The Lamar register., 1922-10-11
His l-ERY]Sss 4
MYSTERIES =
THE KING OF LIARS


ter known by his adopted utie pf
Count Cagllostro" was lnd"uGt-
e,liy the most remarkable man the
world has ever produced. for he NOT
only numbered his victims 10y tine thou
sands but practiced his chosen lrl II
lying with such consummnte clever
less that he victimized cardinals and
princes as well a. peasants and the
various classes lying between these
categories. He WAS, in truth. the
king OF liars" beside whom such mod
ern examples Of Cassie Chadwick and
PonZi We're the rankest amateurs.
As boy. Balsamo gave early evi.
dence Of his scheming tendencies. and
after being expelled from school. was
placed in the apothecary shop of
Sicilian monastery, where he set about
10 master the science OF chemicals
and drugs. for which he appeared TO
have positive genius II was while
In the apothecary's shop that Bslsamo
sold to a credulous peasant the secret
Of O mythical treasure cave" which
was supposed to be near by but. when
the purchaser Of the secret went to
devil" (Bslsamo himself) and beat.
en- nearly 10 death. For this escspade,
Giuseppe was banished from Sicily
and ned to Rome. WHERE he succeeded
In marrying = strikingly beautiful
woman and changed his name 70
Count Cagiiostro."
His first venture on . large scale
was the invention Of an elixir nf
life" OF which he sold many thousand
bottles al fabulous prices and. In order
10 prove the value Of his own medi-
cine claimed to be more than 700
years old and To hnve been present at
the time "f the crucifxion, which he
described with u wealth ~ detail omit.
led from rhe Scriptures. Al that
Time there was much talk Of the
Wandering lew and many persons
believed that Cagiiostro was none
other than this personase-a belief
which the Siciiian took care TO foster
whenever possible.
When the success OF the elixir uf
life" appeared to he imperiled by the
death NJ q number or persons who had
tskes II. Cagiiostro hit upon the
for women, claiming thai he was of
divine origin and had received q spe
ciai mission 10 perform this work upon
sarth-a statement which naturally
endeared him Ia number OF women
of suficient wealth to assist him IN
the accomplishment Of his other
schemes, which included the making
Of diamonds and precious stones and
the transmutation Of base metals into
gold.
BY virtue Of his various Impositions,
Cagliostro was able to accumulate II
large amount of money and. when he
decided to move the headquarters Of
his influence TO France, IL was mat
ter OF only a few days before he be
came the most talked Of man In Paris.
IL was he who used the Cardinal de
Rohan, Grnnd Alnoner of France and
one Of the shre~dest statesmen In
Europe. In the tragic affair OF the dia-
mond necklace, which brought dis
grace or imprisonment upon everyone
implicated, including the Italian him
self, who was Imprisoned In the Bias
tile In 1873, but was finally acquitted
and ordered TO leave France.
After drifting about Europe for .
number Of years, the prince of impoe
tors finally returned to Rome and was
condemned by the pope to life i'm
prisonment ms a dangerous foe to re
liEion. dying In n papal dungeon on
August ~. 1895. after having duped
all Europe. prince and priest and
peasant alike. But, apart from Chg
liostro's strange and almost hypnotic
influence over practically everyone
with whom he came In contact. there
are q number Of mysteries concerning
the man which have never been eI-
plained-including his origin and his
exceptional ability for handling all
kinds OF strange chemicals. In add.
ton. there is the greatest mystery Of |
ALL His power of prophecy manifest
ed upon numerous occasions but par |
ticulariy when he announced that
Marie Theresa. empress OF Austria. |
was dying. and word reached Paris |
fye days later that the empress had |
succumbed at the very hour toretold |
BY the Italian count. Again. during |
his Incarceration in the Bastile, Gag
itostro wrote upon the walls Of his |
cell: Within three years the Bastile |
shall be destroyed and the people shall
dance upon its site"-another proph- !
ecy which wa. carried out To the let.