Читать книгу Another World: Fragments from the Star City of Montalluyah - Benjamin Lumley - Страница 56

"Go onward! lose not faith. Let the goodness of God support you, and the beauty and fruitfulness of the work cheer you; and when you are blest with success forget not the source whence all blessings come."

Several years passed before my plans were matured. I reduced all to writing. On one side of the page I noted my resolutions, with the means of carrying them out; on the other side, every objection that could be raised: on a third page I wrote down the answers. Every objection was invited, every difficulty anticipated, and every detail thoroughly weighed; nothing was thought too great or too insignificant.

I submitted the whole to my wisest councillors, and encouraged them to speak their inmost thoughts. They were lost in admiration, but entreated me to abandon my design. My life, they said, would be the penalty were I to attempt to carry out any part of my projects.

Some said that the design would be beautiful as the subject of a poem—as the aspiration of a great mind to arrive at an ideal perfection, which could not however be realised until evil itself had ceased to exist. That to attempt to move the Mestua Mountain[1] would be a task not less hopeless: that I might as well endeavour to walk up our great Cataract[2] without being engulfed in the sea of foaming waters! Not one offered encouragement to proceed with the good work.

[Footnote 1: Supposed to be the largest and firmest of mountains, which, since its first upheaving, has resisted the inroads of our mighty seas, as well as the most violent electrical disturbances of our world.]

[Footnote 2: See p. 44.]

Neither their arguments nor their prayers deterred me. I proceeded cautiously, but with a resolution that feared not death.

Aware, however, of the deadly peril besetting me, I selected twelve men, remarkable for wisdom in council and energy in action, on each of whom in succession the authority should devolve if I were cut off. I initiated them into my plans, and thus hoped that one devoted man would always be ready to advance the good work.

Whilst providing for my death, I took measures for protecting my life against any sudden outburst of fury. I turned my palace into a fortress, that I might not be cut off in a moment of sudden unreasoning wrath, that myself and my adherents might not be scoffed at as madmen, and my plans for the good of all retarded, if not wholly frustrated. These motives I proclaimed to the people.

The opposing obstacles were stupendous. I braved death in every shape. I passed one mighty peril only to meet another more formidable, but fearlessly stood every trial, and did not hesitate to act where danger was greatest. Nothing appalled me. I never faltered from my resolves, and after years of mighty struggles, my triumph was complete. I was blessed and adored by all the people, small and great, and my name will live in Montalluyah through all generations.

I gave Laws, and indicated the precautions to be taken to secure their observance. I initiated discoveries. Inexhaustible stores of abundance were called into existence, enriching the poor and making the rich happy in their possessions. And the eventual result of the organization I completed was the removal of the incentives to war, strife, avarice and other evils, the triumph of good, and the moral and material well-being of the community.

Amongst the many subjects to which I successfully devoted my attention were:

The care and protection of Woman, the development of her capabilities and graces, the preservation and increase of her beauty, Marriage and its incidents.

The birth, growth, and education of the future Man and of the Mother of

Men; the enlarging and ennobling the moral and intellectual powers.

Preservation of health—prevention and cure of disease—prolongation of

Life, and augmentation of the faculties of appreciation and enjoyment.

The increase of our flocks and herds, and of other sources of supply for the food of man. The discovery and creation of new means of sustenance and the amelioration of the old.

The discovery of the properties of birds, beasts, fishes, insects, reptiles, and creeping things, and their application to the service of man.

The invention of new instruments, the enlargement of the powers of those already known, the development of electrical and mechanical powers, and the subjecting the workings of nature to the uses of man.

The care and protection in health and in sickness of the lower orders, and of those whom nature had not qualified to take care of themselves.

Occupation for all, each according to his capabilities and the bent of his genius, as ascertained and developed by education.

The government of the country; the enlargement and improvement of the cities with a view to the health, comfort, and progressive elevation of the community.