Sometimes in their parties, by mixing brandy in his wine, he decoyed
this pedagogue into a debauch, during which his caution forsook him,
and he exposed himself to the censure of the company. Sometimes,
when the conversation turned upon intricate subjects, he practised
upon him the Socratic method of confutation, and, under pretence of
being informed, by an artful train of puzzling questions insensibly
betrayed him into self-contradiction.
All the remains of authority which he had hitherto preserved over
Peregrine soon vanished; so that, for the future, no sort of ceremony
subsisted between them, and all Mr. Jolter's precepts were conveyed
in hints of friendly advice, which the other might either follow or
neglect at his own pleasure. No wonder then that Peregrine gave a
loose to his inclinations, and, by dint of genius and an enterprising
temper, made a figure among the younger class of heroes in the
school.
Before he had been a full year at Winchester, he had signallized
himself in so many achievements, in defiance to the laws and
regulations of the place, that he was looked upon with admiration,
and actually chosen dux, or leader, by a large body of his
contemporaries.
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