Middletown transcript., 1886-03-26

| al appearance at this period may b
here described. He was small in stat
| ure, but we'll made his face was darl
and handsome. In private life hi
manners we're lively and agreeable
and his conversational powers render
ed him an agreeable companion
When speaking in public all this was
changed; he harangued his followers
Lin a loud voice, brandishing in his
right hand a drawn sword his man.
ner was that Of noisy, ostentatious
quack, and usually spoke an in.
comprehensive jargen, I'm, 17T6,
| Cssliostros FIRST visited London, but
there he failed to meet with the s1c-
cess in the higher circles of society
that had attended him elsewhere. He
became the prey Of sharpers and low
solicitors, and was imprisoned no less
than ten times, ....s s..:t ~: :
One incident in bis career 10 Lions
don may be cited as curious. IA
Miss Fry besoughthim to tell her the
number Of Q tiekes which would gain
a prize in lottery about to be drawn.
He at first refuse, but after much per-
suasion produced q cabalistical- look.
ing manuscript and, after apparently
consulting It, and making sundry abb
struse calculations. he gave; her "a
number. Miss Fry bought the cor
responding ticket, and, It turned out
to,be the prize. Numberless applica-
tons we're then wadeto the count for
fortunate numbers, but he steadily
refused to, make any more calcula-
tions. 3 Tb6countess was oyerRhelmed
with letters containing banknotes for
immense sums, baskets Of costly jew
els, with the viewsof inducing her to
discover and diyulge, her husbands
secret. Miss Fry gave Eorenza, a gold
snufebox, containing several hundred
pounds worth of diamonds; but, OBJ
tanning nothing IL return, she1 caused
d - = . = .
Cagliostro to be arrested for-f phfshE
ing illegalarts,"" and the law forced
him to return the jewels qand pay
costsl 2 q 1d2VG - " = ?, III !,
After being initiated into the mys1
teries Of freemasonry Cagliosttoi left
London, and went to Strasburg, where
by his muni6cent gifts to the poor, he.
at once became immensely. popular.
Here he assumed the title of the
Great Kophta, or head Of a mystical
system Of Egyptian masonry. Heas-
serted he had been taught the mys1
teries by no less a parsonage than the
grand master of the order, Alexander
the Great, who, be stated, was still.
living in dignifed seclusion in the
great pyramid. And he. found peo-'
pie to believe him.
He assumed, through his asserted
angelic ancestry, to possess authority
over angels. and he announced that
his special mission now was to raise
the faithful to spiritual perfection,
not only by moral, but also by
physical regeneration. His method
was curious, if only for its absurdity.
For the faithful life independent Of
the body was to be obtained by means
of the materia prina, or red powder,
one form Of the grand eliki 4 butiit
required the great pentagon to restore
them to the state of innocence en-
joyed before mans fall. The penta-.
gon was to be building Of. three,
stories erected upon a mountain to be-
named Sinai. On the second floor,
called Ararat, thirteen masters were
to spent eighteen hours day for
forty suecessiver days, in prayer, con-
temptation and preparation Of. the
virgin parchment, made from the
skin Of new born. male Jewish
infant. This being prepared, the mas
ters@ were placed in communicatior
with the seven created angels, who
stamping their seals on the parch-.
ment, completed the great pentagon.
The happy thirteen were the. masters
Of all the wealth, power and wisdom,
and each of them had the privilege,
by mere adoption, Of raising seven
other disciples to his own happy
state"
The physical new birth appears to
have been more difficult to obtain,
and an unpleasant process had to be
every fifty years. The can
didate for everlasting youth must re-
tire into the country, accompanied by
a faithful friend, and live 10 strict Sc
and on certain prescribed diet,
for thirty days. On the seventeenth
and thirty-second days the patient
must be bled and six drops of white
mixture administered. two drops to
be taken every succeeding day until
thirty-one days were past. Then he
was to be put to bed and given one
grain Of the materia prirna, which
would render him insensible for three
houre and produce sttong commissions.
On the thirty-third. day the second
grain was to be taken this would
render him delirious and cause his