rn conviction, that a peasant in the 'Lech Thai' was a more
noble and independent man than the greatest general that ever marched to
victory.

'We have been some centuries there,' said he, 'and none of our name has
incurred a shadow of disgrace. Why should not Karl have lived like his
ancestors?'

It was useless to appeal to the glory his son had gained--the noble
reputation he had left behind him. The peasant saw in the soldier but
one who hired out his courage and his blood, and deemed the calling a
low and unworthy one. I suppose I was not the first who, in the effort
to convince another, found himself shaken in his own convictions; for I
own before I lay down that night many of the old man's arguments assumed
a force and power that I could not resist, and held possession of my
mind even after I fell asleep. In my dreams I was once more beside the
American lake, and that little colony of simple people, where I had seen
all that was best of my life, and learned the few lessons I had ever
received of charity and good-nature.

From what the peasant said, the primitive habits of the Lech Thai must
be almost alike those of that little colony, and I willingly assented to
his offer to accompany him in his journey homeward. He seemed to feel a
kind of satisfaction in turning my thoughts away from a career that he
held so cheaply, and talked enthusiastically of the tranquil life of the
Bregenzerwald.

We left Paris the following morning, and, partly by diligence, partly on
foot, reached Strasbourg in a few days; thence we proceeded by Kehl to
Freyburg, and, crossing the Lake of Constance at Rorschach, we entered
the Bregenzerwald on the twelfth morning of our journey. I suppose that
most men preserve fresher memory of the stirring and turbulent scenes of
their lives than of the more peaceful and tranquil ones, and I shall
not be deemed singular when I say that some years passed over me in
this quiet spot, and seemed as but a few weeks. The old peasant was the
_Vorsteher_, or ruler of the village, by whom all disputes were settled,
and all litigation of a humble kind decided--a species of voluntary
jurisdiction maintained to this very day in that primitive region. My
occupation there was as a species of secretary to the court, an office
quite new to the villagers, but which served to impress them more
reverentially than ever in favour of this rude justice. My legal duties
over, I became a vine-dresser, a wood-cutter, or a