with the arms of the Palatinate, were suspended.  Scarcely had he put himself in motion than he plunged his hands into these pockets, and generously scattered, right and left, gold and silver coins, which, on every occasion, glittered merrily in the air like metallic rain.  A thousand hands waved instantly in the air to catch the gifts; but hardly had the coins fallen when the crowd tumbled over each other on the ground, and struggled violently for the pieces which might have reached the earth.  As this agitation was constantly repeated on both sides as the giver rode forwards, it afforded the spectators a very diverting sight.  It was most lively at the close, when he threw out the bags themselves, and everybody tried to catch this highest prize.

Their majesties had retired from the balcony; and another offering was to be made to the mob, who, on such occasions, would rather steal the gifts than receive them tranquilly and gratefully.  The custom prevailed, in more rude and uncouth times, of giving up to the people on the spot the oats, as soon as the hereditary marshal had taken away his share; the fountain and the kitchen, after the cup-bearer and the carver had performed their offices.  But this time, to guard against all mischief, order and moderation were preserved as far as possible.  But the old malicious jokes, that when one filled a sack with oats another cut a hole in it, with sallies of the kind, were revived.  About the roasted ox, a more serious battle was, as usual, waged on this occasion.  This could only be contested en masse.  Two guilds, the butchers and the wine-porters, had, according to ancient custom, again stationed themselves so that the monstrous roast must fall to one of the two.  The butchers believed that they had the best right to an ox which they provided entire for the kitchen:  the wine-porters, on the other hand, laid claim because the kitchen was built near the abode of their guild, and because they had gained the victory the last time, the horns of the captured steer still projecting from the latticed gable-window of their guild and meeting-house as a sign of victory.  Both these companies had very strong and able members; but which of them conquered this time, I no longer remember.

But, as a festival of this kind must always close with something dangerous and frightful, it was really a terrible moment when the wooden kitchen itself was made a prize.  The roof of it swarmed instantly with men, no one knowing how they got there:  the boards were torn loose, and pitched down; so that one could not help supposing, particularly at a distance, that each would kill a few of those pressing to the spot.  In a trice the hut was unroofed; and single individuals hung to the beams and rafters, in order to pull them also out of their joinings:  nay, many floated above upon the posts which had been already sawn off below; and the whole skeleton, moving backwards and forwards, threatened to fall in.  Sensitive persons turned their eyes away, and everybody expected a great calamity; but we did not hear of any mischief:  and the whole affair, though impetuous and violent, had passed off happily.