The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-09-02

you wanted 10 ask me put IL WASH my
place to say any thing, you know
No cards.
GA Strange Story''-The COHnt st.
Germain.
We catch the first glimpscs of the
Count St. Germain in Paris, a century
and quarter ago, filing the court and
the town with his renown. Amazed
Paris saw a man--apparently of middle
age-a man who lived in magnificent
stvle, who went to dinner parties, where
he ate nothing, but talked inceSsantly,
and with exceeding brilliancy on every
imaginable topic. His tone was, per-
haps, over trenchant-the tone of a
man who knows perfectly what he Is
talking about. Learned, speaking
every civilized language admirably, a
great musician, an excellent chemist,
he p!aved the part of prodigy, and
PLAYED it to perfection. Endowed with
extraordinary or consummate impu-
dence, he not only laid down the law
magisteriallv concerning the present,
but spoke without hesitation of events
200 wears old. His anecdotes of remote
occurrences were related with eXtraOr-
dinarv minuteness. He spoke of scenes
at the court of Francis l., as If he had
seen them, describing exactly the ap-
pearance of the king, initiating his
voice, manner and language-atfect-
ing throughout the character of an
eyewitness. In like style he edited
his audience with pleasant stories of
Louis NV, and RECALLED them with
vivid descriptions of places and persons.
Hardly saying in so many words that he
was actually present when the events
happened, he yet contTived, by his
graphic power, to convey that impress
sion. Intending to astonish, he sue
ceeded completely. Wild stories were
current concerning him. He was re-
ported to be 800 years old, and to have
prolonged his life by the use of famous
elixir. Paris went mad about him. He
was questioned constantly about his Sc
cret of longevity, and was maryelously
adroit in his replies, denying all power
quietly asserting his possession of the
secret of arresting decay in the human
frame. Diet, he protested, was, with
his marvellous elixir, the true secret of
long life, and he resolutely refused to
eat anv food but such as had been
specially prepared for him-Oat meal,
oroats, and the white meat of chickens.
On great occasions he drank Il little
wine, sat up as late as any body would
listen to him. but took extraordinary
precautions against the cold. To ladies
he gave mysterious cosmetics, to pre-
serve their beauty unimpaired'; to men
he talked openly of his method of trans
Imuting metals, and of a certain process
for melting down dozen little diamonds
into one large stone. These astound-
inc assertions were backed by the pos
session of apparently unboundedwealth,
and a collection of jewels of rare size
and beauty.
From time to time this strange being
appeared in various European capitals
under various names, as Marquis of
MOntferrat, Count Bellamare at Venice,
Chevalier Schoening at Pisa, Chevalier
Weldon at Milan, Count SOltikoff at
Genoa, Count TzaTO%y ut Schwalbach,
and finally, rs Count St. Germain at
! Paris; but after his disaster at the
| Hague, no longer seems so wealthy As
before, and has at times the appear
ance of seeking his fortune. At Tour
ney he is 'interviewed' by the renown-
ed Chevalier de Seingalt, who finds
him in an Armenian robe and pointed
cap, with long beard descending to his
waist and ivory wand in hand-the com
plete makeup of a necromancer. Saint
Germain is surrounded by a legion of
bottles. and is occupied in developing
the manufacture Of hats upon chemical
principles. Seingalt being indispoSed,
the Count offers to phySic him gratis,
and offers to dose him with an elixir
which appears to have been ether: but
| the other refuses with many polite
speeches. 1t is the scene of the two au-
gurs. Not being allowed to act as
physician, Sain. Germain determines to
! show his power as an alchemiSt; takes
a twelve-Sous piece from the other au-
CUR, puts it on red-hot charcoal, and
works it with the blow-pipe. The piece
of money is fused and allowed to cool.
''Now," says Saint Germain, ''take
YOUR money again ''But it is gold -
tsOf the purest. :" Augur No. 2 does
not believe in the transmutation, and
looks on the whole operation as trick;
but he pockets the piece, nevertheless,
and finally presents it to the celebrated
Marshal Keith, then Governor of Neu-
chatel. Again, in pursuit of dyeing
and other. manufacturing schemes,
Saint GeTmain turned up at St. Peters
burg, Dresden and Milan. Once he
got into trouble, and was arrested in a
] ,fI 81 nI
bill of exchange: but he pulled out
a hundred thousand crowns worth of
jewels, paid on the spot, bullied the
Governor of the town, and was released
with the most respectful excuses. Very
little doubt exists that during one of his
residences in Russia he played an i'm
portant part in the revolution which
| placed Catherine II. on the throne. In
| support of this view, Baron Gleichen
cites the extraordinary attention bestow
/ ed on Saint German at Leghorn, in
1770, by Count Alexis Orloff, and a re-
mark made by Prince Gregory Orloff to
the Margrave of Anspach during his
stay at Nuremberg.
After-all, who was he?-the son of a
Portuguese king or of a Portuguese Jew?
or did he, IN his old age, tell the truth
/ to his protector and enthusiastic adj
mirer, Prince Charles of Hesse-CaSSel?
According to the story told his last
friend, he was the son of Prince Ra
koczy of Pennsylvania, and his first
wife, a Tekely. He was placed, when
an infant, under the protection of the
last of the Medici. When he grew up
and heard that his two brothers, sons
of the Princess HaSSe-Rheinfels, or
Rothenburg, had received the names OF
! St. Charles and St. Elizabeth, he de-
termined to take the name of their holy
brother, Sanctus Germanus. What was
the truth? One thing alone is certain,
that he was protege of the last Medlei.
Prince Charles, who appeared to have
regretted his death, which happened
in 1888, very sincerely tells Us that ne
fell sick, while pursuing his expert
ments in colors at Eckrenforde, and
died shortly after, despite the innumera-