in
Germany, where simple manners and strong affections mark the inhabitants
of certain localities. Holland long preserved its primitive customs; and
there the love of order promotes subordination, though its free
institutions have softened the distinctions in the ranks of life, and
there we find a remarkable evidence of domesticity. It is not unusual in
Holland for servants to call their masters uncle, their mistresses
aunt, and the children of the family their cousins. These domestics
participating in the comforts of the family, become naturalized and
domiciliated; and their extraordinary relatives are often adopted by the
heart. An heroic effort of these domestics has been recorded; it occurred
at the burning of the theatre at Amsterdam, where many rushed into the
flames, and nobly perished in the attempt to save their endeared families.

It is in limited communities that the domestic virtues are most intense;
all concentrating themselves in their private circles, in such localities
there is no public--no public which extorts so many sacrifices from the
individual. Insular situations are usually remarkable for the warm
attachment and devoted fidelity of the domestic, and the personal regard
of families for their servants. This genuine domesticity is strikingly
displayed in the island of Ragusa, on the coast of Dalmatia: for there
they provide for the happiness of the humble friends of the house. Boys,
at an early age, are received into families, educated in writing, reading,
and arithmetic. Some only quit their abode, in which they were almost
born, when tempted by the stirring spirit of maritime enterprise. They
form a race of men who are much sought after for servants; and the term
applied to them of "Men of the Gulf," is a sure recommendation of
character for unlimited trust and unwearying zeal.

The mode of providing for the future comforts of their maidens is a little
incident in the history of benevolence, which we must regret is only
practised in such limited communities. Malte-Brun, in his "Annales des
Voyages," has painted a scene of this nature, which may read like some
romance of real life. The girls, after a service of ten years, on one
great holiday, an epoch in their lives, receive the ample reward of their
good conduct. On that happy day the mistress and all the friends of the
family prepare for the maiden a sort of dowry or marriage-portion. Every
friend of the house sends some article; and the mistre