The Adventures of Peregrine PickleSmollett, T. (Tobias)
General
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle
Smollett, T. (Tobias)
Adventure stories; Fiction; Picaresque literature
fear of his subjects.
In the midst of all this enjoyment of empire he never once violated that
respectful awe with which the usher had found means to inspire him; but
he by no means preserved the same regard for the principal master, an
old illiterate German quack, who had formerly practised corn-cutting
among the quality, and sold cosmetic washes to the ladies, together with
teeth-powders, hair-dyeing liquors, prolific elixirs, and tinctures to
sweeten the breath. These nostrums, recommended by the art of cringing,
in which he was consummate, ingratiated him so much with people of
fashion, that he was enabled to set up school with five-and-twenty boys
of the best families, whom he boarded on his own terms and undertook to
instruct in the French and Latin languages, so as to qualify them
for the colleges of Westminster and Eton. While this plan was in its
infancy, he was so fortunate as to meet with Jennings, who, for the
paltry consideration of thirty pounds a year, which his necessities
compelled him to accept, took the whole trouble of educating the
children upon himself, contrived an excellent system for that purpose,
and, by his assiduity and knowledge, executed all the particulars to the
entire satisfaction of those concerned, who, by the bye, never inquired
into his qualifications, but suffered the other to enjoy the fruits of
his labour and ingenuity.
Over and above a large stock of avarice, ignorance, and vanity, this
superior had certain ridiculous peculiarities in his person, such as
a hunch upon his back, and distorted limbs, that seemed to attract the
satirical notice of Peregrine, who, young as he was, took offence at
his want of reverence for his usher, over whom he sometimes chose
opportunities of displaying his authority, that the boys might not
misplace their veneration. Mr. Keypstick, therefore, such as I
have described him, incurred the contempt and displeasure of this
enterprising pupil, who now being in the tenth year of his age, had
capacity enough to give him abundance of vexation. He underwent many
mortifying jokes front the invention of Pickle and his confederates; so
that he began to entertain suspicion of Mr. Jennings, who he could
not help thinking had been at the bottom of them all, and spirited up
principles of rebellion in the school, with a view of making himself
independent. Possessed with this chimera, which was void of all
foundation, the German descended so low as to tamper in private with the
boys, from whom he hoped to draw some very important discovery; but he
was disappointed in his expectations; and this mean practice reaching
the ears of his usher, he voluntarily resigned his employment. Finding
interest to obtain holy orders in a little time after, he left
the kingdom, hoping to find a settlement in some of our American
plantations.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account