Part 3

When I juſt now mentioned the Stature of the Planetary Inhabitants, I hinted that ’twas improbable they ſhould be leſs than we are. For it’s likely, that as our Bodies are made in ſuch a proportion to our Earth, as to render us capable of travelling about it, and making Obſervations upon its Bulk and Figure, the ſame Order is obſerv’d in the Inhabitants of the other Planets, unleſs in this Particular alſo, which is very conſiderable, we would prefer our ſelves to all others. Then ſeeing we have before allow’d them Aſtronomy and Obſervations, we muſt give them Bodies and Strength ſufficient for the ruling their Inſtruments, and the erecting their Tubes and Engines. And for this the larger they are the better. For if we ſhould ſuppoſe them Dwarfs not above the Bigneſs of Rats or Mice, they could neither make ſuch Obſervations as are requiſite; nor ſuch Inſtruments as are neceſſary to thoſe Obſervations. Therefore we muſt ſuppoſe them larger than, or at leaſt equal to, our ſelves, eſpecially in Jupiter and Saturn, which are ſo vaſtly bigger than the Planet which we inhabit.

Aſtronomy, we ſaid before, could never ſubſiſt without the writing down the Obſervations: Nor could the Art of Writing (any more than the Arts of Carpenters and Founders) ever be found out except in a Society of reaſonable Creatures, where the Neceſſities of Life forc’d them upon Invention: So that it follows from hence, (as was before ſaid) that the Planetary Inhabitants muſt in this be like us, that they maintain a Society and Fellowſhip with, and afford mutual Aſſiſtances and Helps to one another. Hereupon we muſt allow them a ſettled, not a wandring Scythian way of living, as more convenient for Men in ſuch Circumſtances. But what follows from hence? Muſt they not have every thing elſe proper for ſuch a manner of living granted them too? Muſt they not have their Governours, Houſes, Cities, Trade and Bartering? Why ſhould they not, when even the barbarous People of America and other Places were at their firſt Diſcovery found to have ſomewhat of that nature in uſe among them. I don’t ſay, that Things muſt be the ſame there as they are here. We have many that may very well be ſpared among rational Creatures, and were deſign’d only for the preſervation of Society from all Injury, and for the curbing of thoſe Men who make an ill uſe of their Reaſon to the Detriment of others. Perhaps in the Planets they have ſuch plenty and affluence of all good Things, as they neither need or deſire to ſteal from one another; perhaps they may be ſo juſt and good as to be at perpetual Peace, and never to lie in wait for, or take away the Life of their Neighbour: perhaps they may not know what Anger or Hatred are; and if ſo, they muſt be much happier than we. But it’s more likely they have ſuch a mixture of Good with Bad, of Wiſe with Fools, of War with Peace, and want not that School-miſtreſs of Arts Poverty. For, as was before ſhown, ſome good uſe may be made of theſe things, but if not, there is no Reaſon why we ſhould prefer their Condition to our own.

What I am now going to ſay may ſeem ſomewhat more bold, and yet is not leſs likely than the former. For if theſe Nations in the Planets live in Society, as I have pretty well ſhow’d they do, ’tis ſomewhat more than probable that they enjoy not only the Profit, but the Pleaſures ariſing from Society: ſuch as Converſation, Amours, Jeſting, and Shews. Otherwiſe we ſhould make them live without Diverſion or Merriment; we ſhould deprive them of the great Sweetneſs of Life, which it can’t well be without, and give our ſelves ſuch an Advantage over them as Reaſon will by no means admit of.

But to proceed to a farther Enquiry into their Buſineſs and Employment, let’s conſider what we have not yet mention’d, wherein they may bear any Likeneſs to us. And firſt we have good Reaſon to believe they build themſelves Houſes, becauſe we are ſure they are not without their Showers. For in Jupiter have been obſerved Clouds, big no doubt with Vapours and Water, which hath been proved by many other Arguments, not to be wanting in that Planet. They have Rain then, for otherwiſe how could all the Vapours drawn up by the Heat of the Sun be diſpoſed of? And Winds, for they are cauſed only by Vapours diſſolved by Heat, and it’s plain that they blow in Jupiter by the continual Motion and Variety of the [They have Houſes to ſecure ’em from Weather.] Clouds about him. To protect themſelves from theſe, and that they may paſs their Nights in Quiet and Safety, they muſt build themſelves Tents or Huts, or live in Holes of the Earth. But why may we not ſuppoſe the Planetary Inhabitants to be as good Architects, have as noble Houſes, and as ſtately Palaces as our ſelves? Unleſs we think that every Thing which belongs to our ſelves is the moſt beautiful and perfect that can be. And who are we, but a few that live in a little Corner of the World, upon a Ball ten Thouſand times leſs than Jupiter or Saturn? And yet we muſt be the only skilful People at Building; and all others muſt be our Inferiours in the Knowledge of uniform Symetry; and not be able to raiſe Towers and Pyramids as high, magnificent, and beautiful, as our ſelves. For my part, I ſee no reaſon why they may not be as great Maſters as we are, and have the Uſe of all thoſe Arts ſubſervient to it, as Stone-cutting and Brick-making, and whatſoever elſe is neceſſary for it, as Iron, Lead and Glaſs; or ornamental to it, as Gilding and Picture.

If their Globe is divided like ours, into Sea and Land, as it’s evident it is (elſe whence could all thoſe Vapours in Jupiter proceed?) we have great Reaſon to allow them the Art of Navigation, and not vainly ingroſs ſo great, ſo uſeful a Thing to our ſelves. Eſpecially conſidering the great Advantages Jupiter and Saturn have for Sailing, in having ſo many Moons to direct their Courſe, by whoſe Guidance they may attain eaſily to the Knowledge that we are not Maſters of, of the Longitude of Places. And what a Multitude of other Things follow from this Allowance? If they have Ships, they muſt have Sails and Anchors, Ropes, Pullies, and Rudders, which are of particular Uſe in directing a Ship’s Courſe againſt the Wind, and in ſailing different Ways with the ſame Gale. And perhaps they may not be without the Uſe of the Compaſs too, for the magnetical Matter, which continually paſſes thro’ the Pores of our Earth, is of ſuch a Nature, that it’s very probable the Planets have ſomething like [They have Navigation, and all Arts ſubſervient.] it. But there’s no doubt but that they muſt have the Mechanical Arts and Aſtronomy, without which Navigation can no more ſubſiſt, than they can without Geometry.

But Geometry ſtands in no need of being prov’d after this manner. Nor doth it want Aſſiſtance from other Arts which depend upon it, but we may have a nearer and ſhorter Aſſurance of their not being without it in thoſe Earths. For that Science is of ſuch ſingular Worth and Dignity, ſo peculiarly imploys the Underſtanding, and gives it ſuch a full Comprehenſion and infallible [As Geometry.] certainty of Truth, as no other Knowledge can pretend to: it is moreover of ſuch a Nature, that its Principles and Foundations muſt be ſo immutably the ſame in all Times and Places, that we cannot without Injuſtice pretend to monopolize it, and rob the reſt of the Univerſe of ſuch an incomparable Study. Nay Nature it ſelf invites us to be Geometricians; it preſents us with Geometrical Figures, with Circles and Squares, with Triangles, Polygones, and Spheres, and propoſes them as it were to our Conſideration and Study, which abſtracting from its Uſefulneſs, is moſt delightful and raviſhing. Who can read Euclid, or Apollonius, about the Circle, without Admiration? Or Archimedes of the Surface of the Sphere, and Quadrature of the Parabola without Amazement? or conſider the late ingenious Diſcoveries of the Moderns with Boldneſs and Unconcernedneſs? And all theſe Truths are as naked and open, and depend upon the ſame plain Principles and Axioms in Jupiter and Saturn as here, which makes it not improbable that there are in the Planets ſome who partake with us in theſe delightful and pleaſant Studies. But what’s the greateſt Argument with me, that there are ſuch, is their Uſe, I had almoſt ſaid Neceſſity, in moſt Affairs of humane Life. Now we are got thus far, what if we ſhould venture ſomewhat farther, and ſay, that they have our Inventions of the Tables of Sines, of Logarithms, and Algebra? I know it would ſound very odd, and perhaps a little ridiculous, and yet there’s no reaſon but the thinking our ſelves better than all the World, to hinder them from being as happy in their Diſcoveries, and as ingenious in their Inventions as we our ſelves are.

It’s the ſame with Muſick as with Geometry, it’s every where immutably the ſame, and always will be ſo. For all Harmony conſiſts in Concord, and Concord is all the World over fix’d according to the ſame invariable Meaſure and Proportion. So that in all Nations the Difference and Diſtance of Notes is the ſame, whether they be in a continued gradual Progreſſion, or the Voice makes skips over one to the next. Nay very credible Authors report, that there’s a ſort of Bird in America, that can plainly ſing in order ſix muſical Notes: Whence it follows, that the Laws of Muſick are unchangeably fix’d by Nature, and therefore the ſame Reaſon holds for their Muſick, as we e’en now ſhewed for their Geometry. For why, ſuppoſing other Nations and Creatures, endued with Reaſon and Senſe as well as we, ſhould not they reap the Pleaſures ariſing from theſe Senſes as well as we too? I don’t know what Effect this Argument, from the immutable Nature of theſe Arts, may have upon the Minds of others; I think it no inconſiderable or contemptible one, but of as great Strength as that which I made uſe of above to prove that the Planetary Inhabitants had the Senſe of Seeing.

But if they take delight in Harmony, there is no doubt but that they have invented Muſical Inſtruments. For they could ſcarce help lighting upon ſome or other by chance; the Sound of a tight String, the Noiſe of the Winds, or the whiſtling of Reeds, might have given them the hint. From theſe ſmall Beginnings they perhaps, as well as we, have advanced by degrees to the Uſe of the Lute, Harp, Flute, and many ſtring’d Inſtruments. But altho’ the Tones are certain and determinate, yet we find among different Nations a quite different manner and rule for Singing; as formerly among the Dorians, Phrygians, and Lydians, and in our Time among the French, Italians, and Perſians. In like manner it may ſo happen, that the Muſick of the Inhabitants of the Planets may widely differ from all theſe, and yet be very good. But why we ſhould look upon their Muſick to be worſe than ours, there’s no reaſon can be given; neither can we well preſume that they want the Uſe of Halſ-Notes and Quarter-Notes, ſeeing the Invention of Halſ-Notes is ſo obvious, and the Uſe of them ſo agreeable to Nature. Nay, to go a Step farther, what if they ſhould excel us in the Theory and practick part of Muſick, and outdo us in Conſorts of vocal and inſtrumental Muſick, ſo artificially compos’d, that they ſhew their Skill by the Mixtures of Diſcords and Concords? and of this laſt ſort ’tis very likely the 5th and 3d are in uſe with them.

This is a very bold Aſſertion, but it may be true for ought we know, and the Inhabitants of the Planets may poſſibly have a greater inſight into the Theory of Muſick than has yet been diſcover’d among us. For if you ask any of our Muſicians, why two or more perfect Fifths cannot be uſed regularly in Compoſition; ſome ſay ’tis to avoid that Sweetneſs and Luſhiouſneſs which ariſes from the Repetition of this pleaſing Chord. Others ſay, this muſt be avoided for the ſake of that Variety of Chords that are requiſite to make a good Compoſition; and theſe Reaſons are brought by Cartes and others. But an Inhabitant of Jupiter or Venus will perhaps give you a better Reaſon for this, viz. becauſe when you paſs from one perfect Fifth to another, there is ſuch a Change made as immediately alters your Key, you are got into a new Key before the Ear is prepared for it, and the more perfect Chords you uſe of the ſame kind in Conſecution, by ſo much the more you offend the Ear by theſe abrupt Changes.

Again, one of theſe Inhabitants perhaps can ſhow how it comes about, that in a Song of one or more Parts, the Key cannot be kept ſo well in the ſame agreeable Tenour, unleſs the intermediate Cloſes and Intervals be ſo temper’d, as to vary from their uſual Proportions, and thereby to bear a little this way or that, in order to regulate the Scale. And why this Temperature is beſt in the Syſtem of the Strings, when out of the Fifth the fourth Part of a Comma is uſually cut off; This ſame thing I have formerly ſhew’d at large.

But for the regulating the Tone of the Voice (as I before hinted) that may admit of a more eaſy proof, and we ſhall give you an Eſſay of it, ſince I have mentioned a thing that is not mere Imagination only: I ſay therefore, if any Perſon ſtrike thoſe Sounds which the Muſicians diſtinguiſh by theſe Letters, C, F, D, G, C, by theſe agreeable Intervals, altogether perfect, interchangeable, aſcending and deſcending with the Voice: Now this latter ſound C will be one Comma, or very ſmall portion lower than the firſt ſounding of C. Becauſe of theſe perfect Intervals, which are as 4 to 3, 5 to 6, 4 to 3, 2 to 3, an account is made in ſuch a Proportion, as 160 to 162. that is, as 80 to 81, which is what they call a Comma. So that if the ſame Sound ſhould be repeated nine times, the Voice would fall near the Matter a greater Tone, whoſe proportion is as 8 to 9. But this the Senſe of the Ears by no means endures, but remembers the firſt Tone, and returns to it again. Therefore we are compell’d to uſe an occult Temperament, and to ſing theſe imperfect Intervals, from doing which leſs Offence ariſes. And for the moſt part, all Singing wants this Temperament, as may be collected by the aforeſaid Computations. And theſe things we have offer’d to thoſe that have ſome Knowledge in Geometry.

We have ſpoke of theſe Arts and Inventions, which it is very probable the Inhabitants of the Planets partake of in common with us, beſides which it ſeems requiſite to take in many other Things that ſerve either for the Uſe or Pleaſure of their Lives. But what theſe Things are we ſhall the better account for, by laying before us many of thoſe Things which are found among us. I have before mention’d the Variety of Animals and Vegetables, which very much differ from each other, among which there are ſome that differ but little; and I have ſaid, that there are no leſs differences in theſe Things in the Planetary Worlds.

I ſhall now take a ſhort view of the Benefits we receive both from thoſe Herbs and Animals, and ſee whether we may not with very good reaſon conclude that the Planetary Inhabitants reap as great and as many from thoſe that their Countries afford them.

And here it may be worth our while to take a Review of the Variety and Multitude of our Riches. For Trees and Herbs do not only ſerve us for Food, they in their delicious Fruits, theſe in their Seeds, Leaves and Roots; but Herbs moreover furniſh us with Phyſick, and Trees with Timber for our Houſes and Ships. Flax, by the means of thoſe two uſeful Arts of Spinning and Weaving, affords us Clothing. Of Hemp or Matweed we twiſt our ſelves Thread and ſmall Ropes, the former of which we employ in Sails and Nets, the latter in making larger Ropes for Maſts and Anchors. With the ſweet Smells and [The Advantages we reap from Herbs and Animals.] beauteous Colours of Flowers we feaſt our Senſes: and even thoſe of them, that offend our Noſtrils, or are miſchievous to our Bodies, are ſeldom without excellent Uſes: or were made perhaps by Nature as a Foil to ſet off, and make us the more value the Good by comparing them with theſe. What vaſt Advantages and Profit do we reap from the Animals? The Sheep give us Clothing, and the Cows afford us Milk: and both of them their Fleſh for our Suſtenance. Aſſes, Camels, and Horſes do, what if we wanted them we muſt do our 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 ſuppoſe the Planets to 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 allowed 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. But it is a ſurpriſing thing! that a rational Creature ſhould live upon the Ruin and Deſtruction of ſuch a number of other his Fellow-Creatures! And yet it does not ſeem at all unnatural, 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 filled 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 likewiſe contribute much 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? [And from Metals.] What Skill and Nicety in beating, drawing or diſſolving Gold, 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 have no other Arms but Bows, Clubs, and Spears, made of Wood. There’s one Thing indeed we have, which it’s a Queſtion whether it has done more harm or good, and that is Gun-powder made of Nitre and Brimſtone. At firſt indeed it ſeem’d as if we had got a more ſecure Defenſe 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 been no ſmall Occaſion of the Decay of Valour, 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 lays every Thing, Caſtles and Towers, be they never ſo ſtrong, even with the Ground. If for nothing elſe, yet upon this one account, I think we had better have been 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 ſerves us; both of which helps us in our Navigation, and furniſhes us with a Strength ſufficient, without any Labour 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 Oil; 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 Knowledge, 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 improved to that Excellence, that nothing that ever ſprung from the Wit of Man can claim Pre-eminence to them. Nor is the way of melting and blowing Glaſſes, and of poliſhing and ſpreading Quick-ſilver over Looking-Glaſſes, unworthy of being mentioned, nor above all, the admirable uſes that Glaſſes have been put to in natural Knowledge, 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 Inventions.

I might add much here of the late Diſcoveries, moſt of them of this Age, which have been made in all ſorts of Natural Knowledge as well as in Geometry and Aſtronomy, as of the Weight and Spring of the Air, of the Chymical Experiments that have ſhown us a way of making Liquors that ſhall ſhine in the Dark, and with gentle moving ſhall burn of themſelves. I might mention 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 performed 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 ſurpriſing thing, and never before now known!

Thus have I put together all theſe late Diſcoveries of our Earth: and now, tho’ perhaps ſome of them may be common to the Planetary Inhabitants with us, yet that they ſhould have all of them is not credible. But then they may 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: Wherefore if a Man could be carried thither by ſome powerful Genius, ſome Mercury, I don’t doubt ’twould be a very curious ſight, curious beyond all Imagination, to ſee the odd ways, and the unuſual manner of their ſetting about any thing, and their ſtrange methods of living. But ſince there’s no hopes of our going ſuch a Journey, we muſt be contented with what’s in our Power: we may ſuppoſe our ſelves there, and inquire as far as we can into the Aſtronomy of each Planet, and ſee in what manner the Heavens preſent themſelves to their Inhabitants. We ſhall make ſome Obſervations of the Eminence of each of them, in reſpect of their Magnitude, and number of Moons they have to wait on them; and ſhall propoſe a new Method of coming to ſome Knowledge of the incredible diſtance of the ſix’d Stars. But firſt after this long and deep Thoughtfulneſs we will give our ſelves a little Reſt, and ſo put an end to this Book.

New Conjectures concerning the Planetary Worlds.

BOOK the Second.

’Twas a pretty many Years ago that I chanc’d to light upon Athanaſius Kircher’s Book, call’d The Ecſtatick Journey, which treats of the nature of the Stars, and of the Things that are to be found in the Superficies of the Planets: I wondered to ſee nothing there of what I had often thought not improbable, but quite other Things, nothing but a Heap of idle unreaſonable Stuff: which I was the more confirm’d in, when, after the writing of the former part, I ran over the Book again. And I thought mine were very conſiderable and weighty Matters if compar’d with Kircher’s. That other People may be ſatisfied in this, and ſee how vainly thoſe, who caſt off the only Foundations of Probability in ſuch Matters, which we have all the way made uſe of, pretend to philoſophize in this caſe, I think it will not be beſide the Purpoſe to beſtow ſome few Reflections upon that Book.

That ingenious Man ſuppoſing himſelf carried by ſome Angel thro’ the vaſt Spaces of Heaven, and round the Stars, tells us, he ſaw a great many things, ſome of which he had out of the Books of Aſtronomers, the reſt are the Product of his own Fancy and Thoughts. But, before he enters upon his Journey, he lays down theſe two Things as certain; that no Motion muſt be allowed the Earth, and that God has made nothing in the Planets, no not ſo much as Herbs, which has either Life or Senſe in it. Leaving then the Syſtem of Copernicus, he chuſes Tycho for his Guide. But when he ſuppoſes all the fix’d Stars to be Suns, and round each of them places their Planets, here (againſt his Will I ſuppoſe) he has unawares made an infinite number of Copernican Syſtems. All which, beſide their own Motion, he abſurdly makes to be carried, with an incredible ſwiftneſs, in twenty four Hours round the Earth. Since moſt of theſe Worlds are out of the Reach of any Man’s ſight, as he owns they are, I cannot think for what purpoſe he makes ſo many Suns to ſhine upon deſolate Lands (like our Earth in every thing, he ſays, only that they have neither Plants nor Animals) where there’s no one to whom they ſhould give light. And from hence he ſtill falls into more and more Abſurdities. And becauſe he could find no other uſe of the Planets, even in our Syſtem, he is forc’d to beg Help of the Aſtrologers; and would have all thoſe vaſt Bodies made upon no other account than that the whole Univerſe might be preſerved and continue ſecure by their means, and that they might govern the Mind of Man by their various and regular Influences. Accordingly, to gratify Aſtrology, he ſays that Venus was the moſt pleaſant Place, every thing fine and handſome, its Light gentle, its Waters ſweet and purling, and it ſelf beſet all about with ſhining Chryſtals. In Jupiter he found wholeſome and ſweet Gales, delicate Waters, and a Land ſhining like Silver. For from theſe two Planets it ſeems, Men have all that is happy and healthful poured down upon them; and all that renders them handſome and lovely, wiſe and grave, is owing to their Influences. Mercury had I don’t know what Airineſs and Briskneſs in it; whence Men derive, when they are firſt born, all their Wit and Cunning. Mars was nothing but infernal, ſtinking, black Flames and Smoke: and Saturn was all melancholy, dreadful, naſty, and dark: for theſe are the Planets (I don’t know why, but all Fortune-tellers hate them) that bring all the Plagues and Miſchiefs that we feel upon us, and would exerciſe their Spite ſtill more, unleſs they were ſometimes mitigated and corrected by the benign and kind Influences of the other Planets. All this and ſuch like Stuff his Genius teaches him. Which he makes give a ſerious Anſwer to this idle Queſtion, Whether a Jew or Heathen could be duly and rightly baptized in the Waters of Venus? Of him too he learns that the Heaven of the fix’d Stars is not made of ſolid Matter, but of a thin fluid, wherein an innumerable company of Stars and Suns lie floating here and there, not chain’d down to any Place, (thus far he’s in the right) and deſcribing in the Space of a Day theſe prodigious Circles round the Earth. He forgets here, if there were ſuch a Motion, with what an incredible ſwiftneſs they would fly off from every part of their Orbits. But I ſuppoſe the Intelligences that he has plac’d in them are to take care of that, thoſe Angels that preſide over, and regulate their Motions. And in that he follows a company of Doctors that harbour’d that idle fancy of Ariſtotle upon no Account or Conſideration. But Copernicus has freed thoſe Intelligences of all that Labour and Trouble, only by bringing in the Motion of the Earth: which, if upon no other Account, every one that is not blind purpoſely, muſt own to be neceſſary upon this. I dare ſay Kircher, if he had dar’d freely to ſpeak his Mind, could have afforded us better ſort of Things than theſe. But when he could not have that liberty, I think he might as well have let the whole Matter alone. But enough of this; let’s have have done with this famous Author: And now that we have ventur’d to place Spectators in the Planets, let us examine each of them, and ſee what their Years, Days, and Aſtronomy are.

To begin with the innermoſt and neareſt the Sun: We know that Mercury is three times nearer that vaſt Body of Light than we are. Whence it follows that they ſee him three times bigger, and feel him nine times hotter than we do. Such a degree of Heat would be intolerable to us, and ſet afire all our dry’d Herbs, our Hay and Straw that we uſe. And yet there is no doubt but that the Animals there, are made of ſuch a Temper, as to be but moderately warm, and the Plants ſuch as to be able to endure the Heat. The Inhabitants of Mercury, it’s likely, have the ſame opinion of us that we have of Saturn, that we muſt be intolerably cold, and have little or no Light, we are ſo far from the Sun. There’s reaſon to doubt, whether the Inhabitants of Mercury, tho’ they live ſo much nearer the Sun, the Fountain of Life and Vigour, are much more airy and ingenious than we. For if we may gueſs at them by what we ſee here, we ſhall not be obliged to grant it. The Inhabitants of Africa and Braſil, that have got for their Share the hotteſt Places in the Earth, being neither ſo wiſe nor ſo induſtrious as thoſe that belong to colder and more temperate Climates; they have ſcarce any Arts or Knowledge among them; and thoſe of them that live upon the very Shore, underſtand little or no Navigation. Nor can I be willing to make all that vaſt number that muſt inhabit thoſe two large Planets, Jupiter and Saturn, and have ſuch noble Attendance, mere dull Blockheads, or without as much Wit as our ſelves, tho’ they are ſo far more diſtant from the Sun. The Aſtronomy of thoſe that live in Mercury, and the appearance of the Planets to them, oppoſite at certain times to the Sun, may be eaſily conceived by the Scheme of the Copernican Syſtem in the former Part. At the times of theſe Oppoſitions Venus and the Earth muſt needs appear very bright and large to them. For if Venus ſhines ſo gloriouſly to us when ſhe is new and horned, ſhe muſt neceſſarily in oppoſition to the Sun, when ſhe is full, be at leaſt ſix or ſeven times larger, and a great deal nearer to the Inhabitants of Mercury, and afford them Light ſo ſtrong and bright, that they have no reaſon to complain of their want of a Moon. What the Length of their Days are, or whether they have different Seaſons in the Year, is not yet diſcovered, becauſe we have not yet been able to obſerve whether his Axis have any inclination to his Orbit, or what Time he ſpends in his diurnal Revolution about his own Axis. And yet ſeeing Mars, the Earth, Jupiter and Saturn, have certainly ſuch Succeſſions, there’s no reaſon to doubt but that he has his Days and Nights as well as they. But his Year is ſcarce the fourth part ſo long as ours.

The Inhabitants of Venus have much the ſame Face of Things as thoſe in Mercury, only they never ſee him in oppoſition to the Sun, which is occaſioned by his never removing above 38 degrees, or thereabouts, from it. The Sun appears to them larger by half in his Diameter, and above twice in his Circumference, than to us: and by conſequence affords them but twice as much Light and Heat, ſo that they are nearer our Temperature than Mercury. Their Year is compleated in ſeven and a half of our Months. In the Night our Earth, when ’tis on the other ſide of the Sun from Venus, muſt needs ſeem much larger and lighter to Venus than ſhe doth ever to us; and then they may eaſily ſee, if their Eyes be not weaker than ours, our conſtant Attendant the Moon. I have often wonder’d that when I have view’d Venus when ſhe is neareſt to the Earth, and reſembled an Half-moon, juſt beginning to have ſomething like Horns, through a Teleſcope of 45 or 60 Foot long, ſhe always appeared to me all over equally lucid, that I can’t ſay I obſerved ſo much as one Spot in her, tho’ in Jupiter and Mars, which ſeem much leſs to us, they are very plainly perceiv’d. For if Venus had any ſuch Thing as Sea and Land, the former muſt neceſſarily ſhow much more obſcure than the other, as anyone may ſatisfy himſelf, that from a very high Mountain will but look down upon our Earth. I thought that perhaps the too brisk Light of Venus might be the occaſion of this equal appearance; but when I uſed an Eye-glaſs that was ſmok’d for the Purpoſe, it was ſtill the ſame Thing. What then, has Venus no Sea, or do the Waters there reflect the Light more than ours do, or their Land leſs? Or rather (which is moſt probable in my Opinion) is not all that Light we ſee reflected from an Atmoſphere ſurrounding Venus, which being thicker and more ſolid than that in Mars or Jupiter, hinders our ſeeing any thing of the Globe it ſelf, and is at the ſame time capable of ſending back the Rays that it receives from the Sun? For it is certain that if we looked on the Earth from the outſide of the Atmoſphere, we ſhould not perceive ſuch a difference as we do from a Mountain; but by reaſon of the interpoſed Atmoſphere, we ſhould obſerve very little Diſparity between Sea and Land. ’Tis the ſame Thing that hinders us from ſeeing the Spots in the Moon as plain in the Day as in the Night, becauſe the Vapours that ſurround the Earth being then enlighten’d by the Rays of the Sun, are an Impediment to our Proſpect.

But Mars, as I ſaid before, has ſome Parts of him darker than other ſome. By the conſtant Returns of which his Nights and Days have been found to be of about the ſame length with ours. But the Inhabitants have no perceivable Difference between Summer and Winter, the Axis of that Planet having very little or no Inclination to his Orbit, as has been diſcover’d by the Motion of his Spots. Our Earth muſt appear to them almoſt as Venus doth to us, and by the Help of a Teleſcope will be found to have its Wane, Increaſe, and Full, like the Moon: and never to remove from the Sun above 48 Degrees, by whoſe Diſcovery they ſee it, as well as Mercury and Venus, ſometimes paſs over the Sun’s Disk. They as ſeldom ſee Venus as we do Mercury. I am apt to believe, that the Land in Mars is of a blacker Colour than that of Jupiter or the Moon, which is the reaſon of his appearing of a Copper Colour, and his reflecting a weaker Light than is proportionable to his diſtance from the Sun. His Body, as I obſerved before, tho’ farther from the Sun, is leſs than Venus. Nor has he any Moon to wait upon him, and in that, as well as Mercury and Venus, he muſt be acknowledged inferiour to the Earth. His Light and Heat is twice, and ſometimes three times leſs than ours, to which I ſuppoſe the Conſtitution of his Inhabitants is anſwerable.

If our Earth can claim pre-eminence of the fore-mention’d Planets, for having a Moon to attend upon it, (for its Magnitude can make but a ſmall difference) how much Superiour muſt Jupiter and Saturn be to thoſe three and the Earth alſo? For whether we conſider their Bulk, in which they far exceed all the others, or the Number of Moons that wait upon them, it’s very probable that they are the chief, the primary Planets in our Syſtem, in compariſon with which the other four are nothing, and ſcarce worth mentioning. For the eaſier Conception of their vaſt Diſparity, I have thought fit to add a Scheme of our Earth, with the Moon’s Orbit, and the Globe of the Moon itſelf, and the Syſtems of [Fig. 3.] Jupiter and Saturn, where I have drawn every thing as near the true Proportion as poſſible. Jupiter you ſee is adorned with four, and Saturn with five Moons, all placed in their reſpective Orbits. The Moons about Jupiter we owe to Galilæo, ’tis well known: and any one may imagine he was in no ſmall Rapture at the Diſcovery. The outermoſt but one, and brighteſt of Saturn’s, it chanc’d to be my lot, with a Teleſcope not above 12 foot long, to have the firſt ſight of in the Year 1655. The reſt we may thank the induſtrious Caſſini for, who uſed the Glaſſes of Joſ. Campanus’s grinding, firſt of 36, and afterwards of 136 foot long. He has often, and particularly in the Year 1672, ſhew’d me the Third and Fifth. The Firſt and Second he gave me notice of by Letters in the Year 1684; but they are ſcarce ever to be ſeen, and I can’t poſitively ſay, I had ever that Happineſs; but am as ſatisfied that they are there, as if I had; not in the leaſt ſuſpecting the Credit of that worthy Man. Nay, I am afraid there are One or Two more ſtill behind, and not without reaſon. For between the Fourth and Fifth there’s a Diſtance not at all proportionable to that between all the others: Here, for ought I know, there may be a Sixth; or perhaps there may be another without the Fifth that may yet have eſcaped us: for we can never ſee the Fifth but in that part of his Orbit, which is towards the Weſt: for which we ſhall give you a very good reaſon.

Perhaps when Saturn comes into the Northern Signs, and is at a good height from the Horizon (for at the writing of this he is at his loweſt) you may happen to make ſome new Diſcoveries, good Brother, if you would but make uſe of your two Teleſcopes of 170 and 210 Foot long; the longeſt, and the beſt I believe now in the World. For tho’ we have not yet had an opportunity of obſerving the Heavens with them (as well by reaſon of their Unwieldineſs, as for the Interruption of our Studies by your Abſence) yet I am ſatisfied of their Goodneſs by our trial of them one Night, in reading a Letter at a vaſt diſtance by the Help of a Light. I cannot but think of thoſe times with Pleaſure, and of our diverting Labour in poliſhing and preparing ſuch Glaſſes, in inventing new Methods and Engines, and always puſhing forward to ſtill greater and greater Things. But to return to the Figures, of which there remains ſomething further to be ſaid.

I have there made the Diameter of Jupiter about two third parts of our diſtance from the Moon: for the Diameter of Jupiter is above twenty times bigger than that of the Earth; which is about a thirtieth part of the Moon’s diſtance. The Orbit of the outermoſt of Jupiter’s Satellites is to that of the Moon round the Earth, as 8 and ½ is to 1. And each of theſe Moons, by the Shadow they make upon Jupiter, cannot be leſs than our Earth. Their [The Periods of Jupiter’s Moons.] Periods, that I may not omit them, are according to Caſſini’s Account theſe. That of the inmoſt is one day, 18 hours, 28 minutes, and 36 ſeconds. The Second ſpends 3 days, 13 hours, 13 min., 52 ſeconds in going round him. The Third 7 days, 3 hours, 59 min., 40 ſec. The Fourth 16 days, 18 hours, 5 min., 6 ſec. The Diſtance of the innermoſt from Jupiter himſelf is 2⅚ of his Diameters. That of the Second is 4 and a half: Of the Third 7 and one ſixth part: Of the Fourth 12 and two thirds, of the ſame [And Saturn’s.] Diameters. The Innermoſt of Saturn’s Satellites moves round him in 1 day, 21 hours, 18 min., 31 ſec. The Second in 2 days, 17 hours, 41 min., 27 ſec. The Third in 4 days, 13 hours, 47 min., 16 ſec. The Fourth in 15 days, 22 hours, 41 min., 11 ſec. The Fifth in 79 days, 7 hours, 53 min., 57 ſec. Their Diſtances from the Center of Saturn are, that of the firſt almoſt one, that is 39 fortieth parts of the Diameter of his Ring; that of the ſecond one and a quarter of thoſe Diameters; of the third one and three quarters of them; of the fourth four, or according to my Calculation, but 3 and a half; of the 5th 12, which were found with vaſt Pains and Labour.