.dt The Trial of an Ox for Killing a Man, by Rusher, John Golby—A \
Project Gutenberg eBook

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<l>Transcriber's Note:</l>

All captions for illustrations were created by the transcriber.
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<l>THE FOLLOWING PENNY BOOKS,</l>

and many others,

<l>Adorned with a great number of Cuts,</l>

<i>Are just Printed and Sold by</i>

<xl>J. G. RUSHER, BANBURY</xl>.
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.hr 20%
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History of a Banbury Cake
History of John Gilpin
Good Farmer, or History of T. Wiseman
Galloping Guide to the A B C
Adventures of Sir Richard Whittington and his Cat
Riddler’s RiddleBook, by Peter Puzzlecap
The New House that Jack Built
Short Stories, or Treasures of Truth
Anecdotes for Good Children
Adventures of a Birmingham Halfpenny
Pretty Poems for young Folks
Dr. Watts’s Divine Songs
Dr. Watts’s Moral Songs
The Children in the Wood, in verse
Children in the Wood Restored, in prose
The Trial of an Ox for killing a Man

Also a variety of others, at ½, 1d, 2d,
3d, 4d, 6d, 1s, 1s 6d, &c. for Sale.

A quantity of entertaining 6d Pamphlets.
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<s>The Camel</s>
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[ Illustration: The Camel]
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Now each lad and each lass,
  Both sister and brother,
May have books for each class,
  For Father, or Mother.

And when, with much pleasure,
  You’ve read ’em all-o’er,
Then hasten to <sc>Rusher’s</sc>,
  He’s printing some more.

Where each daughter and son,
  And each nephew and niece;
Each good child may have one,
  For a penny a piece.
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<s>The Ox</s>
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[ Illustration: The Ox]
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<xl>THE TRIAL</xl> || <s>OF</s> || <xl>AN OX,</xl> || <l>for \
Killing a</l> || <xl>MAN;</xl>
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WITH

<i>The Examination of the Witnesses</i>,

<l>BEFORE JUDGE LION,</l>

At Quadruped Court, near Beast Park.
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BANBURY:

<i>Printed and Sold by <sc>J. G. Rusher</sc></i>,

BRIDGE-STREET.

[Illustration: Decoration]

Price One Penny.
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<s>The Lion</s>
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<xl>TRIAL</xl>

<xl>OF THE OX</xl>.
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An Ox was seized by the
Dogs, and brought to trial, for
having gored his Driver in such a
brutal manner, in Smithfield
Market, as caused his death.
His trial was held at Quadruped
Court, Beast Park, near the Pedestrian
Hotel. The <sc>Lion</sc> sat as
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Judge. The Dogs offered themselves
as witnesses, which the
Judge refused, as they were thief-takers,
and interested. Here the
council too began to ’arangue,
which the Judge would not admit
of; he told them, indeed, if
a point of law should arise, they
might speak to it, but he would
have no witness brow-beaten or
misled in that court.

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<s>The Dog</s>
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<s>The Man and The Horse</s>
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[ Illustration: The Man and The Horse]
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The Horse and Ass were then
called up; who deposed, that
they saw the Ox go to a Man
and gore him, near Smithfield,
and that his life was despaired of.

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<s>The Butcher</s>
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To this the Ox pleaded ignorance,
and said, that he had been
ill-used and deprived of his senses,
and knew not what happened in
consequence thereof; but, provided
that were not the case, he
certainly would have lost his life
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by the murdering Butcher, who
deals death and destruction to
our race, to procure subsistence
for himself and family, by the
sale of our carcases. So now,
my Lord, I stand here, arraigned
for the accidental offence of goring
an inhuman drover, whose
only business it was to dispose of
me to the keeper of the slaughter
house.
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<s>The Bee</s>
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[ Illustration: The Bee]
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A Bee, that had been perched
on the Oxes head, offered his
evidence,——and deposed, that he
had been an eye witness of the
whole affair.

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<s>The Man and The Ox</s>
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[ Illustration: The Man and The Ox]
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<s>The Man Riding the Ox</s>
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[ Illustration: The Man Riding the Ox]
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“This poor Ox, my Lord,”
says he, “was taken from his
friends and relations in the country,
where he led a peaceful innocent
life, and put under the
care of a cruel and inhuman
drover, who pricked him all the
way to London, with a nail at
the end of a pole; and when he
was lame, and unable to walk so
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fast as the savage driver designed,
he beat him about the legs, with
a stick, with a great knob at the
end of it, which still made him
more lame.
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When he came to
Smithfield, he stood, with his
head tied on the rails, from 4
o’clock on Monday morning, till
8 on Monday night, which was
sixteen hours, when the anguish
he was in affected his head so
much, that he lost his senses, and
committed the act for which he
stands indicted. Who is to blame,
my Lord?
It is true, the Man lost
his life, but the innocent Ox is
not to suffer for it: because from
ill treatment the Ox had lost his
senses, and therefore could not
be accountable for his actions.
Those are to blame, my Lord,
who encourage drivers in such
acts of inhumanity; and suffer
a market for wild and mad beasts,
to be held in the middle of a
large and opulent city: do you
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think the queen of my hive would
suffer us to bring home what we
make boot upon? No, in order to
prevent mischief and confusion,
we prepare our meat before we
are let into the city, and so would
these people, had they half the
sense they pretend to have!”

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<s>The Bear</s>
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Then the Judge interrogated
several other witnesses, who corroborated
the fact of the former,
and the Bear, as counsel, cross-examined
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them, in a mild and
friendly manner, so as not to
confuse their evidence.

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<s>The Tiger</s>
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Then the Tiger arose, and
having commanded silence, spoke
as follows:
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“<i>Gentlemen of the Jury</i>,

You hear what a distinct and
clear evidence the Bee has given,
in behalf of the prisoner, and you
seem sensible of the truth of it.
’Tis amazing that mankind should
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complain of cruelty in animals,
when their own minds are productive
of such scenes of inhumanity:
Are not the Ox and other
creatures murdered for their emolument?
Are not we hunted to
death for their amusement, as
well as the Stag and the Hare?
Are not the Bees burnt, and their
houses plundered for their use?
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What have you Mr. Horse, for
carrying the boobies on your
back, but stripes and ill treatment?
And what have you, Mr.
Ass, who are their nurse and doctor,
but lashes and ill language?
Man, the two legged Tiger man,
is the most ungrateful of beasts.”

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<s>The Deer</s>
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Then the Judge recapitulated
the evidence, which appeared too
clear to admit of a doubt, that
the poor Ox was pricked and
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beaten in a most inhuman manner,
by the drover, and that being
driven to desperation by the cruel
treatment, he turned suddenly
round, and gored the hardhearted
drover. Upon which,
the Jury returned a <i>Verdict of
Manslaughter</i>, and the Judge
<i>Fined him a Blade of Grass</i>,
ordered him to be <i>Imprisoned
an Hour</i>, and then <i>Discharged
him</i>, amid general acclamations.

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Upon which, the Cock clapped
his wings, and crowed applause
to the verdict; and the spectators
departed, perfectly satisfied with
the sentence.
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THE END.
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THE FOLLOWING BOOKS,

and many others,

<i>Are Printed and Sold by</i>

J. G. RUSHER, BANBURY.
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.hr 20%
.in 3
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<sc>English Primer</sc>, or Child’s First Book,
containing large and small Alphabets,
easy Lessons, Tables of Spelling, &c.
adorned with cuts, &c.      <i>Price</i> 6d
.ti -2
The Filial Remembrancer, or Collection
of the admired Poems, “My Father,
Mother, Brother, My Sister, &c.”      4d
.ti -2
Rusher’s Reading made most Easy      6d
.ti -2
History of Belisa, Orsames, and Julia,
with Frontispiece      6d
.ti -2
History of Rustan and Mirza, &c. and
Anna, with Frontispiece      6d
.ti -2
Wit and Humour, or Collection of Jests,
Witty Sayings, &c. Frontispiece      6d
.ti -2
History and Misfortunes of Fatyma, and
of Olympia, with Inkle and Yarice,
in Verse, with Frontispiece      6d
.ti -2
The Gleaner, or new Selection of Songs,
small size, with many Engravings      6d
.ti -2
Arithmetical Tables, Spelling Books, &c.
.ti -2
Many kinds of Children’s Battledores.
.ti -2
School Books, Children’s Books, &c. of
many kinds, instructive and amusing.
.in 0
// 019.png
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<s>The Dog</s>
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This Dog led the Ox to his trial,
  For killing the man at the fair;
From duty he took no denial,
  And bade him of mischief beware.
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.ul
.it Transcriber’s Notes:
.ul indent=1
.it Missing or obscured punctuation and words were corrected.
.it Some typographical errors were silently corrected.
.it Corrected “arrangue” to “’arangue” as an “h” was dropped.
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