ence; this I conjectured from the view of
London, the extreme points of which formed an angle only a few degrees.
It was so reduced on the great scale before me that I can find no simile
to convey an idea of it. I could distinguish Saint Paul's and other
churches from the houses; I saw the streets as lines, all animated with
beings whom I knew to be men and women, but which otherwise I should
have had a difficulty in describing. It was an enormous bee-hive, but
the industry of it was suspended. All the moving mass seemed to have no
object but myself, and the transition from the suspicion, 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. It seemed as if I had left below all the cares and passions
that molest mankind. I had not the slightest sense of motion in 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. The height had not
the effect which a much less degree of it has near the earth, that of
producing giddiness. The gradual diminution of objects, and the masses
of light and shade, are intelligible in oblique and common prospects,
but here everything 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 the stranger in
England, of good civil laws and an equitable administration. The
rivulets meandering; the immense districts beneath me spotted with
cities, towns, villages, and houses, pouring out their inhabitants to
hail my appearance. You will allow me some merit in not having been
exceedingly intoxicated with my situation." He descended at North Mimms
about half-past three-o'clock, but wishing to obtain a second triumph,
he threw out the remainder of his ballast and provisions, landed a cat
which he had taken up with him, and which had suffered severely from the
cold, and again ascended to the regions above. This time his ascent was
more rapid, the thermometer quickly fell to 29 degrees, and icicles were
soon formed all round his machine. He descended at twenty minutes past
four near Ware in Hertfordshire, and the balloon being properly secured,
the gas was let out and "nearly