and Journeys which how far they are common to the Inhabitants of those Worlds with us I shall strait examine But first I shall enquire whether now we have given them one we may not venture upon the other four Senses to make them as good Men as our selves And truly Hearing puts in hard Hearing and almost perswades me to give it a share in the Animals of those new Countries And 't is of great consequence in defending us from sudden accidents and especially when Seeing is of no use to us it supplys its place and gives us seasonable warning of any imminent danger Besides we see many Animals call their fellows to them with their Voice which Language may have more in it than we are aware of tho we don't understand it But if we do but consider the vast uses and necessary occasions of Speaking on the one side and Hearing on the other among those Creatures that make use of their Reason it will scarce seem credible that two such useful such excellent things were designed only for us For how is it possible but that they that are without these must be without many other Necessaries and Conveniences of Life Or what can they have to recompense this want Then if we go still farther and do but meditate upon the neat and frugal Contrivance of Nature in making this same Air by the drawing in of which we live by whose Motion we sail and by whose means Birds fly for a conveyance of Sound to our ears and this Sound for the conveyance of another man's Thoughts to our Minds can we ever imagin that she has left those other Worlds destitute of so vast Advantages A Medium to convey Sound to the Ear. That they don't want the means of them is certain for their having Clouds in Jupiter puts it past doubt that they have Air too that being mostly formed of the Particles of Water flying about as the Clouds are of them gathered into small Drops And another proof of it is the necessity of breathing for the preservation of Life a thing that seems to be as universal a Dictate of Nature as feeding upon the Fruits of the Earth As for Feeling Touch. it seems to be given upon necessity to all Creatures that are cover'd with a fine and sensible Skin as a Caution against coming too near those things that may injure or incommode them and without it they would be liable to continual Wounds Blows and Bruises Nature seems to have been so sensible of this that she has not left the least place free from such a perception Therefore it 's probable that the Inhabitants of those Worlds are not without so necessary a Defence and so fit a Preservative against Dangers and Mishaps Smell and Tast And who is there that doth not see the inevitable necessity for all Creatures that live by feeding to have both Tast and Smell that they may distinguish those things that are good and nourishing from those that are mischievous and harmful If therefore we allow the Planetary Creatures to feed upon Herbs Seeds or Flesh we must allow them a distinguishing Tast and Smell too that they may chuse or refuse any thing according as they find it likely to be advantagious or noxious to them I know that it hath been a question with many whether there might not have been more Senses than those five If we should allow this Their Senses not very different from ours it might nevertheless be reasonably doubted whether the Senses of the Planetary Inhabitants are much different from ours I must confess I cannot deny but there might possibly have been more Senses but when I consider the Uses of those we have I cannot think but they would have been superfluous The Eye was made to discern near and remote Objects the Ear to give us notice of what our Eyes could not either in the dark or behind our back Then what neither the Eye nor the Ear could the Nose was made which in Dogs is wonderfully nice to warn us of And what escapes the notice of the other four Senses we have Feeling to inform us of the too near approaches of before it can do us any mischief Thus has Nature so plentifully so perfectly provided for the necessary preservation of her Creatures here that I think she can give nothing more to those there but what will be needless and superfluous Yet the Senses were not wholly design'd for use but Men from all and all other Animals from some of them reap Pleasure as well as Profit as from the Tast in delicious Meats from the Smell in Flowers and Perfumes from the Sight in the contemplation of beauteous Shapes and Colours from the Hearing in the sweetness and harmony of Sounds from the Feeling in Venery unless you please to count that for a particular Sense by it self Since it is thus They have Pleasure arising from the Senses I think 't is but reasonable to allow the Inhabitants of the Planets these same advantages that we have from them For upon this consideration only how much happier and easier a man's Life is render'd by the enjoyment of them we must be obliged to grant them these Blessings except we would ingross every thing that is good to our selves as if we were worthier and more deserving than any else But moreover that Pleasure which we perceive in eating or in copulation seems to be a necessary and provident Command of Nature whereby it tacitly compels us to the preservation and continuance of our Life and Kind It is the same in Beasts So that both for their happiness and preservation it 's very probable the rest of the Planets are not without it Certainly when I consider all these things how great noble and useful they are when I consider what an admirable Providence it is that there 's such a thing as Pleasure in the World I can't but think that our Earth the smallest part almost of the Universe was never design'd to monopolize so great a Blessing And thus much for those Pleasures which affect our bodily Senses but have little or no relation to our Reason and Mind But there are other Pleasures which Men enjoy which their Soul only and Reason can relish some airy and brisk others grave and solid and yet nevertheless Pleasures as arising from the Satisfaction which we feel in Knowlege and Inventions and searches after Truth of which whether the Planetary Inhabitants are not partakers we shall have an opportunity of enquiring by and by There are some other things to be consider'd first in which it 's probable they have some relation to us That the Planets have those Elements of Earth Air and Water as well as we I have already made not unlikely Let us now see whether they may not have Fire too which is not so properly call'd an Element as a rapid Motion of the Particles in the inflammable Body But be it what it will there are many
ascending into a higher and colder Region of the Air out of that which by reason of the Reflection of the Rays of the Sun from the Earth is warmer and more temperate Here then we have found in these new Worlds Fields warm'd by the kindly Heat of the Sun and water'd with fruitful Dews and Showers That there must be Plants in them as well for Ornament as Use we have shewn just now And what Nourishment what manner of Growth shall we allow them Plants grow and are nourish'd there as they are here Why I think there can be no better nay no other than what we here experience by having their Roots fastned into the Earth and imbibing its nourishing Juices by their tender Fibres And lest they should be only like so many bare Heaths with nothing but creeping Shrubs and Bushes we 'll e'en send them some nobler and loftier Plants Trees or somewhat like them These being the greatest and except Waters the only Ornament that Nature has bestow'd upon the Earth For not to speak of those many uses that are made of their Wood there 's no one that is ignorant either of their Beauty or Pleasantness Now what way can any one imagine for a continual Production and Succession of these Plants but their bearing Seed A Method so excellent that it 's the only one that Nature has here made use of and so wonderful that it seems to be design'd not for this Earth alone In fine there 's the same reason to think that this Method is observ'd in those distant Countries as there was of its being follow'd in the remote Quarters of this same Earth The same true of their Animals 'T is much the same in Animals as 't is in Plants as to their manner of Nourishment and Propagation of their kind For since all the living Creatures of this Earth whether Beasts Birds Fishes Worms or Insects universally and inviolably follow the same constant and fixt Institution of Nature and feed on Herbs or Fruits or the Flesh of other Animals that fed on them since all Generation is perform'd by the impregnating of the Eggs and the Copulation of Male and Female Why may not the same rule be observ'd in the Planetary Worlds For 't is certain that the Herbs and Animals that are there would be lost their whole Species destroy'd without some daily new Productions except there be no such thing there as Misfortune or Accident except the Plants are not like other humid Bodies but can bear Heat Frost and Age without being dry'd up kill'd or decay'd except the Animals have Bodies as hard and durable as Marble which I think are gross Absurdities If we should invent some new way for their coming into the World and make them drop like Soland Geese from Trees how ridiculous would this be to any one that considers the vast difference between Wood and Flesh Or suppose we should have new ones made every day out of some such fruitful Mud as that of Nile who does not see how contrary this is to all that 's reasonable And that 't is much more agreeable to the Wisdom of God once for all to create of all sorts of Animals and distribute them all over the Earth in such a wonderful and inconceivable way as he has than to be continually obliged to new Productions out of the Earth And what miserable what helpless Creatures must these be when there 's no one that by his duty will be obliged or by that strange natural fondness which God has wifely made a necessary argument for all Animals to take care of their own will be moved to assist nurse or educate them As for what I have said concerning their Propagation I cannot be so positive but the other thing namely that they have Plants and Animals I think I have fully proved And by the same Argument of their not being inferiour to our Earth they must have as great a variety of both as we have What this is will be best known to him that considers the different ways our Animals make use of in moving from one place to another Which may be reduc'd I think to these either that they walk upon two feet or four or like Insects upon six nay sometimes hundreds or that they fly in the Air bearing up and wonderfully steering themselves with their Wings or creep upon the Ground without feet or by a violent Spring in their Bodies or paddling with their feet cut themselves a way in the Waters I don't believe nor can I conceive that there should be any other way than these mention'd The Animals then in the Planets must make use of one or more of these like our amphibious Birds which can swim in Water as well as walk on Land or fly in the Air or like our Crocodiles and Sea-Horses must be Mongrels between Land and Water There can no other method be imagin'd but one of these For where is it possible for Animals to live except upon such a solid Body as our Earth or a fluid one like the Water or still a more fluid one than that such as our Air is The Air I confess may be much thicker and heavier than ours and so without any disadvantage to its Transparency be fitter for the volatile Animals There may be too many sorts of Fluids ranged over one another in rows as it were The Sea perhaps may have such a fluid lying on it which tho ten times lighter than Water may be a hundred times heavier than Air whose utmost Extent may not be so large as to cover the higher places of their Earth But there 's no reason to suspect or allow them this since we have no such thing and if we did it would be of no advantage to them for that the former ways of moving would not be hereby at all increas'd But when we come to meddle with the Shape of these Creatures and consider the incredible variety that is even in those of the different parts of this Earth and that America has some which are no where else to be found I must then confess that I think it beyond the force of Imagination to arrive at any knowlege in the matter or reach probability concerning the figures of these Planetary Animals Altho considering these ways of Motion we e'en now recounted they may perhaps be no more different from ours than ours those of ours I mean that are most unlike are from one another If a man were admitted to a Survey of Jupiter or Venus he would no doubt find as great a number and variety as he had at home Let us then that we may make as near a guess at and as reasonable a judgment of the matter as we can consider the many sorts and the admirable difference in the shapes of our own Animals Great variety of Animals in this Earth running over some of the chief of them for 't would be tedious to set about a general Catalogue that are notoriously different
we wanted them we must do ours selves carry our Burdens and the last of them we make use of either themselves to carry us or in our Coaches to draw us In which we have so excellent so useful an Invention of Wheels that I can't let the Planets enjoy Society and all its consequences and be without them Whether they are Pythagoreans there or feed upon Flesh as we do I dare not affirm any thing Tho it seems to be allow'd Men to feed upon whatsoever may afford them Nourishment either on Land or in Water upon Herbs and Pomes Milk Eggs Honey Fish and no less upon the Flesh of many Birds and Beasts A strange thing that a rational Creature should live upon the Ruin and Destruction of such a number of other his Fellow-Creatures And yet not at all unnatural should it seem since not only he but even Lions Wolves and other ravenous Beasts prey upon Flocks of other harmless things and make mere Fodder of them as Eagles do of Pidgeons and Hares and large Fish of the helpless little ones We have different sorts of Dogs for Hunting and what our own Legs cannot that their Nose and Legs can help us to But the Use and Profit of Herbs and Animals are not the only things they are good for but they raise our delight and admiration when we consider their various Forms and Natures and enquire into all their different ways of Generation things so infinitely multifarious and so delightfully amazing that the Books of Natural Philosophers are deservedly fill'd with their Encomiums For even in the very Insects who can but admire the six-corner'd Cells of the Bees or the artificial Web of a Spider or the fine Bag of a Silk-worm which last affords us with the help of incredible Industry even Shiploads of soft delicate Clothing This is a short Summary of those many profitable Advantages the animal and herbal World serve us with But this is not all The Bowels of the Earth too must contribute to Man's Happiness For what art and cunning does he employ in finding in digging in trying Metals and in melting refining and tempering them What Skill and Nicety in beating drawing or dissolving Gold And from Metals so as with inconsiderable changes to make every thing he pleases put on that noble Lustre Of how many and admirable uses is Iron and how ignorant in all Mechanical Knowledge were those Nations that were not acquainted with it so as to be fain to use no Arms but Bows Clubs and Spears made of Wood. Poor Weapons There 's one thing indeed we have which it 's a question whether it has done more harm or good and that 's a devilish Powder made of Nitre and Brimstone At first indeed it seem'd as if we had got a more secure Defence than former Ages against all Assaults and could easily guard our Towns by the wonderful strength of that Invention against all hostile Invasions but now we find it has rather encouraged them and at the same time bin no small occasion of the decay of Valor by rendring it and Strength almost useless in War Had the Grecian Emperor who said Virtue was ruin'd only when Slings and Rams first came into use liv'd in our days he might well have complain'd especially of Bombs against which neither Art nor Nature is of sufficient proof but which be it never so strong lays every thing Castles and Towers even with the Ground If for nothing else yet upon this one account I think we had better have bin without the Discovery Yet when we were talking of our Discoveries it was not to be pass'd over for the Planets too may have their mischievous as well as useful Inventions We are happier in the uses for which the Air and Water serve us both of which help us in our Navigation and furnish us with a Strength sufficient without any labor of our own to turn round our Mills and Engines things which are of use to us in so many different Employments For with them we grind our Corn and squeeze out our Oyl with them we cut Wood and mill Cloth and with them we beat our stuff for Paper An incomparable Invention Where the nastiest useless scraps of Linen are made to produce fine white Sheets To these we may add the late discovery of Printing which not only preserves from Death Arts and Knowlege but makes them much easier to be attained than before Nor must we forget the Arts of Engraving and Painting which from mean beginnings have improv'd to that Excellence that nothing that ever sprung from the Wit of Man can claim Preeminence to them Nor is the way of melting and blowing Glasses and of polishing and spreading Quicksilver over Mirrors unworthy of being mention'd nor above all the admirable uses that Glasses have bin put to in natural Knowlege since the invention of the Telescope and Microscope And no less nice and fine is the Art of making Clocks some of which are so small as to be no weight to the Bearer and others so exact as to measure out the Time in as small Portions as any one can desire the improvement of both which the World owes to my * The Author invented the Pendulum for Clocks Inventions From the discoveries of our Age. I might add much here of the late Discoveries most of them of this age which have bin made in all sorts of Natural Knowlege as well as in Geometry and Astronomy as of the weight and spring of the Air of the Chymical Experiments that have brought to light a way of making Liquors that shall shine in the dark and with gentle moving shall burn of themselves I could tell you of the Circulation of the Blood through the Veins and Arteries which was understood indeed before but now by the help of the Microscope has an ocular Demonstration in the Tails of some Fishes of the Generation of Animals which now is found to be perform'd no otherwise than by the Seed of one of the same kind and that in the Seed of the Male are discover'd by the help of Glasses Millions of sprightly little Animals which it's probable are the very Offspring of the Animals themselves a wonderful thing and never before now known The Planets have tho not these same yet as useful Inventions Thus have I heap'd together all these late Discoveries of our Earth and now tho perhaps some of them may be common to the Planetarians with us yet that they should have all of them is not credible But then they have somewhat to make up that defect others as good and as useful and as wonderful that we want We have allow'd that they may have rational Creatures among them and Geometricians and Musicians we have prov'd that they live in Societies have Hands and Feet are guarded with Houses and Walls yet if a Man was but carried thither by some powerful Genius some Pegasus I don't doubt 't would be a very pretty sight pretty
than the other parts must consist I suppose of a whiter sort of Matter than they Nor do I believe that there are any Rivers Nor Rivers for if there were they could never escape our sight especially if they run between the Hills as ours do Nor have they any Clouds to furnish the Rivers with Water Nor Clouds For if they had we should sometimes see one part of the Moon darken'd by them and sometimes another whereas we have always the same prospect of her Nor Air and Water 'T is certain moreover that the Moon has no Air or Atmosphere surrounding it as we have For then we could never see the very outermost Rim of the Moon so exactly as we do when any Star goes under it but its Light would terminate in a gradual faint shade and there would be a sort of a down as it were about it not to mention that the Vapors of our Atmosphere consist of Water and consequently that where there are no Seas or Rivers thee can be no Atmosphere This is that notable difference between that Planet and us that hinders all probable Conjectures about it If we could but once be sure that they had Water we might come to an Agreement and plant a Colony perhaps there we might allow it then most of our other Privileges and with Xenophanes furnish it with Inhabitants Cities and Mountains But as 't is I cannot imagine how any Plants or Animals whose whole nourishment comes from liquid Bodies can thrive in a dry waterless parch'd Soil The Conjecture of its Plants and Animals very dubious What then shall this great Ball be made for nothing but to give us a little puny light in the Night-time or to raise our Tides in the Sea Shall not we plant some People there that may have the pleasure of seeing our Earth turn upon it self presenting them sometimes with a prospect of Europe and Africa and then of Asia and America sometimes half and sometimes full What! and must all those Moons round Jupiter and Saturn be condemn'd to the same Uselesness I do not know what to think of it because I know of nothing like them to found a Conjecture upon And yet 't is not improbable that those great and noble Bodies have somewhat or other growing and living upon them tho very different from what we see and enjoy here Perhaps their Plants and Animals may have another sort of Nourishment there Perhaps the moisture of the Earth there is but just sufficient to cause a Mist or Dew which may be very sutable to the growth of their Herbs Which I remember is Plutarch's opinion in his Dialogue upon this Subject For in our Earth a very little Water drawn from the Sea into Dew and falling down again upon the Herbs would be sufficient for all our needs without any Rain or Showers But these are mere guesses or rather doubts but yet they are the best we can make of this and all those other Moons for as I said before Jupiter's and Saturn's Moons turn always the same side to them they are all of the same nature which is proved likewise by this that as our Moon can afford us the sight never but of one sidé of her so they turn always the same face to their primary Planets You wonder I suppose how we came to know so much but 't was no hard matter after that Observation which I just now made that the outermost of Saturn's Moons can never be seen but when she is on the West-side of her Planet The reason of which is plainly this that one side of her is darker and does not reflect the Light so much as the other which when it is turned towards us we cannot see by reason of its weak Light This always happening when 't is East of him and never on the other side is a manifest proof that she always keeps the same side toward Saturn Now since the outermost of Saturn's and our Moon carry themselves thus to the Planets round which they move who can well doubt it of all the rest round Jupiter and Saturn And there 's a very good reason for it namely that the matter of which those Moons consist being heavier and more solid on the side that is averse from us than on that which we have the sight of does consequently fly with a greater force from the Centre of its Motion for otherwise according to the Laws of Motion it should turn the same side always not to its Planet but to the same fixt Stars This Position of the Moons in respect of their Planets must occasion a great many very pretty wonderful sights to their Inhabitants if they have any which is very doubtful but may for the present be suppos'd An enquiry into our Moon may serve for all the rest It s Globe is divided into two parts after that manner that those who live on one side never lose the sight of us and those on the other never enjoy it Only those who live on the Confines of each of these lose us and see us again by turns The Astronomy of the Inhabitants of the Moon The Earth to them must seem much larger than the Moon doth to us as being in Diameter above four times bigger But the best of it is that night and day they see it always in the very same part of the Heaven as if it never moved some of them as if 't was falling upon their heads others somewhat above the Horizon and others always in the Horizon still turning upon it self and presenting them every twenty four hours with a view of all its Countries even of those that lie near the Poles I could wish my self in the Moon only for the sight of them yet unknown and undiscover'd by us They have it in its monthly Wane and Increase they see it half and horned and full by turns just as we do their Planet But the Light that they borrow of us is five times larger than what they pay us again So that in dark nights that part that hath the advantage of being towards us receives a very glorious Light tho let Kepler say what he will no Heat from us Their Days are always of the same length with their Nights and the Sun rising and setting to them but once in one of our Months makes the time both of their Light and Darkness to be equal to 15 of our days If their Bodies are of the same Metal with ours those that have the Sun pretty high in their Horizon must be like to be burnt up in such long days For the Sun is not farther from them than he is from us This will be the case of those that live upon the Borders of the two Hemispheres we talk'd of but those that live under the Poles of the Moon will be just about as hot as our Whale-Fishers about Island and Nova Zemla are in the Summer-time who are in so little danger of being roasted
Arguments for their not being without it All the Planets have Fire For this Earth is not so truly call'd the Place of Fire as the Sun and as by the heat of that all Plants and Animals here thrive and live so no doubt is it in the other Planets Since then Fire is caused by a most intense and vigorous Heat it follows that the Planets especially those nearer the Fountain of it have their proportionate degrees of Heat and Fire And when there are so many ways of its Production as by the collection of the Rays of the Sun by the reflection of Mirrors by the striking of Flint and Steel by the rubbing of Wood by the close loading of moist Grass by Lightning by the eruptions of Mountains and Volcanos it 's strange if neither Art should have produc'd it nor Nature effected it there by one of these many means Then how useful and necessary is it to us By it we drive away Cold and supply the want of the Sun in those Countries where his oblique Rays make a less vigorous Impression and so keep a great part of the Earth from being an uninhabited Desart which is equally necessary in all the Planets whether we allow them Succession of Seasons or a perpetual Spring and Aequinox for even then the Countries near the Pole would receive but little advantage from the Heat of the Sun By the help of this we turn the night into day and thereby make a considerable addition to the shortness fo our Lives Upon all these accounts I must not let this Earth of ours enjoy it all alone and exclude all the other Planets from so advantageous and so profitable a Gift But perhaps it may be asked as well concerning Brutes as rational Creatures and of their Plants and Trees too whether they are proportionably larger or less than ours The bigness of their Creatures not rightly guest at by the bigness of the Planets For if the Magnitude of the Planets was to be the Standard of their measure there would be Animals in Jupiter ten or fifteen times larger than Elephants and as much longer than our Whales And then their Men must be mere Goliahs in respect of our Pygmiships Now tho I don't see any so great absurdity in this as to make it impossible yet there is no reason to think it is really so seeing Nature has not always ty'd her self to those Rules which we have thought more convenient for her for example the magnitude of the Planets is not answerable to their distances from the Sun but Mars tho more remote is far less than Venus and Jupiter turns round his Axis in ten hours when the Earth which is much less than him spends 24. But since Nature perhaps some body will say has not observ'd such a Regularity in the proportion of things for ought we know we may have a Race of Pygmies about the bigness of Frogs and Mice possess'd of the Planets But I shall show that this is very improbable by and by In the Planets are many sorts of rational Creatures as well as here There may arise another Question whether there be in the Planets but one or more sorts of rational Creatures possess'd of different degrees of Reason and Sense There is something not unlike this to be observ'd among us For to pass by those who have human Shape altho some of them would very well bear that enquiry too if we do but consider some sorts of Beasts as the Dog the Ape the Beaver the Elephant nay some Birds and Bees what Sense and Understanding they are masters of we shall be forc'd to allow that Man is not the only rational Animal For we discover somewhat in them of Reason independent on and prior to all teaching and practice But still no body can doubt but that the Understanding and Reason of Man is to be prefer'd to theirs as being comprehensive of innumerable things indued with an infinite memory of what 's past and capable of providing against what 's to come That there is some such rational Creature in the other Planets which is the Head and Sovereign of the rest is very reasonable to believe for otherwise were many endued with the same Wisdom and Cunning we should have them always doing mischief always quarrelling and fighting one another for Empire and Sovereignty a thing that we feel too much of where we have but one such Creature But to let that pass our next Enquiry shall be concerning those Animals in the Planets which are furnish'd with the greatest Reason whether it 's possible to know wherein they employ it and whether they have made as great advances in Arts and Knowlege as we in our Planet Which deserves most to be consider'd and examin'd of any thing belonging to their nature and for the better performance of it we must take our rise somewhat higher and nicely view the Lives and Studies of Men. And in those things wherein Men provide and take care only of what 's absolutely necessary for the preservation of their Life in defending themselves from the Injuries of the Air in securing themselves against the Incursions of Enemies by Walls and against Fraud and Disturbances by Laws in educating their Children and providing for themselves and them In all these I can see no great reason that Man has to boast of the preeminency of his Reason above Beasts and other Animals For most of these things they perform with greater ease and art than us and some of them they have no need of For that sense of Virtue and Justice in which Man excels of Friendship Gratitude and Honesty of what use are they but either to put a stop to the Wickedness of Men or to secure us from mutual Assaults and Injuries a thing wherein the Beasts want no Guide but Nature and Inclination Then if we set before our eyes the manifold Cares the disturbances of Mind the restless Desires the dread of Death that are the result of this our Reason and compare them with that easy quiet and harmless Life which other Animals enjoy we should be apt to wish a change and conclude that they especially Birds liv'd with more pleasure and happiness than Man could with all his Wisdom For they have as great a gusto of bodily Pleasures as we let the new Philosophers say what they will who would have them go for nothing but Clocks and Engines of Flesh a thing which Beasts so plainly confute by crying and running away from a stick and all other actions that I wonder how any one could subscribe to so absurd and cruel an Opinion Nay I can scarce doubt but that Birds feel no small pleasure in their easy smooth sailing through the Air and would much more if they but knew the advantages it hath above our slow and laborious Progression Men chiefly differ from Beasts in the study of Nature What is it then after all that sets human Reason above all other and makes us