An extended and pompous dialogue between our Marty Stu narrator, “Randalthus”, and the Lunarians he meets on a mystical journey to the moon. They discuss basic astronomy and planetary science, then spend a fair amount of time on religion, moral philosophy, and politics.

There are a few viewpoints expressed that would qualify as enlightened by early-2020s standards: The Lunarians regard all Earth people as terribly misguided for dominating and eating other animals, and Randalthus at one point sympathizes with enslaved African people, noting that the white man is “the real savage”. But the narrator then uses up about half the damn book describing how awful, uncivilized, and barbaric are the people found in nearly every part of the Earth excepting, of course, his own. Every religion other than is own is laughably, or pitiably, misguided. (The Lunarians, to his relief, all worship God.)

It’s all pretty awful, but for an example, here’s what he has to say about Australian Aboriginal people:

Spoiler

“The little whitish speck, which you faintly discern to the left, is the island or rather the continent of New Holland, whose wretched inhabitants are said to be overwhelmed in greater barbarity, and to approach nearer baboon species, than any other people, on that planet.”

Utter racist trash, of course, and if I hadn’t been looking for science fiction terminology of the era I would have hurled it with great force into the nearest digital rubbish bin.