The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-05-05

milk farm near here, when he graciously
| conformed to the regulations of the danes
household by taking off his shoes. At the
| next corner we drew up to the canal where
was tied a worthless old hulk, which had
| been fitted up with lace curtains and other
| little fxings as saloon, where was served
piping hot delicious crumpets. The smart
people have started these enterprises to off
set the extravagant prices you must pay in
Holland for common articles of food. chop
| or steak or hack fare which would be a shll-
ling in England, franc in France, mark
in Germany, goes here for gullder, estaD-
| fishing prices upon this basis makes Hol-
land the most extrayagant country for trav-
| ellers. In the morning we saw the farmers
| wives and daughters walking into town in
their wooden Shoes with baskets of fruit,
fish and vegetables upon their heads;
| at noon we noticed the baskets held
the shoes and they had on coarse felt
ing slippers. This puzzled us a little,
| but we were told the mornings were very
wet and at noon they were glad to lay aside
| their heavy clogs as they walked many miles
| to market None of the people at the Hague
looked sloyenly or beggarly, and we decided
| If we couldn't be Yankees we would be
| Dutchmen. We visited the National Muse
UNI, where are many fine paintings of the
| Dutch masters. Paul Potter's Bull, of
course. We supposed, like many of our
| friends, that we all saw it at the Centennial;
but the old keeper, who has spent the best of
MS life at the museum, looked astonished at
such statement, and said emphatically,
Never. Holland never has, nor never will let
| 1t go beyond her bounds since the day it was
! brought home from France. A most excel
lent copy did go to England and America
| When peace was established after Waterloo,
France consented to return everything that
| was demanded bnt this picture which the
Emperor had held in his private collection.
| However, persistence and a handsome offer
| OF money from the King of Holland carried
the point. Here is Rembrandt's famous
| painting of the Anatomical Study--where
one doctor holds open and explains dissec-
ton of mans arm. We wish we had some
submarine Photographic art. by which we
| could transmit instantaneous impressions of
( these pictures as we write of them; but as
| the Invention of man is limited we will not
weary you with long lists of things we can
not bring to your vision.
| We drove out of the city through most lux
| uriant groves to IT Huis in t Bosch, or THE
| House in the Woods" the home of the late
| Queen, who died in 1877. This house, as it
| is too plain to be called palace, has been
a royal residence for three hundred years,
and belonged to the House of Orange in the
days of William and Mary. The ball room
| was built by the queen mother of the Prince
! Of Orange, who employed Rubens and some
| of his pupils, like Jordaens and Hondt-
| hurst, to decorate the walls, from the mop
| boards to tip of the vaulted roof, with scenes
! in the life of her husband. 1t was labor of
many years. The scenes begin with the
birth of the young Prince, where an angel
| hoyers ever his cradle to ward off the attack
| of Spanish tyrant, who is watching his
| chance to snatch the crown; then follows
| scenes of his boyhoods achievements; later
| is the tragedy, when the women of Holland
took up arms and drove the Spanish invaders
| from their coast and so on-the Princes
| marriage, the birth of his daughters, his
| military Victories and lastly is depicted his
widowed Queen with her daughters, mourn
| ing over the grave of the King AT first the
| bright costumes and multitude of faces filling
| every inch of space look much like scrap
| book or the broken figures in a kaleidoscope;
| but the whole makes a gorgeous apartment
| with the draperies and furniture of orange
damask, quite in harmony with the gay fes-
| rivals of antiquity. A Chinese and Japa-
| nese boudoir were shown, where were the
richest of Eastern decorations and furniture
| presented to the Queen on the fiftieth ami
| verSary of her coronation. The walls of
4 Il.
| dered silks or panelled with Japanese
| lacquer, on which are figures of pure gold.
| The royal breakfast set of china still stands
on thebuffet in the breakfast room.
King William the third, now full three
score years and ten, lives in modern pal
ace at ''The Hague" with his young wife of
| twenty-five and their little daughter, three
years DID, who may be queen; but political
| feeling runs high in Holland to-day; and the
| Nihilists are fomenting the discomfort of the
| lower classes. Many think if King Will
| lam's death should occur while his little
princess is yet child, that the sceptre of
royalty in Holland would be buried with
| him; but that is quite problematical, as his
| young wife is German, whose family would
| find itquite subseryient to their glory to lend
| a hand in upholding the young princess.
| These Germans are shrewdly marrying their
| royal children into the rich inheritances of
| neighboring countries; where they hope by
military power to do their part to sustain the
| tottering structures of monarchy. Last year,
| when King William was to open Parliament
| at The Hague his friends, fearing he would
i be in danger of losing his life, advised him
| not to do it in person, but he took the brav-
| est and shrewdest course in sending back
| the reply that he and his father had done
| too much for Holland to doubt the allegiance
| of their subjects. He came and went in
safety; at the same time it was understood
| if a boy threw a stone, or the least dis
turbance was made, the military was to open
| fire right and left The downfall of the
| principaiities and powers in western Europe
is sure to come whether by the concessions
| of royalty or revolutions of the masses the
| future will reveal.
The people here, as in England, look with
| envy and admiration upon America, and are
beginning to understand that they, too,
| might prosper were it not for the heavy taxa
| ton laid upon them to support the useless
luxury of a royal family King William en-
| joyed an immense income at the time of his
| second marriage, but of course the new wife
must have her private allowance; and as
soon as the little daughter appeared the
country was called upon to raise some thous-
ands of guilders as grateful offering for
her perspective services to the country To
raise this sum the people are taxed in every
| little way. One law is still kept up here,
though abolished in England. The tenant is
taxed as well as the owner Of the real estate.
A working man showed us his tax bill
amounting to twenty five dollars on rent of
| hundred and twenty-five. The tax is levied
on each window, fireplace and door, accord
ing to its size, and on the furniture. 1t is no
uncommon sight, even to-day, in the rural
districts of England to see windows boarded
up and chimHeys stopped. which was often
| done to lessen the taxes. This accounts for
the small and few windows and doors in old
| fashioned houses, since they were taxed for
the very sunlight and fresh air. The Dutch
have retained their national peculiarities of
| dress longer than most of the continental
1 81 IL.