to the
language of the country, and in a few months was able to converse with the
learned men; some of whom I found morose and reserved, and others easy and
communicative; some were unwilling to teach another what they had with
difficulty learned themselves; and some showed that the end of their studies was
to gain the dignity of instructing.
    To the tutor of the young princes I recommended myself so much, that I was
presented to the emperour as a man of uncommon knowledge. The emperour asked me
many questions concerning my country and my travels; and though I cannot now
recollect anything that he uttered above the power of a common man, he dismissed
me astonished at his wisdom, and enamoured of his goodness.
    My credit was now so high, that the merchants, with whom I had travelled,
applied to me for recommendations to the ladies of the court. I was surprised at
their confidence of solicitation, and gently reproached them with their
practices on the road. They heard me with cold indifference, and showed no
tokens of shame or sorrow.
    They then urged their request with the offer of a bribe; but what I would
not do for kindness I would not do for money; and refused them, not because they
had injured me, but because I would not enable them to injure others; for I knew
they would have made use of my credit to cheat those who should buy their wares.
    Having resided at Agra till there was no more to be learned, I travelled
into Persia, where I saw many remains of ancient magnificence, and observed many
new accommodations of life. The Persians are a nation eminently social, and
their assemblies afforded me daily opportunities of remarking characters and
manners, and of tracing human nature through all its variations.
    From Persia I passed into Arabia, where I saw a nation at once pastoral and
warlike; who live without any settled habitation; whose only wealth is their
flocks and herds; and who have yet carried on, through all ages, an hereditary
war with all mankind, though they neither covet nor envy their possessions.«
 

                                   Chapter X

             Imlac's history continued. A dissertation upon poetry

Wherever I went, I found that Poetry was considered as the highest learning, and
regarded with a veneration somewhat approaching to that which man would pay to
the Angelick Nature. And it yet fills me with wonder, that, in almost all
countries, the most ancient poets are considered as the best: whether it be that
every other kind of knowledge is an acquisition gradually attained, and poetry
is a gift conferred at once; or that the first poetry