The Sun.
London, England, 1833-10-18 00:00:00

"JUGGLERY.

"The next thing to which I alluded as intending to re-
cord was an instance of visual illusion, as far as my expe-
rience and even my belief goes, unprecedented in the annals
of jugglery. After the exhibition of the eggs, as just
desctibA, a stout ferocious-looking fellow stepped forward,
with a common wicker basket of the country, which he
begged we would carefully examine. This we accordingly
did ; it was of the slightest texture, and admitted the
light through a thousand apertures. Under this fragile
covering lie placed a child about eight years old, an in-
teresting little girl, habited in the only garb which nature
provided for her, perfect of frame and elastic of limb ; a
model for a ch. rub, and scarcely darker than a child of
snot, ern France. When she was properly secured, the
man, with a lowering aspect, asked her some question,
which she instantly answered ; and as the thing was done
within a few feet from the spot on which we were seated,
the voice appeared to come so direwlysts from the
basket, that I felt at Once satisfied there was no de-
ception. They held a conversation for some moments,
when the juggler, almost with a scream of
threatened to kill her. There was a stern reality
is the whole scene which was perfectly dismaying ;
it was acted to the lile, but terrible to see and hear. The
child was heard to beg for mercy, when the man seised a
sword, placed his foot upon the frail wicker covering under
which his supposed victim was so piteously supplicating
his forbearance, and to my absolute consternation an
horror plunged it through, withdrawing it several times,
and repeating the plunge with all the blind terocity of an
excited demon. By this time his countenance c xhibited
an expression fearfully indicative of the roost frantic of
human passions. The shrieks of the child were so real
and distracting that they almost curdled for a few mo-
ments the whole mass of any blood. My first impu se was
to rush upon the monster and fell him to the earth, but he
was armed and I defenceless. I looked at my companions ;
they appeared to be pile and paralyzed with terror; and
yet these feelings were somewhat neutralized by the con-
sciousness that t he man could not dare to commit a deliberate
inurner in the broad ye of day, and before so many wit
uesses ; still the whole thing was appalling. The blood ran
iii streams from the basket; the child was heard to scruple
under it; her groans fell horridly upon the ear ; her
struggles smote painfully upon the heart. The former
were gradually suodued into a faint moan, and the latter
into a slight rustling sound. We seemed to hear the last
convulsive gasp which was to set her innocent soul free
front the gored body, when, to our inexpressible astonish.
ment and relief, after muttering a few cabalistic words the
juggler took up the basket, but no child was to be seen.
The spot was indeed died with blood, but there wet e no
mortal remains, and after a few moments of undissernbled
wonder we perceived the little object of our alarm corning
towards us from among the crowd. She advanced and
saluted us, holding out her hand for our donations, which
we bestowed with hearty good-will. She received them
with a most graceful salaam, and the party left us, well
satisfied with eur more than expected gratuity. What
rendered the deception the more extraordinary was, that
the man stood aloof from the crowd during the whole per-
formance; there was not a person within several feet of
him."

THE JUVENILE FORGET ME NOT.

Mrs. S. C. Hall, the editor of the " Juvenile

Forget Me Not," has had the good fortune, in the
volume before us, to produce one of the most in-
teresting numbers which has appeared from the
commencement of the work. The dome-good
intention of the different tales, is in most of
them judiciously kept out of sight, and they
will, we doubt not, prove as interesting to the
adult as they will be delightful and instructive to
those for whose benefit they were more espe-
cially written. The " English Farm-yard," the
" New-year's Gifts," the " Game of the Tra-
veller," and the Indian anecdote of " Jocko,"
have especially pleased us. The " Game of
the Traveller," being a novelty in England,
well worthy of being known to all young folk,
we must steal the " Forget Me Not's" account
of it :

" think I can accommodate you,' said an agreeable
young man from Germany, on a visit at Dacre Hall. who
spoke English like a native, and was, from his uniffected
simplicity of character, a great favourite with young and
old. 'We have a game we are very fond of, tilled 'the
Traveller,' something like the one your father mentioned,
only that every one must fix on something different the
drollest and most out of the way he can think of—and try
to put the poor traveller out by bringing it in—the more
trial apropos the better—while he is telling the story of
his journey; and he, on pain of a forfeit, must not seem
in the least put out, hut account quite naturally for the
strange thing being there, and expliin how it came to be
so, were it ever so unaccountable. You can't think what
ingenuity this sometimes requires, and how droll it sounds
to hear the odd things which practised players make the
poor traveller find in the most unlikely places.'
" Oh, it must be capital ! ' cried all the delighted
young people, ' for those who can do it, that is to say ;
but we shall never be able to manage anything so difficult.'
" ' Why, the part of the traveller does require a little
practice and presence of mind at first,' said the good.
humoured German, so I'll take that on myself this time.
All. you have to do is each to fix on some separate article
—ll absurd, so much the more puzz ing for me; and when
at any part of my story I look at a particular person. and
say,e iit
hntahte
thing
meet
hwith
gh?;
otfh. is
If
fe rhseo nib
ring
euts furnish
m:
ora
does
not immediately produce it, he pays a forfeit ; if I cannot
Rive a plausible reason (good or bad, of course) for its
being there, I must pay one instead ; but you'll learn best
tiy example. I ant going to be very ger-rous against my-
self, and put it in your power to annoy me d-übly, by
letting you, before hand, into my proposed line of journey.
I mean to be travelling ftom Paris to Rome, across the
Simplon, because it is a beaten route, and most of you
know pretty well what ought or ought not to be met will,
on it.'

" Oh, yes, we begin to understand,' slid some of the
elder boys and girls ; ' .% e'll puzzl,. you finely, if you will
give us time to think a little. You'll play, papa, won't
you 21
" ' I'd rather sit by and get a lesson,' said Mr. Dacre,
smiling, ' that I may be able to take the plice of my good
friend Albert, when he is really gone on his travels. In
the mean time, yuu had better be leaving Paris—it grows
late.'

" ' Well,' said young Albert, gravely, ' suppose me
getting into the diligence to leave 'hat far-famed city, two
hours before daybreak on a fine summer mornin,., at the
door of the office called Bureau des Pastes. I could just
discern by a dim lamp that the coach was already pretty
well filled, and squeezed myself the best way I could into
the remaining seat. But when daylight Megan to come
in, who do you think, Jane,'—here he looked suddenly at
the totally unprepared youngest little girl in the company,
—' I saw had been for some time past my fellow-pas-
senger ?'

'• 'All the players started, taken quite by surprise by this
very early appeal; and as its poor little victim had really
forgotten what it was that Mr. Deere had advised her to
tix on, the good humoured traveller, saying, I may as
well make you pay forfeit now, that others may take warn-
ing,' gave the hall-frighted child a ki,s, and turned to a
tall boy on the opposite side of the circle, with, Well,
Fred, what did 1 find squatted beside me?'
" An ourang outang !' said Fred delightedly ; nice
company, was it not ?'
".' NVhy I don't know,' answered the traveller, without
moving a muscle; ' most of the party clamoured violently
as daylight came in, and they found
they had been hoaxed
to travel with a monkey. But, as he behaved with more
sense, and looked more like a human creature, than half

the dandies in Paris, and was moreover amazingly amusing,
we all rejoiced in having an opportunity of witues,ing his
singular docility and gentleness. His keeper, who sat op-
po-ite, was brother to our coachy, and as Monsieur Jock°.
(the greatest pet in all the French Zoological Gardens,
called ' Jardin des Plantes') was poorly, and req tired
country air, he thouvht he migl,t smuggle him in, in the
dark, as far as the first stage, where he stopped at one of
the King's hunting-lodges, in the town of )3---. I assure
you we were all sorry when he left the co tch with his hat
under his arm, bowing to every ene round, like a perfect
gentleman.'

" You've got pretty well out of that scrape,' muttered
Fred, the author of the ourang outang device; ' but you
must not humbug us often with monkeys in coaches, else
we shall think you are coming the traveller over us in

earnest.'
" And so I ant,' answered Albert, smiling, only you
shall own that stories as strange are often met with hi real
books of travels. J3ut as coaches, after all, are not good
places for adventures, I met with but one more—that had
like to have been a very fatal one. We were bowling away,
helter skelter, in the usuril reckless style of French driving,
down the steep declivity of Mount Jura, towards Switzer-
land, late one fogey evening, when the coach suddenly
encountered some unexpected obstacle, and was overturned
with a dreadful jolt. Pray what was the cause of our
misfortune, Miss Louisa, you who have really travelled
that road yourself?'
" A billiard-!able,' replied the malicious young lady
addressed, who flattered herself she had indeed upset the
luckless traveller.

" ' Just a billiard-table,' quietly repeated the nowise
disconcerted Alb,rt, ' however strange it may seem till I
explain the circums'anc.s. The journey lam describing
was performed shortly after the occupation of Geneva ; and
a French regiment, returning across the Jura to defend it-,
native soil, had thrown off from an overloaded waggon the
least import•int ( though to French officers not the least

interesting) part of their camp turniture—their travelling
billiard table, the sr dualde ereen plain of which had been
hastily wrenched off, and the clumsy old legs left, with true
military recklessness, so near the edge of the road as to
enable our di iver to run foul of them in the dark. We
were not the first by many who have owed their misfor-
tune to a billiard-table, and it w,.uld be well for all its vo-

luntary victims if they got off P+e well as we
" And so well,' cried the party, half amused, half
provoked, at the coolness with which Albert converted
into possibilities at least, the most unlikely occurrences.

" I need not,' resumed the traveller, ' tell you, who
have all read da scriptions, and seen prints of tie beautiful
scenery of Switzer land, how completely the morning view
of Mont Blanc, from the summit of the Jura, made up
for our nigh,'s misadventure. We were lost in delighted
admiration for several minutes, on first perceiving, embo-
gamed in its lovely, g irden-like shores, the clear, unru--
fled lake of Geneva. But this soon gave place to as•onisb-
ment on distinvoishing,
light in the very middle of it—
what, William ?—tnethinks I have caught you napping.'
" A hay-cock.' answered hesitatingly the boy thus
roused, who, duller than the 'est, and e-nseqmintly less
interested in tb- game. had fallen half asleep over a book
of 'oral views—the one of which be happened to see on
first opening his eye-, was a scene of hay-making.
" 'You're done now, Mr. Traveller,' cried many a
laughing voice, 'thanks to Bill's luck. Haymaking in
'he water will puzzle even you!'
" 'lt has indeed bale d wiser heads than mine,' con-
tinued the German with his usual composure, explain
satisfactorily the phenomenon which in the singularly
clear tran-parent atmosphere of Switz,rland is sometime,
though very rarely, discernible. Just opposite to Geneva
rises a green sugar-loaf shaped mountain called the ‘11,161e,'
which, though some miles removed from the margin of
the lake, is nevertheless at times, by a peculiar combina-
tion of lights, distinctly reflected in its magic mirror.
And on this mountain it happens that a style of hay-
making quite peculiar to itself is carried on. Once every
year the whole young people of the neighbouring district
assemble for a frolic on its summit, and after cutting
down and drying its rich, sweet, fragrant, grass, pile it
into enormous heaps (more like young hills than hay-
cocks) and hurl them, with all the laughter and merri-
ment you may Auppo,e, right down the face of the moun-
tain to the bottom. Now as I was lucky enough to see
the 11161 e plainly reflected in the like below, nay to per-
ceive occasional irregularities in its sharp outline, occa-
sioned, doubtless, by, liege mountains of hay (which I
afterwards heard the merry Savoyards were at the very
time employed in throwing over), I may, without more
exaggeration than is the traveller's privilege, he allowed
to say, I beheld hay-cocks in the middle of the lake of
Geneva !"

Several of the engravings are pretty and good ;
and we must say that they may not be judged
of by the frontispiece, certainly as ugly a thing
as could have been selected.