New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-01
MODERN HOLLAND
People and Country, Their Ways
and Life.

! HOME LIFE IN HOLLAND. BY .. s.
! Medium. With twenty six illustrations.
12mo, PIP TX, $40. The Macmillan Com
! pany.
A decade ago Mr.. Meldrum puolished
Holland and the Hollanders,' DOCK
that still remains the best study OF 'he
country and its people written by 1or-
/ eigner. The Dutch are still conserVa-
tive. and still move slowly, cautiously.
The problems and tendencies Of their
modern evolution traced by MI Mel
drum then are still their main preoccu-
nations to-day, and where further steps
have been taken since. where the mod
ern spirit has brought about changes
and new conditions. the author duly
notes them in this new volume.
! This time he takes his point OF de-
parture in the foundation Of the state
the home. his subject naturally expand.
| ing to take in the family, education.
social life. religion-which in the Meth
erlands necessltates a consideration OF
politics-the revival Of agriculture on
modern principles and. finally, the In
fuence Of the Dutch East Indies in the
family.
Mr.. Medium. one gathers from an in
cidental reference in these pages, is In
search Of that elusive mystery, the
secret" of q national character-what
the French, with their usual lucidity,
call the soul Of people" It is search
much INDUCED in Of late, be 1t from the
literary point of view, as in the case OF
Russia, or from the sociological View
point so much applied Just now by the
French themselves to their neighbors Of
the entente cordidle across the channel,
not to mention the bewilderng array of
tones devoted to our own country and
its enormous population still in hux.
! The difficulty of the search lies partly
in a nations own Inconsistencies Of the
I existence in its character Of secret 10
be probed by foreign eyes, but partly
also in a purely instructive attempt to
shield it from alien observation.
In the case Of the Hollanders Mr.. Mel
drum approaches the secret from va
rious sides largely by antithesis, by con-
trasts and paradox He Of course. fol-
lows the old tradition that the Dutch
character has been formed chiefly by its
ase-long struggle with the waters that
threaten the land. but. ScOtchman that
he is, he has glimpsed the dour Puri-
tanism that made Dutch life unlovelv
for many years, and still survives,
| though with diminishing measure Of
influence. Paradoxes, indeed, he finds
many in the Low Countries, from the
political alliances between intolerant
Calvinistc Professionalism and ultra
montana" Roman Catholicism to a sys-
I tenn Of social classes as rigid and well
established and recognized as that Of
England itself and I'm a country no less
democratic in its theories and practice
Of government. The penetrating quality
of Mr. Meldrum's observation is perhaps
best demonstrated to those who know
the Hollander well by the following pas
sage:
While their habits are so stay-at-home.
their minds range freely over all fields of
speculation Their command of tongues
induces them 10 open the door TO every new
doctrine. They entertain strange prophets
and many a quack. But before the intrud-
or enters they turn an inner key upon their
convictions. Stckiers for ideas, they holl
fast 10 experience. Often incapable of com
promise. they vet never find il difficult t.
keep theory and practice distinct Like
Noltaire's journalist but in all honesty
they will not bet on the information they
are ready 10 swear 10. And therein as
often as not they are wise.
Elsewhere Mr.. Medium comments
shrewdly on the unsettled attitude of
Hollanders who have lived abroad
toward the ways of their country and
the views of their people. In brief. if
ar. Medium has not solved the secret"
he approaches it closely time and again,
and from different directions
His descriptions Of Dutch home life
itself have occasionally the informing
value Of the canvases Of the seventeenth
and eighteenth century little masters" Of
Holland. He visits the Dutch farmer at
home as well as the city dweller, and de-
votes some attention to the vanishing.
picturesque local costumes This in
quiry, he confesses, represents
"thwarted ambition" probably in the
direction OF tracing through these vari-
Gus dresses the Tristan, Saxon, Frank
ish, Saxon-F Tristan and Saxon Franksh-
Tristan clements of the population In
their present distribution and COM
mlngling. The chapters on education.
religion, the churches and politics are
informing so are the frequent references
to Dutch forms Of government and to
the ingenuities Of the Dutch system of
taxation.