256 



♦ KNOAA/'LEDGE ♦ 



[Sept. 26, 1884. 



OTHER WORLDS THAN OURS. 



A WEEK'S CONVEESATION OH THE PLURALITY OF 

 WORLDS. 



By Mons. be Fontenelle. 



witu notes by richard a. peoctok. 



{Continued from p. 221.) 



" TpOR my part," said I, "I do not beliere there are men 



a} in the moon : for do but observe how much the 

 face of Nature is changed between this and China ; other 

 visages, shapes, manners, nay, almost other principles of 

 reason ; and therefore between us and the moon, the 

 alteration must be much more considerable. In the lands 

 that ha\e been lately discovered, we can scarce call the 

 inhabitants men ; they are rather animals of human shape, 

 and that too sometimes very imperfect, almost without 

 human reason : he therefore who will travel to the moon, 

 must not expect to find men there." 



" What sort of people are they then," said she. 



" Troth, madam," said I, " I know not ; for put the case 

 that we ourselves inhabited the moon, and were not men, 

 but rational creatures, could we imagine, do you think, 

 such fantastical people upon the earth as mankind is ? Is 

 it possible we should have an idea of so strange a compo- 

 sition, a creature of such foolish passions, and such wise 

 reflections ; allotted so small a span of life, and yet pur- 

 suing views of such extent ; so learned in trifles, and so 

 stupidly ignorant in matters of the greatest importance ; 

 so much concerned for liberty, and yet such great inclina- 

 tions to servitude ; so desirous of happiness, a. ' yet so 

 very incapable of attaining it 1 The people in the moon 

 must be wise indeed to suppose all this of us. But do we 

 not see ourselves continually, and cannot so much as guess 

 how we were made? So that we are forc'd to say the gods, 

 when they created us, were drunk with nectar, and when 

 they were sober again, could not chuse but laugh at their 

 own handy-work." 



"Well, well," said the Marchioness, "we are .safe enough 

 then, they in the moon know nothing of us ; but I could 

 wish we were a little better acquainted with them ; for it 

 troubles me that we should see the moon above us, and yet 

 not know what is done there." 



" Why," said I, " are you not as much concerned for 

 that part of the earth which is not yet discovered 1 What 

 creatures inhabit it, and what they do there ? for we and 

 they are carried in the same vessel : they possess the prow, 

 and we the poop, and yet there is no manner of communi- 

 cation between us ; they do not know at one end of the 

 ship who lives, or what is done at the other ; and you 

 would know what passes in the moon, which is another 

 great vessel sailing in the heavens, at a vast distance from 

 us." 



" Oh," said she, " as for the earth, I reckon it all as good 

 as discovered, and can guess at the people, tho' I nev er heard 

 a woi'd of 'em ; for certainly they all resemble us very much, 

 and we may know 'em better whenever we will, let them 

 stay where they are, 'tis only going to see 'em ; but we 

 cannot get into the moon if we would ; so that I despair of 

 knowing what they do there." 



"You would laugh at me," said I, " if I should answer 

 you seriously ; perhaps I may deserve it ; and yet, I fancy, 

 I can say a great deal to justify a ridiculous thought that 

 is just now come into my head ; nay, to use the fool's best 

 argument, I'll lay a wager I make you own (in spite of 

 reason) that one of these days there may be a communica- 

 tion between the earth and the moon, and who knows what 

 great advantages we may procure by iti Do but consider 

 America, before it was discovered by Columbus how 



profoundly ignorant were those people 1 they knew nothing 

 at all of arts and sciences ; they went naked, had no other 

 arms but a bow and arrows, and did not conceive they 

 might be carried by animals ; they looked upon the sea 

 as a wide space, not for the use of man, but thought it 

 was joined to the heavens, and that beyond it was nothing. 

 'Tis true, after having spent whole years in making 

 hollow the trunks of great trees with sharp stones, they 

 put themselves to sea in these trunks, and floated from 

 land to land, as the wind and waves drove them. But 

 how often was their trough overset, and they forced to 

 recover it again by swimming 1 So that (except when 

 they were on the land) it might be said they werfr 

 continually swimming ; and yet had any one but told 'em of 

 another kind of navigation, incomparably more perfect and 

 useful than their own, that they might easily pass over 

 that infinite space of water, that they might stop in the 

 middle of the waves, and, in some sense, command the 

 winds and make their vessel go fast or slow, as they pleased 

 — in short, that this unpassable ocean should be no obstacle 

 to their conversing with another different people, do you 

 think they would have believed you 1 And yet at last that 

 day has come, the unheard-of and most surprising sight 

 appears, vast great bodies, with white wings, are seen to fly 

 upon the sea, to vomit fire from all parts, and to cast on 

 their shores an unknown people, all scaled with iron, who 

 dispose and govern monsters as they please, carry thunder 

 in their hands, and destroy whoever resiits them. 

 From whence came they ] Who brought them over the 

 sea 1 Who gave to them the disposal of the fire of heaven ? 

 Are they gods 1 Are they the ofispring of the sun 1 for 

 certainly they are not men. Do but consider, madam, the 

 surprise of the Americans ; there can be nothing greater, 

 and, after this, shall any one say there shall never be a 

 communication between the moon and the earth? Did 

 the Americans believe there would ever be any between 

 them and Europe, 'till they saw it 1 'Tis true, you must 

 pass this great space of air and heaven, which is between 

 the earth and the moon ; but did not those vast seas seem 

 at first as impassable to the Americans ? " 



" You rave, I think," said she. 



" Who denies it, madam 1 " says I. 



" Nay, but I will prove it," says she ; " I do not care for 

 your bare owning it. Did you not own the Americans- 

 were so ignorant that they had not the least conception of 

 crossing the sea? but we, who know a great deal more 

 than they, can imagine and fancy the going through the 

 air, the' we are assured it is not to be done." 



" There is somewhat more iu it than fancy," I replied, 

 " when it has been already practis'd ; for several have 

 found the secret of fastening wings, which bear them up in 

 the air, to move them as they please, and to fly over rivers, 

 and from steeple to steeple. I cannot say, indeed, they 

 have yet made an eagle's flight, or that it does not cost 

 now and then a leg or an arm to one of these new birds ; 

 but this may serve to represent the first planks that were 

 launch'd on the water, and which were the very beginning 

 of navigation. There were no vessels then thought of to 

 sail round the world in ; and yet you see what great ships 

 are grown by little and little from those first planks. The 

 art of flying is but newly invented ; it will improve by 

 degrees, and in time grow perfect, then we may fly as far 

 as the moon. We do not yet pretend to have discover'd aU 

 things, or that what we have discover'd can receive no 

 addition ; and therefore, pray let us agree there are yet 

 many things to be done in the ages to come." 



" Were you to live a thousand years," said the Marchio- 

 ness, " I can never believe you wiU fly, but you must 

 endanger you neck," 



