CHAPTER XIX

C7ETAN0 AND BORRI
IN the early part of the seventeenth century the ranks of the pseudo-alchemists were increased by a number of charlatans and clever rogues, who attained notoriety by their impudent pre¬ tensions to transmute the baser metals into gold and travelled the countries of Europe in search of wealthy patrons. One of the most extraordinary of these adventurous characters was Domenico Manuel Castano, the son of a mason of Petrabianca, near Naples. He was apprenticed to a goldsmith in Naples, where he no doubt acquired some knowledge of the precious metals. He also learned to become an expert conjurer.
Of a roving disposition, Caetano bade farewell to his master and set out to travel. After traversing Italy he went on to Spain, and for four months remained in Madrid, where he began to practise as an alchemist. During this period he contrived to make several influential friends, among whom were the Bavarian Envoy at the Spanish Court and his cousin, from whom he obtained a considerable sum of money. He persuaded the Envoy to give him letters of recommendation to important people in Germany, describing his skill as an alchemist, and, thus equipped with introductions and money, he set out for Bavaria. On arrival he presented himself at the Court of the Elector Maximilian Emmanuel, who was then Viceroy of the Nether¬ lands, and with the Envoy’s recommendations soon obtained an audience. He told the Elector that he knew the secret of trans¬ mutation whereby he could convert the baser metals into gold or silver, and was ready to make considerable quantities if he were supplied with sufficient money to prepare the ‘tinctures.’
The Elector, anxious to retain the services of so promising 174
CiETANO
an adept, at length consented to give him 60,000 florins and appointed him to several posts at the Court. Caetano expressed his delight and started to equip a suitable laboratory, but months went by and there were no results. At length the Elector began to get impatient of the long delay and demanded that Caetano should give a demonstration of his skill, but each time he was asked to fix a date he had always an excuse ready and no gold was forthcoming. Finding himself under suspicion, he resolved to attempt to leave the city, but he was caught when trying to escape, and on being convicted of deception he was im¬ prisoned in the castle of Grunewald. After being kept in close confinement for six years he managed to effect his escape, and for a while disappeared.
Some time afterward a mysterious Count de Ruggiero arrived in Vienna and established himself in a fine suite of apartments. It soon became known that he was an expert in alchemy and by this means had acquired great wealth. He rapidly made friends, and at length obtained an introduction to Prince Anthony of Liechtenstein, whom he succeeded in convincing that he knew the secret of changing the baser metals into gold. The Em¬ peror Leopold, on hearing this, decided to take the Count into his service and offered him a large salary. This was just what Ruggiero, otherwise Caetano, wanted, and on receiving an audience with the Emperor he boldly asked him for a grant of a sum of money so that he could prepare his tinctures, but before he received it the Emperor died and Ruggiero’s pay was stopped. However, he managed to ingratiate himself with the Dowager Empress, who gave him 6000 florins, together with a recom¬ mendation to John William, the Elector of the Palatinate. He told the Elector that if he did not produce 72,000,000 florins by means of his tinctures within six weeks he would willingly forfeit his head. John William agreed to give him the time he asked, and Ruggiero was supposed to have set to work, but instead of making his tinctures, he appears to have spent his time in making love to the pretty daughter of a Viennese
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LURE & ROMANCE 0? ALCHEMY
midwife. The end of the six weeks drew near, and, as he had no desire to lose his head, he made his plans and fled in the night, accompanied by the lady.
It is not until a year afterward that we hear of the Count again, when, as Caetano, he made his appearance in Berlin. He had obtained money by some means and rented a large house in a fashionable part of the city, driving out in a magnificently gilded carriage drawn by four horses. This gorgeous equipage and the style in which he lived aroused great interest, and the society of the wealthy Count was soon sought by many of the prominent citizens.
Having made a favourable impression, he next proceeded to present a petition to King Frederick in which he implored his protection against the persecution of foreign Powers to which he was then being subjected. In return he offered to enrich the Royal Treasury with untold gold, which he alone could make by his secret process, and was willing to demonstrate his powers if the King desired him to do so.
Although King Frederick, like other monarchs of the time, was not averse from having his coffers so easily replenished, he decided to proceed with caution, and requested Deppel, a Danish alchemist of repute who was then living in Berlin, to find out what he could about the Count. Deppel soon became on friendly terms with Caetano, and one day persuaded him to produce some of his precious “red and white tinctures,” of which he had a small quantity. Deppel was apparently scepti¬ cal at first, but Caetano managed to deceive him into the belief that he could transmute mercury into silver.
The King, favourably impressed by Deppel’s report, sent Caetano a message commanding him to make a demonstration of his powers in the royal presence. To this Caetano at once agreed, and a day was fixed for the King’s visit to his laboratory, where the operation was to be carried out. Caetano cunningly laid his plans, as he knew that the result would mean either fortune or an urgent need for flight.
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At the time appointed the King, accompanied by the Crown Prince, arrived at Caetano’s house, and he conducted them with much ceremony to his laboratory. The royal visitors, in rich costumes of velvet and silk, were attended by their gentlemen- in-waiting and accompanied by some goldsmiths who had been brought to test the metal. An attendant then brought in a vessel containing a quantity of mercury which the Crown Prince had undertaken to provide. When all was ready the King seated himself where he could watch every movement of the operator, and the others gathered round in eager expectancy.
Going to a large crucible which stood upon a hearth, Caetano slowly poured some of the mercury into it and, placing it on a sand-bath, proceeded to blow up the fire. He heated it for some time ; then, taking a small phial which contained a thick, reddish-coloured liquid, he added a few drops of this to the mercury, meanwhile carefully stirring the contents of the crucible, from which dense yellow fumes soon began to rise. After continuing the heat for a space of half an hour Caetano, taking his tongs, lifted the crucible from the fire and placed it on a slab to cool. The minutes passed in silence; then, after a while, he invited the visitors to look into the crucible. The King and the Crown Prince stepped forward and, glancing at the contents, were astonished to see a mass of metal which Caetano declared was gold. The crucible was then broken and the metal handed to the incredulous goldsmiths, who, after applying their tests, declared it to be real gold.
Caetano is said to have then carried out two other operations, in one of which he changed a quantity of mercury into silver by means of his white tincture and in the other with his red tinc¬ ture transmuted part of a bar of copper into gold.
The King congratulated Caetano on the success of his ex¬ periments and expressed his satisfaction at the results ; where¬ upon Caetano begged him to accept a small quantity of his tinctures, and promised to hand over to him within sixty days eight ounces of the red and seven ounces of the white, by M 177
LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY
means of which he declared gold and silver to the value of seven million thalers could be produced.
As soon as the result of the King’s visit was known Caetano became the most popular person in Berlin. People of all classes flocked to his house, and invitations to banquets and entertain¬ ments were showered upon him. But Caetano refused them all on the pretext that he was busy preparing the tinctures that he had promised to deliver to the King within two months, and denied all visitors. Shortly before the time expired he secretly left Berlin and went to Hildesheim, whence he wrote to the King stating that he was ready to impart his secret to anyone whom his Majesty might think proper to select.
The King, astonished to find from the letter that Caetano had left the city, at once sent his Chamberlain, von Marschall, to Hildesheim to obtain the secret and to bestow a present of his miniature set in diamonds. At the same time he was instructed to hand the Count a commission appointing him a Major- General of Artillery. A battle of wits then began between the Chamberlain and Caetano, who declared that he would not hand over his secret until he received a thousand ducats in payment, and in the end the Chamberlain decided to return to Berlin and lay his report before the King.
After he had departed Caetano hurriedly left for Stettin, and on his arrival there wrote to the King stating that the Herr von Marschall had treated him badly. After learning his secret he wished to keep it for himself, and that he was an unfaithful servant. He asked that the thousand ducats should be sent to him without delay.
On receipt of this letter the King despatched his Privy Secre¬ tary, Hesse, with instructions to pay him a sum of money and to try to induce him to return to Berlin. But the efforts of Hesse were unavailing, and directly he had left Stettin Caetano set off for Hamburg.
In the meantime the King had received information from Vienna that the Bavarian Envoy had declared that Caetano had 178
C^ETANO
swindled his cousin in Madrid out of a large sum of money. On learning this he determined to examine the phials of tinctures that Caetano had given him, and when they were brought before him they were found to be empty !
Enraged at this discovery, the King gave orders for the im¬ mediate arrest of Caetano on the charge of disobeying his orders as a Major-General. The trickster was arrested in Hamburg and brought as a prisoner to Berlin. He begged that he might be allowed to continue his experiments in the presence of a com¬ missary, and undertook to prove that he could carry out all he claimed to do. His petition was granted, and means were given to him to carry on his work under strict surveillance. To the amazement of the commissary who was in charge, one day he produced a quantity of silver which he declared he had made by means of his white tincture. This was shown to the King, who was so delighted that Caetano was at once restored to favour and apartments were provided for him in the palace, where a watch could be kept on him so that he could not escape. He was furnished with fine clothes, and the Court cook was ordered to serve him with “ten special dishes for dinner and eight more for supper.”
But the King was determined not to let his * gold-maker’ remain idle now that he was supplied with every necessity, and at length obtained a solemn promise from him that he would transmute a hundredweight of mercury into gold by a given date.
Although Caetano undertook, with his customary boastful¬ ness, to carry out the task, he became panic-stricken as the time approached, and when the day arrived he could not be found. By some means he had managed to elude his guard and escape from the palace. A search for the missing alchemist was im¬ mediately instituted, but no trace of him could be found, and it was not until some time afterward that he was discovered to be living in Frankfort-on-Main. Here, at the request of the Prussian Minister, he was once more arrested and lodged in
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prison. There he remained for some time until he was eventu¬ ally handed over to an escort of Prussian troops and taken to Ciistrin, where he was brought to trial on the charge of treason, was found guilty, and condemned to death. He was hanged in the market-place on August 29, 1709, the beam of the gallows in grim irony being gilded with Dutch metal ; and when his body was cut down it was paraded through the streets dressed in a golden robe.
So ended the strange and adventurous life of Domenico Manuel Caetano. He was a charlatan and impostor from the beginning, and yet as late as the last century there were many who still believed that his claim to possess the secret of trans¬ mutation was genuine and that he fell a victim to his own boast¬ ing. Cunning though he undoubtedly was, his effrontery was amazing, and he appears to have deceived his patrons with the same story time after time. His career is instructive as showing the greed for gold and the credulity that existed among person¬ ages in high places in Europe late in the seventeenth century.
A man of a different type but one who had a most eventful life was Giuseppe Francesco Borri, who was born at Milan in 1627. His father was a physician, and sent his son to be educated at the Jesuits’ College at Rome. Here he soon showed remarkable talent and had no difficulty in acquiring a knowledge of all branches of learning, but was especially attracted to the study of medicine and alchemy. Continuing his medical studies after he left the college, he is said to have led a very loose life for a time, but on settling down he began to practise medicine in Rome and eventually obtained a position in the Pope’s house¬ hold.
When he was about thirty-seven he again took up the study of alchemy, and in 1653 became private secretary to the Marquis di Mirogli at Rome. From being a freethinker, he developed a strong religious tendency to the extent of fanaticism, and expressed a belief that the secrets of the Omnipotent and of Nature had been revealed to him. He began to deliver lectures 180
BORRI
questioning the supremacy of the Pope, and claimed that the mysteries of faith were derived from the principles of alchemy. He soon had to quit Rome, and first went to Innsbruck, leaving there for Milan with the intention of establishing a new religion. Here he frequently preached his doctrines and found many followers, whom he told that he had received from the Arch¬ angel Michael “a heavenly sword upon the hilt of which were engraved the names of the seven celestial intelligences.’ ’
In their enthusiasm he and his followers even attempted to take possession of Milan, but their plot was discovered and Borri escaped to Switzerland. An order was obtained for his arrest through the Inquisition, and a reward of 35,000 francs was offered to anyone who would deliver him up. Meanwhile he was tried in his absence and condemned to death as a heretic and sorcerer, his effigy being burned in Rome by the common hangman in 1661.
For a time Borri lived at Strasburg, and then journeyed north to Amsterdam, where he established himself in a fine house and assumed the title of ‘Excellency.’ Here he practised medicine with considerable success and visited his wealthy patients with great pomp, riding in a gilded coach. Meanwhile he continued to carry on operations as an alchemist. In the latter capacity he succeeded in obtaining 200,000 florins from a rich merchant on the pretext that he was on the verge of discovering the Elixir of Life. As this did not mature and he could not repay the loan, he suddenly left one night for Hamburg, where at that time Christina, the ex-Queen of Sweden, was living. He knew that she was interested in alchemy, and he hoped to obtain her patronage in pursuing his quest of the Philosopher’s Stone, but, being warned that Hamburg was unsafe for him, he journeyed on to Copenhagen to seek the protection of Frederick III, King of Denmark, who was also a believer in the art.
The King, being in want of money, agreed to provide Borri with the means to carry on his experiments and took a great interest in his plan of operations. Borri set to work, and though
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delay after delay occurred in his efforts to fulfil his promise to produce gold, he managed to ingratiate himself with the King, and by making himself useful to the monarch in other ways he gained his good opinion. He thus spent six years at the Danish Court, and on the death of the King in 1670 he set off to travel again. He first went to Saxony, but, fearing the emissaries of the Inquisition, he decided to proceed to Constantinople, where he thought he would be out of reach of the Papal authorities. Just at this time Leopold I, Emperor of Austria, was suffering from a mysterious illness which greatly puzzled his physicians. According to a story related by Wraxall, the historian, one day, while the monarch was in consultation with the Papal Nuncio concerning an insurrection which had broken out in Hungary, a despatch arrived containing a list of the persons implicated, and among them appeared the name of Francesco Borri. As the name was read out by the secretary the Nuncio started and exclaimed, “Borri! Have him arrested at once, your Majesty. He is a most dangerous man and has contrived to escape from the avenging arm of the Holy Office.” Within a few hours a Captain Scotti was despatched on a special mission to Goldingen to arrest him.
As it happened, Borri had arrived at Goldingen on the Sile¬ sian frontier on April 10 and was compelled to reveal his real name when, being suspected of being connected with the con¬ spiracy, he was arrested. Thus his name was included in the list of suspects sent to Vienna. On Captain Scotti’s arrival Borri was handed over to him as a prisoner and, travelling in a carriage with an escort of cavalry, the party at once set out for Vienna. Scotti, being an Italian, treated his captive with every consideration, and on the journey told Borri that he was sus¬ pected of being concerned in the conspiracy and that he had the Papal Nuncio among his opponents. “Then I realize the real cause of my arrest,” said Borri.
Scotti also told him of the Emperor’s mysterious illness and remarked it was now supposed to be due to secret poisoning. 182
BORRI
Borri declared that if this was the case he could readily discover the presence of a poison, should one exist, and implored Scotti to inform the Emperor that if he really suspected poisoning he could find the cause. Scotti promised to comply with his request.
On their arrival in Vienna on April 28, Borri was taken to the Swan Inn and lodged in a room which was guarded by soldiers. Tired and wearied by the journey, he at once threw himself on the bed and fell asleep, but he was aroused during the night by the door being opened. A man wrapped in a cloak and carry¬ ing a lantern entered, and this midnight visitor Borri recog¬ nized as Captain Scotti.
‘‘Make haste and get ready,” said the Captain in a low voice. “The Emperor wishes to see you, for your reputation as a physician is known to him. His Majesty trusts you, but I was compelled to wait till night as he does not wish this visit to be known.”
In a few minutes the two men were walking through the dark and silent streets toward the palace. When they arrived Scotti handed his prisoner over to a chamberlain, who conducted him to the Imperial antechamber and bade him be seated. In a few minutes a gentleman of the bedchamber entered and made a sign to Borri to follow him. They passed through several apart¬ ments until they came to a velvet-covered door, which the gentleman opened, and, drawing back a heavy portiere , he beckoned Borri to enter.
The Emperor’s cabinet was a gloomy room lighted by a few candles, which shed but a dim glow on the pictures which covered the walls. Seated in an armchair near the table, a little man was discernible wrapped in a dressing-gown of green silk and wearing a cap with a shade for his eyes. His feet, with which he was making impatient movements, rested on a stool; his face was livid and his cheeks shrunken.
Borri took a step forward and bowed, and the little man looked up.
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LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY
“Are you Francesco Borri? ” he asked, in a trembling voice.
“At your Majesty’s service,” replied Borri.
“ I am sorry to see you here as a prisoner, but you are not one at present,” said the Emperor.
“ Had I not been arrested I should not have had the happiness of seeing your Majesty,” rejoined Borri.
“ I hear much that is satisfactory about your learning, although in another respect you are said to be a dangerous man. Why do you trouble yourself with religious affairs ? Leave them to the clergy. I hear that you now devote yourself to medicine. What have you heard about my condition ? ”
“Nothing beyond the supposition that your Majesty is being poisoned,” replied Borri. “But, that I may be able to express my views on the subject, your Majesty’s physician must tell me of your symptoms, and then I shall be able to speak with certainty.”
A messenger was at once sent for the physician. Borri mean¬ while was struck with the Emperor’s grey and wasted appear¬ ance, and, rising from his chair, he took a survey of the room, examining every ornament and object and smelling them with suspicion.
The Emperor followed his movements with inquiring eyes.
“Well, Borri,” he sighed at length, “what do you think?”
“ I think that almost certainly your Majesty is being poisoned,” said Borri decisively.
“Holy Mother, have mercy on me!” cried the Emperor.
“I must first speak with your physician, but I think I can promise your Majesty’s recovery with equal certainty, for there is still time.”
“How do you come to this conclusion of poison? My friends dine with me and eat the same food. Do you notice anything on my body?”
“ It is not so much your Majesty’s body as the atmosphere of your room that is poisoned,” observed Borri.
“How can you tell, when I feel nothing of it?”
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“Your Majesty is too accustomed to the poisonous exhalation to notice it.”
“And whence comes the exhalation?” asked the Emperor.
Borri rose and, taking the candelabra that lighted the room, placed them all on the table.
“See the exhalation that rises from the candles!” he ex¬ claimed. ‘ ‘ Do you not notice the peculiar colour of the flame ? ”
At this moment the chamberlain entered the room, and the Emperor asked him if he noticed the smoke arising from the candles, and he replied that he did.
The physician then arrived. “You have come at the right moment,” said the Emperor. “ It is asserted that the air of my room is poisoned. Give me the report of my illness.”
The Emperor passed the document to Borri, who glanced quickly at it and nodded his head.
“Do you not perceive the curious smell in the room, and the fine, quickly ascending vapour from the burning candles ? ” Borri asked the doctor. “ It would be interesting to know if the same candles are used in the Empress’s apartments.”
The chamberlain at once brought two lighted candles from the Empress’s chamber and placed them on the table beside the suspected ones. The former burned clear and quietly, while the latter had a ruddy flame and emitted a thin vapour, and occasionally sparks flashed from the wicks.
“ There is the cause of your sickness ! ” exclaimed Borri, as he laid his hand on a candelabrum. “And I will prove to your Majesty that these are impregnated with a subtle poison.”
Extinguishing the suspected candles, Borri removed all the wax from the wicks and, shredding the wick of one, asked that it should be mixed with some meat and given to a dog. The turnspit dog was brought and shut up in a cupboard with the dish of meat. Meanwhile the Emperor was removed to another apartment, and Borri and the physician proceeded to the palace pharmacy to prepare an antidote for him. Here also Borri tested the suspected candle-wick and found, as he had
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LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY
thought, that it was impregnated with arsenic. He had left in¬ structions that he was to be called as soon as the dog got rest¬ less, but the animal was found to be dead by the time he returned to the Emperor’s cabinet.
The antidote prepared by Borri soon produced a beneficial effect on the Emperor, and his health improved so rapidly that within three weeks he was able to go out again.
The record of Borri’s examination of the candles is interest¬ ing and shows that he was a sound chemist. He examined the whole of the suspected materials and weighed them. The weight of the candles was twenty-four pounds, and of the wicks three and a half pounds, from which, by comparison with uncontaminated candles, he estimated that nearly two and three-quarter pounds of arsenic had been employed to impregnate them.
For a short time the Emperor appears to have treated Borri well, and he dined at the Imperial table; but the hatred of the clerical party toward him was increased when they saw him thus favoured. On June 14, 1670, the Emperor, now quite restored to health, summoned Borri to his cabinet and thanked him fervently for his services, but added he was sorry that in the matter of religion he had gone astray. “ The Pope will appoint a commission,” he continued, “and I have obtained a guarantee from the Papal Nuncio that in no case shall anything be done against your body or your life.” Further he promised Borri a pension of two hundred ducats a year as an award for his services. He was then handed over to the clerical authorities, and on the following day was sent under an escort to Rome.
He was lodged in the prison of the Inquisition until he consented to make a public recantation of his heresies, which he did before great crowds of people on October 27, 1672. This act saved his life, but he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment.
It is stated that, through the intervention of the Due d’Estrees, whom he had cured of a disease which baffled all his 186
BORRI
physicians, he was transferred to the Castle of St Angelo, where he was allowed more freedom and also permitted to pursue his studies in alchemy. Here he remained in a cell for twenty- three years, carrying on his work, and writing a book dealing with the Rosicrucian philosophy which was printed in Cologne. Through the influence of Queen Christina, who was allowed to visit him, he received considerable indulgence and was per¬ mitted to have apparatus in his cell so that he could carry on his experiments. She also provided him with money and en¬ couraged him to continue his researches in the hope that he would at last find the “Great Secret.”
Borri lived to the age of eighty and died in the Castle of St Angelo, where the cell in which he lived and carried on his work is still shown.
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