Litchfield enquirer., 1856-01-17
Ecoenfrioities of Madmen.

Eo09REk1o1t1e6 of WadWen.
 Mr. -, lawyer in Vermont, do ing . good business, at once becan. insane, and took t inio his head IL abandon the practice Of law, and en gagged in basket making. He wss .. first . very awkward hand at this cm ploynent, bui by dint oi perseverance he soon became very skilful snd coui.i weavea basket as we'll as he had fnr- merly woye an argument at the bsf He followed this business about s,x months, when taking new notion in to his head, he abandoned it for tl,a, of chair-l,ostoming.
 The material used tn this occnpa,ion was bark, which he stripped from the trees in the summer, when it peel most easily. Having come home on. day covered from head to lnot will, mud, ise was asked where he I,a., been, that he bad got 90 ,I,oronghl, bedaubed He answered, that he l,ac been in . neighboring swamp alter eIns bark, of which he exhibited strip abou. forty feet long.
 "Do you mark this ?" said he ,ri umphantIy.
 "ies; bat how does this accoun, for your being so m"ddy' It is no' usual to find mud ou the tops of ,I. trees"
 "No; but sometimes you may find 1t at the bottom, though: IllielI 70" how l found it. cut the bark n"a, tie root Of the tree, and then stripped tt upwards, expecting it would come to an end and break off and run itseII out aher awhile; but Il hung on like g sui, in ci'sncery. And stripped and stripped until ii run up forty leei, and was as strong as ever! Thinks 1 to myself, there is no use in pursuing the thing any farther, and so I'lI enter nolle prosequi. But not to lose the benefi. oi what ] had done-illat was the point io be decided. Iwished at least 10 save cost, bui-pshaw! l forgo, l; I'm not a lawyer now. We'll. as 1 was saying, looked at the subject, to see how 1 couid secure the baIk. l was too strong for me to break off, Al any rate, though, l, there is more than one way to skin a cat, as the butcher would say. II lcanno, break the bark, l can climb up by it. ! seized hold of sI'e strip, and placing my feet against the trunk of the nce. ran up hand over hs"d. By this method of climbing you will perceive, my back must have been downward, end nearly tn horizontal position my feet being braced against the se, with my head extending from i, at an angle oi forty degrees Having sr- rived ai the proper height. 1 was then in a quandary how 10 ge, my knife ou, oi my pocket. and how to ge, it oper when ii was out; if | le: go with one hand l was fearful the other would no, hold me. However. says I, it's necl or nothing; l will try the experiment a' any rate. So gIipped powerfully will, my left hand. while l took o,l, my knife with my righ, hand, and open,n: !, with my teeth, whipped off the bark as clean as the law would dock an entail"
 "And wla, do you think was the result!"
 :" why,.yo came ia, on your back ', of course" ..'
 Right, gentlemen of the jury-a very correct verdict indeed. 1 cane down fiat in the mud. Never was a clieat laid aatter on his back than I- and never was one ." completely be, dubbed with fl,h and mud. But, thanks 10 t"e yielding nature of the soil, lsaved my bones aud only brough, away the mischief on my coat. l gained my cause, ioo-which is more .hanl can say of all my undertakings. "
 The company laughed heartily d, the ex-lawyers accoun, of his exploi, while the latter, hanging his coat up in the sun. said that the mud, like the old wosnaa's grease, would rub of when 1t was d'y.
 He con,nued awhile longer to fol- low hls occupation of chair-bo,,oming when, suddenly becoming sane again, he resumed the practice of law, and has ever since preferred laying his op- ponenis on their backs in . legal way, 10 being laid on his own m 90 luuicrous . Ssas,ner as tbat aboye relaaed.