The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1910-09-15


pendence, to assert their com
mercial supremacy, to resist
the encroachment of foreign
powers, the men of Holland
have endured many wars and achieved
great triumphs. The days of these
land no longer has any pre-eminen'
greatness to defend, no greedy as
saults to repel. From centuries OF
strenuous effort she has drifted into
a quietly prosperous peace, her PEG
pie well content with the little which
they never lack, and bearing with
them a dignity and air of simple well
being which are the tokens of their
ancestry. Yet, unconcerned as they
may be with wars and rumors of wars
In the world of men. they are still
called to the daily exercise of the high
courage Of their race, for they have
ever at their gates foe never weary
Of attack, and they know well that the
least relaxation of wariness will bring
destruction. The peril of the sea al
all seasons is a thing which no nation
knows as we'll as Holland knows it
These men hold their land and bring
It to rich cultivation in the face OF
the great natural forces Of the world
Their country lies below sea-level, and
Is preserved from ruin by great en-
bankments thrown up round the coast
and a vast system Of canals which
make veritable network of the land
Herein lies the secret of the Dutch
mans greatness of character. He has
had no opportunity of becoming en-
feebled by security. The unceasing
conflict with the sea has become knit
up into the very ibers of the national
spirit, and has given to 1t strain
of silent self-reliance that could have
been born of no other cause. Silent
for this warfare is not as the warfare
of man with man, accompanied by the
clash of arms and blare of trumpets-
II lie carried on from year to year in
grim quietness against an enemy that
may be repulsed but that can never
be destroyed. 1t was by no mere
chance that the country's hero was
William the Silent
The Dutch landscape reflects the
national character in singularly
vivid manner. Narrow roads set with
small red bricks. trinity ordered gar
the cottages with their little rows of
Furnished copper and brass pans and
bowls set outside to sweeten In the
sun, the poles erected to attract the
storks at nesting time. the miniature
windmills for domestic use, the people
themselves in their bright blouses and
aprons and white sabots, the scrupu-
lous tidiness that prevails everywhere,
all combine to make up the impress
sion of a toy country where everything
is well ordered and mellow. Nowhere
is the traveller brought up in sudden
and breathless wonder before any
gorgeous spectacle, nowhere awed by
any sense of feverish activity. Desc
lation and grandeur are alike absent.
A beggar is hardly ever seen, ruin
never. The absence of these and of
all pomp of riches makes one forget
full of the inequality of things. And
then in the midst of all this pretty
unconcern is the everlasting symbol
Of the Dutchman's strength-the sails.
There is nothing small about these.
They are liberal and workmanlike,
full of dignity. Greedy for every
breath of wind, they bear the heavily
laden barges. beautiful from water-line
to masthead, down the great canals
from sea to sea. They move with q
measured dignity which deepens the
sense OF calm which is over the whole
landscape, and adds to 1t strength and
nobility of character. Everything that
the Hollander does under the spell of
the waters is informed by large and
generous spirit of power and fitness.
II he has to build a house, he at
tempts to achieve beauty, and be-
comes ornate and wholly undisting-
uished; but when he turns his hand
10 the great windmills which girt the
sides of his canals, he works by In
stinct rather than by design, and
shows himself to be possessed of a
feeling for proportion and line which
In impeccable.
1t is this innate suggestion of beau
ty and rightness In the canal life of
the country that gives to the wonder
full calm of the landscape Its crown
ing glory. Flat pastures sweep out
on all sides to a far horizon where
lines and colors stand out with singu-
lar clearness and brilliance. Sleek
black and white cattle are confined
TO their rightful meadows by' smaller
canals which serve as hedges, for the
people have put their mastery over
Fresh YOUNG People.