Peregrine distinguishes himself among his School-fellows, exposes his
Tutor, and attracts the particular Notice of the Master.
Thus left to the prosecution of his studies, Peregrine was in a
little time a distinguished character, not only for his acuteness of
apprehension, but also for that mischievous fertility of fancy, of which
we have already given such pregnant examples. But as there was a great
number of such luminaries in this new sphere to which he belonged, his
talents were not so conspicuous while they shone in his single capacity,
as they afterwards appeared, when they concentrated and reflected the
rays of the whole constellation.
At first he confined himself to piddling game, exercising his genius
upon his own tutor, who attracted his attention, by endeavouring to
season his mind with certain political maxims, the fallacy of which he
had discernment enough to perceive. Scarce a day passed in which he did
not find means to render Mr. Jolter the object of ridicule: his violent
prejudices, ludicrous vanity, awkward solemnity, and ignorance of
mankind, afforded continual food for the raillery, petulance, and satire
of his pupil, who never neglected an opportunity of laughing, and making
others laugh, at his expense.
Sometimes in their parties, by mixing brandy in his wine, he decoyed
this pedagogue into a debauch, during which his caution forsook him, and
he exposed himself to the censure of the company. Sometimes, when the
conversation turned upon intricate subjects, he practised upon him the
Socratic method of confutation, and, under pretence of being informed,
by an artful train of puzzling questions insensibly betrayed him into
self-contradiction.
All the remains of authority which he had hitherto preserved over
Peregrine soon vanished; so that, for the future, no sort of ceremony
subsisted between them, and all Mr. Jolter's precepts were conveyed in
hints of friendly advice, which the other might either follow or neglect
at his own pleasure. No wonder then that Peregrine gave a loose to his
inclinations, and, by dint of genius and an enterprising temper, made a
figure among the younger class of heroes in the school.
Before he had been a full year at Winchester, he had signallized himself
in so many achievements, in defiance to the laws and regulations of the
place, that he was looked upon with admiration, and actually chosen dux,
or leader, by a large body of his contemporaries. It was not long
before his fame reached the ears of the master, who sent for Mr. Jolter,
communicated to him the informations he had received, and desired him to
check the vivacity of his charge, and redouble his vigilance in time to
come, else he should be obliged to make a public example of his pupil
for the benefit of the school.
The governor, conscious of his own unimportance, was not a little
disconcerted at this injunction, which it was not in his power to fulfil
by any compulsive means. He therefore went home in a very pensive mood,
and after mature deliberation, resolved to expostulate with Peregrine
in the most familiar terms, and endeavour to dissuade him from practices
which might affect his character as well as interest. He accordingly
frankly told him the subject of the master's discourse; represented the
disgrace he might incur by neglecting this warning; and, putting him in
mind of his own situation, hinted the consequences of the commodore's
displeasure, in case he should be brought to disapprove of his conduct.
These insinuations made the greater impression as they were delivered
with many expressions of friendship and concern. The young gentleman
was not so raw, but that he could perceive the solidity of Mr.
Jolter's advice, to which he promised to conform, because his pride was
interested in the affair, and he considered his own reformation as the
only means of avoiding that infamy which even in idea he could not bear.
His governor, finding him so reasonable, profited by these moments of
reflection; and, in order to prevent a relapse, proposed that he
should engage in some delightful study that would agreeably amuse his
imagination, and gradually detach him from those connections which had
involved him in so many troublesome adventures. For this purpose, he,
with many rapturous encomiums, recommended the mathematics, as yielding
more rational and sensible pleasures to a youthful fancy than any other
subject of contemplation; and actually began to read Euclid with him
that same afternoon.
Peregrine entered upon this branch of learning with all that warmth of
application which boys commonly yield on the first change of study; but
he had scarce advanced beyond the Pons Asinorum, when his ardour
abated; the test of truth by demonstration did not elevate him to those
transports of joy with which his preceptor had regaled his expectation;
and before he arrived at the forty-seventh proposition, he began to
yawn drearily, make abundance of wry faces, and thought himself but
indifferently paid for his attention, when he shared the vast discovery
of Pythagoras, and understood that the square of the hypotenuse was
equal to the squares of the other two sides of a right-angled triangle.
He was ashamed, however, to fail in his undertaking, and persevered with
great industry, until he had finished the first four books, acquired
plane trigonometry, with the method of algebraical calculation, and
made himself well acquainted with the principles of surveying. But no
consideration could prevail upon him to extend his inquiries farther
in this science; and he returned with double relish to his former
avocations, like a stream, which, being dammed, accumulates more force,
and, bursting over its mounds, rushes down with double impetuosity.
Mr. Jolter saw with astonishment and chagrin, but could not resist the
torrent. His behaviour was now no other than a series of license and
effrontery; prank succeeded prank, and outrage followed outrage with
surprising velocity. Complaints were every day preferred against him; in
vain were admonitions bestowed by the governor in private, and menaces
discharged by the masters in public; he disregarded the first, despised
the latter, divested himself of all manner of restraint, and proceeded
in his career to such a pitch of audacity, that a consultation was held
upon the subject, in which it was determined that this untoward spirit
should be humbled by a severe and ignominious flogging for the very next
offence he should commit. In the mean time, Mr. Jolter was desired to
write in the masters name to the commodore, requesting him to remove Tom
Pipes from the person of his nephew, the said Pipes being a principal
actor and abettor in all his malversations; and to put a stop to the
monthly visitations of the mutilated lieutenant, who had never once
failed to use his permission, but came punctual to a day, always fraught
with some new invention. Indeed, by this time Mr. Hatchway was as well
known, and much better beloved, by every boy in the school than the
master who instructed him, and always received by a number of scholars,
who used to attend Peregrine when he went forth to meet his friend, and
conduct him to his lodging with public testimonies of joy and applause.
As for Tom Pipes, he was not so properly the attendant of Peregrine,
as master of the revels of the whole school. He mingled in all their
parties, and superintended the diversions, deciding between boy and boy,
as if he acted by commission under the great seal. He regulated their
motions by his whistle, instructed the young boys in the games of
hustle-cap, leap-frog, and chuck-farthing; imparted to those of a more
advanced age the sciences of cribbage and all-fours, together with the
method of storming the castle, acting the comedy of Prince Arthur, and
other pantomimes, as they commonly exhibited at sea; and instructed
the seniors, who were distinguished by the appellation of bloods, in
cudgel-playing, dancing the St. Giles's hornpipe, drinking flip, and
smoking tobacco. These qualifications had rendered him so necessary and
acceptable to the scholars, that exclusive of Perry's concern in the
affair, his dismission, in all probability, would have produced some
dangerous convulsion in the community. Jolter, therefore, knowing his
importance, informed his pupil of the directions he had received, and
very candidly asked how he should demean himself in the execution;
for he durst not write to the commodore without this previous notice,
fearing that the young gentleman, as soon as he should get an inkling of
the affair, would follow the example, and make his uncle acquainted
with certain anecdotes, which it was the governor's interest to keep
concealed. Peregrine was of opinion that he should spare himself the
trouble of conveying any complaints to the commodore; and if questioned
by the master, assure him he had complied with his desire: at the same
time he promised faithfully to conduct himself with such circumspection
for the future, that the masters should have no temptation to revive
the inquiry. But the resolution attending this extorted promise was too
frail to last, and in less than a fortnight our young hero found himself
entangled in an adventure from which he was not extricated with his
usual good fortune.