East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1859-12-15
From Chambers Journal.
The Painter and his Pupil.
A FLEMISH STORY.

, Ny father was trader and dstiller a
Schiedam, on the Mas. Without being
wealthy, we enjoyed the means of pro
curing every social comfort. We CAV,
and received visits from few old friends
we went occasionally to the theatre; ant
my father had his tulip-gardcn and sum
mer-house at little distance from Schie
dam, on the banks of the canal which
connects the town with the river.
But my father and mother, whose only
child / was, cherished one dream of ambi
ton, in which, fortunately, my own tast,
led me to participate: they wanted me t.
become painter. "Let me but see
picture by Franz Linden in the gallery
at Rotterdam" said my father, "and ]
shall die happy" So, at fourteen years
OF age, L was removed from school, and
placed in the classes Of Messer Kesler
an artist living at Delft. Here made
such progress, that by the time / had
reached my nineteenth birthday, was
transferred to the atelier of Hans van
Roos, descendant of the celebrated
family of that name. Van Roos was not
more than thirty-eight or forty, and had
already acquired considerable reputa-
tion as painter of portraits and sacred
subjects. There was an altar-piece OF
his in one of our finest churches his
works had occupied the place of honor
for the last six years at the annual exhi-
bition; and for portraiture he numbered
among his patrons most of the wealthy
merchants and burgomasters of the city.
Indeed, there could be no question
that my master was rapidly acquiring a
fortune equal to his popularity.
Still, he was not cheerful man. 1t
was whispered by the pupils that he had
met with disappointment early in life
that he had loved, was accepted, and on
the eve of marriage, was rejected by the
lady for a more wealthy suitor. The
story, however, was founded merely on
conjecture, if not originated in pure ia
bic; for no one in Rotterdam knew the
history of his youth. He came from
Friesland, in the north of Holland, when
a very young man he had always been
the same gloomy, pallid, labor-loving
citizen. He was rigid Calvinist; he
was sparing of domestic expenditures,
and liberal to the poor: this every one
could tell you, and no one knew more.
The number of his pupils was limited
to six. He kept us continually at work,
and scarcely permitted us to exchange a
word with each other during the day
Standing there among us so silently, with
the light from above shining down upon
his pallied face, and, contrasting with the
sombre folds of his loug black dressing
gown, he looked almost like some stern
old picture himself. To tell the truth,
we were all afraid of him; not that he
was harsh, not that he assumed any over
bearing authority; on the contrary, he
was stately, silent, and frigidly polite;
and that was far more impressive None
of US resided in his house, for he lived in
the deepest seclusion. l had a second
fioor in neighboring street, and two of
my fellow students occupied rooms In the
same house. We used to meet at night
In each others chambers, and make ex-
cursions to the exhibitions and theatl es;
and sometimes, on a summers evening,
we would hire pleasure-boat, and row
for mile or two down the river. We
were merry enough then, and not quite
SO silent | promise you, as in the gloomy
studio of Hans van Roos.
In the mean time, was ambitious and
anxipus to CLEAN every benefit from my
masters instructions. / improved rapid
ly, and my paintings soon excelled those
of the other five. My taste did not in.
cline to sacred subjects, like that of Van
Roos, but rather to the familiar rural
style of Berghem and Paul Potter. 1t
was my great delight to wander along
the rich pasture-lands, to watch the am.
Der sunset, the herds going home to the
dairy, the lazy wind-mills, and the calm
clear waters of the canals, scarcely ruflled |
by the passage of the public treckschnyt
In depicting scenes of this nature
"rhe slow canal, the yellow. .bossomcd vale,
The wIllow-tufted bank the gliding sail'--
| was singularly fortunate Ny master
never praised me by word or look; but
when my father came up one day from
Schiedam to visit me, he drew him aside
utu tOiu hllli, III u VOICE lnauulDlc 10 tnc
rest, that "Messcr Franz would be a
credit to the profession" which so de-
lighted the good dstiler, that he straight
way took me out with him for the day,
and, after giving me fifteen gold pieces
as a testimony of his satisfaction, took
me to dine with his friend the burgo-
master, Won Gael. 1t was an evcntful
visit for me. On that evening l first
learned to love.
Few people, I think, would at that
time have denied the personal attractions
of Gertrude Won Gael; yet do not know
that it was so much her features as her
soft voice and gentle womanly grace that
50 completely fascinated me. Though
so young she performed the hoaors Of
her fathers princely table with sclf-pos-
session and good-breeding. In the even
ing, she sang some sweet German songs
to her own simple accompaniment. We
talked Of books and of poetry. / found
her well read in English, French, aud
German literature. We spoke of art;
and she discovered both judgment and
enthusiasm.
Aswc took our leave at night the bur-
gomastcr shook me warmly by the hand,