CHAPTER VI.

NAPOLEON III. AND THE ROSICRUCIANS--AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN AND AN EXTRAORDINARY THEORY.

Beverly continued his very singular narrative, saying:--“You have already been informed of the singular doom that hangs over me--that I am condemned to perpetual transmigrations, unless relieved by a marriage with a woman in whom not one drop of the blood of Adam circulates--and even then, the love must be perfect and mutual. Thus my chance is about as one in three hundred and ninety-six billions against, to a single one for me. This doom has brought around me, as it did around others before me, certain beings, powers, influences, and at length I became a voluntary adept in the Rosicrucian mysteries and brotherhood. How, when, or where I was found worthy of initiation, of course I am not at liberty to tell; suffice it that I belong to the Order, and have been--by renouncing certain things--admitted to the companionship of the living, the dead, and those who never die; have been admitted to the famous Derishavi-Laneh, and am familiar with the profoundest secrets of the Fakie-Deeva Records; and through life have had ever three great possibilities before me: one of these--I being a neutral soul--is that of becoming after death a chief of a supreme order, called the Light; or of its opposite, called the Shadow--to which I am tempted by invisible, but potent agencies; and the third of which is the one I dread most--the perpetuation of the doom to wander the earth for ages, in various bodies, as the result of the curse pronounced by a dying man ages ago, as you already have been told, unless I be redeemed by a true marriage with a woman in whom not one drop of the blood of Adam circulates. I desire to avoid all three if possible, and to share the lot of other men.

“I have another mysterious thing to relate to you. Doubtless you recollect that the curse was uttered by the young poet--and that the mysterious voice heard in the dungeon where he was slain, declared that thenceforth, until the doom was fully accomplished, this youth during all his ages should be known as the Stranger. Well, in the course of the centuries that rolled away, this Stranger became a member of an august Fraternity in the Heavens, known as the Power of the Light. You know, also, that I, who was the king, incurred the penalty of wandering till relieved; and you are also aware that him who was the Vizier was sentenced to a singular destiny under the name of Dhoula Bel. Well, he also became an active member of a vast Association in the Spaces, known as the Power of the Shadow. This is but one half of the mystery, for it became the object of both Dhoula Bel and the Stranger--who both knew that in my birth from the woman Flora--years before I underwent my present incarnation--that I would be in every respect a Neutral man; one having no tendencies whatever, naturally, to either good or evil, but only toward ATTAINMENT; and as such neutral man, it became possible to forego my doom, and to become supreme chief of either of the Orders named; hence both Dhoula Bel and the Stranger, beside their original, have the strong additional motive of making me subservient to their loftier views; and to achieve it, they frequently attend me in visible and invisible shapes--tempting, nearly ruining, and as often saving me from dangers worse than death itself--in what way has already been partly told, and will be hereafter seen.

“In one of my frequent sojourns in Paris, I became acquainted with a few reputed Rosicrucians, and after sounding their depths, found the water very shallow, and very muddy--as had been the case with those I met in London--Bulwer, Jennings, Wilson, Belfedt, Archer, Socher, Corvaja, and other pretended adepts--like the Hitchcocks, Kings, Scotts, and others of that ilk, on American soil. At length, there came an invitation from Baron D----t, for me to attend, and take part in, a Mesmeric Séance. I attended; and from the reputation I gained on that occasion, but a few days elapsed ere I was summoned to the Tuilleriés, by command of his majesty, Napoleon III.,[3] who for thirty-four years had been a True Rosicrucian, and whom I had before met at the same place, but on a different errand than the present. What then and there transpired, so far as myself was an actor, it is not for me to say, further than that certain experiments in clairvoyance were regarded as very successful, even for Paris, which is the centre of the Mesmeric world, and where there are hundreds who will read you a book blindfold; and two--Alexis, and Adolph Didiér--who will do the same, though the page be inclosed in the centre of a dozen boxes of metal or wood, one within the other.

[3] This is a fact--as is also the whole succeeding account of what took place at this extraordinary séance. The anachronism observable is purposely made.--ED.

“On this occasion I had played and conquered at both chess and écarte, no word being spoken, the games simultaneous, and the players in three separate rooms. There was present, also, an Italian gentleman with an unpronounceable name; a Russian Count Tsovinski, and a Madame Dablin--a mesmerist and operatic singer. After awhile his majesty asked the empress, and the general (Pellisier), who afterwards became the Duke de Malakoff, if they would submit to a trial of mesmerism by either of the three professors of the art, named. They declined; whereupon the Emperor, speaking aloud, asked ‘if any of the company were willing to test, in their own persons, the vaunted powers of his excellency, the Italian Count?’ whose methods of inducing his magnetic marvels differed altogether from those usually adopted; inasmuch as he, like Boucicault, the actor, in his famous play--‘The Phantom’--makes no passes, scarcely glances for an instant at his subjects, and invariably looks _away_ from, not toward, them. Now, it is a well-known fact that everybody believes everybody else, save themselves, subject to mesmeric influence, as is often demonstrated at the weekly séances of the Magnetic Society, held in the Rue Grenelle St. Honore.

“At the date of this Imperial Séance, spiritualism had not yet made public pretensions in France, and although the Scotch trickster, Daniel Hume, had crossed the Atlantic, and was at that time living at Cox’s, in Jermyn street, Picadilly, London--yet he had not then obtained the notoriety that subsequently became his, nor had half Europe ran after those in whose presence tables tipped by heel, toe, and genuine spirit power. Of course, then, spiritual phenomena, so called, being then under bann, it could not be, and was not depended on as a means of explaining what there and then took place.

“‘With great pleasure,’ said the Count, in reply to a request to exhibit his power. ‘With great pleasure, your majesty,’ and forthwith he turned and looked straight into a massive mirror that occupied the entire space between two windows of the saloon. As he spoke it struck me that, somewhere, at some time, I had met this Italian Rosicrucian, but where, for the life of me, I could not tell; yet I was certain that I had heard that voice, and still more certain that I had beheld that strange, sweet smile.

“The Count’s position before the mirror was such that, supposing his eye had been a flame, the reflected rays would strike the forehead of one of the company fairly in the centre. The person upon whom it struck had not the least suspicion of what was being done. He did not make the discovery until it was too late, for no sooner did the operator get him fairly in focus, then he clenched his hands, looked with ten-fold earnestness at the mirror, muttered to himself a few unintelligible words, and the gentleman fell to the floor as if his heart had been perforated by a bullet, or as if he had been struck down with a club. In an instant all was confusion, everybody thinking it a fit of apoplexy, except the Emperor, the operator, myself and the Russian.

“Several went to raise him, but before they could do so he sprung to his feet, began to sing and dance--the truth, at the same time, flashed upon the company, that the phenomenon was mesmeric--and in another minute to plead for his life, as if before his judges, with the prison and the axe before him. The scene was solemn to the last degree.

“Suddenly, and without a word from the Count, the pleading changed to a musical scena; and although, at other times totally incapable of singing or playing in the least degree, he performed several difficult pieces in magnificent style, on the harp and piano, accompanying the performances vocally, and in a manner that drew involuntary plaudits from every person present.

“This part of the performance was suddenly terminated; for the sleeping subject placed himself in the exact spot in which the Italian had stood, and, like him, gazed steadily at the mirror, and in twenty seconds the man who stood in the line of reflection fell to the floor, and a lady who, in going to his assistance, chanced to strike that line, instantly seized, raised him as easily as if he had been a doll, and with him commenced a dance unique, wild and perfectly indescribable. It was infectious, for in less than half a minute seventeen persons, high lords and stately dames, were wheeling, whirling, leaping, flying about the room in wilder measures than were ever performed by mad Bachantes. They had all been magnetized by proxy.

“Astonished beyond measure at this extraordinary display, I retired, the better to watch the progress of the strange scene, to the opposite side of the saloon, and leaned carelessly against one of two colossal Japanese josses that stood there. No person was anywhere near me, and in my surprise I murmured below my breath: ‘What astonishing power!’ and am certain that a person standing close at my side could not have discerned what I said, yet nevertheless the thought was scarcely framed before the Count turned square upon his heel, advanced straight toward me, smiled sweetly, strangely, as he did so, and said: ‘All this power is yours--and much that is still more mysterious--if you but say the word!’

“‘What word?’ asked I, surprised that a man should so readily read my thought--for it is impossible that he could have heard my exclamation.

“‘That you will voluntarily join the most august fraternity that ever earth contained! Think of it! We shall meet again.’

“‘When? where?’ I asked hurriedly, for the august company were observing us, especially the Emperor, who, beneath his heavy brows, was evidently paying quite as much attention to us as to the wonderful things then occurring across the room.

“He did not reply directly, but, by a continuation of his breach of etiquette resumed, saying: ‘By the exercise of the power I possess, and will impart to you, conditionally; you shall be capable of depriving any man of speech, and make man, woman or child perfectly subservient to your _silent_ command, as the people yonder are to mine. There is Jean Boyard, in this Paris, who merely looks at any small object, and makes it dance toward him. You shall exceed him fifty-fold! On the Boulevart du Temple M. Hector produces a full-blown rose from a green bud, in seven minutes; you shall be able to do it in one.

“‘In the Rue de Bruxelles lives a girl--Julie Vimart--who exceeds Alexis and all the other sleepers, for she beats you at chess, tells you all you know, and much that you have forgotten; you shall do all that and more. In the street _Grand Père_, lives a boy who brings messages from the living, in their sleep; meets and converses with your friends--when _they_ slumber, and describes them as perfectly as the sun paint their portraits in the cameras of Talbot and Dagguerre; you shall have that power.

“‘In the Rue du Jour, is a _Sage Femme_, who cures all diseases that are curable, by a simple touch and prayer: you shall have that power greater than she can ever hope to. It is only necessary to say ‘I will have these powers!’ and they shall be yours. They all are well worth having. I learned my secret among the magi of the East--men not half so civilized as are we of the West; but who, nevertheless, _know_ a great deal more than the sapient men of Christendom--that is, less of machinery, politics, and finance; but a great deal more of the human soul, its nature, its powers, and the methods of their developement. Instead of being surprised at modern scientific revelations, we of the True Temple----’ ‘_What_ Temple?’ I interrupted him to ask. ‘Of the _Supreme Dome_ of the Rosie Cross,’ said he.

“The Emperor must have heard this question and its answer, for he directly crossed over to us, and actually joined this curious _tête-à-tête_. The Count bowed; did not seem at all embarrassed by the presence of the son of Admiral Verhuiel, the great Dutch founder of the Second Empire--or Emperor ----.

“‘As I was saying,’ the Count resumed, ‘instead of being elated at what Western science has done, _we_ are ashamed of the tardy steps of “Progress”--Progress indeed! Where is it, save in wretchedness, poverty, crime, selfishness, and in the accrement of misery. Progress is more fancied than real. Civilization is a misnomer, utilitarianism a desecration of man’s soul, Philosophy an imposture, and learning altogether false!’

“I was pleased to see the Emperor join the conversation at this point, for two reasons: first, to hear what he had to say; and secondly, to observe whether the subjects on the floor could be kept under the Count’s influence while his mind was abstracted from them and centered on matters entirely different.

“‘Do not be disturbed at what he says,’ said his majesty, ‘for these Mesmerists are all slightly mad.’ And he smiled, while the Count shrugged his shoulders, and exclaimed:

“‘With a method, however!’

“Then turning his attention toward the company, by some inscrutable power he stopped the dance, restored the subjects to their normal state, and almost instantly thereafter exercised it upon Madame Dablin, who straightway, with closed eyes, approached a grand piano, swept its keys with matchless skill, as a prelude, and then launched forth into one of the strangest, most brilliant, yet wild and weird fantasias, that genius ever dreamed of. I cannot now stop to describe its effect upon the company, nor upon myself, for my whole being was absorbed at that moment in matters far more important to me than a mesmeric experiment, however interesting and successful it might be; for at best, its effect and memory would be transient and ephemeral, while, on the contrary, the things I might learn from the Italian might last so long as my conscious soul endured. I was not, therefore, disappointed when he resumed his talk. I cannot now repeat the _ipsissima verba_ of what he said, but the substance, in reply to questions by the Emperor and myself, was in effect this:

“‘The soul and its qualities, passions and volume are all clearly marked upon the physique, and are apparent to all who possess the proper key; to all others, the difficulty lies in correctly reading these signs, and a still greater in assigning to each faculty its actual, its possible, and its relative strength and value. Every act that a man does has an effect upon both his body and soul, and the imprints thereof are indelibly stamped upon his features; therefore his past--even his most secret act or thought--can be read by the adept with as much ease as if his face were a printed page, the type being large, smooth and clear. Every man is susceptible of being controlled mesmerically by another, because no man is collectively stronger than his weakest faculty; a chain is no stronger than its most defective link. Now I control men because I know at a glance which is the most vulnerable portion of their nature. Self-love, Emulation and Will are the trinity in unity around which the Psychal Republic revolves. One of these is always vulnerable; subdue that, and you subdue the man. Now, when I perform such experiments as those now being exhibited, I first mesmerize, not the entire brain, but a single faculty, which in turn speedily subdues all the rest. The mind of man is a mirror! Conceded. Well, then, I forthwith, by an effort of will, entirely vacate my own mind, thinking of nothing but a revolving wheel. The subject reflects my action; then in fancy I sing, dance, play, and the subject reflects my thought by appropriate action.’

“‘But,’ said one, ‘suppose your subject understands nothing about these accomplishments. How then?’

“‘All souls understand them. Bodies may not; and I bring the soul under subjection, not the body merely.’

“‘This is a dangerous power to possess,’ said the Emperor, ‘and none but a good man ought to have it.’

“‘A bad man cannot become a true Rosicrucian, although men have turned their arms against the race, and the secrets of the fraternity, like all things else, have been trifled with and abused. Thus it is possible for an expert to cure a diseased man by the exercise of the power alluded to. But the rule is dual: it is also possible to kill a healthy man by the same mysterious means; and indeed it has often been done, especially by the natives of Africa.

“‘I persuade my soul that you are sick and will die, and if I keep up the will and wish, nothing is more certain than that both will be accomplished. Some men naturally possess enormous powers of will, and are able to project visible images, like those of a phantasmagoria-- images of whatever they choose to fancy--a flower, a hand, arm, or a human form--and these spectra will be visible to scores of startled observers, who, in their utter ignorance of the human mind and body, and their respective and conjoined powers, believe them to be the veritable ghosts of dead men, and objects produced by them. I learned recently that in London is at this moment a young Scotchman, named Hume, who possesses this power to a remarkable degree, and also that of levitation, and who is coining fame and fortune by pretending that the psychical phenomenon is really and truly spiritual--which is not the case. I learned this great secret in the Punjaub, of Naumsavi Chitty, the chief of the Rosicrucians of India, and the greatest reformer since Budha.’

“At this point the Emperor asked the Count to exhibit a specimen of his spectre-producing power, to which the latter assented. First he walked rapidly several times up and down the saloon, gave directions to lower the lights, which was done, and then, as before, he stood still directly in front of the mirror for a minute or two, and then, in a sharp, cracked tone, repeated thrice the word ‘Look!’ We did so, and as I live, there flashed the semblance of a thousand chains of vivid lightning across the face of the mirror, along the floor, over the ceiling, up and down the walls; now like forks, then as chains of electric fluid; anon changing to fiery acorns, which gradually formed themselves into a fiery crown, rose gently, floated over the company for a few seconds, and then rested in the air about five inches above the head of Napoleon III.--a crown of fire!

“‘Mind,’ said he, after this splendid proof of his weird ability, ‘I do not aver that all the phenomena exhibited in these days as spiritual are produced as I have these; but I do say that not one-tenth part is attributable to spiritual agencies. That which is indeed spiritual is not all the product of dead men, but much of it proceeds from the Larvæ and inhabitants of the spaces between the rolling globes.’

“Then turning to me, he repeated his invitation to become an acolyte of the Temple; said we should meet again; and shortly thereafter the séance broke up, and I left the palace, greatly wiser than when I entered it five hours before.

“Calling a _voiture de remise_, I entered it and rode home to my hotel. Arrived there, I dismounted beneath the glare of a street lamp, and drew forth my pocket-book to pay my fare. On opening it, what was my surprise at finding a letter, closely sealed, within it, directed to myself. I paid the coachman, hastened to my chamber, and then, eagerly tearing the envelope, I read the following very singular letter, written in a female hand, and in the English language:

“‘MONSIEUR,

“‘Remember that you have met one human soul who knows and _thoroughly_ understands your strange, mysterious and inexplicable nature--your heaven’s heights, your hell’s depths, your spacic breadth, your volcanic eruptions, your ocean of god-like calmness, and all-pervading, all-sustaining, holy stillness and quiet, wherein the soul in its magnificent grandeur sweeps over all space and all time, and lives an infinity of lives in its own self-created world! As such I see and know you. Yet in all this I see still other and a greater character to arise in your being than now exists there; I see a character is to arise, if you will allow the grander, diviner elements of your being, and also the heavenly elements that surround you, to blend into one united force of harmonic intelligence, that will mould your _entire self_ into a man such as I cannot now describe. Two ways, my friend, are now before you. One so grand, so sublime, that I would (in order to explain it) demand the eloquence of a Patrick Henry, the strength of a Cæsar, the love of a _greater_ still, the wisdom of a god; the other, not all these combined could give me power to depict.

“‘In the name of _Him_ and humanity, choose the right.

“‘Such are the feelings of one who knows you.

“‘Listen--be quiet! your time is precious.

“‘Adieu!’

“This was Greek, Hebrew, Sanscrit, all combined, to me; and it continued so for a long, long time. It was evidently written by some one who, while fully aware of one of my weaknesses--a susceptibility to flattery--yet knew not the man himself. Still, the allusions to my awful secret were too palpable to admit a doubt that the writer knew far more than that strange letter said or hinted at. Was it the mysterious Count? If so, why did he take so great an interest in a stranger? I could not understand it.

“Of course I thought much of the Italian Count, and ardently longed to know more of, if I did not join, the mystic Fraternity whereof he was a member; but to no human being had I ever opened my mind upon the subject, either in Paris, or Naples, whither I repaired on my way to the Orient. Indeed, in the latter city the subject lay _perdu_ in the cellars of my mind, for I sought to banish all care while in Italy, in order to drink full draughts of music--that balm for fevered souls.

“While there, I one night went to San Carlos to hear the opera of the ‘Barber of Seville,’ and to listen to the glorious strains of Mario, Grisi and Gassier. I had been charmed out of all my griefs by the celebrated ‘Music Lesson’ of the latter cantatrice, and as I walked homeward I hummed its notes as I passed along, and it rung in my ears long after I had lain down to sleep. With the peculiar caution of Americans generally, but of Californians especially--whose habits I had imbibed during my short residence within the Golden Gate--before retiring I had carefully examined the room, for Italians, especially Neapolitans, bear watching, to see that all was safe and right. It was so. Then securely fastening both doors and windows, I was soon drifting up and down the Dream Sea. Beneath my pillow was my money belt, in which was about two thousand dollars in gold, which, together with a revolver, loaded to the muzzle, was the property of my friend T----s.

“In the morning the room was as when I slept; but the charges were drawn from the pistol, and the gold lay on the table arranged in the form of a triangle, surmounted by the letter ‘R,’ while, pinned to the bosom of my sleeping robe, was a note in English, in a bold, clear handwriting, but in red ink. That note was not there the night before; it could not have been placed there by human hands! ‘Do not fail,’ it read, ‘to remember the purpose for which you crossed the seas, for your enterprise concerns the future ages of the world! It is not yet accomplished. Achieve it. I will yet serve and save you.--E.’

“I was thunder-struck. Again some mysterious being was crossing my path; that being whose strange domain lay on either side of Time, and whose will seemed ever to hedge me about like a wall of fire, so that escape from the strange destiny that hung over me seemed almost impossible. I was in despair, for already had grey hairs shown themselves; I felt that I was growing prematurely old, and that the chances were greatly against me, a son of Adam, ever wedding with a daughter of Ish.”