nature and generosity in his composition; and though he established
a tyranny among his comrades, the tranquility of his reign was
maintained by the love rather than by the fear of his subjects.

In the midst of all this enjoyment of empire he never once violated
that respectful awe with which the usher had found means to inspire
him; but he by no means preserved the same regard for the principal
master, an old illiterate German quack, who had formerly practised
corn-cutting among the quality, and sold cosmetic washes to the
ladies, together with teeth-powders, hair-dyeing liquors, prolific
elixirs, and tinctures to sweeten the breath. These nostrums,
recommended by the art of cringing, in which he was consummate,
ingratiated him so much with people of fashion, that he was enabled
to set up school with five-and-twenty boys of the best families,
whom he boarded on his own terms and undertook to instruct in the
French and Latin languages, so as to qualify them for the colleges
of Westminster and Eton. While this plan was in its infancy,
he was so fortunate as to meet with Jennings, who, for the paltry
consideration of thirty pounds a year, which his necessities compelled
him to accept, took the whole trouble of educating the children
upon himself, contrived an excellent system for that purpose, and,
by his assiduity and knowledge, executed all the particulars to
the entire satisfaction of those concerned, who, by the bye, never
inquired into his qualifications, but suffered the other to enjoy
the fruits of his labour and ingenuity.

Over and above a large stock of avarice, ignorance, and vanity,
this superior had certain ridiculous peculiarities in his person,
such as a hunch upon his back, and distorted limbs, that seemed to
attract the satirical notice of Peregrine, who, young as he was,