Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1870-05-19
MISCELLANEOUS.
THE PAINTER or ROTTERDAM.
BIZ AnfEI1A B. hpwAnps.

MY father was a trader snd distiller at
Schiedam, on the Mas. Without being
wealthy we enjoyed the means of pro-
. curing every social cemfort We gave
ie and received visits from few old friends,
ius we went occasionally to the theater, and
my father had his tulip garden and sum-
va mer-house at q little distance from Schie-
~ damon the banks of the canal which
connects the town with the river.
tri-J But my father and mother, whose Only
!, child I was. cherished one dream of ambi-
ton, in which, fortunately, my own taste
led me to. participate. They wanted me
to became painter.
- 49," /" Let me but see picture by Franz
= q Linden IN the gallery at Rotterdam" said
iin my father, "andI shall die happy"
So at fourteen years of age was re-
moved from school, and placed in the
classes of Messer Kesler, an artist living
,1sa at Delft. Here made such progress that
an by the time had reached my nineteenth
81 birthday WAS transferred to the, Gtelier
of Hans Van Roos, descendant of the
celebrated family of that name. Van
Roos was not more than thirty eight or
forty years of age, and had already ac-
quired considerable reputation 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
our annual exhibition, and for portraiture
4 he numbered among his masters most of
& the wealthy merchants and burgomasters
of the city. Indeed, there could be no
question that my master was rapidly ac-
hr curing a fortune commensurate with his
H popularity.
sq Still he was not a cheerful man. It was
h whispered by the pupils that he had met
with a disappointment in early life-that
.ghi he had loved, been accepted, and on the
eve of marriage had been rejected by
the lady for q more wealthy suitor. He
came from Freisland, in the north of Hol-
land, when very young man. He had
always been the same gloomy, pallid,
labor1oving citizen. He was sparing of
poor This every one could tell you, and
le no one knew more. sHsst
The number of his pupils was limited to
2 Fl six He kept US constantly at work, and
scarcely permitted us to exchange a word
s with each other during the day. Stand
10 ing there among us silently, with the light
from above pouring down upon his
o-o rpallid face, and becoming absorbed in the
folds of his long, black dressing gown, he
~ looked almost like some stern old por-
trait himself To tell the truth, we were
all somewhat afraid of him. Not that he
assumed any undue authority; on the con-
a. trary, he was stately, silent, and frigidly
polite but his politeness had in it some
thing oppressive, and we were all happier
out of bis presence. None of us resided
p under his roof had second floor in a
~ neighboring street. and two of my fellow
students eccupied rooms in the same
house We used to meet at night in each
sn others chambers, and make excursions to
the exhibitions and theatres, and some
times, on a summers evening, we would
hire a pleasure boat and row a mile or
gs two down the river. We were merry
~ enough then, and not quite so silent, /
promise, as in the gloomy studio.
In the meantime was anxious to CLEAN
every benefit from my masters instruc-
tions. / improved rapidly, and my paint
ings soon excelled those of the other five.
My taste did notincline to sacred subjects.
Z like that of Van Roos, but rather to the
- familiar rural scenes of Bergham and Paul
no Potter, It was my delight to wander
: along the rich pasture lands, to watch the
r. r amber sunset, the herds coming home to
the dairy, the lazy wind-mills scarcely
ruffled by the passage OF the public
trecEshAvf (cana1 boat). In depicting
scenes of this nature,
1.-THE slow canal, the yellow -bloss somed vale,
'crl The wfllow-tufted bank, the gliding sail,
II was singularly fortunate. My master
never praised me by word or look, but
when my father came up one day from
a. y Schiedam to visit me, he drew me aside,
and in a voice audible to the rest, he told
"A him that Messer Linden would do cred
- it to the profession" which so delighted the
good distiller that he straightway took me
out with him for the day, and having
given me fifteen gold pieces as testimony
of his satisfaction, took me to dine with his
friend, the Burgomeister Won Gael 1t was
an eventful visit for me. Upon that even
'n ing first fell in love. E.,e
Few people, / think, would at that time
have denied the personal attractions ofGer-
trude Won. Gael Yet do not know that
1t was her features as much as her so tt
voice and gentle womanly grace that fas-
cinated me. .---= '
Z. Though SO young, she performed the
hono-s of her fathers princely table with
! seu possession and good breeding. In the
evening she sang some sweet German
songs to her own simple accompaniment.
!, = we talked of books and poetry, and /
found her well-read in English, French
and German literature We spoke of art,
and she displayed both Judgment and en-.
husiasm,