| Page | ||
| A Journey to the Moon | [3] | |
| Mahomet and the Spider. (A Dialogue.) | [149] | |
| A Letter from Posterity to the Present Age | [179] | |
| Answer from the Present Age to Posterity | [193] | |
| The Sleeper and the Spirit. (A Dialogue.) | [211] | |
| A Dispute between the Mind and the Body | [243] | |
| Alcibiades | [293] | |
| Truth Released | [325] | |
| A Letter from Thrasicles of Miletus to Rhodius of Athens. | ||
| The two Evil Spirits | ||
| Dialogue I. | [373] | |
| Dialogue II. | [386] | |
| The Judgment of Mahomet | [419] | |
[ A
JOURNEY TO THE MOON.]
Ove mirabilmente era ridutto
Ciò che si perde o per nostro difetto,
O per colpa di tempo o di fortna.
Ciò che si perde qui là si raguna.—Ariosto.
Je vous parle d'une des plus agréables foliès de l'Arioste, et je suis sûr que vous serez bien aise de la savoir.—Fontenelle.
Amongst inquisitive persons there has always been a wish to know something about the moon, its surface, its inhabitants, and their manners; and several philosophers, to satisfy this curiosity, have, with much sagacity, construed its spots into mountains, volcanoes, and other commodities which a world is supposed to want. But these travels must be considered very imperfect; for by visiting a country through a telescope, but little is to be known of its people, their manner of living, their literature, their arts, or opinions. Accordingly, while that was the only way of travelling, we knew little more of the moon than that there was one.
Amongst the other speculations on this subject, many ingenious men exercised themselves in guessing what service the moon has to discharge for the earth, since it was generally agreed impossible that our satellite should revolve round us merely for its own advantage, though it might perhaps in some measure be consulting its private ends; and it was most commonly supposed to be transacting our business and its own at the same time.