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Che Conscrvatiw , 11
Ward's Horn of Plenty
Our famous no'tniddtemen-system of providing
alt the luxuries and necessities of life has been *
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work of five. THE HORN OF PLENTY IS
OPEW TO YOU WILL YOU TRY IT ?
ANNOUNCEMENT The spring and summer edition of
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the finest"and most complete book of its kind ever pub * * >
tished , containing over IOOO pages and I7OOO illustra
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IF IfOU HAVE-ORDERED goods front us In the past year , we will send ,
you a lOO'paga supplement containing all additions to our stock since
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logue , send ISc today andget our latest , It's the key to the door of prosperity.
Montgomery Ward C/O. , Chicago
The House thmt tells the truth.
produce to the market or to the seaport
of jHarliugen , or in disporting himself
on' the broad meres which dot his pro
vince in the southwest , and which provide -
vide him with such toothsome eels for
his table. The cows are in the barns ,
and the canals are frozen a foot thick.
It is time to put on skates and live the
merry winter life.
The average Dutchman of the South ,
although he can skate very well , looks
a little absurd on the ice. His short
legs and wide pantaloons are admirable
adjuncts to his nose , his thin beard , and
his , to us , curious expression.His
breadth , it is true , makes him look im
portant ; but if ho were less muscular ,
it would be a considerable hindrance to
him in battling with the wind , which in
winter is apt to make skating in one di
rection something of a trial.
' The Frieslander , however , is taller ,
better proportioned , and is quite a good-
looking man. The yellow beard which
\ he not infrequently wears seems to put
( him on a footing of affinity with the
\ ' members of the Anglo-Saxon family ;
ta his blue eyes "make assurance doubly
j ] sure. " He is a most wonderful creature
when once he has put on those quaint ,
old-fashioned skates of his , and he
thinks nothing of making a score of
; / : miles from one village to another before
you and I are out of bed. As for the
t- cold , what cares he for that ? He knows
that he must rely on his circulation to
keep him from being benumbed , how
ever well he may be clothed , aud he ap
pears more careful of his head which
is covered by a sealskin cap than of his
I'- ' ' body.
A Frieslaud canal in winter is as live
ly as anything can bo. The ice may not
be very good or of unquestionable
strength ; ' but no sooner are the boats
penned in and the broken pieces of ice
sufficiently welded to allow him to skate
between them , than his sport begins. It
is a feat of honor to be the first in the
district to cross the canal when the
wintry season is in its youth. The name
of the bold boy is remembered for a few
weeks ; and I have no doubt that his
pluck is rewarded by the esteem of the
cherry-cheeked girls of his province ,
whose eyes dance past one so brightly
when the ice festival is in full swing ,
and journeying is all done upon skates.
But to recur to some more general
features of life in this flat little corner
territory of Europe. I was astonished
at being told by several intelligent
Dutchmen that there is a great amount
of religious scepticism in the Nether-
lauds. I should as soon have expected
to hear a like accusation brought
against Scotland. Afterwards , how
ever , when I had had more time to visit
the churches and to watch the worthy
Dutchmen at their devotions , my sur
prise was greatly lessened. '
Almost all over Holland one sees a
succession of wrecked churches ; and a
dilapidated place of worship is about as
mournful a picture as I know of. I dis
tinctly remember wandering into one
large church while service Was in pro
gress. The drowsy voice oftho pastor
could bo heard eveu in the. beautiful ,
forlorn choir , which bad been boarded
away from the rest of the edifice. Once
upon a time it had been a magnificent
building. Now it was whitewashed , its
chiselled work had been beaten to pieces
with hammers , the brasses from the or
nate gravestones which paved it had
long-been torn away , and the very ex
crescences of the scrolls and flourishings
which adorned the epitaphs had been
scratched aud levelled by vandals.
Texts from the Commandments , the
Creed , and the Lord's Prayer wore
painted in dark colors upon the glowing
white columns of the choir. Where the
high altar had been , there was a com
mon table piled with boards and a cou
ple of ladders. The windows were of
ordinary glass , and through a broken
pane the cold winter's wind blow upon
this unedifying scene. And all the
Vfhile on the other side of the wooden
screen , in the cosy body of the church ,
there were three or four hundred re
spectable burghers and their wives in
their best clothes , worshipping in sober ,
brown pews , and keeping themselves
comfortable with cushions , aided by
stoves. The men wore their hats. In
this respect , but in no other , they re
sembled the orthodox Jews. A visit to
one of these neglected churches has a
most depressing influence even upon
an agnostic.
I was struck rather by the simplicity
of the people than by anything in them
which was at all likely to make them
aggressively irreligious. They have a
natural love for their unlovely land ;
and they have very little desire to see
the rest of the world , and to compare it
with their own country. This charac
teristic seems to mark them as a good
divergent in nature from the main stock
from which we also have come. When
they are rich , they build pretty , little
villas , to which they give names in
much the same way as a child uamca its
dolls. Sometimes the name is a whole
text , which must bo troublesome to the
correspondents of the inmates of the
villa. They deck the small gardens of
their residences with miniature lakes
