This laudable
resolution, however, was rendered ineffectual by his friend the
receiver-general, who was bearer of the message, and, after having
in vain endeavoured to persuade him to submission, fairly arrested
him upon the spot for the money he had advanced; this expedient
being performed by virtue of a writ which he had been advised to
take out, in case the young man should prove refractory.
The reader, who by this time must be pretty well acquainted with the
disposition of our hero, may easily conceive how he relished this
adventure. At first, all the faculties of his soul were swallowed
up in astonishment and indignation; and some minutes elapsed before
his nerves would obey the impulse of his rage, which manifested
itself in such an application to the temples of the plaintiff, as
laid him sprawling on the floor. This assault, which was committed
in a tavern, whither he had been purposely decoyed, attracted the
regard of the bailiff and his followers, who, to the number of
four, rushed upon him at once, in order to overpower him; but his
wrath inspired him with such additional strength and agility, that
he disengaged himself from them in a trice, and, seizing a poker,
which was the first weapon that presented itself to his hand, exercised
it upon their skulls with incredible dexterity and execution.
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