Thomas County cat., 1886-11-18
DUTCH CHARACTER

An Energetic and Sensible People Notad
Everywhere for Their Honesty.
The Dutch character partakes of the
soberness of the climate. Man is sub
| dued to what he works in. He can be
but relatively cheerful in relatively
| cherries climate. He must be serious
where nature is serious. Having
fought for ages with the sea. lived in
| it, sported with it, il became familiar
object to the Dutch. They ceased to
fear it, or to fear nations like the En-
glish, who were but little less am
phibiOus, and thought thty owned it.
So they made distant voyages to the
| Orient, planted colonies, and monopO-
lized ITS trade to the injury of the Port
uguese, and nearer home Van Tromp
swept the channel of the English with
| his broom. They received naturally
the ascetic doctrine of Calvin. 1t was
an unsmiling religion. and s;ited to Il
climate and 4 people that. not lacking
in humor, yet smiled rare y; though to
study some of their old painters. such
as Steen and Van Ostee.e, one would
think that their life was one prolonged
revel. AS a people the Dutch are not
| handsome. There arc handsome
types. but they have come in with
Flemish immigrations or by accidental
admiXture with some Of the blonde
tribes OF North Germany. They are
evidently not the old Batavians recog-
nized in history a hundred years before
the Christian era, and. by sim
| gular persistence of descent, per-
petuated till the present day. This
| perseverance of ancient types through
thousands of years of pestilence. of
submergcnce, of deso.ating wars. of
internecine contests, of successive I'M
migrations. is cne of the marveis of
history. The Flemish type is charac-
:erized by length of nose, breadth of
forehead, smallness of chin and short
ness of face; The true Dutch type has
length of nose, narrowncss of fore
head. thinneSs of feature. gauntness of
body and often considerable length Of
limb. These details are subject to
notifications. The types more nearly
| approaching it are those often seen in
Denmark. You can wander for days
through the streets. museums and pub
lie places of Amsterdam, Harlem, The
Haugue and Rotterdam and not meet
handsome woman, young or old. I'M
less she is foreigner. The climate,
| like that of Boston, proves more try
| ing to the gentler sex. This absence of
personal attractiveD ess in young wOm-
en- and girls is not without certain
| pathOs. The faces of old women be-
come thin as blade. the nose sharp rs u
needle, the complexion prctcrnatura!ly
clear and white. There is no room for
wrinkles OH surface SO small and
thin. Surmount this queer face with
one of the close-iitting white native
caps, and put about it 4 quantity of the
curious gold ornaments of the coun-
try. and you have Il personal ensemble
to be remembered.
The Dutch having received from
strong-charactered ancestry these dis
tinctive features of mind, face and
form, change them slowly. The aged
retain the ancient fashions: the mid
dle-aged and young yield gradually
to fashions dictates and the ineXOra-
bic spirit of progress. The peasant
retains his sabots and his simplicity.
The cities are becoming mOdernizcd
by degyees. Tney have fashionable
shops, and the new quarters are built
up in modern styles of architecture.
The influence of France is felt in the
Dutch cuisine. There are cafes every
where like those of Paris. but they give
you real cream to season the beverage.
Altogether the first impression made
on the stranger by the Dutch is that of
an energetic and sensible people. in
whom the infrequency Of personal
beauty and grace is more than atoned
for by honest courtesy and great good
ness of character. Albert .Sutlitc, in
San Francisco Chronicle.