Instead of overlooking
this petulant piece of satire with that temper and decency
of disdain that became a person of his gravity and station, he no
sooner cast his eye over the performance, than the blood rushed
into his countenance, and immediately after exhibited a ghastly
pale colour. With a quivering lip, he told his pupil, that he was
an impertinent jackanapes; and he would take care that he should
be expelled from the university, for having presumed to write and
deliver such a licentious and scurrilous libel. Peregrine answered,
with great resolution, that when the provocation he had received
should be known, he was persuaded that he should be acquitted by
the opinion of all impartial people; and that he was ready to submit
the whole to the decision of the master.
This arbitration he proposed, because he knew the master and
Jumble were at variance; and, for that reason, the tutor durst not
venture to put the cause on such an issue. Nay, when this reference
was mentioned, Jumble, who was naturally jealous, suspected that
Peregrine had a promise of protection before he undertook to commit
such an outrageous insult; and this notion had such an effect upon
him, that he decided to devour his vexation, and wait for a more
proper opportunity of gratifying his hate.
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