balloon was in as thorough repair as when we began our journey. We then
pressed out the hot air, folded up the envelope, placed it upon a small
cart drawn by two oxen, and drove off with it."

Chapter IV.

Serio-Comic Aspect of the Subject--The Public Duped--The
Abbes Miolan and Janninet at the Luxembourg--Caricatures--
The "Minerva" of Robertson, and its Voyage Round the World.

The discovery like that of balloons could not be made public in France
without being travestied, and without offering some comic side for
the amusement of the wits of the day. Under some old coloured prints,
designed with the intention of satirising such unfortunate aeronauts
as had collected their money from the spectators, but had failed in
inflating their balloons, is written, "The Infallible Means of Raising
Balloons"--the infallible means consisting of ropes and pulleys.

While caricature was thus turning its irony upon the efforts of
believers in the new idea, serious pamphlets were being written and
published with the same object. One of these declares that the discovery
is IMMORAL, I. Because since God has not given wings to man, it is
impious to try to improve his works, and to encroach upon his rights as
a Creator; 2. Because honour and virtue would be in continual danger,
if balloons were permitted to descend, at all hours of the night, into
gardens and close to windows; 3. Because, if the highway of the air were
to remain open to all and sundry, the frontiers of nations would vanish,
and property national and personal would be invaded, &c. We do not wish
to gather together here the stones which critics threw against the new
discovery, unaware all the time that these stones were falling upon
their own heads.

It is only fair to state that after the first ascents the public were
often duped by pretending aeronauts, whose single aim was to sell their
tickets, and who disappeared when the time came for ascending. The
result of these frauds was that sometimes honest men were made to suffer
as rogues. Even in our own day, when an ascent, seriously intended,
fails to succeed, owing to some unforeseen circumstances, the public
frequently manifests a decided ill-will to the aeronaut, who is
perfectly honest, and only unfortunate.

The famous ascent of the Abbes Miolan and Janninet, at the Luxembourg,
may be cited as among the failures which suffered most from the satire
of the time. Their immense balloon, construct