But the treatise had made an indelible impression on
      my mind, and, as I sauntered along the dusky streets, I revolved
      carefully over in my memory the wild and sometimes unintelligible
      reasonings of the writer. There are some particular passages
      which affected my imagination in a powerful and extraordinary
      manner. The longer I meditated upon these the more intense grew
      the interest which had been excited within me. The limited nature
      of my education in general, and more especially my ignorance on
      subjects connected with natural philosophy, so far from rendering
      me diffident of my own ability to comprehend what I had read, or
      inducing me to mistrust the many vague notions which had arisen
      in consequence, merely served as a farther stimulus to
      imagination; and I was vain enough, or perhaps reasonable enough,
      to doubt whether those crude ideas which, arising in
      ill-regulated minds, have all the appearance, may not often in
      effect possess all the force, the reality, and other inherent
      properties, of instinct or intuition; whether, to proceed a step
      farther, profundity itself might not, in matters of a purely
      speculative nature, be detected as a legitimate source of falsity
      and error. In other words, I believed, and still do believe, that
      truth, is frequently of its own essence, superficial, and that,
      in many cases, the depth lies more in the abysses where we seek
      her, than in the actual situations wherein she may be found. Nature herself seemed to afford me corroboration of these ideas. In the contemplation of the heavenly bodies it struck me forcibly
      that I could not distinguish a star with nearly as much
      precision, when I gazed on it with earnest, direct and
      undeviating attention, as when I suffered my eye only to glance
      in its vicinity alone. I was not, of course, at that time aware
      that this apparent paradox was occasioned by the center of the
      visual area being less susceptible of feeble impressions of light
      than the exterior portions of the retina. This knowledge, and
      some of another kind, came afterwards in the course of an
      eventful five years, during which I have dropped the prejudices
      of my former humble situation in life, and forgotten the
      bellows-mender in far different occupations. But at the epoch of
      which I speak, the analogy which a casual observation of a star
      offered to the conclusions I had already drawn, struck me with
      the force of positive conformation, and I then finally made up my
      mind to the course which I afterwards pursued. “It was late when I reached home, and I went immediately to bed. My mind, however, was too much occupied to sleep, and I lay the
      whole night buried in meditation. Arising early in the morning,
      and contriving again to escape the vigilance of my creditors, I
      repaired eagerly to the bookseller’s stall, and laid out what
      little ready money I possessed, in the purchase of some volumes
      of Mechanics and Practical Astronomy. Having arrived at home
      safely with these, I devoted every spare moment to their perusal,
      and soon made such proficiency in studies of this nature as I
      thought sufficient for the execution of my plan. In the intervals
      of this period, I made every endeavor to conciliate the three
      creditors who had given me so much annoyance. In this I finally
      succeeded—partly by selling enough of my household furniture to
      satisfy a moiety of their claim, and partly by a promise of
      paying the balance upon completion of a little project which I
      told them I had in view, and for assistance in which I solicited
      their services. By these means—for they were ignorant men—I found
      little difficulty in gaining them over to my purpose. “Matters being thus arranged, I contrived, by the aid of my wife
      and with the greatest secrecy and caution, to dispose of what
      property I had remaining, and to borrow, in small sums, under
      various pretences, and without paying any attention to my future
      means of repayment, no inconsiderable quantity of ready money. With the means thus accruing I proceeded to procure at intervals,
      cambric muslin, very fine, in pieces of twelve yards each; twine;
      a lot of the varnish of caoutchouc; a large and deep basket of
      wicker-work, made to order; and several other articles necessary
      in the construction and equipment of a balloon of extraordinary
      dimensions. This I directed my wife to make up as soon as
      possible, and gave her all requisite information as to the
      particular method of proceeding. In the meantime I worked up the
      twine into a net-work of sufficient dimensions; rigged it with a
      hoop and the necessary cords; bought a quadrant, a compass, a
      spy-glass, a common barometer with some important modifications,
      and two astronomical instruments not so generally known. I then
      took opportunities of conveying by night, to a retired situation
      east of Rotterdam, five iron-bound casks, to contain about fifty
      gallons each, and one of a larger size; six tinned ware tubes,
      three inches in diameter, properly shaped, and ten feet in
      length; a quantity of a particular metallic substance, or
      semi-metal, which I shall not name, and a dozen demijohns of a
      very common acid. The gas to be formed from these latter
      materials is a gas never yet generated by any other person than
      myself—or at least never applied to any similar purpose. The
      secret I would make no difficulty in disclosing, but that it of
      right belongs to a citizen of Nantz, in France, by whom it was
      conditionally communicated to myself. The same individual
      submitted to me, without being at all aware of my intentions, a
      method of constructing balloons from the membrane of a certain
      animal, through which substance any escape of gas was nearly an
      impossibility. I found it, however, altogether too expensive, and
      was not sure, upon the whole, whether cambric muslin with a
      coating of gum caoutchouc, was not equally as good. I mention
      this circumstance, because I think it probable that hereafter the
      individual in question may attempt a balloon ascension with the
      novel gas and material I have spoken of, and I do not wish to
      deprive him of the honor of a very singular invention. “On the spot which I intended each of the smaller casks to occupy
      respectively during the inflation of the balloon, I privately dug
      a hole two feet deep; the holes forming in this manner a circle
      twenty-five feet in diameter. In the centre of this circle, being
      the station designed for the large cask, I also dug a hole three
      feet in depth.