of their Motions sometimes they see 'em over their Heads directly above one another at other times they see 'em appear above their Horzion at equal distances at another time two of the four are rising when the other two are setting but above all I shou'd be pleas'd to see their constant Eclipsing one another or the Sun for there passes no Day without one of the two and since Eclipses are so familiar to that World they must certainly be a Divertisement to them whereas they frighten the Inhabitants of our Earth And you will not fail I hope says the Marquiese to bestow Inhabitants upon these four Moons though they be little inferior Planets and only made to enlighten the Inhabitants of a greater during their long Nights You need not doubt of it said I Madam these four Planets are no less deserving of Inhabitants because they are so unhappy as to be subject to and turn round a more important Planet I wou'd says the Marquiese have the Inhabitants of these four Moons to be Colonies of Iupiter and receive their Laws and Manners from thence and pay Homage and Respect to Iupiter and not to look upon that great Planet but with Veneration And wou'd you not also said I have these four Moons to send Ambassadors from time to time to the Inhabitants of Iupiter and swear Fealty to him For my part we having no Authority over the Inhabitants of our Moon makes me think that Iupiter has no more over the Inhabitants of his four and I believe one of the Advantages he has most reason to brag of is that he frightens ' em For Example The Inhabitants of that Moon next to Iupiter see him three hundred and sixty times bigger than our one Moon appeareth to us And as I believe that little Moon to be much nearer to Iupiter than Ours is so his greatness must be by that considerably augmented and they must constantly see that monstrous Planet hanging over their Heads at a very small distance And if it be true that the Gauls of old apprehended the falling of the Heavens The Inhabitants of that Moon have more Reason to fear the falling of Iupiter It may be said she they have that fright instead of that of the Eclipses which you told me they are free from and which must be supply'd by some other piece of Folly. It must be so infallibly said I Madam for the great inventer of the third System of which I spoke to you the other Day the Ticho-Brahe one of the greatest Astronomers that ever liv'd was far from fearing Eclipses as the Vulgar do but instead of that he fear'd if the first he met as he went out of his House in the Morning were old or if a Hare happen'd to cross his way he instantly return'd home shut himself up and did believe that day to be unlucky nor wou'd he dare to attempt Business of the smallest Consequence It is not just said the Marquiese that since that great Man was not free from the Fear of Eclipses for nothing that the Inhabitants of that little Moon shou'd come off at an easier rate Let us give 'em no Quarter but force 'em to submit to the common Law of Nature and oblige 'em to yield to some other Folly. But since I will not trouble my self to guess at this time what that may be pray solve me one difficulty which my Fancy has just now suggested if the Earth be so little in respect of Iupiter does the Inhabitants of Iupiter see our Earth I am afraid we are altogether unknown to ' em Really I believe it to be so said I for the Inhabitants of Iupiter must see the Earth ninety times less than Iupiter appears to us which is too small to be perceiv'd by them and all we can imagine for our advantage is to suppose that there are Astronomers in Iupiter who after having taken a great deal of Pains and fitting excellent Telescopes and having chosen a very clear Night for making the Observation they at last discover in the Heavens a little Planet they had never seen before and streight they set it down in the Philosophical Transactions of that Country The rest of the Inhabitants of Iupiter either never hear of it or laugh at it if they do the Philosophers themselves whose Opinion that discovery destroys resolve not to believe it and there are but some very rational People that will trouble themselves with the thoughts of it These Astronomers make new Observations they again look upon this little Planet and they begin to be assur'd that it is no Fancy but a real thing then they begin to conclude this little Planet has a Motion round the Sun and after a thousand Observations they at last find out that this Motion or Revolution is performed in a Years time So that thanks to these learned Men the Inhabitants of Iupiter know our Earth is a Planet and a World The Curious are earnest to look on it through a Telescope tho 't is so little 't is hardly discoverable If it were not said the Marquiese very disagreeable for me to believe that our Earth is not to be perceiv'd by the Inhabitants of Iupiter but by the help of a Telescope I shou'd find an Infinite Pleasure in imagining I shou'd see those Telescopes pointing towards us and ours from a mutual Curiosity are levell'd at them whil'st those two Planets gravely considering one another the Inhabitants of both ask at one and the same time What World is that What People are those Don't go so fast Madam said I suppose the Inhabitants of Iupiter cou'd see our Earth yet they cou'd never see us or so much as suspect our Earth to be inhabited or if any Body were Fool enough to imagine it God knows how he wou'd be laugh'd at and ridicul'd by the rest of the Inhabitants And it may be we are the Cause that some Philosophers in that World have been sued and persecuted for this Opinion However I believe that the Inhabitants of Iupiter are employed enough in the discovery of their own Planet without troubling themselves with the thoughts of us And had Christopher Columbus been of that Country and understanding Navigation so well he cou'd not have wanted employment And the People of that World know not the hundredth part of its own Inhabitants whereas in Mercury which is a very little Planet they are all Neighbours one to another and converse familiarly together and they esteem it as but a Walk to go round their little World and if the Inhabitants of Iupiter do not see us you may easily judge they can far less perceive Venus and Mercury both which are more diminutive Worlds and further distant from it than we But in lieu of this they see Mars and there are four Moons and Saturn with the five that belong to him There are Planets enough to perplex all the Astronomers there And Nature has had the goodness to hide from 'em what remains of the Universe
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 'T is 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 't is 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 't is 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 The Second Night AS soon as one could get into my Lady Marquiese's Apartment I sent to know how she did and how she had slept that Night in turning round She sent me word that now she was pretty well accustom'd to the Motion of the Earth and that Copernicus himself cou'd not have rested better that Night than she did A little after this there came Company to visit my Lady which according to the nauseous Country-fashion stay'd till the Evening and yet we thought our selves happy that we were so easily rid of 'em then since according to the custom of the Country they might have prolong'd their Visit till the next Day but they were so civil as not to do it so that Madam the Marquiese and I found our selves at liberty In the Evening we went again to the Park and the Conversation began as it ended before of our System My Lady Marquiese had comprehended 'em so well that she wou'd not be at the pains to re-assume any thing of what had pass'd but press'd me to lead her to something that was new Well said I since the Sun which is now immoveable and no longer a Planet and that the Earth that moves round the Sun is now one be not surpriz'd if I tell you the Moon is another Earth and is by all appearance inhabited Said she I never heard of the Moon 's being inhabited but as a Fable So it may be still said I I concern my self no further in these Matters than Men use to do in Civil Wars where the Uncertainty of what may be makes People still entertain a Correspondence with the adverse Party As for me tho' I see the Moon inhabited I live very civilly with those that do not believe it and I carry my self so trimmingly that I may upon occasion with Honour go over to their side who have the better but still they gain some considerable Advantage over us I 'll tell you my Reasons that make me take part with the Inhabitants of the Moon Suppose then there had never been any Commerce between Paris and St. Denis and that a Citizen of Paris who had never been out of that City shou'd go up to the top of the Steeple of our Lady and shou'd view St. Denis at a distance and one shou'd ask him if he believ'd St. Denis to be inhabited he wou'd answer boldly Not at all for he wou'd say I see the Inhabitants of Paris but I do not see those of St. Denis nor ever heard of ' em It may be some body standing by wou'd represent to him That it was true one cou'd not see the Inhabitants of St. Denis from our Lady's Church but that the distance was the cause of it yet that all we cou'd see of St. Denis was very like to Paris for St. Denis had Steeples Houses and Walls and that it might resemble Paris in every thing else and be inhabited as well as it All these Arguments wou'd not prevail upon my Citizen who wou'd continue still obstinate in maintaining that St. Denis was not inhabited because he saw none of the People The Moon is our St. Denis and we the Citizens of Paris that never went out of our own Town Ah interrupted the Marquiese you do us wrong we are not so foolish as your Citizens of Paris Since he sees that St. Denis is so like to Paris in every thing he must have lost his Reason if he did not think it was inhabited But for the Moon that 's nothing like the Earth Have a care Madam said I what you say for if I make it appear that the Moon is in every thing like the Earth you are oblig'd to believe that the Moon is inhabited I acknowledge said she if you do that I must yield and your Looks are so assur'd that you frighten me already The two different Motions of the Earth which wou'd never have enter'd into my Thoughts make me very apprehensive of all you say But is it possible that the Earth can be an enlighten'd Body as the Moon is For to resemble it it must be so Alas Madam said I to be enlightned is not so
the half of the Moon which is enlightned is turn'd towards the Sun and the obscure part towards the Earth 't is no wonder then that we cannot see that half which is dark but that same half of the Moon which is in Darkness being turn'd towards the enlightned half of the Earth the Inhabitants see us without being seen and the Earth appears to them as their Full-Moon does to us and so if one may use the Expression 't is with them Full-Earth After this the Moon going on in her Monthly Circle dis-engages her self from the Sun and begins to turn towards us a part of her enlightned half which is the Crescent at the very same time the darkned half of the Moon loses some share of the enlightned part of the Earth and then the Earth is in the Wain as to its Inhabitants Say no more said the Marquiese briskly I shall know all the rest when I please I need only think a little and follow the Moon in her Monthly Circle I see in general that the Inhabitants of the Moon have their Month the exact Reverse of ours and I am perswaded when 't is Full-Moon the enlightned half of it is turn'd towards the obscure part of the Earth and then they do not see us but a certain new Earth I wou'd not have any Body reproach me with the want of so much Sence as that you need explain so easie a thing to me But as to the Eclipses What is the Cause of them If you do not understand that said I 't is your own fault When 't is New Moon and that she is between the Sun and the Earth and that all her obscure half is turn'd towards us who then enjoy the Day you may see easily that the Shadow of this darkned half is cast upon the Earth if the Moon be directly under the Sun this Shadow hides the Sun from us and at the same time darkens a part of the enlightned half of the Earth which was seen by the Inhabitants of the obscure half of the Moon And this is an Eclipse of the Sun to us in our Day and an Eclipse of the Earth to those in the Moon in their Night When the Moon is at the Full the Earth is betwixt her and the Sun and all the obscure part of the Earth is turn'd towards the enlightned half of the Moon the Shadow of the Earth is then cast upon the Moon and if it falls directly on her Surface it obscures the enlightned half which we see and hides the Sun from that enlightned part of the Moon that enjoy'd the Day This is an Eclipse of the Moon to us during our Night and an Eclipse of the Sun to them during their Day By this Reason it falls out that there are not always Eclipses when the Moon interposes between the Sun and the Earth or the Earth is interjected between the Sun and the Moon because these three Bodies are not opposite one to another in a streight Line and by consequence that of the three which ought to make the Eclipse casts its shadow a little to one side of that which shou'd be eclips'd I am extreamly surpriz'd said the Marquiese that since there is so little of Mystery or Difficulty in Eclipses every body does not find out the Cause of ' em Do not wonder at that said I Madam there are many Nations in the World that as they go to work will not find it out for Ages to come for all over the East-India's the Inhabitants believe that when the Sun or Moon is eclips'd certain Demons or Spirits who have very black Claws do stretch them forth upon these two Luminaries which he endeavours to sieze and during the time of the Eclipse you may see all the Rivers cover'd with Heads of Indians for they go into the Water up to the Neck thinking that most devout posture for obtaining from the Sun and Moon a defence against that Demon. In America the People were perswaded that the Sun and Moon were angry with 'em when they were eclips'd and God knows what pains they are at to make their Peace with ' em But the Grecians who were so polite a People Did not they believe for a long time that the Moon was bewitch'd and that the Magicians made her come down to throw a certain poisonous Scum or Dew upon the Herbs and Grass And even we our selves Were we not frightned out of our Wits at an Eclipse of the Sun that happen'd about thirty Years since Did not a great many People shut themselves up in Vaults and Cellars And did not the learned Men write in vain to assure us there was no danger Certainly said the Marquiese that 's very disgraceful to Mankind and I think there ought to be a Law made by universal Consent never to speak of Eclipses hereafter lest the memory of such Folly shou'd be preserv'd to Posterity Pray Madam said I let there be another Law made for abolishing the Memory of all things past for I know of nothing that is not a Monument of the Folly of Mankind Pray tell me said the Marquiese Are the Inhabitants of the Moon as much afraid of Eclipses as we are It seems to me very ridiculous that some of 'em shou'd run into the Water up to the Neck that others shou'd think our Earth angry with 'em some that our Earth shou'd be bewitch'd and that we are coming to spoil their Grass Without all doubt said I Madam Why shou'd the Inhabitants of the Moon have more Sense than we And what Right have they to frighten us more than we have to frighten them Nay more I am apt to believe that as there has been and still are many Inhabitants in our Globe who are such Fools to adore the Moon there are also Inhabitants in the Moon foolish enough to adore our Earth At that rate said the Marquiese we may very well pretend to send Influences to the Moon and to give a Judgment on their Distempers But since there is only requisite a little more Wit and Ingenuity in the Inhabitants of that Country to blast the Honour we flatter our selves with I confess I am still apprehensive they may have some Advantage over us Do not fear said I there is no likelihood that we are the only Fools of the Universe Ignorance is naturally a very general Talent and though I do but guess at that of the Inhabitants of the Moon yet I no more doubt of it than I do of the most certain News we have from thence And what pray are these certain News you have from thence interrupted she They are said I Madam such as are brought us every Day by the Learned who travel daily thither by the help of long Telescopes They tell us they have discover'd vast Countries Seas Lakes high Mountains and deep Valleys You surprize me said the Marquiese I know very well that Mountains and Valleys may be discover'd in the Moon by the remarkable Inequality we see
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 't is most certain 't is 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 't is you are going to say That since the Earth moves all together Most certainly said I 'T is 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 't is 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 shoud 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 'T is 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 'T is 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 't is 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