as his master, except the art of extirpating
corns. He had attained the high accomplishment
of keeping four balls going in the air at
once. But this did not satisfy his ambition;
he desired, if possible, to surpass the faculty
of reading by appreciation, which he had so
much admired in pianists. He placed a book
open before him, and while the four balls
were flying through the air, he accustomed
himself to read without hesitation. This
feat will probably surprise the generality of
readers; nevertheless, immediately after
recording the above, Robert-Houdin, after the
lapse of thirty years (during which time he
never performed publicly with balls) repeated
the experiment for his own private satisfaction.
His skill, however, has somewhat
declined: it is with three balls only that he
can now read with ease.

The self-cultivation of the simultaneous
exercise of other faculties followed, and made
the magician what he was, and still remains.
The course of training is very interesting to
follow in the "Confidences;" and the result
is quite on a par with Julius Caesar's power
of dictating to four different secretaries at
once, or with Gifford's learning the Latin
Grammar while he was cobbling shoes. It
is, in fact, a kind of attainment which must
be acquired to a greater or a less degree by
all who are called upon to play a leading and
important part in life. Where would the
commanding officer in a hard-fought battle,
the orator in a stormy debate, the operating
surgeon in a difficult case, or the conductor
of a multitudinous orchestra attacking a new
and difficult oratorio, find himself, if he could
not see, and hear, and think of, and arrange,
a good many things at once?

A Prince of Conjurors is therefore made,
not born. Robert-Houdin advanced in his
art by very certain, but slow, degrees, which
are worth following in his autobiography.
The first performance of his Soirées
Fantastiques, in Paris, did not take place till eighteen
hundred and forty-five, when he was
very nearly forty years of age; and all his
life had been spent in hard study and
constant practice of things relating to his ultimate
profession. It was his decided opinion (and
he acted upon it) that, however flattering
may be the early success earned in the midst
of acquaintances and friends, a man, to be
received as really adroit and capable of
performing incomprehensible feats, must be of
an age proportioned to the long course of
training by which he is supposed to have
attained his superiority. The public will grant
to a man of five-and-thirty or forty the right
of bewildering and surprising it by means of
entertaining deceptions; to a younger man,
it will refuse that privilege. Robert-Houdin
had the tact to take the tide of fortune at
the flood. After less than seven years of a
triumphant career at home and abroad, he
retired, for the sake of health and quiet, and
with a competence and a reputation
increased by the results of a few more last
and very last performances in Germany and
Africa.

The crowning act of his public life was
one of the most honourable in his whole
career. Two years after he had retreated
from the fantastic scene, to breathe his
native air in peace and tranquillity during
the rest of his days, he was called upon,
by authority, to give a final display of his
ability. What greatly determined his
acceptance of the task, was the knowledge
that his mission was marked with a quasi-
political character. The artist's pride and
self-esteem were flattered by his being
called upon to render service to his country.
He might boast that he was enlisted almost
into the ranks of diplomacy:

It is well known that the greater number
of the insurrections which had to be repressed
in Algeria were excited by native agitators
who professed to be inspired by the Prophet,
and who are regarded by the Arabs as the
envoys of Allah on earth, for their deliverance
from the oppression of the Roumi or
Christians. These false prophets, these holy
Marabouts, whose supernatural power is no
greater than yours or mine, contrive,
nevertheless, to inflame the fanaticism of their
co-religionists by means of a small stock of
conjuring tricks which are as primitive as the
spectators before whom they are exhibited.
It was of great importance to the government
that their adverse influence should be
neutralised; to effect which, they reckoned
upon Robert-Houdin. They hoped, with
reason, to make the Arabs understand, by the
aid of his performances, that the feats of the
Marabouts are nothing but child's play; and
that, in consequence of their very childishness,
they could not be miracles worked by
saints and apostles sent by the Most High
for their confirmation in the faith. As a
natural corollary, they would be led to reflect
that their conquerors are their superiors in
every respect, and that even as far as sorcery
and witchcraft are concerned, they have
nothing to compare with what France can
produce.

The government received the Prestidigitator
with official honours, and lodged
him like a prince in a handsome apartment
commanding the extensive roadstead of
Algiers. The sea, remarks the ex-conqueror,
is always pleasant, to behold from a window.
Madame Robert-Houdin was also welcomed
in handsome style as a government guest.
Before the official representations were
given, a few preliminary performances took
place in the town, to serve as a sort of pilot-
balloons and indicate the direction in which
the wind of public opinion might blow.
Although the houses were crowded with
European spectators, the resident Arabs came
in sparing numbers. You may even carry the
water to the horse, without being able to
persuade him to drink. These men, of an indolent