beforehand is agreed to do it, and also the manner and circumstances: So
that the Iugler to blind the people pronounceth sundrie words to such a
person, he then begins to rave like a madde man, and put his clothes off
with a kinde of violent carelesnesse, though, God knows, the party knows
as well what he doth as your selfe that reade it.
After the same manner shall you know what money another hath in his
purse, and casting money into a pond, and finding it under a stone or
threshold in another place. Also to make a piece of money to leape out
of a cup and run to another, by meanes of a small haire fastened to the
money, which haire the confederate guideth, with a multitude of such
like strange feats, which may seeme impossible in the iudgement of the
common people to be effected without the assistance of the devill or
some familiar, which for to nominate is neither needfull, nor will my
occasions permit so much leisure as to do it.
_How to make a bellowing noyse like an oxe, of a dogge and cat fighting
together, or of two mastiffes fighting together._
THis I saw once or twice performed, and to my knowledge not above. It
was a lusty young fellow that did it with a cloth cast over his head
which reached downe to his feet, all was to beguile the people, for he
pretended that this sound came out of his belly; he had a full and
strong voice, and had practised a good while, and another man of the
like making may easily do as much. For his nostrils he stopt with his
forefinger and thumbe, and closed the other part of his hand over his
mouth as I saw him once uncased. Another man I saw at the same time,
eate halfe a dozen quicke charcoale, but this is not to be attempted by
every one: For some cannot eate their meat very hot; others there are
that cannot away with meat except it be boyling hot, and they are of
that disposition, I should have said rather constitution, that they will
not sticke to take meat as it is boyling out of a pot with their bare
hands, and yet feele no extraordinary heat.
I have here set downe, kinde Reader, not onely all usuall feates that
either my selfe have seene or heard of, but divers others also which I
am sure were never in print, nor as yet performed by any I could ever
heare of except my selfe, and all to give thee thy full content: and
take thus much from me, If thou rightly understand this, there is not a
tricke that any Iugler in the world can shew thee, but thou shalt bee
able to conceive after what manner it is performed, if he do it by
slight of hand, and not by an unlawfull and detested means. That there
are such it is not to be doubted of, that do worke by unlawfull meanes,
and have besides their owne natural endowments the assistance of some
familiar, whereby they many times effect such miraculous things as may
well be admired by whom soever shall either behold or heare tell of
them. I could give an instance in one whose father while he lived was
the greatest Iugler in _England_, and used the assistance of a familiar;
he lived a Tinker by trade, and used his feates as a trade by the by; he
lived, as I was informed, alwayes betotterd, and dyed, for ought I could
heare, in the same estate. I could here, as I have instanced in this
man, so give you his name, and where he liveth, but because he hath left
the bad way, and chose the better, because he hath amended his life, and
betooke himselfe to an honest calling, I will rather reioyce at his
good, then do him any the least disgrace by naming him to have beene
such a one. If here be any aske my name, let them know I am not bound to
tell them. If they aske why I have writ this pamphlet, Tis to delight
them: let them excuse me for the one, and thanke me for the other: and
it may be, if time will give so much leasure, I shall hereafter spend my
wits upon some better subiect.
_FINIS._
Transcriber's Notes
The book from which this e-text was transcribed bears the inscription
"Bequest of Harry Houdini April 1927".
The Library of Congress Online Catalog lists Harper as author of this
work, however WorldCat lists the book as printed by Thomas Harper for
Ralph Mab. It seems that Mab was a stationer (arguably the publisher)
and Harper the printer, not the author.
Italic text is marked _thus_. Normal text denoting emphasis within
italic headings and sections is marked =thus=.
Words which start with two capital letters are printed with large or
ornamented initial "drop capitals" in the original.
Irregular spelling, capitalisation and hyphenation are as per the
original. Spacing around punctuation has been regularised. Unclear or
missing punctuation corrected without note. Long-s in the original
replaced with regular s. Sidenotes and illustrations have been moved to
the nearest sentence break i.e. period, colon or semi-colon. Missing
letters have been restored as follows:
"The Definition, or description of the Operator" [T in "The" added]
"Then say thus, they swallow puddings" [p in "pudding" added]
"moment therefore be quick" [f in "therefore" added]
"and called The decollation of _Iohn Baptist_" [a in "Baptist" added]
Likely printer errors were noted as follows but not corrected:
"should churme for butter, and" ["churme" should be "churne"?]
"quantitie of linfoyl and quicksilver" and "put your linfoyl in a
crucible" ["linfoyl" should be "tinfoyl"?]