_Of the Little_ Spaniard _whom he met there, and of his quaint Wit; of_
Vacuum, _Specific Weights, and sundry other Philosophical Matters_.
I was no sooner come, but they carryed me to the Palace, where the
Grandees received me with more Moderation, than the people had done as
I passed the streets: but both great and small concluded, that without
doubt I was the Female of the Queen's little Animal. My Guide was my
Interpreter; and yet he himself understood not the Riddle, and knew
not what to make of that little Animal of the Queen's; but we were
soon satisfied as to that; for the King having some time considered
me, ordered it to be brought, and about half an hour after I saw a
company of Apes, wearing Ruffs and Breeches, come in, and amongst them
a little Man almost of my own Built, for he went on Two Legs; so soon
as he perceived me, he Accosted me with a _Criado de vuestra merced_[1]
I answered his Greeting much in the same Terms. But alas! no sooner
had they seen us talk together, but they believed their Conjecture to
be true; and so, indeed, it seemed; for he of all the By-standers,
that past the most favourable Judgment upon us, protested that our
Conversation was a Chattering we kept for Joy at our meeting again.
That little Man told me, that he was an _European_, a Native of old
_Castille_:[2] That he had found a means by the help of Birds[3] to
mount up to the World of the Moon, where then we were: That falling
into the Queen's Hands, she had taken him for a Monkey, because Fate
would have it so, That in that Country they cloath Apes in a _Spanish_
Dress; and that upon his arrival, being found in that habit, she had
made no doubt but he was of the same kind. "It could not otherwise be,"
replied I, "but having tried all Fashions of Apparel upon them, none
were found so Ridiculous, and by consequence more becoming a kind of
Animals which are only entertained for Pleasure and Diversion." "That
shews you little understand the Dignity of our Nation," answered he,
"for whom the Universe breeds Men only to be our Slaves, and Nature
produces nothing but objects of Mirth and Laughter." He then intreated
me to tell him, how I durst be so bold as to Scale the Moon with the
Machine I told him of? I answered, That it was because he had carried
away the Birds, which I intended to have made use of. He smiled at this
Raillery; and about a quarter of an hour after, the King commanded
the Keeper of the Monkeys to carry us back. The King's Pleasure was
punctually obeyed; at which I was very glad, for the satisfaction
I had, of having a Mate to converse with during the solitude of my
Brutification.
[Illustration: The "Little Spaniard's" Trip to the Moon--From an
Engraving in "The Strange Voyage of Domingo Gonzales to the World in
the Moon."]
One Day my Male (for I was taken for the Female) told me, That the
true reason which had obliged him to travel all over the Earth, and at
length to abandon it for the Moon, was that he could not find so much
as one Country where even Imagination was at liberty. "Look ye," said
he, "how the Wittiest thing you can say, unless you wear a Cornered
Cap, if it thwart the Principles of the Doctors of the Robe, you are an
Ideot, a Fool, and something worse perhaps. I was about to have been
put into the Inquisition at home, for maintaining to the Pedants Teeth,
That there was a _Vacuum_, and that I knew no one matter in the World
more Ponderous than another." I asked him, what probable Arguments
he had, to confirm so new an Opinion? "To evince that," answered he,
"you must suppose that there is but one Element; for though we see
Water, Earth, Air and Fire distinct, yet are they never found to be
so perfectly pure but that there still remains some Mixture. For
example, When you behold Fire, it is not Fire but Air much extended;
the Air is but Water much dilated; Water is but liquified Earth, and
the Earth it self but condensed Water; and thus if you weigh Matter
seriously, you'll find it is but one, which like an excellent Comedian
here below acts all Parts, in all sorts of Dresses: Otherwise we must
admit as many Elements as there are kinds of Bodies: And if you ask
me why Fire burns, and Water cools, since it is but one and the same
matter, I answer, That that matter acts by Sympathy, according to the
Disposition it is in at the time when it acts. Fire, which is nothing
but Earth also, more dilated than is fit for the constitution of Air,
strives to change into it self, by Sympathy, what ever it meets with:
Thus the heat of Coals, being the most subtile Fire, and most proper to
penetrate a Body, at first slides through the pores of our Skin; and
because it is a new matter that fills us, it makes us exhale in Sweat;
that Sweat dilated by the Fire is converted to a Steam, and becomes
Air; that Air being farther ratified by the heat of the _Antiperistasis_,
or of the Neighbouring Stars, is called Fire, and the Earth abandoned
by the Cold and Humidity which were Ligaments to the whole, falls to
the ground: Water, on the other hand, though it no ways differ from the
matter of Fire, but in that it is closer, burns us not; because that
being dense by Sympathy, it closes up the Bodies it meets with, and
the Cold we feel is no more but the effect of our Flesh contracting it
self, because of the Vicinity of Earth or Water, which constrains it to
a Resemblance. Hence it is, that those who are troubled with a Dropsie
convert all their nourishment into Water; and the Cholerick convert all
the Blood that is formed in their Liver into Choler.
"It being then supposed, that there is but one Element; it is most
certain, that all Bodies, according to their several qualities, incline
equally towards the Center of the Earth. But you'll ask me, Why then
does Iron, Metal, Earth and Wood, descend more swiftly to the Center
than a Sponge, if it be not that it is full of Air which naturally
tends upwards? That is not at all the Reason, and thus I make it out:
Though a Rock fall with greater Rapidity than a Feather, both of
them have the same inclination for the Journey; but a Cannon Bullet,
for instance, were the Earth pierced through, would precipitate with
greater haste to the Center thereof than a Bladder full of Wind; and
the reason is, because that mass of Metal is a great deal of Earth
contracted into a little space, and that Wind a very little Earth in
a large space: For all the parts of Matter, being so closely joined
together in the Iron, encrease their force by their Union; because
being thus compacted, they are many that Fight against a few, seeing a
parcel of Air equal to the Bullet in Bigness is not equal in Quantity.
"Not to insist on a long Deduction of Arguments to prove this, tell
me in good earnest, How a Pike, a Sword or a Dagger wounds us? If it
be not because the Steel, being a matter wherein the parts are more
continuous and more closely knit together than your Flesh is, whose
Pores and Softness shew that it contains but very little Matter within
a great extent of Place; and that the point of the Steel that pricks
us, being almost an innumerable number of Particles of matter against
a very little Flesh, it forces it to yield to the stronger, in the
same manner as a Squadron in close order will easily break through a
more open Battalion; for why does a Bit of red hot Iron burn more than
a Log of Wood all on Fire? Unless it be, that in the Iron there is
more Fire in a small space, seeing it adheres to all the parts of the
Metal, than in the Wood which being very Spongy by consequence contains
a great deal of _Vacuity_; and that _Vacuity_, being but a Privation
of Being, cannot receive the form of Fire. But, you'll object, you
suppose a _Vacuum_, as if you had proved it, and that's begging of the
question: Well then I'll prove it, and though that difficulty be the
Sister of the _Gordian knot_, yet my Arms are strong enough to become
its _Alexander_.
"Let that vulgar Beast, then, who does not think it self a Man, had it
not been told so, answer me if it can: Suppose now there be but one
Matter, as I think I have sufficiently proved; whence comes it, that
according to its Appetite it enlarges or contracts its self; whence is
it, that a piece of Earth by being Condensed becomes a Stone? Is it
that the parts of that Stone are placed one with another, in such a
manner that wherever that grain of Sand is settled, even there, or in
the same point, another grain of Sand is Lodged? That cannot be, no not
according to their own Principles, seeing there is no Penetration of
Bodies: But that matter must have crowded together, and if you will,
abridged it self, so that it hath filled some place which was empty
before. To say that it is incomprehensible, that there should be a
Nothing in the World, that we are in part made up of Nothing: Why not,
pray? Is not the whole World wrapt up in Nothing? Since you yield me
this point, then confess ingeniously, that it's as rational that the
World should have a Nothing within it, as Nothing about it.
"I well perceive you'll put the question to me, Why Water compressed
in a Vessel by the Frost should break it, if it be not to hinder
a Vacuity? But I answer, That that only happens, because the Air
overhead, which as well as Earth and Water tends to the Center, meeting
with an empty Tun by the way, takes tip his Lodging there: If it find
the pores of that Vessel, that's to say, the ways that lead to that
void place, too narrow, too long, and too crooked, with impatience it
breaks through and arrives at its Tun.
"But not to trifle away time, in answering all their objections, I
dare be bold to say, That if there were no _Vacuity_, there could be
no Motion; or else a Penetration of Bodies must be admitted; for it
would be a little too ridiculous to think, that when a Gnat pushes
back a parcel of Air with its Wings, that parcel drives another before
it, that other another still; and that so the stirring of the little
Toe of a Flea should raise a bunch upon the Back of the Universe. When
they are at a stand, they have recourse to Rarefaction: But in good
earnest, How can it be when a Body is ratified, that one Particle of
the Mass does recede from another Particle, without leaving an empty
Space betwixt them; must not the two Bodies, which are just separated,
have been at the same time in the same place of this; and that so they
must have all three penetrated each other? I expect you'll ask me, why
through a Reed, a Syringe or a Pump, Water is forced to ascend contrary
to its inclination? To which I answer, That that's by violence, and
that it is not the fear of a _Vacuity_ that turns it out of the right
way; but that being linked to the Air by an imperceptible Chain, it
rises when the Air, to which it is joined, is rarified.
"That's no such knotty Difficulty, when one knows the perfect Circle
and the delicate Concatenation of the Elements: For if you attentively
consider the Slime which joines the Earth and Water together in
Marriage, you'll find that it is neither Earth nor Water; but the
Mediator betwixt these Two Enemies. In the same manner, the Water and
Air reciprocally send a Mist, that dives into the Humours of both, to
negotiate a Peace betwixt them; and the Air is reconciled to the Fire,
by means of an interposing Exhalation which Unites them."
I believe he would have proceeded in his Discourse, had they not
brought us our Victuals; and seeing we were a hungry, I stopt my Ears
to his discourse, and opened my Stomack to the Food they gave us.
I remember another time, when we were upon our Philosophy, for neither
of us took pleasure to Discourse of mean things: "I am vexed," said he,
"to see a Wit of your stamp infected with the Errors of the Vulgar. You
must know then, in spight of the Pedantry of _Aristotle_ with which
your Schools in _France_ still ring, That every thing is in every
thing; that's to say, for instance, That in the Water there is Fire,
in the Fire Water, in the Air Earth, and in the Earth Air: Though that
Opinion makes Scholars open their Eyes as big as Sawcers, yet it is
easier to prove it, than perswade it. For I ask them, in the first
place, if Water does not breed Filth: If they deny it, let them dig a
Pit, fill it with meer Element,[4] and to prevent all blind Objections
let them if they please strain it through a Strainer, and I'll oblige
my self, in case they find no Filth therein within a certain time,
to drink up all the Water they have poured into it: But if they find
Filth, as I make no doubt on't; it is a convincing Argument that there
is both Salt and Fire there. Consequentially now, to find Water in
Fire; I take it to be no difficult Task. For let them chuse Fire, even
that which is most abstracted from Matter, as Comets are, there is
a great deal in them still; seeing if that Unctuous Humour, whereof
they are engendered, being reduced to a Sulphur by the heat of the
Antiperistasis which kindles them, did not find a curb of its Violence
in the humid Cold that qualifies and resists it, it would spend it self
in a trice like Lightning. Now that there is Air in the Earth, they
will not deny it; or otherwise they have never heard of the terrible
Earth-quakes, that have so often shaken the Mountains of _Sicily_:
Besides, the Earth is full of Pores, even to the least grains of Sand
that com[pose] it. Nevertheless no Man hath as yet said, that these
Hollows were filled with _Vacuity_: It will not be taken amiss then, I
hope, if the Air takes up its quarters there. It remains to be proved,
that there is Earth in the Air; but I think it scarcely worth my pains,
seeing you are convinced of it, as often as you see such numberless
Legions of Atomes fall upon your heads, as even stiffle Arithmetick.
"But let us pass from simple to compound Bodies, they'll furnish me
with much more frequent Subjects; and to demonstrate that all things
are in all things, not that they change into one another, as your
_Peripateticks_ Juggle:[5] for I will maintain to their Teeth, that the
Principles mingle, separate, and mingle again in such a manner, that
that hath been made Water by the Wise Creator of the World, will always
be Water; I shall suppose no Maxime, as they do, but what I prove.
"And therefore take a Billet, or any other combustible stuff, and set
Fire to it, they'll say when it is in a Flame, That what was Wood is
now become Fire; but I maintain the contrary, and that there is no more
Fire in it, when it is all in Flame, than before it was kindled; but
that which before was hid in the Billet, and by the Humidity and Cold
hindered from acting; being now assisted by the Stranger, hath rallied
its forces against the Phlegm that choaked it, and commanding the Field
of Battle, that was possessed by its Enemy, triumphs over his Jaylor
and appears without Fetters. Don't you see how the Water flees out at
the two ends of the Billet, hot and smoaking from the Fight it was
engaged in. That flame which you see rise on high is the purer Fire,
unpestered from the Matter, and by consequence the readiest to return
home to it self: Nevertheless it Unites it self by tapering into a
Piramide till it rise to a certain height, that it may pierce through
the thick Humidity of the Air which resists it; but as mounting it
disengaged it self by little and little from the violent company of its
Landlords; so it diffuses it self, because then it meets with nothing
that thwarts its passage, which negligence, though, is many times the
cause of a second Captivity: For marching stragglingly, it wanders
sometimes into a Cloud, and if it meet there with a Party of its own
sufficient to make head against a Vapour, they Engage, Grumble, Thunder
and Roar, and the Death of Innocents is many times the effect of the
animated Rage of those inanimated Things. If, when it finds it self
pestered among those Crudities of the middle Region, it is not strong
enough to make a defence, it yields to its Enemy upon discretion;
which by its weight constrains it to fall again to the Earth: And this
Wretch,[6] inclosed in a drop of Rain, may per haps fall at the Foot
of an Oak, whose Animal Fire will invite the poor Straggler to take a
Lodging with him; and thus you have it in the same condition again as
it was a few Days before.
"But let us trace the Fortune of the other Elements that composed that
Billet. The Air retreats to its own Quarters also, though blended
with Vapours; because the Fire all in a rage drove them briskly
out _Pell-mell_ together. Now you have it serving the Winds for a
Tennis-ball, furnishing Breath to Animals, filling up the Vacuities
that Nature hath left; and, it may be also, wrapt up in a drop of Dew,
suckling the thirsty Leaves of that Tree, whither our Fire retreated:
The Water driven from its Throne by the Flame, being by the heat
elevated to the Nursery of the Meteors, will distil again in Rain upon
our Oak, as soon as upon another; and the Earth being turned to Ashes,
and then cured of its Sterility, either by the nourishing Heat of a
Dunghill on which it hath been thrown, or by the vegetative Salt of
some neighbouring Plants, or by the teeming Waters of some Rivers, may
happen also to be near this Oak, which by the heat of its Germ will
attract it, and convert it into a part of its bulk.
"In this manner, these Four Elements undergo the same Destiny, and
return to the same State, which they quitted but a few days before: So
that it may be said, that all that's necessary for the composition of
a Tree, is in a Man; and in a Tree, all that's necessary for making of
a Man. In fine, according to this way, all things will be found in all
things; but we want a _Prometheus_, to pluck us out of the Bosom of
Nature, and render us sensible, which I am willing to call the _First
Matter_"[7]
These were the things, I think, with which we past the time; for that
little _Spaniard_ had a quaint Wit. Our conversation, however, was only
in the Night time; because from Six a clock in the morning until night,
Crowds of the People, that came to stare at us in our Lodging, would
have disturbed us: For some threw us Stones, others Nuts, and others
Grass; there was no talk, but of the Kings Beasts; we had our Victuals
daily at set hours. I cannot tell, whether it was that I minded their
Gestures and Tones more than my Male did: But I learnt sooner than he
to understand their Language, and to smatter a little of it, which made
us to be lookt upon in another guess manner than formerly; and the news
thereupon flew presently all over the Kingdom, that two Wild Men had
been found, who were less than other Men, by reason of the bad Food we
had had in the Desarts; and who through a defect of their Parents Seed,
had not the fore Legs strong enough to support their Bodies.
[1] "Your excellency's servant."
[2] Domingo Gonzales, the hero of Bishop Francis Godwin's _The Man in
the Moone_ (see Translator to Reader, note 2), who says of himself: "I
must acknowledge my Stature is so little, as I think no Man living is
less."
[3] The engraving opposite, showing how he was carried up by his birds,
is copied from an old edition of _The Man in the Moone_. The other
winged figures about him are supposed to represent demons who attacked
him when just above "the middle region."
[4] With the _pure_ element (Lat., _merus_); _i.e._, water alone
unmixed with impurities or other elements.
[5] Fr. gazouillent, _babble_.
[6] Unfortunate creature ("ce malheureux").
[7] The translator has here mistaken a Dative for an Accusative. The
sense of the French is: "But we need a Prometheus to pluck out for us,
from the bosom of Nature, and make tangible to us, that which I will
call _First Matter_."