ABSTRACT
But I was reckoning too fast upon my supposed advantages. They rested entirely on the arbitrary will of the man, who served us as a guide, and who seemed anxious to make us acquainted with all the resources and recommendations of his place of residence. How was I sure that he would be willing to enter into my views? He had the appearance of a sturdy, independent rustic; and such persons will often be found as great sticklers for their rights, as many of those who may seem to have much more valuable immunities to defend. He was a plain man, and likely enough to be contented with slender indulgences and luxuries. As I saw him, he / was master of every thing around him, and had no one to control him. But, if he were disposed to enter into my views, from a master he would be converted in some sort into a servant. I should occupy the choicest apartments of the castle; and it would become his duty to attend to my wants. The question therefore to be tried was, Would he prefer a simple, but sufficient mode of living, in which no man could say to him, ‘Do this; comply with my wants and caprices’, and he was master of every thing he saw: or, was he a man accessible to pecuniary temptations, and who, for the sake of them, and the supposed advantages they would procure, would surrender much of the liberty he at present enjoyed? – I might however bring this matter to an immediate issue.
