 the peaceable issue of the adventure which he had overheard:
but, that he might not be exposed to such inconvenience for the future, they
resolved, that a grate should be fixed in the middle of the outward door,
through which the conjurer himself should reconnoitre all the visitants, before
their admission; so that, to those whose appearance he should not like, Hadgi
should, without opening, give notice, that his master was engaged. By this
expedient too, they provided against those difficulties which Cadwallader must
have encountered, in giving satisfaction to strangers, whom he did not know; for
the original intention of the founders was to confine the practice of their art
to people of fashion only, most of whom were personally known to the counterfeit
magician and his coadjutor.
    Indeed, these associates, Cadwallader in particular, notwithstanding his
boasted insight into the characters of life, never imagined that his pretended
skill would be consulted by any but the weaker-minded of the female sex, incited
by that spirit of curiosity which he knew was implanted in their nature: but, in
the course of his practice, he found himself cultivated in his preternatural
capacity, by people of all sexes, complexions, and degrees of reputation, and
had occasion to observe, that when the passions are concerned, howsoever cool,
cautious and deliberate, the disposition may otherwise be, there is nothing so
idle, frivolous, or absurd, to which they will not apply for encouragement and
gratification. The last occurrence, according to the hopes and expectation of
the confederates, was whispered about by the ladies concerned, in such a manner,
that the whole affair was, in a few days, the universal topic of discourse, in
which it was retailed with numberless embellishments, invented by the parties
themselves, who had long indulged a pique at each other, and took this
opportunity of enjoying their revenge.
    These incidents, while they regaled the spleen, at the same time augmented
the renown of the conjurer, who was described on both sides as a very
extraordinary person in his way; and the alteration in his door was no sooner
performed, than he had occasion to avail himself of it, against the intrusion of
a great many, with whom he would have found it very difficult to support the
fame he had acquired.
    Among those who appeared at his grate, he perceived a certain clergyman,
whom he had long known an humble attendant on the great, and with some the
reputed minister of their pleasures. This Levite had disguised himself in a
great coat, boots, and dress quite foreign to the habit worn by those of
