Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1856-11-21
John Randolph Gold

John Randolph Sold
Some years ago. while the choleric and
merearial statesman whose name heads
this article, was STAYING at the Indian
Qneen Hotel. at Baltimore. the merits OF
a magician, who at that time WAS aston
lshing the weak minds of the Raltimo-
reans by his mysterious performance in
the "Blacl art, came up for discussion
in party. of which John Randolph was
one. when he took occasion. in no meas
ured terms. to d,nonncc the de,ler in
marie az 4 gracelass impostrr, and end
ed with expressing a determination to
attend one of the "sorecs mvsterieuso, e"
for the purpose Of exposing the cheat.
1t must be remembered that at the
time of which | am writing. our magi-
clans were not as honest as they are at
the present day Instead Of coming out
openly before the audience and stating
that it was only dexteritv at slisht-of-
hand which gave them the power to de-
ecive. the, boldly claim d that they had
a perfect understanding with his Satanic
majesty, to whose assistance they were
! indebted for the instantaneous prodnc-
ton of their wonderful effects. The
drinking of melted lead, the masrication
Of red hot ctalS. the swallowing of
swords. the gnlping down OF burning
tow and the blowing cf ribbons of cv-
1rv hue and any desired length from the
mouth, were. according to their state
meet>, indirectly the work of "Old
Nick.
Il is net TO be wondered at. then. that
man Ike john Randolph, feeling. of
course, perfectly satisfied that decontion
was used, and knowing That hundreds of
persons inclined to superstition religious
" believed that the astounding tricks
xhibitc.l before them spranc from tho
source claimed for them by tn, pcrform.
ar. should feel inclined to cxnosc the
cheat and satisfy the said credulous nor
sons thai they We're imposed upon.
While the discussion of the s~b;oct
was going on. Il Z ntlemanlv looking in
divitiEa who occupied scat a short
t!statce removed from tho rroup. ap-
pearcd to be with gre DIV ear devourinr
mp their discourse and as Randolph
finished sp ak n, he arose and left the
apartment.
Thet night, eur irate statesman, ac
companicaI by friend. might have been
seen early at the ticket.officc Of the ma
gjc:an place of business. and shortly
thereafter they selected front scat, m
quietly awaited the rising of the cur
tain;
4 look of determination was visible
on the sallow conntenancc Of Randolph.
whose quick restless dark eyes fairly
sn}pped with impatience as the hour
approached when he should have the
supreme qualification of administering
sessv" to the confederate of Satan: and
he was not ut all displeascd to find that
an unusually large number of persons
willing to believe almost everything,
were present.
At length the bell rang, up went the
curtain, and the magician. with a fcro-
cious locking beard and mustache. and
a robe that would have done no d;scred-
it to his terrible master, the Arch Fiond
himself. made his appearance. He be-
sure the audience that they might wit.
ness. for the guilt of practising his pro-
fession rested entirely upon himself, and
that he was willing to take the conse-
quences of it. He ended his a ldress by
asking if any gentleman present wonld
be so kind as to loan him a silver dollar
for a while
Randolph. who had listened to the
address Of the magician with feeling of
the greatest contempt and indignation.
was only too anxious to accommodate
him, and instantly springing from his
seat. though without saying a word, he
prohered the required com, which was
accepted, and he at once seated himself
again, the magician romarking, that he
shonld require his kind assistance pres
emily,
You shall have my Kind assistance
with the greatest pleasure. mu,tered the
statesman to himself.
The performance went on-trick after
trick was disposed of to which Randolph
paid not the slightest attention- he was
anxious only for the ''doliar trick'-it
was in that he expected to catch the dis
ciple of Lephistophiles 'on the hip and
he would have been willing to have
waited year for the extreme gratifca-
ton that the tapose would afford him.
At length the magician, after kindly
thanking the audience for the attention
they had paid to him, and trusting tina
be should have a CONT 1nos Il thair