Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 December 1874 — A Facetious Sheriff. [ARTICLE]

A Facetious Sheriff.

It is .now more than half a century since there resided in a large and populous seaport town in the North of England a much respected and eminent attorney, who was ever on the gui vice tor fun and good humor, liis jokes were rrequent, and he was noted all over town for his eccentricities and habitual pleasantry. Being a wealthy man, he frequently contributed to public and private charities, and was a welcome visitor to the abodes of the poor as we 11 as the rich. 1 well remember the time when this facetipus gentleman tided the office of sheriff, and when he indulged bis penchant i for tbe humorous by tlie summoning of i four remarkably queer juriesto ” well and | truly try”, persons at the Court of Quarter Sessions for the town and county in j which lie then resided. And first,.at the spring term, our face- i tious Siieritf summoned a fat jury—twelve of tiie most portly, ponderous men he ; coftld find—and when they were called j on by tbe clerk ot the'court to take their j ; seat in the jury-box it was found almost . j impossible to cram them into it. And; ! when, after much hard squeezing and I grinning, they were shut- up in .the box, j | they became literally a packed jury, and ; ! no mistake. j j Tbe second jury summoned by this droll ; official was the very reverse of his first j panel—twelve of the leanest and lankest | men he could find all,over town—men i with long legs and long faces, who | seemed as though they had been feyd on 1 water-gruel and never tasted roast beef ? in the course of their lives. ! The third jury summoned by our | factitious Sheriff'for tiie September term ] consisted*of twelve barbers, whose sliaV- , ing shops were' near the Court-House; i and in so placing those barbers on l the jury all the barristers who attended coprt that day appeared with tlien’Wigs undressed anil uncombed—a funny spectacle for the officers .qf tiie court, the learned Recorder; and all others who happened to be present on that memorable occasion. ” - But in hia selection of a jury- for the December term of the Court of Quarter

Sessions our good-humored Sheriff capped the climax of his official drollery by summoning twelve men who squinted so awfully at the learned Recorder when he attempted to make the first charge to them that the learned Judge could not help joining in the general laugh, and exclaiming, in seeming anger: “ This is, indeed, too bad, Mr. Sheriff.” Rift the latter only remarked, in a very serious and amusing tone: “ Twelve good and lawful men, your Honor.” And here let me add that I neverheard of “ The Facetious Sheriff” serving longer than one year. — Exchange.