 Chapter 45 of the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Martin Giesen. The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Volume 1 by Tobias Smollett. Chapter 45. The painter is persuaded to accompany Pickle to a masquerade in Woman's Apparel, is engaged in a troublesome adventure, and with his companion conveyed to the Bastille. The painter at the request of Pickle, who had a design upon the Count's sense of hearing, favoured the company with a song of Bumper Squire Jones, which yielded infinite satisfaction to the baron, but affected the delicateirs of the Italian in such a manner that his features expressed astonishment and disquiet. And by his sudden and repeated journeys to the door, it plainly appeared that he was in the same predicament with those who, as Shakespeare observes, when the bagpipe sings in the nose, cannot contain their urine for affection. With a view therefore of vindicating music from such a barbarous taste, Mr. Pallet had no sooner performed his task than the Count honoured his friends with some favourite heirs of his own country, which he warbled with infinite grace and expression, though he had not energy sufficient to engage the attention of the German, who fell fast asleep upon his couch, and snored so loud as to interrupt totally annull this ravishing entertainment, so that they were feigned to have recourse again to the glass, which made such innovation upon the brain of the physician that he sang divers odes of anachron to a tune of his own composing, and held forth upon the music and recitative of the ancients with great erudition. While Pallet, having found means to make the Italian acquainted with the nature of his profession, harangued upon painting with a wonderful volubility, in a language which, it was well for his own credit, the stranger did not understand. At length the doctor was seized with such a quarm that he begged Peregrine to lead him to his chamber, and the Baron, being waked, retired with the Count. Peregrine, being rendered frolicsome with the wine he had drunk, proposed that he and Pallet should go to a masquerade, which he recollected was to be given that night. The painter did not want curiosity and inclination to accompany him, but expressed his apprehension of losing him in the ball, an accident which could not fail to be very disagreeable, as he was not a stranger to the language and the town. To obviate this objection, the landlady who was of their council advised him to appear in a woman's dress, which would lay his companion under the necessity of attending him with more care, as he could not with decency detach himself from the lady whom he should introduce. Besides such a connection would hinder the ladies of pleasure from accosting and employing their seducing arts upon a person already engaged. Our young gentlemen, for seeing the abundance of diversion in the execution of this project, seconded the proposal with such importunity and address that the painter allowed himself to be habited in a suit belonging to the landlady, who also procured for him a mask and domino, while Pickle provided himself with a Spanish dress. In this disguise which they put on about eleven o'clock, did they, attended by pipes, set out in a fiac for the ballroom, into which Pickle led this suppositious female to the astonishment of the whole company, who had never seen such an uncouth figure in the appearance of a woman. After they had taken a view of all the remarkable masks and the painter had been treated with a glass of liqueur, his mischievous companion gave him the slip, and vanishing in an instant returned with another mask and domino over his habit that he might enjoy pallet's perplexity and be at hand to protect him from insult. The poor painter having lost his guide was almost distracted with anxiety and stalked about the room in quest of him with such huge strides and oddity of gesture that he was followed by a whole multitude who gazed at him as a preternatural phenomenon. This attendance increased his uneasiness to such a degree that he could not help uttering a soliloquy aloud in which he cursed his fate for having depended upon the promise of such a wag and swore that if once he was clear of this scrape he would not bring himself into such a premoniere again for the whole kingdom of France. Diver's petit maître, understanding the mask was a foreigner, who in all probability could not speak French, made up to him in their turns in order to display their wit and address and teased him with several arch-questions to which he made no other reply than, no Pali francy. Damn you're chattering! Go about your business, count you. Among the masks was a nobleman who began to be very free with the supposed lady and attempted to plunge his hand into her bosom. Winter was too modest to suffer such indecent treatment, and when the galant repeated his efforts in a manner still more indelicate, lent him such a box on the ear as made the lights dance before him and created such a suspicion of pallet sex that the Frenchman swore he was either a male or a hermaphrodite and insisted upon a scrutiny for the sake of his own honour, with such obstinacy of resentment Nymph was in imminent danger, not only of being exposed but also undergoing severe chastisement by having made so free with the prince's ear. When peregrine, who saw and overheard everything that passed, thought it was high time to interpose, and accordingly asserted his pretensions to the insulted lady who was overjoyed at this proof of his protection. The fronted galant persevered in demanding to know who she was, and our hero had strenuously refused to give him that satisfaction so that high words ensued, and the prince threatening to punish his insolence, the young gentleman who was not supposed to know his quality, pointed to the place where his own sword used to hang, and snapping his fingers in his face, laid hold on the painter's arm and led him to another part of the room, leaving his antagonist to the meditations of his own revenge. Pallet, having chid his conductor for his barbarous desertion, made him acquainted with the difficulty in which he had been involved, and flatly telling him that he would not put it in his power to give him the slip again, held fast by his arm during the remaining part of the entertainment, to the no small diversion of the company whose attention was altogether engrossed in the contemplation of such an awkward, ungainly stalking apparition. At last Pickle, being tired of exhibiting this rarity show, complied with the repeated desires of his companion and handed her into the coach, which he himself had no sooner entered than they were surrounded by a file of musketeers commanded by an exempt, who, ordering the coach door to be opened, took his place with great deliberation, while one of his detachment mounted the box in order to direct the driver. Peregrine at once conceived the meaning of this arrest, and it was well for him that he had no weapon wherewith to stand upon his defence, for such was the impetuosity and rashness of his temper that had he been armed he would have run all risks rather than surrender himself to any odds whatever. But Palet, imagining that the officer was some gentleman who had mistaken their courage for his own, desired his friend to un-deceive the stranger. And when he was informed of the real state of their condition, his knees began to shake, his teeth to chatter, and he uttered a most doleful lamentation, importing his fear of being carried to some hideous dungeon of the Bastille where he should spend the rest of his days in misery and horror and never see the light of God's son nor the face of a friend, but perish in a foreign land far removed from his family and connections. Pickle damned him for his pusillanimity, and the exempt hearing a lady bemoan herself so piteously expressed his mortification at being the instrument of giving her such pain and endeavoured to console them by representing the lenity of the French government and the singular generosity of the Prince by whose order they were apprehended. Peregrine, whose discretion seemed to forsake him on all such occasions, exclaimed with great bitterness against the arbitrary administration of France and invade with many expressions of contempt against the character of the offended Prince, whose resentment far from being noble, he said, was pitiful, un-generous and unjust. To this remonstrance the officer made no reply, but shrugged up his shoulders in silent astonishment at the ardiez of the prisoner, and the fiac was just on the point of setting out when they heard the noise of a scuffle at the back of the coach and the voice of Tom Pipes, pronouncing, I'll be damned if I do! This trusty attendant had been desired by one of the guards to descend from his station in the rear, but as he resolved to share his master's fate, he took no notice of their entreaties until they were seconded by force, and that he endeavoured to repel with his heel, which he applied with such energy to the jaws of the soldier who first came in contact with him that they emitted a crashing sound like a dried walnut between the grinders of a Templar in the pit. Exasperated at this outrage, the other saluted Tom's posteriors with his bayonet, which incommodated him so much that he could no longer keep his post, but leaping upon the ground gave his antagonist a chuck under the chin and laid him upon his back, then skipping over him with infinite agility, absconded among the crowd of coaches, and he saw the guard mount before and behind upon his master's fiac, which no sooner set forward than he followed at a small distance to reconnoitre the place where Peregrine should be confined. After having proceeded slowly through many windings and turnings to a part of Paris in which Pipes was a nutter stranger, the coach stopped at a great gate with a wicket in the middle, which being opened at the approach of the carriage, the prisoners were admitted, and the guard returning with the fiac Tom determined to watch in that place all night that in the morning he might make such observations as might be conducive to the enlargement of his master. End of Chapter 45 Recording by Martin Giesen in Hazelmayer Surrey Chapter 46 of the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Vol. 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Martin Giesen The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Vol. 1 by Tobias Smollett Chapter 46 By the fidelity of Pipes, Jolter is informed of his pupil's fate, confers with the physician, applies to the ambassador who with great difficulty obtains the discharge of the prisoners on certain conditions. This plan he executed, notwithstanding the pain of his wound and the questions of the city guard, both horse and fort, to which he could make no other answer than anglais, anglais. And as soon as it was light, taking an accurate survey of the castle, for such it seems to be, into which Peregrine and Pallet had been conveyed, together with its situation in respect to the river, he went home to the lodgings, and waking Mr. Jolter gave him an account of the adventure. The governor wrung his hands in the utmost grief and consternation when he heard this unfortunate piece of news. He did not doubt that his pupil was imprisoned in the Bastille for life, and in the anguish of his apprehension, cursed the day on which he had undertaken to superintend the conduct of such an imprudent young man, who had by reiterated insults provoked the vengeance of such a mild, forbearing administration. That he might not, however, neglect any means in his power to extricate him from his present misfortune, he dispatched Thomas to the doctor with an account of his companion's fate, that they might join their interest in behalf of the captives. And the physician, being informed of what had happened, immediately dressed himself and repaired to Jolter, whom he accosted in these words. Now, sir, I hope you are convinced of your error in asserting that oppression can never be the effect of an arbitrary power. Such a calamity as this could never have happened under the Athenian democracy. Nay, even when the tyrant Pisistratus got possession of that commonwealth, he durst not venture to rule with such absolute and unjust dominion. You shall see now that Mr. Pickle and my friend Pallet will fall a sacrifice to the tyranny of lawless power, and in my opinion we shall be accessory to the ruin of this poor, enslaved people if we bestow ourselves in demanding or imploring the release of our unhappy countrymen, as we may thereby prevent the commission of a flagrant crime which would fill up the vengeance of heaven against the perpetrators and perhaps be the means of restoring the whole nation to the unspeakable fruition of freedom. For my own part I should rejoice to see the blood of my father spilt in such a glorious cause, provided such a victim would furnish me with the opportunity of dissolving the chains of slavery and vindicating that liberty which is the birthright of man. Then would my name be immortalized among the patriot heroes of antiquity, and my memory, like that of Hormodius and Aristogaiton, be honoured by statues erected at the public expense. This rhapsody which was delivered with great emphasis and agitation gave so much offence to Jolta that without saying one word he retired in great wrath to his own chamber, and the republican returned to his lodging in full hope of his prognostic being verified in the death and destruction of Peregrine and the painter which must give rise to some renowned revolution wherein he himself would act a principal part. But the governor whose imagination was not quite so warm and prolific went directly to the ambassador whom he informed of his pupil's situation and be sought to interpose with the French ministry that he and the other British subject might obtain their liberty. His excellency asked if Jolta could get at the cause of his imprisonment that he might be the better prepared to vindicate or excuse his conduct, but neither he nor Pipes could give the smallest hint of intelligence on that subject, though he furnished himself from Tom's own mouth with a circumstantial account of the manner in which his master had been arrested, as well as of his own behaviour, and the disaster he had received on that occasion. His lordship never doubted that Pipes had brought this calamity upon himself by some unlucky prank he had played at the masquerade when he understood that the young gentleman had drunk freely in the afternoon and had been so whimsical as to go thither with a man in woman's apparel, and he that same day waited on the French minister in full confidence of obtaining his discharge. But met with more difficulty than he expected, the Court of France being extremely punctilious in everything that concerns a prince of the blood. The ambassador was therefore obliged to talk in very high terms, and though the present circumstances of the French politics would not allow them to fall out with the British administration for trifles, all the favour he could procure was to promise that Pipes should be sent. The pickle should be set at liberty, provided he would ask pardon of the prince to whom he had given offence. His Excellency thought this was but a reasonable condescension, supposing Peregrine to have been in the wrong, and Jolte was admitted to him in order to communicate and reinforce his lordship's advice, which was that he comply with the terms proposed. The governor, who did not enter this gloomy fortress without fear and trembling, found his people in a dismal apartment, void of all furniture, but a stool and a chuckle-bed. The moment he was admitted, he perceived the youth whistling with great unconcern and working with his pencil at the bare wall, on which he had delineated a ludicrous figure labelled with the name of the nobleman whom he had affronted, and an English mastiff with his leg lifted up in the attitude of making water in his shoe. He had been even so presumptuous as to explain the device with satirical inscriptions in the French language, which when Jolte perused, his hair stood on end with a fright. The very turnkey was confounded and overrode by the boldness of his behaviour, which he had never seen matched by any inhabitant of that place, and actually joined his friend in persuading him to submit to the easy demand of the minister. But our hero, far from embracing the counsel of this advocate, handed him to the door with great ceremony and dismissed him with a kick on the britches, and to all the supplications and even tears of Jolte made no other reply than that he would stoop to no condescension because he had committed no crime, but would leave his case to the cognizance and exertion of the British court, whose duty it was to see justice done to its own subjects. He desired, however, that a pallet, who was confined in another place, might avail himself of his own disposition, which was sufficiently pliable. But when the governor desired to see his fellow prisoner, the turnkey gave him to understand that he had received no orders relating to the lady, and therefore could not admit him into her apartment. Though he was complacent enough to tell him that she seemed very much mortified at her confinement, and at certain times, behaved as if her brain was not a little disordered. Jolte, thus baffled in all his endeavours, quitted the bastille with a heavy heart and reported his fruitless negotiation to the ambassador, who could not help breaking forth into some acrimonious expressions against the obstinacy and insolence of the young man, who, he said, deserved to suffer for his folly. Nevertheless, he did not desist from his representations to the French ministry, which he found so unyielding that he was obliged to threaten, in plain terms, to make it a national concern, and not only wrote to his court for instructions, but even advised the council to make reprisals and send some French gentleman in London to the tower. This intimation had an effect upon the ministry at Versailles, who rather than run the risk of insensing a people whom it was neither their interest nor inclination to disablage, consented to discharge the offenders, on condition that they should leave Paris in three days after their enlargement. This proposal was readily agreed to by Peregrine, who was now a little more tractable and heartily tired of being cooped up in such an uncomfortable abode for the space of three long days without any sort of communication or entertainment but that which his own imagination suggested. End of Chapter 46 Recording by Martin Giesen in Hazelmere Surrey. Chapter 47 of The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Vol. 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Martin Giesen. The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, Vol. 1 by Tobias Smollett. Chapter 47 Peregrine makes himself merry at the expense of the painter who curses his landlady and breaks with the doctor. As he could easily conceive the situation of his companion in adversity, he was unwilling to leave the place until he had reaped some diversion from his distress and with that view, repaired to the dungeon of the afflicted painter, to which he had by this time free access. When he entered, the first object that presented itself to his eye was so uncommonly ridiculous that he could scarce preserve that gravity of countenance which he had affected in order to execute the joke he had planned. The forlorn pallet sat upright in his bed in a deserbie that was altogether extraordinary. He had laid aside his monstrous hoop together with his stays, gown and petticoat, wrapped his lappets about his head by way of a nightcap, and wore his domino as a loose morning dress. His grizzled locks hung down about his lackluster eyes and tawny neck in all the disorder of negligence. His grey beard bristled about half an inch through the remains of the paint with which his visage had been bedorbed and every feature of his face was lengthened to the most ridiculous expression of grief and dismay. Seeing peregrine come in, he started up in a sort of frantic ecstasy and, running towards him with open arms, no sooner perceived the woeful appearance into which our hero had modelled his physiognomy than he stopped short all of a sudden and the joy which had begun to take possession of his heart was in a moment dispelled by the most rueful presages so that he stood in a most ludicrous posture of dejection like a malefactor at the Old Bailey when sentence is about to be pronounced. Pickle, taking him by the hand, heaved a profound sigh and after having protested that he was extremely mortified at being pitched upon as the messenger of bad news told him with an air of sympathy and infinite concern that the French court, having discovered his sex, had resolved in consideration of the outrageous indignity he had offered in public to a prince of the blood to detain him in the Bastille a prisoner for life and that this sentence was a mitigation obtained by the importunities of the British ambassador the punishment ordained by law being no other than breaking alive upon the wheel. These tidings aggravated the horrors of the painter to such a degree that he roared aloud and skipped about the room in all the extravagance of distraction taking God and man to witness that he would rather suffer immediate death than endure one year's imprisonment in such a hideous place and cursing the hour of his birth and the moment on which he had departed from his own country. For my own part, said his tormentor in a hypocritical tone, I was obliged to swallow the bitter pill of making submission to the prince who as I had not presumed to strike him received acknowledgments in consequence of which I shall be this day set at liberty and there is even one expedient left for the recovery of your freedom. It is I own a disagreeable remedy that one had better undergo a little mortification than be forever wretched. Besides, upon second thoughts, I begin to imagine that you will not for such a trifle sacrifice yourself to the unceasing horrors of a dungeon especially as your condescension will in all probability be attended with advantages which you could not otherwise enjoy. Pallet, interrupting him with great eagerness, begged for the love of God that he would no longer keep him in the torture of suspense but to mention that same remedy which he was resolved to follow that it be ever so unpalatable. Peregrine having thus played upon his passions of fear and hope answered that as the offence was committed in the habit of a woman which was a disguise unworthy of the other sex, the French court was of opinion that the delinquent should be reduced to the neuter gender so that there was no alternative at his own option by which he had it in his power to regain immediate freedom. What! cried the painter in despair, become a singer! God-zooks! And the devil and all that! I'd rather be still where I am and let myself be devoured by vermin. Then thrusting out his throat, here is my windpipe, said he, be so good, my dear friend, as to give it a slice or two, if you don't I shall one of these days be found dangling in my gutters. What an unfortunate rascal I am! What a blockhead and the beast and the fool was I to trust myself among such a barbarous ruffian race! Lord, forgive you, Mr. Pickle, for having been the immediate cause of my disaster. If you had stood by me from the beginning, according to your promise, I should not have been teased by that coxcomb who has brought me to this path. And why did I put on this damned unlucky dress? Lord, curse that chattering Jezebel of a landlady who advised such a preposterous disguise, a disguise which has not only brought me to this path, but also rendered me abominable to myself and frightful to others. For when I this morning signified to the turnkey that I wanted to be shaved, he looked at my beard with astonishment and crossing himself muttered his paternoster, believing me are supposed to be a witch or something worth. And heaven confound that loathsome banquet of the ancients, which provoked me to drink too freely so that I might wash away the taste of that accursed, silly kicker-bye. Our young gentleman, having heard this lamentation to an end, excused himself for his conduct by representing that he could not possibly foresee the disagreeable consequences that attended it, and in the meantime, strenuously counseled him to submit to the terms of his enlargement. He observed that he was now arrived at that time of life when the lusts of the flesh should be entirely mortified within him, and his greatest concern ought to be that of his soul to which nothing could more effectually contribute than the amputation which was proposed, that his body as well as his mind would profit by the change because he would have no dangerous appetite to gratify and no carnal thoughts to divert him from the duties of his profession, and his voice, which was naturally sweet, would improve to such a degree that he would captivate the ears of all the people of fashion and taste, and in a little time be celebrated under the appellation of the English senesino. These arguments did not fail to make an impression upon the painter, who nevertheless started two objections to his compliance, namely the disgrace of the punishment and the dread of his wife. Pickle undertook to obviate these difficulties by assuring him that the sentence would be executed so privately as never to transpire, and that his wife could not be so unconscionable after so many years of cohabitation as to take exceptions to an expedient by which she would not only enjoy the conversation of her husband, but even the fruits of those talents which the knife would so remarkably refine. Pallet shook his hand at this last remonstrance as if he thought it would not be altogether convincing to his spouse, but yielded to the proposal provided her consent could be obtained. Just as he signified this condescension, the jailer entered and addressed himself to the supposed lady, expressed his satisfaction in having the honour to tell her that she was no longer a prisoner. As the painter did not understand one word of what he said, Peregrine undertook the office of interpreter and made his friend believe the jailer's speech was no other than an intimation that the ministry had sent a surgeon to execute what was proposed and that the instruments and dressings were prepared in the next room. Alarmed and terrified at this sudden appointment, he flew to the other end of the room and snatching up an earthen chamber pot which was the only offensive weapon in the place put himself in a posture of defence and with many oaths threatened to try the temper of the barber's skull if he should presume to set his nose within the apartment. The jailer, who little expected such a reception, concluded that the poor gentlewoman had actually lost her wits and retreated with precipitation leaving the door open as he went out, upon which Pickle, gathering up the particulars off his dress with great dispatch, crammed them into pallet's arms and taking notice that now the coast was clear exhorted him to follow his footsteps to the gate where a hackney coach stood for his reception. There being no time for hesitation, the painter took his advice and without quitting the utensil which in his hurry he forgot to lay down sallied out in the rear of our hero with all the wildness of terror and impatience which may be reasonably supposed to take possession of a man who flies from perpetual imprisonment. Such was the tumult of his agitation but his faculty of thinking was for the present utterly overwhelmed and he saw no object but his conductor whom he followed by a sort of instinctive impulse without regarding the keepers and sentinels who as he passed with his clothes under one arm and his chamber pot brandished above his head were confounded and even dismayed at the strange apparition. During the whole course of this eruption he ceased not to cry with great vociferation drive, coachman, drive in the name of God and the carriage had preceded the length of a whole street before he manifested the least sign of reflection but stared like the gorgon's head with his mouth wide open and each particular hair crawling and twining like an animated serpent. At length however he began to recover the use of his senses and asked if Peregrine thought him now out of all danger of being retaken. This unrelenting wag, not yet satisfied with the affliction he had imposed upon the sufferer answered with an air of doubt and concern that he hoped they would not be overtaken and prayed to God they might not be retarded by a stop of carriages. Pallet fervently joined in this supplication and they advanced a few yards further when the noise of a coach at full speed behind them invaded their ears and Pickle having looked out of the window withdrew his head in seeming confusion and exclaimed, Lord have mercy upon us I wish that may not be a guard sent after us he thinks I saw the muzzle of a fused elf sticking out of the coach. The painter hearing these tidings that instant thrust himself half out at the window with his helmet still in his hand bellowing to the coachman as loud as he could roar drive damn ye drive to the gates of Jericho and the ends of the earth drive you ragamuffin you rascallion you hellhound drive us to the pit of hell rather than that we should be taken. Such a phantom could not pass without attracting the curiosity of the people who ran to their doors and windows in order to behold this object of admiration with the same view that coach which was supposed to be in pursuit of him stopped just as the windows of each happened to be opposite and pallet looking behind and seeing three men standing upon the footboard armed with canes which his fear converted into fused elf never doubted that his friend's suspicion was just but shaking his Jordan at the imaginary guard swore he would sooner die than part with his precious wear the owner of the coach who was a nobleman of the first quality mistook him for some unhappy woman deprived of her senses and ordering his coachman to proceed convinced the fugitive to his infinite joy that this was no more than a false alarm he was not for all that freed from anxiety and trepidation but our young gentleman fearing his brain and not bear a repetition of the same joke permitted him to gain his own lodgings without further molestation his landlady meeting him on the stair was so affected as his appearance that she screamed aloud and bit took herself to flight while he cursing her with great bitterness rushed into the apartment to the doctor who instead of receiving him with cordial embraces and congratulating him upon his deliverance gave evident signs of umbridge and discontent and even plainly told him he hoped to have heard that he and Mr. Pickle had acted the glorious part of Cato an event which would have laid the foundation of such noble struggles as could not fail to end in happiness and freedom and that he had already made some progress in an ode that would have immortalized their names and inspired the flame of liberty in every honest breast there said he I would have proved that great talents and high sentiments of liberty do reciprocally produce and assist each other and illustrated my assertions with such notes and quotations from the Greek writers as would have opened the eyes of the most blind and unthinking and touched the most callous and obdurate heart oh fool to think the man whose ample mind grasps whatever yonder stars survey pray Mr. Pallett what is your opinion of that image of the mind grasping the whole universe for my own part I can't help thinking at the most happy conception that ever entered my imagination the painter who was not such a flaming enthusiast in the cause of liberty could not brook the doctor's reflections which he thought savoured a little too much of indifference and deficiency in point of private friendship and therefore seized the present opportunity of mortifying his pride by observing that the image was without all doubt very grand and magnificent but that he had been obliged for the idea to Mr. Bayes in the rehearsal who valued himself upon the same figure conveyed in these words but all these clouds when by the eye of reason grasped etc upon any other occasion the painter would have triumphed greatly upon this detection but such was the flutter and confusion of his spirits under the apprehension of being retaken that without further communication he retreated to his own room in order to resume his own dress which he hoped would alter his appearance in such a manner as to baffle all search and examination while the physician remained ashamed and abashed to find himself convinced of bombast by a person of such contemptible talents he was offended at this proof of his memory and so much enraged at his presumption in exhibiting it that he could never forgive his want of reverence and took every opportunity of exposing his ignorance and folly in the sequel indeed the ties of private affection were too weak to engage the heart of this republican whose zeal for the community had entirely swallowed up his concern for individuals he looked upon particular friendship as a passion unworthy of his ample soul and was a professed admirer of Lucius Manlius Junius Brutus and those later patriots of the same name who shut their ears against the cries of nature and resisted all the dictates of gratitude and humanity End of Chapter 47 Recording by Martin Giesen in Hazelmere Surrey Chapter 48 of the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Martin Giesen The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 By Tobias Smollett Chapter 48 Palette conceives a hearty contempt for his fellow traveller and attaches himself to Pickle who nevertheless persecutes him with his mischievous talent upon the road to Flanders In the meantime his companion having employed divers pailfuls of water and cleansing himself from the squalor of jail submitted his face to the barber tinged his eyebrows with a sable hue and being dressed in his own clothes ventured to visit Peregrine who was still under the hands of his valet de chambre and who gave him to understand that his escape had been connived at and that the condition of their deliverance was their departure from Paris in three days The painter was transported with joy when he learnt that he ran no risk of being retaken and far from repining at the terms of his enlargement would have willingly set out on his return to England that same afternoon but the Bastille had made such an impression upon him that he started at the sound of every coach and turned pale at the sight of a French soldier In the fullness of his heart he complained of the doctor's indifference and related what had passed at their meeting with evident marks of resentment and disrespect which were not at all diminished when Gelter informed him of the physician's behaviour when he sent for him to confer about the means of abridging their confinement Pickle himself was incensed at his want of bowels and to perceiving how much he had sank in the opinion of his fellow traveller resolved to encourage these sentiments of disgust and occasionally foment the division to a downright quarrel which he foresaw would produce some diversion and perhaps expose the poet's character in such a light as would effectually punish him for his arrogance and barbarity With this view he levelled several satirical jokes at the doctor's pedantry and want of taste which had appeared so conspicuous in the quotation he had got by heart from ancient authors in his effected disdain of the best pictures of the world which had he been endowed with the least share of discernment he could not have beheld with such insensibility and lastly in his ridiculous banquet which no one but an egregious coxcomb devoid of all elegance and sense would have prepared or presented to rational beings In a word our young gentleman played the artillery of his wit against him with such success that the painter seemed to wake from a dream and went home with the most hearty contempt for the person he had formally adored Instead of using the privilege of a friend to enter his apartment without ceremony he sent in his servants with a message importing that he intended to set out from Paris the next day in company with Mr Pickle and desiring to know whether or not he was or would be prepared for the journey The doctor struck with the manner as well as the matter of this intimation went immediately to pallet's room and demanded to know the cause of such a sudden determination without his privity or concurrence and when he understood the necessity of their affairs rather than travel by himself he ordered his baggage to be packed up and signified his readiness to conform to the emergency of the case though he was not at all pleased with the cavalier behaviour of pallet to whom he threw out some hints on his own importance and the immensity of his condescension in favouring him with such marks of regard But by this time these insinuations had lost their effect upon the painter who told him with an arch sneer that he did not at all question his learning and abilities and particularly his skill in cookery which he should never forget while his pallet retained its function but nevertheless advised him for the sake of the degenerate eaters of these days to spare a little of his salamoniak in the next silly kikabai he should prepare and abate somewhat of the devil's dung which he had so plentifully crammed into the roasted fowls unless he had a mind to convert his guests into patients with a view of licking himself whole for the expense of the entertainment The physician, netted at these sarcasms eyed him with a look of indignation and disdain and being unwilling to express himself in English lest in the course of the altercation pallet should be so much irritated as to depart without him he ventured his anger in Greek The painter though by the sound he supposed this quotation to be Greek complimented his friend upon his knowledge in the Welsh language and found means to rally him quite out of temper so that he retired to his own chamber in the utmost wroth and mortification and left his antagonist exulting over the victory he had won While these things passed between these originals Peregrine waited upon the ambassador whom he thanked for his kind interposition acknowledging the indiscretion of his own conduct the adherence of conviction and promises of reformation that his excellency freely forgave him for all the trouble he had been put to on his account fortified him with sensible advices and assuring him of his continual favour and friendship gave him at parting letters of introduction to several persons of quality belonging to the British court Thus distinguished our young gentleman took leave of all his French acquaintance and spent the evening with some of those who had enjoyed the greatest share of his intimacy and confidence While Jolta superintended his domestic concerns and with infinite joy bespoke a post-shares and horse in order to convey him from a place where he lived in continual apprehension of suffering by the dangerous disposition of his pupil Everything being adjusted according to their plan they and their fellow travellers next day dined together and about four in the afternoon took their departure in two shares escorted by the valet de chambre, pipes and the doctor's lackey on horseback well furnished with arms and ammunition in case of being attacked by robbers on the road It was about eleven o'clock at night when they arrived at Saint-Lith which was the place at which they proposed to lodge and where they were obliged to knock up the people of the inn before they could have their supper prepared All the provision in the house was but barely sufficient to furnish one indifferent meal However, the painter consult himself with the quantity with the quality of the dishes one of which was a fricassee of rabbit a preparation that he valued above all the dainties that ever smoked upon the table of the sumptuous Helio Gabalus He had no sooner expressed himself to this effect than our hero who almost incessantly laying traps for diversion that his neighbour's expense laid hold on the declaration and recollecting the story of Scipio and the Militaire in Gilles Blas results a perpetrator joke upon the stomach of pallet which seemed well disposed to a hearty supper He accordingly digested his plan and the company being seated at table affected to stare with peculiar eagerness at the painter who had helped himself to a large portion of the fricassee and began to swallow it with infinite relish Pallet, notwithstanding the keenness of his appetite could not help taking notice of Pickle's demeanour and making a short pause in the exercise of his grinders You are surprised, said he, to see me make so much dispatch but I was extremely hungry and this is one of the best fricassees I ever tasted The French are very expert in these dishes that I must allow and upon my conscience I would never desire to eat a more delicate rabbit than this that lies upon my plate Peregrine made no other reply to this encomium than the repetition of the word rabbit with a note of admiration and such a significant shake of the head as effectually alarmed the other who instantly suspended the action of his jaws and with the morsel half chewed in his mouth stared round him with a certain stolidity of apprehension which is easier conceived than described until his eyes encountered the countenance of Thomas Pipes who being instructed and posted opposite to him for the occasion exhibited an arch grin that completed the painter's disorder Afraid of swallowing his mouthful and ashamed to dispose of it in any other way he sat some time in a most distressed state of suspense and being questioned by Mr. Jolter touching his calamity made a violent effort of the muscles of his gullet which with difficulty performed their office and then with great confusion and concern asked if Mr. Pickle suspected the rabbit's identity The young gentleman assuming a mysterious air pretended ignorance of the matter observing that he was apt to suspect all dishes of that kind since he had been informed of the tricks that were commonly played at inns in France, Italy and Spain and recounted three passages in Gilles Blas which we have hinted at above saying he did not pretend to be a connoisseur in animals but the legs of the creature which composed that fricassee did not in his opinion resemble those of the rabbits he had usually seen This observation had an evident effect upon the features of the painter who with certain signs of loathing and astonishment exclaimed Lord Jesus and appealed to Pipes for the discovery of the truth by asking if he knew anything of the affair Tom very gravely replied he did suppose the food was wholesome enough for he had seen the skin and feet of a special ram cat new flayed hanging upon the door of a small pantry had joined into the kitchen Before this sentence was uttered pallet's belly seemed to move in contact with his backbone his colour changed no part but the whites of his eyes were to be seen he dropped his lower jaw and fixing his hands in his side retched with such convulsive agonies as amazed and disconcerted the whole company and what augmented his disorder was the tenacious retention of the stomach which absolutely refused to part with its contents not withstanding all the energy of his abhorrence which threw him into a cold sweat and almost into a swoon Pickle alarmed at his condition assured him it was a genuine rabbit and that he had tutored Pipes to say otherwise for the joke's sake but this confession he considered as a friendly artifice of Pickle's compassion and therefore it had little effect upon his constitution by the assistance however of a large bumper of brandy his spirits were recruited and his recollection so far recovered that he was able to declare with divers contortions of faith that the dish had a rankness of taste which he had imparted partly to the nature of the French coni and partly to the composition of their sources then he invades against the infamous practices of French publicans attributing such imposition to their oppressive government which kept them so necessitous that they were tempted to exercise all manner of navery upon their unwary guests Jolteur who could not find it in his heart to let slip any opportunity of speaking in favour of the French told him that he was a very great stranger to their police else he would know that if upon information to the magistrate it should appear that any traveller, native or foreigner had been imposed upon Lord Ill treated by a publican the offender would be immediately obliged to shut up his house and if his behaviour had been notorious he himself would be sent to the galleys without the least hesitation and as for the dish which has been made the occasion of your present disorder said he, I will take it upon me to affirm it was prepared of a genuine rabbit which was skinned in my presence and in confirmation of what I assert though such fricassees are not the favourites of my taste I will eat a part of this without scruple so saying he swallowed several mouthfuls of the question coni and pallet seemed to eye it again with inclination may he even resumed his knife and fork and being just on the point of applying them was seized with another qualm of apprehension that broke out in an exclamation of after all Mr Jolter, if it should be a real ram-cat Lord have mercy upon me, here is one of the claws with these words he presented the tip of a toe of which pipes had snipped off five or six from a duck that was roasted and purposely scattered them in the fricassee and the governor could not behold this testimonial without symptoms of uneasiness and remorse so that he and the painter sat silenced and abashed and made faces at each other while the physician who hated them both exalted over their affliction bidding them be of good cheer and proceed with their meal for he was ready to demonstrate that the flesh of a cat was as nourishing and delicious as veal or mutton provided they could prove that the said cat was not of the boar kind and had fed chiefly on vegetable diet or even confined its conivorous appetite to rats and mice which he affirmed to be dainties of exquisite taste and flavour he said it was a vulgar mistake to think that all flesh-devouring creatures were unfit to be eaten witness the consumption of swine and ducks animals that delight in carriage as well as fish and prey upon each other and feed on bait and carrion together with the demand for bear of which the best hams in the world are made he then observed that the negroes on the coast of Guinea who are healthy and vigorous people prefer cats and dogs to all other fare and mentioned from history several sieges during which the inhabitants who were blocked up lived upon these animals and had recourse even to human flesh which to his certain knowledge was in all respects preferable to pork for in the course of his studies he had for the experiment's sake eaten a steak cut from the buttock of a person who had been hanged this dissertation far from composing increased the disquiet in the stomachs of the governor and painter who hearing the last illustration turned their eyes upon the orator at the same instant with looks of horror and disgust and the one muttering the term cannibal and the other pronouncing the word abomination they rose from the table in a great hurry and running towards another apartment jostled with such violence in the passage that both were overturned by the shock which also contributed to the effect of their nausea that mutually defiled them as they lay End of Chapter 48 Recording by Martin Geeson in Hazelmere Surrey Chapter 49 of the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Martin Geeson The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 by Tobias Smollett Chapter 49 Nor is the physician sacred from his ridicule they reach Acha where our adventurer engages in play with two French officers who next morning give the landlord an interesting proof of their importance The doctor remained sullen and dejected during the whole journey not but that he attempted to recover his importance by haranguing upon the Roman highways when Mr Jolter desired the company to take notice of the fine pavement upon which they travelled from Paris into Flanders but Palet, who thought he had now gained the ascendancy over the physician exerted himself in maintaining the superiority by venting various sarcasms upon his self-conceit and affectation of learning and even tittering puns and conundrums upon the remarks which the republican retailed When he talked of the Flaminian way the painter questioned if it was a better pavement than the Flaminian way on which they travelled and the doctor having observed that this road was made for the convenience of drawing the French artillery in Flanders, which was often the seat of war his competitor in which replied with infinite vivacity there are more great guns than the French King Nozov drawn along this causeway doctor encouraged by the success of these efforts which tickled the imagination of Jolter and Drew smiles as he imagined of approbation from our hero he sported in many other équivoques of the same nature and at dinner told the physician that they were like the root of the tongue as being cursedly down in the mouth by this time such was the animosity subsisting between these quantum friends that they never conversed together except with a view of exposing each other to the ridicule or contempt of their fellow travellers the doctor was at great pains to point out the folly and ignorance of pallet in private to Peregrine in a manner by the painter to take notice of the physician's want of manners and taste Pickle pretended to acquiesce in the truth of their mutual severity which indeed was extremely just and by malicious insinuations blew up their contention with a view of bringing it to open hostility but both seemed so averse to deeds of mortal purpose that for a long time his arts were baffled he could not spirit them up to any pitch of resentment higher than scurrilous repartee before they reached Acha the city gates were shut so that they were obliged to take up their lodgings at an indifferent house in the suburbs where they found a couple of French officers who had also rode post from Paris so far on their way to Lille these gentlemen were about the age of 30 and their deportment distinguished by such an air of insolence as disgusted our hero who nevertheless accosted them politely in the yard and proposed that they should sup together they thanked him for the honour of his invitation which however they declined upon pretence of having ordered something for themselves but promised to wait upon him and his company immediately after their repast this they accordingly performed and after having drunk a few glasses of burgundy one of them asked if the young gentleman would for pastime take a hand at quadril Peregrine easily divined the meaning of this proposal which was made with no other view than that of fleecing him and his fellow travellers for he well knew to what shifts a sublton in the French service is reduced in order to maintain the appearance of a gentleman and had reason to believe that most of them were sharpers from their youth but as he depended a good deal upon his own penetration and address he gratified the stranger's desire and a party was instantly formed of the painter, the physician, the proposer and himself the other officer having professed himself utterly ignorant of the game in the course of the play he took his station at the back of Pickle's chair which was opposite to his friend on pretense of amusing himself with seeing his manner of conducting the cards the youth was not such a novice but that he perceived the design of this palpable piece of behaviour which notwithstanding he overlooked for the present with a view of flattering their hopes in the beginning that they might be the more effectually punished by their disappointment in the end the game was scarce begun when by the reflection of a glass he discerned the officer at his back making signs to his companion who by preconcerted gestures was perfectly informed of the contents of Peregrine's hand and of consequence fortunate in the course of play thus they were allowed to enjoy the fruits of their dexterity until their money amounted to some louis when our young gentleman thinking at high time to do himself justice signified in very polite terms to the gentleman who stood behind him that he could never play with ease and deliberation when he was overlooked by any bystander and begged that he would have the goodness to be seated as this was a remonstrance which the stranger could not with any show of breeding resist he asked pardon and retired to the chair of the physician who frankly told him that it was not the fashion of his country for one to submit his hand to the perusal of a spectator and when in consequence of this rebuff he wanted to quarter himself upon the painter he was refused by a wave of the hand and shake of the head with an exclamation of pardon et moi which was repeated with such emphasis as discomposed to this effrontery and he found himself obliged to sit down in a state of mortification the odds being thus removed fortune proceeded in her usual channel and though the Frenchman deprived of his ally endeavored to practice diver's strokes of finesse the rest of the company observed him with such vigilance and caution has baffled all his attempts and in a very little time he was compelled to part with his winning but having engaged in the match with the intention of taking all advantages whether fair or unfair that his superior skill should give him over the Englishman the money was not refunded without a thousand disputes in the course of which he essayed to intimidate his antagonist with high words which were retorted by our hero with such interest as convinced him that he had mistaken this man and persuaded him to make his retreat in quiet indeed it was not without cause that they repined the bad success of their enterprise because in all likelihood they had nothing to depend upon for the present but their own industry and knew not how to defray their expenses on the road except by some acquisition of this kind next morning they rose at daybreak and resolving to anticipate their fellow lodgers bespoke post horses as soon as they could be admitted into the city so that when our company appeared their beasts were ready in the yard and they only waited to discuss the bill which they had ordered to be made out the landlord of the inn presented his cart with fear and trembling to one of those ferocious cavaliers who no sooner cast his eye upon the sum total than he discharged a volley of dreadful oaths and asked if the king's officers were to be treated in that manner the poor public and protested with great humility that he had the utmost respect for his majesty and everything that belonged to him and that far from consulting his own interest all that he desired was to be barely indemnified with the expense of their lodging this condescension seemed to have no other effect than that of encouraging their arrogance they swore his extortion should be explained to the commandant of the town who would by making him a public example teach other innkeepers how to behave towards men of honour and threatened with such confidence of indignation that the wretched landlord dreading the consequence of their wrath implored pardon in the most abject manner begging with many supplications that he might have the pleasure of lodging them at his own charge this was a favour which he with great difficulty obtained they chid him severely for his imposition exhorted him to have more regard for his own conscience as well as to the convenience of his guests and cautioning him in particular touching his behaviour to the gentlemen of the army mounted their horses and rode off in great state leaving him very thankful for having so successfully appeased the colour of two officers who wanted either inclination or ability to pay their bill for experience had taught him to be apprehensive of all such travellers who commonly lay the landlord under contribution of atonement for the extravagance of his demands even after he has professed his willingness to entertain them on their own terms End of Chapter 49 Recording by Martin Geeson in Hazelmayer Surrey Chapter 50 of the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Martin Geeson The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 by Tobias Smollett Chapter 50 Peregrine moralises upon their behaviour which is condemned by the doctor and defended by the governor They arrive in safety at Lille Dine at an ordinary, visit the Citadel The physician quarrels with the North Britain who is put in arrest These honourable adventurers being gone Peregrine who was present during the transaction informed himself of the particulars from the mouth of the innkeeper himself who took heaven and the saints to witness that he should have been a loser by their custom even if the bill had been paid because he was on his guard against their objections He charged every article at an under-price but such was the authority of officers in France that he durst not dispute the least circumstance of their will for had the case come under the cognisance of the magistrate he must in course have suffered by the maxims of their government which never failed to abet the oppression of the army and besides run the risk of incurring their future resentment which would be sufficient to ruin him from top to bottom Our hero boiled with indignation at this instance of injustice and arbitrary power and turning to his governor asked if this too was a proof of the happiness enjoyed by the French people Jolte replied that every human constitution must in some things be imperfect and owned that in this kingdom gentlemen were more countenance than the vulgar because it was to be presumed that their own sentiments of honour and superior qualifications would entitle them to this preeminence which also had a retrospective view to the merit of their ancestors in consideration of which they were at first ennobled but he affirmed that the innkeeper had misrepresented the magistracy which in France never failed to punish flagrant outrages and abuse without respect of persons The painter approved of the wisdom of the French government in bridling the insolence of the mob by which he assured them he had often suffered in his own person having been often bespattered by hackney coachmen jostled by dremen and porters and reviled in the most appropriate terms by the watermen of London where he had once lost his bag and a considerable quantity of hair which had been cut off by some rascal in his passage through Ludgate during the Lord Mayor's procession On the other hand, the doctor, with great warmth alleged that those officers ought to suffer death or banishment at least for having plundered the people in this manner which were so impudent and bare faced as plainly to prove they were certain of escaping with impunity and that they were old offenders in the same degree of delinquency He said that the greatest man in Athens would have been condemned to perpetual exile and seen his estate confiscated for public youth had he dared in such a licentious manner to violate the rights of a fellow citizen And as for the little affronts to which a man may be subject from the petulance of the multitude he looked upon them as glorious indications of liberty which ought not to be repressed and would at any time rejoice to find himself overthrown in a kennel by the insolence of a son of freedom even though the fall should cost him a limb Adding by way of illustration that the greatest pleasure he ever enjoyed was in seeing a dustman willfully overturn a gentleman's coach in which two ladies were bruised even to the danger of their lives Pallet shocked at the extravagance of this declaration If that be the case, said he I wish you may see every bone in your body by the first carmen you meet in the streets of London This argument being discussed and the reckoning discharged without any deduction although the landlord in stating the articles had an eye to the loss he had sustained by his own countrymen they departed from Acha and arrived in safety at Lille about two o'clock in the afternoon They had scarce taken possession of their lodgings in a large hotel in the Grand Place when the innkeeper gave them to understand that he kept an ordinary below which was frequented by several English gentlemen who resided in town and that dinner was then set upon the table Peregrine who seized all opportunities of observing new characters persuaded his company to dine in public and they were accordingly conducted to the place where they found a mixture of Scotch and Dutch officers who had come from Holland to learn their exercises at the academy and some gentlemen in the French service who were upon garrison duty in the Citadel Among these last was a person about the age of 50 of a remarkably genteel air and polite address dignified with a Maltese cross and distinguished by the particular veneration of all those who knew him When he understood that Pickle and his friends were travellers he accosted the youth in English and he spoke tolerably well and as they were strangers offered to attend them in the afternoon to all the places worth seeing in Lille Our hero thanked him for his excess of politeness which he said was peculiar to the French nation and struck with his engaging appearance industriously courted his conversation in the course of which he learnt that this chevalier was a man of good sense and great experience that he was perfectly well acquainted with the greatest part of Europe had lived some years in England and was no stranger to the constitution and genius of that people Having dined and drunk to the health of the English and French kings two fiak were called in one of which the knight with one of his companions the governor and Peregrine seated themselves the other being occupied by the physician pallet and two Scottish officers who proposed to accompany them in their circuit the first place they visited was the Citadel round the ramparts of which they walked under the conduct of the knight who explained with great accuracy the intention of every particular fortification belonging to that seemingly impregnable fortress and when they had satisfied their curiosity took coach again in order to view the arsenal which stands in another quarter of the town but just as Pickle's carriage had crossed the promenade he heard his own name bald allowed by the painter and ordering the fiak to stop saw pallet with one half of his body thrust out of the window of the coach crying with a terrified look Mr Pickle, Mr Pickle for the love of God halt and prevent bloodshed else here will be carnage and cutting of throats Peregrine surprised at this exclamation immediately alighted and advancing to the other vehicle found one of their military companions standing upon the ground at the farther side of the coach with his sword drawn and fury in his countenance and the physician with a quivering lip and haggard aspect struggling with the other who had interposed in the quarrel and detained him in his place our young gentleman upon enquiry found that this animosity had sprung from a dispute that happened upon the ramparts touching the strength of the fortification which the doctor according to custom undervalued because it was a modern work saying that by the help of the military engines used among the ancients and a few thousands of pioneers he would engage to take it in less than ten days after he should sit down before it the North Britain who was as great a pedant as the physician having studied fortification and made himself master of Caesar's commentaries and Polybius with the observations of Follach affirmed that all the methods of besieging practised by the ancients would be utterly ineffectual against such a plan as that of the citadel of Lille and began to compare the Vinnei Agheres, Areetes Scorpiones and Catapultae of the Romans with the trenches, mines, batteries and mortars used in the present art of war the Republican finding himself attacked upon what he thought his strong side summoned all his learning to his aid and describing the famous Siege of Plataeae happened to misquote a passage of Hucydides in which he was corrected by the other who having been educated for the church was also a connoisseur in the Greek language the doctor incensed at being detected in such a blunder in the presence of Pallet who he knew would promulgate his shame told the officer with great arrogance that his objection was frivolous and that he must not pretend to dispute on these matters with one who had considered them with the utmost accuracy and care his antagonist peaked at this supercilious insinuation, replied with great heat that for ought he knew the doctor might be a very expert apothecary but that in the art of war and knowledge of the Greek tongue he was no other than an ignorant pretender this a separation produced an answer full of virulence including a national reflection upon the soldier's country and the contention rose to mutual abuse when it was suppressed by the admonitions of the other two who begged to not expose themselves in a strange place but behave themselves like fellow subjects and friends they accordingly ceased reviling each other and the affair was seemingly forgot but after they had resumed their places in the coach the painter unfortunately asked the meaning of the word tortoise which he had heard the mention among the Roman implements of war this question was answered by the physician who described the nature of this expedient so little to the satisfaction of the officer but he contradicted him flatly in the midst of his explanation a circumstance which provoked the republican to such a degree that in the temerity of his passion he uttered the epithet impertinent scoundrel which was no sooner pronounced than the caledonian made a manual application to his nose and leaping out of the coach he drew him on the plane while he, the physician made feeble efforts to join him being easily retained by the other soldier and pallet dreading the consequence in which he himself might be involved bellowed aloud for prevention our hero endeavoured to quiet the commotion by representing to the scott that he had already taken satisfaction for the injury he had received and telling the doctor the astisement which was inflicted upon him but the officer encouraged perhaps by the confusion of his antagonist insisted upon his asking pardon for what he had said and the doctor believing himself under the protection of his friend Pickle far from agreeing to such concession breathed nothing but defiance and revenge so that the chivalier in order to prevent mischief put the soldier under arrest and sent him to his lodgings under the care of the other French gentlemen and his own companion they being also accompanied by Mr. Jolter who having formally seen all the curiosities of Lille willingly surrendered his place to the physician End of Chapter 50 Recording by Martin Geithen in Hazelmere Surrey Chapter 51 of the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Martin Geithen the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 by Tobias Smollett Chapter 51 Pickle engages with the night of Malta in a conversation upon the English stage which is followed by a dissertation on the theatres of the ancients by the doctor The rest of the company proceeded to the arsenal which having viewed together with some remarkable churches they in their return went to the comedy and saw the seed of Carnet tolerably well represented In consequence of this entertainment the discourse at Sapa turned upon dramatic performances and all the objections of Monsieur Scuderri to the piece they had seen acted together with the decision of the French Academy were canvassed and discussed The night was a man of letters and taste and particularly well acquainted with the state of the English stage so that when the painter boldly pronounced sentence against the French manner of acting on the strength of having frequented a covent garden club of critics and been often admitted by virtue of an order into the pit a comparison immediately ensued not between the authors but the actors of both nations to whom the Chevalier and Peregrine were no strangers our hero like a good Englishman made no scruple of giving the preference to the performers of his own country who he alleged to bade the genuine impulses of nature in exhibiting the passions of the human mind and entered so warmly into the spirit of the natural parts that they often fancy themselves the very heroes they represented whereas the action of the Parisian players even in their most interesting characters was generally such an extravagance in voice and gesture as is nowhere to be observed but on the stage to illustrate this assertion he availed himself of his talent and mimicked the manner and voice of all the principal performers male and female belonging to the admiration of the Chevalier who having complimented him upon this surprising modulation begged leave to dissent in some particulars from the opinion he had avowed that you have good actors in England said he it would be unjust and absurd in me to deny your theatre is adorned by one woman whose sensibility and sweetness of voice is such as I have never observed on any other stage besides an elegance of person and expression of features that wonderfully adapt her for the most engaging characters of your best plays and I must freely own that I have been as highly delighted and as deeply affected by a monemia and Belvedere at London as ever I was by Cornelia and Cleopatra at Paris your favourite actor is a surprising genius you can moreover boast of several unique actors who are perfect masters of buffoonery and grimace though to be free with you I think in these qualifications you are excelled by the players of Amsterdam yet one of your graciosos I cannot admire in all the characters he assumes his utterance is a continual sing song like the chanting of Vespers and his action resembles that of heaving ballast into the hold of a ship in his outward deportment he seems to have confounded the ideas of insolence and the dignity of mean acts the crafty cool designing crookback as a loud shallow blustering hector in the character of the mild patriot Brutus loses all temper and decorum nay so ridiculous is the behaviour of him and Cassius at their interview that setting foot to foot and grinning at each other with the aspect of two cobblers engaged they thrust their left sides together with repeated shoots that the hilts of their swords may clash for the entertainment of the audience as if they were a couple of merry andrews endeavouring to raise the laugh of the vulgar on some scaffold of Bartholomew fair the despair of a great man who falls a victim to the infernal practices of a subtle traitor who enjoyed his confidence this Englishy sopus presents by beating his own forehead and bellowing like a bull and indeed in almost all his most interesting scenes perform such strange shakings of the head and other antique gesticulations that when I first saw him act I imagined the poor man laboured under the paralytical disorder which is known by the name of St. Vitus's dance in short he seems to be a stranger to the more refined sensations of the soul consequently his expression is of the vulgar kind and he must often sink under the idea of the poet so that he has recourse to such violence of affected agitation as imposes upon the undiscerning spectator but to the eye of taste evinces him a mere player of that class whom you admire Shakespeare justly compared to nature's journeyman tearing a passion to rags yet this man in spite of all these absurdities is an admirable full staff exhibits the character of the eighth Henry to the life is reasonably applauded in the plain dealer excels in the part of Sir John Brute and would be equal to many humorous situations in low comedy which his pride will not allow him to undertake I should not have been so severe upon this actor had I not seen him extolled by his partisans with the most ridiculous and stations of praise even in those very circumstances wherein as I have observed he chiefly failed Peregrine not a little peaked to hear the qualifications of such a celebrated actor in England treated with such freedom and disrespect answered with some asperity that the chivalier was a true critic more industrious in observing the blemishes than in acknowledging the excellence of those who fell under his examination it was not to be supposed that one actor could shine equally in all characters and though his observations were undoubtedly very judicious he himself could not help wondering that some of them had always escaped his notice though he had been an assiduous frequenter of the play house the player in question said he has in your own opinion considerable share of merit in the characters of comic life and as to the manners of the great images in tragedy and the operation of the grand passions of the soul I apprehend they may be variously represented according to the various complexion and cultivation of different men the Spaniard for example impelled by the same passion will express it very differently from a Frenchman and what is looked upon as a graceful vivacity and address by the one would be considered an impertinence nay so opposite is your common deportment from that of some other nations that one of our own countrymen in the relation of his travels observes that the Persians even of this age when they see any man perform unnecessary gestures say he is either a fool or Frenchman the standard of demeanour being thus unsettled a turk, a moor an Indian or inhabitant of my country whose customs and dress are widely different from ours may in his sentiments possess all the dignity of the human heart and be inspired by the noblest passion that animates the soul and yet excite the laughter rather than the respect of a European spectator when I first beheld your famous Parisian stage heroine in one of her principal parts her attitude seemed so violent and she tossed her arms around with such extravagance that she put me in mind of a windmill under the agitation of a hard gale while her voice and features exhibited the lively representation of an English scold the action of your favourite male performer was in my opinion equally unnatural he appeared with the affected airs of a dancing master at the most pathetic junctures of his fate he lifted up his hands above his head like a tumbler going to vault and spoke as if his throat had been covered by a hairbrush yet when I compared their manners with those of the people before whom they performed and made allowance for that exaggeration which obtains on all theatres I was insensibly reconciled to their method of performance and I could distinguish abundance of merit beneath that oddity of appearance the chivalier perceiving Peregrine a little irritated by what he had said asked pardon for the liberty he had taken assuring the English players assuring him that he had an infinite veneration for the British learning genius and taste which were so justly distinguished in the world of letters and that notwithstanding the severity of his criticism he thought the theatre of London much better supplied with actors than that of Paris the young gentleman thanked him for his polite condescension at which palette grew excited saying with a shake of the head you and the physician impatient of the dispute in which he had born no share observed with a super silly affair that the modern stage was altogether beneath one who had an idea of ancient magnificence and execution that plays ought to be exhibited at the expense of the state as those of Sophocles were by the Athenians and that proper judges should be appointed for receiving or rejecting all such performances offered to the public he then described the theatre at Rome which contained 80,000 spectators gave them a learned disquisition into the nature of the persona or mask worn by the Roman actors which he said was a machine that covered the whole head furnished on the inside with a brazen concavity that by reverberating the sound as it issued from the mouth raised the voice so as to render it such an extended audience he explained the difference between the saltator and declamator one of whom acted while the other rehearsed the part and from then took occasion to mention the perfection of their pantomimes who were so amazingly distinct in the exercise of their art that a certain prince of Pontus being at the court of Nero and seeing one of them represent a story begged him of the emperor begged him of the emperor begged him as an interpreter among barbarous nations whose language he did not understand nay diverse cynic philosophers who had condemned this entertainment unseen when they chance to be eyewitnesses of their admirable dexterity expressed their sorrow for having so long debar themselves of such national enjoyment he dissented however from the opinion of Peregrine who was a proof of their excellence had advanced that some of the English actors fancied themselves the very thing they represented and recounted a story from Lucian of a certain celebrated pantomime who enacting the part of Ajax in his frenzy was transported into a real fit of delirium during which he tore to pieces the clothes of that actor who stalked before him beating the stage with iron shoes in order to increase the noise snatched an instrument from one of the musicians and broke it over the head of him who represented Ulysses and running to the consular bench mistook a couple of senators for the sheep which were to be slain the audience applauded him to the skies but so conscious was the mimic of his own extravagance when he recovered the use of his reason that he actually fell sick with mortification and being afterwards desired to react the piece flatly refused to appear to such character saying that the shortest follies were the best and that he was deficient for him to have been a madman once in his life End of Chapter 51 Recording by Martin Geeson in Hazelmere Surrey Chapter 52 of the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Martin Geeson The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle Volume 1 by Tobias Smollett Chapter 52 An adventure happens to pipes in consequence of which he is dismissed from Peregrine's service The whole company set out for Ghent in the Diligence Our hero is captivated by a lady in that carriage Interests her spiritual director in his behalf The doctor being fairly engaged on the subject of the ancients would have proceeded the lord knows how far without hesitation had not he been interrupted by the arrival of Mr Jolter who in great confusion told them that the pipes having affronted a soldier was then surrounded in the street and would certainly be put to death but none of authority did not immediately interpose in his behalf Peregrine no sooner learned the danger of his trusty squire than snatching up his sword he ran downstairs and was followed by the chivalier in treating him to leave the affair to his management Within ten yards of the door they found Tom with his back to a wall defending himself with a mox stick against the assault of three or four soldiers on the northeast cross desisted from the attack and were taken into custody by order of the night One of the aggressors being an Irishman begged to be heard with great importunity before he should be sent to the guard and by the mediation of Pickle was accordingly brought into the hotel with his companions all three bearing upon their heads and faces evident marks of their adversaries prowess and being confronted with pipes informed the company that having by accident met with Mr Pipes whom he considered as his countryman though Fortune had disposed of them in different services he invited him to drink a glass of wine and accordingly carried him to a cabaret where he introduced him to his comrades but in the course of the conversation which turned upon the power and greatness of the kings of France and England Mr Pipes had been pleased to treat most Christian majesty with great disrespect and when he the entertainer expostulated with him in a friendly manner about his impolite behaviour observing that he being in the French service would be under the necessity of resenting his abuse if he did not put a stop to it before the other gentlemen of the cloth should comprehend his meaning he had set them all three at defiance dishonoured him in particular with the appropriate epithet of rebel native king and country and even drunk in broken French to the perdition of Louis and all his adherents that compelled by this outrageous conduct he as the person who had recommended him to their society had in vindication of his own character demanded satisfaction of the delinquent who on pretence of fetching a sword had gone to his lodging from whence he all of a sudden salied upon them with the mopstick and the annoyance of them all without distinction so that they were obliged to draw in their own defence pipes being questioned by his master with regard to the truth of this account owned that every circumstance was justly represented saying he did not value their cheese toast as a pinch of oakum and if the gentleman had not shot in betwixt them he would have trimmed them to such a tune that they should not have had a whole yard Peregrine rep demanded him sharply for his unmanly behaviour and insisted upon his asking pardon of those he had injured upon the spot but no consideration was efficacious enough to produce such concession to this command he was both deaf and dumb and the repeated threats of his master had no more effect than if they had been addressed to a marble statue at length our hero incensed at his obstinacy started up and would have chastised him with manual operation had not he been prevented by the chivalier who found means to moderate his indignation so far that he contented himself with dismissing the offender from his service and after having obtained the discharge of the prisoners gave them a louis to drink by way of recompense for the disgrace and damage they had sustained the night perceiving our young gentleman very much ruffled at this accident and reflecting upon the extraordinary deportment and appearance of his valet whose hair had by this time adopted a grizzled hue imagined he was some favourite domestic who had grown grey in the service of his master's family and that of consequence he was uneasy at the sacrifice he had made swayed by this conjecture he earnestly solicited in his behalf but all he could obtain was permitting him into favour on the terms already proposed or at least on condition that he should make his acknowledgement to the chivalier for his want of reverence and respect for the French monarch upon this condescension the culprit was called upstairs and made acquainted with the mitigation of his fate upon which he said he would down on his marabones to his own master but would be damned before he would ask to threaten them Pickle, exasperated by this blunt declaration ordered him out of his presence and charged him never to appear before his face again while the officer in vain employed all his influence and address to appease his resentment and about midnight took his leave with marks of mortification that is one to success next day the company agreed to travel through Flanders in the diligence of the advice of Peregrine who was not without hope of meeting with some adventure or amusement in that carriage and Jolte took care to secure places for them all it being resolved that the valet de chambre and the doctor's man should attend the vehicle on horseback and as for the forlorn pipes he was left to reap the fruits of his own stubborn disposition notwithstanding the united efforts of the whole triumvirate every previous measure being must taken they set out from Lille about six in the morning and found themselves in the company of a female adventurer a very handsome young lady a capuchin and a Rotterdam Jew our young gentleman being the first of this society that entered surveyed the stranger with an attentive eye and seated himself immediately behind the beautiful unknown who at once attracted his attention pallet seeing another lady unengaged in imitation of his friend took possession of her neighbourhood the physician paired with the priest and Jolte sat down by the Jew the machine had not preceded many furlongs when Pickle accosting the fair incognita congratulated himself upon his happiness in being the fellow traveller of so charming a lady she without the least reserve or affectation thanked him for his compliment and replied with a sprightly air that now they were embarked in one common bottom they must club their endeavours to make one another as happy as the nature of their situation would permit them to be encouraged by this frank intimation and captivated by her fine black eyes and easy behaviour he attached himself to her from that moment and in a little time the conversation became so particular that the Capuchin thought proper to interfere in the discourse in such a manner as gave the youth to understand that he was there on purpose to super intend her conduct he was doubly rejoiced at this discovery in consequence of which he hoped to profit in his addresses not only by the young lady's restraint that never fails to operate in behalf of the lover but also by the corruptibility of her guardian whom he did not doubt of rendering this cause flushed with these expectations he behaved with uncommon complacency to the father it was charmed with the affability of his carriage and on the faith of his generosity abated of his vigilance so much that our hero carried on his suit without further molestation while the painter in signs and loud bursts of laughter conversed with his dulcinia it was perfectly well versed in these simple expressions of satisfaction and had already found means to make a dangerous invasion upon his heart nor were the governor and physician unemployed while their friends interested themselves in this agreeable manner Jolte no sooner perceived that Hollander was a Jew than he entered into an investigation of the Hebrew tongue in which he was a connoisseur and the doctor at the same time attacked the mendicant on the ridiculous maxims of his order together with the impositions of priestcraft in general which he observed prevailed so much among those who professed the Roman Catholic religion thus coupled each committee enjoyed their own conversation apart without any danger of encroachment and all were so intent upon their several topics that they scarce allowed themselves a small interval in viewing the desolation of Manin as they passed through that ruined frontier about twelve o'clock they arrived at Kortre where the horses are always changed and the company halted an hour for refreshment here Peregrine handed his charmer into an apartment where she was joined by the other lady and on pretense of seeing some of the churches in town put himself under the direction of the Capuchin from whom he learned that the lady was wife to a French gentleman to whom she had been married about a year and she was now on her journey to visit her mother who lived in Brussels and was at that time laboured under a lingering distemper which in all probability would soon put a period to her life he then launched out in praise of her daughter's virtue and conjugal affection and lastly told him that he was her father confessor and pitched upon to be her conductor through Flanders by her husband as well as his wife and his servants in his prudence and integrity Pickle easily comprehended the meaning of this insinuation and took the hint accordingly he tickled the priest's vanity with extraordinary encomiums upon the disinterested principles of his order which were detached from all worldly pursuits and altogether devoted to the eternal salvation of mankind he applauded their patience humility and learning and lavished a world of praise upon their talent in preaching which he said had more than once operated so powerfully upon him that had he not been restrained by certain considerations which he could not possibly waive he should have embraced their tenets and begged admission into their fraternity but as the circumstances of his fate would not permit him to take such a salutary measure for the present he entreated the good father to accept a small token for the benefit of that convent to which he belonged so saying he pulled out a purse of ten guineas which the Capuchin observing turned his head another way and lifting up his arm displayed a pocket almost as high as his collar bone in which he deposited the money this proof of affection for the order produced a sudden and surprising effect upon the friar in the transport of his zeal the semiconvert's hand showered a thousand benedictions upon his head and exhorted him with the tears flowing from his eyes to perfect the great work which the finger of God had begun in his heart and as an instance of his concern for the welfare of his precious soul the Holy Brother promised to recommend him strenuously to the pious admonitions of the young woman under his care who was a perfect saint upon earth and in doubt with a peculiar gift of mollifying the hearts of obturant sinners oh father cried the hypocritical projector who by this time perceived that his money was not thrown away if I could be favoured but for one half hour with the private instruction of that inspired devotee my mind presages that I should be a strayed sheep brought back into the fold and that I should find easy entrance at the gates of heaven something supernatural in her aspect I gaze upon her with the most pious fervour and my whole soul is agitated with tumults of hope and despair having pronounced this rhapsody with transport half natural and half affected the priest assured him that these were the operations of the spirit which must not be repressed and comforted him with the hope of enjoying the blessed interview which he desired testing that as far as his influence extended his wish should be that very evening indulged the gracious people thanked him for his benevolent concern which he swore should not be squandered upon an ungrateful object and the rest of the company interrupting the conversation they returned in a body to the inn where they dined all together and the ladies were persuaded to be our hero's guests as the subjects on which they engaged before dinner were not exhausted each brace resumed their former theme when they were replaced in the diligence the painter's mistress finished her conquest by exerting his skill in the art of ogling accompanied by frequent bewitching sighs and some tender French songs that she sang with such pathetic expression has quite melted the resolution of pallet and utterly subdued his affection he, to convince her of the importance of her victory, gave a specimen of his own talents by entertaining her with that celebrated English ditty the burden of which begins with the pigs they lie with their arses bare end of chapter 52 recording by Martin Gethon in Hazelmere Surrey chapter 53 of the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle volume 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Martin Gethon the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle volume 1 by Tobias Smollett chapter 53 he makes some progress in her affections is interrupted by a dispute between Jolter and the Jew appeases the wrath of the Capuchin who procures for him an interview with his fair enslave in which he finds himself deceived Peregrine meanwhile employed all his insinuation and address in practising upon the heart of the Capuchin's fair charge he had long ago declared his passion not in the superficial manner of a French gallant but with all the ardour of an enthusiast he had languished vowed, flattered kissed her hand by stealth and had no reason to complain of his reception though by a man of a less sanguine disposition her particular complacence would have been deemed equivocal and perhaps nothing more than the effects of French breeding and constitutional vivacity he gave his own qualifications credit for the whole and with these sentiments carried on the attack with such unabating vigor that she was actually prevailed upon to accept a ring which he presented as a token of his esteem and everything proceeded in a most prosperous train when they were disturbed by the governor and the Israelite who in the heat of disputation raised their voices and poured forth such effusions of gutterls as set our lovers teeth on edge as they spoke in a language unknown to everyone in the carriage but themselves and looked at each mutual animosity and ranker peregrine desired to know the cause of their contention upon which Jolter exclaimed in a furious tone this learned Levite for sooth has the impudence to tell me that I don't understand Hebrew and affirms that the word benoni signifies child of joy whereas I can prove and have already said enough to convince any reasonable man that in the septuagint it is rightly translated into son of my sorrow having thus explained himself to his pupil he turned to the priest with intention to appeal to his determination but the Jew pulled him by the sleeve with great eagerness saying for the love of God be quiet the Capuchin will discover who we are Jolter offended at this conjunction echoed who we are with great emphasis and repeating hos poma natamus asked ironically to which of the tribes the Jew thought he belonged the Levite fronted at his comparing him to a ball of horse-stung replied with the most significant grin to the tribe of Issachar his antagonist taking the advantage of his unwillingness to be known by the friar and prompted by revenge for the freedom he had used answered in the French language that the judgment of God was still manifest upon their whole race not only in their being in the state of exiles from their native land but also in the spite of their hearts and pravity of their dispositions which demonstrated to be the genuine offspring of those who crucified the saviour of the world his expectation was however defeated the priest himself was too deeply engaged to attend to the debates of other people the physician in the pride and insolence of his learning had undertaken to display the absurdity of the Christian faith having already as he thought confuted the Capuchin touching the points of belief in which the Roman Catholics differ from the rest of the world but not cemented with the imagined victory he had gained he began to strike at the fundamentals of religion and the father with incredible forbearance was very free with the doctrine of the Trinity but when he leveled the shafts of his ridicule at the immaculate conception of the blessed virgin the good man's patience forsook him his eyes seemed to kindle with indignation he trembled in every joint and uttered with a loud voice you are an abominable I will not call thee heretic for thou art worse if possible than a Jew you deserve to be enclosed in a furnace at times heated and I have a good mind to lodge an information against you with the governor of Ghent that you may be apprehended and punished as an impious blasphemer this menace operated like a charm upon all present the doctor was confounded the governor dismayed the Levite's teeth chattered the painter astonished at the general confusion the cause of which he could not comprehend and Pickle himself not a little alarmed he obliged to use all his interest and acidity in appeasing this son of the church who at length in consideration of the friendship he professed for the young gentleman consented to forgive what had passed but absolutely refused to sit in contact with such a profane wretch when he looked upon as a fiend of darkness sent by the enemy of mankind to poison the minds of weak people so that after having crossed himself and uttered certain exorcisms he insisted upon the doctors changing places with the Jew who approached the offended ecclesiastic in an agony of fear matters being thus compromised the conversation flowed in a more general channel and without the intervention of any other accident or bone of contention the carriage arrived at the city of Ghent about seven in the evening supper being bespoken for the whole company and his friends went out to take a superficial view of the place leaving his new mistress to the pious exhortations of her confessor whom as we have already observed he had secured in his interest this zealous mediator spoke so warmly in his commendation and interested her conscience so much in the affair that she could not refuse her helping hand to the great work of his conversion and promised to grant the interview he desired this agreeable piece of intelligence which the Capuchin communicated to Peregrine at his return elevated his spirits to such a degree that he shone at supper with uncommon brilliance in a thousand sallies of wit and pleasantry to the delight of all present especially of his fair Fleming who seemed quite captivated by his person and behaviour the evening being thus spent to the satisfaction of all parties the company broke up and retired to their several apartments where our lover to his unspeakable mortification learned that the two ladies were obliged to be in the same room all the other chambers of the inn being preoccupied when he imparted this difficulty to the priest that charitable father who was very fruitful in expedience assured him that his spiritual concerns should not be obstructed by such a slender impediment and accordingly availed himself of his prerogative by going into his daughter's chamber when she was almost undressed and leading her into his own impretence of administering salatory food for her soul having brought the two votaries together he prayed for success to the operations of grace and left them to their mutual meditations after having conjured them in the most solemn manner to let no impure temptations of the flesh interfere with the hallowed design of their meeting the reverend intercessor being gone and the door fastened on the inside the pseudo-convert transported with his passion through himself at his Amanda's feet and begging she would spare him the tedious form of addresses which the nature of their interview would not permit him to observe began with all the impetuosity of love to make the most of the occasion but whether she was displeased by the intrepidity and assurance of his behaviour thinking herself entitled to more courtship and respect or was really better fortified with chastity than he or his procurer had supposed her to be certain it is she expressed resentment and surprise at his boldness and presumption and upbraided him with having imposed upon the charity of the friar the young gentleman was really as much astonished at this rebuff as she pretended to be at his declaration and earnestly and treated to consider how precious the moments were and for once sacrificed to perfluous ceremony to the happiness of one who adored her with such a flame as could not fail to consume his vitals if she would not deign to bless him with her favour not withstanding all his tears, vows and supplications and personal accomplishments and the tempting opportunity all that he could obtain was an acknowledgement of his having made an impression upon her heart which she hoped the dictates of her duty would enable her to erase this confession he considered as a delicate consent and obeying the impulse of his love snatched her up in his arms with an intention of seizing that which she declined to give when this French Lucretia unable to defend her virtue any other way screamed aloud and the Capuchin setting his shoulder to the door forced it open and entered in an affected ecstasy of amazement he lifted up his hands and eyes and pretended to be thunder struck at the discovery he had made then in broken exclamations professed his horror at the wicked intention of our hero who had covered such a damnable scheme with a mask of religion in short he performed his cue with such dexterity that the lady believing him to be an earnest begged he would forgive the stranger on account of his youth and education which had been tainted by the errors of heresy and he was on these considerations content to accept the submission of our hero who far from renouncing his expectations not withstanding this mortifying repulse confided so much in his own talents and the confession which his mistress had made that he resolved to make another effort to which nothing could have prompted him but the utmost turbulence of unruly desire end of chapter 53 recording by Martin Giesen in Hazelmere Surrey