ment; observing that self-preservation was of the inn were a-foot. Peregrine, seeing the first law of nature; that his connexions it would be impossible to obtain any sort of with the unhappy lunatic were but slight; indemnification for the time he had lost, and that it could not be reasonably expected and the perturbation of his spirits hindering that he would run such risks for his service, him from enjoying repose, which was, moreas were declined by one who had set out with over, obstructed by the noise of Pallet and him from England on the footing of a com- his attendants, put on his clothes at once, panion. This insinuation introduced a dis- and, in exceeding ill humour, arrived at the pute upon the nature of benevolence and the spot where this triumvirate stood debating moral sense, which, the republican argued, about the means of overpowering the furious existed independent of any private considera- painter, who still continued his song of oaths tion, and could never be affected by any con- and execrations, and made sundry efforts to tingent circumstance of time and fortune; break open the door. Chagrined as our while the other, who abhorred his principles, hero was, he could not help laughing when asserted the duties and excellence of private he heard how the patient had been treated; friendship with infinite rancour of altercation. and his indignation changing into compasDuring the hottest of the argument, they sion, he called to him through the key-hole, were joined by the capuchin, who, being as- desiring to know the reason of his distracted tonished to see them thus virulently engaged behaviour. Pallet no sooner recognised his at the door, and to hear the painter bellow-voice, than lowering his own to a whimpering within the chamber, conjured them, in the name of God, to tell him the cause of that confusion which had kept the whole house in continual alarm during the best part of the night, and seemed to be the immediate work of the devil and his angels. When the governor gave him to understand that Pallet was visited with an evil spirit, he muttered a prayer of St Antonio de Padua, and undertook to cure the painter, provided he could be secured, so as that he might, without danger to himself, burn part of a certain relic under his nose, which he assured them was equal to the miraculous power of Eleazar's ring. They expressed great curiosity to know what this treasure was; and the priest was prevailed upon to tell them, in confidence, that it was a collection of the parings of the nails belonging to those two madmen whom Jesus purged of the legion of devils that afterwards entered the swine. So saying, he pulled from one of his pockets a small Pickle told him that his conduct had been box, containing about an ounce of the pair- so extravagant, as to confirm the whole comings of an horse's hoof; at the sight of which pany in the belief that he was actually dethe governor could not help smiling, on ac-prived of his senses; on which supposition count of the grossness of the imposition. The doctor asked, with a supercilious smile, whether those maniacs, whom Jesus cured, were of the sorrel complexion, or dapple grey; for, from the texture of these parings, he could prove, that the original owners were of the quadruped order, and even distinguish that their feet had been fortified with shoes of iron.

The mendicant, who bore an inveterate grudge against this son of Esculapius, ever since he had made so free with the catholic religion, replied, with great bitterness, that he was a wretch, with whom no christian ought to communicate; that the vengeance of Heaven would one day overtake him, on account of his profanity; and that his heart was shod with a metal much harder than iron, which nothing but hell-fire would be able to melt.

It was now broad day, and all the servants

ing tone,-" My dear friend," said he, "I have at last detected the ruffians who have persecuted me so much. I caught them in the fact of suffocating me with cold water; and by the Lord I will be revenged, or may I never live to finish my Cleopatra. For the love of God, open the door, and I will make that conceited pagan, that pretender to taste, that false devotee of the ancients, who poisons people with sillykickabies and devil's dung; I say, I will make him a monument of my wrath, and an example to all the cheats and impostors of the faculty and as for that thick-headed insolent pedant, his confederate, who emptied my own jordan upon me while I slept, he had better been in his beloved Paris, hatching schemes for his friend the pretender, than incur the effects of my resentment; gadsbodikins! I won't leave him a windpipe for the hangman to stop at the end of another rebellion."

Mr Jolter and the doctor had acted the part of friends, in doing that which they thought most conducive to his recovery; so that their concern merited his thankful acknowledgment, instead of his frantic menaces; that, for his own part, he would be the first to condemn him, as one utterly bereft of his wits, and give orders for his being secured as a madman, unless he would immediately give a proof of his sanity, by laying aside his sword, composing his spirits, and thanking his injured friends for their care of his person.

This alternative quieted his transports in a moment; he was terrified at the apprehension of being treated like a bedlamite, being dubious of the state of his own brain; and, on the other hand, had conceived such a horror and antipathy for his tormentors, that, far from believing himself obliged by what they had done, he could not even think of them without the utmost rage and detesta

tion. He, therefore, in the most tranquil voice he could assume, protested, that he never was less out of his senses than at present, though he did not know how long he might retain them, if he should be considered in the light of a lunatic; that, in order to prove his being compos mentis, he was willing to sacrifice the resentment he so justly harboured against those who, by their malice, had brought him to this pass; but, as he apprehended it would be the greatest sign of madness he could exhibit, to thank them for the mischiefs they had brought upon him, he desired to be excused from making any such concession: and swore he would endure every thing, rather than be guilty of such mean absurdity.

Peregrine held a consultation upon this reply, when the governor and physician strenuously argued against any capitulation with a maniac, and proposed that some method might be taken to seize, fetter, and convey him into a dark room, where he might be treated according to the rules of art. But the capuchin, understanding the circumstances of the case, undertook to restore him to his former state, without having recourse to any such violent measures. Pickle, who was a better judge of the affair than any person present, opened the door without further hesitation, and displayed the poor painter standing with a woful countenance, shivering in his shirt, which was as wet as if he had been dragged through the Dender: a spectacle which gave such offence to the chaste eyes of the Hebrew's mistress, who was by this time one of the spectators, that she turned her head another way, and withdrew to her own room, exclaiming against the indecent practices of men.

giving him such disturbance. He declared, in the most solemn manner, that he had no other intention than that of contributing towards his welfare, and that his behaviour was the result of the physician's prescription, which he affirmed was absolutely necessary for the recovery of his health.

The painter, who had very little gall in his disposition, was satisfied with this apology; but his resentment, which was before divided, now glowed with double fire against his first fellow-traveller, whom he looked upon as the author of all the mischances he had undergone, and marked out for his vengeance accordingly. Yet the doors of reconciliation were not shut against the doctor, who, with great justice, might have transferred this load of offence from himself to Peregrine, who was, without doubt, the source of the painter's misfortune: but, in that case, he must have owned himself mistaken in his medical capacity; and he did not think the friendship of Pallet important enough to be retrieved by such condescension; so that he resolved to neglect him entirely, and gradually forget the former correspondence he had maintained with a person whom he deemed so unworthy of his notice.

CHAPTER LVIII.

Peregrine, almost distracted with his disappointments, conjures the fair Fleming to permit his visits at Brussels-she withdraws from his pursuit.

THINGS being thus adjusted, and all the company dressed, they went to breakfast Pallet, seeing the young gentleman enter, about five in the morning; and in less than ran to him, and, shaking him by the hand, an hour after were seated in the diligence, called him his best friend, and said he had where a profound silence prevailed. Pererescued him from those who had a design grine, who used to be the life of the society, against his life. The priest would have pro- was extremely pensive and melancholy on duced his parings, and applied them to his account of his mishap; the Israelite and his nose, but was hindered by Pickle, who advis- Dulcinea dejected, in consequence of their ed the patient to shift himself, and put on disgrace; the poet absorpt in lofty meditahis clothes. This being done with great or- tion, the painter in schemes of revenge, der and deliberation, Mr Jolter, who, with while Jolter, rocked by the motion of the carthe doctor, had kept a wary distance, in ex- riage, made himself amends for the want of pectation of seeing some strange effects of rest he had sustained; and the mendicant, his distraction, began to believe that he had with his fair charge, were infected by the been guilty of a mistake, and accused the cloudy aspect of our youth, in whose disapphysician of having misled him by his false pointment each of them, for different reasons, diagnostic. The doctor still insisted upon bore no inconsiderable share. This general his former declaration, assuring him, that languor and recess from all bodily exercise although Pallet enjoyed a short interval for disposed them all to receive the gentle yoke the present, the delirium would soon recur, of slumber; and, in half an hour after they unless they would profit by this momentary had embarked, there was not one of them calm, and ordered him to be blooded, blis-awake, except our hero and his mistress, tered, and purged, with all imaginable dispatch.

unless the capuchin was pleased to counterfeit sleep, in order to indulge our young genThe governor, however, notwithstanding tleman with an opportunity of enjoying some this caution, advanced to the injured party, private conversation with his beauteous and begged pardon for the share he had inward.

Peregrine did not neglect the occasion;| but, on the contrary, seized the first minute, and, in gentle murinurs, lamented his hard hap in being thus the sport of fortune. He assured her (and that with great sincerity), that all the cross accidents of his life had not cost him one half of the vexation and keenness of chagrin which he had suffered last night; and that, now he was on the brink of parting from her, he should be overwhelmed with the blackest despair, if she would not extend her compassion so far as to give him an opportunity of sighing at her feet in Brussels, during the few days his affairs would permit him to spend in that city.

This young lady, with an air of mortification, expressed her sorrow for being the innocent cause of his anxiety; said, she hoped last night's adventure would be a salutary warning to both their souls, for she was persuaded that her virtue was protected by the intervention of Heaven; that, whatever impression it might have made upon him, she was enabled by it to adhere to that duty from which her passion had begun to swerve; and, beseeching him to forget her for his own peace, gave him to understand, that neither the plan she had laid down for her own conduct, nor the dictates of her honour, would allow her to receive his visits, or carry on any other correspondence with him, while she was restricted by the articles of her marriage vow.

Thus soothed, he regained the empire of himself, and, by degrees, recovered his serenity. But this was not the case with his Amanda, who, from this sample of his disposition, dreaded the impetuosity of his youth, and was effectually deterred from entering into any engagements that might subject her peace and reputation to the rash effects of such a violent spirit. Though she was captivated by his person and accomplishments, she had reflection enough to foresee, that the longer she countenanced his passion, her own heart would be more and more irretrievably engaged, and the quiet of her life the more exposed to continual interruption. She therefore profited by these considerations, and a sense of religious honour, which helped her to withstand the suggestions of inclination, and resolved to amuse her lover with false hopes, until she should have it in her power to relinquish his conversation, without running any risk of suffering by the inconsiderate sallies of his love. It was with this view that she desired he would not insist upon attending her to her mother's house, when the diligence arrived at Brussels; and he, cajoled by her artifice, took a formal leave of her, together with the other strangers, fixing his habitation at the inn to which he and his fellow-travellers had been directed, in the impatient expectation of receiving a kind summons from her within the limited time.

Meanwhile, in order to divert his imagination, he went to see the stadthouse, park, and arsenal, took a superficial view of the bookseller's cabinet of curiosities, and spent the evening at the Italian opera, which was at that time exhibited for the entertainment of Prince Charles of Lorraine, then governor of the Low Countries. In short, the stated period was almost elapsed, when Peregrine received a letter to this purpose:

This explanation produced such a violent effect upon her admirer, that he was for some minutes deprived of the faculty of speech; which he no sooner recovered, than he gave vent to the most unbridled transports of passion. He taxed her with barbarity and indifference; told her, that she had robbed him of his reason and internal peace; that he would follow her to the ends of the earth, and cease to live sooner than cease to love "SIR:-If you knew what violence I do my her; that he would sacrifice the innocent fool own heart, in declaring that I have withwho had been the occasion of all this disquiet, drawn myself forever from your addresses, and murder every man whom he considered you would surely applaud the sacrifice I make as an obstruction to his views. In a word, to virtue, and strive to imitate this example his passions, which had continued so long in of self-denial. Yes, Sir, Heaven hath lent a state of the highest fermentation, together me grace to struggle with my guilty passion, with the want of that repose which calms and and henceforth to avoid the dangerous sight quiets the perturbation of the spirits, had of him who inspired it. I therefore conjure wrought him up to a pitch of real distraction. you, by the regard you ought to have for the While he uttered those delirious expressions, eternal welfare of us both, as well as by the the tears ran down his cheeks; and he under-esteem and affection you profess, to war went such agitation that the tender heart of with your unruly inclination, and desist from the fair Fleming was affected with his con- all attempts of frustrating the laudable resodition; and, while her own face was bedew-lution I have made. Seek not to invade the ed with the streams of sympathy, she begged peace of one who loves you, to disturb the him, for Heaven's sake, to be composed; and promised, for his satisfaction, to abate somewhat of the rigour of her purpose. Consoled by this kind declaration, he recollected himself; and, taking out his pencil, gave her his address, when she had assured him that he should hear from her in four-and-twenty hours at farthest after their separation.

quiet of a family that never did you wrong, and to alienate the thoughts of a weak woman from a deserving man, who, by the most sacred claim, ought to have the full possession of her heart."

This billet, without either date or subscription, banished all remains of discretion from the mind of our hero, who ran instantly to

a diligent and minute inquiry, which he forthwith resolved to set on foot. He had reason to believe that her own heart would espouse his cause, in spite of her virtue's determination, and did not despair of meeting with the capuchin, whose good offices he knew he could at any time command. Comforted with these reflections, the tempest of his soul subsided. In less than two hours he joined his company, with an air of composure, and asked the painter's forgiveness for the freedom he had taken-the cause of which he promised hereafter to explain. Pallet was glad of being reconciled on any terms to one whose counte nance supported him in equilibrio with his antagonist the doctor; and Mr Jolter was rejoiced beyond measure at his pupil's recovery.

CHAPTER LIX.

Peregrine meets with Mrs Hornbeck, and is consoled for his loss-his valet de chambre is embroiled with her duenna, whom, however, he finds means to appease.

the landlord, in all the ecstasy of madness, and demanded to see the messenger who brought the letter, on pain of putting his whole family to the sword. The innkeeper, terrified by his looks and menaces, fell upon his knees, protesting in the face of heaven, that he was utterly ignorant and innocent of any thing that could give him offence, and that the billet was brought by a person whom he did not know, and who retired immediately, saying it required no answer. He then gave utterance to his fury in a thousand imprecations and invectives against the writer, whom he dishonoured with the appellations of a coquette, a jilt, an adventurer, who, by means of a pimping priest, had defrauded him of his money. He denounced vengeance against the mendicant, whom he swore he would destroy, if ever he set eyes on him again. The painter, unluckily appearing during this paroxysm of rage, he seized him by the throat, saying, he was ruined by his accursed folly; and, in all likelihood, poor Pallet would have been strangled, had not Jolter interposed in his behalf, beseeching his pupil to have mercy upon the sufferer, and, with infinite anxiety, desiring to know the cause of this violent assault. He received no answer but a string of incoherent curses. When the painter, with unspeakable astonishment, took God to witness that he had done nothing to disoblige him, the governor began to think, in sad earnest, that Peregrine's vivacity had at length risen to the transports of actual madness, and was himself almost distracted with this supposition. That he might the better judge what remedy ought to be applied, he used his whole influence, and practised all his eloquence upon the youth, in order to learn the immediate Having made a circuit round the walk, cause of his delirium. He employed the most and narrowly observed every female in the pathetic entreaties, and even shed tears in place, he perceived at some distance the the course of his supplication; so that Pic-livery of Hornbeck upon a lacquey that stood kle (the first violence of the hurricane being blown over) was ashamed of his own imprudence, and retired to his chamber, in order to re-collect his dissipated thoughts. There he shut himself up, and, for the second time perusing the fatal epistle, began to waver in his opinion of the author's character and intention. He sometimes considered her as one of those nymphs who, under the mask of innocence and simplicity, practise upon the hearts and purses of unwary and unexperienced youths. This was the suggestion of his wrath, inflamed by disappointment; but when he reflected upon the circumstances of her behaviour, and recalled her particular charms to his imagination, the severity of his censure gave way, and his heart declared in favour of her sincerity. Yet even this consideration aggravated the sense of his loss, and he was in danger of relapsing into his former distraction, when his passion was a little becalmed by the hope of seeing her again, either by accident, or in the course of

EVERY thing having thus resumed its natural channel, they dined together in great tranquillity. In the afternoon, Peregrine, on pretence of staying at home to write letters, while his companions were at the coffeehouse, ordered a coach to be called, and, with his valet de chambre, who was the only person acquainted with the present state of his thoughts, set out for the promenade, to which all the ladies of fashion resort in the evening during the summer season, in hopes of seeing his fugitive among the rest.

at the back of a coach; upon which he ordered his man to reconnoitre the said carriage, while he pulled up his glasses, that he might not be discovered, before he should have received some intelligence, by which he might conduct himself on this unexpected occasion, that already began to interfere with the purpose of his coming thither, though it could not dispute his attention with the idea of his charming unknown.

His Mercury having made his observations, reported, that there was nobody in the coach but Mrs Hornbeck and an elderly woman, who had all the air of a duenna, and that the servant was not the same footman that had attended them in France. Encouraged by this information, our hero ordered himself to be driven close up to that side of their convenience on which his old mistress sat; and accosted her with the usual salutation. This lady no sooner beheld her gallant, than her cheeks reddened with a double glow; and she exclaimed," Dear

brother, I am overjoyed to see you; pray come into our coach." He took the hint immediately, and, complying with her request, embraced this new sister with great affection.

which Peregrine learned, that the true cause of her being left behind at Brussels, while her husband proceeded to Spa, was the dread of the company and familiarities of that place, to which his jealousy durst not expose her; and that she had lived three weeks in a convent at Lisle, from which she was deliver

he could no longer exist without her company; and, lastly, our lover understood, that her governante was a mere dragon, who had been recommended to him by a Spanish merchant, whose wife she attended to her dying day: but she very much questioned whether or not her fidelity was proof enough against money and strong waters. Peregrine assured her the experiment should be tried before parting; and they agreed to pass the night at Versailles, provided his endeavours should succeed.

Perceiving that her attendant was very much surprised and alarmed at this unexpected meeting, she, in order to banish her sus-ed by his own free motion, because, indeed, picion, and at the same time give her lover his cue, told him, that his brother (meaning her husband) was gone to the Spa for a few weeks, by the advice of physicians, on account of his ill state of health; and that, from his last letter, she had the pleasure to tell him, he was in a fair way of doing well. The young gentleman expressed his satisfaction at this piece of news; observing, with an air of fraternal concern, that if his brother had not made too free with his constitution, his friends in England would have had no occasion to repine at his absence and want of health, by which he was banished from his own country and connexions. He then asked (with an affectation of surprise), why she had not accompanied her spouse; and was given to understand, that his tenderness of affection would not suffer him to expose her to the fatigues of the journey, which lay among rocks that were almost inacces

sible.

The duenna's doubts being eased by this preamble of conversation, he changed the subject to the pleasures of the place, and, among other such questions, inquired if she had as yet visited Versailles. This is a public-house, situated upon the canal, at the distance of about two miles from town, accommodated with tolerable gardens for the entertainment of company. When she replied in the negative, he proposed to accompany her thither immediately; but the governante, who had hitherto sat silent, objected to this proposal, telling them, in broken English, that as the lady was under her care, she could not answer to Mr Hornbeck for allowing her to go and visit such a suspicious place. "As for that matter, madam," said the confident gallant, "give yourself no trouble; the consequences shall be at my peril, and I will undertake to insure you against my brother's resentment." So saying, he directed the coachman to the place, and ordered his own to follow, under the auspices of his valet de chambre, while the old gentlewoman, overruled by his assurance, quietly submitted to his authority.

Being arrived at the place, he handed the ladies from the coach, and then, for the first time, observed that the duenna was lame; a circumstance of which he did not scruple to take the advantage; for they had scarce alighted, and drank a glass of wine, when he advised his sister to enjoy a walk in the garden; and although the attendant made shift to keep them almost always in view, they enjoyed a detached conversation, in

Having exercised themselves in this manner, until the duenna's spirits were pretty much exhausted, that she might be the better disposed to recruit them with a glass of liquor, they returned to their apartment, and the cordial was recommended and received in a bumper; but as it did not produce such a visible alteration as the sanguine hopes of Pickle had made him expect, and the old gentlewoman observed that it began to be late, and that the gates would be shut in a little time, he filled up a parting glass, and pledged her in equal quantity. Her blood was too much chilled to be warmed even by this extraordinary dose, which made immediate innovation on the brain of our youth, who, in the gaiety of his imagination, overwhelmed this she Argus with such profusion of gallantry, that she was more intoxicated with his expressions than with the spirits she had drank. When, in the course of toying, he dropped a purse into her bosom, she seemed to forget how the night wore, and, with the approbation of her charge, assented to his proposal of having something for supper.

This was a great point which our adventurer had gained; and yet he plainly perceived that the governante mistook his meaning, by giving herself credit for all the passion he had professed. As this error could be rectified by no other means than those of plying her with the bottle, until her distinguishing faculties should be overpowered, he promoted a quick circulation. She did him justice, without any manifest signs of inebriation, so long, that his own eyes began to reel in the sockets; and he found, that, before his scheme could be accomplished, he should be effectually unfitted for all the purposes of love. He, therefore, had recourse to his valet de chambre, who understood the hint as soon as it was given, and readily undertook to per form the part, of which his master had played the prelude. This affair being settled to his satisfaction, and the night at odds with