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“ The best place, and the readiest to hold one ball is betweene the ball of the thumbe, and the palme of the hand; but if you hold more than one at one time, betweene your fingers towards the bottoms. The place to hold a great ball is betweene your two middle fingers. Remember in your play alwaies to keep the palme of your hand downeward: After you have once learned to hold these balls handsomely, you may worke divers strange, and delightfull feats. ”

“ Note that it ought not to be full so big as a tenis ball. Call for a wine quart pot filled with faire water up to the necke, having your face in a readinesse, concealed in your right hand, take the pot in your left hand, and set it on the Table, and say, see you Gentlemen, here is nothing in the pot but water, with that clap down the pot lid with your right hand, and in clapping it down, slip the face into the pot, this you may doe without any the lest suspition. ”

“ For his nostrils he stopt with his forefinger and thumbe, and closed the other part of his hand over his mouth as I saw him once uncased. Another man I saw at the same time, eate halfe a dozen quicke charcoale, but this is not to be attempted by every one: For some cannot eate their meat very hot; others there are that cannot away with meat except it be boyling hot, and they are of that disposition, I should have said rather constitution, that they will not sticke to take meat as it is boyling out of a pot with their bare hands, and yet feele no extraordinary heat. ”

“ TAke a ball and lay it on the Table, and holding a knife in one hand by the blade, desire some body to take the Ball that is upon the Table, & lay it upon the haft of the knife, pretending that you will blow it thence invisibly, and when he is laying it on, take him a good rap on the knuckles. ”

“ FIrst, you must hold open your right hand, and lay therein a Tester, or some big piece of money, then lay thereupon the top of your long left finger, and use some words of Art, & upon the sudden, slip your right hand from your finger, wherewith you held downe the Tester, and bending your hand a very little, you shall retain the Tester still therein, and suddenly drawing your right hand thorow your left, you shall seeme to have left the Tester there, specially when you shut in due time your left hand. ”

“ THe best place to dispose of a piece of money, is in the palme of the hand, and the best piece for conveyance is a tester, but with practice all will be alike.
A notable tricke to transforme a Counter into a Groat.
TAke a Groat, or some lesse peece of money, and grinde it very thinne at the one side, and take two Counters and grind them, the one on the one side, the other on the other side; glew the smooth side of the Groat to the smooth side of one of the Counters, ioyning them so close together as may be, specially at the edges, which may be so filed, as they shall seeme to be but one piece ”

“ I have here set downe, kinde Reader, not onely all usuall feates that either my selfe have seene or heard of, but divers others also which I am sure were never in print, nor as yet performed by any I could ever heare of except my selfe, and all to give thee thy full content: and take thus much from me, If thou rightly understand this, there is not a tricke that any Iugler in the world can shew thee, but thou shalt bee able to conceive after what manner it is performed, if he do it by slight of hand, and not by an unlawfull and detested means. ”

“ But I will not stand on discovering these, for in this our cousening age there are too many so expert herein, that they maintaine themselves better than many an honest man with a lawfull trade and calling. ”

“ How to seeme suddenly to melt a piece of Coyne with words.
YOu must have a boxe made of brasse or Crooked Lane plate, a double boxe, and not above five quarters of an inch deepe: in the midst must be the bottome, and both ends must have covers to come over them. This boxe might be so neatly made, that each lid might have a small bolt artificially contrived (which though I could make my selfe neither by words nor figures I can describe) whereby the lids of the boxe might be lockt fast on, that none but master Iugler himselfe knows readily to open. ”

“ That there are such it is not to be doubted of, that do worke by unlawfull meanes, and have besides their owne natural endowments the assistance of some familiar, whereby they many times effect such miraculous things as may well be admired by whom soever shall either behold or heare tell of them. I could give an instance in one whose father while he lived was the greatest Iugler in England, and used the assistance of a familiar ”

“ TAke two Threeds or small Laces, of one foot in length a piece: rowle up one of them round, which will be then of the quantity of a pease, bestow the same betweene your left fore-finger and your thumb. Then take the other threed and hold it forth at length, betwixt the fore-finger and thumb of each hand, holding all your fingers daintily, as yong Gentlewomen are taught to take up a morsel of meat. Then let one cut asunder the same threed in the middle ”

“ Would you know whence it first came? why, from Bartholomew Fayre: would you know whither it's bent? for the Fayre againe; it's a stragler, a wanderer, and as I said, as it lightly comes, so it lightly goes; for it meanes to see not onely Bartholomew Fayre, but all the Fayres in the Kingdome also, and therefore in the front, Hiccius Doccius is the Post-master, and what he wants there, I'le give him here, a word or two of command, a terme of art, not so much substantiall as circumstantiall, Celeriter, vade, over hedges and ditches, thorow thicke and thin, to come to your Fayres. ”

“ And having learned to retaine them handsomely and readily, you may have the game at command, and know before-hand what will be your cast, and so vie upon it too. Moreover, for the Cards there are divers other tricks, of which those that are cheaters make continuall practice, as nipping them, turning up one corner, marking them with little spots, placing glasses behinde those that are gamesters, and in rings for the purpose, dumbe shoes of some standers by. ”

“ This side of the bow must have a legge as C, and then turn into the Locke; this bending must have two notches filed on the inner side, which must be so ordered that the one may locke or hold the two sides of the bow as close together at the top as may be, the other notch to hold the said parts of the bows a proportionable distance asunder, that being lockt upon the cheeke, it may neither pinch too hard, nor yet hold it so sleightly that it may be drawne off ”

“ But now said I to my Ostesse, Ostesse, what will you say if with a tricke I have, I make these six Crownes to fetch all the rest thorow the Table? Sir, quoth my Ostesse, you shall have your meat, drink, and lodging for nothing, and said the Lasse, thou shalt lie with me for nothing. Then I uncovered them, saying, but first let us see whether they be here or no, and shew them, covering them againe. Then (taking to those six Counters in my hand, other loose Counters I have readie in my lap) I knocke my hand under the Table, saying Virtute lapidis, miraculosi lapidis, jubeo vade, celeritate vade. ”

“ First make an hoope or phillet of wood, horn, or such like, about the widenesse of an halfe-crowne piece, in the circumference; the thicknesse of this hoope or phillet let be about a quarter of an inch. In the middle of this hoope fasten a bottome of wood or brasse, and bore in a decent order divers small holes about the bignesse of small pease, or phitches, then upon the one side of this bottome let in a piece of Christall glasse, and fasten it in the hoope close to the bottome ”

“ Then seeme to blow your nose, and let fall the sixpence upon the table, saying, I am glad I have got my mony againe: but now (say) what's become of the glasse? Then seeme to take it out of your pocket, saying, I am a good fellow, and would not willingly lose my liquor, then drinke it up. This is an excellent tricke if it be swiftly and neatly performed. Though you spill a part of the Beere, it is no matter, neither is it any disgrace unto it, besides you may put it off very well. ”

“ Take, I say, a quantitie as an ounce or two of quicksilver, and put to it a little salt, and stirre them well together, then put to them some whitewine vineger, and wash or stirre all together with a woodden slice, then powre away the vineger, and wash away the salt with faire water made warme, then powre away the water, and put the quicksilver into a piece of white leather, and binde it up hard, and so twist or straine it out into an earthen panne and it will be very bright and pure, then put so much of this prepared quicksilver into the philet or foresaid hoope as will cover the bottome ”

“ Then take it out of his hand againe, and blow on it, and staring him in the face, clap a piece of horne in his hand, and retaine the sixpence, shutting his hand your selfe. Bid him hold his hand downe, and slip the tester betweene one of his cuffes. Then take the stone that you shew feats with, and hold it unto his hand, saying, By vertue hereof, I will and command the money to vanish you hold in your hand, vade, now see: when they have looked, then will they thinke that it is changed by the vertue of your stone. ”

“ A representeth the one side that giveth the forme of one face to the beholders B the other side that multiplieth the beholders face, so oft as there are holes in the middle bottome, the use hereof I shall not insist upon, since he that is verst in the former feats will better conceive of himselfe to use it, then my words can either direct or assist him.
Of divers pretty iugling knacks. ”

“ Thus you may seeme by vertue of words to melt his monie, and afterwards to give it againe to the partie whole as you received it from him.
A device whereby you may draw sundrie liquors out of one seeming vessell, all which shall be put in at one hole, and all drawne out of another. ”

“ Then turne over the booke againe, and having turned every sixt leafe, draw the picture of flower de luces, and then paste stayes of parchment upon them as you did upon the first; but these stayes must all of them be a little lower than the former. ”