A Short Testimony on a
Disciple of the Eastern Wisdom
William
Q. Judge
Cagliostro (left) and the Prince Talleyrand
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Editorial Note:
Comparatively speaking, H. P. Blavatsky wrote a great deal
about Alessandro Cagliostro. She must have had her reasons
to do that. Similarities between the missions (and lives) of
Cagliostro and Blavatsky are many. Writing about him, she
makes both a passionate defense and a sad criticism about his
naiveté and undiscerning good faith. (See for instance “Collected
Writings”, Helena Blavatsky, TPH, vol. XII, pp. 78-88.) Yet she
herself was not above having confidence in the wrong kind of people.
HPB writes Cagliostro taught the Eastern doctrine of the
“principles” (“Collected Writings”, vol. XII, p. 81), and that he
“served the Masters of a Fraternity he would not name…” (p. 82).
Cagliostro lived in Russia for several months. HPB was born a few
decades after his disappearance in 1795, and possessed Cagliostro’s
masonic jewel. From the numerological point of view, HPB died 8
May 1891, exactly one century, one month and one day after
Cagliostro was condemned to death in Rome, in 7 April 1791.
There are other elements in common between the two lives.
The following text by W. Q. Judge narrates a
meeting between
Alessandro Cagliostro and Prince Talleyrand
(1754-1838). It was
first published at “The Path” magazine, New
York, in October
1890. Original title: “Prince Talleyrand - Cagliostro”.
(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)
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A good deal for and against Cagliostro has been said since the time when
he disappeared from the scene, and so much has been written against him by his
enemies, especially the members of the order of Jesus, that the ordinary run of
people have come to think of him as no more than an impostor, and a very cheap
one at that. This has been pushed so far that his name in the encyclopedias
stands for one of the great charlatans who from time to time are said to appear
for the delusion of mankind and their own profit. The same sort of reputation
has been given also to our honored fellow student Helena P. Blavatsky, and for
similar reasons, with just as little basis. Indeed, there seems to be little
doubt that in time to come her enemies, like his, will delight to call her a
great impostor, as has been done already by a little-minded so-called
investigator who went all the way to India to look into matters theosophical.
If
Cagliostro was in fact an impostor, it is a strange thing that so much
attention was paid to him by the very best men and women of Europe. That fact
will always call for explanation, and, until it is given due weight, the
unbeliever in encyclopedias will be likely to think a good deal of the Count.
There are some persons now of quite bright minds and wide acquaintance with men
who say they believe he is still living, not under his old name but with
another, and that he is engaged in a great work which embraces the whole human
family. This may or may not be true, since it calls for a very great age on his
part, but the student of the occult knows that we are neither old nor young,
but ever immortal.
The great
Prince Talleyrand has left us something regarding Cagliostro which is of
weight. It is to be found in a book published in London in 1848, containing the
Memoirs of the Prince by his private secretary M. Colmache, in chapter four.[1] It there appears that the Prince
was asked to give the incidents of his visit to Cagliostro, and did so at some
length. He had heard so much about the Count that he resolved to pay him a
visit and see for himself the man about whom nearly every one was talking. An
appointment was made, and at the time set Talleyrand called and was ushered
into the presence, where he found the strange figure - a woman dressed in black
and whose face was veiled - of whom much has also been said on the ground that
she was alleged to be the confederate of Cagliostro or else a very good
sensitive or medium. The Count appeared to be busy, and gazed into the eyes of
the Prince with such a peculiar stare that the latter was not able to collect
his thoughts, obliging Cagliostro to remind him of the many people waiting for
an audience who could not be kept waiting if there was nothing to be said.
Thereupon, as the Prince says himself, being utterly confused he failed to
recollect the posers he had prepared, and was forced to ask Cagliostro if he
could tell him anything about a certain Countess. The reply he received to this
was that she would be at the theatre that night and would wear a certain dress
and certain ornaments. Then Talleyrand asked if he could have a remedy for
headaches she often had, and Cagliostro reaching down took up a jug and gave
the Prince what looked like water. It was directed to be applied to her
forehead, and the strict injunction given that no one else was under any
circumstances to handle the bottle or touch the water. Talleyrand then went
off, the Countess appeared at the theatre exactly as was said, and after the
play the party, including Talleyrand, went to a supper. The meal had progressed
almost to the coffee when some one asked for the result of the visit to the
supposed impostor. The Prince produced the bottle, but, contrary to the
directions, allowed every one of the company to smell it and handle it. It was
then proposed to apply the water to the fair forehead of the Countess, but
there was some hesitation, until at last a quantity of the liquid was poured in
the hand of one of the guests and placed on her forehead. Immediately she
screamed with pain, but the hand could not be easily withdrawn; it had to be
pulled off with violence, and with it came a large patch of the lady’s skin.
The next day the police were sent after Cagliostro, and the jug of liquid was
taken to an official analyst who made report that it was water and nothing
else, just the same as what was in the bottle. This could not be explained by
the Prince, but on the examination Cagliostro said it was indeed water which he
had strongly magnetized, and that if the Prince had followed directions no harm
would have come; he, however, had permitted a lot of roysterers to handle and
smell it, and they had turned the immensely strong magnetism into the violent
agent it turned out to be. Of course the manufacturers of hypotheses will say
that it was not water but “some” acid or the like, not being able, though, to
tell what they mean exactly. The incident is well attested and made a deep
impression on the Prince, who gives evidence thus to facts and not to
disputable theories.
J. Quilter (W. Q. Judge)
NOTE:
[1] The book Judge refers to is not
Talleyrand’s Memoirs, where the French politician scarcely mentions Cagliostro
and refers to him as a charlatan. Judge is mentioning the book “Reminiscences
of Prince Talleyrand”, edited from the papers of the late Mr. Colmache, private
secretary to the prince. The book was first published in London in 1848, in two
volumes. The title of its second edition, published in 1850, is “Revelations of
the Life of Prince Talleyrand”. The book is not difficult to find online in
PDF. (CCA)
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In September
2016, after a careful analysis of the state of the esoteric movement
worldwide, a group of students decided to form the Independent Lodge of Theosophists, whose priorities include the
building of a better future in the different dimensions of life.
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