: but, as he apprehended, it would be the greatest sign
of madness he could exhibit, to thank them for the mischiefs they had brought
upon him, he desired to be excused from making any such concession, and swore he
would endure every thing, rather than be guilty of such mean absurdity.
    Peregrine held a consultation upon this reply, when the governor and
physician strenuously argued against any capitulation with a maniac, and
proposed that some method might be taken to seize, fetter and convey him into a
dark room, where he might be treated according to the rules of art. But the
Capuchin understanding the circumstances of the case, undertook to restore him
to his former state, without having recourse to such violent measures: and
Pickle, who was a better judge of the affair than any person present, opened the
door without further hesitation, and displayed the poor painter standing with a
woeful countenance, shivering in his shirt, which was as wet as if he had been
dragged through the Dender; a spectacle which gave such offence to the chaste
eyes of the Hebrew's mistress, who was by this time one of the spectators, that
she turned her head another way, and withdrew to her own room, exclaiming
against the indecent practices of men.
    Pallet, seeing the young gentleman enter, ran to him, and shaking him by the
hand, called him his best friend, and said he had rescued him from those who had
a design against his life. The priest would have produced his parings, and
applied them to his nose; but was hindered by Pickle, who advised the patient to
shift himself, and put on his cloaths: and this being done with great order and
deliberation, Mr. Jolter, who, with the doctor, had kept at a wary distance, in
expectation of seeing some strange effects of his distraction, began to believe
that he had been guilty of a mistake, and accused the physician of having misled
him by his false diagnostic. The doctor still insisted upon his former
declaration, assuring him, that although Pallet enjoyed a short interval for the
present, the delirium would soon recur, unless they would profit by this
momentary calm, and order him to be blooded, blistered and purged with all
imaginable dispatch.
    The governor, however, notwithstanding this caution, advanced to the injured
party, and begg'd pardon for the share he had in giving him such disturbance,
declaring in the most solemn manner, that he had no other intention than that of
contributing towards his welfare, and that his behaviour was the result of the
physician's prescription
