The conjurer in question had taken up his residence in the best inn which the little town of Rathfillan afforded.  Immediately after his arrival he engaged the beadle, with bell in hand, to proclaim his presence in the town, and the purport of his visit to that part of the country.  This was done through the medium of printed handbills, which that officer read and distributed through the crowds who attended him.  The bill in question was as follows: 

“To the inhabitants of Rathfillan and the adjacent neighborhood, the following important communications are made:—­

“Her Zander Vanderpluckem, the celebrated German conjurer, astrologist, and doctor, who has had the honor of predicting the deaths of three kings, five queens, twenty-one princesses, and seven princes, all of royal blood, and in the best possible state of health at the time the predictions were made, and to all of whom he had himself the honor of being medical attendant and state physician, begs to announce his arrival in this town.  He is the seventh son of the great and renowned conjurer, Herr Zander Vanderhoaxem, who made the stars tremble, and the devil sweat himself to powder in a fit of repentance.  His influence over the stars and heavenly bodies is tremendous, and it is a well-known fact throughout the universe that he has them in such a complete state of terror and subjection, that a single comet dare not wag his tail unless by his permission.  He travels up and down the milky way one night in every month, to see that the dairies of the sky are all right, and that that celebrated path be properly lighted; brings down a pail of the milk with him, which he churns into butyrus, an unguent so efficacious that it cures all maladies under the sun, and many that never existed.  It can be had at five shillings a spoonful.  He can make Ursa Major, or the Great Bear, dance without a leader, and has taught Pisces, or the Fishes, to live out of water—­a prodigy never known or heard of before since the creation of terra firma.  Such is the power of the great and celebrated Her Vanderpluckem over the stars and planets.  But now to come nearer home:  he cures all patients of all complaints.  No person asking his assistance need ever be sick, unless when they happen to be unwell.  His insight into futurity is such that, whenever he looks far into it, he is obliged to shut his eyes.  He can tell fortunes, discover hidden wealth to any amount, and create such love between sweethearts as will be sure to end in matrimony.  He is complete master of the fairies, and has the whole generation of them under his thumb; and he generally travels with the king of the fairies in his left pocket closed up in a snuffbox.  He interprets dreams and visions, and is never mistaken; can foretell whether a child unborn will be a boy or a girl, and can also inform the parents whether it will be brought to the bench or the gallows.  He can also foretell backwards, and disclose to the individual anything that shall