It is enouf^h, therefore, if I say I stepped gloomily from the carriage as I entered the castle, but soothed by the friendly air of the place, and hospitably greeted by the household Lares, I soon grew cheerful and contented in that domestic circle, and spent I know not how many weeks and months there, for who counts the days and years that pass over in undisturbed enjoyment ?
Zierau, like all the noble mansions of Courland, round which revolve, not merely the entire social system, but almost the entire industry, cultivation, commerce, and refinement of the country^ consists of a great number of buildings. Houses for guests, for stewards and other officers, storehouses, stables, manufactories, churches, mills, distilleries, and other buildings, to the number of twenty, thirty, or forty, are ranged round the principal building, which is the dwelling of the family. The cultivated circle of the house consists of the amiable family of the proprietor, of the physician and pastor of the estate, of the tutors and governesses of the children, of the relations and acquaintances of the family, who often reside with their wealthy kinsmen, and of other guests who may be present. The Livonian and Courland mansions are invariably as populous and lively as the villages are desolate and lifeless. From Zierau, where my residence was for some time fixed, I made many excursions into the interior, and visited many noblemen, merchants, and clergymen ; growing thus gradually familiar with the spirit of the country, and learning to know the life, the manners, and customs, the general tone of its society, so as to be in a position to afford the reader a little insight. As the root and kernel of society must be hospitahty, it is as well to begin with this virtue, which is, in fact, the most highly esteemed, and most practised virtue of this country.
It has been said that genuine hospitality exists only among uncivilized nations. The three Russo-German provinces of the Baltic, however, must be excepted, for there this virtue is most perseveringly practised by all ranks and classes of the inhabitants, but most particularly by the richest and most cultivated in the land.
It is impossible that Abraham could have opened his door, prepared his pallet, and slaughtered his lamb, for the poor wanderer who knocked at liis gates, more willingly than the nobles feed the stranger, for whom they spread the banquet, and prepare the bedchamber.
A great deal of difference is generally observed betw^een Spanish, French, English, and Italian hospitality. The stranger, who has once experienced that of tlie north is little inclined to acknowledge these distinctions, for he will think that there is no hospitality any where else. Our crowded populous countries, where each additional man that arrives squeezes those who were there before him, and where each man has to defend himself from his neighbour, will seem to him full of inhospitable egotism. Where there is a superfluity and overstock of men everyAvhere, each man naturally seeks to enclose himself in the narrow circle of his own inunediate friends and acquaintance, and to keep off strangers.
The virtues of a nation are the effect of the cncumstances mider which they live. The scarcity of men in the north calls forth that cheerful hospitality which rejoices at the sight of every new face. In the west we see so many new human faces every day of our lives, that we should often be very glad to get rid of them. Thus in the midst of our populous states, many retire eagerly to a solitary hermit-life, while in the empty north, every one loves to surround himself with as much life and bustle and society as possible. Every corner is not crowded by candidates as with us, and every useful talent or acquirement is universally welcome, and finds every door open to it.
Besides, it is to be remembered, that the gentlemen of the Baltic provinces get what they spend very easily. The bread, the com, the fi-uit, the vegetables grow up around them, without their troubling themselves about the matter ; the rubles and ducats roll into their chests of their own accord. The Lettes and Esthonians bake, brew, and roast for them ; the merchant sends them wine, sugar, and coffee. Why should they not eat, drink, and make merry ? Why should they not live, and let live ?
To be sociable and hospitable, one must be in easy circumstances, and have plenty of leisure. With us no one has much leisure. Even the rich have plenty of occupations, and are anxious to be yet richer ; even the independent gentleman has to alter, improve, speculate, and arrange.