• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Comte De Saint Germain

In Robert Rankin's 'Brentford trilogy' Professor Slocombe is said to be 'The Compte St. Germain', who is also reputed to be 'The Wandering Jew'.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandering_Jew

"Compte de St Germain" is a fun rendition of the character's nickname, as in French, "compte" means "account" (and certainly not count).

French / English
Comte = Count
Compte = Account
Conte = Tale.

There are many puns & jokes about this homophony. One of the most famous was a satirical pamphlet published in the 19th century by the French politician Jules Ferry : "Les Comptes Fantastiques d'Haussmann", mocking "Les Contes Fantastiques d'Hoffmann" (The Tales of Hoffmann).

Whatever ... Returning to the topic, Giovanni Casanova met both Cagliostro and the Count de Saint Germain, and tells about them in his memoirs ("The Story of my Life"), which by the way are rather well written and entertaining, although sometimes unnerving, as Casanova does spend a lot of time telling of his love affairs, some of which clearly border on pedophily ... But here is what he has to say of Saint Germain :

"Cet homme, au lieu de manger, parla du commencement à la fin du dîner ; je l'ai écouté avec la plus grande attention, car personne ne parlait mieux que lui. Il se donnait pour prodigieux en tout, il voulait étonner, et positivement il étonnait. Il avait un ton décisif, qui cependant ne déplaisait pas, car il était savant, parlant bien toutes les langues, grand musicien, grand chimiste, d'une figure agréable, et maître de se rendre ami toutes les femmes, car en même temps qu'il leur donnait des fards qui leur embellissaient la peau, il les flattait non pas de les faire devenir plus jeunes, car cela, disait-il, était impossible, mais de les garder et conserver dans l'état où il les trouvait moyennant une eau, qui lui coûtait beaucoup, mais dont il leur faisait présent. Cet homme très singulier, et né pour être le plus singulier de tous les imposteurs, impunément disait, comme par manière d'acquit, qu'il avait trois cents ans, qu'il possédait la médecine universelle, qu'il faisait tout ce qu'il voulait de la nature, qu'il fondait les diamants, et qu'il en faisait un grand de dix à douze petits sans que le poids diminuât, et avec la plus belle eau. C'étaient pour lui bagatelles. Malgré ses rodomontades, ses disparates et ses mensonges évidents, je n'ai pas eu la force de le trouver insolent, mais je ne l'ai pas non plus trouvé respectable ; je l'ai trouvé étonnant malgré moi, car il m'a étonné."

There is an English translation of this excerpt on Count of Saint Germain" wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_of_St._Germain ), although there are some notable differences with the French text (in blue below) that I find hard to explain unless my French version was abridged. Here is the English version :

"The most enjoyable dinner I had was with Madame de Robert Gergi, who came with the famous adventurer, known by the name of the Count de St. Germain. This individual, instead of eating, talked from the beginning of the meal to the end, and I followed his example in one respect as I did not eat, but listened to him with the greatest attention. It may safely be said that as a conversationalist he was unequalled.

St. Germain gave himself out for a marvel and always aimed at exciting amazement, which he often succeeded in doing. He was scholar, linguist, musician, and chemist, good-looking, and a perfect ladies' man. For a while he gave them paints and cosmetics; he flattered them, not that he would make them young again (which he modestly confessed was beyond him) but that their beauty would be preserved by means of a wash which, he said, cost him a lot of money, but which he gave away freely. He had contrived to gain the favour of Madame de Pompadour, who had spoken about him to the king, for whom he had made a laboratory, in which the monarch – a martyr to boredom – tried to find a little pleasure or distraction, at all events, by making dyes. The king had given him a suite of rooms at Chambord, and a hundred thousand francs for the construction of a laboratory, and according to St. Germain the dyes discovered by the king would have a materially beneficial influence on the quality of French fabrics.

This extraordinary man, intended by nature to be the king of impostors and quacks, would say in an easy, assured manner that he was three hundred years old, that he knew the secret of the Universal Medicine, that he possessed a mastery over nature, that he could melt diamonds, professing himself capable of forming, out of ten or twelve small diamonds, one large one of the finest water without any loss of weight. All this, he said, was a mere trifle to him. Notwithstanding his boastings, his bare-faced lies, and his manifold eccentricities, I cannot say I thought him offensive. In spite of my knowledge of what he was and in spite of my own feelings, I thought him an astonishing man as he was always astonishing me.
"

In any case, he presents Saint Germain has a brilliant imposter, doing what we would today call "mentalist tricks" in order to manipulate people. Casanova being himself quite an adventurer, he was certainly well armed to detect fellow quacks. So I would rather trust him on this (rather than an anonymous paranormal-themed website owner of nowadays selecting whatever quotes fit his theories and dismissing contemporary witnesses when they do not support his thesis, for the sake of "click-bait").

The "Memoirs of Madame de Crequi" support Casanova's conclusions, telling of how his lies were once exposed (source : https://penelope.uchicago.edu/crequy/chap304.html )

"Le Baron de Breteuil avait trouvé dans les archives de son ministère de la maison du Roi que ce prétendu Comte de Saint-Germain était le fils d'un médecin juif de Strasbourg, et que son nom véritable était Daniel Wolf ; il était né en 1704, de sorte qu'il avait 68 ans lorsqu'il se donnait pour être âgé de 1814 ans, grâce à la vertu d'un élixir de longévité dont il avait dû la recette à sa haute faveur auprès de je ne sais quelle Reine de Judée. A 68 ans, il avait l'apparence d'un homme de son âge qui jouirait d'une santé robuste. Il était droit et marchait vite, parlant ferme et d'assez bon air, avec un peu d'accent alsacien, pourtant. Il avait le regard assuré, arrogant même. Il avait la peau fraîche et brillante, avec un forêt de cheveux blancs, la plus belle barbe et des sourcils de même, ce qui avait fait dire à Mme d'Urfé qu'il ressemblait au Père éternel. (...)

Une autre bonne exécution pour dévoiler le charlatanisme et la fourberie du Saint-Germain fut celle de M. de Chastellux, qui fit grand bruit (leur dispute) et qui fut assez divertissante. C'était chez M. Le Normand d'Etioles où se trouvait nombreuse compagnie. Saint-Germain s'était informé des personnages qui devaient y souper ; il s'arrête au nom de Chastellux de préférence ; il s'informe, il recherche, il feuillette, il eut bientôt fait son thème, et dès qu'il entendit annoncer le Comte de Chastellux, il se précipita pour lui demander s'il n'était pas le petit-fils du Maréchal de Chastellux, qui était Gouverneur-Général de la Normandie au quatorzième siècle. (...)

— Permettez-moi, Monsieur, de vous faire observer que vous confondez le grand-père avec le petit-fils, lui répondit M. de Chastellux d'un air de politesse noble et du plus beau sang-froid possible. Le Maréchal était magnifiquement généreux, et c'était Philippe II de Chastellux, son petit-fils, qui passait pour être . . . économe. Là-dessus, dissertation chronologique, citations réciproques, emportement de la part de l'aventurier et discussion toute à l'avantage du Comte de Chastellux et de la libéralité du Maréchal, son grand-père.
".

In English (my attempted translation) :

"The Baron de Breteuil had found in the archives of his administration that the so-called Comte de Saint Germain was in fact the son of a jewish merchant of Strasbourg [in Alsace] and that his real name was Daniel Wolf. He was born on 1704 and was thus 68 years old while he pretended to be be 1814 years of age thanks to the elixir of long life an unspecified queen of Judea had given him the recipe. At 68 he had the appearance of an healthy man of his age.He walked straight and fast, spoke firmly with an hint of Alsacian accent. He had an assertive way to look at people, with an hint of arrogance. His skin was fresh and shining, with a forest of white hair, the most beautiful beard and eyebrows fitting the rest of his composure (...)

Another famous and entertaining action unveilling Saint Germain's imposture and deceit was that of M. de Chastellux. It happened at M. Le Normand d'Etioles', where a large company had gathered for dinner. M. de Saint Germain had enquired about who were to be the guests and stopped at the name of de Chastellux. He then researched as much data as he could about the de Chastellux in books, and when the man was announced, he ran towards him, asking him if he was not the grandson of the Marshall de Chastellux, who once was governor general for Normandy in the 14th." (...)


(Saint Germain then goes on telling how well he knew the Marshall, but mixes up facts attributed to the Marshall and his other descendants)

" - Allow me, sir, to correct you. You confuse the grandfather with his grandson - told de Chastellux with noble tactfulness. The Marshall was generous and it was his offspring Phillipe 2nd who had the reputation of being ... stingy. At that the adventurer (Saint Germain) refused to admit his fault and the two men entered a lively quarrel on the topic, sending quotes at each other. But on this, de Chastellux had the advantage".

Here we recognize a usual trick : getting information about someone beforehand, so has to impress him and other witnesses by one's incredibly accurate claims. In that case, the plan backfired but it is nonetheless interesting to see that Saint Germain's did not acknowledge his failure, arguing with de Chastellux in order to prove that it was his contradictor who was wrong. A sensible defense, if he was to save his reputation as an immortal.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top