THE RURAL SOCRATES. 6y 



Kliyogg entered upon his office at the fingiiig fchooi 

 by ablblutely forbidding his mulical fcholars to ramble 

 about the ftreets after they left fchooi at night, or to call 

 in at the tavern : a prohibition that raifed anew the cla- 

 mor of the village againft him. He was menaced on 

 every fide ^ but his courage remained unconquerable. 

 He (hut his fchooi againft all who were refra<Slory ; an- 

 ticipating any intention of theirs, by threatening to lodge 

 a complaint with the minifler of the parifh ; and, if his 

 admonition was flighted, to have recourfe to civil au- 

 thority. His endeavors here again were fuccefs- 

 ful ; and his fcholars (the only ones, perhaps, in the 

 country who did fo) walked quietly home from his 

 fchooi every evening. — He made them fenfible, by de-"^ 

 grces, of the ridiculous abfurdity of the diverfions at 

 the carnival and on the eve at St. Nicholas, Sec. He 

 went farther ; he extended his remonilrances to thofe in 

 Advent ; and put a flop, for the firfl time, to the inde-- 



cent 



<* his civil virtues, be had his people Inftrufted by compendlums of every 

 ** kind of ufeful knowledge, which were put inio ihe hands of the pea- 

 «' fants in all country fchooh ; where ihey were taught even coufic and 

 *' drawing. Though thefe inftituiions no longer exift iri their original 

 '' rpirit, i: is yet amazing to obferve the difference of infornration in this 

 *' and the adjacent circles. The villages have good mufic m all their 

 ** churches ; and there are few where it is not eafy to affemble a band of 

 " peafants, capable of performing in concert the beft Italian corupoGtions/* 

 —This is not an imaginary fa(fl k this author fpeaks from his own know- 

 ledge; andlhavefeenthe ii«S paffed by Duke Erncft. 



Since writing the above note, I have been credibly inforo^ed, that at Wx- 

 difchwcil, in the canton of Zurich, the inhabitants have eftsblifhed a week- 

 ly concert : The performers are tv.'elve peafants, who meet on an appoint- 

 ed day ; and there are two upon the violin, whofe execution would be 

 pronounced excellent in a concert of the firft mailers. At TscMlit-ken, a 

 very fmall village, there is an harmonic focieiy ; and at Huttinguen, 

 another village in the fame canton, they have a concert-hall, where vocal 

 and inftrumental pieces of Italian mnfic are performed. 



It is well known in Germanv, that the peafanis of the famous villagr 

 of Stroepke, dependent on the bailiwick of Zilly, in the principality of 

 Halberftadt,have been long acknowledged as the hcfl chefs players in Eu- 

 rope. Thus indifputable is the h&y that there is.no fpecies of knowledge 

 which the clafs of peafants arc not capable of coatprehcnding \ F, 



