of which the vainest might
boast.

In this city they made the acquaintance of many eminent persons, and,
among others, of the Cardinal Prince de Rohan, who was destined afterwards
to exercise so untoward an influence over their fate. The cardinal, who
seems to have had great faith in him as a philosopher, persuaded him to
visit Paris in his company, which he did, but remained only thirteen days.
He preferred the society of Strasbourg, and returned thither with the
intention of fixing his residence far from the capital. But he soon found
that the first excitement of his arrival had passed away. People began to
reason with themselves, and to be ashamed of their own admiration. The
populace, among whom he had lavished his charity with a bountiful hand,
accused him of being the Antichrist, the Wandering Jew, the man of
fourteen hundred years of age, a demon in human shape, sent to lure the
ignorant to their destruction; while the more opulent and better informed
called him a spy in the pay of foreign governments, an agent of the
police, a swindler, and a man of evil life. The outcry grew at last so
strong, that he deemed it prudent to try his fortune elsewhere.

He went first to Naples, but that city was too near Palermo; he dreaded
recognition from some of his early friends, and, after a short stay,
returned to France. He chose Bourdeaux as his next dwelling-place, and
created as great a sensation there as he had done in Strasbourg. He
announced himself as the founder of a new school of medicine and
philosophy, boasted of his ability to cure all diseases, and invited the
poor and suffering to visit him, and he would relieve the distress of the
one class, and cure the ailings of the other. All day long the street
opposite his magnificent hotel was crowded by the populace; the halt and
the blind, women with sick babes in their arms, and persons suffering
under every species of human infirmity, flocked to this wonderful doctor.
The relief he afforded in money more than counterbalanced the failure of
his nostrums; and the affluence of people from all the surrounding country
became so great, that the _jurats_ of the city granted him a military
guard, to be stationed day and night before his door, to keep order. The
anticipations of Cagliostro were realised. The rich were struck with
admiration of his charity and benevolence, and impressed with a full
conviction of his marvellous powers. The sale of the elixir went on
admirably