Project of fetching Gold from the Moon, was caress'd
prodigiously, and his way of reasoning approved; tho' I gave it in with
a [+] as rejected by me, yet he was rewarded, and Preparation order'd
for the Journey, in which I was commanded to accompany him: For, he
insinuated to the Minister, that it was possible the Inhabitants might
be of my Species; nay, that I myself might have dropp'd out of that
World, which was more reasonable than to believe the Story I told, of
having pass'd so great a Sea; and that I very likely had form'd this
Story out of a Tenderness to my Country lest his Imperial Majesty should
attempt its Conquest.

He had so possess'd the Minister with this Notion, that my arguing
against it was to no purpose. He told me one Day, That all the
Philosophers allow'd, nay, maintain'd, that both Animals, Vegetables,
and Minerals, were generated, grew, and were nourished, by the Spirit of
the World: A Quintessence partaking of all the Four Elements, tho' it
was no One, might be called Air, and was not; Fire, and was not Fire,
_&c._ That this Spirit was assisted by the Influence of the Planets,
and tended to the highest Perfection of Purity. That all Metals were
generated by the said Spirit, and differ'd from one another, but
according to the Purity or Impurity of the _Matrices_ which receiv'd it.
That as the Planets Influence was necessary, that of the Moon must,
as the nearest to the Earth, be the most efficacious: That as it was
visible to the Eye, the Moon was more depurated than the Earth; was
surrounded by a thinner Air, in which the Spirit of the World is more
abundant, and was nearer to the other Planets, he naturally concluded,
that it must abound in Gold Mines; and this Conclusion was strengthened
by the Mountains discernible in the Moon; and Mountains being mostly
rocky, afforded the purest _Matrice_ for the Universal Spirit; so that
it seem'd to him impossible, that any other Metal, less pure, could be
generated in that World. That such Metals, for their Use, were often
preferable to Gold, and that in denying my Descent from thence, I was in
Fact, doing an Injury to those I wish'd to serve, since by Intercourse
with those Inhabitants, both Worlds might find their Advantage.

I answered his Excellency, That I wished he might ever find his and
his Country's Good, in all his Undertakings, since I had so great
Obligations to both; but that what I had told him of my self was every
way consonant to Truth;