"
"We must descend;" resumed I, with an attempt at gentleness. "The storm
is gathering beneath our feet and around us; it would not be prudent."
"We will ascend above it, and shall have nothing to fear from it. What
more beautiful than to reign in heaven, and look down upon the clouds
which hover upon the earth! Is it not an honour to navigate these aerial
waves? The greatest personages have travelled like ourselves. The
Marquise and Comtesse de Montalembert, the Comtesse de Potteries, Mlle.
La Garde, the Marquis of Montalembert, set out from the Faubourg St.
Antoine for these unknown regions. The Duc de Chartres displayed much
address and presence of mind in his ascension of the 15th of July, 1784;
at Lyons, the Comtes de Laurencin and de Dampierre; at Nantes, M. de
Luynes; at Bordeaux, D'Arbelet des Granges; in Italy, the Chevalier
Andreani; in our days, the Duke of Brunswick; have left in the air the
track of their glory. In order to equal these great personages, we must
ascend into the celestial regions higher than they. To approach the
infinite is to comprehend it."
The rarefaction of the air considerably dilated the hydrogen, and I saw
the lower part of the aerostat, designedly left empty, become by degrees
inflated, rendering the opening of the valve indispensable; but my
fearful companion seemed determined not to allow me to direct our
movements.
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