The Adventures of Peregrine PickleSmollett, T. (Tobias)
General
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle
Smollett, T. (Tobias)
Adventure stories; Fiction; Picaresque literature
Peregrine, who was now turned of twelve, had made such advances under
the instruction of Jennings, that he often disputed upon grammar, and
was sometimes thought to have the better in his contests, with the
parish-priest, who, notwithstanding this acknowledged superiority of
his antagonist, did great justice to his genius which he assured Mr.
Trunnion would be lost for want of cultivation, if the boy was not
immediately sent to prosecute his studies at some proper seminary of
learning.
This maxim had been more than once inculcated upon the commodore by Mrs.
Trunnion, who, over and above the deference she paid to the parson's
opinion, had a reason of her own for wishing to see the house clear
of Peregrine, at whose prying disposition she began to be very uneasy.
Induced by these motives, which were joined by the solicitation of the
youth himself, who ardently longed to see a little more of the world,
his uncle determined to send him forthwith to Winchester, under the
immediate care and inspection of a governor, to whom he allowed a very
handsome appointment for that purpose. This gentleman, whose name was
Mr. Jacob Jolter, had been school-fellow with the parson of the parish,
who recommended him to Mrs. Trunnion as a person of great worth and
learning, in every respect qualified for the office of a tutor. He
likewise added, by way of eulogium, that he was a man of exemplary
piety and particularly zealous for the honour of the church, of which
he was a member, having been many years in holy orders, though he did
not then exercise any function of the priesthood. Indeed, Mr. Jolter's
zeal was so exceedingly fervent, as, on some occasions, to get the
better of his discretion; for, being a high churchman and of consequence
a malcontent, his resentment was habituated into an insurmountable
prejudice against the present disposition of affairs, which, by
confounding the nation with the ministry, sometimes led him into
erroneous, not to say absurd calculations; otherwise, a man of good
morals, well versed in mathematics and school divinity, studies which
had not at all contributed to sweeten and unbend the natural sourness
and severity of his complexion.
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