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The Emperess having hitherto spent her time in the
Examination of the Bird- Fish- Worm- and Ape-men,
&c. and received several Intelligences from their
several imployments; at last had a mind to divert her
self after her serious discourses, and therefore she sent
for the Spider-men, which were her Mathematicians,
the Lice-men which were her Geometricians, and the
Magpie- Parrot- and Jackdaw-men, which were her
Orators and Logicians. The Spider-men came first,
and presented her Majesty with a table full of Mathetical
points, lines and figures of all sorts of squares,
circles, triangles, and the like; which the Emperess,
notwithstanding that she had a very ready wit, and
quick apprehension, could not understand; but the
more she endeavoured to learn, the more was she confounded:
Whether they did ever square the circle, I
cannot exactly tell, nor whether they could make
imaginary points and lines; but this I dare say, That
their points and lines were so slender, small and thin,
that they seem'd next to Imaginary. The Mathematicians
were in great esteem with the Emperess, as being
not onely the chief Tutors and Instructors in many
Arts, but some of them excellent Magicians and Informers
of Spirits, which was the reason their Characters
were so abstruse and intricate, that the Emperess
knew not what to make of them. There is so
much to learn in your Art, said she, that I can neither
spare time from other affairs to busie my self in your
profession; nor, if I could, do I think I should ever be
able to understand your Imaginary points, lines and figures,
because they are Non-beings.
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| And if any should like the world I have made,
and be willing to be my subjects, they may imagine themselves such, and they are such—I mean
in their minds, fancies or imaginations. But if they cannot endure to be subjects, they may
create worlds of their own and govern themselves as they please.
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| © 2026 by Sarah Reitmeier, except text from The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World, published 1666 by Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle.
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