Peregrine is sent to a boarding-school--Becomes remarkable for his
Genius and Ambition.


The commodore, understanding her determination, to which her husband
did not venture to make the least objection, interested himself
so much in behalf of his favourite, as to fit him out at his own
charge, and accompany him in person to the place of his destination;
where he defrayed the expense of his entrance, and left him to
the particular care and inspection of the usher, who having been
recommended to him as a person of parts and integrity, received
per advance a handsome consideration for the task he undertook.

Nothing could be better judged than this piece of liberality; the
assistant was actually a man of learning, probity, and good sense;
and though obliged by the scandalous administration of fortune
to act in the character of an inferior teacher, had, by his sole
capacity and application, brought the school to that degree of
reputation, which it never could have obtained from the talents of
its superior. He had established an economy, which, though regular,
was not at all severe, by enacting a body of laws suited to the age
and comprehension of every individual; and each transgressor was
fairly tried by his peers, and punished according to the verdict
of the jury. No boy was scourged for want of apprehension, but
a spirit of emulation was raised by well-timed praise and artful
comparison, and maintained by a distribution of small prizes, which
were adjudged to those who signalized themselves either by their
industry, sobriety, or genius.