On his re-appearance in his mother's parlour,
the cause was soon told, first to his partner, next
to his mother, and then (as there were none but
intimate friends) to all present. The result of
the communication was an outcry against the
English, as very troublesome neighbours, while
the widow's first thought was of thankfulness
that her husband had died without hearing news
which would have caused him great trouble of
mind. Heins appealed to all who understood the
state of Dutch commerce, whether Great Britain
had not done mischief enough long ago, by pro-
hibiting the importation of bulky goods by any
ships but those which belonged to the exporting
or importing country.
" That prohibition was evidently aimed at us
Dutch," observed Vanderput. " We were car-
riers to half the world, till Great Britain chose
that we should no longer carrv for her. She
might punish herself in that manner, and wel-
come, if she could do so without punishing us ;
but it is a serious grievance, — difficult as it now
is to find an investment for our capital, — to be
obliged to lay by any of our shipping as useless."
*' We did all we could/' said Ileins piteously.
" Since we could not carry the produce of the
East and West into the ports of Great Britain for
sale, we brought it here, that the British captains
might not have far to go for it. But it seems
c2
10 MOURNING.
hat Great Britain is jealous of this; for there is
i new prohibition (if the report be true) against
mporting any bulky produce purchased any-
where but in the country where it is produced."
" I hope this is too bad to be true," observed
Visscher.
" Nothing is too bad to be attempted by a
jealous country against one which has been par-
.icularly successful in commerce," observed
Snoek. " The tonnage of this country is more
than half that of all Europe ; and Great Britain
thinks it time to lower our superiority. Whether
she will gain by doing so, time will show."
" I think Great Britain is very illnatured and
yery mean," observed Christian, who had gene-
rally something to say on every subject that was
discussed in his presence. " I think I shall call
her Little Britain, from this time. - But, Heins,
what will you do with all the things you have
bought, as you told me, in Asia and America,
and in France and Italy ? You must send back
your cinnamon to Ceylon, and O, but I
forgot that other people may buy them, though
the English will not. But I hope you have not
bought too much for the present number of your
customers. There is another large ship coming
from one of the American islands, I heard ."
He was checked by the remembrance of who
it was that told him this. Heins related, with a
deep sigh, which might be given to the memory
[>f either the ship or its owner, that the vessel
bad been wrecked, and was now at the bottom of
â– he sea. This was the other piece of bad news
MOURNING. 17
he had to tell. At least two-thirds of his hearers
asked after the crew, while the rest inquired for
the cargo. The cargo was lost, except a small
portion, which had been preserved with difficulty.
The crew had been picked up, only one sailor-
boy being missing. It was from two of them
who had found their way home that Heins had
received the tidings of his misfortune.
" One sailor-boy !" repeated Christian. " Do
you know how he was lost? Was he blown
from the yards, do you think ? Or was he washed
overboard ? or did he go down with the ship ?"
Heins did not know any particulars of the
sailor-boy. But where ? But how ? But when
did this happen ?
It happened where many shipwrecks had hap-
pened before, and many would again, and in the
same manner. The vessel had struck on the
Eddystone rock on a stormy night. This was
another nuisance for which the Dutch were in-
debted to the English. This fatal rock .
" Did the English make the Eddystone rock V
little Roselyn inquired, in a low voice, of the
pastor. " I thought it was God that broke up
the fountains of the deeps, and fixed the ever-
lasting hills." Her wiser brother Christian en-
lightened hdr.
" God made this rock ; but perhaps he made
it so that it might be of use to us, instead of
doing us harm, if the English would make the
best use of it. Is not that what Heins means,
M. Aymond?"
M. Aymond believed that what Mr. Vanderput
c 3
8 MOURNING.
ad just said was true ; that the English were
bout to build a light-house on this dangerous
?ck, which might thus be made to guide ships
lto a British harbour, instead of causing them
) perish. He trusted that it would appear that
leins was mistaken in saying that many more
hips would be lost on that rock ; and he hoped
lat men would learn in time to make all God's
r orks instruments of blessing to their race.
Christian carried on the speculation.
" And then, perhaps, man's works may not
erish by accident before they are worn out, as
lis ship did. But yet this was what happened
r ith one of God's works too, — that sailor-boy.
le perished before he was worn out. But why
o people ever wear out, M. Aymond ? Whether
person is drowned at fifteen or dies worn out at
ighty, does not much signify, if God could make
lem live a thousand years. Only think of a
erson living a thousand years, M. Aymond !
le would see cities grow as we see ant-hills rise,
r hile the sea roared against the dykes as it did
t the beginning. He would see the stars move
3 often that he would know them all in their
laces. He would know almost everything. O !
hy do not men live a thousand years ? and why
oes God let a young sailor-boy be lost ?"
Gertrude whispered, " All the days of Me-
luselah were nine hundred, sixty and nine
ears ; and he died.''
" Yes," added the pastor, gravely meeting the
indling eyes of Christian"; " death comes sooner
r later; and whether it came soon or late
MOURNING. 19
would be all in all if we were to live no more.
But as man's life is never to end "
, "Ah! I see. If his life is never to end, it
does not signify so much when he passes out of
one kind of life into another. I was going to
ask why there should be any death at all. If I
made a world, I would "
Christian had talked too eagerly, and now was
prevented by his cough from speaking any more
at present. When he recovered his voice, the
pastor turned his attention from the lost sailor-
boy to the lost ship, asking whether it had not
answered its purpose in making several voyages ;
whether the skill and toil of the artificers had
not been repaid. Christian thought not ; and he
went on to exhibit as much as he could of the
worked up knowledge and labour which had in
this instance been engulphed by the waves. He
seemed so much irritated, however, by his imper-
fection in the knowledge of ship-building, that
Gertrude proposed that he should pay her a visit
at Saardam, where he might look down from a
window upon the dock-yard, and witness nearly
the whole process without being moved from his
couch. She almost repented the proposal when
she saw the poor boy's rapture ; but, happily,
no one perceived any objection to the plan. The
little voyage of seven miles could be made per-
fectly easy to invalids ; and it was quite certain
that Christian would be happy with Gertrude, if
anywhere. Heins and the pastor contended for
the charge of Christian, and old Mr. Slyk, the
most punctilious of mourners, allowed that such
20 MOURNING.
an indulgence might, — especially with a view to
increased knowledge, — be extended to a sufferer
like Christian, within the days of strict mourning,
provided the mother and the younger children
staid at home. Luc clenched his fist on hearinar
this, and Koselyn pouted ; but their jealousy of
their brother soon vanished when his dreaded
pain came on, and they wore put out of the room
by their mother, as usual, that they might not
become hardened to the expressions of agony
which they could not relieve.
They were heartily glad when the day was
nearly over ; — when there was an end of going
from the melancholy burial feast in one room,
into the apartment where Gertrude was describing
to the now passive Christian spectacles which
they were not to see, and pleasures which were
held to be incompatible with tbe mourning of
which they already required to be reminded.
They were not, however, allowed to retire in this
state of forgetfulness of the occasion. The
pastor's closing prayer, the solemn looks of the
servants, and their mother's silent tears when she
laid her hand upon their heads, left them no
disposition for complaint as they stole away to
their beds.
( 21 )
Chapter II.
AN EXCURSION.
" One, two, three, — five of you going with me
to Saardam !" cried Christian, as he saw Heins
and the pastor follow the children and Katrina
into the boat : the children who, in Mr. Slyk's
absence, had prevailed on their mother's good
nature to let them go with their brothers. " And
Mr. Visscher is coming before the afternoon.
What a party to belong to me !"
It was very natural that Christian should over-
rate his own importance, passing his life, as he
did, in a little circle where every one was eager
to give him pleasure : but never was he more
mistaken than in supposing that he was any
thing more than a convenient pretence to some
of his friends for visiting Saardam. There was
an attraction there which would have taken two
of them thither every day, if as good an excuse
had offered as that of which they now took ad-
vantage. Heinsfelt that at Saardam resided one
who would make as perfect a wife for a rich
Amsterdam merchant as could be imagined, if
she had but a little more gaiety. She was
pretty ; she was amiable ; she was rich ; and she
and his mother would suit admirably ; and the
children were fond of her. The pastor's feelings
about Gertrude are less easily described ; but
they tended to the same object as those of Heins.
22 AN EXCURSION.
These two were aware of eacli other's intentions ;
but there was as little enmity in their rivalship as
there was present satisfaction in their pursuit.
Aymond was perfectly convinced that Gertrude
could never love Heins ; but he was nearly as
certain that she did not yet love himself: and
Heins found that he made no progress in the
lady's good graces, while he trusted that his
friendly hints to her brother would prevent her
throwing herself away upon a poor refugee
minister of religion, whose tender conscience had
already led him into adversity, and who could
therefore never be trusted to keep out of it in
future.
" What a party of you to take care of me !"
repeated Christian, in great glee, when he began
to enjoy the easy motion of the boat, and to
perceive that his deadly enemy, the fog, was
clearing away before the bright June sunshine,
*' Look, pastor, look at Amsterdam ! Is there a
city in the world like Amsterdam, I wonder?
How the spires, and the highest houses stand up
out of the mist, like a little city floating in the
air, or sailing in a cloud. O, Heins ! — Kaatje,
do ask Heins which bells those are. I am sure I
never heard such sweet bells before."
They were the bells of St. Nicholas Church,
which Christian heard almost every day of his
life. Christian would hardly believe they were
the same.
" They clatter and jangle so as to make my
head ache very often ; but these might send one
to sleep, if it were not much pleasanter to lie
AN EXCURSION. 23
awake and listen to them. — Everything is light
coloured hereto what it is at home, — as if silver
had been shed over it. The sky is not bright
blue, as it is between the limes, but grey ; and
the water eleams as if the moon was hannino-
just over it ; and it is not muddy under the boat
as it is below our bridge ; and I dare say there
is never any bad smell, and nobodv need be afraid
of ague. I wish we could stop, that I might fish.
There must be plenty of fine fish in such water
as this."
"When reminded of Saardam dock-yards, how-
ever, he had no further wish for delay. From
this moment to the time of landing, Katrina's
good-nature was taxed to turn him incessantlv,
that he might see, now the forest of masts at
Amsterdam, and the dark hulls resting upon the
grey water, and then the gaily-painted wooden
houses of Saardam, with their pointed gables turned
some one way and some another, each with its
weather-cock ; and all looking like baby-houses
amidst the vast piles of timber from which the
dock-yards were supplied.
Christian's delight was in no wise diminished
when he was established on his couch at the
promised window, whence he could overlook one
of the busiest parts of the dock-yard. He had
no attention to spare for the tidings of wonder
which Roselyn brought, from one quarter of an
hour to another, when she had fairly gained her
point of being allowed to find her way about as she
pleased. Now she drew near to whisper that she
was sure there was to be a very good dinner,
24 AN EXCURSION.
as twice the quantity of turf was burning in
the kitchen that was ever used at home, and
such a number of bright pots upon the fire that
it was inconceivable what could be in them
She had tried to find out, but they were all close
covered, and the servants were so busy and
so quiet that she was afraid to ask. Better
wait and see, Christian pronounced ; so off
ran Roselyn in another direction, whence she
soon returned with more wonders. The gar-
den, — Christian ; must see the garden. It
was little larger than the room he was sitting
in ; but it had walks, and grottos, and a rivulet ;
and the rivulet had a paved bed of pebbles, and
the walks were made of cockle-shells, and the
borders of red and blue and green glass ; and
the wall which enclosed the whole, was chequered
with blue and white bricks. Moreover, there
was a better garden some way off, with tulips as
fine as could be seen any where within five
leagues of Amsterdam. Fond of tulips and good
dinners as Christian was, all this interested him
less than what was passing before his eyes. He
wanted to be left in peace to make his observa-
tions, till his beloved Gertrude could come and
answer his questions.
When she appeared, Heins was at her heels.
He could never understand that it was disagree-
able to her to be followed, which ever way she
turned ; and attributed her gravity of counte-
nance to the religious bent she had taken, which
was a most desirable quality in a wife. Christian
wished, with all his heart, that Heins would
AN EXCURSION. 25
keep away, that Gertrude and he might be as
happy together as they always were when there
was no one by to whom she curtsied and spoke
with formality.
" Does not this hammering tire you?" she
asked.
" You had better let me carry you into the
inner room," said Heins. " It is as quiet there
as on the water."
" O, no, no," cried Christian. u I have not
seen half that I want ; and I am very glad that
they are at work so nearly under the window,
because I can watch what they are doing. They
were hauling up that great beam when I came,
and now look how nicely they have fitted it into
its place. But I want to know who some of
these people are. You see that short man,
smoking, with the rule in his hand, and a great
roll of papers peeping out of his breeches pocket."
" Yes ; that is a master-builder. You will
see that he ( is never long out of sight of his
men."
11 You might have known him for the master-
builder, and these shipwrights for his men,"
observed Heins.
'* I guessed who he was : but there is another
who looks something like a master too, though
he is dressed like a sailor. He is a very idle
man, I think. He has stood there all this time,
with his arms folded, making the men laugh,
and the master too, sometimes. Once he took
up a mallet that another man had laid down ; and
a strong blow he gave witii it : but lie soon left
D
26 AN EXCURSION.
off, and the master did not seem to scold him at
all."
" Nobody scolds Master Peter. Nobody asks
him to do more work than he likes ; but he does
a great deal ; and hard work too. He likes
joking quite as well as working ; and these men
are fond of having him among them, for he
lightens their labour, and is very good-natured."
This hint was enough for Luc, who came into
the apartment just in time to hear it. He found
his way to another window which also looked
into the yard, and began to call, at first cau-
tiously, and then more loudly, " Master Peter !
Master Peter !"
Master Peter did not hear till the party at tho
window heard also ; and when he turned, Ger-
trude was leaning out to ascertain which of her
household was making overtures of acquaintance.
Luc's head had already disappeared ; so that
Master Peter could not but suppose that it was
Gertrude who had greeted him. He laid his
hand on his breast, and, with a gesture of courtesy,
advanced directly beneath the window. The
lady explained that some young visitors had
made free with his good-nature ; and he imme-
diately asked if they would like to come down
and view the dock-vard. At the close of his
speech, he turned to the master, as if suddenly
recollecting that he ought to ask permission to
admit visitors. The master exerted himself to
intermit his puffs of smoke, while he desired
Master Peter to do as he chose.
" O, let me go! let me go!" cried Christian,
AN EXCURSION. 27
in answer to Heins's doubts whether it would
not be causing too much trouble to gratify the
boy's wish.
Gertrude soon settled the affair by taking hold
of one side of Christian's little chair, and making
Katrina take the other. She would not relin-
quish her grasp in favour of Heins, who followed
her out, officiously pressing his help ; she re-
served that favour for Master Peter, who met
the party at the gate of the yard, and immediately
seeing the state of the case, took the boy in his
arms, and promised to show him whatever he
wished to see. Those who knew Christian
thought this a large promise; and Ileins was
very instructive as to the degree in which it
should be accepted.
The boy himself, as he looked around him,
scarcely knew where and how to begin his in-
quiries. Vessels in every stage of progress,
from the bare-ribbed skeleton to the full-rigged
merchant ship, ready for launching, met his eye
in every direction. The carpenters' yards re-
sounded with the blows of the mallet ; the rope-
walks looked tempting ; and he also wanted to
be carried among the stacks of timber which
seemed to him too huge to have been piled up
by human strength.
" Where can all this wood have come from ?"'
was his natural exclamation.
11 Some of it came from my countrv," replied
Master Peter. " You see that pile of tall pine-
trees laid one upon another as high as the JStadt-
house. Those are masts for the ships we are
d 2
2S AN EXCURSION.
building ; and they come out of the woods of my
country. They came as part of a cargo, and
some of them will go back as part of a ship that
carries a cargo."
" And where will it go next ?"
" It will come back again with hemp to make
such ropes as those, and pitch and tar to smear
the timbers with, and canvass for the sails, and
many things besides that your people want for
use, and your merchants for sale , — tallow, and
oils, and hides, and furs."
" But do not you want the hemp, and pitch,
and canvass for your own ships? Or have you
enough for both yourselves and us V
Master Peter was sorry to say that very few
ships had yet been built in his country. He
hoped there would soon be more. But his
countrymen must still manage to have enough
of the produce of their woods and wilds for them-
selves and the Dutch, as they could not do without
many things which the Dutch merchants were
accustomed to bring them in exchange ; silks
and jewels, for the ladies ; wine, spice, and fruit,
for their tables : gold and silver to make money
of; and pewter vessels and steel utensils for
their kitchens."
" But you can fetch these things for yourselves
when you have ships," argued Christian.
" We can fetch them, but we must have some-
thing ready to give in payment for them."
Heins disputed whether any other country
could compete with the United Provinces in
fetching commodities from all parts of the globe.
AN EXCURSION. 29
He treated with solemn ridicule Master Peter's
hopes of what might be achieved by fleets which
were not yet in existence, and pointed out, with
a very insulting air of superiority, the resources
of his own country, — To say nothing of the half-
finished navy which was before their eyes, there
was a forest of masts just within sight, which he
defied any port in the world to rival. There
were ships of his own and his partner's bringing
iron, copper, and the materials of war from
Sweden and Norway ; grain and flax-seed from
the Baltic ; books, wines, and timber from Ger-
many ; coal from England ; spice, fruits, and
cottons from the regions of the east ; and gold
Mid silver from the west.
All very true, Master Peter allowed ; but all
this need not prevent his country from fetching
and carrying as much as she could, whether it
might prove more convenient to furnish herself
with all that she wanted from the ports of Hol-
land, or to go round the world to purchase each
commodity in its native region. In answer to
Heins's boast of the commerce of the United
Provinces, Peter beacred to remind him that it
was now past its greatest glory. It had per-
ceptibly declined for more than twenty years. —
Heins insisted that the shipping of the United
Provinces nearly equalled that of the whole of
the rest of Europe. — True again ; but it was
pretty certain that Dutch prosperity would not
advance much beyond the point it had now
reached, while that of other countries might
rapidly overtake it. The Dutch had so much
d 3
30 AN EXCURSION.
wealth that they now found difficulty in making
profitable use of it in their own country ; and
by lending it to foreigners, they helped those
foreigners to become rivals to themselves. Such
was the result of Master Peter's observation in
the course of his travels, — travels which he hoped
to extend to England, where he might chance to
meet Dutch capital in another form. He un-
derstood that the Dutch had not only deposited
forty millions of their wealth in the English
funds, but had lent large sums to individuals ;
thus investing money in a rival country for the
sake of the higher interest which could be ob-
tained there.
Christian thought this very unpatriotic. If it
was true, also, as he had been told by his mo-
ther, that Heins and Mr. Vanderput sold no goods
abroad, but brought a great many to sell at home,
he thought the firm very wrong indeed. If they
chose to spend Dutch money in the countries of
their rivals and their enemies, they ought at
least to take care that their rivals spent as much
money among them.
Heins replied that this was the concern of the
exporting merchants who had the use of the
ships to carry out Dutch produce, which were to
return with foreign commodities.
" You should look well to them," persisted
Christian ; " for I do not believe they bring in
half so much money as you send out. I never
see such a thing as a Spanish dollar, or an Eng-
lish guinea, unless a traveller has come to
Amsterdam to spend it ; and how we have so
AN EXCURSION. 31
many ducats, and guilders, and stivers left, after
the number you send awav, is more than I can
tell."
Heins replied mysteriously that his partner
and he seldom sent away any money; which
made Christian very angry, certain as he was of
what his mother had told him of Heins being
an importing merchant.
" How can you tease the boy ?" inquired
Master Peter. And he asked Christian if he
really supposed that everything that was bought,
all the world over, was bought with gold and
silver ? If he would only consider the quantity
of coin that would have been collected in the
States by this time if all their produce had been
thus paid for, he would see how troublesome such
a method of commerce would be.
But some of this money would go away again,
Christian observed, as long as the States bought
as well as sold. However, he perceived that
while there was mutual exchange, it must save
much trouble to exchange the goods against one
another, as far as they would go, and pay only
the balance in money. But this balance, when
large, must be a very sad thing for the country
that had to pay it.
" Do you think the country would become
liable to pay it," asked Master Peter, " if it had
no advantage in return ? Do you think your
brother would run up heavy bills with the French