morning in November, he hung out a green fir bough at his house door, over which he placed a board, bearing on its black ground, in large white characters, the information, that Here good brandy is sold by John Peter Bisser.' He then sate himself down by the window, and called out to all the passers by, Here Jack, Peter, Jacob, or whatever your names may be, only give me a trial. I must bring a new life to the slow behindhand folk here, that they may indeed learn to live and enjoy the world like other jovial people.' Talk like this pleased some, and they entered. This was on the Saturday. On Sunday morning some beautiful loaves were arranged on a new board outside the window, the hot steaming smell of which attracted the attention of all who passed. How nice, thought some, these rolls would be at the noonday meal; others considered how they could toast them in the evening, and eat them with their eggs; and a few thought, how good they would be to dip in their coffee. So they went in and tried. 'How delicious they are,' said they; and, after all, not dear!'

The news spread, and on the Sunday evening, a group of lads said one to the other, Let us go to the new baker's, and buy something.' The baker was very civil; he seated them all at a table, and then came the question, 'Don't you feel to want a little glass of brandy now?' They could scarcely refuse, they thought, but what would the cost be?' 'Only a trifle, but sixpence, flavoured with aniseed too, and sweet as sugar. Indeed, it was uncommonly good.' So they yielded, and from one glass they proceeded to two; and now, how they chattered! 'Oh, the baker was a capital fellow. What a tale he could tell, too! It would make one almost die with laughter.' Thus the evening passed awayyes, the Sunday evening-and when the watchmen cried ten o'clock,' they went home, declaring they had never enjoyed an evening so much in their lives. On the Monday night, as they sate together in the spinning-room, they could not sufficiently extol the good liquor and bread that the baker sold.

Your account is very tempting,' said the women,' but we have only your report. Be so obliging as to fetch us a little to taste, that we may judge for ourselves. It was now quite a point of honour with the men; so running off together they soon brought in a pint of the sweet liquor, of which young and old willingly partook.

But, alas! in the following week the absence of more than one of the regular attendants might be observed in the spinning-room. And when they resumed attendance, and the question was asked, 'Where have you been?' the answer was usually, 'Oh, to the baker's, for one can knit there as well as here you know. Besides, there is always such good company, and a cheerful glass into the bargain.'

On Sunday evenings, the baker's room was always quite crowded, and what with mixing the sweet aniseed and spirits, and supplying his customers with fresh loaves, he had his hands more than full. So little it cost,' the customers would reason. A glass of brandy for sixpence, and only threepence for a roll! What was that for men who had worked hard and lived sparingly all the week?'

There were old people, indeed, who shook their heads thoughtfully,

and said, 'This baker may be no blessing to our village after all, for some men only want opportunity to become thieves.' 'Old grumblers,' thought the rest, who are so accustomed to go on in one beaten track, that if one do but attempt to draw the waggon out of the ruts, there is nothing more certain in their eyes than that it will be upset. But that does not follow either. Old people will have their whims, which one must leave them to enjoy, but whether we are to be ruled by them is another question; and certainly in our times young men become much sooner acquainted with the world than in their early days. The proverb, that "experience goes before knowledge," is obsolete. We won't trouble our heads about that.' So thought those clever peasants, and forthwith they went to the baker's and drank the sweet liquor which was so cheap and so good.

From that time they frequented the house every weekday, but as often happens, they wanted fresh excitement; they sometimes talked themselves quite out, and the baker even was no assistance to them. Indeed, the company was so quiet on those occasions, that you could only hear the clink of empty glasses upon the table as you passed, and the words, Just another!' So it behoved the baker to adopt some new means for the continued entertainment of his guests, and he seemed to understand very well how to go to work. One evening, therefore, laying a pack of cards on the table, he said, 'Come, let me teach you how to while away the time at my house.' Accordingly they sat down and played one game after another. Whoever lost had to pay a glass of spirits and a loaf; or, if he were a person of substance, half-a-pint of spirits and four loaves. All the winnings, even if they played till ten o'clock, were devoted to the eating and drinking of the company.

Capital!' would the new comers say. And then they would place themselves around to watch the game that was going on. But there was nothing very amusing in all this after all. There could be no conversation, and they might not even listen to the baker's old tales which, it must be confessed, had by this time become wonderfully tedious. So they most of them joined in the play. This plan succeeded on the whole so well, that in the following week, bread and liquor were gambled for on every working evening. 'Winter would

still last some time,' they said, and there would be plenty of leisure for the knitting and weaving. One must rest and be joyful once in a while.' This went on for a short time, but these amusements, without change, became wearisome, and now one glass of spirits and four rolls was not enough for four people, so they went on to half, and from half to a whole pint.

By and by, it was no uncommon occurrence for the peasants, young and old, to be obliged to obtain assistance to their homes, for the liquor having mounted into their heads, they could not walk steadily. Then the poor wives got abused, and came in for angry words, and even blows. Old men scolded, sons went angrily to their chamber, and came down the next day with evil, sullen thoughts in their hearts. Labour was no longer a pleasure, but a burden, and ere long this playing for a glass of spirits and a roll was not sufficient excitement; people

might still do that if they pleased, but the greater part began to play for money. If a man won and were merry, he must drink once and again; and if his gain made his opponent angry, then he, too, must drink, for disappointment, as such persons say, needs the stimulating draught. When the baker saw one of his customers losing his money, he would call him into a back room, and say, 'My fine fellow, you must play away; the tables will turn. You will soon win back all you have lost.' But,' said the poor loser, I have no more money to venture with.' 'What of that!' the baker would reply, taking his hand; what of that, simpleton! As long as I have money, so hast thou. I will lend thee all thou likest. Thou canst pay me in some fortunate time, and no man need interfere with that.'

'Well, lend me a dollar then,' said the dupe, and their play would begin afresh.

If he won, the baker got his money back; if he lost, he e'en lent him another dollar. Before Easter came round, the baker was rarely alone. His house was not only crowded in the evening, but early in the morning many a man would drop in for a small glass. Others spent the whole noon-hour there, and a house, alas, was scarcely to be found, where hatred and discontent did not dwell, where strife, and even fighting, did not at times prevail.

The evil was wide-spreading, for the temptation seemed irresistible. The work-room was deserted. Only maidens and wives, and a few aged men, sate there; and instead of cheerful conversation and the reading of good books, nothing was heard in the Spinnstübe but story after story of household quarrelling and misery. One man would tell how a son robbed his father of fruit from his stores, which he sold to the baker at a reduced price, in order to enable him to go on drinking and gambling; and others would add much more of the same kind. Many a young wife shed quiet tears at these narrations; some sighed, and one or two of the more impetuous would rush, with haste and indignation, to the baker's house, and load him with the bitterest reproaches for their loss of domestic peace and prosperity. In short, the blessing was departed from the village, and joy from almost every home and heart.

Had it been summer, one might have seen the grass grow on the pathway leading to church, for how was it possible for a man to rise at half-past eight on Sunday mornings, when he had not left the baker's till past one o'clock ? The time, you must know, was gone by when the people prepared to go home at ten. And then it was so dreadfully cold, they said-the snow was not melted, and such headaches as they had. In short, it could not be expected that they should cross the mountain so early, to go to church. When children asked innocently, Mother, how is it that father no longer prays with us in the evening?' the poor mother would answer, with deep sighs, 'He is not yet returned home, my dears.' And when they said, Why not, then, of a morning?' she would answer bitterly, I will pray with you, my children.' And so indeed she did, whilst the idle husband was sleeping off the drunkenness of the preceding day. Or if they

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asked, 'How is it that our father is not so kind to us as he used to be?' she would hide the grief of her aching heart, and say to the poor children, with affected carelessness, 'Oh, you are mistaken.'

And now the housewife found that money failed for salt, oil, coffee, and many a little domestic comfort and luxury to which she had been accustomed. When the tax-gatherer came there was no payment ready, and then the thought would cross many a mind that the baker's money, which secmed as plentiful as water, and which he so freely lent for gambling purposes, was never forthcoming for such matters as these in time of need. All this while no one was so well off as this baker; he was, to all appearances, a rich man, but the whole hamlet was undoubtedly poor.

Before Easter he was obliged to buy a new ledger, the old one being full, and little did the poor wives think how deeply many of their husbands were in his debt. But when spring came, bringing its increased employment, and his trade somewhat slackened, he found it necessary to make some efforts for the amusement of the village.

In

He had a garden which adjoined his house, extending a considerable way behind his barn. Now, a tavern without a skittle-ground he had always felt to be a very trumpery affair, and a village without dancing and music, every fortnight or month at least, was an unheard-of thing. Still more miserable was one without its annual wake or festival. the approaching winter, indeed, it would be quite requisite, and he would contrive it. He, therefore, levelled the beautiful garden, removed the fruit-trees, and made a fine long skittle-ground, which he laid down with tiles, that it might be kept dry and neat. He built a summer-house, where tables and benches could stand, and it was so hidden with shrubs that it was impossible for passers-by in the road to see those who sat therein. On Sunday afternoon the skittle-ground was sure to be full until nightfall. Playing made the guests warm, so that here was another occasion for drinking. In the week, indeed, the ground was usually empty; but if a couple of days passed, and there was no out-of-door work in the fields, there was no better employment than a game at skittles.

Then, for the young people, the first two days in Easter and Whitsuntide were devoted to music and dancing. This reconciled the maidens entirely to the baker. They thought that since he had come into the village, their life had certainly been merrier and more diversified; so after this it became an established custom to hold them every three weeks, which event was sure to bring abundance of life into the place, and thus every day the village became more lively. For the autumn amusement there was to be the wake. All neighbouring villages had their church feasts, and should this hamlet be

The Kirch-weih,' or wake, amongst the Germans, was formerly a religious ceremony, in celebration of the opening of a village church; but, as in many other things, the origin of which was good, its religious character is now lost sight of, and the villagers meet together only for feasting and dissipation, and these wakes are productive of great evil.

behind others? So, a consecration tree was erected, and three days of rejoicing, dancing, and feasting, followed.

By this time old people and women were tired of anger and reproaches. They were unable to stem the torrent, and, therefore, many of them went with it in silence.

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Harvest was over, and the baker found it expedient to call on this and the other family for payment. My friend,' he would say, will have a settlement if you please. The time is up; I cannot lose the interest of my money, and you know I must live and pay my way as well as you.' Well, when the reckoning came, they found, with terror, a long account, such as this-a loaf one day, another loaf the next, then, the loan of a dollar, then a quarter, a half, and a whole pint of spirits, amounting in the end to a large sum..

'Come,' said the baker, in reply to their grave looks, bring me fruit, give me labour, or if not, at least, a promissory note.' So they were obliged to sell him fruit, not at the market price, indeed; the baker was not quite so simple as that, for then he would have demanded ready money, and bought for himself in the market; he bought it at a rate far below its value. Another debtor would labour three, four, and eight days together, for his creditor, and sad was the loss of regular work which this caused. A third would give him a note of hand for the amount of his debt, at six per cent. interest, and thus they settled accounts. One would think that by this time they would have learned wisdom, and proved the truth of the proverb, that a burnt child dreads the fire; but no, a downward course is swift, and they were now arrested.

Ah! how much easier is it to form a bad and sinful habit than to lay it aside. Gambling is one of the most dangerous forms of dissipation, and has so much the greater power over the human heart, that the hope of gain always stifles all prudential or careful thought, and too often all principles of justice or honour. Yet a gambler is sooner cured than a drunkard. The temptations of the palate are always the most enticing. Drink makes man so thoroughly its slave, that in process of time all volition scems lost, and for the indulgence of his unhallowed desires, he will lie, deceive, cheat, and even rob. Honour is abandoned, self-respect destroyed, the dignity of human nature sacrificed, ungodliness established, and man is reduced almost to the level of the beasts of the field. Careless alike of his duty to God and man, the wretched drunkard sinks, step by step, until his degradation and ruin are complete. It is the same with all kinds of dissipation. Once give vice the rein, and misery is inevitable. In many a household in the unhappy village matters stood thus.

The training of children was wretched. Instead of well-ordered families, they were become reckless, undisciplined, and wild. The mothers were deeply sunk in slovenliness and indifference; for they were not free from the curse of drunkenness. They, in their turn,

The Kirmesbaum,' or Consecration Tree, from Kirch-mess Baum, is a tree erected on the occasion of opening a new church.