the old gentleman with all the
zeal and veneration which a regard to his own character would permit him
to say. This task was the easier to one of our young gentleman's pliant
disposition, because the virtuoso's behaviour was absolutely free from
that insolent self-conceit, which he could not bear without disgust. The
senior was, on the contrary, mild and beneficent; and Pickle was rather
pleased than shocked at his weakness; because it flattered his vanity
with the supposition of his own superior sense. Cautioned in this
manner, Peregrine profited so much by his insinuating qualifications,
that, in a very little time, he was looked upon as one of the chief
favourites of the patron, to whom he dedicated a small occasional poem;
and everybody believed he would reap the fruits of his attachment among
the first of the old gentleman's dependents.

CHAPTER XCVI.

Peregrine, finding himself neglected by Sir Steady Steerwell,
expostulates with him in a Letter; in consequence of which he is forbid
his House, loses his Pension, and incurs the charge of Lunacy.

This prospect of success, together with his expectations from the
minister, whom he did not neglect, helped to comfort him under the
reverse of fortune which he had undergone, and the uncertainty of the
lawsuit, which he still maintained for the recovery of his ten thousand
pounds. The lawyers, indeed, continued to drain his pocket of money,
while they filled his brain with unsubstantial hope; and he was actually
obliged to borrow money from his bookseller, on the strength of the
translation, in order to satisfy the demands of those ravenous harpies,
rather than lay the misanthrope under any difficulties, or have recourse
to his friend Hatchway, who lived at the garrison, entirely ignorant
of his distress. This was not at all alleviated by the arrival of the
Indiaman, in which he had ventured seven hundred pounds, as we have
already observed; for he was given to understand, that the borrower was
left dangerously ill at Bombay when the ship sailed, and that his chance
for retrieving his money was extremely slender.

So situated, it is not to be supposed that he led a life of tranquility,
though he made a shift to struggle with the remonstrances of misfortune.
Yet such a gush of affliction would sometimes rush upon his thought, as
overwhelmed all the ideas of his hope, and sunk him to the very bottom
of despondence. Every equipage that passed him in the street,