He was astonished to see the King put his head back and laugh, while the rest, made bold by the royal example, joined in heartily. The King seeing that Edestone was innocent of any mistake and was blankly searching for an explanation of their mirth leaned forward and not altogether lightly said: "The King of England accepts the Presidency of the Anglo-Saxon people!" "I beg Your Majesty's pardon. I am sorry. I have forgotten myself so soon: what shall I do when I get into the intricacies of mathematics, physics, and mechanics to explain to you my invention?" "Mr. Edestone," said the King, "we understand perfectly. Go on." Recovering himself quickly and assuming a thoroughly businesslike air, snapping out his facts with precision, speaking rapidly without notes or memoranda, he said: "The physical properties of electrons form the basis of my invention, and it cannot be understood except by those who have studied the electron theory of matter, according to which theory the electron or corpuscle is the smallest particle of matter that had, up to my discovery, been isolated. They are present in a free condition in metallic conductors. Each electron carries an electric charge of electrostatic units and produces a magnetic field in a plane perpendicular to the direction of its motion. This brings us to the atom, which may be described as a number of electrons positive and negative in stable equilibrium, this condition being brought about by the mutual repulsion of the like and attraction for the opposite electrification so arranged as to nullify each other. Having thus established the law of the equilibrium of electrons, corpuscles, atoms, and molecules, I found that the same law applies to the equilibrium of our solar system, and, in fact, of the universe, and, by the elimination of either the positive or the negative electron, this equilibrium is altered or destroyed. "I then sought to nullify the attraction of gravity by changing the electrical condition of the electrons of an object, which until that time was attracted by the earth, as is shown by the formula, _V equals the square root of (s times 2g)_ for falling bodies, and by using the formula _Y equals the square root of mx divided by (pi times g)_ I found----" But at this point he was interrupted by the King, who said, with a gesture of supplication: "Please! Please! Mr. Edestone do not go so deeply into science, for, for my part, I regret to say that it would be entirely lost on me. Save that for my men of science," and he waved his hand in the direction of his rough and rugged old Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Wm. Brown. "Just tell us what you have accomplished and then show