“Therefore I suggest that the fundamental law of Atlantis be modified. But for the sake of those who fear to be too radical, I recommend that we proceed cautiously at first; let us begin by allowing three or four of our people to visit the upper world; and let these, having made their investigations, return with their reports, so that then, on the basis of definite knowledge, we may decide on the advantage of further emergence.” * * * * * “No, no, no!” rang forth half a dozen voices in sharp disapproval; and, as Xanocles gracefully resigned the floor, one of the dissenters--a tall, stooped man with sallow face, fringed with a white beard--stepped down to express his views. “Citizens of Atlantis,” he declared, in a voice surprisingly resonant and vigorous for one of his age, “I have lived long enough to follow the debates of a hundred years, but never have I heard such folly as has just been advised. Under the influence of Agripides, Atlantis has been beautiful, and it has been happy--and what more can life give us than happiness and beauty? Would you let yourselves be stampeded by the ravings of these modernists, who would trample on every sacred thing, seeking a panicky escape from some imaginary peril, or misled by a childish lust for adventure or romance? Take an old man’s word, in all the upper world there can be no romance like that spread beneath our green-glass dome, and no adventure like that of our golden-illumined ways. Agripides was right, my friends, perhaps more marvelously right than even he could have known; for Atlantis can remain Atlantis only so long as the corrupting influence of the world is excluded; only so long as we are protected from those bickerings, greedy strivings and ruinous stupidities that must beset all men on an earth, which are things too vast to control and too diversified to understand. Need I do more than to remind you that already the first shock of contact with the upper world has almost shattered the foundations of Atlantis, and left us all momentarily in acute danger and fear?” And the old man ceased, and stalked majestically back to his seat, while the nods and murmurs of approval showed how favorably he had been received. Evidently the Submergence Party had scored, and scored heavily; and therefore the time seemed ripe for the address which I had prepared. I had no difficulty in gaining the floor; and after a few remarks expressing my sympathy with the ends if not with the methods of the Submergence Party, I launched into the main body of my speech. “You are all building without ample knowledge,” said I. “And that must necessarily be so, for what can you have learned of the upper world? But it happens that I, thanks to some years of experience, do know a little of the upper world; and it is because of this that I venture to address you on behalf of the policy of Emergence.”