R---- to enjoy the conviction, that in the singular
scene they had witnessed there could be no collusion, as the innocent boy
(they were certain) had never seen the necromancer until summoned to
the ---- consulate to make a looking-glass of his hand.
Some recent French publication has trumped up a story about Bonaparte and
the magicians, when that extraordinary man was in Egypt, and separated
from the fair Josephine, who was then, though his wife, supposed to be the
object of his amorous affections; and they make the conqueror--the victor
of the battle of the Pyramids, turn pale, and then yellow with jealousy,
at the revelations which were made to him by the wise men of Egypt. But
besides the characters of Napoleon and of Josephine, I have other grounds
(not necessary to explain here) for believing that the whole of this
incident, is but a parody of the following well known story.
An honest Neapolitan trader who happened to be for some months on the
coast of Africa, about Tunis, and in Egypt, became all at once anxious to
know something of the proceedings of a buxom wife he had left behind him
at the town of the Torre del Greco, not far from the city of Naples, and
was persuaded one night to consult the magicians.
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