ut of different countries, to venture with
me, after the losses I had sustained, and the hazards I had run?" I
said, "they were fellows of desperate fortunes, forced to fly from the
places of their birth on account of their poverty or their crimes. Some
were undone by lawsuits; others spent all they had in drinking, whoring,
and gaming; others fled for treason; many for murder, theft, poisoning,
robbery, perjury, forgery, coining false money, for committing rapes, or
sodomy; for flying from their colours, or deserting to the enemy; and
most of them had broken prison; none of these durst return to their
native countries, for fear of being hanged, or of starving in a jail; and
therefore they were under the necessity of seeking a livelihood in other
places."

During this discourse, my master was pleased to interrupt me several
times. I had made use of many circumlocutions in describing to him the
nature of the several crimes for which most of our crew had been forced
to fly their country. This labour took up several days' conversation,
before he was able to comprehend me. He was wholly at a loss to know
what could be the use or necessity of practising those vices. To clear
up which, I endeavoured to give some ideas of the desire of power and
riches; of the terrible effects of lust, intemperance, malice, and envy.
All this I was forced to define and describe by putting cases and making
suppositions. After which, like one whose imagination was struck with
something never seen or heard of before, he would lift up his eyes with
amazement and indignation. Power, government, war, law, punishment, and
a thousand other things, had no terms wherein that language could express
them, which made the difficulty almost insuperable, to give my master any
conception of what I meant. But being of an excellent understanding,
much improved by contemplation and converse, he at last arrived at a
competent knowledge of what human nature, in our parts of the world, is
capable to perform, and desired I would give him some particular account
of that land which we call Europe, but especially of my own country.

CHAPTER V.

The author at his master's command, informs him of the state of England.
The causes of war among the princes of Europe. The author begins to
explain the English constitution.

The reader may please to observe, that the following extract of many
conversations I had with my master, contains a summary of the most