192 SKETCHES OF RURAL AFFAIRS. 



festivities, when the principal labours of the year are 

 brought to a close, and the " last load " has been con- 

 ducted home in triumph. Perhaps it is in some capa- 

 cious barn that the feast is to be held. Willing hands 

 have been busy during the forenoon hiding the bareness 

 of the walls, by hanging up a tapestry of carpeting and 

 evergreens, while the capacious doors have given place 

 to an arch of mingled evergreens and flowers. Long 

 narrow tables, neatly covered with white linen, and 

 furnished with benches for the accommodation of the 

 guests, occupy in a double row the whole length of the 

 barn. Thither repair, at about five or six o'clock in 

 the afternoon, the happy villagers, dressed in their Sun- 

 day clothes, and looking all contentment and smiles. 

 They have leisure to admire the pains that have been 

 taken for their accommodation, while the cooks and 

 helpers are getting ready the steaming viands, which 

 diffuse a tempting odour all around. Nor is the de- 

 coration of the barn a matter to be despised ; it gives 

 proof that the farmer's household take pleasure in the 

 feast, and seek the pleasure and enjoyment of their 

 poorer neighbours. Many cottagers are remarkable for 

 their love of flowers, and display considerable taste in 

 cultivating them near their dwellings ; and when they 

 see that their master is not only willing to feast them, 

 but to gratify their eyes and fancy, they feel that they 

 are treated not as mere animals, whose appetites alone 

 are to be consulted, but .as beings who have feelings and 

 sentiments in common with his own. And when the 

 good fare is spread before them, and the master, after 

 reverently asking a blessing, and listening to their 

 hearty responsive " Amen," has commenced, with need- 

 ful help, the arduous task of carving for his guests, 

 the villagers, old and young, look round with manifest 

 pride and pleasure, when they see the farmer's family 

 and friends taking an active part in bearing to each the 

 abundant portion, and in attending to all the wants of 

 their guests. The tokens of mutual good-will on these 



