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 THE 
 
 HEAET OF HOLLAND
 
 LONDON : PniSTED IIT 
 
 BrOTTISWOODB AND lO., NEW-STBEET SQUARE 
 
 AND PAKLIAMENT STUEET
 
 THE 
 
 HEAET OF HOLLAND 
 
 BY 
 
 HENKY IIAVARD 
 
 AUTHOIt OF 
 
 'DEAD CITIES OF THE ZUYDER ZEE' and 'PICTURESQUE HOLLAND' 
 
 TRANSLATED BY MRS CASHEL HOEY 
 
 WiU} (f'igM' ?<lluslr;'ticiis 
 
 LONDON 
 RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET 
 
 !|UiblislKr3 in ©rbiniun to 'iicr Pnjcstn tijc (ijuccii 
 
 1880 
 
 A II I Id hi;, I escri'i'il 
 
 146379
 
 X)3 I'i 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Dordreclit, the 'Hospitable' — The Court of Holland — John and 
 Cornelius de Witt — Ancient and Modern Painters — Old 
 Streets and Old Houses ..... 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 On the Maas — Gravendeers and Puttershoek — The Hollandsch 
 
 Diep — An Accident — An Heroic Passage— The Sound . 32 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Zierikzee — Its History — Battles and Sieges — Greatness and Decay 
 — The 'Beggars of the Sea' — A Stone Giant — Gates and 
 Kauiparts — The Fisheries and the Fish Market 
 
 49 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Island of Schouwen — The Ravages of the Sea — The Val — 
 Blaas-poepen, and Brown Seals — A. Daughter of the Fields 
 — Tholen— War and Fire — A Sleeping City , 
 
 08
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TAGK 
 
 Bergen-op-Zoom — A Militaiy Reception — The Schutterij — The 
 Camp — The History of a Warlike City — ISIarsbal von Loweu- 
 dahl — The Great Siege of Bergen-op-Zoom . . .88 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 An Old Commercial City — Streets and Buildings— The Land of 
 Saint Gertrude — Epitaphs and Tomhs — 'Jan mette Lippen' 
 —The Porter of the Stadhuis . . . . .111 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Bad Weather and a Dull Voyage— The Village of Worraeldingen 
 — Politeness in Zealand — Goes — The Susceptible Jacqueline 
 and the Seigneur of Borselen ..... liiS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Zand Kreek— A Storm on a Sandbank— Kats— The Scbipper 
 
 Krijn— Kortgene — The Appearance of ^'eer . . . 147 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Veer— A Huge Church— The Birth of a Town— Commercial 
 
 Wealth and Splendour : their sudden melting away — A Reverie 1 GO 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A Dispute on Board— An Antique Fountain — A Walk through 
 Ruins— The Stadhuis -The Cup of Veer— An Heroic Woman 
 — An Excursion in Noordbeveland — A ' Zinkstuk ' . .174
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 I'AOK 
 
 The Country — The ' Pimo ' — Country Morals and Manners — The 
 
 ' Tol '— Westhoven and Duinbeek . . . .103 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Overduyn— The ' Bibliotheca Catsianua '— Domburg — Nehalcnnia 
 — Westkapelle— A Famous Battle— The Dam— The Polder- 
 jongens — The Spanish Type ..... 206 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Middelburg— Its Origin— Its First * Keure '—Its High Commercial 
 Fortunes — Foreigners at Middelburg — Its Eelations with 
 France— The 'Abbey of Good Will'— The VVijnheeren— 
 Arnemuiden and Veer — A Long Siege — Revival and Decline 2-32 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A Breakfast on Board— The Abdy Hotel— The Abbey and the 
 Stadhuis — 'Lange Jan' and 'Gekke Betje' — The Treasure- 
 house of the town— The Zealand Society— The Tapestries— 
 The Kermesse ...... 265 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Arnemuiden — The Country— The Zealand ' Polders ' — Souburg and 
 
 the Emperor Charles V. .... . 292 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Flushing— Mutiny on Board— In Search of a Dinner— The Begin- 
 riings of a Great Port— Philip II. and William the Silent- 
 Spaniards and Zealanders— ' The Beggars of the Sea '—The 
 Bombardment — Good Wishes .... 307
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Tlie Rage of the Scheldt— Breskens— Fort Napokmn— Groede— 
 The Flemish Nose — Axel — Sieges and Pitched Battles — ' Dura 
 Lex' — Hulst — The Virtues of a People — Flemish Fidelity . 
 
 329 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Rosendaal, the Vestibule of Zealand — Breda — Its Oastle, Walls, 
 and Bastions — The History of a Peat-hoat — The Museum of 
 Arms — A Marvellous Print — The ' Compromise ' and the 
 Peace of Breda — Tombs in the Church . . . 352 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Tilburg — The Monument to William II. — A Capital — Ilertogen- 
 bosch's — The Ducal Forest — The Budding of a Town — Two 
 Memorable Sieges — Industry and Courage — An Architectural 
 Pearl — The Stadhuis and its Treasure—' Adieu, baskets ! the 
 grapes are all gathered.' ..... 
 
 371 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 385
 
 ILLUSTKATIONS. 
 
 The House of the Scottish Merchants at 
 
 Veer ..... Frontispiece 
 
 The Funeral of a Child at Gravendeel's . I'o/acejmge 38 
 
 The Zuidhaven Poort at Zierikzee 
 Our Lady's Gate at Bergen-op-Zoom 
 The Stadhuis of Veer 
 
 The Dijkgraaf Van Leeuwex. (From a Photo- 
 graph) ..... 
 Middelburg, during the Kermesse . 
 The Exchange at Flushing 
 
 56 
 114 
 178 
 
 192 
 
 290 
 328
 
 THE 
 
 HEART OP HOLLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DORDRECHT, THE 'HOSPITABLE' — THE COURT OF HOLLAND — JOHN 
 AND CORNELIUS DE WITT — ANCIENT AND MODERN PAINTERS^ — OLD 
 STREETS AND OLD HOUSES. 
 
 YEN yet, in this day of universal facilities, 
 it is no easy matter to travel through 
 the whole of the province of Zealand. 
 Although Middelburg, its capital, and 
 Flushing, its great seaport, have been of late years 
 united to the mainland, and certain of its principal 
 towns are connected with each other by railroad, 
 communications between the islands of which the 
 province is composed are infrequent, and there is no 
 regular system of transport between their more dis- 
 tant points. 
 
 The traveller who wants to see everything, and to 
 see all thoroughly, must provide himself with a means 
 
 B
 
 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 of locomotion wliich shall be always fit for use : in 
 these countries, where water chiefly abounds, the only 
 vehicle that fulfils these conditions is a boat. 
 
 Besides, how is one to paint, to write, or to study, 
 unless things are comfortable about one ? Imagine 
 a man travelling in this region of rivers and canals 
 with an easel, colour boxes, canvases, wraps, books, 
 and all the rest, unless he has his own boat, and 
 can do as he likes with it ! Again ; it is not by 
 staying at an inn that one can enjoy the grand 
 spectacles of Nature, the rising of the sun over vast 
 sheets of empurpled water, the straying of the silvery 
 moon-rays over boundless plains, or the unchained 
 tempest as it growls and roars in the fiery sky. So 
 I and my travelling companions. Van Heemskerk and 
 Baron Constant de Eebecque, both painters, resolved 
 on fitting up a boat for ourselves ; and we again 
 engaged the same commodious tjalk in which we 
 had formerly explored the sandbanks of the Zuider 
 Zee. 
 
 The tjalk was sent up to Delft, and there it was 
 scraped, and pumiced, and varnished, and bedecked, 
 until the old craft was turned out in all the virginal 
 freshness of a brand-new boat just off the stocks. 
 In roomy lockers, cunningly fitted to her curved 
 sides, was laid up a good store of provisions, — coffee, 
 sugar, tea, preserves of every kind, foie gras, and 
 biscuits, not to speak of bottles and jars 'galore.' 
 Then came the upholsterer upon the scene, and the 
 saloon was hung with cotton stuff, pale grey in
 
 THE OLD TJALK. 
 
 colour ; portieres divided the little space into its al- 
 lotted portions, and the sleeping-room was furnished 
 with three beds and the indispensable cupboards. 
 The kitchen assumed quite a martial air ; its hatterie 
 ghttered like an arsenal ; the shining stove was ready 
 to rumble at its task, the glasses and dishes were 
 gleaming in their pigeon-hole press, and the plate lay 
 in its chest, handy for transfer to the saloon table. 
 We prided ourselves particularly upon the saloon. 
 In each corner was a flower-stand ; and brackets 
 adorned the walls, on which our arsenal of weapons 
 was displayed, amid maps and sketches. There 
 was a sofa which made one lazy to look at it, 
 easy-chairs extending their arms in most enticing 
 fashion, and a table with a beautiful cover, worthy 
 of the lofty gastronomic destiny that awaited it. So 
 alluring and hospitable was the general aspect that 
 Heemskerk succumbed to its temptations. After her 
 fitting was complete, he declined to leave the tjalk^ 
 and on the pretext of testing her behaviour he set 
 out for a trial trip on the Zuider Zee. 
 
 In a fortnight he returned, slightly discomfited. 
 He had come in for almost continuous bad weather, 
 and the tjalk had not behaved altogether to his satis- 
 faction. She had sustained serious damage in ship- 
 ping a heavy sea, and he had been barely able to 
 make Zwartsluis, where he left her and her crew. 
 The latter had not conducted themselves particularly 
 well either; for they lacked energy and 'go' when 
 in difficulties, and were neither well disciplined, nor 
 
 B 2
 
 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 pleasant in their manners. These were items of in- 
 formation which might have sobered the spirits of 
 travellers less undaunted than ourselves, but the die 
 was cast. We decided on starting, and telegraphed 
 orders to the crew to bring the boat to Dordrecht, 
 whither we proceeded, to wait for her, and embark 
 irom thence. 
 
 Are you acquainted with Dordrecht ? It is one 
 of the most interesting towns I have ever been in. 
 If I had to give it a surname, I should not be at a 
 loss for a moment. I would call it the ' Hospitable,' 
 for there is not a town in Europe more cheerful, 
 pleasant, and cordial of aspect. From whatever 
 side it may be approached, its aspect is the same, 
 smihng, kindly, with an air of welcome, and no 
 sooner does one get into the midst of it than one 
 feels at home. Even at first sight there is nothing 
 foreign, nothing strange about it. The traveller 
 wonders where he has previously seen that graceful, 
 picturesque outline; the black windmills, with their 
 ochre-tinted sails, the outer ring of leafy trees, the 
 red quays, the top-heavy houses, and, towering above 
 them all, the lofty steeple with its four-faced clock- 
 dial. Ah, he remembers! It was in the paintings of 
 Cuyp, Van Goyen, and Euysdael, those masters who 
 were all three in love with that delicious landscape, 
 with that magic river, and with the brightly-tinted 
 city which looks into its waters as into a silver mirror. 
 A boat used to be the only means of approach to 
 the town, for the water surrounds it on all sides,
 
 DORDRECHT. 
 
 and, as Dordrecht boasted, it took no less than four 
 rivers to form a vestal zone for her.^ 
 
 Formerly the only approach to the town was by 
 the river. What an animated scene was that ! the 
 great barges with their brown sails were gently 
 rocked by the passage of the ' stoomboot ' ; a forest 
 of masts crowded the roadstead ; and dainty boats 
 cut rapidly-effaced furrows in the water on every 
 side. The quay was always crowded ; groups of 
 people loitered about under the majestic trees, or 
 stood amid the heaped-up barrels and huge bales of 
 merchandise ; and they all seemed to be assembled 
 there for the express purpose of greeting the newly- 
 arrived traveller. 
 
 Add to this picture the stately city-gate, built of 
 red brick and white stone, reared upon antique 
 pilasters, and adorned with busts of emperors, lordly 
 escutcheons, and grim lions ; beyond it a medley of 
 houses, streets, canals, and boats, all bathed in warm, 
 harmonious, scintillating light, while the countless 
 voices of busy life aid the effect of the many-tinted 
 picture. Surely, nothing more picturesque and charm- 
 ing could be seen, no spectacle more complete of 
 aspect, more lively of expression, more cordial and 
 cheery. Now that steam plays its pranks every- 
 where with everything, the traveller does not always 
 
 ^ These four rivers are the Maas, the Waal, the Linge, and the Mer- 
 ■wede. On the occasion of the visit of Philip II. in 1649, the city adopted 
 the following lines as its device : — 
 
 Me Mosa, me Vahalis, me Linga Mervaque cingunt 
 yEteruam Batavse virginis ecce fidem. 
 
 i^'
 
 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 come to the town by sea; but Dort is ever hos- 
 pitable, let it turn which side of its face it may to 
 the new arrival ; and it is by avenues bordered with 
 those gardens which won for the Dutchmen of old 
 the reputation of being ' the first florists of the world,' 
 that the town is connected with the handsomest 
 railway station in Holland. 
 
 It is also worthy of note that the characteristic of 
 cordial hospitality is not confined to the streets, the 
 canals, the quays, and the houses of Dort ; the in- 
 habitants are likewise largely endowed with that 
 virtue; they have an established reputation for it some 
 centuries old. 
 
 Two hundred and forty years ago, the Sieur de 
 la Serre, historiographer of France, who was ap- 
 pointed to accompany Marie de Medicis on her travels 
 in Holland, wrote as follows : ' I must not fail to 
 give the praise that is due to them to the magistrates 
 of Dordrecht, on the occasion of the reception of 
 her Majesty. They acquitted themselves so worthily 
 of the duties of their station, to the honour of the 
 country and of their city, and to the special content- 
 ment of her Majesty, that, if some others have imi- 
 tated, none have surpassed them.' ^ 
 
 Such a tribute from such a pen is equivalent to a 
 title of nobility for a town ; and the Sieur de la Serre 
 in nowise exaggerated the splendour and heartiness 
 of the reception given by Dordrecht to the queen. 
 
 ' Histoire de V entree de la Reyne, nih'e du Hoi tr^s~ Chretien, dans 
 les Provinces-Unies des Pays Bus. Londres, 1639.
 
 HOSPITALITY OF DORDRECHT. 
 
 'For,' he adds, 'right pleasant, of a surety, Avas it 
 to see all the citizens of the town richly armed and 
 ranged in a long line, and yet more so to contemplate 
 the infinite number of fair dames, all in sumptuous 
 attire, who crowded the windows of the houses, while 
 an agreeable noise of musketry, mingled with a 
 thousand shouts of joy, charmed all hearts through 
 all ears.' 
 
 The queen was dehghted with this tumultuous 
 welcome, but a further surprise was in store for her, 
 and it was not until supper-time that the festival was 
 complete. ' A great number of tables were set out 
 in different places for the entertainment of all the 
 Court. The tables of her Majesty and his High- 
 ness, which w^ere separate, were laid with incom- 
 parable splendour and every kind of abundance. 
 All these banquet-halls were hghted up, and in the 
 streets were so many bonfires that the whole town 
 looked from a distance like a huge pile of wood in 
 flames ; and the splendour of these feasts was all the 
 more agreeable that they could be seen and heard 
 on all sides, so that the merry-making was general.' 
 
 The Sieur de la Serre w^as in the right when he 
 dealt out such hearty praise to the magistrates and the 
 people of Dordrecht. But, it may be objected, Marie 
 de Medicis was a queen, and it is not every day a 
 town gets the chance of entertaining a royal guest. 
 That is quite true, and I could not venture to assert 
 that in such a matter the rank of the individual does 
 not count ; but I fearlessly add that the hospitaUty
 
 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 of Dordrecht is — it cannot be too loudly proclaimed 
 — a princely hospitality, though its objects be only 
 unpretending strangers. To prove this I will relate 
 a personal experience, already of old date, which 
 enabled me to estimate Dort and its inhabitants 
 aright. 
 
 Four years ago I was at Dort, with the same 
 two friends, and we three were keeping house to- 
 gether in this same tjalk. Madame de Stolopine, 
 the wife of the Kussian Minister at the Hague, a 
 charming woman, very clever and highly informed, 
 of artistic tastes, and consequently largely endowed 
 with curiosity, had expressed a desire to inspect our 
 river-house. On our arrival at Dordrecht we tele- 
 graphed to Madame de Stolopine that we were at 
 her service, quite ready to receive her, and hoped 
 she would breakfast on board our boat on the fol- 
 lowing day. Two hours after the despatch of our 
 message her answer arrived. It was as follows : 
 ' I accept your invitation ; I shall arrive to-morrow, 
 at eleven. May I bring some one with me ? ' We 
 had never thought of such a thing as her coming 
 all by herself, and we answered, ' Bring anyone you 
 please.' As, however, I was cook and butler on 
 board, I added, as a measure of precaution, ' Please 
 say how many guests we may expect.' Having 
 sent off this pertinent question, I began to make 
 out the bill of fare for the morrow, and to consider 
 seriously how we should manage so as not to run 
 short of china, glass, and silver on the great occasion.
 
 VISTTORS. 
 
 The problem was a difficult one ; we had just eight 
 covers. But I was flattering myself that I had hit 
 upon a clever combination, and that all would go 
 well, when a second telegram arrived, ' We shall be 
 ten in all ! ' 
 
 Ten! Good heavens, what was to be done? 
 Heemskerk and Constant were in a boat in the 
 middle of the river, absorbed in sketching ! To apply 
 to them for aid or comfort was impossible ; so I 
 put a bold face on the matter, and went off to 
 confide my perplexity to M. Blusse, who was then 
 director of the Museum, and has since become a 
 member of the States General. M. Blusse Hstened 
 to me with mahgn curiosity, under which I detected 
 a strong inclination to laugh ' consumedly.' This 
 incUnation I did not share in the least, for my repu- 
 tation was at stake. 
 
 ' I understand your difficulty,' said he, at length ; 
 ' but we can easily set things right. In the first place, 
 what do you want? Provisions? You can get 
 everything in the town, and very good.' 
 
 ' But I don't know the town. Where are the 
 purveyors to be found ? ' 
 
 ' That will be all right. I will send you the 
 Kastelein from our club, and he will take you to all 
 the best places.' 
 
 'And the silver, the glasses, the plates and 
 dishes ? ' 
 
 ' I will take care you have everything of that 
 kind. The Kastelein shall see to those also. And
 
 10 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 as for fruit, you must let me send you some. I have 
 more than I know what to do with. ' 
 
 'Many thanks; I accept most gratefully. Oh, 
 the carriages ! Is there a good livery-stable in the 
 town ? We shall have to send to the station to fetch 
 our guests.' 
 
 ' I'll manage that ; the carriages also shall be my 
 affair. You shall have four, up to time, to-morrow, 
 and I hope you will find everything all right.' 
 
 These comforting assurances relieved my anxiety, 
 and seemed to lift at least a hundredweight from off 
 my breast. We went at once to the club ; the 
 Kastelein placed himself at my disposal, and he and I 
 sallied forth to lay in the requisite provisions. In 
 the evening I drew up the programme of our break- 
 fast, which was to consist of eight plats^ in three 
 courses. Heemskerk and Constant set to work 
 with a will, and designed some lovely menus^ and 
 I sent Slurnik, our schipper, with a modest hand- 
 basket, to bring back the fruit that the admirable 
 M. Blusse had promised me. Slurnik returned in an 
 hour, staggering under the weight of a huge hamper, 
 loaded with a rich treasure of melons, pears, peaches, 
 and grapes ; which, to judge by their size, might 
 have been grown in the land of Canaan. 
 
 ' What in the world do you mean by bringing such 
 a basket as that ? ' Thus had M. Blusse addressed 
 the schipper. ' You might as well have brought a 
 plate ! ' And, regardless of the apologies of Slurnik, 
 he helped him to hoist on his shoulders a hamper
 
 M. BLUSS^. 11 
 
 which weighed as much as a humane man Avould 
 like to put on the back of a middle-sized donkey. 
 
 This, however, was not the only surprise in store 
 for us. The next morning, at eight o'clock, just as I 
 was warming to my cooking, a messenger arrived in 
 charge of a superb service of plate. The handles of the 
 knives and forks bore splendid heraldic shields ; and 
 there were eighty-eight covers. A t nine came a dinner- 
 service of exquisite china, a quantity of richly-cut 
 glass, and table linen of the finest damask. We were 
 somewhat like Marguerite ; ' we did not know what 
 to say.' Finally, at half-past ten o'clock, four fault- 
 less equipages — princely landaus — each drawn by 
 two superb horses, and with a coachman and groom 
 in full-dress Hveries and gold lace — drew up, and 
 we were informed that they awaited our orders. The 
 admirable M. Blusse had simply requisitioned the 
 four handsomest carriages in the town, and their 
 owners had sent them to us with the greatest plea- 
 sure. Five minutes later the four carriages started 
 at a brisk trot which shook the windows, and in a 
 very short time we brought back our guests, greatly 
 amazed at such a display of magnificence, and en- 
 chanted with the cheers and acclamations that greeted 
 them as we drove along ; for the cordial and friendly 
 inhabitants associated themselves with our httle fes- 
 tival, and got up a reception of the distinguished 
 strangers on their own account. 
 
 Permit me to pass, with fitting reserve, over the 
 breakfast, prepared by your humble servant, set out,
 
 12 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 presented, and served by Heemskerk and Constant 
 de Rebecqiie, who were correctly arrayed in black 
 clothes and white gloves. The little feast was a 
 merry one ; everyone laughed and talked a great 
 deal, and ate and drank even more ; and nothing 
 could be more enthusiastic than the admiration 
 lavislied upon our queer quarters and their ' get- 
 up.' The splendour of our table appointments was 
 extolled, and we received the tribute of praise in 
 modest silence, carrying it all the while to the 
 account of the good town of Dordrecht, and its dear 
 good people in general, and our inestimable friend 
 the admirable M. Blusse in particular. 
 
 Four years have elapsed since then, and those 
 things are yet held in wondering memory. (I am 
 borne out by the reminiscences of two fascinating 
 countesses, and those of the charming friend who 
 brought them to Dort.) That princely reception, 
 and the fame of those superb carriages and magni- 
 ficent horses, are still celebrated in a small aristo- 
 cratic circle, and indeed it is but just, for they are 
 not to be beaten in the Low Countries. At Dordrecht 
 fine equipages are highly esteemed, and nowhere are 
 they more numerous ; for no town in Holland is 
 richer than old Dort, that joyous, gracious, smart, 
 brightly-tinted city of millionnaires, so inexplicably 
 neglected by artists in general. There are few great 
 enterprises in the country but the capitalists of 
 Dordrecht have a hand in them, and if ever you 
 travel into Sweden and Norway, you will do well to
 
 THE STAPLE OF DORDRECHT. 13 
 
 get letters of introduction and recommendation from 
 Dordrecht, for the money which the people there 
 have placed out to fructify in the cold countries is 
 almost incalculable. 
 
 This great wealth is easily explicable. Dordrecht 
 used formerly to enjoy an exceptional privilege — a 
 sort of Hon's share, in fact, of a very lucrative kind — 
 which gave the town a leading place in the commerce 
 of Holland. This privilege, known as ' The Staple of 
 Dordrecht,' is referred to by Guicciardini, in the six- 
 teenth century, in his ' Descrittione di tutti i Paesi 
 Bassi, altrimente detti Germania Inferiore,' as follows : 
 'The privileges of the Staple of Dordrecht are so 
 substantial that all carriers, by way of the Ehine and 
 the Maas, of wine, grain, wood, and other merchan- 
 dise passing by that town, are under obhgation to 
 unload their barges or barks in that port, and there 
 to pay all the duties imposed, and to unload and land 
 their goods solely by means of the boats or the citizens 
 of that place, or else to agree with them, and with 
 the keepers of the customs and the toll-houses.' 
 
 It is easy to perceive the great advantage of so 
 important a privilege, especially when it is borne in 
 mind that wine, grain, wood, etc., had all to be 
 imported into Holland, and that almost the whole of 
 these goods came by way of the Rhine. Guicciardini 
 is quite justified in saying that Dordrecht was highly 
 favoured by ' this great commodity and benefit,' 
 which formed ' a rich revenue and large profit ' for 
 the inhabitants.
 
 U THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 It is to be remembered too that Dort possessed 
 this privilege for centuries. It was, in fact, a ' gift of 
 liappy accession ' granted by the Counts of Holland, 
 who were invested with their authority within the 
 walls, and habitually dwelt in the city. After their 
 time the Burgundian princes recognised the right 
 of Dort ; the princes of the house of Austria, and 
 Charles V. in particular, confirmed it by successive 
 edicts ; and, in the seventeenth century, after the 
 liberation of the United Provinces, Dort still asserted 
 that risht, and demanded observance of it from her 
 rivals and her neighbours. 
 
 The following curious and little known fact is 
 deserving of record. On the 19th March, 1618, Sir 
 Dudley Carleton (afterwards Lord Dorchester), who 
 was then Ambassador to the States General of 
 Holland, wrote to Secretary Naunton : — 
 
 ' Here is a troublesome dispute betwixt two 
 towns, Dort and Eotterdam, touching the Staple of 
 wines, which Dort doth challenge by ancient privi- 
 lege of the Emperor Charles V., and Eotterdam dis- 
 putes the same, in regard of the French wines, which 
 come now more frequently into those provinces than 
 when that privilege was granted. Hereupon those 
 of Eotterdam some weeks since took an armed boat 
 from those of Dort, which lay upon the river to 
 guard the passages. Those of Dort, in revenge 
 hereof, have within these two days shot a passage- 
 boat of Eotterdam, which refused to strike sail to 
 one of their ships, with a piece charged with musket-
 
 THE DECLIKE OF DORDRECHT. 15 
 
 bullets, and therein killed one and hurt five or 
 six. Betwixt unruly multitudes (as the people of 
 these towns are), of small beginnings many times 
 follow greater consequences, which makes me give 
 your honour so particular an account of this ac- 
 cident.' ^ 
 
 Thus, in the seventeenth century, at the moment 
 when the union of the provinces was accomplished, 
 when the murder of Olden-Barneveldt had given 
 Prince Maurice of Nassau authority which was 
 almost that of a dictator, two neighbouring mer- 
 cantile cities belonging to the same nation were 
 falhng foul of each other, and exchanging shots upon 
 the Maas on account of this enviable privilege. 
 
 Unhappily for Dordrecht, not all its angry and 
 urgent vindication of its right availed for its retention. 
 Only at the cost of keeping up a fleet, and being per- 
 petually at war with all the seaport towns of Holland, 
 could the Staple have been maintained. That fertile 
 source of great revenues had to be renounced, and 
 the city was destined simultaneously to experience a 
 rapid decline in power and influence. 
 
 Until then Dordrecht had, in fact, held the first 
 rank in the councils of the province. Not only did 
 that city take precedence of Rotterdam, Delft, and 
 Gouda, but also of Haarlem, Leyden, and even 
 Amsterdam. Adriaan Boens, the poet, an ardent 
 
 ^ Letters to and from Sir Dudley Carleton, Knight, during Ms Em- 
 bassy in Holland, from January 161| to December 1620. London : 
 Printed in the year MDCOLVIl.
 
 16 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 admirer of tlie prosperous city, might write, unchal- 
 lenged : — 
 
 De la Hollande, ainsi, Dort a le premier rang ; 
 Et prudeute a produict le plus illustre sang, 
 Qui gouverne avec heur sa sage R^publique.^ 
 
 This foremost place was, in truth, Dordrecht's 
 due. The city could claim it, not only as ' rich and 
 vast, fair and puissant, well built and stately,' but 
 because of its ancientness ; for it was acknowledged 
 to be the oldest in all the land. According to its 
 own inhabitants, the origin of their beloved Dort 
 might be traced to the earhest Christian times. Le- 
 gendary personages, St. Dorothea, Doretus, a wealthy 
 Eoman, and the god Thor, or Thur, so popular 
 in all the Batavian country,^ were invoked in expla- 
 nation of the name — which has been written in so 
 many ways, as Dort, Dordracum, Dorrechstsdrecht, 
 and even Turdrecht. The rapid advance of its for- 
 tunes, and the abundance of precious metals in the 
 city, led to the estabhshment of the Mint of the 
 Counts of Holland at Dort, in 1064. The charter 
 (No. 89) is preserved among the archives of Middel- 
 burg. In the fourteenth century the coins struck at 
 Dort were circulated in the Low Countries, and even 
 in the province of Zealand payments were made in 
 ' Dordrecht florins.' This important privilege, which 
 was afterwards confirmed by the sovereign houses of 
 
 ^ See the Beschryvinffe der Stad Dordrecht. 
 
 ^ Jans Rutgers says tlie name was simply derived from the river 
 Dort, which gave its name to the village of Dortmunde, and disappeared 
 in the loth century.
 
 IIET HOFF VAN HOLLAND. 17 
 
 Bavaria, Burgundy, and Austria, had been renewed 
 by Charles V. with much state and ceremony. It 
 was under that great monarch that the Mint, which 
 had been rebuilt on an enlarged scale, suitable to 
 the requirements of the time, was adorned with the 
 handsome Eenaissance facade, with attic and pilasters, 
 hat still bears the dedicatory inscription : ' Moneta . 
 Divo . Carolo . V . Cass.' 
 
 As early as 1048, Dordrecht was sufficiently 
 flourishing to excite the cupidity of the Archbishop 
 of Cologne and the Bishop of Liege, and those 
 worthy prelates sent an army, commanded by the 
 Marquis of Brandenburg, to take it. 
 
 Floris rV. and the succeeding Counts of Hol- 
 land held their ' court ' at Dordrecht, and their resi- 
 dence, which is still to be seen, and continues to 
 bear the name of Het HofF van Holland, enables 
 us to discern the primitive signification of the word 
 ' court,' which seems hardly to be defined. This Het 
 Hoff consisted, in fact, of a real court of almost 
 circular form, surrounded by lofty buildings, most 
 of tliem connected witli the neighbouring houses, 
 and which could be reached only by narrow and 
 winding streets leading to strongly-fortified gates. 
 In the primitive times when firearms were unknown, 
 this ' court ' in the middle of the city formed an 
 impregnable retreat. There troops could be concen- 
 trated, and the evil designs of adversaries defeated, 
 because ingress and egress through the various gates 
 

 
 18 THE HEART OF JfOLLANJ). 
 
 opening into clifTerent quarters was always practicable 
 without the possibility of prevention. 
 
 In short, every circumstance and condition con- 
 tributed to render Dordrecht an exceptionally flourish- 
 ing city. The seat of the Mint and of Government, 
 and of the court of the Counts of Holland, it was 
 enriched, embellished, and favoured beyond all others 
 by its sovereign princes. In addition to all this, the 
 most terrible visitations did but aggrandise its des- 
 tinies and minister to its greatness. 
 
 On the south side of its l)ell tower the fol- 
 lowing inscription, cut in stone, and terrible in its 
 laconism, may be read : — 
 
 ANNO CHRISTI 1421 NOVEMBRIS 18 — 
 
 SUBMEESiE MANSEKUNT 72 VILLjE CONTINUE DORDRACO. 
 
 ' In the year of Christ 1421, on November 18, seventy- 
 two villages in the environs of Dordrecht remained 
 in the water.' Says a chronicler of the Low Countries, 
 ' Seventy-two good and fair villages, and more than 
 one hundred thousand persons, perished miserably 
 with all their goods and substance.' On that fatal 
 night, the Maas and the Waas, swollen by the influx 
 of an extraordinarily high tide, overflowed their 
 banks and spread over the country, carrying ruin 
 with their onward rush, and in a few hours trans- 
 forming rich and fertile fields into lakes and rivers. 
 
 And Dordrecht ? Dordreclit, which, the day 
 before, belonged to the mainland, which was 'joined 
 to the Duchy of Brabant,' awoke on the following 
 morning, intact indeed, and unhurt, but forming an
 
 DORDRECHT INSULATED. 19 
 
 island, surrounded by deep running water, with four 
 rivers encircling its old ramparts. For a city like 
 Dordrecht, rich, industrious, trading largely, and 
 possessing the privilege of the Staple, this meant the 
 doubling of its prosperity, an unlooked-for and un- 
 equalled stroke of fortune. 
 
 In vain did a terrible fire destroy one half of the 
 houses in the town, in 1457. Like the phoenix, it 
 arose from its ashes more vigorous, more full of life, 
 wealthier, fairer than ever, so that when some years 
 afterwards the Sieur de la Serre visited Dordrecht he 
 recorded that, ' there are to be seen a vast number 
 of fine houses, builded upon great vaulted cellars, 
 wherein are stored wines, timber, marbles, slates, 
 lime, iron, and coals, which come down the Ehine and 
 the Maas.' ^ 
 
 A sonnet, by Isaac le Ducq, which was published 
 in 1677 by Matthys Balen, extols the grandeur, the 
 valour, and the wealth of Dordrecht, the wisdom of 
 its magistracy, the beauty of its aspect, the fertihty of 
 its soil, and the sweetness of its lavish waters. 
 
 Qui bien contemplera Dordrecht encor Pucelle, 
 Ses Mtiments, ses ports et ses temples si beaux, 
 L'ordre de ses bourgeois sous ses onze drapeaux, 
 En suivant du vieux Mars le martial modelle, 
 Et considerera ce qu'est comprins en elle : 
 Son terroir fructuenx, ses claires douces eaux, 
 Riclies tant en poissons qu'en nombres de basteaux, 
 Qui sur mille Oit^z la rendent la plus belle ; 
 
 • Ilistoire de Vpntree de la Beyne, mere du Rot tres-ChrStien, dans 
 Ics Rruoinces- Uniea des Fatjn Bas. Par Le Sieur de la Serre. 
 
 C 2
 
 20 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Qui plus est, ses statutz, de tant de droicts orn^z, 
 Qui lui sont tant d'un roy que d'uu Csesar doDU(5z, 
 Qui plus est, ses pasteurs, dout la piete grande 
 lustruict ses citoiens sans negliger un jour, 
 Pour les conjoindre a Dieu, et a son sainct Amour, 
 Confessera que c'est la Perle de Hollande. 
 
 In vain did the dukes and the kings who came 
 after the Counts of Holland, slight this ' pearl,' as the 
 poet calls the fair city, forget the ' court ' where their 
 predecessors had loved to dwell, and make but rare 
 and brief sojourn within its walls. Dordrecht con- 
 soled itself readily, preferring solid wealth to sove- 
 reign grandeur, independence, and government ' by 
 its own born citizens,' to the gilded chains of a direct 
 vassalage, and holding the welfare of its people above 
 barren honours. 
 
 A breezy breath of republicanism and inde- 
 pendence has always been abroad in the streets and 
 the market-places of Dort. To this day its inhabi- 
 tants point, with a kind of pride, to the place where 
 Count Henry H. was killed by an archer, and it should 
 be borne in mind that Dordrecht was the first town in 
 Holland to cast off the yoke of the foreigner, that at 
 Dordrecht the deputies from the cities assembled for 
 the first time, and resistance to the Spaniards was 
 organised, on the 16th of July, 1572, 
 
 The patriotic, generous, and hberal past of the city 
 bears two stains ; the Synod of Dort, which led to 
 such disastrous consequences, and the arrest of the 
 illustrious CorneHus de Witt. I have no intention of 
 discussing the Synod of Dort : that great act of in-
 
 THE SYNOD OF DORT. 21 
 
 tolerance would need to be studied at leisure, con- 
 templated from every point of view, and considered 
 under all its aspects, before one could venture to pass 
 final sentence upon it. But is it not strange to find 
 these emancipated pastors, on the morrow of their 
 victory, on the morrow of their escape fi-om a yoke 
 whicli tliey denounced as all that was cruel, abusing 
 the authority they had arrogated to themselves, and 
 calling in the sword of the civil authority to sanction 
 their conduct? Is it not especially strange to find 
 the followers of Arminius using the same arguments 
 ao-ainst their adversaries with which the Eeformers 
 opposed the Council of Trent, and the Gomarists 
 putting forward their monstrous claim to be at once 
 judges and suitors, refusing their adversaries not 
 only the right of suffrage, but also the delibera- 
 tive vote, and thus constituting themselves infallible, 
 just after they had denied the infaUibility of the 
 Pope ? 
 
 In vain did the Anninians protest against the 
 doctrinal judgment of so novel a tribunal, one which 
 claimed to impose a religion by force, while it denied 
 that God had endowed anyone on earth with the 
 gift of infallibly defining the dogmas of faith. The 
 Arminians were regarded as heretics, and the self- 
 same ministers who had risen against censures and 
 excommunications pronounced by the Councils, treated 
 them as excommunicated. 
 
 The Gomarists, having won a cheap victory over 
 antagonists whom tliey had put to silence, drew up
 
 22 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 ninety-three canons, which were ratified on the 2nd 
 of July by the States General, and then was seen 
 a pohtical party avaihng itself of rehgious subtleties 
 to crush its adversaries. The remonstrants were, in 
 fact, pursued on all sides, hunted like outlaws, and 
 ex])elled from the country, and the ' secular arm ' was 
 employed in the extermination of their tolerant sect. 
 One hundred ministers and professors who refused 
 to subscribe to the decree of the Synod were banished 
 without appeal. Grotius, one of the most learned 
 men of the age, and Hogerbets, Pensionary ofLeyden, 
 were both condemned to perpetual imprisonment, 
 and confined in the castle of Lowvestein. Gilles of 
 Leydenberg was found dead in his prison, but his 
 body was hung upon the gibbet at Voorburg, and 
 tlie aged servant of his country, Olden-Barnveldt, 
 the companion of William the Silent, laid his head 
 upon the block when seventy-two years old ! What a 
 hideous ending to all those fiery and eloquent orations ! 
 
 The other dark, grievous, and terrible event 
 that troubles the patriotic history of Dordrecht like 
 a bad dream, also found its close at the Hague. It was 
 in 1672, in the course of that terrible year in which 
 Holland, half conquered, seemed to be on the brink 
 of destruction. The armies of the States were melting 
 away, so to speak, before the troops of the ' Eoi-Soleil,' 
 and the people, in their alarm, distress, almost despair, 
 threw the responsibility of these successive disasters 
 on the brothers de Witt. 
 
 Cornehus, the elder brother, ^vho had been obliged
 
 'ORANJE BOVEN: 23 
 
 to relinquish the command of the fleet, had returned, 
 ill and exhausted, to his house at Dordrecht, that 
 he might recruit his rapidly faihng strength by quiet 
 and rest. He who had formerly been the idol of the 
 city of his birth was received with imprecations, and 
 day after day a fierce, threatening, cursing crowd 
 gathered under his windows, ready for an outbreak. 
 In vain did all the cooler heads strive to appease 
 those turbulent spirits ; and yet there was one moment 
 when they seemed to have succeeded. With loud 
 cries, and under threats of death, the people had 
 constrained the magistrate to summon the Prince of 
 Orange to the city, and the rioters hoisted two flags 
 on the church toAver. That which streamed from 
 the summit of the flagstaff was orange ; the other, 
 lower down, was white, and carried as its device the 
 following halting verse : — 
 
 Oraiije boven, de Witte onJer, 
 
 Die 't aiiders meeud die flaet den dondei' ! ' 
 
 The Dutch have always been partial to that kind of 
 wit which consists of a play upon words. ' De Witte ' 
 is Dutch for ' the white,' and in the present instance 
 stands for the brothers de Witt. The meaning of 
 the punning motto was pointed by the white flag 
 hunt? below tlie orange standard. Ever since that 
 time ' Oranje boven ' has become a sort of national 
 cry, and the countersign of the Orange party. 
 
 The Prince of Orange came to Dort, was released 
 
 ' Orange above, de Witt under, 
 
 Who say 3 nay, strike Liiu, thunder !
 
 L>4 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 from his oath, and proclaimed Stadth older. Cornelius 
 le Witt himself, lying on his bed of pain, was con- 
 strained to sign the act of nomination. The tragedy 
 appeared to be concluded ; in truth it was but begun. 
 
 On the lOtli of July, between ten and eleven o'clock 
 in the morning, Willem Tichelaer, a surgeon from 
 Piershil, came to the house of Cornelius de "Witt, and 
 requested a private interview with him. As de Witt 
 was in his bed, and suffering from a severe attack of 
 fever, Tichelaer was refused admittance. He persisted, 
 using the names of several friends, and at length he 
 Avas let in ; but Madame de Witt, who suspected 
 some evil design, posted first a servant, and after- 
 wards her own son, on guard in a corner of the room. 
 Nothing^ unusual occurred durins^ the interview. 
 Tichelaer remained for a quarter of an hour with 
 the invalid, then took his leave quietly, immediately 
 left the city, repaired to the army, and informed the 
 house steward of the Prince of Orange that Cornelius 
 de Witt had planned the murder of his Highness, and 
 endeavoured to suborn him, Tichelaer, to execute the 
 heinous design. 
 
 Ten days passed. The Court of Holland ' took in- 
 formations.' At length, on the 24th of July, Euysch, 
 the procurator-fiscal, with the provost-marshal and 
 his archers, arrived at Dordrecht, and seized the un- 
 fortunate invalid. Then the former Burgomaster of 
 Dort, the ' Ruart,' of Plotten, the Curator of the Uni- 
 versity of Leyden, one of the greatest personages of his 
 country, and one of the most noble characters of his
 
 THE FATE OF THE DE WITTS. 25 
 
 time, was dragged from his bed, and carried as a 
 prisoner to the castle-ward at the Hague, upon the 
 deposition of a witness who had neither character nor 
 importance of any kind.^ 
 
 The end is well known : the trial, the imprison- 
 ment, the snare laid for a brother, the horrible assas- 
 sination under the Gevangenpoort, the hideous muti- 
 lation of the two corpses, and the exposure upon 
 the gibbet of the illustrious victims to the foul insults 
 of the inhuman crowd. 
 
 Let us turn away our eyes from this terrible pic- 
 ture, and look upon the fairer aspects of old Dort, 
 while we turn over some brighter pages of its history. 
 Well might it claim to be famous, were it only as the 
 native place of several illustrious artists. Few cities, 
 not only in Holland, but in the world, have been so 
 highly favoured in that respect as Dordrecht. From 
 1575, in which year Jacob Gerritse Cuyp was born 
 within its walls, a whole series of great painters 
 adorned the city so justly proud of them, with the 
 tribute of their deathless fame. Here, in 1605, was 
 born Aalbert Cuyp, one of the greatest masters 
 of Dutch art, one of the most finished artists of 
 that golden age. In 1611, Ferdinand Bol, and in 
 1632, Nicolaes Maas, were born at Dort. These painters 
 borrowed from Eembrandt their marvellous spirit, and 
 their surpassing skill in putting light into their work. 
 In 1643, Schalken, also a ' luminarist,' but of another 
 
 ' Histoire tie la vie et de la mart des illusfres frh-es Corneille et Jean 
 de Witt. Utrecht, 1709. See sdao Histoi7-e des Provinces- Uiiies. lieclerc.
 
 26 TIIM UK ART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 school, was added to the number. After these came 
 Arend de Gelder, Arnold Houbraken, the Vasari of 
 the Dutch school/ Dirk Stoop, and a dozen others ; 
 and, to come down to a later time, almost to our own 
 days, the world owes to Dordrecht that great and 
 sombre painter, Ary SchefFer. 
 
 What a group of names — Cuyp, Bol, Maas, and 
 Scheffer ! What a contrast ! The first three were all 
 fire, all sun, all life ; they either took their subjects 
 from the street, or tlie fields, or they shut them up in 
 a room through which a warm ray of light filtered. 
 They did wonders with the brush, which interpreted 
 the vehemence of their feeling, seizing upon truth and 
 facts, and, as it were, incrusting them in a marvellous 
 impasto. The last of the four was still, wan, chilly, 
 deliberate, without animation and without strength ; 
 he sought his subjects in an ideal Avorld, a vague 
 world, more German than anything else, and he per- 
 sonified in a fine, thin, transparent, emaciated style 
 tlie fantastic creations of Goethe's hazy genius, or the 
 Platonic idealism of Dante, 
 
 Like his predecessors, Scheffer might have been 
 an artist of the robust type, but, while Cuyp, Bol, and 
 Maas dwelt in their own country, in vivid, brightly- 
 tinted Holland, and sunned themselves in its scintil- 
 lating light, Scheffer went to another country, to see 
 other sights, to become the interpreter of other inspi- 
 rations. An unfinished portrait, which belongs to the 
 
 ' See his work entitled : De Gruote Schoiiburc/ der Nederlandsch 
 Kuiiitschilders. Auisterdam, 1718.
 
 Ain^ SCHEFFER. 27 
 
 Museum at Dordrecht, shows us what he might have 
 been. Never was there a head more boldly drawn, 
 more finely modelled, more purely coloured, pamted 
 with more masterly breadth and freedom. Only Frans 
 Hals could have equalled it in vigour, life, and ex- 
 pression. It is because that head is all made of 
 impressions and sensations, that it is so powerful and 
 so beautiful ; it is because the painter had not time 
 to finish it, to substitute a sickly interpretation for 
 his first fresh and vivid inspiration, to efface its 
 pristine vigour l^y touches which should make it 
 haggard, pale, and meagre, more poetical in short, 
 according to his notions of poetry. He had not 
 leisure, for this once, to produce idealism, and so he 
 simply produced a true and fine painting. 
 
 This beautiful and exceptional work is the most 
 interesting picture in the Dort Museum, which, al- 
 though it contains some good modern paintings, can- 
 not compete with the collections at Amsterdam, the 
 Hague, and Eotterdam, or with the Van der Hoop 
 Museum. The Dordrecht Museum might, however, 
 have possessed a number of great works by old mas- 
 ters, if a certain inhabitant of the city, who pre- 
 ferred to augment the artistic wealth of Amsterdam, 
 had endowed his birthplace with the treasures he 
 possessed. This collector, whose name was Dupper, 
 and who died in 1870, was a person of sound taste and 
 unerring judgment, and he had by degrees become pos- 
 sessed of one of the most valuable picture galleries in 
 the Netherlands. It included sixty-four old pictures,
 
 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 three-fourths of them masterpieces. Among these 
 was the finest Jan Steen in existence, a superb 
 Jacob van Euysdael, a wonderful Maas, one of the 
 best Ostades, an admirable Gerhard Douw, the finest 
 Solomon van Ruysdael I have ever seen, a Hobbema, 
 and some Lingelbachs, Wouvermans, and Van Goyens, 
 of exquisite quality. Mynheer Dupper had also some 
 excellent modern pictures. He divided his collection 
 into two parts, of which the Maas, the Steens, the Ruys- 
 daels, the Van Goyens, and the Hobbema were sent ofi* 
 to be swallowed up in the great galleries of the Trip- 
 penhuis. Dordrecht had the remainder. 
 
 Although the ' Pearl of Holland ' has been scurvily 
 treated by fate, insomuch as it has had to part with 
 so many art treasures, and has been unable to pre- 
 serve any of the works of those great painters whose 
 birth within its walls sheds a lustre upon its history, it 
 has been happier as regards its sculptors. Fine sam- 
 ples of tlieir art still challenge the admiration of the 
 visitor. Beautiful carvings in wood, panelling, and 
 stalls, undoubted masterpieces of Flemish sculpture, 
 decorate that great church, whose spire is visible 
 from so far, and whose nave is the widest and most 
 elegantly designed in all Holland. 
 
 These carvings are the works of a great, but hardly 
 known artist, Jan Terven. He was born at Dor- 
 drecht in 1511, and died in 1589. His Avorks date 
 from 1538-9, and to name their epoch is to indicate 
 their style. They belong, both in conception and 
 execution, to the best period of the Eenaissance. Two
 
 THE ]IOUSE OF THE SCOTTISH MERCHANTS AT VEER.
 
 ANCIENT HOUSES. 29 
 
 friezes, in particular, are worthy of close attention. 
 One of these represents the glorification of the Catho- 
 Hc Faith, the other that of the Emperor Charles V. ; 
 the triumph of the spiritual and temporal power re- 
 spectively. Both are represented by long processions 
 which resemble in the pomp of their ordering and 
 the magnificence of their adjustment those grand 
 and stately pageants which Albert Durer has im- 
 mortalised. These wood carvings, of exquisite work- 
 manship, are not the only treasures of sculpture 
 which we find at Dordrecht. They abound on the 
 fa(^ades of the houses; on all sides sculptured key- 
 stones, consoles, and elegant bas-rehefs are to be 
 seen. I could enumerate at least ten of the latter, 
 but I will be content with a word of praise for the 
 striking design over the gate of the Orphanage. 
 
 At Dordrecht, as elsewhere, the number of ' fair 
 houses builded in the ancient style ' diminishes apace. 
 General indifference, which is essentially iconoclastic, 
 the needs of commerce, the demands of ' comfort,' so 
 differently interpreted in the present day, lead each 
 year to the disappearance of some one or other of 
 those gems of the good old time ; but their memory 
 will not be lost for evermore. Ere they disappear 
 before the advance of the demolishing pick and crow- 
 bar, Mynheer Van G , a learned son of Dordrecht, 
 
 whose feelings are as acute as his tastes are culti- 
 vated, makes drawings of them. He has indulged 
 me with tlie sight of his huge portfohos, in which 
 he has carefully embalmed (if I may be permitted
 
 30 THE HEART OF HOLLA XD. 
 
 that expression), a hundred venerable, elegant, ar- 
 tistic, or curious fagades, which have been destroyed 
 within half a century. I could not but be affected 
 by the collector's reverence for his natal city, and by 
 the fihal piety with which he cherishes its ancient 
 memories ; nor could I fail to share his regret for 
 those stately houses which in former days adorned 
 old Dordrecht. 
 
 It is useless to detain you longer with vain regrets ; 
 I shall do better to show you the ancient streets, 
 the antique dwellings, and the picturesque nooks 
 still existing in the city, to take you to the ' old ' 
 and the ' new ' harbour — they are both old — full of 
 boats, and shaded by great trees, and to introduce 
 you to ' the Street of Wine,' last vestige of ' the 
 Staple,' with its venerable houses, built over the vast 
 vaulted cellars which were storehouses in the palmy 
 days of Dordrecht. I wish I could take you to the 
 neigh]3ourhood of the church, to the great canal 
 without quays, where brown old houses, with rickety 
 staircases and black balustrades, stand in the water, 
 and reflect their red roofs in its silvery flow. 
 
 Nothing could be more picturesque, more charac- 
 teristic, more perfect as an assemblage of lines, curves, 
 and colouring, than those curious corners of the old 
 river-girdled city, especially when a barge, crowded 
 Avith peasant women wearing long veils, or the gigantic 
 country caps, comes lumbering by. Then, to the 
 fancy of the beholder, the old times return. The 
 warm and decided colours, the sea-green water, in
 
 THE VIEW FROM THE BELLEVUE HOTEL. 31 
 
 which everything is reflected so distinctly, the 
 buildings in which red predominates, and black is 
 blacker than anywhere else in the world, the blue 
 sky dappled with grey, these sun rays which dart 
 into every corner, produce dehcious harmonies which 
 rest the mind while they delight the eyes. 
 
 We talk and talk, and time passes. Our boat should 
 have arrived ere this. Let us return to the harbour, 
 and have another look at the quays, at the grand 
 stretch of the two ports, at the basins. From the 
 Bellevue Hotel we can sweep this wonderful panorama 
 with our glasses. 
 
 What is this which we descry in the distance? 
 A double flag, a streaming tricolor, and a red sail 
 spread above a shining hull ? Who is that mariner 
 bending over the helm ? He is our schipper ; that is 
 our tjalk. Quick with the signals ! We are seen. 
 Caps are waved, the great sail falls, the tjalk comes 
 alongside, and in a twinkling we are on board.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE MAAS — GRAVENDEEL's AND PUTTERSHOEK THE HOLLANDSCH 
 
 DIEP — AN ACCIDENT — AN HEROIC PASSAGE— THE SOUND. 
 
 |T was on a Friday, at three o'clock, that 
 we set sail. We had told our crew that 
 we wanted to go direct, without a 
 stoppage, to Zierikzee, and they had 
 objected strongly. We had signified our desire to 
 arrive on the Saturday evening, so that we might pass 
 the Sunday at Zierikzee, and they had sternly made 
 answer that such a possibility was not to be enter- 
 tained for a moment. 
 
 No doubt the undertaking was an ambitious one, 
 and we had only to look at the map to understand 
 the protestations of the ^chipper and his men. We 
 should have to descend the old Maas, to bear to the 
 left, to double the point of Gravendeel's, to follow the 
 Nieuwe Waal, to gain the Moerdijk, and cross it, to 
 navigate the HoUandsch Diep to Willemstad, to get 
 into the Volke-Rak, and by way of the Maast Zijpe 
 gain the eastern Scheldt. From thence only could we
 
 PUTTERSHOEK. 33 
 
 discern the promised land, and throughout all that 
 great extent we should have to take the wind, the 
 current, and the tide into account. 
 
 The objections of the crew derived additional 
 reasonableness from the nature of the Dutch rivers, 
 which renders navigation uncertain, irregular, and to 
 a certain extent dangerous. These rivers are variable 
 in depth, frequently intersected by sand-banks, and 
 full of shallows, so that it is extremely difficult to 
 steer a boat in the midst of the many-coloured buoys, 
 which are laid along the route like watchful senti- 
 nels warning the navigator against venturing farther. 
 We felt, however, that it would never do to yield to 
 the remonstrances of the crew on the first day and 
 on the first question raised, so we determined to 
 carry our point, and the event proved that we did 
 well. 
 
 The voyage was slow at first, and we proposed to 
 wait patiently for high water at Puttershoek. At 
 six o'clock the tide began to rise, and enabled us 
 to round the point of Gravendeel's. These regions 
 were already famihar to my friends and to me ; 
 three years previously we had thoroughly explored 
 them. We greeted them, therefore, like old ac- 
 quaintances, and I distinctly remembered the inter- 
 minable dyke at Puttershoek on which stands the 
 village, bordered with great trees, and the inquisi- 
 tive inhabitants assembUng to see the foreigners pass 
 by ; the women congregated on the thresholds, in 
 gossiping groups, wearing compHcated head-dresses 
 
 D
 
 34 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 with circlets above the forehead and golden cork- 
 screws on the temples. In my mind's eye I could 
 still see their faces, so fair and rosy, with great blue 
 eyes — in some cases with the bistre mark of fever 
 underneath the hds ; and here and there among them 
 a young girl, with hollow cheeks and dead-white 
 diaphanous complexion, one of the victims of that 
 dismal malady, consumption, which levies a terrible 
 tribute on this country. The solemn, plodding men, 
 too, in black clothes, driving long narrow green carts 
 with high wheels, all these came back to me, witli 
 the dehcious scent of the newly-mown hay in the 
 air. 
 
 As we follow the course of the old Maas, on 
 whose bosom we are floating, many vivid memories 
 are awakened within us. By merely letting our- 
 selves go with the current we should come to Brill, 
 the cradle of the liberties of the Low Countries. 
 It is a ' douce ' and tranquil city nowadays, whose 
 silent canals and deep-tinted houses, shaded by 
 great trees, in no wise recall the heroic deeds of 
 old. Never did more peaceful aspect contrast with 
 more turbulent renown ; for it was here that the 
 terrible ' Beggars of the Sea,' the soldiers of Lumey, 
 Treslong, and Jacques Cabilleau, set up their first 
 bulwark. 
 
 On April 1, 1572, they surprised the city. 
 Knowing it to be ill guarded, indeed almost destitute 
 of troops, they disembarked on the island and came 
 on to assail it. One of the gates, to which they set
 
 SURPRISE OF BRILL. 35 
 
 fire, afforded them a convenient mode of entry, and 
 they took possession of it without bloodshed. Their 
 first purpose was to pillage the churches and to take 
 toll of the inhabitants, and they began by doing so ; but 
 the eligibility of the city as a station for themselves 
 struck them so strongly that they resolved to keep it, 
 and to ' hold the place to extremity.' They disem- 
 barked several guns, enrolled the citizens, and also 
 the peasants of the island, and wrote to the Prince 
 of Orange, asking his assistance. The latter, as 
 Meteren relates, was displeased at the taking of 
 Brill, fearing that his other designs would be dis- 
 covered, and that the Duke of Alva would be 
 prematurely apprised of them. The signification of 
 Brill is, in Dutch, ' spy-glass,' or ' spectacles,' and 
 the word, together with the date, the 1st of April, 
 tended to the production of dull jokes, and furnished 
 the conquerors with a theme for their lumbering 
 pleasantry.^ 
 
 It needs only a slight knowledge of what are 
 called ' the troubles of the Low Countries ' to enable 
 
 ^ Translator's note. — In Mr, Motley's * Rise of the Dutcli Republic ' 
 we find the following : 
 
 ' Den eersten dag van April 
 Verloos Due d'Alva zijnen BrUl ' — 
 
 which may be translated, 
 
 ' On April Fool's Day 
 Duke Alya's spectacles were stolen away,' 
 
 became a popular couplet. A caricature too was extensively circulated, 
 representing Admiral de la Marck stealing the Didie's spectacles from his 
 nose, while the Governor was supposed to be uttering his habitual ex- 
 pression, whenever any intelligence of importance was brought to him 
 — No es nada ! no es nada ! ' 'Tis nothing ! 'tis nothing ! ' 
 
 D 2
 
 36 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 lis to form an idea of the feverish, restless, riotous 
 existence of Brill during half a century. After that 
 long period of storm came calm, but Holland has 
 never ceased to regard the first rampart of her inde- 
 pendence with grateful veneration ; and it was within 
 the walls of Brill, that, after an interval of three 
 centuries, the country held the solemn commemoration 
 of the hard-won conquest of its liberties. 
 
 In 1872 and 1873, high festival was held at Brill. 
 I was in the fair city, when the king, the princes, 
 and the great official personages of the kingdom 
 came thither. The houses were hung with flags, 
 the facades were decorated, the streets, the squares, 
 and the canals were all crowded with brilliant groups 
 in holiday attire, and with countless soldiers and 
 sailors. At intervals the cannon thundered on the 
 Maas, and the roll of the drum alternated with the 
 shouts of the Dutch mariners. It seemed as though 
 the grand old time had come back again ; but 
 this was only the illusion of a day, and Brill now 
 wears its habitually solitary and tranquil aspect ; its 
 clean, picturesque little streets have again become 
 silent, and over its tree-shaded canals broods the cus- 
 tomary calm. The grassy ramparts of Brill are more 
 like dykes than fortifications ; they seem to guard 
 the place against the waters rather than against 
 human foes ; and — as also at Puttershoek, where the 
 whole village is perched on a height — the chief ob- 
 jects of dread are storm and flood. 
 
 At Gravendeel's we had also seen a long steep
 
 VILLAGE CEMETERY. 37 
 
 dyke, all covered with houses, making one intermi- 
 nable street of the village, and away at the far end of 
 it, behind a great sheet of water, a timeworn, decayed 
 old church in the midst of a green and grassy ceme- 
 tery, planted with fine far-spreading trees. It was 
 noonday, the street was silent, and God's acre was 
 quite solitary. The impressive stillness was not broken 
 except by the swarming gnats wheeling and hum- 
 ming in the air. After we had made out a few of 
 the inscriptions on the tombs we were returning to 
 the boat, when we descried in the distance two strange 
 forms. They were those of two men, clothed in 
 black, walking gravely, in profound silence, and with 
 fixed expressionless eyes. One was dressed like a 
 peasant, the other wore a three-cornered hat with 
 a hatband and ' weeper ' of black crape, and some- 
 thing like a box was slung across his body by a thick 
 leather strap. Never shall I forget that lugubrious 
 pair. They were carrying the corpse of a child to " 
 the cemetery after this fashion. No father, no 
 brother, not even a friend of the family was there 
 to follow that small coffin, to testify that at least one 
 tear had fallen on the pallid little corpse. Poor child ! 
 all alone, committed to the hands of two hirelings, 
 he passed unregretted from the glimpses of the day, 
 out of a world into which he had certainly not come 
 of his own accord. 
 
 This sight made us sad ; we returned to our tjalk 
 in silence, and we should liave gone on our way in a 
 melancholy mood had we not caught sight of three 
 
 1 4 f: :i 7 Q
 
 38 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 long veils fluttering in tlic breeze, and of bright 
 and rosy faces on the opposite bank. Cheered by 
 this charming apparition, we waved kisses from our 
 finger-tips in its direction, replying to the gracious 
 salutations which were bestowed upon us. Our aerial 
 kisses were returned, accompanied by a burst of 
 girlish laughter, and then the wearers of the veils 
 jumped lightly down from the ridge of the dyke 
 and vanished. It was only the eternal fugit ad 
 salices. 
 
 All these old recollections came back to my 
 mind with extraordinary vividness ; the same pic- 
 ture seemed to pass before my eyes again, I fancied 
 I could hear the silvery laughter of the three pretty 
 girls ; and so we reached the headland of Moerdijk. 
 It was then twilight ; the waterway opening before 
 us was dangerous, and almost unknown to our crew ; 
 the tide also was against us, so that we had to cast 
 anchor and wait for day. 
 
 We settled ourselves comfortably on the deck. 
 Night came on, warm and beautiful, but not as it is 
 in the East — clear, limpid, starry. This was the 
 northern night, with all its mysteries ; the sky, 
 covered with dark rolling clouds, mingling at the 
 horizon-line with the greenish-brownish water, di- 
 vided from it only by a long track of luminous specks, 
 which, reflected by the waves in a quivering ray, 
 seemed to dart into the depths of the river in the far 
 distance. 
 
 In aid of the fires on board the ships at anchor
 
 THE FUNEUAL OF A CHILD AT UHAVENDEEL'S.
 
 THE MOERDIJK. 39 
 
 came the lights along the coast, piercing the dark 
 sky, stretching out in one single line, like a proces- 
 sion, two leagues in length, while close to us the 
 large l^offs with grey sails looked like gigantic 
 phantoms in winding-sheets, skimming the surface 
 of the water. All around was silence, that absolute 
 silence which is so impressive, broken every now 
 and then by the ripple of a wave against the bow 
 of our boat, or by the murmur of the strongly 
 flowing water. All was at rest, except the great 
 river, for ever in movement and for ever murmuring 
 low, as if, before it flowed on to be lost in a name- 
 less sea, it would fain whisper an eternal farewell 
 to those green and grassy shores. 
 
 Towards midnight the moon began to emerge 
 from the clouds. Its pale and sickly light first pierced 
 the mists which hung about it with a luminous dart, 
 and then by degrees dispersed them, until all at once 
 Luna appeared in her splendour, proudly reflecting 
 herself in the white water, studding the tops of the 
 masts with her silver spangles, and sprinkling showers 
 of them on the crests of the little waves that went 
 dancing down the river. At this moment a dog 
 barked on the shore, and we heard many voices and 
 the rolling of carriage- wheels. All these sounds came 
 to us from land which we could not see ; as the waters 
 bore them to our ears with clearness, limpidness, 
 and precision, they had a "strange fantastic effect. 
 The carriage rolled on, the sound of its wheels was 
 lost in the distance, all was again silence, grander,
 
 40 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 more solemn, more mysterious than before. Then 
 the river resumed for a while its murmur of regret, 
 but at length even that was heard no more. 
 
 At dawn we were awakened by the joyous crow- 
 ing of half a dozen cocks. Their clear and piercing 
 clarion call served as the alarum of a neighbouring 
 farm ; presently everybody on land would be up and 
 busy. As for us, we rose on the instant and went on 
 deck. Around us was a complete flotilla at anchor, 
 and everybody afloat seemed also to be astir. Hatch- 
 ways were opened ; and from out them popped rough 
 heads with blinking eyes, while on board some of the 
 tjalks which kept earher hours smoke rose in curling 
 spirals in the morning air, announcing the speedy 
 appearance of coflee, without which no good schipper 
 could possibly begin the day. 
 
 At seven o'clock the tide was full. Then there 
 was a general hubbub. On every side was lifting of 
 anchors and hoisting of sails, grave and thoughtful 
 masters took the helm, busy knechts ran to the stay- 
 sails or worked the zwaard^ and fifty boats under 
 sail spread themselves jauntily over the vast basin 
 called the Moerdijk. 
 
 No sight could be prettier than the simultaneous 
 start, or, as it were, development of that flotilla, sail- 
 ing in convoy. The dark-reddish sails, the tricolour 
 flags, the red or blue pennants, the rounded poops 
 all painted green, with their little curtained windows 
 like two curious prying eyes, the rudders with their 
 copper fittings glittering like gold upon the sea-
 
 BRIDGE OF THE MOERDIJK. 41 
 
 green surface of the water, while the sun, darting 
 obhque rays upon them, added a multitude of quiver- 
 ing and sparkling gleams to the picture. The swelling 
 sails, the hulls bending over to the breeze, described 
 a series of graceful curves and then stood out to 
 sea, leaving behind them the huge bridge over the 
 Moerdijk, a vast sombre mass thrown out against the 
 silvery mist of morning. 
 
 What a great problem solved is that gigantic 
 bridge ! What a majestic effort of the human mind ! 
 Above all, what an indisputable proof of Dutch 
 perseverance ; for this colossal viaduct is a truly 
 wonderful work. It is fourteen hundred yards in 
 length, and it serves as a sort of portico to the Pool 
 of Biesbosch, that sullen, rush-grown swamp, where 
 twenty submerged villages sleep beneath the sluggisli 
 waters. To be appreciated in the vastness of its pro- 
 portions, it must be seen from close at hand ; at a 
 distance there are no means of comparison, the im- 
 posing character of the construction is lost ; one sees 
 nothing except fourteen immense cages suspended 
 above the river on fourteen massive pillars. This 
 was the effect it produced upon us at the distance 
 from which we saw it, while with all sails set we 
 floated upon that vast stretch of water which is called 
 the Holland sch Diep. 
 
 I believe it was M. Viardot who called the Moer- 
 dijk a rivulet ! A strange rivulet, truly, for its two 
 banks are hardly to be seen at the same time, and 
 travellers on it are sea-sick. A strange rivulet, truly,
 
 42 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 for it is swept by storms so fierce that many Dutch 
 ships and their crews hesitate to encounter them. 
 In 1711, John Wilham, Stadth older of Friesland, a 
 prince of the house of Nassau, was lost in the Moer- 
 dijk, with a colonel of his escort. Many others 
 have perished whose names oblivious history has not 
 preserved. No year passes without some serious 
 accident which spreads dismay throughout these 
 coasts, and twice, during our voyage, we caught 
 sight of broken fragments of masts emerging from 
 the terrible depths to tell of lost vessels beneath the 
 ruthless waters. 
 
 We had in our own case a convincing proof of 
 the force of the swell that passes over the inland 
 sea. Hardly had we rounded Strijen point, and sailed 
 in the prescribed curve around the framework of 
 iron on which the new lighthouse is reared, than our 
 flotilla scattered itself over the great grey sheet of 
 water hke a flight of migratory birds. Then came a 
 race, in which we competed, each striving to get in 
 advance of the others. We carried no cargo, and 
 the sailing power of our craft was very superior ; in 
 less than half an hour we had left all competitors 
 behind, and were at the head of the little fleet. The 
 weather was fine, the river was calm, there was a 
 light breeze, but nothing more, and we were sailing 
 easily before the wind. The boy at the helm, de- 
 lighted to find himself the winner in this peaceful 
 strife, was bending over the tiller and whistling gaily, 
 while he kept a mocking watcli upon the boats which
 
 SWELL IN THE MOERDIJK. 43 
 
 he had outsailed. All at once the master called out, 
 ' Mind yourself, Jan ! Take care what you are about, 
 boy ! You are taking the swell crosswise.' 
 
 He had hardly spoken when we heard a dull 
 thud, followed by a sharp cracking noise ; the boat 
 swerved round and began to drift. A mere shock of 
 the wave had sufficed to break an iron bolt thicker 
 than a man's wrist, and to demolish our zivaard. 
 
 The alarm was given in a moment ; everyone was 
 up and lending a hand. The rudder was unshipped, 
 and we let ourselves go with the current, which car- 
 ried us gently to Willemstad. When we were in safety 
 and shelter we fished up the zwaard^ and repaired it 
 as well as we could. ^ The crew regarded this as a 
 favourable opportunity for landing at Willemstad, a 
 tempting place, with cheerful cosy houses, and great 
 massive trees stretching their branches to the very 
 edge of the pier. A smith could make us a new bolt, 
 and after such a mischance and this long delay, it 
 would be folly to think of reaching Zierikzee before 
 nightfall. These were sound arguments, but we did 
 not think proper to hearken to such prudent counsel. 
 The zwaard was repaired with two iron chains, and 
 the order given to resume our course. 
 
 We are off again ! We round the point of Wil- 
 lemstad. We enter the Volke Rak, and begin to tack 
 
 ' The zwaard is a large brown racquet which the Dutch boats carry 
 on either side. It serves the purpose of the absent keel, and is indis- 
 pensable in navigating the rivers and inland seas of Holland, in conse- 
 quence of the round shape of the boats, which is rendered necessaiy 
 by the shallowness of the water.
 
 44 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 about upon that great aquatic plain. In the distance 
 are two flat banks, two Unes of greensward, enhvened 
 by an occasional spire, two grassy ribands of earth 
 floating upon the pale green water ; these form the 
 horizon. We seem to be on a vast lake, and yet we 
 have to advance with prudence and to move with 
 circumspection. We are limited to a narrow channel, 
 hollowed out by the current between two wide 
 stretches of sand, and on both right and left of us 
 the way is forbidden. Our first mishap has taught the 
 crew prudence ; they have learned that lesson a little 
 too well, indeed, for it is six o'clock before we arrive 
 at the entrance of the Zijpe, opposite Bruinisse, where 
 we are obliged to cast anchor again, and once more 
 to wait for the tide. 
 
 How calm, tranquil, almost deserted this region 
 is ! Above the stockade of the little harbour only a 
 couple of masts are visible. From the distance comes 
 no shouting, no noise of any kind ; and when the 
 hours are told to the surrounding country from the 
 little steeple, the warning sound is mufl[led, half 
 hushed, as though it broke with reluctance upon the 
 general retirement and reverie, A pensive melan- 
 choly broods over this picture, which so well fits 
 its frame that we hardly like to disturb such silent 
 restfulness. One would think that no discordant 
 sounds could ever have rung through this peaceful 
 place ; and yet it is hard by the scene of one of the 
 most exciting adventures, one of the boldest feats of 
 arms recorded in the history of the Eighty Years' War.
 
 MEMORABLE FEAT OF ARMS. 45 
 
 That grassy line which Ues to our left is Sankt 
 Philipsland ; that belfry which we see beyond, just 
 rising above a cluster of roofs, is Sankt Annaland ; 
 and we are close to the spot where, ' the night before 
 the Michaelmas of the year 1575,' the Spaniards ac- 
 complished that famous passage which, by striking 
 the Zealanders with terror and dismay, made them 
 deliver up the forts of Bommenede and Vianen, and, a 
 few months later, the town of Zierikzee. 
 
 The most daring among the leaders of the Eoyal 
 army were Mondragon, Sancho d'Avila, and Don 
 Osorio de Ulloa; and their purpose was to cross to 
 Schouwen Island. But the ' Beggars ' held the sea. 
 Their vessels watched the coast, and none dared to 
 brave their dauntless crews. Then it was that, on 
 information which he received from certain peasants, 
 the Commander conceived and executed the project 
 of making his troops cross the water on foot at low 
 tide. He then established his camp in ' the country 
 of Saint Anne ; ' that Sankt Annaland whose pic- 
 turesque steeple brightens up the horizon ; and from 
 thence his troops advanced on ' the country of Philip, 
 which is an inhabited island, and so on to Duivelande, 
 thus avoiding the Zealand ships which were between 
 tlie two islands, but for the little depth of water could 
 not come into certain places.' 
 
 Now that you are acquainted with the locality, 
 you can imagine the scene. Fifteen hundred men, 
 silent and resolute, ' each carrying a Httle bag of 
 powder hung from his neck, and on his head victuals
 
 46 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 for three days,' ^ advancing in single file into the water, 
 led by their old chief, the brave Mondragon, and en- 
 deavouring to reach the adjacent flat, noiselessly, in 
 the darkness. On a sudden the night itself betrays 
 them ; the water, disturbed by this human flood which 
 crosses it, throws out phosphorescent gleams, and, 
 according as the men advance, a luminous streak indi- 
 cates their path.^ ' The air was full of shining rays,' 
 says a contemporary, and from afar the watch on 
 board the Zealand ships perceived the dark column 
 which broke the ghttering surface of the water. Then 
 arose a clamour on every side ; the crews were on 
 foot in an instant; the ships were in motion, the 
 silence of the night was broken by the roar of can- 
 non, and a hail of balls fell upon the marching column. 
 Steadily it advanced, nevertheless, and not a cry, not 
 a groan, revealed the ravages made by the balls and 
 the bullets of the enemy in that long single Hne. It 
 was impossible for the Spaniards to defend them- 
 selves, or to retaliate. The water continued to rise, 
 the Zealand vessels drew near, and it was no longer 
 with firearms alone that the troops were assailed. 
 Mendoza thus describes what followed : ' The Zea- 
 landers transfixed some with their fatal harpoons, 
 they dragged others from the path with boat-hooks, 
 they beat out the brains of others with heavy flails.' 
 Nevertheless, the silent terrible column marched on 
 
 ^ Meteren. 
 
 * Mr. Motley, in a note to ' The Rise of the Dutch Republic,' says : 
 ' According to Mendoza, the sky was full of preternatm-al appearances on 
 that memorable night.'
 
 ZIERIKZEE. 47 
 
 and attained the shore. Then was a solemn reckon- 
 ing^ made, and the loss which had been sustained 
 was computed. One of the bravest of the officers, 
 Hydro Paccieco, was gone ; but, on the other hand, 
 the Zealanders had lost their general, Charles Van 
 Boisot, who had been killed in the confusion by his 
 own men at the moment when the royal troops 
 landed.^ 
 
 After such a feat, anything might be expected 
 from such soldiers as these. On the following day 
 they carried Vianen, which was at that time a citadel. 
 Two days later they halted under the walls of Bom- 
 menede, then a fortified place, and carried that also, 
 after five terrible assaults. Then they marched on 
 Zierikzee, and occupied all the approaches to the 
 old Zealand city. 
 
 Once more the tide serves us, and quitting this 
 ever-famous channel we go on our way, sailing be- 
 tween Tholen and Duiveland, and therefore in Zea- 
 land proper. We coast along Stevenisse Point, 
 round that of Ouwerkerk, enter the eastern Scheldt, 
 and descry from afar the massive and gigantic clock- 
 tower of the ancient city of Zierikzee. 
 
 The glowing purple and gold of the sky makes 
 the horizon look like a vast burning furnace ; the last 
 rays of the sun gild Duiveland, ' the country of doves ' 
 — a name derived in olden times from the great 
 number of sea birds which frequented its coasts — and 
 in the distance are spires glistening with golden 
 
 1 See Translator's note in Appendix.
 
 48 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 spangles. On this great tongue of land, which has 
 suffered much from inundation, and was completely 
 covered by the waters in 1530, there are no great 
 towns, no important communities. From end to end 
 of that green and grassy plain the eye discerns only 
 some large villages and domanial dwellings — ' abodes 
 of gentlemen,' as Guicciardini calls them. 
 
 On our right lies Noord-Beveland Island, rustic, 
 sylvan, thinly peopled, and, like its neighbour, with 
 no busy bustling cities on the flat face of it. An 
 arm of the sea now flows lazily between those two 
 islands, which in former times approached each other 
 so closely ' that the inhabitants talked across to one 
 another where now a wide sheet of water divides 
 them.' It seems to be the destiny of this strange 
 country to be continually re-shaped by the elements. 
 
 Night comes on apace ; the fires upon the shore 
 are our only guide. A small hghthouse illumines 
 the entrance of the channel of Zierikzee, and for that 
 we steer, having to make long tacks to reach it. It 
 is after eleven o'clock when we come alongside the 
 stockade. The day has been a toilsome one. Quick ! 
 a man and a horse — a jagei\ quick ! to take us into 
 the port.
 
 CHAPTER ni. 
 
 ZIERIKZEE ITS HISTORY BATTLES AND SIEGES — GREATNESS AND 
 
 DECAY THE ' BEGGARS OF THE SEA ' A STONE GIANT — GATES 
 
 AND RAMPARTS THE FISHERIES AND THE FISH MARKET. 
 
 HAVE not spoken rashly of Zierikzee 
 as an old city. ' It is held,' says Guic- 
 ciardini, ' to be the most ancient town in 
 the county of Zealand.' You see, there- 
 fore, that its reputation is of distant date ; and a 
 poem in eight lines, written on parchment, which is 
 to be seen, framed and glazed, in the Gasthuiskerk, 
 sets forth the probable origin of the name of the 
 city, as well as its exact age : — 
 
 • In 't jaar acht hondert negeu eu veertich mede, 
 Was gefundeert Ziericzee die Stede 
 Bij eenen die Zieringus ghenaamt was 
 Alsoo men in de ouden Chronyken las.'' 
 
 One thousand years of existence, especially on 
 such shifty and uncertain soil, is no contemptible 
 record for a city. To that we may add splendid 
 
 ' In the year 849 the town of Zierikzee was founded and named by 
 a certain Zieringus, as appears in the old Chronicles. 
 
 E
 
 50 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 fortunes, and an honourable rank as the residence of 
 the suzerain princes. ' The Counts of Zeahand had 
 also their palace in the said city, of which even to 
 this day the reserves and the enclosure, which are 
 called " the Counts' Court," are visible,' says a chro- 
 nicler.^ Nor were these the only gems in the mural 
 crown of Zierikzee, for it can also boast a great 
 mihtary past, and a famous commercial and maritime 
 history. Even though the town had not such remin- 
 iscences to offer us, it would still be well worthy of a 
 visit. Its lofty spire, visible from almost everywhere, 
 rises high in massive and majestic pride above a 
 cluster of red gables, which are girt about with a 
 ring of lavish greenery ; and then come pointed 
 spires, pepper-box turrets with glittering vanes, and a 
 bulbous belfry, bristling with angles and projections. 
 Picture all these to your fancy, and you will have an 
 idea of this town, which stands out in profile in the 
 distance, a sort of promised land, all the more pic- 
 turesque for the bareness of the country that hes 
 about it. 
 
 So strong is the influence of habit that this bare- 
 ness — a disfigurement to the country in the eyes 
 of a stranger — passes unperceived by the dwellers in 
 Zierikzee. Indeed, it would seem to possess a cer- 
 tain charm for them, for all along the harbour, which 
 serves as a vestibule to the town, are at least half a 
 dozen hotels, taverns, or cafes, looking out upon the 
 
 * Grande Chronique de Hollande et de ZeUinde.
 
 *FAIR view: 51 
 
 boundless green flat, and all called ' Sclioon Uitzight,' 
 which means ' Fair View.' 
 
 This sonorous general appellation would be in- 
 telligible if the fronts of the houses were turned the 
 other way. Ah, then indeed, they might well be 
 so called ! Hardly had. we passed the first few houses, 
 when we were lost in a labyrinth of nice httle streets, 
 very old, very clean, all t^visting and turning and 
 doubhng back upon themselves, with the cleanest, 
 prettiest, primmest houses, all very low, and seeming 
 to be half underground. The pleased eye follows 
 the fantastic ins and outs of brick gables which the 
 ages have touched witli their harmonious hues ; there 
 are dehghtful surprises in those numerous vistas, 
 which end either in a big blustering windmill, tossing 
 its proud sails aloft in the air, or in a rustic ' tapperij,' 
 with its hospitable bench, inviting the customers to 
 sit down, and its screen of httle trees, well trained 
 and close cut, offering them shade and privacy. 
 
 This is, however, the low quarter of the town, 
 and it needs an artist's eye to find pleasure in these 
 modest nooks. If the patricians of Zierikzee were 
 to meet us wandering about them, they would shrug 
 their shoulders and smile at the facility with which 
 we are pleased ; and perhaps they would be right ; 
 for the genteel quarters are also picturesque and 
 beautiful, although in a different way. Before we 
 visit them, let me take you to that lofty tower which 
 we have seen from afar ; we have but a few steps 
 to go. 
 
 E 3
 
 52 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 This tower is all that remains of the original 
 church, wliich was one of the finest Gothic monu- 
 ments of the Low Countries, as Blaeu says : ' cui non 
 aliiid usquam in tota Zelandia simile' Marvel of 
 size and strength that it was, it held out well until 
 the present century. It had suffered, of course, in 
 the three or four sieges of Zierikzee ; its fine vaulted 
 roof had been replaced by a wooden ceiling, but its 
 stout pillars, and its beautiful ogives, six hundred 
 j^ears old, stood firm at their post, and gave good 
 promise of remaining there a long time yet. In 
 1832 the grand and beautiful church was reduced 
 to a heap of ruins in a few hours. Fire subdued 
 that which time had spared, and man did the rest. 
 The remembrance of this frightful disaster is pre- 
 served in an engraving;. 
 
 Instead of leaving the ruins of the church stand- 
 ing, to bear solemn testimony to the might, the taste, 
 and the artistic genius of their ancestors, the magis- 
 trates of the period thought proper to build in its 
 stead, and close by, a big, ugly, pretentious Doric 
 market, a classic construction, which disfigures the 
 poor stone giant; flaunting its commonplace new- 
 ness in the venerable presence of the grand, noble, 
 worn old tower, the mighty portico of the vanished 
 church, which the Zealanders of olden time dedicated 
 to Saint Lieven. This contrast is very striking ; the 
 mock Greek temple looks at once mean and grotesque 
 by the side of the mere ruined remnant of the old 
 tower, and the interior, with its white walls and yellow
 
 THE OLD CHURCH TOWER. 53 
 
 benches, its common mouldings and its trumpery 
 wooden wings, is bald and vulgar to a degree. One 
 cannot but retrace the past in imagination while con- 
 templating the two, and comparing the modern work 
 with the product of the heroic ages. The latter 
 presents the image of the greatness of Zealand in its 
 glowing morn ; the former personifies the fortune of 
 Batavia at its decline. 
 
 The tAVO strongly contrasted buildings rise from 
 the centre of a little park, which was formerly a 
 cemetery, and is now a pubhc garden. The old ruin 
 is even more impressive on a near view than when 
 seen from afar. One feels oppressed by the bulk of 
 this stone colossus. Its gigantic arches, its stout 
 buttresses, its sturdy, vahant appearance, somewhat 
 fierce too, with its scars and wounds reveahng the 
 sohdity and ponderous strength of its masonry, in- 
 tensify the first effect of its imposing aspect. 
 
 Observe, also, this is only a small portion of 
 what the stone giant once was. The tower had four 
 storeys, all of equal size ; only two remain. The 
 third must also have been square, but recessed, and 
 flanked by elegant pinnacles ; while the fourth was 
 octagon shape and pierced. And then, this majestic 
 and colossal building was surmounted by a tapering 
 and delicate spire, which rose up into the sky from 
 its setting of four graceful bell-turrets. 
 
 Some time ago I found, in the profusely furnished 
 portfolios of the Zelandia Illustrata, belonging to the 
 Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen at Middel-
 
 64 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 burg, an engraving of the plan and elevation of this 
 line architectural achievement ; and when by an effort 
 of memory I compared the drawing before me with 
 that fragment which no one can look at without 
 wonder, I was astonished at the science and the daring 
 displayed in the marvellous design. It would seem, 
 however, that strangers only are affected by this 
 grand spectacle, and that the natives of the country 
 are insensible to its beauty. 
 
 Quid miseriun Thamyram picta tal)ella juvat ? 
 
 The men of Zealand are also blind ; and not satisfied 
 with having stuck a balustrade, like the calves of 
 prize footmen's legs, on the top of the arches of an 
 antique terrace, they have converted the basement 
 of the most venerable monument of their city 
 into a petroleum store. Bergplaats von Petroleum is 
 the only inscription upon the sides of the mutilated 
 giant, predestined to witness the dealings of fate 
 with all this portion of the province of Zealand for 
 five centuries. 
 
 Let us escape from these gloomy reflections ; the 
 surroundings bid us discard them. Children are 
 playing beneath the sliade of the great trees, and 
 a German band, close by, is bestowing treasures of 
 harmony on some dancing groups, who come from 
 the adjacent villages. The present is very pleasant ; 
 why then should we think about the past ? Let us 
 return to the harbour, where our boat is, keeping to 
 the fine of the quay throughout all its length, and
 
 ZUIDHAVEX FOORT. 55 
 
 SO re-enter the town at its other end. On this side 
 we shall find another ancient, picturesque, curious, 
 and venerable building ; the Zuidhaven Poort, a con- 
 struction less vast indeed than the tower that we 
 have just been admiring, but worthy of attention, 
 and especially interesting in a country in which 
 specimens of mihtary architecture are now extremely 
 rare. 
 
 The Zuidhaven Poort consists of a lofty rectangular 
 mass of solid masonry, with a pointed gateway. It is 
 flanked up to two-thu-ds of its height by four sHm 
 towers resting on corbels, and capped by lofty pointed 
 roofs, forming hexagonal pyramids. From the centre 
 of the roof rises a pierced bell-tower, which, although 
 it is of a much later period, does no discredit to this 
 noble and warhke edifice. 
 
 The Zuidhaven Poort formerly fulfilled a double 
 purpose : it afforded access to the city, and it de- 
 fended the approaches to the principal basin, or 
 harbour, whose entrance is close by, and which in 
 former times sheltered ships of all sizes. At the 
 present time it extends into the heart of the city, and 
 its tree-shadowed quays form vast and commodious 
 landing-places. On the other side of the harbour, to 
 which we shall return by and by, is the Oosteinde 
 Poort, which is much less beUicose and imposing of 
 aspect. This is a postern rather than a gate: it 
 opens out upon the old rampart, but it has, not- 
 withstanding its more civil aspect, a certain character 
 of its own. It is composed of two massive buildings,
 
 5G THE HEART OF HOLLA A^D. 
 
 surmounted by ornamented turrets, and divided by a 
 little court, about which hangs a strange flavour of 
 tlie old times. I know few archaic nooks so well pre- 
 served as this, so full of the truth and colour of the 
 past. 
 
 This gate, and the Nobel Poort — a great square 
 block, with two flanking towers of the elongated pep- 
 per-castor order — are the sole remains of the ancient 
 walls ; those sturdy ramparts which in the old 
 ' times were so boldly assailed, so bravely defended, 
 and which for the most part are now converted 
 into spacious and pretty promenades. Fine trees, 
 winding avenues, shady groves, replace curtains, 
 bastions, and palisades, and many-coloured ducks 
 paddle peacefully in the sohtary salt-marshes which 
 were formerly the scene of such famous exploits. 
 
 I seated myself on the turf, under the shade of an 
 old tree, and amused myself by re-perusing the 
 history of the famous siege of 1303, in an old 
 Chronicle. The defence of Zierikzee on that occa- 
 sion was the most heroic ever made by the city. I 
 seemed to be hving once more in epic times ; through 
 the antique forms of the chronicler's phrases I could 
 descry Count Guy of Dampierre and the numerous 
 and powerful army with which he came to lay 
 siege for the third time to the town of Zierikzee. 
 I followed in fancy all his mihtary preparations, the 
 ' trenches, blockhouse, and horsemen,' which must, 
 he thought, terrify the dwellers in the besieged 
 town, and then his breachinoj of the walls ' with
 
 
 THE ZUIDHAVEX POORT AT ZIERIKXEE.
 
 DUEL OF PROJECTILES. 57 
 
 heavy blows from battering-rams, with bolts from 
 crossbows, and other engines which discharged stones 
 of great size.' 
 
 The citizens were, however, brave, and the magis- 
 trates were resolute. All was activity on their side 
 also. ' The besieged, supphed with good soldiers, 
 did no less, having erected three lofty and powerful 
 catapults, which incessantly discharged their bolts 
 upon the enemy.' Such was the artillery of the 
 period. A curious thing happened in this duel of 
 projectiles, and ' one which proves the skill of the 
 Zealand enginers. It so chanced,' continues our old 
 chronicler, ' that the Flemings shot a marvellous 
 great stone into the city, and near the place where it 
 fell there stood a certain mechanic who knew the 
 art of throwing these great stones, which mechanic 
 said, " Give me this stone, I will send it back whither 
 it came," and having set his engine, he shot off the 
 stone so neatly that it fell upon the engine whence it 
 had first been discharged, which it broke in pieces, 
 and tore the hand of the enginer.' 
 
 An obstinate and skilfully conducted resistance of 
 this kind did not suit the purpose of Count Guy. 
 fie determined to carry the place by assault, and 
 marched his men to the attack upon the walls. The 
 signal for the assault was given, and then all the 
 warhke quahties of the Zealanders revealed them- 
 selves. The besieged, quite unmoved, observed 
 closely the advance of the veteran Flemish bands 
 upon tlieni. Tliey swarmed upon the ramparts, and
 
 58 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 fought bravely with the enemy, ' hand to hand, as 
 well as by discharging stones upon them.' Every 
 man there took a personal part in the struggle. 
 ' The youngest and most active sustained the assault 
 in the breach ; the older men were in the towers and 
 turrets keeping up a continual discharge of arrows 
 and stones. The women and girls served out stones 
 in great heaps to the defenders of the town, so that 
 their defence should not fail for want of offensive 
 weapons. ... In short, this furious assault was so 
 bravely endured, and the enemy were so valorously 
 repulsed, that Guy was constrained to retreat with 
 very great loss of his men, and still more dis- 
 comfiture.' 
 
 This success was so totally unhoped for, and the 
 valour of the citizens of Zierikzee seemed so marvel- 
 lous, that the credulous and superstitious imagination 
 of that time unhesitatingly assigned it to a super- 
 natural cause. ' At the same time, day, and hour of 
 this victory,' says Francois Le Petit, ' there appeared 
 in the sky a great cross of purple colour, near to 
 Egmont, which has been held to be a presage of the 
 said victory.' It was the custom of that age to seek 
 and find mystery everywhere. We, being less prone 
 to such notions, would simply say, ' Sons of Zealand, 
 be proud of your ancestors, as you have a right 
 to be!' 
 
 The siege by Count Guy of Dampierre was the 
 most important and the most glorious that befel 
 the old Zealand city. It was also the only one of
 
 THE SIEGE OF ZIERIKZEE. 59 
 
 real benefit, for the dwellers in Zierikzee obtained, 
 for having borne themselves so valiantly, a certain 
 number of those enviable privileges which Blaeu 
 describes as ' luculentissimis aliquot privilegus.'^ From 
 that moment the town became an object of special 
 favour with its lawful princes. We learn from a 
 charter in the Archives,^ that, up to 1830, Middel- 
 burg was the only town in Zealand exempted from 
 the Staple of Dordrecht, which was an inestimable 
 advantage. We know, besides, that in 1411 WilHam 
 of Bavaria granted the exceptional privilege ' that 
 no person within its walls declared criminal should 
 forfeit of his goods more than sixty livres of Paris.' ^ 
 Middelburg was also the habitual residence of the 
 Counts of Zealand, and a great number of charters 
 and privileges are dated from thence. 
 
 No more was needed, as we may readily conceive, 
 to render Zierikzee an object of covetousness to 
 foreign princes. Thus we find the King of England 
 endeavouring to make the burgomasters and town 
 council ' vote ' in his favour. ' He wrote letters full 
 of graciousness that he might attract them,' says a 
 contemporary. ' But they of Zierikzee, having re- 
 ceived the said letters without making other answer, 
 save that they would take counsel upon the contents 
 of the same, sent them to the Duke, their lord, who 
 was very ill pleased.' 
 
 * Blaeu. Theatrum JJrhium Beh/ice fcedci-atte. 
 ^ See Inventaris van het oud archief der stcid Middelburg, No. 70. 
 ^ Guicciardini. Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi, altrimenti detti 
 Gennania Inferiorc,
 
 GO THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 This was a prudent and loyal mode of action, and 
 it would have been well for the country had its 
 inhabitants been always inspired by a similar sense 
 of duty. In 1472, however, we find them in insur- 
 rection against their legitimate sovereign, the Duke 
 of Burgundy. A riot arose in the streets on the 
 pretext that, contrary to the ancient custom, the 
 Duke was about to increase the excise duties, and, 
 after the turbulent fashion of the Zealanders, the 
 disturbance did not stop at protestations. The two 
 commissioners of the Duke were seized, killed on the 
 spot, and their corpses flung out of the windows of 
 the Stadhuis ; and the magistrate, who was much 
 alarmed by the violence of the mob, was forced, in 
 order to save his life, to humble himself before them, 
 and deliver up the keys of the town. 
 
 Charles the Bold, whom Chastelain calls ' that 
 creamy prince, and great lover of justice,' was not 
 inclined to put up with rebellions of this kind. He 
 summoned the town, ' under pain of fire and sword,' 
 to resume its obedience. The chief ringleaders in the 
 disturbance were beheaded, two hundred of the most 
 deeply implicated citizens fled, and, the Duke having 
 landed on the island, the whole Commune pre- 
 sented themselves before him, crying ' Mercy, mercy ! ' 
 Their prayer was granted ; the sentence was com- 
 muted into a heavy fine. 
 
 In 1491 the Duke of Saxony made a similar visit 
 to the people of Zierikzee, and taxed them very 
 heavily, ' intending to bleed them,' he said, ' because,
 
 MARITIME POWER OF ZIERIKZEE. 61 
 
 (luring the war Avith the Flemings, they were for 
 them rather than for their prince.' This time again 
 they were obhged to pay thirty-six thousand German 
 florins, a heavy sum for a town which had seen its 
 best days, and was declining. The old chronicles 
 make it plain that all the strength of Zierikzee was 
 entirely maritime. In the twelfth century, at a time 
 when history had as yet made no mention of their 
 future rivals, ' the citizens of Zierikzee in the island 
 of Schouwen, in Zealand, had begun to build large 
 merchant vessels for trade in all the northern, as well 
 as the southern seas, and to make their city famous 
 on account of their seamanship, having fit and 
 proper roadsteads.' But those 'fit and proper road- 
 steads ' were by degrees choked up with sand, and 
 the coming in of the sixteenth century saw the old 
 city obhged to abdicate her ancient prestige, and 
 to bow down before the maritime fortune of Middel- 
 burg, which then reached its apogee. 
 
 Although Zierikzee lost commercial supremacy, 
 the town remained none the less in a condition to 
 supply the fleet of the States-General with daring 
 sea-captains, dauntless sailors, and intrepid heroes. 
 From Zierikzee the mysterious and legendary army 
 of the Beggars of the Sea drew its hardiest recruits. 
 From Zierikzee Admiral Boisot obtained the greater 
 portion of the crews for that extraordinary expe- 
 dition which crossed an inundated country to revictual 
 Leyden, and to inflict upon the Spaniards one of the 
 most severe revei'ses tliey ever sustained.
 
 62 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 It is well worth while to read the description of 
 that patriotic band in the writings of the period, and 
 how they went forth to face death that they might 
 deliver their country. The graver of Callot has 
 produced no such phantasmagoria as that, nor has 
 the brush of Salvator Eosa portrayed an assemblage 
 uglier or more heroic. 
 
 At Eotterdam and on the Maas two hundred flat 
 boats, with ten, twelve, fourteen, and eighteen oars, 
 were constructed. The largest of these carried 
 two heavy pieces of cannon at the bows, and six pieces 
 of smaller calibre on either side. It was necessary 
 to man this flotilla with picked crews. Here let 
 me quote from Meteren. ' Upon these boats were 
 placed 800 sailors from Zealand — rough men, also 
 austere, and terrible to see because of their scars and 
 wounds, some having but one leg, others having but 
 one arm, according as they had been maimed in the 
 various sea-fights in which they had taken part, and 
 nevertheless they were still able to defend themselves 
 well, and to do good service.' Such was the troop 
 of heroes whom Admiral Louis Boisot and Adrian 
 Willemsen of Zierikzee led to the succour of Leyden. 
 With such men everything might be hoped, and any- 
 thing undertaken. They were in fact as hardy in 
 mind as in body, and each wore in his hat a crescent 
 with the device ' Rather Turk than Papist,' or upon 
 his breast one of those medals which are still to 
 be seen in the numismatic collections of the Low 
 Countries, and which bore the significant words, ' In
 
 , A FRIGHTFUL STORY. 65 
 
 defiance of tlie Mass.' One example will show as 
 well as a liimdred of what these men were capable. 
 The author from whom I borrow the following 
 frightful story is above all suspicion. He was an 
 accurate and painstaking annalist, a rigid Calvinist, 
 and a stern patriot. His absolute truthfulness cannot 
 be questioned. ' It happened here,' he tells us, ' that 
 a sailor having cut open a Spaniard, and torn out 
 his heart, took several bites out of it, and then flung 
 it away.' Only conceive to what a height the passion 
 of hate must have risen when it could impel a man 
 to such an act ! and, it is even worse to know, as we 
 do know, that this action, which makes us shudder, 
 did not then excite either indignation or disgust. 
 For this same sanguinary hate was so general that 
 the Sieur Noordwijk, a very accomplished man, re- 
 corded the noble deed aforesaid in Latin verse. ^ 
 Another poet of the time, and no doubt an equally 
 accomplished one, celebrated it in French.^ 
 
 Naguere un matelot arraclia par envie 
 Le coeur d'un Espaignol et puis I'ayaut gouste, 
 Le cracha de sa bouche et tout d'une furie, . 
 II de donna aux cbiens pour etre devore. 
 
 Is not this a terrible example of what men may be 
 driven to, by the fanaticism engendered by the great 
 passions calling themselves religion and patriotism ! 
 
 * The following are the lines of the Sieur Noordwijk : — 
 
 Macro caro est nuper cum cor gustasset Iberi, 
 Respuit et cauibus uauta vorare dedit. 
 
 ^ Metereu, Vllistoire dii Bus Pays, sous le i/oucernement de Philippe, 
 roy d'Espayne.
 
 64 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Happily, it is not to danger of this sort that men's 
 hearts are exposed in our time. Anything they have 
 to fear in Zealand is from the eyes of the women, 
 and not the teeth of the men. The Zealand women 
 are very handsome, lively, frank and pleasant. We 
 shall have occasion to refer to them hereafter. At 
 present we must finish our expedition into the city, 
 for time presses, and our crew are waiting. 
 
 On entering Zierikzee by the Zuidhaven Poort, 
 we come, as I have already said, to the quay of a 
 superb basin shaded by great trees, and bordered 
 with handsome houses, some very old, but the 
 greater number dating back no farther than a 
 century. This quay is called the Oude Haven, or 
 Old Port. Formerly it was full of ships, now it is 
 empty ; but in spite of its melancholy solitude, it still 
 retains sufficient grandeur to remind us of what the 
 former power and riches of Zierikzee were. In olden 
 times this great basin, crossed by a wide bridge, was 
 prolonged on the other side of that bridge to nearly 
 double its extent, and that large space, now re- 
 claimed from the water, forms a broad and shady 
 avenue, in which the girls of Zierikzee walk of an 
 evening, two and two. A curious church, more 
 like a temple dedicated to Plutus than a Calvin- 
 istic sanctuary, is erected in this avenue. Farther 
 on, but on the same side, stands another edifice, of 
 still stranger appearance. It is built of stone, its 
 windows are defended by formidable bars, its doors 
 are sheeted with iron, its aspect is fierce, like that of
 
 THE CASTLE OF THE COUNTS. 65 
 
 a knight of the olden time. The ancient maps of 
 the city, that of Blaeii amongst others, call this 
 frowning monument Gravesteen's, that is to say, the 
 Castle of the Counts.^ In our day its name is more 
 prosaic, and too explicit to require that I should 
 say more respecting its present uses ; it is called 
 simply the Prison. Our progress across the old 
 city has brought us to its highest point — the pri- 
 mitive dyke or dam. Close to this stands the Stadhuis, 
 surrounded by venerable houses, with pointed arches 
 and elegant ogives, but in a state of decay, worn by 
 years, sodden with the rain, and rasped by the winds 
 from the sea. The Stadhuis is also venerable, but 
 it is no more. Its architecture is mixed, and indeed 
 fantastic. The two entrances on the ground floor, 
 with their fine ogives, belong to the close of the 
 fifteenth, or the opening of the sixteenth century. 
 The windows of the lower storey are not of any de- 
 finite style or precise epoch, and the two decorated 
 turrets that face the street belong to the seven- 
 teenth century. Its composite facade is surmounted 
 by an odd-looking clock-tower, which is Japanese, 
 Chinese, Muscovite, and Byzantine, all at once ; 
 bulbous in shape, swollen in the middle, cut out on 
 the edges, bristling with points, spikes, and pinnacles, 
 abounding in unexpected curves and crooked out- 
 
 ' 111 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, all houses being built of 
 wood, the word steen, which signifies stone, was the synonym of chateau, 
 and this is probably a fragment of the ancient chateau inhabited by the 
 Counts Floris, Thierry, and AMlhelm. 
 
 F
 
 66 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 lines, and terminating in a superb gilded Neptune, 
 armed with his trident, who seems to fling an eternal 
 and aerial quos ego at the waters that surround his 
 curious Belvidere. In the interior of the Stadhuis 
 are to be seen a fine chimney-piece, with heraldic 
 shields (the arms are those of the towns and villages 
 of the Island of Schouwen), a pirogue, a silver goblet, 
 and the seal of King Louis, the brother of Napoleon I. 
 Ten minutes sufficed for the expression of all the 
 admiration to which these municipal treasures are 
 entitled ; and, having settled our account with the 
 curiosities of the city, we were returning to our boat, 
 when, by a side view from the main street, we espied 
 the fish market. Do not imagine for a moment that 
 this is an ordinary halle. Not by any means. The 
 vischmarkt of Zierikzee is a peculiar and excep- 
 tional institution. It is a charming little market, 
 just like a scene in a comic opera, with a court and 
 a garden, a covered platform, porticoes and colon- 
 nades, and, to represent the flat scene at the back, 
 a pretty little house daubed in yellow and green ; 
 exactly like the poffertjes shops one sees at kermesses. 
 Add to this lofty trees, a handsome park-railing, 
 which divides the market from the street ; throw in, 
 as accessories, benches of painted wood arranged in 
 semicircles, and seeming to await the coming of the 
 stage fishermen and fishwives. Whenever I recall this 
 pretty little market, its general physiognomy and its 
 special charm, the recollection rouses my imagination. 
 I fancy I behold a procession of fishermen bedecked
 
 THE FISH MARKET. 67 
 
 with ribbons, fislierwomen in short petticoats, and 
 boatmen in red shoes carrying nets on their shoulders, 
 and wearing the NeapoUtan red cap. Then I observe 
 the auctioneer standing at the central desk, with his 
 white wig, and his black three-cornered hat, with his 
 spectacles, and his neck-band ; he is conducting, and 
 all these people, elegantly posed, and artistically 
 grouped, are singing in chorus : 
 
 ' Pecheur diligent, 
 Quelle ardeur te d^vore ? 
 Tu pars des raurore 
 To uj ours content : ' 
 
 or some other verse borrowed from a ' Robin des 
 Ondes ' of the future, Alas ! even as regards its 
 fish market, the halcyon days of Zierikzee are past. 
 Formerly its fishing fleet was counted by hundreds. 
 In 1640 its number was reduced to eighty ; in 1740 
 there were only fifty fishing boats ; ten years later 
 but thirty. How many are there now ? 
 
 F 2
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ISLAND OF SCHOUWEN THE RAVAGES OF THE SEA THE VAL 
 
 BLAA3-P0EPEN, AND BROWN SEALS — A DAUGHTER OF THE FIELDS 
 THOLEN — WAR AND FIRE A SLEEPING CITY. 
 
 HE Island of Schouwen is rich. Madder 
 is grown and soda made there. For 
 centuries past these two articles have 
 been exported in great quantities, and 
 for centuries past they have had a preference in the 
 market because of their excellent quality. The soil 
 is fertile, easily worked, and admirably cultivated. 
 The people are brave, intelligent, and industrious. 
 In addition to Zierikzee, which may be regarded as 
 its capital, the island possesses another town, called 
 Brouwershaven, which is situated on the north side, 
 and a good many villages, Koudekerke, Kerkwerve, 
 Eenesse, &c., consisting of a number of pretty 
 little houses, inhabited by industrious peasants. 
 One would think that an expedition into the island 
 ought to furnish matter for a number of curious 
 remarks, and interesting and characteristic obser- 
 vations. This, however, is not the case. Foreigners
 
 BROUWERSHAVEN. 69 
 
 unaccustomed to the habits and customs of the Dutch 
 people would find a good deal to surprise them in 
 Schouwen, especially its scrupulous cleanliness. The 
 netheid, as the passion for washing, brushing and 
 polishing is called in this country, would certainly 
 delight them, for throughout the whole extent of this 
 great tongue of land a dusty tile or an ill-kept room 
 would be looked for equally in vain. This is, how- 
 ever, the only speciality of the country. Schouwen, 
 of all the Zealand islands, most resembles the Dutch 
 provinces. With the exception of the peasants' carts, 
 which are strange, unaccountable, and marvellous 
 objects, I saw notliing there that differed essentially 
 from what we had already remarked in otlier parts 
 of the Netherlands. Nor has the language anything 
 typical in it. The manners and customs of the place- 
 are pretty much the same as those of the banks of 
 the Maas. The costume of the men is not remark- 
 able. The headdress of the women is like those 
 large veils which we descried in the environs of Put- 
 tershoek. We need not therefore make any delay 
 in these villages. The country round, though fertile, 
 is very tame ; its picturesque aspect does not gain 
 by its excessive richness. We shall, therefore, only 
 glance at Brouwershaven, a duty which need not 
 detain us long. 
 
 Brouwershaven is the birthplace of the poet Cats, 
 a statesman, a writer more weighty than profound, 
 more solid than elegant, and a superficial politician. 
 This fact is the principal title of the old city to fame,
 
 70 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 but it also formerly possessed a certain commercial 
 importance. Its name, which means the ' Port of the 
 Brewers,' indicates that it once served as a storehouse 
 to the brewers of Dordrecht and Delft, and as the 
 Zealanders were always great drinkers of beer, the 
 people of Brouwershaven had plenty to do in those 
 days. Unfortunately, Cats has been dead^ and the 
 brewers have disappeared, for more than two centu- 
 ries. We shall, however, be able to find some beer 
 on our way. No trace of the poet is to be found 
 in the city which gave him birth. His house has 
 been pulled down, and a statue has not yet been 
 erected. We should only be disappointed if we went 
 to look for Cats in Brouwershaven. We shall, how- 
 ever, find him in another island, that of Walcheren, 
 at the Chateau Overduyn, where dwells a fervent 
 admirer and an ardent student of Cats ; a Zealander 
 of high rank, who has piously collected in his sump- 
 tuous residence all the precious relics of his illustrious 
 compatriot in existence. Let us be off then, for we 
 shall look vainly in the Island of Schouwen for the 
 orip-inahty and poetry that we shall find elsewhere 
 and farther on. 
 
 And now Ave will steer for Bergen-op-Zoom ! At 
 this Avord the schipper started. Again, a course 
 so long! to reascend the eastern Scheldt without 
 putting in anywhere or making any stay ! Such 
 an order astonished and disconcerted him. ' We 
 shall never get there this evening,' said he, shaking 
 his head. 'Very well;' I replied, ' then we will go
 
 EARLY MORNING ON THE SCHELDT. 71 
 
 on all night, because we must be there early to- 
 morrow morning.' So the tjalk started, with the crew 
 in a bad humour. As we did not care much about 
 that, we settled ourselves very comfortably on the 
 deck to enjoy the fresh air and the fine weather. It 
 is five o'clock in the morning ; the sky is clear, the 
 atmosphere is absolutely still, not a breath of wind 
 ruffles the surface of the sea. To advance towards 
 the current we must wait for the tide. At eight 
 o'clock it begins ^to make itself felt, and at the same 
 liour the horizon becomes clouded, and the wind 
 rises. Our mainsail swells out to it, the tjalk bends 
 over and we begin to cut rapidly through the 
 water. 
 
 We are now on an arm of the Scheldt, over which 
 few have floated before us. How many tourists have 
 sailed in these waters for twenty years ? Not many, 
 of a truth ; and nevertheless it is a most interesting, 
 instructive and curious voyage; for, to understand 
 Zealand aright, one should sail up and down all 
 its rivers and penetrate into all its bottomless 
 gulfs. To discern the strange charai of tliis unique 
 country, and feel the invisible attraction which rivets 
 Zealanders to the unstable soil of their insecure terri- 
 tory, one must have sailed upon the inland seas, 
 which wind, serpent-like, around the strangely formed 
 islands. Those great flat green banks, Duiveland on 
 the north, Noord-Beveland on the south, and Tholen 
 in front of us, hardly rising above the white waters, 
 and girding the flat horizon witli an emerald band,
 
 72 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 look like the garden borders of a great lake, eter- 
 nally calm and tranquil. A hundred clock towers, 
 piercing the sky at all points with their spires as at 
 Middelburg and Goes, or rearing their deep-coloured 
 and massive bulk, like the colossi of Veer and 
 Zierikzee, tell of an active, industrious and wealthy 
 population, sheltered behind this narrow green rim. 
 The scantiness of such shelter seems to indicate ab- 
 solute security ; everything in the picture is peace- 
 ful, and speaks of repose. The far-extending flat 
 surface seems to relieve us from the burden of 
 thought. Here one has only to let oneself live, and 
 be hardly conscious that one does so. All in a mo- 
 ment, however, we remember that this apparent tran- 
 quillity is fictitious; that, in truth, the islands, the 
 towns, the villages, the hamlets, and the green plains 
 are at the mercy of the waters. All that we see might 
 be swallowed up of a sudden, so that, under this 
 idyllic agricultural surface we detect an existence of 
 unceasing strife and everlasting anxiety. The life of 
 a whole people depends on the solidity of the strips 
 of earth which encircle these green islands. A broken 
 dyke — and all is lost ; and nothing short of perpetual 
 vigilance, ceaseless care, and courage equal to every 
 emergency, can avert a cataclysm, 
 
 Guicciardini, who sailed on these waters, and 
 coasted these green isles, has written as follows : — 
 
 ' It w^ould be almost necessary to describe them 
 one after the other, all the more that the greater 
 part of them have been transposed by tempests and
 
 THE DYKE OF SOUDKERKE. 73 
 
 inundations of the sea, and have changed their bed, 
 this one becoming larger and that diminishing, this 
 one being swallowed up by the waters, and that 
 being laid bare by them ; for the country of Zealand, 
 craininor on the one side, is on the other ravaged 
 by the sea. The accreted land was for some time 
 without fear of peril, but now the waters are be- 
 ginning to eat into it. Under the dyke of Soudkerke 
 there is so great a depth that it is feared the Island 
 of Schouwen will, at some time, sink in from the 
 middle on the north side.' And the old story of 
 three centuries ago is true of to-day. That ceaseless 
 strife in which the unexpected is always turning up, 
 and man is pitted against the elements, has not abated 
 for a single moment. Penelope's web is unceas- 
 ingly woven here. The green fields, the meadows, 
 the cities and villages, the villas, and the rustic 
 dwelhngs are all built upon a bottomless gulf, 
 an abyss which some day or other will yawn, and 
 close again, after it has swallowed trees and houses, 
 peasants and cattle, and substituted blank deso- 
 lation for these fortunate isles. The terrible Val,^ 
 that mysterious canker, which eats away the Hfe 
 of this country, is awful to think of. One day the 
 traveller may pass by a green expanse, with a 
 flourishing farm-house ; horses are neighing, chil- 
 dren playing, the trees are bending beneath their 
 weight of fruit, and the sweet-smelhng hay has been 
 
 1 The word ' cal ' is derived from the word vallon, to sink, and is used 
 in technical language to express this sudden destruction by water.
 
 74 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 made into large round stacks. On the following day 
 everything will have disappeared, without leaving a 
 trace. The soil has sunk away ; the sea-green water 
 gurgles tranquilly in its place. In vain should we 
 look for a stone or a fragment — only nothingness is 
 there ; a liole, twenty yards, or perhaps fifty yards 
 deep, and at the bottom of that hole not the slightest 
 vestige to recall the fact that yesterday the place was 
 full of life, healtli, hope, and prosperity. 
 
 What has become in one night of this little frag- 
 ment of the human family, this particle of the soil, 
 this atom of the country? No one knows, and 
 science itself, reduced to conjecture, makes hesi- 
 tating answer, and can suggest no remedy for an 
 evil of which it can only register the facts, but can- 
 not divine the cause. In the spot where we are now 
 sailing how many events of this kind have taken 
 place ? That great sheet of water before us was 
 once a fertile, rich, thickly-populated island, which 
 formed an annexe of Zuid-Beveland, and the Scheldt 
 flowed peacefully between two fertile banks, covered 
 with rich crops, and populous villages, justly proud 
 of their flourishing communities. In 1530, twenty 
 villages disappeared totally in one night, with the 
 island on which they stood. These were Schoond, 
 Conwerd, Durven, Lodjik, Broek, Kreek, Ouwerring- 
 lien, Eilland, Steenvliet, Ewartswaert, Kravendjik, 
 Moere, and Nieuwelandt, and they remain for ever 
 under the waters. The place which they occupied 
 — you can see it from here — is now that great arm
 
 ROMMERSWAAL. 75 
 
 of the sea, with its httle shimmering waves ghttering 
 in the sun ! 
 
 Who shall reveal to us the mysteries of that 
 terrible night? Thousands of human beings were 
 drowned. For eight days afterwards dead beasts, 
 swollen, hideous carcases, gnawed by the new de- 
 nizens of those new depths, floated to the surface of 
 the imjDrovised lake. A contemporary writer tells 
 us that fifty persons, having taken refuge on the roof 
 of the church at Moere, endured for three long days 
 the pangs of hunger and thirst, and were afterwards 
 saved by a ship. During this awful tempest the 
 entire island trembled, 'just as if it had not been 
 well and solidly founded.' It was twenty leagues in 
 circumference, and to-day it is not one-half the size. 
 The town of Borselen, at its other extremity, was 
 submerged, with all the land which surrounded 
 it, and in that immense expanse before our eyes 
 but one town was saved, Eommerswaal. 
 
 Rommerswaal, then rich, famous, and powerful, 
 proud of its fine public buildings, was opposite to 
 Tholen, at the distance of ' the range of a musket 
 shot,' and on the east was its rival, Bergen-op-Zoom. 
 One fact will suffice to prove its antiquity and its 
 importance. When in 1285 Floris the Fifth granted 
 to the inhabitants of Middelburg the ' right of com- 
 mune,' ^ which conferred municipal existence on 
 their city, he followed Rommerswaal in the drawing 
 up of the clauses and conditions : ' Also alse dit 
 
 * See Appendix.
 
 76 THE HEART OF HOLLAXD. 
 
 vugt haven tote Reymerzwale ; ' or, ' thus it has been 
 granted to Eommerswaal.' Such was the wording of 
 this gracious act, which Middelburg regarded as its 
 dearest privilege. It was, besides, in Eommerswaal 
 that the Counts of Zealand were invested with their 
 suzerainty. Within its walls the States assembled to 
 take the oath of fidelity to their prince. In 1549 
 Philip the Second presented himself there to be 
 acknowledged as sovereign count. The houses were 
 decorated, the public buildings were hung with 
 tapestries of great price, triumphal arches were 
 erected everywhere. The city was dazzling to be- 
 hold. Never had a more stately ceremony taken 
 place within its walls. 
 
 This was, so to speak, the song of the swan, 
 for from that day forth ill-fortune descended upon 
 Eommerswaal, and clung to it with singular tenacity. 
 The city was occupied by the Spaniards, and taken 
 by Admiral Boisot. Cannon thundered upon its 
 ramparts, blood flowed in its streets. To-day you 
 may search in vain for any trace of its lofty walls, its 
 dainty houses, and its proud monuments ; nothingness 
 has replaced them all. Its former place is indi- 
 cated upon modern charts by a black spot, as a 
 rock is marked ; that spot is its ancient spire, now 
 covered by the waters, an object of dread to seamen, 
 and this novel kind of reef has been doubly dan- 
 gerous of late, since a ship foundered upon its point. 
 And now, floating gently between the land and 
 the water, past these evergreen shores, dwell on
 
 'TUE BATTLE OF THE SLOOPS.' 77 
 
 these remembrances, let your mind wander from the 
 placid scene which surrounds you, let your fancy 
 revive the incidents of history which I have just 
 recalled, while it contemplates the fair picture in the 
 distance. Compare this absolute, actual repose, so 
 complete that it seems as if it must last for ever, 
 with those sudden alarms, full of anxiety, full of 
 mortal terror, and you will have the exact ' note ' of 
 this strange and charming country, at once so joyous 
 and so melancholy, the absolute contrast between 
 that which one knows and that which one sees. But 
 our tjalk is advancing, and we have come to Ste- 
 venisse Point. The passage which we are crossing is 
 a famous place, for here it was that, two centuries 
 and a half ago, the celebrated ' Battle of the Sloops ' 
 took place. Never, I believe, was a more complete 
 and irremediable defeat inflicted upon the Spaniards. 
 They were surprised by Martin Hollart, Vice- 
 Admiral of Zealand, commanding the fleet of the 
 States, and were all either taken prisoners or 
 massacred. The conquerors took 76 vessels, small 
 and great, and more than 4,000 prisoners, captured 
 in that one day, to Bergen-op-Zoom. Of the whole 
 army, only the two generals, John of Nassau and 
 Albert of Barben^on, succeeded in escaping, with ten 
 of their men. They got into a small boat, and, 
 owing to the darkness of the night, eluded the vic- 
 torious Zealanders. The field of battle is now quite 
 deserted ; nature is reposing everywhere to-day, 
 and th-c midday sun is baking our deck. The spires
 
 78 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 of Saint Martin's Dyke and West Kerke rise on our 
 left, dark, frowning silent masses ; and the only living 
 creatures in all this solitude are the brown seals at 
 their lumbering gambols on the edge of the sandbanks, 
 their shining skins glittering with sea water. The 
 remembrance of the Battle of the Sloops has awakened 
 our warlike spirit ; we fire two shots, and two balls 
 fall into the midst of the ungainly group ; they dis- 
 appear with a flop, but turn up again at 100 yards' 
 distance. The tjalk pursues the fugitives, and when 
 it comes within range of them, we send a fresh volley 
 into the midst of the harmless enemy ; and thus we 
 pursue them, until they disappear altogether. At the 
 same moment our attention is attracted by a distant 
 sound of music. A light column of smoke rises 
 above the wide horizon, and a little steamboat, follow- 
 ing the same course as ourselves, advances rapidly. 
 On board are the virtuosi whom we heard the other 
 day at Zierikzee. In a quarter of an hour the 
 steamboat is alongside. It passes us closely, and 
 hoists its flag to do us honour. We return the 
 salute, and, borrowing a speaking trumpet, I shout 
 through it with all my might, ' Blaas-poepen, een 
 beetji musick, asje blie/V ^ Our appeal is heard, and 
 the wandering orchestra begins to play that cele- 
 brated waltz, the ' Blue Danube.' Presently the 
 music ceases, the little steamer turns to the left, 
 
 ^ 'Blaas-poepen, a little music, if you please.' In all Zealand and 
 Northern Holland the name of * Blaas-poopen ' is given to the bands 
 of German musicians who cross the frontiers to perform at the ker- 
 messes.
 
 THE ISLAND OF THOLEN. 79 
 
 enters the Mast Zipje, and disappears from our eyes. 
 This evening her noisy passengers will land at 
 Rotterdam. Now we are advancing with difficulty, 
 and we are soon obliged to cast our anchor ; the 
 tide has fallen, and the wind has ceased to blow. 
 The tjalk has reached Poortvliet. 
 
 The sky is blue, the weather is warm ; what should 
 we do on board ? Quick, let us lower the boat and 
 land. We will go and visit the island of Tholen, 
 which stretches out before us, and the little city 
 whence it takes its name. Having ascended the steep 
 dyke, we come upon a charming spectacle. No 
 great cultivated park, no prize farm, no village 
 paradise, ever presented a more pleasing aspect. On 
 all sides are rich crops, golden fields or grassy 
 meadows, intersected by broad alleys of great trees, 
 curving gracefully away into the distance. On all 
 sides is abundance, wealth, even profusion. The har- 
 vest is near, and the full ears bend their long golden 
 stems towards the earth ; this is the boasted wheat 
 of Zealand, ' the fairest and the sweetest that can 
 be seen,' the grain that was famous in the Middle 
 Ages, celebrated even in Italy, and which as- 
 tonished Guicciardini. How right was HofTer, the 
 maker of Latin verses, when he lauded the fertility 
 of this exceptionally generous soil, which re- 
 fuses nothing to those who bestow their care upon 
 it : — 
 
 ^ Fertilis est frugum pecorisque uberrima tellus.' 
 
 A dozen young girls are working in the fields in
 
 80 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 front of us. Their arms are bare, their petticoats 
 are short, the straw hats shading their eyes are 
 trimmed with blue ribbons crossed over the back. 
 One of these girls, standing on the ridge of the dyke, 
 and quite surprised to find us in that place, salutes 
 us with her voice, and waves her hand. ' Good morn- 
 ing, gentlemen.' ' Good day, fair ladies.' ' Whence 
 come you then ? ' ' From a very distant country, 
 which none of you have ever seen. Which is the 
 road to Tholen ? ' ' Many others have found it who 
 came from as far as you.' ' Will you show it to 
 us ? ' ' What ! Do the girls in your country lead the 
 men ? ' and then a burst of clear and silvery laughter 
 runs from lip to hp among the whole group, like 
 fire along a train of powder. ' Good-bye, you saucy 
 girl ; at least, tell me your name.' ' My mother 
 knew it before me; go and ask it of her.' 'Well, 
 then, Avhere is your mother ? ' ' Where a woman 
 ought to be — beside her husband.' Thereupon the 
 laughter is renewed ; we take our share in it, and 
 wave our hands to the girls, who return the salute 
 with interest. A little farther on, the workmen en- 
 gaged on the dyke give us the information which 
 the merry girl whose mother knew her name so 
 well had refused. They point out a shady road, 
 which, after a few windings and half an hour's walk- 
 ino-, leads us to the wide old moat that formerly 
 encircled the ramparts of Tholen. Never was I more 
 dehghted with the entrance to any city. In a 
 moment we seemed to be transported to one of the
 
 THE IXTERWR OF THOLEN. 81 
 
 great English parks, or a beautiful suburban domain 
 in the vicinity of London. The old city, shaded 
 by immemorial trees and surrounded by rich plant- 
 ations, seems to nestle luxuriously amid all this 
 verdure. Limpid waters lave its sides. Its antique 
 bastions, converted into gardens, are reflected in the 
 tranquil flow, while a great mill, painted white and 
 streaked with the brightest hues, strikes a lively note 
 in this concert of harmonious colouring. Every ob- 
 ject adds to the singular aspect of the scene, even the 
 iron railing which replaces the Oudelandschepoort, 
 or ancient gate of the city. The interior of Tholen 
 is in harmony with its artistic exterior. It has rather 
 the aspect of a large village than tliat of a once 
 powerful city, for the houses are detached, and its 
 extent seems far too great for its population. Never- 
 theless, Tholen was a populous place in old times, 
 when it held the fourth rank in the councils of the 
 Provinces, its deputies taking precedence of those of 
 Flushing. Its name, which signifies ' toll,' indicates 
 that at the period when the islands of Zealand were 
 not separated from the continept, it formed a place 
 of passage where merchandise paid certain duties. 
 Tholen early became an important place ; it certainly 
 was fortified, and although, as Blaeu states,^ nothing 
 is known of its foundation, at least we may admit, 
 with the eminent geographer, that the city is of great 
 antiquity, and that it attained eminence in more than 
 one respect. Another indication of its past grandeur 
 
 ' Blaeu, Theatrum Urhiwu, op. dt. 
 
 G
 
 82 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 is its division into three quarters ; or, indeed, into 
 three towns ; and this division is at least nominally 
 retained at the present time. Tholen, in fact, is com- 
 posed of an old city (Oudestad), of a new city 
 (Nieuwestad), and of an external city (Buitenstad), 
 the whole comprised in barely two hundred houses. 
 The ruin of the triple city and its shrunken condition 
 are attributable to a fearful conflagration which 
 occurred in 1452. Tholen was then completely re- 
 duced to ashes, and the memory of that awful disaster 
 is preserved in the names which strike one at various 
 points. We pass through the burnt street ( Verbrande- 
 straat), and see the place where formerly stood the 
 ' burnt gate ' (Verbrandepoort). 
 
 Phihp the Good conferred several privileges on 
 the city, hoping to retrieve its fortunes, which had 
 vanished in flame and smoke ; other citizens came 
 thither to replace the former inhabitants, but the 
 ' good pleasure ' of the old duke had not such efficacy 
 as he expected, and it may be that the transforma- 
 tion which the whole country underwent at the com- 
 mencement of the fifteenth century was the chief 
 cause of the failure of his endeavours. The raison 
 d'etre of the toll no longer existing, Tholen could 
 not possibly resume its former importance. 
 
 We must not, however, conclude that Tholen 
 became all at once a despicable place. The deter- 
 mined obstinacy with which the different parties 
 contended for the mastery of it at the epoch of the 
 War of Independence, is suffjciejit proof that the city
 
 CHURCH OF OUR LADY. 83 
 
 was important in their eyes. In 1573, in fact, we 
 find the Zealanders under Eolle vainly endeavouring 
 to seize the ' Beggars' Hole ' by main force. Cham- 
 pigny was more fortunate ; he surprised the town in 
 1577 ; and in 1588 the Spaniards in their turn be- 
 sieged it in vain. If the memoirs of the time are to 
 be believed, Tholen was preserved from capture by its 
 dams. The city is, in fact, so packed away behind 
 those curious ramparts that the enemy's projectiles, 
 passing over its roofs, spent themselves in the plains 
 beyond, where, no doubt, they assassinated some 
 peaceful, ruminating animals who had no share in the 
 quarrel, while the people of Tholen, in safety behind 
 their dams, directed a murderous fire on the Prince 
 of Parma's musketeers, and decimated them at their 
 leisure. 
 
 Another indication of the importance of Tholen, 
 subsequent to the great fire, is the Church of Our 
 Lady, which was rebuilt about that same period, 
 and is quite befitting a great city. It is built of 
 white stone, is of imposing size, and has a lofty 
 steeple and a fine portal. It stands upon a vast 
 square, planted with great trees and surrounded by 
 small houses, which are like a Beguinage. The whole 
 effect is singular ; the contrast has something strange 
 and discordant in it, for the houses appear smaller 
 than they are, and the church looks larger than it is. 
 If it were in better preservation. Our Lady of Tholen 
 would be a fine object. The nave, which rests upon 
 twelve substantial pillars, is, so far as the transept, 
 
 G 2
 
 84 THE HEART OE HOLLAND. 
 
 in good preservation, but the vaulted roof of the 
 building was destroyed, and the enclosure of the 
 choir has been removed. Rough plaster has been 
 employed to fill up the rents made by the ravages 
 of time or of man, and which were not anticipated 
 by the architect. I shall spare you a description of 
 the pavement of the choir, of the slabs with their 
 pompous heraldic bearings and their eulogistic epi- 
 taphs, celebrating the virtues and the merits of for- 
 gotten nobles. I dislike nothing more than this 
 misuse of heraldic shields, and funereal eloquence, 
 in the laudation of contraband heroes, whose names 
 posterity ought to ignore. The most illustrious 
 sleeper in this place is Guy, Bastard of Blois, the last 
 seigneur of Tliolen. 
 
 We have now to walk through the streets and 
 to visit the Stadhuis. The streets of Tholen are 
 neither wide nor much frequented, consequently they 
 are ratlier dull. Our solitary promenade reminds me 
 of an anecdote told thirty years ago by one of the 
 high officials of the Netherlands Government. ' It 
 was on a Sunday,' said he, ' that I arrived at Tholen. 
 At the city gate (the Oudelandschepoort) we observed 
 about fifty young fellows, all tall, all healthy, all pen- 
 sive, silent, and melancholy, contemplating with fixed 
 attention the smoke which issued from their pipes 
 and rose into the air in white spirals. We crossed 
 the city, and at the other end we found a number 
 of young girls, in Sunday attire, all fat, all blooming, 
 all pensive, silent, and melancholy, who were regard-
 
 THE STREETS OF TIIOLEN. 85 
 
 ing with fixed attention the flowing water. We 
 crossed the river on a ferry-boat, we wall^ed about 
 half a mile, and we found ourselves in a hamlet 
 where the girls and the young fellows were gathered 
 together, laughing and talking, as happy as kings, 
 and dancing merrily to the sound of a village hurdy- 
 gurdy.' ' We had quitted Zealand for Brabant,' 
 added the old statesman ; ' all the difference of the 
 two people is told in that contrast.' I do not know 
 whether this preliminary hint helped me to the dis- 
 covery that the streets of Tholen were rather too 
 empty, but my own impression of that town greatly 
 resembles the reminiscences of my venerable friend. 
 Tholen, although it is upon the frontier, exhibits the 
 characteristics of its own province only. The respect- 
 able old houses, with their brick facades, their gables, 
 and their windows inserted in an elhptical arch, are 
 distinguished by the marvellous cleanliness and scru- 
 pulous care, which may be called the livery of Zealand. 
 The window panes are spotlessly clean, the shops 
 are neat and well arranged, the paint is always fresh, 
 and that is something, is it not ? The Stadhuis, 
 built of stone, like the church, although more curious 
 than pretty, and odd rather than elegant, is never- 
 theless picturesque. It is composed of a lofty ground- 
 floor storey, with two storeys above, a small belfry 
 adorns the roof. The lower storey has trefoiled win- 
 dows, those of the second are square, and the third 
 storey is crenelated. Between these windows are 
 projecting niches Avith consoles, and carved pinnacles.
 
 86 THE HEART OF llOLLASD. 
 
 The entrance has been modernised, and is adorned 
 with four Hons, each holding an escutcheon ; the first 
 bears the arms of the House of Orange, the second 
 those of Zealand, the third those of Tliolen, and the 
 fourth those of the Ambacht of Shakerloo. While 
 we were studying this fantastic Stadhuis, a groan 
 issued from the roof, followed by a significant rasping 
 in the belfry, and a cracked, dislocated carillon began 
 to drone a melody so discordant, so harsh, and so 
 incoherent that it put us to flight. In 1712 a de- 
 tachment of French soldiers, commanded by Brigadier 
 Pasture, made what, sixty years later, would have 
 been called a ' raid,' that is to say, an expedition 
 across the Dutch Provinces, and, in return for similar 
 proceedings in France on the part of the Allies, he 
 put Tholen to ransom. It is a pity that the carillon 
 was not then in its present condition, for it would 
 have sent our compatriots back again more quickly 
 than they had come. But what is that other and 
 deeper sound ? It is the report of a gun, it is the 
 appointed signal ; our boat is all ready, and it waits 
 for us at the turn of the river. Come, let us embark. 
 We have hardly a moment to glance at a novel 
 kind of pisciculture which has been introduced here 
 of late years, and has replaced the old fishery. The 
 oyster parks of the Scheldt are still in their infancy, 
 but the results are already satisfactory, and they 
 probably have a prosperous future before them, from 
 which the industrious population of Tholen will derive 
 renewed wealth, comfort, and prosperity.
 
 BERGEN-OP-ZOOM IN SIGHT. 87 
 
 We are again on board. As the crow flies we 
 should have only one league to make, but that league 
 will be at least doubled by our inevitable tacks. No 
 matter ; we are now certain to arrive this evening, 
 for Bergen-op-Zoom is visible, its towers and spires 
 shining like gold in the distance. We shall not miss 
 the promised land. The evening is magnificent ; the 
 sunset one of the most splendid which I have ever 
 seen ; I can give you no idea of the marvellous spec- 
 tacle that spreads before us to the horizon. No 
 words could convey the dehcacy of tint, the softness 
 of tone, the colouring at once brilhant and mellow, 
 shading from intense red into celestial blue, following 
 all the grades of the prism, alike in the sky and in 
 the water, and coming to us strained through a 
 warm and glowing atmosphere, so vital and so real 
 that it seems impossible but that it must feel some- 
 thing of the pleasure it imparts to us.
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 BERGEN-OP-ZOOM— A MILITARY RECEPTION — THE SCHUTTERIJ — THE 
 CAMP — THE HISTORY OF A WARLIKE CITY — MARSHAL VON LO- 
 WENDAHL — THE GREAT SIEGE OF BERGEN-OP-ZOOM. 
 
 JUR resolution to arrive on a certain day 
 at the old capital of the Counts of 
 Bergen, was not dictated by mere 
 fancy or caprice. We had, or at least 
 one of us had, duties to fulfil there. Constant de 
 Rebecque has the honour of being a major in the 
 civic guard, and this distinguished rank involves cer- 
 tain obligations. He was bound to be present at a 
 shooting match, which was to take place on the fol- 
 lowing day ; consequently, although we arrived after 
 dark, no sooner was our tjalk moored than my amiable 
 fellow-traveller proceeded to attire himself, and one 
 of our sailors was despatched on a voyage of dis- 
 covery to find out where the colonel-commandant 
 lived, as we wished to pay our compliments to him 
 without loss of time. A quarter of an hour after- 
 wards a great clanking of swords and the sound of 
 voices summoned me to the deck, to behold no less
 
 nFJJEPTION AT BERGEN-OP-ZOOM. 89 
 
 a person than Colonel Van Beusekom, who, laying 
 aside all rules of etiquette and strict precedence, had 
 come down, with several officers of his staff, to bid 
 us Avelconie. 
 
 As may be supposed, the meeting was exceedingly 
 cordial on both sides. All these brilliant uniforms 
 crowded into our little saloon ! never had the tjalk 
 beheld such a spectacle ! Champagne was speedily 
 sparkling in the glasses ; friendly toasts were drunk ; 
 and then we were carried off to the camp, which, 
 notwithstanding the late hour, was still full of life 
 and stir. This camp, at which the shooting match 
 was to take place on the morrow, was upon a wide 
 esplanade, which had been a famous bastion in the 
 old warlike days of Bergen-op-Zoom. The tents had 
 been pitched, and the cafes and restaurants erected 
 a fortnight previously. In the centre stood a kiosk, 
 which was hghted up in the evening, and occupied 
 by an excellent band ; and as the camp was just about 
 to break up, all its inhabitants were enjoying them- 
 selves as much as possible. The dispensers of victuals 
 and drink were overcharging their customers for the 
 last time, and the population of Bergen, to whom the 
 camp and its accessories afforded a rare recreation, 
 swarmed about them as eagerly as the troopers them- 
 selves. 
 
 When we arrived, the enclosure was crowded. 
 The kind Colonel, to put the finishing touch to his 
 cordial reception of us, strangers, made the band 
 strike up in our lionour ; and the gallant Captain
 
 90 THt: HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Koorevaar undertook to make me tipsy ; a truly 
 soldierly manner of testifying to the cordial regard 
 with which I inspired him. 
 
 I have no intention of discussing the army of the 
 Netherlands, of explaining the part which the Schut- 
 terij plays in it, or even dwelling upon the advantages 
 of that institution. I sliall merely say that the 
 Schutterij is somewhat analogous to our old National 
 Guard, but that it is more strictly disciplined, better 
 organised, and has more cohesion about it, because 
 it is comj)osed partly of men who have already 
 served in the army, and especially because it is re- 
 garded in a serious light by those who belong to it.^ 
 All who have any knowledge of military matters will 
 agree with me that a concentration of troops of this 
 nature, taken away for a certain time from their 
 homes, obliged to live under canvas, to observe dis- 
 cipline, and to undergo drill and obey orders, cannot 
 be other than an excellent institution. The officers 
 and soldiers come to know one another, and there 
 arises from this obligatory association a valuable 
 spirit of comradeship, which pervades their future 
 mutual relations. The practical use of fire-arms is 
 also useful to novices, and makes better soldiers of 
 
 ^ The Schutterij, which was instituted by the law of April 11, 1827, 
 is intended for the defence of the territory and the maintenance of order. 
 It is divided into active and stationary corps. It is composed of three 
 divisions : the first comprises unmarried men and widowers without 
 children ; the second and third, married men and widowers with chil- 
 dren. The force of the Schutterij is, in round numbers, 90,000, of whom 
 26,000 are in the active and 05,000 in the stationary corps.
 
 THE SHOUTING MATCH. 91 
 
 tliem, when they pass into the regular military ser- 
 vice. It seems to me therefore that these periodical 
 exercises are highly to be commended, and, for my 
 own part, I take a great interest in them. 
 
 Every hour of the following day was filled with 
 occupation. In the morning, we received a brilliant 
 staff, who condescended to share our breakfast ; in 
 the evening, we were invited to the farewell banquet 
 given to the authorities of the city and to the gar- 
 rison by the officers of the Schutterij. We were also 
 present at the fete which followed the banquet, and 
 between times. Constant contrived to cover himself 
 with glory by carrying off one of the palms of the 
 tournament, that is to say, one of the prizes of the 
 shooting- match. Far be it from me to relate in detail 
 the events of that great day. My narrative would, 
 however, be culpably incomplete, and I should be 
 guilty of ingratitude were I to omit one impressive 
 incident. First, the president of the banquet, in the 
 kindest and most gracious manner, proposed the 
 health of the French author who was present at this 
 great family festival, and secondly, ' France ' was 
 proposed by the gallant Colonel Knyght, in one sen- 
 tence of heartfelt eloquence. ' To that great and 
 noble country to which we owe so much,' were his 
 words, and although I thanked him for them at the 
 moment by drinking to the Netherlands, I wish now 
 to prove to him that I have not forgotten them. 
 That our first experience of Bergen-op-Zoom should 
 be a military fete is surely appropriate, for in the
 
 92 THE IIEATIT OF HOLLAND. 
 
 history of that martial city all things warlike hold 
 the foremost place. The name of Bergen would, in 
 fact, be hardly known, were it not for the sieges 
 which tlie city has stood, and the deeds of arms 
 which have been achieved beneath its walls. If the 
 name of Bergen be more popular than that of many 
 another great town, the fact is due to the incompar- 
 able bravery exhibited there in old times, in the 
 attack as well as in the defence of its ramparts. 
 
 Bergen, although of great antiquity, made no 
 name in history until it was fortified. The town, 
 according to the old annalists, owes its origin to a 
 little colony of fishermen, who established themselves 
 at the mouth of the small river Zoom. The height 
 of the land above all the surrounding country, which 
 would place them in security from inundation, had 
 attracted them thither. Berg, a mountain, op-Zoom, 
 upon the Zoom ; the etymology of this name is too 
 clear to require interpretation. In 654 Saint Ger- 
 trude, the eldest daughter of Pepin of Landen, came 
 to visit the place. The pious princess took up her 
 abode in a little hamlet in the neighbourhood, which 
 afterwards bore her name, Sankt-Geertruidenberg. 
 From thence her benefactions were distributed over 
 the surrounding country, for she devoted herself to 
 ameliorating the lot of the still primitive population, 
 and the result of her coming to Bergen was the 
 foundation of a church which was afterwards conse- 
 crated to her. At the death of Saint Gertrude, 
 the Httle new-born city was included among her
 
 HISTORY OF BERGEN-OP-ZOOM. 93 
 
 patrimonial property, and added to the Barony of 
 Breda. Thus it formed a detached portion of Brabant. 
 In 1287, John I. having divided the Barony of Breda 
 into two portions, handed over Bergen and its terri- 
 tory to Gerard, Seigneur of Wesemael ; the new suze- 
 rain enclosed it with walls, and built a castle. The 
 entrance of Bergen into history dates from that period. 
 I shall not endeavour to follow the city through all 
 its successive stages of development ; for only one 
 event, presently to be recalled, is of any importance 
 to the French in the long lapse of three centuries. 
 
 The great church founded by Saint Gertrude was 
 destroyed by fire in 1397. In 1442 it was rebuilt by 
 the order of John of Glimes, who erected it into a 
 collegiate church, with eight canons. I am particular 
 about this date, because I shall have something to 
 say concerning the monument which records it. After 
 1287, Bergen had its own special seigneurs, who bore 
 the title of baron. In 1533 it was erected into a 
 marquisate by the Emperor Charles V. ; and, curious 
 to state, the town, which until then had remained in 
 the possession of one and the same family, changed 
 hands from that time forth so often, that in less than 
 two centuries its title fell successively to six houses, 
 all different, and of divers nationalities ! In 1558 it 
 passed into the family of Merode, in 1577 into tha 
 of Wethem, in 1625 into that of Heerensberg, in 
 1641 into that of Hohenzollern, in 1652 into that of 
 Latour d'Auvergne, and in 1722 into the palatine 
 house of Pultzbach in Germany, which retained its
 
 94 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 title until 1801. I say 'its title,' because, from 1577, 
 when it was surprised by Champigny, it was taken 
 away from its hereditary suzerains, and remained 
 annexed to the United Provinces. Before that date 
 Bergen had witnessed a great feat of arms which 
 proved disastrous to the Spaniards, to whom indeed 
 the town seems always to have been fatal ; and as its 
 military reputation dates from that time, I will briefly 
 relate the incident. 
 
 In 1574, Requesens, being resolved to force insur- 
 gent Zealand into obedience, had collected under the 
 walls and in the port of Bergen-op-Zoom an armada 
 which his Gastillian pride believed to be invincible. 
 His most able captains, John of Glimes and Julian 
 Romaro, had taken the command of this fleet. On 
 January 25, persuaded that they need only show 
 themselves in such terrible array, to make the whole 
 country tremble, and re-establish the authority of 
 the King, they marched out in good order, and ad- 
 vanced upon the Scheldt ; but hardly had they passed 
 the point of Bergen than the ' Beggars of the Sea,' 
 who were lying in wait, fell upon them. The first 
 shock was terrible. The Spanish artillery was very 
 superior to that of the Zealanders, and made great 
 havoc in their ranks. Admiral Boisot, who com- 
 manded the fleet, lost an eye at the first volley; 
 Captain Claessens had both his legs carried off*; 
 Captain Schott and Captain Valentin each lost an 
 arm ; but those gallant heroes, encouraging their men 
 by voice and gesture, hurled them upon the enemy's
 
 HAULING DOWN THE FLAG. 95 
 
 ships, and in a moment the melee became general. 
 The action was fought on both sides with equal de- 
 termination. It was one heroic deed which inclined 
 the balance in favour of the Beggars, and decided 
 the fate of the day. Admiral Boisot was not only a 
 very brave seaman, but he had a practical mind, and 
 he had promised the men of his fleet that he who 
 should carry oflf the enemy's flag during the combat 
 should have a new coat.^ It seems this was a tempting 
 promise, for a young man from Souteland, near 
 Flushing, named Jasper Leynsen, profiting by the 
 fact that his comrades were occupied by a hand-to- 
 hand fight with the Spaniards, scaled the sides of the 
 Admiral's ship, chmbed the mast, tore down Glimes' 
 flag, and having tied it round him, let himself drop 
 on the deck. On beholding this, all the Spaniards 
 on the ships beheved that the Admiral had struck 
 his flag, and that tlie battle was lost. The rout was 
 general, nothing but flight was thought of; but the 
 Zealanders fought with redoubled fury, and the en- 
 gagement became still more sanguinary. Admiral 
 Glimes, Perenot, cousin to Cardinal de Granvelle, 
 Captains Gaglia, Acugna, Meto and Elfiero were 
 killed upon their decks. The massacre Avas terrible. 
 ' No mercy was shown to those who were found 
 alive, the half-dead were thrown into the water 
 without being stripped, although they had chains of 
 gold on their necks.' The Zealanders captured ten 
 ships, and Ijurnt as many more. Julian Eomaro only 
 
 ' Metereii.
 
 96 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 escaped by throwing himself into the water, and 
 thus gained the dam of Shakerloo, from whence 
 Eequesens in person had witnessed this terrible rout. 
 ' You knew,' said he to the Commander, ' that I was 
 not a seaman, but only a land soldier ; it is not sur- 
 prising that we have lost this fleet, for if they gave us 
 a hundred, we should lose them all.' To which Re- 
 quesens made answer, ' Let us thank God. The fault 
 of this disaster rests neither with you nor with these 
 brave men ; it is to be imputed only to our sins.' 
 
 After Bergen had been surprised by Champigny, 
 the States placed an English garrison there, under the 
 command of a leader called Morgan, a man of tried 
 courage, uncommon ability, and sufficiently easy con- 
 science. His soldiers, much given to pillage, daring 
 marauders, and in fact, generally speaking, a bad lot, 
 took advantage of the liberty that was given them 
 to make expeditions, which rendered the roads be- 
 tween Bergen- op-Zoom, Antwerp, and MaHnes, un- 
 safe. ' They seized convoys of merchandise, robbed 
 travellers, and made prisoners of the unoffending 
 citizens, whom they afterwards put to ransom.' We 
 cannot form any idea, in these days, of what those 
 wars of brigandage were. One example among many 
 will show to what a point the ' overrunners of the 
 country' pushed their daring, and the absence of any 
 kind of scruple. One day, under the leadership of 
 tAvo adventurers. Captains Cotwis and Augustin, they 
 sallied forth to the number of three hundred, their 
 intention being to push on to Antwerp, and to carry
 
 RAID ON THE CITIZENS. 97 
 
 off some of the citizens — a number of whom were in 
 the habit of walking every day on tlie promenade of 
 Borgherhoudt, at the farther end of the city. This 
 plan was cleverly contrived : one hundred of their 
 best horsemen were to pass under the walls, to seize 
 upon tlie passing promenaders from the rear, and 
 drive them before them in the direction of Dam- 
 In'ugghe, where the water was very deep ; there the 
 others, wlio woiJd have time to throw a bridge over 
 the river, were to wait for them, and, having forced 
 the unlucky citizens to cross, were to destroy the 
 bridge, when being safe from pursuit, they could re- 
 gain Bergen-op Zoom with their prey. ' Tlie design 
 was good,' says the old annahst, from whom I borrow 
 tlie recital of this noble feat ; ' but on the preceding 
 night it had rained heavily, and the water had risen 
 so much, that of the hundred horsemen, twenty 
 could not pass, and those who passed took no more 
 than three or four prisoners.' This insignificant 
 result amounted to a failure ; but the alarm being 
 given in the town, the citizens came out in great 
 numbers to deliver their fellows, and fell into the 
 ambuscade at the bridge, where ' those of Bergen ' 
 seized about forty of them. Among the captives 
 there were some rich merchants and bankers ; but 
 tlie honest marauders, who were quite men of busi- 
 ness, refused to put them to ransom separately ; 
 they simply required 50,000 florins for the lot. We 
 may picture to ourselves the dismay which this ad- 
 venturous proceeding spread over all the country, 
 
 H
 
 98 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 and to Avliat urgent solicitations tlie Prince of Parma 
 yielded when, on September 24, 1588, lie came, with 
 ' much artillery, many gabions, masts, planks, car- 
 penters, and boats, to lay siege to Bergen-op-Zoom.' 
 The reputation of the place was, however, already 
 so well established that the Prince did not expect all 
 this display of troops and engines would be suffi- 
 cient to carry it immediately, and he therefore had 
 recourse to treason. Two Englishmen, who were 
 brought into his camp, promised him that the gate 
 should be delivered up by the disaffected garrison ; 
 and while he believed himself certain of the assist- 
 ance of the two traitors, those honest fellows, selling 
 him in his turn, led his best officers into an ambuscade, 
 and caused 1,500 of his bravest soldiers to perish in 
 an ill-conducted assault. Having failed in this enter- 
 prise, the Prince abandoned his design. It was, how- 
 ever, resumed in 1605, by the Sieurs de la Biche, du 
 Terrail, and d'Elte, who on two several occasions, 
 with an interval of two months between them, en- 
 deavoured to surprise the city, and carry it by a coup- 
 de-main. The first time they came in small numbers, 
 the second with a large body of troops, and both times 
 they were very soundly beaten, and obliged to take 
 ignominiously to flight. They had reckoned upon 
 an easy capture of the fortress, because of its small 
 garrison ; but the citizens came to the aid of the 
 soldiers. The conduct of the population was in- 
 deed admirable ; everybody fought with extraordi- 
 nary bravery ; in the presence of danger which
 
 DEFEAT OF THE MARQUIS BE SFINOLA. 99 
 
 tlireatened the common country all differences of creed 
 were forgotten. ' The citizens and inhabitants, who 
 were known to be of the Eoman Eehgion,' writes a 
 contemporary, ' acquitted themselves of their duties 
 upon the ramparts no less well than theotliers ; rush- 
 ing with cries as loud as theirs to the destruction of 
 their enemies.' The bearing of the women was above 
 all praise. ' It was an admirable thing to see with 
 what courage the women and tlie children assisted 
 the combatants, carrying powder, balls, tar-hoops, 
 stones, and even the straw of which their own beds 
 were made. Others took their children out of their 
 cradles, so that they might use the latter to drag 
 stones to the ramparts.' This double victory greatly 
 magnified the military renown of Bergen-op-Zoora ; 
 but that which put the seal upon its reputation as a 
 fortress was the defeat sustained by the Marquis de 
 Spinola, ' the great taker of cities,' under its walls. 
 During eleven whole weeks that celebrated man of 
 war besieged Bergen in form, without obtaining a 
 single important advantage — without being able to 
 carry even one of its outworks, notwithstanding his 
 repeated assaults. At the end of September, after 
 two months of daily fighting, the fire from the place 
 was still so steady and continuous that the Spanish 
 general, wanting to erect heavy batteries at any cost, 
 was obliged to give eight and nine crowns per niglit 
 to the men who levelled the ground for the earth- 
 works, and even at that high price he could not get 
 sufficient hands. A few days later, on t]ie 20t]i of 
 
 II 2
 
 100 THE HEART OF HULL A XI). 
 
 October, Prince Maurice came with his ariuy and took 
 lip his position in the environs of Eosendaal, three 
 leagues from the besieged city, and at noon of the 
 same day, the sentinels of tlie besieged, upon the most 
 advanced outworks of the place, apprised those who 
 were commanding in tlie town, that the Spaniards 
 Avere packing up and departing. Spinola thought lie 
 had gained enough honour by retiring in good order, 
 witliout trj'ing to push matters further. 
 
 This succession of glorious sieges caused the 
 States to appreciate the sterling worth of tlie city of 
 Bergen-op-Zoom, so that they resolved to make of 
 it an exceptional place of war, and the illustrious 
 Menno Coehoorn, Vauban's rival, employed all the re- 
 sources of his science and his genius upon its defences. 
 From that time forth Bergen was considered impreg- 
 nable ; covered by the Scheldt on two of its faces, 
 easily revictualled from that side, dominating the 
 surrounding countries, capable of being isolated by 
 inundation, defended besides by formidable works, 
 it seemed to defy surprise and render all attacks 
 useless. It was, then, with disdainful astonishment 
 that the allied army learned, on the 2nd of July 1747, 
 that the French troops, under the command of Count 
 Lowendahl, had received orders to march upon 
 Bergen-op-Zoom, and take the place. Voltaire has 
 iriven a concise history of this great feat of arms, in 
 his ' Siecle de Louis Quinze.' I was about to refer 
 the reader to that narrative, when an unpublished and 
 unknown document came into ray hands. It is the
 
 JOURNAL OF GENERAL BARON DE CONSTANT. 101 
 
 journal of Baron Samuel dc Constant, a general in 
 the besieged army, written on the spot, day by day, 
 and almost hour by hour. Need I say that it was 
 among the family papers of my travelling companion 
 I made this valuable and doubly opportune discovery ? 
 I am sure that a few pages of the journal will be 
 acceptable to my readers. This account, given by an 
 eye-witness, proves that extraordinary carelessness 
 had been shown with res^ard to the state of the for- 
 tress at the time. 
 
 It was so lirmly believed that Bergen could not 
 be taken, tliat none of the preventive measures cus- 
 tomary in the defence of military works had been 
 resorted to. Much care had been bestowed by the 
 engineers upon the fortifying of Sandvliet, which the 
 French took in twenty-four hours, 'but it is remark- 
 able,' the Baron writes, ' that no precaution or measure 
 for defence has been taken either inside or outside 
 tlie fortress. The houses, woods, and hedges are left 
 in their entirety, no battery had been mounted, 
 nothing was prepared in the city, there were hardly 
 any artillery, and at most six miners ; in fact, every- 
 tliing is in so pitiable a condition, that if tlie town 
 could be completely invested, this formidable fortress 
 would hold out about ten daj^s at the most.' 
 
 On the 14tli of July Cromstrom arrives, and takes 
 tlie command of the army, and also of tlie town.^ 
 He leaves tlie details of tlie inteiior to the Prince of 
 
 ' He liiul b(!un aiipoiiitL'tl by the I'liuce nl' ()iaii;:;e Couimaiider-iii- 
 cliief from the Scheklt to the Maas.
 
 102 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Ilesse, Governor of the town, and its exterior to the 
 Prince of Saxony. lie Inirries up the supplementary 
 troops, the besieged may count on two armies of 
 succour. During tlie night of the 14th to the 15th, 
 the French open the trenches ; during the 18th to 
 the lOtli their first parallel is finished. On the 20th, 
 in the morning, at daybreak, they begin to fire on 
 the town. They had thirty pieces of artillery and 
 twenty mortars. The first bomb which fell upon 
 Bergen set fire to the great cliurch, and burnt it 
 to ashes. From that moment the artillery duel was 
 incessant, and under its shelter the French pushed 
 on their works with surprising rapidity. ' Their 
 works advance marvellously, the trench also advances 
 considerably on this side ; they push their saps with 
 much speed and facility on the glacis ; they already 
 approach tlie palisades, and have traced the third 
 parallel.' Such are the comments which I find under 
 the dates of July 23rd, 28th, and 29th. The fire of 
 the besieged, on the contrary, is irregular. Two sorties, 
 one on the night of the 15th to the 16th, the other on 
 the night of the 29th to the 30th, are ineffectual, and 
 the men return ' in some disorder.' On the 26th and 
 the 30th the besiegers unmask new batteries. On 
 the 1st of August they push their saps to the pali- 
 sades ; on the 4th they effect a lodgment in the 
 trenches leading to these, and in the night of the 
 5th to the 6th, at midnight, they assault, and gain 
 the ridge with five salient angles. The assailants ad- 
 vance, but only step by step, so that the fight is about
 
 PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 103 
 
 to become hand to hand. We need not follow them 
 through this prolonged battle ; but I wanted to give 
 these first exact, and, so to speak, official indications, 
 in order to show with what rapidity the operations 
 were carried out, with what vio-our the siefje was 
 conducted. Notliing can stop the advance of the 
 besiegers. In vain, on the 10th does General Swartz- 
 enberg, who commands one of the armies of rehef, 
 attempt a diversion. On the 12th, reinforcements of 
 artillery, artificers and miners from England, and a 
 detachment from the great army, arrive ; on the loth, 
 eight battalions come up. Each day is marked by 
 a step in advance, each hour by progress. On the 
 night of the ISth to the 16th, the French, having con- 
 structed a mine under the Zealand lunette, assaulted. 
 On the night of the 16th to the 17th a sortie was made 
 on the new position of the French, who were driven 
 back a httle, at a cost of many men. On the niglit of 
 the 17th to the 18th, such alarm reigns in the city 
 that the Commander-in-Chief makes arrangements for 
 retreat; on that of the 19th to the 20th the Frencli 
 blow up the corner of tlie Utrecht lunette, and 
 occupy its rear ; on that of the 20th to the 21st tliey 
 destroy a portion of tlie gallery. From the 21st to 
 the 22nd they fill up the Dedem moat. And tlie 
 brave soldier, who witnesses this progress of the 
 enemy, becoming more marked day by day, betrays 
 his grave fears and disheartenment in the followin<y 
 lines: — 'The enemy's miners have completely got tlie 
 better of those of the town, and in i!eneral tlic dcfeii(;e
 
 104 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 of the place is very weak, considering all the ad- 
 vantages which it possesses. The enemy's works are 
 hardly delayed at all, the most considerable obstacle 
 to them is the excellence of the fortifications only.' 
 Nothing can be more interesting than to trace the 
 vicissitudes of the attack and defence throughout the 
 course of these notes taken on the spot. It is deeply 
 impressive to watcli the ring of fire and iron closing 
 round the city day by day, to see its famous bastions 
 crumbling one by one, and the ground, disputed 
 foot by foot, drinking the blood with which it is 
 wet. 
 
 But why should I linger over these details ? My 
 object was to prove that the taking of Bergen was 
 not, as so many have said or repeated, a fortunate 
 coup-de-mam, a sort of audacious adventure, chiefly 
 due to the fiiria francese. General Constant's state- 
 ment is sufiicient to establish that it was, on 
 the contrary, a siege of tlie most formal kind ; 
 complete, deliberate, strictly conducted, in which 
 nothing was left to chance, and the besieged could 
 neither find fault with tlie tactics of the besiegers, nor 
 accuse them of a single act of imprudence or miscal- 
 culation. I am anxious to arrive at the conclusion of 
 the great military drama, and will only dwell on an 
 episode in this technical narrative, which conveys 
 some idea of the extraordinary obstinacy of the com- 
 bat on both sides. Tlie following is one of those 
 facts which do not admit of comment : ' On the 13th 
 (September) towards morning, the French blew up a
 
 PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE. 105 
 
 mine under the Utrecht hmette on the riglit ; the 
 explosion destroyed the small portion of the gallery 
 which still remained. Two officers and thirty men 
 were buried under its ruins. No assistance could 
 be given them, and it was necessary to abandon them 
 alive to tlieir terrible fate.' 
 
 We now arrive at the famous day, the 16th of 
 September, and here, allowing the narrator to speak, 
 I shall be careful not to change a word of his recital. 
 ' On the night of the 15th to the 16th, the hre of 
 the enemy was extremely rapid, that of the fortress 
 had never been so bad. In the town less precaution 
 was taken, and more security was felt than ever 
 before. On the 16th, at five o'clock in the morning, 
 after three discharges of bombs, the last of which 
 were not loaded, the French mounted to the assault 
 by the breach of the demilune, and also those of tlie 
 Pucelle and Coehoorn bastions. So little were they 
 on the alert, and so badly guarded were the ap- 
 proaches, that the enemy reached the ramparts with- 
 out serious difficulty, and had no trouble in gaining 
 the entrenchments, and occupying the ramparts on 
 the right and on the left. Tlie alarm was not given 
 in the city until very late ; everybody was asleep, all 
 was in profound security; we may therefore judge 
 whether proper arrangements had been made. Crom- 
 strom could not believe in wliat was happening. 
 The troops, stationed in the ditches on the side of 
 the Steenbergen Gate, could not reacli the city until 
 after the enemy luid taken tlic ramparts and were
 
 106 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 actually in tlie streets. The French had already 
 ])assed the Fort, and entered the Steenbergen Street, 
 when the troops of tlie garrison drove them back 
 upon the Fort, where the battle began, and raged for 
 two liours. It soon became so general throughout 
 tlie whole extent of the city, that the French occu- 
 ])ied the houses and gained the ramparts, even down 
 to the Steenbergen Gate. 
 
 Retreat became inevitable ; Cromstrom defiled with 
 his troops out of the Steenbergen Gate ; the enemy 
 pursued the garrison as it retreated. Two Scotch 
 battalions, who from the beginning had made the best 
 possible face, closed the retreat, and were severely 
 harassed. At the Steenbergen Gate the carnage 
 was greater than anywhere else, and there was the 
 close of the assault. The French shut the gates 
 upon the garrison, and the drawbridge was taken up. 
 They snapped iheir fingers at Cromstrom ; they took 
 prisoners all tlie soldiers who, being cut off, could not 
 escape them. While this was passing in the city, the 
 alarm reached the camp. The French liad made a 
 feiiined attack on the lines at the moment of the 
 assault in order to distract the troops, and discover 
 the movements of the Prince of Saxony. The latter 
 was as full of security and tranquillity as the town 
 had been, and his dispositions were no better made. 
 The French were masters of the Fort before the alarm 
 was given in the camp, and a retreat was speedily 
 resolved upon and accomplished with all imaginable 
 disorder. Every })ost from the Wouw Gate to Fort
 
 RETREAT FROM THE CAMP. lOT 
 
 Pinson was abandoned with such precipitation, that 
 time was not given ^ . . . the regiment retired to the 
 liighest . . . joined with the troops who had come 
 out of the town, they . . . better order, the road 
 to . . . where the following day they joined the army 
 of Oudenbosch, of which Cromstrom took the com- 
 mand-in-chief.' 
 
 I have now exactly reproduced the details of this 
 enterprise, whose conception, and still more its suc- 
 cess, astonished all Europe.'^ This narrative, written 
 by a general officer, who was as highly informed as he 
 was loyal and brave, throws a strong hght upon the 
 denouement of that epic siege. The contemporaries 
 of the great event did not hesitate to apply that fatal 
 word to it which is so often used to explain the dis- 
 asters of war. We need not be angry with them that 
 they have cried ' Treason ! ' But wc may be aston- 
 ished^ that the historians of our own time, that 
 writers of our own day, should repeat the coarse 
 calumny. Either partiality has blunted their con- 
 science, or they must be very ill-informed. Eor my 
 part, I can recognise no place for treason in that 
 uninterrupted succession of murderous operations, 
 planned with admirable skill, and conducted Avitli 
 implacable precision. Had there been any other 
 means of carrying the citadel, exhausting efforts of 
 
 ' The manuscript is injured at this phice and several lines arc 
 missing. 
 
 * Van Hassell, Belyique et Hollande. 
 
 ^ Especially M. Schwartz, in his work Lc I'<i>/s -Z?cf,s, cunsidcres an 
 point de vue historiiue, politupie, ct topoyraphiquc.
 
 108 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 this kind would not have been resorted to. In the 
 street fight, after the invasion of the city, in the 
 butchery of the great square and the Steenbergen 
 Gate, I also look in vain for treason ; I can only 
 find bi-ave, determined, and resolute men on both 
 sides, who heroically did their duty. Another accu- 
 sation, from which the narrative of General de Con- 
 stant completely clears not only the conquerors, but 
 the conquered, is that of a general massacre of the 
 soldiers and tlie inlial)itants of the city by order, 
 which, with the systematic pillage of the town, or 
 rather of its remains, has been gratuitously attributed 
 to them. That in the fury of that street-battle, there was 
 little mercy shown on one side or the other, I cannot 
 doubt ; that tlie inhabitants perished with the soldiers, 
 that women and children were put to death in that 
 house-to-house fight, is very probable ; but, between 
 such grievous and deplorable accidents, the inevitable 
 consequence of so obstinate a fight, and a deliberate 
 massacre, there is a great gulf. And that phrase 
 ' they took all the troops, who, being cut off", could 
 not escape,' also proves that quarter was given to the 
 conquered, and that the lives of the prisoners, and 
 consequently those of the citizens, were spared. In 
 support of the journal of General Samuel de Constant 
 I have found among the same archives another docu- 
 ment, which is indeed an aljsolute confirmation. This 
 is a letter, or rather a report, addressed to the 
 General by Captain-Lieutenant Philippe Germain de 
 Constant, his second son, who was also present /it the
 
 REPORT BY PHILIPPE OERMAIX I)E COXSTAXT. 109 
 
 siege of Bergen-op-Zoom, and its purpose is to relate 
 liis own acts during that terrible day to his father, 
 who was at the same time his military superior. He 
 relates that, being detaclied at Fort Pinson, he 
 was cut off from liead-quarters, and without orders. 
 He would not abandon his post, was surrounded by 
 tlie enemj^, resisted to the last, and was then made 
 prisoner. 
 
 'Although I must lose many of my men, and 
 that I had no hope of being able to save myself, I 
 made my arrangements to defend myself to the last, 
 and to render myself up honourably. I divided my 
 men on the right and on the left of the barriers, to 
 defend a kind of dyke, by which the enemy could 
 get to where I w^as. At the end of a quarter-of- 
 an-hour, the enemy debouched upon my post with a 
 great noise and in strength, and came on without 
 difficulty to surround and overthrow^ me. I was taken 
 with two officers and those wlio remained of my men. 
 My two sergeants and fifteen men lost their lives. 
 Monsieur de Gustine, wdio commanded, prevented the 
 continuance of the massacre at the risk of his own 
 life.' The reward of tins great deed of arms was a 
 Marshal's baton, bestowed upon the conqueror, who 
 indeed deserved it well. Count Lowendahl now 
 l)ecame one of the most popular heroes in Europe, 
 liis name was upon every lip, and his heroic victory 
 was celebrated in song. Another result, which was 
 more unexpected, was tlic exaltation of tlie House of 
 Orange. Tlie hereditary Stadtholdership l)eing insti-
 
 110 
 
 77/ A' J IE ART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 tilted in the family, and that higli -station being com- 
 bined with the control of the army, it found itself, in 
 the person of WilUam IV., in the possession of almost 
 royal power. Lastly, as a final result, Bergen-op- 
 Zoom lost on that day the reputation for inviolability 
 which the city had so gloriously acquired. In vain, 
 in 1813, did the French troops inflict a grievous de- 
 feat upon the English troops who opposed them, and 
 restore to its ramparts a portion of their ancient re- 
 nown — the virgin wreath of the city of Bergen had 
 faded for ever.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AN OLD COMMERCIAL CITY — STREETS AND BUILDINGS — THE LAND 
 
 OF SAINT GERTRUDE EPITAPHS AND TOMBS — ' JAN METTE LIP- 
 
 PEN ' THE PORTER OF THE STADHUIS. 
 
 LTHOUGH Bergen-op-Zoom has utterly 
 and for ever renounced military renown, 
 and as much zeal and energy have been 
 displayed in sapping its ramparts, level- 
 ling its ravelines, and destroying its bastions and 
 lunettes, as were devoted in Coehoorn's time to the 
 construction of those works ; we ought not to be 
 deterred by the vanished splendour of its past history 
 from paying a short visit to the quaint city. 
 
 ' Bergen has a very fine port on the Scheldt,' says 
 an author of the seventeenth century.^ We inhabit 
 this port at present, and that pretentious epithet 
 applied to a narrow passage of no great depth, adapted 
 indeed to the flyboats, hoys, and Flemish sloops of 
 Admiral Boisot, but which could not accommodate a 
 modern brig, may suffice to give us an exact idea of 
 the old Zealand navy. We are, in fact, in the habit 
 of exaggerating to ourselves the importance of those 
 
 ' See LeB Delices des Pays Bus.
 
 112 TlfE HE ART OF ITOLLAXD. 
 
 expeditions, armadas, and sea-figlits for want of a 
 standard of comparison, of an exact measure. The 
 fleets, consisting of fifty, one hundred, or even two 
 luindred vessels, wliich took part in tliem, are in our 
 imagination composed of ships of the Une, frigates, 
 and even three-deckers. Nothing of the sort was the 
 case. The missing standard of com])arison and the 
 exact measure are suppKed to us by the ' very fine 
 port ' of Bergen-op-Zoom ; let us bear them in mind 
 henceforth. 
 
 We will now leave tlie harbour, in which there 
 is nothing curious or remarkable to detain us, and 
 walk along the margin of the great basin, whose 
 quay leads straight into the town. What a change 
 in everything ! It is easy to see that we are no longer 
 in Zealand. Tlie aspect both of the people and of 
 their houses is totally different. No more do we 
 behold those dwellings of brick, witli sombre walls, 
 carefully polished woodwork, bright pretty blinds, and 
 spotless window-panes. Brick is still indeed the ma- 
 terial used in building,but here it is bedaubed with the 
 greyish blue colouring so dear to the Belgian heart. 
 Window-blinds have given place to shutters ; gay 
 woodwork no longer breaks and brightens up the dull 
 facades ; the modest shop-fronts are carelessly set out ; 
 the interior of the houses are carelessly kept, and at 
 their thresholds sport big lubberly brats, fat, flourish- 
 ing, dirty-faced, and happy, who paddle about, with 
 unmixed delight, in the tliick coaly mud of the street 
 iiutter.
 
 'OUR LADY'S gate: 113 
 
 The people themselves are of quite another race. 
 The men are bigger, fairer of complexion, less red and 
 less grave. The women are of larger build and not 
 so slim ; their skin, whether pale or high-coloured, 
 has not the dehcate transparency of the Walcheren 
 faces ; their hair is more abundant and less sleek ; and 
 the curves of the boddice and petticoat indicate 
 strength and solidity, which we should look for in 
 vain in the Islands of Tholen, or Schouwen, or even 
 in Beveland. There the Zealand blood is found in 
 all its purity ; here, the blood of Brabant in all its 
 vigour flows in a full tide through the veins of these 
 people. Under those hardy muscles, those swelhng 
 boddices, those rounded cheeks, we feel that it courses 
 and filters. The first glance shows us that we are 
 among a people of the sanguine temperament ; and 
 further acquaintance with their character and cus- 
 toms confirms this impression. Independently of 
 these general indications proper to the whole 
 country, some officers, whom we met there, assured 
 us that the women of Bergen-op-Zoom have a 
 special and well-deserved reputation for exceptional 
 good looks. 
 
 We find our course arrested by a venerable build- 
 ing. It is ' Our Lady's Gate,' the last remnant of 
 those old ramparts so often attacked and so bravely 
 defended. This sturdy edifice was surrounded in 
 former times by a broad ditch, full of water, and 
 then its aspect was more imposing. The ditch is filled 
 up now, and the street crosses it; but the old gate, 
 
 I
 
 114 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 still at its post like a sentinel, has lost nothing of its 
 proud, martial, and repellant aspect. 
 
 Two huge towers, sturdy and valiant, surmounted 
 by long roofs, with pepper-castor turrets, and pierced 
 with openings, small, narrow, strongly barred, which 
 might safely defy all attempts upon them, stand out 
 on either side ; and, at the base of the main body 
 of the massive building is a large ogival bay, with a 
 little trefoiled niche, despoiled of its Madonna. This 
 affords an extensive view of the inner street and gives 
 access to the heart of the city. 
 
 When, having passed through Our Lady's Gate, 
 we contemplate it from the other side, although it is 
 equally coloured, bronzed, and spangled by the action 
 of the ages, the ancient structure presents a different 
 aspect. Here, it is the main building, surmounted by 
 a tower with redans, and flanked by two octagon 
 turrets, which stand prominently forward, while the 
 great towers are in the background. And, although 
 this new aspect of the Gate is less warlike and im- 
 posing, it is not less picturesque than the first. 
 
 On the right of the centre building, and on the 
 inner side, is a steep and narrow external staircase. It 
 consists of rough stone steps, which have been worn by 
 many feet during the long years, and are now slippery 
 and unsafe. A sort of pent-house protects this stair- 
 case, which gives access from the first floor to the in- 
 terior of the old tower, now converted into a prison ; 
 not indeed a house of correction and detention such 
 as are built in the present day, but a prison of the
 
 OUR LADY'.S GA'I'E AT BERCE.V-OI'-ZiXJ.U.
 
 THE DUTCH INFLUENCE. 115 
 
 olden time. A real prison of romance and melo- 
 drama, with a vaulted roof, walls two yards thick, 
 windows with triple bars of iron, creaking bolts, 
 grinding locks, groaning doors, and all the parapher- 
 nalia of bulky chains and keys, of locksmiths' work 
 and ironmongery, which explain the old French term 
 ' ecrouer.' After ten minutes passed in this place, a 
 crowd of extravagant recollections and farfetched 
 ideas are borne in on the visitor's mind, and all the 
 celebrated escapes from dungeons of which he has 
 read in history or fiction recur to his memory. A 
 httle more, and he, in his turn, would be tempted to 
 escape, to saw the triple bars with his watch-spring, 
 to make a hole in the ceiling with his penknife, to open 
 a way through those thick walls with his pencil-case, 
 so that he might escape down a rope ladder formed by 
 patient industry out of candlewicks. But the jailoress, 
 a plump and placid person, who keeps the key of this 
 sombre dwelhng, does not give one time to put such 
 foohsh ideas into execution. The supper is on the fire, 
 the children are crying, and the visitors are requested 
 to retire in prosaic fashion, to go out by the common 
 door, and to descend into the street, by the same little 
 staircase that has given them access to the famous 
 tower. 
 
 We are in the street again, and it has assumed 
 a difierent aspect. By degrees, as we approach 
 the centre of the city, the Dutch influence makes 
 itself more and more felt. The officials, the garri- 
 son, the municipal officers, have transplanted into 
 
 I 2
 
 116 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 this part of the city some of the habits and cus- 
 toms of the Northern province. Cleanhness, that 
 primary need of the Dutchman, that qiiahty par 
 excellence of the Batavian housewife, here resumes its 
 empire and all its rights. The shop-fronts are well 
 arranged, everything is freshly painted and freshly 
 varnished, and dark bricks re-appear in the fa9ades 
 of the houses. Some of tliese facades are ornamented 
 with carvings. Formerly these archaic houses were 
 numerous, but since the hecatomb of 1747, only a 
 few remain. Walking straight on, we arrive at an 
 ancient building, the Markiezenhof, or the Court of the 
 Marquises, now transformed into a barrack. This is 
 a huge edifice of brick and stone in the grand style, 
 and which has unfortunately suffered much by adap- 
 tation to its new pur^DOse. Its mutilated facade, and 
 its spacious inner court, have preserved an impressive 
 character, and a stamp of distinction, in spite of the 
 hand of man and the action of time. The Dutch 
 architects would find scope for their skill in restora- 
 tion in these princely habitations, which are all the 
 more interesting, as heraldic dwellings are rare 
 throughout the Low Countries, and of all those which 
 once adorned the land very few remain. ' Every 
 popular revolution,' as Polybius says, somewhere, 
 ' brings about with it a displacement of influences 
 and of fortunes : ' the tempest tliat emancipated 
 the United Provinces obeyed this general law, and 
 bore within itself a social transformation. The de- 
 struction of the Sj^anisli rule struck the last blow
 
 THE GREAT CIIURGII OF SAT NT GERTRrDE. 117 
 
 at feudalism in all this part of Europe, and the 
 castles disappeared together with their privileged 
 possessors. 
 
 At length we have reached the great square, the 
 scene of that terrible fusilade on the 16th of September 
 1747, and the hand-to-hand fight of which we have 
 read the account. A fatal year, cruel days, and 
 grievous hours for that poor city, whose wounds are 
 still visible. The mutilated sanctuary that adorns 
 one side of this once handsome square, suggests a 
 succession of melancholy reflections. Is this the 
 great church, the monument built by Joh n of 
 Ghmes, and placed by the Seigneur of Bergen under 
 the invocation of Saint Gertrude, whom he regarded 
 as the celestial protectress most interested in pre- 
 serving his pious work. ' Sancta Gertrudis, hujus 
 terrce quondam Domina ! Interveni 'pro populo tuo' 
 ' Saint Gertrude, once lady of this land, intervene in 
 favour of thy people ! ' Such was the dedicatory 
 inscription traced by a reverent hand upon the portal 
 in letters of gold. Vain was the dedication, no heed 
 was paid to it ; the invocation was unheard. In 1587, 
 two hundred and forty years before the French 
 cannon laid waste the sacred building, the ' Eeform ' 
 effaced the inscription ; and, having despoiled the 
 sanctuary of its treasures, converted it into a barrack. 
 It was restored at a later period to pubhc worship, 
 but again destined to terrible experiences. ' The first 
 bombs which fell upon Bergen set fire to the great 
 church, and reduced it to ashes,' — that phrase which I
 
 118 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 read a little while ago — rings in one's ears like a 
 funeral knell, terrible in its distinctness. 
 
 No description could give an idea of the condition 
 of the city when the French got into it. A clever 
 artist, who was an eye-witness of these events, has left 
 ns a series of drawings, representing the city of Bergen 
 after the siege, and I do not know anything more 
 painful to look at than they are.^ The ruined houses, 
 the mutilated buildings, the torn-up squares trans- 
 formed into pits and holes, all form a hideous scene 
 of ruin and devastation ; and in the midst of it all, 
 the author places a group of pretty girls, in the 
 widely-hooped costume of the period, laughing 
 behind their fans at the indiscreet speeches of a 
 gallant cavalier. Perhaps he wants to make the 
 frightful picture that he places before our eyes seem 
 more striking from this contrast. 
 
 The interior of the vast and ancient church 
 presents a mournful aspect. Its wide nave termi- 
 nates in a ruin ; it is separated by a wooden partition 
 from a gigantic transept ; and the latter, transformed 
 into a covered passage which leads from one end of 
 the quarter to another, opens upon a space once 
 occupied by the choir, which has long since dis- 
 appeared. Nothing can be more impressive than this 
 great empty piece of ground covered with briars, 
 where there are a few great trees, where the grass 
 
 1 These drawings by Pronk were engraved by S. Fokke. I was 
 fortunate enough to find the entire series, which has become very 
 rare, in the portfolios of the War Office at the Hague, and the Minister 
 kindly permitted me to study them at my leisure.
 
 THE TOMBS OF MORGAN, ETC. 119 
 
 grows hard, dry, and scanty, as though in a cemetery, 
 and where the eye seeks in vain among the undulations 
 of the soil for traces of the vanished choir. Those 
 great ogival bays, now masked by common masonry, 
 and those majestic arcades, whose fine architectural 
 curves remain unfinished, produce a dreary eifect. 
 Still more melancholy is the transept, which has been 
 transformed into a passage, and is now a receptacle 
 for mutilated tombs, headless statues and broken grave 
 slabs. A great company of heroes have been laid to 
 rest in this noble sanctuary. The ancient Seigneurs 
 of Bergen had their place of sepulture within its 
 precincts ; and after them, the Governors of the city. 
 Morgan, who repulsed the Duke of Parma, Louis of 
 Kethel, who opposed Spinola, were interred here. 
 The gratitude of the inhabitants had decreed pompous 
 inscriptions, bas-rehefs and statues to these vaUant 
 heroes ; they rested under the shadow of great por- 
 ticos of marble ; but the cannon of 1747 disturbed 
 their eternal slumber, and mingled their ashes, by 
 breaking into their tombs. Of all these superb 
 monuments, there remain only a few fragments, 
 and we may think ourselves fortunate to be able to 
 make out from whence they came. On the tomb of 
 Morgan, we can still trace the figure of the old soldier 
 clad in his armour, sleeping under the shadow of his 
 trophies, whilst his mourning daughter casts a last 
 glance upon her father's corpse. A mortuary me- 
 dallion in the grand style shows us the name of Adrian 
 of Reymerswaal, and we can also distinguish the slab
 
 120 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 which covered the remains of Jerome Van Tuyl and 
 Dame Leonora Micault, his wife. Pious hands have re- 
 placed the ashes of WilUam of Ryede and Judith of 
 Brakel under their marble portico ; but the arch of 
 triumph under which the brave Louis of Kethel rested 
 has been robbed of its statues. Let us escape from 
 this funereal passage, from this last refuge, so ruth- 
 lessly violated by war that it is no longer a place of 
 repose even for the dead. 
 
 The great square to which we have now returned, 
 boasts, in addition to the old church of Saint Gertrude, 
 two other monuments belonging to different periods, 
 and of very unequal architectural value. These are 
 the Stadhuis and the Catholic Church. The latter 
 is important because of its size ; the great majority of 
 the inhabitants of Bergen belonging to the Catholic 
 faith, as indeed do those of the States of Brabant 
 generally, it was natural that the sanctuary should be 
 proportioned to the number of the faithful. Unfortu- 
 nately, this church, which was recently built, dates from 
 a tasteless epoch ; in this instance, the architects of 
 1829 have displayed their debased style to perfection. 
 
 The Stadhuis, on the third side of the square, 
 is a pretty, simple, even modest little edifice, but not 
 wanting in elegance or character. It was commenced 
 in the fifteenth century, and built at first in the Gothic 
 style ; then restored at different periods, notably in 
 1610, as we learn from an inscription upon it, but it 
 was tastefully restored. It is three storeys high, and 
 each storey has eight openings, four on either side of
 
 THE ST AD HUTS. 121 
 
 the roof, separated by a vertical line of niches, which 
 enclose emblematical statues of Justice, Prudence, etc. 
 This central portion is surmounted by a tall turret, 
 terminating in an attic in the style of the seventeenth 
 century, and the rest of the fa9ade has a heavy roof, 
 pierced with dormer windows, and partially masked 
 by a row of battlements. The tower is not in the 
 centre, but on the left side, and is reached by a flight 
 of granite steps, quite modern, but very well adapted 
 to the building. On the front is the device, ' Mille 
 periculis supersum,' which in any other place might 
 perhaps be ambitious, but which here, after so many 
 perils faced and conquered, is only just. 
 
 Having passed through the entrance, we find our- 
 selves in a vast ancient chamber, a sort of ante- 
 room, which has preserved a purely Gothic aspect, 
 and we descend by a staircase into a httle court below, 
 where some remnants of very interesting architec- 
 ture may be traced. These consist of an ancient 
 tower, bearing the date of 1389 — which was probably 
 added after its erection — and the columns and 
 capitals in a very good style, mixed up with more 
 modern masonry, which formerly made part of the 
 Exchange of Bergen. The little town of our days, 
 was, in fact, a very important commercial city in the 
 fifteenth century. ' Fairs were permitted in this place 
 by privilege from all antiquity,' says Guicciardini, 
 ' and were very frequent there.' The Enghsh especially 
 brought their woollen goods ; their counting-houses 
 were more numerous here than in any other town
 
 122 THE HEAirr OF ITOLLAXD. 
 
 in Zealand, and even now there is a street (the 
 Engelsche-straat) which bears their name. In 1495, 
 the inhabitants of Bergen-op-Zoom obtained from 
 Pliihp the Fair an ordinance, which gave their city 
 the Staple of all the woollen goods imported into the 
 country from England, Ireland, and Scotland.^ 
 
 All cloth goods, no matter what their destination, 
 had to be produced, in the first instance, at the market 
 of Bergen-op-Zoom, and there to receive the seal of 
 the city. Any cloth goods offered for sale without 
 this preliminary operation were confiscated to the 
 Duke, and we find the latter menacing the inhabitants 
 and the Council of Middelburg with his displeasure 
 because they refused to submit to this exorbitant pri- 
 vilege. They never did submit to it completely, in 
 fact ; for twenty years later, in 1537, ' Jehan Hutton, 
 governor of the Englisli nation ' at Bergen-op-Zoom, 
 made his protests and complaints to be heard by the 
 recalcitrant Middelburgers, and in 1552, the latter 
 negotiated with James Henrison of Edinburgh, to pre- 
 vent the inhabitants of Bergen and Kampveer from 
 endeavouring to retain the Staple among them. 
 
 This commercial struggle was soon to come to an 
 end. The sixteenth century was destined to be fatal 
 to Bergen-op-Zoom. The city, which had seen not 
 only English, Irish, Scotch, and Danish traders, but 
 Spanish merchants and the ' factors of Portugal ' 
 within its walls, had arrived at that critical period 
 through which so many other commei'cial cities of 
 
 * See Inventaris van het oud arcJdef van Middelburg, No. 724.
 
 DECADENCE OF BERGEN -OP-ZOOM. 123 
 
 that time passed, and which was about to be followed 
 by a fatal decHne. Antwerp had developed commer- 
 cial activity which was destined to place it in the first 
 rank of the trading towns of the north. The ' heiress 
 of Bruges' speedily attracted to itself all the mer- 
 chants who traded with those secondary places ; 
 it absorbed the traffic of the neighbouring and rival 
 cities; and according to the testimony of contem- 
 poraries, it was not long before foreign merchants 
 preferred the ordinary market of Antwerp to the 
 extraordinary fairs of the small surrounding towns. 
 From that moment dates the commercial dechne 
 of Bergen-op-Zoom, and, very probably, the aban- 
 donment and ruin of its Exchange. 
 
 The Stadhuis, which we are about to re-enter, con- 
 tains some curiosities of unequal value and of different 
 kinds. Among the number, are two fine chimney- 
 pieces ; one in carved wood, resting upon columns of 
 marble, the other in stone, somewhat coarsely carved, 
 but very Gothic and strange in design and ornament. 
 The latter comes, if I remember aright, from tlie Mar- 
 kiezenhof, of which it was a chief ornament. Add to 
 these an interesting staircase and some second-rate 
 pictures, among them the portrait of a Eepublican 
 general, with his tri-coloured scarf and plumed hat, 
 whose name I do not know, and one of a certain ' Jan 
 mette Lippen,' or ' John of the thick hps,' who in 
 1494, when his portrait was taken, had endowed his 
 country with fifty-four little sons of Brabant. 
 
 And now let me present to you a curiosity of
 
 124 THE IIEAUT OF HOLLA XI). 
 
 another description, but one to my mind superior to 
 all past and future thick-lipped Jans — a curiosity in 
 flesh and blood, no other than the porter of the 
 Stadhuis. He is a fat man ; he has a broad and honest 
 face ; he has a kindly smile and a cheery bearing. 
 In the sphere in which he gravitates, he is a veritable 
 savant. If his destiny had not decreed that he was 
 to be born in so modest a state of hfe, he would cer- 
 tainly be at present one of the hghts of palaeography 
 in the Low Countries. Mere porter though he be, 
 he has rendered greater services to his natal town 
 than many of his more fortunate and famous fellow- 
 citizens. I am about to tell you what he has done ; 
 judge and see whether I exaggerate. He was en- 
 gaged to fulfil the functions of porter ; that is to say, 
 to sweep out the Stadhuis, to dust the chairs of 
 the worshipful councillors, to watch over the ink- 
 bottles and pens, to have an obsequious smile for the 
 authorities, and a stern frown for the poor devils — to 
 perform, in fact, all the offices of the little-lucrative 
 post of a municipal doorkeeper. One day, his con- 
 scientious taste for cleanliness led him to a vast 
 garret, where within the memory of man no one had 
 ever set foot. In this dark and dusty place, lay, pell 
 mell, a great mass of papers, large and small, registers, 
 ledgers, and daybooks. These were the archives of 
 Bergen-op-Zoom. Our brave porter opened books, 
 turned over registers, looked through ledgers, and en- 
 deavoured to decipher the antique writing. At first 
 he got on very badly, the strange characters puzzled
 
 TUE PORTER AND THE ARCHIVES. 125 
 
 him, the old texts were too much for him, but going 
 from one to the other, from those which were well 
 written to those which were badly written, from the 
 simple to the comphcated, he learned to read and 
 to understand, and, when he understood, he was 
 struck with the importance of the dusty lot of waste 
 paper which lay before him. A sort of revelation of 
 its value to the history of his native city came to 
 him. Then he took an audacious, extraordinary, and 
 unheard-of step ; he asked for permission to put the 
 archives into something hke order. The Burgomaster 
 and the Aldermen of that epoch beUeved that he 
 meant simply to go at them with his brush and his 
 duster, the request seemed natural, and they granted 
 the required permission without any difficulty. This 
 made him perfectly happy. If they had suspected 
 the project which their porter nourished in the secret 
 recesses of his heart, it is to be presumed that they 
 would have refused him — and which of us have a 
 right to throw a stone at them ? Wlio could have 
 supposed that a porter was a fit man for such a task ? 
 From that day forth he was seen at work at all hours, 
 sawing laths, planing planks, hammering and naihng. 
 Everybody was astonished at this carpentering fit 
 which had seized him, but he was a trusty official, 
 punctual in the discharge of his duties, and his harm- 
 less mania did not injure his good name, any more 
 than his request to be allowed to put the archives 
 into order had injured it. Months, years doubtless, 
 passed away : at length our porter left ofl' his car-
 
 12G THE HEART OF UOLLAND. 
 
 pentering work, his large cheerful face assumed an 
 air of beatified satisfaction, his task was ended, the 
 archives were in order ! Then did the Burgomaster 
 and Aldermen open their eyes, they saw what nobody 
 suspected, what I could not contemplate without sur- 
 prise, and what I advise you to see, if ever you go 
 to Bergen-op-Zoom. Instead of a bare dusty garret, 
 they saw a large room, entirely furnished with book- 
 shelves ; in place of a shapeless mass of dirty waste 
 paper, they saw large manuscript books, chronologi- 
 cally classified, and archives arranged in perfect order. 
 In one corner there still remained a great heap, which 
 the improvised archivist had not been able to decipher. 
 It consisted of Latin and French texts which, for a 
 good reason, he did not understand, but the greater 
 part of his work was done. From that day the man 
 began to learn, he informed himself, consulted others, 
 and the heap diminished. It is now reduced to a few 
 documents. What treasures would have been lost if 
 this odd palasographer had not turned up so appro- 
 priately ! Thanks to this unhoped-for chance, the 
 archives of Bergen, from 1313 down to 1800, are now 
 in a state to be consulted by all who are interested in 
 them ; and their preserver goes straight to the docu- 
 ment you require, and puts it into your hands without 
 any difficulty or hesitation. I wanted to see the book 
 of the Resolutions of the ' Magistraat,' his dagboek, 
 or journal at the epoch of the siege of 1747, with 
 which I was much engaged at that time. The porter 
 found it for me immediately, and I read it with the
 
 THE PORTER OF THE STADHUIS. 127 
 
 greatest curiosity. Up to the 15tli of September, 
 inclusive, all the pages are filled. At the date of 
 the 16th and 17th, two blank pages occur, surely 
 more eloquent than those which precede and follow ! 
 I wanted to say all these things because it is well when 
 one finds such an honest and remarkable person to 
 proclaim it aloud. Some time ago, a man of talent 
 'and humour, aide-de-camp to a prince of the blood 
 royal, asked me whether I knew anybody at Bergen- 
 op-Zoom ? ' Certainly,' replied I, ' there is a man 
 there whom I esteem much, and for whom I have a 
 quite particular veneration.' ' And who is the man ?' 
 asked he. ' The porter of the Stadhuis ! ' He opened 
 his eyes, seemed scandalised, shrugged his shoulders, 
 and turned on his heel. He thought I was jesting, 
 but I had spoken quite seriously ; and I repeat the 
 sentiment now and here, because I hope that it may 
 be better understood.
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 BAD WEATHER AND A DULL VOYAGE — THE VILLAGE OF WORMEL- 
 
 DINGEN POLITENESS IN ZEALAND — GOES THE SUSCEPTIBLE 
 
 JACQUELINE AND THE SEIGNEUR OF BORSELEN. 
 
 E left Bergen-op-Zoom early in the morn- 
 ing, much to the displeasure of our crew, 
 who had been drunk on the previous 
 day. The weather was dull, cold, and 
 dark ; a small, penetrating, icy rain was falling, and 
 as there was hardly any wind, we were three mortal 
 hours without making any perceptible advance. We 
 had to wait for the current ; and, to avail ourselves of 
 it, we had to retrace the route which we had taken a 
 few days before. We saw Tholen once more, but 
 from a distance this time, and indistinctly through 
 the mist. We sailed past the place where brilhant 
 Eommerswaal formerly existed, and we doubled the 
 point of Oostkerke. By this time the weather had 
 become very bad indeed ; the rain, which fell in 
 torrents, was hissing upon the deck, and making its 
 way through every crevice. Almost at the same 
 moment we perceived that the water was coming into
 
 A VISIT TO THE DAMS. 129 
 
 tlie boat from below. Our sleeping quarters Avere 
 inundated, our boots and slippers were sailing gaily 
 about, going from one end of the room to the other 
 with each movement of the tjalk. We sent our two 
 boys to the pumps, but then the working of the boat 
 suffered. At two o'clock a breeze began to blow ; 
 but tlie wind was contrary, so that we were obliged 
 to take refuge at Wormeldingen, where we cast 
 anchor. The wind, which now blew with violence, 
 had cleared the atmosphere, but it obliged us to put 
 the boat under shelter ; so we resolved to avail our- 
 selves of the state of the weather to land for a while, 
 to visit the dams in the first place, and afterwards 
 the village of Wormeldingen. 
 
 The dams are most interesting. These engineering 
 works, which would seem gigantic in any country, 
 are truly marvellous in this. We know what the 
 Zealand soil is, how uncertain, changing, and mutable ; 
 nevertheless, a construction is placed upon it, one 
 hundred and twenty yards long, sixteen yards wide 
 at the entrance, and more than seven and a lialf 
 yards deep below high water. Add to this that the 
 enormous basin (1,900 square yards) is enclosed 
 within granite walls of extraordinary thickness, 
 formed of solid blocks of stone of tremendous 
 weight. To what dej)th must the daring workmen 
 who undertook tlie Cyclopean task have gone in 
 search of a stable standpoint, on wliich to lay tlie 
 foundation of such a mass ? in what subterranean 
 layer could they have had sucli confidence, in this 
 
 K
 
 130 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 country where the eartli sinks in all of a sudden, 
 Avliere islands disappear witliout leaving a trace, that 
 they ventured to build upon it so mighty an edifice ? 
 And, observe, that not only one dam is thus built : 
 in the two islands of Zuid Beveland and Walcheren 
 a dozen have been constructed. There are two 
 at Wormeldingen. In the presence of these achieve- 
 ments, of problems faced with such courage and 
 solved with such success, one is almost bewildered. 
 We remained for nearly an hour contemplating these 
 enormous works from every side ; then, as the wind 
 was still against us, we w^ent on to the village 
 of Wormeldingen, a few yards off. We hoped that 
 w^e might be able to push on to Kattendijk, whose 
 church steeple we descried at about a league's dis- 
 tance. 
 
 Wormeldingen is a curious village. Its trees and 
 houses closely resemble a big box of Nuremberg toys 
 just unpacked. Imagine a double row of dwellings, 
 all squat, all pretty, all spotlessly clean, all painted in 
 vivid colours, all built exactly in the same way, with the 
 same materials, placed in two long lines, symmetrically 
 intersected by straw-coloured woodwork. Before 
 these two lines of houses, plant two rows of little old 
 trees, with thick trunks and sparse foliage, all clippedj 
 shaped, and pointed ; all of the same size, and form- 
 ing a kind of screen, no thicker or higher at one end 
 than at the other, nor in the middle than at the two 
 extremities. Then, in the street, dusted, cleaned, 
 scraped unremittingly, where the houses are washed,
 
 PEASANTS OF WORMELDIXGEN. 13 
 
 and waxed, until you could not find a spot upon 
 them, nor so much as a straw lying about, wliere the 
 trees have a combed and brushed look, and not a 
 leaf is out of its place, picture a population of honest 
 folk, all dressed after the same fashion, the son like 
 the father and the father like the grandfather, the 
 little girl like the grown-up girl and the mamma like 
 the old grandmother ; and you have Wormeldingen 
 as nearly as I can give you an idea of the place. Be 
 careful to remember that each little house taken 
 separately is a pretty bonbon box, and that the 
 costumes taken separately are charming. These 
 peasants, great and small, dressed entirely in velvet 
 and black cloth, with their knee breeches, their coarse 
 stockings, their shoes with silver buckles, their high 
 waistcoats with double rows of buttons in filigree 
 silver, their coats cut into their waists, their belts with 
 silver clasps, and their gold buttons at the neck, look 
 remarkably well. Complete this costume by a grace- 
 fully shaped felt hat, the brim raised behind and 
 sloping in front, so that it forms a sort of visor, and 
 you will have a notion of the dress which is worn in 
 Zuid Beveland. This costume looks pretty on the 
 children, elegant on the men, and picturesque on the 
 old people ; and it is always and everywhere most 
 oricinal and characteristic. The uniform of the 
 women — for I really must call it so — is equally 
 curious, and equally tasteful. From their most tender 
 youtli to the pitiless age at wliicli the body bent by 
 years, is bowed down towards tlie earth soon to be 
 
 K 2
 
 132 THE HEART OF HOLJjAKT). 
 
 its last resting-place, the form and arrangement of 
 the women's attire are imvariable. From the cradle 
 to the tomb all these stout peasants have bare arms, 
 the bust confined by a very tight bodice, over which 
 lies, in graceful folds, a handkerchief, fastened by a 
 coral brooch. The face is framed in a coif, with wide 
 borders, which resembles a veil rather than a cap. 
 A flat piece of gold hangs down on the forehead, 
 corkscrews of gold adorn the temples, on the neck is a 
 coral necklace, rings and brooches abound — in a word, 
 these women wear a profusion of valuable ornaments. 
 So much for the upper part of the figure, which is 
 highly adorned, and generally slim and dehcate. The 
 slenderness of the women's figures is rendered more 
 striking by an enormous petticoat, three yards wide, 
 which is held out by a monstrous hoop resembling a 
 bell ; the body, from the waist up representing the 
 handle, and the two slender legs the clapper. When 
 seen from a distance thus attired, and standing still, 
 the women might easily be taken for large dolls, but, 
 also, for pretty dolls, perfectly new, quite uninjured, 
 just taken out of cases, in which they have been 
 packed so carefully that their complexions are not 
 injured, nor their dress crushed. At Wormeldingen, 
 at the end of the village near the church, we were 
 surrounded by a bevy of girls, who had just come out 
 of school. They were all white and pink, they were 
 all dressed in this identical costume, every girl was 
 exactly like her neighbour, and had a flower in her 
 moutli, I felt as if some magician had suddenly
 
 A HARMLESS JOKE. 133 
 
 opened a gigantic box of living toys before our eyes. 
 To complete this amusing and truly picturesque 
 scene, it must be remarked that the whole of this 
 population is 'bon enftint,' very cordial and very 
 hospitable. The men have always a kind word for 
 the stranger, and the women a pleasant smile. You 
 would never meet a peasant or a village girl upon the 
 road without having a cheerful ' good day ' from them, 
 and if there were many of you, they would not only 
 say ' Goeden dag ' in the singular, but they would 
 give you a complex and plural greeting : ' Dag drie,' 
 if you were three ; ' Dag vier,' if you were four ; that 
 is to say, ' Good day to the three of you,' ' Good day 
 to the four of you,' and ' Dag zamen,' which means 
 ' Good day together,' if there were but two. Some- 
 times a roguish boy (there are such in every country) 
 w^ill salute a traveller who is going along with an ass 
 or a dog with this 'Dag zamen,' but we must not 
 grudge people their harmless joke, and this one is too 
 inoffensive to vex anybody. The Zealand peasant is 
 very pohte and kind, cordial in his welcome, much 
 less given to mocking strangers than is the Dutch 
 peasant. If he meets a foreigner, he makes every 
 possible effort to understand him, and to make him- 
 self understood by him ; he takes an interest in his 
 visitor, questions him, and informs himself about him ; 
 but he never departs from the laws of politeness, or 
 commits an indiscretion. He has an innate sense of 
 good manners, he possesses tact which we look for 
 in vain in many other countries, but which does not
 
 13 1 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 exclude frankness, for lie will at once give you his 
 hand, and open liis house to you. 
 
 Two 5' ears ago, I was travelHng on foot with one 
 of my friends, a Frenchman, and indeed a Parisian, in 
 this same island of Zuid Beveland, but down below 
 Goes, consequently much more to the south. We 
 two, quite alone, without a cicerone and without a 
 guide, visited the delightful villages which are called 
 Heer Hendrik's Kinderen and Heer Arendskerke's. 
 During our long excursion, we never met any but 
 kindly folk, ready to he useful to us and well disposed 
 to make things pleasant. The Burgomaster of Mid- 
 delburg gave me his card for one of his farmers. 
 We had the rustic habitation of this good fellow 
 pointed out to us, and ten persons offered to conduct 
 us thither. The old peasant, a true gentleman-farmer, 
 received us as a nobleman might have done. He in- 
 troduced us to his family, and showed us his farm, 
 buildings, and machinery. His wife and daughter 
 offered us a choice little collation, and all this with 
 perfect politeness. He was easy without being 
 familiar, talkative without being importunate, and 
 assiduous witliout being obsequious. My friend had 
 hurt his foot, and our kind host took infinite trouble 
 to find a veliicle for us, but every sort of carriage in 
 the place had been requisitioned for the kermesse at 
 Middelburg. The young men and the maidens had 
 departed thither in the vehicles, and we had to walk 
 half a league to the station. The good farmer was 
 not satisfied with showing us the way, he insisted
 
 HOSPITALITY OF ZUID BEVEL AND. 135 
 
 upon accompanying iis to our destination ; a little 
 more and he would have carried my friend on his 
 back. When the train arrived, he shook hands with 
 us warmly, and remained on the platform making 
 sio'nals to us, and caUini? out farewells as if we had 
 been old friends. Two months afterwards he went to 
 see his Burgomaster, and related the incidents of our 
 visit. ' They are very good people, those French,' 
 said he, then after a moment, he asked ; ' Are they 
 all as tall and as healthy as the two who came to see 
 me ? ' It appears he had been struck by our height 
 and appearance. 
 
 These recollections are, however, taking us far 
 away from Wormeldingen ; we must come back 
 tliither, and all the more quickly, that we need not 
 have gone so far to learn how hospitable is the dis- 
 position of the people of Zuid Beyeland. At the door 
 of the second house in the village, we saw one of those 
 strange httle children, dressed like an old gi'and- 
 motlier, who are so amusing to observe. I drew 
 near to look at her more attentively, but she, alarmed 
 at the approach of a stranger, ran into the house. 
 Her mother, a handsome young woman, had ob- 
 served the fright of the child, from her harretjes ; 
 taking her in her arms, she advanced towards me, and 
 said, ' Give your hand to this gentleman, it is very 
 wrong to run away like that. The gentleman will 
 have a bad opinion of you.' The child, only luilf 
 reconciled to me, gave me a queer glance from tlie 
 corner of her eye. I took her in my arms, and we
 
 136 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 were soon good friends. She was particularly amused 
 Avitl) my eye-glass, made me look through it, tried 
 to fit it to her own eye, and went into fits of laughter. 
 ' There now, you see that this is a kind gentleman,' 
 said the mother smiling, and then addressing me 
 apologetically, she added, ' children are always a 
 little shy.' 'Would a kiss do any harm?' said I. 
 ' Not in the least,' said she laughing, ' but such young 
 children are frightened by a mere nothing.' I felt 
 strongly inclined to ask the pretty young mother 
 whetlier timidity of this kind passed away from the 
 Zealanders as they grew older, but I thought the 
 question might be indiscreet, and so contented myself 
 with two kisses from the child, and a smile from the 
 mother. Was not this a good deal for a poor 
 foreigner who had lost his way in the country ? Then 
 we left the mother and child, and waved our hands in 
 farewell as we disappeared from their view. I recalled 
 La Bruyere's saying : ' One should never give with a 
 Ijad grace, the gift is the whole trouble ; what does it 
 cost to add a smile ? ' In Zealand the smile is never 
 wanting. 
 
 At the far end of the village of Wormeldingen is 
 tlie Church. On our way to it, we passed a fine modern 
 house, surrounded in true Dutch style by a beautiful 
 garden, full of flowers, with yew trees, clipped in 
 quaint fashions, in the shapes of birds, flowers, and 
 buildings. This, no doubt, is the pastor's residence ; 
 its modern style and its pretty garden add to the 
 austere and venerable aspect ol" the old church. A
 
 PICTURES IN THE CUURCH. 137 
 
 lofty tower, flanked at its summit by four decapitated 
 turrets, gives tlie sanctuary the appearance of a for- 
 tress. The interior has been so completely restored, 
 that he would be a clever man who should determine 
 its primitive form. It is fitted up with the utmost 
 simphcity and plainness ; its sole adornment con- 
 sisting of two pictures, very ill-painted indeed, but 
 remarkable because it is strange that their presence 
 should be tolerated in a place of worship belonging 
 to the Eeformed religion. On one of these pictures is 
 inscribed, ' De Wet is door Moses gegeven,' and on the 
 other ' De Genade en Waarheid is door Jesus Christ 
 gewoorden' These two legends sufficiently explain 
 the subjects.^ 
 
 The village ends with the church. We had in- 
 tended to push on to Kattendijk, but the quickly 
 approaching darkness made this impossible. "We re- 
 turned by the school-boys' road, that is to say, the 
 longest way, passing behind the houses, and thus 
 we saw Wormeldingen under a totally different aspect 
 from that which it presents from the main street. 
 On the outer side, the heavy thatched roofs, thick 
 hedges, old trees, and spacious barns form a series of 
 charming rural pictures. We were no longer in the 
 midst of a box of newly unpacked toys, but in a rich 
 and prosperous country, covered with thriving farms 
 and all the tokens of busy agricultural life. 
 
 The night that followed this excursion was very 
 
 ' * The law is given by Moses,' and * Bj Jesus Clirist come grace 
 and truth.'
 
 138 THE HEART OF IfOLLANI). 
 
 boisterous, the wind rose to a tempest, the rain fell in 
 torrents. At about two o'clock the water got into 
 the boat both from above and below ; our beds were 
 flooded, all our bed covering was soaked, and we were 
 oblio;ed to take refu2;e in our little saloon. Towards 
 morning the storm abated ; but we had to repair the 
 damages, to have our beds dried, and our sleeping 
 quarters mopped, so that the hour of high tide passed 
 by before we were in a condition to take advantage 
 of it. The day was lost to us. 
 
 We availed ourselves of these little misfortunes to 
 make a trip to Goes, which is situated in the interior 
 of the island at the distance of one league. Guicciar- 
 dini said of Goes in the sixteenth century, ' It is a 
 good Uttle town, which enjoys several very profitable 
 privileges.' And if the Venetian traveller could visit 
 Goes to-day he would find no cause to rescind his 
 judgment. If a magnificent church, its principal 
 adornment, and the marvellous richness of the land 
 that surrounds it, may stand for ' profitable privileges,' 
 Goes is to-day what Goes was three centuries ago, ' a 
 good httle town.' And although it is now the only 
 place in the island that can boast the title of a town, 
 although Hke every other Zealand city it has its 
 inheritance of glorious memories and lofty deeds, its 
 name would be no more known than that of any other 
 large village, were it not for the poetic halo with 
 which the love borne to Goes by Jacqueline of Bra- 
 bant has adorned it. 
 
 That strange and melancholy personage, that
 
 JACQUELINE OF BRABANT. 139 
 
 princess at once guilty and interesting, upon whom 
 history has not yet passed a definite judgment, had an 
 especial tenderness for the good town of Goes, which 
 was to some extent founded by her family. One of 
 her ancestors, William of Brabant, invested it in 1350 
 with several privileges. Jacqueline herself strength- 
 ened its fortifications, rebuilt its walls, and instituted 
 a fair, which enjoyed great celebrity for more than a 
 century. When she became a widow for the third 
 time, though only thirty-two years of age, the ro- 
 mantic princess sought rehef from her private sor- 
 rows at Goes, and a brief respite from the terrible 
 difficulties in wdiich she was placed by the machina- 
 tions of the Duke of Burgundy. There she beheved 
 herself doubly in safety, sheltered at once from the 
 dangers of love and the complications of policy ; for 
 Phihp the Good, who had akeady laid hands on her 
 county and her domains, and constituted himself her 
 heir, by the right of the stronger, had craftily com- 
 bined the two. He had imposed on the princess the 
 strange condition that she should not marry again 
 without his leave and consent, if she wished to retain 
 lier possessions. In making her accept such a stipu- 
 lation, Phihp acted a very cunning part, like a know- 
 ing fox as he was. Meanwhile, Jacquehne led a calm 
 and peaceful life at Goes, and there was no reason to 
 suppose that she had any intention of venturing upon 
 matrimony for the fourth time, when an apparently 
 trifling incident set fire to her inflammable heart. 
 ' Now it came about,' say the old chronicles, ' that in
 
 UO THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 the year 1432, our Lady, tlie Duchess Margaret, her 
 mother, sent her by certam gentlemen and noble per- 
 sonages some rich jewels, with several horses.' This 
 present gave great satisfaction to the Countess 
 Jacqueline, but as she was extravagant and had a 
 numerous court, but only meagre revenues, she found 
 herself ' denuded of money, and had not wherewithal 
 to honour by presents and satisfy by gratuities the 
 people of the Duchess.' She first applied to the 
 Vicomte de Montfort, who had been her lieutenant, 
 and afterwards to other friends, for the loan of some 
 unimportant sums, but they were afraid of compro- 
 mising themselves with Phihp, and so made excuses, 
 refusing the Countess the assistance that she re- 
 quired ; ' wherefore she was so grieved, that she 
 retired all in tears to her chamber, complaining of 
 the ingratitude of her friends and servants, and of the 
 shame which she would be forced to incur, if she were 
 constrained to let her mother's people depart empty- 
 handed.' At this crisis, William of Bye, one of her gen- 
 tlemen, intervened, and proposed to represent her needs 
 to Franck of Borselen, lieutenant of Philip the Good 
 in Zealand. That a servant of the Duke would prove 
 more compassionate than the Countess's own friends 
 seemed hardly credible ; Jacqueline, nevertheless, per- 
 mitted William of Bye to take this step, and to her 
 great astonishment, that faithful servant brought her 
 back a favourable answer. Franck of Borselen handed 
 over the money which she asked to the envoy of the 
 Countess, and dismissed him with these words, ' Go,
 
 JACQUELINE'S FOURTH MAIilUAaE. 141 
 
 say to your Lady, that not at this present only, but 
 all the time of my life, she may dispose, according 
 to her good pleasure, of me and my goods.' The 
 princess was touched to the heart by this chivalrous 
 message, and from that day forth she held Borselen in 
 esteem, which soon became affection, and eventually 
 love, ' even to the point of her wishing to make him 
 her husband, which she afterwards did, being married 
 to him, secretly, in her chamber, in the presence of 
 her servants.' Who it was that betrayed the secret of 
 that clandestine union was never known ; but Philip 
 was informed of the breach of the treaty that bound 
 the heart and hand of Jacqueline, and he landed un- 
 expectedly in Zealand, caused Franck of Borselen to 
 be arrested, and had him taken as a prisoner to 
 Rupelmonde. ' The said lady, seeing this, followed the 
 Duke, insisting upon her husband being restored to 
 her.' To procure his liberty, she had to renounce 
 her States, and hand over to her stern cousin her 
 countships and lands of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, 
 and Hainault. When she had despoiled herself of 
 these, the old Duke permitted her to ' marry solemnly, 
 and enjoy freely and peacefully the society of the 
 said Borselen, her husband.' He even made him a 
 Knight of the Golden Fleece and Count of Oostervent. 
 But neither the restoration of the husband for whom 
 she had made so great a sacrifice, nor the dignities 
 with which he was invested, was to bring peace to 
 that sorely troubled heart. Shortly afterwards Jac- 
 queline fell sick ; Borselen himself, whose part in all
 
 142 THE HEART OF ITOLLAND. 
 
 this matter does not come out satisfactorily, did not 
 prove himself so kind a husband as she had hoped ; 
 and, ' in the year 1456, on tlie vigil of St. Denis, died 
 this Lady and Princess Jacqueline, at the Castle of 
 Teylingen, of chagrin at beholding herself thus de- 
 spoiled, after having been Lady and true heir of 
 Holland, Zealand, and Hainault, and the seigneurie 
 of Friesland. She died aged thirty-six years, and she 
 lies at the Hague in the Chapel of the Court.' So 
 ended the romance that began at Goes. Thus, in the 
 prime of hfe, and in the lustre of her beauty, died this 
 adventurous princess, the slave of her imagination 
 and her feelings, whose whole life an old poet has 
 summed up in eight lines, which he puts into her 
 mouth. Although the lines are of little merit, they 
 are worthy of remembrance. 
 
 L'amour par quatre fois me mit en mariaige, 
 Et si n'ay sceu pourtaut accroistre mon lig-niaige, 
 Gorricliom i ay conquis, contre Guillaume Arcklois, 
 En un iour i ay perdu presques trois mille Auglois. 
 Pour avoir mon Mary de sa prison delivre, 
 Au due des Bourguignons tons mes Pays ie livre. 
 Dix ans regnay en paine : Ore avec mon Ayeul 
 Contante ie repose en un meme cercueil. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that the memory of Jac- 
 quehne of Brabant is still warmly cherished in this 
 part of the country. Many events, some painful ones 
 among the number, have taken place since her time, 
 and are forgotten, while the image of the romantic 
 princess is still popular in Zealand. Her portrait has 
 its place in the poorest dwellings. Relatively recent 
 engravings are to be found, which represent her
 
 VICISSITUDES OF GOES. 143 
 
 shooting at the ' papegay ; ' and near Goes, on tlie 
 site of an ancient chateau, wliich she inhabited at the 
 time of lier love affair with Borselen, stands an old 
 tree, still called in the country ' the tree of Jacoba.' 
 It is a chestnut, twisted and marred by old age, 
 propped up in twenty places ; but it is said to be that 
 beneath whose shade Jacqueline was wont to sit and 
 think of the generous knight who was then lord of 
 her affections. Since her time the favourite city of 
 the last Countess of Zealand has undergone many 
 vicissitudes. 
 
 Twice has Goes narrowly escaped being utterly 
 destroyed : the first time, in 1539, the waters were 
 its enemy ; a terrible flood invaded its streets, de- 
 stroyed its houses, overturned its walls, and drowned 
 its inhabitants. The town had hardly recovered from 
 this disaster when, in 1556, a frightful conflagration 
 laid it waste once more. Meteren reckons the 
 number of houses which were burnt to ashes at six 
 hundred ; and Blaeu, who is always correct, though 
 occasionally fond of flourish and mythology, ex- 
 claims, ' The two divinities, Neptune and Vulcan, 
 seem to have sworn each in his turn to destroy this 
 city.'i 
 
 In 1572 war took up the tale ; Goes was beset by 
 the people of Flushing. ' The place was well walled, 
 but without ramparts, having only' simple gates and 
 ditches of little width.' Its garrison was composed, 
 in addition to the citizens, of six hundred Spaniards 
 
 ' 'rhcdtrnni urhinvu
 
 144 TITE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 find two hundred Walloons, eight hundred men in all, 
 without artillery, and almost without supphes ; and 
 its only hope was in reinforcements from Antwerp. 
 These reinforcements arrived under the conduct of 
 Sancho d'Avila and Mondragon, who effected at low 
 tide, and in the night, a passage similar to that b}^ 
 which the Spaniards afterwards presented themselves 
 before the walls of Zierikzee. Guided by a peasant 
 from Breda, they entered tlie river at Woensdrecht. 
 ' Mondragon marched first, although he was already 
 af^ed, and entered the water up to his waist ; liis 
 soldiers carried each a bag of powder and fuses, and a 
 small supply of biscuit on their heads and shoulders. 
 They had to make two leagues of way, and had but 
 five hours of low tide.' They effected the passage 
 successfully, and on reacliing the opposite bank they 
 lighted a great fire to apprise Sancho d'Avila of the 
 happy issue of this daring enterprise. Almost at the 
 same moment the besiegers became aware that re- 
 inforcements were on the island. ' That unheard-of 
 feat, and which seemed to be impossible and in- 
 credible,' so effectually frightened them that they 
 raised the siege immediately, retired to their works, 
 shipped their guns, with which they had already 
 made a breach in the walls, in all haste ; and in the 
 embarkation of the troops such disorder prevailed, 
 each wishing to be the first to get away, that more 
 than two hundred men were taken prisoners or 
 drowned. 
 
 This, liowever, was only an adjournment. In
 
 THE STADIIUIS AT GOES. 145 
 
 1577 the army of the States entered Goes, and took 
 possession of the town. The Prince of Orange had 
 it strongly fortified, and thenceforth Goes had tho- 
 ronghly well-built ramparts, with bastions, glacis, 
 ditches, and a double redoubt protecting a long canal, 
 and ending in two forts, the Ooster and the Wester 
 Schans, which secured its freedom of communication 
 with the Western Scheldt. From that time forth Goes 
 was left at peace, and, wdth the exception of the tumults 
 which took place in the year 1787, its tranquil exist- 
 ence flowed on without disturbance. The town is 
 no longer walled ; its ditches, partly filled up, partly 
 turned into a handsome promenade, have nothing 
 warlike about them, and its quiet streets become 
 animated only on market-days, when the town is very 
 lively, in fact, gay, and even noisy. Crowds assemble 
 in its great square, and overflow into the streets. 
 The pretty and picturesque little market is also full 
 of animation, and one need only count the confec- 
 tioners', koek-hakkers\ clockmakers', and jewellers' 
 sliops which occupy the market-place to know that 
 tliis periodical invasion from the country brings much 
 money into the city. 
 
 The Stadhuis stands in the handsome and well- 
 kept market-place. It is a stern-looking building, 
 which formerly had a warlike aspect, with ogival 
 arches, battlements, and machicolations. It was ruth- 
 lessly mutilated in tlie last century, its belfry was 
 decapitated, the shape of its windows was altered to 
 the most commonplace form, and the Avhole building 
 
 L
 
 146 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 was transformed into a nioiiiiment, not indeed devoid 
 of character, but lacking elegance and majesty. At 
 the end of a street, on the right of the Stadhuis, 
 the old church of St. Mary Magdalen rises like a 
 giant among pigmies. Its huge mass, rearing itself 
 far above the surrounding red roofs, produces a very 
 impressive effect. This church is still one of the 
 finest, most elegant in form, and purest in style in the 
 country ; and it is, perhaps, the most important. In 
 1618 it was partly destroyed by fire. In 1621 it was 
 rebuilt, at great cost and in good taste. ' Nothing 
 was spared,' says Blaeu, ' to make it equal to the 
 finest churches of Zealand.' 
 
 The little town of Goes boasts of no public edifice 
 of any importance, except these two. For the former 
 dwelhng of a sovereign so splendid and luxurious 
 as was the sentimental Jacqueline, this is a small 
 number ; but the landscape beyond the town is so 
 beautiful, the country is so rich, that its surroundings 
 make up amply for its architectural poverty.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE ZAND KREEK A STORM ON A SANDBANK — KATS — THE SCHIP- 
 
 PER KRIJN KORTGENE — THE APPEARANCE OF VEER. 
 
 IT is two o'clock. The weather is ahnost 
 fine again ; the atmosphere is still lieavy 
 and warm ; great white clouds, sloping 
 away from the horizon, come rolling 
 down over our heads. The boat is almost dry ; we 
 want to be off, so we give the word to set sail. 
 
 ' We should do better to stay where we are,' says 
 the schipper. ' The wind is coming from the west, 
 and, unless we change our course, we shall make no 
 way to-day.' 
 
 ' Moderation is wise, even in the best of things, 
 Scliipjier ; and we have been long enough atWomnel- 
 dingen.' 
 
 ' Very well, then ; let us make the " grand tour," 
 double the point of Colijnsplaat, and pass between 
 Schouwen and Noordbeveland.' 
 
 ' No, no, Schipper ; because, by making the 
 
 L 2
 
 148 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 " grand tour," we sliould sail upon the Western 
 Scheldt, and we know it already.' 
 
 ' What does tliat matter ? ' 
 
 ' It matters very much, Schipper. We are travel- 
 ling for the purpose of seeing something new, and 
 we want to pass by tlie Zand Kreek.' 
 
 Therefore, the schipper, in a very bad liumour, 
 left me, and whistled for liis knechts. Wliile tliey were 
 raising the anchor, he went down to the saloon to 
 study the large marine chart. He is vexed at liaving 
 to take this difficult and little-known course in un- 
 certain weather, and with a bad wind. 
 
 The Zand Kreek, or Sand Creek, is, as its name 
 indicates, a former gulf, whose sides were rent by a 
 tremendous tide in some terrible night of tempest, 
 and it has since remained open at both ends. Its chan- 
 nel has silted up by degrees, and it is now narrow, 
 of irregular and variable depth, and intersected in 
 three different places by large sand-banks, which still 
 further reduce the navigable space. It is, therefore, 
 easy to conceive that a prudent seaman, for whom 
 the picturesque has no interest, who is not to be 
 tempted by the charms of the unexpected, who is 
 indifferent to the beauties of Nature, and almost 
 entirely ignorant of the navigation of Zealand, should 
 be but moderately pleased at having to set out on 
 a cruise in which a disagreeable surprise may be in 
 store for him. 
 
 The grinding noise of the chains — which is an in- 
 variable accompaniment of the lifting of the anchor —
 
 ENTRANCE OF ZAND KREEK. 149 
 
 lias ceased ; the schipper must make up his mind to 
 the start. 
 
 ' You positively wish to pass by the Zand Kreek ? ' 
 once more asks the victim of our arbitrary will, 
 laying his hand solemnly on the chart. 
 
 ' Yes, Schij)pe)\' 
 
 ' Very well, then ; so be it. Let us be olf, and 
 may good luck go with us ! ' 
 
 He goes up on deck, and we hear him giving 
 his orders. A few minutes afterwards the glasses 
 and plates rattle, the pots and pans in our floating 
 kitchen clatter, the boat rocks gently, and we are 
 off. We sail swiftly and steadily, steering for Tholen, 
 and presently begin to make long tacks. These 
 zigzags do not advance us much upon our way, 
 for we have to make five hundred yards to gain 
 twenty. For all that we are getting on, and we are 
 seeing the country. A strange country, too ; for these 
 singular coasts, probably unique in the world, and 
 almost unexplored, pass before our eyes under all 
 their different aspects. Each time that the boat tacks, 
 the landscape changes, and those arms of the sea, 
 with their flat shores, that seem to be so monotonous, 
 are in reality infinitely various. 
 
 It takes us nearly four hours to get well beyond 
 Kattendijk — that is, to make one league. At night- 
 fall we are at the entrance of the Zand Kreek, 
 with the lights of Kats on our right, and the spire of 
 Oostkerke ahead of us. The })assage is narrow and 
 difficidt, and the danger of our course is increased by
 
 150 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 the fast-coming darkness. Nevertheless, we advance, 
 trying to distinguish the buoys. Suddenly the tjalk 
 receives a shock, and we hear something crack. 
 The zwaard has struck ! Then come some rapid 
 manoeuvres, and a backward movement. "We are set 
 free, but this is a warning. We take in sail, heave 
 the anchor, and lie-to for the night. 
 
 Where are we? Nobody knows exactly. The 
 night is upon us, thick and black, a sort of warm 
 fog wraps us round like a garment. The water on 
 which we float is phosphorescent ; tlie waves are 
 crested with strange lights, and as they break against 
 the sides of our vessel, they fall back in a sparkling- 
 shower : our anchor-chains seem to catch fire from 
 contact with them. Constant lowers a gaff into the 
 water, and stirs it about ; it is as though he were 
 stirrinjj a cauldron of molten lead. We let down a 
 bucket, and then empty its contents — myriads of 
 aquatic glow-worms — upon the deck. This amuses 
 us, so we lower the bucket again ; and the spectacle 
 is one of the most curious and fantastic I have ever 
 beheld. 
 
 The schipper follows our proceedings with an 
 anxious gaze. ' That is a sign of bad weather,' he 
 observes ; ' may God keep us from ill ! ' Then he 
 walks away, and we laugh at his fears. It is not 
 long, however, before his gloomy forebodings are 
 realised. 
 
 Towards midnight the air becomes oppressively 
 heavy. All of a sudden, in the far distance, the
 
 A S TOE MY NIGHT. 151 
 
 darkness is rent asunder by a blinding flash of light- 
 ning ; a terrific peal of thunder rolls along the 
 heavens, and reverberates from the watery deeps. 
 In an instant the horizon is blazing ; the tempest is 
 loosed upon us in all its subhme horror. 
 
 The rain, falling in large heavy drops, obliges 
 us to get under cover. Sea-birds, driven about in 
 the turmoil, pass above our heads uttering shrill, 
 long-drawn screams of distress. The wind whistles 
 in the rigging with a wild and mournful sound ; the 
 mast bends to its violence with a harsh grating noise ; 
 and the hoarse creaking and straining of the boat 
 alternate with the voice of the schippei\ as he reads 
 aloud from the Bible to his knechts. 
 
 Our poor tjalk jumps about at its anchorage, 
 like a restive horse tied to a post. Each moment it 
 seems as if everything must give way in one final 
 rent and crash — that the vessel must be torn in two 
 by the violence. 
 
 * De ce vent sans respect, qui renverse a la fois 
 Les bateaux des pecheurs et les barques des rois.' 
 
 It holds its own, however, resisting stoutly ; and 
 tlie storm passes ofi" — not, indeed, without our having 
 suffered, for we are once more inundated, and this 
 time it takes several hours to get rid of the water, 
 which has got in everywhere. But the sun rises 
 radiantly, and with its benignant smile our spirits 
 revive. Everyone sets to work with a will to repair 
 the damages of this niemcn-able night.
 
 152 THE UEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 We have worked at the pumps, and restored 
 somethiiig Uke order anioiig our household gods, 
 whicli were half drowned and much knocked 
 about. The rigging and the sails will have to be re- 
 paired. We have dragged our anchors during the 
 nia'ht, and the storm has carried us on tlie eastern 
 Scheldt into the Channel of Kats. Let us take advan- 
 tage of this to go on shore. We will cross the island 
 of Noordbeveland on foot, and the tjalk sliall come 
 round and take us on board at Kortgene. 
 
 At five o'clock in the morning, the boat shoots 
 away from tlie side of the tjalk., and presently we are 
 on the dry land again. The island is sunk in deep 
 repose. We follow the course of the dyke in the 
 first instance, and then we strike across the fields and 
 come to a wide avenue, which leads us to Kats. 
 
 Kats is a pretty village of the rustic sort, with 
 tlie long street, and the two rows of squat houses, 
 shaded by two rows of trees which prevail everywhere 
 in this corner of tlie country. The long street ends 
 in a church, the only ' monument ' in the village, if, 
 indeed, that whimsical construction deserves the 
 name. The church, of entirely original architec- 
 ture, is something midway between a barn and a 
 boat. Its brick walls are like those of a barn ; its 
 adornments, of wood painted green, and picked out 
 with white, are like those of a boat. The whole build- 
 ing has strange curves, odd outlines, unusual shapes — 
 all utterly unclassical, and unlike anything to be found 
 in the drawing-books of the Ecole des Beaux- Arts.
 
 THE VILLAGE OF KATS. 153 
 
 How changeful are hiinian destinies ! Who would 
 suppose, seeing tliis village as it now is, that it was 
 once the capital of a powerful fief; and that the 
 authority of its possessors stretched far and wide? 
 Who would believe that its origin is of venerable an- 
 tiquity, lost, indeed, in the penumbra of history ? 
 
 Kats, as the Chroniclers affirm, was founded by 
 a fragment of that great nomad tribe, who, in the 
 first ages of our era, traversed Flanders and Zealand, 
 pursued by the invading Franks. Kats, a village of 
 a hundred hearths, sent out colonies to the neigh- 
 bouring coasts in the twelfth century. Kattendijk, 
 ■ whose spire we see from afar, was in the beginning 
 called Katsdijk (the dyke of Kats), and long remained 
 a dependency of the neighbouring seigneurie, to 
 wliich it owed its origin and its name. From that 
 old time, when so many other cities now populous, 
 and long celebrated, hardly existed, dates the dechne 
 of Kats — so little known and so humble in the present 
 day. 
 
 'In the year 1288,' writes Messire Francois Le 
 Petit, ' all the isles of Zealand were inundated 
 by tempests ; and much of the country was destroyed 
 l)y that inundation, in the which the seigneurs 
 of Kats sufT'ered great harm.' Thus does everything, 
 and especially greatness, pass away. Nor was this 
 tlic only evil fortune of the kind that befel the 
 unlucky town. ' In the year 1530,' says Guicciardini, 
 writing of those times as a contemporary, ' on St. 
 Felix's-day tlic tide was so higli tliat the waters
 
 154 THE UEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 rose above the dykes in many places. Those of 
 Kortgene and Kats undertook to repair the dyke of 
 their quarter, and to divide it into polders ; but, 
 two years afterwards, in 1532, the country was again 
 inundated, and the hurricane having come unexpec- 
 tedly, a vast number of people were drowned in their 
 beds. Those of Kats went out to make an inspection 
 of tlie dyke, and seeing the bad condition in which 
 it was, they fled towards the heights to save their 
 lives. But the flood destroyed fully one hundred and 
 fifty men, and since then the whole of their country 
 has always remained under the water.' 
 
 Kats reposes at present amid waving meadows 
 and fertile fields, careless of bygone dangers, in- 
 different to former glory, even ignorant of former 
 greatness. All around tlie town plentiful harvests 
 spring up, and the wide grasslands stretch their 
 green expanse, intersected by great grassy dykes 
 which, from a bird's-eye view, make the island re- 
 semble an immense chessboard. On the two sides of 
 those dykes, large fat sheep, suggestive of prime 
 haunches and succulent ' saddles,' busily crop the fine 
 close grass. Lavish abundance, exuberant wealth 
 reign everywhere, and justify the ancient renown 
 of that Noordbeveland, ' so fertile, and so mild and 
 pleasant, that it was held to be the deUght of the 
 country of Zealand.' 
 
 This fertility, this ' fatness ' of the earth— to use 
 the old patriarchal term — continues until we reach 
 Kortgene. Wealth exudes from the land, and on
 
 ARRIVAL AT KORTQENE. 155 
 
 every side are proofs of exceptional prosperity. The 
 pedlars, bending under the weight of their packs, do 
 not deal, as in other countries, in cotton and knitted 
 wares ; their bundles contain such tempting futihties 
 as hand-mirrors, silk handkerchiefs and ribbons. We 
 met a shepherd, who carried two umbrellas. The su- 
 perfluous, you see, displays itself at every step. Even 
 that lonely little tavern — we sliould call it a bouchon 
 in France — perched upon a desolate corner of the 
 dyke, testifies by its signboard to this need for the 
 superfluous. Here we find the fine arts associated 
 with alcohol. Painting, in the form of a bad picture, 
 and poetry, in that of two indifierent fines, recom- 
 mend the ' drinks ' of the estabfishment to the atten- 
 tion of idle boatmen or solitary travellers in these 
 remote regions : — 
 
 Op Katsche veer, bij schipper Kriju, 
 Tapt men geuever, bier en wyn. 
 
 This pleasing legend, being translated, is as follows : — . 
 ' At the passage of Kats, at Krijn the boatman's, gin, 
 Ijeer, and wine are drawn.' 
 
 Kortgene, where we arrive after two hours' walk- 
 ing, has a similar aspect of rural wealth. By the 
 waterside, a group of idle men are passing the morn- 
 ing in talking of their neighbours. Village gossip 
 is a proof of leisure. The little town, surrounded with 
 trees, gardens, aiid orchards, wears a prosperous and 
 smiling aspect, and yet it too has a lugubrious his- 
 tory. Adrian Hoffer, a local poet, who wrote in Latin, 
 has related the sad story in some well-constructed,
 
 156 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 easy verses, wliicli depict the past condition of the 
 toAvn, and the uncertainty of its existence. The fol- 
 lowing is a translation : — 
 
 I owe mj' foundation to the family of Borseleu — 
 It was that family who caused me to spring up, a little town out of the 
 
 waters. 
 Hardly had I come into existence when flames, consuming my walls, 
 Ruined my population and destroyed their goods. 
 
 I raise my head again, my houses, prone to the earth, uplift themselves ; 
 Already my roofs shine with a new splendour, 
 
 When my father, the Ocean, covering me with his tempestuous waves, 
 Destroys me for the second time. 
 One tower only remains to hear witness to the past of those uuhapj)y 
 
 places, 
 To show how changeable is destiny, and how uncertain is time. 
 Zealanders, learn not to trust yourselves to your natal soil ; 
 That which the Ocean may respect, it may also annihilate ! 
 
 Here was no poetical licence ; the disciple of 
 Apollo confined himself on this occasion within the 
 strict limits of truth. Kortgene, founded in 1413, by 
 Philip of Borselen, was destroyed the following year 
 by a fire, wliich originated in a baker's oven. The 
 town was rebuilt, repaired, and restored by its 
 founder, and endowed with a church, only to undergo 
 such terrible devastation by the inundation of 1532, 
 that Guicciardini, who visited Zealand thirty years 
 afterwards, wrote the following melancholy observa- 
 tions among his notes of that journey. ' There was 
 here a goodly walled city, named Kortgene, which 
 was entirely swallowed up by the waters, so there 
 remained of it nothing but the spire of the church 
 as may now be discerned, and here and there in the 
 surrounding waters some other spires and steeples 
 of other goodly villages, which have experienced
 
 KORTGENE. 157 
 
 the fury and the tempests of tlie ocean, tlie which 
 give notice to those who sail along tliat way and also 
 arouse them to wonder and compassion for such 
 disasters and misery.' 
 
 Kortgene, more fortunate than Kats, arose a second 
 time from its ruins, repaired tlie ravages committed 
 by fire and flood, and even became, it seems, a small 
 stronghold ; for, in an old engraving wliicli I have 
 seen in the great Atlas at the War Office, the city is 
 represented with ramparts, all bristling with crene- 
 lated walls, towers, and ditches. Not a trace of these 
 warlike braveries remain ; but tlie little town has a 
 tidy and well-to-do aspect, very pleasant to look upon. 
 Its streets are w4de, well built, and specklessly clean, 
 and the footways are paved with long strips of many- 
 coloured bricks and white stone ; these stretch along 
 in front of the houses on either side, hke a carpet in 
 marqueterie patterns. 
 
 While w^e were delightedly examining this quaint 
 and uncommon kind of street ornament, a dull sound 
 from afar attracted our attention. We ran to the 
 dyke ; the tialk was in front of us, and the schipper 
 was making signals. What did they mean? Why 
 was the tricolor flag no longer flying ? We advance 
 to the far end of the little jetty, which is about five 
 hundred yards from Kortgene, and forms the landing 
 place. From thence we shout to the schipper to bring 
 up the tjalk. He, however, makes us understand by 
 signs that the thing is impossible ; and, indeed, the 
 wind, without being tempestuous, is blowing pretty
 
 158 THE UK ART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 liard in gusts, and lashing the water into big waves, 
 which, coming against the current, cause a rough and 
 boihng surf. Tlie boat puts off for us, and, not witli- 
 out difficulty, we approach the tjalk., which continues 
 to tack. It is troid^lesome and even dangerous to 
 get on board ; but at lengtli we are safe on deck, and 
 then Ave learn that the flag-staff lias been broken by a 
 gust of wind, and tlie flag carried away. It would be 
 utterly useless to think of picking it up again, the 
 waves are too rough ; and besides, we must double 
 the point of the Wolfaartsdijk before the tide ebbs, 
 and to do this we must describe a long curve in a 
 narrow channel, avoiding four distinct sand-banks. 
 Quick ! There is not a minute to lose. 
 
 For the first time the wind is almost favourable to 
 us, our tacks are long, we sail rapidly. An hour more, 
 and we shall reach the Veersche Gat. At this mo- 
 ment the horizon suddenly opens out before us, and 
 the view stretches on as far as Eoompot, at the river 
 mouth, that is to say, away to the open sea. The vast 
 sheet of foaming water takes a multitude of mother- 
 o'-pearl-like tints, and on the left. Veer appears to us, 
 shining with light and colour, its gigantic church and 
 majestic belfry, its ancient towers, its lofty trees, and 
 red roofs, are all steeped in warm and scintillating 
 radiance. 
 
 It would be impossible to give an idea of the 
 lightness, grace, and elegance of the harmonious out- 
 lines of that fair city, as it stands out against the sil- 
 very sky ; it would be impossible to convey the effect
 
 THE APPEARANCE OF VEER. 159 
 
 of the reds and greens, the greys and bhies, whicli 
 cast their brilliant reflections into this vast sparkling 
 lake. 
 
 In the course of my vagabond i-anibles, from the 
 northern frontiers of Sweden to the southernmost 
 point of Sicily, I have beheld, it is true, grander pano- 
 ramas, and more imposing spectacles. The fjords of 
 Norway are more sublime of aspect ; and Vesuvius, 
 seen from Posihpo, has greater majesty. Any com- 
 parison in this sense would be idle and absurd. But 
 I cannot declare too emphatically that never, either in 
 the North or in the South, have my eyes been sur- 
 prised and rejoiced by equal intensity of colouring, 
 at once bright and delicate, by a blending of tones 
 so fine, liarmonious, exquisite, and yet incomparably 
 bold. 
 
 Let us, at once and for ever, get rid of the preva- 
 lent notion that the skies of the Netherlands are grey, 
 dull, foggy, smoky and opaque. Let certain critics 
 at once and for ever discard the astonishment which 
 tliey, and their predecessors for the last fifty years, 
 have been in the habit of expressing, that a 
 school of masterly colourists should have existed in a 
 country which is popularly believed to be destitute 
 of bot]i light and colour.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 VEER — A HUGE CHURCH — THE BIliTH OF A TOWN — COMMERCIAL 
 WEALTH AND SPLENDOUR : THEIR SUDDEN MELTING AWAY — A 
 REVERIE. 
 
 HAVE told you liow delightful to im 
 artist's eye is the spectacle of Veer, 
 standing out in bright and harmonious 
 colours against the silver background 
 of sky and water. As we approach the town by the 
 Zand Kreek, this charming panorama changes with 
 every tack of the vessel, and, although constantly 
 transformed, is always beautiful. 
 
 On landing we receive impressions of a totally 
 diflerent kind, but they are equally vivid and striking. 
 We miglit not go so far as to sing, with Mignon, — 
 
 ' O'est la que je veux vivre, 
 Que je veux vivre et puis mourir ' — 
 
 but we do affirm that the brightly-tinted city is a 
 treasure-trove to the archseologist, the seeker after 
 the unexpected, and the artist. On landing from the 
 boat, we cross the famous dam, descend from the 
 dyke, and find ourselves at the foot of the old ram-
 
 A HUGH CHURCH. 161 
 
 parts. Tlie slopes are now under cultivation ; the 
 warlike fame of the glacis and bastions, whose long 
 grassy lines we have seen from afar, is one of the 
 glories of the past, and their formidable aspect has 
 ceased to exist. 
 
 No sooner have we passed these ancient bastions 
 than we arrive at the church, whose vast mass, rising 
 up unexpectedly before our eyes, produces a start- 
 ling effect. I have already commented upon the 
 dimensions of these Zealand churches, which are 
 almost invariably out of proportion with the towns 
 sanctified by their presence ; but never before had I 
 seen such an example as this. It looks as if the whole 
 town, with all its buildings, might be contained within 
 this Cyclopean edifice ; and indeed tlie poor old 
 church — finished in 1448, partly destroyed by fire in 
 1686, despoiled of its altars and statues by the Re- 
 formation, damaged by the bombardment of 1809, 
 transformed into a military hospital at about the 
 same time, and afterwards turned to the purposes of 
 a barrack — could shelter, contain, and lodge twenty 
 times as many persons as the number of the fallen 
 city's inhabitants at this day. 
 
 This stone Colossus stands upon the threshold 
 of the little city, an heroic indication of its history- 
 Like an ancient and time-worn bard, it proclaims to 
 the traveller that lofty destinies have been accom- 
 plished on the soil he is about to tread. It speaks 
 to him of greatness aspired to, glory hoped for, power 
 won for a while. ' Before you look at me as I am,' 
 
 M
 
 162 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 it seems to say, ' remember what I liave been, and, 
 above all, what I hoped to be ! ' The story of Veer 
 is, in fact, an epic. The life of the city has been that 
 of a parvenu, with such an ending as the Prodigal 
 Son came to, only that there has been no return to 
 the parental dwelling. 
 
 The origin of Veer was modest, ' ignobiles,' says 
 Blaeu. A few fishermen, having settled upon its 
 desert coast, hired out their boats to travellers want- 
 ing to cross the water to a little town on the opposite 
 bank, called Kampen, in Noordbeveland. Hence the 
 name of Veer, which means ' passage,' and for cen- 
 turies the place was called Kamperveer, that is to say, 
 * the passage to Kampen.' 
 
 * Ilet Veer op Kamperland deed my Kampveer benoemen. 
 Ear ik een 'stad nog was, ouvringd met muur en gragt.' * 
 
 An old poet puts this avowal of its humble origin 
 into the mouth of Veer itself, speaking to posterity. 
 In 1280 Count Floris V. sold his territory to the 
 Seigneurs of Borselen, who built several houses, and 
 a castle, erected a monastery, and so established a 
 colony. The second of these seigneurs, Wolfart 11., 
 built a church and put up gates. It was not until 
 after 1350 that the town began to flourish. An old 
 charter, bearing date the 30th of March 1350,^ records 
 that Wolfart, Seigneur of Veer, and Hedwiga his 
 
 ^ ' The passage into the land of Kampen has procured for me my 
 name of Kampveer. I was of old, and I am still, a town surrounded with 
 walls and ditches.' 
 
 * See the Retjister : Oiide Charters en JBrieven, No. 17. This document 
 figures on the Inventory with No. 40.
 
 THE ORTGIN OF VEER. 163 
 
 wife obtained from William V. of Bavaria, in exchange 
 for their castle and residence of Duneboke,^ situate 
 in the Island of Walcheren, and four acres {vier 
 gemeten) of their seigneurie, the free fief of Sanden- 
 burg and Veer, and all the rights attached thereto. 
 The results of this emancipation were soon manifest. 
 In 1358 the town was surrounded by ramparts, and 
 at about the same time its trade was extended ; the 
 fishing was carried on upon a much larger scale, and 
 the seigneurs obtained from the King of England free 
 entry into the English ports for vessels fitted out at 
 Veer. 
 
 After Wolfart V. married Mary, daughter of 
 James I. of Scotland, the trade of Veer made unlooked- 
 for progress. The young Lady of Veer induced 
 Scottish traders, her fellow-countrymen, to come to 
 her city, and there they estabhshed the Staple of 
 Scotch wool. In a short time buyers came from 
 every quarter to purchase this valuable raw material. 
 And now, on the great quay alongside the port, the 
 remains of the * House of the Scottish Merchants ' 
 still testify, by their architectural grandeur, to the 
 wealth of those who built it, and to the commercial 
 prosperity of the town. 
 
 In the time of Henry of Borselen the prosperity of 
 Veer was again augmented. ' About that same year 
 (1454),' the old annals record that: 'the Seigneur of 
 Veer fitted out several large ships at his own charges, 
 
 * Duneboko is a seignorial resideuce situated on the tm'ritory of 
 Oostlcapolle, and almost equidistant between that viUage and Dcjiuburg-. 
 
 M 2
 
 164 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 ■which he sent into the high ond low seas with mer- 
 chandise. From the which there was returned to him 
 very great profit, so that he acquired much land in 
 Zealand.'^ 
 
 Shortly after this time (in 1477), Wolfart VI. 
 purchased for ready money, from Mary of Burgundy, 
 the seigneurie, and, as it was then called, the Vrij- 
 Iieid, Franc, or Freedom, of Brouwershaven.^ Under 
 Anne of Borselen, his daughter, Veer attained the 
 zenith of its commercial prosperity. At that time, 
 if Blaeu's account be correct, as many as sixty ships 
 came into or left its port every day, and its roadstead, 
 which had then taken the name of ' Veersche Gat ' 
 (the hole of Veer), was one of the most frequented 
 in the North Sea and the English Channel. Men of 
 many nations met upon its quays. 'The cities of 
 Amsterdam and Antwerp being as yet in their flower,' 
 it was at Veer that Eastern traders disembarked, 
 bringing with them the exotic products of their sunny 
 lands ; and to its market, in 1508, sugar was brought 
 from the Canary Isles for the first time by the Spanish 
 ships.^ 
 
 Before this last date, Anne of Borselen, that in- 
 telligent and gracious Lady of Veer, whose modesty 
 and prudence Erasmus has so justly lauded, married 
 Phihp of Burgundy, a prince born of a left-handed 
 marriage, and entitled by himself ' the great Bastard 
 
 ^ Grande Chronique. 
 
 * See Inventaris van het oud archief des Stadt Middelbourff, No. 
 470. 
 
 ^ Gnicciardini, op. eit.
 
 THE PROSPERITY OF VEER. 165 
 
 of Burgundy.' Philip was a powerful personage, and 
 of an impatient temper. His device was ' Nul ne s'y 
 frotte,' and his first action was to turn Veer into a 
 warlike fortress, with massive walls, wide ditches, and 
 gates capable of resisting all attacks. 
 
 Just then, it seems that Middelburg took fright ; 
 and, great city though it was, began to regard the 
 blooming and blossoming of its young neighbour 
 with considerable uneasiness. All of a sudden we find 
 Middelburg thwarting the commercial operations of 
 Veer, and thenceforth regarding her as a dangerous 
 rival. ' No man ought to prefer the place of his 
 own birth to the entire country,' is laid down by the 
 laws of Charondas, and that wise legislator added : 
 ' Such a thought is the beginning of treason.' This 
 great principle, which is so true, and so necessary to 
 observe, was in times past ignored by the people of 
 Zealand and Flanders. The proverbial ' amour du 
 clocher ' has always taken precedence of the love of 
 country with both races. Morose persons pretend 
 that some traces of this sentiment still exist. For 
 my part, I do not believe that they have been per- 
 petuated ; and I will not believe, what I have heard 
 stated, that there are Flushing men at this day who 
 would joyfully behold the ruin of Eotterdam, if by 
 that ruin Flushing were to profit. In the fifteenth 
 century, however, such egotistical tendencies found 
 full development : a fact of which Middelburg fur- 
 nished a striking example. 
 
 The presence of the Scotch at Veer had been, so
 
 IGG THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 to speak, the point of departure of the extraordinary 
 prosperity of the town, and to the Scotch Middelburg 
 addressed itself. Great efforts were made to induce 
 them to withdraw from Veer, and to settle at Middel- 
 burg ; and lastly, to get the ftxmous Wool Staple, that 
 source of so many lucrative transactions, transferred 
 to the latter city. It is exceedingly curious to trace 
 tlie secret negotiations concerning this transaction in 
 the archives of the Zealand capital.^ At one time 
 it seemed that the ardently desired object had been 
 attained. James III. died, and on the 20th of March, 
 1477, the Council of Regency at Edinburgh deputed 
 Jacob Atkinson, Alexander Irving, and John Patonson, 
 to proceed to Middelburg, there to establish the 
 Staple of Scottish merchandise ; as the letter of envoy 
 phrases it : Stapulam nostrorum mercatorum mercan- 
 ciarumque apud villam de Midilburgo? The men of 
 Middelburg had, however, a sturdy adversary to deal 
 with, as we shall see. During the whole minority of 
 James IV. they preserved the Staple ; and on his 
 majority, they succeeded in getting that privilege 
 conlirmed. They even obtained that it should be 
 published ' thoughout all the kingdom and the towns 
 of Scotland, that those of the said nation should be 
 bound, on pain of confiscation of their ships and 
 goods, to come to tlie said town of Middelburg and 
 its jurisdiction, and to discharge all their goods and 
 
 ' See especially the documents in tlie Inventaris, num'beTed 444, 445, 
 and 464. 
 
 ^ This document is also drawn up in French, as is the preceding 
 correspondence which leads up to it.
 
 THE SEIGXEUU OF VEER. 1G7 
 
 merchandises in the said town, and not elsewhere.' ^ 
 But, on the accession of James V. everything was 
 changed, and that monarch restored to Yeer the pri- 
 vilege of which the town had been despoiled. The 
 Scottish traders were commanded to establish them- 
 selves within its walls and in no other place.^ 
 
 The Seigneur of Veer at that period was Maxi- 
 milian of Burgundy, Seigneur of Beveren, ' Admiral- 
 captain-general of the sea.' It is niteresting to observe 
 how ardently this powerful patron, an intelligent man, 
 and thoroughly aware of the importance of such an 
 advantage, espouses the interests of the new residents. 
 Some Scottish ships having been stopped, and their 
 owners detained, he addresses himself on behalf of 
 the latter to the Burgomaster and the 'Magistrat,' 
 obtains safe-conducts for them ; defrays their expenses, 
 and causes them to be supplied with ' victuals, and 
 money in their purse, that they may return to their 
 hostel.' ^ 
 
 Such good treatment attracted traders to Veer. 
 Shortly afterwards, Middelburg lost not only the 
 Wool Staple, but was threatened with losing also the 
 Wine Staple, which was the principal source of its 
 commercial importance, its wealth and its prosperity. 
 In order to avert this disaster, the Queen Kegent was 
 obliged to interfere on behalf of JMiddelburg ; to 
 remind the too ambitious Seigneur of Beveren that 
 Veer had no rights over the wines of France, and 
 
 ' See Inventarig, No. 1,771. 
 
 2 Ihid. Nos. 1,854, 1,85G, 1,859, and 1,8G0. 
 
 ^ Ihid. No. 2,019, dated July 25, 15i8.
 
 166 THE HEART OF llOLLAXT). 
 
 could only receive at its port, such as came ' of their 
 free will, without being solicited or induced by the 
 said Seigneur of Beveren or others, and without 
 making an advantage, or having any contract, treaty, 
 or understanding whatsoever.' ^ 
 
 It appears that the remonstrances of the Queen 
 Kegent were less efiectual than was expected. Some 
 years later, we find Middelburg demanding an autho- 
 ritative confirmation of its privileges of the Staple and 
 Standard, and complaining ' that also the towns of 
 Flushing and Veer, belonging to the Seigneur of Beve- 
 ren, have, by degrees, owing to the favour shown by 
 the said seigneur, as admiral, to the merchants fre- 
 quenting the said cities, more than to the others, begun 
 to be frequented by foreign nations and traders.' 
 
 The Zealand capital reiterates on this occasion 
 that it has always possessed the privilege of receiving 
 ' the wines of Spain, Burgundy, and others coming 
 from the side of tlie West.' It insists that its position 
 is less favourable than that of the rival towns, ' situ- 
 ated on the same island, which have two arms, and 
 entrance to the sea, and are more propitious for 
 the arrival of boats and ships ; ' while the capital 
 is accessible only by ' a certain long canal, difficult to 
 pass.' Lastly, this remonstrance concludes by point- 
 ing out that ' the ruin of the town, to the great pre- 
 judice as much of her Majesty as of the other neigh- 
 bouring countries, is evident.' 
 
 The Emperor, Charles V., and afterwards his son 
 
 ' See Jnvcntans, No, 2,172, dated January 0, 156(5.
 
 PROSPERITY OF VEER. 169 
 
 Philip II., being very anxious to settle these differ- 
 ences, endeavoured as far as possible to hold the 
 balance equally between the two cities. To Middel- 
 burg they left its privilege of the wines, and they 
 erected its two rivals into marquisates. They also 
 made Veer a port of war, and fixed the residence of 
 the ' Admirals and Councillors of the Admiralty of 
 the Low Countries there.' They established a general 
 arsenal, and ' a house of artillery and other munitions 
 proper for war upon the sea, and things requisite 
 for the fleet.' 
 
 All this brings us to the sixteenth century, that is 
 to say, to the zenith of the fortunes of Veer. The 
 town is then famous ' for a good fishery of herrings 
 and other salted fish.' ' The good situation of its 
 roadstead and harbour causes it to be frequented by 
 all foreign traders.' ' Its citizens are very civil and 
 courteous by reason of the frequentation of nobles.' 
 Maximilian of Beveren, its first marquis, ' holds in the 
 town his residence and magnificent court.' It is also 
 in possession of a quantity of ' fair privileges and 
 high prerogatives,' and as many as nine villages are 
 placed under its jurisdiction. 'Among these the 
 seigneurie of Oostkapelle, which properly belongs to 
 it.' Finally, its seigneur, ' by an ancient statute or 
 ordinance enjoys such a pre-eminence that he alone, 
 without any other making competition with him, is 
 entitled to speak for the Estate of the nobihty of 
 Zealand ' ^ in all deliberations upon affairs. 
 
 ' G uicciardini, Meteren, Le I'etit, &c.
 
 170 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 It is well to recall siicli facts in the midst of 
 all these ruins, in the presence of the desolation which 
 now reigns in the solitary streets, on the deserted 
 quays. It is well to recall them also because they 
 had a decisive influence on the great events that 
 mark the end of the sixteenth century. 
 
 The antagonism of Middelburg and Veer played 
 an important j)art in the working out of the destinies 
 of both cities. Veer, with its marquisate, acquired by 
 the Prince of Orange, passing through the hands of 
 William the Taciturn, and becoming a portion of the 
 patrimony of tlie House of Nassau, had long before 
 this time manifested a love of liberty and a desire for 
 independence. It had been, we say it to its honour, 
 from the first day, almost from the first hour, one of 
 the centres of rebelhon against the King of Spain ; 
 and Meteren admits that the brave seamen who, under 
 the direction of Admiral Boisot, destroyed the famous 
 armada of Don Luis de Kequesens, before Bergen-op- 
 Zoom, came chiefly from the valiant port of Veer. 
 
 Middelburg, on tlie contrary, from a spirit of 
 pride, jealousy and rivalry, much more than from con- 
 viction, continued to be the last bulwark of foreign 
 oppression, and from motives of enmity rather than 
 fidelity, exposed itself to all the horrors of that 
 siege, to whose incidents we shall shortly recur. 
 
 Animosity between t?ie two rivals had arrived at 
 its highest pitch ; and the ' Magistrat ' had forbidden 
 the citizens of Middelburg, under pain of arrest and 
 the confiscation of their goods, not only to visit the
 
 ANTAGONISM OF MIDDELBURG AND VEER. 171 
 
 people of Veer and Flushing, but even to keep up 
 any corrrespondence with them.^ They were in liis 
 eyes what he called them, ' rebelUous beggars.' In 
 this struggle it was the capital which was beaten, 
 and nevertheless, by a strange fatality, from that time 
 it made great strides towards supremacy. From 
 the day of its fall it attracted all the living forces of its 
 young antagonist to itself, and from that moment the 
 latter had to date the paling of its brilliant star, soon 
 to suffer total eclipse. The destinies, which, to quote 
 an old writer, ' permitted Veer to develop itself under 
 the gegis of so great and illustrious a prince as Wil- 
 liam the Silent, seem, having done this, to have ex- 
 hausted their favours.' Since then, only one brilliant 
 day is recorded upon the pages of the history of 
 Veer. 
 
 After having raised the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom 
 on the 1st of September 1588, Prince Maurice re- 
 paired to Veer to take possession of his marquisate. 
 The young conqueror received an enthusiastic and 
 splendid welcome. ' He was met with the solemnities 
 and ceremonies customary in such cases, and he dis- 
 tributed money on which were stamped the arms oi 
 Nassau and Veer, bound together with a doubly- 
 knotted cord, with the inscription, ' Nodus indissolu- 
 bilis.' ^ The houses Avere draped, arches of triumph 
 were erected, and the streets were strewn with leaves 
 
 ' See Inventaris van het oud archie/ dcr Stadt Middclbourg, No. 
 2,573. 
 
 - Grande Chronique de IloUande et de Zclandc.
 
 172 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 and flowers.' Veer was lovingly bedecked, dressed 
 lip for her last triumph, for from that day forth her 
 steady decline was never arrested. 
 
 I have before me the original plan of the city, 
 made in 1550 by Jacob van De venter.^ This old 
 drawing, alike elegant and simple, shows us the 
 former boundary of the city, much more extensive 
 than it now is, and full of dwelhng-houses. There 
 is not a gap, not a bit of waste land, not a trace of 
 decay. The streets are lined with tall and closely 
 built houses, and their lines stretch to the verge of 
 the open country. Overlapping the ramparts, and 
 scattered among gardens and plantations, they form 
 those country habitations in which, as Blaeu says, 
 ' the merchants found the double advantage that they 
 could superintend their affairs, while yielding to the 
 pleasures of the country.'^ 
 
 Even when the old geographer drew the charming 
 picture of the fair city that he has left us. Veer had 
 already lost a portion of its s^^lendour. The girdle 
 formed by its walls fitted it too loosely, and the ruin 
 which was then commencing soon changed into 
 disaster. Entire quarters have disappeared ; of the 
 rows of houses which bordered the north side of its 
 harbour there remains nothing. Silence and solitude 
 reign ; on every side is a cruel and woeful void. This 
 sudden foundering of a once flourishing city is an 
 extraordinary event. The arms of the town are two 
 towers, from which spring two savages, each holding 
 
 ' At the Zecuwtsih geiwotsch>p der ivetensdiappeii. ' Blaeii; Theatruvi.
 
 AN OLD PLAN OF VEER. 173 
 
 a cord from which hangs a shield. The two towers 
 represent those which formerly defended the entrance 
 of the port. The way into the city lay between 
 them. One has entirely disappeared ; it was suddenly 
 swallowed up by the water. 
 
 The little city of Kampen, to which Kamperveer 
 owed, not only its name but its existence, and which 
 figures, with its boundaries, its houses and its streets, 
 upon an old manuscript map of the fifteenth century, 
 to be seen at the Dutch War Office, has also disap- 
 peared. Kampen also sank suddenly into the abyss, 
 leaving no more trace than there remained of the 
 tower. 
 
 In the presence of such a remorseless destiny, one 
 is oppressed with sadness. Such a succession of 
 catastrophes is too terrible to be recorded without 
 emotion ; and, when we compare the brilliant past 
 with the deserted present, we are constrained to pity, 
 and filled with regret. 
 
 In the evening, at that solemn hour when all 
 nature seems to reflect, while the setting sun cast a 
 golden light over the dreary scene, I contemplated 
 the dying city. In the midst of the impressive silence 
 of that great solitude, I meditated long on the ruined 
 splendour, the great fortunes which the ruthless hand 
 of fate had wrested from old Veer.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A DISPUTE ON BOARD AN ANTIQUE FOUNTAIN A WALK THROUGH 
 
 IIUINS — THE STADHUIS — THE CUP OF VEER AN HEROIC WOMAN 
 
 — AN EXCURSION IN NOORDBEVELAND — A * ZINKSTUK.' 
 
 [HIS morning a dispute took place on board. 
 While we were taking our coffee, the 
 knechts rebelled against the parental 
 authority of the schipper. They com- 
 plained that they had to do too much work, and 
 that instead of going from village to village, we made 
 long, difficult, and even dangerous trips. The dis- 
 cussion, which began by reproaches muttered with 
 half-filled mouths — the men were trying to talk and 
 to eat at the same time — soon took a louder tone, and 
 lastly became abusive. 
 
 We pretended not to hear all this. It was no 
 business of ours to interfere in quarrels of this kind. 
 The schipjyer ought to be master of his men, and to 
 know how to make them obey him. The incident, 
 however, puts us out considerably, as we are expect- 
 ing a visit from some friends, and it would not be
 
 THE OLD CHURCH OF KA MP VEER. 175 
 
 pleasant to have discussions of this kind arising 
 just at the hour of their arrival For this once, how- 
 ever, we mean to ignore everything ; and wishing to 
 leave more ample freedom of action to the schippei\ 
 we have taken our sketch-books and colour-boxes, 
 and set off to the town. 
 
 Up to the present we have been occupied in diving 
 into the history of old Kampveer, rather than in a 
 detailed inspection of the town. Let us make up for 
 lost time, and examine this strange place in a leisurely 
 fashion. 
 
 Having passed the ramparts, we find ourselves, you 
 will remember, at the foot of the tower of a colossal 
 church. This stone giant, solitary in the midst of the 
 grassy enclosure where it seems to crouch, shaded from 
 the road by grey walls, presents a grim aspect. It has 
 been in turns a sanctuary, a hospital, and a barrack. 
 Its great ogival bays have been closed up, and its many 
 coloured windows replaced by monochrome brick. 
 To meet the necessities of the uses to which it has 
 been put, a number of little openings, which look like 
 the menacing loopholes of old times, have been made 
 in its thick walls. It has preserved the sombre and 
 morose aspect of its two most recent adaptations, 
 something of the hospital and something of the 
 barrack yet linger about it ; it has retained the stern 
 and forbidding physiognomy of the latter and the 
 sorrowful appearance of the former ; and both these 
 contradict that which has survived of its original 
 aspect and purpose. Let us turn away our gaze
 
 176 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 from tliis forbidding object, all the more quickly 
 that, on the other side of the road, is a delightfuUittle 
 building, a beautiful fountain, with the sight of which 
 we may calm our minds and rejoice our eyes. This 
 pretty little edifice, with its straight black roof and 
 its fanciful ogives ; with its slender columns and its 
 flaring armorial bearings, hidden like an ancient 
 dryad in a thicket, modestly shaded by great trees 
 like a nymph, is thoroughly Gothic, but nevertheless 
 it seems lost among its morose and dull surround- 
 ings, and almost out of place in our age and in this 
 country. 
 
 We instinctively look for something else ; we 
 fancy that we shall presently see some chattering 
 housewife, in the costume of the Middle Ages, the 
 large Flemish collar and the little cap, coming along 
 the road, with her shining copper pail hanging over 
 her arm. We lend an attentive ear to the sighing 
 of the breeze, thinking that it will bear to us a song 
 of these old days, sweetly warbled by a laughing and 
 still innocent Marguerite, who will presently lean on 
 the margin of the granite basin, and dream of the 
 unknown. But no ! echo remains mute, the fountain 
 is deserted ; no noise disturbs the stern solitude, no 
 joyous strain comes to enliven it. 
 
 Let us go into the avenue, or rather into the 
 street, for such it was formerly. Where trees 
 and glades are now were once handsome and 
 stately houses, and there hardly remains a half- 
 ruined house or a tumble-down cottage here and
 
 STREETS WITHOUT HOUSES. 177 
 
 there, to mark out what was once the hue of habita- 
 tion. 
 
 Tlie houses tliat still remain are not safe from 
 the misdoing of man, almost every year one of them 
 is destroyed, but indeed what would it avail to pre- 
 serve them ? If left empty, they would tumble down 
 of themselves ; if occupied, they do not pay for re- 
 pair. We went one day into a shopkeeper's house 
 upon the port, one of the largest and loftiest of the 
 still remaining dwellings : on all the floors were 
 huge rooms, and there was a spacious court and a 
 garden. Two or three families might easily have lived 
 there, and the rent paid by the only inhabitant does 
 not amount to quite two florins a week. 
 
 Let us go on a few steps. At the back of the 
 church there was formerly a great thoroughfare, but 
 now we may regretfully follow the traces of former 
 streets ; the lines are there, but of houses none remain. 
 A wide grassy expanse replaces the habitations which 
 were formerly crowded together here ; and a post with 
 a large board, on which are inscribed the odd-sounding 
 words, ' Verboden overloop,'^ forbids the passer-by to 
 profane the place whence so many peaceful existences 
 have passed away into eternity. 
 
 From this spot the view is charming ; small 
 houses, harmoniously grouped, mingle their warm 
 tints and their sparkling liglit with the quieter and 
 softer shades of the beautiful trees, and the rich ver- 
 
 ^ Literally, ' It is forbidden to cross.' The raeaniug is ' No tres- 
 passers.' 
 
 N
 
 178 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 dure of the Ileitis ; wliile the belfry, elegant in form 
 and picturesque of aspect, above the lofty roof of the 
 Stadhuis, is the crown of this fair scene ; amid which 
 it has for centuries marked tlie hours, good or bad, 
 sad or joyous, as they glide away. This belfry is a 
 curious object. It consists of a square tower, cold 
 and bare of outline for three parts of its height, but 
 then comes an elegant spire, terminating in an octa- 
 gon ' })ear,' flanked with pinnacles and pyramids, and 
 so beset with consoles, balustrades, dormer windows, 
 and w^eathercocks, that it is a sort of architectural 
 porcupine. 
 
 The Stadhuis of Yeer is one of the finest civic 
 monuments in the country. It is in good style, in 
 good taste, and admirably preserved. Except the 
 belfry, which received much of its ornamentation at 
 the end of the sixteenth century, tJie whole building 
 has remained in its primitive form, and the facade is 
 just as it came from the hands of the Burgundian 
 architect in 1474. Nobody has harmed it, the years 
 only have set their mark upon it, but the touch of time 
 is the adornment of buildings : far from spoiling the 
 Stadhuis of Veer, the ages have added harmony of 
 colouring to the elegance of its lines. The fa9ade has 
 two storeys, each with six apertures ; the windows are 
 surmounted by a surbased and trefoiled arch. A great 
 black roof, flanked by two octagon turrets which rest 
 on corbels, rises to the height of two gables, wdth 
 redans, and three rows of dormers. Add to this, 
 seven projecting niches, which divide the windows of
 
 THK STADHUIS OF VEER.
 
 THE ROOM OF THE THREE FISTS. 179 
 
 the first storey by their open-work canopies and 
 elegant consoles : and in those niches the statues of 
 seven ladies and seigneurs of Veer : Henry, Jacqueline, 
 Adolph, Cliarlotte, Wilfart, Jan, and Philip. 
 
 A double flight of railed steps, modern in form, 
 but not at all inharmonious, leads to the ground floor, 
 while a pillory, placed on the left, and completing the 
 facade, reminds us of the justiciary rights formerly 
 wielded by the ' Magistrat ' of this great commercial 
 city. 
 
 In the interior of the Stadhuis, we find another 
 and more curious kind of attestation of those rights. 
 Three clenched fists, in bronze, are suspended above 
 the chimney-piece of tlie former Hall of Justice : 
 they were placed there by three men of Veer who 
 rebelled against the authority of tlie city, and 
 were condemned to have their hands cut off. By 
 making this present in metal, they obtained the com- 
 mutation of the sentence into an execution in effigy. 
 It must be admitted that they got off cheaply. 
 The Room of the Three Fists, which is the old Viers- 
 chaar, has preserved its primitive form and decora- 
 tion, and is one of the most curious apartments 
 to be seen in Zealand. Tlie dark brown wood carv- 
 ings, the great benclies with their red cushions, the 
 chair of justice with its desk, back-cushion, and rod, 
 emblem of justiciary authority, are exactly the same 
 as they were when the last sentence was pronounced 
 by the last ' Magistrat.' Even the solitary picture in 
 the room — we cannot say miicli for its artistic quahties 
 
 X 2
 
 180 THE HEART OF HO LI. AND. 
 
 adds to the character of this well-preserved Hall. 
 
 This picture represents the Council of Ten sitting 
 in judgment. I do not know whether mere chance 
 or premeditation presided over tlie choice of this 
 subject, but I lean towards tlie former liypo- 
 thesis. Yeer comparing itself to Venice, and its 
 ' Magistrat ' to the terrible Council, would be too 
 daring. 
 
 In the Stadhuis there is preserved only one cuiio- 
 sity, but that is exquisite in every sense, and justly 
 celebrated. It is tluit famcnis cup wliich was given 
 to the town in 1551, by Maximilian of Burgundy, its 
 first Marquis. Maximilian of Burgundy had it from 
 Maximilian von Ihiren, whose most famous deeds of 
 arms it records. I have spoken elsewhere of this 
 renowned gem,^ and I shall now content myself with 
 reminding you tluit in 1867 tlie Cup of Veer was 
 exhibited in Paris, in tlie section of ' lliistoire du 
 Ti'avail,' and that one of the pruices of finance offered 
 the enormous sum of 100,000 francs for it. The 
 Bursfomaster and Aldermen of Veer refused the 
 money, preferring to preserve this liistorical trea- 
 sure, the glory of their Stadhuis, and I sincerely 
 congratulate them upon so patriotic a decision. 
 
 Another souvenir^ for which they "w^ould not be 
 offered the same price, but which is no less credit- 
 able to the liistory of Veer, is a simple record in- 
 scribed upon its register of marriages, and which I 
 
 ^ See Objds iVart et de curiosite tires cles grandes collections hol- 
 landaises, pacfe 23.
 
 GROTIUS. 181 
 
 cannot read without a certain emotion. It bears date 
 the 2nd of July, 1608, and I transcribe it here. 
 ' Mynheer Hikjo de Gwot, advocaat Jiscaal van Holland., 
 Zeeland, en West Friesland., Jongman an Delft, won- 
 vende in S'Graven Image, met Jonkvrauw Mana Rey- 
 gersbergh, Jonge dochter van Veer,' wliich being 
 translated is, ' Mr. Hugo Grotius, advocate fiscal of 
 Holland, Zealand, and West Friesland, bachelor, of 
 Delft, dwelling at the Hague, with Miss Maria Rey- 
 gersbergh, spinster, of Veer.' 
 
 You have guessed that the illustrious Grotius, 
 that great, good man of genius who, after having 
 been the friend of Olden-Barnevelt, was to become 
 the Councillor and the Ambassador of Christina of 
 Sweden, is in question. It was indeed to Veer that he 
 came in 1608 to find the devoted partner, to whom he 
 owed first his happiness and afterwards his liberty ; 
 for it was Maria Eeygersbergh, tliis proud young 
 Zealander, this daughter of Veer, born in tlie Kapelle- 
 straat, consequently quite near the place where we 
 now are, who contrived his escape from the prison of 
 Loevestein, where he was closely guarded, and thus 
 saved him from lifelong incarceration. 
 
 ' He had,' says Du Maurier, who knew and loved 
 him,^ 'no other consolation than the society of his 
 wife, and a quantity of books whicli liis friends were 
 allowed to lend liim. They sent him a great cofier 
 full, which he sent back after having devoured them. 
 His wife, observing that his guards being tired of 
 
 * Memoires pour servir a I'hisfAnre do llolhiniU.
 
 182 TJIE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 SO often inspecting and searching the great coffer full 
 of books and soiled linen — which latter was sent to be 
 washed at Gorcum, a neighbouring city — let it pass 
 without opening it, advised her husband to place 
 himself in the coffer after she had made holes in it 
 with a gimlet, at the spot where his head would come, 
 so that he could breathe, and not be stifled. He 
 took her advice, and was safely carried away to 
 Gorcum, to the house of one of his friends, from 
 whence he went to Antwerp, by the ordinary con- 
 veyance, having passed through the public square, 
 disguised as a carpenter, with a footrule in his 
 hand.' 
 
 ' This clever woman,' adds Du Maurier, ' pretended 
 that her husband was very ill, so as to give him 
 time to get away, but when she thought he was in 
 safety she informed the guards that the bird had 
 flown. At first they were about to proceed against 
 her, and certain judges were of opinion that she 
 ought to be kept in prison in the place of her hus- 
 band, but she was set at liberty by the majority of 
 votes, and she was praised by everybody.' 
 
 After I had inspected the treasures of the Stad- 
 huis, I began to draw the facade, whereupon a native 
 of Veer, who had been observing me from afar, 
 approached, and opened a conversation by a phrase 
 which reminded me of certain classic commence- 
 ments. 'And I, also — I make drawings.' With this 
 he went away, and presently returning with his 
 sketches, which showed more goodwill than ability,
 
 A BARON SCRAPING CARROTS. 183 
 
 he narrated to me the story of liis hfe, which re- 
 vealed more fortitude than fortune. He was now 
 employed in the post-office at Veer, but had formerly 
 served in a hussar regiment, and consequently had a 
 small pension ; this, added to the emoluments of his 
 post, made his yearly income three hundred and fifty 
 florins, or a little over 700 francs. With a wife and 
 two children such a sum means all but actual star- 
 vation. How bravely and resignedly did this poor 
 fellow endure his bitter penury ! Some day he hoped 
 there mig^ht be a little ' rise ' for him, which would 
 give his family sufficient bread. He told me all this 
 as though it were a rehef to him to tell it, adding 
 that he loved France, and had worked for a few 
 months in Paris. He asked my name. I gave it. 
 ' Then,' he exclaimed, ' it is you of whom the news- 
 paper speaks,' and again he went away, and returned, 
 bringing me the Middelburgsche CouraiH, in which 
 our expected arrival was, in fact, announced. 
 
 This revelation of our ' civil estate ' seemed to 
 overwhelm my new acquaintance, and I afterwards 
 learned the source of his profound amazement. 
 Passing by our boat, he had glanced at our little 
 estabhshment, and observed Constant scraping carrots, 
 while I was attending to the saucepans. These humble 
 occupations were hardly reconcilable, to his mind, with 
 our quality. A baron, a real live baron, of the true 
 old stock, scraping carrots ! He could hardly be- 
 lieve liis eyes, for would not he, liuml)le employe 
 as he was, have thought sucli an occupation dero-
 
 184 TIFE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 gatory? There was, however, no doubt about the 
 fact. Henceforward he called myself and my friends 
 ' Those Lords,' speaking to us in the third person. 
 He entreated us to solicit a ' rise ' for him, and we 
 promised to interest ourselves in his fate. Van Heems- 
 kerk went three times to the Ministry of Finance to 
 recommend him, and they promised him there tliat 
 the thing should be done. Has it been done ? I do 
 not know. It is very difficult to interest a Minister in 
 honest folk who really suffer from hunger. There is 
 so much to be done for those who do not ! 
 
 Again, while taking the portrait of the Stadhuis, 
 I made the acquaintance of the pastor, as he is called 
 here ; and I found he possessed one of my works, 
 ' Am terdam et Venise.' I was surprised and delighted 
 at this. You must acknowledge that not to be un- 
 known at Veer is sometliing, especially to us Parisians, 
 for we are but little cosmopolitan, and it is generally 
 enouirh for us if our fame extends over two hundred 
 yards of Boulevard. 
 
 I should have made more progress with my draw- 
 ing, and also with my two new acquaintances, had it 
 not been for the ' coming out ' of a school, which in- 
 creased our company by about sixty boys and girls. 
 This was too much for me ; I gathered up my traps, 
 and took my way to the port. 
 
 Poor little port ! Once so famous, lively, popu- 
 lous, and noisy, and now so solitary and so still ! 
 Traces of its former military and mercantile character 
 are yet to be seen. On the left stands a majestic
 
 THE 'HOUSE OF THE SCOTS.' 185 
 
 building, with thick walls and few apertures, termi- 
 nating on the sea side in a crenelated round tower ; 
 this was that naval magazine, that ' general arsenal 
 and house of artillery ' which Guicciardini mentions 
 with marked respect. And those elegant houses, with 
 their arched and trefoiled windows, and tlieir deco- 
 rated gables on the right, quite near us, once formed 
 the ancient Scotschhuis, or ' House of the Scots.' 
 Every detail of the building, even to the medallion 
 in the facade, with a ram carved upon it in bas-relief, 
 recalls the great trade in wool done by the city at 
 that period. 
 
 Far off, at the entrance of the port, stands a 
 tower, the last remnant of the ramparts, formerly a 
 fortification ; and which was defended, even so late 
 as the 18th century, by two pieces of cannon : it is 
 now a tavern. 
 
 In vain do we look for the companion tower of 
 old times. As I have already said, it has disappeared 
 with the earth in which its foundations stood deep 
 and strong for ages. If from the summit of the soli- 
 tary survivor you gaze in search of that mysterious 
 town upon tlie opposite bank, you will look in vain 
 for it where it formerly stood, and mirrored its 
 houses and its steeples in the limpid waters. Kampen 
 also has l)een swallowed up for ever, leaving no 
 trace that it ever existed in this world. Tlie land 
 that stretches out before us is all affected by that 
 subtle cancerous disease, the tJal, of wliich T liave 
 already spoken, and wliose ravages are so terrible.
 
 186 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Two centuries ago, this great bay was so filled 
 iij) Avith sand, tliat it was expected the two islands 
 would in a short time be united and thenceforth form 
 l)ut one. Then, on a sudden, the gulf yawned anew. 
 That huge rent, the Veer Gat, opened once again, and 
 more deeply than before, whole towns were buried, 
 their inhabitants were drowned. Then the water 
 retired, the earth arose, shaking off its humid winding 
 sheet, and the old task was resumed ; man began 
 once more to dispute the soil with the invading waves. 
 A portion of the land which seemed to be lost for 
 ever was regained ; but at the cost of what deter- 
 mined strife, after how many battles, and with what 
 dire alternations ! 
 
 Within a century, three entire polders, situate on 
 the north coast of Noordbeveland, have again disap- 
 peared, and in the place where they once were, there 
 now flows a river forty yards deep. In 1873, the 
 polder of Borselen, thirty-one English acres in extent, 
 sank into the waters. Each year the terrible val 
 devours some space or other, carrying away the land 
 in strips. That little dyke before us, jutting out from 
 the opposite bank as if it would come to meet us 
 here, dates no further back than 1835 ; but it was 
 originally of much greater length. The val has 
 already eaten up one-third of it. 
 
 It is exceedingly curious to trace tire history 
 of this gigantic chess-board, which lies before us, on 
 the map. The grassy plains m the foreground are 
 quite recent conquests. This, which forms a kind oi
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE POLDERS. 187 
 
 cape, on the right, is called Spiering Polder, and has 
 been in existence since 1856 only. That vast strip 
 of land, stretching away on the left, the Onrust 
 Polder, is but ten years older ; while that large strip 
 in the background, the Jacoba Polder, dates from 
 1769. The Anna Friso Polder, which comes next 
 to the Jacoba, on the sea coast, was reclaimed in 
 1747 ; and the Sophia Polder, which follows, in 
 1775. 
 
 The Sophia Polder is now attacked by the terrible 
 val. Every possible means is being employed for its 
 defence ; no sacrifice is spared ; but the hope of 
 saving it is but faint. The game is almost up ; already 
 one dyke has been swallowed, and a portion of the 
 conquered ground has had to be abandoned. The dams 
 are being strengthened in the rear, while every effort is 
 being made to fix the soil so as to prevent the slipping 
 away of the reclaimed land. To effect this, not only 
 are tlie dams reinforced and complicated by an in- 
 extricable network of stones and interlaced branches 
 of trees, but Zinkstiikken are sunk far off in the 
 sea, which, by squeezing down the shifting bottom, 
 avert those sudden displacements which bring about 
 such terrible disasters. 
 
 The Zinhstukken — enormous constructions in 
 wicker-work — are square rafts, made of reeds and 
 boughs twisted together, and they are sometimes two 
 or three hundred feet long on all sides. They are 
 made on the edge of the coast, and puslied into the 
 sea ; and no sooner is one afloat than it is surrounded
 
 188 THE HEART OE HOLLAND. 
 
 by a crowd of barges and boats, big and little, all 
 laden with stones and clods of earth. 
 
 Tlie l)oats are tlien attached to the ZinkMuk, and 
 this combined flotilla is so disposed alongside the shore 
 that the current carries it to the spot at which the 
 Zinkstuk is to be sunk. When the (current begins to 
 make itself felt, the raft is loaded, by the simple pro- 
 cess of heaping the contents of tlie barges upon the 
 middle of it. The men form in line from the four 
 corners to the centre, and the loads of stones and 
 earth are passed on to the centre of the raft, on 
 which they are flung ; then the middle of the Zink- 
 stuk begins to sink gently, and to disappear under the 
 water. As it goes down the operators withdraw ; the 
 stones and clods are then flung upon it from the 
 boats. At this stage of the proceedings, the Zinkstuk 
 is so heavy that all the vessels, dragged by its weight, 
 lean over, and their masts bend above it. But now 
 the decisive moment approaches, and the foreman, or 
 director of this great operation, standing on the poop 
 of one of the largest boats, in the middle of the 
 flotilla, on the side farthest from the shore, well in 
 sight of all, his eyes fixed upon the guide-posts set up 
 on the coast, awaits, in excitement which is shared 
 by all, the instant at which tlie Zinkstuk shall come 
 into the precise foreordained position. At that instant 
 he utters a shout, and makes a signal ; the ropes are 
 cut, the raft plunges downwards, and disappears for 
 ever, while the boats recover tlieir proper position. 
 
 The difficulties of such an operation are easy to
 
 SINKING A ZINKSTUK. 189 
 
 comprehend. It is indispensable that the sea and the 
 sky should be calm, and the director perfectly cool- 
 headed ; for, at the moment when the signal is given, 
 the operation is far from complete, or its success 
 secure. The Zinkstuk has yet to reach the bottom, a 
 descent of a hundred or a hundred and fifty feet. 
 Now, if it does not go down quite straight, the cur- 
 rent tliat is felt upon the surface being as strong, 
 sometimes even stronger, below, drags the huge 
 mass, displaces it, and carries it it may be ten, fifteen, 
 or twenty yards farther tlian it ought to go. Then 
 the wliole operation has to be gone over again. 
 
 I was present at the placing of one of these Zink- 
 stukken in front of the Sophia Polder, and while I live 
 I shall never forget tliat spectacle. We had embarked 
 at the foot of the old Kampveerschetoren, the last 
 remnant of the ramparts of Veer, the ferryman had 
 deposited us on the top of the dam, and we had 
 walked on to Kamperlandsch Veer, a village which 
 also takes its name from the vanished town of Kampen. 
 
 The leader of our little expedition was Mynheer 
 Bruijn,the engineer of the Waterstaat,' who had charge 
 of the operation. 
 
 ' Literally ' The Water State.' Tims the wouderful series of works 
 which covers the face of tlie country and protects it against inunda- 
 tion, is designated in the Netherlands, and this appellation is also applied 
 to the corps of engineers charged with the management of those works. 
 The organisation of this corps bears a considerable resemblance to that 
 of the ' Corps des Pouts et Chauss^es.' The expedition was composed, 
 besides, of a young statesman of great talent and with a brilliant 
 career before him, tlien a member of the States-General, now Minister 
 of Public Works, Industry, and Commerce, a provincial deputy lor 
 Gueldrps, my friend Constant, and myself.
 
 190 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 After having roamed for a long half-hour about 
 this pretty village of Kamperlandsch Veer, we packed 
 ourselves into a local carriage, more picturesque than 
 commodious, and very much shut up indeed, for it 
 was impossible to let down the glasses, and thus, by 
 sandy roads, full of ruts, where Macadam had never 
 been heard of, we reached our destination. 
 
 There we were well rewarded ; never was a more 
 delightful combination of colours offered to the eyes 
 of artists and lovers of nature. 
 
 Under an azure sky stretched a sparkling sea, its 
 waters shading from green to blue, and from yellow 
 to violet, all the delicately graduated tones harmo- 
 niously blended together. 
 
 In the distance, as though marking the horizon, 
 stretched a long green strip of land ; this was the 
 Island of Schouwen ; and the massive spire of 
 Zierikzee stood out in strong relief against the sombre 
 black background of the sky. 
 
 At our feet was the Zinkstuk, surrounded by 
 its flotilla. The great red sails, furled upon the 
 masts, the green poops, the rudders adorned with 
 burnished copper, the red streaks, which abound in 
 the painting of these boats, the coloured shirts, the 
 brown vests, the blue girdles, all touched by the 
 bright rays of the sun, form a medley of brilliant 
 colours, and compose a striking picture. 
 
 But we were not allowed a lengthy contem- 
 plation of this fair spectacle from afar. We were 
 soon seen and summoned. A sloop put off and came
 
 A BUSY SCENE. 191 
 
 to take us on board, and we speedily found ourselves 
 ill a great koff, ladeu with stones. The signal was 
 given, and a general commotion at once set in. 
 
 On all sides men were in motion, and five 
 liundred brawny arms were flinging the contents of 
 tlie boats upon the great raft ; a truly Titanic stoning. 
 Projectiles rained from all sides without an instant's 
 pause, until the half-empty boats were bending over 
 upon the vanishing ZinJcstuk, and the moment came 
 when the decisive command was to be given. Then 
 silence, absolute and impressive, fell upon the mul- 
 titude. Suddenly the signal was given, a creaking 
 noise was heard ; the fifty boats righted themselves at 
 the same moment, and turned towards the point at 
 which the great raft that had separated them had 
 just disappeared. 
 
 Never shall I forget the strange spectacle pre- 
 sented by all these boats, bumping one against the 
 other, getting entangled, and grouping themselves in 
 a hundred different fashions. The swarming men, 
 stooping and raising themselves up again, the uplifted 
 arms, the flying stones, the spurting water covering 
 the boats witli foam ; and in the midst of the confu- 
 sion, the Polderjongens armed with their tridents 
 flinging the clods of earth with great strength and 
 rapidity on the raft. Now for the first time, I had 
 an exact and precise idea of what a naval encounter 
 in tlie old times must have been. 
 
 The tumult dechnes at certain points ; flags are 
 hoisted from tlie tops of the masts, tlie lar<j-e sails
 
 192 THE HEART OE HOLLAND. 
 
 are shaken out, and, with the aid of a gentle breeze 
 some vessels get loose, sail out and desert the field of 
 battle. These are the boats whose task is done, and 
 wliich are empty. They retire one by one, and the 
 great expanse of water, which, save on one spot, was 
 a little while ago deserted and sohtary, is now fur- 
 rowed by the vessels making their way towards the 
 horizon. 
 
 During this scene, I stood side by side with a 
 man attired in true Zealand costume, tall narrow hat, 
 buttoned vest, and velvet breeches. This was the chief 
 of the menaced polder, the dijkgraaf or ' Count of the 
 dyke.' This man was a thorough Zealander, who 
 had never seen anything but his own spire of Wiesen- 
 kerk and that of tlie neighbouring town, and he was 
 a little upset by meeting with a stranger. He could 
 liardly understand how anyone could belong to 
 another country, and not at all how anyone could 
 speak another language than his own. Nevertheless, 
 he was a most excellent man. His name was Van 
 Leeuwen. I made a note of his name, and he after- 
 wards sent me his portrait. 
 
 This Avorthy Zealander was as deeply moved as I 
 was by the impressive and curious spectacle ; and the 
 sicrht of emotion in sucli a man would make you 
 understand better than all I can say, how grand and 
 impressive was the scene that had just taken place 
 before our eyes.
 
 THE DIJKGRAA.F VAX LEELWEX. 
 (I'rom a riiotograph )
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 THE COUNTRY THE ' dImE ' COUNTRY MORALS AND MANNERS 
 
 THE ' TOL ' WESTHOVEN AMD DUINBBEK. 
 
 F we were to follow exactly and metho- 
 dically the order of our voyage, it would 
 be necessary for me to take you to Mid- 
 delburg, to come back afterwards to 
 Veer, and from thence to recommence our excursions 
 in the north of the island. But it is easier and 
 more simple to condense into one narrative our 
 various sojourns in the Zealand capital, and to go 
 immediately through the northern portion of the 
 Island of Walcheren. 
 
 I take your consent for granted ; and passing 
 by Gapinge and Serooskerke, visit Cost kapelle, West 
 kapelle, and Domburg. 
 
 Here we are, with staffs in our hands, stepping 
 along the high road. 
 
 First, let us wave a farewell salute to that pretty 
 villa, set in flowers, shaded by great trees, and whose 
 spacious verandah looks so hospitable. It is the 
 

 
 194 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 dwelling of the Burgomaster of Veer, an amiable and 
 learned person of very dignified manners, concerning 
 Avliom I shall have something to say hereafter. 
 
 And now, turning to the right, we pass by that 
 prosperous farm, with its orchards and dependencies, 
 above whose portal, like a diadem upon a princely 
 brow, we behold the somewhat pretentious inscrip- 
 tion, ' La Maison de la haute Montague.' This French 
 appellation is a contradiction to the surrounding 
 landscape, which is essentially Dutch. Whence this 
 fine title was derived I cannot tell, I have only been 
 able to learn that in 1694 it was not new.^ 
 
 Now we are in the midst of the fields : they are 
 all rich with crops, and the fruit trees are heavily 
 laden ; while in the vicinity of the villages, flourishing 
 kitchen gardens display their long rows of highly 
 cultivated vegetables, set out like regiments in order 
 of battle. The kitchen garden and the orchard are 
 to be seen everywhere in Zealand, and they mean 
 abundance in the household, variety in the family 
 fare, and are, together with the grazing land, the only 
 sources of industry which are not obliged to pay the 
 dime (or tentli), for throughout the whole island, 
 that remnant of feudal rights, still exists; and, 
 if I am to beheve what those interested in its main- 
 tenance tell me, it is not likely to be abohshed. 
 
 This is a custom peculiar to the country, and curious 
 
 ' This is not the only French inscription decorating a rustic 
 habitation in the island. On the road from Middelburg to Flushing my 
 excellent friend, Monsieur Loup, of the Royal Archives, beheld the fol- 
 lowing : ' Rien sans peine,''
 
 THE ORDER OF CULTIVATION. 195 
 
 enough to deserve mention. Besides, as we are in the 
 fields, we may as well talk of cultivation as of anything 
 else. The dime then, exists in Zealand, and every 
 property is liable to a double tax ; the ferme, which, 
 as in France, is paid to the proprietor of the soil, and 
 the dime, for which the tenant is accountable to 
 another proj)rietor ; for, strange to say, the greater 
 number of the Zealand landlords, though proprietors 
 of dimes, seldom possess a claim to those which are 
 raised on their own harvests. The ferme, unless it be 
 otherwise specially provided, is paid in money. 
 
 The soil is officially divided into hectares (a hec- 
 tare is 24 Enghsh acres), for the metrical system 
 prevails in the Low Countries. But in Zealand, old 
 things are not yet entirely put away, and the people 
 count by ' gemet,' that is to say, by the acre. In the 
 north of the island, the gemet measures a space of 
 34 ares 39 centiares.^ In the south, I am told, the 
 gemet measm-es less, having been reduced to the exact 
 third of the hectare. This difference in measurement 
 brings about certain, complications, but the gemet has 
 the great advantage of ancientness. In searching the 
 old papers existing since the end of the thirteenth 
 century, we find that it was employed as the agrarian 
 measure, and in a country of traditions the possession 
 of such antiquity goes for much.^ 
 
 The average rent paid for the gemet varies 
 
 ' The 'are' is a little more than 119 square yards PJuglish; a 
 * centiare ' is a huudredth part of the ' are.' 
 
 * See the Archives of Middelhiirg. Primligk Botk, No. 4, paoe 8. 
 Titles of the year 1304, in which this word is employed. 
 
 O -J.
 
 196 TUi: HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 between twenty and thirty florins, according to the 
 quahty of the ground and the other charges upon it. 
 These charges, to which we shall have to recur, con- 
 sist chiefly in the maintenance of the dams and in 
 works of irrigation. The charge of thirty florins re- 
 presents only the actual soil with the farm buildings. 
 The farmer must have his own cattle, his own draught 
 animals, and the agricultural materials indispensable 
 for his farming operations. 
 
 Besides, he is not quite free to farm the land as 
 he chooses ; his hands are tied by certain customs. 
 Thus in the country which we are now crossing, the 
 whole system of culture is spread over a period of 
 eight years. 
 
 In the first year colza is grown and the land is 
 manured. In the second, wheat is produced ; in the 
 third, beans, which, being cut and dried or ground, 
 are afterwards used as food for the cattle. In the 
 fourth year, wheat is again sown. In the fifth, hari- 
 cot beans. In the sixth, wheat once more. In the 
 seventh, potatoes ; and in the eighth, the land is let 
 to lie fallow, and manured. In a country so mar- 
 vellously fertile as Zealand, the farmer, by taking care 
 that all his fields are not brought to the same point, 
 has a very complete method of culture, which permits 
 him to provide abundantly for all the necessities of 
 his industry, and to make a good profit by his excess 
 of production. 
 
 The dime is paid in kind, except for the first or 
 ' colza ' year, Avhen it is counted at twenty-five cents —
 
 THE ORDER OF CULTIVATION. 197 
 
 which is about fifty-two centimes — the hectare. When 
 the harvest is ready, the farmer makes his sheaves up 
 into stacks, generally composed of four or six, and 
 arranges them in his field in rows equidistant one 
 from the other. The proprietor of the dime then 
 comes, chooses the first stack which pleases him, 
 places a bough of a tree upon it, and starting from 
 it, counts to the thirteenth, on the top of which he 
 places another bough, and so the enumeration goes 
 on. When every stack in the field has been counted, 
 the dime is fixed, and the farmer may then take away 
 all his own stacks, but he is forbidden to touch those 
 on which a branch is laid ; and it happens very often 
 that these remain exposed to the depredations of the 
 birds, while the rest of the harvest is safely stored at 
 the farm.^ This happens frequently, when the proprie- 
 tor of the dime fives far off, and in order to take pos- 
 session of his goods, has a long journey to make and 
 considerable expenses to incur ; then he naturally 
 prefers to wait for a good opportunity. The proprie- 
 tors of the dimes have therefore recourse in some 
 places to a mutual understanding in order to avoid 
 a costly removal every year at a fixed epoch, They 
 meet at Middelburg and proceed to what may be 
 called the dime exchange. On meeting, they exchange 
 nmtual informations. It is known wliat the year will 
 produce ; a fixed price for each district is decided 
 
 * This thirteen is not a fixed nuraher, it varies in the different cantons. 
 In certain communes the master has tlie right to one sheaf in ten, in 
 others to one in twelve.
 
 198 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 upon, and the dime being brought under tariff, the 
 farmer is able to buy back that arising from his own 
 crop ; or, if he does not care to do so, the proprietor 
 may exchange the dimes which are too far from his 
 own dwelhng for others in his neighbourhood. 
 
 While we have been talking of taxes, potatoes, 
 wheat, and colza, we have arrived at Wiesenkerke : 
 a large and handsome village, well built, admirably 
 clean, and with the remains of an old church, very 
 venerable of aspect. Formerly there was a castle 
 here, and the lords of Wiesenkerke were great per- 
 sonages. Several among them held high office in 
 Zealand ; but the castle itself is deserted, and the 
 family now lives in Guelderland, where, faithful to its 
 old traditions, it has gained the respect and affection 
 
 of all. 
 
 There is a festival air about the place to-day, 
 although it is still very early ; the peasants' carts are 
 being harnessed everywhere. The heavy, handsome 
 mares, Avith harness ornamented with burnished 
 copper, are already between the shafts. The long, 
 green vehicles, streaked with bright colours, are 
 taking up their joyous cargoes of boys and girls, and 
 when they set out laughter and kisses will be the 
 order of the day. Here come the pretty peasant 
 girls, with bare arms, straw hats pulled down upon 
 their foreheads, and bright blue ribbons floating from 
 their shoulders : jewels glitter on their foreheads, on 
 their necks, and on their fingers. How daintily 
 attired they are with their showy petticoats and their
 
 ARRIVAL AT WIESENKERKE. 199 
 
 pretty handkerchiefs ! One detail of their dress 
 reveals the religion of tliese gay damsels. Blue and 
 violet are their reigning colours, and from that we 
 may conclude that they are certainly Calvinists ; if 
 the handkerchiefs were red and yellow, we should 
 be equally sure that they were Catholics, But to- 
 day, whether Catholics or Protestants, they have but 
 one rehgion — amusement. 
 
 Everything indeed gives way to that, even 
 strict propriety, which has always been held indis- 
 pensable to Christian maidens. You must know in 
 fact that these gay and rosy lasses, with their in- 
 nocent smiles, their placid air, and their candid eyes, 
 have notions of their own respecting female virtue, 
 which do not pass current elsewhere. Chastity is 
 almost unknown among them. In our country this 
 would be considered a great scandal, but here it is 
 held of no consequence. 
 
 With this exception, the population of Zealand is 
 fairly honest and upright ; theft is almost unknown 
 in the country. The peasant is indeed, as he is every- 
 where, somewhat keen and sharp about his own in- 
 terests ; that is his nature, but he is singularly less 
 artful, overreaching, and unscrupulous than in many 
 other countries which I might mention, His word 
 is much more to be relied upon than that of the 
 Flemish peasant. He does not lie for the pleasure of 
 deceiving. He is trustworthy, sincere, not covetous, 
 and, moreover, benevolent. ' There are few depart- 
 ments which contain so great a number of charitable
 
 200 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 establishments as the Mouth of the Scheldt,' we read 
 in an official statement in 1813.^ These asylums for 
 indigence and misery bear witness to the charity of 
 the inhabitants of Zealand. If the French writer 
 wlio wrote these words could return to-day, he would 
 have notliing to change in his record. 
 
 Added to this, they are a peculiarly religious 
 people. Many of these farmers, whom you would 
 suppose to be illiterate, will talk to you about Luther 
 and Melancthon, and especially of Zwinglius and 
 Calvin, mth a perfect knowledge of their subject. 
 They will reason upon original sin and saving grace 
 like a doctor of old, quote texts to you, and explain 
 the Synod of Dort, of which you probably know very 
 little. All these questions are thoroughly familiar to 
 them, and they will discuss tliem unweariedly to any 
 extent. But every other subject is a dead letter. 
 
 If we are to believe an old author, this was not 
 always the case. An annalist of the sixteenth century, 
 ■who records the habits and customs of the Zealand 
 women, tells us that ' their gowns were cut out be- 
 hind down to the shoulders, and in front left the 
 whole of the breast uncovered, although tliere was 
 amongst them great modesty.' And he adds after- 
 wards : ' The girls, who were well favoured beyond 
 tliose of all other countries, did not enter into the 
 state of marriage unless they were of spotless virtue, 
 and if any girl had fallen from that estate, whether 
 
 ' Annuaires StMisques du departement des Bouches-de-L' Escanf , pour 
 V Annie 1813.
 
 MORALS OF THE ZEALAXDERS. 201 
 
 secretly or as a known thing, however young, hand- 
 some, or rich she was, she could find no man to 
 marry her.' At the present day, if this old annalist 
 were to return to the world, he would find it neces- 
 sary largely to modify his description. The young 
 girls of Zealand are far more decently dressed, 
 but they are less scrupulous, and the social code 
 would inflict no such penalty as that which he de- 
 scribes. The morals of the people of the province are 
 extremely Hcentious, and customs prevail amongst 
 them which we find it difficult to explain when we con- 
 sider the honesty, uprightness, and strictness of their 
 conduct in other respects. 
 
 It would seem that every effort to reform their 
 morals would be entirely useless ; it is, indeed, vain 
 to think of it. All the exertions of the clergy are 
 rendered useless by the obstinacy of the peasant 
 nature. ' Who is this person who comes here want- 
 ing to teach us ? ' they will say, ' does he think we 
 are going to learn from him how to five ? The 
 customs of our forefathers are good customs, we 
 will not chancre them for him : if he thinks ill 
 
 O 
 
 of them, let him go back whence he came, and wait 
 until we come to fetch him ! ' Long experience has 
 obliged the pastors, on pain of seeing their churches 
 deserted, to shut their eyes to the facts of life in t]ie 
 villages. 
 
 But enough on tliis unpleasant subject. Let me 
 add that a profligate husband or a faithless wife is 
 almost unknown in Zealand.
 
 202 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Here come the carts ; just listen to the shouts, the 
 Liugliter, and tlie songs. They are all singing the 
 ' Maddolinata,' on their way to the kermesse. ' Oh, 
 Harmony ! what crimes are committed in thy name ! ' 
 Happily, the ' passage ' paid, the gate is opened, and 
 the long line of rustic equipages take the road to the 
 town at a heavy trot. On this day, the receiver of 
 the ' tol ' has a great deal to do.' 
 
 The ' tolhouse ' stands beside the gate, which 
 crosses the road. On the left is a small house ; on 
 the right a huge post, surmounted with the arms of 
 the Netherlands. Every vehicle has to pay a toll, and 
 the money goes to the repairs of the road. This 
 indirect tax is very costly to collect, for the fifty 
 tollen in the island of Walcheren require fifty houses, 
 inhabited by fifty families, who have to live upon the 
 product of the impost, before a stiver goes into the 
 funds of the State, or the pockets of private individuals, 
 according to whether the State or a private individual 
 be charged with the keeping of the highway. 
 
 In certain portions of the province, for example, 
 in the Island of Zuidbeveland, the inhabitants have re- 
 formed this old tax, and replaced it by a fixed duty, 
 paid by all the proprietors in the island. This modi- 
 fication is a very sensible one, for each possessor 
 of a field is interested in having easy access to it, and 
 consequently the roads should be in good condition. 
 The Beveland proprietors have abolished all the 
 tollen, and founded a sort of syndicate, which under- 
 takes the keeping of the roads, and, under the title
 
 TOLLS AND TAXES. 203 
 
 of ' Middelen van Straaten en Wegen,^ ' provides for 
 the distribution of this special tax. 
 
 In Walcheren, things are a Uttle behind the time ; 
 and the whole system, which I acknowledge is more 
 picturesque than practical, especially when one is in 
 a hurry, is adhered to. 
 
 The tollen were formerly much more numerous 
 than they are at present. The high roads and canals 
 were encumbered with them, they constituted a sort 
 of custom-house placed on the frontier of each 
 seigneurie, and the duty charged there extended to 
 every kind of product. At that time the authorisa- 
 tion to establish a tol, or a tolrecht, as it was called, 
 was a coveted privilege, whose possession constituted 
 a feudal right. Thus we find in all the ancient 
 contracts these singular rights granted with ' their 
 franchises, rights, roads, and tols.' 
 
 At present, on the contrary, the tol produces but 
 small returns. In most cases the Commune assesses 
 the houses, the gate, and the revenues which it pro- 
 duces at a few hundred florins ; and on payment of 
 this sum, and the strict observance of the tariff, the 
 farmer of the tol has to give no account of his collec- 
 tions to anybody. I was told that one of these far- 
 mers, a very strict Calvinist, who regarded the col- 
 lection of tol as an occupation incompatible with the 
 observance of the Sabbath, prefers to renounce the 
 exercise of his right on that day, rather than infringe 
 
 ^ ' Means for the streets and roads.' The tax is fifteen centimes the 
 hectare in Zuidbeveland.
 
 204 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 his religious convictions. I leave you to imagine how 
 brisk is the Sunday circulation on that road ! 
 
 Notwithstanding the meagre returns of the tol, the 
 roads are very well kept in Zealand. They are gene- 
 rally divided in two throughout their whole length. 
 One of these halves is paved, generally with bricks, 
 while on the other the earth is simply trodden down, 
 without macadam, paving stones, or bricks. This 
 second side of the way, which is much the easiest and 
 least uneven, is called the Zomerpad, or Summer road, 
 The other is specially reserved for winter. 
 
 But we have passed through the tol long since, 
 and here Ave are talking still. Let us get on. 
 
 Oost kapelle, where that long string of vehicles 
 stopped us, is a gay little village, trim and well kept, 
 very ancient, nevertheless, for a letter of Floris V., 
 dated 1273, mentions its name. This territory for- 
 merly enclosed 2,500 acres, and contained two seig- 
 norial residences, one at Duinbeek and the other at 
 Westhoven. That of Westhoven is the largest, and 
 the most considerable. It was built at the com- 
 mencement of tlie twelftli century, and fortified by 
 the Knights Templars, to whom it belonged. In 1314, 
 two years after the suppression of the Order of the 
 Templars, by Clement V., the Counts of Holland and 
 Friesland laid hands on this seignorial territory, and 
 on its castle, taking the latter for their own dwelling 
 in the island. Afterwards, Westhoven came again in 
 fief to the Abbots of Middelburg. In 1540, Abbot 
 Floris received there a visitor illustrious above all
 
 DUINBEEK. 205 
 
 others, the Emperor Charles V. From the Abbots of 
 Middelburg Westhoven passed into the possession of 
 the bishops ; and in 1572, at the time of the anti- 
 Spanish and Eeform movements, the castle was burnt, 
 and the fief abohslied. 
 
 Duinbeek is less well known to history. Never- 
 theless, it is of no small antiquity, for you will remem- 
 ber that it was in exchange for their residence and 
 castle of Duinbeek, with four acres of their seigneurie, 
 that Wolfart van Borselen^ and his wife obtained 
 the free fief of the city of Veer, from William Y., in 
 1350. 
 
 From that time forth Duinbeek was a pleasant and 
 enviable residence. It is not, however, thitherwards 
 that we are going, nor is it towards Westhoven. We 
 reserve the latter for another time, when we shall 
 admire its deep moat, and its old machicolated 
 towers ; at present we are going to see another resi- 
 dence, no less picturesque, and no less agreeable, but 
 quite modern. 
 
 This is the fine domain of Overduyn, and we shall 
 reach it in half an hour. 
 
 1 Hunne veste en noniug te Dunebeke in Walcheren met vier 
 gemeten ambacbts. See hiwntaris &c. No. 40
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 OVERDUYN — THE ' BIBLIOTHECA CATSIANNA ' — DOMBURG NEHALEN- 
 
 NIA — WESTKAPELLE — A FAMOUS BATTLE — THE DAM THE POL- 
 
 DERJONGENS — THE SPANISH TYPE. 
 
 10 have an exact idea of the extraordmary 
 fertiUty of this fair province of Zealand, 
 one must see the Castle of Overduyn. 
 But is Overduyn a castle in the feudal 
 and warlike sense of the word ? Certainly not ; it 
 is what we should call in France a country house, 
 one of those rustic abodes to which the Eomans gave 
 that pretty name of ' villa,' as often wrongly as 
 rightly apphed by us. In a word, Overduyn is a 
 very handsome and comfortable house, with a wide, 
 green sward before it, on which does and their fawns 
 gambol. It is surrounded by a fine park and a 
 luxuriant garden ; in the background are stables, 
 outhouses, an extensive kitchen garden, and a large 
 orchard. Hard by is the farm, with its great grana- 
 ries, cattle sheds, piggeries, and rustic habitations. 
 A wide verandah opens upon the lawn ; there are 
 cascades in the ])ark, benches in the corners of the
 
 LA BIBLIOTHECA CATSIANNA. 207 
 
 alleys ; there are no gates, no barriers of any kind, 
 in a word, all is easy access and cordial welcome. 
 
 Such is this hospitable dwelling, very different 
 from our French chateaux, surrounded with high walls, 
 closed in with lofty gates, sojourns of luxury, giving 
 the He to Chenier's lines in Les Gracques: 
 
 Ou Ton vit sans luxe on est hospitalier.' 
 
 Let us go in boldly, with head erect ; we have 
 nothing to fear. The master of this Zealand Eden 
 is in exact harmony with his fine dwelling and this 
 dehghtful landscape. He is as charming as they are, 
 as cordial and as open-handed. 
 
 Several times have I seated myself under those 
 green branches, taken my place at the table in the 
 house, in the company of charming ladies, opposite to 
 the most indulgent, kindest, and best of grandmothers, 
 whose kindly smile has reminded me of another smile 
 far away ; and each time I have left the place with a 
 feeling of repose, my spirits tranquillised, and my 
 brain replenished, for the owner of Overduyn is not 
 only a wealthy and amiable man, he is a scholar in 
 the best sense of the word. 
 
 You remember that when we were at Brou- 
 wershaven we told you you must look elsewhere 
 for a monument to tlie memory of Cats.' Here, at 
 Overduyn, we find it, not in an edifice of marble or 
 of bronze, but in the materials left by the poet him- 
 self ; in his works, collected witli pious care, and in 
 
 ' See Appendix.
 
 208 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 all the remeiiibraiices of his long career that it has 
 been possible to discover. 
 
 Mynheer de Jonge van Ellemeet has collected the 
 217 different editions or fragments of editions of the 
 weighty and compact works of the poet of the ' Sinne 
 en Minne Beelden' in a specially constructed book- 
 case, plated with iron and impervious to fire, as well 
 as safe from sacrilegious liands. And he has also 
 preserved in special portfolios the originals of the 
 drawings which have served to illustrate these various 
 editions, and collected in a fireproof casket all the 
 documents that throw any light on the biography of 
 the great patriot to whose memory he has devoted 
 so much care. His title-deeds, all the documents 
 concerning his ' civil status,' the patents of his various 
 decorations, his order of knighthood, as well as the 
 armorial bearings which were granted him by Charles 
 the First, are there, together with his private corre- 
 spondence, his account books, and the letters of his 
 daughters. A pious hand has collected these trea- 
 sures ; and they form a whole which enables us to 
 resuscitate to some extent that great figure of a former 
 acre, that Dutchman of the golden time, who on more 
 than one side of him is perhaps the most typical and 
 the truest personification of tlie ideas of his time and 
 the temperament of his country. 
 
 What I admire most in tlie owner of Overduyn is 
 not, however, his devotion to one great historical 
 figure. His patriotic resolution to let nothing be lost 
 which can recall tlie most illustrious of the poets of
 
 CLIMATE OF ZEALAND. 209 
 
 Zealand is certainly deserving of all our gratitude ; 
 but it appears to me still more remarkable that 
 Mynheer van Ellemeet has not allowed himself to be 
 absorbed by the great man upon whose memory he 
 has lavished his fortune and his time. He has not 
 been carried away, in fact, by passing his daily life 
 in the company of the memories that the vanished 
 poet has left in this world. He has not raised the 
 pedestal so high as to falsify the proportions ; and his 
 judgment remains as clear, as correct, as calm, and 
 even as severe as if he had always regarded Cats with 
 indifference. 
 
 In addition to the valuable books and unique 
 documents which compose what has been called the 
 Bihliotheca Catsianna, Mynheer de Jonge van Elle- 
 meet possesses a very remarkable collection of water- 
 colours. We must not pause to do more than glance 
 at his portfohos ; they are well worth looking over, 
 but it is not for that purpose we have come to 
 Overduyn. 
 
 That we may gain an idea of the extraordinary 
 fertihty of this fair province of Zealand, let us 
 make a tour of the place, and study attentively the 
 charming points of view which offer themselves in 
 rapid succession. And, first, let me remark that 
 everything here is the creation of the master. All 
 those luxuriant shrubberies, those fine trees, those 
 plantations where rare exotics reflect their briglit 
 green foliage in the little lake on whose breast black 
 swans are sailing. ' There is not a tree here,' said he, 
 
 r
 
 210 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 with leoitimate pride, ' wliicli I liave not planted ; 
 mid that httle wood, whioli in any other place would 
 have required a lapse of time exceeding that of the 
 lives of several men for sucli a development, has 
 crrowu up to what it is within forty years. Is it not 
 wonderful ? ' And then he reminded me that this 
 is not even the most fertile part of Walcheren. Re- 
 member that we are almost on the brink of the sea. 
 Overduyn signifies 'opposite the dunes,' and, as its 
 name indicates, the house stands at a few hundred 
 yards from those little hills of white sand. 
 
 In spite of the sand tliat mixes with this prolific 
 soil, in spite of the winds which blow from the Ocean 
 and the North Sea, not only do the trees take root 
 and o:row, but plants from hot countries live in the 
 open air, flourish there, and brave the winters ; for 
 winter here is mild and clement. Even in the days 
 when Guicciardini visited Zealand it was so, and the 
 Florentine was quite astonished to find an Italian 
 vegetation in these latitudes. ' The Isles of Zealand,' 
 he says, ' approach nearer to the Arctic Pole than 
 does any other region of the Low Countries, except 
 the countries of Holland and Friesland, and for this 
 cause it seems to me that those islands ought to be 
 colder, and consequently less capable of producing 
 flowers and herbage. Notwithstanding this, all the 
 reo"ion grows oranges and other trees, and divers sort 
 of herbage and flowers in every season of the year.' 
 At that epoch of rudimentary geography, when the 
 mystery of submarine tides had not been penetrated,
 
 OUR VISIT TO DOMBURG. 211 
 
 such a phenomenon must indeed have appeared ex- 
 traordmary. Winters without great cold, summers 
 without torrid heat, rendered the country an object 
 of wonder ; a sort of rural paradise, whose climate 
 everybody praised, without trying to explain it. 
 
 Having made the tour of the park, let us glance 
 at the farm, at those superb outhouses in which are 
 stowed rustic equipages and machines, the indis- 
 pensable arsenal of modern farming. As we pass we 
 see the empty stables— for the animals are in the 
 fields — and the double house of the farmer. Every 
 well-to-do peasant, in fact, possesses a double dwell- 
 ing, one house for winter and another house for 
 summer. The two are separated by a courtyard, and 
 each is adapted to the requirements of its special 
 season for use ; but both are clean, neat, admirably 
 kept, with the .rustic luxury of shining furniture, 
 great dishes of blue delft arranged in perfect order 
 over the chimney-piece, and utensils of copper as 
 bright as gold. 
 
 Our visit is over ; let us resume our way, and now, 
 as we step out briskly, let us cast a glance at those 
 warlike towers, lofty crenelations, and ancient trees 
 which oversliadow a feudal court. There, safe from 
 surprise beliind its deep moats, stands that warlike 
 castle of Westhoven, of which we have already 
 spoken. But we must hasten on, a little more 
 walking along a road wliich lies between picturesque 
 and orderly country houses, and we sliall have 
 reached Domburg. 
 
 p 9.
 
 212 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Dombiirg is the Scheveningen of Zealand, the 
 f\ivoiirite watering-phxce of Walcheren, simple not- 
 Avitlistanding its aristocratic pretensions, and thinly 
 peopled notwithstanding its old renown. In the fif- 
 teenth century it was almost the same as it is to-day. 
 The inhabitants of Middelburg and the castles on 
 the other islands had constructed some elegant cot- 
 tages on the sands, and came thither to pass the 
 hot months of the year in the shelter of its woods. 
 ' It was,' say the old chroniclers, ' a sort of small 
 terrestrial paradise ; ' exalted destinies were foreseen 
 for it ; the same are hoped for in this day, but they 
 do not realise themselves. Nevertheless, more than 
 other places this had a right to hope. Was it not 
 the most ancient situation on the sea-coast ? Was it 
 in vain that the Eomans had chosen it to establish 
 therein one of their posts, to build that ' burg,' which 
 being constructed in the midst of the Dunes was to 
 give it its name Duneburg, corrupted in the Middle 
 Ages into Domburg ? With such an origin was it to 
 remain insignificant? That glorious past nobody 
 contested ; and now, even if it were contested, would 
 not the antique coins of Trajan and Antoninus, of 
 Vitellius and Posthumius, which have been found in 
 its soil, protest against such a denial ? Better than 
 that, would not the very stones resent the affront? 
 And what stones ? The most eloquent and the most 
 respectable of witnesses, for they are the altars of the 
 ancient gods. 
 
 The Eomans indeed, as if they desired to thank
 
 NEHALENNIA. 213 
 
 the tutelary divinities who had guided them to land 
 in so propitious a spot, under so serene a sky, in the 
 midst of such fertile fields, covered these shores with 
 temples and consecrated stones. ' The god Neptune, 
 the goddess Nehalennia, and the other gods and god- 
 desses presiding over these provinces ' {Diis deahusque 
 prcesidihus provinciai'icm), received their praises, and 
 the smoke of their sacrifices rose towards the 
 heavens. 
 
 These altars, erected by the piety of the ancients, 
 have been found. After many vicissitudes, they now 
 form a portion of the Museum of Leyden, and in- 
 teresting reproductions of them may be seen at Mid- 
 delburg at the ' Zeeuwsch Genootschap.' ^ 
 
 The statues of that strange goddess, Nehalennia, 
 a Scandinavian adaptation of the Greek ^ehjur), are 
 the most numerous. They represent the kindly god- 
 dess, under a graceful canopy, sometimes standing, 
 but more frequently sitting, with a basket of fruit, the 
 emblem of the benefits which she lavishes on mortals, 
 in her hand. Sometimes a dog, significant of her un- 
 faihng vigilance, hes at her feet. She always wears 
 the same costume : a cap, with wide strings, is placed 
 upon her head, a long robe covers her body, and a 
 pelerine hangs from her shoulders ; and from this 
 simple and modest drapery her fine calm face looks 
 out with charming expression, full of grace, beauty 
 
 1 These altars, which were either used as materials, or placed in the 
 church, were partially destroyed in a tire which almost annihilated the 
 church of Domburg in the last century.
 
 214 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 and goodness. Torrents of ink were shed in the last 
 century in discussion of this gentle, sympathetic and 
 charming Nehalennia. The seigneur of Domburg 
 (then the rich Mynheer van Dieshoek, alderman of 
 Middelburg and director of the East India Company 
 in Zealand) had the various sides of the altars en- 
 graved in a series of plates. These plates were dis- 
 tributed throughout the world of antiquaries, and 
 gave rise to many disputes ; some holding for that 
 Scandinavian incarnation of the Moon, of which we 
 have just spoken, others recalling the foct that Homer 
 designates Neptune 0eo9 JVeaXa^i^o?, and claiming the 
 gracious Nehalennia as Queen of the Sea and Mistress 
 of the Waves. 
 
 Since then other altars erected to the gentle god- 
 dess, and tombs which bear her name, have been 
 found, but no final settlement of the question has been 
 made. The epoch at which the Dutch tombs and 
 altars were erected upon the shore is one so distant 
 from ours as to render its obscurity almost impene- 
 trable, and many other events have happened since, 
 which demand our attention. Let us then leave 
 these ancient memories, and advance a little in the 
 succession of the ages. 
 
 During the whole of the mediasval period Domburg 
 was, as it is to-day, a pleasant place, upon which it 
 pleased the Counts of Zealand to lavish privileges. 
 In 1300 its name appears on the audits of the ac- 
 countants of the province; and in 1327 there is a 
 question of the rights of its citizens, together with
 
 DOMBURG. 215 
 
 those of Westkapelle and Middelbiirg : ' de rechten 
 der poorters van Middelburg , Westkapelle en Domhurg.' 
 It was strange that the citizens should be called 
 ^poorters,' which means ' gate-keepers' to a city without 
 gates, for Domburg was never fortified, the town 
 never possessed either ramparts or walls, and conse- 
 quently had no gates. This secondary position did 
 not, however, prevent its being one of the most 
 favoured resorts in the island ; and if it be true, as 
 Blaeu says, in his majestic Latin, and apropos of 
 Domburg, that ' a city is not constituted by its walls, 
 nor its ditches, but by the laws, the rights, and the 
 assembling of its citizens,' Domburg must be regarded 
 as a city, and no insignificant one. In the second 
 half of the fifteenth century it was conceded by 
 Mary of Burgundy to that Henry of Borselen who, 
 by means of the ' great profit ' which he made upon 
 sea, acquired ' great lands in Zealand,' and it was en- 
 dowed, in 1535, with a weekly market, and afterwards 
 with a horse-market, which rapidly became of im- 
 portance, and achieved a well-merited reputation. 
 
 At the present day Domburg is a bathing-place, 
 and a small agricultural town ; but being ambitious, it 
 desires to develop itself and to grow, and it is not with- 
 out envy that it looks on the one side towards Sche- 
 veningen, and on the other towards its Belgian rivals, 
 Ostend and Blankenberghe. Unhappily, there are 
 serious obstacles to its progress, and the difficulty 
 of communication is not the least among them. It 
 takes an hour and a half to go from Domburg to
 
 216 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 quiet Middelbiirg, the capital of the island, and 
 Middelburg itself lies out of the way of the ordinary 
 routes of travel. 
 
 For my part I am not anxious to behold the 
 transformation of Domburg. The simphcity of this 
 modest bathing-place pleases me. I picture it to 
 myself as a place of repose for the body, and of 
 relaxation for the mind ; as a refuge for those, who, 
 M^earied of the strife of existence, want for a few 
 weeks to escape from the whirlwind that is always 
 sweeping them about, or as a shelter for those adepts 
 in family life who desire to pursue, by the side of 
 the ocean, those happy and wholesome habits and 
 peaceful traditions which form an essential portion 
 of their well-doing. But to picture Domburg over- 
 run by a motley and mundane crowd of powdered 
 faces and trailing petticoats, resounding to the noise 
 of a tempestuous Wagnerian orchestra, with Aspasias 
 lounging under its shady trees, and a swarm of rickety 
 Alcibiades on its sand hills, I frankly acknowledge 
 does not enchant me. Nevertheless, that is just the 
 dream that it cherishes, and perhaps the fate that 
 awaits it. 
 
 While everything is still quiet, honest, and calm, 
 let us walk through its rural streets, smile at its tiny 
 Stadhuis, cHmb its highest sandhill, from whence we 
 can look over the entire island, like a gigantic nest 
 amid flowers and foliage ; and after having traversed 
 its httle wood, with its tangle of underwood and its 
 impenetrable tliickets, its boughs interlaced and
 
 WESTKAPELLE. 217 
 
 huddled together by the action of the wind from the 
 sea, let us strike out into that long bare road, dusty, 
 sandy, unpleasant and sunburnt on all sides, along 
 which we must journey to reach Westkapelle. 
 
 I am going to describe Westkapelle to you, ' not 
 such as you see it to-day, the most unfortunate of 
 cities, bereft of its walls, its houses, and its inhabi- 
 tants, a waif thrown up by the sea and the sport of 
 the elements ; but such as it formerly was, the neigh- 
 bour of the ocean, situated upon a fertile coast, having 
 a commodious and frequented port, a prosperous 
 trade, and a name whose reputation spread afar.' 
 Thus says old Blaeu, and old Blaeu might now, if he 
 could return to this world, utter in absolutely iden- 
 tical terms the same dolorous and vain regret. 
 
 This once flourishing town, whose origin goes 
 back to the Roman occupation,^ which was so largely 
 endowed with those two great sources of the wealth 
 of maritime cities — fisheries and commercial naviga- 
 tion — whose privileges, contemporary with those of 
 Middelburef,^ were so considerable and so enviable 
 that a residence of three years was obligatory on any 
 person desiring the honour of being admitted to the 
 number of its citizens ; that city, relations with which 
 were so much sought after, that it was interdicted to 
 
 * Vestiges of villas and tombs have been found at Westkapelle, 
 and in its environs an antique altar bearing a dedication to Hercules has 
 also been discovered. 
 
 ^ The Keure of the city of Westkapelle was granted in 122.3 by 
 Floris IV., that of Middelburg in 1217. These two documents are the 
 most ancient in the archives of Middelburg.
 
 218 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 any stranger to reside on its soil or traffic within its 
 walls without having purchased the right to do so ; is 
 now shorn of its greatness. Tliat city, to which in 1223 
 Floris V. granted unequalled rights ; that seigneurie 
 which, in 1377, Count Albert included in the dowry 
 of his daughter, and gave it precedence of Flushing 
 and Rommerswaal, that rich port and commercial 
 centre is now a small and humble village. Its inhabi- 
 tants, pressed by poverty, harried by want, have not 
 only renounced commerce, but almost entirely aban- 
 doned their fishery. They who formerly permitted 
 no one to have ' hearthright ' in their city who did 
 not own a ship on the sea, now reckon half a dozen 
 fishing boats as their whole wealth, and almost all earn 
 a precarious livelihood by working at the dam which 
 protects their shore. 
 
 All the inhabitants are occupied on that immense 
 work of art which defends the entire island against 
 the ravages of the ocean. The land formerly formed 
 a sort of cape, and was besides defended by a line 
 of dykes, as it still is higher up in the environs of 
 Domburg, and lower down in the environs of Zoute- 
 lande. At what epoch the cataclysm which swept 
 away the natural rampart occurred history does not 
 record, but it was certainly after 1253, for on St. 
 Martin's Day in that year, in summer, a great and 
 terrible battle took place among these very sandhills, 
 in which the then existing disposition of the soil 
 played a decisive part. 
 
 'The Countess Margaret of Flanders, who claimed
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE DUNES. 219 
 
 the right of suzeramty over Walcheren, had sent 
 her son Guy, at the head of a formidable army — 
 no less than 150,000 men as the chroniclers assert — 
 to effect a descent on the island. The young Count 
 had promised his mother to reduce Walcheren to 
 obedience, or to die in the attempt. Margaret's son 
 arrived with his fleet before Westkapelle, where he 
 did not expect to meet with any serious resistance ; 
 but Floris, brother of Wilham the Second, King of 
 the Romans, and generalissimo of his ai'my, had been 
 informed by his brother of the departure of the 
 Flemings and of the direction which they had taken. 
 Hastening to concentrate all the troops that he had 
 in Zealand, he took them by forced marches to West- 
 kapelle, and there he concealed them among the 
 sandhills by which the city was suj"rounded, so that 
 their presence could not be suspected from the sea 
 side. Count Guy, quite unsuspicious, commenced his 
 disembarkation. He had already landed with his 
 advanced guard, when the Dutchmen suddenly rose 
 as if by magic, and their general, seeing that it was 
 time, showed himself, with his troops in good order of 
 battle, and went courageously to meet the Flemings 
 at the charge. The combat was great and lasted 
 for long,' relates the old chronicler from whom 
 we borrow the recital of this sanguinary affair, ' for 
 as fast as they disembarked and put tlieir foot on the 
 ground they were despatched, and the more they 
 hastened to disembark that they might succour the 
 first landed the more were slain of them, and there
 
 220 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 was so much blood spilt in that quarter, of those 
 Flemings who were killed by the Dutch, that it rose 
 above the shoes of them that walked in it.' 
 
 ' There died of the men 50,000 on the spot, besides 
 those who were drowned, and a great number of 
 persons who were chased like a poor flock of sheep : 
 these perceiving the King, cried to him for mercy. 
 The King, remembering the favour of God which 
 had been shown him in this victory, gave them their 
 lives, and permitted them to return to their own 
 country, after that the Zealand peasants and soldiery 
 had despoiled them, and left them naked, and being 
 on the territory of Flanders they gathered the green 
 leaves of trees and other herbage and fohage, with 
 which they covered their nakedness, until they came 
 into a sure place, where they might find better.' 
 
 The great dam that has replaced these sandhills, 
 rendered famous by dear-bought victory, is one of 
 the most important and costly of those wonderful 
 works which have been executed by the engineers of 
 Zealand as a defence against the sea. It was after 
 the visit of Charles the Fifth to Westkapelle that this 
 gigantic work, until then incomplete, was brought to 
 perfection. Since that time the sums which it has 
 cost to keep it in repair are so considerable that it is 
 a saying in the country that for the same price the 
 dam might have been made of silver. 
 
 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the conquered diffi- 
 culty and the immense expenditure which this work 
 represents, it is far from producing so great an im-
 
 THE GREAT DAM. 221 
 
 pression upon the mind of the beholder as might be 
 anticipated. 
 
 This great dam is no less than 2,800 yards in 
 length, it rises from eight to ten yards above the level 
 of the low tide, and at its greatest extent is 100 yards 
 in width. These proportions are gigantic ; but in 
 order to enable such a mountain, thus constructed by 
 the hands of man, to resist the fury of the waves, 
 it was necessary to reduce that fury and to diminish 
 as far as possible its violence and effect. Therefore 
 the dam has been given a very gentle inclination on 
 the sea side, and a very long slope, so that the tide, 
 broken, diminished, and lessened in force in ascend- 
 ing, reaches almost to the summit without having 
 encountered a single obstacle upon which it may 
 vent its fury. Now it is exactly this long slope, this 
 unbroken inchnation, that prevents the magnitude 
 of the work being discerned at first sight ; and in 
 order to comprehend its colossal proportions and to 
 feel all its beauty one must study it with attention, 
 reflection, and calculation. The materials employed 
 do not lend themselves to great architectural effects. 
 On this uncertain and little known soil it is impos- 
 sible to lay very heavy loads, and it is indispensable 
 that the whole of the work should present a con- 
 siderable cohesion, with a specific weight relatively 
 small. 
 
 The first operation is the formation of ballast 
 with very solid, compact earth, of a clayey and sticky 
 kind. This is jammed between poles, enclosed in a
 
 222 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 sort of case, and studded with large-headed nails. On 
 this bed of earth is laid an enormous pad of plaited 
 straw, which extends the whole length of the dyke. 
 Upon this pad is placed a wickerwork construction, 
 somewhat resembling the Zink^taJc, which I have 
 already described, and over that a layer of basaltic 
 stones, if they are to be procured, or of Vilvorden stone. 
 
 The immense labour of keeping a construction of 
 this nature, two English miles in length, and con- 
 stantly exposed to the violence of the raging sea, in 
 repair, is self-evident. A whole village is fully occu- 
 pied in watching over its preservation and incessantly 
 repairing it, and thus it is that the entire population 
 of Westkapelle, absorbed by this one anxiety, is now 
 organised, and, so to speak, enrolled and trained for 
 the purposes of this labour only. 
 
 With the exception of some honest folk at tlie 
 other end of the district, who live by agriculture, and 
 are disdainfully designated as ' peasants ' in conse- 
 quence, the whole village may be said to be employed 
 upon the dam. The inhabitants are formed into 
 special corps ; the pile-drivers or carpenters, the 
 makers of fascines, or navvies, are divided into gangs, 
 witli a responsible chief and a paymaster. Every 
 man in the place undergoes a long training — indeed 
 it begins in his childhood — in the methods of the 
 work. 
 
 This somewhat adventurous existence, with its 
 alternations of excessive toil and complete rest, with 
 its spells of danger and of dolce far n{e?ite, seems to
 
 POLDERJOXGENS. 223 
 
 possess a special charm for these people, resemblincy 
 that of the sea for the sailor. They regard the keep- 
 ing of these works in repair as a sort of privilege re- 
 served to themselves ; admit very reluctantly the aid 
 of strange workmen, and treat as interlopers any who 
 come from another part of the country in tlie hopes 
 of being employed on the dam. This is an excep- 
 tional fact, and the more noteworthy, that in every 
 other part of the Netherlands the labourers engaged 
 in the service of the Waterstaat are almost always 
 strangers, not only to the locality, but also to tlie 
 country, and belong to that special class of navvies 
 who are called, in Holland, polderjongens, or ' polder- 
 boys.' 
 
 These polderjongens are, for the most part, natives 
 of Brabant, and even of Belgian Brabant, which is a 
 curious fact, for Belgian Brabant is not, Uke Zealand, 
 a country of dykes and polders. They work in gano-s 
 of twelve, under a headman, who rules them, leads 
 them, and makes contracts for them by the job, for 
 they adopt the ' piece-work ' system. A woman is 
 attached to each gang ; to cook, wash, and attend 
 to the lodgings of the men. She is the wife of one 
 of them in virtue of that strange rite known as ' a 
 puthaak marriage ; ' a ceremony with no great so- 
 lemnity about it, although it involves consequences 
 which are serious enough. 
 
 When a j) older] ong en has accumulated the small 
 sura that will suffice for the basis of his capital as a 
 ganger, and has found a woman bold enough to un-
 
 224 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 dertake to associate with liiiu and his future gangs- 
 men, he goes in search of an older ganger, and 
 requests him to consecrate the projected union. 
 
 The sage thus consulted generally delivers a brief 
 sermon to the two neophytes ; explaining to the 
 woman the duties about to devolve upon her, and 
 the bearing of the engagements into which she is 
 entering ; and then, when he has made sure of the 
 mutual consent of the contracting parties, he takes a 
 puthaak (or hook of a certain shape, which the pol- 
 derjongens use for drawing the planks together), and 
 places it on the ground. The contracting parties jump 
 over this implement, and the marriage is concluded. 
 
 The 'ancient' presiding over these primitive es- 
 pousals then takes up the puthaak, and presents it 
 to the bridegroom, who lays hold of it as a sceptre- 
 matrimonial, with which he may henceforth either 
 remind his wife of the obligations which she has 
 contracted, or punish the breach of them, in case of 
 need. 
 
 These puthaak marriages have an indefinite dura- 
 tion ; as, however, they are not recognised by the law, 
 they may be dissolved by the free will of either party. 
 When the unfortunate woman who has married after 
 this fashion has had enough of her life of privation, 
 labour, and suffering, she generally runs away. When 
 on the contrary it is the husband who wishes to 
 put an end to the union, he assembles his comrades, 
 commences by ' treating ' them to klar^e, so as to 
 incUne the balance of opinion towards his own side,
 
 POLDERJONGENS. 225 
 
 then details liis grievances, and finally breaks tlie 
 famous puthaak in two. The unhappy repudiated 
 woman is, whether she be guilty or not, obliged to go 
 out into the desert like a modern Hagar, or in other 
 words to take her courageous self-abnegation, her 
 usefulness, and her industry to some other market, 
 unless indeed one of the same gang should be suffi- 
 ciently gallant to propose a new union to her. 
 
 The dweUings of the j^olderjongens must be seen 
 in order to make such a hfe of wretchedness and toil 
 comprehensible. The meanest wayside cabin is hke a 
 palace in comparison with the straw huts and the 
 crazy boats in which those stalwart labourers sleep. 
 There is not a bedstead nor an article of furniture 
 in the whole camp, a few mattresses and some chests 
 comprise the entire plenishing. The comfort, clean- 
 liness, and well-being wdiich are so dear to the rustic 
 Dutch, seem to be a dead letter to these people. 
 They have one master who rules them, one tyrant 
 who makes them forget all. His name is Gin. This 
 is the god for whom they work ; it is for this that 
 you may see them standing in the water up to their 
 waists, raking and carting away the earth with mar- 
 vellous industry and without an instant's respite. 
 Their employers will tell you that they are good 
 w^orkmen, but only on the condition that they are 
 allowed to drink. A special temperament is indeed 
 necessary to enable them to endure such an existence, 
 and it seems that they are inchned to this kind of 
 life from their earliest youth. Among the number 
 
 Q
 
 226 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 of these poldcrjoiKicii.'^ are the sons of fathers Avho 
 worked in this way all tlieir lives, but there are 
 also iiiiclassed folk, waifs and strays from a superior 
 order of society, whom vice or adverse fortunes have 
 brought down to these depths. An engineer who 
 had frequently employed gangs of these poor people 
 told me one day the following story : — 
 
 ' A polderjongen^' he said, ' died upon my works. 
 He had been crushed by a falling beam, internal 
 mischief was done, and he was carried off in two 
 days. No one knew his name, and before dividing 
 his belongings among them, his fellow-workmen, 
 wlio had constituted themselves his legitimate heirs, 
 wished to make out the inventory in the presence 
 of a superior authority. His bag was brought to 
 me and was solemnly opened in my presence. It 
 contained only some valueless clothing, a silver spoon, 
 and a book. The spoon was handed over to the 
 Avoman of the gang, tlie clothes were divided among 
 the men, and as for the book, which was dirty, greasy, 
 dog-eared, and mouldy, nobody cared for it. " Oh ! it 
 is his prayer-book," said the chief of the gang to me, 
 " he must have had something heavy on his mind, for 
 he was always poking his nose into that book, and 
 muttering some prayer or other." With this, he gave 
 the despised volume a kick. ' I had the curiosity to 
 take it up,' continued my friend, ' and to look at it 
 that I might ascertain to what religion this prayer 
 book belonged. To my great astonishment I per- 
 ceived that I had a Horace in my hands.' Horace !
 
 POLDEBJOXGEXS. 227 
 
 can you imagine the poor wretch reading and re- 
 reading that book ? Can j^ou see him, in rags, at the 
 end of his day's work, reciting the Hymn to Bacchus, 
 and repeating the poet's strophe : — 
 
 ' Qiiauiqnam, choreis aptior et jocis 
 Ludoque dictiis, uon satis idoiieus, 
 Pugase feiebaiis.' 
 
 By what great misfortune, through what impure 
 ways had he come to this terrible pass, what vices, 
 what crimes had flung him down into the abyss ! 
 " Did he drink ? " I asked the chief of the i?older- 
 jongem. " Oh ! like all the rest," said he ; then, much 
 surprised by my interest in the dead toiler, he said, 
 " If you care for the book you may keep it." I paid a 
 florin for it,' added the engineer, ' and I have carefully 
 preserved it.' 
 
 At Westkapelle it would, I am sure, be impossible 
 to find a hidden Latin scholar, or a stray savant^ 
 among the toilers on the dams. Here the recruit- 
 ing goes on among the people only, and everybody 
 knows everybody else. Besides, apart from a very 
 pronounced taste for Mare, and a relative indifler- 
 ence to all comfort, wliich betrays itself in the 
 sliabby houses so much less cared for than in other 
 ])arts of the country, there are few points of resem- 
 blance between the labourers on the dam and the 
 ordinary p older] onge7i8. Like them, they are, it is 
 true, industrious, good workmen, and somewhat quar- 
 relsome in their drink, but the family exercises all 
 its riglits here; tlie home, tliat oljject of fascination 
 
 Q -J
 
 228 THE HEART OF HOLLA XD. 
 
 to every true Zealander, makes its salutary influence 
 felt ; each workman inhabits his own house, takes 
 a wife when he is ricli enough to do so, and rears 
 his numerous offspring as well as his precarious 
 position permits. 
 
 In the rest of the island it is said that the popula- 
 tion of Westkapelle is a race apart, with brown eyes 
 and black hair ; the last trace, we are assured, of 
 the Spanish occupation of the country. As I had 
 been told to observe this singularity, I looked atten- 
 tively at all the faces I saw, and I did not find in any 
 the smallest indication of an infusion of foreign blood. 
 But even had such signs been numerous and striking, 
 surely no student of the history of the country would 
 conclude from thence that the population had been 
 renovated by the conquering race? The Spaniards 
 in fact occupied the country only politically, never 
 effectively ; the few troops whom they maintained in 
 the island of Walcheren were cantoned in the great 
 cities, at Middelburg, Flushing, and Veer, and did not 
 live in the country places or in the villages. These 
 troops, besides, were Walloon or German companies, 
 commanded by Spanish officers it is true, but in too 
 small a number to count in the imphed sense. 
 
 The real Spanish troops, composed exclusively of 
 Spanish soldiers, did not come into tlie Loav Countries 
 until 1566. It was the Duke of Alva, who, after 
 having chosen them from among the heroic com- 
 panies who had occupied Piedmont, brought them 
 into Flanders. They were composed of 10,000 men
 
 INLAND AT WESTKAPELLE. 229 
 
 in all, and their general was so afraid lest they 
 should become corrupted by contact with the people 
 of the country, and lest their discipline should be 
 relaxed by association with the population, that he 
 sedulously kept them apart from the natives. If we 
 remember that Walcheren was relieved from the 
 Spanish yoke in 1672, that the troops of the Duke of 
 Alva never occupied it effectively, and that, besides, 
 10,000 men, speedily decimated by a merciless war, 
 could not have had a great influence on a popula- 
 tion of five millions of inhabitants, we shall see at 
 once that the foreign type attributed to Westkapelle 
 could not, supposing even that it existed, be placed 
 to the account of the forager masters of the Low 
 Countries. 
 
 We have travelled through the villages and in- 
 spected the people ; we now want to get a good 
 look over the whole of the district ; and this is easily 
 to be had, by ascending the tower at the far end 
 of the old town. Formerly, this tower belonged to a 
 church, which, having been for a long time in a 
 ruinous condition, was pulled down in 1831. I am 
 told that it contained several curious objects which 
 were not preserved. We found remnants of them, 
 in the form of some delft tiles, which had formerly 
 belonged to one of tlie old tombs, and represented a 
 seigneur and dame in all tlieir ' bravery.' We found 
 these tiles, which were broken and incomplete, on the 
 wall of a local tapperij. The tavern-keeper had seen 
 the two tiles as he called them, entire, but a portion
 
 230 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 of tlunn luul since been destroyed. Tliese are the 
 sole artistic remains in the district. 
 
 The church tower, now converted into a hght- 
 house, is ascended by one hundred and seventy-eight 
 steps. From its summit there is an almost boundless 
 view in every direction ; nothing arrests the eye ; 
 there is no limit except the horizon formed by the 
 sea, or the neighbouring islands, whose outlines are 
 lost in the mist, and blend with the pearl grey tints 
 of the firmament. 
 
 We look down on the island which forms a base 
 for our pedestal. It is surrounded by sandhills, in- 
 tersected by canals and roads, enamelled with fields 
 and groves, and adorned by the steeples of the towns 
 and the village spires, which rise on every side. At 
 our feet lies the whitening harvest, and, a hundred 
 yards away, the village with its red roofs thrown out 
 against the sombre green of the trees and the tender 
 green of the fields. The view from this rural Belvi- 
 dere is beautiful. 
 
 At the top of the lighthouse we encountered quite 
 a numerous company : the keeper, delighted to show 
 off the mechanism of his gigantic lantern, a member 
 of the States-General, a deputy for the State of Guel- 
 derland, and a formidable number of winged ants. 
 The member of the States-General, a great proprietor 
 in the country, and thoroughly acquainted with his 
 province, was explaining its division and its pecu- 
 liarities to the member for the State of Guelderland. 
 Tlie latter seemed to take an extreme pleasure in the
 
 THE LIGHTHOUSE. 
 
 231 
 
 conversation. The keeper, as I have abeady said, 
 was there in the fiilfihnent of his duty. As for the 
 ants, I have never been able to understand how they 
 came to perch themselves so high up ; perhaps it was 
 to justify the Spanish proverb, ' For its misfortune 
 ^vings have grown upon the ant.' 
 
 We finished our inspection, cast a last glance upon 
 the wide, bright, sunny scene, descended our one 
 hundred and seventy-eight steps, resumed our road, 
 and passing through Meliskerke and Pappendamme 
 reached Middelburg. 
 
 m
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MIDDELBDRG — ITS ORIGIN ITS FIRST ' KEURE ' — ITS HIGH COM- 
 MERCIAL FORTUNES — FOREIGNERS AT MIDDELBURG ITS RELA- 
 TIONS WITp FRANCE — THE ' ABBEY OF GOOD WILL ' — THE WIJN- 
 
 HEEREN — ARNEMUIDEN AND VEER A LONG SIEGE REVIVAL 
 
 AND DECLINE. 
 
 [IDDELBURG ! There are few cities whose 
 history I should better hke to write, not 
 only on account of my admiration of 
 that charming town, which, like a stately 
 old dowager, is adorned as in its best days, ex- 
 quisitely clean and coquettish ; and which, notwith- 
 standing its uncommon prosperity, has preserved the 
 manners of its good old times and the monuments of 
 its good old tastes ; but also because few cities have 
 had an existence so full of incident. The clash cf 
 arms has indeed resounded there but seldom, the 
 glories of war hold but a moderate and secondary 
 place in its annals, just enough to prove that it was 
 capable of heroism when heroism was required ; but 
 the struggles of industry and of commerce, and 
 their great results, form part of its daily history.
 
 MIDDELBURG. 233 
 
 The results of progress are to be traced in it from hour 
 to hour ; on its market-place, and in its exchange — 
 the resort of all the trading peoples of Europe — busi- 
 ness of such importance was transacted as to spread 
 prosperity and plenty throughout the whole country. 
 
 Middelburg is of very ancient origin. I will not 
 trouble you with the almost fabulous birth that has 
 been ascribed to the city. Its name, which means 
 the ' City in the Midst,' comes, as Guicciardini tells 
 us, from the fact that it is situated almost in the 
 centre of the island. A more complicated etymology 
 and more pompous explanation has been given of this 
 appellation. Reygersbergh, in the first chapter of 
 his ' Cronyk van Zeelandt ' (1644), invokes Tacitus, 
 evokes the Emperor Claudius, and calls in the Eomans. 
 Then comes a certain Hugo Eloriacenis, who gives the 
 town Metellus for a father, and baptises it 'Mitelburgh.' 
 Now who was this Metellus ? A Roman, says Hugo. 
 Not at all, answers Monsieur Frangois Le Petit, he 
 was the father or stepfather of Matio, who built a 
 castle, then called a burgh, in memory of King Me- 
 tellus, and this burgh he named Metelliburgum, which 
 is the famous city of Middelburg. 
 
 In the sixteenth century this latter explanation, 
 which has very little plausibility, was, it seems, ac- 
 cepted to some extent, for we find it adopted by cer- 
 tain erudite pens, and the learned Erasmus does not 
 hesitate to give our town the majestic name of Metel- 
 liburgum in his letters. But after all, of what avail are 
 that pompous birth and that princely baptism, if both
 
 234 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 one and the oilier were destined to lead to several 
 centuries of utter obscurity ? Now this is precisely 
 what happened. 
 
 History says nothing, or next to nothing, of Middel- 
 burg during the first ten centuries of our era. We 
 only know that in 836 it was taken and occupied by 
 the Normans, and certainly their occupation did not 
 greatly aid in its development. The Normans having 
 taken their departure, monks replaced them, and 
 those monks so conducted themselves that they were 
 expelled in their turn. 
 
 All this time Middelburg was not a large city 
 by any means. ' In the year 1131, when the Regulars 
 of Middelburg were driven out of their convent in 
 consequence of their profligate hfe, by Gombault, 
 Bishop of Utrecht, the said city of Middelburg was 
 yet only a village.' These may justly be called small 
 beginnings. 
 
 The active patronage of Wilham XL, King of 
 the Romans, was required to enable Middelbnrg 
 even to begin to be a town. ' That prince laid the 
 foundation of the Munster, which became the present 
 great church ; enlarged the cloister, granted privi- 
 leges to the monks from Antwerp, who had replaced 
 the expelled religious, and having secured the grati- 
 tude of those whom he afterwards constituted his 
 depositaries and guardians of his mortal remains, he 
 beautified the surrounding town, enclosed it within 
 walls and endowed it with public establishments.' 
 But, before that time, his ancestor, WiUiam the
 
 ITS HIGH COMMERCIAL FORTUNES. 235 
 
 First, had already granted it the famous charter, that 
 precious Jceure which had become the law of the city, 
 and was afterwards to become that of the country. 
 The text of the keure has been preserved ; it com- 
 mences in a lofty strain : ' In the name of the Father, 
 the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen. This is the 
 Law that is called keure by the burghers of Middel- 
 burg, affirmed by the oath of those whose names and 
 seals are placed below.' 
 
 ' In what place soever the inhabitants of Middel- 
 burg transport their persons and their goods, they 
 remain under the protection of their Counts, as well 
 as under the protection of the officers of justice in- 
 stituted by them, and these latter shall, on their side, 
 aid and do justice to all those who, whether natives 
 or foreigners, shall come peacefully to estabhsh them- 
 selves at Middelburg.'^ 
 
 This deed, which inaugurated a new era of hos- 
 pitality and protection in these districts, constituted 
 the ' Magistrat ' of Middelburg grand justiciary of all 
 the flat country. It instituted a court in the town, 
 before which all crimes and misdemeanours com- 
 mitted in the province were to be tried, and it 
 completed that institution by fifty clauses or para- 
 graphs, forming a sort of penal code. This privi- 
 lege, confirmed by oath by the Counts of Holland, 
 the Countess Joan of Flanders, and by their officers 
 and governors, was renewed and extended, on the 
 
 ' Van Merris Groot, rrivilegie Boek, No. 1, folio 170.
 
 •236 THE IT E ART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 11th of March 1254, by William the Second, King of 
 the Romans.^ 
 
 On the 1st of June 1274, the merchants of the 
 town obtained from Count Floris V. faculties for con- 
 stituting themselves into a corporation ; and eleven 
 years afterwards, on the 19th of June 1285, they 
 obtained the right of establishing looms for weaving 
 wool [icolwercke te makene}) This was the dawn of 
 the cloth manufacture, an industry so important 
 throughout the Flemish and Saxon countries, that 
 it seems to be the point of departure of all great 
 commercial prosperity. At Middelburg this manu- 
 facture was to take such a development that less 
 than a century later, William V. of Bavaria thought 
 proper to proscribe the sale of foreign cloth fabrics 
 throuo-hout the entire island. ' It is forbidden,' wrote 
 he on the 31st of May 1355, ' throughout the whole 
 of Holland to sell woollen cloths, with the exception 
 of those which are called scaerlaken, and which are 
 manufactured at Middelburg, or in another portion of 
 the Island." 
 
 Observe, that while they ensured its industrial 
 fortunes, the Counts did not neglect the security of 
 the inhabitants of the city. In 1290, it was so well 
 fortified, that the Flemish troops found every attempt 
 upon its ramparts vain, and its citizens were so brave 
 that they did not only stand on the defensive ; they 
 
 • This document is the most ancient charter written in Dutch, in ex- 
 istence. It forms a portion of the archives of Middelburg. 
 
 ^ See Inventaris van het oud archief, No. 6. 
 
 * Privilegie Boek, No. 4, folio 9.
 
 FOREIGNERS AT MIDDELBURG. 237 
 
 repulsed tlieir enemies in two bloody battles, ' in 
 which 4,700 were killed,' and drove them away in the 
 direction of Borselen. 
 
 In 1302 the fortune of war was less favourable 
 to Middelburg ; Guy of Dampierre had twice beaten 
 the Dutch troops, and the good town yielded rather 
 under the pressure of famine than before its assail- 
 ants. 
 
 At that moment the city was already rich and 
 lacked only one other element of prosperity — the 
 presence of foreigners. A privilege accorded on the 
 1st of May 1323, supplied this deficiency. A free 
 fair summoned the English, Scotch, and Flemish 
 merchants to the town twice a year, and from that 
 time forth Middelburg rose rapidly to greatness. The 
 Enghsh were the first to flock to the town. The 
 archives do not record at what period they began to 
 frequent it in great numbers, and the historians are 
 equally silent on that point, but it is likely that it was 
 soon after the institution of the biennial fair. They 
 afterwards established the Staple of their Wool at 
 Middelburg, demanding a guarantee for it which was 
 accorded to them, and annually renewed, no doubt 
 on condition of a tolerably heavy payment. A charter 
 on parchment, dated on the Sunday after St. Agatha's 
 day, 1383, and signed by Albert of Bavaria, casts 
 some light upon this institution, which was already 
 ancient. It grants the renewal, for the duration of 
 a year, of all the rights and franchises possessed by 
 the English and other merchants for their Staple of
 
 238 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Wool in this country, and assures them of official pro- 
 tection.^ 
 
 After the English came the Italians from Lombardy, 
 wlio settled at Middelburg. Smallegange, in his care- 
 ful chronicle,^ records their appearance in this same 
 year, 1383, and a charter granted on the 9th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1384, by Albert of Bavaria, authorises them to 
 create those ' tables of exchange,' which then did such 
 important service to all traders. 
 
 Commerce in gold and jewels was speedily added. 
 These goods were displayed in a special building con- 
 structed on the model of the ' Lombard,' of Bruges, 
 and which bore tlie name of ' het liuus te Lom- 
 baerden,' or the ' House of the Lombards.' ^ This 
 liouse, situated in the Lange Noord Straat, in the 
 western quarter of the city, contained rich treasures. 
 A document bearing date 1458 informs us of the for- 
 tunes which were made there ; it is the ' act of ces- 
 sion and of transfer,' signed ' Eaphael de Drua, Lom- 
 bard, of the House of Lombards at Middelburg,' by 
 which the said Eaphael de Drua ' cedes and transfers 
 to his two sons his houses, capital, and moveable 
 goods, such as jewels, chains, gems, money, gold and 
 silver, either coined or in ingots, and balance of all 
 credits still to be recovered.' 
 
 Almost simultaneously with the Italians, the 
 Spaniards make their appearance ; tlien a few years 
 
 1 Charter deposited in tlie archives. Inventaris, No. 74. 
 - Nieuwe-Ci'onyck van Zeeland, 1G96. 
 ^ April 2, lo'JU. See Inventaris, No. 80,
 
 GROWTH OF MIDDELBURG. 239 
 
 later come the Portuguese and the Algarves. In 
 proportion as the circle enlarges itself the amount of 
 transactions is augmented, and the variety of imported 
 products creates new outlets for local industry. 
 
 From the earliest years of the fifteenth century 
 the influx of foreigners becomes so great that the 
 ' Mao-istrat ' is oblicjed to take measures of order and 
 supervision to prevent the disturbances which might 
 result from such an assemblage of men from various 
 countries. 
 
 Thus, in 1405, we find the burgomaster and alder- 
 men directing that no inn or tavern shall henceforward 
 l3e kept by a foreigner. Any person claiming the 
 right to keep one of these houses of entertainment 
 must be a citizen of the town, and further, to prevent 
 disputes, sellers must not lodge with buyers, but 
 must have theii^ separate and particular dwelling, 
 and must, on no account, either buy or sell any mer- 
 chandise outside of their own commerce. Buyers 
 and sellers are also subjected to a strict tariff.^ I also 
 recommend to the attention of the curious the ordi- 
 nances of the 6th of May, 1460, where fines to be 
 paid in bricks are specified. 
 
 Thus we see that foreigners had every sort of 
 guarantee and inducement to settle and trade in a 
 city which offered them such perfect security. After 
 this the aldermen forbid, in the interest of their 
 coasts, ' Orientals, Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch, 
 Frenchmen, or others, to come forth out of their ships 
 
 ^ See Invent aris, No. 108.
 
 240 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 cither night or daj^ armed with axes, rapiers, poniards, 
 or other weapons,' and to secure the health of tliis 
 foreign multitude they took prudent measures against 
 epidemics, while at the same time they regulated that 
 debauchery which in maritime cities the strictest 
 magistrates are obliged to tolerate.^ So wise an or- 
 ganisation was indeed the indispensable corollary of 
 the edict issued at the Hague on December 5, 1405, 
 by William IV. of Bavaria, by which all merchants 
 introducing their products into tlie island of Wal- 
 cheren were obliged to present them in the first 
 instance upon the market-place of Middelburg.''^ 
 
 It would be very pleasant to follow step by step 
 the development of 1\*3 industrial prosperity, to dwell 
 upon the commercial expansion that was so fruitful in 
 good results, and to study its smallest details. At 
 first this great foreign development did not ope- 
 rate directly ; connections were made through the 
 counting-houses at Bruges. The corporations of 
 foreign merchants, then called the ' nations,' having 
 an organisation at once administrative and financial, 
 governed by consuls, and presenting such cohesion 
 that they attained to pohtical influence, served as in- 
 termediaries. They it was who established the first 
 stores and set the first agencies going. We constantly 
 find their names in tlie handwritings of the muni- 
 cipal scribes or the legislators of Middelburg. 
 
 1 Register- FuUicatien van Midddburg 15G2, tot 1603, No. 2,410 of the 
 Inventory. 
 
 * Gulden Register, folio 148. Inventaris, No. 103.
 
 THE 'NATIONS: 241 
 
 The councillors and traders of the ' nation ' of Lucca, 
 those of the ' nation of the coast of Biscay and pro- 
 vince of Quipuscua,' those of the ' nation of Venetia,' 
 of the ' nation of the seacoast of Spain,' of the 
 ' Portuguese nation,' of the ' nation of Andalusia,' 
 are all enumerated in their turn. To these the mer- 
 chants of the Hanseatic towns are to be added. 
 
 By degrees the ' prestige ' of Bruges declines, while 
 that of Middelburg increases, and in a short time the 
 latter city no longer requires a negotiator between 
 itself and the other peoples of Europe. The greatest, 
 the most eminent among the foreign Powers do 
 not hesitate to hold direct communication with the 
 ' Magistrat ' of Middelburg. In 1439 we find Fran- 
 cesco Foscari, the Doge of Venice,^ addressing himself 
 to the authorities of the city, and his example was 
 followed by the administrators of more neighbour- 
 ing territories, and the governors of less distant 
 cities. 
 
 In 1482, the Mayor and Aldermen of Calais,^ in the 
 following year the Lord Mayor and aldermen of London,^ 
 in 1489 the prefect, the bailhe, the councillors, and 
 traders of Edinburgh,* took up their pens by turns 
 to exchange courteous words and profitable bargains 
 with the ' Magistrat ' of Middelburg. After gover- 
 nors, baillies, ministers, and mayors, come kings them- 
 selves, who do not disdain to enter into direct com- 
 
 ^ Charter on parchment, Inventan's, No. 202. 
 
 ^ See Inventaris, No. 539. 
 
 » Ibid. No. 649. * Ibid. No. G02. 
 
 K
 
 242 THE HEAUT OF HOLLAND. 
 
 miinication with the capital of Zealand : — James IV. 
 of Scotland, Henry VII. of England, and others ; and 
 this continues until in due time ' Lycorne Herald ' of 
 tlie ' most noble and puissant prince having the rule 
 and governance of the kingdom of Scotland,' ^ and 
 ' Bretagne, king-at-arms to the most Christian Queen, 
 Duchess of Brittany and Milan,' '-* present themselves 
 before the burgomasters, aldermen, and councillors 
 of Middelburg. 
 
 At this point the history of the city becomes 
 especially and doubly interesting to us, for we arrive 
 at its connection with old France, at the close and in- 
 timate relations which existed between Middelburg 
 and our former compatriots. This portion of its his- 
 tory is little known either in Holland or among us 
 French people, and I will take leave to lift a corner 
 of the veil that hides it. 
 
 At what epoch did our ancestral compatriots enter 
 into the commercial relation witli the Middelburg 
 merchants tliat afterwards attained so great a de- 
 velopment ? It is very difficult, if not indeed impos- 
 sible, to answer this question. By adopting certain 
 more or less imaginary dates, we may assign a 
 venerable antiquity to the transaction, but as I am 
 desirous to advance nothing except grave and proven 
 facts, I shall limit myself to the data afforded by the 
 archives of Middelburg and the statements of certain 
 trustworthy authors. With the assistance of these 
 
 1 Brieven van der Stadt, 1500-1529, No. 50, Inventaris, No. 104. 
 ^ In 1521; Charter 258; Inve>darts,'No. 1,1G1.
 
 MIDDELBURG AND TRANCE. 243 
 
 authorities we may assign, if not a certain, at least a 
 probable date to the beginnings of the great com- 
 merce between Middelburg and the French towns. 
 
 The first document in the archives in which we 
 find mention of French merchants bears date May 12, 
 1440. This is an act of seizure. On the demand 
 of certain traders of Rouen, the law officers (toa/zW^n) 
 of Middelburg place an embargo upon a ship in the 
 roadstead before Arnemuiden, laden with wines on 
 her voyage to Amsterdam. As you will perceive, this 
 document reveals a great deal. As a matter of course, 
 any measure of such a nature, taken by lawyers, in 
 the name of injured parties, indicates previous con- 
 tracts, and consequently relations of old date. In 
 1440, then, the Staple of French wines already existed 
 at Middelburg, and that Staple was itself only the 
 result of a much moi'e ancient connection. 
 
 Why, indeed, should it have been thought de- 
 sirable to establish a Staple unless those wines 
 came thither in great abundance, and unless their 
 consumption had long before been included among 
 the needs of daily life ? If such were not the case, 
 to establish tlie Staple would have been to strangle a 
 new trade in its birth without any advantage what- 
 ever accruing from the deed. 
 
 Therefore, as the Staple existed in 1440, we may 
 confidently reckon that our com])atriots had been in 
 the ]iabit of frequenting the market of Middelburg 
 and the ])ort of Arnemuiden for at least lialf a century 
 before that date ; tliat they had not come thither in 
 
 R 2
 
 244 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 crcat numbers at first is evident, because otherwise 
 their presence would have led to the granting of 
 privileges analogous to those which were granted, as 
 we have seen, to other 'nations.' And, besides, 
 Smallegange, who mentions in his excellent Chronicle ^ 
 the arrival of the Lombards and the Spaniards in 
 1383, and that of the Portuguese in 1390, makes no 
 allusion to the French. Let us see, then, whether 
 there does not exist between the two dates, 1390 and 
 1440, a record of any fact which brought about 
 a considerable extension of the connection between 
 tlie French and the Zealanders. 
 
 On the 6th of August, 1415, the marriage of 
 Jacqueline of Bavaria, daughter of Count WiUiam 
 YL, with Duke John of Lorraine, son of Charles VI., 
 King of France, took place, and, as it seems to me, 
 this incident, occurring within the half-century in 
 question, had a great and special influence upon the 
 mutual relations of the two nations. 
 
 Jacquehne was the princess-heiress of the two 
 great countships of Holland and Zealand. On the 
 death of her fatlier she proceeded to assume the 
 government of them, and her young husband, who 
 already looked forward to the time when he should 
 unite under his own rule the two fairest fiefs of Europe, 
 would naturally do all in his power to further the 
 union of his future subjects, and promote commercial 
 exchange between them. Unhappily, death and 
 madness traversed tliese wise and hopeful projects. 
 
 ^ Niemce-Cronyk van Zeeland, 1G96.
 
 MIDDELBURG AND FRANCE. 245 
 
 In 1417 Duke Jolm of Lorraine died, and the in- 
 sanity of Charles VI. enabled the English to invade 
 our territory, and permitted them to occupy Nor- 
 mandy. Thus we lose the traces of our compatriots, 
 for the traders of Bordeaux and Eouen were from 
 thenceforth numbered among English merchants. 
 
 We must, therefore, not be surprised to find that 
 the presence of the French at Middelburg did not 
 become a prominent fact in the history of the city 
 until after the victories of Charles VII. had set 
 France free from the yoke of the foreigner ; and 
 especially until after Philip the Good had seized 
 upon the inheritance of Jacqueline of Bavaria, 
 
 In 1456, we find rules laid down for trade in the 
 ' white wines of France and the red wines of Gascony,' ^ 
 and we discover that our compatriots are settled 
 in the country, where they exercise functions of 
 various kinds. Guillaume de Poupet is Eeceiver of 
 Finances ; ^ Jean Lanternier, barber and valet to the 
 Count de Charolais, obtains the office of ballast- 
 master in the port of Arnemuiden ; ^ Jean Hewet, of 
 Troyes, in Champagne, sets up at Middelburg as a 
 surgeon, ' meeder van surgie,'' * and Jehan Clementsot 
 gets a license to keep a gaming-house.^ At length, 
 in 1406, their number has increased so much that 
 Maximilian makes special mention in his edicts of the 
 places ' where those of the nation of France are ac- 
 
 ' Inventaris van het oud Archief van Middelburg, No. 300. 
 2 Ibid. No. 298. » Ibid. No. 324. 
 
 * Ibid. No. 368. '•> Ibid. No. 4*1.
 
 246 THE HEART OE HOLLAND. 
 
 customed to lodge,' and grants to all of that nationa- 
 lity a franchise of nine months for their ships, vehicles, 
 provisions, and merchandise, consisting of wines, 
 cereals, &c.^ 
 
 The French merchants did not reside at Middel- 
 burg from preference. Their ships put in at Arne- 
 muiden, because there the wines were gauged, and 
 the counting-houses were established ; and although 
 at Middelburg itself a special landing-place was re- 
 served for them, which is to this day called the Quay 
 of Rouen (Rouansche Kade), all those who were not 
 obliged by local trades, or by holding some special 
 office, to reside in the city, lived at the waterside. In 
 this respect indeed they did but follow the fashion of 
 the time, for Guicciardini says that ' at Arnemuiden 
 more than elsewhere the merchants dwelt for the 
 most part of their time.' There we shall find the 
 Bretons, the ' nation of Brittany,' as they were then 
 called, and hi the roadsteads, alongside of ships from 
 Rouen, others from St. Malo.^ It is in order that she 
 might ' found and build a cliapel for the said Bretons 
 in the new Church of Saint Martin, in the said Arne- 
 muiden, that the Most Christian Maude of France, 
 Queen Duchess of Brittany and Milan,' she who was 
 then called ' the good Queen,' sent her king-at-arms 
 and her ' procurer ' or attorney, Johann Leden, to the 
 ' Magistral ' of Middelburg.^ 
 
 Even then the intercourse between the two 
 
 1 Inventaris, No. 639. ^ Ibid. No. 526. 
 
 3 Ibid. Nos. 1,149 and 1,159.
 
 THE STAPLE. 247 
 
 countries was of long standing. In another letter, 
 dated from Cognac on the 9th of March, 1520, the 
 good Queen invokes ' the former amity and continua- 
 tion of merchandise between one and the others.' 
 These good relations, confirmed by mutual confidence 
 (for in 1507 the magistrates of Middelburg paid a 
 sum of nine thousand florins on the account and ' in 
 acquittal ' of the Breton merchants), ^ were not destined 
 to remain uninterrupted. The almost incessant 
 struggle between Francis I. and Charles V. were 
 about to put many hindrances in their way. The 
 young Emperor did, however, confirm the right to 
 the Staple on the 25th of June, 1524, and although, in 
 consequence of the hazards of the war, a good many 
 ships, laden with French wines, were about that time 
 obhged to abandon the port of Arnemuiden, and to 
 put in at Veer, the privilege remained none the less 
 a source of large profit to the town, and prosperity to 
 the inhabitants.^ 
 
 No more convincing proof of the latter fact is 
 needed than the earnestness of the protest of the 
 people of Middelburg against a proclamation by the 
 Eegent in 1546, which seemed to threaten Arnemuiden 
 with the loss of its lucrative monopoly by the ex- 
 tension of the privilege of the Staple to the city of 
 Zierikzee. 
 
 For the rest, having secured the co-operation of 
 a certain number of French towns, the merchants of 
 
 ' Invpvtaris, Nos. 1,165 and 1,1 G6. 
 - Ibid. No. I,yl6.
 
 248 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Middelburg did not sleep upon their laurels, but 
 made great efforts to obtain the confidence and friend- 
 ship of the whole country. In 1538, they sent 
 de})uties to La Rochelle to plead in favour of their 
 city, and to endeavour to divert certain wine-growers 
 who dealt habitually with Bergen-op-Zoom from their 
 customary market. The deputies produced such an 
 impression, that the mayor and aldermen declared 
 their proceedings ' to be right and equitable, and the 
 occasion of continuing more and more the ancient 
 friendship and frequentation of their town.' ^ 
 
 Better still, a few days later ' the said mayor of 
 La Bochelle declared, in the presence of Joost 
 Doversteghe, Burgomaster of Bergen-op-Zoom, that 
 none should henceforth be obliged to go to the 
 market of Bergen.' ^ 
 
 This, however, did not prevent Joost Doversteghe 
 from making an agreement with certain individuals, 
 and about the same time the ships of Middelburg 
 arrested upon the Eoompot some boats laden with 
 French wines, which were on their way to Bergen. 
 This would seem to prove that competition from 
 that quarter was not at an end.^ 
 
 From that time forth, however, it may be said that 
 the commercial relations between the two cities were 
 not only cordial, but active. This is proved by 
 the bitterness with which, in 1550, ' the mayor, 
 aldermen, and councillors of the town of La Eochelle 
 
 1 Inventaris, Nos, 1,958, 1,960, 1,961, 1,964, 1,965, and 1,966. 
 => Ibid. No. 1,696. » Ibid. No. 1,690.
 
 FRENCH WINES. 249 
 
 complained to their Zealand colleagues ' of the sub- 
 sidy of five sols which it pleased his Majesty the 
 Emperor to put upon wines coming into the city of 
 Middelburg, and of ' the prejudice which the two 
 towns sustained thereby.' Thus, notwithstanding the 
 tax, the disagreements between the monarchs, the 
 risks of war and violence which were the inevitable 
 result of the royal discord, the mutual relations of 
 the two countries became daily more intimate, closer, 
 and more confidential. 
 
 Nor was this the case with respect to the Breton 
 coasts only. In an edict of 1558, which enumerates 
 the French wines at that time most in demand at 
 Middelburg, I find the following names : — ' Anser- 
 oiche (no doubt, Auxerre), Orleansche, Petauwe (no 
 doubt, Poitou), Paillette, Cognasche, Anjosche,' &c. 
 The consequence of this daily extending connection 
 speedily made itself felt. Commerce between the two 
 places grew so rapidly, that the prosperity of both 
 was great. 
 
 The French colony at Middelburg became not 
 only very numerous, but very rich, and I may add 
 that it was also distinguished for charity and benevo- 
 lence, a large portion of its wealth being employed to 
 relieve poverty and prevent misfortune. Evidence 
 of this benevolence has been preserved from the 
 ancient date of 1580, which denotes such lofty and 
 dehcate feeUng, that I cannot resist the temptation 
 to quote it at length. The document refers to 
 the inauguration of what our compatriots of those
 
 250 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 days called by the euphonious name of ' Liber bonce 
 iu>hintatw,' or the ' Book of Accounts of the Abbey of 
 Good Will.' ^ The founders of this association, the 
 abbot and brethren of Good Will, state their request 
 to the magistrate, accompanied by the following con- 
 siderations, which sufficiently indicate the aim and 
 bearing of this charitable institution : — ' As it is thus 
 til at the Eternal One, our good God, commands us 
 all to hold in consideration His poor members, and 
 to minister to their poverty, calamity, and misery, 
 the merchants and traders of the French nation, 
 bearing this in mind, have in time past, for the relief 
 and subvention of the said poor, introduced a very 
 praiseworthy and most holy custom among them, for 
 several years faithfully observed, as well in this city 
 of Middelburg as in the city of Antwerp, by which 
 the excessive expenses that formerly w^ere made on 
 banquets given by the French merchants the first 
 time they arrived at the said towns, have been by 
 common accord converted into works of charity and 
 alms, so that, in place of the said useless expenses, it 
 was ordered and consented that the French new- 
 comers should give to the almoner's box, ordained for 
 the said purpose, a certain sum in money, according 
 to their quality, the inventory of their goods, and the 
 taxation of the said French, in order that the said 
 sum should be distributed to the poor, the unfortu- 
 nate, and the unhappy of their nation, arriving by 
 
 ' See Register ten Bade, April 18, 16G6, page 442. Inventaria, No. 
 2,871.
 
 THE 'ABBEY OF GOOD WILL: 251 
 
 land or by sea in the city, so that, without begging, 
 they may be enabled to return to the place of their 
 birth. In the said almoner's box were also to be 
 placed for the same purpose the earnest money which 
 the said merchants received from the sale of their 
 merchandise, together with the fines paid by those 
 who contravened the ordinances and statutes which 
 had been constituted among them, that they mioht 
 live in peace, tranquillity, and union ; and in order 
 that the collection and distribution of the said moneys 
 be made duly and without reproach, there shall be 
 elected, by plurahty of votes, a superintendent, to 
 be called the " Abbot of Goodwill," with certain of 
 his assistants who shall take order that the whole be 
 faithfully administered.' 
 
 This venerable document inspires us with sucli a 
 good opinion of our compatriots, that we cannot 
 select a more favourable moment for taking leave of 
 them, and we must not alloAV them to induce us to 
 lose sight of Middelburg and its history. 
 
 The valuable privilege of the Staple of the wines 
 of France was, as I have said, one of the most im- 
 portant sources of wealth to the old city. The 
 greatest commercial fortunes of that epoch had no 
 other origin. The wine merchants — ' Wijnheeren,' or 
 ' lords of the wines,' as they were called — formed 
 with the coopers the two richest branches of industry, 
 and the united trades composed the most influential 
 and powerful corporation of the town. Tliey carried 
 things with a high hand in the Town Council, and
 
 252 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 had autliority in all the affairs of the city. When 
 by-and-by we visit the Stadhuis, we shall see large 
 paintings representing imposing groups of grave and 
 majestic personages, of austere mien and air so noble 
 that they might be taken for a bench of magistrates ; 
 but they are simply the members of the corporation 
 of the ' Kuypers ' — the master coopers and wine mer- 
 chants of that time. 
 
 The other trades were likewise formed into cor- 
 porations. In 1430 the most important among them 
 — such as butchers, bakers, oil merchants, chandlers, 
 ironmongers, barbers, cloth-cutters and workers, &c. 
 — received their rules and were invested with their 
 privileges. Their general organisation bore consi- 
 derable resemblance to what we know of the corpo- 
 rations of the Middle Ages. They were subject to 
 certain conditions of capacity and to certain public 
 services. Their members were bound to acquire the 
 rights of citizenship, to pay a fee on entry, and to 
 have served a previous apprenticeship. In certain 
 trades the candidate had to execute a piece of work 
 or undergo an examination. Besides this, in time of 
 peace members of these corporations were bound to 
 do mihtary service for a year, and were afterwards 
 enrolled in the various companies which composed 
 the ' trades.' 
 
 In exchange for these obligations and for this 
 service, the corporations possessed several privileges 
 and enjoyed prerogatives which in some cases were 
 the source of large profits. Thus, the members of the
 
 COEPOEATION OF MIDDELBIJRG. 253 
 
 corporation of butchers had not only the sole right 
 of slaughtering cattle of all kinds, but the inhabi- 
 tants were forbidden to purchase meat out of the 
 town. The inn-keepers and tavern-keepers had to 
 take their necessary supphes from the public market, 
 the Vleesch-huis, or ' house of meat.' ^ Every indi- 
 vidual was permitted to knead or bake his own bread, 
 or to have it kneaded with his own flour and baked 
 by the baker ; but no one was allowed to sell bread 
 unless he belonged to the corporation of bakers.^ 
 None except members of the corporation of the oil 
 merchants could sell butter, cheese, eggs, mustard, 
 salt, vinegar, soap, pottery, brooms, wooden spoons, 
 forks, sieves, &c.^ 
 
 Barbers were permitted to practise surgery 
 {syrurgie) on payment of a small supplementary tax. 
 Their rule also extended over the jaws of their fellow- 
 citizens, for foreign dentists were tolerated in the 
 town only during the kermesse/ 
 
 The cloth- workers and tailors (' sewers and makers 
 of coats ') had the exclusive privilege of supplyino- 
 the ' trade of the boatmen ' of Arnemuiden. As for 
 the cloth mercers, not only did they make their 
 brethren of Arnemuiden pay a tax, and oblige them 
 to share the expense of the annual trade procession, 
 but they reserved to themselves the sole right of dis- 
 playing their goods. The other traders were obhged 
 
 ' Ordonnancie voor de VleescMouvres. Inventaris, Ko. IGi. 
 ' Register Diverse Gildens, No. 50. Liventaris, No. 105. 
 ^ Inventaris, No. IGO. 
 * Diverse Oildcyis, No. 44. InveTitaris, No. 1G9.
 
 254 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 to confine themselves to their houses or cellars. The 
 only exception made was in favour of the English and 
 Scotch, who twice a week were permitted to set up 
 their booths upon the market-place.^ And finally, 
 almost all these regulations were accompanied with 
 this curious restriction, ' It is forbidden to married 
 men to live with any woman except their own wives.' 
 And it seems that such a recommendation was by no 
 means superfluous, for in 1411 we find the ' Magistrat ' 
 obhged to occupy itself with the question of bastardy, 
 whicli was becoming serious. 
 
 None of these corporations, however great their 
 privileges, approached in importance to that of the 
 Kuypers and the Wijnheeren. Thus, whenever this 
 predominant association thought proper to complain 
 of any encroachment on its rights, all the others made 
 common cause with it. This was only just ; for it 
 was to the interest of the tailors, who possessed the 
 rio-ht of making clothes for the sailors, that the 
 number of ships coming into the port of Arnemuiden 
 should be considerable ; and the same was the case 
 with the drapers, who furnished the cloth to the 
 tailors ; with the innkeepers, whose houses were 
 frequented by masters, traders, and seamen ; and also 
 witli tlie butcliers and bakers, who furnished pro- 
 visions for all. 
 
 Therefore, no sooner was Arnemuiden — the port 
 in which all this trafiic was carried on — menaced with 
 serious competition by any maritime city of Zealand 
 
 * Diverse Gildens, No. 25. Inventaris, 170.
 
 A CHORUS OF COMPLAINT. 255 
 
 or any neighbouring port, than a chorus of complaints 
 and remonstrances made itself heard in the Great 
 Council of Mahnes, and frequently echoed as far as the 
 Court of Spain. You remember what a storm of pro- 
 test arose when Yeer attempted to usurp the famous 
 Staple of Wines. That Middelburg should rise 
 like one man ' to prevent its neighbours from pro- 
 ceeding further in their efforts to secure for them- 
 selves that which it regarded as the fairest jewel of 
 its crown,' is easy to understand ; but that it should 
 contend with the elements, that it should endeavour, 
 by force, and contrary to the decisions of nature, to 
 retain certain advantages, was to exhibit an ill-regu- 
 lated love of monopoly, and to put forward exorbitant 
 pretensions. This is precisely what Middelburg did. 
 In our days, there seems to be something almost silly 
 in its complaint of the desertion of the fishermen 
 who abandoned Arnemuiden, ' which by the action of 
 Flushing has lost the traffic of herrings.'^ It seems 
 absurd when we say, in reference to Middelburg, that 
 ' the citizens and inhabitants of that town had no 
 other purpose than to transport themselves into 
 wholesomer, more pleasant, and more frequented 
 places than is the same city, the air of which is re- 
 puted by all to be unhealthy and hurtful to the 
 human body.'^ Nevertheless, such were tlie protests 
 which were put forward and the reasons which were 
 assigned. 
 
 ^ Registei' Diffei'enten tusschen tie stud Midd ende steden van Vlessinye, 
 Veer, Sfc. Invcnf art's, No. 1,924. * Inve.ntaris, Ni). 2,172.
 
 250 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 To preserve its own leonine privilege, and to pre- 
 vent the fishermen and ship-owners from using other 
 ports more commodious and easier of access, Mid- 
 delburg did not hesitate to ' foul its own nest,' to 
 exaggerate the defects of its climate and the in- 
 salubrity of its air. This must have been hard upon 
 its astute corporations ; but they knew well what 
 they were about. To tlireaten Charles V. or Philip 
 n. with the ruin of Middelburg was to threaten the 
 Court of Spain with the loss of a large revenue, and 
 that Court, being always needy, was willing to connive 
 at any extortion and to sanction much more exor- 
 bitant pretensions, if only it might thereby secure 
 itself from such a loss. 
 
 We must not, however, conclude, from the sacri- 
 fice of its pride, to which the Zealand capital sub- 
 mitted in order to preserve the prosperity of its 
 port, that it was invariably on good terms with the 
 latter. It was by no means the case that a perfect 
 understanding always subsisted between Arnemuiden 
 and Middelburg, and that their union was a cloud- 
 less one. Arnemuiden, overtaxed, and exhausted by 
 the exactions of its powerful neighbour, more than 
 once made bitter complaint, raising its lamentable 
 voice and making known its grievances to the Sove- 
 reign Council. It is very curious to observe with 
 what disdain tlie ' Magistrat ' of Middelburg treats 
 tliese complaints, which it qualifies as ' frivolous, 
 impertinent, and other than true facts,' and with 
 what haughtiness it replies that the inhabitants of
 
 MIDDELBURG AND ARNEMIUDEN DISPUTE. 257 
 
 Arneniiiiden ' are not the cause of the arrival of ships, 
 but the good and secure depth of the water, and the 
 due control and police kept by those of Middelburg 
 over the place of Arnemuiden.' The ' Magistrat ' 
 invokes, in support of its uncontrolled domination, 
 the example of Delft, ' none having ever thought of 
 questioning or Umiting the empire of that town over 
 Delftshaven, which is two leagues away from it, while 
 hardly half a league lies between Middelburg and 
 Arnemuiden.' And, when the ill-treated port re- 
 volts, and retorts that, ' to make a true comparison 
 and simiHtude, the city of Middelburg is Hke a sack, 
 the belly representing the town, and the mouth of the 
 sack the place of Arnemuiden ; the mouth of the 
 sack being cut off, the rest will be useless and of no 
 good,' Middelburg promptly replies that, although 
 the business is done at Arnemuiden, ' the moneys are 
 at Middelburg, and so are the traders,' for there are 
 ' such merchants in Middelburg, that two of them do 
 more trade with their own money than all the men of 
 Arnemuiden in general.' ^ 
 
 I have thought it worth while to bring to light a 
 few items of this dispute between two cities linked to- 
 gether by such complex interests, having so many 
 points in common, and identically the same sources 
 of revenue to protect. These acrimonious utterances 
 enable us to judge of the spirit of antagonism which 
 then existed between all those cities ; for they were 
 
 * lieijister Diffcrcnten tusschen de stad Mtdd endc steden van Middel- 
 bun/ en Arnemuiden, No. 14. Inventaris, No. 1,461. 
 
 s
 
 258 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 rivals, and always jealous of one another, notwith- 
 standing their community of interests. Nature, which 
 had created these intimate relations, was now about 
 to terminate them. The port of Arnemuiden shortly 
 began to silt up with sand, and Middelburg was 
 placed in direct communication with the sea by a 
 fine canal, which served as a harbour. This was an 
 inestimable advantage, ' so that,' says an old author,^ 
 ' the largest ships come so commodiously, and in such 
 great numbers, that its commerce yields to no other 
 city in Holland.' 
 
 Dissensions of far greater gravity broke out be- 
 fore long. The great movement of emancipation was 
 progressing. In 1572 the taking of Brill brought 
 things to a crisis. Veer and Flushing flung them- 
 selves into the movement, while wealthy Middelburg 
 which had just been reinstated in the plenitude of its 
 privileges, remained faithfid to the house of Spain, to 
 which it owed the momentary overthrow of its rivals 
 and the restitution of its precious prerogatives. For 
 a long time the contest was waged at a distance, and 
 with varying fortunes, but, towards the end of 1572, 
 the Zealanders resolved to strike a great blow, and 
 to overthrow by force of arms the last remaining 
 bulwark of Spanish oppression in Walcheren. On 
 both sides great works were constructed, the dykes 
 were fortified, and the bombardment began. But 
 the people of Veer and Flushing had a great ad- 
 vantage over their adversaries — they were masters of 
 
 ' Les Delices des Fays Bas.
 
 ARNEMUIDEN RELIEVED. 259 
 
 the sea ; while poor Middelburg, having no means of 
 getting supphes, notwithstanding the courage and 
 self-denial of its inhabitants, was forced to yield to 
 the pressure of famine, that implacable enemy of all 
 besieged places. A first convoy of provisions, led by 
 Sancho d'Avila, was beaten back to the point of Bor- 
 selen, by Jan le More, Admiral of Flushing, but 
 succeeded after a second effort in getting through the 
 lines, and relieving Arnemuiden, 
 
 ' The fight was very cruel,' says a contemporary, 
 ' for none were spared ; all were either killed or 
 drowned. On board the great ship "the Elephant,"^ 
 all the human limbs, arms, legs, heads, &c., were 
 collected in baskets, so that it seemed to be rather a 
 slaughter-house than a ship.' 
 
 A second convoy, led by Admiral de Beauvays 
 and Colonel Mondragon, was to have passed by 
 Westkapelle, disembarked there, and gained Middel- 
 burg by the inland route. A portion of the pro- 
 visions reached the town safely, and Mondragon re- 
 mained there to take the command. It was then 
 June, and in November a fresh attempt by Admiral 
 de Beauvays failed completely, and from the roofs of 
 their churches the besieged could see the Spanish 
 ships chased by the fleet of Admiral Boisot, and flying 
 in the direction of Bergen-op-Zoom. 
 
 At last, in January, 1574, when tlie town was re- 
 
 ' The ' Elephant ' was one of the largest ships of the Spanish fleet, 
 which was captured in the course of the action by the people of 
 Flushing. 
 
 S 2
 
 260 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 duced to the last extremity, the Spanish commander 
 resolved to make a final effort, and this time he neg- 
 lected no precaution to secure victory for his fleet, 
 that great armada which we have seen sail out 
 from Bergen-op-Zoom, under the command of Eo- 
 maro, and whose disastrous fate we have witnessed 
 under the walls of Eommerswaal. ' At this moment 
 famine pressed so hard upon those of Middelburg, 
 that they had already eaten all the horses they 
 had, the dogs, the cats, and the rats. They made 
 bread of linseed and other seeds, and ate the husks 
 from which the oil had been extracted.' Between 
 the last Christmas day and the surrender, more 
 than fifteen hundred and fifty persons died of starva- 
 tion. 
 
 A manuscript note of tliat time, communicated 
 to me by my friend. Mynheer van Stoppelaar, will 
 awaken terrible recollections, hardly seven years old, 
 among ourselves. ' I, Andries Mathieusz,' says this 
 note, ' I married my wife on the 21st of February, 
 1574, on the very same day when this town of Mid- 
 delburg; was griven over into the hands of the Prince 
 of Orange, and to celebrate our wedding we had 
 cakes of Unseed {lysaet ivafelen), and horse's flesh at 
 two schilhngs the pound, a pound of bread costing 
 six schilhngs, and at this price it is not easy to have 
 any ; Hkewise a pound of butter at four schillings.' 
 
 It was in fact at that date that Mondragon was 
 forced to yield. Some days before he had despatched 
 Captain Trenchart to endeavour to hurry up the
 
 CAPITULATION OF MIDDELBURG. 261 
 
 reserves, and had ordered liim ' to represent the 
 weakness of the soldiers : that there died of them 
 more than twenty each day, and that they would no 
 longer eat the hnsks of linseed, and were reduced to 
 despair.^ 
 
 Succour was not to come; on the 19th of Sep- 
 tember, Middelburg capitulated ; Mondragon obtained 
 permission to retire with his troops on the most 
 honourable conditions, and three hundred citizens of 
 Veer and Flushing were placed as guards over their 
 rival, now humihated, vanquished, and prostrated by 
 famine. 
 
 The result which was expected from this victory 
 did not, however, come to pass. Instead of allowing 
 this rich and important city to be ruined by the 
 jealousy of its neighbours, instead of permitting Veer 
 and Flushing to take possession of its commerce, and 
 to deck themselves in its spoils, the States took the 
 commercial prosperity of their new conquest under 
 their safeguard, and the event turned out quite other 
 than had been anticipated. Veer, forsaken by com- 
 merce and abandoned by foreigners, dechned from 
 day to day, and although Flushing made rapid pro- 
 gress, which was, indeed, only due to its admirable 
 position at the entrance of the Scheldt, it never 
 attained the first rank. As for Middelburg, its at- 
 tachment to the Spaniards, a matter of mingled in- 
 terest and gratitude, did not survive the sufferings it 
 had endured in their cause. The city held that its 
 
 ^ Meteren.
 
 262 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 debt was paid ; henceforth all its sympathies turned 
 towards the common country, and it proved itself as 
 ■well disposed to the States as it had ever been to its 
 first masters. It was well recompensed : all its pri- 
 vileges were confirmed, and on several occasions the 
 Stadtholder took up his residence within its walls. A 
 great number of letters and documents, written by 
 the hand of William the Silent himself, are dated 
 from Middelburg. 
 
 A fresh impulse was given to the already well- 
 developed commercial instincts of the town, and it 
 speedily became more powerful than ever. Many 
 establishments of public utility, together with institu- 
 tions of credit, which were of great benefit to its 
 distant transactions, were founded. In 1600 a bank 
 of exchange, which not only replaced the Lombards 
 and their ' tables of exchange,' but undertook the ne- 
 gotiation of bonds, and the payment of letters of 
 credit, was established ; and in the same year the As- 
 surantie Kamer or ' Chamber of Assurances,' the first 
 which existed in the United Provinces, was opened. 
 In 1636 the Leen Bank or ' bank of loans,' which faci- 
 htated loans and regulated exchanges, was instituted, 
 to be succeeded in 1661 hy i\\Q Kamer van de desolate 
 Boedels (literally, the ' Chamber of hopeless credits '), 
 which provided, as far as possible, by means of cura- 
 tors, administrators, and sequestrators, for the defence 
 of the interest of creditors, by keeping a watch on 
 insolvents and fugitive bankrupts. 
 
 Besides this, when the constitution of the famous
 
 EAST INDIA COMPANY CONSTITUTED. 263 
 
 East India Company took place, the Zealand capital 
 was not forgotten. Middelburg had a fourth share in 
 that enterprise, and the benefit reaped by its whole 
 population was enormous. A single example will 
 suffice to indicate the wealth of the Company. At 
 the beginning of the seventeenth century we find the 
 two principal fiefs of the island in the possession of 
 its chief agents ; the Seigneurie of Westkapelle, in that 
 of Mynheer Veth, Burgomaster of Middelburg ; and 
 the Seigneurie of Domburg in those of Mynheer van 
 Dieshoek, Alderman of the same city. Both these 
 personages were directors of the East India Company, 
 and it was with the profits of that Company that 
 they purchased these princely domains. Its new 
 source of prosperity did not lead Middelburg to over- 
 look its privilege of the Staple, and that feudal prero- 
 gative continued to place the town in obligatory and 
 constant relations with the whole world. ' Our capital,' 
 says Smallegange, who wrote in 1696, 'is, at this 
 moment, in continual correspondence and constant 
 communication with the East and West Indies, with 
 Brazil, the coast of Guinea, Angola, the Levant, Italy, 
 Spain, England, &c. ; all merchandise coming from 
 the East is subject to our Eight of Staple {Stapel recht). 
 Wines, oils, essences, and other liquids coming from 
 the Eastern Countries, from Italy, France, and Spain, 
 were obliged to put into port, before the Crane of 
 Middelburg, and there be verified, measured, and 
 gauged.' 
 
 Now til at all feudal privileges have vanished be-
 
 264 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 fore the modern spirit, and that the principles of com- 
 mercial liberty have swept away these extortionate 
 prerogatives, the great commercial fortune of Middel- 
 burg has ceased to exist, and its prodigious activity 
 has given place to tranquil leisure. If the Zealand 
 capital should sometimes regret its high and palmy 
 days, which were so fertile in great institutions, if it 
 should cast a sorrowful retrospective glance upon its 
 vanished commercial prosperity, who could blame it ? 
 More sensible, more intelligent, more reasonable than 
 other eminent places which have fallen into decay; 
 Middelburg comprehends the causes that led to its in- 
 dustrial decline, and does not rebel against progress ; 
 the wise city is not like its Flemish rivals, who, being 
 also deprived of their former splendour, revolt against 
 God and man, and would fain turn back the course 
 of the ages, that they might recover their primitive 
 state. Middelburg has preserved rehcs of its past 
 sufficiently great and sufficiently beautiful to console 
 it ; and few cities are better deserving of a visit, such 
 as we now propose to make to the ancient capital.
 
 CHAPTER Xiy. 
 
 A BREAKFAST ON BOARD — THE ABDY HOTEL — THE ABBEY AND THE 
 STADHUIS— ' LANGE JAN ' AND ' GEKKE BETJE ' — THE TREASURE- 
 HOUSE OF THE TOWN — THE ZEALAND SOCIETY — THE TAPESTRIES 
 THE KERMESSE. 
 
 HILE we were studying the town and 
 poring over its archives, the friends 
 whom we expected arrived from the 
 Hague in greater number than we had 
 counted on, but we were not hkely to complain of 
 that. On the other hand, those whom we expected 
 from Brussels have unfortunately not arrived at all. 
 We have two ladies with us, Madame de Stolipine, 
 whom you already know, and the Princess Naritsch- 
 kin, and tliere are four men, Nicholas de Stolipine, 
 the young Prince Gagarine, Count Goubatstow, and a 
 young Russian tutor. You may imagine how our 
 guests were welcomed. We did the honours of Mid- 
 delburg, and then we set out in our boat and went 
 down the canal to Veer; there we gave them a break- 
 fast prepared entirely by ourselves, and by a lucky 
 accident I have found the menu amongst my notes : —
 
 266 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Le potage Pannentier, 
 
 Les hors-d'ceuvre. 
 
 Les bouch^es aux crevettes. 
 
 L'omelette au jambon de Zelande. 
 
 Les tournedos en tortue. 
 
 Les pommes pariaienues. 
 
 Les poulets de grain rotis. 
 
 La salade. 
 
 Les haricots verts a la maitre d'liotel. 
 
 La flamusse cliarolaise. 
 
 Le gateau de Middelbourg. 
 
 Dessert. 
 
 Vins: scherry dore, saint-julien, rudeslieimer et Roederer. 
 
 Our cooking was pronounced excellent, and we 
 were also complimented upon the style in which we 
 served up the repast. True, the two best sauces, 
 appetite and good humour, came to hand on the 
 occasion, and they no doubt contributed largely to 
 our success. 
 
 After breakfast we visited Veer and its Stadhuis. 
 The Burgomaster, who was waiting for the ladies at 
 the Stadhuis, constituted himself our guide, and 
 showed us all the curiosities of the place in the 
 kindest manner. Then we returned in a carriage by 
 the road along which I have taken you on foot. We 
 stopped at Overduyn, and we dined at Domburg. 
 Now we are once more at Middelburg, and we are 
 going out for a fresh inspection of the Zealand 
 capital. 
 
 The sun is bright, and the city is full of life and 
 bustle. The kermesse is going on, and from morning 
 until night, as well as from night until morning, 
 everybody is astir. Let us go and fetch our friends ; 
 they are at the Abdy Hotel.
 
 THE ABDY HOTEL. 267 
 
 The Abdy Hotel is not a vulgar caravanserai ; it 
 deserves more than a passing glance. Let me take 
 you into the house ; perhaps you may hereafter be 
 glad that I have done so. Who can say what destiny 
 has in store for him ? If some day, weary of the joys 
 of this world, and wishing to renounce the fuss and 
 bother of existence, you would Hke to bury yourself 
 in a half-sohtude, while still residing in a city, you 
 had better come to the Abdy Hotel. Calm and 
 peacefulness seem to have taken up their abode in 
 this place, and never was there a dwelling so con- 
 ducive to meditation. 
 
 It seems, indeed, as if the fates had combined to 
 make of this renowned, frequented, and busy hotel 
 a silent and solitary retreat. In order to reach 
 it one has to thread a perfect maze of streets, cross 
 a labyrinth of places like courtyards, and pass under 
 a whole series of feudal arches. It is hke pene- 
 trating into some fortress ; which done, one finds 
 oneself in a wide space, shaded by fine trees, and 
 surrounded by venerable Gothic buildings. On the 
 right and left are ogives, turrets, dormer windows, 
 ancient gateways, venerable arcades, and archaic 
 gables, the whole surmounted by a spire, partly of 
 wood and partly of stone, called lange Jan., or ' long 
 John,' which terminates in a gilded weathercock. 
 This space is the courtyard of the ancient Abbey, 
 which was built by Bishop Gondebault, enlarged and 
 decorated by William II., King of the Eomans, and, 
 after the expulsion of the abbots and the departure
 
 2G8 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 of the monks, secularised and transformed into the 
 Court of Zealand. 
 
 We ought to be thankful to those who, while they 
 have adapted these ancient religious edifices to civil 
 purposes, have scrupulously respected their character. 
 They might have entirely done away with these con- 
 structions of a former age, and substituted sometliing 
 utterly commonplace for them. They have not done 
 this, and they ought to be emphatically praised ; for 
 although two modern buildings occupy the extre- 
 mities of the square — the Governor's palace on the 
 one side, and the Abdy Hotel on the other — and 
 injure to a certain extent the venerable effect of the 
 whole, the discord is not to be imputed to the careless- 
 ness or the bad taste of the authorities. The enemy 
 who has done this was fire. 
 
 Let us hear what the old authors — those who 
 continued the work of Guicciardini — say : ^ — ' The 
 said Abbey was a beautiful structure, which, by a 
 dreadful fire that arose in that city (Middelburg), was 
 almost entirely burned. Among other parts, the roof 
 of the church ; the spire of the tower, which was 
 lofty, fair, and straight ; the refectory ; the circuit of 
 the cloisters ; the kitchen ; the chapter-room, with 
 also the large and ample Ubrary, exquisite pictures 
 of great price, and altar-tables ; likewise several rich 
 vestments and jewels of the church.' 
 
 Blaeu estimates that more than two hundred 
 houses were destroyed in this terrible conflagration.'-^ 
 
 ' Edition of 1625. - Blaeu, Theatrum urhicum Belgica Fcederata.
 
 THE ABBEY AND THE STADHUIS. 269 
 
 The houses were rebuilt ; but the Hbrary, which in- 
 cluded precious illuminated manuscripts of the great 
 school of the Burgundian miniaturists, and the ' ex- 
 quisite paintings,' among which there must have been 
 masterpieces of Jean Grossart — the great Jean de 
 Mabuse, as he already wrote his name at that period — 
 for he was then hving at Middelburg, and he worked 
 for the abbots, were gone for ever. 
 
 The great clock-tower rose like a phoenix from 
 its ashes, springing again from the soil with which 
 it had been levelled, grander, more lofty than be- 
 fore. ' They have put a new cap upon the tower,' 
 writes Meteren, a contemporary of this resurrection, 
 ' which has cost — together with the large new bell 
 and so great and beautiful a horologe, that nowhere 
 can the like of it be seen — near to one hundred and 
 fifty thousand florins, according to the calculation that 
 they have made who understand the matter.' ^ And 
 now the great and beautiful horologe squeaks out the 
 hours, and at intervals of seven minutes drones a 
 fragment of a chant so Wagnerian in character, that 
 it makes the hearer keenly regret the wasteful ex- 
 penditure of good money, so long, long ago. 
 
 But we have lingered long enough in this historic 
 square. Its portrait has been taken twenty times, 
 
 1 In the works of the poet Cats, folio edition. The drawing is by- 
 Van de Venne, who lived at Middelburg at tbat period, and not only did 
 the illustration to this edition of Cats, but a number of other plates 
 from Pieterez van der Venne, then a bookseller in the town. See the 
 register of deeds, grants, pensions, &c. of the States General, at the date 
 of July 22, 1620.
 
 270 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 and you will find an original sketch of it in the 
 Kenderspeelen, and two or three curious views in the 
 Zealand Chronicles. The sketches and engravings of 
 the last century represent the square occupied by a 
 regiment of citizens in warlike array. Let us go into 
 the hotel and join our friends. 
 
 The Abdy Hotel, as I have already said, is not 
 an inn of an ordinary kind. It has no flaunting sign- 
 board ; there is nothing about it to attract the eye ; 
 one has to divine it, so to speak, behind the screen of 
 trees that hides its facade, and its name is written up 
 in letters so small that the inscription is hardly legible. 
 The house is clean, the rooms are simply furnished, 
 luxury is conspicuous by its absence. The Abdy 
 Hotel is highly esteemed in Middelburg, much fre- 
 quented by people from the country, and it is said to 
 be the favourite resort of commercial travellers, a 
 noisy and talkative class of persons in all lands. ^ 
 And yet, notwithstanding this, all is calm and silent 
 in the Abdy Hotel. It might almost be a deserted 
 house. Life within its walls is as regular as in a 
 cloister. In the morning people take their coffee ; 
 in the afternoon they dine ; in the evening they sup 
 on boiled eggs. Breakfast, dinner, and supper take 
 place at fixed and immutable hours ; and nobody ever 
 thinks of disputing them. If you were to ask for a 
 cup of tea at noon, it would be proposed that you 
 should wait until nine o'clock in the evening. If you 
 
 ' Especially in the Croyiyk van Zcelandd, by Smallegange, 1690.
 
 THE DIGNIFIED MYNHEER BULTERYS. 271 
 
 were to ask for a cup of coffee, you would be put off 
 until the next morning. 
 
 Observe, that the grave and dignified Mynheer 
 Bulterys is absolutely convinced that in acting thus 
 he fulfils all the laws of hospitahty according to their 
 most liberal interpretation. Stern of countenance 
 and majestic of bearing, he belongs to that class of 
 Zealand hotel-keepers who consider that they exer- 
 cise a priesthood rather than a profession. They 
 would be astonished if they heard themselves de- 
 scribed as dealers in soup and lodgings. They regard 
 themselves as members of an order of superior beings, 
 to whom Providence has assigned the beneficent office 
 of housing travellers and feeding the hungry. If 
 they accept compensation, it is merely that they may 
 not offend their customers, and if they fix the scale 
 of that compensation somewhat high, it is to show 
 that they take those customers to be both rich and 
 generous. 
 
 Observe also that, individually, I have nothing 
 but praise to bestow on Mynheer Bulterys. In my 
 favour he departed in many respects from rules which 
 his numerous customers regarded as utterly irrevo- 
 cable. On several occasions he made an exception 
 in my favour of which I am justly proud, and which 
 I esteem all the more highly, that other persons, 
 much more distinguished, and especially more 
 powerful, than myself, have not been treated with 
 the like consideration. The following anecdote will 
 satisfactorily illustrate my meaning : —
 
 272 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 One clay, while tlie Governor of the province was 
 still residing at the Abcly Hotel (the Government 
 House was not yet quite ready for him), Mynheer 
 Bulterys was announced, and addressed his Excellency 
 as follows : — ' Governor, you have a palace, and you 
 lodge at my inn. Many unfortunate travellers, not 
 so well off as your Excellency, knock at my door 
 every night, and I am obliged to deny them admit- 
 tance. Is this just ? I venture to put the question 
 to your Excellency.' 
 
 The Governor, taken aback, could only ask, 
 ' What do you want me to do ? ' 
 
 ' I desire,' replied Mynheer Bulterys, respectfully, 
 but firmly, ' that your Excellency should go and Hve 
 at your palace.' 
 
 Here come our friends ! Let us leave the old 
 Hof van Zeeland, not without saluting from afar 
 the hospitable mansion of the Governor, where his 
 charming family reside. I have a great affection for 
 them all, and hope it is to some extent reciprocal. 
 And now let us set out on our exploration of the old 
 city. 
 
 Middelburg, or ' the city of the centre,' is 
 
 a 
 
 handsome town, circular in shape, with a round space 
 in the middle of it, and winding streets outside of 
 this round space. The people we see in the streets 
 are round, affable, and kindly-looking. If you 
 examine the plan of the city, you will see that not 
 a street, a lane, a passage, or an alley in it forms a 
 straight line. If you look at the people, you will
 
 PREVALENCE OF ROUND FORMS. 273 
 
 not see one who has an ill-tempered expression or in 
 any way a disagreeable aspect. An old writer says 
 of Middelburg, ' It is a round-faced city ' ; and this 
 description applies as well to the people as to the 
 place. I like to dwell upon the curious analogy 
 between the curvilinear character of the city and the 
 affability of its inhabitants. Eight lines are some- 
 times impressive, but they are always somewhat cold 
 of aspect, severe, and rigid. Curves, on the contrary, 
 are never so. Is it a mere matter of coincidence 
 between these two facts of a different order, which 
 can only be expressed in the French language by 
 the same word {ronde), or is there interdependence 
 in it ? Does the roundness of the inhabitants proceed 
 from the roundness of the city, or, on the contrary, 
 did its architects desire that the capital of Zea- 
 land should justify the old saying of the country, 
 ' Goed rond, goed Zeuwsch ' ; or, ' Very round, very 
 Zealandish ' ? I cannot decide this question, and I 
 think it best to leave it in doubt, especially as the 
 roundness of both city and citizens may be otherwise 
 explained. 
 
 If we study the map of the city, as Small- 
 gange shows it in the fifteenth century, we shall see 
 that the Abbey forms a sort of nucleus in the centre, 
 that around this the streets are built in a circular 
 fashion, and lead to a rampart which describes an 
 almost perfect circle. Let us, then, take the map 
 published by Blaeu, which is exact and complete in 
 all its details. The primitive moat in the former has 
 
 T
 
 274 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 become the lange delft ^ — tliat is to say, the principal 
 road through the city — and the streets have been 
 made in parallels with this high road, and also in 
 curvihnear fashion. Even the canals partake of this 
 character, and the ramparts which enclose the city 
 complete the system of concentric curves. 
 
 The Abbey, with its rounded form, was, then, the 
 point of departure of the whole construction. 
 
 As for the roundness of the inhabitants, T think 
 they inherit it from their ancestors — astute traders, 
 who, being perfectly well aware that ' flies are not to 
 be caught with vinegar ' — that is to say, with a for- 
 bidding air and pinched faces — contracted habits of 
 sociabihty from associating with the foreigners who 
 frequented their city. Besides, we must not forget 
 that Middelburg possessed for four centuries the 
 Staple of the wines of France, and the ' puree septem- 
 brale,' as the cure of Meudon called it, has never dis- 
 posed anybody to melancholy and moroseness, but, on 
 the contrary, makes them frank, amiable, and jolly 
 companions. 
 
 Now the Staple exists no longer ; and the Wijn- 
 heeren, having come down from their pedestal, have 
 ceded the place to mere wine-sellers ; but the former 
 good humour remains, and the custom of hearty 
 welcome also. 
 
 We are going now to look for the Burgomaster, 
 Mynheer Schorer, at the Stadhuis, and for the Secre- 
 
 ' Literally ' the long ditch.' The word delft, which is no longer used, 
 was originally derived from the verb delven, to dig or hollow out.
 
 CHARMIXG COURTESY. 275 
 
 tary of the town, Mynheer van Stoppelaar. I am 
 certam tliat both one and the other will receive us 
 with a cordial shake of the hand, a pleasant smile, 
 and courteous words ; no affectation, no reserve, no 
 uncalled-for ceremonial, and that from the first we 
 shall feel ourselves on famihar ground and perfectly 
 at our ease. It is a pleasure to be welcomed after 
 such a fashion. And observe, this is not the rule in 
 the case of the chief magistrates only. 
 
 I remember one day that Constant and I, being 
 caught in a very heavy shower of rain, took refuge 
 on the threshold of a shop. We made ourselves as 
 small as possible (which was rather difficult), so as to 
 avoid being wet through, when presently the mistress 
 of the house sent her daughter, a pretty girl of six- 
 teen years old, whose blushes I can still see, to open 
 wide the door behind us. Was not this a charming 
 w-ay of offering us a comfortable shelter and saying, 
 ' Gentlemen, you are at home ' ? 
 
 We go by the lange delft to the Stadhuis, and on 
 our way we do not omit to admire several beautiful 
 fayades which still remain of old Middelburg. We 
 pass on the right an ancient but well-preserved, or 
 rather well-restored, wooden house; also one of stone, 
 terribly mutilated. Both are deeply interesting, but 
 for different reasons. The former is a specimen of 
 the ancient wooden dwellings that formerly adorned 
 tlie whole of the city, the other is historical. It was 
 formerly the ' tol ' of the Counts of Zealand. 
 
 On the left we come to a glittering facade, deco- 
 T 2
 
 276 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 rated with carvings and curiously mingled brick and 
 stone. This is called ' The House of the Sun,' on 
 account of a shining star which adorns it, and it was 
 formerly the dwelling of a great shipowner. The 
 star is a reminiscence of the bas-rehef which adorned 
 the poop of one of his ships. I should rather have 
 taken it for the house of an architect, judging by 
 the two medallions on the front ; the first repre- 
 senting an individual holding a compass, and the 
 second the same personage holding the capital of a 
 column in his hand. This house is a fine specimen 
 of Zealand architecture in the commencement of the 
 seventeenth century. 
 
 Also on the left stands the old French church, 
 and beside it the ' Bank of Loans,' originally ' The 
 House of the English and Scotch.' The ancient 
 ' Scotischhuis ' was illustrious in the commercial 
 history of the old city, and still retains the cha- 
 racteristics of its famous past. We cannot, however, 
 dwell on the architecture of all these dwellings, 
 however interesting, for in a few minutes we shall 
 be contemplating the beautiful Stadhuis of Middel- 
 burg. 
 
 This Stadhuis is a real gem. It, is, indeed one of 
 the most graceful and elegant buildings in existence, 
 not only in the Low Countries, but in the whole of 
 Europe. It is not of very great size ; it has neither 
 the majestic dimensions of the Halle at Ypres, nor 
 the grandeur of the Hotel de Ville at Brussels ; but, 
 with its two storeys and its elegant belfry, it is the
 
 THE STADHUIS. 277 
 
 model of what was called in the Middle Ages in 
 France a parloir aux bourgeois. 
 
 The foundations of the Stadhuis were laid in 1468, 
 and, if I remember aright, it took twenty years to 
 build. It belongs to what is commonly called Bur- 
 gundian architecture — i.e. to the florid style — some- 
 what tempered by the approach of the Eenaissance. In 
 its facade there are twenty-two apertures, ten on the 
 ground floor, ten in the first storey, and two in a 
 projecting gable which ornaments the left side of the 
 edifice. All these openings have ogives, and are sur- 
 rounded by a simple ornamentation. Those of the 
 first storey are divided by double niches, each con- 
 taining two statues, placed back to back, and standing 
 under a canopy which, being prolonged in the form 
 of a counterfort, rises to the roof. These statues are 
 twenty-five in number ; they represent the Counts of 
 Holland and Zealand. Above the windows of tlie 
 first storey are elegant ornaments, imitating panels, 
 and extending upwards to the edge of the roof, The 
 latter, which has twenty-four small dormers, termi- 
 nates on the left in the gable, enriched with niches 
 and pinnacles, which I have already mentioned, and 
 which faces the square ; and on the other side by a 
 gable surmounting tlie lateral facade, which opens 
 into a side-street. The external angle on this side 
 is masked by a tower, with a balcony, niches, and 
 a pierced pinnacle, constituting what was formerly 
 called the ' Breteque,' This beautiful fa9ade, in perfect 
 preservation, and in which there is not an ungraceful
 
 278 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 line, is surmounted by an elegant belfry, square and 
 massive throughout two-thirds of its height, after- 
 wards octagon-shaped, pierced, and flanked by four 
 slender turrets, resting on corbels. Were it not for 
 its bulbous roof, which was added after the building 
 of the tower, this belfry would be a model perfect at 
 all points. Even as it is it produces an excellent 
 effect, and is to be reckoned among the finest build- 
 ings in the country. In the interior is enclosed the 
 old bell of the city — the bell that called the citizens 
 to arms and the magistrates to council ; the bell that 
 rang for festivals, and gave lugubrious warning when 
 fire deepened with its baleful tints the colour of the 
 red roofs of old Middelburg, or when the watchers 
 caught sight of a marauding enemy from afar. 
 
 The belfry also rejoices in a clock — always five 
 minutes in advance of the hour marked by lange Jan, 
 This peculiarity, which is well known to the public, 
 has procured for it the nickname of gekke Betje, or 
 ^ Foolish Betsy,' on account of its habit of preceding 
 its Iqng and majestic rival in the march of time. I 
 need not trouble you with the recital of the adveji- 
 tiires that illustrate this nickname : it is clear that 
 ' Long John ' has not been able to regard ' Foolish 
 Betsy ' during so many centuries with total indifference. 
 On her side ' Betsy ' has not remained insensible to his 
 incessant contemplation. You may guess that a mu- 
 nicipal romance forms itself around these two stone 
 puppets — an inexhaustible romance, whose last chap- 
 ter cannot be written until one of the two love|:'S
 
 THE VIERSCUAERE. 279 
 
 lias fallen for ever. It is said that ' Betsy ' is threat- 
 ened with destruction. One of the magistrates told 
 me with profound regret that for a long time the 
 municipal tower has been in an unsafe condition. ' We 
 shall be obliged,' he said, ' to put new foundations 
 under it, or to pull it down.' This latter hypothesis 
 made me wince. ' Pull it down ! Could you think 
 of such a thing ? Cut the head oif one of the most 
 beautiful buildings in the whole of the Netherlands ! ' 
 ' It is very true,' he said ; ' but it would cost a large 
 sum to restore it ; and who knows whether we should 
 obtain the necessary credit ? ' ' You will obtain it — 
 I am sure of it,' said I. ' I could not suspect the 
 city of Middelburg of refusing such a thing ; the yery 
 doubt does it a gratuitous injury.' 
 
 The interior of the Stadhuis has been completely 
 restored. Pure and intact on the outside, throughout 
 all that portion which faces the square, it has under- 
 gone sundry alterations in the interior, which coincide 
 in date with its partial reconstruction and enlarge- 
 ment in the last century. 
 
 Only one portion of the interior has remained 
 almost intact ; the Vierschaere, formerly the Justice 
 Room, whose rich dark wood carvings have a truly 
 venerable and imposing effect. 
 
 On the first landing is a Museum, or rather a 
 treasure-house, composed of two spacious halls and 
 a long gallery. In its halls every object of art or of 
 value belonging to the past of the ancient and nour- 
 ishing city has been collected. We feel that the
 
 280 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 whole municipal life of Middelburg is represented 
 and, so to speak, embalmed in these rehgiously pre- 
 served works of art. The pompous name ' Museum ' 
 has not. been given to this collection of interesting 
 objects; it is simply called Oudheids Kamer, 'The 
 Chamber of Antiquities.' 
 
 The first hall is entirely hung with portraits. Here 
 we find the old corporation of the Kuypers and Wijn- 
 heeren which I mentioned in the preceding chapter, 
 excellently represented on panels, very well and 
 solidly painted. Look at those stern faces, those ve- 
 nerable figures, those personages all attired in black, 
 so grave and dignified, so proud and lofty of aspect, 
 in their huge wide collars, and you will acknowledge 
 that I do not exaggerate when I say that it is difficult 
 to believe ourselves in the presence of a guild of 
 mere merchants. They are much more hke an as- 
 sembly of royal councillors deliberating upon the fate 
 of a great empire. 
 
 Opposite to these imposing personages, who en- 
 joyed all the privileges of the Staple, hang the por- 
 traits of the brothers Evertsen, the victorious admirals 
 of Zealand, the naval heroes of Middelburg. There 
 are the brothers Cornehus and Jan, both sons of 
 the soil, ' born of a Zealand family devoted to the sea,' 
 as an old inscription says. They raised the supremacy 
 of their country to its highest point ; and after their 
 death Middelburg erected a superb monument to 
 their memory in token of its gratitude. This monu- 
 ment was at first placed in the Church of St. Peter,
 
 THE OUDHEIDS KAMER TREASURES. 281 
 
 but after the destruction of the ancient sanctuary it 
 was transferred to the Church of the Abbey. ^ Pre- 
 sently we shall see the chains which were given them, 
 the gold medals which were struck in their honour, 
 their insignia, their speaking-trumpets, and many 
 other souvenirs piously preserved by their descen- 
 dants. But before we leave this hall, which is 
 eloquent of their renown, let us glance at their illus- 
 trious relative, the son of Cornehus Evertsen, who 
 was also a famous admiral, and surnamed ' Keesje 
 the Devil.' '^ The gallery which we now enter is full 
 of curious and interesting documents, carefuUy pre- 
 served reUcs of old Middelburg, models of monu- 
 ments (among which is that of ' lange Jan '), and 
 statues of carved wood of great artistic value. 
 
 At last we reach the inner sanctuary, where the 
 books of the Guilds, the badges of the officers of 
 justice, the keys of the city, and the famous bell of 
 the Guild of the Kuypers are arranged in handsome 
 glass cases. Here also are goblets in precious metals, 
 each having its local interest or historical value as 
 well as its fine artistic form. Articles of furniture, 
 too — huge chairs, benches, credence tables and 
 doors ; among the latter is a portico, in three parts, 
 covered with fine carvings, and belonging to that 
 transitional period which j^receded the Eenaissance, 
 and which was so rich in significant and harmonious 
 
 ' Th.e history of the Evertsens was written in 1820 hy Mynheer J. 
 C. de Jonge, assistant archivist of Middelburg. 
 * Keesje is a familiar abbreviation of Cornelius.
 
 282 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 ornamentation. I should never come to an end if I 
 were to enumerate the various and interesting objects 
 in this collection. I think it better to refer all who 
 care for such things to the excellent guide-book drawn 
 up by Mynheer van Stoppelaar, in 1876. 
 
 Beyond this treasure-chamber is another room, 
 as yet unknown to the public, but which, I hope, will 
 soon be accessible to them : in it the business of the 
 Orphanage was formerly transacted, and at the be- 
 ginning of the seventeenth century it was handsomely 
 decorated with old wood-carvings. Since then it has 
 been the depository of the archives, and the carvings 
 have disappeared behind bundles of useless docu- 
 ments.^ Mynheer van Stoppelaar hopes to instal 
 the archives in another place, and, after having 
 restored the ' Chamber of the Orphans,' to use it as a 
 supplementary hall in the Museum. This excellent 
 and highly to be applauded project is to be accom- 
 plished by dispossessing the butchers of their present 
 quarters — a long vaulted hall, with ogival windows, 
 on the ground-floor of the Stadhuis, in which the 
 ' Vleeschhal ' was installed in the fifteenth century, 
 and where it has ever since remained. The hall 
 has preserved its ancient aspect, and is highly pictu- 
 resque, though few notice it, because of the ignoble 
 
 ' These archives are admirably kept. They have been catalogued 
 with extraordinary care aud erudition by Mynheer van Stoppelaar, archivist 
 to the city. The inventory has been published, and, as may have been 
 remarked, I have borrovs^ed very largely from it. It is an almost inex- 
 haustible source of curious and interesting information, which I recom- 
 mend to those who do not shrink from reading, somewhat dry and diffi- 
 cult, on account of the old Dutch.
 
 THE ZEALAND SOCIETY OF SCIENCE. 283 
 
 purpose to which it has been turned. It is to be 
 hoped that the transformation will speedily take 
 place, that raw meat will be dispossessed by the 
 archives of the city, and that a vast and beautiful 
 hall will be added to the Museum. 
 
 The collection in the Stadhuis is not the only 
 one of the sort in Middelburg. The Zealand capital 
 boasts of a learned society, a sort of provisional 
 Academy, which bears the harsh-sounding name of 
 ' Zeeuwsch genootschap den Wetenschappen,' or ' Zea- 
 land Society of Science.' This society, of which I am 
 an honorary member, has also formed a very inte- 
 resting museum, less distinctly local than that of the 
 city, for it extends to the whole of the province, and 
 comprises documents of the highest value. I need 
 not dwell upon the importance of this excellent 
 society, upon the services which it renders to htera- 
 ture and art, upon the quahties and reputation of its 
 members, but shall merely say a word about its 
 Museum and its Library, which are both very rich in 
 objects of interest relating to the history of Zealand. 
 
 The Museum is rather eclectic : a Httle of every- 
 thing is to be found there, from the altars of Nehalen- 
 nia, discovered at Domburg, to the Congreve rockets 
 with which the English fleet set fire to Flushing; 
 from the first microscope, invented in 1590, at Middel- 
 burg, by Zacharias Jansen, to the ropemaker's wheel 
 which van Ruyter used when he was apprenticed 
 to the trade of rope-making. There are, besides 
 tlie objects of art, some good pictures, a number of
 
 284 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 medals, and a collection of concliology and natural 
 history. 
 
 The library includes, in addition to a great num- 
 ber of solid works, every book, great or small, 
 ancient or modern, good or bad, written for the 
 young or written for the old, which treats of Zea- 
 land, and these form a very curious collection of all 
 that concerns the province, either nearly or remotely. 
 The greater part of these books are Dutch, but 
 there are a good many Latin, French, English, and 
 Spanish works. Among the ancient manuscripts 
 there are only two written in French ; one is entitled, 
 ' Toutes les notables histoires en brief qui sont adve- 
 nues durant le temps du viel Testament jusques k 
 I'aventement de nostre Sauveur Jesu Christ,' and the 
 other is called ' Les Harangues proposees par devant 
 les electeurs de I'Empire en 1519.' 
 
 The visitor interested in the past of Zealand, its 
 history and its variations, both physical and commer- 
 cial, will be particularly pleased with an immense 
 atlas, divided into twenty gigantic parts, and contain- 
 ing all the charts, plans, sketches, engravings, and 
 pictures of every kind which have ever been made 
 of Zealand and the Zealanders. You must know that 
 there is, probably, not a country in the world which 
 has had its portrait taken so often as this province, 
 and there is hardly a country which has given birth 
 to a greater number of little-known great men and 
 local celebrities. Not a town, a village, a residence, 
 a castle, a fortress, a dyke, or a monument could be
 
 SOCIETY OF SCIENCE LIBRARY. 285 
 
 mentioned which has not been reproduced many 
 times ; and there is not a burgomaster, an official, an 
 alderman, a baiUie, and especially a pastor, who has 
 not had his portrait taken, in full face and in profile, 
 in half and full length. You may imagine what a 
 formidable collection all these portraits make. 
 
 The documents they illustrate are counted by 
 thousands ; and the catalogue, a work which would 
 do credit to a Benedictine monk, contains more than 
 eight hundred pages of small text.^ 
 
 I turned over the whole of this collection with in- 
 finite pleasure ; but you need not be frightened : I am 
 not going to give you a detailed account, nor even a 
 superficial sketch of it. 
 
 From this collection of plates one curious and 
 satisfactory fact is to be derived. From the year 
 1750 down it seems that taste became completely 
 corrupt, and skilful treatment ceased to exist. Up to 
 that time the engravings, water-colours, and drawings 
 are all, or almost all, marked by a certain artistic 
 treatment, and they are really valuable both in con- 
 ception and execution. After that date they become 
 foohsh, vulgar, and rough, and display neither taste 
 nor art. What is the cause of this ? I can only 
 state the fact, but without attempting to explain 
 it. It is also curious to observe, and cannot fail to 
 strike anyone who makes a close inspection of the 
 streets of Middelburg, that, with the exception of 
 this well-preserved Stadhuis, the town possesses a 
 
 ^ This catalogue was drawn up by Mynheer R. T. Lantsheer.
 
 28G THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 very small number of works of art in proportion to 
 those which it must have possessed formerly. As 
 lilaeu remarked, its dwelling-houses, so early as the 
 seventeenth century, with half-a-dozen truly artistic 
 exceptions, were simply elegant, spacious, and com- 
 modious. 
 
 In addition to the Stadhuis, which is a gem, as 
 I have already mentioned, and the buildings of the 
 Abdy, or Abbey, Middelburg contains only one 
 edifice which is of real interest from an architectural 
 point of view. This is a two-storeyed house, well 
 known under the name of ' Inde Steenrotse ' (or ' to the 
 Rock ' ), which was no doubt built by a master stone- 
 mason, for the bas-rehefs which adorn it represent 
 all the different processes by which stones are con- 
 verted into edifices. The house belongs to the halcyon 
 days of the Renaissance in this country. It was built 
 in 1590. Although its mutilated gable has been 
 clumsily repaired by the substitution of a frieze a 
 century or two later in date, it is grand and im- 
 pressive. With the exception of this habitation, 
 which is perfectly pure in style, and the above-men- 
 tioned edifices, few buildings in Middelburg can be 
 called artistic. 
 
 The Exchange is curious, but its carvings are 
 clumsy. I have studied the church called the Dome, 
 or Cathedral, in all its details, and under every as- 
 pect, and I cannot see anything to admire in it. In 
 any other city one would be less exacting, would 
 be content with the existing monuments, and de-
 
 ANCIENT TAPESTRY. 287 
 
 lighted with the charming points of view, the clean 
 streets, and the shady quays, which have only one 
 defect — they are ill-paved. But from this city, once 
 so rich, so powerful, so highly privileged, more is 
 expected. 
 
 A similar observation applies to the art history of 
 Middelburg. No great school of painters, such as 
 Haarlem, Leyden, or even Delft can boast, exists here. 
 By making dihgent search you will find that three or 
 four meritorious painters were born at Middelburg, 
 where their names are no longer known. Jean 
 Grossaert sojourned there for a while ; Van de Yenne 
 lived and Bieseling died there ; but all these were 
 foreigners. 
 
 The only claim of the city to artistic fame of an ori- 
 ginal kind rests upon the tapestry works which existed 
 within its walls at the commencement of the seven- 
 teenth century. Judging by the specimens which 
 have come down to us, this was a great and noble 
 industry.^ The designers from whose drawings the 
 work was done were not to be deterred by any ob- 
 stacles, or conquered by any difficulty. Their patriotic 
 genius associated the labours of their art with the 
 glory of their country, and extended to the repre- 
 sentation of naval encounters. They even portrayed 
 whole squadrons. It is, however, for the magnifi- 
 cence of its borders that the Middelburfr school of 
 
 * The handsomest of tliese tapestries, of which there exists a very 
 interesting monograph, are preserved at Middelburg, and in the Nede- 
 landach Museum, at the Hague.
 
 288 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 tapestry chiefly merits praise ; it would be difficult 
 to find anything more beautiful in this kind of art- 
 fabric. 
 
 Specimens of these tapestries are to be seen at 
 Middelburg, in the Palace of the Government only. 
 The ' Hall of the States ' is hung with some of those 
 heroic designs which I have just mentioned, and never 
 were works of art more fitly placed. The Zealand 
 Deputies, while providing for the welfare of their 
 province, have before their eyes a memorial of the 
 glory of their ancestors and a sample of the industry 
 of their fathers. 
 
 There are some other tapestries in the old Zealand 
 capital, products of another country and another age, 
 but none the less precious and beautiful, and these it 
 would be unjust to leave unnoticed. I allude to the 
 marvellous ' Gobelins,' with which one of the walls 
 of the old Palace of Justice is hung, and which are 
 among the finest specimens of French manufacture 
 that have ever been produced. 
 
 They represent ' The Triumph of Alexander,' by 
 Lebrun, and were given by Louis XV. to the indi- 
 vidual who erected the building in which we see them 
 at the present day, and who had been ambassador at 
 the Court of France. The extraordinary state of pre- 
 servation in which they remain is due to their not 
 having undergone any change of place. 
 
 Evening has come, and the town is full of anima- 
 tion. The kermesse is in full swing — we must not for- 
 get that ; and, if those horrid paving-stones which I
 
 THE KERMESSE. 289 
 
 mentioned a while ago have not deprived you of all 
 inclination to take a walk, we will turn our steps 
 towards the Stadhuis. 
 
 The paving-stones are indeed cruel, and we may 
 righteously anathematise those who placed them there, 
 for they were culprits in a double sense. The eediles 
 of the present age are not to be held responsible 
 for the martyrdom we have to suffer. If they were 
 accused they would gravely reply that the instru- 
 ments of torture in question date from the fifteentli 
 century, and that the respect in which they are held 
 forbids their removal. And if you were to object 
 that their great age is not a sufficient excuse for their 
 defects, you would be informed that these historic 
 paving-stones were supplied in the good old times by 
 husbands who had failed to observe that curious in- 
 junction which we found, to our amusement, in the 
 Acts of the old corporations. When the dehnquents 
 were detected the magistrates sentenced them to 
 provide a certain number of paving-stones for the 
 town. After such an explanation we must not com- 
 plain — 
 
 Nos peres ont p^clies, nos peres ne sont plus, 
 
 Et c'est uous qui portons la peiue de leurs crjmes. 
 
 Let us, however, forget these cruel paving-stones 
 aWhile and observe the peasant women who are 
 flocking into the streets. They arc all arrayed in 
 their best clothes ; and the pretty girls, with bare 
 arms, tall hats, and gaudy liandkerchiefs, are adorned 
 with a profusion of jewellery. The young men wear 
 
 U
 
 290 ^ THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 shoe-buckles, waist-clasps, and large buttons in their 
 collars. The buckles and clasps are silver, and worth 
 from ten to fifteen florins apiece ; tlie neck-buttons 
 are gold, and worth fifty florins. You may judge 
 from this how well off these country-people are, and 
 why it is that there are so many jewellers in Mid- 
 delburg. 
 
 As we advance into the town the crowd becomes 
 more dense ; penetrating odours from the poffert- 
 jeskramen pervade the air, and joyous shouts mingle 
 with the groans of barrel-organs and the discord of 
 open-air orchestras, all performing with horrible per- 
 sistency, but without the slightest agreement among 
 themselves, the deafening and eternal 'Mandolinata.' 
 Never was there an air squeaked, piped, shrieked, 
 bellowed with such fury and obstinacy. All the 
 ' carrousels,' — so merry-go-rounds are called in Hol- 
 land and Zealand — the humble wooden coursers of 
 our fairs replaced by heraldic lions and hippogriffs, 
 under spangled canopies, and the revolving machines 
 gorgeous with pictures, lanterns, and looking-glasses 
 — .are provided with a gigantic barrel-organ ; and it 
 grinds out this inevitable ' Mandolinata ' without 
 mercy or intermission. Then, as though this madden- 
 ing music were not enough, the human voice comes 
 to its aid. We reckoned seven children in one of 
 these merry-go-rounds all screaming the wretched 
 song, translated into growling gutturals, at the utmost 
 pitch of their hoarse voices. 
 
 The scene is one of noisy gaiety ; and it would
 
 MIDDELBURfJ, BTHIXa THK KERMESSE.
 
 WE BEAT A RE THE AT. 291 
 
 seem that the deafening music, the constant repeti- 
 tion of the same tune, excites the placid Zealanders, 
 acts upon their nerves, and leads to a sort of intoxi- 
 cation, which is laro;ely assisted by wine and gin. 
 
 There is, however, nothing violent in this intoxi- 
 cation. In the whole of the great throng no fighting, 
 no quarrelling ever arise ; and if the young men 
 and the girls lay hold of one another it is merely 
 for the peaceful purpose of a kiss or many kisses. 
 Those groups of laughing peasant-girls who rush by 
 us, holding hands, are not in the least shy, and 
 advances would have to be very marked indeed to 
 offend their modesty. 
 
 Let us away ! This deafening music, the shouts, 
 the riot, the laughter, the buzz of voices, the procla- 
 mations of the conjurors and acrobats, the challenges 
 of the cheap-jacks, the whirling ' carrousels,' with 
 their crowds of riders mounted on mythological ani- 
 mals, and spinning round amid lamps and lanterns, 
 all reflected in the mirrors ; the glittering of the 
 spangles and the gilding ; the whole vast whirligig, in 
 short, begins to produce its effect upon the visitors. 
 The popular intoxication is catching : we begin to 
 feel inclined to make fools of ourselves also. Quick ! 
 let us begone ; or presently we shall be found astride 
 a lion or a panther, whirling round and shouting 
 the ' Mandolinata.' 
 
 U 2
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 ARNEMUIDEN — THE COUNTRY THE ZEALAND ' POLDERS ' SOUBURG 
 
 AND THE EMPEROR CHARLES V- 
 
 IE will now resume our journey across 
 the island. After all that I have said of 
 the connection between Middelburg and 
 Arnemuiden it is natural that we should 
 direct our steps towards the latter place, which is, 
 indeed, only half an hour's walk, through a beautiful 
 bit of country, from our starting-point. 
 
 There is much that is strange and mysterious in 
 the existence of Arnemuiden. That once powerful, 
 busy, crowded seaport, which was destroyed by the 
 waters ..and rebuilt at the rear of its former position, 
 is now a mere inland village, equidistant from the 
 Sloe Channel (the arm of the sea which in former 
 times bathed its shore) and Middelburg. Even the 
 little river Arne, to which Arnemuiden owes its 
 name, has disappeared amid the various transforma- 
 tions of the soil, and so thoroughly that any trace of 
 it would now be sought in vain. The Arne was not
 
 ARNEMUIDEN, 293 
 
 without importance in its day, for it was the medium 
 of the commercial transactions of Middelburg in tlie 
 dawn of its history ; and these transactions speedily 
 became so considerable that the Counts established a 
 ' tol ' at the junction of the Arne with the trenches of 
 the infant city. We have seen the remains of tliat tol. 
 Do you remember the famous house of stone— that 
 ' steen ' which we remarked in the centre of the town, 
 situated in the most frequented street, and now, oh, 
 vanity of vanities ! occupied by a draper ? 
 
 At the extremity of the Arne a few dwellings 
 were erected. By degrees a fishing population grew 
 up there, and after a while the settlement became 
 important. ' It was a fair village, with a castle, 
 having many ricli inhabitants, both traders and 
 others.' The first Arnemuiden was not destined to a 
 long term of life. ' By the violence of the course of 
 the waters and the impetuous waves of the sea it was 
 buried in the deep. The place whereon it stood, 
 according to all histories and all authors of maps, 
 cannot be otherwise seen or pointed out except be- 
 tween the port of Middelburg and the new Arne- 
 muiden, on a sandbank, tlie which now lies between 
 tlie country of Sankt-Joos and the canal of Arne- 
 muiden.' Thus, in simple, but exact language does 
 a witness of the first overthrow and ruin of the place 
 tell the story. 
 
 It was in 1438 that the ' fair and prosperous 
 village ' foundered in the sea. The seigneur of the 
 country, Gilles of Arnemuiden, succeeded in saving a
 
 294 THE HEART OF HOLLAXD. 
 
 great many of tlie inhabitants. He made them aban- 
 don the submerged district, which was shortly to be 
 notliing more than a dangerous sandbank, and esta- 
 bhsh themselves on the dam. Thereupon the new 
 Arnemuiden that we behold to-day was founded ; but 
 how changed from that which had been ! In tlie six- 
 teenth century Guicciardini visited the place. We 
 will let him tell us what it was hke at that time. 
 
 ' Eamue,' he says, ' is called in Flemish Arnemuiden. 
 It is the last town in the State of Walacria (Wal- 
 cheren). It is small, and not enclosed within walls ; 
 but its port is very famous throughout all Europe, 
 because of the great number of ships of all nations 
 which it receives every day, and also sends out to all 
 parts ; so that, many times in the year, fleets may be 
 seen coming and going from Spain, Portugal, France, 
 and England, to the number of thirty, forty, fifty, and 
 more ships.' 
 
 He also tells us that the little town is ' situated 
 marvellously well for the commodity of the sea.' 
 Around it there is a constant stir of life and labour, 
 for a dockyard has been set up, ' and they are always 
 employed there in building ships.' At length the 
 navigation of the port was so regularly established, 
 and its relations with the principal towns of Europe 
 became so frequent, that, in order to prevent disputes 
 between shipowners and sea captains, the distance 
 between the port of Arnemuiden and those ports with 
 which it was in what might almost be called daily 
 communication was geographically determined.
 
 THE DECAY OF ARXEMUIDEN. 295 
 
 From Arnemuiclen to London was reckoned at 
 forty-two leagues ; to Dieppe, fifty-four ; to Eouen, 
 seventy-five ; to Brest, 125 ; to La Roclielle, 172 ; 
 to Bordeaux, 211 ; to Bilbao, 226; to Lisbon, 380; 
 to the Island of Madeira, 480 ; to the Canary Isles, 
 580 ; and to go to Leghorn, in Tuscany, was reckoned 
 a sea voyage of 780 leagues. 
 
 The successor of Guicciardini (who continued his 
 work) visited Arnemuiden in 1625, and speaks with 
 no less admiration and enthusiasm of the town than 
 does the Florentine traveller. It is ' much cele- 
 brated,' he says, ' and recognised as a city by foreign 
 countries, such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, and 
 others, that is to say, by all Christendom, on account 
 of the great traffic which is done there, and the great 
 navigation from all places. Because of which, and 
 especially for its good situation on the sea, the Count 
 of Zealand formerly erected there the toll-house of 
 his county. This is the house that figures in the arms 
 of Arnemuiden.' The writer adds, further on: ' It is 
 also well built and very populous, and rich in citizens 
 and inhabitants.' What has become of all this splen- 
 dour ? Alas ! we must once more quote old Villon : 
 
 ]Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan ? 
 
 Destiny was implacable towards this unhappy town. 
 No sooner had it reached the zenith of its prosperity 
 than its port began to silt up. Sand and mud banks 
 heaved themselves across its channel, and could only 
 have been cleared away at tlie cost of immense labour
 
 296 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 and vast expense. Middelburg, with Avhicli city, it 
 will be remembered, Arneinuiden had ventured to 
 contend on several occasions, first tried to drive a 
 hard bargain. As the price of its aid it refused to 
 co-operate with its unfortunate neighbour, and at last 
 laid claim to its communications with the sea. A 
 canal was dug out which estabUshed direct communi- 
 cation with the Sloe Channel, and thenceforth poor 
 Arnemuiden was doomed to extinction. 
 
 From that day forward, in fact, its commerce died 
 out ; navigation ceased, the merchants departed, and 
 only the fishing population remained faithful to the 
 forsaken port. Its inhabitants, deprived of their 
 former employment, took to making salt ; then by 
 degrees agriculture claimed them, and now they either 
 work on the land and are called somewhat disdain- 
 fully ' peasants,' or such of them as have remained 
 fishermen visit the coasts of England and Scotland in 
 their flyboats. They do not bring the harvest of the 
 North Sea into Arnemuiden ; they unload their boats 
 at the mouth of the Maas or tliat of the Scheldt ; 
 faster sailing vessels carry the fish to Antwerp or 
 Eotterdam, or it is despatched by railway to Brussels, 
 Cologne, or sometimes even to Paris. 
 
 It is strange and sad to contemplate the town, 
 which was once an important seaport, in its present 
 condition of an inland village. The impression is, 
 however, lessened by the interest with which we fol- 
 low the course of the dams, the onward march of 
 those indefatigable pioneers, which have created a new
 
 THE POLDERS. 297 
 
 soil by their successive victories over the sea. The 
 gulf that once washed the coast of Arnemuiden is, in 
 fact, completely filled up at the present time. Golden 
 harvests are reaped on the spot where formerly a 
 forest of masts was to be seen. Seges uhi mare fuit. 
 In 1644 an immense polder already stretched itself out 
 in front of Arnemuiden and took as if in defiance the 
 name of the ' Polder of Middelburg ' (Middelburgsche 
 polder) ; and seventeen years later the Nieuwerkerk 
 polder completed the isolation of the poor town, 
 which since that year (1661) has been connected with 
 the Sloe only by along canal. In 1681 the polder of 
 Sankt Joosland added its fertile extent to the land 
 reclaimed from the waters ; and its prolific fields, re- 
 placing the sandbank of Sankt Joos, formeidy so much 
 dreaded by seamen, opposed a fresh barrier to the 
 encroachments of the ocean. Lastly, quite recently 
 (in 1857), the Rijlevelds polder, hitching itself on to 
 the point of Sankt Joos, has formed a sort of cape, 
 which, by stretching out into the Sloe, has narrowed 
 that ancient arm of the sea on which the formidable 
 fleets mentioned by Guicciardini once sailed, and re- 
 duced it to the condition of a sandy river. 
 
 We may easily understand what a community of 
 interests exists between all these strips of reclaimed 
 land. They depend in some degree upon each other. 
 If the latest spoils of ocean were to founder under the 
 violence of the tempest, those Avliich are immediately 
 behind would have to stand anew the sliock of a 
 raging sea, and might, perhaps, be unable to resist its
 
 298 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 terrible force. For the safety of tlie entire island it is, 
 therefore, necessary tliat the dykes Avhich protect the 
 polders, that series of ramparts erected by the hand 
 of man, should not be damaged at any one point 
 of their whole extent, and hence the necessity for 
 incessant watchfulness and tlie intervention of the 
 State, both as regards the new works to be undertaken 
 and the maintenance and repair of those which have 
 long been in existence. This superintendence and in- 
 tervention form one of the most important branches 
 of that water service which is called in Holland ' Water- 
 staat.' Like the French administration of the ' Fonts 
 et Chaussees,' the Dutch Waterstaat recruits its 
 superior staff from among the most distinguished en- 
 gineers elected from special schools ; and, as among us 
 also, these engineers, who are distributed over the pro- 
 vinces and districts, have a hierarchical organisation, 
 and are placed under the autliority of a superior ad- 
 ministration, which takes care that equal attention is 
 paid to all portions of this great public duty, and 
 creates the necessary unity and an indispensable cor- 
 relation between the works at all points of the terri- 
 tory. The engineers of the Waterstaat, like the en- 
 gineers of the Fonts et Chaussees, have the direction 
 of the great works of the State, the construction of 
 roads, gates, viaducts, and jetties ; but, in addition, as 
 I have just said, they are obliged to exercise a con- 
 stant and strict supervision over the dykes, and also 
 over the management of the polders. Nobody is per- 
 mitted, in fact, to create a polder or to execute the
 
 THE POLDER ADMINISTRATION. 299 
 
 works necessary for its preservation without having 
 previously submitted the plans for the approbation of 
 the Waterstaat ; and in order to render the interven- 
 tion of this superior court really efficacious the law 
 requires that the Administration of the Polders should 
 be subjected to a great variety of obligations, which 
 makes of that Administration a general public service. 
 From the President of the Polders, or Dijkgraaf (Count 
 of the Dykes), as he is called, down to the miller whose 
 business it is to raise the waters by the aid of his mill, 
 every member of the staff having the direction or 
 superintendence of the polders is sworn, every mem- 
 ber of the Council, every employe under their orders 
 — all, even to the lowest of the superintendents, have 
 fixed and precise duties which are imposed upon 
 them by the law, and which they are obliged faith- 
 fully to perform. In the same way the Waterstaat 
 may interfere when it thinks proper by prescribing 
 works of consolidation and by ordering indispensable 
 repairs ; this, too, with the certainty of being implicitly 
 obeyed. Thus, from one end of the kingdom to the 
 other, the central Administration, holding in its hand 
 all the threads which move its multiplied interests, 
 ensures the tranquillity of the inhabitants, and pre- 
 serves, so far as it is possible, tlie integrity of the 
 territory. In Zealand the inter\'enti()n of the Water- 
 staat and the Administration of tlie Polders is more 
 active than in any other province ; and this is ex- 
 plained by the nature of the soil, by the geographical 
 situation of its scattered islands, subjected on so many
 
 300 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 sides to the devastating action of the waves. The 
 story of the past is there to demonstrate the neces- 
 sity for this perpetual supervision. Those strips of 
 land, won and lost, then reconquered, and this over 
 and over again, imperatively demand the special 
 attention of the legislator. Thus we find in Zealand 
 a classification of polders which does not exist in any 
 other province. They are divided into two catego- 
 ries, the 'Free ' polders and the 'Distressed' polders. 
 The ' free ' polders are those which yield a return 
 from each over and above the cost of the works of 
 defence against inundation. The greater' part of the 
 inland polders belong to this category. Agriculture 
 derives considerable revenues from them ; and the 
 Administration, or ' Polders bestuur,' as it is called, is 
 obUged only to keep up the dykes, which separate 
 these from the neighbouring polders. Now, these 
 dykes, never being exposed to contact with water, 
 and not having to sustain the shocks of the sea, are 
 easy to preserve, and can be kept in repair at little 
 cost. The interior polders, therefore, generally re- 
 turn large profits and occasion but small expense ; 
 and are called ' free,' because, under the surveillance 
 of the Waterstaat, they provide freely for the defence 
 of their soil. The ' distressed ' polders are in a 
 totally different case. Generally speaking, the keep- 
 ino- up of their dykes is so costly that they can make 
 no return, and in some instances the defence of the 
 soil costs more than the soil produces. In the latter 
 difiicult case the proprietors, as we can see at once.
 
 A COMPLICATED QUESTIOX. 301 
 
 would be obliged to renounce their property and to 
 relinquish to the ocean that fragment of the earth 
 which it has cost them so dear to dispute with it. 
 This costly territory is, however, absolutely necessary 
 to the preservation of the neighbouring lands, to 
 which it acts as a kind of rampart. Without it the 
 district which lies behind the polders would be diffi- 
 cult to preserve, being threatened by the waves in 
 their turn, and would produce such small returnsi 
 that they would hardly cover the expense of de- 
 fence and repair. Then the Waterstaat intervenes ; 
 classes the polder thus circumstanced among the 
 ' distressed ' polders, levies a tax upon the products 
 of the soil, which absorbs almost the entire revenue, 
 and undertakes, in the place of its legitimate pro- 
 prietors, the task of its preservation. 
 
 I have endeavoured thus to explain as briefly and 
 as clearly as possible the complicated question of the 
 polders of Zealand. It is, however, hampered with a 
 crowd of prescriptions, exceptions, and rules, which 
 render it very difficult of comprehension ; and be- 
 sides it is far from being admitted to be of absolute 
 necessity in the other provinces. The proprietors of 
 the Dutch polders and the engineers of Noord-Holland 
 assert that the situation of the Zealand islands is 
 infinitely preferable to that of the districts which 
 extend from the extremity of the Zaan to the point of 
 the Helder ; and even the grass lands of Delftsland 
 and Westland, ' in these latter countries,' they say, 
 ' are really below the level of the low tides ; so that we
 
 302 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 require a whole series of elevating apparatus, mills, and 
 canals to raise our waters and to give them, in an arti- 
 ficial river, at a level above that of our meadows, an 
 inclination strong enough to send them directly to the 
 sea. In Zealand, on the contrary, the level of the 
 soil is above the sea at low water, so that it is only 
 necessary to open the sluice-gates at certain hours of 
 the day, and the tide Hows out directly and without 
 cost.' These arguments are not, in appearance at 
 least, devoid of foundation ; but, on the other hand, 
 the Zealand engineers assert that the division is just, 
 and that the intervention of the Government is abso- 
 lutely necessary. Now, as they are paid for being 
 better informed than anybody else upon the merits 
 of the question, it would be rash to conclude that 
 they are in the wrong. I do not pretend to decide 
 between conflicting opinions, still less to bring the 
 parties to an agreement ; I leave that to others who 
 are more experienced than I. 
 
 The keeping up of the means of defence of the 
 ' free ' polders is, as I have said, entirely at the charge 
 of those persons who are interested. The Polders 
 bestuur divides the cost among the proprietors in pro- 
 portion to the extent of land held by each. It is not 
 always, however, the proprietor who pays the money, 
 for it may happen that by certain clauses of his lease 
 he has transferred the burden of these obligations to 
 his tenant. This occurs frequently when the pro- 
 prietor is a foreigner in the country, and certain 
 wealthy Belgians who possess land in Zealand always
 
 OO^T SOU BURG. 303 
 
 take that precaution. The relegation of these charges 
 to the farmers has more than one drawback, among 
 others that of rendering the proprietor indifferent 
 to the security of the polder, and also of preventing 
 the great works of defence being carried out with as 
 much care and efficiency as they require. It is evi- 
 dent that a tenant whose lease has a limited duration 
 does not care to incur expenses which are meant to 
 secure the existence of the property far beyond the 
 limits of his own contract. He will naturally use all 
 his influence to limit the extent of the works, and will 
 frequently confine himself to mere repairs, when a 
 thorough renovation is absolutely indispensable. 
 
 While contemplating the charming country be- 
 yond Arnemuiden which forms the polders I men- 
 tioned to you just now, it is difficult to believe that 
 one is standing on land whose precarious existence 
 is at the mercy of a damaged dyke or a broken 
 sluice-gate. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the 
 road, shaded by great trees, which winds its pictu- 
 resque course from Middelburg to Flushing. It is no 
 less eccentric than the roads in the northern island, 
 which, being all perched up on the dykes and 
 overshadowed with leafy trees, seem hke roads in the 
 air. 
 
 About lialf-way between the two towns, perhaps 
 a little nearer to Flushing, we come upon a very 
 pretty village, thoroughly countrified, very Zealand- 
 like, with an old church and a sumptuous summer 
 residence. The village is called Cost Souburg, and
 
 304 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 was formerl}' celebrated for its castle. This was ' the 
 house of the old Admiral, Maximilian of Burgundy, 
 Seigneur of Veer,' as the annalist Meteren calls it. 
 Guicciardini describes this castle as a ' magnificent 
 dwellino-.' 
 
 In 1556 the Emperor Charles V., worn out by- 
 pain, sorrow, and who knows what emotions ? — per- 
 haps by remorse as much as anything else — dwelt 
 here for some time. He was waiting at Oost Souburg 
 for a propitious wind to enable him to embark at 
 Flushing for Spain, whither he was going to bury 
 himself in the cloisters of St. Just. Who shall tell 
 what were the bitter thoughts of this scourge of the 
 Low Countries as he walked in the shade of the 
 cool and leafy trees ? No doubt he remembered the 
 sanguinary ' informations ' which he had had drawn 
 up in 1542 at Middelburg and Arnemuiden ' against 
 the people of the Judaic sect.' Perhaps he also 
 remembered that he had countersigned that famous 
 document addressed by Ghyslain Zegers to the 
 Council, a document in which the terrible persecution 
 of the Anabaptists was prescribed. That was indeed 
 a sanguinary production ; neither sex nor age was to 
 be respected ; the child and the old man, the mother 
 and the son were to be dragged together to the 
 same stake : a horrible production, in which it is se- 
 riously discussed ' whether, for the multitude, it would 
 not be better to execute the said obstinate persons by 
 the sack or to have them put in a ship and let them 
 be drowned, than to decapitate or burn them all?'
 
 CHARLES V. 305 
 
 The inexorable old monarch must mdeecl have 
 been in haste to fly for ever from those Low 
 Countries, whose soil was red with the blood he had 
 spilt, to get away for ever from those Provinces which 
 were about, through him and his implacable son, to 
 be exposed to all the horrors of civil war. 
 
 Nothing can be more repulsive than the portrait 
 which Marillac, the Ambassador of France, painted 
 of Charles V. in his dechne, when a few days pre- 
 viously, he renounced the royal authority, in favour 
 of his fierce and gloomy son. ' The Emperor,' says 
 Marillac, ' has sunken eyes, colourless lips, a face 
 more dead than ahve ; his neck is shrunken, and his 
 speech is feeble. He is short of breath, his back is 
 bent, and his legs are so weak he can hardly move out 
 of his room.' 
 
 On that solemn occasion he was unable to speak ; 
 so it was Philibert of Brussels who explained the 
 condition of illness and suffering to which the un- 
 fortunate monarch was reduced, and announced the 
 unexpected resolution that was to surprise Europe 
 and astonish history. The Emperor himself speaks 
 in similar language, in that memorable 'Act' 
 which he dictated during his sojourn at Souburg, 
 ' feeling ourselves moved by many pressing and just 
 reasons, and finding ourselves too heavily laden with 
 the burden of old age and continual maladies, which 
 have lately brought us low, and deprived us of all 
 necessary strengtli for the management of affairs.' 
 
 What a sliipwreck was this ! What annihilation ! 
 
 X
 
 306 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 May we not say witli Seneca, ' Non est ilia magnitudo, 
 tumor est?' The document wliicli contains these 
 terrible avowals, ' given at Zuythbourg, in Zealand, on 
 the 17th of September 1556,' — a document which was 
 afterwards to render the name of the little village of 
 Walcheren illustrious — is the Act of abdication in 
 favour of his ' most dear and beloved brother 
 Ferdinand, King of the Eomans, of Hungary, and of 
 Bohemia,' who inherited the Imperial purple, while 
 the crown of Spain, to which the Low Countries was 
 attached, was placed upon the head of Philip II. And 
 yet, not all these woful acknowledgments, nor this 
 unexampled renunciation, availed to molhfy fate. The 
 Castle of Souburg, where the last act of the Imperial 
 tragedy was accomplished, was not destined to sur- 
 vive the struggle in which this pitiless policy plunged 
 the country. Being occupied, in 1573, by the Spanish 
 troops, it was attacked by the people of Flushing. 
 ' This,' said old Meteren, ' was one of those eminent 
 places which was disputed by all, as to which should 
 have it.' Being unable to preserve the Castle, the 
 people of Flushing burnt it ; and the inhabitants of 
 Middelburg beheld, from their rampants, the lurid 
 light issuing from that great brazier, which reddened 
 the distant horizon.
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 FLUSHING — MUTINY ON BOARD IN SEARCH OF A DINNER THE 
 
 BEGINNINGS OF A GREAT PORT — PHILIP II. AND WILLIAM THE 
 
 SILENT SPANIARDS AND ZEALANDERS — ■' THE BEGGARS OF THE 
 
 SEA ' — THE BOMBARDMENT GOOD WISHES. 
 
 HE land route from Middelburg to Flush- 
 ing is as pleasant and varied as the 
 sea- voyage between those two towns 
 is monotonous and dreary. Imagine a 
 great canal, sixty yards wide, bordered by two stone 
 dykes of such a height that the tops of a few trees 
 can barely be seen above them, and this wide water- 
 way extending, before and behind, far beyond one's 
 view, unenlivened by any object. Such is the ' Kanal 
 doorWalckeren.' You may suppose that there is not 
 much to amuse the traveller by this route. 
 
 The canal ought to be alive with a hundred 
 vessels, bristling with masts, gay with expanding 
 sails, and the floating wreaths of smoke from swift 
 steamers, full of sti^ and animation, but there is 
 nothing of the sort to be seen on it. Occasionally a 
 
 X 2
 
 308 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 heavy tjalk., and six times a day a little steamboat, 
 which plies between Flushing and the Zealand capi- 
 tal, are the things of life that walk these waters. 
 
 It makes one sad to think of the vast sums that 
 have been swallowed up in these works, and to con- 
 template the labour that has been expended, without 
 producing any apparent effect on commerce. Gigantic 
 sluices have been constructed at the two extremities 
 of the immense canal that leads to Veer, and a vessel 
 of any considerable tonnage passes on that side about 
 three times a year ! 
 
 In addition to the dreariness of the passage 
 through this melancholy canal, we had our full share 
 of the wet and wretched weather that distinguished 
 the summer of 1877 ; and, to crown our misfortunes, 
 our boat was in a bad condition, and our crew were 
 in a bad humour. Ever since our great sail to Ber- 
 gen-op-Zoom, the tjalk had been letting in water both 
 above and below ; eight nights out of ten we slept in 
 damp beds, and frequently found a couple of inches 
 of water in our cabin in the morning. 
 
 The insubordination, which at Veer had begun to 
 manifest itself in sharp words, steadily increased. 
 
 We ought to have used our authority and 
 threatened the crew with penalties, but as they 
 beheved themselves to be indispensable, they opposed 
 us with that vis inertice, against which the strongest 
 authority and the sternest resolves avail nothing. 
 Our chief anxiety on arriving at Flushing was to 
 ascertain whether, with a l:)oat in such a condition, and
 
 SUMMONS TO QUIT THE TJALK. 309 
 
 a crew in such a temper, we could possibly get on to 
 Antwerp. It was our intention to be present at the 
 celebration of the Rubens' fete. As we knew hardly 
 anything of the navigation of that arm of the Scheldt 
 called the Hond (or western Scheldt), and which was 
 our proposed route, we thought it well to consult a 
 competent authority, and we applied to the Consular 
 Agent for France, who took us to see the official head 
 of the Dutch pilot-service. 
 
 The latter personage came down to our boat, 
 and, having made a careful inspection of it, informed 
 us that it would be highly imprudent to attempt the 
 voyage we had projected, even in fine weather. ' As 
 for setting out in rough weather,' he added, ' that 
 would be worse than an imprudence, it would be 
 madness ; with a bad crew, you would never get to 
 Antwerp.' 
 
 As for the last month, rough weather has been 
 the rule, fine weather the rare exception, we were 
 greatly perplexed, and held a consultation as to what 
 we should do, and how we should act with respect 
 to getting rid of the tjalk and the crew. Heemskerk 
 had just offered to turn back and take the whole 
 concern to Rotterdam, when the evil genius of the 
 crew incited them to ,a proceeding which got us out 
 of our difficulty. The sailors deliberately struck, 
 absolutely refusing to do their work, and as we had 
 made no written contract with them, but trusted to 
 a verbal agreement, tliey summoned us to quit tlie 
 tjalk within twenty-four hours. The honest fellows
 
 310 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 fully believed that we were at their mercy, and were 
 rejoiced to think that they were putting us into a 
 difficult position, whereas they were, in reality, ren- 
 dering us a signal service. 
 
 Our plan was formed in a moment. We had the 
 boat taken into the dock, and we hired, from the 
 Company of the State Eoads, an empty van. Into 
 this we packed everything on board the tjalk that 
 belonged to us, and, having given orders for the de- 
 spatch of the van to the Hague with all our heavy 
 baggage, while we kept only some indispensable 
 articles as portable luggage, we bade a courteous 
 farewell to our quondam crew, who were greatly 
 astounded at this unforeseen result of their conduct. 
 Thus we found ourselves perfectly free from every 
 care and anxiety. 
 
 The question now was where to bestow ourselves. 
 A magnificent signboard induced us to seek hospita- 
 hty from the landlord of the Grand International 
 Hotel. The Grand Hotel was a very small one ; the 
 rooms were, however, clean, and that was the chief 
 point. The beds were of a humble description, but 
 there again we were not disposed to be exacting ; and 
 the people of the hotel were pohte and attentive. On 
 two points only there was a sensible deficiency, but 
 those points were important ; the food was scanty, 
 and the table linen stood much in need of the services 
 of the laundress. 
 
 We commented upon the latter fact, and were 
 informed that the napkins were changed at each
 
 THE HOTEL OF COMMERCE. 311 
 
 meal ! This we subsequently found to be true ; but 
 they were changed after the fashion adopted by Cap- 
 tain Pilmouche, in the old story which everybody 
 knows : 
 
 ' Sergeant, on Thursday, you will make your men 
 change their shirts ! ' 
 
 ' I beg your pardon, Captain, but that is impos- 
 sible, for they have only one each.' 
 
 ' There's nothing impossible ! The Colonel has 
 given the order.' 
 
 ' Very well, then ; they must change among them- 
 selves!' 
 
 It was thus that our dinner napkins were changed 
 at the Grand International Hotel. Afterwards, when 
 we found how moderate the honest folk who kept 
 the hostelry were in their charges, we felt that we 
 could not deal severely with their httle shortcomings ; 
 but, just at first, when fresh from the luxurious living 
 of our floating home, we were not disposed to make 
 allowances at the expense of our stomachs, and we 
 set forth in search of nourishment more attractive. 
 
 For a moment we thought we had succeeded in 
 finding the object of our search. A large and hand- 
 some hotel on the great quay, near the entry of the 
 port, bearing upon its fa9ade, the words ' Hotel of 
 Commerce,' in gigantic letters, was pointed out to us. 
 We entered a lofty and spacious hall, and received a 
 welcome of happy augury. The proprietor, Mynheer 
 Peelers, recognised us, called us by our names, told 
 us that he knew we were on the island, and was
 
 312. THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 happy to see us at his house, and added other com- 
 phmentary expressions. This was all very well ; but 
 when the question of giving us our dinners arose, 
 matters assumed quite another complexion. 
 
 ' There are so few travellers at tliis season,' said 
 Mynheer Peeters, ' that I have no table d'hote ! ' 
 
 ' No matter. You can let us have a private room 
 and a dinner all to ourselves.' 
 
 ' No,' said he with sullen gravity, ' that would 
 upset the house, and I don't want to have everything 
 turned upside down ! ' 
 
 I confess that I looked at this man with stony 
 stupefaction. An innkeeper refusing to let travellers 
 have their dinner ! My hands fell helplessly down by 
 my sides. Afterwards, a person to whom I related 
 this anomaly and our amazement, said gravely, 
 ' Peeters is well-to-do ; he is rich.' What a country 
 must this be in which wealth serves as an innkeeper's 
 excuse for such an answer ! 
 
 Under the shock of so extraordinary and un- 
 heard-of a refusal, our thoughts turned longingly 
 towards the far distant restaurants of our own Paris, 
 especially towards Bignon, that modern Vatel. But 
 we also felt that the good folk of Flushing have no 
 right to expect our sympathy with them in their state 
 of forlorn forsakenness. Addressing an eloquent 
 remonstrance (imaginary) to the collective inhabit- 
 ants of this exceptional town, we bade them desist 
 from vain regrets. ' Murmur not,' said we, ' nor make 
 dolorous complaint, on beholding the English, who
 
 INHOSPITABLE FLUSHING. 313 
 
 land at your new port, flee afar from the town, 
 without pausing even for one day within your old 
 walls, without displaying their astonished visages upon 
 your venerable quaj^s. They would be foolish indeed 
 were they to expose themselves to the refusals of 
 Mynheer Peeters, and to the pains of hunger into the 
 bargain, for the sake of contemplating the remains of 
 a place which they have so scientifically bombarded, so 
 skilfully burned, so conscientiously destroyed ! ' 
 
 And now that we are aware of the inhospitable 
 nature of the town, let us admire afresh the engineers 
 who have built the new port, the docks, the basins, 
 and the railway which belongs to tliem. They have, 
 in fact, executed all these great works at an immense 
 distance from the town itself, and have made difficult, 
 inconvenient, and hopelessly lengthy roads, by which 
 it is to be reached. No doubt this was done as an act 
 of thoughtful foresight, but, notwithstanding that proof 
 of sagacity, these admirable works have remained 
 unused to the present time. 
 
 What an astonishing and, still more, what a painful 
 spectacle is presented by that great empty port, with 
 its huge, inactive sluice-gates, its basins without ves- 
 sels, its docks without bales, and its solitary quays. 
 What do the destinies of a town, what does the for- 
 tune of a seaport, depend upon ? Tliis problem which 
 troubles the mind, one cannot ignore nor escape from 
 it, but neither can one solve it. 
 
 If there ever was in the world a seaport whose 
 situation would seem to ensure its being busy and
 
 314 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 IVequeiiled, Flushing is that seaport. It is placed at 
 the extremity of the Continent, at tlie mouth of the 
 Scheldt. It is easy of approach, has a commodious 
 harbour, open in all weathers, accessible in all 
 winds, and it is connected with Central Europe by a 
 railway whose branches join the great lines in Holland, 
 Belgium, and Germany. At the present time, as in 
 Guicciardini's day, it may be said that almost all 
 vessels coming out and going from the east, west, and 
 south have to pass by there. And yet, notwithstand- 
 ing this, the merchant fleets, which sail through its 
 roadstead, pass before its port, and either reascend the 
 Scheldt, or, putting out to sea, proceed to the nortli- 
 west or the south-west to discharge their rich cargoes. 
 
 From the beginning of its history fortune has 
 been unkind to Flushing. Middelburg was already 
 a large town, well known in Europe, doing a brisk 
 trade, and frequented by merchants of all countries, 
 while as yet Flushing was only a rural place, which 
 served as a passage into Flanders. It was not until 
 the middle of the sixteenth century that its seigneur, 
 Adolphus of Burgundy, incited much more strongly 
 by the desire to have a strong place under his con- 
 trol, than by any intention to create a trading port, 
 enclosed it within walls, and erected gates. But the 
 ships continued none the less to double the point of 
 Eammekens, and to navigate the difficult Sloe, in 
 order to make Arnemuiden and approach Middel- 
 burg. 
 
 In 1581 the Seigneur of Beveren, the last seigneur
 
 HISTORY OF FLUSHING. 315 
 
 of the country, having died insolvent, the two 
 seigneuries of Flushing and Veer were put up to sale. 
 Thus Wilham the Silent was enabled to acquire two 
 marquisates. He paid 140,600 florins for that of Veer, 
 and only 77,000 florins for that of Flushing. We 
 find, therefore, that the latter town was considered 
 at that period to be of just one-half the importance of 
 its northern rival in the island of Walckeren, and yet 
 no one failed in those days to recognise the advantages 
 of its situation. The writers of the period admitted 
 that Flushinof was ' accommodated with an excellent 
 port.' 
 
 Two centuries and a half previously (in 1315) 
 Count William II. had endowed it with privileges, in 
 the hope of attracting strangers. In 1485 the people 
 of Sluis had seized it, with the intention of fortifying 
 it, and settling in the island. Then, suddenly, after 
 having committed some robberies and a few murders, 
 they fled. The Emperor Maximilian resided there for 
 some time ; he liked the place, and issued certain 
 ordinances from thence under the heading, ' Gegeven 
 in ons logiz te Vlissinghe,' or ' G'iven from our house 
 at Flushing.' On two occasions Charles V. and Pliili}) 
 IT came thither to embark for Spain, and the old Em- 
 peror declared that it was ' a passage of such impor- 
 tance that by good right it might be called the key of 
 the sea of these Low Countries.'^ He even included 
 among his secret instructions to his son a strong 
 
 ' See in the archives of Middelburg, Register Puhliralion en Ordon- 
 nantien, at the date of 1488, No. 597 of the Inventaris.
 
 316 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 recomineiidatioii to ' be ciirefiil to guard that place 
 well,' and a map of the period, which may be seen in 
 the great Atlas of the Zealand Society, describes 
 ' Ylissinghen ' as ' the best and most commodious port 
 of the Island of Walckeren.' What is the explanation 
 of the curious fact that this loudly proclaimed supe- 
 riority has been from the first ineffective ? 
 
 After the death of Charles V. that faithful exe- 
 cutor of the paternal will, Philip II., resolved to 
 fortify the town. At the moment of his embarkation, 
 when he was going to take possession of the throne of 
 Spain, a sharp altercation took place between himself 
 and William of Orange, on the very spot where we 
 now stand. Philip reproached the Prince with placing 
 difficulties in the way of his policy, and William en- 
 deavoured to exculpate himself by throwing the re- 
 sponsibility upon the States. 
 
 ' No, no ! not the States,' exclaimed the sombre 
 monarch angrily, ' but you, yourself, you ! ' And 
 then, as if to render his answer more impressive, he 
 turned to the famous Pacheco, and said, ' Eemember 
 my commands.' ^ 
 
 Those commands were that Flushing should be 
 turned into a fortress of the ffrst class. In the fol- 
 lowing month the works were begun, in conformity 
 with the orders of Philip. The workmen proceeded, 
 
 ^ Mr. Motley says of Paclieco : ' lie was tlie chief engineer of Alva, 
 and had accompanied the Duke in his march from Ital3\ He afterwards 
 secured a world-wide reputation as the architect of the Antwerp citadel.' 
 The latter was, no doubt, the more urgent work (for which the fortifica- 
 tion of Flushing was abandoned) alluded to by the author. (Translator.)
 
 A WARM WELCOME! 317 
 
 iinder the direction of Pacheco, to make the excava- 
 tions for the erection of a citadel, but their labours 
 were soon suspended for lack of money, and it became 
 necessary to discharge the men. The learned engi- 
 neer himself left the town in order to execute other 
 works which were of more urgent necessity, and 
 when he returned, thirteen years afterwards, to re- 
 sume his interrupted task, he met with an ignominious 
 death on his arrival at Flushing. 
 
 During that long interval great events had taken 
 place. Zealand was ready to enter into open revolt 
 against the King of Spain. A few days earlier Brill 
 had fallen into the hands of the ' Beggars of the Sea,' 
 and the people of Flushing had celebrated that severe 
 defeat inflicted on the Duke of Alva with great re- 
 joicings. 
 
 Alva, who on learning this irreparable loss, resolved 
 to strengthen himself in the other ports of the North 
 Sea, so as to isolate Brill, and localise the devastations 
 of the ' Beggars,' sent quartermasters to Flushing to 
 prepare quarters for a body of troops. These quar- 
 termasters treated the population with their habitual 
 insolence and rudeness, and their exactions were out 
 of all reason. A tumult arose, the quartermasters 
 were seized by the people, and when the troops 
 arrived on the following day, instead of finding all 
 things in readiness, they were welcomed by cannon 
 balls.i 
 
 ' Mr. Motley, who quotes Roz as his authoiity, gives a diileieiit 
 account of this transaction in his Itise of the Dutch Republic. He says,
 
 318 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Stopped by the tide, unable either to advance or 
 to retreat, fast bound under the fire from the fort, 
 the Spaniards sent a flag of truce — its bearer being 
 obliged to swim to the shore — and promised, if the 
 fire was discontinued, to withdraw so soon as the tide 
 should serve, without attempting to disembark. The 
 desired truce was granted, and on the following day 
 the vessels sailed in the direction of Goes, where they 
 hoped to be better received. 
 
 The citizens, now masters of the town, fearing a 
 surprise and terrible reprisals, stood well on their 
 guard. The various companies took up a position 
 upon the ramparts, and mounted guard there, with 
 their banners displayed. A few days later Pacheco 
 and his staff of engineers appeared in the offing. 
 They were ignorant of the retreat of the troops, 
 and deceived by the fluttering banners, they thought 
 their soldiers had taken peaceable possession of the 
 quarters that had been assigned to them, and they 
 sailed briskly into the port. No sooner had they 
 landed than they were seized and thrown into prison, 
 where they lay until they were taken out to be 
 hanged. 
 
 after describing the Seigneur de Ilerpts harangue to the people: 'A 
 half-drunken, half-witted fellow in the crowd valiantly proposed, in con- 
 sideration of a pot of beer, to ascend the ramparts and to discharge a 
 couple of pieces of artillery at the Spanish ships. The offer was accepted, 
 and the vagabond, merrily mcimting the height, discharged the guns. 
 Strange to relate, the shot thus fired by a lunatic's hand put the invading 
 ships to flight. A sudden panic seized the Spaniards, the whole flee 
 stood away at once in the direction of Middelburg, and were soon out oi 
 sight.' (Translator.)
 
 WAIi BETWEEN' FLUSHING AND SPANIARDS. 319 
 
 In vain did the chief engineer to the King of Spain 
 offer large sums, not, indeed, that his Hfe might be 
 spared — he knew that was forfeit beyond redemption 
 — but that he might be put to any other death than 
 hanging. He was said to be related to the Duke of 
 Alva : the rumour was enough to seal his doom. 'He 
 had great regret in dying,' says Fran9ois le Petit, in 
 his ' Grande Chronique de Hollande et de Zelande,' 
 ' but especially in being hanged, and would willingly 
 have given a great sum of money, to have procured 
 that the rope should be changed for the sword. But 
 the citizens and sailors were so incensed against him, 
 that they liked better to see him dangling from the 
 gibbet than his money lying in their purses.' 
 
 From that moment there was waged between the 
 people of Flushing and the Spaniards a merciless war, 
 characterised on both sides by sanguinary deeds and 
 terrible reprisals. The Prince of Orange, on learning 
 that the town had risen, despatched troops thither 
 from Brill, and gathered the Protestants from all 
 countries to the centre of resistance. ' They received 
 thus some six hundred soldiers, some English, some 
 Walloons and Flemings come from London, and a 
 French company of close upon five hundred men, 
 with other forty French from Dieppe, to their suc- 
 cour.' Being thus assured of the efficient defence of 
 the town, the people of Flushing could thenceforth 
 give themselves up to all those enterprises wliicli their 
 adventurous spirit might suggest. 
 
 They selected for their admiral one Pietersen, a
 
 320 THE HEART OF HOLLAND, 
 
 desperate ruffian, whom Meteren, with true Calvinis- 
 tic indulgence, depicts in the following fashion : 
 ' This man was otherwise one simple to behold, but 
 who w^as in authority among his own people, and 
 those of the navy, for that he was a man of courage.' 
 Under Pietersen's command they cruised about the 
 Scheldt, stopping the merchant-ships, at first, limiting 
 themselves to taking their guns and ammunition, 
 but afterwards capturing the merchandise, confis- 
 cating the ships, aud putting the persons on board 
 them to ransom. 
 
 Before long their audacity knew no bounds. The 
 spies whom they employed at Antwerp kept them 
 carefully informed, so that, no sooner was an expedi- 
 tion despatched than they were ready to encounter 
 it with irresistible fury. Thus they dispersed the 
 squadron of the Count de Medina Coeli, and twice 
 prevented the fleet of Sancho Davila from revictual- 
 ling Middelburg. Immediately on their emancipation, 
 they became the terror of the Spaniards in the 
 Scheldt, and on the high seas. Extraordinary ex- 
 ploits, deeds of daring unheard of until then, became 
 mere matters of course. The chronicles of the time 
 abound in narratives of the memorable exploits of 
 these terrible men. One will suffice us, as an ex- 
 ample. 
 
 Meteren relates that, on the 14th of January, 1573, 
 ' taking advantage of the high tide and the darkness of 
 the evening, they set out with ten ships, sailed up the 
 Scheldt, passed under the Spanish batteries in full
 
 NO QUARTER TO THE SPANIARDS. 321 
 
 sail, and entered the port of Antwerp, where they 
 captured a number of merchant vessels, in the midst 
 of the enemy's squadron. Wliile the confusion was 
 at its height, the crew of one of the ships landed, 
 rushed into tlie town, set their admiral, Bouwen 
 Ewortsen, who was imprisoned in the house of the 
 Ecoutete, at liberty, carried off a certain number of 
 the inhabitants, and, at dawn, dragged them into 
 tlie boats, which profited by the current and the 
 wind, and put off with their prize.' 
 
 It was natural that such daring deeds should 
 spread terror everywhere. By those ' Beggars of the 
 Sea ' there was no quarter given ; they carried on a 
 war without truce or grace, a quite merciless struggle. 
 Meteren tells us that all the Spaniards who were taken 
 on the sea were tied together, two and two, with 
 then" hands behind their backs, and flung into the 
 water.' ' All the Spaniards who fell into their hands 
 on the land they hanged immediately, or else they 
 bound them together, two and two, and threw them, 
 living, from the top to the bottom of the rampart.' 
 
 Flushing took great pride in the universal terror 
 inspired by its formidable seamen ; regarding their 
 sanguinary fame as a fair title of honour, and wear- 
 ing it as a halo. Poets sang the praises of the 
 fierce sea-warriors. Here are couplets, two centuries 
 and a half old, which a Zealand bard puts into the 
 mouth of tlie warrior city : — 
 
 Y
 
 322 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 ' Partout on le soleil se mire dedans I'oude, 
 On a veu triompher mes belliquex vaisseaux ; 
 L'orgueil, qui pretendoit a I'empire du monde, 
 S'est uoy6 devant moy dans I'abyme des eaux. 
 
 * Ses navires voguans sur riiuniide campagne 
 Levent toutes leurs voiles an bruit de mon canon, 
 Et pour faire trembler le d6mon de I'Espagne, 
 il ue faut seulement que reciter mon uom.' 
 
 The celebrity of Flushing lies in this, above all, 
 that the town was a military port. It was admirably 
 adapted to be one of the advanced posts of European 
 commerce, but it became, by the force of circum- 
 stances, a sort of arsenal to the United Provinces, 
 and the only great men to whom it gave birth were 
 illustrious warriors. 
 
 After the two terrible admirals before-mentioned, 
 we must enumerate Worst, HoUart, Cornells, and Jan 
 Evertzen, whose tombs we saw at Middelburg, and, 
 lastly, the most famous of all the Dutch admirals, 
 Michael Adriaens van Ruyter. 
 
 These heroes were all born at Flushing, and 
 served their apprenticeship to seamanship there. Van 
 Euyter began, as we have already said, as a rope- 
 maker, and we saw the wheel in the Museum of the 
 Zealand Society, at which his master set him to 
 work. Afterwards he was a sailor, then a pilot, sub- 
 sequently a ship's captain, an admiral, and finally 
 Admiral of the United Provinces. He made the 
 voyage to the East Indies eight times, that to Brazil 
 three times ; he won three great naval battles ; and 
 he died at seventy, of the effects of a wound which he
 
 FEATS OF VAX RUYTER. 323 
 
 received before Aosta, in Sicily. His was a life full 
 of labour, indeed : Michael van Euyter well de- 
 served the statue that Flushing has erected to him, 
 and perhaps the resentment which the English feel 
 towards the memory of that great man counted for 
 something in the bombardment which they inflicted, 
 long after, upon his watch tower. 
 
 At every period of its history Flushing was a 
 standing menace to maritime Albion. We learn from 
 the annalists that, in 1576, its cruisers carried off 
 ' English ships laden with much precious merchan- 
 dise.' However well they were manned, they were 
 taken by force and carried into ' Ylissinghen.' It is 
 needless for me- to recapitulate the famous feats of 
 Van Euyter, or to dwell on the terror which was 
 spread over all the North Sea, and felt even in 
 London, when it was known that the Zealand fleet 
 had quitted its moorings. 
 
 Daring and bravery, which constituted the glory 
 of the men of Flushing in old times, still characterise 
 them at the present day. And at the epoch of the 
 wars of the Empire, the town of Flushing may claim 
 a large share of the dauntless deeds of that unequal 
 strife in which the continental navy endeavoured to 
 make head against the unrivalled fleet of England. 
 
 All readers to whom the history of the sea is 
 familiar know the name of Captain Niklaus Jarry, 
 the commander of the ' Vlissinger.' They also know 
 that of Peter the Turk, the commander of the ' Zeuw,' 
 and I am sure that the memory of the old sailor, 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Christian Coriielis, who, with Johan Koens, the cabin 
 boy, distinguished himself in tlie affair of the ship 
 ' Vriendschap,' is still preserved at Flushing. It is 
 for fame of that kind that Flushing cares above all ; 
 the faces of her old tars are those which she prefers. 
 In 1794 the portrait of Cornells was sold in the 
 streets, and a statue would certainly have been erected 
 to him had it been at that time tlie custom to bestow 
 statues on all great men. 
 
 Every medal has its reverse, and these maritime 
 and warlike triumphs were followed by a terrible 
 reckoning with fate. Flushing was about to pay 
 the penalty of its renown. The sea, jealous of the 
 great feats of the city, rushed into its streets and 
 swallowed up one-half of it, and then the English 
 came and burned down all that remained. In 1808 
 the first catastrophe, the terrible inundation, took 
 place. On the 15th of January the water rose in 
 the streets to the height of the first floors of the 
 houses, the people went about in boats ; the damage 
 done was immense. The following year, just when 
 that disaster was almost repaired, and the city was 
 beginning to look like itself again, the English fleet 
 appeared in the offing, and the bombardment began. 
 
 That was a terrible bombardment. Bombshells, 
 Congreve rockets, and red-]iot bullets rained upon 
 the unhappy town ; in an instant the whole place 
 was on fire. A series of very curious engravings has 
 preserved tlie memory of the different phases of this 
 bombardment, which was unprecedented in the his-
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE STADHUIS. 325 
 
 tory of Holland, and I do not know any more sad 
 and grievous spectacle. Hundreds of houses were 
 destroyed by the bombshells, the churches were bat- 
 tered by the bullets, the Congreve rockets set fire to 
 whole quarters of the town, but the most terrible of 
 all these disasters was the complete destruction of 
 the Stadhuis. 
 
 This, according to Meteren, who watched the 
 progress of building, was an elegant edifice of grey 
 cut stone. Engravings still in existence prove that it 
 was correctly classed among the finest buildings in the 
 country. It consisted of two storeys, raised upon a 
 basement, with rustic arches. Tlie facade was com- 
 posed of a projecting building, terminating in a 
 pinnacle, and adorned, according to the taste of the 
 time, with a curious assemblage of syrens, pyramids, 
 and emblematical, mythological, and allegorical de- 
 vices. The two wings had five projecting windows 
 in each storey, and the apertures were separated by 
 handsome pilasters. The whole bore a resemblance 
 to the Hotel de Ville at Antwerp, and formed a fine 
 and effective monument. 
 
 This handsome Stadhuis had been built during the 
 occupation of the English, when Flushing, together 
 with Brill, were pledged for sums lent by the crown 
 of England, and the cannon which reduced it to ashes 
 were EngHsh. Poor Stadhuis ! On its site there now 
 stands a private dwelHng-house, also ancient, and of 
 a grave and handsome aspect, but not in the least 
 monumental.
 
 326 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 The new Stadhiiis, witli another house which 
 faces it, and is called the ' House of the Statues,' on 
 account of certain gods and goddesses on the top of 
 it, furnishes a noble and interesting specimen of the 
 arcliitecture of Zealand in the eighteenth century. 
 In tliis sense it merits the attention of the archasolo- 
 gist, but there is nothing remarkable in its interior. 
 On the second storey there is a sort of treasure-room ; 
 it contains some curious old articles in silver, some of 
 them historic pieces, and a silver bottle which is pre- 
 cious in every sense. It is to this that the city, it is 
 said, owes its name. The Flemish word for bottle is 
 ' flesch ' (pronounced ' fless '), hence Flessingen. This 
 is simple, indeed it is too simple, for I remember to 
 have read in an old manuscript that the town was 
 founded and named by a certain Walchrinus, Prince 
 01 the Belga3, five hundred years B.C., while the 
 bottle in question is considerably more modern, hav- 
 ing been brought into the country by St. Willibrod, 
 1200 years at least after the disappearance of the 
 problematical Walchrinus. 
 
 The bottle that is exhibited to the visitor is, most 
 probably, only a silver case enclosing another flask, 
 for I do not suppose such antiquity as that of the 
 seventh century is claimed for this piece of silver- 
 smith's handiwork. It is certainly ancient ; but its 
 ornamentation with fantastic animals, curious foliage, 
 monkeys playing the guitar, and other strange designs, 
 goes no farther back than the fourteenth or fifteenth 
 century.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF FLUSHIXG. ' 327 
 
 After what I have said of the bombardment of 
 Fhishing, no one will be surprised to learn that ancient 
 monuments are rare in the city. Only a few remain 
 standing, I mean of such as are worthy of study. 
 The battered churches are not very interesting ; two 
 or three handsome houses, and the Exchange, a 
 brightly-tinted, picturesque little building, are nearly 
 all that are worth seeing and remembering. 
 
 On the other hand. Flushing abounds in charming 
 points of view. Its streets, which are scrupulously 
 clean, are sufficiently irregular to aiford great variety 
 of aspect ; and it has nooks and corners, especially be- 
 yond the old port, which are not surpassed for warm 
 and bright colouring, and quaint, varying lines, by any 
 other nooks in Holland. 
 
 Flushing is a place in which it would be very 
 pleasant to reside for some time, if only one could 
 get better food, and get it more easily, and also if 
 there were a little more animation there. And yet, 
 even in these respects, one may come to an arrange- 
 ment with heaven — I mean with one's stomach and 
 one's eyes. After a few days, we succeeded in disco- 
 vering a confectioner, who turned out to be a first- 
 rate cook. The worthy Ouverkerke — let me give him 
 his name — consented, at the price of mucli money, to 
 furnish us with some delicious httle clandestine din- 
 ners ; and, though the quays are solitary, and the 
 great basins of the port are empty, there is the road- 
 stead to contemplate, while one strolls upon the old 
 bastions ; and it, at least, is always animated.
 
 328 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 That very animation is a source of vexation rather 
 than gladness to the people of Flushing. They 
 bemoan themselves that, from the heights of those 
 once illustrious ramparts, they are compelled to be- 
 hold innumerable ships pause for a moment in 
 the offing, take up a pilot, and then sail on towards 
 the north or the east, to discharge the wealth with 
 which they are laden at Antwerp or Rotterdam. 
 With true Batavian tenacity they still chng to the 
 hope of overcoming this disheartening indifference. 
 In vain does the enormous port remain empty, in 
 vain do the vast basins and gigantic docks remain 
 deserted ; in vain do the colossal sluice-gates, ever 
 inactive, rest motionless upon their sturdy hinges. Not 
 for such reasons as these are settled plans to be 
 abandoned, or works begun to be suspended. While 
 we were staying at Flushing some millions were 
 being expended on the construction of another sluice- 
 gate, ' so that if one of those that give access to the 
 new port should be out of order, another issue may 
 be provided by which ships can either enter or get 
 out of the Walcheren canal.' In the face of the total 
 absence of any ships whatever, this appeared to us 
 to be a superfluity of foresight. Nevertheless, who 
 can tell what the future has in reserve? For my 
 own part, I hope with all my heart, that the future 
 of Flushing is charged with the reahsation of these 
 patriotic previsions,
 
 THE EXmi.VNfiE AT FLUSHING
 
 CHAPTEK XVII. 
 
 THE RAGE OF THE SCHELDT BRESKENS — FORT NAPOLEON — GROEDE 
 
 THE FLEMISH NOSE — AXEL SIEGES AND PITCHED BATTLES — 
 
 'dura lex' HULST THE VIRTUES OP A PEOPLE FLEMISH 
 
 FIDELITY. 
 
 HAVE just said that the roadstead of 
 Flushing presents an animated aspect ; 
 I ought to add, that the kind of promon- 
 tory formed by the town, and the dams 
 which flank that promontory on both sides, form one 
 of the most picturesque landscapes in the whole 
 country. 
 
 From whatever side we contemplate the city from 
 the dykes, its brown profile, thrown out against a 
 silver sky, is beautiful and impressive. The massive 
 towers, the slender spires, the bright coloured houses, 
 the windmills, with their great sails, tlie grassy 
 bastions, and the tops of the lofty trees, which rise 
 above the ramparts and the roofs, mingling their 
 irregular lines and combining their brilliant hues, 
 form a whole gallery of pictures, ever varying and 
 always attractive.
 
 330 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Again, when we look towards the roadstead, over 
 tliat hnmense opahne basm, bordered on tlie horizon 
 by a thin, almost imperceptible, grey line, the contrast 
 is so striking that we ask, in a sort of amazement, 
 how those bright patches of verdure, those walls of 
 dark red brick, those masses of black basalt, those 
 tarred piles, in a word — all this amalgam of intense 
 colours, can start up from an iridescent sea of pearl 
 and silver ? 
 
 This is on fine days, you must remember. Let 
 the weather become bad, and the spectacle changes. 
 Then the tempest lets loose all its fury on the vast 
 estuary. The coasts and the dykes echo afar its 
 mournful lamentations. The Scheldt, waiting to 
 escape, meets the ocean, which bars its way, and all 
 nature seems to join in the equatic strife, of which 
 man, in spite of his ships of iron and of wood, is 
 sometimes the victim, and frequently the toy. 
 
 To the kindness of M. Verbrughe, the chief of 
 the Belgian pilot-service, we owed the opportunity 
 of being actually present at one of these dangerous 
 battles. 'I have a sloop to try, to-morrow,' he had 
 said to me the day before. 'It will be a rough busi- 
 ness, for the sea will be boisterous. Will you join 
 the party?' We eagerly accepted his invitation. 
 
 I must inform you, in the first place, that the 
 sloops belonging to the Belgian pilot-service are 
 small masterpieces of construction, models of mari- 
 time cabinet-making, bits of jewellers' work in 
 polished planks and copper bolts ; tightness, strength,
 
 TRIAL OF A NEW SLOOP. 331 
 
 and elegance are all combined in them. On this 
 occasion, the crew were all picked men, pilots and 
 student pilots , all men of tried courage and expe- 
 rience, famiUar with the sea, and who capped physi- 
 cal courage with moral energy. 
 
 We set out, a party of ten, in that undecked 
 sloop, and commenced a giddy course upon the tur- 
 bulent arm of the sea. Our bark seemed to fly upon 
 the summit of the waves, which were not indeed of 
 an extraordinary height, but the violence of the cur- 
 rent was such that we were all aware of a terrible 
 latent danger. At one moment we skimmed by a 
 mass of wreckage, in less than a second it was swept 
 away to such a distance that we could hardly discern 
 it. 
 
 ' If anyone were to fall overboard,' said M. Ver- 
 brughe to me at the same instant, ' it would be use- 
 less to try to recover him. We ^hould never be able 
 to reach him.' 
 
 Then we understood why the chief of the Dutch 
 pilot-service had so strongly urged me to be prudent, 
 and had dissuaded us from undertaking this dange- 
 rous crossing in our little tjalk. It was not, however, 
 until we were returning that we had a full experience 
 of the violence of the waves and the currents at the 
 mouth of the Houd. At that moment we had every- 
 thing in our favour — wind, tide, and current. ' Look 
 quickly at your watches,' said our captain, as we 
 were passing alongside a huge buoy, ' we are now 
 eleven kilometers from Flushing.' We looked at our
 
 332 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 watches ; it was ten iniiuites past one o'clock. At 
 thirty-five minutes past we were inside the stockade 
 on tlie arrival side. We had done eleven kilometers 
 in twenty-five minutes.^ 
 
 At first, I must confess, we thought this statement 
 was either an error, or a jest at the expense of our 
 credulity, so fantastic did our course seem to have 
 been. But when we afterwards measured it upon the 
 chart, we found that we had not been deceived, and 
 we yielded to evidence. Then Constant and I re- 
 membered that at one moment during that bewilder- 
 ing voyage, we had looked steadfastly at the town 
 towards which we were being driven by all the 
 strength of our sails, and all the force of the current, 
 and seen it grow large in an astonishing manner, like 
 those dioramic pictures which seem to spring at the 
 spectators. This impression, coming to the aid of a 
 reckoning which was not to be impeached, convinced 
 us that we had just accomplished the most marvellous 
 voyage that we ever in our lives should have the 
 chance of making. 
 
 During our stay at Flushing we made several 
 excursions on the Scheldt, but I must say that not 
 one of them left us such impressive memories. On 
 the other occasion the weather was calmer, and the 
 waves in their ordinary condition. We visited the 
 opposite bank, landing at Breskens, and making an 
 excursion from thence into the Flemish portion of 
 the Zealand provinces. 
 
 > Eight kilometers make five English miles.
 
 THE FORT OF BRFSKENS. 333 
 
 The country is interesting, rich, fertile, and care- 
 fully cultivated, but it struck us that it has lost that 
 special distinctive character which is so remarkably 
 preserved in Walcheren and North and South Beve- 
 land. The highroads have, besides, a totally different 
 aspect ; they are wider and straighter, and, although 
 they are shaded here and there by pine trees, they 
 have not that resemblance to the avenues of a vast 
 park which characterizes the other parts of the 
 country. On each side are quickset hedges, forming 
 a natural barrier, but the most striking feature is that 
 the roadway is occasionally below the fields which 
 border upon it. The opposite is the case in the 
 islands, especially in Zuidbeveland, where all the 
 roads are made upon the dykes, and overlook the 
 surrounding country. 
 
 The houses also have a different aspect. They 
 are not yet the houses of Flanders, but they are no 
 longer those of Zealand ; and, if I were to compare 
 them with the habitations of any other country, I 
 should say that they resemble the small houses and 
 cottages in the country districts of England. As for 
 tlie inhabitants, we saw so few of them that we should 
 fuid it difficult to tell what they are like. 
 
 The principal curiosity of Breskens is its fort. 
 The position of that village at the extreme point of 
 Flanders, jutting out into the Iloud, and forming a 
 pendant to Flushing on the other shore of tlie Scheldt, 
 clearly indicated that a redoubt ought to be estab- 
 lished there. It is evident that tlie cross-fire from
 
 334 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 the great Zealand port and the village which faces it 
 would command the passage and forbid the entry into 
 the river. Nevertheless, it was only under Stadholder 
 Frederick Henry that the idea of utilising the excep- 
 tionally advantageous situation was entertained, and 
 that a battery was constructed there. 
 
 Before long the closing of the Scheldt rendered 
 those works useless, and the bastions which had been 
 constructed were allowed to fall into ruin. 
 
 The project was resumed at the end of the last 
 century, during the strife between Napoleon and Eng- 
 land, a period which is still called in Zealand ' den 
 Franschen tijd,' or ' the French time.' The Emperor, 
 who wanted to make the Scheldt inaccessible to the 
 English fleets, had a casemated battery constructed 
 at Breskens in all haste, and called by his own name. 
 For ten years it was called ' Fort Napoleon.' In 1835 
 the Government of the Netherlands, desirous in its 
 turn to have the navigation of the Houd under its con- 
 trol, enlarged and strengthened this fortress, which, 
 after 1815, had laid aside its imperial designation, and 
 assumed the more modest appellation of Fort Breskens. 
 
 And now this poor fort is again abandoned and 
 falling once more into ruin. On the top of its case- 
 mates vulgar potatoes grow, and its ancient chambers 
 are used by the peasant, who rents the place, as store- 
 rooms for his hay and dried peas. Sic transit gloria ! 
 That of war as well as every other kind, and perhaps 
 more quickly than any. And thus it is that, owing 
 to its novel distinction, Fort Breskens constitutes the
 
 THE VILLAGE OF GIWEDE. 335 
 
 counterpart of that sentimental and heroic story, ' Le 
 Soldat-Laboureiir.' 
 
 The village formerly guarded by Fort Breskens is 
 neither large nor populous, but in respect to cleanli- 
 ness it belongs absolutely to Zealand. The wide high 
 street is kept with scrupulous care, and some of its 
 curiously built houses, together with the blacksmith's 
 forges set up in the high street, and surmounted by 
 fantastic weathercocks, remind one of a whole series 
 of pictures of the old Dutch school, more especially of 
 ' The Halt ' and ' The Forge,' by Wouvermans. 
 
 Groede, our next station, is situated at the dis- 
 tance of a full league inland. It is also a village, 
 but larger and more populous, no less clean, no less 
 scrupulously cared for, with tolerably straight streets, 
 sharp-pointed paving stones, brick houses, an old 
 church, in the centre of a square space, and an inn 
 next door to the church. 
 
 The whole of this rustic scene presents a peaceful, 
 comfortable, prosperous aspect. One's mind reposes 
 in the midst of such cosy tranquilhty, painful thoughts 
 depart, and a gentle serenity takes their place. Per- 
 haps this sense of quietude, so difficult to define, may 
 arise from the apparent impossibihty that there can 
 be any poor or distressed persons in such a fair and 
 prosperous place. 
 
 We made a brief halt at the inn, or rather in its 
 courtyard, where we sat at a rickety table, and had 
 the fag end of an orchard to look at. We ate fresh 
 bread and drank new milk, and the old hostess sea-
 
 336 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 soned our modest repast with some sprightly talk, 
 ■\vliich afforded us no little amusement. I shall never 
 forget that scene, nor the warm, bright sunshine which 
 gilded it. The courtyard, wdth its picturesque dis- 
 order, the whitewashed walls, the tall red roof, the 
 old pear-tree, laden with green fruit, the linen spread 
 out to dry on the fence, the little pails of shining 
 metal in a corner, and the old peasant woman, smiling 
 and chattering ; all this made up a picture worthy of 
 the palette of Johannes Verineer. 
 
 We ate the bread, we drank the milk, we ex- 
 changed friendly farewells with our hostess, and then 
 we resumed our way towards Breskens and our boat. 
 Our visit to Groede was, however, marked by one 
 last incident. As we passed before a school, an ex- 
 cellent specimen of building^ I assure you it unfortu- 
 nately occurred to look in at the windows. Then 
 uprose all the pupils, every eye was turned on us, 
 arms were raised, hands were waved, and tongues 
 began to wag. In vain did the venerable ' magister ' 
 strive to recall the wandering attention of his pupils ; 
 expressive gestures and loud tones equally failed to 
 produce any effect, and we were fain to hide our- 
 selves as quickly as j^ossible from the curiosity of the 
 children, lest they should have to suffer for our un- 
 lucky intrusion on their studies. 
 
 Our last excursion on the Western Scheldt brought 
 us, with all our belongings, to Ter Neuzen. We had 
 to cross the Channel in order to continue our route 
 from thence. I need not dwell on this arm of the
 
 LAXDING AT TEE NEUZEN. 3 37 
 
 river, as I have already said enough about it. Our 
 passage was made in a saihng boat, very prosperously, 
 in perfectly calm weather, and without accident of 
 any kind ; unless indeed we were to count the com- 
 plete absence of wind as an accident, for it obhged 
 us to pass half the day in the channel, while, with a 
 good wind, we could have crossed easily in two, or 
 at the most three, hours. 
 
 As it was quite dark when we landed at Ter 
 Neuzen, we had to seek a lodging at once, post- 
 poning our inspection of the town to the following 
 day. It does not take long to see Ter Neuzen, nor 
 is there much to interest the visitor. If I were to 
 be assured that it is destined to become an impor- 
 tant place, I should readily believe it, because its 
 position, at the furthermost point of Flanders, and 
 also the canal which connects it with Ghent, pro- 
 mise a prosperous commercial future. But that Ter 
 Neuzen should become a great city seems to me an 
 impossibihty. There is nothing in it to constitute 
 the beginnings of a great city ; not a monument, not 
 a street, not a square, not an indication that any 
 such lofty destiny awaits the town. 
 
 The narrow and small way of life of its population, 
 formed of pilots, purveyors, and seamen, is expressed 
 in the scanty proportions of the houses themselves. 
 Seafaring people, accustomed to live in a ship's 
 cabin, are quite satisfied to have one room for a house 
 when they are on land, hence those tiny dwellings 
 to be found in most seaside towns ; and it seems that,
 
 338 THE HEART OF ITOLLAND. 
 
 with the exception of two or three streets of one-storey 
 houses, the whole of Ter Neuzen is inhabited by 
 sea-going folk. 
 
 This dearth of old dwelling-houses and monuments, 
 is surprising in a country in which not only the cities, 
 but the villages and hamlets are adorned with archaic 
 buildings. We must not, however, conclude from 
 thence that Ter Neuzen is a modern town. On the 
 contrary, it boasts respectable antiquity. No doubt, 
 like its neighbours, Ter Neuzen commenced its career 
 under the form of a fishing hamlet. Its name is 
 derived, it appears, from its shape — that of a nose. 
 * Nasi figura namen habet,' says Blaeu, the geographer, 
 and he is to be beheved, for he is a grave personage ; 
 yet I must acknowledge that I have examined the 
 map of the town thoroughly and repeatedly, but 
 have never yet succeeded in making out the shape 
 of a nose upon it. It may be suggested that the 
 outline of the town has undergone considerable 
 modification since its name was assigned to it. That 
 is quite possible, but I have referred to the ancient 
 maps, even to that of Blaeu himself, and have been 
 equally unsuccessful. Only one other hypothesis 
 remains ; it is that the shape of the Flemish nose 
 itself has undergone a change ! 
 
 The development of Ter Neuzen seems to have 
 been slow. The town merely vegetated while it was 
 in the possession of the Spaniards, who, although 
 the ' Beggars ' occupied its port after 1572, do not 
 appear to have appreciated the importance of its
 
 TER NEUZEN ALMOST IMPREGNABLE. 339 
 
 position' at any time. When tliey again became 
 masters of this promontory, which was indispensable 
 to the protection and defence of the Scheldt, they 
 surrounded it with insignificant works, which were 
 easily carried by the troops of the States. The latter 
 were wiser than their dispossessed opponents ; they 
 hastened to plant themselves, this time, after a sub- 
 stantial and definitive fashion upon that projecting 
 patch of Flemish soil. 
 
 At the same time that they fortified the town, the 
 States granted certain important privileges to Ter 
 Neuzen. Until then it had remained under the juris- 
 diction of Axel ; thenceforward it was free from that 
 jurisdiction. A periodical fair was instituted, and to 
 this the peasants of all the surrounding districts were 
 bound, under penalty of a fine of three Paris livres 
 for each breach of the statute, to carry their butter, 
 milk, eggs, cheese, flax, linseed, etc., etc. Vessels 
 cruising in the Scheldt were thus brought to the port 
 to lay in stores, and the influx soon assumed a cer- 
 tain importance, although, as I have said before, 
 it never exceeded moderate hmits. 
 
 At a later period the fortifications were enlarged, 
 and combined with the system of the dykes, so that 
 in case of need the surrounding country might be 
 flooded. In Blaeu's time the position of Ter Neuzen 
 was regarded as almost impregnable. ' It is very 
 strong,' he tells us, ' because, although it is situated 
 well inland, the sea, coming into the Scheldt twice a 
 
 Z 3
 
 340 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 day, covers the fields wliicli surround it, and renders 
 access to it very difficult.' 
 
 At the present time Ter Neuzen is protected on 
 two sides by th-e great river. On the others, bastions, 
 lunettes, and outworks extend their scientific fines to 
 defend it against attacks by land. It boasts, in addi- 
 tion, a small arsenal, or at least magazines of arms and 
 ammunition, a little park of artillery, and casemated 
 bomb-and-shell-proof barracks. I do not think its 
 ambition ever extends to wishing for a conflagration, 
 in order to demonstrate the strength of its defensive 
 works and the heroism of its inhabitants. The views 
 of Ter Neuzen are of a more pacific kind ; and it 
 reckons for its development upon the fraternal con- 
 cord that now exists between two neighbouring 
 nations, upon those closely-knit bonds of mutual 
 sympathy and common interest which unite two 
 friendly peoples. 
 
 Axel, the suzerain town of Ter Neuzen until 
 the later years of the sixteenth century, lies inland 
 a few miles below that promontory. It is very 
 ancient, and, like all the small Flemish cities, has 
 had a troubled existence. It now reposes, after 
 its past and gone adventures, in such placid tran- 
 quillity that for the greater part of its extent it 
 looks hke a large and thriving village. If a pubfic 
 square and two or three streets were suppressed, 
 you would never beheve yourself to be standing in 
 the midst of a town with a history of 800 years, a 
 town which was important in the thirteenth century,
 
 HISTORY OF AXEL. 341 
 
 when it was under the mihtary occupation of Jan of 
 Avesnes. 
 
 In the turbulent episodes through which the 
 country of the Flemings passed, in the shocks and 
 the disasters which befel it, we may say, periodically, 
 Axel had its full share in its day. At first only a 
 small village, grouped around an abbey, it speedily 
 becomes, as we learn from Vredius, an agricultural 
 town of some importance. After a time looms were 
 set going at Axel, and from that day forth it shared 
 in the movement that pervaded all Flanders. By 
 turns the ally or the enemy of Ghent, Axel had to 
 suffer doubly from its vicinity to the great capital. 
 In 1350 the town was, in fact, burned by the people 
 of Ghent because it had not associated itself with 
 their insurrection. A century later, having taken 
 part with its proud neighbour, it was soundly chas- 
 tised by Phihp the Good, who surrounded it with 
 walls and ditches, to protect it from the return of the 
 people of Ghent, and placed a small garrison in the 
 town to ensure its future fidehty. 
 
 Thanks to these precautions. Axel enjoyed during 
 one entire century absolute tranquillity, whicli did 
 much for its wealth and development ; yet it never 
 rose in the hierarchy of cities above the status of ' a 
 good little town,' assigned to it by Meteren. 
 
 In 1579 the assassination of the burgomaster of 
 Axel, which was perpetrated by the order of Imbise 
 of Ghent, roused the dormant spirit of the town. 
 From that moment Axel became entirely devoted to
 
 342 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 the Prince of Orange ; and although it underwent 
 a temporary mihtary reoccupation by the Spaniards 
 in 1583, it remained so firmly attached to the 
 States that it lent all the assistance in its power to 
 the return of their army. That return took place in 
 1586. ' In that year,' writes an annahst, ' Prince 
 Maurice, and Sidney, being in Flanders, came secretly 
 in the night, on July 16, from Ter Neuzen to Axel, a 
 little town very well situated, which they took by 
 scahng a wall that separated the water from the 
 ditches. This was done without much bloodshed.' 
 From that day forth the fate of Axel was decided ; 
 the town remained in the hands of the United Pro- 
 vinces. In vain did the Spaniards make a fresh at- 
 tempt to recover possession of it in 1593 ; they sig- 
 nally failed, but, being unable to obtain the mastery 
 over it, they did all in their power to compass its 
 destruction, They raised fortified posts all round it, 
 and garrisoned them with soldiers, who, under pre- 
 text of skirmishing, pillaged the country and despoiled 
 the inhabitants. In vain did Prince Maurice send 
 the Count of Solms, with a dashing troop of cavalry, 
 to put an end to this perpetual pillage ; when the 
 troops of the States, after a rapid campaign, had to 
 rejoin the main body of the army, the depredations 
 of the enemy recommenced, and it may be said that 
 from that time dates, if not the fall of Axel, at least 
 the decline of its prosperity. 
 
 The town, as I have said, has nothing very curious 
 to show. There are no ancient monuments, few
 
 GREAT SQUARE OF AXEL. 343 
 
 streets, and hardly any public squares ; the only one 
 which really merits that name is the space in which 
 the Stadhuis stands. This Stadhuis is an ordinary 
 house, with a diminutive clock-tower imitating a 
 belfry, and a httle granite portico, adorned with two 
 hons, of piteous and despondent mien. Add to these 
 two petroleum lamps, a pump in the place of the 
 traditional fountain, an old shed, which in the high 
 and palmy days was the Exchange, and now affords 
 shelter to the town fire-engines, a httle inn with 
 its screen of meagre trees, and a few houses of un- 
 pretending aspect, painted a pearl-grey colour, and 
 you will have a sufficiently exact idea of the great 
 square of Axel. 
 
 At tlie moment when we were inspecting this vil- 
 lage Forum, the square was absolutely sohtary, not a 
 soul was visible in it, except ourselves. Presently 
 twelve o'clock struck from the httle tower, and a 
 young gentleman, bareheaded, and severe of counte- 
 nance, appeared at the head of the steps, a long shp 
 of folded paper in his hand. After having ceremoni^ 
 ously saluted the empty square, he proceeded to read 
 the contents of the paper, in a low and hurried voice ; 
 then he bowed once more, turned on his heel, and 
 re-entered the Stadhuis. We were much surprised 
 by this sudden apparition, and the unexpected read- 
 ing, which was evidently addressed to us, for there 
 was nobody else on the spot ; but after a httle reflec- 
 tion, we arrived at tlie conclusion, that the young 
 gentleman, witli the bare liead, had just accomplished
 
 344 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 one of those legal formalities, which, though reasonable 
 enough in their origin, become complete fictions by 
 lapse of time. 
 
 The clay of the week was Sunday, and at noon of 
 that day, in virtue of certain ancient enactments, pub- 
 lication of marriages and municipal acts has to be 
 made from the threshold of the Stadhuis, in order to 
 invest them with the necessary notoriety. We had 
 been unexpected spectators of this formality, which 
 has fallen into disuse in most of the communes, but 
 which, whether it blows, rains, or thunders, takes 
 place at Axel, after the same fashion, every Sunday 
 at noon. Dura lex., sed lex. So wills the law. 
 
 Three other peculiarities, which we noticed at 
 Axel, surprised us not a little. The first was the 
 cumulation of certain functions. The tailors are also 
 barbers, Kleermaker en Barhiei^ is inscribed on many 
 a signboard, or neatly written on cards, and displayed 
 in windows. 
 
 Then the names of clubs or Societeiten, as they are 
 called here, are of extraordinary length. The ' Societet,' 
 which we visited, and where we partook of an excel- 
 lent breakfast, is called, ' Vriendschap, eendracht, bur- 
 gers, is een onvreeck' hren hand zystemnt — en huis — en 
 have — en stad — en vaderland I ' all this, being interpre- 
 ted, means, 'Friendship, union! Citizens, behold here 
 an inviolable bond upon which rest home, goods, the 
 city, and our country.' 
 
 I imagine that this title, which was bestowed in 
 1796 on the newborn society, and which contains
 
 COSTUME OF THE PEOPLE. 345 
 
 excellent precepts, undergoes curtailment in its prac- 
 tical application. 
 
 Our third subject of wonder, or rather, of ob- 
 servation, is the costume of the people. The districts 
 around Axel reveal unmistakeably, by their appear- 
 ance, that they do not belong to Zealand. The 
 rustic architecture also informs us that we have left 
 that country. The thatched roofs, the walls built 
 of tufa, the smears of grey and bluish-white with 
 which the bricks are covered, announce the neigh- 
 bourhood of Flanders. And, nevertheless, two of 
 the Zealand characteristics still remain : the costumes 
 and the prevalent neatness, that distinctive mark 
 of the Batavian race. This neatness, is, it is true, 
 manifested in a less absolute fashion; by which I 
 mean, that there is a little more irregularity in the 
 lines, a little less primness in arrangement, and that 
 all the houses have not, without exception, that spot- 
 less and perfect orderUness which in Zealand makes 
 them all look as if they had just come out of 
 the hands of the workman. Similar remarks apply 
 to the costumes. The young girls, who are of a 
 heavier type, wear a more clumsy style of dress : 
 the waist comes up under the arms, the diameter 
 of the petticoat is greater, colours are more vivid ; 
 but we still find the bare arms, the invariable hand- 
 kerchief covering the neck, the pretty coquettish 
 cap, and the abundance of jewellery so dear to the 
 Zealand women. The men also wear small hats with 
 a narrow brim, buttoned vests, wide trousers, waist-
 
 3i6 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 belts, and shoe buckles, and these facts are all the 
 more remarkable, that at the distance of a few kilo- 
 meters, at Hulst, for example, which is a quarter of 
 an hour by rail from Axel, this costume is no 
 longer worn. 
 
 Nevertheless, Axel and Hulst belong not only to 
 the same nation and the same province, but even to 
 the same section of the province, and the same part 
 of the territory, their latitude is the same, and their 
 distance from the Belgian frontier is identical. Never 
 did two small towns present a more marked difference 
 from each other : accent, language, religion, the habits 
 and customs of daily hfe, costumes, dwellings, in each 
 and all they form a surprising contrast. At Axel we 
 are still in Zealand — at Hulst we are already in 
 Manders. How is this divergence to be explained ? 
 
 An ethnical remark gives us the key to it, and 
 that remark is all the more important that it exhibits 
 the immutable fidelity of these populations to their 
 ancient traditions. 
 
 When at the end of the Eighty Years' War a sort 
 of calm prevailed in this corner of Flanders, that point 
 of territory which, during more than a century, had 
 served as a battle-field to the combatants, was almost 
 entirely depopulated. The towns, deprived of their 
 inhabitants, were more like entrenched camps than 
 industrious cities, the constantly devastated fields 
 had remained uncultivated, the cottages were fall- 
 ing into ruin, and the villages were deserted. Two 
 currents of immigration then set in : from the north
 
 AXEL AXD HULST. 347 
 
 'and the south of Zealand, and Flanders, httle colo- 
 nies travelled towards that deserted land, coming to 
 repeople the ruined villages and the sohtary towns. 
 The Flemings occupied Hulst, whilst the Zealanders 
 installed themselves at Axel, and since then have 
 remained there. Two centuries and a half have 
 passed since that colonisation from two different 
 points took place, without bringing about any fusion, 
 without producing the smallest alteration in the cha- 
 racteristics proper to each of the two races. Hulst is 
 Catholic ; Axel is Protestant. At Hulst the people 
 speak with a Flemish accent ; at Axel, with the accent 
 of the United Provinces. The latter derives all its 
 inspiration from Zealand, the costume, the habits and 
 the ' netheid,' of the old Zealanders are preserved like 
 pious traditions. In the former, example is taken by 
 Flanders, and the costumes, like the language, are 
 Belgian rather than Dutch. Is not this contrast ex- 
 traordinary, is not such persistence a curious fact ? 
 
 I have just said that the corner of land upon 
 which Hulst is built was almost depopulated at the 
 epoch of the religious wars. This is strictly true. 
 The existence of the httle town was as much dis- 
 turbed by those terrible years as that of its neigh- 
 bour Axel, and it may indeed be said that the number 
 of trials which it had to endure was greater, because 
 Hulst began to hold .a certain rank in its province at 
 an earher period than did Axel. We find mention of 
 the former in the eleventh century : a charter of the 
 Countess Margaret records that, in 1070, Phihp of
 
 348 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Alsace had accorded liis protection to the citizens of 
 Hiilst, and the gracious Princess, as a reward for 
 the fidehty of these burgesses granted them ex- 
 emption from tonlieu (the tax paid for the right of 
 dispensing goods on the market-place), throughout 
 all the provinces of Flanders. This valuable privi- 
 lege was due to its brave inhabitants, for as old 
 Blaeu remarks, ^ If Hulst was the victim of perilous 
 calamities, it is to the virtue of its citizens, and not 
 to their vices, that it owes the fact.' 
 
 Among the virtues attributed to Hulst by the 
 learned geographer, we must cite its fidelity to its 
 legitimate princes. From 1350, when the town was 
 emancipated by Louis de Nevers, and placed in pos- 
 session of communal liberties, it remained attached to 
 its counts, and that attachment led to its being ten 
 times taken, pillaged, and burnt by its insurrectionary 
 neighbours. The important privilege of which I 
 have just spoken, and which was so graciously con- 
 ferred upon the town by the Countess Margaret, was 
 indeed only a compensatory advantage for the act 
 of incendiarism perpetrated in 1452 by the people of 
 Ghent, which had entirely destroyed the city, leaving 
 only its church standing. 
 
 All these terrible diasters, to which we must add 
 the attacks, surprises, assaults, and other violence, 
 which it had to undergo at the epoch of the Wars of 
 Independence, fade before the great siege of 1597, 
 which Blaeu himself does not hesitate to qualify as 
 ' acerrimam ohsidionemJ
 
 THE SIEGE OF HULST. 349 
 
 The Archduke Albert, who was then at the 
 commencement of his career, held that his military 
 honour was concerned in the reduction of the httle 
 fortress ; at least his contemporaries give us clearly 
 to understand this. ' The officers constituting the 
 council of war,' Meteren tells us, * did not consider 
 that the place merited to have so much expended 
 upon it and so much blood spilt, for it was reckoned 
 that the besiegers had lost over 3,000 men and 800 
 who were wounded and maimed, and it was only 
 the Archduke who showed himself obstinate in this 
 respect.' The Prince would not commence his career 
 of arms by a defeat, hence his tenacity, which would 
 otherwise seem inexplicable^ This siege, was, in fact, 
 a continuous battle. From July 10 until August 
 15 the conflict raged day and night, almost with- 
 out intermission. A great number of ' seigneurs, 
 captains, and chiefs remained on the field,' and among 
 the number of victims was one illustrious above all 
 others, the commander of the besieging army, one of 
 our compatriots, an old soldier of the League, and 
 formerly lieutenant to the Duke de Mayenne. ' Mar- 
 shal de Rhosne, received at the beginning of August 
 a blow on the head, and with him there were killed 
 more than 100 captains and men of mark, so that 
 the soldiers would not march unless they saw their 
 captains and chiefs going on before them.' 
 
 The little force who had so valiantly borne the 
 rude attack were finally obliged to capitulate, for no 
 succour could reach them. The conditions were
 
 350 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 honourable ; ' the agreement was that which follows,' 
 says an liistorian of the time. ' His Highness, being 
 desirous of favouring all those wlio have done their 
 duty well in action of war, permits the Governor of 
 Hulst (Count of Solms) and his officers to retire 
 whither they will, whether by land or by water, 
 having their banners displayed, their drums beating, 
 their fuses alight, and their guns loaded, with all 
 their arms, baggage, chariots, equipages, boats, and 
 sloops.' 
 
 Thus the citizens had the power of quitting the 
 city, and they used it largely. More than 200 fami- 
 lies belonging to the Eeformed rehgion retreated into 
 the provinces of the north, and the Austrian and 
 Spanish insolence speedily caused a much greater 
 number to follow that grievous example. 
 
 We have already indicated what were the conse- 
 quences of this desertion, and need not return to this 
 subject. That this short narrative may be as complete 
 as possible, I will recapitulate a few other incidents of 
 war, in which the fate of Hulst was at stake. 
 
 In 1640 the troops of the States had almost sur- 
 prised Hulst, but the Count de Fuentes came to the 
 assistance of its garrison, beat the Dutch, and killed 
 their chief. Count Casimir-Henry of Nassau ; and it 
 was not until five years later, after a siege of seven 
 weeks, that Prince Frederic-Henry succeeded in get- 
 ting possession of Hulst. Since then the town has 
 remained united to the Netherlands, to which it was 
 definitely assigned by the treaty of Munster. The
 
 HULST CO X ST AX T TO ITS CUSTOMS. 351 
 
 States caused it to be strongly fortified, and conferred 
 numerous privileges upon it.^ 
 
 Hulst became the capital of one of the four 
 ' offices ' of Zealand-Flanders, and reckoned twelve 
 villages under its jurisdiction. But notwithstanding 
 these advantages, whose importance it duly appre- 
 ciated, notwithstanding its fidehty to its seigneurs, the 
 town remained rigidly constant to its rehgion and its 
 customs, and it even followed throughout all their 
 evolutions the usages of those Flemish populations to 
 whom it owed its repeopling, and t© whom it remained 
 indissolubly united by the ties of kin. 
 
 ' Never has the name of any town been so often named in the 
 ' Register of Octrois ' of the States-General. The student of those valuable 
 records comes constantly upon the name of Ilulst, and that of Hulster- 
 Ambacht.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 BOSENDAAL, THE VESTIBULE OF ZEALAND — BREDA — ITS CASTLE, 
 
 WALLS, AND BASTIONS THE HISTORY OF A PEAT-BOAT THE 
 
 MUSEUM OF ARMS A MARVELLOUS PRINT THE ' COMPROMISE ' 
 
 AND THE PEACE OF BREDA TOMBS IN THE CHURCH. 
 
 ULST almost touches the Belgian frontier. 
 A few turns of the wheels of the loco- 
 motive, and we are in another country. 
 As our intention was to go to Antwerp, 
 that we might be present at the centenary of Eubens, 
 we did not aUow ourselves to be stopped this time 
 by that political barrier which in former journeys we 
 had respected.^ 
 
 We pursued our way by St. Nicholas to Malines ; 
 and, after we had accomphshed our pilgrimage, re- 
 entered the Netherlands, by way of Eosendaal. 
 
 Rosendaal, the valley of roses ; it is a beautiful 
 name, full of sweet promises, which, alas ! are ill 
 fulfilled. 
 
 One day, when I was stopped at the Dutch custom- 
 house, I heard the poor little town called by another 
 
 ' See our Voyage aux Frontierea menacies.
 
 THE VESTIBULE OF HOLLAS D. 3o3 
 
 name more prosaic and less gracious. A traveller 
 spoke of it as the ' vestibule of Holland.' Topo- 
 graphically, the ex]^ression may be correct, but 
 morally I protest against its significance, for never 
 did vestibule reveal less of the wealth and comfort of 
 the house. 
 
 Although it is ancient, and has from all time been 
 united by double bonds to the Netherlands and the 
 House of Orange-Nassau, Kosendaal would hardly be 
 guessed to be a Dutch town ; and its railway station, 
 through which all travellers coming from France, 
 England, and Belgium must pass, does not prepossess 
 them in favour of the country they are about to visit. 
 Small, dirty, and inconvenient, devoid of anything to 
 recruit the traveller after the fatigue of his journey, 
 this station, although the most frequented, is assuredly 
 one of the most inconvenient in tlie whole country. 
 Some day or other it will be found absolutely neces- 
 sary to remedy this state of things. My complaint 
 is not novel. I am aware that many other travellers 
 liave protested before me, but when equity and good 
 sense are on one's side one should never leave off 
 protesting. 
 
 Rosendaal as a station docs not deserve that any 
 one should stop there, and as a town it is of no great 
 interest. That it is old its houses toll us, and, still 
 more plainly tlian its houses, history, and the tra- 
 vellers of old times, affirm the fact. Three centuries 
 ago Guicciardini wrote : ' Rosendaal is a very fine 
 village, U})on the water, witli great navigation.' 
 
 A A
 
 354 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Only the first of these qualifications remains to it. 
 The village is always ' fine,' tliat is to say, well 
 peopled, but its fragile beauty has been effaced by 
 the action of years, and perhaps of man. In the days 
 when our Florentine visited it Rosendaal was what 
 was called a ' good franchise ; ' it formed part of the 
 domain of the Prince of Orange, and was a depen- 
 dency of the Barony of Breda. 
 
 As there is nothing to see in the solitary streets 
 of Rosendaal as it now exists, we directed our steps 
 towards Breda, a very curious town, and one of the 
 most important in the country. 
 
 The land through which the road from Rosendaal 
 to Breda lies is varied, rich, and well-cultivated ; but 
 it has not the extraordinary fertility, the ' fatness ' 
 of the soil of Walcheren and Zuidebeveland. Here 
 and there patches of moorland and bracken mingle 
 their sombre tints with the golden hues of the har- 
 vest, and alternate with the wonderful greensward 
 of the vast fields. This land, such as we saw it, with 
 its varieties of soil, which give it a certain picturesque 
 effect, is famous of old. It was held, with its woods 
 and its fields, to be one of the fairest seigneuries in 
 all the Low Countries. It belonged to the ' Kampen,' 
 but to that part of it which was most fertile and 
 suitable for agricultural purposes. The old writers 
 are very emphatic on the subject. ' Prince Maurice,' 
 says Blaeu, ' calls it his Tempe,' and the celebrated 
 geographer enumerates with delight 'its fields, 
 which are throughout all its extent of an admirable
 
 ORIGTX OF BREDA. 355 
 
 fertility, its meadows, which are eternally green, the 
 fair avenues of old trees, which, disposed in right 
 lines or in quincunces, bordered the roads, and led to 
 all the surrounding residences, as well as the forests 
 of oak and of pines, which rear their heads in its 
 neighbourhood.' 
 
 A century earlier, Meteren, who was generally 
 little given to description or accessible to the delights 
 of landscape, spoke of Breda in similar detail. ' It 
 is situated in the Kampen,' said he, ' in a flat country, 
 where there are good arable lands, with fair meadows 
 and woody places.' Add to these meadows and to 
 these woods two rivers, which, after having bathed 
 the country and watered the fields and the planta- 
 tions, come into conjunction under the very walls of 
 the city and give it its name. Breda is derived from 
 Breeds which means ' broad,' and from Aai\ tlie name 
 of one of these watercourses, which is enlarged at this 
 place by its confluence with the Mark. 
 
 The origin of Breda is by no means so clear as the 
 etymology of its name. The old annalists explain it 
 by the intervention of certain ' Danes ' (?), who were 
 the first settlers in these green regions, and wlio 
 established a castelliim at the confluence of the two 
 rivers. This castle is mentioned between the years 
 840 and 8-50. In 888 the little company, who had 
 come thither to seek shelter and protection beneath 
 the walls of the ' castel ' of Breda, was so consider- 
 able that Witger IV., one of the seigneurs of the 
 country, granted to the settlement the title of a town. 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 In the ensuing ages a continuous strife raged between 
 the possessors of the ' castel ' and the Dukes of Bra- 
 bant. The latter besieged it over and over again ; 
 but it was not destroyed until the twelfth century, 
 in 1124, if we may believe a Latin distich, recorded 
 by Meteren, and repeated by his contemporaries : 
 
 ' Anno Milleno Centeno bis Duodeno 
 Oastrum de Breda, cum tuni corruit alta.' 
 
 It is, however, not until 1252 that the title of 
 ' Seigneur of Breda ' appears in the old charters, and it 
 is then borne by a certain Henry, son of Godefroy of 
 Berg, and it is not until after the cession consented 
 to by Duke John of Brabant in favour of the Seigneur 
 of Polanen, that the records emerge from obscurity. 
 'In the year 1326, the Monday after St. Valentine's 
 Day, Geraerd of Eaffingem, Liedkerke, and Lens,hav- 
 inor sold to John of Brabant the seigneurie and the 
 goods of all the country of Breda, with all its appur- 
 tenances, the said Duke John sold, with the consent 
 of his son Godevaert and his eldest daughter, Joan, 
 Countess of Holland and Zealand, the said seigneurie 
 of the country of Breda, on April 1, with all its ap- 
 purtenances, to John of Polanen, the young Seigneur 
 of Leek, by reason of 436 mailles,'^ to enjoy the same 
 as his rightful heritage.' 
 
 Thus say the old chronicles, and from that day 
 it is easy for us to trace, without the possibility of 
 error, the history of this important fief. We know in 
 fact that John of Polanen died in 1377, leaving one 
 
 * An old French coin.
 
 HISTORY OF BREDA. 357 
 
 son, John, who took the title of Seigneur of Leek and 
 Breda, and that this son left a daughter named Joan, 
 who, in 1404, married Engelbrecht of Nassau, and 
 brought him the barony as her dowry. 
 
 The history of the glorious house of Nassau is too 
 well known for us to investigate it further. The family 
 heritage of Polanen was one of the chief jewels in the 
 coronet of the Counts, for in addition to Breda and 
 its territory, the barony comprised within its juris- 
 diction the town of Steenbergen, and seventeen rich 
 and populous villages. It must be said for the new 
 barons that they thoroughly appreciated the import- 
 ance to them of tlie possession of such a seigneurie. 
 Also that from the first day to the last hour they 
 laboured unremittingly to make Breda a fortress 
 of the first class. From ]410 onwards, we find 
 Engelbrecht of Nassau, first renewing the origi- 
 nal fortifications, then substituting lofty ramparts for 
 them, surrounding the city with a deep moat, and 
 turning the two rivers which crossed it out of their 
 course sc as to add a potent natural obstacle to the 
 works which he had erected. In 1535 Henry of Nassau, 
 in order to keep up with the progress of his age, com- 
 pletes his ancestor's work. Forty years later, William 
 the Silent encloses these ramparts in a second bas- 
 tioned circle, conforming to the exigencies of the 
 science of artillery, and in addition, he flanks them 
 with towers. In 1622, his son Prince Maurice in- 
 creases tlie resisting power of this new enclosure by 
 throwing out, upon its weak points, five demilunes,
 
 358 THE HEART OF ITOLLAXD. 
 
 communicating with each other by covered ways. 
 Lastly, in 1682, by order of Prince William III. 
 Menno Coehoorn, the Yanban of Holland, once more 
 ti-ant^forms its system of defence by covering the 
 advanced posts of the fortress with new -works, and 
 combining ' w^ater-lines ' with ' counter approaches,' 
 so as to render the place impregnable. 
 
 The special favour with wdiich the family of Nas- 
 sau always regarded their good city of Breda is more 
 satisfactorily proved by the especial care with which 
 they embellished it, than by all these warlike precau- 
 tions. 
 
 Its superb church, which is not only one of the 
 largest, but also one of the most remarkable in the 
 country, was, if not completely built, at least finished, 
 by Engelbrecht of Nassau, who erected the choir. 
 
 The palace of the governor — we can still distin- 
 guish the arms of Nassau alhed w^ith those of Merode 
 over its gate — was built by Justin, the bastard son of 
 William the Silent, and Governor of Breda, between 
 3 606 and 1625. 
 
 The Vleeschhal, or meat market, belongs to the 
 same period. Lastly, the Castle of Breda, which may 
 be regarded as one of the purest, most correct, and 
 most complete monuments produced by the Eenais- 
 sance in these countries ; that Castle which Guic- 
 ciardini, of classic taste, did not hesitate to call ' one 
 of the most beautiful constructions in all the Low 
 Countries,' is the w^ork of Count Henry of Nassau. 
 In the sixteenth century, an epoch of great taste,
 
 THE CASTLE OF BREDA. 359 
 
 this elegant structure enjoyed a well-deserved cele- 
 brity. ' The Count Henry, who was a brave lord,' 
 says Meteren, 'caused a new palace to be built, with 
 a court, all surrounded with water, with galleries 
 founded upon pillars of freestone, and a gilded fron- 
 tispiece,' and he adds, ' there were in this place many 
 fair chambers and a long hall raised upon pillars, 
 Avith a very fine stair, the whole made of freestone, 
 and by very good masters.' 
 
 At that epoch, however, the edifice was not so 
 near completion as that it might be judged of as 
 a whole. It was not until 1690, when Wilham III. 
 ascended the throne of England, that the two wings 
 were finished ; but that Prince, who was a man of 
 tact and taste, directed Romans, the architect, charged 
 with this supplementary task, to carry it out in exact 
 conformity with the plans of the Italian architect, 
 Bologna, who had conceived the original plan, and 
 commenced its realisation. Thanks to this precaution, 
 the Castle of Breda has preserved its primitive cha- 
 racter ; and although it has not remained intact 
 down to our day, still it is, at the present time, one of 
 the best preserved specimens of architecture left by 
 the Itahan Eenaissance. 
 
 Its general plan consists of a vast parallelogram, 
 built of brick, and flanked at each angle by octagon 
 towers. The interior of the court is arranged in the 
 Milanese fashion, with arcades resting upon columns, 
 with Tuscan capitals. In the tympanum of each 
 arch is carved a medallion, representing a great per-
 
 360 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 sonage of ancient history ; and tliis great cloister, 
 elegant in form and noble in style, is built of free- 
 stone, as Meteren tells ns. The great hall, ' founded 
 upon pillars,' of which the old annahst speaks, still 
 exists, and serves as a refectory ; for, after having 
 been a dwelling for princes, after having afforded a 
 retreat to Mary of England, tlie widow of William 
 II., and sheltered Charles II. of England, in his exile, 
 this historic pile has become a military school. 
 
 It was regarded by the French army, in 1795, as 
 the property of the Orange family, and, having been 
 confiscated by the Eepublic, was converted at first 
 into a l)arrack, and afterwards into a hospital. Great 
 damage was inflicted upon it, the splendid furniture 
 was almost entirely destroyed, magnificent tapestries 
 in silk and gold, representing the Counts and 
 Countesses of Nassau, the Siegneurs and Dames of 
 Breda, all on horseback, and of life size, were torn 
 down, rolled up, despatched to the Hague, and sold 
 at a very low price. This deplorable change in its 
 destiny lasted, to the great detriment of the edifice, 
 until 1814, at which epoch the palace once more 
 came into the possession of the house of Nassau. 
 
 William I. made no effort to restore its pris- 
 tine splendour to the Castle of Breda. He did not 
 wish to make it a royal residence ; by the pleasure of 
 its legitimate master, this sumptuous dweUing became 
 the Dutch Saint-Cyr, and at the present day its 
 galleries, its porticos, and its courts are occupied by 
 cadets of the army of the Netherlands.
 
 SIEGES OF CASTLE OF BREDA. 3GI 
 
 If the French troops misconducted themselves at 
 the Castle of Breda, it must be admitted that they 
 were not the only persons who had been guilty of 
 grave offences against that princely habitation. In 
 1567, the Castle suffered severely from the soldiers 
 quartered within its walls. Confiscated by tlie Duke 
 of Alva, as the private property of the Prince of 
 Orange, a rebel against the King, it was, together 
 with the town which it commanded, and all the 
 seigneuries dependent upon it, added to the royal 
 estates. ' The country and the town,' says a con- 
 temporary, ' have been cast under the government of 
 the Spaniards, and reduced to great misery,' and we 
 may readily believe that the Castle was not better 
 treated. 
 
 It was re-occupied in 1577 by the troops of the 
 States ; and four years later was again surprised by 
 Claude of Berlaimont, Seigneur of Hautepenne, who 
 took it after a most sanguinary conflict, and abused 
 his victory, as he always did, ' using much cruelty 
 in his triumph, sparing neither women nor children, 
 neither the young nor the old, nor ecclesiastics nor 
 seculars, in the houses or in tlie streets, sacking and 
 killing all.' Again we may suppose that the Castle 
 fared no better. 
 
 It was retaken nine years afterwards, in 1590, by 
 a very singular stratagem. The adventure is well 
 known, and may be found in a number of uanatives 
 of the time, for it was a iamous event. Oiii- com- 
 patriot, Du Maurier, has called it tiie • niijaculous
 
 30)1' THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 taking of Breda with a peat-boat,' and I will boiTow 
 his account of the event, because, although it has been 
 many times related, I do not think I ought to pass 
 it over in silence on this occasion. 
 
 Du Maurier says : ' A boatman, named Adrian, of 
 Bergues, who furnished peat to the garrison of Breda, 
 being discontented with the S]3aniards, proposed to 
 Prince Maurice to surprise the place by putting sol- 
 diers into the hold of his boat ; which the Prince 
 having found possible, he gave the conduct of this 
 great design to Charles of Herauguiere, a Walloon 
 gentleman, native of Cambray, captain of infantry 
 in his troops, held to be a man of strong head and 
 strong hand, who, when he had this order, made 
 choice of seventy soldiers of different companies, and 
 of certain ages, of approved valour. These soldiers 
 he put in the hold of the boat, where they were very 
 ill at their ease, not being able to be otherwise than 
 lyiiig down or bending, the rest of the boat being- 
 laden to a great height with peat. It was then ex- 
 tremely cold, and, besides, they liad water up to their 
 knees, which came in by a slit, but this was happily 
 plugged. This excessive cold made them all cough 
 much, but especially Matthew Helt, lieutenant (whose 
 name merits to be placed here for the courage which 
 he displayed on this occasion), for not being able to 
 prevent himself from coughing as they were ap- ' 
 proaching the Castle, he drew his poniard and adjured 
 his comrades to kill him, so that the enterprise might 
 not fail, and that he might not be the cause of their
 
 BOLD^^ESS OF HEBAUGUIERE. 363 
 
 destruction. But the boatmen prevented his cough 
 being heard by working the pump frequently, as if 
 the boat were taking in water. 
 
 ' The garrison, composed of Itahans, lacking fuel, 
 the soldiers, on account of the ice, helped to draw 
 the boat through a sluice-gate into the enclosure of 
 the Castle, even as the Trojans introduced the wooden 
 horse into their city, which gave occasion to a poet 
 of the time to compare the taking of Breda with 
 that of Troy.^ 
 
 During this time Prince Maurice, who had spread 
 a report that he was about to descend on Gertruden- 
 berg, had really directed his course towards Breda, 
 with a numerous body of troops. Herauguiere, who 
 knew him to be in the neighbourhood, came out of 
 his hiding-place in the middle of the night, killed 
 forty men of the guard, and opened the gates to the 
 Prince, who penetrated into the Castle with the Counts 
 of Hohenlohe and Solms, Francis Yere, the general of 
 the English troops, Famas, who commanded the 
 artillery, and Admiral Julian of Nassau.^ 
 
 Herauguiere, the fortunate chief of this adven- 
 turous enterprise, was recomi)ensed for his boldness 
 and bravery by the government of the town which 
 he had so ably restored to its legitimate lord.^ All 
 
 ' Du Mauriur, Mciuoires pour servir a Cllisioire cle Ilollande. 
 
 2 In memory of tliis <,'reat deed a medal was struck ; on one side was 
 eno-raved these words: Breda a servitute Ilispdna vindiiata ductu 
 princijm Maurtrii a Nassau 4, Murtij 1500, and on the other was 
 represented the boat, with the device: I'arate vincere aut inori. 
 
 3 The Prince and the States continued to testily their gratitude to the
 
 3»U 77//; HE All T OF HOLLA XI). 
 
 his soldiers were largely rewarded, and the boatman, 
 Adrian of Bergues, received a liberal pension. Lastly, 
 even the peat-boat participated in the triumph ; from 
 that day it was preserved in the armoury of the 
 Castle as a glorious memento of this daring deed. 
 
 This armoury was formerly extremely rich in 
 valuable trophies. There were to be seen the cul- 
 verins, cannons, and bombards which the Kings of 
 Hungary presented to the family of Nassau, in re- 
 membrance of its heroic services ' against the Turk.' 
 Besides these, there were fifty- two pieces, of all 
 calibres, given by the Emperor Ferdinand to the 
 Seigneurs of Breda. But when the Duke of Alva, 
 came to the city as Governor of the country, he re- 
 garded this arsenal of honour as a fair prize, and 
 had the guns melted down. Fifty years later, Spinola, 
 when master of the city and its castle, took a similar 
 view of Herauguiere's boat. He had it burned. 
 
 Let us say, as some defence for this act on the 
 part of the Spanish general, that the resistance of the 
 town and the exceptional siege he had just made 
 it undergo, were calculated to exasperate him in no 
 small degree. For eleven long months he had em- 
 ployed every resource of his science and his genius for 
 the reduction of Breda. He had exhausted his army 
 in daily conflicts without gaining a decisive victory, 
 
 widow of the brave Herauguiere. We have found on the Register of 
 Octrois and Pensions the grant of a pension of 1,000 livres to Marie of 
 Groenveld, widow of Herauguiere. This deed is dated October 12, 
 1602.
 
 THE ADMIRABLE PRINT BY C ALLOT. 365 
 
 for it was famine, and not tlie sword, that vanquished 
 the inhabitants, and delivered over the town to 
 him. 
 
 Never, it may safely be affirmed, were Breda and 
 the surrounding districts more full of animation than 
 during that epic siege. Blaeu has recorded the plan 
 of it in one of those marvellous maps which have 
 won so high a reputation for him. But we have other 
 testimony, mucli more complete and vivid than his, to 
 this great feat of war. I allude to the fine engraving 
 by Jacques Callot, published, in Paris, by Israel 
 Sylvestre, and composed of six plates which, when 
 joined together, form a continuous picture. We 
 could not desire a page of history more full and 
 complete than is that extraordinary work of art, one 
 of the finest, most delicate, most exact, truest, and 
 most amusinor in its details that has ever been given 
 to the world. ^ 
 
 There are thousands of figures in this drawino- 
 which shows us the entire city, with its public 
 buildings, its houses, streets, squares, and canals. 
 The details of the fortifications of the town are all 
 given, tlie works of both the besiegers and the be- 
 sieged, the surrounding country, with all its features, 
 its villages, woods, marshes, fields, farms, flocks, and 
 herds, stretching away for an immense distance. The 
 camp of the Spaniards is represented, with its external 
 wall, its gabions, siege batteries, tents, waggons, huts, 
 
 ' This marvellous work Las recently been reprinted. The War Ofiice 
 at the Hague possesses a very line impression of it.
 
 366 THE HEART OF HOLLA XD. 
 
 artillery, stores, soldiers, ^nd all that crowd of para- 
 sites who in those days followed armies in the held 
 — quacks, bone setters, fortune-tellers, Jews pursuing 
 every kind of trade, abandoned women, and de- 
 bauched vagabonds. Among this innumerable mul- 
 titude of microscopic personages we see marauders 
 carrying off cattle, soldiers, intent on pillage, putting 
 the peasants to ransom, drunken cavahers in pursuit 
 of a plump and recalcitrant country girl. And all 
 this time, in other parts of the scene, guns are thun- 
 dering, muskets are going off, drums are beating, 
 trumpets are sounding, colours are flying, and horse- 
 men and foot soldiers, full of warlike ardour, are 
 rushing upon each otlier with truly wonderful fury 
 and life-likeness. 
 
 Although this admirable drawing, a masterpiece 
 of humour and observation, is certainly the finest and 
 most important picture ever inspired by the history of 
 Breda, it is by no means the only one. In the lirst 
 place, the adventure of the peat-boat was commemo- 
 rated by an engraving by J. Luken ; and afterwards, 
 a series of plates by R. von Hooghe celebrated the 
 Peace of Breda. For that city is not renowned for its 
 warlike exploits only ; it is also famous for its pacific 
 conventions, and the treaties wJiich were signed there 
 are numerous. After the ' compromise ' of 1556, 
 which was the first act of resistance directed agcainst 
 the Spaniards, the Plenipotentiaries of the Western 
 nations assembled at Breda no less than three times. 
 In 1575, 1667, and 1746, the town was chosen as the
 
 VOy HOOGEE'S EXGRAVryGS. 367 
 
 scene of the deliberations of ambassadors delegated by 
 the most powerful Sovereigns of Europe. 
 
 It was the treaty of 1G67, the famous ' Peace of 
 Breda,' that Eomain von Hooghe represented in his 
 engravings. He makes us spectators of the pubHc 
 rejoicings which accompanied and followed tliat great 
 act of international pohcy ; of the salutes of artillery, 
 the procession of state coaches, and the display of 
 fireworks. He shows us the improvised fountains, — 
 among others, a perambulating elephant discharging 
 ^yine from its proboscis — devices of questionable taste, 
 it is true, but then, everybody was so glad that 
 peace was concluded ! 
 
 With von Hooghe for our guide, we might visit 
 every quarter of the town, and recognise each ; also, 
 all its principal buildings, and the streets, which have 
 not undergone much change since that old time. But 
 to do so would be to make an unnecessary delay. 
 The capital of the ancient barony is a handsome, airy, 
 cosy, well-built town, but the artist and the archaso- 
 logist find little in it to reward their researches. 
 The visitor may rest awhile witli pleasure under the 
 shade of the fine trees in its superb public garden, 
 stroll about its clean bright streets, and observe the 
 features of its market-place. But it has no buildings, 
 except tlie Church, to attract liis attention, for the 
 Stadhuis, l)uilt in 1534, was completely rebuilt at 
 the end of tlie last century, and tliere is nothing 
 remarkable in the interior of it, with the exception of 
 some i)()rt]'aifs l)y Mijtcns, j^aaii, aii<l Iloiithorsl. It
 
 3G8 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 is true tliat the archives of Breda are among the most 
 ]n'ecioiis and interesting in the kingdom, but they 
 have fallen into such a state of neglect and dilapidation 
 that we avoided them. We should really have been 
 sorry to see the garret in which they are left to rot 
 uncared for. 
 
 Let us return to the Church. Its proportions are 
 fine ; its style, although belonging to the tertiary ogival 
 period, is not too florid. The steeple is celebrated 
 for its height, and still better deserves to be celebrated 
 for its exquisite form and finished elegance. The 
 proportions of the interior are equally fine ; and this 
 church would be one of the most complete and re- 
 markable buildings of its kind, had it never been 
 meddled with by the Protestants and the French. 
 The Protestants seized upon the sanctuary, despoiled 
 it of its ornaments, destroyed its altars, and disfigured 
 it with the benches, pulpits, and galleries which are 
 necessary accessories of their form of worship ; and 
 our compatriots (we ought to blush for them), de- 
 vastated its tombs. 
 
 These tombs, it is true, were those of the family of 
 Orange ; and it must be borne in mind that at the re- 
 volutionary period, not only the troops of Dumouriez, 
 but also the Batavian patriots were actuated by a 
 sort of fury against that princely house. I recall 
 these facts to explain, not to excuse, such deeds. The 
 iconoclasts, who laid destructive hands upon these 
 funereal monuments, were all the more culpable in 
 that they mutilated works of art of inestimable value.
 
 T02IB OF ENGELBRECHT II. OF NASSAU. 369 
 
 The most celebrated of these tombs is that of 
 Engelbrecht 11. of Nassau. So proud and grand is its 
 aspect, that tradition has not hesitated to attribute 
 its statues to Michael Angelo. The great Florentine 
 had, however, no hand in this work ; which, though 
 indisputably very fine, is of a later period than that 
 of Michael Angelo, and seems to be German, and 
 not Italian at all. The design of this noble place of 
 burial is so exceptional, that.I must linger a moment 
 to describe it. On a slab, very slightly raised above 
 the ground, repose the Count and his wife, Maria of 
 Limburg, Princess of Baden, side by side, upon a 
 matting of marble, each figure wrapped in a winding- 
 sheet, the eyehds closed, the faces calm and thought- 
 ful. At the four corners, four heroes of antiquity, 
 Ctesar, Eeguliis, Hannibal, and Philip (personifying 
 the four characteristic qualities of the deceased, 
 warrior), each resting one knee upon the ground, and 
 clad in admirably wrought armour, raise upon their 
 shoulders a large slab of marble, on which are placed 
 the cuirass and arms of the Prince. 
 
 I wish I could depict for you the proud bearing 
 of the four heroes, show you in detail the ornamenta- 
 tion of their cuirasses, which is extraordinarily fine 
 and delicate, and point out to you the hands and feet 
 of the two recumbent figures, exquisitely modelled 
 and marvellously supple. But it would take a volume 
 to describe the tombs of Breda adequately, and it is 
 better to say no more than to arouse an interest 
 which I should be unable to gratify. 
 
 BB
 
 370 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 There are at least ten tombs of great beauty and 
 artistic merit, besides that matchless monument. 
 Among them I ought, in justice, to mention that of 
 Engelbrecht I., that of Jan of Nassau, and that of the 
 Seigneur of Polanen, and after those, the tombs of the 
 Seigneurs of Borgnival, and Renesse, of Nicolas Vierl- 
 ing, Joannes Hultinins, etc., which are all marvellous 
 specimens of the architecture of the best days of the 
 Eenaissance. 
 
 The names of the artists who executed these 
 masterpieces of mortuary sculpture have not been 
 handed down to us. Perhaps, indeed most probably, 
 the archives of the town contain information respect- 
 ing them ; but in their present state it would be im- 
 possible to examine those documents.
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 TILBUKG THE MONUMENT TO WILLIAM II. A CAPITAL HERTO- 
 
 GENBOSCH'S THE DUCAL FOREST — THE BUDDING OP A TOWN 
 
 TWO MEMORABLE SIEGES — INDUSTRY AND COURAGE — AN AR- 
 CHITECTURAL PEARL THE STADHUIS AND ITS TREASURE 
 
 ' ADIEU, BASKETS ! THE GRAPES ARE ALL GATHERED.' 
 
 ^N leaving Breda our route lay clear before 
 us. We had still to visit Bois-le-Duc, 
 after which our excursion would be 
 near its close. The railway carried us 
 towards the former capital of the Duchy of Brabant, 
 but on the way thither we wished to have a look at 
 Tilburg. This town, which is quite modern, little 
 known, and in no wise celebrated, would not occupy 
 any place at all among the notable locahties of the 
 Low Countries, but for the melancholy recollection 
 which attaches to its name ; I allude to the deatli of 
 WilHam 11. 
 
 It does not take more than an liour to see Tilburg 
 throughout all its length and breadtli. To say this is 
 to imply tluit it is a small place; and, indeed, Tilburg 
 
 B B 2
 
 372 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 looks less like a town than a big village with wide 
 streets, low houses, gardens jammed in between the 
 houses, and honest folk standing in the doorways 
 looking curiously at the rare passers-by who disturb 
 the tranquil scene. It possesses no historical, inte- 
 resting, or curious buildings. Only the tower of its 
 church is ancient, and even that has quite a modern 
 spire. The interior has been recently restored, the 
 walls have been scraped and pointed, the windows 
 enlarged and rounded, the columns adorned with por- 
 tentous capitals, the confessionals and pulpits are far 
 from elegant. The town boasts another sacred edifice, 
 which is only just built; it is, indeed, quite fresh from 
 the hands of the masons, and is in much better taste, 
 but the examination of contemporary architecture is 
 not within the scope of this work ; I shall, therefore, 
 say no more of the indisputable merits of the new 
 church. 
 
 The Stadhuis, which stands close to the most 
 ancient of these sanctuaries, is commonplace, modern, 
 and unmeaning. In all the town there are but two 
 points of interest : the monument erected to William 
 II., and the Castle in which that prince resided. 
 
 The monument is simple, but elegant. It con- 
 sists of a pyramid of blue granite, placed upon a 
 well-proportioned pedestal, and bearing upon its sur- 
 face, about half-way up, a medallion portrait of the 
 deceased King. The Castle, which is in the back- 
 ground, is also very simple ; but it is very far from 
 being in equally good taste, and we cannot help
 
 DESCRIPTION OF BOIS-LE-DUC. 373 
 
 wondering liow a monarch, whose civil Hst included 
 several sumptuous residences, and especially Loo, and 
 the House in the Wood, could have been so fond of 
 this queer fortress. 
 
 The royal residence of Tilburg belongs to that 
 pseudo-style, in every sense deplorable, and full of 
 architectural contradictions, which is called Gothic- 
 English. Certain buildings at the Hague, the stables 
 of the Prince of Orange, for instance, are terrible 
 examples of the absurdities into which builders, bitten 
 with these extravagant ideas, may be led. I need 
 not expatiate upon them. 
 
 King WilKam HI., on giving up the royal Castle 
 in which he had no inclination to reside, wished to 
 have it converted into a school. This was a very 
 good idea. 
 
 If Tilburg be like a village, Bois-le-Duc is like a 
 large town. I have just said that it was formerly one 
 of the four capital cities of the Duchy of Brabant, 
 and never, to my knowledge, had a town of twenty- 
 five thousand inhabitants more of the air and aspect 
 of a capital. Its streets are long and wide, its houses 
 are large and handsome, its public squares are 
 spacious, airy, well-paved, and very clean. Its old 
 buildings, appearing here and there, testify to an 
 existence of several centuries, and indeed wc know 
 that the importance of Bois-le-Duc is a fact of ancient 
 date, though the place is not of exceptional anti- 
 quity. 
 
 In the twell'tli century, the territory wliidi il
 
 374 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 occupies, and the country that surrounds it, were 
 completely covered with forests. As the Dukes of 
 Brabant came thither regularly to hunt, the great 
 wood became known as Silva Duels — ' the forest of 
 the Duke.' But the people of Guelders came there 
 also, and turned its dark recesses into dens of robbers 
 and cut-purses, making excursions from thence into 
 the surrounding country, and returning to the recesses 
 of the forest with entire impunity. It was to put an 
 end to the depredations of these dangerous marauders 
 that, in 1184, Duke Godfrey had a portion of the 
 ducal forest cleared, and that, in 1196, his son, Duke 
 Henry, had a castle built, in order to keep a watch on 
 and to overawe his troublesome neighbours. Dwell- 
 ings accumulated around the castle, and the budding 
 city took the name of the forest in which its first foun- 
 dations were laid. Such was the origin of that ' city 
 which held the fourth place among the four capital 
 towns of Brabant,' and which is called in Dutch 
 Hertogenbosch's, in Latin, Silva Ducis, and in French 
 Bois-le-Duc — appellations differing in form, but all 
 bearing the same signification. 
 
 Never did a town increase and acquire importance 
 of the first order more rapidly. The prince had laid 
 the foundations of this quick-growing greatness ; he 
 had given the impulse ; the inhabitants did the rest. 
 In less than a century the castle was surrounded by a 
 town which seemed to have sprung from the earth ; 
 and soon transformed itself into an opulent city. The 
 part which it played in the politics of the country
 
 TRADE OF BOIS-LE-DUC. 375 
 
 became defined ; by its rapid advance it won the title 
 and the prerogatives of a capital, and in 1453, it had 
 almost attained its utmost development. 
 
 Bearing in mind what were the difficulties of all 
 kinds that beset the existence and the growth of 
 cities at that epoch, to what hardships and harassing 
 they were subjected by the suspicion of their suze- 
 rains, and the jealousy of their rivals, we may well 
 be astonished that such fortune and importance were 
 so rapidly achieved. It should also be borne in mind 
 that by a special privilege of nature that portion of 
 Brabant had been from all time peopled by an 
 energetic, obstinate, and above all extremely indus- 
 trious race, on whom all the old writers of different 
 periods have lavished praise and admiration. Let us 
 hear what Guicciardini has to say of them: 'The 
 people of this city are warhke and vahant,' he tells 
 us, ' retaining more of the former fierceness and 
 stubborn nature of the Belgaa than any other of the 
 neighbouring people ; and yet they are greatly civi- 
 lised, the town being mercantile, and well supplied 
 with good masters and artisans in all kinds of trades. 
 Among other things, they make much cloth there, and 
 a great quantity of hnen, which reaches every year to 
 the number of twenty tliousand pieces, which maybe 
 worth about two hundred thousand crowns. An in- 
 calculable number of knives, of a very good temper, 
 are also made there, and an incredible quantity of 
 fine pins of all kinds, and of tlic one and the other 
 many are sent out to all })art.s of the world.'
 
 376 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 Is it not curious to find this double fabric of cloth 
 and linen in the country so eariy as the sixteenth 
 century, spreading prosperity around, creating wealth, 
 and still to see Bois-le-Duc, and the neighbouring 
 towns, Endhoven and Tilburg, owing their chief 
 resources, and their well-being, in this our own day, 
 to their looms? 
 
 The union of those two great qualities, industry 
 and valour, is sufficiently rare to entitle a city which 
 possesses it, and turns it to advantage, to high honour 
 and credit. The people of Guelders were taught how 
 great is the strength which those virtues confer. In 
 1582, having come into the vicinity of Bois-le-Duc (into 
 what was called its ' Mayoralty,' or the territory under 
 its jurisdiction), for purposes of devastation and pil- 
 lage, they were met by the militia of the town, and 
 severely chastised. ' They were almost all killed or 
 taken prisoners,' writes an old Chronicle, ' and it may 
 be said, that there returned none of them to the town.' 
 From that time they kept themselves quiet. It was 
 especially at the period of the Wars of Independence, 
 that the valour and constancy of the inhabitants of 
 Bois-le-Duc were displayed to the full. Like all the 
 Brabant people, they were firmly attached to the 
 Catholic faith, and refused to come into the Union of 
 Utrecht ; and they even took advantage of some dis- 
 turbances which arose, to expel the Protestants who 
 had risen against their ' Magistrat.' On the other 
 hand, however, they refused to grant access to their 
 city to the troops of the Duke of Parma, asserting
 
 BRAVERY OF BOIS-LE-DUC 377 
 
 their intention of taking care of themselves. ' Never, 
 an historian tells us, ' did they consent to receive any 
 garrison from the King. Eaising recruits upon their 
 own territory, they had them drilled under the com- 
 mand of officers belonging to the town, and with 
 them manned their ramparts, and even made expedi- 
 tions in the open. They always refused any assistance 
 that was oJBered to them ; suffered only a few officers 
 to enter the fortress ; and although several overtures 
 were made to them, on both one side and the other, 
 they never departed from their resolution. 
 
 They had ample reason, in fact, to rely upon their 
 own strength, and in doing so, they did not presume 
 too far upon their valour. Events justified them 
 fully. The little army of citizens won glorious re- 
 nown in 1601 ; when the city, besieged by Prince 
 Maurice, and also reduced to its own forces, not only 
 resisted that victorious general, the greatest warrior 
 of his time, but also obliged him, by prodigies of zeal 
 and bravery, to raise the siege, after twenty-seven days 
 of incessant attack. 
 
 Meteren relates this brilliant feat of arms in detail. 
 The old annahst devotes several pages, which are 
 well worth reading, to the obstinate defence of their 
 city by its brave citizens, and the heroism displayed 
 by the women and even the children. From his 
 narrative we learn what the population of Bois-le-Duc 
 is capable of in difficult circumstances. It is also 
 interesting to learn liow deeply the young Stadtholder 
 felt the humiliation of being ol^liged to witlidraw from
 
 378 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 liis proudly assumed position, and relinquish an enter- 
 prise wliicli he had hoped to bring easily to a success- 
 ful termination. 
 
 The fortune of war is a fickle fortune. In 1629, 
 Frederick-Henry took Hertogenbosch's, after a siege 
 which will remain for ever celebrated among sieges, 
 and at which the King and Queen of Bohemia and the 
 Dukes of Wittemberg and Holstein were present. 
 The capitulation was signed on the 14th of Decem- 
 ber ; and, two days afterwards, Count Grobbendonk, 
 governor of the city, vacated it with the whole of 
 his garrison, the Catholic authorities, the Bishop and 
 clergy, the occupants of the convents, and a number 
 of citizens w4io were too seriously compromised, or 
 who refused to submit to the new rulers. 
 
 Bois-le-Duc was thenceforth placed under the 
 authority of the States ; its territory was annexed to 
 the United Provinces, and its churches were handed 
 over to the Calvinists. 
 
 But, although the population had been subdued, 
 it remained unsubmissive, and above all, unconverted. 
 The city was immutably faithful to its faith and its 
 traditions. Bois-le-Duc and its ' Mayoralty ' were 
 still fervently Catholic ; and a visitor who travelled 
 through the Low Countries in the last century,^ when 
 referring to the Proclamations of 1725 and 1730, 
 against the Eoman Catholic clergy and the religious 
 order, writes, that ' Notwithstanding the persecution, 
 the number of Catholics is still so considerable, that 
 
 ^ See Les Deliccs cles Fiiys Bus.
 
 THE GREAT CHURCH OF BOIS-LE-DUC. 379 
 
 in many villages, except the minister, liis clerk, and 
 the officials of the State, there is not one to be found 
 of the Reformed Religion.' 
 
 As it was then, so it is now ; through all its vicis- 
 situdes Bois-le-Duc has preserved its faith intact. 
 When Calvinistic exclusiveness was replaced in those 
 centuries by rehgious liberty, the population was 
 found to be as much ' Eoman ' as in 1629, indeed 
 perhaps more completely so. The modern Catholics 
 set themselves to tlie observance of their newly en- 
 franchised faith with a zealous and self-asserting fer- 
 vour, not uncommon to the enjoyment of a benefit of 
 which one has long been deprived. Then, as always 
 happens, pohtics entered speedily into the matter. 
 Calvinism was regarded as a former oppressor, endea- 
 vouring to resume its lost ground and its vanished 
 domination. And the clergy, without reflecting that 
 the emancipation of Catholicism was the work of the 
 Revolution, regarded Calvinism and Liberation as a 
 common adversary, against Avhich they must direct all 
 their energies, and incite all their disciples. 
 
 I have sufficiently discussed the subject of Cleri- 
 calism in the Belgian territory of Flanders, and the 
 Dutch territory of Brabant, in my books, entitled re- 
 spectively, 'Voyage aux Frontieres menacees,' and 
 ' Het Land van der Gengen,' and I shall now leave that 
 subject. 
 
 The great church of Bois-le-Duc is certainly the 
 finest Gothic building in all the Netherlands. It 
 belongs to the ogival period, bordering on the fiam-
 
 380 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 boyant. Its decoration is of extraordinary richness, 
 but yet it does not fall into tlie exaggeration which 
 injures the purity of line and spoils the beauty 
 of so many buildings in our country, by what I 
 may call lapidary vegetation ! In the Northern coun- 
 tries examples of the really flamboyant style are 
 rare ; architecture was so much behindhand there, 
 that the Renaissance had manifested itself before 
 Gothic efflorescence had reached its apogee. This 
 explains how it happened that the Church of St. 
 John, although belonging to the fifteenth century, 
 was saved from the over-profusion of ornament with 
 which it was threatened. 
 
 The vaulted roof of the nave rises to a superb 
 height, supported by thirty-two elegant pillars. A 
 remarkable triforium, pierced and trilobed, rises 
 above the arcades, and augments the grace of this 
 magnificent ' ship.' The choir is majestic in the 
 extreme. In addition to these artistic beauties, there 
 is a justly celebrated baptistery in gilded bronze, and 
 a pulpit and other wood carvings in very good style, 
 although much more modern. Altogether, the church 
 of Bois-le-Duc is worthy in every respect of its great 
 reputation. 
 
 Unfortunately there is a reverse to the medal. 
 This church, so elegant of form and so rich in orna- 
 ment, is built of bad materials. So faulty is the stone 
 used in its construction that it crumbles under the 
 action of rain, and is blown away in dust by that of 
 wind. At the present day the old building, after
 
 THE STADHUIS AND ITS TREASURES. 381 
 
 long suffering from those inevitable ills, would no 
 longer present the form of a monument, had not 
 pious hands repaired it, tending its wounds with ad- 
 miring love of which it is well worthy. Nor has the 
 State, on its side, been grudging of its grants for the 
 same worthy purpose. It is to be hoped that nothing 
 will interfere to arrest the progress of this restoration, 
 and that it may prove successful. 
 
 Judging by the old streets of the city, Gothic 
 buildings must have been very numerous in the 
 ancient ' Silva Ducis.' At present they are rare, 
 and tlie Churcli of St. John is so vastly superior to 
 the others which still remain, that it is almost unbe- 
 coming to mention them. I prefer to conduct you 
 immediately to the Stadhuis ; built in 1620— not, 
 indeed, that its architecture is attractive, for the 
 building is of grey stone, and is massive and heavy — 
 but because the interior contains certain precious 
 objects well deserving of attention. 
 
 In the first place there are the archives, very full, 
 complete, well-arranged, and containing, in addition 
 to a great number of valuable maps, catalogued re- 
 gisters and daybooks from a.d. 1300, down. Then 
 there is a collection of seals coming down from 1295 
 to the present time, and comprising four hundred 
 and ninety-seven specimens, which pass from the 
 Eoman to the Gothic, and from that to the contem- 
 porary style. To these succeed the drinking-cups of 
 the Guilds, the insignia of the public functionaries, 
 and ancient arms. Among the latter is a small cul-
 
 382 THE HEART OF HOLLAND. 
 
 veriii, which belonged to Count Egmont. At a httle 
 distance from this assortment we find a number of in- 
 struments of punishment and torture — one is a sort 
 of wooden sentry-box, all covered with carvings re- 
 presenting lizards, toads, and serpents, in which 
 women of infamous character were shut up. The 
 collection of collars, knives, pincers, vices, hatchets, 
 and branding-irons is very complete ; in fact, it extends 
 from the rack to the guillotine. One cannot deny 
 progress in the presence of these objects. 
 
 There is also a small collection of pictures, allego- 
 ries by Van Thulden, portraits of the family of Orange, 
 a view of the Stadhuis, by Beerstraaten ; the only 
 statue that was saved, when, in 1566, the Icono- 
 clasts sacked the Church of St. John ; and, lastly, a 
 room hung with the famous old green tapestries of 
 Flanders. 
 
 This public collection is not the only one at 
 Bois-le-Duc ; hard by there is another, no less well- 
 arranged, with a large and select library, medals, 
 prehistoric vases, Eoman lamps, medieeval pottery, 
 glass and earthenware, Indian arms, banners of the 
 Confraternities, the badges of the Guilds, and a few 
 pictures relating to the history of Bois-le-Duc. In 
 this collection we find a ' plaque ' in old Delft ware, 
 representing the famous combat of Breaute and Lek- 
 kerbeek, a legendary battle, or heroic duel, in which 
 twenty-one Frenchmen fought twenty-one Flemings. 
 A stratagem secured the victory to the latter ; they 
 cut the bridles of their adversaries' horses, and the
 
 LAST WORDS. 383 
 
 Frenchmen being unable to manage their steeds, were 
 defeated. 
 
 It was in 1600, and on the heath of Vucht, not far 
 from Bois-le-Duc, that this famous encounter took 
 place. I might take you to Vucht, a pretty village, 
 about a league from the great Brabant city, with the 
 purpose of showing you, not the celebrated field of 
 battle, but an infinitely more pleasing picture ; a 
 bouquet of living flowers, a group of young beauties, 
 composing the most amiable and cheery family you 
 could ever wish to see. I might also take you to one 
 of the neighbouring Castles, and show you an entire 
 museum of curiosities, with which the feudal dwelling 
 is furnished from top to bottom, filling the rooms, 
 blocking up the corridors, encumbering the staircases, 
 invading even the outer walls. Again, without quit- 
 ting Bois-le-Duc, I might introduce you into the 
 sanctuary of the most venerable Confraternity in all 
 the province, the Illustre lieve Vrouwe Brcederschap^ or 
 ' Illustrious Confraternity of Our Lady,' let you see 
 its old house, admirably restored in the antique style, 
 and its registers, which are, so to speak, the ' Libro 
 d'Oro,' of the ancient ' Silva Ducis.' But this cannot 
 be, the clock has struck the hour for retiring. We 
 must resume our homeward way ; as our French 
 saying has it, ' Adieu, paniers ! les vendanges sont 
 faites.' The train is alongside the platform, and 
 waits for nobody. Let us take a last look at the city, 
 a last glance into the distance, at the vast polders 
 that surround it, and which, as they could be flooded
 
 384 
 
 THE BEABT OF HOLLAND. 
 
 at will, formerly rendered Bois-le-Duc impregnable. 
 Let us salute Zalt Bommel, with its fine church and 
 its Gothic steeple, as we pass ; let us cross the Waal 
 and the Eijn. Afar, a great tower comes in sight, 
 its lofty pierced spire shows clear against the sky. 
 This is Utrecht, and we have reached our journey's 
 end.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note 1. 
 
 ( The Spanish Expedition to Duiveland and Schonwen 
 in 1575), page 47. 
 
 In Mr. Motley's work, 'The Eise of the Dutch Eepublic, 
 he describes the celebrated passage of the Spanish troops with 
 great force and animation. His version differs from that of 
 M. Havard in several particulars. The latter assigns the 
 conduct of the daring expedition to Mondragon ; but Mr. 
 Motley says that its leader was ' Don Osorio d'Ulloa, an officer 
 distinguished for his experience and bravery,' and describes 
 Mondragon, the ' grand commander,' as standing on the shore 
 at Philipsland, ' to watch the setting forth of the little army.' 
 M. Havard, in relating the attack made upon the wading 
 column from the Zealand ships, says : ' It was impossible for 
 the Spaniards to defend themselves, or to retaliate.' Mr. 
 Motley says : ' At times they halted for breatli, or to engage 
 in fierce skirmishes with their nearest assailants. Standing 
 breast-high in the waves, and surrounded at intervals by- 
 total darkness, they were able to pour an occasional well- 
 directed volley into the hostile ranks.' M. Havard says that 
 on the day after the landing of the Spanish troops, they took 
 Viassen ; but Mr. INIotley states that the town first seized by 
 the successftd adventurers was Brouwershaven. 
 
 cc
 
 386 APPENDIX. 
 
 Note 2. 
 
 ' Le droit de conwiuider,'' page 75. 
 
 'When, in 1285, Floris V. granted to the inhabitants the 
 " right of commnnity," which conferred municipal existence 
 on their city,' &c. 
 
 This obsolete phrase is explained as follows by M. Littre : 
 ' Communier : Terme d'ancienne legislation. Nona donne a 
 ceux qui etaient de la communaute d'une ville, d'une com- 
 mune.' 
 
 Note 3. 
 
 The Poet Cats, page 207. 
 
 M. Hayard wishes to correct an error in his description of 
 Brouwershaven. A statue — which is, however, but a poor 
 work of art — has been erected to the memory of the poet 
 Cats, in the city of his birth. 
 
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