THE ADVENTURES OF PEREGRINE PICKLE. CHAPTER I. An account of Mr Gamaliel Pickle-the disposition of his sister described he yields to her solicitations, and retires to the country. In a certain county of England, bounded on one side by the sea, and at the distance of one hundred miles from the metropolis, lived Gamaliel Pickle, Esquire, the father of that hero whose adventures we purpose to record. He was the son of a merchant in London, who (like Rome) from small beginnings had raised himself to the highest honours of the city, and had acquired a plentiful fortune, though, to his infinite regret, he died before it amounted to a plum, conjuring his son, as he respected the last injunction of a parent, to imitate his industry, and adhere to his maxims, until he should have made up the deficiency, which was a sum considerably less than fifteen thousand pounds. This pathetic remonstrance had the desired effect upon his representative, who spared no pains to fulfil the request of the deceased, but exerted all the capacity with which nature had endowed him in a series of efforts, which, however, did not succeed; for, by the time he had been fifteen years in trade, he found himself five thousand pounds worse than he was when he first took possession of his father's effects; a circumstance that affected him so nearly, as to detach his inclinations from business, and induce him to retire from the world, to some place where he might at leisure deplore his misfortunes, and by frugality secure himself from want and the apprehensions of a jail, with which his imagination was incessantly haunted. He was often heard to express his fears of coming upon the parish, and to bless God, that, on account of his having been so long a housekeeper, he was entitled to that provision. In short, his talents were not naturally active, and there was a sort of inconsistency in his character; for, with all the desire of amassing which any citizen could possibly entertain, he was encumbered by a certain indolence and sluggishness that prevailed over every interested consideration, and even hindered him from profiting by the singleness of apprehension and moderation of appetites, which have so frequently conduced to the acquisition of immense fortunes-qualities which he possessed in a very remarkable degree. Nature, in all probability, had mixed little or nothing inflammable in his composition; or, whatever seeds of excess she might have sown within him, were effectually stifled and destroyed by the austerity of his education. The sallies of his youth, far from being in. ordinate or criminal, never exceeded the bounds of that decent jollity, which an extraordinary pot, on extraordinary occasions, may be supposed to have produced in a club of sedate book-keepers, whose imaginations were neither very warm nor luxuriant. Little subject to refined sensations, he was scarce ever disturbed with violent emotions of any kind. The passion of love never interrupted his tranquillity; and if, as Mr Creech says after Horace, Not to admire is all the art I know, To make men happy, and to keep them so. Mr. Pickle was undoubtedly possessed of that invaluable secret; at least he was never known to betray the faintest symptom of transport, except one evening at the club, where he observed, with some demonstrations of vivacity, that he had dined upon a delicate loin of veal. Notwithstanding this appearance of phlegm, he could not help feeling his disappointments in trade; and, upon the failure of a certain underwriter, by which he lost five hundred pounds, declared his design of relinquishing business, and retiring to the country. In this resolution he was comforted and encouraged by his only sister, Mrs Grizzle, who had managed his family since the death of his father, and was now in the thirtieth year of her maidenhood, with a fortune of five thousand pounds, and a large stock of economy and devotion. These qualifications, one would think, might have been the means of abridging the term of her celibacy, as she never expressed any aversion to wedlock; but it seems she was too delicate in her choice to find a mate to her inclination in the city; for I cannot suppose that she remained so long unsolicited, though the charms of her person were not altogether enchanting, nor her manner over and above agreeable. Exclusive of a very wan (not to call it sallow) complexion, which perhaps was the effects of her virginity and mortification, she had a cast in her eyes that was not at all engaging, and such an extent of mouth, as no art or affectation could contract into any proportionable dimension; then her piety was rather peevish than resigned, and did not in the least diminish a certain stateliness in her demeanour and conversation, that delighted in communicating the importance and honour of her family, which, by the by, was not to be traced two generations back, by all the powers of heraldry or tradition. was justified by the constructions that were put upon her retreat by her female friends, who, far from imputing it to the laudable motives that induced her, insinuated, in sarcastic commendations, that she had good reason to be dissatisfied with a place where she had been so long overlooked, and that it was certainly her wisest course to make her last effort in the country, where, in all probability, her talents would be less eclipsed, and her fortune more attractive. Be this as it will, her admonitions, though they were powerful enough to convince, would have been insufficient to overcome the languor and vis inertia of her brother, had she not reinforced her arguments, by calling in question the credit of two or three merchants, with whom he was embarked in trade. Alarmed at these hints of intelligence, he exerted himself effectually he withdrew his money from trade, and laying it out in bank stock and India bonds, removed to a house in the country, which his father had built near the seaside, for the convenience of carrying on a certain branch of traffic in which he had been deeply concerned. Here, then, Mr Pickle fixed his habitation for life, in the six-and-thirtieth year of his age; and though the pangs he felt at parting with his intimate companions, and quit ting all his former connexions, were not quite so keen as to produce any dangerous disorder in his constitution, he did not fail to be extremely disconcerted at his first entrance into a scene of life to which he was totally a stranger. Not but that he met with abundance of people in the country, who, in consideration of his fortune, courted his ac ship and hospitality; yet even the trouble of receiving and returning these civilities was an intolerable fatigue to a man of his habits and disposition. He therefore left the care of the ceremonial to his sister, who indulged herself in all the pride of formality, while he himself, having made a discovery of a public house in the neighbourhood, went thither every evening, and enjoyed his pipe and cann, being very well satisfied with the behaviour of the landlord, whose communicative temper was a great comfort to his own taciturnity; for he shunned all superfluity of speech as much as he avoided any other un necessary expense. She seemed to have renounced all the ideas she had acquired before her father served the office of sheriff; and the era which regulated the dates of all her observations was the mayoralty of her papa. Nay, so solicitous was this good lady for the sup-quaintance, and breathed nothing but friendport and propagation of the family name, that, suppressing every selfish motive, she actually prevailed upon her brother to combat with his own disposition, and even surmount it so far as to declare a passion for the person whom he afterwards wedded, as we shall see in the sequel. Indeed she was the spur that instigated him in all his extraordinary undertakings; and I question whether or not he would have been able to disengage himself from that course of life in which he had so long mechanically moved, unless he had been roused and actuated by her incessant exhortations. London, she observed, was a receptacle of iniquity, where an honest unsuspecting man was every day in danger of falling a sacrifice to craft; where innocence was exposed to continual temptations, and virtue eternally persecuted by malice and slander; where every thing was ruled by caprice and corruption, and merit utterly discouraged and despised. This last imputation she pronounced with such emphasis and chagrin, as plainly denoted how far she considered herself as an example of what she advanced; and really the charge CHAPTER II. He is made acquainted with the characters of Commodore Trunnion and his adherents -meets with them by accident, and contracts an intimacy with that commander. THIS loquacious publican soon gave him sketches of all the characters in the county, He had no sooner turned in again, and the rest of the family gone to sleep, than the foul fiends began their game anew. The commodore got up in the dark, drew his cutlass, and attacked them both so manfully, that, in five minutes, every thing in the apartment went to pieces. The lieutenant, hearing the noise, came to his assistance. Tom Pipes, being told what was the matter, lighted his match, and going down to the yard, fired all the patereroes as signals of distress. Well, to be sure, the whole parish was in a pucker; some thought the French had landed; others imagined the commodore's house was beset by thieves; for my own part, I called up two dragoons that are quartered upon me, and they swore, with deadly oaths, it was a gang of smugglers engaged with a party of their regiment that lies in the next village; and mounting their horses, like lusty fellows, rode up into the country as fast as their beasts could carry them. Ah, master, these are hard times, when an industrious body cannot earn his bread without fear of the gallows. Your worship's father (God rest his soul!) was a good gentleman, and as well respected in this parish as e'er a he that walks upon neat's leather. And if your ho and, among others, described that of his next | devil a goblin was to be found. neighbour, Commodore Trunnion, which was altogether singular and odd. "The commodore and your worship," said he, "will in a short time be hand and glove: he has a power of money, and spends it like a prince, that is, in his own way; for, to be sure, he is a little humorsome, as the saying is, and swears woundily, though I'll be sworn he means no more harm than a sucking babe. Lord help us! it will do your honour's heart good to hear him tell a story, as how he lay alongside of the French, yard-arm and yardarm, board and board, and of heaving grapplings, and stinkpots, and grapes, and round and double-headed partridges, crows, and carters-Laud have mercy upon us! he has been a great warrior in his time, and lost an eye and a heel in the service. Then he does not live like any other christian land-man, but keeps garrison in his house as if he were in the midst of his enemies, and makes his servants turn out in the night, watch and watch (as he calls it), all the year round. His habitation is defended by a ditch, over which he has laid a drawbridge, and planted his courtyard with patereroes continually loaded with shot, under the direction of one Mr Hatchway, who had one of his legs shot away while he acted as lieu-nour should want a small parcel of fine tea, tenant on board the commodore's ship; and or a few ankers of right Nants, I'll be bound now being on half pay, lives with him as his you shall be furnished to your heart's concompanion. The lieutenant is a very brave tent. But, as I was saying, the hubbub con-man, a great joker, and, as the saying is, tinued till morning, when the parson being hath got the length of his commander's foot; sent for, conjured the spirits into the Red though he has another favourite in the house, Sea; and the house has been pretty quiet called Tom Pipes, that was his boatswain's ever since. True it is, Mr Hatchway makes mate, and now keeps the servants in order. a mock of the whole affair; and told his Tom is a man of few words, but an excel-commander in this very blessed spot, that lent hand at a song, hussel-cap, and chuck- the two goblins were no other than a couple farthing. Concerning the boatswain's whis- of jackdaws which had fallen down the chimtle, there is not such another pipe in the ney, and made a flapping with their wings county. So that the commodore lives very up and down the apartment. But the comhappy in his own manner; thof he be some-modore, who is very choleric, and does not times thrown into perilous passions and quandaries, by the application of his poor kinsmen, whom he can't abide, because as how some of them were the first occasion of his going to sea. Then he sweats with agony at the sight of an attorney; just for all the world, as some people have an antipathy to a cat; for it seems he was once at law for striking one of his officers, and cast in a swinging sum. He is, moreover, ex-going about, as the saying is." ceedingly afflicted with goblins that disturb his rest, and keep such a racket in his house, that you would think (God bless us!) all the devils in hell had broke loose upon him. It was no longer ago than last year, about this time, that he was tormented the livelong night by two mischievous spirits that got into his chamber, and played a thousand pranks about his hammock (for there is not one bed within his walls). Well, sir, he rung his bell, called up all his servants, got lights, and made a thorough search; but the like to be jeered, fell into a main high passion, and stormed like a perfect hurricane, swearing that he knew a devil from a jackdaw as well as e'er a man in the three kingdoms. He owned, indeed, that the birds were found, but denied that they were the occasion of the uproar. For my own part, master, I believe much may be said on both sides of the question, thof, to be sure, the devil is always This circumstantial account, extraordinary as it was, never altered one feature in the countenance of Mr Pickle, who having heard it to an end, took the pipe from his mouth, saying, with a look of infinite sagacity and deliberation," I do suppose he is of the Cornish Trunnions. What sort of a woman is his spouse?" Spouse!" cried the other, "odds heart! I don't think he would marry the queen of Sheba. Lack-a-day! sir, he won't suffer his own maids to lie in the gar. rison, but turns them into an out-house every 66 32 After a pause of some minight before the watch is set. Bless your tion in the rear. honour's soul, he is, as it were, a very odd-nutes, the conversation was begun by this ish kind of a gentleman. Your worship ferocious chief, who, fixing his eye upon the would have seen him before now; for when lieutenant with a sternness of countenance he is well, he and my good master Hatch- not to be described, addressed him in these "Damn my eyes, Hatchway, I alway come hither every evening, and drink a words. couple of canns of rumbo a-piece; but he ways took you to be a better seaman than has been confined to his house this fortnight to overset our chaise in such fair weather. by a plaguy fit of the gout, which, I'll as- Blood! did'nt I tell you we were running "Yes," sure your worship, is a good penny out of my bump ashore, and bid you set in the leebrace, and haul upon a wind?" pocket." (replied the other, with an arch sneer), "I do confess as how you did give such orders, after you had run us foul of a post, so as that the carriage lay along, and could not "I run you foul of a post!" right herself." cried the commander; "damn my heart! you're a pretty dog, an't you, to tell me so aboveboard to my face? Did I take charge of the chaise? Did I stand at the helm?" No," answered Hatchway, "I must confess you did not steer; but howsomever, you cunned all the way, and so, as you could not see how the land lay, being blind of your larboard eye, we were fast ashore, before you knew any thing of the matter. Pipes, who stood abaft, can testify the truth of "Damn my limbs !" resumed what I say." You'r a couple of the commodore, "I don't value what you or Pipes say a rope-yarn. I am the mutinous-I'll say no more; but you shan't run your rig upon me, damn ye. man that learnt you, Jack Hatchway, to splice a rope, and raise a perpendicular." 66 At that instant, Mr Pickle's ears were saluted with such a strange noise, as even discomposed the muscles of his face, which gave immediate indications of alarm. This composition of notes, at first, resembled the crying of quails and croaking of bull-frogs; but, as it approached nearer, he could distinguish articulate sounds pronounced with great violence, in such a cadence as one would expect to hear from a human creature It scolding through the organs of an ass. was neither speaking nor braying, but a surprising mixture of both, employed in the utterance of terms absolutely unintelligible to our wondering merchant, who had just opened his mouth to express his curiosity, when the landlord, starting up at the well-known sound, cried, "Odds nigers! there is the commodore with his company, as sure as I live;" and with his apron began to wipe the dust off an elbow chair placed at one side of the fire, and kept sacred for the ease and convenience of this infirm commander. The lieutenant, who was perfectly well While he was thus occupied, a voice still more uncouth than the former bauled aloud, acquainted with the trim of his captain, did "Ho! the house, a hoy!" Upon which the not choose to carry on the altercation any publican, clapping a hand to each side of his farther; but taking up his cann, drank to the head, with his thumbs fixed to his ears, re-health of the stranger, who very courteously bellowed in the same tone, which he had returned the compliment, without, however, During this learned to imitate, "hilloah." The voice presuming to join in the conversation, which again exclaimed, have you got any at- suffered a considerable pause. torneys aboard?" and when the landlord interruption, Mr Hatchway's wit displayed replied, no, no," this man of strange ex-itself in several practical jokes upon the compectation came in, supported by his two de-modore, with whom, he knew, it was dangerpendents, and displayed a figure every way answerable to the oddity of his character. He was in stature at least six feet high, though he had contracted a habit of stooping, by living so long on board; his complexion was tawney, and his aspect rendered hideous by a large scar across his nose, and a patch that covered the place of one eye. Being seated in his chair with great forMeanwhile, the captain's choler gradually mality, the landlord complimented him upon his being able to come abroad again; and subsided, and he was pleased to desire that lay having, in a whisper, communicated the Hatchway, by the familiar and friendly diminame of his fellow guest, whom the commo-nutive of Jack, to read a newspaper dore already knew by report, went to pre- on the table before him. This task was acpare, with all imaginable despatch, the first cordingly undertaken by the lame lieutenant, allowance of his favourite liquor, in three who, among other paragraphs, read that separate canns (for each was accommodated which follows, with an elevation of voice with his own portion apart), while the lieu- that seemed to prognosticate something extenant sat down on the blind side of his traordinary: "We are informed that Admicommander; and Tom Pipes, knowing his ral Bower will very soon be created a British distance, with great modesty, took his sta-peer, for his eminent services during the ous to tamper in any other way. Being without the sphere of his vision, he securely pilfered his tobacco, drank his rumbo, made wry faces, and (to use the vulgar phrase) cocked his eye at him, to the no small entertainment of the spectators, Mr Pickle himself not excepted, who gave evident tokens of uncommon satisfaction at the dexterity of this marine pantomime. war, particularly in his late engagement with | own trumpeter on occasion; thof I wish you 66 "Why, look ye, Sir," answered the lieutenant, "I am glad to find you can stand your E and the chase three leagues to leeward, going before the wind; whereupon I set my studding-sails, and, coming up with her, hoisted my jack and ensign, and poured in a whole broadside, before you could count three rattlins in the mizen shrouds; for I always keep a good look out, and love to have the first fire." "That I'll be sworn," said Hatchway; "for the day we made the Triumph, you ordered the men to fire when she was hull-to, by the same token we below pointed the guns at a flight of gulls; and I won a cann of punch from the gunner, by killing the first bird." Exasperated at this sarcasm, he replied with great vehemence,-"You lie, lubber! damn your bones! what business have you to come always athwart my hause in this manner? You, Pipes, was upon deck, and can bear witness whether or not I fired too soon. Speak, you blood of a —, and that upon the word of a seaman; how did the chase bear of us, when I gave orders to fire?" Pipes, who had hitherto sat silent, being thus called upon to give his evidence, after divers strange gesticulations, opened his mouth like a gasping cod, and, with a cadence like that of the east wind singing through a cranny, pronounced, "Half a quarter of a league, right upon our lee-beam." Nearer, you porpuss-fac'd swab!" (cried the commodore) "nearer by twelve fathom; but howsomever, that's enough to prove the falsehood of Hatchway's jaw-and so, brother, d'ye see, (turning to Mr Pickle,) I lay alongside of the Flour de Louse, yard-arm and yardarm, plying our great guns and small-arms, and heaving in stink-pots, powder-bottles, and hand grenades, till our shot was all expended, double-headed, partridge, and grape; then we loaded with iron-crows, marlinspikes, |