The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-01-07 00:00:00

lainous trick of grinning and jesting, he hu the
good sense to limp his mouth straight,rwhenoey of
' his new friends .fleapt do speak, or in.uoy sailer
Ivey contrive to make themselves ridiculous.
I Now them was a very respectable nsaileman in
the village, of a diaposition somewhat testy, who
frequently. betatne very angry at the conduct of
these Stew:iris, reproached them Sn every company
with ignorance and extravagimer, and even some-
times gave them hard knocks with bis cane when-
ever any of them happened to fall in his way. He
undoubtedly displayrdon sense occasions great in•
losriperosiee. for wiiich, by the custom of the manor,
he miight have been set iw the.slocks ; but the stew-
aids hari;Oured aping liiin a deadly enmity, and
nothing would satisfy their love of vengeance but
that this -troublemnie fellow should be declared a
fanatic, and be pat into a strait waistcoat. They
knew it would be hard to prove the man's insanity,
so they pro Cured a certain Doctor, from Sidmouth,
who, although he affects to be a regularly bred
physician, is reputed -by many to be little better
than a mere rack, to make an affidavit of the gen-
deinaii'a want of understanding, and they counted
upon packing a Jasy among the sellouts of the ma-
nor, who would. take the Doctor's word stasofficietit
evidence. In their • !minion for the commission,
they represented themselves as the next friends of
the lonalic, although it.is notorious that they always
bore the deadliest sunnily to the unfortunate suf-
ferer, not merely from the thumps he occasionally
dealt them, but from the. impediments he was con-
stantly throwing in the way of their jots and extra-
vagatice.

The Doctor declared in his affidavit, that during
the last three years he had carefully observed the
behaviour, words, and actions, of the lunatic, Mr.
Printer, and that he lr•oked upon him to be. per-
son deprived or his reason in a very great degree.
That he had frequently, with great horror, heard
him abuse in a very violent manner the seer.
sal members of the Stewardry, and even saw him
strike them ; that he had heard him speak blas-
phemy and sedition by the hour, and had even
sometimes heard him endeavouring to excite sun-
dry persons to assault Andrew and Bob. That the
lunatic sometimes would amuse himself by writing
profane parodies upon the Liturgy, would fancy
himself of various hideous shapes, would occasion-
ally call himself Medusa, and snit his language to
this assumed character, and at other times imagine
himself a Gorgon, ■rid terrify the beholders with
his frightful hi►siugs. The Doctor concluded by
expressing his belief that the said Mr. Printer was
incapable of governing himself, and ought forth-
with be put is a strait waistcoat.
Upon this affidavit, the writ was issued to in-
quire into the lunacy, and a very numerous Jury
was assembled, but it was remarked that the far
greater portion of the Jury consisted of the near
friends and connexions of the Petitioners, and

would readily do any thing that they required.
But the most suspicious part of the proceedings
was, that the only evidence submitted to the Jury
was the Doctor's affidavit, and this was confirmed,
as the Petitioners said, by " the notoriety of Mr.
Printer's lunacy."

The Commission being opened, Bab rose to ad-
dress the Jury. Having wiped his eyes, he, in a
faultering and sobbing tone, said—" I vow to God
that I look upon myself as the most utifortunate of
men in being compelled to proceed to such extremi-
ties with my dear fling,. Mr. Printer ; but those who
know roe best will give me credit when! affirm—
(Some coughing)..-will give me credit when I affirm
—(!'Ties of " Hear, hear," front his friends
around him)—th-at, in the present proceedings, I
am :actuated ►olely by a strung principle of attic-
tion.—(Some loughing.)—True it is, that the on.
happy subject of this inquiry frequently insulted
sod displeased me, and not (infrequently gave me
such hard knocks as I could neither parry nor re-
turn ; but this only *hewed the wholesonte strength
of my respected frieud's Constitution, and God
forbid that I should retain in auger the recollection
of such lively frulics ! But though I and my
friend Andreto may cheerfully submit to such
playful sallies, can we expect that others will be
equally submissive? Besides, the unfortunate
Gentleman ha• of late indulged in conversation in
the highest degree dangerous, which iasteed could I
proceed only from insanity. You have heard from
the Doctor's affidavit, that he has indulged in
speaking blasphemy and sedition; and though I
must admit, that occasionally his conduct is or-
derly and decorous, and when iu good company
his language is pious, temperate, and loyal—yet,
when he goes among the working people. he does
nothing but tell them that Andrew and I are a very
quew pair—(Some laughing)—that our little corps
of yeomanry, which we keep up to frighten the
crows, is too expenrove—snd that the Parson of the
parish dues but little work for his money. This is
nothing short of treason and blasphemy. and if
you suffer him to go at large. you will be turn-
ing your backs upon yourselves, the parish will
stand prostrate at the feet of the tenants, and
you will embark 117101 t a new feature which
will become the fUndurnentul essence of your
policy.— (Some confusion.)-'-- Heaven knows,
however, that what I shall propose is all fur
love of Mr. Printer ; for I fear his conduct will
bring down upon him the anger of his neigh-
boars, and cause him some dangerous mischief.
ifwe do not interfere and prevent him has titian%