the great fortifications, of whose presence the casual observer is
entirely unaware, belonging to the first line of national defense that
might be used to protect the Dutch capital from invasion--a defense
in which she seeks the assistance of her mortal enemy, and discovers
him weighed in the balance and not found wanting. Upon a process of
general inundation, by fresh water wherever possible so as not to
impair the future productiveness of the fields, does Holland depend for
her safety from invasion both by land and by sea. In the probability
of the latter, her power of self-exclusion is augmented by a treaty
with Belgium, signed in 1892, confirmed in 1905, and only recently
made public, reserving for her the right to block the great estuary of
the Scheldt in case of war or rumors of war. In times of peace Belgium
shares with the Netherlands all rights of navigation of the Scheldt,
and Holland may not displace or remove buoys, lights, or other aids to
navigation, without Belgian consent.
[Illustration: The lower end of the Oude Gracht, Utrecht, a canal which
in its upper part is at a level far below the street, giving space
between the foundation walls for shops and even homes]
But with regard to Holland’s ability to isolate herself by general
inundation, it is a scheme that gives little outward evidence of
being in operation. A stranger might roam within her boundaries for
a year and a day without even surmising that such a thing could be
accomplished, so successfully are her greatest works hidden from the
eye. The scheme provides, in brief, for the blowing up of railway
bridges and for the opening of the sluice gates of great reservoirs,
regulating the amount of water to be poured in over the country so that
it should all be of the same depth, prohibiting both the possibility of
wading through it and the passage of vessels over it.
A half a day, if time presses, will suffice to see Bois le Duc. After
you have wandered about in its great Gothic cathedral of St. John, one
of the largest and, by all odds, the fanciest church--if a church can
be said to be fancy--in Holland, you will have done with the town. It
holds nothing else of interest. Although of 32,000 population, and the
capital of the Province of North Brabant, it is dull and unappealing
to the tourist. There are few types and few distinctive mannerisms.
Of its costumes, the only feature is a headdress, affected by some
of the countrywomen of the surrounding district, composed of white
lace and topped with garlands of artificial flowers as ridiculous and
disappointing as the “poke bonnets” worn by the middle-aged matrons of
Leeuwarden, and just as out of place.
Even the market square is devoid of the usual fringe of ancient
buildings. Here they hold a cattle market on Wednesdays, but to strike
every city in Holland upon the day of its distinctive market would
necessitate a vast amount of vibratory traveling, which in itself, and
not considering the markets, would soon grow monotonous. I happened
upon Bois le Duc on a Saturday, when one of those nondescript, unsavory
bazaars of cooking utensils and crockery was in full swing. It was a
hot day, for Holland, and the sun beat down upon the unprotected square
with a most uncomfortable effect. So I spent most of my spare time
under the awning of a nearby café watching the business transactions of
a couple of “hokey-pokey” wagons, decorated and garnished so that they
resembled the floats in a Queen of the May pageant.
But an inspection of Bois le Duc’s cathedral will reimburse any
traveler who has planned to pay the town a visit. It stands on the edge
of a wide parade ground, not far from the market, from the opposite
side of which the church’s Gothic gargoyles and entablatures can be
seen to good advantage above the trees.
Founded in the eleventh century, this cathedral was originally erected
as a Romanesque edifice. After suffering the inevitable results of a
devastating conflagration, it was rebuilt in the early half of the
fifteenth century, its Romanesque design having been discarded and a
late Gothic one adopted. Since 1860 it has been subjected to a plan of
restoration. And not only from without is it a pleasing contrast to the
usual run of Dutch churches, but it is the only one in Holland whose
interior, having marvelously escaped the iconoclasm of early days,
and having been allowed to remain undesecrated by the customary coat
of whitewash and the central bull ring, is what it ought to be. The
visitor of to-day may obtain an uninterrupted view from one end of the
cathedral to the other, for the authorities, always in need of funds to
carry on the restorations to the church, sold its handsome choir screen
some years ago and realized $4,500 on it. But the absence of the screen
will scarcely be noticed in the cathedral--indeed, the general effect
is more satisfying without it. Stowed away, however, among a collection
of other ecclesiastical curios in the new Victoria and Albert Museum in
South Kensington, London, without the lights and shadows of its church
to enhance its richness, it has lost much of its beauty.
From Bois le Duc I was ticketed to quit the country. I had seen the
cathedral, and time hung heavily, so I wandered back to the station all
of an hour before the scheduled departure of my train, to jot down a
few notes and indulge in a few final musings upon a great nation--the
only little thing about which I found to be its area--a nation of great
deeds in peace and in war, a nation of great men, a nation that has, by
the sheer character of its people, surmounted great obstacles, and a
nation with a future as great as its past.
Each time I have visited Holland I have been loath to leave, but in
more ways than one this feeling was mitigated in Bois le Duc, for Bois
le Duc is a more satisfactory place to leave from than The Hague, for
example, and when the always solicitous station master, in black frock
coat and bright red cap, finally came to tell me that my train was due,
I gathered together my impedimenta and followed him resignedly toward
the train shed.
As I passed through the waiting-room my eye caught some lettering
over the mantel of an artistic fireplace. Its words pronounced the
traveler’s benediction: “_Goede Reis_.” Whether he appreciated the
fact or not, that old fireplace had stood there for years, wishing the
voyageur a pleasant journey, and the gentleness, the simple kindliness
of the message struck me as being characteristic of the men who put it
there--the Hollanders.
THE END
INDEX
Aanspreker, the, 53, 54
Acreage, 1
Admiral de Ruyter, 111, 147
Admiral Dirkzoon, 154
Albert Cuyp, 41, 48, 49
Alexander of Parma, 66, 67
Alkmaar, 123, 124, 137, 138, 147, 153
Alma Tadema, Laurens, 172
Alva, Duke of, 20, 63, 65, 191
Amalia, Princess, 84
Amstel, 109
Amsterdam, 1, 5, 6, 14, 55, 57, 75, 83, 107, 108, 112, 118, 123,
124, 127–130, 137, 147, 150, 152, 153, 157
Amsterdam, Bank of, 122
Amusements, 88, 114, 115, 116, 156, 157
Animals, 57, 58
Anjou, Duke of, 66, 67
Antwerp, 20, 111
Apeldoorn, 189–191
Arnhem, 1, 193, 195, 198, 199
Arras, Bishop of, 63
Ary Scheffer, 41
Assen, 179, 182
Atlantic, 1
Australia, 152
Batavia, 151
Bathazar Gérard, 65–69
Beekhuizen, 198
Bergen-op-Zoom, 34, 36, 37
Beurs, 57
Bicycles, 23, 24
Biesbosch, 39
Biljoen, 198
Binnenhof, 41, 78–80
Bishop of Arras, 63
Bishop of Cambrai, 55
Bois le Duc, 202, 211–214
Bonaparte, Louis, 109, 110
Bosch, The, 84
Bossu, 153
Botanical Gardens, Leyden, 99
Boymans Museum, 50
Broek, 129
Bronbeek, 197
Buiksloot, 128
Building, 108
Bulbs, 103, 104
Canals, 7, 31, 34, 56, 57, 58, 61, 91, 101, 124, 125, 127, 131, 132,
137, 171, 173
Canal packets, 2
Castricum, 147
Catherine of Schwartzburg, 70
Cats, Father Jacob, 18
Cattle raising, 173
Charitable institutions, 100
Charles V, 19, 167
Church of St. Lawrence, 50
Cleanliness, 8, 34, 35, 59, 60, 129
Cleve, 199
Coen, 150
Coinage, 8
Coligny, Louisa de, 65
Colonial Offices, 80
Comparative size, 1, 2
Conference, International Peace, 84
Conquests of the sea, 4, 5
Corcoran Galleries, 80
Cornelius De Witt, 41, 79
Costumes, 22, 23, 135, 167, 168
Cromwell, Oliver, 19
Cultivation, 91, 158
Cuyp, Albert, 41, 48, 49
Dairy products, 173
Dam, The, 110
Damrak, 112, 128
Delft, 55, 59, 60–62, 65–67, 72
De Noord, 40
De Ruyter, Admiral, 111, 147
Descartes, 101
Deventer, 187
De Witt, Cornelius and John, 41, 79
Diamond trade, 118–120
Diemer Dike, 153
Dikes, 5–7, 26, 32, 42, 91, 92, 94, 95, 145, 146, 153
Dirkzoon, Admiral, 154
Domburg, 16, 25, 26, 100
Domestic animals, 57, 58
Dortrecht, 29, 39, 40–44, 48
Dou, Gerard, 92
Dredging, 5
Drenthe, 176, 181
Dronrijp, 172
Duke of Alva, 20, 63, 65, 191
Duke of Anjou, 66, 67
Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 82
Duke of Orange, 63
Duke of York, 147
Dutch East Indies, 151
Dutch East India Company, 61, 109, 151
Dutch West India Company, 80
Edam, 21, 124, 130, 131, 138, 153
Eendragtsweg, 55
Eise Eisenga, 165
Endegeest, 101
England, 19
Enkhuizen, 154, 157, 158
Erasmus, Desiderius, 55
Eusibiusbinnensingel, 194
Ewyksluis, 33
Eyerland, 148
Family life, 57
Feijenoord, 46
Fishing, 158
Flevo, Lake, 159
Floris V, 78, 109, 138
Flowers, 102–104, 158
Flushing, 14, 15, 19, 20, 25
Foolish Betsy, 21
France, 8
Franeker, 165
Franz Hals, 105
Frederic of Toledo, 104, 191, 192
Frederick Henry of Orange, Prince, 84
Friesland, 33, 63, 144, 148, 160, 165, 168, 173
Frisian Monks, 5
Frisian Museum, 170
Fuel, 181, 182
Gemeelandshuis, 62
Gérard, Bathazar, 65–69
Gerard Dou, 92
Gerard Terburg, 183
Germany, 8, 11
Gevangenpoort, 36, 79
Gherardts, Gherardt, 54, 55
Goes, 29, 31, 32, 34
Goldsmith, Oliver, 13, 92
Government, 8
Groningen, 123, 144, 146, 148, 176–178
Groote Ryndyk, 91
Grooteveerhaven, 55
Grotius, 79, 92
Guides, 76
Gysbrecht, 109
Haarlem, 77, 78, 102, 124
Haarlem Lake, 6
Haarlem Polder, 101
Haarlemermeer, 5, 6, 101
Hague, The, 14, 24, 41, 56, 75–78, 80, 83, 84–86, 91, 124, 138, 204
Haring, 152
Haring, John, 153, 155
Harlingen, 165
Hasselaer, Kenau, 105
Helder, The, 123, 128, 143–147
Hendrik de Keyser, 55
Hendrik Landman, 17, 18, 21
’S Hertogenbosch, 55, 202
Herr van Klaes, 52, 53
Het Loo, 190
Hindeloopen, 165
Holbein, 81
Holland, North, 4
Holland, South, 4
Hollandsch Diep, 39
Homes, 57
Hoogstraat, 83
Hook, The, 2, 59
Hoorn, 130, 150, 154, 155, 157
Hotels, 172
Ij, The, 124
Imports, 49, 50
Inundations, 5
Inquisition, 73, 74
Island of Texel, 148, 149
Island of Urk, 187
Israels, Josef, 177
Jansen, Zacharias, 18, 37
Jan Steen, 81, 92
Jan van Oldenbarnevelt, 79
Joden-Breestraat, 113
John, Long, 16, 17, 20
John Lothrop Motley, 65, 67, 72, 73, 84, 153, 154, 192
Josef Israels, 177
Juliana, Princess, 11, 82
Kaiser Friedrich’s Museum, 80
Kalf, Mynheer, 126
Kalverstraat, 83, 112
Kampen, 185, 186
Katwyk, 100, 101
Kenau Hasselaer, 105
King William I, 110
Kreekerak, 34
Lake Flevo, 159
Landman, Hendrik, 17, 18, 21
Language, 29, 30, 31
Leeuwarden, 123, 157, 165, 168, 169, 171
Leyden, 6, 42, 64, 91, 92, 93, 95, 98, 101, 104, 139
Lieutenant van Speyk, 111
Limburg, 201
Loevenstein, 79
Long John, 16, 17, 20
Louis Bonaparte, 110
Louis of Nassau, Count, 93
Louvre, 80
Maas, 1, 40, 45, 46, 49, 199
Maastricht, 201
Maes, Nicolas, 41
Maps, 3, 33
Margaret of Parma, 63
Marken, 126, 127, 129, 135
Markets, 34, 178, 194, 204, 205
Marriage, 9–11
Marsdiep, Strait of, 145, 146, 148
Marssum, 173
Maurice of Nassau, 78
Maurice of Orange, 79
Mauritshuis, 80, 81
Mauritsweg, 55
Mechlin, 191
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Duke of, 82
Meppel, 179, 183
Merwede, 40
Mesdag, H. W., 177
Mesdag Museum, 83, 172
Meuse, 94
Middelburg, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, 64
Ministry of Justice, 80
Mint Tower, 112
Monnikendam, 21, 128, 129, 130, 135
Mons, 191
Morsch Gate, 99
Motley, John Lothrop, 65, 67, 72, 84, 153, 154, 192
Municipal Abbatoir, 121, 122
Municipal Pawnshop, 120, 121
Murillo, 81
Napoleon Bonaparte, 24, 81
New Zealand, 152
Nicolas Maes, 41
Nieuwediep, 148
Noordwyk, 100
North Holland, 4
North Sea, 4, 39, 124, 144
Nymwegen, 191, 198, 199
Oliver Goldsmith, 13, 92
Oosterkade, 51
Oosterpoort, 150
Orange, Prince of, 94, 105
Over-Yssel, 176
Parklaan, 55
Patriotism, 12
Paupers, 100
Pavements, 21, 22
Peace Palace, 85
Peter the Great, 126
Petroleum Harbor, 124
Philip II, 19, 62, 63
Piaam, 33
Pile Driving, 108, 110
Plein 1813, 83
Polder, 7, 31, 32, 33, 101, 137
Population, 1
Potter, Paul, 81
Prince of Orange, 20, 61, 64
Princess Juliana, 11, 82
Prinsenhof, 65
Queen Wilhelmina, 12, 74, 82, 110, 111, 190
Railways, 2, 7, 38, 39, 43, 57, 80, 91, 92, 137, 157, 179, 180, 181
Reclamation, 159
Rembrandt, 80, 92, 117
Rembrandtplein, 112, 114
Rhine, The, 12, 40, 46, 50, 101, 199
Rijks Museum, 116, 117
Rosendaal, 37, 197
Rotterdam, 1, 40, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54–58, 75, 79, 83, 94,
95, 110, 124
Royal Palace, 82, 110
Rubens, 81
Rynland, 101
Rynsburg, 101
Scheldt, 16, 19, 34
Schenkweg, 91
Scheveningen, 83, 85, 87, 89, 90, 100, 135
Schiedam, 94, 95
Schokland, 187
Schools, 9
Schouten, 150, 152
Sea, conquests of the, 4, 5
Sea, North, 4, 39, 124
Shoes, wooden, 4
Size, 1, 2
Smoking, 51, 52, 53
Sneek, 165
Society for the Public Welfare, 100
Solomon Islands, 152
Sonoy, 153
Sonsbeek, 196
South Holland, 4
Spaniards, 42, 64, 95–97, 139, 152, 153, 191
Spinoza, 101
Spuistraat, 83
St. Nicholas Abbey, 21
St. Pancras, 99
Staple, 40, 41
Stavoren, 157, 159, 160–164
Steen, Jan, 81, 92
Storks, 173–175
Strait of Marsdiep, 145, 146, 148
Straits Settlements, 52
Street railways, 51
Sumatra, 52
Switzerland, 8
Tasman, 150, 151
Tasmania, 151
Telegraph line, 56
Terburg, 81, 183
Texel, 149
The Hague, 14, 24, 41, 56, 75–78, 80, 83–86, 91, 124, 138, 204
The Hook, 2
The Rhine, 12, 40, 46, 50, 101, 199
Tolls, 27
Topography, 1
Tromp, 147
Tulips, 102–104
Utrecht, 63, 202–204, 208
Utrecht, University of, 207, 208
Valdez, 94
Van der Werf, 95
Van der Werf Park, 99
Van Dieman, 151
Van Dyke, 81
Van Ruysdael, Jacob, 105
Veere, 16, 21, 23–27
Velasquez, 81
Velperplein, 195
Venice, 44
Verdronken Land, 34
Vermeer, 81
Volendam, 124, 126, 127, 131–135
Voorburg, 92
Voorschoten, 92
Vroek, 130
Vrouwensand, 160
Waal, 40, 199, 200
Wagenaarstraat, 18
Walcheren, 14–17, 20, 22, 24, 26
Wegenstraat, 83
West Hove, 25
Westkapelle, 26, 27
Westplein, 46
Wilhelminakade, 47
Wilhelmina, Queen, 12, 74, 82, 110, 111, 190
Willem’splein, 80
Willem’s Park, 83
William I, 190
William II, 78, 79, 166, 190, 197
William III, 197
William of Orange, Prince, 20, 61, 64, 94
William the Silent, 62, 63, 65, 66, 69, 71–73, 80, 82, 93
Windmills, 4, 125
Wooden shoes, 4
Wynstraat, 41
Y, The, 124, 128
Yssel, 94, 95, 185, 191, 200
Zaan, 137
Zaandam, 123, 125, 126, 137, 147, 157
Zacharias Jansen, 37
Zandvoort, 124
Zeeland, 4, 14, 15, 22, 27, 34, 64
Zuid-Beveland Canal, 34
Zuid-Holland, 39
Zuidplas Polder, 7
Zuyder Zee, 1, 2, 4, 32, 35, 123, 124, 126–128, 130, 144, 157, 159,
166, 176, 185, 191
Zutphen, 191, 192
Zwolle, 123, 179, 183
Transcriber’s Note
The changes are as follows:
Page 16—seven and a half minutes changed to seven-and-a-half
minutes.
Page 22, Page 43 and Page 91—brick paved changed to brick-paved.
Page 23—robbin’s changed to robin’s.
Page 27—fifteenth century changed to fifteenth-century.
Page 30—diaphram changed to diaphragm.
Page 30—black-and-white cattle changed to black and white cattle.
Page 49—machine-shops changed to machine shops.
Page 57—awnnings changed to awnings.
Page 63—anl changed to and.
Page 70—half-way changed to halfway.
Page 80—Friederich’s changed to Friedrich’s.
Page 85—beside being changed to besides being.
Page 95—marketplace changed to market place.
Page 104—comma added after the siege of Lyden.
Page 113—pleasure seeking changed to pleasure-seeking.
Page 116—rused changed to rushed.
Page 123 and Page 209—situate changed to situated.
Page 130—four fifths changed to four-fifths.
Page 136—brass work changed to brass-work.
Page 172—Donrijp changed to Dronrijp.
Page 191—blood-thirsty changed to bloodthirsty.
Page 195—Velper Plein changed to Velperplein.
Page 196—picnicers changed to picnickers.
Page 197—Rozendaal changed to Rosendaal.
Page 198—Keiser-Karelsplein changed to Keiser-Karelplein.
Page 201—topograhy changed to topography.
Page 201—Furhermore changed to Furthermore.
Page 203—States General changed to States-General.
In the Index:
Page 215—Pages 41–48 for Albert Cuyp changed to
41, 48, 49.
Page 216—Donrijp changed to Dronrijp, and the
alphabetical order corrected.
Page 217—Osterpoort changed to Oosterpoort.
Page 218—Schenckweg changed to Schenkweg.
Page 218—Velper Plein changed to Velperplein.
Page 218—Verdronkenland changed to Verdronken Land.
Page 219—Zaandvoort changed to Zandvoort, and the
alphabetical order corrected.
End of Project Gutenberg's Windmills and Wooden Shoes, by Blair Jaekel