TRAVELS INTO SEVERAL REMOTE NATIONS OF THE WORLD
By Captain LEMUEL GULLIVER
PART IV.
Following A VOYAGE to KHILIASTICKA
and A VOYAGE to OBVERSIA
A VOYAGE to YPSILOSIA and the
Metropolis of SCHRO DINGA
and afterwards to the HOUYHNHNMS
We set sail
and had a very prosperous Gale driving us westerly for nine Days at which time
the Wind fell but not so entirely that we were unable to continue to make
Progress. I had not set a Watch believing us to be in the open Seas. On the
tenth Day a Boy loosing Sails on the Top-mast cryed, of a sudden, that a Ball
from a Cannon had crossed our Bows on a down-ward Trajectory at the Height of
the Top-sail. Employing my Pocket-glass I remarked a Man of War to our Larboard
and another to our Starboard. To my Amazement the Ships were at a Height of two
Hundred and fifty Feet above the Waves and driving parallel to us in the same
Course as we were at a Distance of six Cables. I could descry the Keels and
Rudders of both Vessels which seem’d to advance under the Power of the Wind as
we did. I could also distinguish that at their Stern-castles they flew an
Ensign bearing an Escutcheon per Pale, Gules, a Cat rampant guardant Or, and
Sable, a Cat obit supine Argent. These were Arms I had not before
encountered. Another Ball crossed our Bows in the opposite Direction. In the Knowledge that we could not outrun the
Men of War nor had sufficient Cannons or Culverins[1]
to defend our selves I gave the Order to take in our Sail and await boarding.
The Man of War on our Starboard Side duly came above us and let down a Long-boat
with Ropes direct onto our Main Deck. The Long-boat was filled with Sailers and
Foot Soldiers but my Mind was in great Disturbance to witness a Lieutenant in a
fine blue Coat and Tricorn tyed by a Rope at his Foot to the Prow of the
Long-boat above which he floated at a Height of six Feet. It appeared that his
Nose was directly up to the Zenith[2]
giving him a curious Demeanour. He gave his Sur-Name as Prigg and his
Fore-name as Olympian and he made Signs by which I understood him to be
requesting a Parlay with me. I mounted on Top of the Capstan and he immediately
made manifest to me by Means of a Chart which he held down to me that The
Adventure must follow the Men-of-War to their Harbour which lay at a
Distance of a Day’s sailing. I gave the order to my Men to comply with this
Request as it was manifest to me that in Addition to the superior Complement of
Guns the Men of War had to ours they also carryed large Contingents of
well-armed Maritime Foot-soldiers who looked at us over the Side of the Vessel
above.
At Dawn the
following Day an Island was discovered towards which we steered with our Escort
according to the Order given by the Lieutenant who remained on Board The
Adventure. We followed the Men of War into a natural Harbour with a long
Quay-side along which stood many poor Houses. We attested that a large
Assortment of Vessels - Men of War, Merchant-men, Sloops, Wherries and Pleasure
craft - floated fifty Feet in the Air attached to the Quay-side by Cables
although some fishing Craft were tyed at the Level of the Sea and floated in it.
To our Astonishment we spied many Carriages ranged along the Quay-side to the
Roof of each of which were tethered fine Ladies, richly clad and coiffed. We
were able to behold the daynty Shoes of the Ladies. Their Children stood beneath
them on the Rooves of the Carriages. The Carriages were attended by Ostlers who
stood on the Ground with the Horses and a small Host of Ladies by
Ladies-in-Waiting and Valets who walked on wooden Stilts to reach the Ladies
and their Children. Common Boys from the Hovels brought Fodder and Water for
the Horses.
Next we
observed the two Men-of-War lowering to fifty Feet above the Carriages on the
Quay-side. Cables were cast down and secured by Handicrafts[3]
to Iron Hoops of giant Proportion at the Edge of the Water. In Succession many
Chairs bearing much Ornament and suspended by Ropes and Pulleys descended carrying
the Captain and his Officers. Each Officer wore a leathern Tether at his Ankle
with a Hook at the End. As they descended Servants on Stilts reached up with long
Sticks bearing small Circles of Iron to take the Hooks, draw the Officers to
their Carriages and attach them whereupon they greeted their Wives and
Children. Afterwards many Ropes without Chairs descended from the Vessels and
we observed Sailers and Maritime Soldiers slide down them on to the Quay-side. Some
held Stilts. Others did not.
We marked that the Ladies above the Carriages exhibited great Curiosity and there
was some Laughter betwixt them at the Sight of The Adventure, a
Merchant-man, steering in the Sea and coming to and mooring at the Height of
the Quay. They seemed to rally[4]
behind their Hands and to make a Sort of Smile which usually ariseth from Pity
to see me and my Officers walking on the Deck and stepping onto the Quay-side. Olympian
Prigg, the Lieutenant who had descended onto our main Deck and accompanied
us, showed Tokens with his Hand that I and another Officer from our Ship should
mount inside one of the empty Carriages to which the Officers and their Ladies
were attached. At this Juncture our young Surgeon, Robert Purefoy, was
struck with an Understanding of the Place where we found our selves. He owned
that he had read the Writings of certain Writers of Travels who spoke of the
Ensign we had observed on the Men-of-War. He had also conceived that the Words
of Command given by the Lieutenant bore a Semblance to Latin and this
Combination gave him to believe that we had arrived at the Island Nation of Ypsilosia.
I had a little Proficiency in Latin and Purefoy confessed
that he knew the Language well having studied it at his Grammar School and in
his School of Anatomy and Surgery. For this Reason I was pleased to chuse him
to accompany me in the Carriage that had been selected for us. We were
entrusted to the Care of Lieutenant Prigg and he suffered us to be without
Irons as our Ship and its Company was confined aboard under Guard of the Foot
Soldiers from the Men of War. He did, however, first give an Order that the
Soldiers remove from Purefoy and I our Hangers and our Pocket-pieces[5].
I was not in Disquietude in Point of the Welfare of the Company knowing that it
was well stocked with Victuals and Water. We mounted in the Carriage after the Ypsilosian
Lieutenant was tyed to its Roof. The Weather was extreamely clement. After a
short Delay the Train of Carriages set off along a Road which we conjectured
led towards the Interior where we could see Signs in the Distance of a Metropolis
set betwixt two small Mountains. Purefoy confided in me that this must
be the Capital, Schro Dinga. He told me that, although the common People
of Ypsilosia spoke a beautiful Tongue in which many Songs and Poems had
been written the Ypsilosian Persons of Quality despised and contemned it
preferring to use a universal Language untainted with base local Associations.
A wise Ypsilosian Nobleman had prevailed upon them that, if they
propagated a universal Lingua Franca it was the more likely to bring
about a universal Age of Peace and a new Jerusalem on the Earth. They
had discovered some Persons of Quality in other Nations willing to share this Experiment
with them but, until now, they were exasperated that the Majority of Nations
continued to insist on the Use of their own primitive and ugly vernacular Languages
and, thus prevented the Uniformity they desired. Purefoy continued that
their desire for this undoing of the Marks that distinguish Nations one from
another was founded on a Wish to undo the Calamity of the Tower of Babel[6].
Until this Day came it seem’d that they wisely preferred to keep a Navy and an
Army ready.
At first the Road crossed an Estuary on two Bridges at the Top of the Harbour.
The Estuary consisted of the Issue of two Tributaries into which a River inland
was split as it reached the Sea. Purefoy elected to attempt the Use of
his Latin with the Lieutenant tethered above our Carriage by protruding
his Head through the Window. He made bold to seek to discover the Name of the
River. Lieutenant Prigg understood Purefoy and was pleased to
tell him in Latin that, in the Ypsilosian Tongue, it was the
River Phrenos and that it flowed from the Capital City. The Road next
led along the Coast past some Coves of pleasing Aspect where we remarked fine
Houses of a certain Luxury set on Slopes above the Sea. Purefoy again made
bold to ask him to whom these Houses belonged. The Lieutenant was pleased to
reply that the Houses belonged to the most eminent Officers in the Ypsilosian
Navy, in Particular to the Captains and Lieutenants of the Men of War and that
one of them belonged to him. We saw a singularly pleasing Cove where a graceful
House of the finest Proportions was scituated in a Demesne surrounded by a wall
of hewn Stone which enclosed a large Parcel of Land. Within the Wall we could
see the Husbandry of Beeves and Sheep and the Management of Orchards was
carryed on. In Resemblance to those seen by the Houses of the Officers of the
Navy we descryed a Flag-staff bearing a large Ypsilosian Standard.
Lieutenant Prigg made it known to us that this was the Dwelling of a
great Ypsilosian Savant named Ubiquomque. We descryed a Jetty
with a Pleasure-craft, floating tethered above it. The Road then diverted
towards the City and I remarked that we followed the eastern Bank of the Valley
of the Phrenos that, by Gradation, became steeper as we approached the
City so that we parted from it onto a Plain to the East.
As we travelled closer to the Metropolis it seemed I was beholding a City
divided in two Parts as Buda and Pest in the Kingdom of Hungary
are divided by the Danube River or it is related that the Ottoman
Capital of Istanbul is divided across the two Continents of Asia
and Europe by the Bosphorous. From a Distance I apprehended that
the Valley of the Phrenos became a great Chasm dividing Schro Dinga
and traversed by many Bridges over the River. We could espy many jagged Rocks beneath.
To the East the City extended for many Leagues across a Plain and gave the
Semblance of a lying Body of good Stature by its Form. To the west of the Chasm
the other Half of the City rose higher into the Sky but was shorter in Width as
it quickly met with the Mountain. By Form it was domed which gave it the
Semblance of a Cranium in a supine Disposition. I conjectured that one
side of the City might be Schro while the other was Dinga, just
as in Budapest.
We entered the City by a Gate in the Walls on the eastern Side and soon arrived
at the Residence of the Lieutenant and his Wife. In Latin he informed us
that this Part of the City was, indeed, Dinga and was the Part where Persons
of Distinction kept. Those who served them lived further to the East extra muros.
We arrived
at a Street where we observed fine Houses on many Storeys. Many displayed the
Ypsilosian Flag bearing the two Cats. The Lieutenant’s House was set on a
pleasing Square. In its Centre was a Garden in which Gardiners toiled. We
remarked some Persons of Quality in Converse floating above the Croud fastned
by their Tethers to Hoops on the Ground. We further saw some Gentlemen on
Horse-back, their Mounts also floating in the Air as they exercised. The Horses
were attached by Ropes on their Hind-legs to heavy Waggons on the Ground which
were pushed along Paths by Domesticks as they advanced. Outside the Garden in
the Square we were justled by a Multitude of Hawkers, Pedlars and Colporteurs[7],
selling Pins, Rybands, Tracts and Pamphlets. Waggoners brought their Waggons to
the Doors of Ground Floors to unburthen them of Coal and Wood for the Houses.
In one Corner of the Square we observed a Church in which a Service of Marriage
was taking Place. A Lady and Gentleman had just been espoused by a Curate on
Stilts who stood beside them. The Church was encompassed with a pretty
Grave-yard. In every Respect the Square evinced the Busyness like to a Square in
a thriving and prosperous Borough in an English City.
Alyghting
from the Carriage we were invited to mount from the Street by Stairs of Stone
to the first and then second Floor. The Lieutenant, his Wife and Children
entered directly to the second Floor by Way of a Platform set at the Level at
which they floated. I became apprized that the Wife of the Lieutenant was a
great Beauty and shared my Opinion with Purefoy. He concurred but was of
the opinion that her Beauty was only marred by her Nose pointing at the Heavens
which gave the Impression that she looked down it at the Earth. In Spight of
this she gave the Impression of being a contented Wife and Mother who was much
given to smiling and Laughter. The House was furnished with many Conveniencies.
Servants and Valets waited upon us and we were used with great Civility. Upon
the Instruction of Lieutenant Prigg we were vouchsafed a Tour of the
House by a Lacquey who shewed us all of the Rooms. The Bed-Room and Dressing-room
of the Lady of the House made a great Impression on us. Her Dressing-room was
filled with Looking-glasses of the greatest Luxury, Gowns encrusted with Jewels
and set with Figures of Gold and Silver, Petticoats, Laces, Brocades and
Tissues, Combs and Brushes, Coifs, Pinners[8],
Powders, Paints, Pomatum[9]
and Perfumes. In her Bed-room we took Notice of Romances, Chansons de
Geste, Novels and other Belles Lettres by her Bed-side. We saw the Lieutenant’s
sleeping Quarters with Sheets of fine Lawn[10],
and soft stuffed Pillows. We were shewn the Children’s Rooms, the Nursery
filled with Dolls, wooden Soldiers and other Toys, the Drawing Room and a great
Library wherein we remarked many Texts in the Ypsilosian Tongue. In all
Rooms the finest Tapestries, Drapes, Rugs, Payntings, Sculpture and Furnishings
were in Evidence. The Lacquey told us that, in many of the Payntings and
Tapestries the best known Myths of Ypsilosia were depicted. Beneath the second
Floor we were shewn the Quarters for Servants, Handicrafts and Sempstresses,
the Kitchens – here we saw large Fires and Joynts roasting for Dinner – the
Coal Cellars, and the Stables.
That Evening,
although Prisoners, we were royally entertained by the Lieutenant and his Lady
who stood on the Ground and sate in Chairs, the Appearance being given that,
being on the Second Floor, they were at a sufficient Elevation to wear smaller
Tethers attached to their Chairs to prevent the Eventuality of their rising to
the Ceiling. We eat lavishly and drank the finest Clarets and Sack and were
waited on by Footmen who later shewed us to our Rooms. We were entertained by a
Band of fine Musicians on Ypsilosian Instruments with Airs in the local
Style. It was manifest, in the Dinner, that the Lieutenant was at the Pains to
discover as much as he might be able upon the Article of us. We imagined that
he had been given the Charge of this by his Superiors. In Truth he and his Lady
also descanted much on Ypsilosia and
Schro Dinga in such Manner that we learned a great Amount in these
Matters. For this Cause we began to learn of the Reason for the elevation of
the Ypsilosian Persons of Quality and their Tethers. It is necessary to
give the Reader this Information without which he would be at the same Loss
with me when I first witnessed the Lieutenant on the Deck of The Adventure.
We
were able to determine that the Ypsilosian Gentry had taken Flyght from
the Ground when they discovered the Principle given the Appellation of Transcendence.
An Ypsilosian Universal Artist[11]
of great Repute named Salomon had become cognisant in his Studys that
the Condition of Humans was subject to certain confining Limitations. These
Limitations included their Mortality, their Requirement to eat and to drink and
to breathe, their Need for Shelter and
Warmth, to void Wast, to be in Security against their Foes, to gain Refreshment
by Sleep, to understand the World by the Apprehensions of their Senses. In
Addition it was remarked that Humans cannot, in General, endure to forbear the
Satisfaction of their Venereal Appetite and the Need for a Mate. In Conclusion
he observed that Humans are confined in the Imprisonment of their Condition and
that they are meerly Animals whose only Distinction from other Animals is that
they know what they are in Contrast to the Remainder of Animals who have
no Faculty of knowing.
I supposed privately that the Limitations and
Confinements observed by Salomon afforded Humans with their
greatest Pleasures – for Example, Food, Drink, the venereal Pleasures and the
Bonds of familial Affection to which they lead - and Consolations for the Ills
of their Condition. Salomon, by Contrast, wondr’d at the easy Acceptance
that Humans shewed for such a repugnant Restriction of their Freedom. It was
his Conception that there is Feebleness and Frailty in accepting our prior
Condition as a State in the Nature of which we were not the least consulted. He
instigated his Disciples to seek to appropriate our Condition – which must not
be accepted humbly or in Gratitude to its Creator for its manifold Blessings -
for Purpose of re-creating it after his fresh Designs. His Gospel was that all
good Things proceed from Man alone, his Reason and his Science, which are free
to dispose of Creation as it pleases him. He had a Vision of Man’s Progress and
Improvement which might culminate in a form of a new Heaven and Earth.
It was solely Human Reason that conjured Man out of Chaos and in the
Gift of Man alone to make such Improvements. For these Causes he instigated the
Conception of transcending our mortal Limitations, for which we should
feel Disgust, by Contrivance of the Experiments of Modern Natural Philosophy to
rise above and escape them while holding them in Contempt. In hearing this we were
able to understand a Fountain we had observed in the Centre of the Garden in
the Square. Around its Rim it was engraved with the Motto Homo sapiens homo cum naso per aere fiat. Purefoy had given me a Translation thus – The man who
knows becomes the man with his nose in the air.
Saloman arrived to propagate his new Gospel with Success with the Result
that many Persons of Quality were converted. At the Moment of their Conversion
they took Flyght towards the Sky of a Sudden and were subjected to their first
Tethering. In later Generations being hoist suddenly Sky-wards at a Moment that
could not entirely be predicted was a Token of their Children’s reaching their
Majority. This Instance and the Awarding of a first Tether was a Moment greatly
anticipated and of great Celebration in good Ypsilosian Society. Lieutenant
and Mistress Prigg awaited this Moment for their Children with keen Anticipation.
When the Repast was compleat Purefoy and I retired to the Rooms that had
been allotted to us. Before finally retiring to sleep we conversed. Purefoy was
curious in Point of how the Ypsilosians in Dinga seemed not to
adhere entirely to Transcendence in the Conduct of their daily Lives
which seemed replete with the Pleasures afforded by the Limitations of their
Condition. Said I to him that our Curiosity in this Matter might be
satisfied in the Morrow as we had been promised by the Lieutenant a Visit to
the Capitol of Schro Dinga which was scituated across the Bridge in Schro.
Lieutenant Prigg had confided in us that Salomon had first
preached his Gospel in Schro where it had been refyned and published
with great Success. Tomorrow we were to be shewn the Citadel of Schro.
The next
Morning, with the Lieutenant and his Wife, we crossed the Bridge over the
profound Chasm that divided the two Halves of the City in their Carriage. As we
made the Traverse I looked down at the sharp Rocks below and the distant River.
I also cast a look backwards and saw that, on leaving Dinga we had
passed through a Stone Portal the Arch of which was surmounted with the
engraved Words Sum, Ergo Cogito. As we neared the opposite End of the
Bridge the Arch of a similar Stone Portal was surmounted by the Words Cogito
Ergo Sum. At both Portals there was placed a Pole bearing a Standard on
which was seen the Escutcheon of the two Cats first observed by me at the
Stern-castles of the Men of War.
As we drew nearer to the Citadel we could see that what seem’d from afar a Cranium
was composed of a Cupola of gigantic Proportions equal to a Combination of the
Domes of the Pantheon and St Peter’s in Rome together with
that of the Duomo in Florence. Mistress Prigg was pleased
to disclose to us this Edifice was the Institute of Ypsilosia and that
it had been founded by Salomon.
Outside the Institute its Environs were much Bustle and Liveliness. Once more
we witnessed Dispensers of Journals, Pamphlets and Tracts and caught Sight of
several Printing Shops and Publishers. Everywhere it appeared that there were
Wits, Savants and Scribblers floating in converse. We also observed a Multitude
of Ale-houses and Coffee Shops. Mistress Prigg spoke of these as Penny
Universities for the Cause that they charged a Penny for Admission and that
many Lectures were given within them. We saw the Edifices of Guilds, Anatomical
Theatres and Lecture Halls. Our female Guide told us that in some of these
Buildings there were Meetings of great Savants in Invisible Colledges
and Readings of Letters sent to one another by Projectors in a Republic of
Letters. We saw that some Coffee Houses had been hired by Ladies of Spirit
and Learning as Salons after the French Fashion. The Impression was of a
busy Throng and much Industry as is seen at an Ants’ Nest.
Mistress Prigg stopt outside a Coffee Shop and told us that she had
hired it in Order to preside over her own Salon and to address a Lecture
to the Wits there assembled who granted her the Opportunity to speak as she was
the Queen of their Salon. She invited us to enter and to hear her. For this
Purpose we settled on the second Floor in a Corner with a Dish of Coffee. Her
Themes were the Iniquity of the Objectification of the Female Sex, the
Tyrannical Oppressions occasioned by the Institution of Matrimony and of the
malicious Coercion of Women to bear Children. Being at a Loss to understand the
Word Objectification we were keen to hear her upon this Article in
Particular as we had seen her Dressing Room. She maintained that the gentler
Sex was obliged by the Male Sex to attend to its Demeanour for its sole Benefit
and that were this not the Case Women would take no Pleasure in their Appearance
or the Sway that their Beauty affords them. This turned them into Objects
like Cattell and here we comprehended aright the Term Objectification. She
continued that Matrimony existed for the sole Purpose of making Women miserable
and providing Men with Opportunities to tyrannise them. She further saw the
Bearing of Children as a fresh Tyranny inflicted on Womankind – this Time by
Nature - although she doubted the Intervention of Men in the Design that had
made it so. She gave Voice to a Suspicion that the Desire implanted in Women to
bear Children might be a Form of Conspiracy or a Trick played on them by a
malevolent Force and she regarded being Subject to the base Act of Copulation insupportable. In giving this Lecture a young Man who seem’d to be in Drink
from one of the Ale-houses cryed Imprecations and demanded to know why such
Polemick was encouraging so many young Girls on the Threshold of Woman-hood to
starve themselves to Death and to fall a Vomiting for Fear that their Bodies
would turn them into Women if suffered to continue growing as Nature ordained.
Mistress Prigg shewed her Disdain for this Creature who was soon removed
and thrown in the Kennel on the Street by Beadles assisting in the good Conduct
of the Event.
On the Completion of the Lecture we congratulated her on her Oration. Her
Husband made bold to tell us that, because Schro was not large and was
inclosed by Walls guarded by Centrys Purefoy and I might explore further
alone. This we did entering a Guild where Handbills were
posted proclaiming a Lecture on Political Science and the Oeconomy. The Lieutenant
had told us of this Lecture as it was to be given by his Neighbour, a very
prosperous Merchant in Port Wine who lived in great Comfort in Dinga but
who was also known for his Charity and his Beneficence there in giving Succour
to Widows and Orphans on the Parish. Here we requested Quills and Paper on
which we might record Notes on the Merchant’s Discourse. His Text was the
Wickedness of the Mercantile Profession and the urgent Need to place the
highest Subsidies on those who practised it in Manner of a Punishment for their
Selfishness and a Redressing in Favour of the Poor. He avowed that the best
Course was that enjoyned in the Acts of the Apostles to share all
Property and Belongings in Common[12].
He went so far as to maintain that Interest in the Business of seeking a Living
through Work was disgusting to a reasonable Man of good Taste. He quoted the
Texts In the Sweat of thy Face shalt thou eat Bread and Therefore the
LORD God sent them forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the Ground from
whence he was taken[13]
and sought to prevayle on us in his Conviction that these Verses had been
included in the Christian Bible by Error. We departed the Guild in
fervent Discussion of his social Topick as neither Purefoy nor I had
ever found the Means to feed our Families without Toil.
We were
pleased next to enter an Anatomical Theatre customarily devoted to the
Dissection of Corpses for the Instruction of young Surgeons. On this Day it was
turned over to a Lecture by an Admiral in the Ypsilosian Navy. The
Lieutenant had praised the Wealth of the Admiral which he had acquired from the
Conquest and Plunder of Merchant-men, Galleons and Slavers of Rival Fleets from
other Nations. He was regarded as a great Military Hero in many Quarters in Dinga
and a Model for young Boys. His Lecture concerned the pressing Need for the
Abolition of all Armies and Navies in the World and the peaceful Communion of
all Nations under what he styled a Pacific Aegis. He contemned Empires
as primitive Examples of animal Rivalry and Behaviour beneath the Dignity of
Human Beings. He invoked a new Jerusalem taking as his Texts And a
little child shall lead them and the sucking child shall play on the hole of the
asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den[14]. His Lecture was
greeted with much Applause. Some Wits threw their Hats in the Air.
After
Noon we entered a Lecture Hall outside which was advertised the Reading of
Letters sent in a Republic of Letters between the great Ypsilosian
Savant Ubiquomque whose Demesne we had observed on the Coast and a European
Sage named Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu. On this Day a Letter sent to the European from the Hand of the Savant was to be read to an Audience. It was
manifest that the Audience reverenced him greatly. The Author was positive in
his Opinions. It were endless to recount all he read but his Theme was the Identity of Human Beings. This was a Word we did not understand and had never
considered of it. It was his Contention that Ideas which propose that it is
necessary to us that we define our Being in Terms of our Attachments to our
Sex, our Parents, our Siblings our Home, our Race, our Nation and even to our
Tongue, our History, our Arts and Music are the most primitive and ridiculous
Fallacies of the Kind to which mewling Infants are subject. He insisted that
the word definire has a Submission to Limitations in its Root, fine meaning Limit. Wrote he veritably we must empty ourselves of such
Illusions so that we can write a new Universal Gospel of who we are on a clean
Slate in a Freedom like to the Almighty’s. All Affections for the
derisory local are to be contemned as we liberate ourselves into
what he terms A Holy Vacuum. As an Example he gave us the Use of Latin as an Expression of Universal Freedom and made Play with the Conceit
that in Lingua Franca the latter Word can bear the Sense of both Frankish
and free. We had marked that Latin was used in Exclusivity in Schro, in Contrast to in the Harbour and in Dinga where the common Sailers, Soldiers, Servants, Maids, Peddlers and
Domesticks used the native Ypsilosian Language which we were at a Loss to Comprehend
but which sounded pleasing and musical in its Cadences to us. The Letter of Ubiquomque ended with his Assertion that Ypsilosia is not an Island for Cause that it partakes of a Universal Mind which
holds the Sciences of meer Geo-graphy and Carto-graphy in Derision.
The Reading of the Letter by a young Wit
concluded with a bold Apprehension of a future Age where all Mankind speaking Latin might enjoy a Realm of perfect Justice where no Wars, Crimes or Strife
ever happened and where Lambs might, indeed, enjoy the benygn Company of Lions[15]. He was firmly convicted that, by Virtue of a universal Language, an
Inter-national Application of considerable Quantities of Natural Philosophy and
the Practice of Transcension all History would
be a Progress towards such an End. He employed the Word Progress with great Liberality. This brought to Mind Purefoy’s earlier Words about Latin at our Arrival in Ypsilosia. On this Occasion he shared his Opinion behind his Hand with me that the
Realm of perfect Justice sounded like the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and doubted it could be atchieved with any great Facility
with Mankind as it was.
We made our Way to an Ale-house where we
drank some Ale and eat a Pie attending to the Babble in Latin of the Wits
around us. After it was our Intention to be present at a Ceremony advertized
outside the Temple of Transcendence. Beneath the Dome of the Institute was a Colonnade in Stone in
a Circle and, entering through a Portico, we were admitted to the Temple of
Transcendence. In entering the Precincts of the Temple I spied more words
in Latin engraved above the Colonnade – SUMMA VIRTUS SCIRE SIMUL ESSE AC NON ESSE. At its Center in turn was an
Inner Temple named the Cerebellum. There was an Altar set in turn at its
Center. Placed on the Altar in its centre was a Statue of the Goddess of Reason.
Around it were Globes, Spheres and divers Mathematickal Instruments with some
Retorts and Alembicks in Glass. We arrived early but a large Congregation began
to gather and to seat them selves on Chairs before the Altar, making Reverences
as they did so.
A bell was
rung and a Procession advanced towards the Altar. The Procession was led by two
Serving Boys in whyte Gowns bearing Candles at equal Height. Betwixt them an Acolyte
in a whyte Coat walked bearing a rectangular Board of Wood to which
Leaves of Paper were held with a Clip. He held this Board aloft. Following came
Choristers in whyte Gowns with Blue Stoles in Pairs. They chaunted a Hymn on
the Subjects of Peace and Reason in Latin. There followed two Diakonos
wearing Stoles and Dalmatics each bearing a Volume finely bound in Leather. Printed
on the front Cover of one were the Words Disertatio de Methodo:
Recte Regendae Rationis et Veritatis in Scientiis Investigandae. The other carried a Volume with the Words Principia Mathematica inscribed on it
at the Level of their Eyes. They carried the Volumes with their front Covers
facing forward. Their right Hands were placed close to the top of the Spines
with their left Hands close to the bottom Fore-edges. Behind the Diakonos
came a Sacerdos in a Stole and Chasuble with his Hands folded empty in
front of him. His Garments were adorned with Figures of Rhombs, Parallelograms,
Ellipses and other Geometrical Terms. On his Head he wore a tall scalene
Triangle Poynted backwards and we beheld that the Sides of his Head were
shaved. He wore Silver Spectacles. This Display of ars celebrandi made a
good Impression on us although it seem’d to us somewhat Popish in its Mode for
our Liking. The Celebrants dispersed to either Side leaving the Sacerdos
at the Altar. He kissed the Statue of Reason and the Implements there and
turned to deliver a Homily at a Lectern in the Form of an Eagle.
His Theme was Raillery of Human Religion
for Cause that it was primitive and superstitious and that it addresses our
Mortality and is generated meerly from the Celebrations of our Birth, our marital
Unions and our Death. He reserved particular Laughter for Conceits of Christian
Immortality and Eternal Life which he knew prevailed in Europe and in
many Parts of Dinga. He related to his Congregation that all of our
Human Confinements must soon be subject to Transcendence as Natural
Philosophy advanced. He was in great Resentment that the Human Mind is in such
a Degree dependent on Flesh. He assured his Audience that Natural Philosophers
would soon be able to preserve the Mind when the Flesh fell into Decrepitude.
He made Mention of an English Projector named William Gilbert who
had discovered the Phœnomenon of Electricus in Amber - already known in
Part by Thales of
Miletus, Pliny the Elder and Scribonius Largus - of which he had written in De Magnete. This
Word had become Electricity in the Pseudoxia Epidemica of another
English-man, Sir Thomas Browne. In my Voyage to Laputa
I had already witnessed the Effects of such a Phænomenon in my Observations of the
Operations of the Load-stone set in the Flandona Gagnole or Astronomers
Cave of the Flying Island.
It was the further Contention of the Sacerdos that the Human Mind
existed in the Brain in the Form of Electricity which it would be
possible to rescue at the Time of Death and load into a Reservoir by Means of
employing the attractive and repulsive
Virtues of a small Load-stone to lead it there. He was of the Conviction that Mental
Libraries might be established in which Thousands of Human Minds might be preserved
eternally in this Manner. The Dominion of Death would be infallibly overthrown.
In his
Continuance he made Mention of a new Race of Natural Philosophers who dwelled
at the University of Biotech in a Region called Northern California in
Proximity to Brobdingnag. His Appellation for them was the Trans-humanists.
It was their and his firm Belief that the first superior Being who would
live for one Thousand years was already walking amongst us. He spake further of
the Abolition of Senescence and perpetual Rejuvenescence.
Mortality would be vanquished for ever and a new Race of Immortals would
walk the Earth. Endless Life and sublunary Happiness was promised. He avowed
that Death was the greatest Evil from which Nature always prompts us to
retreat, that whoever had one Foot in the Grave was sure to hold back the other
as strongly as he could and that long Life was the universal Desire of Mankind.
All such Desires would be satisfied and all Promises fulfilled by the Trans-humanists.
Universal Medicine and Immortality would soon be discovered. No more would
Mankind be subject to withering like the Pinks, the Tulips and the Grass.
He ended by intoning a Prayer in a Kynd of Rapture.
Happy
Nation where every Child hath at least a Chance of being immortal! Happy those
Immortals who will be born exempt from that universal Calamity of Human Nature,
have their Minds free and disengaged, without the weight and depression of
Spirits caused by the continual Apprehension of Death!
The
Congregation rehearsed these Words in Refrain and on compleation the Sacerdos
departed the Temple behind his Procession singing the names of illustrious Trans-humanists.
The Hour was
growing late and, as we issued from the Temple we were met by Lieutenant and
Mrs Prigg. We re-mounted in their Carriage as they put on Coats to
protect them from the Inclemency of the Weather as they journeyed Home to Dinga
floating above us.
That Night
in our Quarters Purefoy and I determined that we could not endure to
remain any longer in Ypsilosia as we had begun to find the Attempt to be
and not be the same Thing at the same Time inimical to the Composure of our
Brain and the Quietude of our Minds. It seem’d Purefoy and I wanted the
Intellectuals to atchieve the Adroitness exhibited by the Ypsilosians in this
Endeavour. For this Purpose we made a Shift in the Night to steal two Horses
from the Stable beneath the House. We rode Hard in the Darkness on the eastern
Bank of the River Phrenos to the Port. Here we first secretly cut the
Tether of the Officer charged with guarding The Adventure so that he
floated away towards the Heavens with a small Cry. Once he was dispatched the
Guard, who despized him, were pleased to assist in our boarding and in casting
off our Moorings. They then set about cutting the Cables of all of the Military
Vessels which might be capable of persuing us so that they too vanished into
the Sky. I gave the Order to the Master to depart the Harbour in the Night and
to set our Course towards the West Indies. This we did with all Haste.
Continuation
of A VOYAGE TO THE HOUYHNHNMS
I had
several Men died in my Ship of Calentures, so that I was forced to get Recruits
out of Barbados, and
the Leeward Islands, where I touched by the Direction of the Merchants
who employed me, which I had soon too much cause to repent; for I found
after-wards that most of them had been Bucaneers………
[1]
Large cannons
[2]
The point on a celestial sphere directly above an observer
[3]
Labouring men
[4] To
mock
[5] Small
swords and pistols
[6]
Genesis 11: 1-9
[7]
Sellers of books, newspapers and religious tracts
[8] An
18th century Lady’s cap with two lappets
[9]
Pomade; a scented ointment applied to the hair
[10]
Fine linen
[11] This refers to polymaths who were
expert in areas like Mathematics or Chemistry as well as Theology and Politics.
Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton were considered such.
[12]
Acts 4: 32-35
[13]
Genesis 3: 19 and 23
[14]
Isaiah 11: 6-9
[15]
Again Swift makes reference to the prophecy in Isaiah 11: 6-9
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