referent

[Victor Steinbok]

A nicely convoluted sentence from an 1834 paper in EAN

Headline: Drink and Crime; Article Type: News/Opinion
Paper: Norwich Courier; Date: 10-09-1833; Volume: XII; Issue: 29; Page:
[2]; Location: Norwich, Connecticut
> One was complained of by his own mother, who had been outrageously
> beaten by her own son, /while intoxicated/, and she was compelled, for
> the security of her person, to apply for the protection of the law
> against him.
[emphasis added]

The context (drink and crime) makes it clear that it was the son who was
intoxicated. But a quick read, without the help of the rest of the
article, suggests that it was the mother. Nice to know that things have
not changed much in the last 177 years.

     VS-)

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