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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #62403 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62403)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sketches in Holland and Scandinavia, by
-Augustus J. C. Hare
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Sketches in Holland and Scandinavia
-
-Author: Augustus J. C. Hare
-
-Release Date: June 15, 2020 [EBook #62403]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SKETCHES IN HOLLAND AND ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Fiona Holmes, MFR and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber's Notes.
-
-The few instances of inconsistent hyphenation have been retained.
-Page 100 — Changed Lubeck to Lübeck.
-
-
- SKETCHES
- IN
- HOLLAND AND SCANDINAVIA
-
- BY
- AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE
- AUTHOR OF "CITIES OF ITALY," "WANDERINGS IN SPAIN," ETC.
-
- LONDON
- GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD
-
- LONDON
- SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE
- 1885
-
- [_All rights reserved_]
-
-
-
-
-PREFACE.
-
-
-The slight sketches in this volume are only the result of ordinary
-tours in the countries they attempt to describe. Yet the days they
-recall were so delightful, and their memory—especially of the tour
-in Norway—is so indescribably sunny, that I cannot help hoping their
-publication may lead others to enjoy what is at once so pleasant and so
-easy of attainment.
-
- AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE.
-
- HOLMHURST: _November 1884_.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
- PAGE
-
- IN HOLLAND 1
-
- IN DENMARK 59
-
- IN SWEDEN 83
-
- IN NORWAY 105
-
-
-
-
-_IN HOLLAND._
-
-
-At Roosendal, about an hour's railway journey from Antwerp, the
-boundary between Belgium and Holland is crossed, and a branch line
-diverges to Breda.
-
-Somehow, like most travellers, we could not help expecting to see some
-marked change on reaching a new country, and in Holland one could not
-repress the expectation of beginning at once to see the pictures of
-Teniers and Gerard Dou in real life. We were certainly disappointed at
-first. Open heaths were succeeded by woods of stunted firs, and then by
-fields with thick hedges of beech or alder, till the towers of Breda
-came in sight. Here a commonplace omnibus took us to the comfortable
-inn of Zum Kroon, and we were shown into bedrooms reached by an open
-wooden staircase from the courtyard, and quickly joined the table
-d'hôte, at which the magnates of the town were seated with napkins well
-tucked up under their chins, talking, with full mouths, in Dutch, of
-which to our unaccustomed ears the words seemed all in one string.
-Most excellent was the dinner—roast meat and pears, quantities of
-delicious vegetables cooked in different ways, piles of ripe mulberries
-and cake, and across the little garden, with its statues and bright
-flower-beds, we could see the red sails of the barges going up and down
-the canals.
-
-As soon as dinner was over, we sallied forth to see the town, which
-impressed us more than any Dutch city did afterwards, perhaps because
-it was the first we saw. The winding streets—one of them ending in a
-high windmill—are lined with houses wonderfully varied in outline,
-and of every shade of delicate colour, yellow, grey, or brown, though
-the windows always have white frames and bars. Passing through a low
-archway under one of the houses, we found ourselves, when we least
-expected it, in the public garden, a kind of wood where the trees have
-killed all the grass, surrounded by canals, beyond one of which is a
-great square château built by William III. of England, encircled by the
-Merk, and enclosing an arcaded court. There was an older château of
-1350 at Breda, but we failed to find it.
-
-[Illustration: THE MARKET-PLACE AT BREDA.]
-
-In stately splendour, from the old houses of the market-place, rises
-the noble Hervormde Kerk (Protestant Church), with a lofty octagon
-tower, and a most characteristic bulbous Dutch spire. Here, as we
-wanted to see the interior, we first were puzzled by our ignorance of
-Dutch, finding, as everywhere in the smaller towns, that the natives
-knew no language but their own. But two old women in high caps and
-gold earrings observed our puzzledom from a window and pointed to a
-man and a key—we nodded; the man pointed to himself, a door, and
-a key—we nodded; and we were soon inside the building. It was our
-first introduction to Dutch Calvinism and iconoclasm, and piteous
-indeed was it to see so magnificent a church thickly covered with
-whitewash, and the quantity of statues which it contains of deceased
-Dukes and Duchesses of Nassau bereft of their legs and petticoats.
-Only, in a grand side chapel on the left of the choir, the noble tomb
-of Engelbrecht II. of Nassau, general under the Emperor Maximilian
-(1505), remains intact. The guide lights matches to shine through the
-transparent alabaster of the figures; that of the Duke represents
-Death, that of the Duchess Sleep, as they lie beneath a stone slab
-which bears the armour of Engelbrecht, and is supported by figures
-of Cæsar, Hannibal, Regulus, and Philip of Macedon; that of Cæsar is
-sublime. The tomb of Sir Francis Vere in Westminster Abbey is of the
-same design, and is supposed to be copied from this famous monument.
-Outside the chapel is the tomb of Engelbrecht V. of Nassau, with all
-his family kneeling, in quaint headdresses. The other sights of the
-church are the brass font in the Baptistery, and a noble brass in the
-choir of William de Gaellen, Dean of the Chapter, 1539. It will be
-observed that here, and almost everywhere else in Holland, the names
-of saints which used to be attached to the churches have disappeared;
-the buildings are generally known as the old church, or new church, or
-great church.
-
-After a delicious breakfast of coffee and thick cream, with rusks,
-scones, and different kinds of cheese, always an indispensable in Dutch
-breakfasts, we took to the railway again and crossed Zealand, which
-chiefly consists of four islands, Noordt Beveland, Zuid Beveland,
-Schouwen, and Walcheren, and is less visited by the rest of the
-Netherlanders than any other part of the country. The land is all
-cut up into vast polders, as the huge meadows are called, which are
-recovered from the sea and protected by embankments. Here, if human
-care was withdrawn for six months, the whole country would be under the
-sea again. A corps of engineers called 'waterstaat' are continually
-employed to watch the waters, and to keep in constant repair the dykes,
-which are formed of clay at the bottom, as that is more waterproof
-than anything else, and thatched with willows, which are here grown
-extensively for the purpose. If the sea passes a dyke, ruin is
-imminent, an alarm bell rings, and the whole population rush to the
-rescue. The moment one dyke is even menaced, the people begin to build
-another inside it, and then rely upon the double defence, whilst they
-fortify the old one. But all their care has not preserved the islands
-of Zealand. Three centuries ago, Schouwen was entirely submerged, and
-every living creature was drowned. Soon after, Noordt Beveland was
-submerged, and remained for several years entirely under water, only
-the points of the church spires being visible. Zuid Beveland had been
-submerged in the fourteenth century. Walcheren was submerged as late as
-1808, and Tholen even in 1825. It has been aptly asserted that the sea
-to the inhabitants of Holland is what Vesuvius is to Torre del Greco.
-How well its French name of Pays-Bas suits the country! De Amicis says
-that the Dutch have three enemies—the sea, the lakes, and the rivers;
-they repel the sea, they dry the lakes, and they imprison the rivers;
-but with the sea it is a combat which never ceases.
-
-[Illustration: BERGEN-OP-ZOOM.]
-
-The story of the famous siege of 1749 made us linger at Bergen-op-Zoom,
-a clean, dull little town with bright white houses surrounding an
-irregular market-place, and surmounted by the heavy tower of the Church
-of S. Gertrude. In the Stadhuis is a fine carved stone chimney-piece;
-but there is little worth seeing, and we were soon speeding across
-the rich pastures of Zuid Beveland, and passing its capital of Goes,
-prettily situated amongst cherry orchards, the beautiful cruciform
-church with a low central spire rising above the trees on its ramparts.
-Every now and then the train seems scarcely out of the water, which
-covers a vast surface of the pink-green flats, and recalls the
-description in Hudibras of—
-
- A country that draws fifty feet of water,
- In which men live as in the hold of nature,
- And when the sea does in upon them break,
- And drown a province, does but spring a leak.
-
-The peasant women at the stations are a perpetual amusement, for there
-is far more costume here than in most parts of Holland, and peculiar
-square handsome gold ornaments, something like closed golden books, are
-universally worn on each side of the face.
-
-So, crossing a broad salt canal into the island of Walcheren, we
-reached Middleburg, a handsome town which was covered with water to the
-house tops when the island was submerged. It was the birthplace of
-Zach Janssen and Hans Lipperhey, the inventors of the telescope, _c._
-1610. In the market-place is a most beautiful Gothic townhall, built
-by the architect Keldermans, early in the sixteenth century. We asked
-a well dressed boy how we could get into it, and he, without further
-troubling himself, pointed the way with his finger. The building
-contains a quaint old hall called the Vierschaar, and a so-called
-museum, but there is little enough to see. As we came out the boy met
-us. 'You must give me something: I pointed out the entrance of the
-Stadhuis to you.' In Holland we have always found that no one, rich or
-poor, does a kindness or even a civility for nothing!
-
-The crowd in the market-place was so great that it was impossible to
-sketch the Stadhuis as we should have wished, but the people themselves
-were delightfully picturesque. The women entirely conceal their hair
-under their white caps, but have golden corkscrews sticking out on
-either side the face, like weapons of defence, from which the golden
-slabs we have observed before were pendant. The Nieuwe Kerk is of
-little interest, though it contains the tomb of William of Holland, who
-was elected Emperor of Germany in 1250, and we wandered on through the
-quiet streets, till a Gothic arch in an ancient wall looked tempting.
-Passing through it we found ourselves in the enclosure of the old
-abbey, shaded by a grove of trees, and surrounded by ancient buildings,
-part of which are appropriated as the Hotel Abdij, where we arrived
-utterly famished, and found a table d'hôte at 2.30 P.M. unspeakably
-reviving.
-
-Any one who sees Holland thoroughly ought also to visit Zieriksee, the
-capital of the island of Schouwen; but the water locomotion thither is
-so difficult and tedious that we preferred keeping to the railways,
-which took us back in the dark over the country we had already
-traversed, and a little more, to Dortrecht, where there is a convenient
-tramway to take travellers from the station into the town. Here, at the
-Hôtel de Fries, we found comfortable bedrooms, with boarded floors and
-box-beds like those in Northumbrian cottages, and we had supper in the
-public room, separated into two parts by a daïs for strangers, whence
-we looked down into the humbler division, which recalled many homely
-scenes of Ostade and Teniers in its painted wooden ceiling, its bright,
-polished furniture, its cat and dog and quantity of birds and flowers,
-its groups of boors at round tables drinking out of tankards, and the
-landlady and her daughter in their gleaming gold ornaments, sitting
-knitting, with the waiter standing behind them amusing himself by the
-general conversation.
-
-Our morning at Dortrecht was very delightful, and it is a thoroughly
-charming place. Passing under a dark archway in a picturesque building
-of Charles V. opposite the hotel, we found ourselves at once on the
-edge of an immense expanse of shimmering river, with long rich polders
-beyond, between which the wide flood breaks into three different
-branches. Red and white sails flit down them. Here and there rise a
-line of pollard willows or clipped elms, and now and then a church
-spire. On the nearest shore an ancient windmill, coloured in delicate
-tints of grey and yellow, surmounts a group of white buildings. On the
-left is a broad esplanade of brick, lined with ancient houses, and a
-canal with a bridge, the long arms of which are ready to open at a
-touch and give a passage to the great yellow-masted barges, which are
-already half intercepting the bright red house-fronts ornamented with
-stone, which belong to some public buildings facing the end of the
-canal. With what a confusion of merchandise are the boats laden, and
-how gay is the colouring, between the old weedy posts to which they are
-moored!
-
-It was from hence that Isabella of France, with Sir John de Hainault
-and many other faithful knights, set out on their expedition against
-Edward II. and the government of the Spencers.
-
-From the busy port, where nevertheless they are dredging, we cross
-another bridge and find ourselves in a quietude like that of a
-cathedral close in England. On one side is a wide pool half covered
-with floating timber, and, in the other half, reflecting like a mirror
-the houses on the opposite shore, with their bright gardens of lilies
-and hollyhocks, and trees of mountain ash, which bend their masses
-of scarlet berries to the still water. Between the houses are glints
-of blue river and of inevitable windmills on the opposite shore. And
-all this we observe standing in the shadow of a huge church, the
-Groote Kerk, with a nave of the fourteenth century, and a choir of
-the fifteenth, and a gigantic brick tower, in which three long Gothic
-arches, between octagonal tourelles, enclose several tiers of windows.
-At the top is a great clock, and below the church a grove of elms,
-through which fitful sunlight falls on the grass and the dead red of
-the brick pavement (so grateful to feet sore with the sharp stones of
-other Dutch cities), where groups of fishermen are collecting in their
-blue shirts and white trousers.
-
-[Illustration: GROOTE KERK, DORTRECHT.]
-
-There is little to see inside this or any other church in Holland;
-travellers will rather seek for the memorials, at the Kloveniers
-Doelen, of the famous Synod of Dort, which was held 1618-19, in the
-hope of effecting a compromise between the Gomarists, or disciples of
-Calvin, and the Arminians who followed Zwingli, and who had recently
-obtained the name of Remonstrants from the 'remonstrance' which they
-had addressed eight years before in defence of their doctrines. The
-Calvinists held that the greater part of mankind was excluded from
-grace, which the Arminians denied; but at the Synod of Dort the
-Calvinists proclaimed themselves as infallible as the Pope, and their
-resolutions became the law of the Dutch reformed Church. The Arminians
-were forthwith outlawed; a hundred ministers who refused to subscribe
-to the dictates of the Synod were banished; Hugo Grotius and Rombout
-Hoogerbeets were imprisoned for life at Loevestein; the body of the
-secretary Ledenberg, who committed suicide in prison, was hung; and Van
-Olden Barneveldt, the friend of William the Silent, was beheaded in his
-seventy-second year.
-
-[Illustration: CANAL AT DORTRECHT.]
-
-There is nothing in the quiet streets of Dortrecht to remind one that
-it was once one of the most important commercial cities of Holland,
-taking precedence even of Rotterdam, Delft, Leyden, and Amsterdam. It
-also possessed a privilege called the Staple of Dort, by which all the
-carriers on the Maas and Rhine were forced to unload their merchandise
-here, and pay all duties imposed, only using the boats or porters of
-the place in their work, and so bringing a great revenue to the town.
-
-More than those in any of the other towns of Holland do the little
-water streets of Dortrecht recall Venice, the houses rising abruptly
-from the canals; only the luminous atmosphere and the shimmering water
-changing colour like a chameleon, are wanting.
-
-Through the street of wine—Wijnstraat—built over storehouses used for
-the staple, we went to the Museum to see the pictures. There were two
-schools of Dortrecht. Jacob Geritse Cuyp (1575), Albert Cuyp (1605),
-Ferdinand Bol (1611), Nicolas Maas (1632), and Schalken (1643) belonged
-to the former; Arend de Gelder, Arnold Houbraken, Dirk Stoop, and Ary
-Scheffer are of the latter. Sunshine and glow were the characteristics
-of the first school, greyness and sobriety of the second. But there
-are few good pictures at Dort now, and some of the best works of
-Cuyp are to be found in our National Gallery, executed at his native
-place and portraying the great brick tower of the church in the golden
-haze of evening, seen across rich pastures, where the cows are lying
-deep in the meadow grass. The works of Ary Scheffer are now the most
-interesting pictures in the Dortrecht Gallery. Of the subject 'Christus
-Consolator' there are two representations. In the more striking of
-these the pale Christ is seated amongst the sick, sorrowful, blind,
-maimed, and enslaved, who are all stretching out their hands to Him.
-Beneath is the tomb which the artist executed for his mother, Cornelia
-Scheffer, whose touching figure is represented lying with outstretched
-hands, in the utmost abandonment of repose.
-
-An excursion should be made from Dortrecht to the castle of Loevestein
-on the Rhine, where Grotius, imprisoned in 1619, was concealed by his
-wife in the chest which brought in his books and linen. It was conveyed
-safely out of the castle by her courageous maid Elsje van Houwening,
-and was taken at first to the house of Jacob Daatselaer, a supposed
-friend of Grotius, who refused to render any assistance. But his wife
-consented to open the chest, and the philosopher, disguised as a mason,
-escaped to Brabant.
-
-It is much best to visit Rotterdam as an excursion from Dortrecht. We
-thought it the most odious place we ever were in—immense, filthy, and
-not very picturesque. Its handsomest feature is the vast quay called
-the Boompjes, on the Maas. Here and there a great windmill reminds you
-unmistakably of where you are, and the land streets are intersected
-everywhere by water streets, the carriages being constantly stopped
-to let ships pass through the bridges. In the Groote Markt stands a
-bronze statue of Desiderius Erasmus—'Vir saeculi sui primarius, et
-civis omnium praestantissimus,' which is the work of Hendrik de Keyser
-(1662), and in the Wijde Kerkstraat is the house where he was born,
-inscribed 'Haec est parva domus, magnus qua natus Erasmus, 1467,' but
-it is now a tavern. The great church of S. Lawrence—Groote Kerk—built
-in 1477-87, contains the tombs of a number of Dutch admirals, and has
-a grand pavement of monumental slabs, but is otherwise frightful. The
-portion used for service is said to be 'so conveniently constructed
-that the zealous Christians of Rotterdam prefer sleeping through a
-sermon there, to any other church in the city.' Part of the rest is
-used as a cart-house, the largest chapel is a commodious carpenter's
-shop, and the aisles round the part which is still a church, where
-there has been an attempt at restoration in painting the roof yellow
-and putting up some hideous yellow seats, are a playground for the
-children of the town, who are freely admitted in their perambulators,
-though for strangers there is a separate fee for each part of the
-edifice they enter.
-
-We went to see the pictures in the Museum bequeathed to the town by
-Jacob Otto Boyman, but did not admire them much. It takes time to
-accustom one's mind to Dutch art, and the endless representations
-of family life, with domestic furniture, pots and pans, &c., or of
-the simple local landscapes—clipped avenues, sandy roads, dykes,
-and cottages, or even of the cows, and pigs, and poultry, which seem
-wonderfully executed, but, where one has too much of the originals,
-scarcely worth the immense amount of time and labour bestowed upon
-them. The calm seas of Van de Welde and Van der Capelle only afford
-a certain amount of relief. The scenes of village life are seldom
-pleasing, often coarse, and never have anything elevating to offer or
-ennobling to recall. We thought that the real charm of the Dutch school
-to outsiders consists in the immense power and variety of its portraits.
-
-Hating Rotterdam, we thankfully felt ourselves speeding over the flat,
-rich lands to Gouda, where we found an agricultural fête going on,
-banners half way down the houses, and a triumphal arch as the entrance
-to the square, formed of spades, rakes, and forks, with a plough at
-the top, and decorated with corn, potatoes, turnips, and carrots, and
-cornucopias pouring out flowers at the sides. In the square—a great
-cheese market, for the Gouda cheese is esteemed the best in Holland—is
-a Gothic Stadhuis, and beyond it, the Groote Kerk of 1552, of which the
-bare interior is enlivened by the stained windows executed by Wonter
-and Dirk Crabeth in 1555-57. We were the better able to understand
-the design of these noble windows because the cartoon for each was
-spread upon the pavement in front of it; but one could not help one's
-attention being unpleasantly distracted by the number of men of the
-burgher class, smoking and with their hats on, who were allowed to use
-the church as a promenade. Gouda also made an unpleasant impression
-upon us, because, expensive as we found every hotel in Holland, we were
-nowhere so outrageously cheated as here.
-
-[Illustration: THE VIJVER.]
-
-It is a brief journey to the Hague—La Haye, Gravenhage—most
-delightful of little capitals, with its comfortable hotels and pleasant
-surroundings. The town is still so small that it seems to merit the
-name of 'the largest village in Europe,' which was given to it because
-the jealousy of other towns prevented its having any vote in the States
-General till the time of Louis Bonaparte, who gave it the privileges
-of a city. It is said that the Hague, more than any other place, may
-recall what Versailles was just before the great revolution. It has
-thoroughly the aspect of a little royal city. Without any of the crowd
-and bustle of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, it is not dead like the smaller
-towns of Holland; indeed, it even seems to have a quiet gaiety, without
-dissipation, of its own. All around are parks and gardens, whence wide
-streets lead speedily through the new town of the rich bourgeoisie
-to the old central town of stadholders, where a beautiful lake, the
-Vijver, or fish-pond, comes as a surprise, with the eccentric old
-palace of the Binnenhof rising straight out of its waters. We had been
-told it was picturesque, but were prepared for nothing so charming
-as the variety of steep roofs and towers, the clear reflections, the
-tufted islet, and the beautiful colouring of the whole scene of the
-Vijver. Skirting the lake, we entered the precincts of the palace
-through the picturesque Gudevangen Poort, where Cornelius de Witte,
-Burgomaster of Dort, was imprisoned in 1672, on a false accusation of
-having suborned the surgeon William Tichelaur to murder the Prince of
-Orange. He was dragged out hence and torn to pieces by the people,
-together with his brother Jean de Witte, Grand Pensioner, whose house
-remains hard by in the Kneuterdijk.
-
-The court of the Binnenhof is exceedingly handsome, and contains the
-ancient Gothic Hall of the Knights, where Johann van Olden Barneveld,
-Grand Pensioner, or Prime Minister, was condemned to death 'for having
-conspired to dismember the States of the Netherlands, and greatly
-troubled God's Church,' and in the front of which (May 24, 1619) he was
-beheaded.
-
-[Illustration: HALL OF THE KNIGHTS, THE HAGUE.]
-
-Close to the north-east gate of the Binnenhof is the handsome house
-called Mauritshuis, containing the inestimable Picture Gallery of the
-Hague, which will bear many visits, and has the great charm of not
-being huge beyond the powers of endurance. On the ground floor are
-chiefly portraits, amongst which a simple dignified priest by Philippe
-de Champaigne, with a far-away expression, will certainly arrest
-attention. Deeply interesting is the portrait by Ravesteyn of William
-the Silent, in his ruff and steel armour embossed with gold—a deeply
-lined face, with a slight peaked beard. His widow, Louise de Coligny,
-is also represented. There is a fine portrait by Schalcken of our
-William the Third. Noble likenesses of Sir George Sheffield and his
-wife Anna Wake, by Vandyke, are a pleasing contrast to the many works
-of Rubens. There are deeply interesting portraits by Albert Dürer and
-Holbein.
-
-On the first floor we must sit down before the great picture which
-Rembrandt painted in his twenty-sixth year (1632) of the School of
-Anatomy. Here the shrewd professor, Nicholaus Tulp, with a face
-brimming with knowledge and intelligence, is expounding the anatomy of
-a corpse to a number of members of the guild of surgeons, some of whom
-are full of eager interest and inquiry, whilst others are inattentive:
-the dead figure is greatly foreshortened and not repulsive. In another
-room, a fine work of Thomas de Keyser represents the Four Burgomasters
-of Amsterdam hearing of the arrival of Marie de Medicis. A beautiful
-work of Adrian van Ostade is full of light and character—but only
-represents a stolid boor drinking to the health of a fiddler, while a
-child plays with a dog in the background.
-
-A group of admirers will always be found round 'the Immortal Bull' of
-Paul Potter, which was considered the fourth picture in importance
-in the Louvre, when the spoils of Europe were collected at Paris.
-De Amicis says, 'It lives, it breathes; with his bull Paul Potter
-has written the true Idyl of Holland.' It is, however—being really
-a group of cattle—not a pleasing, though a life-like picture. Much
-more attractive is the exquisite 'Presentation' of Rembrandt (1631),
-in which Joseph and Mary, simple peasants, present the Holy Child to
-Simeon, a glorious old man in a jewelled robe, who invokes a blessing
-upon the infant, while other priests look on with interest. A wonderful
-ray of light, falling upon the principal group, illuminates the whole
-temple. Perhaps the most beautiful work in the whole gallery is the
-Young Housekeeper of Gerard Dou. A lovely young woman sits at work by
-an open window looking into a street. By her side is the baby asleep
-in its cradle, over which the maid is leaning. The light falls on the
-chandelier and all the household belongings of a well-to-do citizen: in
-all there is the same marvellous finish; it is said that the handle of
-the broom took three days to paint.
-
-There is not much to discover in the streets of the Hague. In the great
-square called the Plein is the statue of William the Silent, with his
-finger raised, erected in 1848 'by the grateful people to the father of
-their fatherland.' In the fish-market, tame storks are kept, for the
-same reason that bears are kept at Berne, because storks are the arms
-of the town. But the chief attraction of the place lies in its lovely
-walks amid the noble beeches and oaks of the Bosch, beyond which on the
-left is Huis ten Bosch, the Petit Trianon of the Hague, the favourite
-palace of Queen Sophie, who held her literary court and died there.
-It is a quiet country house, looking out upon flats, with dykes and a
-windmill. All travellers seem to visit it,—which must be a ceaseless
-surprise to the extortionate custode to whom they have to pay a gulden
-a head, and who will hurry them rapidly through some commonplace rooms
-in which there is nothing really worth seeing. One room is covered with
-paintings of the Rubens school, amid which, high in the dome, is a
-portrait of the Princess Amalia of Solms, who built the house in 1647.
-
-[Illustration: SCHEVENINGEN.]
-
-A tram takes people for twopence halfpenny to Scheveningen through the
-park, a thick wood with charming forest scenery. As the trees become
-more scattered, the roar of the North Sea is heard upon the shore.
-Above the sands, on the dunes or sand-hills, which extend from the
-Helder to Dunkirk, is a broad terrace, lined on one side by a row of
-wooden pavilions with flags and porticoes, and below it are long lines
-of tents, necessary in the intense glare, while, nearer the waves, are
-thousands of beehive-like refuges, with a single figure seated in each.
-The flat monotonous shore would soon pall upon one, yet through the
-whole summer it is an extraordinary lively scene. The placid happiness
-of Dutch family life has here taken possession. On Sunday afternoons,
-especially, the sands seem as crowded with human existence as they are
-represented in the picture of Lingelbach, which we have seen in the
-Mauritshuis, portraying the vast multitude assembled here to witness
-the embarkation of Charles II. for England.
-
-An excursion must be made to Delft, only twenty minutes distant from
-the Hague by rail. Pepys calls it 'a most sweet town, with bridges and
-a river in every street,' and that is a tolerably accurate description.
-It seems thinly inhabited, and the Dutch themselves look upon it as a
-place where one will die of _ennui_. It has scarcely changed with two
-hundred years. The view of Delft by Van der Meer in the Museum at the
-Hague might have been painted yesterday. All the trees are clipped,
-for in artificial Holland every work of Nature is artificialised. At
-certain seasons, numbers of storks may be seen upon the chimney-tops,
-for Delft is supposed to be the stork town _par excellence_. Near
-the shady canal Oude Delft is a low building, once the Convent of S.
-Agata, with an ornamented door surmounted by a relief, leading into a
-courtyard. It is a common barrack now, for Holland, which has no local
-histories, has no regard whatever for its historic associations or
-monuments. Yet this is the greatest shrine of Dutch history, for it is
-here that William the Silent died.
-
-[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO S. AGATA, DELFT.]
-
-Philip II. had promised 25,000 crowns of gold to any one who would
-murder the Prince of Orange. An attempt had already been made, but had
-failed, and William refused to take any measures for self-protection,
-saying, 'It is useless: my years are in the hands of God: if there is
-a wretch who has no fear of death, my life is in his hand, however I
-may guard it.' At length, a young man of seven-and-twenty appeared
-at Delft, who gave himself out to be one Guyon, a Protestant, son of
-Pierre Guyon, executed at Besançon for having embraced Calvinism, and
-declared that he was exiled for his religion. Really he was Balthazar
-Gerard, a bigoted Catholic, but his conduct in Holland soon procured
-him the reputation of an evangelical saint. The Prince took him into
-his service and sent him to accompany a mission from the States of
-Holland to the Court of France, whence he returned to bring the news
-of the death of the Duke of Anjou to William. At that time the Prince
-was living with his court in the convent of S. Agata, where he received
-Balthazar alone in his chamber. The moment was opportune, but the
-would-be assassin had no arms ready. William gave him a small sum of
-money and bade him hold himself in readiness to be sent back to France.
-With the money Balthazar bought two pistols from a soldier (who
-afterwards killed himself when he heard the use which was made of the
-purchase). On the next day, June 10, 1584, Balthazar returned to the
-convent as William was descending the staircase to dinner, with his
-fourth wife, Louise de Coligny (daughter of the Admiral who fell in the
-massacre of S. Bartholomew), on his arm. He presented his passport and
-begged the Prince to sign it, but was told to return later. At dinner
-the Princess asked William who was the young man who had spoken to him,
-for his expression was the most terrible she had ever seen. The Prince
-laughed, said it was Guyon, and was as gay as usual. Dinner being over,
-the family party were about to remount the staircase. The assassin was
-waiting in a dark corner at the foot of the stairs, and as William
-passed he discharged a pistol with three balls and fled. The Prince
-staggered, saying, 'I am wounded; God have mercy upon me and my poor
-people.' His sister Catherine van Schwartzbourg asked, 'Do you trust in
-Jesus Christ?' He said, 'Yes,' with a feeble voice, sat down upon the
-stairs, and died.
-
-Balthazar reached the rampart of the town in safety, hoping to swim
-to the other side of the moat, where a horse awaited him. But he had
-dropped his hat and his second pistol in his flight, and so he was
-traced and seized before he could leap from the wall. Amid horrible
-tortures, he not only confessed, but continued to triumph in his crime.
-His judges believed him to be possessed of the devil. The next day he
-was executed. His right hand was burnt off in a tube of red-hot iron:
-the flesh of his arms and legs was torn off with red-hot pincers; but
-he never made a cry. It was not till his breast was cut open, and his
-heart torn out and flung in his face, that he expired. His head was
-then fixed on a pike, and his body cut into four quarters, exposed on
-the four gates of the town.
-
-Close to the Prinsenhof is the Oude Kerk with a leaning tower. It
-is arranged like a very ugly theatre inside, but contains, with
-other tombs of celebrities, the monument of Admiral van Tromp,
-1650—'Martinus Harberti Trompius'—whose effigy lies upon his back,
-with swollen feet. It was this Van Tromp who defeated the English
-fleet under Blake, and perished, as represented on the monument, in an
-engagement off Scheveningen. It was he who, after his victory over the
-English, caused a broom to be hoisted at his mast-head to typify that
-he had swept the Channel clear of his enemies.
-
-The Nieuwe Kerk in the Groote Markt (1412-76) contains the magnificent
-monument of William the Silent by Hendrik de Keyser and A. Quellin
-(1621). Black marble columns support a white canopy over the white
-sleeping figure of the Prince, who is represented in his little black
-silk cap, as he is familiar to us in his pictures. In the recesses of
-the tomb—'_somptueux et tourmenté_,' as Montégut calls it—are statues
-of Liberty, Justice, Prudence, and Religion. At the feet of William
-lies his favourite dog, which saved his life from midnight assassins at
-Malines, by awakening him. At the head of the tomb is another figure of
-William, of bronze, seated. In the same church is a monument to Hugo
-Grotius—'prodigium Europae'—the greatest lawyer of the seventeenth
-century, presented to Henri IV. by Barneveld as 'La merveille de la
-Hollande.'
-
-On leaving the Hague a few hours should be given to the dull university
-town of Leyden, unless it has been seen as an afternoon excursion from
-the capital. This melancholy and mildewed little town, mouldering
-from a century of stagnation, the birthplace of Rembrandt, surrounds
-the central tower of its Burg—standing in the grounds of an inn,
-which exacts payment from those who visit it. Close by is the huge
-church of S. Pancras—Houglansche Kerk—of the fifteenth century,
-containing the tomb of Van der Werff, burgomaster during the famous
-siege, who answered the starving people, when they came demanding
-bread or surrender, that he had 'sworn to defend the city, and, with
-God's help, he meant to keep his oath, but that if his body would
-help them to prolong the defence, they might take it and share it
-amongst those who were most hungry.' A covered bridge over a canal
-leads to the Bredenstrasse, where there is a picturesque grey stone
-Stadhuis of the sixteenth century. It contains the principal work of
-Cornelius Engelbrechtsen of Leyden (1468-1533), one of the earliest
-of Dutch painters—an altarpiece representing the Crucifixion, with
-the Sacrifice of Abraham and Worship of the Brazen Serpent in the side
-panels, as symbols of the Atonement: on the pedestal is a naked body,
-out of which springs a tree—the tree of life—and beside it kneel the
-donors. The neighbouring church of S. Peter (1315) contains the tomb
-of Boerhaave, the physician, whose lectures in the University were
-attended by Peter the Great, and for whom a Chinese mandarin found
-'à l'illustre M. Boerhaave, médecin, en Europe,' quite sufficient
-direction. Boerhaave was the doctor who said that the poor were his
-best patients, for God paid for them.
-
-The streets are grass-grown, the houses damp, the canals green with
-weed. The University has fallen into decadence since others were
-established at Utrecht, Groningen, and Amsterdam; but Leyden is still
-the most flourishing of the four. When William of Orange offered the
-citizens freedom from taxes, as a reward for their endurance of the
-famous siege, they thanked him, but said they would rather have a
-university. Grotius and Cartesius (Descartes), Arminius and Gomar,
-were amongst its professors, and the University possesses an admirable
-botanical museum and a famous collection of Japanese curiosities.
-
-The Rhine cuts up the town of Leyden into endless islands, connected by
-a hundred and fifty bridges. On a quiet canal near the Beesten Markt
-is the Museum, which contains the 'Last Judgment' of Lucas van Leyden
-(1494-1533), a scholar of Engelbrechtsen, and one of the patriarchs of
-Dutch painting.
-
-A few minutes bring us from Leyden to Haarlem by the railway. It
-crosses an isthmus between the sea and a lake which covered the whole
-country between Leyden, Haarlem, and Amsterdam till 1839, when it
-became troublesome, and the States-General forthwith, after the fashion
-of Holland, voted its destruction. Enormous engines were at once
-employed to drain it by pumping the water into canals, which carried it
-to the sea, and the country was the richer by a new province.
-
-[Illustration: MARKET-PLACE, HAARLEM.]
-
-Haarlem, on the river Spaarne, stands out distinct in recollection from
-all other Dutch towns, for it has the most picturesque market-place
-in Holland—the Groote Markt—surrounded by quaint houses of varied
-outline, amidst which rises the Groote Kerk of S. Bavo, a noble
-cruciform fifteenth-century building. The interior, however, is as
-bare and hideous as all other Dutch churches. It contains a monument
-to the architect Conrad, designer of the famous locks of Katwijk,
-'the defender of Holland against the fury of the sea and the power of
-tempests.' Behind the choir is the tomb of the poet Bilderdijk, who
-only died in 1831, and near this the grave of Laurenz Janzoom—the
-Coster or Sacristan—who is asserted in his native town, but never
-believed outside it, to have been the real inventor of printing, as he
-is said to have cut out letters in wood, and taken impressions from
-them in ink, as early as 1423. His partisans also maintain that whilst
-he was attending a midnight mass, praying for patience to endure the
-ill-treatment of his enemies, all his implements were stolen, and
-that when he found this out on his return he died of grief. It is
-further declared that the robber was Faust of Mayence, the brother
-of Gutenberg, and that it was thus that the honour of the invention
-passed from Holland to Germany, where Gutenberg produced his invention
-of movable type twelve years later. There is a statue of the Coster in
-front of the church, and, on its north side, his house is preserved and
-adorned with his bust.
-
-Amongst a crowd of natives with their hats on, talking in church
-as in the market-place, we waited to hear the famous organ of
-Christian Muller (1735-38), and grievously were we disappointed
-with its discordant noises. All the men smoked in church, and this
-we saw repeatedly; but it would be difficult to say where we ever
-saw a Dutchman with a pipe out of his mouth. Every man seemed to be
-systematically smoking away the few wits he possessed.
-
-Opposite the Groote Kerk is the Stadhuis, an old palace of the Counts
-of Holland remodelled. It contains a delightful little gallery of
-the works of Franz Hals, which at once transports the spectator into
-the Holland of two hundred years ago—such is the marvellous variety
-of life and vigour impressed into its endless figures of stalwart
-officers and handsome young archers pledging each other at banquet
-tables and seeming to welcome the visitor with jovial smiles as he
-enters the chamber, or of serene old ladies, 'regents' of hospitals,
-seated at their council boards. The immense power of the artist is
-shown in nothing so much as in the hands, often gloved, dashed in
-with instantaneous power, yet always having the effect of the most
-consummate finish at a distance. Behind one of the pictures is the
-entrance to the famous 'secret-room of Haarlem,' seldom seen, but
-containing an inestimable collection of historic relics of the time of
-the famous siege of Leyden.
-
-April and May are the best months for visiting Haarlem, which is the
-bulb nursery garden of the world. 'Oignons à fleurs' are advertised for
-sale everywhere. Tulips are more cultivated than any other flowers,
-as ministering most to the national craving for colour; but times are
-changed since a single bulb of the tulip 'L'Amiral Liefkenshoch' sold
-for 4,500 florins, one of 'Viceroy' for 4,200, and one of 'Semper
-Augustus' for 13,000.
-
-Now we entered Amsterdam, to which we had looked forward as the climax
-of our tour, having read of it and pondered upon it as 'the Venice of
-the north;' but our expectations were raised much too high. Anything
-more unlike Venice it would be difficult to imagine: and there is a
-terrible want of variety and colour; many of the smaller towns of
-Holland are far more interesting and infinitely more picturesque.
-
-[Illustration: MILL NEAR AMSTERDAM.]
-
-A castle was built at Amsterdam in 1204, but the town only became
-important in the sixteenth century, since which it has been the most
-commercial of ancient European cities. It is situated upon the influx
-of the Amstel to the Y, as the arm of the Zuider Zee which forms the
-harbour is called, and it occupies a huge semicircle, its walls being
-enclosed by the broad moat, six and a half miles long, which is known
-as Buitensingel. The greater part of the houses are built on piles,
-causing Erasmus to say that the inhabitants lived on trees like rooks.
-In the centre of the town is the great square called Dam, one side of
-which is occupied by the handsome Royal Palace—Het Palais—built by J.
-van Kampen in 1648. The Nieuwe Kerk (1408-1470) contains a number of
-monuments to admirals, including those of Van Ruiter—'immensi tremor
-oceani'—who commanded at the battle of Solbay, and Van Speyk, who blew
-himself up with his ship in 1831, rather than yield to the Belgians. In
-the Oude Kerk of 1300 there are more tombs of admirals. Hard by, in the
-Nieuwe Markt, is the picturesque cluster of fifteenth-century towers
-called S. Anthonieswaag, once a city gate and now a weighing-house.
-
-But the great attraction of Amsterdam is the Picture Gallery of the
-Trippenhuis, called the Rijks Museum, and it deserves many visits.
-Amongst the portraits in the first room we were especially attracted
-by that of William the Silent in his skull-cap, by Miereveld, but
-all the House of Orange are represented here from the first to the
-last. We also see all the worthies of the nation—Ruyter, Van Tromp
-and his wife, Grotius and his wife, Johann and Cornelis de Witt,
-Johann van Oldenharneveldt, and his wife Maria of Utrecht, a peaceful
-old lady in a ruff and brown dress edged with fur, by Moreelse. The
-two great pictures of the gallery hang opposite each other. That by
-Bartholomew van der Helst, the most famous of Dutch portrait-painters,
-represents the Banquet of the Musqueteers, who thus celebrated the
-Peace of Westphalia, June 18, 1648. It contains twenty-five life-size
-portraits, is the best work of the master, and was pronounced by Sir
-Joshua Reynolds to be the 'first picture of portraits in the world.'
-The canvas is a mirror faithfully representing a scene of actual life.
-In the centre sits the jovial, rollicking Captain de Wits with his
-legs crossed. The delicate imitation of reality is equally shown in
-the Rhenish wine-glasses, and in the ham to which one of the guests is
-helping himself.
-
-The rival picture is the 'Night Watch' of Rembrandt (1642),
-representing Captain Frans Banning Kok of Purmerland and his lieutenant
-Willem van Ruytenberg of Vlaardingen, emerging from their watch-house
-on the Singel. A joyous troop pursue their leader, who is in a black
-dress. A strange light comes upon the scene, who can tell whence? Half
-society has always said that this picture was the marvel of the world,
-half that it is unworthy of its artist; but no one has ever been quite
-indifferent to it.
-
-Of the other pictures we must at least notice, by Nicholas Maas, a
-thoughtful girl leaning on a cushion out of a window with apricots
-beneath; and by Jan Steen, 'The Parrot Cage,' a simple scene of tavern
-life, in which the waiting-maid calls to the parrot hanging aloft, who
-looks knowingly out of the cage, whilst all the other persons present
-go on with their different employments. In the 'Eve of S. Nicholas,'
-another work of the same artist, a naughty boy finds a birch-rod in
-his shoe, and a good little girl, laden with gifts, is being praised
-by her mother, whilst other children are looking up the chimney by
-which the discriminating fairy Befana is supposed to have taken her
-departure. There are many beautiful works of Ruysdael, most at home
-amongst waterfalls; a noble Vandyke of 'William II.' as a boy, with
-his little bride, Mary Stuart, Charles I.'s daughter, in a brocaded
-silver dress; and the famous Terburg called 'Paternal Advice' (known
-in England by its replica at Bridgewater House), in which a daughter
-in white satin is receiving a lecture from her father, her back turned
-to the spectator, and her annoyance, or repentance, only exhibited in
-her shoulders. Another famous work of Terburg is 'The Letter,' which is
-being brought in by a trumpeter to an officer seated in his uniform,
-with his young wife kneeling at his side. Of Gerard Dou Amsterdam
-possesses the wonderful 'Evening School,' with four luminous candles,
-and some thoroughly Dutch children. A girl is laboriously following
-with her finger the instructions received, and a boy is diligently
-writing on a slate. The girl who stands behind, instructing him, is
-holding a candle which throws a second light upon his back, that upon
-the table falling on his features; indeed the painting is often known
-as the 'Picture of the Four Candles.'
-
-Through the labyrinthine quays we found our way to the Westerhoof to
-take the afternoon steamer to Purmerende for an excursion to Broek,
-'the cleanest village in the world.' Crossing the broad Amstel, the
-vessel soon enters a canal, which sometimes lies at a great depth,
-nothing being visible but the tops of masts and points of steeples; and
-which then, after passing locks, becomes level with the tops of the
-trees and the roofs of the houses. We left the steamer at T Schouw,
-and entered, on a side canal, one of the trekschuiten, which, until
-the time of railroads, were the usual means of travel—a long narrow
-cabin, encircled by seats, forms the whole vessel, and is drawn by a
-horse ridden by a boy (het-jagerte)—a most agreeable easy means of
-locomotion, for movement is absolutely imperceptible.
-
-No place was ever more exaggerated than Broek. There is really very
-little remarkable in it, except even a greater sense of dampness and
-ooziness than in the other Dutch villages. It was autumn, and there
-seemed no particular attempt to remove the decaying vegetation or trim
-the little gardens, or to sweep up the dead leaves upon the pathways,
-yet there used to be a law that no animal was to enter Broek for fear
-of its being polluted. A brick path winds amongst the low wooden
-cottages, painted blue, green, and white, and ends at the church, with
-its miniature tombstones.
-
-The most interesting excursion to be made from Amsterdam is that
-to the Island of Marken in the Zuider Zee—a huge meadow, where the
-peasant women pass their whole lives without ever seeing anything
-beyond their island, whilst their husbands, who with very few
-exceptions are fishermen, see nothing beyond the fisher-towns of the
-Zuider Zee. There are very picturesque costumes here, the men wearing
-red woollen shirts, brown vests, wooden shoes, fur caps, and gold
-buttons to their collars and knickerbockers; the women, embroidered
-stomachers, which are handed down for generations, and enormous white
-caps, lined with brown to show off the lace, and with a chintz cover
-for week days, and their own hair flowing below the cap over their
-shoulders and backs.
-
-An evening train, with an old lady, in a diamond tiara and gold pins,
-for our companion, took us to the Helder, and we awoke next morning
-at the pleasant little inn of Du Burg upon a view of boats and nets
-and the low-lying Island of Texel in the distance. The boats and the
-fishermen are extremely picturesque, but there is nothing else to
-see, after the visitor has examined the huge granite Helder Dyke, the
-artificial fortification of north Holland, which contends successfully
-to preserve the land against the sea. There is an admirably managed
-Naval Institute here. It was by an expedition from the Helder that
-Nova Zembla was discovered, and it was near this that Admirals Ruyter
-and Tromp repulsed the English fleet. Texel, which lies opposite the
-Helder, is the first of a chain of islands—Vlieland, Terschelling, and
-Ameland, which protect the entrance of the Zuider Zee.
-
-[Illustration: APPROACH TO ALKMAAR.]
-
-The country near the Helder is bare and desolate in the extreme. It is
-all peat, and the rest of Holland uses it as a fuel mine. It was here
-that the genius of Ruysdael was often able to make a single tree, or
-even a bush rising out of the flat by a stagnant pool, both interesting
-and charming to the spectator. We crossed the levels to Alkmaar, which
-struck us as being altogether the prettiest place in the country and
-as possessing all those attributes of cleanliness which are usually
-given to Broek. The streets, formed of bricks fitted close together,
-are absolutely spotless, and every house front shines fresh from
-the mop or the syringe. Yet excessive cleanliness has not destroyed
-the picturesqueness of the place. The fifteenth-century church of
-S. Lawrence, of exquisitely graceful exterior, rises in the centre
-of the town, and, in spite of being hideously defaced inside, has a
-fine vaulted roof, a coloured screen, and, in the chancel, a curious
-tomb to Florens V., Count of Holland, 1296, though only his heart is
-buried there. Near the excellent Hôtel du Burg is a most bewitching
-almshouse, with an old tourelle and screen, and a lovely garden in a
-court surrounded by clipped lime-trees. And more charming still is
-an old weigh-house of 1582, for the cheese, the great manufacture of
-the district, for which there is a famous market every Friday, where
-capital costumes may be seen. The rich and gaily painted façade of the
-old building, reflected in a clear canal, is a perfect marvel of beauty
-and colour; and artists should stay here to paint—not the view given
-here, but another which we discovered too late—more in front, with
-gable-ended houses leading up to the principal building, and all its
-glowing colours repeated in the water.
-
-[Illustration: THE WEIGH-HOUSE, ALKMAAR.]
-
-It is three hours' drive from Alkmaar to Hoorn, a charming old town
-with bastions, gardens, and semi-ruined gates. On the West Poort a
-relief commemorates the filial devotion of a poor boy, who arrived here
-in 1579, laboriously dragging his old mother in a sledge, when all were
-flying from the Spaniards. Opposite the weighing-house for the cheeses
-is the State College, which bears a shield with the arms of England,
-sustained by two negroes. It commemorates the fact that when Van Tromp
-defeated the English squadron, his ships came from Hoorn and on board
-were two negroes, who took from the English flagship the shield which
-it was then the custom to fix to the stern of a vessel, and brought it
-back here as a trophy. Hoorn was one of the first places in Holland to
-embrace the reformed religion, which spread from hence all over the
-country, but now not above half the inhabitants are Calvinists.
-
-In returning from Alkmaar we stopped to see Zaandam, quite in the
-centre of the land of windmills, of which we counted eighty as visible
-from the station alone. They are of every shade of colour, and are
-mounted on poles, on towers, on farm buildings, and made picturesque
-by every conceivable variety of prop, balcony, gallery, and insertion.
-Zaandam is a very pretty village on the Zaan which flows into the
-Y, with gaily painted houses, and gay little gardens, and perpetual
-movement to and from its landing-stage. Turning south from thence, a
-little entry on the right leads down some steps and over a bridge to
-some cottages on the bank of a ditch, and inside the last of these is
-the tiny venerable hovel where Peter the Great stayed in 1697 as Peter
-Michaeloff. It retains its tiled roof and contains some old chairs and
-a box-bed, but unfortunately Peter was only here a week.
-
-[Illustration: MILL AT ZAANDAM.]
-
-[Illustration: PAUSHUIZEN, UTRECHT.]
-
-The evening of leaving Zaandam we spent at Utrecht, of which the
-name is so well known from the peace which terminated the war of the
-Spanish succession, April 11, 1715. The town, long the seat of an
-ecclesiastical court, was also the great centre of the Jansenists,
-dissenters from Roman Catholicism under Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres,
-condemned by Alexander VII. in 1656, at the instigation of the
-Jesuits. The doctrines of Jansenius still linger in its gloomy houses.
-Every appointment of a bishop is still announced to the Sovereign
-Pontiff, who as regularly responds by a bull of excommunication, which
-is read aloud in the cathedral, and then immediately put away and
-forgotten. Solemn and sad, but pre-eminently respectable, Utrecht has
-more the aspect of a decayed German city than a Dutch town, and so
-has its Cathedral of S. Martin (1254-67), which, though the finest
-Gothic building in Holland, is only a magnificent fragment, with a
-detached tower (1321-82) 338 feet high. The interior as usual is ruined
-by Calvinism and yellow paint. It contains the tomb of Admiral van
-Gent, who fell in the battle of Solbay. The nave, which fell in 1674,
-has never been rebuilt. The S. Pieterskerk (1039) and S. Janskerk
-offer nothing remarkable, but on a neighbouring canal is the quaint
-Paushuizen, or Pope's house, which was built by Pope Adrian VI. (Adrian
-Floriszoom) in 1517. Near this is the pretty little Archiepiscopal
-Museum, full of mediæval relics.
-
-The interesting Moravian establishment of Zeist may be visited from
-Utrecht.
-
-From Utrecht we travelled over sandy flats to Kampen, near the
-mouth of the wide river Yssel, with three picturesque gates—Haghen
-Poort, Cellebroeders Poort, and Broeders Poort; and a town hall of
-the sixteenth century. Here, as frequently elsewhere in Holland, we
-suffered from arriving famished at midday. All the inns were equally
-inhospitable: 'The table d'hôte is at 4 P.M.: we _cannot_ and _will
-not_ be bothered with cooking before that, and there is nothing cold
-in the house.' 'But you have surely bread and cheese?' 'Certainly
-not—_nothing_.'
-
-[Illustration: CELLEBROEDERS POORT, KAMPEN.]
-
-At Zwolle, however, we found the Kroon an excellent hotel with an
-obliging landlord; and Zwolle, the native place of Terburg (1608), is a
-charming old town with a girdle of gardens, a fine church (externally),
-and a noble brick gateway called the Sassenpoort.
-
-[Illustration: SASSENPOORT, AT ZWOLLE.]
-
-It was more the desire of seeing something of the whole country than
-anything else, and a certain degree of misplaced confidence in the
-pleasant volumes of Harvard, which took us up from Zwolle, through
-Friesland, the cow-paradise, to Leeuwarden, its ancient capital. Sad
-and gloomy as most other towns of Holland are, Leeuwarden is sadder and
-gloomier still. Its streets are wide and not otherwise than handsome,
-but they are almost deserted, and there are no objects of interest
-to see unless a leaning tower can be called so, with a top, like that
-at Pisa, inclined the other way, to keep it from toppling over. An
-hour's walk from the town there is said to be a fine still-inhabited
-castle, and, if time had allowed, respect for S. Boniface would have
-taken us to Murmerwoude, where he was martyred (June 8, 853), with his
-fifty-three companions. King Pepin raised a hermitage on the spot, and
-an ancient brick chapel still exists there.
-
-Here and elsewhere in Friesland nothing is so worthy of notice as the
-helmets—the golden helmets of the women—costing something equivalent
-to 25_l._ or 30_l._, handed down as heirlooms, fitting close to the
-head, and not allowing a particle of hair to be visible.
-
-In the late evening we went on to Groningen, a university town with
-a good hotel (Seven Provincen), an enormous square, and a noble tall
-Gothic tower of 1627, whence the watchman still sounds his bugle. Not
-far off is Midwolde, where the village church has fine tombs of Charles
-Jerome, Baron d'Inhausen and his wife, Anna von Ewsum.
-
-As late as the sixteenth century this province was for the most part
-uninhabited—savage and sandy, and overrun by wolves. But three hundred
-years of hard work has transformed it into a fertile country, watered
-by canals, and sprinkled with country houses. Agriculturally it is one
-of the richest provinces of the kingdom. This is mostly due to its
-possessing a race of peasant-farmers who never shrink from personal
-hard work, and who will continue to direct the plough whilst they
-send their sons to the university to study as lawyers, doctors, or
-churchmen. These peasant farmers or boers possess the _beklemregt_, or
-right of hiring land on an annual rent, which the landlord can never
-increase. A peasant can bequeath his right to his heirs, whether direct
-or collateral. To the land, this system is an indescribable advantage,
-the cultivators doing their utmost to bring their lands to perfection,
-because they are certain that no one can take away the advantage from
-themselves or their descendants.
-
-On leaving Groningen we traversed the grey, monotonous, desolate
-district of the Drenthe, sprinkled over at intervals by the curious
-ancient groups of stones called Hunnebedden, or beds of death (Hun
-meaning death), beneath which urns of clay containing human ashes have
-been found. From Deventer (where there is an old weigh-house, and a
-cathedral of S. Lievin with a crypt and nave of 1334), time did not
-allow us to make an excursion to the great royal palace of Het Loo,
-the favourite residence of the sovereigns. The descriptions in Harvard
-rather made us linger unnecessarily at Zutphen, a dull town, with a
-brick Groote Kerk (S. Walpurgis) which has little remaining of its
-original twelfth-century date, and a rather picturesque 'bit' on the
-walls, where the 'Waterpoort' crosses the river like a bridge.
-
-At Arnhem, the Roman Arenacum, once the residence of the Dukes of
-Gueldres, and still the capital of Guelderland, we seemed to have left
-all the characteristics of Holland behind. Numerous modern villas,
-which might have been built for Cheltenham or Leamington, cover the
-wooded hills above the Rhine. In the Groote Kerk (1452) is a curious
-monument of Charles van Egmont, Duc de Gueldres, 1538, but there is
-nothing else to remark upon. We intended to have made an excursion
-hence to Cleves, but desperately wet weather set in, and, as Dutch rain
-often lasts for weeks together when it once begins, we were glad to
-hurry England-wards, only regretting that we could not halt at Nymegen,
-a most picturesque place, where Charlemagne lived in the old palace of
-the Valckhof (or Waalhof, residence on the Waal), of which a fragment
-still exists, with an old baptistery, a Stadhuis of 1534, and a Groote
-Kerk containing a noble monument to Catherine de Bourbon (1469), wife
-of Duke Adolph of Gueldres.
-
-We left Holland feeling that we should urge our friends by all means to
-see the pictures at Rotterdam, the Hague, and Amsterdam, but to look
-for all other characteristics of the Netherlands in such places as
-Breda, Dortrecht, Haarlem, Alkmaar, and Zwolle.
-
-
-
-
-_IN DENMARK._
-
-
-Formerly the terrors of a sea-voyage from Kiel deterred many travellers
-from thinking of a tour in Denmark or Sweden, but now a succession of
-railways makes everything easy, and while nothing can be imagined more
-invigorating or pleasant, there is probably no pleasure more economical
-than a summer in Scandinavia. Those who are worn with a London season
-will feel as if every breath in the crystal air of Denmark endued them
-with fresh health and strength, and then, after they have seen its old
-palaces and its beech woods and its Thorwaldsen sculptures, a voyage of
-ten minutes will carry them over the narrow Sound to the soft beauties
-of genial Sweden and the wild splendours of Norway.
-
-Either Hamburg or Lübeck must be the starting-point for the overland
-route to Denmark, and the old free city of Lübeck, though quite a small
-place, is one of the most remarkable towns in Germany. We arrived
-there one hot summer afternoon, after a weary journey over the arid
-sandy plains which separate it from Berlin, and suddenly seemed to
-be transported into a land of verdure. Lilacs and roses bloomed
-everywhere; a wood lined the bank of the limpid river Trave, and in its
-waters—beyond the old wooden bridge—were reflected all the tallest
-steeples, often strangely out of the perpendicular, of many-towered
-Lübeck. A wonderful gate of red brick and golden-hued terra-cotta
-is the entrance from the station, and in the market-place are the
-quaintest turrets, towers, tourelles, but all ending in spires. The
-lofty houses, so full of rich colour, throw cool shade on the streets
-on the hottest summer day; and we enjoyed a Sunday in the excellent
-hotel, with wooden galleries opening towards a splashing fountain in a
-quiet square, where a fat constable busied himself in keeping everybody
-from fulfilling any avocation whatever whilst service was being
-performed in the churches, but let them do exactly as they pleased as
-soon as it was over.
-
-It must, at best, be a weary journey across West Holstein, through
-a succession of arid flats varied by stagnant swamps. We spent the
-weary hours in studying Dunham's 'History of Denmark, Sweden, and
-Norway,' which cannot be sufficiently recommended to all Scandinavian
-travellers. The glowing accounts in the English guide books of a lake
-and an old castle beguiled us into spending a night at Sleswig, but it
-turned out that the lake had disappeared before the memory of man, and
-that the castle was a white modern barrack. The colourless town and its
-long sleepy suburb, moored as if upon a raft in the marshes, straggle
-along the edge of a waveless fiord. At the end is the rugged cathedral
-like a barn, with a belfry like a dovecot, and inside it a curious
-altarpiece by Hans Brüggemann, pupil of Albert Dürer, and the noble
-monument of Frederick I., the first Lutheran King of Denmark; while
-richly carved doors at the sides of the church admit one to see how
-the grandmother of the Princess of Wales and various other potentates
-lie—Danish fashion—in gorgeous exposed coffins without any tombs
-at all. Everywhere roses grow in the streets, trained upon the house
-walls; and, up the pavement, crowds of the children were hurrying in
-the early morning, carrying in their hands the shoes they were going
-to wear when they were in school. In the evenings these children will
-not venture outside the town, for over the marshes they say that the
-wild huntsman rides, followed by his demon hounds and blowing his magic
-horn. It is the spirit of Duke Abel the fratricide, who, in the fens,
-murdered his brother Eric VI. of Denmark, and who was afterwards lost
-there himself, falling from his horse, and being dragged down by the
-weight of his armour. To give rest to his wandering spirit, the clergy
-dug up his body and despatched it to Bremen, but there his vampire gave
-the canons no peace, so they sent the corpse back again, and now it
-lies once more in the marshes of Gottorp.
-
-Most unutterably hideous is the country through which the railway
-now travels, wearisome levels only broken here and there by mounds,
-probably sepulchral. A straight line with tiny hillocks at intervals
-would do for a sketch of the whole of Sleswig and the greater part of
-Funen and Zealand. In times of early Danish history it was a frequent
-punishment to bury criminals alive in these dismal peat mosses. Twelve
-hours of changelessly flat scenery bring travellers from Hamburg to
-Frederikshaven, where we embark upon the Little Belt, the luggage-vans
-of the train being shunted on board the steamer. Immediately opposite
-lie the sandy shores of Funen, and in a few minutes we are there.
-Then four hours of ugly scenery take us across the island. It is only
-necessary to look out at the little town of Odense, called after the
-old hero-god, which was the birth-place of Hans Christian Andersen in
-1805. The cathedral of Odense contains the shrine of the sainted King
-Canute IV. (1080-86), who was murdered while kneeling before the altar,
-owing to indignation at the severe taxation to which the love of Church
-endowment had incited him.
-
-Nyborg, where we meet the sea again, will recall to lovers of old
-ballads the story of the innocent young knight Folker Lowmanson, and
-his cruel death here in a barrel of spikes, from the jealousy of
-Waldemar IV. for his beautiful queen Helwig, and how, to know his fate—
-
- With anxious heart did Denmark's Queen
- To Nyborg urge her horse,
- And at the gate his bier she met,
- And on it Folker's corse.
-
- Such honour shown to son of knight
- I never yet could hear;
- The Queen of Denmark walked on foot
- Herself before his bier.
-
- In tears then Helwig mounted horse
- And silent homeward rode,
- For in her heart a life-long grief
- Had taken its abode.
-
-At Nyborg we embark on a miserable steamer for the passage of the
-Great Belt. It lasts an hour and a half, and is often most wretched.
-On landing at Korsor travellers are hurried into the train which is
-waiting for the vessel.
-
-Now the country improves a little. Here and there we pass through
-great beech woods. Down the green glades of one of them a glimpse is
-caught of the college of Sorö. It occupies the site of a monastery
-founded by Asker Ryg, a chieftain who, when he departed on a journey
-of warfare, vowed that if the child to which his wife, Inge, was about
-to give birth proved to be a girl, he would give his new building a
-spire, but a tower if it were a boy. On his return he saw two towers
-rising in the distance. Inge had given birth to twin sons, who lived
-to become Asbiorn Snare, celebrated in the ballad of 'Fair Christal,'
-and Absalon, the warrior Bishop of Roeskilde—'first captain by sea and
-land.' Absalon is buried here in the church of Sorö, which contains the
-tomb of King Olaf, the shortlived son of the famous Queen Margaret;
-of her cruel father, Waldemar Atterdag, whose last words expressed
-regret that he had not suffocated his daughter in her cradle; and of
-her grandfather, Christopher II., with his wife, Euphemia of Pomerania.
-Soon we pass Ringsted, which is scarcely worth stopping at, though
-its church contains the fine brass of King Erik Menred (1319) and his
-queen, Ingeborga, and though twenty kings and queens were entombed
-there before Roeskilde became the royal place of sepulture. Amongst
-them lies the popular Queen Dagmar, first wife of Waldemar II., still
-celebrated in ballad literature, for there is scarcely a Dane who is
-ignorant of the touching story of 'Queen Dagmar's Death,' which begins
-
- Queen Dagmar is lying at Ribé sick,
- At Ringsted is made her grave,
-
-and which contains her last touching request to her husband, and her
-simple confession of the only 'sin' she could remember—
-
- Had I on a Sunday not laced my sleeves,
- Or border upon them sewn,
- No pangs had I felt by day or night,
- Or torture of hell-fire known.
-
-Tradition tells us that the dismal town of Ringsted was founded by King
-Ring, a warrior who, when he was seriously wounded in battle, placed
-the bodies of his slain heroes and that of his queen, Alpol, on board a
-ship laden with pitch, and going out to the open sea, set the vessel on
-fire, and then fell upon his sword.
-
-In the twilight we pass Roeskilde, and at 10-1/2 P.M. long rows of
-street lamps reflected in canals show that we have reached Copenhagen.
-
-To those whose travels have chiefly led them southwards there is a
-great pleasure in the first awaking in Copenhagen. Everything is
-new—the associations, the characteristics, the history; even the
-very names on the omnibuses are suggestive of the sagas and romances
-of the North; and though the summer sun is hot, the atmosphere is as
-clear as that of a tramontana day in an Italian winter, and the air is
-indescribably elastic. The comfortable Hôtel d'Angleterre stands in
-the Kongens Nytorv, a modern square, with trees surrounding a statue
-in the centre, but there are glimpses of picturesque shipping down the
-side streets, and hard by is a spire quite ideally Danish, formed by
-three marvellous dragons with their tails twisted together in the air.
-Tradition declares that it was moved bodily from Calmar, in the south
-of Sweden. It rises now from a beautiful building of brick erected in
-1624 by Christian IV., brother-in-law of James I. of England, and used
-as the Exchange.
-
-Not far off is the principal palace—Christiansborg Slot, often
-rebuilt, and very white and ugly. It was partially destroyed by fire in
-1884. Besides the royal residence, its vast courts contain the Chambers
-of Parliament, the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery chiefly filled
-with the works of native artists, amongst which those of Marstrand and
-Bloch are very striking and well worthy of attention.
-
-[Illustration: THE DRAGON TOWER, COPENHAGEN.]
-
-A queer building in the shadow of the palace, which attracts notice by
-its frescoed walls, is the Thorwaldsen Museum, the shrine where Denmark
-has reverentially collected all the works and memorials of her greatest
-artist—Bertel Thorwaldsen. Though his family is said to have descended
-from the Danish king Harold Stildetand, he was born (in 1770) the son
-of one Gottschalk, who, half workman, half artist, was employed in
-carving figures for the bows of vessels. From his earliest childhood
-little Bertel accompanied his father to the wharfs and assisted him in
-his work, in which he showed such intelligence that in his eleventh
-year he was allowed to enter the Free School of Art. Here he soon made
-wonderful progress in sculpture, but could so little be persuaded to
-attend to other studies that he reached the age of eighteen scarcely
-able to read. In his twenty-third year he obtained the great gold
-medal, to which a travelling stipend is attached, and thus he was
-enabled to go to Rome, where, encouraged at first by the patronage of
-Thomas Hope, the English banker, he soon reached the highest pitch of
-celebrity. Denmark became proud of her son, so that his visits to his
-native town in 1819 and 1837 were like triumphal progresses, all the
-city going forth to meet him, and lodging him splendidly at the public
-cost; but his heart always clung to the Eternal City, which continued
-to be the scene of his labours. Of his many works perhaps his noble
-lion at Lucerne is the best known. He never married, though he was long
-attached to a member of the old Scottish house of Mackenzie, and he
-died on a visit to Copenhagen in 1844.
-
-In accordance with Thorwaldsen's own wish, he rests in the centre of
-his works. His grave has no tombstone, but is covered with green ivy.
-All around the little court which contains it are halls and galleries
-filled with the marvellously varied productions of his genius, arranged
-in the order of their execution—casts of all his absent sculptures
-and many most grand originals. Especially beautiful are the statue
-of Mercury, modelled from a Roman boy, of which the original is in
-the possession of Lord Ashburton, and the exquisite reliefs of the
-Ages of Love, and of Day and Night, the two latter resulting from
-the inspiration of a single afternoon. But all seem to culminate in
-the great Hall of Christ, for though the statues here are only cast
-from those in the Vor Frue Kirche, they are far better seen in the
-well-lighted chamber than in the church. The colossal figures of the
-apostles lead up to the Saviour in sublime benediction; perhaps the
-statues of Simon Zelotes and the pilgrim S. James are the noblest
-amongst them. In the last room are gathered all the little personal
-memorials of Thorwaldsen—his books, pictures, and furniture.
-
-[Illustration: The Rosenborg Palace, Copenhagen.]
-
-The Museum of Northern Antiquities should also be visited and the Tower
-of the Trinity Church, with a roadway inside making an easy ascent to
-the strange view of many roofs and many waters which is obtained from
-the top. But the most delightful place in Copenhagen is the Palace
-of Rosenborg, standing at the end of a stately old garden—where it
-was built by Inigo Jones for Christian IV., and containing the room
-where the king died, with his wedding dress, and most of his other
-clothes and possessions. This palace-building monarch, celebrated
-for the drinking bouts in which he indulged with his brother-in-law,
-James I. of England, was the greatest dandy of his time, and before
-we leave Denmark we shall become very familiar with his portraits,
-always distinguished by the wonderful left whisker twisted into a
-pigtail falling on one side of the chin. Other rooms in Rosenborg
-are devoted to each of the succeeding sovereigns, and filled with
-relics and memorials which carry one back into most romantic corners
-of Danish history, the ever-alternate succession of Christians and
-Fredericks making a most terrible bewilderment, down to the two English
-queens, Louisa the beloved and Caroline Matilda the unfortunate. Most
-curious amongst a myriad objects of value are the three great silver
-Lions—'Great Belt, Little Belt, and Sound'—which, by ancient custom,
-appear as mourners at all the funerals of the sovereigns, accompanying
-them to Roeskilde and returning afterwards to the palace.
-
-Those interested in such matters will wander as we did through the
-more ancient parts of Copenhagen in search of old silver and specimens
-of the older Copenhagen china. Formerly the china imitated that of
-Miessen, but it has now a more distinctive character, and is chiefly
-used in reproducing the works of Thorwaldsen. Copenhagen has no other
-especial manufactures.
-
-No visitors to the Danish capital must omit a visit to Tivoli, the
-pretty odd pleasure grounds—very respectable too—near the railway
-station, where all kinds of evening amusements are provided in
-illuminated gardens and woods by a tiny lake, really very pretty.
-Here we watched the cars rushing like a whirlwind down one hill and up
-another, with their inmates screaming in pleasurable agony; and saw the
-extraordinary feats of 'the Cannon King,' who tossed a cannon ball,
-catching it on his hands, his head, his feet—anywhere, and then stood
-in front of a cannon and was shot, receiving in his hands the ball,
-which did nothing worse than twist him round by its force.
-
-[Illustration: ROESKILDE.]
-
-One day we went out—an hour and a half by rail—to Roeskilde, where
-a church was first founded by William, an Englishman, in the days of
-King Harold Blaatand (Blue-tooth), brother of Canute the Great. It is
-dedicated to S. Lucius, because tradition tells that a terrible dragon,
-who infested the neighbouring fiord and banqueted on the inhabitants,
-was destroyed for ever when the head of the holy Pope S. Lucius was
-brought from Rome and presented for his breakfast. The tall spires
-of the cathedral rise, slender and grey, from the little town, and
-beneath, embosomed in sweeping cornfields, a lovely fiord stretches
-away into pale blue distances. Endless kings and queens are buried at
-Roeskilde. The earlier sovereigns have glorious tombs, amongst which
-the most conspicuous is that of Queen Margaret—'the Semiramis of the
-North,' who, born in the prison of Syborg, where her unhappy mother
-Queen Helwig was imprisoned by Waldemar Atterhag, and allowed to run
-wild in the forest in her childhood, lived to become one of the wisest
-of Northern sovereigns, and to unite, by the Act known as 'the Union
-of Calmar,' the crowns of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, which attained
-unwonted prosperity under her sway. There are effigies of Frederic
-II. and Christian IV., the grandfather and uncle of our Charles I.,
-which recall his type of countenance and have the same peaked beard.
-Christian IV., the great palace-builder, whose birth was believed
-to have been prophesied by the mermaid Isbrand, was born (April 12,
-1577) under a hawthorn tree on the road between Frederiksborg and
-Roeskilde, as his mother, Sophia of Mecklenbourg, insisted on taking
-walks with her ladies in waiting far longer than was prudent. This
-king, his father, and all the later members of his royal house lie,
-not in their tombs, but in gorgeous coffins embossed with gold and
-silver upon the floor of the church, which has a very odd effect. The
-entrance of one of the private chapels is a gate with a huge figure, in
-wrought ironwork, of the devil with his tail in his hand. In another
-chapel are fine works of Marstrand (1810-75), the best of the pupils
-of Eckersberg, who gave the first stimulus to the art of painting in
-Denmark, where it has since attained to great eminence.
-
-[Illustration: THE CASTLE OF FREDERIKSBORG.]
-
-The district around Roeskilde, and indeed the greater part of Denmark,
-is devoted to corn, for there is no country in Europe, except
-England and Belgium, which can compete with this as a corn-grower.
-It is curious that though the neighbouring Sweden and Norway are so
-covered with pines, no conifer will grow in Denmark except under most
-careful cultivation. The principal native tree is the beech, and the
-beech woods are nowhere more beautiful than in the neighbourhood of
-Copenhagen. The railway to Elsinore passes through the beautiful beech
-forests which are familiar to us through the stories of Hans Christian
-Andersen. Here, near a little roadside station, rises the Hampton Court
-of Denmark, the great Castle of Frederiksborg, the most magnificent
-of the creations of Christian IV., which John of Friburg erected for
-that monarch, who looked personally into the minutest details of
-his expenses, and so raised this structure, glorious as it is, with
-an economy which greatly astonished his thrifty parliament. In the
-depths of the beech woods is a great lake, in the centre of which, on
-three islands united by bridges, rises the palace, most beautiful in
-its time-honoured hues of red brick and grey stone, with high roofs,
-richly sculptured windows, and wondrous towers and spires. Each view
-of the castle seems more picturesque than the last. It is a dream
-of architectural beauty, to which the great expanse of transparent
-waters and the deep verdure of the surrounding woods add a mysterious
-charm. A gigantic gate tower admits the visitor to the courtyard, where
-Christian IV., with his own hand, chopped off the head of the Master
-of the Mint, which he had established here, who had defrauded him.
-'He tried to cheat us, but we have cheated him, for we have chopped
-his head off,' said the King. Inside, the palace has been gorgeously
-restored since a great fire by which it was terribly injured in 1859.
-The chapel, with the pew of Christian IV.—'bedekammer,' prayer
-chamber, it is called—is most curious. There is a noble series of
-the pictures of the native artist Carl Bloch, recalling the works of
-Overbeck in their majesty and depth of feeling, but far more forcible.
-
-A drive of four miles through beech woods leads to the comfortable
-later palace of Fredensborg, built as 'a Castle of Peace' by Frederick
-IV. and Louisa of Mecklenbourg, with a lovely garden, and a view of the
-Esrom lake down green glades, in one of which is a mysterious assembly
-of stone statues in Norwegian costumes.
-
-[Illustration: CASTLE OF ELSINORE.]
-
-We may either take the railway or drive by Gurre from hence to
-Elsinore (Helsingor), where the great castle of Kronberg rises, with
-many towers built of grey stone, at the end of the little town on a
-low promontory jutting out into the sea. Stately avenues surround
-its bastions, and it is delightful to walk upon the platform where
-the first scene of Shakspere's 'Hamlet' is laid, and to watch the
-numberless ships in the narrow Sound which divides Denmark and
-Sweden. The castle is in perfect preservation. It was formerly used
-as a palace. Anne of Denmark was married here by proxy to James VI.
-of Scotland, and here poor Caroline Matilda sate daily for hours at
-her prison window watching vainly for the fleet of England which she
-believed was coming to her rescue. Beyond the castle, a sandy plain
-reminding us of Scottish links, covered with bent-grass and drifted
-by seaweed, extends to Marienlyst, a little fashionable bathing place
-embosomed in verdure. Here a Carmelite convent was founded by the wife
-of Eric IX., that Queen Philippa—daughter of Henry IV. of England—who
-successfully defended Copenhagen against the Hanseatic League, but was
-afterwards beaten by her husband, because her ships were defeated at
-Stralsund, an indignity which drove her to a monastic life. Hamlet's
-Grave and Ophelia's Brook are shown at Marienlyst, having been invented
-for anxious inquirers by the complaisant inhabitants. Alas! both
-were unknown to Andersen, who lived here in his childhood, and it is
-provoking to learn that Hamlet had really no especial connection with
-Elsinore, and was the son of a Jutland pirate in the insignificant
-island of Mors. But Denmark is the very home of picturesque stories,
-which are kept alive there by the ballad literature of the land,
-chiefly of the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, but still known to
-rich and poor alike as in no other country. For hundreds of years
-these poetical histories have been the tunes to which, in winter, when
-no other exercise can be taken, people dance for hours, holding each
-other's hands in two lines, making three steps forwards and backwards,
-keeping time, balancing, or remaining still for a moment, as they sing
-one of their old ballads or its refrain.
-
-[Illustration: TOWER OF HELSINGBORG CHURCH.]
-
-It was in a wild evening, with huge blue foam-crested waves rushing
-down the Sound, that we crossed in ten minutes to Helsingborg in
-Sweden, mounted for the sunset to the one huge remaining tower of its
-castle, and sketched as typical of almost all village towers in Denmark
-the belfry of the church where King Eric Menred was married to the
-Swedish princess Ingeborga.
-
-
-
-
-_IN SWEDEN._
-
-
-It is not beautiful in Sweden, but it is very pretty; if everything
-were not so very much alike, it would be very pretty indeed. The whole
-country as far north as Upsala is like an exaggerated Surrey—little
-hills covered with fir-woods and bilberries, brilliant, glistening
-little lakes sleeping in sandy hollows, but all just like one another.
-
-We turned aside in our way from Helsingborg to the north to visit the
-old university of Lund, the Oxford of Sweden, a sleepy city, where the
-students lead a separate life in lodgings of their own, only being
-united in the public lectures; for in Sweden, as in Italy, the taking
-of a degree only proves that the graduates have passed a certain number
-of examinations, not, as in England, that they have lived together
-for three years at least, forming their character and taste by mutual
-companionship and intimacy. The cathedral of Lund is a most noble
-Norman building, with giants and dwarfs sculptured against the pillars
-of its grand crypt, and a glorious archbishop's tomb, green and mossy
-with damp.
-
-[Illustration: THE JUNCTION OF LAKE MALAR AND THE BALTIC, STOCKHOLM.]
-
-An immense railway journey, by day and night through the endless
-forests, brought us to Stockholm, where we arrived in the early
-morning. Though the town is little beyond an ugly collection of
-featureless modern streets, the situation is quite exquisite, for the
-city occupies a succession of islets between Lake Malar and the Baltic,
-surrounding, on a central isle, the huge Palace built from stately
-designs of Count Tessin in the middle of the last century, and the old
-church of Riddarholmen, where Gustavus Adolphus and many other royal
-persons repose beneath the banner-hung arches.
-
-It sounds odd, but, next to the Palace, the most imposing building
-in Stockholm is certainly the Grand Hotel Rydberg, which is most
-comfortable and economical, in spite of its palatial aspect. There
-is no table d'hôte, and everything is paid for at the time, in the
-excellent restaurant on the first floor of the hotel. Here, a side
-table is always covered with dainties peculiarly Swedish, corn and
-birch brandy, and different kinds of potted fish, with fresh butter
-and olives, and it is the universal custom in Sweden to attack the
-side table before sitting down to the regular dinner. The rooms in
-the hotel are excellent, and their front windows overlook all that is
-most characteristic in Stockholm—the glorious view down the fiord of
-the Baltic: its farther hilly bank covered with houses and churches;
-the bridge at the junction of the Baltic and Lake Malar, which is the
-centre of life in the capital, and the little pleasure garden below,
-where hundreds of people are constantly eating and drinking under the
-trees, and whence strains of music are wafted late into the summer
-night; the mighty palace dominating the principal island, and the
-little steam gondolas, filled with people, which dart and hiss through
-the waters from one island to another. In Stockholm, where waters
-are many and bridges few, these steam gondolas are the chief means of
-communication, and we made great use of them, the passages costing
-twelve oëre, or one penny. The great white sea-gulls, poising over the
-water-streets or floating upon the waves, are also a striking feature.
-
-The museums of Stockholm have little to call for any especial notice,
-except a grand statue of the sleeping Endymion from the Villa Adriana,
-and the curious collection of royal clothes down to the present date, a
-gallery of costume like that which once existed in London at the Tower
-Royal. The chief curiosity which the Swedish collection contains is
-the hat worn by Charles XII. when he was killed, in which the upward
-progress of the bullet can be traced, proving that the king's death was
-caused by an assassin, and not the result of a chance shot from the
-walls of Frederikshald. No especial features mark the interior of the
-Palace, though the Royal Stable for a hundred and forty-six horses is
-worthy of a visit; and the churches are uninteresting, except perhaps
-S. Nicholas, the coronation church, which contains the helmet and
-spurs of S. Olaf, stolen from Throndtjem. Riddarholmen can scarcely
-be regarded as a church; it is rather a great sepulchral hall hung
-with trophies, having a few tombs on the floor of the building, and
-vaults opening under the side walls, in which the different groups
-of royal persons are buried together in families. Under a chapel on
-the left lies Gustavus Adolphus, the justly popular great-grandson of
-Gustavus Wasa, who fell at the battle of Lutzen, and who, as soldier,
-general, and king, ever knew true merit, and laboured for the glory of
-his country rather than for his own. In the opposite chapel repose the
-present royal family, descendants of Bernadotte, Prince of Pontecorvo,
-the only one of Napoleon's generals whose dynasty still occupies a
-throne. He began life as a common soldier, and his election as Charles
-XIV. of Sweden was chiefly due to the kindness with which he treated
-Swedish prisoners taken in the Pomeranian wars. But the Swedes have
-never had cause to repent of their choice, and their reigning house is
-probably the most popular in Europe. The coffins of those members of
-the royal family who have died within the memory of man are ever laden
-with fresh flowers.
-
-Close by the Riddarholmen Church is the most picturesque bit of
-street architecture in Stockholm, where a statue of Burger Jarl, the
-traditional founder of the town, forms a foreground to the chapel of
-Gustavus Adolphus and one of the many bridges.
-
-[Illustration: RIDDARHOLMEN, STOCKHOLM.]
-
-In saying that Stockholm is not picturesque one may seem to have
-spoken disparagingly, but, nevertheless, it is perfectly charming:
-there is so much life and movement upon its blue waters, and its many
-little public gardens give such a gay aspect to the buildings. Of
-these, the chief is the Kongsträgården, surrounding a statue of Charles
-XIII., where the pleasant Café Blanche is filled all the evening with
-an animated crowd, gossiping and eating ices under the verandah and
-shrubberies, and listening to the music. While we were staying in
-Stockholm a hundred Upsala students came in their white caps to sing
-national melodies in the Catherina Church. We lived through two hours
-of fearful heat to hear them, and most beautiful it was. King Oscar II.
-was present—a noble royal figure and handsome face. He is the ideal
-sovereign of the age—artist, poet, musician, student, equally at home
-in ancient and modern languages, profoundly versed in all his duties,
-and nobly performing them.
-
-We had intended going often, as the natives do, to dine amongst
-the trees and flowers at Hasselbacken, in the Djurgården, a wooded
-promontory, to which little steamers are always plying, but, alas!
-during eight of the ten July days we spent at Stockholm it rained
-incessantly. We were so cold that we were thankful for all the winter
-clothes we brought with us, and were filled with pity for the poor
-Swedes in being cheated out of their short summer, of which every day
-is precious. The streets were always sopping, but, in the covered
-gondolas, we managed several excursions to quiet, damp palaces on the
-banks of lonely fiords—Rosendal, remarkable for a grand porphyry vase
-in a brilliant little flower garden; and Ulriksdal, with its clipped
-avenues and melancholy creek.
-
-Our limited knowledge of Swedish often caused us to embark in amusing
-ignorance as to whither we were going, and led us into many a surprise.
-One day we set off, intending to go to Drottningholm, but, on reaching
-the quay, found the steamer just gone. At that moment such a fearful
-storm of rain came on that we were obliged to rush for shelter wherever
-we could, and the nearest point of refuge was the deck of the steamer
-_Mary_, which instantly started. We feared we might be bound for
-the Baltic, and, failing to make any one understand us, resolved to
-disembark at the first landing-place. But then the rain was worse than
-ever, and we allowed ourselves to be carried on down Lake Malar, till
-our boat turned into a little creek, and landed us on the pier of a
-manufacturing town. We had not reached the end of the pier, however,
-before the rain came on again in such convulsive torrents that we fled
-back to the _Mary_, which again started on its travels, and this time,
-after stopping at many little ports, conveyed us back to Stockholm.
-When we asked the captain what we were to pay for our voyage, he said,
-'Oh, nothing;' and very much amused he and his crew seemed to be by our
-ignorance and adventures.
-
-[Illustration: THE GRAVES OF THE GODS.]
-
-We had a fine day for our excursion by railway to Upsala, whence we
-hired a little carriage to take us on to Old Upsala, about three
-miles distant. A drive across a dull, marshy plain brings one to a
-delightfully wild district of downs, covered with hundreds of little
-sepulchral mounds like Wiltshire barrows, amid which three great
-tumuli, standing close together, are said to mark the graves of Odin,
-Thor, and Freya—heroes in their lifetime, gods in their death. Close
-beside them for centuries rose the temple which was the most sacred
-shrine of Scandinavian worship. It glittered all over with gold, and
-a golden chain, nine hundred ells in circumference, ran round its
-roof. In the temple were three statues, around which hovered all the
-principal mythological traditions of the north. The central figure was
-that of Odin or Wodan, the wizard-king, who is said to have come in
-the dawn of Swedish history from his domains of Asir, which extended
-from the Euxine to the Caspian, and whose capital was Asgard. He
-landed in Funen, where he founded Odense, and left his son Skjöld as a
-sovereign. Thence he passed into Sweden, and established his government
-at Sigtuna, not far from Upsala. His existence is affirmed by the Saxon
-Chronicle. He was called 'the Father of Victory,' for if he laid his
-hands on the heads of his generals, and predicted their success when
-they went out to battle, that success never failed them. He was also,
-says Snorro Sturlesen, 'the Father of all the arts of modern Europe.'
-Tradition has endowed him with every miraculous power. He could change
-his looks at pleasure—to his friends most beautiful, but a demon to
-his enemies. By his eloquence he captivated all who heard him, and
-as he always spoke in verse he was called 'the Artificer of Song.'
-His verses were endowed with such magic power that they could strike
-his enemies with blindness or deafness, or could blunt their weapons.
-To listen to the sweetness of his music even the ghosts would come
-forth and the mountains would unfold their inmost recesses. He was
-the inventor of Runic characters. He could slaughter thousands at a
-blow, and he could render his own followers invulnerable. At his will
-he could assume the form of beasts; at his word the fire would cease
-to burn, the wind to blow, or the sea to rage. If he hurled his spear
-between two armies, it secured victory to those on whose side it fell.
-The dwarfs (Lapps) had built for him a ship called _Skidbladner_, in
-which he could cross the most dangerous seas with safety; but when
-he did not want to use it, he could fold it up like a handkerchief.
-Everything was known to Odin, for did he not possess the mummified head
-of his enemy Mimir, which was all-wise, and he had only to consult it?
-Yet, with all these gifts and attributes, Odin remained human; he had
-no power over death. When he felt his end approaching he assembled
-all his friends and followers, and, giving himself nine wounds in
-a circle, allowed himself to bleed to death. The body of the great
-chieftain was burnt, and his ashes were buried under the mound of
-Upsala; but his spirit was believed to have gone back to the marvellous
-home in the Valhalla of Asgard, of which he had so often spoken, and
-whither he had always said that he should return. Henceforward it was
-considered that all blessings and mercies were gifts sent by Odin.
-The younger Edda tells that all who die in battle are Odin's adopted
-children. The Valkyriae pick them out upon the battle-field and conduct
-them to the Valhalla, where they have perpetual life in the halls
-of Odin. Their days are spent in hunting or the joys of imaginary
-combats, and they return at night to feast upon the inexhaustible
-flesh of the boar Sahrimnir, and to drink, out of horn cups, the mead
-formed from the milk of a single goat, which is strong enough nightly
-to intoxicate all the heroes. Huge logs constantly burn within the
-palace of Odin, for warmth is the northern idea of heaven, while in
-their hell it is eternal winter. When a Scandinavian chieftain died in
-battle, not only were his war-horse and all his gold and silver placed
-upon his funeral-pyre, but all his followers slew themselves that he
-might enter the halls of Odin properly attended. The more glorious the
-chieftain the greater the number who must accompany him to Valhalla.
-To rejoin Odin in Asgard became the height of a warrior's ambition.
-It is recorded of Ragnar Lodbrok that when he was dying no word of
-lamentation was heard from him: on the contrary, he was transported
-with joy as he thought of the feast preparing for him in Odin's
-palace. 'Soon, soon,' he exclaimed, 'I shall be seated in the pleasant
-habitation of the gods, and drinking mead out of carved horns! A brave
-man does not dread death, and I shall utter no word of fear as I enter
-the halls of Odin.' But stranger than all the legends concerning Odin
-is the fact that his memory is still so far fresh that 'Go to Odin' is
-yet used by the common people where an uncivil wish as to the lower
-regions would find expression in England. The fourth day of the week
-still commemorates Odin or Wodan—in old Norse Odinsdgr, in Swedish and
-Danish Onsdag, in English Wednesday.
-
-On the right hand of Odin, in the temple of Upsala, sate the statue of
-Freyja, or Freyer, represented as a hermaphrodite, with the attributes
-of productiveness. Freyja was the goddess of love, who rode in a car
-drawn by wild cats. She knew beforehand all that would happen, and
-divided the souls of the dead with Odin. She is commemorated in the
-sixth day of the week, that Freytag or Freyja's Day which in Latin is
-Dies Veneris, or Venus' Day.
-
-On the left of Odin sate Thor, who, says the Edda, was 'the most
-valiant of the sons of Odin.' He was the offspring of Odin and Frigga,
-'the mother of the gods,' and the brother of 'Balder the Beautiful.' As
-the defender and avenger of the gods, he was represented as carrying
-the hammer with which he destroyed the giants, and which always
-returned to his hand when he threw it. He wore iron gauntlets, and had
-a girdle which doubled his strength when he put it on. The fifth day
-of the week was sacred to Thor, in old Norse Thórsdag, in Swedish and
-Danish Torsdag, in English Thursday; in Latin Dies Jovis, for Jupiter,
-the God of Thunder, had the same attributes as Thor.
-
-There were three great festivals at Upsala, when multitudes flocked to
-the temple to consult its famous oracles or to sacrifice. The first was
-the winter festival of 'Mother Night'—saturnalia in honour of Frey,
-or the sun, to invoke the blessings of a fruitful year; the second
-feast was in honour of the Earth; the third was in honour of Odin, to
-propitiate the Father of Battles. Every ninth year, at least, the king
-and all persons of distinction were expected to appear before the great
-temple, and nine victims were chosen for human sacrifice—captives in
-time of war, slaves in time of peace—'I send thee to Odin' being the
-consolatory last words spoken to each as he fell. If public calamities
-had been caused by any royal mismanagement, the people chose their king
-as a sacrifice; thus the first king of the petty province of Vermeland
-was burnt to appease Odin during a famine. It is also recorded that
-King Aun sacrificed his nine sons to obtain a prolongation of his own
-life. The victims were either hewn down or burnt in the temple itself,
-or hung in the grove adjoining—'Odin's Grove'—of which every leaf was
-sacred. Still, according to the Voluspa, the famous prophecy of Vela,
-at the end of the world even Odin, with all the other pagan deities,
-will perish in the general chaos, when a new earth of celestial beauty
-will arise upon the ruins of the old.
-
-[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF OLD UPSALA.]
-
-One of the most curious little churches in Christendom now stands upon
-the site of the ancient temple. The apse is evidently built out of the
-pagan sanctuary. The belfry, Swedish-fashion, is detached, built of
-massive timbers and painted bright red. There are scarcely any human
-habitations near, only the mighty barrows, overgrown with wild thyme
-and a thousand other flowers, which rise over the graves of the gods.
-In the tomb of Odin the Government still gives the mead, which was the
-nectar of Scandinavian heroes, to pilgrim visitors.
-
-Like most of the Swedish towns, Upsala is disappointing, and its mean,
-ill-paved streets show few signs of antiquity. At the east end of the
-cathedral is the lofty tomb of Gustavus Wasa, the first Protestant
-King of Sweden, whose effigy lies between the charming figures of
-his two pretty little wives. In 1519 he was carried off as a hostage
-by that Christian, King of Denmark, who forcibly made himself King
-of Sweden also, and ruled with savage tyranny. Escaping to Lübeck,
-he headed a revolutionary party against the tyrant, and, after many
-defeats, succeeded in taking Stockholm, where he was made king in 1523.
-Soon after, Olaf Petri's translation of the New Testament led to the
-Reformation in Sweden, where Gustavus Wasa was another Henry VIII., in
-taking the opportunity of seizing two-thirds of the Church revenues,
-and depriving all ecclesiastics of their incomes if they refused to
-embrace Lutheranism. One of his daughters-in-law was the famous Polish
-princess, Queen Catherine Jagellonica, who tried hard to upset the new
-religion, and inculcated Catholicism upon her son, King Sigismund, who
-was deposed, on religious grounds, in favour of his uncle, Charles IX.,
-the father of Gustavus Adolphus. This Queen Catherine Jagellonica has
-a fine tomb in a side chapel of Upsala Cathedral.
-
-[Illustration: GRIPSHOLM.]
-
-On a brilliant July morning we embarked at Stockholm in the steamer
-which runs twice a week down Lake Malar to Gripsholm. Most lovely were
-the long reaches of still water with their fringe of russet rocks,
-every crevice tufted with birch and dwarf mountain ash, opening here
-and there to show some red timber houses or a wooden spire. It was
-several hours of soft diorama, with the music of the pines, before the
-great castle of Gripsholm, the Windsor of Sweden, came in sight, with
-its many red towers and Eastern-looking domes and cupolas. We were
-landed at the little pier of Mariefred, in itself a lovely scene, with
-old trees feathering into the water, and a picturesque church rising
-in a grove of walnuts on a green hill behind. Hard by is a little inn
-where the whole of the passengers in the steamer dined together, at
-many little tables, the great staple of food being fresh trout and
-salmon of the lake, the bilberries and cloudberries of the rocks, and
-the birch brandy and wild strawberries from the woods. After dinner
-every one trooped along the meadow paths to the castle, and rambled
-in friendly companionship over its numerous rooms, full of interest,
-and with many curious royal portraits and pieces of ancient furniture.
-There are endless historic recollections connected with Gripsholm,
-but they centre for the most part around the sons of Gustavus Wasa.
-Of these, John was immured here by Eric XIV., with his wife Catherine
-Jagellonica, who, during her imprisonment, gave birth to her son
-Sigismund (afterwards Sigismund III. of Poland), in a box-bed which
-still remains. Eric intended to have put his brother to death, but
-when he entered his cell for the purpose was so overcome by fraternal
-feeling that he begged his pardon instead. That pardon was not granted,
-for when John got the upper hand he imprisoned Eric in a small chamber
-at the top of the castle, where he languished for ten years, during
-which he wrote a treatise on military art, and translated the history
-of Johannes Magnus, and where—in the end—he was poisoned.
-
-
-
-
-_IN NORWAY._
-
-
-The weather changed to a cloudless sunshine, which hatched all the
-mosquitoes, as we entered Norway in the second week in July, and the
-heat was so intense that, in the long railway journey from Stockholm,
-we were very thankful for the little tank of iced water with which
-each railway carriage is provided. We were disappointed in Kristiania,
-which is a very dull place. The town was built by Christian IV. of
-Denmark, and has a good central church of his time, but it is utterly
-unpicturesque. In the picture gallery are several noble works of
-Tidemann, the special painter of expression and pathos. As a companion
-for life is the memory of a picture which represents the administration
-of the last sacrament to an old peasant, whose wife's grief is turned
-to resignation, which ceases even to have a wish for his retention, as
-she beholds the heaven-born comfort with which he is looking into an
-unknown future. Another of the finest works of the artist represents
-the reception of the sacrament by a convict, young and deeply
-repentant, before his execution.
-
-There is no striking scenery in the environs of Kristiania, but they
-are wonderfully pretty. From the avenues upon the ramparts you look
-down over the broad expanse of the fyord, with low blue mountain
-distances. Little steamers dart backwards and forwards, and convey
-visitors in a few minutes across the bay to Oscars Halle, a tower and
-small country villa of the king on a wooded knoll.
-
-We went by the railway which winds high amongst the hills to Kongsberg,
-a mining village in a lofty situation. Here, in a garden of white
-roses, there is a most comfortable small hotel kept by a Dane, which
-is a capital starting-point for all expeditions in Telemarken. There
-is a pretty waterfall near the village, and the church should be
-visited, for the sake of its curious pulpit hour-glass—indeed, four
-glasses—quarter, half-hour, three-quarters, hour—and the top of a
-stool let into the wall with an inscription saying that Mr. Jacobus
-Stuart, King of Scotland (James I. of England), sate upon it, Nov. 25,
-1589, to hear a sermon preached by Mr. David Lentz, 'between 11 and
-12,' on 'The Lord is my Shepherd.'
-
-We engaged a carriage at Kongsberg for the excursion to Tinoset, whence
-we arranged to go on to the Ryukan Foss, said to be the highest
-waterfall in Europe. We do not advise future travellers without
-unlimited time to follow us in the latter part of the expedition by
-the lake, but the carriage excursion is quite enchanting. What an
-exquisite drive it is through the forest—the deep ever-varying woods
-of noble pines and firs springing from luxuriant thickets of junipers,
-bilberries, and cranberries! The loveliest mountain flowers grow in
-these woods—huge larkspurs of rank luxuriant foliage and flowers
-of faint dead blue; pinks and blue lungworts and orchids; stagmoss
-wreathing itself round the grey rocks, and delicate, lovely soldanella
-drooping in the still recesses.
-
-Our midday halt was at Bolkesjö, where the forest opens to green
-lawns, hill-set, with a charming view down the smooth declivities to
-a many-bayed lake, with mountain distances. Here, amid a group of old
-brown farm-buildings covered with rude paintings and sculpture, is a
-farmhouse, inhabited by the same family through many generations. It
-is one of the 'stations' where it is part of the duty of the farmer
-or 'bonder' who is owner of the soil to find horses for the use of
-travellers. These horses are supplied at a very trifling charge, and
-are brought back by a boy who sits behind the carriole or carriage
-upon the portmanteau: but as the horses, when not called for, are
-turned loose or used by the bonder in his own farm or field work,
-travellers generally have to wait a long time while they are caught
-or sent for. They order their horses '_strax_'—directly—one of the
-first words an Englishman learns to use on entering Norway, yet they
-scarcely ever appear before half an hour, so that Norwegians repeat
-with amusement the story of an Englishman who, when he wished to spend
-an hour at a station, ordered his horses 'after two strax's.' These
-halts are not always congenial to English impatience, yet they give
-opportunities of becoming acquainted with Norwegian life and people
-which can be obtained in no other way, and recollection will oftener
-go back to the quiet time spent in waiting for horses amid the grey
-rocks above some foaming streamlet, in the green oases surrounded by
-forest, or in clean-boarded rooms strewn with fresh fir foliage, than
-to the more established sights of Norway. Most delicious indeed were
-the two hours which we passed at Bolkesjö, in the high pastures where
-the peasants were mowing the tall grass ablaze with flowers, and the
-mountains were throwing long purple shadows over the forest, and the
-wind blowing freshly from the gleaming lake—and then, most delicious
-was the well-earned meal of eggs and bacon, strawberries and cream, and
-other homely dainties in the farmhouse where the beams and furniture
-were all painted and carved with mottoes and texts, and the primitive
-box-beds had crimson satin quilts. Portraits sent by well-pleased royal
-visitors hung on the walls side by side with common-coloured scripture
-prints, like those which are found in English cottages. The cellar
-is under a bed, beneath which it was funny to see the old farmeress
-disappear as she went down to fetch up for us her home-brewed ale.
-
-[Illustration: BOLKESJÖ.]
-
-With the cordial 'likkelie reise' of our old hostess in our ears, we
-left Bolkesjö full of pleasant thoughts. But what roads, or rather what
-want of roads, lead to Tinoset!—there were banks of glassy rock, up
-which our horses scrambled like cats; there were awful moments when
-everything seemed to come to an end, and when they gathered up their
-legs, and seemed to fling themselves down headlong with the carriage on
-the top of them, and yet we reached the bottom of the abyss buried in
-dust, to rise gasping and gulping and wondering we were alive, to begin
-the same pantomime over again.
-
-Late in the evening, long after the sunlight had faded, and when the
-forests seemed to have gone to sleep and all sounds were silent, we
-reached Tinoset. The inn is a wooden châlet on the banks of a lake with
-a single great pine-tree close to the door. It was terribly crowded,
-and the little wooden cells were the smallest apology for bedrooms,
-where all through the night we heard the winds howling among the
-mountains, and the waves lashing the shore under the windows. In the
-morning the lake was covered with huge blue waves crested with foam,
-and we were almost sorry when the steamer came and we felt obliged to
-embark, because, as it was not the regular day for its passage, we
-had summoned it at some expense from the other end of the lake. We
-were thoroughly wet with the spray before we reached the little inn
-at Strand, with a pier where we disembarked, and occupied the rest
-of the afternoon in drawing the purple hills, and the road winding
-towards them through the old birch-trees. An excursion to the Ryukan
-Foss occupied the next day; a dull drive through the plain, and then
-an exciting skirting of horrible precipices, followed by a clamber
-up a mountain pathlet to a châlet, where we were thankful for our
-well-earned dinner of trout and ale before proceeding to the Foss,
-the 560-feet-high fall of a mountain torrent into a black rift in the
-hills—a boiling, roaring abyss of water, with drifts of spray which
-are visible for miles before it can be seen itself.
-
-[Illustration: OLD CHURCH OF HITTERDAL.]
-
-In returning from Tinoset, we took the way by Hitterdal, the
-date-forgotten old wooden church so familiar from picture-books. It
-had been our principal object in coming to Norway, yet the long drive
-had made us so ravenous in search of food that we could only endure
-to stay there half an hour. The church, however, is most intensely
-picturesque, rising with an infinity of quaintest domes and spires,
-all built of timber, out of a rude cloister painted red, the whole
-having the appearance of a very tall Chinese pagoda, yet only measuring
-altogether 84 feet by 57. The belfry, Norwegian-wise, stands alone
-on the other side of the churchyard, which is overgrown with pink
-willow-herb. When we reached the inn, as famished as wolves in winter,
-we were told by our landlady that she could not give us any dinner.
-'Nei, nei,' nothing would induce her—she had too much work on her
-hands already—perhaps, however, the woman at the house with the flag
-would give us some. So, hungry and faint, we walked forth again to a
-house which had a flag flying in front of it, where all was silent and
-deserted, except for a dog who received us furiously. Having pacified
-him, and finding the front door locked, we made good our entrance at
-the back, examined the kitchen, peeped into all the cupboards, lifted
-up the lids of all the saucepans, and not till we had searched every
-corner for food ineffectually, were met by the pretty, pleasant-looking
-young lady of the house, who informed us in excellent English, and
-with no small surprise at our conduct, that we had been committing a
-raid upon her private residence. Afterwards we discovered a lonely
-farmhouse, where there had once been a flag, and where they gave
-us a very good dinner, ending in a great bowl of cloudberries—in
-which we were joined by two pleasant young ladies and their father,
-an old gentleman smoking an enormous long pipe, who turned out
-to be the Bishop of Christiansand. The house of the landamann of
-Hitterdal contains a relic connected with a picturesque story quaintly
-illustrative of ancient Scandinavian life. It is an axe, with a handle
-projecting beyond the blade, and curved, so that it can be used as a
-walking-stick. Formerly it belonged to an ancient descendant of the
-Kongen, or chieftains of the district, who insisted upon carrying it to
-church with him in accordance with an old privilege. The priest forbade
-the bearing of the warlike weapon into church, which so much affected
-the old man that he died. His son, who thought it necessary to avenge
-his father's death, went to the priest with the axe in his hands,
-and demanded the most precious thing he possessed—when the priest
-brought his Bible and gave it to him, open upon a passage exhorting to
-forgiveness of injuries.
-
-[Illustration: THRONDTJEM FYORD.]
-
-On July 25 we left Kristiania for Throndtjem—the whole journey
-of three hundred and sixty miles being very comfortable, and only
-costing 30 francs. The route has no great beauty, but endless pleasant
-variety—rail to Eidswold, with bilberries and strawberries in pretty
-birch-bark baskets for sale at all the railway stations; a vibrating
-steamer for several hours on the long, dull Miosen lake; railway again,
-with some of the carriages open at the sides; then an obligatory night
-at Koppang, a large station, where accommodation is provided for every
-one, but where, if there are many passengers, several people, strangers
-to each other, are expected to share the same room. On the second day
-the scenery improves, the railway sometimes running along and sometimes
-over the river Glommen, on a wooden causeway, till the gorge of
-mountains opens beyond Stören, into a rich country with turfy mounds
-constantly reminding us of the graves of the hero-gods of Upsala.
-Towards sunset, beyond the deep cleft in which the river Nid runs
-between lines of old painted wooden warehouses, rises the burial-place
-of S. Olaf, the shrine of Scandinavian Christianity, the stumpy-towered
-cathedral of Throndtjem. The most northern railway station and the most
-northern cathedral in Europe!
-
-[Illustration: THRONDTJEM CATHEDRAL.]
-
-Surely the cradle of Scandinavian Christianity is one of the most
-beautiful places in the world! No one had ever told us about it, and we
-went there only because it is the old Throndtjem of sagas and ballads,
-and expecting a wonderful and beautiful cathedral. But the whole place
-is a dream of loveliness, so exquisite in the soft silvery morning
-light on the fyord and delicate mountain ranges, the rich nearer hills
-covered with bilberries and breaking into steep cliffs—that one
-remains in a state of transport, which is at a climax while all is
-engraven upon an opal sunset sky, when an amethystine glow spreads over
-the mountains, and when ships and buildings meet their double in the
-still, transparent water. Each wide street of curious low wooden houses
-displays a new vista of sea, of rocky promontories, of woods dipping
-into the water; and at the end of the principal street is the grey
-massive cathedral where S. Olaf is buried, and where northern art and
-poetry have exhausted their loveliest and most pathetic fancies around
-the grave of the national hero.
-
-The 'Cathedral Garden,' for so the graveyard is called, is most
-touching. Acres upon acres of graves are all kept—not by officials,
-but by the families they belong to—like gardens. The tombs are
-embowered in roses and honeysuckle, and each little green mound has
-its own vase for cut flowers daily replenished, and a seat for the
-survivors, which is daily occupied, so that the link between the dead
-and the living is never broken.
-
-Christianity was first established in Norway at the end of the tenth
-century by King Olaf Trygveson, son of Trygve and of the lady Astrida,
-whose romantic adventures, when sold as a slave after her husband's
-death, are the subject of a thousand stories. When Olaf succeeded to
-the throne of Norway after the death of Hako, son of Sigurd, in 996, he
-proclaimed Christianity throughout his dominions, heard matins daily
-himself, and sent out missionaries through his dominions. But the duty
-of the so-called missionaries had little to do with teaching, they were
-only required to baptize. All who refused baptism were tortured and put
-to death. When, at one time, the estates of the province of Throndtjem
-tried to force Olaf back to the old religion, he outwardly assented,
-but made the condition that the offended pagan deities should in that
-case be appeased by human sacrifice—the sacrifice of the twelve nobles
-who were most urgent in compelling him; and upon this the ardour of the
-chieftains for paganism was cooled, and they allowed Olaf unhindered to
-demolish the great statue of Thor, covered with gold and jewels, in the
-centre of the province of Throndtjem, where he founded the city then
-called Nidaros, upon the river Nid.
-
-No end of stories are narrated of the cruelties of Olaf Trygveson.
-When Egwind, a northern chieftain, refused to abandon his idols,
-he first attempted to bribe him, but, when gentler means failed, a
-chafing-dish of hot coals was placed upon his belly till he died. Raude
-the magician had a more horrible fate: an adder was forced down a horn
-into his stomach, and left to eat its way out again!
-
-The first Christian king of Norway was an habitual drunkard, and, by
-twofold adultery, he, the husband of Godruna, married Thyra of Denmark,
-the wife of Duke Borislaf of Pomerania. This led to a war with Denmark
-and Sweden, whose united fleets surrounded him near Stralsund. As much
-mystery enshrouds the story of his death as is connected with that of
-Arthur, Barbarossa, or Harold: as his royal vessel, the _Long Serpent_,
-was boarded by the enemy, he plunged into the sea and was no more seen,
-though some chroniclers say that he swam to the shore in safety and
-died afterwards at Rome, whither he went on pilgrimage.
-
-Olaf Trygveson had a godson Olaf, son of Harald Grenske and Asta,
-who had the nominal title of king given to all sea captains of royal
-descent. From his twelfth year, Olaf Haraldsen was a pirate, and he
-headed the band of Danes who destroyed Canterbury and murdered S.
-Elphege—a strange feature in the life of one who has been himself
-regarded as a saint since his death. By one of the strange freaks of
-fortune common in those times, this Olaf Haraldsen gained a great
-victory over the chieftain Sweyn, who then ruled at Nidaros, and,
-chiefly through the influence of Sigurd Syr, a great northern landowner
-who had become the second husband of his mother, he became seated in
-1016 upon the throne of Norway. His first care was for the restoration
-of Christianity, which had fallen into decadence in the sixteen years
-which had elapsed since the defeat of Olaf Trygveson. The second Olaf
-imitated the violence and cruelty of his predecessor. Whenever the new
-religion was rejected, he beheaded or hung the delinquents. In his
-most merciful moments he mutilated and blinded them: 'he did not spare
-one who refused to serve God.' After fourteen years of unparalleled
-cruelties in the name of religion, he fell in battle with Canute the
-Great at Sticklestadt. He had abducted and married Astrida, daughter
-of the King of Sweden, but by her he had no children. By his concubine
-Alfhilda he left an only son, who lived to become Magnus the Good,
-King of Norway. There is a very fine story of the way in which Magnus
-obtained his name. Olaf had said, 'I very seldom sleep, and if I ever
-do it will be the worse for any one who awakens me.' Whilst he was
-asleep Alfhilda's child was born. Then the King's scald or poet and
-Siegfried the mass priest debated together as to whether they should
-awaken him. At first they thought they would; then the poet said, 'No;
-I know him better than that: he must not be awakened.' 'That is all
-very well,' said the priest, 'but the child must be baptised at once.
-What shall we call him?' 'Oh,' said the scald, 'I know that the King
-said that the child should be named after the greatest monarch that
-ever lived, and his name was Magnus,' for he only remembered one part
-of the name. So they called him Magnus.
-
-When the King woke up he was furious. 'Who can have dared to do this
-thing—to christen the child without consulting me, and to give him
-this outlandish name, which is no name at all—who can have dared to do
-it?'
-
-Then the mass priest was terrified and shrank into his shoes, but the
-scald answered boldly, 'I did it, and I did it because it was better to
-send two souls to God than one soul to the devil; for if the child had
-died unbaptised it would have been lost, but if you kill Siegfried and
-me we shall go straight to heaven.'
-
-And then King Olaf thought he would say no more about it.
-
-However terrible the cruelties of Olaf Haraldsen were in his lifetime,
-they were soon dazzled out of sight amid the halo of miracles with
-which his memory was encircled by the Roman Catholic Church. It was
-only recollected that when, according to the legend, he raced for the
-kingdom with his half-brother Harald, in his good ship the _Ox_,
-
- Saint Olaf, who on God relied,
- Three days the first his house descried;
-
-after which
-
- Harald so fierce with anger burned
- He to a lothely dragon turned;
-
-but because
-
- A pious zeal Saint Olaf bore,
- He long the crown of Norway wore.
-
-His admirers narrated that when he was absently cutting chips from
-a stick with his knife on a Sunday, a servant passed him with the
-reproof, 'Sir, it is Monday to-morrow,' when he placed the sinful chips
-in his hand, and, setting them on fire, bore the pain till they were
-all consumed. It was remembered that as he walked to the church which
-Olaf Trygveson had founded at Nidaros, he 'wore a glory in his yellow
-hair.' And gradually he became the most popular saint of Scandinavia.
-His shirt was an object of pilgrimage in the Church of S. Victor
-at Paris, and many churches were dedicated to him in England, and
-especially in London, where Tooley Street still records his familiar
-appellation of S. Tooley.
-
-It was when the devotion to S. Olaf was just beginning that Earl Godwin
-and his sons were banished from England for a time. Two of these,
-Harold and Tosti, became vikings, and, in a great battle, they vowed
-that, if they were victorious, they would give half the spoil to the
-shrine of S. Olaf; and a huge silver statue, which they actually gave,
-existed at Throndtjem till 1500, and if it existed still would be one
-of the most important relics in archæology. The old Kings of Norway
-used to dig up the saint from time to time and cut his nails. When
-Harold Hardrada was going to England, he declared that he must see S.
-Olaf once again. 'I must see my brother once more,' he said, and he
-also cut the saint's nails. But he also thought that from that time it
-would be better that no one should see his brother any more—it would
-not be for the good of the Church—so he took the keys of the shrine
-and threw them into the fyord; at the same time however, he said it
-would be good for men in after-ages to know what a great king was like,
-so he caused S. Olaf's measure to be engraved upon the wall in the
-church at Throndtjem—his measure of seven feet—and there it is still.
-
-[Illustration: S. OLAF'S WELL.]
-
-Around the shrine of Olaf in Throndtjem, in which, in spite of Harold
-Hardrada, his 'incorrupt body' was seen more than five hundred years
-after his death, has arisen the most beautiful of northern cathedrals,
-originating in a small chapel built over his grave within ten years
-after his death. The exquisite colour of its green-grey stone adds
-greatly to the general effect of the interior, and to the delicate
-sculpture of its interlacing arches. From the ambulatory behind the
-choir opens a tiny chamber containing the Well of S. Olaf, of rugged
-yellow stone, with the holes remaining in the pavement through which
-the dripping water ran away when the buckets were set down. Amongst the
-many famous Bishops of Throndtjem, perhaps the most celebrated has been
-Anders Arrebo, 'the father of Danish poetry' (1587-1637), who wrote
-the 'Hexameron,' an extraordinarily long poem on the Creation, which
-nobody reads now. The cathedral is given up to Lutheran worship, but
-its ancient relics are kindly tended and cared for, and the building
-is being beautifully restored. Its beautiful Chapter House is lent for
-English service on Sundays.
-
-In the wide street which leads from the sea to the cathedral is the
-'Coronation House,' the wooden palace in which the Kings and Queens of
-Sweden and Norway stay when they come hither to be crowned. Hither the
-present beloved Queen, Sophie of Nassau, came in 1873, driving herself
-in her own carriole from the Romsdal, in graceful compliance with
-the popular mode of Norwegian travel. It is because even the finest
-buildings in Norway are generally built of wood that there are so few
-of any real antiquity. Near the shore of the fyord, the custom-house
-occupies the site of the Orething, where the elections of twenty kings
-have taken place. It is sacred ground to a King of Norway, who passes
-it bareheaded. The familiar affection with which the Norwegians regard
-their sovereigns can scarcely be comprehended in any other country.
-To their people they are 'the father and mother of the land.' The
-broken Norse is remembered at Throndtjem in which King Carl Johann
-begged people 'to make room for their old father' when they pressed too
-closely upon him. When the present so beloved Queen drove herself to
-her coronation, the people met her with flowers at all the 'stations'
-where the horses were changed. 'Are you the mother of the land?' they
-said. 'You look nice, but you must do more than look nice; that is not
-the essential.' One old woman begged the lady in waiting to beg her
-majesty to get upon the roof of the house. 'Then we should all see
-her.' At Throndtjem the peasants touchingly and affectionately always
-addressed her as 'Du.'
-
-In returning from Throndtjem we left the railway at Stören, where we
-engaged a double carriole, and a carriage for four with a pleasant boy
-called Johann as its driver, for the return journey. It was difficult
-to obtain definite information about anything, English books being
-almost useless from their incorrectness, and we set off with a sort of
-sense of exploring an unknown country. At every 'station' we changed
-horses, which were sent back by the boy, who perched upon the luggage
-behind, and we marked our distances by calling our horses after the
-Kings of England. Thus, setting off from Stören with William the
-Conqueror, we drove into the Romsdal with Edward VI. After a drive
-with Lady Jane Grey, we set off again with Mary. But the Kings of
-England failed us long before our driving days were over, and we used
-up all the Kings of Rome also. As we were coming down a steep hill into
-Lillehammer with Tarquinius Superbus, something gave way and he quietly
-walked out of the harness, leaving us to run briskly down-hill and
-subside into the hedge. We captured Tarquinius, but how to put him in
-again was a mystery, as we had never harnessed a horse before. However,
-by trying every strap in turn we got him in somehow, and escaped the
-fate of Red Riding Hood amid the lonely hills.
-
-For a great distance after leaving Stören there is little especially
-striking in the scenery, except one gorge of old weird pine-trees in a
-rift of purple mountains. After you emerge upon the high Dovre-Fyeld,
-the huge ranges of Sneehatten rise snowy, gleaming, and glorious, above
-the wide yellow-grey expanse, hoary with reindeer moss, though, as the
-Dovre-Fyeld is itself three thousand feet high, and Sneehatten only
-seven thousand three hundred, it does not look so high as it really is.
-Next to Throndtjem itself, the old ballads and songs of Norway gather
-most thickly around the Dovre-Fyeld. It is here that the witches are
-supposed to hold their secret meetings at their Blokulla, or black
-hill. Across these yellow hills of the Jerkin-Fyeld the prose Edda
-describes Thor striding to his conflict with the dragon Jormangandur
-'by Sneehatten's peak of snow,' where 'the tall pines cracked like a
-field of stubble under his feet;' and here, according to the ancient
-fragment called the ballad of 'The Twelve Wizards,' as given in Prior's
-'Ancient Danish Ballads'—
-
- At Dovrefeld, over on Norway's reef,
- Were heroes who never knew pain or grief.
-
- There dwelt there many a warrior keen,
- The twelve bold brothers of Ingeborg queen.
-
- The first with his hand the storm could hush
- The second could stop the torrent's rush.
-
- The third could dive in the sea as a fish;
- The fourth never wanted meat on dish.
-
- The fifth he would strike the golden lyre,
- And young and old to the dancing fire.
-
- The sixth on the horn would blow a blast,
- Who heard it would shudder and stand aghast.
-
- The seventh go under the earth could he;
- The eighth he could dance on the rolling sea.
-
- The ninth tamed all that in greenwood crept;
- The tenth not a nap had ever slept.
-
- The eleventh the grisly lindworm bound,
- And will what he would, the means he found.
-
- The twelfth he could all things understand,
- Though done in a nook of the farthest land.
-
- Their equals were never seen there in the North,
- Nor anywhere else on the face of the earth.
-
-In spite of great fatigue from the distances to be accomplished, each
-day's journey in carriage or carriole has its peculiar charms, the
-going on and on into an unknown land, meeting no one, sleeping in odd,
-primitive, but always clean rooms, setting off again at half-past five
-or six, and halting at comfortable stations, with their ever-moderate
-prices and their cheery farm-servants, who kissed our hands all
-round on receiving the very smallest gratuity—a coin meaning
-twopence-halfpenny being a source of ecstatic bliss.
-
-The 'bonders,' who keep the stations, generally themselves represent
-the gentry of the country, the real gentry filling the position of the
-English aristocracy. The bonders are generally very well off, having
-small tithes, good houses, boundless fuel, a great variety of food,
-and continual change of labour on their own small properties. Their
-wives, who never walk, have a sledge for winter, and a carriole and
-horse to take them to church in summer. In the many months of snow,
-when the cows and horses are all stabled in the 'laave,' and when
-out-of-door occupations fail, they occupy the time with household
-pursuits—carpentering, tailoring, or brewing. When a bonder dies, his
-wife succeeds to his property until her second marriage; then it is
-divided amongst his children.
-
-The 'stations' or farmhouses are almost entirely built of wood, but
-those of a superior class have a single room of stone, used only in
-bridals or births, a custom handed down from old times when a place of
-special safety was required at those seasons.
-
-Nine-tenths of the country are covered with pine-forests, but the trees
-are always cut down before they grow old. We did not see a single old
-tree in Norway. The pines are of two kinds only—the _Furu_, our pine,
-_Pinus silvestris_; and the _Gran_, our fir, _Pinus abies_.
-
-Wolves seldom appear except in winter, when those who travel in sledges
-are often pursued by them. Then hunger makes them so bold that they
-will often snatch a dog from between the knees of a driver.
-
-From the station of Dombaas (where there is a telegraph station and a
-shop of old silver) we turned aside down the Romsdal, which soon became
-beautiful, as the road wound above the chrysoprase river Rauma, broken
-by many rocky islets and swirling into many waterfalls, but always
-equally radiant, equally transparent, till its colour is washed out by
-the melting snow in a ghastly narrow valley, which we called the Valley
-of Death.
-
-The little inn at Aak, in Romsdal, with a large garden stretching
-along the hillside, disappointed us at first, as the clouds hid the
-mountain-tops, but morning revealed how glorious they are—purple
-pinnacles of rock or pathless fields of snow embossed upon a sky which
-is delicately blue above but melts into the clearest opal. Grander,
-we thought, than any single peak in Switzerland is the tremendous
-peak of the Romsdalhorn, and the walks in all directions are most
-exquisite—into deep glades filled with columbines and the giant
-larkspurs, which are such a feature of Norway: into tremendous mountain
-gorges: or to Waeblungsnaes, along the banks of the lovely fyord,
-with its marvellously quaint forms of mountain distance. Aak is a
-place where a month may be spent most delightfully, as well as most
-comfortably and economically.
-
-[Illustration: IN THE ROMSDAL, NORWAY.]
-
-We had heard a great deal before we went to Norway about the difficulty
-of getting proper food, but our own experience is that we were never
-fed more luxuriously. Perhaps very late in the season the provisions
-at the country 'stations' may be somewhat used up, but when we were
-there in July only those who could not live without a great deal of
-meat could have any cause for complaint, and once a week we generally
-had reindeer for a treat. When we arrived in the evenings, we always
-found an excellent meal prepared—the most delicious coffee, tea,
-and cream; baskets of bread, rusks, cakes and biscuits of various
-descriptions; fresh salmon and trout; cloudberries, bilberries,
-raspberries, mountain strawberries and cream; and for all this about a
-franc and a half is the payment required.
-
-My companions lingered at Kristiania whilst I paid a visit, which is
-one of the most delightful recollections of my tour, to a native family
-near Moss, at the mouth of the fyord; then we came back to Denmark,
-travelling in the same train with the beloved Prince Imperial, who
-was then in the height of health and happiness, and received at every
-station with the enthusiastic 'Hochs!' which in Scandinavia supply the
-place of the English hurrah.
-
-
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-
- 'We can imagine no better way of spending a wet day in Florence or
- Venice than in reading all that Mr. Hare has to say and quote about
- the history, arts, and famous people of those cities. These volumes
- come under the class of volumes not to borrow, but to buy.'—MORNING
- POST.
-
-
- WALKS IN ROME. Eleventh Edition. With Map. 2 vols. crown 8vo. 18_s._
-
- 'The best handbook of the city and environs of Rome ever published....
- Cannot be too much commended.'—PALL MALL GAZETTE.
-
- 'This book is sure to be very useful. It is thoroughly practical, and
- is the best guide that yet has been offered.'—DAILY NEWS.
-
- 'Mr. Hare's book fills a real void, and gives to the tourist all the
- latest discoveries and the fullest information bearing on that most
- inexhaustible of subjects, the city of Rome.... It is much fuller than
- "Murray," and anyone who chooses may now know how Rome really looks in
- sun or shade.'—SPECTATOR.
-
-
- WALKS IN LONDON. Fifth Edition. With numerous Illustrations. 2 vols.
- crown 8vo. 21_s._
-
- 'One of the really valuable as well as pleasant companions to the
- peripatetic philosopher's rambling studies of the town.'—DAILY
- TELEGRAPH.
-
-
- DAYS NEAR ROME. With more than 100 Illustrations by the Author. Third
- Edition. 2 vols. crown 8vo. 24_s._
-
-
- WANDERINGS IN SPAIN. With Illustrations. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo.
- 7_s._ 6_d._
-
- 'Mr. Hare's book is admirable. We are sure no one will regret making
- it the companion of a Spanish journey. It will bear reading repeatedly
- when one is moving among the scenes it describes—no small advantage
- when the travelling library is scanty.'—SATURDAY REVIEW.
-
- 'Here is the ideal book of travel in Spain; the book which exactly
- anticipates the requirements of everybody who is fortunate enough to
- be going to that enchanted land; the book which ably consoles those
- who are not so happy by supplying the imagination from the daintiest
- and most delicious of its stories.'—SPECTATOR.
-
- 'Since the publication of "Castilian Days," by the American diplomat,
- Mr. John Hay, no pleasanter or more readable sketches have fallen
- under our notice.'—ATHENÆUM.
-
-
- THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF FRANCES BARONESS BUNSEN. With Portraits. 2
- vols. crown 8vo. 24_s._
-
-
- MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE. 3 vols. crown 8vo. Vols. I. and II. 21_s._;
- Vol. III., with numerous Photographs, 10_s._ 6_d._
-
- 'The name of Hare is one deservedly to be honoured; and in these
- "Memorials," which are as true and satisfactory a biography as it is
- possible to write, the author places his readers in the heart of the
- family, and allows them to see the hidden sources of life and love by
- which it is nourished and sustained.'—ATHENÆUM.
-
- 'One of those books which it is impossible to read without pleasure.
- It conveys a sense of repose not unlike that which everybody must have
- felt out of service time in quiet little village churches. Its editor
- will receive the hearty thanks of every cultivated reader for these
- profoundly interesting "Memorials" of two brothers, whose names and
- labours their universities and church have alike reason to cherish
- with affection and remember with pride, who have smoothed the path
- of faith to so many troubled wayfarers, strengthening the weary and
- confirming the weak.'—STANDARD.
-
- 'The book is rich in insight and in contrast of character. It is
- varied and full of episodes, which few can fail to read with interest;
- and as exhibiting the sentiments and thoughts of a very influential
- circle of minds during a quarter of a century, it may be said to have
- a distinct historical value.'—NONCONFORMIST.
-
- 'A charming book, simply and gracefully recording the events of
- simple and gracious life. Its connection with the beginning of a
- great movement in the English Church will make it to the thoughtful
- reader more profoundly suggestive than many biographies crowded and
- bustling with incident. It is almost the first of a class of books the
- Christian world just now greatly needs, as showing how the spiritual
- life was maintained amid the shaking of religious "opinions"; how
- the life of the soul deepened as the thoughts of the mind broadened;
- and how, in their union, the two formed a volume of larger and more
- thoroughly vitalised Christian idea than the English people had
- witnessed for many days.'—GLASGOW HERALD.
-
-
- FLORENCE. Fcp. 8vo. cloth limp, 2_s._ 6_d._
-
-
- VENICE. Fcp. 8vo. cloth limp, 2_s._ 6_d._
-
-
- London: SMITH, ELDER, &CO. 15 Waterloo Place.
-
-
-
-
- _WORKS BY AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE_
-
-
- LIFE AND LETTERS OF FRANCES, BARONESS BUNSEN. _Fourth Edition._ With
- Portraits. 2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 21_s._
-
-
- MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE. 3 vols., crown 8vo. Vols. I. and II.,
- Cloth, 21_s._ (_Nineteenth Edition_); Vol. III., with numerous
- Photographs, Cloth, 10_s._ 6_d._
-
- "One of those books which it is impossible to read without pleasure.
- It conveys a sense of repose not unlike that which everybody must have
- felt out of service time in quiet little village churches. Its editor
- will receive the hearty thanks of every cultivated reader for these
- profoundly interesting 'Memorials' of two brothers, whose names and
- labours their universities and Church have alike reason to cherish
- with affection and remember with pride, who have smoothed the path
- of faith to so many troubled wayfarers, strengthening the weary and
- confirming the weak."—_Standard._
-
-
- DAYS NEAR ROME. With more than 100 Illustrations by the Author. _Third
- Edition._ 2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 7_s._ 6_d._
-
-
- WALKS IN ROME. _Sixteenth Edition._ Revised by the AUTHOR and ST.
- CLAIR BADDELEY. With 3 Plans and Illustrations showing recent
- discoveries. 2 vols., fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 10_s._ 6_d._
-
- "The best handbook of the city and environs of Rome ever published....
- Cannot be too much commended."—_Pall Mall Gazette._
-
- "This book is sure to be very useful. It is thoroughly practical, and
- is the best guide that has yet been offered."—_Daily News._
-
- "Mr. Hare's book fills a real void, and gives to the tourist all the
- latest discoveries and the fullest information bearing on that most
- inexhaustible of subjects, the city of Rome.... It is much fuller than
- 'Murray,' and any one who chooses may know how Rome really looks in
- sun or shade."—_Spectator._
-
-
- WALKS IN LONDON. _Seventh Edition, revised._ With additional
- Illustrations. 2 vols., fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 12_s._
-
- "One of the really valuable as well as pleasant companions to the
- peripatetic philosopher's rambling studies of the town."—_Daily
- Telegraph._
-
-
- WESTMINSTER. Reprinted from "Walks in London," as a Handy Guide.
- _Third Edition._ 120 pages. Paper Covers, 6_d._ _net_; Cloth, 1_s._
-
-
- WANDERINGS IN SPAIN. With 17 Full-page Illustrations. _Eighth
- Edition._ Fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 3_s._
-
- "Here is the ideal book of travel in Spain; the book which exactly
- anticipates the requirements of everybody who is fortunate enough to
- be going to that enchanted land; the book which ably consoles those
- who are not so happy by supplying the imagination from the daintiest
- and most delicious of its stories."—_Spectator._
-
-
- CITIES OF SOUTHERN ITALY AND SICILY. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo,
- Cloth, 10_s._ 6_d._
-
- "Mr. Hare's name will be a sufficient passport for the popularity
- of his work. His books on the Cities of Italy are fast becoming as
- indispensable to the traveller in that part of the country as the
- guide-books of Murray or of Baedeker.... His book is one which I
- should advise all future travellers in Southern Italy and Sicily to
- find room for in their portmanteaus."—_Academy._
-
-
- CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY. _Second Edition._ With Illustrations. 2
- vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 7_s._ 6_d._
-
- "We can imagine no better way of spending a wet day in Florence or
- Venice than in reading all that Mr. Hare has to say and quote about
- the history, arts, and famous people of those cities. These volumes
- come under the class of volumes not to borrow, but to buy."—_Morning
- Post._
-
-
- CITIES OF CENTRAL ITALY. _Second Edition._ With Illustrations. 2
- vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 7_s._ 6_d._
-
-
- SKETCHES IN HOLLAND AND SCANDINAVIA. Crown 8vo, with Illustrations,
- Cloth, 3_s._
-
- "This little work is the best companion a visitor to these countries
- can have, while those who stay at home can also read it with pleasure
- and profit."—_Glasgow Herald._
-
-
- STUDIES IN RUSSIA. Crown 8vo, with numerous Illustrations, Cloth, 6_s._
-
- "Mr. Hare's book may be recommended as at once entertaining and
- instructive."—_Athenæum._
-
- "A delightful and instructive guide to the places visited. It is, in
- fact, a sort of glorified guide-book, with all the charm of a pleasant
- and cultivated literary companion."—_Scotsman._
-
-
- FLORENCE. _Sixth Edition._ Revised by the AUTHOR and W. ST.
- CLAIR BADDELEY. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 3_s._ With 2 Plans and 30
- Illustrations.
-
-
- VENICE. _Sixth Edition._ Revised by the AUTHOR and W. ST. CLAIR
- BADDELEY. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 3_s._ With 2 Plans and 17
- Illustrations.
-
- "The plan of these little volumes is excellent.... Anything more
- perfectly fulfilling the idea of a guide-book we have never
- seen."—_Scottish Review._
-
-
- THE RIVIERAS. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 3_s._ With 67 Illustrations.
-
-
- PARIS. _New Edition, revised._ With 50 Illustrations. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth
- limp, 6_s._ 2 vols., sold separately.
-
-
- DAYS NEAR PARIS. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 6_s._; or in 2
- vols., Cloth limp, 6_s._ 6_d._
-
-
- NORTH-EASTERN FRANCE. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 6_s._ With Map and 86 Woodcuts.
-
- Picardy—Abbeville and Amiens—Paris and its Environs—Arras and the
- Manufacturing Towns of the North—Champagne—Nancy and the Vosges, &c.
-
-
- SOUTH-EASTERN FRANCE. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 6_s._ With Map and 176
- Woodcuts.
-
- The different lines to the South—Burgundy—Auvergne—The
- Cantal—Provence—The Alpes Dauphinaises and Alpes Maritimes, &c.
-
-
- SOUTH-WESTERN FRANCE. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 6_s._ With Map and 232
- Woodcuts.
-
- The Loire—The Gironde and Landes—Creuse—Corrèze—The
- Limousin—Gascony and Languedoc—The Cevennes and the Pyrenees, &c.
-
-
- NORTH-WESTERN FRANCE. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 6_s._ With Map and 73 Woodcuts.
-
- Normandy and Brittany—Rouen—Dieppe—Cherbourg—Bayeux—Caen—Coutances—
- Chartres—Mont S. Michel—Dinan—Brest—Alençon, &c.
-
- "Mr. Hare's volumes, with their charming illustrations, are a reminder
- of how much we miss by neglecting provincial France."—_Times._
-
- "The appreciative traveller in France will find no more pleasant,
- inexhaustible, and discriminating guide than Mr. Hare.... All the
- volumes are most liberally supplied with drawings, all of them
- beautifully executed, and some of them genuine masterpieces."—_Echo._
-
- "Every one who has used one of Mr. Hare's books will welcome the
- appearance of his new work upon France.... The books are the most
- satisfactory guide-books for a traveller of culture who wishes
- improvement as well as entertainment from a tour.... It is not
- necessary to go to the places described before the volumes become
- useful. While part of the work describes the district round Paris,
- the rest practically opens up a new country for English visitors to
- provincial France."—_Scotsman._
-
-
- SUSSEX. _Second Edition._ With Map and 45 Woodcuts. Crown 8vo, Cloth,
- 6_s._
-
-
- SHROPSHIRE. With Map and 48 Woodcuts. Cloth, 6_s._
-
-
- THE STORY OF TWO NOBLE LIVES. CHARLOTTE, COUNTESS CANNING, AND
- LOUISA, MARCHIONESS OF WATERFORD. In 3 vols. Crown 8vo, Cloth, £1,
- 11_s._ 6_d._ Illustrated with 11 engraved Portraits and 21 Plates
- in Photogravure from Lady Waterford's Drawings, 8 full-page and 24
- smaller Woodcuts from Sketches by the Author.
-
- Also a Special Large Paper Edition, with India Proofs of the
- Plates. Crown 4to, £3, 3_s._ _net_.
-
-
- THE GURNEYS OF EARLHAM: Memoirs and Letters of the Eleven Children
- of JOHN and CATHERINE GURNEY of Earlham, 1775-1875, and the Story of
- their Religious Life under many Different Forms. Illustrated with 33
- Photogravure Plates and 19 Woodcuts. In 2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth,
- 25_s._ [_Second Edition._
-
-
- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: Memorial Sketches of ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY,
- Dean of Westminster; HENRY ALFORD, Dean of Canterbury; Mrs. DUNCAN
- STEWART; and PARAY LE MONIAL. Illustrated with 7 Portraits and 17
- Woodcuts. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 6_s._
-
-
- THE STORY OF MY LIFE: 1834 to 1870. Vols. I. to III. Recollections
- of Places, People, and Conversations, from Letters and Journals.
- Illustrated with 18 Photogravure Portraits and 144 Woodcuts from
- Drawings by the Author. Crown 8vo, Cloth, £1, 11_s._ 6_d._
-
-
- THE STORY OF MY LIFE: 1870 to 1900. Vols. IV. to VI. With 12
- Photogravure Plates and 247 Woodcuts. Crown 8vo, Cloth, £1, 11_s._
- 6_d._
-
- * * * * *
-
-
- _BY THE LATE AUGUSTUS WILLIAM HARE_
-
- _RECTOR OF ALTON BARNES_
-
-
- THE ALTON SERMONS. _Fifth Edition._ Crown 8vo, 6_s._
-
-
- SERMONS ON THE LORD'S PRAYER. Crown 8vo, 1_s._ 6_d._
-
-
- _GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD, LONDON_
-
-
-
-
- THE STORY OF MY LIFE
-
- BY AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE
-
- Vols. I. to III. Crown 8vo, £1, 11s. 6d.
- Vols. IV. to VI. Crown 8vo, £1, 11s. 6d.
-
-
- _PRESS NOTICES_
-
- "The story is full of varied interest.... Readers who know how to pick
-and choose will find plenty to entertain them, and not a little which
-is well worth reading."—_The Times._
-
- "Mr. Hare gives an idyllic picture of the simple, refined, dignified
-life at Lime.... The volumes are an inexhaustible storehouse of
-anecdote."—_Daily News._
-
- "The reader rarely comes across a passage which does not afford
-amusement or pleasant entertainment."—_The Scotsman._
-
- "One may safely predict that this will be the most popular book of
-the season.... We have not space to point out a twentieth part of
-the passages that might be described as having a special interest.
-Moreover, though the book is, among other things, a repertory of
-curious occurrences and amusing anecdotes, it is much more remarkable
-as a book of sentiment and character, and a story of real life told
-with remarkable fulness."—_The Guardian._
-
- "A book which will greatly amuse the reader."—_The Spectator._
-
- "Much of what the author has to tell is worthy the telling, and is told
-with considerable ease and grace, and with a power to interest out of
-the common. He introduces us to the best of good company, and tells
-many excellently witty stories.... Whenever he is describing foreign
-life he is at his best; and nothing can exceed the beautiful pathos of
-the episodes in which his mother appears. Indeed, he has the gift of
-tenderness for all good women and brave men."—_Daily Telegraph._
-
- "This autobiography could not fail to be exceptionally interesting.
-There may be readers who will protest that the more minute details of
-daily life might have been abridged with advantage, but the aim of the
-book makes this elaborate treatment of the subject indispensable. The
-conscientious record of a mental development amid curious surroundings,
-would make these volumes valuable if not a single name of note were
-mentioned.... Even more interesting than the stories of people and
-things that are still remembered are the glimpses of a past which is
-quickly fading out of recollection."—_The Standard._
-
- "The book is unexceptionable on the score of taste.... It is
-an agreeable miscellany into which one may dip at random with
-the certainty of landing something entertaining, rather than an
-autobiography of the ordinary kind. The concluding chapter is full of a
-deep and tender pathos."—_The Manchester Guardian._
-
- "Mr. Hare's style is graceful and felicitous, and his life-history
-was well worth writing. The volumes simply teem with good things,
-and in a single article we can but skim the surface of the riches
-they contain. A word must also be said of the beauty and delicacy of
-the illustrations. Few living men dare brave criticism by giving us
-the story of their lives and promising more. But Mr. Hare is quite
-justified. He has produced a fascinating work, in some parts strange
-as any romance, and his reminiscences of great men are agreeable and
-interesting."—_Birmingham Gazette._
-
- "An inexhaustible storehouse of anecdote."—_South-Western News._
-
- "These volumes possess an almost unique interest because of the
-striking series of portraits we get in them, not so much of
-celebrities, of whom we often hear enough, but of 'originals' in
-private life.... They give us a truly remarkable picture of certain
-sections of European society, and, above all, introduce us to some
-singularly quaint types of human character."—_Glasgow Herald._
-
- "Brimful of anecdotes, this autobiography will yield plenty of
-entertainment. We should like to quote many a characteristic little
-tale, but must content ourselves by heartily recommending all who care
-for the pleasantest of pleasant gossip concerning famous people and
-places to procure these three volumes."—_Publisher's Circular._
-
- "Mr. Hare has an easy, agreeable style, and tells a story with humour
-and skill."—_The Saturday Review._
-
- "It would be well for all who think the children of to-day
-are over-pampered and too much considered, to read Mr. Hare's
-life."—_Lady's Pictorial._
-
- "Very delicate, idyllic, and fascinating are the pictures the author
-has drawn of daily life in old rectories and country houses."—_The
-World._
-
- "Mr. Hare has the gift, the rare gift, of writing about himself
-truthfully. Nor can a quick eye for shades of character be denied to
-Mr. Hare, who does not seem ready to take people at their own estimate
-or even at what may be called their market price. But we do not detect
-a touch of malice, but only that knack of telling the truth which is
-so hateful to the ordinary biographer, and so distasteful to that
-sentimental public which is never so happy as when devouring sugared
-falsehoods."—_The Speaker._
-
- "The book has throughout a strong human interest. It contains a great
-many anecdotes, and in our opinion, at all events, deserves to take
-rank among notable biographical works."—_Westminster Gazette._
-
- "A deeply interesting book. It is the story of a man who has seen much
-and suffered much, and who out of the fulness of his experience can
-bring forth much to interest and entertain.... The book has a wealth
-of apt quotations and graceful reference, and though written in a
-scholarly and cultured way, it is always simple and interesting....
-Nothing in the work has been set down in malice; there are excuses for
-everybody.... Of course it is hardly necessary to say that the book
-teems with entertainment from beginning to end."—_St. James's Budget._
-
- "There is much besides human character and incident in these
-well-packed and well-illustrated volumes.... No one will close the
-work without a feeling not only of gratitude for a long gallery of
-interesting and brilliantly-speaking portraits, but of sympathy with
-the biographer."—_The Athenæum._
-
- "It is doubtful whether any Englishman living has had a wider
-acquaintance among people worth knowing in England and on the
-Continent, than the author of these memoirs. It is also doubtful
-whether any man, with equal opportunities, could have turned them to
-so good an account.... We have here an incomparable storehouse of
-anecdotes concerning conspicuous persons of the first half of this
-Victorian age."—_New York Sun._
-
- "This is assuredly a book to read."—_Freeman._
-
- "Singularly interesting is this autobiography.... Altogether it is a
-notable book, and may well be recommended to those who are interested
-in the intellectual life of our time."—_New York Herald._
-
- "Mr. Hare's excellence, apart from felicity of style and directness
-of method, has ever been conspicuous by the excellence that comes of
-wide knowledge of his subject, and a keenly sympathetic nature. Alive
-as he has ever been to responsive emotion, he possesses also a bright
-humour that seizes upon the discrepancies, the nuances and quaintnesses
-of whatever comes within the range of his eye and pen. These qualities
-have made for Mr. Hare a circle of admirers who, while they have sought
-in his pages no very thrilling passages, have felt steadily the growth
-of a liking given to an old friend who is always kindly and oftentimes
-amusing.... Mr. Hare dwells with a rare and touching love upon his
-mother, and these passages are amongst the most appealing in the
-book."—_Philadelphia Courier._
-
- "Mr. Hare has given us a picture of English social life that for
-vividness, picturesqueness, and completeness, is not excelled in
-literature. There is a charming lack of attempt to be literary in
-the telling of the story—a refreshing frankness and quaintness of
-expression. He takes his readers with him so that they may breathe the
-same social atmosphere in which he has spent his life. With their own
-eyes they see the things he saw, and best of all they have freedom to
-judge them, for Mr. Hare does not force himself or his opinions upon
-them."—_New York Press._
-
- "Mr. Hare's memoirs are their own excuse for being, and are a
-distinct addition to the wide and delightful realm of biographical
-literature."—_Chicago Journal._
-
- "It is rarely that an autobiography is planned on so ample a scale, and
-yet, to tell the truth, there are singularly few of these pages which
-one really cares to skip."—_Good Words._
-
- "A sad history of Mr. Hare's childhood and boyhood this is for the
-most part, but there were bursts of sunshine in Augustus Hare's
-life—sunshine shed around him by the kindly, noble-minded lady who is
-called mother all through these volumes, and for whom his reverence and
-gratitude deepened with years."—_Clifton Society._
-
- "The 'Story of My Life' is no commonplace autobiography, and plunge
-in where you may, there is something to interest and attract."—_The
-Sketch._
-
- "No one can read these very fascinating pages without feeling that what
-their author has written is absolutely that which no other would have
-ventured to say of him, and what not one in a million would have told
-concerning himself. There is a wonderful charm of sincerity in what he
-discloses as to his own feelings, his likes and dislikes, his actions
-and trials. He lays open, with photographic fidelity, the story of his
-life."—_New York Churchman._
-
- "These fair volumes might be labelled the Literature of Peace. They
-offer an outlook on life observant, and yet detached, from the turmoil
-of disillusion."—_New York Times._
-
- "Mr. Hare has written an autobiography that will not soon be
-forgotten."—_Chicago Tribune._
-
- "The story of Mr. Hare's literary life is most entertaining, and the
-charm of the work lies pre-eminently in the pictures of the many
-interesting and often famous men and women whom he has known."—_Boston
-Congregationalist._
-
- "Mr. Hare's story is an intensely interesting one, and his style,
-which at first appears to be diffuse, is soon seen to be perfectly
-well adapted to the writer's purpose.... These volumes are full of
-the most valuable and attractive material for the student of human
-nature."—_The Book Buyer._
-
- "Mr. Hare's story contains no touches of egotism, but is always plain,
-honest, and straightforward. It is distinctly worth reading."—_London
-Literary World._
-
-
- _GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD, LONDON_
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sketches in Holland and Scandinavia, by
-Augustus J. C. Hare
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-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sketches in Holland and Scandinavia, by
-Augustus J. C. Hare
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Sketches in Holland and Scandinavia
-
-Author: Augustus J. C. Hare
-
-Release Date: June 15, 2020 [EBook #62403]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SKETCHES IN HOLLAND AND ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Fiona Holmes, MFR and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-
-<div class="transnote">
-<h2 class="nopagebreak" title="">Transcriber's Notes.</h2>
-
-<p>The few instances of inconsistent hyphenation have been retained.</p>
-<p><a href="#Page_100" title="">Page 100</a>&mdash; Changed Lubeck to L&uuml;beck.</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_cover.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="1012" />
-</div>
-
-<h1>SKETCHES<br />
- IN<br />
- HOLLAND AND SCANDINAVIA</h1>
-
-<p class="p6"></p>
-
-<p class="p06"> BY</p>
-<p class="center"> AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE</p>
-<p class="p06"> AUTHOR OF "CITIES OF ITALY," "WANDERINGS IN SPAIN," ETC.</p>
-
-<p class="p6"></p>
-
-<p class="p08"> LONDON</p>
-<p class="p08"> GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD</p>
-
-<p class="p08"> LONDON</p>
-<p class="p08"> SMITH, ELDER, &amp; CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE</p>
-<p class="p08"> 1885</p>
-<p class="p08"> [<i>All rights reserved</i>]</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2>
-
-
-<p>The slight sketches in this volume are only the
-result of ordinary tours in the countries they
-attempt to describe. Yet the days they recall were so
-delightful, and their memory&mdash;especially of the tour
-in Norway&mdash;is so indescribably sunny, that I cannot
-help hoping their publication may lead others to enjoy
-what is at once so pleasant and so easy of attainment.</p>
-
-<p class="tdr"><span class="smcap">Augustus J. C. Hare.</span></p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Holmhurst</span>: <em>November 1884</em>.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
-
-<table summary="Contents" class="toc">
-<tr>
- <td>&nbsp;</td>
- <td class="tdr"><small>PAGE</small></td>
-</tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">IN HOLLAND</td>
- <td class="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">IN DENMARK</td>
- <td class="right"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">IN SWEDEN</td>
- <td class="right"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td>
- </tr>
- <tr>
- <td class="tdl">IN NORWAY</td>
- <td class="right"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td>
- </tr>
-</table>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2><a name="IN_HOLLAND" id="IN_HOLLAND"></a><i>IN HOLLAND.</i></h2>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap">AT Roosendal, about an hour's railway journey
-from Antwerp, the boundary between Belgium
-and Holland is crossed, and a branch line diverges
-to Breda.</p>
-
-<p>Somehow, like most travellers, we could not help
-expecting to see some marked change on reaching a
-new country, and in Holland one could not repress the
-expectation of beginning at once to see the pictures
-of Teniers and Gerard Dou in real life. We were
-certainly disappointed at first. Open heaths were
-succeeded by woods of stunted firs, and then by fields
-with thick hedges of beech or alder, till the towers of
-Breda came in sight. Here a commonplace omnibus
-took us to the comfortable inn of Zum Kroon, and
-we were shown into bedrooms reached by an open
-wooden staircase from the courtyard, and quickly joined
-the table d'h&ocirc;te, at which the magnates of the town
-were seated with napkins well tucked up under their
-chins, talking, with full mouths, in Dutch, of which to
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>our unaccustomed ears the words seemed all in one
-string. Most excellent was the dinner&mdash;roast meat
-and pears, quantities of delicious vegetables cooked
-in different ways, piles of ripe mulberries and cake,
-and across the little garden, with its statues and
-bright flower-beds, we could see the red sails of the
-barges going up and down the canals.</p>
-
-<p>As soon as dinner was over, we sallied forth to see
-the town, which impressed us more than any Dutch
-city did afterwards, perhaps because it was the first
-we saw. The winding streets&mdash;one of them ending in
-a high windmill&mdash;are lined with houses wonderfully
-varied in outline, and of every shade of delicate
-colour, yellow, grey, or brown, though the windows
-always have white frames and bars. Passing through
-a low archway under one of the houses, we found
-ourselves, when we least expected it, in the public
-garden, a kind of wood where the trees have killed all
-the grass, surrounded by canals, beyond one of which
-is a great square ch&acirc;teau built by William <abbr title="the third">III.</abbr> of
-England, encircled by the Merk, and enclosing an
-arcaded court. There was an older ch&acirc;teau of 1350
-at Breda, but we failed to find it.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_005.jpg" id="i_005" alt="" width="450" height="350" />
-<p class="captioncenter">THE MARKET-PLACE AT BREDA.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>In stately splendour, from the old houses of the
-market-place, rises the noble Hervormde Kerk
-(Protestant Church), with a lofty octagon tower, and
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>a most characteristic bulbous Dutch spire. Here, as
-we wanted to see the interior, we first were puzzled
-by our ignorance of Dutch, finding, as everywhere in
-the smaller towns, that the natives knew no language
-but their own. But two old women in high caps and
-gold earrings observed our puzzledom from a window
-and pointed to a man and a key&mdash;we nodded; the
-man pointed to himself, a door, and a key&mdash;we
-nodded; and we were soon inside the building. It
-was our first introduction to Dutch Calvinism and
-iconoclasm, and piteous indeed was it to see so
-magnificent a church thickly covered with whitewash,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>and the quantity of statues which it contains of
-deceased Dukes and Duchesses of Nassau bereft of
-their legs and petticoats. Only, in a grand side
-chapel on the left of the choir, the noble tomb
-of Engelbrecht <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. of Nassau, general under the
-Emperor Maximilian (1505), remains intact. The
-guide lights matches to shine through the transparent
-alabaster of the figures; that of the Duke represents
-Death, that of the Duchess Sleep, as they lie beneath
-a stone slab which bears the armour of Engelbrecht,
-and is supported by figures of C&aelig;sar, Hannibal,
-Regulus, and Philip of Macedon; that of C&aelig;sar is
-sublime. The tomb of Sir Francis Vere in Westminster
-Abbey is of the same design, and is supposed
-to be copied from this famous monument. Outside
-the chapel is the tomb of Engelbrecht <abbr title="the fifth">V</abbr>. of Nassau,
-with all his family kneeling, in quaint headdresses.
-The other sights of the church are the brass font in
-the Baptistery, and a noble brass in the choir of
-William de Gaellen, Dean of the Chapter, 1539. It
-will be observed that here, and almost everywhere else
-in Holland, the names of saints which used to be
-attached to the churches have disappeared; the
-buildings are generally known as the old church, or
-new church, or great church.</p>
-
-<p>After a delicious breakfast of coffee and thick <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>cream, with rusks,
-scones, and different kinds of cheese, always an indispensable in Dutch
-breakfasts, we took to the railway again and crossed Zealand, which
-chiefly consists of four islands, Noordt Beveland, Zuid Beveland,
-Schouwen, and Walcheren, and is less visited by the rest of the
-Netherlanders than any other part of the country. The land is all
-cut up into vast polders, as the huge meadows are called, which are
-recovered from the sea and protected by embankments. Here, if human
-care was withdrawn for six months, the whole country would be under the
-sea again. A corps of engineers called 'waterstaat' are continually
-employed to watch the waters, and to keep in constant repair the dykes,
-which are formed of clay at the bottom, as that is more waterproof
-than anything else, and thatched with willows, which are here grown
-extensively for the purpose. If the sea passes a dyke, ruin is
-imminent, an alarm bell rings, and the whole population rush to the
-rescue. The moment one dyke is even menaced, the people begin to build
-another inside it, and then rely upon the double defence, whilst they
-fortify the old one. But all their care has not preserved the islands
-of Zealand. Three centuries ago, Schouwen was entirely submerged, and
-every living creature was drowned. Soon after, Noordt Beveland was
-submerged,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]></a></span> and remained for several years entirely under water, only
-the points of the church spires being visible. Zuid Beveland had been
-submerged in the fourteenth century. Walcheren was submerged as late as
-1808, and Tholen even in 1825. It has been aptly asserted that the sea
-to the inhabitants of Holland is what Vesuvius is to Torre del Greco.
-How well its French name of Pays-Bas suits the country! De Amicis says
-that the Dutch have three enemies&mdash;the sea, the lakes, and the rivers;
-they repel the sea, they dry the lakes, and they imprison the rivers;
-but with the sea it is a combat which never ceases.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_008.jpg" id="i_008" alt="" width="450" height="321" />
-<p class="captioncenter">BERGEN-OP-ZOOM.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p>
-<p>The story of the famous siege of 1749 made us
-linger at Bergen-op-Zoom, a clean, dull little town
-with bright white houses surrounding an irregular
-market-place, and surmounted by the heavy tower of
-the Church of S. Gertrude. In the Stadhuis is a fine
-carved stone chimney-piece; but there is little worth
-seeing, and we were soon speeding across the rich
-pastures of Zuid Beveland, and passing its capital of
-Goes, prettily situated amongst cherry orchards, the
-beautiful cruciform church with a low central spire
-rising above the trees on its ramparts. Every now
-and then the train seems scarcely out of the water,
-which covers a vast surface of the pink-green flats,
-and recalls the description in Hudibras of&mdash;</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
- <div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">A country that draws fifty feet of water,</div>
- <div class="verse">In which men live as in the hold of nature,</div>
- <div class="verse">And when the sea does in upon them break,</div>
- <div class="verse">And drown a province, does but spring a leak.</div>
- </div>
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The peasant women at the stations are a perpetual
-amusement, for there is far more costume here than
-in most parts of Holland, and peculiar square handsome
-gold ornaments, something like closed golden books,
-are universally worn on each side of the face.</p>
-
-<p>So, crossing a broad salt canal into the island of
-Walcheren, we reached Middleburg, a handsome town
-which was covered with water to the house tops when
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>the island was submerged. It was the birthplace of
-Zach Janssen and Hans Lipperhey, the inventors of
-the telescope, <em>c.</em>1610. In the market-place is a most
-beautiful Gothic townhall, built by the architect
-Keldermans, early in the sixteenth century. We
-asked a well dressed boy how we could get into it,
-and he, without further troubling himself, pointed the
-way with his finger. The building contains a quaint
-old hall called the Vierschaar, and a so-called museum,
-but there is little enough to see. As we came out
-the boy met us. 'You must give me something:
-I pointed out the entrance of the Stadhuis to you.'
-In Holland we have always found that no one, rich
-or poor, does a kindness or even a civility for
-nothing!</p>
-
-<p>The crowd in the market-place was so great that
-it was impossible to sketch the Stadhuis as we should
-have wished, but the people themselves were delightfully
-picturesque. The women entirely conceal their hair
-under their white caps, but have golden corkscrews
-sticking out on either side the face, like weapons of
-defence, from which the golden slabs we have observed
-before were pendant. The Nieuwe Kerk is of little
-interest, though it contains the tomb of William of
-Holland, who was elected Emperor of Germany in 1250,
-and we wandered on through the quiet streets,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> till
-a Gothic arch in an ancient wall looked tempting.
-Passing through it we found ourselves in the enclosure
-of the old abbey, shaded by a grove of trees, and
-surrounded by ancient buildings, part of which are
-appropriated as the Hotel Abdij, where we arrived
-utterly famished, and found a table d'h&ocirc;te at 2.30 <small>P.M.</small>
-unspeakably reviving.</p>
-
-<p>Any one who sees Holland thoroughly ought also
-to visit Zieriksee, the capital of the island of Schouwen;
-but the water locomotion thither is so difficult and
-tedious that we preferred keeping to the railways,
-which took us back in the dark over the country we
-had already traversed, and a little more, to Dortrecht,
-where there is a convenient tramway to take travellers
-from the station into the town. Here, at the H&ocirc;tel
-de Fries, we found comfortable bedrooms, with boarded
-floors and box-beds like those in Northumbrian cottages,
-and we had supper in the public room, separated
-into two parts by a da&iuml;s for strangers, whence we
-looked down into the humbler division, which recalled
-many homely scenes of Ostade and Teniers in its
-painted wooden ceiling, its bright, polished furniture,
-its cat and dog and quantity of birds and flowers, its
-groups of boors at round tables drinking out of
-tankards, and the landlady and her daughter in their
-gleaming gold ornaments, sitting knitting, with the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>waiter standing behind them amusing himself by the
-general conversation.</p>
-
-<p>Our morning at Dortrecht was very delightful, and
-it is a thoroughly charming place. Passing under a
-dark archway in a picturesque building of Charles <abbr title="the fifth">V</abbr>.
-opposite the hotel, we found ourselves at once on the
-edge of an immense expanse of shimmering river,
-with long rich polders beyond, between which the
-wide flood breaks into three different branches. Red
-and white sails flit down them. Here and there rise
-a line of pollard willows or clipped elms, and now and
-then a church spire. On the nearest shore an ancient
-windmill, coloured in delicate tints of grey and yellow,
-surmounts a group of white buildings. On the left is
-a broad esplanade of brick, lined with ancient houses,
-and a canal with a bridge, the long arms of which are
-ready to open at a touch and give a passage to the
-great yellow-masted barges, which are already half
-intercepting the bright red house-fronts ornamented
-with stone, which belong to some public buildings
-facing the end of the canal. With what a confusion
-of merchandise are the boats laden, and how gay is
-the colouring, between the old weedy posts to which
-they are moored!</p>
-
-<p>It was from hence that Isabella of France, with
-Sir John de Hainault and many other faithful knights,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>set out on their expedition against Edward <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. and
-the government of the Spencers.</p>
-
-<p>From the busy port, where nevertheless they are
-dredging, we cross another bridge and find ourselves
-in a quietude like that of a cathedral close in England.
-On one side is a wide pool half covered with floating
-timber, and, in the other half, reflecting like a mirror
-the houses on the opposite shore, with their bright
-gardens of lilies and hollyhocks, and trees of mountain
-ash, which bend their masses of scarlet berries to the
-still water. Between the houses are glints of blue
-river and of inevitable windmills on the opposite shore.
-And all this we observe standing in the shadow
-of a huge church, the Groote Kerk, with a nave
-of the fourteenth century, and a choir of the fifteenth,
-and a gigantic brick tower, in which three long Gothic
-arches, between octagonal tourelles, enclose several
-tiers of windows. At the top is a great clock, and
-below the church a grove of elms, through which
-fitful sunlight falls on the grass and the dead red of
-the brick pavement (so grateful to feet sore with the
-sharp stones of other Dutch cities), where groups of
-fishermen are collecting in their blue shirts and white
-trousers.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_014.jpg" id="i_014" alt="" width="390" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter">GROOTE KERK, DORTRECHT.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>There is little to see inside this or any other
-church in Holland; travellers will rather seek for the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>memorials, at the Kloveniers Doelen, of the famous
-Synod of Dort, which was held 1618-19, in the hope
-of effecting a compromise between the Gomarists, or
-disciples of Calvin, and the Arminians who followed
-Zwingli, and who had recently obtained the name of
-Remonstrants from the 'remonstrance' which they
-had addressed eight years before in defence of their
-doctrines. The Calvinists held that the greater part
-of mankind was excluded from grace, which the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>Arminians denied; but at the Synod of Dort the
-Calvinists proclaimed themselves as infallible as the
-Pope, and their resolutions became the law of the
-Dutch reformed Church. The Arminians were forthwith
-outlawed; a hundred ministers who refused to
-subscribe to the dictates of the Synod were banished;
-Hugo Grotius and Rombout Hoogerbeets were imprisoned
-for life at Loevestein; the body of the
-secretary Ledenberg, who committed suicide in prison,
-was hung; and Van Olden Barneveldt, the friend of
-William the Silent, was beheaded in his seventy-second
-year.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_015.jpg" id="i_015" alt="" width="545" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter">CANAL AT DORTRECHT.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>
-<p>There is nothing in the quiet streets of Dortrecht
-to remind one that it was once one of the most
-important commercial cities of Holland, taking
-precedence even of Rotterdam, Delft, Leyden, and
-Amsterdam. It also possessed a privilege called the
-Staple of Dort, by which all the carriers on the Maas
-and Rhine were forced to unload their merchandise
-here, and pay all duties imposed, only using the boats
-or porters of the place in their work, and so bringing
-a great revenue to the town.</p>
-
-<p>More than those in any of the other towns of
-Holland do the little water streets of Dortrecht recall
-Venice, the houses rising abruptly from the canals;
-only the luminous atmosphere and the shimmering
-water changing colour like a chameleon, are wanting.</p>
-
-<p>Through the street of wine&mdash;Wijnstraat&mdash;built
-over storehouses used for the staple, we went to
-the Museum to see the pictures. There were two
-schools of Dortrecht. Jacob Geritse Cuyp (1575),
-Albert Cuyp (1605), Ferdinand Bol (1611), Nicolas
-Maas (1632), and Schalken (1643) belonged to the
-former; Arend de Gelder, Arnold Houbraken, Dirk
-Stoop, and Ary Scheffer are of the latter. Sunshine
-and glow were the characteristics of the first school,
-greyness and sobriety of the second. But there are
-few good pictures at Dort now, and some of the best
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>works of Cuyp are to be found in our National
-Gallery, executed at his native place and portraying
-the great brick tower of the church in the golden
-haze of evening, seen across rich pastures, where the
-cows are lying deep in the meadow grass. The works
-of Ary Scheffer are now the most interesting pictures
-in the Dortrecht Gallery. Of the subject 'Christus
-Consolator' there are two representations. In the
-more striking of these the pale Christ is seated
-amongst the sick, sorrowful, blind, maimed, and enslaved,
-who are all stretching out their hands to Him.
-Beneath is the tomb which the artist executed for his
-mother, Cornelia Scheffer, whose touching figure is
-represented lying with outstretched hands, in the
-utmost abandonment of repose.</p>
-
-<p>An excursion should be made from Dortrecht to
-the castle of Loevestein on the Rhine, where Grotius,
-imprisoned in 1619, was concealed by his wife in the
-chest which brought in his books and linen. It was
-conveyed safely out of the castle by her courageous
-maid Elsje van Houwening, and was taken at first to
-the house of Jacob Daatselaer, a supposed friend of
-Grotius, who refused to render any assistance. But
-his wife consented to open the chest, and the philosopher,
-disguised as a mason, escaped to Brabant.</p>
-
-<p>It is much best to visit Rotterdam as an excursion
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>from Dortrecht. We thought it the most odious
-place we ever were in&mdash;immense, filthy, and not very
-picturesque. Its handsomest feature is the vast quay
-called the Boompjes, on the Maas. Here and there a
-great windmill reminds you unmistakably of where
-you are, and the land streets are intersected everywhere
-by water streets, the carriages being constantly
-stopped to let ships pass through the bridges. In the
-Groote Markt stands a bronze statue of Desiderius
-Erasmus&mdash;'Vir saeculi sui primarius, et civis omnium
-praestantissimus,' which is the work of Hendrik de
-Keyser (1662), and in the Wijde Kerkstraat is the
-house where he was born, inscribed 'Haec est parva
-domus, magnus qua natus Erasmus, 1467,' but it is
-now a tavern. The great church of S. Lawrence&mdash;Groote
-Kerk&mdash;built in 1477-87, contains the tombs of
-a number of Dutch admirals, and has a grand pavement
-of monumental slabs, but is otherwise frightful.
-The portion used for service is said to be 'so conveniently
-constructed that the zealous Christians of
-Rotterdam prefer sleeping through a sermon there,
-to any other church in the city.' Part of the rest is
-used as a cart-house, the largest chapel is a commodious
-carpenter's shop, and the aisles round the part
-which is still a church, where there has been an
-attempt at restoration in painting the roof yellow and
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>putting up some hideous yellow seats, are a playground
-for the children of the town, who are freely admitted
-in their perambulators, though for strangers there is a
-separate fee for each part of the edifice they enter.</p>
-
-<p>We went to see the pictures in the Museum bequeathed
-to the town by Jacob Otto Boyman, but did
-not admire them much. It takes time to accustom
-one's mind to Dutch art, and the endless representations
-of family life, with domestic furniture, pots and
-pans, &amp;c., or of the simple local landscapes&mdash;clipped
-avenues, sandy roads, dykes, and cottages, or even of
-the cows, and pigs, and poultry, which seem wonderfully
-executed, but, where one has too much of the
-originals, scarcely worth the immense amount of time
-and labour bestowed upon them. The calm seas of
-Van de Welde and Van der Capelle only afford a certain
-amount of relief. The scenes of village life are
-seldom pleasing, often coarse, and never have anything
-elevating to offer or ennobling to recall. We thought
-that the real charm of the Dutch school to outsiders
-consists in the immense power and variety of its
-portraits.</p>
-
-<p>Hating Rotterdam, we thankfully felt ourselves
-speeding over the flat, rich lands to Gouda, where
-we found an agricultural f&ecirc;te going on, banners
-half way down the houses, and a triumphal arch as
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>the entrance to the square, formed of spades, rakes,
-and forks, with a plough at the top, and decorated
-with corn, potatoes, turnips, and carrots, and cornucopias
-pouring out flowers at the sides. In the
-square&mdash;a great cheese market, for the Gouda cheese
-is esteemed the best in Holland&mdash;is a Gothic Stadhuis,
-and beyond it, the Groote Kerk of 1552, of which
-the bare interior is enlivened by the stained windows
-executed by Wonter and Dirk Crabeth in 1555-57.
-We were the better able to understand the design of
-these noble windows because the cartoon for each
-was spread upon the pavement in front of it; but one
-could not help one's attention being unpleasantly distracted
-by the number of men of the burgher class,
-smoking and with their hats on, who were allowed to
-use the church as a promenade. Gouda also made an
-unpleasant impression upon us, because, expensive
-as we found every hotel in Holland, we were nowhere
-so outrageously cheated as here.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_021.jpg" id="i_021" alt="" width="580" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter">THE VIJVER.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>It is a brief journey to the Hague&mdash;La Haye,
-Gravenhage&mdash;most delightful of little capitals, with its
-comfortable hotels and pleasant surroundings. The
-town is still so small that it seems to merit the name
-of 'the largest village in Europe,' which was given to
-it because the jealousy of other towns prevented its
-having any vote in the States General till the time of
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>Louis Bonaparte, who gave it the privileges of a city.
-It is said that the Hague, more than any other place,
-may recall what Versailles was just before the great
-revolution. It has thoroughly the aspect of a little
-royal city. Without any of the crowd and bustle
-of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, it is not dead like the
-smaller towns of Holland; indeed, it even seems to
-have a quiet gaiety, without dissipation, of its own.
-All around are parks and gardens, whence wide streets
-lead speedily through the new town of the rich bourgeoisie
-to the old central town of stadholders, where
-a beautiful lake, the Vijver, or fish-pond, comes as a
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>surprise, with the eccentric old palace of the Binnenhof
-rising straight out of its waters. We had been
-told it was picturesque, but were prepared for nothing
-so charming as the variety of steep roofs and towers,
-the clear reflections, the tufted islet, and the beautiful
-colouring of the whole scene of the Vijver. Skirting
-the lake, we entered the precincts of the palace through
-the picturesque Gudevangen Poort, where Cornelius
-de Witte, Burgomaster of Dort, was imprisoned in
-1672, on a false accusation of having suborned the
-surgeon William Tichelaur to murder the Prince of
-Orange. He was dragged out hence and torn to
-pieces by the people, together with his brother Jean
-de Witte, Grand Pensioner, whose house remains hard
-by in the Kneuterdijk.</p>
-
-<p>The court of the Binnenhof is exceedingly handsome,
-and contains the ancient Gothic Hall of the
-Knights, where Johann van Olden Barneveld, Grand
-Pensioner, or Prime Minister, was condemned to death
-'for having conspired to dismember the States of the
-Netherlands, and greatly troubled God's Church,' and
-in the front of which (May 24, 1619) he was beheaded.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_023.jpg" id="i_023" alt="" width="586" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter">HALL OF THE KNIGHTS, THE HAGUE.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Close to the north-east gate of the Binnenhof is
-the handsome house called Mauritshuis, containing
-the inestimable Picture Gallery of the Hague, which
-will bear many visits, and has the great charm of not
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>being huge beyond the powers of endurance. On the
-ground floor are chiefly portraits, amongst which a
-simple dignified priest by Philippe de Champaigne,
-with a far-away expression, will certainly arrest attention.
-Deeply interesting is the portrait by Ravesteyn
-of William the Silent, in his ruff and steel armour
-embossed with gold&mdash;a deeply lined face, with a slight
-peaked beard. His widow, Louise de Coligny, is also
-represented. There is a fine portrait by Schalcken
-of our William the Third. Noble likenesses of Sir
-George Sheffield and his wife Anna Wake, by Vandyke,
-are a pleasing contrast to the many works of
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>Rubens. There are deeply interesting portraits by
-Albert D&uuml;rer and Holbein.</p>
-
-<p>On the first floor we must sit down before the
-great picture which Rembrandt painted in his twenty-sixth
-year (1632) of the School of Anatomy. Here
-the shrewd professor, Nicholaus Tulp, with a face
-brimming with knowledge and intelligence, is expounding
-the anatomy of a corpse to a number of
-members of the guild of surgeons, some of whom are
-full of eager interest and inquiry, whilst others are inattentive:
-the dead figure is greatly foreshortened
-and not repulsive. In another room, a fine work of
-Thomas de Keyser represents the Four Burgomasters
-of Amsterdam hearing of the arrival of Marie de
-Medicis. A beautiful work of Adrian van Ostade is
-full of light and character&mdash;but only represents a
-stolid boor drinking to the health of a fiddler, while
-a child plays with a dog in the background.</p>
-
-<p>A group of admirers will always be found round
-'the Immortal Bull' of Paul Potter, which was considered
-the fourth picture in importance in the Louvre,
-when the spoils of Europe were collected at Paris.
-De Amicis says, 'It lives, it breathes; with his bull
-Paul Potter has written the true Idyl of Holland.'
-It is, however&mdash;being really a group of cattle&mdash;not a
-pleasing, though a life-like picture. Much more
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>attractive is the exquisite 'Presentation' of Rembrandt
-(1631), in which Joseph and Mary, simple peasants,
-present the Holy Child to Simeon, a glorious old
-man in a jewelled robe, who invokes a blessing upon
-the infant, while other priests look on with interest.
-A wonderful ray of light, falling upon the principal
-group, illuminates the whole temple. Perhaps the
-most beautiful work in the whole gallery is the Young
-Housekeeper of Gerard Dou. A lovely young woman
-sits at work by an open window looking into a street.
-By her side is the baby asleep in its cradle, over which
-the maid is leaning. The light falls on the chandelier
-and all the household belongings of a well-to-do citizen:
-in all there is the same marvellous finish; it is said
-that the handle of the broom took three days to paint.</p>
-
-<p>There is not much to discover in the streets of the
-Hague. In the great square called the Plein is the
-statue of William the Silent, with his finger raised,
-erected in 1848 'by the grateful people to the father
-of their fatherland.' In the fish-market, tame storks
-are kept, for the same reason that bears are kept at
-Berne, because storks are the arms of the town. But
-the chief attraction of the place lies in its lovely
-walks amid the noble beeches and oaks of the Bosch,
-beyond which on the left is Huis ten Bosch, the Petit
-Trianon of the Hague, the favourite palace of Queen
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>Sophie, who held her literary court and died there.
-It is a quiet country house, looking out upon flats, with
-dykes and a windmill. All travellers seem to visit it,&mdash;which
-must be a ceaseless surprise to the extortionate
-custode to whom they have to pay a gulden a head,
-and who will hurry them rapidly through some commonplace
-rooms in which there is nothing really worth
-seeing. One room is covered with paintings of the
-Rubens school, amid which, high in the dome, is a
-portrait of the Princess Amalia of Solms, who built
-the house in 1647.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_026.jpg" id="i_026" alt="" width="650" height="362" />
-<p class="captioncenter">SCHEVENINGEN.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>A tram takes people for twopence halfpenny to
-Scheveningen through the park, a thick wood with
-charming forest scenery. As the trees become more
-scattered, the roar of the North Sea is heard upon the
-shore. Above the sands, on the dunes or sand-hills,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>which extend from the Helder to Dunkirk, is a broad
-terrace, lined on one side by a row of wooden pavilions
-with flags and porticoes, and below it are long
-lines of tents, necessary in the intense glare, while,
-nearer the waves, are thousands of beehive-like
-refuges, with a single figure seated in each. The flat
-monotonous shore would soon pall upon one, yet
-through the whole summer it is an extraordinary lively
-scene. The placid happiness of Dutch family life has
-here taken possession. On Sunday afternoons,
-especially, the sands seem as crowded with human
-existence as they are represented in the picture of
-Lingelbach, which we have seen in the Mauritshuis,
-portraying the vast multitude assembled here to witness
-the embarkation of Charles <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. for England.</p>
-
-<p>An excursion must be made to Delft, only twenty
-minutes distant from the Hague by rail. Pepys calls
-it 'a most sweet town, with bridges and a river in
-every street,' and that is a tolerably accurate description.
-It seems thinly inhabited, and the Dutch themselves
-look upon it as a place where one will die of
-<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ennui</i>. It has scarcely changed with two hundred
-years. The view of Delft by Van der Meer in the
-Museum at the Hague might have been painted
-yesterday. All the trees are clipped, for in artificial
-Holland every work of Nature is artificialised. At
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>certain seasons, numbers of storks may be seen upon
-the chimney-tops, for Delft is supposed to be the stork
-town <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">par excellence</i>. Near the shady canal Oude Delft
-is a low building, once the Convent of S. Agata, with
-an ornamented door surmounted by a relief, leading
-into a courtyard. It is a common barrack now, for
-Holland, which has no local histories, has no regard
-whatever for its historic associations or monuments.
-Yet this is the greatest shrine of Dutch history, for it
-is here that William the Silent died.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_028.jpg" id="i_028" alt="" width="325" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter">ENTRANCE TO S. AGATA, DELFT.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p>
-<p>Philip <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. had promised 25,000 crowns of gold to
-any one who would murder the Prince of Orange.
-An attempt had already been made, but had failed,
-and William refused to take any measures for self-protection,
-saying, 'It is useless: my years are in
-the hands of God: if there is a wretch who has no
-fear of death, my life is in his hand, however I may
-guard it.' At length, a young man of seven-and-twenty
-appeared at Delft, who gave himself out to be
-one Guyon, a Protestant, son of Pierre Guyon, executed
-at Besan&ccedil;on for having embraced Calvinism,
-and declared that he was exiled for his religion.
-Really he was Balthazar Gerard, a bigoted Catholic,
-but his conduct in Holland soon procured him the
-reputation of an evangelical saint. The Prince took
-him into his service and sent him to accompany a
-mission from the States of Holland to the Court of
-France, whence he returned to bring the news of the
-death of the Duke of Anjou to William. At that
-time the Prince was living with his court in the convent
-of S. Agata, where he received Balthazar alone
-in his chamber. The moment was opportune, but the
-would-be assassin had no arms ready. William gave
-him a small sum of money and bade him hold himself
-in readiness to be sent back to France. With
-the money Balthazar bought two pistols from a soldier
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>(who afterwards killed himself when he heard the use
-which was made of the purchase). On the next day,
-June 10, 1584, Balthazar returned to the convent as
-William was descending the staircase to dinner, with
-his fourth wife, Louise de Coligny (daughter of the
-Admiral who fell in the massacre of S. Bartholomew),
-on his arm. He presented his passport and begged
-the Prince to sign it, but was told to return later. At
-dinner the Princess asked William who was the young
-man who had spoken to him, for his expression was
-the most terrible she had ever seen. The Prince
-laughed, said it was Guyon, and was as gay as usual.
-Dinner being over, the family party were about to remount
-the staircase. The assassin was waiting in a
-dark corner at the foot of the stairs, and as William
-passed he discharged a pistol with three balls and
-fled. The Prince staggered, saying, 'I am wounded;
-God have mercy upon me and my poor people.' His
-sister Catherine van Schwartzbourg asked, 'Do you
-trust in Jesus Christ?' He said, 'Yes,' with a feeble
-voice, sat down upon the stairs, and died.</p>
-
-<p>Balthazar reached the rampart of the town in
-safety, hoping to swim to the other side of the moat,
-where a horse awaited him. But he had dropped his
-hat and his second pistol in his flight, and so he was
-traced and seized before he could leap from the wall.
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>Amid horrible tortures, he not only confessed, but
-continued to triumph in his crime. His judges believed
-him to be possessed of the devil. The next
-day he was executed. His right hand was burnt off
-in a tube of red-hot iron: the flesh of his arms and
-legs was torn off with red-hot pincers; but he never
-made a cry. It was not till his breast was cut open,
-and his heart torn out and flung in his face, that he
-expired. His head was then fixed on a pike, and his
-body cut into four quarters, exposed on the four gates
-of the town.</p>
-
-<p>Close to the Prinsenhof is the Oude Kerk with a
-leaning tower. It is arranged like a very ugly theatre
-inside, but contains, with other tombs of celebrities,
-the monument of Admiral van Tromp, 1650&mdash;'Martinus
-Harberti Trompius'&mdash;whose effigy lies upon his
-back, with swollen feet. It was this Van Tromp who
-defeated the English fleet under Blake, and perished,
-as represented on the monument, in an engagement
-off Scheveningen. It was he who, after his victory
-over the English, caused a broom to be hoisted at his
-mast-head to typify that he had swept the Channel
-clear of his enemies.</p>
-
-<p>The Nieuwe Kerk in the Groote Markt (1412-76)
-contains the magnificent monument of William the
-Silent by Hendrik de Keyser and A. Quellin (1621).
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>Black marble columns support a white canopy over
-the white sleeping figure of the Prince, who is represented
-in his little black silk cap, as he is familiar
-to us in his pictures. In the recesses of the tomb&mdash;'<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">somptueux
-et tourment&eacute;</i>,' as Mont&eacute;gut calls it&mdash;are
-statues of Liberty, Justice, Prudence, and Religion.
-At the feet of William lies his favourite dog, which
-saved his life from midnight assassins at Malines,
-by awakening him. At the head of the tomb is
-another figure of William, of bronze, seated. In the
-same church is a monument to Hugo Grotius&mdash;'prodigium
-Europae'&mdash;the greatest lawyer of the seventeenth
-century, presented to Henri <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. by Barneveld
-as 'La merveille de la Hollande.'</p>
-
-<p>On leaving the Hague a few hours should be
-given to the dull university town of Leyden, unless it
-has been seen as an afternoon excursion from the
-capital. This melancholy and mildewed little town,
-mouldering from a century of stagnation, the birthplace
-of Rembrandt, surrounds the central tower of
-its Burg&mdash;standing in the grounds of an inn, which
-exacts payment from those who visit it. Close by is
-the huge church of S. Pancras&mdash;Houglansche Kerk&mdash;of
-the fifteenth century, containing the tomb of Van
-der Werff, burgomaster during the famous siege, who
-answered the starving people, when they came demand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>ing
-bread or surrender, that he had 'sworn to defend the
-city, and, with God's help, he meant to keep his oath,
-but that if his body would help them to prolong the
-defence, they might take it and share it amongst those
-who were most hungry.' A covered bridge over a
-canal leads to the Bredenstrasse, where there is a
-picturesque grey stone Stadhuis of the sixteenth
-century. It contains the principal work of Cornelius
-Engelbrechtsen of Leyden (1468-1533), one of the
-earliest of Dutch painters&mdash;an altarpiece representing
-the Crucifixion, with the Sacrifice of Abraham and
-Worship of the Brazen Serpent in the side panels,
-as symbols of the Atonement: on the pedestal is
-a naked body, out of which springs a tree&mdash;the
-tree of life&mdash;and beside it kneel the donors. The
-neighbouring church of S. Peter (1315) contains
-the tomb of Boerhaave, the physician, whose lectures
-in the University were attended by Peter the Great,
-and for whom a Chinese mandarin found '&agrave; l'illustre
-M. Boerhaave, m&eacute;decin, en Europe,' quite sufficient
-direction. Boerhaave was the doctor who said that
-the poor were his best patients, for God paid for
-them.</p>
-
-<p>The streets are grass-grown, the houses damp, the
-canals green with weed. The University has fallen
-into decadence since others were established at
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>Utrecht, Groningen, and Amsterdam; but Leyden is
-still the most flourishing of the four. When William
-of Orange offered the citizens freedom from taxes, as
-a reward for their endurance of the famous siege, they
-thanked him, but said they would rather have a university.
-Grotius and Cartesius (Descartes), Arminius
-and Gomar, were amongst its professors, and the
-University possesses an admirable botanical museum
-and a famous collection of Japanese curiosities.</p>
-
-<p>The Rhine cuts up the town of Leyden into endless
-islands, connected by a hundred and fifty bridges.
-On a quiet canal near the Beesten Markt is the
-Museum, which contains the 'Last Judgment' of
-Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533), a scholar of Engelbrechtsen,
-and one of the patriarchs of Dutch
-painting.</p>
-
-<p>A few minutes bring us from Leyden to Haarlem
-by the railway. It crosses an isthmus between the
-sea and a lake which covered the whole country
-between Leyden, Haarlem, and Amsterdam till 1839,
-when it became troublesome, and the States-General
-forthwith, after the fashion of Holland, voted its
-destruction. Enormous engines were at once employed
-to drain it by pumping the water into canals,
-which carried it to the sea, and the country was the
-richer by a new province.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p>
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_035.jpg" id="i_035" alt="" width="580" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter">MARKET-PLACE, HAARLEM.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Haarlem, on the river Spaarne, stands out distinct
-in recollection from all other Dutch towns, for it has
-the most picturesque market-place in Holland&mdash;the
-Groote Markt&mdash;surrounded by quaint houses of
-varied outline, amidst which rises the Groote Kerk
-of S. Bavo, a noble cruciform fifteenth-century
-building. The interior, however, is as bare and
-hideous as all other Dutch churches. It contains a
-monument to the architect Conrad, designer of the
-famous locks of Katwijk, 'the defender of Holland
-against the fury of the sea and the power of
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>tempests.' Behind the choir is the tomb of the poet
-Bilderdijk, who only died in 1831, and near this the
-grave of Laurenz Janzoom&mdash;the Coster or Sacristan&mdash;who
-is asserted in his native town, but never believed
-outside it, to have been the real inventor of
-printing, as he is said to have cut out letters in wood,
-and taken impressions from them in ink, as early as
-1423. His partisans also maintain that whilst he
-was attending a midnight mass, praying for patience
-to endure the ill-treatment of his enemies, all his
-implements were stolen, and that when he found
-this out on his return he died of grief. It is further
-declared that the robber was Faust of Mayence, the
-brother of Gutenberg, and that it was thus that the
-honour of the invention passed from Holland to
-Germany, where Gutenberg produced his invention
-of movable type twelve years later. There is a
-statue of the Coster in front of the church, and, on
-its north side, his house is preserved and adorned
-with his bust.</p>
-
-<p>Amongst a crowd of natives with their hats on,
-talking in church as in the market-place, we waited
-to hear the famous organ of Christian Muller
-(1735-38), and grievously were we disappointed with
-its discordant noises. All the men smoked in
-church, and this we saw repeatedly; but it would
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>be difficult to say where we ever saw a Dutchman
-with a pipe out of his mouth. Every man seemed
-to be systematically smoking away the few wits he
-possessed.</p>
-
-<p>Opposite the Groote Kerk is the Stadhuis, an old
-palace of the Counts of Holland remodelled. It
-contains a delightful little gallery of the works of
-Franz Hals, which at once transports the spectator
-into the Holland of two hundred years ago&mdash;such is
-the marvellous variety of life and vigour impressed
-into its endless figures of stalwart officers and handsome
-young archers pledging each other at banquet
-tables and seeming to welcome the visitor with jovial
-smiles as he enters the chamber, or of serene old
-ladies, 'regents' of hospitals, seated at their council
-boards. The immense power of the artist is shown
-in nothing so much as in the hands, often gloved,
-dashed in with instantaneous power, yet always
-having the effect of the most consummate finish at a
-distance. Behind one of the pictures is the entrance
-to the famous 'secret-room of Haarlem,' seldom seen,
-but containing an inestimable collection of historic
-relics of the time of the famous siege of Leyden.</p>
-
-<p>April and May are the best months for visiting
-Haarlem, which is the bulb nursery garden of the
-world. 'Oignons &agrave; fleurs' are advertised for sale
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>everywhere. Tulips are more cultivated than any
-other flowers, as ministering most to the national
-craving for colour; but times are changed since a
-single bulb of the tulip 'L'Amiral Liefkenshoch'
-sold for 4,500 florins, one of 'Viceroy' for 4,200,
-and one of 'Semper Augustus' for 13,000.</p>
-
-<p>Now we entered Amsterdam, to which we had
-looked forward as the climax of our tour, having
-read of it and pondered upon it as 'the Venice of
-the north;' but our expectations were raised much
-too high. Anything more unlike Venice it would
-be difficult to imagine: and there is a terrible want
-of variety and colour; many of the smaller towns of
-Holland are far more interesting and infinitely more
-picturesque.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_039.jpg" id="i_039" alt="" width="595" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> MILL NEAR AMSTERDAM.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>A castle was built at Amsterdam in 1204, but
-the town only became important in the sixteenth
-century, since which it has been the most commercial
-of ancient European cities. It is situated upon the
-influx of the Amstel to the Y, as the arm of the
-Zuider Zee which forms the harbour is called, and it
-occupies a huge semicircle, its walls being enclosed
-by the broad moat, six and a half miles long, which
-is known as Buitensingel. The greater part of the
-houses are built on piles, causing Erasmus to say
-that the inhabitants lived on trees like rooks. In
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>the centre of the town is the great square called
-Dam, one side of which is occupied by the handsome
-Royal Palace&mdash;Het Palais&mdash;built by J. van Kampen
-in 1648. The Nieuwe Kerk (1408-1470) contains a
-number of monuments to admirals, including those of
-Van Ruiter&mdash;'immensi tremor oceani'&mdash;who commanded
-at the battle of Solbay, and Van Speyk,
-who blew himself up with his ship in 1831, rather
-than yield to the Belgians. In the Oude Kerk of
-1300 there are more tombs of admirals. Hard by,
-in the Nieuwe Markt, is the picturesque cluster of
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>fifteenth-century towers called S. Anthonieswaag,
-once a city gate and now a weighing-house.</p>
-
-<p>But the great attraction of Amsterdam is the
-Picture Gallery of the Trippenhuis, called the Rijks
-Museum, and it deserves many visits. Amongst the
-portraits in the first room we were especially attracted
-by that of William the Silent in his skull-cap, by
-Miereveld, but all the House of Orange are represented
-here from the first to the last. We also see
-all the worthies of the nation&mdash;Ruyter, Van Tromp
-and his wife, Grotius and his wife, Johann and
-Cornelis de Witt, Johann van Oldenharneveldt, and
-his wife Maria of Utrecht, a peaceful old lady in a
-ruff and brown dress edged with fur, by Moreelse.
-The two great pictures of the gallery hang opposite
-each other. That by Bartholomew van der Helst,
-the most famous of Dutch portrait-painters, represents
-the Banquet of the Musqueteers, who thus
-celebrated the Peace of Westphalia, June 18, 1648.
-It contains twenty-five life-size portraits, is the best
-work of the master, and was pronounced by Sir
-Joshua Reynolds to be the 'first picture of portraits
-in the world.' The canvas is a mirror faithfully
-representing a scene of actual life. In the centre
-sits the jovial, rollicking Captain de Wits with his
-legs crossed. The delicate imitation of reality is
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>equally shown in the Rhenish wine-glasses, and in
-the ham to which one of the guests is helping
-himself.</p>
-
-<p>The rival picture is the 'Night Watch' of Rembrandt
-(1642), representing Captain Frans Banning
-Kok of Purmerland and his lieutenant Willem van
-Ruytenberg of Vlaardingen, emerging from their
-watch-house on the Singel. A joyous troop pursue
-their leader, who is in a black dress. A strange light
-comes upon the scene, who can tell whence? Half
-society has always said that this picture was the
-marvel of the world, half that it is unworthy of its
-artist; but no one has ever been quite indifferent to it.</p>
-
-<p>Of the other pictures we must at least notice, by
-Nicholas Maas, a thoughtful girl leaning on a cushion
-out of a window with apricots beneath; and by Jan
-Steen, 'The Parrot Cage,' a simple scene of tavern
-life, in which the waiting-maid calls to the parrot
-hanging aloft, who looks knowingly out of the cage,
-whilst all the other persons present go on with their
-different employments. In the 'Eve of S. Nicholas,'
-another work of the same artist, a naughty boy finds
-a birch-rod in his shoe, and a good little girl, laden
-with gifts, is being praised by her mother, whilst
-other children are looking up the chimney by which
-the discriminating fairy Befana is supposed to have
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>taken her departure. There are many beautiful
-works of Ruysdael, most at home amongst waterfalls;
-a noble Vandyke of 'William <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>.' as a boy,
-with his little bride, Mary Stuart, Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>.'s
-daughter, in a brocaded silver dress; and the famous
-Terburg called 'Paternal Advice' (known in England
-by its replica at Bridgewater House), in which a
-daughter in white satin is receiving a lecture from
-her father, her back turned to the spectator, and
-her annoyance, or repentance, only exhibited in her
-shoulders. Another famous work of Terburg is 'The
-Letter,' which is being brought in by a trumpeter to
-an officer seated in his uniform, with his young wife
-kneeling at his side. Of Gerard Dou Amsterdam
-possesses the wonderful 'Evening School,' with four
-luminous candles, and some thoroughly Dutch children.
-A girl is laboriously following with her finger
-the instructions received, and a boy is diligently
-writing on a slate. The girl who stands behind,
-instructing him, is holding a candle which throws a
-second light upon his back, that upon the table
-falling on his features; indeed the painting is often
-known as the 'Picture of the Four Candles.'</p>
-
-<p>Through the labyrinthine quays we found our
-way to the Westerhoof to take the afternoon steamer
-to Purmerende for an excursion to Broek, 'the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>cleanest village in the world.' Crossing the broad
-Amstel, the vessel soon enters a canal, which sometimes
-lies at a great depth, nothing being visible but
-the tops of masts and points of steeples; and which
-then, after passing locks, becomes level with the tops
-of the trees and the roofs of the houses. We left the
-steamer at T Schouw, and entered, on a side canal,
-one of the trekschuiten, which, until the time of
-railroads, were the usual means of travel&mdash;a long
-narrow cabin, encircled by seats, forms the whole
-vessel, and is drawn by a horse ridden by a boy (het-jagerte)&mdash;a
-most agreeable easy means of locomotion,
-for movement is absolutely imperceptible.</p>
-
-<p>No place was ever more exaggerated than Broek.
-There is really very little remarkable in it, except
-even a greater sense of dampness and ooziness than
-in the other Dutch villages. It was autumn, and
-there seemed no particular attempt to remove the
-decaying vegetation or trim the little gardens, or to
-sweep up the dead leaves upon the pathways, yet
-there used to be a law that no animal was to enter
-Broek for fear of its being polluted. A brick path
-winds amongst the low wooden cottages, painted blue,
-green, and white, and ends at the church, with its
-miniature tombstones.</p>
-
-<p>The most interesting excursion to be made from
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>Amsterdam is that to the Island of Marken in the
-Zuider Zee&mdash;a huge meadow, where the peasant
-women pass their whole lives without ever seeing
-anything beyond their island, whilst their husbands,
-who with very few exceptions are fishermen, see
-nothing beyond the fisher-towns of the Zuider
-Zee. There are very picturesque costumes here,
-the men wearing red woollen shirts, brown vests,
-wooden shoes, fur caps, and gold buttons to their
-collars and knickerbockers; the women, embroidered
-stomachers, which are handed down for generations,
-and enormous white caps, lined with brown to show
-off the lace, and with a chintz cover for week days,
-and their own hair flowing below the cap over their
-shoulders and backs.</p>
-
-<p>An evening train, with an old lady, in a diamond
-tiara and gold pins, for our companion, took us to the
-Helder, and we awoke next morning at the pleasant
-little inn of Du Burg upon a view of boats and nets
-and the low-lying Island of Texel in the distance.
-The boats and the fishermen are extremely picturesque,
-but there is nothing else to see, after the
-visitor has examined the huge granite Helder Dyke,
-the artificial fortification of north Holland, which
-contends successfully to preserve the land against the
-sea. There is an admirably managed Naval Institute
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>here. It was by an expedition from the Helder that
-Nova Zembla was discovered, and it was near this
-that Admirals Ruyter and Tromp repulsed the English
-fleet. Texel, which lies opposite the Helder, is the
-first of a chain of islands&mdash;Vlieland, Terschelling,
-and Ameland, which protect the entrance of the
-Zuider Zee.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_046.jpg" id="i_046" alt="" width="450" height="309" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> APPROACH TO ALKMAAR.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The country near the Helder is bare and desolate
-in the extreme. It is all peat, and the rest of Holland
-uses it as a fuel mine. It was here that the genius of
-Ruysdael was often able to make a single tree, or even
-a bush rising out of the flat by a stagnant pool, both
-interesting and charming to the spectator. We crossed
-the levels to Alkmaar, which struck us as being altogether
-the prettiest place in the country and as possessing
-all those attributes of cleanliness which are
-usually given to Broek. The streets, formed of bricks
-fitted close together, are absolutely spotless, and every
-house front shines fresh from the mop or the syringe.
-Yet excessive cleanliness has not destroyed the picturesqueness
-of the place. The fifteenth-century
-church of S. Lawrence, of exquisitely graceful exterior,
-rises in the centre of the town, and, in spite of
-being hideously defaced inside, has a fine vaulted roof,
-a coloured screen, and, in the chancel, a curious tomb
-to Florens <abbr title="the fifth">V</abbr>., Count of Holland, 1296, though only
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>his heart is buried there. Near the excellent H&ocirc;tel
-du Burg is a most bewitching almshouse, with an old
-tourelle and screen, and a lovely garden in a court
-surrounded by clipped lime-trees. And more charming
-still is an old weigh-house of 1582, for the cheese,
-the great manufacture of the district, for which there
-is a famous market every Friday, where capital costumes
-may be seen. The rich and gaily painted fa&ccedil;ade
-of the old building, reflected in a clear canal, is a
-perfect marvel of beauty and colour; and artists
-should stay here to paint&mdash;not the view given here,
-but another which we discovered too late&mdash;more in
-front, with gable-ended houses leading up to the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>principal building, and all its glowing colours repeated
-in the water.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_047.jpg" id="i_047" alt="" width="339" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> THE WEIGH-HOUSE, ALKMAAR.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>It is three hours' drive from Alkmaar to Hoorn,
-a charming old town with bastions, gardens, and
-semi-ruined gates. On the West Poort a relief commemorates
-the filial devotion of a poor boy, who
-arrived here in 1579, laboriously dragging his old
-mother in a sledge, when all were flying from the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>Spaniards. Opposite the weighing-house for the
-cheeses is the State College, which bears a shield with
-the arms of England, sustained by two negroes. It
-commemorates the fact that when Van Tromp defeated
-the English squadron, his ships came from Hoorn and
-on board were two negroes, who took from the English
-flagship the shield which it was then the custom to
-fix to the stern of a vessel, and brought it back here
-as a trophy. Hoorn was one of the first places in
-Holland to embrace the reformed religion, which
-spread from hence all over the country, but now not
-above half the inhabitants are Calvinists.</p>
-
-<p>In returning from Alkmaar we stopped to see
-Zaandam, quite in the centre of the land of windmills,
-of which we counted eighty as visible from the station
-alone. They are of every shade of colour, and are
-mounted on poles, on towers, on farm buildings, and
-made picturesque by every conceivable variety of prop,
-balcony, gallery, and insertion. Zaandam is a very
-pretty village on the Zaan which flows into the Y,
-with gaily painted houses, and gay little gardens, and
-perpetual movement to and from its landing-stage.
-Turning south from thence, a little entry on the right
-leads down some steps and over a bridge to some
-cottages on the bank of a ditch, and inside the last
-of these is the tiny venerable hovel where Peter the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>Great stayed in 1697 as Peter Michaeloff. It retains
-its tiled roof and contains some old chairs and a box-bed,
-but unfortunately Peter was only here a week.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_049.jpg" id="i_049" alt="" width="382" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> MILL AT ZAANDAM.</p>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_050.jpg" id="i_050" alt="" width="301" height="460" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> PAUSHUIZEN, UTRECHT.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The evening of leaving Zaandam we spent at
-Utrecht, of which the name is so well known from
-the peace which terminated the war of the Spanish
-succession, April 11, 1715. The town, long the seat
-of an ecclesiastical court, was also the great centre of
-the Jansenists, dissenters from Roman Catholicism
-under Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres, condemned by
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>Alexander <abbr title="the seventh">VII</abbr>. in 1656, at the instigation of the
-Jesuits. The doctrines of Jansenius still linger in its
-gloomy houses. Every appointment of a bishop is
-still announced to the Sovereign Pontiff, who as regularly
-responds by a bull of excommunication, which is
-read aloud in the cathedral, and then immediately
-put away and forgotten. Solemn and sad, but pre-eminently
-respectable, Utrecht has more the aspect of
-a decayed German city than a Dutch town, and so
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>has its Cathedral of S. Martin (1254-67), which,
-though the finest Gothic building in Holland, is only
-a magnificent fragment, with a detached tower (1321-82)
-338 feet high. The interior as usual is ruined by
-Calvinism and yellow paint. It contains the tomb of
-Admiral van Gent, who fell in the battle of Solbay.
-The nave, which fell in 1674, has never been rebuilt.
-The S. Pieterskerk (1039) and S. Janskerk offer nothing
-remarkable, but on a neighbouring canal is the
-quaint Paushuizen, or Pope's house, which was built
-by Pope Adrian <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>. (Adrian Floriszoom) in 1517.
-Near this is the pretty little Archiepiscopal Museum,
-full of medi&aelig;val relics.</p>
-
-<p>The interesting Moravian establishment of Zeist
-may be visited from Utrecht.</p>
-
-<p>From Utrecht we travelled over sandy flats to
-Kampen, near the mouth of the wide river Yssel, with
-three picturesque gates&mdash;Haghen Poort, Cellebroeders
-Poort, and Broeders Poort; and a town hall of the
-sixteenth century. Here, as frequently elsewhere in
-Holland, we suffered from arriving famished at midday.
-All the inns were equally inhospitable: 'The
-table d'h&ocirc;te is at 4 <small>P.M.</small>: we <em>cannot</em> and <em>will not</em> be
-bothered with cooking before that, and there is nothing
-cold in the house.' 'But you have surely bread
-and cheese?' 'Certainly not&mdash;<em>nothing</em>.'</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p>
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_052.jpg" id="i_052" alt="" width="297" height="490" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> CELLEBROEDERS POORT, KAMPEN.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>At Zwolle, however, we found the Kroon an excellent
-hotel with an obliging landlord; and Zwolle,
-the native place of Terburg (1608), is a charming old
-town with a girdle of gardens, a fine church (externally),
-and a noble brick gateway called the Sassenpoort.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_053.jpg" id="i_053" alt="" width="329" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> SASSENPOORT, AT ZWOLLE.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>It was more the desire of seeing something of the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>whole country than anything else, and a certain
-degree of misplaced confidence in the pleasant volumes
-of Harvard, which took us up from Zwolle, through
-Friesland, the cow-paradise, to Leeuwarden, its ancient
-capital. Sad and gloomy as most other towns of
-Holland are, Leeuwarden is sadder and gloomier still.
-Its streets are wide and not otherwise than handsome,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>but they are almost deserted, and there are no objects
-of interest to see unless a leaning tower can be called
-so, with a top, like that at Pisa, inclined the other way,
-to keep it from toppling over. An hour's walk from
-the town there is said to be a fine still-inhabited castle,
-and, if time had allowed, respect for S. Boniface would
-have taken us to Murmerwoude, where he was martyred
-(June 8, 853), with his fifty-three companions.
-King Pepin raised a hermitage on the spot, and an
-ancient brick chapel still exists there.</p>
-
-<p>Here and elsewhere in Friesland nothing is so
-worthy of notice as the helmets&mdash;the golden helmets
-of the women&mdash;costing something equivalent to 25<i>l.</i>
-or 30<i>l.</i>, handed down as heirlooms, fitting close to
-the head, and not allowing a particle of hair to be
-visible.</p>
-
-<p>In the late evening we went on to Groningen, a
-university town with a good hotel (Seven Provincen),
-an enormous square, and a noble tall Gothic tower of
-1627, whence the watchman still sounds his bugle.
-Not far off is Midwolde, where the village church has
-fine tombs of Charles Jerome, Baron d'Inhausen and
-his wife, Anna von Ewsum.</p>
-
-<p>As late as the sixteenth century this province was
-for the most part uninhabited&mdash;savage and sandy, and
-overrun by wolves. But three hundred years of hard
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>work has transformed it into a fertile country, watered
-by canals, and sprinkled with country houses. Agriculturally
-it is one of the richest provinces of the
-kingdom. This is mostly due to its possessing a race
-of peasant-farmers who never shrink from personal
-hard work, and who will continue to direct the plough
-whilst they send their sons to the university to study
-as lawyers, doctors, or churchmen. These peasant
-farmers or boers possess the <i lang="nl" xml:lang="nl">beklemregt</i>, or right of
-hiring land on an annual rent, which the landlord can
-never increase. A peasant can bequeath his right to
-his heirs, whether direct or collateral. To the land,
-this system is an indescribable advantage, the cultivators
-doing their utmost to bring their lands to perfection,
-because they are certain that no one can take
-away the advantage from themselves or their descendants.</p>
-
-<p>On leaving Groningen we traversed the grey,
-monotonous, desolate district of the Drenthe, sprinkled
-over at intervals by the curious ancient groups of
-stones called Hunnebedden, or beds of death (Hun
-meaning death), beneath which urns of clay containing
-human ashes have been found. From Deventer
-(where there is an old weigh-house, and a cathedral
-of S. Lievin with a crypt and nave of 1334),
-time did not allow us to make an excursion to
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>the great royal palace of Het Loo, the favourite
-residence of the sovereigns. The descriptions in
-Harvard rather made us linger unnecessarily at Zutphen,
-a dull town, with a brick Groote Kerk (S. Walpurgis)
-which has little remaining of its original
-twelfth-century date, and a rather picturesque 'bit'
-on the walls, where the 'Waterpoort' crosses the
-river like a bridge.</p>
-
-<p>At Arnhem, the Roman Arenacum, once the residence
-of the Dukes of Gueldres, and still the capital
-of Guelderland, we seemed to have left all the characteristics
-of Holland behind. Numerous modern villas,
-which might have been built for Cheltenham or
-Leamington, cover the wooded hills above the Rhine.
-In the Groote Kerk (1452) is a curious monument of
-Charles van Egmont, Duc de Gueldres, 1538, but
-there is nothing else to remark upon. We intended
-to have made an excursion hence to Cleves, but desperately
-wet weather set in, and, as Dutch rain often
-lasts for weeks together when it once begins, we were
-glad to hurry England-wards, only regretting that we
-could not halt at Nymegen, a most picturesque place,
-where Charlemagne lived in the old palace of the
-Valckhof (or Waalhof, residence on the Waal), of
-which a fragment still exists, with an old baptistery,
-a Stadhuis of 1534, and a Groote Kerk containing a
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>noble monument to Catherine de Bourbon (1469), wife
-of Duke Adolph of Gueldres.</p>
-
-<p>We left Holland feeling that we should urge our
-friends by all means to see the pictures at Rotterdam,
-the Hague, and Amsterdam, but to look for all other
-characteristics of the Netherlands in such places as
-Breda, Dortrecht, Haarlem, Alkmaar, and Zwolle.</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2><a name="IN_DENMARK" id="IN_DENMARK"></a><i>IN DENMARK.</i></h2>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap">FORMERLY the terrors of a sea-voyage from
-Kiel deterred many travellers from thinking of
-a tour in Denmark or Sweden, but now a succession
-of railways makes everything easy, and while nothing
-can be imagined more invigorating or pleasant, there
-is probably no pleasure more economical than a summer
-in Scandinavia. Those who are worn with a
-London season will feel as if every breath in the
-crystal air of Denmark endued them with fresh health
-and strength, and then, after they have seen its old
-palaces and its beech woods and its Thorwaldsen
-sculptures, a voyage of ten minutes will carry them
-over the narrow Sound to the soft beauties of genial
-Sweden and the wild splendours of Norway.</p>
-
-<p>Either Hamburg or L&uuml;beck must be the starting-point
-for the overland route to Denmark, and the old
-free city of L&uuml;beck, though quite a small place, is one
-of the most remarkable towns in Germany. We arrived
-there one hot summer afternoon, after a weary
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>journey over the arid sandy plains which separate it
-from Berlin, and suddenly seemed to be transported into
-a land of verdure. Lilacs and roses bloomed everywhere;
-a wood lined the bank of the limpid river
-Trave, and in its waters&mdash;beyond the old wooden
-bridge&mdash;were reflected all the tallest steeples, often
-strangely out of the perpendicular, of many-towered
-L&uuml;beck. A wonderful gate of red brick and golden-hued
-terra-cotta is the entrance from the station, and
-in the market-place are the quaintest turrets, towers,
-tourelles, but all ending in spires. The lofty houses,
-so full of rich colour, throw cool shade on the streets
-on the hottest summer day; and we enjoyed a
-Sunday in the excellent hotel, with wooden galleries
-opening towards a splashing fountain in a quiet
-square, where a fat constable busied himself in keeping
-everybody from fulfilling any avocation whatever
-whilst service was being performed in the churches,
-but let them do exactly as they pleased as soon as it
-was over.</p>
-
-<p>It must, at best, be a weary journey across West
-Holstein, through a succession of arid flats varied by
-stagnant swamps. We spent the weary hours in
-studying Dunham's 'History of Denmark, Sweden,
-and Norway,' which cannot be sufficiently recommended
-to all Scandinavian travellers. The glowing
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>accounts in the English guide books of a lake and an
-old castle beguiled us into spending a night at Sleswig,
-but it turned out that the lake had disappeared
-before the memory of man, and that the castle was a
-white modern barrack. The colourless town and its
-long sleepy suburb, moored as if upon a raft in the
-marshes, straggle along the edge of a waveless fiord.
-At the end is the rugged cathedral like a barn, with
-a belfry like a dovecot, and inside it a curious altarpiece
-by Hans Br&uuml;ggemann, pupil of Albert D&uuml;rer,
-and the noble monument of Frederick <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>., the first
-Lutheran King of Denmark; while richly carved
-doors at the sides of the church admit one to see how
-the grandmother of the Princess of Wales and various
-other potentates lie&mdash;Danish fashion&mdash;in gorgeous
-exposed coffins without any tombs at all. Everywhere
-roses grow in the streets, trained upon the
-house walls; and, up the pavement, crowds of the
-children were hurrying in the early morning, carrying
-in their hands the shoes they were going to wear when
-they were in school. In the evenings these children
-will not venture outside the town, for over the marshes
-they say that the wild huntsman rides, followed by
-his demon hounds and blowing his magic horn. It
-is the spirit of Duke Abel the fratricide, who, in the
-fens, murdered his brother Eric <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>. of Denmark, and
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>who was afterwards lost there himself, falling from
-his horse, and being dragged down by the weight of
-his armour. To give rest to his wandering spirit, the
-clergy dug up his body and despatched it to Bremen,
-but there his vampire gave the canons no peace, so
-they sent the corpse back again, and now it lies once
-more in the marshes of Gottorp.</p>
-
-<p>Most unutterably hideous is the country through
-which the railway now travels, wearisome levels only
-broken here and there by mounds, probably sepulchral.
-A straight line with tiny hillocks at intervals
-would do for a sketch of the whole of Sleswig and
-the greater part of Funen and Zealand. In times of
-early Danish history it was a frequent punishment to
-bury criminals alive in these dismal peat mosses.
-Twelve hours of changelessly flat scenery bring
-travellers from Hamburg to Frederikshaven, where
-we embark upon the Little Belt, the luggage-vans of
-the train being shunted on board the steamer. Immediately
-opposite lie the sandy shores of Funen,
-and in a few minutes we are there. Then four hours
-of ugly scenery take us across the island. It is only
-necessary to look out at the little town of Odense,
-called after the old hero-god, which was the birth-place
-of Hans Christian Andersen in 1805. The
-cathedral of Odense contains the shrine of the sainted
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>King Canute <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. (1080-86), who was murdered
-while kneeling before the altar, owing to indignation
-at the severe taxation to which the love of Church
-endowment had incited him.</p>
-
-<p>Nyborg, where we meet the sea again, will recall
-to lovers of old ballads the story of the innocent
-young knight Folker Lowmanson, and his cruel death
-here in a barrel of spikes, from the jealousy of
-Waldemar <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. for his beautiful queen Helwig, and
-how, to know his fate&mdash;</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
- <div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">With anxious heart did Denmark's Queen</div>
- <div class="indent9">To Nyborg urge her horse,</div>
- <div class="verse">And at the gate his bier she met,</div>
- <div class="indent9">And on it Folker's corse.</div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">Such honour shown to son of knight</div>
- <div class="indent9">I never yet could hear;</div>
- <div class="verse">The Queen of Denmark walked on foot</div>
- <div class="indent9">Herself before his bier.</div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">In tears then Helwig mounted horse</div>
- <div class="indent9">And silent homeward rode,</div>
- <div class="verse">For in her heart a life-long grief</div>
- <div class="indent9">Had taken its abode.</div>
- </div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>At Nyborg we embark on a miserable steamer for
-the passage of the Great Belt. It lasts an hour and a
-half, and is often most wretched. On landing at
-Korsor travellers are hurried into the train which is
-waiting for the vessel.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p>
-<p>Now the country improves a little. Here and
-there we pass through great beech woods. Down
-the green glades of one of them a glimpse is caught
-of the college of Sor&ouml;. It occupies the site of a
-monastery founded by Asker Ryg, a chieftain who,
-when he departed on a journey of warfare, vowed that
-if the child to which his wife, Inge, was about to give
-birth proved to be a girl, he would give his new
-building a spire, but a tower if it were a boy. On his
-return he saw two towers rising in the distance. Inge
-had given birth to twin sons, who lived to become
-Asbiorn Snare, celebrated in the ballad of 'Fair
-Christal,' and Absalon, the warrior Bishop of Roeskilde&mdash;'first
-captain by sea and land.' Absalon is
-buried here in the church of Sor&ouml;, which contains the
-tomb of King Olaf, the shortlived son of the famous
-Queen Margaret; of her cruel father, Waldemar
-Atterdag, whose last words expressed regret that he
-had not suffocated his daughter in her cradle; and
-of her grandfather, Christopher <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>., with his wife,
-Euphemia of Pomerania. Soon we pass Ringsted,
-which is scarcely worth stopping at, though its church
-contains the fine brass of King Erik Menred (1319)
-and his queen, Ingeborga, and though twenty kings
-and queens were entombed there before Roeskilde
-became the royal place of sepulture. Amongst them
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>lies the popular Queen Dagmar, first wife of Waldemar
-<abbr title="the second">II</abbr>., still celebrated in ballad literature, for there is
-scarcely a Dane who is ignorant of the touching story
-of 'Queen Dagmar's Death,' which begins</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
- <div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">Queen Dagmar is lying at Rib&eacute; sick,</div>
- <div class="indent9">At Ringsted is made her grave,</div>
- </div>
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="noindent1">and which contains her last touching request to her
-husband, and her simple confession of the only 'sin'
-she could remember&mdash;</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
- <div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">Had I on a Sunday not laced my sleeves,</div>
- <div class="indent9">Or border upon them sewn,</div>
- <div class="verse">No pangs had I felt by day or night,</div>
- <div class="indent9">Or torture of hell-fire known.</div>
- </div>
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Tradition tells us that the dismal town of Ringsted
-was founded by King Ring, a warrior who, when he
-was seriously wounded in battle, placed the bodies of
-his slain heroes and that of his queen, Alpol, on board
-a ship laden with pitch, and going out to the open
-sea, set the vessel on fire, and then fell upon his
-sword.</p>
-
-<p>In the twilight we pass Roeskilde, and at 10-1/2 <small>P.M.</small>
-long rows of street lamps reflected in canals show
-that we have reached Copenhagen.</p>
-
-<p>To those whose travels have chiefly led them
-southwards there is a great pleasure in the first
-awaking in Copenhagen. Everything is new&mdash;the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>associations, the characteristics, the history; even the
-very names on the omnibuses are suggestive of the
-sagas and romances of the North; and though the
-summer sun is hot, the atmosphere is as clear as that
-of a tramontana day in an Italian winter, and the air
-is indescribably elastic. The comfortable H&ocirc;tel
-d'Angleterre stands in the Kongens Nytorv, a modern
-square, with trees surrounding a statue in the centre,
-but there are glimpses of picturesque shipping down
-the side streets, and hard by is a spire quite ideally
-Danish, formed by three marvellous dragons with
-their tails twisted together in the air. Tradition
-declares that it was moved bodily from Calmar, in
-the south of Sweden. It rises now from a beautiful
-building of brick erected in 1624 by Christian <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>.,
-brother-in-law of James <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. of England, and used as
-the Exchange.</p>
-
-<p>Not far off is the principal palace&mdash;Christiansborg
-Slot, often rebuilt, and very white and ugly. It
-was partially destroyed by fire in 1884. Besides
-the royal residence, its vast courts contain the
-Chambers of Parliament, the Royal Library, and a
-Picture Gallery chiefly filled with the works of native
-artists, amongst which those of Marstrand and Bloch
-are very striking and well worthy of attention.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_069.jpg" id="i_069" alt="" width="420" height="527" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> THE DRAGON TOWER, COPENHAGEN.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>A queer building in the shadow of the palace,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>which attracts notice by its frescoed walls, is the
-Thorwaldsen Museum, the shrine where Denmark has
-reverentially collected all the works and memorials of
-her greatest artist&mdash;Bertel Thorwaldsen. Though
-his family is said to have descended from the Danish
-king Harold Stildetand, he was born (in 1770) the son
-of one Gottschalk, who, half workman, half artist, was
-employed in carving figures for the bows of vessels.
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>From his earliest childhood little Bertel accompanied
-his father to the wharfs and assisted him in his work,
-in which he showed such intelligence that in his
-eleventh year he was allowed to enter the Free School
-of Art. Here he soon made wonderful progress in
-sculpture, but could so little be persuaded to attend
-to other studies that he reached the age of eighteen
-scarcely able to read. In his twenty-third year he
-obtained the great gold medal, to which a travelling
-stipend is attached, and thus he was enabled to go to
-Rome, where, encouraged at first by the patronage of
-Thomas Hope, the English banker, he soon reached
-the highest pitch of celebrity. Denmark became
-proud of her son, so that his visits to his native town
-in 1819 and 1837 were like triumphal progresses, all
-the city going forth to meet him, and lodging him
-splendidly at the public cost; but his heart always
-clung to the Eternal City, which continued to be
-the scene of his labours. Of his many works perhaps
-his noble lion at Lucerne is the best known. He
-never married, though he was long attached to a
-member of the old Scottish house of Mackenzie, and
-he died on a visit to Copenhagen in 1844.</p>
-
-<p>In accordance with Thorwaldsen's own wish, he
-rests in the centre of his works. His grave has no
-tombstone, but is covered with green ivy. All around
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>the little court which contains it are halls and galleries
-filled with the marvellously varied productions of his
-genius, arranged in the order of their execution&mdash;casts
-of all his absent sculptures and many most grand
-originals. Especially beautiful are the statue of
-Mercury, modelled from a Roman boy, of which the
-original is in the possession of Lord Ashburton, and
-the exquisite reliefs of the Ages of Love, and of Day
-and Night, the two latter resulting from the inspiration
-of a single afternoon. But all seem to culminate in
-the great Hall of Christ, for though the statues here
-are only cast from those in the Vor Frue Kirche, they
-are far better seen in the well-lighted chamber than
-in the church. The colossal figures of the apostles
-lead up to the Saviour in sublime benediction; perhaps
-the statues of Simon Zelotes and the pilgrim S. James
-are the noblest amongst them. In the last room are
-gathered all the little personal memorials of Thorwaldsen&mdash;his
-books, pictures, and furniture.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_072.jpg" id="i_072" alt="" width="355" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> THE ROSENBORG PALACE, COPENHAGEN.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The Museum of Northern Antiquities should also
-be visited and the Tower of the Trinity Church, with
-a roadway inside making an easy ascent to the strange
-view of many roofs and many waters which is obtained
-from the top. But the most delightful place in Copenhagen
-is the Palace of Rosenborg, standing at the end
-of a stately old garden&mdash;where it was built by Inigo
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>Jones for Christian <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>., and containing the room where
-the king died, with his wedding dress, and most of his
-other clothes and possessions. This palace-building
-monarch, celebrated for the drinking bouts in which
-he indulged with his brother-in-law, James <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>. of
-England, was the greatest dandy of his time, and
-before we leave Denmark we shall become very
-familiar with his portraits, always distinguished by
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>the wonderful left whisker twisted into a pigtail falling
-on one side of the chin. Other rooms in Rosenborg
-are devoted to each of the succeeding sovereigns, and
-filled with relics and memorials which carry one back
-into most romantic corners of Danish history, the
-ever-alternate succession of Christians and Fredericks
-making a most terrible bewilderment, down to the
-two English queens, Louisa the beloved and Caroline
-Matilda the unfortunate. Most curious amongst a
-myriad objects of value are the three great silver
-Lions&mdash;'Great Belt, Little Belt, and Sound'&mdash;which,
-by ancient custom, appear as mourners at all the
-funerals of the sovereigns, accompanying them to
-Roeskilde and returning afterwards to the palace.</p>
-
-<p>Those interested in such matters will wander as
-we did through the more ancient parts of Copenhagen
-in search of old silver and specimens of the older
-Copenhagen china. Formerly the china imitated that
-of Miessen, but it has now a more distinctive character,
-and is chiefly used in reproducing the works of Thorwaldsen.
-Copenhagen has no other especial manufactures.</p>
-
-<p>No visitors to the Danish capital must omit a visit
-to Tivoli, the pretty odd pleasure grounds&mdash;very respectable
-too&mdash;near the railway station, where all
-kinds of evening amusements are provided in illuminated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
-gardens and woods by a tiny lake, really
-very pretty. Here we watched the cars rushing like
-a whirlwind down one hill and up another, with their
-inmates screaming in pleasurable agony; and saw the
-extraordinary feats of 'the Cannon King,' who tossed
-a cannon ball, catching it on his hands, his head, his
-feet&mdash;anywhere, and then stood in front of a cannon
-and was shot, receiving in his hands the ball, which
-did nothing worse than twist him round by its force.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_075.jpg" id="i_075" alt="" width="520" height="328" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> ROESKILDE.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>One day we went out&mdash;an hour and a half by rail&mdash;to
-Roeskilde, where a church was first founded by
-William, an Englishman, in the days of King Harold
-Blaatand (Blue-tooth), brother of Canute the Great.
-It is dedicated to S. Lucius, because tradition tells
-that a terrible dragon, who infested the neighbouring
-fiord and banqueted on the inhabitants, was destroyed
-for ever when the head of the holy Pope S. Lucius
-was brought from Rome and presented for his breakfast.
-The tall spires of the cathedral rise, slender and
-grey, from the little town, and beneath, embosomed in
-sweeping cornfields, a lovely fiord stretches away into
-pale blue distances. Endless kings and queens are
-buried at Roeskilde. The earlier sovereigns have
-glorious tombs, amongst which the most conspicuous
-is that of Queen Margaret&mdash;'the Semiramis of the
-North,' who, born in the prison of Syborg, where her
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>unhappy mother Queen Helwig was imprisoned by
-Waldemar Atterhag, and allowed to run wild in the
-forest in her childhood, lived to become one of the
-wisest of Northern sovereigns, and to unite, by the Act
-known as 'the Union of Calmar,' the crowns of Denmark,
-Sweden, and Norway, which attained unwonted
-prosperity under her sway. There are effigies of
-Frederic <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. and Christian <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>., the grandfather and
-uncle of our Charles <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>., which recall his type of countenance
-and have the same peaked beard. Christian
-<abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>., the great palace-builder, whose birth was believed
-to have been prophesied by the mermaid Isbrand,
-was born (April 12, 1577) under a hawthorn tree on
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>the road between Frederiksborg and Roeskilde, as
-his mother, Sophia of Mecklenbourg, insisted on taking
-walks with her ladies in waiting far longer than
-was prudent. This king, his father, and all the later
-members of his royal house lie, not in their tombs,
-but in gorgeous coffins embossed with gold and silver
-upon the floor of the church, which has a very odd
-effect. The entrance of one of the private chapels is
-a gate with a huge figure, in wrought ironwork, of the
-devil with his tail in his hand. In another chapel are
-fine works of Marstrand (1810-75), the best of the
-pupils of Eckersberg, who gave the first stimulus to
-the art of painting in Denmark, where it has since
-attained to great eminence.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_077.jpg" id="i_077" alt="" width="530" height="322" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> THE CASTLE OF FREDERIKSBORG.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The district around Roeskilde, and indeed the
-greater part of Denmark, is devoted to corn, for there
-is no country in Europe, except England and Belgium,
-which can compete with this as a corn-grower.
-It is curious that though the neighbouring Sweden
-and Norway are so covered with pines, no conifer will
-grow in Denmark except under most careful cultivation.
-The principal native tree is the beech, and the
-beech woods are nowhere more beautiful than in
-the neighbourhood of Copenhagen. The railway to
-Elsinore passes through the beautiful beech forests
-which are familiar to us through the stories of Hans
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>Christian Andersen. Here, near a little roadside
-station, rises the Hampton Court of Denmark, the
-great Castle of Frederiksborg, the most magnificent
-of the creations of Christian <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>., which John of
-Friburg erected for that monarch, who looked personally
-into the minutest details of his expenses, and
-so raised this structure, glorious as it is, with an
-economy which greatly astonished his thrifty parliament.
-In the depths of the beech woods is a great
-lake, in the centre of which, on three islands united
-by bridges, rises the palace, most beautiful in its time-honoured
-hues of red brick and grey stone, with high
-roofs, richly sculptured windows, and wondrous
-towers and spires. Each view of the castle seems
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>more picturesque than the last. It is a dream of
-architectural beauty, to which the great expanse of
-transparent waters and the deep verdure of the surrounding
-woods add a mysterious charm. A gigantic
-gate tower admits the visitor to the courtyard, where
-Christian <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>., with his own hand, chopped off the
-head of the Master of the Mint, which he had established
-here, who had defrauded him. 'He tried to
-cheat us, but we have cheated him, for we have
-chopped his head off,' said the King. Inside, the
-palace has been gorgeously restored since a great
-fire by which it was terribly injured in 1859. The
-chapel, with the pew of Christian <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>.&mdash;'bedekammer,'
-prayer chamber, it is called&mdash;is most curious. There
-is a noble series of the pictures of the native artist
-Carl Bloch, recalling the works of Overbeck in their
-majesty and depth of feeling, but far more forcible.</p>
-
-<p>A drive of four miles through beech woods leads
-to the comfortable later palace of Fredensborg, built
-as 'a Castle of Peace' by Frederick <abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. and Louisa
-of Mecklenbourg, with a lovely garden, and a view of
-the Esrom lake down green glades, in one of which is
-a mysterious assembly of stone statues in Norwegian
-costumes.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_079.jpg" id="i_079" alt="" width="560" height="330" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> CASTLE OF ELSINORE.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>We may either take the railway or drive by Gurre
-from hence to Elsinore (Helsingor), where the great
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>castle of Kronberg rises, with many towers built of
-grey stone, at the end of the little town on a low
-promontory jutting out into the sea. Stately avenues
-surround its bastions, and it is delightful to walk upon
-the platform where the first scene of Shakspere's
-'Hamlet' is laid, and to watch the numberless ships in
-the narrow Sound which divides Denmark and
-Sweden. The castle is in perfect preservation. It
-was formerly used as a palace. Anne of Denmark
-was married here by proxy to James <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>. of Scotland,
-and here poor Caroline Matilda sate daily for hours at
-her prison window watching vainly for the fleet of
-England which she believed was coming to her
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>rescue. Beyond the castle, a sandy plain reminding
-us of Scottish links, covered with bent-grass and
-drifted by seaweed, extends to Marienlyst, a little
-fashionable bathing place embosomed in verdure.
-Here a Carmelite convent was founded by the wife
-of Eric <abbr title="the ninth">IX</abbr>., that Queen Philippa&mdash;daughter of Henry
-<abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. of England&mdash;who successfully defended Copenhagen
-against the Hanseatic League, but was afterwards
-beaten by her husband, because her ships were
-defeated at Stralsund, an indignity which drove her
-to a monastic life. Hamlet's Grave and Ophelia's
-Brook are shown at Marienlyst, having been invented
-for anxious inquirers by the complaisant inhabitants.
-Alas! both were unknown to Andersen, who lived here
-in his childhood, and it is provoking to learn that
-Hamlet had really no especial connection with
-Elsinore, and was the son of a Jutland pirate in the
-insignificant island of Mors. But Denmark is the
-very home of picturesque stories, which are kept alive
-there by the ballad literature of the land, chiefly of
-the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries, but still known
-to rich and poor alike as in no other country. For
-hundreds of years these poetical histories have been
-the tunes to which, in winter, when no other exercise
-can be taken, people dance for hours, holding each
-other's hands in two lines, making three steps forwards
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>and backwards, keeping time, balancing, or remaining
-still for a moment, as they sing one of their old ballads
-or its refrain.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_081.jpg" id="i_081" alt="" width="301" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> TOWER OF HELSINGBORG CHURCH.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>It was in a wild evening, with huge blue foam-crested
-waves rushing down the Sound, that we
-crossed in ten minutes to Helsingborg in Sweden,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>mounted for the sunset to the one huge remaining
-tower of its castle, and sketched as typical of almost
-all village towers in Denmark the belfry of the church
-where King Eric Menred was married to the Swedish
-princess Ingeborga.</p>
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2><a name="IN_SWEDEN" id="IN_SWEDEN"></a><i>IN SWEDEN.</i></h2>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap">IT is not beautiful in Sweden, but it is very pretty;
-if everything were not so very much alike, it
-would be very pretty indeed. The whole country as
-far north as Upsala is like an exaggerated Surrey&mdash;little
-hills covered with fir-woods and bilberries,
-brilliant, glistening little lakes sleeping in sandy
-hollows, but all just like one another.</p>
-
-<p>We turned aside in our way from Helsingborg to
-the north to visit the old university of Lund, the
-Oxford of Sweden, a sleepy city, where the students
-lead a separate life in lodgings of their own, only
-being united in the public lectures; for in Sweden, as
-in Italy, the taking of a degree only proves that the
-graduates have passed a certain number of examinations,
-not, as in England, that they have lived
-together for three years at least, forming their character
-and taste by mutual companionship and
-intimacy. The cathedral of Lund is a most noble
-Norman building, with giants and dwarfs sculptured
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>against the pillars of its grand crypt, and a glorious
-archbishop's tomb, green and mossy with damp.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_086.jpg" id="i_086" alt="" width="450" height="265" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> THE JUNCTION OF LAKE MALAR AND THE BALTIC, STOCKHOLM.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>An immense railway journey, by day and night
-through the endless forests, brought us to Stockholm,
-where we arrived in the early morning. Though the
-town is little beyond an ugly collection of featureless
-modern streets, the situation is quite exquisite, for the
-city occupies a succession of islets between Lake
-Malar and the Baltic, surrounding, on a central isle,
-the huge Palace built from stately designs of Count
-Tessin in the middle of the last century, and the old
-church of Riddarholmen, where Gustavus Adolphus
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>and many other royal persons repose beneath the
-banner-hung arches.</p>
-
-<p>It sounds odd, but, next to the Palace, the most
-imposing building in Stockholm is certainly the Grand
-Hotel Rydberg, which is most comfortable and
-economical, in spite of its palatial aspect. There is
-no table d'h&ocirc;te, and everything is paid for at the time,
-in the excellent restaurant on the first floor of the
-hotel. Here, a side table is always covered with
-dainties peculiarly Swedish, corn and birch brandy,
-and different kinds of potted fish, with fresh butter
-and olives, and it is the universal custom in Sweden
-to attack the side table before sitting down to the
-regular dinner. The rooms in the hotel are excellent,
-and their front windows overlook all that is most
-characteristic in Stockholm&mdash;the glorious view down
-the fiord of the Baltic: its farther hilly bank covered
-with houses and churches; the bridge at the junction
-of the Baltic and Lake Malar, which is the centre of
-life in the capital, and the little pleasure garden below,
-where hundreds of people are constantly eating
-and drinking under the trees, and whence strains of
-music are wafted late into the summer night; the
-mighty palace dominating the principal island, and
-the little steam gondolas, filled with people, which
-dart and hiss through the waters from one island to
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>another. In Stockholm, where waters are many and
-bridges few, these steam gondolas are the chief means
-of communication, and we made great use of them,
-the passages costing twelve o&euml;re, or one penny. The
-great white sea-gulls, poising over the water-streets or
-floating upon the waves, are also a striking feature.</p>
-
-<p>The museums of Stockholm have little to call for
-any especial notice, except a grand statue of the
-sleeping Endymion from the Villa Adriana, and the
-curious collection of royal clothes down to the present
-date, a gallery of costume like that which once
-existed in London at the Tower Royal. The chief
-curiosity which the Swedish collection contains is the
-hat worn by Charles <abbr title="the twelvth">XII</abbr>. when he was killed, in
-which the upward progress of the bullet can be traced,
-proving that the king's death was caused by an
-assassin, and not the result of a chance shot from the
-walls of Frederikshald. No especial features mark
-the interior of the Palace, though the Royal Stable
-for a hundred and forty-six horses is worthy of a visit;
-and the churches are uninteresting, except perhaps
-S. Nicholas, the coronation church, which contains
-the helmet and spurs of S. Olaf, stolen from
-Throndtjem. Riddarholmen can scarcely be regarded
-as a church; it is rather a great sepulchral hall hung
-with trophies, having a few tombs on the floor of the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>building, and vaults opening under the side walls, in
-which the different groups of royal persons are buried
-together in families. Under a chapel on the left lies
-Gustavus Adolphus, the justly popular great-grandson
-of Gustavus Wasa, who fell at the battle of Lutzen,
-and who, as soldier, general, and king, ever knew true
-merit, and laboured for the glory of his country
-rather than for his own. In the opposite chapel
-repose the present royal family, descendants of
-Bernadotte, Prince of Pontecorvo, the only one of
-Napoleon's generals whose dynasty still occupies a
-throne. He began life as a common soldier, and his
-election as Charles <abbr title="the fourteenth">XIV</abbr>. of Sweden was chiefly due
-to the kindness with which he treated Swedish
-prisoners taken in the Pomeranian wars. But the
-Swedes have never had cause to repent of their choice,
-and their reigning house is probably the most popular
-in Europe. The coffins of those members of the
-royal family who have died within the memory of
-man are ever laden with fresh flowers.</p>
-
-<p>Close by the Riddarholmen Church is the most
-picturesque bit of street architecture in Stockholm,
-where a statue of Burger Jarl, the traditional founder
-of the town, forms a foreground to the chapel of
-Gustavus Adolphus and one of the many bridges.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_090.jpg" id="i_090" alt="" width="450" height="346" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> RIDDARHOLMEN, STOCKHOLM.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>In saying that Stockholm is not picturesque one
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>may seem to have spoken disparagingly, but, nevertheless,
-it is perfectly charming: there is so much life
-and movement upon its blue waters, and its many
-little public gardens give such a gay aspect to the
-buildings. Of these, the chief is the Kongstr&auml;g&#229;rden,
-surrounding a statue of Charles <abbr title="the thirteenth">XIII</abbr>., where the
-pleasant Caf&eacute; Blanche is filled all the evening with
-an animated crowd, gossiping and eating ices under
-the verandah and shrubberies, and listening to the
-music. While we were staying in Stockholm a
-hundred Upsala students came in their white caps to
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>sing national melodies in the Catherina Church. We
-lived through two hours of fearful heat to hear them,
-and most beautiful it was. King Oscar <abbr title="the second">II</abbr>. was present&mdash;a
-noble royal figure and handsome face. He is the
-ideal sovereign of the age&mdash;artist, poet, musician,
-student, equally at home in ancient and modern
-languages, profoundly versed in all his duties, and
-nobly performing them.</p>
-
-<p>We had intended going often, as the natives do, to
-dine amongst the trees and flowers at Hasselbacken,
-in the Djurg&#229;rden, a wooded promontory, to which
-little steamers are always plying, but, alas! during
-eight of the ten July days we spent at Stockholm it
-rained incessantly. We were so cold that we were
-thankful for all the winter clothes we brought with us,
-and were filled with pity for the poor Swedes in being
-cheated out of their short summer, of which every
-day is precious. The streets were always sopping,
-but, in the covered gondolas, we managed several excursions
-to quiet, damp palaces on the banks of lonely
-fiords&mdash;Rosendal, remarkable for a grand porphyry
-vase in a brilliant little flower garden; and Ulriksdal,
-with its clipped avenues and melancholy creek.</p>
-
-<p>Our limited knowledge of Swedish often caused
-us to embark in amusing ignorance as to whither we
-were going, and led us into many a surprise. One
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>day we set off, intending to go to Drottningholm, but,
-on reaching the quay, found the steamer just gone.
-At that moment such a fearful storm of rain came on
-that we were obliged to rush for shelter wherever we
-could, and the nearest point of refuge was the deck
-of the steamer <em>Mary</em>, which instantly started. We
-feared we might be bound for the Baltic, and, failing
-to make any one understand us, resolved to disembark
-at the first landing-place. But then the rain was
-worse than ever, and we allowed ourselves to be
-carried on down Lake Malar, till our boat turned into
-a little creek, and landed us on the pier of a manufacturing
-town. We had not reached the end of the
-pier, however, before the rain came on again in such
-convulsive torrents that we fled back to the <em>Mary</em>,
-which again started on its travels, and this time, after
-stopping at many little ports, conveyed us back to
-Stockholm. When we asked the captain what we
-were to pay for our voyage, he said, 'Oh, nothing;'
-and very much amused he and his crew seemed to be
-by our ignorance and adventures.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_095.jpg" id="i_095" alt="" width="450" height="254" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> THE GRAVES OF THE GODS.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>We had a fine day for our excursion by railway to
-Upsala, whence we hired a little carriage to take us on
-to Old Upsala, about three miles distant. A drive
-across a dull, marshy plain brings one to a delightfully
-wild district of downs, covered with hundreds of little
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>sepulchral mounds like Wiltshire barrows, amid which
-three great tumuli, standing close together, are said to
-mark the graves of Odin, Thor, and Freya&mdash;heroes in
-their lifetime, gods in their death. Close beside them
-for centuries rose the temple which was the most
-sacred shrine of Scandinavian worship. It glittered
-all over with gold, and a golden chain, nine hundred
-ells in circumference, ran round its roof. In the
-temple were three statues, around which hovered all
-the principal mythological traditions of the north.
-The central figure was that of Odin or Wodan, the
-wizard-king, who is said to have come in the dawn of
-Swedish history from his domains of Asir, which extended
-from the Euxine to the Caspian, and whose
-capital was Asgard. He landed in Funen, where he
-founded Odense, and left his son Skj&ouml;ld as a sovereign.
-Thence he passed into Sweden, and established his
-government at Sigtuna, not far from Upsala. His
-existence is affirmed by the Saxon Chronicle. He
-was called 'the Father of Victory,' for if he laid his
-hands on the heads of his generals, and predicted
-their success when they went out to battle, that
-success never failed them. He was also, says Snorro
-Sturlesen, 'the Father of all the arts of modern
-Europe.' Tradition has endowed him with every
-miraculous power. He could change his looks at
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>pleasure&mdash;to his friends most beautiful, but a demon
-to his enemies. By his eloquence he captivated all
-who heard him, and as he always spoke in verse he
-was called 'the Artificer of Song.' His verses were
-endowed with such magic power that they could strike
-his enemies with blindness or deafness, or could blunt
-their weapons. To listen to the sweetness of his
-music even the ghosts would come forth and the
-mountains would unfold their inmost recesses. He
-was the inventor of Runic characters. He could
-slaughter thousands at a blow, and he could render
-his own followers invulnerable. At his will he could
-assume the form of beasts; at his word the fire would
-cease to burn, the wind to blow, or the sea to rage.
-If he hurled his spear between two armies, it secured
-victory to those on whose side it fell. The dwarfs
-(Lapps) had built for him a ship called <em>Skidbladner</em>,
-in which he could cross the most dangerous seas
-with safety; but when he did not want to use it, he
-could fold it up like a handkerchief. Everything was
-known to Odin, for did he not possess the mummified
-head of his enemy Mimir, which was all-wise, and
-he had only to consult it? Yet, with all these gifts
-and attributes, Odin remained human; he had no
-power over death. When he felt his end approaching
-he assembled all his friends and followers, and, giving
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>himself nine wounds in a circle, allowed himself to
-bleed to death. The body of the great chieftain was
-burnt, and his ashes were buried under the mound of
-Upsala; but his spirit was believed to have gone back
-to the marvellous home in the Valhalla of Asgard, of
-which he had so often spoken, and whither he had
-always said that he should return. Henceforward it
-was considered that all blessings and mercies were
-gifts sent by Odin. The younger Edda tells that all
-who die in battle are Odin's adopted children. The
-Valkyriae pick them out upon the battle-field and
-conduct them to the Valhalla, where they have perpetual
-life in the halls of Odin. Their days are spent
-in hunting or the joys of imaginary combats, and they
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>return at night to feast upon the inexhaustible flesh of
-the boar Sahrimnir, and to drink, out of horn cups, the
-mead formed from the milk of a single goat, which is
-strong enough nightly to intoxicate all the heroes.
-Huge logs constantly burn within the palace of Odin,
-for warmth is the northern idea of heaven, while in
-their hell it is eternal winter. When a Scandinavian
-chieftain died in battle, not only were his war-horse
-and all his gold and silver placed upon his funeral-pyre,
-but all his followers slew themselves that he
-might enter the halls of Odin properly attended.
-The more glorious the chieftain the greater the number
-who must accompany him to Valhalla. To rejoin
-Odin in Asgard became the height of a warrior's
-ambition. It is recorded of Ragnar Lodbrok that
-when he was dying no word of lamentation was
-heard from him: on the contrary, he was transported
-with joy as he thought of the feast preparing for him
-in Odin's palace. 'Soon, soon,' he exclaimed, 'I
-shall be seated in the pleasant habitation of the gods,
-and drinking mead out of carved horns! A brave
-man does not dread death, and I shall utter no word
-of fear as I enter the halls of Odin.' But stranger
-than all the legends concerning Odin is the fact that
-his memory is still so far fresh that 'Go to Odin'
-is yet used by the common people where an uncivil
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>wish as to the lower regions would find expression
-in England. The fourth day of the week still commemorates
-Odin or Wodan&mdash;in old Norse Odinsdgr,
-in Swedish and Danish Onsdag, in English Wednesday.</p>
-
-<p>On the right hand of Odin, in the temple of Upsala,
-sate the statue of Freyja, or Freyer, represented
-as a hermaphrodite, with the attributes of productiveness.
-Freyja was the goddess of love, who rode in
-a car drawn by wild cats. She knew beforehand all
-that would happen, and divided the souls of the dead
-with Odin. She is commemorated in the sixth day
-of the week, that Freytag or Freyja's Day which in
-Latin is Dies Veneris, or Venus' Day.</p>
-
-<p>On the left of Odin sate Thor, who, says the Edda,
-was 'the most valiant of the sons of Odin.' He was
-the offspring of Odin and Frigga, 'the mother of the
-gods,' and the brother of 'Balder the Beautiful.' As
-the defender and avenger of the gods, he was represented
-as carrying the hammer with which he destroyed
-the giants, and which always returned to his
-hand when he threw it. He wore iron gauntlets, and
-had a girdle which doubled his strength when he put
-it on. The fifth day of the week was sacred to Thor,
-in old Norse Th&oacute;rsdag, in Swedish and Danish Torsdag,
-in English Thursday; in Latin Dies Jovis, for
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>Jupiter, the God of Thunder, had the same attributes
-as Thor.</p>
-
-<p>There were three great festivals at Upsala, when
-multitudes flocked to the temple to consult its famous
-oracles or to sacrifice. The first was the winter festival
-of 'Mother Night'&mdash;saturnalia in honour of Frey, or
-the sun, to invoke the blessings of a fruitful year; the
-second feast was in honour of the Earth; the third
-was in honour of Odin, to propitiate the Father of
-Battles. Every ninth year, at least, the king and all
-persons of distinction were expected to appear before
-the great temple, and nine victims were chosen for
-human sacrifice&mdash;captives in time of war, slaves in
-time of peace&mdash;'I send thee to Odin' being the consolatory
-last words spoken to each as he fell. If public
-calamities had been caused by any royal mismanagement,
-the people chose their king as a sacrifice; thus
-the first king of the petty province of Vermeland was
-burnt to appease Odin during a famine. It is also
-recorded that King Aun sacrificed his nine sons to
-obtain a prolongation of his own life. The victims
-were either hewn down or burnt in the temple itself,
-or hung in the grove adjoining&mdash;'Odin's Grove'&mdash;of
-which every leaf was sacred. Still, according to the
-Voluspa, the famous prophecy of Vela, at the end of
-the world even Odin, with all the other pagan deities,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>will perish in the general chaos, when a new earth of
-celestial beauty will arise upon the ruins of the
-old.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_099.jpg" id="i_099" alt="" width="450" height="330" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> THE CHURCH OF OLD UPSALA.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>One of the most curious little churches in Christendom
-now stands upon the site of the ancient temple.
-The apse is evidently built out of the pagan
-sanctuary. The belfry, Swedish-fashion, is detached,
-built of massive timbers and painted bright red.
-There are scarcely any human habitations near, only
-the mighty barrows, overgrown with wild thyme and
-a thousand other flowers, which rise over the graves of
-the gods. In the tomb of Odin the Government still
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>gives the mead, which was the nectar of Scandinavian
-heroes, to pilgrim visitors.</p>
-
-<p>Like most of the Swedish towns, Upsala is disappointing,
-and its mean, ill-paved streets show few signs
-of antiquity. At the east end of the cathedral is the
-lofty tomb of Gustavus Wasa, the first Protestant
-King of Sweden, whose effigy lies between the charming
-figures of his two pretty little wives. In 1519 he
-was carried off as a hostage by that Christian, King
-of Denmark, who forcibly made himself King of
-Sweden also, and ruled with savage tyranny. Escaping
-to L&uuml;beck, he headed a revolutionary party
-against the tyrant, and, after many defeats, succeeded
-in taking Stockholm, where he was made king in 1523.
-Soon after, Olaf Petri's translation of the New Testament
-led to the Reformation in Sweden, where Gustavus
-Wasa was another Henry <abbr title="the eighth">VIII</abbr>., in taking the
-opportunity of seizing two-thirds of the Church
-revenues, and depriving all ecclesiastics of their incomes
-if they refused to embrace Lutheranism. One
-of his daughters-in-law was the famous Polish princess,
-Queen Catherine Jagellonica, who tried hard to upset
-the new religion, and inculcated Catholicism upon her
-son, King Sigismund, who was deposed, on religious
-grounds, in favour of his uncle, Charles <abbr title="the ninth">IX</abbr>., the father
-of Gustavus Adolphus. This Queen Catherine Jagel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>lonica
-has a fine tomb in a side chapel of Upsala
-Cathedral.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_101.jpg" id="i_101" alt="" width="450" height="347" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> GRIPSHOLM.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>On a brilliant July morning we embarked at Stockholm
-in the steamer which runs twice a week down
-Lake Malar to Gripsholm. Most lovely were the long
-reaches of still water with their fringe of russet rocks,
-every crevice tufted with birch and dwarf mountain
-ash, opening here and there to show some red timber
-houses or a wooden spire. It was several hours of
-soft diorama, with the music of the pines, before the
-great castle of Gripsholm, the Windsor of Sweden,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>came in sight, with its many red towers and Eastern-looking
-domes and cupolas. We were landed at the
-little pier of Mariefred, in itself a lovely scene, with
-old trees feathering into the water, and a picturesque
-church rising in a grove of walnuts on a green hill
-behind. Hard by is a little inn where the whole of
-the passengers in the steamer dined together, at many
-little tables, the great staple of food being fresh trout
-and salmon of the lake, the bilberries and cloudberries
-of the rocks, and the birch brandy and wild strawberries
-from the woods. After dinner every one
-trooped along the meadow paths to the castle, and
-rambled in friendly companionship over its numerous
-rooms, full of interest, and with many curious royal
-portraits and pieces of ancient furniture. There are
-endless historic recollections connected with Gripsholm,
-but they centre for the most part around the
-sons of Gustavus Wasa. Of these, John was immured
-here by Eric <abbr title="the fourteenth">XIV</abbr>., with his wife Catherine
-Jagellonica, who, during her imprisonment, gave
-birth to her son Sigismund (afterwards Sigismund
-<abbr title="the third">III</abbr>. of Poland), in a box-bed which still remains.
-Eric intended to have put his brother to death, but
-when he entered his cell for the purpose was so
-overcome by fraternal feeling that he begged his
-pardon instead. That pardon was not granted, for
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>when John got the upper hand he imprisoned Eric
-in a small chamber at the top of the castle, where
-he languished for ten years, during which he wrote
-a treatise on military art, and translated the history
-of Johannes Magnus, and where&mdash;in the end&mdash;he
-was poisoned.</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p>
-
-<h2><a name="IN_NORWAY" id="IN_NORWAY"></a><i>IN NORWAY.</i></h2>
-
-
-<p class="drop-cap">THE weather changed to a cloudless sunshine,
-which hatched all the mosquitoes, as we entered
-Norway in the second week in July, and the heat was
-so intense that, in the long railway journey from
-Stockholm, we were very thankful for the little tank
-of iced water with which each railway carriage is
-provided. We were disappointed in Kristiania, which
-is a very dull place. The town was built by Christian
-<abbr title="the fourth">IV</abbr>. of Denmark, and has a good central church of
-his time, but it is utterly unpicturesque. In the
-picture gallery are several noble works of Tidemann,
-the special painter of expression and pathos. As a
-companion for life is the memory of a picture which
-represents the administration of the last sacrament
-to an old peasant, whose wife's grief is turned to resignation,
-which ceases even to have a wish for his
-retention, as she beholds the heaven-born comfort
-with which he is looking into an unknown future.
-Another of the finest works of the artist represents
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>the reception of the sacrament by a convict, young
-and deeply repentant, before his execution.</p>
-
-<p>There is no striking scenery in the environs of
-Kristiania, but they are wonderfully pretty. From the
-avenues upon the ramparts you look down over the
-broad expanse of the fyord, with low blue mountain
-distances. Little steamers dart backwards and forwards,
-and convey visitors in a few minutes across
-the bay to Oscars Halle, a tower and small country
-villa of the king on a wooded knoll.</p>
-
-<p>We went by the railway which winds high amongst
-the hills to Kongsberg, a mining village in a lofty
-situation. Here, in a garden of white roses, there
-is a most comfortable small hotel kept by a Dane,
-which is a capital starting-point for all expeditions
-in Telemarken. There is a pretty waterfall near the
-village, and the church should be visited, for the sake
-of its curious pulpit hour-glass&mdash;indeed, four glasses&mdash;quarter,
-half-hour, three-quarters, hour&mdash;and the top of
-a stool let into the wall with an inscription saying
-that Mr. Jacobus Stuart, King of Scotland (James <abbr title="the first">I</abbr>.
-of England), sate upon it, Nov. 25, 1589, to hear a
-sermon preached by Mr. David Lentz, 'between 11
-and 12,' on 'The Lord is my Shepherd.'</p>
-
-<p>We engaged a carriage at Kongsberg for the
-excursion to Tinoset, whence we arranged to go on
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>to the Ryukan Foss, said to be the highest waterfall
-in Europe. We do not advise future travellers without
-unlimited time to follow us in the latter part of
-the expedition by the lake, but the carriage excursion
-is quite enchanting. What an exquisite drive it is
-through the forest&mdash;the deep ever-varying woods of
-noble pines and firs springing from luxuriant thickets
-of junipers, bilberries, and cranberries! The loveliest
-mountain flowers grow in these woods&mdash;huge larkspurs
-of rank luxuriant foliage and flowers of faint
-dead blue; pinks and blue lungworts and orchids;
-stagmoss wreathing itself round the grey rocks, and
-delicate, lovely soldanella drooping in the still recesses.</p>
-
-<p>Our midday halt was at Bolkesj&ouml;, where the forest
-opens to green lawns, hill-set, with a charming view
-down the smooth declivities to a many-bayed lake,
-with mountain distances. Here, amid a group of old
-brown farm-buildings covered with rude paintings and
-sculpture, is a farmhouse, inhabited by the same
-family through many generations. It is one of the
-'stations' where it is part of the duty of the farmer or
-'bonder' who is owner of the soil to find horses for
-the use of travellers. These horses are supplied at a
-very trifling charge, and are brought back by a boy
-who sits behind the carriole or carriage upon the portmanteau:
-but as the horses, when not called for, are
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>turned loose or used by the bonder in his own farm
-or field work, travellers generally have to wait a long
-time while they are caught or sent for. They order
-their horses '<em>strax</em>'&mdash;directly&mdash;one of the first words
-an Englishman learns to use on entering Norway, yet
-they scarcely ever appear before half an hour, so that
-Norwegians repeat with amusement the story of an
-Englishman who, when he wished to spend an hour
-at a station, ordered his horses 'after two strax's.'
-These halts are not always congenial to English
-impatience, yet they give opportunities of becoming
-acquainted with Norwegian life and people which can
-be obtained in no other way, and recollection will
-oftener go back to the quiet time spent in waiting
-for horses amid the grey rocks above some foaming
-streamlet, in the green oases surrounded by forest, or
-in clean-boarded rooms strewn with fresh fir foliage,
-than to the more established sights of Norway. Most
-delicious indeed were the two hours which we passed
-at Bolkesj&ouml;, in the high pastures where the peasants
-were mowing the tall grass ablaze with flowers, and
-the mountains were throwing long purple shadows
-over the forest, and the wind blowing freshly from the
-gleaming lake&mdash;and then, most delicious was the
-well-earned meal of eggs and bacon, strawberries and
-cream, and other homely dainties in the farmhouse
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>where the beams and furniture were all painted and
-carved with mottoes and texts, and the primitive box-beds
-had crimson satin quilts. Portraits sent by well-pleased
-royal visitors hung on the walls side by side
-with common-coloured scripture prints, like those
-which are found in English cottages. The cellar is
-under a bed, beneath which it was funny to see the
-old farmeress disappear as she went down to fetch up
-for us her home-brewed ale.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_111.jpg" id="i_111" alt="" width="480" height="281" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> BOLKESJ&Ouml;.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>With the cordial 'likkelie reise' of our old hostess
-in our ears, we left Bolkesj&ouml; full of pleasant thoughts.
-But what roads, or rather what want of roads, lead to
-Tinoset!&mdash;there were banks of glassy rock, up which
-our horses scrambled like cats; there were awful
-moments when everything seemed to come to an end,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>and when they gathered up their legs, and seemed to
-fling themselves down headlong with the carriage on
-the top of them, and yet we reached the bottom of
-the abyss buried in dust, to rise gasping and gulping
-and wondering we were alive, to begin the same
-pantomime over again.</p>
-
-<p>Late in the evening, long after the sunlight had
-faded, and when the forests seemed to have gone to
-sleep and all sounds were silent, we reached Tinoset.
-The inn is a wooden ch&acirc;let on the banks of a lake
-with a single great pine-tree close to the door. It was
-terribly crowded, and the little wooden cells were the
-smallest apology for bedrooms, where all through the
-night we heard the winds howling among the mountains,
-and the waves lashing the shore under the
-windows. In the morning the lake was covered with
-huge blue waves crested with foam, and we were
-almost sorry when the steamer came and we felt
-obliged to embark, because, as it was not the regular
-day for its passage, we had summoned it at some
-expense from the other end of the lake. We were
-thoroughly wet with the spray before we reached the
-little inn at Strand, with a pier where we disembarked,
-and occupied the rest of the afternoon in drawing the
-purple hills, and the road winding towards them
-through the old birch-trees. An excursion to the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>Ryukan Foss occupied the next day; a dull drive
-through the plain, and then an exciting skirting of
-horrible precipices, followed by a clamber up a
-mountain pathlet to a ch&acirc;let, where we were thankful
-for our well-earned dinner of trout and ale before
-proceeding to the Foss, the 560-feet-high fall of a
-mountain torrent into a black rift in the hills&mdash;a
-boiling, roaring abyss of water, with drifts of spray
-which are visible for miles before it can be seen
-itself.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_113.jpg" id="i_113" alt="" width="450" height="332" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> OLD CHURCH OF HITTERDAL.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>In returning from Tinoset, we took the way by
-Hitterdal, the date-forgotten old wooden church so
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>familiar from picture-books. It had been our principal
-object in coming to Norway, yet the long drive had
-made us so ravenous in search of food that we
-could only endure to stay there half an hour. The
-church, however, is most intensely picturesque, rising
-with an infinity of quaintest domes and spires, all
-built of timber, out of a rude cloister painted red, the
-whole having the appearance of a very tall Chinese
-pagoda, yet only measuring altogether 84 feet by 57.
-The belfry, Norwegian-wise, stands alone on the other
-side of the churchyard, which is overgrown with pink
-willow-herb. When we reached the inn, as famished
-as wolves in winter, we were told by our landlady
-that she could not give us any dinner. 'Nei, nei,' nothing
-would induce her&mdash;she had too much work on
-her hands already&mdash;perhaps, however, the woman at
-the house with the flag would give us some. So,
-hungry and faint, we walked forth again to a house
-which had a flag flying in front of it, where all was
-silent and deserted, except for a dog who received us
-furiously. Having pacified him, and finding the front
-door locked, we made good our entrance at the back,
-examined the kitchen, peeped into all the cupboards,
-lifted up the lids of all the saucepans, and not till we
-had searched every corner for food ineffectually, were
-met by the pretty, pleasant-looking young lady of the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>house, who informed us in excellent English, and
-with no small surprise at our conduct, that we had
-been committing a raid upon her private residence.
-Afterwards we discovered a lonely farmhouse, where
-there had once been a flag, and where they gave us a
-very good dinner, ending in a great bowl of cloudberries&mdash;in
-which we were joined by two pleasant
-young ladies and their father, an old gentleman
-smoking an enormous long pipe, who turned out to
-be the Bishop of Christiansand. The house of the
-landamann of Hitterdal contains a relic connected
-with a picturesque story quaintly illustrative of ancient
-Scandinavian life. It is an axe, with a handle
-projecting beyond the blade, and curved, so that
-it can be used as a walking-stick. Formerly it
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>belonged to an ancient descendant of the Kongen, or
-chieftains of the district, who insisted upon carrying
-it to church with him in accordance with an old privilege.
-The priest forbade the bearing of the warlike
-weapon into church, which so much affected the old
-man that he died. His son, who thought it necessary
-to avenge his father's death, went to the priest with
-the axe in his hands, and demanded the most precious
-thing he possessed&mdash;when the priest brought his Bible
-and gave it to him, open upon a passage exhorting to
-forgiveness of injuries.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_115.jpg" id="i_115" alt="" width="490" height="262" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> THRONDTJEM FYORD.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>On July 25 we left Kristiania for Throndtjem&mdash;the
-whole journey of three hundred and sixty miles
-being very comfortable, and only costing 30 francs.
-The route has no great beauty, but endless pleasant
-variety&mdash;rail to Eidswold, with bilberries and strawberries
-in pretty birch-bark baskets for sale at all the
-railway stations; a vibrating steamer for several hours
-on the long, dull Miosen lake; railway again, with
-some of the carriages open at the sides; then an
-obligatory night at Koppang, a large station, where
-accommodation is provided for every one, but where, if
-there are many passengers, several people, strangers
-to each other, are expected to share the same room.
-On the second day the scenery improves, the railway
-sometimes running along and sometimes over the river
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>Glommen, on a wooden causeway, till the gorge of
-mountains opens beyond St&ouml;ren, into a rich country
-with turfy mounds constantly reminding us of the
-graves of the hero-gods of Upsala. Towards sunset,
-beyond the deep cleft in which the river Nid runs
-between lines of old painted wooden warehouses, rises
-the burial-place of S. Olaf, the shrine of Scandinavian
-Christianity, the stumpy-towered cathedral of
-Throndtjem. The most northern railway station and
-the most northern cathedral in Europe!</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_117.jpg" id="i_117" alt="" width="490" height="325" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> THRONDTJEM CATHEDRAL.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Surely the cradle of Scandinavian Christianity is
-one of the most beautiful places in the world! No
-one had ever told us about it, and we went there only
-because it is the old Throndtjem of sagas and ballads,
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>and expecting a wonderful and beautiful cathedral.
-But the whole place is a dream of loveliness, so exquisite
-in the soft silvery morning light on the fyord
-and delicate mountain ranges, the rich nearer hills
-covered with bilberries and breaking into steep cliffs&mdash;that
-one remains in a state of transport, which is
-at a climax while all is engraven upon an opal sunset
-sky, when an amethystine glow spreads over the
-mountains, and when ships and buildings meet their
-double in the still, transparent water. Each wide
-street of curious low wooden houses displays a new
-vista of sea, of rocky promontories, of woods dipping
-into the water; and at the end of the principal street
-is the grey massive cathedral where S. Olaf is buried,
-and where northern art and poetry have exhausted
-their loveliest and most pathetic fancies around the
-grave of the national hero.</p>
-
-<p>The 'Cathedral Garden,' for so the graveyard is
-called, is most touching. Acres upon acres of graves
-are all kept&mdash;not by officials, but by the families they
-belong to&mdash;like gardens. The tombs are embowered
-in roses and honeysuckle, and each little green mound
-has its own vase for cut flowers daily replenished, and
-a seat for the survivors, which is daily occupied, so
-that the link between the dead and the living is never
-broken.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span></p>
-<p>Christianity was first established in Norway at
-the end of the tenth century by King Olaf Trygveson,
-son of Trygve and of the lady Astrida, whose romantic
-adventures, when sold as a slave after her
-husband's death, are the subject of a thousand stories.
-When Olaf succeeded to the throne of Norway after
-the death of Hako, son of Sigurd, in 996, he
-proclaimed Christianity throughout his dominions,
-heard matins daily himself, and sent out missionaries
-through his dominions. But the duty of the so-called
-missionaries had little to do with teaching, they
-were only required to baptize. All who refused baptism
-were tortured and put to death. When, at one
-time, the estates of the province of Throndtjem tried
-to force Olaf back to the old religion, he outwardly
-assented, but made the condition that the offended
-pagan deities should in that case be appeased by
-human sacrifice&mdash;the sacrifice of the twelve nobles
-who were most urgent in compelling him; and upon
-this the ardour of the chieftains for paganism was
-cooled, and they allowed Olaf unhindered to demolish
-the great statue of Thor, covered with gold and
-jewels, in the centre of the province of Throndtjem,
-where he founded the city then called Nidaros, upon
-the river Nid.</p>
-
-<p>No end of stories are narrated of the cruelties of
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>Olaf Trygveson. When Egwind, a northern chieftain,
-refused to abandon his idols, he first attempted
-to bribe him, but, when gentler means failed, a chafing-dish
-of hot coals was placed upon his belly till he
-died. Raude the magician had a more horrible fate:
-an adder was forced down a horn into his stomach,
-and left to eat its way out again!</p>
-
-<p>The first Christian king of Norway was an habitual
-drunkard, and, by twofold adultery, he, the
-husband of Godruna, married Thyra of Denmark,
-the wife of Duke Borislaf of Pomerania. This led
-to a war with Denmark and Sweden, whose united
-fleets surrounded him near Stralsund. As much
-mystery enshrouds the story of his death as is connected
-with that of Arthur, Barbarossa, or Harold:
-as his royal vessel, the <em>Long Serpent</em>, was boarded by
-the enemy, he plunged into the sea and was no more
-seen, though some chroniclers say that he swam to
-the shore in safety and died afterwards at Rome,
-whither he went on pilgrimage.</p>
-
-<p>Olaf Trygveson had a godson Olaf, son of Harald
-Grenske and Asta, who had the nominal title of king
-given to all sea captains of royal descent. From his
-twelfth year, Olaf Haraldsen was a pirate, and he
-headed the band of Danes who destroyed Canterbury
-and murdered S. Elphege&mdash;a strange feature in the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>life of one who has been himself regarded as a saint
-since his death. By one of the strange freaks of
-fortune common in those times, this Olaf Haraldsen
-gained a great victory over the chieftain Sweyn, who
-then ruled at Nidaros, and, chiefly through the influence
-of Sigurd Syr, a great northern landowner
-who had become the second husband of his mother,
-he became seated in 1016 upon the throne of Norway.
-His first care was for the restoration of Christianity,
-which had fallen into decadence in the sixteen years
-which had elapsed since the defeat of Olaf Trygveson.
-The second Olaf imitated the violence and cruelty
-of his predecessor. Whenever the new religion was
-rejected, he beheaded or hung the delinquents. In
-his most merciful moments he mutilated and blinded
-them: 'he did not spare one who refused to serve
-God.' After fourteen years of unparalleled cruelties in
-the name of religion, he fell in battle with Canute the
-Great at Sticklestadt. He had abducted and married
-Astrida, daughter of the King of Sweden, but by her
-he had no children. By his concubine Alfhilda he
-left an only son, who lived to become Magnus the
-Good, King of Norway. There is a very fine story of
-the way in which Magnus obtained his name. Olaf
-had said, 'I very seldom sleep, and if I ever do it will
-be the worse for any one who awakens me.' Whilst
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>he was asleep Alfhilda's child was born. Then the
-King's scald or poet and Siegfried the mass priest
-debated together as to whether they should awaken
-him. At first they thought they would; then the poet
-said, 'No; I know him better than that: he must not
-be awakened.' 'That is all very well,' said the priest,
-'but the child must be baptised at once. What shall
-we call him?' 'Oh,' said the scald, 'I know that the
-King said that the child should be named after the
-greatest monarch that ever lived, and his name was
-Magnus,' for he only remembered one part of the
-name. So they called him Magnus.</p>
-
-<p>When the King woke up he was furious. 'Who
-can have dared to do this thing&mdash;to christen the child
-without consulting me, and to give him this outlandish
-name, which is no name at all&mdash;who can have
-dared to do it?'</p>
-
-<p>Then the mass priest was terrified and shrank into
-his shoes, but the scald answered boldly, 'I did it,
-and I did it because it was better to send two souls
-to God than one soul to the devil; for if the child
-had died unbaptised it would have been lost, but if
-you kill Siegfried and me we shall go straight to
-heaven.'</p>
-
-<p>And then King Olaf thought he would say no
-more about it.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p>
-<p>However terrible the cruelties of Olaf Haraldsen
-were in his lifetime, they were soon dazzled out of
-sight amid the halo of miracles with which his
-memory was encircled by the Roman Catholic
-Church. It was only recollected that when, according
-to the legend, he raced for the kingdom with his
-half-brother Harald, in his good ship the <em>Ox</em>,</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
- <div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">Saint Olaf, who on God relied,</div>
- <div class="verse">Three days the first his house descried;</div>
- </div>
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="noindent1">after which</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
- <div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">Harald so fierce with anger burned</div>
- <div class="verse">He to a lothely dragon turned;</div>
- </div>
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<p class="noindent1">but because</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
- <div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">A pious zeal Saint Olaf bore,</div>
- <div class="verse">He long the crown of Norway wore.</div>
- </div>
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>His admirers narrated that when he was absently
-cutting chips from a stick with his knife on
-a Sunday, a servant passed him with the reproof,
-'Sir, it is Monday to-morrow,' when he placed the
-sinful chips in his hand, and, setting them on fire,
-bore the pain till they were all consumed. It was
-remembered that as he walked to the church which
-Olaf Trygveson had founded at Nidaros, he 'wore a
-glory in his yellow hair.' And gradually he became
-the most popular saint of Scandinavia. His shirt was
-an object of pilgrimage in the Church of S. Victor
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>at Paris, and many churches were dedicated to him
-in England, and especially in London, where Tooley
-Street still records his familiar appellation of S.
-Tooley.</p>
-
-<p>It was when the devotion to S. Olaf was just
-beginning that Earl Godwin and his sons were
-banished from England for a time. Two of these,
-Harold and Tosti, became vikings, and, in a great
-battle, they vowed that, if they were victorious, they
-would give half the spoil to the shrine of S. Olaf;
-and a huge silver statue, which they actually gave,
-existed at Throndtjem till 1500, and if it existed
-still would be one of the most important relics in
-arch&aelig;ology. The old Kings of Norway used to dig
-up the saint from time to time and cut his nails.
-When Harold Hardrada was going to England, he
-declared that he must see S. Olaf once again. 'I
-must see my brother once more,' he said, and he also
-cut the saint's nails. But he also thought that from
-that time it would be better that no one should see
-his brother any more&mdash;it would not be for the good
-of the Church&mdash;so he took the keys of the shrine
-and threw them into the fyord; at the same time
-however, he said it would be good for men in after-ages
-to know what a great king was like, so he
-caused S. Olaf's measure to be engraved upon the
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>wall in the church at Throndtjem&mdash;his measure of
-seven feet&mdash;and there it is still.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_125.jpg" id="i_125" alt="" width="325" height="450" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> S. OLAF'S WELL.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Around the shrine of Olaf in Throndtjem, in
-which, in spite of Harold Hardrada, his 'incorrupt
-body' was seen more than five hundred years after
-his death, has arisen the most beautiful of northern
-cathedrals, originating in a small chapel built over
-his grave within ten years after his death. The
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>exquisite colour of its green-grey stone adds greatly
-to the general effect of the interior, and to the
-delicate sculpture of its interlacing arches. From
-the ambulatory behind the choir opens a tiny
-chamber containing the Well of S. Olaf, of rugged
-yellow stone, with the holes remaining in the pavement
-through which the dripping water ran away
-when the buckets were set down. Amongst the
-many famous Bishops of Throndtjem, perhaps the
-most celebrated has been Anders Arrebo, 'the father
-of Danish poetry' (1587-1637), who wrote the
-'Hexameron,' an extraordinarily long poem on the
-Creation, which nobody reads now. The cathedral is
-given up to Lutheran worship, but its ancient relics
-are kindly tended and cared for, and the building
-is being beautifully restored. Its beautiful Chapter
-House is lent for English service on Sundays.</p>
-
-<p>In the wide street which leads from the sea to
-the cathedral is the 'Coronation House,' the wooden
-palace in which the Kings and Queens of Sweden and
-Norway stay when they come hither to be crowned.
-Hither the present beloved Queen, Sophie of Nassau,
-came in 1873, driving herself in her own carriole from
-the Romsdal, in graceful compliance with the popular
-mode of Norwegian travel. It is because even the
-finest buildings in Norway are generally built of
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>wood that there are so few of any real antiquity.
-Near the shore of the fyord, the custom-house occupies
-the site of the Orething, where the elections of
-twenty kings have taken place. It is sacred ground
-to a King of Norway, who passes it bareheaded.
-The familiar affection with which the Norwegians
-regard their sovereigns can scarcely be comprehended
-in any other country. To their people they
-are 'the father and mother of the land.' The broken
-Norse is remembered at Throndtjem in which King
-Carl Johann begged people 'to make room for their
-old father' when they pressed too closely upon
-him. When the present so beloved Queen drove
-herself to her coronation, the people met her with
-flowers at all the 'stations' where the horses were
-changed. 'Are you the mother of the land?'
-they said. 'You look nice, but you must do more
-than look nice; that is not the essential.' One old
-woman begged the lady in waiting to beg her
-majesty to get upon the roof of the house. 'Then
-we should all see her.' At Throndtjem the peasants
-touchingly and affectionately always addressed her
-as 'Du.'</p>
-
-<p>In returning from Throndtjem we left the railway
-at St&ouml;ren, where we engaged a double carriole, and a
-carriage for four with a pleasant boy called Johann
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>as its driver, for the return journey. It was difficult
-to obtain definite information about anything, English
-books being almost useless from their incorrectness,
-and we set off with a sort of sense of exploring an
-unknown country. At every 'station' we changed
-horses, which were sent back by the boy, who perched
-upon the luggage behind, and we marked our distances
-by calling our horses after the Kings of
-England. Thus, setting off from St&ouml;ren with William
-the Conqueror, we drove into the Romsdal with
-Edward <abbr title="the sixth">VI</abbr>. After a drive with Lady Jane Grey, we
-set off again with Mary. But the Kings of England
-failed us long before our driving days were over, and
-we used up all the Kings of Rome also. As we were
-coming down a steep hill into Lillehammer with
-Tarquinius Superbus, something gave way and he
-quietly walked out of the harness, leaving us to run
-briskly down-hill and subside into the hedge. We
-captured Tarquinius, but how to put him in again
-was a mystery, as we had never harnessed a horse
-before. However, by trying every strap in turn we
-got him in somehow, and escaped the fate of Red
-Riding Hood amid the lonely hills.</p>
-
-<p>For a great distance after leaving St&ouml;ren there is
-little especially striking in the scenery, except one
-gorge of old weird pine-trees in a rift of purple
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>mountains. After you emerge upon the high Dovre-Fyeld,
-the huge ranges of Sneehatten rise snowy,
-gleaming, and glorious, above the wide yellow-grey
-expanse, hoary with reindeer moss, though, as the
-Dovre-Fyeld is itself three thousand feet high, and
-Sneehatten only seven thousand three hundred, it
-does not look so high as it really is. Next to
-Throndtjem itself, the old ballads and songs of
-Norway gather most thickly around the Dovre-Fyeld.
-It is here that the witches are supposed to
-hold their secret meetings at their Blokulla, or black
-hill. Across these yellow hills of the Jerkin-Fyeld
-the prose Edda describes Thor striding to his conflict
-with the dragon Jormangandur 'by Sneehatten's peak
-of snow,' where 'the tall pines cracked like a field of
-stubble under his feet;' and here, according to the
-ancient fragment called the ballad of 'The Twelve
-Wizards,' as given in Prior's 'Ancient Danish
-Ballads'&mdash;</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
- <div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse">At Dovrefeld, over on Norway's reef,</div>
- <div class="verse">Were heroes who never knew pain or grief.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">There dwelt there many a warrior keen,</div>
- <div class="verse">The twelve bold brothers of Ingeborg queen.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">The first with his hand the storm could hush</div>
- <div class="verse">The second could stop the torrent's rush.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">The third could dive in the sea as a fish;</div>
- <div class="verse">The fourth never wanted meat on dish.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">The fifth he would strike the golden lyre,</div>
- <div class="verse">And young and old to the dancing fire.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">The sixth on the horn would blow a blast,</div>
- <div class="verse">Who heard it would shudder and stand aghast.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">The seventh go under the earth could he;</div>
- <div class="verse">The eighth he could dance on the rolling sea.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">The ninth tamed all that in greenwood crept;</div>
- <div class="verse">The tenth not a nap had ever slept.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">The eleventh the grisly lindworm bound,</div>
- <div class="verse">And will what he would, the means he found.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">The twelfth he could all things understand,</div>
- <div class="verse">Though done in a nook of the farthest land.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- <div class="verse">Their equals were never seen there in the North,</div>
- <div class="verse">Nor anywhere else on the face of the earth.</div>
- <div class="stanza"></div>
- </div>
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<p>In spite of great fatigue from the distances to be
-accomplished, each day's journey in carriage or carriole
-has its peculiar charms, the going on and on
-into an unknown land, meeting no one, sleeping in
-odd, primitive, but always clean rooms, setting off
-again at half-past five or six, and halting at comfortable
-stations, with their ever-moderate prices and
-their cheery farm-servants, who kissed our hands all
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>round on receiving the very smallest gratuity&mdash;a
-coin meaning twopence-halfpenny being a source of
-ecstatic bliss.</p>
-
-<p>The 'bonders,' who keep the stations, generally
-themselves represent the gentry of the country, the
-real gentry filling the position of the English aristocracy.
-The bonders are generally very well off,
-having small tithes, good houses, boundless fuel, a
-great variety of food, and continual change of labour
-on their own small properties. Their wives, who
-never walk, have a sledge for winter, and a carriole
-and horse to take them to church in summer. In
-the many months of snow, when the cows and horses
-are all stabled in the 'laave,' and when out-of-door
-occupations fail, they occupy the time with household
-pursuits&mdash;carpentering, tailoring, or brewing. When
-a bonder dies, his wife succeeds to his property until
-her second marriage; then it is divided amongst his
-children.</p>
-
-<p>The 'stations' or farmhouses are almost entirely
-built of wood, but those of a superior class have a
-single room of stone, used only in bridals or births, a
-custom handed down from old times when a place of
-special safety was required at those seasons.</p>
-
-<p>Nine-tenths of the country are covered with pine-forests,
-but the trees are always cut down before they
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>grow old. We did not see a single old tree in
-Norway. The pines are of two kinds only&mdash;the
-<em>Furu</em>, our pine, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Pinus silvestris</i>; and the <em>Gran</em>, our
-fir, <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">Pinus abies</i>.</p>
-
-<p>Wolves seldom appear except in winter, when
-those who travel in sledges are often pursued by them.
-Then hunger makes them so bold that they will often
-snatch a dog from between the knees of a driver.</p>
-
-<p>From the station of Dombaas (where there is a
-telegraph station and a shop of old silver) we turned
-aside down the Romsdal, which soon became beautiful,
-as the road wound above the Chrysoprase river Rauma,
-broken by many rocky islets and swirling into many
-waterfalls, but always equally radiant, equally transparent,
-till its colour is washed out by the melting
-snow in a ghastly narrow valley, which we called the
-Valley of Death.</p>
-
-<p>The little inn at Aak, in Romsdal, with a large
-garden stretching along the hillside, disappointed us
-at first, as the clouds hid the mountain-tops, but
-morning revealed how glorious they are&mdash;purple
-pinnacles of rock or pathless fields of snow embossed
-upon a sky which is delicately blue above but melts
-into the clearest opal. Grander, we thought, than
-any single peak in Switzerland is the tremendous
-peak of the Romsdalhorn, and the walks in all
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>directions are most exquisite&mdash;into deep glades filled
-with columbines and the giant larkspurs, which are
-such a feature of Norway: into tremendous mountain
-gorges: or to Waeblungsnaes, along the banks of the
-lovely fyord, with its marvellously quaint forms of
-mountain distance. Aak is a place where a month
-may be spent most delightfully, as well as most comfortably
-and economically.</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/i_133.jpg" id="i_133" alt="" width="480" height="336" />
-<p class="captioncenter"> IN THE ROMSDAL, NORWAY.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>We had heard a great deal before we went to
-Norway about the difficulty of getting proper food,
-but our own experience is that we were never fed
-more luxuriously. Perhaps very late in the season
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>the provisions at the country 'stations' may be somewhat
-used up, but when we were there in July only
-those who could not live without a great deal of meat
-could have any cause for complaint, and once a week
-we generally had reindeer for a treat. When we
-arrived in the evenings, we always found an excellent
-meal prepared&mdash;the most delicious coffee, tea, and
-cream; baskets of bread, rusks, cakes and biscuits of
-various descriptions; fresh salmon and trout; cloudberries,
-bilberries, raspberries, mountain strawberries
-and cream; and for all this about a franc and a half
-is the payment required.</p>
-
-<p>My companions lingered at Kristiania whilst I
-paid a visit, which is one of the most delightful recollections
-of my tour, to a native family near Moss,
-at the mouth of the fyord; then we came back to
-Denmark, travelling in the same train with the beloved
-Prince Imperial, who was then in the height of health
-and happiness, and received at every station with the
-enthusiastic 'Hochs!' which in Scandinavia supply
-the place of the English hurrah.</p>
-
-<p class="p4"></p>
-
-<p class="p06">LONDON: PRINTED BY</p>
-<p class="p06">SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE</p>
-<p class="p06">AND PARLIAMENT STREET</p>
-
-<p class="p4"></p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<div class="chapter">
-<h3><a name="WORKS_BY_AUGUSTUS_J_C_HARE" id="WORKS_BY_AUGUSTUS_J_C_HARE"></a>WORKS BY AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE.</h3>
-
-<p class="hang50">CITIES OF SOUTHERN ITALY AND SICILY.
-With Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 10<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'Mr. Hare's name will be a sufficient passport for the popularity of his new work.
-His books on the Cities of Italy are fast becoming as indispensable to the traveller
-in that part of the country as the guide-books of Murray or of Baedeker.... His
-book is one which I should advise all future travellers in Southern Italy and Sicily
-to find room for in their portmanteaus.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Academy.</span></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'We regard the volume as a necessary part of the equipment of a traveller in
-Southern Italy; if he goes without it he will miss the most thorough and most helpful
-book that has treated it. The part devoted to Sicily is especially full of interest:
-and we should not omit to make mention of the exquisite little woodcuts done from
-Mr. Hare's water-colours executed on the spot.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">British Quarterly Review.</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">CITIES OF CENTRAL ITALY. With Illustrations.
-2 vols. crown 8vo. 21<i>s.</i></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY. With Illustrations.
-2 vols. crown 8vo. 21<i>s.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'We can imagine no better way of spending a wet day in Florence or Venice
-than in reading all that Mr. Hare has to say and quote about the history, arts,
-and famous people of those cities. These volumes come under the class of volumes
-not to borrow, but to buy.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Morning Post.</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">WALKS IN ROME. Eleventh Edition. With Map.
-2 vols. crown 8vo. 18<i>s.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'The best handbook of the city and environs of Rome ever published....
-Cannot be too much commended.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Pall Mall Gazette.</span></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'This book is sure to be very useful. It is thoroughly practical, and is the best
-guide that yet has been offered.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Daily News.</span></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'Mr. Hare's book fills a real void, and gives to the tourist all the latest discoveries
-and the fullest information bearing on that most inexhaustible of subjects,
-the city of Rome.... It is much fuller than "Murray," and anyone who chooses
-may now know how Rome really looks in sun or shade.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Spectator.</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">WALKS IN LONDON. Fifth Edition. With numerous
-Illustrations. 2 vols. crown 8vo. 21<i>s.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'One of the really valuable as well as pleasant companions to the peripatetic
-philosopher's rambling studies of the town.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Daily Telegraph.</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">DAYS NEAR ROME. With more than 100 Illustrations
-by the Author. Third Edition. 2 vols. crown 8vo. 24<i>s.</i></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">WANDERINGS IN SPAIN. With Illustrations. Fourth
-Edition. Crown 8vo. 7<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'Mr. Hare's book is admirable. We are sure no one will regret making it the
-companion of a Spanish journey. It will bear reading repeatedly when one is
-moving among the scenes it describes&mdash;no small advantage when the travelling
-library is scanty.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Saturday Review.</span></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'Here is the ideal book of travel in Spain; the book which exactly anticipates
-the requirements of everybody who is fortunate enough to be going to that
-enchanted land; the book which ably consoles those who are not so happy by
-supplying the imagination from the daintiest and most delicious of its stories.'
-&mdash;<span class="smcap">Spectator.</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="p09">'Since the publication of "Castilian Days," by the American diplomat, Mr. John
-Hay, no pleasanter or more readable sketches have fallen under our notice.'
-&mdash;<span class="smcap">Athen&aelig;um.</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF FRANCES
-BARONESS BUNSEN. With Portraits. 2 vols. crown 8vo. 24<i>s.</i></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE. 3 vols. crown 8vo.
-Vols. <abbr title="1">I</abbr>. and <abbr title="2">II</abbr>. 21<i>s.</i>; Vol. <abbr title="3">III</abbr>., with numerous
-Photographs, 10<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'The name of Hare is one deservedly to be honoured; and in these "Memorials,"
-which are as true and satisfactory a biography as it is possible to write, the author
-places his readers in the heart of the family, and allows them to see the hidden
-sources of life and love by which it is nourished and sustained.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Athen&aelig;um.</span></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'One of those books which it is impossible to read without pleasure. It conveys
-a sense of repose not unlike that which everybody must have felt out of service time
-in quiet little village churches. Its editor will receive the hearty thanks of every
-cultivated reader for these profoundly interesting "Memorials" of two brothers,
-whose names and labours their universities and church have alike reason to cherish
-with affection and remember with pride, who have smoothed the path of faith to so
-many troubled wayfarers, strengthening the weary and confirming the weak.'
-&mdash;<span class="smcap">Standard.</span></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'The book is rich in insight and in contrast of character. It is varied and full of
-episodes, which few can fail to read with interest; and as exhibiting the sentiments
-and thoughts of a very influential circle of minds during a quarter of a century, it
-may be said to have a distinct historical value.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Nonconformist.</span></p>
-
-<p class="p09">'A charming book, simply and gracefully recording the events of simple and
-gracious life. Its connection with the beginning of a great movement in the English
-Church will make it to the thoughtful reader more profoundly suggestive than many
-biographies crowded and bustling with incident. It is almost the first of a class of
-books the Christian world just now greatly needs, as showing how the spiritual life
-was maintained amid the shaking of religious "opinions"; how the life of the soul
-deepened as the thoughts of the mind broadened; and how, in their union, the two
-formed a volume of larger and more thoroughly vitalised Christian idea than the
-English people had witnessed for many days.'&mdash;<span class="smcap">Glasgow Herald.</span></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">FLORENCE. Fcp. 8vo. cloth limp, 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">VENICE. Fcp. 8vo. cloth limp, 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<hr class="r40" />
-<p class="center">London: SMITH, ELDER, &amp; CO. 15 Waterloo Place.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p>
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p class="p4"></p>
-<h3><a name="WORKS_BY_AUGUSTUS_J_C_HARE_2" id="WORKS_BY_AUGUSTUS_J_C_HARE_2"></a>WORKS BY AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE.</h3>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">LIFE AND LETTERS OF FRANCES, BARONESS BUNSEN.
-<em>Fourth Edition.</em> With Portraits.
-2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 21<i>s.</i></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">MEMORIALS OF A QUIET LIFE. 3 vols., crown 8vo.
-Vols. <abbr title="1">I</abbr>. and <abbr title="2">II</abbr>., Cloth, 21<i>s.</i> (<em>Nineteenth Edition</em>); Vol. <abbr title="3">III</abbr>., with
-numerous Photographs, Cloth, 10<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"One of those books which it is impossible to read without pleasure. It
-conveys a sense of repose not unlike that which everybody must have felt
-out of service time in quiet little village churches. Its editor will receive
-the hearty thanks of every cultivated reader for these profoundly interesting
-'Memorials' of two brothers, whose names and labours their universities
-and Church have alike reason to cherish with affection and remember with
-pride, who have smoothed the path of faith to so many troubled wayfarers,
-strengthening the weary and confirming the weak."&mdash;<cite>Standard.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">DAYS NEAR ROME. With more than 100 Illustrations
-by the Author. <em>Third Edition.</em> 2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 7<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">WALKS IN ROME. <em>Sixteenth Edition.</em> Revised by the
-<span class="smcap">Author</span> and <span class="smcap">St. Clair Baddeley</span>. With 3 Plans
-and Illustrations showing recent discoveries. 2 vols., fcap. 8vo,
-Cloth limp, 10<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"The best handbook of the city and environs of Rome ever published....
-Cannot be too much commended."&mdash;<cite>Pall Mall Gazette.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"This book is sure to be very useful. It is thoroughly practical, and is
-the best guide that has yet been offered."&mdash;<cite>Daily News.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"Mr. Hare's book fills a real void, and gives to the tourist all the latest
-discoveries and the fullest information bearing on that most inexhaustible
-of subjects, the city of Rome.... It is much fuller than 'Murray,' and
-any one who chooses may know how Rome really looks in sun or shade."&mdash;<cite>Spectator.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">WALKS IN LONDON. <em>Seventh Edition, revised.</em> With
-additional Illustrations. 2 vols., fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 12<i>s.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"One of the really valuable as well as pleasant companions to the peripatetic
-philosopher's rambling studies of the town."&mdash;<cite>Daily Telegraph.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">WESTMINSTER. Reprinted from "Walks in London,"
-as a Handy Guide. <em>Third Edition.</em> 120 pages. Paper Covers,
-6<i>d.</i> <em>net</em>; Cloth, 1<i>s.</i></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">WANDERINGS IN SPAIN. With 17 Full-page Illustrations.
-<em>Eighth Edition.</em> Fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 3<i>s.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"Here is the ideal book of travel in Spain; the book which exactly
-anticipates the requirements of everybody who is fortunate enough to be
-going to that enchanted land; the book which ably consoles those who are
-not so happy by supplying the imagination from the daintiest and most
-delicious of its stories."&mdash;<cite>Spectator.</cite></p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">CITIES OF SOUTHERN ITALY AND SICILY.
-With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 10<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"Mr. Hare's name will be a sufficient passport for the popularity of his
-work. His books on the Cities of Italy are fast becoming as indispensable
-to the traveller in that part of the country as the guide-books of
-Murray or of Baedeker.... His book is one which I should advise all
-future travellers in Southern Italy and Sicily to find room for in their
-portmanteaus."&mdash;<cite>Academy.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">CITIES OF NORTHERN ITALY. <cite>Second Edition.</cite>
-With Illustrations. 2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 7<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"We can imagine no better way of spending a wet day in Florence or
-Venice than in reading all that Mr. Hare has to say and quote about the
-history, arts, and famous people of those cities. These volumes come
-under the class of volumes not to borrow, but to buy."&mdash;<cite>Morning Post.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">CITIES OF CENTRAL ITALY. <em>Second Edition.</em> With
-Illustrations. 2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 7<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">SKETCHES IN HOLLAND AND SCANDINAVIA.
-Crown 8vo, with Illustrations, Cloth, 3<i>s.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"This little work is the best companion a visitor to these countries can
-have, while those who stay at home can also read it with pleasure and
-profit."&mdash;<cite>Glasgow Herald.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">STUDIES IN RUSSIA. Crown 8vo, with numerous
-Illustrations, Cloth, 6<i>s.</i></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"Mr. Hare's book may be recommended as at once entertaining and
-instructive."&mdash;<cite>Athen&aelig;um.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"A delightful and instructive guide to the places visited. It is, in fact,
-a sort of glorified guide-book, with all the charm of a pleasant and cultivated
-literary companion."&mdash;<cite>Scotsman.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">FLORENCE. <em>Sixth Edition.</em> Revised by the <span class="smcap">Author</span>
-and <span class="smcap">W. St. Clair Baddeley</span>. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 3<i>s.</i>
-With 2 Plans and 30 Illustrations.</p>
-
-<p class="hang50">VENICE. <em>Sixth Edition.</em> Revised by the <span class="smcap">Author</span> and
-<span class="smcap">W. St. Clair Baddeley</span>. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 3<i>s.</i> With
-2 Plans and 17 Illustrations.</p>
-
-<p class="p09">"The plan of these little volumes is excellent.... Anything more
-perfectly fulfilling the idea of a guide-book we have never seen."&mdash;<cite>Scottish
-Review.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">THE RIVIERAS. Fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 3<i>s.</i> With 67
-Illustrations.</p>
-
-<p class="hang50">PARIS. <em>New Edition, revised.</em> With 50 Illustrations.
-Fcap. 8vo, Cloth limp, 6<i>s.</i> 2 vols., sold separately.</p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">DAYS NEAR PARIS. With Illustrations. Crown 8vo,
-Cloth, 6<i>s.</i>; or in 2 vols., Cloth limp, 6<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">NORTH-EASTERN FRANCE. Crown 8vo, Cloth,
-6<i>s.</i> With Map and 86 Woodcuts.</p>
-
-<p class="p09">Picardy&mdash;Abbeville and Amiens&mdash;Paris and its Environs&mdash;Arras and
-the Manufacturing Towns of the North&mdash;Champagne&mdash;Nancy and the
-Vosges, &amp;c.</p>
-
-<p class="hang50">SOUTH-EASTERN FRANCE. Crown 8vo, Cloth,
-6<i>s.</i> With Map and 176 Woodcuts.</p>
-
-<p class="p09">The different lines to the South&mdash;Burgundy&mdash;Auvergne&mdash;The Cantal&mdash;Provence&mdash;The
-Alpes Dauphinaises and Alpes Maritimes, &amp;c.</p>
-
-<p class="hang50">SOUTH-WESTERN FRANCE. Crown 8vo, Cloth,
-6<i>s.</i> With Map and 232 Woodcuts.</p>
-
-<p class="p09">The Loire&mdash;The Gironde and Landes&mdash;Creuse&mdash;Corr&egrave;ze&mdash;The
-Limousin&mdash;Gascony and Languedoc&mdash;The Cevennes and the Pyrenees,
-&amp;c.</p>
-
-<p class="hang50">NORTH-WESTERN FRANCE. Crown 8vo, Cloth,
-6<i>s.</i> With Map and 73 Woodcuts.</p>
-
-<p class="p09">Normandy and Brittany&mdash;Rouen&mdash;Dieppe&mdash;Cherbourg&mdash;Bayeux&mdash;Caen&mdash;Coutances&mdash;Chartres&mdash;Mont
-S. Michel&mdash;Dinan&mdash;Brest&mdash;Alen&ccedil;on, &amp;c.</p>
-
-<p class="p09">"Mr. Hare's volumes, with their charming illustrations, are a reminder
-of how much we miss by neglecting provincial France."&mdash;<cite>Times.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"The appreciative traveller in France will find no more pleasant, inexhaustible,
-and discriminating guide than Mr. Hare.... All the volumes
-are most liberally supplied with drawings, all of them beautifully executed,
-and some of them genuine masterpieces."&mdash;<cite>Echo.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="p09">"Every one who has used one of Mr. Hare's books will welcome the
-appearance of his new work upon France.... The books are the most
-satisfactory guide-books for a traveller of culture who wishes improvement
-as well as entertainment from a tour.... It is not necessary to go to the
-places described before the volumes become useful. While part of the
-work describes the district round Paris, the rest practically opens up a new
-country for English visitors to provincial France."&mdash;<cite>Scotsman.</cite></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">SUSSEX. <em>Second Edition.</em> With Map and 45 Woodcuts.
-Crown 8vo, Cloth, 6<i>s.</i></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">SHROPSHIRE. With Map and 48 Woodcuts. Cloth, 6<i>s.</i></p>
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">THE STORY OF TWO NOBLE LIVES. <span class="smcap">Charlotte,
-Countess Canning, and Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford.</span>
-In 3 vols. Crown 8vo, Cloth, &#163;1, 11<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> Illustrated
-with 11 engraved Portraits and 21 Plates in Photogravure from
-Lady Waterford's Drawings, 8 full-page and 24 smaller Woodcuts
-from Sketches by the Author.</p>
-
-<p class="p09">Also a Special Large Paper Edition, with India Proofs of the
-Plates. Crown 4to, &#163;3, 3<i>s.</i> <em>net</em>.</p>
-
-<p class="hang50">THE GURNEYS OF EARLHAM: Memoirs and Letters
-of the Eleven Children of <span class="smcap">John</span> and <span class="smcap">Catherine Gurney</span> of
-Earlham, 1775-1875, and the Story of their Religious Life under
-many Different Forms. Illustrated with 33 Photogravure Plates
-and 19 Woodcuts. In 2 vols., crown 8vo, Cloth, 25<i>s.</i></p>
-<p class="tdr">[<em>Second Edition.</em></p>
-
-<p class="hang50">BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: Memorial Sketches
-of <span class="smcap">Arthur Penrhyn Stanley</span>, Dean of Westminster; <span class="smcap">Henry
-Alford</span>, Dean of Canterbury; Mrs. <span class="smcap">Duncan Stewart</span>; and
-<span class="smcap">Paray le Monial</span>. Illustrated with 7 Portraits and 17 Woodcuts.
-Crown 8vo, Cloth, 6<i>s.</i></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">THE STORY OF MY LIFE: 1834 to 1870. Vols. <abbr title="1">I</abbr>.
-to <abbr title="3">III</abbr>. Recollections of Places, People, and Conversations, from
-Letters and Journals. Illustrated with 18 Photogravure Portraits
-and 144 Woodcuts from Drawings by the Author. Crown 8vo,
-Cloth, &#163;1, 11<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">THE STORY OF MY LIFE: 1870 to 1900. Vols. <abbr title="4">IV</abbr>.
-to <abbr title="6">VI</abbr>. With 12 Photogravure Plates and 247 Woodcuts. Crown
-8vo, Cloth, &#163;1, 11<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<hr class="r40" />
-
-
-<p class="center"><em>BY THE LATE AUGUSTUS WILLIAM HARE</em></p>
-<p class="center p06"><em>RECTOR OF ALTON BARNES</em></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">THE ALTON SERMONS. <em>Fifth Edition.</em> Crown 8vo,
-6<i>s.</i></p>
-
-
-<p class="hang50">SERMONS ON THE LORD'S PRAYER. Crown 8vo,
-1<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p>
-
-<p class="center"><em>GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD, LONDON</em></p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-<p class="p4"></p>
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span></p><h3><a name="THE_STORY_OF_MY_LIFE" id="THE_STORY_OF_MY_LIFE"></a>THE STORY OF MY LIFE</h3>
-
-<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By</span> AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE</p>
-
-<p class="center">Vols. <abbr title="1">I</abbr>. to <abbr title="3">III</abbr>. Crown 8vo, &#163;1, 11s. 6d.</p>
-<p class="center">Vols. <abbr title="4">IV</abbr>. to <abbr title="6">VI</abbr>. Crown 8vo, &#163;1, 11s. 6d.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="r40" />
-<p class="center"><em>PRESS NOTICES</em></p>
-
-<p>"The story is full of varied interest.... Readers who know
-how to pick and choose will find plenty to entertain them, and
-not a little which is well worth reading."&mdash;<cite>The Times.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare gives an idyllic picture of the simple, refined,
-dignified life at Lime.... The volumes are an inexhaustible
-storehouse of anecdote."&mdash;<cite>Daily News.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"The reader rarely comes across a passage which does not
-afford amusement or pleasant entertainment."&mdash;<cite>The Scotsman.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"One may safely predict that this will be the most popular
-book of the season.... We have not space to point out a
-twentieth part of the passages that might be described as having
-a special interest. Moreover, though the book is, among other
-things, a repertory of curious occurrences and amusing anecdotes,
-it is much more remarkable as a book of sentiment and
-character, and a story of real life told with remarkable fulness."&mdash;<cite>The
-Guardian.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"A book which will greatly amuse the reader."&mdash;<cite>The
-Spectator.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Much of what the author has to tell is worthy the telling,
-and is told with considerable ease and grace, and with a power
-to interest out of the common. He introduces us to the best of
-good company, and tells many excellently witty stories....
-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>
-Whenever he is describing foreign life he is at his best; and
-nothing can exceed the beautiful pathos of the episodes in which
-his mother appears. Indeed, he has the gift of tenderness for
-all good women and brave men."&mdash;<cite>Daily Telegraph.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"This autobiography could not fail to be exceptionally interesting.
-There may be readers who will protest that the
-more minute details of daily life might have been abridged with
-advantage, but the aim of the book makes this elaborate treatment
-of the subject indispensable. The conscientious record
-of a mental development amid curious surroundings, would
-make these volumes valuable if not a single name of note were
-mentioned.... Even more interesting than the stories of
-people and things that are still remembered are the glimpses
-of a past which is quickly fading out of recollection."&mdash;<cite>The
-Standard.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"The book is unexceptionable on the score of taste.... It
-is an agreeable miscellany into which one may dip at random
-with the certainty of landing something entertaining, rather
-than an autobiography of the ordinary kind. The concluding
-chapter is full of a deep and tender pathos."&mdash;<cite>The Manchester
-Guardian.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare's style is graceful and felicitous, and his life-history
-was well worth writing. The volumes simply teem with
-good things, and in a single article we can but skim the surface
-of the riches they contain. A word must also be said of the
-beauty and delicacy of the illustrations. Few living men dare
-brave criticism by giving us the story of their lives and promising
-more. But Mr. Hare is quite justified. He has produced
-a fascinating work, in some parts strange as any romance, and
-his reminiscences of great men are agreeable and interesting."&mdash;<cite>Birmingham
-Gazette.</cite></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>"An inexhaustible storehouse of anecdote."&mdash;<cite>South-Western
-News.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"These volumes possess an almost unique interest because
-of the striking series of portraits we get in them, not so much of
-celebrities, of whom we often hear enough, but of 'originals' in
-private life.... They give us a truly remarkable picture of
-certain sections of European society, and, above all, introduce
-us to some singularly quaint types of human character."&mdash;<cite>Glasgow
-Herald.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Brimful of anecdotes, this autobiography will yield plenty of
-entertainment. We should like to quote many a characteristic
-little tale, but must content ourselves by heartily recommending
-all who care for the pleasantest of pleasant gossip concerning
-famous people and places to procure these three volumes."&mdash;<cite>Publisher's
-Circular.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare has an easy, agreeable style, and tells a story with
-humour and skill."&mdash;<cite>The Saturday Review.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"It would be well for all who think the children of to-day are
-over-pampered and too much considered, to read Mr. Hare's
-life."&mdash;<cite>Lady's Pictorial.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Very delicate, idyllic, and fascinating are the pictures the
-author has drawn of daily life in old rectories and country
-houses."&mdash;<cite>The World.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare has the gift, the rare gift, of writing about himself
-truthfully. Nor can a quick eye for shades of character be
-denied to Mr. Hare, who does not seem ready to take people at
-their own estimate or even at what may be called their market
-price. But we do not detect a touch of malice, but only that
-knack of telling the truth which is so hateful to the ordinary
-biographer, and so distasteful to that sentimental public which
-is never so happy as when devouring sugared falsehoods."&mdash;<cite>The
-Speaker.</cite></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>"The book has throughout a strong human interest. It
-contains a great many anecdotes, and in our opinion, at all
-events, deserves to take rank among notable biographical
-works."&mdash;<cite>Westminster Gazette.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"A deeply interesting book. It is the story of a man who
-has seen much and suffered much, and who out of the fulness of
-his experience can bring forth much to interest and entertain....
-The book has a wealth of apt quotations and graceful
-reference, and though written in a scholarly and cultured way,
-it is always simple and interesting.... Nothing in the work
-has been set down in malice; there are excuses for everybody....
-Of course it is hardly necessary to say that the book
-teems with entertainment from beginning to end."&mdash;<cite>St. James's
-Budget.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"There is much besides human character and incident in
-these well-packed and well-illustrated volumes.... No one
-will close the work without a feeling not only of gratitude for a
-long gallery of interesting and brilliantly-speaking portraits, but
-of sympathy with the biographer."&mdash;<cite>The Athen&aelig;um.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"It is doubtful whether any Englishman living has had a
-wider acquaintance among people worth knowing in England
-and on the Continent, than the author of these memoirs. It is
-also doubtful whether any man, with equal opportunities, could
-have turned them to so good an account.... We have here
-an incomparable storehouse of anecdotes concerning conspicuous
-persons of the first half of this Victorian age."&mdash;<cite>New York Sun.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"This is assuredly a book to read."&mdash;<cite>Freeman.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Singularly interesting is this autobiography.... Altogether
-it is a notable book, and may well be recommended to
-those who are interested in the intellectual life of our time."&mdash;<cite>New
-York Herald.</cite></p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare's excellence, apart from felicity of style and
-directness of method, has ever been conspicuous by the excellence
-that comes of wide knowledge of his subject, and a
-keenly sympathetic nature. Alive as he has ever been to
-responsive emotion, he possesses also a bright humour that
-seizes upon the discrepancies, the nuances and quaintnesses of
-whatever comes within the range of his eye and pen. These
-qualities have made for Mr. Hare a circle of admirers who,
-while they have sought in his pages no very thrilling passages,
-have felt steadily the growth of a liking given to an old friend
-who is always kindly and oftentimes amusing.... Mr. Hare
-dwells with a rare and touching love upon his mother, and
-these passages are amongst the most appealing in the book."&mdash;<cite>Philadelphia
-Courier.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare has given us a picture of English social life that
-for vividness, picturesqueness, and completeness, is not excelled
-in literature. There is a charming lack of attempt to be literary
-in the telling of the story&mdash;a refreshing frankness and quaintness
-of expression. He takes his readers with him so that they
-may breathe the same social atmosphere in which he has spent
-his life. With their own eyes they see the things he saw, and
-best of all they have freedom to judge them, for Mr. Hare does
-not force himself or his opinions upon them."&mdash;<cite>New York Press.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare's memoirs are their own excuse for being, and
-are a distinct addition to the wide and delightful realm of
-biographical literature."&mdash;<cite>Chicago Journal.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"It is rarely that an autobiography is planned on so ample a
-scale, and yet, to tell the truth, there are singularly few of these
-pages which one really cares to skip."&mdash;<cite>Good Words.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"A sad history of Mr. Hare's childhood and boyhood this is
-for the most part, but there were bursts of sunshine in Augustus
-Hare's life&mdash;sunshine shed around him by the kindly, noble-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>minded
-lady who is called mother all through these volumes,
-and for whom his reverence and gratitude deepened with years."&mdash;<cite>Clifton
-Society.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"The 'Story of My Life' is no commonplace autobiography,
-and plunge in where you may, there is something to interest and
-attract."&mdash;<cite>The Sketch.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"No one can read these very fascinating pages without feeling
-that what their author has written is absolutely that which no
-other would have ventured to say of him, and what not one in a
-million would have told concerning himself. There is a wonderful
-charm of sincerity in what he discloses as to his own feelings,
-his likes and dislikes, his actions and trials. He lays
-open, with photographic fidelity, the story of his life."&mdash;<cite>New
-York Churchman.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"These fair volumes might be labelled the Literature of Peace.
-They offer an outlook on life observant, and yet detached, from
-the turmoil of disillusion."&mdash;<cite>New York Times.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare has written an autobiography that will not soon
-be forgotten."&mdash;<cite>Chicago Tribune.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"The story of Mr. Hare's literary life is most entertaining,
-and the charm of the work lies pre-eminently in the pictures of
-the many interesting and often famous men and women whom
-he has known."&mdash;<cite>Boston Congregationalist.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare's story is an intensely interesting one, and his
-style, which at first appears to be diffuse, is soon seen to be
-perfectly well adapted to the writer's purpose.... These
-volumes are full of the most valuable and attractive material
-for the student of human nature."&mdash;<cite>The Book Buyer.</cite></p>
-
-<p>"Mr. Hare's story contains no touches of egotism, but is
-always plain, honest, and straightforward. It is distinctly
-worth reading."&mdash;<cite>London Literary World.</cite></p>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-<p class="center"><i>GEORGE ALLEN, 156, CHARING CROSS ROAD, LONDON</i></p>
- </div>
- </div>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
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-</pre>
-
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