Charles Émile Roche

“ Rotterdam is a merchant city pure and simple. The saying goes that you make your fortune at Rotterdam, consolidate it at Amsterdam, and spend it at The Hague.
Rotterdam has an appearance of solidity about it, but perhaps less of the conservative stolidity to be met with elsewhere in the Netherlands. It is an essentially progressive town, and both English and German influences have made and are making themselves felt in its daily life. About one-half of the total national imports by sea, and nearly one-half of the exports, pass through it, besides four-fifths of the Dutch trade with the Rhine. ”

“ As one journeys along the endless network of canals which make of the land one huge checker-board, there is but one drawback to the enjoyment of the landscape with which the paintings of Ruisdael, Cuyp, Ostade, and Paul Potter of days gone by, and those of the gifted Marises, Israels, Mauve, Willem Witsen, and others of the present time, have made us familiar. A fly lurks in the amber of those toy villages, amid the alleys of limes and poplars. It is the malodorous smell of the grey-green, muddy, stagnant canals. ”

“ In the winter of 1908 Friesland revelled in a skating carnival, at which were worn the garments of days gone by, and the revival of habiliments in vogue in the days of Holland's grandeur was a welcome and picturesque one. In the museum at Hindeloopen is to be seen a fine collection of costumes of olden times.
From headgear to footwear there is, so to speak, but one step. The klomp (plural, klompen) takes rank as a national institution. These wooden shoes, or sabots, fashioned out of poplar-wood, do not merely serve to protect the feet ”

“ THE Dutch nation is happy to-day, in spite of its past history, which constitutes a wonderful record, not only of its everlasting fight against the encroachments of the sea, but of its struggle with some of the greatest of the Great Powers. It is sufficient, within the limits of this book, to give only a brief summary of Holland's history, dating it from the abdication of Margarethe, wife of Louis of Bavaria, in favour of her son, William of Bavaria, whereupon the dynasty of Bavaria ruled in the land. ”

“ Lastly, William's dream of welding into one kingdom the seventeen provinces nowadays constituting Holland and Belgium was not to be realized.
With all that, no member of the House of Orange has ever enjoyed to so great an extent the confidence of the nation. His strong individuality; his perspicacity in unmasking and foiling Spanish intrigues; the selling of all his chattels, even to his silver table-ware, to meet the expenses of the war; the price placed on his head by the Spaniards, who thereby recognized his importance as the leader of the revolt ”

“ As one passes through this noiseless landscape, unfolding itself, undisturbed by any other sound than the tinkling of the cow-bells and the musical chimes of the town or village belfry ringing out gently not only quaint old tunes familiar centuries ago, but also airs that are painfully modern, drawn, as they often are, from the répertoire of music that is not classical, one falls into the somnolence of a lazy reverie, in the midst of which arises the awakening recollection of the difficulties under which the entrancing landscape has been fashioned by the hand of man and the sweat of his brow. ”

“ To return to the towns—the three most important ones—Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and The Hague. The town on the Rotte is given precedence because most travellers land there. It is the Liverpool or the Glasgow of Holland, and since 1830 the powerful rival of Antwerp. As you look up the haven, and catch a glimpse of a tall, commanding windmill, you feel that you have arrived in a very Dutch town. Its cosmopolitan shipping has perhaps given it a reputation abroad of being less Dutch than other towns in Holland, but here again the activity and energy of the race are prominent. ”

“ In almost every town will he find masterpieces of the gifted painters who have depicted their country's life under every aspect and from many a point of view. For the delineations of life he will gaze upon the works of Terborch, Metsu, Netscher, Dou, Pieter de Hooch, Brouwer, and Ostade. Holland's well-known picture “The Avenue, Middelharnis,” of which our National Gallery is the fortunate and proud possessor, shows a landscape seldom to be seen in Holland nowadays. ”

“ Each and every Dutch town has some special feature. The towns of old Frisia, the most poetical province in the Netherlands, are famous for their pretty women and their big Ameland horses, with small heads and long and broad necks. Enkhuizen, the deadest of all the “dead cities” on the Zuider Zee, is worth strolling through, if only to imagine oneself transplanted into the Middle Ages. ”

“ The next étape is to Amsterdam, the “Venice of the North,” built on hundreds of thousands of piles, the old Stadhuis, used for ten days in the year as a royal residence, having been erected on 13,659 piles driven into the ooze. As one wanders along its thoroughfares, the names of the streets, grachten (canals) , singels (moats, girdles, or encircling ditches) , and kaden (quays) , tell the city's history to those who care to delve into it. A notable feature of this city, composed of some ninety islands, is the unusual height of its houses when compared with those of other Dutch towns. ”

“ At one time it was reckoned the third city in the French Empire. It is Holland's money-market, and many Amsterdammers congregate about the Beurs, concerning the architectural beauty of which the citizens themselves are at variance, so a stranger may not settle the dispute. Its bridges are naturally numerous; some three hundred are to be counted. Amsterdam does its best to extirpate malarial germs, constantly renewing its waters by an arm of the North Sea Canal, and dredging them frequently. ”

“ The Dutch excel in the exhilarating exercise of skating, and while engaged in it are, for the nonce, as light-heeled as any.
Among the students, particularly those of Leyden, rowing is greatly in vogue, and, as we know, they have sent crews to Henley. In the last year or two football for boys and hockey for girls have taken a foothold, and young Holland is going in for exercise to an extent unknown heretofore. ”

“ Things Seen in Holland
CHAPTER I
THE CHARM OF THE NETHERLANDS
Fighting the Waters—Characteristics of Three Great Cities—Attractions of Provincial Towns.
FIRST impressions of a country and its people are, generally speaking, pleasurable; but the feelings of the traveller who sets foot on Dutch soil for the first time are also those of surprise and wonderment. Like a flash does it come through his mind that he is in a land unlike all others he has visited ”

“ To-day this little nation pursues the even tenor of its way, keeping up its glorious traditions, while its population is smaller than that of Greater London. According to the latest census—that of 1905—the figures are 5,509,659 souls, of whom 60 per cent. are Protestants, 35 per cent. Roman Catholics, and about 100,000 Jews.
After a brief period of sight-seeing in one of the larger towns—Amsterdam, Rotterdam, or The Hague—the new arrival will map out his tour, which will take him by thriving towns, dainty little villages and hamlets; along endless canals, as quiet as if corpses of dead rivers ”

“ He held in check one thousand of the enemy, to enable his countrymen to rally, but in vain; all his efforts merely assisted their retreat in good order. John Haring distinguished himself again at the siege of his native city, when the Spanish Admiral De Bossu was defeated by Cornelius Dirkszoon, and imprisoned in the city for three years. John Haring's part in the battle consisted in clambering aboard the Inquisition, the Spanish flagship, and hauling down her colours. This deed of bravery cost the humble hero his life. ”

“ The national costume, except on market-days and festive occasions, is a curiosity even in that very Dutch city Amsterdam; and Markeners, Volendammers, islanders from Urk, and Frieslanders, dressed in their special garb, will excite almost as much curiosity in the Kalverstraat as they would in the streets of London. Zeeland, with Walcheren, North and South Holland, and Friesland, are about the only places where the local costume is in daily use. To describe the wearing apparel affected by
Photo. ”

“ An odd sight it is to witness men garbed in white, and presenting the appearance of sailors from H.M.S. Pinafore, shuffle along carrying a hundredweight of cheese on trays suspended from their shoulders by leather yokes into the weigh-house, and, trotting back at the shuffle, deposit in the warehouse the shining, golden-coloured “cannon-balls” which have made Edam famous. ”

“ In 1701 the principality of Orange reverted to France, but the Dutch Princes retained the escutcheon and the motto.
The history of the Netherlands' struggle against Spain has been told by Motley, whose work is so highly thought of in Holland that it has been translated into the Dutch language, and is used as a textbook in the schools. The story has also been told by the Dutch historian Blok; it is a story of barbaric savagery on the part of the Spaniard, and of sturdy resistance and bloody retaliation on that of the Hollander. ”

“ They are, so to speak, living over a water-volcano all the time—ay, and dancing right merrily on it; but at the same time they remain on the look-out, mindful that their ever-present and relentless enemy shall not take them unawares. ”

“ Friesland is a great manufacturer of butter, Leeuwarden and Bolswaard being its principal market-towns. Ever since the butter industry in Holland was developed upon the lines adopted by Denmark, the Dutch butter has become more and more independent of the English markets, as, owing to the favourable geographical position occupied by Holland, it can supply Germany and Belgium on very favourable terms. ”

“ The seeker after etymologies will find a goldmine in Holland.
Traces there are, of course, of Spanish blood among the Dutch population, and occasionally of Spanish customs. One in particular is to be met with in the villages on the banks of the Lek, or Lower Rhine. There, a man seeking a quarrel with another will plant his knife in the table at which his enemy sits. ”

“ I know that we shall starve if not soon relieved, but starvation is preferable to the dishonoured death which is the only alternative. Your menaces move me not. My life is at your disposal. Here is my sword ”

“ With regard to The Hague, a note of smartness reveals itself in the ladies' gowns; while provincial ladies, who, when travelling outside their own country, have been bold enough to indulge in “foreign fashions,” carefully pack away these sacrifices to vanity when reaching home. The good folk in the provinces do not dress their part, but cultivate for the fashions a contempt which is pedantic and even stupid. ”

“ The klomp seems to be no hindrance to the movements of a broad-breeked Dutchman, for he will clear a four-foot fence like a bird without parting company with them. If anything excites the curiosity of one too short in stature to get a view of the object it is sought to look at, then will klompen placed one on top of the other be of valuable assistance. They have still another use. As the boat or ship passes through the canal the lock-keeper will appear with what seems a fishing-rod, at the end of which dangles a fish—'tis but a klomp, into which you drop the toll. ”

“ Great skill is needed in the cultivation of them, and an intelligent and careful grower will produce well-marked flowers where another would fail. The Dutch growers commonly manure the ground in which the tulip is to be ultimately grown, and then plant it with potatoes, in order to make the soil, which would otherwise be too strong, suitable after a couple of years for the reception of the bulbs. Every summer they are taken up, the offsets are detached, and all replanted in fresh soil. ”

“ The North Holland women are reckoned very handsome—their faces are as placid as those of their ancestry; while those dwelling in the sea-towns possess eyes that are the reflex of the infinite, but are not the reflex of their thoughts. Like all fisher-folk, they have the eyes of the seer. All in all, the women have a doll-like appearance. To them is applicable the Horatian
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IN ZUID BEVELAND.
Goes dairymaids in their neat and picturesque costume. ”

“ Among the other industries which add to Holland's revenue are cattle-raising, diamond-cutting, and the cultivation and exportation of bulbs. The Dutch cattle are all of one colour—black and white. Should the black stripes form on the coat of the animal three vertical belts equal in width, the beasts are greatly prized and admired. ”

“ The special enjoyment which an artist finds in a work of art may be shared by the art-lover if he will take the pains to examine it in the same way as the professional artist, and thus gain some understanding of the purely technical means of expression employed. ”

“ Nor is the male sex behindhand in its love of ornament; the broad breeks are clasped at the waist with broekstukken, huge silver buttons larger than our crown-piece, some of them handed down from generation to generation. The men also affect silver chains bunched up like skeins of wool as a neck ornament. In some parts, especially in Friesland, silver shoe-buckles are still to be met with. ”

“ It is no consolation to the visitor expressing surprise, not to say disgust, at these practices, and remarking that this deliberate cultivation of a nursery for enteric must be fraught with considerable danger, to be told by the grimly humorous Dutchwoman that the water is so foul that it is fatal to animal life, and that no germs, whether bacteria or microbes, can possibly thrive therein. ”

“ It is generally believed that a knowledge of German will enable one to get on in Holland, but such is far from being the case. Although the Dutch and German languages possess much that is in common, the pronunciations and the spellings are at variance. ”

“ The word “bowery” is the Dutch bouwerij, or peasant's dwelling. A far-fetched etymology is the one which would derive bouwerij from bos, and make of the boer a cattle-raiser. The Dutch peasant was styled a boer, or “dweller,” long before a distinction was made between the cattle-raiser and the market-gardener.
Americans have, for centuries past, consumed quantities of waffles (wafelen) , crullers (krullen) , and cookies (koekjes) . ”