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 inprisonment, 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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