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a hall of debate. Twenty-six chairs for the Deputies are placed on
two sides of a long table: the President, whose chair is in the centre,
has on his right hand, first, a Deputy of his own province, then three
Deputies of Friesland, and two of Groningen; on his left, six Deputies
of Holland; opposite to him, nearest to the head of the table, six
Deputies of Guelderland, then three of Zealand, then two of Utrecht,
and two of Overyssel. The Stadtholder, who has a place, but not a
vote, has a raised chair at the upper end of the table; the Secretary
is seated opposite to him, and is allowed to wear his hat, like the
Deputies, during their deliberations, but must stand uncovered,
behind the President, when he reads letters, or other papers. The
number of Deputies is known to be indefinite; about fifty are
generally returned; and those, who are present from each province,
more than the number allowed at the table, place themselves below
it. The walls of this room are covered with tapestry, not representing
historical events, but rural scenery; the backs and seats of the chairs
are of green velvet; and all the furniture, though stately and in the
best condition, is without the least approach to show. These
apartments, and the whole of this side of the Court, were the
residence of Charles the Fifth, when he visited the Hague, and of the
Earl of Leicester, when he commanded the troops lent to the
Republic by Elizabeth.

The government of the United Provinces is too well known to

permit a detailed description here, but some notice may reasonably
be expected of it.

The chief depositaries of the sovereignty are not the States

General, but the Provincial States, of whose Deputies the former
body is composed, and without whose consent they never vote upon
important measures. In the States General each Province has one
vote; which, with the reasons for it, may be delivered by an
unlimited number of Deputies; and the first Deputy of each province
presides in the States by rotation for a week. In questions relative to
peace or war, alliances, taxes, coinages, and to the privileges of
provinces, no measures can be taken but by unanimous consent;
upon other occasions, a majority is sufficient. No persons holding
military offices can be Deputies to the States General, which
appoints and receives all ambassadors, declares war, makes peace,
and names the Greffier, or Secretary of State, and all Staff Officers.

The Provincial States are variously composed, and the interior

governments of the provinces variously formed. In the province of
Holland, which contains the most prosperous part of the Republic,
there are eighteen Deputies to the Provincial States, for as many
towns, and one for the nobility. The Grand Pensionary presides in
this assembly, and is always one of the Deputies from it to the
States General.

The Council of Deputies is composed of ten members: nine from

the towns, and one from the nobility. This Council, in which the
Grand Pensionary also presides, regulates the finances of the
province, and takes cognizance of the distribution of troops within it.

The Council, called the Council of State, is composed, like the

States General, of Deputies returned from the provinces, and
appears to be to that body, in a great measure, what the Council of
Deputies is to the Provincial States, having the direction of the army
and the finances.

As provincial affairs are directed by the Provincial States, so the

affairs of each town are governed by its own Senate, which also
returns the members, if the town is entitled to send one, to the
States of the Province, and directs the vote, which that member
shall give. The Burgomasters in each town are the magistrates
charged with the police and the finances, and are usually elected
annually by the old Council, that is, by those who have been
Burgomasters, or Echevins. These latter officers have the
administration of civil and criminal affairs, and are, in some places,
appointed by the Stadtholder from a double number nominated to
him; in others, are accepted from the recommendation of the
Stadtholder. The Bailiffs preside in the Council of Burgomasters and
Echevins; and in their name prosecutions are instituted.

Of the Deputies to the States General, some are for life, and some
for one or more years.

Such is the nicely complicated frame of this government, in which

the Senates of the Towns elect the Provincial States, and the
Provincial States the States General; the latter body being incapable
of deciding in certain cases, except with unanimity and with the
express consent of their constituents, the Provincial States; who
again cannot give that consent, except with unanimity and with the
consent of their constituents, the Senates.

The Stadtholder, it is seen, has not directly, and in consequence of

that office, any share of the legislative power; but, being a Noble of
four provinces, he, of course, participates in that part of the
sovereignty, which the Nobility enjoy when they send Deputies to
the Provincial States. Of Zealand he is the only Noble, all the other
titled families having been destroyed in the original contest with
Spain; and there are no renewals or creations of titles in the United
Provinces. In Guelderland, Holland, and Utrecht, he is President of
the Nobles. He is Commander of all the Forces of the Republic by
sea and land; and the Council of State, of which he is a member, is,
in military affairs, almost entirely under his direction; he names all
subaltern officers, and recommends those for higher appointments
to the States General. In Guelderland, Utrecht, and Overyssel, which
are called Provinces aux Reglemens, because, having submitted to
Louis the Fourteenth, in 1672, they were not re-admitted to the
Union, but with some sacrifice of their privileges, he appoints to
offices, without the nomination of the cities; he is Governor General
of the East and West Indian Companies, and names all the Directors
from a treble number of candidates offered by the Proprietors. His
name presides in all the courts of law; and his heart, it may be
hoped, dictates in the noble right of pardoning.
 This is the essential form of a government, which, for two
centuries, has protected as great a share of civil and religious liberty
as has been enjoyed in any other part of Europe, resisting equally
the chances of dissolution, contained within itself; and the less
dangerous schemes for its destruction, dictated by the jealousy of
arbitrary interests without.

Its intricacy and delicacy are easily seen; yet, of the objections
made to it on this account, more are founded on some maxims,
assumed to be universal, than upon the separate considerations due
to the condition of a separate people. How much the means of
political happiness depend, for their effect, upon the civil characters
of those for whom they are designed, has been very little seen, or
insisted upon. It has been unnoticed, because such enquiries have
not the brilliancy, or the facility, of general speculations, nor can
command equal attention, nor equally reward systems with those
parts of their importance, that consist in the immensity of the
sphere, to which they pretend. To extend their arms is the flagitious
ambition of warriors; to enlarge their systems is the ambition of
writers, especially of political writers. A juster effort of understanding
would aim at rendering the application of principles more exact,
rather than more extensive, and would produce enquiries into the
circumstances of national character and condition, that should
regulate that application. A more modest estimate of human means
of doing good would shew the gradations, through which all human
advances must be made. A more severe integrity of views would
stipulate, that the means should be as honest as the end, and would
strive to ascertain, from the moral and intellectual character of a
people, the degree of political happiness, of which they are capable;
a process, without which projected advances become obstructions;
and the philosopher begins his experiment, for the amelioration of
society, as prematurely as the sculptor would polish his statue before
he had delineated the features.

Whether the constitution of the United Provinces is exactly as

good an one as the people are capable of enjoying, can be
determined only after a much longer and abler enquiry than we
could make; but it seemed proper to observe, that, in judging this
question, it is not enough to discover better forms of government,
without finding also some reason to believe, that the intellectual and
moral condition of the people would secure the existence of those
better forms. In the mean time, they, who make the enquiry, may be
assured, that, under the present 1 government, there is a
considerable degree of political liberty, though political happiness is
not permitted by the present circumstances of Europe; that the
general adoption of the Stadtholder's measures by the States has
been unduly mentioned to shew an immoderate influence, for that,
in point of fact, his measures are often rejected; that this rejection
produces no public agitation, nor can those, who differ from him in
opinion, be successfully represented as enemies to their country;
that there are very few offices, which enable private persons to
become rich, at the expence of the public, so as to have a different
interest from them; that the sober industry and plain manners of the
people prevent them from looking to political conduct of any sort as
a means of improving their fortunes; that, for these reasons, the
intricate connections between the parts of their government are less
inconvenient than may be supposed, since good measures will not
be obstructed, or bad ones supported, for corrupt purposes, though
misconceptions may sometimes produce nearly the same effect; that
conversation is perfectly free; and that the habit of watching the
strength of parties, for the purpose of joining the strongest and
persecuting the weakest, does not occupy the minds of any
numerous classes amongst them.

1 June 1794.

We saw no other apartments than those of the States General, the

Prince of Orange being then in his own. The Princess was at a seat in
Guelderland, with her daughter-in-law, the wife of the Hereditary
Prince, who had been indisposed since the surprise of the Dutch
troops at Menin, on the 12th of September 1793, in which affair her
husband was engaged. When the officer, who brought the first
accounts, which were not written, to the Hague, had related that the
younger prince was wounded, the Hereditary Princess enquired, with
great eagerness, concerning his brother. The officer indiscreetly
replied, that he knew nothing of him; which the Princess supposed
to imply, that he was dead; and she has since been somewhat an
invalid.

Though the salaries enjoyed by the Prince of Orange, in

consequence of his offices, are by no means considerable, he is
enabled, by his patrimonial estates, to maintain some modest
splendour. The Court is composed of a grand master, a marshal, a
grand equerry, ten chamberlains, five ladies of honour, and six
gentlemen of the chamber. Ten young men, with the title of pages,
are educated at the expence of the Prince, in a house adjoining his
manege. As Captain-General, he is allowed eight adjutants, and, as
Admiral, three.

We could not learn the amount of the income enjoyed by the

Prince of Orange, which must, indeed, be very variable, arising chiefly
from his own estates. The greater part of these are in the province
of Zealand, where seventeen villages and part of the town of Breda
are his property. The fortifications of several places there are said to
have been chiefly erected at the expence of the Orange family. His
farms in that neighbourhood suffered greatly in the campaign of
1792, and this part of his income has since been much diminished.
The management of his revenues, derived from possessions in
Germany, affords employment to four or five persons, at an Office,
separate from his ordinary Treasury; and he had estates in the Low
Countries. All this is but the wreck of a fortune, honourably
diminished by William the First of Orange, in the contest with Spain;
the remembrance of whom may, perhaps, involuntarily influence
one's opinion of his successors.

During May, the western gate of the palace is ornamented,

according to ancient custom, with garlands for each person of the
Orange family. Chaplets, with the initials of each, in flowers, are
placed under large coronets, upon green flag-staffs. We passed by
when they were taking these down, and perceived that all the
ornaments could scarcely have cost five shillings. So humble are the
Dutch notions of pageantry.

Among the offices included within the walls of the court is a

printing-house, in which the States General and the States of Holland
employ only persons sworn to secrecy as to the papers committed to
them. It may seem strange to require secrecy from those, whose art
is chiefly useful in conferring publicity; but the truth is, that many
papers are printed here, which are never communicated to the
public, the States employing the press for the sake of its cheapness,
and considering that any of their members, who would shew a
printed paper, would do the same with a written one.

In a large square, near the court, is the cabinet of natural history,

of which we have not the knowledge necessary for giving a
description. It is arranged in small rooms, which are opened, at
twelve o'clock, to those, who have applied the day before. One
article, said to be very rare, and certainly very beautiful, was an
animal of the Deer species, about fourteen inches high, exquisitely
shaped and marked, and believed to be at its full growth. It was
brought from the coast of Africa.

The Stadtholder's library was accidentally shut, owing to the illness

of the librarian. The picture gallery was open, but of paintings we
have resolved to exempt our readers from any mention. The former
is said to contain eight thousand volumes, and fourteen thousand
prints in portfolios. Among the illuminated MSS. in vellum is one,
used by the sanguinary Catherine De Medicis and her children; and
another, which belonged to Isabella of Castille, the grandmother of
Charles the Fifth. What must be oddly placed in a library is a suit of
armour of Francis the First, which was once in the cabinet of
Christina of Sweden. Though this collection is the private property of
the Prince, the librarian is permitted to lend books to persons,
known to him and likely to use them advantageously for science.
 We passed a long morning in walking through the streets of this
place, which contain probably more magnificent houses than can be
found in the same space in any city of Northern Europe. The Grand
Voorbout is rather, indeed, two series of palaces than a street.
Between two broad carriage-ways, which pass immediately along the
sides, are several alleys of tall lime trees, canopying walks, first laid
out by Charles the Fifth, in 1536, and ordered to be carefully
preserved, the placard being still extant, which directs the
punishment of offenders against them. It would be tedious to
mention the many splendid buildings in this and the neighbouring
streets. Among the most conspicuous is the present residence of the
British Ambassadors, built by Huguetan, the celebrated banker of
Louis the Fourteenth, and that of the Russian Minister, which was
erected by the Pensionary Barneveldt. But the building, which was
intended to exceed all others at the Hague, is the Hotel of the Prince
of Nassau Weilbourg; who, having married the sister of the Prince of
Orange, bought, at an immense expence, eight good houses, facing
the Voorbout, in order to erect upon their scite a magnificent palace.
What has been already built of this is extremely fine, in the crescent
form; but a German, arriving to the expenditure of a Dutch fortune,
probably did not estimate it by Dutch prices. It was begun eighteen
years since, and, for the last twelve, has not proceeded.

Superb public buildings occur at almost every step through the

Hague. At one end of the terrace, on which we were lodged, is the
Doelen, a spacious mansion, opening partly upon the Tournois Veld,
or Place of Tournaments. The burgesses here keep their colours,
and, what is remarkable, still preserve the insignia of the Toison
d'Or, given to them by Charles the Fifth. Our William the Third being
admitted, at ten years of age, to the right of a burgess here, was
invested with this order by the Burgomaster. At the other end of the
terrace is the palace, built for Prince Maurice of Nassau, upon his
return from the government of Brazil, by Kampfen, Lord of Rambroek,
architect of the Stadthouse at Amsterdam. The interior of this
building was destroyed by fire, in the commencement of the present
century; but, the stately walls of stone and brick being uninjured,
the rooms were restored by the proprietors, assisted by a lottery. It
is an instance of the abundance of buildings here, that this palace is
now chiefly used as a place of meeting, for the œconomical branch
of the society of Haerlem, and for a society, instituted here, for the
encouragement of Dutch poetry.

The number of public buildings is much increased by the houses,

which the eighteen towns provide for their Deputies, sent to the
States of the Province. These are called the Logements of the
several towns; and there has been a great deal of emulation, as to
their magnificence. Amsterdam and Rotterdam have the finest.

The churches are not remarkable for antiquity, or grandeur. A

congregation of English Protestants have their worship performed, in
the manner of the Dissenters, in a small chapel near the Vyver,
where we had the satisfaction to hear their venerable pastor, the
Rev. Dr. M'Clean.

The residence of a Court at the Hague renders the appearance of

the inhabitants less national and characteristic than elsewhere.
There are few persons in the streets, who, without their orange
cockades, might not be mistaken for English; but ribbons of this
colour are almost universal, which some wear in their hats, and
some upon a button-hole of the coat. The poorest persons, and
there are more poor here than elsewhere, find something orange-
coloured to shew. Children have it placed upon their caps; so that
the practice is carried to an extent as ridiculous, as the prohibition
was in 1785, when the magistrates ordered, that nothing orange-
coloured should be worn, or shewn, not even fruits, or flowers, and
that carrots should not be exposed to sale with the ends outwards.

The distinctions between political classes are very strongly marked

and preserved in Holland. We were informed, that there are some
villages, in which the wearing of a cockade, and others, in which the
want of one, would expose a passenger, especially a native, to
insults. In the cities, where those of both parties must transact
business together, the distinction is not much observed. In
Amsterdam, the friends of the Stadtholder do not wear cockades.
For the most part, the seamen, farmers and labouring classes in the
towns are attached to the Orange family, whose opponents are
chiefly composed of the opulent merchants and tradesmen.

A history, or even a description of the two parties, if we were

enabled to give it, would occupy too much space here; but it may be
shortly mentioned, that the original, or chief cause of the dissension
was, as might be expected, entirely of a commercial nature. The
English interest had an unanimous popularity in Holland, about the
year 1750. In the war of 1756, the French, having sustained a great
loss of shipping, employed Dutch vessels to bring the produce of
their American islands to Europe, and thus established a
considerable connection with the merchants of Amsterdam and
Rotterdam. The Court of Versailles took care, that the stream of
French wealth, which they saw setting into the United Provinces,
should carry with it some French politics; while the wealth itself
effected more than all their contrivance, and gradually produced a
kindness for France, especially in the province of Holland, through
which it chiefly circulated. The English Ministers took all Dutch ships,
having French property on board; and the popularity of England was
for a time destroyed. Several maritime towns, probably with some
instigation from France, demanded a war against England. The
friends of the Stadtholder prevented this; and from that time the
Prince began to share whatever unpopularity the measures of the
English Ministers, or the industry of the English traders, could excite
in a rival and a commercial country.

The capture of the French West India islands soon after removed
the cause of the dispute; but the effects of it survived in the jealousy
of the great cities towards the Stadtholder, and were much
aggravated by the losses of their merchants, at the commencement
of hostilities between England and the United Provinces, in 1780.
The Dutch fleet being then unprepared to sail, and every thing,
which could float, having been sent out of the harbours of Yorkshire
and Lincolnshire to intercept their trading ships, the fortunes of
many of the most opulent houses in Holland were severely shook,
and all their members became the enemies of the Stadtholder.

If to these circumstances it is added, that the province of Holland,

which pays fifty-eight parts of every hundred, levied by taxes, has an
ambition for acquiring greater influence in the general government,
than is bestowed by its single vote, we have probably all the original
causes of the party distinctions in Holland, though others may have
been incorporated with others, during a long series of events and
many violent struggles of the passions.

The Stadtholder, who has had the misfortune to attract so much

attention by his difficulties, is said to be a man of plain manners and
sound understanding, neither capable of political intrigue, nor
inclined to it. His office requires, especially during a war, a great deal
of substantial, personal labour, to which he devotes himself earnestly
and continually, but which he has not the vigour to bear, without an
evident oppression of spirits. We saw him at a parade of the Guards,
and it is not necessary to be told of his labours to perceive how
much he is affected by them. It is scarcely possible to conceive a
countenance more expressive of a mind, always urged, always
pressed upon, and not often receiving the relief of complete
confidence in its efforts. His person is short and extremely corpulent;
his air in conversation modest and mild. This attendance upon the
parade is his chief exercise, or relaxation at the Hague, where he
frequently passes ten of the hours between five in a morning and
nine at night in his cabinet. He comes, accompanied by one or two
officers, and his presence produces no crowd. When we had viewed
the parade and returned home, we saw him walking under our
windows towards the Voorbout, accompanied by an officer, but not
followed by a single person.

Conversation does not turn so much upon the family of the

Stadtholder, as that we could acquire any distinct opinions of the
other parts of it. Of his humanity and temper, there was sufficient
proof, in 1787, when he returned to the Hague and was master of
the persons of those, who had lately banished him. Indeed, the
conduct of both parties, with respect to the personal safety of their
adversaries, was honourable to the character of the nation. The
States of Holland, during the prevalence of their authority, did not
pretend, according to the injustice of similar cases, to any right of
destroying the friends of the Stadtholder, who were in their hands;
the Stadtholder, when he returned, and when the public detestation
of his adversaries was at an height, which would have permitted any
measures against them, demanded no other retribution, than that
seventeen, named in a list, should be declared incapable of holding
offices under the Republic.

One of the best excursions from the Hague is made to the Maison
du Bois, a small palace of the Prince of Orange, in a wood, which
commences almost at the northern gate of the town. This wood is
called a park, but it is open to the public roads from Leyden,
Haerlem and Amsterdam, which pass through its noble alleys of oak
and beech. It is remarkable for having so much attracted the regard
of Philip the Second, that, in the campaign of 1574, he ordered his
officers not to destroy it; and is probably the only thing, not destined
for himself, of which this ample destroyer of human kind and of his
own family ever directed the preservation. Louis the Fourteenth,
probably having heard the praises of this care, left the mall of
Utrecht to be a monument of similar tenderness, during an
unprovoked invasion, which cost ten thousand lives.

The apartments of the Maison du Bois are very variously furnished.

The best are fitted up with a light grey sattin, imbossed with Chinese
birds and plants, in silk and feathers of the most beautiful tints; the
window curtains, screens and coverings of the sophas and chairs are
the same, and the frames of the latter are also of Chinese
workmanship. Nothing more delicate and tasteful can be conceived;
but, that you may not be quite distracted with admiration, the
carpets are such as an English merchant would scarcely receive into
a parlour. The furniture of the state bed-chamber is valuable, and
has once been splendid; a light balustrade of curious Japan work,
about three feet high, runs across the room, and divides that part, in
which the bed stands, from the remainder. The Princess's drawing-
room, in which card parties are sometimes held, is well embellished
with paintings, and may be called a superb apartment; but here
again there is an instance of the incompleteness, said to be
observable in the furniture of all rooms, out of England. Of four card
tables two are odd ones, and literally would be despised in a broker's
shop in London. The great glory of the house is the Salle d'Orange,
an oblong saloon of noble height, with pannels, painted by nine
celebrated painters of the Flemish and Dutch schools, among whom
Van Tulden, a pupil of Rubens, has observed his manner so much in a
workshop of Vulcan and in a figure of Venus forming a trophy, that
they have been usually attributed to his master. The subjects on the
pannels and ceiling are all allegorical, and complimentary, for the
most part, to the Princes of the House of Orange, especially to
Frederic Henry, the son of the first William and the grandson of the
Admiral Coligny. It was at the expence of his widow, that the house
was built and the saloon thus ornamented.

Almost all the rooms are decorated with family portraits, of which
some have just been contributed by the pencil of the Hereditary
Princess. A large piece represents herself, taking a likeness of the
Princess her mother-in-law, and includes what is said to be an
admirable portrait of her husband. On the six doors of the grand
cabinet are six whole lengths of ladies of the House of Orange,
exhibited in allegorical characters. The doors being covered by the
paintings, when that, by which you have entered, is shut, you
cannot tell the way back again. A portrait of Louisa de Coligny, the
widow of William the First, is enriched with a painter's pun; she is
presented by Hope with a branch of an orange tree, containing only
one orange; from which the spectator is to learn, that her son was
her only hope.

The most delightful outlet from the Hague is towards Schevening,

a village on the sea-shore, nearly two miles distant, the road to
which has been often and properly celebrated as a noble monument
of tasteful grandeur. Commencing at the canal, which surrounds the
Hague, it proceeds to the village through a vista so exactly straight,
that the steeple of Schevening, the central object at the end of it, is
visible at the first entrance. Four rows of lofty elms are planted along
the road, of which the two central lines form this perfect and most
picturesque vista; the others shelter paths on each side of it, for foot
passengers.

The village itself, containing two or three hundred houses of

fishermen and peasants, would be a spectacle, for its neatness, any
where but in Holland. There is no square, or street of the most
magnificent houses in London, that can equal it for an universal
appearance of freshness. It is positively bright with cleanliness;
though its only street opens upon the sea, and is the resort of
hundreds of fishermen. We passed a most delightful day at a little
inn upon the beach, sometimes looking into the history of the
village, which is very ancient; then enquiring into its present
condition; and then enjoying the prospect of the ocean, boundless to
our view, on one side, and appearing to be but feebly restrained by
a long tract of low white coast on the other.

The sea beats furiously upon the beach here, which has no doubt
been much raised by art for the defence of the village. There is at
least no other way of accounting for its security, since 1574,
between which year and the latter end of the preceding century, it
sustained six inundations. The first, in 1470, demolished a church;
the last washed away an hundred and twenty houses;
notwithstanding which, the inhabitants built again upon their stormy
shore; and their industry, that, at length, protected them from the
sea, enabled them to endure also the more inveterate ravages of the
Spaniards. On this beach lie occasionally great numbers of herring
busses, too stoutly built to be injured by touching it. We suspect our
information to have been exaggerated; but we heard on the spot,
that no less than one hundred and five belong to this village of little
more than two hundred houses, or are managed by agents in it.
About forty were set on float by the tide in the afternoon, and, being
hauled by means of anchors beyond a very heavy surf, were out of
sight, before we left the place.

It was amusing to see the persevering, effectual, but not very

active exertions of the seamen in this business, which could not
often be more difficult than it then was, when a strong wind blew
directly upon the shore. We here first perceived, what we had many
other opportunities of observing, that, notwithstanding the general
admiration of Dutch industry, it is of a nature which would scarcely
acquire that name in England. A Dutchman of the labouring class is,
indeed, seldom seen unemployed; but we never observed one man
working hard, according to the English notion of the term.
Perseverance, carefulness, and steadiness are theirs, beyond any
rivalship; the vehemence, force, activity and impatience of an
English sailor, or workman, are unknown to them. You will never see
a Dutchman enduring the fatigue, or enjoying the rest, of a London
porter. Heavy burthens, indeed, they do not carry. At Amsterdam,
where carriages are even somewhat obnoxious, a cask, holding four
or five gallons of liquor, is removed by a horse and a sledge.

On our way from Schevening, where a dinner costs more than at

an hotel in the Hague, we turned a little to the right to see Portland
Gardens, once the favourite resort of William and Mary; and said to
be laid out in the English taste. They are now a bad specimen even
of Dutch gardens. The situation is unusually low, having on one
hand the raised bank of the Schevening road, and, on another, the
sand hills of the coast. Between these, the moisture of the sea air is
held for a long time, and finally drawn down upon the earth. The
artificial ornaments are stained and decaying; and the grass and
weeds of the neglected plots are capable only of a putrid green.
Over walks of a black mould you are led to the orangery, where
there is more decay, and may look through the windows of the
green-house, to perceive how every thing is declining there. Some
pavilions, provided with water spouts, are then to be seen; and, if
you have the patience to wait the conclusion of an operation,
intended to surprise you, you may count how many of the pipes
refuse to perform their office.

Nearer to the Hague, we were stopped to pay a toll of a few

doights; a circumstance which was attended with this proof of
civility. Having passed in the morning, without the demand, we
enquired why it should be made now. The gatherer replied, that he
had seen us pass, but, knowing that we must return by the same
way, had avoided giving more trouble than was necessary. This tax is
paid for the support of the bank, or digue, over which the road
passes; a work, begun on the 1st of May 1664, and finished on the
5th of December 1665, by the assistance of a loan granted for the
enterprise. The breadth of the road is thirty-two yards.

The next day, after seeing the relief of the Stadtholder's garde du
corps, the privates of which wear feathered hats, with uniforms of
scarlet and gold, we left the Hague, with much admiration of its
pleasantness and quiet grandeur, and took the roof of the
trechtschuyt for Leyden.

LEYDEN.
Three hours pleasant floating along a canal, adorned with frequent
country houses, gardens, summer-houses and square balconies, or
rather platforms, projecting over the water, within an hand's breadth
of its level, brought us to this city, which was esteemed the second
in Holland, before Rotterdam gained its present extent. Leyden is,
however, so large, that a traveller is likely to have a walk of half a
league to his inn; and those who arrive, as we did, at the time of the
fair, may find the procession not very pleasant. We increased our
difficulties by turning away from the dirt and incivility of what was
called the best inn, and did not afterwards find a better, though
such, it seems, might have been had.
 Having, at length, become contented with the worst, we went
towards the fair, of which we had as yet seen only the crowd. The
booths, being disposed under trees and along the borders of canals,
made the whole appearance differ from that of an English fair,
though not quite so much as we had expected. The stock of the
shopkeepers makes a greater distinction. There were several booths
filled with silversmiths' and jewellers' wares, to the amount of,
probably, some thousand pounds each. Large French clocks in or
moulu and porcelain were among their stores. All the trades
displayed the most valuable articles, that could be asked for in
similar shops in large cities. We had the pleasure to see great
quantities of English goods, and there were English names over
three, or four of the booths.

The Dutch dresses were now become so familiar to us, that the
crowd seemed as remarkable for the number of other persons in it,
as for the abundance of peasants in their holiday finery, which, it is
pleasant to know, displays the ornamental relics of several
generations, fashion having very little influence in Holland. The fair
occupied about a fourth part of the town, which we soon left to see
the remainder. Two streets, parallel to each other, run through its
whole length, and include the few public halls of an University, which
would scarcely be known to exist, if it had no more conspicuous
objects than its buildings. The Dutch universities contain no
endowed foundations; so that the professors, who have their
salaries from the States, live in private houses, and the students in
lodgings. The academical dress is worn only in the schools, and by
the professors. The library, to which Joseph Scaliger was a
benefactor, is open only once in a week, and then for no more than
two hours. It is the constant policy of the Dutch government, to
make strangers leave as much money as possible behind them; and
Leyden was once so greatly the resort of foreigners, that it was
thought important not to let them read for nothing what they must
otherwise be obliged to buy. The University is, of course, declining
much, under this commercial wisdom of the magistrates.
 There are students, however, of many nations and religions, no
oaths being imposed, except upon the professors. Physic and botany
especially are said to be cultivated here with much success; and
there is a garden, to which not only individuals, but the East India
Company, industriously contribute foreign plants. The salaries of the
professors, who receive, besides, fees from the students, are nearly
two hundred pounds a-year. The government of the University is in
the Rector, who is chosen out of three persons returned by the
Senate to the States; the Senate consists of the professors; and, on
extraordinary occasions, the Senate and Rector are directed by
Curators, who are the agents for the States.

The chief street in the town is of the crescent form, so that, with
more public buildings, it would be a miniature resemblance of High-
street, Oxford. The town-house is built with many spires, and with
almost Chinese lightness. We did not see the interior of this, or,
indeed, of any other public buildings; for, in the morning, when
curiosity was to be indulged, our fastidiousness as to the inns
returned, and induced us to take a passage for Haerlem. The MSS.
of the Dutch version of the Bible, which are known to be deposited
here, could not have been shewn, being opened only once in three
years, when the Deputies of the Synod and States attend; but we
might have seen, in the town-house, some curious testimonies of
the hardships and perseverance of the inhabitants, during the
celebrated blockade of five months, in 1574, in consideration of
which the University was founded.

After viewing some well-filled booksellers' shops, and one wide

street of magnificent houses, we again made half the circuit of this
extensive city, in the way to the trechtschuyt for

HAERLEM.
 The canal between Leyden and this place is nearly the pleasantest
of the great number, which connect all the towns of the province
with each other, and render them to the traveller a series of
spectacles, almost as easily visited as the amusements of one large
metropolis. Though this is said to be one of the lowest parts of
Holland, the country does not appear to have suffered more than
the rest by water. The many country seats, which border the canals,
are also proofs that it is thought to be well secured; yet this is the
district, which has been proved, by indisputable observations, to be
lower than the neighbouring sea, even in the profoundest calm.
During the voyage, which was of four hours, we passed under
several bridges, and saw numbers of smaller canals, crossing the
country in various directions; but the passage of a trechtschuyt is
not delayed for an instant by a bridge, the tow-rope being loosened
from the boat, on one side, and immediately caught again, on the
other, if it should not be delivered by some person, purposely
stationed on the arch. It is not often that a canal makes any bend in
its course; when it does so, there are small, high posts at the point,
round which the tow-rope is drawn; and, that the cord may not be
destroyed by the friction, the posts support perpendicular rollers,
which are turned by its motion. Such posts and rollers might be
advantageously brought into use in England. On most of the canals
are half-way villages, where passengers may stop, about five
minutes, for refreshment; but they will be left behind, without any
ceremony, if they exceed the limited time, which the boatman
employs in exchanging letters for such of the neighbouring country
houses as have not packet boxes placed on the banks.

Haerlem, like Leyden, is fortified by brick walls, but both seem to

be without the solid earthen works, that constitute the strength of
modern fortresses. A few pieces of cannon are planted near the
gate, in order to command the bridge of a wide fossé; and the gate-
house itself is a stout building, deep enough to render the passage
underneath somewhat dark. There is otherwise very little
appearance of the strength, that resisted the Duke of Alva, for
twelve months, and exasperated his desire of vengeance so far, that
the murder of the inhabitants, who at last surrendered to his
promises of protection, could alone appease it.

A narrow street leads from the gate to the market-place, where

two pieces of cannon are planted before the guard-house; the first
precaution against internal commotion, which we had seen in the
country. Haerlem had a great share in the disputes of 1787, and is
said to adhere more fully than any other city to the Anti-
Stadtholderian politics of that period.

The market-place is very spacious, and surrounds the great

church, perhaps, the largest sacred building in the province of
Holland. The lofty oak roof is marked with dates of the early part of
the sixteenth century. The organ, sometimes said to be the best in
Europe, is of unusual size, but has more power of sound than
sweetness. The pipes are silvered, and the body carefully painted;
for organs are the only objects in Dutch churches, which are
permitted to be shewy. They are now building, in the great church at
Rotterdam, a rival to this instrument, and need not despair of
surpassing it.

A great part of the congregation sit upon chairs in the large aisle,
which does not seem to be thought a much inferior place to the
other parts. During an evening service, at which we were present,
this was nearly filled; and while every person took a separate seat,
women carried chauffepieds, or little wooden boxes, with pans of
burning peat in them, to the ladies. This was on the 4th of June. The
men enter the church with their hats on, and some wear them,
during the whole service, with the most disgusting and arrogant
hardihood.

We passed a night at Haerlem, which is scarcely worth so long a

stay, though one street, formed upon the banks of a canal, consists
of houses more uniformly grand, than any out of the Hague, and
surprises you with its extensive magnificence at a place, where there
is little other appearance of wealth and none of splendour. But the
quietness of the Great in Holland is daily astonishing to a stranger,
who sometimes passes through rows of palaces, without meeting a
carriage, or a servant. The inhabitants of those palaces have,
however, not less earnest views, than they who are more agitated;
the difference between them is, that the views of the former are
only such as their situation enables them to gratify, without the
agitation of the latter. They can sit still and wait for the conclusion of
every year, at which they are to be richer, or rather are to have
much more money, than in the preceding one. They know, that,
every day the silent progress of interest adds so much to their
principal; and they are content to watch the course of time, for it is
time alone that varies their wealth, the single object of their
attention. There can be no motive, but its truth, for repeating the
trite opinion of the influence of avarice in Holland: we expected,
perhaps, with some vanity, to have found an opportunity for
contradicting it; but are able only to add another testimony of its
truth. The infatuation of loving money not as a means, but as an
end, is paramount in the mind of almost every Dutchman, whatever
may be his other dispositions and qualities; the addiction to it is
fervent, inveterate, invincible, and universal from youth to the
feeblest old age.

Haerlem has little trade, its communication with the sea being
through Amsterdam, which latter place has always been able to
obstruct the reasonable scheme of cutting a canal through the four
miles of land, that separate the former from the ocean. Its
manufactures of silk and thread are much less prosperous than
formerly. Yet there are no symptoms of decay, or poverty, and the
environs are well covered with gardens especially on the banks of
the Sparen, of which one branch flows through the town and the
other passes under the walls. Some charitable institutions, for the
instruction and employment of children, should be mentioned also,
to assuage the general censure of a too great fondness for money.

The house of Laurance Coster, who is opposed to Faust, Gottenburgh

and Scheffer, for the honour of having invented the art of printing, is
near the great church and is still inhabited by a bookseller. An
inscription, not worth copying, asserts him to be the inventor. The
house, which is small and stands in a row with others, must have
received its present brick front in some time subsequent to that of
Coster.

AMSTERDAM.
The voyage between Haerlem and this place is less pleasant, with
respect to the country, than many of the other trips, but more
gratifying to curiosity. For great part of the way, the canal passes
between the lake, called Haerlemer Maer, and a large branch of the
Zuyder Zee, called the River Y. In one place, the neck of land, which
separates these two waters, is so thin, that a canal cannot be drawn
through it; and, near this, there is a village, where passengers leave
their first boat, another waiting for them at the renewal of the canal,
within a quarter of a mile. Here, as upon other occasions of the
same sort, nearly as much is paid for the carriage of two or three
trunks between the boats, as for the whole voyage; and there is an
Ordonnatie to authorize the price; for the Magistrates have
considered, that those, who have much baggage, are probably
foreigners, and may be thus made to support many of the natives.
The Dutch themselves put their linen into a velvet bag, called a
Rysack, and for this accordingly no charge is made.

The Half Wegen Sluice is the name of this separation between two
vast waters, both of which have gained considerably upon their
shores, and, if united, would be irresistible. At the narrowest part, it
consists pile-work and masonry, to the thickness of probably forty
feet. On this spot the spectator has, on his left hand, the Y, which,
though called a river, is an immense inundation of the Zuyder Zee,
and would probably carry a small vessel, without interruption, into
the German ocean. On the other hand, is the Haerlem lake, about
twelve miles long and nine broad, on which, during the siege of
Haerlem, the Dutch and Spaniards maintained fleets, and fought
battles. Extending as far as Leyden, there is a passage upon it from
that city to Amsterdam, much shorter than by the canal, but held to
be dangerous. Before the year 1657, there was, however, no other
way, and it was probably the loss of the Prince of Bohemia and the
danger of his dethroned father upon the lake, that instigated the
making of the canal.

This sluice is one of several valuable posts, by which Amsterdam

may be defended against a powerful army, and was an important
station, during the approach of the Duke of Brunswick in 1787, when
this city was the last, which surrendered. All the roads being formed
upon dikes, or embankments, may be defended by batteries, which
can be attacked only by narrow columns and in front. The Half
Wegen Sluice was, however, easily taken by the Duke of Brunswick,
his opponents having neglected to place gun-boats on the Haerlem
lake, over which he carried eight hundred men in thirty boats, and
surprised the Dutch before day-break, on the morning of the first of
October. This was one of his real assaults, but there were all
together eleven made on that day, and, on the next, the city
proposed to surrender.

Beyond the sluice, the canal passes several breaches, made by

inundations of the Y, and not capable of being drained, or repaired.
In these places the canal is separated from the inundations either by
piles, or floating planks. None of the breaches were made within the
memory of the present generation, yet the boatmen have learned to
speak of them with horror.

There is nothing magnificent, or grand, in the approach to

Amsterdam, or the prospect of the city. The sails of above an
hundred windmills, moving on all sides, seem more conspicuous
than the public buildings of this celebrated capital.
 The trechtschuyt having stopped on the outside of the gate, we
waited for one of the public coaches, which are always to be had by
sending to a livery stable, but do not stand in the street for fares. It
cost half-a-crown for a drive of about two miles into the city; the
regulated price is a guilder, or twenty-pence. Our direction was to
the Doolen; but the driver chose to take us to another inn, in the
same street, which we did not discover to be otherwise called, till we
had become satisfied with it.

Nearly all the chief thorough-fares of Amsterdam are narrow, but

the carriages are neither so numerous as in other places of the same
size, nor suffered to be driven with the same speed; so that, though
there is no raised pavement, foot passengers are as safe as
elsewhere. There are broad terraces to the streets over the two chief
canals, but these are sometimes encumbered by workshops, placed
immediately over the water, between which and the houses the
owners maintain an intercourse of packages and planks, with very
little care about the freedom of the passage. This, indeed, may be
constantly observed of the Dutch: they will never, either in their
societies, or their business, employ their time, for a moment, in
gratifying the little malice, or shewing the little envy, or assuming
the little triumphs, which fill so much of life with unnecessary
miseries; but they will seldom step one inch out of their way, or
surrender one moment of their time, to save those, whom they do
not know, from any inconvenience. A Dutchman, throwing cheeses
into his warehouse, or drawing iron along the path-way, will not
stop, while a lady, or an infirm person passes, unless he perceives
somebody inclined to protect them; a warehouseman trundling a
cask, or a woman in the favourite occupation of throwing water
upon her windows, will leave it entirely to the passengers to take
care of their limbs, or their clothes.

The canals themselves, which are the ornaments of other Dutch

cities, are, for the most part, the nuisances of Amsterdam. Many of
them are entirely stagnant, and, though deep, are so laden with
filth, that, on a hot day, the feculence seems pestilential. Our
windows opened upon two, but the scent very soon made us willing
to relinquish the prospect. The bottoms are so muddy, that a boat-
hook, drawn up, perhaps, through twelve feet of water, leaves a
circle of slime at the top, which is not lost for many minutes. It is not
unusual to see boats, laden with this mud, passing during mid-day,
under the windows of the most opulent traders; and the fetid
cargoes never disturb the intense studies of the counting-houses
within.

After this distaste of the streets and canals of Amsterdam, it was a

sort of duty to see, what is the glory of the city, the interior of the
Stadthouse; but we lost this spectacle, by a negligence of that
severe punctuality, in which the Dutch might be usefully imitated
throughout the world. Our friends had obtained for us a ticket of
admission at ten; we called upon them about half an hour
afterwards; but, as the ride from their house would have required
ten minutes more, the time of this ticket was thought to be elapsed.
We would not accept one, which was offered to be obtained for
another day, being unwilling to render it possible, that those, who
were loading us with the sincerest civilities, should witness another
apparent instance of inattention.

The Stadthouse, as to its exterior, is a plain stone building,

attracting attention chiefly from its length, solidity and height. The
front is an hundred and eight paces long. It has no large gate, but
several small ones, and few statues, that would be observed, except
one of Atlas on the top. The tales, as to the expence of the building,
are inexhaustible. The foundation alone, which is entirely of piles, is
said to have cost a million of guilders, or nearly ninety thousand
pounds, and the whole edifice treble that sum. Its contents, the
stock of the celebrated Bank, are estimated at various amounts, of
which we will not repeat the lowest.

The Exchange is an humble building, and not convenient of

access. The Post Office is well situated, upon a broad terrace, near
the Stadthouse, and seems to be properly laid out for its use.
 None of the churches are conspicuous for their structure; but the
regulation, with respect to their ministers, should be more known.
Two are assigned to each, and all throughout the city have equal
and respectable salaries.

At a distance from the Exchange are some magnificent streets,

raised on the banks of canals, nearly equalling those of the Hague
for the grandeur of houses, and much exceeding in length the best
of Leyden and Haerlem. These are the streets, which must give a
stranger an opinion of the wealth of the city, while the Port, and that
alone, can display the extensiveness of its commerce. The shops and
the preparations for traffic in the interior have a mean appearance to
those, who try them by the standard of London conveniences and
elegance.

The best method of seeing the Port is to pass down it in a boat to

some of the many towns, that skirt the Zuyder Zee. One
convenience, easy to be had every where, is immediately visible
from the quays. Small platforms of planks supported by piles project
from the shore between the vessels, which are disposed with their
heads towards the sides of these little bridges; the furthest has thus
a communication with the quay, and, if the cargo is not of very
heavy articles, may be unladen at the same time with the others.
The port is so wide, that, though both sides are thronged with
shipping, the channel in the middle is, at least, as broad as the
Thames at London Bridge; but the harbour does not extend to more
than half the length of the Pool at London, and seems to contain
about half the number of vessels. The form of the port is, however,
much more advantageous for a display of shipping, which may be
here seen nearly at one glance in a fine bay of the Zuyder.

After a sail of about an hour, we landed at Saardam, a village

celebrated for the Dockyards, which supply Amsterdam with nearly
all its fleets. A short channel carries vessels of the greatest burthen
from Saardam to the Zuyder Zee, which the founders of the place
took care not to approach too nearly; and the terrace at the end of
this channel is prepared for the reception of cannon, that must easily
defend it from any attack by sea. Though the neighbourhood of a
dockyard might be supposed a sufficient antidote to cleanliness, the
neatness of this little town renders it a spectacle even to the Dutch
themselves. The streets are so carefully swept, that a piece of
orange peel would be noticed upon the pavement, and the houses
are washed and painted to the highest polish of nicety. Those, who
are here in a morning, or at night, may probably see how many dirty
operations are endured for the sake of this excessive cleanliness.

We were shewn nearly round the place, and, of course, to the

cottage, in which the indefatigable Peter the First of Russia resided,
when he was a workman in the dockyard. It is a tenement of two
rooms, standing in a part of the village, so very mean, that the
alleys near it are not cleaner, than those of other places. An old
woman lives in the cottage, and subsists chiefly by shewing it to
visitors, amongst whom have been the present Grand Duke and
Duchess of Russia; for the Court of Petersburgh acknowledge it to
have been the residence of Peter, and have struck a medal in
commemoration of so truly honourable a palace. The old woman has
received one of these medals from the present Empress, together
with a grant of a small annuity to encourage her care of the cottage.

We passed an agreeable afternoon, at an inn on the terrace, from

whence pleasure vessels and passage boats were continually
departing for Amsterdam, and had a smart sail, on our return,
during a cloudy and somewhat a stormy sunset. The approach to
Amsterdam, on this side, is as grand as that from Haerlem is mean,
half the circuit of the city, and all its spires, being visible at once
over the crowded harbour. The great church of Haerlem is also seen
at a small distance, on the right. The Amstel, a wide river, which
flows through the city into the harbour, fills nearly all the canals, and
is itself capable of receiving ships of considerable burthen: one of
the bridges over it, and a terrace beyond, are among the few
pleasant walks enjoyed by the inhabitants. The Admiralty, an
immense building, in the interior of which is the dockyard, stands on
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