Note 17 — CHAPTER THE THIRTEENTH.

Milton, in his Paradise Lost, says that before the fall of our first parents, perpetual spring reigned upon the Earth, but that as soon as Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, angels, with flaming swords, were sent from Heaven to incline the poles of the Earth more than 20 degrees. It is well for us that the angels did not cause them to incline farther, or our seasons would have been still shorter and more defective. Fourier pretends that it would be possible for humanity to produce an effect sufficiently great to set the globe straight upon its axis, and thus restore the equality of the seasons, and perpetual spring. This philosopher forgot to indicate one thing only, the mechanical means by which man is to produce this effect. This theory reminds us of the drowning man who fancied he could save himself by catching hold of his own hair, while he was struggling in the water.