“Our Sages have sometimes asked why tombs are not erected on Mercury as they are on the majority of other Planets—to which the Mercurians reply, briefly but decisively: 'If Tombs and Epitaphs were eternal, the Planet would be incapable of containing them all; if they are perishable, it is not worth the trouble of building them.'”

Chevalier de Béthune, 1750