comes noisy, and they
finish by getting very drunk, after the old German fashion. They smoke
clay pipes, and cavaliers of high breeding take snuff from silver
boxes. The chase is again the amusement of the country gentleman: he
tries to exterminate the wolves, which during the late war have become
numerous and insolent; he exhibits rifles among his hunting gear, but
no longer mounts his steed as an armed knight; his armour is rusty, his
independence is gone, war is carried on by the soldiers of the Prince,
and he appears at court only as the obsequious servant of his
illustrious lord.

He is still firm in his faith, and adheres to the rites of the Church;
but he holds in contempt the theological controversies of the clergy,
and does not object to holding intercourse with unbelievers, though he
prefers Jesuits to zealous sectarians. The pastor of his village is
poor and devout, and from living amongst lawless men, has lost much of
his priestly pride; he strives to support himself by agriculture, and
considers it an honour to dine at the squire's table, and has in return
to laugh at his patron's jokes, and retail the news of the day. When it
is a fete day at the castle he presents a pompous poem, in which he
calls on Venus, the Muses and Graces, to celebrate in Olympus the
birthday of the lady of the house. On such days there is music at the
castle, and the viola da gamba is the fashionable instrument. Once a
week the newspaper is brought to the castle, from thence it is sent to
the parsonage, then to the schoolmaster and forester: the chief reading
besides this consists of tedious novels and histories of adventures, or
anecdotes of ghostly apparitions and discoveries of treasure; sometimes
also dissertations on the phenomena of nature, the first glimmering of
a more intellectual literature. The squire interests himself in
politics; he distrusts Sweden, and abhors the regicide tendencies of
England, but admires everything French, and whosoever can give him news
of Paris is a welcome guest. He attends the Diet, but it is only for
the sake of maintaining the privileges of his order; he lounges in
antechambers, and by bribery endeavours to secure for his relations
some appointment about the court. He unwillingly allows his son to
study law, with the hope that he may, as royal counsellor, advance the
interests of his family; in short, he looks upon the court and the
government as wine vats to be tapped, so as to afford him a