he strong influence of our own example, would probably prevent that
continual degeneracy of human nature so justly complained of in all ages.

"Add to this, the pleasure of seeing the various revolutions of states
and empires; the changes in the lower and upper world; ancient cities in
ruins, and obscure villages become the seats of kings; famous rivers
lessening into shallow brooks; the ocean leaving one coast dry, and
overwhelming another; the discovery of many countries yet unknown;
barbarity overrunning the politest nations, and the most barbarous become
civilized. I should then see the discovery of the longitude, the
perpetual motion, the universal medicine, and many other great
inventions, brought to the utmost perfection.

"What wonderful discoveries should we make in astronomy, by outliving and
confirming our own predictions; by observing the progress and return of
comets, with the changes of motion in the sun, moon, and stars!"

I enlarged upon many other topics, which the natural desire of endless
life, and sublunary happiness, could easily furnish me with. When I had
ended, and the sum of my discourse had been interpreted, as before, to
the rest of the company, there was a good deal of talk among them in the
language of the country, not without some laughter at my expense. At
last, the same gentleman who had been my interpreter, said, "he was
desired by the rest to set me right in a few mistakes, which I had fallen
into through the common imbecility of human nature, and upon that
allowance was less answerable for them. That this breed of _struldbrugs_
was peculiar to their country, for there were no such people either in
Balnibarbi or Japan, where he had the honour to be ambassador from his
majesty, and found the natives in both those kingdoms very hard to
believe that the fact was possible: and it appeared from my astonishment
when he first mentioned the matter to me, that I received it as a thing
wholly new, and scarcely to be credited. That in the two kingdoms above
mentioned, where, during his residence, he had conversed very much, he
observed long life to be the universal desire and wish of mankind. That
whoever had one foot in the grave was sure to hold back the other as
strongly as he could. That the oldest had still hopes of living one day
longer, and looked on death as the greatest evil, from which nature
always prompted him to retreat. Only in this island of Luggnagg the
appetite for living