"But you must!" screamed the host.
"I won't!"
"You must!"
At length a petty magistrate took Foote before the mayor, who observed that it had been customary in that town for a great number of years always to "except the mayor," and accordingly fined him a shilling for not conforming to ancient custom. Upon this decision, Foote paid the shilling, at the same time observing that he thought the landlord the greatest fool in Christendom—except the mayor.
To follow foolish precedents, and wink
With both our eyes, is easier than to think.
—Cowper.
Custom does often reason overrule,