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Article CAGLIOSTRO AND THE LODGE OF ANTIQUITY. ← Page 3 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Cagliostro And The Lodge Of Antiquity.
For names , like Seiuplc , numerous lie bears , And , Proteus like , in fifty forms appears . ' 'Behold in me' ( he says ) 'Dame Nature ' s child , Of soul benevolent , and manners mild ; In me tire guiltless Acharat behold , Who knows the mystery of making gold : A feeling heart I boasta conscience pure
, , I boast a balsam every ill to cure . My pills and powders all disease remove , Renew your vigour , and your health improve . ' This cunning part the arch impostor acts , And thus the ii-eak and credulous attracts . But now his history is rendered clear , The arrant hypocrite and quack appear ;
First , as Balsamo , he to paint essay'd ; But only daubing , he renounc'd the trade . Then as a mountebank abroad he stroll'd , And many a name orr death ' s black list enrolfd . Three times he visited the British shore , Aud ev ' ry time a different name he bore . The brave Alsatians he with ease cajol'd
, By boasting of Egyptian forms of old . The self same trick he practis'd at Bordeaux , At Strasburg , Lyons , and at Paris too . But fate for Brother Mash reserv'd the task 'To strip the vile impostor of his mask . May all true Masons his plain tale attend ; And satire's lash to fraud shall put an end . "
This plate is inscribed , "London : Publish'd November 21 st , 1786 , for the proprietor , by H . Humphrey , NeAv Bond Street . " Perhaps it may not be out of place here , to present some notice of the famous impostor , Cagliostro ; and as the learned and celebrated Thomas Carlyle has devoted an essay to him , Ave shall make no apology for quoting and condensing the same , so as to place before our readers
a reliable account of this Avonderful cheat . " Count Alessandro di Cagliostro , pupil of the sage Athotas , foster-child of the Scheiif of Mecca , probable son of the last king of Trebisond , named also Acharat , and " unfortunate child of nature " ; by profession healer of diseases , nbolisher of wrinkles , friend of the poor and impotent , Grand Master of the Egyptian Mason Lodge of High Science , spirit summoner , cook hta het
gold- , grand cop , prop , priest , and thaumaturgic moralist and swindler ; really a liar of the first magnitude , thoroughpaced in all provinces of lying—what one may call the king of liars . Mendez Pinto , Baron Munchausen , and others , arc celebrated iu this art , ami not Avithout some colour of justice ; yet it must in candour remain doubtful whether any of these , comparatii'cly , Avere much more than liars from the teeth ornvards : a perfect character of the species in questionwho lived not in ivord onlnor
, y , in act and word only , but continually , in thought , Avord , and act—and so to speak , lived wholly in an element of lying , and from birth to death , did nothing but lie , —ivas still a desideratum . Of ivhich desideratum Count Alessandro di Cagliostro otters , if not the fulfilment , perhaps as near an approach to such as the limited human faculties permit . " This wonderful individual rose from thc lowest ranks to a notable
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Cagliostro And The Lodge Of Antiquity.
For names , like Seiuplc , numerous lie bears , And , Proteus like , in fifty forms appears . ' 'Behold in me' ( he says ) 'Dame Nature ' s child , Of soul benevolent , and manners mild ; In me tire guiltless Acharat behold , Who knows the mystery of making gold : A feeling heart I boasta conscience pure
, , I boast a balsam every ill to cure . My pills and powders all disease remove , Renew your vigour , and your health improve . ' This cunning part the arch impostor acts , And thus the ii-eak and credulous attracts . But now his history is rendered clear , The arrant hypocrite and quack appear ;
First , as Balsamo , he to paint essay'd ; But only daubing , he renounc'd the trade . Then as a mountebank abroad he stroll'd , And many a name orr death ' s black list enrolfd . Three times he visited the British shore , Aud ev ' ry time a different name he bore . The brave Alsatians he with ease cajol'd
, By boasting of Egyptian forms of old . The self same trick he practis'd at Bordeaux , At Strasburg , Lyons , and at Paris too . But fate for Brother Mash reserv'd the task 'To strip the vile impostor of his mask . May all true Masons his plain tale attend ; And satire's lash to fraud shall put an end . "
This plate is inscribed , "London : Publish'd November 21 st , 1786 , for the proprietor , by H . Humphrey , NeAv Bond Street . " Perhaps it may not be out of place here , to present some notice of the famous impostor , Cagliostro ; and as the learned and celebrated Thomas Carlyle has devoted an essay to him , Ave shall make no apology for quoting and condensing the same , so as to place before our readers
a reliable account of this Avonderful cheat . " Count Alessandro di Cagliostro , pupil of the sage Athotas , foster-child of the Scheiif of Mecca , probable son of the last king of Trebisond , named also Acharat , and " unfortunate child of nature " ; by profession healer of diseases , nbolisher of wrinkles , friend of the poor and impotent , Grand Master of the Egyptian Mason Lodge of High Science , spirit summoner , cook hta het
gold- , grand cop , prop , priest , and thaumaturgic moralist and swindler ; really a liar of the first magnitude , thoroughpaced in all provinces of lying—what one may call the king of liars . Mendez Pinto , Baron Munchausen , and others , arc celebrated iu this art , ami not Avithout some colour of justice ; yet it must in candour remain doubtful whether any of these , comparatii'cly , Avere much more than liars from the teeth ornvards : a perfect character of the species in questionwho lived not in ivord onlnor
, y , in act and word only , but continually , in thought , Avord , and act—and so to speak , lived wholly in an element of lying , and from birth to death , did nothing but lie , —ivas still a desideratum . Of ivhich desideratum Count Alessandro di Cagliostro otters , if not the fulfilment , perhaps as near an approach to such as the limited human faculties permit . " This wonderful individual rose from thc lowest ranks to a notable