Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-07-30

trees and houses closely resemble big lot
of Nuremberg toys Just unpacked. Imag-
inc a double row Of dwellings, all squat,
all pretty, all spotlessly, clean, all paint
ed in vivid colors, all built exactly in the
same way, with the same materials, plac-
ed in two long lines, symmetrically in
tersected by straw colored woodwork.
Before these two lines of houses plant
two rows of little old trees, with thick
trunks and sparse foliage, all clipped,
shaped and pointed; all of the same size
and forming kindof screen, no thicker
or higher at one end than at the other,
nor in the middle than at the two extreml-
ties. Then, in the street-dusted, clean
ed, scraped unremittingly where the
houses are washed and waxed until you
could not find spot upon them, nor so
much as straw lying about where the
trees have brushed and combed look,
and not leaf is out of its place; picture
a population of honest folk all dressed
after the same fashion-the son like the
father and the father like the grandfather;
the little girl like the grown up girl and
the mamma like the old grandmother,
and YOU have Woremeldingen as nearly
MS can give You an idea of the place.
Be careful to remember that each little
house, taken separately, is pretty bon
bon box and that the costumes, taken
separately, are charming. These peas
ants, great and small, dressed entirely in
velvet and black cloth, with their knee
breeches their coarse stockings, their
shoes with silver buckles, their high
waistcoats with double row of buttons
in fiigree silver, their coats cut into their
waists, their belts with silver clasps and
their gold buttons at the neck, look re-
markably we'll Complete this costume
by q gracefully shaped felt hat, the brim
raised behind and sloping in front, SO
that it forms sort of visor, and you will
have n notion of the dress which is worn
in d-Beveland This costume looks
pretty Oh the children, elegant on the
men and picturesque on the old people
and it is always and everywhere most
original and characteristic. The uniform
of the women-for I really must call it so
is equally curious and equally tasteful.
From their most tender youth to the
pitiless age at which the body, bent by
years, is bowed down toward the earth
soon to be its last resting place, the form
and arrangement of the women's attire
are unvariable From the cradle to the
tomb all the stout peasants have bare
arms, the bust confined by very tight
bodice, over which lies, in graceful folds,
a handkerchief, fastened by coral
brooch. The face is framed i'll a Golf
with wide borders. which, resembles a
veil rather than a cap. A flat piece of
gold hangs down on the forehead; cork
screws OF gold adorn the temples on the
neck is coral necklace rings and
brooches abound-in a word, these women
wear a profusion Of valuable ornaments.
So much for the upper part of the figure,
which is highly adorned and generally
slim and delicate The slenderness of
the womens figures is rendered more
striking by an enormous petticoat, three
yards wide, which is held out by n mon
strous hoop resembling bell the body,
from the waist up, representing the
handle, a.l the two slender legs the clap
per. When seen from distance thus
attired aud standing still, the women
might easily he taken for large dolls. The
ruined houses, the mutilated buildings,
the torn up squares transformed into pits
and holes, all form hideous scene Of
ruin and devastation and i'll the midst Of
it all the author places a group of pretty
girls, iii the widely-hooped costume of
the period, laughing behind their fans at
the indiscreet speeches of a gallant cava-
lier. Perhaps he wants to make the
frightful picture that he places before
our eyes seem more striking from this
contrast
The interior Of the vast and ancient
church presents Il mournful aspect. Its
wii9 nare terminates i'll Il ruin it Is sep
arated by wooden partition from
ha lafta
formed into IL covered passage which leads
from one end of the quarter to another,
opens upon space once occupied by the
choir, which has long since disappeared.
Nothing can be more impressive than this
great empty piece of ground, covered
with briers, where there are few great
trees, where the grass grows hard, dry
and scanty, as though in a cemetery, and
where the eye seeks in vain among the
undulations of the soil for traces Of the
vanquished choir. Those great ogival
bays, now masked by common masonry,
and those majestic arcades, whose fine
architectural curves remain unfinished,
produce a dreary effect Still more
melancholy is the transept, which has
been transformed into passage, and is
now receptacle for multilated tombs,
lituultSS DIohtu SIuNc SItDs-
A great company of heroes have been laid
to rest in this noble sanctuary. The an
cient seigneurs of Bergen had their place |
of sepulture within its precincts and,
after them, the governors of the city.
Morgan, who repulsed the duke OF Par
ma Louis of Kethel, who opposed |
Spnosa, were inferred here. The graft
tude Of the inhabitants had decreed pomp-
Gus inscriptions, bas reliefs and statues
of these valiant heroes they rested under
the shadow of great porticos of marble /;
but the cannon of 1747 disturbed their |
eternal slumber, and mingled their ashes
by breaking into their tombs. OF all |
these superb monuments there remains
only few fragments, and we may think
ourselves fortunate to be able to make |
out from whence they came -Harard's
Heart Of Holland.