r field
before him. And it would be easy to entrap him at almost any time, and
with almost any humbug, if the game were worth the trouble; for, in
the light of his own mind, he cannot see far. His mental vision is not
particularly clear; else he would not so often cry "humbug," when
wiser men stopped to examine and reflect.

A quiet, thoughtful-looking man once brought to Mr. Wiseacre a letter
of introduction. His name was Redding. The letter mentioned that he
was the discoverer of a wonderful mechanical power, for which he was
about taking out letters patent. What it was, the introductory epistle
did not say, nor did Redding communicate any thing relative to the
nature of the discovery, although asked to do so. There was something
about this man that interested Wiseacre. He bore the marks of a
superior intellect, and his manners commanded respect. As Wiseacre
showed him particular attention, he frequently called in to see him at
his store, and sometimes spent an evening with him at his dwelling.
The more Wiseacre saw of him, and the more he heard him converse, the
higher did he rise in his opinion. At length Redding, in a moment of
confidence, imparted his secret. He had discovered perpetual motion!
This announcement was made after a long and learned disquisition on
mechanical laws, in which the balancing of and the reproduction of
forces, and all that, was opened to the wondering ears of Wiseacre,
who, although he pretended to comprehend every thing clearly, saw it
all only in a very confused light. He knew, in fact, nothing whatever
of mechanical forces. All here was, to him, an untrodden field. His
confidence in Redding, and his consciousness that he was a man of
great intellectual power, took away all doubt as to the correctness of
what he stated. For once he was sure that a great discovery had been
made--that a new truth had dawned upon the world. Of this he was more
than ever satisfied when he was shown the machine itself, in motion,
with its wonderful combinations of mechanical forces, and heard
Redding explain the principle of its action.

"Wonderful! wonderful!" was now exchanged for "Humbug! humbug!" If any
body had told him that some one had discovered perpetual motion, he
would have laughed at him, and cried "humbug!" You couldn't have hired
him even to look at it. But his natural incredulity had been gained
over by a different process. His confidence had first been won by a
specious exterior, his reason