yet I knew not where to begin for to a Person who understood nothing of Natural Philosophy you must go a great way about to prove that the Earth may be a Planet the Planets so many Earths and all the Stars worlds however to give her a general Notion of Philosophy I at last resolv'd on this Method All Philososophy said I Madam is founded upon two things either that we are too short sighted or that we are too curious for if our eyes were better than they are we should soon see whether the Stars were worlds or not and if on the other side we were less curious we should not care whether the Stars are Worlds or not which I think is much to the same purpose But the business is we have a mind to know more than we see And again if we could discern well what we do see it would be so much known to us But we see things quite otherwise than they are So that your true Philosopher will not believe what he doth see and is alwaies conjecturing at what he doth not which is a Life I think not much to be envy'd Upon this I fancy to my self that Nature very much resembleth an Opera where you stand you do not see the Stage as really it is but it is plac'd with advantage and all the Wheels and Movements are hid to make the Representation the more agreeable Nor do you trouble your self how or by what means the Machines are moved tho' certainly an Engineer in the Pit is affected with what doth not touch you he is pleas'd with the motion and is demonstrating to himself on what it depends and how it comes to pass This Engineer then is like a Philosopher tho' the difficulty is greater on the Philosophers part the Machines of the Theatre being nothing so curious as those of Nature which disposeth her Wheels and Springs so out of sight that we have been long a guessing at the movement of the Universe Suppose then the Sages at an Opera the Pithagoras's the Plato's the Aristotles and all the Wise Men who have made such a noise in the World for these many Ages We will suppose 'em at the Representation of Phaeton where they see the aspiring Youth lifted up by the Winds but do not discover the Wires by which he mounts nor know they any thing of what is done behind the Scenes Would you have all these Philosophers own themselves to be stark Fools and confess ingenuously they know not how it comes to pass No no they are not called Wise Men for nothing tho' let me tell you most of their Wisdom depends upon the ignorance of their Neighbours Every man presently gives his Opinion and how improbable so ever there are Fools enough of all sorts to believe 'em One tells you Phaeton is drawn up by a hidden Magnetick Vertue no matter where it lies and perhaps the grave Gentleman will take pet if you ask him the Question Another says Phaeton is compos'd of certain Numbers that make him mount and after all the Philosopher knows no more of those numbers than a sucking Child of Algebra A third tells you Phaeton hath a secret love for the top of the Theatre and like a true Lover cannot be at rest out of his Mistresses Company with an hundred such extravagant fancies that a Man must conclude the Old Sages were very good Banterers But now comes Monsieur Descartes with some of the Moderns and they tell you Phaeton ascends because a greater weight than he descends so that now we do not believe a Body can move without it is push'd and forc'd by another body and as it were drawn by Cords so that nothing can rise or fall but by the means of a Counterpoise he then that will see Nature really as she is must stand behind the Scenes at the Opera I perceive said the Countess Philosophy is now become very Mechanical So mechanical said I that I fear we shall quickly be asham'd of it they will have the World to be in great what a Watch is in little which is very regular and depends only upon the just disposing of the several parts of the movement But pray tell me Madam had you not formerly a more sublime Idea of the Universe Do you not think you did then honour it more than it deserv'd For most have the less esteem of it since they have pretended to know it I am not of their opinion said she I value it the more since I know it resembles a Watch and the whole order of Nature the more plain and easie it is to me it appears the more admirable I know not said I who hath inspir'd you with these solid Notions but I am certain there are few that have them besides your self People generally admire what they do not comprehend they have a Veneration for Obscurity and look upon Nature while they do not understand her as a kind of Magick and despise her below Legerdemain when once they are acquainted with her but I find you Madam so much better dispos'd that I have nothing to do but to draw the Curtain and shew you the World. That then which appears farthest from the Earth where we reside is call'd the Heavens that Azure Firmament where the Stars are fastned like so many Nails and are call'd fix'd because they seem to have no other Motion than that of their Heaven which carries them with it self from East to West Between the Earth and this great Vault as I may call it hang at different heights the Sun and the Moon with the other Stars Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter and Saturn which we call the Planets these Planets not being fastned to the same Heaven and having very unequal Motions have divers Aspects and Positions Whereas the fix'd Stars in respect to one another are always in the same Situation for Example Charles's Wain which is compos'd of those seven Stars hath been and ever will be as it now is tho' the Moon is sometimes nearer to the Sun and sometimes farther from it and so it is with the rest of the Planets Thus things appear'd to the old Caldoean Shepherds whose great leisure did produce these first Observations which have since been the foundation of Astronomy for Astronomy had its Birth in Caldoea as Geometry was born in Egypt where the Inundation of the Nile confounding the bounds of their Fields was an occasion of their inventing exacter Measures to distinguish every ones Land from that of his Neighbour So that Astronomy was the Daughter of Idleness Geometry the Daughter of Interest and if we did but examine Poetry we should certainly find her the Daughter of Love. I am glad said the Lady I have learnt the Genealogie of the Sciences and am convinc'd I must stick to Astronomy my Soul is not mercenary enough for Geometry nor is it tender enough for Poetry but I have as much time to spare as Astronomy requires beside we are now in the Countrey and
That half of the Moon which was turn'd towards us at the beginning of the World hath been turn'd towards us ever since the Eyes Mouth and Face which we have fancy'd of the Spots in her are still the same and if the other opposite half should appear to us we should no doubt fancy another Figure from the different Spots that are in it Not but that the Moon turns upon her self and in the same time that she turns round the Earth that is in a Month but while she is making that turn upon her self and that she should hide a cheek for Example and appear somewhat else to us she makes a like part of her Circle round the Earth and still presents to us the same Cheek so that the Moon who in respect of the Sun and Stars turns round her self in respect of us doth not turn at all they seem to her to rise and set in the space of fifteen Days but for our Earth it appears to her to be held up in the same place of the Heavens 'T is true this apparent Immobility is not very agreeable for a Body which should pass for a Planet but it is not altogether perfect the Moon hath a kind of trembling which causeth a little corner of her Face to be sometimes hid from us and a little corner of the opposite half appears but then upon my word she attributes that trembling to us and fancies that we have in the Heavens the motion of a Pendulum which vibrates to and fro I find saith the Countess the Planets are just like us we cast that upon others which is in our selves the Earth saith 'T is not I that turn 't is the Sun the Moon saith 't is not I that shake 't is the Earth there is a great deal of errour every where But I would not advise you said I to undertake the reforming it you had better convince your self of the entire resemblance of the Earth and the Moon Imagine then these two great Bowls held up in the Heavens you know that the Sun always enlightens the one half of a Body that is round and the other half is in the Shadow there is then one half of the Earth and one half of the Moon which is enlightned by the Sun that is which hath Day and the other half which is Night Observe also that as a Ball hath less force after it hath been struck against a Wall which sends it to the other side so Light is weakned when it is reflected This pale Light which comes to us from the Moon is the very Light of the Sun but it cannot come to us from the Moon but by reflection it hath lost much of the Force and Lustre it had when it came directly from the Sun upon the Moon and that bright Light which shines directly upon us from the Sun and which the Earth reflects upon the Moon is as pale and weak when it arrives there so that the Light which appears to us in the Moon and which enlightens our Nights is the parts of the Moon which have Day and that part of the Earth which hath Day when it is opposite to the part of the Moon which hath Night gives Light to it All depends upon how the Moon and the Earth behold one another At the beginning of the Month we do not see the Moon because she is between the Sun and us that half of her which hath Day is then turn'd towards the Sun and that half which hath Night turn'd towards us we cannot see it then because it hath no Light upon it but that half of the Moon which hath Night being turn'd to the half of the Earth which hath Day sees us without being perceiv'd and we then appear to them just as the full Moon doth to us so that as I may say the People of the Moon have then a full Earth but the Moon being advanc'd upon her Circle of a Month comes from under the Sun and begins to turn towards us a little corner of the half which is Light there 's the Crescent then those parts of the Moon which have Night do not see all the half of the Earth which hath Day and we are then in the Wayn to them I comprehend you very well said the Countess the People in the Moon have a Month quite contrary to us when we have a full Moon their half of the Moon which is light is turn'd to our half of the Earth which is dark they do not see us at all and they have then a new Earth this is plain But now tell me how come the Eclipses You may easily guess that said I when it is new Moon that she is between the Sun and us and all her dark half is turn'd towards us who have Light that obscure shadow is cast upon us if the Moon be directly under the Sun that shadow hides him from us and at the same time obscures a part of that half of the Earth which is light which was seen by that half of the Moon which was dark here then is an Eclipse of the Sun to us during our Day and an Eclipse of the Earth to the Moon during her Night When it is full Moon the Earth is between her and the Sun and all the dark half of the Earth is turn'd towards all the light half of the Moon the shadow then of the Earth casts it self towards the Moon and if it falls on the Moon it obscures that light half which we see which hath then Day and hinders the Sun from shining on it Here then is an Eclipse of the Moon to us during our Night and an Eclipse of the Sun to the Moon during her Day But the reason that we have not Eclipses every time that the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth or the Earth between the Sun and the Moon is because these three Bodies are not exactly plac'd in a right Line and by Consequence that that should make the Eclipse casts its shadow a little beside that which should be obscur'd I am surpriz'd said the Countess that there should be so little mystery in Eclipses and that the whole World should not know the Cause of ' em Nor never will said I as some People go about it In the East Indies when the Sun and the Moon are in Eclipse they believe a certain Devil who hath black Claws is seising on those Planets with his Talons and during that time the Rivers are cover'd with the Heads of Indians who are up to the Neck in Water because they esteem it a very devout Posture to implore the Sun and the Moon to defend themselves against the Devil In America they are persuaded that the Sun and the Moon when Eclipsed are angry and what is it they will not do to be reconciled with them The Greeks who were so refin'd did they not believe the Moon was enchanted and that the Magicians forc'd her to descend from Heaven and shed a dangerous juice
the poor Rogue was in the right tho' he was soundly whipp'd for 't who told the Judge that he had seen an Ass cloathed in Scarlet and a right Worshipful Alderman that he knew not which was the greatest Bruit of the two the Beast that bore the Furr or the Beast that wore it but had I been there I should have told Astolfo the saucy Knave was well enough serv'd for we are not to look upon the Man but the Place he fills we are to reverence a Magistrate when and wheresoever we meet him and to suppose his Merit was the sole cause of his Preferment tho' we are certain it came by Bribery or Pimping but enough of this let us return to our Vials To confess the truth I begin to fear since I have entertain'd you with these Philosophical and Poetical Visions mine there is not very empty however 't is some consolation to me that while you are so attentive you have a little Glass full as well as your Servant The good Knight found his own wits among the rest and with the Apostles leave snuff'd it all up his Nose like so much Queen of Hungary's Water but Ariosto said he did not carry it far it return'd again to the Moon a little after The love of one fair Northern Lass Sent up his wit unto the Place it was Well he did not forget Orlando's Vial which was the occasion of his Voyage but he was cursedly plagu'd to carry it for Hero's wits are naturally very heavy and there did not want one drop of it in conclusion Ariosto according to his laudable custom addresseth himself to his Mistress in this manner Fair Mistress who for me to Heav'n shall fly To bring again from thence my wandring wit Which I still lose since from that piercing eye The Dart came forth that first my Heart did hit Nor of my loss at all complain would I Might I but keep that which remaineth yet But if it still decrease within short space I doubt I shall be in Orlando's case Yet well I wot where to recover mine Tho' not in Paradise nor Cynthia's Sphere Yet doubtless in a Place no less divine In that sweet Face of yours in that fair Hair That ruby Lip in those two starlike eyn There is my wit I know it wanders there And with my Lips if you would give me leave I there would search I thence would it receive Is not this very fine To reason like Ariosto the safest way of losing our wits is to be in love for you see they do not go far from us we may recover 'em again at our Lips but when we lose 'em by other means as for Example by Philosophizing whip they are gone into the Moon and there is no coming at 'em again when we would However said the Countess our Vials have an honourable Station among the Philosophers when 't is forty to one but Love fixeth our Wits on an Object we cannot but be asham'd of But to take away mine entirely pray tell me but tell me seriously if you believe there are any Men in the Moon for methinks hitherto you have not been very positive For my part said I I do not believe there are Men in the Moon for do but observe how much the Face of Nature is chang'd 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 have been lately discover'd we can scarce call the Inhabitants Men they are rather Animals of humane Shape and that too sometimes very Imperfect almost without humane Reason he therefore that will travel to the Moon must not expect to find Men there What sort of People will they be then said the Countess Troth Madam said I I know not for put the case that we our selves inhabited the Moon and were not Men but rational Creatures could we imagin do you think such fantastical People upon the Earth as Mankind is Is it possible we should have an Idea of so strange a Composition a Creature of such foolish Passions and such wise Reflections So Learned in things of no use and so stupidly Ignorant of what most concerns him So much concern for Liberty and yet such great inclinations to Servitude So desirous of Happiness and yet so very incapable of being so the People in the Moon must be wise indeed to suppose all this of us But do we not see our selves 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 Countess 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 concern'd for that part of the Earth which is not yet discover'd What Creatures inhabit it and what they do there for we and they are carry'd in the same Vessel they possess the Prow and we the Poop and yet there is no manner of Communication between us they do not know at one end of the Ship who lives or what is done at the other end and you would know what passeth in the Moon which is another great Vessel sailing in the Heavens at a vast distance from us Oh said she for the Earth I reckon it all as good as discover'd and can guess at the People tho' I never heard a word of 'em for certainly they all resemble us very much and we may know 'em better when we have a mind to 't they will stay where they are and 't is no more but 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 justifie a ridiculous thought that is just now come into my Head nay to use the Fools best Argument I 'll lay a wager I make you own in spite of Reason that one of these days there may be a Communication between the Earth and the Moon and who knows what great Advantages we may procure by it Do but consider America before it was discover'd by Columbus how profoundly ignorant were those People they knew nothing at all of Arts or Sciences they went naked had no other Arms but a Bow and Arrows and did not conceive they might be carry'd by Animals they look'd upon the Sea as a wide Space forbidden to Man that it was joyn'd to the Heavens and that beyond it was nothing 'T is 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 'em but how often was their Trough overset and they forc'd to recover it again by swimming So that except when they were on the Land it might be said they were 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 pleas'd in short that this impassable Ocean should be no obstacle to their conversing with another different People do you think they would have believed you and yet at last that day is come the unheard of and most surprizing 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 Shoars an unknown People all scaled with Iron who dispose and govern Monsters as they please carry Thunder in their Hands and overthrow and destroy whoever resists 'em From whence came they Who brought 'em over the Sea Who gave to 'em the Disposal of the Fire of Heaven Are they Gods Are they Sons of the Sun for certainly they are not Men. Do but consider Madam the surprize 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 it came to pass 'T is 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 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 then they can imagine and fancy the going through the Air tho' we are assur'd it is not to be done There is somewhat more than Fancy I reply'd when it hath been already practis'd for several have found the secret of fastning 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 Eagles Flight or that it doth 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 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 all 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 Ages said the Countess I can never believe you will fly but you must endanger your Neck I will not I reply'd be so unmannerly as to contradict a fair Lady but tho' we cannot learn the Art here I hope you will allow they may fly better in the Moon 't is no great matter whether we go to them or they come to us we shall then be the Americans who knew nothing of Navigation and yet there were very good Ships at t' other end of the World. Were it so said she the People in the Moon would have been here before now All in good time said I the Europians were not in America till at the end of some thousands of years they were so long in improving Navigation to the point of crossing the Ocean The People in the Moon have already made some short Voyages in the Air they are exercising continually and by degrees will be more expert then we shall see 'em and God knows how we shall be surpriz'd It is unsufferable said she you should banter me at this rate and justifie your ridiculous Fancy by such false reasoning I am going to demonstrate said I you reproach me very unjustly Consider Madam that the World is unfolded by degrees for the Ancients were very positive that the Torrid and Frigid Zones were not inhabitable by reason of their excessive Heat and Cold and in the time of the Romans the general Map of the World was but very little extended beyond that of their Empire which tho' in one sense express'd much Grandeur in another sense was a sign of as great Ignorance however there were Men found both in very hot and in very cold Countreys so that you see the World is already encreas'd after that it was thought that the Ocean cover'd the whole Earth except what was then discover'd there was no talk then of the Antipodes not so much as a thought of 'em for who could fancy their Heels at top and their Heads at bottom and yet after all their fine reasoning the Antipodes were discover'd here 's now another half of the World starts up and a new Reformation of the Map methinks this Madam should restrain us and teach us not to be so positive in our Opinions the World will unfold it self more to us hereafter then we shall know the People in the Moon as well as we do now the Antipodes but all things must be done in order the whole Earth must be first discover'd and till we are perfectly acquainted with our own Habitation we shall never know that of our Neighbours Without fooling said the Countess you are so very profoud in this Point that I begin to think you are in earnest and believe what you say Not so neither said I but I would shew you how easie it is to maintain a chymerical Notion that may like some opinions in Religion perplex a Man of understanding but never perswade him there is nothing perswades but Truth it hath no need of all its proofs but enters naturally into our Understanding and when once we have learn'd it we do nothing but think of it I think you then said she for imposing on me no longer for I confess your false reasoning disturb'd me but now I shaâ—l sleep very quietly if you think fit to go home The Third Evening THE Countess was so intent upon her Notions that she would fain have engag'd me next day to go on where I left off but I told her since the Moon and Stars were become the Subject of our Discourse we would trust our Chymaeras with no body else At Night we went again into the Park which was now dedicated to our Learned Conversation Well Madam said I
almost contiguous it would be still impossible to pass from the Air of the one into the Air of the other The Water is the Air of Fishes they never pass into the Air of the Birds nor the Birds into the Air of the Fish and yet 't is not the distance that hinders them but both are emprison'd by the Air they breath in we find our Air consists of thicker and grosser Vapours than the Air of the Moon So that one of her Inhabitants arriving at the Confines of our World as soon as he enters our Air will inevitably drown himself and we shall see him fall dead on the Earth I should rejoyce at a Wreck said the Countess as much as my Neighbours on the Coast of Sussex how pleasant would it be to see 'em lie scatter'd on the ground where we might consider at our ease their extraordinary Figures But what said I if they could swim on the outward surface of our Air and be as curious to see us as you are to see them should they Angle or cast a Net for us as for so many Fish would that please you why not said the Countess For my part I would go into their Nets of mine own accord were it but for the pleasure to see such strange Fishermen You would be very Sick said I when you were drawn to the top of our Air for it is not respirable in all its extent as may be seen on the tops of some very high Mountains and I admire that they who have the folly to believe that our Faries whom they alow to be Corporeal and to inhabit the most pure and refin'd Air do not tell us that the reason why they give us such short and seldom visits is that there are very few among them that can dive and those that can if it be possible to get through the thick Air where we are cannot stay half so long in it as one of the worst of Sir Harry Blount's Sponge-gatherers Here then are natural Barricades which defend the passage out of our World as well as the Entry into that of the Moon so that since we can only guess at that World let us fancy all we can of it For Example I will suppose that we may see there the Firmament the Sun and the Stars of another colour than what they are here all these apear to us through a kind of Natural Spectacles which change and alter the Objects These Spectacles are our Air mix'd as it is with Vapours and Exhalations and which doth not extend it self very high Some of our Modern Philosophers pretend of it self it is blue as well as the Water of the Sea and that this colour neither appears in the one nor in the other but at a great depth the Firmament say they where the fix'd Stars are fastned hath no peculiar light of its own and by consequence must appear black but we see it through the Air which is blue and therefore to us it appears blue which if so the Beams of the Sun and Stars cannot pass through the Air without being ting'd a little with its colour and losing as much of their own yet were the Air of no colour it is very certain that through a great Mist the light of a Flambeau at some distance appears reddish though it be not its true natural colour Our Air is nothing but a great Mist which changeth the true colour of the Sky of the Sun and of the Stars it belongs only to the Celestial Matter to bring us the Light and Colours as they really are in all the purity so that since the Air of the Moon is of another nature than our Air or is stain'd of another colour or at least is another kind of Mist which causeth other alterations to the Colours of the Celestial Bodies in short as to the People of the Moon their Spectacles through which they see every thing are chang'd If it be so said the Countess I prefer my abode before that of the Moon for I cannot believe the Celestial Colours are so well suited as they are here for if you will let us put green Stars on a red Sky they cannot be so agreable as Stars of Gold on an Azure Firmament To hear you said I one would think you was chusing a Petticoat or a suit of Knots but believe me Nature hath as good a Fancy as Mrs. Harrison leave it to her to chuse Colours for the Moon and I 'll engage they shall be well sorted she will not fail to vary the Prospect of the Universe at every different point of Sight and always the Alteration shall be very agreable I know very well said the Countess her Skill in this Point she is not at the charge of changing the Objects but only the Spectacles and hath the credit of this great variety without being at any expence with a blue Air she gives us a blue Firmament and perhaps with a red Air she gives to the Inhabitants of the Moon a red Firmament and yet still it is but the same Firmament nay I am of opinion she hath plac'd a sort of Spectacles in our Imagination through which we see all things and which to every particular Man change the Objects Alexander look'd on the Earth as a fit place to establish a great Empire it seem'd to Celadon a proper residence for Astraea and it appear'd to a Philosopher a great Planet in the Heavens covered with Fools I do not believe the Sights vary more between the Earth and the Moon than they do between one Man's Fancy and anothers This change in our Imaginations said I is very surprizing for they are still the same Objects tho' they appear different when in the Moon we may see other Objects we do not see here or at least not see all there we do see here perhaps in that Country they know nothing of the Dawn and the Twilight before the Sun riseth and after the Sun sets the Air which encompasseth and is elevated above us receives the Rays so that they cannot strike on the Earth and being gross stops some of them and sends 'em to us tho' indeed they were never naturally design'd us so that the Day-break and the Twilight are a favour which Nature bestows on us they are a Light which regularly we should not have and which she gives us over and above our due but in the Moon where apparently the Air is more pure and therefore not so proper to send down the Beams it receives from the Sun before his rising and after his setting you have not that Light of Grace as I may call it which growing greater by degrees doth more agreably prepare you for the arrival of the Sun and which growing weaker and diminishing by degrees doth insensibly prepare you for the Sun's departure But you are in a profound darkness where a Curtain as it were is drawn all on a sudden your Eyes are immediately dazled with the whole light of the Sun in all
the Amours of those gallant People where all they say is soft and moving and perfectly refin'd from the dross of our Wits who are fitter for a Bear-Garden than a Circle How gross is their Courtship how mean their Raillery without any distinction of time place or person they make Love as they call it but one way and the form is the same at a Farce or Funeral Be not so very severe I reply'd if some of our Beaux speak plain English some of your Belles like 'em ne're the worse for 't The art of Love is as much improv'd as the art of War the Generals of this Age take a Town in two days which in the last held out as many years and the Roses Lillies Pearls and Rubies a whining Lovers train of Artillery are grown as useless as Bows and Arrows tho' after all I must own they have another Standard in the Planet Venus there Clelia and Parthenissa is below the language of Grooms and Chamber Maids and every Porter and Car-Man a perfect Sir Courtly but then consider the difference of Climats Venus is much nearer than the Earth is to the Sun from whence she receives a more vigorous and active influence I find says the Countess it is easie enough to guess at the Inhabitants of Venus they resemble what I have read of the Moors of Granada who were a little black People scorch'd with the Sun witty full of Fire very Amorous much inclin'd to Musick and Poetry and ever inventing Masques and Turnaments in honour of their Mistresses Pardon me Madam said I you are little acquainted with the Planet Granada in all its Glory was a perfect Greenland to it and your gallant Moors in comparison with that People were as stupid as so many Laplanders But what do you think then of the Inhabitants of Mercury They are yet nearer to the Sun and are so full of Fire that they are absolutely mad I fancy they have no memory at all like most of the Negroes that they make no reflections and what they do is by sudden starts and perfect hap-hazard in short Mercury is the Bedlam of the Universe the Sun appears to them much greater than it does to us because they are much nearer to it than we it sends them so vast and strong a light that the most glorious day here would be no more with them than a declining twilight I know not if they can distinguish Objects but the heat to which they are accustom'd is so excessive that they would be starved with cold in the Torrid Zone their year is but three Months but we know not the exact length of their Day because Mercury is so little and so near the Sun it is as it were lost in his Rays and is very hardly discover'd by the Astronomers so that they cannot observe how it moves on its Centre but because it is so little fancy it compleats its motion in a little time so that by consequence the day there is very short and the Sun appears to them like a vast fiery Furnace at a little distance whose motion is prodigiously swift and rapid and during their Night Venus and the Earth which must appear considerably big give light to them as for the other Planets which are beyond the Earth towards the Firmament they appear less to them in Mercury than they do to us here and they receive but little light from them perhaps none at all the fix'd Stars likewise seem less to them and some of 'em totally disappear which were I there I should esteem a very great loss What signifies the loss of a few fix'd Stars says the Countess I pity 'em for the excessive heat they endure let us give 'em some relief and send Mercury a few of the refreshing Showers they have sometimes four Months together in the hottest Countries during their greatest extremity Your Fancy is good Madam I reply'd but we will relieve 'em another way In China there are Countries which are extreamly hot by their Situation yet in July and August are so cold that the Rivers are Frozen the reason is they are full of Salt-Petre which being exhal'd in great abundance by the excessive heat of the Sun makes a perfect Winter at Midsummer We will fill the little Planet with Salt-petre and let the Sun shine as hot as he pleases And yet after all who knows but the Inhabitants of Mercury may have no occasion either for Rain or Salt-Petre If it is a certain truth that Nature never gives life to any Creature but where that Creature may live then thro' Custom and ignorance of a better Life those People may live happily After Mercury comes the Sun but there is no possibility of peopling it nor no room left for a wherefore By the Earth which is inhabited we judge that other Bodies of the same Nature may be likewise inhabited but the Sun is a Body not like the Earth or any of the Planets the Sun is the source or Fountain of Light which tho' it is sent from one Planet to another and receives several alterations by the way yet all originally proceeds from the Sun he draws from himself that precious substance which he emits from all sides and which reflects when it meets with a solid Body and spreads from one Planet to another those long and vast trains of Light which cross strike thro' and intermingle in a thousand different fashions and make if I may so say the Richest Tissu's in the World. The Sun likewise is placed in the Centre from whence with most convenience he may equally distribute and animate by his heat it is then a particular Body but what sort of Body has often puzled better heads than mine It was thought formerly a Body of pure Fire and that Opinion passed currant till the beginning of this Age when they perceived several spots on its surface A little after they had discover'd new Planets of which hereafter which some said were those Spots for those Planets moving round the Sun when they turned their dark half to us must necessarily hide part of it and had not the Learned with these pretended Planets made their Court before to most of the Princes in Europe giving the name of this Prince to one and of that Prince to another Planet I believe they would have quarrel'd who should be Master of these spots that they might have nam'd them as they pleas'd 'T was but t'other day says the Countess you were describing the Moon and call'd several places by the names of the most famous Astronomers I was pleased with the fancy for since the Princes have seiz'd on the Earth 't is fit the Philosophers who are as proud as the best of 'em should reserve the Heavens for themselves without any Competitors Oh! trouble not your self said I the Philosophers make the best advantage of their Territories and if they part with the least Star 't is on very good terms let me tell you an Acre of Land in
lead a kind of Pastoral life all which suits best with Astronomy Do not deceive your self Madam said I 't is not a true Shepherds life to talk of the Stars and Planets See if they pass their time so in Astrea That sort of Shepherds Craft reply'd she is too dangerous for me to learn I love the honest Caldaeans and you must teach me their Rules if you would have me improve in their Science But let us proceed When they had rank'd the Heavens in that manner you tell me pray what is the next Question The next said I is the disposing the several parts of the Universe which the Learned call making a Systeme but before I expound the first Systeme I would have you observe we are all naturally like that Mad man at Athens who fancy'd all the Ships were his that came into the Port Pyroeum Nor is our Folly less extravagant we believe all things in Nature design'd for our use and do but ask a Philosopher to what purpose there is that prodigious company of fix'd Stars when a far less number would perform the service they do us He answers coldly they were made to please our Sight Upon this Principle they imagin'd the Earth rested in the Centre of the Universe while all the Celestial Bodies which were made for it took the pains to turn round to give light to it They plac'd the Moon above the Earth Mercury above the Moon after Venus the Sun Mars Jupiter Saturn above all these they set the Heaven of fix'd Stars the Earth was just in the middle of those Circles which contain the Planets and the greater the Circles were they were the farther distant from the Earth and by consequence the farthest Planets took up the most time in finishing their course which in effect is true But why said the Countess interrupting me do you dislike this Systeme It seems to me very Clear and Intelligible However Madam said I I will make it plainer for should I give it you as it came from Ptolomy its Author or from some who have since study'd it I should fright you I fancy instead of diverting you Since the Motions of the Planets are not so regular but that sometimes they go faster sometimes slower sometimes are nearer the Earth and sometimes farther from it the Ancients did invent I do not know how many Orbs or Circles involv'd one within another which they thought would salve all Objections this confusion of Circles was so great that at that time when they knew no better a certain King of Arragon a great Mathematician but not much troubled with Religion said That had God consulted him when he made the World he would have told him how to have fram'd it better The fancy was very Atheistical and no doubt the Instructions he would have given the Almighty was the suppressing those Circles with which they had clog'd the Celestial Motions and the taking away two or three superfluous Heavens which they had placed above the fixed Stars for these Philosophers to explain the Motion of the Celestial Bodies had above the uppermost Heaven which we see found another of Crystal to influence and give Motion to the inferiour Heavens and wherever they heard of another Motion they presently clapp'd up a Crystal Heaven which cost 'em nothing But why must their Heaven be of Crystal said the Countess would nothing else serve as well No no I reply'd nothing so well for the Light was to come thro' them and yet they were to be solid Aristotle would have it so he had found Solidity to be one of their Excellencies and when he had once said it no body would be so rude as to question it But it seems there were Comets much higher than the Philosophers expected which as they pass'd along brake the Crystal Heavens and confounded the Universe But to make the best of a bad Market they presently melt down their broken Glass and to Aristotles Confusion made the heavens fluid and by the observations of these latter Ages it is now out of doubt that Venus and Mercury turn round the Sun and not round the Earth according to the Antient Systeme which is now every where exploded and all the Ipse Dixits not worth a rush But that which I am going to lay down will salve all and is so clear that the King of Arragon himself may spare his Advice Methinks saith the Countess your Philosophy is a kind of Out-cry where he that offers to do the work cheapest carries it from all the rest 'T is very true said I Nature is a great Huswife she always makes use of what costs least let the difference be never so inconsiderable and yet this frugality is accompany'd with an extraordinary magnificence which shines thro' all her works that is she is magnificent in the design but frugal in the Execution and what can be more praise worthy than a great design accomplish'd with a little Expence But in our Ideas we turn things topsy-turvy we place our thrift in the design and are at ten times more charge in Workmanship than it requires which is very ridiculous Imitate Nature then saith she in your Systeme and give me as little trouble as you can to comprehend you Fear it not Madam said I we have done with our â—mpertinencies Imagine then a German â—all'd Copernicus confounding every thing â—earing in pieces the beloved Circles of Antiquity and shattering their Crystal Heavens like so many Glass Windows seiz'd with the noble Rage of Astronomy he snatcheth up the Earth from the Centre of the Universe sends her packing and placeth the Sun in the Centre to which it did more justly belong the Planets no longer turn round the Earth and do not inclose it in the Circles they describe if they give us light it is but by chance and as they meet us in their way All now turns round the Sun the Earth her self goes round the Sun and Copernicus to punish the Earth for her former Lazyness makes her contribute all he can to the motion of the Planets and Heavens and now stripp'd of all the heavenly Equipage with which she was so gloriously attended she hath nothing left her but the Moon which still turns round about her Fair and softly saith the Countess I fancy you your self are seiz'd with the Noble Fury of Astronomy a little less Rapture and I shall understand you the better The Sun You say is in the Centre of the Universe and is immovable what follows next It is Mercury said I he turns round the Sun so that the Sun is the Centre of the Circle wherein Mercury moves above Mercury is Venus who turns also round the Sun after comes the Earth which being placed higher than Mercury and Venus makes a greater circle round the Sun than either of them at last come Mars Jupiter Saturn in the same order I name 'em so that Saturn hath the greatest circle round the Sun which is the reason he is a longer time
others make certain voyages after which they return again while the main body of Vortex's remain unmov'd 'T is likewise very strange that some fix'd Stars shew themselves to us spending a great deal of time in appearing and disappearing and at last totally and entirely disappear Half Suns would appear again at their set and regulated time Now Madam boldly declare your Opinion Must not these Stars of necessity be Suns which are so much darkned as not to be visible to us yet afterwards shine again and at last are wholly extinct How can a Sun said the Countess be darkned and quite extinguish'd when it is in its own Nature a Fountain of Light It may be done Madam said I with all the ease in the world if Descà rtes Opinion be true that our Sun hath Spots now whether these Spots be Scum or thick Mists or what you please they may thicken and unite till at last they cover the Sun with a Crust which daily grows thicker and then Farewell Sun. We have hitherto scap'd pretty well but 't is said that the Sun for some whole years together hath look'd very pale for Example the year after Caesar's death it was this Crust that then began to grow but the force of the Sun broke and dissipated it had it continued we had been all lost People You make me tremble reply'd the Countess and now I know the fatal consequences of the Sun's paleness I believe instead of going every morning to my Glass to see how I look I shall cast my Eyes up to Heaven to see whether or no the Sun looks pale Oh Madam said I there is a great deal of time required to ruine a World. Grant it said she yet 't is but time that is required I confess it said I all this immense mass of Matter that composes the Universe is in perpetual motion no part of it excepted and since every part is moved you may be sure that changes must happen sooner or later but still in times proportioned to the Effect The Ancients were pleasant Gentlemen to imagine that the celestial Bodies were in their own nature unchangeable because they observed no change in them but they did not live long enough to confirm their opinion by their own experience they were Boys in comparison of us Give me leave Madam to explain my self by an Allegory If Roses which last but a day could write Histories and leave Memoirs one to another and if the first Rose should draw an exact Picture of their Gardiner and after fifteen thousand Rose-Ages it should be left to other Roses and so left still to those that should succeed without any change in it should the Roses hereupon say we have every day seen the same Gardiner and in the memory of Roses none ever saw any Gardiner but this he is still the same he was and therefore certainly he will never die as we do for there is no change at all in him Would not these Roses Madam talk very foolishly and yet there would be more reason in their discourse than there was in what the Ancients said concerning celestial Bodies and tho' even to this very day there should appear no visible change in the Heavens and the matter of which they are made should have all the signs of an eternal duration without any change yet I would not believe 'em unchangeable till I had the experience of many more Ages Ought we who last but a moment make our continuance the measure of any other things duration 't is not so easie a matter to be eternal To have lasted many Ages of Men one after another is no sign of Immortality Truly says the Countess I find the Worlds are far from being able to pretend to it I will not do 'em so much honour as to ompare 'em to the Gardiner that lived so much longer than the Roses I begin to think 'em like the Roses themselves which blow one day and die the next For now I understand that if old Stars disappear new ones will come in their room because every species must preserve it self No species Madam said I can totally perish some perhaps will tell you that such new Stars are Suns which return to our sight again after they have been a long time hid from us in the profundity of Heaven Others may tell you they are Suns cleared from that thick crust which once covered them If I should think all this possible yet I likewise believe that the Universe may be framed in such a manner that from time to time it may produce new Suns why may not that matter which is proper to make a Sun be dispers'd here and there and gather it self again at long run into one certain place and lay the foundation of a new World I am very much inclin'd to believe such new productions because they suit with that glorious and admirable Idea which I have of the works of Nature Can we think that wise Nature knows no more than the secret of making Herbs and Plants live and die by a continual revolution I am verily perswaded and are not you so too Madam that Nature without much cost or pains can put the same secret in practice upon the Worlds I now find says the Countess the Worlds the Heaven and celestial Bodies so subject to change that I am come to my self again To come the better again to our selves I reply'd let us say no more of these Matters We are arrived at the very roof and top of all the Heavens and to tell you whether there be any Stars beyond it you must have an abler Man than I am you may place Worlds there or no Worlds as you please 'T is the Philosopher's Empire to describe those vast invisible Countries which are and are not or are such as he pleases to make 'em It is enough for me to have carried your mind as far as you can see with your Eyes Well says the Countess I have now in my Head the System of the Universe How learned am I become Indeed Madam said I you are pretty knowing and you are so with the advantage of believing or not believing any thing I have said For all my pains I only beg this favour that when ever you see the Sun the Heaven or the Stars you will think of me FINIS