'
This communicative friend having announced all the remarkable
characters of both sexes, that appeared at court, we resolved to
adjourn, and retired. At the foot of the stair-case, there was a
crowd of lacqueys and chairmen, and in the midst of them stood
Humphry Clinker, exalted upon a stool, with his hat in one hand,
and a paper in the other, in the act of holding forth to the
people -- Before we could inquire into the meaning of this
exhibition, he perceived his master, thrust the paper into his
pocket, descended from his elevation, bolted through the crowd,
and brought up the carriage to the gate.
My uncle said nothing till we were seated, when, after having
looked at me earnestly for some time, he burst out a-laughing,
and asked if I knew upon what subject Clinker was holding forth
to the mob -- 'If (said he) the fellow is turned mountebank, I must
turn him out of my service, otherwise he'll make Merry Andrews of
us all' -- I observed, that, in all probability, he had studied
medicine under his master, who was a farrier.
At dinner, the squire asked him, if he had ever practised physic?
'Yes, and please your honour (said he) among brute beasts; but I
never meddle with rational creatures.
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