The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle

by T. Smollett

  Pickle seems tolerably well reconciled to his Cage; and is by theClergyman entertained with the Memoirs of a Noted Personage, whom hesees by accident in the Fleet.

  The knight had scarce finished his narrative, when our hero was told,that a gentleman in the coffee-room wanted to see him; and when hewent thither, he found his friend Crabtree, who had transacted all hisaffairs, according to the determination of the preceding day; and nowgave him an account of the remarks he overheard, on the subject ofhis misfortune; for the manner of the arrest was so public andextraordinary, that those who were present immediately propagated itamong their acquaintance, and it was that same evening discoursed uponat several tea and card tables, with this variation from the truth, thatthe debt amounted to twelve thousand, instead of twelve hundred pounds.From which circumstance it was conjectured, that Peregrine was a bitefrom the beginning, who had found credit on account of his effronteryand appearance, and imposed himself upon the town as a young gentlemanof fortune. They rejoiced, therefore, at his calamity, which theyconsidered as a just punishment for his fraud and presumption, and beganto review certain particulars of his conduct, that plainly demonstratedhim to be a rank adventurer, long before he had arrived at this end ofhis career.

  Pickle, who now believed his glory was set for ever, received thisintelligence with that disdain which enables a man to detach himselfeffectually from the world, and, with great tranquility, gave themisanthrope an entertaining detail of what he had seen and heard sincetheir last parting. While they amused themselves in this manner overa dish of coffee they were joined by the parson, who congratulated ourhero upon his bearing mischance with such philosophic quite, and beganto regale the two friends with some curious circumstances relating tothe private history of the several prisoners, as they happened to comein. At length a gentleman entered; at sight of whom the clergyman roseup, and saluted him with a most reverential bow, which was graciouslyreturned by the stranger, who, with a young man that attended him,retired to the other end of the room. They were no sooner out ofhearing, than the communicative priest desired his company to takeparticular notice of this person to whom he had paid his respects."That man," said he, "is this day one of the most flagrant instancesof neglected virtue which the world can produce. Over and above a cooldiscerning head, fraught with uncommon learning and experience, heis possessed of such fortitude and resolution, as no difficulties candiscourage, and no danger impair; and so indefatigable in his humanity,that even now, while he is surrounded with such embarrassments as woulddistract the brain of an ordinary mortal, he has added considerably tohis encumbrances, by taking under his protection that young gentleman,who, induced by his character, appealed to his benevolence for redressof the grievances under which he labours from the villainy of guardian."

  Peregrine's curiosity being excited by this encomium, asked the name ofthis generous patron, of which when he was informed, "I am no stranger,"said he, "to the fame of that gentleman, who has made a considerablenoise in the world, on account of that great cause he undertook indefence of an unhappy orphan; and, since he is a person of such anamiable disposition, I am heartily sorry to find that his endeavourshave not met with that successful issue which their good fortune in thebeginning seemed to promise. Indeed, the circumstance of his espousingthat cause was so uncommon and romantic and the depravity of thehuman heart so universal, that some people, unacquainted with his realcharacter, imagined his views were altogether selfish; and some were notwanting, who affirmed he was a mere adventurer. Nevertheless, I must dohim the justice to own, I have heard some of the most virulent of thosewho were concerned on the other side of the question, bear testimonyin his favour, observing, that he was deceived into the expense of thewhole, by the plausible story which at first engaged his compassion.Your description of his character confirms me in the same opinion,though I am quite ignorant of the affair; the particulars of which Ishould be glad to learn, as well as the genuine account of his own life,many circumstances of which are by his enemies, I believe, egregiouslymisrepresented."

  "Sir," answered the priest, "that is a piece of satisfaction which I amglad to find myself capable of giving you. I have had the pleasure ofbeing acquainted with Mr. M-- from his youth, and everything which Ishall relate concerning him, you may depend upon as a fact which hathfallen under my own cognizance, or been vouched upon the credit ofundoubted evidence.

  "Mr. M--'s father was a minister of the established church of Scotland,descended from a very ancient clan, and his mother nearly related to anoble family in the northern part of that kingdom. While the son wasboarded at a public school, where he made good progress in the Latintongue, his father died, and he was left an orphan to the care of anuncle, who, finding him determined against any servile employment, kepthim at school, that he might prepare himself for the university, with aview of being qualified for his father's profession.

  "Here his imagination was so heated by the warlike achievements he foundrecorded in the Latin authors, such as Caesar, Curtius, and Buchanan,that he was seized with an irresistible thirst of military glory, anddesire of trying his fortune in the army. His Majesty's troops takingthe field, in consequence of the rebellion which happened in the yearseventeen hundred and fifteen, this young adventurer, thinking no lifeequal to that of a soldier, found means to furnish himself with a fusiland bayonet, and, leaving the school, repaired to the camp near Stirlingwith a view of signalizing himself in the field, though he was at thattime but just turned of thirteen. He offered his service to severalofficers, in hope of being enlisted in their companies; but they wouldnot receive him, because they rightly concluded, that he was someschoolboy broke loose, without the knowledge or consent of hisrelations. Notwithstanding this discouragement, he continued in camp,curiously prying into every part of the service; and such was theresolution conspicuous in him, even at such a tender age, that, afterhis small finances were exhausted, he persisted in his design; and,because he would not make his wants known, actually subsisted forseveral days on hips, haws, and sloes, and other spontaneous fruits,which he gathered in the woods and fields. Meanwhile, he never failedto be present, when any regiment or corps of men were drawn out to beexercised and reviewed, and accompanied them in all their evolutions,which he had learned to great perfection, by observing the companieswhich were quartered in the place where he was at school. This eagernessand perseverance attracted the notice of many officers, who, afterhaving commended his spirit and zeal, pressed him to return to hisparents, and even threatened to expel him from the camp, if he would notcomply with their advice.

  "These remonstrances having no other effect than that of warning him toavoid his monitors, they thought proper to alter their behaviour towardshim, took him into their protection, and even into their mess, andwhat, above all other marks of favour, pleased the young soldier most,permitted him to incorporate in the battalion, and take his turn ofduty with the other men. In this happy situation he was discovered by arelation of his mother, who was a captain in the army, and who used allhis authority and influence in persuading M-- to return to school; but,finding him deaf to his admonitions and threats, he took him under hisown care, and, when the army marched to Dumblane, left him at Stirlingwith express injunctions to keep himself within the walls.

  "He temporized with his kinsman, fearing that, should he seemrefractory, the captain would have ordered him to be shut up in thecastle. Inflamed with the desire of seeing a battle, his relation nosooner marched off the ground, than he mixed in with another regiment,to which his former patrons belonged, and proceeded to the field,where he distinguished himself, even at that early time of life, by hisgallantry, in helping to retrieve a pair of colours belonging to M--n'sregiment; so that, after the affair, he was presented to the duke ofArgyll, and recommended strongly to Brigadier Grant, who invited himinto his regiment, and promised to provide for him with the firstopportunity. But that gentleman in a little time lost his command uponthe duke's disgrace, and the regiment was ordered for Ireland, beinggiven to Colonel Nass
au, whose favour the young volunteer acquired tosuch a degree, that he was recommended to the king for his ensigncy,which in all probability he would have obtained, had not the regimentbeen unluckily reduced.

  "In consequence of this reduction, which happened in the most severeseason of the year, he was obliged to return to his own country, throughinfinite hardships, to which he was exposed from the narrowness of hiscircumstances. And continuing still enamoured of a military life, heentered into the regiment of Scots Greys, at that time commanded bythe late Sir James Campbell, who, being acquainted with his family andcharacter, encouraged him with a promise of speedy preferment. In thiscorps he remained three years, during which he had no opportunity ofseeing actual service, except at the affair of Glensheel; and thislife of insipid quiet must have hung heavy upon a youth of M--'s activedisposition, had not he found exercise for the mind, in reading booksof amusement, history, voyages, and geography, together with those thattreated of the art of war, ancient and modern, for which he contractedsuch an eager appetite, that he used to spend sixteen hours a day inthis employment. About that time he became acquainted with a gentlemanof learning and taste, who observing his indefatigable application,and insatiable thirst after knowledge, took upon himself the charge ofsuperintending his studies; and, by the direction of such an able guide,the young soldier converted his attention to a more solid and profitablecourse of reading. So inordinate was his desire of making speedyadvances in the paths of learning, that within the compass of threemonths, he diligently perused the writings of Locke and Malebranche,and made himself master of the first six and of the eleventh and twelfthbooks of Euclid's Elements. He considered Puffendorf and Grotius withuncommon care, acquired a tolerable degree of knowledge in the Frenchlanguage, and his imagination was so captivated with the desire oflearning, that, seeing no prospect of a war, or views of being providedfor in the service, he quitted the army, and went through a regularcourse of university education. Having made such progress in hisstudies, he resolved to qualify himself for the church, and acquiredsuch a stock of school divinity, under the instructions of a learnedprofessor at Edinburgh, that he more than once mounted the rostrumin the public hall, and held forth with uncommon applause. But beingdiscouraged from a prosecution of his plan, by the unreasonableausterity of some of the Scotch clergy, by whom the most indifferentand innocent words and actions were often misconstrued into levity andmisconduct, he resolved to embrace the first favourable opportunityof going abroad, being inflamed with the desire of seeing foreigncountries; and actually set out for Holland, where, for the space oftwo years, he studied the Roman law, with the law of nature and nations,under the famous professors Tolieu and Barbeyrac.

  "Having thus finished his school education, he set out for Paris, witha view to make himself perfect in the French language, and learn suchuseful exercises, as might be acquired with the wretched remnant of hisslender estate, which was by that time reduced very low. In his journeythrough the Netherlands, he went to Namur, and paid his respects toBishop Strickland and General Collier, by whom he was received withgreat civility, in consequence of letters of recommendation, with whichhe was provided from the Hague; and the old general assured him of hisprotection and interest for a pair of colours, if he was disposed toenter into the Dutch service. Though he was by that time pretty wellcured of his military quixotism, he would not totally decline thegenerous proffer, for which he thanked him in the most grateful terms,telling the general that he would pay his duty to him on his return fromFrance, and then, if he could determine upon re-engaging in the army,should think himself highly honoured in being under his command.

  "After a stay of two months in Flanders, he proceeded to Paris, and, farfrom taking up his habitation in the suburbs of St. Germain, accordingto the custom of English travellers, he hired a private lodging on theother side of the river, and associated chiefly with French officers,who, their youthful sallies being over, are allowed to be the politestgentlemen of that kingdom. In this scheme he found his account so much,that he could not but wonder at the folly of his countrymen, who losethe main scope of their going abroad, by spending their time and fortuneidly with one another.

  "During his residence in Holland, he had made himself acquainted withthe best authors in the French language, so that he was able to sharein their conversation; a circumstance from which he found great benefit;for it not only improved him in his knowledge of that tongue, but alsotended to the enlargement of his acquaintance, in the course of which hecontracted intimacies in some families of good fashion, especially thoseof the long robe, which would have enabled him to pass his time veryagreeably, had he been a little easier in point of fortune. But hisfinances, notwithstanding the most rigid economy, being in a few monthsreduced to a very low ebb, the prospect of indigence threw a damp uponall his pleasures, though he never suffered himself to be thereby in anydegree dispirited; being in that respect of so happy a disposition, thatconscious poverty or abundance made very slight impressions upon hismind. This consumption of his cash, however, involved him in someperplexity, and he deliberated with himself, whether he should return toGeneral Collier, or repair to London, where he might possibly fallinto some business not unbecoming a gentleman; though he was very muchmortified to find himself incapable of gratifying an inordinate desirewhich possessed him of making the grand tour, or, at least, of visitingthe southern parts of France.

  "While he thus hesitated between different suggestions, he was onemorning visited by a gentleman who had sought and cultivated hisfriendship, and for whom he had done a good office, in supporting himwith spirit against a brutal German, with whom he had an affair ofhonour. This gentleman came to propose a party for a fortnight, toFontainebleau, where the court then was; and the proposal being declinedby M-- with more than usual stiffness, his friend was very urgent toknow the reason of his refusal, and at length, with some confusion,said, 'Perhaps your finances are low?' M-- replied, that he hadwherewithal to defray the expense of his journey to London, where hecould be furnished with a fresh supply; and this answer was no soonermade, than the other taking him by the hand, 'My dear friend,' said he,'I am not unacquainted with your affairs, and would have offered you mycredit long ago, if I had thought it would be acceptable; even now, I donot pretend to give you money, but desire and insist upon it, that youwill accept of the loan of these two pieces of paper, to be repaid whenyou marry a woman with a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, or obtain anemployment of a thousand a year.' So saying, he presented him with twoactions of above two thousand livres each.

  "M-- was astonished at this unexpected instance of generosity, in astranger, and, with suitable acknowledgment, peremptorily refused toincur such an obligation; but at length he was, by dint of importunityand warm expostulation, prevailed upon to accept one of the actions, oncondition that the gentleman would take his note for the sum; and thishe absolutely rejected, until M-- promised to draw upon him for doublethe value or more, in case he should at any time want a further supply.This uncommon act of friendship and generosity, afterwards had anopportunity to repay tenfold, though he could not help regretting theoccasion, on his friend's account. That worthy man having, by placingtoo much confidence in a villainous lawyer, and a chain of othermisfortunes, involved himself and his amiable lady in a labyrinth ofdifficulties, which threatened the total ruin of his family, M-- feltthe inexpressible satisfaction of delivering his benefactor from thesnare.

  "Being thus reinforced by the generosity of his friend, M-- resolved toexecute his former plan of seeing the south of France, together with thesea-ports of Spain, as far as Cadiz, from whence he proposed to take apassage for London by sea; and, with this view, sent forward his trunksby the diligence to Lyons, determined to ride post, in order to enjoy abetter view of the country, and for the conveniency of stopping at thoseplaces where there was anything remarkable to be seen or inquired into.While he was employed in taking leave of his Parisian friends, whofurnished him with abundant recommendation, a gentleman of his owncountry, who spoke l
ittle or no French, hearing of his intention,begged the favour of accompanying him in his expedition. With this newcompanion, therefore, he set out for Lyons, where he was perfectly wellreceived by the intendant and some of the best families of the place, inconsequence of his letters of recommendation; and, after a short stayin that city, proceeded down the Rhone to Avignon, in what is called thecoche d'eau; then visiting the principal towns of Dauphiny, Languedoc,and Provence, he returned to the delightful city of Marseilles, where heand his fellow-traveller were so much captivated by the serenity of theair, the good-nature and hospitality of the sprightly inhabitants, thatthey never dreamed of changing their quarters during the whole winterand part of the spring: here he acquired the acquaintance of the Marquisd'Argens, attorney-general in the parliament of Aix, and of his eldestson, who now makes so great a figure in the literary world; and when theaffair of Father Girard and Mademoiselle Cadiere began to make a noise,he accompanied these two gentlemen to Toulon, where the marquis wasordered to take a precognition of the facts.

  "On his return to Marseilles, he found a certain noble lord of greatfortune, under the direction of a Swiss governor, who had accommodatedhim with two of his own relations, of the same country, by way ofcompanions, together with five servants in his train. They beingabsolute strangers in the place, M--introduced them to the intendant,and several other good families, and had the good fortune to be soagreeable to his lordship, that he proposed and even pressed him to livewith him in England as a friend and companion, and to take upon him thesuperintendence of his affairs, in which case he would settle upon himfour hundred a year for life.

  "This proposal was too advantageous to be slighted by a person of nofortune, or fixed establishment: he therefore made no difficulty ofclosing with it; but, as his lordship's departure was fixed to a shortday, and he urged him to accompany him to Paris, and from thence toEngland, M-- thought it would be improper and indecent to interfere withthe office of his governor, who might take umbrage at his favour, andtherefore excused himself from a compliance with his lordship's request,until his minority should be expired, as he was within a few months ofbeing of age. However, he repeated his importunities so earnestly, andthe governor joined in the request with such appearance of cordiality,that he was prevailed upon to comply with their joint desire; and in afew days set out with them for Paris, by the way of Lyons. But, beforethey had been three days in the city, M-- perceived a total changein the behaviour of the Swiss and his two relations, who, in allprobability, became jealous of his influence with his lordship; and heno sooner made this discovery, than he resolved to withdraw himself fromsuch a disagreeable participation of that young nobleman's favour. He,therefore, in spite of all his lordship's entreaties and remonstrances,quitted him for the present, alleging, as a pretext, that he had alonging desire to see Switzerland and the banks of the Rhine, andpromising to meet him again in England.

  "This his intention being made known to the governor and his friends,their countenances immediately cleared up, their courtesy andcomplaisance returned, and they even furnished him with letters forGeneva, Lausanne, Bern, and Soleures; in consequence of which he metwith unusual civilities at these places. Having made this tour with hisScotch friend, who came up to him before he left Lyons, and visited themost considerable towns on both sides of the Rhine, and the courts ofthe electors Palatine, Mentz, and Cologne, he arrived in Holland; andfrom thence, through the Netherlands, repaired to London, where he foundmy lord just returned from Paris.

  "His lordship received him with expressions of uncommon joy, would notsuffer him to stir from him for several days, and introduced him to hisrelations. M-- accompanied his lordship from London to his country seat,where he was indeed treated with great friendship and confidence, andconsulted in everything; but the noble peer never once made mention ofthe annuity which he had promised to settle upon him, nor did M--remind him of it, because he conceived it was his affair to fulfil hisengagements of his own accord. M-- being tired of the manner of livingat this place, made an excursion to Bath, where he stayed about afortnight, to partake of the diversions, and, upon his return, found hislordship making dispositions for another journey to Paris.

  "Surprised at this sudden resolution, he endeavoured to dissuadehim from it; but his remonstrances were rendered ineffectual by theinsinuations of a foreigner who had come over with him, and filled hisimagination with extravagant notions of pleasure, infinitely superiorto any which he could enjoy while he was in the trammels and under therestraints of a governor. He, therefore, turned a deaf ear to all M--'sarguments, and entreated him to accompany him in the journey; butthis gentleman, foreseeing that a young man, like my lord, of strongpassions, and easy to be misled, would, in all probability, squanderaway great sums of money, in a way that would neither do credit tohimself, or to those who were concerned with him, resisted all hissolicitations, on pretence of having business of consequence at London;and afterwards had reason to be extremely well pleased with his ownconduct in this particular.

  "Before he set out on this expedition, M--, in justice to himself,reminded him of the proposal which he had made to him at Marseilles,desiring to know if he had altered his design in that particular; inwhich case he would turn his thoughts some other way, as he would notin the least be thought to intrude or pin himself upon any man. My lordprotested in the most solemn manner, that he still continued in hisformer resolution, and, again beseeching him to bear him company intoFrance, promised that everything should be settled to his satisfactionupon their return to England. M--, however, still persisted in hisrefusal, for the above-mentioned reasons, and, though he never heardmore of the annuity, he nevertheless continued to serve his lordshipwith his advice and good offices ever after; particularly in directinghis choice to an alliance with a lady of eminent virtue, the daughter ofa noble lord, more conspicuous for his shining parts than the splendourof his titles; a circumstance upon which he always reflected withparticular satisfaction, as well on account of the extraordinary meritof the lady, as because it vested in her children a considerable partof that great estate, which of right belonged to her grandmother, andafterwards put him in a way to retrieve his estate from a heavy load ofdebt he had contracted. When my lord set out on his Paris expedition,the money M-- had received from his generous friend at Paris was almostreduced to the last guinea. He had not yet reaped the least benefit fromhis engagements with his lordship; and, disdaining to ask for a supplyfrom him, he knew not how to subsist, with any degree of credit, tillhis return.

  "This uncomfortable prospect was the more disagreeable to him, as, atthat time of life, he was much inclined to appear in the gay world, hadcontracted a taste for plays, operas, and other public diversions, andacquired an acquaintance with many people of good fashion, which couldnot be maintained without a considerable expense. In this emergency,he thought he could not employ his idle time more profitably than intranslating, from foreign languages, such books as were then chiefly invogue; and upon application to a friend, who was a man of letters, hewas furnished with as much business of that kind as he could possiblymanage, and wrote some pamphlets on the reigning controversies of thattime, that had the good fortune to please. He was also concerned in amonthly journal of literature, and the work was carried on by the twofriends jointly, though M-- did not at all appear in the partnership.By these means he not only spent his mornings in useful exercise butsupplied himself with money for what the French call the menus plaisirs,during the whole summer. He frequented all the assemblies in and aboutLondon, and considerably enlarged his acquaintance among the fair sex.

  "He had, upon his first arrival in England, become acquainted with alady at an assembly not far from London; and though, at that time, hehad no thoughts of extending his views farther than the usual gallantryof the place, he met with such distinguishing marks of her regard inthe sequel, and was so particularly encouraged by the advice of anotherlady, with whom he had been intimate in France, and who was now oftheir parties, that he could not help entertaining hope
s of making animpression upon the heart of his agreeable partner, who was a young ladyof an ample fortune and great expectations. He therefore cultivated hergood graces with all the assiduity and address of which he was master,and succeeded so well in his endeavours, that, after a due course ofattendance, and the death of an aunt, by which she received an accessionof fortune to the amount of three and twenty thousand pounds, heventured to declare his passion, and she not only heard him withpatience and approbation, but also replied in terms adequate to hiswarmest wish.

  "Finding himself so favourably received, he pressed her to secure hishappiness by marriage; but, to this proposal, she objected the recencyof her kinswoman's death, which would have rendered such a step highlyindecent, and the displeasure of her other relations, from whom she hadstill greater expectations, and who, at that time, importuned her tomarry a cousin of her own, whom she could not like. However, that M--might have no cause to repine at her delay, she freely entered withhim into an intimacy of correspondence; during which nothing could haveadded to their mutual felicity, which was the more poignant and refined,from the mysterious and romantic manner of their enjoying it; for,though he publicly visited her as an acquaintance, his behaviour onthese occasions was always so distant, respectful, and reserved, thatthe rest of the company could not possibly suspect the nature of theirreciprocal attachment; in consequence of which they used to have privateinterviews, unknown to every soul upon earth, except her maid, who wasnecessarily entrusted with the secret.

  "In this manner they enjoyed the conversation of each other for abovetwelve months, without the least interruption; and though the stabilityof Mr. M--'s fortune depended entirely upon their marriage, yet ashe perceived his mistress so averse to it, he never urged it withvehemence, nor was at all anxious on that score, being easily inducedto defer a ceremony, which, as he then thought, could in no shapehave added to their satisfaction, though he hath since altered hissentiments. Be that as it will, his indulgent mistress, in order toset his mind at ease in that particular, and in full confidence of hishonour, insisted on his accepting a deed of gift of her whole fortune,in consideration of her intended marriage; and, after some difficulty,he was prevailed upon to receive this proof of her esteem, well knowingthat it would still be in his power to return the obligation. Though sheoften entreated him to take upon himself the entire administration ofher finances, and upon divers occasions pressed him to accept of largesums, he never once abused her generous disposition, or solicited herfor money, except for some humane purpose, which she was always moreready to fulfil than he to propose.

  "In the course of this correspondence, he became acquainted with someof her female relations, and, among the rest, with a young lady, soeminently adorned with all the qualifications of mind and person, that,notwithstanding all his philosophy and caution, he could not behold andconverse with her, without being deeply smitten with her charms. He didall in his power to discourage this dangerous invasion in the beginning,and to conceal the least symptom of it from her relation; he summonedall his reflection to his aid, and, thinking it would be base anddishonest to cherish any sentiment repugnant to the affection which heowed to a mistress who had placed such unlimited confidence in him, heattempted to stifle the infant flame, by avoiding the amiable inspirerof it. But the passion had taken too deep a root in his heart to beso easily extirpated; his absence from the dear object increasedthe impatience of his love: the intestine conflict between that andgratitude deprived him of his rest and appetite. He was, in a shorttime, emaciated by continual watching, anxiety, and want of nourishment,and so much altered from his usual cheerfulness, that his mistress,being surprised and alarmed at the change, which, from the symptoms, shejudged was owing to some uneasiness of mind, took all imaginablepains to discover the cause. In all probability it did not escape herpenetration; for she more than once asked if he was in love with hercousin; protesting that, far from being an obstacle to his happiness,she would, in that case, be an advocate for his passion. However,this declaration was never made without manifest signs of anxiety anduneasiness, which made such an impression upon the heart of M--, that heresolved to sacrifice his happiness, and even his life, rather than takeany step which might be construed into an injury or insult to a personwho had treated him with such generosity and goodness.

  "In consequence of this resolution, he formed another, which was to goabroad, under pretence of recovering his health, but in reality to avoidthe temptation, as well as the suspicion of being inconstant; and inthis design he was confirmed by his physician, who actually thought himin the first stage of a consumption, and therefore advised him to repairto the south of France. He communicated his design, with the doctor'sopinion, to the lady, who agreed to it with much less difficulty than hefound in conquering his own reluctance at parting with the dear objectof his love. The consent of his generous mistress being obtained, hewaited upon her with the instrument whereby she had made the conveyanceof her fortune to him; and all his remonstrances being insufficientto persuade her to take it back, he cancelled it in her presence,and placed it in that state upon her toilet, while she was dressing;whereupon she shed a torrent of tears, saying, she now plainly perceivedthat he wanted to tear himself from her, and that his affections weresettled upon another. He was sensibly affected by this proof of herconcern, and endeavoured to calm the perturbation of her mind, by vowingeternal fidelity, and pressing her to accept of his hand in due formbefore his departure. By these means her transports were quieted for thepresent, and the marriage deferred for the same prudential reasons whichhad hitherto prevented it.

  "Matters being thus compromised, and the day fixed for his departure,she, together with her faithful maid, one morning visited him for thefirst time at his own lodgings; and, after breakfast, desiring to speakwith him in private, he conducted her into another room, where assumingan unusual gravity of aspect, 'My dear M--,' said she, 'you are nowgoing to leave me, and God alone knows if ever we shall meet again;therefore, if you really love me with that tenderness which you profess,you will accept of this mark of my friendship and unalterable affection;it will at least be a provision for your journey, and if an accidentshould befall me, before I have the happiness of receiving you againinto my arms, I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that you arenot altogether without resource.' So saying, she put an embroideredpocket-book into his hand. He expressed the high sense he had of hergenerosity and affection in the most pathetic terms, and begged leaveto suspend his acceptance, until he should know the contents of herpresent, which was so extraordinary, that he absolutely refused toreceive it. He was, however, by her repeated entreaties, in a mannercompelled to receive about one-half, and she afterwards insisted uponhis taking a reinforcement of a considerable sum for the expense of hisjourney.

  "Having stayed with her ten days beyond the time he had fixed for hisdeparture, and settled the method of their correspondence, he took hisleave, with a heart full of sorrow, anxiety, and distraction, producedfrom the different suggestions of his duty and love. He then set out forFrance, and, after a short stay at Paris, proceeded to Aix in Provence,and from thence to Marseilles, at which two places he continued for somemonths. But nothing he met with being able to dissipate those melancholyideas which still preyed upon his imagination, and affected his spirits,he endeavoured to elude them with a succession of new objects; and, withthat view, persuaded a counsellor of the parliament of Aix, a man ofgreat worth, learning, and good-humour, to accompany him in making atour of those parts of France which he had not yet seen. On their returnfrom this excursion, they found at Aix an Italian abbe, a person ofcharacter, and great knowledge of men and books, who, having travelledall over Germany and France, was so far on his return to his owncountry.

  "M-- having, by means of his friend the counsellor, contracted anacquaintance with this gentleman, and, being desirous of seeing someparts of Italy, particularly the carnival at Venice, they set outtogether from Marseilles in a tartan for Genoa, coasting it all theway, and lying on shore every nigh
t. Having shown him what was mostremarkable in this city, his friend the abbe was so obliging as toconduct him through Tuscany, and the most remarkable cities in Lombardy,to Venice, where M-- insisted upon defraying the expense of the wholetour, in consideration of the abbe's complaisance, which had beenof infinite service to him in the course of this expedition. Havingremained five weeks at Venice, he was preparing to set out for Rome,with some English gentlemen whom he had met by accident, when he wasall of a sudden obliged to change his resolution by some disagreeableletters which he received from London. He had, from his first departure,corresponded with his generous, though inconstant mistress, with areligious exactness and punctuality; nor was she, for some time, lessobservant of the agreement they had made. Nevertheless, she, by degrees,became so negligent and cold in her expression, and so slack in hercorrespondence, that he could not help observing and upbraiding her withsuch indifference; and her endeavours to palliate it were supported bypretexts so frivolous, as to be easily seen through by a lover of verylittle discernment.

  "While he tortured himself with conjectures about the cause of thisunexpected change, he received such intelligence from England, as, whenjoined with what he himself had perceived by her manner of writing,left him little or no room to doubt of her fickleness and inconstancy.Nevertheless, as he knew by experience that informations of that kindare not to be entirely relied upon, he resolved to be more certainlyapprised: and, for that end, departed immediately for London, by theway of Tyrol, Bavaria, Alsace, and Paris. On his arrival in England, helearned, with infinite concern, that his intelligence had not beenat all exaggerated; and his sorrow was inexpressible to find a personendowed with so many other noble and amiable qualities, seduced intoan indiscretion, that of necessity ruined the whole plan which had beenconcerted between them for their mutual happiness. She made severalattempts, by letters and interviews, to palliate her conduct, and softenhim into a reconciliation; but his honour being concerned, he remaineddeaf to all her entreaties and proposals. Nevertheless, I have oftenheard him say, that he could not help loving her, and revering thememory of a person to whose generosity and goodness he owed his fortune,and one whose foibles were overbalanced by a thousand good qualities. Heoften insisted on making restitution; but far from complying with thatproposal, she afterwards often endeavoured to lay him under yet greaterobligations of the same kind, and importuned him with the warmestsolicitations to renew their former correspondence, which he as oftendeclined.

  "M-- took this instance of the inconstancy of the sex so much toheart, that he had almost resolved for the future to keep clear of allengagements for life, and returned to Paris, in order to dissipate hisanxiety, where he hired an apartment in one of the academies, in theexercises whereof he took singular delight. During his residence atthis place, he had the good fortune to ingratiate himself with agreat general, a descendant of one of the most ancient and illustriousfamilies in France; having attracted his notice by some remarks he hadwritten on Folard's Polybius, which were accidentally shown to thatgreat man by one of his aides-de-camp, who was a particular friend ofM--. The favour he had thus acquired was strengthened by his assiduitiesand attention. Upon his return to London, he sent some of Handel'snewest compositions to the prince, who was particularly fond of thatgentleman's productions, together with Clark's edition of Caesar; and,in the spring of the same year, before the French army took the field,he was honoured with a most obliging letter from the prince, invitinghim to come over, if he wanted to see the operations of the campaign,and desiring he would give himself no trouble about his equipage.

  "M-- having still some remains of a military disposition, and this to bea more favourable opportunity than any he should ever meet with again,readily embraced the offer, and sacrificed the soft delights of love,which at that time he enjoyed without control, to an eager, laborious,and dangerous curiosity. In that and the following campaign, duringwhich he was present at the siege of Philipsburgh, and several otheractions, he enlarged his acquaintance among the French officers,especially those of the graver sort, who had a taste for books andliterature; and the friendship and interest of those gentlemen wereafterwards of singular service to him, though in an affair altogetherforeign from their profession. He had all along made diligent inquiryinto the trade and manufactures of the countries through which he hadoccasion to travel, more particularly those of Holland, England, andFrance; and, as he was well acquainted with the revenue and farms ofthis last kingdom, he saw with concern the great disadvantages underwhich our tobacco trade, the most considerable branch of our commercewith that people, was carried on; what inconsiderable returns were madeto the planters, out of the low price given by the French company; andhow much it was in the power of that company to reduce it still lower.M-- had formed a scheme to remedy this evil, so far as it related to thenational loss or gain, by not permitting the duty of one penny inthe pound, old subsidy, to be drawn back, on tobacco, re-exported. Hedemonstrated to the ministry of that time, that so inconsiderable a dutycould not in the least diminish the demand from abroad, which was theonly circumstance to be apprehended, and that the yearly produce of thatrevenue would amount to one hundred and twenty thousand pounds, withoutone shilling additional expense to the public; but the ministry havingthe excise scheme then in contemplation, could think of no other tillthat should be tried; and that project having miscarried, he renewed hisapplication, when they approved of his scheme in every particular, butdiscovered a surprising backwardness to carry it into execution.

  "His expectations in this quarter being disappointed, he, by theinterposition of his friends, presented a plan to the French company, inwhich he set forth the advantages that would accrue to themselves fromfixing the price, and securing that sort of tobacco which best suitedthe taste of the public and their manufacture; and finally proposed tofurnish them with any quantity, at the price which they paid in the portof London.

  "After some dispute, they agreed to this proposal, and contractedwith him for fifteen thousand hogsheads a year, for which they obligedthemselves to pay ready money, on its arrival in any one or moreconvenient ports in the south or western coasts of Great Britain that heshould please to fix upon for that purpose. M-- no sooner obtained thiscontract, than he immediately set out for America, in order to put itin execution; and, by way of companion, carried with him a little Frenchabbe, a man of humour, wit, and learning, with whom he had been longacquainted, and for whom he had done many good offices.

  "On his arrival in Virginia, which opportunely happened at a time whenall the gentlemen were assembled in the capital of that province, hepublished a memorial, representing the disadvantages under which theirtrade was carried on, the true method of redressing their own grievancesin that respect, and proposing to contract with them for the yearlyquantity of fifteen thousand hogsheads of such tobacco as was fit forthe French market, at the price which he demonstrated to be considerablygreater than that which they had formerly received. This remonstrancemet with all the success and encouragement he could expect. Theprincipal planters, seeing their own interest concerned, readilyassented to the proposal, which, through their influence, was alsorelished by the rest; and the only difficulty that remained, related tothe security for payment of the bills on the arrival of the tobacco inEngland, and to the time stipulated for the continuance of the contract.

  "In order to remove these objections, Mr. M-- returned to Europe, andfound the French company of farmers disposed to agree to everything hedesired for facilitating the execution of the contract, and perfectlywell pleased with the sample which he had already sent; but hisgood friend the abbe, whom he had left behind him in America, by anunparalleled piece of treachery, found means to overturn the wholeproject. He secretly wrote a memorial to the company, importing, that hefound, by experience, M-- could afford to furnish them at a much lowerprice than that which they had agreed to give; and that, by being inpossession of the contract for five years, as was intended according tothe proposal, he would have the company so much in his power,
that theymust afterwards submit to any price he should please to impose; andthat, if they thought him worth of such a trust, he would undertake tofurnish them at an easier rate, in conjunction with some of the leadingmen in Virginia and Maryland, with whom, he said, he had alreadyconcerted measures for that purpose.

  "The company were so much alarmed at these insinuations, that theydeclined complying with Mr. M--'s demands until the abbe's return; and,though they afterwards used all their endeavours to persuade him to beconcerned with that little traitor in his undertaking, by which hemight still have been a very considerable gainer, he resisted all theirsolicitations, and plainly told them, in the abbe's presence, thathe would never prostitute his own principles so far, as to enter intoengagements of any kind with a person of his character, much less in ascheme that had a manifest tendency to lower the market price of tobaccoin England.

  "Thus ended a project the most extensive, simple, and easy, and, asappeared by the trial made, the best calculated to raise an immensefortune of any that was ever undertaken or planned by a private person;a project, in the execution of which M-- had the good of the public, andthe glory of putting in a flourishing condition the valuable branch ofour trade which gives employment to two great provinces and above twohundred sail of ships, much more at heart than his own private interest.It was reasonable to expect, that a man whose debts M-- had paid morethan once, whom he had obliged in many other respects, and whom he hadcarried with him at a very considerable expense, on this expedition,merely with a view of bettering his fortune, would have acted withcommon honesty, if not with gratitude; but such was the depravityof this little monster's heart, that, on his deathbed, he left aconsiderable fortune to mere strangers, with whom he had little or noconnection, without the least thought of refunding the money advancedfor him by M--, in order to prevent his rotting in a jail.

  "When M-- had once obtained a command of money, he, by his knowledgein several branches of trade, as well as by the assistance of someintelligent friends at Paris and London, found means to employ it tovery good purpose; and had he been a man of that selfish disposition,which too much prevails in the world, he might have been at this daymaster of a very ample fortune; but his ear was never deaf to the voiceof distress, nor his beneficent heart shut against the calamities of hisfellow-creatures. He was even ingenious in contriving the mostdelicate methods of relieving modest indigence, and, by his industriousbenevolence, often anticipated the requests of misery.

  "I could relate a number of examples to illustrate my assertions, insome of which you would perceive the most disinterested generosity;but such a detail would trespass too much upon your time, and I do notpretend to dwell upon every minute circumstance of his conduct. Let itsuffice to say, that, upon the declaration of war in Spain, he gave upall his commercial schemes, and called in his money from all quarters,with a view of sitting down, for the rest of his life, contented withwhat he had got, and restraining his liberalities to what he could sparefrom his yearly income. This was a very prudential resolution, couldhe have kept it; but, upon the breaking out of the war, he could notwithout concern see many gentlemen of merit, who had been recommendedto him, disappointed of commissions, merely for want of money to satisfythe expectations of the commission-brokers of that time; and thereforelaunched out considerable sums for them on their bare notes, great partwhereof was lost by the death of some in the unfortunate expeditionto the West Indies. He at length, after many other actions of the likenature, from motives of pure humanity, love of justice, and abhorrenceof oppression, embarked in a cause, every way the most important thatever came under the discussion of the courts of law in these kingdoms;whether it be considered in relation to the extraordinary nature of thecase, or the immense property of no less than fifty thousand pounds ayear, and three peerages that depended upon it.

  "In the year 1740, the brave admiral who at that time commanded hismajesty's fleet in the West Indies, among the other transactions of hissquadron transmitted to the duke of Newcastle, mentioned a young man,who, though in the capacity of a common sailor on board one of the shipsunder his command, laid claim to the estate and titles of the earl ofA--. These pretensions were no sooner communicated in the public papers,than they became the subject of conversation in all companies; and theperson whom they chiefly affected, being alarmed at the appearance of acompetitor, though at such a distance, began to put himself in motion,and take all the precautions which he thought necessary to defeatthe endeavour of the young upstart. Indeed, the early intelligence hereceived of Mr. A--'s making himself known in the West Indies, furnishedhim with numberless advantages over that unhappy young gentleman; for,being in possession of a splendid fortune, and lord of many manors inthe neighbourhood of the very place where the claimant was born, heknew all the witnesses who could give the most material evidence of hislegitimacy; and, if his probity did not restrain him, had, by his powerand influence, sufficient opportunity and means of applying to thepassions and interests of the witnesses, to silence many, and gain overothers to his side; while his competitor, by an absence of fifteenor sixteen years from his native country, the want of education andfriends, together with his present helpless situation, was renderedabsolutely incapable of taking any step for his own advantage. Andalthough his worthy uncle's conspicuous virtue, and religious regard forjustice and truth, might possibly be an unconquerable restraint to histaking any undue advantages, yet the consciences of that huge armyof emissaries he kept in pay were not altogether so very tender andscrupulous. This much, however, may be said, without derogation from,or impeachment of, the noble earl's nice virtue and honour, that hetook care to compromise all differences with the other branches of thefamily, whose interests were, in this affair, connected with his own,by sharing the estate with them, and also retained most of the eminentcounsel within the bar of both kingdoms against this formidable bastard,before any suit was instituted by him.

  "While he was thus entrenching himself against the attack of a poorforlorn youth, at the distance of fifteen hundred leagues, continuallyexposed to the dangers of the sea, the war, and an unhealthy climate,Mr. M--, in the common course of conversation, chanced to ask somequestions relating to this romantic pretender, of one H--, who was atthat time the present Lord A--'s chief agent. This man, when pressed,could not help owning that the late Lord A-- actually left a son, whohad been spirited away into America soon after his father's death, butsaid he did not know whether this was the same person. This informationcould not fail to make an impression on the humanity of Mr. M--, who,being acquainted with the genius of the wicked party who had possessedthemselves of this unhappy young man's estate and honours, expressedno small anxiety and apprehension lest they should take him off by somemeans or other; and, even then, seemed disposed to contributetowards the support of the friendless orphan, and to inquire morecircumstantially into the nature of his claim. In the meantime hisoccasions called him to France, and during his absence Mr. A-- arrivedin London in the month of October, 174l."

  Here the clergyman was interrupted by Peregrine, who said there wassomething so extraordinary, not to call it improbable, in the account hehad heard of the young gentleman's being sent into exile, that he wouldlook upon himself as infinitely obliged to the doctor, if he wouldfavour him with a true representation of that transaction, as well as ofthe manner in which he arrived and was known at the Island of Jamaica.

  The parson, in compliance with our hero's request, taking up the storyfrom the beginning, "Mr. A--," said he, "is the son of Arthur, late lordbaron of A--, by his wife Mary S--, natural daughter to John, duke ofB-- and N--, whom he publicly married on the 21st day of July, 1706,contrary to the inclination of his mother, and all his other relations,particularly of Arthur, late earl of A--, who bore an implacable enmityto the duke her father, and, for that reason, did all that lay in hispower to traverse the marriage; but, finding his endeavours ineffectual,he was so much offended, that he would never be perfectly reconciled toLord A--, though he was his presumptive heir. After their n
uptials,they cohabited together in England for the space of two or three years,during which she miscarried more than once; and he being a man oflevity, and an extravagant disposition, not only squandered away allthat he had received of his wife's fortune, but also contracted manyconsiderable debts, which obliged him to make a precipitate retreat intoIreland, leaving his lady behind him in the house with his mother andsister, who, having also been averse to the match, had always lookedupon her with eyes of disgust.

  "It was not likely that harmony should long subsist in this family,especially as Lady A-- was a woman of a lofty spirit, who could nottamely bear insults and ill-usage from persons who, she had reason tobelieve, were her enemies at heart. Accordingly, a misunderstandingsoon happened among them, which was fomented by the malice of one of hersisters-in-law. Divers scandalous reports of her misconduct, to whichthe empty pretensions of a vain wretched coxcomb, who was made use ofas an infamous tool for that purpose, gave a colourable pretext,were trumped up, and transmitted, with many false and aggravatingcircumstances, to her husband in Ireland; who, being a giddy, unthinkingman, was so much incensed at these insinuations, that, in the firsttransports of his passion, he sent to his mother a power of attorney,that she might sue for a divorce in his behalf. A libel was thereuponexhibited, containing many scandalous allegations, void of any realfoundation in truth; but being unsupported by any manner of proof, itwas at length dismissed with costs, after it had depended upwards of twoyears.

  "Lord A-- finding himself abused by the misrepresentations of his motherand sister, discovered an inclination to be reconciled to his lady. Inconsequence of which, she was sent over to Dublin by her father, to thecare of a gentleman in that city; in whose house she was received by herhusband with all the demonstrations of love and esteem. From thence heconducted her to his lodgings, and thence to his country house, whereshe had the misfortune to suffer a miscarriage, through fear andresentment of my lord's behaviour, which was often brutal and indecent.From the country they removed to Dublin, about the latter end of July,or beginning of August, 1714, where they had not long continued, whenher ladyship was known to be again with child.

  "Lord A-- and his issue being next in remainder to the honours andestate of Arthur, earl of A--, was extremely solicitous to have a son;and, warned by the frequent miscarriages of his lady, resolved to curbthe natural impatience and rusticity of his disposition, that she mightnot, as formerly, suffer by his outrageous conduct. He accordinglycherished her with uncommon tenderness and care; and her pregnancy beingpretty far advanced, conducted her to his country seat, where she wasdelivered of Mr. A--, about the latter end of April, or beginning ofMay; for none of the witnesses have been able, at this distance, withabsolute certainty to fix the precise time of his birth, and therewas no register kept in the parish. As an additional misfortune, nogentleman of fashion lived in that parish; nor did those who lived atany considerable distance care to cultivate an acquaintance with a manof Lord A--'s strange conduct.

  "Be that as it will, the occasion was celebrated by his lordship'stenants and dependents upon the spot, and in the neighbouring town ofNew-R--, by bonfires, illuminations, and other rejoicings; which havemade such an impression upon the minds of the people, that in theplace where they happened, and the contiguous parishes, several hundredpersons have already declared their knowledge and remembrance of thisevent, in spite of the great power of the claimant's adversary inthat quarter, and the great pains and indirect methods taken by hisnumberless agents and emissaries, as well as by those who are interestedwith him in the event of the suit, to corrupt and suppress the evidence.

  "Lord A--, after the birth of his son, who was sent to nurse in theneighbourhood, according to the custom of the country, where people ofthe highest distinction put their children out to nurse into farmhousesand cabins, lived in harmony with his lady for the space of two years.But having, by his folly and extravagance, reduced himself to greatdifficulties, he demanded the remainder of her fortune from her father,the duke of B--, who absolutely refused to part with a shilling until aproper settlement should be made on his daughter, which, by that time,he had put out of his own power to make, by his folly and extravagance.

  "As her ladyship, by her endeavours to reform the economy of her house,had incurred the displeasure of some idle profligate fellows, whohad fastened themselves upon her husband, and helped to consume hissubstance, they seized this opportunity of the duke's refusal; and, inorder to be revenged upon the innocent lady, persuaded Lord A--, thatthe only means of extracting money from his grace, would be to turn heraway, on pretence of infidelity to his bed, for which they hinted therewas but too much foundation. At their suggestions, a most infamousplan was projected; in the execution of which, one P--, a poor, unbred,simple country booby, whom they had decoyed into a snare, lost one ofhis ears, and the injured lady retired that same day to New-R--, whereshe continued several years. She did not, however, leave the house,without struggling hard to carry her child along with her; but far fromenjoying such indulgence, strict orders were given, that the boy shouldnot, for the future, be brought within her sight. This base, inhumantreatment, instead of answering the end proposed, produced such acontrary effect, that the duke of B--, by a codicil to his will, inwhich he reflects upon Lord A--'s evil temper, directed his executors topay to his daughter an annuity of one hundred pounds, while her lord andshe should continue to live separate; and this allowance was to cease onLord A--'s death.

  "While she remained in this solitary situation, the child wasuniversally known and received as the legitimate son and heir of herlord, whose affection for the boy was so conspicuous, that, in the midstof his own necessities, he never failed to maintain him in the dress andequipage of a young nobleman. In the course of his infancy, his fatherhaving often changed his place of residence, the child was put underthe instructions of a great many different schoolmasters, so that he wasperfectly well known in a great many different parts of the kingdom; andhis mother seized all opportunities, which were but rare, on account ofhis father's orders to the contrary, of seeing and giving him proofsof her maternal tenderness, until she set out for England, after havingbeen long in a declining state of health, by a paralytical disorder;upon the consequence of which, such dependence was placed by herinconsiderate husband, who was by this time reduced to extreme poverty,that he actually married a woman whom he had long kept as a mistress.This creature no sooner understood that Lady A-- was departed fromIreland, than she openly avowed her marriage, and went about publiclywith Lord A--, visiting his acquaintances in the character of his wife.

  "From this era may be dated the beginning of Mr. A--'s misfortune. Thisartful woman, who had formerly treated the child with an appearance offondness, in order to ingratiate herself with the father, now lookingupon herself as sufficiently established in the family, thought it washigh time to alter her behaviour with regard to the unfortunate boy;and accordingly, for obvious reasons, employed a thousand artifices toalienate the heart of the weak father from his unhappy offspring.Yet, notwithstanding all her insinuations, nature still maintained herinfluence in his heart; and though she often found means to irritatehim by artful and malicious accusations, his resentment never extendedfarther than fatherly correction. She would have found it impossibleto accomplish his ruin, had not her efforts been reinforced by a newauxiliary, who was no other than his uncle, the present usurper ofhis title and estate; yet even this confederacy was overawed, in somemeasure, by the fear of alarming the unfortunate mother, until herdistemper increased to a most deplorable degree of the dead palsy, andthe death of her father had reduced her to a most forlorn and abjectstate of distress. Then they ventured upon the execution of theirprojects; and, though their aims were widely different, concurred intheir endeavours to remove the hapless boy, as the common obstacle toboth.

  "Lord A-- who, as I have already observed, was a man of weak intellects,and utterly void of any fixed principle of action, being by this timereduced to such a pitch of misery, that he was often obliged t
o pawn hiswearing apparel in order to procure the common necessaries of life; andhaving no other fund remaining, with which he could relieve his presentnecessities, except a sale of the reversion of the A-- estate, towhich the nonage of his son was an effectual bar, he was advised byhis virtuous brother, and the rest of his counsellors, to surmount thisdifficulty, by secreting his son, and spreading a report of his death.This honest project he the more readily embraced, because he knew thatno act of his could frustrate the child's succession. Accordingly, theboy was removed from the school at which he was then boarded, to thehouse of one K--, an agent and accomplice of the present earl of A--,where he was kept for several months closely confined; and, in themeantime, it was industriously reported that he was dead.

  "This previous measure being taken, Lord A-- published advertisementsin the gazettes, offering reversions of the A-- estate to sale; andemissaries of various kinds were employed to inveigle such as wereignorant of the nature of the settlement of these estates, or strangersto the affairs of his family. Some people, imposed upon by the report ofthe child's death, were drawn in to purchase, thinking themselves safein the concurrence of his lordship's brother, upon presumption thathe was next in remainder to the succession; others, tempted by thesmallness of the price, which rarely exceeded half a year's purchase, asappears by many deeds, though they doubted the truth of the boy's beingdead, ran small risks, on the contingency of his dying before he shouldbe of age, or in hopes of his being prevailed upon to confirm the grantsof his father; and many more were treating with him on the same notions,when their transactions were suddenly interrupted, and the schemeof raising more money for the present, defeated by the unexpectedappearance of the boy, who, being naturally sprightly and impatient ofrestraint, had found means to break from his confinement, and wanderedup and down the streets of Dublin, avoiding his father's house, andchoosing to encounter all sorts of distress, rather than subject himselfagain to the cruelty and malice of the woman who supplied his mother'splace. Thus debarred his father's protection, and destitute of any fixedhabitation, he herded with all the loose, idle, and disorderly youths inDublin, skulking chiefly about the college, several members and studentsof which, taking pity on his misfortunes, supplied him at differenttimes with clothes and money. In this unsettled and uncomfortable wayof life did he remain, from the year 1725 to the latter end of November,1727; at which time his father died, so miserably poor, that he wasactually buried at the public expense.

  "This unfortunate nobleman was no sooner dead, than his brother Richard,now earl of A--, taking advantage of the nonage and helpless situationof his nephew, seized upon all the papers of the defunct, and afterwardsusurped the title of Lord A--, to the surprise of the servants,and others who were acquainted with the affairs of the family. Thisusurpation, bold as it was, produced no other effect than that of hisbeing insulted by the populace as he went through the streets, and therefusal of the king-at-arms to enrol the certificate of his brother'shaving died without issue. The first of these inconveniences he borewithout any sense of shame, though not without repining, conscious thatit would gradually vanish with the novelty of his invasion; and as tothe last, he conquered it by means well known and obvious.

  "Nor will it seem strange, that he should thus invade the rights of anorphan with impunity, if people will consider, that the late LordA-- had not only squandered away his fortune with the most ridiculousextravagance, but also associated himself with low company, so that hewas little known, and less regarded, by persons of any rank and figurein life; and his child, of consequence, debarred of the advantageswhich might have accrued from valuable connections. And though it wasuniversally known, that Lady A-- had a son in Ireland, such was theobscurity in which the father had lived, during the last years of hislife, that few of the nobility could be supposed to be acquainted withthe particular circumstances of a transaction in which they had noconcern, and which had happened at the distance of twelve years beforethe date of this usurpation. Moreover, as their first information was noother than common fame, the public clamour occasioned by the separationmight inspire such as were strangers to the family affairs with amistaken notion of the child's having been born about or after the timeof that event. The hurry and bustle occasioned by the arrival of thelord-lieutenant about this period, the reports industriously propagatedof the claimant's death, the obscurity and concealment in which the boywas obliged to live, in order to elude the wicked attempts of his uncle,might also contribute to his peaceable enjoyment of an empty title. Andlastly, Lord Chancellor W--, whose immediate province it was to issuewrits for parliament, was an utter stranger in Ireland, unacquaintedwith the descents of families, and consequently did not examine fartherthan the certificate enrolled in the books of the king-at-arms. Over andabove these circumstances, which naturally account for the success ofthe imposture, it may be observed, that the hapless youth had not onerelation alive, on the side of his father, whose interest it was not toforward or connive at his destruction; that his grandfather, the dukeof B--, was dead; and that his mother was then in England, in a forlorn,destitute, dying condition, secreted from the world, and even from herown relations, by her woman Mary H--, who had a particular interest tosecrete her, and altogether dependent upon a miserable and precariousallowance from the duchess of B--, to whose caprice she was moreover amost wretched slave.

  "Notwithstanding these concurring circumstances in favour of theusurper, he did not think himself secure while the orphan had any chanceof finding a friend who would undertake his cause; and therefore laida plan for his being kidnapped, and sent to America as a slave. Hiscoadjutor in this inhuman scheme was a person who carried on the tradeof transporting servants to our plantations, and was deeply interestedon this occasion, having, for a mere trifle, purchased of the lateLord A--, the reversion of a considerable part of the A-- estate, whichshameful bargain was confirmed by the brother, but could never takeplace, unless the boy could be effectually removed.

  "Everything being settled with this auxiliary, several ruffians wereemployed in search of the unhappy victim; and the first attempt that wasmade upon him, in which his uncle personally assisted, happening nearone of the great markets of the city of Dublin, an honest butcher, withthe assistance of his neighbours, rescued him by force from their cruelhands. This, however, was but a short respite; for, though warned bythis adventure, the boy seldom crept out of his lurking-places, withoutthe most cautious circumspection, he was, in March, 1727, discoveredby the diligence of his persecutors, and forcibly dragged on board ofa ship bound for Newcastle, on Delaware river in America, where hewas sold as a slave, and kept to hard labour, much above his ageor strength, for the space of thirteen years, during which he wastransferred from one person to another.

  "While he remained in this servile situation, he often mentioned,to those in whom he thought such confidence might be placed, thecircumstances of his birth and title, together with the manner of hisbeing exiled from his native country, although, in this particular, heneglected a caution which he had received in his passage, importing thatsuch a discovery would cost him his life. Meanwhile the usurper quietlyenjoyed his right; and to those who questioned him about his brother'sson, constantly replied, that the boy had been dead for several years.And Arthur, earl of A--, dying in April 1737, he, upon pretence of beingnext heir, succeeded to the honours and estate of that nobleman.

  "The term of the nephew's bondage, which had been lengthened out beyondthe usual time, on account of his repeated attempts to escape, beingexpired in the year 1739, he hired himself as a common sailor in atrading vessel bound to Jamaica; and there, being entered on board ofone of his majesty's ships under the command of Admiral Vernon, openlydeclared his parentage and pretensions. This extraordinary claim, whichmade a great noise in the fleet, reaching the ears of one LieutenantS--, nearly related to the usurper's Irish wife, he believed the younggentleman to be an impostor; and, thinking it was incumbent on him todiscover the cheat, he went on board the ship to which the claimantbelonged, and, ha
ving heard the account which he gave of himself, was,notwithstanding his prepossessions, convinced of the truth of whathe alleged. On his return to his own ship, he chanced to mention thisextraordinary affair upon the quarter-deck, in the hearing of Mr. B--,one of the midshipmen, who had formerly been at school with Mr. A--.This young gentleman not only told the lieutenant, that he had beenschool-fellow with Lord A--'s son, but also declared that he should knowhim again, if not greatly altered, as he still retained a perfect ideaof his countenance.

  "Upon this intimation, the lieutenant proposed that the experimentshould be tried; and went with the midshipman on board the ship thatthe claimant was on, for that purpose. After all the sailors had beenassembled upon deck, Mr. B--, casting his eyes around, immediatelydistinguished Mr. A-- in the crowd, and, laying his hand on hisshoulder, 'This is the man,' said he; affirming, at the same time, that,while he continued at school with him, the claimant was reputed andrespected as Lord A--'s son and heir, and maintained in all respectssuitable to the dignity of his rank. Nay, he was, in like manner,recognised by several other persons in the fleet, who had known him inhis infancy.

  "These things being reported to the admiral, he generously ordered himto be supplied with necessaries, and treated like a gentleman; and, inhis next despatches, transmitted an account of the affair to the duke ofNewcastle, among the other transactions of the fleet.

  "In September or October, 1741, Mr. A-- arrived in London; and the firstperson to whom he applied for advice and assistance was a man of thelaw, nearly related to the families of A-- and A--, and well acquaintedwith the particular affairs of each; who, far from treating him as abastard and impostor, received him with civility and seeming kindness,asked him to eat, presented him with a piece of money, and, excusinghimself from meddling in the affair, advised him to go to Ireland, asthe most proper place for commencing a suit for the recovery of hisright.

  "Before the young gentleman had an opportunity, or indeed anyinclination, to comply with this advice, he was accidentally met inthe street by that same H--, who, as I have mentioned, gave Mr. M-- thefirst insight into the affair. This man immediately knew the claimant,having been formerly an agent for his father, and afterwards a creatureof his uncle's, with whom he was, not without reason, suspected to beconcerned in kidnapping and transporting his nephew. Be that as it will,his connections with the usurper were now broken off by a quarrel, inconsequence of which he had thrown up his agency; and he invited thehapless stranger to his house, with a view of making all possibleadvantage of such a guest.

  "There he had not long remained, when his treacherous landlord,tampering with his inexperience, effected a marriage between him and thedaughter of one of his own friends, who lodged in his house at the sametime. But afterwards, seeing no person of consequence willing to espousehis cause, he looked upon him as an encumbrance, and wanted to ridhis hands of him accordingly. He remembered that Mr. M-- had expressedhimself with all the humanity of apprehension in favour of theunfortunate young nobleman, before his arrival in England; and, beingwell acquainted with the generosity of his disposition, he no soonerunderstood that he was returned from France, than he waited upon himwith an account of Mr. A--'s being safely arrived. Mr. M-- was sincerelyrejoiced to find, that a person who had been so cruelly injured, andundergone so long and continued a scene of distress, was restored toa country where he was sure of obtaining justice, and where every goodman, as he imagined, would make the cause his own. And being informedthat the youth was in want of necessaries, he gave twenty guineas to H--for his use, and promised to do him all the service in his power;but had no intention to take upon himself the whole weight of such animportant affair, or indeed to appear in the cause, until he should befully and thoroughly satisfied that the claimant's pretensions were wellfounded.

  "In the meantime, H-- insinuating that the young gentleman was notsafe in his present lodging from the machinations of his enemies, M--accommodated him with an apartment in his own house; where he was atgreat pains to remedy the defect in his education, by rendering him fitto appear as a gentleman in the world. Having received from him all theintelligence he could give relating to his own affair, he laid the casebefore counsel, and despatched a person to Ireland, to make furtherinquiries upon the same subject; who, in his first arrival in thatkingdom, found the claimant's birth was as publicly known as anycircumstance of that kind could possibly be, at so great a distance oftime.

  "The usurper and his friends gave all the interruption in their power toany researches concerning that affair; and had recourse to every artand expedient that could be invented, to prevent its being brought toa legal discussion. Privilege, bills in chancery, orders of courtsurreptitiously and illegally obtained, and every other invention wasmade use of to bar and prevent a fair and honest trial by a jury. Theusurper himself, and his agents, at the same time that they formeddivers conspiracies against his life, in vain endeavoured to detachMr. M-- from the orphan's cause, by innumerable artifices, insinuating,cajoling, and misrepresenting, with surprising dexterity andperseverance.

  "His protector, far from being satisfied with their reasons, was notonly deaf to their remonstrances, but, believing him in danger fromtheir repeated efforts, had him privately conveyed into the country;where an unhappy accident, which he hath ever since sincerely regretted,furnished his adversary with a colourable pretext to cut him off in thebeginning of his career.

  "A man happening to lose his life by the accidental discharge of a piecethat chanced to be in a young gentleman's hands, the account of thismisfortune no sooner reached the ears of his uncle, than he expressedthe most immoderate joy at having found so good a handle for destroyinghim, under colour of law. He immediately constituted himself prosecutor,set his emissaries at work to secure a coroner's inquest suited to hiscruel purposes; set out for the place in person, to take care that theprisoner should not escape; insulted him in jail, in the most inhumanmanner; employed a whole army of attorneys and agents, to spirit up andcarry on a most virulent prosecution; practised all the unfair methodsthat could be invented, in order that the unhappy gentleman should betransported to Newgate, from the healthy prison to which he was at firstcommitted; endeavoured to inveigle him into destructive confessions;and, not to mention other more infamous arts employed in the affair ofevidence, attempted to surprise him upon his trial in the absence ofhis witnesses and counsel, contrary to a previous agreement with theprosecutor's own attorney. Nay, he even appeared in person upon thebench at the trial, in order to intimidate the evidence, and browbeatthe unfortunate prisoner at the bar, and expended above a thousandpounds in that prosecution. In spite of all his wicked efforts, however,which were defeated by the spirit and indefatigable industry of Mr.M--, the young gentleman was honourably acquitted, to the evidentsatisfaction of all the impartial; the misfortune, that gave a handlefor that unnatural prosecution, appearing to a demonstration to havebeen a mere accident.

  "In a few months, his protector, who had now openly espoused his cause,taking with him two gentlemen to witness his transactions, conducted himto his native country, with a view to be better informed of the strengthof his pretensions, than he could be by the intelligence he hadhitherto received, or by the claimant's own dark and almost obliteratedremembrance of the facts which were essential to be known. Upon theirarrival in Dublin, application was made to those persons whom Mr.A-- had named as his schoolmasters and companions, together withthe servants and neighbours of his father. These, though examinedseparately, without having the least previous intimation of what theclaimant had reported, agreed in their accounts with him, as well aswith one another, and mentioned many other people as acquainted with thesame facts, to whom Mr. M-- had recourse, and still met with the sameunvaried information. By these means, he made such progress in hisinquiries, that, in less than two months, no fewer than one hundredpersons, from different quarters of the kingdom, either personally,or by letters, communicated their knowledge of the claimant, indeclarations consonant with one another, as well as with the ac
countshe gave of himself. Several servants who had lived with his father, andbeen deceived with the story of his death, so industriously propagatedby his uncle, no sooner heard of his being in Dublin, than they camefrom different parts of the country to see him; and though great painswere taken to deceive them, they, nevertheless, knew him at firstsight; some of them fell upon their knees to thank for his preservation,embraced his legs, and shed tears of joy for his return.

  "Although the conduct of his adversary, particularly in theabove-mentioned prosecution, together with the evidence that alreadyappeared, were sufficient to convince all mankind of the truth of theclaimant's pretensions, Mr. M--, in order to be further satisfied,resolved to see how he would be received upon the spot where he wasborn; justly concluding, that if he was really an impostor, the bastardof a kitchen-wench, produced in a country entirely possessed by hisenemy and his allies, he must be looked upon in that place with theutmost detestation and contempt.

  "This his intention was no sooner known to the adverse party, than theiragents and friends from all quarters repaired to that place with allpossible despatch, and used all their influence with the people, inremonstrances, threats, and all the other arts they could devise, notonly to discountenance the claimant upon his arrival, but even to spiritup a mob to insult him. Notwithstanding these precautions, and theservile awe and subjection in which tenants are kept by their landlordsin that part of the country, as soon as it was known that Mr. A--approached the town, the inhabitants crowded out in great multitudesto receive and welcome him, and accompanied him into town, withacclamations, and other expressions of joy, insomuch that the agentsof his adversary durst not show their faces. The sovereign of thecorporation, who was a particular creature and favourite of the usurper,and whose all depended upon the issue of the cause, was so conscious ofthe stranger's right, and so much awed by the behaviour of the people,who knew that consciousness, that he did not think it safe even topreserve the appearance of neutrality upon this occasion, but actuallyheld the stirrup while Mr. A-- dismounted from his horse.

  "This sense of conviction in the people manifested itself still morepowerfully when he returned to the same place in the year 1744, aboutwhich time Lord A-- being informed of his resolution, determined againto be beforehand with him, and set out in person, with his agentsand friends, some of whom were detached before him to prepare for hisreception, and induced the people to meet him in a body, and accompanyhim to town, with such expressions of welcome as they had beforebestowed on his nephew; but, in spite of all their art and interest,he was suffered to pass through the street in a mournful silence; andthough several barrels of beer were produced to court the favour of thepopulace, they had no other effect than that of drawing their ridiculeupon the donor, whereas, when Mr. A--, two days afterwards, appeared,all the inhabitants, with garlands, streamers, music, and other ensignsof joy, crowded out to meet him, and ushered him into town with suchdemonstrations of pleasure and goodwill, that the noble peer found itconvenient to hide himself from the resentment of his own tenants, theeffects of which he must have severely felt, had not he been screenedby the timely remonstrances of Mr. M--, and the other gentlemen whoaccompanied his competitor.

  "Nor did his apprehension vanish with the transaction of this day; thetown was again in uproar on the Sunday following, when it was known thatMr. A-- intended to come thither from Dunmain to church; they wentout to meet him as before, and conducted him to the church door withacclamations, which terrified his uncle to such a degree, that he fledwith precipitation in a boat, and soon after entirely quitted the place.

  "It would be almost an endless task to enumerate the particular stepsthat were taken by one side to promote, and by the other to delay, thetrial. The young gentleman's adversaries finding that they could not, byall the subterfuges and arts they had used, evade it, repeated attemptswere made to assassinate him and his protector; and every obstructionthrown in the way of his cause which craft could invent, villainyexecute, and undue influence confirm. But all these difficulties weresurmounted by the vigilance, constancy, courage, and sagacity of M--;and, at last, the affair was brought to a very solemn trial at bar,which being continued, by several adjournments, from the eleventh to thetwenty-fifth day of November, a verdict was found for the claimant by ajury of gentlemen, which, in point of reputation and property, cannotbe easily paralleled in the annals of that or any other country; a jury,that could by no means be suspected of prepossessions in favour of Mr.A--, to whose person they were absolute strangers; especially if weconsider, that a gentleman in their neighbourhood, who was nephew tothe foreman, and nearly related to some of the rest of their number,forfeited a considerable estate by their decision.

  "This verdict," said the parson, "gave the highest satisfaction to allimpartial persons that were within reach of being duly informed of theirproceedings, and of the different genius and conduct of the partiesengaged in the contest, but more especially to such as were in court, asI was, at the trial, and had an opportunity of observing the charactersand behaviour of the persons who appeared there to give evidence. Tosuch it was very apparent, that all the witnesses produced there on thepart of the uncle, were either his tenants, dependents, pot-companions,or persons some way or other interested in the issue of the suit, andremarkable for a low kind of cunning; that many of them were personsof profligate lives, who deserved no credit; that, independent ofthe levity of their characters, those of them who went under thedenomination of colonels, Colonel L-- alone excepted, who had nothing tosay, and was only brought there in order to give credit to that party,made so ridiculous a figure, and gave so absurd, contradictory, andinconsistent an evidence, as no court or jury could give the leastdegree of credit to. On the other hand, it was observed, that thenephew and Mr. M--, his chief manager, being absolute strangers in thatcountry, and unacquainted with the characters of the persons they had todeal with, were obliged to lay before the court and jury such evidenceas came to their hand, some of whom plainly appeared to have beenput upon them by their adversaries with a design to hurt. It was alsomanifest, that the witnesses produced for Mr. A--, were such as couldhave no manner of connection with him, nor any dependence whatsoeverupon him, to influence their evidence; for the far greatest part of themhad never seen him from his infancy till the trial began; and many ofthem, though poor, and undignified with the title of colonels, werepeople of unblemished character, of great simplicity, and such as no manin his senses would pitch upon to support a bad cause. It is plain thatthe jury, whose well-known honour, impartiality, and penetration, mustbe revered by all who are acquainted with them, were not under the leastdifficulty about their verdict; for they were not enclosed above halfan hour, when they returned with it. These gentlemen could not helpobserving the great inequality of the parties engaged, the greatadvantages that the uncle had in every other respect, except thetruth and justice of his case, over the nephew, by means of his vastpossessions, and of his power and influence all round the place of hisbirth; nor could the contrast between the different geniuses of the twoparties escape their observation. They could not but see and conclude,that a person who had confessedly transported and sold his orphan nephewinto slavery,--who, on his return, had carried on so unwarrantable andcruel a prosecution to take away his life under colour of law,--and whohad also given such glaring proofs of his skill and dexterity in themanagement of witnesses for that cruel purpose,--was in like mannercapable of exerting the same happy talent on this occasion, when his allwas at stake; more especially, as he had so many others who were equallyinterested with himself, and whose abilities in that respect fellnothing short of his own, to second him in it. The gentlemen of thejury had also a near view of the manner in which the witnesses deliveredtheir testimonies, and had from thence an opportunity of observingmany circumstances, and distinguishing characteristics of truth andfalsehood, from which a great deal could be gathered, that could notbe adequately conveyed by any printed account, how exact soever;consequently, they must have been much better judges of th
e evidence onwhich they founded their verdict than any person who had not the sameopportunity, can possibly be.

  "These, Mr. Pickle, were my reflections on what I had occasion toobserve concerning that famous trial; and, on my return to Englandtwo years after, I could not help pitying the self-sufficiency of somepeople, who, at this distance, pretended to pass their judgment on thatverdict with as great positiveness as if they had been in the secretsof the cause, or upon the jury who tried it; and that from no betterauthority than the declamations of Lord A--'s emissaries, and somefalsified printed accounts, artfully cooked up on purpose to mislead anddeceive.

  "But to return from this digression. Lord A--, the defendant in thatcause, was so conscious of the strength and merits of his injurednephew's case, and that a verdict would go against him, that he ordereda writ of error to be made out before the trial was ended; and theverdict was no sooner given, than he immediately lodged it, thoughhe well knew he had no manner of error to assign. This expedient waspractised merely for vexation and delay, in order to keep Mr. A-- fromthe possession of the small estate he had recovered by the verdict,that, his slender funds being exhausted, he might be deprived of othermeans to prosecute his right; and by the most oppressive contrivancesand scandalous chicanery, it has been kept up to this day, without hisbeing able to assign the least shadow of any error.

  "Lord A-- was not the only antagonist that Mr. A-- had to deal with;all the different branches of the A-- family, who had been worrying oneanother at law ever since the death of the late earl of A--, about thepartition of his great estate, were now firmly united in an associationagainst this unfortunate gentleman; mutual deeds were executed amongthem, by which many great lordships and estates were given up by theuncle to persons who had no right to possess them, in order to engagethem to side with him against his nephew, in withholding the unjustpossession of the remainder.

  "These confederates having held several consultations against theircommon enemy, and finding that his cause gathered daily strength sincethe trial, by the accession of many witnesses of figure and reputation,who had not been heard of before, and that the only chance they hadto prevent the speedy establishment of his right, and their owndestruction, was by stripping Mr. M-- of the little money that yetremained, and by stopping all further resources whereby he might beenabled to proceed; they therefore came to a determined resolution tocarry that hopeful scheme into execution; and, in pursuance thereof,they have left no expedient or stratagem, how extraordinary orscandalous soever, unpractised, to distress Mr. A-- and thatgentleman. For that end, all the oppressive arts and dilatory expensivecontrivances that the fertile invention of the lowest pettifoggersof the law could possibly devise, have with dexterity been played offagainst them, in fruitless quibbling, and malicious suits, entirelyforeign to the merits of the cause. Not to mention numberless other actsof oppression, the most extraordinary and unprecedented proceeding, bymeans whereof this sham writ of error hath been kept on foot ever sinceNovember, 1743, is to me," said the doctor, "a most flagrant instancenot only of the prevalency of power and money, when employed, as in thepresent case, against an unfortunate helpless man, disabled, as he is,of the means of ascertaining his right, but of the badness of a causethat hath recourse to so many iniquitous expedients to support it.

  "In a word, the whole conduct of Lord A-- and his party, from thebeginning to this time, hath been such as sufficiently manifests thatit could proceed from no other motives than a consciousness of Mr.A--'s right, and of their own illegal usurpations, and from a terror oftrusting the merits of their case to a fair discussion by the lawsof their country; and that the intention and main drift of all theirproceedings plainly tends to stifle and smother the merits of thecase from the knowledge of the world, by oppressive arts and ingeniousdelays, rather than trust it to the candid determination of an honestjury. What else could be the motives of kidnapping the claimant, andtransporting him when an infant? of the various attempts made upon hislife since his return? of the attempts to divest him of all assistanceto ascertain his right, by endeavouring so solicitously to prevail onMr. M-- to abandon him in the beginning? of retaining an army of counselbefore any suit had been commenced? of the many sinister attempts toprevent the trial at bar? of the various arts made use of to terrify anyone from appearing as witness for the claimant, and to seduce those whohad appeared? of the shameless, unprecedented, low tricks now practised,to keep him out of the possession of that estate for which he hadobtained the verdict, thereby to disable him from bringing his cause toa further hearing; and of the attempts made to buy up Mr. M--'s debts,and to spirit up suits against him? Is it not obvious from all thesecircumstances, as well as from the obstruction they have given to theattorney-general's proceeding to make a report to his majesty on theclaimant's petition to the king for the peerage, which was referredby his majesty to that gentleman, so far back as 1743, that all theirefforts are bent to that one point, of stifling, rather than sufferingthe merits of this cause to come to a fair and candid hearing; and thatthe sole consideration at present between them and this unfortunate manis not whether he is right or wrong, but whether he shall or shall notfind money to bring this cause to a final determination?

  "Lord A-- and his confederates, not thinking themselves safe with allthese expedients, while there was a possibility of their antagonist'sobtaining any assistance from such as humanity, compassion, generosity,or a love of justice, might induce to lay open their purses to hisassistance in ascertaining his right, have, by themselves and theirnumerous emissaries, employed all the arts of calumny, slander, anddetraction against him, by traducing his cause, vilifying his person,and most basely and cruelly tearing his character to pieces, by athousand misrepresentations, purposely invented and industriouslypropagated in all places of resort, which is a kind of cowardlyassassination that there is no guarding against; yet, in spite of allthese machinations, and the shameful indifference of mankind, whostand aloof unconcerned, and see this unhappy gentleman most inhumanlyoppressed by the weight of lawless power and faction, M--, far fromsuffering himself to be dejected by the multiplying difficultiesthat crowd upon him, still exerts himself with amazing fortitude andassiduity, and will, I doubt not, bring the affair he began andcarried on with so much spirit, while his finances lasted, to a happyconclusion.

  "It would exceed the bounds of my intention, and, perhaps, trespass toomuch upon your time, were I to enumerate the low artifices and shamefulquibbles by which the usurper has found means to procrastinate thedecision of the contest between him and his hapless nephew, or to givea detail of the damage and perplexity which Mr. M-- has sustained, andbeen involved in, by the treachery and ingratitude of some who listedthemselves under him in the prosecution of this affair; and by thevillainy of others, who, under various pretences of material discoveriesthey had to make, etc., had fastened themselves upon him, and continuedto do all the mischief in their power, until the cloven foot wasdetected.

  "One instance, however, is so flagrantly flagitious, that I cannotresist the inclination I feel to relate it, as an example of the mostinfernal perfidy that perhaps ever entered the human heart. I havealready mentioned the part which H--n acted in the beginning of M--'sconnection with the unfortunate stranger, and hinted that the said H--lay under many obligations to that gentleman before Mr. A--'s arrivalin England. He had been chief agent to Lord A--, and, as it afterwardsappeared, received several payments of a secret pension which thatlord enjoyed, for which he either could not or would not account.His lordship, therefore, in order to compel him to it, took out writsagainst him, and his house was continually surrounded with catchpolesfor the space of two whole years.

  "Mr. M-- believing, from H--'s own account of the matter, that the poorman was greatly injured, and prosecuted on account of his attachment tothe unhappy young gentleman, did him all the good offices in his power,and became security for him on several occasions; nay, such was hisopinion of his integrity, that, after Mr. A-- was cleared of theprosecution carried on against him by his unc
le, his person wasentrusted to the care of this hypocrite, who desired that the younggentleman might lodge at his house for the convenience of air, M--'s ownoccasions calling him often into the country.

  "Having thus, by his consummate dissimulation, acquired such a valuablecharge, he wrote a letter to one of Lord A--'s attorneys, offering tobetray Mr. A--, provided his lordship would settle his account, and givehim a discharge for eight hundred pounds of the pension which he hadreceived and not accounted for. Mr. M--, informed of this treacherousproposal, immediately removed his lodger from his house into his own,without assigning his reasons for so doing, until he was obliged todeclare it, in order to free himself from the importunities of H--, whoearnestly solicited his return. This miscreant finding himself detectedand disappointed in his villainous design, was so much enraged at hismiscarriage, that, forgetting all the benefits he had received from M--for a series of years, he practised all the mischief that his malicecould contrive against him; and at length entered into a confederacywith one G--, and several other abandoned wretches, who, as before said,under various pretences of being able to make material discoveries, andotherwise to serve the cause, had found means to be employed in someextra business relating to it, though their real intention was to betraythe claimant.

  "These confederates, in conjunction with some other auxiliaries ofinfamous character, being informed that Mr. M-- was on the point ofsecuring a considerable sum, to enable him to prosecute Mr. A--'s right,and to bring it to a happy conclusion, contrived a deep-laid schemeto disappoint him in it, and at once to ruin the cause. And, previousmeasures being taken for that wicked purpose, they imposed upon theyoung gentleman's inexperience and credulity by insinuations equallyfalse, plausible, and malicious; to which they at length gained hisbelief, by the mention of some circumstances that gave what they allegedan air of probability, and even of truth. They swore that Mr. M-- hadtaken out an action against him for a very large sum of money; that theyhad actually seen the writ; that the intention of it was to throw himinto prison for life, and ruin his cause, in consequence of an agreementmade by him with Lord A--, and his other enemies, to retrieve the moneythat he had laid out in the cause.

  "This plausible tale was enforced with such an air of truth, candour,and earnest concern for his safety, and was strengthened by so manyimprecations and corroborating circumstances of their invention, aswould have staggered one of much greater experience and knowledge ofmankind than Mr. A-- could be supposed at that time to possess. Thenotion of perpetual imprisonment, and the certain ruin they made himbelieve his cause was threatened with, worked upon his imagination tosuch a degree, that he suffered himself to be led like a lamb to theslaughter by this artful band of villains, who secreted him at thelodgings of one P--, an intimate of G--'s, for several days, undercolour of his being hunted by bailiffs employed by Mr. M--, where he wasnot only obliged by them to change his name, but even his wife was notsuffered to have access to him.

  "Their design was to have sold him, or drawn him into a ruinouscompromise with his adversaries, for a valuable consideration tothemselves. But as no ties are binding among such a knot of villains,the rest of the conspirators were jockeyed by G--, who, in order tomonopolize the advantage to himself, hurried his prize into the country,and secreted him even from his confederates, in a place of concealmentone hundred miles from London, under the same ridiculous pretence ofM--'s having taken out a writ against him, and of bailiffs being inpursuit of him everywhere round London.

  "He was no sooner there, than G--, as a previous step to the othervillainy he intended, tricked him out of a bond for six thousand pounds,under colour of his having a person ready to advance the like sum uponit, as an immediate fund for carrying on his cause; assuring him, atthe same time, that he had a set of gentlemen ready, who were willingto advance twenty-five thousand pounds more for the same purpose, and toallow him five hundred pounds a year for his maintenance, till his causeshould be made an end of, provided that Mr. M-- should have no furtherconcern with him and his cause.

  "Mr. A--, having by this time received some intimations of the deceitthat had been put upon him, made answer, that he should look uponhimself as a very ungrateful monster indeed, if he deserted a person whohad saved his life, and so generously ventured his own, together withhis fortune, in his cause, until he should first be certain of the truthof what was alleged of him, and absolutely rejected the proposal. G--,who had no other view in making it, than to cover the secret villainy hemeditated against him, and to facilitate the execution thereof, easilyreceded from it, when he found Mr. A-- so averse to it, and undertooknevertheless to raise the money, adding, that he might, if he pleased,return to Mr. M-- whenever it was secured. The whole drift of thispretended undertaking to raise the twenty-five thousand pounds, was onlyto lay a foundation for a dexterous contrivance to draw Mr. A-- unwarilyinto the execution of a deed, relinquishing all his right and title,under a notion of its being a deed to secure the repayment of that sum.

  "G-- having, as he imagined, so far paved the way for the execution ofsuch a deed, enters into an agreement with an agent, employed for thatpurpose by Mr. A--'s adversaries, purporting that in consideration ofthe payment of a bond for six thousand pounds, which he, G--, had, ashe pretended, laid out in Mr. A--'s cause, and of an annuity of sevenhundred pounds a year, he was to procure for them from Mr. A-- a deedready executed, relinquishing all right and title to the A-- estate andhonours. Everything being prepared for the execution of this infernalscheme, unknown to Mr. A--, G-- then thought proper to send for himto town from his retirement, in order, as he pretended, to execute asecurity of twenty-five thousand pounds.

  "This intended victim to that villain's avarice no sooner arrived intown, full of hopes of money to carry on his cause, and of agreeablysurprising his friend and protector Mr. M--, with so seasonable andunexpected a reinforcement, than an unforeseen difficulty arose,concerning the payment of G--'s six-thousand-pound bond. That money wasto have been raised out of the estate of a lunatic, which could not bedone without the leave of the Court of Chancery, to whom an account musthave been given of the intended application of it. While preparationswere making to rectify this omission, G-- immediately carried Mr. A--again into the country, lest he should happen to be undeceived by somemeans or other.

  "In the meantime, this wicked machination was providentially discoveredby Mr. M--, before it could be carried into execution, by means of thejealousies that arose among the conspirators themselves; and was, at thesame time, confirmed to him by a person whom the very agent for the A--party had entrusted with the secret. M-- no sooner detected it, than hecommunicated his discovery to one of Mr. A--'s counsel, a man of greatworth, and immediately thereupon took proper measures to defeat it. Hethen found means to lay open to Mr. A-- himself the treacherous schemethat was laid for his destruction. He was highly sensible of it, andcould never afterwards reflect on the snare that he had so unwarily beendrawn into, and had so narrowly escaped, without a mixture of horror,shame, and gratitude to his deliverer.

  "The consummate assurance of the monsters who were engaged in this plot,after they had been detected, and upbraided with their treachery, isscarce to be paralleled; for they not only owned the fact of spiritingMr. A-- away in the manner above mentioned, but justified their doing itas tending to his service. They also maintained, that they had actuallysecured the twenty-five thousand pounds for him, though they never couldname any one person who was to have advanced the money. No man was moreactive in this scheme than H--, nor any man more solicitous to keepMr. A-- up in the false impressions he had received, or in projectingmethods to ruin his protector, than he.

  "Among many other expedients for that purpose, a most malicious attemptwas made to lodge an information against him, for treasonable practices,with the secretary of state, notwithstanding the repeated proofs he hadgiven of his loyalty; and, as a preparatory step to his accusation, aletter, which this traitor dictated, was copied by another person, andactually sent to the earl of C--, importing
, that the person who copiedthe letter had an affair of consequence to communicate to his lordship,if he would appoint a time of receiving the information. But thatperson, upon full conviction of the villainy of the scheme, absolutelyrefused to proceed further in it; so that his malice once more provedabortive; and before he had time to execute any other contrivance of thesame nature, he was imprisoned in this very jail for debt.

  "Here, finding his creditors inexorable, and himself destitute of allother resource, he made application to the very man whom he had injuredin such an outrageous manner, set forth his deplorable case in the mostpathetic terms, and entreated him, with the most abject humility, touse his influence in his behalf. The distress of this varlet immediatelydisarmed M-- of his resentment, and even excited his compassion. Withoutsending any answer to his remonstrances, he interceded for him with hiscreditors; and the person to whom he was chiefly indebted, refusing torelease him without security, this unwearied benefactor joined with theprisoner in a bond for above two hundred and forty pounds, for which heobtained his release.

  "He was no sooner discharged, however, than he entered into freshcombinations with G-- and others, in order to thwart his deliverer inhis schemes of raising money, and otherwise to distress and deprive himof liberty; for which purpose, no art or industry, perjury not excepted,hath been spared. And, what is still more extraordinary, this perfidiousmonster having found money to take up the bond, in consequence of whichhe regained his freedom, hath procured a writ against M--, upon thatvery obligation; and taken assignments to some other debts of thatgentleman, with the same Christian intention. But hitherto he hath, bysurprising sagacity and unshaken resolution, baffled all their infernalcontrivances, and retorted some of their machinations on their ownheads. At this time, when he is supposed by some, and represented byothers, as under the circumstances of oblivion and despondence, heproceeds in his design with the utmost calmness and intrepidity,meditating schemes, and ripening measures, that will one day confoundhis enemies, and attract the notice and admiration of mankind."

  Peregrine, having thanked the priest for his obliging information,expressed his surprise at the scandalous inattention of the world toan affair of such importance; observing, that, by such inhuman neglect,this unfortunate young gentleman, Mr. A--, was absolutely deprived ofall the benefit of society; the sole end of which is, to protectthe rights, redress the grievances, and promote the happinessof individuals. As for the character of M--, he said, it was soromantically singular in all its circumstances, that, though othermotives were wanting, curiosity alone would induce him to seek hisacquaintance. But he did not at all wonder at the ungrateful returnswhich had been made to his generosity by H-- and many others, whom hehad served in a manner that few, besides himself, would have done; forhe had been long convinced of the truth conveyed in these lines of acelebrated Italian author:--

  Li beneficii che, per la loro grandezza, non ponno esser guiderdonati,con la scelerata moneta dell' ingratitudine sono pagati.

  "The story which you have related of that young gentleman," said he,"bears a very strong resemblance to the fate of a Spanish nobleman, asit was communicated to me by one of his own intimate friends at Paris.The Countess d'Alvarez died immediately after the birth of a son, andthe husband surviving her but three years, the child was left sole heirto the honours and estate, under the guardianship of his uncle, whohad a small fortune and a great many children. This inhuman relation,coveting the wealth of his infant ward, formed a design against thelife of the helpless orphan, and trusted the execution of it to hisvalet-de-chambre, who was tempted to undertake the murder by the promiseof a considerable reward. He accordingly stabbed the boy with a knifein three different places, on the right side of his neck; but, as he wasnot used to such barbarous attempts, his hand failed in the performance;and he was seized with such remorse, that, perceiving the wounds werenot mortal, he carried the hapless victim to the house of a surgeon,by whose care they were healed; and, in the meantime, that he might notforfeit his recompense, found means to persuade his employer, thathis orders were performed. A bundle being made up for the purpose, waspublicly interred as the body of the child, who was said to have beensuddenly carried off by a convulsion; and the uncle, without opposition,succeeded to his honours and estate. The boy being cured of his hurts,was, about the age of six, delivered, with a small sum of money, to amerchant just embarking for Turkey; who was given to understand, that hewas the bastard of a man of quality and that for family reasons, it wasnecessary to conceal his birth.

  "While the unfortunate orphan remained in this deplorable state ofbondage, all the children of the usurper died one after another; and hehimself being taken dangerously ill, attributed all his afflictions tothe just judgment of God, and communicated his anxiety on that subjectto the valet-de-chambre, who had been employed in the murder of hisnephew. That domestic, in order to quiet his master's conscience, andcalm the perturbation of his spirits, confessed what he had done, andgave him hopes of still finding the boy by dint of industry and expense.The unhappy child being the only hope of the family of Alvarez, theuncle immediately ordered a minute inquiry to be set on foot; inconsequence of which he was informed, that the orphan had been sold to aTurk, who had afterwards transferred him to an English merchant, by whomhe was conveyed to London.

  "An express was immediately despatched to this capital, where heunderstood that the unhappy exile had, in consideration of his faithfulservices, been bound apprentice to a French barber-surgeon; and, afterhe had sufficiently qualified himself in that profession, been receivedinto the family of the Count de Gallas, at that time the emperor'sambassador at the court of London. From the house of this nobleman hewas traced into the service of Count d'Oberstorf, where he had marriedhis lady's chambermaid, and then gone to settle as a surgeon in Bohemia.

  "In the course of these inquiries, several years elapsed: his uncle, whowas very much attached to the house of Austria, lived at Barcelona whenthe father of this empress-queen resided in that city, and lent him avery considerable sum of money in the most pressing emergency of hisaffairs; and when that prince was on the point of returning to Germany,the old count, finding his end approaching, sent his father confessorto his majesty, with a circumstantial account of the barbarity he hadpractised against his nephew, for which he implored forgiveness, andbegged he would give orders, that the orphan, when found, should inheritthe dignities and fortune which he had unjustly usurped.

  "His majesty assured the old man, that he might make himself easyon that score, and ordered the confessor to follow him to Vienna,immediately after the count's death, in order to assist his endeavoursin finding out the injured heir. The priest did not fail to yieldobedience to this command. He informed himself of certain natural markson the young count's body, which were known to the nurse and women whoattended him in his infancy; and, with a gentleman whom the emperorordered to accompany him, set out for Bohemia, where he soon found theobject of his inquiry, in the capacity of major-domo to a noblemanof that country, he having quitted his profession of surgery for thatoffice.

  "He was not a little surprised, when he found himself circumstantiallycatechised about the particulars of his life, by persons commissionedfor that purpose by the emperor. He told them, that he was absolutelyignorant of his own birth, though he had been informed, during hisresidence in Turkey, that he was the bastard of a Spanish grandee,and gave them a minute detail of the pilgrimage he had undergone. Thisinformation agreeing with the intelligence which the priest had alreadyreceived, and being corroborated by the marks upon his body, and thevery scars of the wounds which had been inflicted upon him in hisinfancy, the confessor, without further hesitation, saluted him bythe name of Count d'Alvarez, grandee of Spain, and explained the wholemystery of his fortune.

  "If he was agreeably amazed at this explanation, the case was otherwisewith his wife, who thought herself in great danger of being abandonedby a husband of such high rank; but he immediately dispelled herapprehension, by assuring her, that, as she had sh
ared in his adversity,she should also partake of his good fortune. He set out immediately forVienna, to make his acknowledgments to the emperor, who favoured himwith a very gracious reception, promised to use his influence, so thathe might enjoy the honours and estate of his family; and in the meantimeacknowledged himself his debtor for four hundred thousand florins, whichhe had borrowed from his uncle. He threw himself at the feet of hisaugust protector, expressed the most grateful sense of his goodness, andbegged he might be permitted to settle in some of his imperial majesty'sdominions. This request was immediately granted; he was allowed topurchase land in any part of the hereditary dominions of the house ofAustria, to the amount of the sum I have mentioned; and made choice ofthe country of Ratibor, in Silesia, where, in all probability, he stillresides."

  Peregrine had scarce finished the narrative, when he perceived Mr. M--slip something into the hand of the young man with whom he had beenconversing at the other end of the room, and rise up from the tablein order to take his leave. He at once understood the meaning of thisconveyance, and longed for an opportunity to be acquainted with sucha rare instance of primitive benevolence; but the consciousness of hispresent situation hindered him from making any advance that might beconstrued into forwardness or presumption.

  CHAPTER XCIX.