April5。Iamalmostdevouredbyennui。Punditistheonlyconversiblepersononboard；andhe，poorsoul！canspeakofnothingbutantiquities。HehasbeenoccupiedallthedayintheattempttoconvincemethattheancientAmriccansgovernedthemselves！dideveranybodyhearofsuchanabsurdity？thattheyexistedinasortofevery-man-for-himselfconfederacy，afterthefashionofthe“prairiedogs“thatwereadofinfable。Hesaysthattheystartedwiththequeerestideaconceivable，viz：thatallmenarebornfreeandequalthisintheveryteethofthelawsofgradationsovisiblyimpresseduponallthingsbothinthemoralandphysicaluniverse。Everyman“voted。”astheycalleditthatistosaymeddledwithpublicaffairsuntilatlength，itwasdiscoveredthatwhatiseverybody’sbusinessisnobody’s，andthatthe“Republic“sotheabsurdthingwascalledwaswithoutagovernmentatall。Itisrelated，however，thatthefirstcircumstancewhichdisturbed，veryparticularly，theself-complacencyofthephilosopherswhoconstructedthis“Republic。”wasthestartlingdiscoverythatuniversalsuffragegaveopportunityforfraudulentschemes，bymeansofwhichanydesirednumberofvotesmightatanytimebepolled，withoutthepossibilityofpreventionorevendetection，byanypartywhichshouldbemerelyvillainousenoughnottobeashamedofthefraud。Alittlereflectionuponthisdiscoverysufficedtorenderevidenttheconsequences，whichwerethatrascalitymustpredominateinaword，thatarepublicangovernmentcouldneverbeanythingbutarascallyone。Whilethephilosophers，however，werebusiedinblushingattheirstupidityinnothavingforeseentheseinevitableevils，andintentupontheinventionofnewtheories，thematterwasputtoanabruptissuebyafellowofthenameofMob，whotookeverythingintohisownhandsandsetupadespotism，incomparisonwithwhichthoseofthefabulousZerosandHellofagabaluseswererespectableanddelectable。ThisMobaforeigner，by-the-by，issaidtohavebeenthemostodiousofallmenthateverencumberedtheearth。Hewasagiantinstature
insolent，rapacious，filthy，hadthegallofabullockwiththeheartofahyenaandthebrainsofapeacock。Hedied，atlength，bydintofhisownenergies，whichexhaustedhim。Nevertheless，hehadhisuses，aseverythinghas，howevervile，andtaughtmankindalessonwhichtothisdayitisinnodangerofforgettingnevertorundirectlycontrarytothenaturalanalogies。AsforRepublicanism，noanalogycouldbefoundforituponthefaceoftheearthunlessweexceptthecaseofthe“prairiedogs。”anexceptionwhichseemstodemonstrate，ifanything，thatdemocracyisaveryadmirableformofgovernmentfordogs。
April6。LastnighthadafineviewofAlphaLyrae，whosedisk，throughourcaptain’sspy-glass，subtendsanangleofhalfadegree，lookingverymuchasoursundoestothenakedeyeonamistyday。
AlphaLyrae，althoughsoverymuchlargerthanoursun，bytheby，resembleshimcloselyasregardsitsspots，itsatmosphere，andinmanyotherparticulars。Itisonlywithinthelastcentury，Pundittellsme，thatthebinaryrelationexistingbetweenthesetwoorbsbeganeventobesuspected。Theevidentmotionofoursystemintheheavenswasstrangetosay！referredtoanorbitaboutaprodigiousstarinthecentreofthegalaxy。Aboutthisstar，oratalleventsaboutacentreofgravitycommontoalltheglobesoftheMilkyWayandsupposedtobenearAlcyoneinthePleiades，everyoneoftheseglobeswasdeclaredtoberevolving，ourownperformingthecircuitinaperiodof117，000，000ofyears！We，withourpresentlights，ourvasttelescopicimprovements，andsoforth，ofcoursefinditdifficulttocomprehendthegroundofanideasuchasthis。ItsfirstpropagatorwasoneMudler。Hewasled，wemustpresume，tothiswildhypothesisbymereanalogyinthefirstinstance；but，thisbeingthecase，heshouldhaveatleastadheredtoanalogyinitsdevelopment。
Agreatcentralorbwas，infact，suggested；sofarMudlerwasconsistent。Thiscentralorb，however，dynamically，shouldhavebeengreaterthanallitssurroundingorbstakentogether。Thequestionmightthenhavebeenasked“Whydowenotseeit？”we，especially，whooccupythemidregionoftheclustertheverylocalitynearwhich，atleast，mustbesituatedthisinconceivablecentralsun。Theastronomer，perhaps，atthispoint，tookrefugeinthesuggestionofnon-luminosity；andhereanalogywassuddenlyletfall。Butevenadmittingthecentralorbnon-luminous，howdidhemanagetoexplainitsfailuretoberenderedvisiblebytheincalculablehostofglorioussunsglaringinalldirectionsaboutit？Nodoubtwhathefinallymaintainedwasmerelyacentreofgravitycommontoalltherevolvingorbsbuthereagainanalogymusthavebeenletfall。Oursystemrevolves，itistrue，aboutacommoncentreofgravity，butitdoesthisinconnectionwithandinconsequenceofamaterialsunwhosemassmorethancounterbalancestherestofthesystem。Themathematicalcircleisacurvecomposedofaninfinityofstraightlines；butthisideaofthecirclethisideaofitwhich，inregardtoallearthlygeometry，weconsiderasmerelythemathematical，incontradistinctionfromthepractical，ideais，insoberfact，thepracticalconceptionwhichalonewehaveanyrighttoentertaininrespecttothoseTitaniccircleswithwhichwehavetodeal，atleastinfancy，whenwesupposeoursystem，withitsfellows，revolvingaboutapointinthecentreofthegalaxy。Letthemostvigorousofhumanimaginationsbutattempttotakeasinglesteptowardthecomprehensionofacircuitsounutterable！Iwouldscarcelybeparadoxicaltosaythataflashoflightningitself，travellingforeveruponthecircumferenceofthisinconceivablecircle，wouldstillforeverbetravellinginastraightline。Thatthepathofoursunalongsuchacircumferencethatthedirectionofoursysteminsuchanorbitwould，toanyhumanperception，deviateintheslightestdegreefromastraightlineeveninamillionofyears，isapropositionnottobeentertained；andyettheseancientastronomerswereabsolutelycajoled，itappears，intobelievingthatadecisivecurvaturehadbecomeapparentduringthebriefperiodoftheirastronomicalhistoryduringthemerepointduringtheutternothingnessoftwoorthreethousandyears！