Chapter VI

Disguise of Achilles--Of Ulysses--Of Codrus--Fiction employed by Numa
Pompilius--King Alfred disguised in the Swineherd’s Cottage--His
Visit, as a Harper, to the Danish Camp--Richard Cœur de Lion takes
the Garb of a Pilgrim--He is discovered and imprisoned--Disguises
and Escape of Mary, Queen of Scots--Escape of Charles the Second,
after the Battle of Worcester--Of Stanislaus from Dantzic--Of Prince
Charles Edward from Scotland--Peter the Great takes the Dress of a
Ship Carpenter--His Visit to England--Anecdote of his Conduct to a
Dutch Skipper--Stratagem of the Princess Ulrica of Prussia--Pleasant
Deception practised by Catherine the Second of Russia--Joan of
Arc--Her early Life--Discovers the King when first introduced at
Court--She compels the English to raise the Siege of Orleans--Joan
leads the King to be crowned at Rheims--She is taken Prisoner--Base
and barbarous Conduct of her Enemies--She is burned at Rouen--The
Devil of Woodstock--Annoying Pranks played by it--Explanation of the
Mystery--Fair Rosamond 86

CHAPTER VII.

Characteristic Mark of a skilful General--Importance anciently
attached to military Stratagems--The Stratagem of Joshua at
Ai, the first which is recorded--Stratagem of Julius Cæsar in
Gaul--Favourable Omen derived from Sneezing--Artifice of Bias at
Priene--Telegraphic Communication--Mode adopted by Hystiæus to convey
Intelligence--Relief of Casilinum by Gracchus--Stratagem of the
Chevalier de Luxembourg to convey Ammunition into Lisle--Importance
of concealing the Death of a General--The manner in which the
Death of Sultan Solyman was kept secret--Stratagem of John
Visconti--Stratagem of Lord Norwich at Angoulème--Capture of Amiens
by the Spaniards--Manner in which the Natives of Sonia threw off the
Yoke 109

CHAPTER VIII.

Former Prevalence of Malingering in the Army; and the Motives for
it--Decline of the Practice--Where most Prevalent--The means of
Simulation reduced to a System--Cases of simulated Ophthalmia
in the 50th Regiment--The Deception wonderfully kept up by many
Malingerers--Means of Detection--Simulated Paralysis--Impudent
Triumph manifested by Malingerers--Curious case of Hollidge--Gutta
Serena, and Nyctalopia counterfeited--Blind Soldiers employed in
Egypt--Cure, by actual cautery, of a Malingerer--Simulation of
Consumption and other Diseases--Feigned Deafness--Detection of a Man
who simulated Deafness--Instances of Self-mutilation committed by
Soldiers--Simulation of Death 118

CHAPTER IX.

The Bottle Conjuror--Advertisements on this Occasion--Riot produced
by the Fraud--Squibs and Epigrams to which it gave rise--Case of
Elizabeth Canning--Violent Controversy which arose out of it--She is
found guilty of Perjury and transported--The Cock Lane Ghost--Public
Excitement occasioned by it--Detection of the Fraud--Motive for
the Imposture--The Stockwell Ghost--The Sampford Ghost--Mystery in
which the Affair was involved--Astonishing Instance of Credulity
in Perigo and his Wife--Diabolical Conduct of Mary Bateman--She is
hanged for Murder--Metamorphosis of the Chevalier d’Eon--Multifarious
Disguises of Price, the Forger--Miss Robertson--The fortunate
Youth--The Princess--Olive--Caraboo--Pretended Fasting--Margaret
Senfrit--Catherine Binder--The Girl of Unna--The Osnaburg Girl--Anne
Moore 126