhich Europe is menaced . With the pass ing of LouisX IV respect

,the ch ief stronghold of feudal ism , sur

rendered to the cynicism of the Regency . I n thatinsane Saturnal ia chains were snapped

,traditions

shattered , old and worn -out conventions trampledunder- foot . The Regency was but the Revolution inm in iature.The orgy of l icence passed in i ts turn

,as the gloomy

and bigoted hypocrisy of wh ich i t was the natural reaotion , had passed before it . But the calm of the exqu isiterefinement that took its place was only superficial .Freedom conceived in the revels of the Regencyyearned to be born . To assist at th is accouc/eemen t

was the aim of al l the philosophical midwifery of theage. I n 1 734 Voltaire, phys ic ian - in -ordinary to thecentury, declared “ action to be the ch ief object ofmankind . But as freedom of act ion is impossible without freedom of thought Vauvenargues next demandedin clarion tones that God should be freed.

” The ideaof freeing God ” in order to free man was an inspirat ion , and Vauvenargues’ magnificent phrase becamethe tocsin of the philosophers

.

But the chief effect of the Regency upon F rance,

and thus indirectly upon Europe,had been to “ free

unbel ief. Au thori ty , which had feared faith when96

E ighteen th Cen tury Occultism

al ive and despised it when ‘ dead , crawled into theshell from which the s nail of bel ief had departed anddisplayed the same predatory and brutal instincts asthe intolerant rel igion in whose iron carapace i tdwelt . To dislodge it was the first step towardsfreeing God ”

; and all sorts and conditions ofathletes entered the arena to battle with prejudice andinjustice. I n France, where the contest was destinedto be decided, the Basti l le or banishment was thepunishment that brute authori ty awarded those whodared to defy i t . But to crush the rebel l ion of in te lligence against stupidi ty was impossible . The efforts ofthe ph i losophers were reinforced by sovereigns imbuedwith the spirit of the century. With Frederick theGreat a race of benevolent despots sprang into existence

,who dazzled by the refulgence of the philosoph ical

l ight they so much admired did not perceive ti ll too latethat in igniting their torches at its flame they werehelping to kindle a conflagration destined to destroythe system that would depr ive them of the absolutefreedom they enjoyed

,and to a l imited share of wh ich

they were will ing to admit the nations they ruled.

Nor for that matter did the ph ilosophers themselves . To them as well as to their pri ncely disciplesto free God was another name for rel igioustoleration . That was the revolution for wh ich theEncyclopedists worked , and which Frederick the Greatand the sovereigns who shared h is enl ightened Opin ionsdes ired . Nothing was further from their intentionthan that it should take the form in which i t eventuallycame . I t is impossible to bel ieve that the Revolutionwh ich demanded the heads of a Lavoisier and a

Bailly would have spared those of a Voltaire or aH 97

Cagliostro

Rousseau.Least of all would the stupid mob that

watched the victims doomed to the guillotine spitinto the basket

,

” as i t termed in feroc ious j est the fallof the heads beneath the axe, have made any distinction between the virtuous and innocent Louis XV Iand Joseph I I

,or the Empress Catherine, had it

been possible to arraign them likewis e at the bar ofthe Revolutionary Tribunal . The grati tude of thepeople is even less to be depended on than that ofprinces. But God was not to be “ freed ” i n a day .

Seventy-fiv e years elapsed between Freedom ’s conception in the Regency and birth i n the Revolution .

During th i s long pregnancy the century wh ich wasto die in child-bed developed an extraordinary appetitefor the supernatural . To the material istic ph i losophythat analyzed and sought to control the process ofdecay which by the middle of the century had becomevisible even to one so indifferent to “ signs of thetimes as Lou i s XV, the cul t of the supernaturalwas an element unworthy of ser ious consideration .

But though long ignored the time was to come whenit obtained from the torch- bearers of reason a questionab le and dangerous patronage . I t was on the eveof the birth of Freedom that the century of Voltaire

,

”

as Henri Martin expresses i t,extended its hand to

the occultists of the ‘middle ages .”

Between Voltaire and cabal istic evocations,between

the scepticism of the Encyclopedists and the mysticismof Swedenborg who would believe there could be anyaffil iation ? Yet the transition was natural enough

.

The philosophers in their abuse of analysis had toopersistently sacrificed sentiment to reason . Imagination , wh ich Louis B lanc has called the intoxication

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Cagl iostro

influenced when a boy by an ascetic book , Tlze Art

of Knowing Oneself , that he chanced to read . Ash is father

,to whom he was deeply attached , intended

him for the Bar he devoted h imself to the study oflaw

,and though he had no taste for the profession

passed his examinations. But after practising s ixmonths he declared himself incapable of distinguish ingin any suit between the claims of the defendant andthe plaintiff

,and reques ted to be allowed to exchange

the legal profession for the mil itary—not because hehad any l iking for the career of arms , but in orderthat he might “ have leisure to continue the studyof rel igion and ph i losophy.

”

To obl ige his father the Due de Choiseul , thenPrime Minister, gave h im a l ieutenancy in theRegiment de Foix, then in garr ison at Bordeaux .

Here he met one of those strange characters socommon in th i s century, who , either Charlatans ofgenius or dreamers by temperament, suppl ied witharms from the arsenal of the supernatural boldlyasserted the supremacy of the occu l t and attackedscience and ph i losophy al ike . Th i s particular individual was called Martinez Pasqual is , but as l ike somany of h is kind he enveloped himself in mystery it isimpossible to discover who or what he was

,or where

he came from . He was supposed to be a Christian izedJ ew from one of the Portuguese colonies i n the East

,

which would account perhaps fo r h i s skil l i n thepractice of the occult. At any rate

, the strangesecrecy he maintained in regard to h imself wassufficient in the eighteenth century to credit h imwith supernatural powers.When Saint-Martin met h im in Bordeaux he had

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E ighteen th Cen tury Occultism

for ten years held a sort of school of theurgy. AtAvignon

,Toulouse

,and other Southern cities h i s

pupils or disciples formed themselves into a sect ,known as Martin ists after their master , for the practiceof h is doctrines

,wh ich though but vaguely understood

were attractive from the hopes they held out ofcommunicating with the invisible world . SaintMartin was the first to grasp their meaning. Hejoined the Martin ists

,whose existence til l then was

scarcely known,and became their chief when the

dissensions to which the private l i fe of Pasqualis hadgiven ri se were healed by h i s sudden and singulardeparture for Haiti

,where he died of yellow fever

shortly after h i s arrival .D rawn from obscuri ty by the personal charm and

h igh social position of its new leader,Martinism

rapidly attracted attention . I n a strange l ittl e book ,Des E rreurs et de la Vtr i te

’

par nup/i i losopfie i nconnu ,

Saint-Martin endeavoured to detach h imself and h i sadherents from the magic in wh ich ‘

Pasqualis—whopractised it openly -had involved th is sect . Butthough he gave up the quest of supernaturalphenomena as unnecessary to an acquaintance withthe unseen , and wandered deeper and deeper in topure mysticism , he never wholly succeeded in escapingfrom the grosser influence of h i s first in itiation in theoccult . From the fact , however, that he called himselfthe Robinson C rusoe of spiritual ism

,some idea

may be gained of the distance that separated h imfrom those who also claimed connection with theinvisible world . He did not count on being understood . Of one of his books he said

,

“ i t i s too farfrom ordinary human ideas to be successful . I have

10 1

Cagl iostro

often felt in writing i t as if I were playing valses onmy viol in in the cemetery of Montmartre , where foral l the magic of my bow, the dead will nei ther hearnor dance .

”

Nevertheless, though philosophy failed to followh im to the remote regions of speculation to which hewithdrew

,i t grasped enough of h is meaning to apply

it . And the Revolution , wh ich before i ts arrival hehad regarded as the “ lost word ” by which theregeneration of mankind was to be effected , and whenit actual ly came as “ the miniature of the last judgment ,

” adopted h is sacred ternary Liberty, Equal ity,and Fraternity —the Father, Son and Holy Ghost ofMartinism— as its device. Saint-Martin was one ofthe few who strove to inaugurate i t whom it did notdevour. He passed through it unmolested , dying ashe had l ived gently. H is only regret in passing fromthe visible to the inv isible was that he had left“ the mystery of numbers unsolved .

V

The influence of Saint-Mart in,however

, was

passive rather than active. Though ph ilosophy confus edly and unconsc iously imbibed the Social istictheories of mysticism

,the F rench being at once a

practical - and an excitable people vVere not to bekindled by speculations of the intellect , howeverdar ing, original, and attractive they might be . Thepalpable prodigies of Mesmer appealed more powerfully to them than the vague abstractions of SaintMart in .

It was in Germany that revolutionary mysticism10 2

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recruiting followers . As We ishaupt’

s object was toconvert them into bl ind instruments of h i s supremewil l

,he modelled his organization after that of the

J esuits,adopting in particular thei r system of espionage ,

their practice of passive obedience, and their maximthat the end justifies the means . F rom mysticism heborrowed the name of the society : I l luminés . Fromfreemasonry

,the classes and grades into wh ich they were

subdivided,the purpose of wh ich was to measure the

progress of the adept in assimilating the doctri ne ofthe absolute equal ity of man and to excite h i s imagina ~

tion by making him hope for the communication of somewonderful -mystic secret when he reached the h ighestgrade . Those who enjoyed the confidence of Weishaupt were known as areopagites . To them alone washe vis ible, and as he deemed that too many precautionscould no t be observed in conceal ing the existence of asociety sworn to the abol ition of the Chr istian rel igionand the overthrow of the establ ished social system

,he

and h is accomplices adopted names by which alonethey were known to the others .Comprised at first of a few students at the Univer

s ity of I ngolstadt, the I l luminés gradually increasedtheir numbers and sought recruits i n other places

,

special attent ion being given to the enl istment ofyoung men of wealth and position . I n this way

,the

real objects of I l luminism being artful ly concealed,the

society extended with in the course of four or five yearsal l over Germany. I ts adepts even had a hand inaffairs of State and gained the ear of many of thosepetty and picturesque sovereigns of the Empire who

,

catching the fever of philosophy from Frederick theGreat and Joseph I I , amused themselves in trying to

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(Af ter IWan s znger ) [ Tof acepage 1 04

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ascendency over h im . I t was owing to the adviceof Knigge that Weishaupt divided the I lluminés intogrades after the manner of the F reemasons

,and

adopted the method of in itiation of which the mys terious and terri fying rites were well calculated to impressthe proselyte. With a Knigge to invent and a Weishaupt to organize

,the I lluminés rapidly increased their

numbers and activities . Overrunning Germany theycrossed the frontiers preach ing

,proselytiz ing, and

spreading the gospel of the Revolution everywhere .

But th is rapid development was not without its dangers.Conscious that the existence of such a society if itbecame known would inevitably lead to its suppression ,Knigge, who was noth ing if not resourceful , conceivedthe idea of graft ing i t on to Freemasonry, which byreason of its powerful connections and vast proport ionswould, he trusted, give to I lluminism both protectionand the means of spreading more widely and rapidly .

The origin of this association,the oldes t known to

the world , composed of men of all countries , ranks ,and creeds sworn to secrecy

,bound together by

strange symbols and signs,whose real mystic meaning

has long been forgotten , and to-day devoted to thepractice of ph i lanthropy on an extensive scale—hasbeen the subject of much speculation . The theory,most generally accepted

, i s that which supposes i t tohave been founded at the t ime and for the purpose ofbuilding the Temple of Solomon . Bu t whatever i tsearly history, Freemasonry in i ts present form firstcame into prominence in the seventeenth century inEngland, whence i t Spread to France and Germany .

I t was introduced into the fo rmer country by theJacobites early in the eighteenth century with the

1 06

Eighteen th Cen tury Occu ltism

object of furthering the cause of the Stuarts. On theextinction of their hopes

,however, i t reverted to i ts

original ideals of equal i ty and fraternity,and in spite

of thes e democratic principles obtained a strong holdupon the aris tocracy. I ndeed

,in France it was from

the first a decidedly royal ist insti tution and thischaracter i t preserved, outwardly at least, down to theRevolution , numbering nobles and clergy al ike amongits members, and always having a pri nce of the bloodas Grand Master .I n Germany , on the contrary, where since the

Thirty Years ’ War popular aspirations and discontenthad expres sed themselves inarticulately in a multitudeof secret societies

,the pr inc iples of Freemasonry had

a pol itical rather than a social significance .

The importance it acquired from the number of i tsmembers

,i ts international character

,and its superior

organization could not fail to excite the hostil i ty of theChurch of Rome

,which will not tolerate wi thin it the

existence of s ecret and independent ass ociations . TheJesuits had sworn allegiance to the Pope and in theirambition to control the Papacy were its staunchestdefenders . But the Freemasons refused to admit thePapal authori ty

,and treated al l creeds with equal

respect. War between the Church of Rome andFreemasonry was thus inevitable—a war that theChurch in such a century as the eighteenth , permeatedwith scepticism and the des i re for individual l iberty,was most i l l -advised to wage . For i t was a war inwh ich extermination was impossible and the victoriesof Rome indecis ive .

Anathemat ized by Clement X I I,persecuted in

Spain by the I nquisition,penalized in Cathol ic.

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Cagliostro

Germany by the law , and i ts members decreedworthy of eternal damnation by the Sorbonne inFrance

,Freemasonry nevertheles s managed to find

powerful champions . Entrenched behind the thronesof Protestant Europe, particularly that of Frederickthe Great

,and encouraged by the philosophers who

saw in it someth ing more than a Protestant challengeto the Church of Rome

,i t became the rallying ground

of all the forces of discontent and disaffection of thecentury

,the arsenal of al l i ts hopes and ideals , the

nursery of the Revolution .

To render i t,i f possible

,suspect even to its patrons

Rome denied the humanity of its aims and the boastedantiquity of its origin . According to the storiescirculated by the pri ests , wh i ch excited by theirfears existed solely in their imagination

,the Freemasons

were the successors of the old Knights Templars swornto avenge the abol ition of that order by the bull ofPope Clement V and the death of its Grand Master

,

J acques Molay , burnt al ive by King Ph i l ip the Fair inthe fourteenth century . But their vengeance was notto be l imited to the destruction of the Papacy and theFrench monarchy ; i t included that of al l altars andall thrones .1This tradition , however, continually repeated and

rendered more and more myster ious and alarming byrumour, merely helped to articulate the hatred of theenemies of the old r egime who had flocked to F reemasonry as to a camp . As th i s association had at th i speriod of i ts h istory no homogeneity

,i t was possible for

1 On e of the symbols of the Mason s was a Cross on which werethe

.

letters L.P.D. which were in terpreted by the priests to meanLzlza Pedzbus Destrue

, Trample the Lilies under-foot .108

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betrayed two years later,i n 1 784 , by a member who

had reached the highest grade , only to discover thatthe mystic secrets by which he had been attracted tothe I lluminés did not exist. This information conveyedto the Bavarian government was confirmed bydomici l iary visi ts of the police who seized manyincriminating papers . Weishaupt fled to Gotha,where he found a protector in the occultist Duke ,whose friendship he had nursed for years in V i ew ofjust such a contingency .

But though the society he had formed was brokenup

,i t was too late to stamp out the fire i t had kindled.

The subterranean rumbl ings of the Rev olution couldalready be heard . Mysticism wh ich had made use ofphilosophy in France to sap tyranny was in its turn inGermany turned to pol itical account. From the seedssown by the I lluminés sprang that amazing crop ofideals of which a few years later Napoleon was to reapthe benefit.

Such , then , was the “ curtain of Cagl iostro ;woven , so to speak , on the loom of the love-of-themarvellous out of mystical masonic principles andS chrOpfer

-Mesmer phenomena.And now let us turn once more to the personal ity

of the man behind it.

1 10

CHAPTER I I I

MASKED AND UNMASKEDI

BEFORE leaving England,during an interlude in

the pers ecution to wh ich he had been subjected,

Cagl iostro had become a Freemason . Th i s event ,innocent enough in i tsel f

,though destined years later

to have such terrible consequences for him,occurred

on Apri l 1 2, 1 777. The lodge he joined was the

Esperance , which met in a room of the K ing’s Headin Gerard Street

,Soho .

According to the Editor of the Cour ier de l ’E urope,who professed to have obtained the particulars of hisadmission and in i tiation from an eye-witness

,the

Count on th is occasion described h imself as “ J osephCagl iostro , Colonel of the 3rd Regiment of B randen’

burg .

” 1 Three other members were received at thesame time Pierre Boileau , a valet ; Count Ricciarel l i ,“ musician and alchemist

,aged seventy- six and the

Countess Cagl iostro .

There was a full attendance of members, “B rotherHardiv illiers , an upholsterer

,presiding. Out of

1 This statemen t rests solely on the word of the Edi tor of theCourier de l

’E urope, who cited it as one of his reason s for identifying

Cagliostro with Balsamo . T he latter, it may be recalled, had passedas a colonel in the Pruss ian service during the time hewas connectedwith the forger Agliata.

I I I

Cagl iostro

courtesy to her sex the Countess was received first .Her initiation consisted in taking the prescribed oath ,after wh ich “ she was given a arter on which thedevice of the lodge, Un ion , éz'len ce, Vi rtue, wasembroidered

,and ordered to wear i t on going to bed

that night .”The ceremony

,however, of making the “ Colonel

of the 3rd Regiment of B randenburg a F reemasonwas characterized by the horseplay usual on suchoccasions . By means of a rope attached to the ceil ingthe “ Colonel was hoisted into the air, and allowedto drop suddenly to the floor—an idiotic species ofbuffoonery that entailed unintentionally a sl ight injuryto h is hand. H is eyes were then bandaged , and aloaded pistol having been given him , he was orderedby “ Brother Hardiv illiers to blow out h i s brains .As he not unnatural ly manifested a l ively repugnanceto pul l the trigger he was assailed with cries of“ coward by the assembly. To give h im courage ”the president made him take the oath . I t was asfollows

“ I,Joseph Cagl iostro , i n presence of the great

Arch i tect of the Universe and my superiors in th isrespectable assembly, promise to do all that I amordered

,and bind myself under penalties known only

to my superiors to obey them bl indly without questioning their motives or seeking to discover the secret ofthe mysteries in which I shall be in itiated either byword , sign , or writing.

The pistol—an unloaded one th i s time—was againput into h is hand . Reassured

,but stil l trembl ing

,he

placed the muzzle to h is temple and pul led the trigger .At the same time he heard the report of another pistol

,

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revolutionary character ; though to the Church ofRome

,aware that It perpetuated the tradit ion of the

Templars,i t was none the less a nathema . To th is

fact the stor ies may be traced wh ich caused F reemasonry as a whole to be suspected of conspiring to“ trample the l il ies under- foot .”

I n England the Order of S trict Observance waspurely philanthropic and social

,though there, as else

where , i t was steeped in occultism— a fact which ofitself is quite sufficient to explain why Cagl iostrojoined the Esperance Lodge . The importance , moreover, acquired by th is masonic order, whose lodgeswere scattered al l over Europe

,also explains the

comparat ive ease with which he afterwards explo itedthe curiosity h is remarkable faculties aroused .

The precise manner,however

,in wh i ch he laid

the foundations of his fame can only be conjectured.

Between November 1 777, when Cagl iostro leftEngland unknown and ~ impov erished, and March1 779 , when he arrived in Courland to be receivedinto the highest soc iety

,his movements are wrapped

in mystery .

“ My fifty gu ineas,he says

,

“ which was all thatI possessed on leaving London

,took me as far as

Brus sels , where I found Providence waiting toreplenish my purse .

As he did not deign to enl ighten the publ ic as tothe guise in which Providence met h im

,his I nquisi

t ion-biographer, who is always prejudiced andgeneral ly unrel iable, was of the Opinion that i t washighly dis creditable . This authority states that he procured money from a credulous man whom he dupedinto bel ieving he could predict the winning number in a

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Masked and Unmasked

lottery , and that without waiting to learn the resul tof his prediction— wh i ch , on th is occasion , in spite ofhis previous uniform success in London

,was a failure

fled to the Hague.-Wh i lst here

,so it was rumoured years later, he

was admitted as a Freemason into a lodge of theOrder of S trict Observance

,to the members of which

he made a speech on Egyptian Masonry. As a resultof the interest he aroused

,a lodge was founded in

accordance with the Egyptian Rite , open to bothsexes, and of wh ich the Countess was appointedGrand M istress.The I nquisi tion -biographer professes to discover

him next in Venice,

“ from which he fled after swindl inga merchant out of one thousand sequins . But as heis described as call ing h imself at th e time MarquisPellegrin i—one of the al iases under wh i ch GiuseppeBalsamo had masqueraded some years previously

,he

may be acquitted of the charge . I f Cagl iostro wasreally Balsamo i t is inconceivable that he would havereturned to I taly under a name he had rendered sonotorious . The incident

,i f i t has any foundation in

fact, must have occurred several years before this date .

Moreover, i f Cagl iostro and Balsamo are the same ,Freemasonry must have wrought a most remarkableand unprecedented spiri tual reformation in the characterof the S icil ian crook, for under the name of CountCagl iostro he most certainly ceased to descend to thevulgar villainies formerly habitual to him .

Much more in keeping with Cagl ios tro’

s characteris the following adventure reported to have befallenhim at Nuremburg

,wh i ther rumour next traces him .

Being asked his name by a Freemason who was1 2 1 1 5

Cagliostro

staying at the same hotel , and to whom he hadcommunicated the fact that he was also a member ofthe same fraternity by one of the secret signsfamil iar to the initiated , he repl ied by drawing on asheet of paper a serpent bi ting i ts tail . Th i s crypticresponse

,coupled with the ai r of mystery Cagl iostro

habitually gave to h i s smallest action , deeply impressedthe inquisitive stranger

,who with the characteri stic

supersti tion of the century at once jumped to theconclusion that he was i n the presence of the ch ief ofone of the secret societies attached to Freemasonrywho , fleeing from persecution

,was obl iged to conceal

h i s identi ty. Accordingly,with a sentimental b enevo

lence—from wh ich i t may be inferred he was both aMason and a German he drew from his hand adiamond ring, and pressing it upon Cagl iostro withevery mark of respect

,expressed the hope that i t

might enable him more easi ly to elude h is enemies .‘ From Nuremburg rumour follows the Count to

Berl in , where the interpretation the unsentimentalpol ice of Frederick the Great put upon the mysteryin wh ich he enveloped himself was so hostil e thathe hastened to Leipsic . I n this town

,veritabl e home

of occultism and stage on which S chrOpfer a few yearsbefore had persuaded h is audience to bel ieve in h im inspite of h i s impostures

,any mysterious person was

sure of a welcome. The voice of rumour,hitherto

reduced to a whisper,now becomes audible . The

Freemasons of the Order of S trict Observance aresaid to have given a banquet i n Caglios tro

’

s honour“ at wh ich three plates

,three bottles

,and three glasses

were set before each guest in commemoration of theHoly Trinity.

”

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Order i n these c ities were whol ly given up to thepractice and study of occul t phenomena he must, nodoubt

,have furnished them with some proof of h is

possession of “ supernatural ” facul ties .I n th i s way

,recommended from lodge to lodge , he

reached Mittau, the capital of the Duchy Of Courland ,i n March 1 779 . Here the cloud of uncertainty inwh ich he had been enveloped since leaving Englandwas completely dispelled .

I I

Now one does not go to Courland without a reason ,and a powerfu l one . Marshal Saxe , the only othercelebr i ty one recalls in connection with th is bleak ,marshland duchy of Germanized Letts on the Baltic ,was lured th i ther by its crown . Cagl iostro too had h i sreason—wh ich was not Saxe’s ; though the ridiculousI nquisition -biographer, remember ing that the crownof Courland had been worn by more than oneadventurer with in the memory of the generationthen l iving

,declares that there was a project to

depose the reigning duke and put Cagl iostro in h i splace .

As a matter of fact,Cagl iostro went to Courland

to further h is great scheme of founding the Order ofEgyptian Masonry . This was the thought uppermostin his mind from the time he left England

, or at leastthe one mos t frequently expressed .

The idea of Egyptian Masonry is said to havebeen suggested to him by some unpubl ished manuscr ipts that he purchased wh i l e i n London . Heh imself, on the contrary, professed to have conceived

1 18

Masked and Unmasked

i t in Egypt during h i s travels in the East, of which hegave such an amazing account at h is trial in theDiamond Necklace Affair. I t is the spirit

,however

,

in wh ich the idea was conceived that is of chiefimportance, and th i s seems to have been whollycreditable to h im .

For in spite of the vanity and ostentation heexhibited when his star was in the ascendantCagl iostro

,whose “ bump of benevolence was h igh ly

developed,was inspired with a genuine enthusiasm for

the cause of humani ty . Egyptian Masonry had fori ts aim the moral regeneration of mankind . As therevelations made to men by the Creator (of whom henever failed to speak with the profoundest respect)had , i n h is opinion , been altered to subserve their ownpurposes by the prophets , apostles, and fathers of theChurch , the regeneration of mankind was only to beaccompl ished by restoring the knowledge of God in al li ts puri ty. Th is Cagl iostro professed was only to beeffected by Egyptian Mason ry, wh ich he declared hadbeen founded by the patriarchs, whom he regarded asthe last and sole deposi taries of the truth

,as the means

of communicating wi th the invis ible world.

That he really bel ieved i t was h i s mission tore-establ ish th i s communication there can be no doubt.Even Carlyle ’s conception of him as a “ king ofl iars ” only serves to emphasize th i s . For since i t isgenerally admitted that the habitual l iar i s in the endpersuaded of the truth of what he says

,there is no

reason why the king ” of the tribe should be anexception . Had Cagl iostro, therefore , i n tAe éegin n ingknown that the rel igion he preached was a l ie— o f

wh ich I can find no evidence whatever—he was most1 19

Cagliostro

certainly convinced of its truth in t/ze end. I n France ,where h is following was most numerous , the delegatesof the French lodges

,after hearing him , declared in

their report that they had seen in h im “ a promiseof truth wh ich none of the great masters had socompletely developed before .

”

I f i t be true that a man ’s works are the key toh is character

,noth ing reveals that of Cagl iostro more

clearly than h is system of Egyptian Masonry . Neverdid the welfare of humanity, subl imest of ideals, findmore ridiculous expression . But to describe indetail the astonish ing gal imat/tias of th is system forthe regeneration of mankind would be as tedious asi t is unneces sary, and the following rough outl inemust serve to illustrate the consti tution and ceremoniesof the Egyptian Rite .Both sexes were al ike el igible for adm iss ion to the

Egyptian Rite,the sole condit ions being bel ief in the

immortal i ty of the soul and— as regards men— previousadmission to some Masonic Lodge . There were, as inordinary Freemasonry , three grades : apprentice , companion

,and master Egyptian . The master Egyptians

were called by the names of the Hebrew prophets,wh i le

the women of the same grade took those of sibyls .Cagl iostro h imself assumed the title of Grand

Cophta, wh ich he declared to be that of Enoch, thefirst Grand Master of Egyptian Masonry . H is wife ,as Grand M istress, was known as the Queen ofSheba.

The initiations of the neophytes consisted of beingbreathed upon ” by the Grand Master or GrandMistress , according to their sex . T h is proceeding wasaccompanied by the swinging of censers and a species of

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Cagl iostro

sufficient to ensure the success of Egyptian Masonry,

Cagl iostro in the course of time found it expedient toheighten its attraction by holding out hopes of bodilyheal th

,and infinite wealth as well . I t was by his

abil i ty to cure the sick that the majority of hisfollowers were recru i ted and as he gave to h i s marvellous cures the same mysterious and absurd character ashe gave to all h i s actions , h is enemies—of whom he hadmany—unable to explain or deny them

,endeavoured

to turn the “ physical regeneration ” that EgyptianMasonry was said to effect into r id icule .

According to a cur ious and satirical prospectusentitled “ The Secret of Regeneration or Physical Perfection by wh ich one can attain to the spiritual i ty of 5557years ( I nsurance Office of the Great Cagl iostro), hewho aspired to such a state “ must withdraw everyfifty years in the month ofMay at the full of the mooninto the country with a friend

,and there shutting him

self in a room conform for forty days to the mostr igorous d iet .The medical treatment was no less heroic . On

the seventeenth day after being bled the patient wasgiven a ph ial of some “ wh ite l iqu id , or primitivematter, created by God to render man immortal , .of

wh ich he was to take a certain number of drops up tothe th irty- second day . The candidate for physicalregeneration was then bled again and put to bedwrapped in a blanket

,when— if he had the courage to

continue with the treatment— he would lose h i s hair,skin , and teeth, but would recover them and find h imself in possession of youth and health on the fortiethday after which he need not

,unless he l iked

,shuffle

off the mortal coi l for 55 57 years.”1 2 2

Masked and Unmasked

Perhaps nothing better i l lustrates the boundlesscredul ity wh ich characterized the per iod immediatelypreceding the French Revolution than the bel iefthat th is report, i ntended as a conte pour r zre bythe Marquis de Luchet

,i ts author, obtained . As

Cagl iostro and his fol lowers were very l ikely awarethat any attempt to deny such a statement would butserve to provide thei r enemies with fresh weapons ofattack, they endured the r idicule to wh ich th is mal iciousinvention subj ected them in si lence. Th is attitude

,

however,was not only misunderstood by the publ ic

,

but has even misled h istorians of a later date,very few

,of whom ,

l ike Figu ier i n his H i stoire du Mervei l leux ,

have had the wit to see the humour of the lampoonwhich they have been too careless or too prejudicedto explain .

As a matter of fact, the mumbo-jumbo of theEgyptian Rite was no more grotesque than theSwedenborgian , Rosicrucian , or any other of thenumerous rites that were grafted on to Freemasonry inthe eighteenth century . I f the Baron v on Gleichen ,whose integrity was as irreproachable as h i s ex peri

ence was wide,i s to be credited , Cagliostro

’

s EgyptianMasonry was worth the lot of them , for he tried torender it

,not only more wonderful, but more lzonouraéle

than any other Masonic order in Europe . ”Considered as the key to Caglios tro

’

s character,

Egyptian Masonry so far fits the lock, so to speak .

To turn the key, i t is necessary to explain the meanshe employed to real ize the subl ime ideal he expressedso ridiculously .

I t is characterist ic of the tyranny of ideals todemand their real ization of the enthusiast, i f need be

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Caglio stro

at the cost of l ife , honour, or happiness . All reformersmagnetic enough to attract any notice have beenobl iged to face th is l ion - l ike temptation at some timein their careers . The perfervid ones almost alwaysyield to it

,and may count themselves lucky if the

s acrifice of their happiness is al l that i s asked of them .

The nature of the surrender i s governed entirely byc ircumstances . Cagliostro paid for his attempt toregenerate mankind with h i s honour. I t was anexcessive pr ice

,and— considering the result obtained

useless.As he did not hesitate to recruit h is followers by

imposture when without i t he would have failed toattract them

,many writers— and they are the most

hosti le— have denied that he ever had a lofty idealat all . To them Egyptian Mason ry is merely a deviceof Cagl iostro to obtain money . Such an opin ion

,

however, i s as untenable as i t is intentional ly unjust.T lzere i s n ot a s ingle aut/eenticated i n stan ce i n wAic/z

be der ivedpersonal profit éy imposture.

Had he succeeded, l ike Swedenborg—who had aprecisely similar ideal

,and also had recourse to im

posture when it suited h i s purpose— his reputation ,l ike the Swede’s , would have survived the calumnythat assailed it.1 For though Cagl iostro debased h isideal to real ize it

,h is impostures did not make him an

impostor, any more than Mirabeau can be said to1 T he stories told of Swedenborg are quite as fantastic as any

concern ing Cagliostro . He was walking,” says Brittan in T/te

S ize/Einalz,“on e day along Cheaps ide with a frien d, a person of great

worth and credit (who afterwards related the inc iden t), when he wassudden ly seen to howvery lowto the ground . T0 h is compan ion ’

s

question as to what he was about,Swedenborg replied by asking him

if he had not seen Moses pass by, and that he was bowing to him.

”

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Cagl iostro

all his trouble in London . From the Hague toMittauwherever a gl impse of h im is to be had—there is a

reference to the “ eloquence withwhich he denouncedthe magic and satan ism to wh ich the German lodgeswere addicted . I t was not til l he arr ived in Courlandthat his repugnance for the superc/zer ies of supernaturalism succumbed to the stronger forces of vanity andambition .

I I I

I f “ P rovidence waited for Cagl iostro at B russels,i t was certainly Luck that met h im on h is arrival atM ittan .

As h i therto the cause of Egyptian Masonry doesnot appear to have der ived any mater ial benefi t fromthe great interest he is said to have excited in Leipsicand other places

,i t seems reasonable to infer that the

lodges he frequented were composed of bourgeoi s orun influential persons . At M ittan ,

however, the lodgeto which he was admi tted

,addicted l ike the others to

the study of the occult,consisted of people of the

highest distinction who,advised in advance of the

coming of the mysterious Count,were waiting to

receive him with open arms.The great family of v on Medem in particular

treated h im with the greatest consideration,and in

them he found at once congenial and influentialfriends . Marshal von Medem was the head of theMasonic lodge in Mittau,

and from boyhood hadmade a special study of magic and alchemy

,as had

his brother Count v on Medem . This latter hadtwo very beautiful and accompl ished daughters

,the

youngest of whom was married to the reigning Duke1 2 6

Masked and Unmasked

of Courland—a fact that could not fail to impress aregenerator of mankind in quest of powerful disc iples .I t was

,however, her s ister Elisa , Count v on

Medem’

s eldest daughter, who became the pointa”appui of Cagliostro

’

s hopes .The mystical tendencies of Elisa were enti rely due

to environment. She had grown up in an atmospherein wh ich magic, alchemy, and the dreams of Swedenborg were the principal topics of conversation .

Famil iarity, however, as the saying is , bred contempt .I n her childhood she declared that the wonders of thesupernatural wh ich she heard continual ly discussedaround her

,

“ made less impression on her than thetale of B lue Beard , wh i le a concert was worth all theghosts in the world .

” Nevertheless,the occult was

not without a subtle effect on her mind . As a girl shehad a decided preference for books of a mystic orrel igious character

,her favourites being “Young’

s

N igfit Té ougli ts and the works of Lavater .Gifted with an exceptionally brill iant intellect, of

which she afterwards gave unmistakable proof, she alsopossessed a most enthusiastic and affectionate naturequal ities that her husband

,a Count von der Recke,

alone appears to have neither recognized nor appreciated . Their union was of short duration : after sixyears of wedlock the Countess v on der Recke, whohad married at seventeen to please her father, obtaineda divorce . She was amply compensated for what shehad suffered by the affection she obtained from herfamily . Father, uncles, aunts , cousins seemed only toexist to study her wishes . Her sister

,the Duchess

of Courland , constantly sought her advice in pol i ticalmatters , and regarded her always as her dearest friend .

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Cagliostro

But it was to her young brother to whom she wasmost deeply attached . Nor was he less devoted toher. Nearly of the same age, and possessing thes ame temperament and talents, the sympathy betweenthem was such that “ one was but the echo of the other .”They differed only in on e respect . Equally seriousand reflective

,each longed to solve the “ problems of

existence ” ; but wh i le the Countess von der Reckewas led to seek their solution in the B ible, in the gospelaccording to Swedenborg, or in the correspondenceshe formed with Lavater

,her brother thought they

were to be found “ i n Plato and Pythagoras.” Death,

however, prematurely interrupted his quest, carryingwith h im to the grave the ambition of h is father andthe heart of h i s s ister .I t was at this moment, when she was over

whelmed with grief,that Count Cagl iostro arrived in

Mittau , with the reputation of being able to transmutemetals , predict the future, and communicate wi th theunseen world . Might he not also evoke the spiritsof the dead ? I n any case

,such a man was not to be

ignored . Mittan was a dead-and-al ive place at thebest of times , the broken -hearted Countess was onlytwenty-fiv e , the “ problems of existence ” might sti l lbe solved—and workers of wonders

,be they impostors

or not, are not met every day . So the Countess vonder Recke was determined to meet the Spanish ”

Count , and—what is more to the point—to bel ieve inh im .

As usual , on h i s arrival in M ittan ,Cagl iostro had

denounced the excessive rage for magic and alchemythat the Freemasons of Courland

,as els ewhere, dis

played . But though he found a sympathetic l is tener1 2 8

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Masked and Unmasked

in the Countess von der Recke while he discoursedmystically on the moral regeneration of mankind andthe E ternal Source of all Good

,

” her father and uncle,

who were devoted to magic and manifestations of theoccul t

,demanded practical proofs of the power he was

said to possess . As he was relying on their powerfulpatronage to overcome the opposition unexpectedlyraised to the foundation of an Egyptian Lodge atMittau by some persons whose suspicions were excitedby the mystery he affected , he did not dare disobl igethem .

One day,after conversing on magic and necro

mancy with the v on Medems, he gave them and a

certain Herr v on Howen a proof of his occul t powers .Apart from his “miraculous ” cures , nearly all theprodigies performed by Cagl iostro were of a c lairvoyant nature . As previously stated , i n these ex hib itions he always worked through a medium , known asapupi l le or colomée, according to the sex—thepup i l les

being males and the colombes females. From the factthat they were invariably very young ch i ldren

,he

probably found that they responded more readily tohypnotic suggestion than adults . Though theseexhibitions were often impostures (that is, arrangedbeforehand with the medium) they were as often un

doubtedly genuine (that is , not previously arranged, andbaffl ing explanation) . I n every case they were aecompan ied by strange rites designed to startle the imagination of the onlooker and prepare it to receive a deepand durable impress ion of mystery.

On th is occasion , according to the Countess vonder Recke , Cagl iostro selected as pupi l le the l ittle sonof Marshal von Medem ,

“ a ch i ld of five . HavingK 1 2 9

yrs-1

Caglio stro

anointed the head and left hand of the ch i ld with the‘ oil of wisdom

,

’ he inscribed s ome mystic letters onthe anointed hand and bade the Apupi l le to look at i tsteadily. Hymns and prayers then followed, t il l l i ttlev on Medem became greatly agitated and perspiredprofusely . Cagliostro then inquired in a stage whisperof the Marshal what he desired h is son to see . Not tofrighten him

,h is father requested he might see his

sister. Hereupon the ch i ld , stil l gazing steadfastly ath is hand

,declared he saw her .

Questioned as to what she was doing, hedescribed her as placing her hand on her heart

,as i f

in pain . A moment later he exclaimed, ‘ now she iskissing my brother

,who has just come home .

’ On theMarshal declaring this to be impossible , as th is brotherwas leagues away, Cagl iostro terminated the Sean ce ,

and with an air of the greatest confidence orderedthe doubting parent ‘ to ver i fy the vision .

’ This theMarshal immediately proceeded to do and learnt thath i s son , whom he bel ieved so far away , had unexpectedly returned home , and that shortly before herbrother’s arrival h is daughter had had an attack ofpalpitation of the heart .”

After proof so conclusive Cagl ios tro’

s triumph wasassured . Those who mistrusted him were completelySi lenced , and all further Opposition to the foundation ofh is lodge ceased.

But the appetite of the von Medem brothers onlygrew by what it fed upon . They insisted on morewonders , and to oblige them “ the representative of theGrand Cophta —later he found it simpler to assume inperson the title and prerogatives of the successor ofEnoch—held another Sean ce . Aware that he had to

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Cagliostro

worlds,the power of prayer, and the miracles of the

early Christians. ” She told h im how the death ofher brother had robbed her l ife of happiness, and thatin the hope of seeing him once more she had often spenta long time in prayer and meditation beside his graveat nigh t . And she also gave the Grand COphta tounderstand that she counted on h im to gratify thisdesire .As to confess h is utter inabil i ty to obl ige her would

have been to rob him at one fell swoop of the bel ief inh is powers on which he counted to establ ish a lodgeof Egyptian Masonry at Mittau

,Cagl iostro evaded the

request . H is great gifts, he explained , were only to beexercised for the good of the world , and if he usedthem merely for the grat ification of idle curiosi ty, heran the risk of losing them altogether

,or of being

destroyed by evil spir i ts who were on the watch totake advantage of the weakness of such as he .

But as the exh ibitions he had given her father anduncle of h i s powers were purely for the benefit of idlecuriosity, the Countess had not unnaturally reproachedh im with having exposed h imself to the snares of theevil spirits he was s o afraid of. Whereupon theunfortunate Grand Cophta, in h i s desire to reformFreemasonry and to spread h is gospel of regeneration ,having left the straight and narrow path of denunciationfor the broad road of compromise

,sought to avoid the

quagmire to wh ich i t led by taking the by-path of

double -dealing .

Conscious that h i s success at M ittan depended onkeeping the Countess ’s esteem

,he assumed an air of

mystery and superiori ty when talking of the occultcalculated to impress her wi th the utter in s ign ificance

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Masked and Unmasked

of her views in matters of which , as she admitted , shewas ignorant. Having made her feel as small as possible

,

he endeavoured to reconcile her to the phenomena heperformed for the benefit of her relat ions by holdingout to her a hope that by similar means i t might bepossible to evoke the shade of the brother she soyearned to see . When next she met him ,

he assuredher that Hanach iel ,

” as he called his “ch ief ” i n the

spiritual world to whom he owed his marvellous gifts ,“ had informed h im that her Intention was good inwish ing to communicate with her brother

,and that this

was only to be accompl ished by the study of the occultsc iences, in wh ich she might make rapid progress ifshe would followh i s d i rections unquestioningly.

”

I n th is way, l ike another J ason steer ing his Argossh ip of Egyptian Mason ry clear of the rocks andquicksands , he sought to round the cape of suspicionand come to a safe anchorage in port . But though b ehandled the helm with consummate skill , as the Countessherself afterwards acknowledged , i t was a perilous seaon wh ich he sailed . Unquestioning obedience

,the

Countes s declared, she could not promise him .

“ God H imself,

” she said,

“could not induce me

to act agains t what my cons cience tells me is right andwrong.

”

“ Then you condemn Abraham for offering up hisson ? ” was Caglios tro

’

s curious rejoinder. I n h i splace , what would you have done ? ”

I would have said,repl ied the Countes s : O

God , kill Thou my son with a flash of Thy l ightning ifThou requirest his l ife ; but askme not to s lay mychild , whom I do not think guil ty of death .

With such a woman , what is a Cagliostro to do ?I 33

Cagl iostro

Prevented, so to speak , by th i s flaw in the wind fromcoming to anchor i n the harbour of her unquestioningfaith i n h im , he sought to reach port bykeeping upher hopes. To reconci le her to the magical operationshe was obl iged to perform in order to retain h i sinfluence upon the von Medems , he final ly promisedher a “ magic dream ” i n wh i ch her brother wouldappear to her.From the manner in wh ich Cagl iostro proceeded to

perform this phenomenon , one may obtain an idea ofthe nature and extent of his marvellous powers . Asheretofore h is effects had been produced by hypnotics uggestion , accompanied by every accessory calculatedto assis t it, so now he proceeded on s imilar l ines .

That the thoughts of others besides h imself should beconcentrated on the “magic dream , the relations of

the Countess, as wel l as hersel f, were duly agitated byi ts expectation . With an ai r of great mystery, wh ichCagliostro could make so impressive

,he del ivered to

Count v on Medem a Sealed envelope conta in ing, hesaid , a question , wh ich he hoped by the dream to haveanswered . At night

,before the Countes s retired , he

broke the silence wh ich he had imposed on her and herrelations during the day to refer once more to thedream , with the object of stil l further exciting theimagination of all concerned

,whose thoughts were

fixed upon the coming apparition of the dead, untilthe prophecy, l ike many another, worked its ownfulfi lment.But th is cunningl y contr ived artifice

,familiar to

magicians in all ages,and frequent ly crowned with

success, was defeated on the present occasion by thehealth of the Countess

,whose nerves were so excited1 34

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Caglio stro

Such was the state of affairs when Cagl iostroaccompanied the v on Medems to Wilzen to prove theexistence of the buried treasure he had so crafti lylocated . I n spite of h i s great confidence in h imself, hemust have real ized that the task he had so rashlyundertaken at Wilzen was one that would requireexceptional cunning to Shirk . For the chance offinding a treasure said to have been bur ied hundredsof years before was even smaller than that on wh ichhe counted of evoking the spirit of the Countess’sbrother. But in this case

,strange to say

,i t was not

h i s failure to produce the treasure,but the “ magic he

successful ly employed to conceal h is failure that was tocause h im the most concern .

IV

Conscious that the Countess’s faith i n h im wasshaken by his fai lure to give her the consolation she sogreatly desired, Cagl iostro requested they should travelin the same carr iage in order that he migh t have theopportun ity to clear h imsel f of her suspicions as to h i ss incer i ty. The very boldness of such a request wassufficient to disarm her. She herself has confessed

,i n

the book from wh i ch these details have been drawn,

that “ h is conversation was such as to create in hera great reverence for his moral character

,wh i lst h is

subtle observations on mankind in general astonishedher as greatly as h is magical operations

.

”

From the manner, however , in which he faced thedifficulty , he does not appear to have been in the leastapprehensive of the consequences of fail ing to surmountit. The Countess was once more h i s ardent disciple

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Masked and Unmasked

the von Medems’ bel ief in magic was proof agains t

unsuccessful experiments ; and Hanach iel— invaluableHanachiel—was always on hand to explain his failuresas well as h is successes .On arriving at Alt-Auz , as the von Medem estate

at Wilzen was named , Cagl iostro produced from hispocket “ a l ittl e red book

,and read aloud in an un

known tongue .

” The Countess, who bel ieved him tobe praying

,ventured to interrupt him as they drove

through the haunted forest in which the treasure wassaid to be buried . Hereupon he cried out in wildzeal

,

“ Oh , Great Architect of the Un iverse, help meto accompl ish th is work .

” A bit of theatrical i ty thatmuch impressed h is companion

,and which was al l the

more effective for being natural to him .

The v on Medems were eager to begin digging forthe treasure as soon as they al ighted. Cagl iostro,however

,

“ after withdrawing to commune in sol itudewith Hanach iel

,

” declared that the treasure wasguarded by very powerful demons whom it wasdangerous to oppose without taking clue precautions .To prevent them from spiri t ing i t away without hisknowledge

”

he performed a l i ttle incantation wh ichwas supposed to bind Hanachiel to keep an eye onthem . The next day

,to break the fall

,so to speak ,

of the high hopes the v on Medems had buil t on theburied treasure , he held a séance in which the infant ’

medium was again the ch i ef actor. The child holding a large iron nail ,

” and with only a screen betweeni t and the other members of the party

,having pre

s umab ly been hypnotized1 by Cagl iostro— described

1 T he “magic nail held by the child has a strong familyresemblance to Mesmer’s éaguet divinatoi re. T he famous discovery

I S7

Cagliostro

the site of the buried treasure,the demon that guarded

it, the treasure i tself, and “ seven angels in longwhite robes who helped Hanachiel keep an eye onthe guardian of the treasure .

” At the command ofCagl iostro the chi ld kissed

,and was kiss ed by

,these

angels . And to the amazement of those in the room ,

wi th only the screen between them and the ch ild, thesound of the kis ses

,says the Countess von der Recke ,

could be distinctly heard .

Similar Seances took place every day during theeight days the von Medem party stayed at Alt-Auz .At one the Countess herself was i nduced to enter themagic ci rcle holding a magic watch in her hand ,”wh i le the l ittle medium

,assisted by the representative

of the Grand Cophta, in h is turn assisted by Hanachiel ,read her thoughts

.

But , unlike her father and uncle , while the impression these phenomena made upon her mind wasprofound , i t was also unfavou rable. Though curiosi tycaused her to witness these séances

,the Countess v on

der Recke strongly disapproved of them on “ rel igiousgrounds. Like many another

,what she could not

explain , she regarded as evil . The phenomena shewitnessed appeared so uncanny that she bel ievedthem to be directly inspired by the powers of darkness .At first, i n her admiration of Cagl iostro

,she prayed

that he might escape temptation and be preservedfrom the demons with wh ich i t was but too evident toher he was surrounded . When at last he declaredthat he was informed by the ever-attendant Hanachiel

of Mesmer, it i s s carcely needless to say, was merely an attempt toexplain

.

scientifically powers the uses of which had been known to

alchemi sts from t ime immemorial .1 38

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Cagliostro

her confidence in h is sinceri ty. He perceived , however ,that the interest he excited was on the wane, andwisely took advantage of what he knew to be the rightmoment to depart.Hoping by the aristocratic connections he had

made in Mittau to gain access to the highest c ircles inRussia

,he decided to go to S t. Petersburg. H is

intention was received with d ismay by those whomhis magical phenomena had so astonished . The v on

Medems heaped presents on him .

“ From one hereceived a gift of 800 ducats , from the other a veryvaluable diamond ring. Even the Countess von derRecke hersel f

,though she made no attempt to detain

h im,proved that she at least bel ieved him to be a man

of honour .A day or two before h is departure , being at some

Court function,

“ he recognized old friends in somelarge and fine pearls the Duchess of Courland waswearing

,which

,he Said , reminded him of some pearls

of his wife’s that he had increased in s ize by a processknown to h imsel f and sold fo r the benefi t of a bankrupt friend in Holland . The Countess v on der Reckehereupon des ired him to do the same with hers .Cagl iostro

,however

,

“ refused,as he was going away

,

and the Operation would take too long.

” Nor wouldhe take them with him to Russia

,as the Countess

urged , and return them when the process was complote . A striking instance of his integrity

,from an

authentic source,that h is prejudiced b iographers have

always seen fi t to ignore .I f the above is characteristic ofCaglios tro

’

s honesty,the following episode

,also related by the Countess

,i s

equally Characteristic of h is vanity . I nforming him140

Masked and Unmasked

once that she was wri t ing to Lavater and wished togiv e him the details of a certain conversation

,he

objected .

“Wait twelve months,said he, “ and when you

write call me only Count C . Lavater will ask you,Is

not th is the Great Cagl iostro and you will then beable to reply

,

‘ I t

As the unfavourable Opinion the Countess von derRecke subsequently formed of Cagl ios tro , whos

'

e pathn ever crossed hers again , has , on account of herdeservedly high reputat ion , been largely responsiblefor the host il i ty with which his tory has regarded him ,

i t i s but fair to explain how she came to reverse thefavourable opin ion she had previously entertained .

The value of her evidence,indeed , rests not so

much on her word, which nobody would dream ofquestioning

,but on the man ner i n wh ich she obtained

her evidence . I t was not til l 1 784—fiv e years after

Cagliostro had left Mittau— that the Countess v on derRecke came to regard him as an impostor. To th isopin ion she was converted by one Bode whom shemet in Weimar and who , she says, gave her “ thefullest information concerning Cagl iostro .

”

Bode was a F reemason of the Order of StrictObservance who had joined the I lluminés and wasintimately acquainted with Weishaupt

,the founder of

the sect. As it is general ly assumed that Cagl iostrowas also an I l luminé

,Bode no doubt had excellent

means of observing him . The value of his Opinion ,however, i s considerably lowered by the fact thatCagl iostro afterwards withdrew from the I lluminéswhen he had succeeded in turning h is connection with

14 1

Cagl io stro

them to the account of Egyptian Masonry . Underthe circumstances Bode, who afterwards became theleader of the I lluminés, would not be l ikely to viewCagl iostro in a favourable l ight .The fact , moreover, that it took the Countess v on

der Recke five years to make up her mind that herapostle of l ight was an impostor

,was perhaps due

less to any absolute fai th i n Bode than to the changesthat had taken place in herself during th is per iod .

On recover ing her health she became as pronounceda rational ist as she had formerly been a mystic . Asthis change occurred about . the period of her meetingwith Bode

,i t may possibly account for the change in

her opin ion of Cagl iostro .

But if the manner in wh ich the Countess came toregard Cagl iostro as an impostor somewhat detractsfrom the importance to be attached to her opin ion

,

the manner in which she made her opin ion publ ic wasunworthy of a woman to whose character this Opinionowes the importance attributed to i t . For th is bornfair saint ” as Carlyle calls her

,waited til l the Diamond

Necklace Affair, when Cagl iostro was thoroughlydiscredited , before ventur ing to “ expose h im .

Very curious to relate,al l that is known of

Caglios tro’

s visi t to S t. Petersburg is based on a fewcontradictory rumours of the most questionable authenticity. This is al l the more remarkable considering

,as

the Coun tess v on der Recke herself states,that he left

Mittau in a blaze of glory,regretted

,honoured

,and

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g l O StI‘

O

resourceful when h is s ituation seemed utterly untenable .

That he would have seen his prestige destroyed inth is way without attempting to save i t is far froml ikely

,and though the fact that St. Petersburg is the

only city in wh ich Cagl iostro failed to establ ish a lodgeof Egyptian Masonry may be regarded as proof ofthe fut i l ity of h i s efforts , the nature of other rumoursconcern ing h im leads one to suppose that he strovehard to regain the ground he had lost.I t was

,no doubt

,with this object that he turned

his knowledge of medicine and chemistry to account .I t is in St . Petersburg that he is heard of for the firstt ime as a “ healer ” According, however, to thevague and hosti le rumours purporting to emanatefrom Russia at the time of the D iamond NecklaceAffair he was a quack devoid of knowledge orskil l

A bald major, says the I nquisition -biographer,“ entrusted his head to h i s care

,but he could not

make a single hair grow . A bl ind gentleman whoconsulted him remained bl ind ; while a deaf I tal ian ,i nto whose ears he dropped some l iqu id

,became stil l

more deaf.

As a few months later Cagl iostro was perform ingthe most marvellous cures at Strasburg

,and was for

years visited by inval ids from al l over Europe,may

we not assume that in th is instance mal ice onlypublished h is failures and suppressed his successes ?These rumours , however , were by no means

damaging enough to please the Marquis de Luchet ,who had no scruples about inven t ing what he cons idered “ characteristic anecdotes. T he followingstory drawn from h is spurious Me

'

moires Autken tiguesi s worth repeating, less as an il lustration of h is

144

inventiv e powers than for the sake of nail ing a popularl ie

Death , he writes , “ threatened to depr ive aRussian lady of an idol ized infant aged two. Shepromised Cagl iostro 5000 louis i f he saved its l i fe .

He undertook to restore it to health in a week if shewould suffer him to remove the babe to his house. Thedistressed mother joyful ly accepted the proposal . Onthe fifth day he informed her there was a markedimprovement

,and at the end of the week declared that

his patient was cured . Three weeks elapsed , however,before he would restore the ch i ld to its mother. AllSt . Petersburg rang with the news of th i s marvellouscure

,and talked of the mysterious man who was able

to cheat death of i ts prey. But soon it was rumouredthat the chi ld which was returned to the mother wasnot the one wh ich had been taken away . The authorities looked into the matter

,and Cagl iostro was obl iged

to confess that the babe he restored was substitutedfor the real one

,which had died . J ustice demanded the

body of the latter, but Cagl iostro could not produce i t .He had burnt i t, he said,

‘ to test the theory ofreincarnation .

’ Ordered to repay the 5000 louis he hadreceived , he offered bills of exchange on a Prussianbanker. As he professed to be a colonel in the serviceof the King of Prussia, 1 the bills were accepted, but onbeing presented for payment were dishonoured . Thematter was therefore brought to the not ice of Countvon Goertz, the Prus sian Envoy at St . Petersburg ,

who obtained an order for his arrest . This is the trueexplanation of his sudden departure .

1 This seems to have been suggested to de Luchet by the Courierde l

’

E urope, wh ich stated that Cag l iostro, on becoming a Freemason ,described himself as “Colonel of the Brandenburg regiment.”L 14 5

Cagliostro

Rumou r,however, differed widely from de Luchet.

For at the same time that de Luchet declaredCagliostro to be pos ing as a Prussian colonel heis also said to have donned the un iform of a colonelin the Spanish service, and assumed the title of

Prince de Santa Cruce . But far from being treatedwith the respect usual ly paid to any h igh -soundingtitle and uniform in Russia

,th i s pr ince-colonel doctor

excited the suspicions of M . de Normandez , theSpan ish charge d

’affaires at the Russian Court , whodemanded his passport as proof of h is identity. Toforge one would have been easy for Giuseppe Balsamo ,who had a talent in that l ine

,one would th ink .

As he failed , however, to adopt th is very simple expedient, M . d

’

Alméras , his latest and least prejudiced biographer

,i s forced to the conclusion that

he had long given up the profession of forgerFreemasonry being responsible for h is renunciation !The conception of Cagl iostro as Balsamo reformed byFreemasonry is the mos t s ingular and unconvincingexplanation ever Offered of th is strange man .

At any rate,the Prince de Santa Cruce could

neither produce a passport nor forge one , and , hear ingthat a warrant was about to be issued for his arrest, hemade haste to disappear. That such an adventurerwas actually in S t . Petersburg when Cagl iostro wasthere is h ighly probable

,and no doubt accounts for

rumour confounding them several years later. But thatCagl iostro, bearing letters of in troduction from thegreatest famil ies in Courland

,should have adopted any

other name than that which he bore in M ittan i sinconceivable .

St i l l more absurd is the rumour that the Empress146

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Cagliostro

inj ured him in the opinion of his former admirers inCourland

,who

,from their high po sition and close con

nection with the Russian official world , would havebeen well informed of al l that befel l h im . For byone of them

,as we are told on the best authority,

he was furnished with introductions to Pr ince AdamPon in ski and Count Moczin ski, wh ich he presented onhis arr ival in Warsaw .

Now Warsaw society , l ike that ofMittau ,was on the

most intimate terms with the great world of S t. Petersburg. Had Cagl iostro masqueraded in Russia as abogus Prince de Santa Cruce or a swindl ing Prussiancolonel , or had h is wife excited the jealousy of theEmpress Catherine

,the fact would have been known

in Warsaw— if not before he arrived there, certainlybefore he left. Of one th ing we may be absolutelysure, the anonymous author of Cagl iostro de

‘masgue’

d

Varsov ie would not have failed to mention a scandalso much to the point. As a matter of fact, wh iledenouncing Cagl iostro as an impostor

,th i s hosti le

wi tness even speaks of the “marvels he performed inRussia .

Noth ing could have been more flattering , toCagl iostro than the welcome he received on h i s arr ivalin Warsaw in May 1 780 . Poland , l ike Courland , wasone of the strongholds of F reemasonry and occultism .

Prince Pon in ski , who was as great a devotee to magicand alchemy as the v on Medems , i nsisted on thewonder-worker and h is wife staying at h i s house .

Finding the soil so admirably adapted to the seed hehad to s ow, Cagl iostro began at once to preach thegospel he had so much at heart . The convers ion ofPon in ski to Egyptian Masonry was followed by that of

1 48

Masked and Unmasked

the greater part of Pol ish society . Within a month ofh is arr ival he had establ ished at Warsaw a Masoniclodge in wh ich the Egyptian Rite was observed .

I t was not, however, by Caglios tro’

s ideals thatPon in ski and h is fr iends were attracted, but by th ispower to grati fy their craving for s ensation . No speculations in pure mysticism d la Saint-Martin for them :

they were occult material ists, and demanded of thesupernatural practical , tangible manifestations .As under similar ci rcumstances atMittau , Cagl iostro

had found it convenient to encourage the abuses hehad professed to denounce, he had no compunctionabout fol lowing the same course at Warsaw . But itevidently did not come easy to h im to prostitute hisideal

,judging from the awkwardness with which he

adapted h imself to the conditions i t entailed .

At first, apart from certain remarkable faculties hepossessed and a sort of dilettante knowledge of magicand alchemy, he lacked both skill and experience . I nMittau, where his career as a wonder-worker may firstfairly be said to begin , he failed as often as he succeeded. That the phenomena he faked were notdetected at the time was due to luck , which , to judgefrom rumour, appears almost entirely to have desertedh im in S t . Petersburg.

I n Warsaw, too, he was sti l l far from expert. Here ,i n spite of the precaut ions he took

,he found h imself

cal led upon to pass an examination in alchemy,a

s ubject for wh ich he was unprepared, and failedmiserably.

I n the opinion of the indignant Pole who caughth im “ cr ibbing

,

” so to speak , “ i f he knew a l ittle moreof optics

,acoustics

,mechan ics, and physics generally

149

Caglio stro

i f he had studied a l i ttle the tricks of Comus andPh i ladelphus

,what suc ’cess might he not have with his

reputed skil l in counterfei ting wr i ting ! I t i s onlynecessary for h im to go into partnersh ip with a ventri loquis t i n order to play a much more important partthan he has h i therto done . He should add to thetrifl ing secrets he possesses by reading some good bookon chemistry.

”

But i t is by failure that one gains experience . AsCagliostro was quick and intel l igent, and had a forehead of brass that noth ing could abash , ” by the timehe had reached Strasburg he was a past-master of theoccult

,having brought h i s powers to a high state of

perfection,as well as being able , on occasion , to fake a

phenomenon with consummate skill .There are two accounts of h is adventures in

Warsaw— one favourable , the other unfavourable. Thelatter, i t is scarcely necessary to say , i s the one bywh ich he has been judged . I t dates, as usual , from theper iod of the Necklace Affair— that is , six years afterthe events i t describes. I t is by an anonymous wri ter ,who obtained h i s information second -hand from an“ eye -witness , one Count M .

” Even Carlyle refusesto damn h is “Arch -Quack ” on such evidence . Th isvial of vitriol , flung by an unknown and hostile handat the Grand COphta of Egyptian Masonry in his hourof adversi ty, i s cal led Cagl iostro de

’

masgue’

aVarsov ie .

Nevertheless,contemptible and questionable though

it is , the impres s ion i t conveys, i f not the actualaccount, i s confirmed by Madame Bohmer, wife of thej eweller i n the Necklace Affair. Madame BOhmer’stest imony is the more valuable in that i t was givenbefore the anonymous writer flung h is vi triol .

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Cagliostro

magical séances similar to those at Mittau, addings leight-of-hand tricks to h i s predictions and “ divinations by colomées .

”

Unfortunately,the occult ists of Warsaw were prin

cipally in terested in the supernatural properties of thec ruc ible . They were crazy on the subj ect of alchemy ,and the pursuit of the secret of the transmutation ofbase metals into gold . Having bent the knee to magic ,in wh i ch at least

, by virtue of h is own occul t gifts , hecould appear to advantage

,Cagl iostro rash ly—com

pol led by necessi ty,perhaps

,rather than vani ty in

th is instance— assumed a knowledge of wh ich he wasignorant

,relying on making gold by sleight-of-hand .

Alas ! “ Count M .

” had devoted his l ife to the subject, of which i t did not take h im long to discoverCagl iostro knew next to noth ing. I ndignant that onewho had not even learnt the alphabet of alchemyshould undertake to instruct h im of al l people

,he laid

the trap described by Madame Bohmer. I t was not,however, at the Royal Palace that the exposure tookplace that caused Cagl iostro to leave Poland , but at acountry seat near Warsaw. Moreover

,i f we are to

bel ieve “ Count Cagl iostro did not wai t to beexposed , but suspecting what was a- foot

,

“ decampedduring the night .

Now, on the strength of Madame Bohmer’s ev i

dence—not given by her in person,by the way

,but

quoted by the Countess de Lamotte in her defence atthe Necklace trial—while there seems to be l i ttle doubtthat the statement of the anonymous “ Count M .

” i s1 5 2

Masked and Unmasked

substantially correct,there is , nevertheless , another

and a favourable— account of Cagl iostro in Poland . I thas the advantage of being neither anonymous nordated

,l ike the Countess v on der R ecke ’

s book , yearsafter the events i t relates . I t is from a letter writtenby Laborde

,the Farmer-General , who happened to be

in Warsaw when Cagliostro was there . The letterbears the date of 1 78 1 , which was that of the yearafter the following episodes occurred .

“ Cagl iostro,wri tes Laborde , “ was some time at

Warsaw,and several times had had the honour of

meeting Stan islas Augustus . One day, as th i s monarchwas expressing h i s great admiration for his powers

,

which appeared to him supernatural , a young lady of theCourt who had l istened attentively to him began tolaugh , declaring that Cagl iostro was nothing but animpostor . She said she was s o certain of i t that shewould defy him to tell her certain th ings that hadhappened to her .

The next day the King informed the Count ofthis chal lenge ,who repl ied coldly that i f the lady wouldmeet h im in the pres ence of H is Majesty , he wouldcause her the greatest s urprise she had ev er known inher l ife . The proposal was accepted , and the Counttold the lady all that she thought i t impossible for h imto know. The surprise th is occasioned her caused herto pass so rapidly from incredul ity to admiration thatshe had a burning desire to know what was to happento her in the future .

“At first he refused to tel l her, but yielding to herentreaty

,and perhaps to grati fy the curios i ty of the

King, he said“You will soon make a long journey, in course of

I S3

Cagliostro

wh ich your carriage will meet with an accident, and ,wh ilst you are waiting for the repairs to be made, themanner i n which you are dres sed wil l exci te suchmerr iment in the crowd that you wil l be pel ted withapples . You wil l go from there to some famous watering-place

,where you will meet a man of h igh birth

,to

whom you will shortly afterwards be wedded. Therewil l be an attempt to prevent you r marr iage , which wil lcause you to be fool ish enough to make over to h imyour fortune . You wil l be marr i ed in a city in wh ich Ishall be

,and , in spite of your efforts to see me, you will

not succeed. You are threatened with great mis fortunes

,but here is a tal isman by which you may avoid

them,so long as you keep it . But i f you are prevented

from making over your fortune to your husband inyour marriage contract you will immediately lose thetal isman , and, the moment you cease to have it, i t wil lreturn to my pocket wherever I may be . ’

“ I do not know,

” continues Laborde,

“what confidence the King and the lady placed in these predictions, but I know that they were al l fulfi l led . I havehad th is on the author i ty of several persons

,as well

as the lady herself also from Cagl iostro,who described

i t in precisely the same words . I do not guaranteeeither i ts truth or its falsity, and, as I do not pretend tobe an exact historian , I shal l not indulge in the smallestrefl ection .

”

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assumed to be the I lluminés .1 I f th is assumption betrue— and without i t h is mode of l ife in S trasburg isutterly inexpl icable— h is in i tiation could only havetaken place at th is period and, probably, at Frankfort,where Knigge

,one of the leaders of the I lluminés , had

h is head -quarters .As Knigge was a member of the Order of S trict

Observance,in the lodges of which throughout Ger

many Caglios tro’

s reputation as a wonder-worker stoodhigh

,he had undoubtedly heard of h im , i f he was not

personally acquainted wi th h im . Knigge, moreover,was jus t the man to apprec iate the possibi l ities of sucha reputation in obtain ing recruits for I l lumin ism .

Nothing is more reasonable , then , than to assume thatcertain members of the I lluminés made overtures atF rankfort to Cagl iostro

,who , one can imagine , would

have readily accepted them as the means of recoveringthe influence and prestige he had lost in Poland .

H is initiation,according to the I nquisi tion-bio

grapher,took place in a grotto a short distance from

the c ity . I n the centre, on a table , was an iron chest,from which Knigge or h i s deputy took a manuscript .On the first page Cagl iostro perceived the words We

,

t/i e GrandMasters of té e Templars . Then followedthe formula of an oath wri tten in blood

,to which

eleven signatures were appended,and wh ich sign ified

that I lluminism was a conspiracy against thrones . Thefirst blow was to he s truck in France

,and , after the

1 As an agent of the I lliImin és,Cagliostro would have b een quite

free to found lodges of Egyptian Masonry . Many EgyptianMason s were also Illumin és , n otably Sarazin of Bale, the banker ofboth soc ieties . In join ing the I llumin és , therefore, Cagliostro wouldn ot

.

on ly have furthered their interests,but have received every

ass istance from them in return .

1 56

T he Conquest of the Cardinal

fall of the monarchy , Rome was to be attacked .

Cagliostro,moreover

,learnt that the society had rami

fications everywhere,and possessed immense sums in

banks in Amsterdam ,Rotterdam , London , Genoa, and

Venice. Th i s money was furnished by an annual subscription of twenty -fiv e l ivres paid by each member.On taking the oath

,which included a v ow of

secrecy,Cagl iostro is presumed to have received a

large s um,destined to defray the expenses of propa

ganda,and to have proceeded immediately, i n

accordance with instructions,to Strasburg, where he

arrived on September 1 9 , 1 780 .

I I

From the nature of his entry into the capital ofAls ace

,i t i s certain that great pains had been taken in

advance to excite publ ic interest in h im . The fabulousPalladium could not have been welcomed with greaterdemonstrations of joy. From early morn ing crowds ofpeople waited on the Pont de Koch] and on both banksof the Rhine for the arrival of a mysterious personagewho was reported to go from city to city heal ing thesick

,working miracles, and distributing alms . I n the

crowd speculations were rife as to his mysterious origin,

his mysterious travels in strange and remote countries,

and of the mys ter ious source of his immense wealth .

Some regarded him as one inspired,a saint or a

prophet possessed of the gift of miracles . To others ,the cures attributed to him were the natural result ofh is great learning and occul t powers. Yet anothergroup saw in him an evi l gen ius

,a devi l sent into the

world on some diabol ic mis sion . Among these, howI S7

Cagl iostro

ever— and they were not the least numerous— therewere s ome more favourable to Caglios tro , and who ,considering that after al l he only did good , inferredlogically that

,i f supernatural , he must be a good , rather

than an evil,genius .

Suddenly,speculation was silenced by the approach

of the being who had excited it . The rumbling ofwheels

,the clatter of hoofs

,the cracking of whips was

heard,and out of a cloud of dust appeared -a carriage

drawn by six horses,and accompanied by lacqueys and

outriders in magnificent l iveries . Within rode theGrand Cophta,

the H igh Priest of Mystery , with h is“ hair i n a net

,

” and wearing a blue coat covered withgold braid and precious stones . B izarre though he waswith h is circus- rider’s splendour

,the manner i n wh ich

he acknowledged the vivats of the crowd 1 throughwhich he pass ed was not without dignity . H is wife ,who sat bes ide h im

,sparkl ing with youth

,beauty

,and

diamonds , shared the curios i ty he excited . I t was averitable triumphal progress .

The advantage to which such an ovation could beturned was not to be neglected . Fond of luxury andaristocratic society though he was

,Cagl iostro was

not the man to despise popularity in any form that i tpresented its elf. Having los t the influence of thegreat, by means of whom he had counted to establ ishEgyptian Masonry

,he was anxious to secure that of

the masses . So great was the importance he attachedto the interest he had aroused

,he even took up his

1 T he story that it was interrupted by the sudden appearance of

Marano, furiously deman ding of Cagl iostro the s ixty ounces of goldthat Giuseppe Balsamo had defrauded h im of years before i n Palermo

,

is a pure inven tion of the Marquis de Luchet .1 58

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obl iged the one he chose in h is place , as I have beeninformed by s everal people , to s ell h is remedies at solow a price that the fellow made scarcely anything bythe sale of them .

“ He would take,moreover, neither payment nor

pres en t for his labour . I f a present was offered him ofa sort impossible to refuse without offence , he immediately made a counter present of equal or even ofh igher value . I ndeed

,he not only took noth ing from

h is patients , but if they were very poor he supportedthem for months ; at t imes even lodging them in h isown house and feeding them from his own table .

”

I I I

At first , only the poor received attention fromCagliostro . I f a rich i nval id desired h i s attendance hereferred h im to the regular doctors . Though such anattitude was well calculated to attract attention

,i t was

not, as his enemies have declared , altogether promptedby selfish considerations . I n the disdain he affectedfor the rich there was much real resentment. Throughthe rich and powerful

,he had gained noth ing but mor

tification and disgrace . The circumstances under wh ichhe was forced to flee from Warsaw must have woundedto the quick a nature in which inordinate van ity andgenerosity were so curiously blended . Of a certaintyi t was not alone the hope of turning I llumin ism to theadvantage of Egyptian Masonry that prompted h imto join the I lluminés in h i s hour of humi liation . I nI lluminism

,whose aim

,revolutionary though i t was ,

l ike that of Egyptian Masonry,was also inspired with

the love of humanity,Cagl iostro had seen both a1 60

T he Conquest of the Cardinal

meanS'

of rehabil i tation and revenge . Of studied v en

geance , however, he was incapable ; the disdain withwhich he treated the rich was the extent of h is revenge .

I ndeed, susceptible as he was to flattery, i t was notlong before his resentment was al together appeased.

But though , in spite of h is bitter experience, he waseven once more tempted to court the favour of thegreat

,he did so in quite a different manner. Hence

forth,in pandering to thei r love of sensation , he took

care to give them what fie saw fit , and not,as before ,

what tbey demanded .

Part icularly was th i s the case in the exh ibitions hegave of h is occul t powers . I f, as on previous occasions,he had recourse to artifice to obtain the effect hedesired , i t was not detected . I t is evident that h i sunfortunate experiences in Warsaw had taught h im thewisdom of confining h imself solely to phenomenawithin h i s scope . N 0 longer does one hear of séancesarranged beforehand with the medium ; of failures,exposures, and humil iations .I f from some of h i s prodigies the alchemists of the

per iod saw in him a successor of the clever v entrilo

quist and prestidigitator Las caris , from many others themediums of the present day in Europe and Amer icamight have r ecognized in h im their predecessor andeven their master i n table-turning

,spiri t-rapping, clair

voyance, and evocations . I n a word,he was no longer

an apprentice in magic, but an expert.As the manifestations of the occult of wh ich

Cagl iostro, so to speak, made a special ity were of aclairvoyant character, some idea of the manner inwh ich he had developed h is powers may be gatheredfrom the following account by a contemporary of a

M 1 6 1

Cagliostro

séance he held in Strasburg with the customary coloméeand carafe .

Cagliostro,says this witness,

“ having announcedthat he was ready to answer any question put to h im ,

alady wished to know the age of her husband. To thisthe colomée made no reply, which el ici ted great applausewhen the lady confessed she had no husband . Anotherlady demanded an answer to a question wri tten in asealed letter she held in her hand . The medium atonce read in the carafe these words : ‘You shall notobtain i t . ’ The letter was opened

,the purport of the

question being whether the commission in the armywhich the lady '

sol ic ited for her son would be accordedher . As the reply was at least indicative of thequestion , i t was received with applause .

A judge,however

,who suspected that Cagliostro

’

s

answers were the result of some tr ick , secretly sent h isson to h i s house to find out what his wife was doing atthe time . When he had departed the father put thi squestion to the Grand Cophta. The medium readnoth ing in the carafe , but a voice announced that thelady was playing cards with two of her neighbours .This mysterious voice

,wh ich was produced by no

visible organ , terrified the company ; and when theson of the judge returned and confirmed the responseof the oracle , several ladies were so frightened thatthey withdrew .

At Strasburg he also told fortunes, and read the

future as well as the past with an accuracy thatastonished even the sceptical Madame d’

Oberkirch .

One of the most extraordinary instances he gave of h ispsych i c power was in predicting the death of theEmpress Maria Theresa .

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Cagl iostro

appeared to baffle him . The graver the malady themore resourceful he became . A woman about to beconfined

,having been given up by the midwives , who

doubted even their ab i l i ty to save her child,sent for

him in her extremity . He answered the summonsimmediately

,as was his custom , and after a sl ight

examination guaranteed her a successful accouclzement.What is more to the point, he kept h is word .

This case i s worthy of note as being the onlyone on record concerning which Cagl iostro gave anexplanation of h is success .

He afterwards confessed to me , says Gleichen ,that his promise was rash . But convinced that thech i ld was in perfect health by the pulse of the umbil icalcord , and perceiving that the mother only lacked thestrength requis i te to bring her babe into the world ,he had rel ied on the virtue of a singularly soothingremedy with wh ich he was acquainted . The result, heconsidered

,had been due to luck rather than ski l l .”

The most famous of al l h is cures was that of thePr ince de Soubise , a cousin of Cardinal de Rohan . I nthis case , however, i t was the rank of the patient , evenmore than the illness of which he was cured , that setthe seal to Cagl ios tro

’

s reputation . The prince,i t

seems , had been il l for some weeks, and the doctors ,after differing widely as to the cause of h is malady,had finally pronounced his condition to be desperate .Thereupon the Cardinal

,who had boundless confidence

in Caglios tro’

s medical skill,immediately carr ied him

off in his carriage to Paris to attend his cousin,simply

stating, on arr iving at the HOtel de Soubise , that hehad brought “ a doctor

,withou t mentioning his name

,

lest the family, influenced by the regular physicians,1 64

T he Conque st of the Cardinal

who regarded him as a quack , should refuse hiss ervices . I t was, perhaps, a useless precaution , for, asthe patient had just been given up by the doctors

,the

family were will ing enough to suffer ev en a quack todo what he could .

Cagliostro at once requested all who were in thesick-room to leave it . What he did when he found himself alone with the prince was never known , but, afteran hour

,he called the Cardinal and said to h im

I f my prescription is followed,in two days

Monseigneur will leave h i s bed and walk about theroom . Within a week he wil l be able to take a drive

,

and with in three to go to Court.When one has consulted an oracle , one can do no

better than obey it. The family accordingly confidedthe prince completely to the care of the unknowndoctor, who on the same day paid his patient a secondvis i t . On th is occasion he took wi th him a small vialcontain ing a l iquid

,ten drops of wh ich he administered

to the sick man .

On leavmg, he said to the Cardinal To -morrow Iwil l give the pr ince five drops, the day after two andyou will s ee that he wil l s it up the same ev ening.

The result more than fulfi l led the prediction .

The second day after th is visi t the Prince de Soubis ewas in a condition to receive some friends . I nthe evening he got up and walked about the room . Hewas in good spirits

,and even had sufficient appetite to

ask for the wing of a chicken . But, i n spi te of hisinsistence

,i t was necessary to refuse h im what he so

much desired,since an absolute abs tention from s olid

food was one of the prescriptions of the “ doctor .On the fourth day the pat ient was convalescent, but

1 6 5

Cagliostro

i t was not ti l l the even ing of the fifth that he was permitted to have h is wing of a ch icken . N0 one,

” saysFigu ier, “ in the HOtel de Soubise had the least ideathat Cagl iostro was the doctor who attended theprince . H is identity was only disclosed after the cure ,when h i s name , already famous , ceased to be regardedany longer as that of a charlatan .

”

V

The secret of these aston ish ing cures , by far themost wonderful of Cagl ios tro

’

s prodigies , has givenrise to a great deal of futile discussion . For he nevercured in publ ic, l ike Mesmer ; nor would he consentto give any explanation of his method to the doctorsand learned academicians , who treated h im with contempt born of envy—as the pioneers of science , withrare exceptions , hav e always been treated .

From the fact that he became celebrated at aboutthe same time as Mesmer, many have regarded themas rivals, and declared that the prestige of both is tobe traced to the same source. According to th is pointof view, Cagliostro , being more encyc lopedic thanMesmer, though less sc ientific in manipulating theagent common to both

,had in some way general ized

magnetism , so to speak . His cures,however, were

far more astonishing than Mesmer’s,for they were

performed without passes or the us e of magnets andmagnetic wands. Neither did he heal merely bytoucfiing , l ike Gassner, nor by prayers, exorcisms, andthe rel igious mach inery by wh ich faith is made activethough very probably the greater part of h is succes swas due , l ike M rs . Eddy

’s , to the confident tone in1 66

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Cagliostro

on the following night, the maid was seized withthe very malady of wh ich her mistress had spoken .

Remembering the remedy so fortu i tously at hand shegot up , opened the wardrobe, and emptied the vial ata draught.The next morning she went as usual to wait on her

mistress , who looked at her in surprise and asked herwhat she wafied. Thinking the old lady had had astroke in the n ight , she said

Ah , madame , don ’t you know me ? I am your

My maid is a woman of fifty, was the reply ,and youBut she did not finish the sentence . The woman

had caught a glimpse of her face in a mirror.T he Wine of Egypt had rejuvenated her th irtyyears !I n an age unfamil iar with the cunning devices of

the art of advertis ing and the universal i ty of thepretensions of quack remedies, such encomiums lavishedon an extract of Saturn ,” a Wine of Egypt

,

” or an“Elixir Vitae,

” were calcu lated to damage the reputationof their i nventor in the opinion of serious people evenmore than the bitter denunciations to wh ich they wereexposed . One of the charges of imposture on wh ichthe case against Cagl iostro rests i s that ofmanufacturingh i s remedies with the obj ect of defrauding the publ icby attr ibuting to them fabulous propert ies which heknew they did not possess. I f th i s be admitted , then asimilar accusation must be made against every makerof patent medicines to-day , which, i n view of the lawof l ibel and the fact that many persons have beenrestored to health by the concoctions of quacks whom

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T he Conquest of the Cardinal

the ski lled physician has been powerless to heal,would

be incredibly fool ish .

To regard these remedies of Cagl iostro with theirridiculous names and quixotic pretens ions with the oldprejudice is preposterous . J udged by the number andvariety of his cures— and it is the only reasonablestandard to judge them by

—they were , to say theleast, remarkable .

I n the present day, i t i s no longer the custom toder ide the knowledge of the old alchemists. Theworld has come to acknowledge that , i n spite of thefantastic jargon in wh ich they expressed themselves

,

they fully understood the uses'

of the plants andminerals ofwhich they composed their drugs . Strippedof the atmosphere of magic and mystery in wh ich theydel ighted to wrap their knowledge and which ,ridiculous as i t may seem to -day, had just as mucheffect on the imagination in their benighted age as '

themore scientific mode of “ suggestion ” employed bythe doctors of our own enl ightened era—the remediesof a Borr i or a Paracelsus are stil l deserving of respec t ,and still employed . Cagl ios tro is known to havemade a serious study of alchemy , and it is veryprobable that his magic balsams and powders wereprepared after receipts he discovered in old books ofalchemy . Perhaps too

,l ike all quacks—it i s impossible

to accord a more dignified titl e to one who had not

the diploma of a properly qualified practitioner—hemade the most of old wives ’ remedies picked uphaphazard in the course of h i s travels .Without doubt the unparalleled credul ity and

superstition of the age contributed greatly to h is

success . Miracles can only succeed in an atmosphere1 69

Cagliostro

favourable to the miraculous . I n Europe,as the

reader has seen—particularly in T rance—the soi l hadbeen well prepared for seed of the sort that Cagl iostrosowed .

VI

The cure of the Prince de Soubise gave Cagl iostroan immense prestige . I t would be impossible,

” saysthe Baroness d’

Oberkirch,

“ to give an idea of thepassion , the madness with wh ich people pursued h im .

I t wou ld appear incredible to any one who had notseen it .” On returning to Strasburg

,

“ he was followedby a dozen ladies of rank and two actresses whodesired to have the benefit of h i s treatment . Peoplecame from far and wide to consul t h im ; and manyout of sheer curiosity. To these

,whom he regarded

as spies sent by his enemies,he was either inaccessible

or positively rude .

Lavater, who came from Zurich , was treated withvery scant courtesy. I f

,

” said Cagl iostro , “ yourscience [ that of reading character by the features , bywh ich he had acqu ired a European reputation] i sgreater than mine , you have no need ofmy acquaintance ;and if mine is the greater, I have no need of yours .”Lavater

,however, was not to be repulsed by the

inference to be drawn from such a remark. Thefollowing day he wrote Cagl iostro a long letter inwh ich

,among other things

,he asked him “ how he had

acquired h is knowledge,and in what it consisted .

” I nreply Cagl iostro l imited himself to these words : I nverbis , i n leeréis , i n lapidiéus , by wh ich , as M . d

’

Alméras

observes,he probably indicated correctly the nature

and extent of h i s medical and occul t lore .1 70

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T he Con quest of the Cardinal

But Lavater, as credulous as he was inquisitive ,impressed by the mystery in wh ich Cagliostro envelopedhis leas t action , read into h is words quite anothermeaning. Believing firmly in the Devil— about whomhe had written a book—the Swiss pastor returned homeconvinced that the Grand COphta of Egyptian Masonrywas a supernatural be ing with a diabol ic mission .

I n nobody were the curiosi ty and admiration thathe inspired greater than in the notorious Cardinal deRohan . H is Eminence was one of the darl ings ofFortune, whose choicest favours had been showered onhim with a lavish hand. Of the most il lustrious birth

,

exceptionally handsome,enormously ri ch , and um

deniably fascinating, no younger son ever started l ifeunder more bri l l iant auspices . The Church seemed toexist solely for the purpose Of providing him withhonours . Bishop of Strasburg, Grand Almoner ofFrance , Cardinal , Pr ince of the Empire , Landgrave ofAlsace—h i s t i tles were as numerous as the beads of arosary. Nor were they merely h igh- sounding and

dignities . From the Abbey of St . Waast , thein France , of wh ich he was the Abbot , he

l ivres a year,and from all these

combined his revenue was estimated000 l ivres .

Nature had endowed him no less bounteously thanFortune . To the honours which he owed to theaccident of birth

,h i s intellect had won h im another

stil l more coveted. At twenty-seven he had beenelected to the Académie Francaise , where , as he wasparticularly bril l iant in conv ersation , it is not surprisingthat the Immortals should have “ declared themselv escharmed wi th his company .

1 7 1

Cagl iostro

He possessed all the conspicuous qual i ties and defects wh ich in the eighteenth century were character isticof the ar istocrat . High ecclesiastic that he was , hehad noth ing of the ascetic about him . Like so manyof the great dignitaries of the Church under the ancienregime, he was worldly to the last degree . As he wasnot a hypocr i te

,he did not hesitate to l ive as b e

pleased . Appointed Ambassador to Vienna, he hadscandal ized the strai t- laced Maria Theresa by hisreckless extravagance and dissipation . The Emperor,to her disgust, “ loved convers ing with h im to enjoyhis fl ippan t gossip and wicked stories. “ Ourwomen , she wrote to her Ambass ador at Versai l les ,“ young and old , beauti ful and ugly, are bewitched byhim . He is their idol .”His character was a mosaic of vice and virtue .

With h im manners took the place of morals. “ Hepossessed , says Madame d

’

Ob erkirch ,

“ the gallantryand pol iteness of a grand seigneur such as I haverarely met in any one .

” Madame de Genl is cons idered that ,

“ i f he was nothing that he ought to be,

he was as amiable as it was possible to be. I n himvice lost al l i ts grossness and levi ty acquired dignity.

Anxious to please, he was also susceptible to flattery.

By my lording h im ,

” says Manuel , who disl ikedh im ,

“ one can get from h im whatever one desires .At the same time he was obliged to confess that theCardinal “ had a really good heart.”

I t was to his excessive good-nature that he owedmost of h i s misfortunes. The entire absence of intolerance in his character caused him to be regarded asan atheist, but his unbel ief, l ike h is vices, was greatlyexaggerated. Men in his position never escap e detrae

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Cagliostro

printed books, according to Madame d’

Oberkirch,were

beneath h i s notice , h i s l ibrary was noted for i ts beautiful bindings

,and above all for the missals ornamented

with miniatures worth their weight in gold .

H is pr incipal pastime, however, was alchemy. AtSaverne

,besides h i s l ibrary

,he had one of the finest

laboratories in Europe. He was almost mad on thes ubject of the philosopher’s stone . The mention ofthe occult sciences at once arrested h is attention then

,

and only then , did the bri l l iant, fr ivolous Cardinalbecome serious.Naturally, such a man could not fail to be im

pressed by the myster ious physic ian whose cures werethe talk of Strasburg.

Short ly after Caglios tro’

s arrival , Baron deMillinen s , the Cardinal ’s master of the bounds , cal ledto inform him that h is Eminence desired to make hisacquaintance . But Cagl iostro knowing, as he s tatedat his trial in the Necklace Affair, that the pr ince“ only desired to see h im from curiosity , refused tograti fy h im .

” The answer he returned is famous, andthoroughly characterist ic of h im .

I f the Cardinal is ill ,” he is reported to have said ,let h im come to me and I wil l cure h im but i f he iswell , he has no need of me nor I of him .

”

This message , far from affronting the Cardinal , onlyincreased h is curiosity . After having attempted invain to gain admittance to the sanctuary of the newEsculapius , h i s Eminence had , o r feigned , an attackof asthma, “ of wh ich

,

” says Cagl iostro,

“ he sent toinform me , whereupon I went at once to attend him .

The visit , though short, was long enough to inspirethe Cardinal with a desire for a closer acquaintance.

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T he Conquest of the Cardinal

But Caglios tro’

s disdainful reserve was not easilybroken down . The advances of the Cardinal

,how

ever,were none the less flatter ing. At last, captivated

by the persistency of the fascinating prelate,he

declared in his grandiose way, to Rohan ’

s immensejoy

,that “ the prince

’

s soul was worthy of his,and that

he would confide to h im al l his secrets .”The relation thus formed , whatever the motives that

prompted it, soon r ipened into intimacy. Needless tosay, they had long, frequent, and secret confabulation sin the Cardinal ’s well -equipped laboratory. Cagl iostro

,

with his wife, eventual ly even went to l ive at Saverneat the Cardinal ’s request . He was hidden to considerthe palace as h i s own , and the servants were orderedto announce him when he entered a room as “ H isExcellency M . le Comte de Cagl iostro .

”

The Baroness d’

Oberkirch, on visiting Savernewhile he was there , “ was stunned by the pomp withwhich he was treated .

” She was one of the few greatladies of Strasburg who refused to bel ieve in h im .

To her he was merely an adventurer . On theoccasions of her visit to Saverne the Cardinal , whohad great respect for her , endeavoured to bring herround to h is Opinion .

“ As I resisted , she said, “ hebecame impatient .”

“ Really,madame, said he

,

“you are hard to

convince . Do you see th i s ?He showed me a large diamond that he wore on

his l ittle finger,and on wh ich the Rohan arms were

engraved . Th i s ring was worth at least twentythousand francs.

“ I t is a beautiful gem,monseigneur, I said , “ I

have been admiring i t .”I 7S

Cagl iostro

Well,he exclaimed

,i t i s Cagl iostro who made

i t : he made it out of nothing. Hwas present duringthe whole operation with my eyes fixed on the cruc ible .I s not that science

,Baroness ? People should not

say that he is duping me , or taking advantage of me .

I have had th i s r i ng valued by a jeweller and an em

graver,and they have estimated i t at twenty-fiv e

thousand l ivres . You must admit that he would be astrange kind of cheat who would make such presents .”I acknowledge I was stunned . M . de Rohan per

ce iv ed i t, and continuedTh is is not al l—he can make gold He has made

in th is very palace , in my presence, fiv e or six thousandl ivres. He wil l make me the r ichest pr ince in Europe !These are no mere vagaries of the imagination,madame

,but positive facts . Th ink of all his pre

dictions that have been real ized,of al l the miraculous

cures that he has effected ! I repeat he is a mostextraordinary, a most subl ime man, whose knowledgei s only equalled by his goodness . What alms hegives ! What good he does ! I t exceeds all power ofimagination . I can assure youkekas never asked or

received anytking f rom me.

But Cagl iostro did not confine h imsel f solely toseeking the philosopher’s stone for the Cardinal . Forthe benefit of his splendid host he displayed the wholeseries of h is magical phenomena.One day, according to Roberson—who professed to

have obtained h i s information from “ an eye -witnessvery worthy of credence —he promised to evoke forthe Cardinal the shade of a woman he had loved. Hehad made the attempt two or three times before without success . Death seemed to hesitate to come to the

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Cagliostro

while Cagl iostro attacked h i s understanding, she laidsiege to his heart.The disdainful , almost hostile, attitude that Cagl ios

tro adopted towards his patron at the beginning oftheir acquaintance was so wel l calculated to inflameRohan

’

s cur ios ity that i t is a matter of course toattr ibute i t to design . The Abbé Georgel, who as aJ esuit thoroughly disl iked the Grand Cophta of

Egyptian Mason ry, asserts that “ he sought,without

having the air of seeking it , the most intimate confidence of h i s Eminence and the greatest ascendencyover h is wi ll .”But th is very plausible statement is not only um

supported by any fact, but is actually contrary to fact.The Cardinal was not Cagl ios tro

’

s banker, as has sooften been stated . At his tr ial in the Necklace AffairRohan denied th i s most emphatical ly. Moreover, i twould have been utterly impossible for h im , had hewished , to have supplied Cagl iostro with the sums hespent so lavishly. I n spite of his vast income , he hadfor years been head over ears in debt . I f there wereany benefits conferred , i t was the Cardinal who receivedthem .

Cagl iostro,says Madame d’

Oberkirch, treated ‘

h im,as well as the rest of his ar i stocratic admirers , as

i f they were under infinite obl igation to h im and beunder none to them .

”

This statement is the secret of the real nature ofCagl ios tro

’

s so -called conquest . I t was not cupidity,but colossal vanity , that lured h im into the glitteringfriendship that ru ined him. The Cardinal , with hisgreat name and position

,his influence

,and his un

deniable charm,dazzled Cagl iostro quite as muc

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T he Conquest of the Cardinal

he, with his miracles , his magic , and his mystery,appealed to the imagination of the Cardinal . Eachhad for the other the fascination of a flame for a moth .

Each fluttered round the other l ike a moth and eachmet with the proverbial moth ’

s fate. But the Cagliostro-flame only scorched the wings of h is Eminence .

I t was in the flame of the Cardinal that Ca’gliostroperished .

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CHAPTER V

CAGL IOSTRO IN PAR IS

NOTWITHSTAND ING the immense vogue that Cagl iostro enjoyed throughout the th ree years he pas sed inStrasburg, h i s l ife was by no means one of unal loyedpleasure . Many a discordant note mingled in thechorus of blessing and praise that greeted his cars .

I n the memoir he publ ished at the time of the DiamondNecklace Affair

,he speaks vaguely of certain “ perse

en tions to which he was constantly subjected .

“ His good fortune,or his knowledge of medicine ,

says Gleichen,

“ excited the hatred and jealousy of thedoctors, who when they persecute are as dangerousas the pr iests . They were his implacable enemies inFrance, as wel l as in Poland and Russia .

H is marvellous cures wounded the amour propreof the doctors as much as they damaged their reputation . Everyth ing that mal ice and env y could devisewas done to decry h im . They accused h im of treatingonly such persons as suffered from sl ight or imaginaryailments

,questioned the permanency of h is cures ,

denied that he saved l ives they had given up, andattr ibuted every death to h im . He was charged withexacting in secret the fees he refused in publ ic . H isl iberal ity to the poor was ascribed to a desire to attractattention

,his ph i lanthropy was r id iculed , and the

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Cagliostro

matter of course that i t was the Cardinal ’s moneywh ich the Count spent so lavishly.

But far from plundering the infatuated prince ash is enemies asserted

,Cagl iostro did not so much as

appeal to h im for protect ion . Fortunately the Cardinaldid not require to be reminded of the claims of fr i endsh ip. Fully aware of the hostil i ty to Cagl iostro , heendeavoured to silence i t by procur ing for h im fromthree members of the Government letters to the ch iefC ivil authority in which h i s protege was recommendedin the highest terms . To Cagl iostro these letters, towhich at any time he would have attached an ex aggerated importance , had a special s ignificance from thefact that he neither sol ic i ted them directly nor i ndirectly.

” He counted them among his most : valuablepossessions .The tranqui ll i ty , however, wh i ch they procured h im

was only transient . Ever employing fresh weaponsand methods in attacking him

,h is enemies eventually

found h is Ach i l les ’-heel—the impulsive sympathy of anaturally kind heart .One day, while he was showing an important

government official over h i s hospital,a man whom he

had never seen before , and who appeared to havefallen on evil times , appealed to h im for assistance .

He asked to be taken into h i s service , and offered towear his l ivery. He said that his name was Sacch i

,

that he came of a good family in Amsterdam ,and had

some knowledge of chemistry. Touched by h i s evident distress, Cagl iostro yielded as usual to h i s chari table impulses . He found employment for Sacch i in h i shospital

,and paid him liberally.

“ I was even persuaded , ” he said afterwards,

“ to182

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Cagliostro

As sensitive to abuse as he was susceptibl e toflattery , Cagliostro was unable to endure such treatment , and convinced from h i s previous experience inRuss ia that there would be no l imit to the vindictivemalevolence of the doctors , he determined , he says , toleave Strasburg, where , in spite of the Cardinal’s protection and his minister ial letters , he could find neithertranqu ill i ty nor securi ty. A letter received about th ist ime informing h im that the Cheval ier d’Aquino, of

Naples,a fr iend of h i s mysterious past, was danger

ous ly i ll , and desired to see him , confirmed him in h isresolution. Accordingly , in Spite of the entreati es of

the Cardinal , he shook the dust of S trasburg from h isfeet, and departed in all haste for Naples, where,however, he states , he arrived too late to save hisfr iend.

I I

On leaving S trasburg, as previously on leavingLondon and Warsaw, Cagl iostro once more plungedinto the obscurity in wh ich so much of h i s career waspassed that i t might almost

’

be described as h i s nativeelemen t , to emerge again three months later as beforeon the crest of the wave of fortune in Bordeaux. Asrumour, however, followed h im it is possible to surmisewith some degree of probabil i ty what became of h im .

T he imag inative I nquisition -biographer, thoughunable to give any account of Caglios tro

’

s j ourneyfrom Strasburg to Naples , h i s residence in that c ity ,during the Necklace Affair, the Parliamen t of Paris ordered its suppress ion as in jurious and calumn ious .

”T he editor of the Courier

de l’E urope afterwards quoted it in his bitter denunc iation of Cagli

ostro, and advanced it as proof of hi s iden titywith Giuseppe Balsamo.

It has s ince generally been admitted to be amal icious invention .

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Cagl i ostro in Paris

or subsequent journey to Bordeaux—a singular tour !nevertheless unconsciously throws someth ing l ikel ight on the subject. He declares that the CountessCagl iostro

,who accompanied her husband, “ confessed ”

at her trial before the Apostol ic Court in Rome that“ he left Naples owing to his fai lure to establ ish alodge of Egyptian Masonry.

” Questionable as thes ource is from wh ich th is statement emanates, i t i snevertheless a clue .

Whatever difference of opin ion there may be asto the honesty of Caglios tro

’

s motives in propagatingEgyptian Masonry , there is none as to h is pertinacity .

With in three weeks of h is arrival in Strasburg he hadfounded a lodge for the observance of the EgyptianRite . The mysterious and hurried visits he paid fromt ime to time to Bale, Geneva, and other places inSwitzerland during h i s three years ’ residence in Alsacewere apparently of a Masonic nature . I t is, moreover,curious to note that h i s hurr ied departure for Naplesoccurred immediately after the Neapol itan government removed i ts ban against Freemasonry. As theNeapol i tan government would not have taken thisstep had there been the least l ikel ihood of Freemasonry obtain ing a hold ‘over the masses , i t i s highlyprobable that Cagliostro left Naples for the reasongiven by the I nquis it ion -biographer.Th is probabil i ty is sti l l further strengthened by his

subsequent movements,wh ich

,erratic though they may

appear, had a well -defined purpose . From the time heleft London , be i t said, ti l l h is last fatal journey toRome , Cagliostro never went anywhere without havinga definite and preconceived purpose .I t was certainly with a very definite object that he

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Cagliostro

went to Bordeaux , where he is , next heard of, andwh i ther he travel led , as he h imself says , through theci ties of Southern France . Now the cities of SouthernFrance were permeated with supernatural ism . I t wasat Bordeaux

,that Martinez Pasqual is had held h i s

celebrated school of magic and mystical theurgy, themost distingu ished of whose pupils was Saint-Martin

,

the founder of the Martin ists . No place was betteradapted for gain ing recruits to Egyptian or any otherkind of Freemason ry .

I t was here that Mesmer found the nois iest andmost ardent of h i s admirers in Pere Herv ier, anAugustin ian monk who by h is eloquence had madea great reputation as a popular preacher . Summonedto Bordeaux by the municipal ity to preach during Lentat the Church of St . Andrew ,

Herv ier preached notonly the gospel according to Chr i st but that accordingto the Messiah of animal magnetism , with the resultthat he made both the clergy and the doctors h isenemies .This church , one of the finest Gothic monuments

in Europe , was the stage on wh ich he displayed h istalents both as an orator and as a mesmer ist . He waspreach ing one day on eternal damnation . H is flashing eyes, commanding gestures , and alluring voice ,which had from the start prepared the church fromthe holy water stoup to the candles on the altar, neveronce lost their hold upon the imagination . The con

gregation , consisting of the richest, youngest, and mos tfrivolous women of Bordeaux

,was in complete accord

with the preacher. Suddenly when the monk beganto picture the horrors of hel l a young girl fel l into afi t. Such’

an incident happening at such a moment186

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Caglio stro

change h is mind , and resume the,gratu itous miracleswh ich had rendered h im so celebrated in Strasburg .

I n coming to th is decision he afterwards declaredthat he counted on the protection of the Comte deVergennes, Secretary of S tate for Foreign Affairs ,and one of the three Cabinet M inisters who hadpreviously recommended h im to the Pretor of Strasburg . It was , he said , at Vergennes ’ spec ial requestthat he retu rned to France . As the Comte deVergennes failed to deny th is statement, which hecould easi ly have done when it was made by Cagl iostroat his trial in the Necklace Affair , there seems no

reason to doubt i t .I n Bordeaux

,as at Strasburg, h i s cures and h is

char i ties attracted general attention and procured h ima large and enthusiastic following . Many of the mostinfluential men of the ci ty sought admittance to thelodge he founded . But, as before, Egyptian Masonryflour ished at the expense of the tranqu i l l i ty and secur i tyof the Grand Cophta. The influence of Vergennes andother powerful patrons was powerless to protect h imfrom the ingenious malevolence of the envious doctors .

Even Pere Herv ier, Instead of j oining forces withh im

,entered the l ists against h im . Mere clerk of

Mesmer,

” he had the folly to engage Cagl iostro in apubl ic discussion , in wh ich he received so humil iatinga chastisement that he was laughed out of Bordeaux.

But in spite of h is triumphs l ife was made such aburden to Cagl iostro that after being continually bai tedfor eleven months he could endure the torment nolonger

,and departed for Lyons .

This c ity was a veritable stronghold of Freemasonry . Lodges of all descriptions flour ished here,

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Cagliostro in Paris

notably those founded by Saint-Martin , the mostmystical of occultists

,i n which the Swedenborgian

Rite was observed . I t was here that Cagl iostro foundhis most ardent and loyal supporte rs: Their enthusiasmwas s uch that they buil t a “ temple expressly for theobservance of the Egyptian Ri te . I t enjoyed thedigni ty of being the Mother Lodge of EgyptianMas onry, the lodges at S trasburg, Bale , Bordeaux ,Par i s, and other places being affi l iated to i t . As it wasthe custom for the mother lodges of every order ofF reemasonry to he named after some virtue

,this

one received the title of Sages se T r iomp/tante. I twas the only lodge specially erected by Caglios tro

’

s

followers,al l the others being held in rooms rented for

their needs .I t would have been well for Cagliostro had he been

content to remain in Lyons . He would have enjoyedthe “ tranquill i ty and securi ty he so much desired ;and h istory

,perhaps

,would have forgotten him , for it

is owing to h is misfortunes that h is ach ievements arechiefly remembered.

But destiny lured him to destruction and an ignominious renown . I nordinately vain and sel f-conscious ,he was ent iced to Par i s by the Cardinal , who was thenresiding there

,and with whom he had been in constant

correspondence ever s ince he left S trasburg. Soinsistent was his Eminence that he sent Raymond deCarbonnieres , one of his secretaries , and an enthusiast icadmirer of Cagl iostro

,to Lyons on purpose to fetch

him . Paris , too , Mecca of every celebrity , called himwith no uncertain voice . Magic -struck she craved theexcitement of fresh mysteries and the spel l of a newidol . Mesmer ’s tempestuous vogue was over ; adored

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Cagliostro

and ridiculed in turn he had arted withl ivres , a very practical proof success .So having appointed a Grand Master to represen t

.

him,and delegated his seal— a serpen t pierced with an

arrow - to two venerables , Cagl iostro left Lyons forParis. I f he made enemies in Lyons they did notmolest h im . I t was the only place in which he doesnot complain of being persecuted .

I I I

On arr iving in Par is , Cagl iostro declares that hetook the greatest precaution to avoid causing il l-will .As the majori ty of contemporary documents concu r i ndescr ibing h i s l i fe in Par i s as “ dignified and reserved

,

”

there is no reason to doubt the truth of h is statement .But one cannot escape one’s fate, and in spite of hisefforts not to attract attention , he was condemned to anextraordinary notoriety .

H is arrival was no sooner known than , as at Strasburg

,Bordeaux

,and Lyons , h is house was beset with

cripples and inval ids of all walks of l ife . As usual herefused to accept payment for his services or even forh is remedies .

No one,says Grimm , ever succeeded in making

h im accept the least mark of grati tude.“What is singular about Cagl iostro

,says the

Baron de Bes enval,“ i s that in sp ite of possessing the

characterist ics that one associates with a charlatan , henever behaved as such al l the t ime he was at S trasburgor at Paris. On the contrary

,he never took a sou

from a person,l ived honourably

,always paid with the

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Cagl iostro

suspect that h i s visi tor was an emi ssary of the doctors .Restrain ing his indignation he turned to the other andsaid with the greatest gravity

“ Your fri end must remain here under my care fors ixteen days . The treatment to which I shal l subjecth im is very simple, but to effect his cure it will beabsolutely necessary for him to eat but once a day,and then only an ounce of nour ishment .”Alarmed at the prospect of so drastic a diet the

mock - i nval id began to protest,and asked if i t was not

possible to indicate exactly what i t was he sufferedfrom .

“ Noth ing simpler,repl ied Cagl iostro .

“ Superfluity of bile in the medical facul ty.

”

The two students , finding themselves caught in thetrap they had set for h im

,stammered their apologies

as best they could . Whereupon Cagl iostro, perceivingtheir discomfiture , good-naturedly set them at ease andinvited them to breakfast, with the resu l t that theywere converted into ardent admirers .He did not desire

,however, to be known only as a

healer of the s ick .

I n the exh ibitions he gave of h i s occul t or psych icpowers, he soon ecl ipsed every other contemporarycelebrity from the number and variety of the phenomenahe performed . Everybody wished to witness thesewonders , and those who were denied the pr ivi lege werenever tired of descr ib ing them in detail as if they hadseen them

,or of l istening in turn to their reci tal .

The memoirs of the period are fi l led with the marvelsof his séances at which he read—by means of coloméesand pupi l les— the future and the past , in mirrors ,carafes

,and crystals ; of his predictions, h i s cures, and

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Cagliostro in Paris

his evocations of the dead,who appeared at h is command

to rejoice or to terrify, as the case might be, those incompliance with whose wishes he had summoned themfrom the grave .

Every day some new and fantastic story wasci rculated about him .

I t was related , for example , that one day after adinner-party at Chail lot , at which the company consisted chiefly of ladies , he was asked by his hos tess toprocure partners for her friends who had expressed thedesire to dance .

“ M . de Cagl iostro , she said half-ser iously, halfplayful ly

,you have only to employ your supernatural

powers to fetch us some officers from the EcoleMil itaire. ”

“ True,he repl ied , going to a window from wh ich

this institution could be seen in the distance,

“ i t onlyrequires an invis ible bridge between them and us .”A burst of ironical laughter greeted his words .

I ndignant, he extended h i s arm in the di rection of theHOtel des I nval ides

,wh i ch could also be seen from

the window . A fewminutes later eighteen veteranswith cork- l egs a rrived at the house !On another occasion it was reported that Cagl iostro,

having invited six noblemen to dine wi th him,had the

table laid for thirteen . On the arrival of his guests herequested them to name any illus trious shades theydesired to occupy the vacant seats . Straightway, asthei r names were mentioned

,the spectres of the Due

de Choiseul , the Abbé de Voisenon, Montesquieu,Diderot , d

’

Alemb ert, and Voltaire appeared , andtaking the places as signed them conversed with theirhosts in a manner so incredibly stupid

,which had it

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Cagliostro

been characteristic of them in ghe flesh would haverobbed them of al l claim to distinction .

This anecdote , one of the gems of the Marquis deLuchet

’

s l ively imagination , who related i t with muchspir i t

,was devoid of the least particl e of truth . Never

theles s the Cénacle de Treize or Banquet of the Dead,as i t was cal led

,acquired an immense notori ety. All

Paris talked of i t ; and even at Versail les i t had thehonou r for some minutes of being the subject of royalconversation .

Constantly fi red by such s tories , the adm irat ionand cur iosi ty that Cagl iostro aroused in al l classes ofsociety reached a degree of infatuation l ittle shortof idolatry. By his followers he was addressed as

“ revered father or “ august master.” They spentwhole hours censing him with a flattery almost profane

,

bel ieving themselves purified by being near him .

Some more impassioned and r id icu lous than othersaverred that he could tel l Atheists and Blasphemersby their smell which threw h im into e pileptic fits .”

Houdon , the most celebrated sculptor of the day,executed his bust . Repl icas in bronze

,marble

, and

plaster, bear ing the words , Le Div in Cagl iostro onthe pedestal , were to be found in salons, boudoirs , andoffices. Rings , brooches, fans, and snuff-boxes wereadorned with his portrait. Prints of him by Bartolozziand others were scattered broadcast over Europe

,with

the following flattering inscription

De l’ami des humain s reconnaissez les traits ;Tous ses jours son t marqués par de nouveaux bien faits ,I l prolonge la Vic, 11 secourt l ’indigen ce,Le plaisir d’etre utile est seul sa recompen se.

Figuier ’s statement, however, that “ b ills were evenI 94

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Caglio stro in Paris

posted on the walls to the effect that Louis XVI haddeclared that any one who injured h im was guil ty ofle‘

se-majesté” i s extremely doubtful . He was never

received at Versailles . Marie Antoinette,who had

protected Mesmer, could not be induced to take theleast interest in Cagl iostro .

IV

The interest displayed in the prodigies he was saidto perform was augmented by the profound secrecy heobserved in regard to h i s parentage, h i s national ity,and h i s past in general . I n the hectic years immediately preceding the Revolution , when credul ity,curiosity, and the passion for sensation had reached astage bordering almost on madness , i t required noeffort of the imagination to make this secrecy itselfsupernatural ; indeed , in the end the interest taken inthe mystery in which Cagliostro wrapped himselfsurpassed that in all h i s wonders combined.

People speculated on the source of his wealthwithout being able to arrive at any conclusion . N0one

,

”

s ays Georgel ,“ could discover the nature of his

resources,he had no letter of credit

,and apparently

no banker,nevertheless he l ived in the greatest

affluence,giving much to the needy, and seeking

no favours whatever from the rich . I n Strasburg,according to Meiners , “ at the very lowest estimateh is annual expenditure was not less thanl ivres .” I n Par i s he was reputed to l ive at the rate of

l ivres a year. The splendid footing on whichhis establ ishment was maintained was, however,probably greatly exaggerated. He himself says that

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Cagliostro

the fine house in the Rue St. Claude,which b e

rented from the Marquise d’

Orv illiers,was “ furnished

by degrees . ”Some, as previously stated, attributed his splendour

to the Cardinal . I t was attested during the NecklaceAffair that proof of this was found among theCardinal ’s papers. Rohan , however, at h is trialdenied the charge most emphatically

,and Cagl iostro

h imself declared that the Cardinal ’s mun ificence neverwent beyond “ birthday gifts to the Countess

,the

whole of which consisted of a dove,his (Caglios tro

’

s )portrait set in diamonds , with a small watch andchain also set with brill iants. ” 1Others declared that h is wealth was der ived fromthe mines of Lima, of wh ich his father was said tobe director.” By others , again , i t was said that “ theJ esu its suppl ied him with funds, or that havingpersuaded some Asiatic prince to send his son totravel in Europe , he had murdered the youth andtaken possession of h is treasures .” Cagl iostro himselfwas always very mysterious on this subj ect .

“ But your manner of l iv ing,” he was quest ionedat his trial in the Necklace Affair, i s expensive ; yougive away much

,and accept of nothing in return you

pay everybody ; how do you contrive to get money ? ”“ This question

,

” he repl ied , “ has no kind of

relation to the case in point . What difference does1 T o doubt these statements on the score of a popular prejudice

in favour of regarding Cagl iostro as a liar who never by any chan cespoke the truth i s quite ridiculous . Not on ly is there no proof onwhich to base this assertion , but there i s not even the least suggestionthat Cagliostro was ever con s idered a liar by h is con temporariesbefore the Editor of the Courier de l ’E urope—himself the biggest ofliars and knaves—took advantage of the passion s let loose by theD iamond Necklace Affair to brand him as such .

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from whom he had learnt al l he knew. But Mirabeaustates that “ M . de Nordberg, who had travelled muchin the East, once addressed him some words in Arabicof wh ich he did not understand one wo rd .

”

The mystery in which he purposely envelopedhim s elf

,and which became the deeper the more it was

probed , coupled with the wonders he performed ,recalled the famous Count de Saint -Germain

,who

had created a similar sensation some twenty yearsbefore . Of the l ife, fami ly or country of thismysterious individual nothing was ever known . Ofmany supposi tions the most popular was that he wasthe son of a royal femmegalan te—Marie de Neubourg,

widow of the last K ing of Spain of the House ofAustr ia— and a J ewish banker of Bordeaux . Louis XV,

who had a particular predilection for men of h is stampand was probably perfectly acquainted with h is history,employed him for a time on secret diplomatic missionsand gave h im apartments at Chambord . H is fascinating manners , good looks , lavish expenditure andmysterious antecedents attracted attention whereverhe went.I n London , where he l ived fo r a couple of years ,

b e excited great cur iosity .

“ He was called , saysWalpole , “ an I tal ian , a Spaniard , a Pole, a nobodythat marr ied a great fortune in Mexico and ran awaywith her j ewels to Con s tan ti nOple.

”

These j ewels were the admiration of al l whobeheld them . Madame de Haus s et, the compan ion ofMadame de Pompadour

,to whom he showed them

once , bel ieved them to be false. Gleichen , however,who was a connoisseur of prec ious stones , “ coulddiscern no reason to doubt their genu ineness . Like

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Caglio stro in Paris

Cagliostro , who gave a diamond valued atl ivres to Cardinal de Rohan , Saint-Germain made apresent of one to Lou is XV worth l ivres .The secrecy he observed in regard to his origin

appears in the beginning to have been due less toany intention to mystify the publ ic than to a s trongsense of humour. I n an age when a supernaturalsignificance was attached to anything that appearedmysterious , he was at once credited with occult powerswhich he never claimed to possess . Urged by awhim to see how far he could play upon the credul ityof the publ ic

,b e found the rOle of wonder-man so

congenial that he never attempted to adopt another.A particular talent for romancing, aided by a

wonderful memory,enabled h im to doctor up the

marvellous to sui t the taste of h is hearers . Hedescribed people and places of the distan t pas t with aminuteness of detail that produced the impres sion thathe had been personally acquainted wi th them .

1 Asmany were fool ish enough to take h im literally, al lsorts of fabulous stories were c irculated about him .

“ I amuse myself,

” he once confessed to Gleichen ,who reproved him for encouraging the bel ief that hehad l ived from time immemorial

,

“ not by makingpeople bel ieve what I wish

,but by letting them bel ieve

what they wish . These fools of Par is ians declare thatI am five hundred

,and I confirm them in the idea

since it pleases them .

”

The least credulous bel ieved h im to be at least ahundred . Madame de Pompadour said to him oncethat old Madame de Gergy remembered having methim fifty years before in Venice when he passed fora man of sixty .

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Cagliostro

I never l ike to contradict a lady,he repl ied

,

but i t i s just possible that Madame de Gergy is inher dotage .

”

Even his valet was supposed to have discoveredthe secret of immortal i ty . This fel low,

a ver itableScapin , ass isted h im admirably in mystifying thecredulous .

“ Your master, said a sceptic one day , seiz ing h imby the collar, “ i s a rogue who is taking us al l in .

Tell me, i s i t true that he was present at the marriageof Cana ? ”

“ You forget,s ir

,was the reply

,

“ I have onlybeen in h is service a century.

Many of the most amaz ing stor ies c irculated aboutCagl iostro were merely a repetition of those relatedtwenty years before of Saint-Germain . The recollect ion of Saint-Germain ’s reputed longevity led to thebestowal of a s imilar attribute to his successor. Thusi t was reported that Cagl iostro stopped one day beforea “ Descent from the Cross ” in the Louvre and beganto talk of the Crucifixion as i f he had witnessed it.Though the story was devoid of foundation i t wasnot without effec t, and many declared , and bel ievedtoo

,that the Grand Cophta had l ived hundreds,

and even thousands of years . Cagliostro, i t isbut fair to add

,complained bitterly of this at h i s

trial .On the strength of the clos e resemblance in the

mystery and the stories concerning Saint-Germain andCagl iostro

,as wel l as their alchemical knowledge

for Saint-Germain,needless to say

,was credited with

having discovered the philosopher’s stone—Grimmbel ieved Cagl iostro to have been the valet alluded

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Cagliostro

prove that Cagl ios tro’

s appearance was anything butrepulsive .

Beugnot, who has described himwith more mockerythan any of h is contemporaries

,says “ he was of

medium height , rather stout , with an ol ive complexion ,a short neck , round face , a broad turned -up nose, andtwo large eyes .” From all accounts h is eyes wereremarkable . “ I cannot describe h is physiognomy

,

”

says the Marqu i se de Crequy , “ for he had twelve orfifteen at h i s disposal . But no two eyes l ike his wereever seen ; and h i s teeth were superb.

” Labordespeaks of “ his eyes of fi re which pierced to thebottom of the soul .” Another writer declares thathis glance was l ike a gimlet .”

All the contemporary documents that speak ofh im—and they are hostil e with very few exceptionsrefer to the powerful fascination that he exerc ised onall who approached h im . The impression he producedupon the intel lectual Countess v on der Recke hasalready been referred to . Like her, Laborde , Motus ,and others considered that h is countenance “ indicatedgenius .Cardinal de Rohan told Georgel that on seeing

h im for the fi rst time “ he discovered in h is phys iogmomy a dignity so imposing that he fel t penetratedwith awe .

”

He was not, strictly speaking, handsome, saysMadame d’

Oberkirch, who certainly was not one ofhis admirers

,but never have I seen a more remark

able face. H is glance was so penetrating that onemight be almost tempted to cal l i t supernatural . Icould not descr ibe the expression of his eyes— it was ,so to speak , a mixture of flame and ice . I t attracted

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Cagliostro in Paris

and repelled at the same time,and inspired

,whilst it

terrified , an insurmountable curiosi ty. I cannot denythat Cagl iostro possessed an almost demoniacal power

,

and i t was with difficulty that I tore mys elf froma fascination I could not comprehend

,but whose

influence I could not deny .

Lavater, whose unfavourable opinion seems to bedue to the contemptuous way in which Cagl iostroreceived him , nevertheless thought him “ a man suchas few are. ”

Beugnot, after ridicul ing h im as moulded forthe express purpose of playing the part of a clown ,”confesses that “ his face

,h is attire— the whole man , in

fact, impressed h im in spite of himself.”I f, as Meiners and other hostile contemporaries

assert,

“ he spoke badly al l the languages he professed to know

,there i s not the least reason to infer,

l ike Carlyle,that “ he was wholly intell igible to no

mortal,

” or that “ what thought,what resemblance of

though t he had,could not del iver i tsel f, except in

gasps,blustering gushes

,spasmodic refluences which

made bad worse .Michelet—Carlyle ’s bri ll iant and equally learned

contemporary—regarded him as a ver i table sorcererpossessed of great eloquence .

” Even the bitter I n

quis ition -biographer confessed that he was “marv ellous ly eloquent Motus declared that h is eloquencefascinated and subjugated one

,even in the languages

he spoke least well .” I f gibberish can be subl ime,”

says Beugnot,“ Cagliostro was subl ime . When he

began any subject he seemed carried away wi thit, and spoke impressively in a ringing, sonorousvoice .

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Cagl iostro

The beauty of the Countess Cagl iostro was also animportant element in the success of her husband .

She was l ike a sylph with her fluffy straw-colouredhair, wh ich she wore unpowdered , her large , deep , softblue eyes , her small and del icately chisel led nose, herful l rose - red l ips

,and a dazzl ingly wh i te skin .

“ She is an angel i n human form ,

” said MaitrePolv erit, by whom she was defended when she was impr isoned in the Bastil le on the charge of being impl icated in the Necklace Affair, “ who has been sent onearth to share and soften the days of the Man ofMarvels. Beautiful with a beauty that never belongedto any woman

,she cannot be called a model of tender

ness , sweetness and res ignation—no ! for she does noteven suspect the existence of any other qual ities .”And the judges evidently agreed

,for they ordered her

release wi thout a trial .Motus descr ibes her as “ a beautiful and modest

person and as charitable as her husband .

” She wasfond ofdress, and her diamonds were the talk of Paris .The Countess de Lamotte at her trial declared thatMadame de Caglios tro

’

s display of jewelry scandalized respectable women , as wel l as those who were not .”I t is scarcely necessary, however, to observe thatMadame de Lamotte saw the Countess through herhatred of Cagl iostro . To make a display of j ewelryat that per iod did not cause the least scandal . TheCountess , moreover, was a fine horsewoman

, and

mounted on her black mare Djer id attracted attentionquite apart from the fact that she was the wife ofCagl ios tro.

Uneducated— she could not write ; though frommixing in the best soc iety she had acquired the

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Cagliostro

captain in the service of the Dutch government . Asthis made her at least forty when she did not appear tobe twenty, a credulous publ ic was ready to see in hera l iving witness to the efficacy of her husband ’srejuvenating powders and el ixir of l ife . De Luchet

,

who is responsible for the story, asserts that she addedto her ’ age expressly to advertise Caglios tro

’

s quackmedic ines .1

Like Saint-Germain ’s valet , she was also credi tedwith a share of her husband ’s supernatural endowments .According to certain unauthent icated information

,she

was the Grand M istress of the I sis lodge for women,

wh ich among other conditions of membersh ip includeda subscription of one hundred lou i s. Th i s lodge issaid to have been composed of th i rty- six ladies of rank ,who joined i t for the pu rpose of being taught magic bythe wife of Cagl iostro . The report widely c irculatedby de Luchet

,of the obscene character of the

evocations ,” is devoid of the least authentici ty. I t is

doubtful , i ndeed , whether such a lodge ever existed atall. Madame de Genl is, who figures in de Luchet’s

1 If it b e true that the Coun t and Countess Cagliostro werereally Giuseppe and Lorenza Balsamo, surely the remarkable changein the appearance, not to speak of the clzaracter

, of éotlz, must b eregarded as the most aston ishing of all Cagl iostro

’s prodigies . T he

impress ion he produced from the accounts given above was totallydifferen t from that which Bal samo was said to have produced . As

for h is wife, it i s preposterous to expect any one to believe that thepretty demirep Lorenzawould have looked as girlish and fresh as theCoun tess Seraphina after fifteen years of the sort of life she led withGiuseppe. As v ice and hardship have never yet been regarded asaids to beauty, those who pers ist in pinn ing their faith to the Balsamolegend will perhaps assent to the suggestion that Cagliostro’s remediespossessed virtues hitherto den ied them.

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Cagliostro in Paris

l ist of members, never so much as mentions theCaglios tros i n her memoirs .

V I

Needless to say , Cagl iostro did not fail to turn theprodigious furore he created to the accoun t of Egypt ianMasonry . Not long after h i s arrival in Paris a lodgewas establ ished at the residence of one of his followersin a room special ly set apart for the purpose and

furnished , says the I nquisition -biographer, withunparalleled magnificence ” Here from t ime to timethe “ seven angels of the Egyptian Paradise

,who

stand round the throne of God—Anaé l, Michael ,Raphael , Gabr iel , U r i el , Zob riachel, and Hanach iel

(with whom the Grand COphta was a special favourite)condescended to appear to the faithful .”Cagliostro also opened another lodge in his own

house,when the angels came at the bidding of other

members besides the Grand COphta. I t was not longbefore similar phenomena were witnessed in al l theEgyptian lodges . I n a remarkable letter of an adeptof the lodge at Lyons found in Cagl ios tro

’

s papers atthe time of his arrest in Rome

,the writer

,in des cribing

a ceremony held there , said that “ the first philosopherof the New Testament appeared wi t/tout being cal led,

and gave the entire assembly,prostrate before the blue

cloud in wh ich he appeared,h i s lessing. Moreover

(adds the writer) , two great prophets and the legis latorof I srael have given us similar convincing s igns oftheir good -will .”

I t is from Cagl ios tro’

s abil i ty to transmit h ispowers ,

” as i t was termed,that the s ingular phenomena

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Cagliostro

of modern spiritual ism were developed . I n real ity itwas noth ing more or less than the discovery of thepsychic —the word must s erv ejor want of a better—properties latent in every human being

,and which

in many are capable of a very high degree of development . This discovery, til l then unimagined , was thesecret of the veneration in wh ich Cagl iostro wasregarded by h i s followers .Notwithstanding the very h igh development to

which Cagl ios tro’

s own “ psychic ” powers had nowattained , one gathers the impression from his own

utterances that he never completely understood them.

A link betv'

veen the old conception of magic and thenew theosophical theories , there are many indications that he regarded the phenomena he performedas direct manifestations of divine power . I n anage of unbel ief he always spoke of God with thegreatest respect

,even in c ircles i n which i t was the

fash ion to decry the goodness as well as the existence of the Supreme Being. Like all the mystics ofthe eighteen th century

,he was deistic . “All duty,

according to h im,

” says George l,“ was based on the

principle : Never do to others what you would notwish them to do to you .

” One of the first th ings seenon entering his house i n Paris was a slab of blackmarble on wh ich was engraved in gold letters Pope ’sUn iversal P rayer .

H istorians who have been incl ined to treat h imlen iently as the loyal agent of a revolutionary sect arehorrified that he should have effaced the dign ity of theenthusiast beh ind the tri ckeries of the necromancer.”Louis Blanc

,who preached a perpetual crusade against

thrones and altars,and despised occultism , declares

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Cagliostro

To complete the mise en s cene, Cagliostro wore arobe of black silk on which hieroglyphics were embroidered in red . H is head was pov ered with an Arabturban of cloth of gold ornamented with j ewels . Achain of emeralds hung en sautoir upon his breast

,to

wh ich scarabs and cabal istic symbols of all colours inmetal were attached . A sword with a handle shapedl ike a cross was suspended from a belt of red S i lk.

I n th is costume , says Figuier,

“ the GrandCophta looked so imposing that the whole assemblyfel t a sort of terror when he appeared .

The manner in wh ich Cagl iostro dressed and conducted himself in publ ic was equally designed to attractattention

,though i t was scarcely of the sort he desired .

A wri ter who saw h im walking one day followed by anadmiring band of street arabs says he was wearing acoat of bl ue silk braided along the seams ; his hai r Inpowdered knots was gathered up in a net ; his shoesa la d

’

A rtoi s were fastened with j ewelled buckles , hisstockings studded with gold buttons rubies anddiamonds sparkled on his fingers , and on the fril l ofh is s hirt from h i s watch -chain hung a diamond drop ,a gold key adorned with diamonds , and an agate seal—al l of which

,i n conjunction with h i s flowered waist

coat and musketeer hat with a wh i te plume, producedan instantaneous effect .The Marquise de Crequy , Beugnot, and nearly all

h i s contemporar ies al lude to the fantastic manner i nwhich he dres sed as well as to h is colossal vani ty,which

,inflated by success

,rendered h im not only

ridiculous to those whom he failed to fasc inate , buteven insufferable . Pompous in Mittau, he becamearrogant

,domineer ing

,and choleric in Paris . F lattery,2 10

Cagl iostro in Paris

to wh ich he had always been pecul iarly susceptible,

at last became to h im l ike some drug by which hewas enslaved . He could not tolerate cri t ic ism orcontradic t ion .

“ The Cheval ier de Mon tb ruel ,” says

Beugnot,“ a veteran of the green - room

,and ready to

affi rm anyth ing , was always at hand to bear witness toCaglios tro

’

s cures, offer ing h imself as an examplecured of I do not know how many maladies withnames enough to frighten one .However, Cagliostro was never so spoil t by

success,never so compromised by the tricks and

devices to which he stooped to perform his wonders,

as to lose sight of h is ideal . Had he been the vulgarcheat, the sordid impostor i t is customary to depict him ,

he would have contented h imself with the s ub s criptions paid by the members of the lodges he foundedand have ceased to insist on the ethical characterof Egyptian Masonry . I n 1 785 a rel igious elementwas calculated to repel rather than to attract. I t wasthe wonder-man

,and not the ideal ist, in whom Paris

was interested . But instead of taking the l ine of leastresistance , so to speak , Cagliostro del iberately adopteda course that could not fai l to make enemies ratherthan fri ends .Far from dropping the rel igious and moral character

of the Egyptian Rite,he laid greater stress on it than

ever, and claimed for h is sect a superiori ty over all theothers of Freemasonry

,on the ground that i t was

based on the mysteries of I sis and Anubis which hehad brought from the East . As no one ever venturedto regard him as a fool as well as a knave, i t i s impossible to question h is since rity in the matter. At oncethe seventy- two Mason ic lodges of Paris rose in arms

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Cagliostro

against h im . He managed,however, to tr iumph over

all oppos ition . At a meeting held for the purpose ofexpounding the dogmas of Egyptian Masonry “ h iseloquence was so pers uasive, says Figuier,

“ that hecompletely converted to h is views the large anddistinguished audience he addressed .

From the respect that Cagl iostro thus exactedand obtained

,Egyptian Masonry acquired an im

portance in France not unl ike that of the I l luminésin Germany . Nothing proves th is so well as theCongress of Philaletes , or the Seekers of T ruth .

Th i s Masonic body was composed of members ofSwedenborgian and Martin ist lodges affi l iated toI l luminism . I ts character was at once occult andpol it ical . On the detection and suppress ion of theI lluminés , in 1 784 ,

the Philaletes , organized bySavalette de Langes

,a revolut ionary mystic

,sought

to finish i n France the work wh ich Weishaupt hadbegun in Germany . As an old I l luminé, Savalette deLanges was well acquainted with Cagl iostro, and theimportance he attached to h im was so great that hedesired to incorporate the sect of Egyptian Masonryin that of the Philalétes . He accordingly summoneda congress of Philalétes to which Cagliostro was invitedto explain his doctrine .The ambitions and aspirations of the Grand

Cophta had kept pace with the steadily r i sing fortunesof Egyptian Masonry. He was quick to perceive theimmense advantage to be der ived from a union of theorganization of which he was the head with that of thePhilaletes , who were one of the most numerous and influen tial of the Masonic sects . But he had no in tent ion of playing second fiddle to them, and in replying

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CHAPTER VI

T HE D IAMOND NECKLACE AFFAIR

FEW subj ects have been more wr i tten about , morediscussed than the Affair of the Diamond Necklace .

The defences alone of those involved in th i s causece

’

le‘

ére fi l l two big volumes . All the memoirs of theperiod contain more or l ess detailed accounts of i t ;in every history of F rance it occupies a chapter toi tself ; and as i t suggests romance even more thanhistory , nov el ists and dramatists al ike have oftenexercised thei r Imag inat ion upon its entanglements .To re -tel l in detail th is romance , to rehearse this

drama in which the happiness and reputations of allwho figure i n i t were destroyed

,does not come with in

the scope of th is book . For the ch ief i nterest i texc i tes is focussed on the star—the Comtesse deLamotte-Valois—who dominates the scene from firstto last. I t is only in the last act that Cagl iostroappears . Nevertheless

,the part he played was so

important that a brief résume’ of the action preceding

his appearance is necessary to enable the reader tounderstand how he came to be involved in theimbrogl io .

Nature had specially cast Madame de Lamotte forthe part she played in thi s drama . Descended fromthe Valois through a natural son of H enry I I , herfamily had sunk into a state of abjec t poverty. At her

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sympathetic and susceptible , manifested the greatestp i ty for the young and charming Countess whosecondition was in such a contrast to her i l lustrious birth .

He was amazed that the Court should so neglec t adescendant of Henri I I , and promised readily tosupport her claim . A few days later i n h is capacity asG rand Almoner of France, he sent h is interest ingprotege

'

e l ivres as an earnest of his intention .

As grati tude and necessi ty caused the suppl iant torenew her visi ts frequently, the impression sheproduced on the Cardinal deepened . H is pr ide aswel l as h is s ensual i ty urged him to protect a womanas fascinating and distinguished as she was unfortunate .

He entered into her views , gave her advice and evenconfided to her his own grievances and desires .With all his splendour h i s Eminence was what is

known as a disappointed man . I t was h i s ambitionto play a conspicuous part i n affairs of state . Toflatter him the sycophants who surrounded h im werein the hab it of compar ing his abil i ties to those ofRichel ieu

,Mazar in

,and Fleury, the three great

Cardinals who had governed F rance. I t was morethan his right, i t was his duty , they told h im , to becomeFirst M inister. I n real i ty he was utterly unfitted forsuch a position

,though not more so than Calonne and

Lomenie de B rienne, the last two ministers to governthe state under the an cien r egime. Rohan , however ,i ntoxicated by flattery

,bel ieved what he was told and

his desire for power developed into a passion , a fixedidea .

One obstacle alone stood between him and thepursu i t of h is ambition - Mar ie Antoinette ; a fascinating and dazz l ing obstacle to th is consecrated

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T he D iamond Necklace Affair

voluptuary , so dazzl ing that i t became confused in hismind with the summit from which it kept him . Hedid not bear the Queen the sl ightest res entment forher animosity to him . He was aware that i t hadbeen imparted to her by her mother Maria Theresa

,

at whose instance he had been recal led from Viennatwelve years before. He felt certain that i f he couldbut meet her, get in to communicat ion with her, he couldwin her esteem . Unfortunately Marie Antoinette’scontempt extended to Lou is XVI . Vers ail les wasthus closed to the Cardinal . He was never seen therebut once a year, on Assumption Day, i n his rOle ofGrand Almoner, when b e celebrated mass in theRoyal Chapel .The confidences of her protector gave the

Countess de Lamotte more than an insight into hischaracter. I n the vanity and credul i ty they rev ealed

,

her alert and cunning mind saw a Golconda ofpossibi l i ties wh i ch not only her necessi ty but hergenius fo r intrigue urged her to exploit . 1 Bycirculating rumours of her friendship with the Queen

,

to which her frequent journeys to Vers ailles in s earchof some influential person to present her petition tothe King gave weight, she had obtained cred it fromtradespeople . To cause th is rumour to glide to theears of his Eminence was easy . And as peoplegeneral ly bel ieve what flatters them ,

when Madamede Lamotte spoke of the interest that the Queen tookin h im

,an interest that circumstances compelled her

1 It is the custom to bran d the Countess de Lamotte as in famous ,and judged by moral standards she certain ly was . T he amazingspirit and inven tion s she displayed, however, give a fin ish to herin famy that suggest the artist as well as the mere adventuress .

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Cagl iostro

to conceal , the dissipated , amorous Cardinal , too vainto dream any one would deceive him

,l istened and

bel ieved al l he was told .

Thus began the famous ser ies of violet- tintedletters which during May, June, and July, 1 784 ,

passedbetween Marie Antoinette and Rohan . Th i s correspondence of which the Queen , needless to say , hadnot the least inkl ing , becoming as it proceeded lessand less cold and reserved , i nflamed all the desi res thatfermented in the heart of the Cardinal . I n this way i twas the simplest th ing in the world for the Countessde Lamotte to induce him to send the Queen throughhe r l ivres out of the Almonry funds for a poorfamily in whom her Majesty was interested.

”

As Marie Antoinette continued to be “ short ofcash

,

” Rohan,who was himself heavi ly in debt and

had misappropriated into the bargain the funds ofvarious institutions of wh i ch he was the trustee

,was

obl iged to borrow the money the Queen was supposedto be in need of from the J ews . His Eminence

,how

ever, at length became restive under these incessantdemands for money. He even began to suspect thatthe Queen might be playing him false, and in spite ofal l the Countess ’s explanations demanded some visibleproof of the interest she professed to manifest in him .

I t was at th is juncture, when i t s eemed as i f thegame was up , that Lamotte , walking in the garden ofthe Palais Royal

,met by accident an unfortunate female

whose face bore a perfect resemblance to that of theQueen .

1 To such an in tr igan te as the Countess, this1 All contemporaries are agreed on this po in t. “ Same figure,

same complexion ,same hair, a resemblan ce of phys iognomy of the

most striking kind,” says Target,who defended the Cardinal at his trial.2 1 8

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of the judges how a man so cultivated,so intel l igent

,

and even so able , as he unquestionably was—h isembassy in Vienna had been a brill iant successshould have become the plaything of the Countess deLamotte .

“ H is incredible credul i ty, says the Due de Levis,

was really the knot of the whole affair .” However,

i t i s not so incredible as i t seems . The very fact ofh isi ntel l igence partial ly explains i t. As Suzanne says toFigaro in the B arber of Sev i l le,

“ i ntel lectual men arefools ,

” particularly when there is a woman in the case,

and Madame de Lamotte was clever and fascinatingenough to have turned the head of the Devil h imself.As a result of th is strategy the Countess managed

to mulct the Cardinal of l ivres . The figurethat she cut on th i s money confirmed the rumours ofher intimacy with the Queen , a circumstance she didnot fail to turn to account. By paying those whom sheowed she obtained from them and others stil l greatercredit , whereby the foundations of the vast structureof deceit in which she l ived were stil l further strengthened and extended . She had no longer to askforcredit

,i t was offered to her, and people even came to

implore her to use her boasted influence at Court intheir behal f. Some si lk merchants of Lyons, whodesired the patronage of the Queen , sent her a case ofsuperb stuffs valued at l iv res .I t was in th is way that she became acquaintedwi

Bohmer,the maker of the famous necklace .

Except the Cardinal , i t would be impossibleimagine a more ridiculous monomaniac than thisJ ew . For over ten years he had looked up hisfortune in a matchless j ewel ” for wh ich h

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T he D iamon d Necklace Affair

unable to find a purchaser. Marie Antoinette,in

particular, had been pestered to buy it, t il l her patiencebeing exhausted she ordered Bohmer never to ment ionit to her again .

1 He obeyed her,but none the less

continued to hope she would change her mind . I n thecourse of ten years th is hope became a fixed idea

,

which he sought to real ize by b ookor crook . Thushearing that Madame de Lamotte had great influencewith the Queen

,Bohmer came

,l ike the S i lk merchants of

Lyons and others,to purchase i t if possible .

I t did not take the wily Countess long to gaugethe credul ity of her visitor

,or to make up her mind

that i t was worth her while to exploit i t . Needless tosay, a woman clever enough to persuade the GrandAlmoner of France that a fil le de joze of the PalaisRoyal from whom he had received a rose in the parkof Versailles was Marie Antoinette

,would have no

difficulty in getting possession of BOhmer’

s necklace .

The Cardinal,who had been marking time, so to

speak, at Saverne ever since h is adventure, was hastilysummoned to Paris to perform a service for herMajesty concerning wh ich she enjoined the strictestsecrecy. When Rohan

,who had travelled post in a

bl izzard , discovered what the service was he wasstaggered . No wonder. The Queen , he was informed ,wished him to be her secur i ty for the purchase of the

1 Marie Antoinette is said to have told Bohmer she could not

afford to buy it, but with her well-known extravagance and pass ionfor diamonds one cannot help thinking she would have found themean s had the n ecklace really appealed to her. T he fact thatBohmer could find no purchaser suggests that he had as little tasteas brain s . T he Cardinal, who like the Queen kn ew a beautifulobject when he saw it

,thought the n ecklace anything but a beautiful

ornamen t, and when told that the Queen wanted it, wondered whatshe could see in it.

Cagliostro

necklace , for which she had agreed to payl ivres in four instalments of equal amountsat intervals of s ix months . Madame de Lamotte,however, succeeded in persuading him to affix h i ssignature to the necessary documents —and indue course BOhmer’s “ matchless j ewel ” was in herpossession .

I t d id not take her long “ to break it up,as Mar ie

Antoinette had advised Bohmer to do years before .Her manner of disposing of the diamonds

,wh ich she

“ picked from the setting with a knife,

” was itself aromance . But it i s imposs ible in so hurried a re

'

sume’

of th i s imbrogl io to enter into any particulars thathave no connection whatever with Cagl iostro .

The de’nouemen t arr ived s ix months later when thefirst instalment of l ivres became due . Madamede Lamotte awaited it with perfect indifference. Shehad involved the Cardinal too deeply to have anyfears for herself. The very per i l to whichke wasexposed wasker safety. At al l costs Rohan would beobl iged to pay for the necklace to prevent a scandal .She made a mistake , however, i n not informing

h im in time that the Queen was not in a posi tion topay the instalment, whereby as her security thel iabil i ty devolved on h im . Fo r never dreaming thatsuch a contingency was possible

,he was utterly unpre

pared for i t when i t came . Cr ippled with debt, he wasunable to put h is hand on 400 ,000 1ivres at a moment’snotice. The difficulty he found in rais ing the summade Bohmer so nervous that he consulted MadameCampan

,one of the Queen ’s ladies- in -wai t ing . She

informed the j eweller that [he was mad if he imaginedthe Queen had bough t h i s necklace . Hereupon

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through a confidante of whom she had never heard,

she was transported with indignation . Forgettingthat she was a Queen

,which she did too often , she

remembered only that she was a woman , and withoutth inking of the consequences

,insisted that the Cardinal

should be arrested and her reputat ion publicly vindicated. Louis XVI , whose misfortune it was to begu ided by her when he shouldn ’t , and never when heshould—a misfortune that in the end was to cost h imcrown and l ife—at once ordered the arrest of theGrand Almoner

,who

,attired in h i s pontifical robes ,

was carried off then and there to the Basti l le l ike acommon criminal before the eyes of the entire Court .The arrest o f the Cardinal 1 was in due course

followed by that of the Countess de Lamotte ,Cagliostro and h i s wife

,the “ Baroness d’

O liva,

” whohad acted the part of the Queen in the park ofVersail les , R é teaux de Vilette

,who had forged the

Queen’

s letters to Rohan , and several others on whomsuspic ion had fal len . The Bastille

,as Carlyle says ,

opened i ts iron bosom to them all .” 2Such in br ief is the story of the rape of the

Diamond Necklace .

The trial that followed has been justly descr ibed asthe prologue of the Revolution . T o the calumnies i tgave birth may be traced the hatred which engenderedthe Reign of Terror.

1 T he Cardinal was arrested on the 1 5th , and Cagliostro on the

2 3rd August, 1 785 .

2 Lamotte alone succeeded in escaping .

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Lamotte and crushed h im on the forehead of theQueen , wh ich wil l retain the marks .”I t was by his advice , i ndeed, that Louis XVI

had been persuaded to grati fy the rage of his recklessconsort. The opportunity of ruin ing his enemy hadbeen too great for B reteu il to resist. The weakness of the K ing , the unpopular i ty of the Queen andthe faults of a blundering minister were thus al ikeaccentuated .

“When a king has absolute power, says Chaixd

’

Es t-Ange , “ i t is without doubt at such a time as thisthat he should use i t to stifle scandal .” The arrest ofthe Cardinal could only have been justified by hisconviction . I t was a question o f h i s honour or theQueen ’s . Th i rty years before it would have been aneasy matter to find him guilty, but the spirit of disrespect for a tyrannized and stupid authori ty which wasbeginning to assert i tsel f everywhere made Rohan ’

s

convic t ion extremely difficult, i f not altogether impossible . For Louis XVI , from am is taken sense of equ itywh ich was interpreted as weakness, allowed the Parl iament to try him .

This was the height of fol ly . For sixty yearsthere had been war between the Court and the Parl iament. I n the truce wh ich had taken place on theaccession of Louis XVI , the members had resumedtheir del iberations more imbued than ever withspiri t of resistance ; embittered by a long exile tregarded their recal l as a victory. Thus to giveParl iament the power of determ in ing the guil tinnocence of the Cardinal

,which was in real ity tha

the Queen herself, was to take an acknowenemy for a judge .

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T he Diamond Necklace Affair

When the news of the Cardinal ’s arrest reached theParl iament, one of the most popular members—he afterwards perished on the guil lotine l ike most of themcr ied out, rubbing h i s hands, “ Grand and joyful business ! A Cardinal in a swindle ! The Queen impl icated i n a forgery ! Fil th on the crook and on thesceptre ! What a tr iumph for ideas of l iberty ! Howimportant for the Parl iament !I n such circumstances i t is not s urpr is ing that the

tr ial of the Cardinal and his co-accuses should become,

as Mirabeau wrote , “ the most serious affair in thekingdom .

”

The great family of Rohan left no stone unturnedto save the honour of their name . To assist thembut inspired by qu i te other motives—they had all theenemies of the Queen and the M in istry, as well as thepeople who considered the Cardinal the victim ofdespotism . Women i n particular were all for la BelleEminence. I t was the fash ion to wear ribbons half redand half yellow, the former representing the Cardinal ,the latter the straw on wh ich he was supposed to l ie inthe Bastille . Cardinal sur lapai l le was the name ofthe r ibbon , wh ich was worn even in the palace ofVersailles itsel f.To save the honour of the throne the Government

was obl iged to descend into the arena and figh t theforces arrayed against i t. The attention of thecivil ized world was thus r iveted on the trial , which lastednine months . No detai l was kept secret, accountswere publ ished daily in which the sl ightest incidentwas recorded . France and Europe were inundatedwith l ibels and calumnies in which the reputations ofall concerned were torn to shreds .

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Caglio stro

Throw enough mud and some of i t i s sure to stick .

I t took more than half a century to cleanse the honourof Mar ie An to inette of al l suspicion of connivance inthe theft of the necklace .The mistrust that mystery and magic always

inspire made Cagl iostro with his fantastic personal ityan easy target for calumny . After having been r iddledwith abuse ti ll he was unrecognizable , prejudice , thefoster- ch i ld of calumny , proceeded to lynch h im ,

so tospeak . For over on e hundred years his character hasdangled on the gibbet of infamy, upon . which thesbi rr i of tradition have inscr ibed a curse on any onewho shal l attempt to cut h im down.

H is fate has been his fame . He is remembered inhistory

,not so much for anyth ing he did

,as for what

was done to him . The Diamond Necklace Affair,in

wh ich the old regime and the new met in their due ! tothe death

,was Caglios tro

’

s damnation . I n judginghim to -day, i t is absolutely essential to bear i n mindthe unparall eled lack of scruple with which the Government and its enemies contested this trial .

I I

I mpl icated in her swindle by the Countess deLamotte , to whose accusations h is close intimacy withthe Cardinal gave weight, Cagl iostro was arrestedat seven in the morn ing by I nspector Brugn iere ,accompanied by Commissary Chesnon and eightpol icemen .

“He desired me , says Cagl iostro, who has desch i s arrest in detail

,

“ to del iver up my keys,and

pelled me to open my bureau , which I did.

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But to Cagl iostro his rol e was very far from comic .The consciou sness of innocence is not necessarily aconsolation in adversi ty . I t po i sons as often as itst imulates— according to the temperament . Cagl iostrowas utterly crushed by the blow that had fallen onhim . The gloom of the Bastil le , which the popularimagination haunted by old legends made deeper thanit was

,seemed to chil l h is v ery soul . He who had

faced wi th “ a front of brass ” all the prev ious dangersand humil iations of his agitated existence was for thefi rst t ime cowed . l l luminist, Egyptian Mason , Mys ticRegenerator of Mankind— Revolutionist, in a wordhe had no confidence in the justice of the power intowhose hands he had fal len . He bel ieved that hewould be forgotten in h is dungeon l ike so manyo thers .The severi ty with which he was treated was

calculated to j usti fy h is fears .“Were I left to choose,” he says , “ between an

ignomin ious death,and s ix months in the Bastil le , I

would say without hesitation,

‘ Lead me on to the

For five months he was not only i n ignorance , butpurposely misinformed

,as to what was transpiring

without hi s pri s on . During th i s time the beautiful ,

Countess,less rigorously guarded , was confined near

h im without his knowledge. As soon as Brugn iérehad carried off her husband

, Ches non and the pol ice ,who had remained behind after search ing for incriminating documents which they did not find , attachedseals to the house and carried her off too , “ half deadwi th fear

,to the Basti l le . I n response to Cagl ios tro

’

s

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T he Diamond Necklace Affair

captiv i ty, as he feared , his jailers swore by theirhonour and God that she was not in the Bastil le .This deception was even carried to the length of

permitting him to wri te letters to her which neverreached her, and to receive repl ies which she neverwrote, in wh ich she ass ured him that she was takings teps to restore him to freedom . As the CountessCagl iostro could not write

,a friend was supposed to

write the letters for her. I n the same way i f hewanted c lothes or l inen he would dispatch a l ine tohis wife

,and an official would go to h i s house and

fetch what he required , bringing back a letter fromthe Countess calculated to make him bel ieve that theyhad been sent by her.At the s ame t ime the Cardinal was l iving in almost

as much comfort as i f he had been in his own palace .He occupied a spacious apartment , had three of hisservants to wait on h im , and saw as many people ashe wished . The number of h is vi s i tors was so greatthat the drawbridge of the Bast i l le was kept loweredthroughout the day . On one occasion he even gavea dinner of twenty cov ers .”AS money— and Cagl iostro had plen ty of it—l ike

rank,was able to purchas e equal consideration in the

Bastil le, the contras t in the treatment of the twoprisoners almos t warrants the supposition that thejailers derived no l ittle amusement from making sportof the sufferings of one who was alleged to be immunefrom those ills to which mere clay is prone. Thereare many people to whom a weeping Pierrot is asfunny as a laughing one .

I t was not til l h is despondency , on discovering ashe eventually did that hi s wife was a pri soner l ike

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Cagliostro

himself, threatened to affect h is reason that the severityof his confinement was relaxed . To prevent him fromcommitting suic ide

,T hiroux de Crosne

,the minister

who had issued the warrant for his arrest,advised de

Launay, the Governor of the Bast il le ,“ to choose a

warder,l ikely to be sympathetic , to sleep in h is cel l.”

He was also permi tted, l ike the other prisoners , tohave exerc ise and to select a lawyer to defend h im .

The first use he made of this privilege was topetition the Parl iament—“ to release his wife from adungeon

,where a man h imsel f had occasion fo r all h i s

strength , all h is forti tude , and all h is resignation tostruggle against despair .”

The Bastil le was too massive a cage for so del icatea bird . I mpl icated without the shadow of a reason inthe Necklace Affair the Countess Cagliostro began toimagine herself il l . She pined for her fine house , heradmirers

,her diamonds

,her black mare Djerid , and the

companionship of the man to whom she owed all thatspel t happiness in her inoffensive

,doll - l ike exis tence .

Moved to pity less by the peti t ion of Cagl iostro thanby the pleading of her lawyer, Po lv erit, and the elo

quence of d’

Epremen il, the most br i l l iant member ofthe Parl iament

,that body was finally pers uaded to set

her free without a trial after having been imprisonedseven months in the Bast i l le .The release of the Countess Cagl iostro

,to which

the Court was bitterly opposed,was the first reverse

of the Government in the duel to wh ich i t had sofool ishly challenged public Opinion .

No sooner was the news known than fr iends ands trangers al ike came to congratulate her. For morethan a week nearly three hundred people came daily

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Cagliostro

swindler. To penetrate the mystery in wh ich he hadwrapped his origin she invented for h im a low andshameful past, which the editou of the Cour ier de

l’

E urope and the I nquisition -biographer afterwardsmerged into Giuseppe Balsamo ’s . She r id iculed hiscures , and c ited the Medical Facul ty as witnesses ofthe deaths he had caused . She declared his disinterestedness and h i s generosity to b e a fraud , andaccused h im of practis ing in private the vices hedenounced in publ ic . Having stripped him of thelast sti tch of respectabi l i ty she proceeded to exposethe woman who passed as h is wife

,and whose l iaison s

with the Cardinal and others she declared he en

couraged. As for the wonders he was said to performthey were not even worthy of the name of tricks onlyfools were taken in by them . I n fine

,to Madame

de Lamotte,the Grand Cophta was nothing but

“ anarch empiric

,a mean alchemist

,a dreamer on the

philosopher ’s stone,a false prophet

,and a J ew who

had taken to pieces the necklace which he hadbeguiled the Cardinal

,over whom he had gained an

incredible influence,to entrust to h im , in order to

swell a fortune unheard of before .

Th i s memozre—the fi rst of many which the variouspersons impl icated in the Affair rained upon . the publ ic— was to an impatient world the signal that the battlehad begun . Excitement

,already at fever heat , was

intensified by the boldness,directness and violence of

Madame de Lamotte ’s denunciation . I t was felt thatto justi fy h imself Cagl iostro would be obliged to clearup the mystery of h is past . Never before had the“ Grand Coffer

,

” as he was cal led by a pol ice officialwho unwittingly confounded the ti tl e and the fortune

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T he D iamond Necklace Aflh ir

of the restorer of Egyptian Masonry, roused curiosi tyto so high a pitch . The recollection of h is reputedprodigies gave to his expected self- revelation thecharacter of an evocation , so to speak ; and the publ ic ,as ready to mock as it had formerly been to respecth im

,awaited h is defence as a sort of magic séance at

which all the tricks of necromancy were to be explained .

Cagl iostro employed to defend him T hilorier, oneof the youngest and most promising advocates of theParisian bar. Perhaps no cause ce

’

léére in h istory hasever cal led forth a more br i l l iant display of legal talentthan the Diamond Necklace Affair . Ofall the mémoiresor statemen ts that were publ ished by the advocatesengaged in the case that of T hilorier created thegreatest sensation .

Warned by the tumult occasioned by the rush ofpurchasers who had bes i eged the house of Madame deLamotte ’s advocate on the publication of her memoi re,T hilorier took the precaution to secure eight soldiersof the watch to guard his door. Wi th in a few hourstens of thousands of copies were scattered over Paris ,and large editions were dispatched to the principalcities of Europe . I t was regarded as a romance afterthe s tyle of the A raé ian N zg/tts rather than the seriousdefence of a man whose l iberty and very l i fe were atstake . Everywhere people read i t with a sort ofamused bewilderment

,and T h ilorier himself, says

Beugnot,“ who was a man of infinite wit , was the

first to laugh at i t .As a mas terpiece of irony

,clearness , dignity, and

wit it was equalled only by Blondel ’s defence of the“ Baroness d’

Ol iva. But its ch ief meri t lay not s omuch in the piquancy of i ts l iterary s tyle as in i ts

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Cagl iostro

portrayal of Caglios tro . Those who read th is fantas ticdocument fel t that they not only s aw the man butcould hear h im speak . T hilorier had drawn h is heroto the l ife .Beginn ing with a h igh -flown and egotistical re

capitulat ion of h is sufferings and virtues Cagliostroproceeded to refute “ those imputations (as to hisorigin) which in any other circumstance he wouldhave treated wi th contempt ” by relating “ withcandour the his tory of h is l ife . As a specimen of hisgrandiloquence i t is worth quoting at some length .

“ I cannot, he says, speak positively as to the

place of my nativ i ty , nor to the parents who gave mebirth . All my inquiries have ended only in givingme some great notions , i t is true , but al together vagueand uncertain

,concern ing my family .

“ I Sp ent the years of my childhood in the c ity ofMedina in Arabia. There I was brought up underthe name of Acharat , which I preserved during myprogress through Afr ica and Asia. I had my apartments in the palace of the Muphti Salahaym . I t isneedless to add that the Muphti i s the chief of theMahometan rel igion

,and that his constant residence

is at Medina .

I recol lect perfectly that I had then four personsattached to my service : a governor, between fifty-fiv e

and s ixty years of age,whose n ame was Althotas , 1

1 T he existence of Althotas i s now generally conceded . Aplaus ible attempt has been made to identify h im with a certainKolmer from whom Weishaupt received lesson s in magic, and whowas said to be a Jutland merchan t who had lived some years inMemphis and afterwards travelled through Europe pretending toin itiate adepts in the an c ient Egyptian Mysteries . H e was knownto have v is ited Malta in the time of the Grand Master Pinto .

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that Med ina and my youthful sports there lost all theal lurements I had found in them before. At last

,when

I was in my twelfth year,Althe tas informed me one

day that we were going to commence our travels . Acaravan was prepared and we set out , after havingtaken our leave of the Muphti , who was pleased toexpress his concern at our departure in the mostobl iging manner .

On our arrival at Mecca we al igh ted at thepalace of the Cherif. Here Althotas provided me withsumptuous apparel and presented me to the Cheri f,who honoured me with the most endear ing caresses .At s ight of th is prince my senses experienced a suddenemotion , wh i ch i t is n ot i n the power of words toexpress

,and my eyes dropped the most del ic ious tears

I have ever shed in my l i fe . H is,I perceived

,he

could hardly contain .

I remained at Mecca for the space of three years ;not a day passed without my being admitted to thesovereign ’s presence

,and every hour increased h is

attachment and added to my gratitude . I sometimessurprised h is gaze riveted upon me

, and turned toheaven with every expression of pity and commiseration . Thoughtful , I would go from him a prey to anever- fruitless curiosity . I dared not question Althotas ,who always rebuked me with great severi ty

,as i f i t had

been a crime in me to wish for some information concern ing my parents and the place where I was born .

I attempted in vain to get the secret from the negrowho slept in my apartment . I f I chanced to talk ofmy parents he would turn a deaf ear to my questions.But one night when I was more pressing than usual ,he told me that if ever I should leave Mecca I was

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T he D iamond Necklace Affair

threatened with the greatest misfortunes,and bid me

,

above all ,keware of tke city of T reéizond.

“My incl ination , however, got the better of his forebodings— I was tired of the un iformity of l ife I led atthe Cherif

’

s court . One day when I was alone theprince entered my apartment ; he strained me to h isbosom with more than usual tenderness

,bid me never

cease to adore the Almighty, and added, bedewing mycheeks with his tears : ‘N ature

’

s unfortunate cki ld,adieu

Th i s was our last interview . The caravan waitedonly for me and I set off, leav ing Mecca, never tore -enter i t more .

“ I directed my course first to Egypt,where I in

spected those celebrated pyramids which to the eye ofthe superficial observer only appear an enormous massof marble and granite . I also got acquainted with thepriests of the various temples

,who had the com

placence to introduce me into such places as noordinary traveller ever entered before . The nextthree years of my progress were spent in the pr incipalkingdoms of Africa and Asia . Accompanied byAlthotas , and the three attendan ts who continued inmy service

,I arrived in 1 766 at the island of Rhodes,

and there embarked on a French ship bound toMalta

Notwithstanding the general rule by wh ich allvessels coming from the Levant are obliged to enterquarantine, I obtained on the second day leave to goashore . Pinto

,the Grand Master of the Knights of

Malta , gave us apartments in h is palace , and I perfectlyrecollect that mine were near the laboratory.

“The first thing the Grand Master was pleased to2 39

Cagliostro

do , was to request the Cheval ier d’

Aqu ino ,of the

pr incely house of Caramanica, to hear me companyand do me the honours of the island . I t was here thatI first assumed European dress and with it the nameof Count Cagl iostro ; nor was i t a smal l matter ofsurprise to me to see Althotas appear in a clerical dresswith the ins ignia of the Order of Malta.

I have every reason to bel iev e that the GrandMaster Pinto was acquainted wi th my real origin . Heoften spoke to me of the Cherif and mentioned theci ty of T rebizond

,but never would consen t to enter

into further particulars on the subj ect . Meanwhile hetreated me with the utmost dis tinction , and as sured meof very rapid preferment if I would cons ent to takethe cross . But my taste for travell ing and the predominant desire of practis ing medicin e , induced meto decl ine an offer that was as generous as it washonourable .

I t was in the island of Malta that I had the misfortune of losing my best friend and master, the wis es tas wel l as the most learned of men

,the venerable

Althotas . Some minutes before he expired , pres s ingmy hand

,he said in a feeble voice

,

‘My son , keep forever before your eyes the fear of God and the love ofyour fel low - creatures ; you wil l soon be convinced byexper i ence of what you have been taught by me .

’

The spot where I had parted for ever from thefr iend who had been as a father to me , s oon becameodious . I begged leave of the Grand Master to quitthe island in order to travel over Europe ; he con

sented reluctantly,and the Cheval ier d’

Aqu ino was soobl iging as to accompany me . Our first trip was toSic i ly

,from thence we went to the different islands

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Rome he arrived at S trasburg at a bound , whence heproceeded to his imprisonment in the Bastille withalmost equal speed . H is confession , rendering as itdid his country and parentage more mysterious thanever

,was received with deris ion . The credulous

public,which had swallowed so easi ly al l the ex

travagan t stories concerning h is supernatural powersrefused to bel ieve in th is fantastic account of amyster ious childhood pas sed in Mecca and Medina

,

of caravans and pyramids , of tolerant Muphtis andbenignant Grand Masters of Malta . I t was not thatthe credul ity of the eighteenth century had i ts l imi tbut that calumny had mesmerized it , so to speak .

Cagl ios tro’

s prestige had been submerged in theNecklace Affair ; the bl ight of the Bastil l e had fal lenon the fame of the Grand COphta and all h is works .As the manner in wh ich he stated h is ignorance

of h is birth seemed to leave i t to be inferred that heknew more than he wished to say, i t was determinedto give him a father . Wh i le h i s enemies agreed withthe Countess de Lamotte that he was the son of aNeapol itan coachman , h i s friends declared h im to bethe offspring of the i ll ic it loves of the G rand MasterPinto and a princess of Trebizond. To account forthe meeting of this S ingular pair i t was gravely assertedthat a Maltese galley had captured a Turkish pleasureboat with several young ladies of dist inc tion on board

,

one of whom had ex ckangedkearts with Pinto , who ,prevented by his v ow of cel ibacy from making her h iswife , had sent her backto her disconsolate parents

,

and that to frustrate their rage at the condit ion inwhich she had returned she had caus ed her ch i lda s soon as i t was born to he spiri ted away to Arabia

,

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T he D iamond Necklace Affair

wh ich accounted for themysterious warning Acharat hadreceived from the black slave “ to beware of Trebizond

.

Ridicule, however, soon disposed of this agreeablefable, and substituted instead the popular Balsamolegend in wh ich just as muckas i tkas pleased sub

sequentkiograplzers to accept of Cagl iostro’

s confess ionhas been included . As to whether he spoke the truthwholly or partly or not at all , the present wr iter,confronted with h is mysterious and fantastic characteron the one hand and the assertions based on theprejudice of a century on the other , i s unable to expres sany opinion . I t seems , however , hard to bel ieve thatany man placed in so s erious a situation as Cagl iostro ,and one wh ich , moreover, had thoroughly shaken hiscourage , would have ventured to invent a s torycalculated to increase the suspicion it was h is objectto allay. To the present generation , accustomedby the press to infinitely greater improbabil ities

,

Cagl ios tro’

s adventures in Mecca and Medina haveat least lost the air of incredibil i ty.

IV

As may be surmised from the cursory account ofthe Diamond Necklace Affair already given , Cagl iostrohad no difficul ty in proving h is innocence. The merecompari son of the dates of the various incidents of theimbrogl io with h i s own whereabouts at the time wassufficient to vindicate h im .

Throughout the whole of 1 784 , wh ile the Cardinalwas corresponding , as he supposed , with the Queen ,meeting her in the park of Vers ail les , and purchas ingthe necklace

,Cagl iostro was in Bordeaux and Lyons .

He did not arrive in Par i s til l J anuary 30 ,1 785

R 2 2 43

Caglio stro

i t was on February 1 that the Cardinal gave thenecklace to Madame de Lamotte to hand to theQueen

.Accordingly

,i f Cagl iostro had ever even

s een the necklace, i t could only have been betweenJanuary 30 and February 1 when BOhmer had alreadyobtained the Cardinal ’s guarantee in exchange forhis precious jewel . This , however, he denied .

“ I twas not

,

” he said,

“ ti l l a fortnight before the Cardinalwas arrested that he informed me for the first time ofthe transaction about the necklace .

But Cagl ios tro was not content with merelyestabl ishing his innocence . Madame de Lamotte’sattack on his character had deeply wounded him in h i smost sensitive spot—h i s vanity—and pride would notsuffer him to ignore her gibes .She had described him as an arch empir ic, a

mean alchemist,a dreamer on the ph ilosopher ’s stone

,

a false prophet , and a profaner of the true rel igion .

”

Empiric,” he said

,refuting each epi thet in turn ,

not without a certa in dignity ; “ th is word I have oftenheard without knowing exactly what i t meant. I f i tmeans one who without being a doctor has someknowledge of medicine and takes no fee

,who attends

to rich and poor al ike and receives no money fromeither, then I confess I am an empiric .

“ Mean alchemist . Alchemist or not,the epithet

mean is applicable only to those who beg or cringe,

and i t is well known whether Count Cagl iostro everasked a favour of any one .

“ Dreamer on the ph i losopher’s stone. Whatevermy opinion may be concerning the philosopher’s stone ,I have kept it to myself and never troubled the publicwith my dreams

.

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consul ted Cagliostro on “ the pricking of a thumb ,which made her “ regret she did not l ive in thoseblessed times when a charge of sorcery would have ledhim to the stake .

”

But while she attempted to overwhelm the um

fortunate creature she had chosen to saddle with herown guilt

,he dexterously turned the tables upon her.

Assuming that her calumnies were inspired by the

desire to c lear herself rather than hatred , he forgaveher the tears of bitterness she had caused him toshed

Do not imagine,he said

,wi th the ai r of sublime

bombast that was characteristi c of h im ,

“ that mymoderation is a piece of mere affectation . From thebottom of the abyss into which you have plunged meI shal l raise ~ my voice to implore in your behalf theclemency of the laws ; and if, after my innocence andthat of my wife is acknowledged

,the best gof kings

should th ink an unfortunate stranger who had settledin France on the faith of his royal word

,of the laws of

hospitali ty , and of the common rights of nations isenti tled to some indemnity

,the only satisfaction I shal l

require will be that h is Majesty may be pleased,at my

request, to pardon and set at l iberty the unfortunateCountess de Lamotte . However guil ty she may besupposed , she is already sufficiently punished . Alas !as I have been taught by sad exper i ence

,there i s no

crime ever so great but may be atoned for by s ix

months in the Bastille !B lague or conviction , at such a moment, i t would

be churl ish to inquire. When one i s fighting for l i feand l iberty one readily avails oneself of any weaponthat comes to hand . At least so thought Madame de

2 46

T he D iamond Necklace AffairLamotte . Fail ing further abuse of which She had beendepriv ed by a rzposte as unexpected as i t was subtle , shepicked up a candlestick. Hurled at the head of heradversary , i t

“ h i t h im in the s tomach,to the amuse

ment of the court, the judges and Madame de Lamottehers elf, who remarked to her counsel that “ i f hewished to render the scene sti l l more amusing he hadbut to give her a broomstick .

”

But neither abusive epithets nor candlesticks arearguments . Finding herself on the wrong road

,the

Countess made haste to leave it for another. I t was‘no longer Cagl iostro who had stolen the necklace

,but

the Cardinal .At las t, after more than nine months, the famous

affair came to an end . On May 30 , 1 786 ,al l the

accused were summoned before the Parl iament . WhenCagl iostro arrived , tricked out as usual l ike a mountebank in a coat of green s i lk embroidered with gold

,

and his hair fal l ing in l i ttle tails on h is shoulders, thewhole assemblage burst into a laugh . But to h im itwas anything but an occasion for merriment ; he wasserious to the point of solemnity .

“Who are you asked the president .An illustrious traveller

,was the reply . Then

with imperturbable gravi ty he began in his loud ,metall ic voice

,wh ich Madame d’

Oberkirch comparedto a “ trumpet veiled in crape

,to repeat the story of

his l ife .At the mention of Trebizond the laughter re

doubled . This made him nervous , and either uncons cious ly from old habit, or in the hope of exciting aninterest favourable to his cause

,be related h is adven

tures in a jargon composed,says Beugnot,

“ of all247

Cagliostro

known languages as well as those which never existed .

The gibberish be employed rendered him and hisstory still more fantastic . The laughter in the courtwas so loud that at times the voice of the speaker wasdrowned . Even the judges were convulsed . At thefinish the president seemed to be on the point ofcompl imenting “ Nature ’s unfortunate child .

” I t wasevident that Cagl iostro had won the sympathy of thos eon whom his fate depended . Of the verdict of themob there was no doubt . He took the cheers withwh ich he was greeted on being driven back to theBastille as a premonition of h i s acquittal . One writersays be displayed the joy he fel t by throwing his hatinto the air.”

On the following day (May 3 1 ) the Parl iamentpronounced the verdict . The Cardinal and Cagl iostrowere unanimously acquitted—the innocence of thelatter had been acknowledged by al l impl icated in thetr ial , even in the end by the Countess de Lamotteherself.1

The verdict was immensely popular. “ I don ’tknow what would have befal len the Parl iament

,s aid

1 One, de Soudak, in an interesting rev iew ofM . Fun ck-Brentano’s

L’Afiaire du Col lier, in the Paris Temps, April 1 , 1 90 2 , i s the on lymodern writer who has ventured to question this verdict. T he valueof his Opin ion may b e judged from an article by him in the R evue

B leue,1 899, in wh ich he attempts to iden tify a mysterious French

woman who died in the Crimea in 1 8 2 5 with the Countess deLamotte, who died in London 1 79 1 , after escapin g from the

Salpétriére, to which she had been con demn ed for l ife. Her sen

tence—the judges were unan imous in finding her guilty—alsoincluded being whipped naked by the executioner, branded on the

shoulders with the letter V. (voleuse), and the confiscation of all her

property.” T he sen tences of the others impl icated in this affair neednot concern us here.

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gift of an ardent soul and a sensi t ive heart, you whohave experienced the del ights of a first love , youalone will understand me , you alone wil l appreciatewhat after ten months of torture the first moment ofbliss is l ike ! ”

Both Cagl iostro and the Cardinal were obl iged toshow themselves at the windows of their respectivehouses before the crowds , which were cheer ing themand hissing the name of the Queen , could be inducedto disperse.To Marie Antoinette, whose popularity was for

ever blasted by the trial , the verdict of the Parl iamentwas an insul t— as it was meant to b e— which in tolerable though it was , she would have been wise to haveborne in silence. But it was her fate to the last tohold the honour of the woman h igher than the maj estyof the Queen . Having made the blunder of arrestingthe Cardinal and suffering the Parl iament to try him ,

the King, advised by her, now committed the folly ofShowing his resentment of the verdict

,which had after

all, in the eye of the law, c leared h i s consort of com

plicity i n the swindle. On June 2,the day after his

release from the Basti lle , Rohan was stripped of allhis Court dignities and functions

,and exiled to one of

his abbeys in Auvergne . At the same time,Cagliostro

was also ordered to leave Paris with his w i fe with in aweek , and F rance with in three .The news no sooner became known than an

immense concourse of people flocked to manifes t theirdisapproval in front of the house of the Grand CophtaBut if he mistook their demonstration of hatred of theQueen as a sign of sympathy for himsel f

,populari ty

under such conditions was too fraught with danger for2 50

T he D iamond Necklace Affair

him to take any pleasure in it . Terrified lest theGovernment should seize the opportunity of thrustinghim back into the Bastill e, he came out on the balconyof h is house and entreat ed the mob to withdrawquietly

,and then hurriedly left Paris .

He went first to Passy, wh i ther he was followed bya small band of his most faithful adherents

,who during

the few days he remained there mounted guard in thehouse in which he had taken shelter. A fortnightlater he embarked from Boulogne with h is wife forEngland . Upwards of five thousand people are saidto have witnessed his departure, many of

' whomdemanded and received his farewel l blessing on theirknees . France

,on a page of whose h i story he had

indel ibly printed his name,never saw him more.

There is an old and uncorroborated report that hewho had always been so puncti l ious in the dischargeof his l iabil ities left Paris without paying his rent . I tappears to have arisen from the action that be afterwards brought against the magistrate Ches non andde Launay

,the governor of the Bastille, to recover

property valued at l ivres which he declaredhad been stolen from his house dur ing h i s imprisonmen t and for which he sought to hold them responsible .His fai lure to substantiate the charge gave it theappearance of having been trumped up . Whether i thad any basis i n fact it is impossible to say, butthere can be no doubt from the manner in which the

that many v aluable articles might easily have been

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Cagliostro

spiri ted away in the confusion by uns crupulous servantsand even by the pol ice themselves .I f Cagl ios tro , however , failed to pay his rent the

proprietor of the house certainly took the matter veryl ightly . His house

,

” says Lenotre , remainedclosed ti ll the Revolution . I n 1 805 the doors wereopened for the first time in eighteen years when theowner sold the Grand Cophta

’

s furn iture by auction .

”

Surely a very long time to wait to indemnify onesel ffor unpaid rent ?A curious interest attaches to th is house, which is

sti ll s tanding,though long since shorn

’

of i ts splendouri n the days when the Cardinal and the aristocracy ofthe old regime came to assis t at Caglios tro

’

s magicséances . Yet in the meantime i t has not beenwithout a history . I n 1 85 5 the doors of the gatewaywere removed during some proces s of repair andreplaced by doors wh ich had formerly done serviceat the Temple where the Royal Family wereincarcerated after the fal l of the monarchy . Theymay be sti l l seen with their heavy bolts and hugelocks .What a fatal ity— the doors of Marie Antoinette’s

pri son closing Cagl ios tro’

s house ! History has hero i rony as well as her romance.

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methods of the R okan ists , as al l the enemies of theGovernment were called , and launch , l ike Calonne,Madame de Lamotte and so many others , l ibel afterl ibel at the honour of the defenceless and unpopularQueen—the low and contemptible revenge of low andcontemptible natures. On the contrary, he held theBaron de B reteu i l

,as the head of the Government,

directly responsible for h is suffer ings and attacked h imonce and once only, in h is famous Letter to tkeFrenclzThis letter

,wr i tten the day after his arr ival in

England,to a friend in Paris , was immediately

published in pamph let form , and even translated intoseveral languages . Scattered broadcast over Parisand al l France it created an immense sensation .

Directed against B reteuil , whose unpopular i ty , alreadygreat

,i t inc reased , i t assai led more or l ess openly the

monarchical pr inciple i tself. Of al l the pamphletswhich from the Necklace Affair to the fal l of theBastil le attacked the royal authority none are sodignified or so eloquent . The longing for freedom ,

which was latent in the bosom of every man andwh ich the ph i losophers and the secret societies hadbeen doing their best to fan into a flame , was revealedin every l ine. I t was not unreasonably regarded asthe confession of faith of an I l luminé . The I nquisi tionbiographer declares that i t was conceived in a spirit socalculated to excite a revolt that i t was with difficul tya printer cou ld be found in England to pr int i t.

1 T he Lettre an peup le franfais was dated the 2 0th June 1 786.

As stated in the prev ious chapter, Breteui l was the deadly enemy ofCardinal de Rohan , and encouraged Marie An toinette in demandinghis arrest of the King.

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Cagl iostro Return s to London

Cagliostro himsel f admits that i t was written with “ afreedom rather republican .

” 1

This letter gav e great offence to the FrenchGovernment and part icularly to the Baron de Breteu i lwho dominated it , and whose conduct in the NecklaceAffai r sufficiently proves his unfitnes s for the post befi l led . Under ordinary circumstances he would nodoubt have ignored the attack upon h imself. Hispride, the pride of an ari stocrat—he was the person ification of reaction—would have scorned to notice theinsult of one so far beneath him as Cagl iostro . Butthe prestige of the Government and the majesty of thethrone damaged by the unspeakable calumnies of theNecklace Affair had to be considered . Might not thesensation caused by the inflammatory Letter to tkoFrenckPeople encourage the author to follow it up byother and stil l more sedi tious pamphlets There wasbut onelway to prevent this contingency—tokidnap ltim.

For not only would i t be impossible to persuade theEngl ishGovernment to give h im up , but fut i le to attemptto purchase silence from one who had a grievance andmade it his boast that he never took payment for thefavours he conferred .

Before the days of extradition , kidnapping was a1 Nearly all who have written on Cagl iostro have erred in stating

that the letter con tained the “ prediction s that the Bastille would bedestroyed, its s ite become a public promenade, and that a kingwould reign in Fran ce who would abolish lettres de cac/zet and

convoke the States General —all of which actually occurred threeyears later in 1 789 . T he prediction s are the invention of the

Inquis ition -biographer to whose short-comings, to put it mildly,attention has frequently been called . Cagliostro merely says that ifin the future hewas permitted to return to France he would on ly do so

“prov ided the Bastille was destroyed and its s ite turned into a publicpromenade. A copy of th is letter, n owbecome very rare, is to be

seen in the French National Archives .

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Cagliostro

practice more or less common to all governments .E ighteenth century history

,particularly that of France

,

is ful l of such ins tances .1 Breteuil was , therefore,merely following precedent when he ordered Barthé lemy, the French Ambassador in London , to informCagliostro that “ H is Most Christian Majesty gaveh im permission to return to his domin ions .”This permis sion , was , accordingly , duly conveyed

to Cagliostro,with the request that he would cal l at a

certain hour on the following day at the Embassy whenthe ambassador would giv e h im any further informationon the subject he des i red . I t is exceedingly unl ikelythat Barthelemy intended to forcibly detain h im whenhe called

,but rather to gul l him by fals e pretences— a

not difficult proceeding in the case of one so notorious lyvain as Cagl ios tro —in to return ing to France . Be thisas i t may, on cal l ing on the ambassado r at theappointed hour he prudently invited Lord GeorgeGordon and one Bergeret de Frouvi lle , an admirerwho had followed him from France

,to accompany him .

This they not only did,but insisted in being present

throughout the interview .

Nettled by th is veiled suggestion of treachery,Barthelemy received h i s vis i tor in a manner whichserved to confirm this impres sion . Produc ing a letter

1 Many attempts were made at th is very time to kidnap the Coun tde Lamotte, who alone of al l “ wanted in the Necklace Affairsucceeded in escaping. On on e occas ion his murder was even

attempted . T he Countess de Lamotte herself, who es caped fromthe Salpétri ere to London and published the v ilest of al l the calumn iesagain st Marie Antoinette perished in jumping out of a window toelude capture . Numerous in stan ces of the kidnapping of Fren chsubjects in England by the French police are cited by Bris sot in hisMemoirs .

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Louis XVI ordered h is ambassador i n London tobring an action against Gordon .

Under ordinary circumstances Gordon , relying onthe resentment that England chef'ished against Francefor the part she had taken in the American War ofI ndependence

,would have had noth ing to fear. But

he was a rabid demagogue with a bad record . A fewyears before he had accepted the presidency of theProtestant Associat ion formed to secure the repeal ofthe act by wh i ch the Cathol ic disabil i t ies imposed inthe time of Will iam and Mary had been removed. I twas this associat ion which had fomented the famousGordon r iots

,as they were cal led , when London had

been on the point of being pillaged . Gordon , i t istrue

,had disclaimed all responsibi l i ty for the conduct

of the mob,which , however, acknowledged him as its

leader,and though tried for h igh treason had been

acquitted . But th is experience had not sobered hisfanaticism . He was the soul of sedition in his owncountry, and one of the most notorious and v iolentrevolut ionists in Europe at th is period . The B r i tishGovernment was only too glad of the opportunityafforded it by the French to reduce him to si lence.Gordon , accordingly , fled to Holland

,but learning

that the Dutch Government was preparing to sendhim back, he returned secretly to England . Soonafterwards he was betrayed -by a J ew,

whose rel igionhe had adopted and with whom he had taken shelter.The action of the French Government having in themeantime been decided against h im

,he was sentenced

to five years impri sonment and to pay a heavy fine .

This was the end of Lord George Gordon . For atthe expiration of his term of confinement

,being unable

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I IHad Cagl iostro come to England before h is fame

had been tarnished by the Necklace Affair, he wouldin al l probabil ity have been l ion ized by the best soc ietyas he was in France . But the unsavoury notoriety hehad acquired

,the hundred and one reports that were

circulated to h i s d iscredit and bel ieved , for peoplealways l isten more readily to the evi l that is said ofone than to the good , closed the doors of the ar istocracy to h im . I nstead of floating on the crest ofthe wave he was caught in the under- current . Withfew exceptions the acquaintances he made were morecalculated to lower h im sti l l further in the esteem ofrespectable society

,than to clear h im of the suspic ion

that attached to h im . The mere assoc iation of h isname with Lord George Gordon ’s would alone haveexcited mistrust . But the injury he received fromthe questionable manner i n which Gordon sought tobefriend him was tr ifl ing compared with the interestthat the Editor of the Cour ier ckl ’E urope took in h im .

T hev eneau de Morande, to give this individual aname

,was one of the greatest blackguards of h is time

—the last quarter of the eighteenth century producedmany who equalled him in infamy but none whosurpassed him . The son of a lawyer at Arnay- le -Ducin Burgundy, where he was born in 1 74 1 , T hev eneau

de Morande “ was ,” as M . Paul Rob iquet truly says

in his bri l l ian t study of him,

“ from the day of hisbi rth to the day of his death utterly without scruple 1

1 Tbeveneau de Morande : E tude sur le X ”MS iécle parPaul R ob iquet. By h is con temporaries the name of Morande was

never men tioned without an abus ive epithet. Bris sot, meeting himfor the first time in a restauran t in London , shuddered in stinctivelyat his approach .

”

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Cagliostro Return s to London

When a boy he was arrested for theft in a house ofil l - fame . Compelled to enl ist or be sent to prison hechose the former al ternative , but did not serv e long.

I n response to h i s entreaties his father obtained hisdischarge on condit ion that he would reform . I ns tead

,

however, of returning home as he promised , Morandewent to Paris , where his dissolute l ife led him to theprison of For- l’Ev éque . Hereupon his father s ol icitedthe favour of a lettre de cacket by means of which hewas confined in a convent at Armentieres .On being released two years later at the age of

four-and- twenty,having been imprudent enough to

lampoon one of the principal members of the Government , Morande fled the ' country . After trampingabout Belgium he arrived in London in a conditionof absolute want . But he was not long without meansof subsistence . The ease with which he extortedmoney by threatening to inform the pol ice of theequ ivocal l ives of such acquaintances as chance threwin his way suggested the sys tem of blackmail whichhe afterwards developed into a fine art .Gifted with a talent for writ ing he ventured to

attack notabil i t ies . From fear of his mordant , cynicalpen many were induced to purchase his silence . I nLe Gazetier Cu i rasse

’

, ou Anecdotes scandaleuses sur la

cour de Fran ce , all who had refused to purchas eexemption had been represented by him in the worstpossible l ight . For th is work ,Which Bris sot des cribesas “ one of those infamous productions the very nameof which one blushes to mention

,

” he is said to havereceived guineas .Emboldened by the fright b e i nspired he redoubled

his attacks,but they did not always meet with the

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Cagliostro

same success . He thought to extort a ransom fromVoltaire

,but the aged phi losopher of Ferney had

l ived through too much to be frightened for so l i ttle .

He publ ished Morande’

s letter, accompanied withcommentar ies of the sort he knew so wel l how tomake effective . The Comte de Lauraguais repl iedeven more effectively than Vol taire . Not only didhe obstinately refuse to pay the tribute demanded ofh im

,but

,being in London at the time, gave the black

mailer a horsewhipping , and compel led h im to publ ishan abject apology in the press into the bargain .

Morande , however, was not discou raged , and prepared to reap the most fruitful of all h is harvests.For the obj ect he had in v iewMadame du Barry wasa gold mine . The famous favourite of Louis XV wasnotoriously sensit ive on the subj ect of her reputation

,

and dreaded noth ing so much as a l ibel . Morande,

accordingly, wrote to inform he r that he had inpreparation a work in fou r volumes , to be entitled theMe

‘moires d’

une femme publ ique, i n which she wouldfigure as the heroine

,unless she preferred to pay a

handsome sum for i ts suppression . To assist her tocome to the latter decis ion a scenario of the work wassent her. “ Le Gazetier says Bachaumont,who saw it, “ was rose -water in compari son with thisnew ckefAlarmed and enraged , the poor creature communi

cated her fears and anger to the K ing,who appl ied

to George I I I forMorande’

s extradition . The attitudeof the Bri t i sh Government was characteristic of thepol itical moral i ty of the age . The laws and customsof England rendering the extradit ion of a foreignrefugee out of the quest ion

,the French Court was

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Cagliostro

l ivres in cash and a pension of l ivres, to be paidto Morande

’

s wife in the event of her surviving him .

I t was about th is t ime that Morande , withoutaltogether abandoning his career of blackmail , adoptedthe more profitable one of spy . I nstead of attackingauthori ty , he now offered to serve it. Having beentaught his value by exper ience , the French Government gladly accepted the offer . He began by“ watch ing the French colony in London , wh ichwas composed ch iefly of escaped criminals andpolit ical refugees , and ended as Editor of the

~

Cour ier

de l’

E urope.

This paper had been started by a refugee , Serresde Latour, with the object of instructing the Frenchpubl ic in the internal affairs of England , particularlyas regards her foreign policy . The money to financethe scheme had been supplied by a Scotchman byname of Swinton , who was granted every facil ity bythe Comte de Vergennes

,the French Minister for

Foreign Affairs, that would assist the enterprise .

Thus protected, the Cour ier de l’

E urope was asuccess from the start. I n a short time it hadsubscr ibers- nu enormous number for those daysand a revenue of l iv res . Bris sot, the leaderof the Girondins in the Revolution

,who was con

nected with i t for a time as a young man,estimated

its readers at over a mill ion .

“ There was not,

” hesays , “ a corner of Europe in wh ich i t was not read.

Such a widely circulated j ournal naturally hadgreat influence . ’

During the American War ofI ndependence its ever- i ncreasing success alarmed theEnglish Cabinet, wh i ch , instead of suppressing it ,fool ishly endeavoured to circumvent the laws respect

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Cagliostro Return s to London

ing the l iberty of the Press by placing an embargo onthe bales of the paper des tined for export

.But

Swinton parried this blow by causing it to be printedsimultaneously at Boulogne. “Whereupon

,says

Bris sot,“ the Engl ish Government resigned itself to

the inevitable and suffered the Cour ier de l ’E urope tocontinue to injure England under the protect ion ofEngl ish law itself.” Throughout the war which endedso humil iatingly for England , as Vergennes expressedit, “ the gazette of Latour was worth a hundred spiesto Fran ce.

Under the editorship of Morande , who succeededSerres de Latour, the journal , as may be imagined,more than maintained its reputation .

“ I n it,”

saysBris s ot, he tore to pieces . the mos t estimable people,spied on al l the French who l ived in or visited London ,and manufactured

,or caused to be manufactured,

articles to ruin any one he feared .

Such was the man,and such the weapon , that the

Court of Versailles,wh ich had frequently util ized both

before , now employed to destroy Cagl ios tro .

1

Morande,who had now become the ch ief of the

brigade of pol ice spies,which when he himself had

been their quarry he had so loudly denounced in theEngl ish press

,opened fire

,i n obedience to his

orders,on September 1 , 1 786 . For three months he

bombarded Cagl iostro unceasingly in a long s eries ofarticles that befouled

,calumniated

,and ridiculed him

wi th a devi l i sh cleverness. Like the Countess de1 Morande had one redeemin g quality. Royalist to the core,

he served the Fren ch Court loyally till the fall of the monarchy .Imprisoned during the Revolution , he escaped the gui llotine

o

by an

acc ident, and hav ing return ed to his native town , retired In to a

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Lamotte,he did not hesitate to deny h is own state

ments when others could be made more serv iceable .

Thus,after affi rming Nature ’s unfortunate ch i ld ” to

be the son of a coachman of the Neapol itan Duke ofCas tropignan i , he declared him to be the valet of thealchemist Gracci , known as the Cosmopol ite , fromwhom he had stolen al l h is secrets , which he hadafterwards exploited in Spain

,I taly, and Russia under

various titles sometimes a count,at o thers

'

amarquis,here-a Spanish colonel , there a Pruss ian—but alwaysand everywhere an impostor.I n this way rambling from article to article , from

calumny to calumny , without knowing where he wasgoing, so to Speak , Morande finally arrived at GiuseppeBalsamo—as described at the beginn ing of the book .

The discovery of Balsamo was a veri table trouvai l le.

I t enabled Morande to tack on to the var iegatedcareer of the S ici l ian scoundrel al l that he had hithertoaffirmed of Cagl ios tro

’

s past l ife without appearingto contradict h imself. Once . on Balsamo ’s track , henever lost scent of h im . He ferreted out or inventedall the stor i es concerning the Balsamos their marriage,the manner i n wh i ch t hey had l ived

,their forgeries ,

blackmail , poverty, l icentiousness , imprisonmenteverything, in fact , that could damage Cagl iostro andb is wife . He found people, moreover, to swear to thetruth of al l he said , or rather he asserted i t, and on thestrength of their accusations caused Cagl iostro to besued for debts incurred in the name of Balsamo yearsbefore . He collected all the hostile reports of theenemies the Grand Cophta had made in h is travelsthrough Europe and afterwards in the Necklace Affai r

,

and re -edited them with the precis ion of an h istor ian2 66

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Cagliostro Return s to London

and the mal ice of a personal enemy. Then,after

having done h im al l the injury he could and given theFrench Government ful l value for i ts money

,Morande

with brazen effrontery proposed to Cagl iostro that heshould purchase the si lence of the Couri er !But Cagl iostro was not the man—to his credit

,be

it said— to ignore the feigned indignation of thelibell ist who had been h ired to ruin him . Aided byT hilorier,

1 h is br i ll iant counsel in the Necklace Affair,

who happened to be in England, the wonder-workerpublished a Letter to tko E ng l i s/t People, in wh ich heflung in the face of the blackmailer all the atrocious actsof his own past . Morande , however, aware that anyeffort on h is part to clear himself of these accusationswould be useless, sought to distract attention from thesubj ect by dar ing Cagl iostro to disprove the chargesmade in the Cour ier . At the same time he thought tostab him to S i lence by cover ing with r idicule a statement which b e asserted Cagl iostro had made to theeffect that “ the l ions and tigers in the forests ofMedina were poisoned by the Arabians by devouringhogs fattened on arsenic for the purpose .The laughter wh ich th is reply arous ed evidentlyCagl iostro to the qu ick , and to refuteMorande

’

s

accusation of charlatan ism,he wrote the

g letter to the Publ ic Adverti ser , in which ,1 some prel iminary sarcasms, he said“ Of all the fine stories that you have inventedut me, the best i s undoubtedly that of the pig

fattened on arsenic wh ich poisoned the l ions , the tigers ,1 Whether T hilorier had come to England at the request of

Cagliostro or not i s un certain , but it is n ow known that he wroteCagl iostro

’

s replies to Morande’s charges .

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Cagliostro

and the leopards in the forest of Medina . I am nowgoing

,s ir j ester, to have a joke at you r expense. I n

physics and chemistry, arguments avai l l i ttle , pers iflagenothing ; it i s experiment alone that counts . Permitme

,then

,to propose to you a l i ttle experiment wh ich

wil l divert the publ ic either at your expense ormine . I invi te you to lunch with me on November 9

You shal l supply the wine and all theaccessories, I on the other hand wil l provide but as ingle dish—a l i ttle pig fattened according to my plan .

Two hours before the lunch you shal l see i t al ive, andhealthy, and I will no t comé‘ near i t t i l l i t i s served onthe table . You shall cu t i t in four parts

,and , having

chosen the portion that you prefer, you Shall give me

what you th ink proper. The next day one of four 'th ings will occur : either we shal l both be dead, or we !shall neither of us be dead ; or I shall be dead andyou will not or you wi ll be dead and I shall not . Of

these four chances I give you three,and I will bet you

guineas that the day after the lunch you aredead and that I am al ive and wel l .”Whether or no Morande

’

s percept ion had beenblunted by over-taxing h is imagination in the attempt todiscredit h is enemy

,b e interpreted Cagl ios tro

’

s sarcasmli terally . Afraid to accept the challenge

,but tempted

by the guineas, he suggested

“ that the testshould take place in publ ic, and that some other carn ivorous animal should be substituted for the pigfattened on arsen ic .” But th is suggestion

,wh ich

revealed his cowardice by reducing the cul inary duelto a farce, gave his adversary an opportunity he wasquick to seize .

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hostil i ty,their contradictions

,their statements e i ther

unv erifiab le or based on the testimony of personswhose reputations alone made i t worthless , created ageneral feel ing that the man whom they denouncedwas an impostor. The importance of the paper inwhich they appeared , quoted by other papers , all ofEurope

,served to confirm th is impression . Thus the

world,whose conclusions are formed by instinct rather

than reason,forgetting that i t had rid iculed as improb

able Cagl ios tro’

s own story of his l i fe, accepted theamazing and st il l more improbable past that Morandeunmasked ” without reservation . Nor did the Courtof Versai lles and its fr i ends

,nor al l the forces of

law and order wh ich , threatened everywhere , madecommon cause with the threatened French monarchy ,fail to circulate and confirm by every means in theirpower the statements of Morande . As if the stigmawhich the Countess de Lamotte and the Parl iament,fo r two total ly different reasons, had cast upon thereputation of Marie Antoinette was to be obl i teratedby bl ight ing Cagl ios tro

’

s !

The deeper an impression , the more ineradicableit becomes . Within a quarter of a century the manwhom Morande had called a cheat

,an impostor

,and a

scoundrel had become on the page of history on whichh is memory is impr i soned the “ A rch -quack of theeighteenth century,” “ a l iar of the first magnitude

,

“ an unparal leled impostor.”But in the curious mass of coinc idence and circum

s tantial evidence on wh ich the popular conception ofCagl iostro has been based

,ingenious and plausible

though it is , there i s one l ittle fact wh ich history hasoverlooked and wh ich Morande was careful to ignore.

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Cagliostro Return s to London

I n turning Cagl iostro into Giuseppe Balsamo,the

fantastic ideal ist-enthusiast into the vagabond forger,

“ the charlatan , ” as Queen ’s friend Bes enval describeshim ,

“ who never took a sou from a soul,but l ived

honourably and paid scrupulously what he owed,

” intothe vulgar souteneur

, Morande , by no trick of theimagination , wi th all the cunning calumnies of theFrench Court , and the so - cal led “ confession ” wrungfrom its victim by the I nquisition

,to aid him

,could

not succeed in making the two resemble one another.Yet i t is on the word of this journal ist-bravo

,hired by

the French Ministry to defame an innocent man whoseunanimous acquittal of a crime in wh ich he had beenunjustly impl icated was bel ieved by Marie Antoinetteto be tantamount to her own conviction , that Cagliostrohas been branded as one of the most contemptibleblackguards in h istory .

Surely i t is t ime to challenge an opinion so fraudulently supported and so arbi trari ly expressed ? The

f calumny is past . The frenzied hatreds andus that

,l ike monstrous maggots, so to speak ,

he dying carcass of the old regime are extinct,t have lost their force. We can understandions they once sti rred so powerfully without

I n taking the st ing from the old hategiven new s cales to justice . We no longer

igh reputations by the ejects of detraction , but byits cause.

The evidence on wh ich Morande’

s diabolicallyingenious theories are based has already been examinedin the early chapters of th is book. I t requires no effortof the imagination to surmise what the effect would beon a jury to day if their decis ion depended upon the

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Cagliostro

evidence of a wi tness who, as Bris s ot says , regardedcalumny as a trade

,and moral assassination as a sport . ”

I I I

The campaign against Cagl iostro was by no meansconfined to defamation . Morande assailed not on lyh is character

,but h is person .

On the first shot fired by the Cour ier de l ’E urope,as if i t were the signal for a preconcerted attack

,a

swarm of blackmailers , decoys , and spurious creditorsdescended upon the unfortunate G rand Cophta.

Warned by the noise that the dar ing, but unsuccessful ,attempts of the secret agents of the French pol ice tokidnap the Count de Lamotte had created , Morandeadopted methods less l ikely to scandal ize the B r i ti shpubl ic in his efforts to trepan Cagl iostro . Wh i leapparently confining h imsel f to the congenial task of“ unmasking h i s victim daily in the columns of h iswidely- read journal , he was a party to , i f he did notactually organize , the ser ies of persecutions that embittered the existence of the now broken and discreditedwonder-worker.I f, as he declared , in h is efforts to convince the

publ ic that Cagl iostro was Giuseppe Balsamo,the

perjured Aylett and the restaurant-keeper Pergolezz iwere prepared to corroborate h is statement

,then given

h is notor ious character, unconcealed motive, and themoney with which he was suppl ied by the FrenchGovernment, the presumption that these questionablewitnesses were bought is at least wel l founded. I n theLetter to flee E ngl iskPeople in wh ich Cagl iostro, with

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wonder-worker with h is el ixirs , his balsams , and h ismagical phenomena was , i f properly handled , a mineof gold .

Taking advantage of CaglioStro’

s ignorance of thelanguage and customs of the country in which he hadsought refuge , Swinton , who was assiduous in h isattentions , rented him a house in Sloane S treet , forwh ich he desired a tenant, induced h im to pay the costof repairing i t

,and provided him with the furniture he

needed at double its value . To prevent any one elsefrom interfer ing wi th the agreeable task of plucking sofat a bird , and at the same time the better to concealh is dupl ic ity, Swinton endeavoured to preclude allapproach to h is prey. I t was to th i s end that he madetrouble between Cagl iostro and O ’

Re illy. Havingsucceeded thus far in h is design he redoubled h isattentions

,and urged Cagl iostro to give a publ ic

exh ibition of h is heal ing powers,as he had done at

Strasburg. But warned by previous experience of thedanger of exciting afresh the hosti l i ty of the doctors ,Cagl iostro firmly refused . Swinton then proposed tobecome his apothecary, and to push the sale of theGrand Cophta

’

s various medicaments,of which his

druggist’s shop should have the monopoly , i n theCour ier de l

’

E urope.

To this,however

,Cagl iostro also objected , pre

ferring, apparently, not to disclose the secret of theirpreparation—if not to share with the apothecary

,as

Morande afterwards declared,the exorbitant profit to

be derived from their sale . Perceiving that he wasnot to be persuaded by fair means

,Swinton inju

dic ious ly tr i ed to put on the screw . But h i s threats,far from accompl ish ing their purpose

,only served to

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Cagliostro Return s to London

betray his designs, and so disgusted Cagliostro thathe ceased to have any further communication withhim . Swinton , however, was not to be got rid of inany such fashion . Living next door to his enemy

, h is

house became the rendezvous of the various bail iffsand decoys hired by Morande to seize or waylay hisunfortunate adversary.

Among numerous schemes of Swinton and Morandeto capture Cagl iostro were two attempts to obtain hisarrest by induc ing persons to take out writs agains th im for imaginary debts— a proceeding which thecustom of merely swearing to a debt to procure a writrendered easy . I n th i s way Priddle , who had behavedso scurvily in Caglios tro

’

s arbitration suit with MissF ry in 1 777, was induced to take out a writ for s ixtypounds

,due

,as he pretended , for legal bus iness trans

acted nine years before . Warned, however, that thebail iffs were h iding in Swinton ’s house to serve the writthe moment he should appear

,Cagl iostro was able to

defeat their intention by procuring bail before theycould accompl ish their purpose . I n the end it wasFriddle who went to Newgate . But instead of theformer demand for s ixty pounds , Cagliostro , by meansof one of the various legal s ubterfuges in the practiceof which the eighteenth century lawyer excelled , wasobl iged to pay one hundred and eighty pounds andcosts .I mmediately after th is dearly-bought victory , the

baited victim of ministerial tyranny and corruption wassimilarly attacked from another quarter in a mannerwhich proves how great was the exasperation of hisenemies . Sacch i , the blackmailer, who had publ isheda l ibellous pamphlet against Cagl iostro—quoted by

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Cagliostro

Madame de Lamotte at her tr ial , when it was generallyregarded as worth les s , and i ts suppression ordered bythe Parl iament of Par is—appeared in London andobtained a writ for one hundred and fifty pounds

,

wh ich,he claimed , Cagl iostro owed him for the week

passed In his service in Strasburg in 1 78 1 . Theimpudence of th is claim on examination was , of course ,sufficient to disprove i t ; but Morande , who hadbrought Sacch i to England and assisted him to procurethe wr i t

,al l but succeeded in having Cagl iostro igno

min ious ly dragged to Newgate on the strength of it.The proximity

,however , of Swinton ’s house—in wh ich

the bail iffs had secreted themselves pending an opportun ity of seizing their prey, as on the former occasionhelped to betray their presence , and once againCagl iostro managed to forestal l them by giving thenecessary bail in due time.Such an existence was enough to give the most

fearless nature cause for alarm,and the Basti lle had

effectually damped the courage of the Grand Cophta.

Startl ing at shadows ” the perti nacity of h is enemiesleft him not a momen t ’s peace . The fate of LordGeorge Gordon was ever i n h is thoughts . I f theFrench Government was powerful enough to effectthe imprisonment of an Englishman who had offendedit in his own country

,what chance had he of escaping ?

H is Masonic experiences in England,moreover,

were not of a nature to encou rage the hopes he hadentertained of making converts to the sect he hadfounded . At first i t seemed as if Egyptian Masonrymight prosper on Engl ish soil . Assisted by a numberof adepts from Paris and Lyons

“whose zeal had

induced them to follow thei r master to London ,2 76

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Cagl iostro had sought to found a lodge for the observance of the Egyptian Rite . To th is end he hadheld s éances which many people of distinction attended

.

These were so successful that to encourage some ofthe more promising of his cl ientele b e “ transmittedto them , as a mark of exceptional favour, the powerto obtain manifestations i n his abs ence .” Unfortu

nately, instead of the angels they expected to evoke ,devils appeared .

1 The effect produced upon thes einexperienced occultis ts

"was deplorable ; combinedwith the attacks of the Cour ier de l ’E urope i t effectually kil led Egyptian Masonry in England .

The Freemasons , who had welcomed h im to theirlodges with open arms , as the victim of a degenerateand despicable despotism , influenced by the scathingattacks of Morande

,who was h imself a Mas on

,now

gave him the cold shoulder. At a convivial gatheringat the Lodge of Antiquity which he attended aboutthis time, instead of the sympathy he expected hewas so ridiculed by one Brother Mash , an Optician ,”who gave a burlesque imitation of the Grand Cophtaof Egyptian Masonry as a quack-doctor vending aspur ious balsam to cure every malady, that the victimof h is “

ridicule was compelled to withdraw.

The mortification wh ich this incident occasioned

1 Cagl iostro’

s pretended tran smiss ion of his supernatural powers,as prev iously stated, was n othing more than the discovery that theso-called psych ic ” faculty, in stead of being confined to a fewex ceptional people, as was till then gen erally believed, existed in a more

or less developed state in everybody. Before h is time, and in fact ti llman y years after, the psychic ” faculty was so little understood thatthe above phen omenon , famil iar enough to Spirit-rappers and planchette-writers of the presen t day, was believed to be the work of thepowers of darkness whose man ifestation s in spired terror, of whichfamiliarity has apparen tly robbed them now-a-days .

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Cagliostro

Cagliostro was further i ntensified by the wide notorietythat i t was given by Gill ray in a cari cature entitled“ A Masonic Anecdote, to wh ich the

:

fol lowing l ineswere attached in Engl ish and French

EXTRACT OF THE ARAB IAN COUNT’S MEMOIRSBorn

, God kn ows where, supported, God knows how,From whom descended—difl‘icult to know ;Lord Crop adopts him as a bosom friend

,

And madly dares hi s character defend .

This self-dubb ’d Coun t some few years s ince becameA Brother Mason in a borrow’

d name ;For names like Semple numerous he hears ,And Proteus - like in fifty forms appears .

‘ Behold in me (he says ) Dame Nature ’

s ch ildOf Soul benevolent and Manners mild,In me the guiltles s Acharat behold,Who kn ows the mystery of makin g Gold ;A feeling heart I boas t, a con science pure,I boast a Balsam every ill to cure,

My P ills and Powders al l disease remove,Renew your v igour and your health improve .

’

This cunn ing part the arch-impostor actsAnd thus the weak and credulous attracts .

But now his history is render’d clear

T he arran t hypocrite and knave appear ;First as Balsamo he to pain t essay’d,But on ly daubing he renoun c

’

d the trade ;Then as a Mountebank abroad he s troll’dAnd many a name on Death’s black list enrol l’d.

Three times he v is ited the British shore,And ev

’ry time a differen t name he bore ;T he brave Alsatian s he with ease cajol

’

d

By boasting of Egyptian forms of old.

T he self- same trick he practis ’d at Bourdeaux,At Strasburg, Lyon s and at Paris too .

But fate for Brother Mash reserv’d the task

T o strip the v ile impostor of his mask .

May al l true Mason s h is plain tale attend !And Satire’s laugh to fraud shall put an end.

To recover the prestige he had lost in the Masouiworld Cagl iostro seems for a moment to hav

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observing the greatest caution in his movements TheCountess Cagl iostro, far from being left in greatdistress

,

” as Morande asserted , had ample means ather disposal as well as valuable friends in the RoyalAcademician de Loutherhourg and h i s wife, with whomshe l ived til l her own departure for Switzerland .

Ph i l ip J ames de Loutherhourg was a painter ofconsiderable note in h is day . An Alsatian by birth

,

he had studied art under Vanloo in Paris , but meetingwith l i ttle success in France, migrated to England ,where fortune proved more propitious . H is battlepieces and landscapes in the Salvator Rosa style werevery popular with the great pub l ic of h is day. En

gaged by Garrick to paint scenery for Drury LaneTheatre

,the innovations that he introduced completely

revolutionized the mounting of the s tage . He wasalso the originator of the panorama. H is “ Eido

phus icon ,

” as he called i t , i n wh ich, by the aid ofmechanical contrivances , painted scenes acquired theappearance of real ity, when exhibited in London excitedthe unbounded admiration of Gainsborough .

Of a decidedly v isionary temperament,de Louther

bourg “ went in ” for alchemy,til l h i s wi fe, who was

equally vis ionary and more spir itual ly incl ined, smashedh i s crucible in a fit of rel igious exaltation . Convertedin this violent fash ion to a less material though no lessabsurd form of supernatural ism

,the popular Royal

Academician , whose pictures at least had noth ingmystical about them , became assiduous in attendingBaptist chapels , revival ist meetings, and Swedenborgian services . After assoc iating wi th the en

thus ias t Brothers , who called h imself “ the nephewof the Almighty ” and was more fi tted for a lunatic

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PH ILIP JAMES DE LOUT HERBOURG

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they had failed to cure , and who, accompanied by amob

,attacked the house and very nearly lynched the

faith -healers .De Loutherhourg

’

s mystical tendencies , however,do not appear to have injured him in the least in theOpin ion of the general publ ic . On resuming h is careeras painter he found the same encouragement as before ,and was highly respected by al l who knew him . Ascontrasted with the enmity of so notorious a blackguard as Morande , the friendship of so estimable a manas de Loutherhourg speaks volumes for Caglios tro

’

s

own probity.

The char i ty of the de Loutherhourgs , on wh ichMorande, Swinton and Company declared that theCountess Cagl iostro l ived after her husband ’s escapefrom their clutches

,consisted entirely in defeating

their attempts to take advantage of her defencelessstate . Receiv ing information that a writ was to beissued by wh ich Caglios tro

’

s furn iture was to be seized,

de Loutherhourg advised the Countess to sell i t andtake up her abode in h is house unti l her husband sentfor her , when to ensure her travell ing without molestation he and M rs . de Loutherhourg accompanied herto Switzerland .

The first th ing that she did on arr iving at B iennewas to go before a magistrate and make an affidavit tothe effect that her reported corroboration of the chargesmade against her husband in the Cour ier de l ’E uropewas a l ie. The fact that the Countess Cagl iostro didthis with the knowledge of the de Loutherhourgs i ssufficient to prove the truth of her words .

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CHAPTER V I I I

“ NATURE’S UNFORTUNATE CH ILDI

ON leaving England in 1 786 Cagl iostro wasdoomed to resume the vagabond exis tence of hisearl ier years ; with the difference , however , thatwhereas previously his star, though often obscured byclouds , was constantly rising, i t was now steadily onthe decl ine .At first its descent was so imperceptible as to

appear to have been checked . After the manner inwhich he had been harried in London the tranquill ityand admiration he found in Bale must hav e beenbalm to h i s tortured Spirit. At Bale he had followerswho were s ti l l loyal

,particularly the rich banker

Sarazin , on whom he had “ conferred the blessing of abelated paternity

,and whose devotion to him ,

as

Cagl iostro declared in h is extravagan t way at his trialin Paris

,was so great that “ he would give h im the

whole of his fortune were he to ask for it.I t was at Bal e

,moreover , that the dying flame of

Egyptian Masonry fl ickered up for the las t before ex piring altogether. Under the auspices of Sarazin a lodgewas founded on wh ich the Grand Cophta conferredthe h igh -sounding dignity of the “ Mother Lodge ofthe Helvetic States . ” The funds , however, did notrun to a “ temple ” as at Lyons, but the room in whichthe faithful met was arranged to resemble as closely as

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Cagliostro

possible the inter ior of that edifice . Both sexes wereadmitted to this lodge , and Cagl iostro again transmitted his powers to certain of the members who ,having been selected for the favour apparently withmore care on this occasion than in London , performedwith the greatest success.I t was

,however, i n the l ittle town of B ienne that

Cagl iostro seems to have resided chiefly while inSwitzerland . According to rumours that reachedLondon and Paris he l ived there for several monthson a pension allowed h im by Sarazin . Why be leftth is quiet retreat

,or when , i s unknown . He is next

heard of vaguely at Aix - les -Bains, where the Countessis said to have taken the cure . Rumour follows h imthence to Turin

,but

,says the I nquisition-biographer

,

“ he had no sooner set foot in the town than he wasordered to leave it instantly.

Henceforth fortune definitely deserted him . Againstthe poison in wh ich Morande had dipped his barbedpen there was no antidote. I t destroyed him by slowdegrees , drying up the springs of his fabulous fortune ,exhausting the resources of h is fertile brain , witheringhis confidence , h is ambition , and h i s heart . Butthough the game was played

,he sti l l struggled desper

ately to recover all he had lost,ti l l he went to Rome ,

into wh ich he crawled l ike a beast wounded to thedeath that has just enough strength to reach its lair.The luxury and flattery so dear to h im were gone

for ever. H is j ourneys from place to place were nolonger triumphal processions but fl ights . Dishonoured,discred ited , dis illusioned , the once superb H igh Priestof the Egyptian Mysteries

,the “ divine Cagl iostro ,

”

accustomed to be courted by the greatest personages,2 84

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to the extent of being invited to give an exh ibit ion ofhis powers . He even succeeded in founding a lodgeat Rov oredo ,

which b e affi l iated with the lodge atLyons, the members of wh ich sti ll bel i eved in h im .

At the same time,followers being few and sub s crip

tions small,be resumed the practice of medicine

,

making a moderate charge for h is attendance and hismedicaments .But in spite of al l h is precautions to avoid exciting

i ll-will or curiosi ty , i t was not long before h is identitywas discovered . Some one

,perhaps the author of

a stinging sati re 1 wh ich from its bibl ical style wasknown as the “ Gospel accord ing to St. Cagliostro ,

”

notified the authoriti es. The “ quack ” was obl igedto discontinue the exerc ise of his medical knowledgein any shape or form ; and the matter coming to theears of the Emperor J oseph I I

,that sovereign signed

an order expell ing him from the town al together.Cagl iostro then went to Trent, where there

reigned a prince-bishop as devoted to alchemy andmagic as Rohan h imsel f. This l i ttl e potentate wasno sooner informed of the arrival of the pariah thaninstead of following the example of h is Imper ialsuzerain , he invited h im to the episcopal palace . I twas an invitat ion

,needless to say

,that was gladly

accepted ; for a moment, protected by h is newfriend, i t seemed as i f he might succeed in mendingh i s broken fortunes . But while the prince-bishopwas wil l ing enough to turn his guest’s occul t knowledge to account he was not incl ined to countenanceEgypt ian or any other form of Freemasonry.

1 Liber memorialis dc Caleostro dum esset R oberetti con tain s anaccount of Cagl iostro’

s doings in R ovoredo.

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Nature’s Unfortunate Child

Accordingly to allay suspic ion Cagl iostro foresworeh is faith in Mas onic Observances

,sought a confessor

to whom he declared that he repented of his

connection with Freemasonry, and manifested a des i reto be received hack into the bosom of the Church

.

The prince -bishop, in h is turn , pretended to bel ievein th i s feigned repentance , boasted of the convert hehad made , and , assisted by the reformed wonderworker, resumed his quest of the philosopher’sstone and any other secret h is crucible might beinduced to divulge . The l ittle world of Trent

,

however, wh ich had palpitated l ike the rest of Europeover the revelations of the Diamond Necklace Affairand Morande

,was profoundly scandal ized . Certain

persons fel t i t their duty to inform the Emperor howthe prince -bishop was behaving. The free-th inking,l iberty- affecting Joseph I I could be arbitrary enoughwhen he chos e . Severely reprimanding his episcopalvassal for harbouring so infamous an impostor, hecommanded him to banish the wretch ins tantly fromhis estates .J udging from the itinerary of h is wanderings in

rthern I taly and the Tyrol , Cagliostro seems tov e intended to go to Germany, hoping, no doubt, toan asylum

,l ike Saint-Germain , Weishaupt, Knigge

many other,at the Court of some Protestant

pr ince , most of whom were Rosicrucians , alchemists,Freemasons

,and revolutionary enthusiasts . But

whatever hopes he may have had in this directionwere effectually dashed by the hostil ity of theEmperor. Expelled from Trent in such a fashion hedared not enter Germany.

To turn back was equal ly peri lous . I n I taly,2 87

Cagl iostro

where the Church , brutal ized out of all semblanceto Christian ity by centur ies of undisputed authori ty

,

regarded the least attempt to investigate the secretsof nature as a reflection on its own ignorance

,a

certain and terrible doom awaited any one whoexcited its suspic ions . But to Cagl iostro

,with fate’s

blood-hounds on h i s track , an Imperial dungeonseemed a more present danger than an I nquis i t iontorture- chamber. I t was no “ Count Front of Brass

,

as Carlyle jeer ingly stigmatized h im,that was brought

to bay at Trent. H is courage was completely broken.

Spent in th is struggle against destiny, he was nolonger able to devise new schemes and contrivancesas of old. Retrac ing h is steps with a sort of defiantdespair, as if driven by some irresistible force to hisdoom , he took the road to Rome, where he and h iswife arr ived at the end of May 1 789 .

According to the Inquisit ion -biographer i t was toplease h is wife

,who desired to be reconciled to her

parents, that Cagl iostro went to Rome. I f, indeed ,the parents of the Countess Seraph ina

,or Lore i i za

Balsamo , as you will , were stil l l iving or even residentin Rome, they were apparently unwill ing or afraidto recognize the relationsh ip

,for noth ing further i s

heard of them . I t is much more l ikely that Cagliostrochose Rome on account of i ts S ize

,as being the one

place in I taly wh ich offered h im the most l ikely chanceof escaping observation . I n so large a city h is povertywas itself a safe-guard .

Caglios tro’

s first efforts to dr ive the wolf from thedoor were confined to the surreptit ious practice ofmedicine . On such patients as he managed toprocure he enjo ined the strictest S i lence. But in

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making h imself known to the Vrais Amis he contemplated leaving Rome altogether. The fall of the Bast i lle

,which occurred about th is time, having inaugurated

the Revolution in France, he petitioned the StatesGeneral for permission to return there , as “ one whohad taken so great an interest in l iberty.

” At the sametime not being in the position to take advantage of theprivi lege were it granted , he wrote urgent appeals formoney to former friends in Paris. But i n the rapiditywith wh ich the Revolution marched

,Cagl iostro had

ceased to have the least importance , even as a missileto hurl at the hated Queen . Whether the petition orthe letters ever reached their destination is unknownin neither case, however, did he obtain a reply .

1

With all hope of retreat cut off and starvation staringh im in the face

,the wretched man timorously proceeded

to seek the acquaintance of the Vrais Amis . Thedifficulties and dangers they encountered in obtain ingrecruits won for the discredited Grand Cophta a cordialwelcome. Notwithstanding , he refused to seek adm ission to their lodge

,and contented h imself with begging

a meal or a smal l loan of the members with whom hefraternized .

Even Morande , who had h imself experienced thehorrors of abject poverty in h is early struggle forexistence in London , must have pitied the victim ofh i s remorseless persecution had be Seen him now. I nhis miserable lodging near the Piazza Farnese everything—save such furniture as was the property of thelandlord—on wh i ch he could raise the least money had

1 T he Mon i teur , however, was subsequen tly in formed by itsRoman corresponden t that he had received bills of exchange fromboth London and Paris .

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Nature’s Unfortunate Child

been pawned . Not a stone of the diamonds that hadso dazzled, or scandal ized , as Madame de Lamottemal iciously declared , the h igh-born ladies of Paris andStrasburg, was left h is once lovely, and stil led loved ,Countess . Faded, pinched with hunger, she still clungto th is man , himsel f now broken and aged by s o

many calumnies , persecutions and misfortunes , whos eenemies had falsely accused h im of treating her brutally, as she had clung to him for fifteen years—thefirst and the last of his countless admirers and followers.To one of h is vain and grandiose temperament the

abasement of h is soul must have been terrible as hewho had been as good as master of the splendidpalace of Saverne cowered day after day in that bareattic with hunger and terror, l ike sullen lacqueys in constant attendance and thought of al l the pas t—of thefascinating Card inal whose friendship had brought himto th is pass and who had now forsaken him ; of Sarazin ,the r ich banker who would give me the whole of hisfortune were I to ask fo r i t,” dead now, or as good asdead of de Loutherhourg,

the Good Samaritan of thereverent disciples to whom he had been thepe‘re adore’,the “ master ” ; of the Croesus ’ fortune which he hadlavished so ostentatiously and generously of the

gaudeamus with which the sympathet ic crowds hadgreeted h im on h i s release from the Bastille ; of themiracles ofwh ich he had lost the trick ; and last butnot least of h i s fantastic scheme fer the regeneration ofmankind which he had promulgated with such enthus

iasm and success .One day at a dinner to wh ich some of h is Masonic

acquaintances invited h im when the memory of thepast was perhaps more vivid

,more insistent than usual ,

U 2 2 9 1

Cagl io stro

i nfluenced by the fes tal atmosphere of the occasion ,Cagl iostro was persuaded to discourse onMasonry . But alas ! instead of excit ing interest as informer times h is eloquence was without effect . Theice

,however

,was broken , and necessi ty becoming

stronger than h i s fears he endeavoured to procurerecruits in the hope of maintain ing h imself and h iswife on their subscript ions .According to the I nquisit ion -biographer two men

whom he approached resolved to have a practical jokeat h i s expense . They manifested a l ively desire to beinstructed in the Egyptian Rite

, and Cagl iostro, dece iv ed into the bel ief that he had to do with men ofmeans

,

“ by a false diamond , wh ich he took to be real ,on the hand of one , decided to gratify them . Afterhaving explained to them the aims and character ofEgyptian Mason ry he proceeded to in it iate them inconformity with the usual rid iculous ri tes

,passing them

,

as Grand Master, by the wave of a sword throughthe three Masonic grades of apprentice

,companion

and master at once. But to h is mingled terror andmortification when i t came to the payment of the fiftycrowns that he demanded as their subscr iption fees

,

they excused themselves in a manner wh i ch showedh im only too plainly he was their dupe .

Alarmed lest they intended to inform against h im ,

he thought to avoid the consequences of detection byconfessing to a pr iest as he had done at Trent. I twas the last effort of a beast at bay . I n accordancewith the monstrous principle that the means justi fythe end confessors have been known on occasion tobetray the secrets confided to them in the confessional .I n thi s instance, however, there is no proof that the

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Cagliostro

than any otherfactor of inhumanity and stup idity thatled to the overthrow of the ancien regime.

I n the case of Cagl iostro, who was on e of the lastto be tried by the Apostol ic Court, the I nquisit ionl ived up to its reputation . Threatened and execratedeverywhere by the invinc ible spir i t of freedom whichthe fall of the Bastil le had released , the J esui ts , whocontrol led the machinery of the Papal government

,

1

strove without s cruple to crush the enemies wh i chtheir arrogant intrigues had created for the Church .

To them Freemason ry was a comprehensive name foreverything and everybody opposed to them and the i rpretensions. I n a certain sense they were r ight, andin France at any rate where the lodges and secretsocieties no longer took the trouble to conceal theiraims there was no mistaking the rev olutionary characterof the Freemasons . So great

,therefore

,was the fear

and hatred that F reemasonry inspi red in the Churchthat in seiz ing Cagl iostro the I nquisition never dreamto f charging him with any other cr ime . Beside i t h is !

occul t prac t ices or the crimes of wh ich , on the as sumption that he was Giuseppe Balsamo he might havebeen condemned

,paled into in s ign ificance .

The fact that the I nquisit ion -biographer seeks toexcuse the Apostol ic Court for i ts fai lure to chargeh im with these offences

,on the ground that “ all who

could testify against h im were dead ” proves howsl ight was the importance h is judges attached to them .

Had they desired to bring him to the gallows for theforgeries of Balsamo

,the judges of the I nquisition

1 T he abolition of their Order was but temporary. It had beenforced upon the Pope by sovereign s whose power in an atheisticalage had increased as hi s declined. T he Jesuits continued to exist insecret, and to in spire and control the Papacy.

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Nature’

s Unfortunate Child

would have found the necessary witnes ses. As amatter of fact they never so much as attempted toidentify him with Balsamo , as they could easi ly havedone by bringing some of the relations of the latterfrom Palermo .

1

The news that Cagl iostro had been arrested as arevolutionary agent caused great excitement. As thePapal governmen t took care to foster the bel ief thathe was connected with all the events that wereoccurr ing in F rance , the unfortunate Grand Cophtaof Egyptian Masonry suddenly acquired a pol itical

! importance he had never possessed . Arrested,

says the Mon iteur ,“ he evoked as much interest in

Rome as he had formerly done in Paris. ” I n allc las ses of society he became once more the chief topicof conversation .

I t was reported that before h is arrest he had writtena circular letter to h is followers, of whom he waspopularly supposed to have many in Rome itself

,

call ing upon them to succour h im in case he shouldfal l into the hands of the I nquisition, and if necessaryto set fire to the Castle of St: Angelo or any otherpri son in wh ich he might be confined . Even fromhis dungeon

,which was the same as the one that the

alchemist Borri had died in a century earlier,” he wassaid to have found the means to communicate withh is accomplices without. According to the Mon iteur

a letter from h im to a priest had been interceptedwhich had led to the detection of a conspiracy to overthrow the Papal monarchy .

”

1 T o justify the attitude they adopted the Inquis ition-biographerwas accordingly obliged to blacken the character of Cagliostro byattri buting to him the in famous reputation of Balsamo as amean s

of emphasizing the odious lives of Freemasons in general .2 95

Cagliostro

Whether the report was true or not,the Papal

government, which had probably circulated it , made itthe excuse to arrest numerous persons i t suspected .

These mysterious arrests caused a general feel ing ofuneasiness , wh i ch was increased by rumours of moreto follow . Fearing , or affecting to fear, a r i sing thePapal government doubl ed the guards at the Vatican ,closed the Arsenal , wh ich was usually open to thepubl ic

, and surrounded S t. Angelo with troops.There was even talk of exi l ing all the French inRome .I t required no gift of prophecy to foretel l the fate

of the unhappy creature who was the cause of al l th i sexc itement. From the fi rst i t was recognized that hehad not the ghost of a chance . Two papal bullsdecreed that Freemasonry was a crime punishable bydeath . To convict h im , moreover , the I nquis i tion hadno lack of proof. Laubardemont

,Cardinal R ichel ieu ’s

famous police- spy,deemed a single compromising l ine

sufficient to hang a man . I n Cagl iostro’

s case, thanks tohis singular lack of prudence in not destroying h i spapers , the documents seized on h i s arrest were aformidable doss ier . Nevertheless, before dispatch ingtheir luckless victim the Holy ” I nquisition playedwith h im , l ike a cat with a mouse, for over a year.As usual at al l I nqu is i t ion trials the forms of

justice were observed. Permission was grantedCagl iostro to choose two lawyers to defend him .

Th i s privilege , however, was a mockery, for his choicewas in real ity l imited to certain offic ials especiallyappointed by the Apostol ic Cou rt to take charge ofs uch cases as h is. They were not free to acqui t ; atmost their defence could only be a plea for mercy. I n

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the favour of having her as a companion in h iscell

One may well imagine,reports the I nqu is i tion

biographer, “ that th i s request was not granted .

”

One may indeed ! According to the Mon iteur he alsoasked to be bled , placed in a larger cel l , allowed freshl inen ,1 a fire and a blanket . The first and the lastalone were granted him

,for the I nquisi t ion had no

desire to have him die before they had finished tryinghim . As, however, h is judges professed to be deeplyconcerned for the health of his soul

,when to the above

request, be added one for “ some good book,”

noobjection was made to satisfy him . He was , therefore,given three fol io volumes on “ the defence of theRoman Pon tificate and the Cathol ic Church .

” 2

Cagl iostro took the cynical h int , and after reading the book manifested the deepest contr i tion,admitted that F reemasonry was a veritable cr ime , andthe Egyptian Rite contrary to the Cathol ic rel igion .

“ No one , however,” says the I nquisit ion -biographer,believed him , and if he flattered himself on recoveringh i s l iberty by th i s means he was mistaken .

” Perce iv ing that th i s act of repentance , far from being ofany avail

,only served to furni sh his enemies with fresh

weapons , he declared that everyth ing he had donein h is l ife had been done with the consent of theAlmighty, and that he had always been faithful to thePope and the Church .

”

Unhappily for h im,however

,he had to deal with

1 In the Bastille he also asked for fresh l inen , which was givenh im. If b e dressed l ike a mountebank, he was at least alwaysscrupulously clean .

2s esadel Pon tificato romano e delta Cltiesa catbol ica, by P . N . M .

Pallav ieino, Rome 1 686 .

2 98

(From a v ery rar e F ren c ltpr i nt) [ Tof acepage 1 4

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ence between venial and mortal s ins , the I nquisitionbiographer asserts to be the ch ief object of the tr ial

,

they were those of the enl ightened men of h is century. Questioned , he declared he bel ieved allrel igions to be equal , and that “ providing one bel ievedin the existence of a Creator and the immortal i ty ofthe soul

,i t mattered not whether one was Cathol ic ,

Lutheran,Calvin ist , or J ew. As to h i s pol itical

opinions,he confessed to a “ hatred of tyranny, e speci

ally of all forms of rel igious intolerance .

At length,on March 2 1 , 1 79 1 , the I nqu is it ion

j udges brought their gloomy farce to an end . As ani nstance of the hatred of the Papal government forsecret societies and especial ly for Freemason ry , Cagl iostro ’s sentence is worth quoting in full

“ Giuseppe Balsamo, attainted and convicted of

many cr imes,and of having incurred the censures and

penalties pronounced against heretics, dogmatics ,heresiarchs, and propagators of magic and supersti tion ,has been found guil ty and condemned to the said censures and penal ties as decreed by the Apostol ic lawsof Clement X I I and Benedict X IV, against all personswho in any manner whatever favou r or form societiesand conventicles of F reemasonry, as well as by theedict of the Council of State against all persons conv icted of th i s crime in Rome or in any other place inthe dominions of the Pope .

Notwithstanding, by special grace and favour, thesentence of death by which this crime is expiated ishereby commuted into perpetual impr isonment in afortress, where the cu lprit is to be strictly guardedwithout any hope of pardon whatever. Furthermore

,

after he shall have abjured his offences as a heretic in300

Nature’

s Unfortunate Child ’

the place of h is imprisonment he shall receive absolution , and certain salutary penances will then beprescr ibed for him to wh ich he is hereby ordered tos ubmit .

“ Likewise , the manuscript book wh ich has for itst i tle Egyptian Mason ry i s s olemnly condemned ascontaining rites, proposi t ions , doctrines, and a systemwhich being superstit ious, impious , heretical , andaltogether blasphemous, open a road to sedition andthe destruction of the Christian religion . Th is book

,

therefore , shall be burnt by the executioner, together’

with al l the other documents relating to this sect .By a new Apostol ic law we shall confirm and

renew not only the laws of the preceding pontiffswh ich prohibit the societies and conventicles of Freemasonry

,making particular mention of the Egypt ian

sect and of another vulgarly known as the I lluminés,and we shall decree that the most gr ievous corporal

pun i s/zments reserved for heretics shall be infl icted onall who shal l associate, hold communion with , orprotect these soc ieties .”

Throughout Europe,wh ich was everywhere im

pregnated with the doctrines of the Revolution , sucha sentence for such a crime at such a time created arevulsion of feel ing in Caglios tro

’

s favour. His fate,however

,evoked less sympathy for h im than

indignation against Rome . An article in the Feui l le

Vi l lageoise best expresses the general opinion.

“ The Pope,says the wr iter, ought to have

abandoned Cagl iostro to the effects of his badreputation . I nstead he has had h im shut up andtr ied by Charlatans far more dangerous to societythan h imself. H is sentence is cruel and ridiculous.

30 1

Cagl iostro

I f al l who make dupes of the crowd were punishedin this fashion , precedence on the scaffold shouldcertainly be granted to the Roman I nqu isi tors .

That the trial of Cagl iostro was really intendedby the Papal government as a proof of i ts determination to show no quarter in i ts war againstthe Freemasons may be gathered from the I nqu isitionbiographer’s Vie de josepkB alsamo, wh ich is less al ife of Balsamo or Cagl ios tro , as i t purports to be , thana furious attack on F reemasonry, wh ich is depicted inthe blackest and most odious colours . I ts publ icationexasperated the secret societies in Lombardy and theywere emboldened by the progress of the Revolutionto publ ish a reply.

“ Th is pamphlet,says the

Mon iteur , appeared under the auspices of the Swissgovernment and produced such a sensation throughoutI taly

,and particularly in Rome, that the Conclave ,

terr ified at the revolutionary fury it had awakened,

instructed its agents to buy up every copy they couldfind .

”

The Conclave would have been better advised tosuppress the work of the I nquis it ion -biographer. Theaccount i t contains of Cagl iostro

’

s trial completelyjustifies the popular bel ief in the bigotry

,cruelty ,

tyranny, and total lack of the Chr istian spiri t thatcharacter ized the proceedings of the Holy I nquis ition .

I I I

For some time after h i s trial the publ ic continuedto manifest great interest in Cagl iostro . The recol

lection of h is extraordinary career gave to h is sentence30 2

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consented ; But scarcely had he received the first blowwhen be seized the cord , flung h imself on the Capucin ,and did h i s best to strangle h im . H is intention wasto escape in the pr iest’s cloak , and had he been in hisvigour and h is opponent a weak man he might havesucceeded . But Cagl iostro was lean and wasted fromlong imprisonment and the Capucin was strong andmuscular. I n the struggle with his penitent he hadtime to cal l fo r help .

”

What fol lowed on the arr ival of the jailers is notknown , but i t i s not l ikely that the prisoner washandled with gloves.As a sequel to that frantic struggle for l i fe and

l iberty,Cagl iostro was secretly sent “ in the middle of

the n ight ” to the Castle of San Leo , near Montefeltro .

The situation of th i s s tronghold is one of the mostsingular in Europe . The enormous rock , whose summiti t crowns, r i s ing on three sides precipitously from analmost desert plain , i s l ike a monument commemorativeof some pr imeval convul s ion of nature . I n early timesi t had been the site of a temple of Jupiter, the ruinsof wh ich after i ts destruction by the barbarians becamethe abode of a Chr istian hermit, whose ascetic virtueswere canonized

,and who bequeathed his name to it .

I n the Middle Ages the holy ru ins gave place to analmost

.

impregnable fortress,wh ich at a still later

period was converted into a Papal prison , compared towh ich the Basti ll e was a paradise .1I n the eighteenth century the condition of the

surroundings rendered it well- nigh inaccessible . Theroads leading to San Leo were only practicable forhorses in fine weather ; in winter i t was only approachedon foot . To accentuate stil l further th is isolation , the

1 San Leo i s nowa well-conducted Italian state prison .

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Cagl iostro

This i s the last definite trace of Cagl iostro .

On the 6th October, 1 79 5 , the Mon i teur statesi t i s reported in Rome that the famous Cagl iostro is dead . But when he died , or how, i s ab solute ly unknown .

“ That h i s end was tragic,says

d’

Alméras ,“ one can well suppose

,and his jailers

,to

make sure that he should not escape , may have puth im out of h is misery.

” The Mon iteur speaks of theprobabi l ity Of such an end as being a topic of conversat ion in Rome . I n any case

,i t seems imposs ible to

bel ieve that he could long have survived so terr ible a,

doom,which

,whatever his offence , was utterly dis

graceful to the government that pronounced i t.This mysterious end , so in keeping with Cagl i

os tro ’s mysteri ous origin and personal i ty,appeals to

the imagination . Noth ing excites curiosity l ike amy s tery . S ince h is death there have been as manyat tempts to l ift the veil in which his end is shroudedas were made in h i s l i fetime to discover the secretof his birth . Of these spec imens of sheer futil i ty,Madame B lavatsky’

s i s the most interesting,the most

unl ikely , and the most popular among the bel ievers inthe supernatural who have allowed their imaginationsto run riot on Cagl iostro generally.

According to the equally extraordinary H ighPriestess of the Theosophi s ts , Cagl iostro es caped fromSan Leo , and long after h is s upposed death in 1 79 5

was met by various people i n Russia,even residing

for some time in the house of Madame B lavatsky’

s

father, where “ in the midst of winter he produced bymagical power a plate full of fresh strawberries for asick person who was craving it .”

Had Cagl iostro survived h i s terrible sufferings in306

Nature’

s Un fortunate Child

San Leo til l 1 797, when the French invaded thePapal S tates , he certainly would have been set atl iberty. San Leo, to which the Pope

's troops hadreti red , was taken by the famous Pol ish legion underGeneral Dombrowski . The first thing the officers didon enter ing the fortress was to inquire anxiously ifCagl iostro , whom they regarded as a martyr in thecause of freedom , was l iving.

“They thought to rescue h im , says F iguier,“ and

perhaps even to give h im an ovation similar to thatwh ich he had received in Paris after h is acquittal bythe Parl iament . But they arrived too late. Cagliostro,they were told, had just died .

”

According to another version, they demanded tobe shown his grave , and having opened it, fil led theskul l with wine , which they drank to the honour ofthe Revolution

The fate of the inoffensive and colourless CountessCagl iostro was quite as mysterious, though les s cruel ,perhaps

,than her husband ’s . The I nquisition sentenced

her,too

,to impr i sonment for l ife . She was confined

in the conv ent of St . Appolonia , a penitentiary forwomen in Rome

,where it was rumoured she had d ied

in 1 794 .

307

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nounced by Morande, 2 66 ; defendsh imself, 2 67- 269 attempts to kidnaphim, 2 72 , 2 73 ; rid iculed by Freemasons , 2 77 ; leaves England , 2 79 ;friendsh ip of de Loutherhourg, 2 80

2 82 ; s eeks asylum in Sw itzerland ,2 83 ; at Rovoredo, 2 85 ; ex pel ledfrom Trent, 2 87 ; arrival in Rome,2 88 ; h is poverty , 290 ; arrested byPapal pol ice, 293 ; before the In

quis ition , 299 ; his senten ce, 300 ;attempt to escape, 303 at San Leo

304, 305 ; mysterious end, 306Cagl iostro, Countess, 13, 14, 19, 49,

50 , 54: 56: 57a 58, 59: I I I : 1 12 , 1 15 ,1 20

,1 5 1 , 177, 18 1 , 185,

2 24, 2 30 , 2 3 1 , 2 32 , 2 33; 241 , 230 ,2 82

,2 85 , 2 88, 2 97, 307G iuseppe, 13, 1 5 , 2 2Campan , Madame, 2 2 2

Campardon , Emi le, 1 2Capitummino , G iovann i, 2 2Carbonn ieres , Raymond de, 189Carlyle, 3, 4, 5, 6, 24, 20 1 , 203, 2 24 ,

305 noteCartegirone , Benfratel li of, 2 3, 2 5 , 30Casanova, 37, 38, 39Castropignan i , Duke of, 266Catherine, Empress , 143, 147, 148Chaix d’Est-Ange, 2 2 5, 2 26Charles XI I , 90Chateaugiron , Marquis de, 1 13 note

Chesnon , 2 28, 2 30, 2 5 1Choiseul , Due de , 100 , 193Clemen t V,108, 1 13 note

XI I , 109, 300XIV

,2 4 1Condorcet, 99

Convuls ionnaires , T he, 85, 86Cour ier a

’e l

’

Europe, 10 , 1 1 , 17, 18, 20 ,39, 40 , 46 , 47, 53, 54 , 63, 71 , m ,

1 13, 184 note, 196 note, 2 34, 2 64 ,2 72 , 2 73, 2 74 , 2 77, 2 79 , 2 82Ed itor of. See T heveneau deMorandeCourland

,Duchess of, 127, 140Duke of

,1 2 7

Créquy, Marquis de, 202 , 2 10crisp , 68: 69a 70: 72Dee, Dr. , 80 , 8 1Diamon d Neck lace Affair, 1 19, 142 ,2 14

- 2 52D iderot, 193Dombrowski , General , 307Du Barry, Madame, 262 , 2 63Dup les s is de la Radotte, 42Eddy, Mrs . , 76, 166, 28 1

Egyptian Masonry, 1 15, 1 17—1 26, 13 1 ,142 , 143, 144. 149 , 156 ,

160, 185 , 188, 189 , 197 note, 207,2 1 1 , 2 12 , 2 13, 2 76 , 2 77, 2 92 , 298,2 99, 301

d’Epremin i l, 232Erasmus , 80Esperance Lodge, 67, 1 1 1 , 1 13 , 1 14Fel iciani , Lorenza. See LorenzaBalsamo

Seraph ina. See CountessCagl iostroFeu i l le Vi llageoi se, 30 1F iguier, 85 , 1 2 3, 166 , 194, 2 10, 2 12Fon tenel le, 93Frederick the Great, 97, 104 , 108Freemasons , T he, 105, 107, 108 , 109 ,

1 16,1 17, 12 1 , 185, 2 96

Fry, Miss, 53—68, 71 , 72Funck -Brentano, 2 0 1 note, 248 noteGanganel li . See Clement XIVGassner, 86, 103, 166Gazette de F loren ce, 12

Gazette a’e Leyde, 1 1Gebir, 78, 79Gen l is , Madame de, 172 , 206

Georgel , Abbé, 1 78, 18 1 , 202 , 208Gergy , Madame de, 199, 200Gi l lray, 2 78Gleichen , Baron de, 1 23, 159, 163,164, 180 , 198, 199, 205Goertz

,Baron von , 145Goethe, 43, 45 , 46 , 305 fl owGon court, 2 2 5Gordon , Lord George, 2 56, 257, 2 58,

2 76Gotha, Duke of, 1 10

Gracci , 266Graham,Dr. , 86Grand Cophta, T he. See CountCagl iostroGrimm, Baron , 190 , 197, 200

Hales , S ir Edward , 4 1Hardiv i ll iers , 1 1 1 , 1 1 2du Hausset, Madame, 198Hermes Trismegistus , 76Hervi er, Pere, 186 , 187, 188Houdon , 194Howarth , 65 , 66Howen , Herr von , 1 29Hundt, Baron von , 1 13

I l luminés , T he, 104, 105 , 106 , 1 10 , 14 1 ,155 , 156, 160 , 197 note, 289 , 30 1Inquis ition , T he, 20, 107, 2 89, 2 93,2 94, 295

Inquis ition -biographer, T he, 19, 20, 2 3,2 4, 2 5 , 32 , 33 , 4 1 , 44 , 46, 47, 1 14 ,1 15 , 1 17, 1 18

, 184, 2 03, 2 34, 2 54,

James , 71 , 72Jan sen ists , T he , 84 , 85Jesuits , T he, 85 , 103, 107, 109, 196,2 94Joseph I I , 104, 2 86 , 2 87Kant, 94Kepler, 80Kn i ge, Baron von

, 105 , 106 , 109, 156,7Kn ights Templars , T he Order of, 108

,

1 13 n oteKolmer,2 36 n ote

Laborde, 153, 154, 163, 2 02Lamotte, Count de, 2 16 , 2 24, 2 56 note,

2 72 Countes s de , 8, 9, 36, 47,

15 1 , 204, 2 05 , 2 14 , 2 15, 2 18- 2 2 8,

2 33: 2 34, 2 35 : 2 42 : 2 5412 56 n ote

Laroca, 44Lasal le, Marquis de , 163, 183Lascari s , 16 1de Launa 2 32 , 2 5 1Lavater, 140 , 170 , 171 , 203Lavo is ier, 88, 97Lagnay, Mlle. , 2 19, 2 24, 2 35Le i bn itz, 96Lené tre, 2 52

to tfie Englz’

r/z People, 2 67, 2 72to tfie Frenen Peop le, 2 54, 2 55Levis, Duc de, 2 20Lodge of An tiquity

,T he

, 2 77Lodge of Vrais Amis, 2 89, 2 90 , 293Louis XIV

, 96

XV, 198, 199 , 2 62 , 2 63

XXI I,I 95 ) 2 151 2 177 2 23) 2 24;

2 26,2 58, 2 59

Loutherbourg, Mrs . de,2 80

,2 8 1

,2 82Philip James , 2 80 ,

2 8 1,2 82Luchet, Marquis de, 1 20

,1 23, 144,

145 , 146, 158, 194, 206Lux embourg, Prince de, 19 1Mansfield, Lord, 64, 65, 68Manuel

, 172Marano, 30 , 31 , 33, 44, 45, 46, 158

Maria Theresa, Empress , 162 , 172 , 2 17Marie An toinette, Queen , 8, 10,15,

195, 2 16,2 2 8

,2 33, 249, 2 50, 2 52 ,

Marigny, Marquise de, 173

Q “

Martel lo, Matteo, 2 2Vincenza, 2 2Martin, Henri, 98Martin i

, 78Mash, 2 77

Maurigi, Marquis , 26Medem, Coun t von , 126, 12 7, 129, 130

13 1, I 34, I 35, 136, I 37, l 4°Marshal von, 126

, 127, 129130, 134, 135, 136 , 137. 147Mei ners

, 159, 195, 203Mesmer, 75 , 76, 88, 102 , 166, 186 , 189,

; 95M i chelet, 203

Mi l linens, Baron de, 174Mirabeau, 55, 12 4, 198, 2 27, 249Moczinski, Count, 148, 150, 15 1, 152Molay, Jacques , 108, 1 13 n ote

Mon iteur , T be, 290 n ote, 295 , 297 note,

2 98, 302 , 303, 306Mon tb ruel, Chevalier de , 2 1 1Montesquieu

, 193Mot

s

her Lodge of the Helvetic States ,2 3Motus , 163, 202 , 203Mouncey, Dr. , 147

Napo leon , 305Neubourg , Marie de, 198Newton , Sir Isaac, 88N icastro, Ottavio, 35Nordberg, M . de, 198ormandez

, M. de, 146

Oberkirch , Baroness d’, 4, 162 , 163,170 , 172 , 173. 174, 175 , 176, 178,18 1 n ote, 2 02 , 247O isemont, Chevalier d’, 205O liva, Baroness d ’. See Mlle. Leguay

O’R ei lly, 67, 68, 69, 72 , 2 73, 2 75Orsin i, Cardinal , 13 , 16, 33, 24 1Orvi lliers , Marquise d ’, 196Paracelsus , 79, 8 1 , 169Paris , Deacon , 84, 85Pasqual is , Martinez, 100 , 186Pel legrin i, Marchesa. See Lorenza BalsamoMarchese. See Giuseppe Bal

samoPergolezzi, 40 , 5 1, 2 72 , 2 73 notePhi laletes, T he, 2 12 , 2 13Philip the Fair, King, 108, 1 13 n otePinto, Grand Master, 2 36 note, 2 39,2 40, 242Pius VI, 2 99Planta

,Baron de , 181 notePoland, King of. See Stanis lasAugustusPol ish Legion, The, 307

Index

Polverit, Maitre, 204, 2 32Pompadour, Madame de, 198, 199, 2 15Pon inski , Prince, 148, 149 , 15 1Potemkin , Prin ce, 147Fridd le , 64 , 70 , 2 75Prie, Marquis de, 42Puysegur, Marquis de, 76Quere, 159

Ramon , 19 1Recke, Count von der, 1 2 7Countess E l isa v on der, 4 , 12 7147, 2 02

R éteaux de Vi lette, 2 24Reynolds , 60, 6 1 , 62 , 70, 72Ricc iarel l i , Count, 1 1 1Rivaro l, 2 2 5Roberson , 176, 177Rogerson ,

Dr. , 147Rohan , Card inal de, 8, 163, 164 , 165 ,171

205 , 2 15—2 2 7, 2 33, 248, 2 49 ,

2 50 , 2 54 n ote, 2 99Rosencreutz, Christian , 8 1

Ros icrucian s , T he, 8 1 , 82 , 94 , 95 , 109 ,20 1

Rousseau, 97

Sacchi, 47, 182 , 183, 2 75, 2 76Sagesse Triomphante Lodge , T he, 189Saint Angelo, Castle of, 32 , 2 93, 296 ,

303Saint-Germain, Count de, 87, 198, 199 ,2 00 , 2 87

Sain t James of Compostella, 37, 39Saint-Martin , Louis Claude de, 99 , 10 1 ,Saint-Medard , Cemetery of

,84, 85

Saint-Remy, Jeanne de . See Coun tessde Lamotte

San cotar, 197San Leo

,Prison of, 304, 305 , 306, 307

San Rocco , Seminary of, 2 3San ta Cruce , Prin ce of

, 146

Sarazin,1 56, 163, 197, 2 83, 2 84

Saunders,6 1 62

,63, 64, 68

Savalette, de Langes , 2 1 2Saverne, Palace of

, 173, 174, 175, 18 1 ,2 2 1

Sax e, Marshal , 1 18

Sayre-Weimar, Prince Bernard of, 300

303Schropfer, 86, 87, 109, 1 17 note

Scieffort, 1 17

52 , 53, S4, 55: 56, 60 ,6 1 , 62 a

72 Lady.

”See M iss Fry

Serres de Latour, 264, 2 65Shannon ,

64Soubise, Prince de, 164, 165 , 170Stan i las Augustus , 1 5 1 , 153 , 154Strict Observance, Order of, 1 13, 1 14 ,

1 1 5Surrey, Lord, 80Swedberg. S ee SwedenborgSwedenborg, Emmanue l , 89, 90, 9 1 , 92 ,93, 94, 1 24 and n ote

Swinton ,2 64, 2 65, 2 74 , 2 75, 2 76

T heveneau de Morande, 2 6 1—282T hi lorier, 2 35 , 2 67, 2 73T hiroux de Crosne, 2 32T i scio , Don . See G iuseppe Bal samo

Trent, Prince-Bishop of, 2 86, 2 87U lrica, Queen. 90,Vai l lant

,85

Van Helmont, 79Vauvenargues, 96Vergennes , Comte de, 188, 2 64, 265V i l lafran ca

,Prince of

,13Villeneuve

,Arnauld de

,167

de Vismes,2 79 n oteVitel l in i, 50 , 5 1 , 52 , 57, 66Voisenon

,Abbé de

,193Vo ltaire, 96, 193, 2 62

Walpo le, Horace, 198, 2 8 1

Weishaupt, Adam, 103, 104 , 105 , 106

York,Cardinal

, 33, 2 4 1