scription I gave of them, must certainly be, were not rather encouraged
to be instructors of others in wisdom and knowledge." In answer to which
I assured his honour, "that in all points out of their own trade, they
were usually the most ignorant and stupid generation among us, the most
despicable in common conversation, avowed enemies to all knowledge and
learning, and equally disposed to pervert the general reason of mankind
in every other subject of discourse as in that of their own profession."

CHAPTER VI.

A continuation of the state of England under Queen Anne. The character
of a first minister of state in European courts.

My master was yet wholly at a loss to understand what motives could
incite this race of lawyers to perplex, disquiet, and weary themselves,
and engage in a confederacy of injustice, merely for the sake of injuring
their fellow-animals; neither could he comprehend what I meant in saying,
they did it for hire. Whereupon I was at much pains to describe to him
the use of money, the materials it was made of, and the value of the
metals; "that when a _Yahoo_ had got a great store of this precious
substance, he was able to purchase whatever he had a mind to; the finest
clothing, the noblest houses, great tracts of land, the most costly meats
and drinks, and have his choice of the most beautiful females. Therefore
since money alone was able to perform all these feats, our _Yahoos_
thought they could never have enough of it to spend, or to save, as they
found themselves inclined, from their natural bent either to profusion or
avarice; that the rich man enjoyed the fruit of the poor man's labour,
and the latter were a thousand to one in proportion to the former; that
the bulk of our people were forced to live miserably, by labouring every
day for small wages, to make a few live plentifully."

I enlarged myself much on these, and many other particulars to the same
purpose; but his honour was still to seek; for he went upon a
supposition, that all animals had a title to their share in the
productions of the earth, and especially those who presided over the
rest. Therefore he desired I would let him know, "what these costly
meats were, and how any of us happened to want them?" Whereupon I
enumerated as many sorts as came into my head, with the various methods
of dressing them, which could not be done without sending vessels by sea
to every part of the world, as well for liquors to drink as fo