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Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions

C >> Charles Mackay >> Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions




Others imposed by means of nails, half iron and half gold or
silver. They pretended that they really transmuted the precious half
from iron, by dipping it in a strong alcohol. M. Geoffroy produced
several of these nails to the Academy of Sciences, and showed how
nicely the two parts were soldered together. The golden or silver half
was painted black to resemble iron, and the colour immediately
disappeared when the nail was dipped into aquafortis. A nail of this
description was, for a long time, in the cabinet of the Grand Duke of
Tuscany. Such also, said M. Geoffroy, was the knife presented by a
monk to Queen Elizabeth of England; the blade of which was half gold
and half steel. Nothing at one time was more common than to see coins,
half gold and half silver, which had been operated upon by alchymists,
for the same purposes of trickery. In fact, says M. Geoffroy, in
concluding his long report, there is every reason to believe that all
the famous histories which have been handed down to us, about the
transmutation of metals into gold or silver, by means of the powder of
projection, or philosophical elixirs, are founded upon some successful
deception of the kind above narrated. These pretended philosophers
invariably disappeared after the first or second experiment, or their
powders or elixirs have failed to produce their effect, either because
attention being excited they have found no opportunity to renew the
trick without being discovered, or because they have not had
sufficient gold dust for more than one trial.

The disinterestedness of these would-be philosopher looked, at
first sight, extremely imposing. Instances were not rare, in which
they generously abandoned all the profits of their transmutations -
even the honour of the discovery! But this apparent disinterestedness
was one of the most cunning of their manoeuvres. It served to keep up
the popular expectation; it showed the possibility of discovering the
philosopher's stone, and provided the means of future advantages,
which they were never slow to lay hold of -- such as entrances into
royal households, maintenance at the public expense, and gifts from
ambitious potentates, too greedy after the gold they so easily
promised.

It now only remains to trace the progress of the delusion from the
commencement of the eighteenth century until the present day. It will
be seen, that until a very recent period, there were but slight signs
of a return to reason.

JEAN DELISLE.

In the year 1705, there was much talk in France of a blacksmith,
named Delisle, who had discovered the philosopher's stone, and who
went about the country turning lead into gold. He was a native of
Provence, from which place his fame soon spread to the capital. His
early life is involved in obscurity; but Longlet du Fresnoy has
industriously collected some particulars of his later career, which
possess considerable interest. He was a man without any education, and
had been servant in his youth to an alchymist, from whom he learned
many of the tricks of the fraternity. The name of his master has never
been discovered; but it is pretended that he rendered himself in some
manner obnoxious to the government of Louis XIV, and was obliged, in
consequence, to take refuge in Switzerland. Delisle accompanied him as
far as Savoy, and there, it is said, set upon him in a solitary
mountain-pass, and murdered and robbed him. He then disguised himself
as a pilgrim, and returned to France. At a lonely inn, by the
road-side, where he stopped for the night, he became acquainted with a
woman, named Aluys; and so sudden a passion was enkindled betwixt
them, that she consented to leave all, follow him, and share his good
or evil fortune wherever he went. They lived together for five or six
years in Provence, without exciting any attention, apparently
possessed of a decent independence. At last, in 1706, it was given out
that he was the possessor of the philosopher's stone; and people, from
far and near, came flocking to his residence, at the Chateau de la
Palu, at Sylanez, near Barjaumont, to witness the wealth he could make
out of pumps and fire shovels. The following account of his operations
is given in a letter addressed by M. de Cerisy, the Prior of
Chateauneuf, in the Diocese of Riez, in Provence, to the Vicar of St.
Jacques du Hautpas, at Paris, and dated the 18th of November 1706:--

"I have something to relate to you, my dear cousin, which will be
interesting to you and your friends. The philosopher's stone, which so
many persons have looked upon as a chimera, is at last found. It is a
man named Delisle, of the parish of Sylanez, and residing within a
quarter of a league of me, that has discovered this great secret. He
turns lead into gold, and iron into silver, by merely heating these
metals red hot, and pouring upon them, in that state, some oil and
powder he is possessed of; so that it would not be impossible for any
man to make a million a day, if he had sufficient of this wondrous
mixture. Some of the pale gold which he had made in this manner, he
sent to the jewellers of Lyons, to have their opinion on its quality.
He also sold twenty pounds weight of it to a merchant of Digne, named
Taxis. All the jewellers say they never saw such fine gold in their
lives. He makes nails, part gold, part iron, and part silver. He
promised to give me one of them, in a long conversation which I had
with him the other day, by order of the Bishop of Sends, who saw his
operations with his own eyes, and detailed all the circumstances to
me.

"The Baron and Baroness de Rheinwald showed me a lingot of gold
made out of pewter before their eyes by M. Delisle. My brother-in-law
Sauveur, who has wasted fifty years of his life in this great study,
brought me the other day a nail which he had seen changed into gold by
Delisle, and fully convinced me that all his previous experiments were
founded on an erroneous principle. This excellent workman received, a
short time ago, a very kind letter from the superintendent of the
royal household, which I read. He offered to use all his influence
with the ministers to prevent any attempts upon his liberty, which has
twice been attacked by the agents of government. It is believed that
the oil he makes use of, is gold or silver reduced to that state. He
leaves it for a long time exposed to the rays of the sun. He told me
that it generally took him six months to make all his preparations. I
told him that, apparently, the King wanted to see him. He replied that
he could not exercise his art in every place, as a certain climate and
temperature were absolutely necessary to his success. The truth is,
that this man appears to have no ambition. He only keeps two horses
and two men-servants. Besides, he loves his liberty, has no
politeness, and speaks very bad French; but his judgment seems to be
solid. He was formerly no more than a blacksmith, but excelled in that
trade without having been taught it. All the great lords and seigneurs
from far and near come to visit him, and pay such court to him, that
it seems more like idolatry than anything else. Happy would France be
if this man would discover his secret to the King, to whom the
superintendent has already sent some lingots! But the happiness is too
great to be hoped for; for I fear that the workman and his secret will
expire together. There is no doubt that this discovery will make a
great noise in the kingdom, unless the character of the man, which I
have just depicted to you, prevent it. At all events, posterity will
hear of him."

In another letter to the same person, dated the 27th of January
1707, M. de Cerisy says, "My dear cousin, I spoke to you in my last
letter of the famous alchymist of Provence, M. Delisle. A good deal of
that was only hearsay, but now I am enabled to speak from my own
experience. I have in my possession a nail, half iron and half silver,
which I made myself. That great and admirable workman also bestowed a
still greater privilege upon me -- he allowed me to turn a piece of
lead which I had brought with me into pure gold, by means of his
wonderful oil and powder. All the country have their eyes upon this
gentleman: some deny loudly, others are incredulous; but those who
have seen acknowledge the truth. I have read the passport that has
been sent to him from Court, with orders that he should present
himself at Paris early in the spring. He told me that he would go
willingly, and that it was himself who fixed the spring for his
departure; as he wanted to collect his materials, in order that,
immediately on his introduction to the King, he might make an
experiment worthy of his Majesty, by converting a large quantity of
lead into the finest gold. I sincerely hope that he will not allow his
secret to die with him, but that he will communicate it to the King.
As I had the honour to dine with him on Thursday last, the 20th of
this month, being seated at his side, I told him in a whisper that he
could, if he liked, humble all the enemies of France. He did not deny
it, but began to smile. In fact, this man is the miracle of art.
Sometimes he employs the oil and powder mixed, sometimes the powder
only, but in so small a quantity that, when the lingot which I made
was rubbed all over with it, it did not show at all."

This soft-headed priest was by no means the only person in the
neighbourhood who lost his wits in hopes of the boundless wealth held
out by this clever impostor. Another priest, named De Lions, a chanter
in the cathedral of Grenoble, writing on the 30th January 1707, says,
-- "M. Mesnard, the curate of Montier, has written to me, stating that
there is a man, about thirty-five years of age, named Delisle, who
turns lead and iron into gold and silver; and that this transmutation
is so veritable and so true, that the goldsmiths affirm that his gold
and silver are the purest and finest they ever saw. For five years,
this man was looked upon as a madman or a cheat; but the public mind
is now disabused with respect to him. He now resides with M. de la
Palu, at the chateau of the same name. M. de la Palu is not very easy
in his circumstances, and wants money to portion his daughters, who
have remained single till middle age, no man being willing to take
them without a dowry. M. Delisle has promised to make them the richest
girls in the province before he goes to Court, having been sent for by
the King. He has asked for a little time before his departure, in
order that he may collect powder enough to make several quintals of
gold before the eyes of his Majesty, to whom he intends to present
them. The principal matter of his wonderful powder is composed of
simples, principally the herbs Lunaria major and minor. There is a
good deal of the first planted by him in the gardens of La Palu; and
he gets the other from the mountains, that stretch about two leagues
from Montier. What I tell you now is not a mere story invented for
your diversion: M. Mesnard can bring forward many witnesses to its
truth; among others, the Bishop of Senes, who saw these surprising
operations performed; and M. de Cerisy, whom you know well. Delisle
transmutes his metals in public. He rubs the lead or iron with his
powder, and puts it over burning charcoal. In a short time it changes
colour; the lead becomes yellow, and is found to be converted into
excellent gold: the iron becomes white, and is found to be pure
silver. Delisle is altogether an illiterate person. M. de St. Auban
endeavoured to teach him to read and write, but he profited very
little by his lessons. He is unpolite, fantastic, and a dreamer, and
acts by fits and starts."

Delisle, it would appear, was afraid of venturing to Paris. He
knew that his sleight of hand would be too narrowly watched in the
royal presence; and upon some pretence or other, he delayed the
journey for more than two years. Desmarets, the Minister of Finance to
Louis XIV, thinking the "philosopher" dreaded foul play, twice sent
him a safe conduct under the King's seal; but Delisle still refused.
Upon this, Desmarets wrote to the Bishop of Sends for his real opinion
as to these famous transmutations. The following was the answer of
that prelate:--

"Copy of a report addressed to M. Desmarets, Comptroller-General of
the Finances to His Majesty Louis XIV, by the Bishop of Senes,
dated March 1709.

"SIR,

"A twelvemonth ago, or a little more, I expressed to you my joy at
hearing of your elevation to the ministry; I have now the honour to
write you my opinion of the Sieur Delisle, who has been working at the
transmutation of metals in my diocese. I have, during the last two
years, spoken of him several times to the Count de Pontchartrain,
because he asked me; but I have not written to you, sir, or to M. de
Chamillart, because you neither of you requested my opinion upon the
subject. Now, however, that you have given me to understand that you
wish to know my sentiments on the matter, I will unfold myself to you
in all sincerity, for the interests of the King and the glory of your
ministry.

"There are two things about the Sieur Delisle which, in my
opinion, should be examined without prejudice: the one relates to his
secret; the other, to his person; that is to say, whether his
transmutations are real, and whether his conduct has been regular. As
regards the secret of the philosopher's stone, I deemed it impossible,
for a long time; and for more than three years, I was more mistrustful
of the pretensions of this Sieur Delisle than of any other person.
During this period I afforded him no countenance; I even aided a
person, who was highly recommended to me by an influential family of
this province, to prosecute Delisle for some offence or other which it
was alleged he had committed. But this person, in his anger against
him, having told me that he had himself been several times the bearer
of gold and silver to the goldsmiths of Nice, Aix, and Avignon, which
had been transmuted by Delisle from lead and iron, I began to waver a
little in my opinions respecting him. I afterwards met Delisle at the
house of one of my friends. To please me, the family asked Delisle to
operate before me, to which he immediately consented. I offered him
some iron nails, which he changed into silver in the chimney-place
before six or seven credible witnesses. I took the nails thus
transmuted, and sent them by my almoner to Irabert, the jeweller of
Aix, who, having subjected them to the necessary trial, returned them
to me, saying they were very good silver. Still, however, I was not
quite satisfied. M. de Pontchartrain having hinted to me, two years
previously, that I should do a thing agreeable to his Majesty if I
examined into this business of Delisle, I resolved to do so now. I
therefore summoned the alchymist to come to me at Castellane. He came;
and I had him escorted by eight or ten vigilant men, to whom I had
given notice to watch his hands strictly. Before all of us he changed
two pieces of lead into gold and silver. I sent them both to M. de
Pontchartrain; and he afterwards informed me by a letter, now lying
before me, that he had shown them to the most experienced goldsmiths
of Paris, who unanimously pronounced them to be gold and silver of the
very purest quality, and without alloy. My former bad opinion of
Delisle was now indeed shaken. It was much more so when he performed
transmutation five or six times before me at Senes, and made me
perform it myself before him without his putting his hand to anything.
You have seen, sir, the letter of my nephew, the Pere Berard, of the
Oratoire at Paris, on the experiment that he performed at Castellane,
and the truth of which I hereby attest. Another nephew of mine, the
Sieur Bourget, who was here three weeks ago, performed the same
experiment in my presence, and will detail all the circumstances to
you personally at Paris. A hundred persons in my diocese have been
witnesses of these things. I confess to you, sir, that, after the
testimony of so many spectators and so many goldsmiths, and after the
repeatedly successful experiments that I saw performed, all my
prejudices vanished. My reason was convinced by my eyes; and the
phantoms of impossibility which I had conjured up were dissipated by
the work of my own hands.

"It now only remains for me to speak to you on the subject of his
person and conduct. Three suspicions have been excited against him:
the first, That he was implicated in some criminal proceeding at
Cisteron, and that he falsified the coin of the realm; the second,
That the King sent him two safe-conducts without effect; and the
third, That he still delays going to court to operate before the King.
You may see, sir, that I do not hide or avoid anything. As regards the
business at Cisteron, the Sieur Delisle has repeatedly assured me that
there was nothing against him which could reasonably draw him within
the pale of justice, and that he had never carried on any calling
injurious to the King's service. It was true that, six or seven years
ago, he had been to Cisteron to gather herbs necessary for his powder,
and that he had lodged at the house of one Pelouse, whom he thought an
honest man. Pelouse was accused of clipping Louis d'ors; and as he had
lodged with him, he was suspected of being his accomplice. This mere
suspicion, without any proof whatever, had caused him to be condemned
for contumacy; a common case enough with judges, who always proceed
with much rigour against those who are absent. During my own sojourn
at Aix, it was well known that a man, named Andre Aluys, had spread
about reports injurious to the character of Delisle, because he hoped
thereby to avoid paying him a sum of forty Louis that he owed him. But
permit me, sir, to go further, and to add that, even if there were
well-founded suspicions against Delisle, we should look with some
little indulgence on the faults of a man who possesses a secret so
useful to the state. As regards the two safe-conducts sent him by the
King, I think I can answer certainly that it was through no fault of
his that he paid so little attention to them. His year, strictly
speaking, consists only of the four summer months; and when by any
means he is prevented from making the proper use of them, he loses a
whole year. Thus the first safe-conduct became useless by the
irruption of the Duke of Savoy in 1707; and the second had hardly been
obtained, at the end of June 1708, when the said Delisle was insulted
by a party of armed men, pretending to act under the authority of the
Count de Grignan, to whom he wrote several letters of complaint,
without receiving any answer, or promise that his safety would be
attended to. What I have now told you, sir, removes the third
objection, and is the reason why, at the present time, he cannot go to
Paris to the King, in fulfilment of his promises made two years ago.
Two, or even three, summers have been lost to him, owing to the
continual inquietude he has laboured under. He has, in consequence,
been unable to work, and has not collected a sufficient quantity of
his oil and powder, or brought what he has got to the necessary degree
of perfection. For this reason also he could not give the Sieur de
Bourget the portion he promised him for your inspection. If the other
day he changed some lead into gold with a few grains of his powder,
they were assuredly all he had; for he told me that such was the fact
long before he knew my nephew was coming. Even if he had preserved
this small quantity to operate before the King, I am sure that, on
second thoughts, he would never have adventured with so little;
because the slightest obstacles in the metals (their being too hard or
too soft, which is only discovered in operating) would have caused him
to be looked upon as an impostor, if, in case his first powder had
proved ineffectual, he had not been possessed of more to renew the
experiment and surmount the difficulty.

"Permit me, sir, in conclusion, to repeat that such an artist as
this should not be driven to the last extremity, nor forced to seek an
asylum offered to him in other countries, but which he has despised,
as much from his own inclinations as from the advice I have given him.
You risk nothing in giving him a little time, and in hurrying him you
may lose a great deal. The genuineness of his gold can no longer be
doubted, after the testimony of so many jewellers of Aix, Lyons, and
Paris in its favour. As it is not his fault that the previous
safe-conducts sent to him have been of no service, it will be
necessary to send him another; for the success of which I will be
answerable, if you will confide the matter to me, and trust to my zeal
for the service of his Majesty, to whom I pray you to communicate this
letter, that I may be spared the just reproaches he might one day heap
upon me if he remained ignorant of the facts I have now written to
you. Assure him, if you please, that, if you send me such a
safe-conduct, I will oblige the Sieur Delisle to depose with me such
precious pledges of his fidelity, as shall enable me to be responsible
myself to the King. These are my sentiments, and I submit them to your
superior knowledge; and have the honour to remain, with much respect,
&c.

"* JOHN, Bishop of Senes."

"To M. Desmarets, Minister of State, and
"Comptroller-General of the Finances, at Paris."

That Delisle was no ordinary impostor, but a man of consummate
cunning and address, is very evident from this letter. The Bishop was
fairly taken in by his clever legerdemain, and when once his first
distrust was conquered, appeared as anxious to deceive himself as even
Delisle could have wished. His faith was so abundant that he made the
case of his protege his own, and would not suffer the breath of
suspicion to be directed against him. Both Louis and his minister
appear to have been dazzled by the brilliant hopes he had excited, and
a third pass, or safe-conduct, was immediately sent to the alchymist,
with a command from the King that he should forthwith present himself
at Versailles, and make public trial of his oil and powder. But this
did not suit the plans of Delisle: in the provinces he was regarded as
a man of no small importance; the servile flattery that awaited him
wherever he went was so grateful to his mind that he could not
willingly relinquish it and run upon certain detection at the court of
the Monarch. Upon one pretext or another he delayed his journey,
notwithstanding the earnest solicitations of his good friend the
Bishop. The latter had given his word to the minister, and pledged his
honour that he would induce Delisle to go, and he began to be alarmed
when he found he could not subdue the obstinacy of that individual.
For more than two years he continued to remonstrate with him, and was
always met by some excuse, that there was not sufficient powder, or
that it had not been long enough exposed to the rays of the sun. At
last his patience was exhausted; and fearful that he might suffer in
the royal estimation by longer delay, he wrote to the King for a
lettre de cachet, in virtue of which the alchymist was seized at the
castle of La Palu, in the month of June 1711, and carried off to be
imprisoned in the Bastille.

The gendarmes were aware that their prisoner was supposed to be
the lucky possessor of the philosopher's stone, and on the road they
conspired to rob and murder him. One of them pretended to be touched
with pity for the misfortunes of the philosopher, and offered to give
him an opportunity of escape whenever he could divert the attention of
his companions. Delisle was profuse in his thanks, little dreaming of
the snare that was laid for him. His treacherous friend gave notice of
the success of the stratagem so far; and it was agreed that Delisle
should be allowed to struggle with and overthrow one of them while the
rest were at some distance. They were then to pursue him and shoot him
through the heart; and after robbing the corpse of the philosopher's
stone, convey it to Paris on a cart, and tell M. Desmarets that the
prisoner had attempted to escape, and would have succeeded, if they
had not fired after him and shot him through the body. At a convenient
place the scheme was executed. At a given signal from the friendly
gendarme Delisle fled, while another gendarme took aim and shot him
through the thigh. Some peasants arriving at the instant, they were
prevented from killing him as they intended; and he was transported to
Paris, maimed and bleeding. He was thrown into a dungeon in the
Bastille, and obstinately tore away the bandages which the surgeons
applied to his wound. He never afterwards rose from his bed.

The Bishop of Senes visited him in prison, and promised him his
liberty if he would transmute a certain quantity of lead into gold
before the King. The unhappy man had no longer the means of carrying
on the deception; he had no gold, and no double-bottomed crucible or
hollow wand to conceal it in, even if he had. He would not, however,
confess that he was an impostor; but merely said he did not know how
to make the powder of projection, but had received a quantity from an
Italian philosopher, and had used it all in his various transmutations
in Provence. He lingered for seven or eight months in the Bastille,
and died from the effects of his wound, in the forty-first year of his
age.

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