51 



"applying to the interpreter, lie gave ine the suhstanee as 

 " follows. After returning his hearty thanks to the god of 

 •'wine and of good eating, to the swarthy deities of the 

 " kitchen, hut particularly King Paunch, who had enahled 

 " him that day to he elected the Grand Duke ; he turned 

 " round to the people, and in the hlandest accents, made 

 " oath that he would defend their liberties, forward their 

 " business, follow up their wishes and pursuits, minister to 

 " their gourmandise, increase their corpulency ; in a word, 

 "keep the good folks in their present comfortahle state, and 

 " do every thing they desired him to do. He then declared 

 " himself the most determined enemy to fasting, ahstinence, 

 " short- allowance, sore-throat, and leanness, and took his 

 " solemn oath, that during his administration, no one should 

 " fast with impunity, nor any dehauchee go unrequited. 

 " And now," said he, ' hy the holy greedy gut, be as merry 

 •' and jolly as you can. ' May the successive potations 

 " from this goblet be auspicious (drinking off the contents 

 " of the vessel, and applying his thumb to the inverted 

 "brim), and may I always find you comfortably fuddled 

 " and well crammed.' Then the people exclaimed — " Long 

 "live the august Governor of Crapulia — Cagastrius — (for 

 " that was his name), long may he live, and reign, and 

 "increase in size! Forthwith the insignia of the realm 

 " were delivered to him — an ostrich devouring a piece of 

 " iron, with this motto — Digest and Govern ; and in place 

 " of fasces, sword, and sceptre, the High Steward put into 

 " his hands a carving knife and a little golden cask, saying 

 "to him in a solemn voice — ' Use and Enjoy.' I gladly 

 " omit to dwell upon the heaps of dainties, the mountains 

 " of meat, the torrents of wine which I saw that night ; but 

 " one thing I cannot pass over, namely, that the streets 

 " were all strewed with living carcases of drunken men, just 

 " like the field of battle after a tremendous carnage." 



Our author enters by night into the other province of 



