diff options
Diffstat (limited to '43835.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 43835.txt | 5623 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 5623 deletions
diff --git a/43835.txt b/43835.txt deleted file mode 100644 index dbe6a07..0000000 --- a/43835.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5623 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lumen, by Camille Flammarion - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Lumen - -Author: Camille Flammarion - -Release Date: September 28, 2013 [EBook #43835] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUMEN *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Bergquist and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - -LUMEN - - _The One Hundred and Forty-first of the Minor Planets, - situated between Mars and Jupiter, which was discovered - at the Paris Observatory by M. Paul Henry, on the 13th - of January 1875, received the name of LUMEN in honour - of the Author of this Work._ - - - - -LUMEN - - BY - CAMILLE FLAMMARION - - AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE FRENCH - - BY - A. A. M. AND R. M. - - _With portions of the last chapter written specially - for the English Edition_ - - - NEW YORK - DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY - 1897 - - - - - _Copyright, 1897,_ - BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY. - - _Fifty-two thousand copies of the French original - of this volume have been sold_ - - University Press: - JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - FIRST CONVERSATION - - PAGE - RESURRECTIO PRAETERITI 1-63 - - Death--The soul--The hour of death--Separation of the - soul--Sight of the soul in Heaven--The Solar System in - the heavens--The Earth as seen from the heavens--The - star Capella--Velocity of light--The terrestrial planet - seen from afar--The worlds seen from afar--Lumen--Lumen - sees again his own life. - - - SECOND CONVERSATION - - REFLUUM TEMPORIS 64-105 - - Journey on a ray of light--Events - retraced--Re-ascending the Ages--Psychical - optics--Light and sound--Man organised from the - planet--The soul and destiny. - - - THIRD CONVERSATION - - HOMO HOMUNCULUS 106-128 - - The sphere of human observation--Time and space--Events - in space--Time, space, and eternity. - - FOURTH CONVERSATION - - ANTERIORES VITAE 129-196 - - Space and light--The star Gamma in Virgo--The system - of Gamma in Virgo--Former existence--The plurality - of existences--The unknown--The constellations--The - elements--Life on the earth--The process of - alimentation--Nutritive atmospheres--Poetry on the - Earth--A humanity--The organisation of beings--The - development of life--The genealogical tree of life--The - men-plants--Souls and atoms--Other senses--Atoms and - monads. - - - FIFTH CONVERSATION - - INGENIUM AUDAX: NATURA AUDACIOR 197-224 - - A world in Orion--Analysis of the nervous system--The - Commune--Animated molecules--Various forms of - life--Infinite diversity on Sirius--Phosphorescent - passions--Lives too long--Infinite diversity--The - magnifying power of time--A chrono-telescope--Light. - - - - -LUMEN - - - - -FIRST CONVERSATION - -RESURRECTIO PRAETERITI - - -QUAERENS. You promised, dear Lumen, to describe to me that supremest of -moments which immediately succeeds death, and to relate to me how, by -a natural law, singular though it may seem, you lived again your past -life, and penetrated a hitherto-unrevealed mystery. - -LUMEN. Yes, my old friend, I will now keep my word; and I trust that, -thanks to the life-long communion of our souls, you will be able to -understand the phenomenon you deem so strange. - -[Sidenote: Life and death.] - -There are many conceptions which a mortal mind finds difficult to -grasp. Death, which has delivered me from the weak and easily-tired -senses of the body, has not yet touched you with its liberating hand; -you still belong to the living world, and in spite of your isolation -in this retreat of yours amid the royal towers of the Faubourg St. -Jaques, you still belong to the life of Earth, and are occupied with -its petty distinctions. You must not, therefore, be surprised if, -whilst I am explaining to you this mystery, I beg of you to isolate -yourself still further from outer things, and to give me the most -_fixed attention_ of which your mind is capable. - -QUAERENS. My one desire is to listen to your revelations; speak, -therefore, without fear and to the point, and deign to acquaint me with -those impressions, as yet to me unknown, which are experienced upon the -cessation of life. - -LUMEN. From what point do you wish me to begin my recital? - -QUAERENS. If you can recall it, I shall be pleased if you will begin at -the moment when my trembling hands closed your eyes. - -[Sidenote: Death.] - -LUMEN. The separation of the thinking principle from the nervous system -leaves no remembrance. It is as though the impressions made upon the -brain which constitute memory were entirely effaced, to be renewed -afterwards in another form. The first sensation of identity felt -after death resembles that which is felt during life on awakening in -the morning, when still confused with the visions of the night, the -mind, wavering between the past and the future, endeavours to recover -itself, and at the same time to retain the vanishing dreams, the -pictures and events of which are still passing before it. At times when -thus absorbed in the recollection of a delightful dream, the eyelids -close, and in a half slumber the visions reappear. It is thus that our -thinking faculty is divided at death, between a reality that it does -not yet comprehend and a dream which has completely disappeared. The -most conflicting impressions mingle in and confuse the mind, and if, -overwhelmed by perishable feelings, a regret comes into the mind for -the world that has been left behind, a sense of indefinable sadness -weighs upon and darkens the imagination and hinders clearness of vision. - -QUAERENS. Did you feel these sensations immediately after death? - -[Sidenote: No such thing as death.] - -[Sidenote: Not death, but change.] - -LUMEN. After death? There is no such thing as death. What you call -death--the separation of the body from the soul--is not, strictly -speaking, effected in a material form like the chemical separation of -a combination of elements such as one sees in the world of matter. One -is no more conscious of this final separation, which seems to you so -cruel, than the new-born babe is aware of his birth. We are born into -the heavenly life as unconsciously as we were born into the earthly; -only the soul, no longer enveloped by its bodily covering, acquires -more rapidly the consciousness of its individuality and of its powers. -This faculty of perception varies essentially between one soul and -another. There are those who, during their earthly life, never lift -their souls toward heaven, and never feel a desire to penetrate the -laws of creation; these, being still dominated by fleshly appetites, -remain long in a troubled and semi-conscious state. There are others -whose aspirations have happily flown upwards towards the eternal -heights; to these the moment of separation comes with calmness and -peace. They know that progress is the law of being, and that the -life to come will be better than that which they have quitted. They -follow, step by step, that lethargy which reaches at last to the -heart, and when, slowly and insensibly, the last pulsation ceases, -the departed are already above the body whose falling asleep they -have been watching. Freeing themselves from the magnetic bonds, they -feel themselves swiftly borne, by an unknown force, toward the point -of creation, to which their sentiments, their aspirations, and their -hopes have drawn them. - -QUAERENS. The conversation into which I have drawn you, my dear master, -recalls to my memory the dialogues of Plato on the immortality of the -soul; and as Phaedrus asked his master, Socrates, on the day he had -to drink the hemlock in obedience to the iniquitous sentence of the -Athenians, I ask you--you who have passed the dread boundary--what is -the essential difference which distinguishes the soul from the body, -since the latter dies, whilst the former cannot die? - -[Sidenote: Life viewed scientifically.] - -LUMEN. I shall not imitate Socrates by giving a metaphysical answer to -this question, nor shall I, with the theologians, reply in a dogmatic -way; but I will give you instead a scientific answer, for you, like -myself, accept only as of real value the results of positive knowledge. - -[Sidenote: Renewal of the body.] - -[Sidenote: Atoms and molecules.] - -We find in the human being three principles, _different, and yet in -complete union_: 1. The body; 2. The vital energy; 3. The soul. I -name them thus in order that I may follow the _a posteriori_ method. -The body is an association of molecules which are themselves formed -of groups of atoms. The atoms are inert, passive, immutable, and -indestructible. They enter into the organism by means of respiration -and alimentation; they renew the tissues incessantly, and are -continually replaced by others, and when cast out from the body go to -form other bodies. In a few months the human body is entirely renewed, -and neither in the blood, nor in the flesh, nor in the brain, nor in -the bones, does an atom remain of those which constituted the body -a few months before. The atoms travel without ceasing from body to -body, chiefly by the grand medium of the atmosphere. The molecule of -iron is the same whether it be incorporated in the blood which throbs -in the temples of an illustrious man, or form part of a fragment of -rusty iron; the molecule of oxygen is the same in the blush raised by -a loving glance, or when in union with hydrogen it forms the flame of -one of the thousand jets of gas that illuminate Paris by night, or when -it falls from the clouds in the shape of a drop of water. The bodies -of the living are formed of the ashes of the dead, and if all the dead -were to be resuscitated, the last comers might find the material for -their bodies wanting, owing to their predecessors having appropriated -all that was available. Moreover, during life many exchanges are made -between enemies and friends, between men, animals, and plants, which -amaze the analyst who looks at them with the eyes of science. That -which you breathe, eat, and drink, has been breathed, drunk, and eaten -millions of times before. Such is the human body, an assemblage of -molecules of matter which are constantly being renewed. The principle -by which these molecules are grouped according to a certain form so as -to produce an organism, is the vital energy of life. The inert, passive -atoms, incapable of guiding themselves, are ruled by vital force, which -calls them, makes them come, takes hold of them, places and disposes of -them according to certain laws, and forms this marvellously-organised -body, which the anatomist and the physiologist contemplate with wonder. - -[Sidenote: Atoms indestructible.] - -[Sidenote: Vital energy or force in nature and man.] - -[Sidenote: Vital force has limits.] - -The atoms are indestructible; vital force is not: atoms have no age; -vital force is born, grows old, and dies. Why is an octogenarian -older than a youth of twenty, since the atoms of which his body is -composed have only belonged to his frame a few months, and since -atoms are neither old nor young? The constituent elements of his -body when analysed have no age, and what is old in him is solely his -vital energy, which is but one of the forms of the general energy of -the universe, and which in his case has become exhausted. Life is -transmitted by generation, and sustains the body instinctively, and, -as it were, unconsciously. It has a beginning and an end. It is an -unconscious physical force, which organises and maintains the body -of which it is the preserving element. The soul is an intellectual, -thinking, immaterial being. The world of ideas in which the soul lives -is not the world of matter. It has no age, it does not grow old. It is -not changed in a few months like the body; for after months, years, -dozens of years, we feel that we have preserved our identity--that -our _ego_, ourself, is always ours. On the other hand, if the soul did -not exist, and if the faculty of thinking were only a function of the -brain, we should no longer be able to say that _we have_ a body, for -it would be our body, our brain, _that would have us_. Besides, from -time to time our consciousness would change; we should no longer have -a feeling of identity, and we should no longer be responsible for the -resolutions, secreted by the molecules, which had passed through the -brain many months before. The soul is not the vital force; for that -is limited and is transmitted by generation, has no consciousness of -itself, is born, grows up, declines, and dies. All these states are -opposed to those of the soul, which is immaterial, unlimited, not -transmissible, conscious. - -[Sidenote: The soul has no limits.] - -The development of the vital force may be represented geometrically -by a spindle, which swells out gradually to the middle, and decreases -again to a point. When the soul reaches the middle of life, it does -not become less, like a spindle, and dwindle down to the end, but -follows its parabolic curve into the infinite. Moreover, the mode of -existence of the soul is essentially different from that of the vital -force. It lives in a spiritual way. The conceptions of the soul, such -as the sentiments of justice or injustice, of truth or falsehood, of -good and evil, as well as knowledge, mathematics, analysis, synthesis, -contemplation, admiration, love, affection or hatred, esteem or -contempt--in a word, the occupations of the soul, whatever they may be, -are of an intellectual and moral order, which neither the atoms nor -the physical forces can apprehend, and which have as real an existence -as the physical order of things. The chemical or mechanical work of -cerebral cells, however subtle they may be, can never produce an -intellectual judgment, such, for instance, as the knowledge of the fact -that four multiplied by four is equal to sixteen, or that the three -angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles. - -[Sidenote: The soul survives the body.] - -These three elements of the human being are reproduced in the universe -at large: 1. The atoms, the material world inert, passive; 2. The -physical forces which regulate the world, and which are continually -transformed into one another or into others; 3. God, the eternal and -infinite spirit, the _intellectual_ organiser of the _mathematical_ -laws which these forces obey, the unknown being in whom reside the -supreme principles of truth, of beauty, of goodness. The soul can be -attached to the body only by means of the vital force. When life is -extinct the soul naturally separates from the organism and ceases to -have any immediate connection with time and space. After death the soul -remains in that part of the universe where the Earth happens to be at -the moment of its separation from the body. You know that the Earth is -a planet in the heavens like Venus and Jupiter. The Earth continues to -run in its orbit at the rate of 12,700 kilometres an hour, so that the -soul an hour after death is at that distance from its body because of -its immobility in space, when no longer subject to the laws of matter. -Thus we are in the heavens immediately after death, where, however, we -have also been during the whole of our lives; but we then had weight -which held us to the Earth. I must add, however, that as a rule the -soul takes some time to disengage itself from the nervous organism, -and that it occasionally remains many days, and even many months, -magnetically connected with the old body, which it is reluctant to -forsake. Moreover, it has special faculties by means of which it can -transport itself from one point of space to another. - -QUAERENS. Now for the first time I am able to understand death as a -natural process, and to comprehend the individual existence of the -soul, its independence of the body and of life, its personality, its -survival, and its obvious position in the universe. This synthetic -theory has prepared me, I hope, to understand and appreciate your -revelation. But you said that a singular event struck you on your -entrance into the eternal life; at what moment did that take place? - -[Sidenote: The hour of death.] - -[Sidenote: Last impressions of the parting soul.] - -[Sidenote: Separation of the soul.] - -LUMEN. Well, my dear friend, let me go on with my story. Midnight -had just struck, you will remember, on the sonorous bell of my old -timepiece, and the full Moon shed its pale light on my dying bed, -when my daughter, my grandson, and other friends withdrew to take -some rest. You wished to remain with me, and you promised my daughter -not to leave me till the morning. I would thank you for your warm and -tender devotion if we were not so truly brothers. We had been alone -about half-an-hour, for the star of night was declining, when I took -your hand and told you that life had already abandoned my extremities. -You assured me that it was not so; but I was calmly observing my -physiological state, and I knew that in a few moments I should cease -to breathe. You moved gently towards the room where my children were -sleeping, but concentrating my powers by an extreme effort I stopped -you. Returning with tears in your eyes, you said to me, "You are right; -you have given them your last wishes, and to-morrow morning will be -time enough to send for them." There was in these words a contradiction -that I felt without expressing it to you. Do you remember that then I -asked you to open the window. It was a beautiful night in October; more -beautiful than those of the Scottish bards sung by Ossian. Not far from -the horizon, just level with my eyes, I could distinguish the Pleiades, -veiled by mist, whilst Castor and Pollux floated triumphantly a little -higher up. Above, forming a triangle with them, shone the beautiful -star with rays of gold, which, on maps of the zodiac, is marked -"Capella." You see how clearly I remember it all. When you had opened -the window the perfume of the roses, sleeping under the wings of night, -ascended upwards to me and mingled with the silent rays of the stars. -I cannot express to you how sweet were these last impressions that I -received from the Earth; language fails me to describe what I felt. In -the hours of my sweetest happiness, of my tenderest love, I never felt -such an intensity of joy, so glorious a serenity, such real bliss, as -I experienced then in the ecstatic enjoyment of the perfumed breath -of the flowers and the tender gleam of the distant stars.... When you -bent over me I seemed to return to the outer world, and with my hands -clasped over my breast, my sight and my thoughts, united in prayer, -together took flight into space. Before my ears closed for ever I heard -the last words as they fell from my lips: "Adieu! my old friend, I feel -that death is bearing me away to those unknown regions where I trust we -shall one day meet. When the dawn effaces these stars, only my mortal -body will be here. Repeat then to my daughter my last wish: to bring up -her children in the contemplation of the eternal goodness." And whilst -you wept, as you knelt by my bed, I added, "Recite the beautiful -prayer of Jesus," and you began with trembling voice, "Our Father, ... -Forgive us ... our trespasses, ... as we ... forgive those ... that ... -trespass ... against us...." These were the last thoughts that passed -through my soul by means of the senses; my sight grew dim as I looked -at the star Capella, and immediately I became unconscious. - -[Sidenote: Time does not exist outside the Earth] - -Years, days, and hours are constituted by the movements of the Earth. -In space, outside these movements time _does not exist_; indeed, it is -impossible to have any notion of time. I think, however, that the event -I am now going to describe to you occurred on the very day of my death, -for, as you will see presently, my body was not yet buried when this -vision appeared to my soul. - -[Sidenote: Sight of the soul in the heavens.] - -As I was born in 1793, I was then, in 1864, in my seventy-second year, -so I was not a little surprised to find myself animated by a vivacity -of mind as ardent as in the prime of my life. I had no body, and yet -I was not incorporeal; I felt and saw that I was constituted of a -substance which, however, bore no analogy to the material form of -terrestrial bodies. I know not how I traversed the celestial spaces, -but by some unknown force I soon found that I was approaching a -magnificent golden sun, the splendour of which did not, however, -dazzle me. I perceived that it was surrounded by a number of worlds, -each enveloped in one or more rings. By the same unconscious force -I was driven towards one of these rings, and was a spectator of the -marvellous phenomena of light, for the starry spaces were crossed -everywhere by rainbow bridges. I lost sight of the golden sun, and -I found myself in a sort of night coloured with hues of a thousand -shades. The sight of my soul far exceeded that of my body, and, to -my surprise, this power of sight appeared to be subject to my will. -The sight of the soul is so marvellous that I must not stop to-day to -describe it. Suffice it to say that instead of seeing the stars in the -heavens as you see them on the Earth, I could distinguish clearly the -worlds revolving round each other; and strange to say, when I desired -to examine more closely these worlds, and to avoid the brilliance of -the central sun, it disappeared from my sight, and left me under the -most favourable conditions for observing any one of them I wished.[1] -Further, when my attention was concentrated on one particular world, -I could distinguish its continents and its seas, its clouds and its -rivers, although they did not appear to become larger, as objects seen -through a telescope do. I saw any special thing that I fixed my sight -upon, such as a town or a tract of country, with perfect clearness and -distinctness. - -[Sidenote: The soul clothed in a new body.] - -When I reached this ringed world I found myself clothed in a form like -that of its inhabitants. It appeared that my soul had attracted to -itself the constituent atoms of a new body. Living bodies on the Earth -are composed of molecules which do not touch one another, and which are -constantly renewed by respiration, by nutrition, and by assimilation. -The envelope of the soul is formed more quickly in that far-off world. -I felt myself more alive than the supernatural beings whose passions -and sorrows Dante celebrates. One of the special faculties of this new -world is that of seeing very far. - -QUAERENS. But pardon a rather simple remark. Is it not likely that -the worlds or planets that revolve round each star must mingle in a -distant view with their central sun; for instance, when you see our Sun -from afar with the planets of his system, is it possible for you to -distinguish our Earth amongst them? - -[Sidenote: The soul's powers of vision.] - -LUMEN. You have raised the single geometrical objection which seems -to contradict all previous experience. In point of fact, at a certain -distance the planets are absorbed in their suns, and our terrestrial -eyes would have difficulty in distinguishing them. You know that -from Saturn the Earth is invisible. But you must remember that this -discrepancy arises as much from the imperfection of our sight as from -the geometrical law of the decrease of surfaces. Now, in the world -on which I had just landed, the inhabitants are not incarnated in a -gross form, as we are here below, but are free beings, and endowed -with eminently powerful faculties of perception. They can, as I have -told you, _isolate_ the source of light from the object lighted, and, -moreover, they can perceive distinctly details which at that distance -would be absolutely hidden from the eyes of those dwelling upon this -Earth. - -QUAERENS. Do they make use, then, of instruments superior to our -telescopes? - -LUMEN. Well, if, in order to realise this marvellous faculty, you find -it easier to suppose that they possess such instruments, you may do so, -in theory. Imagine a telescope which, by a succession of lenses and -an arrangement of diaphragms, brings near in succession these distant -worlds, and isolates each one in the field of view in order to study it -separately. I should also inform you that these beings are endowed with -a special sense by which they can regulate at will the powers of their -marvellous organs of sight. - -And you must further understand that this power and this regulation -of vision are natural in those worlds, and not supernatural. In order -to conceive of the faculties possessed by these ultra-terrestrial -beings, reflect for a moment upon the eyes of some insects--of those, -for instance, which have the power to draw in, to lengthen out, or to -flatten the crystalline lens so as to make it magnify in different -degrees; or of those which can concentrate on the field of view a -multitude of eyes in order to bring them to bear upon the desired -object. - -QUAERENS. Yes, I can imagine it to be possible. Then you are able to see -the Earth, and to distinguish from above even the towns and villages of -our lower world? - -[Sidenote: Lumen on a star world.] - -LUMEN. Let me proceed with my description. I found myself then upon -the ring-shaped world, the size of which I told you is great enough -to make two hundred worlds like yours. The mountain on which I stood -was covered with trees woven into arboreal palaces. These fairy-like -chateaux seemed to me either to grow naturally, or else to be produced -by a skilful arrangement of branches and of tall flowering plants. The -town, where I entered it, was thickly peopled, and on the summit of the -mountain I noticed a group of old men, twenty or thirty in number, who -were looking with the most fixed and anxious attention at a beautiful -star in the southern constellation of the Altar on the confines of the -Milky Way. They did not observe my arrival amongst them, so absorbed -were they in observing and examining this star, or perhaps one of the -worlds belonging to its system. - -[Sidenote: Lumen learns the language of spirits.] - -As for myself, I became aware, on arriving in this atmosphere, that -I was clothed in a body resembling that of its inhabitants, and to -my still greater surprise I heard these old men speaking of the -Earth--yes, of the Earth in that universal spirit-language which all -beings comprehend from the seraphim to the trees of the forest. And not -only were they talking about the Earth, but about France. "What can -be the meaning of these legal massacres?" they said. "Is it possible -that brute force reigns supreme there? Will civil war decimate these -people, and will rivers of blood run in this capital, at one time so -magnificent and so gay?" - -I could not follow the drift of this speech, I who had just come from -the Earth with the swiftness of thought, and who but yesterday had -breathed in the heart of this tranquil and peaceful capital. I joined -the group, fixing my eyes, as they did, on the beautiful star, and I -tried at the same time to understand what they were talking about. -Presently I saw to the left of the star a pale-blue sphere--that was -the Earth. - -[Sidenote: The Solar System in the heavens.] - -You are aware, my friend, that, notwithstanding the apparent paradox, -the Earth is really a star in the sky, as I reminded you just now. Seen -from one of the stars comparatively near to your system, it appears -to the spiritual sight, of which I have told you, like a family of -stars composed of eight principal worlds crowding round the Sun, which -is itself reduced to a star. Jupiter and Saturn first arrest the -attention, because of their great size; then one notices Uranus and -Neptune, and at length, quite near to the Sun-star, Mars and the Earth. -Venus is very difficult to make out. Mercury remains invisible because -of its too great proximity to the Sun. Such is the appearance of the -planetary system in the heavens. - -[Sidenote: The Earth as seen from the heavens.] - -My attention was fixed exclusively on the little terrestrial sphere -by the side of which I perceived the Moon. I soon remarked the white -snow of the North Pole, the yellow triangle of Africa, and the -outlines of the Ocean. Whilst my attention was concentrated on our -planet, the Sun-star became eclipsed before my eyes. Then I was able -to distinguish, in the midst of an expanse of azure, a brown cleft or -hollow, and pursuing my investigations I discovered a town in the midst -of this cleft. I had no difficulty in recognising that this continental -hollow was France, and that the town was Paris. The first sign by which -I recognised it was the silver ribbon of the Seine, that describes so -many graceful convolutions to the west of the great town. By the use of -my new optical organs I could see it in detail. At the eastern side of -the city I saw the nave and towers of Notre Dame in the form of a Latin -cross. The Boulevards wound round the north. To the south I recognised -the gardens of the Luxembourg and the Observatory. The cupola of the -Pantheon covered like a grey hood the Mount of Ste. Genevieve. To the -west the grand avenue of the Champs-Elysees formed a straight line. -Farther on I could distinguish the Bois de Boulogne, the environs of -St. Cloud, the Wood of Meudon, Sevres, Ville d'Avray, and Montretout. - -[Sidenote: Paris.] - -The whole scene was lighted up by splendid sunshine; but, strange to -say, the hills were covered with snow as in the month of January, -whilst I had left it in October when the country was perfectly green. -I was fully convinced that I was looking at Paris; but as I could -not understand the exclamations of my companions, I endeavoured to -ascertain more details. - -[Sidenote: Old Paris.] - -[Sidenote: No Arc de Triomphe visible.] - -[Sidenote: No Column Vendome.] - -[Sidenote: No obelisk in the Place de la Concorde.] - -My eyes were fixed with most interest upon the Observatory. It was my -favourite quarter, and for forty years I had scarcely left it for more -than a few months. Judge, therefore, of my surprise when I came to look -more closely at it to find that the magnificent avenue of chestnuts -between the Luxembourg and the Observatory was nowhere to be seen, -that in its place were the gardens of convents. My indignation as an -artist was aroused against these municipal misdeeds, but it was quickly -suspended by still stranger feelings. I beheld a monastery in the midst -of our beautiful orchard. The Boulevard St. Michel did not exist, nor -did the Rue de Medici; instead I saw a confused mass of little streets, -and I seemed to recognise the former Rue de l'Est and the Place St. -Michel, where an ancient fountain used to supply water to the people -of the faubourg, and I made out a number of narrow lanes which existed -long ago. The cupolas and the two side wings of the Observatory had -disappeared. By degrees, as I continued my observations, I discovered -that Paris was indeed much changed. The Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, -and all the brilliant avenues that meet there, had disappeared. There -was no Boulevard de Sebastopol, no Station de l'Est, nor any other -station, and no railway. The tower of St. Jaques was enclosed in a -court of old houses, and the Column of Victory was reached that way. -The Column of the Bastile was also absent, for I should easily have -recognised the figure upon it. An equestrian statue filled the place -of the Vendome Column. The Rue Castiglione was an old green convent. -The Rue de Rivoli had disappeared. The Louvre was either unfinished or -partly pulled down. Between the Court of Francis I. and the Tuileries -there were tumble-down old hovels. There was no obelisk in the Place -de la Concorde; but I saw a moving crowd, though I was unable at first -to distinguish the figures. The Madeleine and the Rue Royal were -invisible. Behind the Isle of St. Louis I saw a small island. Instead -of the outer Boulevards there was only an old wall, and the whole was -enclosed by fortifications. In short, although I recognised the capital -of France by some familiar buildings, I was aware of a marvellous -metamorphosis, which had completely changed its aspect. - -[Sidenote: Time merely relative.] - -At first I fancied that, in place of having just come from the Earth, -I must have been many years _en route_. As the notion of time is -essentially relative, and there is nothing real or absolute in the -measure of duration, having once left the Earth, I had lost all -standard of measure, and I said to myself that years, centuries indeed, -might have passed over my head without my perceiving it, and that -the time had seemed short to me because of the great interest I had -taken in my aerial voyage--a commonplace idea which shows how merely -relative is our notion of time. Not having any means of assuring myself -of the facts of the case, I should undoubtedly have concluded that I -was separated by many centuries from the terrestrial life which was -now going on before my eyes in Paris, and I imagined that I saw the -period of the twentieth or twenty-first century until I penetrated -more deeply into the details of the life picture and examined all its -features. Eventually I succeeded in identifying the aspect of the town, -and I gradually recognised the sites of the streets and of the public -buildings which I had known in my early youth. The Hotel de Ville -appeared to be decorated with flags, and I could distinguish the square -central dome of the Tuileries. - -[Sidenote: Lumen sees a scene in his past life.] - -A little further examination recalled everything to me; and then I saw, -in an old convent garden, a summer-house which made me tremble with -joy. It was in that spot that I met in my youth the woman who loved me -so deeply, my Sylvia, so tender and so devoted, who gave up everything -to unite her life to mine. I saw the little cupola of the terrace where -we loved to saunter in the evenings and to study the constellations. -Oh, with what joy I greeted those promenades where we had walked, -keeping step with one another, those avenues where we took refuge from -the curious eyes of intruders! You can fancy how, as I looked at this -summer-house, the sight of it alone was enough to assure me, absolutely -and convincingly, that I had before my eyes not, as it was natural to -suppose, the Paris of long _after my death_, but in reality the Paris -_of the past_, old Paris of the beginning of this century or of the -end of last century. But, in spite of all, you can easily imagine that -I could scarcely believe my eyes. It seemed so much more natural to -think that Paris had grown old and had suffered these transformations -since my departure from the Earth--an interval of time absolutely -unknown to me. It was so much easier to think that I beheld the city -of the future. I continued my observations carefully, in order to -ascertain if it was really the old Paris, now partly demolished, that -I was looking at, or if, by a phenomenon still more incredible, it was -another Paris, another France, another world. - - -II - -[Sidenote: In the star Capella.] - -QUAERENS. What an extraordinary discovery for an analytical mind like -yours, dear Lumen! By what means did you satisfy yourself that your -conclusions were correct? - -[Sidenote: The French Terror visible in Capella.] - -[Sidenote: Old men in Capella watch the doings on the Earth.] - -LUMEN. While I was gradually arriving at the conviction of which I -have told you, the old men around me on the mountain continued their -conversation. Suddenly the oldest of them, a venerable Nestor whose -aspect commanded both admiration and respect, called out, in a loud -and mournful voice "On your knees, my brethren; let us pray for -forbearance to the universal God. That world, that nation, that city -continues to revel in blood. A fresh head, that of a king this time, -is about to fall." His companions seemed to understand, for they -knelt down on the mountain, and prostrated their white faces to the -ground. For myself, I had not yet succeeded in distinguishing men in -the streets and squares of Paris, and not being able to verify the -observations of these old men, I remained standing, but I pursued -my examination of the scene before me carefully. "Stranger," said -the old man to me, "do you blame the action of your brothers since -you do not join your prayers to theirs?" "Senator," I replied, "I -neither approve nor blame what I do not comprehend. Having only just -arrived on this mountain, I do not know the cause of your righteous -indignation." I then drew near the old man, and while his companions -were rising and entering into conversation in groups, I asked him -to describe the situation to me. He informed me that the order of -spirits inhabiting this world are gifted by intuition with the power -of seeing and apprehending events in the neighbouring worlds, and -that they each possess a sort of magnetic relation with the stars and -systems around them. These neighbour-worlds, or stars, are twelve or -fifteen in number. Outside that limit the perceptions become confused. -They have therefore a vague but distinct knowledge of the state of -humanity in the planets of our Sun, and of the relative elevation in -the intellectual and moral order of their inhabitants. Moreover, when -a great disturbance takes place, either in the physical or the moral -realm, they feel a sort of inner agitation, like that of a musical -chord which vibrates in unison with another chord at a distance. - -For a year (a year of this world is equal to ten of our years) they had -felt themselves drawn by special attraction towards the terrestrial -planet, and had observed with unusual interest and anxiety the march -of events in that world. They had beheld the end of a reign and the -dawn of glorious liberty, the conquest of the rights of man and the -assertion of the great principles of human dignity. Then they had seen -the cause sacred to liberty placed in peril by those who should have -been the first to defend it, and brute force substituted for reason and -justice. - -I saw that he was describing the great Revolution of 1789, and the fall -of the old political world before the new regime. Very mournfully -they had followed the events of the Reign of Terror and the tyranny of -that bloody time. They trembled for the future of the Earth, and felt -doubtful of the progress of a humanity which, when emancipated, so soon -lost the treasure it had just acquired. I took care not to let the -senator know that I had just arrived from the Earth myself, and that I -had lived there seventy-two years. I do not know whether he was aware -of this, but I was so much surprised by this vision before me that it -completely absorbed my mind and I did not think of myself. - -[Sidenote: Lumen witnesses the scenes of the French Revolution.] - -At last my sight was fully developed, and I perceived the spectacle -in all its details. I could distinguish, in the midst of the Place -de la Concorde, a scaffold, surrounded by a formidable array of war, -drums, cannon, and a motley crowd armed with pikes. A cart, led by -a man in red, bore the remains of Louis XVI. in the direction of -the Faubourg St. Honore. An intoxicated mob lifted their fists to -heaven. Some horsemen, sabre in hand, mournfully followed. Towards the -Champs-Elysees there were ditches into which the curious stumbled. But -the agitation was concentrated in this region. It did not extend into -the town, which appeared dead and deserted; the terror had thrown it -into a state of lethargy. - -I was not present during the events of 1793, since that was the year of -my birth, and I felt an inexpressible interest in being thus a witness -of these scenes of which I had read in history. I have often discussed -and debated the vote of the Convention, but I confess to you I see no -excuse of state in the execution of such men as Lavoisier, the creator -of chemistry, Bailly, the historian of astronomy, Andre Chenier, the -sweet poet, or the condemnation of Condorcet, the philosopher. These -have roused my indignation much more than the punishment of Louis XVI. -I was intensely interested at being thus a witness of this vanished -epoch. But you may imagine how much greater was my surprise, and how -much more I was astonished, _that I beheld in_ 1864 _events actually -present before me which had taken place at the end of the last century_. - -QUAERENS. In truth, it seems to me that this feeling of its -impossibility ought to have awakened doubt in you. Visions are -essentially illusory. We cannot admit their reality even though we see -them. - -LUMEN. Yes, my friend, it was as you say, impossible! Now can you -understand my experience in seeing with my own eyes this paradox -realised? The common saying is, "One cannot believe one's own eyes." -That was just my position. It was impossible to deny what I saw, and -equally impossible to admit it. - -QUAERENS. But was it not a conception of your own mind, a creation of -your imagination, or perhaps a reminiscence of your memory? Are you -sure it was a reality, not a strange reflection from your memory? - -[Sidenote: Not a paradox.] - -LUMEN. That was my first idea; but it was so obvious that I saw before -me the Paris of '93, and the events of January 21, that I could -no longer be in any doubt about it. Besides, this explanation was -anticipated by the fact that the old men of the mountain had preceded -me in observing these phenomena, and they had seen, and analysed, and -conversed on them as actual facts without knowing anything of the -history of our world, and were quite unaware of my knowledge of that -history. Further, we had before our eyes _a present fact_, not a past -event. - -QUAERENS. But, on the other hand, if the past can be thus merged into -the present, if reality and vision can be allied in this way, if -persons long since dead can be seen again acting on the scene of life, -if new structures and metamorphoses in a city like Paris can disappear -and give place to the aspect of the city as it was formerly--in short, -if the present can vanish and the past be re-created, what certainty -can we have of anything? What becomes of the science of observation? -What becomes of deductions and theories? On what solid foundation -can we base our knowledge? If these things are true, ought we not -henceforth to doubt everything, or else to believe everything? - -[Sidenote: A reality.] - -LUMEN. Yes, my friend, these considerations and many others occupied -my mind and tormented me, but they did not do away with the reality -which I was observing. When I had assured myself that we had _present_ -before our eyes the events of the year 1793, it immediately occurred -to me that science, instead of conflicting with these facts, ought to -furnish an explanation of them, for two truths can never be opposed to -one another. I investigated the physical laws, and I discovered the -solution of the mystery. - -QUAERENS. What! the facts were real? - -[Sidenote: Explanation of the apparent paradox.] - -[Sidenote: Lumen ascertains the place where he was in space.] - -LUMEN. They were not only real, but comprehensible and capable of -demonstration. You shall have an astronomical explanation of them. -In the first place, I examined the position of the Earth in the -constellation of the Altar as I have told you; I took the bearings of -my position relatively to the Polar star and to the Zodiac. I remarked -that the constellations were not very different from those we see from -the Earth, and that except in the case of a few particular stars, -their positions were evidently the same. Orion still reigned in the -ultra-equatorial region, the Great Bear pursuing his circular course -still pointing to the north. In comparing the apparent movements, and -co-ordinating them scientifically, I calculated that the point where -I saw the group of the Sun, the Earth, and the planets, marked the -17th hour of right ascension, that is to say, about the 256th degree, -or nearly so. I had no instrument to take exact measurements. I -observed, in the second place, that it was on the 44th degree from the -South Pole. I made these observations to ascertain the star on which -I then was, and I was led to conclude that I was on a star situated -on the 76th degree of right ascension, and the 46th degree of north -declination. On the other hand, I knew from the words of the old man -that the star on which we were was not far from our Sun, since he -considered it to be one of the neighbouring stars. From these data I -had no difficulty in recalling the star that stands in the position I -had determined. One only answered to it, that of the first magnitude, -Alpha in the constellation of Auriga, named also _Capella_, or the -_Goat_. - -There was no doubt about this. Thus I was certain that I was on one of -the planetary worlds of the sun Capella. From thence our Sun looks like -a simple star, and appears in perspective to be in the constellation of -the Altar, just opposite that of Auriga, as seen from the Earth. - -Then I tried to remember what was the parallax of this star. I recalled -that a friend of mine, a Russian astronomer, had made a calculation, -which had been confirmed, of this parallax. It was proved to be -0,''046.--When I had thus solved the mystery my heart beat with joy. -Every geometrician knows that parallax indicates mathematically the -distance in units of the magnitude employed in the calculation. I -sought then to recall exactly the distance which separated this star -from the Earth, in order to prove the accuracy of the calculation. I -only needed to find out what number corresponded to 0,''046.[2] - -[Sidenote: The velocity of light.] - -Expressed in millions of leagues, this number is 170,392,000, and so, -from the star on which I was, the Earth was distant 170 billions 392 -thousand millions of leagues. The principle was thus established, -and the problem was three parts solved. Now, here is the main point, -to which I call your special attention, for you will find in it an -explanation of the most marvellous realities. Light, you know, does -not cross instantaneously from one place to another, but in successive -waves. If you throw a stone into a pool of tranquil water, a series of -undulations form around the point where the stone fell. In the same -way, sound undulates in the air when passing from one point to another, -and thus, also, light travels in space--it is transmitted in successive -undulations. The light of a star takes a certain time to reach the -Earth, and this time naturally depends on the distance which separates -the star from the Earth. - -[Sidenote: How the heavenly bodies are seen.] - -Sound travels 340 metres in a second. A cannon shot is heard -immediately by those who fire it, a second later by persons who are -at a distance of 340 metres, in three seconds by those who are a -kilometre off, twelve seconds after the shot at four kilometres. It -takes two minutes to reach those who are ten times farther off, and -those who live at a distance of a hundred kilometres hear this human -thunder in five minutes. Light travels with much greater swiftness, -but it is not transmitted instantaneously, as the ancients supposed. -It travels at the rate of 300,000 kilometres per second, and if it -could revolve, might encircle the Earth eight times in a second. Light -occupies one second and a quarter to come from the Moon to the Earth, -eight minutes and thirteen seconds to come from the Sun, forty-two -minutes to come from Jupiter, two hours to come from Uranus, and four -hours to come from Neptune. Therefore, we see the heavenly bodies not -as they are at the moment we observe them, but as they were when the -luminous ray which reaches us left them. If a volcano were to burst -forth in eruption on one of the worlds I have named, we should not see -the flames in the Moon till a second and a quarter had elapsed, if in -Jupiter not till forty-two minutes, in Uranus two hours after, and we -should not see it in Neptune till four hours after the eruption. The -distances are incomparably more vast outside our planetary system, and -the light is still longer in reaching us. Thus, a luminous ray coming -from the star nearest to us, Alpha, in Centaurus, takes four years in -coming. A ray from Sirius is nearly ten years in crossing the abyss -which separates us from that sun. The star Capella, being the distance -above mentioned from the Earth, it is easy to calculate, at the rate -of 300,000 kilometres the second, what time is needed to cross this -distance. The calculation amounts to seventy-one years, eight months, -and twenty-four days. The luminous ray, therefore, which came from -Capella to the Earth, traversed space without interruption seventy-one -years, eight months, and twenty-four days before it was visible on the -Earth. In like manner, the ray of light which leaves the Earth can only -arrive at Capella in the same period of time. - -[Sidenote: Time occupied in the transmission of light.] - -QUAERENS. If the luminous ray which comes from that star takes nearly -seventy-two years to reach us, it follows that we see the star as it -was nearly seventy-two years ago? - -LUMEN. You are quite right, and this is the fact that I want you take -note of specially. - -[Sidenote: A belated courier.] - -QUAERENS. In other words, the ray of light is like a courier who brings -despatches from a distant country, and having been nearly seventy-two -years on the way, his news is of events that occurred at the time of -his departure seventy-two years ago. - -LUMEN. You have divined the mystery. Your illustration shows me that -you have lifted the veil which shrouded it. In order to be still more -exact, the light represents a courier who brings, not written news, but -photographs, or, strictly speaking, _the real aspect_ of the country -from whence he came. We see this living picture such as it appeared, -in all its aspects, at the moment when the luminous rays shot forth -from the distant orb. Nothing is more simple, nothing more indubitable. -When we examine the surface of a star with a telescope we see, not the -actual surface as it was at the time of our observation, but such as it -was when the light was emitted from that surface. - -QUAERENS. This being so, if a star, the light of which takes ten years -to reach us, were to be annihilated to-day, we should continue to see -it for ten years, since its last ray would not reach us before ten -years had elapsed. - -[Sidenote: We see the past, not the present, aspect of the stars.] - -LUMEN. It is precisely so. In short, the rays of light that proceed -from the stars do not reach us instantaneously, but occupy a certain -time in crossing the distance which separates us from them, and show us -those stars not as they are now, but such as they were at the moment -in which those rays set out to transmit the aspect of the stars to -us. Thus we behold a wondrous _transformation of the past into the -present_. In the star we observe we see the past, which has already -disappeared, while to the observer it is the present, the actual. -Strictly speaking, the past of the star is positively the present of -the observer. As the aspect of the worlds change from year to year, -almost from day to day, one can imagine these aspects emerging into -space and advancing into the infinite, and thus revealing their phases -in the sight of far-distant spectators. Each aspect or appearance is -followed by another, and so on in endless sequence. Thus a series of -undulations bears from afar the past history of the worlds which the -observer sees in its various phases as they successively reach him. -The events which we see in the stars at present are already past, and -that which is actually happening there we cannot as yet see. Realise -to yourself, my friend, this presentation of an actual fact, for it -is of importance to you to comprehend the precession of the waves of -light and to understand the essential nature of this undoubted truth. -The appearance of things, borne to us by light, shows us those things -not as they are at present, but as they were in that period of the past -which preceded the interval of time needed for the light to traverse -the distance which separates us from those events. - -We do not see any of the stars such as they are, but such as they were -when the luminous rays that reach us left them. - -[Sidenote: The planet Earth as seen from afar.] - -_It is not the actual condition of the heavens that is visible, but -their past history._ Moreover, there are distant stars which have been -extinct for ten thousand years, but which we can see still, because -the rays of light from them had set out before they were extinguished. -Some of the double stars, the nature and movements of which we seek -with care and toil, ceased to exist long before astronomers began to -make observations. If the visible heavens were to be annihilated to-day -we should still see stars to-morrow, even next year, and for a hundred -years, a thousand years, and even for fifty and a hundred thousand -years, or more, with the exception only of the nearest stars, which -would disappear successively as the time needed for their luminous rays -to reach us expired. Alpha of Centaur would go out first, in four -years, Sirius in ten years, and so on. - -Now, my friend, you can easily apply a scientific theory in explanation -of these strange facts of which I was witness. If from the Earth one -sees the star Capella, not as it is at the moment of observation, but -as it was seventy-two years before, in the same way from Capella one -would see the Earth as it was seventy-two years earlier, for light -takes the same time to traverse the distance either way. - -QUAERENS. Master, I have followed your explanation attentively. But, I -ask you, does the Earth shine like a star? Surely she is not luminous? - -[Sidenote: The other planets seen from afar.] - -LUMEN. She reflects in space the light of the Sun; the greater the -distance the more our planet resembles a star. All the light that -radiates from the Sun on its surface is condensed into a disc that -becomes smaller and smaller. Seen from the Moon our Earth appears -fourteen times more luminous than the full Moon, because she is -fourteen times larger than the Moon. Seen from the planet Venus the -Earth appears as bright as Jupiter appears to us. From the planet -Mars the Earth is the morning and the evening star, presenting phases -like those of Venus to us. Thus, although our Earth is not luminous -herself, she shines afar like the Moon and the planets, by the light -that she receives from the Sun, and reflects into space. - -Now the events taking place on Neptune, if seen from the Earth, would -have a delay of four hours; in like manner the view of life on the -Earth could only reach Neptune in the same time; nearly seventy-two -years, therefore, separate Capella and the Earth. - -QUAERENS. Although these views are new and strange to me, I now -understand perfectly how, since the light was nearly seventy-two -years in traversing the abyss which separates the Earth from Capella, -you beheld not the Earth as it was in October 1864, the date of your -death, but as it appeared in January 1793. And I comprehend quite as -clearly that what you saw was neither a phenomenon of memory, nor a -supernatural experience, but an actual, positive, and incontestable -fact, and that in very truth what had long passed away on the Earth was -only then present to an observer at that distance. But permit me to ask -you an incidental question. In coming from the Earth to Capella did you -cross that distance even more quickly than light? - -[Sidenote: Thought swifter than light.] - -LUMEN. Have I not already anticipated your question in telling you -that I crossed this distance with the swiftness of thought. On the very -day of my death I found myself on this star, which I had admired and -loved so much all my life on the terrestrial globe. - -QUAERENS. Ah, Master, although everything is thus explained, your vision -is not the less wonderful. Truly it is an astonishing phenomenon that -of seeing thus at once the _past in the present_ in this extraordinary -manner. Not less marvellous is the thought of seeing the stars, not -such as they are when one makes the observation, nor as they have been -simultaneously, but as they have been at different epochs according -to their distances, and the time that the light of each has taken in -coming to the Earth! - -[Sidenote: Light.] - -LUMEN. I venture to say that the natural astonishment that you feel -in contemplating this truth is only the prelude to the things which I -have now to unfold to you. Undoubtedly, it appears at first sight very -extraordinary, that by removing to a distance in space, one can become -a witness of long past events, and remount as it were the stream of -time. But this is not more strange than what I have yet to communicate -to you, and which will appear to you still more imaginary if you can -listen a little longer to the narrative of that day which followed my -death. - -QUAERENS. Go on, I beg of you, I am eager to hear you. - - -III - -[Sidenote: Lumen sees his own life on Earth.] - -LUMEN. On turning away from the sanguinary scenes of the Place de la -Revolution, my eyes were attracted towards a habitation of somewhat -an antique style, situated in front of Notre Dame, and occupying -the place of the present square in front of the cathedral. I saw -a group of five persons before the entrance of the cathedral, who -were reclining on wooden benches in the sunshine, with their heads -uncovered. When they rose and crossed the square, I perceived that one -was my father, younger than I could remember him, another my mother, -still younger, and a third a cousin of mine who died the same year as -my father, now nearly forty years ago. I found it difficult at first -to recognise these persons, for instead of facing them, I saw them -only from on high above their heads. I was not a little surprised at -this unlooked-for meeting, but then I remembered that I had heard that -my parents lived in the Place Notre Dame before my birth. I cannot -tell you how profoundly I was affected by this sight; my perception -seemed to fail me, and a cloud appeared to obscure Paris from my view. -I felt as though I had been carried off by a whirlwind; for, as you -are aware, I had lost all sense of time. When I began again to see -objects distinctly, I noticed a troop of children running across the -Place de Pantheon. They looked like school children coming out of -class; for they had their portfolios and books in their hands, and were -apparently going to their homes, gambolling and gesticulating. Two of -them attracted me especially, for I saw they were quarrelling and just -preparing to fight, and another little fellow was advancing to separate -them when he received a blow on the shoulder and was thrown down. In an -instant a woman ran to help him; this was my own mother. Words fail me -to tell my amazement when I perceived that the child to whose rescue my -mother came was _my own self_. Never in my seventy-two years of earthly -life, with all the unlooked-for changes and strange events with which -it was crowded, never in all its surprises and chances have I felt such -emotion as this sight caused me; I was completely overcome when in this -child I recognised--_myself!_ - -QUAERENS. You saw yourself? - -LUMEN. Yes, myself, with the blond curls of six years of age, with -my little collar embroidered by my mother's hands, my little blouse -of light blue colour, and the cuffs always rumpled. There I was, the -very same as you have seen in the half-effaced miniature that stood on -my mantelpiece. My mother came over to me, and sharply reproving the -other boys, took me up in her arms, and then led me by the hand into -the house, which was close to the Rue d'Ulm. There I saw that, after -passing through the house, we reappeared in the garden in the midst of -a numerous company. - -QUAERENS. Master, pardon me a criticism. I confess to you that it -appears to me impossible that you could see yourself; you could not be -two persons; and since you were seventy-two years old, your infancy was -passed, and had totally disappeared. You could not see a thing that no -longer existed. I cannot comprehend how when an old man you could see -yourself as an infant. - -LUMEN. Why cannot you admit this point on the same grounds as the -preceding ones? - -QUAERENS. Because you cannot see yourself double, an infant and an old -man, at the same time. - -[Sidenote: A logical inference.] - -LUMEN. Look at the matter more closely, my friend. You admit the -general fact, but you do not sufficiently observe, that this last -particular is logically inferred from that fact. You admit that the -view I had of the Earth was seventy-two years in coming to me, do you -not? that events reached me only at that interval of time after they -had taken place? in short, that I saw the world as it was at that -epoch? You admit, likewise, that as I saw the streets of that time I -saw also the children running in those streets? You admit all this? - -QUAERENS. Yes, decidedly. - -LUMEN. Well, then, since I saw this troop of children, and myself -amongst them, why do you say I could not see myself as well as the -others? - -QUAERENS. But you were no longer there amongst them! - -LUMEN. Again, I repeat, this whole troop of children has ceased to -exist. But I saw them such as they were at the moment the ray of light -left the Earth, which only reached me at the present time. And as I -could distinguish the fifteen to eighteen children in the group, there -was no reason why I should disappear from amongst them because I myself -was the distant spectator. Since any other observer could see me in -company with my comrades, why should I form an exception? I saw them -all, and I saw myself amongst them. - -QUAERENS. I had not fully taken in the idea. It is evident, in short, -that seeing a troop of children, of whom you were one, you could not -fail to see yourself as well as you saw the others. - -[Sidenote: Lumen sees himself a child.] - -LUMEN. Now you can understand into what a state of surprise I was -thrown. This child was really myself, flesh and bones, as the vulgar -expression has it--myself, at the age of six years. I saw myself as -well as the company in the garden who were playing with me saw me. It -was no mirage, no vision, no spectre, no reminiscence, no image; it -was reality, positively myself, my thought and my body. I was there -before my eyes. If my other senses had the perfection of my sight, it -seemed as though I should have been able to touch and hear myself. I -jumped about the garden and ran round the pond, which had a balustrade -around it. Some time after my grandfather took me on his knees and -made me read in a big book. It is not possible for me to describe my -astonishment. I must leave you to imagine what it was to me, and to -realise the fact, now that you understand upon what it was based. -Suffice it to say, that I had never received such a surprise in my -life. One reflection especially puzzled me. I said to myself, this -child is really me, he is alive, he will grow up, and he ought to live -sixty-six years longer. It is undoubtedly myself. And on the other -hand, here I am, having lived seventy-two years of the terrestrial -life. I who now think and see these things, I am still myself, and -this child is me also. _Am I then two beings_, one there below, on -the Earth, and the other here in space--two complete persons and yet -quite distinct? An observer, placed where I am, could see this child in -the garden, as I see him, and at the same time see me here. I must be -two--it is incontestable. My soul is in this child; it is no less here. -It is the same soul, my own soul. How can it animate two beings? What -a strange reality! For I cannot say that I delude myself, or that what -I see is an optical illusion, for both according to nature, and by the -laws of science, I see at once a child and an old man--the one there -beyond, the other here where I am, the former joyous and free-hearted, -the other pensive and agitated. - -QUAERENS. In truth it is strange! - -[Sidenote: Lumen sees himself a young man.] - -[Sidenote: Lumen witnesses the events of the Hundred Days.] - -LUMEN. Yes, but no less true. You may search through all creation and -not find such a paradox. Well, to proceed with my history, I saw -myself grow up in this vast city of Paris, I saw myself enter college -in 1804, and perform my first military exercises when the First Consul -was crowned Emperor. One day as I passed by the Carrousel I got a -glimpse of the domineering and thoughtful face of Napoleon. I could -not remember having seen him in my life, and it was interesting to see -him thus pass across my field of view. In 1810 I saw myself promoted -to the Polytechnic School, and there I was talking of the course of -studies with Francois Arago, the best of comrades. He already belonged -to the institute, and had replaced Monge at the school, because the -Emperor had complained of the Jesuitism of Binet. I saw myself, in like -manner, all through the brilliant years of my youth, full of projects -of travels for scientific exploration, in company with Arago and -Humboldt, travels which only the latter decided to undertake. Later on -I saw myself during the Hundred Days, crossing quickly the little wood -of the old Luxembourg, and then the Rue de l'Est and the avenue of the -garden of the Rue St. Jaques, and hastening to meet my beloved under -the lilac-trees. Sweet meetings all to ourselves, the confidences of -our hearts, the silences of our souls, the transports of our evening -conversations, were all presented to my astonished sight, no longer -veiled by distance, but actually before my eyes. I was present again -at the combat with the Allies on the Hill of Montmartre, and saw their -descent into the capital, and the fall of the statue in the Place -Vendome, when it was drawn through the streets with cries of joy. I saw -the camp of the English and the Prussians in the Champs-Elysees, the -destruction of the Louvre, the journey to Ghent, the entrance of Louis -XVIII. - -[Sidenote: Napoleon at St. Helena.] - -The flag of the island of Elba floated before my eyes, and later on -I sought out the far Atlantic isle where the eagle, with his wings -broken, was chained. The rotation of the Earth soon brought before -my eyes the Emperor in St. Helena sadly musing at the foot of a -sycamore-tree. - - -[Sidenote: Historical events appear in succession.] - -Thus the events of the years as they passed were revealed to me in -following my own career--my marriage, my various enterprises, my -connections, my travels, my studies, and so on. I witnessed at the -same time the development of contemporary history. To the restoration -of Louis XVIII. succeeded the brief reign of Charles X. I saw the -barricades of the days of July 1830, and not far from the throne of -the Duke of Orleans I saw the Column of the Bastile arise. Passing -rapidly over eighteen years, I perceived myself at the Luxembourg at -the time when that magnificent avenue was opened, that avenue I loved -so much, and which has been threatened by a recent decree. I saw Arago -again, this time at the Observatory, and I beheld the crowd before the -door of the new amphitheatre. I recognised the Sorbonne of Cousin and -of Guizot. Then I shuddered as I saw my mother's funeral pass. She was -a stern woman, and perhaps a little too severe in her judgments, but -I loved her dearly, as you know. The singular and brief revolution of -1848 surprised me as much as when I first witnessed it. On the Place -de la Bourse I saw Lamoriciere, who was buried last year, and in the -Champs-Elysees, Cavaignac, who has been dead five or six years. The 2nd -of December found me an observer on my solitary tower, and from thence -I witnessed many striking events which passed before me, and many -others which were unknown to me. - -QUAERENS. Did the event pass rapidly before you? - -LUMEN. I had no perception of time; but the whole retrospective -panorama appeared to me in successive scenes--in less than a day, -perhaps in a few hours. - -QUAERENS. Then I do not understand you at all. Pardon your old friend -this interruption, a little too abrupt perhaps. As I took it, you saw -the real events of your life, not merely images of them. But, in view -of the time necessary for the passage of light, these events appeared -to you after they had happened. If, then, seventy-two terrestrial years -had passed before your eyes, they should have taken seventy-two years -to appear to you, and not a few hours. If the year 1793 appeared to you -only in 1864, the year 1864, consequently, should only in 1936 appear -to you. - -[Sidenote: The anachronism explained.] - -LUMEN. You have grounds for your fresh objection, and this proves to -me that you have perfectly comprehended the theory of this fact. I -fully appreciate your belief in me; indeed its consciousness helps me -in my explanations. Thus it is not necessary that seventy-two years -should be needed in which to review my life, for under the impulse of -an involuntary force all its events passed before me in less than a -day. Continuing to follow the course of my existence, I reached its -later years, rendered memorable by the striking changes which had -come over Paris. I saw our old friends, and you yourself; my daughter -and her charming children; my family, and circle of acquaintances; and -last of all I saw myself lying dead upon my bed, and I was present at -the final scene. Yes; I tell you I had returned to the Earth. Drawn by -the contemplation which absorbed my soul, I had quickly forgotten the -mountain, the old men, and Capella. Even as a dream all faded from my -mind. - -I did not at first perceive the strange vision which captivated all -my faculties. I cannot tell you either by what law or by what power -souls can be transported with such rapidity from one place to another. -Suffice it to say, _I had returned to the Earth_ in less than a day, -and I had entered my chamber even at the moment of my decease. Also in -this returning voyage I had travelled faster than the rays of light, -hence the various phases of my life on Earth had unrolled themselves to -my sight in their successive stages as they occurred. When I reached -half-way I saw the rays of light arriving only thirty-six years behind -time, showing me the Earth, not as it appeared seventy-two years ago, -but thirty-six. When I had travelled three-quarters of the way I saw -things as they had been eighteen years ago; at the half of the last -quarter, as they were nine years previously; until finally the whole -acts of my life were condensed into less than one day because of the -rapid rate at which my soul had travelled, which far surpassed the -velocity of the rays of light. - -QUAERENS. Was not this a very strange phenomenon? - -LUMEN. Do any other objections rise in your mind as you listen to me? - -QUAERENS. No, this is the only one; or rather, this one has puzzled and -interested me so greatly that it has absorbed all others. - -LUMEN. I would remark that there is another, an astronomical one, -which I will hasten to dispel, for fear it should arise and cloud -your mind. It depends upon the Earth's movement, not only upon its -diurnal rotation, which in itself would be sufficient to prevent -my seeing the facts in succession, but this movement would also -be greatly accelerated by the rapidity of my return to the Earth. -Hence seventy-two years would pass before me in less than a day. On -reflection, I was surprised that I had not earlier perceived this; -yet as I had only seen a comparatively small number of countries, -panoramas, and facts, it is probable that in returning to our planet I -had only a fleeting glance for a few moments of the successive points -of interest. But however this may be, I can but bear evidence that I -have been witness to the rapid succession of events both throughout the -century and of my own life. - -QUAERENS. That difficulty had not escaped me; I had weighed the thought, -and had come to the conclusion that you had revolved in space, even -as a balloon is spun round by the rotation of the globe. It is true -that the inconceivable speed with which you would be whirled through -space would be likely to give you vertigo, nevertheless, after hearing -your experience, this hypothesis forces itself upon me, that spirits -rush through space with the lightness and velocity of thought; and -in remarking on the intensity of your gaze as you approached certain -parts of the Earth, may it not be admissible to infer that this very -eagerness to see certain localities, might be the reason of your being -drawn to them, and as it were fixed above their point of vision? - -LUMEN. As to this I can affirm nothing, because I know nothing; but -I do not think this is the explanation. I did not see all the events -of my life, but only a few of the main ones, which, successively -unfolding, passed in review before me on the same visual ray. A -magnetism drew me imperiously as with a chain to the Earth; or, if you -prefer it, a force similar to that mysterious attraction of the stars, -by reason of which, stars of a lesser degree would inevitably fall -upon those of the first magnitude, unless retained in their orbits by -centrifugal force. - -QUAERENS. In reflecting on the effect of the concentration of thought -upon a single point, and of the attraction which consequently ensues -towards that point, I cannot but conclude that therein lies the -mainspring of the mechanism of dreams. - -[Sidenote: The source of dreams.] - -LUMEN. You say truly, my friend; I can confirm you in this remark, -as for many years I have made dreams the subject of a special study -and observation. When the soul, freed from the attentions, the -preoccupations, the encumbrance of the body, has a vision of the -object which charms it, and towards which it is irresistibly drawn, -all disappear except the object. That alone remains, and becomes the -centre of a world of creations; the soul possesses it entirely without -any reserve, it contemplates it, it seizes it as its own, the entire -universe is effaced from the memory in order that its domination over -the soul may be absolute. I felt thus on being drawn earthwards. I saw -but one object, around which were grouped the ideas, the images, and -the associations to which it had given birth. - -QUAERENS. Your rapid flight to Capella and your equally rapid return -to the Earth were governed by this psychological law; and you acted -more freely than in a dream, because your soul was not impeded by the -machinery of your organism. Often in our former conversations have you -discoursed to me upon the strength of the will. Thus, willing to do -so, you were enabled to return and to see yourself upon your death-bed -before your mortal remains had been committed to the dust. - -[Sidenote: Lumen witnesses his own funeral.] - -[Sidenote: His flight to the stars.] - -LUMEN. I did return; and I blessed my family for the sincerity of -their grief. I shed a benediction on them; I soothed their grief, and -poured balm upon their wounded hearts; and I inspired my children -with the belief that the body lying there was not my real self--my -_ego_--but merely the shell from which my soul had risen to a sphere -celestial, infinite, and far beyond their earthly ken. I witnessed my -own funeral procession, and I noticed those who called themselves my -friends and who yet, for some trifling reason, begged to be excused -from following my remains to their last resting-place. I listened to -the various comments of those following my bier, and although in this -region of peace we are free from that thirst for praise which clings -to most of us whilst on Earth, nevertheless I felt gratified to know -that I had left pleasant memories behind me. When the stone of the -vault was rolled away, that which separates the dead from the living, -I gave a last farewell to my poor sleeping body; and, as the Sun set -in its bed of purple and gold, I went out into the air until night had -fallen, plunged in admiration of the beautiful scenes which unrolled -themselves in the heavens. The aurora borealis displayed itself above -the North Pole in bands of glistening silver, shooting stars rained -from Cassiopeia, and the full Moon rose slowly in the east like a -new world emerging from the waves. I saw Capella scintillating and -looking at me with a glance pure and bright, and could distinguish -the crowns surrounding it, as if they were princes dowered with a -celestial divinity. Then I forgot the Earth, the Moon, the Planetary -System, the Sun, the Comets, in one intense, overpowering attraction -towards a shining brilliant star, and I felt myself carried towards -it instinctively with a celerity far greater than that of an electric -flash. After a time, the duration of which I cannot guess, I arrived -upon the same ring and upon the same mountain, from which I had first -kept watch when I saw the old men occupied in following the history -of the Earth, seventy-one years and eight months ago. They were still -absorbed in the contemplation of events happening in the city of Lyons -on the 23rd of January 1793. I will avow to you the reason of the -mysterious attraction of Capella for me. For marvellous as it may seem, -there are in creation invisible ties which do not break like mortal -ties; there are means by which souls can commune with each other, in -spite of the distance that separates them. - -[Sidenote: He meets the spirit of his wife.] - -[Sidenote: They recall their life on Earth.] - -On the evening of the second day, as the emerald Moon enshrined itself -in the third ring of gold--for such is the sidereal measurement of -time--I found myself walking in a lonely avenue enamelled with flowers -of sweet perfume. Sauntering along, as if in a dream, imagine my -delight when I saw coming towards me my beautiful and beloved Sylvia. -She was at a ripe age at her death, and notwithstanding an indefinable -change I recognised the features, whose expression had but deepened -and spiritualised, in happy correspondence with her sweet, pure life. -I will not stop to describe to you the joy of our meeting, this is not -the time for it; but perchance some day we may have the opportunity of -descanting upon the different manifestations of affection in this world -and the world beyond the grave, and I only add now that together we -sought our native land on Earth, where we had passed days of peace and -happiness. We delighted to turn our gaze towards the luminous point, -which our state of exaltation enabled us to perceive was a world--the -one upon which we had lived in earthly form--we loved to wed the memory -of the past with the reality of our present, and in all the freshness -of our new and ecstatic sensations we sought to recall and review the -scenes of our youth. It was thus we actually saw again the happy years -of our earthly love, the pavilion of the convent, the flower garden, -the promenades in the charming and delightful environs of Paris, and -the solitary rambles that, loving and beloved, we took together. To -retrace these years we had but to travel together into space in the -direction of the Earth, where these scenes, focused by the light, were -being photographed. Now, my friend, I have fulfilled my promise in -revealing to you these remarkable observations. - -Behold the day breaks, and the star Lucifer is paling already under its -rosy light. I must return to the constellations.... - -QUAERENS. Just one more word, Lumen, before we conclude this interview. -Can earthly scenes be transmitted successively into space--if so, -the present could be kept perpetually before the eyes of distant -spectators, and be limited only by the power of their spiritual sight? - -[Sidenote: The precession of events as seen in space.] - -LUMEN. Yes, my friend. Let us, for example, place our first observer on -the Moon--he would perceive terrestrial events one second and a quarter -after they had happened. Let us place a second observer at four times -the distance--he would be cognisant of them five seconds later. Double -the distance, and a third would see them ten seconds after they had -taken place. Again double the distance, and a fourth observer would -have to wait twenty seconds before he could witness them; so on and on -with ever-increasing delay, until at the Sun's distance; eight minutes -and thirteen seconds must elapse before they could become visible. - -Upon certain planets, as we have seen, hours must intervene between -the action and the sight of it; further off still, days, months even -years must elapse. Upon neighbouring stars earthly events are not seen -until four, six, ten years after their occurrence; but there are stars -so distant that light only reaches them after many centuries, and even -thousands of years. Indeed, there are nebulae to which light takes -millions of years to travel. - -QUAERENS. Therefore it only needs a sight sufficiently piercing to -witness events historic or geologic which are long since past. Could -not one, therefore, so gifted see the Deluge, the Garden of Eden, Adam -and. . . . - -LUMEN. I have told you, my old friend, that the rising of the sun on -this hemisphere puts to flight all spirits, so I must go. Another -interview may be granted us some other day, when we can continue our -talk on this subject, and I will then give you a general sketch which -will open out for you new horizons. The stars call me, and are already -disappearing. I must away. Adieu, Quaerens, adieu. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Physiological anatomy would probably explain this fact by -suggesting that a sort of _punctum caecum_ is displaced in order to -conceal the object that one does not wish to see. - -[2] Every one knows that the farther an object is, the smaller it -appears. An object which is seen under an angle of one second, is at a -distance of 206,265 times its own diameter, whatever it may be; because -as there are 1,296,000 seconds in the circumference, the ratio between -the circumference and its diameter being 314,159 x 2, it follows that -this object is at a distance equal to 206,265 times its own diameter. -As Capella sees the semi-diameter of the terrestrial orbit only under -an angle 22 times smaller, its distance is 22 times greater. Capella -is therefore at a distance of 4,484,000 times the radius of the -terrestrial orbit. Future micrometrical measurements may modify these -results concerning the parallax of this star, but they cannot change -the principle upon which the conception of this work is grounded. - - - - -SECOND CONVERSATION - -REFLUUM TEMPORIS - - - - -I - - -QUAERENS. Your revelations which were interrupted by the break of day, -O Lumen, have left me hungering and thirsting to hear more of this -wonderful mystery. As a child to whom one shows a delicious fruit -longs to have a bite, and when he has tasted of it begs for more, so -my curiosity is eager to have renewed enjoyment of these paradoxes of -nature. May I venture to submit to you a few questions in relation to -the subject, which have been suggested to me by the friends to whom I -have communicated the substance of your revelations, and then may I ask -you to continue the narrative of your impressions of the regions beyond -this Earth? - -[Sidenote: Scientific truth, not fancy or romance.] - -LUMEN. No, my friend, I cannot consent to such curiosity. However -perfectly disposed your mind may be to accept my communications, I -am convinced that all the details of my subject have not been equally -apprehended by you, and are not in your eyes equally self-evident. My -recital has been called mystical by those who have not quite understood -that it is neither a romance nor a phantasy, but a scientific truth, -a physical fact demonstrable and demonstrated, indisputable and as -positive as the fall of an aerolite or the motion of a cannon-ball. The -reason which prevents you and your friends from fully comprehending -these facts is, that they took place beyond this Earth, in regions -foreign to the sphere of your impressions, and inaccessible to your -terrestrial senses. Naturally you do not comprehend them. (Pardon -my frankness, but in the spiritual world one is frank; there, even -thoughts are visible.) You only comprehend those things which you -perceive. And as you persist in regarding your ideas of time and space -as _absolute_, although they are only _relative_, and thence form a -judgment on truths which are quite beyond your sphere, and which are -imperceptible to your terrestrial organism and faculties, I should not -do you a true service, my friend, in giving you fuller details of my -ultra-terrestrial observations. - -[Sidenote: An inquiring mind.] - -QUAERENS. It is not, I assure you, in a spirit of simple curiosity, -dear Lumen, that I ventured to draw you forth from the bosom of the -invisible world, where advanced souls partake of indescribable joys. -But I have understood, perhaps better than you, the grandeur of the -problem, and it is under the inspiration of an earnest, studious -avidity that I seek for other aspects of it, still more novel than -those you have given me, if I may say so, or rather more bold and more -incomprehensible. As the result of reflection, I have arrived at the -conclusion that what we know is _nothing_, and that what we do not know -is _everything_; I am therefore disposed to welcome everything you tell -me. I beg of you, if you will allow me, to share your revelations.... - -LUMEN. The fact is, my friend, I assure you, either you are not -sufficiently able to understand, or you are too willing to believe: in -the first case, you do not fully comprehend; in the second, you are too -credulous, and do not appreciate my communications at their full value. -However, I shall continue. - -QUAERENS. Dear comrade of my earthly life! - -LUMEN. The remaining facts, which I shall now relate to you, are still -more extraordinary than any that preceded them. - -QUAERENS. I feel like Tantalus in the midst of his lake, or like the -spirits in the twenty-fourth canto of the Purgatorio. I am as eager as -the Hesperides holding out their hands for the fragrant fruit, or as -Eve in her desire for.... - -[Sidenote: Travelling on a ray of light.] - -[Sidenote: Lumen sees the Revolution of 1848.] - -LUMEN. Some time after my departure from the Earth, the eyes of my soul -being still mournfully directed toward my native world, I found that, -on an attentive examination, I could perceive at the 45th degree of -north latitude and the 35th degree of longitude, a triangular piece -of land of a sombre colour, north of the Black Sea, on the shores of -which I saw, towards the west, a grievous number of my compatriots -madly engaged in killing one another. I recalled to mind that relic -of barbarism, war, formerly called glorious, with which you are still -beset and burdened, and I remembered that in this corner of the Crimea -800,000 men fell, in ignorance of the cause of their mutual massacre. -Some clouds then passed over Europe. At that time I was not on Capella, -but in mid space, between that star and the Earth, about half the -distance from Vega. Having left the Earth some time before, I turned -toward a group of stars, that, seen from your planet, are to the left -of Capella. Meanwhile my thoughts recurred from time to time to the -Earth, and soon after taking the observation to which I have referred, -my eyes being fixed on Paris, I was surprised to see it a prey to an -insurrection of the people. Examining it more attentively, I discerned -barricades on the boulevards, near the Hotel de Ville, and along the -streets, and the citizens firing at one another. The first idea that -occurred to me was that a new revolution was taking place before my -eyes, and that Napoleon III. was dethroned. But, by the secret sympathy -of souls, my sight was attracted to a barricade in the Faubourg St. -Antoine, upon which I saw lying prostrate the Archbishop Denis Auguste -Affre, with whom I had been slightly acquainted. His sightless eyes -were turned towards the heavens where I was, but he saw nothing; in his -hand he held a green branch. I was thus witnessing the days of 1848, -and in particular that of the 25th of June. - -[Sidenote: He sees the events of 1831.] - -A few minutes--a few hours, perhaps--passed, during which my -imagination and my reason sought in turns for an explanation of this -special scene. To see 1848 _after_ 1854! When my sight was again -attracted to the Earth, I remarked a distribution of tricoloured flags -in a grand square of the city of Lyons, Trying to distinguish the -official person who was making this distribution, I recognised the -uniforms, and I remembered that after the accession of Louis Philippe, -the young Duke of Orleans had been sent to quell the disturbances in -the capital of French manufactures. It followed from thence that, -_after_ 1854 and 1848, I had before my eyes an event of 1831. Presently -my glance turned to Paris on the day of a public fete. The king, a -coarse-looking man, with a rubicund face, was tearing along in a -magnificent chariot, and was just crossing the Pont Neuf. The weather -was splendid. Some fair ladies posed, like a basket of lilies, on the -white parapet of the bridge. Floating over Paris some brightly-coloured -creatures could be seen. Evidently I beheld the en trance of the -Bourbons into France. - -[Sidenote: Supposed explanation of this strange slight.] - -I should not have understood this last strange sight if I had not -recollected that a number of balloons, in the form of animals, had -been sent up on that occasion. From my higher altitude they appeared -to wriggle about the roofs of the houses. To see again past events -was comprehensible enough, according to the law of light. But to see -things contrary to their real order in time, that was too fantastic, -and puzzled me beyond expression. Nevertheless, as I had the things -before my eyes, I could not deny the fact. I sought forthwith for -some hypothesis to account for this singular phenomenon. At first I -supposed it was really the Earth that I saw, and that by a fiat of -fate, the secret of which is known only to God, the history of France -repeats itself, and passes through the same phases that it has already -traversed; that the course of events proceed up to a certain maximum, -where they shine gloriously for a time, and then comes a reaction to -the original state of things, by an oscillation in human affairs like -the variations of the magnetic needle, or like the movements of the -stars. - -The personages whom I took for the Duke of Orleans and Louis XVIII. -were perhaps other princes, who were repeating exactly what the -former had done. This hypothesis, however, appeared to be so very -extraordinary, that I paused to consider a more rational theory. -Admitting the fact of the number of stars, with planets moving round -them, is it not probable that a world exactly like the Earth exists -somewhere in the universe of space? - -[Sidenote: Calculation of probabilities.] - -The calculation of probabilities supplies an answer to this question. -The greater the number of worlds, the greater will be the probability -that the forces of nature have given birth to an organisation like -that of the Earth. Now the real number of worlds surpasses all human -calculation, either written or possible to be written. If we could -understand what "infinite" means, we might venture to say that this -number is infinite. I concluded, then, that there is a very high -probability in favour of the existence of many worlds exactly like the -Earth, on the surface of which the same history is accomplished, and -the same succession of historical events takes place; worlds which are -inhabited by identically the same species of vegetables and animals, -and the same humanity, and where men and families like our own, I doubt -not, exist. - -In the second place, I asked myself if another world analogous to -the Earth might not also be symmetrical to it; and then I worked out -the geometry of the problem, and the metaphysical theory of images. -I arrived at the conclusion that it was _possible_ for the world in -question to be like the Earth, but in an inverse form. When you look -at yourself in a mirror, you notice that the ring on your right hand -appears to be on the ring-finger of your left hand. This explains the -symbol. If you wink your right eye, your reflection winks the left -eye; when you advance your right arm, your image advances the left -arm. It is not impossible that in the infinity of the stars a world -exists exactly the converse of the terrestrial world. Undoubtedly in an -_infinity_ of worlds the non-existence of a similar world, perhaps of -millions of them, would be the real impossibility. Nature of necessity -repeats herself, reproduces herself, but still under all forms plays -the game of creation. I thought therefore that the world on which I saw -those things was not the Earth, but a globe like the Earth, the history -of which was precisely the opposite of yours. - -QUAERENS. I myself have had the idea also that it might have been as you -say. But was it not easy for you to make sure of it by ascertaining -whether it was the Earth or another star that you had before your eyes, -by examining its astronomical position? - -[Sidenote: The solution of the problem.] - -LUMEN. That is precisely what I did immediately, and this examination -confirmed me in my opinion. The star where I had just witnessed four -facts, analogous to four terrestrial facts, but inversely, did not -appear to me to occupy its original position. The little constellation -of the Altar no longer existed, and on that side of the heavens where -you remember the Earth appeared to be in my first episode, there was -an irregular polygon of unknown stars. I was thus convinced that it -was not our Earth that I had before my eyes. I could no longer feel -any doubt about it, and I was satisfied that I had now, for my field -of exploration, a world so much the more curious that it was not the -Earth, and that its history appeared to represent, in an inverse order, -the scenes of the history of our world. - -[Sidenote: History retraced] - -[Sidenote: France of the past.] - -Some events, it is true, did not appear to have corresponding ones -on the Earth, but in general the coincidence was very remarkable. I -was the more struck with this because the contempt which I feel for -the instigators of war had led me to hope that a folly so absurd -and so infamous might not have existed in other worlds. But, on the -contrary, the greater part of the events which I witnessed were -combats or preparations for war. After a battle, which appeared to -me very much to resemble that of Waterloo, I saw the battle of the -Pyramids. An image of Napoleon as emperor had become first Consul, -and I saw the Revolution succeed to the Consulate. Some time after -I observed the square in front of the Chateau of Versailles covered -with mourning-coaches, and in an open pathway from Ville-d'Avray I -recognised the botanist Jean Jacques Rousseau slowly walking along, -and, no doubt, at that moment philosophising on the death of Louis XV. -I was particularly struck with the gala fetes at the beginning of the -reign of Louis XV., worthy successors of those of the Regency, during -which the treasures of France glistened in precious stones on the -fingers of the three or four adored courtesans. I saw Voltaire, with -his white cotton cap, in his park at Ferney; and later on, Bossuet, -walking on the little terrace of his episcopal palace at Meaux, not far -from the little hill through which the railway is now cut, but I could -not see the least trace of the railway line. In this same succession of -events, I saw the highroads covered with diligences, and large sailing -ships on the seas. Steam and all the factories that are moved by it -now, had disappeared. Neither telegraphs nor any other application -of electricity existed. Balloons, which more than once I had seen in -the field of observation, were lost to sight. The last that I saw was -the shapeless globe sent up by the brothers Montgolfier at Annonay -in the presence of the States-General. The face of the Earth was -quite changed--Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Havre, and more especially -Versailles, were not recognisable; the first four had lost their -immense activity, the last had gained incomparably in magnificence. - -[Sidenote: The monarchy.] - -I had formed a very imperfect idea of the splendour of the royal fetes -at Versailles. It was a satisfaction to me to be present at them; and -it was not without interest that I recognised Louis XIV. himself, on -the splendid terrace at the west, surrounded by a thousand nobles whose -breasts were covered with decorations. It was in the evening; the last -rays of glowing sunshine were reflected on the royal facade, whilst -gallant couples gravely descended the steps of the marble stairs, and -presently disappeared along the silent and shady avenues. My sight was -fixed in preference on France, or at least toward that region of this -unknown world which represented France to me; for absence makes the -heart grow fonder, and when far from one's country one thinks of it -all the more, and recurs with ever new interest to the thought of it. -Do not believe that souls liberated from their bodies are scornful, -and indifferent, and devoid of memory. Our existence would then be a -sad one. No; we preserve the faculty of remembrance. Our hearts are -not wholly absorbed in the life of the spirit; and so it was with an -instinctive feeling of delight, which you can imagine, that thus I saw -again the history of France unfolded before me as though its phases -were being accomplished in an inverse order. - -[Sidenote: Feudalism] - -[Sidenote: Joan of Arc.] - -[Sidenote: The Crusades.] - -[Sidenote: The history of France unrolled.] - -After the people had amalgamated into one nationality, I saw the rule -of a single sovereign established. After that came princely feudalism. -Mazarin, Richelieu, Louis XIII., and Henry IV. appeared to me at Saint -Germain. The Bourbons and the Guises resumed their skirmishes for me. -I thought I could distinguish the night of St. Bartholomew, I saw some -special events in the history of our provinces--for instance, one of -the scenes in the sorcery of Chaumont, which I had time to observe, -before the Church of Saint Jean, and the massacre of the Protestants -at Vassy. What a comedy is human life! Alas! too often a tragedy! -Suddenly I beheld in space the magnificent comet of 1577, in the -form of a sabre. In grand array in the midst of a plain, brilliantly -decorated, I recognised Francis I. and Charles V. saluting one another. -Louis XI. I perceived on a terrace of the Bastile, attended by his two -gloomy companions. Later on, my sight was turned to a square in Rouen, -where I observed flames and smoke, and in their midst I discerned the -form of the Maid of Orleans. Convinced as I was that the world I was -looking at was the exact counterpart of the Earth, I divined beforehand -the events that I was about to see. Thus, after having seen Saint -Louis dying before Tunis, I was present at the eighth Crusade, and -subsequently at the third, where I recognised Frederick Barbarossa by -his beard. Then at the first Crusade, when Peter the Hermit and Godfrey -reminded me of Tasso. I was not a little surprised. I then expected to -see, in succession, Hugh Capet, leading a procession, arrayed in his -official robes; the Council of Tauriacum deciding that the judgment of -God would be pronounced in the battle of Fontanet; Charles the Bald -ordering the massacre of a hundred thousand men and all the Merovingian -nobility; Charlemagne crowned in Rome: his war against the Saxons and -the Lombards; Charles Martel hammering away at the Saracens; King -Dagobert founding the Abbey of St. Denis, just as I had seen Alexander -III. laying the first stone of Notre Dame; Brunehaut dragged along -the pavement by a horse; the Visigoths, the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, -Clovis Meroveus appearing in the country of the Saliens: in a word, -the history of France, from its very beginning, unrolled itself before -me in an order inverse to the succession of events--this was what -actually happened. Many historical questions which were very important, -and which had hitherto been obscure to me, were rendered clear. I -ascertained, among other things, that the French were the original -possessors of the right bank of the Rhine, and that the Germans have no -right to claim that river, and still less to dispute the possession of -the left bank. - -[Sidenote: Old Paris] - -[Sidenote: Rome of the Caesars.] - -[Sidenote: Judea.] - -[Sidenote: Calvary.] - -[Sidenote: Death of Julius Caesar.] - -There was, I assure you, an immense interest in taking part, if I may -so express myself, in the events of which I had but the vague ideas -derived from the echoes of history, often deceptive, and in visiting -countries that are now totally transformed. The vast and brilliant -capital of modern civilisation became old to me, and had shrunk to -the size of an ordinary town, but was at the same time fortified with -crenellated towers. I admired in turns the beautiful city of the -fifteenth century, its curious types of architecture, the celebrated -tower of Nesle, and the extensive convents of Saint Germain-des-Pres. -Where the tower of St. Jacques now stands, I recognised the gloomy -court of the alchemist Nicolas Flamel. The round and pointed roofs had -the singular effect of looking like mushrooms on the banks of a river. -Then this feudal aspect disappeared, and gave place to a solitary -castle in the Seine valley surrounded by cottages; and finally there -was nothing but a fertile plain, where one could only distinguish a -few huts of savages. At the same time I remarked that the seat of -civilisation was changed, and was now in the south. I will confess to -you, my friend, that I never felt greater delight than at the moment -when I was permitted to see Rome of the Caesars in all its splendour. -It was the day of a triumph, and no doubt under the rule of the Syrian -princes; for in the midst of magnificent surroundings, gorgeous -chariots, the purple oriflammes of the Senate, and of elegant women -and of performers of theatres, I distinguished the Emperor luxuriously -reclining in a golden car, clothed in delicately-coloured silk, -covered with precious stones and ornaments in gold and silver, which -glittered in the golden sunshine. This must have been Heliogabalus, -the priest of the sun. The Coliseum, the temple of Antoninus, the -triumphal arches, and Trajan's column were standing. Rome was in all -its ancient beauty and grandeur, that last beautiful phase which was -no more than a scene in a theatre to those crowned buffoons. A little -later I was present at the eruption of Vesuvius, which overwhelmed -Herculaneum and Pompeii. I saw Rome in flames, just for a moment; and -although I was not able to distinguish Nero on his terrace, I have no -doubt I beheld the conflagration in the year 64, and the signal for the -persecution of the Christians. A few hours after, my attention being -still occupied in examining the extensive gardens by the Tiber, I had -just seen the Emperor near a parterre of roses, when, in consequence of -the revolution of the Earth on its axis, Judea was presented to me. How -anxiously I regarded it when I distinguished Jerusalem and the mountain -of Golgotha. Jesus was climbing this mountain, accompanied by a few -women, escorted by a troop of soldiers, and followed by the Jewish -populace. I shall never forget this spectacle. It assumed a totally -different aspect to me from what it did to those who were living at -the time and who took part in it, for the glorious future (and the -past also) of the Christian Church was unfolded for me as the crown of -the Divine sacrifice.... I cannot dwell on it; you can understand what -various feelings agitated my soul on this supreme occasion.... A little -later, returning to Rome, I recognised Julius Caesar prostrate in death, -with Antony beside him holding what I think was a roll of papyrus in -his left hand. The conspirators were hastening down to the banks of -the Tiber. With a very natural curiosity I traced back the life of -Julius Caesar, and found him with Vercingetorix in the centre of Gaul, -and I may state that none of the suppositions of our modern historians -respecting the situation of Alesia are correct. In fact, this fortress -was situated on . . . - -QUAERENS.. Master, pardon me for interrupting you, but I am anxious to -seize this opportunity to question you on a particular point respecting -the Dictator. Since you have seen Julius Caesar, tell me, I pray you, if -his face resembles that given by the Emperor Napoleon III. in his great -work on the life of that famous captain? - -LUMEN. I should be delighted, my old friend, to enlighten you on this -point if it were possible for me to do so. But reflect for a moment, -and you will see that the laws of perspective forbid me. - -QUAERENS. Of perspective? You mean to say of politics. - -LUMEN. No, of perspective (although these two things strongly resemble -one another); for in seeing great men from the height of heaven, I do -not see them as they appear to the vulgar. From the heavens we see -men geometrically from above, not face to face; that is to say, when -they are standing we have only a horizontal projection of them. You may -remember that once in a balloon, as we passed over the Vendome Column -at Paris, you remarked to me that Napoleon seen from that height was -not above the level of other men. It was just the same with Caesar. In -the other world material measures disappear, only intellectual measures -exist. - -[Sidenote: Roman history.] - -[Sidenote: Building of the Pyramids.] - -[Sidenote: The Stone Age.] - -To continue, however, I retraced history, from Julius Caesar to the -Consuls, and then to the kings of Latium, in order to witness the rape -of the Sabines, which I was pleased to observe actually, as a type of -ancient manners. History has embellished many things, and I discovered -that most events as represented to us are totally different from the -actual facts. Then I saw King Candaules in Lydia, in the scene in the -bath that you remember, then the invasion of Egypt by the Ethiopians, -the oligarchical republic of Corinth, the eighth Olympiad in Greece, -and Isaiah the prophet in Judea. I saw the building of the Pyramids -by troops of obedient slaves under chiefs mounted on dromedaries. -The great dynasties of Bactria and of India appeared before me, and -China showed the marvellous skill in the arts that she possessed even -before the birth of the western world. I had an opportunity to search -for the Atlantis of Plato, and I saw that the opinions of Bailly on -that continent, now submerged, are not devoid of foundation. In Gaul I -could distinguish nothing but vast forests and swamps; even the Druids -had disappeared, and the savage inhabitants strongly resembled those -that we find now in Oceania. It was truly the _stone age_ as it is -unearthed for us by modern archaeologists. Further back still, I saw -that the number of men diminished by degrees, and the domination of -nature seemed to belong to a race of the great apes, to the cave bears, -to lions, hyenas, and the rhinoceros. A moment arrived when it was -not only impossible to distinguish a single man on the surface of the -earth, but when not the least vestige of the human race was visible. -All had disappeared; earthquakes, volcanoes, deluges prevailed over the -surface of the planet, and the presence of man in the midst of such a -chaotic state of things was no longer possible. - -QUAERENS. I shall confess to you, dear Lumen, that I have waited with -impatience for the moment when you should arrive at the garden of Eden, -in order to learn in what form the creation of the human race on the -earth was presented to you. I am surprised that you do not seem to have -thought of making this important observation. - -LUMEN. I relate to you only the things which I saw, my curious friend, -and I refrain from substituting the dreams of my imagination for the -evidences of my sight. I did not perceive the least trace of that -Eden so poetically depicted in the primitive theogonies. Now, this -was very extraordinary, since the resemblance between the world that -I had before my eyes and the Earth was so complete. It was more than -surprising, if the terrestrial paradise was really the cradle of -humanity. But I do not see why paradise might not have been, with as -good reason, at the end of human society. - -QUAERENS. Indeed I think it would be more just to suppose it to be at -the end rather than the beginning, as the result and the recompense, -instead of the misunderstood prelude, to a life of suffering. But since -you have not seen it I shall not urge my question. - -[Sidenote: Prehistoric ages.] - -[Sidenote: A dying world.] - -[Sidenote: The beginning, not the end of the Earth.] - -LUMEN. Finally, in concluding my observations of this singular world, -whose history was exactly the inverse of yours, I saw marvellous -animals, of monstrous forms, in combat on the shores of vast oceans. -There were enormous serpents armed with formidable paws; crocodiles -that flew in the air, sustained by wings organically longer than their -bodies; misshapen fishes with jaws wide enough to swallow an ox; birds -of prey struggling in terrible battles in the desert islands. There -were whole continents covered with forests, trees with enormous leaves -entangled in one another; a vegetation at once sombre and severe, -for the vegetable kingdom was devoid of both flowers and fruit. The -mountains vomited forth clouds of flame and vapour, the rivers fell -in cataracts, the ground opened in immense chasms in which were -engulfed hills, woods, streams, trees, and animals. But before long it -became impossible for me to perceive even the surface of the globe; a -universal sea appeared to cover it, and the vegetable kingdom, like -the animal kingdom, was slowly effaced, and gave place to a monotonous -verdure interspersed with lightning and whitish smoke. Henceforth -it was a dying world. I was present at the last palpitations of its -heart, intermittently revealed in the gloom by flashes of flame. Then -it seemed to me that it rained everywhere over its whole surface, -for the Sun threw light on nothing but clouds and torrents of rain. -The hemisphere opposite to the Sun appeared less sombre than before, -and one could perceive a dull light gleaming through the tempests. -This light increased in intensity, and spread over the entire sphere. -Great crevasses became red like iron in the furnace; and as iron in -a hot furnace becomes bright red, then orange, then yellow, then in -succession white and incandescent, so the world passed through all -the progressive phases of heat. Its volume increased, its movement of -rotation became slower. The mysterious globe seemed like an immense -sphere of molten metal enveloped in metallic vapours. Under the -incessant action of this interior furnace and the elemental combats -(or combinations) of this strange chemistry, it acquired enormous -proportions, and the sphere of fire became a sphere of smoke. Thence -it went on developing without cessation, and lost its personality. The -Sun, which at first had shed light on it, no longer surpassed it in -brightness, and it itself increased so much in circumference that it -became evident to me that the vaporous planet would soon lose its own -existence and be absorbed in the enlarged atmosphere of the Sun. It is -a rare experience to be present at the end of a world. And so in my -enthusiasm I could not prevent myself from crying out with a kind of -vanity, "Behold the end of the world, O God! and this, then, is the -fate in store for all the inhabited worlds!" "This is not _the end_," -replied a voice in the hearing of my soul; "_this is the beginning_." -"How can this be the beginning?" thought I immediately. "The beginning -of the Earth itself," replied the same voice. "Thou hast seen over -again the whole history of the Earth _in thus withdrawing from her with -a velocity greater than that of light_." - -This declaration did not surprise me so much as the first episode -of my ultra-terrestrial life, for I was now familiarised with the -astonishing effects of the laws of light; I was henceforth prepared -for every new surprise. I had some doubts of the fact, in consequence -of certain details that I have not given you to avoid disturbing the -unity of my recital or breaking the thread of my narrative, but which -were nevertheless incomparably more extraordinary than the general -succession of events. - -QUAERENS. But if it was really the Earth, how comes it that the -astronomical calculations you made in order to recognise her in the -constellation of the Altar, indicated, as you have pointed out, that -the world you were examining was neither the Earth nor a star of the -Altar? - -[Sidenote: Events retraced.] - -[Sidenote: Sidereal perspective.] - -LUMEN. The fact is, that even that constellation had itself changed in -consequence of my voyage in space. In place of the stars of the third -magnitude, [Greek: a], [Greek: g], and [Greek: z] (alpha, gamma, zeta), -and stars of the fourth magnitude, [Greek: b], [Greek: d], and [Greek: -th] (beta, delta, theta), which constitute that figure as seen from -the Earth, my distance towards the nebulae had reduced those starsa -to little imperceptible points. It had placed other brilliant stars -there, which were no doubt [Greek: a] (alpha) and [Greek: b] (beta) of -Auriga, [Greek: th], [Greek: i], [Greek: e] (theta, iota, eta), and -perhaps even [Greek: e] (epsilon) of the same constellation--stars -diametrically opposite to the preceding when seen from the Earth, but -which were necessarily interposed there when I had passed them by. The -celestial perspective had already changed, and it had become, in truth, -almost impossible to determine the position of our Sun. - -[Sidenote: It was really the Earth that Lumen saw.] - -QUAERENS. I had not thought of this inevitable change of perspective -on the other side of Capella; and so it was really the Earth that you -saw, and therefore its history was unrolled before you in an inverse -order--you saw ancient events taking place _after_ modern events. By -what new process has light thus enabled you to ascend the stream of -time? Furthermore, dear Lumen, you have informed me that you have -observed some curious particulars relative to the Earth itself. I am -wishful to ask you some special questions on these details. I shall -listen, then, with interest to the extraordinary history which ought to -complete this recital, persuaded, as before, that it will fully reward -my curiosity. - - -II - -[Sidenote: History read backwards.] - -LUMEN. The first circumstance is connected with the battle of Waterloo. - -QUAERENS. No one remembers that catastrophe better than I do. I received -a ball in my shoulder there, in the neighbourhood of Mont Saint-Jean, -and a sabre-cut on my right hand from one of Blucher's blackguards. - -[Sidenote: Waterloo beyond the tomb.] - -LUMEN. Well, my old comrade, in taking part in this battle again, -I found it quite different from what it was in the past, as you -may judge from what I will relate to you. When I had recognised -the field of Waterloo, to the south of Brussels, I distinguished -first a considerable number of dead bodies lying on the ground -indiscriminately. Far off, through the mist, I perceived Napoleon -walking backwards, holding his horse by the bridle. The officers who -accompanied him were marching backwards also. The cannon began to -boom, and from time to time I saw the lurid gleam of their flashes. -When my sight was sufficiently habituated to the scene, I perceived -some soldiers coming to life out of the eternal night, and by a single -effort standing up. Group after group, a considerable number, were thus -resuscitated. The dead horses revived like the dead cavaliers, and -the latter remounted them. As soon as two or three thousand men had -returned to life, I saw them form unconsciously in line of battle. The -two armies took their places fronting one another, and began to fight -desperately with a fury that one might have taken for despair. As the -combat deepened on both sides, the soldiers came to life more rapidly. -French, English, Prussians, Germans, Hanoverians, Belgians--grey -coats, blue uniforms, red tunics, green, white--arose from the field -of the dead and fought. In the centre of the French army I espied the -Emperor, a battalion in square surrounded him; the Imperial Guard was -resuscitated. Their immense battalions advanced from the two camps -and engaged in a fierce onslaught; from the left and from the right, -squadrons advanced. The white manes of the white horses floated in the -wind. I remembered the strange picture by Raffet, and the spectral -epigram of the German poet Sedlitz:-- - - "La caisse sonne, etrange, - Fortement elle retentit. - Dans leur fosse ressuscitent - Les vieux soldats peris." - -And this other:-- - - "C'est la grande revue, - Qu'a l'heure de minuit - Aux Champs-Elysees - Tient Cesar decede." - -It was really Waterloo, but a _Waterloo beyond the tomb_, for the -combatants were raised from the dead. Besides, in this singular -apparition they marched backwards one against the other. Such a battle -had a magical effect, and impressed me more forcibly, because I foresaw -the event itself, and this event was strangely transformed in its -counterpart image. Not less singular was the fact, that the longer they -fought, the more the number of combatants increased; at each gap made -by the cannon in the serried ranks a group of resuscitated dead filled -up the gaps immediately. When the belligerents had spent the whole day -in tearing one another to pieces with grape-shot, with cannons and -bullets, with bayonets, sabres, and swords--when the great battle was -over, there was not a single person killed, no one was even wounded; -even uniforms that before it were torn and in disorder were in good -condition, the men were safe and sound, and the ranks in correct form. -The two armies slowly withdrew from one another, as if the heat of the -battle and all its fury had no other object than the restoration to -life, amid the smoke of the combat, of the two hundred thousand corpses -which had lain on the field a few hours before. What an exemplary and -desirable battle it was! - -[Sidenote: Reascending the ages.] - -Assuredly it was the most singular of military episodes, and the moral -aspect of it far surpassed the physical, when I found that this battle -resulted not in the defeat of Napoleon, but in placing him upon the -throne. Instead of losing the battle, it was the Emperor who gained -it; instead of a prisoner, he became a sovereign. Waterloo was an 18th -Brumaire!... - -QUAERENS. Dear Lumen, I do not half understand this new effect of the -laws of light. If you have discovered it, I shall be grateful to you if -you will give me an explanation of it. - -LUMEN. I have helped you to divine it by telling you that I removed -from the Earth with a _greater_ velocity than that of light. - -QUAERENS. But tell me, I pray you, how does this retrogression in space -enable you to see events in an order inverse to that in which they took -place? - -LUMEN. The theory is very simple. Suppose you set out from the Earth -with the velocity exactly _equal_ to that of light, you would always -have with you the aspect that the Earth assumed at the moment you -set out, since you would be receding from the globe with a swiftness -precisely equal to that which bore this very aspect into space. Thus, -even if you voyaged for a thousand years or a hundred thousand years, -this aspect would accompany you always like a photograph which did not -grow old; whilst the original is made old by the years that elapse. - -QUAERENS. I understood this fact already in our first conversation. - -[Sidenote: Retrogressive light pictures.] - -LUMEN. Well, suppose now that you remove from the Earth with a velocity -_superior_ to that of light, what will happen? You will find again, as -fast as you advance into space, the rays that set out _before_ you, -that is to say the successive photographs which, from second to second, -from instant to instant, project their rays into space. If, for -example, you set out in 1867 with the velocity equal to that of light, -you would retain for ever the year 1867 in sight. If you went more -quickly, you would find before you the rays that had set out in former -years, and which bore upon them the photographs of those years. In -order further to illustrate this fact, reflect, I pray you, on the many -luminous rays that have set out from the Earth in different epochs. Let -us suppose the first to be at some instant of the 1st January 1867. -At the rate of 300,000 kilometres a second, it has, at the moment in -which I am speaking to you, already passed a portion of space from the -instant of its departure till it reached a certain distance which I -shall express by the letter A. Let us now suppose that a second ray -sets out from the Earth a hundred years before, on the 1st January -1767; it is a hundred years _in advance_ of the first, and is found at -a still greater distance--a distance that I shall express by the letter -B. A third ray which I shall in like manner suppose on the 1st January -1667, is still _further off_ by a length equal to the distance that -the light would travel in a hundred years. I call the place where this -third ray reaches, C. Then a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, on respectively -the 1st January 1567, 1467, 1367, &c., are posted at equal distances D, -E, F, penetrating more and more into the infinite. - -Here, then, we have a series of photographs, taken on the same line, -from post to post in space. Now, the mind which travels on in passing -successively by the points A, B, C, D, E, F, can retrace successively -the secular history of the Earth in those epochs. - -QUAERENS. Master, at what distance are these photographs from one -another? - -[Sidenote: Photographs of the life on Earth imprinted in space.] - -LUMEN. The calculation is very easy. The interval which separates -them is of necessity that which light travels in a hundred years. -Now, at the rate of 75,000 leagues per second, you see at once that -it travels 4,500,000 leagues in a _minute_, 270,000,000 leagues in -an _hour_, 6,480,800,000 leagues in a _day_, 2,366,820,000,000 in a -_year_, allowing for leap-years; consequently, the result would be -that the interval between two points of departure at the distance of -a _century_ from one another, is nearly 236 _billions_ 682 thousand -millions of leagues. Here, then, I say we have a series of terrestrial -photographs, imprinted in space, at corresponding distances, one after -another. Let us now suppose that between each of these centennial -pictures we should find annual pictures, between each of which the -distance is preserved in accordance with the time that light travels in -a year, which I have just given you; then between each of the annual -pictures we have those of every day, and as each day contains the -photographs of each hour, every hour the photographs of its minutes, -and every minute of its seconds, all succeeding one another, according -to their respective distances apart--we shall have in a ray of light, -or rather in a jet of light, composed of a series of distinct pictures -in juxtaposition, the aerial register of the history of the Earth. - -[Sidenote: Psychical optics.] - -When the spirit travels in this ethereal ray of pictures with a -swiftness greater than that of light, it sees in succession, backwards, -the ancient pictures. When it arrives at the distance at which the -aspect of events that set out in 1767 is to be seen, it has already -retraced a hundred years of terrestrial history. When it reaches the -point where the aspect of 1667 has arrived, it retraces two centuries. -When it attains to the photograph of 1567, it has seen, again, three -centuries, and so on successively. I told you in the beginning that I -directed my course toward a group of stars situated at the left of -Capella. This group proved to be at an incomparably greater distance -than that star, although from the Earth it appeared to be close beside -it, because the two visual rays are near one another. This apparent -proximity is solely due to the perspective. In order to give you an -idea of the remoteness of this far-off universe, I may tell you that -it is not less vast in size than the Milky Way. One may then ask to -what distance should the Milky Way be transported to reduce it to -the apparent size of this nebula. My learned friend Arago made this -calculation, of which you must be aware, as he repeated it every year -in his course of lectures at the Observatory, that have been published -since his death. It would be necessary to suppose the Milky Way to be -transported to a distance equal to 334 times its own length. Now, as -light takes 15,000 years to traverse the Milky Way from one end to -another, it follows that it cannot take less than 334 times 15,000 -years, that is to say, less than 5,000,000 years, in coming from -thence. I have ascended a ray of light from the Earth to these remote -regions, and if my spiritual sight had been more perfect, I should have -been able to distinguish not only the retrogression of history for -10,000 years or 100,000 years, but even for 5,000,000 years. - -QUAERENS. Can the mind, then, by its powers alone, cross in this way the -immeasurable spaces of the heavens? - -LUMEN. Not by its own power alone, but by making use of the forces -of nature. Attraction is one of these forces. It is transmitted with -a velocity incomparably superior to that of light, and the most -rigorously exact astronomical calculations are obliged to consider -this transmission as almost instantaneous. I will add that if I have -been able to perceive events at such distances, it is not by the -apprehension of a physical sense that I know them, but by a process -incomparably more subtle, which belongs to the psychic order. The -movements of the ether, which constitute light, are not luminous by -themselves, as you know. The eye is not necessary in order to perceive -them. A soul vibrating under their influence perceives them as well, -and often incomparably better than an organic optical apparatus. This -being psychical optics. For example, attraction crosses instantaneously -the 148,000,000 of kilometres that separate the Earth from the Sun, -whilst light occupies 493 seconds in this passage. - -QUAERENS. What length of time did your voyage to that remote universe -occupy? - -LUMEN. Have I not told you that time does not exist outside the -movements of the Earth? Whether I employed a year or an hour, it would -have been exactly the same period in infinity. - -QUAERENS. I have thought it over, and the physical difficulties seem to -me enormous. Permit me now to submit to you a strange thought that has -just come into my head. - -LUMEN. It is to hear your reflections that I give you this narrative. - -QUAERENS. I want to ask you if the same inversion would take place with -the hearing as well as the sight? If you can see an event backwards -from its real occurrence, can you also hear a discourse backwards, -beginning at the end? This is perhaps a daring question, and apparently -ridiculous, but in paradoxes where can one stop? - -[Sidenote: Light and sound.] - -LUMEN. The paradox is only apparent. The laws of sound are essentially -different from the laws of light. Sound travels only at the rate of 340 -metres a second, and its effects have absolutely nothing in common with -those of light. Nevertheless it is evident that if we were to advance -into the air with a velocity _superior_ to that of sound, we should -hear inversely the sounds that left the lips of a speaker. If, for -instance, some one were to recite an alexandrine, an auditor in moving -with the aforesaid velocity, starting at the moment when he heard the -last foot of the line, would find successively the eleven other feet -which had been uttered before, and would thus hear the alexandrine -backwards. - -As to the theory itself, it suggests a curious reflection, that nature -might have caused sound to travel, not at the rate of 340 metres -a second, and that its velocity, which depends on the density and -the elasticity of the air, might have been very much less. Why, for -instance, might it not have been transmitted at the rate of only a few -centimetres a second? Now see what would be the result if this were -the case. Men would not be able to speak to one another when walking -together. Let two friends be conversing, and suppose one takes a step -or two in advance, or goes on, say the distance of a metre; now, if -sound were to take many seconds to cross this metre, the consequence -would be that, instead of hearing the phrases spoken in their right -order by his friend, the foremost walker would hear in an inverse -order the sounds conveying the anterior phrases. In that case we could -not speak whilst walking, and three-fourths of mankind would not be -able to hear one another. - -These remarks, my friend, induce me to suggest to you, in this -connection, for your consideration, a subject well worthy of attention, -and which has hitherto received little notice--that of the adaptation -of the human organism to its terrestrial environment. The manner in -which man sees, in which he hears; his sensations, his nervous system, -his build, his weight, his density, his walk, his functions--in a word, -all his actions are regulated and constituted by the condition of your -planet. None of your acts are absolutely free and independent. Man is -the obedient, though unconscious, creature of the organic forces of the -Earth. - -[Sidenote: The human organism derived from the Earth.] - -[Sidenote: Organic life accords with its habitat on each planet.] - -Undoubtedly the human soul, not being a function of the brain, -and existing by itself, enjoys relative liberty; but this liberty -is limited by its faculties, its powers, and its energies; it is -determined, according to the causes which decide it, at the moment of -the birth of every man. Could one know exactly the faculties of his -soul and the circumstances which were to surround his life, one could -write beforehand that man's life in all its details. The human organism -is the product of the planet. It is not by a Divine fantasy, by a -miracle, or by a direct creation that terrestrial man is constituted -such as he is. His form, his figure, his weight, his sense, his whole -organisation, are derived from the state or condition of your planet, -the atmosphere that you breathe, the food that nourishes you, the -gravity of the surface of the Earth, the density of terrestrial matter, -&c. The human body does not differ anatomically from that of one of the -higher mammalia, and if you go back to the origin of species, you will -find gradual transformations established by unimpeachable evidence. The -whole of terrestrial life, from the mollusc to man, is the development -of one single and sole genealogical tree. The human form has its -origin in the animal form. Man is the butterfly developed from the -chrysalis of the palaeontological ages. From this fact the consequence -results that on other worlds organic life is different from what it is -here, and that their humanities, which, like our own, are the result -of forces in activity on each planet, differ absolutely in their -forms from that of terrestrial humanity. For example, on the worlds -where they do not eat, the digestive apparatus and the intestines do -not exist. On the worlds which are very highly electric, the beings -inhabiting them are gifted with an electric sense. On others, sight is -adapted for the ultra-violet rays, and the eyes have nothing in common -with your eyes; they do not see what you see, and they see what you -cannot see. The organs are adapted to the functions they have to fulfil. - -QUAERENS. We are not, then, the absolute type of creation? Creation -itself is, it appears, a perpetual development of forces in activity. - -[Sidenote: The soul and destiny] - -LUMEN. The soul itself is subject to a similar law. There are as many -diversities of souls as of bodies. In order that the soul should exist -as an independent being having a consciousness of itself, in order that -it should preserve the recollection of its identity and be qualified -for immortality, it is necessary that even in this life it should know -that it really exists. Otherwise it is no more advanced the day after -death than the day before death, and falls as an insensible breath -into the blind cosmos, neither more nor less than any other centre -of unconscious force. Many men on the Earth boast that they do not -believe in anything but matter, without knowing what they say, since -they do not know what matter is. These last, and those, still more -numerous, who _do not think at all_, are not immortal, since they have -no consciousness of their existence. The spirits who live really the -spiritual life are the only ones who are fitted for immortality. - -QUAERENS. Are there many of them? - -LUMEN. My friend, behold the dawn of morning which invites me anew to -return into the depths of space, peopled with things unknown on Earth, -that fruitful mine in which spirits find again the wrecks of past -existences, the secrets of many mysteries, the ruins of disintegrated -worlds, and the genesis of future worlds. And for the rest, it would -be superfluous to lengthen out this recital with useless details. My -object has been to show you that, in order to have the spectacle of a -world and of a system exactly opposite to yours, all that is needed is -to recede from the Earth with a velocity greater than that of light. -In this flight of the soul towards the inaccessible horizons of the -infinite, one retraces the luminous rays reflected by the Earth and -by the other planets for millions and myriads of years, and _while -observing the planets at this vast distance one can be present_ in -vision _at the events of their past history_. Thus one ascends the -stream of time to its source. Such a faculty ought to illuminate for -you the regions of eternity with a new light. If, as I hope, you admit -the scientific value of my expositions of these ultra-terrestrial -studies, I look forward to unfolding to you before long their -metaphysical consequences. - - - - -THIRD CONVERSATION - -HOMO HOMUNCULUS - - -[Sidenote: Clouds no impediment to vision.] - -QUAERENS. I have listened to you with interest, Lumen, without, I -own, being entirely convinced that all you have told me is actually -real. Indeed it is difficult to believe that it is possible to see -with absolute certainty all the things of which you speak. When, for -instance, there are clouds across your field of view, you cannot see -clearly what passes on the Earth. The same objection obtains for the -interior of houses. - -[Sidenote: Light a vibration of ether.] - -LUMEN. You are mistaken, my friend. The undulations of ether pass -through obstacles that you would believe impenetrable. Clouds are -formed of molecules between which rays of light frequently pass. In the -contrary case, there are here and there vistas or gaps, across which -one can only see obliquely. The case is very rare when nothing can be -distinguished. Besides, light is not what it appears to be; it is a -vibration of ether, and there are other ways of seeing than by means -of the retina and the optic nerve. - -The vibrations of ether are perceptible to senses other than those you -possess. Therefore, if this be your sole objection, it is, I must say, -far from being an insurmountable one. - -QUAERENS. You have a special faculty for resolving all doubts. Perhaps -this is one of the gifts granted to spiritual beings. I have been -obliged successively to admit, that you have been transported to -Capella with a swiftness exceeding that of light; that you reached -another world as a spirit; that your soul is liberated from the flesh; -that your ultra-earthly perception is able to distinguish from that -height all that passes here; that you can advance or recede in space -according to your fancy; and lastly, that the clouds themselves are no -obstacles to your clearly seeing the surface of our globe. It must be -owned that these are grave difficulties indeed. - -LUMEN. You are very material, my old friend! Should you be very -surprised if I undertook to prove to you that all these difficulties -exist only in name, and that all the objections which oppose themselves -to your conception of phenomena are the effects of ignorance? - -What should you think if I affirmed that no one has a single true idea -of what takes place upon the Earth, and that man utterly fails to -understand nature? - -QUAERENS. In the name of all the indisputable truths of modern science, -I should dare to think that you were trying to impose upon me. - -[Sidenote: The marvels of spectral analysis.] - -[Sidenote: Piercing nature of the soul's sight.] - -LUMEN. God forbid! Listen to me, my friend. The marvellous discoveries -of contemporary science ought to enlarge the sphere of your -conceptions. You have just discovered spectral analysis! By this -methodic examination of a simple ray of light shot from a far-off star, -you learn what are the elements which compose this inaccessible star -and feed its brilliancy. This knowledge, my brother, is of more value -than all the conquests of Alexander, of Caesar, and of Napoleon, than -all the discoveries of Ptolemy, of Columbus, of Gutenberg, than all the -books of Moses and of Confucius. Only think, trillions of leagues span -the abyss which separates us from Sirius, from Arcturus, from Vega, -from Capella, from Castor and Pollux, and it is now possible to analyse -the substances which constitute these suns, just as accurately as if -you could take them in your hand and submit them to the crucible of -the laboratory! How then can you refuse to admit that, by processes -which are unknown to you, the soul's sight can be sufficiently piercing -to see clearly a bright far-off world, and to distinguish even its -smallest details? Does not the telegraph carry in an inappreciable -moment your thought from Europe to America through the depths of the -ocean? Cannot two people converse in a low voice at a distance of -thousands of leagues, and still you hesitate to admit the truth of my -narrations, because you do not altogether comprehend them? But can you -explain how the telegraphic message is transmitted? No, you cannot. -Cease then to retain doubts which have not even the merit of being -scientific. - -QUAERENS. My objections, learned master, have not any other end in view -than to elicit fresh light upon the subject. I am far from denying the -truth of all you tell me, and I but seek to form a rational and exact -idea of it. - -[Sidenote: The inadequacy of the earthly senses.] - -LUMEN. Be assured, my friend, I do not take any offence at your -objections. My only desire is to develop and enlarge the sphere of your -conceptions. I can at this very instant open your eyes to see the utter -inadequacy of your terrestrial faculties, and the fatal poverty of -positive science itself, by inviting you to reflect that the causes of -your impressions are solely modes of motion, and that what is proudly -termed _science_ is only a very _limited organic perception_. - -[Sidenote: The limitations of the senses.] - -Light by which your eyes see--sound by which your ears hear--are -different forms of motion by which you are impressed; odours, flavours, -&c., are emanations which strike upon your olfactory nerve or touch -your palate; these are solely vibratory motions which are transmitted -to your brain. You can only appreciate a few of these movements through -the senses you possess, principally those of sight and hearing. You, in -your simplicity, believe that you see and hear nature? Nothing of the -kind. All you do is to receive some of the movements in activity upon -your sublunary atom. That is all. Beyond the impressions you receive -there are an infinitely greater number unperceived by you. - -QUAERENS. Pardon, master, but this new aspect of nature is not -sufficiently clear for me to understand it. Would you.... - -[Sidenote: The extent of the gamut _re_ vibrations of sound.] - -[Sidenote: The extent of the vibrations of light.] - -LUMEN. This aspect is indeed new to you, but attentive reflection will -enable you to grasp it. Sound is formed by vibrations in the air which -strike upon the membrane of the tympanum and give you the impression of -various tones. Man does not hear all sounds. When the vibrations are -too slow (below forty a second), the sound is too low; your ear cannot -catch it. When the vibrations are too rapid (above 36,000 a second), -the sound is too sharp; your ear cannot receive it. Above and below -these two limits, therefore, human beings do not perceive them. These -vibrations exist, however, and are perceived by creatures of other -kinds, as, for example, certain insects. The same rules apply to light. -The different aspects of light, the shades and colours of objects, are -equally due to the vibrations which strike upon the optic nerve and -give you the impression of the different degrees of intensity in light. -Man does not by any means see all that is visible. When the vibrations -are too slow (under 458 billions a second), light is too feeble; your -eye sees nothing. When the vibrations are too rapid (over 727 billions -a second), light outruns your organic faculty of perception and is -invisible to you. Above and below these two limits the vibrations of -ether still exist, and are perceived by other beings. You do not know -therefore, nor can you receive, any impressions except those that can -be made to vibrate upon the two chords of your organic lyre, called -respectively the optic nerve and the auditory nerve. - -Imagine for one instant the extent of all the sights and sounds which -are not perceptible to you. All the undulatory movements that exist in -the universe between the figures of 36,000 and those represented by -458,000,000,000,000 in the same unity of time, can neither be heard nor -be seen by you, and remain utterly unknown to you. - -[Sidenote: Man deaf to the concert of universal harmonies by reason of -his limitations.] - -Try to measure that distance! Contemporary science is beginning to -penetrate a little into this invisible world, and you know that it -has just calculated the vibrations below 458 billions (these are the -caloric invisible rays) and the vibrations above 727 billions (these -are the chemical rays, also equally invisible to the human eye). -Scientific methods can enlarge the sphere of the perceptions but a -little; you remain isolated in the midst of infinitude. Moreover, -an endless number of other vibrations exist in nature which have no -_correspondence_ with your organisation, and therefore cannot be -received by you, _consequently you remain for ever utterly ignorant of -them_. Did you possess other strings to your lyre--ten, a hundred, a -thousand--the harmony of nature could more completely translate itself -to you, each of the myriad vibrations according to their kind. You -would perceive a number of facts which are certainly passing around -you, whose very existence you cannot even now guess, and in place of -two dominant notes you would be conscious of the grand concert of -harmonies everywhere about you. - -But although thus ignorant, you are unconscious of it, because all -around you are equally ignorant, and therefore it is impossible to -compare your limited faculties with those of beings much more highly -organised. - -[Sidenote: Were the eye a combined spectroscope and telescope, it would -see the chemical elements composing bodies.] - -The senses you do possess suffice, however, to indicate the existence -of other senses, not only more powerful, but of a totally different -order. By the sense of touch, for example, you can, it is true, feel -the sensation of _heat_; but it is easy to conceive the existence of -a special sense, analogous to that by which light reveals to you the -aspect of exterior objects, and which would render man capable of -judging of the form and substance of an object, its interior structure, -and other qualities, by the action of the caloric waves radiating from -it. The same reasoning would hold good on the subject of _electricity_. -You could equally well conceive the existence of a sense, endowing -the eye with the powers of a spectroscope and telescope in one, thus -enabling it to see the _chemical_ elements, of which bodies are -composed. - -Thus already, from a scientific point of view, you have sufficient -ground for imagining modes of perception, quite different from those -which characterise human beings. These faculties exist in other worlds, -and there are endless ways of perceiving the action of the forces of -nature. - -[Sidenote: Our terrestrial senses are limited.] - -QUAERENS. Certainly, master, I own that as you unfold these -possibilities a new and singular clearness enlightens my understanding, -and your teachings appear to me a true interpretation of the reality. -I had already dreamed that similar marvels might be possible, but -I had not been able to explain them, enveloped as I still am in my -terrestrial senses. One thing is certain, we must be lifted out of our -earth-bound limitations ere we are capable of comprehending, or even of -attempting to judge, of the scope of the universe. - -Thus, being endowed with only a few limited senses, we can but know the -facts that are perceptible to them. The remainder is naturally unknown. -Can it be that the unknown is infinitely more than the known? - -[Sidenote: The ordinary senses are insensible to many physical -movements.] - -LUMEN. This "remainder" is immense, and all you at present know will -seem as nothing by comparison. Not only do your senses not perceive -physical movements--such as solar and terrestrial electricity whose -currents cross in the atmosphere, the magnetism of minerals, of plants, -and of beings, the affinities of organisms, &c., which are invisible -to you--but they perceive still less the movements of the moral world, -its sympathies and antipathies, its presentiments, its spiritual -attractions, &c. I only speak the simple truth when I say, that all -that you know, and all that you could know, through the medium of your -earthly senses, is as nothing compared to that which is. - -[Sidenote: Beings exist with other than our senses.] - -This truth is so profound that it might well be asserted, that beings -exist upon the Earth essentially different from you, possessing neither -eyes, nor ears, nor any of your senses, but endowed with _other_ -senses, and capable of perceiving that which you cannot perceive, and -who, while living in the same world as yourself, know that which you -cannot know, and form an idea of nature completely at variance with -your own. - -QUAERENS. All this is utterly beyond my comprehension. - -LUMEN. Moreover, my earthly friend, I can add most emphatically that -the perceptions you receive, and that constitute the bases of your -science, are not even the perceptions of the _reality_. No. Light, -lucidity, colours, looks, tones, noises, harmonies, sounds, perfumes, -flavours, apparent qualities of bodies, &c., are nothing but _forms_. - -These forms enter into your mind by the avenue of the eye, and the ear, -by the senses of smell, and taste, and are represented to you by their -appearances, but not even by the essence of the things themselves. - -_The real nature of things entirely escapes your understanding, and you -are utterly incapable of comprehending the universe._ - -[Sidenote: Matter is not solid.] - -Matter itself is not what you believe it to be. To speak absolutely, -there is not anything that is _solid_; your own body, a piece of iron -or of granite, are not more solid than the air you breathe. All these -things are composed of atoms which do not touch each other, and which -are in perpetual movement. The Earth, atom of the Heavens, moves in -space with a swiftness of 643,000 leagues a day; but, in proportion to -their dimensions, each atom which constitutes your own body and that -circulates in your blood, moves much more quickly. If your vision were -sufficiently powerful to see through this stone, you would no longer -see it thus, because your sight would pass through and beyond it.... - -[Sidenote: How man errs in thinking his limited sensations describe -those of the universe.] - -[Sidenote: The difference of organisms on Mars, Uranus, &c.] - -[Sidenote: The tie uniting the physical and spiritual world] - -But I see by the disturbance of your brain, and the rapid movements of -the fluid which crosses your closely-concentrated lobes, that you no -longer understand my revelations. I will not then pursue this subject -which I have thus merely lightly touched upon, with the end in view of -thereby demonstrating how greatly you would err, did you attach any -importance to difficulties born of your terrestrial sensations, and -to assure you that neither you nor any man upon the Earth could form -even an approximate idea of the universe. What is earthly man but a -mere pigmy! Ah! if you were but acquainted with the organisms which -vibrate upon Mars or upon Uranus; if it had but been granted to you, to -appreciate the senses in action, upon Venus and upon a ring of Saturn; -if during centuries of travel you had been permitted to glance at and -observe the forms of life in the systems of the double stars; at the -sensations of sight in the coloured suns, to glean the impressions -of an electric sense, of which you can know absolutely nothing, -in the groups of multiple suns; if a suitable comparison of this -ultra-terrestrial state had furnished you with the elements of a fresh -knowledge, you would then have comprehended that beings exist--who can -see, hear, feel, or, to be more accurate, understand nature without -eyes, without ears, without sense of smell; that an incredible number -of other senses exist in nature, senses essentially different from -yours; and that there are in creation an incalculable number of -marvellous facts which it is absolutely impossible for you to imagine. -In this general contemplation of the universe, my friend, one perceives -the solidarity--the tie which unites the physical with the spiritual -world; one sees from a higher ground the instinctive strength which -raises certain souls, tried by the coarseness of matter but purified -by sacrifice, towards the higher regions of spiritual light; and one -understands how immense is the happiness reserved for those beings, -who, even while on Earth, have succeeded in gradually overcoming their -lower nature. - -QUAERENS.. To return to the transmission of light in space. Does -not light lose itself at last? Does the aspect of the Earth remain -eternally visible, and never, on the contrary, diminish in proportion -to the square of distance, thus becoming finally annihilated? - -[Sidenote: The word end applied to space meaningless] - -LUMEN. Your expression "at last" is without meaning, because there is -no end in space. - -Light becomes attenuated, it is true, with distance, the scenes become -less vivid, but nothing is lost entirely. Any number, whatever it may -be, perpetually reduced by half, for example, can never become equal -to zero. The Earth is not visible to all eyes at a certain distance. -Nevertheless it still exists, even though it may not be seen by all; -and only spiritual sight can see it. - -Besides, the image of a star, borne upon the wings of light, goes into -the unfathomable depths of the mysterious abysses of space. - -[Sidenote: Vast regions exist without stars.] - -Vast regions exist in space without stars, regions decimated by time, -whence worlds have been successively removed by the attraction of -exterior suns. The image of a star in crossing these dark abysses, -would be in a condition analogous to that of a person, or object, that -the photographer had forgotten and left in the _camera_. - -It is not impossible that such images encounter in these vast spaces an -obscure star (celestial mechanics state the existence of many such) in -a special condition whose surface (formed perhaps of iodine, if one is -to credit spectral analysis) would be sensitised, and capable of fixing -upon itself the image of this far-off world. - -Thus terrestrial events might be printed upon a dark globe. And if this -globe turns upon itself, like other celestial bodies, it would present -successively its different zones to the terrestrial image, and would -thus take a sort of continuous photograph of successive events. - -[Sidenote: Images of this world's events photographed spirally upon -other globes in space.] - -Following moreover, in ascending, or descending, a perpendicular -line to its equator, the line where the images were reproduced would -no longer be described in a circle, but in a spiral; and after the -first movement of rotation was finished, the new images would not -coincide with the old ones, nor superimpose them, but would follow -above and below. The imagination could now suppose that this world is -not spherical, but cylindrical, and thus see in space an imperishable -column around which would be engraved the great events of the world's -history. - -I have not myself seen this realisation. It is so short a time since I -left the Earth, that I have barely done more than glance superficially -at these celestial marvels. Before long I shall seek to verify this -fact, and see if its reality does not form a part of the infinite -richness of the astral creations. - -QUAERENS. If the ray which leaves the Earth is never _destroyed_, -master, our actions are then eternal? - -LUMEN. Certainly they are. - -[Sidenote: Actions carried for ever on rays of light.] - -An act once accomplished can never be effaced, and no power can ever -cause it to be as if it had never been. Say that a crime is committed -in the heart of a desert country. The criminal goes far away, remains -unknown, and supposes that the act which he has committed has _passed_ -for ever. He has washed his hands of it, he has repented, he believes -his action _obliterated_. But in reality nothing is destroyed. At the -moment when this act was accomplished, the light seized it and carried -it into space with the rapidity of lightning. It became incorporated -in a ray of light; eternal, it will transmit itself eternally into -infinitude. - -Likewise a good action is done in secret; the benefactor thinks it is -concealed, but a ray of light has taken possession of it. Far from -being forgotten, it will live for ever. - -Napoleon, in order to satisfy his personal ambition, was voluntarily -the cause of the death of five millions of men, whose ages averaged -about thirty years, and who, according to the laws of life, had -thirty-seven more years to live. Therefore, by this calculation, he -caused the destruction of 185 millions of years of human life. - -[Sidenote: Napoleon's punishment.] - -His chastisement, his expiation, consists in being carried along by -that ray of light which left the plains of Waterloo on the 18th June -1815, and to be ever moving in space with the quickness of light -itself; to have constantly in sight that critical scene, where he saw -for ever crumbling to pieces the scaffolding of his vain ambition; -to feel, without respite, the bitterness of despair; and to remain -bound to this ray of light for the 185 millions of years for whose -destruction he was responsible. By thus acting, in place of worthily -fulfilling his mission, he has retarded for a similar length of time -his progress in the spiritual life. - -And if it were given to you to see that which goes on in the moral -world, as clearly as you now see that which passes in the physical one, -you would recognise vibrations and transmissions of another nature, -which imprint in the arcana of the spiritual world, not only the -actions, but even the most secret thoughts. - -[Sidenote: Speculation upon the problem of communication by luminous -signals between the Earth and stars.] - -[Sidenote: An interval of two centuries between question and answer.] - -QUAERENS. Your revelations, Lumen, are awful! Thus, our eternal -destinies are intimately bound up with the construction of the universe -itself. I have many times speculated upon the problem of communication -between the worlds by the aid of light. Many physicists have supposed -that it will be possible to establish communication between the Earth -and the Moon, and even the planets, by the aid of luminous signals. -But suppose one could make signs from the Earth to a star, by employing -the light, for example, a hundred years must come and go before the -signal from the Earth could reach its destination, and the response -could only return after the same interval of time had elapsed. Two -centuries must consequently elapse between the question and its answer. -The terrestrial observer would have died long before his signal could -have reached his sidereal observer, and the latter would doubtless have -undergone a similar fate before his answer could have been received! - -LUMEN. It would, in fact, be a conversation between the living and the -dead. - -QUAERENS. Pardon a last question, master--one perhaps a little -indiscreet, but a last one, for I see Venus is paling, and I feel that -your voice will soon cease to be heard. If actions are thus visible -in ethereal regions, we can then see, after our death, not only our -own actions, but also those of others--I mean those which specially -interest us? - -For instance, a pair of twin souls, dwelling in perfect unity, would -like to see again for a thousand years the delightful hours passed -together on the Earth; they would rush into space with a rapidity equal -to that of light, in order to have always before their eyes the same -hours of joy. - -In another sense, a husband would trace with interest the entire life -of his companion; and should some unexpected situation have presented -itself, he could at leisure examine the causes leading to the same. He -might even, if his disembodied companion resided in some neighbouring -region, call upon her to observe, in common with himself, these -retrospective incidents. - -No denial could be admissible before such palpable evidence, and might -not this power exercised by these spirits give rise to some strange -revelations? - -LUMEN. You are very earthly, my friend, to think that in the Heavens -memories of a material kind will be valued, and I am astonished that -you can continue to think them of importance. What should specially -strike you in all we have said during these two interviews is, that -by virtue of the laws of light, we can see events after they have -been accomplished, although they are past, and indeed when they have -entirely vanished. - -QUAERENS. Believe me, master, this truth will never more be effaced from -my memory. It is precisely this point which I find so exceedingly -marvellous. - -Forget, I pray you, my last digression. - -To say the truth, that which from our first interview has most -taxed and surpassed the bounds of my imagination, was to think -that the duration of the voyage of the spirit can be not only -_nil_--negative--but also _retrograde_! - -[Sidenote: Time retrogressive.] - -"Time retrogressive!" These two words involve a contradiction in terms. -Dare one believe it? - -You start to-day for a star, and you arrive yesterday! What do I -say--yesterday? You will arrive there seventy-two years ago, even a -hundred years ago! The farther you go, the sooner you will arrive! -Terms in grammar must be remade for such extraordinary reckoning. - -LUMEN. This is undeniable. - -Speaking according to terrestrial style, there is not any error in this -mode of expression, since the Earth was only in 1793, &c., for the -world in which we arrived, or for the world which we reached. - -[Sidenote: Apparent paradoxes anent time.] - -You have, however, on your little globe certain apparent paradoxes, -which give an idea of this one. - -For example, a telegram sent from Paris at noon arrives at Brest -twenty minutes before noon. But these curious aspects of particular -application are not of sufficient significance for you to dwell upon, -but rather the _revelation_ of which they are the metaphysical form and -the outward expression. Know that time is not an absolute reality, but -only a transitory measure caused by the movements of the Earth in the -Solar System. - -Regarded with the eyes of the soul, and not with those of the body, -this picture of human life, not imaginary but real, such as it was, -dissimulation being impossible, touches on one side the domain of -theology, inasmuch as it explains physically a mystery hitherto -inexplicable: I mean "individual judgment" of ourselves after death. - -From the point of view of the whole question, the present of a world -is no longer a momentary actuality, which disappears as soon as it -has appeared, it is no longer a phase without consistency, a gate -through which the past is precipitated unceasingly towards the future, -a mathematical plan in space. It is, on the contrary, an effective -reality, which flies away from this world with the swiftness of light, -sinking for ever in the infinite, and remaining thus an _eternal -present_. - -[Sidenote: Events live for ever.] - -The metaphysical reality of this vast problem is such, that one can now -conceive the omnipresence of the world throughout all its duration. -Events vanish from the place in which they were born, but they exist in -space. This successive and endless projection of all the facts enacted -upon every world takes place in the bosom of the _Infinite Being_, -whose ubiquity holds everything in an eternal permanence. - -[Sidenote: Scientific explanation of ubiquity.] - -The events which have been accomplished upon the surface of the Earth -since its creation are visible in space at distances proportioned to -their remoteness in the past. The whole history of the globe, and the -life of each one of its inhabitants, could thus be seen at a glance by -an eye which could embrace that space. We thus understand optically, as -it were, that the eternal Spirit, present everywhere, can see all the -past at one and the same moment. - -That which is true of our Earth is true of all the worlds in space. -Thus the entire history of the whole universe can be present at once -to the universal ubiquity of the Creator. I may add that God knows all -the past, not only in consequence of this direct sight, but also by -the knowledge of each thing in the present. If a naturalist, such as -Cuvier, knows how to reconstruct, by the aid of a fragment of bone, any -species of extinct animals, surely the Author of Nature knows by the -present Earth the Earth which is past, the Planetary System, and the -Sun of the past, and all the conditions of temperatures, aggregations, -and combinations, by which the elements have produced the complex -condition of things at present in existence. - -[Sidenote: Present, past, and future, all one.] - -On the other hand, the future can be as completely present to God in -its actual germs, as the past is in its fruits. - -Each event is bound in an indissoluble manner with the past and the -future. - -The future will be as inevitably the outcome of the present, and is, -as logically deducible from it, and exists in it as exactly, as that -the past itself is therein inscribed for those who are able to decipher -it. But--and I emphasise it--the main point of this recital is to -state, to make you understand, that the past life of all worlds, and -of all beings, is always visible in space, thanks to the successive -transmission of light across and through the vast regions of the -infinite. - - - - -FOURTH CONVERSATION - -ANTERIORES VITAE - - -[Sidenote: New horizons.] - -QUAERENS. Two years have fled, Lumen, since the day when you granted -me that mysterious interview. During this period, unconsciously for -the inhabitants of eternal space, but most consciously for us dwellers -upon the Earth, I have often raised my thoughts to the great problems -in which you have initiated me, and to the horizons developed before -my mind's eye. Doubtless, also, since your departure from the Earth -you have made, through your observations and studies, great advance -upon a field of research more and more vast. Doubtless, also, you have -numberless marvels to declare to me, now that my intelligence is better -prepared to receive them. If I am worthy, and if I can comprehend -them, give me an account, Lumen, of the celestial voyages which have -transported your spirit into the higher spheres; of the unknown truths -which they have revealed to you; of the grandeurs which they have -opened out to you, and of the principles they have taught you in -reference to that mysterious subject, viz., the destiny of man, and -other beings. - -LUMEN. I have prepared your mind, my dear old friend, to receive -marvellous impressions, such as no earthly spectacle ever has, or could -produce. It is, nevertheless, necessary that you should keep your -understanding free from all earthly prejudice. That which I am going to -unfold will astonish you, but receive it from the first with attention -as an undeniable truth, and not as a romance. This is the first -condition that I demand from my earnest pupil. When you comprehend--and -you will comprehend, if you bring to the task a mathematical mind -and an unprejudiced spirit--you will see that all the facts which -constitute our ultra-terrestrial existence are not only possible, but -also real, and moreover, are in perfect harmony with our intellectual -faculties as already manifested upon the earth. - -QUAERENS. Be assured, Lumen, that I bring to you an open mind, cleared -from all prejudice, and I am eagerly expecting to hear revelations such -as the human ear has never before heard. - -[Sidenote: Space and Light.] - -LUMEN. The events which will form the subject of this recital have -not only the Earth and its neighbouring stars for their subject, but -they will extend over immense fields of sidereal astronomy, and make -us acquainted with their marvels. Their explanation will be solved, -as was that of former difficulties, by the study of _light_, a magic -bridge thrown from one star to another, from the Earth to the Sun, from -the Earth to the stars--of _light_, the universal movement which fills -space, sustains worlds in their orbits, and constitutes the eternal -life of nature. Take care, then, to keep ever in mind, the fact of the -_successive transmission of light in space_. - -[Sidenote: Velocity of Light.] - -QUAERENS. I know that light, whatever it may be, is the agent by which -objects are rendered visible to our eyes, that it is not transmitted -instantaneously from one point to another, but gradually, like all -motion. I know that it flies at the rate of 75,000 leagues a second, -that it runs 750,000 leagues in ten seconds, and 4,500,000 each minute. -I know that it takes more than eight minutes to cross the distance of -37 millions of leagues which separate us from the Sun. Modern astronomy -has made these facts familiar. - -LUMEN. Do you perfectly realise its undulatory movement? - -[Sidenote: Undulatory movement of Sound.] - -QUAERENS. I think so. I compare it to that of sound, although it be -accomplished upon a scale incomparably more vast. By undulation -following undulation, sound is diffused in the air. When the bells -peal forth their sonorous sound, this is heard at the very moment when -the clapper strikes the bell, by those living round the church, but is -not heard till one second after, by those living at a distance of 492 -yards; two seconds later by those at 765 yards; and three seconds later -still, by those at a distance of 1093 yards from the church. Thus sound -only gradually reaches one village after another as far as it can go. - -In the same way light passes successively from one region in space to -another at a greater distance, and travels without being extinguished -into the far-off realms of Infinity. If we could see from the Earth -an event which is being accomplished upon the Moon; for instance, if -we had sufficiently good instruments to perceive from here, a fruit -falling from a tree on the surface of the Moon, we should not see the -fact at the _moment of its occurrence_, but one second and a quarter -_after_, because light requires about that time to travel the distance -from the Moon to the Earth. Similarly, could we see an event taking -place upon a world at ten times greater distance than the Moon, we -could not witness it until 13 seconds after it had really happened. If -this world were a hundred times farther off than the Moon, we could -not see an event until 130 seconds after it had taken place; were it a -thousand times more distant, we should not see it until 1300 seconds, -or 21 minutes 40 seconds had elapsed. And so on according to the -distance. - -[Sidenote: Time taken by Light in travelling from the Earth to the star -Capella.] - -LUMEN. Exactly, and you are aware that the luminous ray sent to the -Earth by the star _Capella_ takes seventy-two years in reaching it. It -follows, therefore, that if we only receive the luminous ray to-day, -which left its surface seventy-two years ago, the denizens of Capella -see only that which happened on the Earth seventy-two years ago. The -Earth reflects in space the light that it gets from the Sun, and from -a distance, appears as brilliant as Venus and Jupiter appear to you, -planets lighted by the same Sun that lights the Earth. The luminous -aspect of the Earth, its photograph, journeys in space at the rate of -75,000 leagues a second, and only reaches Capella after seventy-two -years of incessant travel. I recall these elementary principles in -order that you may have them thoroughly fixed in your memory; you -will then be able to comprehend, without difficulty, the facts which -have happened to me during my ultra-terrestrial life since our last -interview. - -QUAERENS. These principles of optics are, to my mind, clearly -established. The day after your death in October 1864, when, as -you have confided to me, you found yourself rapidly transported to -Capella, you were astonished to arrive there at the moment when the -philosophical astronomers of the country were observing the Earth in -the year 1793, and witnessing one of the most significant acts of the -French Revolution. You were not less surprised to see yourself again as -a child, running about in the streets of Paris. Then, leaving Capella -and coming nearer to the Earth, you arrived at the zone where that part -of the terrestrial photography passed before your vision, which showed -you your infancy, and you saw yourself at six years of age, not in -memory, but in reality. Out of all your previous revelations, this is -the one I had the most difficulty in believing--I mean, in grasping its -meaning. - -LUMEN. That which I now wish to make you comprehend is stranger still. -But it was first necessary for you to admit that one, before I could -adequately reveal to you this one. - -[Sidenote: Retrospective survey of life on Earth.] - -On leaving Capella and approaching the Earth, I saw again my -seventy-two years of earthly existence, my entire life such as it had -been, passed before me; for, in approaching the Earth, I passed through -successive zones of earthly scenes, where I saw spread out as in a -scroll the visible history of our planet, because in going back towards -the Earth, I was continually meeting the various zones which carried -through space the visible history of our planet, comprising that of -Paris as well as my own, for I was there. Taking thus in one day a -retrospective survey of the road which it had taken light seventy-two -years to traverse, I had reviewed my whole life in that one day, and I -perceived even my own interment. - -QUAERENS. It is as if, on returning from Capella to the Earth, you had -seen, as in a mirror, the seventy-two years of your life photographed -year by year. The one the farthest from the Earth, but which had -started the first, and was the oldest, showed events as they were in -1793; the second, which left the Earth a year later, and had not yet -reached Capella, contained those of 1794; the tenth, those of 1803; -the thirty-sixth, having reached midway on the road, gave those of -1829; the fiftieth, those of 1843; the seventy-first, those of 1864. - -LUMEN. It is impossible to have better grasped these facts, which seem -so mysterious and incomprehensible at first sight. Now I can recount to -you that which happened to me upon Capella, after having thus witnessed -over again my existence on the Earth. - - -I - -LUMEN. Whilst not very long ago (but I can no longer express that time -by earthly measurements), in a melancholy region of Capella, I was -contemplating the starry heavens at the beginning of a clear night, -occupied in noting the star which is your earthly Sun, and near it the -little azure planet, your Earth, I observed one of the scenes of my -childhood--my young mother seated in the midst of a garden, holding -an infant in her arms (my brother), having at her side a little girl -of two summers (my sister), and a boy two years older (myself). I saw -myself at that age when man is not yet conscious of his intellectual -existence, though he bears even then upon his brow the germ of future -promise. Whilst dreaming of this singular spectacle, which showed _me_ -myself at the entrance of my earthly career, I felt my attention drawn -from your planet by a superior power, and directed towards another -point in the heavens, which, even at that moment, seemed to be linked -with the Earth and my career there, by some mysterious tie. I could -not turn my gaze from this new point in the the heavens, my eyes -being, as it were, chained to the spot by some magnetic power I was -unable to resist. Several times I endeavoured to withdraw my eyes, and -to fix them on the Earth I love so well; but in vain, for I was ever -re-attracted to the same unknown star. - -[Sidenote: The star Gamma in Virgo.] - -[Sidenote: Life on the planet of Virgo.] - -This star, upon which my eyes sought instinctively to divine something, -belongs to the constellation of _Virgo_, whose form varies slightly as -seen from Capella. It is a double star, that is to say, an association -of two suns, one of a silvery whiteness, the other of a bright golden -yellow, which revolve round one another once in 175 years. This star -can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye, and its sign is the -letter [Greek: g] (_Gamma_), in the constellation of Virgo. Around -each of the suns which form it there is a planetary system. My sight -was fixed upon one of the planets belonging to the golden sun. On that -planet there are animals and vegetables as upon the Earth; their forms -bear a similarity to earthly ones, although there is an essential -difference in their organisms. Their animal kingdom is analogous to -yours; they have fishes in the seas, quadrupeds in the air, in which -men can fly without wings, by reason of the extreme density of the -atmosphere. The men of this planet possess almost the same form as -those on the Earth, but no hair grows upon their heads, and they have -three large thin thumbs instead of five fingers on their hands, and -three great toes at the heel in place of soles to their feet, the -extremities of their arms and legs being supple as india-rubber. They -have, nevertheless, two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, which give them -their resemblance to earthly beings. They have not two ears, one on -each side of the head, but one only, in the shape of a cone, which is -placed on the upper part of the skull like a little hat. - -They live in societies and wear clothing. Thus, you see, in their -exterior they differ little from the inhabitants of the Earth. - -QUAERENS. Are there, then, in other worlds beings entirely distinct from -us, but who, notwithstanding their dissimilarities, can be compared -with us? - -LUMEN. A distinction profound and unimaginable by you separates in -general the animal life of the different worlds. _These forms are the -result of elements special to each globe, and of the forces which -regulate them_: matter, density, weight, heat, light, electricity, -atmosphere, &c., differ essentially on each globe. Even in the same -system these forms differ. - -[Sidenote: The system of Gamma in Virgo.] - -Thus the men of Uranus and Mercury do not in any way resemble the men -of the Earth; those who see them for the first time cannot perceive -that they possess either head, members, or senses. On the contrary, -the forms of those in the planetary system of Virgo, towards which my -attention was being persistently drawn, are nearly similar to those -of the inhabitants of the Earth, whom they also resemble morally -and intellectually. Slightly inferior to ourselves, they belong to -that scale in the order of souls which immediately precedes that of -terrestrial humanity as a whole. - -QUAERENS.. Yet there is a wide divergence between human beings -themselves in all that pertains both to intellect and morals. We in -Europe differ greatly from the tribes of Abyssinia and from the savages -of the Oceanic Isles. What people do you take as a type of the highest -degree of intelligence on the Earth? - -[Sidenote: The Arabs and their intelligence.] - -LUMEN. The Arabs. They are capable of producing their Keplers, their -Newtons, their Galileos, their Archimedes, their Euclids, their -D'Alemberts. Besides, they sprang from those primitive hordes whose -roots reach down to the bed rock of humanity. But it is not necessary -to choose a people for a type. It is better to consider modern -civilisation as a whole. Nor is there so marked a distance as you -appear to suppose, between the brain capacity of a negro and that of -the Latin race. - -However, if you insist upon a comparison, I can assure you that the -men of the planet of Virgo are almost on a par intellectually with the -Scandinavians. - -[Sidenote: Vital difference between Virgo and the Earth.] - -The most vital difference which exists between their world and the -Earth, _is the absence of sex_. Neither plants, animals, nor human -beings have sex. Generation is effected spontaneously, as the natural -result of the union of certain physiological conditions in some of -the fertile isles of this planet, man not being formed in the womb of -his mother as upon earth. It would be useless to explain the process, -to one whose earthly faculties prevent him comprehending the facts -of a world distinctly different from his own. It results from this -organic arrangement, that marriage in any form does not exist in this -world, and that the friendships between human beings are never mixed -with the carnal desires, which are inevitably manifested on the Earth -between people of different sexes, even when the attraction is most -pure. Probably you will remember that during the protozoic period, the -inhabitants of the Earth were all deaf, dumb, and sexless. The division -into sexes took place much later in the history of Nature both among -animals and plants. - -Being attracted towards this far-off planet I attentively examined its -surface with my spiritual sight, and I was specially drawn, without -knowing the cause, to a white city, resembling from afar a region -covered with snow; but it is improbable that it was snow, as it is -unlikely that water can exist on that globe in the same physical -and chemical conditions as upon the Earth. Upon the borders of this -city an avenue led to a neighbouring wood of yellow trees. I soon -remarked three persons who seemed to be slowly sauntering towards -this wood. This little group was formed of two friends, who were in -close conversation, and of a third, who differed from both by his red -garment and the burden he bore, and who was probably their servant, -their slave, or some domestic animal. Whilst intently regarding the two -principal personages, I observed the one to the right raise his face -to the sky, as if some one had called him from a balloon, and turn his -gaze towards Capella, a star which, doubtless, he did not see, because -for him it was then daylight. Oh, my old friend, I shall never forget -the sudden surprise this sight gave me! I can still scarcely believe -that I was not dreaming.... - -This person on the planet of Virgo, who was looking towards me without -knowing it, was.... Can I tell you? Well, it was _myself_! - -QUAERENS. How _yourself_? - -LUMEN. Yes, my very self. I recognised myself instantly, and you can -judge of my surprise! - -QUAERENS. Certainly I can. I cannot comprehend it at all. - -[Sidenote: Anterior existence] - -LUMEN. The fact is, the situation was so entirely novel that it demands -explanation. It was in truth myself, and I was not long in finding -out, not only that it was my former face and figure, but also that the -person walking by my side was my dear Kathleen, an intimate friend, -and the companion of my studies upon that planet. My gaze followed -them as far as the Yellow Wood, across picturesque valleys, beneath -golden cupolas, under trees covered with large orange-tinted branches, -and through hedges of elms with amber-coloured leaves. A purling brook -babbled on the fine sand, and we seated ourselves on its banks. I -recall sweet hours we have passed together, the happy years which have -glided away in this far-off country, the fraternal confidences, and -the impressions we shared, in the midst of woodland scenes, of silent -plains, of mist-covered hills, and of little lakes which smilingly -reflected the heavens. With aspirations raised towards all that was -grand and sacred in nature, we adored God in His works. With what joy -I saw again this phase of my previous existence, and riveted anew the -golden chain, whose links life on Earth had broken! - -In truth, dear Quaerens, it was my very self who then was living on that -planet of Virgo. I really saw myself, and I could follow in sequence -the events of my life and the happiest moments of that existence, now -so far remote. - -Besides, if I had had any doubt of my identity, the uncertainty would -have ceased during my observation, for whilst pondering upon the -matter, I saw Berthor--my brother during that existence--come out of -the wood, approach us, and join in our conversation by the side of the -murmuring brook. - -QUAERENS. Master, I fail still to comprehend how you could really see -yourself on that planet of Virgo. Were you then gifted with ubiquity? - -Could you, like Francis of Assisi or Apollonius of Tyana, be in two -places at the same time? - -[Sidenote: Scientific explanation of anterior life on Virgo.] - -LUMEN. Certainly not. But in examining the astronomical co-ordinates of -the Sun Gamma in Virgo, and knowing its parallax as seen from Capella, -I came to the conclusion that the light from this Sun could not employ -less than 172 years in traversing the distance which separates it from -Capella. - -I was then actually receiving the luminous ray which left that world -172 years before. And it so happens that at that epoch I was absolutely -living upon the planet of which we speak, and that I was then in my -twentieth year. In verifying these periods, and in comparing the -different planetary styles, I found, in fact, that I was born on the -world of Virgo in the year 45904 (which corresponds to the year -1677 of the Christian era on Earth), and that I died--through an -accident--in the year 45913, which corresponds to the year 1767. Each -year of this planet equals ten of yours. When I saw myself, as I have -just told you, I appeared to be about twenty years of age according to -earthly reckoning, but following the way of reckoning on that planet, -I was only two years old. There the age of fifteen years is often -reached, which is considered the limit of life on that globe, and is -equivalent to 150 years on the Earth. - -[Sidenote: Light takes 172 years to travel from Virgo to Capella.] - -The luminous ray, or, to speak more accurately, the aspect or -photograph of the world of Virgo, takes 172 earthly years to traverse -the immense space which separates it from Capella; consequently, upon -finding myself upon this last star, I was receiving at that very moment -the image which left the constellation of Virgo 172 years previously. -And although things have changed greatly, though generations have -followed generations, though I died there myself, and have had time to -be born again and live seventy-two years on the Earth, nevertheless -light had taken all this time to cross the space which separates Virgo -from Capella, and was bringing afresh to me impressions of events long -passed away. - -QUAERENS. This duration of the passage of light being proved, I have not -any objection to urge on this point, but I frankly own that to credit -an experience of such amazing singularity, taxes my imagination beyond -its just limits. - -[Sidenote: The history of each world is contained in the rays of light.] - -LUMEN. This is not any imagination, my old friend. It is a reality, -eternal and sacred, holding its fixed place in the universal plan of -creation. The light of every star, direct or reflected--say otherwise, -the aspect of each Sun, and of each planet--is diffused in space, -according to a rate of rapidity already known to you, and the luminous -ray contains in itself all that is visible. As nothing can be lost, -the history of each world is contained in the light which incessantly -emanates from it in successive waves, eternally travelling into -infinite space without any possibility of its being annihilated. True, -the terrestrial eye cannot read it; but there are eyes immeasurably -superior to your earthly ones. - -[Sidenote: Light is vibrations of ether; Sight, perceptions of thought.] - -I make use of the terms _sight_ and _light_, in these conversations, -in order that you may comprehend me; but, as I told you in a previous -communication, speaking absolutely, there is not such a thing as light, -only vibrations of ether; neither is there any sight, only perceptions -of the mind. Moreover, even upon the Earth, when you examine the nature -of a star with a telescope, or better still with a spectroscope, you -well know it is not its actual state you have before your eyes, but -its past state, transmitted to you by a ray of light which left it, -perhaps, ten thousand years ago. You know, besides, that a certain -number of stars, of which your astronomers on the Earth are seeking -to determine the physical and numerical properties, and which shine -brilliantly over your heads, have long ago ceased even to exist--may -indeed have ceased to exist since the beginning of your world. - -QUAERENS. We know this is so. Thus you have seen, unrolled before your -eyes, your existence previous to the last one, 172 years after it had -flown by. - -LUMEN. Say rather one phase of this existence; but I could have been -able, and could now indeed review my entire life by going closer to -that planet, as I have already done for my terrestrial existence. - -Quaerens. So, through the medium of light, you have really seen again -your last two incarnations? - -LUMEN. Precisely; and what is more, I have seen them, and continue to -see them, _simultaneously_, side by side as it were of one another. - -QUAERENS. You see them again both at the _same time_? - -LUMEN. This fact is easily explained. The light from the Earth takes -seventy-two years to reach Capella. The light from the planet of Virgo, -being once and a half farther off than Capella, takes once and a half -longer time to travel, which would make it about 172 years. As I lived -seventy-two years upon the Earth, and one hundred years before that -upon the other planet, these two periods reach me at precisely _the -same time_ upon Capella. Thus by simply looking at these two worlds, I -have before me my last two existences, which unroll themselves as if I -were not here to see them, and without my being able to change any of -the acts that I see myself upon the point of accomplishing, either upon -the one or the other, since those acts, although present and future to -my actual observation, are in reality past. - -QUAERENS. This is indeed a strange experience! - -LUMEN. But what struck me most in this unexpected observation of two of -my previous existences in two different worlds, thus unrolled before -me, was the odd resemblance between these two lives. I found that I had -almost the same tastes in the one as in the other, the same passions, -the same errors. Nothing criminal, nothing saintly in either. - -[Sidenote: Explanation of inherent tastes.] - -Furthermore (extraordinary coincidence), I have witnessed scenes in -the first analogous to those I have seen upon the Earth. This explains -the innate tastes I brought into the terrestrial world, for the poetry -of the North, the poems of Ossian, the dreamy landscape of Ireland, -for its mountains and its Aurora Borealis. For Scotland, Scandinavia, -Sweden, Norway with its fiords, Spitzbergen with its solitudes--all -alike attracted me. Old towers in ruins, rocks and wild ravines, -sombre pines soughing with the northern winds--all these appealed -to me on the Earth, and seemed to have some mysterious link with my -deepest thoughts. When I saw Ireland for the first time, I felt as -if I had lived there before. When for the first time I ascended the -Rigi and the Finsteraarhorn, and saw the superb sunrise over the snowy -summits of the Alps, it seemed as if I had previously seen all this. -The spectre of the Brocken was not new, the reason being that I had -in a former life inhabited similar regions on the planet of Virgo. -The same life, the same actions, the same circumstances, the same -conditions--analogies, analogies! Almost all that I have seen, done, -thought on the Earth, I had already seen, done, thought a hundred years -before upon that anterior world. I had always suspected it! Taking it -altogether, however, my terrestrial life as a whole was superior to the -one preceding it. Each child in coming into the world brings with him -different faculties, special predispositions, innate dissimilarities, -which no one denies, and can only be explained to the philosophical -mind,--or in view of eternal Justice,--by the supposition of works -previously accomplished by free souls. - -But though my terrestrial life was superior to its anterior one, -evincing, as it did, a more accurate and profound knowledge of the -system of the World, it yet lacked, I am bound to state, the possession -of certain moral and physical qualities which belonged to me in my -former existence. - -On the other hand, I had faculties on that World which I had not had -upon the Earth. I may cite one specially, that of flying. - -[Sidenote: Flying without wings.] - -I see that on the planet of Virgo I could fly, just as easily as walk, -and this without either aeronautic apparatus or wings, by simply -stretching my arms and legs, as if I were swimming in the water. On -closely examining the mode of locomotion in use on that planet, I see -clearly that I have (or rather had) neither wings, balloon, nor any -kind of mechanical appliance. At a given moment I spring from the -ground by a vigorous leap, and, spreading out my arms, sail in the air -without fatigue. At other times, descending a steep mountain on foot, I -spring out into space, with feet pressed together, and float at will, -with a slow and oblique motion, to any point I wish, standing upright -as soon as my feet touch the ground. - -[Sidenote: Dreams bring reminiscences of a former existence.] - -Then again, when I wish to do so, I fly slowly in the manner of a -dove which describes a curve in returning to its dovecot. All this I -distinctly see myself doing in this world. Not once, but a hundred, -a thousand times have I thus felt myself transported in my dreams -on Earth softly, naturally, and without apparatus. How can such -impossibilities so often present themselves to us in our dreams? -Nothing can explain them, for nothing analogous exists upon this -earthly globe. Obeying instinctively this innate tendency, I have -frequently soared into the atmosphere suspended from the car of a -balloon, but the sensation is not the same; _one does not feel one's -self_ flying; on the contrary, one has the feeling of being stationary. - -I now have the key to my dreams. During the slumber of my terrestrial -senses my soul had reminiscences of its anterior existence. - -QUAERENS. But I also often feel, and see myself flying in dreams in -precisely the way you describe, without wings or machinery, and simply -by an effort of will. Is this, then, a proof that I also have lived -upon the planet of Virgo? - -LUMEN. I do not know. If you had abnormal sight, or instruments, -or eyes sufficiently piercing, you could see this planet from your -globe, examine its surface, and if, perchance, you had existed there -when it parted with the luminous rays which have actually reached the -Earth, you might perhaps find yourself again there. But your eyes are -too feeble to make a like research. Besides, it does not follow that -because you have been able to fly, that therefore you have lived in -that world. There are a considerable number of worlds where flying -is the normal condition, and where all the human race possess this -faculty. In reality, there are but few planets where the living -creatures crawl as upon the Earth. - -[Sidenote: Plurality of existences.] - -QUAERENS. The conclusion resulting then from your experience is, that -you have had a life anterior to that upon the Earth. Do you, then, -believe in a plurality of existences for the soul? - -LUMEN. You forget that you speak to a disembodied spirit. I ought to -be well fitted to give such evidence, having before me both my earthly -life and my anterior life upon the planet of Virgo. Besides, I can -recall many other existences. - -QUAERENS. Ah! that is precisely what I lack in order to possess a -similar conviction. I can recall absolutely nothing that preceded my -birth into this world. - -[Sidenote: The soul's memory.] - -LUMEN. You are yet in the flesh; you must wait for freedom from earthly -fetters before you can recall your spiritual life. The soul has -only full remembrance, full possession of itself in its normal, its -celestial life; that is to say, between its incarnations. It then sees -not only its life on the Earth, but all its anterior lives. - -How could a soul, enveloped in the gross materialities of the flesh, -and fixed there for a transitory work, recall its spiritual life? Would -not such a remembrance even prove hurtful? What trammels would not be -put upon the soul's liberty of action, could it see its life from the -beginning to the end? - -Where would be the merit of striving if one's destiny could be foreseen? - -Souls incarnated upon the Earth have not yet attained to a sufficiently -elevated state of advancement, for the memory of their anterior life to -be of use to them. - -[Sidenote: Man is oblivious of anterior impressions, as in the -butterfly.] - -The permanence of the anterior impressions of the soul is not -manifested in this world of passage. The caterpillar does not remember -its rudimentary existence in the egg. The sleeping chrysalis cannot -recall the days it spent in work when it crawled upon the herbage. The -butterfly, which flits from flower to flower, has not any memory of the -time when its cocoon dreamed, as it hung suspended from its web; nor -of the twilight, when its larvae trailed from plant to plant; nor of -the night, when it was buried like a nut in its shell. This does not -alter the fact that the egg, the caterpillar, the chrysalis, and the -butterfly, are one and the same being. - -In certain cases, even of terrestrial life, you have remarkable -examples of forgetfulness, such as that of somnambulism, either natural -or artificial, and also in certain psychical conditions of which modern -science makes a study. Hence it is not surprising that during one -existence we should not remember our anterior ones. Uranic life and -planetary life represent two states, free and distinct the one from the -other. - -QUAERENS. Still, master, if we had already lived a life before this -one, something of it would remain with us, otherwise these anterior -existences might as well never have been. - -[Sidenote: Heredity.] - -[Sidenote: Dissimilarities.] - -_Lumen._ Do you, then, call it nothing to be born on the Earth with -innate tendencies? Such a thing as intellectual heredity does not -exist. Take two children of the same parentage, receiving identically -the same education, surrounded by the same care, and having in every -respect similar environments. Now examine each of them. Are they equal? -Not in any way; equality of souls does not exist. The one is born with -pacific instincts and great intelligence. He will be good, learned, -wise, illustrious perchance, amid the thinkers of his age. The other -one brings with him a domineering, envious perhaps, or even a brutal -instinct. His career defines and accentuates itself as each year -passes, and will lead him eventually to high rank in military life, and -will give him the honour (little to be coveted, though still admired -upon the Earth) which is attached to the title of an official assassin. - -Whether feebly or strongly pronounced, this dissimilarity of character, -which depends neither upon family, nor upon race, nor upon education, -nor upon material conditions, is manifest in every man. Reflect upon -this at your leisure; you will arrive at the conviction that it is -absolutely inexplicable, and can only be accounted for by belief in an -anterior life of the soul. - -[Sidenote: Creation of the soul.] - -_Quaerens._ Have not most philosophers and theologians taught that the -soul and the body are created at one and the same time? - -_Lumen._ And which, pray, is the precise moment of its creation? Is -it at the moment of birth? Legislation, enlightened by anatomical -physiology, knows that a child lives before being delivered from its -uterine prison, therefore the destruction of an embryo of eight months -is regarded as murder. At what period do you then suppose, that the -soul appears in the fluid brain of the foetus or of the embryo? - -_Quaerens._ It was thought in olden times that the real spiritual -quickening of the human being took place during the sixth week of -gestation, but the modern belief is that it occurs at the moment of -conception. - -_Lumen._ Oh, bitter mockery! In accordance with this view you would -have the eternal designs of the Creator dependent in their execution -upon capricious desires, upon the intermittent flames of two amorous -hearts! You would dare to admit that our immortal being is created by -the physical contact of two human beings! You would be disposed to -believe that the Divine Head which governs the worlds, is influenced by -intrigue, by passion, even by crime! You would think that the number of -souls depends upon the number of flowers impregnated by the touch of -the sweet pollen dust borne to them on golden wings? - -Is not such a doctrine, such a supposition, an outrage upon the Divine -dignity and the spiritual grandeur of the soul itself? And would it -not, besides, be the complete materialisation of our intellectual -faculties? - -_Quaerens._ And yet---- - -_Lumen._ Yes; that seems so to you, because upon your planet no soul -can incarnate itself otherwise than in a human embryo. It is a law of -life on the Earth. But you must look through the veil. The soul is not -an effect. The body serves it only as its garment. - -QUAERENS. I admit that it would indeed be singular that an event of such -dire importance as the _creation_ of an immortal soul should spring -from a carnal cause, should be the result of casual unions, more or -less legitimate. Also, I agree with you that organic causes do not -explain the different degrees of capacity with which mankind is born -into this world. - -But I ask, of what use would be these various existences if, on -beginning a new life, we retain no remembrance of those that precede -it? Also, if it is really desirable to have in prospect a journey -without end through endless worlds, and an eternal transmigration? -For at last there must be an end to it all, and, after many aeons of -voyages, we must some day finish our existence and seek repose. Would -it not be as well to do so after one existence only? - -[Sidenote: The unknown.] - -LUMEN. O men! You do not comprehend either time or space. Do you not -know that outside the movement of the stars time no longer exists, -and that eternity is no longer measured? Do you not know that in the -infinite extent of the sidereal universe space is but a vain word, no -longer measurable? You ignore all; principles, causes, all escape you: -atoms upon a movable atom, you have not any exact appreciation of the -universe; and yet, despite ignorance so dense, and comprehension so -obscure, you would attempt to judge all, to envelop all, to seize all! -But it would be easier to put the ocean into a nutshell than it would -be to make you, with your terrestrial brain, understand the law of -destiny. - -[Sidenote: Nothing created, nothing annihilated.] - -Can you not, then, by making a legitimate use of the faculty of -induction which has been given you, gather the direct consequences -resulting from observation supported by reason? Observation, sustained -by proof, shows conclusively that all are not equal on coming into this -world; that the past is not unlike the future; and that the eternity -which is before us is equally behind us; that nothing is created in -nature, and that nothing is annihilated; that nature includes all -things existing, and that God, spirit, law, number, are no more outside -nature than matter, weight, motion; that moral truth, justice, wisdom, -virtue, exist in the progress of the world as surely as its physical -reality; that justice decrees equity in the distribution of its -destinies; that our destinies are not accomplished upon this earthly -planet; that the empyrean heaven does not exist, and that the Earth is -a star in the sky; that other inhabited planets soar with ours in the -vast expanse; opening out to the wings of the soul an inexhaustible -field of vision, and that the infinite in the universe corresponds, in -the material creation, with the eternity of our intelligence in the -spiritual creation. - -[Sidenote: Unknown forces in nature.] - -[Sidenote: Affinities.] - -Are not certainties such as these, followed by the inductions with -which they inspire us, sufficient to liberate your mind from ancient -prejudices, and to open out, to an enlightened judgment, a panorama -worthy of the vague yet profound desires of our souls? I could -illustrate this general sketch by examples and details which would -surprise you still more. Let it suffice for me to add that there are in -nature other forces than those you know, which, both in essence and in -mode of action, differ from electricity, attraction, light, &c. Now, -among these natural and unknown forces there is one in particular, -the study of which will ultimately lead to singular discoveries in -elucidating the problems of the soul and of life. This is the psychic -force. This invisible fluidic force establishes a mysterious bond, -unknown to themselves, between living beings, and already in many -cases you have been able to recognise its existence. Take the case of -two beings _in love_ (as the saying is). It seems impossible for them -to live apart. Should circumstances lead to their being separated, our -two lovers become absent-minded, and their souls as it were leave their -bodies, and span any distance which prevents them re-uniting with one -another. The thoughts of the one are shared by the other, and they live -together despite their separation. - -Should any misfortune touch one, the other becomes immediately -conscious of it; and such separations have been known to end in death. -How many facts have been stated by trustworthy witnesses of the sudden -apparition of a person to an intimate friend, of a wife to a husband, -of a mother to a son, and _vice versa_, just at the moment of death, -even though many leagues might separate them! The most captious critic -cannot in these days deny facts thus circumstantially proved. Twin -children living ten leagues apart, and under very different conditions, -are stricken at the same time with the same malady, or if one is -excessively fatigued, the other feels the same without apparently any -assignable cause. And so on. These facts prove that ties of sympathy -exist between souls and even between bodies, and give room for the -repeated reflection, that we are far from knowing all the forces -operating in nature. - -If I communicate these views to you, my friend, it is chiefly to show -that you can not only have a foretaste of truth before death, but -also that earthly existence is not so entirely deprived of light, as -to prevent one's reason recognising the chief characteristics of the -moral world. Besides, all these truths will be emphasised by my further -narration, when you learn that it is not only the previous existence -before my last one that I have seen again, thanks to the slowness of -light, but also my ante-penultimate planetary life, inclusive of more -than ten existences preceding that one in which we came to know each -other upon this Earth. - - -II - -[Sidenote: Plurality of lives.] - -QUAERENS. Reflection and study had already inclined me, Lumen, to -believe in the plurality of the existences of the soul. Yet this -doctrine lacks proofs, logical, moral, and even physical, as numerous -and as weighty as are those in favour of the plurality of the inhabited -worlds. I own that until now I had grave doubts on the subject. Modern -optics and marvellous calculations, which enable us to touch, as it -were, the other worlds, show us their years, their seasons, their days, -and make us acquainted with the varieties of nature living on their -surface. All these elements have enabled contemporaneous astronomy to -establish the fact of human existence in the other worlds on a strong -and imperishable foundation. But I repeat that it is not so with -palingenesis, though I am strongly inclined towards the doctrine of -the transmigration of souls in the actual heaven, since this is the -only way by which we can gain an idea of eternal life. My desires, -however, need to be sustained by the help of a light, and inspired by a -confidence I do not yet possess. - -LUMEN. It is precisely this light which we have under consideration, -and will be brought out by this interview. - -I have, I own, an advantage over you, since I speak _de visu_, and -that I strictly limit myself to interpret with exactitude the events -with which my spiritual life is actually woven. But since you can see -the possibility and probability of the scientific explanation of my -statement, you cannot fail as you listen to increase your light and -augment your knowledge. - -QUAERENS. It is for this cause chiefly that I am always eager to hear -you. - -LUMEN. Light, you understand, is the means of giving to the -disincarnated soul _a direct vision_ of its planetary existences. - -[Sidenote: Constellations.] - -After having reviewed my earthly existence, I saw once more my life -previous to my last one, upon one of the planets of Gamma in Virgo, -light bringing to me the former only after 72 years, and the latter -after 172 years. I see myself at present from Capella as I was upon the -earth 72 years ago, and as I was upon Virgo 172 years ago. Thus two -existences, both _past and successive_, are here shown me as _present -and simultaneous_, by virtue of the laws of light which transmit them -to me. - -[Sidenote: Andromeda.] - -[Sidenote: Effects of perspective.] - -Nearly five hundred years ago, I lived upon a world whose astronomical -position as seen from the earth is precisely that of the left breast -of Andromeda. Assuredly the inhabitants of that world do not suspect -that the denizens of a little planet in space have joined the stars -by fictitious lines, tracing figures of men, women, animals, and -divers objects, incorporating all the stars in figures more or less -original, in order to give them a name. It would greatly astonish -some of these planetary people if they were told, that upon the -Earth certain stars bear the names of Heart-of-the-Scorpion (what a -heart!), Head-of-the-Dog, Tail-of-the-Great-Bear, Eye-of-the-Bull, -Neck-of-the-Dragon, Brow-of-Capricorn. You are, of course, aware that -neither the constellations drawn upon the celestial globe, nor the -position of the stars upon that globe, are either real or absolute, but -are only the result of the position of the Earth in space, and thus are -simply a question of _perspective_. Go to the top of a mountain and -fix upon a map the respective positions of all the summits surrounding -you in that circular panorama, its hills, its valleys, its villages, -its lakes; a map so constructed could only serve for the place from -whence it was drawn. Now transport yourself ten miles farther; the same -summits are visible, but their respective positions in regard to each -other are different, resulting from the change in perspective. The -panorama of the Alps and of the Oberland, as seen from Lucerne, and -Pilatus does not in the least resemble that seen from the Fulkhorn, -or from the Schynige Platte above Interlaken. Yet these are the same -summits and the same lakes. It is exactly so with the stars. The same -aspect is seen both from the star Delta in Andromeda and from the -Earth; but there is not a constellation that can be recognised, because -all the celestial perspectives have changed; stars of the first -magnitude have become of the second and of the third; whilst others, of -lesser magnitudes, seen nearer, shine with increased brilliancy; and, -above all, the respective situation of the stars as regards one another -has completely changed in consequence of the different position of that -star and of the Earth. - -QUAERENS. Therefore the appearance of the constellation which one has so -long believed to be ineffaceably traced upon the vaulted sky is only -due to perspective. In changing our position we change our perspective, -and our sky is no longer the same. But, then, ought we not to have a -change of celestial perspective every six months, since during this -interval the Earth has greatly altered its position, having removed -to a distance of seventy-four millions of leagues from the place it -formerly occupied? - -LUMEN. This objection proves that you have perfectly comprehended the -principle of the deformation of the constellations as one moves in any -direction in space. - -It would be, as you suppose, if the Earth's orbit were of a dimension -sufficiently vast for the two opposite points of this orbit to change -the view of this celestial scenery. - -QUAERENS. Seventy-four millions of leagues-- - -LUMEN. Are as nothing in the order of celestial distances, and can -no more affect the perspectives of the stars, than taking a step in -the cupola of the Pantheon would change the apparent position of the -buildings in Paris to the eye of the observer. - -[Sidenote: The charts of the Middle Ages.] - -QUAERENS. Certain charts of the Middle Ages represent the Zodiac as -an arch in the heavens, and place some of the constellations, such -as Andromeda, the Lyre, Cassiopea, and the Eagle, in the same region -as the Seraphim, the Cherubim, and the Thrones. That, therefore, was -simply fancy, since constellations have no real existence, but are -simply appearances due to perspective. - -LUMEN. Certainly the old heaven of theology has no legitimate place -to-day, and simple common sense shows that it does not exist. Two -truths cannot oppose one another; it is a necessity that the spiritual -heaven should accord with the physical heaven, and the object of my -various conversations is the demonstration of this truth. Upon the -world of Andromeda of which I speak, there is nothing resembling -the constellation of Andromeda. Seen from the Earth, those stars -which appear joined and have served on the celestial landscape to -distinguish the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopea, are in reality -spread out in space at all sorts of distances, and in every direction. -One cannot find either there or elsewhere the least vestige of the -tracings of terrestrial mythology. - -[Sidenote: The poetry of the heavens lost.] - -QUAERENS. All its poetry is lost.... I shall feel, however, a certain -satisfaction in believing that for a part of my life I have rested -on the bosom of Andromeda. It is a pleasant fancy. There is in it a -mythological perfume and a comforting sensation. I should like to be -transported there without fear of the monster, and without solicitude -for the young Perseus bearing the head of the Medusa, and mounted on -his famous Pegasus. But now, thanks to the scalpel of science, there is -no longer an unveiled princess bound to a rock on the sea-shore, nor a -virgin holding an ear of golden corn, nor Orion pursuing the Pleiades; -Venus has vanished from our evening sky, and old Saturn has let fall -his scythe in the night. Science has caused these ancient myths to -disappear! I regret its progress. - -[Sidenote: The facts of astronomy grander than its fancies.] - -LUMEN. Do you, then, prefer illusion to reality? Do you not know -that truth is immeasurably more beautiful, grander, and infinitely -more marvellous than error, however that may be embellished? What -can be comparable in all the mythologies past and present, to the -rapt scientific contemplation of celestial grandeurs and the sublime -movements of nature? What impression can strike the soul more -profoundly than _the fact_ of the expanse crowded with worlds, and the -immensity of the sidereal systems? What voice is more eloquent than -the silence of a star-lit night? What wild flight of imagination could -conceive an image surpassing that, of the interstellar voyage of light, -stamping with the seal of eternity the transitory events of the life of -each world? - -Throw off, then, my friend, your old errors and become worthy of the -majesty of science. Listen to what follows:-- - -[Sidenote: Description of the world of Andromeda.] - -[Sidenote: The elements.] - -By reason of the time light employs in coming from the system [Greek: -d] of Andromeda to Capella, I have seen again, in this year of 1869, -my ante-penultimate existence, already ended five hundred years ago. -That world is very singular according to our ideas. It has only one -kingdom on its surface, and that the animal kingdom. The vegetable -kingdom does not exist there. But that animal kingdom is very different -from ours, and of a superior kind, although it is endowed with five -senses similar to those on the Earth. It is a world without sleep and -without fixity. It is entirely enveloped in a rose-coloured ocean, -less dense than terrestrial water, and more dense than our atmosphere. -It is a substance holding a middle place as a fluid, between air and -water. Terrestrial chemistry does not produce any similar substance, -therefore it would be in vain to try and represent it to you. Carbolic -acid gas that can be held invisible at the bottom of a glass, and can -be poured out like water, will give you the nearest idea of it. This -is due to a fixed quantity of heat and electricity held in permanence -upon that globe. You are aware that the composition of all things upon -the Earth, whether mineral, vegetable, or animal, is in three states, -solid, liquid, and gaseous, and that the sole cause of these different -conditions is the heat radiated from the Sun upon the surface of the -Earth. The interior heat of the globe has now hardly any appreciable -effect upon its surface. - -[Sidenote: Degree of heat fixes the condition of matter.] - -[Sidenote: Effect of the Earth flying off at a tangent.] - -Less solar heat would liquefy gases and solidify liquids. Greater heat -would dissolve solids and evaporate liquids. A more or less quantity -of heat would produce liquid air (yes, liquid air), and marble would -be turned into gas. If by any cause whatever the earthly planet were -one day to fly off from its orbit at a tangent, and rush away into the -glacial obscurity of space, you would see all the water on the Earth -become solid, and gases in their turn become liquids; then as to solids -themselves ... you would see! No, you could not see this by remaining -upon the Earth, but you could from the depths of space witness this -curious spectacle, should your globe ever indulge in the freak of -escaping from its orbit at a tangent. And note further, that should -this colossal cold ever take place suddenly, all creatures would find -themselves immediately frozen on the spot, and the globe would carry -into space the singular panorama of the whole human race, and every -animal immovably congealed for all eternity, in the various attitudes -assumed by each individual and each creature, at the moment of the -catastrophe. - -[Sidenote: Worlds in a glacial state. Life arrested.] - -[Sidenote: The awakening out of glacial repose.] - -There are worlds now in this state. They are eccentric worlds, -the life of whose inhabitants has been insensibly arrested by the -rapid flight of their planet away from the Sun, and they have been -transformed into millions of statues. Most of them are lying down -asleep, seeing that this profound change of temperature takes many -days in its accomplishment. There they are by millions, pell-mell, -dead, or, to be more accurate, sunk in a complete lethargy. The cold -preserves them. Three or four thousand years later, when the planet -returns from its dark and frozen aphelion to its brilliant perihelion, -towards the sun--whose fertilising heat caressing its surface with -welcoming rays will rapidly increase--and when it has reached the -degree which betokens the normal temperature of these beings, they will -be resuscitated at the age at which they were when overtaken by sleep; -they will take up their affairs from the moment of their interruption -(long interruption indeed!) without any consciousness that they had -slept a dreamless sleep for so many ages. One may see some continuing -a game, or finishing a phrase whose first words have been uttered four -thousand years ago. All this is perfectly simple, for we have seen that -time does not in reality exist. This, on a large scale, is exactly -what passes on a small one on the Earth when you revive infusoria, -which take a fresh lease of life under the rain, after several years of -apparent death. - -[Sidenote: World of Andromeda.] - -But to return to our world of Andromeda; the rose-coloured and -quasi-liquid atmosphere, surrounding it entirely as an ocean without -islands, is the abode of living beings, who are perpetually floating in -the depths of that ocean which none have ever sounded: from their birth -to their death they have not one moment's repose. Incessant activity is -the condition of their existence. Should they become stationary they -would perish. In order to breathe, that is to say, to enable this fluid -element to penetrate to their bosom, they are constrained to keep their -tentacles in unceasing motion, and their lungs (I use this word the -better to be understood) constantly open. - -[Sidenote: Process of nourishment.] - -The external form of this human race resembles that of the sirens -of antiquity, but is less elegant, and their organism approaches -that of the seal. Do you see the essential difference between their -constitution and that of terrestrial man? It is that _on the Earth we -breathe without being conscious of the act_, and obtain oxygen without -exertion, not being compelled with difficulty to convert venous into -arterial blood by the absorption of oxygen. Upon this other world, on -the contrary, this nourishment _is only obtained with labour_ and at -the price of incessant effort. - -QUAERENS. Then this world is inferior to ours in the scale of progress? - -LUMEN. Without any doubt, seeing that I inhabited it before coming -upon the Earth. But do not think that the Earth is much superior by -reason of our being able to breathe whilst we are asleep. Doubtless, it -is a great advantage to be furnished with a pneumatic mechanism, which -opens involuntarily every time that our organism needs the least breath -of air, and which acts automatically and unceasingly night and day. But -man does not live on air alone; his earthly organism requires to be -nourished with something more solid, and this solid something does not -come to him involuntarily as does air. - -[Sidenote: Labour of life on the Earth.] - -What is the result? Look for a moment at the Earth. See what sorrow, -what desolation! What a world of misery and brutality! Multitudes bowed -down with bent backs to the soil, which they dig with toil and pain, -that they may gain their daily bread! All these heads bent down to the -grossness of matter, in place of being raised up to the contemplation -of nature! All these efforts and these labours, bringing in their wake -feebleness and disease! All this traffic to amass a little gold at the -expense of others! Man taking advantage of his brother man! Castes, -aristocracies, robbery and ruin, ambitions, thrones, wars! In a word, -_personal interests_, always selfish, often sordid, and the reign of -matter over mind. Such is the normal state of the Earth, a condition -forced by the law which rules over your bodies, compelling you to kill -in order to live, and to prefer the possession of material goods that -cannot be earned beyond the grave, to the possession of intellectual -gifts, which the soul can keep as a rich and inalienable possession. - -QUAERENS. You speak, master, as if you thought it were possible to live -without eating. - -LUMEN. Do you, then, believe that the beings of every world in space -are subject to an operation so ridiculous as this? Happily, in many of -the worlds, the spirit is not subjected to such ignominy. - -[Sidenote: Atmospheric nutrition.] - -It is not so difficult as you may suppose, on first thoughts, to -believe in the possibility of atmospheric nutriment. The maintenance of -life among man and the animals depends upon two causes, respiration and -nutrition. The first is found naturally in the atmosphere; the second -is derived from nourishment. Nutrition produces blood; from the blood -come the tissues, the muscles, the bones, the cartilages, the flesh, -the brain, the nerves, in a word, the organic constituents of the -body. The oxygen we breathe can itself be considered as a nutritive -substance, inasmuch as it combines with the principal aliments absorbed -by the stomach, and completes the formation of the blood and the -development of the tissues. - -[Sidenote: The process of alimentation.] - -Now, to imagine nutrition passing entirely into the domain of the -atmosphere, it is only necessary to observe that, as a whole, a -complete aliment is made up of albumen, of sugar, of fat, and of -salt, and to imagine also that an atmospheric fluid, in place of -being composed of azote and of oxygen only, should be formed of these -different substances in a gaseous state. These aliments are found in -the solids that you absorb; digestion is the function which separates -them, and which causes them to assimilate with the organs to which they -belong. When, for example, you eat a morsel of bread, you introduce -into your stomach a grain of starch, a substance insoluble in water, -and which is not found in the blood. The saliva, and the pancreatic -juice, transform the insoluble starch into soluble sugar. The bile, -the pancreatic juice, and the intestinal secretions, change the sugar -into fat. Both sugar and fat are present in the blood, and it is by -the processes of alimentation that substances are separated and -assimilated in your body. - -It astonishes you, my friend, that after living five years--according -to terrestrial reckoning--in the celestial world, I can remember all -these material terms, and condescend to make use of them. But the -memories that I have brought from the Earth are still vivid, and as we -speak on this occasion on a question of organic physiology, I do not -feel ashamed of calling things by their own names. - -If, then, we suppose that in place of being combined or mixed in the -constitution of bodies, solid or liquid, these aliments could be found -in a gaseous state in the composition of the atmosphere, we should -create by this means nutritive atmospheres, which would dispense with -digestion and its attendant coarse and humiliating functions. - -That which man is capable of imagining in the restricted sphere of his -observation, Nature has put in practice in more than one spot of the -universe. - -Besides, I can assure you that when one has ceased to be accustomed -to this material process of the introduction of nourishment into the -digestive tube, one cannot avoid being impressed with its coarseness. -This was the reflection I made a few days ago whilst observing one of -the richest countries on your planet. I was struck by the suave and -angelic beauty of a maiden, reclining in a gondola as it floated gently -on the blue waters of the Bosphorus before Constantinople. Red velvet -cushions, embroidered with brilliant silks, whose heavy tassels of gold -touched the water, formed the divan of this young Circassian. Before -her knelt a little black slave playing upon some stringed instrument. -Her form was so juvenile and graceful, her bended arm so elegant, her -eyes so pure and innocent, her pensive brow so calm under the light of -heaven, that for an instant I was captivated by a kind of retrospective -admiration for this masterpiece of living nature. - -Well! while this pure vision of awakening youth, sweet as a flower -opening its petals to the sun's rays, held me in a kind of passing -enchantment, the bark reached the landing-stage, and the maiden, -leaning on a slave, seated herself on a couch near a well-spread table, -around which others had already gathered. She began to eat! Yes! for -near an hour _she was eating_! - -I could scarcely tolerate the earthly recollections recalled by this -ridiculous spectacle. To see a being like that partaking of food -through the mouth, and making her charming body the receptacle for I -do not know what substances! What vulgarity! Masticating morsels of -some kind of animal which her pearly teeth did not disdain to chew, -and again fragments of another animal which her virginal lips opened -without hesitation to receive and swallow! What a diet: a medley of -ingredients drawn from cattle, or from deer, which have lived in the -mire and afterwards been slaughtered. Horror! I turned away with -sadness from this strange contrast, and directed my gaze to the system -of Saturn, where humanity need not stoop to such necessities. - -[Sidenote: Victims to the struggle for existence.] - -The floating beings belonging to the world of Andromeda, where my -antepenultimate existence was passed, are submitted to a still more -degrading manner of sustaining life than are the inhabitants of the -Earth. They have not the advantage of finding three parts of their -nutriment supplied by the air, as is the case on your globe: they -must work to obtain what may be called their oxygen, and, without -ceasing, they are condemned to use their lungs in order to prepare the -nutritious air they need, without sleeping, and without ever feeling -satisfied, because, despite their incessant toil, they cannot absorb -more than a small quantity at a time. Thus they pass their entire life, -and finally die victims to the struggle for existence. - -QUAERENS. Better far never to have been born! But does not the same -reflection apply to the Earth? - -What is the use of being born, to weary one's self with endless work -and worry, to turn in the same daily treadmill for sixty or a hundred -years; to sleep, to eat, to work, to speak, to run, to err, to agitate, -to dream, _ad infinitum_? Of what use is all this? Would not one be -just as advanced if one were extinguished the day after birth, or, -better still, if one did not take the trouble to come into the world? -Nature would not go on in any worse fashion, and even if it did, no one -would be the wiser. And one might ask, of what use is Nature herself, -and why does the universe exist at all? - -[Sidenote: Humanity in Andromeda.] - -[Sidenote: Humanity.] - -LUMEN. That is the great mystery. Yet must all destinies be -accomplished. The world of Andromeda is decidedly an inferior one. To -give you an idea of the poor mental calibre of its inhabitants, I will -cite two examples, selecting the subjects of religion and politics, as -these are generally the best criterions of the value of a people. In -religion, in place of seeking for God in nature, and of basing their -judgment on science, instead of aspiring to the truth, and of using -their eyes to see and their reason to comprehend--in a word, in place -of establishing the foundations of their philosophy upon knowledge -as exact as possible of the order which governs the world--they are -divided into sects, who are voluntarily blind, and believe they render -homage to their pretended God by ceasing to reason, and think they -adore Him, in maintaining that their anthill is unique in space; by -reciting phrases and in injuring other sects, and alas! by blessing -swords, and burnings at the stake, and in authorising massacres and -wars. Their doctrines contain assertions which seem expressly imagined -to outrage common sense. These are precisely those which constitute the -articles of their faith and belief! - -They are stupid in politics. The most intelligent and pure-minded do -not understand each other. Therefore the Republic seems to be a form -of government which cannot be realised. Tracing the annals of their -history as far back as possible, one sees a people, cowardly and -indifferent, deliberately choosing, rather than govern themselves, to -be led by an individual claiming to be their Basileus, their king. -This chief deprives them of three-fourths of their resources, keeping -for himself and his, the atmosphere containing the greatest amount of -rose-essence--that is to say, that he keeps the best in the land for -his own use; he numbers his subjects, and from time to time sends them -to fight with neighbouring peoples, who, like themselves, are subject -to a similar Basileus. - -Marshalling them like shoals of herrings, he directs them on either -side towards the field of battle, which they call the _field of -honour_, they then destroy one another like furious fools, without -knowing why, and without, for that matter, the power to comprehend, as -they do not even speak the same language. - -And do you imagine that those who, most favoured by chance, live to -return, feel any hatred against their Basileus? - -Nothing of the kind. The remnant of the army who live to see their -homes again, think nothing more natural than to celebrate their -thanksgivings in company with the dignitaries of their sects, -supplicating their God to grant long life to, and to pour blessings -upon, the worthy man whom they designate their father and king. - -[Sidenote: Organisation of the beings on Andromeda.] - -QUAERENS. I gather from this narration, that the inhabitants of Delta -Andromeda are, both physically and intellectually, greatly our -inferiors, for upon the Earth we do not regulate our affairs in this -manner.... In short, upon their globe there is only one living kingdom, -and that a mobile one, without repose, without sleep, kept in perpetual -agitation by reason of an inexorable fate. A world like this strikes me -as being very fantastic. - -LUMEN. What, then, would you say of the one I inhabited fifteen -centuries ago? A world also containing only one kingdom, and that not -a movable one, but, on the contrary, as fixed as is your vegetable -kingdom? - -QUAERENS. How! Animals and men held down by roots? - - -III - -[Sidenote: Organisation of beings on Andromeda.] - -LUMEN. My existence anterior to that upon the world of Andromeda was -passed upon Venus, a planet near to the Earth, where I can remember -myself as a woman. Not that I have directly seen myself there, for, -according to the law of light, it would require the same length of time -to travel from Venus to Capella as it would from the Earth to Capella, -and I consequently see Venus only as it was seventy-two years ago, -and not as it was nine hundred years ago, which was the epoch of my -existence upon that planet. - -My fourth life, previous to my terrestrial one, was passed upon an -immense annular planet belonging to the constellation Cygnus, situated -in the zone of the Milky Way. This singular world is inhabited solely -by trees. - -QUAERENS. That is to say, that so far only plants are there, and neither -animals nor intelligent speaking beings? - -LUMEN. Not exactly. There are only plants there, it is true. But in -this vast world of plants there are vegetable races more advanced than -those existing upon the Earth. There plants live as we do--feel, think, -reason, and speak. - -[Sidenote: Reasoning plants.] - -QUAERENS. But this is impossible! Pardon!--I would say improbable, -incomprehensible, and entirely inconceivable. - -LUMEN. These intelligent vegetable races really exist--so much so, that -I myself belonged to them. Fifteen centuries ago I was a tree possessed -of reason. - -QUAERENS. But tell me, how can a plant reason without a brain, and speak -without a tongue? - -LUMEN. Tell me, I beg of you, by what process you yourself think, -and by what transformation of motion your soul translates its mute -conceptions into audible language? - -QUAERENS. I am seeking, O Master, but I fail to find, the material -explanation of this fact, however ordinary it may be. - -[Sidenote: Facts not impossible because unknown.] - -LUMEN. We have no right to declare an unknown fact impossible, when -we are so ignorant ourselves of the laws regulating our own being. -Because the brain is the physiological organ of intelligence placed at -the service of man on the Earth, do you therefore believe that there -are similar brains and spinal marrows upon all the worlds in space? -This would be an error too childish. The law of progress governs the -vital system of each world. This vital system differs according to the -secret nature of the special forces peculiar to each. When a world has -reached a sufficient degree of evolution to fit it for entering into -the service of moral life, _mind_, more or less developed, appears on -it. - -[Sidenote: Gradation of the human race.] - -Do not imagine that the Eternal Father creates at once a human race on -each globe. Not so. The first step in the ladder of the animal kingdom -receives the human transfiguration by force of circumstance, and by -natural law, which ennobles it, as soon as progress has brought it to a -state of relative superiority. - -[Sidenote: The development of life.] - -Do you know why you have a chest, a stomach, two legs, two arms, and -a head furnished with visual, auditory, and olfactory senses? It is -because the quadrupeds, the mammalia, which preceded the appearance -of man on the Earth, had them already. Monkeys, dogs, lions, bears, -horses, oxen, tigers, cats, &c., and before them the horned rhinoceros, -the cave-hyena, the elk, the mastodon, the oppossum, &c., and prior -to these the pleiosaurus, the ichthyosaurus, the iguanodon, the -pterodactyl, &c., and again before these the fishes, the crustacea, the -mollusca, &c., have been the result of the vital forces in action upon -the Earth, dependent upon the state of the soil, of the atmosphere, -of inorganic chemistry, of the quantity of heat, and of terrestrial -gravity. The earthly animal kingdom has followed, from its origin, this -continuous and progressive march towards the perfection of its typical -forms of mammalia, freeing itself more and more, from the grossness of -its material. - -Man is more beautiful than the horse, the horse than the bear, the bear -than the tortoise. A similar law governs the vegetable kingdom. - -Heavy, coarse vegetables without leaves and without flowers began the -series. Then, as the ages advanced, their forms became more pure, and -graceful leaves appeared filling the woods with silent shadows. - -Flowers in their turn began to beautify the gardens of the Earth, and -spread sweet perfumes in an atmosphere until then insipid. - -[Sidenote: The genealogical tree of life.] - -To the scrutinising eye of the geologist who visits these tertiary, -secondary, and primordial districts, this double progressive series of -two kingdoms is to be seen to this day. There was a period upon the -Earth when a few islands had but just emerged from the bosom of the -warm waters, into an atmosphere surcharged with vapour, when the only -living things distinguishing this inorganic kingdom were long floating -filaments held in suspension in the waves. Seaweed and sea-wrack were -the first forms of vegetation. On the rocks, live creatures for which -one has no name. There, sponges swell out. Here, a tree of coral lifts -up itself. Further on, the Medusae detach themselves and float like -balls of jelly. Are these animals? Are these plants? Science does not -answer. They are animal-plants, zoophites. But life is not limited to -these forms. There are creatures not less primitive, and as simple, -which typify a special species. These are the annelides, worms, fish in -the form of a simple tube, creatures without eyes, ears, blood, nerves, -will, a vegetative species, yet endowed with the power of _motion_. -Later on rudimentary organs of sight and of locomotion appeared, and -life became less elemental. Then fishes and amphibious creatures came -into existence. The animal kingdom began to form itself. - -[Sidenote: Formation of the animal kingdom.] - -What would have been the result if the first creature had never quitted -its rock? If these primitive elements of terrestrial life had remained -stationary at the point of their formation, and if, for any cause -whatever, the faculty of locomotion had never had a beginning? The -consequence would have been, that in place of the system of terrestrial -vitality being manifested in two different directions, viz., in the -world of plants and the world of animals, it would have continued -manifesting itself solely in the first direction, with the result that -there would have been but one kingdom instead of two, and the creative -progress would have operated in that kingdom as it operated in the -animal kingdom. It would not have been arrested at the formation of -sensitives, superior plants which are already gifted with a veritable -nervous system; nor would it have stopped at the formation of flowers, -which are already bordering on ours in their organic functions; but, -continuing its ascension, would have produced, in the vegetable -kingdom, that which has already been produced in the animal kingdom. As -it is, many vegetables feel and act; here would have been vegetables -feeling and making themselves understood. The Earth would not have been -on that account deprived of the human species. Only mankind, instead -of being gifted with locomotion as it is, would have been fixed by the -feet. Such is the state of the annular world in which I lived fifteen -centuries ago in the heart of the Milky Way. - -QUAERENS. Of a truth, this world of men-plants astonishes me more than -the previous one, and I find it difficult to picture to myself the life -and manners of these singular beings. - -[Sidenote: Men-plants.] - -LUMEN. Their kind of life is indeed very different from yours. They -neither build cities nor make voyages; they have no need of any form -of government; they are ignorant of war, that scourge of terrestrial -humanity, and they have nothing of that national self-love called -patriotism which is one of your characteristics. Prudent, patient, and -gifted with constancy, they have neither the mobility nor the fragility -of the denizens of the Earth. Life there reaches an average of five or -six centuries, and is calm, sweet, uniform, and without revolutions. -But do not think that these men-plants live only a vegetable life. On -the contrary, they have an existence both personal and positive. They -are divided, not by caste, regulated by birth and fortune, according to -that absurd custom on the earth, but by families, whose native value -differs precisely according to its kind. They have an unwritten social -history, but nothing which happens amongst them can be lost, inasmuch -as they have neither emigrations nor conquests, but their records and -traditions are handed down from one generation to another. Each one -knows the history of his own race. They have also two sexes, as upon -the Earth, and unions take place there in a similar manner, but are -purer, more disinterested, and invariably affectionate. Nor are these -unions always consanguineous; impregnation can even be effected at a -distance. - -QUAERENS. But, after all, how can they communicate their thoughts if it -be true that they think? And besides, master, how was it possible for -you to recognise yourself on this singular world? - -[Sidenote: Manner of life upon Cygnus.] - -LUMEN. The same reply will satisfactorily answer your double question. -I was looking at that ring in the constellation of Cygnus, being drawn -there with persistence by some irresistible instinct. It surprised -me to see only vegetable growths upon its surface, and I principally -remarked their singular manner of grouping: here two and two, there -three and three, farther off ten and ten, besides others in larger -clusters. Some were seated, as it were, upon the brink of a fountain, -others appeared to be reposing, with little shoots springing up round -them. I sought to find there the kinds familiar to me on the Earth, -such as pines, oaks, poplars, willows, but I could not find any of -these botanical growths. - -At last I fixed my eyes upon a plant in the shape of a fig-tree, -without either leaves or fruit, but full of brilliant scarlet flowers, -when suddenly I saw this enormous fig-tree stretch out a bough like a -gigantic arm, raise the extremity of this arm to its head, and pluck -one of the magnificent flowers ornamenting its crown, and then present -the same, with an inclination of the head, to another fig-tree growing -some little distance apart, of slender and graceful form, and bearing -sweet blue flowers. This one appeared to receive the red flower with a -certain pleasure, for it extended a branch, or one might say a cordial -hand, to its neighbour, which was apparently held in a long clasp. - -Under certain circumstances, as you know, a gesture is sufficient for -making yourself known to another. Thus, then, the meaning of this -tableau was borne in upon me. This gesture of the fig-tree in the Milky -Way awoke within me a world of memories. - -This Man-Plant _was myself_ as I was fifteen centuries ago, and in -the fig-trees with the violet flowers which were grouped around me I -recognised my children; for I recollected that the tints of the flowers -borne by the offspring, are the result of the admixture of the two -colours distinguishing their parents. - -[Sidenote: Faculties of men-plants.] - -These Men-Plants see without eyes, hear without ears, and speak without -larynx. Have you not flowers upon the Earth which can discriminate -not only night from day, but also the different hours of the day, the -height of the sun above the horizon, a clear sky from a cloudy one, and -more, which perceive divers sounds with exquisite sensitiveness; and, -in fine, not only hear each other perfectly, but also the butterfly -messengers. These rudiments are developed to a veritable degree of -civilisation upon the world of which I speak, and these beings are -as complete in their kind as you on the Earth are in yours. Their -intelligence, it is true, is less advanced than the average intellect -of terrestrial humanity; but in their manners and mutual relations, -they show in all ways a sweetness and refinement, which might often -serve as a model to the dwellers upon the Earth. - -QUAERENS. How is it possible, master, that they see without eyes, and -hear without ears? - -[Sidenote: Light and sound are only modes of motion.] - -LUMEN. You will cease to be astonished, my old friend, if you will -but reflect that light and sound are nothing else than two _modes of -motion_. In order to appreciate either one or the other of these two -modes of motion, you must (and that is sufficient) be endowed with an -apparatus in correspondence with them, which might be only a simple -nerve. The eye and the ear are the apparatus for your terrestrial -nature. In another natural organisation the optic nerve and the -auditory nerve form quite different organs. Besides, light and sound -are not the only two modes of motion in nature. I can even say that -light and sound are the result of your manner of feeling, and not of -anything real. - -[Sidenote: Nature possesses myriads of modes of motion.] - -There are in nature not one, but ten, twenty, a hundred, a thousand -different modes of motion. Upon the Earth you are so formed as to be -able to appreciate chiefly these two, which constitute almost the whole -of your life in its external relations. - -Upon other worlds there are other senses with which nature can be -appreciated under its various aspects. Some of these senses take the -place of your eyes and of your ears, and others are in touch with -perceptions entirely foreign to those which are received by terrestrial -organs. - -QUAERENS. When you spoke to me just now of the men-plants in the world -of Cygnus, the idea occurred to me to ask if earthly plants possess a -soul? - -[Sidenote: Form determined by soul.] - -[Sidenote: Souls of plants.] - -LUMEN. Most certainly. Terrestrial plants are gifted with a soul -just as much as are animals and men. Without a potential soul no -organisation could exist. The _form_ of a plant is determined by its -soul. An acorn and the kernel of a peach are planted side by side in -the same soil, the same situation, under the same conditions; why -should the first produce an oak and the second a peach tree? Because -an organic force inherent in the oak will construct its special kind -of vegetable, and another organic force, another soul inherent in the -peach, will equally draw to itself other elements necessary for its -special body, just as the human soul, in the construction of its body, -uses the means put by nature at its disposal. Only the soul of the -plant has not any self-consciousness. - -[Sidenote: Souls and atoms.] - -[Sidenote: Personality of the soul.] - -The souls in vegetables, in animals, and in men, have already attained -to that degree of personality and of authority, which enables them -to bend at will, and to command and govern at pleasure, all those -non-personal forces which exist in the bosom of immeasurable nature. -The human monad, for example, being superior to the monad of salt, -or of carbon, or of oxygen, absorbs and incorporates them in its -structure. Our human soul in our terrestrial body upon the Earth -governs, without being conscious of it, all the elementary souls -forming the constituent parts of its body. Matter is not a solid and -compassable substance. It is an assemblage of centres of forces. -Substance has not any importance. From one atom to another there is a -great distance in proportion to the dimensions of atoms. At the head -of the divers centres of forces which constitute and form the human -body is the human soul, governing all the ganglionic souls, which are -subordinated to it. - -QUAERENS. I must frankly own, most wise instructor, that I fail to -clearly grasp this theory. - -LUMEN. Then I will illustrate it for you by an example which will -demonstrate the truth of all I have said, and convince you that it is a -fact. - -QUAERENS. A fact? Are you, then, a reincarnation of the Princess -Scheherazade, and have you been fascinating me with a new tale from the -"Arabian Nights"? - - - - -FIFTH CONVERSATION - -INGENIUM AUDAX: NATURA AUDACIOR - - -[Sidenote: Theta ([Greek: th]) in Orion.] - -LUMEN. You know the splendid constellation of Orion which reigns like -a sovereign over your winter nights, and the curious multiple star -[Greek: th] (theta) which is to be found below the sword suspended -from the Belt, and shines in the midst of the famous nebula. This -system [Greek: th] of Orion is one of the most singular which is to -be found in the vast treasure-house which contains such a variety of -celestial jewels. It is composed of four principal Suns disposed in -a quadrilateral form. Two of these Suns, forming what I may call the -base of the quadrilateral, are accompanied, the one by a single Sun, -the other by two Suns. Thus it is a system of seven Suns around each of -which circulate inhabited planets. - -[Sidenote: A world in Orion.] - -I was on a planet turning round one of the secondary Suns. This -revolved round another of the four principal Suns. That in its turn -circulated, in concert with the others and at the same time, around an -invisible centre of gravity in the interior of the quadrilateral. I do -not insist on these movements, but the celestial mechanism explains -them. - -[Sidenote: Day Suns and night Suns.] - -I was therefore lighted and warmed on my planet by seven Suns at the -same time; by one larger and more brilliant in appearance than the -other six, because it was nearer to me; by a second very large and -equally bright; by a third of moderate size, and by two who were like -twins. These different Suns are never all together above the horizon. -There are day Suns and night Suns; that is to say, they have there no -night properly so called. - -QUAERENS. Really? Are there in the heavens double and multiple Suns? - -[Sidenote: Inhabitants of Theta Orionis.] - -LUMEN. Yes, a very great number. The system of which I am speaking to -you, amongst others, is known to the astronomers of the Earth, who -count by thousands in their catalogues, systems of double stars, of -multiple stars, and of coloured stars. You can study them yourself -with your telescope. Now, on the planet of Orion, which I have just -mentioned to you, the inhabitants are neither vegetables nor animals. -They could not be placed in any classification of terrestrial life, -nor in either of the two great divisions of the vegetable and animal -kingdoms. In truth I do not know with what to compare them in order to -give you an idea of their form. - -Have you ever seen, in botanic gardens, the gigantic tapering plant the -_Cereus giganteus_? - -QUAERENS. I know this plant very well. Its name comes from its -resemblance to the wax tapers, placed in three or more branched stands, -with which churches are lighted. - -[Sidenote: Analysis of the nervous system.] - -[Sidenote: Plant-beings.] - -LUMEN. Well, the men of [Greek: th] Orionis bear some likeness to this -form. Only they move slowly, and maintain an upright position by means -of a process of suction analogous to that of the ampullae of certain -plants. The lower part of the vertical stem, where it rests on the -ground, is slightly elongated, like a starfish, with little appendages -which fix themselves to the soil by means of suction. These beings -often go in troops, and change their latitude according to the seasons. -But the most singular peculiarity of their organisation is that which -illustrates the principle of which I have spoken to you, of the union -of elementary souls in the human body. One day I visited this world, -and found myself in the midst of an Orionic landscape. I beheld a -being standing there like a plant ten metres high, without leaves or -flowers. He consisted in fact of a cylindrical stalk, the uppermost -part of which separated into many branches like those of a chandelier. -The central stem, as well as those of the branches, measured about a -third of a metre in diameter. The tops of the stalk and of the branches -were crowned with a diadem of silver fringe. Suddenly I saw this being -agitate his branches and then vanish. The fact is that in this world -individuals, although quite well, fall to pieces literally in an -instant. - -[Sidenote: Death by disintegration.] - -The molecules of which they are constituted fall altogether to the -ground. The personal existence of the individual comes to an end. His -molecules separate and are dispersed. - -QUAERENS. They disintegrate, and the atoms fly apart, like truants from -school. - -LUMEN. Just so. I can recollect this disintegration of the body often -took place in their lives. Sometimes it was the result of contrariety, -sometimes of fatigue, and in other cases of a want of organic accord -between the different parts. They exist in their entirety actual -and complete, then suddenly they are reduced into the most simple -elementary form. The cerebral molecule, which constitutes each one in -reality, feels itself descending in consequence of the fall of its -sister molecules of the long branches, and it arrives at the surface -of the ground solitary and independent. - -QUAERENS. This mode of dissolution would sometimes be a very convenient -proceeding here below. To get out of an embarrassing situation, for -example a conjugal scene _a la_ Moliere, or a bad quarter of an hour -such as Rabelais describes, or a mournful situation such as the -scaffold for an execution, one would only have to let loose one's -constituent atoms, and--bid good-bye to the company.... - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: Animated molecules.] - -LUMEN. You seem to regard the matter as a joke, but I assure you it is -an undoubted reality. It would exist on the Earth as well as on the -planet of Orion, if the principle of authority were not so firmly fixed -with you. There it is only in an elementary form. Your body is formed -of animated molecules. - -According to one of your most eminent physiologists, your spinal marrow -is a series of centres, linked together independently, and yet under -control. The essential constituents of your blood, of your flesh, and -of your bones, are in a like case. They are provinces self-governed, -but subject to a superior authority. The working of this superior -authority is a condition of human life--a condition which is less -exclusive amongst the inferior animals. Each ring of the worm called -lombric is a complete worm, so that a lombric represents a series of -similar beings constituting a veritable living cooperative society. Cut -into rings, the worm would be so many independent individuals. - -In the tape-worm, a solitary worm, the head is of more importance -than the rest of the body, and possesses the faculty of reproducing -the rest of the body after it has been cut off. The leech is another -example of united individuals. Cut it into five or six rings, and the -operation gives you as many leeches. Thus also, a cutting of a branch -of a tree will grow. In like manner a crab's claw or a lizard's tail -will be reproduced. In reality the vertebrate animals, such as man, are -essentially composite in structure. The spinal marrow, and its highest -expansion in the brain, consist of segments placed in juxtaposition, -with nervous centres, each of which possesses an elementary soul. - -[Sidenote: Power of the personal soul.] - -The law of authority in action on the Earth, has determined in the -animal series a preponderating direction. You are composed of a -multitude of beings grouped together, and dominated by the plastic -attraction of your personal soul, which from the centre of your being -has formed your body from the embryo, and has united round itself, in -a microcosm, a whole world of beings, who have not any consciousness of -their individuality. - -QUAERENS. On the planet of Orion nature itself is then in a state of -absolute Republicanism. - -LUMEN. Republicanism governed by _law_. - -QUAERENS. But when a being finds itself thus disintegrated, how can he -afterwards reconstitute himself as a whole? - -LUMEN. By an act of the will, and often without the least effort, and -even by a casual desire. Although separated from the cerebral molecule, -the corporeal molecules are still intimately connected with one -another. At a given moment they combine, and each takes its place. The -directing molecule draws the other from a distance, as the loadstone -attracts iron filings. - -QUAERENS. I can easily picture to myself the spectacle of this -Lilliputian army, when summoned by a whistle, drawing to its centre -to organise a reunion; all the little soldiers climbing one over the -other, and in a moment taking their places to reconstruct the man-taper -that you have described to me. One really ought to leave the Earth to -behold such rare wonders! - -LUMEN. You still judge of universal nature by the atom that you have -before your eyes, and you are only qualified to comprehend the facts -which are within the sphere of your observations. But I assure you the -Earth is not the type of the universe. - -[Sidenote: Various forms of life.] - -This world of [Greek: th] Orionis, with its seven revolving Suns, -is peopled by an organic system analogous to that which I have just -described to you. - -I lived there 2400 years ago, and I can see myself there again in -accordance with the time that light occupied in coming from that point -in space to Capella. When there, I was acquainted with the spirit who -in this century was incarnated on the Earth and published his studies -under the name of Allan Kardec. - -We did not recollect that we had known one another before, during -our terrestrial life, but we often felt attracted to one another by -peculiar intellectual sympathies. Now that he has returned, like -myself, into the world of spirits, he also remembers the singular -republic of Orion and can see it. Yes, this is very curious, but it is -quite true. You have no idea, on your poor planet, of the unimaginable -diversity which separates the worlds in their geological, as much as in -their physiological organisations. - -[Sidenote: Sense of sight in spirits.] - -These conversations may serve to throw light on your knowledge of -this general truth, so important in the conception of the universe. -But the scientific service that these conversations can specially -render you is in making you understand that light is the mode of -transmission of universal history. With the powerful visual faculty -which we enjoy here, we can distinguish the surface of distant worlds. -The eye of our "perisprit" is not identical with the bodily eye. In -the terrestrial sight the rays diverge, so that a very small object, -placed quite near the eye fills the interval of the two rays, whilst -at a greater distance, a larger object is necessary to fill the space, -proportionately increased, which separates the same rays. In our eye, -on the contrary, the visual rays enter in parallel lines, so that we -see each object in its real proportions, and in its normal size, its -apparent size being quite unaffected by distance. We do not see the -whole of large objects, but only sections of them proportioned to the -openings of our special retina, but these parts are seen by us with -equal clearness at any distance (when there is no atmosphere to veil -this distance). - -A tree in a prairie on a celestial body, as far as Theta of Orion -is from Capella, is perfectly visible to us. On the other hand, in -accordance with the law of the successive transmission of the rays of -light, all the events in nature, and the history of all the worlds, are -depicted in space as a universal tableau, the most true and the most -magnificent in all nature. - -[Sidenote: Infinite diversity in Sirius.] - -As these conversations will have shown you, I have traversed a great -many different celestial countries, and have actually studied creation -without fixing myself in any place. I hope in the course of the next -century to be reincarnated on a world dependent on the train of Sinus. -The humanity there is more beautiful than that of the Earth. Birth is -effected by means of an organic system less ridiculous and less brutal -than that of the Earth. - -But the most remarkable characteristic of the life on this world is, -that there men perceive the physico-chemical operations which take -place for the maintenance of the body. From each molecule of the body, -so to speak, proceeds a nerve which transmits to the brain the various -impressions that it receives, so that the soul absolutely knows its -body, and rules over it as a sovereign. - -[Sidenote: Vegetable life in Aldebaran.] - -There is an immense variety amongst the worlds. On one of the -planets of the system of Aldebaran, very curious from this point -of view, the vegetables are all composed of a substance analogous -to _the loadstone_, because silica and magnesia predominate in its -constitution. The animals feed on this substance only. Most of the -beings inhabiting this world are _incombustible_. - -Upon the world of which I speak night is illumined by phosphorescent -lights. I have visited other worlds where night does not exist at -all, where day and night do not succeed each other as upon the Earth, -because every portion of their spheres is continuously supplied with -light by several suns, which never leave them in darkness for an -instant. There sleep is unnecessary, either for man, for animals, or -for plants. - -Upon your planet sleep consumes a third portion of your life, its -primary cause being the rotation of the earth on its axis, which -produces day and night in succession, on the various parts of the globe. - -Upon these worlds where it is always day, the inhabitants never sleep, -and it would greatly surprise them to learn, that there exists a -humanity where a third of life is passed in a lethargy resembling death. - -[Sidenote: Phosphoric light] - -Not far from this, a world revolves where night is almost unknown, -although it does not possess a nocturnal sun, as in the quadrilateral -of Orion, and it has no satellites. The rocks of its mountains, being -of a chemical composition that reminds one of the phosphates and the -sulphates of barytes, store up the solar light received during the -day; and during the night they radiate a sweet, calm, translucent -light, which illumines the scenery with a tranquil nocturnal clearness. -There, also, one sees curious trees, bearing flowers which shine in the -evening like fire-flies. These resemble horse-chestnuts, but the snowy -flowers are luminous. - -Phosphorus enters largely into the composition of this curious and -singular world. Its atmosphere is constantly electrical; its animals -are luminous, as well as its plants, and its humanity partakes of the -same nature. - -[Sidenote: The passions phosphorescent.] - -The temperature is very high, and the inhabitants have not much need to -invent clothes. Now, it happens that certain passions are manifested -by the illumination of part of the body. This is, on a large scale, -what takes place on a small scale in your terrestrial meadows, where -one sees in the sweet summer evenings the glow-worms silently consumed -in an amorous flame. In the fire-flies of the north, that you see -in France, the male is winged and is not luminous; the female, on -the contrary, is luminous, but does not possess the aerial faculty. -In Italy the two sexes are winged, and both can become luminous. The -humanity which I am describing to you has all the advantages of this -latter type. - -Certain forms of terrestrial life are to be met with among the sidereal -humanities. Thus we find in some of them, the same thing that takes -place on the Earth in the ant world, where, on the day of their aerial -unions, all the males die of exhaustion; and again in the world of -bees, where the procreators are pitilessly sacrificed; and amongst -spiders, where they are devoured by their companions unless they can -immediately escape. We find reproduced the habits of a great number -of insects, which never see their offspring, and lay their eggs in -surroundings in which the newly-born will find their first food. - -The human body on this Earth owes its form and its state of being to -the atmospheric environment, and to the conditions of density, of -weight, and of nutrition, by means of which terrestrial evolution -operates. - -The human being proceeds from the fusion of a microscopic masculine -corpuscle with a minute feminine ovule. This fusion gives birth to a -little cell which is transformed into the embryo, in which gradually -appear the heart, the head, the limbs, and the different organs. The -nervous system of this embryo may be compared to rays of delicate -threads, proceeding from a central point which will become the brain. - -Under the influence of the Solar light and of the vibrations of the -air, one of these nerves is developed at its extremity, and forms the -eye. This is undefined at first, and almost blind in an elementary -state, like the eyes of the trilobites and of the fishes of the -Silurian period, but it develops into the admirable eyes of birds, of -the vertebrae, and of man. The senses of smell and taste proceed from -the nerves in the same way. These last two senses, with that of touch, -are the most primitive, the earliest, and the most necessary to life. -There are but two of the senses which place man in communication with -the outer world--sight and hearing,--but the eye is the sole organ -which puts us in communication with the whole universe. - -Millions of these little nerve-threads proceed from the brain, through -the body, without producing any other than the five senses, unless we -except certain sensations of touch, which are intimate and personal, -and which have even been described as a sixth sense. You shall hear. - -Now there is no reason why that which has taken place and been arrested -on our little planet, should take place and be arrested in the same -fashion elsewhere. - -In proof of this I must tell you that I visited, not long since, two -worlds on which human beings have two senses of which we have not any -idea on our Earth. - -One of these senses may be described as electrical. One of the -little nerve-threads of which I have just told you is developed into -a multitude of ramifications which form a sort of cornet. These, -under the scalpel and the microscope, appear to be tubes placed in -juxtaposition, the outer extremity of which receives the electric fluid -and transmits it to the brain, much as our optic nerves receive the -waves of light, and our auditory nerves receive the undulations of -sound. - -The beings provided with this sense perceive the electrical condition -of bodies, of material things, of plants and flowers, of animals, of -the atmosphere, and of clouds. To these beings this electric sense is -a source of knowledge which is wholly forbidden to us. Their organic -sensations are all different from yours. Their eyes are not constructed -like yours; they do not see what you see; they see what you do not see. -They are conscious only of the invisible violet rays. But their mode of -existence differs from yours, especially through their electric sense. -The electric constitution of their world is the cause of the existence -and of the development of this sense. - -Another sense with which I was still more struck, and which was of -quite a different character, I found on a second world. This was the -sense of orientation. Another of the nerve-threads proceeding from the -brain produced a species of winged ear, very light, by means of which -the living being perceives his direct bearings. He is conscious of the -points of the compass, and turns to the north or the south, the east or -the west, instinctively. - -The atmosphere is full of emanations which you never perceive. This -singular sense orients the possessors of it infallibly. It enables them -also to discover things concealed in the interior of the Sun, and gives -them an insight into some of Nature's secrets which are absolutely -hidden from you. - -I would thus demonstrate to you that in the vast domains of creation -an infinite variety exists, and that eternity will be inexhaustibly -occupied in gathering and partaking of its flowers and of its fruits. - -There are worlds where old age is unknown--where lovers are consumed in -a delirious fantasy, transported by the intoxication of the body, and -careless of the morrow. The active sex never survive these nuptials; -the passive sex, oviparous, having secured the perpetuity of the -species, sleep their last sleep. Those celestial worlds, where one -never grows old, are not without their advantages. - -[Sidenote: Life too long] - -[Sidenote: A world without war.] - -Worlds exist in which the vital movements, respiration, assimilation, -the organic periods, day and night, the seasons and the years, are all -of extreme length. Although the nervous system of the human inhabitants -is highly developed, and thought has a prodigious activity, life there -appears to be of an endless length. Those who die of old age have -lived more than a thousand of these years, but they are so rare that -the memory of a few only have been preserved in the historical records -of this humanity. War between the nations has never been invented, -because there is only one race, one people, one language. The natural -constitutions of these organisms are remarkable. Diseases are almost -unknown; there are no doctors. As a result of this great mental -activity, the length of life becomes a perspective without end, and -before long becomes a burden. Hence suicide is almost universal. This -custom has been habitual from very ancient times. The few old men who -from any special motive have not put an end to their lives, are looked -upon as exceptional beings, originals, and more or less eccentric. -Suicide is the general law. - -But, my dear friend, it is impossible for me to describe to you all the -curiosities of the universe. Let it suffice that I have raised the veil -sufficiently, to give you a glimpse of the incommensurable diversity -that exists, in the animated productions of all the various systems -disseminated through space. - -[Sidenote: Infinite diversity] - -While accompanying me in spirit in this interstellar voyage, you -have passed several hours away from the Earth. It is well to isolate -one's self thus at times amongst the celestial solitudes. The soul -obtains a fuller possession of itself, and in its solitary reflections -it penetrates profoundly into the universal reality. Terrestrial -humanity, you understand, is, as regards moral as well as physical -life, the result virtually of the forces of the Earth. Human strength, -figure, weight, all depend on these forces. The organic functions are -determined by the planet. If life is divided with you between work and -rest, between activity and sleep, it is because of the rotation of the -globe, and day and night. In the luminous globes, and those lighted by -many Suns alternately, they do not sleep. If you need to eat and drink, -it is in consequence of the insufficiency of the atmosphere. The bodies -of the beings who do not eat are not constructed like yours, since they -have no need of a stomach and intestines. The terrestrial eye enables -you to see the universe in a certain way, the Saturnian eye sees in a -different manner. - -[Sidenote: Other senses than those of the Earth.] - -There are senses which perceive other things than those which you -perceive in nature. Each of the worlds is inhabited by a race -essentially different, and sometimes the inhabitants are neither -vegetables nor animals. There are men of all possible forms, of all -dimensions, of all weights, of all colours, of all sensations, of every -variety of characteristics. The universe is infinite. Our terrestrial -existence is only one phase of the infinite. An inexhaustible diversity -enriches this marvellous field of the eternal Sower. The function of -science is, to study all that the terrestrial senses are capable of -perceiving. The function of philosophy is, to form a synthesis of all -defined and determined ideas and facts, and to develop the sphere of -thought. - -What would you say if I told you not only of the physical differences -of humanity, but also of its moral and intellectual diversities? -Its varieties are great--too much so, indeed, for you to thoroughly -understand them. As an instance, I will give you just one noteworthy -example. In your terrestrial humanity, intellectual or moral worth -counts for nothing in advancing a man, whatever may be the value of his -ideas, or the worth of his personal character, unless he possesses the -means and the determination to push himself forward. No one seeks for -hidden merit. A man must needs make his own way, and struggle against -intrigue, cupidity, and ambition--a strife which is the antipodes of -what ought to be. It results, therefore, that the noblest and most -worthy people remain in obscurity, whilst position, wealth, and social -distinction are often showered on worthless intriguers. - -Ah well! I recently visited a world belonging to one of the most -luminous regions of the Milky Way, where an intellectual order -absolutely different exists; where the constitution of the Government -is such, that only those distinguished for their virtues are placed at -the head of the State; and their function is to seek out, and place in -responsible positions, men worthy of the trust. - -In that country, in short, the search is as eager for the discovery -of merit and intelligence, as it is in yours for gold and diamonds. -All is done there for the benefit of humanity. They have not invented -any Academy, as they cannot conceive that a man of worth (instead of -being sought after) should be compelled to waste his time in visits -of ceremony, and find, probably, that a titled nobody (who has known -better than he how to cajole votes) has been preferred to himself. So -true it is, that the system prevailing in other worlds is far more -enlightened than that of yours. - -[Sidenote: The magnifying power of time.] - -Now, my dear terrestrial friend, you know what the Earth is in the -universe; you know something of what the heavens contain; and you know -also what Life is, and what Death is. We shall soon see the dawn of -morning, which puts spirits to flight and brings our conversations to -an end, as the approach of your terrestrial day causes the brightness -of Venus to fade away. But I should like to add to the preceding ideas -a very interesting remark suggested by the same observations. It is -this: If you set out from the Earth at the moment that a flash of -lightning bursts forth, and if you travelled for an hour or more with -the light, you would see the lightning as long as you continued to -look at it. This fact is established by the foregoing principles. But -if, instead of travelling _exactly_ with the velocity of light, you -were to travel with a little less velocity; note the observation that -you might make: I will suppose that this voyage away from the Earth, -during which you look at the lightning, lasts a minute. I will suppose -also, that the lightning lasts a thousandth part of a second. You will -continue to see the lightning during 60,000 times its duration. In our -first supposition this voyage is identical with that of light. Light -has occupied 60,000 tenths of seconds to go from the Earth to the point -in space where you are. Your voyage and that of light have co-existed. -Now if instead of flying with just the same velocity as light, you had -flown a little less quickly, and if you had employed a thousandth part -of a second more to arrive at the same point, instead of always seeing -_the same moment of the lightning_, you would have seen, successively, -the different moments which constituted the total duration of the -lightning, equal to 1000 parts of a second. In this whole minute -you would have had time to see first the beginning of the flash of -lightning, and could analyse the development of it, the successive -phases of it, to the very end. You may imagine what strange discoveries -one could make in the secret nature of lightning, increased 60,000 -times in the order of its duration, what frightful battles you would -have time to discover in the flames! what pandemonium! what unlucky -atoms! what a world hidden by its volatile nature from the imperfect -eyes of mortals! - -[Sidenote: Vision of the analysing eye.] - -If you could see by your imagination sufficiently, to separate and -count the atoms which constitute the body of a man, that body would -disappear before you, for it consists of thousands of millions of atoms -in motion, and to the analysing eye it would be a nebula animated -by the forces of gravitation. Did not Swedenborg imagine that the -universe by which he was surrounded, seen as a whole, was in the form -of an immense man? That was anthropomorphism. But there are analogies -everywhere. What we know most certainly is, that things _are not_ what -they appear to be, either in space or in time. But let us return to the -delayed flash of lightning. - -When you travel with the velocity of light, you see constantly the -scene which was in existence at the moment of your departure. If you -were carried away for a year, at the same rate, you would have before -your eyes the same event for that time. But if, in order to see more -distinctly an event which would have taken only a few seconds, such -as the fall of a mountain, an avalanche, or an earthquake, you were -to delay, to see the commencement of the catastrophe (in slackening a -little, your steps on those of light), you would see the progress of -the catastrophe, its first moment, its second, and so on successively, -in thus nearly following the light, you would only see the end after -an hour of observation. The event would last for you an hour instead -of a few seconds. You would see the rocks, or the stones suspended -in the air, and could thus ascertain the mode of production of the -phenomenon, and its incidental delays. Already your terrestrial -scientific knowledge enables you to take instantaneous photographs of -the successive aspects of rapid phenomena, such as lightning, a meteor, -the waves of the sea, a volcanic eruption, the fall of a building, and -to make them pass before you graduated in accordance with their effect -on the retina. Similarly you can, on the contrary, photograph the -pollen of a flower, through each stage of expansion to its completion -in the fruit, or the development of a child from its birth to maturity, -and project these phases upon a screen, depicting in a few seconds the -life of a man, or a tree. - -[Sidenote: A chrono-telescope.] - -I see in your thoughts that you compare this effect to that of a -microscope which would magnify time. That is exactly what it is; we -thus see time amplified. This process cannot strictly speaking be -called that of the microscope, but rather that of a _chronoscope_ or -of a chrono-telescope (to see time from afar). The duration of a reign -might, by the same process, be augmented according to the good pleasure -of the parti politique. - -Thus, for example, Napoleon II. reigned only three hours, but one could -see him reign for fifteen years _successively_, by dispersing the 180 -minutes of the three hours over the length of 180 months (in removing -one's self from the Earth with a velocity a little inferior to that -of light); so, by setting out at the very moment that the Chamber had -proclaimed Napoleon II., one would arrive at the last minute of his -supposed reign, only at the end of fifteen years. Each minute would be -seen for a month, each second for twelve hours. - -[Sidenote: Light transmission in space.] - -The conclusions of this discourse are based entirely on this principle, -my dear Quaerens. I have endeavoured to show you that the physical law -of the _successive transmission of Light_ in space, is one of the -_fundamental elements of the conditions of eternal life_. According -to this law every event is imperishable, and the past is always -present. The image of the Earth as it was 6000 years ago, is actually -now in space at the distance that light crossed it 6000 years since. -The worlds situated in that region see the Earth of that epoch. We -could see again our own direct existence and our different anterior -existences. All that we need for this is to be at the proper distance -from the worlds in which we had lived. There are stars which you see -from the Earth, and which no longer exist, because they became extinct -after they had emitted the luminous ray which has only just reached you. - -In the same way you might hear the voice of a man at a distance, who -might be dead before the moment at which you heard him, if, perchance, -he had been struck with apoplexy immediately after he had uttered his -last cry. - -[Sidenote: There are living forms unknown to Earth.] - -I am very much pleased that this last sketch has enabled me at the same -time to trace for you a picture of the diversities of existence and of -the _possibility of living forms unknown to the Earth_. Here also you -see the revelations of Urania are grander and more profound than those -of all her sisters. _The Earth is only an atom in the universe._ - -I must pause here, for all these numerous and diverse applications -of the laws of light are not apparent to you. On the Earth, in this -dark cavern, as Plato appropriately termed it, you vegetate in -ignorance of the gigantic forces in action in the universe. The day -will come when physical science will discover in light the principle -of every movement and the inner reason of things. Already within the -last few years spectrum analysis has demonstrated to you that by the -examination of a luminous ray from the Sun, or from a Star, you can -learn what substances constitute that Sun and that Star. Already you -can determine, across a distance of millions and millions of miles, the -nature of celestial bodies from which a ray of light has come to you! -And the study of light will afford still more splendid results, both -in experimental science, and in its application to the philosophy of -the universe. - -[Sidenote: Anticipations.] - -But the refraction of the earth's atmosphere is projecting beyond the -zenith the light shed forth by the distant Sun. The vibrations of the -light of day will let me talk with you no longer. Farewell, my good -friend. Farewell! or rather, _au revoir_! Great things are going to -happen around you. After the storm I shall perhaps return for one last -visit to give you proof of my existence, and to show that I have not -forgotten you. Then, later, when your life upon this little planet is -done, I shall come to you once more, and together we will take our -real journey through the unspeakable splendours of speed. Nor can you -ever, in your wildest dreams, form even a faint idea of the stupendous -surprises, the inconceivable wonders which there await you. - - -THE END - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Page 32, Sidenote, "h" changed to "e" (the place where he was in) - -Page 34, Footnote, "3,14159" changed to "314,159" (314,159 x 2, it) - -Page 139, repeated word "the" deleted. Original read (Even in the the -same system) - -Page 160, period added to text (surprise you still more.) - -Page 172, Sidenote, "Adromeda" changed to "Andromeda" (World of -Andromeda) - -Page 179, "oxgyen" changed to "oxygen" (called their oxygen) - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Lumen, by Camille Flammarion - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUMEN *** - -***** This file should be named 43835.txt or 43835.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/8/3/43835/ - -Produced by Greg Bergquist and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at - www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 -North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email -contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the -Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |