THE DUTCH HAVE TAKEN HOLLAND val

the stubbornness of family feuds. The opposing parties
took the names of “hoeks” and “ kabbeljaauws,” and men
of all classes enlisted in their respective ranks. In many
instances fathers, brothers, sons, and old-time friends forgot
their ties, and knew each other only as foes. The feud
(being Dutch!) raged hotter and stronger in proportion
as men had time coolly to consider the question. A
thicket of mutual wrongs, real or imaginary, sprang up
to further entangle the opposing parties; families were
divided, miles of smiling country laid in ruin, and tens
of thousands of men slain — for what ?

Those who fought, and those who looked on, longing for
peace, are alike silent now. Historical records do not
quite clear up the mystery. We know how hard it must
have been to settle the knotty question whether hooks or
codfish can more properly be said to be “ taken,” and how
dangerous the smallest thorns of anger and jealousy be-
come if not plucked out promptly. It is certain, too, that
the hoeks and kabbeljaauws were terribly in earnest,
though what they killed each other for we “cannot well
make out.”

The kabbeljaauws had one advantage. When a public
dinner was given by their party, the first dish brought in
by the seneschal (or steward) was a huge plate of codfish
elaborately decorated with flowers; something not orna-
mental only, but substantial and satisfactory ; while the
corresponding dish at a hoek festival contained nothing
but a gigantic hook encircled by a flowery wreath.

All through Dutch history you will find quaint words
and phrases that have a terrible record folded within their