Stranger Than Fiction: The Magician’s War
The Statue of Robert-Houdin stands in his hometown
In 1856, the natives of Algeria were beginning to raise a rebellion to expel the French armies that had held them under colonial control. The rebels’ fervor was fueled by the religious holy men of the region that were encouraging rebellion by performing miracles. Vast armies of rebels began to form bringing great concern to French Emperor Napoleon III.
In an effort to put down the rebellion with minimal bloodshed and expense, Napoleon III decided to fight magic with magic. In a bold move he ordered a most unorthodox tactic that averted war and saved lives. He sent a magician to Algeria to frighten the rebels into putting down their weapons.
For this great display of magic he sent the man now regarded as the father of modern magic Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Born in France in 1805, Robert-Houdin was the preeminent conjuror who defined magic and took it from the marketplace, where many magicians performed, to the theaters where he sold out performances regularly.
In this battle of magic versus magic, the Emperor hoped Robert-Houdin could perform tricks that would baffle the most skilled conjurer in Africa and thus dissolve the excitement of the rebels. Robert-Houdin’s tricks, it is said, succeeded in breaking up the influence of the holy men. In fact, the rebels became afraid of Robert-Houdin.
Robert-Houdin met the rebel leaders and many of their men at a designated location on a makeshift stage to demonstrate the power of the French army. In one illusion, he allowed an rebel to shoot at him with a marked bullet, but instead of killing him, the magician caught the bullet between his teeth. The astonished rebels quickly realized their guns would be useless against the French.
As a grand finale Robert-Houdin demonstrated how he could make their most powerful man as weak as a baby and that his power was greater than that of a shaman. He presented a small empty box with an iron bottom that anyone could lift. He then asked the rebel leader to send forth his strongest soldier. A large burly man stepped forward and walked toward the magician. Robert-Houdin instructed the man to lift the box which he did with ease. He then put the box down and the magician told him “I will now take away your strength and you will be as weak as a baby.”
The Large man was unaware that Robert-Houdin had turned on an electro-magnet under the stage making the box immovable. The mighty warrior strained to lift the small box but was unable to do so. Finally, gasping for breath, the warrior gave up. The rebels failed to notice the clever magician when he turned off the electromagnet. Robert-Houdin then bent down and lifted the metal box with one hand. The warriors gasped in astonishment. The magician had proved that through will power, he could make it impossible to lift for the strongest Algerian warriors.
The rebels quickly realized their magic was no match for the French magic. They quickly mounted their camels and rode into the mountains and the rebellion was no more. Through magic, the French had averted war and bloodshed and brought peace to the troubled region at least temporarily.
Michael Williams is the author of a book entitled “Stranger than Fiction: The Lincoln Curse.” The book is a collection of 50 strange and unusual but true stories. The stories will leave the reader convinced that perhaps Mark Twain was right when he said “truth is stranger than fiction.”
The book is 187 pages in a softbound edition with numerous photos. The book can be purchased from amazon.com for $19.95 plus shipping and handling or you can save shipping cost and save $2 on the purchase price by ordering a signed copy directly from the author. Send $17.95 to P.O. Box 6421 Sevierville, TN. 37864.
The book is available in Kindle on Amazon.com for $3.99. For more information visit the website www.strangerthanfictionnews.com.
