The author’s love of his country. He makes a proposal of much advantage to the king, which is rejected. The king’s great ignorance in politics. The learning of that country very imperfect and confined. The laws, and military affairs, and parties in the state.
Nothing but an extreme love of truth could have hindered me from concealing1 this part of my story. It was in vain to discover my resentments2, which were always turned into ridicule3; and I was forced to rest with patience, while my noble and beloved country was so injuriously treated. I am as heartily4 sorry as any of my readers can possibly be, that such an occasion was given: but this prince happened to be so curious and inquisitive5 upon every particular, that it could not consist either with gratitude6 or good manners, to refuse giving him what satisfaction I was able. Yet thus much I may be allowed to say in my own vindication7, that I artfully eluded8 many of his questions, and gave to every point a more favourable9 turn, by many degrees, than the strictness of truth would allow. For I have always borne that laudable partiality to my own country, which Dionysius Halicarnassensis, with so much justice, recommends to an historian: I would hide the frailties10 and deformities of my political mother, and place her virtues11 and beauties in the most advantageous13 light. This was my sincere endeavour in those many discourses14 I had with that monarch16, although it unfortunately failed of success.
But great allowances should be given to a king, who lives wholly secluded17 from the rest of the world, and must therefore be altogether unacquainted with the manners and customs that most prevail in other nations: the want of which knowledge will ever produce many prejudices, and a certain narrowness of thinking, from which we, and the politer countries of Europe, are wholly exempted18. And it would be hard indeed, if so remote a prince’s notions of virtue12 and vice19 were to be offered as a standard for all mankind.
To confirm what I have now said, and further to show the miserable20 effects of a confined education, I shall here insert a passage, which will hardly obtain belief. In hopes to ingratiate myself further into his majesty21’s favour, I told him of “an invention, discovered between three and four hundred years ago, to make a certain powder, into a heap of which, the smallest spark of fire falling, would kindle22 the whole in a moment, although it were as big as a mountain, and make it all fly up in the air together, with a noise and agitation23 greater than thunder. That a proper quantity of this powder rammed24 into a hollow tube of brass25 or iron, according to its bigness, would drive a ball of iron or lead, with such violence and speed, as nothing was able to sustain its force. That the largest balls thus discharged, would not only destroy whole ranks of an army at once, but batter26 the strongest walls to the ground, sink down ships, with a thousand men in each, to the bottom of the sea, and when linked together by a chain, would cut through masts and rigging, divide hundreds of bodies in the middle, and lay all waste before them. That we often put this powder into large hollow balls of iron, and discharged them by an engine into some city we were besieging27, which would rip up the pavements, tear the houses to pieces, burst and throw splinters on every side, dashing out the brains of all who came near. That I knew the ingredients very well, which were cheap and common; I understood the manner of compounding them, and could direct his workmen how to make those tubes, of a size proportionable to all other things in his majesty’s kingdom, and the largest need not be above a hundred feet long; twenty or thirty of which tubes, charged with the proper quantity of powder and balls, would batter down the walls of the strongest town in his dominions28 in a few hours, or destroy the whole metropolis30, if ever it should pretend to dispute his absolute commands.” This I humbly31 offered to his majesty, as a small tribute of acknowledgment, in turn for so many marks that I had received, of his royal favour and protection.
The king was struck with horror at the description I had given of those terrible engines, and the proposal I had made. “He was amazed, how so impotent and grovelling32 an insect as I” (these were his expressions) “could entertain such inhuman33 ideas, and in so familiar a manner, as to appear wholly unmoved at all the scenes of blood and desolation which I had painted as the common effects of those destructive machines; whereof,” he said, “some evil genius, enemy to mankind, must have been the first contriver34. As for himself, he protested, that although few things delighted him so much as new discoveries in art or in nature, yet he would rather lose half his kingdom, than be privy35 to such a secret; which he commanded me, as I valued any life, never to mention any more.”
A strange effect of narrow principles and views! that a prince possessed36 of every quality which procures37 veneration38, love, and esteem39; of strong parts, great wisdom, and profound learning, endowed with admirable talents, and almost adored by his subjects, should, from a nice, unnecessary scruple40, whereof in Europe we can have no conception, let slip an opportunity put into his hands that would have made him absolute master of the lives, the liberties, and the fortunes of his people! Neither do I say this, with the least intention to detract from the many virtues of that excellent king, whose character, I am sensible, will, on this account, be very much lessened41 in the opinion of an English reader: but I take this defect among them to have risen from their ignorance, by not having hitherto reduced politics into a science, as the more acute wits of Europe have done. For, I remember very well, in a discourse15 one day with the king, when I happened to say, “there were several thousand books among us written upon the art of government,” it gave him (directly contrary to my intention) a very mean opinion of our understandings. He professed43 both to abominate44 and despise all mystery, refinement45, and intrigue46, either in a prince or a minister. He could not tell what I meant by secrets of state, where an enemy, or some rival nation, were not in the case. He confined the knowledge of governing within very narrow bounds, to common sense and reason, to justice and lenity, to the speedy determination of civil and criminal causes; with some other obvious topics, which are not worth considering. And he gave it for his opinion, “that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.”
The learning of this people is very defective47, consisting only in morality, history, poetry, and mathematics, wherein they must be allowed to excel. But the last of these is wholly applied48 to what may be useful in life, to the improvement of agriculture, and all mechanical arts; so that among us, it would be little esteemed49. And as to ideas, entities50, abstractions, and transcendentals, I could never drive the least conception into their heads.
No law in that country must exceed in words the number of letters in their alphabet, which consists only of two and twenty. But indeed few of them extend even to that length. They are expressed in the most plain and simple terms, wherein those people are not mercurial51 enough to discover above one interpretation52: and to write a comment upon any law, is a capital crime. As to the decision of civil causes, or proceedings53 against criminals, their precedents54 are so few, that they have little reason to boast of any extraordinary skill in either.
They have had the art of printing, as well as the Chinese, time out of mind: but their libraries are not very large; for that of the king, which is reckoned the largest, does not amount to above a thousand volumes, placed in a gallery of twelve hundred feet long, whence I had liberty to borrow what books I pleased. The queen’s joiner had contrived55 in one of Glumdalclitch’s rooms, a kind of wooden machine five-and-twenty feet high, formed like a standing42 ladder; the steps were each fifty feet long. It was indeed a moveable pair of stairs, the lowest end placed at ten feet distance from the wall of the chamber56. The book I had a mind to read, was put up leaning against the wall: I first mounted to the upper step of the ladder, and turning my face towards the book, began at the top of the page, and so walking to the right and left about eight or ten paces, according to the length of the lines, till I had gotten a little below the level of mine eyes, and then descending57 gradually till I came to the bottom: after which I mounted again, and began the other page in the same manner, and so turned over the leaf, which I could easily do with both my hands, for it was as thick and stiff as a pasteboard, and in the largest folios not above eighteen or twenty feet long.
Their style is clear, masculine, and smooth, but not florid; for they avoid nothing more than multiplying unnecessary words, or using various expressions. I have perused58 many of their books, especially those in history and morality. Among the rest, I was much diverted with a little old treatise59, which always lay in Glumdalclitch’s bed chamber, and belonged to her governess, a grave elderly gentlewoman, who dealt in writings of morality and devotion. The book treats of the weakness of human kind, and is in little esteem, except among the women and the vulgar. However, I was curious to see what an author of that country could say upon such a subject. This writer went through all the usual topics of European moralists, showing “how diminutive60, contemptible61, and helpless an animal was man in his own nature; how unable to defend himself from inclemencies of the air, or the fury of wild beasts: how much he was excelled by one creature in strength, by another in speed, by a third in foresight62, by a fourth in industry.” He added, “that nature was degenerated63 in these latter declining ages of the world, and could now produce only small abortive64 births, in comparison of those in ancient times.” He said “it was very reasonable to think, not only that the species of men were originally much larger, but also that there must have been giants in former ages; which, as it is asserted by history and tradition, so it has been confirmed by huge bones and skulls65, casually66 dug up in several parts of the kingdom, far exceeding the common dwindled67 race of men in our days.” He argued, “that the very laws of nature absolutely required we should have been made, in the beginning of a size more large and robust68; not so liable to destruction from every little accident, of a tile falling from a house, or a stone cast from the hand of a boy, or being drowned in a little brook69.” From this way of reasoning, the author drew several moral applications, useful in the conduct of life, but needless here to repeat. For my own part, I could not avoid reflecting how universally this talent was spread, of drawing lectures in morality, or indeed rather matter of discontent and repining, from the quarrels we raise with nature. And I believe, upon a strict inquiry70, those quarrels might be shown as ill-grounded among us as they are among that people.
As to their military affairs, they boast that the king’s army consists of a hundred and seventy-six thousand foot, and thirty-two thousand horse: if that may be called an army, which is made up of tradesmen in the several cities, and farmers in the country, whose commanders are only the nobility and gentry71, without pay or reward. They are indeed perfect enough in their exercises, and under very good discipline, wherein I saw no great merit; for how should it be otherwise, where every farmer is under the command of his own landlord, and every citizen under that of the principal men in his own city, chosen after the manner of Venice, by ballot72?
I have often seen the militia73 of Lorbrulgrud drawn74 out to exercise, in a great field near the city of twenty miles square. They were in all not above twenty-five thousand foot, and six thousand horse; but it was impossible for me to compute75 their number, considering the space of ground they took up. A cavalier, mounted on a large steed, might be about ninety feet high. I have seen this whole body of horse, upon a word of command, draw their swords at once, and brandish76 them in the air. Imagination can figure nothing so grand, so surprising, and so astonishing! it looked as if ten thousand flashes of lightning were darting77 at the same time from every quarter of the sky.
I was curious to know how this prince, to whose dominions there is no access from any other country, came to think of armies, or to teach his people the practice of military discipline. But I was soon informed, both by conversation and reading their histories; for, in the course of many ages, they have been troubled with the same disease to which the whole race of mankind is subject; the nobility often contending for power, the people for liberty, and the king for absolute dominion29. All which, however happily tempered by the laws of that kingdom, have been sometimes violated by each of the three parties, and have more than once occasioned civil wars; the last whereof was happily put an end to by this prince’s grand-father, in a general composition; and the militia, then settled with common consent, has been ever since kept in the strictest duty.
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1
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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resentments
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| （因受虐待而）愤恨，不满，怨恨( resentment的名词复数 ) | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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vindication
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| n.洗冤，证实 | |
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eluded
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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frailties
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| n.脆弱( frailty的名词复数 )；虚弱；（性格或行为上的）弱点；缺点 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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discourses
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| 论文( discourse的名词复数 )； 演说； 讲道； 话语 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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exempted
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| 使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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rammed
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| v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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besieging
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的现在分词 ) | |
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dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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grovelling
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| adj.卑下的，奴颜婢膝的v.卑躬屈节，奴颜婢膝( grovel的现在分词 )；趴 | |
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inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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contriver
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| 发明者，创制者，筹划者 | |
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privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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procures
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的第三人称单数 )；拉皮条 | |
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veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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abominate
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| v.憎恨，厌恶 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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entities
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| 实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 ) | |
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mercurial
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| adj.善变的，活泼的 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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precedents
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| 引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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degenerated
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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abortive
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| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
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skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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ballot
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| n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票 | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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compute
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| v./n.计算，估计 | |
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brandish
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| v.挥舞，挥动；n.挥动，挥舞 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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