This airing of private grief in public extorted some strictures in a letter in the Morning Post, of 29th of August, 1786, in which it was suggested, generally, that foreigners should wash their dirty linen at home. But Monsieur de Morande, editor of the Courier de l’Europe, published many assertions, be they facts, or fiction, relative to Cagliostro, and he once more blossomed out into print in his old champion, the Public Advertiser (vide that newspaper, 5th of September, 1786, p. 2. col. 1), translated in the number of 7th September. In this curious letter, he adverts to his adversaries’ slanders, and the following singular passages occur:
‘Of all the very good stories which you relate at my expense, the best, without comparison, is that of the pig fed with arsenic, which poisoned the lions, tygers, and leopards of the forests of Medina. I am going, Mr. Railer, to give you an opportunity of being witty on a perfect comprehension of the fact. You know that, in physics and chymistry, reasoning proves but little, ridicule nothing, and that experiment is all. Permit me, then, to propose a small experiment to you, of which the issue will divert the public, either at your expense, or mine. I invite you to breakfast with me on the 9th of November next, at nine o’clock in the morning. You shall furnish the wine, and the appendages. For myself, I shall only furnish a single dish, after my own fashion—it shall be a sucking pig, fattened after my method. Two hours before breakfast, I shall present you the pig alive, fat and healthy. You shall order it to be killed as you please, and prepared, and I shall not approach until it is served at the table. You shall cut it into four equal parts, you shall chuse that which most flatters your appetite, and I shall take that which you please. The day after that of our breakfast, one or more of four things will happen. Either both of us shall die, or we neither of us shall die, or you shall die and I survive, or I shall die and you survive. Of these four chances I give you three, and I bet you 5000 guineas, that, on the day after our breakfast, you shall die, and I be perfectly well. You must either accept of this Challenge, or acknowledge that you are an ignorant fellow, and that you have foolishly ridiculed a thing which is totally out of your knowledge.
‘If you accept of this Challenge, I shall instantly deposit the 5000 guineas with any banker that you please. You shall do the same in five days, during which time you shall have leave to make your supporters Contribute,’ &c.
Monsieur de Morande’s reply was published immediately following the above letter. It is, like Cagliostro’s, too long for insertion; but its gist is, that he intends to unmask the pretender, and that he utterly declines to attend a poisoning match. He writes:
‘I solemnly defy you to contradict them’ (i.e., his assertions as to Cagliostro’s quackeries and adventures); ‘and that I even offer, without croupiers or supporters, to make you another wager of five thousand guineas that I shall compleatly unmask you.
‘But, Monsieur le Comte, I shall not put my foot in your house, and shall not breakfast with you myself. I am neither abject enough to keep you company, nor will let it be suspected for a single moment.
‘You clearly conceive that such an interview ought not, nor can be, within your doors; you would be liable to be found guilty of criminal practises, in case of accident. This your Council had not foreseen.
‘As no tavern would permit such infamous scenes to pass under its roof as those you propose, you must, Monsieur le Comte, return once more to the booth; and worthy disciple of Locusta,[113] choose in London a public place to make an open-air exhibition of your talents.’
And like the scorpion, which carries its sting in its tail, he adds a foot-note, which refers to the heading of his letter:
‘M. de Morande’s Answer to Don Joseph Balsamo, self-created Count of Cagliostro, Colonel in the Service of all the Sovereign Powers in Europe.’