The San Francisco call., 1904-07-17

IT is a delightful stroll on a sunny
summer morning from The Hague
TO the Huis ten Bosch, the little
house in the wood" built for
Princess Amalia, widow Of Stadtholter
Frederick Henry. under whom Holland
escaped finally from the bondage of
her foes and entered into the promised
land Of liberty Leaving the quiet
streets, the tree-bordered canals. with
their creeping barges. you pass through
pleasant park. where the soft-eyed
deer press around you, hurt and in
olgnant If you have brought nothing in
your pocket, not even a piece Of sugar
TO ofer them. 1t is not that they are
grasping. ii is the want Of attention
that wounds them. I thought he was
& gentleman" they seem 10 be saying
to one another if you glance back; he
looked Ike gentleman Their mild
eyes haunt you: on the next occasion
you do not forget. The park merges
into the forest; you go by winding ways
TIL you reach the trim Dutch garden.
noat encircled, in the center of which
stands the prim, old-fashioned villa
which TO the simple Dutchman appears
palace. The concierge, an old soldier.
bows low 10 you and introduces you
70 his wife. a stately white-haired
dame who talks most languages a lit
tie - so far as relatr- to all things
within and appertaining to this tiny
palace Of the wood To things without,
beyond the wood. her powe- Of con-
versation do not extend; apparently
such matters do not interest her. She
conducts you TO the Chinese room; the
Sun streams through the windows. il
. Eliminating the wondrous golden
dragons standing out in bold relief
from the FURNISHED lacquer work. deco
rating stil further with light and shade
the delicate silk embroideries thin taper
hands have woven with infinite pains.
The walls are hung with rice paper.
depicting the conventional scenes Of
the conventional Chinese life. You find
your thoughts wandering. These gro
tesQUe figures, these caricatures OF. bu-
manity! comicaI creature surely
this Chinaman, the pantaloon Of Eu-
rope. How useful he has been to rs.
Tor our farces, our comic operasi This
yellow baby, in his ample pinafore.
who lived thousands Of years ago. who
has now passed into this strange ser
ond childhood But is he dying-or
does the life OF a nation wake again.
as after sleep? Is he this droII harm
less thing he here depicts himself?
And II not. Suppose fresh sap is STIR
ring through his three hundred mill
hons2 We thought he was so very
dead, We thought the time had come
to cut him UP and divide him. the only
danger being lest we should quarrel
over his carcass among ourselves. Sup
pose II turns out as the fable Of the
|oodcutter and the bear? The wood
cutter found the bear lying in the for
est At first he was much frightened.
but the bear lay remarkably still. So
the woodnan crept nearer. ventured to
kick the bear-very gently, ready to
run II need be. Surely the bear was
oeadi And parts OF a bear are good to
eat, and bearskin to poor woodfolk on
cold winter nights IS grateful. So the
woodman drew his knife and commenc-
ed the necessary preliminaries. But the
bear was not dead. II the Chinaman
be not dead? II the cutting up process
has only served to waken him? In a
little time from now we shall know.
Prom the Chinese the white haired
dame leads US to the japanese room.
Had gentle-looking Princess Amalia
some vague foreshadowing of the fu-
ture IN her mind when she planned
these two rooms leading into one an
other? The japanese decorations are
more grotesque, the designs less cheer
fully cOmical than those Of cousin Chi
naman.
These monstrous, misshapen wrest-
lers, these patient-looking gods with
their inscrutable eyes, Was it always
there. or is it only by the light Of pres
ent events that one reads into the
fantastic fancies Of the artist working
long ago in the doorway Of his paper
house meaning that has hitherto es-
capped US? But the chief attraction Of
the Huis ten Bosch is the gorgeous
orange Saloon, lighted by a cupola,
fifty feet above the floor, the walls one
blaze Of pictures, chiefly Of the gor-
geous Rubens school; The Defeat of
the Vices" Time Vanquishing Sian
der most alIegorfcaI in ,rasse of