on. Though, by a man of a less sanguine disposition, her
particular complaisance would have been deemed equivocal, and perhaps
nothing more than the effects of French breeding and constitutional
vivacity; he gave his own qualifications credit for the whole, and with
these sentiments carried on the attack with such unabating vigour, that
she was actually prevailed upon to accept a ring, which he presented
as a token of his esteem; and everything proceeded in a most prosperous
train, when they were disturbed by the governor Israelite, who, in
the heat of disputation, raised their voices, and poured forth such
effusions of gutturals, as set our lover's teeth on edge. As they spoke
in a language unknown to every one in the carriage but themselves,
and looked at each other with mutual animosity and rancour, Peregrine
desired to know the cause of their contention; upon which Jolter
exclaimed, in a furious tone, "This learned Levite, forsooth, has the
impudence to tell me that I don't understand Hebrew; and affirms that
the word Benoni signifies 'child of joy;' whereas, I can prove, and
have already said enough to convince any reasonable man, that in the
Septuagint it is rightly translated into 'son of my sorrow.'"

Having thus explained himself to his pupil, he turned to the priest,
with intention to appeal to his determination; but the Jew pulled him by
the sleeve with great eagerness, saying, "For the love of God, be
quiet: the Capuchin will discover who we are." Joker, offended at this
conjunction, echoed, "Who we are!" with great emphasis; and repeating
nos poma natamus, asked ironically, to which of the tribes the Jew
thought he belonged? The Levite, affronted at his comparing him to a
ball of horse-dung, replied, with a most significant grin, "To the tribe
of Issachar." His antagonist, taking the advantage of his unwillingness
to be known by the friar, and prompted by revenge for the freedom he
had used, answered, in the French language, that the judgment of God
was still manifest upon their whole race, not only in their being in the
state of exiles from their native land, but also in the spite of their
hearts and pravity of their dispositions, which demonstrate them to be
the genuine offspring of those who crucified the Saviour of the world.

His expectation was, however, defeated: the priest himself was too
deeply engaged to attend to the debates of other people. The physician,
in the pride and insolence of his learni