THE AUTHOR'S DECLARATION. Aplications of the vicious and ludicrous characters they meet S there are fome people who cannot read, without making ap with in works of this kind, I declare to thefe evil-minded readers, that they will be to blame, if they apply any of the pictures drawn in this book. I publickly own, that my purpose is, to reprefent life as we find it; but God forbid, that I should undertake to delineate any man in particular! Let no reader, therefore, affume to himself that which as properly belongs to others; left, as Phædrus obferves, he make an unlucky discovery of his own character. Stulte nudabit animi confcientiam. There are phyficians in Caftile, as well as in France, whofe practice confifts in evacuating their patients a little too much; and the fame vices and peculiarities of difpofition, are to be feen every where. I confefs, that I have not always exactly obferved the manners of the Spaniards; and those who are acquainted with the disorderly lives of the players at Madrid, may reproach me with having defcribed their irregularities with too much tenderness: but I thought it was neceffary to foften them a little, that they might be the more conformable to the manners of our own country. GIL BLAS TO THE READER. ENTLE reader, before thou readeft the hiftory of my life, G give me leave to entertain thee with a fluort story. Two fcholars, in their way from Pennafiel to Salamanca, being thirsty and fatigued, fat down by a spring they met with on the road: there, while they refted themselves, after having quenched their thirst, they perceived, by accident, upon a ftone that was even with the furface of the earth, fome letters, already half effaced by time, and the feet of flocks that came to water at the fountain: having washed it, they read these words in the Caftilian tongue; Aqui eft à encerrada el alma del Licenciado Pedro Garcias: Here is interred, the foul of the Licenciate Peter Garcias.' The younger of the two ftudents, being a pert coxcomb, no fooner read this infcription, than he cried with a loud laugh: A good joke, i'faith! 'here is interred the foul-a foul interred! Who the devil could be 'the author of fuch a wife epitaph!' So faying, he got up and went away; while his companion, who was bleffed with a greater fhare of penetration, faid to himself, There is certainly fome mystery in this affair: I'll ftay, in order to unriddle it.' Accordingly, his B comrade comrade was no fooner out of fight, than he began to dig with his knife all round the ftone; and fucceeded fo well, that he got it up, and found beneath it, a leathern purfe, containing an hundred ducats, and a card on which was written the following fentence, in Latin: Whofoever thou art, who hait wit enough to discover the meaning of the infcription, inherit my money, and make a • better use of it than I have done.' The fcholar, rejoiced at his good fortune, placed the tone in it's former fituation, and walked home to Salamanca, with the foul of the licenciate. Of what complexion foever thou mayeft be, friendly reader, thou wilt certainly refemble one of thofe two fcholars; for, if thou perufeft my adventures, without perceiving the moral inftructions they contain, thou wilt reap no harvest from thy labour; but, if thou readeft with attention, thou wilt find in them, according to the precept of Horace, profit mingled with pleasure. THE •СНАР. І. BOOK. I. OF THE BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF GIL BLAS. M Y father, Blas of San. tillane, after having carried arms many years in the fervice of the Spanish monarchy, retired to the town in which he was born, where he chofe a wife among the second-rate citizens; who, though the was no chicken, brought me into the world ten months after her marriage. They afterwards removed to Oviedo, where my mother became a waiting-woman, and my father fquire to a lady: and as they had nothing but their wages to depend upon, I thould have run the hazard of being very poorly educated, had it not been my good fortune to have a canon for my uncle, whofe name was Gil Perez: he was my mother's eideft brother, as well as my godfather; a little man, three feet and an half high, exceffive fat, with his head funk between his fhoulders; otherwife, an honelt priest, whose chief care was to live well, that is, to make good chear; and his living, which was no lean one, furnished him with the means. He carried me home to his house, while an infant, and took the charge of my education; and I appeared fo fprightly, that he refolved to cultivate my genius. With this view, he bought for me an hornbook, and undertook (himself) to learn me to read; a task no lefs ufeful to him than to me: for, in teaching me my letters, he had recourfe to his reading, which he had always neglected too much; and, by dint of application, enabled himself to read his breviary without hesitation; a qualification he had never been poffelfed of before. He had all the inclination in the world, to instruct me Squire, or gentleman-ufher, (in Spanish, efcudoro) is a perfon who waits on a lady. Formerly, decayed gentlemen were entertained by the nobility for this purpofe; they derived their appellation, from thofe eminent fquires, whofe office was to carry the fhield (in Spain called escudo) of their master. B & in the Latin tongue alfo, because it would have been fo much money faved to him: but, alas, poor Gil Perez! he had never in his lite understood the rudiments of that language, and was, perhaps, (but this I do not vouch for certainty) the moft illiterate canon of the whole chapter. I have been told, indeed, that he had not obtained his benefice by his erudition; but owed it entirely to the gratitude of fome pious nuns, for whom he had acted the part of a zealous commiffioner, and by whofe influence the order of priesthood had been conferred upon him without examination. fionately longed to fee the world: nevertheless, I had difcretion enough to conceal my joy; and when the time of my departure arrived, affecting the moft lively forrow at leaving an uncle to whom I owed so many obligations; the honest man was melted, and gave me more money than he would have done, could he have seen to the bottom of my heart. Before I fet out, I went to take leave of my father and mother, who enriched me with advice; exhorted me to pray to God for my uncle; to live inoffenfively; to efchew evil; and, by all means, to refrain from ftealing. After they had held forth a good while, they made me a present of their bleffing, which was all I expected from them; and I, mounting my mule, bade adieu to Oviedo. He was, therefore, obliged to subject me to the birch of a fchoolmaster, and accordingly fent me to the houfe of Dr. Godinez, who was esteemed the most expert flogger in Oviedo. I improved fo well under his inftructions, that in five or fix years I understood a little Greek; was a pretty good Latin fcholar; and applying myself alfo OF to logick, began to argue apace: I was fo much in love with difpute, that I ftopped paflengers, known or unknown, and propofed arguments to them; and fometimes meeting with Hibernian geniufes, who were very glad of the occafion, it was a good jest to fee us difpute: by our extravagant gettures, grimace, contortions, our eves full of fury, and our mouths full of foam, one would have taken us for bedlamites, rather than philosophers. CHA P. II. HIS BEING GRIEVOUSLY ALARMED IN HIS WAY TO PENNAFLOR: OF HIS CONDUCT IN THAT TOWN; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF A PERSON WHO SUP. PED WITH HIM. EHOLD me then in the open B field, clear of Oviedo, on the road to Pennaflor, mafter of my own conduct, of a forry mule, and forty good ducats, exclufive of fome rials, which I had ftolen from my much honoured uncle. The first thing I did, was to let my beaft go at difcretion, that is, very gently; and throwing the bridle on her neck, I emptied my purfe into my hat, and amufed myself m counting my money: any joy was exceffive; and as I had never feen fo much cash before, I handled and gaz.. ed at it with infatiable delight. I had reckoned it, perhaps, twenty times over, when, all of a fudden, my mule raifing her head, and pricking up her ears, topped in the middle of the highway. Imagining the was frighted at fomething, I looked about to fee what was the matter, and perceived upon the ground, an old hat, turned up, with a rofary of great beads in it; ar the fame time, heard a lamentable voice pronounce thefe words: Mr. traveller, for God's fake, have pity He could not have propofed any on a poor maimed foldier! drop, if thing more agreeable to me; for I paf-you please, a few bits into the hat, By thefe means, however, I acquired the reputation of a great fcholar, in town; a circumstance that pleafed my uncle extremely, as he forefaw that I fhould not be much longer an expence to him. Hark'e, Gil Blas,' faid he to me one day; thou art no longer a * child, and it is high time for a brisk lad of leventeen, like thee, to push thy fortune in the world: I am determined to fend thee to Salamanca, where, with fuch genius and learning, thou canst not fail of obtaining fome good poft: thou shalt have fome ducats in thy pocket, to bear thy expences on the road; and I will give thee my own mule, which thou mayett fell at Salamanca for ten or twelve piftoles, and live upon the money until thou shalt be fettled to thy fatisfaction.' and |