Adventures in the Moon, and Other Worlds — John Shaqi
Adventures in the Moon, and Other WorldsRussell, John Russell, Earl
Science
Adventures in the Moon, and Other Worlds
Russell, John Russell, Earl
Utopias
Not far from the house of lost vices is a building, which contains lost
virtues, and I entered it as soon as I had left the other. These virtues
are not preserved in the same manner as the vices, but turned into a
liquid, and kept in bottles. On each bottle is declared what virtues are
within, together with the period of life or particular occasion that had
caused the loss. The good qualities lost by age appeared to be chiefly
benevolence and generosity, from which inconveniences men had been
released at very different times, some being qualified for avarice and
ill-nature much sooner than others. As I have lately made some remarks
on the indecorous regret of certain old men at the decay of their vices,
I must now do justice to their patience under the loss of virtue. Old
men have been known to shed tears on finding themselves unable to be
riotous; but I believe none have ever wept at failing to do a generous
action: and however culpable may be their discontent at missing their
pleasures, they amply atone for it by a perfect resignation under the
decay of liberality, and by giving up without a sigh the whole pleasure
of doing good. Covetousness has been appropriated to old men from the
earliest times; and when a man has nothing left except vigour in saving
money, and joy in keeping it from others, it would be a great cruelty to
forbid him the exercise of those qualities.
I here observed a young man seeking some particular bottle very
earnestly, which having found, he took possession of it with great joy.
It contained certain virtues, which had once been in the mind of his
father, and had dropped out as he proceeded through life. The father,
though very old, persisted in remaining alive, without considering how
much pain his son suffered by this usurpation. Amongst other virtues
which had failed him in his latter years, his generosity had quite
decayed; and his son had very dutifully undertaken a journey to the moon
in hope of recovering it. Having gained the bottle, he intended to
contrive that the old man should insensibly drink this generosity with
his tea, taking care to be present himself, that he might intercept any
bounty which might be the consequence of the draught.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account