120 ERECT ATTITUDE 



but on his father's second marriage, was driven out again by 

 his stepmother. 



Dr. Arbuthnot soon found out that no brilliant disco- 

 veries in psychology or anthropology could be expected 

 from the case of this poor idiot : he was therefore placed 

 with a farmer in Hertfordshire, where he continued to live, 

 or rather vegetate, till 1785. 



Peter was of middle size, somewhat robust in appearance, 

 and strong, and had a respectable beard. He took the ordi- 

 nary mixed diet, retaining his early fondness for onions. He 

 liked warmth ; and relished a glass of brandy. He always 

 shewed the most perfect indifference to the other sex. 

 He could not be taught to speak : the plainest of the few 

 articulate sounds he could utter were Peter, hi sho, and qui 

 ca ; the two latter being attempts at pronouncing King 

 George and Queen Caroline. He had a taste for music, and 

 would hum over various airs that he often heard : when an 

 instrumental performance took place, he would jump about 

 with great delight till he was quite tired. He was deficient 

 in one important privilege of our nature ; having never 

 been seen to laugh. 



He was a harmless and obedient creature, and could be 

 employed in little domestic offices, or in the fields, but not 

 without superintendence. Having been left to himself to 

 throw up a load of dung into a cart, as soon as he had exe- 

 cuted the task, he jumped up, and set to work as diligently 

 to throw it all out again. Having, on one occasion, wan- 

 dered away from home as far as Norfolk, at the time when 

 great alarms existed about the Pretender and his emissaries, 

 he was brought before a justice of peace as a suspicious cha- 

 racter ; and making no answer to any interrogatories, was 

 deemed contumacious, and sent to prison. A fire broke 

 out in the night ; when he was found sitting quietly in a 

 corner enjoying the light and warmth very much, and not at 

 all willing to move. 



Such was this famous representative of unsophisticated 

 human nature ! 



Although Peter was little capable of filling that high si- 



