"The House of a Thousand Fears."

A house is still standing at one corner of the market-place at Rotterdam, Holland, which bears the inscription, "The House of a Thousand Fears." The story is told that in 1572, when the Spaniards sacked the city, having gained admission by treachery, an order was issued not to allow a single man, woman, or child to escape the general massacre. In this house, it is said, one thousand people took refuge, and, to mislead the Spanish soldiers, the master took a kid, killed it, and smeared the floor and stairs with its blood; then, throwing the furniture into confusion, the people hid themselves in the upper rooms, in the cellar, and in the garret. The soldiers entered, but concluding that their comrades had done the work before them, passed on, and the people, "shivering with a thousand fears," at last made their escape.

Not far from here, two houses standing quite near together recall the story of "The Stone Faces." During the prevalence of the plague in Rotterdam all the people living on this street were stricken except two old men, who were afraid to venture out. But, from near windows, they agreed that at a certain hour every morning each would look out of his window towards his neighbor's window. Day after day each looked anxiously for the other. When all danger had passed, they met, and shaking hands, agreed to commemorate their solemn "good mornings" by erecting, each in his window, a portrait stone head. The two old men have long since passed away, but the Stone Heads remain to tell the story of the plague in Rotterdam. In the great Market Place stands the Bronze Statue of Erasmus, by Keiser. The great scholar, head of the literary world in his day, was born in Rotterdam. The house is marked with a portrait bust and a memorial tablet, which reads: "This is the little house where the great Erasmus was born." The history of Erasmus is too well known to need more than a passing mention. His Latin version of the New Testament prepared Europe for the Reformation; his Phillipics against the monks and priests of the Church of Rome, and his debates with Luther, contributed to the great monument of Religious Liberty. Too broadminded to take either side in the great religious struggle, he abandoned the field and went to Switzerland. Later, he visited England, and was Professor of Greek at Cambridge. He died July 12, 1536, and was buried at Basel, Switzerland, aged sixty-nine years.

One other house in Rotterdam is of interest to Americans--the house where the mother of William Penn was born. His father was Admiral Sir William Penn, from whom he inherited a grant of land in America, in lieu of a crown debt. But his religious ideas were early instilled by his Dutch mother. William Penn, the Quaker, the founder and first legislator of the State of Pennsylvania, was born in London October 14, 1644. Died at Ruscombe, in Berkshire, July 30, 1718.

Rotterdam claims antiquity from 808. It was walled and became a cit in 1270. It is situated on the left branch of the river Maas, through which the Rhine is entered. The river is from thirty to forty feet deep at Rotterdam, so that along its river-front for a mile and a half the largest vessels can be moved. The magnificent quays are planted with stately linden trees. Arms of the Meuse and canals intersect the town in all directions, and on the banks women are busily washing great quantities of fresh linen, the making of which is one of the great industries of the town.

Rotterdam is eminently a place in which to study Dutch life. One finds himself at once in a world of novelty, surrounded by water, dykes and windmills, old-fashioned houses, quaint people in curious costumes, and Dutch window-mirrors by which the inmates of a house, without being seen, can see all that passes on the street. These mirrors are common to all Dutch and Flemish towns. Rotterdam, even to those familiar with Holland, is marvelously picturesque, and steamers and merchant ships leave its quays daily for all parts of the world.

There is a popular saying that "the Dutch make their money in Rotterdam, invest it in Amsterdam, and spend it in The Hague." Which means that Rotterdam, the second largest city in Holland, is the great business center; Amsterdam the great financial center; The Hague is its royal capital and the center of Dutch aristocracy.