ed, the bailiff seemed satisfied
with himself and his arrangements, for the moment.

The reader must imagine the stir in the throng the importance of the minor
agents appointed to marshal the procession, and the mixture of weariness
and curiosity that possessed the spectators, while the several parts of so
complicated and numerous a train were getting arranged, each in its
prescribed order and station. But, as the ceremonies which followed were
of a peculiar character, and have an intimate connexion with the events of
the tale, we shall describe them with a little detail, although the task
we have allotted to ourselves is less that of sketching pictures of local
usages, and of setting before the reader's imagination scenes of real or
fancied antiquarian accuracy, than the exposition of a principle, and the
wholesome moral which we have always flattered ourselves might, in a
greater or less degree, follow from our labors.

A short time previously to the commencement of the ceremonies, a guard of
honor, composed of shepherds, gardeners, mowers, reapers, vine-dressers,
escorted by halberdiers and headed by music, had left the square in quest
of the abbe, as the regular and permanent presiding officer of the abbaye,
or company, is termed. This escort, all the individuals of which were
dressed in character, was not long in making its appearance with the
officer in question, a warm, substantial citizen and proprietor of the
place, who, otherwise attired in the ordinary costume of his class in that
age, had decorated his beaver with a waving plume, and, in addition to a
staff or baton, wore a flowing scarf pendent from his shoulder. This
personage, on whom certain judicial functions had devolved, took a
convenient position in the front of the stage, and soon made a sign for
the officials to proceed with their duties.

Twelve vine-dressers led by a chief, each having his person more or less
ornamented with garlands of vine-leaves, and bearing other emblems of his
calling, marched in a body, chanting a song of the fields. They escorted
two of their number who had been pronounced the most skilful and
successful in cultivating the vineyards of the adjacent cotes. When they
reached the front of the estrade, the abbe pronounced a short discourse
in honor of the cultivators of the earth in general, after which he
digressed into especial eulogiums on the successful candidates, two
pleased, abashed, and unpractised peasants, who recei