Game IC Thread

[Luc]

Here is a creative area for players, here players can write pretty much any and everything related to the game, such as post propaganda, fancy out their turn results with more detalied accounts or write letters to individuals and such. There are few rules as to what to do or not in this area, so just use it for your own amusement.

So, IC away my children! (I might also IC from time to time, and maybe even answer some of yours!)

[Serenissima]

The Articles of War

1. All commanders, captains, and officers, in or belonging to any of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war, shall cause the public worship of Almighty God, according to the liturgy of the Church of England established by law, to be solemnly, orderly and reverently performed in their respective ships; and shall take care that prayers and preaching, by the chaplains in holy orders of the respective ships, be performed diligently; and that the Lord's day be observed according to law.

2. All flag officers, and all persons in or belonging to His Majesty's ships or vessels of war, being guilty of profane oaths, cursings, execrations, drunkenness, uncleanness, or other scandalous actions, in derogation of God's honour, and corruption of good manners, shall incur such punishment as a court martial shall think fit to impose, and as the nature and degree of their offence shall deserve.

3. If any officer, mariner, soldier, or other person of the fleet, shall give, hold, or entertain intelligence to or with any enemy or rebel, without leave from the king's majesty, or the lord high admiral, or the commissioners for executing the office of lord high admiral, commander in chief, or his commanding officer, every such person so offending, and being thereof convicted by the sentence of a court martial, shall be punished with death.

4. If any letter of message from any enemy or rebel, be conveyed to any officer, mariner, or soldier or other in the fleet, and the said officer, mariner, or soldier, or other as aforesaid, shall not, within twelve hours, having opportunity so to do, acquaint his superior or a commanding officer, or if any superior officer being acquainted therewith, shall not in convenient time reveal the same to the commander in chief of the squadron, every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall be punished with death, or such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offense shall deserve, and the court martial shall impose.

5. All spies, and all persons whatsoever, who shall come, or be found, in the nature of spies, to bring or deliver any seducing letters or messages from any enemy or rebel, or endeavor to corrupt any captain, officer, mariner, or other in the fleet, to betray his trust, being convicted of any such offense by the sentence of the court martial, shall be punished with death, or such other punishment, as the nature and degree of the offence shall deserve, and the court martial shall impose.

6. No person in the fleet shall receive an enemy or rebel with money, victuals, powder, shot, arms, ammunition, or any other supplies whatsoever, directly or indirectly, upon pain of death, or such other punishment as the court martial shall think fit to impose, and as the nature and degree of the crime shall deserve.

7. All the papers, charter parties, bills of lading, passports, and other writings whatsoever, that shall be taken, seized, or found aboard any ship or ships which shall be surprized or taken as prize, shall be duly preserved, and the very originals shall by the commanding officer of the ship which shall take such prize, be sent entirely, and without fraud, to the court of the admiralty, or such other court of commissioners, as shall be authorized to determine whether such prize be lawful capture, there to be viewed, made use of, and proceeded upon according to law, upon pain that every person offending herein, shall forfeit and lose his share of the capture, and shall suffer such further punishment, as the nature and degree of his offense shall be found to deserve, and the court martial shall impose.

8. No person in or belonging to the fleet shall take out of any prize, or ship seized for prize, any money, plate, or goods, unless it shall be necessary for the better securing thereof, or for the necessary use and service of any of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war, before the same be adjudged lawful prize in some admiralty court; but the full and entire account of the whole, without embezzlement, shall be brought in, and judgment passed entirely upon the whole without fraud, upon pain that every person offending hemin shall forfeit and lose his share of the capture, and suffer such further punishment as shall be imposed by a court martial, or such court of admiralty, according to the nature and degree of the offense.

9. If any ship or vessel be taken as prize, none of the officers, mariners, or other persons on board her, shall be stripped of their clothes, or in any sort pillaged, beaten, or evil-intreated, upon the pain that the person or persons so offending, shall be liable to such punishment as a court martial shall think fit to inflict.

10. Every flag officer, captain and commander in the fleet, who, upon signal or order of fight, or sight of any ship or ships which it may be his duty to engage, or who, upon likelihood of engagement, shall not make the necessary preparations for fight, and shall not in his own person, and according to his place, encourage the inferior officers and men to fight courageously, shall suffer death, or such other punishment, as from the nature and degree of the offence a court martial shall deem him to deserve; and if any person in the fleet shall treacherously or cowardly yield or cry for quarter, every person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death.

11. Every person in the fleet, who shall not duly observe the orders of the admiral, flag officer, commander of any squadron or division, or other his superior officer, for assailing, joining battle with, or making defense against any fleet, squadron, or ship, or shall not obey the orders of his superior officer as aforesaid in the time of action, to the best of his power, or shall not use all possible endeavours to put the same effectually into execution, every person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death, or such other punishment, as from the nature and degree of the offence a court martial shall deem him to deserve.

12. Every person in the fleet, who through cowardice, negligence, or disaffection, shall in time of action withdraw or keep back, or not come into the fight or engagement, or shall not do his utmost to take or destroy every ship which it shall be his duty to engage, and to assist and relieve all and every of His Majesty's ships, or those of his allies, which it shall be his duty to assist and relieve, every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death.

13. Every person in the fleet, who though cowardice, negligence, or disaffection, shall forbear to pursue the chase of any enemy, pirate or rebel, beaten or flying; or shall not relieve or assist a known friend in view to the utmost of his power; being convicted of any such offense by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death.

14. If when action, or any service shall be commanded, any person in the fleet shall presume or to delay or discourage the said action or service, upon pretence of arrears of wages, or upon any pretence whatsoever, every person so offending, being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death, or such other punishment, as from the nature and degree of the offense a court martial shall deem him to deserve.

15. Every person in or belonging to the fleet, who shall desert or entice others so to do, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as the circumstances of the offense shall deserve, and a court martial shall judge fit: and if any commanding officer of any of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war shall receive or entertain a deserter from any other of His Majesty's ships or vessels, after discovering him to be such deserter, and shall not with all convenient speed give notice to the captain of the ship or vessel to which such deserter belongs; or if the said ships or vessels are at any considerable distance from each other, to the secretary of the admiralty, or to the commander in chief; every person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall be cashiered.

16. The officers and seamen of all ships appointed for convoy and guard of merchant ships, or of any other, shall diligently attend upon that charge, without delay, according to their instructions in that behalf; and whosoever shall be faulty therein, and shall not faithfully perform their duty, and defend the ships and goods in their convoy, without either diverting to other parts or occasions, or refusing or neglecting to fight in their defence, if they be assailed, or running away cowardly, and submitting the ships in their convoy to peril and hazard; or shall demand or exact any money or other reward from any merchant or master for convoying any ships or vessels entrusted to their care, or shall misuse the masters or mariners thereof; shall be condemned to make reparation of the damage to the merchants, owners, and others, as the court of admiralty shall adjudge, and also be punished criminally according to the quality of their offences, be it by pains of death, or other punishment, according as shall be adjudged fit by the court martial.

17. If any captain, commander, or other officer of any of His Majesty's ships or vessels, shall receive on board, or permit to be received on board such ship or vessel, any goods or merchandises whatsoever, other than for the sole use of the ship or vessel, except gold, silver, or jewels, and except the goods and merchandisers belonging to any merchant, or other ship or vessel which may be shipwrecked, or in imminent danger of being shipwrecked, either on the high seas, or in any port, creek, or harbour, in order to the preserving them for their proper owners, and except such goods or merchandisers as he shall at any time be ordered to take or receive on board by order of the lord high admiral of Great Britain, or the commissioners for executing the office of lord high admiral for the time being; every person so offending, being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial shall be cashiered, and be for ever afterwards rendered incapable to serve in any place or office in the naval service of His Majesty, his heirs and successors.

18. If any person in or belonging to the fleet shall make or endeavor to make any mutinous assembly upon any pretence whatsoever, every person offending herein, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death: and if any person in or belonging to the fleet shall utter any words of sedition or mutiny, he shall suffer death, or such other punishment as a court martial shall deem him to deserve: and if any officer, mariner, or soldier on or belonging to the fleet, shall behave himself with contempt to his superior officer, being in the execution of his office, he shall be punished according to the nature of his offence by the judgment of a court martial.

19. If any person in the fleet shall conceal any traitorous or mutinous practice or design, being convicted thereof by the sentence of a court martial, he shall suffer death, or any other punishment as a court martial shall think fit; and if any person, in or belonging to the fleet, shall conceal any traitorous or mutinous words spoken by any, to the prejudice of His Majesty or government, or any words, practice, or design, tending to the hindrance of the service, and shall not forthwith reveal the same to the commanding officer, or being present at any mutiny or sedition, shall not use his utmost endeavours to suppress the same, he shall be punished as a court martial shall think he deserves.

20. If any person in the fleet shall find cause of complaint of the unwholesomeness of the victual, or upon other just ground, he shall quietly make the same known to his superior, or captain, or commander in chief, as the occasion may deserve, that such present remedy may be had as the matter may require; and the said superior, captain, or commander in chief, shall, as far as he is able, cause the same to be presently remedied; and no person in the fleet, upon any such or other pretence, shall attempt to stir up any disturbance, upon pain of such punishment, as a court martial shall think fit to inflict, according to the degree of the offence.

21. If any officer, mariner, soldier or other person in the fleet, shall strike any of his superior officers, or draw, or offer to draw, or lift up any weapon against him, being in the execution of his office, on any pretence whatsoever, every such person being convicted of any such offense, by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death; and if any officer, mariner, soldier or other person in the fleet, shall presume to quarrel with any of his superior officers, being in the execution of his office, or shall disobey any lawful command of any of his superior officers; every such person being convicted of any such offence, by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death, or such other punishment, as shall, according to the nature and degree of his offence, be inflicted upon him by the sentence of a court martial.

22. If any person in the fleet shall quarrel or fight with any other person in the fleet, or use reproachful or provoking speeches or gestures, tending to make any quarrel or disturbance, he shall, upon being convicted thereof, suffer such punishment as the offence shall deserve, and a court martial shall impose.

23. There shall be no wasteful expense of any powder, shot, ammunition, or other stores in the fleet, nor any embezzlement thereof, but the stores and provisions shall be careful preserved , upon pain of such punishment to be inflicted upon the offenders, abettors, buyers and receivers (being persons subject to naval discipline) as shall be by a court martial found just in that behalf.

24. Every person in the fleet, who shall unlawfully burn or set fire to any magazine or store of powder, or ship, boat, ketch, hoy or vessel, or tackle or furniture thereunto belonging, not then appertaining to an enemy, pirate, or rebel, being convicted of any such offence, by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death.

25. Care shall be taken in the conducting and steering of any of His Majesty's ships, that through willfulness, negligence, or other defaults, no ship be stranded, or run upon any rocks or sands, or split or hazarded, upon pain, that such as shall be found guilty therein, be punished by death, or such other punishment, as the offence by a court martial shall be judged to deserve.

26. No person in or belonging to the fleet shall sleep upon his watch, or negligently perform the duty imposed on him, or forsake his station, upon pain of death, or such other punishment as a court martial shall think fit to impose, and as the circumstances of the case shall require.

27. All murders committed by any person in the fleet, shall be punished with death by the sentence of a court martial.

28. If any person in the fleet shall commit the unnatural and detestable sin of buggery and sodomy with man or beast, he shall be punished with death by the sentence of a court martial.

29. All robbery committed by any person in the fleet, shall be punished with death, or otherwise, as a court martial, upon consideration of the circumstances, shall find meet.

30. Every officer or other person in the fleet, who shall knowingly make or sign a false muster or muster book, or who shall command, counsel, or procure the making or signing thereof, or who shall aid or abet any other person in the making or signing thereof, shall, upon proof of any such offence being made before a court martial, be cashiered, and rendered incapable of further employment in His Majesty's naval service.

31. No provost martial belonging to the fleet shall refuse to apprehend any criminal, whom he shall be authorized by legal warrant to apprehend, or to receive or keep any prisoner committed to his charge, or willfully suffer him to escape, being once in his custody, or dismiss him without lawful order, upon pain of such punishment as a court martial shall deem him fit to deserve; and all captains, officers, and others in the fleet, shall do their endeavour to detect, apprehend, and bring to punishment all offenders, and shall assist the officers appointed for that purpose therein, upon pain of being proceeded against, and punished by a court martial, according to the nature and degree of the offence.

32. If any flag officer, captain, or commander, or lieutenant belonging to the fleet, shall be convicted before a court martial of behaving in a scandalous, infamous, cruel, oppressive, or fraudulent manner, unbecoming the character of an officer, he shall be dismissed from His Majesty's service.

33. Every person being in actual service and full pay, and part of the crew in or belonging to any of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war, who shall be guilty of mutiny, desertion, or disobedience to any lawful command, in any part of His Majesty's dominions on shore, when in actual service relative to the fleet, shall be liable to be tried by a court martial, and suffer the like punishment for every such offence, as if the same had been committed at sea on board any of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war.

34. If any person who shall be in the actual service and full pay of His Majesty' ships and vessels of war, shall commit upon the shore, in any place or places out of His Majesty's dominions, any of the crimes punishable by these articles and orders, the person so offending shall be liable to be tried and punished for the same, in like manner, to all intents and purposes, as if the same crimes had been committed at sea, on board any of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war.

35. All other crimes not capital committed by any person or persons in the fleet, which are not mentioned in this act, or for which no punishment is hereby directed to be inflicted, shall be punished by the laws and customs in such cases used at sea.

[Smyg]

[Enclosed below is an anonymous, hand-written tract, copied and circulated among the refugees of the Papal States sheltering in Venice and the local Venetian academic community, causing both some interest and ample sarcasm.]


__________________

The Archbishop of Luna

Written in the Year of Our Lord 1800, As the New Year Turns, By Msgr. Testudo

The words came to me in a dream. The Archbishop of Luna. The Moon, Luna, that great white-grey orb, has taunted me every night since. I sit here, with my pen and parchment, cooped up in the grand bell-tower of the San Giorgio Monastery in Venice, our holy place of exile now that Rome has fallen to lowly men. The Papal Conclave, ongoing for many weeks, has left us all sleepless - even I, a humble cleric, scribe and attendant to Cardinal X, nothing more. What woes must afflict the Sacred College, who must chose a new Bishop of Rome. I myself lay insomniac thinking of that dream, thinking of the Archbishop of Luna. A curious thought, no? That an archiepiscopal see would be established on that barren rock. Other ideas spring to my mind, pondering in the tower, a prisoner of the conclave. What other celestial titles could be dreamed up? Cardinal-Bishop of the Martian Poles, Patriarch of Jupiter, Apostolic Vicar of the Outer Nebulae?

Thoughts of folly, no doubt, but I cannot help but to think of the - in my personal view, a mortal sinner that I am - very real possibility that one day, aeronaut-missionaries shall land on those distant planets, carried there by flying machines, and make the word of Christ known to the heathens of the Stars. Please, hold your laughter at least until I have made my case, dear Reader. If we for a moment accept the hypothetical idea, brought forward in some of the strangest fictions of our time, that there be Men and Women of the oddest types living off-world, beings with extraterrestrial intelligence created by God but perhaps currently unknowing of his doctrines, then should we not also consider that we then have an obligation to visit these creatures and begin a process of conversion?

This beautiful natural world, forged by God Almighty, continues to surprise daily, with news of the strangest discoveries - from whaling journeys into the deep Arctic realms, to the intrepid explorations of the Amazon and Australia in the southern hemisphere. Savages of all kind are discovered on a daily basis, until now unknown by Christian men, and just in the last few centuries we have experienced an expansion of the Christian faith on an - forgive my jest - truly biblical scale. It is not hard to see why we, Men of God, might dream up the idea that there are peoples among the planets and the stars as well, ready to receive the light of the Lord.

This idea, of intelligent life outside of our own planet, and the possibility of our own kind travelling to planetary bodies far out in the dark voids of space, has been brought up by many writers and authors as a flight of fancy or rhetorical device, even in ancient times. This is the idea of "cosmic pluralism". In the second century, the writer of satires, Lucian, in his True History claimed to have visited Luna when his ship was sent up by a fountain, finding it to be peopled and at war with the people of the Sun over colonisation of the Morning Star. In A Thousand and One Nights, the great Saracen work (translated byAntoine Galland in 1704), features the story of "The Ebony Horse", a flying mechanical horse controlled using keys that could fly into outer space and towards Sol.

Many somewhat heretical Protestant writers have brought it up in modern times. Johannes Kepler's 1634 Somnium, Francis Godwin's 1638 The Man in the Moone, Henry More's 1647 Democritus Platonissans, or an Essay Upon the Infinity of World and John Milton's 1667 Paradise Lost all entertain the idea of life on Luna and other extraterrestrial bodies. On the Catholic side of literature, Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle's 1686 Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds did the same, expanding rather than denying the creative sphere of the Maker, and Marie-Anne de Roumier-Robert wrote the novel Lord Seton's Voyage Among the Seven Planets in 1765. And of course, who can forget Voltaire's 1752 short story Micromégas? The volume, despised by many of my colleagues, recounts the visits of a man from a planet circling the star Sirius, and of his companion from the planet Saturn, to Earth. So certainly, the idea of such life is not as alien to us as it may seem. But why would a cleric such as myself think of it, and would such travels ever be possible to make?

A German 1659 illustration of Francis Godwin's The Man in the Moone.

The Ecclesia Catholica, the Rock of Jesus Christ itself, is often accused by those who favour themselves to be "Enlightened" men - and worse yet, the atheistic pseudo-scholars of the Terror, and others who befoul the world - to be anti-scientific, against the sciences. Nothing could be further from the truth. Surely, many of our predecessors have been reactionary in this regard, defending what they viewed as the natural order of the world against impious encroachment - the result of which was, at times, unfair persecution. But things have moved on since then, dear Reader, blessed as we are by God with the movement of the stars through Time. Inquisition's ban on reprinting Galileo's works was lifted in Florence already in 1718. The great scholar-pope, His Holiness Benedict XIV, a man of infinite genius, wisely authorized the publication of an edition of Galileo's complete scientific works in 1741, and in 1758 the Index of Prohibited Books omitted the general prohibition of works defending heliocentric ideas. As we sit here, in this forlorn monastery, we must remember that our recently fallen Holy Father, His Holiness Pope Pius VI, was a sponsor of the Vatican Observatory. We live in a different world now, we men of the Faith.

Most of Europe's greatest astronomers have been Roman Catholic Christians, and many of them themselves have been clergy of the Holy Church itself, in fact. Hermann, who wrote treatises and built astrolabes at Reichenau Abbey in the 11th century. The medieval monk Johannes de Sacrobosco who wrote De sphaera mundi around 1230. A Capuchin friar by the name of Anton Maria Schyrleus of Rheita made the telescope of Kepler, and mapped the lunar surface. The Benedictine monk Placidus Fixlmillner, who computed the orbit of Uranus. Abbé Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille, who published Astronomiae Fundamenta Novissimus, and named the Cometa Halleyanus. The scientist-cleric Peirescius, a savant who studied the moons of Jupiter and the Orion Nebula. Pierre Gassendi, a French priest and the first to publish regarding the transit of Mercury. The priest Giovanni Battista Riccioli, author of the groundbreaking encyclopedia Almagestum Novum. And hundreds and hundreds yet more. The list is endless, and I do my peers great dishonour by not mentioning them all.

Many of the world's current, living astronomers are members of the Catholic clergy, too. Father Franz de Paula Triesnecker, the director of the grand Vienna Observatory. The brilliant Marcin Odlanicki Poczobutt, a Polish-Lithuanian cleric who until last year served as rector of Vilnius University, the last Royal Astronomer of Poland-Lithuania. Giuseppe Piazzi, priest of the Theatine Order and founder of the Palermo Astronomical Observatory in 1790. The young Piarist scholar Giovanni Inghirami, professor of mathematics and philosophy in Volterra. Et cetera, et cetera. We know well now that the world is much greater than just our own Earth, where the Maker placed us, and we have the men of intellect necessary to hypothesize regarding all manner of subjects connected to this.

French tapestry depicting Catholic missionaries in China studying the stars, 18th century.

The Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, now sadly closed during the occupation, has long been a center of Papal astronomy, since the Gregorian calendar was modified using knowledge gained from the stars by its alumni. The Tower of the Winds, the Gregorian Tower, was completed already in 1580. The Papacy established the Observatory of the Roman College in 1774, and a decade later the Specola Vaticana was additionally established in the Tower of the Wind under the direction of Msgr. Filippo Luigi Gilii, who yet guides it. From Rome, the Holy City, the stars and planets are watched, and the foundations upon which the future of the Faith stand are plotted out. Or at least they would be, were it not for the most tragic disrepair brought onto us by the French and Neapolitan occupations, which must cease soon lest all the Consuls and Kings of Europe risk God's wrath.

Across the Italian nation, there are many other observatories, the finest hallmarks of Christian European science. Not long ago Felice Fontana organized an observatory at the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History in Florence. In the same city lays the older Ximeniano Observatory. Outside of Bologna the Panzano Observatory was built by Cornelio Malvasia over a century and a half ago. Then there's the Astronomical Observatory of Trieste, the Observatory of Turin, and so on. We own many marvels, we Italians.

The Brera Astronomical Observatory in Milan was constructed in 1764 by the Jesuit astronomer Rodericus Iosephus Boscovicus (known in his Ragusan homeland as Ruđer Bošković). The great polymath, who helped save the dome of St. Peter's Basilica from collapse, made many a great discovery - such as, in 1753, that the absence of atmosphere on Luna, meaning life is unlikely on our closest celestial body - but certainly not impossible elsewhere. Those who doubt the work of God in the realms of space, heed his words: "Regarding the nature of the Divine Creator, my theory is extraordinarily illuminating, and the result from it is a necessity to recognize Him." Such a magnificent world, arranged according to such fine laws of nature, cannot be designed without divine love.

Design for a Flying Machine, Leonardo da Vinci, Anno Domini 1488.

And of course, who can forget the deeds of Venice? As I sit here in my exile, perched in the ancient monastic tower, I must pay homage to the fallen Venetian Republic's past. In Venetian Padua, the 15th century Bishop Francesco Capuano Di Manfredonia wrote tracts on the celestial spheres. And it was here that the infamous Leonardo himself, a native of the Florentine Vinci, designed many of his inventions. He came here in exile, as we of the College now have done. Better known for his other studies, Leonardo was an astronomer as well, in part at least, writing on the movements of the planets and the status of Sol. Even more interesting, perhaps, are his thoughts on aerial flight.

His 1505 Codex on the Flight of Birds mapped out many proposals for how Man might soar like a bird, hopefully more successfully than Icarus, work that many others have attempted to - with some success - replicate since then. His "flying machines", some with wings and others with rotors, are of high interest to me, no doubt. And let's not forget his " mechanical knight", displayed at the Sforza court in 1495, his armoured war-wagon, his self-propelled cart, his suit for diving underwater, his steam-powered Architonnerre cannon... While few of his ideas were, or could, ever be realized, those successes the great inventor had do show promise. From some, mayhap, tools for traversing the great voids can be derived in the future.

Since his times, many others have attempted flight, with greater success albeit other methods. Perhaps these likewise signify the hypothetical future of space-travel? Using great balloons filled with hot air or gases, good faithful Christian men of the world have traversed the skies. Who can forget the works of the Montgolfier brothers, whose endavours resulted in the first manned flight in 1783? Or the flights via hydrogen balloon of Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers? Today, two decades later, balloons have lifted across the Americas and Europe, to much success. I myself witnessed the ascent of the Italian pioneer, the daredevil Vincenzo Lunardi, by Mons Vesuvius in September 1789.

The first manned flight by the Montgolfier Brothers, 19 October 1783.

One day it may happen that representatives of the Church, having journeyed to Mars or Venus in Leonardo-esque flying machines or carried by modified Montgolfier balloons, parachute down to the surface wearing breathing-suits, and finally fulfill the greatest destiny of Mankind - to enlighten extraterrestrial beings on the glory of God. Or it may very well not. Maybe my dream is just that, and nothing more. Maybe we will never leave our own atmosphere, maybe such life does not exist, maybe God in his endless wisdom intends for us to remain earthbound.

Whatever the case may be, I maintain that the concept of "Exotheology", the theoretical possibility of a future Archbishop of Luna if you will, should at the very least be discussed as a thought experiment, so that we may better figure out how to handle our missionary work here on Earth itself. And certainly, the Church should continue its current work in the field of astronomy, so that we may better appreciate the divinity of the natural world, shaped by the Lord. Now, my dear Reader, I must surely go to bed. It is long past midnight here in Venice, and we must all wake soon to try and finish this damnable conclave. May God have mercy on us all.

"He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names." - Psalm 147:4.

[Huojin]

PEACE PREVAILS; BONAPARTE NAMED CONSUL FOR LIFE

Beneath the shade of olive trees, they said Italy would never be freed - never united.

In the land of Pharaohs and kings, they said to strive was folly - peace unattainable.

Along the banks of the Rhine, they said the Emperor would never be stopped - victory denied.

Now, all of Europe stands in silence. Peace with Ottoman Sultan. Peace with Hapsburg Emperor. Victories worthy of antiquity, and the banner of France soaring in high esteem throughout the Continent and the World. A banner held unwaveringly aloft, carried to that place of honour by First Consul Bonaparte - General Bonaparte! - the defender of liberty and of France! For with these hard-won and deftly-fought victories, the security of French ideals and beliefs, and more importantly of the French nation and her allies, has been attained against the most threatening foes.

In stunning developments and grateful recompense for his steadfast defence and extraordinary actions, the Tribunat has voted near-unanimously in favour of conferring Life Consulship - an action confirmed by the Corps Législatif - upon the First Consul! With immense popular acclaim for this honoured hero of France, an announced vote to confirm this appointment is expected to return an overwhelmingly positive result.

Vive la France! Vive le Consulat français! Vive Bonaparte!

[Gesar]

巫師 巫師和所有迷信 被禁止
關於基督徒的修正

Wūshī, wūshī hé suǒyǒu míxìn, bèi jìnzhǐ
Guānyú jīdū tú de xiūzhèng

• It is declared that Tianzhu, the Lord of Heaven, is a belief held by superstitious foreigners and misled people of the Zhonghua minzu. It is further established that this belief stems from the traditional beliefs in Tian and Shangdi, and that as such, practitioners of these superstitions within China are to be accorded basic dignities, but that the propagation of this superstition -with its foreign origins- must be halted.
• Foreigners of the Western Ocean, should they propagate the faith of the Lord of Heaven, or clandestinely print books, or collect congregations to be preached to, and subsequently deceived to; or should any of the Zhonghua minzu propagate the doctrines of the Lord of Heaven outside of the approved areas, or clandestinely give a false name through the superstitious "baptism" - if proved, the provocateurs and leaders of these superstitions shall be sentenced to death by strangulation.
• Those of the Zhonghua minzu who presently consider themselves followers of the Lord of Heaven are to register themselves with officials of the Board of Rites and the magistrates in the lands to be settled; it is decreed that none may molest or disturb the practice of their faith on pain of execution. Neither shall the jidu tu leave their prescribed homes without official approval, nor shall they intermarry.
• The sale of the followers of the jidu tu shall be halted immediately, and representatives from the Thirteen Factories shall be permitted to purchase back those sent into slavery within Chinese borders. Those who are not purchased within six months may ask their master to file for recompense with the Provisional Governor and enter a period of military service, or approach with their master the nearest magistrate and set terms in which they may purchase their freedoms.
• Approved areas shall be subject to the decree of the above apparatuses, who will henceforth bring forward proposals to settle the followers of the sect elsewhere. In the Emperor's munificence, it is commanded that the Councillors and censors of the Board of Rites cooperate with the magistrate of Hekou, so that the faith of the Lord of Heaven may be practiced unmolested within his jurisdiction, and with the foreign-leased land of Macau and the Thirteen Factories..
• Foreign barbarians of the Thirteen Factories professing faith in the Lord of Heaven shall, at the behest and approval of the Cohong, offer a leader of their rites to pay tribute to the Emperor, and in return be accepted as the voice and advisor for the jidu tu of China.
• It is expected of the jidu tu that they will revere the Emperor, pay tribute to his name, and be subject to his laws. They are therefore restored in their ability to practice the traditional seasonal and ancestral rites known to all Chinese. Any foreign "representative" of these faiths not approved by the Board of Rites is unrecognized, their rejection is rendered invalid under the Emperor's tianxia, and they are commanded to recognize the importance of these and any other rites sacred to the Chinese nation.

Let these laws, implemented by the tianming of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years, be respected and followed for the betterment of tianxia.

吾皇萬歲，萬歲，萬萬歲
Wú huáng wànsuì, wànsuì, wànwànsui!

[Smyg]

By the grace of God and of the Apostolic See, His Holiness Pope Pius VII has declared the BEATIFICATION OF BALTHAZAR OF LOYOLA.

A martyr by dedication if not by blood, Balthazar Mendez de Loyola - born in the Year of the Lord 1631 in Fez, dead on 15 September 1667 in Madrid - entered the world under the name "Mohammed El Attaz", a prince of noble Moorish blood, son and heir of Abdalauhid, King of Fez. He once titled himself the "son of the Emperor of Morocco". A skilled commander and able ruler, he went on a Mohammedan pilgrimage to Mecca in 1651, but was captured by the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. In Maltese captivity, he continued to write Islamic texts and preach to his fellow prisoners, but after his ransom had been paid by the Bey of Tunis, a miracle happened.

On June 12th 1656 he received a vision instructing him to enter the light of the Lord, and on July 31st received his Baptism. He took the name Balthazar after his one-time captor and new godfather, the Knight of Malta Sir Balthazar Mandols, the name Mendez due to the palace where the ceremony took place, and the name Loyola as his baptism as that day is the feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. A new life of piety began.

First spending his time converting the lost souls of those Mohammedans seized as captives and held as galley-slaves in Italian ports, he then became a novitiate of the Society of Jesus, spending three years studying Latin and Italian at the college in Messina and two years of service in Rome, before being ordained a priest on December 27th 1663. Returning to his missionary work, he converted over 600 Mohammedan galley-slaves, ensuring their freedom and their eternal life alike, formed a confraternity for new converts, and refuted his own prior writings in new Arabic-language texts. In 1667, he took upon himself his greatest mission yet, to become a missionary to the East Indies.

While travelling to the port of Lisbon, he fell gravely ill, and died in the Colegio Imperial de Madrid. Even on his deathbed, he converted a young Mohammedan. Moved by his piety, the Queen of Spain ensured that the Moorish prince once known as Mohammed El Attaz, heir of Fez, received a royal funeral. Across Europe, hearts were touched, and men such as the playwright Pedro Calderón de la Barca wrote of his deeds. It is in recognition of all these deeds, and of his martyrdom on his missionary path, that he is hereby BEATIFIED.

From now on, he shall be referred to as Blessed Balthazar Mendez de Loyola. His patronage shall be the Nation of Morocco, his attribute the Moor's Head, and his feast day the 15th of September. His birthplace in Fez, and his tomb in Madrid, are to be legitimate sites of pilgrimage.

[Smyg]

The man christened as Napoleone di Buonaparte, the First Consul of France, is a sinner.

He invaded the Holy See, plundered its churches, installed a false republic in mockery of Rome's ancient traditions, slew countless Roman citizens and imprisoned equally countless holy men, jailed and indirectly killed Pope Pius VI, and refused His Holiness a proper burial. The list goes on.

No man is perfect, and all may be absolved from sin in the eyes of God, once they receive His light into their hearts and begin to walk the path of penance. So, Napoleon has done, with the Liberation of Rome from even more sinful hands. Just as Sir Godfrey of Bouillon, who led the Liberation of Jerusalem, never took for himself the title of King and instead claimed that of Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri, Protector of the Holy Sepulchre, so shall it be with the Consul for Life.

In accordance with the Convention between His Holiness Pius VII, the French Government and the Italian Government, signed in the Year of the Lord 1800, it is now declared that the Head of State of France shall be called the Protector of the Papacy and of the City of Rome.

Let us pray that Rome and Italy never again see the flames of unchristian, unholy war.

[Coin]

PROCLAIMED in the year one-thousand one-hundred and seventy-nine, in the month of Tir, on Seshhanbeh the tenth of that month, and declared in the city of Tehran within the Kāx e Golestān, the Palace of Golestan.

In the name of Aʿlāhazrat, His Imperial Majesty, FAT'H-ALI SHAH QAJAR; the mighty and honourable SHAHANSHAH of Persia, KHAQAN, and SOLTANE SAHEB QARAN; the following is to be known throughout the empire:

• Aʿlāhazrat FAT'H-ALI SHAH QAJAR hereby states that the tax revenues of the road from the Imperial Palace of Golestān to the port of Būshehr for this year are to be spent on the foundation of schools dedicated to the study of the Holy Qu'ran, the life of the Twelve Imams, the sciences, martial training, and history.
• Aʿlāhazrat FAT'H-ALI SHAH QAJAR hereby states that, recognising the important work done by those improving the armed forces of the Empire, the Order of the Lion and Sun - نشان افتخار شیر و خورشید - shall be founded for the recognition of the noblest among the servants of the Sun Throne, native and foreign.
• Aʿlāhazrat FAT'H-ALI SHAH QAJAR reaffirms the protected status of the existing Christian and Zoroastrian subjects of the Shahanshah, and the resulting responsibilities accorded to these subjects in loyalty and service to the Sun Throne.
• Aʿlāhazrat FAT'H-ALI SHAH QAJAR hereby creates the office of Chief Minister of Foreign Relations, appointing the esteemed Mirza Abdal Wahhab Moʿtamad-al-Dawla Našāṭ to the post.
• Aʿlāhazrat FAT'H-ALI SHAH QAJAR declares that the esteemed Ebrahim Khan Zahir od-Dowleh, titled "Zahir od-Dowleh" and "Ebrahim Khan-e Amu", is hereby appointed to the position as governor of Kerman; with the assignation of the required resources.
• Aʿlāhazrat FAT'H-ALI SHAH QAJAR declares that the esteemed Ḥosain Khan Qajar Qazvīnī, the Sardār,
  is hereby appointed to the position of governor of Khorasan, with the assignation of the required resources.
• Aʿlāhazrat FAT'H-ALI SHAH QAJAR declares that the esteemed Ḥosyn Ali Mirza be henceforth known as chief Daryabod of the fleet, and Amir responsible for Būshehr and Bahrain.

[Huojin]

THE ACT OF RECTIFICATION




-

Done by the FIRST CONSUL of the French Republic, concerning the territory of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

BONAPARTE, First Consul of the Republic, President of the Italian Republic, TO THE HANOVERIANS.

Hanover, a territory long languishing under the divisive and inconsistent rule of various petty monarchs, has been a pawn on the field of Europe. Ruled long from afar, it has been unable to find in itself the means of changing its fate, or rectifying its entrenched problems, where such problems have benefited those who ruled. The affection of the French nation for this commendable people, whom it has lately defended by its arms; the interests of France, who lie as neighbours to these lands; the request of those who have a voice towards reason and reform, and the wish of the whole people of these lands, have made it our duty to seek the rectification of these wrongs.

In meeting with appointed deputies of this territory, we have taken as our aim to determine and distinguish that which corresponds best to the needs and wants of the people, and to reconcile the old system with those objects which must be achieved to the happiness and liberty of the citizenry. Having thus employed all means of knowing the interests and will of the people, we, as rectifier, with no other view than that of the happiness of the people over whose interests we had to pronounce, ESTABLISH the following:

• The formal abolition of all ephemeral formal entities, territories and subdivisions currently included in the occupied Hanoverian territories, including the "Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg", the "Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg", the "Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel", the "Duchies of Bremen and Verden", the "Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück", "Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg", etc. etc. These are all hereby replaced by the unitary "State of Hannover" (German: Staat Hannover, French: État de Hanovre). The State of Hanover shall form a provisional government, led by a temporary directory committee; consisting of local Hanoverian reformers and the French General of the Army of Eastphalia. All internal borders will be abolished. Pending the writing of a constitution, to be published once peace has been acquired, rule will be made by decree.

• All government communiques and other public printed texts are to be written in a standardised West Low German dialect, inspired by recent Scandinavian attempts at unifying the Norwegian and Danish languages. This standardisation will be enforced at all local universities. Usage of traditionalist Gothic-inspired typefaces will be avoided in favour of modernised ones. All local newspapers and journals will be restricted and their printing pressed confiscated. A state-owned gazette will be founded to replace them. Government communiques and newspapers shall also be available in a dual-language format which incorporates French.

• All Hanoverian serfs are hereby emancipated, with land reform taking place, including the division of royal lands amongst the landless.

• All urban guilds and other restrictions upon trade are hereby abolished, allowing for a complete freedom of enterprise.

• The metric system of weights and measures will be introduced and made mandatory by decree in all official functions. Shops and industries which do not comply will be closed down until they do so.

• The Hanover Guard (German: Hannoverschutz, French: Garde Hanovre) will be immediately established in order to keep the peace, work in conjunction with the French Army of Eastphalia to enforce order. It shall be formed from local supporters, and amnesty shall be given to those local prisoners of war, deserters, and others previously belonging to royalist forces wishing to serve.

• All inhabitants of the occupied territories will be declared to be citizens of the State of Hanover, to be awarded equal rights as citizens in accordance with the Rights of Man. The citizenship of all exiled troops belonging to the "King's German Legion" in Great Britain will be recognised, as will that of other Hanoverian exiles in Great Britain (including noblemen, ministers, diplomats, etc.), but shall be suspended by decree due to their service in the court of a foreign power.

• All properties of the British Royal Family and their close acquaintances and relatives (including noble estates, and the antiquities collection of Johann Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Wallmoden-Gimborn, uncle of King George III) will be confiscated for use by the State of Hanover for governmental purposes. All coats of arms of the Royal Family and related dynasties will be defaced, all family tombs in assorted churches covered up, and so on. This includes the grave of King George I of Great Britain and his mother at Leine Palace, which is to be moved to an undisclosed location to protect it from overly zealous patriots.

• The numerous properties belonging to the British Royal Family and their close acquaintances and relatives to be confiscated are to be converted into venues open to the public. This includes the "Herrenhausen Gardens" in the City of Hanover, which shall become a botanical garden open to all Citizens of Hanover without charge.

• Full religious freedom will be declared for the Catholic and Protestant communities, to be enforced in line with the French Concordat with the Holy See of Rome regarding public religious celebrations, etc. Full emancipation of the Jewish community is herein established, including its reorganisation via the establishment of a Hanoverian Consistory of the Israelites to control it. All "Leibzoll" special tolls on the Jews which currently are maintained in several of the occupied territories will be immediately abolished. The progressive community leader Israel Jacobson will be made President of the Consistory.

[Smyg]

[Empress Saint Helena of Constantinople, carrying the One True Cross,
laying the grounds for the Vatican Gardens using the sacred soil from Mount Calvary.]


Invitation of Botanists
and
Rewards Issued for Botanical Discoveries

The University of Rome, on orders of His Holiness the Pope himself, hereby invites all prospective and current students of the art and science of Botany to travel to Rome, the ancient heart of Botany since the days of the great Antonius Castor himself.

Any naturalist educated in the art and science of Botany, who travels to Rome and makes himself known at the University of Rome shall be received and welcomed. Those that pass a rigorous test of competence and skill, regardless of formal qualifications, shall receive a significant pension from the Holy See, comfortable lodgings in the Eternal City, and employment which shall give them

All young men of letters interested in attaining an education in the art of science of Botany may likewise travel to Rome and make themselves known at the University of Rome, where they shall be subjected to certain examinations. Should they pass, and they agree to enter a sacred contract with the Church itself that they shall labour in the name of God for a period of no less than five years, they may receive a full education at the University in accordance with modern principles of Botany (including Linnean taxonomy) financed by His Holiness the Pope himself.

The Gardens of the Vatican, Hortis Civitatis Vaticanae, were founded by the Empress Saint Helena of Constantinople using sacred soil from Mount Calvary, according to legend. His Holiness Pope Nicholas III established a new planted an orchard (pomerium), a lawn (pratellum) and a garden (viridarium) in the Year of Our Lord 1279, and His Holiness Pope Julius II commissioned the great architect Donato Bramante to expand it in the 16th century. Now, it shall once more be expanded, to include a building intended to house the University of Rome's botanical collections as well as a laboratory, an orangery and other necessary equipment and features for the maintenance of a botanical garden.

In addition, all travellers and sailors who have journeyed outside the bounds of Europe, from the Americas to Asia and beyond, who return with samples of rare plants, seeds, et cetera, so far unseen in the Old World, or other Botanical Discoveries of any interest, shall receive a significant reward from the University of Rome for its purchase, should it be judged by Roman scholars to hold any significance.

Become the heirs of Ancient Rome, the Disciples of Linnaeus and the Scions of Christian Science alike, young scholars of Europe. By finding new paths to further Chemistry, Medicine and Beauty, discovering the natural world that He made, you shall gladden the Lord.

"Nature is infallible and is the voice of God."

Antonio Vallisneri, in a letter to Louis Bourguet (30 August 1721).

[Luc]

A poster is spread across several cities & towns in the colony of Brazil.

BRAZILIANS! SOLDIERS OF FREEDOM!

THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME TO

RISE AND REBEL

AGAINST THE INFLUENCES AND MALICES OF

THE FOREIGN KLEPTOCRATS

WHO USURP THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE BRAZILIAN STATE SINCE THE INCEPTION OF CIVILIZATION IN THE AMERICAN CONTINENT

-------

UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF

THE MARTYR, TOMÁS ANTÓNIO GONZAGA

THE NATION SHALL RISE UP TO

FIGHT AND STRIVE

FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF

A SOVEREIGN, INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC

OVER ALL THE

TERRITORY OF BRAZIL

-------

LONG LIVE BRAZIL, LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC

-------

COMMITTEE OF NATIONAL LIBERATION

SÃO JOÃO DEL REY, CAPITAINCY OF MINAS GERAIS

[Luc]

LONDON, 1800 - Concerns are raised across the country as accusations are levelled that the government has refused to negotiate a peace with France and is instead committed to unending war! Although continuing the war remains largely popular, the prospect of the temporary tax on income dragging on unforeseeably, the impressment of men into the army and navy, the ever-present spectre of conscription, and the senseless loss of life in a war that ought to have ended, all continue to sour popular opinion.

Rumours have spread lately that some Whigs, having previously chosen to sit with Pitt's government, are crossing back across the chamber and joining once more the opposition to the government. With financial pressures on the economy building, as well as the loss of markets on the Continent and the failed harvests of 1799 and 1800 biting hard and stirring unrest and widespread hunger, divisions are even cropping up amongst the Tories.

[Serenissima]

LONDON, 1800 - Concerns are raised across the country as accusations are levelled that the government has refused to negotiate a peace with France and is instead committed to unending war! Although continuing the war remains largely popular, the prospect of the temporary tax on income dragging on unforeseeably, the impressment of men into the army and navy, the ever-present spectre of conscription, and the senseless loss of life in a war that ought to have ended, all continue to sour popular opinion.

Rumours have spread lately that some Whigs, having previously chosen to sit with Pitt's government, are crossing back across the chamber and joining once more the opposition to the government. With financial pressures on the economy building, as well as the loss of markets on the Continent and the failed harvests of 1799 and 1800 biting hard and stirring unrest and widespread hunger, divisions are even cropping up amongst the Tories.

Rumours out of the Parliament of Westminster's closed session in camera suggest that details and minutes of ongoing foreign negotiations - whispered to be peace - have been shared with the two Houses of Parliament by the Foreign Office.

[Serenissima]

With rumours coming out of Parliament concerning the French attitude to the Peace Negotiations, the renowned cartoonist Gillray is at it again with a new series of prints.

[Serenissima]

Similarly, Gillray has been seen to be attacking those who publicly spoke out for an unfavourable Peace.