The crowd at the fair was immense. It was the first time Hamilton had seen anything of the kind, and he found it difficult to believe that in the paltry booths around him there could be anything for sale as good as might be had with less trouble in the town. The noise, the talking, and the bargaining amused him not a little, especially the latter; and he stood beside Madame Rosenberg for more than half an hour, while she haggled about the price of some muslin. At the end of this time she was at the point of walking off, (or, as she explained afterwards, pretending to do so,) when the shopman called her back, and with an assurance that he was giving her the “article” for next to nothing, prepared to measure what she required. This was a bargain! She had gained twenty-one kreutzers, about seven pence, and had the annoyance of carrying a large package home, for porters there were none. To anyone accustomed to English tradesmen, the almost positive necessity of bargaining in the generality of German shops is extremely tiresome and disagreeable. It is more than probable that the tradesmen would gladly establish fixed prices, were not the habits of bargaining as yet too strong in the middle and lower orders to be overcome.
The vociferous invitations of the Jews to inspect their wares were equally novel to Hamilton. “Ladies, step here, if you please. Cheap gloves, elegant ribbons, scissors, bracelets, or soap. Have I nothing that I may show you, madame? Flannels, merinos, or cloth for the young gentlemen? Winter is coming, madame, and I promise you as great bargains as you will get anywhere!”
To all these speeches Madame Rosenberg gave an answer, generally of a facetious description; and while Hamilton thought her more than usually vulgar, he sometimes could not avoid laughing, the more so as everything she said was taken in good part, and a few words seemed to reconcile the vendors to her passing their booths without purchasing. The two little boys had become weary and hungry; they leaned against the counters, occasionally upset the piles of goods ranged outside the booths, cuffed each other when their mother was not watching them, and when forced to stand quietly beside her, yawned until the tears ran down their cheeks. Hamilton took pity on them, and finding a toyshop, soon filled their pockets and hands with playthings, making them by many degrees the happiest of the whole party.
“So!” cried Madame Rosenberg, as they returned to her, radiant with smiles, “this is what you have been about; I thought Mr. Hamilton had gone to look at the church. We must all go together, it seems, and the less time we lose there the better, for the days are short, and we have a long walk home after supper.”
They were not exactly the persons with whom Hamilton could enjoy seeing anything of the kind, and on entering the church he walked up the aisle alone. They all, however, followed him, and Crescenz observed, in a dissatisfied tone of voice, “And is this the church that everyone admires so much? It is not half so handsome as the Allerheiligen. I declare, if it were not for the painted windows with the sun shining through them, I should say it was the most sombre church I had ever seen.”
“You have seen very few, my dear,” said her father, looking round him, and drawing nearer Hamilton.
“I have seen all the churches in Munich,” said Crescenz, “and several of them are larger than this.”
“It would be difficult to form an opinion of the size of this building,” said Hamilton, thoughtfully, “for the proportions are so admirably observed that nothing strikes the eye or distinguishes itself above the rest. There is no point from which one can take a mental measure, and I am convinced it appears infinitely smaller than it really is.”
“But I expected to see a quantity of painted pillars, and bright colours, and gilding, when I heard it was Gothic,” observed Crescenz.
“I know nothing of architecture,” said Hamilton, turning to Mr. Rosenberg, “but I form exactly a contrary idea when I hear of a Gothic church; the painted windows are the only colours which are admissible without destroying my ideal.”