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; that I was so far from being an Inhabitant of the Moon, that I did not believe it habitable; and if it were, I did not think a Voyage thither practicable, for Reasons I wou’d give the Projector, whenever his Excellency would condescend to hear my Objections and his Answers:  That if he, after that, would persist in the Undertaking, she should find me ready to sacrifice that Life in the Attempt, which I held from his Goodness.

Well, return’d he, to morrow I will have him at my House, don’t fail being there at Dinner; I will be denied to every one else, and hope his Reasons will convince you; for I have, I own, a greater Opinion of your Veracity, in what relates to this Affair, than of your Judgment.

The next Day I waited on his Excellency, where I found the Projector mention’d.  He began the Discourse, addressing himself to me, after the usual Ceremonies.

“I am sorry, said he, to find what I propos’d meet with any Objection from one whose Penetration makes me fear some Obstacle considerable, which has escaped my Scrutiny.  However, if I have the Mortification to have my Views baffled, yet shall I reap the Advantage of being instructed in what I am ignorant of.  His Excellency has commanded me to lay before you what my Reasons are, for supposing the Moon an inhabited Globe.  I shall therefore, with all possible Brevity, obey his Excellency’s Commands.  I shall not name the ancient Sages, both of this and the neighbouring Nations, who have been of the same Opinion, because I have already cited them in my Memorial; but shall first offer you some Principles on which I have, beside the Authorities mention’d, founded my own.

“First, I esteem the Moon an opaque solid Body, as is our Earth, and consequently adapted for the Entertainment and Nourishment of its Inhabitants.  Now, that it is a solid Body, is evident by the Repercussion of the Light which it receives from the Sun.”

“Sir, said I, you are here begging the Question; for it is possible, that the Moon of itself is a luminous Body; and I am apt to believe it such for this Reason:  Its Light is seen in more than one Place at a time, whereas a Body which gives a Light by Reflection only, that Light is perceivable in that Point alone, where the Angle of Reflection is equal to that of Incidence.”

He answer’d,