The Consolidator; or, Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World in the MoonDefoe, Daniel
Science
The Consolidator; or, Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World in the Moon
Defoe, Daniel
Fantasy fiction; Interplanetary voyages -- Fiction; Moon -- Fiction; Political fiction; Satire
The first just Observation I made of this was, That I suppos'd from
hence the wonderful Clearness of the Air, and the Advantage of so
vast Optick Capacities they enjoy'd, was obtained: Alas! says the Old
Fellow, You see nothing to what some of our Great Eyes see in some
Parts of this World, nor do you see any thing compar'd to what you
may see by the help of some new Invented Glasses, of which I may in
time let you see the Experiment; and perhaps you may find this to be
the reason why we do not so abound in Books as in your Lunar World;
and that except it be some extraordinary Translations out of your
Country, you will find but little in our Libraries, worth giving you
a great deal of Trouble.
We immediately quitted the Philosophical Discourse of Winds, and I
began to be mighty Inquisitive after these Glasses and Translations,
and
1st, I understood here was a strange sort of Glass that did not so
much bring to the Eye, as by I know not what wonderful Operation
carried out the Eye to the Object, and quite varies from all our
Doctrine of Opticks, by forming several strange Phanomena in Sight,
which we are utterly unacquainted with; nor could Vision,
Rarification, or any of our School-mens fine Terms, stand me in any
stead in this case; but here was such Additions of piercing Organs,
Particles of Transparence, Emission, Transmission, Mediums,
Contraction of Rays, and a Thousand Applications of things prepar'd
for the wondrous Operation, that you may be sure are requisite for
the bringing to pass something yet unheard of on this side the Moon.
First we were inform'd, by the help of these Glasses, strange things,
which pass in our World for Non-Entities, is to be seen, and very
perceptible; for Example:
State Polity, in all its Meanders, Shifts, Turns, Tricks, and
Contraries, are so exactly Delineated and Describ'd, That they are in
hopes in time to draw a pair of Globes out, to bring all those things
to a certainty.
Not but that it made some Puzzle, even among these Clear-sighted
Nations, to determine what Figure the Plans and Drafts of this
undiscover'd World of Mysteries ought to be describ'd in: Some were
of Opinion, it ought, to be an Irregular Centagon, a Figure with an
Hundred Cones or Angles: Since the Unaccountables of this
State-Science, are hid in a Million of undiscover'd Corners; as the
Craft, Subtilty and Hypocrisy of Knaves and Courtiers have concealed
them, never to be found out, but by this wonderful D---l-scope, which
seem'd to threaten a perfect Discovery of all those Nudities, which
have lain hid in the Embrio, and false Conceptions of Abortive
Policy, ever since the Foundation of the World.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account