I have great News for you that which I told you last Night of the Moon 's being inhabited may not be so now There is a new Fancy got into my Head which puts those People in great Danger I cannot suffer it said she yesterday you were preparing me to receive a Visit from 'em and now there are no such People in Nature Once you would have me believe the Moon was inhabited I surmounted the Difficulty I had and will now believe it You are a little too nimble I reply'd did I not advise you never to be entirely convinc'd in things of this nature but to reserve half of your understanding free and disengag'd that you may admit of the contrary opinion if there be any occasion I care not for your Sentences said she let us come to matter of Fact. Are we not to consider the Moon as Greenwhich No said I the Moon doth not so much resemble the Earth as Greenwich doth London The Sun draws from the Earth and Water Exhalations and Vapours which mounting to a certain height in the Air do there assemble and form the Clouds these uncertain Clouds are driven irregularly round the Globe sometimes shadowing one Countrey and sometimes another he then who beholds the Earth from a-far off will see frequent alterations upon its surface because a great Country overcast with Clouds will appear dark or light as the Clouds stay or pass over it he will see the Spots on the Earth often change their Place and appear or disappear as the Clouds remove but we see none of these changes wrought upon the Moon which would certainly be the same were there but Clouds about her but on the contrary all her Spots are fix'd and certain and her light parts continue where they were at first which truly is a great misfortune for by this reason the Sun draws no Exhalations or Vapours above the Moon so that it appears she is a Body infinitely more hard and solid than the Earth whose subtile parts are easily separated from the rest and mount upwards as soon as Heat puts them in Motion But it must be a heap of Rock and Marble where there is no Evaporation besides Exhalations are so natural and necessary where there is Water that there can be no Water at all where there is no Exhalation and what sort of Inhabitants must those be whose Countrey affords no Water is all Rock and produceth nothing Very fine said she you have forgot since you assur'd me we might from hence distinguish Seas in the Moon nay You or your Friends were Godfathers to some of ' em Pray what is become of your Caspian Sea and your Black Lake All Conjecture Madam I reply'd tho' for your Ladyships sake I am very sorry for it for those dark places we took to be Seas may perhaps be nothing but large Cavities 't is hard to guess aright at so great a distance But will this suffice then said she to extirpate the People in the Moon Not altogether I reply'd we will neither determine for nor against them I must own my weakness if it be one said she I cannot be so perfectly undetermin'd as you would have me to be but must believe one way or the other therefore pray fix me quickly in my opinion as to the Inhabitants of the Moon preserve or annihilate them as you shall think fit and yet methinks I have a strange inclination for 'em and would not have 'em destroy'd if it were possible to save ' em You know Madam said I I can deny you nothing the Moon shall be no longer a Defart but to do you service we will repeople her Since to all appearance the Spots in the Moon do not change I cannot conceive there are any Clouds about her that sometimes obscure one part and sometimes another yet this doth not hinder but that the Moon sends forth Exhalations and Vapours Our Clouds which we see in the Air are nothing but Exhalations and Vapours which at their coming out of the Earth were separated into such minute Particles that they could not be discern'd but as they ascend higher they are condens'd by the Cold and by the re-union of their Parts are render'd visible after which they become great Clouds which fluctuate in the Air till they return back again in Rain however these Exhalations and Vapours do sometimes keep themselves so dispers'd that they are imperceptible or if they do assemble it is in forming such subtile Dews that they cannot be discern'd to fall from any Cloud It may likewise happen that the Vapours which go out of the Moon for it is incredible that the Moon is such a Mass that all its Parts are of an equal Solidity all at rest one with another and all incapable of any alteration from the efficacy of the Sun I am sure we are yet unacquainted with such a Body Marble it self is of another Nature and even that which is most Solid is subject to Change and Alteration either from the secret and invisible motion it hath within it self or from that which it receives from without it may so happen then that the Vapours which issue from the Moon may not assemble round her in Clouds and may not fall back again in Rain but only in Dews It is sufficient for this that the Air with which the Moon is environ'd for it is certain that the Moon is encompassed with Air as well as the Earth be a little different from our Air and the Vapours of the Moon a little different from those of the Earth which is very probable Hereupon the matter being otherwise dispos'd in the Moon than on the Earth the Effects must be different tho' it is of no great consequence whether they are or no for from the moment we have found an inward motion in the parts of the Moon or produced by foreign Causes here is enough for the new birth of its Inhabitants and a sufficient and necessary fund for their Subsistence This will furnish us with Corn Fruit Water according to the custom or manner of the Moon which I do not pretend to know and all proportion'd to the wants and use of the Inhabitants with whom I pretend to be as little acquainted That is to say reply'd the Countess you know all is very well without knowing how it is so which is a great deal of Ignorance upon a very little Knowledge however I comfort my self that you have given the Moon her Inhabitants again and have wrap'd her in an Air of her own without which a Planet would seem but very naked 'T is these two different Airs said I that hinder the Communication of the two Planets if it was only flying as I told you yesterday who knows but we may improve it to perfection tho' I confess there is but little hopes of it the great distance between the Moon and the Earth is a difficulty not easily to be surmounted yet were the distance but inconsiderable and the two Planets
who can assure us we shall still continue as we do now if we should be such Fools as to go near Jupiter or he so ambitious as to approach us what will become of us for if as you say the Celestial Matter is continually under this great Motion it must needs agitate the Planets irregularly sometimes drive 'em together and sometimes separate ' em Luck is all said I we may win as well as lose and who knows but we should bring Mercury and Venus under our Government they are little Planets and cannot resist us but in this particular Madam we need not hope or fear the Planets keep within their own bounds and are oblig'd as formerly the Kings of China were not to undertake new Conquests Have you not seen when you put Water and Oyl together the Oyl swims a top and if to these two Liquors you add a very light Liquor the Oyl bears it up and it will not sink to the Water But put an heavier Liquor of a just weight and it will pass through the Oyl which is too weak to sustain it and sink till it comes to the Water which is strong enough to bear it up so that in this Liquor compos'd of two Liquors which do not mingle two Bodies of an unequal weight will naturally assume two different Places the one will never ascend the other will never descend Fancy then that the Celestial Matter which fills this great Vortex hath several resting places one by another whose weight are different like that of Oyl Water and other Liquors the Planets too are of a different weight and consequently every Planet settles in that place which has a just strength to sustain and keep it equilibrate so you see 't is impossible it should ever go beyond Would to God says the Countess our World were as well regulated and every one among us knew their proper Place I am now in no fear of being over-run by Jupiter and since he lets us alone in our Vortex with our Moon I do not envy him the four which he hath Did you envy him I reply'd you would do him wrong for he has no more than what he has occasion for at the distance he is from the Sun his Moons receive and send him but a very weak light it is true that as he turns upon himself in ten hours his nights by consequence are but five hours long so one would think there is no great occasion for four Moons but there are other things to be considered Here under the Poles they have six Months Day and six Months Night because the Poles are the two extremities of the Earth the farthest removed from those places where the Sun is over 'em in a perpendicular line The Moon seems to keep almost the same course as the Sun and if the Inhabitants of the Poles see the Sun during one half of his course of a Year and during the other half do not see him at all they see the Moon likewise during one half of her course of a Month that is she appears to 'em fifteen days but they do not see her during the other half Jupiter's Year is as much as twelve of ours so that there must be two opposite extremities in that Planet where their Night and their Day are six Years each A Night six Years long is a little disconsolate and 't is for that reason I suppose they have four Moons that which in regard to Jupiter is uppermost finisheth its course about him in seventeen days the second in seven the third in three days and an half and the fourth in two and forty hours and tho' they are so unfortunate as to have six years Night yet their course being exactly divided into halves they never pass above one and twenty hours wherein they do not see at least the last Moon which is a great comfort in so tedious a darkness so that be where you will these four Moons are sometimes the prettiest sight imaginable sometimes they rise all four together and then separate according to the inequality of their course sometimes they are all in their Meridian rang'd one above another sometimes you see 'em at equal distances on the Horizon sometimes when two rise the other two go down Oh how I should love to see this pleasant sport of Eclipses for there is not a Day passes but they Eclipse the Sun or one another and they are so accustom'd to this diversion in Jupiter that the late Duke of B m in his Rehersal brought the dance of Eclipses from that Planet as now most of our modish Dances come out of France Well says the Countess I hope you will People these four Moons tho' you say they are but little secondary Planets appointed to give light to another Planet during its Night Do not doubt it I reply'd these Planets are not a jot the worse to be inhabited for being forc'd to turn round another Planet of greater consequence I would have then says she the People of these four Moons to be so many Colonies under Jupiter's Government they should receive their Laws and Customs from him Would it not be convenient too said I that they should send Deputies with Addresses to him for he hath cetainly a more absolute command over his Moon than we have over ours tho' his Power after all is but imaginary and consists chiefly in making 'em afraid for that Moon which is nearest to him sees that he is three hundred and sixty times bigger than our Moon appears to us for in truth he is so much bigger than she he is also much nearer to them than our Moon is to us the which makes him appear the greater so that this formidable Planet hangs continually oveâ— their Heads at a very little distance and if the Gauls were afraid heretofore that the Heavens would fall on 'em I think the Inhabitants of that Moon may well be apprehensive that Jupiter will at some time or other overwhelm ' em They are says she I fancy possess'd with that fear because they are not concern'd at Eclipses Every one has their due folly we are afraid of an Eclipse and they that Jupiter will fall on their Heads It is very true said I the Inventer of the third Systeme I told you t'other night the famous Ticho Brahe one of the greatest Astronomers that ever was did not apprehend the least danger from an Eclipse when every body else was under the greatest consternation yet this great Man had as an unaccountable a fear did a hare cross him or were the first Person he met in a morning an old Woman home presently went Ticho Brahe he shut himself up for that day and would not meddle with the least Business Let us go on with ours tho' says the Countess and leave Ticho Brahe to defend his Superstition Pray tell me if the Earth be so little in comparison of Jupiter whether his Inhabitants do discover us Indeed said I I believe not for if we
did not turn round it self every twenty four hours Oh said she the Sun and the Stars are all Fire their Motion is not very difficult but the Earth I fancy is a little unweildy That signifies nothing I reply'd for what do you think of a first rate Ship which carries near an hundred Guns and a thousand Men beside her Provisions and other Furniture you see one puff of Wind makes it sail on the Water because the Water is liquid and being easily separated doth very little resist the motion of the Ship So the Earth tho' never so Massive is as easily born up by the Celestial Matter which is a thousand times more fluid than the Water and fills all that great Space where the Planets float for where would you the Earth should be fastned to resist the motion of the Celestial Matter and not be driven by it You may as well fancy a little block of Wood can withstand the current of a River But pray said she how can the Earth with all its weight be born up by your Celestial Matter which must be very light because it is so fluid It doth not argue said I that what is most fluid is most light for what think you of the great Vessel I mention'd but now which with all its Burthen is yet lighter than the Water it floats on I will have nothing to do with that great Vessel said she and I begin to apprehend my self in some danger on such a whirlegigg as you have made of the Earth There is no danger I reply'd but Madam if you are afraid we will have the Earth supported by four Elephants as the Indians believe it Hey day cry'd she here 's another Systeme however I love those People for taking care of themselves they have a good Foundation to trust to while you Copernicans are a little too venturous with the Celestial Matter and yet I fancy if the Indians thought the Earth in the least danger of sinking they would double their number of Elephants They do well said I laughing at her fancy who would sleep in Fear and if you have occasion for 'em to night we will put as many as you please in our Systeme we can take 'em away again by degrees as you grow better confirm'd I do not think 'em very necessary said she I have courage enough to turn You shall turn with pleasure Madam said I and shall find delightful Ideas in this Systeme For Example sometimes I fancy my self suspended in the Air without any motion while the Earth turns round me in twenty four hours I see I know not how many different Faces pass under me some white some black and some tauny sometimes I see Hats and sometimes Turbants now Heads with Hair and then shav'd Heads here I see Cities with Steeples others with Spires and Crescents others with Towers of Purcelain and anon great Countreys with nothing but Cottages here I see vast Oceans and there most horrible Desarts in short I discover the infinite variety which is upon the surface of the Earth I confess said she twenty four hours would thus be very well bestow'd so that in the same Place where we are now I do not mean in the Park but we will suppose our selves in the Air other People continually pass by who take up our Place and at the end of twenty four hours we return to it again Copernicus himself said I could not have comprehended it better First then we see some of our Neighbours passing by us up to the Ears in Politicks yet settling their Nation no better than we do the World in the Moon then follows a great Sea perhaps a Fleet of Ships perhaps a Makrel-Boat no matter whether then come some of the Iroquois going to eat a Prisoner for their Breakfast who seems as little concern'd as his Devourers After appear the Women of the Land of Jesso who spend all their time in dressing their Husbands Dinners and Suppers and painting their Lips and Eye-brows blue only to please the greatest Villains in the World Then the fair Circassians who are very free of their Favours and grant all to the first Comer except a little they reserve for their Husbands then the Tartars going to steal Concubines for the Turks and Persians and at last our own dear Countrymen it may be in some points as ridiculous as the best of ' em It is very pleasant said the Countess but to imagine what you tell me tho' if I was above and saw all this I would have the Liberty to hasten or retard the motion of the Earth according as the Objects pleas'd me more or less and I assure you I should quickly send packing the Polititians and Man-eaters but should have a great curiosity for the Fair Circassians for methinks they have a custom very particular They are so extreamly Beautiful said I that their Husbands have enough and to spare to a Stranger I fear then said she the Women of our Country are very ugly in respect of those Fair Ladies for the Husbands part with nothing here but keep all to themselves 'T is because they make more use I reply'd of Hold your peace said she and no more of your Fooleries I have a difficulty to clear and you must be serious As the Earth moves the Air changeth every moment so we breathe the Air of another Country Not at all I reply'd for the Air which encompasseth the Earth doth not extend above a certain height perhaps 20 leagues it follows us and turns with us Have you not seen the work of a Silk-Worm the Shells which those little Animals imprison themselves in and weave with so much Art they are made of a Silk very close but are covered with a Down very slack and soft So the Earth which is solid is covered from the surface 20 Leagues upwards with a kind of Down which is the Air and all the Shell of the Silk-Worm turns at the same time Beyond the Air is the Celestial Matter incomparably more pure and subtile and much more agitated than the Air Your comparison said she is somewhat mean and yet what wonders are wrought what Wars what Changes in this little Shell 'T is true I reply'd but Nature takes no notice of such little particular Motions but drives us along with the general motion as if she were at Bouls Methinks said she 't is very ridiculous to be upon a thing that turns and yet not be well assur'd that it doth turn and to tell you the Truth I begin to distrust the Reasons you give why we should not be sensible of the Motion of the Earth for is it possible there should not some little mark be left by which we might perceive it All Motions said I the more common and Natural they are are the less perceptible and this holds true even in Morality the motion of self Love is so natural to us that for the most part we are not sensible of it and we believe we
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