by T. Smollett
Peregrine is sent to a boarding-school--Becomes remarkable for hisGenius and Ambition.
The commodore, understanding her determination, to which her husband didnot venture to make the least objection, interested himself so muchin behalf of his favourite, as to fit him out at his own charge, andaccompany him in person to the place of his destination; where hedefrayed the expense of his entrance, and left him to the particularcare and inspection of the usher, who having been recommended to himas a person of parts and integrity, received per advance a handsomeconsideration for the task he undertook.
Nothing could be better judged than this piece of liberality; theassistant was actually a man of learning, probity, and good sense; andthough obliged by the scandalous administration of fortune to act inthe character of an inferior teacher, had, by his sole capacity andapplication, brought the school to that degree of reputation, whichit never could have obtained from the talents of its superior. He hadestablished an economy, which, though regular, was not at all severe,by enacting a body of laws suited to the age and comprehension of everyindividual; and each transgressor was fairly tried by his peers, andpunished according to the verdict of the jury. No boy was scourged forwant of apprehension, but a spirit of emulation was raised by well-timedpraise and artful comparison, and maintained by a distribution of smallprizes, which were adjudged to those who signalized themselves either bytheir industry, sobriety, or genius.
This tutor, whose name was Jennings, began with Perry, according to hisconstant maxim, by examining the soil; that is, studying his temper,in order to consult the bias of his disposition, which was strangelyperverted by the absurd discipline he had undergone. He found him in astate of sullen insensibility, which the child had gradually contractedin a long course of stupefying correction; and at first he was not inthe least actuated by that commendation which animated the rest ofhis school-fellows; nor was it in the power of reproach to excite hisambition, which had been buried, as it were, in the grave of disgrace;the usher, therefore, had recourse to contemptuous neglect, withwhich he affected to treat this stubborn spirit; foreseeing that if heretained any seeds of sentiment, this weather would infallibly raisethem into vegetation; his judgment was justified by the event; the boyin a little time began to make observations; he perceived the marksof distinction with which virtue was rewarded, grew ashamed of thedespicable figure he himself made among his companions, who, far fromcourting, rather shunned his conversation, and actually pined at his ownwant of importance.
Mr. Jennings saw and rejoiced at his mortification, which he sufferedto proceed as far as possible, without endangering his health. The childlost all relish for diversion, loathed his food, grew pensive, solitary,and was frequently found weeping by himself. These symptoms plainlyevinced the recovery of his feelings, to which his governor thought itnow high time to make application; and therefore by little and littlealtered his behaviour from the indifference he had put on, to theappearance of more regard and attention. This produced a favourablechange in the boy, whose eyes sparkled with satisfaction one day, whenhis master expressed himself, with a show of surprise, in these words:"So, Perry! I find you don't want genius, when you think proper touse it." Such encomiums kindled the spirit of emulation in his littlebreast; he exerted himself with surprising alacrity, by which he soonacquitted himself of the imputation of dullness, and obtained sundryhonorary silver pennies, as acknowledgments of his application; hisschool-fellows now solicited his friendship as eagerly as they hadavoided it before; and in less than a twelvemonth after his arrival,this supposed dunce was remarkable for the brightness of his parts;having in that short period learnt to read English perfectly well, madegreat progress in writing, enabled himself to speak the French languagewithout hesitation, and acquired some knowledge in the rudiments ofthe Latin tongue. The usher did not fail to transmit an account ofhis proficiency to the commodore, who received it with transport, andforthwith communicated the happy tidings to the parents.
Mr. Gamaliel Pickle, who was never subject to violent emotions, heardthem with a sort of phlegmatic satisfaction, that scarce manifesteditself either in his countenance or expressions; nor did the child'smother break forth into that rapture and admiration which mighthave been expected, when she understood how much the talents of herfirst-born had exceeded the hope of her warmest imagination. Not butthat she professed herself well pleased with Perry's reputation;though she observed that in these commendations the truth was alwaysexaggerated by schoolmasters, for their own interest; and pretended towonder that the usher had not mingled more probability with hispraise. Trunnion was offended at her indifference and want of faithand believing that she refined too much in her discernment, swore thatJennings had declared the truth, and nothing but the truth; for hehimself had prophesied, from the beginning, that the boy would turn outa credit to his family. But by this time Mrs. Pickle was blessed witha daughter, whom she had brought into the world about six months beforethe intelligence arrived; so that her care and affection being otherwiseengrossed, the praise of Perry was the less greedily devoured. Theabatement of her fondness was an advantage to his education, which wouldhave been retarded, and perhaps ruined, by pernicious indulgence, andpreposterous interposition, had her love considered him as an onlychild; whereas her concern being now diverted to another object,that shared, at least, one-half of her affection, he was left to themanagement of his preceptor, who tutored him according to his ownplan, without any let or interruption. Indeed all his sagacity andcircumspection were but barely sufficient to keep the young gentlemanin order; for now that he had won the palm of victory from his rivals inpoint of scholarship, his ambition dilated, and he was seized with thedesire of subjecting the whole school by the valour of his arm. Beforehe could bring his project to bear, innumerable battles were fought withvarious success; every day a bloody nose and complaint were presentedagainst him, and his own visage commonly bore some livid marks ofobstinate contention. At length, however, he accomplished his aim; hisadversaries were subdued, his prowess acknowledged, and he obtained thelaurel in war as well is in wit. Thus triumphant, he was intoxicatedwith success: his pride rose in proportion to his power and, in spiteof all the endeavours of Jennings, who practised every method he couldinvent for curbing his licentious conduct, without depressing hisspirit, he contracted a large proportion of insolence, which series ofmisfortunes that happened to him in the sequel could scarce effectuallytame. Nevertheless there was a fund of good nature and generosity in hiscomposition; and though he established a tyranny among his comrades, thetranquility of his reign was maintained by the love rather than by thefear of his subjects.
In the midst of all this enjoyment of empire he never once violated thatrespectful awe with which the usher had found means to inspire him; buthe by no means preserved the same regard for the principal master, anold illiterate German quack, who had formerly practised corn-cuttingamong the quality, and sold cosmetic washes to the ladies, together withteeth-powders, hair-dyeing liquors, prolific elixirs, and tinctures tosweeten the breath. These nostrums, recommended by the art of cringing,in which he was consummate, ingratiated him so much with people offashion, that he was enabled to set up school with five-and-twenty boysof the best families, whom he boarded on his own terms and undertook toinstruct in the French and Latin languages, so as to qualify themfor the colleges of Westminster and Eton. While this plan was in itsinfancy, he was so fortunate as to meet with Jennings, who, for thepaltry consideration of thirty pounds a year, which his necessitiescompelled him to accept, took the whole trouble of educating thechildren upon himself, contrived an excellent system for that purpose,and, by his assiduity and knowledge, executed all the particulars to theentire satisfaction of those concerned, who, by the bye, never inquiredinto his qualifications, but suffered the other to enjoy the fruits ofhis labour and ingenuity.
Over and above a large stock of avarice, ignorance, and vanity, thissuperior had certain ridiculous peculiarities in his person, such asa hunch upon his back, and distorted limbs, t
hat seemed to attract thesatirical notice of Peregrine, who, young as he was, took offence athis want of reverence for his usher, over whom he sometimes choseopportunities of displaying his authority, that the boys might notmisplace their veneration. Mr. Keypstick, therefore, such as Ihave described him, incurred the contempt and displeasure of thisenterprising pupil, who now being in the tenth year of his age, hadcapacity enough to give him abundance of vexation. He underwent manymortifying jokes front the invention of Pickle and his confederates; sothat he began to entertain suspicion of Mr. Jennings, who he couldnot help thinking had been at the bottom of them all, and spirited upprinciples of rebellion in the school, with a view of making himselfindependent. Possessed with this chimera, which was void of allfoundation, the German descended so low as to tamper in private with theboys, from whom he hoped to draw some very important discovery; but hewas disappointed in his expectations; and this mean practice reachingthe ears of his usher, he voluntarily resigned his employment. Findinginterest to obtain holy orders in a little time after, he leftthe kingdom, hoping to find a settlement in some of our Americanplantations.
The departure of Mr. Jennings produced a great revolution in the affairsof Keypstick, which declined from that moment, because he had neitherauthority to enforce obedience, nor prudence to maintain order among hisscholars: so that the school degenerated into anarchy and confusion, andhe himself dwindled in the opinion of his employers, who looked upon himas superannuated, and withdrew their children front his tuition.
Peregrine seeing this dissolution of their society, and finding himselfevery day deprived of some companion, began to repine at his situation,and resolved, if possible, to procure his release from the jurisdictionof the person whom he both detested and despised. With this view he wentto work, and composed the following billet, addressed to the commodore,which was the first specimen of his composition in the epistolary way:--
"Honoured and Loving Uncle,--Hoping you are in good health, this serves to inform you, that Mr. Jennings is gone, and Mr. Keypstick will never meet with his fellow. The school is already almost broke up, and the rest daily going away; and I beg of you of all love to have me fetched away also, for I cannot bear to be any longer under one who is a perfect ignoramus, who scarce knows the declination of musa, and is more fit to be a scarecrow than a schoolmaster; hoping you will send for me soon, with my love to my aunt, and my duty to my honoured parents, craving their blessing and yours. And this is all at present from, honoured uncle, your well-beloved and dutiful nephew and godson, and humble servant to command till death, "Peregrine Pickle."
Trunnion was overjoyed at the receipt of this letter, which he lookedupon as one of the greatest efforts of human genius, and as suchcommunicated the contents to his lady, whom he had disturbed for thepurpose in the middle of her devotion, by sending a message to hercloset, whither it was her custom very frequently to retire. She wasout of humour at being interrupted, and therefore did not peruse thisspecimen of her nephew's understanding with all the relish that thecommodore himself had enjoyed; on the contrary, after sundry paralyticalendeavours to speak (for her tongue sometimes refused its office), sheobserved that the boy was a pert jackanapes, and deserved to be severelychastised for treating his betters with such disrespect. Her husbandundertook his godson's defence, representing with great warmth that heknew Keypstick to be a good-for-nothing pimping old rascal, and thatPerry showed a great deal of spirit and good sense in desiring to betaken from under his command; he therefore declared that the boyshould not live a week longer with such a shambling son of a b--, andsanctioned this declaration with abundance of oaths.
Mrs. Trunnion, composing her countenance into a look of religionsdemureness, rebuked him for his profane way of talking; and asked, ina magisterial tone, if he intended never to lay aside that brutalbehaviour. Irritated at this reproach, he answered, in terms ofindignation, that he knew how to behave himself as well as e'er a womanthat wore a head, bade her mind her affairs, and with another repetitionof oaths gave her to understand that he would be master in his ownhouse.
The insinuation operated upon her spirits like friction upon a glassglobe: her face gleamed with resentment, and every pore seemed to emitparticles of flame. She replied with incredible fluency of the bitterestexpressions: he retorted equal rage in broken hints and incoherentimprecations: she rejoined with redoubled fury; and in conclusion he wasfain to betake himself to flight, ejaculating curses against her; andmuttering something concerning the brandy-bottle, which, however, hetook care should never reach her ears.
From his own house he went directly to visit Mrs. Pickle, to whomhe imparted Peregrine's epistle, with many encomiums upon the boy'spromising parts: and, finding his commendations but coolly received,desired she would permit him to take his godson under his own care.
This lady, whose family was now increased by another son, who seemed toengross her care for the present, had not seen Perry during a courseof four years, and, with regard to him, was perfectly weaned ofthat infirmity known by the name of maternal fondness: she thereforeconsented to the commodore's request with great condescension, and apolite compliment to him on the concern he had all along manifested forthe welfare of the child.
CHAPTER XIII.