antiquated houses, all with gables, with quaint roofs, and queer windows. We do not see many new houses building. Perhaps such modern edifices are constructed, but they quickly assimilate with the couleur locale of the city. We have heard some chimes in the other cities of Holland, we had a foretaste of it in Belgium, but in Amsterdam it is a continuous clang. To those unaccustomed

CANAL, AMSTERDAM.

been able to determine. Our usual round of sight-seeing commenced, and was leisurely accomplished. The museum, with its superb collections of Rubens and Rembrandts, delighted us, as did the Van der Hoop and Foder collections. Churches in Amsterdam, as in all the towns of the Netherlands, are not remarkable for either outside architecture or inside decoration. It is a certain simplicity which is characteristic of the Dutchman. No matter how grand a Dutchman may be, he is never anxious to make a display of it. A merchant in Holland by hard work and honesty gains a fortune. He is the last person to be

392

of extending his Perhaps, if he has picture or so. He

ostentatious about it. He does not think house, of buying a carriage, or of traveling. artistic tendencies, he may buy a good old may slightly increase his method of living, allowing himself or his family some few luxuries. If he does spend any money it will be to beautify some little garden spot a mile or so from the city. In this Eden he will grow his tulips, erect a quaint rococc summer-house, paint it all the colors of the rainbow, and on summer evenings will come and smoke his pipe there and drink his coffee. This extreme simplicity of taste, and the consequent saving of money, gave Holland supremacy for so many years. It is moderation which brings innumerable benefits. The Dutch character is grand in its simplicity. You hear of names which in old times have been illustrious. You go to visit the houses where a William the Silent, a John de Witt, or an Admiral Ruyter lived, and you see a small house. There is nothing parsimonious about the Dutchman, he is simply thrifty. It is a practical people, capable of the utmost devotion and heroism. An invitation is sent to visit the palace, and we see there fragments of the old flags which Dutchmen tore from Alva's standard bearers. Among the numerous monuments of commerce the principal one is the great exchange. Here are assembled every day all the merchants who dispose of the produce coming from all parts of the world. there is a certain amount of phlegm in the Hollander, it is not appreciable when he is in the heat of trade. We have been now long enough in Holland to understand the system of canals. The canals cut up Amsterdam into some ninety islands, and communication is kept up by means of two hundred and eighty-five bridges. Of course the utmost care is taken of these canals, and the expenditure on them daily amounts to a large sum.

If

In honor of the Ex-President of the United States, a sumptuous banquet was given him by some fifty of the leading merchants of the city. It would be difficult for me to describe the peculiar magnificence of this dinner, which was attended by all the dignitaries of the city. On the sideboards flashed a

BROEK.

393 wealth of plate, some of which, on prior occasions, have been used to welcome the former heroes of the country. Of course, the General had to make a speech, which I am led to believe was fully appreciated by the Amsterdam merchants, who very rightly consider that brevity even in an afternoon dinner speech is the soul of wit. The General is highly esteemed by the Dutchmen. His

peculiar quiet manner

Nu

is much liked, and as to the constant cigar in his mouth, smoking is such a national Dutch custom that it is another bond of union. merous excursions are made to places of interest near Amsterdam. The General examines the superb work, that miracle of engineering skill, which now unites Amsterdam with the North Sea, thus evading the long circuitous route through the Zuyder - Zee. A superb

STREET, HANOVER,

collation was offered to the General by one of the directors of the canal, which was a most delightful entertainment. An amusing trip was made to Broek, a village quite near the city, having the celebrity or the bad fame (either the reader pleases) of being the cleanest place in the world. This is a village where everything is sacrificed to cleanliness. Front doors of houses in Broek are never opened, save when an inmate is christened or is buried. You don't put on shoes when you go into a house. It is all excessively absurd, and is quite as much to be condemned as too much dirt. The only living things that can possibly enjoy themselves are the cows,

who live rather in boudoirs than in stalls, and it is questionable whether these animals would not like to have a good wallow in a rich mud-bottom at times. Human nature in Broek is secondary to the manufacture of zoetemel-kskaas-a kind of cheese, and the gods of this place are two, the broom and the scrubbing brush. A pleasant excursion was made to Haarlem, where in our honor the grand organ of the world, that in the Church of St. Bavon, was played.

We had spent now almost a fortnight in Holland when a new objective point-Berlin-directs the attention of our chief. Perhaps the General might have hastened his departure for the capital of Prussia, but for the miserable attempt made to assassinate the brave old Emperor. Now that news has come that King William is in no danger, I fancy the General would like to be present in Berlin during the meeting of the European Congress. It is "boot and saddle" with us then. Holland is left behind, and we pass almost directly on to Berlin, stopping by the way at Hanover. To Hanover belongs the honor of having furnished a whole line of sovereigns to England. We visit the royal palace, and are somewhat interested in the stables, from whence come the famous black and cream animals, which are used even to-day on occasions of state by Queen Victoria. Some of us make a slight excursion to Mount Brilliant, and look at the old palace of Herrenhausen, a monument of a king's folly—and a reminiscence of a profligate period, which sovereigns will not now-a-days dare to imitate. Time presses, for we learn that Mr. Bayard Taylor, our Minister in Berlin, is anxious for our arrival. We are to shake hands with Bismarck, and to talk perhaps of war with Moltke.