being the French critic Thoré (who wrote as "W. Burger"), and his
second Mr. Henri Havard, the author of very pleasant books on Holland
from which I shall occasionally quote. Both these enthusiasts wrote
before the picture opposite page 2 was exhibited, or their ecstasies
might have been even more intense.

In the Senate House at Delft in 1641 John Evelyn the diarist saw "a
mighty vessel of wood, not unlike a butter-churn, which the adventurous
woman that hath two husbands at one time is to wear on her shoulders,
her head peeping out at the top only, and so led about the town, as
a penance". I did not see this; but the punishment was not peculiar
to Delft. At Nymwegen these wooden petticoats were famous too.

Nor did I visit the porcelain factory, having very little interest in
its modern products. But the old Delft ware no one can admire more than
I do. A history of Delft written by Dirk van Bleyswijck and published
in 1667, tells us that the rise of the porcelain industry followed the
decline of brewing. The author gives with tears a list of scores of
breweries that ceased to exist between 1600 and 1640. All had signs,
among them being:--


The Popinjay.
The Great Bell.
The White Lily.
The Three Herrings.
The Double Battle-axe.
The Three Acorns.
The Black Unicorn.
The Three Lilies.