Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1863-05-21
AstOIphO's Visit to the Moon, and
what he Saw There.

to meet with for many a day. Mounted on
flying horse or hippogriif, ore of the heroes
ascends to the moon. He there finds cc-
lesta guide, who shows him the wonders of
the place 1t is an old idea that the moon
has something to do with madness, which
idea is conveyed in the words lunacy, moon
struck, aud perhaps others. Astolpho found
it SO. But we will extract from the chapter
itself an account of his discoveries:
The prince, we are told, discovered in this
region so new TO him, rivers, lakes, plains,
hills and valleys. Many beautiful cities and
castles enriched the landscape lie saw also
vast forests.an heard in them the sound of
horns and the barking of dogs, which led
him to conclude that the nymphs were fol-
lowing chase.
The knight, filled with wonder at all he
| saw, was conducted by the saint to valley,
where he st ,od an azed at the riches strewed
all around him. Well he might be so, for
that valley was the receptacle of things lost
on cath. either by mems fault or by the ef-
feet OF time and chance. Let no ono sup
pose we speak here of Kingdoms or of treas
| urcs they are the toys of Fortune, which
she dispenses in turning her wheel; we
! speak of things which she can neither give
nor take away. Such are reputation, which
appear at one time SO brilliant, and short
time after arc heard Of no more. Here also,
are countless vows and prayers for unattain-
able objects. lovers sishs and tears, time
spent in gaming, dressing and doing moth
ing, the leisure Of the dull and the intentions
of the lazy, bascless projects, intrigues and
plots; these and such like things fill all the
valley.
Astolpho had a great desire to understand
all that he saw, and which appeared to him
so extraordinary. Among the rest, he OBJ
served great mountain of blown bladders
from which issued indistinct noises. The
saint told him these were the dynasties of
Assyrian and Persian kings, once the won-
der Of the earth, of which now scarce the
name remains.
Astolpho could not help laughing when
the saint said to him:
"All these hooks of silver and gold that
you see arc the gifts Of courtiers to princes.
made in the hope of getting something bet
ter in return"
He also showed him garlands OF flowers
III which snarcs. were concealed; these were
batteries and adulations, meant to. deceive.
But nothing was so comical as the sight of
numerous grasshoppers which had burst
their lungs with chirping. These, he told
him, were sonncts, odes anG dcdications,
addressed by venal poets to great people.
The paladin beheld with wonder what
seemed lake of spilled milk.
at is, said the saint, "the charity done
by frightened misers on their dcathbeds."
1t would take too long to tell all that the
valley contained meannesscs, affcc tations,
pretended virtues and concealed vices were
there in abunda nee.
Among the rest, Astol pho perceived many
days of his own lost, and many imprudent
sallics which he had made, and would have
been glad not to have been reminded Of
But he also saw among SO many lost things
a great abundance Of one thing which men
arc apt to think they all possess, and do not
think it necessary to pray for-sood sense.
This commodity appeared under the form of
a liquor, most light and apt to evaporate-
1t was therefore kept in vials, firmly sealed.
One of these was labelled, "Thc sense of the
Paadin Orlando"
All the bottles were tickcted, and the sage
placed one in Astolpho's hand, which he
found was his own. 1t was more than half
full. lie was surprised to find there many
other vials which contained almost the whole
of the wits Of many persons who passed
among men for wise. All, how easy it is to
lose ones reason! Some lose theirs by
yielding to the sway of the passions some
in Drawing tempests and shoals in search OF
wealth; some by trusting too much to the
promises of the great; some by setting their
hearts Oh trihes. AS might have been ex-
pccted, the bottles which held the wits of
astrologcrs, inventors, metaphyscians, and
above all, of poets, were in general the best
filled of all.
Astolpho took his bottle, put it to his nose
and inhaled it all and Turpin assures us
that he was for long time afterwards as
sage as one could wish but the archbishop
adds that there was reason to fear that some
of the precious mud afterwards found its
way back into the bottle The paadin took
also the bottle which belonged to Orlando.
1t was a large one and quite full.
Before quitting the planetary region, AS
tolpho was conducted to an edifce OH the
borders of a river. He was shown an i'm
mensc hall FULL of bundles of silk, linen, cot
ton and wool. A Thousand different colors,
brilliant or dull, some quite black, were
among these skeins. In one part of the half
an old woman was busy winding off yarns
from all these different bundles. When she
had finished skein, another ancient dame
took it and placed it with others; third
selected from the tlecces spun and mingled
them in due proportions The paladin in |