BY THE EDITOR
If my poor Flatland friend retained the vigour of mind which he enjoyed
when he began to compose these Memoirs, I should not now need to represent
him in this preface, in which he desires, fully, to return his thanks
to his readers and critics in Spaceland, whose appreciation has,
with unexpected celerity, required a second edition of this work;
secondly, to apologize for certain errors and misprints (for which,
however, he is not entirely responsible); and, thirdly, to explain
on or two misconceptions. But he is not the Square he once was.
Years of imprisonment, and the still heavier burden of general
incredulity and mockery, have combined with the thoughts and notions,
and much also of the terminology, which he acquired during his
short stay in spaceland. He has, therefore, requested me to reply
in his behalf to two special objections, one of an intellectual,
the other of a moral nature.
The first objection is, that a Flatlander, seeing a Line,
sees something that must be THICK to the eye as well as LONG
to the eye (otherwise it would not be visible, if it had not
some thickness); and consequently he ought (it is argued)
to acknowledge that his countrymen are not only long and broad,
but also (though doubtless to a very slight degree) THICK or HIGH.
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