“The Europeans,” answered Imlac, “are less unhappy than we, but they are not happy.  Human life is everywhere a state, in which much is to be endured, and little to be enjoyed.”

[a] See Idler, No. 33, and note:  and read, in Dr. Clarke’s travels, the effect produced on his mind by the distant prospect of the Holy City, and by the habitual reverence of his guides.  The passage exemplifies the sublime in narrative.  See his Travels in Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land, part ii. sect. i. 8vo. ed. vol. iv. p. 288.—­Ed.

CHAP.  XII.

THE STORY OF IMLAC CONTINUED.

“I am not yet willing,” said the prince, “to suppose, that happiness is so parsimoniously distributed to mortals; nor can believe but that, if I had the choice of life, I should be able to fill every day with pleasure.  I would injure no man, and should provoke no resentment:  I would relieve every distress, and should enjoy the benedictions of gratitude.  I would choose my friends among the wise, and my wife among the virtuous; and, therefore, should be in no danger from treachery or unkindness.  My children should, by my care, be learned and pious, and would repay to my age what their childhood had received.  What would dare to molest him, who might call, on every side, to thousands enriched by his bounty, or assisted by his power?  And why should not life glide quietly away in the soft reciprocation of protection and reverence?  All this may be done without the help of European refinements, which appear, by their effects, to be rather specious than useful.  Let us leave them, and pursue our journey.”

“From Palestine,” said Imlac, “I passed through many regions of Asia; in the more civilized kingdoms, as a trader, and among the barbarians of the mountains, as a pilgrim.  At last, I began to long for my native country, that I might repose, after my travels and fatigues, in the places where I had spent my earliest years, and gladden my old companions, with the recital of my adventures.  Often did I figure to myself those with whom I had sported away the gay hours of dawning life, sitting round me in its evening, wondering at my tales, and listening to my counsels.

“When this thought had taken possession of my mind, I considered every moment as wasted, which did not bring me nearer to Abissinia.  I hastened into Egypt, and, notwithstanding my impatience, was detained ten months in the contemplation of its ancient magnificence, and in inquiries after the remains of its ancient learning.  I found in Cairo a mixture of all nations; some brought thither by the love of knowledge, some by the hope of gain, and many by the desire of living, after their own manner, without observation, and of lying hid in the obscurity of multitudes:  for in a city, populous as Cairo, it is possible to obtain, at the same time, the gratifications of society, and the secrecy of solitude.

“From Cairo I travelled to Suez, and embarked on the Red sea, passing along the coast, till I arrived at the port from which I had departed twenty years before.  Here I joined myself to a caravan, and reentered my native country.