pages: latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf, 228
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latestmagicbeing00hoff.pdf | 228 | 212 LATEST MAGIC having been executed as a special favour to Pal- mer, by Hassoun, an eminent professional "scribe." I am reluctantly bound to admit that the Pal- mer wand, in my hands, did not exhibit any special magical virtues, and when I ceased myself to use it, it seemed to me that it could not find a worthier home than in Dr. Ellison's fine collection. Reverting for a moment to the subject of patter, I will conclude by quoting, for the amusement rather than the instruction of the reader, an ora- tion which (with variations) now and then formed my introductory boniment, and might on occasion still serve, in default of better. "Ladies and Gentlemen, and members of the Royal Family, if any happen to be present, I am about to exhibit for your amusement, a few experi- ments in Unnatural Philosophy, otherwise Magic. "Magic in the olden times was a very different thing, as I daresay you know, from what it is at present. In those days every respectable wizard kept a familiar spirit: a sort of magical man of all work. He cleaned the boots and knives, and when his master gave a show, it was the familiar who worked all his miracles for him. The magician only did the talking, and pocketed the takings. But the familiar did much bigger things than that. If his master's next-door neighbour made himself disagreeable, the familiar would |