As Seen from a Dutch Window 



62 1 



The streets of Holland are usually 

 wet. When it is not raining, the street- 

 cleaners are earning - their wages, in part, 

 by sprinkling them. Thus it is neces- 

 sary for the ladies to lift their skirts in 

 crossing, and as it is hard to tell just 

 when the girl becomes a lady, the former 

 gives herself the benefit of all doubt and 

 begins in time. 



The girl just in her teens clutches at 

 her dress as soon as she feels the first 

 rain drops or crosses a street, and the 

 little tot, whose dress barely comes to 

 her knees, tries to save her flounces. I 

 have watched carefully, and so far I 

 have not seen a girl old enough to leave 

 the perambulator who was too small to 

 imagine that her skirts might not be 

 soiled by the wet. To pull the skirt 

 aside, to give it a gentle lift, comes in- 

 stinctively. So it is with the boy's 

 smoking. 



Between the letter-box and my win- 

 dow there passes a good part of Dutch 

 life, and the little that is not in the pro- 

 cession is suggested by some counter- 

 part. 



Even history cannot be forgotten, for 

 I look out upon streets whose names are 

 taken from men who took part in the 

 struggle for independence — a struggle 

 that illumines the annals of northern 

 Europe ; a struggle that kept alive in ad- 

 verse times the sacred fire of freedom. 

 From this contest Spain was so weak- 

 ened that the Armada was not invincible, 

 and England escaped a defeat that would 

 have given to the world's map a differ- 

 ent set of boundary lines and would pos- 

 sibly have exterminated Protestantism. 



THE NATIONAL, CHARACTER REVEALED BY 

 HISTORY 



An uneqaul war like that waged by 

 Holland against Philip of Spain would 

 have resulted disastrously, had it not 

 been for the national character of the 

 people — a character that was in a large 

 measure shaped by their geographic en- 

 vironment. Foreigners have invaded 

 their land and swayed for a time its des- 

 tinies, but their leaving was like the 

 passing of a horrible nightmare — it left 

 no influence upon life or habits. 



When the Frisian vowed that his race 

 should be free as long a.3, the wind blows 

 out of the clouds and the world stands, 

 he thought of political freedom. But 

 there is a destiny spelled out in the dikes 

 and dunes that insures a grander free- 

 dom than immunity from serfdom — a 

 freedom from the tainting taste for for- 

 eign foibles. 



Since the land on which these people 

 live is new, their history cannot be an- 

 cient, and with great definiteness it can 

 be followed from the Batavia of Caesar 

 down to the Nederland of Wilhelmina. 



We may begin with Charles the Great, 

 who, mindful of his Brabant ancestry, 

 left to the Batavians over whom he was 

 called upon to rule their native customs 

 and gave to them chiefs of their own 

 nationality for rulers. This type of cen- 

 tralization was successful in the hands 

 of a capable ruler, and the local chieftain 

 vested with the title of deputy, count, or 

 duke, answerable to the head of the state 

 for his tribute money or his army, laid 

 the foundations of Holland's greatness. 



The dukes and the counts of the Neth- 

 erlands were not slow in realizing that 

 their wealth grew with the increased 

 prosperity of their subjects, and encour- 

 aged them to gather into villages, and 

 there, combining forces and capital, 

 brought into existence manufactures of 

 such excellence that the lowlands sup- 

 plied the people of the neighboring coun- 

 tries with the products of mill and loom. 

 These communities became little repub- 

 lics. They were made up of guilds 

 recognized and protected by the author- 

 ities, since they contributed to the pros- 

 perity coveted by these authorities. In 

 the course of time the guilds deputed 

 delegates to meet in council, and their 

 deliberations were passed on through 

 representatives who, in assemblies, as- 

 sisted in the general government. Thus 

 the Netherlands became gradually famil- 

 iar with government by representation. 



These cities were not unfrequently 

 quarrelsome and combative. Their hori- 

 zons were bounded by the walls of their 

 own towns, and the narrowing processes 

 of such a pent-up existence brought 

 about a certain intolerance toward one 



