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1PRESIDENT BARBICANE'S COMMUNICATION On the 5th of October, at eight p.m., a dense crowd pressed toward the saloons of
2the Gun Club at No. 21 Union Square. All the members of the association resident in Baltimore attended the invitation of
3their president. As regards the corresponding members, notices were delivered by hundreds throughout the streets of the
4city, and, large as was the great hall, it was quite inadequate to accommodate the crowd of savants. They overflowed
5into the adjoining rooms, down the narrow passages, into the outer courtyards. There they ran against the vulgar herd
6who pressed up to the doors, each struggling to reach the front ranks, all eager to learn the nature of the important
7communication of President Barbicane; all pushing, squeezing, crushing with that perfect freedom of action which is so
8peculiar to the masses when educated in ideas of "self-government." On that evening a stranger who might have chanced to
9be in Baltimore could not have gained admission for love or money into the great hall. That was reserved exclusively for
10resident or corresponding members; no one else could possibly have obtained a place; and the city magnates, municipal
11councilors, and "select men" were compelled to mingle with the mere townspeople in order to catch stray bits of news
12from the interior. Nevertheless the vast hall presented a curious spectacle. Its immense area was singularly adapted to
13the purpose. Lofty pillars formed of cannon, superposed upon huge mortars as a base, supported the fine ironwork of the
14arches, a perfect piece of cast-iron lacework. Trophies of blunderbuses, matchlocks, arquebuses, carbines, all kinds of
15firearms, ancient and modern, were picturesquely interlaced against the walls. The gas lit up in full glare myriads of
16revolvers grouped in the form of lustres, while groups of pistols, and candelabra formed of muskets bound together,
17completed this magnificent display of brilliance. Models of cannon, bronze castings, sights covered with dents, plates
18battered by the shots of the Gun Club, assortments of rammers and sponges, chaplets of shells, wreaths of projectiles,
19garlands of howitzers--in short, all the apparatus of the artillerist, enchanted the eye by this wonderful arrangement
20and induced a kind of belief that their real purpose was ornamental rather than deadly. At the further end of the saloon
21the president, assisted by four secretaries, occupied a large platform. His chair, supported by a carved gun-carriage,
22was modeled upon the ponderous proportions of a 32-inch mortar. It was pointed at an angle of ninety degrees, and
23suspended upon truncheons, so that the president could balance himself upon it as upon a rocking-chair, a very agreeable
24fact in the very hot weather. Upon the table (a huge iron plate supported upon six carronades) stood an inkstand of
25exquisite elegance, made of a beautifully chased Spanish piece, and a sonnette, which, when required, could give forth a
26report equal to that of a revolver. During violent debates this novel kind of bell scarcely sufficed to drown the clamor
27of these excitable artillerists. In front of the table benches arranged in zigzag form, like the circumvallations of a
28retrenchment, formed a succession of bastions and curtains set apart for the use of the members of the club; and on this
29especial evening one might say, "All the world was on the ramparts." The president was sufficiently well known, however,
30for all to be assured that he would not put his colleagues to discomfort without some very strong motive. Impey
31Barbicane was a man of forty years of age, calm, cold, austere; of a singularly serious and self-contained demeanor,
32punctual as a chronometer, of imperturbable temper and immovable character; by no means chivalrous, yet adventurous
33withal, and always bringing practical ideas to bear upon the very rashest enterprises; an essentially New Englander, a
34Northern colonist, a descendant of the old anti-Stuart Roundheads, and the implacable enemy of the gentlemen of the
35South, those ancient cavaliers of the mother country. In a word, he was a Yankee to the backbone. Barbicane had made a
36large fortune as a timber merchant. Being nominated director of artillery during the war, he proved himself fertile in
37invention. Bold in his conceptions, he contributed powerfully to the progress of that arm and gave an immense impetus to
38experimental researches. He was personage of the middle height, having, by a rare exception in the Gun Club, all his
39limbs complete. His strongly marked features seemed drawn by square and rule; and if it be true that, in order to judge
40a man's character one must look at his profile, Barbicane, so examined, exhibited the most certain indications of
41energy, audacity, and sang-froid. At this moment he was sitting in his armchair, silent, absorbed, lost in reflection,
42sheltered under his high-crowned hat--a kind of black cylinder which always seems firmly screwed upon the head of an
43American. Just when the deep-toned clock in the great hall struck eight, Barbicane, as if he had been set in motion by a
44spring, raised himself up. A profound silence ensued, and the speaker, in a somewhat emphatic tone of voice, commenced
45as follows: "My brave, colleagues, too long already a paralyzing peace has plunged the members of the Gun Club in
46deplorable inactivity. After a period of years full of incidents we have been compelled to abandon our labors, and to
47stop short on the road of progress. I do not hesitate to state, baldly, that any war which would recall us to arms would
48be welcome!" (Tremendous applause!) "But war, gentlemen, is impossible under existing circumstances; and, however we may
49desire it, many years may elapse before our cannon shall again thunder in the field of battle. We must make up our
50minds, then, to seek in another train of ideas some field for the activity which we all pine for." The meeting felt that
51the president was now approaching the critical point, and redoubled their attention accordingly. "For some months past,
52my brave colleagues," continued Barbicane, "I have been asking myself whether, while confining ourselves to our own
53particular objects, we could not enter upon some grand experiment worthy of the nineteenth century; and whether the
54progress of artillery science would not enable us to carry it out to a successful issue. I have been considering,
55working, calculating; and the result of my studies is the conviction that we are safe to succeed in an enterprise which
56to any other country would appear wholly impracticable. This project, the result of long elaboration, is the object of
57my present communication. It is worthy of yourselves, worthy of the antecedents of the Gun Club; and it cannot fail to
58make some noise in the world." A thrill of excitement ran through the meeting. Barbicane, having by a rapid movement
59firmly fixed his hat upon his head, calmly continued his harangue: "There is no one among you, my brave colleagues, who
60has not seen the Moon, or, at least, heard speak of it. Don't be surprised if I am about to discourse to you regarding
61the Queen of the Night. It is perhaps reserved for us to become the Columbuses of this unknown world. Only enter into my
62plans, and second me with all your power, and I will lead you to its conquest, and its name shall be added to those of
63the thirty-six states which compose this Great Union." "Three cheers for the Moon!" roared the Gun Club, with one voice.
64"The moon, gentlemen, has been carefully studied," continued Barbicane; "her mass, density, and weight; her
65constitution, motions, distance, as well as her place in the solar system, have all been exactly determined.
66Selenographic charts have been constructed with a perfection which equals, if it does not even surpass, that of our
67terrestrial maps. Photography has given us proofs of the incomparable beauty of our satellite; all is known regarding
68the moon which mathematical science, astronomy, geology, and optics can learn about her. But up to the present moment no
69direct communication has been established with her." A violent movement of interest and surprise here greeted this
70remark of the speaker.
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