Dutch Life in Town and Country Part 8

Hoytema is known for his ill.u.s.trations. Animal life is his _forte_, especially owls and monkeys.

Among other younger painters who, though not yet of European reputation, may still be cla.s.sed with many of the older generation, are Jan Veth and H. Haverman, both of whom excel in portraits. The lady artists who have best held their own with the stronger s.e.x include, in addition to those named, Mme Bilders van Bosse, who paints woods and leafy groves with striking power; and the late Mme. Vogels-Roozeboom, who found her inspiration in the flora of Nature. In her day (she died in 1894) she was the first of floral painters, and whenever she raised her brush the finest of flowers rose up as at the touch of a magic wand. Second to her, though not so well known by far, came Mlle W. van der Sande Bakhuizen.

The Dutch are not only a nation of painters, but a nation of picture-lovers, though in Holland, as in other countries, one not seldom sees upon walls from which better would be expected tawdry art, about which all that can be said is that it was bought cheap. The country possesses a number of good public galleries, and much is done in this way and by the frequent exhibition of paintings to foster the love of the artistic. The princ.i.p.al exhibitions are those of the Pulchri Studio and the Kunst-kring (Art Circle) at The Hague, and the 'Arti et Amicitia' at Rotterdam. To become a working member of the Pulchri Studio is counted a great honour, for the artists who are on the committee are very particular as to whom they admit into their circle, and they ruthlessly blackball any one who is at all 'amateurish' or who does not come up to their high standard. For this reason it is that so many of the younger artists give exhibitions of their own works as the only way of getting them at all known.

Sculpture is not much practised in Holland. It would seem to be an art belonging almost entirely to Southern climes, although there was a time when the Dutch modelled busts and heads from snow. The monument of Piet Hein was originally made of snow, and so much did it take the fancy of the people of Delftshaven, the place of his birth, that they had a stone monument erected for him on the place where the one of snow had stood. It is only recently, however, that sculpture has been re-introduced into Holland as a fine art, and those artists who have taken it up need hardly fear compet.i.tion with their brethren of other Continental countries, for their names are already on every tongue. The first amongst those who have shown real power is Pier Pander, the cripple son of a Frisian mat-plaiter, who came over from Rome (where he had gone to complete his studies) at the special invitation of the Queen to model a bust of the Prince Consort, Duke Hendrik of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Other notable sculptors are Van Mattos, Ode, Bart de Hove, and Van Wyck.

There is also another art which is in considerable vogue, and in which much good work has been done--that of wood-carving. In this the painter and ill.u.s.trator Hoytema has shown considerable skill. Needless to say, Holland is also as famous now as ever for its pottery. Delft ware was ever the fame of the Dutch nation, though the Rosenbach and Gouda pottery is now gaining approval. It may be doubted, however, whether the love for the latter is altogether without affectation. One is inclined to believe that many of its admirers are enthusiastic to order. They admire because the leading authorities a.s.sure them it is their duty so to do.

The Netherlands, though very limited in area and small in population, can also boast of having contributed much that is excellent to the literature of the world, and in its roll of famous literary men are to be found names which would redeem any country from the charge of intellectual barrenness.

Spinoza, Erasmus, and Hugo de Groot (Grotius), to name no others, form a trio whose influence upon the thought of the world, and upon the movements which make for human progress, has been beyond estimation, and which still belongs to-day to the imperishable inheritance of the race.

As ill.u.s.trating the world-wide fame of Hugo de Groot it is interesting to note that on the occasion of the Peace Conference held at The Hague in 1899 the American representatives invited all their fellow-delegates to Delft, and there, in the church of his burial, papers were read in which the claim of the great thinker to perpetual honour was brought to the memories of the a.s.sembled spokesmen of the civilized world.

It is with the modern literature and literary movements of Holland, however, that these pages must concern themselves, and for practical purposes we may confine ourselves princ.i.p.ally to the latter part of the completed century. For the early part of the nineteenth century was by no means prolific in literary achievement, and does not boast of many great names, if one disregards the writers whose lives linked that century with its predecessor, like Betjen Wolff and Agatha Deken. When, in 1814-15, Holland again became a separate kingdom, that important event failed to mark a new era in Dutch literature. Strange to say, though the political changes of the time powerfully influenced the sister arts of music and painting, which show strong traces of the transition of that crisis in the nation's history, upon literature they had no effect whatever. Before 1840 no very brilliant writers came to the front, though the period was not without notable names, such as Willem Bilderdijk, Hendrik C. Tollens, and Isaac da Costa, all of whom possessed a considerable vogue. Bilderdijk's chief claim to fame is the fact that he wrote over 300,000 lines of verse, and regarded himself as the superior of Shakespeare; Tollens had a name for rare patriotism, and wrote many fine historical poems and ballads; while Da Costa, who was a converted Jew, had to the last, in spite of a considerable popularity as a poet, to contend with the oftentimes fatal shafts of ridicule.

A new period opened, however, about 1840, in the _Gids_ movement promoted by E.J. Potgieter and R.C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, who were editors of the _Gids_ and the severest of literary critics. The _Gids_ was the Dutch equivalent of the _Edinburgh Review_ under Jeffrey, and its criticisms were so much dreaded by the nervous Dutch author of the day that the magazine received the name of 'The Blue Executioner,' blue being the colour of its cover. If, however, Potgieter and Bakhuizen were unsparing in the use of the tomahawk, the service which they rendered to Dutch letters by their drastic treatment of crude and immature work was healthy and lasting in influence, for it undoubtedly raised the tone and standard of literary work, both in that day and for a long time to come, and so helped to establish modern Dutch literature on a firm basis. Perhaps the foremost figure in the literary revival which followed was Conrad Busken Huet, unquestionably the greatest Dutch critic of the last century, whose book 'Literary Criticisms and Fancies,' which contains a discriminating review of all writers from Bilderdijk forward, is essential to a thorough study of Dutch literature during the nineteenth century. Huet also emanc.i.p.ated literature from the orthodoxy in thought which had characterized the earlier Dutch writers, especially by his novel 'Lidewyde.'

No novelist has more truly reflected the old fas.h.i.+oned ideas and simple home life of Holland than Nicholas Beets, who still lives and even writes occasionally, though almost a nonagenarian. His 'Camera Obscura,' which has been translated into English, ent.i.tles Beets to be recognized as the d.i.c.kens of Holland, and his two novels, 'De Familie Stastoc' and 'De Familie Kegge,' are familiar to every Dutchman. The historical novelists, Jacob van Lennep and Mrs. Bosboom Toussaint, should not be overlooked.

One of the foremost Dutch poets of the century is Petrus Augustus de Genestet. Although he is not free from rhetoric, and frequently uses old and worn-out similes, his general view of things is wider and his feeling deeper than those of any of his contemporaries in verse. The contrast, for example, between him and Carel Vosmaer, though they belong to the same period, is very striking, for while the poetry of Genestet is full of feeling and ideality, that of Vosmaer is unemotional; and though he dresses his thoughts in beautiful words, the impression left upon the mind after reading his poetry is that which might be left after looking at a gracefully modelled piece of marble--it is fine as art, but cold and dead, and so awakens no responsive sympathy in the mind of the beholder.

But the greatest of modern Dutch authors, and the one who may be termed the forerunner of the renaissance of 1880, was E. Douwes Dekker, who died thirteen years ago. Dekker had an eventful career. He went to the Dutch Indies at the age of twenty-one, and there spent some seventeen years in official life, gradually rising to the position of a.s.sistant Resident of Lebac. While occupying that office his eyes were opened to the defective System of government existing in the Colonies, and the abuses to which the natives were subjected. He tried to interest the higher officials on behalf of the subject races, but as all his endeavours proved unavailing he became disheartened, and, resigning his post, returned to Holland with the object of pleading in Government circles at home the cause which he had taken so deeply to heart. As a deaf ear was still turned to all his entreaties he decided, as a last resource, to appeal for a hearing at the bar of public opinion. He entered literature, and wrote the stirring story 'Max Havelaar,' in which he gave voice to the wrongs of the natives and the callous injustices perpetrated by the Colonial authorities. The book made a great sensation, and has unquestionably had very beneficial results in opening the public's eyes to some of the more glaring defects of Colonial administration.

In 1880 Dutch literature entered upon an entirely new phase. The chief authors of the movement then begun were Lodewryk van Deyssel, Albert Verwey, and Willem Kloos, who in the monthly magazine, _De Nieuwe Gids_, exercised by their trenchant criticisms the same beneficial and restraining influence upon the literature of the day as Potgieter and Bakhuizen did forty years before. The columns of the _Nieuwe Gids_ were only opened to the very best of Dutch authors, and any works not coming up to the editors' high ideas of literary excellence were unmercifully 'slated' by these competent critics. Independence was the prominent characteristic of the authors of the period. They shook themselves free from the old thoughts and similes, and created new paths, in which their minds found freer expression. The new thoughts demanded new words, hence came about the practice of word-combination, which was in direct defiance of the conservative canons of literary style which had hitherto prevailed, so that nowadays almost every author adds a new vocabulary of his own to the Dutch language, so enhancing the charm of his own writings and adding to the literary wealth of the nation in general.

The poetess whom Holland to-day most delights to honour is Helena Lapidoth Swarth, whose works increase in worth and beauty every year. Her command of the Dutch language and her power of wresting from it literary resources which are unattainable by any other writer have made her the admiration of all critics of penetration. Louis Couperas is also another living poet of mark, who, however, does not confine himself to formal versification, for his prose is also poetry. His best works are 'Elme Vere,' the first book he wrote, and the characters in which are said to have been all taken from life, and his novels 'Majesty' and 'Universal Peace,' which have gained for him a European reputation, for they have been translated into most modern languages.

Women authors who have written works with a special tendency are Cornelie Huygens, who is known particularly by her novel 'Barthold Maryan;' Mrs.

Goekoop de Jong, who champions the cause of women's rights; and Anna de Savornin Lohman, who, in a striking book ent.i.tled, 'Why question any longer?' has written very bitterly against the political conditions of the circle of society in which she moves.

While the authors of the present day are beneficially leavening popular opinion by inculcating higher and healthier sentiments, there are also authors in Holland, as elsewhere, who debase good metal, and write from a purely material standpoint. To this cla.s.s of authors belong Marcellus Emants and Frans Netcher.

Of Dutch dramatic writers, Herman Heyermans is one of the most noteworthy, and some of his plays have been translated into French, and produced in Paris theatres.

It is a great drawback to literary effort in Holland that the _honoraria_ paid to authors are so low that most writers who happen not to be pecuniarily independent--and they are the majority--are unable to make a tolerable subsistence at home by the pen alone, and are obliged to contribute to foreign publications, and some even resort to teaching. Many Dutch authors of high rank write anonymously in English, French, and German magazines, and probably earn far more in that way than by their contributions to Dutch ephemeral literature, for the ordinary fee for a sheet of three thousand words--which is the average length of a printed sheet in a Dutch magazine--is only forty francs.

The pity is that Dutch literature itself is not known as well as it deserves to be, for any one who takes the trouble to master the Dutch language will find himself well repaid by the treasures of thought which are contained in the modern authors of Holland.

Chapter XVI

The Dutch as Readers

Although printing was not invented in Holland, the nation would not have been unworthy of that honour, for there is a widespread culture of the book among all cla.s.ses of the population, and the newspaper and periodical press makes further a very large contribution to its intellectual food.

Nearly two thousand booksellers and publishers are engaged in the task of bringing within easy reach of their customers everything they wish to read. It is no unusual thing to find a decently equipped retail bookshop in quite unimportant townlets, and even in villages. By an admirable arrangement every publisher sends parcels of books for the various retailers all over the country to one central house in Amsterdam--'het Bestelhuis voor den Boekhandel' (the Booksellers' Collecting and Distributing Office). In this establishment the publishers' parcels are opened, and all books sent by the various publishers for one retailer are packed together and forwarded to him, by rail, steamer, or other cheap mode of conveyance. In consequence, any doctor, clergyman, or schoolmaster can receive a penny or twopenny pamphlet in his out-of-the-way home, as well as any book or periodical from London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, etc., within a remarkably short time, without trouble, and without extra expense in postage, by simply applying to the local bookseller.

The Dutch are very cosmopolitan in their reading. Many children of the superior working cla.s.ses learn French at the primary schools; most children of the middle cla.s.s pick up English and German as well at the secondary schools, and a large proportion of them are able to talk in these three foreign languages; and as opportunities for intercourse are not over-abundant in the smaller towns, they keep up their knowledge of these languages by reading. Indeed, the five millions of Dutchmen are, relatively, the largest buyers of foreign literature in Europe. The translator, however, comes to the rescue of those who succeed in forgetting so much of their foreign languages that they find reading them a very mitigated enjoyment. This question of translation is rather a sore point in the relations between Dutch and foreign authors and publishers.

The pecuniary injury done to foreign authors, however, is very slight, while in reputation they have benefited; for if Dutch private libraries are not without their Shakespeare, Motley, Macaulay, d.i.c.kens, Thackeray, Kingsley, Browning, not to mention French and German cla.s.sics, this is mainly due to the fact that the parents of the present generation had the opportunity of buying Dutch translations, and explained to their children the value and the beauty of these works.

Moreover, most authors and publishers in foreign countries, using languages with world-wide circulation, are apt to miscalculate the profits made by Dutch publishers, with their very limited market and limited sale.

A royalty of 5 for the right of translating some novel would be regarded as a contemptibly small sum in the English book world, but 5 in Dutch currency presses heavily on the budget of a Dutch translation, of which only some hundred or so copies can be sold at a retail price of not quite five s.h.i.+llings, and is an almost prohibitive price to pay for the copyright of a novel which is only used as the _feuilleton_ of a local paper with an edition of under a thousand copies a week. As a fact, many Dutch publishers pay royalties to their foreign colleagues as soon as the publication is important enough to bear the expense; but the majority clearly will only give up their ancient 'right' of free translation, and agree to join the Berne Convention, if a practicable way can be found out of the financial difficulty. For the present, then, the Dutch are cosmopolitan readers, direct or indirect. In the average bookseller's shop one finds, of course, a majority of novels--novels of all sorts and conditions--supplemented by literary essays and poems. In a number of cases the bookseller is not merely a shopkeeper who deals in printed matter, and supplies just what his customers ask for, but a man of education and judgment, who is well able to give his opinion on books and authors. Often he has read them, though oftener, of course, he is guided by the leading monthly and weekly magazines and reviews, and by the publishers' columns of the leading daily newspapers. The bookseller is thus in many cases the trusted manager and guiding spirit of one or more 'Leesgezelschappen,' or 'Reading Societies.' These societies have a history. At the end of the eighteenth century they were often political and even revolutionary bodies. The members or subscribers met to discuss books, pamphlets, and periodicals, but frequently they discussed by preference the pa.s.sages in the books bearing upon political conditions, and argued improvements which they considered desirable or necessary. As time pa.s.sed by, and free inst.i.tutions became the possession of the Dutch, the political mission of the Reading Society became exhausted, but the inst.i.tution itself survived, and continues to the present day.

The 'Leesgezelschap' owes its special form to another peculiarity of the Dutch--their intensely domesticated, home-loving character. Family life, with its fine and delicate intimacies between husband and wife, between parent and children, is the most attractive feature of national existence in the Netherlands. Family life is, indeed, the centre from which the national virtues emanate, because there the individual members educate each other in the practice of personal virtues. The Dutchman is not const.i.tutionally reserved and shy; he knows how to live a full, strong, public life; he never shrinks from civic duties and social intercourse; but his love of home life takes the first place after his pa.s.sion for liberty and independence. Club life in Holland is insignificant, and few clubs even attempt to create a subst.i.tute for home life; they are merely used for friendly intercourse for an hour or so every day, and as better-cla.s.s restaurants. A Dutchman prefers to do his reading at home, in the domestic circle, with the members of his family, or in his study if he follows some scientific occupation, and his 'Leesgezelschap' affords him the opportunity of doing this. There are military, theological, educational, philological, and all sorts of scientific reading societies, besides those for general literature. They work on the co-operative System. The manager is in many cases a local bookseller, buying Dutch and foreign books, magazines, reviews, ill.u.s.trated weeklies and pamphlets in one or more copies, according to the number, the tastes, and the wants of the members. Most societies take in books and periodicals in four languages--Dutch, French, German, English--and so their members keep themselves well acquainted with the world's opinion. And all this, be it added, costs the subscriber vastly less than the fees of English circulating libraries, with their restricted advantages and heavy expenses of delivery.

Between the book and the newspaper lies a form of literature which is specifically Dutch--the 'Vlugschrift,' _brochure_, or pamphlet. The _brochure_ is an old historical inst.i.tution. In the eighteenth century it was very popular as a vehicle for the zeal of fiery reformers who thus vented their opinions on burning political questions of the day. There is no necessity nowadays for these small booklets, so easily hidden from suspicions eyes, though the _brochure_ is still used whenever, in stirring speech or impa.s.sioned sermon, Holland's leading men address themselves to the emotions of the hour. These _brochures_, as a rule, cost no more than sixpence, yet, none the less, the thrifty Dutch have 'Leesgezelschappen'

which buy and circulate them among their subscribers; they take everything from everybody, never caring whose opinions they read upon the various subjects of current interest, a trait which evidences a very praiseworthy lack of bias.

This lack of bias is not so obvions so far as newspaper reading is concerned. Like other people, the Dutch take such newspapers as defend or represent their own political opinions, and often affect towards journals on the other side a contemptuous indifference which is only half real.

Political parties in Holland differ slightly from those of Great Britain, except that in the former country politics and religion go together. Thus in Holland a Liberal who at the same time is not advanced in religious thought hardly exists, and would scarcely be trusted. In consequence the Liberals were not defeated at the last general elections because they were Liberals, but because their opponents (the Anti-Revolutionists and Roman Catholics) denounced them as irreligious and atheistical. In political strife the religious controversy takes the form of an argument for and against the influence of religious dogma upon politics and education.

Now, as far as journalism goes, the Liberal and Radical newspapers unquestionably take the lead. The Roman Catholics are like the Anti-Revolutionists, very anxious to provide their readers with wholesome news, but this anxiety is not successfully backed up by care that this wholesome news shall be early as well; hence their journalism is somewhat behind the times. Of most of the progressive newspapers it may be said that the whole of the contents are interesting; as to the rest, they are only interesting because of the leading articles, which are sometimes written by eminent men.

As far as circulation goes, _Het Nieuws van den Dag_ can boast to be the leading journal, its edition running to nearly 40,000 copies a day. Up to the present its editors have been advanced, or 'Modern,' Protestant clergymen, in the persons of Simon Gorter, H. de Veer, and P.H. Ritter.

Although not taking a strong line in politics, its inclinations are decidedly towards moderate Liberalism, and, thanks to its cheap price--14s. 6d. per annum--its extensive, prudently and carefully selected and worded supply of news, and its sagacious management, it became the family paper of the Dutch, excellently suiting the quiet taste of the middle cla.s.s of the nation. It is found everywhere save in those few places where the Roman Catholic Church has sufficient influence to get it boycotted. The _Nieuws_, as it is generally called, gives from twenty-four to thirty-two, and even more, pages of closely printed matter, of which the advertis.e.m.e.nts occupy rather over than under half. One does not see it read in public more than any other Dutch paper, and two reasons account for this. One is the fact that, as has been said, a Dutchman prefers to do his reading at home--'met een boekje, in een hoekje' ('with my book in a quiet corner') is the Dutchman's ideal of cosy literary enjoyment. Then, too, Dutch newspaper publishers prefer a system of safe quarterly subscriptions to the chance of selling one day a few thousand copies less than the other, since even the largest circulation in Holland is too limited for risky commercial vicissitudes. Hence they make the price for single numbers so high that only the prospect of long hours in a railway-carriage frightens a Dutchman into buying one or more newspapers.

The _Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant_ is another typical Dutch newspaper, but appealing to quite other instincts than the _Nieuws._ In their quiet way the Dutch are rather proud of their _Nieuwe Kotterdammer_, which inspires something like awe for its undeniable, but slightly ponderous, virtues.

The _Nieuwe Rotterdammer_ is absolutely Liberal, and stands no Radical or Social Democratic nonsense; its leading articles are lucid, cool, logical, and to the point; it has correspondents everywhere, at home and abroad; and all staunch Liberals of a clear-cut, even dogmatic type, who love Free Trade and look upon munic.i.p.al and State intervention as pernicious, swear by it. The present chief editor is Dr. Zaayer, formerly a Liberal member of the Second Chamber of the States-General, a shrewd, well-read Dutchman, with a splendid University education; and the manager, J.C. Nijgh, is as clever a man of business as Rotterdam can produce. As far as it is possible to lead Dutchmen by printed matter, the _Nieuwe Rotterdammer_ does it. Its supply of news is so fresh and so reliable that everybody reads it, even the Roman Catholics in North Brabant and Limburg, Holland's two Catholic counties.

The next important newspaper is _Het Algemeen Handelsblad_ of Amsterdam, which is peculiarly the journal of the Amsterdam merchants, s.h.i.+powners, and traders. The _Handelsblad_ is not so exclusively Liberal as its compet.i.tor in Rotterdam, for its inclinations are of a more advanced turn, and it is always ready to admit rather Radical articles on social matters if written by serious men. Its chief editor is Dr. A. Polak, of whom it is said that what he does not know about the working and meaning of the Dutch const.i.tution and the Dutch law is hardly worth knowing. His articles display a calm, sound, scientific brain and an honest, straightforward mind. Its managing editor is Charles Boissevain, whose contributions to the paper, ent.i.tled 'Van Dag tot Dag' ('From Day to Day'), are equally admirable for brilliancy of style, broadness of spirit, and the manly outspokenness of their contents. This journal has likewise an extensive staff and a huge army of correspondents at home and abroad.

A third Liberal journal of growing influence is the Radical _Vaderland_, of which the late Minister of the Interior, Mr. H. Goeman Borgesius, now a member of the Second Chamber, was chief editor during many years, though there no longer exists any personal connexion between the two, and the _Vaderland_ is, if anything, more advanced in politics than its former editor. Its chief influence is at The Hague, formerly a stronghold of Conservatism, until the Conservative party disappeared entirely.

Other Liberal, Radical, and Social Democratic newspapers are published all over the country, the most important and influential being the Liberal-democratic _Arnhemsche Courant._

Mr. Troelstra, one of the Socialist leaders, edits a daily, _Het Volk_ ('The People'), a well-written party newspaper, whose influence, however, does not extend beyond its party.

Professor Abraham Kuyper, leader of the Anti-Revolutionist or Calvinist party, the largest but one in the country, was editor of the _Standaard_ until he became President Minister of the Netherlands. In opposition to the Liberal principle, as formulated by the Italian reformer Cavour, 'A Free Church in a Free State,' he maintains that the Bible, being G.o.d's Word, is the only possible basis for any State, and holds that the King and the Government derive their power and authority not from the people, but from G.o.d. His _Standaard_ is another proof that whatever this universal genius does bears the unmistakable stamp of his power and personality. One may be thoroughly opposed to his principles, but n.o.body can help admiring the sterling merit of his leading articles. If Kuyper writes or speaks upon any subject under the sun, you will be sure to find him thoroughly acquainted with it; but then his turn of mind is so original and his style is so brilliant, that he discloses points of view which give it fresh interest to those who most cordially disagree with him. The brilliancy of his journalistic powers is not confined, however, to his leaders. The _Standaard_ has another and more purely polemical feature, its 'Driestars'--short paragraphs, separated in the column by three asterisks, whence their name. These 'Driestars' are the pride and the wonder of the Dutch Press, on account of their trenchant, clever, courageous wording, a wording which is sure to incite the opponent to bitter defence or fiery attack, and to provide the adherent with an argument so finely sharpened and polished that he delights in the possession of so excellent a weapon.

Dr. Kuyper's political opponent in the Calvinist party is Mr. A. F. de Savornin Lohman, the leader of the aristocrats, whereas Kuyper is the head of the 'kleine luyden'--the humble toilers of the fields and towns. Mr.

Lohman was a member of the first Calvino-Catholic Cabinet, and is still a great power in his party; in consequence his _Nederlander_ exerts some influence, though not nearly so much as the _Standaard_.

The two most prominent Roman Catholic newspapers are the Conservative _Tyd_ ('Time') and the somewhat democratic _Centrum_. Both are party papers pure and simple, and are excellently edited, so far as party politics are concerned, by clever, well educated, well read men. The _Centrum_ frequently enjoys the co-operation of Dr. Herman Schaepman, the priest-poet, whose somewhat ponderous eloquence is agreeably relieved by a glowing enthusiasm and a refres.h.i.+ng force of conviction.

Kuyper, Boissevain and Schaepman are, indeed, three journalists of whom any country might be proud. Their style, their individuality, and their mental power are equally remarkable, and though living and working in different grooves of life, using different modes of thought, and cheris.h.i.+ng different ideals, they powerfully impress and influence their readers by the purity of their aims, the honesty of their convictions, and the chivalry of their controversial methods. But of the three Boissevain is the only one who is a journalist for the sake of journalism. Yet neither Calvinist nor Catholic journal tries to compete with the _Nieuwe Rotterdammer_ or the _Handelsblad_ in the publication of original and high-cla.s.s information. They aim rather at providing their readers with the necessary party arguments, and the news is a matter of secondary importance.

As to the provinces in general, of the 1300 towns and villages of Holland, nearly 300 are the happy possessors of a local newspaper of some description, and altogether 1700 daily and weekly journals, devoted variously to the representation of political, clerical, mercantile, scientific, and other interests, are published in the whole country.

The Dutch like to see more than one newspaper, but the majority of people cannot afford to be dual subscribers, and a great many cannot even afford to buy a single news-sheet regularly. Hence agencies exist for circulating the papers from one reader to another. Those who receive them straight from the publisher pay most, and those who are contented to enjoy their news when one, two, or three days old pay but a small fee. The newspaper circulating agency is very general in Holland, and in centres of restricted domestic resources it plays a very useful place in social and political life.