that the rnagnetist will by a single pass render
futile all Master Raphael's attempts to strike
her, and will " reduce him when at the height of
his frenzy to such extreme rigidity that he will
again sustain a heavy weight, as before."  This
"as before" seems to point at the twenty-two
stone gentleman again, and we think there are
but few of us whose combativeness would
sustain its full energy were we to be sat down upon
by a personage of so plethoric a habit.

The aspect presented by the Assembly
Rooms on the occasion was the reverse of
exhilarating. A little strip of Kidderminster
carpet to comfort the feet of the occupants
of the front row; a small and rickety
dressing-table with some seedy damask for a
cover, and two composite candles upon it to
light a room about fifty feet long; twelve persons
seated on benches round the dressing-table,
and four bathing-machine boys upon a distant
form, who had been let in for nothing—these
were the component parts of the coup-d'Å“il
which greeted your Eye-witness when he entered
the Rooms at Smallport, bent on examining
dispassionately, and estimating truly, the
performances of the Infant Magnet. Traditions are in
existence of days when duchesses have danced minuets
in those Rooms, and of weekly assemblies, of
wit and rank and beauty, which took place in
those apartments in the palmy days of Smallport.
Such days are over now, and only the traditions
of them hang about the place, just as the plaster
ornaments hang from the ceiling, the cobwebs
from the cornice, and the paper in damp strips
from the cracking walls.

There seemed no particular reason why the
twelve persons who were waiting for the
exhibition to begin should communicate with each
other in whispers, yet it was in such covert
tones that they spoke, and everything they did
was so furtive, that the crunching of the apples
by the bathing-machine boys resounded through
the room till it echoed again. In such a silence
as this it will readily be imagined that any
unusual noise would attract immense attention,
and that when from behind a huge screen,
which nearly covered one end of the room,
there arose a sound of pouring out of water, of
the clinking of a soap-dish, of the friction
of soap upon a towel, of the escape of this
slippery article, of its recapture, of rubbing,
of rinsing, of splashing—when these sounds, we
say, reached the ears of the audience, and when
they reflected that the Infant Magnet alone was
behind the screen, then it was that the
conviction forced itself upon them that this gifted
creature was engaged at her toilet.

It has been said that the public was aware
that the Magnetic Infant was the only inhabitant
of the screened-off portion of the room; and,
indeed, about this there could be no sort of
doubt, for both the Professor who exhibited her
and Master Raphael (the proprietor of the Rigid
Legs) were standing by the door assisting the
old lady who took the money, and whose
imperfect acquaintance with the currency rendered
their presence highly desirable.

Three large flat-irons, or tailor's geese, having
been, at three separate journeys, brought from
some place of concealment and placed with a
bang, and a show of much effort, upon the
dressing-table, the Professor began his address.
He was a little, middle-aged gentleman, but
compact and stout, with short bristling hair,
and a dyed moustache. The Professor leaned
one hand upon the table, and, placing the other
akimbo, eyed his audience with a mixture of
suspicion, and of a foreknowledge that they would not
be perfectly satisfied with what they were going
to see. His stock of words appeared to be
singularly limited. He had a habit of leaving
his sentences incomplete, abandoning each
commonly at an early stage, and getting on to the
next, in a sanguine hope that it might turn
out more manageable than its predecessor,—
but for these defects, and an imperfect acquaintance
with the subject he was lecturing upon,
the Professor would have been, perhaps, one of
the most remarkable orators of modern times.
The eloquence of our lecturer was slow, with
pauses of great duration. It was of this sort:

"It is generally admitted, or rather I should
say that the remarks which I am about to make.
The practice, or it would be preferable to say
the science, of mesmerism, or rather animal
magnetism. It is well known that even among the
ancient Egyptians, one of whom, the renowned
Mesmer. And, indeed, in our own day, many
are of opinion: but there have always been, at
all times, those whom the evidence of their
senses will not convince. While in the study
of Phrenology, being myself engaged in, and I
shall feel happy to examine the heads of any
lady or gentleman present, and at my temporary
residence in the neighbouring town, number 48,
Swallow-street. The exhibition which is about to
take place in which the heavy iron weights which
are placed as you see; and the medical world,
the science of mesmerism having in its noisier
aspects yielded to the calmness of truth; the
accomplished young lady, whom I came in
contact with but eight days ago, being here to
illustrate my meaning: with these few remarks
explanatory of the nature of the performance
and of mesmerism, or rather animal magnetism,
we will introduce——"

THE INFANT MAGNET appears from behind
the screen—a little girl, apparently about
fifteen, but probably older, with a good,
intelligent, and rather pretty face, and a singularly
elegant and graceful manner. After curtseying
to the audience, she seats herself at the table,
places her little finger and the part of the inside
of her hand between it, and the wrist upon the
handle of one of the flat-irons, and tips up
the end of the iron which is farthest from
her, the other extremity remaining upon the
table. This is done several times, with each of
the irons in turn.

The effect of this prodigious feat is somehow
so very small upon the audience, that the
Professor seems to feel it necessary to apologise.

"We have been disappointed," the Professor
says, "of the music. The musician having at