ones on this day. Never did mothers braid their young daughters' hair
more carefully, than for the procession at the opening of the fair.
Spite of the hard times, many a stiver was taken from slender purses for
fresh ribbons and new shoes, becoming caps and bright-hued stockings.
The spring sunshine could be reflected from the little girls' shining,
smoothly-combed hair, and the big boys and little children looked even
gayer than the flowers in Herr Van Montfort's garden, by which the
procession was obliged to pass. Each wore a sprig of green leaves in his
cap beside the plume, and the smaller the boy, the larger the branch.
There was no lack of loud talk and merry shouts, for every child that
passed its home called to its mother, grandparents, and the servants, and
when one raised its voice many others instantly followed. The grown
people too were not silent, and as the procession approached the town-
hall, head-quarters of military companies, guild-halls or residences of
popular men, loud cheers arose, mingled with the ringing of bells, the
shouts of the sailors on both arms of the Rhine and on the canals, the
playing of the city musicians at the street corners, and the rattle of
guns and roar of cannon fired by the gunners and their assistants from
the citadel. It was a joyous tumult in jocund spring! These merry
mortals seemed to lull themselves carelessly in the secure enjoyment of
peace and prosperity, and how blue the sky was, how warmly and brightly
the sun shone! The only grave, anxious faces were among the magistrates;
but the guilds and the children behind did not see them, so the
rejoicings continued without interruption until the churches received the
procession, and words so earnest and full of warning echoed from the
pulpits, that many grew thoughtful.

All three phases of time belong to man, the past to the graybeard, the
future to youth, and the present to childhood. What cared the little
boys and girls of Leyden, released from school during the fair, for the