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Article CAGLIOSTRO AND THE LODGE OF ANTIQUITY. ← Page 5 of 9 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Cagliostro And The Lodge Of Antiquity.
and entrusted to the keeping of the convent apothecary , Avhere he confesses he learned some ( or , as he calls it , " the ) princip les of chemistry and medicine . ''' In this retreat , not over Avell p leased with the restraint , and particularly indignant at not being alloAved to eat Avith the monks , but having to read to them their martyrology Avhiie they partook of their mealshe hit upon a novel expedient , and instead
, of reading the genuine lives of such as Avere Avritten in the book before him , spoke ivhat his own vivid brain devised on the spur of the moment , substituting for thc names of tho saints thoso of the most notable courtesans of Palermo—for which thc monks felled him to the earth , and Hayed him ivith scourges ; and Cagliostro bid them fareivell . by taking himself off . On his return , home , ho AVOS of course , pressed
by his mother and uncle to choose some means of livelihood , and determined to try painting and study design . During this time he is reported to have kept the Avorst company , led the loosest life , aud to have been intimate with all tho swindlers , gamblers , idle apprentices , and courtesans , in Palermo . He also at this time became a pimpforhaving a cousin living in the same house with him Avho
, , had a lover , ha acted the part of go-between , and made the unlucky lover hand over jeAvellery and money , as a lady to be Avon ought to be treated handsomely ; and thoso valuables it is said , he then appropriated furtively . Roon , however , lie commenced counterfeiting . handwriting , 'his first essays being forged tickets for the theatres . One of his acts of this kind was to forge a Avill " for the benefit of a
relig ious house ; " another , at which his biographer is horribly scandalised , was the forging of leave of absence for a monk , and counterfeiting the signature of a superior ! Ho also dabbled in predicting fortunes and shewing visions , as well as " boing in most brawls , " aud making a point to attack all ollicers of justice ; and the complement of his crimes at that period are brought to a close by the somoAvhat
imperfectly vouched assertion that he had " assassinated a canon . " The cause of his leaving his native city , was , that he had persuaded one Marano , a goldsmith ., that there ivcrc certain treasures hidden in . tho rocks ; and after having drawn his victim to the tune of " sixty gold ounces , " the goldsmith insisted on the treasure being dug up , AA'heroon a certain ni ght Avas appointed ; some of Gagliostro ' s friends ,
attired as devils , beat the goldsmith to a jelly , who sAvore he Avould be revenged , and having a Avholesome fear of the stiletto of Marano , our hero left his native city , or , iu thc Avords of his biographer of the Holy Office , ' - 'he fled Palermo , and overran the Avhole earth . " ToAvards the close of the last century , quacks nnd quackery Avere iu tho ascendant—mesmerists , magiciansthvedenborgiansIliuminati ,
, , crucilied nuns , and devils of London ! To which the Inquisition biographer adds—vampires , sylphs , Rosicrucians , Preemasons , & c . There Avere the Sehr'jpfers , Cagliostros , Casanovas , Saint Germaius , Dr . Grahams ; the Chevalier d'Eon , Psalmanazar , Abbe Paris , and scores of others . It is impossible to trace the travels of Cagliostro , or for a ' moment to put any confidence' in his tale of a voyage to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Cagliostro And The Lodge Of Antiquity.
and entrusted to the keeping of the convent apothecary , Avhere he confesses he learned some ( or , as he calls it , " the ) princip les of chemistry and medicine . ''' In this retreat , not over Avell p leased with the restraint , and particularly indignant at not being alloAved to eat Avith the monks , but having to read to them their martyrology Avhiie they partook of their mealshe hit upon a novel expedient , and instead
, of reading the genuine lives of such as Avere Avritten in the book before him , spoke ivhat his own vivid brain devised on the spur of the moment , substituting for thc names of tho saints thoso of the most notable courtesans of Palermo—for which thc monks felled him to the earth , and Hayed him ivith scourges ; and Cagliostro bid them fareivell . by taking himself off . On his return , home , ho AVOS of course , pressed
by his mother and uncle to choose some means of livelihood , and determined to try painting and study design . During this time he is reported to have kept the Avorst company , led the loosest life , aud to have been intimate with all tho swindlers , gamblers , idle apprentices , and courtesans , in Palermo . He also at this time became a pimpforhaving a cousin living in the same house with him Avho
, , had a lover , ha acted the part of go-between , and made the unlucky lover hand over jeAvellery and money , as a lady to be Avon ought to be treated handsomely ; and thoso valuables it is said , he then appropriated furtively . Roon , however , lie commenced counterfeiting . handwriting , 'his first essays being forged tickets for the theatres . One of his acts of this kind was to forge a Avill " for the benefit of a
relig ious house ; " another , at which his biographer is horribly scandalised , was the forging of leave of absence for a monk , and counterfeiting the signature of a superior ! Ho also dabbled in predicting fortunes and shewing visions , as well as " boing in most brawls , " aud making a point to attack all ollicers of justice ; and the complement of his crimes at that period are brought to a close by the somoAvhat
imperfectly vouched assertion that he had " assassinated a canon . " The cause of his leaving his native city , was , that he had persuaded one Marano , a goldsmith ., that there ivcrc certain treasures hidden in . tho rocks ; and after having drawn his victim to the tune of " sixty gold ounces , " the goldsmith insisted on the treasure being dug up , AA'heroon a certain ni ght Avas appointed ; some of Gagliostro ' s friends ,
attired as devils , beat the goldsmith to a jelly , who sAvore he Avould be revenged , and having a Avholesome fear of the stiletto of Marano , our hero left his native city , or , iu thc Avords of his biographer of the Holy Office , ' - 'he fled Palermo , and overran the Avhole earth . " ToAvards the close of the last century , quacks nnd quackery Avere iu tho ascendant—mesmerists , magiciansthvedenborgiansIliuminati ,
, , crucilied nuns , and devils of London ! To which the Inquisition biographer adds—vampires , sylphs , Rosicrucians , Preemasons , & c . There Avere the Sehr'jpfers , Cagliostros , Casanovas , Saint Germaius , Dr . Grahams ; the Chevalier d'Eon , Psalmanazar , Abbe Paris , and scores of others . It is impossible to trace the travels of Cagliostro , or for a ' moment to put any confidence' in his tale of a voyage to