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Richardson the famous fire-eater - Handles and eats fire
Identifier
024239
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
John Evelyn’s Dairy
Oct. 8, 1672, l tooke leave of my Lady Sunderland, who was going to Paris to my Lord, now ambassador there. She made me stay dinner at Leicester House, and afterwards sent for Richardson the famous fire-eater.
He devoured brimston on glowing coales before us, chewing and swallowing them; he mealted a beareglasse and eate it quite up; then taking a live coale on his tongue, he put it on a raw oyster, the coal was blown on with bellows till it flamed and sparkled in his mouth, and so remained until the oyster gaped and was quite boiled; then he melted pitch and wax with sulphur, which he drank downe as it flamed; I saw it flaming in his mouth a good while; he also took up a thick piece of iron, such as laundresses use to put in their smoothing-boxes, when it was fiery hot, held it between his teeth, then in his hand, and threw it about like a stone, but this I observed he cared not to hold very long; then he stood on a small pot, and bending his body, took a glowing yron with his mouth from between his feete, without touching the pot or ground with his hands; with divers other prodigious feates.