Deign, to accept the tribute which I owe,O ne grateful, joyful tear, permit to flow;C an I be silent when good health is given?T hat first—that best—that richest gift of heaven!O Muse! descend, in most exalted lays,R eplete with softest notes, attune his praise.G en’rous by nature, matchless in thy skill!R ich in the God-like art—to ease—to heal;A ll bless thy gifts! the sick—the lame—the blind,H ail thee with rapture for the cure they find!A rm’d by theDeitywith power divine,M ortals revereHisattributes in thine.’
Deign, to accept the tribute which I owe,O ne grateful, joyful tear, permit to flow;C an I be silent when good health is given?T hat first—that best—that richest gift of heaven!O Muse! descend, in most exalted lays,R eplete with softest notes, attune his praise.G en’rous by nature, matchless in thy skill!R ich in the God-like art—to ease—to heal;A ll bless thy gifts! the sick—the lame—the blind,H ail thee with rapture for the cure they find!A rm’d by theDeitywith power divine,M ortals revereHisattributes in thine.’
Deign, to accept the tribute which I owe,O ne grateful, joyful tear, permit to flow;C an I be silent when good health is given?T hat first—that best—that richest gift of heaven!O Muse! descend, in most exalted lays,R eplete with softest notes, attune his praise.
G en’rous by nature, matchless in thy skill!R ich in the God-like art—to ease—to heal;A ll bless thy gifts! the sick—the lame—the blind,H ail thee with rapture for the cure they find!A rm’d by theDeitywith power divine,M ortals revereHisattributes in thine.’
In this temple of ‘Health and Hymen’ he had a wonderful ‘Celestial Bed,’ which he pretended cost sixty thousand pounds. He guaranteed that the sleepers therein, although hitherto childless, should become prolific; but it was somewhat costly, for the fee for its use for a single night was one hundred pounds. Still, he had some magneto-electric beds, which, probably, were as efficacious, at a lower rate, only fifty pounds nightly. The title-page of a pamphlet on his establishment is noteworthy.
‘Il Convito Amoroso,Or a Serio—comico—philosophicalLectureon theCauses, Nature, and Effects of Love and Beauty,At the Different Periods of Human Life, in Persons, andPersonages, Male, Female, and Demi-Charactêre;And in Praise of the Genial and Prolific Influences of theCelestial Bed!As Delivered byHebe Vestina,The Rosy Goddess of Youth and of Health!from theElectrical Throne! in the Great Apollo-Chamber,At theTempleofHymen, inLondon,
Before a glowing and brilliant Audience of near Three Hundred Ladies and Gentlemen, who were commanded byVenus,Cupid, andHymen! to assist, in joyous Assembly, at the Grand Feast of veryFat Things, which was held at their Temple, on Monday Evening, the 25th of November, 1782; but which was interrupted by the rude and unexpected Arrival of his WorshipMidas Neutersex, Esqre.... just as the Dessert was about to be served up.
Published at the earnest Desire of many of the Company, and to gratify the impatient and very intense longings of Thousands of Adepts, Hibernian and British;—of the Cognoscenti;—et de les Amateur ardens desdelices exquisede Venus!
To which is subjoined, a description of the Stupendous Nature and Effects of the CelebratedCelestial Bed!’
The ‘Vestina, or Goddess of Health,’ was no mean person. She began life as a domestic servant, and was named Emma Lyons. She was a good-looking, florid, buxom wench, and, after having played her part as priestess at the ‘Temple of Health and Hymen,’ became the wife of the dilletante Sir William Hamilton, English Minister at Naples, and was afterwards notorious for her connection with Lord Nelson.
Graham wrote in 1790, ‘A short Treatise on the All cleansing—all healing—and all invigorating Qualities of theSimple Earth, when long and repeatedly applied to the naked Human Body and Lungs, for the safe, speedy, and radical Cure of all Diseases, internal as well as external, which are, in their Nature or Stage, susceptible of being cured;—for the preservation of the Health, Vigour, Bloom, and Beauty of Body and of Mind; for rejuvenating the aged and decaying Human Body;—and for prolonging Life to the very longest possible Period, &c.’
For the benefit of those who would try the doctor’s earth-cure, I extract the following: ‘I generally, or always, prefer the sides or tops of hills or mountains, as the air and the earth are the more pure and salubrious; but the air and earth of ordinary pastureor corn-fields, especially those that are called upland, and even good clean garden-ground, or the higher commons, especially fallow corn-fields, are all salutary and good.
‘As to the colour and nature of the earth or soil, I prefer a good brown or reddish blooming mould, and light, sandy, crumbly, mellow and marrowy earth; or that which feels when I am in it, and crumbling with my hands and fingers, like bits of marrow among fine Flour; and that which has a strong, sweet, earthly smell——’
So that my readers now know exactly what to do.
He had a fairly comprehensive idea of modern hygiene, as will be seen from the following extract from ‘General Instructions to the persons who consult Dr. Graham as a Physician’:
‘It will be unreasonable for Dr. Graham’s Patients to expect a complete and a lasting cure, or even great alleviation of their peculiar maladies, unless they keep the body and limbs most perfectly clean with very frequent washings,—breathe fresh, open air day and night,—be simple in the quality and moderate in the quantity of their food and drink,—and totally give up using the deadly poisons and weakeners of both body and soul, and the cankerworm of estates called foreign Tea and Coffee, Red Port Wine, Spirituous Liquors, Tobacco and Snuff, gaming and late hours, and all sinful, unnatural, and excessive indulgence of the animal appetites, and of the diabolical and degrading mental passions. On practising the above rules—on a widely open window day and night—and on washing with cold water, and going to bed every night by eight or nine, and rising by four or five, depends the very perfectionof bodily and mental health, strength and happiness.’
He wrote many pamphlets, some of them on religious matters, and the fools who patronised him paid him large fees; yet his expenses were very heavy, and his manner of living luxurious, so that we experience but little wonder when we find the ‘Temple of Health’ sold up, and that Graham himself died poor—either in, or near, Glasgow.
Early in the century there were (in surgery) two noted quacks, namely, Dr. (afterwards Sir William) Read, and Roger, or, as he called himself, Doctor, Grant—both oculists. Read originally was a tailor, and Grant had been a tinker and Anabaptist preacher. The list of cures of both are marvellous—Grant even advertising in theDaily Courant, of July 20, 1709, that he had cured, in five minutes, a young man that had been born blind. But at that time, when people believed in their sovereign being able to cure scrofula by touching the patient with a gold coin, a little faith went a long way.
But quackery was not confined to the masculine gender—the ladies competed with them in the field. Notably Mrs. Map, the bone-setter of Epsom, of whom Mr. Pulteney writes so amusingly to Swift on December 21, 1736: ‘I must tell you a ridiculous incident; perhaps you have not heard it. One Mrs. Mapp, a famous she bone-setter and mountebank, coming to town with a coach and six horses, on the Kentish road, was met by a rabble of people, who, seeing her very oddly and tawdrily dressed, took her for a foreigner, and concluded she must be a certain great person’s mistress. Upon this they followed the coach, bawling out, “No Hanover w——! No Hanover w——!” The lady within the coach wasmuch offended, let down the glass, and screamed louder than any of them, “She was no Hanover w——! she was an English one!” Upon which they cried out, “God bless your ladyship!” quitted the pursuit, and wished her a good journey.’
This woman sprang into notoriety all at once. The first authentic account of her is on page 457 of theLondon Magazinefor 1836, under the date of August 2: ‘The Town has been surprized lately with the fame of a young woman atEpsom, who, tho’ not very regular, it is said, in her Conduct, has wrought such Cures that seem miraculous in the Bone-setting way. The Concourse of People toEpsomon this occasion is incredible, and ’tis reckon’d she gets near 20 Guineas a Day, she executing what she does in a very quick Manner: She has strength enough to put in any Man’s Shoulder without any assistance; and this her strength makes the following Story the more credible. A Man came to her, sent, as ’tis supposed, by some Surgeons, on purpose to try her Skill, with his Hand bound up, and pretended his Wrist was put out, which upon Examination she found to be false; but, to be even with him for his Imposition, she gave it a Wrench, and really put it out, and bad himgo to the Fools who sent him, and get it set again, or, if he would come to her that day month, she would do it herself.
‘This remarkable person is Daughter to oneWallin, a Bone-setter ofHindon, Wilts. Upon some family Quarrel, she left her Father, and Wander’d up and down the Country in a very miserable Manner, calling herselfCrazy Salley. Since she became thus famous, she married one Mr.Hill Mapp, late servant to a Mercer onLudgate Hill, who, ’tis said, soon left her, and carried off £100 of her Money.’
She was not long making her way in the world, for we read in the same magazine, under date, September 19, 1736: ‘Mrs.Mapp, the famous Bone-setter atEpsom, continues making extraordinary Cures. She has now set up an Equipage, and this Day came toKensingtonand waited on her Majesty.’
TheGentleman’s Magazine, under date of August 31, 1736, gives a similar account of her private life, adding that her husband did not stay with her above a fortnight, but adds that she was wonderfully clever in her calling, having ‘cured Persons who have been above 20 years disabled, and has given incredible Relief in most difficult cases.’
‘Mrs.Mappthe Bone-setter, with Dr. Taylor the Oculist, being present at the Playhouse inLincoln’s Inns Fields, to see a Comedy call’d the Husband’s Relief, with the Female Bone-setter, and Worm Doctor; it occasioned a full House, and the following
‘WhileMappto th’ Actors shew’d a kind regard,On one sideTaylorsat, on t’otherWard:When their mock Persons of the Drama came,BothWardandTaylorthought it hurt theirfame;Wonder’d howMappcou’d in good Humour be—Zoons, crys the Manly Dame, it hurts notme;Quacks without Arts may either blind or kill,ButDemonstrationshews that mine isSkill.
‘WhileMappto th’ Actors shew’d a kind regard,On one sideTaylorsat, on t’otherWard:When their mock Persons of the Drama came,BothWardandTaylorthought it hurt theirfame;Wonder’d howMappcou’d in good Humour be—Zoons, crys the Manly Dame, it hurts notme;Quacks without Arts may either blind or kill,ButDemonstrationshews that mine isSkill.
‘WhileMappto th’ Actors shew’d a kind regard,On one sideTaylorsat, on t’otherWard:When their mock Persons of the Drama came,BothWardandTaylorthought it hurt theirfame;Wonder’d howMappcou’d in good Humour be—Zoons, crys the Manly Dame, it hurts notme;Quacks without Arts may either blind or kill,ButDemonstrationshews that mine isSkill.
And the following was sung upon yeStage:
You Surgeons ofLondonwho puzzle your Pates,To ride in your Coaches, and purchase Estates,Give over, for Shame, for your Pride has a Fall,And yeDoctress ofEpsomhas outdone you all.What signifies Learning, or going to school,When a Woman can do without Reason or Rule,What puts you to Non-plus, and baffles your Art,For Petticoat-Practice has now got the Start.In Physick, as well as in Fashions, we findThe newest has always its Run with Mankind;Forgot is the bustle ‘bout Taylor and Ward,NowMapp’sall yeCry, and her Fame’s on Record.Dame Nature has giv’n her a Doctor’s Degree,She gets all yePatients, and pockets the Fee;So if you don’t instantly prove her a Cheat,She’ll loll in her Chariot while you walk yeStreet.’105
You Surgeons ofLondonwho puzzle your Pates,To ride in your Coaches, and purchase Estates,Give over, for Shame, for your Pride has a Fall,And yeDoctress ofEpsomhas outdone you all.What signifies Learning, or going to school,When a Woman can do without Reason or Rule,What puts you to Non-plus, and baffles your Art,For Petticoat-Practice has now got the Start.In Physick, as well as in Fashions, we findThe newest has always its Run with Mankind;Forgot is the bustle ‘bout Taylor and Ward,NowMapp’sall yeCry, and her Fame’s on Record.Dame Nature has giv’n her a Doctor’s Degree,She gets all yePatients, and pockets the Fee;So if you don’t instantly prove her a Cheat,She’ll loll in her Chariot while you walk yeStreet.’105
You Surgeons ofLondonwho puzzle your Pates,To ride in your Coaches, and purchase Estates,Give over, for Shame, for your Pride has a Fall,And yeDoctress ofEpsomhas outdone you all.
What signifies Learning, or going to school,When a Woman can do without Reason or Rule,What puts you to Non-plus, and baffles your Art,For Petticoat-Practice has now got the Start.
In Physick, as well as in Fashions, we findThe newest has always its Run with Mankind;Forgot is the bustle ‘bout Taylor and Ward,NowMapp’sall yeCry, and her Fame’s on Record.
Dame Nature has giv’n her a Doctor’s Degree,She gets all yePatients, and pockets the Fee;So if you don’t instantly prove her a Cheat,She’ll loll in her Chariot while you walk yeStreet.’105
At this time she was at her acme—but if an anonymous writer in theCornhill Magazinefor March, 1873, p. 82, is to be believed, she died December, 1837, ‘at her lodgings near Seven Dials, so miserably poor, that the parish was obliged to bury her.’
In No. 572 of theSpectator, July 26, 1714,106is a very amusing article on the quacks of Queen Anne’s time:
‘There is scarce a city in Great Britain but has one of this tribe, who takes it into his protection, and on the market-day harangues the good people of the place with aphorisms and receipts. You may depend upon it he comes not there for his own private interest, but out of a particular affection to the town. I remember one of these public-spirited artists at Hammersmith, who told his audience that he had been born and bred there, and that, having a special regard for the place of his nativity, he was determined to make a present of five shillings to as many as would accept of it. The whole crowd stood agapeand ready to take the doctor at his word; when, putting his hand into a long bag, as everyone was expecting his crown piece, he drew out a handful of little packets, each of which, he informed the spectators, was constantly sold at five shillings and sixpence, but that he would bate the odd five shillings to every inhabitant of that place; the whole assembly immediately closed with this generous offer, and took off all his physick, after the doctor had made them vouch for one another, that there were no foreigners among them, but that they were all Hammersmith men.
‘There is another branch of pretenders to this art, who, without either horse or pickle herring,107lie snug in a garret, and send down notice to the world of their extraordinary parts and abilities by printed bills and advertisements. These seem to have derived their custom from an eastern nation which Herodotus speaks of, among whom it was a law that whenever any cure was to be performed, both the method of the cure, and an account of the distemper, should be fixed in some public place; but, as customs will corrupt, these, our moderns, provide themselves with persons to attest the cure before they publish or make an experiment of the prescription. I have heard of a porter, who serves as a Knight of the post108under one of these operators, and, though he was never sick in his life, has been cured of all the diseases in the Dispensary. These are the men whose sagacity has invented elixirs of all sorts, pills and lozenges, andtake it as an affront if you come to them before you have been given over by everybody else. Their medicines are infallible, and never fail of success; that is, of enriching the doctor, and setting the patient effectually at rest.
‘I lately dropt into a coffee-house at Westminster, where I found the room hung round with ornaments of this nature. There were Elixirs, Tinctures, the Anodyne Fotus, English Pills, Electuaries, and, in short, more remedies than I believe there are diseases. At the sight of so many inventions, I could not but imagine myself in a kind of arsenal or magazine, where a store of arms was deposited against any sudden invasion. Should you be attacked by the enemy sideways, here was an infallible piece of defensive armour to cure the pleurisy; should a distemper beat up your head-quarters, here you might purchase an impenetrable helmet, or, in the language of the artist, a cephalic tincture; if your main body be assaulted, here are various kinds of armour in case of various onsets. I began to congratulate the present age upon the happiness man might reasonably hope for in life, when death was thus in a manner defeated, and when pain itself would be of so short a duration, that it would just serve to enhance the value of pleasure.
‘While I was in these thoughts, I unluckily called to mind a story of an ingenious gentleman of the last age, who, lying violently afflicted with the gout, a person came and offered his services to cure him by a method which, he assured him, was infallible; the servant who received the message carried it up to his master, who, inquiring whether the person came on foot or in a chariot, and being informed thathe was on foot: “Go,” says he, “send the knave about his business; was his method infallible as he pretends, he would, long before now, have been in his coach and six.” In like manner I concluded that, had all these advertisers arrived to that skill they pretend to, they would have no need, for so many years successively, to publish to the world the place of their abode, and the virtues of their medicines. One of these gentlemen, indeed, pretends to an effectual cure for leanness: what effects it may have had upon those who have tried it, I cannot tell; but I am credibly informed that the call for it has been so great, that it has effectually cured the doctor himself of that distemper. Could each of them produce so good an instance of the success of his medicines, they might soon persuade the world into an opinion of them.
‘I observe that most of the bills agree in one expression, viz., that, “with God’s blessing,” they perform such and such cures: this expression is certainly very proper and emphatical, for that is all they have for it. And, if ever a cure is performed on a patient where they are concerned, they can claim a greater share than Virgil’sIapisin the curing ofÆneas; he tried his skill, was very assiduous about the wound, and, indeed, was the only visible means that relieved the hero, but the poet assures us it was the particular assistance of a deity that speeded the whole operation.’
There was another female quack in 1738, one Mrs. Stephens, and in theGentleman’s Magazinefor that year, p. 218, we read that ‘Mrs.Stephenshas proposed to make her Medicines for the Stone publick, on Consideration of the sum of £5,000 to be rais’d byContribution, and lodged with Mr.Drummond,Banker. He has receiv’d since the 11th of this month (April) about £500 on that Account.’ She advertised her cures very fully, and she obtained and acknowledged, as subscriptions from April 11 to the end of December, 1738, the receipt of £1,356 3s. (Gentleman’s Magazine, 1739, p. 49). And the subscribers were of no mean quality; they included five bishops, three dukes, two duchesses, four earls, two countesses, five lords, and of smaller fry a vast quantity. But this did not satisfy her; she had influence enough to get a short Act of Parliament passed in her favour (Cap. 23, 12, Geo. II., 1739), entitled:
‘An Act for providing a rewardto Joanna Stephensupon a proper discovery to be made by her for the use of the publick, of the medicines prepared by her for the cure of the stone.
‘WhereasJoanna Stevens(sic) of the City ofWestminster, spinster, hath acquired the knowledge of medicines, and the skill of preparing them, which by a dissolving power seem capable of removing the cause of the painful distemper of the stone, and may be improved, and more successfully applied when the same shall be discovered to persons learned in the science of physick; now, for encouraging the saidJoanna Stephensto make discovery thereof, and for providing her a recompence in case the said medicines shall be submitted to the examination of proper judges, and by them be found worthy of the reward hereby provided; may it please your Majesty, that it be enacted, etc.
‘£5,000 granted out of the supplies for the discovery of Mrs. Stephens’s medicines. Treasury to issue the said sum on a proper certificate.’
A committee of twenty scientists investigated her medicines, and reported favourably on them. They were trifold. A powder, a draught, and a pill—and what think you they were made of? The powder was made of egg-shells and snails, both burnt; the draught was made of Alicante soap, swine’s cresses burnt, and honey. This was made into a ball, which was afterwards sliced and dissolved in a broth composed of green camomile, or camomile flowers, sweet fennel, parsley, and burdock leaves, boiled in water and sweetened with honey; whilst the pill was compounded of snails, wild carrot seeds, burdock seeds, ashen keys, hips and haws, all burnt to blackness, and then mixed with Alicante soap! These were the famous remedies for which a grateful nation paid such a large sum!!!
C
Carlyle, in a very diffuse essay on this adventurer, thus introduces him: ‘The Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, Pupil of the sage Althotas, Foster-child of the Scherif of Mecca, probable Son of the last King of Trebisond; named also Acharat, and unfortunate child of Nature; by profession healer of diseases, abolisher of wrinkles, friend of the poor and impotent, grand-master of the Egyptian Mason Lodge of High Science, Spirit Summoner, Gold Cook, Grand Cophta, Prophet, Priest, and thaumaturgic moralist and swindler; really a Liar of the first magnitude, thorough-paced in all provinces of Lying, what one may call the King of Liars.
‘Mendez Pinto, Baron Munchaüsen, and others are celebrated in this art, and not without some colour of justice; yet must it in candour remain doubtful whether any of these comparatively were much more than liars from the teeth onwards: a perfect character of the species in question, who lied not in word only, but continually in thought, word, and act; and, so to speak, lived wholly in an element of lying, and from birth to death did nothing but lie—was still a desideratum. Of which desideratum Count Alessandro offers, we say, if not the fulfilment, perhaps as nearan approach to it as the limited human faculties permit.’
And yet this man made a name, and was famous in his time, and even afterwards. Lives, novels, and romances, notably being immortalized by Alexandre Dumas in his ‘Memoires d’un Médecin,’ nay, even plays, have been written about this clever rogue, who rose from a poor man’s son to be the talk of Europe, and his connection with the famous diamond necklace, made him of almost political importance, sufficient to warrant his incarceration in the Bastille.
I do not propose to write the life of Cagliostro—enough and to spare has been written on this subject,109but simply to treat of him in London; yet at the same time it is necessary to say when and where he was born—the more especially because he always professed ignorance of his birth, and, when examined in a French court of justice in relation to the famous diamond necklace on January 30, 1786, the question was put to him, ‘How old are you?’Answer—‘Thirty-seven or thirty-eight years.’Question—‘Your name?’Answer—‘Alessandro Cagliostro.’Question—‘Where born?’Answer—‘I cannot say for certain, whether it was at Malta or at Medina; I have lived under the tuition of a governor, who told me that I was of noble birth, that I was left an orphan when only three months old,’ etc.
But in a French book,110of which an English translationwas made in 1786, Cagliostro is made to say, ‘I cannot speak positively as to the place of my nativity, nor to the parents who gave me birth. From various circumstances of my life I have conceived some doubts, in which the reader perhaps will join with me. But I repeat it: all my inquiries have ended only in giving me some great notions, it is true, but altogether vague and uncertain concerning my family.
‘I spent the years of my childhood in the city of Medina, in Arabia. There I was brought up under the name of Acharat, which I preserved during my progress through Africa and Asia. I had apartments in the palace of the Muphti Salahaym. It is needless to add that the Muphti is the chief of the Mahometan Religion, and that his constant residence is at Medina.
‘I recollect perfectly that I had then four persons in my service; a governor, between 55 and 60 years of age, whose name was Althotas, and three servants, a white one, who attended me as valet-de-Chambre, and two blacks, one of whom was constantly about me night and day.
‘My Governor always told me that I had been left an orphan when only three months old; that my parents were Christians, and nobly born; but he left me absolutely in the dark about their names, and the place of my nativity: a few words which he dropped by chance have induced me to suspect that I was born at Malta; but this circumstance I have never been able to ascertain.’
Althotas was a great sage, and imparted to his young pupil all the scientific knowledge he possessed, and that awful person, the Grand Muphti himself, would deign to converse with the boy on the loreand history of ancient Egypt. At this time he says he dressed as a Mussulman, and conformed to their rites; but was all the time at heart a true Christian.
At the mature age of twelve, he felt a strong desire to travel, and Althotas indulged him by joining a caravan going to Mecca, and here comes an attempt to fasten his paternity upon the Cherif of that place.
‘On our arrival at Mecca, we alighted at the palace of the Cherif, who is the sovereign of Mecca, and of all Arabia, and always chosen from amongst the descendants of Mahomet. I here altered my dress, from a simple one, which I had worn hitherto, to one more splendid. On the third day after our arrival, I was, by my Governor, presented to the Cherif, who honoured me with the most endearing caresses. At sight of this prince, my senses experienced a sudden emotion, which it is not in the power of words to express; my eyes dropped the most delicious tears I ever shed in my life. His, I perceived, he could hardly restrain....
‘I remained at Mecca for the space of three years; not one day passed without my being admitted to the Sovereign’s presence, and every hour increased his attachment and added to my gratitude. I sometimes surprized his eyes rivetted upon me, and then looking up to heaven, with every expression of pity and commiseration. Thoughtful, I would go from him, a prey to an ever fruitless curiosity. I dared not ask any question of my Governor, who always rebuked me with great severity, as if it had been a crime in me to wish for some information concerning my parents, and the place where I was born....
‘One day as I was alone, the prince entered my apartment; so great a favour struck me with amazement;he strained me to his bosom with more than usual tenderness, bade me never cease to adore the Almighty, telling me that, as long as I should persist in serving God faithfully, I should at last be happy, and come to the knowledge of my real destiny; then he added, bedewing my cheeks with tears, “Adieu, thou nature’s unfortunate child.” ...’
This is one side of the question—his own. It is romantic, and in all probability a lie. There is another side; but the evidence, although far more within the bounds of reason, is unsupported by corroboration. The authority is from an Italian book of one hundred and eighty-nine pages, entitled: ‘Compendio della Vita, et delle Gesta diGiuseppe Balsamo, denominato IlConte Cagliostro.Che si è estratto dal Processo contro di lui formato in Roma l’Anno, 1790. E che può servire di scorta per conoscere l’indole della Setta deLiberi Muratori.In Roma 1791.’ This book purports to be printed in the Vatican, ‘from the Printing press of the Reverend Apostolic Chamber.’111
In the preface of this book is the following sentence, which is intended to vouch for the facts it contains: ‘Thence comes the justice of that observation, that these Charlatans especially acquire credit, renown, and riches, in those countries where the least religion is found, where philosophy is most fashionable. Rome is not a place that agrees with them, because error cannot throw out its roots, in the centre, the capital, of the true faith. The life of Count Cagliostro is a shining proof of this truth. It is for this reason that it has been thought proper tocompose this compendium, faithfully extracted from the proceedings taken against him, a short while since, at Rome; this is evidence which the critic cannot attack. In order to effect this, the Sovereign Pontifical Authority has deigned to dispense with the law of inviolable secrecy, which always accompanies, with as much justice as prudence, the proceedings of the Holy Inquisition.’
And the account of his life opens thus: ‘Joseph Balsamo was born at Palermo on the 8th of June, 1743. His parents were Pietro Balsamo and Felice Braconieri, both of mean extraction. His father, who was a shopkeeper, dying when he was still a baby, his maternal uncles took care of him,’ &c.
In another book, ‘The Life of the Count Cagliostro,’ &c., London, 1787, there is a foot-note to the first page: ‘Some authors are of opinion that he is the offspring of the grand Master of Malta, by a Turkish lady, made captive by a Maltese galley. Others that he is the only surviving son of that prince who, about thirty-five years ago, swayed the precarious sceptre of Trebisond, at which period, a revolution taking place, the reigning prince was massacred by his seditious subjects, and his infant son, the Count Cagliostro, conveyed by a trusty friend to Medina, where the Cherif had the unprejudiced generosity to have him educated in the faith of his Christian parents.’
I do not follow his career, but the most marvellous stories were current about him,videthe following extract from a book already quoted (see foot-note page 334): ‘The Comtesse de la Motte dares to assert that one of my men makes a boast of having been 150 years in my service. That I sometimes acknowledgemyself to be only 300 years old; at others that I brag of having been present at the nuptials in Cana, and that it was to burlesque the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, the transubstantiation, that I had imagined to multiply the necklace, taken to pieces, into a hundred different manners, and yet it was delivered, as it is said, in its full complement to the august Queen.
‘That I am by turns a Portuguese Jew, a Greek, an Egyptian of Alexandria, from whence I have imported into France hyeroglyphics and sorcery.
‘That I am one of those infatuated Rosicrucians, who have the power of making the dead converse with the living; that I attend the poor gratis, but that I sell forsomething, to the rich, the gifts of immortality.’
But it is not of these things I wish to treat; it is of the facts connected with his residence in London. Two or three accounts say that he visited London in 1772, where he swindled a Doctor Benemore, who had rescued him from prison, under pretence of painting his country house, and his enemy, De Morande, of theCourier de l’Europe, who, in No.’s 16, 17, and 18 of that journal, made frightful accusations against Cagliostro, reiterates the story of his being here in 1772. In page xiv. of the preface to ‘The Life of the Count Cagliostro,’ 1787, there occurs the following passage: ‘M. de Morande is at infinite pains to persuade us that the Count resided in London in 1772, under the name of Balsamo, in extreme poverty, from which he was relieved by Sir Edward Hales. That Baronet professes, indeed, to recollect anItalianof that name; but, as M. de Morande positively assures us that the Count is aCalabrois, aNeapolitan,or aSicilian, we can desire no better argument to prove the fallacy of his information.’
In a pamphlet entitled, ‘Lettre du Comte Cagliostro au Peuple Anglois pour servir de suite à ses Memoires,’ 1786, p. 7, he says distinctly: ‘Nous sommes arrivés, ma femme et moi, en Angleterre, pour la première fois de ma vie, au mois de Juillet, 1776,’ and on p. 70 of the same work is the following (translated):
‘The greatest part of the long diatribe of M. Morande is used to prove that I came to London in 1772, under the name ofBalsamo. In view of the efforts which M. Morande makes, in order to arrive at such proof, an attempt is made to show that theBalsamowith whom they attempt to identify me ought to have been hung, or, at all events, he rendered himself guilty of some dishonourable actions. Nothing of the sort. ThisBalsamo, if theCourier de l’Europecan be believed, was a mediocre painter, who lived by his brush. A man namedBenamore, either agent, or interpreter, or chargé d’affaires to the King of Morocco, had commissioned him to paint some pictures, and had not paid for them.Balsamoissued a writ against him for £47 sterling, which he said was due to him, admitting that he had received two guineas on account. Besides, thisBalsamowas so poor that his wife was obliged to go into town herself, in order to sell the pictures which her husband painted. Such is the portrait which M. de Morande draws of theBalsamoof London, a portrait which no one will accuse him of having flattered, and from which the sensible reader will draw the conclusion that theBalsamoof London was an honest artist who gained a livelihood by hard work.
‘I might then admit without blushing that I had lived in London in 1772 under the name ofBalsamo, on the product of my feeble talents in painting; that the course of events and circumstances had reduced me to this extremity, etc....
‘I am ignorant whether the law-suit betweenBalsamoandBenamoreis real or supposed: one thing is certain, that in London exists a regular physician of irreproachable probity, named Benamore. He is versed in oriental languages: he was formerly attached, as interpreter, to the Moroccan Embassy, and he is, at this date, employed, in the same capacity, by the ambassador of Tripoli. He will bear witness to all who wish to know that, during the 30 years he has been established in London, he has never known another Benamore than himself, and that he has never had a law-suit with anyone bearing the name ofBalsamo.’
Now take Carlyle, with whom dogmatism stood in stead of research, and judge for yourselves. ‘There is one briefest but authentic-looking glimpse of him presents itself in England, in the year 1772: no Count is he here, but mere Signor Balsamo again, engaged in house-painting, for which he has a peculiar talent. Was it true that he painted the country house of a “Doctor Benemore;” and, not having painted, but only smeared it, was refused payment, and got a lawsuit with expenses instead? If Doctor Benemore have left any representatives in the Earth, they are desired to speak out. We add only, that if young Beppo had one of the prettiest of wives, old Benemore had one of the ugliest daughters; and so, putting one thing to another, matters might not be so bad.’
Who set this story afloat, about Cagliostro being in London in 1772? Why, Monsieur de Morande, the editor of theCourier de l’Europe, and of his veracity we may judge by an advertisement in theLondon Evening Postof November 27 to 30, 1773, p. 4, col. 4, (translated).
‘Monsieur Le Comte de Lauraguais has kindly consented, after the humble apologies I have made to him, to forego the action commenced against me for having defamed him in some verses full of untruths, injurious both to his honour and his reputation, of which I was the author, and which I caused to be inserted in theMorning Chronicleof 24 and 25 June last, entitled: “Answer of the Gazetteer Cuirassé.” I therefore beg you, Mr. Woodfall,112to publish through the same channel by which I made my verses public,—my sincere repentance for having so injuriously libelled Monsieur le Comte, and my very humble thanks for his having accepted my apologies, and stopping all action in the matter.
‘De Morande.
‘Nov. 26, 1773.’
This is what in law would be calleda tainted witness, as, about that time he was, on his own confession, given to lying.
According to his own account he came to London in July, 1776, possessed of a capital of about three thousand pounds in plate, jewels, and specie, and hired apartments in Whitcomb Street, Pall Mall East, and here he fell into evil company. The story is not very lucid—but it seems that his wife’s companion, a Portuguese woman named Blavary, and his secretary and interpreter, Vitellini, introduced to him a certainLord Scot. They were a lot of sharpers all round. Scot introduced a woman as his wife—Lady Scot, if you please—(in reality Miss Fry), who got money and clothes from the countess, and Cagliostro lent my lord two hundred pounds on his simple note of hand.
He declares that he gave them lucky numbers for the lottery, and that they gained much money thereby—on one occasion, when he gave Miss Fry the number eight, she won the sum of fifteen hundred guineas; but she was requested by Cagliostro not to visit, or bother himself, or his wife again. He moved into Suffolk Street in January, 1777, but the persevering Miss Fry took lodgings in the same house. She attempted to borrow money, and to get lucky numbers, but, failing in both, she had him arrested on the 7th of February for a pretended debt of one hundred and ninety pounds. He recovered his liberty the next day, by depositing in the hands of the sheriff’s officer, jewels worth double the amount.
Then a warrant was taken out against him and his wife, signed by one Justice Miller—on the charge of practising witchcraft. This does not, however, seem to have been acted on, but he was frequently harassed by actions for debt brought against him by Miss Fry, and he became well acquainted with the inside of a spunging-house. On the 24th of May he was taken into custody for a debt of two hundred pounds, at the suit of Miss Fry, but he managed to find bail. The case was tried before Lord Mansfield, in the Court of Queen’s Bench, on the 27th of June, but his lordship suggested that it was a case for arbitration, which was agreed to.
The arbitration took place on the 4th of July, whenCagliostro’s lawyer deserted him, and the decision was that the count had lost his case, and must pay all costs. As if this was not bad enough, as he was leaving the court he was arrested at the suit of one Aylett, who had lodged a detainer against him for a debt of ten pounds and upwards, by the name of Melisa Cagliostro, otherwise Joseph Balsamo, which debt he said was due to him from Balsamo, who had employed him in 1772 to recover a debt from Dr. Benamore. He got bail, but, as his money was getting scarce, it was at the cost of ‘two soup-ladles, two candlesticks, two salt-cellars, two pepper-castors, six forks, six table spoons, nine knife handles with blades, a pair of snuffers and stand, all of silver.’ He had, however, suffered six weeks’ imprisonment, as he was not liberated from the King’s Bench till the 24th of September, 1777.
In vain his friends endeavoured to stir him up to commence actions for fraud and perjury against all concerned, but either his cause was not just, or he had had enough law to last him some time—and he refused. He paid up his debts and left England, with only fifty guineas and a few jewels in his possession.
Rightly or wrongly, he was connected with the ‘Diamond Necklace’ affair, and suffered incarceration in the Bastile. If he can be at all believed, the police plundered him and his wife right royally. He says he lost fifteen rouleaux, each containing fifty double louis, sealed with his seal; one thousand two hundred and thirty-three sequins (Venetian and Roman): one rouleau of twenty-four Spanish quadruples, sealed also; and forty-seven billets of one thousand livres each on the Caisse d’Escompte. They also took papers which were to him of inestimable value; and,as to diamonds and jewellery, he knew not what was taken, besides plate, porcelain, and linen, etc. After an examination, he was acquitted, but he had to leave France, and came to London, where he lived in Sloane Street. Here he became acquainted with Lord George Gordon, and this acquaintance afterwards cost him dearly, when he was arrested at Rome. To show the intimacy between the two, I will quote from thePublic Advertiserof the 22nd of August, 1786, p. 2, col. 3.
‘M. Barthelemy, who conducts the affairs of France in the absence of Comte Dazimer, having sent M. Daragon with a message to Comte de Cagliostro, in Sloane Street, intimating that he had received orders from the Court of Versailles to communicate to Comte de Cagliostro that he now had permission to return to France; yesterday morning, the Comte, accompanied by Lord George Gordon and M. Bergeret de Frouville, waited upon M. Barthelemy at the “Hotel of France,” in Piccadilly, for an eclaireissement upon the subject of this message from the Court of France, delivered by M. Barthelemy, relative to the permission granted to the Comte de Cagliostro to return to Paris. M. Barthelemy, the Comte de Cambise, and M. Daragon seemed much surprised to see Comte de Cagliostro arrive in Lord George Gordon’s coach, with his Lordship, and M. Frouville, and, having expressed their desire that the Comte de Cagliostroaloneshould speak with M. Barthelemy, they were informed that Lord Gordon and M. Bergeret de Frouville were there on purpose to attend their friend, and that Comte de Cagliostro would not dispense with Lord George Gordon’s absence from the Conference. Will any friend to libertyblame Comte de Cagliostro, after ten months’ imprisonment in a dungeon, for having his friends near him, when insidious proposals are made to him by the faction of Breteuil and the supporters of the Bastile Men who have already sought his destruction, and, after his innocence was declared by the judgment of the Parliament of Paris, embezzled a great part of his fortune, and exiled him from France? M. Barthelemy (seeing the determination of the Comte’s friends) then read the letter from M. Breteuil; but, upon the Comte de Cagliostro desiring a copy, M. Barthelemy refused it. A great deal of conversation then ensued upon the subject, which in all probability will give rise to a full representation to the King of France, who is certainly very much imposed on. The Queen’s party is still violent against Comte de Cagliostro, the friend of mankind; and De Breteuil—le Sieur De Launey—Titon—De Brunières—Maître Chesnon—Barthelemy and Dazimer are mere instruments of that faction. The honour of the King of France, the justice and judgment of the Parliament of Paris, the good faith of the Citizens, and the good name of the nation, are all attainted by the pillage and detention of the property of Comte de Cagliostro.’
And again, in the same paper, 24th of August, 1786, p. 2, col. 3, is another paragraph respecting him:
‘Comte de Cagliostro has declared he will hold no intercourse with any of Le Sieur Breteuil’s messengers from France, except in the presence of Lord George Gordon. The gang of French spies in London, who are linked in with M. de Morande, and the Sieurs Barthelemy, Dazimer, Cambise, and the Queen’s Bastile party at Paris, are trying the mostinsiduous arts to entrap the Comte and Comtesse, and have the effrontery and audaciousness to persecute them publicly, and vilify them even in this free country, where these noble Strangers are come to seek protection in the arms of a generous people. The friendship and benevolence of Comte de Cagliostro, in advising the poor Prince Louis de Rohan to be upon his guard against the Comtesse de Valois, and the intrigues of the Queen’s faction, (who still seek the destruction of that noble Prince) has brought upon the Comte and his amiable Comtesse the hateful revenge of a tyrannical Government. The story of the Diamonds has never been properly explained to the Public in France. It would discover too much of the base arts practised to destroy Prince Louis, and involve in guilt persons not safe to name in an arbitrary kingdom.’
This airing of private grief in public extorted some strictures in a letter in theMorning Post, of 29th of August, 1786, in which it was suggested, generally, that foreigners should wash their dirty linen at home. But Monsieur de Morande, editor of theCourier de l’Europe, published many assertions, be they facts, or fiction, relative to Cagliostro, and he once more blossomed out into print in his old champion, thePublic Advertiser(vide that newspaper, 5th of September, 1786, p. 2. col. 1), translated in the number of 7th September. In this curious letter, he adverts to his adversaries’ slanders, and the following singular passages occur:
‘Of all the very good stories which you relate at my expense, the best, without comparison, is that of the pig fed with arsenic, which poisoned the lions, tygers, and leopards of the forests of Medina. I amgoing, Mr. Railer, to give you an opportunity of being witty on a perfect comprehension of the fact. You know that, in physics and chymistry, reasoning proves but little, ridicule nothing, and that experiment is all. Permit me, then, to propose a small experiment to you, of which the issue will divert the public, either at your expense, or mine. I invite you to breakfast with me on the 9th of November next, at nine o’clock in the morning. You shall furnish the wine, and the appendages. For myself, I shall only furnish a single dish, after my own fashion—it shall be a sucking pig, fattened after my method. Two hours before breakfast, I shall present you the pig alive, fat and healthy. You shall order it to be killed as you please, and prepared, and I shall not approach until it is served at the table. You shall cut it into four equal parts, you shall chuse that which most flatters your appetite, and I shall take that which you please. The day after that of our breakfast, one or more of four things will happen. Either both of us shall die, or we neither of us shall die, or you shall die and I survive, or I shall die and you survive. Of these four chances I give you three, and I bet you 5000 guineas, that, on the day after our breakfast, you shall die, and I be perfectly well. You must either accept of this Challenge, or acknowledge that you are an ignorant fellow, and that you have foolishly ridiculed a thing which is totally out of your knowledge.
‘If you accept of this Challenge, I shall instantly deposit the 5000 guineas with any banker that you please. You shall do the same in five days, during which time you shall have leave to make your supporters Contribute,’ &c.
Monsieur de Morande’s reply was published immediately following the above letter. It is, like Cagliostro’s, too long for insertion; but its gist is, that he intends to unmask the pretender, and that he utterly declines to attend a poisoning match. He writes:
‘I solemnly defy you to contradict them’ (i.e., his assertions as to Cagliostro’s quackeries and adventures); ‘and that I even offer, without croupiers or supporters, to make you another wager of five thousand guineas that I shall compleatly unmask you.
‘But,Monsieur le Comte, I shall not put my foot in your house, and shall not breakfast with you myself. I am neither abject enough to keep you company, nor will let it be suspected for a single moment.
‘You clearly conceive that such an interview ought not, nor can be, within your doors; you would be liable to be found guilty of criminal practises, in case of accident. This yourCouncilhad not foreseen.
‘As no tavern would permit such infamous scenes to pass under its roof as those you propose, you must,Monsieur le Comte, return once more to thebooth; and worthy disciple ofLocusta,113choose in London a public place to make an open-air exhibition of your talents.’
And like the scorpion, which carries its sting in its tail, he adds a foot-note, which refers to the heading of his letter:
‘M. de Morande’s Answer to Don Joseph Balsamo,self-created Count of Cagliostro, Colonel in the Service of all the Sovereign Powers in Europe.’
‘If it was not the case, it would be very singular to have seen, in the year 1777, M. Cagliostro calling himself in England Colonel of the Third Regiment of Brandenbourg, and, afterwards, in Russia, Colonel in the Spanish Service; for which, however, he was reprimanded by the magistrates of Petersburgh. Having forgot to take his Commission with him, he could not exhibit proofs, and was obliged to put down his regimentals. This check on his conduct made him abscond from Petersburgh. Every Russian nobleman in London knows this anecdote, and, without presuming to mention names, we trust that this will be found to be the case upon enquiry.’
To this letter Cagliostro replied with another in thePublic Advertiser(p. 2, col. 1) of September 9, 1786, in which he repeats his challenge, and declines to sit down to breakfast with a carnivorous animal.
De Morande, of course, could not be silent, and replied in thePublic Advertiser(p. 2, col. 1) of September 12, 1786. He reiterated the charges he made against Cagliostro in theCourier de l’Europe, saying, among other things, ‘I have said that you were in England in the year 1771, under the name ofBalsamo, and that you were then a needy, as well as avery indifferentpainter; that twenty persons, at least, are ready to prove it. You take no notice of this second assertion, which becomes serious,by the oath you have taken under that name, of which I have a legal copy in my possession.
‘I have said that you have made your appearance under another name,that of Cagliostro, in the year 1777. I have severalaffidavits, amongst whichthere are some of your own, which authenticate very curious anecdotes concerning you; to this you have replied nothing.
‘I have said that you falsely pretended then to be aColonel of the third regimentof Brandenbourg; that you had, at that time, a law-suit in the Court of Queen’s Bench,about a certain necklace, and a gold snuff-box, which you asserted to have been givenMadame la Comtesse, but which you were obliged to return, and pay all Costs, on the Clear proofs given by your adverse party, that you obtained themunder false pretences. No reply has been made to this.
‘I have added that, were you curious to try the same experiment now, a new Act of Parliament, which you and your fellow-adventurers have renderedvery necessary, would certainly have caused you to be sent to the Thames.114To that direct and very clear observation you have not replied a single word.
‘I have said that you were ordered by the Police in Russia, not to presume to take the name of a Colonel in the Spanish service, and to strip off your Spanish regimentals. I have given you an opportunity to vindicate yourself, by giving to understand, that there is not a Russian nobleman in London who would not certify this fact. I might have added that I have in my possessionthe most respectable authorityto say so. What have you said in reply to this?
‘I have roundly asserted that I am in possession of proofs, that you are an impostor under every possible denomination; that you have not only no pretensionto any title, but not even to the rank of a sergeant. Shall this remain likewise unanswered?
‘I am sorry to be obliged once more to name Messrs.B. & C. Bankers, to prove that your pretensions to lay a wager of 5000 guineas, are as well grounded as your pretensions to the title of aCount, or anAlchemist. It is a fact, that youhumblyoffered to pledge in their hands the watch, of which the too long, and too much, deluded Cardinal de Rohan made you a present. It is likewise a factthat they disdainfully refused it. Your proposing, after this, a wager of 5000 guineas is probably no more than a new pretence to obtain credit, as you have formerly (in pretending to make great quantities of gold) obtained small sums, and little diamonds to make larger, which you afterwards declared had been given toMadame la Comtesse. Those proofs, I repeat to you,are in my possession; they are all fully authenticated, and I will make good every one of my assertions.’ And he winds up his letter with expressing ‘the satisfaction I feel in having furnished the world with sufficient proofs to convince them that you areTHE GREATEST IMPOSTOR OF THIS OR ANY OTHER AGE.’
This ended the correspondence, for the general public were beginning to meddle in it, and the editor of thePublic Advertiserwould only open his pages to the principals in this duel. This finished Cagliostro’s career in England. He had tried to sell his quack medicines, his Egyptian pills, but the charm was broken, and he quitted England for the Continent in May, 1787, leaving his wife behind, with sufficient means, under the guardianship of the DeLoutherbourgs. She afterwards sold all up, and joined him in June.
By this time his good genius had forsaken him, and for teaching freemasonry, then even more repugnant to the Roman Catholic hierarchy than at present, he was arrested, and imprisoned in the Castle of St. Angelo, November 27, 1789. He never again enjoyed freedom, but was found dead in his cell at St. Leo. Even the date of his death is uncertain, most authorities giving 1795; but some say 1794 and 1797. His wife, too, shared his fate; she was convicted of sorcery and witchcraft, and was shut up in a convent, where she died in 1794.
His portraits represent him as by no means bad-looking, although the full eye, the puffed cheeks, and weak mouth betray a sensuality of feeling.
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“We recommend ‘Plain Speaking’ to all who like amusing, wholesome, and instructive reading. The contents of Mrs. Craik’s volume are of the most multifarious kind, but all the papers are good and readable, and one at least of them of real importance.”—St. James’s Gazette.
WORDS OF HOPE AND COMFORT TO THOSE IN SORROW.Dedicated by Permission toThe Queen.Fourth Edition.1 vol. small 4to. 5s.
Under the Especial Patronage of Her Majesty.Published annually, in One Vol., royal 8vo, with the Arms beautifully engraved, handsomely bound, with gilt edges, price 31s. 6d.LODGE’S PEERAGEAND BARONETAGE,CORRECTED BY THE NOBILITY.FIFTY-SIXTH EDITION FOR 1887.
Lodge’s Peerage and Baronetageis acknowledged to be the most complete, as well as the most elegant, work of the kind. As an established and authentic authority on all questions respecting the family histories, honours, and connections of the titled aristocracy, no work has ever stood so high. It is published under the especial patronage of Her Majesty, and is annually corrected throughout, from the personal communications of the Nobility. It is the only work of its class in which,the type being kept constantly standing, every correction is made in its proper place to the date of publication, an advantage which gives it supremacy over all its competitors. Independently of its full and authentic information respecting the existing Peers and Baronets of the realm, the most sedulous attention is given in its pages to the collateral branches of the various noble families, and the names of many thousand individuals are introduced, which do not appear in other records of the titled classes. For its authority, correctness, and facility of arrangement, and the beauty of its typography and binding, the work is justly entitled to the place it occupies on the tables of Her Majesty and the Nobility.