se author lay
unknown, was charged upon me. I have been found guilty of robbing
orchards I never entered, of killing cats I never hunted, of stealing
gingerbread I never touched, and of abusing old women I never saw. Nay,
a stammering carpenter had eloquence enough to persuade my master that
I fired a pistol loaded with small shot into his window; though my
landlady and the whole family bore witness that I was abed fast asleep
at the time when this outrage was committed, I was once flogged for
having narrowly escaped drowning, by the sinking of a ferry boat in
which I was passenger. Another time, for having recovered of a bruise
occasioned by a horse and cart running over me. A third time, for being
bitten by a baker's dog. In short, whether I was guilty or unfortunate,
the correction and sympathy of this arbitrary pedagogue were the same.

Far from being subdued by this informal usage, my indignation triumphed
over that slavish awe which had hitherto enforced my obedience; and
the more my years and knowledge increased, the more I perceived the
injustice and barbarity of his behaviour. By the help of an uncommon
genius, and the advice and direction of our usher, who had served my
father in his travels, I made a surprising progress in the classics,
writing, and arithmetic; so that, before I was twelve years old, I
was allowed by everybody to be the best scholar in the school. This
qualification, together with the boldness of temper and strength of make
which had subjected almost all my contemporaries, gave me such influence
over them that I began to form cabals against my persecutor; and was in
hope of, being able to bid him defiance in a very short time. Being at
the head of a faction, consisting of thirty boys, most of them of my own
age, I was determined to put their mettle to trial, that I might know
how far they were to be depended upon, before I put my grand scheme in
execution: with this view, we attacked a body of stout apprentices,
who had taken possession of a part of the ground allotted to us for the
scheme of our diversions, and who were then playing at ninepins on
the spot; but I had the mortification to see my adherents routed in an
instant, and a leg of one of them broke in his flight by the bowl, which
one of our adversaries had detached in pursuit of us. This discomfiture
did not hinder us from engaging them afterwards in frequent skirmishes,
which we maintained by throwing stones at a distance, wherein I