Containing some account of the strange rationality of the Symzonians.—Their simplicity of dress.—Manner of making cloth.—Circulating medium.—Taxes.
The friendly reception which had been given to me by the Best Man, and his commands that information should be freely communicated to the stranger, were a sufficient introduction for me to the notice and kind offices of this benevolent people. They required no other evidence that my rank was sufficiently elevated to render me a fit associate for them, than the fact that the Best Man had found my conversation so interesting as to induce him to pass several hours in my company. I was visited by all classes of the community, and gave scope to my eager desire to possess myself of all the useful knowledge and science possessed by the most intelligent of the people.
I gave my attention in the first instance almost exclusively to the Wise, in expectation of finding their conversation most instructive; but I soon found that like our philosophers they were more given to abstract theories than to practical knowledge, and would contend for hours to establish some fanciful hypothesis, to the neglect of plain and practical subjects of inquiry. I therefore turned my attention to the Good and the Useful, who never spoke on subjects they did not understand, and whose information, though not so abstruse as that of the Wise, extended to all matters of established utility. Moreover they could be implicitly relied on; for having no favourite hypotheses to maintain, and no selfish ends to answer, they explained every thing to me frankly and in an intelligible manner.
In this way, and by frequent interviews with the Best Man, as also by actual observation, I ascertained the following, among numberless other interesting facts:
That the fatal sin cupidity, which drove our first parents out of Paradise, is almost wholly unknown to the pure and uncontaminated Internals. They view the gifts of a bountiful Providence as an abundant supply of good things for the benefit of all, and sufficient to gratify all the rational wants of all the creatures for whom they are provided. They admire and adore the beneficence which could find pleasure in creating intelligent beings, and in providing for all their wants; and are emulous to approximate towards the spirit of love and goodness to which they are indebted for all their blessings. They are continually striving to improve themselves in this respect, by unceasing efforts to render one another, and all creatures within the sphere of their influence, happier and better; instead of exerting all their faculties, like the Externals, to gain advantages over their fellow men, to acquire the means of gratifying the worst passions of their nature, or to advance their own pleasures by rendering others miserable.
All the real wants of men in society are provided for in the most simple and natural manner. Usefulness is the test of value. That artificial wealth which exists amongst the Externals, and depends for its support upon their capricious passions, has no place with the Symzonians; our whole list of fancy articles, all our ornaments, every description of things which are only calculated to gratify pride or vanity, are considered by them as worse than useless. They wear garments because they defend the body, and are necessary to decency; but it never occurred to their simple minds, that the fairest work of an Infinite Being could be improved by trinkets and fripperies of man’s device. Their judgments are not so much perverted, nor their tastes so much depraved. Therefore, having ascertained a mode of providing necessary raiment in the most convenient manner, they one and all adopted it, and, by dressing alike, they maintain a perfect equality in their wants in that respect
Their cloth is a beautiful substance, manufactured in a peculiar manner, by a process resembling that employed by the natives of the South Sea Islands, and not unlike our mode of making paper.
The material is found in caves and amongst the rocks of the mountains, where a species of insects, larger than our spider, produce it in great abundance. They form webs somewhat like those of spiders, but of a firmer texture, and more compactly woven. These webs have the properties of asbestos, owing probably to the insects subsisting upon that or some similar substance. The inhabitants collect them with great care, and lay them in a mould of the dimensions of the piece of cloth to be made, placing so many of them one upon another as the intended thickness of the cloth requires. This done, a fluid preparation which hardens by the influence of fire, without losing its elasticity, is poured over it. It is then pressed firmly together, and passed over a heated cylinder, which completes the operation.
This cloth is extremely convenient. Being incombustible, like asbestos, it is only necessary to pass a garment through the fire to purify it perfectly. It is also very durable; and being exquisitely white, it corresponds admirably with the delicate complexions of the people, and the mild light of the region they inhabit.
All the divisions of labour necessary to the convenience and welfare of society, are here perfectly understood. The community is not bewildered by a voluminous and complex system of political economy, consisting of abstract principles, buried in abstract and unintelligible words, and rendered too intricate to be understood by those who have common sense, or too inapplicable to civilized society to be adopted by those who have any sort of sense—invented by the Wise men of one country to mislead the politicians of another, and to depress the Good and the Useful.