The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-12-17
Bv JERoATE K. JEROME.

EtK uE4EAllAE4 IA - h l'%----~s
p T is a delightful stroll on sunny my |
summer morning from me I
Hague to the Huis ten Boscn. I
the little house in the Wooos /
built for Princess Amalia1 WIDOW /
of StadhoIter Frederick Henry, I
under whom Holland escaped hnally /
from the bondage of her foes and en-
tered into the promised Iand OF Llo-
erty. Leaving the quiet streets, the /
tree bordered canals. with their creep +
amt park. where the soft-eyed deer
press around you, hurt and indignant
If YOU have brought nothing In your [
pocket, not even a piece OF sugar 70 |
offer them. It is not that they are
crashing. it is the want of attention
mat wounds them. f'I thought he was
a gentleman" they seem to be saying
to one another if you glance BACK ne l
looked like q gentleman IneF Hilu
ewes haunt you: on the next occasion
you do not forget The park meTges
Into the forest; you go by Wlndlng
wavs till YOU reach the trim Dutch
garden, mOat encircled, IN the centre (
of which stands the prlm5 old-Iasn-
Toned villa which to the simple Dutcn-
man. appears a palace. The conclenge, |
an old soldier, bows low 10 you
and introduces you to his WIFE, state I
IL white-haired dame who talks most
languages Ittle-so Iar as Ielales
to all things within and appertaining
to this tiny palace of the wood. 10
things without. beyond the wood. her
powers of conversation do not extend; /
apparently such matters do not interest
her She conducts YOU to the Chinese
room; the sun streams through the
windows. Illuminating the WondrouS
golden dragons standing out IN Dold
relief from the FURNISHED lacquer
work decorating still further with
light and shade the delicate silk en-
broideries thin taper hands have
woven with infinite pains. The walls
are hung with rice paper. depicting
the conventional scenes of the conven-
tionaI Chinese life. You find your
thoughts wondering These groteSque
figures, these caricatures of humanity!
A cOmicaI creature surely this China
man, the pantalOOn OF Europe How
useful he has been to US: for our
farces. our comic operas! This yellow
baby, in his ample pinafOre, who lived
thousands of years ago, who has now
passed into this strange second child
hood. But is he dying-or does the
life Of a nation wake again, as after
sleep? Is he this droIl harmless thing
he here depicts himself? And if nOt2
Suppose fresh sap is stirring through
his three hundred millions? We
thought he was so very dead, we
thought the time had come to cut him
up and divide him, the only danger be-
ing lest we should quarrel over his car
cass among ourselves. Suppose it turns
out as the fable of the WoOdcutter and
bear lying in the forest. At first he
was much frightened, but the bear lay
remarkably still. So the Woodman
crept nearer, ventured to kick the bear
very gently, ready to run if need be.
Surely the bear was dead And parts
OF a bear are good to eat, and bear
skis 20 poor voolfolk on cold winter
nights is grateful. So the WOodman
drew his knife and commenced the,
necessary preliminaries. But the bear
was not dead. If the Chinaman be not
dead? If the cuttng-up process has
only served to waken him In a little
time from now we shall know. From
the Chinese room, the White-haired
5-ne leads US to the japanese room.
Had the gentle-loOking Princess
Amalia some vague fOreshadoWing of
the future in her mind when she
planned these two rooms leading into
one another? The japanese decora-
lions are more grotesque, the designs
less cheerfully comical than those of
cousin Ch1naman. These monstrOus,
mis-shapen Wrestlers, these patient
looking gods with their inscrutable
eyes! Was it always there, or is it only
by the light of present 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 escaped 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 gorgeous Rubens schools: 1.-The De-
feat of the Vices Time Van
gushing SANDER, mostly auegorical,
in praise of all the virtues, in praise
of enlightenment and progress. APPLY
enough in a room so decorated here
was held the famous Peace Congress
that closed the last century. One can
hardly avoid smiling as one thinks of
the solemn conclave of grandees as
sembled to proclaim the popularity of
peace. It was in the autumn of the
same year that Europe decided upon
the partition of China that soldiers
were instructed by Christian monarchs
re massacre men, women and children,
the idea being to impress upon
the Heather Chinese the superior
civilization of the white man. The
Boer war followed almost imme-
ditely. Since when the white
man has been pretty busy all
over the world with his Expeditions
and his missions" The world un-
doubtedly is growing more refined. We
do not care for ugly words. Even