The Mildew Respects Not The Lordly Robe, And
The Worm Riots Unchecked On The Cheek Of Beauty.
There was nothing in the architecture of the building, or the form
of the furniture, to detain me from the avenue where the aged pines
stretched along majestically.
Time had given a greyish cast to
their ever-green foliage; and they stood, like sires of the forest,
sheltered on all sides by a rising progeny. I had not ever seen so
many oaks together in Norway as in these woods, nor such large
aspens as here were agitated by the breeze, rendering the wind
audible - nay musical; for melody seemed on the wing around me. How
different was the fresh odour that reanimated me in the avenue, from
the damp chillness of the apartments; and as little did the gloomy
thoughtfulness excited by the dusty hangings, and worm-eaten
pictures, resemble the reveries inspired by the soothing melancholy
of their shade. In the winter, these august pines, towering above
the snow, must relieve the eye beyond measure and give life to the
white waste.
The continual recurrence of pine and fir groves in the day sometimes
wearies the sight, but in the evening, nothing can be more
picturesque, or, more properly speaking, better calculated to
produce poetical images. Passing through them, I have been struck
with a mystic kind of reverence, and I did, as it were, homage to
their venerable shadows. Not nymphs, but philosophers, seemed to
inhabit them - ever musing; I could scarcely conceive that they were
without some consciousness of existence - without a calm enjoyment of
the pleasure they diffused.
How often do my feelings produce ideas that remind me of the origin
of many poetical fictions. In solitude, the imagination bodies
forth its conceptions unrestrained, and stops enraptured to adore
the beings of its own creation. These are moments of bliss; and the
memory recalls them with delight.
But I have almost forgotten the matters of fact I meant to relate,
respecting the counts. They have the presentation of the livings on
their estates, appoint the judges, and different civil officers, the
Crown reserving to itself the privilege of sanctioning them. But
though they appoint, they cannot dismiss. Their tenants also occupy
their farms for life, and are obliged to obey any summons to work on
the part he reserves for himself; but they are paid for their
labour. In short, I have seldom heard of any noblemen so innoxious.
Observing that the gardens round the count's estate were better
cultivated than any I had before seen, I was led to reflect on the
advantages which naturally accrue from the feudal tenures. The
tenants of the count are obliged to work at a stated price, in his
grounds and garden; and the instruction which they imperceptibly
receive from the head gardener tends to render them useful, and
makes them, in the common course of things, better husbandmen and
gardeners on their own little farms. Thus the great, who alone
travel in this period of society, for the observation of manners and
customs made by sailors is very confined, bring home improvement to
promote their own comfort, which is gradually spread abroad amongst
the people, till they are stimulated to think for themselves.
The bishops have not large revenues, and the priests are appointed
by the king before they come to them to be ordained. There is
commonly some little farm annexed to the parsonage, and the
inhabitants subscribe voluntarily, three times a year, in addition
to the church fees, for the support of the clergyman. The church
lands were seized when Lutheranism was introduced, the desire of
obtaining them being probably the real stimulus of reformation. The
tithes, which are never required in kind, are divided into three
parts - one to the king, another to the incumbent, and the third to
repair the dilapidations of the parsonage. They do not amount to
much. And the stipend allowed to the different civil officers is
also too small, scarcely deserving to be termed an independence;
that of the custom-house officers is not sufficient to procure the
necessaries of life - no wonder, then, if necessity leads them to
knavery. Much public virtue cannot be expected till every
employment, putting perquisites out of the question, has a salary
sufficient to reward industry; - whilst none are so great as to
permit the possessor to remain idle. It is this want of proportion
between profit and labour which debases men, producing the
sycophantic appellations of patron and client, and that pernicious
esprit du corps, proverbially vicious.
The farmers are hospitable as well as independent. Offering once to
pay for some coffee I drank when taking shelter from the rain, I was
asked, rather angrily, if a little coffee was worth paying for.
They smoke, and drink drams, but not so much as formerly.
Drunkenness, often the attendant disgrace of hospitality, will here,
as well as everywhere else, give place to gallantry and refinement
of manners; but the change will not be suddenly produced.
The people of every class are constant in their attendance at
church; they are very fond of dancing, and the Sunday evenings in
Norway, as in Catholic countries, are spent in exercises which
exhilarate the spirits without vitiating the heart. The rest of
labour ought to be gay; and the gladness I have felt in France on a
Sunday, or Decadi, which I caught from the faces around me, was a
sentiment more truly religious than all the stupid stillness which
the streets of London ever inspired where the Sabbath is so
decorously observed. I recollect, in the country parts of England,
the churchwardens used to go out during the service to see if they
could catch any luckless wight playing at bowls or skittles; yet
what could be more harmless? It would even, I think, be a great
advantage to the English, if feats of activity (I do not include
boxing matches) were encouraged on a Sunday, as it might stop the
progress of Methodism, and of that fanatical spirit which appears to
be gaining ground.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 23 of 50
Words from 22272 to 23287
of 50703
