I could recount a
great many others of the same nature, and particularly the laudable
vengeance he took of a country lawyer. I'm sorry that any such miscreant
should belong to the profession. He was clerk of the assize, gemmen, in
a certain town, not a great way distant; and having a blank pardon left
by the judges for some criminals whose cases were attended with
favourable circumstances, he would not insert the name of one who could
not procure a guinea for the fee; and the poor fellow, who had only stole
an hour-glass out of a shoemaker's window, was actually executed, after a
long respite, during which he had been permitted to go abroad, and earn
his subsistence by his daily labour.

"Sir Launcelot being informed of this barbarous act of avarice, and
having some ground that bordered on the lawyer's estate, not only
rendered him contemptible and infamous, by exposing him as often as they
met on the grand jury, but also, being vested with the property of the
great tithe, proved such a troublesome neighbour, sometimes by making
waste among his hay and corn, sometimes by instituting suits against him
for petty trespasses, that he was fairly obliged to quit his habitation,
and remove into another part of the kingdom.

"All these avocations could not divert Sir Launcelot from the execution
of a wild scheme, which has carried his extravagance to such a pitch that
I am afraid, if a statute--you understand me, gemmen--were sued, the jury
would--I don't choose to explain myself further on this circumstance. Be
that as it may, the servants at Greavesbury Hall were not a little
confounded, when their master took down from the family armoury a
complete suit of armour, which belonged to his great-grandfather, Sir
Marmaduke Greaves, a great warrior, who lost his life in the service of
his king. This armour being scoured, repaired, and altered, so as to fit
Sir Launcelot, a certain knight, whom I don't choose to name, because I
believe he cannot be proved compos mentis, came down, seemingly on a
visit, with two attendants; and, on the evening of the festival of St.
George, the armour being carried into the chapel. Sir Launcelot (Lord
have mercy upon us!) remained all night in that dismal place alone, and
without light, though it was confidently reported all over the country,
that the place was haunted by the spirit of his great-great-uncle, who,
being lunatic, had cut his throat from ear to ear, and was found dead on
the com