He introduces his new Friends to Mr. Jolter, with whom the Doctor enters into a Dispute upon Government, which had well nigh terminated in open War.
Meanwhile, he not only made them acquainted with everything worth seeing in town but attended them in their excursions to all the king’s houses within a day’s journey of Paris; and in the course of these parties, treated them with an elegant dinner at his own apartments, where a dispute arose between the doctor and Mr. Jolter, which had well nigh terminated in an irreconcilable1 animosity. These gentlemen, with an equal share of pride, pedantry2, and saturnine3 disposition4, were, by the accidents of education and company, diametrically opposite in political maxims5; the one, as we have already observed, being a bigoted6 high-churchman, and the other a rank republican. It was an article of the governor’s creed7, that the people could not be happy, nor the earth yield its fruits in abundance, under a restricted clergy8 and limited government; whereas, in the doctor’s opinion, it was an eternal truth, that no constitution was so perfect as the democracy, and that no country could flourish but under the administration of the mob.
These considerations being premised, no wonder that they happened to disagree in the freedom of an unreserved conversation, especially as their entertainer took all opportunities of encouraging and inflaming9 the contention10. The first source of their difference was an unlucky remark of the painter, who observed that the partridge, of which he was then eating, had the finest relish11 of any he had ever tasted. His friend owned that the birds were the best of the kind he had seen in France; but affirmed that they were neither so plump nor delicious as those that were caught in England. The governor, considering this observation as the effect of prejudice and inexperience, said, with a sarcastic12 smile, “I believe, sir, you are very well disposed to find everything here inferior to the productions of your own country.”—“True, sir,” answered the physician, with a certain solemnity of aspect, “and not without good reason, I hope.”—“And pray,” resumed the tutor, “why may not the partridges of France be as good as those of England?”—“For a very plain reason,” replied the other; “because they are not so well fed. The iron hand of oppression is extended to all animals within the French dominions13, even to the beasts of the field and the fowls14 of the air; kunessin oionoisi te pasi.”—“Egad!” cried the painter, “that is a truth not to be controverted15: for my own part, I am none of your tit-bits, one would think; but yet there is a freshness in the English complexion16, a ginseekye, I think you call it, so inviting17 to a hungry Frenchman, that I have caught several in the very act of viewing me with an eye of extreme appetite, as I passed; and as for their curs, or rather their wolves, whenever I set eyes on one of ’em, Ah! your humble18 servant, Mr. son of a b —, I am upon my guard in an instant. The doctor can testify that their very horses, or more properly their live carrion19, that drew our chaise, used to reach back their long necks and smell at us, as a couple of delicious morsels20.”
This sally of Mr. Pallet, which was received with a general laugh of approbation21, would in all probability, have stifled22 the dispute in embryo23, had not Mr. Jolter, with a self-applauding simper, ironically complimented the strangers on their talking like true Englishmen. The doctor, affronted25 at the insinuation, told him with some warmth that he was mistaken in his conjecture26, his affections and ideas being confined to no particular country; for he considered himself as a citizen of the world. He owned himself more attached to England than to any other kingdom, but this preference was the effect of reflection, and not of prejudice; the British constitution approached nearer than any other to that perfection of government, the democracy of Athens, he hoped one day to see revived; he mentioned the death of Charles the First, and the expulsion of his son, with raptures27 of applause; inveighed28 with great acrimony against the kingly name; and, in order to strengthen his opinion, repeated forty or fifty lines from one of the Philippics of Demosthenes.
Jolter, hearing him speak so disrespectfully of the higher powers, glowed with indignation: he said his doctrines29 were detestable, and destructive of all right, order, and society; that monarchy30 was of divine institution, therefore indefeasible by any human power; and of consequence those events in the English history, which he had so liberally commended, were no other than flagrant instances of sacrilege, perfidy31, and sedition32; that the democracy of Athens was a most absurd constitution, productive of anarchy33 and mischief34, which must always happen when the government of a nation depends upon the caprice of the ignorant, hair-brained vulgar; that it was in the power of the most profligate35 member of the commonwealth36, provided he was endowed with eloquence37, to ruin the most deserving, by a desperate exertion38 of his talents upon the populace, who had been often persuaded to act in the most ungrateful and imprudent manner against the greatest patriots39 that their country had produced; and, finally, he averred40, that the liberal arts and sciences had never flourished so much in a republic as under the encouragement and protection of absolute power: witness the Augustan age, and the reign41 of Louis the Fourteenth: nor was it to be supposed that genius and merit could ever be so amply recompensed by the individuals or distracted councils of a commonwealth, as by the generosity42 and magnificence of one who had the whole treasury43 at his own command.
Peregrine, who was pleased to find the contest grow warm, observed that there seemed to be a good deal of truth in what Mr. Jolter advanced; and the painter whose opinion began to waver, looked with a face of expectation at his friend, who, modelling his features into an expression of exulting44 disdain45, asked of his antagonist46, if he did not think that very power of rewarding merit enabled an absolute prince to indulge himself in the most arbitrary license47 over the lives and fortunes of his people? Before the governor had time to answer this question, Pallet broke forth48 into an exclamation49 of “By the Lord! that is certainly fact, egad! that was a home-thrust, doctor.” When Mr. Jolter, chastising50 this shallow intruder with a contemptuous look, affirmed that, though supreme51 power furnished a good prince with the means of exerting his virtues52, it would not support a tyrant53 in the exercise of cruelty and oppression; because in all nations the genius of the people must be consulted by their governors, and the burthen proportioned to the shoulders on which it is laid. “Else, what follows?” said the physician. “The consequence is plain,” replied the governor, “insurrection, revolt, and his own destruction; for it is not to be supposed that the subjects of any nation would be so abject54 and pusillanimous55 as to neglect the means which heaven hath put in their power for their own preservation56.”—“Gadzooks, you’re in the right, sir” cried Pallet; “that, I grant you, must be confessed: doctor, I’m afraid we have got into the wrong box.” This son of Paean57, however, far from being of his friend’s opinion, observed, with an air of triumph, that he would not only demonstrate the sophistry58 of the gentleman’s last allegation by argument and facts, but even confute him with his own words. Jolter’s eyes kindling59 at this presumptuous60 declaration, he told his antagonist, while his lip quivered with resentment61, that if his arguments were no better than his breeding, he was sure he would make very few converts to his opinion; and the doctor, with all the insolence62 of triumph, advised him to beware of disputes for the future, until he should have made himself more master of his subject.
Peregrine both wished and hoped to see the disputants proceed to arguments of more weight and conviction; and the painter, dreading63 the same issue, interposed with the usual exclamation of “For God’s sake, gentlemen;” when the governor rose from table in great dudgeon, and left the room, muttering some ejaculation, of which the word coxcomb64 only could be distinctly heard. The physician, being thus left master of the field of battle, was complimented on his victory by Peregrine, and so elevated by his success, that he declaimed a full hour on the absurdity65 of Jolter’s proposition, and the beauty of the democratic administration; canvassed66 the whole scheme of Plato’s republic, with many quotations67 from that ideal author, touching68 the to kalon: from thence he made a transition to the moral sense of Shaftesbury, and concluded his harangue69 with the greatest part of that frothy writer’s rhapsody, which he repeated with all the violence of enthusiastic agitation70, to the unspeakable satisfaction of his entertainer, and the unutterable admiration71 of Pallet, who looked upon him as something supernatural and divine.
So intoxicated72 was this vain young man with the ironical24 praises of Pickle73, that he forthwith shook off all reserve; and having professed74 a friendship for our hero, whose taste and learning he did not fail to extol75, intimated in plain terms, that he was the only person, in these latter ages, who possessed76 that genius, that portion of the divinity, or Ti Theion, which immortalized the Grecian poets: that as Pythagoras affirmed the spirit of Euphorbus had transmigrated into his body, he, the doctor, strangely possessed with the opinion that he himself was inspired by the soul of Pindar; because, making allowance for the difference of languages in which they wrote, there was a surprising affinity77 between his own works and those of that celebrated78 Theban; and as a confirmation79 of this truth, he immediately produced a sample of each, which, though in spirit and versification as different as the Odes of Horace and our present poet-laureat, Peregrine did not scruple80 to pronounce altogether congenial, notwithstanding the violence he by this sentence offered to his own conscience, and a certain alarm to his pride, that was weak enough to be disturbed by the physician’s ridiculous vanity and presumption81, which, not contented82 with displaying his importance in the world of taste and polite literature, manifested itself in arrogating83 certain material discoveries in the province of physic, which could not fail to advance him to the highest pinnacle84 of that profession, considering the recommendation of his other talents, together with a liberal fortune which he inherited from his father.
1 irreconcilable | |
adj.(指人)难和解的,势不两立的 | |
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2 pedantry | |
n.迂腐,卖弄学问 | |
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3 saturnine | |
adj.忧郁的,沉默寡言的,阴沉的,感染铅毒的 | |
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4 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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5 maxims | |
n.格言,座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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6 bigoted | |
adj.固执己见的,心胸狭窄的 | |
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7 creed | |
n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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8 clergy | |
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员 | |
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9 inflaming | |
v.(使)变红,发怒,过热( inflame的现在分词 ) | |
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10 contention | |
n.争论,争辩,论战;论点,主张 | |
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11 relish | |
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味 | |
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12 sarcastic | |
adj.讥讽的,讽刺的,嘲弄的 | |
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13 dominions | |
统治权( dominion的名词复数 ); 领土; 疆土; 版图 | |
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14 fowls | |
鸟( fowl的名词复数 ); 禽肉; 既不是这; 非驴非马 | |
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15 controverted | |
v.争论,反驳,否定( controvert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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17 inviting | |
adj.诱人的,引人注目的 | |
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18 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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19 carrion | |
n.腐肉 | |
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20 morsels | |
n.一口( morsel的名词复数 );(尤指食物)小块,碎屑 | |
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21 approbation | |
n.称赞;认可 | |
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22 stifled | |
(使)窒息, (使)窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 ); 镇压,遏制; 堵 | |
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23 embryo | |
n.胚胎,萌芽的事物 | |
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24 ironical | |
adj.讽刺的,冷嘲的 | |
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25 affronted | |
adj.被侮辱的,被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 );相遇 | |
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26 conjecture | |
n./v.推测,猜测 | |
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27 raptures | |
极度欢喜( rapture的名词复数 ) | |
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28 inveighed | |
v.猛烈抨击,痛骂,谩骂( inveigh的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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29 doctrines | |
n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 );教义;学说;(政府政策的)正式声明 | |
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30 monarchy | |
n.君主,最高统治者;君主政体,君主国 | |
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31 perfidy | |
n.背信弃义,不忠贞 | |
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32 sedition | |
n.煽动叛乱 | |
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33 anarchy | |
n.无政府状态;社会秩序混乱,无秩序 | |
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34 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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35 profligate | |
adj.行为不检的;n.放荡的人,浪子,肆意挥霍者 | |
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36 commonwealth | |
n.共和国,联邦,共同体 | |
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37 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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38 exertion | |
n.尽力,努力 | |
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39 patriots | |
爱国者,爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 ) | |
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40 averred | |
v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 );证实;证明…属实;作为事实提出 | |
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41 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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42 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
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43 treasury | |
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库 | |
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44 exulting | |
vi. 欢欣鼓舞,狂喜 | |
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45 disdain | |
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑 | |
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46 antagonist | |
n.敌人,对抗者,对手 | |
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47 license | |
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许 | |
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48 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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49 exclamation | |
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词 | |
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50 chastising | |
v.严惩(某人)(尤指责打)( chastise的现在分词 ) | |
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51 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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52 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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53 tyrant | |
n.暴君,专制的君主,残暴的人 | |
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54 abject | |
adj.极可怜的,卑屈的 | |
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55 pusillanimous | |
adj.懦弱的,胆怯的 | |
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56 preservation | |
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持 | |
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57 paean | |
n.赞美歌,欢乐歌 | |
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58 sophistry | |
n.诡辩 | |
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59 kindling | |
n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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60 presumptuous | |
adj.胆大妄为的,放肆的,冒昧的,冒失的 | |
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61 resentment | |
n.怨愤,忿恨 | |
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62 insolence | |
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度 | |
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63 dreading | |
v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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64 coxcomb | |
n.花花公子 | |
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65 absurdity | |
n.荒谬,愚蠢;谬论 | |
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66 canvassed | |
v.(在政治方面)游说( canvass的过去式和过去分词 );调查(如选举前选民的)意见;为讨论而提出(意见等);详细检查 | |
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67 quotations | |
n.引用( quotation的名词复数 );[商业]行情(报告);(货物或股票的)市价;时价 | |
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68 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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69 harangue | |
n.慷慨冗长的训话,言辞激烈的讲话 | |
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70 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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71 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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72 intoxicated | |
喝醉的,极其兴奋的 | |
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73 pickle | |
n.腌汁,泡菜;v.腌,泡 | |
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74 professed | |
公开声称的,伪称的,已立誓信教的 | |
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75 extol | |
v.赞美,颂扬 | |
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76 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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77 affinity | |
n.亲和力,密切关系 | |
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78 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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79 confirmation | |
n.证实,确认,批准 | |
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80 scruple | |
n./v.顾忌,迟疑 | |
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81 presumption | |
n.推测,可能性,冒昧,放肆,[法律]推定 | |
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82 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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83 arrogating | |
v.冒称,妄取( arrogate的现在分词 );没来由地把…归属(于) | |
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84 pinnacle | |
n.尖塔,尖顶,山峰;(喻)顶峰 | |
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