The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1886-04-30
WIZARD DESBAROLLES
Some Uncanny Stories About His
Life and Predictions.


Life and Predictions.
+
One of the most curious of the many
peculiar characters that make up the
attractive whole known as ''tout Paris
has just passed away at the age of
eighty-iive. refer to the well-knOwn
artist-fortune-teller, Desbarolles, No
vulgar swindler was this wonderful old
man, but a genuine believer in the
marvels of his so-called "science."
And it was this child-like confidence in
himself that no doubt went far towards
inspiring confidence in the numbers
who consulted him.
Desbarolles was for many years he
fortune-teller of Paris. The reputation
gained for him by his many successful
predictions, and the friendship of such
well-knOwn men as Dumas, father and
son-the latter Of whom pronounced a
eulogy over the grave of the deceased
Mt the Cemetery of Montparnasse-aIl
tended to establish him i'm the popular
esteem and TO secure for him a steady
and remunerative income from his
seances, for which his usual charge was
twenty francs.
Perhaps 1 can best give an idea of
the man by relating the incidents of
personal interview / once had with the
veteran chirOmancist. / should pre-
mise the account by saying that Des-
barolles was originally an artist of con-
siderable repute, and that it was during
a Journey to Spain with the elder
Dumas that his attention was first
called TO divinatiOn, when he studied it
under the direction of the Gypsies.
On his return TO France he soon be-
came so infatuated with his new pur-
suit that he gave up brush and easel
and devoted his entire time to investi-
eating and praCtcing the art of read
ing the future by the lines of the hand.
This he claimed to be a real science
based on physiology, and maintained
his belief in books, lectures and state
ments before learned societies. For
over thirty years he lived comfortably,
and even amassed a small fOrtune-lOst
subsequently through the failure of q
bank-by the practice of chiromancy
and graphology, or divinatiOn by the
study of Individual handwriting, which
he added to this principal pursuit.
This modern wizard lived in the
Latin Quarter on the Boulevard Michel,
near the corner of the Rue de liable
small door in a large gateway. To
your inquiry, the concierge would say
mechanically;
M Desbarollesp In the rear, after
crossing the garden and courtyard;
take che left staircase of the second
building, fifth floor, first door on the
left"
From which it viii be seen that not a
little divination was necessary in reach
ing the retreat of the great necroman-
Ger.
a rather stout lady of about forty,
who had acted rs housekeeper since the
death of Nine. Desbarolles, came
quickly to the door. After passing
through an ante-chamber the visitor
found himself i'm a diminutive waiting
room, whose walls were so covered
with pictures that room could not have
been found for hanging even a small
medallion. DesbarOlles received in his
cabinet which was similarly deco
rated. In this abode of mystery there
was nothing whatever of the mysteri-
Gus. No heavy hanging, no tapestry.
no black, worm-eaten furniture, no
dim, half-light, popularity supposed to
be affected by those whose ways are
clark even if their tricks are not
''vain.n On the contrary, as YOU en-
glare of light. No curtains to the win
dows TO shut out whatever daylight the
neighboring roofs would allow TO enter,
and this, seeing that NJ DesbarOlles
lived dU CiRqltiCHle, was considerable.
in referring to his well-lighted room,
the old man said laughingly;
''Nly attic is like the attic chamber OF
the stars
Referring to the loss of his savings
through the failure of the bank-a fail
ure which could hardly be called an
honest one-he commented:
And all because | did not have the
courage TO examine in advance the
hand Of the directOr-in-chief."
The fortune-teller. whose beard and
hair were quite white, and who some
what rescmbled the little lean figures
drawn by Garbarni, made me sit down
in the full glare Of the sun. His con
versation was intelligent, rapid and
highly imaginative, while his voice
was a little tremulous as became the
voice of one who revealed the mys-
teries of the future. While my eyes
wandered aimlesslv from the souvenirs
Of the era of romanticism on the walls
TO the pictures of Paris which CLEANED
in the distance. the octogenarian sa-
want explained TO me that his art was
what he called ''a science of secular
observation" Nothing was left to the
Imagination of the practitioner. Every
thing was regulated by fixed rules.
II shall read in your hand" he
added exactly what ancient astpol
ogy would have read there. You ses
the line that passes around the base o.
the thumb. For thousands of year.
the wise men have called it in different
languages the line of life Rare have
been disputes as to other lines in IN,
hand, but regarding this one the sci
ence of chiromancy has never wavered
It has proceeded by comparison and by
documentary evidence. It has exam
ined this line upon millions of hands
According to the different lives led by
different men, this line has taken quit
special form.
zone of the proofs Of the eNistenc
of God usually cited for the benefit o
students Is the antiquity Of the belle