MAN AS SEEN FROM MARS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2016, 9 June 1885, Page 4

MAN AS SEEN FROM MARS.

Thkhk first two inhabitants of Mars whom I mot weenied to consider me with pity: and whin I fnticicl that I discerned in tlicii way of ti eating me a certain cold aii of sup'iioiity my blood at once took fiii), and with a strong effect at Bclf-iestraint I opened my lips to r y : " Messieurs, I must inform yon ttiat tho inhibit ints of tin- eaith arc not no stupid .is yousetin to bolieve." Unto. tuu.itcly tli( y did not oven allow me to bejin the scnti'iKP, inasmuch \s they had alrcidy dnin<d what I was g-nng tv siy I y tho molecular vibration of my brain. " Let mi) inform you, in tho first plac," H.uii one of them, " That your planet has in-\< r bei n de\ eloped by reason of the accident which dates back some ten millions* of years. It was in tho pi unary epoch of tho tci restrial grnciH. Tlieie were all early plants, and adnmable plants, and in the deeps of the sea, as well as upon the shores, the fust animals had made their appearance- the molluscs, headless, dumb, r id sc.less. " You know tli.it rcspii.itiou alone Bitfficcs for the ninpln nourishment of trees, and that your most sturd) oaks, your most gigantic cedaia, have no or eaten anything— a circumstance which, notwithstanding, has never retarded their growth. An ill chance brought it about that one of tho fust molluscs had i*- body traversed by a water-drop denser than tho sui rounding medium. Perhaps the mollubc thought it was very nice. This was the origin of the first digestive tube, which organ was destined to exercise so dismal an influence upon the whole animal world, ami, at a later epoch, upon humanity itself. The first assassin was the mollusc who ate. " Here on this planet we never cat ; nothing has ever been eaten ; nothing ever will be eaten. Creation has been developed gradually, pacifically, nobly, as it commenced. All organisms nourish themselves, or more correctly speaking renew their molecules by the simple act of rcspuation, just as do \our terrestrial trees, each leaf being a little stomach. In your dear native world you cannot live a »ingle dly except upon the condition of killing something. The law of life with you is the law of death. Hero it never entered anyone's mind to kill even a biid. " You people of the eaith are more or less buteheis. Youi hands are covered with blood. Youi stomachs are gorged with victuals How can you expect with such gross organisations to have any pure, wholesome, elevated ideas— l will even sny cleanly iilens ; pardon my fiankness ?" "Whit!" I exclaimed, "you refuse me even the ability to have a cleanly idea? Do} on think nil human beings are brutes? Homer, l'hidias, Seneca, Virgil, Dante, Columbus, Bacon, Galileo, Pascal, Leonaido, Raphael, Mozart, Beethoven — have none of them ever had an elevated ampliation ! You think our bodies grosa ; but had you ever seen pass by you Helen, Phryne, Aspasia, U.ippho, Cleopatra, Lucrezia Borgia, Allies .Sorrel, Diana of Poitieis, Margucnto dc Valois, Borghesc, Talien, Kecamur, (Join's, and their admirable rivnlt, you might think dilltrently. Ah ! my dear M.uti.ui, allow mo in my turn to re«iot that you only know the earth from a distance." "There joiinrc mistaken. I inhabited that wui hi of yours foi fifty ycais. That was enough lor me, and I assure you I shall nevei retain to it. .Everything is a failnre, even what appears to you most charming," " But," I resumed, "in spito of all, there are certainly gicat minds on the earth and admirable beauties." " No, my friend ; never cm you make peaches grow upon biiars. Reflect that the most delicious tci restial beauties whom ,you recently referred to arc noth ing but clumsy monsters compared to the aerial women of Mars, who live only upon tha air of our spring days, the perfumes of the flowers, and who arc so voluptuously cliai ming, oven in the mere quivering of their wings, in the ideal kiss of a mouth which has never eaten anything, tint had Dante's Beatrice been like them the i-nmortal Floientine would never have written two cantos of his 'Divina Commedia ' ; he would have begun with Paradise, and never have descended therefiom. Know also that oui young lads have quite as much inborn scientific knowledge as Pythagoras, Archimedes, Kuclid, Keppltt, Newton, Laplace, and Darwin, after all their laboiious studies. Our twelve senses place us in direct communication with the universe. Here, at the distance of 100,000,000 leagues, we feel the atti action of the planet Jupiter m passing. We can distinguish With the naked eye the rings of Sat.u.i. We can divine in advance the approach of a comet ; and our bodies aru impregnated with that solar electricity which keeps nil nature in vilnatiou. H'T« there have never been any founders of empties, nor any international divisions nor wuis ; but oui humanity, fiom its biith pacific and free fiom all matciial wants, has lived in thorough independence of body and mind, in a constant lnt'-11-jotual actn ity ekvat ing itself unceasingly to the knowledge of the truth." — Translated from "Cannlle Flamm.iiioii."

I'KIKCb IiIHMAUC'K AM) 'i.IK EmI'MUIR Wilmam. — Alont' with tlie picture lep resenting the. Imperial Proclamation at Versailles, tie: Empeior sent to I'iiiicc Bismarck the following extremely flattering autograph letter :— " Mydeai I'iince, — A warm desire is evident throughout the (Jerm.ui nation to show you, on the celebration of your He\cntioth birthday, that the recollection of all that you have done for the greatness of the Fatherland lives in many grateful hearts, and I feel a deep neec(»<ity to tell you to-day how greatly I am rejoiced that such gratitude and respect for you nninutes the nation. I am Kind of this, because it is n highly deserved recognition, and it warms my heart to see such foelingH so e\tonsi\cly manifested, because they arc an ornament to the nation ' 1 the present and strengthen my hopes for the future of a people who thus testify their recognition of wh it ih truly great, honouring their highly-deserting men. It in n upeciul pleasure to me and my family to participate in these rejoicing*, and we wish to express to you, by the accompanying pictuie, with what feelings of gi.iteful remembrance we do this, for it represents one of thcgieattst moments in the hii'ory of the Holien/ollein family, can never bo remembered without at the tame time remembering your services. You, my dear Prince, know how thorough confidence, the sinccrcst nfleetioii, nnd the waimcst feelings of gratitude towards you aro always present with me. In writing this, therefore, 1 toll you nothing I have not often told you before, and I think this picture will keep before the eyes of you descendants the fact that your Emperor and King and his family well know what they owe to you, as will alao these lines, as lasting beyond the grave. Your grateful and truly devoted Emperor and King. — Wii.mam." Hm Stah'oki) NoiiTiifoTß ox Pun. tkctios. — On the 4th of April a Convrsativc Working Men's Constitutional Club was open in Ycovil. At the luncheon Colonel Pagefc read a letter which had been received from Sir Nruffoid Noithcote, who, referring to the ohtap loaf, said: — "It is worth whiln to remind the people that it was not given by the Liberals, but by a (,'omei vativc Ministry, of which Sir Kobei t I'cel was the chief. A« regards th<; future, I am distinctly of opinion that the return to a protective duty on com would be impossible, and that a Conservative (!o\ eminent would attempt to impose one is groundless." JUoiMi li hviiudp — llhmr att.u he* to a jury nf mt f Ilifcrnt ni'-n when they condemn .1 man for crime whoso moral nature ban been ucrvrrtcd by indigestion, diseased liver and kidncjs. A thoughtful judge may well consider whether iociety would not bo better serred by ordering <t bottle of American Co'i Hop fitters for tho unfortunalo in the dock ins t "id pf )O4rsof penal igrvitudc. Head.