A Discovery of New Worlds/The First Night
THE
First Night.
We went one Evening after Supper to walk in the Park, the Air was cool and refreshing, which made us sufficient amends for the excessive heat of the Day, and of which I find I shall be obliged to make you a Description, which I cannot well avoid, the fineness of it leading me so necessarily to it.
The Moon was about an hour high, which shining through the Boughs of the Trees, made a most agreeable Mixture, and checker'd the Paths beneath with a most resplendent white upon the green, which appeared to be black by that Light; there was no Cloud to be seen that could hide from us, or obscure the smallest of the Stars, which lookt all like pure polisht Gold, whose Luster was extreamly heightened by the deep Azure Field on which they were placed: These pleasant Objects set me a thinking, and had it not been for Madam la Marquiese, I might have continued longer in that silent Contemplation; but the Presence of a Person of her Wit and Beauty hindered me from giving up my Thoughts intirely to the Moon and Stars. Do not you believe, Madam, said I, that the clearness of this Night exceeds the Glory of the brightest day? I confess, said she, the Day must yield to such a Night; the day which resembles a fair Beauty, which though more sparkling, is not so charming as one of a brown Complexion, who is a true Emblem of the Night. You are very generous, Madam, said I, to give the advantage to the brown, you who are so admirably fair your self: Yet without dispute, day is the most beautiful thing in Nature; and most of the Heroines in Romances, which are modelled after the most perfect Idea fancy can represent by the most ingenious of mankind, are generally described to be fair. But, said she, Beauty is insipid, if it want the pleasure and power of charming; and you must acknowledge that the brightest day that ever you saw could never have engaged you in so agreeable an Ecstasie, as you were just now like to have faln into by the powerful attractions of this Night.
I agree to what you say, Madam, said I, but I must own at the same time, that a Beauty of your complexion would give me another sort of transport than the finest Night with all the advantages obscurity can give it.
Though that were true, said she, I should not be satisfied; since those fair Beauties that so resemble the day, produce not those soft Effects of the other. How comes it, that Lovers who are the best Judges of what is pleasing and touching, do always address themselves to the Night, in all their Songs and Elegies? I told her, that they most certainly paid their acknowledgments to the Night; for she was ever most favourable to all their Designs. But, Sir, replied the Marquiese, she receives also all their Complaints, as a true Confident of all their Entrigues; from whence proceeds that? The silence and gloom of the Night, said I, inspires the restless Sigher with thoughts very passionate and languishing, which the busier day diverts a thousand little ways (though one would think the Night should charm all things to repose) and though the day affords Solitudes, dark Recesses, Groves and Grottoes, equally obscure and silent as the Night it self; yet we fansy that the Stars move with a more silent mothan the Sun, and that all the Objects which the Heavens represent to our view, are softer, and stay our sight more easily; and flattering our selves that we are the only Persons at that time awake, we are vain enough to give a loose to a thousand thoughts extravagant and easing. Besides, the Scene of the Universe by day-light appears too Uniform, we beholding but one Great Luminary in an Arched Vault of Azure, of a Vast Extent, while all the Stars appear confusedly dispersed, and disposed as it were by chance in a thousand different Figures, which assists our roving Fancies to fall agreeably into silent thoughts. Sir, replied Madam la Marqueise, I have always felt those effects of Night you tell me of, I love the Stars, and could be heartily angry with the Sun for taking them from my sight. Ah, cry'd I, I cannot forgive his taking from me the sight of all those Worlds that are there. Worlds, said she, what Worlds? And looking earnestly upon me, asked me again, what I meant? I ask your Pardon, Madam, said I, I was insensibly led to this fond discovery of my weakness. What weakness, said she, more earnestly than before? Alass, said I, I am sorry that I must confess I have imagined to my self, that every Star may perchance be another World, yet I would not swear that it is so; but I will believe it to be true, because that Opinion is so pleasant to me, and gives me very diverting Idea's, which have fixed themselves delightfully in my Imaginations, and 'tis necessary that even solid Truth should have its agreeableness. Well, said she, since your Folly is so pleasing to you, give me a share of it; I will believe whatever you please concerning the Stars, if I find it pleasant. Ah, Madam, said I, hastily, it is not such a Pleasure as you find in one of Mullier's Plays; it is a Pleasure that is———I know not where, in our Reason, and which only transports the Mind. What, replied she, do you think me then incapable of all those Pleasures which entertain our Reason, and only treat the Mind? I will instantly shew you the contrary, at least as soon as you have told me what you know of your Stars. Ah, Madam, cry'd I, I shall never indure to be reproach'd with that neglect of my own happiness, that in a Grove at ten a Clock of the Night, I talk'd of nothing but Philosophy, to the greatest Beauty in the World; no, Madam, search for Philosophy some where else.
But 'twas in vain to put her off by Excuses, from a Novelty she was already but too much prepossest with: There was a necessity of yielding, and all I could do was to prevail with her to be secret, for the saving my Honour; but when I found my self engaged past retreat, and had a design to speak, I knew not where to begin my discourse, for to prove to her (who understood nothing of Natural Philosophy) that the Earth was a Planet, and all the other Planets so many Earths, and all the Stars Worlds, it was necessary for the explaining my self, to bring my Arguments a great way off; and therefore I still endeavoured to perswade her that 'twas much better to pass the time in another manner of Conversation, which the most reasonable People in our Circumstances would do; but I pleaded to no Purpose, and at last to satisfie her, and give her a general Idea of Philosophy, I made use of this way of arguing.
All Philosophy is grounded on two Principles, that of a passionate thirst of knowledge of the Mind, and the weakness of the Organs of the Body; for if the Eye-sight were in perfection, you could as easily discern there were Worlds in the Stars, as that there are Stars: On the other hand, if you were less curious and desirous of knowledge, you would be indifferent, whether it were so or not, which indeed comes all to the same purpose; but we would gladly know more than we see, and there's the difficulty: for if we could see well and truly what we see, we should know enough; but we see most Objects quite otherwise than they are; so that the true Philosophers spend their time in not believing what they see, and in endeavouring to guess at the knowledge of what they see not; and in my Opinion this kind of life is not much to be envied; but I fansy still to my self that Nature is a great Scene, or Representation, much like one of our Opera's; for, from the place where you sit to behold the Opera, you do not see the Stage, as really it is, Since every thing is disposed there for the representing agreeable Objects to your sight, from a large distance, while the wheels & weights, which move and counterpoise the Machines are all concealed from our view; nor do we trouble our selves so much to find out how all those Motions that we see there,are performed; and it may be among so vast a number of Spectators, there is not above one Enginier in the whole Pit, that troubles himself with the consideration how those flights are managed that seem so new and so extraordinary to him, and who resolves at any rate to find out the contrivance of them: You cannot but guess, Madam, that this Enginier is not unlike a Philosopher; but that which makes the difficulty incomparably greater to Philosophers, is, that the Ropes, Pullies, Wheels and Weights, which give motion to the different Scenes represented to us by Nature, are so well hid both from our sight and understanding, that it was a long time before mankind could so much as guess at the Causes that moved the vast Frame of the Universe.
Pray, Madam, imagine to your self, the Ancient Philosophers beholding one of our Opera's, such an one as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and many more, whose Names and Reputations make so great a noise in the World; and suppose they were to behold the flying of Phaeton, who is carried aloft by the Winds, and that they could not discern the Ropes and Pullies, but were altogether ignorant of the contrivance of the Machine behind the Scenes, one of them would be apt to say—It is a certain Secret Virtue that carries up Phaeton. Another, That Phaeton is composed of certain Numbers, which make him mount upwards. The third—That Phaeton has a certain kindness for the highest Part of the Theatre, and is uneasie when he is not there. And a fourth—That Phaeton was not made for flying, but that he had rather fly, than leave the upper part of the Stage void: Besides a hundred other Notions, which I wonder have not intirely ruined the Reputation of the Ancients. In our Age Des Cartes, and some other Moderns would say—That Phaeton's flight upward is because he is hoisted by Ropes, and that while he ascends, a greater weight than he descends.
And now men do not believe that any corporeal being moves it self, unless it be set on Motion, or pusht by another Body, or drawn by Ropes; nor that any heavy thing ascends or descends, without a counter-poise equal with it in weight to balance it; or that 'tis guided by Springs. And could we see Nature as it is, we should see nothing but the hinder part of the Theatre at the Opera. By what you say, said Madam la Marquiese, Philosophy is become very Mechanical. So very Mechanical, said I, that I am afraid men will quickly be ashamed of it; for some would have the Universe no other thing in Great, than a Watch is in Little; and that all things in it are ordered by Regular Motion, which depends upon the just and equal disposal of its Parts: Confess the Truth, Madam, have not you had heretofore a more sublime Idea of the Universe, and have not you honoured it with a better Opinion than it deserved? I have known several esteem it less since they believed they knew it better; and for my part, said she, I esteem it more since I knew it is so like a Watch: And 'tis most surprising to me, that the course and order of Nature, how ever admirable it appears to be, moves upon Principles and Things that are so very easie and simple. I know not, replied I, who has given you so just Idea's of it, but 'tis not ordinary to have such; most People retain in their minds some false Principle or other of Admiration, wraped up in obscurity, which they adore: They admire Nature, only because they look on it as a kind of Miracle, which they do not understand; and 'tis certain that those sort of People never despise any thing, but from the moment they begin to understand it: But, Madam, I find you so well disposed to comprehend all I have to say to you, that without further Preface, I need only draw the Curtain, and shew you the World.
From the Earth where we are, that which we see at the greatest distance from us, is that Azure Heaven, or that vast Vault, where the Stars are placed as so many Golden Nails, which are called fixt, because they seem to have no other motion, but that of their proper Sphere, which carries them along with it, from East to West, between the Earth and the last, or lowest Heaven; are hung at different heights, the Sun, the Moon, and five other Stars, which are called Planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. These Planets not being fixt to any one Sphere, and having unequal Motions, they are in different Aspects, one to another, and according as they are in conjunction, or at distance, they make different Figures; whereas the fixt Stars are always in the same Position, one towards another: As for Example, Charles's-Wain, or the Constellation of the Great Bear, which you see, and which consists of Seven Stars, has always been, and will still continue the same; but the Moon is sometimes near the Sun, and sometimes at a great distance from it, and so through all the rest of the Planets: It was in this manner that the Celestial Bodies appeared to the Ancient Chaldean Shepherds, whose great leisure produced these first Observations, which have since been so well improved; and upon which all Astronomy is founded: For Astronomy had its beginning in Chaldea, as Geometry was invented in Egypt, where the inundations of the River Nile, having confounded and removed the Limits and the Land-marks of the several Possessions of the Inhabitants, did prompt them to find out sure and exact Measures, by which every one might know his own Field from that of his Neighbours: So that Astronomy is the Daughter of Idleness, Geometry is the Child of Interest; and should we inquire into the Original of Poetry, we should in all appearance find, that it owes its beginning to Love.
I am extreamly glad, said the Marquiese, that I have learned the Genealogy of the Sciences, and I find that I must content my self with Astronomy, Geometry, according to what you have said, requiring a Soul more interested in worldly Concerns, than I am, and for Poetry, 'tis most proper for those of a more Amorous Inclination; but I have all the leisure and time to spare that Astronomy requires: Besides that I live now happily retired in the Fields and Groves, and lead a sort of Pastoral Life, so very agreeable to Astronomy. Do not deceive your self, Madam, said I; 'tis not a true Pastoral Life, to talk of Planets and fix'd Stars: Be pleased to consider, that the Shepherds in the Story of Astræa did not pass their time in that kind of divertisement; they had business of a softer, and more agreeable Nature. Oh, said she, the Life of the Pastorals of Astræa is too dangerous: I like that of the Chaldean Shepherds better, of whom you spoke but now: Go on with them, for I will hear nothing from you, but Chaldean: So soon as that Order, and these Motions of the Heavens were discovered, what was the next thing to be considered? The next thing, said I, was, to guess how the several parts of the Universe were to be disposed and ranged in order; and that is what the Learned call, The making a System: But before, Madam, I explain to you the first System, be pleased to observe, that we are all naturally made like a certain Athenian Fool, of whom you have heard; who fansied that all the Ships that came into the Port of Piraa, belonged to him; for we are so vain as to believe, that all this vast Frame of Nature was destined to our use: For if a Philosopher be asked, for what all this prodigious number of fixed Stars serve (since a very few would supply the business of the whole) he will tell you gravely, that they were made to please our sight. Upon this Principle, at first, Man believed, that the Earth was immoveably fixed in the Centre of the Universe, whilst all the Celestial Bodies (made only for her) were at the pains of turning continually round, to give Light to the Earth: And that it was therefore above the Earth, they placed the Moon; above the Moon, Mercury; then Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn; and above all, the Sphere of the fixed Stars: The Earth, according to this Opinion, was just in the middle of the several Circles, described by the Planets; and the greater these Circles were, the further they were distant from the Earth; and by consequence, they took a longer time in compleating their round; which is certainly true. I know not, said the Marquiese, why you should not approve of this Order of the Universe, which seems to be so clear and intelligible; for my part, I am extreamly pleased and satisfied with it. Madam, said I, without Vanity, I have very much softned and explained this System: Should I expose it to you such as it was first invented by its Author Ptolemy, or by those that have followed his Principles, it would frighten you: The motion of the Planets being irregular, they move sometimes fast, sometimes slow; sometimes towards one side, sometimes to another; at one time near the Earth, at another far from it. The Ancients did imagine I know not how many Circles, differently interwoven one with another; by which they fansy'd to themselves, they understood all the irregular Phænomena's, or Appearances in Nature. And the Confusion of these Circles was so great, that at that time, when men knew no better, a King of Arragon, a great Mathematician (not over devout) said, That if God had call'd him to his Council when he form'd the Universe, he could have given him good Advice. The thought was impious, yet 'tis odd to reflect, that the confusion of Ptolemy's System gave an occasion for the sin of that King: The good Advice he would have given, was, no doubt, for surpassing these different Circles, which had so embarrass'd the Celestial Motions; and, it may be also, with regard to the two or three superfluous Spheres, which they had plac'd above the fixed Stars. The Philosophers, to explain one kind of motion of the heavenly Bodies, did fansie a Sphere of Christal above that Heaven which we see, which set the inferior Heaven on motion; and if any one made a new discovery of any other Motion, they immediately made a new Sphere of Christal: in short, these Christalline Heavens cost them nothing. But why Spheres of Christal, said Madam la Marquiese? Would no other Substance serve? No, said I, Madam; for there was a necessity of their being transparent, that the Light might penetrate; as it was requisite for them to be solid Beams. Aristotle had found out, that Solidity was inherent in the Excellency of their Nature; and because he said it, no body would adventure to question the truth of it. But there have appear'd Comets, which we know to have been vastly higher from the Earth, than was believed by the Ancients: These, in their course, wou'd have broke all those Christal Spheres; and indeed, must have ruined the Universe: So that there was an absolute necessity to believe the Heavens to be made of a fluid substance; at least, 'tis not to be doubted, from the observation of this, and the last Age, that Venus and Mercury move round the Sun, and not round the Earth. So that the ancient System is not to be defended, as to this particular: But I will propose one to you, which solves all Objections, and which will put the King of Arragon out of a condition of advising; and which is so surprisingly simple and easie, that that good quality alone ought to make it preferrable to all others. Methinks, said Madam la Marquiese, that your Philosophy is a kind of Sale, or Farm, where those that offer to do the Affair at the smallest Expence, are preferr'd. 'Tis very true, said I; and 'tis only by that, that we are able to guess at the Scheme, upon which Nature hath fram'd her Work: She is very saving, and will take the shortest and cheapest way: Yet notwithstanding, this Frugality is accompany'd with a most surprising Magnificence, which shines in all she has done; but the Magnificence is in the Design, and the Oeconomy in the Execution: And indeed, there is nothing finer than a great Design, carried on with a little Expence. But we are very apt to overturn all these Operations of Nature, by contrary Idea's: We put Oeconomy in the Design, and Magnificence in the Execution: We give her a little Design, which we make her perform with ten times a greater Charge than is needful. I shall be very glad, said she, that this System, you are to speak of, will imitate Nature so exactly; for this good Husbandry will turn to the advantage of my Understanding, since by it I shall have less trouble to comprehend what you have to say. There is in this System no more unnecessary difficulties.
Know then, that a certain German, named Copernicus, does at one blow cut off all these different Circles, and Christalline Spheres, invented by the Ancients; destroying the one, and breaks the other in pieces; and being inspir'd with a Noble Astronomical Fury, takes the Earth, and hangs it at a vast distance from the Centre of the World, and sets the Sun in its place, to whom that Honour does more properly belong; the Planets do no longer turn round the Earth, nor do they any longer contain it in the Circle they describe; and if they enlighten us, it is by chance, and because they find us in their way: All things now turn round the Sun; among which, the Globe it self, to punish it for the long Rest, so falsly attributed to it before; and Copernicus has loaded the Earth with all those Motions, formerly attributed to the other Planets; having left this little Globe none of all the Celestial Train, save only the Moon, whose natural Course it is, to turn round the Earth. Soft and fair, said Madam la Marquiese; you are in so great a Rapture, and express your self with so much Pomp and Eloquence, I hardly understand what you mean: You place the Sun unmoveable in the Centre of the Universe; Pray, what follows next? Mercury, said I, who turns round the Sun; so that the Sun is in the Centre of the Circle he describes: And above Mercury, Venus; who turns also round the Sun: Next comes the Earth; which being more elivated than Mercury, or Venus, describes a Circle of a greater Circumference that those two Planets: Last, come Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, in their order, as I have nam'd 'em: So that you see easily, that Saturn ought to make the greatest Circle round the Sun; it is therefore that Saturn takes more time to make his Revolution, than any other Planet. Ah, but, said the Marquiese, interrupting me, you forget the Moon. Do not fear, said I, Madam; I shall soon find her again. The Moon turns round the Earth, and never leaves it; and as the Earth moves in the Circle it describes round the Sun, the Moon follows the Earth in turning round it; and if the Moon do move round the Sun, it is only because she will not abandon the Earth. I understand you, said she: I love the Moon for staying with us, when all the other Planets have left us; and you must confess, that your German Copernicus would have taken her from us too, had it been in his power; for I perceive by his procedure, he had no great kindness for the Earth. I am extreamly pleas'd with him, said I, for having humbled the Vanity of mankind, who had usurp'd the first and best Situation in the Universe; and I am glad to see the Earth under the same Circumstances with the other Planets. That's very fine, said the Marquiese: Do you believe that the Vanity of Man places it self in Astronomy; or that I am any way humbled, because you tell me the Earth turns round the Sun? I'll swear, I do not esteem my self one whit the less. Good Lord, Madam, said I, Do you think I can imagine you can be as zealous for a Precedency in the Universe, as you would be for that in a Chamber? No, Madam; the Rank of Place between two Planets will never make such a bustle in the World, as that of two Ambassadors: Nevertheless, the same inclination that makes us endeavour to have the first place in a Ceremony, prevails with a Philosopher in composing his System, to place himself in the Centre of the World, if he can: He is proud to fansie all things made for himself; and without reflexion, flatters his Senses with this Opinion, which consists purely in Speculation. Oh, said the Marquiese, this is a Calumny of your own invention against mankind, which ought never to have received Copernicus his Opinion, since so easie, and so humble. Copernicus, said I, Madam, himself was the most diffident of his own System; so that it was a long time before he would venture to publish it, and at last resolv'd to do it at the earnest intreaty of People of the first Quality. But do you know what he did, the Day they brought him the first printed Copy of his Book? That he might not be troubled to answer all the Objections and Contradictions he was sure to meet with, he wisely left the World, and died. Hold, said the Marquiese, we ought to do Justice to all the World; and 'tis most certain, 'tis very hard to believe we turn round, since we do not change places, and that we find our selves in the Morning, where we lay down the Night before. I see very well by your Looks, what 'tis you are going to say; That since the Earth moves all together — Most certainly, said I: 'Tis the same thing as if you were asleep in a Boat, sailing on a River, you would find your self in the same place in the Morning, and in the same Situation as to the several parts of the Boat. True, said she, but with this difference; I shou'd at my waking, find another Shoar; and that would convince me, my Boat had chang'd its Situation: But 'tis not the same with the Earth; for there I find every thing as I left it the Night before. Not at all, Madam, said I; the Earth changes the Shoar, as well as your Boat. You know, Madam, that above and beyond all the Circles, described by the Planets, is the Sphere of the fixed Stars; that's our Shoar: I am on the Earth, which makes a great Circle round the Sun; I look towards the Centre of this Circle, there I see the Sun; if the brightness of his Rays did not remove the Stars from my sight, by looking in a streight Line, I shou'd easily perceive the Sun corresponding to some fixed Star beyond him; but in the Night-time, I see clearly the Stars, to which the Sun did answer, or was opposite to, the Day before; which is, indeed, the same thing. If the Earth were immoveable, and did not alter its Situation in its own Circle, I shou'd always see the Sun opposite to the same fixed Stars; but I see the Sun in different Opposition to the Stars, every Day of the Year: It most necessarily follows then, the Circle changes its Situation, that is, the Shoar, round which we go daily: And as the Earth performs its Revolution in a Year, I see the Sun, in that space of time, answer in direct Opposition to a whole Circle of fixed Stars; this Circle is called the Zodiack: Will you please, Madam, that I trace the Figure of it on the Sand? By no means, said she; I can satisfie my self, without that Demonstration: Besides that, it would give a certain Mathematical Air to my Park, which I do not like. Have not I heard of a certain Philosopher, who being shipwreck'd, and cast upon an unknown Island; who seeing some Mathematical Propositions drawn on the Sea-sands, called to one of those with him, and cry'd, Courage, my Friend, here are the Foot-steps of Men; this Country is inhabited? You know, it is not decent in me to make such Foot-steps, nor must they be seen in this place. 'Tis fit, continued I, Madam, that nothing be seen here, but Steps of Lovers; that is to say, your Name and Cypher engraven on the Bark of Trees by the hand of your Adorers. Pray, Sir, said she, let Adorers alone, and let us speak of the Sun. I understand very well, how we imagine he describes that Circle, which, indeed, we our selves describe; but this requires a whole Year's time, when one wou'd think the Sun passes over our heads every day: How comes that to pass? Have you not observ'd, said I, that a Bowl thrown on the Earth, has two different Motions; it runs toward the Jack, to which it is thrown; and at the same time it turns over and over several times, before it comes that Length; so that you will see the Mark that is on the Bowl, sometimes above, and sometimes below: 'Tis just so with the Earth; in the time it advances on the Circle it makes round the Sun, in its yearly Course, it turns over once every four and twenty Hours, upon its own Axis; so that in that space of time, which is one natural Day, every point of the Earth (which is not near the South or North-Poles) loses and recovers the sight of the Sun: And as we turn towards the Sun, we imagine the Sun is rising upon us; so when we turn from it, we believe she is setting. This is very pleasant, said the Marquiese: You make the Circle to do all, and the Sun to stand idle; and when we see the Moon, Planets and fixed Stars turn round us in four and twenty Hours, all is but bare Imagination. Nothing else, said I, but pure Fancy, which proceeds from the same Cause; only the Planets make their Circle round the Sun, not in the same space of time, but according to their unequal distance from it; and that Planet which we see to day, look to a certain Point of the Zodiack, or Sphere of fixed Stars, we shall see it answer to every other Point to Morrow; y as well because that Planet moves on its Course, as that we proceed in ours: We move, and so do the other Planets: By this means we vary both Situation and Opposition, as to them, and we think we discover Irregularities in their Revolutions, which I will not now trouble you with; 'tis sufficient for you to know, that any thing that may appear to us to be irregular, in the Course of the Planets, is occasion'd by our own Motion meeting theirs in such different manners; but upon the whole the Course of the Planets, is most regular. I agree with all my heart, said the Marquiese; yet I wish with all my heart, that that Regularity were not so laborious to the Earth: I fansie Copernicus has not been very careful of its Concerns, in making so weighty and solid a Mass run about so nimbly. But, Madam, said I, wou'd you rather, that the Sun, and the Stars (which are generally far greater Bodies) shou'd make a vast Circumference round the Earth in a Day, and run an infinite number of Leagues in twenty four Hours time? Which they must of necessity do, if the Earth have not that Diurnal Motion on its own Axis. Oh! answered she, the Sun and Stars are all Fire, swiftness of Motion is easie to them; but for the Earth, that does not seem to be very portable. And wou'd you believe it, said I, Madam, if you had never seen the Experiment, that a First-Rate Ship, of a hundred and twenty Guns, with fifteen hundred Men, and proportionable Provision, with all her Ammunition and Tackle a-board, were a very portable thing? Notwithstanding, a gentle Breeze will move this Ship on the Sea, because the Water is liquid, and yielding easily, makes no resistance to the motion of the Vessel: So the Earth, notwithstanding of as vast bulk and weight, is easily mov'd in the Celestial Matter, which is a thousand times more fluid than the Water of the Sea; and which fills all that vast Extent, where the Planets swim, as it were: And to what wou'd you fix or grapple the Earth, to hinder it from being carry'd along with the Current of this Celestial Matter or Substance? It wou'd be just as if a little wooden Ball shou'd not follow the Current of a rapid River.
But, said she, how does the Earth support its vast weight, on your Heavenly Substance, which ought to be very light, since it is so fluid? That does not follow, answered I, Madam, that a thing must be light, because it is fluid: What say you to the First-Rate Ship, I spoke of, with all its Lading? Yet 'tis lighter than the Water, because it swims upon it. As long as you command your First-Rate Frigat, said she, angrily, I will not argue with you; but can you assure me, that I am in no danger, by inhabiting such a little Humming-Top, as you have made the World to be? Well, Madam, said I, the Earth shall be supported by four Elephants, as the Indians fansie it is. Here's a new System indeed, cry'd Madam la Marquiese; yet I love those Men, for providing for their own security, by resting upon a solid Foundation; whereas we that follow Copernicus, are so inconsiderate, as to swim at a venture upon your Celestial Matter: And I dare say, if these Indians thought the Earth in any danger of falling, they wou'd quickly double the number of their Elephants. They wou'd have all the reason in the World to do so, said I, Madam; (laughing at her fancy;) and wou'd not spare Elephants to sleep in quiet, without fear of falling: And, Madam, we will add as many as you please to our System for this Night, and take them away by degrees, as you get more Assurance. Really, said she, I do not think they are needful at present; for I feel I have Courage sufficient to turn round. You must go a step further, said I, and you shall turn round with delight; upon this System you will form to your self very pleasant and agreeable Idea's: As for Example; Sometimes I fansie I am hanging in the Air, and that I stay there without moving, while the Earth turns round under me in four and twenty Hours time, and that I see beneath me all those different Faces; some white, some black, some tawny, others of an Olive-colour; first I see Hats, then Turbants, there Hands cover'd with Wool, there shav'd Heads; sometimes Towns with Steeples, some with their long small-pointed Pyramids, and Half-moons on their tops; sometimes Towns with Porcelane Towers; after them, spacious Fields, without Towns, only Tents and Huts; here vast Seas, frightful Desarts; in short, all the Variety that is to be seen upon the Face of the Earth. Indeed, said she, such a sight wou'd be very well worth twenty four Hours of ones Time: So that by this System, through the same place where we now are (I do not mean this Park, but that space of Air which our Bodies fill) several other Nations must successively pass, and we return hither, in twenty four hours, to our own place again.
Copernicus himself, said I, Madam, did not understand it better. At first will be here the English, discoursing, it may be, upon some politick Design, with more Gravity, but less Pleasure, than we talk of our Philosophy: Next will come a vast Ocean, in which there will be sailing some Ships, perhaps not so much at their Ease as we are: Then will appear the Canibals, eating some Prisoners of War alive, they seeming very unconcern'd at what they suffer: After them, the Women of the Country of Jesso, who spend all their time in preparing their Husbands Meals, and in painting their Lips and Eye-brows with Blew, to please the ugliest Fellows in the World: Next will succeed the Tartars, who go, with great Devotion, on Pilgrimage to that great Priest, who never comes out of an obscure place, where he has no other Light but Lamps, by which they adore him: After them, the beautiful Circassian Women, who make no difficulty of granting any Favour to the first Comer, except what they essential know does belong to their Husbands: Then the Crim, or Little Tartars, who live by stealing of Wives for the Turks and Persians: And at last, our selves again, perhaps talking as we do now.
I am mightily taken, said the Marquiese, with the Fancy of what you say; but if I cou'd see all these things from above, I wou'd wish to have the power to hasten and stop the Motion of the Earth, according as I lik'd or dis-lik'd the several Objects that pass under me; I wou'd make the Polititians, and those that eat their Enemies, to move very fast: But there are others that I shou'd be very curious to observe; and particularly, the fine Cercassian Women, who have one so peculiar a Custom. That is, said I, their Husbands, who finding so many Charms in their Embraces, as more than satisfie them, do freely abandon their fair Wives to Strangers. The Women of our Country, said the Marquiese, must be very ugly, if compar'd to the Circassians; for our Husbands will part with nothing. That is the reason, said I, that the more is taken from 'em; whereas — No more of these Fooleries, said the Marquiese, interrupting me; there's a serious Difficulty come into my head: If the Earth turn round, then we change Air every Moment, and must breath still that of another Country. By no means, Madam, said I; the Air which encompasses the Earth extends it self to a certain heighth, it may be, about twenty Leagues, and turns round with us. You have, no doubt, seen a thousand times the business of the Silk-worm, where the Balls which these little Creatures do work with so much Art, for their own Imprisonment, are compact, and wrought together with Silk, which is very closely join'd; but they are cover'd with a kind of Down, that is very light and soft: Thus it is, that the Earth, which is very solid, is wrapp'd in a Covering of soft Down of twenty Leagues thickness, which is the Air that is carried round at the same time with it: Above the Air is that Celestial Matter I spoke of, incomparably more pure, more subtile, and more agitated than the Air.
You represent the Earth to me, said the Marquiese, as a very contemptible thing, by the despicable Idea's you give me of it: 'Tis, nevertheless, upon this Silk-Worm-Ball, there are perform'd such mighty Works; and where there are such terrible Wars, and such strange Commotions as reign every where. 'Tis certainly true, said I, Madam; while at the same time, Nature, who is not at the pains to consider these Troubles and Commotions, carries us all along together, by a general Motion, and does, as it were, play with this little Globe. It seems to me, said she, that 'tis very ridiculous to inhabit any thing that turns so often, and is so much agitated; and the worst of all is, that we are not assur'd whether we turn round, or not; for, to be plain with you, and that I may keep none of my Doubts from you, I do extreamly suspect, that all the Pre-cautions you can take, will not convince me of the Motion of the Earth: For is it possible, but Nature wou'd have taken care to have given us some sensible Sign, by which we might discover the turning round of so vast a Body? The Motions (answer'd I) which are most natural to remove, are the least perceptible; and which holds true, even in Morality; for the Motion of Self-love is so natural to us, that for the most part we do not feel it, while we believe we act by other Principles. Ah, said she, do you begin to speak of Moral Philosophy, when the Question is of that which is altogether natural? But I perceive you are sleepy, and begin to yawn; let us therefore retire, for there's enough said for the first Night, to morrow we shall return hither again; you with your Systems, and I with my Ignorance. In returning to the Castle, to make an end of what might be said to Systems, I told her, there was a third Opinion invented by Ticho-brahe, who wou'd have the Earth absolutely immoveable, and plac'd in the Centre of the Universe, and made the Sun to turn round it, as he did the other Planets to turn round the Sun; because, since the new Discoveries, it cou'd not be imagin'd that the other Planets turn'd round the Earth. But my Lady Marquiese, whose Judgment and Understanding is solid and penetrating, found, there was too much Affectation in endeavouring to free the Earth from turning round the Sun, since several other great Bodies cou'd not be exempt from that Labour; and that the Sun was not so proper and fit to turn round the Earth, since the other Planets turn round the Sun; and that this new System was only good to maintain the standing still of the Earth, if one had a mind to undertake that Argument; but 'tis not proper to perswade another to believe it. At last, we resolv'd to hold our selves to the Opinion of Copernicus, which is more uniform, and more agreeable, without the least mixture of Prejudice; and, indeed, its Simplicity and Easiness perswades as much as its Boldness pleases.