occasionally--one may say, very occasionally. There is but little
brightness in the services of the Reformed Church, no ritual, no scope for
artistic work, no curates, and above and beyond ail, no career in the
Church for the clergy. At the best they may get sent to one of the large
towns, but the life is the same as in the village for the wife of the
'domine,' as the Dutch pastor is called. And if the domines move about in
fear and trembling because of the argus-eyes and often Midas-like ears of
the deacons, their wives must be still more discreet. One 'domine' has
been known to brave public opinion and ride a bicycle, but for a mother in
Israel to do the like would scandalize all good members of the Reformed
Church. The wives of the clergy, however, do good and useful work, and
probably are more real helpmeets to their husbands than women in any other
class of what may be called official life, but they take no sort of lead
in parochial or ecclesiastical matters. They do not direct the feminine
influences which do work in the parish, but rather take their place as one
of them. If, therefore, a woman marries a clergyman, she does so for love
of the man and his work's sake; there cannot be a tinge of ambition as to
the career of her husband, for there are no such things as comfortable
rectories and prospective deaneries or bishoprics, with their consequent
influence and power. Nothing but love of the man brings the 'domine' a
wife, and she knows that there will be inquisitorial eyes and not too kind
speeches about her behaviour from the 'faithful,' while the great people,
to their loss, will ignore her socially in much the same way as Queen
Elizabeth did the wives of the bishops in her day.

Passing to lighter subjects, Dutch girls are now breaking loose from the
stiffness and espionage in which their mothers were brought up, and this
is without doubt in a large measure due to the introduction of sport.
Tennis, hockey, golf, and more especially bicycling have conferred, by
the force of circumstances, a freedom which strength of argument,