my lord," responded the witness.
"Gentlemen of the jury," said his lordship, turning to the 'twelve good
men' in the box, "it must be needless for me to inform you--_that this
witness is insane_!"

The report of a trial which occurred at Newcastle Assizes towards the
close of the last century gives the following succession of questions
and answers:--_Barrister._--"What is your name?" _Witness._--"Adam,
sir--Adam Thompson." _Barrister._--"Where do you live?" _Witness._--"In
Paradise." _Barrister_ (with facetious tone).--"And pray, Mr. Adam, how
long have you dwelt in Paradise?" _Witness._--"Ever since the flood."
Paradise is the name of a village in the immediate vicinity of
Newcastle; and 'the flood' referred to by the witness was the inundation
(memorable in local annals) of the Tyne, which in the year 1771 swept
away the old Tyne Bridge.

CHAPTER XLIII.

CIRCUITEERS.

Exposed to some of the discomforts, if not all the dangers,[33] of
travel; required to ride over black and cheerless tracts of moor and
heath: now belated in marshy districts, and now exchanging shots with
gentlemen of the road; sleeping, as luck favored them, in way-side
taverns, country mansions, or the superior hotels of provincial
towns--the circuiteers of olden time found their advantage in
cultivating social hilarity and establishing an etiquette that
encouraged good-fellowship in their itinerant societies. At an early
date they are found varying the monotony of cross-country rides with
racing-matches and drinking bouts, cock-fights and fox-hunting; and
enlivening assize towns and country houses with balls and plays, frolic
and song. A prodigious amount of feasting was perpetrated on an ordinary
circuit-round of the seventeenth century; and at circuit-messes, judges'
dinners, and sheriffs' banquets, saucy juniors were allowed a license of
speech to staid leaders and grave dignitaries that was altogether
exceptional to the prevailing tone of manners.

In the days when Chief Justice Hyde, Clarendon's cousin, used to ride
the Norfolk Circuit, old Sergeant Earl was the leader, or, to use the
slang of the period, 'cock of the round'. A keen, close-fisted, tough
practitioner, this sergeant used to ride from town to town, chuckling
over the knowledge that he was earning more and spending less than any
other member of the circuit. One biscuit was all the refreshment which
he permitted himself on the road from Cambridge to Norwich; although he