The facade
of the stadhuis is further evidence, for it carries the statues of
some of the ancient monarchs who made Nymwegen their home.
Within the stadhuis is another of the beautiful justice halls which
Holland possesses in such profusion, the most interesting of which
we saw at Kampen. Kampen's oak seats are not, however, more beautiful
than those of Nymwegen; and Kampen has no such clock as stands here,
distilling information, tick by tick, of days, and years, and sun,
and moon, and stars. The stadhuis has also treasures of tapestry
and Spanish leather, and a museum containing a very fine collection
of antiquities, including one of the famous wooden petticoats of
Nymwegen--a painted barrel worn as a penance by peccant dames.
From Nymwegen the train took me to Hertzogenbosch, or Bois le Duc,
the capital of Brabant. It is from Brabant, we were told by a proverb
which I quoted in my first chapter on Friesland, that one should
take a sheep. Great flocks of sheep may be seen on the Brabant moors,
exactly as in Mauve's pictures. They are kept not for food, for the
Dutch dislike mutton, but for wool.
Bois le Duc has the richest example of mediaeval architecture in
Holland--the cathedral of St. John, a wonderful fantasy in stone,
rich not only without, but, contrary to all Dutch precedent, within
too; for we are at last again among a people who for the most part
retain the religion of Rome.
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