or, The Silver Skates 89

 

THE DOGS TAKE A REST.

Gracht and Singel. These are semicircular in form; and the
first three average more than two miles in length. A canal
runs through the centre of each, with a well-paved road on
either side, lined with stately buildings. Rows of naked elms,
bordering the canal, cast a network of shadows over its frozen
surface; and everything was so clean and bright that Ben told
Lambert it seemed to him like petrified neatness.

Fortunately, the weather was cold enough to put a stop to
the usual street-flooding and window-washing, or our young
excursionists might have been drenched more than once.
Sweeping, mopping and scrubbing form a passion with Dutch
housewives; and to soil their spotless mansions is considered
scarcely less than a crime. Everywhere a hearty contempt is
felt for those who neglect to rub the soles of their shoes to a
polish before crossing the doorsill ; and, in certain places, visitors
are expected to remove their heavy shoes before entering, and
leave them outside near the doorstep.

Sir William Temple, in his memoirs of “ What passed in
Christendom from 1672 to 1679,” tells a story of a pompous