Before setting out on my homeward journey, I briefly inspected the royal carriage. I now discovered, what had previously escaped my notice, that underneath, and attached to the side of the carriage, were inflated skins filled with natural gas. These gave a buoyancy to the machine. Indeed, it was only by the use of strong ropes made of grass that it was kept on the earth. On stepping into the carriage, these ropes were unhooked; it then began to ascend, and on reaching an altitude of forty yards we got into what the prince called node currents, which carried us along at the rate of 300 miles an hour. We soon reached the public buildings referred to in a previous part of my story, and from thence he conducted me through the subterranean passage until we reached fair Tawe’s shore.
I urged the prince to accompany me to my parents’ cottage, which he declined. He said that he had a special engagement with the fairies of East Anglia—having arranged to spend the night with them at their annual dance on the verdant fields below Derwent Fawr. I subsequently learnt, that Prince Tippin was engaged to a princess of the above tribe, of the name of Titania; and that they frequently met on Derwent’s green fields “to dance the nights to the whistling wind.”
On entering my home I found my parents mourning for me as one who was dead. At first they would not believe me to be their son, but thought it was their son’s spirit which had come to visit them. I soon convinced them of being still in the flesh,—that I was no ghost, no spirit. I had then to give them a history of my travels, to tell them of the strange sights I had seen, the singular people I had met, the character of the kingdom I had visited; but on my telling them of the gold and precious stones with which the land abounded, my mother upbraided me for coming away without a large lump of gold. I told her that I did not covet other people’s property, and that I should have acted extremely wrong had I taken away the gold of a people from whom I had received so much kindness.
I remained at home for several weeks, and occasionally went to school. I found my old enemy as cruel as ever, and I came to the conclusion that on the very first opportunity I would return to the fairy kingdom beneath the bay.
On wandering along the strand one fine morning, I was hailed by a voice I could never forget. The prince informed me that having just returned from visiting his fair Titania, he was about to return to Dinas Aur, and urged me to return with him. I readily yielded to his wishes, and sending a message to my parents where I had gone, we started off, and returned by means of the aërial carriage.
As I anticipated, my return to Dinas Aur, was hailed with extreme delight by the few persons I had come in contact with on my previous visit. His majesty the king gave me a hearty welcome, and expressed a hope that I would continue to sojourn in his dominions at least for a season. I expressed my gratitude to his majesty for his extreme kindness, and informed him that as my parents were acquainted with the place of my abode, I was the less anxious to return home than if that knowledge was not in their possession.
The king replied, that I had shown, by sending the message I had, that I was a dutiful son, fond of my mother and father, that I had shown I did not want to give them a moment’s uneasiness and pain. His majesty then dismissed me, and placed me under the special protection of his chancellor, Prince Tippin. This arrangement afforded me inexpressible satisfaction and delight, as on all occasions I had received from him every consideration and courtesy.
In my subsequent intercourse with the prince, I found him to be a man without prejudice, wholly free from bigotry, and in all circumstances never showing the least indication of passion. He loved purity and goodness wherever he found those virtues. He abominated cant, and loathed low tricks which no one who wished to be regarded as honourable would resort to in order to gain a special end. In his own beautiful language, which I soon learned, he would use a string of adjectives to characterize that class of men, who are mean, selfish, unprincipled; men who have no claim to be admitted into the society of pure and noble and unselfish individuals. “Look,” he said one day to me, “at your public men, from the highest to the lowest; they are influenced by the love of power and fame, and you find that when a particular end is to be secured they are indifferent as to the means to be employed. In appointing persons to fill important posts, the claims of your best men are wholly ignored. You sadly want men at the head of your affairs who are just, magnanimous, and patriotic, men who are simply ambitious to secure the welfare and weal of the people.”
Myself. I must own, your excellency, that there is too much truth in your strictures and censures. But we are improving, and shall ultimately become a pure and perfect race. Are there no persons of the class you have described in your country? Is your race perfectly free from selfishness and faction?
“Certainly; we are all equal. As citizens and subjects we occupy the same position. Our best men occupy all posts in the civil government of the country. Here again, all people readily obey the law: delinquents are banished the kingdom.”