CONFESSIONS

MEMOIRS
.OF A MODERN SEER.

BOOKS
CHSIRQI'S CHEIRUS CRF-TROt5 CHEIRO"S CHEIRO·S CHEIRO"~~ GUIDE

BY

THE

SA.M.E

A UrBOs.

HAND LANGUAGK O:ir""' TH.Ii: HA.ND ~OOK OF NlnmER.S (FADJO SYSTEM) WHEN WERE YOU DORN" l LIFE .. LOVE,. AND MARRIAGE

TO THE

""ollLn

PREDICTlONS

STORLItS DY CIIEIRO YOU AND YOUR H.A.ND HY CHE1RO PALMtSTRY FOR aLL BY CREIRO
TRUE G::IIOST

t.:H HI RU "
R i.no)

~ ;t."'4mI!lll",,~· .... d

...

CONFESSIONS: MEMOIRS 01
A MODERN SEER
INOLUDING
J[J3G EDW..iBD

REMDIl~

OF

.ow

nrrEltVlEW8
][IN(]

wna:

VIr; Q~ .A.LE....~A N\fj~.A ~ n ll!II unI.il~ CZA1t rg m:rssu... ~ lUNG LEUPOLD 0:8' BELQW)I: l'l.aL~: :me. BBlIlfBNCI: CJ.]lDm'.A.L UJlTO i. '!D 8lI."JJ
'!1t:1!;

PC1PIl LIm XII1: H1lIIBB£'I' OJr FI"U'l: LOllIB F11.lL~ DI::l'I;:ll OP OJI.I.E.l...,s ii 'rBB 13B'~ :BUI...ll..D 01' BP~ ii ~ DlIl 1ICJliITGl... IIl'!'!l; Y PB.INIIII. .AJ.EXIS XAR ,r.;. hOltGltVJ1ll'(JB OP BIRVl&.: !I':1t1: l'F,EaIDEYl' JkllI) M:K8. &ROVER CLlI'V1lL&ND; ~ It.ITIB''l'' Hmnn.:a. ""'.... 111. CLADIS'J:IONJi -: LOltD ET.OOlIEIifEE. Q:J 'EJI""01lll: TID P.IaBT BORJII,&. Jl1!lKPB BR'BJ""'IJf: m::a AUIttJdli QIU.If'BEltI.t\Di ~ LOltD BALII"C"C1t ~ LOEJ) BA.!I'DOLPD UftUBOHILL : SIR H. 11. BI'.AKLRY ~ ~P't:f:;. t (1D:".IL RHODD.: Bl:8. LIOl!lltt. PHIl LIPS i TIIB DUKjJ o.r :NE'WC.UJI'LI.. LCBD PlJIIE;. rHE BISnUP O. BDrvfm;m.ll£ ~ t'BB E.EV. i'A.:I'BEIt V J.'DGEiI3'I S.J.;, J. BOii II aR.OXEIt of ~ Bail :; ll.&lr.00i VOl( BWlZ<'G ~ :5IR EB":'[RST SIrAC'KLE'I"OOI rllI ~; J'LAMMABION IUIit .:fdMnota.tr: LfffiD BUME r.I. OJ' KTLLrtWKN~ LIniI GiH4 ~ ~ ~,f ~ IllB Ja)W...urn M.j_IlSIIA.LIroH&IjJ.. ][ .C.;. FUEA H BERNlI..!.B.DT i DUg ~ OSCAR WILDE; W. T. BTEAD; CEI..l.JU.E8 STEWART ~ ~; lIARX TW A.DI ~ BLABOHE lI.D08EV':ILT; ELLA. W'BJIIELm wn.oox: JUI.IA W.um HOWE: 1,JUJ'l!: LA..NGTBT ; MRJ..B" :: NORDK1~ ~ (1JI LVll:; LU .. lAN I!.l11tiIr.LT...WHlTTAIr!I..R WBIG-H'P ~ PHfLlp L A.BlfOUR OJ' CIIKt!.GO;. .roE LElTE&: D. GORDON SBLJ!'BIDI3-E; QA.DY SDl!BL YS ~ lfAl"A DARI;, :B.J..SPn lIN i BTC •

o:r

ffH'"

me.

•1

CHE[RO"~

(Count Loui. H ...-rtnn.

JARROLDS Publishen LONDON Limited, 34 Pat.mJi,ster Row, B.C4

MCMXXXlI

r.... _M~

Pria.~ p~...

Ck .. i Bdt WU

at
Bn!!IQdo.D

SoD. Ltd._

i ".

I
FOREWORD

CONTBNTS
lMRCDUC1IOI{ .

..
CH.A.PTER I

THE ~~MAKIJr(G
Ruscurt

ABOUT llY EARLy FOB ADOPrING SVe:H AN "UNUs'PAt.. CAREl!R

OF' A S.EJ3:R.·' SoME'lRI~G

UFH .. ltD
...

IIY

CHAPTER II
CuRIO us FActs ..\BOllI THE Hb.ND NOT GBN:tRALLy KliOWN. BOARD A TltAJIIP STEAlrlZl. OlWn TO Sm THE ORI.D

v.r

GET

ON"

CHAPTER III I WA'ICEC ¥YSELF

FRill~ ~ ns. HEARTS..

My

USRfI1JL ON BoARD SHIP. THE R01}GB SAD..QRIJ BlICOIIE JIV STUDY OF HAJ'C"DS I S Til It KIeV Tn AT U~LU CXS r1JKlk ..

CHAYj~ER

JV
RJU:-.I(".S ME

·faJl!

MAGlC

OF IND1A.

~"-CAIN MY STuDY

OF HANDS

Famwos

CHAPl~R
I~TlClirYIlj:.W~ WITH KI~G EDWARD

V I
R~.A.D

VIT+
~J

CURTAJNS.. HIS"IIr FllDIC NtlMJ~.E1t.S

G!VE DArn

H1S HA.NDS BKlUND OF' nrs DEATH

CHAPTER
KlNG Enw
J.. r~ o's
I ..

CoEUlIAl..E.

V IS IT ':0 P""R~ti.

'TO'W.A R us "tHI!: ~~ :E.NT.En~ LAt:t..-1.dI A N E\VSPA.PRk IN T1U!, INTERESTS OP P~CH: ~

"If

VI

Su flVl c~

CHAPTRR V11

Tu

R..&.A..."VON

THE LAW

~I

DID

t-;Q"I'

INTERFERE

"\l"ITH

~I!:.+

VERIED

SIR GEORGE LEWlS..

..

How I CoN~ ..

CHAPl"ER VIII
Kur;; Go LKOP()J..J)
BH l.PS hJli: Wl.'!'lI AN I' IRI9lI JEFL"tI E:NCH- OF G_O\BY DEs.L YS OVER Two KINGS
OJ"

BELClllJ)l

SrEw

l~

"IHE

CHAPTER IX
I~IEWS I KEEl
WI m I'HE
RA&PUTlN ~ K u PL:}~lllC(" H (S

CZAR OF RUSSIIi..

How" I
DI!ATIl

FORE TOLD

DIS

FA1&.

CHAPTER X
THE RzA.L SIOR
TilE T'RL'-':

C&us:m

Y 0 l;- RAsFUTIN ~
OF

RIJSS TA·S

Dos.."'-FALL r

HIS

]NPLU1E~CE

aVER

T1[Eo CzAilUN A..

..

CHAPTER Xl
SrltAJllGK

'fmc

£x.I,BlU:B.:Nt.1r:S IN Rtrssu... TuE U ANGIlI.. 011' 'l'.H.B Rl!:VOLUTlOIi. r CzAleS RP!'bRTS 11"0'" .. WOltLD -Wlnv. P:ltA,CE. I AMi mmc.JI:ll 'to
J

lTQSS

Al'f ExEeunoN

IN

:un Foli.TlUtSSi

O:V91'". Ps'rER: AND

S'r. p.AU[.

CONTENtS
CHAPTER XII

TIm

GOA,..

CA Tll1tDRAL OP" KiU!'.

.oR ME

IS LOWDm

ro KIss

Tttlt 11.QLY

PtCZt1:RB ON RU1.IAlIf Si:1lI

L

89

CHAPTER XlI!
TJPUSI .AND nm WOND.DOL CBSSlON y., 0:t1"E A FOB.~E~
4

K...\DJ:CK

Y~.IlI1Jf. ] A.N. GWEN A CON· BUT _Uf MAD]~ Pm.'=.:ON"JIR BY BAl'fDI'tS ON

1"RlI:

RmrTE

OF GroRGIA

92.

How I

K.JTCtlJ~n.R+ WAS EVER OBTAI ~ED~ How

MET LoRD

CHAPTER XIV' lllR ONLY IMP:rmss:I:ON

t
PRED[CTED

011' Itfs HAND'!'ur HIS EXA-:t DAlE 01' DE. TIl

97

I AM

lV1J,aeJ'
PE~
~I

mDClCIVXD EY HIS

H01.~SS
lI'ATlCO to

C11A.Pl'ER XV Po}IE LEO XIII.

OF
~

_'4

F4DIC NUM811RS.III•
+

HIs

CO:m"E:RSAn03
PltEH:4U
t U

ON 'I'BlC
:WE TO
•

HOI..LNESS

Cun!NAl.

~ro,

roLLOW

HJ:M ON'

THE T}t'Pro~" os ST~

•

102

CHAPTER XVI
AN EXTRAORDINARY
OKLV QuBS.Tro~"
IN'I'ERVlEW WITH

•• WREN

SJf~LL

1 DIE ?

KING

H1J'M:on.~'t OF JT&LV
J ~.

HIS
•

108

CHAPTER XVlI
How I
"E MEl' Mtn.Afo·neR-~n.Dli"f~ t'Hlt SJ-u.}1 Oil PltRS'l A.~ .AND WHV Hlt GAVK 'l'U:lI. DEco:RA'l"ION OF H THE: LION AND t'HR :S11~ II .. 113

SIt( H,

M.. STANLEY

CHAPTER XVIJI 'l"H& f"_~" ns £xl.' r..oR.F. R. lNTROUUCF.5 o CHAPTER XIX.

N E TO

G LADS,'IONE

ll'1

I20

CHAPTER XX
Hob llfmlV!BWS
CmracRlLL.

BISHOP OJ'" HI RlI1NGhA.llr ThE REVEREND TIu: DUD OF N:a.WCAST1..E. I...oJtD PlRIF.: ",Nn TAlDI.NY H.u.t.. +. ~

True

FOR HIS

:B.Bol:ms. J ()Sli:;PBCR..lltUi.lJJ:M--IIrY PltEDtC'I1OJqS 30N ~ NOW Sm A 1J8TEN. LoRD B.lLII'otTR.. SIR L10N:aL PIiILLIPS ..
CEcIL
FAl'BEIt
41:

Wlm

FAI4Ol':'s

PERSONAI.J:nlS.

Loan

RA.NDOLPH

80~

"

VA,1;GIlAN.

CHOICER 0 ..

OL'-PTER XXI
A Dnnr;:ER WI'I'H Lo1118 Pti!1JPPIl: Dux:K. OF Olu.u ~s A!'tlJ PimT:Blt;lD. 1'0 TD TDon o. F1UfCz.. I MEET B.a.ROl4' VClN BtSSlNG, TIm WAHT .. E1JLU1B or SPADI AIiD Pa.nfc:Jr; ALa:a.8 KaBA..G&01t.Gll\'l'l'CH OJ' SB:a.V..
j

129

CONTENTS

1
SBAckUimlf ~ nm

CRAFTER
AN
AlIUSl~G Ex.PB1lIBJ'iiICB WftlI

x.xn
AITa.aJIoIaIt.
• •

A NJGH'l'

Sm. HRlitIIsr

~~
EN
+

Wf'J"B Fl;..&IoiAJU03, 0B:sERv A TOnY AT J'LTVlSY

l1IE ClI:I.EBR.lTED

nm
133

How I

KIT tHE LAm :MAIlE A Co·~[)BJrtr eJI" CL4~ RVOY,AlfClI:

SIR EDw AKI>

..

:MABSlLUoL

HALL,

J:N THE DlVOt;:(:E CouRT..

A en JQOU-S E1&laLE
...

Q.e..

All 1liBAJU.¥

r 3.5

CHAPtER
'Y-T l'lY
'l'u:t LoRD CHlBF JU8'l'IGE

XXIV ..

G.a.\".E Ja. SIGNED

OP ENGLA ~ p J- Lo~ D R V$..."nIiLL O. KIL1..OW.N IMPRESSION&. OF' 1II~ HAlmS • ~

Lf.5

CHAPTER XXV
SAUK ~~

lm1mvtEW

trlfDBk Sl1LI.Nc;lt

CO:~mrno".
A

..

l.f-7

CHAPTER XXVI
BuNCH. ROO:SIE~'E 's ~UtTY Atro O!iCAlt WILDE. D~CTl DJq AND ITS F\1LPlLMENT.

S!_~X'IT..lN(; PRE-

151

CHAPTER XXVII
A CURIOUS IN'n'AN1:8
OJ' PREVISION •

I5S

CHAPTER XXVIll
Lll.l.lE ~G Lll.U.l!l
PIUlST
TRY IS AcxNOWI..l!.DGlIIIEa.n..
J

RusSlt1l.
TO TllJi

Ex PUo"

CA.LW~ lim G:RJ!.A'" DtlSB 1 OJ' GlJtJl4!IY

MET BA.

NoaDICAt
,a,N1)

J 4l10TH.l.
..

h,=-UGiNl,
CoURT
158

IJrilr.EllvlltwS wlm

IIfTlrANIC'" 70~ F Allons .A.NE:RlC ..."

Oil I;ND1A

'v.

CHAPTER XXIX T.
S'I.":&AD-BIS

Po.nH,

MAn

WARYLEI'ID.

TwAlN~ E.LU "'-DV."

TRAGIC BND

05

THE ll.L-FA'tBD

WII..CO:L~ nm

'W1!ro BJ:CAJ(B VICElt.1NE

l66

CHAPTER XXX
Solo::
NOTABl..3

Ex PI:1tIENC:as

JIo1 BostON.

•• BA.TTI.I:

Hvwlt~II"

I MIUIT

J uu_,

IN 'l'H~

t:- I'll TRD

\VABD

HOWE, ras AU"l1lons.ss

~ATMS,

My

l'J1IS'l' l.acTUHE
0)1' l1IE

AND Ot'HER INTERESTmG PaOPU.

112

CH..'t.PTER XXXI

A l.B.cltlu

AT

SYR4CTJ'IB

'BAT NE.A Rl..Y 5!iPBU-.F.6lLVU

..

111

CHAPTER XXXll

How

ll:tl: VANITY OF mm!LAN

.NZ4RLY HOKE In" C4u:ER

..

79

8
A V!6II'

CONTENTS

H. G.

1'0 DETROIT

CHAPtElt XXXIll AND CatcAGOr IPET MP.. MMOUR

IrUl.PJLL.B.J)

Sst.F.I:J:DGEI LElt:ER.. MAJOR TO ntB ltXA(:r DATJ-C:

JOB.

Jo

LoG~~t

Fl~LDj ~14D A. PRtDtc:T10 ~

~

IS"

CHA.PTttR XXXIV
VtslT TO 'S.AI.EII WIIICR.Bi THE l.t..S"l' W 1TOH 1N THE U NIT1ED StAtES; BIJlUfED AT .... SrAXEL A BE.6.UTDUL WOMAlf SENr %0 t'lt..lP Ml!KE
WAS
191

CHAPTER XXX\t
Ax
EXTRAOlmIN'"Aav

COIlPANY

THE SH.uu:s THA."T AC-Tt'ALL Y WADli Gom

r

G.A.MB..LE..

01"'

A.

MEI.Al.w ..alCAL
19 j

CHAPTER XXXVI
AN Izr...-9lTATION' TO & CltA.rAUQuA. A MrrRCD1n 4ND 10MB ctJltIO D'S ExPERIENCES .

ASS:iMIlL Y t~ FLO:ttD'"
•
"ltl j

CHAFfER

XXXVll
'l It)

VI!lIt

W "SE1YOTON~

CLEVELA,..."'qD J ADMIRAL

IWrER.VIEWS W1TH ~R&SI D:EN"f AND MRS. DEW"EY A~D MEM DERS OF THE GOVERNMENT,

CHAPTER XXXVIII TID 'MAN

'Wl'I'::EI rDB
Ir

DoUBLE LINE 01'

Huo

I·

..

213-

CHAPTER XXXIX
SolIn
GAlIBIJraS lVlro ... S8J:Ll.lN~ BETs!'~ , ..:r BUA.K TD BANK

JI

coxsrrrzrsn ~M. LoIUJ CLAn [CARnE AND H£S. How I ~LnD AnmHt. os Covae y Bow:s;a ro AT MoNIE CAuo .

-:Z3S

CIlAPYER XL

era ME

H.LlAi

l"ECUI,..lA.R

...... A'SCI K ATION

OF

nS

OW:N"_

How 'Vi UIIT

AIKK.

WRlGD'l'

)l£'T

HtS WATERLOO..

::z.,-4

CHAPTER XL[

MA.u

UiLR.I. 'fEB F.,uIotIS

\VOK.lN

HXlt

LIFE..

Spy ~

SHE I'ELJ.,!I kit: tHl!

Sro ElY

OF
+

'l4S

CHAPTER XLlt
I
'IlSlT HoKIE

LOGEc.u.

TO JllWVE II \( SYS'I1!:M O:J' NU'UUtRS. P'Otrlm.A.nON . •

C&R1o

ITS

M!ao. ..

CHAPTER XLII!
TIm
LBGZMD 08' MoorrlE

CAJU.O.

T8::g SIi:CRET '!'BAT

neJ.II]!;

L061' •

CONTENTS CHAPTER XLIV A

DEAL :Ui A Somll MBlCAN MINB. PoI,;!'O BET. I All ot1t'W11"lZD BY A

A l.....\.ny Fut:CI

P'.a YS REa HUNDRED ADvsl'rmtSU

272

CH.APT1:!:R. XL V
STIUlfGE
H

FAT,ill'XIE9

O.ATE FOR LftNA, GuILBKRT

K:ttItP ~ HOME

OF THE GREAT WAR. P.RBnlCTlID ... VIOLENT .FORD ~ AU"l'HORJi.::S~0., l'Hl! l'AMQUS. ao.llG~

How I

rums

B'O~G:"

70

CHAPTER

XLVI

How

C..\i'TAm

LIONEL

BoWLES. WON Tim VI

eTOEtA CRon.

TO

'B ILlJ!.D

E:Y .A BOMIl ] N A LoN nON STREET

~II~

CHA.PTER xtvir
TlJ£i STRANGE GLYON

Sroav

OF rIlE

DucHJ!.SS

D1Av.AR&Y1- PaItiCEfiS

DII;

MO:NT~
28~

CHAYrER How 1 M.IlR.RIED-A~ll

CoNCL lJ'SID:N
\VHY

XLVIII

..

I~DEX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
.~ C-XXRO
111

X-RA.y

P.MO'l'OCR.4PH

01'" 'Z2lE

IIA1m
'l'HlI:

clVEN

YO ..... lmrao C

] ~ A"l'

H.R.H. 1"P PRoIa op W &US I!roo~vncw l1i ~RT BOaQOOK Hol'J'Slt

0.,.

-40

..
I[

•
•
•

..
..
..

..
•
•
OJ'

Taa

tATE KmG

I..-O:POW:

ott

Bm.(iaUW AT WIBSUDElrl AS Cl4l1

gp

TBK

US'l' PaOTOGUPH Olr NI~S.

IMP1Ui8iSION OF ~

A UTUG R,Af'~D Ka \lU"ottM

LoRD

1f.&m)

Lo.ut
~

KnCH:B;N.BR

•
OP KBARtotJll OJ' I'LU,.Y •

g$
100
1l.0

Kt1'C.Hrim...

Td tAU

RIIlG HllllmBn
THE

MUZAJTJER-IID-Dm. SIR.
+

SHAH Oll"

PEuu
ExI'LORltR
+

11:4
lI6

H M. St.ANI..EY,

7BE MRICAlf
+

GLADSTONE
i"

r lSi
MAC1IJNE' • 'WH!Cll UQ.
• 120

CU.IlIRO

I•

IN

1:89'...

BEFORE

Tl::IE

~'THOUGHT

DHM.QNSTRA THD

'l.'O GLAll!:il'O~,i!:

c..'\lCDID E.x.rRHSSloN

II'Rnll SIR LIONEL

PBn. Llll5~

'l'tiS. SotrIB

~.!Jii

MlI.UONAru
.A. PA.G-It
nOM
f.I

I:6
~~ Vmro:RS' .BooK ~
III"

CBElRO'S

ldA.R.E

TwAIN

"'ND THE 1-;;:8

Riv. H..

RU9SEl.l.

V .... AXl!FIELD

Ml!:LTON PRIOR

..

..
..
•

..
• LtLl.1lC LAlt"G7"RY {L-UlY
UR BA..:r1JE) ~
+ +

..
•

MAn AJIR

M.1tLBA II

..

LIST
.uLLl&N

OF

ILLUSTRATIONS
I'

RUS8ltLlr

.lcnm

pJ.CM:

Al'IlD Slf;NOR.
U

P1ca.f.rtHNI
Tw.AIR
II JJ

164166
168

To
1(1 t

BIGHT H.l.ND 01' TwAIN

~I

M.t..a:&:

Il.u:It

..
1'Es':rnIONV PaoLI

'II

•
• •

•
•

..

III

..
...

110
114
19:3:

LADY ARtHUR PAGarjS OPIiIlOH

A
~
SIlllJrntG

.. • ULl..l1f I...t N"CTRV ~.(..A.uv n:a. &Tim} ..

..

MlI.BA"5 WOllDI

m ., CD.nt.ots "t

VISITORS"

BooK.

21~

..
Lucu..E (LAllY Dwr¥..(;ollDO:m)
j

J.

ras

l'~OUS

CosTUMlt

R.E..

A.~

'f'1I1£ RH,v.
oj ~

PA.GK

HOp,?,5 ~
+

Z j6

FOREWORD
N comse oI my IODg professional career as Cheiro the I have received innumerable letters from persons in all classes and conditions of Iiie. requfStiDg me to pubH!b. my reminisctmces and exJWiences. In looking over these letters J have been much struck by tbe fact that it hi what ] myself call t~ the human or more pure1y personal side of interviews with my various clients that appealed to my OOITC5pOndents the most~ I t is for this reason. in offering this volume of remin:iscences to the publie, that ] determined they 9hou1d take more the form of informal talks) or I might call them ccnfessioas, both m.y own and those o£ my coosultBJlts~than the usual lines that Memoirs as a rule follow" No statell"JiJnt is made in the Wllowing pages 1hat 1am not prepared to 5U bstantiate, the only reserve being that in the case of some of the ~,confessions from my clients I am entitled to \oVithhoL:lheir names t or cover their identitYt except in oases where I have permission to make them public. My rOle in writing these confessions I' is simply th,a.t of a chronicler -to relate in simple language what happened~ to record what I was told. If at times my OVII'D thoughts should be heard through my story, it is because a tt confession " of any kind must be more or less a personal matter-s-whether one tcm:fes!es to a priest, a God, or to the ever 5YDlpathetic ear of one's own feJIow--milD.
~I:

1l 1,

It

f~

JJ

III

":4

ClIRlRO

II

I}

.~
.... '. ......

.,.. ..v

"

INTRODUCTION
ENGlNE1I:B.

By M"J~I.

W.. H ~ CRQSSp lrtSc., A.T S. M.]

MINING 0," TIlE TSOHG MINES OF MOWCOL1A

HE publi5hen of this remarkable book, CI)ftjessW1w.~ M"""ws of a 1JfatlsrH Sur, have asked me to write a few words as a general introduction. My only q_uaJifi cation to be entitled to do so is based on the fact that, although 1 am purely and simply a business man, I have all my life taken a deep interest..iu Occl1ltism and the study of persons gifted with occult powers. Living for the past fifteen years in Mongolia on. ~ 00rders of 1l1at mysterious. J3Jld known as Tibet. ] have came into close contact ... th i many or ~ Ma.Me:r's who have drunk deep of the eternal springs of ()ccultism that have :fl.owed and are still -flowing since the ear 1iest dawn of civilization ~ Away back in those Tibetan monasteries on f!~the roof of tIM! World where so few stranger's are aHowed to enter, as far back as I can rem.e.mber 1 have heard. the name of -Cf Cheiro " spoken of with respect and admiration. I had never met this mysterious man who had. ehosen to eonceal his ideDtity under a _"dpn~ bat I had the pleasure of translating some 01 his books into, Chinese for the benefit oJ my friends among the Lamas and Abbots of Mongolia. They rewarded me by putting into my possession a set of the famous. Chinese tablets made by Confucius. These wonderful .~occult tablets t" based on the Law of Vibration. a study more understood and used by these deeply learned ~ than by any others, have predicted with an accuracy -that is astoun.diDg the principal events that have taken place in ihe history of the w.orld to the present day. To my amazement I found that these 'II tablets ~ ~ corroborated the statmnents made in Cheiro '3 Worl4 PtMidiOlU which he publl6hed in I~6, setting out the coming events in history fm the next hundred years. Reading this book decided me to endeavour to seek. out and make t~ acquainumce of the Seer who was gifted with such remarkable po!voy&noL;, ~pecially as xnany of the predictions in hi! book have even in the last few ~ars been fulfilled. But where was this man to be fotmd that was 1:he quntion i 'While tl1l'Ilinl this point over in my min<t ,. an incarnate Abbot J. in the Monastery of Toussonn Nor, announced to me one day, that one of their m.onla had been sent to Califomia. to lind a man whose occult vibrations. were of such a high order that perhaps be might be the
I~
t

I,

16

INTRODUCTION

Seer I snugbt and whom they also wanted to .find for a purpose of their OWD+ This Abbot told me that I would recognize the man in question, not only by his high vibration but by an extremely old carved image of a Chinese Buddha which would be foond where he lived. As I am. a.11owed a long vacation from my Company every two yfta.tS~ I determined, instead of going to Europe as is m.y usual custam~ that in 1he autumn of 1930 I would visit california. On my arrival in California" I found the name of ~ Cheiro well r known on every side, yet no one appeared to know where he lived. as the nnnoar was that he had retired from professional war k and had recently come from England for the benefit of his health. For some months I was occupied .in searching IQI Tungsten mines fOT my Co.mpIU1Y wheu one day I ran across the monk from the Monastery of Toussoun Nor, who informed me that he had discovered a man whose vibrations were so in accordance with the indications. given by the Chinese tablets, that he believed he must be the Seer that both of us sought. One day he pointed out to me where the man lived. ~ In there, ~ he Mid J "you will find the ifi C4NCJZte whmn you seek. ~ We were ~ .$t.anding before the gates nf an old.. orld-looking house snrrounded w by over t\\TJ, acres of gardens and haH concealed by palms and beautiful trees in one of the prinCipal avenues of Hollywood) California. As I knew by reports that in various parts of the \YMId many impostors have used or imitated the name of c« Cheire .. • I determined • to :make use 'Of the clue the Abbot of Toussoan Nor bad given me, namely ~ the carved image of a Chinese Buddha which 1 should find in the real man's house, Walking up the avenue of flowering trees, I entered and ~~iISreceived by a man who clasdy resembled the photographs oJ tt Cheirn " I bad seen in his books. Without any beating about the boW ~~ r a asked: "Tlave ybU a Chinese Buddha here ? " ~4 Y es, the man answered; ,~if you am interested in such thin8S1 I hope you will be able to translate the meaning of old Chinese cbaracters engraved on the back of the image. I mtered a. room which was evidently used u a. study: the carved image ~made of &<me extremely heavy stone, was standing on a shelf
I}

J~

t~

tJ

before DU: its feet surrounded by ireBb Bowers. I examined it carefully;. it was very DId~there could be no question as to jtJ pat age4 I turned it round; on the back of the image were
1

I NT ROD U c'r

ro

JI'

X1

two

of Chinese cl1aracten beIoogiD.g to a period BO far removed they Were extremely difficult to trmslate. From. '\'-bat I was able to make out the image had been made sometime about one hundred years D.C ~ The part I was able to translate ran as follows : ofr He who looks-thinb-and finds good in all men. Blessed thinking attractS success and forttme. Honour cometh eo the
fO'NS

man in w~

keeping this Buddha is fo1.11UL"

The Test being in compound ancient Chinese characters not now in use, in spite of my knowledge of the language I was not able to decipher, but at all events 1 /meur I h4d fOU1ld Ute 1ea~(' C heirtJ ~ I" Asking his date of birth I thelb tested his vibrations by the Chins.e tablets I bad with me. I found they were higher thaJJ t.bose of any man [ had ever met indicating that the man before me must be a reincarnation of some unusual personage of some 1ar-distant past" How did you get that carved Buddha into your possession ? I asked. 'f It was given to me under stran.ge circumstances shortly before I fer t London for Cali.iomia, I. the man I now knew as •t Cheiro .,
I

r~

J jP

replied. Why did you come to Cillifontia. ~ I blurted out+ Why? Because I knew it was the one place in the world where the vibrations and climatic conditimls wonkl restore my health," he
U 'II
~J

answered,

" These Chinese tablets ttl wen t on, '" tell me ilia t you must haw bern extremely ill in !~.51 a year that ma kes in your case by addition
J

the bad vibration of an 8. In fact it is indicated that you should have died in that year. Is 1.hat true ? ~f F' Perfee tly true ,I.t he replied, On the 23Id of June in that year. :ffJI" some: reason [ never understood. ] passed into a sort of comatose state" but not one caused by any form. 01 disease. Dooton. proI1OUI1Ced that my heart bad ceased beating and that life had become extinct. As the spirit passed. out o:f my body I appeared. to see, as in a kiud of vision, a man robed. like B. La rna making passes over me. with his hands. His words formed in my mwd that my ill#) would be given back to me as it ha.d been once before in a Buddhist temple in India, where aft.er a lang ceremony Df initiation I had fallen into a state of coma which lasted for fonrteen days.
IC~

18

[NTRODUCTION

The Lama seemed to sa.YI ... For the second

to life., when the third time comes-you

time you will be restored

wiD nOi! come back. '..

After some CWl5iderable period, how long I was not coascious of~

lives?
IU

the doctm at my bedside thought he detected 3. slight movement in the heart, then steadily it got stronger and str~r~ and to the amazement of those present ,~1came back to life.·' I~ The ~tablets. in accordance "With your date of birth .. ~ I broke in, 1 .t indicate thai; the third test will DOt come for many yean yet. V/hat are. your plans DOW since you came to California ? ~~ ,. To get time to write," he ansml ed quickly ~ H To give back to the world what I have ~thered through my own experiences, to travel still more, and finally I hope to get to Mongolia or Tibet, fIJI the call af thore countries ] have f6lt for a vmy long time. ~ ~ 1 need hardly ask: iJ you believe in reincarna.tion ( ~~was my next qttestion. r Do yon have at tim",s any recollection of }'1),urformer
j f
I II f

.n

I most decidedly do, J ~ he answered ~~r but that is something I do not wish to talk about. People think it savours too much of the imaginative side of liffl:r 50 I keep my visions to myself" Perhaps,"
he added musingly ~ If I rna y be the means later on of proving the mality of sneh ~.t but the time has Dot yet COme: for that. Quitk as a. fla..d,. my thoughts. 'W'Im.t back to the w~ of the Abbot
~I

he said pointing to. where Cbeiro lived, .. you will find the iKMJ'JiCUe whom. you seek," Pethap5 those BtralIge words concealed the secret of Cheiro's successful career=01 TOUSSOUD Nor.
4 U

In

theret~1

I~

lj

II

It

an ~ old soul" one of those whose many reincarna.tions had taught him the Iessons of hu.manity.. How else could he have taken up a study" th&t for long .ages had been doWlltwdden and despi:ied, and made of it the key to tml.ock the bea.rts of Kings. Presidents .. Leaders
U

of Commerce, and all classes? 1 WI4 astonish~d when. he t.old me he was now 4=J in his sixty-fourth year.' I had heard many aceon.nts Df hi~ radiating liM and energy to those who came to consult him. I persanally knew fif cases where wrecb of hums." ity left his presence with renewed purpose to begin ,I the battle of life·1 aver again. Perha'(lS 1had again inadvertently ~'\IIUb\OO. G!l£tQS& mo\het settU m ms. IUcteiI~ Ii: tnigb.t -pedmps be, ~ lIP in those simple words, ~.to give.~* Vlhile I CODSdered mch things, a ten passed through tuy mind, ~I If i.~ .or,. bku14 ttl give &Us to ,lMfM.·' [t seemed to me this was the basic tIloaght on 'Wbich this ·mm 1whole ~ was built.
I
J

INTRODUCTION
Be10re

I leftt I looked through a pile of some thousands of letters from all part£ of the world; one and all they testified to the accuracy of his predictions, to the renewed life and hope he had given by his
OJ!] n seb

to his im:L111nerableconsultants, It is not my purpose in writing this introductIon to pay this man any fulsome I:ompliwe nts, He does not need. taern. HE. work stands above such things: a lesson in itself of those mysterious forces underlying Ille, which so iew of us real; re and stiD fewer~llIIdenta nd. Mi1Hng Eff.ginur

w. H4

(lJ IAI TSM¥:

C£OSS~

MitUs oj MC1f.golifJ.

CONFESSIONS: MEMOIRS OF A MODERN SEER

CHAPTER I
TIm MAJCntG OF A lIrY REASON

.r SBER.),j

SOX&nmfa.

AlIOn

:MY EARLY W$ AND

FOR. ADOPTING SUCH AN 1JHlJ WAL CAREBlt

2:5 thJ 1925.. VJho can tell, if this blend of Cbristian and Pagan ma~ot in later ~yeaTS haw been responsible fur my taking up such ~~ hea studies ,r as Astrology~ Oecnltism, and all such works of the Devil," 3JI , tharacterized by Henry VIII when be became Fonnder of the Churcb
U
~j

WILL endeavour to avoid family and personal matters as mnch as possible, tmly giving snr.b details as are necessary for readers to Wldttratand how and why Destiny found her materIaJ.s on wbichtobuild. On my father·, side I BlII of Nomum descent and. oome of a family who can trace their lineage back. to' Rollo the :lint Duke of Nono.an.dy. As he became a Christian in order to many the daughteJ: of the King of France. I wUl only mention M ~nl a Pagan ancestor, known. as Hamon the Sea ... king. who wlth one blow :from big battleaxe strock off the head of St. Hellier to prevent hls converting his sailms to Christianity. I Historical records show that this incident took place on July 17th~ A.D. 526. I may .. however add that one of his descendants, the uncle of William the First, by jowing "The Conqueror with a :Iieet of , four hundred ships a.nd a large fOl"OO of men, decided the ] nvasion ,of England. He received for his reward six of the largest counties of tEngbwd and was named Prince of G1.amorgam;h;re~ Subsequently, (!his man, RobeTt de Hamon, became 'Such t a good. Christian. ~~ that established the first monaster]' in Britain~ laid the foundation oi rewlresbwy Cathedral .. and is to-day honoured by a proeessicn of ~ishops that once every hundred ~ makes a piJ&rim.age round his lomb.. The last of these ceremomes took place as recently as Marth
ll
J 1 JJ 4

of England.

1".

Iii

My iather's principal study \VaS that of bigher _thematics; im: -my Yfa.rs, he wcn:ked out brtrlca.te prahl em__q; with Gladstone '!'ftm up f the last yur.! af 1.ha.t great statesman's life. .From my mother's 5Iide~ who came.from. Greek and Frmeh Stock-I i-inherited pcwrtry;l remaace, mysticl~ and philosophy. The seb~uent fusion in the fim of 1if6 of these rombina.tions naturally iu.ced a, 7~ being predestined far a career that unU .... ". 0tI _.
1
I ..

'kSS...

~2

CON F E S S ION S = II Ella

I It S 0 FAll

0 DE 1t. N 5 It E 1t

My mother. from her earliest days. was deeply interested in Mad ;ug works on AstJvlogyt NumeroloQ'yt and the Study .of the Hand. C'.onsequently .. almost as soon as r rou1d read} she allowed me to revel in the little library of such 'books that she had collected, On my tenth birtbday my mother passed over to me her little library and jot ted down in ber notebook the ioUowing; ~- My son bas in his lei t and right hands the sign of the or Mystic Cross, ~ For this reason I J:nve given over to him all the books on occultism 1 possess, and especially those on the Study of the Hand. ] believe he will make good use. 0 f these boob. Even now in his early years I have noticed how he studies such ._'"ot. ks more than all other!. He is certain to become a writer and wilt from what 1 foresee in his hand" make a name fur himself in connection with those subjects." 1 was only a little past eleven years of age wben I caused a se~tion in my family by 'Writing a matif;e full of illustrations on the Lines of the II~ a subject, I must admit~ not at all pleasing to my f ather' s way of thjnldng. Shortly alter~ perhaps to combat my t10ccult tendencies,' my father decided to have his only SOD trained for some religi om tailing. What that was exactly to be did not t ron hie him in the slightest : he had some vague idea. that I might be useful in converting the • 4" heathen Chinee," the only reason, perhaps, be.ing that his father had lost a. comiderable sum of money in a speculation in Chinat ] was accordiIJgly packed off to an extremely strict school where he was assured that all such DOD5eDSe aa " oecultism would be quickly knocked out of mf head. In his idea of gIving me such training, he was, 1 believe. right, for I am certain that no. ooy ever began life with a. more devotional temperament, or one more :fitttd~ a.s a missionary .. to be boiled alive for the snpper of some cannibal race. Although, at first sight ~it may seem a strange anomaly, yet I h-old that it was the essential! of that devotional temperament that made me cling to the study of hands with an obstinacy that" in the end, surmounted all OPJlO!ition. To my young mind.it was Q. mystery Iike religion itself; it con tained tM langua.ge of the Soul in its prison-house. and the lines 01 the hand seemed many .'·ti~ to Jne: a more tangible chart at lire than the articles of ilogDi&-t.h fareed to commit to memory. Thos it was that the more I studied creeds, the more "the strange threads of Destiny seemed to bind thooght. actien, and 1 together. lie and the more I became convinced that Nature bad het secret pages that neithez Science nor Religion had as yet unravelled.. I cannot describe with what deEgh t I discovered tat after text In that wondttfu1 u Book oi Books that told of the Ilpward progress of peoples and those straDge hap])eltinp .~that the WID of God might be fulfUJed. "I Can Iever forget that night when, for tlw lint time my mind grasped
w

po

II

jj

CONFESSIONS~

KEJlOrRS

OB

A MODERN

SERR

'13

had a great« me~ _far me than evB. Pledestination beca.me such a forte in zny thoughts that before I could real; M what I was 9aymg, I gave batUe to my astonished' professor and got punished by the losing of the play-honr for my pafns. Out of evrtry evil comes good-tha.t isJ if we can distingaim the good when it does come-so during my punishment, instead of writing exercises I &ketched what I considered ought to have been the Iw.nds of some ~f the great men of Destiny .. and became so absorbed in my task that I did not rea JiR the presence of 'the old professor looking
The next

the idea of the Destiny of races, and the evidence of DWiM Dalgtt in the ,tarry Wm'tnI above.,f4 in evetyUH"c i,. N~' j •

day the

It~

Book

of Borum

II

Instead of the reproof I expected, the old man sat down by my sid.$ and made me explain the drawings to him, line by line. Then he became still more frieruD.YJ and to my utter astonishment he held out his own longt curionS-loolting bands, and in quite a gentle way asked me v., hat I could make out -of them. ,. To my amazement I quickly discovered traits that were evm To me, he had ever been sometbiD8 so high sud mighty, that the idea of this monument of "Wisdom having lived as other men bad never for a moment entered my mind, He was a long.. 1Mn., anatomical. structure. on which ] tb,lrtlgb.t someone had hung a professor's coat jnst to cover the bones; a greyey~ spectacled Sphi nx~ that bistory said ~.had once stroked ~ Cambridge Eight to victory ~i-but history tells so many lies that none oJ us bays believed the story .. Yet, as I wanned up to my subject, I forgot that history also said that be had never mown emotion of WlY kind, that he bad never loved, had never married, for soon I was t-e:lling him of a love in his life such as few men have met and have cared to live life out afterwards. . I stopped for something had gene wrong with my tillbjec:t: tb& :' hands had been pulled aside, and I beheld, fur the first time~ 'What : tears mean when stem men weep. , After that moming we became friewh. Many a diflicult exercise :_ let me offJ and many an old Greek and Latin. ~ he an Hands he .translated "for my benefit. ~ A re.Iigioua training was, however not to be .. On the :very eve of my entering tor an examination have decided ~ my career, 1 received word tba t my father was ruined by a land ~specu1ation that involved hundreds of others ; and SOl almost broken ... ~hearted at the sadden end1ng of my early ambiticm.s, I rMum8li horne. ~ Disappointed and purposeless, I drifted for wme time Uka a. beIm. ..
4

over my shoulder.

m..ma,...

f1ess ship en an idle seal until at lut, one da.y~ some undercmrent, ~trom where I know not, woke DIe again.. I entered my father's stndy;jl told him. that I wanted to steer my own bark and see the world. myself. , My father CODiidered that he bad no loDger the right to mould m.y

24

CONFI!SSIOM'S!

IIEX01R5

01" A Mon:SllN

SKit •

. t:ateet

seal like so many others have done before me.. It would be out of place to miter into my intervening experiences ~ the ." Call to London t;o "W8S in my ears. and so, as quickJy as possible, ] forsook the temptation of quieter routes and steered direct to that great city ~where Fate meets Ambition in equal combat. It is said that U coming events cast their shadows before them. One n;u.tJ while waiting in Liverpool for the London train my eyes taught sight of a book \\ith I. hand drawn on the cover ~ which I immediately bought. It was a translation 01 one of those old books on palmistry that had been printed with tho first movable type; it was called. in Gennan Di.~K ""'"' Ci.romatJl4 and as the train started on its joomey I became engrossed in its contents. The only other eccupant of the carriage was a gentleman who sat opposite with his back to the engine; he had wrapped round his shoulders a. hea.vy rug that almost concealed his rue. Whm_ however, my book was finished, as 1 laid it down I noticed that his sharp eyes were fixed intentJy on the drawing of the hand that adorned the cover As I put it aside, he spoke in a genial, but rather bantering way. l-4 So you evidently believe in hand-reading. An odd .kind of study it must be. Bn t I SUpPO.5e;l n he added" f' it can find its followen just as people believe in the !bape of th.e head. and other things 01 the
U
I t
r

he would let Destiny have its way. So~ with a small amonnt of znoney iI.Ild a good.. substantial bJcsihJg,. I spread my own MU5, and leaving the quil:t harbour <d boote, I drifted out into the world~s wide

to his will-he had tried~ but DMtfny had beeu too Strong-

hands. may be able to show which of these two :forces will gain the
~

sounds both moderate and rea.tonabM.. But do the hands tell the :future? Tha t is the point that would appeal to me, if I could bring myself to believe in .such a thing. ~ Iii W ell, II I r-ef1.ied1l ~ as far as our future is made and influenced by our chan.ct'Cl' by the tendmleics we have iuherited I ~y believe they saccess is really the result of the preponderance of our strong over our weaknessesjI I think one might be safe in saying~ that, at the study from this standpoint alone, the
II
<I"~ J

.( Yel,·· I answered •• ' I believe that character makes itseli rna D ifest in every portion of the body, but naturally more especially in the hands, which are, after alit the tools that carry out the "Wishes of the brain" Surely there is noth ing far-fetched or illogical in such a belief. II, ~~NOt 'I he said laughingly. I' Compared with some beliefs, that

Idnd.'1

Good, I., M a..nswered_. •~ your theory hu rtmlJy interested me,•• Stretcbiag out Iris banMl he- added: Tell me~ if you will~ which will pm the victory in my ease," I can even now see those Blmder brtelJectual-lookinS bands that this 8truIer laid before me; and how they interested me--linc after Jta.<clearly DW'kecl~full of charact£r and. of evenu creaUil by character.
It" U· j

.. '~

c 0 H F E S S ION

5:

liE III0 lit. SOP

t

A II 0 D £ II If S It B B.

I started with the IA ne oj Mentality I showed him its $ll.pericc" s1mngth. when compared with those of some of the designs m my book and explained -that it denoted his power of will, of org.a.nization and ~f eommand over people. Then I called his attention to a 'flell ... marked Line of Destiny, deeply traced through his hand untij ;J. Httll! past the centre of the palm, and I explained that it Indicated. st1'mig Individuality, a. carter that must playa marked rOle in We a destiny" in:fac.t that WQuld cause him to stand out as a leader above the , common herd of hnmamty, 4=r Bat the end .. he said .. almost nervomly. '~What does that line " show fading out ~wha.t does it mean '1 '1' 1 laughed as I answered, for I could ~d1y believe, and [ felt Sl1Ie he would not in spite of his interest, , ~'O~'" I said, u the stopping of that sign simply means rest lOT you; another N apoleon sent to St. Helena, I 9Uppose. But why? J ~ he demanded, rather excitedly Vlhat shall be my
t

a,

A woman, wi thou t a doubt ~ I replied. ~ Yon can see for yourself J. , how the Line of Heart breaks the Line of Destiny just below that point where it fades aut. Ta.kitIg his hand away, the stranger la-u.ghed..-a low quiet laugbthe /aug. of tJ. man. wAD was SJ.W8 of mmsll{. Shortly afterwards the train reached London. and as we got ready our valises BUd coats, he said ~ It ~ strange, but that scieu.ce of yours has been curiously acccrate s about some things--except abont the woman part. There is my card ; you will see now how in some things it tallies bu t the woman D(t----r.a man 'With my life has no time for women." With a cheery ,~Goodbye~" be jumped out ~hailed a hansom. and YIltS off. Making at the card; I read, ,~Cha des Stewart Parnell,' 1 ]t was some years later, after the O'Shea divorce case and his downfal], that 1 was able to understand #he mta'II;"l oj 1M H ecrl L"" tcwcli«g the .£utiny of stteh 8 mati.
II

\Vaterloo t ,~

(f

Ii

rl

I,

I Chark3 Stewllrt: ramen, born J Wle 21dt, lSf60.. Vale of A..~ 6th.. I~I. it wu Nld of bro:k..en b~. ..
.1 •

t IrdaAd) died Oc:tobec

CHAPTER ]1
CUJ.IOUS 'ACTS AlIOUT THE RAND NOT CJtNERAttY XNOWN.. I GET ON BOARD A TRAl'IIP sm..t MBK IN ORDER TO SEE mE woai,o

RE are many curious facts concerned with the hand that ~ have rarely if ever heard of~sc ] tbink it will not be out of place if I toa.ch on them here, before ] go more deeply into my own reminiscences, Meissner ~ the great German seientist proved that certain tiny molecular substances were distnDttted in a peculiar manner in the band, He found that in the tips 01 the fingers there were 108 to the square inch, ,,1 th 400 papillie: that they gave forth certain dlstlnet erepita .. dons, 01' vibrations, that in the red lines of the hands. they were most numerous~ and, strange to say, were round i. straight indivUlual ro1JI$
t

TI
irs 1M
liMS

that, after a little study_one could distinctly detect and recopize the crepitations in relation to each indivldual, that they increased or decreased in every phase of health. thought, or excltement. and became silent the moment death had mastered its victim. About twenty years later, experhnents were made 'With a man in llaris,t who bad an abnormally acute sense of sound-Nature·, compensation for want of sight,. as he had been born blind. In a very short time. by continual practice this man could detect the sligh tes t change or irreguIari ty in these crepitations and through these changes he was able to tell with wonderful accuracy about how old a person was, Jww fIU" an iJjJltsS ()1 even death he might be. The study of these corpuscles was also taken up by Sir Charles Belt who demonstrated that each corpuscle contained the end of a nerve fibre, and was in Immediate contact with the brain. This great specialist also demonstrated that every portion 01 the brain was iII touch with the nerves 01 the hand, and that the lines on the palm were more particularly connected 'Wit b nerves from the brain to the band t han to any other port ion of the bod yo..
t

oj 1M rpahn.. Experimen ts were made as to these vibra t ions and it

J

was proved.

The detection of criminals by taking imptessi ons 6f the :fi.ngers. and by thumb-marks is DOW used by the police of almost all countries) and thousands of ... have been tracked down and identified by this

means.

To-day at Yard one may see a library devoted to books on this side of the t and to the collections that the police have made; yet in my own short time I remember how this idea was scoffed at wheu Monsieur Bertillon and the French police lint commenced the identification of crbuinals this method If the ignorant prejudice agajnst a complete study 0 the hand could be overcome, the police would be atlll more aided. by studying the lines 01 the pu JmJ and by .a knowIedp of what these lines mean, ~~ialIy as regards mentality and the incliultiou of the braiD in one direction or another. It is a weJl..1mowD fact that ..evm if the skin is burnt oft the bands!!

br

aG

CO NF!S5IONS:
1

MEYOIRS

OF A MODX RM SEER

as' tMy were befMe as do the ridges or inside tips of the fingers and 'tJ?umb.. .. In connection with the temble Houndsditch murders m I'911~the CJtief Inspector of Police, replying to the magisttat~ said that be bad taken impressions of the prisoner' s linger~prints at the court. The hands were not wuhed or prepared in any waYr The k.lJQwing is a
j:~

or removed by an acid, in a short time the lines

H4dly spirals ~, In the skin of th-e

..m .,t4ftPt4r

27

reprint from the Dauy T~afol

numbers" and I am justified in telling you that wI i4W! HlfJ" j()vn4 two imp,essitms taAen ftrmt d,iffertlS fingers fa ag'" with

of February 25~ 19IIL ~r \Vhat is your authm:ity for the proposition that the prints of two diBerent fingers are never a1ike ~ '1I say that I have never found it so. 1 am only giving you my . ~~ O'WII expenence. ~.want to know \\hat steps you h3.V~ taken to come to that I conclusion.' ~ may be able to help you in this way. We have 170.000 sets of prints recorded in the office. During the last ten years since the introduction of the system, we have made 6z,.ooo identifications -recognitions-and~ 50 far as is known without error. ] think that will convey to your mind that we deal in pretty larg-e
IF
II ]

/I

~ach tJth.er"

II

I will pass over my :first experiences in London. I soon began to feel keen! Y what it is to be alone in the heart of a great city ~without friends and 'Without prospects of m.aldng any. It was in this frame of mind that I found mp:lJ ~ one morning W'anderlng down by the side of the Thames, until in the end I had almost reached the great docks of Tilbury. Here, at this gat~:v to the OC~" ships and boats of every descrip tion were loading, unloa.ding. arriving or drparting. A curious longing took possession of my heart, to also pus throagb t.h.U; gateway and meet the mysterious Unknown ~,that lay beyond. A battered and shabby~1ooking tramp steamer just about to lea ve, , at tracted my attention. A hearty-looking: man oa the bridge was . shouting orders=something urged. me forward~.,went down the gangway and made straight fot the man. He , busy to notice :'. e. another order--the gangway was hauled m ther yeU~the ;'dock hawser was thrown off~ engines had already begun to throb+ Frightened and desperate, I felt [ had to do something. I approaclled the man again. Instinctively I knew he must be th~ Ca.ptain, no one but a Captain could roar like that, I thought. I got close up to him ~before be noticed me ~ I tried to look most respectful and humble and ,waited for him to, speak. ~ Suddenly he did speak ~if I can describe it as speech: ~ What in the ~lJame of Beelsebnb d'ye want~who the devil are you?:n he yeDed. ~ •~Sir ~ I very politely said. U I want to go to sea." ~~
j j~

28
"t

CONJi'llSSIONS:
t

JlElIOIRS

OJ' A MODS I.N

I BE.

---eJone.

Go to hell J ~~ he said and turned his back on M.@~ By this time the boat wu already SOIn.& distance from the wharl~ men were hauling in ropes, closing in side n.ils pulling cargo under cover, but no one took the slightest notice of me. I wa.l.ked. dt:'Am. the deck to the stern of the boat and sat down on I. big pile of wet rope. Night was coming rapidly ODJ' the river was widening to the seat the sigh of the wind against the mast reached me like a cry of pain, Green and nd lights fla&hed :from. the fast-fading shore~flakes or spray lashed aQlJS9 my faceL My wish bad lndeed been granted-I wu at sea but
t

CHAPTER III
i

~r

long I sat OIl that roil of rope at the stem of the ship I do not know ~ ( FinalIy~ wet ~ the spray, cold and very hungry. [ :" detennined~ come what might;. to stretch my hmbs and walk up and . down the deck .. The hour was late. I bad not yet gnt to know hOW' to tell the time j by the ship's bells. I heard eight strokes ~ QUt~into the night; a ~ scurrying of feet, a few dark shadows passmg rapIdly) then all wa& t wence again except for the monotonous throb of the engines and the t:oecasional crash of a wave against the side of the boat. ~'" Light ~:from some portholes in a cabin behind the bridge ~'Attr.acted my notice. It was that same bridge where 1 had met the Fan I called the Captain earlier in the evening. Instinctively 1 felt ~that that man who had spoken so brutally, was fated to play 9DIl1e ~portant part in my life. A carious idea Olm.e into my mind that me wan t to peer into the portholes just to have a look at his FuggedJ weather-beaten face again.
+

'How
THEIR

MAKE MY9ELF USEfUL ON DOAJU) TO ROtrGR SAILORS n.colO MY PlllEND5. MY STODY OF lIANDS IS KEY THAT UNLOCKS
r

smr

mx

HEARTS

I climbed up a short stairway to the bridge, stole softly round to, §the back of the cabin, and glued my face to one of the w.indovis. My was there all right, only looking more angry and brutal, if that His gold-braided cap was pushed to the back of his head~ his coat, ide open, showed a striped shirt to the waist. On the table before him 5tOOO a pile of papers and some books that looked like ledgers, at his ght was a plate heaped up with sandwiches and a large bottle of beer ~ From time to time he grabbed a sandwich or .gulped down some his whole attention was, however ~centred QIl the mElS!iu.f paplTS efore him, but his face showed he was w-orking on some task that '7a5 not at all to his liking. !if I wonder if I could help him," I thought. Always jnrlh, ed to act the impulse of the moment~ in another second I was standi1l1 in ~doorwa.y; the light of a big swinging oil lamp (there was DO electric nt on. ships in those days) fell full on my face. He did not see me, .: head was bent over the papers, and as:for met I 1'i'Q.S too paralysed ith fear to speak. . Suddenly he stood up to reach a book QIl a MbeIf. ()ur eyes met:he had seen a ghost he could not have given a bigger gasp. II" Great God" be roared, t~ didn't I tell you to go to hen ? t t u ~u~ sir," I answered meekly, but I couldn't ~t off the ship This seemed to strike him as & joke; a grin passed over his face. .., Well ..you'rft in hell now in aDY easel he l'oareci; before lIIOI:DiDg ~"ll be as sick as a poisoned pup. What the devil brought you 011. the ._-,in any case? ·
U U
j"~

d be possible,

II

!SO

CONPBSSrONS=

MEMOIRS

0,.

A MODERN
It

SEIt:a
4

pointing figures. I am sure I eould help you if you would let me try. I had touched a 60ft comer in his heart.. Good at Dgure5~n he grinned. "I Wd, Itt me ~ if you are. Add up these columns," and. he shov1:d a large sheet before rna. • Show me wha.t yon can do." One colUJlDl ~ had already done. I ran over it again t he had made a mistake in the pound coluxNl • •, How much ? ~ he queried, _ hundtwi pounds," I s:mi1ed, as gIOlltJy as possible.
II
U

...,J wanted to get

away and see the world, J blurted. out Then to the papers OR the tab1e~ I $bmrn ered, t' I am good at

Look beret youngster .. he said II I ~ glad you GaJl).e on board. m Itm captain and owner of this tub. I haven't got to report to any Board of Directors as I should have to do if I found a ~stowaway.1 I ha.ven·t gat to put you of( at the first port we t-ouch and hand you over tG the police as wonJd be my duty to do under other circumstances. You W'ere lucky in choosing thi$ boat however you did it. Will you stick it out with me to the end of the- voyage and take ~ of these flgnres for me? I t will be a long run, youngster we discha.rge and load at every port. She IS a rotten aid tab that ] mean 'to sell at the end or the trip bu t if you stick to me I will make it worth while. Give me your hand on the bargain." .. Where did you say would be the end of the voyage ? ,t 1 asked.
14
.1 ~

He

..N=:'

the gold-braided

cap still further back on his head.

II 1

t ..

for
N

I would rather get to than any other. have no rear of that.~'

Bombay;. that will he thr last port. India,' ~ I said] as 1took his hand

U I
f~

the one plate in tb e; world I will. stick it out, CapWn~

me..

,..Have .a sandwich, youngster ~'~and he pu5hed the plate before

lot

r did not need a set:t.md invitation. He rang the bell, another made its appearance" and as I would not drink) he ordered ooff.ee.
craved so .much to see,

I felt I was in a dream. Fate had indeed befriended me by leading me to a &hip bound for that 1a.nd of mystery and eceultism that I had

Mart I think I ~ met. The rough Milom were equally good to me. They had me '~read. their bands JJo and·ten thmn of sweethearts and wives they had left behind. At night wilen work Yw·asover we used to lie on the forward deck and look up at the stan togt.ther. I told them what I knew of the great .Architect of the Universe who had planned all : how not II. pIaDet or a sun could vary a fraction oft ime in it 5. pathway through eternity-and that we are told, ~~a :sparrow c:oa.Jd not fall to the ground

I will not enter into details of the voyage, it was perhaps tJte happiest one I ever experienced. The man I thought :50 brutal, whose oaths ootnetimes seemed to make the very ship tremble, had the kindest

without He knoweth it ~"

These rough tIleD; sons of the

lea

and perpetu.al da.qet.. &eem6d

CON J' .! SS J 0 M S;

AI n.. 0 IRS

0 F A Jf ODE R N 5 E 1! R

31

.some of them may have remembered the story of 1lJ.e "~spatTOW'~ and
(were

never tired of listening to the stMy'. It may not have caused them to cease swearing when the cargo Ihifted or the pumps refused to .work, Perhaps, however, when Yother Ocean calW f()f:Ae lG titIUJ

comforted.

CHAPTER IV
TBB KAGIC OF INDIA, AGAIN MY STUDY

or

HAHD8 BRlNGS "ME lI"RlENDS

Twould not be suitable in these pages to give more tha.n a. brief sket~ of my experiences in India. From the- letters I haVI'! received £rom ell parts of the world, [ Mel compelled to h~rry through these more personal episodes. and get as qUlCk1y as possible to the ~ CMrleMion and experiences ccaceruing my professional r career. It may be my privilege 50Dle day to be called on to write fully of my Iife in India" but up to now" the call bas not come and if it does it 'Will easily fill a book by itself. I just want my readers to visualize if they will ~ my feelings as I entered the r gateway of India] t, as Bombay ls so well ccilled-aloneJJ

"II

painted the picture better . perhaps, than I c auld do. It was very early morning as I wandered down that great pier-« the Apono Bunder-alone. A1onc---without friends, without moo.ey- whatever I had earned on the ship I had spent during the voyage-yet in $. way happy. Fate had been so good in bringing me to India, that for the tint hOUT or so that inexpressible feeling o.f ~ God is on His 'Jhronc-all is rigb t with the world," held my heart high. And yet" must I confess it ? ~as I felt the scorchi 11g rays of the sun getting hotter and hotter ~ the strange babel of unknown languages becoming louder and louder, that great enemy of everything gccd-« fear~began to make its appearance. 1 began to dtJf4bt" I began to wonder at the Destiny that had so mysteriously forced my steps to India. li you" dear reader r have ever been absolu tely alone in a strange country you will realize the feeling of hcl p1cSSJ:K..~ that was slowly steal ing over m y senses. At the end of the pier near the town, I sat down on a. stone seat and endeavoured to collect my thoughts.. In all the many-hued tmOI1g of people that passed. and repassed, no one took tile slighte~t notice of me in any way. I VIi"3.S just n another foreigner t_. who had come to In~ and nothing more. Yet, out of that motley crowd, there 'Ha.3 one person who was actually coming to greet me. An old man, garbed as. I~thought like a Brahmin priest, was even then making his way towards me. I could hardly believe it at :first, but our eyes met and that seemed to decide his actioo, He held out his hand with a pleasant good morning," in English, and no music ever sounded sweeter in my ears than those simple words .. We sat down WI the seat together; at first the conversa:tion was the
I

without a friend or a single letter of introduction. I will not attempt to describe the great city that stretched in l.h~ distance before me, Histories of India and guide books have already

~Il

CON F E S S ION S ~ M E M 0

r R SOP'

MOD

r. R N SitE B.

33

usaal commonplace expressions, the &plendid view of the Bay, the tDWU" and !NChlilre. I had j tlst m.entio.n.ed ilia t 1 bad arrived that morning, when he put the straight question ~ \\~y ha-ve you come to India ? ~I f4 Why/~ I said, fi it has always been my most earnest desire .. Besides," and I pointed to the Line of Fate on my right hand, 1 suppose 1 am following my Destiny ." Again tlie rtudy I loved so much had opened another door for me. I sha U never forget the expression that passed over the old man' s lace. He held out his hands for me 10 read. I told him. all 1 could Qf the dates 0f changes in his life, iflnesses in the past, and other things+ ~, .... v · nderful [ ~ was all he: mut tered, After some time he told me o of himself, that h-e was a descend au t of the old Joshi caste who had kept the Study of -the Hand) together with that of AstrologyJ alhre since SOIne f ar- distant date. He described where he lived and pointed to. the Western Gla.ts, 0[ range of ]ow moon talns t o the north of the city. He told me of his associates, how simply they lived, the occult studies they believed in and practised. Of course" I was fascinated. ] t reminded me 50 much 01 a book my mother had let me read. dealing wi t h the Yogis of India. 1 expressed a wish to go all d live there with him. He held out his hand . Very simply he 'Sald J '~Come:l you will be weIoome among us. Whatever OUT knowledge is shall be your5~ provided you pass through. certain tests of will-power and faith.. Thus it was that I had the inestimable pri vile.geof Iivlng, for upwards of two years ~ in the society of men who were not only devotee of Indian occultism, but who "TIC masters of whatever branch of it they bad especially made their own, It was here, under cireums tanees too long to relate in a book of this nature, that I took a vow that if ever Treturned to my own civilization [ would. devote m yse 1£ for a period of three Sevens, namel YJtwenty-one years, as a kind of Missionary of Occultism and more especially as an exponent of the Study of the Hand .. Alter in this way completing my education" ~ if I may use that ~ term I was enabled to return to London" by the death of a relati on who had left me e. cousidera blc amount of money.
f~

f~

It

f~

~~e a collection of hands for my favourite study and for some time ~ted hospitals, asylums. and even prisons, making prints 01 all lei n ds and conditions of humanity. In about a year I found myself the possessor of many thousands of impressions of hands; still I had no desire to work professionally, for I found the simple life I had led in India had completely unfitted me for the routine and conventionality of life in great cities+ My love of tra.vel a1so still held me in its. grip: so on. the first

Free to carry out a.ny whim I might hwe, I proceeded at once to

34

CON FE S S ION S:

M:S K 0 I

:a SOP

A K0

n ERN

S.E E B

oppm-tnnity that presented itseU I turned my ~ps to another land of m)Stery ~namely Egyptj and lor a certain time became ooonpied
in mvatigating ruined~iombs) temples) and suchlike, in that land where ages past the ancient Masters of AstrQ10gy built the Great
J

"'D.--·a ... ~ ...... &.1

news that the

On my retum from E1 Kamatk to Cairo~ I

inherited had embeuled everything I possessed and 1 was left without

J

man whoon I had left to take care

received the ~Uletmg

of the

rI~.[!!In

oil

property ] had

scent It was at this moment and for the fi rst time in my life that my study of hands was called into practical purpose; and in my I'OQID.S
In Cairo I made sufficient money to enable me to return to LQndon
to

see after my afI.ain, A.Bairs.. however" there were none. All my assets were gone; and the unfortunate man who had. brought about such a result had dis-

appeared from life" s arena by the door of suicide. Such being the case ~ I SlJ!t about facing life from a new standpoint. I developed a. literary tendency which ] had scarcely dreamed I possessed . At all events, it enabled me to live J and. even to eniQY life
lD

Linked up with my new calli ng ~again there cropped up a practical use of my study of hands, A m ysterious murder was commi ttsd in ~ East End of London. A bJood-sta.ined hand-mark on the white pa.i.nt o,f a door attracted the attention of a detecti ve ~ he had heard
of me and asked me to see if I could make anything out of the

a very simple way .

impression of the hand. An examination of the lines in the dead man's band convinced me that the print could not have been made by his band, but M there was a similarity in some of the markings~ I came to the conclusion that the crime was undoubtedly done by a close relati ve, most probably a san. This clue led to the aITC'St and subsequent confession of a son by a former marriage, who up to then had been the least suspected. Although this again aroused my interest in hands, still nothing was farther from. my wishes than to practise such a study from a professional ata.ndpoint. Evidently I was Dot yet ready to preach the truth of what 1 believed in. (How Easily one can see the design of Fate when

one looks backward.) I had no self-eonfidence ; the sensiti veness was too extreme, it had ~et to be ground down a bit more by the f'- mills of 1ife ~,~ those mill s of bitter experience tha.t crush some to
death or grind others. to iit the groove in Fortune's Wheel tha.t may
one day carry them onward to success. ]t was 80 in any case with me. The gift of writing ~or call it what you Iike, before long began to change or for the time being died out ; it had played its part, a step perhaps towards the next, but whatever it was, the faculty that wrote no longer suited the bll~. It may be that it did better work, I am not the judge-those who pay evidently bave the right in such matters; but the stern fact remained that the

CONfESSIONS:

MEMOIRS

OF
I

A MODERN

SEER.

3~

manuscripts

came back by every po s.t and the poems that some religious papMS had always accepted before, were returned. sometimes with a pencilled line to SQy~ ~u Style changed, not suitable for our

editor of a religious papM) a man who had taken sufficient inte!?l!t in someth ing I had 'Written to ask me to call, I had found the Rev ~Dr. Richardson, editor of Great T houglttsl' the most humane editor I had ever met. To- my profound astonishment he had pulled up an arm-chair close to mine, and in the kindest manner he had talked to me as a father would to his son. He pointed out the changes that had taken place in my verses and articles in the past few months, and where in place of the devotional tone in which .I had
at :first wri tten

pages ..~' A grey October morning found me returning £rom Fleet Street towards the Strand, n twly dispirited after an interview with an

said could not possibly be penned by the same person. This splendid old man, who could so easily recognize evolution in races or in worlds ~ could not re aJ;re the same evolution in the brain : to him I ~Ta8 a young man de tiber a tel y choosing 4~ the broad road, ~. and his duty was done when he had t old me SOl and yet it ""Tag almost with tears in his. eyes that he added that I was between ,~the two roadways," in other words ~ on that narrow strip of thorny grmmd between the broad path that leads to-~ graphir:ally implied where, by a. sig.ni:ficantmotion of his hand-and tha.t other path that i!i evidently so narrow that it accommodates but very few people. In IDy own mind ~ as I returned to Fleet Street, 1 translated his words to be exactly wha.t I ieJt namely, that I was in "the ditch t.and had scarcely even the strengtb left to scramble out. But Hfe is ever ro-----the changes in its pathway are often only hidden by the breaks that l\"e think we cann ot over. I n a few minutes I was about to scram b Ie ou t of If my ditch / hut on which side I got I will leave my readers to decide in accordance with their own views J for I have long since learned that as the difterent chords in music make their oval harmony-so the different opinions of people also , vibrate in accordan ce with the position in which they have themselves been plated in the harp of Life. We only make discords when we attempt to force our views of right
t~

~ there now appeared ide as and expressions that be

1'1"

set

or wrong upon our fellows .. Better then let each one strike his own chord ....... 1e.a.vingto the great Y usieian of the Universe the finding of the melody. I had j ust got beyond Somerset House on my weary tramp towards my rooms when I met a man of decidedly Jewish appearance w hu

looked sharply at me as I passed, As ] had SOl'nehow always associated Jews with money, I wondered why this man looked at me so curjously, and I walked on, turning his look. over and over in my mind. Jews had always been a strange puzzle to me, \VheD at schcol I

36

CON PES S ION S:

14:Ii: MOl 11S 0 F A U 0 0 £. 2 N S a E II

had made

nights over the wonders of their Ka.bbaJa and yet r had always.asked

a special study of their history. I had delved deep into their reJigioo on account of its occult significancer I had spent sleepless
J

in the world to-day? Again these thoughts came to me-this race that God had taught hy oeeultism, whose twelve tribes represented the twelve signs of the Zodiac,. whose every action had been predicted in ad vance whose prophets were higher than their priests, whose every let ter in their Hebrew alphabet was associated with a number and its occult me ani ng . Could it be po5Sible, ] thought, that by losing the key to the occult mysteries of their own religion, they had pal d the penalty by-loss of grea.tness~ kg of country, Bud the thousand and one privations they
j

why is this race th~ most sceptlcal and materialis tic that tan he found

I bad often wondered why they 'Were called ,~ Goo's chosen p€ople]·' and as there is no statement in Holy Writ that has not its own pecnl tar message, I had come to the cone In sion that they were ~~chosen " as the race through whom the Creator manifests His de~n in races as well as in men. Tbese were the children of Destiny preaching unconsciously the pwpose of God to all people, and the living proof of design in all the happenings of their past-their present=-and the-> t 0 be.
J

had .since undergone ?

SuCh thoughts as these were teeming through my mind) when I felt a touch on my moulder anti saw the J~~ I had 113BSed standing
at my side . •~Well,

.. "'bat, ~"Ouon Jt remember me , d " I cannot sa.Y I do,' 1 replied .

t
J!

,J

he said,

my

to my div orne case last month.'

~ f:
,I
I

he answered, " I ha VB reason to remember you. t"ou read hands in Egypt and the things yQU WId IUC happened even down
J

Oh] no, 1 don't, I' he said. ~ but there' s money in it, my friend. )- on ought to make a fortune. Are you doing it now] I want some friends to see you." NOt 'J I said, ~~r am doing nothing; at least, only some mting for papms. He laughed. .. If s only fools who wri te," be .said" aJl d befrJre Z could collect illY thoughts he already had a glittering proposition
tr
J

\\1ell then you believe in the study

now, 1 suppose ~ "1 can Pt be\levf! in such thin gs

t~

pla.o:.d before me. We walked round to. his offioo------.QI\ the wails were some musty old paintings, on the table bits oi china, some Egyptian scarabs and a bust .of Grecian marble. He was a Government official but he made ~_\lj limy\b.\ng be tould 13.,- his b.a:nds 00. Rali an ~ ~latxt 1 Vlen.t batk mtc) the ~l~tt ba~ Qpttd .. contract WIth lilin to E:om.mence at once in London which contract by the waYt bound me to give him 50 per cent of all money ] ma~ far twelve YMrt! &om that date.
l

the

1L~L

Til F.

l,!~ I L·: '.~ ~

.. \T

'L" k-L F

·n ~t~: ~1~..

III _l~ ",L\ H.H:L\~~E. To

H .~t,

THF-

i,-l~~~,

T1U~.'\ THE

lH·f":I·.

~11' ...~If{!":

C0

}II II'lt S S ION

S ~ M EM'

n I ] S 0 FAN:

0 D !. R N

SE !

31

Still one must give him credit for his enterprise. The same day I started out 'With new-found cOtJragf: 1.0 find suitable, rooms to wark in, in the West End But to find rooms was not an easy matter, In those days the Study of the Hand was an .:~unknown and unhe ard-of quanti t v}J ill London, I t was an art relegated ttl gipsies and associated in the minds of landlords with everything that was evil, It was suffician t to mention th e purpose for which I wanted the premises to receive a. stern refusal and in some cases a religious lecture on "tampering with such works of the devil. At last I discovered a Scotch landlady (another race whose shrewdness] have since respected nearly as much as I do that of the Jews). She was. a good Catholic with a small purse an d a COTI snmptive husband, but on my agreeing to pay double the rent, she arranged the affair with her conscience, But the conscience of a Scotcli woman is not a thing so easily lulled to sleep, I soon found she sprinkled holy water night and morn:ing at my door and on moving to larger premises a month later she charged me heavily for damage done to the carpet. I was in stalled it was true, but another diffit.ulty cropped up; I had DO name to work under, for as my father was stillliving~ I would not in fairness take my own, My Jew friend and myself discussed the question day after day. Biblical names he suggested by the dozen, at one moment he ~ ..s particularly keen on a nom ric g'U~"e of Solomon ~'~but ~fort una tely for me be Iia d had t hal narn e applied to himself in his recen t clivorce case on account of his emulation of that monarch 's desire to study the book of wisdom called W oman, so he finally decided such a distingnished name was too risl.--yfor so yo.ung a man as myself. A.9 the days went and no name was tound, he began til get impatient a t what he called my capricious fancy He quoted Shakespeare's opinion UD names every time we met, and ,'VI'Otelong letters on ... ~procrastination the thiei of time," the greatness of opportunitYJ'" and so fo-rth~ and yet when the right name did come, he was the Last man in London to acknowledge it. One night, more worried than usual by his reproaches, my tired brain dreamt of names by hundreds, till suddenly I seemed to see in Greek and English the name ., CHEIRO standing out before me ~ The next morning ] announced my discovery. He repeated the name over and over again, and then In fonned me that I was a :fool~ that no one could pronounce it, that it had no meaning and was
I j
j~

i: ~

_/J

~II:

~j

U~L"SS ...
I:

tha.t ~ Cb.trlTO "WOU \d thu~ became ideni:med by inteWg-ent people %ith the exponent of the band. .. Fool I t~ was the only answer he deigned to give, and :fearing
t
U

In. v~

1 ~~\a\Md "\hat Cnei:t was the Greek ward

ir,T

mnd~and.

38

CONFESSIONS:

MBMOIRS

OF

A MODERN

SBE.R

~~ Solemen ~~might be again revived, I rushed. to the nearest printers and so the name ,~CHElHO ~ became launched. I had a brass pla te made with the name ~, Che.iro ~, em.bossed on it in large lctters : this was. placed on the street door, ] t had not been in position an hour before it attracted the attention of a man who was well versed in the Greek language~ The word intrigued him; he came upstairs to. my rooms, I explained what the plate meant and he insisted on having his hands read on the spot. He "NUS my first ell ent so perhaps I did extra well on that occasion. He paid me the great compliment of ~aying that J had not made a single mistake in anything I had said of his past life or of his very intricate character. Without any demur he agreed to give me impressions of his hands for my collection. He signed them with his ini t ials, A. J~ explaining B"" very simply that he was AIthur James Balfour, Presiden t of the Society (or Psychical Research. He was, as everyone knows, one. Q! the most distinguished leaders of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons, later still Prime Minister and farther on in his. career ~ Lord Ballour he visited Washingt on to make the settlement of the War Debt between Great Britain and the L cited States. At a dinner-party that night after he bad met me, he related his
t
j

by clients. From tlw. t moment out. I was overwhelmed with workJ and by the end of the first month my Hebrew friend had received back whatever money he had advanced} together with the 50 per een t he had bargained lor. He was extremely happy over ",~hat he was pleased to call ~r his
occult

intervie'\v-",;th

the

R suIt

tha.t the next day my rooms were besieged

investment .' ,

His happiness, however ~was not fated to last long. One afternoon he rushed up in a very excited state and thrust iJ.J1 evening paper under my eyes~ ~ Look there .. he said, point ins: to a paragraph ; If T shall be ruined. U Looking down the column I found that some reporter in writing about the vogue I ha.d started in London, quoted, to show his extreme learning OIl the subject (l), an extract from the old Act of Parliament to prove that all such professions were nothing l-ess than Illegal. ~ ~My dear boy / ~my Hebrew friend said, I shall be ruined ~ I am a Government ~iat. I should retire with a pension next year, I man lose all if I am found aiding and abetting a. person to break an Act of Parliament. Yon have paid me back Illy money with in terest ~ for heaven s sake tear up the contract and burn it, and if yw get into trouble D(.~ mention my name or that you ever knew me. ,. Within Iivc minutes the contract was burned we shook hands, and I was again a free man. After the contract was broken up, people came more and more to hear what I bad to say.
J.I)

CHAPTER V
INTEIiVIJi.WS WITlI CI:RTAINS. Ins
II ~

KING EDWARD vir, 1 READ DIS n..,.,NDS Dl!:llIND fADIC NUldaRRS ~J GIVE DATE OF HIS DEATH

..,...

correct to wri te that be had an intense interest in Oceni tism, believing fervently in fortunate and unfortunate periods, in events foretold by premonitions, and so forth. Even Qneen Victoria, strongminded WQlIIaIl though she was, often incurred the displeasure 01 her consort by bemoaning a. broken milTor or the spilling of salt. I shall now relate as simply as possible my first meeting with King Edward \711. 1 need hardly mention that my experiences with hlm, in the house of a. Society hostess and later in bis. own library ~ were gossiped about pretty freely, and greatly added to my reputation as a Modem SeeI:.. The first interview was cradled in secrecy, but Chance-or was it Fate r-upset the carefully laid plans of the Iad y responsible for my introduction to Queen Victoria}s eldest son, then H. R.H+ the Prince The scene .of my first seance with the late King 'WaS not in his own residence, as might be imagille<t but at the house of Lady Arthur Paget in Belgrave Square, LEidy Paget was 11 channing American, Secrecy was the keynote of the meeting, and I was not told the. name of the owner of the hands I was to read ~ My simple instructions at the on bet were to come to Lady Paget ~ house on a certain evening s alter dinner. 'Vben I arrived} the hostess met me in the ball and oonducted me to the smoking-room at the end of the passage. For all her apparent calm, I could see that she was more than a Iit t Ie excited. r.c Now," said ...with a channing smile, H I want you to do me a great fa your Cheiro. ~I would Jike YDU to sit behind these curtains I have fixed up~ and read, as fully and as con vincingly as is in your ~rcr, the hands of a gt"nLleruan Who is corni ng here expressly for thi s purpose. ~ Although, to the reader, this may appear to have been an unusual request my composure was not aHected. Many of my clients adopted all sorts of plans to keep their identity secret from me. The only thing that impressed me was the ela borate nature of the arrangements in this case ~ -t r y QU ""ill be alone with him'-" continued LEidy Paget, and yoo are to say frankly Vfhat you see without having any regard foe his feelin gs. Now .. you will do ~rour utmost, will you not ? I' Certainly .. I answered, (r I will do sJJ I can. J. Left to myself" I went behind the curtains and arranged the eIectrie light SO that I should be able to see the hands of my subject: to the best poRalDle advantage, Having done tbis to my satislactien, 1 seated myself and waited.
of ~""ales.

superstitious

SUProsE it it;

that King Edward was extremely in certain matters. Perhaps it would be more
llOW

no secret

one of the Stev·en~· heireS5es of Chicago ..

we
II

0:(

I"

40

CO If P

]I

S S ION S:

M.E MOl R8 OF

A ){ 0 D ERN
:

SE E.I'

A few moments later, I heard two people dtering the room. Lady Paget directed her companion!s hands tmough the slits ',lilichj_had been cut in the curtain for the purpose, and at QIlCC withdrew. I proceeded to examine the bands before me as calmly as I would have done if the interview had taken place in my own roo m.s with one of my daily consultants .. The man behind the curtain appeared to be keenly in tereated. Once.or twice he asked questions and occasmnally ~..thdrew his hands i to note the markings for himself, I, too, was becoming more than usually excited. for the lines on the hands point ed to an unusual career. Gradually I began to indicate the important years for certain cb 3tJ8e~ and events, ""ruch appeared to be beyond his control, I had reached the point of explaining the days and dates 01 personal importance when all unexpected incident occurred ilia. t temperer ily lobbed me of my tranquillity. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, I Mid were the most important days of each week for him; his important numbers were sixes and nines ; while the months representing these num bers, beillg March ~I st to April 2Qth, April zrst W May soth, and October 21St to November seth. had contained, and would contain, the most important events
f

'" Strange, ~,said a deep and somewhat guttnral voice, hut that is. remarka bly true." At that moment he allowed his hands to rest too hea vi1y on the curtain. Tbe fastening pins came out, the curtain dropped at our feet-and I found myself looking into the well-known face of the Briti~ Heir Apparent, as he was then. My looks betrayed my feelings, lor} in the kill dest way imaginable, he said: ~~ Yon .have 1]0 need to be nervous . You have done splendidly. Proceed. with this curious and interesting idea of nom bers, ~ be continued, torget who 1 am" and be as much at yQUI" ease a'S yon were belare the curtain so inupl:)OrtuD4:1y lE.!ll.}' His gracious manner would have restored the composure 01 the most nervous pcrsonr Drawing over a small table and procuring some pa.per~ I worked out by my system a diagram sho~~jng wben the most mom en tons events of his life would happeD, and ",1th wba t exacrness they would fa.ll into -c.ertain montbs Qf the )'rAr and not into others .. 1()~ 'We. ftgnred out thf: a.trs.m:D1Dg d.etalls and he bimst\l indkated 't'he. year b9t sa-ylng. ,.. M tru.s iar the onl.y da.te when thtse two curious numbers nut come together, whicll you 'Sayan: the key .. notes of my life ~ I suppose that must ~ tht enri ? ~,
U
j

affecting his life

II ~

How 1al -ofi it~

~ ~

be

By my sydern of numbers the month 01 April. the molIth

in his ~th year when he died,

~V:. ..

xm '¥aU ~

~ he "'jet

~l

with \l~'l
M~~

~t ¥..\~~~Q.

V\ecis\qt\~

~t.M\6.

bad

m which

x·H.:\ Y

V 1V n ~ l K.-\ l] H. \' i: THE ~ ~i ,\:-.. ~) r 1'1, \~ .u. T 'L ~ \~ 1) • \"_.,~.L~ t -~ \- E".S.. -n ~ l.~l EllU ~,- _~, °nl E ,:\.TE HY ~ \ ..r
I.

I \{,

l ~ t.: E
1~

\ E\\"

~1.\H. LUi ~H"ll.:(;t unl'SE I

a F A MOD ERN' SEE R 41 he w~amicted with his fa.tal illness, has from. time immemorial been represented by the nnm.ber 9. The month of May ~in which be died,
1'"

C 0 ~ po E SSt OW S:

)( E If 0 IRS

eq uals I5; I pi us 5 equals 6. He passed away on May 6th, a Friday, which, in the most ancient \VIi tings ~ is also symholi.z.erl. by the number 6~ At ~he conclusion, he thanked me most courteously fM m.y delineations,..rema.rkjng that I had been most accurate in dealing 'With past f.Vent~; even if my prognostications had been of a gloomy nature . .[~ ~ may meet again, IJ he said. 2.5 I took my departure, and he addeCI.JIlusingly, " So six ty- nine will mean ~The End,' ~~ It ,.was some yeiU'S 10.er when I again had the honour of meeting t him aficl he "WaS 5t1 n Prince or ",II'ales, The Boer War had j nst broken out, and thousan ds of Bri fish soldiers were leaving. by every Ship for Sooth Africa. The Princess of Montglyon, who had enjoyed the friendship of the Prince of W ales from her childhood, had tome to London with a [lever scheme lor sending cargoes of biscuits out to the troops. To f ur ther her plans she had enlisted the in t erest of the Pnn ce tan d as she had implici t con f den ce in me, I also had been enrolled to assist her 1n obtaining options from til e, big blsonlt manufacturers of England. One afternoon I was in her sitting-room in the Berkeley Hotel .. engaged in placing before her the details of the options I had been able to secure, when the door opened and the Prince of Wales entered. She was about to present me, when fhc Prince Iaughed. ,~"Vhy this is the man W hu will not let me Iive F.t sixty-nine J ~ ""'hat a pity you are not the Kaiser," she rejoined. ~, He would ahead y have been execn red (or le.~e-mt1.je.JU." A las for her plan s ~ The Prin-ce had called to her fhe War Office had just discovered large stores. of biscui ts that had been over.. iooked, and already several cargoes of them were on the way to the
J J

is similarly represented by a 6. The addition (if the t WlJ figures

or the age 69,

ten

front. A few evenings later, I chanced to be pa~J1g the Marlborough Club

as the Prince was leaving, Coming towards me, he asked me to accompany him, ~.c I should like 10 ha ve an other c~'\t with you about yOtft theory of numbers, he said, Come with me to my library ~where we shall no t be disturbed." A Royal re quest is a R-oyal command, so I obeyed. I t gave me great pleasure to do so ~and I was flattered by the interest the Prince
Jt
04 ~

and proceeded to the ]ibrary. First handing me an excellent cigar ~ and then some pElper" he asked me to work out the numbers" of different people whose birth dates he men tioned. From six o'clock until nearly eightt I calcnla.ted steadily~ nntiJ a message \l"S.5 brought to him that he had to dress for dinner.
,j~

was showing in my study. Together we entered Ma.rlborough House

42

CON P 1!S 5 ION 5:

M E MOl R S 0 F

A ~ ODE R N

s 1£ B R

When, finally ~ he rose to go, he sbook hands with me in a graclOU& manner ~ 1ben., making me light another clgar, he walked with me as far as the hall,. where he held out his hand again and wished me ...good-bye. lJwing this talk, he got me to work out, 'Without my lwowledgeJ the charts of the Kaiser and the Czar of Russia" as well as those o,f members of the British Royal Family; he g~ve me the date of birth, but Dot the name of any person. He was ex t reme ly in terested when I explained the ancien t astrol ogieal theory that countries are mled by planets and divisions of the zodiac. I explained tha.t both Germany and F..ng1a.nd were under the same zcdiaeal :sign-the House of .A.ries-and that as both were governed by the planet liars, these nations were bound 'to fight for supremacy ~ or be in active competition agains t one another, but that the better plan would be to form an alliance together. He was so interested in this idea that he had me write it out for all the principal nations of the world.
7~

CHA.PT£R VI
KI NG
U

EDWARO 's VlSI I ro PARIS. MY ~ERVI-c~g TOWARDS THE ENTE NTE CORDI ALE. " I LA.Ul.\'CH A NEWSPAPER IN THE I NTERE !iTS

OF PEAC'F.-

Edward "t1rJ it may not be out of place if ] relate here how I wa...:;.later instrumental in hclpiDg forward his now famous projec t of the Entente CMdifl~ between En gl~nd an d France, an d, in fact, being, 1 may safely say ~ one of the first promoters of the idea, at least in Paris, I had .naturally never Jorgotten His Majcsty's condescension and kind manner -t owurds me, and when Ii",ing in Paris, shortly after the ~"F~hoda a.ffair) J , which excited so much. French feeling against En.sland~I did my best in my small v..·ay to ensure that at least his name should' be respected at the various meetings and gatherings. I attended. Dlning my earlier education one .of my tntors-an old man who knew the world well---had once said to me: ·( 11y boy, I will give yoo a golden rule for life's rough j Durney . It is this: Do good to those who do good to you: and as for those who do you ha.Tm-bc so-t'Y for ihn', Irick () judgnU'Ht_ f I f you follow this rule, it may not make you a millionaire, but it ..rnI at least give you great satisfactionI had fie vet forgotten my old tutors words; his maxim became one of the f x-ed prine i es of 1 r.y life ~ and ] rnus t admi t I have somep1 times gone to extremes to carry it into effect. The feeling in Paris at the time of which I am 'Writing was so bit1fT against anyone who even happened to ,~look English that I 01ten saw Americans when walki ng thro ugh the ba u levard s hold some American paper prominently in their hands SO that the passers ..by could see that, though they spoke the Janguage_- they yet did not belong to the '" ha tred race of land-gra bbers who had stolen Fashodart~ About this time 1 had purchased and had become sole proprietor of the American Rq!,isUr and A np:la-C~mial lt~ 011£, a newspaper that had been founded during the last years of the Empire and which had the distinc tion of being the oldest paper .p ublished in English Of) the Continent. As this newspaper 1).'"8. S 50 well kn01Al1 and so respected by th.e French people for the irnp art iality of its politics and its continuous efforts to promote a good understanding between the Latin and Anglo-..t;axon races, I conceived the idea that it mi ght be em ployed in some way to cverrome the ha.d fepling alread Y mentioned. I had remarked, like so many others, that although King Edward as a man was well liked and his former visits were continually commented on, yet when classed coliec ti\~cly wi th ~'perUdio us Albion j, he bore quite another aspect. . It therefore cams into my mind that it might be a good idea to
4
J U
].1

OLLO\V LNG the preceding account 01 m.y interview with King

~J

+I-

CONFESSIONS:

MEM:OlItS

OF A MODER.N

SXER

collect together the views of the principal political leaders and pu bile

their opinion would be the reception accorded to him if he should visit Paris at that period ? And if such a visit would not do mnch to allay the bad feeling that existed, and be the beginning of an entente,. both politically and commercially to the ultimate benefi t of both na tions ( Some thousands of these letters were sen t out ~ and in a f.ew da ys~ and rather to my own astonishment replies rome pou ring in front an
JI

Matcsty King Edward had always shown towards France, wha.t in

men as to what, in their opinion ~ would be the reception that King Edward would have if he should 'Visit Paris at that moment. In pursuit of this plan, I. caused a letter to be sent out from the A 111m CtZlI Regisle1' W hich, to put it briefly ~ asked the following questions : That knowing the deep sympathy and profound interest that Ills

parts of France.

And what replies they were, too. Some even went so far as to "rite no less than eight pages of argument either for or against the idea; some replie d very tersely, a mere yes or ~ no, ~t; while '" others were so abusive as to the very idea of a newspaper asking such questions at such a moment tha t my very hair a t times almost stood
11,[

:I Jo

The majority, bov..'"@Vffr spoke of the King himself in terms of respect and admiration and many went so far as to say ~ that~if such a visit were possible they would do their u trnost to make it a personal triumph for His Majesty, even though they might not be able to for~t the last action of la Politiq-ue:. anglaise.~~~
i
j 1

on end,

I II

I made a packet of these lett ers, showed them to him, and asked if he 'Would send them on 10 His J..lajesty .. Sir Edmund) although most c-onsiderate to me, told me frankly that with the tension and bad feeling which existed, he did not believe any goor.l could come from my plan, and so within y packet 01 let t ers, I returned home. About this time I happened to be introduced to 1fonsieur Delcasse, who was then Minister for Foreign Affairs, lIe congrat nla ted me warmly on the attitude taken up by my newspaper, and from what he said, both then and at the second interview ~1 determined to carry out my plan and forward the letters to His Maj(.'"Sty myself. I went thrQugb them very carefully hut I admit I kept back all those that were too hastily or hotly word ed, and which, I am glad to say;! I still have in my possession, especially as many of those who 'Wrote them. have since altered their opinions, an d are to-day staunch Upholders of the etde1i~. So that King Edward might, perhaps, remetn her who his correspondent was, I wrote. in my letter, ~ Your Ma.jesty ma.y perhaps ~
l' I

As Sir Edmund Monson, the then British Ambassador to France, ha d always been ex tremel y cordial to me, wi thou t consulting anyone

CON F E S SIn ::q

s;

M: E :u: 0 IRS

0 It

MOD E R M
t

SEE R

4.5:

the man 'Whom Your Maj esty said would not let you live past siAty-nw," ,.,and so the letters were sent oil. Nearly a month passed. I heard nothing; but meanwhile the A merican ~iste' elntl A ng to- C()loma! W m[,d.contin ned its articles and published most important and favourable letters we had received, and special copies of these issues were sent to alm ost every man of note in the political world in France and England. Many of the leading French newspapers commented on the enterprise of the A meric.an R~st4.,. ~ and quite a large Dumber quoted the published letters and articles in their own columns, One afternoon I received a. message requesting me to tall at the British Embassy, and Irom Sir Emu uud's own hands I received the letters ret urned from the King, with his thanks. for the trouble I had gone to in the matter, ~~ Si r Edmund added: "I n the next :few days you v..-nl· ear that arrangements are being made for His M ajesty"s h
as

recall me

the

It

passed judgment on its far-reaching effect. I must, however, disagree with the .~glowing descriptions given by so many of the 'I warm reception ~, accorded to His Majesty when his carriage first drove through the streets 01 Paris} on May I st ~
U

It would be superfluous for me to make any comment on the visit ' ~itself, for almost every wri ter and newspaper in the world has
It

visit to Paris. J.

1903.

Elys~s were crowded with people, but they were f.or the most part a very silent crowd; very few even raised their hats. Everyone knew that President Loubet and the authorities were in the grea.test apprehension lest at any moment a counter-demonstration should take place, Every preca ut ion th a t could be taken for the K ing' 5 safety was taken and the police arrangemen ts in t he experienced hands of Morudeur Lepine were perfection Itself, Still, all this. could not arouse the en th1t_cri a sm of the people- a people who rather imagined that the vtsi t was just another proof how France
J Fe I~ I~

It is true that the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne and the Champs-

I t was anyt hingJ ill fact, but a. warm, or even a. Inke\Vamt. racaptlon,

had been sold into the mesh of perfidious Albion. ~ *

1 i

THE
About

LAUNCHING
0.

OF THE ., ENTENTE CORDIALE" NEWSPAPER

U

month before the visit,' as it became called in Paris, I thought I would fullow up the success of the letters previously mentioned by starting another newspaper whose title would be more in accordance with political interests, and with this view I fQunded a. paper called the Entr.nk CurJ.ialf ~or ~as its sub-headi ng announced it A J ournal in the Interest of Internat iona 1 Peace.' For this purpose I engaged corresponden ts in the principal capitals of Europe and several editors capable r,f carrying rut its progranune. All went well until ilia evening bMOM. \'It went to press with the first
I ~t

46

CONFESS10NS:

MEMOIRS

OF

MODERN

SEER

numbeT" when an episode took place which was perhaps in itself an omen of the difficulties that beset the path of tbose who, in a wmld of strife, aUOW'tb.emsclV:C5 to dream of peace. This incidentl' although amusi ng enough now to look. back upon yet, at the moment it occurred) almost prevented the bir th of the journal and nearly altered my 0'Wn ideas on the feasibility of the
enterprise .

On ac coun t of the errors made in the English part of the paper by 001" French compositors, we were compelled at the last moment to make the first issue of the pn b licati on through our London offices and so I rushed over :from Paris the night before hoping to find everything in readiness for the press. My principal editor was all Engllslunan who had lived the greater part of his life on the Continent, and who was thoroughly ron versant wi th several foreign languages. Wi t h his Inajestic whi te beard he looked in himself a perfect model for a. Statue of Peace, but at heart he was an incarnation of a thorough British bulldog who mowed hi~ fighting blood. in a second jf England's dignity or righ tecusness was ever called in questionAnother editor VIas a Frenchman who although in the end one of the greatest defenders of the E1!ienie C rndiale yet at tha t time ~~ElS still a little sore over :Fashoda/,I and always ready to bring the question up at the most inopportune moment, The editorial staff in London was com p1ctcd by an Irishman ,,110 ha.d been a war correspondent for the past t hir I years. y The Irishman, t need hardly add, w.as the 4 ~ powder magazine ~t 01
I I I

rU

His faults may have been many but he was one o:f the most brilliant "Titers it has M~ been my lot to meet, No subject was amiss to his rapid pen. I nternational Jaw i0 the history of an Egyptian mummy -all came the same to him if an article was required at the Iast moment, provided that one did not q ces lion a. certain generous allowance crf alcohol that was necessary ~ he said, in order that his main m;~ht see things in their -prQpet light~~· 1n such a combtnation his Irish sense 01 humour was, however) a somewhat serious drawback. In fact, he thought ~ IntematiMltil ..
I
oF
j

the ship-

.i ~

tI

Peace ~~ such a huge joke tha t he neatly spl1.t his sides with laughter
~

street
~Ii

~ ~ ~h\
dOOI
t

fu.~ '\\m£"he sa~'

the sounds oi discord and What's the matter ? 'J I said to the porter.
r
H

m <\.~\on_~

QUI

ambit\olli. mb-title..

~ 1 \tl~c1

he replied: that's all.

With a $ignjfic a.rat grin It's the first night of the Peace journal upstairs sir.
~ ,

u\l. even. at \he strife already reached my ears.

QU.t

m m.y

Quite enough for me, ] thought. as at the moment there came an appaning crash of gIass, and the Frenchman carne tearing down the stairs like a ma.dma.n. In the editorW room it looked as if a cyclone had paid a surpriAt

J'd:,,/tW(-~~v~~ ,-~&z:.paM..Ik.At/adA

(""/~~,,.t~

~'~7~~

CONFESSIONS:

lIEMOIRS

OF

MODERN

SEER

41

visit-proof sheets were flying in every conceivable direetion, my venerable editor had a. nose 90 damaged that it spouted blood like a water-cart, while my ex-war correspondent looked as if '~he had i ust

returned (rom the front.' t I never knew exactly what happeced=for I never asked. ~ A good ~ beginning, ~I was all the Irishman said as he seized a pen and began to dash of( his special article. r4' England, ~ the other end of the table. ~at tried to look dignified; while a. diligent o:ffiee boy ga thered up the proofs and solemnly laid them before me. Not 3. word was said, but for the few hours that followed J must confess no two men ever worked harder in their lives, with the resuh that some of the finest articles OIl the virtues of peace were produced tha t were perha ps ever writ ten on 100 subj ect. The next day the E ntMUe Ccrtdiale. appeared on the bookstalls, and I found ilia t 'We had the honour of giving the King a new title-e-that of Edward the Peacemaker. The first time be was ever called by this. name was in Ute columns (;/ the fi 1St mue oj this jOUrndt. In less than two months the J::nknk Ca,diak was selling well in all purls of the WUI'ld! and letters of congratulation poured in from the most unexpected quarters. Nearly l!VCI)' monarch in Europe 'Wrote to acknowledge copies and. llQ1U fur-rust an t Japan the Mikado SCIl t the expression of his best wishes for its $0 ccess. Finan dally there was, h owever, nothing I ever undertook that ended in such a balance on the wrong side, Prin ted on the best paper. well illustrated, and too well edited" its cost of production every Bl~nth overwhelmed its income J so that after running 'this paper for a little over a year I was glad to stop my experiment in the interests of peace 'f =-and pocket a very he EtV y 109!j fur my pains, And the inconsistency of it uII I While all na tions praised peace they all active1y prepared for war, A certain milli onai re, who got the greater part of his fortune from the manufacture of cannon and armour-plate for ba ttleships ~ ga. ve lrlrge donations to build a Palace of '..Peace 1':0 but no one ever thought of supporting a j oumal dedicated to its propaganda, ·Ui~lomatists were the very last who ever paid their subscriptions, and when they did-it was with a request that their pitt ure might be published in the nex t issue+ In the end I came to the conclusion my Iri-s h ex -war correspondent's joke bad not been far wrong, and that in the great game of politics 1he superb ideal of Intema tional Peace is a dream on!y to be indulged
H '-I
i
jlf

in--lJy tile very rit~,

national Peace. I feel I must add-even at the risk of displeasing those of my TeadeTs 'Who clamour lot the -curt:ailin.@. m the No avy 0\ t"'u.e \In\\en. ~t'a~ %'00 tit ~ntam-\"\:tt..\. 1..\ 1.t:;. ~ great nav ie~ almlft wbitb to-day appear to have the peat...~ of the entire world in their

tAe 11e:y /ooUsh. Before I conclude my humble remarks on this question of rnter-

keeping. 1t is only those "Who like my.:re1f have lived for many

yeaTS

benea th

48

CON I" E S S ION S; X E :M 0 II:. S 0 Ii' A )( 0 D E R!Q' SEE R

the fiags of other nations) wbo can realize what such a power for Peace really means. In a menace o£ war there is only one question asked; t~ 'What mn England do ? ,~ or, ~ Wh()' t will the United Sta.tes ~
do ? '" and it ~ on the answer to that vital question that so much
depends. Among the many letters ] received praising my paper the E1tle7rtfJ
I

CflTtlUzl.e. the one that I prize lIWSt was from Buckingham Palace from King Edward V]I. Vlben the Coronation of His Maj esty was postponed in June tgoa owing to his serious and severe illness ~ Queen Alexan d ra. sen t an equerry "to fetch me to come and see her at Buckingham Palace. Addressing me in my professional name, she said in the simplest manDer possible, ,~, Cheiro, ~ you so: impressed His Majesty many years ago tha t he would not die before his 6yth year, in his now serious o..\Udi t ion I have sent fer you to instil into his mind that his life is good for many years yet. As His MEljesty is now only in his 618t year, you must impress on him. that his present gloomy rears are not justified and that his Coronation, which you predicted for August 'I9C~, will take place as stated by you." .,r Your MajestYIl 1 'Will do my best," ] answered. Very quietly we entered the mvalid's room. The King, looking very paJe and weak, was half :ritting up in bed propped up by pillows+ The Queen gave a sign for the nurse to leave and motioned me to a chair by the side of the bed+ King Edward recognized me at once; in fact, the impression I got "Wasthat be knew the Qneen had sent for me. On a table by the side of the bed lay a sheet of paper, the same identical paper an which he had jotted down my words at that first :interview he had with me a t Lady Paget ~ homc : the date Og was s underlined by a heavy pencil ~m3.I"k,

Almost impulsively I blurted out, r:f Your Majesty need have no fear. I know you wiU live till then. I am -ponti veiy certain 01 it ~ ~, My very ~ancc seemed to do him good, Quite a bright smile passed over his face as he said: Thank you. I hope you are right. I have many things to do before I pass a-way.'~ Then it was I put forth all th~ will-power I could command, Looking him straight in the eyes" 1 said, u Yom :\Iajesty will remember that I worked out many years ago that your Coronation as King of England would take place in August 1902. We are now only at the end of J nne; this illneiS ls only temporary please believe me..~ ~t] am. almost forced to do so," he nodded. Every other date you gaYe me turned out correctly, I jotted them dowa on that pAper.
,j,j I I"

Be nodded and gave me a smile of welcomer In a very weak voice 00 said, rl I am very, very ill Do you still beti~.e I will reach my 69th year t "

II [

CON PES S ION S: .M KYO I R. 9 0 P A II 0 D It R N S B. E B.

49

Tell

number of nines sir:' I replied. I~ I would suggest August gth. The number 9 is your strongest t fadic 'number. You
ymu'
I

the Coronation.' ~

me

what date, then, in August would be the best one to fix: 101'

,~One of

were born on November 9th. From time immemorial in occult studie~. November hu been considered the House of the Nine, or the House of Man .~a.ti1)t; that is why your name will gD down to posterity as Edward the Peacemaker, The month of August is called the Royal Honse of Leo the Lion; therefore August 9th would be the best date
that you could decide on. ~ ~

or anytb inS one pleases, Queen Alexandra sent me a message the next day that my words had. cheered up the King so much that he had slept well ilia t night and showed signs of rapid improvemen t, and that orders had been given for the Coronation to be fixed lor August 9th-the date I had named. The next occasion on which I met King Edward was at the reception given him a.t the British Embassy in Paris at the time of the visit. J ~ I was formally presented to him by the Ambassador" Sir Edmund Monson, among other members of the British Colony. The pre;entation was naturally made under my own name, but 'With that wonderful memory for places. and names which characterized His late Majesty * he immediately addressed me as f' Cheiro ~.~to the great "as tonishmen t
f~

Fearin9' of tiring the Royal invalid, ] rose to go. The King smiled and said, "<Thank you for your visit. You have made me feel better,"
Call it hypnotism

months before his death. He was joining the royal train at Victoria. Station to make his usual journey to the South of France to escape the winter in London. I happened to be going abma.d also and was standing on the platform. as he passed. ] did not for one moment believe that he wouJd notice me) but he stopped and, smiling broadly. said. f" Well, t Cheiro,' I'm still alive, as.you see, but I have not reached that 59 number yet. ~, A lew weeks later he entered that fatal year. By the end of November telegrams were already coming from Biarritz saying that the King's health was causing anxiety, and his own doctor was despatched from London" In a few months His M(ljesty returned to. Bntkingh;un Palace and the public heard with consternation towards the middle of April of his serious illness that was soon to prove fat al, On Friday) May 6th. 1910, in his 69th year ~the first time that the rl fadic " numbers O'f (. and 9 came together in his lile, King Edward VII was l' gathered to his forefa.thers"
11

of Sir Edmund, who. it is quite probable did not know me under my nem rle gume. The last occasion on which r met King Edward was just a f-ew

CHAPTER V1I
THE REASON
~f

THE tAl\f' U DID :NOT INTERnRE WITH ME.. CONVERTED :SIll GE~RGE LEWIS

HOW I

URING my first season in, London, some of the newspapers began printing many articles about me ~ MIne were extremely fiatterlng but some were equally hostile and again called. attention to "the <lid Act of Parlia me Ilt, making out that my
t

suppressed. Questions a.bout me were also asked in the House of Commons, and at last~ one Monday morning ~ I received the visit of a Police Inspector, who politel_y but firmly told me that no steps woukl be taken if on the follows:

profession was illegal" and cBlling

011

the authorities

to have me

followi ng Saturday 1 closed my consulting-rooms. He ""eI}' ron .. siderately left with me a copy of the Act .of Parliament which read as
~II

Aitrology ~ WitchcraftJ or all such works of the devil, is here b y deemed a rogue and vagaburul to be sentenced to lose all his goods-and possessions, to stand for one year in the Pillory, and to be expelled from the coun try ~or to be imprisoned for ll:fe.l' The Ad in question had been made in the time of Henry VIII. probably because the mucb married monarch rs did not wish that his many wives should have any chance to find out there unhappy fate by such aids as Astrology or Palmistry. Alter the passing of such an Act, it is to be hoped that Henry Vill slept in peace, knowing that Anne Boleyn or Catherine Heward would remain in ignorance that ~ the axe • was wai ting far their heads. r History also states that the King blamed Astrology for the rebellion of the Dnke of Buckingham, but whether it was caused by wives or rebellions, in any case this intelligent Act '?) came into being. Under his daughter Elizabeth it fell intu abeyance, due, perhaps. to her belief in the famous old Astrologer and Palmist, Dr. John Dee. and her many visits to consult him at Mortlake. In any case history tells ns that her good Dr. Dee acted for over twenty years as the Queen 's Advisor Counsellcr and Friend, and who knows if the greatness of England to-day does not owe more than anyone may imagine to Queen Bess~' acting on the advice given her from. Palmistry and Astrology of \\rb.icb studies old John Dee was a master of at that time ? In the Lij~ of l)r~ John Dee, published recently by Constable & CD.; London, it is disclosed that this famous Palmist and Astrologer was also eelebra ted for his scientific attainments which were of no mean order. ~~ When Queen EJi'.abeth desired that a statement of her claims to Greenland and ather "COWl~S discovered by Euglish explorers should be made, she turned to Dr .. Dee, who ably fulfilled the task. He also made a map of the Polar regions for tbe Queen. Such W3A the &QJJQ.tJ/. under whose tuition QuMn Eli t.a.beth studied
,j ~

Any person or persons fmmd guilty of practising Palmistry

fi

JJ

III

50

CON F E S S ION

5 ~ ME MOl R S 0 F A MOD ERN

SEE H

51

Astrology and Pa 1m istry, and ,t upon whose powers of divination she relied when troubled by K epler~s Comet. I'
Under George IIr, whose name is handed down to posterity for the loss of America, the old Act was revi ved, and as times may change

and people may change but Acts of Parliament never, so does this law

remain in forte in England to the present day. I had naturally no desire to br.ing down on my head the threatened. consequences invol ... so J gave orders to roy secretary to book no zed, appointments, beyond the end of that week. as on Saturday at six o'clock I intended. to see my last client. Lnever worked harder or did better than during that week, and at six o'clock on Saturday, as far as my plans were concerned, I had

finished my career as Cheiro. ~ Fate, however, which had played such an eventful part in bringing
I! ~
t

into my life actions over which I had no control had evidently planned otherwise. I heard a lady' s voice at the door entreating my secretary to arrange au interview then and there" and so the lady entered. At the end of the in terview, leaning back in her chair, she said: I have always been a believer in this study of hands. I shall have some very interesting people comin g to my h01L~ to-night. What will be your fee to come and demonstrate your wor k r ~, ~r K oth.i.ng, Ma.damJ "1' I said ~ r r absolutely notb.ing; since six: rl clock to-da y), , Cheiro ~ has ceased to exist II but if you will allow me I will give you my services with pleasure, as 1 only want to convince intelligent people that there are some who carry on this study who are neither char latans nor impostors." ,r Thank you ~ she said; you shall have your opportunit y perhaps to-night. Here is m y card, , Mrs. Walter Palmer Brook Street.' I
I
f,j

J~

,j,

will expect you at 9.30.-- ~

The guests tripped up the stairs laughing a.nd talking. The first person they insisted on my seeing was an elderly gentleman whom they addressed as ~ the doctor." ~ ..~The doctor, withou t opening his ~ Iips, submitted fairly gracefully to "the opera tion, )~ and in a few moments I had sketched out the main points of his career the years in which he had made such and such changes, etc. He became in terested, the laughing ceased, and finally when I stopped he said : Well, I have been your grea t es t seept ic and have argued all the evening against such a thins being possible, but I don't care whether you have told me these things by my hands or by my boots! you lfave certainly hit on dares. and things that are accurate, but MW you have done it I do Dot know. u Still," I said.. ,~if you are a doctor this science is all wrong, for
J~ J I, J ..

you are
(I

more fit to be a doctor 1han the man in the moon. ~ W~ sir he said, ,:, what profession by my lines should I then have fono~-ed ? I,
110
I J

II~

52
.. .c

CONFESSIONS:

!4l!UOIItS
t

01'

A. MODERN

SEER

a criminal lawyer. pulling out his card, my visitor saict ,~I confeSs. I think you reslly
It

Only one," ] answered

t«

that of a barrister, or better still perhaps,

well ..known name of

deserve to know who I am ..

On the card he handed me I read the

MR.

GEORGE LRW1SI

Mtet thatJ one guest after the other passed through the ordeal, Mr. Herbert GLadstone~ Sir Henry Irving, his son Lawrence IrvingJ

] waited ~and when she returned she said: ~r: George Lewis says you are working 011 such a totally different foundation from what this old Act was intended to apply to ~that you do not come under it. Yon are to send his card to Scotland Yard and tell them to address auy further communications to him. " 1 ohP.yed these Instructions, The next morning I resumed my professional life) and never again at any time did I hear 01 any interference or talk of this Act of Parliament being applied in my case.
1. ~B

Wait here till I come back,"

night with George Lewis,

and dozens of others, untU finally, at nearly three o'clock a.m., Mrs. P.almer said I must be too tired to do more, and she invited me to call the next day and talk over what she said was ,t her triumph as well as mine. U The next day (Sunday) she said: Yon cannot possibl yo think o r giving up this work," and then I told her of the newspaF. articles which had been sent to me, of the Act of Parliament prohibiting it etc. In her enthusiastic way she said: t~ Y cu made such a success last
Ij:
t

I will run round and ask him his opinion.

SU: George IzwiBt head of tbe f:unous law :lirm. 01 Lewis and Lew is.

CBAPTER

vm
THE

lUNG LEOPOLD OF BELGIUM KELPS Ml!: WITH AN .rill [Rl~ STEW." rNFLUl:NCE OF GABY DESI. VS OVER T\VO KINGS

ISTORY has by 1100" lined up faithfully the foibles. and the foJlies, the shrewdness and the cakulatin g cleverness in finance and diplomacy of Leopold II, King of the B~. I had the honour of reading his hand and revealing to him his length of years. J t was an interesting experience, for King Leopold was a complex man as well as a versatile monarch, During the run of the Paris Exhibition~ I was invited one day to an important lunch gi'\o-eII in honour of Senator Thomas V.r alsb, of Washington, one of the American Commissioners to Paris at that This lu 11cheon was given in the handsome building called the United States Pavilion .. and was attended by the principal Americ.ans in Paris, together with m.anlilotablc French people, had contributed towards making the exhibition the success it undou btedl y was, Mr.. Walsh was an enormously wealthy mining man of the State of Montana, whose liberality had done much to make the American section extremely popular with all classes, After several speeches had been made by the American Ambassador, General Horace Parter, the Commissioner General, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce, and others, the Chairman, for some reason I ha V~ never understood, ca lled on me also for a speech. As 1 Tore to reply King Leopold. who 'NUS a personal :friend of Mr ~ \Va1..:.h~ entered with his aide-de-camp, Count d' Outrsmont, and stood at the door. I cannot remem bel one word of what I said; .all I knOV( is, that at the end I was loudly applauded, and the KiDg sent word that he would like me to be presented to him. King Leopold congratulated me on making what he was pleased to term ,~an excellent impromptu speech .. and added that one of the things he most envied was the power of speech. ~~ The same week, I again met him at a large reception given by Mr. Walsh : .on this eccasien, although there were some hundreds of people present, IIis Majeaty'With his hawk ..like eyes spotted me at the other side 01 the roem, and crossing over held out his hand, at the same time saying : ..r I have been told that you fo flo V,T a very strange and interesting profession. I would like to ha ve your address and perhaps in one of my Ieisure moments I may \V3J1t to avai1 myself of it." [ heard later that many people were amazed at his condescension in talking to me, and I know I suflered in consequence from tlIe iealousy it aroused. Two days later, I was 'Sitting down to an early lunch" when my ~"'an.t ~~ th:a\:. ~ ~., %~~'U\. ~b&l 'hID. %ta'\. teRmblanee to tlle King ~l Be1gium.~ 'Was in th& salon, waiting to see we. ThrOUP the dining-room door, to my amazement, I AaW that my

moment.

v.w

I)

3l

54

CONFESSIONS:

KEMOIRS

OP

A NODERN

!;It.

visitor was indeed none other than King Leopold, and hastily f!nterlng~ 1 apologized for the smell of lunch that pervaded the apartment. He stood Upj hie great height towering over me. \~ery gril~ely he laid: Ir Monsieur Cheiro,' I want you to do me a favour, I am sure I smell. Irish stew; it is a dish I al",·ays relish, so do me the favour of asking me to help you with it," ,. But-Your Majesty I~ I stammered. There are no buts "When ] want anything, he laughed, so don 't let us allow the dWI to get cold=believe me, there is nothing I wonld like better. ~ Fortunately the stew was reaUy a good one, for my .' French cook happened to be an Irish woman, united in marriage- ta a chef at the Ca.f~de Paris, and Irish stew was to her a kind of sacred memory of all that was best in her Motherland. III a few min utes, we sat down to the ta ble and my illustrious. visitor did full justice to my Irish diM. I found His Ma j csty of Belgium was enormously interested in the United States, and as I had traveD.ed all o.~ it, many were the questions he asked me about its marvellous development and. also about the different Americans I had bad the good forttme to meet ~Me there, After a cup of coffee and some cigarett~.s~ we adjourned to my consulting loom. and I explained. the lines ~, in his long and b ighly intell igent ~looking hands. JIe became apparently interested in w bat 1 told him; a good. hour had aIrea.dy passed, the clock on my table struck four o'clock. He started up abruptJy~ ~~I cannot stay Jonger," he said, 'but I want to hear more. \\ihen can you come to me at Laeken Palace? To-day is Tbursday-I leave to-morrow for Brussels; can you come on Saturday at six in the evening ~ 'Jo "'iib. kingSi to hear is to obey. Full up though I was ~tth en~ements, I decided to cancel them at once+ The magnetic personality of this moaareh, at the time the most-talked-or King ill Europe griRped me with intense fascination. _, ood he ~ G alter I had mapped out my movements, I shall expect yau at six. Take this u--hc placed a card in my hand-« ,~~t this to the offi.cer of the guard at the Palace and you will be admitted. without question. 'h1.th tills he shoot out ot the room. 1 made a. fast 10'tl1'he'y from. Paris. and arrived in the Belgian capital in ample time to keep m'y a.ppointment. I found Lae ken a fine-looking
I U

i)

j~

t ~~

~£

j;l

~~,

m.oon ~\1 -.;~ ~ ~~ m %~~lC'lllnded b'Y bcautu.ul woods. I mw my wa)l W the main entrance, was stopped by the JUUd~ handed over to an officer, and quickJy ~
iI

found that the. card gIven me ~Y the King was an OPt1f. SesaffU'4 On the stroke of SlX:. I was seated in a wall room, plainly furnished and not unlike an ordinary hotel sitting+I'ODm.

CONPESSrO!iS:

KEJlOIRS

0 P A MODBRY

SEaR

55

Suddenly one at the inner doors opened and His Mat~~ appeared. He was dressed very simply in a moming suit and smo · g hls eternal cigar. He bade me come into his study and qnieldy made me fee:l quite at home. For some minutes the conversation turned upon the British Royal Family. ODe remark I can repeat ..as it was so shrewd : When King Ed "'1II'd gets his t head ill foreign affairs, he will be a big surprise. He is a bam diplomat, " He also made some penetrating remarks upon the chat acter of the Duke l>f 1.... nOW King George V. OIk~ I was amazed to see bow closely the Belgian King had studied various
I

ofl

Yon are hungry; you must have something to eat." J protested that I required nothing, IrK onsense, he replied getting up an d tonching a bell. fly 011 gnve me an excellent Irish stew ' in your house, you shall now have one in mine." As he said this-and 1 must confess I thought my ean deceived me-he laughed his peculiar sardonic croak, and repeated again in commanding tones that had a touch of foreign intonation: ~~J wi II sl1ow yen~ how to make OJ1P ~ it is my fa VOllr:l te di~n ~" I certainly was not prepared for the gastronomic exh.ibition that followed~ and incidentally I may reveal that I stumbled upon one of the most curious Royal hobbies, For in response to the ring, a servant appeared. fe Kitchen I was the curt word, and the servant vanished. This servant, by the way was an ex-guardsman, a Scotsman, who had been for some years in the service of King Leopold. ~,Come with me, said the King, rubbing his han ds, 1 followed him into a small kitchen. wonderfully fitted up with every device for cookery ~ and entirely dominated by electrlclty. On the side of the electric range a copper pot "as gently simmering ; going up to it His Maj esty took qff the lid and sniffed the savoury
f, tI J f ;lJ t J)

Royalties~ ] had expected to be CAlled upon t 0 give His Majesty another demonstration of my art of reading hands, but to my surprise, he sudden Iy said :

smell with evident sa tisfact ion+ I t was while he "~S earn estly engrossed with the task of watthing tIre s tew, that I wa.s .amused- I hope the expression is .not disrespectful ~to learn that the King of the Belgians oft en cooked his OWII supper.
tt

I'm so tired of the elaborate d.islu:s cooked by the ehcl,..~he told me] '~and have no intention of digging my grave with my teeth. To this end some time ago, J thought out the idea or doing rom e cooking m~li. I have frmnd it real tun. and 1 am gDing to sa:y that nobody can (A\QK bet~ lNb. ~\.~ ~ \ ~:a,.q:
t I

1remam.M. $~t

is

gossiped in European courts, and when be came to Brussels as Prince of Vlales_,my chefs vied 'With each other in. preparing wonderful dishes. But most of thew were passed by. ~I
:.10

~.-s it true, I

Cheiro,' that King Edward is a great gourmet?

II

'Wll.en suddenly he

adam ~

It

Edward was e~ simple in bia taste, and ] repeated the anecdote concerning the occasion when ~ as Prince of Wales~ he 'N3.S asked to dinner by Lord Randolph Churchill and consented on ronditions: II., Churchill, yon must give me liver and bacon." The King of the J3e.1gians laughed heartily at this" With such light -crm.~tiont the time went on until the stew was ready" His Majesty poured it out in to: two dishes and there and then sat down, His Maj esty opposite to me at a small table in ths kitc.JwH. J can hone!5tly Ray that it was the most perfect ITl~ stew I have ever tAsted. It was a curious introduction to a seance with Royalty. Afterwards we returned to the smoking-room again-for such I found it was-and after he had pressed me to have something to drink, he began : 14 Now, ~Cheiro,' ] want you to cont inue the examination of my bands from where yon left oft the other day. I have heard from s.w.eral S01lI"C.eS of yonr .remarkable skill in predictions of dea th-daYSt and important dates in life. I want y'on to tell me of any striking events that you see, and anything that portends in the Dear future . As he uttered these words, the KingJs manner became very serious; ] felt that he realized that the sll.»dow of ~ The End J' was creeping ~ over his long reign, and that he hall dreaded, yet longed, to peer into the Future.' Vlith this he laid his strong II masterful hands upon 3. small cushion, and remained absolutely silent while ] again made a careful examination of the clearly marked lines in his hand, Sixty-two years of crowded life seemed indexed on the right palm; while on the Ieft r sa.w gra ved the heredit ary pointers ilia t told their O~Tnt ale of the inherited OR ture, the weak. and strong points that are just as visible on the palm of Royalty as on any other hand, Born son of a king known as the t, beloved Uncle of Queen Victoria •~ {Leopold I) J he inherited to the full the peculiarities Qf the SaxeCoburg-Seafeld d}'Da:sty; proud ~obstinate, strong in love and in hate. 1 must contess that as I studied the maze of lines that confronted me, I became Iascina ted with my Sll bj ect, until .at last I involuntarily
.Il1 II: ~

56 CON F E S Ii J 0 " .. : II. E • Q IRS 0 F A It 0 DEB If 9 E: E R t, was able to assure His Majesty that so far as I had heard. King

exclaimed ~ rO! A wonderful hand 1 It holds what it grasps J J,. ~r No futtmy, 'I Mplifd the King sternly. Sir," I saidJ 11:1 if your hand was that Qf a peasant I should say the
rl!

Congo exploitation has been atlmowledged to be a masterpiece of higb

I t showed not only remarkable in telligence ~ but above all, the power of acg14iMOff. It need hardly be explained that the King~5 cond net of the Belgian
II ~

same," I explained to him the peculiar significance of the Line of Head

.so clearly marked across the centre of the palm.

inanc.et

&t t.ti1. me," he. aa\d~ n my -p1:ryPlea1 condition."

CON F E S S ION S!

II It MOl R S 0 F A W 0 D B R N S 'E E R

.51

As briefly RS I was able, I explained that the indications pointed to remarkable lung dev&opment a sound nervous system... while the heart and circulation were excellent 1 may state that it js beyond dispute that upon the palm of the hand is graved a chart of health, which is clMely described in the many books I have written on this
t
r

study, then f~ Quite sound

h e ques ttone d i!.--! ng hls I · , lVi..J :IS I.mpenous eyes upon my face. I paused, for I saw written there one fatal def~t which ] knew must soon bring the Royal fram.~ down to the dust of
:I

ehe'trO , ?

JJ

you will, I fear, bcfure long develop some serious trouble in connection w.ith the digestive system and internal organs." ~t That is your revenge for bern g made to eat Irish stew in a. Royal palace, ~J he laughed. Yon are wrong, ~Cheiro, ~I can eat anything.' ~ ] let j t pass and went on to other rnatters, When, two years later ~ on Decem her 17thJ, 1909J death called for the King at his palace ~ the official bulletin gave the cause of dissolution as -a c(}mplde b7e4kdown CJj tiH digestive {)rgan:i1' anrl i-ntestinaj obstruc.tiGn~ I passed over the matter of his various love affairs, and the dark
l~

dissolution. Not quite," I said diplomatically;

,t

,j,

been more cursed in their matrimonial life than Leopold. 11. His A ustrian wife was estranged from him; his h EdT the Duke of H alnaut died of consumption; his daughter Stephanie was involved in the tragedy of Meyerling whereby her husband committed suicide; whilst in his later days, only one of his children, the Princess Clementina, would come near him, What are my years 1 This was the next question shot out in his commanding voice. I knew that the birth date of His Maj esty was April 9th, I83S and I had dread Y made the calcul ations necessary for divi fling the predominating positi on of the planets when he came in to the world. The prevailing influences were favour able for success in business under .. takings,. but decidedly unfavourable for matters of aft"ections, Actording to my computation, the figure 9 was the key numeral in the life of His Majesty of :Belgium. It would take up too much space to show how astoundingfy this figure dominated his whole existence just as 6 and 9 were the overruling figures of Ki.n.g Edward. I \Va!; certain that 1909 was King Leopold's I~ fatal yea.r~u and probably at the end of the year, as the planetary conditions would then be unfa.vouTab1e to him, I asked him point.blank if be wished me to give an opinion. ,I yes~" he said, why not ~ I then said : '~I should predict 1909 as being a year of greate8t import to Y'OlD' pb.y&eal health, and the utmost care should be taken all through that ~t 'Year.'·
t 1 J,j
IJ

cloud that had settled over his demest ic affairs,

Few monarchs have

rt

II

58

CON F E S 9 ION S:

M E MOl R. !3

0F

A MOD E. R N

SEE It

of his, and I have often wondered whether he remembered my prediction, in that solemn momP.nt when he saw Death a ppreach him on
Leopold brushed aside my prediction concerning I909; nervously sensitive upon the sub] ect 01 his heal th.
I

by water, He laughed and said: Don't you. know, Cbeiro/ that I am to die at the hands of a London mob ? ~~ This was a fixed idea
fi" I

I may here observe 1hat while I believe a man' s Fate is, as the Eastern saying puts it, ra bound invisibly about his :forch-ea.d when be enters this Vale of TeaTS, t yet it is possiWe by knowledge to avoid the il l-effects of un favourable aspects of the planets. Thus I warned "'''. T. Stead years before his death by drowning, that a certain month in a certain year was highly dangerous to him should he be tra.velling
t

the sinking

Tit"'"'.

for he

'NiW

death of a Continen t Ell monarch before long ~ and I believe it will. be the King of the Belgians. At the time there was DC hint that Leopold was failing; in fact) the official newspaper reports gave his health as excellent. But on the 15th came the news that he was ailing; on the 11th be died sndden1y. The post-mortem revealed the cause of death to be intestinal trouble .. I cannot reveal all the conversa tion that followed, ] t has been said that Leopold was a harsh father and a hard taskmaster to his Congo workers. But J may chronicle that he fan nd abiding happiness in his companionship with the Baroness \.,angh:ln---some recompense after the extraordinarily unhappy scenes that made up his married life~ and culminated in his qnarre1s y;ith most of lris family • .After an .interview lasting nearly two hours, we w-ere interrupted by the appearance of a short. stou t, remar 1m.bl Y handsome lad y~ to
I~

In Decem her 1909. on the :roth 01 the month I happened -to be turning up my notes on this interview at Laeken ~and observed to a friend in London: .• I should not be surprised if there is news of the

whom I was introduced.

Parliament, she was not regarded as Queen; it is not correct, however, to call the match a "morganatic marriage. She was a very great comfort to the monarch in his dedjn fig days, and was with him to the last. As the King evidently did not wish the Baroness to remain, she very tactfully left the room, and His Majesty went on ta discuss wi th me my system of nnm bers and lucky and unlucky days.l He disclosed that he was a shrewd Bpeculatat on the Stock Exchange. and wanwd to knOVl what his ~~ lucky days were. I explained to him exactly which ~7ou1d be the most favourable times for matters connected with money] and be carefully noted down all I told him. I lefl His Majesty of the Belgians feeling that I had been in the
J~

This was Baroness Vaughan, Leopold was said to have gone through a marriage ceremon y with this lady some time before; but as the ceremon}i' was nat recognized by the Bfigian

Vt~~ fuat ~

m a "Vtt? 1~\ia"\l\e
I

na"lQ"etnaue mm su~iu1
8y$kuIL

lUat\,.

ooe. m

in many wallts o1life~ it he had

u

~w\i\ta~mm;

ThiB

ia ~~

fa.lly in ~, bdtu'. C

B~L'J.: oJ N.... b" ••

CON F E 8 S ION S ~

:u:: E l!l 01

HS

aF

A MOD ERN

SEE R

.59

not been born beneath the purple, He had a clear brain, great power of concentration ~ inti.exible will amounting to bardness, and real gift s of diploma-cy. Against this must be set his predilection fer the fair sex, which caused his freq uen t visits to Paris in his later days to amount to a seal) d:1 tIn this connection I cannot forbear touching upon a rather interesting visit [had from a lady whose name is still ramsm bered with affection. I was in my apartment at Paris one morning when I received a visit from a heavily veiled woman. On examining her hands, I saw certain lines that are un usual in denoting influence of remarkable men ef the highest rank. "As I have explained before, akin d of elairvoyan t pict ure oJten appeared in my brain during my consultations. t, MadAme ~ there must be considers ble perplexity in your mind at the present time, for you have excited interest in the hearts of two men, both much older than yourself" and who have the means to gratify their wishes. I' I hesitated, and she said in a singularly sweet shirk, Ch.eiro J J from telling me everything. t, These two men both wear a crown, but up to now, you have repelled them. both. n She removed her hands frnm the cushion and pot them up to bP.T ve~ed face..as though to control ber thoughts. Then she said in 3. low votee ; t~ My name is Ga.by Deslys. You know all about me by repute at this time She was making a triumphant success at the Folies Bergeres in Paris=-" I have had invitations to supper from both King Ca rlos of Portugal and King Leopold of Belgium. I do not wish to seem di scourteous, or refuse what is practica1l y a command, but I do not know what to do: up to now) as you say~ I have kept free from
Ir I U
r

VOICe :

no not

t_

both.'~ The more I studied the palms of this talented dancer. the greater was the sense of bewilderment ] experienced. For here was one .of those radian t creatures of "Sunlight, born to delight thousands yet as surely doomed to sadness and premature death. All those who knew
t>

tbis

enchanting woman intima tcly, know that she was s.ingulilrly unselfish and anxious to help everyone who was in trouble. But death beckoned her away at the zenith of her career I saw, too" that here was one of those women destined to cause the formation of events of far-reaching import ance, It is n a secret that the open riviliy between Carlos oi Portugal and Leopold of Belgium} M, to ..,.1llch could 'Shower the greatest attention upon Gaby Deslys. when she rose to triumphant fame, was most unfa.vourably commented upon in the Press of both countries. The assassination of Carlos and his heir marked the culmination of this revulsion of respect for the House of Braganza. Ga by Deslys was one of those lovely but fatal womert born to set in motion many CtIITe11tsleading to trou hIe ~
+
fI

:0 l'

60

CONtESSIONS:

JtI£llOIRS

OF

A MODBRN

SEER

The extraordinary mystery concerning her birth and who she really was- has never been cleared up.

Hundreds of thousands of people the world over have seen her on the stage. Her photograph has been published in every c-ontinen t, yet no one has come forward with any definite proof of whete she Wa:i

After her death persons rose up like mushrooms from almost every country claiming that they were relatives of the celebrated beauty but as she had left a fortune of same hnndrads of thousands, it rna.y

born.

have been the cause of such universal interest. These ctaims, however, were never proved and have only increased the mystery, Gaby herself always avoided the subject by merely saying there was a mystery about her birth and that when the right moment came she would herself disclose who she was------but that 11'MJment 1Mve1 cams. During the last Wax when she was ph yins in Lon don and \\1len everyone was more or Jess suspect," a woman in very bad elrcumstances turned up claiming to be her mother but instead of being welcomed as under the circumstances ODe might expect, she was denounced by Gaby as an impostor and ordered to leave her hotel. This. woman retaliated by saying she was a native of Hungary and that Gaby had been hom in that country. 1r this bad been trne ~ the famous beauty would have been mined and probably interned as an enemy alien. Scotland Ya.rd in vest igated the story bnt decided there was nothing in it" and Gaby's public career went on ~
f~

On her return to Paris, in view of the persistent rumours set afloat by many war ..maddened persons, Gaby suddenly produced what she called ~ her real mother.' ~ This woman ~ who called herself Madame r Cairet actually produced a birth certificate to prove that she had a. giI1born in Marseilles at almost a date th.at might have fitted in Vtith Gaby~s age. She told a story of hew out of her small s avings made from selling papers and maguWCi~ she had educated and tra ined her brilliant child. With the advance of the Gennan Anny on Paris no one had time to investigate the story and Gaby was accepted as French, Tbls woman remained in Gabyls, su.mptuous apartment for Mme time, but .. hen the War ended. a clerk of the Bureau of Records at
j

before.

in the star's dressing-room in ene of the Paris theatres and claimed her as her daughter" Gaby filnted when she saw her ~ whatever happened. no one knO'R5; the woman disappeared and was never
'bard ot agam. One I)f the mathers turned up just after the \Ve.r and told

From this out it is said that the certif caw bad become mislaid and .nothing more was heard about it. A third equally unknOWD woman put in an appearance me evening
mother and child,

Ma.rsei11esdeclared that the certificate of birth belonged to another

newspaper interviewen that Gabyls rae! name was Fraulein Navratei.

c 0 ~... E S S ION S ~ 14 it MOl R. S 0 It A F

NOn E R. N

SEE

61

and that she had bean born in Htmgary, but as she brought forward no proofs to support her statemeDt" this sensation died out,

Later still...three sisters turned up in Paris from Portugal. claiming that Gaby was born in their house aqd had been lridDapped by gipsif'J6. They told the story of a meter-car stopping one night at their cottage a handsome~ splendiilly dressed woman entering ~ depositing a large sum of gold on the table before them. and saying: or. I am your Iittle sister." Later, they said they recognized from the pictures published in the papers that the uaautlful Gaby Deslys was the perron who had visited
I

sideration, Later still, l"' a sister amved from the Argentine: her principal proof consisted of a photo of the beantif ul dancer across which was 'Written: I~ To Lucia __ from her little lost Sister Gaby. '" Handwri ting experts ha vc agreed that this inscription must have been written together wi t h the address on the packe t by the famous star. The postmark was from Paris and the date coincided with a time when she was filling one of her engagements in that city. Another rumcur that after her death spread over the Continent was, instead of bP.ing of hurn ble birth, it was til e exact opposite" that her mother 'NaS a Royal personage, and tha.t Gaby knew well who she was, but preferred to protect her mothers name end sc canied the secret with her to the grave. The only thing 1 can sa.y is that she had exquisitely refined, aristocratic-looking hands, Heredity holds good in the breeding of human beings as it does in the bleeding of horses-perhaps after all the last mystery story may be the true one in the end.
tt

Another so-called mother an d a sister t urned up from Egypt. Tbcir story was that C~ was born in Cairo, that her father \VaS 3. Turk; that it was a sister "no was born in Marseilles! and that the real mother had gi veil her birth certificate to Mac.hunt! Caire fur 11 con ..

them.

CHAPTER IX
INIEBVmws W1m TUI!. CZAll OF RUSSIA. now I 'PORElOLD: HIS FAn. J MEET RASPUTIN AND PREDICT HIS DEATH

seer, ~Cheiro,' and it was from him he heard that war would be fatal to him and his immediate family; hence his famous Peace Rescript. J I can now add a little more that may be interesting to my readers in this connection. I related many tim~ in Press interview6 haw the late King Ed",-ud VII, when Prince of Wales, in hls library at 1larl· borough House ~ got me from six 0'cloc k IlIltil eight one evening ~ to work out for him the birth dates of quite a number of persons wi thont giving me any clues to their positions in life. About a year later, a gentleman called on me one afternoon and producing a sheet of paper covered with my own writlng. asked me to explain my reasons for saying that .t~ whoever the man is that the~ numbers and birth date represent, '"111 he haunted an his life by the horrors of war and bloodshed; that he will do his utmost to prevent them, but his Destiny lVBS so intima. tely associated with such things, that his name w ill be bound up with sum e 0 f the mast fat -rc aching and bloodiest wars in history, and that in the end) about 191'7) he will lose all he laves most by sword or strife in one fonn OT another J and he himself will meet a violent death, My visitor did 110t tell me he was the person the paper referred to, but he took copious notes. of my explan at ions an d at the ell d 0-£ 1he in te:rvie",- paid the usual fee for my time and left. A Iew ,...eeks later . a Russian lady calledJ and among other things told me that the Czar had called on me lately and that I had profuundly Upset him by my predictions . -~You have made a peaM convert of our Czar," she: said, ..... I do so not think we "Will :find his name associated with war in any shape or form." In 1904~ when I was In SI . Petersburg on an important business matter I again met this lady ~ She was dressed .in deep mou min g for her only son killed in the Russo-Japanese \~lar, and I shall never forget how) in bidding good-bye. she said. '~But there will never be another war in which Russia will be engaged. at leas t not as long as Jt OUT Emperor li Yes. A levi days later while in St. Petersburg. I was asked to work out the figures for one of the most prominent Russian Mini.sters Monsieur ]svolsky ...and an intimate friend oj the Czar, In this forecast for him of the following years I wrote : ~'Dun ng t 9 T4-- I917 you will be called upon to pta y a role in connection with another Russian war which will be ten times more important than the last. In this, the most temole war that Russia has ever been engaged in, you .,.111 again
1J

OME few years ago a London paper mentioned that .,~ when the Czar was in Eng] and, he :freq uently consulted the famous

play a very responsible part, but I do act think yoa ,rill be fated to see
ti;!

CONFESSIONS:

)[E:MOIIlS

OF

A .MODER.N

SEX.R

63

the end of it. Y 01], yoursel1J will lose everything by this coming war and will die in poverty in a strange Iand.' A week later I was t aken on t by this Minister to see the Czar' s Summer Palace at Peterhof. He first drove me through the wonderful gardens surrounding it. Below us lay the private yacht with steam up and ready at a. moment's notice jf the Czar had reason to escape from. the country. •~What a terrible v;ay lor the Csar to live, n I exclaimed. Yes,' His Excellency replied, ~ bnt this is Russia. You did not r notice perhaps that this car we have driven in has not an atom of wood in its structure, it iii aU ned anti brmlb-p,oo f . Jus t then we passed the famous watc.rla.ll of the golden steps, sheets of crystal water fto"ing over wide steps of beaten gold. V/hat a Ja nd of contrasts, I thought. As we drove near the Palace, my friend the Minister said ~ I I will now tell you that I have brought you cut to dine wfth the Czar to-night. 1 do not know if the Czarina will be present, but i1 she iS I want you to avoid .aJJ subjects tont:hing on occultism. She may very likely recognize YOU as has all your books sent her from London; but remember, I shall depend on you to change the subject as quickly as possible should she talk abou t pre dicti ons, or her dread of the fu ture, or anything of that kind" With the Czar however, it is quite another matter; I haw told him. of y.Qur gl-Oomy predictions for me. he bas asked me to 'bring you, and afrer dinner he will probably take you "With him in to his private study.· ~ II But, Your Excellency * H I said, ~,how can I possibly dine with the Imperial Fnmily like this--a blue ser?e suit will be impossible." ~.On the contrary," he laughed it win be quite all right. We will dine in a private apartment with probably one servant to serve U~. I am in a blue serge suit myself, and it would not surprise me if His Imperia] 11ajesty ~the Czar of All the Russias, will not be in blue ;Serge afso. as it is by his own request we are coming in this informal
!I I~ t .I.I

me

~~'II

an officer of the Imperial Guard met us. After passing tbrottgh one long corridor alter another we were shown into a beautiful room that looked like a library . At first I thought we were aJooc" but no. There, seated in an easy chair by the wmdaw ~was the Czar of All the Russias, looldng for all the world like an ordinary English gentlema n=-and reading The Tim,u;) tool ITQID. London+ I stood still as if riveted to the floor. I could not make a mistakebefore me was d.eci.dedly the same man who had vW.Md me in my consulting ..rooms in London many years before. He carne forward with his hand out. 1 bowed, but he took my hand all the same. We walked over to the willdow and looked out over the gardens and down to the beautiful yacht moored nndeme ath. There W'B.S nothing worth recording in the conversation that £oUowed; the three of us SIno-ked
I

At this moment the motor stopped at the door of 'the Palace, and

6.4

CONJ'EBSIONS:

IIEMOI1I!S

OF

A J[ODERN

SEE1I:

R"ujan cigarettes. one after the other l and as the clock struck eight, a door opened and dinner was announced. At that moment the Czarina entered. She simply bowed to the Minister who was with me, then to me, and we went in to dinner .. His Exrellency had been right. It was indeed a private dinner and 'fIithout any ceremony whatever. Her Majesty wore. a kind of semi.. evening dress, but with no jew~ except one magnificent diamond at her throat. There was nothing ex.traordinazy about the dinner; the zadcouskies were numberless, the sturgeon was excellent, but the rest was like. what one would expect at any gentleman's house. 1 had no difficulty in avoiding questions on occultism fmm Her Majesty-sbe hardly spoke, in fact she did not seem to notice me. She appeared very distraught, spoke of Alexis a few times to the Czar, and the moment dinner WI.$ fuU!ihed she bowed to us in a very stately way and left the room. When we had finished our coffee and cigarettes, His Majesty said some 'W'OMs in Russian to the Minister-it '9ai"3S the only time I had heard Russian spoken all the evening" for the conversation had been entirely in English. and F rench, and mostly in English. As we lett the dining-room His Excellency "hispered~ Ii" Go with His Maj~tYl I will come back for you later." I did what I was told and soon :found myself in a. rather odd-sha.ped room alone with the Czar. This room was" I expect, his awn private study. as it led into a very handsome bedroom wbich I eQUId see through the door ~ and from it the Czar later came (Jut with a large Jeather case in his hands. Taking a small key from the end of his chain" he opened the case, and to my amazement laid on the table by my side the identical sheet of paper with my own writing and numbers on it which I had jotted down in King EdWU'd s libraty~ and had seen once again in my consulting-rooms iII the hands of the man !lOW' sitting opposite to me, The Czar saw my look of surprise. Pushing across the table at which we were seated a very large box of cigarettes-the box looked made of solid. gold 'Rith the Imperial Arms of Russia set in jewe1s-he said 9lowly and impressl\''ely: ..~ I showed you this paper once beiore. Do you remember 1 .;> I gasped 'With astonishment . Yes, I did indeed remember. And I knew the words on the paper were the terrible words of impending
1

fate.

".Do you I"eJe-ogttiu your writing? ""be (Uked ,~Yes, Yonr Majesty, I answered" rl but may I aU: how that paper aune into your possession 1u .. King Edward gavc it to me .. and you confirmed what it contained ~ when I called on you in London some yeaTS ago, although you certaiJUy did nut know who your visitol was, 'Y. OUI written. ~ to
~I

lsvo~

'Oears out ~na\ is i\'~tu. thls mttt en~ 01\ there an two other lives I want you to WOl'k out~I" ~

II

1~

passed between us that evening in his study in the Summer Peterhof. Sufficient to say that M: kn~w--that he was a. fated At his request, I worked out before his eyes the charts of lives he asked a.bout: both showed the same thingJ that
j"~

6S I gave the Czar my word of honour that I would not reveal '\vha.t
CON F E"S B ION S: .. E )[ 0 I B. 9 0 F A. X 01)

It aN SIt! R

Palace of

two other
I

monarch ..

overwhelmed by dark and sinister influences that pointed to The End.' '''1 I was amazed at the calm. \\"ay in 'Which be heard my conclusions; in the simplest 'W'ay he said : t r , Cheirn,' it has given me the deepest pleasure to have thil C<JDversation with YQll.. I admire the way you stand by the conclusions you have arrived at.~ t He rose, we went out and joined Isvolsky on the terrace. Beneath us on the summer sea, the Imperial yacht lay like a pa.inted toy, by my side stood His Imperial MajE:sty, the Czar ot All the Rnssias, the Anuinted Head of the Church and the ,t Little Father " of his people. and yet even then there were outward and visible sign! that all was not right ,vith the heart of Russia. A short time latex I was awakened one morning in my hotel to be told by a police officer that on that day from rune o'clock until midday, no one would be allowed to look out of any windows having a vieW' on the Nevsky Prospect. His Majesty the Czar was about to paM to dedicate the church built over the spot where his predecessor had been ass assin at ed. Every window was closed and the slatted wooden shu t ters bolted. I could not resist the temptation "When in the distance I heard the procession coming nearer and nearer. I crept across the Boor on my hands and knees, to where one of the slats did not :fit closely. What a sight it was-from that third-floor window. The Czar's ca.rriage surrounded by the Imperial Guard swept past r apidl y~the long Nevsky was lined by troops so close together that they were shoulder to shoulder ke two walls of armed men; but, 'Yt1lS it possible to believe one' s eyes each soldier had his rifle pointed at tbe windows of the houses along the ron te, 'With orders to fire if any person disobeyed the order and looked out-and yet we hear that '~the Uttle Fa.ther was loved by his people. On another occasiOIl1' a f-ew months later, when the first snow of winter made the stree ts almost impassable. I met a procession of some fifty men lIIitb a few women handcuffed together ~ driven to ~ station to be entrained for Siberia. They had been arrested at their work, some were in shtrt-sleeves, some in their overalls~ but just as they were, thef were being marched. through the streets TlJ'ith. 1M tMrmometct at IS tl8f?88~ beto. zero. As H it were a funeral that \\Tt\S passing, m.y drosbky driver held his

1917 WU

J.

l" ~

1:.

l.Wd:.. l.'rtht \'fl7. ~

1I4:u.1:cll
1. 5th. .. 1."')t:.,..

~ ~olot;iou.. AWl.eation Qi the C2ar. J'Q1y IMht ':19181 the Cur aAd. ~ F'I:lnll1' ~

66

COltP.lSSIO!iS:

KEliOIRS.

OF

A 'MODERN

SEER

fur cap in his hand and made the Sign of the CI'OM--lnvolnnta.rily I did the same. Neverlbeles.'ii.. the gay and gorgeous We of the Court o£ Petersburg pulsed. merrily OD ~ There were balls, dances. dinner parties t and
assemblies;

some lordly

there was bAtdly an evening but I was whisked off to

Dl8nsion

to see me. The black-bearded burly statesman, who tried to rule Russia with a rod of iron, at first pretended to be indifferent when 1 suggested I would examine big hands.. He became interest ed when 1 5hO:\\T~d him the broken Line of Life that was marked clear and distinct on his right hand. ] foresaw a violent death. He laughed at my fears, he told me be was guarded night and day by the agents of the O&lwana or secret police, yet it is a matter uf history that he was shot down through the trea.clJ.ery of one of the secret police whom he em ployed.! One day the M.onk came to me. Cheiro,' he said, ., I want to bring to you a colleague of mine
til
~J, l

emphaticaUy made up the X'Uling class. One day there came to my hotel one of those traV1:1Iing menks so often met with in Russia ~ this man was a close friend of the Monk Heliodor, who 'With Hermogan, Bishop 01 Saratov, bad great power in all eccle.sie stical matters .. Beliodor himseU was a cultured, gen tie mystic, who was deeply learned in occult matters. The Monk ~ w ho called on me said that Keliodor had exercised considerable influence oyer the Czar and was profoundly interested in the study of the Kabalistic Syste m of Num .. bers, together with Astrology. Several times he came in to have a talk with me, and 011 one occasion be brought the ill... fated stal ypin
I I

soldiers and naval officers" diplomatic figures. and those

to meet beautiful Russian waDlmf highly placed

,·ho tbtm

~II II

II

sitting-room. door and behind him strode a fi gure that could not fail to make a powerful impression upon me. Ilabited as a kind oi peasant monk, corresponding to the old"time wandering friars in England, he walked with long strides across the carpeted i100r~ halted in front of me, and speaking a few words in very bad French, then rapidly in Rl tWan, which Heli dor translared, scQrnfully said something' to the
I

who seems to have extraordinary oocttlt powers, For reasons of my own, I want you to read his hands, even iJ he should appear to pose as a. sceptic." Later on that afternoon in Jannary 1905. the Monk. opened my

Fdl.

that he dk1 not believe in baod ..n:ading-----but Iu beJjMlt4

j"

who at the time was at the head of an AxtraDrdina.ry sect known as

~ In Angust 1goti" a. bc.b waa upJoded at his '1illa."\\' bicb w~ ptaetica.lly fu..i\ll'i.ng ODe of his dalll"biJ::n. &.t aU attemptl to kill b1m ~ 'UPl- ~ M .. '1.& ~ lh... \tif: m K1.d1. c;m. ~ ~ 1-\&, ~ ~ \~ ~..mdy! by :a. l~ lmmed 'Iwtoro\ta ~~. S~Y?ul d\td 'ttl
I

This was

my first view of the now notorious Gregory Rasputin,

~ba

1'8th... l!fll ..

q..m. \At bl.i ,«wnda.

dutroyed. 'futile tL ntil

o 'P A 11 ODE It H S! B R 67 the Khaysty at first composed of poor people. but now sprMding jt,$ ini1.uence into Court circles This sect held the strange doctrine that in order to obtain perfect forgiveness' they must commit sin. Ruputin had not long come back from Jerusalem where he had made a pilgrimage; he had struck up a friendship with Helioder, and through his Court .iniluenoo bad already begun that amazing course which culminated in his vi olent death, and (,OJl tribu ted so large! Y to the downfall of the House of Romanotl, There was no mistaking the fact that my visitor WaA an ttnMUa1 man. His height \VaS not noticeable o~ to his broad-shonJdered" powerfully bnilt figure, clad in a heavy brown cassock; round his waist was a girdle which the Monk told me he said he had btaught from holy Mount Athas. His features were large and coarse, his eyes brilliant his mouth mobile and the lips full and red. He wore an overgrown light brown beard, partly reddish, and his head was covered with a tanglM mass of unkempt hair. On his forehead was a dark patch-like scar -of an old wound, Hi5 voice was deep a uthoritati vn, and sonorous. He allowed me, after some demur to examine his hands. They were thick and coarse and very dirty ~ the lines were strongly marked. The Fate line showed unusual vicissitudes ~the Line of Life appeared
CON 11' X S S ION 5 ~
t

)f

Ell 0 [ R S

cut through

Wbile I

length I said quicily :

People, and save the Emperor from bimself. I bardly knew what to reply to this arrogant statement, but at
U

~ know the Future-you do not; .. I

ominously, half .. ay OO\\'n.the hand. w was looking at his left. and right hands,

my Future is to redeem the

he

8IJ dde.nl Y roared

m:~ined to wield enormous power over others---lrtd U w1ll bt " ~ fm' .tPiI---.-.do you want to hear more ? ,. \Vhi1.., r had been ~~ he bad listened aitentive1y .. ,..Y est ~ ! he s..ud impatiently; then oonecting himself he added
P" I
L~
j II

....Would you care for me to teU you anything abe at the Future? t. He smiled scornfully, r I shall laugh at whatever it is. ] am called to be the Saviour of Russia. Fate is in my keeping. I am the maker of Destiny.' I wondered for the moment whether the man was mad. ]a.[y profession had brought me in contact with not a few crazy individuals yet his cy~ were clear enough. Besides I 'NBS in '( Holy Russia., where all sorts of mystical creatures were then at large, But 1 must confe~ that what I saw in the hand before me was baming in j ts extraordinary Iru:ssa.ge. r Yon ha ve before you,,01l [ began, '~a future that is fined wi th wonders f You have boon raised from th e lowest to associate 'With the nigbe:st from the utmost poverty you will command wealth, you are
I

grandly ~ T!ut Ql course 1 knew au this 'bei.ore ~t 1 am a. ptap'bM. and 8. .greater one. than you. I know all tbi.ngs. I"
J

6B
.1

CONFESSIONS:

MEUOI

RS

OF

A UODERN
t

SItKB
W~

latter would tum against him-wbich came true shortly alter ] made "the prediction.
Moreover ~I told him that be had turned against his wife, and had allied himself with a woman who was destined to work great harm. At this. he bad smiled cunningly and uttered his famous formula. that
t

I remained silent, Dare I reveal the terrihlt vision of blood that ae.em.ttd to have 10nned before my mind. As I studied the hands of tM boastful man seated before me, I seemed to see him gliding from the Cabinet of the Emperor, with an evil smile upon his dark face~iminua.tiDg himsell into the deepest confidences of the Empress who knelt reverently 'before him, and hailed bim as II Ho1y Father," and at last yielding up his life mid a scene of rerrlble ferocity ~ ~~We1l, what is it, Seer " J, asked Rasputin, in a taunting voice. rt I foresee for you a violent end within a palace. You will be menaced by poison" by knife, and by bullet. Finall y I see the icy waters of the Neva closing above YOlJ. There was silence for a few seconds. My words had evidently made an impression upon the Monk ~because before tb is ] had sketched out his early home llie-how M had married a ~·oman much better off than h.fmself.1 I told him that he had two daughters and one son ~ and that the
J)

with rapt attention.

But what

of the Future

? ~t asked the Monk who

listening

never die. Knife. nor bellet, nor poison can harm him. JI~ then drawing b;mseH to his IoU height. he said slowly and
~vtly:

I returned his gaze without flinching. The Monk passing behind me, slipped the large silver Cross he always carried, between us; be expected some tragedy to happen and wanted to protect me. 1he &ight of the Cross broke the spell Rasputin sprang to his feet, givhlg vent to a torrent af words I could not understand; his companion rapidly tnwilating them, he roared : tl"Who are you who can predict the end of Raspntin J Rasputin can
whir:b

became the watchword of his sect : A particle of the divine is incarnated in me I Only through me can they hope to .find salvation. The manner of their salvation is this: They must be united with me, ~oriy ana soul I The virtue that goes out from me is the destruction of sin. As he uttered these astounding words, be drew himself up to the full height of his powerful figure.- folded his arms upon his massive ehest, and his great haunting eyes seemed to fill with almost super· natural fire. \Vhen I had t1n.i.shcd spealdng of the terrible picture that had fonned in ml mind; our eyes met across the table at which we sat. Those pierCIng eyes wanted to strike terror into my soul. F or some reason
aftM'wards
U

~,1

I cannot sxplaln, I hit no fear whatever.

CON P' It S S I
4

o N 5:

Y II II 0 IRS

O:P A NOD E It M S E B R

69

I am the Saviour of my people.. I am the Protector of the Czar .. 1 (1m grea.'k1Iha-n the C:ltZ,..~'~ With that he left the room, while the Monk ma king the Sign 01 the Cross slipped out after him, Whether I made an enemy 01 this extraordinary rna n or not, I
t

have caused roe injury if he could. The following year I was back in St. Petersburg in connection with a ,,-my large financial operation. Returning one day to my he-tel" I found that some of nly most Important papers had been stolen. 1 went at once to my friend, Monsieur Isvolsky at the Foreign Office and protested. He listened, smiled his enigmatical smUe, and
t

cannot say. I do not lmow whether he Saw in me a rival to his occult powm M not, but later on I underwent an experience that showed that be would

said:
fl

Take my card to the Chief of Police and explain the loss of your papers to him. ~~ J must confess I was astounded at the deadly swiftness 01 the movements of the Russian police when animated by the highest powers. 'Vi thin twenty min utes I was shown into the presence of the Chief. By the time 1 returned to my hotel ~ the police were already at each entrance to prevent anyone leaving. Within an hour my papers were restored; a secret agent of Rasputln joined. a Siberian chain-gang that night" and never again was I subi ected to any moles ta tion. Wben I first met Rasputin, I could not help but realize-although I had no idea who my visi tor was~that I was in the presence of one of those extraordinary men who are bom into the world as instruments of Fate, There was no ques tion about his overpowering will-power and magnetism but it "WaS what I might call Ir animal magnetlsm, By his luminous compelling eyes he at tempted fram the first moment to hypnm:ize me as he bad done SQ many hundreds of. others, It was only my long experience 01 such things that saved me, Instead of looking into his eyes I concentrated my attention on a paint between his eyebrows, 'Nith the result that he could have DO power over me. But what dP.fence could the gentle Czar or the reIigiMs emotional Czarina. have against such a man? Absolutely none. They were as helpless as a. bird fascina.ted by a make into whose
I t~ /I

j am it

about to faIl.. About this time I was introduced to one of the mystery women of the Imperial Court, <me who 'WU largely responsible for the introWB~

duction of Rasputi n to the notice of the Czar. Many rumours have been afloat in Europe as to the identity 01 the woman often spoken of as ~.Madame XII! ~ who wag. for SOlI'U! years famous as a medium in St. Petersburg. H-er Mal ~ was Madame Gntj en Sund~ a Swedish woman who manied a German officer, who

10

CONJ'ItSSrONS:

MEMOIRS

or

J. 1I0Dl£R.N

SEER
J

afterwards was a prominent assistant under Herr Sbtn.mers the chief of the great Spy BURan in the Wilhelmstrasse Berlin. This woman bad undoubtedly remarkable occult gifts. When King Edward visited the Czar at Reval. Yada~ Snnd was brought inM the circle 01 not ables after dinner and was :invited to read the futme of those present. The Czar himself told me OIl that evening when I dined with him at Peterhof how im.pressed he had been by what she had said. One statement that filled him with especial sorrow; it was she who told him that •(the little Cearevkh would no t live to reign," Madame Snnd, for some time before the coming of Raspu ttn, occupied a VHy extraordinary position in the Court and was daily consulted by the Emperor and Empress. Most of the Grand Dukes hated her. for she worked against their influence; t wire she narrowly escaped death
j

By some means she became acquainted with Rasputin, Who immediately exercised over ber a. fatal influence that set in motion a wbolec train of significant events. Knowing bow the mind of the Imperial pair h ad been influence d bi' her prediction, Rasputin prevailed upon Madame Sund to go to the Empress and to tell her that she was mistaken; that she bad been converted by a wonderful saintly Father who could work miracles, and who had the power to save the 1ife of the Czarevich~ The Empress sent for Rasputin.. He came, arrogant ~ dirty and impressive. striding into the presence and crying in his bell ..like voice : Repentt ye who wear purple ; repent, ye who are clothed in garments of gold and silver." lb.e Empress was so impressed that she :fell upon her knees, and the Court entourage witnessed the amazing spectacle of the Consort of the Emperor of Russia kneeling before a dirty peasant, Rasputin told her positively that he alone could restore her son to health. Alt er that, the Imperial pair were as clay in the hands of the so-called Monk) and when the Imperial child fell ill shortly afterwards. and was apparently at the point of death. Rasputin dismissed lal the physicians and announced that faith alone would prevail." ]t "WaS one of the doctor! who described the scene to me: I was in attendance with other Court physicians grouped around the bed of the heir to the throne, woo was gasping for breath, Suddenly Raspntin strode in, made no sign that he !JaW the Czarina., but shouted : r r Away unbelievers , Away r This is the war k uf faith J ~ The startled physicians drew back as. the Empress came forwa.rd, and kneeling before Rasputin cried: My Father=-sa ve my child 1 J .:: Turn out these dogs.. cried the M:onk~sweeping his fiery glances round their outraged faces. At a look from the Empress nearl y all the doctors left the apartment, even Imperial etiquette hardly restraining them from 5brugging their shoulders with. di9gust.
U" U U
II

by poison,

ofr

:to

CON F E S S 10K S:
.f

M:t M o I rt S

A K 0 DE R N S E

£; t

'II

Then, like Elisha the Prophet ,,.ho raised th~ widow~~son, Raspntin bowed his great form over the fevered little Czarevich. He stretched himself in the form 01 a cross upon the Hope of Imperial Russia. Those present stood petrified with amazement. The Empress her hair iaJllng about her shoulders" knelt at the foot oi the bed. her breast beaving, her maternal tears falling like rain .. •~Then the miracle happened. The physicians had said that natural sleep alone would save the child. Rasptrtin rose and stood before the EmpressI~ Behold thy son I he cried, his voice booming through the great apartmen 1. The Cz.arevich was sleeping peacefully ~ his little hands relaxed upon the gorgeous coverlet, the fiery :H ash of fever dying to a rose-pink upon his cheeks. II' ~t That night the news flew thm11ldl the capital, and spread through Russia that Rasputin was responsible for a miracle-----that the heir had been dead,. and that he had raised him up. 'f In a burst of gra titud.c the Czar presented Rasputin with a. million roubles ~ the Czarina loaded him wit b gj Its, but even mere, his influence v..4S fixed; nothing could shake it. Once in power he threw off Madame Sunil. She died after a short mysterious illncS9 and Raspu t in pronounced her epitaph. 'She had finished, my work has commenced.'
j lof
0{ I I

II ..

CHAPTER X
TEB HAL STOlty 01" RA.SMJI1N~ IDS INFLU!!:NCl!: OVER TO
THE TRUE CAllS!; OF llU5SIA-S DOWNFALL

CZAltlNA.

personalities and one who was instrumental in brin,ging about the :faJ1 of the gua.t Romanoff dynasty, trut world is entitled to know as much about him as possible .. Ru.pu.tin} or to g.i.\~ him his real name, Gregory Effimov itch was bern in the little "Village of Petrovskoie -in Siberia, on July 7th :r 873. His father was Il.. notorious horse thief and the worst drunkard in the plAce. He was nicknamed ,~Resputin, which means) in Russian, 4 .. coITUpt. ".t His son inherited this nickname ~ and according to the police records, well merited this di~ttDctive title. Dr4 Utchemaff~ who wag called In to treat him for smallpox, gave the follo\\ing account
t I III

most _

Twill not be out of ~ .. I think, if I relate in as brief a 'Nay as possible) the real story of Raspn tin. I have gathered my facts from rella ble sources. As this man was decidedly one of the

He was he sald, ~ fine. dark child, with sneh an ardent ex..a pression in the eyes that even I felt strangely affected by it+ He was thickset and stl ong1y built and SOOIl became the terror of the district. I remember how Father Alexis, the priest of Petrovskoie, used to give him. ten kopecks every week to keep him away from dturth atL
~j"

of his patient ~
JU

S.1kkyS.IJ

At fourteen years of age be robbed an old man of his savings alter :nearly murdering hmL For thls he received t~"'enty strokes o{ a whip in the presence of all the inhabitant~ in the village in the mar 'ke.t-plar..e.. The extraordinary thing was that this public flagging roused in him one of these fits. of religlous lerv()L1"( SO associated with hlm in later years, and was the commencement of his fanaticism. From this on t he began to "isit churches and monasteries in the neighbollrhood, and was often to be seen on his knees on the roadside Ja_9b;ng hi! body with thistlAS and reciting long incomprehensible

prayers.
This

religious fervour was as suddenly brought to an end as it had begun by an assault he made on an old beggar woman. After the
I

poliee enquiry that was beld over this e.flaU he -=LOOndOIlC.d. Ieligion dl\d. \'hn,\x nUru.t.\i ~\e..'n.~.tdl:y into t~@. and drink. A.coording \n JUlt. ~ ~U:t en1?m~1 b.t 'Was a'oo-n.t ~ tbut art~\eU. iot ho-rse-sb';Qllng .. In spite 01 IUs reputation ~he had the good fortune to many in I89s ~ when he was twenty-three years old" a channing innocent girl named Olga Chaningoff W bo brought him as a dowry a pair of horses, a. cart three thousand roubles, and a few acres of land ." 'I11ree children W'el'e tha result of 'this strange union two daUCiel'S Kariska and Zenia and in .1899 a son whom. h~ called.
J It

GreJotovitdl.

ODe nipt .io. the middle of the winter, February S~ 190J. he

~

lfaI

c (1 N F E 8 5 ION'S!
f~

y! Ii 0 I R!5 O'F A

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0 DE 11Ii S E P; II

73

as a carrier to drive a priest to the seminary of Teoumene, which event completely changed bi5 career and led to the remarkable adventures that followed. En route the priest, who was named Zaborovskyl persuaded him to abandon .his drunken habits and go and make a peni"telH:e at the monastery of Verkhotourie. He remained here :for SOIJle weeks: on his return to his home, he declared that St. :Michael had appeared to him and had comm anded him to build a great ch1.1ICh to the name of the. Archangel. From. this moment he was a changed man. He went from vilage to viIlageo" and :from monastery to monastery ~collecting money for the future church and so earned the name of a Stareu, or holy man. On his return to the little village of Petrcvskoie, he refused to live with his wife and children, but lived by himself in a sman cottage
.f~ II~

privilege. It was during this stage of his career that he conceived his extraordinary doctrine of ~~Sin for Sal vation, which of all reJigious revivals
~I

surrounded by sacred icons he bad collected in his travels and numberless wax candles that had come into his possession. From all sides people carne to hear his WOrd5~ the words of a prophet, they said, who had once been a demon. MOOt as well as women, begged to be allowed. to kiss the hem of his raiment, and in return for gifts of money they were allowed such a

reaching results.

that perhaps the world has ever seen, had in the end the most farspread like a batt1l!-cry1 and the name oi

Across the dtE:.1:ry wastes of Siberia the slogana Sin fOT Salvation~u
U

far and 'Wide. While on a pilgrimage to Kazan, in Aprill9Q4, Rasputin met for the first time a wealthy widow named Lydia BachmakowJ who became another rung in his ladder of runbition. This lady had just passed the dangerdU5 age ()f forty,. whM her husband was considerate enough to die and lea\~ her his fl}rlnM~ Shft thanked God for the end 01 wba t she called her con] ugal Martyrdom ~' and threw herself into every ionn of religious fanaticism. Vlith the most passionate devotion, she jontneyed from monasttry to monastery ~ squandering her money wh.etever ine went. and sub.m.\t\'~ b."e"[~\t w fue ~eTesl ~allC!e fu3.l C'OOld be im~. In spite C'f aU. ner -piety charity, and de'v"oUon" me had. not found the satisfaction she sought and was about to abandon an teligi01lB persuasion, ~·hen at this psyclw10gicaJ crisis Raspntln entered her life. r~ Sin tor Salvation, J, he wbispered1 I'" and the Gates 01 Heaven are youn 1.0 en ter. Lydia Bachmakow had never dreamt of BUCh. I.wonderlul creed; she had tried every other---the would now try it4 She declared this doctrine must have been made expressly for beT bene:6.t~ so without reserve .. she placed herIeIi and her mcmey in the hands of u the holy Rasputin.·'
t~ I
U

rc

1he holy Rasputin " echoed

14

CONFEBSIONa.:

KElIOIRS

OF

A MODERN

SEER
f
JJ

motor-ears that money co buy in Russia. The new pilgrimage started at Kazan; helped by the ~plendQur of the millionaire widow.. every door was thrown open for the chosen of the Lord. J, Even Rasputin's bad manners were turned wto B blessing; it showed, his fcllo~I3 saicl that a holy man J' was ithove the
I~ II f

Ute the llS1lS.I run of converts, she COJIllDeJlC.ed to have ~ visious the most important being that the days of pilgrimage by foot were ended, so :she carried R~tin off in one of the most magnifi.cent

who was at that moment Inspector General at the Ministry of the Interior" and in a position to be of great use to Rasputia, Rasputin arrived at St. Petersburg, as it was then call ed, on the evening of December .5 t h I904. (I was then living at the H &tel de rEurope and within about a month of Raspu t inIS arrival I met him. ~
t J

petty details of conven tion and because he disdained for kg and ate with Ills fingers, he was declared to be the apostle of ~implicity.' I t was here at Ka2.an that Rasputin came in cent act with Sturmer J
jf I

as I ha ve related in the previous chapter.) Madame Bachmakow rented a magnificent apartment in the best part of the Nevsky Prospect and when it YIilS suitably furnished with

him.

every lu:zury she installed

J

I: ~

the holy father. ~ she ~as

hUW

began to call

Ju; an advance agen t t he million aire widow was without an equal: she had already sent reports on miracles worked by Raspu tin to Bishop Hermogene, John of Cronstadt, th~ monk Hellodor, and the principal newspapers. In less than a. few weeks, his apartment in the Kevsky Prospect was besieged by members of the highest amtocracy of St. Petersburg, I n a police report dated April 12th, 190 5) it is noted ~
4f f
J

Crowds assemble at Rasputin 's place. people have to wait two or three days before being able to approach the Monk (he never was a monk or bad holy orders of any kind). He works miracles when it pleases him to do so, He has been seen to take a handful of earth and by simply brMthing upon itt to turn it .into a magnificent rose tree
J

covered lVith fimvetS.:O 1be writer of this report counted ~ than Iour hundred W'OIDen before Ra!pvtin. & banse in a single af.b:rnoon, As a rule, the Teport V1~t 01. he lec.eive8i Qul)l tbe 'YOUnt and 'P'"ttty ouest her..ausel he ~'ii.Y! fue Q\h~ \t'o:ve \e'N~ \.0 De Wt t\vm."· 141la.sputin ~ ~~a.ble illI!!S Q{ mmrey. He has no n:l..eQ price fur bis consultati.oM~but.bi.s. a man .~ U,A Striapclleft.
I

sms

that Rupu.tin has promised at PetlTJvs.koilJ~·· 1 AbuGt II In En.gB.b mon8? 0

hundred routdes.l u Th~ who give more gat. ~ attention. A certaln Madame N~e Qfiered a thonsand roubles to be reeeived, These amounts are said to be put on one side (or the thutch in honour of St Mid1ae1

never Introduces anyone to him WIthout first rEalving at least one

~T

CONFI!SSIONS:

HE){OIRS

OF

A MOD!R.H

SEER

75

H a poliea report could say M much one may easily imagine the reports that \\~erecirculated in ordinary society. There are two versions of the way in whlch Ra!putin reached the Palate. One gives the credit to Madame Suad, as I have already related-vtbe other rela tt!5 that the Czarina sent her confident ial companion, Anna Vyronbova, to consult him. Which accou nt is the t rue one does not ;rea tly matter. Ra.'qlUtin. there is no doubt ~con varted this rat ber ordinary woman. His wonderful doctrine of ~ Sin for Salvation r made an instant appeal to her senses, He very quickly made an entente with her. He threw over the millionaire widow~ Madame Bachmakow, and ga.ve Anna Vyronbova the title of Sister-in -Chiel as B reward fur her promise to open the gates of the Czar' s Palace and establish him in the favour rr.f the
J~ II

J)

Czarina.

I t was Anna who taught him to give up the name Rasputin and take the name Novy~' meaning innovator-as she explained the name Rasputin was not pleasing to the Imperial ears, Short ly after her :first visit Anna made the arrangement that he could come to the Palace whenever he pleased. About tbis time the widow, Madame Bachmakow. recci .... an "ed order frOm the police to leave St - Petersburg at once. From this moment Rasputin' s influence over the Cearlna an d the
!If 1

'

Court was est ablished, n 1908] for some

unexplained reason except t ha t of vanity ~ he spent the summer months at his old vinage of Petrovskoie. He was a.t first received by the simplf: peasants as a god. whn had returned to save them, but the twelve young and beautiful I. sisters n who accompanied. him caused a scandal that reached the ears of the Czarina. who recalled him to St. Petersbur g~ Many stories at this time became circulated about his drunken orgies, sa much so that the Archbishop commanded him to present
J

himself before an ecclesiastical tribunal composed of a bishop. two canons, and three important officials of the Civil Courts.

unanimous verdict was about to' be pronounced against him, A.nna Vyronbo% called. on tbe jud~M and informed. them that it W$ t'he. ~lq1IC&J 'W\sh and c.trmmand. 01 the Ctarina tbat ~ the holy man. n should be found Not Guilty.'~ Raspu.tin was -acquitted on tM spot, the Tribunal sa~g ~t they accepted his own statement that the charges brought agamst him were
I

N ear the conclusion of this investigation, at the moment when a

11-'

false.

enemies had caused.

The day after the mock verdict the Yarina sent for him to come to the palace of T sarskoie-Selo. As he entered her presence, M_e hawed to ki!i! his hands and begged ftrrgi veness for thb annoyanre b.is The Czar alilked if he could Wow

rum scune special favour.

?6

CONFESSIONS:

MEMOIRS

OF

A MODBRN

Sl£llR

Rasputin thought for B. toQlll.eIlt and grav~l requested that the b...ien_".d of his youthJ Barnaby ~the gardener ~might be made Bishop of . Tobolsk.~and within two days this was done. Rasputin IS next step was to 'be appointed Spiritual Adviser ~ to ~ the yaung Princesses and the Czarevich hut after the bishop incident anything equally grotesque could only be expected. The day after the attempt on his life by the young girl, Kheone Gousseva, who on June 28th 19IJh shot him in 100 stomach, the Csar sent a special telegram to the Governor oi To bolsk conn) :.anding him to see that nothing sheald be left undone ~,to save the life o:f one of the best friends of the em" n 1 ..,. A mwrth later the Great "'''ar broke out. Rasputin wag absent recovering fronl his wound. The Czarina wrote to the Innovator, as she always called him, as follows : I am. happy, my beloved master, to be able to inform you that t" Niky ~ has realized the Importance of your dear presence at Tsarskoie-Selo, Come back quickly ~ as my poor heart suffers to know you are so far away and ] feel lost if I cannot hold your hands in mine and find. in your eyes, the ligh t of In y soul. 'II I hope this time our troubles are at an end and that 'We sh all n1lver be &epaTa. ted again. As for me ~ I shall thank God if He allows me to die with yot.t and gain-in your company-tbe heavenly paradise for which you have so prepared me. I am DOt the only one wishiug for your return, Anna is also dying of impatience .. "Take pity on two women who adore you and can no longer Jive witbou t you .. ~ Give me, in ytmr thonghm, yoor most ardent blessing, in ... mticipa Hon of being able to give it to me in person, my whole being in touch with yours .. Y QUl' daughter who cherishes you.
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101

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A.jt

received rich presents from. both the Czar and Czarina-on VUE: occasion His lmperial Majesty gave him a dlamond valued at thirty thousand roubles that bad been given to him at his comna&n-he determined to ~ advanta.ge of the War to in~a.se hi!, wealth. Largs orde'rs for munitions by his inftllence were passed to those who paid him fat his , 1;rouble~one order alone bringing him 3601{JQQ roubles. Judging by extracts from the dialy oi Anna Vyronbova which came into the hands of officials after the revol utiou, there is no doubt that from April I915 Rasputin used his b.DInence over the Czarina to make peaee with Germany at any price. What his :reward was to be has never been disclosed, but had he lived. no doubt it would have been very consi.derab1e~

Rasputin returned and his in1luence at the Palace ',\"11$ greater than ever. He DOW determined to tum it to good account lUthough he had
+

CONFESS.IONS~

MEMOIRS

OF

A MODE;RH

SEER

71

the true one, I have dealt with Rasputin's career at some length} on account of the remarkable TOle he played on Russia's lurid stage} leading up to the fall of the curtain on the great and all-powerful RomanoH dynasty It is my firm belief that if this man had not come into the Czarina's life} the revolution would never have occurred and the lives of many millions of people would have escaped the horror and destruction that fell on them like an avalanche of dlsaster. That strange word H if ~~ however, the pivot on which so many is. lives tUID that it becomes the Key of Destiny in all. laaguages, to unlock the future for good or evil" ]f~ Judas lscariot had Dot been born, the tragedy of Calvary would not have happened. If--R~utin had not crossed the Russian 6tagel how different things might have been .. Specula.tion Is useless nations risft and fall-men and women are but threads on the loom of Fate--the weaving of the pattern li.es in the hands of Design, before which one can only bow the head and murmur: {' Th Y Will be done on earth Q;$ j, is its H lfli1Je1I. ,~ Like Napoleon} the ex- Kaiser 11 or the late Nicholas of Russia I
r

indicated when r first made his acquaintance at the Hotel de l'E urope in the Nevsky Prospect. I heard the details of his horrible death from one of those who assisted at it, and as many versions have: been made public, it may interest my readers to have, what I have every reason to believe is,

About this time, Count Tolstoi, tb.e Grand Mmer of Cenmonies in charge of the crown jewe.b; at the Hermitage .. made the a.mazing discovery that the real stones had been abstracted and paste put in their place" The blue diamonds that edged the saddle of 1Uexander II ~ the priceless garnets of Catherine the Great the matchless pearls of the Crown of Ivan the Terrible, all these and others equally valuable bad been stolen and replaced by worthless imitations. The Czar was furious with rage when this news was first broken to him~ yet the next day he wrote in his own handwriting to Connt ToJstoi: Do not continue the inquiry a bout the Hermitage. Let it remain a profound secret. The only comment I make about this is. that a woman named Cecilia Werner an Austrian and intimate friend of Rasputin, was furnished with a diplomatic passport wbith enabled her to travel every few months ta Stockholm without having the inconvenience of having Iu, tfunks opened. As I am not Miting a life of Rasputm:o I must pass over many episodes of his career and come to the dramatic end that I had so clearly
til H
J

unknown forces of Life that make then1Sf.lves manifest in all,. whether born in poverty or under the gn.at.ness of a throne~

Rasputin was but a servant of Destiny:

as sneh, he obeyed those

Rasputin was born a peasant, the very 10WMt kind at that,

Sf)

78

CONFESSIONS:

MEMOIR.S

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A .MODlRR

SEER

ignorant; that he could scartely read or write-yet this man became a power ihat destroyed a dynasty .. wrecked a eivilization, and caused more ruin and upllea val than any other man of the age+ In the short period of twelve years from that night of February 5th" 190,3t when the words of a young priest changed the current of his life. Rasputin strode boldly across the Ruulan stage ~ until be reached the climax of his career in 19I5~ In that brief period, he had turned a gardener into a bishop, e.massed weaJth~ built a church to the honour of St. J.Iichael. and brought an Emperor and Empress to his foot. In 19T5~he brought about the dismissal of the Grand Duke Nicholas .. as Commander-in-Chief of ~ Anny~ By his influence a man named Khvostov succeeded Prince Tcherbatoff as Minister of the Interior ~ and Stunner became Prime Minister. By I915~ Rasputm, masquerading under a monk's robe, was the
U

undisputed Master of Russia. If he had been a clever man. he might ha..... kept his position ~ but ~ that if ~~ have already spoken about. was s,,,,itchinS oyer the points. I of doom on the railroad of Fate. \1anity, his besetting sin, blinded his eyes, drink and boastfulness did the rest. One night in a restaurant in Petrograd, surrounded by same of the ~wns be had placed in power! exhilarated by champagne and fiat tery ~

his sonorous voice rang out in criticism of everything Russian. People. sitting at D-EW"by tables were horrified, others laughed, some encouraged the wild-eyed man to go still further. Looking round like a mad bull, he may have noticed at a table not far away" the Grand Duke Dimitri, first cousin to the Czar, the Prince

y oussoupofi. and three other gues ts..

•' I don't care a damn for all the Gran d Dukes in Russia ~ Raspu tin roared;! '" nor for the 1-101Y Synod" or all the Generals of the Army. ~ The Grand Duke Ditnitri rose to his feet-he W3S about to accept the challenge, there and then-wben a member of the Duma entered the restaurant and passed between the two tables+ Turning towards Rasputin this man, the well-known PQurichkievit~ sneered: Care lor nothing, vile imposter Your reign of terror is nearing its end.. Blind yourself with drink and orgies, before long some man will riM! to rid Rnssia. of your presence, .... To the amazement of the other diners, Raspntin marie no answertnrning deadly pale... e got np and left the restaurant with the members h
I~ t j(
r

of his party.

Prince Youssoupoff crossed to the table of the new arrival and held out his hand. 4' Thank you, Ponrichkievltch,'" he said, rt you have expn:ssed the 'Wish that a man may be found to rid our coun try of this Infamous lm:postor, I offer ~ as that man, the Grand Duke Dimitri joined the party. ", Count on me also," he said. We have all put up with this moujik to the breaki ~g-point.
1;II~

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5E ER

79

Let us pledge otmdvea hm"8 to-night~ to redetm. Russia by ridding her of the presence af this monster." In tbe corner of this restaurant" in the heart of Petrograd. a. solemn oa"th was taken+ Fate had fanaken her favourite-the doom Df Rasputin was sealed+ It took some months to prepare the stage (or the last act. On December 15th, f916" by the Russian calendar, all was ready. The principal actors had already arrived ~ the Gand Duke Dimltrl, Prince YoulSOUpoff~Pourichkievitc;h~ another man, and the beautiful Karali;. the dancer whom Rasputin had for a long time pestered with his attentions. The scene was set in Prince Youssonpoff j palace in Karali was to be the inducement for Rasputin to come to supper. The other conspirators were to keep in fhe background until their
the Moskaia..

presence became necessary, The bells of St. I zaac' s Cathedral struck eleven .. An automobile stopped at the private entrance to the house in the OffizerskElia. Rasputin got out, he dismissed his motor ~he looked up and down the deserted street be hesitated some time before he rang the bell. A presentiment of danger, perhaps, passed thTough his mind-the though t of the rea.u t Hul Karali overcame all prudence--he pressed the bell. The door was opened by the Prince himself. I have allowed the servants to be away to-night;.1 he said. ~ 1 I
I tl I

promised y.ou to take every precaution that your romance would never be known. Come in and wait for her, I BID sure she will nut be late." Together they entered the dining-room; an appetizing supper was set out on the table, Two exq uisitely carved decanters held the famous red Crimean wine from the y eussoupoff estate; one placed at Rasputin' s chair contained enough cyanide of potassium to kill any six men, while en a solid gold pla.. te on his right.. were some za.k-ouskies" also treated with the same
polson.
p II~

Rasputin would neither eat nor drink. ~f Time enough tJ he said, when Kara1i comes. My brain must be kept cool if I an} to taste the most exquisi te morsel of womanhood that I have ever seen. "'1L."'\.t can I do for yon.. Prince. in return ? Name any honour you wish to have and I promise yau the Czar will sign the decree before to-morrow night." Let us drink to to-morrow then, the Prince laughed, ~~ would it take more wino than is in that bottle for such a man as you to fail to do justice to a pretty woman.·· • The flattery did its work ; RasputiD. filled his glass and finished it in one gU:I p. He t1ten took another; turning his attention to the t.akouskies he clea-red the plate in a few minutes. A 1Ul ysj nothing haHeKlfi,.
H
Il

80

CON:F'ESSIONS~

YBYOIRS

OY

A MODg,RN

SERR

The Prince got nervous, beads of perspiration glistM@d across his

forehead.
It

the l.able. N0/) the monk said, ,.I some 'WOlDenobject to the smell of tobacco ; I cleaned my teeth for the first time in my life to-day," orr Karali would be flattered. if she knew that," the Prince smiled .. If at that moment Ra.spu.tin had looked ronnd M would have seen in the shadow of thf; 5ta.irca.M going to the next .ftoar, the gleaming
44"

Have a clgaI'ettet ~~he said, as he pushed his j eweIled case across

eyes of KaraJi and her clenched hands ..

Behind her a little higher up, stood the other men, one of them with a revolve!' in his hand. ~~ Don tt care much for your famous Crimean wine t~* Rasputin sneered. "I it seems to me to have a bitter taste.' J '" You are not accustomed to its :6aVOUT.I t~ the Prince answered, ,~it is famed as a tonic and gives strength; finish the decanter and let
US

'Where the others were waiting,

J

Rasputin emptied the bottle-anci yet HOMing hatpmtd J The Prince could hardly bide his nervoasness : in order to regain his sell-possesston, he made an excuse and went up the staircase to He really went np to get his revolver ---on his return he found Raspntin pacing up and ~Tl the Boor. II' [ dM t feel we~ t, he Mid, "r those zakouskies have upset me. I won't wait for Karali, when she comes tell her she can go 10 the devil, she is the .first woman that RasputiIJ has ever waited frJr, and he reached for his fur coat, t Don 't be impatient *'~ the Prince said. ~ ~she will arrive any mom.en t now ~but while waiting come and Sfe this wonderful bit 01 carving and which, H yon hke, yon can take a.way with you to-night ~"
JI

ha'\re .some- more

4 ..

ill

III

He took it in his hands~ it was an exquisite ivory crucifu:~ he bent over a light to examine it closely .. At that moment Prince Youssonpoff passed his revolver from his left to his right hand and fired straight at the monk' s heart. Rasputin, with a groan, fell in a huddled mass on the floor, The Grand Duke Dimitri went to get his. automobile---it was d&rided they would take Rasputin's body and throw it into the Neva. They wm.t as far as the street door, they were 'Overjoyed at the success of their plan. Russia, Holy Russia is at last free, *J they said, ~~Listen .... someone said-&. nolse -C& me UQm the diniag-room;
~!!

Rasputin was never Imovm. to refuse a present.

Rasputin, with his m.wk.ls robe open-with blood ~aming from him, was ciutclling at the back of a. chair in the centre of the room. Befon: they could retover their senses he had already wal.ked out into the garden iD an effort to gain the private entrance.

No \ it could DOt be possible.

CONPESSION'S:

MEMOIRS

OP

A )[ODEB.N
Oil

SEER

SI

tore it from the uniform.

t

Pourichkievitch and Youssoupoff fired together. Rasputin fen without a word. The body was taken in the motor to the Petrovsky Bridge .. With a great effort they rai%d it to the top of the balustrade. Horror of horrors-the monk was still alive-with his right hand he clutched the epa.ulette on the shoulder of one of the officers and Fate could not however, be cheated at such a moment. Four strong men with grim face s pushed him over, the body rebounded on the stone butt ress below crashed on a block of ice and rolled over into the swirling icy waters crf the Neva.

He reached the door, his band

Blood marked every step he took in the snow.

was

already

the catch,

CH.-\PTER XI
STlllNGE E][pJ.RJE:NCl!:S IN RUSSIA.
., TBB ABGHt OF 1111 RlVaLUTION.·~ mE CZAR'S EFFORTS FOR A WORLD-WIDE PEACE. 1 AM FORCED TO 'WITNEM AN EDCUTION IN nil. :fOR.TRESS OF ST. PETER AND

ST. PAUL

looking round at the luxury, the toilettes of the ladies, the perfect organization of the house I' that it was miles :from everywhere, and that

At the end, ligbts twinkled .from myriads of windows j grea t doors r-olled back: a gorgeous majordomo received me with six footmen at r igid at tention behind him. Thus in stat e I came 0 ut of the cold winter night into the blazing splendour of the s~n of the Prlnc.ess Klema Y vesky. Her party included the cream of Russian society; some had come in their drosAkies and sleighs for many miles through the vast forests that stretch for lr!agnes round this. che. tean. I t was hard to believe,
J

to my ears by the melancholy 'Winter wind. But suddenly, when 1 felt that the journey would never end, the white road ran sharply in a dizzy curve through giant sentinel trees-sa noble avenue, two miles
long.

horses :mingled with the distant

COULD tell of many wonderful experiences ] had in Holy Russia," and they would fiU a volume. I have been whirled off in a d.rosAAy drawn by six fiery horses, driven by a. demon driver wrapped in furs through 'the moonlit night., tra veiling throo.gh a seemingly endless forest ~ the black trees standing up in sharp contrast to the snowy track. The clUng! ching ! Iing r at the bells upon the
t:1
I

woof

woof I of the wolf pack, borne

Widowhood~Poverty-Death.~~ They laughed-e" How ridiculcus." Among tbe victims of Bolshevikterrori~m was the accomplished Prince Yvesky ..while his beautifnl wife died of privation. after escaping in Finl:a nd with a few jewels sewn up in her petticoat. I will include in this part of my reveln tions a strange tale that sheds a light on Russia, when she was staggering downwards into the abyss
u

incredulity greeted my predictions :

wolves bayed almost up to the eM teau gates, But-it was Russia. Alas I I revealed the fate of the Princess that night~ A shout of

I was visited in my .hoteJ by an aristocratic Russian gentleman ...who spoke "frankly.

t~ ~

of revol u tion,

Cb.elrDI'~ I have heard of you irom my chief~ M. lsvolsky. Do me the honour to be frank with me." I examined his mapely hand with attention. I saw there a. wonderful ~~~ty f~ o~a?-{JD: ~.d ~iness ~bili~y.. courage and ~thfulne'S5
-

ana 1. v\o\tui.
thepresent,

~~-~~l:'-

t\ea.\h ~ct b~\\ and. two at~ persons closely connected. I spoke first of his past li1e~ and sketched out the circumstances 01

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r~~-~-

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., , Cheiro you have been wonderfully accurate.

l ~

When I had finished, be said ;

Sa

CON

(l B

S S ION 51: M E 110 IRS

0 PAN.
•

0 D ERN

SEE R

83

J dread to have the veil lifted from the Future. But I must.. It hangs over me with a menacing a-spect that fills me with a sense of depression. I am determined to know all. n I looked at his hands=they quickIy told me what was the mat ter. rf Yeu have a loved one who is in trouble, tl I began. He started violently and his face became deadly pale. I went on: ~ She has come intO this trouble throo.gh helping someone else. This other person .i9 a near relative-I should suppose her brother. He has been indiscreet and h2.5 been arrested. His sister~if it is his sister-has now fallen under the suspicion cf the Government.' Cheiro,' ~ he whispered. and seemed t a gaze fearfully round the. II apartment you-you are marvellous. 1[y fian cee has been arrested by the secret police) sf mply because she expressed the hope that her
I

~j

.: I

brother would be treated fairly and allowed a trial. ] Ie was a student at 1'obolsk, a hot-headed boy, and he spoke illjudiciously about , Liberty and Equality -he is in a dungeon in the fortress of the capi tal of the province, I .kncrw-for I am in the department of Justice -th~ t there will be no trial. but an expulsion to Siberia. N ow his sist er j 5 being dra wn in. Good God' Is my beloved to be sacrificed as well? " I comforted him as best I could. The working Oll t of Fate bore hardly upon these three people. The woman, maddened by the fate of her brother, who was slashed to death by the 1Ulgaika- or k»out, wielded by a Cossack guard, threw herself heart and soul into the revolutionary movement. She was liberated at first owing to the strenuous efforts of her Iover, who risked his reputation with his superiors in order to do 50. Known as Ie The Angel of the Revolution,"
J

she planned the assassination of the Czarevicbjoand was implicated in the mysterious attempt that partially succeeded when the Heir to we Throne was upon the Imperial yacht" cruising in the Baltic. F{antic with rear that even then: the child was not safe-for although official reports wen: sUppI'\:58lU it is know 11 that a woma n
r

gained access to the yacht in the guise of a trusted nurse-the Empress demanded that the full force of the fury of the Government should be let loose agalns t all suspects, The Angel ) was arrested, exiled to Siberia, and died in those
III II

frozen solitudes. Her lover blew out his brains in an -=legan.t flat in St. Petersburg. One fragmentary tragedy of mighty Russia, when she was tottering diuily to the brink' _ In view of the Czar s etloIt lot a world -peare in the yeal~ gone b"v
it ma~ ~ m.\utsi.ln% tot: 'tffIj 1:~'!. to i.\mtt. r:Ne% -partlcu.\aT5 cri \he iam.ous Hague Conference m I~IJ·
~

he visited me in London in 1894~and endeav~d to alter his destiny by making the effort for peace which he did a few years later; it is often that the smallest things givt rise to the greate5t :resul is.

It rna y be that the Czar was impressed with my prediction when

to\lovn.ns

84

COli PES S ION S ~ k E K 0 I R. S 0 It A MOD It R. N S 1: It R-

permanent Court of ... bit rat ion for the settling of interna tiona! disputes, 6u In spite of severe opposition from Germany, the following principles were approved by the Conference : That one or several Powers should have the right of offering media tion in impending conJlicts; its exercises should not be regarded as an unfriendly act.' A perman~n t Court of Arm tratian was established at the Hague composed 01 judges.. selected from a list on which every state was represe:nted, and tbis body formed an J nternation al Council, A protocol embodying the decisions was signed by the n... ~sent a ti ves of six teen states and subseq uen t1y executed by sixteen more including Great Brl tain, Germany Austri ,,-Hungary. China, J;1.pan, and Jtaly. As though by the irony of Fate, some of the most terrible wars broke out .shortly after this Conference. I could :c at help remarking when talking to a "cry distinguished pacifist on e day, that when the foundations of the Hague Palace of Peace were laid, we bad the Boer War; when the buildi ng was erected the Russow Japanese Wax; and when it was ready for it& fumitule ..the Great War. Yet what can one expect when one remembers that the £300 .ooo that Mr. Carnegie gave to lay the foundations of this Palace o:f Peace came chiefi.y from the mannlacture of cannon and implements of war f Russia recalls many memories to my mind, some pathetic~ others humorous, and Dot a few on the verge of the SCIJ5a tianal. It is of one III the last-named eategQr)l that 1ha'Vc most vivid T eco1lect ion. Seveta\ tirna a.fter my interview with the Clat iu the Peterhol p~ 1 -pam. V~l.ts to Russia. On my a.rrival in Petrograd for tbe third time~ I was invited to dinner
(I I
I I t I I

to discllarge explosives. The Second Committee proclaimed neutral all vessels equipped solely to save human life, The Third Committee discussed th e Russlan proposal to esta bllsh a

Twenty-six 01 them agreed to meet. The Conference reMlved itself into three committees. The first one dealt with the method of limiting armaments and the use of needlessly destructive engines in warfare; the second with the extension of the principles agreed to at Geneva in 1864, and at Brussels ten years later ; while the third handled the question of in ternational diplomacy and arbitration ~ The First Committee' S ohj eel was achieved ~R ussia gaining her point that explosive bullets and asphyxiating shells shonld be prohibited, an interdict being laid for five years on the employmcn t of ba lloons

On January rrth, I899~ the Czar sent round letters to the leading POWCts~ inviting them to meet at a Peace Conference at the Ha.gtJ1! ..

at the .boaSt: of .a. lady

--• • -~ ~~7 ~

who had
__ --.::._ .. ~-_

pat

inft uence in Court circles. 1 It

• • ~;) _----

.~

\0 ~a1k \(3 my
1

note.. 10'1" too me

,.~~_~

cd getting some exercise.

t!U'i.D8..

Prmeeu GoI1tbt:.t;L, LadYUWTwnittng to tbe

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JJ

CONFESSIONS:

MElI01RS

OF

A )lODERN

SEER

85

The driver of a solitary dr~skky standing near the house importuned me as I passed, but I shook my head negatively and set off at a brisk pace towards the Nevsky, Quite casually .. I observed that the man W"aS following me at some these drivers WHe in their endeavours to secure a fare, Abruptly the weather changed. Spots of rain fell and I realised that unless ] availed myself of the shelter the d10shky otlered I mould receive a drenching, Acoottlingly .. I signalkd to the driver, announced my hotel. and jumped in. Almost at the same instant a man stepped from the shadow of a house, and in perfect French said: ~I Pardon me. Monsieurl but may I share your ar()~hky ~ I am also making for your hotel .. and it is going to l,e very \\~et." ~ 1 consented, of course, and the stranger seated himseli beside me, \Ve set oft at a furious pace towards the Kevsky and I was observing what wonderful horses the Russians had. when 1 noticed that we t urned down a side-street towards one of those long br idges that span the Neva . •, The fellow is going WIeng,' ~I laughed _ Tell him in Russian the address of our hotel. ~, No, }[onsieur}" my companion replied, ,.-the fellow is not ';\TOng t Y QU ,"ill not see your hotel to-night.
J

yards distan ce ; I thought nothing 0-£ this ~ as 1 knew how fW'Sifitent

I~

~t

revolver held in his right. After a long drive, we turned into the courtyard of a house standing alone on the very outskirts of the city. We descended from the dra5hky~ and, still holding my ann in a finn grip, illy companion entered the house and conducted me into a heavily shuttered room in which four men of the artisan class were filling small brass cases that looked omin 0 usly like bombs or hand-grenades, 'l"hrough a door at the end of this loom we gained access to another and smaller apartment. There seated at a table, head in hands and t he very picture of abject despair, was a WOman .. u Ah, Monsieurl she is brosen-hearted," said my companion. ~r But wha t has happened ? I asked .in wonderment,
f t
J~

~,What do you mean ? t I demanded. ~~On ly this he replied, sti 11 in that pleasan t but sign meant tone, Gripping my ann with his left hand, he showed me a glimpse of the
j
t j..

almost casual.

Despi te the men a.;ing nature

w:

the words, W:I tone was. polite,

Ibis atm osphere of mystery was sti:aing me. "Can I do anything to help her ~ ,,~ As though galvanized to lift: by an electric current. the woman started up at my words. TIle next moment she was on her knees at my feet. her t angled b1a.ck hair thrown back, revealing a fu.ce beautiful yet dtav..""l\ 'With au a&Qll'Y that was ~\n.bll t() 'lII1tnss. Indeed you r.an \ I' she moaned in F rench. ~~ That is. wb y I made them bring you. t~
tl

86

CONFESSIONS:

XEMOIR.S

OF

A l!5:0DE:1N

SEER.

In calmer tones the woman told me of her life. She was a revolutionary. Her people had always been rebels and had sBffered for their beliefs, She bad seen, first her grandfather ~then her brothers, knouted to death~ while her husband bad been executed soon after their
marriage.

nighes adventure had taken. I' No, Mo:M.ienr,'~ she sobbed. rl On the contrary ~ he 'WaS, alas 1 fiort& witltoul the SPirit. of revenge. I could not fathom this strange statement. B ut all was revealed to me as she proceeded to tell me 00"" this son she adored had pleaded with her to ~ve up the revolutionary cause; how} instead, she had gone on blindly ~year after year ~ Men and women had looked to her as their leader; they had suffered exile or died for the cause, yet she had gone 00;. determined to give up her life if that were necessary. After H Bloody Sunday '1Jlhen the police could not find her 1 they had taken her :SOD; his family record was against him, and he was at that moment in the fortress of St. Peter an d St. Paul under sentence of death. But what can I do in all this tr aged Y t ~.I asked, r I ~ a stranger here-what good can I do ? " Again the woman lifted her head. oft Yes. you can indeed help) that is why I made them bring you to me. The lady you dined with to-nigh t could plead with the Csarina tha t my only boy may be spared, $11'.:~ too ~ has an on1Y :iOD; she
11 Jt~ II ~ f tJ

~,Bnt it is of my son I wish to speak. she cried. It is for him I beseech yom help I Is he a revolutionary. too ~ :I" I asked, bewildered at the t urn the
If

.f ,

'11

fr

knows what it is to love. I had grasped by now the terrible difficulties of the situation. They told me that the sentence of death would be carried out in two dayssurely not milch time in which to work, and even then, could there be any hope of success ? I was in despair, I a.ttempted to reason with the grief-ooVi'f<1 mother" but at the first words the teats stopped, the sobs ceru;eda terrible light came into her eyes. and} ordering the man to open the door, she pointed to where the Iour figures were silen tl y filling the

bombs in the outer room. Ii If my son dies 1 ., she hissed, J ,~the Czarina and her son will die too I• ~ Fun of emotion, I could only repeat my promise to try to help, 'J 1 wiD by to--nig.ht;· t I added. With a sob that wruug my heart, the half-mad mother knelt down and kissed my ieet. Without a. word, the man and 1 went to the door, and -in anotb:er moment the droshRy was tearing back towards the city. Althrrngh it was extremely late. my friend the Princess received me at once. I told her - exactly what I had beard and seen, and she _. . -

CON Ji' .E S S ION S:

ME MOl R S

a F A MOD ERN

SEE Ii

87

The boy is to be shot at six oJclock to.. orrow m morning, but I have been promised that his body win be: placed in a coffin and given over to his relatives. Further, you and that man who brought you will be allowed to wltness the execution and can take the ooHin away with you at once afterwards. ~~There way be some hope, she added, ~ that ] shoJJ be a ble to ~ arrange something between this and six o'clock to-morrow morning,
one slight concession.
II

,At four the fullowing morning, the Princess sent for me. ·~r have not been successful ..a ~ she SB.Kt ,t but I have at least obtained

but don't ask me any questions now." Witb a heart like lead, I returned to my hotel and found my companion of the previous night waiting for me. He knew from my face that my news was not reassuring, but he did not say much and quietly agreed that he would meet me at the gates of the fortress of St Peter and St. Paul at 5.30 in the morning, and that he would have a he arse there waiting to carry away the body, I do not think I ever passed a more wretched night. The dawn at last came, heavy, foreboding, and as the clock struck .5.30j I kept my appointment at the gates of the prison fortress. We found the lad 'wnnderful]y calm and resigned to his doom. He
gave me a gold cross which be had always wem, to hand to his mother, and, saying good-bye, we left him to the care of a priest who had just

The firing-squad were already ill posi t ion as we returned to the yard, and while the men waited for their officer, they leaned nonchalantly on their rifles as if the terrible scene were but part of the ordinary routine of their daDy life. 'l 'he officer came, the men stood to attentian ~ and at the word of command loaded their rifles. A bell was rung the condemned man marched into the yard. escorted by two jailers and preceded by the priest , mumbling words that no one seemed to hear \\'hen all was ready ~ the officer walked np to the boy and Mid something. The condemned Iad seemed to bow his head. A moment later three sharp rommands rang out; the rifles answered with a volley and the boy's body fell forward in a huddled heap into the
t +

arrived.

coffin at his feet.

1 was spellbound with horror. Mechanically I saw the warders straighten out the body, screw down the lid of the coffin. and throw rath er than lift it in to the hearse. Then I felt myse! f being helped into a. d,.os:h~ at the prison gates., the other man with me and without speaking a word, we followed the hearse to that same lcnelv house where we had been so shortly before ~ Yen carried in the coffin and placed it on the bench in the centre of the room-s-the same bench where I had seen the bornbs being filled. A wild, haggard-looking woman staggered out from the inner room and. erdered the men to \l1lSC-re"H the lidl 'lue \id. '"fi'D 1n\~ ~t ~hllty tb~ men .tooa, baclt. The woman.
jI j

88

CONFESSIONS:

MEMOIRS

OF

A MODERN

SIER

blood in my veins. I rushed forward, The mother was clasping her boy in her arms, as if waking out of a dream ~ his eyes opened and were looking straight Into hers, 4 ( 1.1aya, Maya~~J be said in Russian. Don t be frightened t I am
It

with a. tenderness almost divine .. bent down and lifted the head gently against her breast. There were no sobs from her heart) yet silent tears rolled down the cheeks of the men present. I felt ] could not stand there a moment longer. ] turned towards the door ~but as I did so, I heard a. scream that seemed to freeze the

In a few minutes the aeeming miracle 'WaS explained, The Princess had kept ber word. She had influenced the officer in charge of the firing-party to have the soldiers served with blank cartridges. He had, in his turn, told the boy to fall forward as thou.g h dead when the shots Tang out, and the youth had in voluntarily added realism to the deception by fainting at the fateful moment. ] need not dwell on the j OYOllS scene that teck place in that sombre house. It affected me deeply and I was glad when I was able to make my departure-snct, ho,vever before I had been overwhelmed with sincere expressions of a mother' 5 gratitude. It "'3.& that vay boy who three years later saved my own hfe in an experience which I will rela te later.
j

not dead..

JJ

CHAPTER XlI
THE GlI.EAT CATIlEDRAI. OF :KrEFF.. THE

HOLY "PICTI.JRE OK HUltAN

SIClN 15 LOWERED FOR ME TO KISS

many cit ies whiclJ occupy a more commanding posi tion. I know few sights more impressive than when looking down from. the public gardens on the crest of the hill, one looks. across those endless plains below, where they seem in the far distance to join the sky. In the ra ys of the ting SUD one SC(!S the gIl:at river like a path of gold ::fIow-ingfrom the horizon where sky and earth have met and sweeping onward in majestic curves past this fairy city of the heights, Set like great jewels in emerald foliageJ the churches rise 'With their gJittericg domes; higher still and dominating all, stands the Grand Llarva, or Great Cathedral. holding as it were the last gleams 0 f Iigh tin lts go] den dome and shsddlug them back to the city at its feet like some glit tering bleS!iing from the Giver of Good. And what a cathedral that Grand UElFVB. is---what a monument ()IJ the path way of Religion: can one wonder that pilgrims wend their wa y to see it once before they die" from the farthest stretches of the great R nssian Empire ? Esquimaux from the 'White Sel" a thousand miles to the IlO~ have taken years to tramp that distance. just to live a lew days in the shadow of its arms, to die perhaps with hunger on their homeward march, From the borders of China in the east; from the hot plains of 'fur kestan in the south, they come year after yeElI'. All bring pre sents to the great shrine) jewels too t have no price, gold the purest that can be found, carpets of silk that lifet.imes were spent in weaving t everything that one can :imagine or that homage can give. And some again come with uothing .. onJy rags that cover skin and bone-weary and worn out they creep into the great courtyard glad to get a crust of bread from the black-robed monks and happy to even see the incense that every few hours rises upwards towards the

Twas about three years later when I again visited Russia, this time chiefly directing my attention towards the south. I got off the train at Kieft' and stopped for a week to thoroughly en joy this remarkable city---the one-time capital of what Wa9 known 3.5 ~~ Little Russia." Situated as it is on the crest of a hill overlooking the Steppes and the Dnieper, which sweeps in almost a circle round its feet, there are not

set

white as snow tba t almost reached his feet. He pV'e me a monk as a guide to show me the wonders of the place and his patriarchal blessing which I often felt 1 needed when .gazing
B9

I had come with a letter of introduction to the Grand Patriarch from my friend, the Minister of F oreign Affairs, Monsieur I svobky. and COUD ter-signed by the Czar himself. The Grand Patriarch waa a. marvellous-looking old man in his robes of bla.ck and golct and a. beard

dome,