t zealously, and preserved in a state of perfect freshness. Through
the windows of clearest glass are seen curtains of embroidered China
silk, and of painted muslin and beautiful India stuffs. The streets are
paved with brick and very clean, and are washed and rubbed daily, and
covered with fine white sand, in which various figures are imitated,
especially flowers. Placards at the end of each street forbid the
entrance of carriages into the village, the houses of which resemble
children's toys. The cattle are cared for by hirelings at some distance
from the town; and there is, outside the village, an inn for strangers,
for they are not permitted to lodge inside. In front of some houses I
remarked either a grass plot or an arrangement of colored sand and
shells, sometimes little painted wooden statues, sometimes hedges oddly
cut. Even the vessels and broom-handles were painted various colors, and
cared for like the remainder of the establishment; the inhabitants
carrying their love of cleanliness so far as to compel those who entered
to take off their shoes, and replace them with slippers, which stood at
the door for this singular purpose. I am reminded on this subject of an
anecdote relating to the Emperor Joseph the Second. That prince, having
presented himself in boots at the door of a house in Broek, and being
requested to remove them before entering, exclaimed, "I am the Emperor!"
--"Even if you were the burgomaster of Amsterdam, you should not enter in
boots," replied the master of the dwelling. The good Emperor thereupon
put on the slippers.

During the journey to Holland their Majesties were informed that the
first tooth of the King of Rome had just made its appearance, and that
the health of this august child was not impaired thereby.

In one of the little towns in the north of Holland, the authorities
requested the Emperor's permission to present to him an old man aged one
hundred and one years, and he ordered him brought before him. This more
than centenarian was still vigorous, and had served formerly in the
guards of the Stadtholder; he presented a petition entreating the Emperor
to exempt from conscription one of his grandsons, the support of his old
age. His Majesty assured him, through an interpreter, that he would not
deprive him of his grandson, and Marshal Duroc was ordered to leave with
the old man a testimonial of Imperial liberality. In another little town
in Friesland, the authorities made the Empe