A RUN THROUGH HOLLAND.
Like that of all impulsive men, the wrath of Mr. Hamblin was
short-lived, though he still felt that he was greatly abused, greatly
distrusted, and greatly under-estimated; and the last was the greatest
sin of all. After the first blast of his anger at the final decision of
the principal had subsided, he was disposed to be more politic. Mr.
Lowington had snubbed him, which was a great mistake on Mr. Lowington's
part.
Mr. Hamblin knew that he was an older man than the principal, and he
felt that he was a wiser one, and his employer ought to consult him,
defer to his opinion, and take his advice. He did not do this to the
extent the learned gentleman demanded; and the Academy Ship was the
sufferer thereby, not himself. If Mr. Lowington could stand it, he
could, disagreeable as it was. If Mr. Hamblin had been pecuniarily
independent, he would have thrown up his situation, and visited the
classic lands alone; but as he was not able to do this, he decided to
submit to Mr. Lowington's caprices, and give the institution the benefit
of his valuable services.
If the students had known of this decision, they would have remonstrated
against it. As it was, they protested in their own way. On Saturday
night, after the return of the students from the excursion, while the
_savant_ was promenading the deck for his needed exercise, not less than
three practical jokes were played off upon him. The crew were squaring
the yards, hauling taut the sheets, lifts, and braces, and putting the
deck in order for Sunday. The professor was tipped over by getting
entangled in a piece of rigging, a bucket of water was dashed upon his
legs, and a portion of the contents of a slush-tub was poured upon him
from the main-top. No one seemed to see him; the students appeared to be
struck with blindness, so far as the learned gentleman was concerned. It
is true that the rogues who pulled the brace, dashed the water, and
upset the slush-tub, were immediately committed to the brig; but this
did not seem to afford much comfort to the victim.
On Sunday morning it was necessary to commit three more; but the whole
six were released in the evening, because they could not sleep in the
brig. Mr. Lowington was annoyed quite as much as the professor; and when
Mr. Fluxion came on board, he had a long conversation with him on the
subject.
"I was a boy once, Mr. Lowington," said the vice-principal; "and I am
free to say I would not have tolerated such an instructor as Mr.
Hamblin. He hasn't a particle of sympathy with the students. He is
haughty, stiff, and overbearing. He is imperious, fretful, snarling, and
tyrannical. In a word, I don't blame the boys for disliking him."
"I am conscious that he is not the right person. In the case of Kendall,
he protested against my decision, and had the impudence to tell me that
I lacked judgment. I have engaged him for a year. What shall I do?"
replied the principal.
"I hardly know; but we shall be in trouble as long as he is in the
squadron. We must give the boys fair play, if we expect them to do their
duty."
"I have kept Duncan on board the ship, and I suppose I must punish him,"
added Mr. Lowington. "He plotted mischief, but he has really done
nothing."
"Excuse me," said Dr. Winstock, as he opened the door, but retreated
when he saw that he disturbed a private interview.
"Come in, doctor; I wish to see you," replied the principal.
The surgeon was admitted to the conference, and the case stated to him.
"The pedagogue of the past is rapidly going out of fashion," said the
doctor. "Our educational system is progressive, and it will no longer
tolerate the teacher who is the petty tyrant he was twenty years ago.
Mr. Hamblin is an old-school pedagogue. His will is law, which is all
right to a certain extent. The teacher must be the judge between right
and wrong; but he must be gentle and kind, and raise no false issues
between his pupil and himself. Mr. Hamblin is not gentle and kind. He is
capricious, wilful, and passionate."
"I agree with you in regard to Mr. Hamblin; but what shall I do?"
"Discharge him," replied the doctor, promptly. "Any instructor who
cannot get along with Paul Kendall, without quarrelling, is not fit for
his place. The students of the Josephine have hazed Mr. Hamblin out of
pure sympathy for their captain."
"I have engaged Mr. Hamblin for a year from the 1st of July."
"I should pay him his salary in full, and let him depart in peace, if he
would."
"We need his services as an instructor."
"So far as that is concerned, I will volunteer to take the department of
mathematics. I was a tutor in college in that branch for a couple of
years."
Mr. Lowington thanked the surgeon for this offer; and the call to divine
service in the steerage terminated the interview. The principal's
advisers spoke his own opinions; and the only thing that embarrassed him
in getting rid of the obnoxious professor was the bad conduct of the
students in regard to him. It was emphatically wrong for them to "haze"
an unpopular professor; and Mr. Lowington was not willing to act under
apparent compulsion.
The school studies were continued as usual through the forenoon of
Monday. After dinner, dressed in their best uniforms, with bag and
blanket, the students were conveyed to the shore for their trip through
Holland, which was to occupy three or four days. The first afternoon was
to be occupied in exploring Rotterdam, and, as usual, Paul Kendall and
Dr. Winstock kept together.
"This is the _Hoogstraat_," said the doctor, when they reached the
principal street of the city.
"Does that mean _Hog Street_?"
"Not at all," laughed Dr. Winstock. "It means the _High Street_. It is
situated on the top of an old dike or dam, built to keep the Maas from
overflowing the country behind it. One of these canals is formed out of
the River Rotte. This stream and this dam gave the name of _Rotterdam_
to the place."
"Whose statue is that?" asked Paul, when they came to a wide bridge over
a broad canal.
"That is the statue of Erasmus, who was born in Rotterdam."
"Never heard of him."
"He was a noted theologian and classical scholar, who made his mark in
the polemical discussions of Germany and Switzerland in the time of the
Reformation. This is the _Groote Markt_, or market-place, of Rotterdam,"
added Dr. Winstock, when they had crossed the bridge.
[Illustration: A DISAGREEMENT AMONG THE DOG TEAMS.--Page 314.]
It was a great square, in the middle of which the canal widened into a
basin for the accommodation of the market boats, by which the meats and
vegetables are brought from the country. There were plenty of dog teams
passing in and out of this square, and at rest there, which amused the
young Americans hugely. The vehicle--a little cart or wagon, sometimes
large enough to contain four of the great polished brass milk-cans,
holding from ten to twenty gallons, and sometimes no bigger than a baby
carriage--was generally in charge of a woman. In some of them the dog
was regularly harnessed in a pair of shafts; but in the larger ones
there was a division of labor between the driver and the animals. The
woman held the shafts, while the dogs, from two to six in number, were
attached to various parts of the vehicle. If there were but two of them,
they generally trotted under the wagon, being harnessed to the
axletree; if more than two, the others were hitched on ahead of her, and
at each side of her. The dogs were of all sorts and sizes, and seemed to
be patient and well trained in the discharge of their duty. In some
instances, while the woman held the shaft, a stout man walked behind,
with a stick in his hand, officiating as general manager of the team,
including his "_vrow_"!
"There's a row!" shouted Paul, as they approached the banks of the
canal.
"That's not an uncommon scene in Holland," replied the doctor, laughing.
One of the first-class dog teams had incautiously been conducted too
near another team, reposing, after the labors of the day, on the verge
of the canal. Some canine demonstration on the part of the idle dogs,
doubtless, excited the ire of the travelling team, and, without asking
the woman's permission, the latter deserted the ranks, so far as their
harness would permit, and "pitched into" the others, which sprang to
their feet, and met the assailants half way. All the dogs howled,
growled, and barked vehemently, and in a moment the two teams were
rolling upon the ground, entangled in their rigging, snapping, biting,
and kicking, in mad fury.
The woman seized a stick, and belabored the belligerents with great
vigor; but the fight continued, in spite of her, until several women
interfered, and dragged the cart of the idlers, clogs and all, out of
the reach of the others. The driver, after severely whipping her charge,
unsnarled their rigging, and went on her way. Paul had to stop and laugh
frequently at these dog teams, the animals presented so many different
phases of character. Some of them howled or barked as they trudged
along; and many manifested a desire to make the acquaintance of other
teams on their way, much to the annoyance of the driver, who would storm
at them in Dutch, kick and whip them.
Many of the men, women, and children wore sabots, or wooden shoes, which
Paul compared to canal boats, and went clumping and clattering along the
streets like champion clog-dancers. The Flemish cap, worn by some of the
peasant women, also amused Paul very much. From each side of the
wearer's head, near the eye, projected a brass ornament, in the shape of
a spiral spring, but each circle diminishing in size till the wire ended
in a point, like a gimlet.
In the older parts of the city the tourists found brick buildings whose
walls slant outwards, so that the eaves would project eighteen inches
over the base, as farmers in New England sometimes build their
corn-barns.
Rotterdam contains about as many canals as streets, which are frequently
crossed by draw-bridges. Some of these are handsome iron structures,
revolving on a balance, so as to make a passage on each side when open.
Others were raised by heavy framework overhead; and in some of the
bridges there was only an opening one or two feet wide, to permit the
passing of the vessel's masts.
After examining the canals and bridges in this part of the city, Paul
and the doctor walked to the church of St. Lawrence, which is noted for
its great organ, ninety feet high, and containing sixty-five hundred
pipes.
"Now, Paul, we will take a carriage and ride up to the park, and go
from there to the railway station," said the doctor, as they left the
_Groote Kerk_.
"What is that man eating?" asked Paul, as they passed through one of the
dirtiest parts of the city, where, on the bank of the canal, a woman was
standing behind a table loaded down with a heap of shellfish, just as
they came from the mud.
The customer was taking them from the shells, drinking at intervals from
a cup.
"They are a kind of mussel; I never had confidence enough to taste of
them," laughed the doctor. "The condiments are in the cup, I suppose. Do
you wish to try them?"
"No, I thank you; my stomach is not lined with zinc, and such a vile
mess as that would be too much for it. Those cakes look better," added
Paul, pointing to a stand where a man and woman were cooking waffles, or
flapjacks, which were eaten by the purchasers in a neat little booth.
"Those are very nice," said the doctor. "We will try some of them. You
never need have any suspicions of the neatness of these Dutch women."
They went into the booth, and were soon supplied with a couple of the
cakes, hot from the furnace, and covered with powdered white sugar. Paul
agreed that they were very nice.
"The signs amuse me quite as much as any thing else, and I am studying
Dutch by their aid," said Paul, as they continued on their way.
"Read this, then," added the doctor, handing him a yellow paper bag he
picked up in the street, on which was a shopkeeper's advertisement.
"I can read some of it," replied Paul; and the reader may help him.
In de Mooriaan.
Deze en meer andere soorten van
TABAK, SNUIF, SIGAREN, KOFFIJ,
THEE ENZ
_zijn te bekomen bij_
D. B. SCHRETLEN,
Zandstraat, Wijk 5, No. 447,
ROTTERDAM.
"Tobacco, snuff, cigars, coffee--these are plain enough. What does 'Wijk
5' mean?"
"That is a division or ward of the city, like E. C. and W. C., in
London."
The carriage was obtained, and they rode to the park, which, however,
had no particular attractions. With the exception of the canals, and the
manners and customs of the people, there is little to see in Rotterdam.
On the way they met a funeral, the carriages of which were peculiar; and
the driver of the hearse wore a black straw hat, with a brim more than a
foot wide, and with great white bands at his neck.
At five o'clock the students had all collected at the station of the
_Hollandsche Spoorweg_, or Holland Railroad; and in twenty minutes the
train set them down at Delft, the port from which the Speedwell sailed
with a portion of the Pilgrim Fathers of New England. The name of the
town is derived from "_delven_," to dig. It contains twenty thousand
inhabitants, and was formerly noted for its pottery manufacture, which
was called Delft ware, from this place.
The party went immediately to the _Prinsenhof_, now a barrack, which was
the building in which the Prince of Orange was assassinated. The spot
where the murder took place was pointed out. A descriptive stone in the
wall records the event. From this place they passed on to the Old
Church, nearly opposite, which has a leaning tower, and saw the tomb of
Van Tromp, the great Dutch admiral, the hero of thirty-two sea-fights.
In the New Church is the monument of the Prince of Orange. His statue
rests upon it; and at the feet of the great man is represented a little
dog. The inscription was translated by Mr. Mapps, and the allusion to
the dog afforded the professor an opportunity to tell a story.
"While the prince was asleep in his camp, near Mechlin, the Spaniards
attempted to murder him," said he, "and would probably have succeeded
had if not been for this little dog. As the assassins approached the
tent, the dog discovered them, and jumped upon his master's bed, barking
furiously, and tugging at the clothing with his feet and teeth. The
prince was awakened, and succeeded in making his escape. When his master
was killed, twelve years later, this dog pined away and died."
"Perhaps he died of old age," suggested one of the students.
"The story is, that he refused to eat from grief. I cannot vouch for it;
but he was a good dog, and deserves the mention made of him on the tomb.
This church contains the burial-vaults of the present royal family of
Holland."
At six o'clock the train was off for The Hague, and arrived there in
fifteen minutes. On the way, the spire of the church at Ryswick, where
the treaty of 1697 mentioned in all the school histories, was framed,
was pointed out to the students. Accommodations had been engaged in the
city for the company and they remained here over night.
The Hague, or, as the Dutch call it, _S'Gravenhage_, and the French _La
Haye_, is the capital, and has a population of eighty-one thousand.
Though it was the residence of the stadtholders in former times, it was
only a small village, and its notable features are of modern origin.
Barneveldt was executed and the De Witts murdered here. The Picture
Gallery and the Museum were specially opened for the young Americans.
The works of art were hastily viewed, and the students passed into the
Cabinet of Curiosities, of which there is a vast collection, including
an immense number of dresses, implements, and models illustrating life
in Japan and in China.
Among the historical relics are the armor worn by the admirals De Ruiter
and Van Tromp; the portrait and sword of Van Speyk, who blew up his
vessel on the Scheldt; a part of the bed of Czar Peter the Great, on
which he slept while working at ship-building; the last shirt and
waistcoat worn by William III. of England; the dress in which the Prince
of Orange was murdered; the pistol of the assassin, with two of the
bullets; a model of Peter's cabin at Zaandam, or Sardam, and many other
objects of interest which seemed to bring the distant past before the
eye of the beholders.
Early the next morning the students were roaming at will through the
city, anxious to see what they could of its handsome streets, the
principal of which is the Voorhout, lined with trees, and flanked with
splendid edifices. After breakfast the train bore them on to Leyden. On
the way, at the suggestion of Mr. Fluxion, the train, which was a
special, was stopped, and the students were allowed half an hour to
explore some beautiful gardens which abounded in this vicinity. Many of
them belonged to the country seats of wealthy gentlemen, and were as
magnificent as fairyland itself.
But what pleased Paul more than the gardens of rich men, was an
opportunity to visit the house and grounds of a citizen in humbler life.
Mr. Fluxion asked the permission, which was readily granted.
"You needn't take your shoes off here, as you must in some parts of
Holland, before you enter a house; but you must wipe them very
carefully," said the vice-principal. "The greatest sin against a Dutch
housewife is to carry any dirt into her premises."
Paul made sure that not a particle of dust clung to his feet, and
entered the cottage. It was plainly furnished; but everything was as
clean, and white, and neat as though the room had been the interior of
the upper bureau drawer. Dr. Winstock ventured the remark, that Dutch
husbands must be the most miserable men in the world, since it could not
but be painful to be so excruciatingly nice.
The proprietor of the house had about half an acre of land, which
constituted his garden. It was laid out with winding walks and fanciful
plats of ground, filled with the richest-hued flowers. It contained a
pond and a canal, on a small scale; for a Dutchman would not be at home
without a water prospect, even if it were only in miniature. At the end
of the garden, overlooking the pond, there was a grotesque little summer
house, large enough to accommodate the proprietor and his family. Here,
of a summer afternoon, he smoked his pipe, drank his tea, coffee, or
beer, while his wife plied her needle, and the children played at the
door.
"What is that inscription on the house?" asked Paul, as they approached
the building.
"_Mijn genegenheid is voldam_," replied Mr. Fluxion.
"Exactly so! I understand that, and those are my sentiments," laughed
Paul; "but what does it all mean?"
"'My desire is satisfied,'" replied the vice-principal.
"He is a happy man if that is so," added the doctor.
"Many of the Dutch label their garden houses with a sentiment like
that," continued Mr. Fluxion. "I have seen one somewhere which smacks of
Yankee slang--'_Niet zoo kwaalijk_.'"
"I should say that was slang," interposed Paul.
"It means, 'Not so bad.'"
"Well, it isn't so bad, after all," added the doctor, glancing back at
the "_zomerhuis_," as they retired, with many thanks to the proprietor
for the privilege granted to them.
The hoarse croaking of the locomotive whistle, which appeared to have a
cold in its head, drummed the students together again, and the train
proceeded.
"This is the Rhine," said the doctor, as they went over a bridge.
"The Rhine!" exclaimed Paul, jumping out of his seat. "Why, it isn't
anything!"
"That is true; but you must remember that this is the old Rhine,--the
part which was dug out, robbed of the burden of its waters by the Yssel,
the Leck, and the Waal. The Rhine of Germany is quite another affair.
The mouth of the Rhine is eight miles below Leyden. It was closed for a
thousand years."
"What became of its waters? They must have gone somewhere," said Paul.
"They disposed of themselves in various small streams, and worked their
way to the ocean, or soaked into the sands. The mouth of the river was
opened in 1809, by an engineer, under the direction of Louis Napoleon,
King of Holland. But the ocean at high tide was higher than the river,
and to prevent the sea from flowing back into the country and disturbing
the system of dikes, immense gates were made in the sluiceways
constructed for the purpose. When the tide comes in, these gates are
shut. At low tide they are opened to let the water out. Indeed, this is
true of all the canals, which are provided with gates at each end, like
a dock. The dikes at the mouth of the Rhine are stupendous works; and as
the foundation is nothing but sand, they are built on piles, and the
face of them is of stone. This is Leyden."
"What is there here?" asked Paul, as they got out of the carriage.
"It has about the same sights as Delft, and also a celebrated
university; but it is more noted for its siege by the Spaniards, in
1574, than for anything else. Doubtless Mr. Mapps will fight the battle
over again."
Of course the professor of geography and history could not lose such a
glorious opportunity, and in the _Stadhuis_, where the picture of Peter
Vanderwerf, the burgomaster who so bravely defended the place in the
memorable siege, was pointed out, he took advantage of the moment.
"The city had held out four months," said he, after introducing the
topic, "when the worst came. The Prince of Orange had promised to assist
the people by supplying them with food; but so close was the blockade of
the place by the Spaniards, that it was impossible to do so. They were
reduced to the very verge of starvation. Dogs, cats, rats, horses, were
greedily eaten. Six thousand of the people died of pestilence, which
came with the famine, and there was hardly force enough to bury the
dead. Though pressed and threatened by the citizens, the inflexible
burgomaster refused to surrender the town. At last a couple of carrier
pigeons flew into the city, which brought the intelligence that the
prince had cut the dikes, and sent Admiral Boiset to their relief when
the rising waters should drive the Spaniards away. But the waters did
not rise high enough to enable the admiral to approach, and the people
prayed to Heaven for help. It came. A storm and a gale forced the waters
far up the river to the walls of Leyden. Boiset, with eight hundred
wild Zealanders, fought their way through the Spaniards, perched in the
trees, in boats, or in such places above the water as they could find,
and made his way into the town. A thousand of the enemy were drowned.
Leyden was saved, and the people celebrate the day of their deliverance
up to the present time.
"As a reward for their bravery and dogged perseverance, the prince gave
them the choice of a university or exemption from a portion of their
taxes. They chose the former, and the University of Leyden was the
result."
After a hasty walk to a few of the points of interest in the town, the
journey was resumed, and in twenty minutes the party was set down in
Harlem. In the _Groote Kerk_ of St. Bavon, they listened to the playing
of another great organ, including imitations of bells, and the _vox
humana_, or "_nux vomica_," as some of the students persisted in calling
it. Harlem is famous for its hyacinths and tulips, the passion for which
grew out of the great _tulip mania_, two hundred years ago, when single
cuttings of these bulbs were sold for four thousand florins, and even at
higher prices. They are raised not only in gardens, but in fields
hundreds of acres in extent; for they are a very important article of
commerce, the gardens of Europe being supplied from this vicinity.
Harlem resisted the Spaniards with the same vigor and determination that
distinguished Leyden, though with a less fortunate result; and Mr. Mapps
was too glad to tell the exciting story. The town held out till
starvation was inevitable, when it was decided by the brave defenders to
form in a body around their women and children, and fight their way
through the enemy. The Spaniards, hearing of this scheme, sent in a flag
of truce, offering pardon and freedom, if the town and fifty-seven of
the chief citizens should be given up. This number of the principal men
volunteered to be the sacrifice, and the terms were accepted; but the
bloodthirsty Duke of Alva, having first murdered the fifty-seven
citizens, entered upon an indiscriminate massacre of the people, of whom
two thousand were slain. When the executioners were weary with the
slaughter, the victims were bound together in couples, and thrown into
the Lake of Harlem. Four years later, the town fell into the hands of
the Dutch again.
After the professor had finished the siege of Harlem, the party walked
along the Spaarne to the machinery used for draining the low land
formerly covered by the lake. This territory, three hundred years ago,
was dry land; but an inundation gave it over to the dominion of the sea.
About twenty-five years ago, the States General of Holland undertook to
drain it, by forming a double dike and canal entirely around the
district, thirty-three miles in circumference, and containing forty-five
thousand acres. Three huge systems of pumps were erected, to be worked
by steam, and the task of discharging an average depth of thirteen feet
of water was begun. After four years' pumping, the lake was dried up,
and the land was sold at the rate of about eighty-five dollars an acre.
The machinery is still required to keep the water down. One engine works
eleven pumps, with a lift of thirteen feet, discharging sixty-three tons
of water at a stroke.
The travellers took their places in the train, and in a few minutes were
conveyed over the causeways into Amsterdam, in season for the two
o'clock dinner.