ter.

After having, by his own account, made his will, and provided a fortune for my eldest daughter, he rides away slowly and pensively, so that the first time I certainly believed he was gone for good and all. His journey, however, is only four German miles, viz. into the residenz, from whence he never fails to return on the third or fourth day, bringing with him two new coffee-brown coats, six new shirts, three wigs, all of the same frightful and staring red, a new grey hat, and other requisites for his wardrobe; finally, to my eldest daughter, though she is now eighteen, a paper of sugar-plums. He then thinks no more of residing in the capital, nor of his homeward journey. His afternoon expenses are paid every night, and his money for breakfast is thrown angrily at my head every morning. At other times, however, he is the best-tempered man in the world. He gives presents every holiday to all of my children, and in the village has done much real good among the poor; only he cannot bear the priest, because he learned from the schoolmaster that the former had changed a gold piece that Mr Ewson had put into the box, and given it out in copper pennies. Since that time, he avoids him on all OCcasions, and never goes to church, and the priest calls him an atheist.

'As before said, however, I have often trouble enough with his temper. On coming home, just yesterday, I heard a great noise in the house, and a voice in furious wrath, which I knew to be Ewson's. Accordingly I found him in vehement altercation with the housemaid. He had, as usual with him, thrown away his wig, and was standing bald-pated in his shirt-sleeves before her, and holding a great book under her nose, wherein he obstinately pointed at something with his finger. The maid stuck her hands in her sides, told him he might get somebody else to play his tricks upon, that he was a bad wicked man, who believed in nothing, &c. &c. With considerable difficulty I succeeded in parting the disputants, and bringing the matter under arbitration. Mr Ewson had desired the maid to bring him a wafer to seal a letter. The girl never having written or sealed a letter in her life, at first did not in the least understand him. At last it occurred to her that the wafers he spoke of were those used at mass, and thought Mr Ewson wanted to mock at religion, because the priest had said he was an atheist. She therefore refused to obey him. Hereupon he had recourse to the dictionary, and at last got into such a rage,

that he spoke nothing but English, which she imagined was gibberish of the devil's own inspiration. Only my coming in prevented a personal encounter, in which, probably, Mr Ewson would have come off with the worst.'

6

I here interrupted mine host with the question, " Whether it was Mr Ewson also who tormented me so much in the night with his flute-playing'? Alas! Sir,' said he, that is another of his eccentricities, by which he frightens away all my night-lodgers. Three years ago one of my sons came on a visit here from the residenz. He plays well on the flute, and practises a good deal. Then, by evil chance, it occurred to Mr Ewson that he had also in former days learned to blow the flute, and never gave over till he prevailed on my son to sell him his instrument for a good round sum, and also a difficult concerto which he had brought with him from town. Hereafter Mr Ewson, who has not the slightest pretensions to a musical ear, began with furious zeal to blow at this concerto. He came, however, only to the second solo of the first allegro. There he met with a passage which he could by no possible means bring out, and this one passage he has now blown at through these three years, about a hundred times per day, till at last, in the utmost rage, he throws his flute and wig together against the wall.

As few instruments can long hold out against such treatment, he therefore frequently gets a new one, and has indeed three or four in use at the same time. If any of them exhibit the smallest flaw in one of the keys or joinings, then with a 'God damu me, it is only in England that musical instruments can be made!' he throws it out of the window. What is worst of all, however, is that this passion for blowing the flute of his, seizes him in the night, and he then never fails to diddle all my guests out of their first sleep.

Could you believe it, however, that there is in our town another foreigner, an Englishman, by name Doctor Green, who has been in the house of the Amtmann about as long as Mr Ewson has lived with me, and that the one is just as absurd an original as the other? These two are constantly quarrelling, and yet without each other could not live. has just now occurred to me, that Mr Ewson has for this evening ordered a bowl of punch at my house, to which he has invited Dr Green. If, Sir, you choose to stay here till

It

to-morrow, you will see the most absurd trio that this world could afford.'

I was very willing on this account to delay my journey; as I had thereby an opportunity of seeing Mr Ewson in his glory. As soon as the morning drew on, he came into my room, and was so good as to invite me to his bowl of punch, although he regretted that he could only give me that contemptible drink which, in this country, bore the honoured name of a far different liquor. It was only in England where good punch could be drunk, and if ever I came to see him in his own country, he would convince me that he knew how to prepare, in its best fashion, that divine panacea.

Not long afterwards, the two other guests whom he had invited, made their appearance. The Amtmann was, like Ewson, a little figure, but round as a ball, happy and contented, with a red snub nose, and large sparkling eyes. Dr Green, on the contrary, was a tall, powerful, and middleaged man, with a countenance strikingly national, carelessly, yet fashionably dressed, spectacles on his nose, and a round white hat on his head.

'Give me sack that mine eyes may be red,' cried this hero, (marching up to the innkeeper, whom he seized by the breast, shaking him heartily.) Speak, thou rascally Cambyses, where are the princesses? There is here a base odour of coffee and Bremen cigars, but no fumigation yet floats on the air from the ambrosial drink of the gods.' 'Have mercy, O champion! Away with thy hands-relax thy potent grasp," answered the host, coughing, otherwise, in thine ire, thou might'st crush my ribs like an egg-shell.'' Not till thy duties are fulfilled,' replied Dr Green; 'not before the sweet vapour of punch, ambrosial punch, delights our nostrils. Why are thy functions thus delayed? Not till then shall I let thee go, thou most unrighteous host!'

Now, however, Ewson darted out ferociously against the Doctor, crying, 'Green, thou brute, thou rascal!-Green shalt thou be beneath the eyes, nay, thou shalt be green and yellow with grief, if thou dost not immediately desist from thy shameful deeds.'

• In

Accordingly, I expected a violent quarrel, and prepared myself for departure; but I was for once mistaken. contempt, then, of his cowardly impotence, I shall desist,' said the Doctor,' and wait patiently for the divine drink which thou, Ewson, shalt prepare for us.' With these words he let go the innkeeper, (who instantly ran out of the room,)

Q

seated himself, with the demeanour of a Cato, at the table, lighted his pipe, which was ready filled, and blew out great volumes of smoke.

'Is not all this as if one were at the play?' said the goodhumoured Amtmann, addressing himself to me, The Doctor, who generally never reads a German book, borrowed from us a volume of Schlegel's Shakspeare, and since that time he has, according to his own expression, never ceased playing old well-known tunes upon a strange instrument, You must have observed, that even the innkeeper speaks in measured verse, the Doctor having drilled him for that purpose.' He was interrupted by the appearance of the landlord with his punch-bowl, ready filled with liquor, smoking hot; and although Green and Ewson both swore that it was scarcely drinkable, yet they did not fail to swallow glass after glass with the greatest expedition.

6

We kept up a tolerable conversation. Green, however, remained very silent, only now and then falling in with most comical contradictions of what other people had said. Thus, for example, the Amtmann spoke of the theatre at Berlin, and I assured him that the tragedy hero played admirably. That I cannot admit,' said Dr Green. Do you not think if the actor had performed six times better, that he might have been tolerable ? Of necessity I could not but answer in the affirmative, but was of opinion, that to play six times better would cost him a deal of unnecessary trouble, as he had already played the part of Lear (in which I had already seen him) most movingly. This,' said Green, 'quite passes the bounds of my perceptions. The man, indeed, gives us all that he has to give. Can he help it if he is by nature and destiny inclined to be stupid? However, in his own way, he has brought the art to tolerable perfection; therefore one must bear with him.'

6

The Amtmann sat between the two originals, exerting his own particular talent, which was, like that of a demon, to excite them to all sorts of folly; and thus the night wore on, till the powerful ambrosia began to operate.

With a

At last Ewson became extravagantly merry, hoarse, croaking voice, he sung divers national songs, of which I did not understand a word; but if the words were like the music, they must have been every way detestable. Moreover, he threw his periwig and coat through the window into the court, and began to dance a hornpipe, with

such unutterable grimaces, and in a style so supernaturally grotesque, that I had almost split my sides with laughing. The Doctor, meanwhile, remained obstinately solemn, but it was obvious, that the strangest visions were passing through his brain. He looked upon the punch-bowl as a bass-fiddle, and would not give over playing upon it with the spoon, to accompany Ewson's songs, though the innkeeper earnestly entreated of him to desist.

As for the Amtmann he had always become more and more quiet; at last he tottered away into a corner of the room, where he took a chair, and began to weep bitterly. I understood a signal of the innkeeper, and inquired of this dignitary the cause of his deep sorrow? 'Alas! alas!' said he, 'the prince Eugene was a great, very great general, and yet even he, that heroic prince, was under the necessity to die!' Thereupon he wept more vehemently, so that the tears ran down his cheeks. I endeavoured as well as I could to console him for the loss of this brave hero of the last century, but in vain.

Dr Green, meanwhile, had seized a great pair of snuffers, and with all his might drove and laboured with them towards the open window. He had nothing less in view than to clip the moon, which he had mistaken for a candle. Ewson, meanwhile, danced and yelled as if he were possessed by a thousand devils, till at last the underwaiter came, with a great lantern, notwithstanding the clear moonlight shone into the apartment, and cried out, Here I am, gentlemen. Now you can march.'

The Doctor arose, lighted his pipe, (which he had laid aside while the enjoyments of the punch-bowl lasted,) and now placed himself right opposite to the waiter, blowing great clouds into his face. Welcome, friend,' cried he, Art thou Peter Quince, who bearest about moonshine, and dog, and thorn-bush? 'Tis I that have trimmed your light for you, you lubber, and therefore you shine SO brightly! Good night then! Much have I quaffed of the contemptible juice here denominated ambrosial punch. Good night, mine honest host-Good night, mine Pylades !'

Ewson swore that he would instantly break the head of any one who should offer to go home, but no one heeded him. On the contrary, the waiter took the Doctor under one arm, and the Amtmann, still weeping for Prince

Q?