Eating a Writ 1780s-Style

"In September 1784 a deputy sheriff tried to hand Hezekiah Maham of South Carolina a writ ordering him to appear in court to answer his creditor's charges. Maham did not simply refuse the writ: he made the deputy eat it, graciously supplying him a beverage to wash it down." --Woody Holton in UNRULY  AMERICANS AND THE ORIGINS OF THE CONSTITUTION