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HOLLAND.
Characteristics, xxxvii
ship and sociability), ‘Vreugde bij Vrede’ (joy with peace), ‘Groot
Genoeg’ (large enough), ‘Buiten Zorg’ (without care).
BENEVOLENT Instirutions. The number of these in Holland,
dating from earlier centuries, is remarkably great; in Amsterdam
alone there are over a hundred. A Gasthuis is a hospital. Hofyjes
are groups of dwellings, arranged round a court or yard, and occupied
as almshouses by aged persons. Oudemannen and Oudevrouwen
8, orphanages maintained by the various religious denomina-
and similar institutions are very numerous, — The Maat-
schappy tot Nut van't Algemeen, or ‘Society for the Public Welfare’,
is a very important body, whose chief seat is at Amsterdam but
whose sphere of operations extends over the entire kingdom of Hol-
land. It was founded in 1784 by Jan Nieuwenhuyzen, a Baptist
preacher, and its object is the promotion of the education and moral
culture of the lower cla ;
The picturesque Narionan Costumes have been retained in
Holland (except in the larger towns) more generally than in almost
any other country. The costumes in Zeeland, North Holland, Fries-
land, and the islands in the Zuiderzee, are specially noteworthy.
Winp MILs (molens) are a characteristic of almost every Dutch
landscape, and here attain an unprecedented size and strength.
They are used in grinding corn, Sawing timber, cutting tobacco,
manufacturing paper, etc., but one of their most important functions
0 pump up the superfluous water from the low ground to the canals
which conduct it to the sea. Recently, however, steam - engines
(stoomgcmaal) have been largely introduced for this last purpose.
Dyxxs, About ore half of the
from th a and the rivers by m
ea of Holland has been reclaimed
eans of immense dykes, the origin
of which has been traced to the 1(th century. The surface of these
is covered with tw of willows, interwoven with elaborate care,
the interstices being filled with clay so as to bind the whole into
a solid m aud tlis woven work is renewed every 3 or 4 years.
The most gigantic of these embankments are those of the Hel-
der (p. 412), of Pettem (N. Holland), and of Westkapelle on the
W. coast of the island of Walcheren (p. 298). The annual cost
(de Waterstaat) of maintaining these works throughout Holland
is estimated at fourteen million florins. A corps of engineers is
occupied exclusively in superintending them. The force of the old
Dutch proverb ‘God made the sea, we made the shore’, is apparent.
Canats intersect the country in every direction. They serve a
threefold purpose: (1) as highroads, for purposes of traffic; (2) as
drains, by which superfluous water is removed from the cultivated
land; (3) as enclosures for houses, fields, and
gardens, being as
commonly used for this purpose in Holland as walls and hedges in
other countries. The principal canals are about 60 ft. in width
and 6 ft. in depth.
Not only the surface of the water, but the bed |
