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magic and real detectives-第14章

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The fingers; the watch; the snuffbox; the shoe…buckles; the garter

studs; the solitaires of the Count; on high days; all burned with

diamonds and rubies; which were estimated; one day; at 200;000

francs。  His wealth did not come from cards or swindlingno such

charges are ever hinted at; he did not sell elixirs; nor

prophecies; nor initiations。  His habits do not seem to have been

extravagant。  One might regard him as a clever eccentric person;

the unacknowledged child; perhaps; of some noble; who had put his

capital mainly into precious stones。  But Louis XV。 treated him as

a serious personage; and probably knew; or thought he knew; the

secret of his birth。  People held that he was a bastard of a king


of Portugal; says Madame du Hausset。  Perhaps the most ingenious

and plausible theory of the birth of Saint…Germain makes him the

natural son; not of a king of Portugal; but of a queen of Spain。

The evidence is not evidence; but a series of surmises。  Saint…

Germain; on this theory; 'wrop his buth up in a mistry' (like that

of Charles James Fitzjames de la Pluche); out of regard for the

character of his royal mamma。  I believe this about as much as I

believe that a certain Rev。 Mr。 Douglas; an obstreperous

Covenanting minister; was a descendant of the captive Mary Stuart。

However; Saint…Germain is said; like Kaspar Hauser; to have

murmured of dim memories of his infancy; of diversions on

magnificent terraces; and of palaces glowing beneath an azure sky。

This is reported by Von Gleichen; who knew him very well; but

thought him rather a quack。  Possibly he meant to convey the idea

that he was Moses; and that he had dwelt in the palaces of the

Ramessids。  The grave of the prophet was never known; and Saint…

Germain may have insinuated that he began a new avatar in a cleft

of Mount Pisgah; he was capable of it。



However; a less wild surmise avers that; in 1763; the secrets of

his birth and the source of his opulence were known in Holland。

The authority is the Memoirs of Grosley (1813)。  Grosley was an

archaeologist of Troyes; he had traveled in Italy; and written an

account of his travels; he also visited Holland and England; and

later; from a Dutchman; he picked up his information about Saint…

Germain。  Grosley was a Fellow of our Royal Society; and I greatly

revere the authority of a F。R。S。  His later years were occupied in

the compilation of his Memoirs; including an account of what he did

and heard in Holland; and he died in 1785。  According to Grosley's

account of what the Dutchman knew; Saint…Germain was the son of a

princess who fled (obviously from Spain) to Bayonne; and of a

Portuguese Jew dwelling in Bordeaux。



What fairy and fugitive princess can this be; whom not in vain the

ardent Hebrew wooed?  She was; she must have been; as Grosley saw;

the heroine of Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas。  The unhappy Charles II。 of

Spain; a kind of 〃mammet〃 (as the English called the Richard II。

who appeared up in Islay; having escaped from Pomfret Castle); had

for his first wife a daughter of Henrietta; the favorite sister of

our Charles II。  This childless bride; after some ghostly years of

matrimony; after being exorcised in disgusting circumstances; died

in February; 1689。  In May; 1690 a new bride; Marie de Neuborg; was

brought to the grisly side of the crowned mammet of Spain。  She;

too; failed to prevent the wars of the Spanish Succession by giving

an heir to the Crown of Spain。  Scandalous chronicles aver that

Marie was chosen as Queen of Spain for the levity of her character;

and that the Crown was expected; as in the Pictish monarchy; to

descend on the female side; the father of the prince might be

anybody。  What was needed was simply a son of the QUEEN of Spain。

She had; while Queen; no son; as far as is ascertained; but she had

a favorite; a Count Andanero; whom she made minister of finance。

〃He was not a born Count;〃 he was a financier; this favorite of the

Queen of Spain。  That lady did go to live in Bayonne in 1706; six

years after the death of Charles II。; her husband。  The hypothesis

is; then; that Saint…Germain was the son of this ex…Queen of Spain;

and of the financial Count; Andanero; a man; 〃not born in the

sphere of Counts;〃 and easily transformed by tradition into a

Jewish banker of Bordeaux。  The Duc de Choiseul; who disliked the

intimacy of Louis XV。 and of the Court with Saint…Germain; said

that the Count was 〃the son of a Portuguese Jew; WHO DECEIVES THE

COURT。  It is strange that the King is so often allowed to be

almost alone with this man; though; when he goes out; he is

surrounded by guards; as if he feared assassins everywhere。〃  This

anecdote is from the Memoirs of Gleichen; who had seen a great deal

of the world。  He died in 1807。



It seems a fair inference that the Duc de Choiseul knew what the

Dutch bankers knew; the story of the Count's being a child of a

princess retired to Bayonnenamely; the ex…Queen of Spainand of

a Portuguese…Hebrew financier。  De Choiseul was ready to accept the

Jewish father; but thought that; in the matter of the royal mother;

Saint…Germain 〃deceived the Court。〃



A queen of Spain might have carried off any quantity of the

diamonds of Brazil。  The presents of diamonds from her almost

idiotic lord must have been among the few comforts of her situation

in a Court overridden by etiquette。  The reader of Madame

d'Aulnoy's contemporary account of the Court of Spain knows what a

dreadful dungeon it was。  Again; if born at Bayonne about 1706; the

Count would naturally seem to be about fifty in 1760。  The purity

with which he spoke German; and his familiarity with German

princely Courtswhere I do not remember that Barry Lyndon ever met

himare easily accounted for if he had a royal German to his

mother。  But; alas! if he was the son of a Hebrew financier;

Portuguese or Alsatian (as some said); he was likely; whoever his

mother may have been; to know German; and to be fond of precious

stones。  That Oriental taste notoriously abides in the hearts of

the Chosen People。'1'





'1' Voyage en Angleterre; 1770。





     〃Nay; nefer shague your gory locks at me;

      Dou canst not say I did it;〃





quotes Pinto; the hero of Thackeray's Notch on the Axe。  〃He

pronounced it; by the way; I DIT it; by which I KNOW that Pinto was

a German;〃 says Thackeray。  I make little doubt but that Saint…

Germain; too; was a German; whether by the mother's side; and of

princely blood; or quite the reverse。



Grosley mixes Saint…Germain up with a lady as mysterious as

himself; who also lived in Holland; on wealth of an unknown source;

and Grosley inclines to think that the Count found his way into a

French prison; where he was treated with extraordinary respect。



Von Gleichen; on the other hand; shows the Count making love to a

daughter of Madame Lambert; and lodging in the house of the mother。

Here Von Gleichen met the man of mystery and became rather intimate

with him。  Von Gleichen deemed him very much older than he looked;

but did not believe in his elixir。



In any case; he was not a cardsharper; a swindler; a professional

medium; or a spy。  He passed many evenings almost alone with Louis

XV。; who; where men were concerned; liked them to be of good family

(about ladies he was much less exclusive)。  The Count had a grand

manner; he treated some great personages in a cavalier way; as if

he were at least their equal。  On the whole; if not really the son

of a princess; he probably persuaded Louis XV。 that he did come of

that blue blood; and the King would have every access to authentic

information。  Horace Walpole's reasons for thinking Saint…Germain

〃not a gentleman〃 scarcely seem convincing。



The Duc de Choiseul did not like the fashionable Saint…Germain。  He

thought him a humbug; even when the doings of the deathless one

were perfectly harmless。  As far as is known; his recipe for health

consisted in drinking a horrible mixture called 〃senna tea〃which

was administered to small boys when I was a small boyand in not

drinking anything at his meals。  Many people still observe this

regimen; in the interest; it is said; of their figures。  Saint…

Germain used to come to the house of de Choiseul; but one day; when

Von Gleichen was present; the minister lost his temper with his

wife。  He observed that she took no wine at dinner; and told her

that she had learned that habit of abstinence from Saint…Germain;

that HE might do as he pleased; 〃but you; madame; whose health is

precious to me; I forbid to imitate the regimen of such a dubious

character。〃  Gleichen; who tells the anecdote; says that he was

present when de Choiseul thus lost his temper with his wife。  The

dislike of de Choiseul had a mournful effect on the career of

Saint…Germain。



In discussing the strange story of the Chevalier d'Eon; one has

seen that Louis XV。 amused himself by carrying on a secret scheme

of fantastic dip
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