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Wonderful Balloon Ascents; Or, The Conquest of the Skies
·
Fulgence Marion
74
motionless--inert
upon
the
ground.
We
need
not
attempt
to
describe
the
scene
which
took
place
as
the
impatience
of
the
multitude
increased.
Sneers
of
derision
made
themselves
heard
on
all
sides.
A
universal
murmur,
rapidly
developing
into
a
clamour,
arose
amongst
the
multitude;
then,
wild
with
disappointment,
the
frenzied
populace
threw
themselves
upon
the
barricade,
broke
it,
attacked
the
gallery
of
the
balloon,
the
instruments,
the
apparatus,
trampling
them
under
foot,
and
smashing
them
in
bits.
They
then
rushed
upon
the
balloon
and
fired
it.
There
was
then
a
general
melee.
Far
from
fleeing
the
fire,
every
one
struggled
to
seize
and
carry
off
a
bit
of
the
balloon,
to
preserve
as
a
relic.
The
two
abbes
escaped
as
they
best
could,
under
protection
of
a
number
of
friends.
After
this
there
fell
a
perfect
shower
of
lampoons
and
caricatures.
The
Abbe
Miolan
was
represented
as
a
cat
with
a
band
round
its
neck,
while
Janninet
appeared
as
a
donkey;
and
in
a
coloured
print
the
cat
and
the
ass
are
shown
arriving
in
triumph
upon
their
famous
balloon
at
the
Academy
of
Montmartre,
and
are
received
at
the
hill
of
Moulins-a-Vent
by
a
solemn
assembly
of
turkey-cocks
and
geese
in
different
attitudes.
Numerous
songs
and
epigrams,
of
which
the
unfortunate
abbes
were
the
subjects,
also
appeared
at
this
time.
The
letters
which
composed
the
words
“l’Abbe
Miolan”
were
found
to
form
the
anagram,
Ballon
abime--“the
balloon
swallowed
up.”
The
most
extravagant
balloon
project
was
that
of
Robertson,
who
published
a
scheme
for
making
a
tour
of
the
world.
He
called
it
“La
Minerva,
an
aerial
vessel
destined
for
discoveries,
and
proposed
to
all
the
Academies
of
Europe,
by
Robertson,
physicist”
(Vienna,
1804;
reprinted
at
Paris,
1820),
Robertson
dedicated
his
project
to
Volta,
and
in
his
dedication
he
does
not
scruple
to
say:
“In
our
age,
my
friendship
seeks
only
one
gratification,
that
we
should
both
live
a
sufficiently
long
time
together
to
enable
you
to
calculate
and
utilise
the
results
of
this
great
machine,
while
I
take
the
practical
direction
of
it.”
The
following
is
this
aeronaut’s
prospectus:--
“There
is
no
limit
to
the
sciences
and
the
arts,
which
cultivation
does
not
overstep.
We
have
everything
to
hope
and
to
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