 his
cowardice might easily be forgiven: but, there was something so presumptuous,
dishonest and disingenuous, in arrogating a quality to which he knew he had not
the smallest pretension, that he could not forget his misbehaviour all at once,
though he would condescend to communicate with him as formerly, in hopes of
seeing a reformation in his conduct. Pallet protested, that there was no
dissimulation in the case; for he was ignorant of his own weakness, until his
resolution was put to the trial: he faithfully promised to demean himself,
during the remaining part of the tour, with that conscious modesty and penitence
which became a person in his condition; and, for the present, implored the
assistance of Mr. Pipes, in desembarassing him from the disagreeable consequence
of his fear.
 

                                  Chapter LXIX

The Doctor exults in his Victory. They set out for Rotterdam, where they are
Entertained by two Dutch Gentlemen in a Yacht, which is overturned in the Maes,
to the manifest Hazard of the Painter's Life. They spend the Evening with their
Entertainers, and next Day visit a Cabinet of Curiosities
 
Tom was accordingly ordered to minister to his occasions; and the conqueror,
elated with his success, which he in a great measure attributed to his manner of
attack, and the hymn which he howled, told Peregrine, that he was now convinced
of the truth of what Pindar sung in these words, Ossa de mo pepilhke Zeys,
atyzontai boan Pieridon aionta; for he had no sooner begun to repeat the
mellifluent strains of that divine poet, than the wretch his antagonist was
confounded, and his nerves unstrung.
    On their return to the inn, he expatiated on the prudence and tranquillity
of his own behaviour, and ascribed the consternation of Pallet to the
remembrance of some crime that lay heavy upon his conscience: for, in his
opinion, a man of virtue and common sense could not possibly be afraid of death,
which is not only the peaceful harbour that receives him shattered on the
tempestuous sea of life, but also the eternal seal of his fame and glory, which
it is no longer in his power to forfeit and forego. He lamented his fate, in
being doomed to live in such degenerate days, when war is become a mercenary
trade; and ardently wished, that the day would come, when he should have such an
opportunity of signalizing his courage in the cause of liberty, as that of
Marathon, where an handful of Athenians, fighting for their freedom, defeated
the whole strength of the Persian empire. »Would to heaven! (said he) my muse
were blessed with an
