retire from the tumult and confusion of the city, to enjoy the tranquillity of a secluded village. Broek contains about an hundred houses, each of which is decorated and painted with the nicest care. To every house, as is the case throughout North Holland, there are two doors; one of which is never opened but when a corpse or a christening is carried from the house, and the other serves the ordinary purposes of the family. I could not learn the nature of the superstition from whence this custom is supposed to have originated; and I believe it is peculiar to North Holland. To a stranger, there is something solemn in the custom; and we could not help contemplating these doors, opened only for sepulchral rites, or to introduce a new-born infant into the christian community, with a sort of religious awe and respect.
Over some of these doors were carvings, descriptive of the lives of some of the former possessors of the houses. One of these attracted a considerable portion of our notice. It was divided into four compartments. The
