The Doctor exults in his Victory--They set out for Rotterdam, where they
are entertained by two Dutch Gentlemen in a Yacht, which is overturned
in the Maese, to the manifest hazard of the Painter's Life--They spend
the Evening with their Entertainers, and next Day visit a Cabinet of
Curiosities.
Tom was accordingly ordered to administer to his occasions; and
the conqueror, elated with his success, which he in a great measure
attributed to his manner of attack, and the hymn which he howled, told
Peregrine, that he was now convinced of the truth of what Pindar sung in
these words, ossa de me pephileke Zeus atuzontai boan Pieridon aionta;
for he had no sooner begun to repeat the mellifluent strains of that
divine poet, than the wretch his antagonist was confounded, and his
nerves unstrung.
On their return to the inn, he expatiated on the prudence and
tranquility of his own behaviour, and ascribed the consternation
of Pallet to the remembrance of some crime that lay heavy upon his
conscience; for, in his opinion, a man of virtue and common sense could
not possibly be afraid of death, which is not only the peaceful harbour
that receives him shattered on the tempestuous sea of life, but also the
eternal seal of his fame and glory, which it is no longer in his power
to forfeit and forego. He lamented his fate, in being doomed to live in
such degenerate days, when war is become a mercenary trade; and ardently
wished, that the day would come, when he should have such an opportunity
of signalizing his courage in the cause of liberty, as that of Marathon,
where a handful of Athenians, fighting for their freedom, defeated the
whole strength of the Persian empire. “Would to heaven!” said he, “my
muse were blessed with an occasion to emulate that glorious testimony on
the trophy in Cyprus, erected by Cimon, for two great victories gained
on the same day over the Persians by sea and land; in which it is very
remarkable, that the greatness of the occasion has raised the manner of
expression above the usual simplicity and modesty of all other ancient
inscriptions.” He then repeated it with all the pomp of declamation, and
signified his hope, that the French would one day invade us with such an
army as that which Xerxes led into Greece, that it might be in his power
to devote himself, like Leonidas, to the freedom of his country.
This memorable combat being thus determined, and everything that was
remarkable in Antwerp surveyed, they sent their baggage down the Scheldt
to Rotterdam, and set out for the same place in a post-waggon, which
that same evening brought them in safety to the banks of the Maese. They
put up at an English house of entertainment, remarkable for the modesty
and moderation of the landlord; and next morning the doctor went in
person to deliver letters of recommendation to two Dutch gentlemen from
one of his acquaintance at Paris. Neither of them happened to be at home
when he called; so that he left a message at their lodgings, with his
address; and in the afternoon, they waited upon the company, and, after
many hospitable professions, one of the two invited them to spend the
evening at his house.
Meanwhile they had provided a pleasure yacht, in which they proposed to
treat them with an excursion upon the Maese. This being almost the only
diversion that place affords, our young gentleman relished the proposal;
and, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Mr. Jolter, who declined the
voyage on account of the roughness of the weather, they went on board
without hesitation, and found a collation prepared in the cabin. While
they tacked to and fro in the river, under the impulse of a mackerel
breeze, the physician expressed his satisfaction, and Pallet was
ravished with the entertainment. But the wind increasing, to the
unspeakable joy of the Dutchmen, who had now an opportunity of showing
their dexterity in the management of the vessel, the guests found it
inconvenient to stand upon deck, and impossible to sit below, on account
of the clouds of tobacco smoke which rolled from the pipes of their
entertainers, in such volumes as annoyed them even to the hazard of
suffocation. This fumigation, together with the extraordinary motion
of the ship, began to affect the head and stomach of the painter, who
begged earnestly to be set on shore. But the Dutch gentlemen, who had no
idea of his sufferings, insisted, with surprising obstinacy of regard,
upon his staying until he should see an instance of the skill of the
mariners; and, bringing him on deck, commanded the men to carry the
vessel's lee gunwale under water. This nicety of navigation they
instantly performed, to the admiration of Pickle, the discomposure of
the doctor, and terror of Pallet, who blessed himself from the courtesy
of a Dutchman, and prayed to Heaven for his deliverance.
While the Hollanders enjoyed the reputation of this feat, and the
distress of the painter, at the same time, the yacht was overtaken by
a sudden squall, that overset her in a moment, and flung every man
overboard into the Maese, before they could have the least warning of
their fate, much less time to provide against the accident. Peregrine,
who was an expert swimmer, reached the shore in safety; the physician,
in the agonies of despair, laid fast hold on the trunk-breeches of one
of the men, who dragged him to the other side; the entertainers
landed at the bomb-keys, smoking their pipes all the way with great
deliberation; and the poor painter must have gone to the bottom, had not
he been encountered by the cable of a ship that lay at anchor near the
scene of their disaster. Though his senses had forsaken him, his hands
fastened by instinct on this providential occurrence, which he held with
such a convulsive grasp, that, when a boat was sent out to bring him
on shore, it was with the utmost difficulty that his fingers were
disengaged. He was carried into a house, deprived of the use of speech,
and bereft of all sensation; and, being suspended by the heels, a vast
quantity of water ran out of his mouth. This evacuation being made, he
began to utter dreadful groans, which gradually increased to a continued
roar; and, after he had regained the use of his senses, he underwent
a delirium that lasted several hours. As for the treaters, they never
dreamed of expressing the least concern to Pickle or the physician
for what had happened, because it was an accident so common as to pass
without notice.
Leaving the care of their vessel to the seamen, the company retired to
their respective lodgings, in order to shift their clothes; and in the
evening our travellers were conducted to the house of their new friend,
who, with a view of making his invitation the more agreeable, had
assembled, to the number of twenty or thirty Englishmen, of all ranks
and degrees, from the merchant to the periwig-maker's prentice.
In the midst of this congregation stood a chafing-dish with live coals,
for the convenience of lighting their pipes, and every individual was
accommodated with a spitting-box. There was not a mouth in the apartment
unfurnished with a tube, so that they resembled a congregation of
chimeras breathing fire and smoke; and our gentlemen were fain to
imitate their example in their own defence. It is not to be supposed
that the conversation was either very sprightly or polite; that the
whole entertainment was of the Dutch cast--frowzy and phlegmatic;
and our adventurer, as he returned to his lodging, tortured with the
headache, and disgusted with every circumstance of his treatment, cursed
the hour in which the doctor had saddled them with such troublesome
companions.
Next morning by eight o'clock, these polite Hollanders returned the
visit, and, after breakfast, attended their English friends to the house
of a person that possessed a very curious cabinet of curiosities,
to which they had secured our company's admission. The owner of this
collection was a cheesemonger, who received them in a woollen nightcap,
with straps buttoned under his chin. As he understood no language but
his own, he told them, by the canal of one of their conductors, that he
did not make a practice of showing his curiosities; but understanding
that they were Englishmen, and recommended to his friends, he was
content to submit them to their perusal. So saying, he led them up a
dark stair, into a small room, decorated with a few paltry figures in
plaster of Paris, two or three miserable landscapes, the skins of an
otter, seal, and some fishes stuffed; and in one corner stood a glass
case, furnished with newts, frogs, lizards, and serpents, preserved in
spirits; a human foetus, a calf with two heads, and about two dozen of
butterflies pinned upon paper.
The virtuoso having exhibited these particulars, eyed the strangers with
a look soliciting admiration and applause; and as he could not perceive
any symptom of either in their gestures or countenances, withdrew a
curtain, and displayed a wainscot chest of drawers, in which, he
gave them to understand, was something that would agreeably amuse the
imagination. Our travellers, regaled with this notice, imagined that
they would be entertained with the sight of some curious medals, or
other productions of antiquity; but how were they disappointed, when
they saw nothing but a variety of shells, disposed in whimsical figures,
in each drawer! After he had detained them full two hours with a tedious
commentary upon the shape, size, and colour of each department, he, with
a supercilious simper, desired that the English gentlemen would frankly
and candidly declare, whether his cabinet, or that of Mynheer Sloane,
at London, was the most valuable. When this request was signified in
English to the company, the painter instantly exclaimed, “By the Lard!
they are not to be named of a day. And as for that matter, I would not
give one corner of Saltero's coffee-house at Chelsea for all the trash
he hath shown.” Peregrine, unwilling to mortify any person who had done
his endeavour to please him, observed, that what he had seen was very
curious and entertaining; but that no private collection in Europe was
equal to that of Sir Hans Sloane, which, exclusive of presents, had cost
an hundred thousand pounds. The two conductors were confounded at this
asseveration, which, being communicated to the cheesemonger, he shook
his head with a significant grin; and, though he did not choose to
express his incredulity in words, gave our hero to understand, that
he did not much depend upon his veracity. From the house of this
Dutch naturalist, they were draggled all round the city by the painful
civility of their attendants, who did not quit them till the evening was
well advanced, and then not till after they had promised to be with
them before ten o'clock next day, in order to conduct them to a country
house, situated in a pleasant village on the other side of the river.
Pickle was already so much fatigued with their hospitality, that, for
the first time of his life, he suffered a dejection of spirits; and
resolved, at any rate, to avoid the threatened persecution of to-morrow.
With this view, he ordered his servants to pack up some clothes and
linen in a portmanteau; and in the morning embarked, with his governor,
in the treckskuyt, for the Hague, whither he pretended to be called by
some urgent occasion, leaving his fellow-travellers to make his apology
to their friends, and assuring them, that he would not proceed for
Amsterdam without their society. He arrived at the Hague in the
forenoon, and dined at an ordinary frequented by officers and people of
fashion; where being informed that the princess would see company in the
evening, he dressed himself in a rich suit of the Parisian cut, and went
to court, without any introduction. A person of his appearance could not
fail to attract the notice of such a small circle. The prince himself,
understanding he was an Englishman and a stranger, went up to him
without ceremony, and, having welcomed him to the place, conversed with
him for some minutes on the common topics of discourse.