h course were
a hundred and fifty dishes, then came the fruits in silver dishes, and
on real dwarf trees by which the whole table was covered; amidst all
this, fine frankincense was burnt, which produced a very agreeable
odour. Afterwards the upper leaves of the table were taken away by
pieces, then the table was covered again with napkins, and plates
strewed over wish flowers made of sugar, and now came the
confectionery: among these there were gigantic marchpanes on two silver
shells, each of which weighed ten pounds. And when the health of his
Imperial Majesty of Vienna and his Kindly Majesty of Sweden was drank,
together with the prosperity of the peace which had been concluded,
fifteen large and small pieces were discharged from the citadel. When
this peace banquet had lasted far on into the night, the Field-marshals
and Generals present, wished on parting to play once more at being
soldiers. They caused arms to be brought into the hall, chose the two
ambassadors as captains; his Illustrious and Serene Highness Herr
Carl Gustav, Count Palatine on the Rhine, afterwards King of Sweden,
and his Excellency General Piccolomini; but for a corporal they
chose Field-Marshal Wrangel; and all the Generals, colonels, and
lieutenant-colonels were made musketeers. Thus these gentlemen marched
round the table, fired a salvo, went in good order to the citadel, and
there fired off the pieces many times. On their return they were
playfully discharged by Colonel Kraft and dismissed the service, as now
there was to be peace for ever. Two oxen were slaughtered for the poor,
and there was a great distribution of bread, also for six hours red and
white wine flowed from a lion's jaw. For thirty years had tears and
blood flowed from a greater lion's jaw.

Like the honourable ambassadors, the people prepared a festive
celebration in every town, nay in every half-destroyed village. How
great was the effect of the intelligence of peace on the German nation
may be learned from some affecting details. To the old country people
the peace appeared as a return of their youth; they looked back to the
rich harvests of their childhood, thickly populated villages, the merry
Sundays under the hewed-down village lindens, and the happy hours which
they had passed with their ruined and deceased relations and
companions. They saw themselves happier, more manly, and better
than they had been during thirty years of misery and degradation.
But the youth of