med to have no object but myself, and the transition from the
suspicion, and perhaps contempt, of the preceding hour, to the
affectionate transport, admiration and glory of the present moment, was
not without its effect on my mind. I recollected the puns[3] on my name,
and was glad to find myself calm. I had soared from the apprehensions
and anxieties of the Artillery Ground, and felt as if I had left behind
me all the cares and passions that molest mankind.

[Footnote 3: In some of the papers, witticisms appeared on the
affinity of Lunatic and Lunardi.]

'Indeed, the whole scene before me filled the mind with a sublime
pleasure, of which I never had a conception. The critics imagine, for
they seldom speak from experience, that terror is an ingredient in every
sublime sensation. It was not possible for me to be on earth in a
situation so free from apprehension. I had not the slightest sense of
motion from the Machine, I knew not whether it went swiftly or slowly,
whether it ascended or descended, whether it was agitated or tranquil,
but by the appearance or disappearance of objects on the earth. I moved
to different parts of the gallery, I adjusted the furniture, and
apparatus, I uncorked my bottle, eat, drank, and wrote, just as in my
study. The height had not the effect, which a much lesser degree of it
has near the earth, that of producing giddiness. The broomsticks of the
witches, Ariosto's flying-horse, and even Milton's sunbeam, conveying
the angel to the earth, have all an idea of effort, difficulty, and
restraint, which do not affect a voyage in the Balloon.

'Thus tranquil, and thus situated, how shall I describe to you a view,
such as the ancients supposed Jupiter to have of the earth, and to copy
which there are no terms in any language. The gradual diminution of
objects, and the masses of light and shade are intelligible in oblique
and common prospects. But here every thing wore a new appearance, and
had a new effect. The face of the country had a mild and permanent
verdure, to which Italy is a stranger. The variety of cultivation, and
the accuracy with which property is divided, give the idea ever present
to a stranger in England, of good civil laws and an equitable
administration; the rivers meandering; the sea glist'ning with the rays
of the sun; the immense district beneath me spotted with cities, towns,
villages, houses, pouring out their inhabitants to hail my appearance:
you will allow me so