AIR BALLOONS. 



121 



Rnd cities and nations, lakes and rivers, and 

 fertile plains, to which we are now entire stran 

 gers, would soon burst upon the view. And the 

 very circumstance, that the messengers of peace 

 and salvation descended upon such unknown 

 tribes from the regions of the clouds, might arouse 

 their minds, and excite their attention and regard 

 to the message of divine mercy which they 

 came thither to proclaim.* Such a scene (and 

 it may probably be realized-) would present a 

 literal fulfilment of the prediction of &quot; angels 

 flying through the midst of&quot; the aerial &quot; heaven, 

 having the everlasting gospel to preach to them 

 that dwell upon the earth, and to every kindred 

 and nation.&quot; 



That the attention of the philosophical world 

 is presently directed to this subject, and that we 

 have some prospect of the views above suggested 

 being soon realized, will appear from the follow 

 ing notice, which lately made its appearance in 

 the London scientific journals : &quot; A prize being 

 offered for the discovery of a horizontal direction 

 in aerostation, M. Mingreli of Bologna, M. 

 Pietripoii of Venice, and M. Lember of Nu 

 remberg, have each assumed the merit of resolv 

 ing this problem. It does not appear that any 

 one of these has come forward to establish, by 

 practical experiment, the validity of his claim ; 

 but a pamphlet has lately been reprinted at 

 Paris (first printed at Vienna) on this subject, 

 addressed to all the learned societies in Europe. 

 The following passage appears in the work : 

 &quot; Professor Robertson proposes to construct an 



In this point of view, we cannot but feel the 

 most poignant regret at the conduct of the Spaniards, 

 after the discovery of America, towards the natives 

 of that country. When those untutored people be 

 held the ships which had conveyed Columbus and 

 his associates from the eastern world, the dresses 

 tnd martial order of his troops, and heard their 

 music, and the thunder of their cannon, they were 

 filled with astonishment and wonder at the strange 

 objects presented to their view ; they fell prostrate 

 at their feet, and viewed them as a superior race of 

 men. When Cortes afterwards entered the territo 

 ries of Mexico, the same sentiments of reverence and 

 admiration seemed to pervade its inhabitants. Had 

 jure Christian motives actuated the minds of these 

 adventurers, and had it been their ruling desire to 

 communicate to those ignorant tribes the blessings 

 of the gospel of peace, and to administer to their 

 external comfort, the circumstances now stated 

 would have been highly favourable to the success of 

 missionary exertion, and would have led them to 

 &quot;Isten with attention to the message from heaven. 

 But, unfortunately for the cause of religion, trea 

 chery, lust, cruelty, selfishness, ami the cursed love of 

 gold, predominated over every other feeling, affixed 

 s. stigma to the Christian name, and rendered them 

 curses instead of blessings, to that newly-discover 

 ed race of men. It is most earnestly to be wished, 

 that, in future expeditions in quest of unknown 

 tribes, a few intelligent and philanthropic missiona 

 ries may be appointed to direct the adventurers in 

 their moral conduct and intercourse with the peo 

 ple they visit, in order that nothing inconsistent 

 with Christian principle make its appearance. The 

 uniform manifestation of Christian benevolence, 

 purity, and rectitude, by a superior race of men, 

 would win the affections of a rude people far more 

 aflectually than all the pomp and ensigns of mili 

 tary irade. 



10 



aerostatic machine, 150 feet in diameter, to be 

 capable of raising 72,954 kilograms, equivalent 

 to 149,037 Ibs. weight, (French,) to be capa 

 ble of conveying all the necessaries for the sup 

 port of sixty individuals, scientific character*, 

 to be selected by the academicians, and the 

 aerial navigations to last for some months, 

 exploring different heights and climates, &c. in 

 all seasons. If, from accident, or wear, the ma 

 chine, elevated above the ocean, should fail in 

 its functions, to be furnished with a ship that 

 will ensure the return of the aeronauts.&quot; 



Should any one be disposed to insinuate, that 

 the views now stated on this subject are chime 

 rical and fallacious, I beg leave to remind them, 

 that, not more than twenty years ago, the idea 

 of a large vessel, without oars and sails, to be 

 navigated against the wind, with the rapidity of 

 ten miles an hour, would have been considered 

 as next to an impossibility, and a mere fanciful 

 scheme, which could never be realized. Yet we 

 now behold such vehicles transporting whole vil 

 lages to the places of their destination, with a 

 degree of ease, comfort, and expedition, formerly 

 unknown. And little more than forty years have 

 elapsed, since it would have been viewed as still 

 more chimerical to havj broached the idea, that 

 a machine might be constructed, by which hu 

 man beings might ascend more than two miles 

 above the surface of the earth, and fly through 

 the region of the clouds at the rate of seventy 

 miles an hour, carrying along with them books, 

 instruments, and provisions. Yet both these 

 schemes have been fully realized, and, like many 

 other inventions of the human intellect, are 

 doubtless intended to subserve some important 

 ends in the economy of divine providence. f 



t Balloons were first constructed in the year 1783, 

 by Messrs. S. and J. Mongolfier, paper manufactu 

 rers at Annonay, in France. A sheep, a cock, and 

 a duck, were the first animals ever carried up into 

 the air by these vehicles. At the end of their jour 

 ney, they were found perfectly safe and. unhurt, and 

 the sheep was even feeding at perfect ease. The 

 first human being who ascended into the atmosphere 

 in one of these machines, was M. Pilatrede Rozier. 

 This adventurer ascended from amidst an astonished 

 multitude assembled in a garden in Paris, on the 15th 

 October, 1783, in a balloon, whose diameter was 48 

 feet, and its height about 74 : and remained sus 

 pended above the city about four hours. Mr. Lu- 

 nardi, an Italian, soon after, astonished the people 

 of England and Scotland, by his aerial excursions. 

 Dr. G. Gregory gives the following account of his 

 ascent:-&quot;! was myself a spectator of the flight of 

 Lunardi, and I never was present at a sight so inte 

 resting and sublime. The beauty of the gradual 

 ascent united with a sentiment of terror, on account 

 of the danger of the man, and the novelty and gran 

 deur of the whole appearance, are more than words 

 can express. A delicate woman was so overcome 

 with the spectacle, that she died upon the spot, as 

 the balloon ascended ; several fainted ; and the silent 

 admiration of the anxious multitude was beyond any 

 thing I had ever beheld.&quot; 



Balloons have been generally made of varnished 

 silk and of the shape of a globe or a spheroid, from 

 thirty to fifty feet in diameter. They are filled with 

 hydrogen a, which, as formerly stated, is from 

 twelve to fifteen times lighter than common air 



