New-York tribune., 1908-02-02
LEMOINE'S PROTOTYPE
An Er-Capnchin Monk Who
"Bunooed" Cardinal Rickclieu.
Paris January -,


rf .he generally accepted theory that NJ. Le-
-,oine the diamond maker is a fraud be the
rrue enc. it is curious to note that he has had
,,o,-a-ed PREDECESSOR whose methods of pro-
oodtnr were almost identical with his own
Nercier the contemporary and enemy of Vol
,si-e relates in his ponderous Taoleau De
paris" that in the time Of Louis NH an cx-
.-snuchin monk named Dubois pretended to have
discovered the philosophers stone the old al
chemists secret for transmitting the baser
metals into gold Dubois had led in his youth
:-nnch the same rowing and adventurous life
which is now ascribed 10 Lemoine- He had
travelled in the East. had been a jack-of-all-
Grades. had exchanged the monastic habit for
that or a Lutheran pastor after a soiourn in
Germany where he had made the acquaintance
f some Of the chief scientific spectators of that
epoch. snd then, Tesuming his former Catholic
fafth. he returned 40 Paris 10 exploit his mar
reIlous invention. Some Feldhener Of the
period introduced him 10 Pere Joseph, the cele-
brated "Eminence Grise." the confidential ad-
wiser Of Cardinal Richelieu.
The Cardinal became interested in the great
discovery. and il was settled that Dubois should
carry out his experiments before the King Ac-
oordingly. Dubois repaired one fine day to the
Louvre. bringing with him a long ladle and q
crucible In the presence of the court he buiit a
furnace. and show that there was no decep-
ticn he suggested that 4 garde du corps. or
-ovaI guardsTnan. should he selected by the hlng
himself to assist him in stoking it May II
rlesse his majesty" demanded the monk in a
lc,,a voice ito command of his soldiers to
r,roauce ten or twelve musket bullets which
shzI NOW convert into gold The bullets were
,-od,,~e5 and placed by Dubois in his crucible
together with a grains weight of what he called
his projection powder" Then he covered the
+,,7,efs with cinders and requested. in the same
s,ia-on tone. the King. OF any one whom his
-,sies-y might command, TO remove the cinder5
18th the aid of a pair Of bellows. The King was
- .,-;-ad that he would let no one use the bel
- r,,. himself. and he blew them with such
-.l.,ce tt7z1 the cinders few all over the room.
-s-s,- the Queen. who had her the
f,,-nacA when al the Cinders had been blown
away the nugget of gold appeared The King
,5 the Cardinal were both SO delighted that
they kissed the monk: the King declared him
-ohJernan on the spot. with the privilege OF
hunting al over the royal domains; the Cardinal
WHISPERED into Father Josephs ear that he
7roule get him cardinals hat; he suggested 10
the King that it would be no longer necessary
n tax the people. and that the monarchy might
he -educeG to a simple expression Of sovereignty,
-he King leading the life of wealthy country
gentleman above ALL France would hencefor-
ward dominate all the powers OF Europe. The
roval guardsrnan received a reward OF 5000
lyres for his share in the days work, amount
ing in our money 10 about $1,000
Dubois repeated his experiment. producing
another gold nugget, and then the royal enthus-
asn knew no bounds. A jeweller who was pres
eut pointed out that the monks gold was only
ot twenty-five carat. which corresponded. oddly
enough, with that Of the current coin of the
realm. but Dubois declared that with a stronger
furnace Z vas quite easy TO manufacture pure
gold of 1Wenty-foGr carats, and ths explanation
The reyai party was quite willing 20 accept.
Cardinal Richelieu took Dubois aside and told
him in ? whisper that the King only required
fcr the time being 10000 francs a week, but he
wanted them regularly. The alchenist agreed
10 everything. only stipulating for ten days
delay IN which 10 mix his projection powder.
Twenty. Z you like said the cardinal. But
Dubois. who in this respect greatly resembles
JeUoine. did no further work He contented
himself with having glorious time with his
friends AZ the cardinals expense and was con-
sidered one of the most illustrious men in Paris.
The King became impatient TO see great humps
# goid-''sa lmons' of gold, he called them. The
suspicious of the cardinal were at last aroused.
lie had Dubois clapped into prison Vincennes.
and vhen the willy aIchemist contended that his
projection powder would only work in a free
atmosphere he transferred him 10 the dungeons
of the Bastfle. There a confession was extorted
from him that he had wilfulIY deceived the
King. the Queen and my lord the cardinal" by
slipping Jumps Of gold into his crucible which he
had obtained by fling gold coins, and he was
hanged on June %. 1857. Mercier, who was one
y tie precursors Of the Revolution, winds I'D
ms relation with the remark: Suppress the
tragic end. and could better subject be found
far z comic oDera2 These great men, all
iu need of gold. and the victims Of q swindIer
laugh over II all. alone. in the depths Of
ny study From this date law, introduced
h Cardinal Richelieu himself. has been in force.
and IS mt even considered obsolete, which
forhids tie manufacture Of gold throughout
-1an1s under heavy penalties. G. ]. Il.