llow, let it be ever so
unpalatable.

Peregrine, having thus played upon his passions of fear and hope,
answered, "that as the offence was committed in the habit of a woman,
which was a disguise unworthy of the other sex, the French court was of
opinion that the delinquent should be reduced to the neuter gender; so
that there was no alternative at his own option, by which he had it in
his power to regain immediate freedom."--"What!" cried the painter, in
despair, "become a singer? Gadzooks! and the devil and all that! I'll
rather be still where I am, and let myself be devoured by vermin." Then
thrusting out his throat--"Here is my windpipe," said he; "be so good,
my dear friend, as to give it a slice or two: if you don't, I shall
one of these days be found dangling in my garters. What an unfortunate
rascal I am! What a blockhead, and a beast, and a fool, was I to trust
myself among such a barbarous ruffian race! Lord forgive you, Mr.
Pickle, for having been the immediate cause of my disaster. If you had
stood by me from the beginning, according to your promise, I should not
have been teased by that coxcomb who has brought me to this pass. And
why did I put on this d--d unlucky dress? Lord curse that chattering
Jezebel of a landlady, who advised such a preposterous disguise!--a
disguise which has not only brought me to this pass, but also rendered
me abominable to myself, and frightful to others; for when I this
morning signified to the turnkey that I wanted to be shaved, he looked
at my beard with astonishment, and, crossing himself, muttered his Pater
Noster, believing me, I suppose, to be a witch, or something worse. And
Heaven confound that loathsome banquet of the ancients, which provoked
me to drink too freely, that I might wash away the taste of that
accursed sillikicaby."

Our young gentleman, having heard this lamentation to an end, excused
himself for his conduct by representing that he could not possibly
foresee the disagreeable consequences that attended it; and in the
mean time strenuously counselled him to submit to the terms of his
enlargement. He observed that he was now arrived at that time of life
when the lusts of the flesh should be entirely mortified within him, and
his greatest concern ought to be the of his soul, to which nothing could
more effectually contribute than the amputation which was proposed; that
his body, as well as his mind, would profit by the change; because he
would have no danger