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fore me; it was erected in honor of M. Lassen, Councellor of Justice, and proprietor of Cath- rinebierg. Vassalage was abolished. The lands were parcelled out in lots, upon which farm houses were erected, and those peasants only remained in the village whose lands were contiguous. This arrangement made the peasant his own master.* He could now act according to his own judgment; he had merely his own benefit to consult, not that of others; still, when it is considered, how prevalent the influence of ancient usage is over the mind, it will not be difficult to suppose, that in this alteration, evils, at least imaginary, obtruded themselves. The change, therefore, rather depressed than en­ couraged the peasant, who found himself in a dilemma from which he knew not how to extricate himself. He was transplanted, as it were, into a different soil. He quitted a farm * When partnership among the peasants existed, they met every Sunday, to consult on the ways in which they should perform their work in the different seasons, The will of the majority was decisive.