CHAPTER XVI.

Between twelve and one o’clock on the 26th of May, Ascension-Day, the ringing of bells announced the opening of the great fair.  The old circuit of the boundaries of the fields had long since given place to a church festival, but the name of “Ommegang” remained interwoven with that of the fair, and even after the new religion had obtained the mastery, all sorts of processions took place at the commencement of the fair.

In the days of Catholic rule the cross had been borne through the streets in a soleum procession, in which all Leyden took part, now the banners of the city and standards bearing the colors of the House of Orange headed the train, followed by the nobles on horseback, the city magistrates in festal array, the clergy in black robes, the volunteers in magnificent uniforms, the guilds with their emblems, and long joyous ranks of school-children.  Even the poorest people bought some thing new for their little 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.