This idea clothed itself in every
form. The young embraced it with enthusiasm, the old made it the
subject of endless regrets. When one of the first aeronautic
ascents was made, the old Marechal Villeroi, an octogenarian and
an invalid, was conducted to one of the windows of the Tuileries,
almost by force, for he did not believe in balloons. The
balloon, meanwhile, detached itself from its moorings; the
physician Charles, seated in the car, gaily saluted the public,
and was then majestically launched into space in his air-boat;
and at once the old Marechal, beholding this, passed suddenly
from unbelief to perfect faith in aerostatics and in the capacity
of the human mind, fell on his knees, and, with his eyes bathed
in tears, moaned out pitifully the words, "Yes, it is fixed! It
is certain! They will find out the secret of avoiding death; but
it will be after I am gone!"
If we recall the impressions which the first air-journeys made,
we shall find that, among people of enthusiastic temperament, it
was believed that it was not merely the blue sky above us, not
merely the terrestrial atmosphere, but the vast spaces through
which the worlds move, that were to become the domain of man--the
sea of the balloon.
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