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The Comte de St. Germain, by Isabel Cooper-Oakley, [1912], at sacred-texts.com
THE pure cult of Nature in the earliest patriarchal days . . . became the heirloom of those alone who could discern the noumenon beneath the phenomenon. Later, the Initiates transmitted their knowledge to the human kings, as their divine Masters had passed it to their forefathers. It was their prerogative and duty to reveal the secrets of Nature that were useful to mankind. . . . No Initiate was one if he could not heal--aye, recall to life from apparent death (coma) those who, too long neglected, would have indeed died during their lethargy. Those who showed such powers were forthwith set above the crowds, and were regarded as Kings and Initiates. The Secret Doctrine, iii. 263.
LET us now trace, as far as we can with any detailed information, the steps of M. de St. Germain in some of his extended travels. That he had been in Africa, India and China we gather from various hints he gives us, and also from facts stated by many writers at different times. That such travels should seem aimless and trivial to the same writers is not a matter of surprise, but to students of mysticism, and especially those to whom the "Great Lodge" is a fact and a necessity in the spiritual evolution of mankind, to those students the widely extended travels of this "messenger" from that Lodge
will not be surprising; rather they will seek below the surface, and try to understand the mission and the work that he came to do among the children of men.
We must bear in mind, moreover, that in the ancient world the arts and sciences were regarded as divine gifts; the gifts of the gods. "Kings of the 'Divine Dynasties,' they gave the first impulse to civilization, and directed the mind with which they had endued men, to the invention and perfection of all the arts and sciences." 1
Conceited in their shallow ignorance the generality of mankind scorn the gifts and turn away from the givers. Some few centuries ago such givers and teachers were silenced at the stake, like Giordano Bruno, and many others whom time has now justified in the eyes of men. Then, later, after the reaction of free thought in the eighteenth century we find Mesmer and the Comte de St. Germain giving up, not their lives, but their good names and characters in trying to help those to whom they were sent by the Great Lodge.
Let us now take up the thread of these travels, and in order to make them as clear as possible follow them in the order of their dates.
These range, as we have seen in our last
chapter from 1710 to 1822. We shall, however, not be able to deal very fully with each period, for M. de St. Germain often disappeared for many months at a time. The earliest records we can gather are as follows:--
"There appeared at the Court 1 in these days an extraordinary man, who called himself Comte de St. Germain. At first he distinguished himself through his cleverness and the great diversity of his talents, but in another respect he soon aroused the greatest astonishment.
"The old Countess v. Georgy who fifty years earlier had accompanied her husband to Venice where he had the appointment of ambassador, lately met St. Germain at Mme. de Pompadour's. For some time she watched the stranger with signs of the greatest surprise, in which was mixed not a little fear. Finally, unable to control her excitement, she approached the Count more out of curiosity than in fear.
"'Will you have the kindness to tell me,' said the Countess, 'whether your father was in Venice about the year 1710?'
"'No, Madame,' replied the Count quite unconcerned, 'it is very much longer since I lost my father; but I myself was living in Venice at the end of the last and the beginning of this century; I had the honour to pay you court then,
and you were kind enough to admire a few Barcarolles of my composing which we used to sing together.'
"'Forgive me, but that is impossible; the Comte de St. Germain I knew in those days was at least 45 years old, and you, at the outside, are that age at present.'
"'Madame,' replied the Count smiling, 'I am very old.'
"'But then you must be nearly 100 years old.'
"'That is not impossible.' And then the Count recounted to Mme. v. Georgy a number of familiar little details which had reference in common to both, to their sojourn in the Venitian States. He offered, if she still doubted him, to bring back to her memory certain circumstances and remarks, which . . . .
"No, no,' interrupted the old ambassadress, 'I am already convinced. For all that you are a most extraordinary man, a devil.'
"'For pity's sake!' exclaimed St. Germain in a thundering voice, 'no such names!'
"He appeared to be seized with a cramp-like trembling in every limb, and left the room immediately.
"I mean to get to know this peculiar man more intimately.
"St. Germain is of medium height and elegant manners; his features are regular; his complexion
brown; his hair black; his face mobile and full of genius; his carriage bears the impress and the nobility common only to the great. The Count dresses simply but with taste. His only luxury consists of a large number of diamonds, with which he is fairly covered; he wears them on every finger, and they are set in his snuffboxes and his watches. One evening he appeared at court with shoebuckles, which Herr v. Gontaut, an expert on precious stones, estimated at 200,000 Francs.
"A matter worthy of remark is that the Count speaks French, English, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese equally perfectly; so much so that when he converses with any of the inhabitants of the above countries in their mother tongue, they are unable to discover the slightest foreign accent. The Learned and the Oriental scholars have proved the knowledge of the Count St. Germain. The former found him more apt in the languages of Homer and Virgil than themselves; with the latter he spoke Sanscrit, Chinese, Arabic in such a manner as to show them that he had made some lengthy stay in Asia, and that the languages of the East were but poorly learned in the Colleges of Louis The Great and Montaigne.
"The Comte de St. Germain accompanied on the piano without music, not only every song but
also the most difficult concerti, played on various instruments. Rameau was much impressed with the playing of this dilettante, and especially struck at his improvising.
"The Count paints beautifully in oils; but that which makes his paintings so remarkable is a particular colour, a secret, which he has discovered, and which lends to the painting an extraordinary brilliancy. In his historical pieces, St. Germain always introduces into the dress of the women, sapphires, rubies and emeralds of such brilliant hue that they seem to have borrowed their beauty from the original gems. Vanloo, who never tires in his admiration of the surprising colouring, has often requested the Count to let him participate in his secret; the latter, however, will not divulge it.
"Without attempting to sit in judgement on the knowledge of a fellow-being, of whom at this very moment that I am writing, both court and town have exhausted all surmises, one can, I think, well assert that a portion of his miracles is due to his knowledge of physics and chemistry in which sciences he is well grounded. At all events it is palpable that his knowledge has laid the seeds for him of sound good health; a life which will--or which has overstepped the ordinary time allotted to man; and has also endowed him with the means of preventing
the ravages of time from affecting the body. Among other statements, concerning the Count's astounding qualities, made to the Favourite by Mme. v. Georgy after her first meeting with the Count after this lapse of years, was that during her first stay in Venice, she received from him an Elixir which for fully a quarter of a century preserved unaltered the youthful charms she possessed at 25. Elderly gentlemen, whom Mme. de Pompadour questioned concerning this peculiar incident, gave the assurance that this was the truth, adding that the standing still in youthful appearance of Mme. v. Georgy supported by the testimony of these old men would make it appear still more probable.
"One evening at a party St. Germain accompanied several Italian airs for the young Comtesse afterwards so celebrated under the name of Comtesse de Geniis, then aged ten years.
"When she had finished singing, the Count said to her: 'in five or six years you will have a very beautiful voice, which you will preserve a long time; in order to perfect the charm you should also preserve your beauty; this will be your happy fate between your 16th and 17th year.'
"'But, Count,' answered the child, while allowing her pretty fingers to glide over the notes, 'that does not lie in any one's power.'
"'Oh yes,' answered the Count carelessly,
[paragraph continues] 'only tell me whether it would give you pleasure to remain at that age?'
"'Truly that would be charming.'
"'Well I promise it you.' And St. Germain spoke of other matters.
"Encouraged by the friendliness of this fashionable man, the Countess' mother ventured to ask him if Germany was his Fatherland.
"'Madame,' said he, sighing deeply, 'there are some things of which one may not speak. Suffice it to know that at seven years of age I was wandering in woods, and that a price was set upon my head. On my birthday my mother, whom I was not to see again, bound her portrait round my arm; I will shew it to you.'
"At these words St. Germain threw up his sleeve and chewed the ladies the miniature of an exceptionally beautiful woman, but represented in rather a peculiar costume.
"To what date does this dress belong?' asked the young Countess. Without answering this question, the Count put down his sleeve again, and brought forward another topic. Every day one was surprised by a fresh miracle in Count St. Germain's company. Some little time previously he had brought Mme. de Pompadour a bonbonnière which was universally admired. It was worked very beautifully in black enamel, and on the lid was an agate. The Count begged
the Marquise to place the bonbonnière near the fire; a few minutes later she went to take it away. How great was the astonishment of all present: the agate had disappeared, and in its place was to be seen a pretty shepherdess in the midst of her flock.
"After the bonbonnière had again been placed near the fire, the shepherdess disappeared, and the agate re-appeared." 1
This episode was written down in 1750, but the facts mentioned took place in 1723. It must be carefully noticed that all the personal friends of M. de St. Germain were in high position, chiefly Austrians and Hungarians, all men of high birth and noble family, his own kith and kin; among them we find Prince Kaunitz, Prince Ferdinand Lobkowitz, Graf Zobor, Graf Maximilian Joseph von Lamberg, men of public position, and well known families.
From 1737 to 1742, our mystic was at the Court of the Shah of Persia, and it is here that he probably acquired his knowledge of diamonds and precious stones, for according to his own very credible statement, it was here that he began to understand the secrets of Nature; but his arduously acquired knowledge leads us to infer a long period of careful study. These hints
we gather from F. W. von Barthold 1 in his interesting work, and they confirm the statement made by another writer that M. de St. Germain had been pursuing his researches in Persia.
We next find him in England, during the Jacobite Revolution of 1745, suspected as a spy, and arrested. Two interesting extracts can here be quoted.
The first is from Horace Walpole's 2 amusing letters to Sir Horace Mann, the British Envoy at Florence. Writing on Dec. 9th, 1745, Walpole, after relating all the excitements produced by the Revolution, says: "The other day they seized an odd man who goes by the name of Count St. Germain. He has been here these two years, and will not tell who he is or whence, but professes that he does not go by his right name. He sings and plays on the violin wonderfully, is mad, and not very sensible."
The second reference to this stay in England may be found in Read’s Weekly Journal or British Gazetteer, May 17th, 1760, and is as follows:
"The author of the Brussels' Gazette tells us that the person who styles himself Comte de St. Germain, who lately arrived here from Holland,
was born in Italy in 1712. He speaks German and French as fluently as Italian, and expresses himself pretty well in English. He has a smattering of all the arts and sciences, is a good chemist, a virtuoso in musick, and a very agreeable companion. In 1746 [1745 according to Walpole], he was on the point of being ruined in England. One who was jealous of him with a lady, slipt a letter into his pocket as from the young Pretender (thanking him for his services and desiring him to continue them), and immediately had him taken up by a messenger. His innocence being fully proved on his examination, he was discharged out of the custody of the messenger and asked to dinner by Lord H. [Probably William Stanhope, Earl of Harrington, who was Secretary of the Treasury and Treasurer of the Chamber at this date; he died 1760.] Those who know him will be sorry (says M. Maubert) to hear that he has incurred the Christian king's displeasure."
This last paragraph alludes to what occurred at a later period.
After this date, 1745, it seems that M. de St. Germain went to Vienna, and spent some time, in that city, 1 and in 1755 went to India, for
the second time, as we gather from a letter of his written to the Graf von Lamberg, to which we shall refer again later on.
"I am indebted," he writes, "for my knowledge of melting jewels to my second journey to India, in the year 1755, with General Clive, who was I under Vice Admiral Watson. On my first journey I had only a very faint idea of the wonderful secret of which we are speaking; all the attempts that I made in Vienna, Paris and London, are worthless as experiments; the great work was interrupted at the time I have mentioned."
Every writer, adverse or favourable, mentions and lays stress on the wonderful power of improving precious stones that was possessed by M. de St. Germain. Indeed almost every sort of art seems to have been more or less known to him, judging by the many testimonies that we have on these points.
Our next date, 1757, brings us to the period which is best known to the public. M. de St. Germain was introduced at Paris by the then Minister of War, Maréchal and Comte de Belle-Isle;
but as we have seen from the records already cited, neither M. de St. Germain nor his family were unknown to Louis XV. Hence we do not wonder at the cordial and gracious reception with which he met, nor can we be astonished that the king assigned him a suite of rooms at his royal Château of Chambord. Here there was a laboratory fitted up for experiments, and a group of students gathered round our mystic. Among these we find the Baron de Gleichen, and Marquise d’Urfé and also the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, mother of Catherine II. of Russia. Madame de Genlis, 1 speaking of him at this period, says:--
"He was well acquainted with physics, and was a very great chemist. My father, who was well qualified to judge, was a great admirer of his abilities in this way. . . . He had discovered a secret respecting colours which was really wonderful, and which gave an extraordinary effect to his pictures. . . . M. de St. Germain never would consent to give up his secret." Madame du Hausset relates in her memoirs an interesting instance of his knowledge of precious stones.
"The King," says she, "ordered a middling-sized diamond which had a flaw in it, to be
brought to him. After having it weighed, his Majesty said to the Comte: 'The value of this diamond as it is, and with the flaw in it, is six thousand livres; without the flaw it would be worth at least ten thousand. Will you undertake to make me a gainer of four thousand livres?' St. Germain examined it very attentively, and said, 'It is possible; it may be done. I will bring it to you again in a month.'
"At the time appointed the Comte de St. Germain brought back the diamond without a spot, and gave it to the King. It was wrapped in a cloth of amianthos, which he took off. The king had it weighed immediately, and found it very little diminished. His Majesty then sent it to his jeweller by M. de Gontaut, without telling him of anything that had passed. The jeweller gave him nine thousand six hundred livres for it. The King, however, sent for the diamond back again, and said he would keep it as a curiosity. He could not overcome his surprise, and said M. de St. Germain must be worth millions, especially if he possessed the secret of making large diamonds out of small ones. The Comte neither said that he could or could not, but positively asserted that he knew how to make pearls grow, and give them the finest water. The King paid him great attention, and so did Madame de Pompadour. M. du Quesnoy
once said that St. Germain was a quack, but the King reprimanded him. In fact, his Majesty appears infatuated with him, and sometimes talks of him as if his descent were illustrious."
One fact in this Parisian period must not be omitted; it appears from statements made by Madame du Hausset, 1 Herr von Barthold and the Baron de Gleichen, that a young Englishman, at that time resident in Paris, Lord Gower by name, used to amuse himself and other idle people by passing himself off as M. de St. Germain, so that most of the silly and foolish tales about him, which ran riot in the gossiping "salons" of the period, originated in the sayings of this idle young fellow. Various details of his doings are to be found, but they are not worth further notice, beyond the fact that M. de St. Germain had to bear the blame for utterances which did not originate with him. Says Heer van Sypesteyn: 2 "Many of the wild stories had probably nothing to do with M. de St. Germain and were invented with the object of injuring him and making him ridiculous. A certain Parisian wag, known as 'Milord Gower,' was a splendid mimic, and went into Paris salons to
play the part of St. Germain--naturally it was very exaggerated, but very many people were taken in by this make-believe St. Germain.
Meanwhile our philosopher worked on with those whom he was able to help and teach in various ways. In 1760 we find him sent by Louis XV. to the Hague on a political mission: the circumstances are variously told by different writers. In April, 1760, we find M. de St. Germain passing through East Friesland to England. 1 Next, in The London Chronicle of June 3rd, 1760, we have a long account of a "mysterious foreigner," who had just arrived on England’s shores. It is also said by one writer that he was well received at Court, and many papers of the period mention him as a "person of note" to whom marked attention was paid. 2
In the British Museum there are pieces of music composed by the Comte de St. Germain on both his visits, for they are dated 1745 and 1760. It was said everywhere, by enemies as well as by friends, that he was a splendid violinist; he "played like an orchestra."
There is one most interesting souvenir of M. de St. Germain, which we have had the good fortune to see. It is preserved in the library of the grand old castle of Raudnitz in Bohemia, the property of Prince Ferdinand von Lobkowitz.
Amongst the MSS. wad other treasures of that rare collection we found a book of music composed by M. de St. Germain, from which, by the gracious permission of the present Prince, we have had traced the inscription and autograph. It runs thus:--
"Pour le Prince de Lobkowitz, Musique Raisonée, selon le bon sens, aux Dames Angloises qui aiment le vrai goût en cet art.
"Par . . . de St. Germain."
The first letter, or letters, of the signature are quite undecipherable, although they have been most carefully traced for us by the librarian at Raudnitz.
We next have to pass on to St. Petersburg where, according to the words of the Graf Gregor Orloff to the Margrave of Brandenburg-Anspach,
[paragraph continues] M. de St. Germain had "played a great part in their revolution." 1
He is mentioned as having been in St. Petersburg by another writer, or rather in an anonymous book, the translation of the title of which runs:
"A few Words about the First Helpers of Catherine II." (xviii. Bk. 3, p. 343, 1869).
The writer has other details in her possession, but as they are at present unverified and come rather as fragments, it is better to wait for more accurate information, which she hopes to procure. Various hints, however, lead us to suppose that M. de St. Germain passed some time in Russia. As we have noticed already the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, the mother of Catherine II., was very friendly to him; indeed he passed much time at her house in Paris.
In 1763, however, we get a deeply interesting account of our philosopher in the shape of a letter from the Graf Karl Cobenzl to the Prince Kaunitz, the Prime Minister. The details it gives are so interesting that it is better to quote it in full:--
"BRUSSELS, April 8th, 1763.
"GRAF KARL COBENZL TO KAUNITZ.
"It was about three months ago that the
person known by the name of the Comte de St. Germain passed this way, and came to see me. I found him the most singular man that I ever saw in my life. I do not yet precisely know his birth; I believe, however, that he is the son of a clandestine union in a powerful and illustrious family. Possessing great wealth, he lives in the greatest simplicity; he knows everything, and shows an uprightness, a goodness of soul, worthy of admiration. Among a number of his accomplishments, he made, under my own eyes, some experiments, of which the most important were the transmutation of iron into a metal as beautiful as gold, and at least as good for all goldsmith's work; the dyeing and preparation of skins, carried to a perfection which surpassed all the moroccos in the world, and the most perfect tanning; the dyeing of silks, carried to a perfection hitherto unknown; the like dyeing of woollens; the dyeing of wood in the most brilliant colours penetrating through and through, and the whole without either indigo or cochineal, with the commonest ingredients, and consequently at a very moderate price; the composition of colours for painting, ultra-marine is as perfect as is made from lapis lazuli; and finally, removing the smell from painting oils, and making the best oil of Provence from the oils of Navette, of Colsat, and from others, even
the worst. I have in my hands all these productions, made under my own eyes; I have had them undergo the most strict examinations, and seeing in these articles a profit which might mount up to millions, I have endeavoured to take advantage of the friendship that this man has felt for me, and to learn from him all these secrets. He has given them to me, and he asks nothing for himself beyond a payment proportionate to the profits that may accrue from them, it being understood that this shall be only when the profit has been made. As the marvellous must inevitably seem uncertain, I have avoided the two points which appeared to me to be feared, the first, the being a dupe, and the second, the involving myself in too great an expenditure. To avoid the first, I took a trusty person, under whose eyes I had the experiments made, and I was fully convinced of the reality and the cheapness of these productions. And as to the second, I referred M. de Zurmont (which is the name that St. Germain has taken) to a good and trustworthy merchant at Tournay, with whom he is working, and I have had advances made which mount up to very little, through Nettine, whose son, and the son-in-law of Walckiers, are the persons who will carry on these manufactures, when the profits of the first experiments place us in a position to establish
them, without risking anything of our own. The moment for deriving the profit is already close at hand". 1
From another source, also, we hear of de St. Germain at Tournay, namely, from the memoirs of Casanova.
"Casanova on the road to Tournay was informed of the presence of M. le Comte de St. Germain, and desired to be presented to him. Being told that the Comte received no one, he wrote him to request an interview, which was granted under the restriction of coming incognito, and not being invited to partake of food with him. Casanova found the Comte in the dress of an Armenian with a long beard."
In this interview, M. de St. Germain informed Casanova that he was arranging a Fabrique for the Graf Cobenzl 2.
From 1763, the date at which we have now arrived, up to 1769, we only get the details of one year in Berlin, and this account comes from the memoirs of M. Dieudonné Thiébault, who gives the following interesting sketch:
"There came to Berlin and remained in that city for the space of a year a remarkable man, who passed by the name of the Comte de St.
[paragraph continues] Germain. The Abbé Pernety was not slow in recognising in him the characteristics which go to make up an adept, and came to us with wonderful stories."
The author then goes on to relate that the Princess Amélie went to call on him, and he also remarks that the old Baron Knyhausen was always addressed by M. de St. Germain as "my son." Says our author:--
"Madame de Troussel was also anxious to see him. The Abbé Pernety arranged the matter for her, and the Comte came to her house one evening to supper. They chanced to make mention of the 'Philosopher's Stone,' and the Comte curtly observed that most people who were in pursuit of that were astonishingly illogical, inasmuch as they employed no agent but fire, forgetting that fire breaks up and decomposes, and that consequently it was mere folly to depend upon it for the building up of a new composition. He dwelt much upon this, and finally led the conversation back to more general topics. In appearance M. de St. Germain was refined and intellectual. He was clearly of gentle birth, and had moved in good society; and it was reported that the famous Cagliostro (so well known for his mystification of Cardinal Rohan and others at Paris) had been his pupil. The pupil, however, never reached the level of his
master and, while the latter 'finished his career without mishap, Cagliostro was often rash to the point of criminality, and died in the prison of the Inquisition at Rome. . . . In the history of M. de St. Germain, we have the history of a wise and prudent man who never wilfully offended against the code of honour, or did aught that might offend our sense of probity. Marvels we have without end, never anything mean or scandalous." 1
The exact date of this visit to Berlin we cannot accurately give, but it comes in before the stay in Venice, where he was found by the Graf Max von Lamberg, 2 at this time Chamberlain to the Emperor Joseph II., and in his book we have some most interesting details. The Graf finds M. de St. Germain under the name of Marquis d’Aymar, or Belmare, making a variety of experiments with flax, which he was bleaching to look like Italian silk; he had established quite a large place, and had about a hundred workers. It would appear that he then travelled with the Graf von Lamberg, for in a paper published at Florence Le notizie del Mondo (July, 1770), under the heading "News of the World," we find the following paragraph:--
"TUNIS, July 1770.
"The Comte Maximilian de Lamberg, 1 Chamberlain of M.M.L.L. II. and RR. having paid a visit to the Island of Corsica to make various investigations, has been staying here since the end of June, in company with the Signor de St. Germain, celebrated in Europe for the vastness of his political and philosophical knowledge."
No further details are given of this journey, but we hear of M. de St. Germain being in Mantua in the year 1773.
One important point which belongs to the year 1770 has been omitted. M. de St. Germain was at Leghorn when the Russian fleet was there; he wore a Russian uniform, and was called Graf Saltikoff by the Graf Alexis Orloff. It was, moreover, in this year that he returned to Paris, on the disgrace of the Prime Minister, his enemy, the Duc de Choiseul.
"All his abilities, especially his extraordinary kindness," says Heer van Sypesteyn (op. cit.), "yes, even magnanimity, which formed his essential characteristics, had made him so respected
and so beloved, that when in 1770, after the fall of the Duc de Choiseul, his arch enemy, he again appeared in Paris, it was only with the greatest expressions of sorrow that the Parisians allowed him to depart. . . . M. de St. Germain came to the Hague after the death of Louis XV (May 10th, 1774), and left for Schwalbach in 1774. This was the last time he visited Holland. It cannot be ascertained with accuracy how often he was there. . . . It is stated in a German biography that he was in Holland in 1710, 1735, 1742, 1748, 1760 and 1773."
This last date brings us to the period that we have already noticed, the stay at Triesdorf and at Schwalbach, where many alchemical and other experiments were carried on by the Markgraf and the Comte. The former we hear was proud of his medical knowledge, and obtained from the English Consul at Leghorn a copy of the prescription for the "Russian Tea" or "Aqua Benedetta," made by M. de St. Germain, which was used in the Russian fleet, then in the Archipelago, to preserve the health of the troops under the severe heat.
From 1774 until 1776 we have the visit to Triesdorf; in 1776 we hear of our mystic in Leipzig, and the following year in Dresden; with these periods we shall have to deal in our next paper. About 1779 we hear of M. de St. Germain at
[paragraph continues] Hamburg; thence he goes to Prince Karl of Hesse and stays with him for some time as his loved and honoured guest. They began various experiments together, experiments which were in all cases to be of use to the human race. Writing of the knowledge and alluding to the early education of M. de St. Germain by the Duc de Medici, the Prince says:
"This House (Medici), as is well known, was in possession of the highest knowledge, and it is not surprising that he should have drawn his earlier knowledge from them; but he claimed to have learned that of Nature by his own application and researches. He thoroughly understood herbs and plants, and had invented the medicines of which he constantly made use, and which prolonged his life and health. I still have all his recipes, but the physicians ran riot much against his science after his death. There was a physician, Lossau, who had been an apothecary, and to whom I gave 1,200 crowns a year to work at the medicines which the Comte de St. Germain taught him, among others and chiefly his tea, which the rich bought and the poor received gratis. . . . After the death of this physician, disgusted by the talk I heard on all sides, I withdrew all the recipes, and I did not replace Lossau." 1
Looking back at the record of all the powers and abilities possessed by this great man, one point comes out clearly: either he was following some definite plan, a plan not known to the general world, or he wandered from place to place without aim, without family, without human ties--a sorrowful life, truly, for so gifted a mortal, if this were so. But since he appeared always contented, though knowing more than those with whom he came into contact, always giving, and never in need, ever helping, but never claiming aid--surely with such evidence it becomes obvious to even the critical sceptic that some power, some plan, must have guided the footsteps and life of the Comte de St. Germain. Indeed, one of the writers before quoted says:
"Sometimes he fell into a trance, and when he again recovered, he said he had passed the time while he lay unconscious in far-off lands; sometimes he disappeared for a considerable time, then suddenly re-appeared, and let it be understood that he had been in another world in communication with the dead. Moreover, he prided himself on being able to tame bees, and to make snakes listen to music." 1
The author seems unaware that the ordinary Yogis of India have this power over snakes; and doubtless M. de St. Germain learned his
knowledge in India. The power, also, of communicating with the dead has had more light thrown on it in this nineteenth century, thanks to those who follow in the footsteps of M. de St. Germain and who are aiding in the same great work. Nevertheless, although the above-quoted writer is sceptical on these points, he awards a tribute of honest merit to our philosopher worth noticing, when writing:--
"However this may be, St. Germain was in many respects a remarkable man, and wherever he was personally known he left a favourable impression behind, and the remembrance of many good and sometimes of many noble deeds. Many a poor father of a family, many a charitable institution, was helped by him in secret . . . not one bad, nor one dishonourable action was ever known of him, and so he inspired sympathy everywhere, and not least in Holland."
Thus clearly stands out the character of one who by some is called a "messenger" from that spiritual Hierarchy by whom the world’s evolution is guided; such is the moral worth of the man whom the shallow critics of the earth call "adventurer."
26:1 BLAVATSKY (H. P.). The Secret Doctrine, ii., p. 380. London, 1893.
27:1 The Court of Louis XV.
33:1 Taken from "Chroniques, de l’Œil de Bœuf." Written down by the widowed Countess v. B. . . . .
34:1 BARTHOLD (F. W. von), Die Geschichtlichen Persönlichkeiten in Jacob Casanova's Mémoiren, Vol. ii., Berlin 1846.
34:2 Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, to Sir Horace Mann, ii., pp. 108, 109. London, 1833.
35:1 "He had lived as a prince in Vienna from 1745 to 1746, was very well received, and the first minister of the Emperor [Francis I.], Prince Ferdinand von Lobkowitz, was his most p. 36 intimate friend. The latter introduced him to the French Maréchal de Belle-Isle who had been sent by King Louis XV. on a special embassy to the Court at Vienna. Belle-Isle, the wealthy grandson of Fouquet, was so taken with the brilliant and witty St. Germain, that he persuaded him to accompany him on a visit to Paris." Historische Herinneringen, van C. A. van SYPESTEYN; ’sGravenhage, 1869.
37:1 GENLIS (Comtesse de), Mémoires Inédits pour servir à Histoire des XVIII. et XIX. Siècles, p. 88. Paris, 1825.
39:1 HAUSSET (Madame du), Mémoires, p. 148, seq.; Paris, 1824.
39:2 Op. cit.
40:1 HEZEKIEL 1. op. cit.
40:2 Gazette of the Netherlands. Jan. 12th, 1761.
The Hague, Jan. 2nd.
"Letters from Paris state that when starting for this country, to which he came without asking permission of the King, M. de St. Germain returned his Red Ribbon: but it is practically certain that he has an understanding with the King of Denmark.
"The 3rd.
"The so-called Count of St. Germain is an incomprehensible man of whom nothing is known: neither his name nor his origin, nor his position; he has an income, no one knows from whence it is derived; acquaintances, no one knows where he made them; entry into the Cabinets of Princes without being acknowledged by them!"
42:1 Curiositäten der Literarisch-historischen Vor and Mitwelt, pp. 285, 286. Weimar, 1818.
45:1 ARNETH (A. Ritter von), Graf Philipp Cobenzl and seine Mémoiren, p. 9, note. Wien, 1885.
45:2 CASANOVA (F. Seingalt de), Mémoires: vi., p. 76.
47:1 THIÉBAULT (D.), Mes Souvenirs de Vingt Ans de Séjour à Berlin, iv., p. 83. Paris, 1813.
47:2 LAMBERG (Graf Max von), Le Mémorial d’un Mondain, p. 80. London, 1775.
48:1 Some interesting matter concerning the Comte de St. Germain is printed in a most interesting book lately published, Casanova et son temps, by E. Maynial. One entirely new and most interesting fact is given by him: a correspondence has been found at Prague between the Comte de Lamberg and M. de St. Germain and is now in the hands of a well known Austrian writer, who is putting it in order; no doubt before long M. Gugitz will publish these documents.
50:1 HESSE-CASSEL, Op. cit., p. 135.
51:1 SYPESTEYN (J. van) Historische Herinneringen.