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362 all manner of shapes. In one garden, a tree was cut into the shape of a table, with bottles and glasses on it; another tree was topped and bent to resemble a ship; and a bed of box-wood described the chace of a hare. This ridiculous taste of horticulture began to prevail in Holland about the time when the Dutch, having shaken off the yoke of the Spaniards, applied themselves almost wholly to commerce, consequently neglected all elegant and agreeable pursuits; and it continues to prevail at Broek in its original style, two centuries old, unaltered and unimproved.

In the streets of Broek, cleanliness seems to have obtained its ne plus ultra. They are closely paved with small bricks, the interstices of which are frequently scraped, and not a speck of dirt or blade of grass is any-where to be perceived. No animal is permitted with unhallowed steps to profane the streets of Broek. The dogs and cats of the place are rigorously confined in the houses of their respective owners, and never permitted to breathe abroad the delicious air