interest very much at
heart, I will, if you please, sound his lordship upon the subject, and
in a day or two give you notice of my success."

Peregrine, ravished with the prospect of settling this affair so much
to his satisfaction, thanked the steward for his friendly hint and
undertaking, which he assured him should be acknowledged by a more solid
proof of his gratitude, provided the business could be brought to bear;
and next day he was visited by this kind manager, with the happy news
of his lordship's having consented to borrow ten thousand pounds of his
stock upon mortgage, at the interest of five per cent. This information
he received as an instance of the singular esteem of his noble patron;
and the papers being immediately drawn and executed, the money was
deposited in the hands of the mortgager, who, in the hearing of the
lender, laid strong injunctions on his steward to pay the interest
punctually at quarter-day.

The best part of our hero's fortune being thus happily deposited, and
the agent gratified with a present of fifty pieces, he began to put his
retrenching scheme in execution; all his servants, Pipes excepted, were
discharged, his chariot and running horses disposed of, his housekeeping
broken up, and his furniture sold by auction: nay, the heat of his
disposition was as remarkable in this as any other transaction in
his life; for every step of his saving project was taken with such
eagerness, and even precipitation, that most of his companions thought
he was either ruined or mad. But he answered all their expostulations
with a string of prudent apophthegms, such as, "The shortest follies
are the best"; "Better to retrench upon conviction than compulsion";
and divers other wise maxims, seemingly the result of experience and
philosophic reflection. To such a degree of enthusiasm did his present
economy prevail, that he was actually seized with the desire of
amassing. And as he every day received proposals from those brokers whom
he had employed, about the disposal of his cash, he at length ventured
fifteen hundred pounds upon bottomry, being tempted by the excessive
premium.

But it must be observed, for the honour of our adventurer, that this
reformation did not at all interfere with the good qualities of his
heart. He was still as friendly and benevolent as ever, though his
liberality was more subject to the restraint of reason; and he
might have justly pleaded, in vindication of his generosity,