8 THE POCKET AND THE STUD. 



with his mother tongue ; and, if he were told that 

 the Missouri emptied itself into the Caspian Sea, 

 would, of course, believe it. He is not one to 

 apply to for geographical information, we must 

 allow ; but the man of education need not laugh 

 at the other's ignorance. If he did I would ask 

 him if he could oblige me by putting on a sucker 

 to my pump ? Not he, for the life of him ; 

 though a bit of leather and nails are all that is 

 wanted. If, therefore, he wants to interfere with 

 pumps, he had better seek information from 

 others before he puts them out of order by adopt- 

 ing his own ideas, and pursuing his own plans in 

 matters that he knows but little about. It is 

 much the same with horses. 



There are many persons to whom I stand in 

 the position of the plumber, as well as of the 

 chronometer maker mentioned in the preface. To 

 such I offer no apology for soliciting their attention 

 to these pages ; for in this case, I trust, I am not 

 guilty of presumption. Nor do I offer any apo- 

 logy to those who know more of the subject than 

 myself; for, of course, I do not write for their 

 instruction. 



