How the Doctor delivered a course of lectures on the History of the
Earth and its Inhabitants—Of the effects of his ghastly
description—Of the attempt of two Hesperians to reach the Earth;
and of its unsatisfactory result.
[At this point the doctor’s notes become very scanty: still the
following facts may be readily gleaned from his memoranda. Hesperos was
the abode of one hundred millions of rational and highly-cultured
beings, incapable alike of increase or diminution in number, constrained
to exist on the surface of the planet, and firmly believing in the
existence of an intelligent Creator who, although in all his works which
were accessible to them, he manifested unmistakable marks of
benevolence, refused to speak to or hold any communication with his
intelligent creation. And yet, for such communication they craved with
all their soul and with all their strength. The vast temples erected in
their cities to the Unknown God, and the solemn services held therein,
as well as their intense devotion to all branches of natural science,
alike indicated their longing to penetrate the mystery of the material
world, and reach the spirit which they believed to lie behind.
The hopes which had been excited so many years earlier by the discovery
of the immensity of the Universe when the cloud-screen was passed, had
ended in bitter disappointment. Vastness of power on the part of the
Maker had indeed been strongly illustrated; but, most certainly, no
light had been thrown on any of his other attributes. So it is easy to
understand the intensity of interest with which the news of an arrival
from another world was received. That their visitor came from the earth
was at once ascertained, as we have already seen, by his familiarity
with the earth charts in the museum at Lucetta.
When this wonderful arrival was telegraphed at the metropolis, the
world-parliament instantly met. It was resolved that a committee should
be appointed at Lucetta, whose business should be, first, to learn the
stranger’s language, and then to communicate to him a general
description of Venus, and the leading facts in the history of her
inhabitants, so as to enable him to bring before them the main points of
agreement and difference in the conditions of life on the two planets.
That these instructions were well carried out by the committee is
manifest from the notes which have now been brought to light and
translated into the English tongue.
As soon as this preliminary process was completed, the doctor was
requested in his turn to give the Hesperians an account of the affairs
of the earth; of its physical condition; of its irrational animals,
supposing such to exist; of its rational animals, one of which they had
seen; and lastly, to answer the great question of questions—Whether the
terrestrial rational beings had any direct knowledge of the Maker of the
whole.
On all of these points he delivered lectures in the cathedral of
Lucetta, to a crowded audience of more than five thousand people. From
the short notes in his pocket-book it is easy to gather his manner of
treating the above subjects. Of course the reader will bear in mind the
great intensity of his misanthropy.
He began by describing the physical condition of the earth’s surface,
and contrasting it, much to its disadvantage, with that of Hesperos. In
illustration of his malignant remarks, he seems to have made much use of
the great terrestrial charts which had been constructed at the
observatories. The awful polar climate of the earth came out very
unfavourably when compared with that of the corresponding regions of
Hesperos; as did also the burning heat of the torrid zone, unprotected
from the solar rays by a permanent screen of cloud. He dilated, with
much relish, on the phenomena of earthquakes, volcanoes, thunder and
lightning, deluges, droughts, great sandy deserts, and other terrestrial
peculiarities of a disagreeable character, which were quite unknown to
the Hesperians.
As he approached the animal kingdom his spirits seem to have risen. The
abundance on earth of loathsome and noxious types of animal life; their
portentous fecundity; the formation of entire species which can live
only by destroying and devouring the weaker and more defenceless, were
happily contrasted with the innocent fauna of Hesperos, confined to a
small number of harmless, frugivorous animals, in which the power of
reproduction no more than sufficed to keep up the breed.
But when he came to explain the nature and circumstances of terrestrial
rational life, Van Varken’s hatred of the Yahoos burst out in a
description which seems to have filled the Hesperian congregation with
horror and dismay. The entrance of the human being into life through the
same reproductive process as that of the lower animals; the redundancy
of procreative power, in respect of the means of subsistence, which is
one of the curses of the race; their helpless infancy; their wretched
education; their liability to horrible and torturing diseases; their
early extinction by death; the low civilization in which the masses
vegetate, leading the lives of cattle; their mutual hatred; their
incessant wars—all of these topics, and many more of a similar nature,
were expatiated upon by the doctor with a cheerful vehemence which much
astounded his audience, and enhanced the contrast between all these
abominations and social life in Hesperos.
As for the final question—that of the Maker of all—he began by
hypocritically expressing his deep regret that his profession as a
Doctor of Medicine rendered him but a badly qualified person as an
expounder of theology; he also professed an earnest wish that a learned
terrestrial Doctor of Divinity could be found to relieve him of such an
uncongenial task. The reader will readily appreciate the sincerity of
his aspirations after the help of a Yahoo divine.
He then proceeded to inform his audience that the inhabitants of the
earth, not being included, as the Hesperians, in one vast empire, but
being dispersed in a great number of independent nationalities, which
varied very much in their degrees of civilization, had formed for
themselves equally varying theological systems. That those who were in
the lowest grades, either did not recognize the Maker at all, or, if
they did recognize him, regarded him as a fiend who was only to be
propitiated by offering him bloody sacrifices. That there was another
system of religious belief, the followers of which were in a much higher
state of civilization than those last spoken of, who held that all true
believers (meaning themselves) would be ultimately admitted to a
paradise of sensual delights, the most effectual passport being the
extirpation, by the sword, of unbelievers (meaning all the rest). That
another system, the followers of which were, perhaps, the most numerous
of any, taught that the Maker would ultimately grant the boon of
cessation of existence to his creatures, but only after they have
undergone a long series of transmigrations into other forms of life.
At last he came to the form of religion which he described as that
which, though not including the greatest number, is certainly professed
by all of the most highly civilized types of humanity. Into the doctor’s
exposition of the Christian faith we need not enter. Suffice it to say
that when he came to the explicit statement—delivered with evident marks
of delight—that the Maker designed the greater part of the human race to
live everlastingly in excruciating torture by fire, the whole of the
assembly rose simultaneously to their feet and left the cathedral. They
would hear no more.
Every word of these extraordinary lectures was automatically taken down,
and sent through the world as fast as delivered. The whole history of
the earth contained therein fell like a thunderbolt on the Hesperians,
who were quite unprepared for any such revelation of the Unknown. After
this, the notes show that the doctor had many interviews and discussions
with people from all parts, but no memoranda of them are to be found.
Clearly, the result of his communications was an intensifying of the
gloom which prevailed in Hesperos. The hopes of the people, which had
been strongly excited by his arrival, were as suddenly changed to
despondency. And no wonder; for, certainly, tidings of such a Maker as
the Being depicted by their visitor, were not calculated to raise any
enthusiastic delight.
Doubts seem to have sprung up among some of the Hesperians as to the
perfect accuracy of his statements, which, as one or two of the leading
journals pretty plainly hinted, might possibly be coloured by prejudice.
So incredible, indeed, did some parts of his lectures appear, that two
enterprising persons, then in the juvenescent period of life,
volunteered to attempt the passage to the earth, if Van Varken would
entrust them with the secret of transference. They wished to examine the
terrestrial phenomena, both religious and temporal, for themselves.
Dr. Van Varken, who was much mortified at these suspicions as to his
veracity, received them with some coolness. He made two objections to
their proposal. First, he was under a pledge of secrecy to Mr. Homi,
and, secondly, the attempt would be attended with extreme peril to
themselves. For it was quite impossible to tell beforehand what region
of the earth they might land in; and, if they chanced on an uncivilized
nation, death by mortal lesion, and that beyond the salutary influence
of the Hesperian pole, would be their nearly certain fate.
But his indignation at their unworthy suspicions, and his burning desire
that an irrefragable proof of the truth of his statements might be
afforded to the sceptics, by an actual inspection of the earth by two
pairs of Hesperian eyes, at last overcame his scruples. He argued that,
inasmuch as he himself had actually discovered the mode of passing the
interplanetary space, he was, in that respect, bound by no promise to
Mr. Homi; and that, having warned the adventurers of the risk they ran,
his duty to them was discharged. So he gave way at last, and imparted
the secret of interplanetary transference by the process of
disintegration.
All in vain; the disintegration was effected at once without the
slightest difficulty; but when that stage was reached the Hesperian
polarity proved too strong for the terrestrial influence; overcame it
instantly, and the two missionaries to the earth, to their very great
chagrin, found themselves reintegrated, in perfect safety, at the South
Pole of Venus, according to the ordinary Law. It was quite plain that
the Hesperians were absolutely bound to their planet, and that escape,
even if it were desirable, was hopeless.