' 
m^wW 
spoke it was with the air of a man who knew 
the wound upon which lie stood, and his man¬ 
ners were those of one who felt that ho was the 
inferior of no man. 
The janitor having been dismissed and tho 
door looked, Mr. Blonger proceed to explain 
to those present why he had called them to¬ 
gether. His young American friend, he said, 
had convinced him that lie was in possession of 
a prodigious secret, of the magnitude of which 
t hey could judge when it was presented to them. 
The whole affair at tills point came near being 
broken oif in disgust by an unexpected require¬ 
ment which the unknown stranger exacted. 
Ho declined to proceed, unless all present en¬ 
tered into an agreement not to communicate 
what they might, witness to any living person 
lie raised his hand and requested silence. 
* l The action of this simple wire," said he, "is 
not eonllnod to metallic substances. Its effect 
on all objects is the same. I put it around this 
wooden bench and It weighs nothing; around 
this chair, and tho result, is the same. Here is 
this large. Iron shaft and these wheels. You 
perceive that it alfects all alike. Perhaps you 
think that it has no power over living sub¬ 
stances; you are mistaken. I will agree to put 
this little wire round my waist and step from 
the dome of St. Paul’s. I will show you.” 
A ladder extended from the floor to the lofty 
coiling of tho hall, Thu stranger climbed to its 
very summit, adjusted ills licit, and sprung 
boldly off. Ho slowly unclasped tho ends of 
the wire, so Mutt they scarcely came in contact, 
and descended gradually and safely to the 
ground, to the infinite relief of the spectators, 
wlu> gazed horror-struck at the scene. 
"Thus you see, gentlemen," suld ho, again 
ascending the stage, “ what powers lie hidden 
in nature, uul.il they are accidentally stumbled 
upon. You all think that there Is some power 
contained in this wire. I must tell you that 
tlie wire has but little to do with It. And yet 
1 will agree to go down to any of your seaports 
and put tlds wire or one like it, round any one 
of your old seventy-fouivgun ships wo road of, 
and lift it into a dry dock with a line no strong¬ 
er Mian a pack thread, if the wind Is not blow¬ 
ing at the time. This wire, at which you all 
gaze So curiously, has no power in itself, rt is 
only tiie means of communicating a power; 
Still, no man shall examine it, except under 
certain conditions and this brings me to the 
polut I Intended to make by calling gentlemen 
of your tiigti standing and intelligence here to¬ 
night. I wish to sell my knowledge to tho En¬ 
glish Government.” 
“And why to the Government?'’ cried the 
Right Honorable B— and the honorable Mr. 
S- in a breath. 
" Because no private Individual Is rich enough 
to buy it. I once thought to dispose of it 
to my own Government—that, of the United 
States; but I shall not enter into the reasons 
why f abandoned that idea and camo hero. Be¬ 
sides, It becomes public property after ten 
years. I would not agree to sell the rigid, under 
any conditions for a longer time. The benefits 
of the discovery are universal and in Justice 
belong to mankind, and mankind shall have 
them.” 
Said a member of the cabinetYour idea 
of selling such a discovery to l.lie Government, 
of Great Britain seems chimerical, and 1 may 
add. It savors of selfishness to keep your knowl¬ 
edge from the world. But may I bo permitted 
Ho ask haw much you demand for your knowl¬ 
edge?” 
Here the young man rose to his feet in an ex¬ 
cited manner. "You talk of selfishness,” said 
he; "1 know wlmt It is to 
labor and to suffer and to be 
lost am Id mountains and tor¬ 
mented with thirst upon des¬ 
erts. I have labored hun¬ 
dreds of feet under ground 
with pick and shovel, for my 
daily bread. T got tired of 
this—I swore off. f hold In 
; ; my possession what will 
make me independent for 
s life, besides conferring lues- 
=\ tiinable benefits upon my 
§1^. fellow men, and I intend to 
\ use it so far. Selfishness in- 
- deed I What did Morse or 
Fulton make from their in- 
vontlons, except what was 
= Ig given them almost us chari- 
=j=A y, after they let their knowl¬ 
edge go out of their hands? 
No charity for me. 1 hold 
- my discovery alone, and 1 
will part with It only on my 
own terms. You ask what I 
V. 32 \ demand for It. I want $5,000,- 
glistening, blue wire. There was an iron anvil 
in a corner of the room. He wound the coil 
round the anvil in a moment, lifted it like a 
feather from Its place to tho middle of tho 
apartment, aud then stepped proudly back. 
The anvil Moated like a bubble in the air. 
To say that Mr. Blonger looked astonished 
and aghast, would convey but a mild Idea vf 
the expression of his countenance at this mo¬ 
ment. It was one of absolute horror. Ho stood 
gazing first, at the anvil and then at tlic man, 
and at last, with a sigh of reflul, he ejaculated, 
" Perhaps this is only jugglery," and dropped 
into a chair. The young American snatched 
the coil of wire from around the anvil, and It. 
fell at once with tirriblc force, crushing in a 
portion of the floor. “I beg your pardon, sir, 
bur. is there any Jugglery about that, think 
you ?" he asked with asmlle, and also sat down. 
The conversation that ensued was long and 
earnest, and resulted in this conclusion. Mr. 
Blonger was to notify one or two of his person¬ 
al friends In the cabinet., several scientific men 
of high repute, and two or throe prominent foi- 
eigners, tho whole number not to exceed 
twelve, that he wished them to meet him In 
order to investigate in concert a wonderful dis¬ 
covery in science, the nature of which would 
then be communicated. The young stranger 
agreed to repeat his experiments on the occa¬ 
sion of the meeting, and explain the process by 
means of which they wore accomplished; for 
the present, lie declined to make any further 
revelations. 
On the night of the Slid of November, I860, 
there assembled in Bt. George’s Hall, it) I,‘)n- 
don, throe members of the English cabinet, four 
GIVE ME THE PEOPLE 
Some love the glow of outward show. 
Some love mere wealth and try to win it: 
The house to roe may lowly be. 
If I but iiko the people in It. 
What’s ail tho gold that slitters cold, 
When linked to hard or haughty feeling ? 
Whate’er we’er told, the nobler geld 
Is truth of heart and manly dealing! 
Then let them seek, whose minds are weak 
Mere fashion's stnile, and try to win it; 
The honso to mo may lowly be. 
If I but like the people in It. 
A lowly roof may give us proof 
That lowly dowers are often fairest; 
And trees, whose bark is hard and dark, 
May yield on fruit, anti bloom the rarest! 
There’s a worth as sure ’Death garments poor, 
As e’er adorned a loftier station ; 
Anil minds as just as those—we trust— 
Whose claim Is but of wealth’s creation ! 
Then let them seek, whose mluds are weak, 
Merc fashion's smile, unil try to win It! 
Tho house to me may lowly he. 
If I but like the people in it! 
consent. Tho Right Honorable G was on 
his mettle at once, lie washed ids bauds of 
MIC whole matter, aud desired to retire imme¬ 
diately. The others were equally indignant, 
and expressions not considered elegant lu high 
society were hoard. It required all Mr. mon¬ 
ger's sagacity to allay the storm. But the young 
man was immovable, aud at last, at the earnest 
solicitation of Mr. Blonger, tho guarantee was 
given. Tho strungor then took the stage, and 
his auditors the seats immediately In front of 
him. 
“Gentleman,” ho began, " from what 1 have 
seen of your incredulity this evening, I am sat¬ 
isfied that if l should Inform you that tho at¬ 
traction of gravitation oould lie so suspended 
that objects upon the earth's surface would 
have absolutely no weight, and further, that 1 
was In possession of Mio simple nutans whereby 
tills end could In* accomplished, you would 
greet my assertion with jeers and ridicule. 1 
slialL therefore show you Wlmt. I can do first, 
and talk afterward. You see in my hands this 
coll of wire, blue, like tempered steel. This 
cannon weighs nearly three tons. I wrap tho 
wire round It. If you llBtou carefully you will 
hear a burring sound, similar to that made by 
an electric machine. But that has nothing to 
do with l.lie matter. The ends of tho wire are 
joined. This cannon now weighs uo more than 
a soap bubble. You sec I move It about the air 
with my hand, with two Ungers, with one. Here 
is a strong oaken chair. I place tho cannon 
upon it, and whon I withdraw the wile, mark 
the result"— the chair goes crashing to pieces 
on the floor, under the weight of three tons of 
iron. 
This conclusive proof of the grandest discov¬ 
ery ever yet made by man, brought every per¬ 
son present to ills feet. Mr. Blonger stood apart 
in triumph. The young exhibitor alone remain¬ 
ed unmoved. “How is It done?" cried they 
all; “How did you make this wonderful dis¬ 
covery?” They now looked upon him with the 
awe one feels In the presence of a superior being. 
On a dreary November afternoon, In the year 
1866, Mr. Blonger, senior member of tho well- 
known firm of Blonger & Co., machinists and 
manufacturers of marine engines, established 
in 180.1, was sitting before a blazing (Ire in Ids 
office in the cast end oT London, when a visitor 
was announced. “Show him In, James,” said 
the old gentleman, and continued the perusal 
of the Times. A moment after tho door open¬ 
ed and a young man, apparently about twenty- 
four years of age, plainly attired, entered and 
stood hat in hand, awaiting tho leisure of the 
gentleman, who meiely glanced at the stranger 
and immediately resumed his paper, evidently 
thinking his visitor to be a person of no Im¬ 
portance, After a silence of a few minutes,Mr. 
Blonger laid down his paper and looking up ab¬ 
ruptly, said “ Well, my good sir, what do you 
want with me?” 
“Are you the elder Mr. Blonger?” inquired 
the stranger, with an unmistakable American 
accent. 
“ I am.” 
“ I heard of you and camo to see you. I un¬ 
derstand that you trausact a large and success- 
1 ul business, but it. is not on that account that 
I have called upon you. 1 am lold that you 
have considerable influence with the chief per¬ 
sons in the British govern¬ 
ment, and it is for that roa- 
son that I pay you this visit.” 
Mr. Blonger p 1 a c o d. his 
gold-riaimed spectacles on 
his nose, and gazed in mute 
astonishment at his visitor, 
who continued : 
“ I am the Inventor, or dis¬ 
coverer rather, of a secret of 
nature, a process which will 
revolutionize the world, 
which will reverse natural 
laws, which will inaugurate 
a new order of things; a dis- 
covery, the results of which 
are ho vast that uo human 
mind can comprehend them. J/ i’T'C 
In short, I can suspend the 
law of gravitation.” 0- 
At this monstrous asser- 
tion a look of alarm appeared / 
upon the countenance of the Ca^jF§ 
listener, but as he compared 
his own brawny frame with 
the slight figure of the luna- 
tic before him, it gave place 1” 
to a contemptuous smile, 
and he answered somewhat 
impatiently: : 
“ Well, well, my dear sir, gfefi 
perhaps you can —perhaps 
you can; but lam not in that - - 
line of business, and you had Ip 
better apply to somebody 
The young man went on 
with imperturbable gravity : 
“loan swing the mightiest 
man-of-war England pos- 
sesses into the air with my 
little flngc-r. 1 can lift the 
largest cannon at Woolwich v ^ 
like a cork; I am-” 
“Yes, yes, I know—but 1 
am busy now,” replied the 
manufacturer, rising and ad¬ 
vancing toward the bell to 
summon a servant. yt 
“Wait, Mr. Blpnger,” said 
his visitor, in a tone of such 
deep earnestness that that 
gentleman hesitated in spite 
of himself, “wait a moment. 
I am not mad. 1 know you 
do not believe me, and I do 
not wonder at it; but I will 
show you that what I say is 
true.” 
He laid his hat upon the 
table and drew from the 
breast-pocket, of his coat a 
“Eivo million dollars is a 
ather large sum,” Professor 
-ventured to remark. 
“A large sum! Have you 
taken into consideration 
what this discovery is des¬ 
tined to accomplish? Why, 
rtell you it will revolution¬ 
ize the world. Take the 
dockyards of Great Britain 
alone. YV hat, think you, will 
be the saving In a year, when 
every object, from the great¬ 
est to tho smallest, can i>c 
moved to any distance, with¬ 
out expense? How long ivili 
it take to build your largest 
edifices when your blocks of 
marble weigh nothing? O, 
gentlemen, when you have 
considered this subject as I 
have done, you will stand 
overpowered with the mag¬ 
nitude of the results that are 
to follow. Think of its ef¬ 
fects upon means of trans¬ 
portation. When there is no 
weight to carry may not even 
the air be navigated ?” 
“ l)o you object to inform¬ 
ing us how you happened to 
<! i s c o v or this mighty and 
mysterious secret of na¬ 
ture ?" 
“Mysterious? Why, it is 
