"Things are not as they used to be," he would say, "and it might really be fancied the jugglers had juggled themselves away, for I don't see a single one. Will the time ever return," he added, "when the Duc de M---- did not disdain to visit my humble shop, and remain here for hours talking to me and my numerous visitors. Ah, that was a time! when all the first conjurers and amateurs formed a brilliant club here; for each of these masters, desirous of proving his superiority over the others, showed his best tricks and his utmost skill."
I felt the old gentleman's regret equally with himself, for I should have revelled in such society, as I would have walked any time twenty leagues for the sake of talking with a professor. Still, I had the luck to form here the acquaintance of Jules de Rovère, the first to employ a title now generally given to fashionable conjurers. Being of noble birth, he desired a title in accordance with it; but, as he had rejected with disdain the vulgar name of _escamoteur_, and as, too, that of _physicien_ was frequently used by his rivals, he was compelled to create a title for himself.
One day the pompous title of "PRESTIDIGITATEUR" was visible on an enormous poster, which also condescended to supply the derivation of this breath-stopping word, _presto digiti_ (activity of the fingers). Then came the details of the performance, intermingled with Latin quotations, which must attract the attention of the public by evidencing the learning of the conjurer--I beg pardon, prestidigitator.
This word, as well as _prestidigitation_, due to the same author, were soon seized upon by Jules de Rovère's rivals, who liked a good mouthful too. The Academy itself followed this example by sanctioning the formation of the word, and thus handing it down to posterity. I am bound to add, though, that this word, originally so pompous, is no longer a distinction, for, as the most humble jugglers were at liberty to appreciate it, it follows that conjuring and prestidigitation have become synonymous. The conjurer who requires a title should seek it in his own merit, and recognise the sound truth that "it is better for a man to honor his profession than to be honored by it." For my own part, I never made any distinction between the two names, and I shall employ them indiscriminately, until some new Jules de Rovère arrive to enrich the Dictionary of the French Academy.