he had lost his cause, and was condemned in costs. Even
this was not the most mortifying piece of intelligence he received:
he at the same time learned that his bookseller was bankrupt, and his
friend Crabtree at the point of death.

These were comfortable considerations to a youth of Peregrine's
disposition, which was so capricious, that the more his misery
increased, the more haughty and inflexible he became. Rather than be
beholden to Hatchway, who still hovered about the gate, eager for an
opportunity to assist him, he chose to undergo the want of almost every
convenience of life, and actually pledged his wearing apparel to an
Irish pawnbroker in the Fleet, for money to purchase those things,
without which he must have absolutely perished. He was gradually
irritated by his misfortunes into a rancorous resentment against mankind
in general, and his heart so alienated from the enjoyments of life, that
he did not care how soon he quitted his miserable existence. Though he
had shocking examples of the vicissitudes of fortune continually before
his eyes, he could never be reconciled to the idea of living like his
fellow-sufferers, in the most abject degree of dependence. If he refused
to accept of favours from his own allies and intimate friends, whom he
had formerly obliged, it is not to be supposed that he would listen to
proposals of that kind from any of his fellow-prisoners, with whom he
had contracted acquaintance: he was even more cautious than ever of
incurring obligations; he now shunned his former messmates, in order to
avoid disagreeable tenders of friendship. Imagining that he perceived
an inclination in the clergyman to learn the state of his finances, he
discouraged and declined the explanation, and at length secluded himself
from all society.

CHAPTER CI.

He receives an unexpected Visit; and the Clouds of Misfortune begin to
separate.

While he pined in this forlorn condition, with an equal abhorrence of
the world and himself, Captain Gauntlet arrived in town in order to
employ his interest for promotion in the army; and in consequence of his
wife's particular desire, made it his business to inquire for Peregrine,
to whom he longed to be reconciled, even though at the expense of a
slight submission. But he could hear no tidings of him, at the place to
which he was directed; and, on the supposition that our hero had gone
to reside in the country, applied himself to his own business,
with int