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Title: A tour through Holland : along the right and left banks of the Rhine, to the south of Germany, in the summer and autumn of 1806
Author: Carr, John, Sir
Language: English
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A
TOUR THROUGH HOLLAND,
ALONG THE RIGHT AND LEFT
BANKS OF THE RHINE,
TO THE SOUTH OF
GERMANY,
IN
THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN OF
1806.
Pergit et hostiles (tanta est fiducia) ripas
Inconitatus adit.
CLAUDIAN.
BY SIR JOHN CARR,
OF THE HONOURABLE SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, AUTHOR OF THE STRANGER
IN IRELAND; A NORTHERN SUMMER, OR A TOUR ROUND THE BALTIC.
PHILADELPHIA:
Printed for C. and A. Conrad and Co., Samuel F. Bradford, Byrch and
Small, and James Humphreys, Philadelphia: Andrews and Cummings, Boston:
Peter A. Mesier, New-York, and Edmond Morford, Charleston.
FRY AND KAMMERER, PRINTERS.
1807.
TO HIS GRACE
JOHN, DUKE OF BEDFORD.
MY LORD,
If the name of your Grace had been rendered illustrious solely by those
distinguished Patriots from whom you derived it, my pride could not fail
of being eminently gratified by being permitted to dedicate to you the
following pages: but other, and infinitely more impressive and
honourable emotions are awakened, when I reflect, that in the present
descendant of the House of Russel are displayed that patriotic fervor,
that lofty spirit of political independence, and that ardent zeal in the
great cause of humanity, which distinguished so many of its branches in
the annals of this great country. Indeed, my Lord, it is a felicity to
be able to attest, from experience, and now to record, the pretensions
of your Grace to the gratitude of your country and the love of mankind.
To the wisdom of your administration was committed a great and
important, but a much neglected portion of the United Empire. You became
the ruler of a country long oppressed, wickedly calumniated, and still
bleeding from many a wound. Soon after the elevation of your Grace to
this august situation, public symptoms appeared which called for
sagacity and energy of no ordinary nature. Instead of listening, in the
sunshine of vice-regal magnificence, to the vague reports of the idle,
the ignorant, or the mischievous, you penetrated into the wild recesses
of that distracted country, reputed to contain the hot-bed of
insurrection; you personally contemplated the character of the poor,
suffering Irish peasant, in all its rough but affecting simplicity; you
beheld a fellow-being possessed of affections easily to be won by
tenderness, of a vivid imagination, and quick and ardent susceptibility,
clothed in rags, and living in common with the beast of the field, in a
state of penury and wretchedness, unknown to the miserable and oppressed
of any other region. To see, to feel, and to meditate relief were all
simultaneous in the mind of your Grace. When some partial excesses at
length broke out, when the violent and the intolerant clamorously
demanded the terrible inflictions of military law, you firmly, wisely,
and most humanely resolved upon surrendering up the guilty to the laws
of their country, without delivering over their unoffending vicinage to
the savage dominion of the bullet and the bayonet. The noble experiment
answered, and your Grace lost no portion of your popularity, in the very
spot where dire necessity compelled you to offer up victims to justice.
Your conduct on that occasion, even in the absence of every other
laudable event of your life, is sufficient to sweeten it to its latest
period.
A great and unexpected political change rendered the administration of
your Grace too brief to execute the enlightened and salutary plans which
you had conceived for the amelioration of Ireland; but it was of
sufficient duration to afford opportunities of displaying those
qualities of the head and of the heart, which will endear your memory to
that unhappy country for ever, and you have left to it the benefits of a
brilliant example.
That your illustrious successor may adopt the same clemency and wisdom
which your Grace so efficaciously exhibited; and that he may complete
the measures which extraordinary political events prevented your Grace
from perfecting, is the cordial prayer of him who is an enthusiastic
well-wisher to Ireland, and who, with great respect, has the honour to
subscribe himself,
My Lord, your Grace’s
Most obliged obedient servant,
JOHN CARR.
2, Garden-Court, Temple.
18th May, 1807.
TO THE READER.
I am indebted for some interesting anecdotes of the most eminent
Painters of the Dutch and Flemish School to the authors of the Abrégé de
la Vie des Peintres, to Pilkington’s Dictionary of Painters, and to the
elegant and witty D’Israeli.
I had no companion with me during the greater part of the Tour described
in the following pages, which was taken amidst many untoward and
embarrassing circumstances, the melancholy effects of war, and which,
for that reason, will, I hope, be favoured with the indulgent candour of
my friends and of the Public.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
A Confession: the war: an adoption: confidence in fortune sometimes
necessary: hateful character of a spy: a motive for travelling: a
moral: anecdote of a royal description: miseries of a Dutch
galliot: Calvin and Servetus: religion and a rope’s end: Dutch
anecdote of fortitude: anecdote of a Newfoundland dog: appearance
of Holland from the sea: its coast: a dilemma: the Maas river:
anecdote of Napoleon: of a Dutch woman: a disaster: Rotterdam
described: leaning houses 1
CHAPTER II.
The boompies: Bayle: prerogatives of genius: Spanish inscriptions:
a Dutch dinner: Dutch beggars: a good bargain: anecdotes of some
members of the Batavian executive body: anecdotes of the passion
of the Dutch for traffic: anecdote of Lord Nelson and the Dey of
Tunis: hereditary dresses: the Exchange of Rotterdam; anecdotes
of the English there: several anecdotes of the King and Queen of
Holland: public opinion of them: duty of a Tourist 13
CHAPTER III.
Commission countenances: physiognomies compared: homage paid to
genius: Erasmus’s statue: inscription: revolutionary whims:
learned gallantry: kisses: anecdotes of Erasmus: cathedral of
Saint Lawrence: the rival organ: charity schools: public
examinations: effects of education on the public mind: his Grace
the Duke of Bedford: Mr. Lancaster’s school 22
CHAPTER IV.
The coins: practice of vails-giving in Holland: fruit and vegetable
sellers: Dutch passion for scrubbing and mopping: whimsical
sarcasm of a traveller: singular offence offered to a
chambermaid: Dutch prints of Lord Nelson: treatment of our
countrymen at Verdun: Dutch compared with the Chinese: private
collections of paintings: brief anecdote of the Vanderwerfs:
remarks on Dutch and Flemish schools: Dort; anecdotes of
distinguished persons there: anecdote of Cowper: interposition of
Providence 30
CHAPTER V.
Licensed brothels; remark upon them: Dutch literary meeting
described: spitting pots: pipes, Dutch extravagant in them;
smoking; historical anecdote of tobacco: general temperance of
the Dutch: arbitrary power of police masters: travelling in
Holland very cheap and very agreeable: canal to Delft: Dutch
sawing mills: English circular masonry mills: Dutch language:
specimen of the English, Dutch, and German languages 41
CHAPTER VI.
Dexterity of boatmen: Overchie: Dutch gingerbread: a French saying:
Delft china: Delft: Dutchman’s remark on the war: new church:
anecdote of Grotius: affectionate stratagem: Grotius’s remarks on
education: Barneveldt: noble female anecdote: the carillons;
carilloneurs: Dutch frugality towards the dead: revolutionary
moderation: firmness of manufactures 56
CHAPTER VII.
Spirited remonstrance: anecdote of a regicide: interesting anecdote
of Frank Hals and Vandyke: a Dutch Bloomfield: delightful passage
to the Hague: Dutch discussion of Desdemona’s wish: Ryswick:
approach to the Hague: Dutch review: old and new constitutions
compared: brief review of the ancient constitution of Holland:
also of the political history: remarks on the Princes of the
house of Orange 66
CHAPTER VIII.
Remarks on the last Stadtholder; also on the Princess of Orange;
her presumption and indiscretion: hatred of the Dutch to the
House of Orange: Fête at the Hague on the flight of that family.
Reasons assigned for the progress of the French arms; for the
glorious triumph of British prowess. Conduct of the new
government towards some of the servants of the old: the new
constitution of Holland 76
CHAPTER IX.
Grand entry of King and Queen into Holland: opening of the meeting
of their High Mightinesses: anecdote of royal economy: the Hague
described: Lady W. Montagu’s remarks rebutted: pretty female
faces: a Dutch nursery: Dutch mode of increasing animal heat: the
wood: its sanctity: the palace formerly called the House in the
Wood: anecdote of King William the Third: unostentatious habits
of the Orange family: charming jaunt to Scheveling: a marine
hotel: Mr. Fox 92
CHAPTER X.
Historical anecdote of Scheveling: anecdote of Lord Nelson: a
marine scene. Passion of Dutch for flowers not subsided.
Veneration of Dutch for storks: causes of it: quails and swans:
humorous blunder of a Dutch waiter: universal industry: dogs and
goats: the theatre: theatrical economy: prodigal procreation.
Present state of the Hague; state of literature there: brief
anecdote of Daniel Mytens: of John Hanneman: of John le Duc, or
the Brave 106
CHAPTER XI.
Vegetable problems. Approach to Leyden: general description of that
town: the town-hall: celebrated picture of Lucas Van Leyden;
anecdote of that painter: also of Karel de Moor: picture of the
siege of Leyden: description of that horrible siege: generous and
heroic conduct of the Dutch women: also of Peter Adrian: the
mount: university of Leyden: the students: anecdotes of
Boerhaave: Peter the Great: genius and diffidence: confidence in
Providence: monument of Boerhaave 116
CHAPTER XII.
The botanic garden: the celebrated ancient palm: busts and statues:
theatre of anatomy: library and portraits of distinguished
persons: museum of natural history: attractions of the
university; its present condition; severity of its examinations:
anecdotes of Rembrandt; his genius and rapaciousness: a
stratagem: criticisms on his works: Mr. Desenfan’s splendid
gallery of paintings: John of Leyden: his ambition, cruelty, and
fate: Dutch bowing: Saint Peter’s church: anecdote of Russian
prisoners 128
CHAPTER XIII.
The press of Leyden; its staple trade: anecdotes of Gerard Douw: of
Jean Steen; his singular painting of the Deluge: anecdotes of
Francis Mieres: the pictorial contest: anecdote of Vanderwelde:
the village of Rhynsburg: singular religious association: a
curious custom: explosion at Leyden: conduct of the King.
Haarlem; its celebrated organ described: anecdote of Handel: Mr.
Henry Hope’s House 137
CHAPTER XIV.
Anecdotes of Lawrence Coster: art of printing how discovered; its
originality disputed: female fortitude and presence of mind:
siege of Haarlem: heroic conduct of the women: brief anecdote of
Wouvermans: of Bamboccio: fatal effects of severe criticism:
anecdotes of Nicholas Berghem and his termagant wife: of
Ruysdaal: enormous sluices; approach to Amsterdam; its general
appearance: a sley: Erasmus’s whimsical description of that city:
the stadt-house: silence represented as a female: the tower:
clocks, singular mode of striking the hour 148
CHAPTER XV.
Dungeons in the stadt-house: treatment of the prisoners: hall of
justice: the torture: criminal trials: capital punishment:
anecdote of a malefactor: the bank; its former and present state:
popular tumult: effects of diffusive education: public fête at
Amsterdam: dancing Dutchmen: the Beguines: ladies of Holland:
house rent: the water of Amsterdam 164
CHAPTER XVI.
Police: fires: laws relating to debtors; ditto to bankrupts: the
aanspreekers: singular custom: the trokenkorb: the streets:
insalubrity of stagnant canals: societies for recovering drowned
persons: noble conduct of the Emperor Alexander: Polish
gratitude: Austria: the exchange: a Dutch merchant: herring
fishery 174
CHAPTER XVII.
Former commerce of the Dutch: Batavia: anecdotes of national
frugality: exchange and banking business: commercial house of
Messrs. Hope: Jew fruit-sellers: marine school: the rasp-house:
the work-house: the plantation: priests how supported: parish
registers: the poor: literary societies: Felix Meritus: modern
Dutch painters 183
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Dutch theatre: theatrical traffic: the rondell: singular
village of Brock: Saardam: cottage of Peter the Great: climate,
divisions, and population of Holland: journey to Zeyst: Dutch
fond of coffee: small farms: picture of a Dutch peasant’s nest:
effects of industry: palace of Soestdyke: pyramid raised in
honour of Bonaparte: society of Herrenhuthers; their house and
internal arrangements described 193
CHAPTER XIX.
The mall of Utrecht: a gasconade: the Rhine: conquest of Utrecht:
the cathedral: beautiful lines: anecdotes of distinguished
persons born at Utrecht; the ancient inhabitants: a direction:
the city of Arnheim: anecdote of Beck: Dutchy of Berg: Cleves:
anecdote of Flink: a tedious form: anecdote of brown bread: the
contrast: the reception: Bonaparte’s hatred of English 204
CHAPTER XX.
Dusseldorf described; its inhabitants; the grand ducal court:
anecdote of Murat: a double entendre: the flying bridge: Cologne:
a contraband peep: the cathedral: a collection of gods: a bon
mot: priestly mummery: anecdote of an archbishop of Cologne:
anecdote of Rubens and other distinguished persons: present state
of Cologne 221
CHAPTER XXI.
Remarks on the French army: origin of the conscription:
Robespierre: French soldiers: policy of the generals: military
vanity: bulletins: mode of attack: Rhenish confederation: act of
imperial abdication 236
CHAPTER XXII.
Imperial regulation necessary to be known: the director of the
bureau des diligences par eau: singular adventure: a scrape: a
stratagem: passage to Bonn: a discovery: excellent effect of
brandy: the city of Bonn: the Mall: effect of black: present
state of Bonn: the seven mountains: the monastery: anecdote of
the Empress Josephine: beautiful scenery 251
CHAPTER XXIII.
Basalt mountains: Andernach: anecdote of General Hoche: Rhenish
floats: singular accident: French police: Neuweid: the Rhine
boat: tomb of General Marceau: anecdote of French heroism:
Coblentz; its surrender to the French arms: anecdote of French
vivacity: the rock and fortress of Ehrenbreitstein: the griffon:
stupendous French roads: Boppart 261
CHAPTER XXIV.
The young conscript: singular French anecdote: St. Goar; its
history: Oberwesel: the palatinate: a celebrated vineyard: a
regale: Bacharach: Bacchus: the Rhyngau song: Rüdesheim: Roman
derivations: the priory of Johannesberg: vineyards classed:
grapes classed 274
CHAPTER XXV.
Biberich: Charlemagne’s palace: bridge of boats: Mayence: horrors
of war: the art of printing: the Hockheim hills: remarks on old
hock: the tooth-brush: Francfort: splendid table d’hôte:
inauguration of the Prince Primate: anecdotes of the French: the
fair 284
CHAPTER XXVI.
Beautiful village of Offenbach: bravery of the Hessians: anecdotes
of Mareschal Augerau. Excursion to Darmstadt: minute-posts:
Darmstadt: law’s delay in Germany: agreeable manners of the
Germans: national antipathies. Return to Francfort: gloomy
appearance of the continent. French army on its march against the
Prussians. Return to London 294
TOUR THROUGH HOLLAND.
CHAPTER I.
A CONFESSION ... THE WAR ... AN ADOPTION ... CONFIDENCE IN FORTUNE
SOMETIMES NECESSARY ... HATEFUL CHARACTER OF A SPY ... A MOTIVE FOR
TRAVELLING ... A MORAL ... ANECDOTE OF A ROYAL DESCRIPTION ... MISERIES
OF A DUTCH GALLIOT ... CALVIN AND SERVETUS ... RELIGION AND A ROPE’S
END ... DUTCH ANECDOTE OF FORTITUDE ... ANECDOTE OF A NEWFOUNDLAND
DOG ... APPEARANCE OF HOLLAND FROM THE SEA ... ITS COAST ... A
DILEMMA ... THE MAAS RIVER ... ANECDOTE OF NAPOLEON ... OF A DUTCH
WOMAN ... A DISASTER ... ROTTERDAM DESCRIBED ... LEANING HOUSES.
The public shall be my confessor.—In the summer of last year, whilst the
larger portion of the civilized world was anxiously awaiting the result
of our sincere negotiations for a peace, which, alas! the crafty
ministers of Napoleon, never intended should be other than mere “_romans
politiques_,” the desire of contemplating a country, and a race of
people to me entirely new, induced me to trespass upon their shore.
I resolved upon visiting Holland, although in a state of reluctant war
with my own country, of a war which yet permitted to her commerce a few
stolen embraces with that of England, which forced many a pursy Dutchman
to lament the separation, and in the narcotic atmosphere of his
consoling pipe, to wish for better times. In gratifying my wishes, I was
guilty of assuming a character respected in every country, as well for
its being most wisely and profitably at peace with all the world, as for
its integrity and enterprize: I became an American, and by an act of
temporary adoption, fixed upon Baltimore in North America as the place
of my nativity. A fortunate correspondence in the personal description,
except a slight variation, not easily discoverable, relating to my face
and age, enabled a friend of mine, a _legitimate American_, to
accommodate me with his passport, which after all I might as well have
left behind me, so kindly are the Hollanders disposed towards us.
I was promised by my friend a full description of the principal places
in Baltimore, and of the adjacent country, that I might pass unsuspected
through a cross examination, should any be attempted: the description
never arrived, or arrived too late, and I ascended my chaise, as
ignorant of Baltimore as of the Peruvian Potosi, trusting to that good
_chance_ which has often favoured me, and under the guidance of which
“In my school days, when I had lost one shaft,
I shot his fellow of the self same flight
The self same way, with more advised watch,
To find the other forth; by vent’ring both,
I oft found both.”
_Merchant of Venice_, Act I. Sc. 1.
The stratagem, if not perfectly blameless, was at least intended to be
an inoffensive one; I had no hopes of a peace, and consequently none of
seeing Holland in a more regular mode. I went not to investigate the
nakedness of the land, and by availing myself of its confidence to
penetrate the military depots, the docks and arsenals of a country not
in amity with my own.
I abhor the character of a spy, moving in friendly garb, however useful
his treachery may be to his employers. My imposition extended no farther
than to enable me to make a picturesque tour through an almost aqueous
kingdom, to view its natives in their ordinary habits, to glide upon
their liquid roads, to saunter in their green avenues and flourishing
gardens, and trace the wonderful results of that daring and
indefatigable ingenuity, which has raised the permanent habitation of
man in the ocean, and made successful inroads upon the physical order of
the universe.
But though the deception gave no pang to my conscience, yet, harmless as
it was, (and let me mention it as a moral lesson) it did not escape the
lash of many a petty inconvenience. Often have I been pestered upon the
supposition of my being an American merchant, with interrogations as to
the number of partners I had, how many clerks I kept, and the many other
perplexing queries of minds at once devoted to commerce, and curiosity:
nor did I escape dilemmas infinitely more perilous.
Having thus in all candour confessed my offence, if such it ought in
justice to be called, and which has also met with its due proportion of
chastisement, I trust I shall receive absolution from my reader, and in
that hope I shall now proceed to my narrative.
I intended to have availed myself, as I wish I had done on former
occasions, of the indulgence usually allowed to tours given in the shape
of epistolary correspondence, the ease and familiarity of which render
the tourist less formal, and the critic more indulgent; but the war
presented an obstacle to the adoption of a plan which would have been
more congenial to my mind, and to the nature of the remarks I have to
offer.
In company with two highly esteemed friends, I proceeded to Gravesend:
upon the road, we were charmed, by occasional views of the majestic
Thames, formed by a rich setting sun into the appearance of an inverted
sky, decorated by ships more supported _over_ than _upon_ its bosom, and
a vast expanse of richly cultivated land fading in the mist of a far
distant horizon.
Of the country which I was quitting, and of that to which I was
proceeding, our Charles the Second, a monarch of whom Sir Richard
Bulstrode justly says, that had he loved business as well as he
understood it, he would have been the greatest prince in Europe,
observed, “that the former was the most comfortable climate to live
under, he had ever experienced; as there were more days in the year, and
more hours in the day, that a man could take exercise out of doors in
it, than in any country he had ever known. That during his exile he had
seen many countries, of which none pleased him so much as the Flemings,
who were the most honest and true-hearted people he had ever met with;
and added very prophetically to me, to whom he addressed these remarks,
I am weary of travelling, I am resolved to go abroad no more; but when I
am dead and gone, I know not what my brother will do, I am much afraid
that when he comes to the throne he will be _obliged to travel again_.”
A prediction fatally realized by the wicked folly of the royal object of
it.
At Gravesend we paid six guineas apiece to a Dutch captain, and a little
favourable breeze springing up, we proceeded on board with a large party
composed of specimens of the human race from various parts of the globe,
proceeding, through the indulgence of the government of Holland, to
their various destinations on the continent. The moment we stepped on
board we found we were victims to the most infamous imposition. Six
guineas for a berth in a vessel, which Noah in the first rudiments of
his art, would have made a thousand times more commodious! Figure to
yourself about forty persons stowed in a Dutch galliot of about one
hundred tons burthen, deeply laden with a cargo of chalk, &c. a hold
near the bows covered with straw for the accommodation of thirty-six of
the passengers; a low miserable cabin, four feet high on the deck, which
formed the honey-moon bower of a young Swiss and a pretty English girl
just married; and a little hole astern which, furnished with a couple of
tickings crammed with Dutch peas instead of feathers, constituted the
vestibule, drawing-room and chamber for me and one of my companions.
Hoping for a speedy termination to our marine miseries, we set sail and
slowly creeped down the Thames by the aid of a scanty breeze, which
dying before we had advanced two miles, left us as a legacy to the tardy
tides. Indeed, we almost _tided_ it over to Holland, in the achievement
of which we were six long days and nights; but then the days were serene
and warm, and the nights were adorned by a brilliant moon, and the blue
vault of heaven was spangled over with stars.
Our captain and his crew exhibited twice a day that attention to their
devotions, which is still so characteristic of their country, in spite
of every hostile attack and insidious intrigue of France, in the most
vulgar, impious, and savage era of her bloody revolution. The breakfast
of every morning, and the supper of every evening, were consecrated by a
long shrill anthem, and still longer prayer. The cook was the chaplain,
and the kitchen, a hole of about eight feet by five, the chapel. The
spirit of Calvin, if it be not offered up to the manes of Servetus, must
have smiled with satisfaction at the motley group, surrounding a pot of
boiled peas and pork, and enveloped in a deep fog of steam and smoke,
thus offering up their homage in the language, and according to the
rites of that merciless reformer.
The piety of the commander was carried to an extreme length. One morning
we were disturbed by a great noise: the captain had compelled his son, a
sprightly lad of about nine years old, to read the Dutch Testament for
three days together, and with scarcely any cessation; in consequence of
which the young disciple became restive, and whilst his father’s back
was turned committed the apostles to the deep, for which he received a
tolerable proportion of castigation. Fifty times a day were we annoyed
by our pious commander vociferating to his child,
“Leer, leer, jou luigaart, of dit endje touw zal je leeren.”
“Learn, learn, you idler, or this rope’s end shall teach you.”
I restored our captain, who spoke English very well, to good humour, by
relating to him an anecdote of the activity and cool philosophy of a
Dutch sailor belonging to the fleet under the command of the celebrated
Van Tromp, who immortalized himself by his naval victories over the
Spaniards in 1639, but submitted to the superior skill and prowess of
the British fleet under the command of the sturdy patriotic Blake. At
the time when the hostile fleets were laying very near each other, after
a severe engagement, to refit, a British and Dutch sailor endeavoured to
rival each other by their activity in ascending and descending the
rigging of their respective ships; at last the English sailor astonished
his competitor by standing with his heels in the air upon the truck head
of the main top gallant mast; the Dutchman endeavoured to do the same,
but in the attempt fell upon the deck, from which, with great anguish
and difficulty, he raised himself a little, and exclaiming to the
Englishman, “dere mynheer can you do dat,” expired upon the spot. The
Dutch are very fond of dogs. Our captain had a bitch and two puppies on
board of a very peculiar breed, for which he expressed great attachment,
and he was one day not a little amused at my telling him that at the
commencement of the gallant action which took place between the Nymph
and Cleopatra in the last war, there was a large Newfoundland dog on
board the former vessel, which, as soon as the firing began, ran from
below deck in spite of every exertion of the men to keep him down, and
climbing up into the main chains, there kept up a continual barking, and
exhibited the most violent rage during the whole of the engagement. When
the Cleopatra struck he was amongst the foremost to board her, and
walked up and down her decks as if he participated in the glory of the
victory obtained by the English.
After a passage, during which our patience was put to a severe trial, we
discovered Schouwen, and soon after the Island of Goree, where the wind
began to freshen, and just before we made the mouth of the Maas, we met
and hailed a fine large fishing smack, the captain of which our
commander endeavoured to prevail upon, by the usual and generally
successful application of a little money, to smuggle us into the Briel:
after a long consultation, the captain and crew of the smack, not
considering that all was fish which came to their net, refused to take
charge of us, and to our no very pleasant sensations, instead of
standing out to sea, tacked and returned to the Briel under full press
of canvass. A low slimy shore surmounted by green flags and a few scanty
oziers announced our voyage to be at its close, and we entered the river
of a country which our Hudibrastic Butler thus peevishly describes:
“A country that draws fifty foot of water,
“In which men live as in the hold of nature;
“And when the sea does in upon them break,
“And drowns a province, does but spring a leak;
“That always ply the pump, and never think
“They can be safe, but at the rate they stink;
That live as if they had been run aground,
And, when they die, are cast away and drown’d;
That dwell in ships, like swarms of rats, and prey
Upon the goods all nations’ ships convey;
And when their merchants are blown up and crack
Whole towns are cast away in storms and wreck;
That feed like cannibals, on other fishes,
And serve their cousin germans up in dishes,
A land that rides at anchor, and is moor’d,
In which they do not live, but go aboard.”
The Duke of Alva, with more whimsicality and less bitterness, observed,
“that the Dutch were the nearest neighbours to hell of any people on the
earth, for they dwelt the lowest.”
In consequence of the tide being always very rapid when going out, and
the wind again falling, we came to an anchor in the mouth of the Maas.
One of the first objects that saluted our eyes, in this state, was the
telegraph, which was in a state of uncommon activity, and the glasses of
its official attendants often came in direct opposition with ours. The
balls flew up and down with wonderful rapidity for nearly an hour after
we anchored, and sufficiently explained the motive which induced the
captain of the smack to return to port. The signification of the word
Briel, in Dutch, is _spectacle_, which is supposed to have given its
name to this place, on account of the extensive view which its buildings
command of the surrounding country. This town is celebrated for having
given birth to the illustrious warrior I before mentioned, admiral
Cornelius Van Tromp.
In the dead of the night, and in a deep fog, a fishing boat dropped
along side, the master of which told us that the last vessel which had
arrived from England had been confiscated, and all the passengers made
prisoners, and after this exordium offered to conduct us in safety past
the guard-ship if we would give him two guineas apiece: and to secure
our transit, he proposed shutting us all down in his cabin, under
hatchways, for that night and the whole of the next day, and then
dropping past the guard-ship in the evening; during all which time we
must have sat chin to knee, and have been infinitely worse accommodated
than a cargo of African slaves. As we had an aversion from being
introduced into the kingdom in this furtive manner, we persisted in
refusing to quit our vessel, to the no little mortification of our
captain, who having safely deposited our passage money in a large tin
box, was very anxious to get rid of us in any manner. I believe personal
apprehensions induced him to weigh the anchor early next morning, and to
bear away for Maaslandsleys, on the other side of the Maas, where after
the captain had satisfied the commodore commanding the guard-ships
there, to whom he was well known, that we all came from Varel, a little
neutral town to the eastward of the Weser, a fast sailing fishing boat
was provided to take us up to Rotterdam, a distance of twenty-five
miles, at half a guinea a head.
Gladly we bade adieu to our miserable ark, and about six o’clock in the
evening embarked upon the Merwe river, a noble branch of the Maas, the
breadth of which is about a mile, lessening but in a little degree as it
reaches Rotterdam. The water of this river is rather foul, its shores
are beautifully lined with villages, farm houses and avenues of trees. A
botanical gentleman informed me that the eryngium campestre, field
eryngo, so very rare in England, grows in great profusion, and wild, on
either side of the river, and in most other parts of Holland.
When the night advanced, the floating lanterns of the fishermen had a
pleasing and romantic effect, as we glided along with a fine breeze; and
a row of lamps running parallel with a canal supplied by the Merwe,
announced our passing Schiedam, so celebrated throughout Holland for its
distilleries of geneva, of which we were informed there were three
hundred before the Dutch submitted to the arms of France.
When the French troops entered Holland as victors, this beautiful river,
in a season remarkably rigorous, formed a compact road of ice for the
infantry, cavalry, and artillery, of the invaders: dreadful as the
winter was, the French were in want of the most necessary articles of
clothing; even whole battalions were destitute of shoes and stockings,
and centinels frequently did duty with no other covering than a tattered
blanket, and the fragment of a pair of breeches, which time and service
had reduced by instalments to little more than a few shreds: yet they
did not repine.
In a milder climate, after the French took possession of Bologna, a
soldier, whose coat was nearly in the predicament of his military
countryman’s breeches before mentioned, came up to Bonaparte, and begged
that he would order him a new one, to which his general, who had none to
give him, very shrewdly replied, “my good fellow, that will not do, it
will hinder your wounds from being seen.”
When the French troops entered Rotterdam, they were quartered on the
inhabitants, whose good opinion, I was well informed, they soon
conciliated by their quiet conduct and orderly deportment. I afterwards
received the same character of the French troops in other parts of
Holland, from those with whom, I am convinced, they were not very
welcome visitors, on account of the contributions which they levied.
In the faces of our crew, and the scenery on each side of us, before
dusk-fall, we saw those studies to which the exquisite works of the
Dutch school have familiarized every person of taste. About twelve
o’clock we arrived at the boom, or barrier for shipping at Rotterdam,
and here a luckless accident had nearly befallen me. The luggage of the
passengers was deposited in small holds nearly the length of the vessel,
covered over with loose boards: the night was dark, and as by the light
of a solitary lamp we were endeavouring to get at our luggage, a fat
Dutchman’s wife sprung out of the cabin, in which she had been concealed
during our expedition up the river, who thinking that we were molesting
some of her bonnet boxes, in the unguarded violence of her approach,
slipped into one of the holds, the boards of which had been
inadvertently left open by the Swiss bridegroom before mentioned, in an
irritable struggle to obtain his luggage; the oaths and howlings of the
poor lady brought out her husband, a man whom we had remarked for the
unpleasantness of his physiognomy and deportment during the voyage, and
as I stood nearest to his prostrate wife in the act of assisting her, he
charged me with having maliciously occasioned her suffering, and
threatened repeatedly to call the watchmen of the city and send me and
my companions to prison.
It was a long time before I could allay the storm, and dulcify the
temper of this man, which, considering my situation, required some
little forbearance and management of feeling. At length we got on shore,
and after much difficulty and perambulation discovered a comfortable
hotel in the suburbs; the gates of the city being always shut, and the
boom closed at eleven o’clock.
Our hotel lay at the bottom of a most beautiful avenue of trees, running
parallel with the river opposite to the ferry. Our landlord was very
civil, and all his servants spoke French. In the principal apartment was
a print of Napoleon in his coronation robes: I afterwards observed
similiar prints in many other houses in the city.
Many of the principal merchants of Rotterdam have country-houses in
these delightful suburbs. I walked along a line of them, and beheld for
the first time a specimen of the taste of the Dutch in rural scenery:
the gardens, upon a level with the river, and divided from it by a high
raised road, appeared to have been all designed by a mathematician; but
still their neatness and luxuriance left a pleasing impression on the
mind. Upon every gate, or house, a motto indicative of the mind of the
owner, or of the character of the place, presented itself, of which the
following are specimens:
Vreede is myn Lust Haf
Peace is my garden.
Lust en rust
Hope and repose.
Na by Bruten
Almost out of town.
Ziet op u minder
Look upon those beneath you.
N. B. This was inscribed upon a large house that commanded some little
cottages.
Wel te vreeda
Very content, &c. &c.
These inscriptions are seldom used but by opulent tradesmen; amongst the
higher classes they are considered to be a little tinctured with
vulgarity, though, as I found, they sometimes indulge in them: the
villas of the latter are frequently known by names corresponding with
those which are applied to the country residences of the superior
families in England.
In the morning our luggage was inspected by the proper officers, who
gave us very little trouble, and were content with a trifling douceur.
The entrance to the city, towards the river, through the principal gate,
called De Nieuwe Hoofds Poort, a structure infinitely more elegant than
another barrier of this city, called De Oude Hoofds Poort, is very
handsome.
The immediate transition from the tranquillity of the country to the
busy hum of men was very striking: the canals, with their numerous
draw-bridges, as we proceeded to our city hotel, the Mareschal de
Turenne, were lined with vessels of all sorts and sizes; and
notwithstanding the war, every one appeared to be engaged in some active
pursuit or another.
Before hostilities began, it was no uncommon circumstance to see between
three and four hundred merchant ships, from England alone, lying in
these canals and in the Maas; by which a vast commerce is carried on
with the greatest facility and economy, from the centre to the
extremities of the kingdom; and as they communicate with the Rhine and
other large rivers, all the productions of the earth are conveyed at
little expense to many parts of the continent, in a period of
tranquillity.
The number of beautiful streets adorned, as is the case throughout
Holland, with noble rows of trees, is a spectacle at once novel and
beautiful. The trees act as a fan to the houses in hot weather, and
their leaves are said to inhale whatever mephitic air may arise from
such of the canals as are stagnant, and to breathe it out again with
refreshing purity.
In a sick chamber, fresh flowers are _now_ thought salubrious, although,
in no very distant time, they were regarded by the faculty as extremely
noxious.
The city derives its name from the adjoining river Rotte, which unites
with the Merwe, and from the neighbourhood of both to the sea, renders
the situation of this town very eligible for trade, commerce, and
navigation. The pleasure-boats of some of the merchants, which we saw
moored opposite to their houses, appeared to be very clumsy, and
constructed only for smoking or napping in: they were broad, high at the
head and stern, admitted only of one rower, and had a heavy cabin with
moveable glass windows towards the stern.
One of the first appearances which impress a foreigner on his arrival in
Holland is that of the houses, which, built of very small bricks, very
lofty, and filled with large windows, lean forward as they ascend; to
such a rage has this unaccountable passion for avoiding an upright been
carried, that I am sure many of them must be two or three yards out of
the perpendicular: nothing can be more whimsical than the corner houses
of most of the streets. If these houses had not the appearance of being
perfectly stable, from the freshness of their outsides, and from their
presenting no fissures, a stranger would be induced from apprehension of
personal safety, to prefer paddling his way in the very centre of their
canals, to walking in the streets. No scene can at first be more novel
and interesting than that which Rotterdam presents; masts of ships,
enlivened by gay streamers; beautiful stately trees and lofty leaning
houses appear mingled together, and at one view he sees before him the
characteristic features of the country, the city, and the sea.
CHAPTER II.
THE BOOMPIES ... BAYLE ... PREROGATIVES OF GENIUS ... SPANISH
INSCRIPTIONS ... A DUTCH DINNER ... DUTCH BEGGARS ... A GOOD BARGAIN ...
ANECDOTES OF SOME MEMBERS OF THE BATAVIAN EXECUTIVE BODY ... ANECDOTES
OF THE PASSION OF THE DUTCH FOR TRAFFIC ... ANECDOTE OF LORD NELSON AND
THE DEY OF TUNIS ... HEREDITARY DRESSES ... THE EXCHANGE OF
ROTTERDAM ... ANECDOTES OF THE ENGLISH THERE ... SEVERAL ANECDOTES OF
THE KING AND QUEEN OF HOLLAND ... PUBLIC OPINION OF THEM ... DUTY OF A
TOURIST.
One of the first places we visited was the Boom-quay, or Boompies, which
extends along the river, about half a mile from the new to the old head,
the two places where the water enters the city, and fills the canals,
which are seven in number: this street is very broad and truly
magnificent; and the prospect from it, over the river, and the opposite
country, highly delightful. Cheyney-walk at Chelsea is a very humble
resemblance to it.
Many of the houses are very noble, and some of them are built of
free-stone, which not being the produce of the country, must have been
brought to the spot at a great expense. In England a rage for expensive
building had so possessed a man whom I knew, and who resided very far
from the capital, that he had many parcels filled with bricks and stones
sent down to his workmen by the mail coach.
The Boom-quay forms a fine mall for the inhabitants of the city, and is
chiefly the residence of the most opulent and elegant families. An
English nobleman, Lord North and Gray, had many years since a superb
house here, which he became entitled to in right of his wife, a rich
Dutch lady.
Upon this quay once resided the celebrated Bayle, the author of the
Historical and Critical Dictionary, and professor of philosophy and
history at Rotterdam, from which he was removed by the influence of M.
Jurieu, who in a violent controversy with him, had illiberally
misrepresented his principles, and driven him to great penury. The
writings of this extraordinary man are so versatile and so adapted to
every one’s taste, that he secured readers amongst divines,
philosophers, physicians, wits, and libertines in every part of Europe.
Saurin, with that antithesis for which he was more known than for the
elegance of his compositions, thus describes him: “Bayle was one of
those extraordinary men, whom it is difficult to reconcile with
themselves, and whose opposite qualities give us room to doubt whether
we ought to consider him as the best, or the worst of men. On the one
hand he was a great philosopher, who knew how to distinguish truth from
falsehood, who could at one view perceive all the consequences of a
principle, and the chain or series, in which they were linked together;
on the other, he was a great sophist, who undertook to confound truth
with falsehood, and knew how to deduce false inferences from the
hypothesis he advanced. On the one hand, he was a man of learning and of
knowledge, who had read all that could be read, and remembered all that
could be remembered; on the other, he was ignorant, or affected to be
so, of the most common things, in respect of which he proposed such
difficulties, as had been answered a thousand times. On the one hand he
attacked the most eminent men, opened a large field of labour for them,
led them through the most difficult ways, and if he did not get the
better of them, at least gave them great trouble, to get the better of
him; on the other, he made use of the worst of authors, to whom he was
lavish of his praise, frequently disgracing his writings by citing such
names as no learned man ever mentioned.” So speaks Saurin of this able
man, whose abilities, however, have been honoured with the usual homage;
they have been allowed to consecrate the place in which they flourished.
No stranger can visit the Boom-quay without being informed that Bayle
resided there, and without having the spot where his little mansion
stood pointed out to him. It is the noble nature of genius to requite
the ingratitude of a thankless country, by shedding upon it unquenchable
lustre, and raising it in the rank of nations.
In several parts of the city, memorials of the inroads of the Spaniards
are traceable, not only in the forms of several of the buildings, but in
several mottos and inscriptions in their language, which are still
legible in many of the old buildings, in this and in other cities.
The number of Jews in Rotterdam is very great, and many of them are of
high respectability, and as much distinguished for their integrity, as
their industry and opulence.
Soon after my arrival I had the pleasure of dining with one of the first
families of that persuasion: our host, a very amiable man, gave us a
true Dutch dinner, consisting of nearly fifteen different sorts of fish,
exquisitely dressed, and served up with vegetables of various kinds. In
Holland, in preparing the fish for the kettle, the head, fins, and tail,
are generally cut off. In this city port wine is scarcely ever drank; it
is by no means gratifying to a Dutch palate. Some was presented to me at
a dinner where I was, but it was so old that all its flavour had
evaporated. The principal wines drank are Claret, Madeira, and the Rhine
wines. I found the bread in Holland every where excellent, and the
coffee every where bad.
I soon found that the received opinion of there being no beggars in
Holland is perfectly erroneous. I was frequently beset by these sons and
daughters of sorrow or idleness, who preferred their petition with
indefatigable pursuit, but in so gentle a tone, that it was evident they
were fearful of the police. They are abundant, but orderly. It was
observed by some English in Holland, that a Dutch beggar is too wise to
waste his breath by asking alms of a Dutchman, and that relief is only
sought from strangers: the fact is, there are so many asylums for
paupers, that a Dutchman acquainted with the legislative provision made
for them, always considers a beggar as a lawless vagabond.
For this reason, and this alone, Charity seldom takes an airing in
Holland: towards the wretched, in the streets, the rich in this country
“Resemble sweet instruments hung up in cases,
That keep their sounds to themselves.”
_Timon of Athens_, Act. I. Sc. 5.
In no country of its size, as will appear in the course of this journal,
are there more charitable institutions, and at the same time a stronger
appetite for accumulation. To make a good bargain is considered by many
a Dutchman as the highest achievement of the human mind. As a proof that
they never suffer their national animosities to interfere with
individual interest, the reader may rely on the following anecdote.
In an early stage of the last war, when the Dutch government rigorously
prohibited the importation of English manufactures, some members of the
executive body entered into an agreement with a mercantile house in
Rotterdam, to supply the requisition for the clothing of the French
army, by a clandestine importation of cloth from England, and the looms
of Yorkshire accordingly clothed ten thousand French soldiers.
The same commercial spirit was observed by the Dutch many years since to
us, when, in a severe battle between the fleets of the Republic and
Great Britain, during a cessation of the fight, for the mutual
accommodation of repairing the damages sustained, some of the officers
of the Dutch ships actually offered the captains of some of ours,
supplies of gunpowder at an advanced price, in consequence of
understanding that two or three of our ships had nearly exhausted their
stores of it.
The Dey of Tunis made a more whimsical offer; when the heroic and
immortal Nelson threatened to blow his capital about his ears, the Dey
sent to his lordship to know the cost of every shot that would be fired,
the answer was nearly a pound sterling; upon which the Dey said, if his
lordship would calculate how many shots would be necessary to demolish
his capital, and send him half the amount in good bills, he would
destroy it himself.
I nowhere saw, except amongst the skippers, that mighty mass of
breeches, in which my expectation had in part clothed every Dutchman’s
frame: but the appearance of many of the men in long flowered
waistcoats, and trunk hose, and the females in short plaited petticoats,
blue stockings, and large round silver buckles projecting over either
side of the foot, was very whimsical. Many of their dresses are
hereditary; and grandfather, father, and son, have in regular succession
proceeded to the altar in the same nuptial breeches. The quays of
Rotterdam are very spacious, and every where embellished with trees; and
the canals deeper and cleaner than in any other of the large cities in
the kingdom.
In consequence of the features of every street being so similar, a
stranger finds uncommon difficulty in reaching the place of his
destination, or in returning to his hotel, without a guide.
After having secured a bedroom and deposited our luggage at the
Mareschal de Turenne, kept by Mr. Crabb, an Englishman, who renders the
character of a maitre d’hotel eminently respectable, by his attention to
foreigners of every description, and to his own countrymen in
particular, by moderate charges and excellent accommodations, we
proceeded to the Exchange at two o’clock, when the merchants assemble.
This building is an oblong square with a covered walk on each side, and
is plain and handsome. It was finished in 1736. I was astonished to find
it crowded in every part, and presenting, in the activity and bustle
which were displayed, every appearance of a great commercial country in
a high state of prosperous tranquillity.
In this Babel assembly the greatest interest for a successful
termination of the negotiation between France and England seemed
anxiously to prevail; and induced a stranger like myself to think that
the interests of Holland were pretty closely interwoven with those of
England.
The arrival of English papers, and of couriers from Paris, never failed
to excite a strong sensation from one end of the city to the other. Upon
the exchange I saw several Englishmen transacting business; and such is
the respect which the Dutch bear towards us, that we soon found the
suspicion of our being English rather increased than damped the
civilities we experienced.
As Rotterdam may be considered, as Bonaparte has recently described the
city of Hamburg, _une ville Anglaise_, in consequence of so many English
families having settled there before the revolution, and also of the
proximity of its port to England, it was with surprise I found that the
new ruler and form of government were so popular as they are in this
city.
In the years 1794 and 1795 the progress of the French arms excited
uncommon consternation in this city, in which a higher veneration for
the stadtholderian government, as established under the influence of
England and Prussia in 1787, existed, than in any other city in the
United Provinces.
As the French advanced, the principal English families fled with great
precipitation, and were followed by many of the Dutch: their flight was
in the most inclement part of a winter remarkably rigorous, and they
were obliged to pass over frozen canals, rivers and deep snows, many by
the most wretched open conveyances, in their way to Helvoetsluys, where
they embarked for that country, which, since the time of the first
Charles, has, thank Heaven! been neither the seat of war, nor of
revolutionary phrenzy.
A short time before we visited Rotterdam, we heard that the king and
queen had visited that city, the only one which they had then honoured
with their presence, except the seat of the royal residence at the
Hague.
Upon their arrival in the city, their majesties and the two princes, in
their carriages, attended by their suite and an escort of horse,
proceeded to the Exchange, where they were waited upon by the principal
functionaries and a deputation of the most opulent merchants of the
city. Their majesties appeared to be much affected by the very
flattering manner in which they were received.
The queen, who is always mentioned by those who have had the honour of
knowing her before and since the wonderful elevation of so many branches
of her family, as a most amiable, enlightened, and accomplished woman,
very much gratified some of the members, and the nation at large, by
observing upon the Exchange: “We are deeply penetrated by the cordiality
with which we have been received in the country; as strangers we could
not, and did not expect such a reception; but we hope to remain long
enough amongst you to secure your esteem, by doing all the good in our
power.” This short address, delivered with that grace and manner, which,
I am informed, are so characteristic of her majesty, captivated all the
Dutchmen present, and spread with great celerity through every part of
the city, and contributed to raise her very high in the public
estimation.
From the Exchange their majesties proceeded to the Admiralty, and were
gratified, for the first time in their lives, with seeing a man of war,
a seventy-four, launched; and after partaking of a splendid collation,
they passed through the principal streets in a single carriage,
unattended by their body-guard. On this public occasion, the only
external ornament which the king wore was the star of the legion of
honour.
In the department of the admiralty, the king has effected many wise and
salutary regulations. He has abolished all the sinecure offices attached
to it, reduced overgrown salaries, and doubled the hours of labour of
the clerks, who were before almost receiving the wages of idleness from
the country. By this firm and sagacious conduct, the king has already
produced a saving to the state of _two millions sterling a year_.
Before the new constitution, which will be given hereafter, was finally
adjusted, the king declared, that the national debt should be most
sacredly respected, and its guarantee forms accordingly a permanent
feature in that system, and measures have been adopted for its speedy
liquidation. The king has also chosen two gentlemen of high
respectability from the body of the merchants of Rotterdam to be members
of his council.
Before these circumstances, and the previous unsettled condition of the
country are known or reflected upon, it would appear somewhat
paradoxical, that as the interests of the Dutch have a bias in favour of
England, and as their government is of French construction, the ruler
who has been placed over them by events little less than miraculous,
could ever, and especially in so short a time, have made himself
popular; but to the fact I pledge myself, upon the authority of some of
the most respectable and enlightened Dutchmen in different parts of
Holland, repeatedly renewed to me.
It is a subject of congratulation with every Englishman, that a similar
spirit of economy and retrenchment animates the minds of the present
administration, which, during the short period of its elevation to
power, has purified many of the public offices of slothful
supernumeraries, and has to its eternal honour refused to augment the
public burthens by reversionary pensions.
By such instances of public virtue, and the wisdom, vigour, and sound
policy, which reign in the councils of his majesty, the British empire
may ultimately triumph over its enemies, or at least be preserved entire
amidst the general wreck of other nations.
The king of Holland was described to me to resemble his brother
Napoleon, very strongly in size, complexion, manner, thoughtful
taciturnity, and abstemiousness: he is a great invalid, and has received
some severe paralytic shocks in one of his arms, for which, as well as
for the general extreme delicate state of his health, he has been
obliged to visit the baths of Wisbaden, and to drink the waters of the
Spa; which prevented his remaining in Holland but for a very short time,
after the constitution had placed him on the throne, and he was absent
when I was there.
The king has the reputation of being much pleased with the English
character, and very fond of the society of Englishmen; a gratification
which a series of adverse circumstances has prevented him from indulging
in for some time past. I remember, when I was at Paris, during the brief
pause of war, that just gave “a time for frighted peace to pant,” he was
never more happy than when he had one of our countrymen at his splendid
and hospitable table.
The queen is, as she was also described to me, a brunette of
considerable beauty, inclined to the _en bon point_, has a face
expressive of great suavity of mind, and is highly accomplished; she
particularly excels in dancing, in which, for the gracefulness of her
attitudes, she is said to be unrivalled. To this elegant accomplishment
she is particularly attached, and when she travels, is generally
complimented, in any considerable town where she stops for a day or two,
with a public ball, an attention by which she is always much gratified.
Their majesties have two princes who are very young; the eldest is
called Napoleon after the emperor. Should the dynasty of the Bonapartes
experience no convulsive overthrow, it is generally believed that, upon
the demise of that extraordinary being, who has pushed so many kings
from their thrones to make room for the members of his own family, the
crown of France will devolve upon this child.
In detailing these few anecdotes, which to me at least were interesting,
I have been induced by a veneration for truth alone, to give a
representation which, to such as think that nothing favourable, however
deserved, should be reported of those with whom we are not in amity,
will not be very palatable. To an enemy, if not generous, let us at
least be always just. It is as base in principle, as it is dangerous in
politics, to depreciate the popularity of a prince with whom we are at
war, for it obviously leads to a miscalculation of his influence upon
his people, and of the nature and extent of his strength and resources.
I abhor fuming a sovereign with adulation, more especially the ruler of
a country at war with my own; but it is what I owe to my own country to
relate the fact.
CHAPTER III.
COMMISSION COUNTENANCES ... PHYSIOGNOMIES COMPARED ... HOMAGE PAID TO
GENIUS ... ERASMUS’S STATUE ... INSCRIPTION ... REVOLUTIONARY WHIMS ...
LEARNED GALLANTRY ... KISSES ... ANECDOTES OF ERASMUS ... CATHEDRAL OF
SAINT LAWRENCE ... THE RIVAL ORGAN ... CHARITY SCHOOLS ... PUBLIC
EXAMINATIONS ... EFFECTS OF EDUCATION ON THE PUBLIC MIND ... HIS GRACE
THE DUKE OF BEDFORD ... MR. LANCASTER’S SCHOOL.
In my way to the celebrated statue of Erasmus, and indeed wherever I
moved, almost every face I met looked as if it belonged to a soul more
disposed to cultivate the figures of arithmetic, than of rhetoric. I saw
none of those sprightly physiognomies, which abound in the large towns
of England or France, full of smiles, of levity, and carelessness, the
happy owners of which appear as if they basked and frolicked in the
sunshine of every event. Even the Spanish proverb, “thoughts close,
looks loose,” is not observed in this city. An eye prone to the earth, a
look of settled meditation, and a measured pace denote the Rotterdammer.
Yet with these appearances Holland has not been insensible to that
literary merit, in honour of which, in other times and regions, the
Grecians and Romans raised temples, statues, and constituted public
games, to which the Persians, the Arabians, the Turks, and even the
Chinese, presented the most magnificent rewards.
As the inhabitants of Languedoc established floral games, at which they
bestowed golden flowers as prizes to the fortunate poets; as Rome
crowned Petrarch with laurel; as Ravenna erected a marble tomb to the
memory of Dante, and Certaldo a statue to Boccaccio; as delighted
princesses touched with their fragrant lips the cheeks of poets; as the
Venetians paid to Sannazarius six hundred pistoles for six verses; as
Baif received a silver image of Minerva from his native city, and
Ronsard had apartments reserved for him in the palace of Charles IX. of
France, and also the honour of receiving poetical epistles from that
monarch: behold the Hollander has raised a superb bronze figure to the
memory of that great restorer of the Latin tongue, Erasmus.
This statue stands upon an arch crossing a canal, and is nearly ten feet
high; it was finished in 1622, and is said to be the _chef-d’œuvre_ of
Henry de Keiser, a very celebrated statuary and architect. It has been
observed, that in the quality of the different statues which the Dutch
raised to the memory of Erasmus, may be traced the different degrees of
zeal with which his memory was cherished by them.
In 1540 they raised a statue of wood; seventeen years afterwards,
blushing for the little respect they had observed, they exchanged it for
one of blue stone; and in sixty-five years following apotheosized him by
the noble memorial of their veneration, which I contemplated with equal
admiration and delight. In 1572 the Spaniards, Vandal-like, shot at the
stone statue with their muskets, and threw it in the canal, from whence
it was afterwards raised and again set up, by order of the magistrates,
upon the expulsion of the Spaniards; upon whom the Dutch retaliated in
the most spirited and gallant manner, by attacking that nation through
her colonial establishments in the East and West Indies, and in Africa,
and by capturing the rich galleons of their merciless invaders.
The bronze figure is clad in an ecclesiastical habit, with an open book
in his hand. Various attempts have at different times been made to
convert the sage into a turncoat: before the revolution which expelled
the stadtholder and his family, every concavity in his dress was
crammed, on certain holidays, with oranges; during the hey-day of the
republican form of government, amidst the celebration of its festivals,
he was covered with tri-coloured ribbons, when the juice of the orange
was never suffered to pass the lips of a true patriot!! Even the
marigold, first consecrated by poets to the Virgin, and afterwards used
as a symbol of the House of Orange,
“The marigold, whose courtier’s face
Echoes the sun, and doth unlace
Her at his rise,”
was expelled from the gardens of the new republicans. Oh, Liberty! happy
had it been for millions, if all the outrages perpetrated in thy
hallowed name had spent themselves upon ribbons, oranges, and marigolds!
Oudaan the poet has done honour to this star of erudition, whose works
filled ten folio volumes, and whose talents had nearly raised him to
cardinalate under Pope Paul III. in the following lines in Dutch, which
are inscribed on his pedestal:
Hier rees die groote zon, en ging te Bazel onder!
De Rykstad eer’ en vier’ dien Heilig in zyn grav;
Dit tweede leeven geevt, die’t eerste leeven gav:
Maar ’t ligt der taalen, ’t zout der zeden, ’t heerlyk wonder.
Waar met de Lievde, en Vreede, en Godgeleerdheid praald,
Word met geen grav geerd nog met zeen beeld betaald:
Dies moet hier’t lugtgewele Erasmus overdekken,
Nadien geen mind’re plaats zyn tempel kan verstrekken!
Or thus in English:
Erasmus, here, the eloquent and wise,
That Sun of Learning! rose, and spread his beam
O’er a benighted world, through lowering skies,
And shed on Basil’s towers his parting gleam.
There his great relics lie: he blest the place:
No proud preserver of his fame shall prove
The Parian pile; tho’ fraught with sculptur’d grace:
Reader! his mausoleum is above.
The reader may perhaps be pleased with the following anecdote. When
Erasmus was in England, which he visited several times, and where he was
honoured with the friendship of Archbishop Warham, Bishops Tonstal and
Fox, Dean Colet, Lord Montjoy, Sir Thomas More, and other distinguished
men, he mentions a custom then prevalent amongst the females of this
country, the discontinuance of which, considering how much improved they
are since the time of Erasmus, and how their natural charms are
heightened by the grace of the Grecian drapery, must be a subject of
infinite regret with all who love and cherish the sex, as it ought to be
loved and cherished.
ERASMUS.
Sunt hic in Anglia nymphæ divinis vultibus, blandæ, faciles. Est
præterea mos nunquam satis laudandis, sive quò venias, omnium osculis
receperis, sive discedas aliquo, osculis dimitteris. Redis redduntur
suavia; venitur ad te propinantur suavia, disceditur abs te,
dividuntur basia; occurritur alicui, basiatur affatim; denique
quocumque te moveas, suaviorum plena sunt omnia.
“The women in England are divinely beautiful, affable, and good
humoured. There is a custom also here, which can never be sufficiently
commended. When you go any where, you are received by all with
_kisses_; when you depart, you are dismissed with _kisses_. On your
return, _kisses_ are again bestowed on you. When they visit you,
_kisses_ are presented; when they go away, _kisses_ also pass between
you. If you meet any body, _kisses_ are plentifully distributed. In
short, whatever you do, wherever you go, you are sure of _kisses_ in
abundance.”
This is language sufficiently warm to prove that Erasmus carried the
feelings of a man under the cowl of a monk. Erasmus was very
accomplished: he is said to have imbibed from Hans Holbein a fine taste
for painting, and to have painted several pictures whilst in the convent
at Gouda.
Holbein owed the patronage of Henry VIII. to Erasmus, for at his request
it was that he came to London, and by him was introduced to Sir Thomas
More, who employed and entertained him in his own house for three years,
during which his likenesses, and the execution of his works, attracted
the notice of the king, who took him into his service, and paid him as
long as he lived: although he once hazarded the severest displeasure of
his royal and turbulent patron; for being dispatched by Cromwell to
paint the Lady Ann of Cleves, Holbein so flattered her with his pencil,
that Henry was induced to marry her; but when he discovered how plain
she really was, his anger turned from the painter to the minister, and
poor Cromwell lost his head because the unhappy Ann was denounced by her
royal husband for “a Flanders’ mare,” and not the Venus depicted by
Holbein.
Amongst the churches, the only one I saw worthy of notice was the
cathedral of St. Lawrence, the tower of which I ascended, and from its
top commanded the greater part of the south of Holland. The body of the
church is very large. The walls, like all the rest of the Dutch
churches, are saddened over with a great number of sable escutcheons,
and the floor covered with rush bottom chairs for the congregation when
assembled. A magnificent brass ballustrade of exquisite workmanship,
separates the choir from the nave.
The church is used for various purposes: the synod of the province and
the presbytery of the town used to assemble in it; I was informed they
still continue to do so; and at the fairs, booths are erected in it.
The only monuments worthy of attention, and those merit but little, are
erected to the memories of Admiral Cornelius de Witt, Johannes a Brakel,
and Admiral Korlenaar. A magnificent organ has been building for some
years in this church: a very large but inadequate sum of money has been
subscribed for this superb instrument, which is intended to rival the
celebrated one at Haarlem, but much more money will be necessary for
that purpose: the object of this measure is not out of homage to St.
Cecilia, but from a commercial spirit, that repines at hearing of the
number of persons who flock to Haarlem to hear its boasted instrument,
by which considerable sums of money in the course of the year are
expended in that city.
To the honour of Holland, her seminaries of learning have always been
favourite objects with her government; and I was well informed, that to
the further promotion of this great and vital source of the morals,
order, and glory of nations, the king has devoted much of his
consideration.
To the choirs of this cathedral, the scholars of the charity schools of
the city, attended by their masters and professors, repair twice a year
to undergo a public examination, in the presence of the principal
officers of the state resident in the city, who are distinguished for
their learning, attended by some of the clergy. The rector, or first
professor, opens the meeting with a short speech in praise of
_Literature and the Civil Magistracy_: such of the pupils as are about
to remove to the university, pronounce an oration in praise of some
illustrious prince, or of Erasmus; on the dignity, ornament, and utility
of sound learning to a state; in praise of commerce and industry; on the
baneful consequence of passion and indolence; on fortitude, patience,
concord, and other moral virtues; they then conclude with a compliment
to their masters for their care of them, and to the magistrates for
honouring them with their presence; and finally, take leave of their
school-fellows, whom they exhort to pursue their studies indefatigably,
and to live in amity with each other.
The principal magistrates then present each of them with some classical
author, superbly bound and gilt: the juniors, who are to remove to the
higher classes, then come forward, and compliment the magistrates and
their masters in a sentence or two either of verse or prose. The effect
of this ceremony is increased by the organ playing at its commencement
and close.
The reader will, I am sure, be gratified with this brief description of
a plan so generative of every good to the nation which adopts it.
Children, as soon as they can think, discover that they are the peculiar
care of their country; they are taught to respect its laws, and by
descanting upon, to imitate its most shining examples, and to repay the
paternal solicitude of the government, by becoming useful or ornamental
members of its community.
Amidst the political storms which have agitated Holland for so many
years, more fatal to its prosperity than those of the ocean, in which it
almost appears to float, education has never been neglected: to bestow
upon his children decent and useful instruction, has ever formed the
anxious care of the Hollander: he feels that whilst he trains their
minds to habits of investigation and industry, he secures to them, under
any form of government, the sources of support and advancement.
This general diffusion of useful instruction made Holland what she was
in the most shining periods of her history, and whenever its
enlightening influence shall cease to be felt, as a commercial country
she must decline.
The very few instances of cruelty which occurred in Holland during the
late revolution, have been very justly attributed to the happy effects
of education. Whenever any disposition to severity evinced itself, an
appeal to reason and humanity inclined it to forgive: a memorable proof
of this statement will hereafter appear in the account of some of the
revolutionary movements which occurred at Amsterdam.
Even an English merchant would be astonished to see the wonderful
arithmetical attainment of stripling clerks in any of the Dutch
compting-houses, and the quantity of complicated business which they
discharge in the course of the day, the order of their books, the
rapidity and certainty of their calculation, according to the commercial
habits and exchange of different countries, and the variety of languages
which they speak; to which may be added, the great regularity and length
of their attendance, and the decency and propriety of their deportment.
With proper modifications, what an example for our own government, with
respect to the sister kingdom, does Holland present! And here I cannot
but lament my inability to do justice to the illustrious nobleman, to
whose care his majesty has with sound wisdom and discrimination
committed the administration of his government in Ireland. In his Grace
the Duke of Bedford, that unhappy and long neglected island has found an
able, zealous, and resolute friend and patron; who, shunning every
ostentatious display, and almost the eye of observation, has conferred
upon that country the salutary benefits of those measures which do
honour to the christian, the statesman, and the governor.
To this nobleman, and to Lord Somerville, the British nation is indebted
for having discerned the utility, and encouraged the progress of a
system of education, which has entirely originated from the benevolent
zeal and ability of Mr. Lancaster, a member of a religious community
long known, as well for the purity of their minds as for the simplicity
of their dress and deportment, who, after many arduous experiments, has
matured a plan by which one thousand poor children may be taught and
governed by one master, for the trifling expense of five shillings per
annum for each child: a plan which is eminently honourable to its
meritorious discoverer, and promises fair to effect an incalculable
amelioration in the habits and condition of the rising generation.
We are not allowed upon the continent to be a people of much _creative
faculty_, but this plan is solely of British growth, and till lately
wholly unknown to political economists of every other country. This
cheap and efficacious system, which has received, to their lasting
honour, the cordial approbation and support of their Majesties and the
Royal Family, his Grace the Duke of Bedford is anxious to introduce into
Ireland, wholly free from religious proselytism, and which would
powerfully accelerate those comprehensive and enlightened measures, to
which another great friend to Ireland has, with uncommon promptitude and
assiduity, obtained the assent of the imperial parliament; I allude to
that amiable and able statesman Sir John Newport, the present chancellor
of the exchequer of Ireland.
May the happy effects of such a measure be as forcibly experienced in
that country, as they have been in this which I am describing!
CHAPTER IV.
THE COINS ... PRACTICE OF VAILS-GIVING IN HOLLAND ... FRUIT AND
VEGETABLE SELLERS ... DUTCH PASSION FOR SCRUBBING AND MOPPING ...
WHIMSICAL SARCASM OF A TRAVELLER ... SINGULAR OFFENCE OFFERED TO A
CHAMBER-MAID ... DUTCH PRINTS OF LORD NELSON ... TREATMENT OF OUR
COUNTRYMEN AT VERDUN ... DUTCH COMPARED WITH THE CHINESE ... PRIVATE
COLLECTIONS OF PAINTINGS ... BRIEF ANECDOTE OF THE VANDERWERFS ...
REMARKS ON DUTCH AND FLEMISH SCHOOLS ... DORT ... ANECDOTES OF
DISTINGUISHED PERSONS THERE ... ANECDOTE OF COWPER ... INTERPOSITION OF
PROVIDENCE.
It is with great reluctance I approach the subject of the currency of
Holland, but as I hope to be read by some one who may hereafter visit
that country, as much a stranger as I was to it, it is fit that I should
not omit it; and I hereby apprize all my _chair-travelling_ readers of
my intention, that they may _leap_ over my _table_ of coins if they
choose so to do.
SILVER COINS.
A doyt. Worth about half a farthing.
A stiver. About a penny at par. Twelve stivers are generally, but not
in every part of Holland, considered equal to a shilling. This coin
resembles a silver penny.
Dubbeltje, or two stiver piece. This coin is very convenient small
change.
A quarter guilder, or five stiver piece. This coin, I am told, is very
rare; I met with none of it.
A zesthalven, or five stivers and four doyts. This is a piece of base
metal, and equal to an English six-pence; it is very convenient for an
English traveller, on account of its precise value being known.
Schellingen, of various kinds, the size of which determines the value,
unless they are stamped.
Six and a half stiver piece. A silver piece, little larger than a
six-pence, and the eighth part of a rix-dollar.
Eight stiver piece. A larger, but thinner piece than a schellingen,
not much in circulation.
Ten stiver piece. Worth half a guilder, very scarce.
Twelve and a half stiver piece. Not much in use.
Thirteen stiver piece. A Zealand coin, and much in circulation.
A guilder or florin, or twenty stiver piece. The legitimate coin of
Holland, by which they calculate, and is the best silver.
Twenty-four stiver piece, or half a rix-dollar.
Twenty-six stiver piece.
Twenty-eight stiver piece. There are many sorts of this in Holland: it
is usual to receive five in a lot, each of which is equal to seven
guilders.
Thirty stiver piece, or dollar. Of the value of half a crown English,
and about that size.
Thirty-one and a half stiver piece, or half a ducatoon. They are rare.
Forty stiver piece, or two guilder piece. Not common.
Fifty stiver piece. The antient rix-dollar; not much in use.
Fifty-two stiver piece, or modern rix-dollar. Much in circulation: in
Amsterdam, and several other places, they will not pass for more than
50 or 51 stivers. In Zealand they are worth 53.
Sixty stiver piece, called a three guilder piece. Much in use.
Sixty-three stiver piece, or ducatoon. Coined when the Spaniards were
in the country.
GOLD COINS.
A ducat. A beautiful coin, of the purest fine gold. The Jews and the
brokers generally deal in this coin, for which they receive two or
three stivers profit on each. It is thin, and remarkably pleasant to
the touch; and as a proof of its purity, it will bear to be frequently
bent, without breaking. Upon almost every part of the continent this
coin bears a premium, and is current throughout Europe.
A double ducat is ten guilders ten stivers.
Rider, fourteen guilders.
Half rider, seven guilders. These are current through the provinces.
I would recommend the traveller to carry with him a sufficient number of
guineas for his return to England, as they are scarce and very dear; for
twelve guineas I paid an exchange of 35–4 agio 104 on 145, or 13_l._
4_s._ 6_d._
COINS.
No alteration has taken place in the legends of the coins of Holland.
Since the revolution there has been a copious silver coinage, but the
florin has remained the same for more than a century. The old calendar
is adhered to, with the slight alterations rendered necessary by a
change in the name and spirit of the government.
The practice of vails-giving still continues in Holland. Previous to my
going to dine with some acquaintances which I made at Rotterdam, I was
particularly reminded by a friend who knew the habits of the country,
not to forget to carry a few florins with me, as the servant who opened
the door, upon my quitting the house, would expect either one or two of
those pieces. This abominably mean practice existed in England in a
higher degree, and still continues in part in the shape of card money.
If I remember correctly, we are indebted to Mr. Hanway the
philanthropist, whose life is given in a very entertaining manner by his
pupil and protégé, Mr. Pugh, for the abolition of giving vails to
servants; previous to which, a gentleman of moderate income could
scarcely afford to dine with an opulent and fashionable friend.
In houses of great resort in Holland, servants are in the habits of
purchasing their places of their masters free of wages, solely for the
douceurs which custom rigidly exacts from the visitor. At one table a
friend of mine, a thoughtless Englishman, was reminded of his having
forgotten the usage, by having a quantity of soup poured over his new
coat by _accidental design_.
In the streets I was much gratified by seeing the fruit and vegetable
sellers: the fruit was abundant, very fresh, and fine, and such as is
usually to be found at the same season in England: the vegetables are
remarkably excellent, and are submitted to the eye in the cleanest and
most attractive manner. The Dutch potatoes are small and uncommonly
good; I think they are, if possible, superior to those of Ireland.
The proximity of the houses to the canals enables the Dutch women to
indulge to the full extent of their wishes, in scrubbing and mopping
their passages and rooms, which they do from the first to the last blush
of day; indeed, cleanliness in their houses is carried to a painful
excess. All the strong features of an English Saturday evening, viz.
mops, pails, scrubbing-brushes, dusters, fullers’ earth, are in active
use every hour of the day, in Holland; and a little hand garden-engine
is in perpetual requisition, for washing the outside of the windows.
But the aqua-terrene nymphs to whose hands these right useful
instruments are committed, appear to be so solicitous of removing every
feculent impression of the foot in their white-tiled halls, of giving a
brilliant polish to the brass knockers, and of preserving the furniture
of the rooms unsullied, that they frequently neglect to purify their own
persons; the charms of which are to be often seen mingled with, if not
obscured by, the accretions of long neglect and inattention.
Some travellers have extended similar remarks to the higher classes of
the female sex, but unquestionably with more spleen than truth.
I had the honour of being acquainted with many Dutch ladies of
respectability, and found them to be very neat in their persons, but my
first remark too powerfully applies to the lower orders of the sex: they
have no leisure to attend to themselves: to them, with a little
transposition of the sentiment, may be applied the facetious lines that
described a once celebrated opposition financier.
“It is said that his thoughts have been so long directed
To the _national debt_ that his _own_ are neglected.”
I remember while at Amsterdam a servant was very angry because I would
not suffer her to wash my bedroom every day. It might be supposed that
in a climate which must be naturally very humid, the natives would
prefer having dry rooms as long as possible.
Upon some of the canals I saw Rhine boats of extraordinary dimensions;
they were principally laden with hardware, and their owners and families
resided wholly on board, in a suite of cabins, generally raised upon the
deck, which, in point of commodious arrangement, of neatness and
comfort, cannot easily be surpassed on shore. Upon the fore and aft part
of the deck their ware is exposed to sale, and below are prodigious
depots of the same articles. These vessels are frequently six months in
their voyage up and down the Rhine, in consequence of their stopping at
those cities or towns situated on its banks, where the owners are likely
to have a market for their merchandize.
The reader will be surprised to hear that in several shops I saw many
prints of our illustrious Nelson, in which the artist, in order to
prevent the beholder from doubting that he had lost the sight of one eye
in the service of his country, had the optic completely removed from its
socket, and left a large frightful hole, for the purpose of illustrating
this part of his heroic history.
At an excellent _table d’hote_, at the Mareschal de Turenne, I had the
happiness of meeting several of my countrymen, who were returning to
England after a long and most unjust detention at Verdun; from them I
learned that specie was abundant in France, and that Napoleon scarcely
admitted any paper to be in circulation; that the roads were no longer
farmed, but by the aid of a small additional duty on salt, were put into
the finest condition, and that no toll whatever was taken in any part of
the empire. They said, that in point of restriction, they were not
rigidly treated, but that there were no bounds to the rapacity of those
appointed to look after them, particular of the _gens d’armes_.
The collections of paintings in Rotterdam are not numerous, but very
select: perhaps no people upon the face of the earth ever displayed a
more inveterate and immoveable attachment to every thing of native
growth than the Dutch, except the Chinese, who consider improvement as
penal innovation, and who confined a native in irons for life, because
he ventured to make a boat upon a new construction, by which it sailed
faster than any other.
This immoveable adhesion to old customs in the Dutch, is the more
singular, as from their commercial character, they have been in constant
intercourse with the natives of every quarter of the globe, the various
produces of which they have brought into their own canals, but not for
adoption, imitation, or, generally speaking, for consumption, but solely
for profitable re-sale.
This spirit, or if you like to call it so, this _amor patriæ_, is
strongly evinced in all their collections of paintings: in only one or
two private cabinets in Holland are to be found any productions of the
Italian and Venetian schools.
The finest private cabinet belongs to M. Vanderpals, a very rich and
respectable merchant; it is principally filled by the works of those
delightful masters Nicholas Berchem, and Linglebach; of the former I
shall give a few striking anecdotes when I reach Haarlem, the place of
his nativity; of the latter I shall briefly speak when I describe
Frankfort on the Maine, where he was born.
M. Vanderpot, another wealthy merchant, has also a very large and well
selected collection of the Dutch and Flemish painters. M. Lockhorst, a
gentleman of commercial distinction, has also a fine assortment of
pictures of the same school.
The proprietors of these valuable productions are always ready with the
greatest politeness to gratify strangers with the sight of them. Amongst
other artists, Rotterdam has the honour of giving birth to the Chevalier
Vanderwerf, who was born in 1659, and received his first instructions
from Picolet, a portrait painter; he afterwards studied under Eglon
Vanderneer, under whom he made a rapid improvement: he principally
confined himself to historical subjects of a small size. The Elector
Palatine conceived a great fondness for him, from accidentally seeing
some of his performances in that style; this prince honoured him with
every mark of esteem and beneficence. He conferred upon him the honour
of knighthood, ennobled his descendants, gave him a chain of gold and a
medal, and his portrait set with diamonds of great value, and allowed
him a noble pension, besides paying him munificently for his
productions; and upon the wife of Vanderwerf presenting him with a
picture drawn by herself, their royal patron bestowed upon her husband
six thousand florins, and on the lady a magnificent toilette of silver.
What a model of munificence and liberal policy for princes! The pictures
of this eminent master are very rare, and bear very high prices. He is
principally celebrated for the roundness and relief of his figures; his
defect lay in a coldness of colouring. Upon his pictures he laboured
with unsparing toil, which injured the spirit of his productions.
His brother, Peter Vanderwerf, was born near Rotterdam in 1665, and was
the pupil of his brother Adrian. His principal subjects were portraits
and conversations, which entitled him to rank as a very able artist, and
as a further proof of it, a small picture of his sold, in 1713, for five
hundred and fifty guilders; and another, a copy from one of his brother
Adrian’s, for eight hundred guilders. I did not hear of any living
painter at Rotterdam of very distinguished eminence, a circumstance
somewhat singular, when it is considered how many fine artists, though
inferior to Vanderwerf, that city has produced.
The perfection to which the Dutch and Flemish schools arrived, proves
that great artists may be formed, without the assistance of great
galleries. The present low state of the French school demonstrates, that
the most magnificent collection ever known, containing the renowned and
exalted specimens of art, and opened to the inspection of every one with
a becoming spirit of liberality, cannot form good artists. The St.
Jerome of Corregio, and the St. Cecilia of Michael Angelo, have created
no successful disciple since their arrival at Paris.
At Dort, or Dordreght, a city of great antiquity, about nine miles from
Rotterdam, resides a celebrated artist of the name of Varestage, aged
about fifty; he is justly celebrated for his candlelight subjects, which
are masterly: one of his works, a school by candlelight, and a number of
children, is spoken of as truly exquisite. On account of his eyes
growing weak, he has altered his manner, and at present confines himself
to large figures, portraits, and conversations.
As I was informed there was nothing very attractive at Dort, I did not
visit that city: it is however famous for having given birth to several
able men. John Gerard Vossius studied there in 1577, and wrote a great
number of learned works; he was the father of Issac Vossius, also a man
of profound erudition. Our King Charles humourously observed of him,
alluding to his credulity and infidelity, “that he would believe any
thing _but the Bible_.”
Adrian Junius was born here in 1511, and was considered to be one of the
most profound men of his country, and wrote many learned works. Dr.
Johnson observes of Junius, in the preface to his Dictionary, “the
votaries of the northern muses will not perhaps easily restrain their
indignation, when they find the name of Junius thus degraded by a
disadvantageous comparison, (alluding to Skinner); but whatever
reverence is due to his diligence, or his attainments, it can be no
criminal degree of censoriousness, to charge that etymologist with want
of judgment, who can seriously derive _dream_ from _drama_, because life
is a drama, and a drama is a dream.”
It would be an inexpiable offence to pass over the name of Albert Kuyp,
or Cuyp, who was born here, son of the well known Jacob Gerritze Kuyp,
whose pupil he was, and whom he infinitely surpassed. The former
excelled in whatever he attempted to represent; the diffusion of his
lights is as exquisite as it is natural, and the very times of the day
in which he painted are immediately discoverable; the misty haze of the
morning, the brilliant lustre of noon, the last blush of evening, and
the lunar beam of night from his hands, presented the closest imitations
of nature, and the utmost powers the art is susceptible of. Most of his
subjects were furnished by his native city and the adjacent scenery,
particularly his celebrated representation of the cattle-market at Dort,
and the square where the troops exercised: his works are much sought
after, and preserved as great curiosities; and yet, though now so highly
prized, they fell into so much disrepute, that not many years since, a
large collection of his best pictures sold for eight guineas apiece, so
uncertain is the opinion and taste of the public.
——“He that depends
“Upon your favours, swims with fins of lead,
“And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye! Trust ye?
“With every minute you do change a mind,
“And call him noble that was now your hate;
“Him vile that was your garland.”
_Coriolanus_, Act I.
Even our immortal Cowper experienced the severity of popular caprice. So
diffidently did he think of his abilities, that he offered his first
poems to his publisher; reserving only as a remuneration, a few copies
to present to his friends, from an apprehension that his works might
produce rather loss than profit. These productions were, on their first
appearance, very rudely handled by most of the reviewers, and nearly the
whole of the copies lay like so much waste paper for a long time in the
bookseller’s shop.
Some time afterwards, not wholly discouraged by this mortifying neglect,
he presented through the hands of a friend, his manuscript copy of that
divine poem, “_The Task_” upon the same terms, the merit of which,
dispelled the folly or ignorance of the town, as the rays of the sun
pierce through and absorb the mist, and Cowper took a high rank amongst
the living great men of his century; the fame of “The Task” brought into
light his former discarded productions, and their sale has ever since
continued to augment the wealth of his bookseller, the venerable and
much respected Johnson.
The following very interesting and extraordinary circumstance occurred
at Dort in the year 1785, which is still the frequent narrative of the
young and old of that city, who relate it with mingled sensations of awe
and delight, as an interposition of Divine Providence in favour of a
widow and her family of this city. This woman, who was very industrious,
was left by her husband, an eminent carpenter, a comfortable house with
some land, and two boats for carrying merchandize and passengers on the
canals. She was also supposed to be worth ten thousand guilders in ready
money, which she employed in a hempen and sail-cloth manufactory, for
the purpose of increasing her fortune and instructing her children (a
son and two daughters) in useful branches of business.
One night about nine o’clock, when the workmen were gone home, a person
dressed in uniform, with a musket and broad sword, came to her house,
and requested a lodging. “I let no lodgings, friend,” said the widow,
“and besides, I have no spare bed, unless you sleep with my son, which I
think very improper, on account of your being a perfect stranger to us
all.” The soldier then shewed a discharge from Diesbach’s regiment
(signed by the Major, who gave him an excellent character), and a
passport from Compte Maillebois, governor of Breda. The widow, believing
the stranger to be an honest man, called her son, and asked him if he
would accommodate a veteran, who had served the republic thirty years
with reputation, with part of his bed. The young man consented; the
soldier was accordingly hospitably entertained; and at a seasonable hour
withdrew to rest.
Some hours afterwards, a loud knocking was heard at the street door,
which roused the soldier, who moved softly down stairs, and listened at
the hall door, when the blows were repeated, and the door almost broken
through by a sledge, or some heavy instrument. By this time the widow
and her daughters were much alarmed by this violent attack, and ran
almost frantic through different parts of the house, exclaiming “Murder!
Murder!” The son having joined the soldier with a case of loaded
pistols, and the latter screwing on his bayonet and fresh priming his
piece, which was charged with slugs, requested the women to keep
themselves in a back room out of the way of danger. Soon after the door
was bursted in, two ruffians entered, and were instantly shot by the
son, who discharged both his pistols at once. Two other associates of
the dead men immediately returned the fire, but without effect, when the
intrepid and veteran stranger, taking immediate advantage of the
discharge of their arms, rushed on them like a lion, ran one through the
body with his bayonet, and whilst the other was running away, lodged the
contents of his piece between his shoulders, and he dropped dead on the
spot. The son and the stranger then closed the door as well as they
could, reloaded their arms, made a good fire, and watched till
day-light, when the weavers and spinners of the manufactory came to
resume their employment, who were struck with horror and surprise at
seeing four men dead on the dunghill adjoining the house, where the
soldier had dragged them before they closed the door.
The burgomaster and his syndic attended, and took the depositions of the
family relative to this affair. The bodies were buried in a cross-road,
and a stone erected over the grave, with this inscription: “Here lie the
remains of four unknown ruffians, who deservedly lost their lives, in an
attempt to rob and murder a worthy woman and her family. A stranger who
slept in the house, to which Divine Providence undoubtedly directed him,
was the principal instrument in preventing the perpetration of such
horrid designs, which justly entitles him to a lasting memorial, and the
thanks of the public. John Adrian de Gries, a discharged soldier from
the regiment of Diesbach, a native of Middleburgh in Zealand, and
upwards of seventy years old, was the David who slew two of these
Goliaths, the rest being killed by the son of the family. In honorem, a
gratitudine ergo, Dei optimi maximi, pietatis et innocentæ summi
protectoris, magistratus et concilium civitatis Dortrechiensis hoc
signum poni curavere, xx. die Nov. annoque salutis humanæ, 1785.”
The widow presented the soldier with one hundred guineas, and the city
settled a handsome pension on him for the rest of his life.
CHAPTER V.
LICENSED BROTHELS ... REMARKS UPON THEM ... DUTCH LITERARY MEETING
DESCRIBED ... SPITTING POTS ... PIPES, DUTCH EXTRAVAGANT IN THEM ...
SMOKING ... HISTORICAL ANECDOTE OF TOBACCO ... GENERAL TEMPERANCE OF THE
DUTCH ... ARBITRARY POWER OF POLICE MASTERS ... TRAVELLING IN HOLLAND
VERY CHEAP AND VERY AGREEABLE ... CANAL TO DELFT ... DUTCH SAWING
MILLS ... ENGLISH CIRCULAR MASONRY MILLS ... DUTCH LANGUAGE ... SPECIMEN
OF THE ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND GERMAN LANGUAGES.
It is matter of surprise to the contemplative traveller to observe in a
country apparently so mechanically moral and regular as Holland, the
glaring defects of the most loose and meretricious government: in the
hearts of the finest cities are to be found brothels surpassing in
iniquity all such seats of impurity in any other nation, in which the
horrible novelty of the most savage oppression is united to a public,
licensed, and authorised display of vice and profligacy. I mean the
spill-houses, to one of which my laquais de place conducted me about ten
o’clock at night, when those scenes of revelry open. In a street, in an
inferior quarter of the town, the sound of fiddles and dancing announced
the approach to one of these houses: presently my guide stopped before
one of them, into the saloon of which he introduced me by pulling aside
a curtain drawn before the door, near which, in a little raised
orchestra, two fiddlers were scraping; upon benches at the other end of
the room were seven or eight females, painted and dressed in all their
finery, with large silver buckles, loose muslin robes, massy gilt
ear-rings, and ornaments of the same metal round the head. Most of them
looked very jaded. As soon as I entered, a bottle of wine and glasses,
and pipes and tobacco, were put before me, for which I paid a florin,
and which is considered as the premium of admission.
These miserable wretches were all prostitutes and prisoners, confined to
this haunt of vice, and never suffered to pass its threshold until
enabled, out of the wages of prostitution, to redeem themselves. The way
in which they are ensnared into this brothel-dungeon is worthy of
notice. The keeper of it hears of some girl who is in debt, frequently
occasioned by dressing beyond her means, to set off her person to
advantage at some of the music-rooms or other public places; he
approaches her, pities her, offers her money to discharge her debts,
advances her more for immediate and future purposes; she becomes his
debtor: in a short time he seizes upon her person, and bears her away to
his bagnio, and receives the profligate produce of her disgrace and
infamy; and this scene of compound enormity is tolerated by the
government, and has so continued for many years, till time has hardened
the cruel practice into a custom which has become inoffensive to the
people.
One of these poor wretches approached me; the affected gaiety of her
deportment, so entirely discordant with the genuine feelings of a mind
exposed to scenes of such humiliating profligacy, was in no little
degree distressing; but I observed she drank the wine I gave her with a
heavy heart, and some money I presented her with, excited expressions of
gratitude, but no emotions of delight; from which I concluded that she
was merely the channel through which my present would pass to her brutal
gaoler; an apprehension which was confirmed to me by my lacquey upon my
quitting this scene of complicated wretchedness.
It is a curious circumstance that to Solon, the wisest amongst the wise
men of Greece, is attributed the origin of brothels: his motives may be
appreciated in the following extracts. “Nicandre raconte dans le
troisième livre des choses remarquables de Colophon, que le legislateur
Solon a été le premier qui ait bâti un temple à _Venus Pandemos_.
Philemon (Athenée liv. xiii. p. 569.) loue beaucoup la sage indulgence
que Solon a témoignée par cette loi pour la foiblesse humaine: ‘Solon,
tu as vraiment été le bienfaiteur du genre humain! car on dit que c’est
toi qui a le premier pensé à une chose bien advantageuse au peuple ou
plutôt au salut public. Oui, c’est avec raison que je dis ceci, lorsque
je considère notre ville pleine de jeunes gens d’un temperament
bouillant, et qui en consequence se porteraient à des excès
impermissables. C’est pourquoi tu as acheté des femmes, et les as
placées dans des lieux, où, pourvues de tout ce qui leur est nécessaire,
elles deviennent communes à tous ceux qui en veulent.’” “Nicander
relates in the third book of remarkable circumstances of Colophon, that
the legislator Solon was the first who built a temple to Venus Pandemos.
Philemon praises much the wise indulgence which Solon has shown by this
law to human infirmity. ‘Solon! thou hast truly been the benefactor of
the human race! for it is said that thou first thought of a measure
greatly beneficial to the people, or rather to the public good. Yes, I
say it with reason, when I see our town full of young men of warm
constitutions, and who in consequence would indulge in censurable
excesses. Therefore thou hast purchased women, and fixed them in places,
where, provided with every thing they want, they become accessible to
all who desire an intercourse with them.’”
The Dutch are so familiarized to these scenes, that parents frequently
carry their children to them; from the hope of preserving them from
vicious propensities, by placing before their eyes the nauseous and
frightful images of suffering profligacy. Such an experiment in morals
would be somewhat dubious in its operations; for vice like deformity
ceases to disgust in proportion as it is contemplated. Such ideas never
enter the sober brains of such visitors; they go to spend an hour, which
to them is mirthful, and the poor wretches I have mentioned augment the
pleasures of the scene by the gaudiness of their finery, and the company
add to its vivacity. In the beauty of its plumage, “they forget the
dying bird.”
Through considerable interest I was enabled to see the Rasp-House, or
prison for male and female culprits: it is a large quadrangular
building; most of the cells and rooms look towards the yard, which is
considerably below the level of the street. The food is wholesome and
abundant, and the chambers are kept very neat. I saw in this place
nothing objectionable but the period allowed to the prisoners for taking
exercise, which is infinitely too short and infrequent, each person
being allowed to walk in the yard only once in the week; the consequence
is, that few of the prisoners looked healthy.
Holland is justly celebrated for its public charities. In Rotterdam,
before the last war, there were many benevolent institutions, some of
which have inevitably languished, and others expired, in consequence of
the political convulsions of the country and the usually impoverishing
effects of long hostility.
In the streets I was surprised to see the horses shod in the shameful
and clumsy manner they are: the shoe is behind elevated to a
considerable height, so that the poor animal must suffer from the
position into which he is always forced, resembling that of a lady in a
high-heeled pair of shoes of the last century.
At my hotel I was much gratified by the whimsical appearance of a
meeting called the _Society of Variety and Unity_, which was held there:
about eighty Dutchmen of the middling classes of life were assembled in
one of the rooms, to discuss philosophical, but more particularly
religious questions: when I entered the room, one of their members was
addressing the body upon the subject of death, as I was informed. His
eloquence appeared to be as sluggish as the canal opposite; the motto of
the fraternity was well illustrated by what appeared; the only _variety_
I saw was in their pipes, and their _unity_ was effected by the fumes of
their tobacco, which seemed to blend them in one common mass of smoke.
I had not been two days in Holland without witnessing the abominable
custom of introducing a spitting pot upon the table after dinner, into
which, like the Kava bowl used amongst the natives of the South-sea
islands, each person present who smokes, and that generally comprehends
all who are present, discharges his saliva, which delicate depositary is
handed round as regularly as the bottle. This custom is comparable in
point of delicacy with that of washing the mouth and cleaning the teeth
with a napkin after dinner, as in England, or picking the latter with a
fork, as in France.
The Dutch are proverbial for smoking. The moment I entered any
coffee-house, pipes and tobacco were introduced, as if the waiters were
in dread of my imbibing some pestilent disease, without this sort of
fumigation, and expressed uncommon surprise, when they remarked that I
declined using them. The Dutch will insist upon it that smoking is not
only as necessary to preserve their constitutions, as paint is to
protect the exterior of their houses from the effects of their moist
climate, but that the vapour invigorates the mind, which mounted like an
aerial spirit upon a cloud, pours forth treasures of reflection with a
brilliancy little short of inspiration.
The Dutch go to an astonishing expense in their pipes, which assume an
endless variety of shapes, and are decorated sometimes with the most
coxcombical figures painted upon the head or cup of it, according to the
taste of its possessor.
Many of the opulent Hollanders use a pipe, the head of which is made of
a clay which is very rare, and found only in Turkey, of so beautiful a
colour, that is called the Meerschaum, or _froth of the sea_; for this
piece of luxury the value of eight and even ten guineas is frequently
paid.
The lower orders of society, and many of the higher, carry in their
pockets their pipe, a pricker to clear the tube, a piece of tinder made
in Germany from the large mushrooms growing on old trees, resembling
spunge, a small steel and flint to kindle the fire with, and a box
frequently capacious enough to contain a pound of tobacco.
It is curious to observe how naturally a pipe depends from a Dutchman’s
mouth, and with what perfect facility he smokes without the assistance
of either hand: he literally appears to have been formed by nature to
breathe through this tube, with which he rides on horseback, drives in a
carriage, and even dances. I have seen little boys take this instrument
and puff away with an apparently instinctive predilection for the
transatlantic weed. Smoking is a Dutchman’s panacea, he thinks it good
in all cases, whether of consumptions, or plethora, nervous debility, or
fiery fever: as a masticatory, tobacco is but little used even by the
fishermen, sailors and boors; and I was surprised to find, that in the
social shape of snuff, it seemed to have not many admirers.
Tobacco had many enemies to contend with. In 1610, the smoking of
tobacco was known at Constantinople, but it was thought so injurious a
custom, that to remove it by ridicule, a Turk who had been found
smoking, was conducted about the streets with a pipe transfixed through
his nose: it was a long time before the Dutch cultivated the plant
themselves; previous to that period they purchased it, and that the very
refuse of the English. In 1615, tobacco began to be sown about Amsfort
in Holland.
By James I. the practice of smoking was severely and most whimsically
denounced in a work, called “_King James the Sixth’s_ (of Scotland)
_Counterblast to Tobacco_,” in which the royal pedant states, “that some
gentlemen of his courts were accustomed to expend no less than three or
four hundred pounds a year upon this indulgence.” He also says, “that it
was used as a powerful aphrodisiac.” He particularly deplores the case
of delicate, wholesome, clean complexioned wives, whose husbands were
not ashamed to pollute them with the _perpetual stinking torment_ of
tobacco smoke: the concluding sentence of this extraordinary composition
is somewhat laughable. “The use of tobacco,” he says, “is a custom
loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain,
dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof, nearest
resembling the horrid Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.”
Few would wish to withhold from a Dutchman the narcotic enjoyment of his
pipe, when they reflect, that he seeks no other species of oblivion to
his care; for, I believe, notwithstanding a Dutchman’s eulogium upon his
pipe, that it produces more oblivion than inspiration: he is scarcely
ever seen intoxicated: indeed, drunkenness is held unpardonably infamous
in Holland. To keep bad accounts, and to be seen inebriated, are equally
disgraceful; and hence the use of wines and spirituous liquors is much
less in Holland than in England.
The Dutch agree with Cassio’s reasoning:
——“Oh! that men should put an enemy into their mouths, to steal away
their brains! That we should with joy, revel, pleasure, and applause,
transform ourselves into beasts!”
_Othello_, Act II. Scene 3.
The spill-houses are not the only objectionable instances of the abuse
of the government; the police master is suffered to misuse his authority
to a shameful excess. Instead of bringing delinquents to justice, he is
in the frequent habit of privately compromising public offence, and
putting the sum paid into his own pocket. Some time before I was in
Rotterdam, a burgher who had been guilty of adultery, paid twenty
thousand guilders to this minister of justice, who thus partaking of the
commercial spirit of his country, becomes a merchant in delinquency.
I saw in several shops a great number of articles of English manufacture
exposed to sale, particularly Manchester goods. The Dutch manufacture
their own woollens, and they are esteemed to be very good. The black
cloth of Holland is very well known, which is infinitely of a deeper and
superior colour than ours. The principal cloth manufactures are at
Leyden and Tielburg. There are also very capital and flourishing
manufactures of velvets, silk, and carpets, at Hilversom; and those of
linen and table-cloths, which are exquisite, at Overyssel; and numerous
paper-mills.
The population of Rotterdam is estimated at sixty thousand inhabitants.
Upon the whole, it is a gloomy place to live in; a constant iteration of
the same canals, bridges, boats, houses, and figures, will soon damp the
spirits of a traveller, unless naturally very vivacious. There is no
theatre, no place of public amusement, but the spill-houses I have
described, which are as much, at least to feeling minds, not accustomed
to them, entitled to that appellation, as any of our houses of
correction.
Here I bade adieu to my companions and friends, who proceeded direct to
Germany, where I promised to rejoin them. I was by no means sorry to
follow a lacquey to that quarter of the suburbs where the Delft boats
set off every two hours, with my portmanteau, and to bid adieu to
Rotterdam. Our treckschuyt lay ready for starting; at two o’clock, a
little bell fastened on the outside of a house where the director
resides, announced that all was ready; the horse was fastened to a very
long, and rather a thin line, and we slipped through the _liquid road_,
sensible of moving only from passing the objects that lined the sides of
the canal, consisting for a considerable way of pretty houses and
avenues of trees.
The treckschuyt is a long barge divided into two apartments; the after
one, called the ruif or roof, possesses superior accommodations, and
will hold from eight to a dozen persons, and the other from forty to
fifty: this vessel, which is drawn by a single horse, moves so precisely
at the rate of four miles an hour, that the Dutch always compute by the
hour instead of the mile.[1] In the cabin or roof, there are four
oblique windows, which move up and down, a table in the middle, with a
long drawer filled with pipes. The seats are covered with handsome
cushions; but the prime accommodations are a spitting-box, and a little
iron pot filled with burning turf, to furnish the smokers with fire for
their pipes. The price is about three pence an hour: this part is
generally occupied by persons of a superior condition. So steady is the
motion of the vessel, that the passenger may read, write, or draw in it,
without interruption.
Footnote 1:
The Dutch boors are also so regular in smoking their pipes, that in
calculating the distances of places, they say they are so many pipes
asunder.
The treckschuyts preserve an easy intercourse between the most distant
parts of the kingdom, and the cheapness of their conveyance places them
within the reach of the most slender purse. Every thing relative to
these vessels is conducted with such admirable punctuality, that the
passenger can tell to the smallest cost in the kingdom what his expenses
will amount to, and to a minute when he shall arrive at the end of his
journey, in which, if it be long, he carries his provision with him, or
purchases a frugal meal at the house where the boat stops a few minutes
for that purpose. At those places where the treckschuyts stop on account
of the course of the canal being interrupted, and where passengers are
in consequence obliged to quit one vessel to go to another, there are
females who offer refreshments for sale, consisting of little rolls and
small birds, and slices of cold baked eels, fastened to a small stick.
The treckschuyts are all under the direction of government, and are
truly punctual, convenient, cheap, and agreeable. The town of Delft was
about twelve miles, or three hours distant. On the sides of the canal,
the surface of the water was frequently covered by the _nymphæa alba_, a
magnificent white water-lily, whose expanded and unsullied flowers had a
charming effect, particularly when intermixed with _menyanthes
nymphoides_, the yellow fringed water-lily, which are very uncommon in
England.
We passed by several sawing or wood mills, which are moved by wind: the
machinery of those buildings, which I afterwards examined, is very
curious; they were originally invented by Corneille Van Uitgust. The
flies of the mill are fixed to a large beam, which turns on an axis; in
the centre of the beam the principal wheel is fixed, which impels one
immediately below it, which is also fixed on the middle of a piece of
timber, hanging on an axis, to which four perpendicular saws, ten in
each compartment, are fastened, which, as the wheel revolves, are
elevated and depressed. Two iron hooks are fastened at the end of this
beam, which catch a wheel, and as the saw rises and falls, move this
wheel one cog; that wheel impels another, which catches into a piece of
iron, and draws it towards itself; at the end of this iron there is a
cross bar, which presses against the end of the tree, while the other
end is sawing, and gradually forces it on to the teeth of the saws, as
they proceed in cutting.
I remember at Memel, in Polish Prussia, the sawing mills there had
another mechanical power, that of drawing up the trees from the barks in
which they were brought in the river, into the yard or store-house. I
believe mills for sawing timber have been introduced only partially into
England. All the mills in Holland rise to a very great height, to secure
as much wind at all times as possible. Many of these mills were thatched
on the sides as well as the roof.
A very ingenious discovery, infinitely more curious than the Dutch
sawing-mill, has, however, been recently made in London, by Sir George
Wright, Bart. of machinery for sawing stone, for which a patent has been
obtained, now the property of Samuel Hill, Esq. who has added many
improvements to it. By means of a steam-engine, a number of saws are set
in motion, by which a solid block of marble or stone, rough from the
quarry, can be cut into shafts of columns of diminishing diameters, one
within the other, at the same time: the blocks fixed in an iron circular
frame, resting upon four small wheels, by which they can be turned round
by the person who has the care of a certain number of them, to keep the
saws, which are almost in a horizontal position, constantly acting upon
them; the blocks are a little inclined, to enable the saws to be
supplied with water from a trough above, conducted by means of tin pipes
to the respective orifices.
By means of this admirable invention, a saving of three-fourths of the
stone is produced upon a block of large diameter; the outer cases being
as strong as the cube, _five_ men can perform the work which occupied
_forty_ before the discovery; and stone columns are reduced to the price
of wooden ones. These saws can also cut out an entire gothic window,
which they effect at a saving of eighty per cent. with great beauty and
precision, and which in its former construction was divided into six
different parts; the last savings or cubes, upon being cemented
together, constitute a complete gothic column, and the concavity of the
divided outer case of a large column forms an entire recess; a block
will also, after it has afforded several shafts of columns, form a
handsome series of chimnies. The pipes for conveying water by this
machinery are much preferred, on account of their durability: the
proprietors of several public works have adopted them in preference to
those of wood, which are continually wanting repairs. This highly
ingenious discovery has been matured and prosecuted with great public
spirit and expense by the proprietor, and promises, from its great
utility and economy, to become an object of high national importance.
In our treckschuyt, I witnessed a strong contrast to the spirits and
loquacity of the French and Germans; all was smoke and silence, save
when it yielded to a few short sentences, in which the word _mi vrow_
frequently met my ear. One very grave elderly gentleman, who wore an
enormous curled and powdered wig, and who somewhat resembled Lord
Burleigh in the Critic, spoke but once all the way, and that was in the
following oracular sentence; “_Wat is goed voor de man is ook goed voor
de vrow_—What is good for the husband, is as good for the wife;” so
similar in many instances are the Dutch and English languages, that some
of our witlings have observed that bad English will make very good
Dutch. M. Siegenbeek, minister of the anabaptist church at Leyden, and
the first who has occupied the chair for Dutch literature and eloquence
in the university of that city, in which, by his genius and attainments,
he reflects honour upon his country, has published a very ingenious
work, entitled, _Verhandeling over de Nederduitsche Spelling_; a
Treatise on Dutch Orthography, tending to render it uniform: this work
and another by the same author, called _Verhandeling over den Ionsted,
&c._ or a Treatise on the Influence of Euphony or agreeable Sound, and
of the Facility of Pronunciation, on the orthography of the Dutch
language, were, at the instigation and by the able exertions of M.
Vander Palm, the agent of national education, some years since
published, for the improvement of the national language and poetry. The
late Batavian government adopted the system of orthography proposed by
M. Siegenbeek, and ordered it to be used by all the offices of
administration.
It is generally understood that the language of Holland is divided into
High and Low Dutch, whereas there is but one pure language, as in
England, which is called Neder Duitch, the language of the Netherlands,
or of a country lying very low. In Holland, as in every other country,
there is a variety of provincial idioms; for instance, a raw native of
Friesland would not be understood at Amsterdam.
Of the Dutch language our immortal lexicographer, Johnson, says, “Our
knowledge of the northern literature is so scanty, that of words
undoubtedly Teutonic the original is not always to be found in any
ancient language, and I have therefore inserted Dutch or German
substitutes, which I consider not as radical, but parallel; not as the
parent of, but as sisters to the English.” To close this digression, the
language, I must confess, did not sound dissonant to my ear from the
lips of well-bred persons.
The following specimens will enable the reader to observe the solidity
of the learned doctor’s remark.
Was you at Lord Nelson’s funeral? Yes.
Waart gy by Lord Nelson’s begravenis? Ja.
Waren sie bey Lord Nelson’s begræbniss? Ja.
Be then so good as to describe it to me.
Weest dan zoo goed en beschryft het my.
Sein sie dann so gut, und beschreiben sie es mir.
The procession was abruptly broken into three parts,
De processie was volmaakt afgebroken in drie deelen,
Die procession war plœtzlich abgebrochen in drey theile,
or rather there were three distinct and unconnected processions.
of eerder er waare drie veschillende & afgezonderde processien.
oder vielmehr, es waren drey verschiedene & abgesonderte processionen.
First came trumpeters playing the dead march in Saul,
Eerst kwamen de trompetters de dood marsch in Saul blaasende,
Zuerst kamen die trompeter, die den Toden marsch in Saul bliessen,
followed by a large body of cavalry and foot soldiers,
gevolgd door een groot corps ruitery en infantery,
auf welche ein grosses corps cavallerie und infanterie folgte,
having the appearance of going to a review.
het voorkomen hebbende als of zy naar een revue ginge.
welches aussahe, als wenn sie nach einer revue giengen.
When they had passed, and patience was nearly exhausted,
Toen zy voorby waaren, & het geduld byna ten einde was,
Als sie vorbei waren, und die gedult beinahe erschœpft war,
and a million or more of teeth had chattered with the cold,
en een millioen van tande ge klappert hadden van de koude,
und millionen zæhne geklappert hatten vor kælte,
more melancholy trumpeters appeared, blowing dirges,
verscheenen nog meerder droevige trompetters treur liederren blaazende,
erschienen andere melancholische trompeter, die trauerlieder bliessen,
then followed a line of mourning coaches, one filled with
daarna volgde een rey rouw koet zen van de welke eene
alsdann folgte eine reihe trauerwagen, der eine gefült mit
little flags, as returning from a Dutch fair;
met kleine vlaggen gevuld was, als komende van een Hollandsche kermis;
kleinen flaggen, als kæme er von einer Hollændischen kirmis zurück;
another with a knight’s shirt, spurs, and gloves,
een ander met een ridders hembd, spooren & handschoenen,
ein anderer mit eines ritters hemd, spornen und handschuen,
which dangled in the air from little white wands,
al het welke in de lugt wapperde, hangende aan witte stockjes,
welche flatterten in der luft, an kleinen weisen stecken hangend,
then succeeded a group of noble fellows,
dan volgde een hoop braave knaape uitmaakende,
dann folgte ein haufen braver kerls,
part of the crew of Nelson’s ship,
gedeelte van het volk van Nelson’s schip,
ein theil der mannschafft von Nelson’s schiff,
their faces were embrowned by the hard duties of war;
hun aangezichte waare bruin door de harde oorlogs pligte;
ihre gesichter waren braun geworden durch die harten kriegs dienste;
their hearts seemed touched with genuine sorrow;
hunne herte scheenen aangedaan door op rechte droefheid;
ihre hertzen schienen gerührt mit aufrichtigem schmerze;
very few could look upon them with dry eyes.
zeer weinige konde hun met drooge oogen aanzien.
Sehr wenige konnten auf sie sehen mit trocknen augen.
In the simple garb of sailors, with downcast looks,
In de eenvoudige matroozen kleeding met neergeslagen oogen,
In der einfachen matrosenkleidung, mit niedergeschlagenen blicken,
they engaged more attention than all the military pomp
trokken zy meerder aandacht op zig als al de militaire
zogen sie mehr aufmerksamkeit auf sich, als alle militaire pracht
which had preceded them;
die hun voorafgegaan was:
die ihnen vorangegangen war:
I saw one of them raise his rough hand to his eye
Ik zag, een van hun, zyn ruwe hand tot zyn oog brengen
Ich sahe einen von ihnen seine rauhe hand nach seinem auge bringen
and wipe away a tear—perchance the first he ever shed.
en een traan afwissen de eerste dien hy mischien in zyn leeven gestort
had.
und eine thraene abwischen, vielleicht die erste, welche er jemals
vergoss.
All thought the hero’s body would immediately follow.
een yder dagt dat nu het lichaam van den held volgen.
jederman glaubte, des helden leichnam werde unmittelbar folgen.
An hour had elapsed, during which the volunteers
Een uur ging voorby, geduurende het welke de vrywillige
Eine stunde gieng vorüber, wæhrend welcher die freiwilligen
broke from their ranks to get refreshments,
uithunne geleederren liepen om zig te verfrischen,
aus ihren reihen liefen, um sich zu erfrischen,
and all was chaos and confusion—These brave men,
en alles was een Caos van verwarring—Deeze braave mannen,
und alles war chaos und verwirrung—Diese braven maenner,
although they have been slandered by one high in the state,
al hoewel zy door een groot man in de staat geheekelt waaren,
Obschon sie von einem hohen staats manne sind verhoehnet worden,
will, when the hour arrives, discharge their duty.
zullen, wanneer de tyd koomt, hunne pligt voldoen.
werden, wann die stunde kommt, ihre pflicht thun.
At last, when every eye had been strained with expectation,
Eindelyk, toen yder oog vermoeid was door verwagting,
Endlich, als jederman’s auge gespannt war mit erwartung,
the dark plumed car appeared, bearing the remains
verscheen de zwarte gepluimde, kar met de overblyfsels
erschien der schwarze, gefederte wagen, tragend die uberbleibsel
of the mighty chief, whose fame will live as long
van de magtige bevelhebber, wiens _roem_ zoo lang zal bestaan
des maechtigen befehlshabers, dessen ruhm bestehen wird so lange
as the ocean which supported him
als de oceaan die hem in zyn triumph
als der ocean, der ihn trug
in his triumph, shall roll his waves.
droeg zyne baaren rollen zal.
in seinem triumph, wird seine wellen wælzen.
No solemn music announced its approach,
Geen solemneel muziek verkondigde zyn naadering,
keine feierliche musik verkündigte seine ankunft,
or closed its melancholy movement.
of sloot zyn droevige beweeging.
oder beendigte seine melancholische bewegung.
A line of mourning coaches succeeded,
Een rey van gemeene rouw koetzen volgde,
Eine reihe von gemeinen trauerwagen folgte,
at unequal distances.
in ongelyke afstanden.
in ungleicher entfernung.
Many of them, having been left behind,
Verscheide zyndeagter af gebleeven,
Viele von ihnen, die zurück geblieben waren,
drove furiously along the streets,
reede met drift door de straaten,
fuhren wüthend durch die strassen,
and so closed this public spectacle,
en zoo sloot dit algemeen spectakel,
und so endigte sich dieses œffentliche schauspiel,
upon which enormous sums were lavished to show,
voor het welke groote somme weggeworpe waaren omde,
auf welches grosse summen sind verschwendet worden, zu zeigen,
the nation’s love of valour, and its want of taste.
natsie haar liefde voor moed, & gebrek aan smaak te tonen.
der nation’s liebe für tapferkeit, & ihren mangel an geschmack.
CHAPTER VI.
DEXTERITY OF BOATMEN ... OVERCHIE ... DUTCH GINGERBREAD ... A FRENCH
SAYING ... DELFT CHINA ... DELFT ... DUTCHMAN’S REMARK ON THE WAR ...
NEW CHURCH ... ANECDOTE OF GROTIUS ... AFFECTIONATE STRATAGEM ...
GROTIUS’S REMARKS ON EDUCATION ... BARNEVELDT ... NOBLE FEMALE
ANECDOTE ... THE CARILLONS ... CARILLONEURS ... DUTCH FRUGALITY TOWARDS
THE DEAD ... REVOLUTIONARY MODERATION ... FIRMNESS OF MANUFACTURERS.
My companions continued smoking, and enjoying the delightful novelty of
our aquatic conveyance and the surrounding scenery. We met several
boats, and the dexterity by which the line was slackened by one boat, to
permit the other, which kept its towing mast standing, to pass over the
cord, according to the custom which governs this sort of rencontre on
the canal, was admirable, as also was the ease and skill with which the
skipper who has the care of the line throws it up on one side, and
catches it on the other of a bridge under which the boat is obliged to
pass.
At Overchie, a village about three miles, or one hour from Rotterdam,
the houses are close to the water, and little children were playing on
its very margin without exciting any apprehension. In this town the
prospect of a late dinner induced me to taste its gingerbread, for which
Holland is very justly celebrated. Before every cottage, brass kettles
and pans just cleaned were placed upon stools in the open air, or were
polishing under the hands of their indefatigable owners; and even
certain utensils shone with such resplendent brightness in the sun, that
the well-known saying which the French whimsically apply to the grave
and thoughtful, Il est sérieux comme un pot de chambre, would lose the
fidelity of its resemblance here.
We were passed by several curricles, a very common carriage in this part
of Holland, the horses in rope harness, going to and from Rotterdam. In
the roof of the boat were some ladies and gentlemen, who, as well as I
could discern through the smoke, seemed pleased to see me so with their
country. The land all the way on each side was rich pasture. On our
left, a short distance from Delft, we passed a cannon foundry, and on
our right some potteries, where the Delft china, formerly much prized
all over Europe, and which Vandevelt and other eminent artists
embellished with their pencils, used to be manufactured in great
abundance. These potteries, since last war, have greatly declined, to
the severe injury of the adjoining town.
The principal cause of the decay of these potteries has been the vast
quantities of porcelain which, for more than a century and a half, have
been imported from China into Europe, and the great improvement of that
beautiful manufacture in England and Germany. Some years since the
earth-ware of Staffordshire was so much admired in Holland, that to
protect the manufacture of Delft from utter ruin, the States General
imposed a duty upon its importation into the republic, that nearly
amounted to a prohibition. Hence the name of an Englishman is not very
popular in Delft. I tasted some excellent beer in this town, which is
celebrated for its breweries, and produces an admirable imitation of
London bottled porter.
The town is very ancient and picturesque; at the place where we
disembarked, were several treckschuyts moored under an old castellated
gateway, from which, preceded by a commissary or licensed porter, who
attends the moment the boat arrives, with his wheelbarrow, to convey the
luggage of the passengers, we entered Delft, the capital of Delftland,
in the province of Holland, and proceeded to a very comfortable inn,
which furnished some good cutlets, and a bottle of claret. Before the
hotel all was bustle, from the number of carriages filled with genteel
people proceeding to, and returning from the Hague, to and from which
boats are passing every half hour.
Here, as in every inn in Holland, however humble, the guest has always
the comfort of a silver fork placed by his side, and a tablecloth of
snowy whiteness: in the room where I dined was a glass china cupboard,
and every article within it bore shining testimony to its having
received a due proportion of diurnal care. Delft is a large but gloomy
town, and as silent as a monastery, except in the street immediately
leading to the Hague; upon quitting which, no sound was to be heard but
that of mops and buckets: narrow, green, stagnant canals divide most of
the streets, which are generally, for some little distance before the
houses, paved with black and white marble. However, the principal part
of the town is handsome, having two spacious streets, with broad canals
bordered with trees.
The navigation is interrupted from the Rotterdam entrance to that of the
Hague, so that the water within it presents no animating object. In this
town turf is principally burnt.
Although the taciturnity of the place would induce a stranger to think
its population small, it reckons 13,000 inhabitants, 6000 of whom, since
the war, have been reduced to the class of paupers. I met with two or
three inhabitants who spoke good English, and expressed in terms of
feeling misery, the heavy losses and distresses which they had sustained
by a rupture with England; yet, strange as it may appear, they seemed to
think well of their new government, and spoke with great esteem of their
king, of whom they said they well knew, he felt the impolicy of a war
with England as much as any Dutchman, and that he would rejoice at the
hour, when the great political events which were passing in other parts
of the world, would admit of a renewal of amity and free intercourse
with that country; they spoke of the government of the Stadtholder with
contempt, and of the Republic with detestation.
I visited the new church, the tower of which is very fine, and of a
prodigious altitude. The first object that excited my curiosity, was the
tomb of the immortal Grotius, whose remains were brought here, after he
expired at Rostock, in 1645, upon his return from the court of
Christina, Queen of Sweden, to this, his native city. The tomb erected
to his memory is simple, but handsome; it consists of a medallion
representing the head of this great man, and a child leaning upon an urn
with a torch inverted. The epitaph in latin is elegant, and expressive
of the merits and virtues it perpetuates. I regret, upon opening my
memorandums, to find my pencil copy of it so effaced as to be
unintelligible: of this great civilian and general scholar, Aubere du
Marier, who knew him very intimately said, “that he was tall, strong,
and a well made man, and had a very agreeable countenance. With all
those excellences of body, his mind was still more excellent. He was a
man of openness, of veracity, and of honour, and so perfectly virtuous,
that throughout his whole life, he made a point of avoiding and of
deserting men of bad character, but of seeking the acquaintance of men
of worth, and persons distinguished by talents, not only of his own
country, but of all Europe, with whom he kept up an epistolary
correspondence.”
Grotius displayed great precocity of talents. At the age of fifteen, he
accompanied the Dutch ambassador, Barneveldt, into France, and was
honoured by several marks of esteem by Henry the Fourth, who at that age
discovered extraordinary powers in the mind of Grotius, but could not
help expressing his surprise, that the States should send a youth
_without a beard_ as an assistant to their ambassador; upon which the
stripling astonished the great Henry by this brilliant reply: “Had my
country conceived that your Majesty measured ability by the length of
the beard, they would have sent in my room a _he goat of Norway_.”
At seventeen he pleaded as a civilian at the bar in his own country, and
was not twenty-four when appointed attorney general. He escaped from the
castle of Louvestein, where he was condemned to be imprisoned for life,
for the share he had in the affairs which proved the ruin of Barneveldt,
in the following interesting manner: his wife, Maria Van Reygersbergen,
who was most tenderly attached to him, and a lady of great learning and
accomplishments, conciliated the esteem of the wife of the governor of
the castle so far as to obtain permission, during the absence of the
governor one day, to have removed from her husband’s apartment a large
quantity of books, which he had borrowed of a friend at Gorcum: by the
address and excellent management of a servant maid, Grotius occupied the
place of the books in the trunk; he was safely conveyed from the castle,
not without imminent peril of being drilled through the body, in
consequence of the porters who carried him down stairs, suspecting that
the trunk held a more learned treasure, than that which it was said to
contain.
Grotius took refuge in France, which he quitted in consequence of the
illiberal conduct of the Cardinal de Richlieu towards him, and accepted
of an invitation from that singular princess Christina, queen of Sweden,
who was greatly attached to him, and made him her ambassador at Paris,
where the Cardinal gave him much trouble, in consequence of his not
yielding precedence to him. When Grotius had breathed his last, his
countrymen felt contrition for their oppression, and struck a medal in
honour of him, on which he is styled, “The Oracle of Delft, the Phœnix
of his Country.”
——“This common body,
“Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream,
“Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide.”
_Anth. and Cleop._ Act I. Sc. 4.
The lines of Horace may be well applied to this great man;
Urit enim fulgore suo, qui praergravat artes
Infra se positas: extinctus amabitur idem.
I shall conclude these interesting anecdotes of Grotius, by giving his
excellent sentiments on the education of boys, as he imparted them to
Isaac Vossius, which in my humble opinion ought to be considered as a
treasure to every parent; “Many persons,” says he, “make use of tutors
for the education of their children, which hardly ever succeeds as it
was intended. I have never approved of that method of education, for I
know that young persons learn only when they are together, and that
their application is languid where there is no emulation. I am as little
of a friend to schools, where the master scarce knows the names of his
scholars; where the number is so great that he cannot distribute his
attention upon each of them, whose composition requires a particular
attention. For these reasons I wish that a medium of the two methods
were taken, that a master took only ten or twelve boys, who should live
in the same house, and be of the same classes, by which means the master
himself would not be overloaded with cares.” Grotius also recommends the
student to begin with those histories which are nearest to his own time.
The fate of Barneveldt is related with great spirit by Voltaire, who
says, But human affairs are ever chequered with good and evil. Mankind
are so apt to deviate from their principles, that this republic
(Holland) had nearly destroyed the liberty for which she had so bravely
fought, and persecution boiled in the blood of a people, whose happiness
and laws were founded on toleration. Two calvinistical doctors did what
so many doctors have done in so many other places. Gomar and Arminius
disputed most furiously at Leyden, about what neither of them
understood. This produced dissensions in the United Provinces.
The dispute was in many respects similar to those of the Thomists and
Scotists, or of the Jansenists and Molinists, concerning predestination,
grace, liberty, and other obscure and frivolous articles, where they
know not how to define the very subject on which they dispute. The
leisure they enjoyed during the truce, unluckily gave those ignorant
people an opportunity to fill their heads with theological disputes,
till at length, out of a scholastic controversy, there arose two parties
in the state. Maurice, Prince of Orange, headed the Gomarists, and the
pensionary Barneveldt supported the Arminians.
Du Maurier says, that he had been told by the ambassador his father,
that Maurice having proposed to the pensionary Barneveldt, to concur in
giving him the supreme power, this zealous republican showed him the
danger and injustice of the proposal, and _from that time Barneveldt’s
ruin was resolved upon_. This however is certain, that the Stadtholder
endeavoured to increase his authority by means of the Gomarists, and
Barneveldt to check it by means of the Arminians: that several towns
levied soldiers who were called _Expectants_, because they expected
orders from the magistrate, but would take none from the Stadtholder:
that there were insurrections in some cities, and that Prince Maurice
vigorously persecuted the opposite party. At length he convened a
calvinistical council at Dordrecht, composed of all the reformed
churches in Europe, except that of France, the deputies from which were
not permitted by the King of France to attend.
The fathers of this synod who had exclaimed so loudly against the
fathers of various councils, and against their authority, condemned the
Arminians, just as they themselves had been condemned by the council of
Trent. Above a hundred Arminian ministers were banished from the United
Provinces. Prince Maurice chose twenty-six commissioners from the
nobility and the magistrates, to try the grand pensionary Barneveldt,
the celebrated Grotius, and some others of the Arminian party. They had
been kept six months in confinement, previous to their trial.
One of the chief motives of the revolt of the Seven Provinces, and of
the house of Orange, against Spain, was the Duke of Alva’s severity, in
suffering the accused to languish for a long period in confinement,
without bringing them to trial, and in appointing commissioners to
condemn them. The same grievances which had caused such complaints under
the Spanish monarchy, were revived in the bosom of liberty. Barneveldt
was beheaded at the Hague, more unjustly than Count Egmont, and Count
Horn at Brussels. He was an old man of _seventy_, who had served the
Republic _forty_ years in the cabinet, with as much success as Maurice
and his brothers had served her in the field. The sentence imported,
“_That he had done all he could to vex the Church of God_.”
A charming anecdote is related of the admirable conduct of the widow of
Barneveldt. After he had perished on the scaffold, his sons, René and
William, entered into a conspiracy to revenge his death, in which they
were discovered. William fled, but René was taken and condemned to die.
His mother solicited his pardon of Prince Maurice, who replied, “It
appears strange that you do that for your son, which you refused to do
for your husband;” to which she nobly replied, “I did not ask pardon for
my husband, because he was innocent; I ask it for my son, because he is
guilty.”
The view from the steeple of this church is esteemed the most beautiful
in Holland, and is remarkable fine and extensive; but the beauty of the
scenery is principally _at a distance_, as the land immediately
surrounding the town is boggy, dotted with piles of white turf. The
chimes of this church, or as they are called, the Carillons, are very
numerous, consisting of four or five hundred bells, which are celebrated
for the sweetness of their tones. This species of music is entirely of
Dutch origin, and in Holland and the countries that formerly belonged to
her, it can only be heard in great perfection. The French and Italians
have never imitated the Dutch in this taste; we have made the attempt in
some of our churches, but in such a miserably bungling manner, that the
nerves of even a Dutch skipper would scarcely be able to endure it.
These carillons are played upon by means of a kind of keys communicating
with the bells, as those of the piano forte and organ do with strings
and pipes, by a person called the Carilloneur, who is regularly
instructed in the science, the labor of the practical part of which is
very severe, he being almost always obliged to perform in his shirt with
his collar unbuttoned, and generally forced by exertion into a profuse
perspiration, some of the keys requiring a two pound weight to depress
them: after the performance, the Carilloneur is frequently obliged
immediately to go to bed: by pedals communicating with the great bells,
he is enabled with his feet to play the base to several sprightly and
even difficult airs, which he performs with both his hands upon the
upper species of keys, which are projecting sticks, wide enough asunder
to be struck with violence and celerity by either of the two hands
edgeways, without the danger of hitting the adjoining keys. The player
uses a thick leather covering for the little finger of each hand, to
prevent the excessive pain which the violence of the stroke, necessary
to produce sufficient sound, requires: these musicians are very
dextrous, and will play pieces in three parts, producing the first and
second treble with the two hands on the upper set of keys, and the base
as before described. By this invention a whole town is entertained in
every quarter of it; that spirit of industry which pervades the kingdom,
no doubt originally suggested this sudorific mode of amusing a large
population, without making it necessary for them to quit their
avocations one moment to enjoy them. They have often sounded to my ear,
at a distance, like the sounds of a very sweet hand-organ; but the want
of something to stop the vibration of each bell, to prevent the notes of
one passage from running into another, is a desideratum which would
render this sort of music still more highly delightful. Holland is the
only country I have been in, where the sound of bells was gratifying.
The dismal tone of our own on solemn occasions, and the horrible
indiscriminate clashing of the bells of the Greek church in Russia, are,
at least to my ear, intolerable nuisances. I afterwards learnt that the
carillons at Amsterdam have three octaves, with all the semi-tones
complete on the manual, and two octaves in the pedals; each key for the
natural sound projects near a foot, and those for the flats and sharps,
which are played several inches higher, only half as much. The British
army was equally surprised and gratified, by hearing upon the carillons
of the principal church at Alkmaar, their favorite air of “God save the
king” played in a masterly manner, when they entered that town.
In this church is a superb monument raised to the memory of William the
First, the great Prince of Orange, in the east end of the church, which
is semicircular, and a range of semicircular pillars support the roof:
within these pillars is a large space railed off, and paved with black
and white marble, under which is the family vault of the House of
Orange; in the centre is the monument, a sarcophagus on which is placed
a marble figure of the above prince, in his robes after death: at his
feet is a dog, the expression of whose countenance is very much admired;
above is a marble canopy supported by four buttresses of white marble,
and twenty columns of black and gold in fine style: the epitaph, in
small obscure characters, is inscribed upon a tablet held up by two boys
in bronze, and at each corner of the tomb stands a bronze figure, the
first representing Liberty with a cap, inscribed with _aurea libertas_;
the second is Fortitude, the third Religion, and the fourth Justice, not
blind, but ardently gazing upon the balance in her hand. Under an arch
at the head of the tomb is a bronze statue of the same prince, and at
the other end a figure of Fame just taking wing. The other internal
parts of this edifice are adorned with the usual mortuary decorations in
Holland, long sable lines of escutcheons. I am as little fond of
describing, as I am sure my reader must be of reading, minute
descriptions of monuments; but I have been particular here, because the
Dutch, with their accustomed frugality, do not much indulge in
mausoleums and statues. In France, the late revolution, in its savage
phrenzy, with hands still reeking with the blood of the dying, tore open
the tombs of princes, and their favourites, and disfigured the
consecrated depositaries with the shattered fragments of their marble
mausoleums: that revolution, which, with the guillotine in front, and
the broken cross in the rear, threatened to spread over and waste the
whole of civilized Europe, marched to Holland, where thousands flocked
to its standard; but it there very rarely inebriated the mind, and never
overpowered the national love of economy; it taught them to despise and
expel their living princes, but with pious frugality they spared the
costly asylums of their illustrious dead.
CHAPTER VII.
SPIRITED REMONSTRANCE ... ANECDOTE OF A REGICIDE ... INTERESTING
ANECDOTE OF FRANK HALS AND VANDYKE ... A DUTCH BLOOMFIELD ... DELIGHTFUL
PASSAGE TO THE HAGUE ... DUTCH DISCUSSION OF DESDEMONA’S WISH ...
RYSWICK ... APPROACH TO THE HAGUE ... DUTCH REVIEW ... OLD AND NEW
CONSTITUTIONS COMPARED ... BRIEF REVIEW OF THE ANCIENT CONSTITUTION OF
HOLLAND ... ALSO OF THE POLITICAL HISTORY ... REMARKS ON THE PRINCES OF
THE HOUSE OF ORANGE.
It is but just to state, however, that, during their political change,
many of the people displayed great firmness, and none more than the
manufacturers of this town, who in the year 1803 presented to the
executive government of the Batavian republic, a very spirited
remonstrance against the temporary suspension of an edict passed in
1802, prohibiting the importation of foreign manufactures of which the
following is an extract: “Should we be left destitute,” said they, “of
that just and lawful support, which we still hope to obtain, we shall be
compelled to demand, that the laws which forbid the exportation of
manufacturing tools and implements be repealed, in order that we may be
enabled to sell our valuable tools and implements, which will then
become altogether useless to us, to foreigners who know how to
appreciate their value, or to transplant our manufactories into
countries where they daily experience the encouragement which they so
highly deserve.”
Not far from the old church, the tower of which is alarmingly out of its
perpendicular, is the identical house in which William I. was murdered
by a bigoted hireling of the King of Spain in 1584. A Dutch inscription,
placed over two holes in the wall on the stairs, made by the pistol
bullets after they had passed through his body, communicates the savage
circumstance. The bigots of Spain celebrated the murderer as a martyr,
and his family were ennobled and pensioned. A solitary instance of
honours being paid to a regicide. Well has our immortal bard observed:
——If I could find example
Of thousands, that had struck anointed kings,
And flourish’d after, I’d not do’t; but since
Nor brass, nor stone, nor parchment bears not one,
Let villainy itself forswear’t.
_Winter’s Tale._
The old church had not sufficient attractions to induce me to enter it.
The tombs of Admirals Tromp and Heine are there. Opposite the new
church, in the great square, is the Stadt or Town House, the front of
which is extensive, and very curious: in this house are some excellent
pictures by Frank Hals, who died in 1666: this artist is justly
celebrated for the beauties of his colouring and penciling. A pleasant
anecdote is related of Vandyke’s having so high an opinion of the genius
of this artist, that he went to Haarlem, where Hals lived, for the sole
purpose of visiting him, and introduced himself as a gentleman on his
travels, who had but two hours to spare, and wished in that time to have
his portrait painted: Hals, who was enjoying his bottle at a tavern at
the time, sprang from his companions, and on the first canvass he could
lay his hands upon, commenced the portrait with all possible celerity;
after he had proceeded some way, Vandyke desired to look at his
progress, and observed, with great pleasantry in his countenance, that
the work seemed to be so very easy, that he thought he could do the
same: upon which he took up the palette and pencils, requested Hals to
sit down, and painted his portrait in a _quarter of an hour_: the moment
Hals saw it, he exclaimed with rapturous astonishment, “No one but
Vandyke could have achieved such a wonder!” and embraced him with
transport. Vandyke was desirous of Hals accompanying him to England,
where he promised to make his fortune, but he declared that the
enjoyment of his _bottle_ and his _friend_ was too powerful to permit
him to accept of so generous and promising a proposal. Of this great
painter Vandyke said, that he would have been unequalled had he given
more tenderness to his colouring, and that in his pencil he was without
a rival.
In the council chamber there is a fine composition by Bronchorst, who
died 1661, representing the judgment of Solomon, and another of Christ
driving the money changers out of the temple; the figures are finely
finished, and the architecture, in which he excelled, truly admirable.
In the great hall of the physicians and surgeons is a celebrated picture
by Cornelius de Morn or Maan, who was born in this town, and who died
1706: the subject of it is a representation of the most celebrated
doctors and surgeons of his time: it is in the manner of Titian, and in
high estimation. Michael Jansen Mirevelt, who died in 1641, was also
born in this town: he was an admirable portrait painter, and is said to
have been in such high repute, and so indefatigable, that Sandrart,
Descampe, and the authors of the _Abrégé de la Vie des Peintres_ assert,
that he painted at least _ten thousand_ portraits, for the smallest of
which he never received less than one hundred and fifty guilders, or
fifteen pounds. In the surgeons’ hall there is a fine picture by this
artist.
This town has produced also a self-taught poet, who flourished rather
more than a century since, of the name of Hubert Noot. This man, who is
said to be the father of Dutch pastoral and elegiac poetry, much
resembles our Bloomfield in his early difficulties and his talents: he
made his verses whilst he laboured, and committed them to memory from
not being able to write. After he had taught himself to read, he even
sold his wearing apparel to purchase books. He died in 1733: his images
are said to be highly poetical, and his versification melodious.
In the Spin-house, or Bridewell, were several female prisoners, many of
whom had been confined for several years, for respecting the genial laws
of _nature_ more than the sober laws of the nation, and some of them,
for the same offence, had been publicly and severely flogged. What a
contradiction in this government does its _Spin_ and its _Spill-houses_
present! In one place it sanctions prostitutes, and in the other
imprisons and scourges them! Perhaps the legislature may think that it
punishes the poor prostitute of the spill-house, by the oppression of
her creditor and her gaoler; and thus, by Justice presenting a variety
of shapes, she realizes the remark of our divine bard;
We must not make a scarecrow of the law,
Setting it to fear the birds of prey,
And let it keep _one_ shape, till custom make it
Their perch, and not their terror.
_Measure for Measure_, Act III. Scene 5.
The stranger will find nothing to detain him in this melancholy town
long. In Holland every traveller naturally becomes amphibious: the
constant contemplation of so much water quickly engenders all the
inclinations of a webfooted animal, and he soon feels out of his proper
element when out of a canal. Right merrily did I follow my commissionary
and his wheel barrow with my baggage through the whole town, until I
reached the Hague gate, when my favourite conveyance, the treckschuyt,
was ready to start. The boat-bell rung, all the party got on board, and
away we glided, passing on each side of us the most lovely _close_
scenery. Instead of seeing, as had been represented to me in England, a
dull monotonous scene of green canals, stunted willows, and from a
solitary house or two, _foggy_ merchants stupidly gazing in fixed
attention upon _frog_ water, the canal was enlivened with boats of
pleasure and traffic continually passing and repassing, the noble level
road on the right, broad enough to admit four or five carriages abreast,
thickly planted with rows of fine elms, the number of curricles and
carriages, and horses, driving close to the margin of the water, the
fine woods, beautiful gardens, country-houses, not two of which were
similiar; the eccentricity of the little summer temples hanging over the
edges of the canal; the occasional views of rich pasture land, seen as I
saw them, under a rich, warm sky, formed a _tout ensemble_ as delightful
as it was novel, and very intelligibly expressed our approach to the
residence of sovereignty. The single ride from Delft to the Hague would
alone have repaid the trouble and occasional anxiety I experienced in
getting into, and afterwards out of the country.
All the principal country-houses have a wooden letter-box standing upon
the margin of the canal, into which one of the boatmen, upon the
treckschuyt being steered close to the adjoining bank, without stopping,
drops the letters and parcels directed to the family residing there. In
no part of the continent is social intercourse and communication so
frequent, cheap, and certain.
For keeping the dams and roads in repair, turnpikes are established at
proper distances, and the care of their repair is confided to directors,
who are always gentlemen of high respectability, and receive a fixed
salary for their services. The principal roads are kept in good
condition; and, on account of the flatness of the country, are very easy
for the horses, but the bye roads are intolerably bad.
In the steerage I found three very handsome and well-bred Dutch young
ladies seated, one of whom spoke English very well: they all insisted
upon my being an Englishman the moment I entered the boat; how they
could think so, the spirit of physiognomy, if there be such a spirit,
must explain; for in my best hours of health and delight, John Bull
would scarcely acknowledge me for one of his family.
My charming companions talked much of Shakspeare and Milton, with both
of whom they seemed to be familiar. They entered with much ability on
Desdemona’s wish, alluding to her passion for Othello, “that Heaven had
made her such a man.” Two of the three fair disputants contended that
she would have been more happy had Providence made her a man, and such a
man as Othello; the other observed that was impossible, for as she was
deeply in love with the Moor it would have been irreconcileable to her
passion to wish to be of his own sex, by which she could have felt only
friendship for him. I was so pleased with my fair voyageurs, who talked,
sung, and laughed, with so much talent, taste, and vivacity, that our
two hours or six miles, the distance from Delft to the Hague passed
rapidly away, and tempted me not to quit the vessel to visit the village
of Ryswick, which lies about half way, and is only about half a mile
from the canal, and, I am told, abounds with beauty and richness of
scenery. It is known to the political world for the celebrated peace
concluded there at a little palace of William III. called the House of
Neubeurg, after a nine years’ war, on the 20th September, 1697, between
Louis XIV. and the confederate powers, called the Treaty of Ryswick. I
mention this as a guide for strangers who may follow me, and who may not
be fascinated as I was by my situation in the boat and content with the
highly cultivated and embellished scenery around me. A man must be in
bad humour with nature indeed, who can pass, in the summer, from Delft
to the Hague without emotions of strong delight.
As we approached the Hague, the scenery became more refined and
beautiful, and the last light of a setting sun purpled the lofty
edifices of that celebrated city; it was quite dusk as we passed the
water-houses, in which the royal yachts are contained, the rich gilded
carving of which was just visible through the grated doors; and after
gliding along the suburbs, which were well lighted though not in this
respect comparable with London, I disembarked, bade adieu to my charming
companions, and proceeded with my usual attendant, through the greater
part of the city to the Mareschal de Turenne, an excellent hotel, but at
a most inconvenient distance from the place where the Delft boats stop,
and where those for Leyden or Haarlem start from.
The morning after my arrival there was a grand review of the Dutch
troops, who presented a very soldierly appearance; that of the
body-guard, both horse and infantry, was very superb in military
appointments. I was well informed that the king felt so secure in his
government, that there were not at this time twenty French soldiers in
the country, and that, accompanied by his queen, he was attending to his
health at the waters of Wisbaden, in the south of Germany. The French
interest, however, was predominant, and it was indispensably necessary
that the passport of every foreigner should be countersigned by the
French consul, whose fiat upon all such occasions was final.
The king had been at the Hague, or rather at his palace in the wood
adjoining, only about six weeks, in the course of which, I was credibly
informed, he had displayed uncommon activity and talent in the discharge
of the great duties of his station. Although an invalid, he was at his
bureau with his ministers every morning at six o’clock, which he never
quitted until the business of the day was completed. The poor-laws
occupied much of his attention, and they are, I hear, to undergo a
considerable amelioration. I have already mentioned his abolition of
useless offices, sinecures, and unmerited pensions, the reduction of
excessive salaries, and an extension of the time devoted to the service
of the state in the public offices. These advantages could only be
expected to flow from that vast power which revolutions, after their
effervescence has subsided, generally deposit with some fortunate
individual, who, if he has talent and good inclination, is enabled to
consult the prosperity of a state, by measures at once prompt, summary,
and efficacious, unretarded by forms, clashing interests, or hoary
prejudices. The first of the new has ever this advantage over the last
of an old dynasty.
The hereditary successor of a long line of princes is like the owner of
an ancient mansion devolved to him by hereditary right; he must take the
edifice as it is, with its commodious and inconvenient chambers, its
fantastic turrets and heavy chimney-pieces, its dark and its cheerful
passages; or if he alters, it must be with a cautious and gentle hand,
otherwise the whole fabric will fall about his ears; whilst he who is
elevated by revolutions to command, may choose his ground, build wholly
with new, or partly with the old materials of the prostrate
constitution.
In order to appreciate the present constitution, it may be necessary to
take a slight review of the old one. Anterior to 1747 the United
Provinces subsisted in one common confederacy, yet each province had an
internal government or constitution, wholly independent of the others,
called the States of such a Province, and its delegates the _States
General_, in whom the supreme sovereignty of the whole confederacy was
lodged; and notwithstanding the number of delegates which a province
might send, yet in every constitutional measure each province had only
one voice, and the sanction of _every province_, and of _every city
within it_, was necessary before such a measure could pass into a law,
and every resolution of the states of a particular province required
unanimous adoption. The _Council of State_ consisted also of deputies
from the several provinces, but differed in its constitution from the
States General; it was composed of twelve persons, of whom Holland sent
three; Guelderland, two; Zealand, two; Utrecht, two; Friesland, one;
Overyssel, one; and Groningen, one. Such deputies could only vote
personally: it was their department to prepare estimates, and ways and
means, &c. to be submitted to the States General. The states of the
provinces, were styled “Noble and Mighty Lords;” those of Holland,
“Noble and most Mighty Lords;” and the States General, “High and Mighty
Lords,” or “the Lords of the States General of the United Netherlands,”
or “their High Mightinesses.” Queen Elizabeth called them in her time
_Messieurs the States_. The Chamber of Accounts, in which all the public
accounts were audited, and composed of provincial deputies, was placed
under these two bodies. The executive part of the Admiralty was
committed to five colleges, in the three maritime provinces of Holland,
Zealand and Friesland. In Holland the people were excluded from choosing
their representatives or magistrates. In Amsterdam, which had precedence
in all public deliberations, the magistracy was lodged in thirty-six
senators chosen for life, and every vacancy filled up by the survivors,
and the representatives for the cities in the province of Holland, were
elected by the same senate.
Such a complicated piece of machinery must have proceeded slowly if it
proceeded regularly, and must have been constantly exposed to the peril
of being disordered, without a principal head to guide it, which led to
the stadtholdership becoming hereditary in the year 1747. The wonderful
and constant vicissitudes to which Holland has been exposed, rendered
such an expedient, however, objectionable; it afterwards proved to be in
many instances necessary to the preservation of the country. The history
of the republic for 147 years, namely, from its first entering the field
of battle in 1566 to the peace of Utrecht in 1713, is a tissue of
battles lost and won. The twelve years’ truce which produced an hiatus
in her many wars with Spain, did not extend to the Indian possessions of
the Dutch; and after a prodigal effusion of blood, the peace obtained in
1648 lasted only four years. The first war with Great Britain continued
to 1654; and scarcely had the republic tasted of the sweets of peace
before she was roused to resist at the same time the arms of Portugal,
Denmark, and Sweden; and in the North their hostilities continued till
1660, and in the South to 1661: then immediately followed a fierce
contest with Great Britain, which did not close till the treaty at Breda
in 1667, and the moment that was concluded, the country was invaded by
Louis the Fourteenth.
A respite of three years followed, when the republic was unexpectedly
attacked by the united forces of England and France, both on the sea and
shore; and after a carnage of six years more, the peace of Nimeguen was
concluded in 1678; which, however, was fettered with several severe
stipulations imposed by the French monarch. In 1688 the Prince of Orange
sailed for England, to occupy its vacant throne; an event which involved
the Dutch in a nine years’ war: the peace of Ryswick was scarcely
signed, when the Spanish succession again called them forth to arms,
which they did not lay down till after a slaughter of eleven years.
The peace of Utrecht gave them a slight repose, which was frequently
disturbed by the insults and predatory attacks of the African corsairs
upon the Dutch flag in the Mediterranean. The internal troubles of the
republic, from its revolution, and its final submission to the French
arms followed. Such is the brief history of a country which, in a
political and physical view, may be truly called extraordinary.
The first princes of the House of Orange, by the illustrious services
which they rendered the state by their wars and negotiations, were
rewarded by its confidence and employments of the highest dignity and
trust, which were conferred upon them by the grateful approbation and
concurrence of the most rigid republicans.
These princes, in obedience to that law of nature which seems to be
pretty equally predominant amongst all her sons, extended the power they
enjoyed as often as they had the means, and what they gave to themselves
was taken from the liberties of the people; but they dazzled the eyes of
the subject, and concealed the encroachment, or legitimated it by the
brilliancy of illustrious achievements. A small territory, scooped from
the ocean, rose to rank and estimation in the scale of nations, by its
valour, its riches, and its arts, and was enabled to resist the mighty
power of England and France, by the genius and energy of succession of
five princes of the House of Orange, for upwards of a century.
The stadtholderate remained vacant from the death of William the Third,
who by his talents preserved the republic from impending danger, till
fresh difficulties, the wishes of the nation, and the powerful
interposition of George the Second, in 1747, induced them to confer the
dignity of stadtholder on William the Fourth, father of the last
stadtholder, and to make it hereditary in his family. This prince (I
mean the father) possessed considerable talents, from which the country
did not derive much advantage, for he died soon after his elevation to
the dignity. By this act the offices of captain-general and
admiral-general were united in the person of the stadtholder, who also
became president of every province; and his power and influence was such
as to enable him to change every deputy, magistrate, and officer, in
every province and city, at pleasure, by which he had the almost
complete formation of the States General, although he had no voice in
it.
CHAPTER VIII.
REMARKS ON THE LAST STADTHOLDER ... ALSO ON THE PRINCESS OF ORANGE ...
HER PRESUMPTION AND INDISCRETION ... HATRED OF THE DUTCH TO THE HOUSE OF
ORANGE ... FETE AT THE HAGUE ON THE FLIGHT OF THAT FAMILY ... REASONS
ASSIGNED FOR THE PROGRESS OF THE FRENCH ARMS ... FOR THE GLORIOUS
TRIUMPH OF BRITISH PROWESS ... CONDUCT OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT TOWARDS
SOME OF THE SERVANTS OF THE OLD ... THE NEW CONSTITUTION OF HOLLAND.
The authority described in the last chapter, so princely and powerful,
in all human probability would have continued in the family of the
prince upon whom it was conferred to this hour, and descended to their
posterity, had the last stadtholder possessed the virtue, spirit, and
wisdom of his ancestors: but the imbecility of his character, more than
those wonderful events which were agitating other portions of Europe,
was the principal cause of the overthrow of his house. Without any
portion of ability, William the Fifth was alive only to his own
aggrandizement and depraved pleasures. The attachment which he had been
taught to cherish for the politics of England, had long marked him out
as an object of hatred with the Dutch: under his auspices they saw their
own trade deteriorated, and the ocean covered with the commercial
vessels of the British empire, wafting wealth into her ports from every
quarter of the globe, the resources and energies of the republic
consuming without any attempt to resuscitate them, until at length his
weak and culpable conduct closed in the conquest of the country, and the
precipitate retreat of himself and family. The conduct of the Princess
of Orange also contributed not a little to augment the displeasure of
the people. She had that influence over him which strong minds always
have over weak ones, but in no instance were her counsels advantageous
to the state, and she had no one quality to conciliate the lower classes
of the people.
During the troubles of 1787, she created uncommon disgust by answering
in her own name an address of the States General to the prince her
husband, when she had no recognised character in the republic, and
consequently no right whatever to interfere in its affairs. Amongst
other acts of presumption in the same year, so memorable in the Dutch
annals, when the Orange party, supported by Prussia, and Great Britain,
acquired the ascendency, she managed the negotiations between the Duke
of Brunswick, who commanded the Prussian army, and the city of
Amsterdam, in the course of which she declared in a tone of angry
insolence, that the generosity of her disposition induced her to spare
the lives of the guilty, but that they should be held incapable of
discharging the duties of any public trust in future. Among the persons
whom she caused to be dismissed were several distinguished and popular
citizens, the survivors of whom were, upon the overthrow of the house of
Orange, called to participate in the government of the country with the
most flattering marks of congratulation.
This princess I know has had her admirers, she has been extolled for her
spirit, and capaciousness of mind; but upon almost every occasion her
talents were misapplied, and only served to augment the storm that burst
over and laid the glory of her house prostrate. What was to close a
reign (if such it may be called), so characterized by weakness and
disaster, required not the spirit of a prophet to foretel. The French
revolution found an unembarrassed introduction into Holland, and the
feeble resistance which the Dutch troops opposed to the French armies,
pretty clearly demonstrates the estimation in which the country held its
unworthy ruler, and the desire they had of delivering themselves from
him and the influence of England upon their councils. It is well known,
that in the last war, the Dutch refused the sick and wounded of their
allies, the British army, admission into Delft, and a body of burghers
was formed at Amsterdam, to prevent the entrance of foreign troops; in
other words, _the English_, into that city. In his last struggles the
Stadtholder obtained a plenary power, resembling that of a dictator, a
short time before the French army crossed the Waal, an event that
decided the fate of Holland. Aukwardly clothed with this vast authority,
he issued a proclamation, invoking the people to rise _en masse_ to
oppose their invaders: in obedience to the invocation, the Dutch army
was strengthened by the accession of about _fifty recruits_. An order
then followed, that throughout the United Provinces three houses should
furnish one man for the defence of the state, the order experienced a
worse fate than the proclamation.
The public antipathy to the Stadtholder and his government was now
raised to its highest elevation: the French entered the country in
triumph, and the flight of the Prince of Orange was received with
enthusiastic expressions of exultation. On the 16th of February, 1795, a
solemn assembly of the deputies from all the provinces was held at the
Hague, at which meeting the stadtholderate was formally declared to be
abolished for ever, and in the evening of that day a grand republican
festival was celebrated, at which the Dutch legislators, the French
representatives, and the chiefs of the army assisted. When the British
troops afterwards landed at the Helder, they found the sense of the
people still the same. It was not the dread of the revenge of the French
army, that induced them to observe such marked and unequivocal
disinclination to co-operate with a force which professed to have in
view the achievement of salutary objects for their benefit, but the
unextinguishable abhorrence in which they held the house of Orange, in
whose name the English army endeavoured to wrest the country from the
arms of France; and, I believe, since the death of the son of the
Stadtholder, a young prince of great promise, that throughout the
kingdom scarcely one partizan for the house of Orange is to be found.
The fate of Holland is a memorable lesson to other nations. We wonder
that the power of France rolls on with overwhelming fury: the military
observer traces her resistless march to her brilliant improvements in
modern warfare; the politician to the magnitude, energy, and endless
reinforcements of her troops; the superstitious to her good fortune, and
the moralist to the divine interposition to rebuke the vices of her
enemies. They forget, or will not see, that the victories of France have
hitherto been the triumph of genius, promptitude, and energy, over
ignorance, procrastination, and supineness: of vigorous over weak
councils; of able, experienced, and faithful, over hereditary,
senseless, and perfidious commanders. These are the causes that made
Austria bow her neck to the chief of the French empire, and in ten days
offered up Prussia to the manes of Poland, in memorable expiation of the
horrors perpetrated in that devoted country in 1771. In the glorious
triumphs of the British flag upon the ocean, we saw great yielding to
greater skill: in Egypt and Media we beheld indisputable heroism
yielding to superior intrepidity, directed by great military skill, and
united to high national honour.
The moderation and mildness which characterized the conduct of the
French, rendered them popular by a comparison with the rigorous folly of
the Stadtholder in the last convulsions of his expiring power. The
French checked and kept in complete awe some of the most illiterate and
most depraved of the Dutch republicans who were preparing to avenge the
long and galling triumph of their adversaries, with sharp and sanguinary
resentment; not a drop of blood was judicially shed upon the overthrow
of the ancient government of the United Provinces, although it had
endured for two centuries; and the pensioners of the house of Orange,
whose stipends were the rewards of meritorious services, received, and
continue to receive, their salaries with generous punctuality, without
being obliged to take an oath of hatred to the Stadtholder, as other
persons who lived by the bounty of the republic were obliged to do.
After Bonaparte had assumed the imperial purple of France, and
determined upon creating a dynasty of sovereigns in his own family, he
prepared the Dutch for the conversion of their republic into a kingdom,
and the reception of a king.
On the 9th of June, 1806, Messrs. Verhuel and Van Styrum returned from
Paris. His Excellency M. Verhuel, after paying a visit to the acting
pensionary, held conferences with the secretaries of state, and opened
the special mission entrusted to him by his Imperial Highness Prince
Louis Napoleon, as King of Holland, as the result of several resolutions
for the organization of the government and communicating, that his
majesty the king had appointed M. Verhuel minister of the marine, and M.
Gogel, minister of finance; the other secretaries of state being charged
to continue in their posts till the king’s arrival.
The same gentleman repaired in person to the assembly of their High
Mightinesses, where also, in pursuance of his commission, he expressed
his majesty’s desire, and made the necessary communications; he also
proceeded to the council of state; after which his excellency assumed
the executive power, in the name, and by the authority of his majesty,
whilst the pensionary, who had acted _ad interim_, resigned that post,
and resumed that of president of their High Mightinesses. The following
is the new constitution which has been digested and promulgated for the
Dutch nation. I have given it rather at length, that the reader may be
in possession of the principal branches of so important and interesting
a document.
LOUIS NAPOLEON, by the grace of God and the constitutional laws of the
state, to all whom these presents shall come, sends greeting. Be it
known to all, that we have accepted, and do accept, with the
approbation of his majesty the Emperor Napoleon, our august brother,
the dignity of King of Holland, conformably to the wishes of the
country, the constitutional laws, and to the treaty which, being
protected by reciprocal ratifications, has been this day presented to
us by the deputies of the Dutch nation. Upon our accession to the
throne, our dearest care shall be to watch over the interests of our
people. We will always study to give them constant and multiplied
proofs of our love and solicitude (supporting for those ends) the
liberty of all our subjects, as well as their rights, and in employing
ourselves incessantly for their welfare. The independence of the
kingdom is guaranteed by his majesty the emperor and king. The
constitutional laws, and our firm and resolute good will, equally
secure to every one his credit with the state, his personal liberty,
and the liberty of conscience. It is after this declaration that we
have decreed, and do decree, by these presents, as follows:
ART. 1. Our ministers of marine and of finance, nominated by our
decree of this day, shall enter immediately upon their office: the
other ministers shall continue in theirs till further orders.
2. All the constituted authorities, either civil or military, shall
continue their functions until further, or other, orders.
3. The constitutional laws of the state, and the treaty concluded at
Paris the 24th of May, in the present year, between his majesty the
emperor and king, and the Batavian Republic, the purport of which is
here-in-aftermentioned, shall be published immediately, as well as the
present decree, in the most authentic manner.
We therefore order, that these presents be published and posted up in
all places where it is usual so to do; and enjoin all those whom it
may concern, to provide for the exact performance of every thing
contained in these presents.
Given at Paris, the 5th of June, 1806, in the first year of our reign.
(Signed) LOUIS.
(Underneath was written) on behalf of the king,
For the Secretary of State. (Signed) VERHUEL,
The Minister of the Marine.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL LAWS.
FIRST SECTION. GENERAL DISPOSITIONS.
ART. 1. The constitutional laws actually in force, particularly the
constitution of 1805, as well as the civil, political, and religious
laws now exercised in the Batavian republic, the operation of which is
conformable to the dispositions of the treaty concluded the 24th of
May, in the present year, between his majesty the emperor of the
French and king of Italy, and the Batavian republic, shall be wholly
preserved, excepting only those which shall be abolished by the
present constitutional laws.
2. The administration of the Dutch colonies is regulated by particular
laws. The revenues and the expenses of the colonies shall be
considered as making part of the revenues and expenses of the state.
3. The _public debt of the state is guaranteed by the present
articles_.
4. The Dutch language shall continue to be employed exclusively for
the laws, publications, ordinances, judgments, and all other public
acts, without distinction.
5. There shall be no change made in the name or weight of the current
coin, but by virtue of a particular law.
6. The ancient flag of the state shall be preserved.
7. The council of state shall be composed of thirteen members. The
ministers shall have rank, a seat, and a vote in the council of state.
SECTION II. OF RELIGION.
ART. 1. _The king and the law grant an equal protection to all
religions professed in the state._ By their authority is to be
determined all that is judged necessary in the organization, the
protection, and exercise of all worships. Every exercise of religion
is confined to the interior of the temples of all the different
communions.
2. The king is to enjoy in his palace, as well as in every place where
he shall reside, the free and public exercise of his religion.
SECTION III. OF THE KING.
ART. 1. The King has exclusively, and without restriction, the entire
exercise of the government, and of every necessary power to insure the
execution of the laws, and to make them respected. He appoints to all
the offices, and to all the civil and military employments, which,
according to the preceding laws, were at the nomination of the grand
pensionary. He has the entire enjoyment of the pre-eminences and
prerogatives hitherto attached to that dignity. The coins of the state
shall be stamped with his head. Justice is to be administered in his
name. He is to have the right of granting pardon, abolition or
remission of penalties inflicted by sentence of law: nevertheless, he
cannot exercise this right without having heard in private council the
members of the national court.
2. At the death of the king the guardianship of the minor king shall
be always confided to the queen mother; and in case there shall be no
queen mother, to such person as shall be appointed by the emperor of
the French.
3. The regent shall be assisted by a national council, whose
composition and privileges shall be determined by a particular law.
The regent shall not be personally responsible for the acts of his
government.
4. The government of the colonies, and all that relates to their
internal administration, belongs exclusively to the king.
5. The general administration of the kingdom is confided to the
immediate direction of four ministers of state, named by the king,
viz. a minister for foreign affairs, a minister of war and of marine,
a minister of finance, and a minister for the home department.
SECTION IV. OF THE LAW.
ART. 1. The laws of Holland being made by the concurrence of the
legislative body, formed of the assembly of their high mightinesses
and of the king; the legislative body shall be composed of thirty-nine
members, elected for five years, and named in the following
proportions, viz. for the department of Holland, seventeen members,
for that of Guelderland, four; for that of Brabant, four; for that of
Friesland, four; for that of Overyssel, three; for that of Zealand,
two; for that of Groningen, two; for that of Utrecht, two; for the
country of Drenthe, one. The number of the members of their high
mightinesses may be augmented by the law, in case of the
aggrandizement of territory.
2. For this time, in order to proceed to the nomination of the
nineteen members of their high mightinesses, by whom the number
determined in the preceding article will be completed, the assembly of
their high mightinesses shall present to the king a list of two
candidates to fill each of the places. The departmental assembly of
each department shall equally propose a double list of candidates. The
king will make the election among the proposed candidates.
3. The grand pensionary for the time being shall take the title of
president of their high mightinesses, and shall remain in office in
this character during his life. The choice of his successors shall
take place in the manner determined by the constitution of 1805.
4. The legislative body shall elect from itself a notary by a majority
of votes.
5. The legislative body shall reassemble as usual twice a year, viz.
from the 15th of April to the 1st of June, and from the 15th of
November to the 15th of January. An extraordinary convocation may be
made by the king on the 15th of November in every year; the oldest
fifth of the members forming the legislative body shall retire from
the same. The first going out shall take place the 15th of November
1807; and for this time the persons going out shall be determined by
lot. The members who go out shall be always re-eligible.
SECTION V. OF THE JUDICIARY POWER.
ART. 1. The judiciary institutions shall be preserved as they were
established by the constitution of the year 1805.
2. The king shall exercise (relative to the judiciary power) all the
rights and all the authority which have been attributed to the grand
pensionary by the articles 49, 51, 56, 79, 82, and 87, of the
constitution of the year 1805.
3. All that relates to the military criminal justice shall be
separately regulated by a further law.
Treaty concluded between his Majesty the Emperor of the French and King
of Italy, and the Assembly of their High Mightinesses representing the
Batavian Republic.
His imperial and royal Majesty Napoleon, emperor of the French and
king of Italy, and the assembly of their high mightinesses
representing the Batavian republic, president, his excellency the
grand pensionary, accompanied by the council of state and the
ministers and secretary of state.
In consideration, 1. That, seeing the general disposition of minds,
and the actual organization of Europe, a government without
consistency, and without a certain duration, cannot fulfil the end of
its institution.
2. That the periodical renewal of the chief of the state will always
in Holland be a source of dissensions, and out of it, a constant
subject of agitation and discord between the powers either friends or
enemies of Holland.
3. That an hereditary government alone can guarantee the quiet
possession of all that is dear to the Dutch people, the free exercise
of their religion, the preservation of their laws, their political
independence, and their civil liberty.
4. That their greatest interest is to secure to themselves a powerful
protection, under whose shelter they may freely exercise their
industry, and maintain themselves in the possession of their
territory, their commerce, and their colonies.
5. That France is essentially interested in the happiness of the Dutch
people, in the prosperity of their state, and the stability of their
institutions, as much in consideration of the northern frontiers of
the empire, which are open and unprovided with fortified places, as of
the principles and interests of general policy, have named for
plenipotentiary ministers, viz. his majesty the Emperor of the French
and King of Italy, M. C. M. Talleyrand, grand chamberlain, minister of
foreign affairs, great cordon of the legion of honour, knight of the
orders of the red and black eagle of Prussia, and of the order of St.
Hubert, &c.; and the Grand Pensionary, M. M. C. H. Verhuel, vice
admiral, minister of the marine of the Batavian republic, decorated
with the great eagle of the legion of honour; J. J. A. Gogel, minister
of finance; S. Van Styrum, member of the assembly of their high
mightinesses; William Six, member of the council of state; and G. de
Brantzen, plenipotentiary minister of the Batavian republic, by his
imperial and royal majesty decorated with the grand eagle of the
legion of honour, who, after having exchanged their full powers, have
agreed upon as follows.
ART. 1. His majesty the emperor of the French and king of Italy, as
well for himself, his heirs and successors for ever, guarantees to
Holland the maintenance of its constitutional rights, its
independence, the entirety of its possessions in the two hemispheres,
its political, civil, and religious liberty, as it is consecrated by
the actual established laws, and the abolition of all privileges in
matters of taxes.
2. Upon the formal demand of their high mightinesses, representing the
Batavian republic, that the Prince Louis Napoleon be named and crowned
hereditary and constitutional king of Holland, his majesty, with
deference to this desire, authorises the Prince Louis Napoleon to
accept the crown of Holland to be possessed by him and his natural and
legitimate male descendants, according to priority of birth, to the
_perpetual exclusion of females and their descendants_. In consequence
of this authority, Prince Louis Napoleon shall possess this crown
under the title of King, and with all the power and all the authority,
which shall be determined by the constitutional laws that the Emperor
Napoleon has provided in the preceding article; nevertheless, it is
enacted _that the crowns of France and Holland can never be re-united
on the same head_.
3. The domain of the crown comprehends, 1. _a palace at the Hague_,
which is to be destined for the residence of the royal household; 2.
the _palace of the Wood_; 3. the domain of _Soestdyk_; 4. a revenue in
landed property of 500,000 florins. The law of the state further
assures to the king an annual sum of 1,500,000 florins of Dutch money,
payable by twelve monthly instalments.
4. In case of a minority, the regency shall belong of right to the
queen; and in case there shall be no queen, the French emperor, in his
capacity of perpetual chief of the imperial family, is to name the
regent of the kingdom. He is to choose among the princes of the royal
family, and in default of them, among the nation. The minority of the
king is to end at the age of eighteen.
5. The jointure of the queen shall be determined by her marriage
contract; for this time it is settled that the jointure is fixed at
the annual sum of 250,000 florins, which shall be taken from the
domain of the crown. This sum deducted, the half of the remainder of
the revenues of the crown will serve for the expenses of the
maintenance of the house of the minor king, the other half shall be
appropriated to the expenses of the regency.
6. The king of Holland shall be for ever grand dignitary of the
empire, under the title of constable; the functions of this grand
dignitary may, nevertheless, be filled at the will of the emperor of
the French, by a prince vice-constable, when he shall judge proper to
create this dignity.
7. The members of the reigning house of Holland shall remain
personally subject to the dispositions of the 30th of last March,
forming the law of the imperial family of France.
8. _The offices and employments of the state, exclusive of those
appertaining to the house of the king, can only be conferred on
natives._
9. The arms of the king shall be the ancient arms of Holland
quartered, with the imperial eagle of France, and surmounted with the
royal crown.
10. There shall be forthwith concluded between the contracting powers,
a treaty of commerce, by virtue of which the subjects of Holland will
be treated at all times in the ports, and on the territory of the
French empire, as the nation especially favored. His majesty the
emperor and king, further engages to intercede with the powers of
Barbary, that the Dutch flag may be respected by them, as well as that
of his majesty the emperor of the French. The ratifications of the
present treaty shall be exchanged at Paris in the space of ten days.
(Signed) CH. M. TALLEYRAND.
CH. HENRI VERHUEL.
J. J. A. GOGEL, JEAN VAN STYRUM,
W. SIX, et BRANTZEN.
Paris, this 24th May, 1806.
The 20th of June, 1806, his majesty the king of Holland made a
proposal to their high mightinesses, concerning the oaths to be
pronounced by the king and by the public officers, as also of the
publication of the laws: their high mightinesses approved the same day
the law, which is to the following purport:
OF OATHS.
ART. 1. Immediately after the proclamation, the king will receive the
oath of their high mightinesses, of the ministers the counsellors of
the state, of the high court of justice, of the great and other
officers of the palace, of the national chamber of accounts, of the
presidents, of the attorney general, of the courts of justice, of
officers of the land and sea; to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and
captain; lieutenant inclusively.
2. In the course of this year, the king, accompanied by his ministers,
the great officers, and the officers of the palace, will take the oath
to the Dutch nation, in the presence of their high mightinesses, the
council of the state, of the high court of justice, of the national
chamber of accounts, of the high military court, of the council of
taxes and prizes by sea and land, of the presidents of the
departmental administrations, and of the presidents of the tribunals.
The secretary of state to commit to writing the verbal process of
taking the oath. The oath of the king is conceived in these terms:
“I swear to maintain the constitutional laws of the kingdom, to defend
the integrity of the territory of the kingdom, to respect the liberty
of worships, to respect and to cause to be respected the equality of
rights, as well as the civil, and political liberty: not to raise any
taxes, and to order no impositions but by virtue of the law: to have
no other end in my reign than the sole interests, the prosperity, and
the glory of the Dutch nation.”
3. The oath that is made to the king is conceived in these terms:
“I swear obedience to the constitutional laws of the kingdom, and
fidelity to the king.”
OF THE PUBLICATION.
ART. 1. The king will seal and publish all the laws.
2. Two copies are to be made of each law, both to be signed by the
king, countersigned by the secretary of state and one of the
ministers, and sealed with the great seal.
3. One of the copies is to be deposited among the archives of the
secretary of state, and the other among the archives of their high
mightinesses.
4. The publication shall be conceived in these terms, &c.
The minister of the home department has the care of the publication.
5. Judgments shall be pronounced, and the execution of them follows
immediately.
The court shall execute its judgments in the name of the king. All
civil and military authorities, legally required for the purpose, are
bound to render their assistance.
Royal Decree of the 25th of June, 1806, creating general directors for
the different departments of the public administration.
Louis Napoleon, &c. considering, that the affairs of the colonies are
administered by two councils, who have neither strength nor unity
sufficient to act to the advantage of the interests of the kingdom;
and that nevertheless this important branch of the administration of
the affairs of the kingdom merits all our solicitude: considering,
that the ministry of marine is of too high a nature, and that the
objects which relate to it are too multiplied and too abstract to be
united with that of the war department: considering, that the minister
for the home department is sufficiently occupied by the inspection of
administration, and the inspection of the waters; by the cares of
promoting the advancement of agriculture; of the public safety and
instruction; and, indeed, of the arts and sciences, we have decreed as
follows:
ART. 1. There shall be three general directors, who shall follow
immediately in rank the ministers, and shall be employed directly with
us, viz. The director general of the war department; the director
general of the affairs of India and of commerce; the director general
of affairs relative to public worship and justice, and at the same
time charged with the care of all that regards the safety of the
kingdom.
2. They shall enjoy the honours, rank, and treatment of ministers.
3. Our ministers are respectively charged, as far as they are
concerned, with the execution of the present decree.
Royal Decree of the 1st of July, 1806, containing the Organization and
the Attributes of the Council of State.
Louis Napoleon, &c. considering, that the council of state is charged
with high and important functions; that all the laws, and almost all
the acts of administration, ought to be prepared and discussed there:
considering, that amongst these acts there are many of great
importance for the interests and security of the different
departments, and which require the local knowledge of each country,
its situation and particular customs: considering, that there are laws
and acts of government of such importance, that they require the
united talents and zeal of all the citizens who have experience
thereon, have decreed, and do decree as follows:
ART. 1. That the council of state shall be composed of thirteen
members residing near us.
2. That it shall be formed in a general assembly, and divided into
sections.
3. That the general assembly shall be convoked, and presided over by
the king.
4. That the ministers shall have rank, a seat, and a deliberative
voice in the council of state.
5. That there shall be five divisions of the council of state, each of
which shall have its president.
6. These divisions shall be as follows: the division of legislation
and of general affairs, comprehending the affairs of administration,
and all that has not a reference to the other divisions; the division
of marine; of finances; of commerce and the colonies; the division of
war. The president and the members of the divisions or sections shall
be appointed by us every three months. Each section shall have a
superior clerk attached to it.
7. The title, rank, and honours of the counsellors of state shall be
granted either to the public officers or to the members of the
different authorities, or to the citizens most distinguished by their
talents and probity. They shall not be annexed to the divisions of the
council of state until they have been called by us to the council.
8. There shall always be a counsellor of state of each of the eight
great departments for the legislation and general affairs, another for
financial affairs, and another for the affairs relative to commerce
and the colonies; and this in order that we may be well assured that
the laws, or very important acts of government, shall not be prepared
and discussed without having taken into consideration the situation
and interests of each of the eight grand departments.
9. These counsellors of state shall have no other provision than for
such duty as they shall be otherwise called upon to exercise. They
shall have no right to come to the council unless called thither by
us. The counsellors extraordinary of state, who might be nominated
members of the assembly of their high mightinesses, shall not be
assembled at the council of state so long as they shall exercise that
dignity.
10. On the first of January every year we will determine the list of
the thirteen resident counsellors of state, and of the presidents, in
order to call to a residence near us those who might be in the
departments.
11. The resident counsellors who shall be preserved on the list will
occupy in the departments the places to which they shall be or might
have been called.
12. There shall be a secretary general of the council of state, having
under him the offices necessary for the dispatch of business.
13. There shall be near our council of state, Auditors, of whom we
shall determine the number and the distribution. They shall be chosen
from amongst those young men who are destined for the administration,
who have finished their studies, and who have distinguished themselves
therein. There shall be two classes, the first composed of young
people who shall have shewn in the exercise of their functions more
capacity, discretion, and attachment to their duty: they shall take
the name of auditors of the king, and the others merely the name of
auditors. They shall be employed to prepare business, according to the
orders they shall receive from the presidents of the sections of the
council of state: they shall have no communication with the ministers
unless by a formal order from us. The auditors of the king shall
assist at the general sittings of the state when they are called there
by us. In that case they shall rank behind the counsellors of state,
and shall have no voice in council, unless we, from a wish to assure
ourselves whether they improve in the transaction of affairs, in
qualifying themselves for the administration, shall ask their advice:
the other auditors shall only be employed in the interior of the
divisions.
14. As the institution of auditors is intended to initiate young men
in business, and to facilitate the means of succeeding in it, they
will receive no provision.
Royal Decree of the 9th July, 1806, relative to the Presentation of the
projected Laws of their High Mightinesses.
ART. 1. When the plan of a law, (the council of state having been
heard) shall have been adopted by us, the secretary of state shall
summon, by a letter, the president of the legislative body, at least
two days beforehand, to assemble the orators of the government at such
a day and such an hour, at the assembly of their high mightinesses, to
present to them one or several projects of law; if there are many, the
number shall be indicated.
2. The secretary of state shall inform the same day the secretary
general of the council of state that such project of law has been
adopted by his majesty; he will transmit to him at the same time a
decree, signifying: 1st, the nomination of auditors; 2d, the day of
presentation.
3. On the day appointed for the presentation at the latest, the
general secretary of the council of state shall transmit to the person
first named in the decree, and who is to be the speaker, 1st, a copy
of the same decree by which their powers are constituted; 2d, two
copies of the law.
6th. The orators of the government shall repair to the assembly of
their high mightinesses, in the carriages of government, preceded by
two tipstaffs and accompanied by two of the royal horse guards. The
guards before whom they pass will draw up, and present their arms: at
the palace, where the sittings of the assembly of their high
mightinesses are held, they are to be received in a private room by
the committee of that assembly, then at the door of the chamber of
sittings by the notary, who shall introduce them to the place of the
sittings of the assembly, and accompany them to the place destined for
them, and which is similiar to that of the members of the assembly.
The orator of the government first named in the decree, shall ask the
president for leave to speak, and read, first, the royal decree and
the project of the law, and secondly the exposition of the motives.
This address finished, the president shall return the act to the
orators, and a copy signed, which they are to report, and the orators
will retire with the same ceremony with which they arrived.
As the 7th article of the treaty signed at Paris the 24th of May,
1806, ordains that the members of the reigning house of Holland shall
remain personally subject to the dispositions of the 30th of last
March, forming the law of the imperial family of France, it cannot but
be agreeable to find here the most important articles to which his
majesty the King of Holland is subjected, and which are most adapted
to him: they are as follows:
TITLE 1st. Of the Princes and Princesses of the Imperial House.
ART. 1. The emperor is the chief and common father of his family;
under these titles he exercises paternal authority over those who
compose it, during their minority; and preserves always, in respect to
them, a power of inspection, of police, and of discipline, the
principal objects of which will be determined hereafter.
3. The imperial house is composed, first, of the princes comprised in
the hereditary order established by the act of the constitutions of
the 28th May, 12th year, concerning their marriage, and their
descendants in legitimate marriage: 2d. of the princesses our sisters,
of their husbands, and of their descendants in legitimate marriage, to
the fifth degree inclusively: 3dly. of our children by adoption, and
of their legitimate descendants.
TITLE III. Of the Education of the Princes and Princesses of the
Imperial House.
26. The emperor regulates all that concerns the issue of the princes
and princesses of this house: he nominates and revokes at will those
who are commissioned with it, and determines the place where it is to
be effected.
27. All the princes born in hereditary order will be brought up
together, and by the same tutors and officers, either in the palace
inhabited by the emperor, or in another palace within the distance of
ten _myriamètres_[2] from his usual residence.
Footnote 2:
_Myriamètre_ is equal to 5132 43–100 toises, or 1 7–20 German mil 15
to a degree.
26. Their course of education will begin at the age of seven, and will
finish at the attainment of the age of sixteen. The children of those
who have distinguished themselves by their services may be admitted to
participate of the advantages.
27. Should it happen that a prince in the hereditary order should
ascend a foreign throne, he will be bound, when his male issue should
be seven years old, to send them to the above-mentioned houses to
receive their education.
OF THE PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS AND AUDIENCES.
Those who wish to present petitions, or addresses, &c. to the king,
will put at the head, “To the King.” They all begin with the title of
Sire, and in the body of the addresses, &c. the words “Your Majesty”
must be used. His majesty has provisionally charged the counsellor of
state, M. Golberg, in order to receive in his name all the requests,
supplications, and remonstrances which may be presented, and to give a
circumstantial account of them to the King. This counsellor attends
for this purpose in the apartments of the old court, every Tuesday and
Friday, from nine in the morning till two in the afternoon. But all
petitions, supplications, or remonstrances, must be presented in
writing, on stamped paper: and there ought besides to be indorsed on
the petitions, &c. the name of the supplicant, the nature of the
demand, and in concise terms, the motives of the same. It must be
observed besides, that all demands, addresses, or remonstrances to the
courts, or tribunals of justice, departmental administrations, or
other constituted authorities, ought to be sent to the minister or
directors general, that the deed which relates to the object, be made
by them, and presented to the king. Those who desire to be admitted to
the audience of his majesty the king, are obliged to address
themselves for this purpose to the chamberlain of the day, the motive
for which this audience is requested, must be signified by writing,
and the place where the answer may be sent exactly mentioned. The king
has decreed, that in order to facilitate and assure as much as
possible the relation between him and his subjects, all the ministers,
or directors general, have to give once or twice a week a public
audience; for this purpose they have fixed the following days, &c. &c.
The leading features in this constitution, are the guarantee of the
payment of the national debt; the free and unqualified exercise of
religion; the predominant authority vested in the king; the
establishment of the salique law, for ever excluding females from the
throne; the declaration that the minority of any future king shall
expire upon his attaining his eighteenth year; that only natives shall
be eligible to any offices under the state, exclusive of those
immediately appertaining to the king’s household; that the yearly
revenue of the king shall be two millions of florins, and that the royal
residences shall be the palaces of the Hague, in the Wood, and at
Soestdyke.
As a few months have only rolled away since the promulgation of this
constitution, it would be somewhat hasty to offer any objections to it:
it must be left to time to ascertain how far it is adapted to the genius
and resources, and propitious to the prosperity of the people.
CHAPTER IX.
GRAND ENTRY OF KING AND QUEEN INTO HOLLAND ... OPENING OF THE MEETING OF
THEIR HIGH MIGHTINESSES ... ANECDOTE OF ROYAL ECONOMY ... THE HAGUE
DESCRIBED ... LADY W. MONTAGU’S REMARKS REBUTTED ... PRETTY FEMALE
FACES ... A DUTCH NURSERY ... DUTCH MODE OF INCREASING ANIMAL HEAT ...
THE WOOD ... ITS SANCTITY ... THE PALACE FORMERLY CALLED THE HOUSE IN
THE WOOD ... ANECDOTE OF KING WILLIAM THE THIRD ... UNOSTENTATIOUS
HABITS OF THE ORANGE FAMILY ... CHARMING JAUNT TO SCHEVELING ... A
MARINE HOTEL ... MR. FOX.
Soon after the promulgation of the constitution, the King and Queen set
off from Paris to take possession of their new kingdom, and on the 23d
of June following made their solemn entry into the Hague: they left the
palace in the Wood in the following order; a herald at arms, his
majesty’s horse guards, the guard of honour, the council of state in
three coaches, the admirals in one coach, the ministers in two coaches,
the great officers of the crown in one coach, their majesties in one
coach, the generals in two coaches: the ladies and officers of the royal
household in one coach, followed by aids-de-camp and other officers, and
the whole procession closed by detachments of hussars and dragoons.
When the procession reached the palace of their high mightinesses, their
majesties were received at the door by four deputies from the assembly.
They ascended the great staircase, passed through the chamber of the
national library, and were received at the door of the anti-chamber by
the president of their high mightinesses, and two other deputies. Having
entered the hall of the assembly, her majesty was conducted to her
tribune by two deputies. The king seated himself on his throne, and put
on his hat. On the right side, and behind his majesty, sat the grand
chamberlain, and the aid-de-camp general; on the left, the master of the
horse, and the grand master of the civil list. All the other officers of
state were ranged in proper situations. The members of the assembly
stood up in their places uncovered on the entrance of the king; but when
his majesty covered himself, they followed his example. The president
placed himself in his chair, directly opposite to the king. After the
king was seated on his throne, he directed the grand master of the
ceremonies to administer the oaths of allegiance to their high
mightinesses. The oaths were accordingly first taken by the president,
and afterwards by the other members, in the order of their seniority.
Each member approached to the foot of the throne, and was sworn on the
Holy Evangelists. When all the members were sworn, his majesty delivered
the following speech to the assembly:
“GENTLEMEN,
“When the national deputies came to offer me the throne which I ascend
this day, I accepted it, under the conviction that it was the wish of
the whole nation; that the confidence and the necessities of all
called me to it.
“Relying on the intelligence, zeal, and patriotism of the principal
public functionaries, and particularly on yours, gentlemen the
deputies, I have fearlessly weighed in my mind the misfortunes of the
nation in their fullest extent. Animated by the strongest desire to
promote the welfare of this good people, and entertaining a hope that
I should one day attain that end, I stifled those sentiments which,
till then, had been ever the object and happiness of my life. I have
consented to change my country, to cease to be solely and entirely a
Frenchman, after having passed my whole life in performing, to the
best of my ability, those duties which that name prescribes to all who
have the honor of bearing it.
“I have consented to separate myself, for the first time, from him
who, from my infancy, has possessed my love and admiration: to lose
the repose and independence which those whom Heaven calls to govern
cannot have: to quit him, the separation from whom would fill me with
apprehension, even in the most tranquil times, and whose presence
precludes danger.
“I have consented to all this, and, gentlemen, had I not done so, I
would nevertheless yet act the same part, now that by the ardour, joy,
and confidence of the people through whose country I have passed, they
have proved to me, that you were the true interpreters of the nation,
now especially, when I am convinced, that I may rely on your zeal,
your attachment to the interests of your native land, and on your
confidence in, and fidelity, towards me.
“Gentlemen, this is the first day of the real independence of the
United Provinces. A transient glance at past ages is sufficient to
convince us, that they never had a stable government, a fixed destiny,
a real independence. Under that famous people, whom they fought and
served by turns, as under the Franks and the Empire of the West, they
were neither free nor tranquil.
“Neither were they so afterwards, when subjected to Spain.
“Their wars, and their repeated quarrels until the union, added to the
glory of the nation, confirmed its qualities in point of frankness,
intrepidity, and honor, for which, indeed, it had been always
celebrated; but its efforts procured it neither tranquillity nor
independence, even under the Princes of Orange, who, though they were
useful to their country, as soldiers and statesmen, were always
disturbing it, by pretending, or endeavouring to obtain a power which
the nation denied them.
“Nor could Holland be considered in that state in later times, when
the elevation of ideas, and the general agitation of Europe, so long
suspended the repose of nations.
“After so many vicissitudes, so much agitation, so many calamities;
and at a time when the great states were enlarging themselves,
ameliorating and concentrating their governments and their forces,
this country could enjoy no real safety nor independence, but in a
moderate monarchical state; a form which had been acknowledged during
a long period, and by each nation, in its turn, as the most perfect,
and if not absolutely so, yet as much so as the nature of man will
admit. But, doubtless, if perfection were the lot of humanity, we
might then dispense with a government of this kind. Laws would then be
founded in wisdom, and obeyed without reluctance or obstacle; virtue
would reign triumphant, and insure its own reward; vice would be
banished, and wickedness rendered impotent; but illusions which favour
such romantic ideas of human nature, are transient; and experience
soon brings us back to positive facts.
“However, even monarchy itself is not sufficient for a country, which,
though powerful and important, is not sufficiently so for its
position, which requires forces of the first rank both by land and
sea. It will, therefore, be necessary for it to form a connexion with
one of the great powers of Europe, with which its amity may be
eternally assured, without any alteration of its independence.
“This, gentlemen, is what your nation has done; this is the object of
its constitutional laws, and also that of my taking upon me an
employment so glorious; this is my object in my placing myself in the
midst of a people, who are, and ever shall be mine, by my affection
and solicitude. With pride I perceive two of the principal means of
government and confidence offering themselves to me; the _honour_ and
the _virtue_ of the inhabitants.
“Yes, gentleman, these shall be real supporters of the throne; I wish
for no other guides. For my part, _I know no distinctions of religion
or party; distinctions can only arise from merit and services_. My
design is only to remedy the evils which the country has suffered. The
duration of these evils, and the difficulty of remedying them, will
only increase and realize my glory.
“To effect these objects, I have occasion for the entire confidence of
the nation, their complete devotion, and all the talents of the
distinguished men whom it contains, but particularly of you,
gentlemen, whose zeal, talents, and patriotism, are well known.
“I am at this moment appealing to the good and faithful Hollanders,
before the deputies of the provinces and principal cities of the
kingdom. I see them around me with pleasure. Let them bear to their
fellow-citizens the assurance of my solicitude and affection: let them
carry the same testimony of these sentiments to _Amsterdam_; that
city, which is the honour of commerce, and of the country: that city,
which I wish to _call my good and faithful capital_, though the Hague
will always remain the residence of the sovereign. Let them also carry
the same assurances to their fellow-citizens, and the deputies of that
neighbouring city, the prosperity of which I hope very soon to renew,
and whose inhabitants I distinguish.
“It is by these sentiments, gentlemen; it is by the union of all
orders of people in the state, and by that of my subjects among
themselves; it is by the devotion of each individual to his duties,
the only basis of real honour assigned to men; but principally by the
unanimity which has hitherto preserved these provinces from all
dangers and calamities, and which has ever been their shield, that I
expect the tranquillity, safety, and glory of the nation, and the
happiness of my life.”
The king has given general satisfaction by the choice he has made of the
persons he has nominated to fill the public offices; and if the wishes
of one who trespassed a little irregularly upon their shores can avail,
the brave, frugal, and indefatigable Hollanders will derive happiness,
and, when peace is restored to Europe, prosperity under their new
government.
The revenue attached to the stadtholderate was nominally 18,000_l._ per
annum; but by the great patronage and influence belonging to it, no
doubt it must have been considerably augmented, as also by the revenues
arising from other hereditary territories of the stadtholders; but after
all, the income of the stadtholderate was scarcely sufficient to support
the dignity of the situation, powerful and important as it at last
became. The king, in addition to his revenue, has an enormous private
fortune: the savings which he has effected in the state reconcile the
Dutch to this liberal, but perhaps not excessive allowance made for the
support of his dignity.
How the Hague could be called a village, in all its meridian splendor,
is a matter of surprise: it derived its name from s’Cravenhage, or the
Count’s Wood, on account of a wood which formerly grew here, and which
formed, some centuries since, a part of the domains of the Counts of
Holland. The following anecdote will show the simplicity which reigned
in this great and beautiful city in former times. When Louisa de Coligni
was coming to be married to Prince William at the Hague, the Dutch sent
an open post-waggon to meet her, and she entered the city seated on a
plank: towards the latter end of Prince Maurice’s days, and during
Frederic-Henry’s lifetime, the Hague became a very agreeable place, and
the resort of people of the first distinction.
In my rambles round this city, I was much impressed with the elegance
and spaciousness of the buildings; every object seemed to have partaken
of the spirit and magnificence of a court. But there was a solemnity in
the splendor. It reminded one of looking into a magnificent ball-room
after the greater part of the company had departed, and the lustres were
dying away. If the Orange family had been entitled to sympathy, the
scene would have led me to feel and think for them. Its noble buildings,
its spacious streets, gracefully built, shaded with trees, and divided
by canals, the variety of surrounding scenery, its proximity to the sea,
its elevated situation, and the purity of its air, render the Hague the
most charming town in Holland. The first place I visited was the palace
of the last of the stadtholders. It is a vast pile of houses, many of
them somewhat ancient, surrounded by a canal, without which and a pipe,
paradise itself would have no charms for a Dutchman: over the canal are
several draw-bridges; and the whole has a very pleasing effect seen from
the spot where I took the view of it. On one side of a quadrangle is
part of a new palace, built by the late stadtholder, and which, had it
been finished, would have been handsome and princely; but the troubles
in Holland have prevented its completion.
In part of this building there is a noble gothic hall, much resembling
Westminster-Hall, and very large; on each side little shops were
arranged, similar to those in Exeter ‘Change: it is converting into a
chapel for the king. There were here formerly the prince’s cabinet of
natural history and museum of rarities, consisting of a tolerable
collection of shells, petrifactions, precious stones, fossils, minerals,
and birds. This collection has been removed to Paris, although, from all
I could learn, scarcely worthy of so much trouble: it, however,
furnished the first elements of knowledge to Camper, one of the most
profound geniuses which the United Provinces ever produced, and also
Professor Pallas, who has been called the Pliny of Russia. The French
offered to re-sell this cabinet to the Dutch government, who declined
becoming the purchasers; a tolerable proof of its inferiority. The
prince’s cabinet of pictures was very select and valuable, and was
enriched by the productions of Titian, Holbein, Rembrandt, Vandyke,
Gerard Dow, Metzio, Polemburgh, and other illustrious artists. On the
confiscation of the property of the exiled Stadtholder, the Dutch
government, for the purpose of promoting the polite arts, formed this
collection of pictures, esteemed one of the most valuable in Europe,
into a national gallery, set apart an annual sum for the augmentation of
it, and deposited it in a fine suite of apartments in the House in the
Wood, where a director of ability, and assistants, were appointed to
superintend it: but the French soon afterwards transferred the best of
them to that magnificent depot of the fruits of conquest, the Louvre at
Paris. The first person sent by Napoleon to select for his gallery was
unequal to his office, and left some excellent works behind him, which,
upon “a second shaking of the tree” by another and more able inspector,
were collected, and sent off to that _colossal collector_ of works of
art. Amongst several landscapes by Vernet was the finest he ever
painted, the subject, the waterfall of Tivoli. It is a curious
circumstance that there is not one fine private collection at the Hague.
I was much delighted with the Voorhout, considered the principal street,
in which are many elegant and classical buildings, forming complete
contrasts to the leaning, mercantile structures of Rotterdam. In this
street the most elegant houses are those which formerly belonged to the
Prince Wielburgh, who married the last Prince of Orange’s sister, and to
the French ambassador, formerly occupied by the British minister: but
the most beautiful part of the Hague is the Vyverburg; it is a vast
oblong square, adorned with a noble walk or mall, strowed with broken
shells, and shaded by avenues of trees on one side, and on the other by
the palace, and a large basin of water called the Vyver, almost a
quarter of a mile in length, variegated by an island of poplars in its
centre. This mall is the place of fashionable resort, and, on the
evening of the day I saw it, was adorned with several groups of lovely
women attired in the French fashion, which generally prevails amongst
the genteel families in Holland. Besides these there are many other very
noble ones, and all remarkably clean, but the canals are almost all of
them green and stagnant, and at this season emitted an unpleasant
effluvia. Here, as in many cities in France, the armorial ensigns of
distinguished families, which used to dignify the front of their
dwellings, have been cut away, and many a shield remains despoiled of
its quarterings. Some of them, since the new order of things has
occurred, have been restored. In a square planted on all sides with
trees the parade is held.
As Lady Wortley Montagu, in her accustomed sprightliness of style, has
mentioned with some appearance of disgust, the white fishy faces of the
Dutch women, I beg to observe, that at the Hague I saw several very
pretty females: in general they possessed transparent delicacy of
countenance, but as generally wanted expression. An English gentleman
who had just returned from Italy, where he had been accustomed for
several years to the warm voluptuous brunettes of that beautiful
country, was uncommonly delighted with the fair faces of the Dutch
ladies; but female beauty does not begin to expand itself till after the
imprisonment and regimen of the nursery are past. Pretty and healthy
children are rarely to be seen in Holland: in general they look pale and
squalid, owing to an abominable system followed in rearing them; they
are accustomed for the first two or three months to respire the
atmosphere of a room, the windows of which are never opened to receive
the freshness of the morning air; to wash them with refreshing cold
water would be considered as certain infanticide; the miserable infant
is swathed round with flannel rollers, until it becomes as motionless as
a mummy; and over these ligatures there is always a vast flannel wrapper
folded three or four times round the body, and fastened at the bottom of
its feet: afterwards, for many months it is loaded with woollen
garments, and when at length it is permitted to try for what purpose
legs were originally constructed, it is cased in an additional wrapping
of flannel, to prevent the dreaded consequences of freely inhaling the
salubrious air.
As it was summer, I can only speak from information of an equally vile
and destructive custom, which obtains in the winter, of suffering the
children to sit over the chauffepies or stoves, which frequently
supplants the ruddy tints of health by a white parboiled appearance. I
saw several of these chauffepies, from which the little pots that in
cold weather contain the burning turf, had been withdrawn, used by the
ladies as footstools. Whilst the men warm themselves with the smoke of
tobacco from above, the ladies, to recompense themselves for not using
that indulgence, take care to fumigate themselves below, by placing, in
the proper season, these ignited stoves under their petticoats, and
resemble the glow-worm, which carries his fire in his tail: the cats and
kittens, from the genial warmth of the climate, are glad to take shelter
in this warm mysterious sanctuary. The ladies and the lower classes of
females are always remarkably neat about the feet; the petticoats of the
latter are in general very short, display a well-proportioned leg, clean
blue stockings, and a slipper without any heel-piece, or sabot.
In my way to the palace in the Wood, near this square, I passed by a
vast triumphal arch made of wood, painted to imitate stone, and adorned
with a number of complimentary inscriptions in Latin, in honour of the
king and queen, who passed through it on the 23d of June last, when they
made their public entry; and in a vast field adjoining to the wood was a
lofty temporary obelisk of the same materials, which formed one of the
principal objects of a magnificent fête recently given by the French
commander in chief in honour of their majesties, which was conducted in
the highest style of Parisian taste. The day when I visited the wood was
remarkably fine; this spot, so dear to the Dutch, is nearly two English
miles long, about three-quarters of a mile broad, and contains a fine
display of magnificent oaks growing in native luxuriance. Antony
Waterloo made the greatest part of his studies from this spot and its
environs. The ground upon which it grows, and the country about it,
undulate a little, a circumstance of agreeable novelty, and the whole is
a truly delightful walk, more romantic and umbrageous than our mall of
St. James’s, and surpassed only by the garden of the Thuilleries. This
wood has been held sacred with more than pagan piety. War and national
want, that seldom spare in their progress, committed no violations here.
Although the favourite place of royal recreation, yet, in the fury of
the revolution, not a leaf _trembled but in the wind_. Philip II. in the
great war with Spain, issued his mandate for preserving it: hostile
armies have marched through it without offering it a wound, and the axe
of the woodman has never resounded in it. Even children are taught or
whipt into veneration for it, so that their mischievous hands never
strip it of a bough. Once, however, it is recorded, that at a period of
great state necessity, in 1576, their high mightinesses sat in judgment
upon its noble growth, and doomed it to fall: the moment their decree
was known, the citizens flew to the meeting, remonstrated with a degree
of feeling which did honour to their taste; and upon learning that the
object of its doom was to raise a certain sum to assist in replenishing
the nearly exhausted coffers of the republic, they immediately entered
into a contribution, and presented the amount to the “high and mighty
masters” of the sacred grove.
It has been asserted by some travellers, that the Dutch treasure this
spot more from national pride than feeling, and that they are more
disposed to preserve than to enjoy it. To this remark I have only to
offer, that I saw a considerable number of equestrian and pedestrian
groups, who appeared to relish its shaded roads, and sequestered walks
with great delight. The royal residence is to the right at the end of
the wood. Upon my asking a Dutchman which path led to the “house in the
wood,” the only appellation by which, in the time of the Stadtholder, it
was known, he sharply replied, “I presume you mean the _palace_ in the
wood.” This building is merely fit for the residence of a country
gentleman, and has nothing princely about it, except the centry boxes at
the foot of the flight of stairs ascending to the grand entrance: two
tall and not very perpendicular poles, from the tops of which is
stretched a cord, suspending in the centre a large lamp, stand on each
side of the house in front of the palace; on the left are the
coach-houses and stablings, which are perfectly plain, and are just
separated from the court road by a small stunted plantation: there was a
very handsome carriage of the king’s in the coach-house, without arms or
cyphers, of a pale blue colour, which, with silver lace, is the colour
of the new royal livery. The carriage had every appearance of having
been built in England. Excepting this, I never before saw a carriage,
unless appropriated for state occasions, belonging to any crowned head
on the continent, that an Englishman of taste and opulence would be
satisfied with. Even the carriages of Napoleon, built in a city so
celebrated for its taste in design, and beauty of workmanship, as Paris,
are clumsy and unpleasant to the eye. Although it was Sunday, the sound
of workmen, actively engaged in modernizing the palace after the
Parisian taste, issued from almost every window. Some Dutchmen who were
contemplating the front of the house, shook their heads at this
encroachment of the sabbath. In consequence of the internal arrangement
not being finished, strangers were not admitted. The walks on the
outside of the gardens are formal and insipid; the gardens themselves
are handsomely disposed, and kept in great order, and the whole of the
premises is insulated by stagnant canals crossed with draw-bridges.
In this palace, amongst many other precious works of art, was the
celebrated picture of King William the Third, who appointed the famous
Godfrey Scalken, when he was in London, to paint his portrait by
candlelight: the painter placed a taper in the hands of his majesty, to
hold it in a situation most favourable to the designs of the artist,
during which the tallow melted and dropped on the fingers of the
monarch, who endured it with great composure, for fear of embarrassing
the painter, who very tranquilly continued his work, without offering to
pause for a minute: it is not much to the credit of the prince of the
country to record, that this blunt enthusiasm for his art lost poor
Scalken the favour of the court, and of persons of fashion, and he
retired to the Hague, where he had a prodigious demand for his small
paintings.
The furniture of this, which, as well as of the other palaces, was
superb, but old fashioned, was sold by the French, upon the pretence
that their arms were directed against the Prince of Orange personally.
In this palace the Stadtholder and his family used to indulge his
subjects in that ridiculous custom of eating before them on certain
days; a custom which was a fit appendage to another, that of keeping
dwarfs and fools about the royal person. How this stupid usage came to
be adopted at first I know not, for one would naturally think that the
situation least calculated to inspire awe and veneration, those great
supports of royalty, amongst subjects towards their rulers, would be
that in which a mere animal appetite is gratified. In England such
splendid folly has been long discontinued.
The plain manner in which the Prince of Orange and his family resided at
this palace, is thus described by the late ingenious Mr. Ireland. “The
reception we met with as strangers, was highly flattering. It was the
character of Englishmen that was our passport. Expressing our wish to
see the prince, the court being then full, we were addressed by a
gentleman (whom we afterwards found to be Lord Athlone) through whose
politeness we gained admission, and were with great affability noticed
by the prince. He is short in stature, with much elegance and
familiarity in his manner, not unlike our royal family. The princess and
her daughter, who is about eighteen, appeared in the room: their dresses
were very plain, and they had no other mark of superiority than a
train-bearer. So little ceremony is observed in the exterior of the
house, that just without the door of the apartment, where the prince was
giving audience (which was open), a woman was on her knees scrubbing the
staircase.”
Upon my return to my hotel at one o’clock, the dinner hour, I found a
very agreeable party, composed of foreigners from different countries,
and an excellent _table d’hote_: over the chimney-piece was a good
equestrian portrait of the famous Duke of Cumberland, who lodged at this
house occasionally during the campaigns of 1747. After dinner, in
company with a very amiable gentleman-like Englishman, whom I met at the
_table d’hote_, I set off in one of the carriages, many of which are
always ready to convey passengers, for about the value of six-pence
English, for Scheveling, a village which every traveller should visit,
on account of the beauty of the avenue leading to it, which is nearly
two miles, perfectly straight, and thickly planted with beech, limes,
and oaks; at the end of which superb vista the church of Scheveling
appears. On the sandy ground on each side of this avenue are several
birch thickets, and it abounds with the aiera canescens, hippophae
rhamnoides, a singular dwarf variety of ligustrum vulgare (Privet), the
true arundo epigejos of Linnæus (that is, calamagrostis), and a number
of heath plants, mixed with others usually found in marshes. Scarcely is
there so small a spot, where Flora presents such opposite variety, and
which the fluctuating moisture of the soil can alone account for. Among
the rarer species are convallaria multiflora, and polygonatum, with
gentiana cruciata, which is not a native of England.
The Dutch value this beautiful avenue as much as they do their Wood, and
great care is taken to preserve it from violation. At the entrance, in a
most romantic spot, is the turnpike-gate, where all passengers, except
the fishermen of Scheveling, pay a fraction of a farthing for permission
to enter; and here are stuck up orders, threatening with punishment
those who may attempt to injure in the smallest degree this consecrated
forest. At short intervals, cautionary inscriptions are placed in
conspicuous situations, to warn mischievous “apple munching urchins”
from cutting the smallest twig.
Constantine Huygens, brother of the celebrated mathematician and
mechanist of that name, had the honor of designing this avenue, in which
there are many stately trees, upwards of a century and a half old: a
terrible storm which took place a few years since, laid about fifty of
these noble objects low, to the great grief and consternation of the
country. Here, and perhaps here only, throughout Holland, the traveller
may be gratified by the sounds of a running brook. The foot paths on
each side were crowded with pedestrians of both sexes, in their holiday
clothes; and the slanting rays of a brilliant sun flashing through
openings in the branches of the limes, beech trees, and oaks, upon a
crowd of merry faces, jolting in the most whimsical carts and waggons,
to their favourite spot of carousal, had a very pleasing and picturesque
effect.
The village is very neat and pretty; at the end of the vista, large
sand-hills rising near the base of the church, preclude the sight of the
ocean, which, when they are surmounted, opens upon the view with
uncommon majesty. The beach, which we saw in high perfection on account
of its being low water, is very firm to the tread, and forms a beautiful
walk of nearly six miles in extent. The ocean was like a mirror, and
fishing vessels were reclining on the sand in the most picturesque
forms, just surrounded with water; their owners, with their wives and
children, were parading up and down in their sabbath suits, and the
whole sand for a mile was a fine marine mall, covered with groupes who
appeared as capable of appreciating the beauty of the scene, as the
worshippers of the Steyne at Brighton, or of the Parade at Bath. The
Dutch are said to have an antipathy to sea-air; but this I found not to
be generally true: certain it is, that they are not fond of sea-bathing,
otherwise this beach would be crowded with bathing, and the country
above it with lodging-houses.
Water is no novelty to a Dutchman, and he prefers, and there seems some
sense in his preference, his neat, commodious country-house, and his
gardens, and all the comforts of life about him, to the pleasure of
bathing and contemplating a waste of waters from the windows of a
cheerless inn or lodging-house. An English frigate, which lay off at a
considerable distance, excited a good deal of attention, and added to
the beauty of the scene. Upon quitting the beach we entered an inn which
overlooked the sand and was a place of great resort, every room of which
was crowded and filled with tobacco smoke. The state of Mr. Fox’s health
formed the leading feature of the political discourse. “Herr Fock,” as
he was called, was frequently repeated at every table. Opposite to where
we sat a young Dutch couple were making violent love; they kissed,
devoured dry salted fish, and drank punch with an enthusiasm, which
presented to our imagination the warmest association of Cupid and the
jolly god. John Van Goyen, who died in 1656, and was so justly
celebrated for the transparency of his colouring of water, made this
spot the frequent subject of his charming pencil. Dutch tradition dwells
with delight upon a cock and a bull story respecting the celebrated
flying chariot which used to sail upon those lands, and on the
surrounding country. It was said to have been made by Stevinus, for
Prince Maurice: it is thus described and commented upon in a curious old
description of Holland: “The form of it was simple and plain: it
resembled a boat moved upon four wheels of an equal bigness, had two
sails, was steered by a rudder placed between the two hindmost wheels,
and was stopt either by letting down the sails, or turning it from the
wind. This noble machine has been celebrated by many great authors, as
one of the most ingenious inventions later ages have produced. Bishop
Wilkins, in his Treatise of Mechanical Motions, mentions several great
men who described and admired it. Grotius mentions an elegant figure of
it in copper, done by Geyneus; and Herodius, in one of his large maps of
Asia, gives another sketch of the like chariots used in China.”
Incredible as this story appears, one would be disposed to think, that a
man of Grotius’s celebrity for learning and truth, would scarcely have
eulogized the invention, had he doubted its existence. Upon a level,
hard, straight road, uninterrupted by trees and buildings, such a piece
of ingenuity might perhaps prove successful as a mechanical experiment,
but utterly impossible ever to be made serviceable.
CHAPTER X.
HISTORICAL ANECDOTE OF SCHEVELING ... ANECDOTE OF LORD NELSON ... A
MARINE SCENE ... PASSION OF DUTCH FOR FLOWERS NOT SUBSIDED ...
VENERATION OF DUTCH FOR STORKS ... CAUSES OF IT ... QUAILS AND SWANS ...
HUMOROUS BLUNDER OF A DUTCH WAITER ... UNIVERSAL INDUSTRY ... DOGS AND
GOATS ... THE THEATRE ... THEATRICAL ECONOMY ... PRODIGAL
PROCREATION ... PRESENT STATE OF THE HAGUE ... STATE OF LITERATURE
THERE ... BRIEF ANECDOTE OF DANIEL MYTENS ... OF JOHN HANNEMAN ... OF
JOHN LE DUC, OR THE BRAVE.
The coast of Scheveling is considered very dangerous in rough weather:
the spires of the church here, and those of Gravesande and Monster,
three leagues to the south, serve for landmarks; yet, owing to the coast
of the province of Holland lying very low and flat, they are scarcely
discernible three or four leagues at sea: for want of sand-banks to
break the force of the sea, the coast is much exposed, and the fishermen
are obliged, after their return, to haul their vessels on rollers up the
beach beyond the water’s reach: this labour must be very great, for many
of them are from twenty to thirty-five tons burthen.
This place has been at different periods subject to dreadful irruptions
of the sea, particularly in the year 1574, when it broke in, and carried
away 121 houses: Scheveling has its portion of historic celebrity. In
1650, the expatriated Charles II. after a long exile, embarked from this
place for Scotland, to which he was invited, with a promise of
assistance in recovering the rest of his dominions. Clarendon, in his
History, vol. iii. p. 287, says, the king went from the Hague to
Scheveling, where “the States of Holland, at infinite hazard to
themselves from Cromwell and England, suffered their ship to transport
him. They gave all countenance to the Scotch merchants and factors who
lived in their dominions, and some credit, that they might send arms and
ammunition, and whatsoever else was necessary for the king’s service,
into that kingdom.” And this the States did “when the king was at his
lowest ebb, and was heartily weary of being in a place (Paris) where he
was very ill-treated, and lived very uncomfortably, and from whence he
foresaw he should soon be driven.” Having experienced the most romantic
vicissitudes after his escape from Worcester, this monarch, in the
disguise of a sailor, escaped to Dieppe in Normandy, in 1651; and he
again, in 1660, embarked at Scheveling on board of his own fleet, which
was waiting to receive him. The grateful monarch declared war against
his Dutch friends in 1672, and entered into a private league with the
French king to lay waste their provinces with fire and sword. From this
beach too the Stadtholder, his son the hereditary prince, and two or
three Dutch noblemen attached to the prostrate fortunes of the house of
Orange, embarked when they fled to England: the vessel they sailed in
was a small fishing cutter, navigated by five men; the princesses took
their departure in a similar conveyance the day before.
Another interesting event also is recorded as having occurred off this
coast, by Bishop Burnet, who in the History of his Own Times thus
relates this marvellous circumstance: “There was one extraordinary thing
happened near the Hague this summer (1672); I had it from many
eye-witnesses, and no doubt was made of the truth of it by any at the
Hague. Soon after the English fleet had refitted themselves, they
appeared in sight of Scheveling, making up to the shore. The tide
turned, but they reckoned that with the next flood they could certainly
land the forces that were on board, where they were like to meet with no
resistance. The States sent to the prince for some regiments to hinder
the descent. He could not spare many men, having the French near him; so
between the two, the country was given up for lost unless De Ruyter
should quickly come up. The flood returned, which the people thought was
to end in their ruin; but to all their amazement, after it had flowed
two or three hours, an ebb of many hours succeeded, which carried the
fleet again to sea; and before that was spent, De Ruyter came in view.
This they reckoned a miracle wrought for their preservation.” It is also
a curious circumstance that the reverse of this extraordinary effort of
nature enabled the immortal Nelson to lay his fleet so as to bear upon
the batteries by which the capital of Denmark was protected. The tide
had never been known, in the memory of the oldest inhabitant of
Copenhagen, to have risen so high as on the day when the battle first
commenced, and greatly contributed to his success in persuading the
gallant Danes that they were beaten.
De Ruyter, the Nelson of the Dutch, was distinguished for the boldness
of his designs and the celerity of his execution. In 1653, with Van
Tromp, he commanded the Dutch fleet against this country with the
greatest honour to his flag. The Moors presented him with a Barbary
horse, magnificently caparisoned, for his gallantly reaching his
destined port in the Salee roads, and for capturing five powerful
Algerine corsairs. The celebrated vice-admiral d’Estrés said of him in a
letter to Colbert, on account of his noble conduct in those hard-fought
engagements between the English, Dutch, and French fleets off the Texel,
“I should be very willing to purchase with my life the glory which De
Ruyter has acquired in these desperate actions.”
On our return we met groups of little girls, whose short petticoats, and
protuberances on all sides, looked very grotesque. Many of the Dutch
girls of the lower order wear twenty or thirty yards of flannel tied
round their hips. In the village is a pauper house for the poor and
aged, founded in 1614. On a week day, the road from Scheveling is more
characteristically gay, being covered with fishwomen running and singing
to the Hague, under loads of soles, cod, turbot, &c. to which place I
returned, highly delighted with my excursion. In the neighbourhood of
that city are several fine flower-gardens. The passion of the Dutch for
flowers is well known. M. Dutens, in his very entertaining and
interesting Memoirs of a Traveller in Retirement, says, that at the
kermis or fair held at the Hague in the month of May, “I was witness to
a circumstance I could not otherwise have believed, respecting the price
of flowers in Holland; I saw four hundred and seventy-five guineas
offered and refused for a hyacinth. It was to be sure the most charming
flower that ever was seen: it belonged to a florist at Haarlem, and
_another florist offered this price for it_. The reason which the owner
gave me for refusing the offer was, that his hyacinth was known to all
the amateurs of Europe, and that he sold the bulbs every year for more
than the interest of five hundred guineas. These bulbs produced the same
sort of flower in all its beauty.” This singular passion has not
subsided: at Haarlem fine narcissuses and jonquils sell for an immense
price, and parties are made every summer to visit the roses, which grow
in great perfection at Noordwyk.
Upon our return to the Hague, we visited a palace of the _ci-devant_
hereditary Prince of Orange; it forms three sides of an oblong square
towards the street; it was converting into a public office; behind are
some pretty gardens, one of which is less formal than Dutch gardens in
general. I concluded the day by walking round a great part of the town,
the whole of which is surrounded with avenues of trees, similiar to, but
not so fine as the boulevards of Rouen. In the fish-market, the next
day, I saw several storks, who were parading about in perfect security,
of which they seemed to be thoroughly satisfied, and were every now and
then regaled by the offal of the fish. The prejudices of the people have
consecrated these birds, on account of their being considered as the
_gardes du corps_ of republican liberty. The Greeks and Romans regarded
them with peculiar veneration; and in Thessaly the destroyer of one was
punished with exile. No animal but this discovers any token of fondness
for the authors of its existence after it has attained strength and
discrimination sufficient to provide for itself. The stork is well known
to evince an exemplary regard for its aged parents, whom it defends from
attack, and furnishes with food; and well did it deserve the Roman
appellation of “pia avis.” The Dutch frequently erect frames of wood
upon the tops of their houses to encourage these their favourite birds
to build their nests there. Perhaps another reason why these birds are
so much cherished is that which renders them popular in Germany, namely,
on account of their quick perception of fire, and the noise they make
when it takes place. If the Dutch really believed that the storks could
exist only in a pure republic, they must for some time past have
renounced their credulity, for these birds have survived the visits of
the French, and seem to have no objection to be enrolled amongst the
subjects of the new King. It is said that they assemble at certain
periods and hold consultations. Certain it is that the crows in England
frequently meet with all the appearance of a deliberative body. A
gentleman of distinguished talents and veracity assured me, that he once
observed a vast body of crows assembled near his country-house, that
after making a great deal of noise, one of them moved slowly into the
middle, soon after which the rest fell upon him and pecked him to death.
The quails are another species of privileged birds in Holland,
particularly in Guelderland, where they are preserved with superstitious
care in cages suspended on the outsides of houses. The swan too is much
venerated here, and the raven is greatly cherished at Nimeguen.
The traveller will be well remunerated for his trouble in ascending to
the top of the tower of St. Jacques, the only high devotional building
in the Hague, except the new church: to obtain permission to do so, it
is necessary to apply to the principal magistrate of the police, the
reason for which precaution I could not learn. The view from this
elevation is exquisitely beautiful; below, on one side lay expanded the
square, the venerable pile of the town palace, its superb basin, the
noble streets leading towards the wood, and the spires of distant
villages fading in midst of the horizon; whilst, on the other side,
stretched the avenues of Scheveling, terminated by the blue and
sparkling ocean.
A whimsical little penalty followed this gratification; at the hotel
where I resided, a Dutch waiter attended me, who imposed upon his master
to believe that he spoke English very fluently, in consequence of which
he was selected to wait upon all English and American visitors: the
English language of this personage was a ridiculous collection of the
heads, legs, wings, and tails of English words, mingled together with
all the confusion of a giblet-pye. Upon my expressing to this flippant
gentleman my wish to ascend the _tower_ of the church, he said,
interrupting me, “Oh, de _roof_, de _roof_.” I acquiesced, and away he
flew; about an hour afterwards he returned in high perspiration with a
billet, which instead of proving to be an order to view the town and
country from the _roof_ of the tower, was an acknowledgment of money for
the _ruif_ of the treckschuyt for Leyden the day following, viz. the
whole of the cabin which he had engaged and paid the amount of for me.
In Holland, that bee-hive of industry, every available source of service
is made use of, so that dogs, and even goats, are not suffered to pick
the bone, or eat the bread of idleness. Most of the little wares and
merchandizes, and particularly fish, are drawn by the former, who are
properly harnessed for the occasion to little carts, whilst the latter
are yoked to infantine waggons and curricles, to air and exercise little
children in. It is really astonishing to see what weight these animals
will draw after them; nothing can exceed their docility, and for their
labour, the Hollander, who is remarkable for his humanity to the dumb
creation, feeds them well, and lodges them in his house very
comfortably. Owing to the great care paid to their dogs, the canine
madness seldom appears amongst them. On Sundays they are permitted to
refresh and enjoy themselves, and never show any disposition to escape
from their lot of industry. In their farms, cows and oxen are always
used in draft, and display every appearance of receiving the kindest
treatment from their masters.
The theatre at the Hague is tastefully arranged, and supplied with a
tolerable set of French comedians. The centre box is appropriated for
the royal family, and is elegantly fitted up. Before the conversion of
the republic into a kingdom, when the government resided in the hands of
the Batavian directory, the ornaments of the box which was allotted to
them, were very unworthy of the rank of the personages for whose
accommodation it was reserved: a piece of paper, on which was written,
“Le loge du directoire Batave,” and pasted on the box door, alone
announced the dignity of its destination. The usual national spirit of
economy used to display itself in the Dutch theatre, where, to prevent a
useless consumption of tallow, whenever the musicians quitted the
orchestra, they were bound by contract to extinguish the lights by which
they read their music. In many tradesmen’s houses at this day in
Holland, winter courtships are carried on in the dark, the union of warm
love and rigid economy being considered a very laudable conjunction.
If we are to give credit to the ridiculous story which is still believed
at a village called Loosduynen, about three miles from the Hague, the
ladies are far from being economical in breeding. A Dutch author has
gone so far as to declare, that he had seen the three hundred and
sixty-five children of the Countess of Henesberg, and with pleasant
minuteness describes them to be of the size of shrimps, and Erasmus
believed the story. Those who have the hardihood to differ from such
authorities, explain away the miracle by stating, that on the _third_
day of _January_, the beggar wished the countess, who expected to lie in
every hour, might have as many children as there had been days in the
year, and that she on that day was delivered of _three_ children.
The Hague was once celebrated for its many elegant, and especially for
its literary societies; the latter have declined, whilst those of France
have flourished and improved, amidst the frightful fluctuations of
revolutionary tumult. Erasmus, Grotius, and Boerhaave, have conferred
immortality upon the letters of Holland, as they would upon those of any
nation; but the literary glory of the country seems not to have spread
upon the demise of these illustrious sages. Hooft, Vondel, and
Antonides, are known in Holland, but not out of it; and we have heard
but faintly of Huygens, Graveszande, and Vandoveron in physic; of Voet
in jurisprudence, and Burman and Gronovius in the belles lettres.
It is certain, that if the Dutch poets are to be considered as favoured
by Apollo, a condescension which those who are best acquainted with
their productions much doubt, they have made more successful advances in
the most difficult of poetical composition. I have heard of three epic
writers; Antonides, before mentioned, who wrote an epic poem on the
river Y, on which the city of Amsterdam is erected; Rotzans, and the
author of Abraham de Aartsvader, or the history of Abraham the
Patriarch. The Dutch mention with great exultation the name of De Cotts,
who, like our Prior, united the characters of poet and statesman; his
sensibility is said to have been very acute, his fancy very luxuriant,
and his powers of versification very mellifluous. So attractive were the
Muses, that when he held the splendid office of lord keeper of the seals
in Holland and West Friesland, and stadtholder of the fiefs, he retired
to his native shades to tune his oaten reed, which entitled him amongst
his countrymen to the appellation of the Dutch Ovid: at the earnest
solicitation of their high mightinesses, he quitted his lyre and beloved
retreat, and appeared at the court of Cromwell in the character of
ambassador of the States to England, where he was received with that
politeness and attention which our country never fails to observe
towards strangers of merit and distinction. Having accomplished the
object of his mission, he retired from the bustle of life to his native
country, in the bosom of which he expired, beloved, honoured, and
lamented.
I was not much surprised to find that the splendor of the Hague was
principally confined to its buildings, although it has been so often, in
other times, celebrated for its magnificence and the expense of its
inhabitants: the revolution expelled its hereditary princes, dispersed
its nobles, and visited every description of society with more or less
distress. However, I was informed by those who were enabled to compare,
that it is again rearing its head. Before the revolution, sumptuous
equipages and various other characteristics of polished luxury were
displayed in almost every street; and the foreign ministers vied with
each other in costly splendor: during the operation of that political
hurricane scarce any other carriage was to be seen save a few crazy
fiacres, and every servant was stripped of his livery. At present,
society seems to be returning to many of its original habits, and some
handsome equipages appeared in different parts of the town; yet, upon
the whole, the first impression of its gloom was never effaced.
Upon inquiry after the present state of literature at this place, I
found it was considered at a very low ebb: the press of the Hague was
once justly celebrated, but has of late emitted little more than a few
pamphlets of inconsiderable merit. Before the revolution there were
several capital booksellers’ shops, of which I could only discover two;
the books in their shops, apparently the remains of declining literary
traffic, were neither very numerous nor very valuable. The booksellers
formerly found very ample encouragement in the affluence of the court,
and many petty German princes who selected the Hague for their
residence. It has been asserted that as the Hague contained the seat of
the executive government and of the representative bodies during the
revolution, it suffered much less than any other town in the republic;
but this I was well assured was not the case, because the commercial
towns still derived resources from their commerce and enterprize,
through the medium of neutral bottoms and other circuitous modes of
traffic, notwithstanding the severity of British blockades and the
vigilance of British cruisers.
The Hague has produced several very distinguished painters; amongst
others I must beg to mention Daniel Mytens, who was born in 1636, and
went to study at Rome, and afterwards employed himself in designing
after the antique, in copying the most celebrated paintings of the best
artists, and adding considerably to his improvement by an intimacy which
he formed there with Carlo Maratti and Carlo Loti. The dreadful habits
of dissipation to which Mytens was addicted, deplorably interfered with
his advancement in his profession. His imagination was lively, his
colouring agreeable, his composition good, and he designed with great
facility. After a long residence in Italy, he returned to the Hague,
where he was much admired and cherished by the lovers of the arts: his
eminent qualities were displayed in those works which he painted at
Rome, and upon his return to the Hague, where, not many years after, his
productions became greatly depreciated, from his constant indulgence in
the most intemperate excesses, to which he at length fell a victim in
the year 1688. He acquired much and deserved reputation for the sketch
of a very noble design for a ceiling of the painters’ hall at the Hague:
this work commenced, and left unfinished for some years; at length he
roused himself from his indolence, but it was only to show what ravages
it had made on his fine abilities, for he only injured the work which he
attempted to improve. Another distinguished artist, who has shed lustre
upon the Hague, is John Hanneman, who was born here in 1611; by some he
was said to have been a pupil of Vandyke. By others, and with greater
probability, that of Hubert Ravestein; and in the soft and delicate
tints of his carnations, he is considered to be very little inferior to
Vandyke: many of Hanneman’s copies of that illustrious artist are
mistaken for the originals.
Hanneman continued in England sixteen years, and upon his return to the
Hague became the favourite painter of the Princess of Orange: he was
also employed by the Prince of Nassau, for whom he painted, amongst
others, several historical pictures, which are now highly esteemed. The
third and last artist I shall mention is John le Duc, who was born at
the Hague in 1636, and was a disciple of Paul Potter, so justly
celebrated as a painter of cattle, whose works, however, are often
scarcely distinguishable from those of his pupil. His principal subjects
were the same as those of his master, viz. horses, sheep, goats, cows,
&c. He finished his pictures very highly, and possessed great facility
of pencil and purity of style. He was appointed director of the academy
of painting at the Hague in the year 1671. The desire of distinguishing
himself in arms induced him to exert all his interest to obtain a
company, and such was his gallantry in the field, that he obtained the
epithet of “Brave,” after which, unfortunately for the arts, he neither
painted nor designed.
CHAPTER XI.
VEGETABLE PROBLEMS ... APPROACH TO LEYDEN ... GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF
THAT TOWN ... THE TOWN-HALL ... CELEBRATED PICTURE OF LUCAS VAN
LEYDEN ... ANECDOTE OF THAT PAINTER ... ALSO OF KAREL DE MOOR ...
PICTURE OF THE SIEGE OF LEYDEN ... DESCRIPTION OF THAT HORRIBLE
SIEGE ... GENEROUS AND HEROIC CONDUCT OF THE DUTCH WOMEN ... ALSO OF
PETER ADRIAN ... THE MOUNT ... UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN ... THE STUDENTS ...
ANECDOTES OF BOERHAAVE ... PETER THE GREAT ... GENIUS AND DIFFIDENCE ...
CONFIDENCE IN PROVIDENCE ... MONUMENT OF BOERHAAVE.
After spending some days very pleasantly at the Hague, I proceeded to
the Leyden treckschuyt, which lay at a great distance from the hotel,
where I found, from the blunder of the waiter before detailed, that I
was considered as a personage of considerable consequence, on account of
my having engaged the whole of the ruif to myself. The day was
brilliantly fine, and nothing could be more delightful than my passage
to Leyden: for two miles and a half the left bank of the canal presented
an unbroken succession of handsome country-houses and highly cultivated
grounds, which although laid out like so many vegetable problems,
abounded with a variety of forms, which, as they were clad in luxuriant
green, were very agreeable. Many of these spots were graced by the
acacia and Weymouth pine, to which the soil and climate seemed to be
congenial. On the other side were rich meadows, whose vivid green seemed
to rival that of the emerald, and corn-fields yellow with harvest.
Enchanted with the day and the scenery, I envied not the aquatic pomp of
Cleopatra, although
“The barge she sat in like a burnish’d throne
“Burnt on the water; the poop was beaten gold,
“Purple the sails, and so performed, that
“The winds were love-sick with them.”
The blunder of the waiter added not a little to the delights of my
passage, for I sat a solitary grandee upon the top of the cabin, without
a soul to interrupt the happy frame of my mind formed by the lovely
prospects on every side of me. In this agreeable manner three hours and
a half passed away with feathered fleetness, and at the end of a long
avenue of trees and a line of water, the spires and elevated buildings
of Leyden appeared. We stopped about half way from the Hague at
Leydehendam, a very neat pretty village, the neighbourhood of which
abounds with pleasure houses and gardens. The country as I approached
Leyden appeared to be thickly wooded, and displayed the novel variety of
a gentle undulation of ground. After passing through a beautiful
boulevard, and crossing some drawing bridges, I entered the elegant city
of Leyden through the white gate, and proceeded to a very comfortable
hotel in the principal street, called the Broad street, the length,
spaciousness, and beauty of which entitles it to the highest admiration:
there is no canal in it, and the buildings on each side are very
handsome, many of them splendid mansions. This seat of learning is
considered to be one of the handsomest in Holland, and next in size to
Amsterdam; the entrance to it is through seven stone gates, at each of
which is a draw-bridge: the town is surrounded with a rampart, and a
deep, broad canal, and is adorned by beautiful shady walks. The number
of bridges in this city is astonishing, they are said to exceed one
hundred and forty-five of stone and railed with iron. It has also many
canals, the most beautiful of which is the Rapenburg. It has been
compared by travellers to Oxford, but I cannot see any resemblance,
except in its being devoted to learning, and consequently presenting
many of those features of meditation and consequent tranquillity, which
are to be found in places destined to similiar objects: but in its
fortification, its buildings, streets, and canals, there is
unquestionably no resemblance. The channels or gutters of the Broad
street are covered with boards which open like a trap door, into which
the moment any dirt is lodged, it is removed by persons appointed for
that purpose; and lofty common pumps, with large brass ornaments
constantly scoured and kept bright, are placed in different parts of it,
to supply the inhabitants and to purify the street, of which they are
not a little proud. The fame of Lucas Van Leyden made the stadt-house or
town-hall the object of my first visit; it is a vast gothic building,
presenting a very long irregular front, in a very uncouth style of
architecture, surmounted by a small steeple, which is crowded with
carillons, and stands in the centre of the Broad street. As I ascended
the grand staircase, a painter was giving a finishing touch to some
large stone lions, which by way of blending them with the stone colour
of the rest of the building, he had painted _vividly red_. In one of the
apartments, which was very heavy and gloomy, I beheld the celebrated
production of Lucas Van Leyden, or Hugens, who was born here in 1494,
and died in 1533. This picture is in three divisions, the two external
smaller ones being made like folding doors, to close if necessary over
the middle one. The subject is the last judgment, for which vast sums of
money have been repeatedly offered to the magistrates of the town and
refused. I must confess I felt no more pleasure in contemplating this
picture than what arose from its great antiquity. There are a great
number of figures in it: the females are wholly destitute of beauty, at
the same time there is a freedom in the outline: many of their limbs
appear to be elongated, and every head seems to have been taken from the
same subject, and wholly destitute of expression; however, considering
the early period in which the artist flourished, it is a very curious
and valuable production. This painter was instructed in the principles
of his art by his father, Hugens Jacobs, an artist of some
consideration: it is said that Lucas from his infancy displayed
incessant application, and at the age of nine and twelve years
astonished the artists of his time by his works. After he had learned
the rudiments of his art under his father, he became a pupil of
Cornelius Engelbrecht; at the age of fifteen he painted the history of
St. Hubert, which elevated him to high distinction in his art. On
account of the principles of perspective not being known in his early
time, he proportioned the strength of his colouring to the different
degrees of distance, in which his objects were placed. He painted not
only in oil, but in destemper and on glass. A famous print of this
master’s engraving, the subject a bagpiper, is also mentioned, which
sold for a hundred ducatoons or twenty pounds sterling.
In the justice hall is a celebrated picture of Harel de Moor, who was
born in this town in 1656; the subject, Brutus condemning his sons, the
design, the colouring and finishing of which are very beautiful. De Moor
had great and highly merited honours paid to him by various princes and
distinguished personages, particularly by the emperor of Germany who
directed his ambassador Count Singendoff to engage him to paint the
portraits of Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough on horseback,
with which his imperial patron was so gratified, that he conferred upon
him the honour of knighthood, and nobly rewarded him in a more
substantial manner for his admirable production: he had also the honour
of painting that mighty savage of the North, Peter the Great, Czar of
Muscovy. Under the picture of Brutus are some elegant Latin verses;
there is also a large picture representing the bravery of its citizens,
who are rendered immortal in the page of history for the heroic valour
they displayed during a siege, which in the year 1573, for five months,
visited this place with all the horrors of war, disease, and famine. The
historian can scarcely do adequate justice to these heroes. After the
Spaniards had been compelled to raise the siege of Alkmaar, they
determined upon directing their forces against Leyden, from the trenches
of which they were bravely repulsed by Count Louis of Nassau, brother to
the then Prince of Orange; but having been reinforced, they returned to
the attack; when the Spanish general, Francis Valdey, discovering that
he could not take the place by storm, resolved upon reducing it by
famine, and a scene of horror ensued which baffles the powers of the pen
to describe. The Spanish General, Frederic of Toledo, son of the
execrable Duke of Alva, repulsed a body of English auxiliaries who were
coming to the relief of the besieged, in consequence of which the
blockade was so vigilantly conducted, that the wretched inhabitants
could derive no provisions from without. In this dreadful dilemma, they
drew lots to determine which should fall each day to afford sustenance
to the rest with their bodies; and it is said that the spirit of
patriotism ran so high, that many of them anticipated this desperate
alternative, and voluntarily slew themselves to furnish food to their
brave fellow-citizens and soldiers. An extraordinary female patriot, of
the name of Kenneva, headed the women, led them to the ramparts, where
they assisted the nearly exhausted soldiery in working the cannon, and
displayed that enthusiastic courage which great occasions will generally
find lodged in that bosom which is the seat of every gentle, every
tender feeling, and ought only to heave with the tenderest emotions.
Many of them stabbed themselves, to assist in preserving the survivors,
and expiring exclaimed, “See, my poor valiant friends, your provision
for the rest of the day.” But notwithstanding these terrible sacrifices,
and supplies of human flesh, many thousands of the garrison and burghers
perished. The Spaniards, having been informed of their situation, again
summoned them to surrender, and allowed a truce of an hour for
deliberation, during which a consultation was held, the unanimous
determination of which was contained the following reply: “Tell your
arrogant general, that we shall not want the means of life whilst a left
arm remains upon any of our shoulders, and with our right we shall
continue to fight for our liberties to the last.” At length, broken down
by their frightful situation, and hopeless of relief, after having
exhibited prodigies of valor, and the sublimest acts of patriotism and
resignation, the miserable survivors of this ghastly scene of desolation
assembled round the house of Peter Adrian de Werf, the chief magistrate
of the city, a man of great influence amongst the people, and implored
him to sanction with his fiat the surrender of the place; but this noble
being preferring, like Cato, to perish rather than see his country in
the possession of a tyrant, thus addressed his emaciated brethren: “My
brave comrades! cut this body in pieces; it is better that I should die
_for_ you, than _by_ the enemy: my wounds disable me from further
service. Take courage, let me receive death from your hands, and let my
miserable frame furnish a wretched meal for some of you. Take me, and
may Leyden be victorious, and her glory immortal!” Deeply impressed by
such firmness and eloquence, his auditors turned their haggard
countenances aside, and with the convulsive energy of expiring nature,
rushed again to the rampart, and soon afterwards they were thrown into
an agony of joy by the arrival of two carrier pigeons, to whose feet
were tied stalks of corn and hemp, in which letters were concealed,
announcing that relief was at hand. The Dutch confederates, having no
other mode of relieving the inhabitants of Leyden, broke down the dykes
of the Maese and the Yssel, inundated the Spanish camp, and the
beautiful country which surrounds Leyden, and enabled Louis Brissot,
admiral of Zealand, to send many flat-bottomed boats, well armed, to the
succour of the besieged. This desperate measure compelled the Spanish
general to evacuate his camp, and to retire with such of his army as did
not perish by the waters, into their own country. This siege, which
commenced shortly after Easter, was raised the third of October, on
which day a supply of provisions was brought to the famished
inhabitants, who greedily devoured the food, amidst tears and convulsive
inarticulate exclamations to heaven for their delivery, and many of them
dropped down dead upon too rapidly satisfying their ravenous appetites.
After this signal deliverance, the Prince of Orange, although suffering
under severe illness, ordered himself to be carried in a litter to
Leyden, to condole with and express his admiration of its heroic
inhabitants: the interview, as well as many scenes which occurred during
the siege, must have afforded a fine subject for the pencil. He gave
them their option of being exempted for a certain period from taxes, or
of having an university founded in their town; when, with noble and
disinterested wisdom, they gave the preference to the latter. Never did
any seat of learning originate from a nobler cause: it may be said to
have been endowed by the blood of the brave. The clergy of Leyden, in a
public oration, still celebrate the anniversary of the glorious third of
October, in which the story of the siege, and the deliverance of the
town are feelingly recapitulated. I was surprised to find that such a
subject had not more frequently engaged the pencil of the many divine
artists which Holland has produced: the picture which led me to mention
the above story is, in my humble opinion, unworthy of the subject; the
figures are badly grouped, and express no one emotion which can affect
the mind. After quitting the stadt-house, the evening being very fine, I
ascended a large mount, which may be considered as a great curiosity in
Holland, in the centre of the town, where there is a fine view of it:
this mount is surrounded by a high wall, and is said to be the scite of
a castle built by Hengist, king of the West Saxons, on his conquest in
England, or, what is more likely, by one of the antient counts of
Holland. The town presented a very beautiful appearance from this spot,
but it is not elevated enough to enable the visitor to see the
surrounding country: the fruit-trees in the gardens which encompassed
the wall were loaded with very fine fruit, particularly pears, plumbs,
and apples. This place is much resorted to, on Sundays and holidays, by
the citizens and their families, to smoke and enjoy the beauty of the
prospect, and the refreshing sweetness of the air.
The next morning I visited the university of Leyden, which stands by the
Rapenburg canal: it is the most venerable seminary in Holland; and, by
the great number of learned and famous men which it has produced, does
honour to the luster of its origin. There is scarcely a science which
has not been improved and extended in this hallowed seat of learning;
which has to boast amongst its members the immortal name of the younger
Scaliger, who bequeathed to it his valuable Hebrew library; of the two
Hensius, father and son; the former of whom was invited by Pope Urban
the eighth to Venice, “to rescue,” as he expressed it, “that city from
barbarism;” and both of whom shone like stars of the first magnitude in
every branch of graceful literature; of Salmasius, the profound and able
competitor of our immortal Milton; of Boerhaave, whose consummate
knowledge of physic, attracted pupils from the most distant parts of
Europe; and of many other illustrious persons, who have shed honour and
distinction upon their country and the times in which they flourished.
The students board in town at different lodging-houses, wherever their
inclinations or resources may dispose them; they wear no regular habit;
when the professors appear in public, they wear a large black silk gown,
bordered with velvet, on which the word ‘Leyden’ is worked in silver. My
next visit was to the botanic garden, rendered immortal by the
illustrious Boerhaave, as that of Upsal, in Sweden, has been by Linnæus.
Haller says, in speaking of Boerhaave in the Leyden Botanical Garden,
“_sæpe vidimus ante Auroram optimum senen ligneiscalceis per hortum
repentem, ut comminus et cultum herbarum perspiceret, et flores
fructusque specularetur_.” We have often seen the good old man before
the morning dawn, crawling about the garden in the wooden slippers, that
he might immediately superintend the culture of plants, and speculate on
their flowers and fruits. This great man was born at Woerhout, near
Leyden, in 1668; at the age of fifteen he found himself without parents,
protection, advice, or fortune: he had then profoundly studied theology,
intending to devote himself to a clerical life; but the science of
nature presented all her attractions, and for some time wholly absorbed
his contemplation. In 1693 he was created doctor of physic, which he
then regularly practised. At this time he could scarcely exist by his
labours, and was compelled to teach the mathematics to procure the bare
necessaries of life, although he left at his demise the vast fortune of
two hundred thousand pounds. At length his genius dissolved the darkness
in which he was enveloped, many powerful friends gathered round him, and
procured for him the valuable appointments of professor of medicine in
the university of Leyden, of chemistry, and of botany. The Academy of
Sciences at Paris and the Royal Society at London, to each of which he
imparted his discoveries in chemistry, invited him to become one of
their members. Whilst Boerhaave presided in the chair, in chemistry,
medicine, and botany, the city of Leyden was considered the school of
Europe in these sciences. In 1715, when Peter the Great went to Holland
to study maritime affairs, he regularly attended the lectures of
Boerhaave. So widely diffused was his fame, that a mandarine in China
wrote to him a letter thus superscribed; “_To the illustrious Boerhaave,
physician in Europe_,” and it was regularly received. It was the daily
practice of this eminent physician, through his whole life, as soon as
he rose in the morning, which was generally very early, to retire for an
hour to private prayer, and meditation on some part of the Scriptures.
He often told his friends, when they asked him how it was possible to go
through so much fatigue, that it was _this_ which gave him spirit and
vigour in the business of the day. This he therefore recommended as _the
best rule_ he could give; for nothing, he said, could tend more to the
health of the body than the tranquillity of the mind, and that he knew
nothing which could support himself and his fellow-creatures, amidst the
various distresses of human life but a well-grounded confidence in the
Supreme Being, upon the principles of christianity: the truth of his
doctrine he finely illustrated in his severe illness in 1722, when the
course of his lectures and his practice were long interrupted. Of his
sagacity and wonderful penetration in the discovery and description of
such distempers as betray themselves by no symptoms to common eyes, such
surprising accounts have been given, as scarcely can be credited, though
attested beyond all doubt. Yet this great master of medical knowledge
was so far from feeling a presumptuous confidence in his mighty talents,
or from being inflated by his prodigious wealth, that his condescension
to the humblest being who approached him, and his unceasing professional
application were ever the theme of admiration and astonishment.
He often used to say, what will make many a practitioner in physic
tremble, that the life of a patient (if trifled with or neglected),
would one day be required at the hand of the physician. He used to call
the poor his best patients, nobly observing, that God would be their
paymaster; the lustre of his eyes bespoke the activity and vivacity of
his mind. He was always cheerful and desirous of promoting every
valuable end of conversation. He disregarded calumny and detraction; for
even Boerhaave had enemies, and never troubled himself to confute them.
“They are sparks,” said he, “which, if you do not blow, will go out of
themselves. The surest remedy against scandal is to _live it down_, by a
perseverance in well doing; and by praying to God that he would cure the
distempered minds of those who traduce and injure us.” He was never
over-awed by the magnificence or presence of great men, but boldly
persisted in proceeding in what he considered to be right, and left the
consequence to God. He was enabled, with unexampled celerity and
acuteness, to penetrate into the tempers and characters of persons at a
glance of his eye. A friend, one day, who had often admired his patience
under great provocations, asked him, if he ever knew what it was to be
angry? to which Boerhaave replied with the most perfect frankness, “that
he was naturally quick of resentment; but, that by prayer and
meditation, he had obtained complete mastery over his passions; this he
attributed, as he did every good thought, and every laudable action, to
his God.”
About the middle of the year 1737, he felt the first approaches of that
indisposition which was destined to bring him to his grave, viz. a
disorder in his breast, which was occasionally very painful, often
threatened him with immediate suffocation, and finally terminated in an
universal dropsy: during all the anguish which he suffered, his placid
temper and firmness of mind never forsook him; he attended at once to
the ordinary duties of life as if in full health, and prepared for that
death which his skill and experience enabled him to know was not very
distant.
About three weeks before his dissolution, when the Rev. Mr. Schultens,
one of the most learned and exemplary divines of his age, attended him
at his country-house, the Doctor desired his prayers, and afterwards
entered into a sublime discourse with him on the spiritual and
immaterial parts of the soul, which he illustrated with wonderful
perspicuity, by a description of the effects which the infirmities of
his body had upon his faculties, which, however, they did not so
oppress, or vanquish, but his soul was always master of itself, and
always resigned to the pleasure of its Maker, and then added, “He who
loves God ought to think nothing desirable but what is most pleasing to
the supreme goodness.” As death approached nearer, he seemed to be more
happy, amidst the increase of corporeal torments, and at length, on the
23d September, 1738, he sunk under them in his 70th year. His funeral
oration was spoken in Latin before the university of Leyden, to a
crowded audience, by his friend Mr. Schultens, amidst tears of genuine
regret and sympathy. The city of Leyden has raised a monument in the
church of St. Peter, to the sanative genius of Boerhaave, “Salutifero
Boerhaavii genio sacrum.” It consists of an urn upon a pedestal of black
marble, with a group representing the four ages of life, and the two
sciences in which Boerhaave excelled. The capital of this basis is
decorated with a drapery of white marble, in which the artist has shown
the different emblems of disorders, and their remedies. Upon the
pedestal is the medallion of Boerhaave; at the extremity of the frame, a
ribband displays the favourite motto of this learned man, “Simplex
vigilum veri.” Professor Allamand had destined a very fine piece of red
jasper to be employed in this medallion, but on account of the great
expense of cutting the stone his design was abandoned. His pictures
represent him as above the middle size, well proportioned, and of a
strong constitution; when age had silvered over his hair, his
countenance was said to have been extremely venerable and expressive,
and to have much resembled the head of Socrates, but with features more
softened and engaging. He was an eloquent orator, and declaimed with
great dignity and grace. He taught very methodically, and with great
precision, but always so captivated his auditors, that they regretted
the close of his discourses, which he often enlivened with a sprightly
turn of raillery; but it was ever refined, ingenious, and incapable of
offending. He used to say, “that decent mirth was the salt of life.” In
the practice of medicine he gave a decided preference to green over
dried herbs, thinking that there was more virtue in herbs when they had
their juices, than when decayed and withered. He was a great admirer of
simples, and consequently was not a great patron of the apothecaries.
When health would permit he regularly rode on horseback; when his
strength began to fail he walked, and upon his return home, music, of
which he was passionately fond, gladdened the hours of relaxation, and
enabled him to return to his labours with redoubled alacrity. Dr.
Johnson has written the following beautiful eulogium on this great man;
“A man formed by nature for great designs, and guided by religion in the
exertion of his abilities; determined to lose none of his hours, when he
had attained one science, he attempted another; he added physic to
divinity; chemistry to the mathematics, and anatomy to botany. He
recommended truth by his elegance, and embellished the philosopher with
polite literature; yet his knowledge, however uncommon, holds in his
character but a second place; for his virtue was more uncommon than his
learning. He ascribed all his abilities to the bounty, and all his
goodness to the grace of his God. May those who study his writings
imitate his life! and those who endeavour after his knowledge, aspire
likewise to his piety.”
CHAPTER XII.
THE BOTANIC GARDEN ... THE CELEBRATED ANCIENT PALM ... BUSTS AND
STATUES ... THEATRE OF ANATOMY ... LIBRARY AND PORTRAITS OF
DISTINGUISHED PERSONS ... MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ... ATTRACTIONS OF
THE UNIVERSITY ... ITS PRESENT CONDITION ... SEVERITY OF ITS
EXAMINATIONS ... ANECDOTES OF REMBRANDT ... HIS GENIUS AND
RAPACIOUSNESS ... A STRATAGEM ... CRITICISMS ON HIS WORKS ... MR.
DESENFAN’S SPLENDID GALLERY OF PAINTINGS ... JOHN OF LEYDEN ... HIS
AMBITION, CRUELTY, AND FATE ... DUTCH BOWING ... SAINT PETER’S
CHURCH ... ANECDOTE OF RUSSIAN PRISONERS.
The botanic garden is not very large; in the time of Boerhaave it must
have been small indeed, as its history represents it to have been
considerably enlarged since that period: in the frontispiece of his
Index Horti L. Bat. 1710, it is represented to be a petty square piece
of ground. It now occupies about four acres, and is in excellent order:
the trees and plants are marked according to the Linnæan system; but it
is infinitely inferior in value and arrangement to the botanic gardens
of Upsala and of the Dublin Society. Amongst the plants, I approached
with the reverence due to it, the venerable remains of vegetable
antiquity, in the shape of a palm, which stands in a tub in the open
air, supported by a thin frame of iron work; it is about fourteen feet
high, and was raised from seed by the celebrated Carolus Clusius, who
died professor at Leyden in 1609: the professor who attended me,
presented me with a bit of its bark, as a little relic. This tree and
the pot in which it grows, are also figured in the frontispiece of
Boerhaave’s Index before mentioned: it there appears to have been about
half as high as at present, and is said to be the palm mentioned by
Linnæus in his Prælectiones in Ordines Naturales Plantarum, p. 27,
published by Giseke in 1792, at Hamburgh, which Linnæus suspected to be
a chamærops, but which, as the ingenious Dr. Smith observes, his editor
rightly refers to the rhapis flabelli formis, Ait. Hort. Kew, v. iii. p.
473. It comes from China and Japan: there is a tree of this kind, and
about as large, in the botanic garden at Paris, and another at Pisa. In
this garden is also the ginkgo of the Chinese, a standard twenty feet
high; Strelitzia reginæ, Ait. Hort. Kew, v. i. p. 285, tab. 2, which has
never yet flowered in any garden out of England; the olea laurifolia, a
new species according to Mr. Van Royen; Royena lucida in flower, as
large as a moderate hawthorn tree, and thought to be very handsome; and
a singular plant from the Cape, supposed to be an echites, with a large
tuberous root raised high above the surface of the ground, two or three
weak stems a foot high, and large dark brown flowers. In the university
library is Rauwolf’s Herbarium, which is very magnificent, and the
plants well preserved; also Boccone’s Herbarium of the plants described
in his Fasciculus Plantarum, published by Morison at Oxford, in 1674;
these specimens are very poor: Herman’s Collection of Ceylon Plants is
also here, which are a part of the celebrated Herbarium, the rest of
which is at Copenhagen; also a volume of West India plants, belonging to
Herman, which are very scarce in Holland, and a fine collection of
mathematical instruments; amongst other things, a most pure and
brilliant prism of Brazil pebble, and a two-inch cube of Iceland
refracting spar, perfectly clear and free from blemish.
In a very long apartment in the gallery there are some busts and statues
in tolerable preservation, but of no great value; the best are busts of
Nero and Agrippina, Servilius and a Bacchus: they were presented to the
university by a citizen of the town. I was shown into a small room
containing some stuffed birds and beasts, which were in very poor
condition. The theatre of anatomy is very near the botanic garden; in it
is a valuable collection of anatomical and pathological subjects. This
hall is well worthy the notice of the traveller, as well for its
valuable contents, as for having furnished Europe with some of its best
physicians. This library is celebrated throughout Europe, for the many
valuable specimens of oriental literature with which it abounds,
exclusive of the books before mentioned. Golius, upon his return from
the East, and who afterwards filled with great reputation the Arabic
professorship of the university, has enriched this valuable depositary
of learning with many Arabic, Turkish, Chaldean, and Persian
manuscripts. I have before mentioned that Joseph Scaliger bequeathed his
valuable collection of Hebrew books to it. The precious manuscripts
contained here are said to exceed eight thousand. Since the last war
commenced, no addition of English publications has been made to this
library, which contains the Transactions of the Royal and Antiquarian
Societies of London, and the Histories of Gibbon, Robertson, and Hume.
To suffer an inimical disposition between two countries to erect a
barrier between intellectual communication is giving additional
barbarism to the ferocity of war. To the honour of England and France,
they have never permitted those melancholy conflicts which have so long,
and so fatally inflamed the one against the other, to check the free and
liberal interchange of philosophical discovery and literary
investigation. Whilst the respective governments have been engaged in
reciprocal schemes of vengeance, the learned societies of both countries
have communed with each other in the language of peace and liberality.
The king of Spain has presented this library with some magnificent
folios, descriptive of the antiquities of Herculaneum. The books are
principally bound in fine white parchment, and are gilded and decorated
with considerable taste and splendor. There are in this room several
excellent portraits of eminent men who have belonged to the university,
or who have been benefactors to it: the head of that elegant and
voluptuous poet Johannes Secundus, who died at the age of twenty-five,
distinguishable for its dark penetrating eyes, adust complexion, and
black hair and beard, is very fine. There are also very interesting
portraits of Janus Douse, who during the siege of Leyden exhibited the
most admirable heroism, by which he acquired the applause of the Prince
of Orange and the government of the town: this hero shone in letters as
well as arms; also of Erasmus at different stages of his life; of Hugo
Donellus, painted after death, in which all the appearances of mortality
are finely imitated with ghastly precision; also of Daniel Heinsius, and
a miniature of Sir Thomas More, by Hans Holbein. There are also several
medallion likenesses of distinguished Englishmen carved in ivory, such
as Milton, Marvel, Ludlow, Wickliffe, Harrington, &c. &c. executed by an
English refugee, who took shelter in Holland after the overthrow of the
Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion. There is a museum of natural history,
principally collected by Professor Allemand, containing some fine ores,
corals, and pebbles, and also some rare quadrupeds and amphibia: also a
young ostrich in the egg; the nautilus with the animal in it, and some
papilios. In the anatomical theatre are the valuable preparations of
Albinus, amongst them are specimens of the progress of ossification in
the fœtus. This university has also to boast of the works of Mr. Pestel,
professor of jurisprudence, for his admirable work, entitled Fundamenta
Jurisprudentiæ Naturalis. The constitutional regulations of this
university are conceived in a noble spirit of liberality. No offensive
obligations, no religious tests, no repulsive oaths, are imposed, no
insidious attempts at proselytism are exercised. Youths of every
religious persuasion mingle together in perfect harmony; like brothers
they aggregate to study, and not to quarrel about modes of faith.
Whatever may be the rank of the student, or from whatever country he may
come, he speedily adopts the decent, gentle, and frugal manners and
habits of the inhabitants. The long war and revolution in this country
have naturally withdrawn a great number of young men of rank and fortune
from this seminary, and prevented others from entering it. The students
do not now exceed two hundred. A considerable number of English
students, in a period of peace, used to flock to this illustrious
academy, which, as well as the beauty, tranquillity, cleanliness, and
salubrity of the city in which it stands, and the cheapness and perfect
freedom of living, and the charms of the surrounding country, holds out
the strongest attractions to the recluse and studious. The examinations
for academical honours are more severe than even for those of Trinity
College Dublin.
Amongst other circumstances which have concurred to crown Leyden with
celebrity, I must not omit to relate that its neighbourhood gave birth
to Rembrandt in 1606. His real name was Gerretz, but he is known by the
name of Van Ryn, an appellation given to him from the place where he
spent the youthful part of his life, on the borders of the Rhine. This
illustrious artist is one amongst the many instances which might be
produced, of the effect of accidental circumstances in early life
determining the character and formation of genius; he derived his
peculiarity of shade from the circumstance of his father’s mill
receiving light from an aperture at the top, which, and not his studying
under Jacob Pinas, gradually led him to use that breadth of shade for
which he was so eminently distinguished. At a very early period he
exhibited strong proofs of genius for painting, and by his productions
astonished his master Jacques Van Zwanenburg, in whose school he
continued three years. His father’s mill, and the circumjacent country,
first attracted his attention, which, with the heavy living objects with
whom he associated, so completely possessed his mind, that he seldom
selected any others which were beautiful or graceful. When very young,
one of his friends prevailed upon him to go to Amsterdam, and offer one
of his pictures for sale, which he did, and sold it to a very able judge
of genius in his line for one hundred florins. He went on foot with the
treasure under his arm, but returned in a carriage. This trifling
circumstance induced him to settle in that city, where he soon became
solicited by persons of the first distinction for his works. Here, from
the number of pupils who flocked to him, and the great demand for his
paintings, wealth poured in upon him copiously. For instructing each of
his pupils he received one hundred florins per annum, but becoming
avaricious as he became wealthy, he sold a great number of copies made
by them for his own pictures, in which he deceived the purchaser by
retouching several parts. The swindling tricks and stratagems by which
this great artist used to raise money, threw a deeper breadth of shade
than his pencil ever cast upon his canvass, over the brighter parts of
his genius. It is related that one of his pupils, well knowing his
rapacious disposition, painted a number of coins upon some cards which
he laid upon his master’s table when he was from home; on his return, he
ran eagerly to seize them and recovered the vexation of his
disappointment, only by admiring the dexterity of the deception.
Rembrandt was a great humourist. One day when he was painting a large
family picture, and one of the subjects was actually sitting to him, his
servant informed him of the death of his favourite monkey, which he felt
so sensibly, and whimsically, that he immediately ordered the dead body
to be brought in, and drew it as one of the group, which he would not
expunge, although the family refused to pay for the picture before it
was effaced. His finest historical pictures are those of Ahasuerus,
Esther and Haman; the woman taken in adultery; and St. John preaching in
the wilderness, which are said to be touched with inexpressible fire and
spirit. The imagination of this great artist was lively and active, and
his invention very fertile: he had a large collection of old draperies,
armour, weapons, and turbans, which he used sportively to call his
antiques; these he preferred to any of the works of the Grecian artists.
He had also a great number of the finest Italian prints, drawings, and
designs, many of them taken from the antiques, which afforded him
gratification, but do not appear to have ameliorated his taste. His
portraits are excellent, and resemble life as near to perfection as
possible, but his airs and attitudes are defective of grace and dignity.
Many of his heads display such minute exactness, that even the hairs of
the beard, and the wrinkles of old age, are given with the most
exquisite fidelity. The portrait appears to breathe upon the canvass. It
is a curious circumstance that his lights were produced by a colour
unusually thick, more resembling modeling than painting, but every tint
was so judiciously placed, that it remained on the canvass in full
freshness, beauty, and lustre. The etchings of Rembrandt are greatly
admired, and are regarded as prime treasures in the cabinets of the
curious in most parts of Europe: these productions rival his paintings,
every stroke of the graver exhibits expression and life: his genuine
works are rarely to be met with, but whenever they are presented for
sale, they produce incredible prices. In the splendid collection of Mr.
Desenfans, are some exquisite productions of this and other Flemish
masters; this collection is, upon the whole, the best in England, and is
exhibited to persons of respectability, without cost, by its liberal
possessor.
Amongst the curiosities of Leyden, I did not take the trouble of seeing
the shopboard of the celebrated John of Leyden, a character
distinguishable for its ambition, enterprize, and ferocity: those who
have furnished us with an account of this aspiring monster, relate that
his name was Bucold; that from being the son of a taylor, and brought up
to his father’s trade, he resolved upon becoming a king; that
accordingly he first tasted of royalty on the board of a strolling
company of comedians in the character of a prince, which affording him
much gratification, he connected himself with a baker of Amsterdam, a
fanatic, who called himself God’s vicegerent upon the earth, and
declared that he was sent to illuminate the world. This fellow, previous
to his becoming the associate of John of Leyden, assumed the name of
Thomas Munster, and impregnated a number of Germans with his religious
phrenzy, which aimed at the demolition of the doctrine of Luther: this
fanatic faction spread with incredible celerity, until the Elector of
Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the duke of Brunswick, resolved upon
drawing the sword against these furious zealots. The prophet Munster was
taken prisoner and lost his head; but soon after, as if inspirited by
this blow, John of Leyden took Munster at the head of a troop of
sanguinary bigots, and ordered himself to be proclaimed king. After this
ceremony was performed he committed the most horrible outrages: in the
name of God, he battered down all the churches, and changed the religion
of the country; he recommended polygamy, and kept a seraglio of sixteen
wives, one of whom endeavoured to assassinate the Bishop of Waldeck, who
fortunately seized the poniard from her hand, and plunged it into her
own bosom; and another, John himself put to death for hesitation in
complying with his wishes. When he appeared in the streets of Munster,
he wore a crown upon his head, carried a sword in one hand, and the New
Testament in the other, and was preceded on horseback by a group of
dancing boys, whilst the sides were by his mandates, crowded with the
prostrate terrified citizens, who were punished with instant death if
they stood, or remained covered in his presence. The reign of this petty
tyrant was brief: the Bishop of Munster besieged the town, which
suffered nearly the same horrors which I have described to have occurred
at Leyden, when the Spaniards sat down before it; the living fed upon
the dead, and a look that intimated a wish to surrender was punished
with instant death. The miseries which surrounded him, served only to
inflame the fanatical spirit of the monster; at last, however, the town
was taken by surprise, and John and the ministers of his bloody ambition
were conducted before the victorious prelate, to whom, after being
charged with the enormities which he had committed, he is said to have
replied, with the craft of a coward, in the following manner: “The
possession of my person has cost you much money and much blood, my death
will be a loss to you, my life may become a source of profit to you, put
me in an iron cage, set a price upon the exhibition of me, and send me
through Europe, thus will you in the end be the gainer by me.” The
bishop saw through his object which was the dastard preservation of his
forfeited life, and accordingly ordered him to be put to death with a
refinement of cruelty, at the relation of which human nature sickens,
abhorred as the victim was. Two executioners tore his flesh slowly
asunder with red hot pincers, and after the mitred conqueror and his
followers had glutted their eyes with his writhings, and their ears with
his screams, a javelin pierced his heart, and his mangled body was
thrown into a cage, and exposed to the birds of the air from the steeple
of St. Lambert’s church. It has been observed by some travellers, that
the Dutch are much given to a tremulous motion of the head. I saw no
instance of this national trait except, where I expected to find it,
among old and paralytic persons. The practice of bowing is not confined
to the Dutchman, though adduced against him as a sort of blemish by
every Englishman who extends his rambles no farther than Holland:
throughout Germany the same courtesy is displayed, and even among the
common Russian boors the practice of exchanging bows is quite common.
I was not much gratified with the church of St. Peter, the principal one
in the city; it is a large ponderous building, in the worst style of
gothic architecture. In this structure the English and Russian soldiers
were confined when taken prisoners at Alkmaar. The poor Russians, who
expected no quarter, looked upon the brass chandeliers which are
suspended in the body of the church, as the instruments of execution, to
each of which they thought of being fastened by the neck. The Russians,
in their first campaigns with the French, entertained the same
apprehension, and were most agreeably astonished on one occasion, which
presented a memorable display of French sagacity, to find that, instead
of being shot or guillotined, they were presented with new clothing of
the Russian uniform, and offered their liberty.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PRESS OF LEYDEN ... ITS STAPLE TRADE ... ANECDOTES OF GERARD
DOUW ... OF JEAN STEEN ... HIS SINGULAR PAINTING OF THE DELUGE ...
ANECDOTES OF FRANCIS MIERES ... THE PICTORIAL CONTEST ... ANECDOTE OF
VANDERWELDE ... THE VILLAGE OF RHYNSBURG ... SINGULAR RELIGIOUS
ASSOCIATION ... A CURIOUS CUSTOM ... EXPLOSION AT LEYDEN ... CONDUCT OF
THE KING ... HAARLEM ... ITS CELEBRATED ORGAN DESCRIBED ... ANECDOTE OF
HANDEL ... MR. HENRY HOPE’S HOUSE.
In the streets of Leyden are several very handsome bookseller’s shops,
particularly Murray’s in the Braadstraat, where there are many valuable
publications, and particularly a fine collection of the classics, which
are sold at very reasonable prices. The press of Leyden, in the time of
Elzevirs, presented some of the most elegant specimens of typography, in
the many correct and beautiful editions which they have given of the
most renowned authors of antiquity. In beauty, variety, and profusion,
the Leyden press rivalled, and in many instances surpassed, that of the
Hague and Amsterdam; but since the period of the above bibliopolists, it
has gradually decayed. It may be easily imagined, that with the change
which has taken place in the political relations of Holland, the liberty
of the press is not what it used to be at Leyden, which was once
celebrated for its Gazette, a rival in reputation of that of Brussels:
the former was distinguished for its partiality to the Stadtholder, and
his well known attachments to the English cabinet; and the latter for
supporting the true interests of the country. The editors and
proprietors of the Leyden Gazette fled with precipitation, on the
irruption of the French into Holland; and the paper which is now issued
from Leyden, is of course the organ of the new government, and but
little enlivened with political discussion.
The staple trade of Leyden, the woollen manufactory, has suffered very
severely from the establishment of extensive looms in various parts of
Germany, from the last and present war with England, and from the
superiority of the manufactures of Yorkshire, which are in such high
estimation in America and Asia, that Dutch merchants trading to those
countries, found it more advantageous to send out English cloths. The
coarse cloths of Holland had formerly a brisk market amongst the East
and West India Companies: but from the above cause thousands of
manufacturers have been obliged to renounce their looms, and divert
their skill and industry to other sources of support; and in all human
probability the woollen manufactures of Leyden will never revive.
Before I quit this celebrated city, I cannot help mentioning that, in
addition to the illustrious artists before mentioned, it gave birth to
Gerard Douw, who was born here in 1613, and entered at the early age of
fifteen into the school of Rembrandt, with whom he continued three
years, and from whom he obtained the true principles of colouring: his
pictures are generally small, and remarkable for their wonderful
brilliancy, delicacy, transparency, and exquisite high finishing.
Sandrart relates a curious anecdote of the laborious assiduity which he
displayed. Being with Bamboccio in the painting-room of Gerard Douw,
they were enraptured with the wonderful minuteness of a picture which
Douw was then painting, and were particularly struck with the finishing
of a broom, and could not refrain expressing their surprise at the
amazing neatness displayed in so minute an object; upon which Douw
informed them that he should spend three more days upon that very broom
before he could complete it to his satisfaction. The same author also
relates, that in a family picture of a Mrs. Spiering, Douw occupied five
days in finishing one of the hands that leaned over an arm-chair. This
disposition to elaborate execution, in which he far surpassed every
other Flemish master, so alarmed a great number of persons, that they
had not patience to sit to him, and hence he chiefly applied his fine
powers in works of fancy, in which he could introduce objects of
still-life, and gratify his inclination in the choice of his time. A
noble instance is related of the liberality of his great patron, Mr.
Spiering, the husband of the lady above-mentioned, resident of the king
of Sweden at the Hague, namely, that he allowed him a thousand guilders
a year, with no other stipulation than that Douw should give his
benefactor the preference of purchasing every picture he painted, for
which he always paid him to the full extent of his demand. He lived to a
great age, but his sight was so affected by the minuteness of his
performances that at the age of thirty he was obliged to use spectacles.
The finest picture from his hands considerably exceeded his usual size,
being three feet high by two feet six inches broad within the frame:
this matchless piece of art represents two rooms; in the first there
appears a very curious piece of tapestry, forming the separation of the
apartments, in which there is a very pretty-figure of a woman with a
child at her breast; at her side is a cradle, and a table covered with
tapestry, on which is placed a gilt lamp and some pieces of still-life;
in the second apartment is a surgeon’s shop, with a countryman
undergoing an operation, and a woman standing by him with several
utensils: the folding doors show on one side a study, and a man making a
pen by candlelight, and on the other side, a school with boys writing,
and sitting at different tables, which parts are lighted in a most
charming and astonishing manner, so that every feature and character of
countenance is distinctly, and most intelligibly delineated. Incredible
sums have been given, and still continue to be given for the works of
this master, in his own country, and in every polite part of Europe
where they are to be found. Some of his best works are now in the royal
gallery at Dresden.
I must not omit that comical, dissipated humourist and happy artist, Jan
Steen, who was born here in 1636, whose wit and drollery were only
surpassed by his wonderful powers in painting, in which such was his
astonishing faculty, that he seemed to be more inspired than instructed,
for he kept an alehouse for a considerable time, from the cellars of
which he drew more for himself than for his customers, and having
exhausted his barrels, he replenished them by the product of his art, to
which he never devoted himself but upon such occasions, and generally
discharged the bills of the brewers and wine merchants with pictures.
Although he might have lived in great affluence by his masterly pencil,
he was frequently reduced to the most deplorable penury by indolence and
dissipation; his faces alone completely indicated the rank and condition
of the person depicted. Great prices are now given for the works of this
artist, though they sold for small sums in his life time, on account of
his being obliged to sell upon the pressure of necessity. A
characteristic anecdote is related of this singular artist. In a picture
of the crucifixion, having introduced a numerous group of figures,
consisting of monks, old women, and dogs, at the foot of the cross, he
was asked to explain the reason of such an assemblage; to which he
replied, “the clergy and the old women are always the most eager in
their inquiries, when any thing curious occurs.” Some years since,
another instance of his eccentric turn of mind was sold for a
considerable sum at Amsterdam, viz. a painting of the deluge, which he
had delineated by introducing a large Dutch cheese, with the word Leyden
inscribed upon it, floating in the centre of a sheet of water, which, he
said, would incontestably prove that all the world was drowned. The name
of Jan Steen naturally introduces that of his great friend Francis
Mieres, who was born here in 1635, and was a pupil of Gerard Douw, who,
from the rapid progress he made in his studies, used to call him the
Prince of his Disciples: in rich transparency, an unusual sweetness of
colouring, and an elaborate but delicate touch, he nearly approached his
illustrious master. Mieres was generally paid a ducat an hour for his
works, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany paid him no less than a thousand
rix dollars for one picture. Unfortunately for this artist, he conceived
an uncommon friendship for the drunken, droll Jan Steen, which
frequently involved him in inconvenience, and disgrace. An anecdote is
related of Mieres, in consequence of this association, which in its
result did much honour to his feelings; being accustomed to pass whole
nights with his friend in the most joyous manner at a tavern, he was
returning home very late one evening from his company, when he fell into
a common sewer, which had been left open in order to cleanse it, where
he must have perished, had not a cobler and his wife, who were in a
neighbouring stall, heard his cries, and instantly ran to his relief;
having extricated him, although they were total strangers to him, they
took care of him for the night, and treated him with all the kindness in
their power: the next morning their guest returned to his lodgings,
strongly impressed with the humanity and hospitality of his new friends,
whom he resolved to reward in a manner worthy of their conduct; and
accordingly having painted a picture in his best manner, he returned to
his preservers and presented them with it, telling them it was the
production of a person whose life they had preserved, and directed them
to go and offer it to his friend and patron Cornelius Plaats, who would
give the full value for it. The woman, unacquainted with the real value
of the present, expected only a moderate gratuity for the picture, and
was overwhelmed with surprise when the liberal purchaser paid her eight
hundred florins for it. The grand Duke of Tuscany offered three thousand
florins for a picture of Mieres, representing a lady fainting, and a
physician relieving her. Francis Mieres left two sons and a grandson,
all of whom were distinguished artists. John Van Goyen the father-in-law
of Jan Steen, was also an artist of great celebrity: he painted a great
number of pictures, and his execution was marvellously rapid, of which
the following curious anecdote is recorded as a memorable instance:
Hoogstraten relates that Van Goyen, Knipbergen, and Parcelles, had
agreed each to paint a picture in one day, in the presence of several
other artists, their friends, to whose judgment was left the disposal of
a considerable sum of money subscribed for that purpose by the
contending artists, to be bestowed upon the person who produced the best
picture within that period. As soon as Van Goyen took the pencil,
without making any previous sketch, he first laid on the light colour of
the sky, then he rubbed on several different shades of brown, next
masses of light on the foreground in several spots; out of this chaos,
he produced trees, buildings, water, distant hills, vessels lying before
a sea-port, and boats filled with figures, with almost magical celerity,
and exquisite spirit, and finished the whole within the limited time, to
the astonishment of the beholders. Knipbergen proceeded with his work in
quite a different manner, for instead of beginning to colour his canvass
he sketched on his palette the design he had formed in his imagination,
and took much pains to give it all imaginable correctness, every rock,
tree, waterfall, and other object, was disposed in the manner it was
intended to be finished in the painting, and he attempted nothing more
than to transfer the sketch upon the canvass; this picture was also
finished in the time, and was allowed by the observers to possess much
merit. The method observed by Parcelles differed from both, for when he
took up his palette and pencils, he sat a long time in deep meditation
upon his subject, and having arranged his thoughts, he executed within
the time also, a sea-piece, admirably designed and delicately finished.
The judges were unanimous in deciding for Parcelles, observing, that
though the pictures of Van Goyen and Knipbergen were full of spirit,
taste, and good colouring, yet in the picture by Parcelles there was
equal merit as well in the handling as the colouring, and more truth, as
being the result of great thought and judicious premeditation. William
Vandervelde, the celebrated marine painter, was also born here in 1610:
the love of his art induced him to remove with his family to England, on
account of the superior elegance in the construction of British ships;
and he was successively patronised by King Charles II. and King James
II. Such was his enthusiasm, that, in order to unite fidelity with
grandeur and elegance in his compositions, he would boldly advance in a
small light vessel into the very heat of a naval engagement, and make
his sketches, in undaunted tranquillity, whilst the balls were flying
about him in all directions. Of this bold spirit he exhibited two very
memorable instances, before he came to England; one was in the severe
battle between the Duke of York and Admiral Opdam, in which the Dutch
admiral and 503 men were blown up; and the other, in that great battle,
which lasted three days, between Admiral Monck and Admiral de Ruyter,
during which engagements Vandervelde plied between the fleets, so that
he was enabled to represent every movement of the ships, and every
material circumstance of the action, with astonishing minuteness and
truth. There were formerly some good private collections of paintings in
this city, but the political storms of the country have dispersed them.
About a mile from Leyden there is a very valuable collection by some of
the most distinguished Dutch and Flemish masters, belonging to Mr.
Gevers, who has a noble mansion, and grounds very tastefully disposed;
and who upon all occasions is happy to permit strangers to visit his
cabinet, and to show them every hospitality.
Near this city, in the village of Rhynsburg, the assembly of a very
singular and equally liberal religious association is held, the members
of which are called after the name of the place, Rhynsburgians: this
meeting was established by three peasants, who were brothers, of the
name of John, Adrian, and Gilbert Van Code, who to an excellent and
profitable acquaintance with farming, which they followed, singularly
united a profound knowledge of languages, for which they were so
celebrated, that Prince Maurice, and Monsieur de Maurier, the then
French ambassador, honoured them with several visits, and conversed with
them in Latin, Greek, Italian, and French, in each of which they
astonished their visitors by their fluency and pronunciation: another
brother, William, filled the professorship of the oriental languages in
the university of Leyden. In consequence of the churches being left
without their pastors, on the expulsion of the remonstrant clergy in the
year 1619, the three first-mentioned brothers determined to supply their
places, and undertook to explain the Scriptures: they set an example of
genuine christianity which has been rarely displayed; and they taught
that every one had a right to worship God according to his own form of
faith, taking the Bible for his guide. This association meet every
Saturday, for the purpose of digesting the discourses of the ensuing
Sunday, when, with the sincerest humility, one of the fraternity
distributes the bread and wine. After the morning duties of the Sabbath
are passed, they reassemble in the evening to return thanks to the
Almighty for his favours, and at the same time particularize the
instances of his goodness. On Monday morning they part to attend to
their different temporal concerns, and at their taking leave, solemnly
impress upon each other the sacred obligation, and the blissful result
of a perseverance in the pious course which they have hitherto pursued.
Such benevolent and exalted principles attract persons of various
persuasions to the meeting, who assist in its solemnities, and partake
in the pure spirit of its devotion. The religion most followed previous
to the revolution, was the presbyterian and calvinistical; before the
revolution, none but presbyterians were admitted into any office or post
under government, except in the army. The republic, in its early stages,
displayed its wisdom in making the calvinistical persuasion predominant,
for the country at that period was too poor to erect magnificent temples
of worship, and support a train of prelates in the splendor bestowed
upon them in other countries, which were more rich, and had a population
adequate to the cultivation of the soil. It was of the highest
consequence to Holland to encourage population, and they could not more
effectually do it, than by a policy equally generous and enlightened,
which offered an asylum to all foreigners persecuted for their religion,
and discouraged all monastic institutions.
As I was one day roving in this city, I was struck with the appearance
of a small board ornamented with a considerable quantity of lace, with
an inscription on it, fastened to a house: upon inquiry, I found that
the lady of the mansion, where I saw it, had lately lain in, and was
then much indisposed, and that it was the custom of the country to
expose this board, which contained an account of the state of the
invalid’s health, for the satisfaction of her inquiring friends, who
were by this excellent plan informed of her situation, without
disturbing her by knocking at the door, and by personal inquiries: the
lace I found was never displayed but in lying in cases, but without it,
this sort of bulletin is frequently used in other cases of indisposition
amongst persons of consequence.
It is a painful task not to be able to close my account of this
beautiful and celebrated city, without lamenting with the reader the
dreadful accident which befel it on the 12th of January last, more
terrible and destructive than all the horrors of its siege, the
intelligence of which was communicated to me very soon afterwards by a
friend in Holland, just as I had fairly written out thus far of my
journal. About one o’clock of that day, a vessel laden with forty
thousand pounds weight of gunpowder from Amsterdam, destined for Delft,
and then lying in the Rapenburg canal, by some means which can never now
be known, took fire and blew up with the explosion of a mighty volcano,
by which many hundreds of lives were lost, and a great portion of the
city destroyed. The king, on hearing of the dreadful catastrophe was
sensibly affected, repaired to the city, remained all the following
night in the streets, and was to be seen wherever his presence could
animate the survivors to stop the progress of the flames, to clear the
rubbish of falling buildings, and drag from under the ruins those who
had been covered by them: the king offered the palace in the wood to
persons of respectability, whose habitations had been overthrown by the
shock, until they could secure homes to repair to; empowered the
magistrates of this devoted city to make a general collection throughout
the whole kingdom, and ordered 100,000 guilders to be paid out of the
treasury for the relief of the surviving sufferers.
I quitted Leyden with great reluctance, and entered on board the
treckschuyt for Haarlem, which sets off every two hours for that town,
distant from Leyden fifteen miles. The canal all the way is broad and
clear, and frequently adorned with the yellow fringed water-lily.
Nothing could be more beautiful than our passage. As we approached
Haarlem, the villas and gardens which nearly all the way adorned the
banks of the canal, increased in number, beauty, and magnitude: many of
them belong to the most opulent merchants of Amsterdam. Haarlem is not
so beautiful as Leyden, but abounds with spacious streets, canals,
avenues, and handsome houses: it is about four miles from the sea, and
fifteen from Amsterdam: on one side of the canal is the Haarlem meer, or
lake, the spring water of which is so celebrated all over Europe for
producing the most brilliant whiteness upon the linens bleached here,
and the superior property of which cannot be reached by any chymical
process. Haarlem was once fortified, but its ramparts now form an
agreeable promenade. The bleacheries of this city are too well known to
be further mentioned; in all his wandering, the traveller will never
enjoy the luxury of snow-white linen in such perfection as at Haarlem:
before the war, Scotch and Irish linens used to be sent here to be
bleached. There was a considerable manufacture of silks and camblets,
but it has experienced a great decline, and the principal trade is
bleaching threads and cambric; the inhabitants are calculated at
thirty-two thousand. The cathedral, which is said to be the largest in
the kingdom, though I am inclined to think that of Utrecht greater, was
built in 1472, and the steeple, which is very handsome, was added in
1515. To inspect the internal part of the building, I was obliged to
apply to one of the principal clergymen belonging to it, who resides in
an adjoining house, and attended by a lady-like looking woman, perhaps
his wife, or house-keeper, I was admitted into this venerable pile,
where the first object that struck me was the celebrated organ supported
upon pillars of porphyry: this instrument is said to be the finest and
largest in the world; it occupies the whole west end of the nave. For a
ducat paid to the organist, and two florins to the bellows blower, the
former will gratify the traveller by playing for an hour; unfortunately
for me he was absent in the country, and I did not hear the celebrated
vox humana, or pipe, which most admirably imitates the human voice. Of
the magnitude of this enormous musical pile, the reader may form some
conception when he is informed that it contains eight thousand pipes,
some of which are thirty-eight feet in length, and sixteen inches in
diameter, and has sixty-four stops, four separations, two shakes, two
couplings, and twelve bellows; like an elephant, that with his proboscis
can either pluck a violet or raise a tree by its roots, the notes of
this wonderful instrument can swell from the softest to the sublimest
sounds, from the warbling of a distant bird to the awful tone of
thunder, until the massy building trembles in all its aisles. On every
Tuesday and Thursday, a voluntary is played upon this organ from twelve
till one o’clock, when the doors of the cathedral are thrown open. Many
years since the immortal Handel played upon this organ, when the
organist, in amazement, pronounced him to be an angel, or the devil.
Between two of the columns which support the organ, there is a noble
emblematical alto-relievo, with three figures as large as life, by
Xavery, representing Gratitude, assisted by Poetry and Music, making an
offering to Piety, and a Latin inscription purporting that the organ was
erected in 1738, at the town’s expense, the same having been built by
Christian Muller of this city. This is the organ which the good people
of Rotterdam are endeavouring to rival: the cathedral, like the other
churches, is crowded with square wooden monuments, painted with the arms
of the deceased on a black ground, with the date of their death in gold
letters, but no names: in the wall at the east end of the church, a
cannon ball is exhibited, which was fired into it by the Spaniards in
the sixteenth century, during divine service.
The walks round this city are very beautiful, and at a short distance
from it there is a noble wood, in which is a fine walk of stately elms,
nearly three miles long, abounding with beautiful scenery: this wood is
a rival of that which I have described at the Hague. In this delightful
place stands the mansion of Mr. Henry Hope, whose family has been long
known for its loyalty and immense wealth: it is said to have cost fifty
thousand pounds. Upon the revolution taking place, this gentleman was
obliged to seek refuge in England, to the capital of which he had
previously transported in safety his magnificent collection of
paintings.
The villa, which is built of brick stuccoed, is modern and magnificent,
and before the revolution was frequently resorted to by the Prince of
Orange and his family, who were much attached to its opulent and liberal
owner, which he eminently merited, by having rendered them many
important services, particularly in 1788, when it was unsafe for him to
appear on the exchange of Amsterdam without military protection. As the
pictures were removed, there was nothing in the internal part of the
mansion worthy of notice.
Haarlem and its environs are more celebrated than any other spot, for
the beautiful flowers which it produces, the soil being peculiarly
propitious to their production.
CHAPTER XIV.
ANECDOTES OF LAWRENCE COSTER ... ART OF PRINTING HOW DISCOVERED ... ITS
ORIGINALITY DISPUTED ... FEMALE FORTITUDE AND PRESENCE OF MIND ... SIEGE
OF HAARLEM ... HEROIC CONDUCT OF THE WOMEN ... BRIEF ANECDOTE OF
WOUVERMANS ... OF BAMBOCCIO ... FATAL EFFECTS OF SEVERE CRITICISM ...
ANECDOTES OF NICHOLAS BERGHEM AND HIS TERMAGANT WIFE ... OF RUYSDAAL ...
ENORMOUS SLUICES ... APPROACH AMSTERDAM ... ITS GENERAL APPEARANCE ... A
SLEY ... ERASMUS’S WHIMSICAL DESCRIPTION OF THAT CITY ... THE
STADT-HOUSE ... SILENCE REPRESENTED AS A FEMALE ... THE TOWER ...
CLOCKS, SINGULAR MODE OF STRIKING THE HOUR.
Not far from the church, the spot where stood the house of Lawrence
Coster, who lived in the middle of the fifteenth century, the celebrated
inventor of the art of printing, is shewn; formerly there was a statue
over the gate where he lived, within this inscription:
MEMORIÆ SACRUM
TYPOGRAPHIA,
ARS ARTIUM OPTIMA
CONSERVATRIX,
HIC PRIMUM INVENTA
CIRCA ANNUM MCCCCXL.
The first book he printed is kept in the town house, in a silver case
wrapt up in silk, and is always shewn with great caution, as a most
precious relic of antiquity. The glory of this transcendent discovery,
which spread light and civilization over the world, and formed a new
epoch in its history, was for a long time disputed between Haarlem,
Mayence, and Strasburg: the latter, after a laborious investigation, has
renounced her pretensions, and the general opinion seems to bestow the
palm upon the first city. The manner in which Coster imbibed the first
impressions of this divine discovery, is said to have been from his
cutting the letters of his name on the bark of a tree, and afterwards
pressing a piece of paper upon the characters, until they became legible
upon it, which induced him to continue the experiment, by engraving
other letters upon wood. Those early principles were soon diffused
through France, with considerable improvements, by the enterprising
ability of the Etiennes; by the learned Manutius, a celebrated Venetian
painter, and the inventor of Italian characters, through Italy; and
through the Netherlands by Christopher Plantin, whose printing office at
Antwerp was one of the principal ornaments of the town, and who was
distinguished for his skill, erudition, and prodigious wealth, created
solely by a successful prosecution of his important business.
Mayence contests the honour of the invention, but it is generally
believed that a servant of Coster, of the name of Faustus, stole the
types of his master on a Christmas-eve, whilst he was attending his
devotions at church, and fled with his booty to Mayence. The portrait of
Coster is to be seen in most of the booksellers’ shops at Haarlem, and
in other principal towns.
A memorable, but not an unusual instance of affection, and of female
presence of mind, occurred in this city many years since, at a spot
which is still shown with no little degree of national pride, whereon an
ancient castle stood, the lord of which was severely pressed by the
burghers of the town, who laid siege to it, on account of his tyrannical
conduct towards them: driven to the last extremity, and when his life
was upon the point of paying the forfeit of his crimes, his lady
appeared on the ramparts, and offered to surrender, provided she might
be permitted to bring out as much of _her most valuable goods as she
could carry on her back_; which being complied with, she brought her
husband out upon her shoulders, preserved him from the fury of the
troops, and gave up to them possession of the castle: thinking in the
language of Shakspeare,
“If I depart from thee, I cannot live;
And in thy sight to die, what were it else,
But like a pleasant slumber in thy lap?”
_Henry IV._ Part 2d. Act. 4.
History informs us, that Haarlem presented a glorious example of
resistance to the Spanish yoke, so heroically imitated two years
afterwards at Leyden, which experienced a better fortune than befel the
wretched inhabitants of the former city. Whilst the provinces were
bravely opposing their invaders, a long and memorable siege in 1573,
which was carried on against Haarlem by Frederic of Toledo, the son of
the sanguinary Duke of Alva, during which the female inhabitants, like
those of Leyden, assisted the garrison in their duties, underwent every
privation, faced every horror, and rushed to certain destruction in
defence of the town, with an alacrity and fortitude which have rendered
them immortal in the annals of their country. Those heroines, when the
garrison refused with indignation the conditions which were offered them
by the Spanish general, fought with unshaken courage by the side of the
men, in their desperate sorties against the besieging army, and in their
fury put every prisoner to death, whom they took in these attacks. This
unjustifiable conduct, and the derision which from the ramparts they
expressed of the Roman Catholic worship, induced the Spaniards to retort
with terrible vengeance. In consequence of a correspondence which the
besieged carried on with the Prince of Orange by means of carrier
pigeons, being discovered by the Spaniards, they shot every pigeon which
came within the reach of their musketry, which rendered the situation of
the garrison hopeless, and they at length surrendered, on condition that
the lives of the soldiers and inhabitants should be spared, to which
Frederic of Toledo consented, entered the town at the head of his
victorious troops, and in cold blood butchered two thousand of those who
had submitted to his arms, and trusted to his honour.
When it is considered, that at this period, the Spanish monarchy was
predominant in Europe, that its armies were mighty, its generals
experienced, and its treasury overflowing, the triumphant prowess which
the Dutch displayed in finally driving their powerful invaders back to
their own frontiers, will render the Dutch name illustrious as long as
the record of history endures. The Dutch ladies have rivalled in fame
the most renowned heroines of Greece and Rome. The Hollanders treasure
up these gallant exploits in their memories, they form the favourite
subjects of their songs, and the old and the young recite with
enthusiasm the great deeds of their ancestors.
The Haarlem lake which I mentioned, presented a very bleak and dismal
sheet of water from the canal; it is about fourteen miles long, and
about the same number broad, is said to be above six feet deep, and lies
between Leyden, Amsterdam, and Haarlem: its waters are slimy, and abound
with eels, some of which are of a prodigious size. This lake can have no
charm but for a bleacher. The fuel used here is Newcastle coals and
turf.
Having described what is worthy of notice at Haarlem, it would be
indifference indeed to an art which I worship, were I to quit this city
without briefly adverting to some of the principal distinguished artists
which it had the honour of giving birth to. The first in chronological
order was Philip Wouvermans, who was born at Haarlem in 1620, whose
sweetness of colouring, correctness of design, beautiful choice of
scenery, and perfect knowledge of the chiaro-scuro, or as it has well
been defined, of light and black, have excited the admiration and
applause of posterity: the subjects which he was particularly partial to
were huntings, hawkings, encampments of armies, farriers’ shops, and all
those scenes that admitted of his introducing horses, which he painted
to great perfection. Notwithstanding his transcendent merit, for a
considerable period he met with no encouragement, and encountered many
difficulties which greatly depressed his spirits, of which the
picture-merchants knew how to take every ungenerous advantage: at length
he was relieved from his indigence and dependence, by the bounty of his
confessor, who seeing his uncommon genius, was resolved to the extent of
his power, to extricate it from the odious shackles which encumbered it,
and accordingly advanced him six hundred guilders, by a judicious
application of which he emancipated himself from his embarrassments: he
now doubled the price of his pictures, and was enabled to give his
daughter a marriage portion of twenty thousand guilders. As soon as he
was enabled to pay his confessor, he sent the sum he had borrowed,
accompanied with a chef-d’œuvre of his works, representing his holy
benefactor in the character of St. Hubert kneeling before his horse. All
connoisseurs agree that this picture is the finest he ever painted.
Wouvermans resided in the Bakenessegragt, a short distance from the
church. The depression of mind which his early disappointments excited,
never quitted this great artist: a few hours before he died, he ordered
a box filled with his studies and designs to be burned, saying, “I was
so long unrewarded for my labours, that I wish to prevent my son from
being allured by these designs, to embrace so unpromising and uncertain
a profession as mine.”
The works of Wouvermans and Bamboccio were continually placed in
competition by the best judges of art, and the latter having painted a
picture which was much admired, John de Wilt prevailed upon Wouvermans
to paint the same subject, which he executed in a brilliant manner:
these pictures were soon afterwards exhibited together to the public,
and De Wilt, when the room in which they were placed, was exceedingly
crowded, exclaimed in a loud voice, “all our connoisseurs seem to prefer
the works of those painters who have studied at Rome; but behold how far
the work of Wouvermans who never saw Rome, surpasses the production of
him who resided there several years.” This observation, which was
received with general approbation, and seemed to receive the fiat of the
company, so deeply affected the delicate spirits of Bamboccio, that it
largely contributed to hurry him to his grave.
The justly celebrated Nicholas Berghem, was born here in 1624, and
studied under his father, an inconsiderable painter, whose name was Van
Haarlem, which Berghem exchanged in the following whimsical manner:
whilst he was a pupil of John Van Goyen, who was very fond of him, his
father was one day pursuing him in the street, to give him correction
for some peccadillo, when his master seeing his father gaining upon him
rapidly, cried out to some of his other scholars, Berg-hem! which
signifies hide him; from which circumstance he obtained and kept that
name. The distinguishing characteristics of Berghem’s pictures are
breadth, and just distribution of the lights, the grandeur of his masses
of light and shadow, the natural attitudes of his figures expressive of
their several characters, the just gradation of his distances, the
brilliancy, harmony, and transparency of his colouring, the correctness
and true perspective of his design, and the elegance of his composition,
and his subjects however various are all equally admirable. This great
man had the calamity and the infatuation to make an offer of his hand
and heart to the daughter of one of the masters under whom he studied,
when he left Van Goyen, of the name of Willis, who proved to be one of
the most clamorous and sordid termagants that Holland, or perhaps any
other country ever produced; by the terror of her tongue, and the fury
of her manner, she forced him to slave at his easel without
intermission, from the break to the departure of day, and frequently all
night long, without permitting him to have the disposal of a single
guilder without her consent: amidst this domestic broil, poor Berghem
never lost his temper, he sung, whilst she scolded, as if he thought
And do you tell me of a woman’s tongue,
That gives not half so great a blow to hear
As will a chesnut in a farmer’s fire?
_Taming of the Shrew_, Act I. Scene 3.
In this increasing state of internal broil, this artist produced some of
the finest effusions of his pencil: he was singularly curious in
purchasing the finest prints and designs of the Italian masters, to
improve his own taste, which after his death sold for a large sum of
money: by his indefatigable industry, he produced an amazing number of
pictures, which now are rarely to be purchased, and then only for
prodigious prices.
The last that I shall mention is Jacob Ruysdaal, who was born here in
1636, and was the bosom friend of Berghem, who imparted to him much of
the spirit which adorns his own works. No painter ever possessed a
greater share of public admiration than Ruysdaal, a reputation which has
remained unimpaired to this hour. His works are distinguishable by a
natural and most delightful tone of colour, by a free, light, firm, and
spirited pencil, and by a happy choice of situation. He was fond of
introducing water into his paintings, and he was equally fortunate in
representing the tumultuous foam of the torrent, as the pellucid
transparency of the canal. Ruysdaal was cut off at the age of
forty-five. Since the removal of Mr. Hope’s collection, there is no
private cabinet of pictures in or near Haarlem worth the attention of
the traveller. There is, however, a cabinet of natural history, said to
be the finest in Holland, which was formed by Doctor Van Marum, whose
electrical experiments have ascertained that the death of animals is
coincident with the cessation of irritability: this museum is well
arranged according to the Linnæan system. I heard of nothing more to
detain the traveller at Haarlem. The canal from Haarlem to Amsterdam is
clear and spacious, and nearly straight for the first four miles, at the
lessening end of which the former city has a very agreeable appearance;
but I was surprised to find so very few country-houses, and scarcely an
object that denoted our approach to the renowned capital of the kingdom,
and, as it has been aptly called, “the great warehouse of the world.”
About half way we changed boats, and crossed the enormous sluices which
protect the country from inundation in this part: we passed over the
waters of the Haarlem Meer and of the river Y, so called from its form
resembling that letter, being a branch of the Zuyder Zee. The only
object worthy of notice thus far was a large stone building, called the
Castle Zwanenburg, the residence of the directors of the dykes and
water-works of Rhynland. The cost of constructing and repairing the
sluices is paid out of the general taxes. The country here is four or
five feet below the level of the river Y, which, however, is rendered
perfectly innocuous by the massy and prodigious dams before mentioned,
the construction and preservation of which place the indefatigable
enterprise and industry of the Hollander in an eminent point of view.
I reached Amsterdam just after the gates had been closed, but my
commissaire and I were admitted upon paying a few stivers. As soon as we
had entered, every object denoted a vast, populous, and opulent city:
every street, and I passed through a great number before I reached my
hotel, was tolerably well lighted, but in this respect infinitely
inferior to London. At length, after traversing the city about two miles
and a half, I reached the principal hotel, called Amsterdam Wappen, or
the Arms of Amsterdam, which, in point of magnitude and accommodation,
may vie with the first hotels in our own metropolis. Here, after an
excellent supper of fish, which the Dutch dress to admiration, and some
porter, which was an excellent imitation of that description of beverage
for which London is so justly renowned, I found a sopha bed prepared for
me, with curtains pendent from the centre, in the French taste, which
much prevails in the internal arrangement of the houses of this great
city.
In the morning I was awakened by the chimes of some of the churches,
which in softness and sweetness resembled the distant sounds of a harp.
Although it was seven o’clock, upon looking from the window, I heard the
hum and beheld the bustle of business which in other countries
characterise mid-day. Under the agreeable influence of a brilliant,
cloudless sky, I descended into the street, and mingled with the active,
ant-like multitude, every member of which presented a physiognomy full
of thought and calculation: gold, gold, seemed to be the only object:
——That yellow slave
Will knit, and break religions; bless the accursed;
Make the hoar leprosy adored; place thieves,
And give them title, knee, and approbation,
With senators on the bench.
_Timon of Athens_, Act IV. Scene 3.
The first circumstance that afforded novelty was, that amidst all the
bustle I seldom met with any carriages on wheels to augment the noise of
the scene. Upon enquiry I found, that, by the police laws of Amsterdam,
wheel-carriages are limited to a certain number, which is very
inconsiderable compared with the size of the city, from an apprehension
that an uncontrouled use of them might hazard the foundation of the
houses, most of which are built upon piles; for nearly the whole of the
ground on which this vast city stands was formerly a morass. A carriage,
called by the Dutch a sley, and by the French a traineau, or, on account
of its solemnity, un pot de chambre, is used in their room; it is the
body of a coach fastened by ropes on a sledge, and drawn by one horse;
the driver walks by the side of it, which he holds with one hand to
prevent its falling over, and with the other the reins: nothing can be
more melancholy than this machine, which holds four persons, moves at
the rate of about three miles an hour, and seems more like the equipage
of an hospital, than a vehicle in which the observer would expect to
find a merry face; yet in this manner do the Dutch frequently pay visits
and take the air. It was in allusion to the forest foundation of this
wonderful place, that Erasmus sportively observed, when he first visited
it, that he had reached a city, the inhabitants of which, like crows,
lived upon the tops of trees; and another wit compared Amsterdam to
Venice, on account of both having wooden legs.
Amsterdam is situated on the rivers Y and Amstel, from the latter of
which it derives its name; it is about nine miles and a half in
circumference, of a semicircular form, surrounded with a fosse about
eighty feet wide, and a rampart faced with brick, which is in several
places dismantled, and twenty-six bastions: it has also eight noble
gates of stone, and several draw-bridges: the population is estimated at
three hundred thousand. In 1204, with the exception of a small castle,
not a building was to be seen upon the scite of this great city, which,
from being at first a petty village of fishermen, dilated in the lapse
of years, and by the enterprise and industry of the inhabitants, into a
magnificent capital, which, at length, upon the shutting up of the
navigation of the Scheldt, added the commerce of Antwerp to its own, and
became the great emporium of the world. Neither here, nor in any of the
cities or towns in Holland, through which I passed, is a stranger
annoyed by barriers, productions of passports, or any of those
disagreeable ceremonies which distinguish the police of many other
countries. In Holland a foreigner finds his loco-motive disposition as
little restricted, or encumbered by municipal regulations, as in
England. Canals intersect nearly the whole of this city, adorned with
avenues of stately elms. Many of the houses are very splendid,
particularly those in Kiezer’s gragt, or Emperor’s street, and Heeren
gragt, or Lords’ street, where there are many mansions, which, were they
not so much concealed by the fan of the trees before them, would have a
very princely appearance. Many of the shops are also very handsome,
particularly those belonging to jewellers and print-sellers; in the
windows of the latter prints of the illustrious Nelson, and of our
marine victories, were exposed to view, The druggists here, and in other
parts of Holland, use as a sign a huge carved head, with the mouth wide
open, placed before the shop windows; sometimes it rudely resembles a
Mercury’s head, at others it is surmounted by a fool’s cap. This clumsy
and singular sign is called de gaaper, the gaper; what analogy it bears
to physic I could not learn; it is very likely to have originated in
whim and caprice. Some of the shop boards, called uithang borden, have
ridiculous verses inscribed upon them.
The first place my curiosity led me to was the Stadt-house, which is
unquestionably a wonderful edifice, considering that Holland furnishes
no stone, and that the foundation of the building was boggy; the latter
circumstance rendered it necessary to have an artificial foundation of
extraordinary construction and magnitude, and accordingly it rests upon
thirteen thousand six hundred and ninety-five massy trees, or piles, the
first of which was driven on the 20th of January, 1648, and the last on
the 6th of October following, when the first stone, with a suitable
inscription, was laid; and seven years afterwards the different colleges
of magistrates took formal possession of the apartments allotted for
their respective offices, but at this time the roof and dome were not
completed: the expense of this mighty edifice amounted to two millions
sterling. The principal architect was John Van Kampen, who acted under
the control of four burgomasters. The area in which it stands is
spacious, and was till lately called Revolutie plein; it is disfigured
by the proximity of the waag, or weigh-house, a very old shabby
building. The form of the Stadt-house is square, its front is two
hundred and eighty-two feet, its depth two hundred and fifty-five, and
its height one hundred and sixteen. It has seven small porticoes,
representative of the seven provinces; the want of a grand entrance is a
great architectural defect, which immediately excites the surprise of
the traveller; but it was so constructed from the wary precautionary
foresight of the magistrates who had the superintendence of the
building, for the purpose of preventing free access to a mob, in case of
tumult.
One of the first apartments which attracts the attention is the
tribunal, on the basement floor; in this room, prisoners who have been
found guilty of capital offences are conducted to receive the awful
sentence of the law; the entrance is through a massy folding door,
decorated with brass emblems, indicative of the purpose to which the
chamber is applied, such as Jove’s beams of lightning, and flaming
swords—under which are two lines from Virgil,
“Discite Justitiam moniti
“Et non temnere Divos.”
Above, between the rails, are the old and new city arms, and at the
bottom are death’s-heads and bones. The whole of the interior is
composed of white marble; on the south and north are two eows of fluted
pilasters, one above another; on the west side are statues representing
four nude women, supporting the cornices which crown the pilasters: two
of these figures conceal their faces with their hands, as indicative of
shame: in the copartments between are basso-relievos, representing the
judgment of Solomon; Zaleucus, the Locrian king, tearing out one of his
eyes, to save one of his son’s who had been condemned to lose both for
adultery, by a law made expressly against that crime by his father; and
Junius Brutus putting his sons to death. Above these are figures
representing Romulus and Remus drawing milk from the she wolf, and also
of Jupiter: the head of Medusa upon the shield of Pallas is very finely
executed. In the north, under a seat of white marble, is a place for the
secretary, who pronounces the fatal sentence when the magistrates appear
in their robes at a gallery on the west side. On the fore part of the
judgement seat is a fine marble statue of _Silence_, which Dutch
gallantry represents under the form of a _woman_, seated on the ground,
with her finger on her mouth, and two children weeping over a
death’s-head. On each side of this seat are serpents writhing round a
tree, each with an apple in his mouth; the same ornaments also decorate
the sides of the door: above the seat is a statue, raised on a black
marble pedestal, representing the city of Amsterdam as a virgin, guarded
by a lion on each side; above the head of the figure is an imperial
crown, protected by a spread eagle; on each side of the pedestal are
Neptune and Glaucus, representative of the rivers Y and Amstel, and a
little higher are the arms of the four burgomasters, in whose magistracy
the first stone of this building was laid, gracefully connected by
festoons. On the pedestal is an inscription in letters of gold,
commemorative of the laying of the first stone of the building.
The principal bas-reliefs and ornaments in this room, and other parts of
this edifice, were made by Artus Quellinus, a celebrated statuary of
Antwerp. When the awful doom of the law is to be pronounced, the
criminal is brought into this hall guarded, and nothing is omitted in
point of solemnity to impress on the mind of the delinquent and the
spectators the awful consequences of violating the laws of the country.
A thorough knowledge of human nature dictated the policy of placing this
hall on the ground-floor, the brazen door of which opens into a
thoroughfare passage through the Stadt-house. I never passed by this
door without seeing numbers of the lower orders of people gazing through
the rails of it upon the emblematical objects within, and apparently in
melancholy meditation, reflecting upon the purposes to which this hall
is applied, and upon the ignominious results of deviating from the paths
of virtue. On one side of this chamber is a a grand double staircase,
which leads to the Burghers’, or Marble Hall: it is 120 feet long, about
57 broad, and 80 high, and is entirely composed of white marble, as are
the galleries, which are 21 feet wide on each side, into which the
entrances to the different courts of justice, the chamber of domains, of
insurance, of orphans, the council-room, the offices of the bank, &c.
open. This magnificent room and the surrounding galleries were seen to
great advantage, on account of their having been cleaned previous to the
coronation of the king, which was intended to have taken place in it
about a month after I visited it. A great number of workmen had been
employed in scraping, washing, and polishing their marble sides for
several months, and their appearance was equally grand and beautiful:
the bronze gates and railing which form the grand entrance of the hall
are massy, yet exquisitely executed: over this entrance is a colonade of
Corinthian pillars of red and white marble. At one end is a colossal
figure of Atlas supporting on his shoulders the globe, attended by
Vigilance and Wisdom. The roof is painted with allegorical figures. Upon
the floor, the celestial and terrestrial globes are delineated in brass
and various coloured marbles, arranged in three large circles twenty-two
feet diameter; the two external ones representing the hemispheres of the
earth, and the centre the planisphere of the heavens.
The _Burgomaster’s_ Cabinet, as it is still called, is a handsome
apartment, the entrance of which is adorned with some beautiful carving,
emblematical of the use of the apartment. The chimney-piece in this
room, representing the triumphs of Fabius Maximus, is worthy of notice.
To the left of the Burgomasters’ chamber is a gallery, ten feet deep and
thirty broad, where, after the ringing of a bell to give notice, all
proclamations, law sentences, and municipal regulations, are
promulgated.
The chamber of the treasury ordinary contains a picture of Mary de
Medicis as large as life; a chart of Amsterdam as it appeared when first
walled round in 1482; and on the bookcases are some curious effigies of
the ancient Earls and Countesses of Holland.
The Burgomasters’ apartment is forty-five feet broad and thirty deep,
and is in my opinion the handsomest room in the Stadt-house. The marble
chimney-pieces are enriched with many exquisitely sculptured
basso-relievos by De Wit; but its chief ornament is two paintings; one
by Ferdinand Bol, representing Curius at his rural repast; and the
other, Fabricius in the camp of Phyrrhus, by Flink. From this room there
is a passage to the Execution Chamber, or _the Chamber of the last
Prayers_, where criminals condemned to death take leave of their priest,
and pass through a window, the lower part of which is of wood, to enable
its being opened level with the floor to the scaffold, which is
constructed on the outside, opposite to the weigh-house, and which is
raised as high as this part of the building. There is nothing in this
room worthy of notice, except its melancholy appropriation. From this
room we were conducted to the council chamber, which is forty-five feet
wide and thirty deep, where there is a very large painting by Jacob de
Wilt, representing Moses and the seventy elders of Israel. Above the
chimney-piece to the north is a very fine picture by Flink, the subject
Solomon imploring heaven for wisdom. Above this is a scriptural subject,
a noble production, from the pencil of Bronkhorst. Some of the
basso-relievos which adorn various parts of this room, sculptured by De
Wit, are exquisitely fine, particularly a hive of bees, a clock, a sieve
and a lamp, a pen and ink-horn. It would puzzle a magician to interpret
many of the allegorical devices, but they are all beautifully executed.
In the chamber for marriages, and injuries, there is nothing to arrest
the attention of a visitor one minute. In Holland, marriage being a
civil contract, when agreed upon in Amsterdam, it is always first
performed before the magistrates in this room, without whose fiat the
ceremony would be invalid; the clergyman, according to the religion of
the parties, performs his functions afterwards. This room is also
called, amongst the lower orders of people, the _Scolding Chamber_, on
account of the irritability frequently displayed here by parties of that
class, when they come to obtain redress for small offences. We were also
led through the chamber for sea affairs, the mercers’ hall, the
painters’ chamber, and in this room, but little suited to the treasures
which it contains, is a very long picture by Vandyke, in which there is
a gray head of an old man, of matchless excellence, which the observer
cannot but retire from with regret. The burgomasters of Amsterdam were
offered seven thousand florins for this head alone, to be cut out from
the rest of the picture. There is also a large picture by Vanderhelst,
representing a feast given by the burgomasters of Amsterdam to the
ambassadors of Spain, on account of the peace of Munster, which closed a
war that had lain waste the Netherlands for eighty years; and many other
large and fine paintings by Rubens, Jordaans, and Otho Venius. It is a
matter of surprise, that after Holland submitted to the French arms,
these exquisite productions should be permitted to remain, upon the
walls which they have so long adorned.
In the great, or council of war chamber, there are some good paintings
representing the ancient train-bands, and officers in their proper
costume; many of which are portraits. In the secretary’s office, a
handsome room, amongst other decorations, is a basso-relievo of
_Silence_, which the Dutch are very fond of representing under the form
of a _woman_. Upon my observing to a Dutchman, that in England such a
compliment had never been paid to my own lovely country women, he
replied: “Yes, but do you not notice that the statuary has placed the
finger of the lady upon her mouth, as if he thought that no one of the
sex, not even a Dutch female, could preserve silence without keeping her
lips forcibly together with her finger.” The convenience of having
nearly all the principal public offices, and courts of justice under one
roof, is very great; the size of the kingdom, and simplicity of its
public transactions, render such a concentration more easy of
accomplishment in Holland than in England.
Before we ascended to the dome, we were introduced into the great
magazine of arms, which extends the whole length of the front and part
of the sides of this vast pile: it contains a curious and valuable
collection of ancient and modern Dutch arms. Some colours which the
French took from the Spaniards have been lately added, as a present from
the king to this city, a donation which could not fail affording great
gratification to a people, who to this hour hold the Spanish nation in
abhorrence. The prospect from the tower, or dome, is very fine and
extensive, commanding the whole of the city and its environs, crowded
with windmills, the river Y filled with ships, the Zuyder Zee, the
Amstel, the Haarlem lake, and the quarter containing the gardens, the
admiralty, and ships of war on the stocks. From this elevated spot we
were nearer the bronze figures which adorn the front, representing
Justice, Wealth, and Strength, and which are of an enormous size: on the
other side is a colossal bronze statue of Atlas supporting the world,
executed in a masterly manner. The tower contains a vast number of
bells, the largest of which weighs between six and seven thousand
pounds; the carillons in this dome are remarkably sweet, they play every
quarter of an hour an agreeable air, which is executed to admiration. An
excellent carilloneur is engaged to entertain the citizens of Amsterdam
three times a week; the perfection to which he has brought his
performance can only be appreciated by those who have heard it. The
brass barrel by which he plays is seven feet and a half in diameter, and
weighs four thousand four hundred and seventy-four pounds. The clocks
strike the full hour, at the half hour, and upon the expiration of the
full hour, repeat it upon a bell of a deeper tone.
CHAPTER XV.
DUNGEONS IN THE STADT-HOUSE ... TREATMENT OF THE PRISONERS ... HALL OF
JUSTICE ... THE TORTURE ... CRIMINAL TRIALS ... CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ...
ANECDOTE OF A MALEFACTOR ... THE BANK ... ITS FORMER AND PRESENT
STATE ... POPULAR TUMULT ... EFFECTS OF DIFFUSIVE EDUCATION ... PUBLIC
FETE AT AMSTERDAM ... DANCING DUTCHMEN ... THE BEGUINES ... LADIES OF
HOLLAND ... HOUSE RENT ... THE WATER OF AMSTERDAM.
By considerable interest, and with much difficulty, I was admitted to
see the prison which occupies one of the courts of the Stadt-house, on
two sides of which, below ground, are the dungeons, to which the gaoler
conducted us by a lamp: as a place of confinement nothing can be more
secure, and as a place of punishment more horrible. After descending a
dreary flight of steps, and passing through a long narrow passage,
midway vast double doors, thickly plated with iron, were opened, through
which we entered, and at the end were stopped by two other massy doors
which, upon being unbolted, led to a row of subterranean dungeons. In
the first, by the faint light of a rush candle, I discerned the
emaciated figure of a man who had been convicted of robbery, attentively
reading: he just turned from his book to look at us a moment, and then
returned to it; he was condemned to inhabit this cell alone for life! In
the next were two young men who, in the forms of Dutchmen, seemed to
carry the elastic souls of Frenchmen, that bend to and carol under every
human misery; for in this gloomy abode, in which one would suppose
resignation would turn to despair, they were whistling and waltzing in
the dark; whilst in the third were several women and a young girl, the
latter about fifteen, confined for having displayed an early, and rather
too violent a fondness for the laws of nature. These miserable beings
were also in darkness, except when they closely approached the vast
double bars which crossed the windows of their cells, when they were
enabled to behold a little light, which faintly reached them through
some low oblong apertures on the opposite side of the passage, thickly
guarded by similar massy bars, just raised above the level of the court,
into which these poor wretches are never permitted to walk; for,
deplorable to relate, from the first minute of their commitment till
their fate is finally fixed, they are never suffered to quit their
gloomy abodes but to appear before their judges in the adjoining hall,
where they undergo private examinations, and at length a close trial.
The crimes with which these latter unhappy prisoners stood charged were
not of a very malignant nature, yet were they, even before the guilt of
some of them was established, cut off from light and air, and immured in
regions fit only to be a receptacle for the dead. I need scarcely inform
the reader that their appearance when they pressed towards the grating,
when alone they were distinguishable, was in a high degree squalid and
sickly.
None of these miserable wretches were loaded with irons; they would,
indeed, have been a very unnecessary augmentation of cruelty, for
nothing but the miraculous interference of an angel could have burst
their prison-doors, which were doubly cased with iron, and fastened with
enormous bolts and locks, whilst the walls of the cells were cased with
ponderous masonry, through which, if a prisoner had the means to
penetrate, he would afterwards have to encounter all the earth upon
which the rest of the Stadt-house stood. The gaoler showed us some irons
of a particular construction, and a board which fastened round the neck
and one hand, for refractory criminals, but he assured me they had not
been used for many years.
The principal secretary of the magistracy showed me the hall of justice,
which was also formerly the torture-chamber. Here the miserable
sufferer, who refused to confess his guilt, at the pleasure of his
barbarous judge, underwent a variety of torments; amongst others, it was
usual to fasten his hands behind his neck, with a cord which passed
through pullies fastened to a vaulted ceiling, by means of which he was
jerked up and down, with leaden weights of fifty pounds each lashed to
his feet, until anguish overpowered his senses, and a confession of
guilt was heard to quiver on his lips. Some of the iron work by which
this infamous process was effected was still adhering to the walls. This
ferocious and stupid practice was only abolished in the year 1798. This
room is entirely of stone, low, and vaulted; the windows are small, and
guarded by vast double bars of iron, and the whole is very little better
than a large dungeon. A bar for the prisoner to appear at, a seat for
the witness, for only one is most judiciously admitted at a time; a
table and raised seats for the judges, and lower ones for the officers
attached to the tribunal, form all the arrangements of this gloomy seat
of justice. The prisoner is permitted to have a counsellor to plead his
cause, and no strangers are admitted on any account. Three days are
suffered to elapse between the sentence and its execution in capital
cases; during which the prisoner is allowed whatever refreshment he may
choose; an indulgence which, from the state of the appetite at such a
period, seldom runs the state into much expense. Public punishments are
inflicted four times in the course of the year. On these occasions a
vast scaffold is erected, as I have mentioned, in the great area between
the stadt-house and the weighing or custom-house, upon a level with the
first floor of the former building, through which the criminals enter to
the spot assigned for them to receive their punishment: those who are to
be whipped receive that punishment with considerable severity, and are
not permitted to retire till those who are to die have suffered death,
which is inflicted by decapitation with the sword or hanging, though the
latter is most frequent. On these melancholy occasions, the chief
magistrates attend in their robes, and nothing is omitted to augment the
solemnity of the scene.
In consequence of its being expected that though a culprit is to suffer
death, he is to receive the fatal stroke in the precise mode prescribed
by the law, a magistrate who presided at the execution of a murderer a
few years since, had nearly subjected himself to a severe punishment.
The guilt of the criminal was aggravated by cruelty, and he was
condemned to lose his life by decapitation, in which case the law
directs that it shall be severed by one stroke of the sword: previous to
his quitting the chamber of the last prayers he laid a wager with a
friend who attended him that he had suggested an expedient by which the
executioner should not be able to perform his office; and accordingly,
the moment he knelt to receive the fatal stroke, he rolled his head in
every direction so violently, and so rapidly, that the executioner could
not strike him with any probability of decollating him at one blow; and
after many fruitless aims, was compelled to renounce the attempt. The
officers who were entrusted to see to the execution of the sentence were
in the greatest dilemma; in vain did they try by argument to persuade
the fellow to remain still, and quietly have his head taken off; he was
remanded back to prison, and after an hour’s deliberation, the presiding
magistrate, upon his own responsibility, ordered the gallows to be
brought out, upon which he caused him to be executed. The judges and
lawyers took alarm, and half the city felt as if the murderer had been
murdered; and nothing but the high character, rank, and influence of the
magistrate, by whose resolute orders the miscreant at length paid the
forfeit of his life, preserved him from the most unpleasant consequences
for enforcing the spirit of the law after a different fashion from that
prescribed. Capital punishments are very rare: four malefactors were
executed in 1799, and nine since. The Dutch entertain a frightful
opinion of the criminal laws of England, which they consider very
sanguinary, from the great number of delinquents who are annually put to
death there.
The strong apartments which formerly contained the vast treasures of the
bank, and the offices attached to that wealthy concern, are on the
ground-floor, where several clerks are employed to transact the business
of that celebrated establishment. From the wise measures adopted by the
king, who made, as I have before observed, the recognition of the
national debt one of the first measures of his government, the national
creditor has no apprehensions. Before the war, this institution, which
was a bank of deposit, was supposed to contain the greatest quantity of
bullion in the world, and popular credulity dwelt with ostentatious
fondness upon the extent of its accumulated treasures, which they
resembled to a Peruvian mine; its pile of precious metals was valued at
the enormous sum of forty millions. The regulations which governed
deposits made in this bank were as follow: the person depositing cash or
bullion received a credit in the books for the amount, and a receipt for
the same, which expired at the end of six months, was given, renewable
upon paying a small per centage for warehouse rent: if such receipt
expired before the money or bullion was redeemed, neither the one nor
the other could be afterwards removed, but for it an equivalent in bank
credit was given, which receipt could afterwards be converted into cash
in the market. Another regulation was, that not a florin of the cash or
bullion invested should ever be removed by way of loan. This compact
between the bank and the creditor was always considered inviolable. A
rumour was circulated, with equal celerity and anxiety, soon after the
arrival of the French in Holland, highly injurious to the responsibility
of the institution, and a deputation of merchants waited respectfully on
the directors of the bank, to solicit satisfaction as to its solvency;
to which an answer, couched in general terms, but favourable to its
responsibility, was given. Owing to the unshaken stability which it had
displayed, from 1672, when Louis the Fourteenth, at the head of a
victorious army, was expected every hour to have made his triumphal
entry into Amsterdam, to 1795, when the French fixed the destiny of the
country, this answer was received with perfect confidence and security
in the bank, and any doubt upon the subject was considered to be the
result of party malignity. Upon the French taking possession of
Amsterdam, a complete investigation of the business followed, and the
official report of the provisional representatives of the city
announced, that
“No deficiency whatever will exist in the said bank, and the debits
and credits will precisely balance, with this exception, that instead
of species, there have been received into the said bank, from time to
time, as securities for large sums advanced by it within the last
fifty years, a very considerable number of bonds, viz.
“Seventy bonds of the India Company of Amsterdam, guaranteed by the
states of that province, being each of 100,000 florins banco, at three
per cent. interest; besides a similar one of 50,000 banco, on which
there will be due, according to the calculation of the said clerks,
the sums of 249,000 florins banco, for interest. On account of which
bonds, the treasurer of the said city is debited in the aforesaid
balance 6,273,000 florins banco.
“Besides these, there are fifty bonds, each for 24,000 florins, on
account of the provinces of Holland and West Friesland, belonging to
the loan-office of this city, on which, according to the information
of the clerks, the bank has advanced, agreeable to the aforesaid
balance, the sum of 838,857 florins banco, on which there will be due
for interest 30,000 florins. In addition to which, the loan-office
owes the bank, conformable to the same information, the sum of
1,715,000 florins banco.
“That further, if every thing shall appear as has been stated by the
said clerks, and sterling being converted into stock, the treasurer of
the city will, in addition, owe to the bank, and for which it was made
debtor at the closing of the accounts above alluded to,
the sum of 38,358 2 0
And what it owed at the actual closing of the accounts, 155,314 6 8
———————————
Making together, banco, Florins 193,672 8 8
“That there is also due, from the said bank, 227,264 2 8, for which
bonds were originally given; but according to the clerk’s statement
were burnt; but for which the city notwithstanding paid interest
annually to the bank.
“That it is nevertheless obvious, that the city is responsible for
this sum, as well as for the whole, as it ought to be considered with
respect to it, not only as guarantee, but as actual debtor to the
bank.
“That moreover, among other things in the said bank, there has been
found in substance all the specie for which accountable receipts have
been given, agreeable to the list made out, and delivered to the
committee of commerce and marine by the cashiers of the bank, and
which can, in consequence, be at all times drawn out by the holders of
the said receipts, in exchange for them, when it shall please them so
to do.
“The aforesaid provisional representatives have, therefore, not only
taken the requisite, and most efficacious measures, that henceforward
there shall not be delivered from, nor advanced by, the said bank,
contrary to its original institution, any specie whatsoever, by any
authority, either as a loan, or in any other illegal manner; but also
that the said bonds, lodged in the said bank as securities, as
aforesaid, shall be liquidated as soon as possible, and generally,
that this city, as debtor to the bank, shall, with all practicable
dispatch, discharge in cash the balance of its account with the said
bank, which being done, the provisional representatives declare, that
there can exist no deficiency of any kind soever; and that they will,
without delay, take into their serious consideration, and will carry
into immediate effect, the means to obtain this end.”
For this sum, amounting to upwards of nine millions of florins, the
proper investments had been made, but of the deposits, which ought to
have been permanent, in consequence of the expiration of the receipts,
not a florin remained in the caves of the bank. It appeared that the
directors, like the magistrate who presided at the execution of the
murderer, beneficially for the state, no doubt had departed from the
strict letter of the law, and instead of suffering so much wealth to
remain in a state of unproductive inertion, they had duplicated the
energies of credit by judicious and advantageous loans of it to a
variety of merchants and tradesmen. This statement excited the highest
indignation against the directors, who were, in the violence of that
party-spirit which then raged in Holland, branded with every epithet
which appertains to the real national defaulter. The deficiency thus
explained could have no injurious influence upon the bank, with regard
to the cash receipts which were unexpired, unless the debts due to the
bank, upon such accommodations, should not be regularly discharged. But
no explanation could appease the popular fury, which connected this
politic deviation from the strict letter of an unwise law into high
treason against the state, and loudly demanded, that all the directors
of the bank, and persons entrusted with the management of any other
public fund, should be put under arrest: to such a height was this
spirit carried, that many of the members of the old government would
have been sacrificed to the animosity of faction, and revolutionary
vengeance, had not the French general interfered, and by a humane
proclamation addressed to people enlightened by the benign effects of
public education, averted their anger.
On the 16th of February, 1795, upon the promulgation of the abolition of
the stadtholderate, a general fraternization took place in Amsterdam,
and a complete oblivion of all public animosities. This federation was
celebrated, as I was informed, with all imaginable pomp. The carillons
in the towers of the Stadt-house, and the principal churches, played the
most enchanting patriotic airs, the tri-coloured flag waived upon their
spires, and salutes from the bastions, artillery, and men of war,
augmented the vivacity of this eventful day. Nothing could surpass the
grotesque drollery exhibited in various parts of the city: the gaiety of
the French character completely electrified the sobriety of the
Batavian. Grave Dutch brokers, whose blood had long ceased to riot, who
thought that the great purposes of life were answered when the duties of
the bureau were discharged; who, could they have compared, would have
preferred the brick of the exchange, to the “verd’rous wall of
Paradise,” who had never moved but with a measured funeral pace, were
seen in large full-bottomed wigs, and with great silver buckles,
mingling in the national dance, with the gay ethereal young Parisian
conscripts, so that it might be said of the Dutchman,
“He rises on his toe: that spirit of his
In aspiration lifts him from the earth.”
_Troilus and Cressida_, Act IV. Scene 8.
To such an elevation did the national spirit and ardour rise, that upon
a requisition requiring every person to deliver up all the uncoined gold
and silver, or plate (spoons and forks excepted) for the use of the
state, there appeared to be no reluctance to obey it, and as these state
offerings exceeded the estimate required, it is likely that none were
concealed. When these contributions exceeded in value the amount of the
taxes, to which the contributor was liable, a receipt was given for such
excess, and carried to his credit, in the next payments; with these
assistances, the government immediately directed its attention to the
deplorable state of its marine, which under the last of the
Stadtholders, had experienced the most ruinous and fatal neglect, in
consequence of the influence of the British cabinet upon the imbecile
mind of that unfortunate prince. When it is considered upon the breaking
out of the last war with Holland, how numerous and valuable were the
Dutch ships detained in British ports, what havoc our cruisers made on
her commerce, by intercepting her rich merchant vessels, and blockading
her ports, what a stagnation of internal trade must have followed, and
what enormous sums were extorted by the French army and its generals,
the reader may form some opinion of the prodigious opulence of this
country, which, under the pressure of such calamities, is still enabled
to raise her head with such few marks of suffering.
Amsterdam has no noble squares, which add so much to the splendor of
London, nor is there any bridge worthy of being noticed, except that
which crosses the river Amstel, which is built of brick, has thirteen
arches, and is tolerably handsome: on the river looking towards this
bridge, there is a fine view of the city, which I preferred sketching,
to a more expanded one on the coast immediately opposite to the city, in
the north of Holland. The only association throughout Holland, which
resembles a monastic one, is that of the Beguines, who reside in a large
house appropriated to their order, which is surrounded with a wall and
ditch, has a church within, and resembles a little town; this sisterhood
is perfectly secular, the members of which wear no particular dress,
mingle with the inhabitants of the city, quit the convent, and marry
when they please: but they are obliged, as long as they belong to the
order, to attend prayers at stated periods, and to be within the convent
at a certain hour every evening. To be admitted of this order, they must
be either unmarried or widows without children, and the only certificate
required is that of good behaviour, and that they have a competence to
live upon. The restraints are so very few, that a Beguine may rank next
to a happy wife: they have each an apartment and a little flower-garden,
and take no vows of celibacy or of any other sort; in short, the whole
establishment may be considered as a social retirement of amiable women,
for the purpose of enjoying life in an agreeable and blameless manner.
How superior this to living
A barren sister all your life,
Chaunting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon!
_Midsummer Night’s Dream_, Act I. Scene 1.
The ladies of Holland, if I may judge from those with whom I had the
honour and happiness of associating in Amsterdam, are very amiable,
thoroughly well bred, well educated, speak English, French and German,
and they are very polite and courteous to strangers: they are also
remarkable for their attention to decorum and modesty; the unmarried,
without prudery, are highly virtuous, and the married present a pattern
of conjugal fidelity. They are also very fond of dancing, particularly
of waltzing, and they are much attached to English country dances, in
which the most graceful Parisian belle seldom appears to any advantage.
The interior of the houses belonging to the higher classes in Amsterdam
is very elegant; the decoration and furniture of their rooms is very
much in the French style: they are also very fond of having a series of
landscapes, painted in oil colours, upon the sides of the rooms, instead
of stucco or paper, or of ornamenting them with pictures and engravings.
The average rent of respectable houses, independent of taxes, is from
one thousand to twelve hundred florins. The dinner hour, on account of
the exchange, is about four o’clock in this city, and their modes of
cooking unite those of England and France: immediately after dinner the
whole company adjourn to coffee in the drawing-room.
The water in this part of Holland is so brackish and feculent that it is
not drank even by the common people. There are water-merchants, who are
constantly occupied in supplying the city with drinkable water, which
they bring in boats from Utrecht and Germany, in large stone bottles:
the price of one of these bottles, containing a gallon, is about eight
pence English. The poor, who cannot afford to buy it, substitute
rain-water. The wines drank are principally claret and from the Rhine.
The vintage of Portugal has no more admirers here than at Rotterdam,
except amongst young Dutchmen, who have either been much in England, or
are fond of the taste and fashions of our country.
CHAPTER XVI.
POLICE ... FIRES ... LAWS RELATING TO DEBTORS ... DITTO TO BANKRUPTS ...
THE AANSPREEKERS ... SINGULAR CUSTOM ... THE TROKENKORB ... THE
STREETS ... INSALUBRITY OF STAGNANT CANALS ... SOCIETIES FOR RECOVERING
DROWNED PERSONS ... NOBLE CONDUCT OF THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER ... POLISH
GRATITUDE ... AUSTRIA ... THE EXCHANGE ... A DUTCH MERCHANT ... HERRING
FISHERY.
The laws in Holland against nocturnal disturbers of the peace are very
severe. A few months before I was in Amsterdam, two young gentlemen of
family and fortune had been condemned to pay ten thousand florins for
having, when “flushed with the Tuscan grape,” rather rudely treated two
women of the lower orders. The night police of Holland would form an
excellent model for that of England. The watchmen are young, strong,
resolute and well appointed, but annoying to a stranger; for they strike
the quarter-hour with a mallet on a board; which disturbs his repose,
unless he is fortunate enough to sleep in a back room, or until he
becomes accustomed to the clatter. Midnight robberies and fires very
seldom occur: to guard against the spreading of the latter, there are
persons appointed, whose office it is to remain all day and all night in
the towers or steeples of the highest churches, and as soon as they
discern the flame, to suspend, if it be in the day, a flag; if in the
night, a lantern towards the quarter of the city in which it rises,
accompanied by the blowing of a trumpet. This vigilance, and the
facility of procuring water in summer, the natural caution of the
people, and their dread of such an accident, conspires to render it a
very rare visitor. An average calculation of fires which occur in
London, where a regular account of all such accidents are registered, by
each fire insurance company having an establishment of firemen and
engines, may be collected from the register of one year, commencing from
Michaelmas 1805, viz. three hundred and six alarms of fire attended with
little damage, thirty-one serious fires, and one hundred and fifty-five
alarms, occasioned by chimneys being on fire, amounting in all to four
hundred and ninety-two accidents. The English fire insurance companies
calculate on an alarm of fire every day, and about eight serious fires
in every quarter of a year. This is a frightful estimate, and when it is
considered, that scarcely a fire of any material extent has been known
in the memory of man to have broken out in either of the universities,
or in any of the inns of court, where it would be most likely they would
occur, on account of the frequent carelessness of the inhabitants,
little doubt can remain on the minds of any one, that infinitely the
greater number of fires which happen are the fatal consequences of
diabolical design.
Although, owing to the great frugality and industry of the people, an
insolvent debtor is rather a rare character, consequently held in more
odium in Holland than in most other countries, yet the laws of arrest
are milder there than in England. If the debtor be a citizen or
registered burgher, he is not subject to have his person seized at the
suit of the creditor, until three regular summonses have been duly
served upon him, to appear in the proper court, and resist the claim
preferred against him, which process is completed in about a month;
after which, if he does not obey it, his person is subject to arrest,
but only when he has quitted his house; for in Holland a man’s dwelling
is held even more sacred than in England, and no civil process whatever
is capable of being served upon him, if he stands but on the threshold
of his home. In this sanctuary he may set at defiance every claimant;
if, however, he has the hardihood to appear abroad, without having
satisfied or compromised his debt, he is then pretty sure, from the
vigilance and activity of the proper officers, to be seized; in which
case he is sent to a house of restriction, not a prison for felons,
where he is maintained with liberal humanity, the expenses of which, as
well as of all the proceedings, must be defrayed by the creditor. Under
these qualifications, every debtor is liable to arrest, let the amount
of the debt be ever so small. The bankrupt laws of Holland differ from
ours in this respect, that all the creditors must sign the debtor’s
certificate, or agreement of liberation; but if any refuse, the ground
of their refusal is submitted to arbitrators, who decide whether the
bankrupt shall, notwithstanding, have his certificate or not.
A passenger can seldom pass a street without seeing one or more public
functionaries, I believe peculiar to this country; they are called
aanspreeker, and their office is to inform the friends and acquaintances
of any one who dies, of the melancholy event. The dress of these
death-messengers is a black gown, a band, a low cocked hat with a long
crape depending behind. To pass from the shade of death to the light of
love: a singular custom obtains upon the celebration of marriage amongst
genteel persons, for the bride and bridegroom to send each a bottle of
wine, generally fine hock, spiced and sugared, and decorated with all
sorts of ribbands, to the house of every acquaintance; a custom which is
frequently very expensive. The Dutch have also a singular mode of airing
linen and beds, by means of a trokenkorb, or fire-basket, which is about
the size and shape of a magpie’s cage, within which is a pan filled with
burning turf, and the linen is spread over its wicker frame, or to air
the bed, the whole machine is placed between the sheets. With an
exception of the streets I have mentioned, and some others in that
quarter of the city, they are not remarkable either for beauty or
cleanliness. They are all paved with brick, and none of them have any
divided flagstone footpath for foot-passengers: however, the pavement is
more handsome and comfortable than that of Paris; although in both
cities the pedestrian has no walk that he can call his own, yet in
Amsterdam is he more secure than in the French capital, on account of
the few carriages, and the skill and caution of the drivers. In no
capital in the world, not even excepting Petersburg, is the
foot-passenger so nobly accommodated as in London. Most of the streets
in Amsterdam are narrow; and many in which very opulent merchants
reside, and great traffic is carried on, are not more than sixteen or
seventeen feet wide.
The canals of this city are very convenient, but many of them most
offensively impure, the uniform greenness of which is chequered only by
dead cats, dogs, offal, and vegetable substances of every kind, which
are left to putrefy at the top, until the canal scavengers, who are
employed to clean the canals, remove them: the barges which are used on
these occasions, and the persons employed in them, present a very
disgusting appearance; the mud which is raised by them, forms most
excellent manure, and the sum it fetches in Brabant, is calculated to be
equal to the expenses of the voyage. Some of the most eminent Dutch
physicians maintain that the effluvia arising from the floating animal
and vegetable matter of these canals, is not injurious, and in proof,
during a contagious fever which ravaged this city, it was observed, that
the inhabitants who resided nearest to the foulest canals, were not
infected, whilst those who lived near purer water, only in few instances
escaped; but this by no means confirms the assertion, because those
inhabitants who lived adjoining to foul canals, were inured to contagion
from its habitual application, for the same reason that medical men and
nurses generally escape infection, from being so constantly exposed to
it. The fair criterion would be to ascertain whether, when the city is
healthy, such quarters of it continue more so. The effluvia arising from
putrid animal matter, by the medical people of this country, and of
almost every other, is considered far from being innoxious, but
infinitely less injurious than that evolved by the decomposition of
vegetables: at the same time there are many offensive smells that are
far from being unwholesome, for instance, that of the bilge-water of a
ship, and others might be enumerated. The water of these canals is in
general about eight or nine feet deep, and the mud at the bottom about
six more. Except in very foggy nights, few deaths by drowning,
considering the amount of the population, occur in these canals, and
fewer would still happen, if they were guarded against by a railing,
which is rarely erected in any part of the city. At night, as the city
is well lighted, a passenger, unless he is blind, or very much
inebriated, a disgraceful condition, which as I have before observed is
not often displayed in Holland, is not very likely to experience a
watery death.
However, to guard as much as possible against the gloomy consequence of
these casualties, the keepers of all inns and taverns, and all
apothecaries in Amsterdam, and in every other city in Holland, are
compelled under a heavy penalty to keep a printed paper containing the
most approved method of resuscitating the suspended animation of drowned
persons, in a conspicuous part of their houses. The government is also
very liberal in distributing rewards to those who, at their personal
peril, rescue a fellow-creature from destruction. Upon such occasions,
gold, silver, or medals are bestowed, according to the risk and rank of
the preserver. The first society for the restoring of drowned persons
was formed in this city in 1767, and the utmost encouragement was every
where given throughout the united provinces, by the magistrates in
particular, and afterwards by the states-general, and the success of it
has been equal to its humanity. To the Dutch nation the English are
indebted for these admirable institutions, by which so many of our
countrymen have at various times been snatched from the gripe of death,
and restored as it were to a new existence, and to their agonized
families. It is a curious circumstance to remark, that the visible
disarrangement which the human frame experiences, from being a
considerable time in water, is very little, so little that many are the
instances where the sufferer has, in the first instance, displayed all
the indicia of death, and has within a few hours been enabled to thank
his deliverer in person. The body, during this temporary suspension of
animation, resembles a clock, upon its pendulum being accidently
stopped, its works are not mutilated nor shaken out of their proper
places, but are competent to renew their functions the moment the former
is touched by some friendly hand.
As a memorable illustration, I beg to relate an anecdote of an
illustrious hero and august personage, who shedding light and happiness
upon nearly forty millions of beings, and ruling once the most extensive
empire upon the face of the earth, felt that he added a new ray of glory
and happiness to his imperial dignity in preserving, by his own
perseverance, a miserable fellow-creature from a watery grave.
In one of the journeys which his Imperial Majesty the Emperor Alexander
made through Poland, as he was riding alone, his attendants being
considerably behind him, on the banks of the little river Wilia, which
flows between Kouna and Wilna in Lithuania, he perceived some persons
assembled near the edge of the water, out of which they appeared to be
dragging something; he instantly alighted, and on approaching the spot,
found it to be the body of a man apparently lifeless. Urged by those
exalted sensibilities which regard rank and power only as bounties
delegated by heaven for the benefit of mankind, the monarch, without any
other assistance than that of the ignorant boors about him, who from his
uniform could only conceive him to be an officer of rank, drew the
apparent corpse completely from the water, and laid it on the side of a
bank, and with his own hands took off the wet clothes of the poor
sufferer, and began to rub his temples and breast, which he continued to
do for a considerable time with the most ardent anxiety, but found all
his efforts to restore animation ineffectual: in the midst of this
humane occupation, the Emperor was joined by the gentlemen of his suite,
amongst whom were Prince Wolkousky, and Count Liewen, two Russian
noblemen, and Dr. Weilly, his majesty’s principal surgeon, an English
gentleman of distinguished professional talents, who always travels
with, and is scarcely ever from his majesty. They united their exertions
to those of the Emperor, and when Dr. Weilly attempted, but in vain, to
bleed the poor creature, his majesty supported and chafed his arms, and
lent every other assistance in his power: for _three hours_ were they
thus employed with all the ardour of humanity, but saw no symptoms of
returning life, and Dr. Weilly pronounced the patient irrecoverable.
Fatigued as the Emperor was with these unceasing exertions, he would not
relinquish the work as a hopeless one, but by his own example and
language, urged and encouraged Dr. Weilly to renew his labours, which,
solely in obedience to his Imperial Majesty’s wishes, and completely
despairing of success, he recommenced; and as the whole party were
making the last effort, the emperor had the inexpressible satisfaction
of seeing the blood flow from the puncture, and of hearing a faint groan
issue from the lips of his patient.
The emotions of his Imperial Majesty at this moment were indescribable,
and in the fulness of his transport he exclaimed in French, “_Great God!
this is the brightest day of my life!_” and tears of joy sparkled in his
eyes, to ratify the feelings of his heart. Every exertion was now
redoubled, and as humanity loves to dwell upon the minutest
circumstances of this affecting scene, I must not omit to relate, that
when Dr. Weilly looked round for something to stop the blood with, the
Emperor with vivid promptitude took out his handkerchief, tore it in
pieces, with his own hands bound the sufferer’s arm, and remained with
him until he completely recovered, when he conveyed him to a place where
proper care could be administered to him; at parting, he ordered him a
liberal present of money, and afterwards, upon his return to his
capital, as if grateful to him for so large a portion of felicity,
settled a pension upon him and his family. The sensations of the
patient, when he was informed of the exalted rank of his preserver, can
be better felt than described. The poor inhabitants of that part of
Poland, who were but rude artists, fabricated four snuff-boxes, on the
lids of which they delineated, as well as they were able, this striking
and exemplary event, which they presented to the Emperor and the
gentlemen who assisted him in this work of humanity. Such is the heart
of a prince, who, almost unassailable in his mighty empire, and moved
alone by the elevated desire of impeding the gigantic progress of a
power which aims at universal domination, renounced all the pleasure of
tranquillity, and at the head of his gallant legions thundered at the
gates of princes, to awaken them from their fatal lethargy, and to
invoke them to oppose the common enemy of the world.
Alas! the solemn invocation was faintly and imperfectly obeyed. In vain
did the heroic Alexander endeavour to impart to other chiefs, whose
humiliation, if not destruction, must be the fruits of their supineness,
that divine energy which actuated his own bosom. The historian, whilst
with rapture he dwells upon the valor and the disinterested energy of
Alexander, with burning blushes will relate the mournful results which
followed the dire neglect of his solemn and unexampled appeal. To his
renewed struggles in this mighty and august cause, the eyes of England,
with whom his name will ever be consecrated, and of prostrate nations
panting, without the spirit to contend for their deliverance, are turned
with ardent anxiety. May glory crown the arms of such a prince, and may
his days be long in the land!
The exchange here is in the same style of architecture as that of
Rotterdam, but larger. My astonishment here was even greater than what I
experienced at the latter place; for, at the exchange hour, it was
overflowing with merchants, brokers, agents, and all the busy motley
characters who belong to commerce. From the prevailing activity, the
appetite for accumulation here appeared to have experienced no checks
from the inevitable calamities of war. My surprise was augmented by
reflecting, with these appearances before me, upon the present and
former commercial condition of the country. The principal causes which
contributed to render Amsterdam so rich before the two last wars, were
the invincible industry, the caution, and frugality of the people. The
ancient merchants of Amsterdam preferred small gains with little risk,
to less probable, and to larger profits: it was their creed, that more
fortunes were raised by saving and economy, with moderate advantages,
than by bold, expensive, and perilous speculations. This golden rule
they transmitted to their posterity, who have exhibited no great
disposition to deviate from it. A Dutch merchant of the present day
almost always calculates the chances for and against his success in any
undertaking, which he will immediately relinquish unless they are very
greatly in his favour, and as nearly reducible to certainty as possible:
he very rarely over-trades himself, or extends his schemes beyond his
capital: such was the foundation upon which the commerce of Amsterdam
was raised.
The principal sources of commercial wealth to Holland arose from her
herring and Greenland fisheries, which employed a great portion of her
population. The superior manner in which the Dutch pickle and preserve
their herrings is peculiar to themselves, nor has it been in the power
of England, or any other country, to find out the secret which lies, it
is said, in the manner of gilling and salting those fish. The persons
who are acquainted with the art, are bound by an oath never to impart
it, hitherto religiously adhered to, and the disclosure of it is
moreover guarded against by the laws of the country. This national
source of wealth has been greatly impeded, in consequence of the Dutch
having no herring fisheries of their own, but being obliged to seek them
on the English coast at the proper season, where, particularly off
Yarmouth, the herring shoals have been known to be six and seven feet
deep with fish. The permission granted to the Dutch fishermen, to
prosecute their occupation unmolested on our coasts, notwithstanding the
war, was frequently withdrawn by our cruisers. Last year a private
agreement took place between the two countries, and the indulgence was
renewed, by which the Dutch were very abundantly supplied with their
favourite fish: so much esteemed is it, that the first herring cured was
always presented to the stadtholder, and opulent families have been
known to give seven shillings, and even a guinea, for the first herrings
brought to market.
CHAPTER XVII.
FORMER COMMERCE OF THE DUTCH ... BATAVIA ... ANECDOTES OF NATIONAL
FRUGALITY ... EXCHANGE AND BANKING BUSINESS ... COMMERCIAL HOUSE OF
MESSRS. HOPE ... JEW FRUIT-SELLERS ... MARINE SCHOOL ... THE
RASP-HOUSE ... THE WORKHOUSE ... THE PLANTATION ... PRIESTS HOW
SUPPORTED ... PARISH REGISTERS ... THE POOR ... LITERARY SOCIETIES ...
FELIX MERITIS ... MODERN DUTCH PAINTERS.
For more than a century the Dutch East India Company enjoyed the
monopoly of the fine spices, comprehending nutmegs, cloves, mace,
cinnamon, &c. which constituted the principal branch of the Asiatic as
well as the European commerce of Holland: 360,000_lbs._ cloves were
annually sent to Europe, and about 150,000_lbs._ were sold in India;
250,000_lbs._ of nutmeg, the produce of the island of Banda, used to be
sold in Europe, and 100,000_lbs._ in India. In Europe also 400,000_lbs._
of cinnamon used to be brought to market, and 200,000_lbs._ consumed in
India. Batavia presents a wonderful instance of the enterprise of the
Dutch, who, born themselves in a marshy country, below the level of the
ocean, erected a kingdom in the fifth degree of north latitude, in the
most prolific part of the globe, where the fields are covered with rice,
pepper, and cinnamon, and the vines bear fruit twice a year. Although
this colony remains to Holland, the Dutch spice market must have very
materially suffered, from the vigilance of our ships of war in various
parts of the world, and particularly from the recent capture of her
valuable spice ships returning home richly laden from that colony. The
Dutch also carried on a large trade in rice, cotton, and pepper, and the
Java coffee, which was thought to be second only to that of Mocha. The
reader may, perhaps, be surprised to find that the amount of the spice
exports should every year be the same. The Dutch East India Company was
enabled to make this calculation in consequence of having acquired a
tolerably exact knowledge of the quantity of each kind of spice that
would be necessary for the consumption of the European markets, and
never permitting any more to be exported. In this branch of trade they
had no competition, and they were enabled to keep the price of their
spices as high as they chose, by ordering what remained unsold at the
price they had fixed upon it, to be burnt. Their spices gave them an
influence upon the trade of the north of Europe, in consequence of their
being highly prized by the different nations on the shores of the
Baltic, who furnished the Dutch with their grain, hemp, flax, iron,
pitch, tar, masts, planks, &c. The surrender of Curraçoa to the British
arms must also be severely felt. This island was always of great
importance to the Dutch, the possession and commerce of which they were
very desirous of retaining and extending. The Dutch West India Company,
many years since, refused to exchange it for the Spanish island of Porto
Rico. The commerce of Curraçoa formerly took up yearly about fifty large
ships, upon an average of 300 tons each, and the quantity of goods
annually shipped from Holland amounted to 500,000_l._ and the returns
nearly doubled that sum. The exports from Holland consisted of German
and Dutch linens, checks, East India goods, woollen and cotton
manufactures, spices, cinnamon, building materials, and many other
articles of ease and luxury. The imports to Europe were indigo, coffee,
sugar, hides, cotton, dye-wood, tortoiseshell, varinas, Porto Rico
tobacco, and occasionally cochineal. The Dutch also carried on a very
flourishing trade to Turkey and the Levant, by selling their own, the
Irish and English cloths, and purchasing tea, cocoa, ginger, and thread.
The commercial intercourse also between Holland and England was very
important, in which the balance in specie was greatly against the Dutch,
which induced many, who were ignorant of their real character, to
conclude, that they never could support so prodigious a drain of specie
as they have invariably experienced in such communications; an
impression which subsides when it is considered that the Dutch consumed
but little of what they imported from England, and that what they
purchased they resold in an improved condition to other countries. A
nation can only become rich from trade when its exports for the use of
foreign states is in a greater proportion than its imports for its own
consumption. An impression has gone forth, that a nation cannot be
impoverished if the importation of foreign merchandize be purchased
abroad by native commodity and not with specie; whereas upon a nation
striking the balance of her account with the country she may have dealt
with, it will be found that the deficiency on the side of her
exportation must be made up in specie. Hence an industrious and frugal
people like the Dutch will, when their country is in a state of
tranquillity, possess great advantages over most other nations. Industry
increases the native commodity, whether it arises from the soil or the
manufacture, and increases the exportation. Frugality will lessen the
consumption, and of course increase the exportation of native, and
reduce the importation of foreign produce, for home consumption. The
excess of all native commodities is sure of a market, of which those who
can sell the cheapest will be the masters: hence a frugal and
industrious people will be able to live and accumulate, where those who
are neither could not live. This spirit of industry and frugality has
been for ages, and still continues to be the guardian of this nation, by
which it was enabled to support its many, long, and costly wars, and
finally to force the king of Spain, its ancient master, to recognise its
independent sovereignty. Although the Hollanders, before the last war,
were the undisputed proprietors of the Indian spices, of the silks of
India and China, and of the fine cotton manufactures of Indostan, till a
period at no great distance the common people wore plain woollen cloth,
and fed on fish and vegetables. So universally powerful was this
propensity to economy, that formerly the common people, and even opulent
merchants, never changed their fashions, and left off their clothes only
because they were worn out. They have been known to purchase the coarse
English cloth for their own wear, and sell their own fine Leyden cloths
to Germany, Turkey, Portugal, and other countries: they also bought the
cheapest butter and cheese in the north of England, and in Ireland, for
their own consumption, and sent the best of those articles produced in
their own country to foreign markets. The wealth which many individuals
accumulated by their parsimonious habits was astonishing. The following
anecdote will place this part of the national character in a striking
point of view. As the marquis of Spinola and the president Richardot
were going to the Hague in the year 1608, for the purpose of negotiating
a truce with the Dutch, they saw on their way eight or nine persons step
out of a little boat, and seat themselves upon the grass, where they
made a frugal repast upon some bread, cheese, and beer; each person
taking his own provisions from a wallet which he carried behind him.
Upon the Spanish ambassadors inquiring of a peasant who these travellers
were, he replied, to their no little astonishment, “they are the
deputies of the states, our sovereign lords and masters.” Upon which the
ambassadors exclaimed, “We shall never be able to conquer these people;
we must make peace with them.” In the history of Sparta we can only look
for a similar instance of virtuous simplicity.
Another source from which Amsterdam derived great wealth was the
exchange and banking business. From her peculiar situation, vast credit;
and extensive correspondence with every nation upon the face of the
globe, this city has been the channel through which nearly three parts
of the money remitted from one state to another in Europe have passed,
and which have enriched the merchants by the customary commissions upon
such remittances: to which may be added the duties payable upon all
imports received from the manufactures of the western part of Germany,
upon all goods which in their transit by the Rhine and by the Maas to
foreign markets must pass through Amsterdam or Rotterdam, from which
Holland must have derived a considerable revenue. In short, in other and
better times, the trade with Great Britain, Persia, Russia, Spain,
Portugal, Italy, Cochin and its dependencies, Molucca, China, Japan,
Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Pomerania, Livonia, the possession of that
important promontory the Cape of Good Hope, and the commerce of the
Elbe, the Weser, and the Maas, all contributed to raise Amsterdam to the
commercial renown which she once enjoyed. Yet, notwithstanding, under
all her difficulties, arising from her territorial and marine losses by
the war, the severity of the English blockade, the activity of the
English cruisers, and of the French privateers, Holland still continues
to carry on a considerable intercourse with her old connexions through
the medium of neutral bottoms, secured by insurances effected frequently
at the enormous premium of 20_l._ per cent.
To return to the Exchange of this great city: I was much struck with the
confluence of people which surrounded one gentleman, who stood with his
back towards one of the pillars, and were very eager to get a word or a
whisper from him: upon inquiry this proved to be the acting partner of
the house of Messrs. Hope; a house that, before the last war, could at
any time dictate the exchange to Europe. This place is infested by a
great number of Jew fruiterers, who practise all sorts of stratagems to
set off their fruit, such as pinning the stalk of a fresh melon upon the
bottom of a stale and rotten one, which had nearly succeeded with me.
The melons in Holland are remarkably fine; and as a proof of their
cheapness, I need only mention, that one morning, when strolling through
the streets, I gave no more than the value of ten pence for a very large
one, exquisitely flavoured.
I was much pleased with seeing the marine school, which, although its
object is to form a nursery for naval officers, was, strange to relate,
much neglected by the stadtholderian government, and was originally
instituted, and afterwards supported, by the patriotic spirit of private
individuals. The pupils are the children of citizens of all classes, and
are received from seven to twelve years of age, upon the payment of a
very moderate yearly stipend. Their education and treatment are the same
as in similar institutions here and in other countries. In the yard is a
brig completely rigged, for the instruction of the boys.
In the north-east part of the city stands the Rapshuys, or rasp-house,
in which criminals, whose offences are not of a capital nature, are
confined. A narrow court receding from the street, in which are the
keeper’s lodge and apartments for the different officers, form the
entrance of this prison. Over the gate are some insignificant, painted,
wooden figures, representing criminals sawing logwood, and Justice
holding a rod over them. The gaoler, apparently a good natured, merry
fellow, showed me into the inner court, forming an oblong square, on
three sides of which the cells of the prisoners, and on the fourth side
the warehouses, containing the ground dying wood, are arranged. This
yard is very much encumbered with piles of logwood, which sadly reduce
the miserable pittance of space allotted for the prisoners to walk in.
In one corner, in terrorem, is a whipping-post, with another little
figure of Justice holding a rod. In this yard I saw some of the men
sawing the Campeachy-wood, with a saw of prodigious large teeth, which
appeared to be a work of extreme labour; and upon my so expressing
myself to the gaoler, through my _laquais de place_, he informed me,
that at first it required a painful exertion of strength, but that the
prisoners by practice were enabled to saw it with ease, and to supply
their weekly quota of two hundred pounds weight of sawed pieces, and
also to make a variety of little articles in straw, bone, wood, and
copper, to sell to those who visited the prison. The prison dress
consists of a jacket, or surtout of white wollen, white shirts, hats,
flannel stockings, and leather shoes. The conduct of these unfortunate
persons is annually reported to the magistrate, who regulates the period
of their confinement, where the case will admit of an exercise of
discretion, by such report.
In a corner of the yard I was shown a cell, in which, if the person who
is confined in it does not incessantly pump out the water let into it,
he must inevitably be drowned; but the gaoler informed me, that it had
not been used for many years, and that it was now only an object of
terror. In the warehouses, which are very shabby, were piles of rasped
wood for dyeing various colours; amongst others, the Evonymus Europæus,
the Morus Tinctoria, and the Hæmotoxylum Campechionum. I was informed,
that women who are attached to the prisoners, are permitted to visit
them at stated periods, without any restraint, by which one of the great
political objects of Holland, the encouragement of population, does not
suffer by this wholesome separation of the faulty from the blameless
members of society. The number of prisoners amounted to 124; they were
far from looking healthy; this I attributed more to the height of the
walls enclosing the yard, which, as well as the number of logwood piles,
must greatly impede the circulation of the air, than to excess of toil
and severity of treatment. The prisoners are not encumbered with irons,
and I should think an escape from such a prison might be easily
effected.
From the rasp-house I proceeded to the work-house, in the east quarter
of the city, close to the Muider and Prince Gragts, an establishment
which I believe has no parallel in the world. It is a vast building: the
purposes to which it is applied are partly correctional and partly
charitable. The number of persons within its walls, when I saw it,
amounted to seven hundred and fifty of both sexes, and the annual
expense is about one hundred thousand florins. In the rooms belonging to
the governors and directresses, are some exquisite pictures by Vandyke,
Rembrandt, and Jordaens. In a vast room very cleanly kept and well
ventilated, were an immense number of women, occupied in sewing,
spinning, &c.; amongst them was a fine, handsome, hearty looking Irish
woman, who had been confined two years at the instance of her husband,
for being more fond of a little true Schidam gin than of her liege
spouse. In another vast apartment, secured by massy iron railing and
grated windows, were about seventy female convicts, who appeared to be
in the highest state of discipline, and were very industriously and
silently engaged in making lace, &c. under the superintendency of a
governess. From the walls of the room were suspended instruments of
punishment, such as scourges, irons for the legs, &c. which, we were
informed, were not spared upon the slightest appearance of
insubordination. These women are always kept apart from the rest. The
wards of the men, and the school-rooms for a great number of children,
who are educated and maintained under the same roof, as well as the
dormitories, were in the highest state of neatness. In another part of
this building, never shown to strangers, were confined about ten young
ladies, of very respectable, and some of very high families, sent there
by their parents or friends for undutiful deportment, or some other
domestic offence. They are compelled to wear a particular dress as a
mark of degradation, obliged to work a stated number of hours a day, and
are occasionally whipped: they are kept apart by themselves, and no one
but a father, mother, brother, or sister, can see them during their
confinement, and then only by an order from one of the directors.
Husbands may here, upon complaint of extravagance, drunkenness, &c. duly
proved, send their wives to be confined and receive the discipline of
the house; and wives their husbands, for two, three, and four years
together. The allowance of food is abundant and good; and each person is
permitted to walk for a proper time in the courts within the building,
which are spacious. Every ward is kept locked, and no one can go in or
out without the especial permission of the proper officer.
Close to this place is the plantation, a very large portion of ground
within the city, laid out in avenues, and a great number of little
gardens, formed into several divisions by streets of pretty country and
summer-houses; and the whole is surrounded by canals. To this _rus in
urbe_, such of the citizens and their families repair in the summer to
dine or drink tea, whose finances, or spirit of economy will not admit
of their having a house in the country. To render these rural
indulgences as cheap as possible, three or four families join in renting
one small cottage, or perhaps a summerhouse and garden. Never did any
spot devoted to the pleasure of nature exhibit more silence and
solemnity: no sports, no pastime, no laugh nor gambol: the females drink
their tea and work, and the men smoke in peaceful taciturnity, and
scarcely move their eyes from their different occupations, unless some
very animating and attractive object passes.
In my way from the plantation to the elegant country residence of a
Dutch merchant of high respectability, I passed, a few miles from
Amsterdam, two burial places of the Jews, who wisely bury their dead in
the country; the other inhabitants follow the baneful practice of
burying in the churches and church-yards in the city, where the
catholics deposit their dead very frequently in protestant churches. In
Holland the honours of funeral pomp are scarcely ever displayed: the
spirit of economy, which seems to be the tutelar saint of these moist
regions, seldom incurs a further expense than a plain coffin, which
costs little, and some genuine tears or sighs, which cost nothing. To
describe the numerous churches, chapels, and conventicles of the
religions of all persuasions, who since the revolution live in cordial
amity with each other, and with the government, under which they enjoy
the rights of equal citizenship, would be a laborious and not a very
interesting labour. The quakers here, and in every other town in
Holland, are very few: the Jews and the anabaptists are very numerous,
and there are many Roman Catholics. Before the revolution the clergy of
the established church were paid by the government; they, as well as
every other priest or pastor, are now supported at fixed salaries,
raised rateably amongst the inhabitants of the parishes in which they
officiate, each sect supporting its own minister. In every parish
registers of births, marriages, and deaths are regularly kept. The
church-yards are not disgraced, like ours, with low facetious epitaphs,
more calculated to make the living merry, than to lead them to serious
meditation. Each parish maintains its own poor, under the control of a
council. They have also, as with us, outdoor poor. The sabbath is kept
in Holland with the same solemnity as in England. The great number of
noble charitable institutions in Amsterdam, in which the sick and the
friendless of all persuasions are received and cherished, without any
recommendation but that of affliction, cannot fail to impress a stranger
with admiration, though to enumerate them here would not be very
entertaining to the reader.
There are several literary societies in Amsterdam, which are supported
with equal spirit and liberality. The Felix Meritis is the principal
public institute; it is supported by private subscriptions: no money is
paid upon admission; foreigners are admitted with a subscriber’s ticket,
but no native can be received unless he is a subscriber. This place is a
large building, containing some fine apartments, particularly the
music-room, which, during the concerts, is much resorted to by the most
opulent and fashionable families, many of whom play, with the assistance
of professional performers. There are also rooms devoted to philosophy
and the arts. In the painting-room I was shown some works of the modern
Dutch painters, which were not above mediocrity; they appear to have
lost that exquisite art of colouring, which so eminently distinguished
their predecessors. This circumstance is very singular, considering how
many ingenious artists this city has produced, amongst whom may be
enumerated the three Does, Griffier, Schellinks, the celebrated Adrian,
and William Vandervelde, &c. M. Smit, and Mr. De Winter, very opulent
merchants, have a fine collection of paintings. Mr. Van Brenton has also
a valuable cabinet, in which are the only Venetian pictures supposed to
be in Holland; and in the surgery is a noble picture by Rembrandt.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE DUTCH THEATRE ... THEATRICAL TRAFFIC ... THE RONDELL ... SINGULAR
VILLAGE OF BROCK ... SAARDAM ... COTTAGE OF PETER THE GREAT ... CLIMATE,
DIVISIONS, AND POPULATION OF HOLLAND ... JOURNEY TO ZEYST ... DUTCH FOND
OF COFFEE ... SMALL FARMS ... PICTURE OF A DUTCH PEASANT’S NEST ...
EFFECTS OF INDUSTRY ... PALACE OF SOESTDYKE ... PYRAMID RAISED IN HONOUR
OF BONAPARTE ... SOCIETY OF HERRENHUTHERS ... THEIR HOUSE AND INTERNAL
ARRANGEMENTS DESCRIBED.
The Dutch theatre is large and handsome, and has a noble front. On the
night I was there, Madam Wattier performed: she occupies the same place
in the public estimation in Holland as the immortal Siddons does in that
of England: she is advanced in years, but still continues to display
great tragic qualities: at the same time her manner is rather too
vehement for an English auditor. The principal dancer in the ballet was
Mademoiselle Polly, who dances with great agility. The scenery is good.
During the interval between the acts, the people quit the house, to take
refreshments and walk in the open air: upon these occasions the national
spirit is again displayed: as there is no half-price, little boys hover
round the doors, and bid upon each other for the purchase of the
re-admission tickets of those who come out, for the purpose of
re-selling them at a profit. The French theatre is small but neat, and
tolerably well supplied with performers. After the play it is usual to
go out to the Rondell, where the higher classes of the women of the town
assemble to waltz. This assembly-room, like the spill-house of
Rotterdam, is frequented by tradesmen, their wives and their children.
After hearing so much of this place, I was greatly disappointed on
viewing it. The assembly-room is small and shabby, the music wretched,
and adjoining is a small square court, with three or four trees in it,
scantily decorated with about a dozen lamps. Such is the celebrated
Rondell of Amsterdam, which the Dutch who have never visited England
contend is superior to our Vauxhall.
With a large and very agreeable party, I made an excursion into North
Holland, where we visited Brock, one of the most curious, and one of the
prettiest villages in Holland. The streets are divided by little
rivulets; the houses and summer-houses, formed of wood painted green and
white, are very handsome, though whimsical in their shape, and are all
remarkably neat. They are like so many mausoleums, for the silence of
death reigns throughout the place. The inhabitants, who have formed a
peculiar association amongst themselves, scarcely ever admit a stranger
within their doors, and hold but little intercourse with each other.
During our stay, we saw only the faces of two of them, and those by a
stealthy peep. They are very rich, so much so, that many of their
culinary utensils are of solid gold. The shutters of the windows in
front of the houses are always kept shut, and the principal entrance is
never opened but on the marriage or the death of one of the family. The
pavement of the street is tesselated with all sorts of little pebbles
and cockle-shells, and is kept in such exquisite order, that a dog or a
cat is never seen to trespass upon it; and it is said, that formerly
there was a law which obliged all passengers to take off their shoes in
the summer when they walked upon it; that a man was once reprimanded for
sneezing in the streets; and latterly, a clergyman, upon being appointed
to fill the church on the demise of a very old predecessor, was treated
with great shyness by his flock because he did not (unwittingly) take
off his shoes when he ascended the pulpit. The gardens of this village
produce deer, dogs, peacocks, chairs, tables, and ladders, cut out in
box. Such a museum of vegetable statuary I never witnessed before. Brock
represents a sprightly ball-room well lighted up, without a soul in the
orchestra or upon the floor. From Brock we proceeded to Saardam, which
at a small distance seems to be a city of windmills. The houses are
principally built of wood, every one of which has a little fantastic
baby-sort of garden. Government has discontinued building ships of war
here, which used to be a source of great prosperity to the town;
however, its numerous paper and sawing mills employ a vast number of
hands, and produce great opulence to the place. We paid our homage to
the wooden cottage where Peter the Great resided when he came to this
place to learn the art of ship-building; it is very small, and stands in
a garden, and is in tolerable preservation. The women in North Holland
are said to be handsomer than in any other part of the country. As I was
very desirous of commencing my tour on the Rhine, I was glad to return
to Amsterdam.
The climate of Holland is moist, but far from being unpleasant or
unwholesome, although some travellers have thought proper to say it
consists of six months of rain and six months of bad weather. The
principal divisions of the country are at present the same as they were
during the republic, namely, Holland, Overyssel, Zealand, Friesland,
Utrecht, Groningen, Guelderland, and Zutphen, besides the Texel and
other islands; but the king has it in contemplation, it is said, of
speedily dividing the kingdom into ten departments. Holland contains 113
cities or large towns, 1400 villages, and nearly 2,800,000 inhabitants.
The military force of Holland amounts to about 40,000 cavalry and
infantry. A population and a force which cannot but astonish the reader,
when he reflects upon the size, soil, and position of the country.
I intended to have taken the treckschuyt to Utrecht, as the river Amstel
is all the way lined with the most beautiful country-houses and grounds
in Holland; but as some friends of mine in Amsterdam obligingly proposed
accompanying me, and were strongly desirous that I should see Naarden,
Soestdyke, and some other places in our way, the boat was relinquished
for the carriage. I however recommend the traveller not to omit going to
Utrecht by water. Excellent carriages and horses are always to be
procured at a large livery stable keeper’s who resides near the
Utrecktsche Poort, or Utrecht Gate, in Amsterdam, close to the house
from which the Utrecht treckschuyts proceed: for these he must make the
best bargain he can, as he will be wholly at the mercy of the
proprietor. The inconvenience and imposition arising from travelling in
Holland are frequently severely felt, on account of there being no
regular posting. In Amsterdam the price of a carriage for the day is
fourteen florins, and for this the coachman provides for himself and
horses. The back of our carriage towards the horses, folded into two
divisions, resting upon the fixed seat, so that when the cushion was
placed upon it, the seat was only a little raised; thus the coach became
either close or open: the roof was fixed. In this vehicle, with a pair
of good horses, we set off for Naarden, a clean, pretty little town, and
more skilfully and strongly fortified than any other town in Holland:
here the same tranquillity reigns as in most of the other Dutch country
towns. From the ramparts, which present a very agreeable walk, there is
a fine view of the Zuyder Zee on the northern side, the water of which
being in many places very shallow, at a distance resembled moving mounds
of sand. Here, and throughout the journey, our coachman gave the
preference to coffee, of which the Dutch are remarkably fond, instead of
wine or spirits, with his dinner. From economy, as I observed at this
place and elsewhere, the middling people keep a bit of sugar-candy in
their mouth when they drink tea or coffee, instead of using sugar in the
way we do. Our host regaled us after dinner with a volunteer dessert of
some very delicious pears, which grew in very great profusion in his
garden.
From this place to Soestdyke, one of the two country palaces of the king
allowed by the constitution, the roads are very sandy, and we were
obliged to take four horses. In the neighbourhood of Naarden the country
is covered with buckwheat; which, after we had advanced about four
English miles, began to undulated, and present a very beautiful
appearance. The many spires and chimnies of villages peeping above the
trees in all directions, the small divisions of land, the neat and
numerous little farm houses which abounded on all sides of us, presented
a picture of industry and prosperity seldom seen in any other country.
The sound wisdom displayed by the Dutch in preventing the overgrowth and
consolidation of farms, cannot fail to strike the observation of the
traveller, and particularly an English one. By this admirable policy,
Holland is enabled to maintain its comparatively immense population,
under the great disadvantage of a soil far from being genial; hence it
is but little burthened with paupers, and hence the abundance of its
provision. In England, on the contrary, the farmers, grown opulent by
availing themselves of the calamities of unproductive seasons, and
consequent scarcity, have for many years past omitted no opportunity, by
grasping at every purchase, to enlarge their estates, and hence a
portion of land which, if separated into small allotments, would give
food and a moderate profit, to _many_ families, is now monopolized by
_one_; and those who ought to be farmers on a small scale, are now
obliged to toil as labourers in the fields of their employer, at wages
that are not sufficient, if their families are numerous, to prevent the
necessity of their applying for parochial aid. If some legislative
provision could be effected to restrain this monstrous and growing evil,
by that ardent and cordial lover of his country, and particularly of the
lower classes of society, Mr. Whitbread, who has laudably in parliament
applied his enlightened mind to ameliorate the condition of the poor, it
would be one of the most beneficial measures that ever received the fiat
of the British senate. I do not repine to see the farmers, or any other
respectable class of men, receive and enjoy the honest fruits of their
own enterprize and industry: I could see with less regret all those
decent and frugal habits of the farm which once characterized the
yeomanry of England superseded by the folly and fashion of the gay and
dissipated; the farmer drinking his bottle of port instead of some cheap
salubrious ale; his daughter, no longer brought up in the dairy,
returning from a boarding-school, to mingle the sounds of her harp with
the lowing of cows, or reluctantly going to the market of the adjoining
town, tricked out in awkward, misplaced finery, with a goose in one hand
and a parasol in the other, did not the poor classes of society become
poorer, and the humble more humiliated, by the cause of this marvellous
metamorphosis in rural economy. In Holland, I was well informed, there
is not a farm that exceeds fifty acres, and very few of that extent.
There the economy observed in and about the “peasant’s nest,” is truly
gratifying: the farmer, his wife, and a numerous progeny, exhibit faces
of health and happiness; their dwelling is remarkable for its neatness
and order throughout; in the orchard behind, abounding with all sorts of
delicious fruits, the pigs and sheep fatten; three or four sleeky cows
feed in a luxuriant adjoining meadow; the corn land is covered with
turkies and fowls, and the ponds with ducks and geese. Such is the
picture of a Dutch farm.
Notwithstanding the enormous tax upon land, and a tax upon cattle per
head, an imposition unknown to any other country, the expense of
contributing to the support of the dykes, the duty on salt, and a
variety of other charges, amounting to more than fifty per cent. on the
value of their land, the beneficial effects arising from small farms and
the simplicity, diligence, and economy of the Dutch farmer, enable him
to discharge those expenses, and his rent, with punctuality, and with
the surplus of his profit to support his family in great comfort. To
these causes alone can be attributed the astonishing supplies which are
sent to the different markets. North Holland, so celebrated for its
cheese, supplies Enkuysen, upon an average, with two hundred and fifty
thousand pounds weight of that valuable article of life, and Alkmaar
with three hundred thousand, per week. In a very small space in the isle
of Amak, within about two English miles of Copenhagen, no less than four
thousand people, descendants of a colony from East Friesland, invited
over by one of the kings of Denmark to supply the city with milk,
cheese, butter, and vegetables, are enabled to live and flourish, and
continue to supply that city with these articles. I remember being
highly delighted with seeing their dwellings and little luxuriant
gardens; nor did I ever see so many persons living within so small a
space, except in an encampment. An experienced English agriculturist who
had visited Holland, informed me that he thought the Dutch farmers did
not sufficiently dress their land. The vegetable soil is in general so
thin, that trees in exposed situations are usually topped, to prevent
their being thrown down by the wind. In that part of Holland which I am
describing, on account of its being well sheltered, there is a large
growth of wood. Upon leaving the romantic and exquisitely picturesque
village of Baren, we entered the royal chace, which occupies a vast
track of ground in this forest. The trees are generally poor and thin,
but I saw some fine beeches among them. On the borders of this chace are
two country villas, in the shape of pagodas, belonging to a private
gentleman, the novelty and gaudy colouring of which served to animate
the sombre appearance of the forest behind.
In the evening we reached the principal inn at Soestdyke, lying at the
end of a very long avenue in the forest, chiefly filled with young oaks,
a little fatigued with the tedium produced by the heavy roads through
which we had waded; however, after some refreshing tea taken under the
trees, near the house, we proceeded to view the palace, formerly a
favourite sporting chateau of the Orange family. A tolerable plain brick
house on the left of the entrance, composed the lodge, and after passing
through a large court, we ascended by a flight of steps to the principal
entrance of this palace, if palace it may be called, for a residence
more unworthy of a prince I have never seen. The only part of the house
in any degree deserving of notice was the hall, the sides of which were
decorated with the emblems of rural recreation, the implements of
husbandry, and all the apparatus of hunting, fishing, and shooting,
tolerably well executed. The rooms were principally white-washed, and
destitute of furniture: the windows were large, and the panes of glass
very small, fastened with lead, such as are used in cottages: in short,
the whole palace presented the appearance of a country mansion in
England of the date of Charles the First, deserted by the family to whom
it belonged, and left to the care of the tenants who rent the estate to
which it belongs. Nothing could be more dreary and desolate. The king
and queen partook of a cold collation here a short time before I visited
it, provided by the family who rented the place of the state, and
occupied it when we visited it. I was not surprised to hear that the
royal family staid only one hour, during which they scarcely ventured
out of a large naked room at the back part of the house, called the
grand saloon: one of the young princes gave a son of the gentleman who
occupied the premises, an elegant watch set round with brilliants. I
could not help reflecting a little upon the disgust this visit must have
given to the queen, who had just arrived from Paris, and from all the
voluptuous and tasteful magnificence of the new imperial court. The
palace is surrounded by a ditch half filled with green stagnant water,
the dulness of which was only relieved by the croaking of a legion of
undisturbed frogs. The gardens and grounds, which abounded with hares,
are very formally disposed into dull, unshaded, geometrical walks. After
supper, a brilliant moon and cloudless night, attracted us into one of
the most beautiful and majestic avenues of beeches I ever saw,
immediately opposite the palace: as we sat upon a bench, looking through
an opening upon the bright bespangled heavens, the description of our
divine bard stole upon my mind:
—Look how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patterns of bright gold!
There’s not the smallest orb, which thou behold’st,
But in its motion like an angel sings.
_Merchant of Venice_, Act I. Sc. 1.
In this wood are several genteel country-houses, many of which were
formerly occupied by those who belonged to the Orange court. The inn
here is much frequented, the accommodations of which are good, by the
people of Amsterdam, who frequently make parties to it; and it is the
great resort of those married couples fresh from the altar, until the
honey-moon is in her wane.
In the morning about five o’clock we set off for Zeyst, or Ziest, and
passed through a large tract of champagne country, interspersed with
short brushwood, the dull monotony of which was at last relieved by a
vast pyramid, erected by the French troops who were encamped in the
immense open space in which it stands, amounting to 30,000 men, under
the command of Gen. Marmont. On the four sides are the following
inscriptions:
INSCRIPTION ON THE GRAND FRONT.
“This pyramid was raised to the august Emperor of the French, Napoleon
the First, by the troops encamped in the plain of Zeyst, being a part
of the French and Batavian array, commanded by the Commander in Chief,
Marmont.”
INSCRIPTION ON THE SECOND FRONT.
_Battles gained by the Emperor._
“The battles of Montenotte, de Dego, and Millesimo, of Mondovi, the
passage of the Po, the battle of Lodi, the engagement of Berguetto,
the passage of the Mincio, the battles of Lonato, of Castiglione, of
the Brenta, of St Georges, of Arcola, of la Favourite, of Chebreis, of
Sediman, of Montabor, of _Aboukir_, of Marengo.
Wherever he fought he was victorious.
Through him the empire of France was enlarged by one third.
He filled the world with his glory.”
INSCRIPTION ON THE THIRD FRONT.
“He terminated the civil war; he destroyed all cabals, and caused a
wise liberty to succeed to anarchy; he re-established religious
worship, he restored the public credit, he enriched the public
treasury, he repaired the roads and constructed new ones, he made
harbours and canals, he caused the arts and sciences to prosper, he
ameliorated the condition of the soldiers, the general peace was his
work.”
ON THE FOURTH FRONT.
“The troops encamped in the plains of Zeyst, making part of the French
and Batavian army, commanded by the General in Chief Marmont, and
under his orders, by the Generals of division, Grouchy, Boudet,
Vignolle, the Batavian Lieutenant, General Dumonceau, the Generals of
Brigade, Soyez, &c. [here follows a long list of the names of the
other officers, too tedious to enumerate; also a very long list of the
different divisions of the regiments to which the above officers
belonged,] have erected this monument to the glory of the emperor of
the French, Napoleon the First, at the epoch of his ascending the
throne, and as a token of admiration and love, generals, officers, and
soldiers, have all co-operated with equal ardour: it was commenced the
_24th Fructidor_, 12 ann, and finished in _thirty-two days_.”
The whole was designed by the chief of the battalion of engineers. The
total height of this stupendous monument is about 36 metres, or 110
French feet; that of the obelisk, exclusive of the _socle_, is about 13
metres, or 42 French feet. One end of the base of the pyramid is 48
metres, or 148 feet. From the summit of the obelisk the eye ranges over
a vast extent of country, Utrecht, Amersfort, Amsterdam, Haarlem, the
Hague, Dordrecht, Leyden, Gorcum, Breda, Arnheim, Nimeguen, Bois le Duc,
Cleves, Zutphen, Dewenter, Swol, and a great part of the Zuyder Zee, may
be distinctly seen on a fine clear day.
Upon this spot it is in contemplation immediately to erect a new city,
the building of which, and the cutting of a canal to be connected with
the adjoining navigation, have already commenced. Zeyst is a very
handsome town, or rather an assemblage of country-houses, it abounds
with agreeable plantations and pleasant woods, and is much frequented in
the summer by the middling classes of wealthy merchants from Amsterdam,
who sit under the trees and smoke with profound gravity, occasionally
looking at those who pass, without feeling any inclination to move
themselves: what an enviable state of indifference to all the bustle and
broil of this world! upon which they seem to gaze as if they were sent
into it to be spectators and not actors. Who, upon reflection and sober
comparison, would not prefer this “even tenour” to the peril of the
chace and the fever of dog-day balls!
The principal hotel here is upon a noble scale, the politest attentions
are paid to strangers, and the charges are far from being extravagant.
The only striking object of curiosity in the town is a very spacious
building, formerly belonging to Count Zinzendorf, and now to a
fraternity of ingenious and industrious Germans, amounting to eighty
persons, who have formed themselves into a rational and liberal society,
called the Herrenhuthers, or Moravians. This immense house, in its
object, though not in its appearance, resembles our Exeter ’Change, but
infinitely more the splendid depot of goods of every description, kept
by a very wealthy and highly respectable Englishman of the name of Hoy
at Petersburgh. Upon ringing at the principal entrance, we were received
with politeness by one of the brotherhood, in the dress of a layman, who
unlocked it and conducted us into ten good sized rooms, each containing
every article of those trades most useful, such as watchmakers,
silversmiths, saddlers, milliners, grocers, &c. Many of these articles
are manufactured by the brethren who have been tutored in England, or
have been imported from our country. The artificers work upon the
basement story, at the back of the house, and no sound of trade is
heard; on the contrary, the tranquillity of a monastery pervades the
whole.
After inspecting the different shop-rooms, it will repay the trouble of
the traveller to make interest to see the other part of the premises,
shown only upon particular application. The refectory is a large room,
kept with great cleanliness; and the meals of the fraternity, if I may
judge by so much of the dinner as was placed upon the table, are very
far from partaking of the simple fare of conventual austerity. A _bon
vivant_ would have risen from their table without a murmur. In this room
were several music-stands, used every other evening at a concert; the
vocal and instrumental music of which is supplied by certain members of
the brotherhood, who I was told excelled in that elegant accomplishment.
In the chapel, which was remarkably neat, there was an organ, and on the
wall was a very energetic address from one of the society upon his
retiring from it, handsomely framed and glazed. The dormitory upon the
top of the house partook of the same spirit of cleanliness and order.
Never was any sectarian association formed upon more liberal and
comfortable principles. In short, it is a society of amiable,
industrious, and agreeable men, who form a coalition of ingenuity and
diligence for their support, and benevolently remit the surplus of their
income, after defraying their own expenses, to their brethren
established in the East and West Indies, and other parts of the world.
They marry whenever they please; but those who taste of this blissful
state are not permitted to have chambers in the house, although they may
contribute their labours, and receive their quota of subsistence from
it.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE MALL OF UTRECHT ... A GASCONADE ... THE RHINE ... CONQUEST OF
UTRECHT ... THE CATHEDRAL ... BEAUTIFUL LINES ... ANECDOTES OF
DISTINGUISHED PERSONS BORN AT UTRECHT ... THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS ... A
DIRECTION ... THE CITY OF ARNHEIM ... ANECDOTE OF BECK ... DUTCHY OF
BERG ... CLEVES ... ANECDOTE OF FLINK ... A TEDIOUS FORM ... ANECDOTE OF
BROWN BREAD ... THE CONTRAST ... THE RECEPTION ... BONAPARTE’S HATRED OF
ENGLISH.
After we had amused ourselves with roving about this agreeable place, we
set off for Utrecht. I have before mentioned the manner in which the
Dutch compute distances, and although I had for some time been
accustomed to hear hours substituted for miles, yet as I was no longer
on the canals, it sounded somewhat strange to hear a charming lady of
our party observe, which she did with perfect Dutch propriety, when we
were speaking of the probable time in which we should arrive at Utrecht:
“Surely our horses must be poor indeed if they cannot go six hours in
_three_.” Our road lay through a very rich and beautiful country, well
drained, abounding with neat compact little farms, orchards, wood
plantations, the lofty and venerable towers of Utrecht appearing full in
our view all the way. We passed by the mall, which has a handsome stone
entrance, is upwards of a mile in length, and is bordered with a triple
row of trees, with a carriage-road on each side. When this city
surrendered to the arms of Louis the Fourteenth in 1672, he was
uncommonly delighted with this walk, yet, from knowing that it was
equally admired by the citizens, he threatened to have every tree felled
to the ground, unless they raised a very large contribution, which was
immediately produced, and the mall preserved. If the menace of the
conqueror was sincere, which I can scarcely believe, he united the
tasteless barbarism of a Vandal to the ferocious rapacity of a tyrant.
Louis overran this province, and the greatest part of Guelderland,
Overyssel, and Holland, at the head of one hundred thousand men, in less
than a month, a rapidity of victory almost incredible, though infinitely
surpassed by the arms of France in the present times. The progress of
the French king was celebrated in the following gasconade:
Una dies Lotharos, Burgundos hebdomas una,
Una domat Batavos luna, quid annus erit?
I think Utrecht one of the most beautiful cities in Holland, next to the
Hague, which it is said to exceed in size. The streets are wide, and the
buildings handsome, amongst which the hand of the Spanish architect is
frequently to be traced. The canals are about twenty feet below the
street; and the access to them for the servants of the adjoining houses
is by a subterranean passage. These canals are very much neglected, and
were covered in all directions with cabbage-stalks, leaves, and other
vegetable substances, left to putrefy upon the surface. There I first
beheld a branch of the Rhine unmingled with other waters. This mighty
river has partaken of the mutability to which every thing sublunary is
subjected. Near the village of Cooten, about twelve miles from Utrecht,
the traveller may contemplate corn waiving and cattle depasturing where
once it rolled its broad majestic waters, now diminished to a little
streamlet: its division into the two great copious and navigable streams
takes place a little above Nimeguen: the right branch retains the name
of the Rhine; the left is called the Waal, a word expressive of a
defensive boundary, which separated the ancient Batavians from their
hostile neighbours on the southern border: the former, during its
superabundance, produced a small branch called the Lack, which ran near
the little city of Wyk, by Deurstede, directed its course towards
Utrecht, upon which it bestowed the name of _Ultra trajectum_, passed
through Woerden Leyden, and disembogued itself into the German Ocean at
Catwyk: the latter branch in rolling its waters toward the sea,
incorporated with the Maas, and their united streams were called the New
Maas, under which name they flow by Dort, Rotterdam, and other cities,
into the sea. Had rivers tongues, as poets feign they have, this
much-injured branch of the Rhine might have exclaimed with Wolsey, I now
am left
——to the mercy
Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me.
Upon the subsiding of a great inundation, the frequent terror of the Low
countries, it was found that the Rhine had changed its channels, and
flowed into that of the Lack, to which it had given birth, in
consequence of its channel having been amazingly deepened by the watery
irruption. This branch, in consequence of the power of its waters not
being able to bear down the obstructions opposed to it, is not able to
force its way to the sea, and is stopped in its course near the village
of Catwyk by mountains of accumulated sand, and being compelled to
regurgitate, is distributed over, and lost in the neighbouring canals.
The French, under Louis the Fourteenth, retained possession of Utrecht
for little more than a year, during which the magnificent monarch was so
delighted with the place, that he held his court here in great gaiety
and splendor; but the Dutch were heartily rejoiced to be relieved of
this honour, and hailed with exultation the hour in which with his
troops he retired from the country; this movement however, was preceded
by the demolition of their fortifications, raising heavy contributions,
and exercising many wanton acts of cruelty and oppression, which excited
such disgust, that nearly all the inhabitants of the province resolved
upon transporting themselves to Batavia. Although by this conquest the
French had left an indelible impression of disgust behind them, and the
regular forces of the town amounted to seven thousand men, and the
inhabitants breathed nothing but vengeance against the Prince of Orange,
this city surrendered to the arms of Prussia, who espoused his cause, in
the year 1787. The rhyngrave of Salm, who had the command of the troops,
covered himself with great disgrace, by this unresisting, cowardly, and,
as it was generally believed, treacherous surrender of the place. In
1795, when the French troops once more approached the town, its gates
were again thrown open, and they were received more as brethren than as
conquerors; but the inhabitants very soon repented of this second visit,
for the impositions they levied were extremely severe, and the French
officers selected the best rooms in the best houses for their quarters,
to the great inconvenience of families so oppressed. Upon two or three
doors of very elegant mansions I saw little boards fastened, with the
names and rank of the French officers who had taken up their lodgings
within. The cathedral must once have been an enormous and magnificent
structure, if I may judge by the doom or tower, the only part which
remains perfect. The ruins present a fine specimen of the Gothic, some
of the ornaments of which were in high preservation, and very beautiful.
In the cloisters there is an arch, the pillars of which are apparently
fastened with ropes, which upon examination prove to be done in stone,
and admirably executed. The tower is of the astonishing height of 464
feet, and from the top, on a clear day, no less than fifty-one walled
cities and towns may be seen; and the pyramid erected in honour of
Napoleon at Zeyst presents a noble appearance in this expanded view.
About midway in our ascent, we entered a vast vaulted chamber with
galleries in it, in which two old women reside, who, if they require it,
supply the visitors with schidam and biscuits to refresh themselves in
their ascension, which are presented to them in a little room, the
windows of which are scarcely visible to the beholder on the outside,
commanding a very wide and agreeable prospect. Upon top of the tower
there is a very numerous and fine-toned set of chimes. The ramparts are
about four miles round the tower, and afford a very agreeable and
picturesque walk. Utrecht was once a rich and powerful see, the bishops
of which were sovereign princes, who laying the crosier aside, and
assuming the sword, frequently waged bloody warfare with their rivals
the prince bishops of Leyden.
The same causes which have thinned the number of students of Leyden,
have reduced those of Utrecht, which do not exceed 360, most of whom are
the sons of the inhabitants of the city. Two-thirds of the merchants of
this place have connexions with London. There are several endowments of
a charitable nature, which do honour to the city, many of which were
originally instituted, and principally supported by English families
resident here before the revolution. A botanic garden has lately been
formed near the dome of the cathedral; it is upon a small scale, but
appeared to be well arranged. In one of the gardens close to the city,
was a naked little statue of Cupid, without arrows or wings, with the
following beautiful inscription under it:
N’ offrant qu’un cœur à la beauté,
Nud comme la vérité,
Sans armes comme l’Innocence,
Sans aîles comme la Constance,
Tel fut l’Amour dans le siecle d’or,
On ne le trouve plus, quoiqu’ on le cherche encore.
To Beauty give your heart, your sighs,
No other offering will she prize;
As Truth should unadorn’d appear
Behold! the God is naked here.
Like Innocence, he has no arms
But those of sweet, of native charms;
No wish or power has he to fly,
Like thy pure spirit, Constancy!
Such in the golden age was Love!
But now, oh! whither does he rove! J. C.
In the gardens of Chantilly, the little god appears in the same manner,
and is celebrated in the same exquisite lines.
A traveller can scarcely enter a town in Holland which has not given
birth to some genius, whose fame reflects lustre upon his country.
Utrecht enrols amongst those illustrious sages who resided, or were born
within its walls, and who have bestowed upon it immortal celebrity, the
learned Gronovius, the critic; Grævius, his pupil, one of the most
profound writers of the middle of the sixteenth century, so well known
for his Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiæ, in thirteen folio
volumes, and the two erudite Burmans. Doctor Johnson thus speaks of
Peter Burman, and Gronovius, and Grævius, “One of the qualities which
contributed eminently to qualify Grævius for an instructor of youth, was
the sagacity by which he readily discovered the predominant faculty of
each pupil, and the peculiar designation by which nature has allotted
him to any species of literature and by which he was soon able to
determine that Peter Burman was remarkably adapted to classical studies,
and to predict the great advance he would make by industriously pursuing
the direction of his genius. On the other hand, animated by the
encouragement of a tutor so celebrated as Grævius, Peter Burman, by
continuing the vigour of his application, fulfilled his master’s
prophecy; and it has been asserted, that he passed honourably and fairly
through the classes, and was admitted into the university at the age of
thirteen.
“His biographer allows this to have been so stupendous a progress as to
surpass the limits of all probability; of which indeed every man must be
sensible, who considers that it is not uncommon for the highest genius
in our country, to be entangled for ten years in those thorny paths of
literature, which Burman is represented to have passed in less than two.
But this prodigy has been cleared up very satisfactorily by the
following observation. In the universities of foreign countries, they
have professors of philology or humanity, whose employment is to
instruct the younger classes in grammar, rhetoric, and languages; nor do
they engage in the study of philosophy, till they have passed through a
course of philological lectures and exercises, to which in some places
two years are commonly allotted: whereas the English scheme of
education, which, with regard to academical studies, is more rigorous,
and sets literary honours at a higher price than that of any other
country, exacts from the youth who are initiated in our colleges a
degree of philological knowledge sufficient to qualify them for lectures
on philosophy, which are read to them in Latin, and to enable them to
proceed in other studies without assistance; so that it may be
conjectured that Burman, at his entrance into the university of Leyden,
had no such skill in languages, nor such ability of composition, as are
frequently to be met with in the higher classes of an English school;
nor was perhaps, at that time, more than moderately skilled in Latin,
and taught the first rudiments of Greek.”
At Utrecht was also born, in 1459, pope Adrian VI. to whom the emperor
Maximilian entrusted the education of his son, Charles the Fifth, and
who afterwards filled the pontifical throne with piety and learning,
with dignity and mildness: this distinguished personage, after having
acquired his classical knowledge at the university of this city, and his
philosophical at the college of Louvain, received the degree of doctor
in divinity in 1491, the expense of which he was unable to sustain, and
which was defrayed by Margaret, sister to Edward IV. of England. I was
informed that the house he resided in, a fine Gothic building, was still
standing, and that it was adorned with several curious basso-relievos,
but time would not permit me to visit the venerable remains. This city
had also the honour of producing the Chevalier Antonio More, who was
born here in 1519, where he studied under John Schoorel, with whom,
having made considerable progress, he improved himself in design at
Rome, and in the true principles of colouring at Venice: one of his
historical compositions, from the subject of the Resurrection, was in
such high estimation as to be publicly exhibited at the fair at St.
Germains, before it was purchased by the prince of Condé. More has the
reputation of having imitated nature very closely and happily; his
manner is strong, just, and bold, and in his portraits there is great
character and life. He was much esteemed by the emperor Charles V. and
was by him sent to Portugal to paint the portraits of the king, the
queen, who was the sister of the emperor, and their daughter, afterwards
the queen of Spain. For these portraits he received six hundred ducats,
and many valuable presents; and to show their admiration of his talents,
the Portuguese nobility presented him, in the name of that order, with a
chain of gold valued at a thousand ducats. He was employed by most of
the princes of Europe, and at every court his paintings excited
universal applause. Queen Mary the First of England, presented him with
a chain of gold and a pension. Upon his quitting London and settling in
Spain, a singular circumstance befel him: one day as the king, who was
very fond of him, and his great patron, was talking to him in a very
familiar manner, he gave More in jocularity a sharp tap on the arm,
which the irritable painter mistaking for indignity, instead of an act
of good humour and condescension, resented by striking the king with his
maulstick: a folly which had nearly in its consequence proved fatal to
him, and which compelled him to quit the country with all possible
celerity. His last work was the Circumcision, intended for the cathedral
church at Antwerp, but which he did not live to finish.
Cornelius Poelemburg, another artist of high distinction, was born at
Utrecht in 1586. He first studied under Abraham Bloemart, and
afterwards, upon going to Rome, became enamoured with the works of that
divine artist, Raphael, whose exquisite grace in the nude figure he
endeavoured to imitate. His style was entirely new, and he surpassed all
his contemporaries in the delicacy of his touch, in the sweetness of his
colouring, and in the selection of fortunate objects and situations. His
skies are clear, light, and transparent; and his female figures, which
are generally represented naked, are equally elegant and beautiful. The
Italians were highly delighted with his works, and some of the cardinals
of Rome, of the finest taste, frequently attended his painting-room, to
observe his extraordinary and happy manner of working. Upon his leaving
Rome, the grand duke of Florence paid him great honours, and he was
received with distinction in every city through which he passed. It is
recorded to the honour of Rubens, that after paying him a friendly
visit, and expressing the greatest pleasure from examining the works of
Poelemburg, he purchased and bespoke several of his pictures, for his
own cabinet; this noble conduct at once gave the stamp of currency to
the works of the latter, and advanced his reputation and his fortune
together. Our refined and munificent Charles the First invited him to
his court, and nobly recompensed him for his labors, but he vainly
endeavoured, by his princely encouragement, to prevail upon him to
settle in England; the indelible love of his country prevailed over
every other consideration, and he returned to his native country, where
he lived in affluence and esteem, and where he continued to paint to the
last day of his life, which was in the year 1660, at the great age of
seventy-four.
Utrecht seems to have the fairest pretensions to have given birth to
Anthony Waterloo, before slightly mentioned; an honour disputed with
much ardor of rivalship by Amsterdam and other cities. The landscapes of
this admirable artist are in the highest estimation, and are the closet
copies of nature, without the aid of meretricious decoration. His
favourite subjects were woody scenes, embellished with water, and
figures and cattle added by Weenix and other artists: the variety in the
verdure of his trees and grounds, the very tint of which illustrates the
hour of the day and the season of the year in which they were taken, and
the wonderful transparency of his water, remain unrivalled. Although the
works of this great artist produced high prices, he expired in great
penury in the hospital of St. Job, near Utrecht. John Glauber, called
Polidore, another eminent artist, was born here in 1656: he was a
disciple of the admirable Berghem, but a passion for travelling induced
him to quit his master, to contemplate the sublime objects of nature in
Italy. In his way he remained at Paris one year with Picart, a flower
painter, and at Lyons two years with Adrian Vander Cabel, with whom he
intended to have staid longer, had he not been attracted by a great
number of people who were going to the jubilee, to proceed direct to
Rome, where he continued for two years, indefatigably pursuing the means
of improving himself in his art, and from thence he went to Venice. Upon
his return to Holland he settled at Amsterdam, where he lodged with
Gerard Lairesse, in whose house an academy of arts was established.
These distinguished artists were united together by the same passion for
their art, and the same elevation of mind, improved by their having
travelled through the same countries: by this friendship the beautiful
landscapes of Glauber became enriched by the graceful figures of
Lairesse. Glauber ranks amongst the finest landscape painters of the
Flemish school. The most frequent subjects of his pencil he derived from
the neighbourhood of Rome and the Alps, and his style resembles that of
Gaspar Poussin; his colouring is warm and true, his invention very
luxuriant; and although his pictures are exquisitely finished, they
appear as if they had been produced with perfect facility; his touch is
so peculiarly just and natural, that every distinct species of trees or
plants may be distinguished by the characteristic exactness of the
leafing. The two brothers, John and Andrew Bott, were born in this city
in the beginning of the sixteenth century; the former a landscape
painter, and the latter a painter of figures: they both resided many
years in Italy. John made Claude Lorraine his model, whose style he
imitated with uncommon success, as did Andrew that of Bamboccio. They
were much attached to each other, and painted in conjunction: their
united efforts seem to be the happy result of one masterly hand. Andrew
was unfortunately drowned in one of the canals of Venice whilst with his
brother, in 1650, who returned to Utrecht overwhelmed with grief, which
he consoled by an unabated pursuit of the art he adored. The works of
John are of inestimable value, and eagerly sought after by connoisseurs.
Gallantry forbids my passing over the name of Anna Maria Schurman, born
here in 1607: she was profoundly versed in languages, displayed great
skill and taste in painting, as well as in every other branch of the
graphic and elegant arts: she was honoured with a visit from Christina,
queen of Sweden, who pronounced the most enthusiastic encomiums on her
elegant attainments. This celebrated woman died at the age of
seventy-one. There are other artists who do honour to this their native
city, but I have mentioned those of the first order, in number and
reputation perfectly sufficient to establish the pretensions of Utrecht
to high rank in the roll of renowned cities. I quitted this beautiful
place, the prosperity of which has suffered much by the war with
England, about four o’clock on a beautiful autumnal morning, and
proceeded to Arnheim, which and Nimeguen, are the capital cities of
Guelderland. This beautiful and valuable province contains twenty-two
considerable towns, and upwards of three hundred villages. The Menopii
Gugerni, Usipetes, and Secambri, mentioned in Cæsar’s Commentaries, are
supposed to have been its ancient inhabitants. Guelderland, remarkable
for the salubrity of its climate and the fertility of its soil, abounds
with the most romantic variety of scenery, mountain and valley, and is
well stocked in every direction with fine cattle, and abounds with game.
All the way to Arnheim the eye was gladdened by some of the most
delightful objects descriptive of the amenity of nature. In this country
I generally travelled in post-chaises, or as it is called, extra-post;
but perhaps, as the following information respecting the route from
Amsterdam to Cologne may be serviceable to those who travel by the
diligence or post-waggon, I shall insert it:
From Amsterdam to Utrecht by water eight hours.
to Arnheim by the diligence, which one long day.
sets off every day from Utrecht
to Wesel ditto every Monday and one very long day.
Thursday
to Dusseldorf one day.
to Cologne one day.
We were serenaded all the way by nightingales, which are very numerous
in every part of this province. Arnheim or Arnhem, is a very large and
elegant city, partly watered by a branch of the Naas, over which are
several draw-bridges, from which there are many agreeable views. The
houses are in general well built, and, what is remarkable for a Dutch
town, very few of them out of the perpendicular. The entrances, called
St. Jan’s Poort and Sabel’s Poort, are picturesque. St. John’s church is
a vast edifice of brick, with two spires, and a fine set of carillons;
but with exception to its magnitude, there is little in or about it
worthy of observation; the same may be said of the church of St.
Nicholas. The church near Walburges Plain, the name of which I have
forgotten, is a prodigious massy pile; and beheld from the surrounding
scenery has a very noble effect. The market-place is capacious, and
abundantly supplied with every species of provision, which are here much
cheaper than in the other parts of Holland. The streets of this city are
enlivened by several handsome equipages, and throughout the place there
is a considerable appearance of refinement and opulence. Here the Dutch
language begins to lose itself in the German, a circumstance made
manifest by a friend of mine, a native of Germany, who accompanied me on
my return from that country to Holland, finding considerable difficulty
in understanding the lower people in Arnheim. The inns here are in
general very good. This city gave birth to the celebrated David Beck in
1621, a disciple of Vandyke, from whom he imbibed that exquisite style
of colouring and penciling which belong to his school. King Charles the
First was so astonished at the freedom of his hand, he one day said, “I
do believe, Beck, you could paint if you were riding post.” The person
of this artist was remarkably handsome, and his manners perfectly well
bred: these qualities, accompanied with such talents in his art,
recommended him to the attention of queen Christina of Sweden, who
appointed him her portrait painter and chamberlain; and under her
patronage he painted most of the illustrious persons of Europe. The
following singular event occurred to this artist in his tour through
Germany. At an inn where he stopped for the night, he was suddenly taken
violently ill, to appearance expired, and was accordingly laid out for a
corpse. His valets, who were much attached to him, sat by his bed-side,
deeply lamenting the loss of so good a master; and, like the Irish upon
such occasion, sought consolation in the bottle, which was put about
very briskly; at length one of them, who was greatly intoxicated, said
to his companions, “Come, my friends, our poor dear master used to be
very fond of his glass when alive, suppose, out of gratitude, we give
him a bumper now he is dead.” To this jovial recommendation the rest of
the servants consented. They accordingly raised his head, and the mover
of the measure poured some of the wine into his mouth; this produced the
immediate effect of forcing him to open his eyes, which, from the
excessive drunkenness of the fellow, did not surprise him, and he
continued pouring the wine down his master’s throat until the glass was
emptied, which at last completely recovered him; and by this accidental
circumstance he was saved from a premature interment. However, he
escaped death in this violent shape only to meet it in another, for it
was generally suspected that his final fate was effected by poison
administered by some miscreant, hired for the purpose by queen
Christina, at the Hague, in revenge for his having quitted her to visit
his friends in Holland, with a determination never more to visit Sweden.
The works of this master are justly held in very high estimation, and he
became the favoured object of the most unbounded marks of distinction
and honour.
With an exception to large churches, and handsome streets, and some
pretty and well-dressed women, there is little, at least as far as I
could learn, to detain a traveller in this city, so I set off for Wesel
with all due expedition, impatient to move upon the bosom of the Rhine.
On the road, which was agreeably diversified, we met several milk-maids,
bearing their milk home in large copper vessels, shining very bright,
slung to their backs, which had a picturesque effect. About four miles
from Arnheim, just after passing a bridge of boats at Sevenhal, I
entered a small town, at the end of which is the first barrier of the
new territories of prince Joachim, grand admiral of France and duke of
Berg, a piece of history which I first learned from a new ordinance or
law, in German and French, to regulate the safe delivery of letters,
pasted upon one of the gates of the town. In this dutchy most of the
peasants are catholics, who make a public avowal of their faith by
pointing a large white cross on the outside of their houses. On the
left, within a short distance of the frontier of prince Joachim’s
territory, upon the summit of a mountain, are two large religious houses
for monks and nuns. A little indisposition, in addition to the heat of a
very sultry day, prevented me from quitting the carriage to visit the
holy fraternity and sisterhood, of whom, I was informed, very few
members remain, and those far advanced in life. The revolution of
France, and the progress of the French arms, have at least the merit of
having prevented the immolation of many a lovely young creature,
possessed of every personal and mental charm to gladden this chequered
life of ours.
Thrice blessed they that master so their blood
To undergo such maiden pilgrimage:
But earthlier happy is the rose distill’d,
Than that, which withering on the virgin thorn,
Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness.
_Midsummer Night’s Dream_, Act I. Scene 1.
The approach to these convents from the town is by a pleasant avenue of
trees, their situation must be very agreeable, from the extensive
prospect which they command. On our right the spires of the city of
Cleves, on the French side of the Rhine appeared, and produced a very
pleasing effect. Upon turning the base of the hill on which the monastic
mansions stand, we entered upon a deep sandy road, and a very flat and
uninteresting country, in which very few objects occurred to afford any
gratification to the eye. The Rhine occasionally appeared, but not to
much advantage: the majesty of its breadth is obscured by the great
number of islands upon it in this stage of its descent. Flink, whom I
have mentioned in describing the Stadt-house at Amsterdam, was born at
Cleves in 1616. This able artist was destined, like our celebrated
Garrick, for the bureau of a compting-house; but his genius and passion
for painting overcame all the impediments placed in their way by
paternal authority, and the persuasions of friends, and he renounced the
prospect of accumulating immense riches by commerce, for the glory of
the art. He made great progress under Rembrandt, whose style he imitated
to perfection; he soon rose to distinguished reputation, and was
employed to paint the portraits of princes and illustrious personages of
the times in which he flourished; he died very young and much regretted.
After a tedious and unpleasant journey I reached Wesel, a large, gloomy,
and very strongly fortified town: as the gates had been closed at eight
o’clock, and it struck eleven as I passed the last draw-bridge, it was
with some difficulty and delay that I was admitted. Only persons
travelling extra-post and in the post-waggon, or diligence, are admitted
after the gates are once shut. This place presents a disgusting contrast
to the neatness and cleanliness of the towns in Holland. The moment I
passed the gates, a most offensive _mauvais odeur_ assailed my nose on
all sides. There is only one tolerable inn in the whole place, and that
is generally very crowded. If the traveller cannot be accommodated
there, he will be marched, as I was, to a pig-stye, or a house of ease
to the former, where he may meditate at leisure on the sapient poetical
advice of Shakspeare:
Cease to lament for what thou canst not help.
Here, according to a regulation which prevails in every part of Germany,
I was annoyed by being presented with a printed paper, containing
several columns, titled as follow:
_Nahme_ Your name.
_Karakter_ Profession.
_Wohnort_ Residence.
_Kommendvon_ Where came you from.
_Gehendnach_ Where going to.
_Auffenthalt_ How long you intend to stay.
All of which I duly answered in writing, except the last interrogatory
but one, namely, “where are you going?” under which I peevishly wrote,
“to sleep,” consolidated into one word, in large close letters. To an
Englishman unaccustomed to such examinations, which after all are little
more than formal, although every innkeeper by law is obliged to make
such report of every traveller on his arrival, they are very liable to
excite an inverted blessing upon the heads of those who trouble him in
this manner.
Wesel is an abominable dunghill, very strongly fortified. In the course
of my perambulations through the town, the objects which I met with were
infinitely more offensive to the sense of smelling than gratifying to
that of seeing, and doubly disgusting from the contrast of exquisite
cleanliness which the country I had just quitted, exhibited. This part
of Westphalia is very flat, barren, sandy, and dreary, presenting little
more than thin patches of buckwheat. The roads are very heavy, and with
an exception to an oratory in a little grove, and three wooden effigies
as large as life, representing the crucifixion, not one enlivening or
interesting object presented itself. I mention the following travelling
anecdote by way of caution to my reader, should he select this route. At
Dinslaken, one of the post towns between Wesel and Dusseldorf, the
post-master told me that two horses would not be sufficient in such
roads for the carriage, and declared his determination, that unless I
took three, I should have none. If I had submitted to this imposition
here, I must have done so throughout; I was therefore obliged to
compound with this extortioner in office, by paying half of a third
horse, which sum went into his pocket, and pursued my route with a
couple, who conducted me in very good style to the next post town. In
every part of Germany the postmasters are appointed by, and are under
the control of the reigning prince of Turn and Saxis, the hereditary
director and post-master general of the roads in that part of Europe. My
driver stopped to give his horses some wretched hard bread, used by the
peasantry in Westphalia, composed of straw and oats, called
_bonpournikel_ from the following circumstance. Many years since a
Frenchman, travelling in this country, called for bread for himself, and
upon this sort being presented, he exclaimed, _C’est bon pour Nikel_
(the name of his horse); upon which the old woman who had brought it in
ran about the village in a great pet relating the story.
As I was proceeding by moon-light, a German gentleman who had travelled
some way with me was observing, that throughout Westphalia a robbery
upon the highway had not been known for many years, and that a traveller
was as safe in the night as in the day; and at the moment when he had
just finished an animated eulogium upon the invincible honesty of the
people, I happened to observe the shadow of a man behind the cabriolet,
the head of which was raised, apparently very busy in endeavouring to
cut off our trunks, which, upon our jumping out, proved to be the case;
the fellow was much alarmed by our appearance, fell upon his knees, and
declared that he belonged to Dusseldorf, and poverty had prompted him to
quit that city, and try his fortune on the highway. Nothing could exceed
the indignation of the German the moment he knew that our prisoner was a
Westphalian; had he fortunately announced himself as a native of any
other country, I believe he would have rather relieved the fellow’s
distress, than pierced his ears, and perhaps his heart, with the bitter
reproaches he heaped upon him: however, as the affair furnished me with
a hearty laugh, I prevailed upon my companion to forgive the poor
wretch, whose face and clothes indicated extreme wretchedness, and
permit him to depart in peace; and we proceeded without further
interruption to within a short stage of Dusseldorf, where we slept.
The appearance of Dusseldorf at a little distance is very handsome,
particularly from the _Grand ducal road_, as it was styled. Upon my
driving up to the principal inn, the maitre d’hotel with great pomp came
out, and informed me in bad French that his house was then nearly full;
that the grand Dutchess from Paris was expected every day; that his
bed-rooms would be wanted for those belonging to the court who could not
be accommodated at the palace, and, finally, that he could not receive
me. As I immediately guessed his object, I told him that I intended to
stay some days at Dusseldorf. “Oh, very well,” said he, archly adding,
“you are an Englishman I perceive.” “No, sir, an American.” “Oh,”
replied he, “never mind, it is the same thing: walk in, sir, and we will
see what we can do for you.” This inn, the only eminent one in town, is
spacious and handsome, and the table d’hote excellently supplied with a
great variety of dishes, both at dinner and supper, perfectly well
dressed. During my stay I was known by no other name than that of
Monsieur Anglois, an appellation not very gratifying to me, upon
reflecting that I was a sojourner in the territory of a brother-in-law
of Napoleon, who, knowing that he is no favourite with the English,
dislikes England and every thing that can remind him of it, to such a
degree, that an English gentleman and lady, whom I knew, who had been
detained prisoners of war in France, but were afterwards liberated, upon
their route from Verdun to Holland to embark for their country, were one
day overtaken by a _gen-d’arme_ dispatched express from the last post
town, to order them to turn out of the high road on which they were
travelling, and to take another route which he pointed out, by which
they were compelled to make a deviation of seventy miles. In consequence
of the French Emperor being expected to pass that road in the course of
the day, this messenger had been despatched to overtake and order them
out of the way as fast as possible.
CHAPTER XX.
DUSSELDORF DESCRIBED ... ITS INHABITANTS ... THE GRAND DUCAL COURT ...
ANECDOTE OF MURAT ... A DOUBLE ENTENDRE ... THE FLYING BRIDGE ...
COLOGNE ... A CONTRABAND PEEP ... THE CATHEDRAL ... A COLLECTION OF
GODS ... A BON MOT ... PRIESTLY MUMMERY ... ANECDOTE OF AN ARCHBISHOP OF
COLOGNE ... ANECDOTE OF REUBENS AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED PERSONS ...
PRESENT STATE OF COLOGNE.
Dusseldorf, so called from the little river Dussel that waters its
southern side, and Dhorpf which means village, is now the capital of the
imperial dutchy of Berg, under the new dynasty of the Bonaparte family:
it formerly belonged to the German empire, and afterwards to the elector
Palatine, who at one period made it his residence; this city owed the
prosperity which it long enjoyed, to the sagacity and liberality of the
elector Joseph William, who enlarged it in 1709, by nobly offering its
freedom, and an exemption from all taxes for thirty years, to every one
who would build a house within its walls, and took every judicious
advantage of its local adaptation to trade, and established universal
toleration in religion; the benefit of measures so worthy of the
Christian and the ruler was speedily felt, and Dusseldorf, from a petty
village, soon became a flourishing city, and contained a population of
18,000 inhabitants.
Few towns have suffered more from the calamities of war than this: its
streets, squares, and houses, denote its former consequence; it now
resembles a mausoleum half in ruins. Early in the year 1795, the army of
the Sambre and the Meuse suddenly crossed the Rhine, and summoned the
city to surrender, which it refused to do; in consequence of which the
French bombarded it, and set fire to one of its most beautiful churches,
which was burnt to the ground; and the city palace, which contained many
noble apartments, very nearly experienced the same fate; naked walls
blackened with smoke, are all that remain of this splendid pile, except
that part of it which contained the celebrated gallery of paintings,
which were removed to Munich under a Prussian escort. The French at
length took the city by assault, the Austrians who were garrisoned
within it having previously retired. I was surprised to find that the
French had spared the statue erected as a mark of public gratitude, in
the centre of the court of the gallery, to the honour of the elector
John William, who was its founder. He commenced it in the year 1710; but
dying in 1716, the completion of this princely and public-spirited
design was totally neglected by his successor Charles Phillip, who
employed part of his treasure, and the whole of his taste, in improving
the city of Manheim. Charles Theodore, his successor, finished this
institution, established an academy of drawing and painting in
Dusseldorf, and also erected a public gallery of paintings at Manheim,
which were open to every one, and every artist had permission to study
and copy them.
The ruins of the palace have a melancholy appearance from the water, on
which I made a sketch of the city, when I saw for the first time one of
the Rhenish flying bridges, the description of which I shall reserve for
a few pages following, as I did not go on board of it. That famous
gallery, which attracted men of taste from distant parts of Europe,
occupied that part of the palace which stood close to the junction of
the Rhine and the Dussel, and was divided into five very large and
spacious apartments, one of which was wholly devoted to one picture of
Gerard Douw, esteemed inestimable, and one of the finest he ever
painted; the subject of it is uncommonly complicated, yet every figure
in it is so exquisitely finished, that it will bear the closest
inspection. Descriptions of paintings are seldom very interesting; but
the subject of this renowned picture deserves to be recorded. It
represented a quack-doctor at a fair, upon his stage covered with a
Turkey carpet, set out with vials and gallipots, a shaving bason, an
umbrella, and a monkey: the doctor, in the most whimsical dress, is
haranguing with uncommon humour and cunning in his countenance, the
motley crowd below; amongst whom, a gardener wheeling a barrow filled
with vegetables, a countryman with a hare hanging over his shoulders, a
woman with a child at the breast, baking little cakes for the fair;
another woman listening with ardent credulity, whilst a sharper is
picking her pocket, are penciled in a wonderful manner. Douw has
represented himself looking out of the window of a public house, and
drawing the several objects. The second chamber contained the
productions of the Italian school; a third those of the Flemish: a
fourth was dedicated to Vanderwerff; and the fifth to Rubens.
The only part of the city which presented any appearance of animation
was the market-place, which abounded with fine vegetables, and exquisite
fruit. The market-women, and the female peasants, wear a large
handkerchief depending from the top of the head, which has a picturesque
effect. Fruit is so abundant that for the value of 3_d._ I purchased a
pound and a half of the most luscious grapes. In this square, part of
the scaffolding used for illuminating the hotel de ville, on the grand
duke making his first entry into the city, remained. About a mile from
the town is a country palace of the prince, separated from a garden, in
front of it, by the great road to Cologne. The palace is large, and very
elegantly furnished; the gardens are spacious, well kept, and open to
well-dressed persons. The view of the city from these walks is very
beautiful. The ramparts, which are levelling as fast as the pickaxe and
spade can lay them low, in many places present a very agreeable walk.
All religions are tolerated, but that most followed is Roman Catholic,
for the celebration of which there are three large churches; before one
of them, raised and railed off, is a group as large as life, in wood,
painted white, representing our Saviour crucified between the two
thieves, and Mary Magdalen, kneeling; several persons were praying very
devoutly before those images. The dead are wisely buried out of the
city. In one of the streets at the extremity of the town, is a
prodigious pile of buildings for barracks. The soldiers of the grand
duke, principally Germans, and a few French, had a very military
appearance. The manufactures are at a pause; the population is reduced
to about eight thousand persons, the greater portion of whom are in very
abject circumstances. How different must this place be to its former
period of prosperity, before the last war, when a gay old Prussian
officer who resided there, told me, that it was enlivened with clubs,
casinos, and balls, when every family of common respectability could
regale its friends with the choicest Johannis-Berg Hockein-Rheideshein
wine. The princes of Germany differ very much from those of our own
country, in the plain and unostentatious manner in which they move
about. One morning, when I was crossing the court of my inn to go to
breakfast, I saw a little boy fencing with a stick with one of the
ostlers: as I was pleased with his appearance, I asked him if he was the
son of the maitre d’hotel, to which he replied, “No sir, I am the
hereditary prince Von Salm.” The prince and princess, his father and
aunt, were at the same hotel, having come to Dusseldorf to pay their
respects to Prince Murat. The grand ducal court was, as I was informed,
kept up with considerable splendor, in the circle of which the grand
dutchess, one of the sisters of Napoleon, had not yet made her
appearance. It was generally believed, notwithstanding the use my worthy
host made of her approaching entry, that no great attachment existed
between the grand ducal pair; and that the gaiety of the imperial court
of Paris possessed more prevailing attractions to the grand Dutchess
than her own. Murat, grand Duke of Berg, is an instance of the
astonishing results of great ability and good fortune. His origin was so
very obscure, that very little of it is known. The following anecdote
will, however, throw some light upon the extreme humility of his early
condition in life. After his elevation to the rank of a prince of the
French empire, he halted, in the close of the last war, at a small town
in Germany, where he stayed for two or three days; and on finding the
bread prepared for his table of an inferior kind, he despatched one of
his suite to order the best baker in the town to attend him, to receive
from him his directions respecting this precious article of life. A
baker who had been long established in the place was selected for this
purpose; and upon the aide-de-camp ordering him to wait upon the prince
immediately, he observed, to the no little surprise of the officer—“It
is useless my going, the prince will never employ me.” Upon being
pressed to state his reasons, he declined assigning any; but as the
order of the messenger was peremptory, he followed him, and was
immediately admitted to Murat, with whom he stayed about ten minutes,
and then retired. As he quitted the house in which the prince lodged, he
observed to the aide-de-camp, “I told you the prince would not employ
me—he has dismissed me with this,” displaying a purse of ducats. Upon
being again pressed to explain the reason of this singular conduct, he
replied, “The Prince Murat, when a boy, was apprenticed to a biscuit
baker in the south of France, at the time I was a journeyman to him, and
I have often threshed him for being idle; the moment he saw me just now,
he instantly remembered me, and without entering into the subject of our
ancient acquaintance, or of that which led me to his presence, he
hastily took his purse of ducats from the drawer of the table where he
sat, gave it to me, and ordered me to retire.”
The heroic courage which Murat displayed in the campaign of 1797, when
in conjunction with Duphoz, at the head of their respective divisions,
they plunged into the deep and impetuous stream of Tagliamento, gained
the opposite banks, and drove the Austrians, headed by their able and
amiable general, the Archduke Charles, as far as the confines of
Carnithia and Carniola; and the numerous battles in which he
distinguished himself in Egypt, and afterwards at Montebello and
Marengo, where at the head of his cavalry, he successfully supported the
brilliant and eventful movement of Dessaix, will rank him in the page of
history amongst the most illustrious of those consummate generals, which
the fermentation of the French revolution has elevated from the depths
of obscurity. In Egypt he was high in the confidence of Napoleon, whom
he accompanied with Lasnes, Andreossi, Bessieres, and several members of
the Egyptian Institute, when Bonaparte effected his memorable passage
from his army to Frejus, in August 1799. Upon the death of General Le
Clerc, who was united to a sister of Napoleon, Murat paid his addresses
to, and espoused his widow,[3] with the entire approbation of his great
comrade in arms, by whom he was, upon his elevation to the imperial
throne, created a prince of the empire, and at length raised to the rank
of a sovereign. He is reserved and unostentatious, and is seldom visible
to his people. Some of the Westphalians, who are attached to the ancient
order of things, have a joke amongst themselves at the expense of their
new prince, whose christian name being _Joachim_, they pronounce it with
an accompanying laugh, _Jachim_, which means “_drive him away_;” and
there is very little difference in the pronunciation.
Footnote 3:
This is a mistake of the author. Prince Murat married Napoleon’s
youngest sister, who had not been previously married. Le Clerc’s widow
is married to Prince Borghese.
_Amer. Editor._
As Dusseldorf had infinitely less charms for me than it had for the
grand Dutchess, I was as well pleased to quit it, as she was disinclined
to enter it; so mounting my cabriolet, for which I was obliged to make
the best bargain I could with the post-master, I set off for Cologne,
the road to which is far more pleasant than any other part of the dutchy
which I saw, though the whole is very flat. About six miles from
Dusseldorf, I passed a beautiful country palace of the grand Duke,
called Benrad, composed of a range of semicircular buildings detached
from each other, standing upon the summit of a gentle slope, at the
bottom of which is a large circular piece of water. The grand Duke makes
this place his principal residence, and very seldom goes to that in the
neighbourhood of the city more than twice in the week, to give audience
and transact affairs of state, which, as the government is entirely
despotic, are managed with ease and despatch. The appearance of the
body-guard at the entrance announced that the prince was at this place
when I passed it: the grounds and gardens, seen from the road, appear to
be tastefully arranged. Although the road is sandy, yet it is infinitely
preferable, I was informed, to crossing the ferry at Dusseldorf, and
proceeding by that route to Cologne. After passing Muhlheim, a very neat
town, the suburbs of which are adorned with some handsome
country-houses, I entered, about a mile further, the village of Deutz,
and beheld the venerable city of Cologne, separated by the Rhine,
immediately before me. At one end of the village is a large convent of
Carmelites, and on the day of my arrival a religious fête was
celebrating, at which nearly all the population of the place and
neighbourhood assisted, and the streets were enlivened with little
booths, in which crosses and ornaments of gold lace and beads were
tastefully exposed to the eye.
The bell of the flying bridge summoned me on board, and in about five
minutes I found myself in the French empire, attended by French
custom-house officers in green costume, who conducted me to the Douane.
This ferry cannot fail to impress the mind and excite the curiosity of a
stranger: it is formed of a broad platform resting upon two large
barges, like our coal lighters; from this platform a vast wooden frame
in the shape of a gallows is erected, which is fastened to the former by
strong chains of iron, whilst from the centre cross piece, a chain of
the same metal of great length, is fixed to the top of an upright pole
standing in each of a long line of boats, the remotest of which is at
anchor; by this machinery a powerful pressure is obtained; to each of
the barges a rudder is affixed, which, upon being placed in an oblique
direction, produces a lateral motion upon the stream, which acts as a
force from above; so that by changing the rudder to the right or left,
the bridge is forced on one side or the other of the river, with equal
certainty and celerity. Fifteen hundred persons can with perfect ease be
transported at the same time upon these bridges, and carriages and
horses are driven upon them without any stoppage, from the banks, to
which they are lashed, until put in motion. The Germans call this
machine the Fliegende Schiffs-Brücke, or the volant bridge of boats; the
Dutch geer burg, or the bridge in shackles, in allusion to its chains;
and the French le pont volant, or the flying bridge.
The search made by the custom-house officers amongst my
fellow-passengers, most of whom had only just crossed and recrossed the
river, was very rigorous; the females were marched up to a small house,
where, as I discovered by accidentally opening the door, and offending
as the elders did when they took a lawless peep at Susanna, to the no
small delight of those who were lounging without, and of embarrassment
to those within, they underwent a private examination by two matrons,
appointed for the purpose.
At this place I expected some difficulty; but upon my declaring myself
an American, and showing my pass, and just opening my trunk, the
officers, with great politeness, called a porter to carry my luggage
into the city, and pulling off their hats, recommended me to La Cour
Imperiale, one of the best hotels, where I arrived just in time to sit
down to a splendid table d’hôte, at which several beautiful and
well-dressed ladies, German noblemen, and French officers, were present.
This city was formerly celebrated for the number of its devotees and
prostitutes, which the French police has very much reduced. The first
object I visited, was the cathedral, which, from the water appears like
a stupendous fragment, that had withstood the shock of war, or some
convulsion of nature, by which the rest of the pile had been prostrated;
but upon inquiry, I found that it owed its mutilated appearance to no
such event, but to the obstacles which have occurred for ages in
completing it, according to its original design. In the year 1248,
Conrad, the elector and bishop of Hocksteden, in the pride and
exultation of holy enthusiasm, resolved to erect a temple to God, which
should have no equal in size and magnificence; it was intended that the
two western towers should have been five hundred feet in elevation, and
the nave or body of the church in proportion, and every external stone
which the eye could perceive, decorated with the most exquisite ornament
of pure gothic architecture. The successors of the prince bishop, who
resembled in the splendor of his spirit the emperor who so elegantly
wished to leave the town _stone_, which he had found _brick_, continued
the building for two centuries and a half; but owing to their resources
being insufficient, they were obliged to leave it in a very imperfect
state, but capable of being used for religious purposes. There is no
building of the kind to compare with it, but the Duomo at Milan. One of
the western towers, which I ascended, is about two hundred and fifty
feet high, from which there is a fine view of the city, the Rhine, and
the surrounding country; the other tower is not above forty feet high.
The roof of the greater part of the body of the church is temporary and
low; but so spacious is the area which it covers, that one hundred massy
pillars, arranged in four rows, present a light and airy appearance upon
it. My guide, who was a good humoured intelligent man, with many
significant shrugs of regret, informed me, that the moveable decorations
of the church and altar were once worthy of a stranger’s attention; but
that the generals of the French armies, during the revolution, had
pillaged this holy sanctuary of its richest ornaments; however, the
grand altar in the choir was not sufficiently portable for their
rapacious hands, and remains to show the magnificent scale upon which
every part of the cathedral was originally designed. This altar is
formed of one solid block, of the finest sable marble, sixteen feet long
and eight broad, placed upon the summit of a flight of steps.
The treasury, or as it is called the golden chamber, contains the robes
of the priests, which are very magnificent, arranged with great care and
order in several ward-robes; and busts of saints and holy utensils in
gold and silver, many of which were once encrusted with the most
precious stones, but which had been removed by the French, and their
places supplied by paste. Amongst the still costly contents of this
chamber, I noticed a small tomb of a priest in solid gold and silver,
and a skull of St. Peter, of the same precious metal. In this room were
several ladies, who appeared to be under the strongest influence of
Roman Catholic enthusiasm; not a robe or a relic was exhibited, which
did not draw forth some fervidly pious exclamation.
I was shewn, as a marvelous curiosity, the mausoleum of the Three Kings,
behind the grand altar towards the east, where the bodies of these
personages, and those of the martyrs, Gregory of Spoleto, and Felix
Nabor, repose. The bones of the three kings are said to have been
brought away by the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, when he sacked Milan,
and presented to the archbishop Bernauld of Dassalde, who attended him
in his military exploits, and who deposited them near Bonn, from whence
they were transferred to the spot where their mausoleum was afterwards
erected, before the building of the present cathedral in the year 1170:
the bones of these personages, of course, performed all sorts of
prodigies; the blind by touching them, became astronomers, and the lame,
dancing masters. This tomb, before the last war, was uncommonly rich and
magnificent; but the French, who have displayed no great respect for
living kings, could not be expected to pay much to three dead ones, and
accordingly they have stripped their shrine of most of the jewelry, and
precious ornaments. The sacrilege committed upon three holy kings, who
were transported so far from their native country, reminds me of an
anecdote, in which the playful wit of Mr. Hastings, formerly
governor-general of India, was eminently displayed. An antiquary having
collected in India a considerable number of Hindoo gods, had them well
packed up for the purpose of being sent to England, and on the top of
the case wrote in large characters “Gods—_please to keep these
uppermost_;” the governor-general calling one morning on the collector,
observed the package in his library, and remarking the superscription,
said, “your direction is a wise one, for when you transport gods into a
foreign country, it is ten to one but that they are _overturned_.”
Every street reminds the stranger of the former prevalence of the
priesthood. Before the war, the clergy in this city, were divided into
eleven chapters, nineteen parishes, nineteen convents for men, and
thirty-nine convents for women, besides forty-nine chapels, institutions
which supported between two and three thousand persons in useless
voluptuousness and sloth.
As the other churches have been stripped of their finery, and were not
embellished by any striking work of the statuary, I merely took a
cursory view of their exterior: the principal are the Jesuits’ church,
the collegiate church of St. Gerion, that of the Maccabees, and the
abbey church of St. Pantaleon: all these and a number of other sacred
buildings useless to name, abounded with saints and shrines incrusted
with a profusion of jewellery, and all the mummery and mockery of
cunning and credulity. With respect to the chapel of St. Ursula, a
whimsical circumstance occurred some years since: in this depositary,
for a great length of time, have reposed the bones of the immaculate St.
Ursula, and eleven thousand virgins her companions, who came from
England in a little boat in the year 640, to convert the Huns who had
taken possession of this city, who instead of being moved by their sweet
eloquence and cherub-like looks, put an end to their argument by putting
them all to death. Some doubts arose many years since whether any
country could have spared so many virgins, and a surgeon, somewhat of a
wag, upon examining the consecrated bones, declared that most of them
were the bones of full grown female mastiffs, for which discovery he was
expelled the city. The convents and monasteries are converted into
garrisons for the French troops quartered in the city. It is in
contemplation to pull down about two-thirds of the churches.
On account of its numerous religious houses Cologne was called the Holy
city. Bigotry, beggary, and ignorance disfigured the place in spite of
its once flourishing trade and university. When the French seized upon
this city, in 1794, they soon removed the rubbish of ages; three-fourths
of the priests had the choice of retiring or entering the army, and when
withdrawn, the weak minds over which they had exercised sovereign
influence recovered their tone, and lived to hail the hour of their
delivery from fanatical bondage, and the sturdy beggars were formed into
conscripts. One of the most illustrious of the archbishops of Cologne
was Theodoric, who was much celebrated in his time for his talents,
erudition and morals. An anecdote is related of him, that upon the
emperor Sigismund one day asking him how to obtain happiness hereafter,
as the possession of it seemed impossible, Theodoric replied, “You must
act virtuously, that is, you should always pursue that plan of conduct
which you promise to do whilst you are labouring under a fit of the
gravel, gout, or stone.”
When the Devil was sick
The Devil a Monk would be;
When the Devil was well
The Devil a Monk was he.
This city is celebrated for having given birth to Agrippina the mother
of Nero, but it has derived more lustre from the immortal Rubens having
been born here in 1640: the house in which he resided is still preserved
and exhibited with great pride to strangers. This illustrious man was no
less a scholar than a painter, and hence his allegorical works are more
purely classical than those of any other master: of this the gallery of
the Luxembourg and the banqueting-room at Whitehall bear ample
testimony. Whilst he painted he used to recite the poems of Homer and
Virgil, which he knew by heart, by which he infused the divine spirit of
poetry into the productions of his pencil. After having studied a few
years in Italy, his renown as an artist spread through Europe, whilst
his learning, amenity of manners, elegant accomplishments, and amiable
mind, secured to him the esteem and regard of all whom he approached. He
was particularly cherished by the kings of England, Spain, and other
monarchs: he was even employed upon a very delicate occasion to
communicate proposals from the cabinet of Spain to that of London, and
Charles I. was so delighted with his various talents, that he conferred
upon him the honour of knighthood. The number of his paintings is
prodigious. Sir Joshua Reynolds said that the most grand, as well as the
most perfect piece of composition in the world, was that of Rubens’s
picture of the Fall of the Damned, formerly in the gallery of
Dusseldorf; that it combined such a varied, heterogeneous and horrible
subject, in such a wonderful manner, that he scarcely knew which most to
admire, the invention or the composition of the master. The last of
Rubens’s paintings was the Crucifixion of St. Peter, with his head
downward, which he presented to St. Peter’s church in this city one day
after taking a copy of the register of his birth from its archives: the
tasteless and mercenary heads of the church received this invaluable
present with little expressions of gratitude, and were disappointed that
the donor had not given them money in lieu: when Rubens heard of their
dissatisfaction, he offered them 28,000 crowns for the picture, which,
merely in consequence of the offer, they considered to be worth
infinitely more, and therefore refused to sell him the work of his own
hands, and it was preserved with great veneration in the church, where
it continued till Cologne became one of the cities of the French empire.
Rubens, to the powers and graces before ascribed to him, united the
virtue of a christian: from motives of piety and benevolence he adorned
many churches and convents with his matchless productions; which, as if
the hallowed purpose to which they were devoted had inspired him, whilst
he painted, were generally the most masterly efforts of his pencil.
Thomas à Kempis, so celebrated for his extraordinary piety, was born in
the neighbourhood of this city in 1380. The last edition of his works is
that of Cologne 1660, 3 vols. folio; his most celebrated work was
entitled ‘De Imitatione Christi;’ which, on account of its great piety
and merit, has been translated into almost every living language. This
work has been attempted to be ascribed to an abbot of the name of
Gerson, of the order of St. Benedict, which for many years produced
severe controversies between the canons of St. Augustine, to which
Thomas à Kempis belonged, and the Benedictines.
The celebrated William Caxton opened his printing office here in 1471,
and printed the work of Le Fevre, which was three years afterwards
published in London, where he had the honour of being the first to
introduce the invaluable art of printing. Adam Schule the mathematician,
who died at Pekin, was a calendar here. Vondel the Dutch Virgil was born
here, as was the wonderful Maria Schurman, who was well versed in twelve
languages, and wrote five classically, besides excelling in every
accomplishment then known. Excess of genius and learning made her
melancholy mad, and she died from an inordinate debauch in eating
spiders.
The Town House is a very ancient edifice, and contains the only specimen
of Grecian architecture in the city. There were three ecclesiastical
electorates in Germany, viz. Cologne, Mayence, and Treves, which have
been abolished by Napoleon. The revenues of the elector of Cologne
amounted to upwards of two hundred thousand pounds. Cologne must have
been declining for some centuries, for in the year 1200 it was capable
of furnishing thirty thousand men for the field, a number which its
present population is said not to exceed. The whole of the trade of this
town was extensive before the last war, and at one period, in spite of
its bigotted rulers, it was one of the richest and most flourishing
cities in Germany: its traders carry outward annually large quantities
of salted provisions from Westphalia, iron from the forges of Nassau,
wood from the Upper Rhine and the Neckar, wine, hemp, tobacco, brass,
tufo stone, tobacco-pipe clay, millet, gins, dried fruits, potash,
copper, ribbands, stockings, and lace: and they purchase of the Dutch
paper, oil, cottons, groceries, spices, medicinal drugs, also for
dyeing, and English lead and tin.
The policy of the French government since it has assumed a settled form,
has very much directed its attention to the depressed state of the
manufactures of Cologne, which formerly employed eleven thousand
children, and under its auspices there are several fabrics in a very
flourishing condition, particularly those for manufacturing stuffs and
ribbands, and a great deal of iron is now wrought in this city. The
university is at a very low ebb, in consequence of so many young men
having embraced the profession of arms. This university was once very
celebrated, and was the most ancient in Germany, having been founded in
1380. Pope Urban the Sixth paid it the following compliment, in allusion
to its having given birth to the college of Louvain:
Matre pulchra filia pulchrior.
This maternal university was divided into theology, law, medicine, and
philosophy; but has not the only celebrity of having sent into the world
many enlightened men.
In the department of Cologne the vineyards began first to appear. The
vines in the garden grounds of the city are said to have yielded seven
hundred and fourteen thousand gallons of wine. The wines are not
attempted to be cultivated higher north.
During my stay at Cologne I visited the French parades every morning and
evening. As the parades in France used to be confined to the morning, it
was natural to conjecture that some new and great political storm was
collecting, for which the French emperor was preparing by redoubled
activity and energy. At these parades the conscripts, after having
undergone a brief drilling, were incorporated with the veteran troops:
to wheel, to form close column, to load, fire, and charge with the
bayonet, seemed to be all the motions which were attended to. Instead of
forming the line, as with us, with exquisite nicety, but little
attention was paid to it, for a more slovenly one I never witnessed; but
by thus simplifying the manœuvres, and confining the attention of the
soldier only to the useful part of his duty, a conscript is qualified to
march to the field of battle with the rest of the troops in five days.
But little attention was paid to the dress of the men, who wore uniform
only in a short blue coat with white or red facings, and appeared to be
left at full liberty to consult their own taste or finances in every
other article, for some wore breeches, some pantaloons, some appeared
with gaiters, some without, some had shoes, and others half-boots.
CHAPTER XXI.
REMARKS ON THE FRENCH ARMY ... ORIGIN OF THE CONSCRIPTION ...
ROBESPIERRE ... FRENCH SOLDIERS ... POLICY OF THE GENERALS ... MILITARY
VANITY ... BULLETINS ... MODE OF ATTACK ... RHENISH CONFEDERATION ...
ACT OF IMPERIAL ABDICATION.
As I gazed upon these men, whose appearance was slovenly, I was lost in
amazement, by reflecting that they were part of that military force
which had made itself terrible to so large a portion of Europe, which in
its first organization was composed of men, many of whom had never had a
musket in their hands, and commanded by generals who had never witnessed
a military manœuvre; many of the most shining of whom had undergone an
immediate transition from the most peaceful, and even the most
subordinate occupations in life, to conduct armies to the field of
battle, to confront and rout some of the prime, veteran troops of
nations, long renowned for their eminence and military character.
Robespierre may be considered as having laid the foundation of all the
military glory of France, and by the unexampled energy and prospective
acuteness of his measures, to have accomplished a system by which France
has achieved so many brilliant victories. No one but a tyrant, who to a
sanguinary soul united profound penetration, could have accomplished
what he did. He swept away in a deep and impetuous stream of blood the
immediate branches of the royal family, the court, its valuable and its
obnoxious appendages, and made a clear arena to act upon. In the name of
Liberty he invoked those who were favourably disposed to her cause, and
by terror he forced the reluctant to sustain the miseries and perils of
a camp. Glory or the guillotine were eternally before the eyes of the
republican commanders, who thus stimulated, never revolted at a profuse
expenditure of life, nor considered any victory dearly obtained, so that
it was obtained: the soldiers were all young men, amongst many of whom
high ardour and a passion for heroic enterprize, characteristic of that
season of life, prevailed, which soon spread with electric influence
upon the more considerate, prudent, and even timid part of the body.
Thus impelled, they pushed on, and soon felt their enthusiasm redouble,
upon beholding the brilliant impression which they made upon troops
inured to war and led by distinguished commanders, who receded before
them, from a conviction that they could only hope to repel the attack by
an assimilation of tactics and a lavish waste of blood, a consideration
which frequently forced the followers of the old school to meditate when
they ought to have acted.
It is a remark in frequent use, that the efficiency of an army may be
measured by the skill of the general; but the French soldiers have
expanded the observation, and have exhibited the wonderful spectacle of
skilful soldiers fighting under, and frequently enlarging the views and
combinations of able generals. The animal organization of Frenchmen
befits them for soldiers; their supple muscular form and height seldom
exceeding five feet five or six inches, admit of great activity of
movement, and the support of great fatigue: their minds quick, volatile,
inquisitive, and fertile in expedients, enable them to see the
intentions of their commanding officers in a movement, which, to the
soldiers of many other countries would only be known by results. The
French commanders knew how to gratify that national cast of intellect so
useful to their operations, by frequently imparting to a soldier of a
company, for the purpose of wider communication, the principal movements
in contemplation previous to their engaging. The vanity of a French
soldier is also another most valuable quality in his composition: he
takes the deepest interest in the execution of every order, because he
thoroughly believes that he is acquainted with all its objects; and upon
the achievement of a victory, there is scarcely a French drummer who
would hesitate endeavouring to make his hearer believe, that the fortune
of the day was owing to some judicious idea of his own: to this vanity
the military bulletins which announce successes in all the pomp of
language, or convert a disaster into a retrograde victory, are
addressed; for a Frenchman, even more than an Englishman, almost always
believes what he is told, and is ever the last to confess a defeat. It
is a rule with the French officers to give their troops as little
trouble as possible when not actually in service, and to keep them
perpetually upon the alert when the campaign has commenced; by this
measure their troops, contrary to a received opposite notion, are
generally fresher than other troops; and as they are mostly composed of
young men, are capable of marching more rapidly and longer than soldiers
of mixed seasons of life. The French have another great advantage in
their plan of combat, which resembles the mode of engaging at sea,
practised so gloriously by the late immortal Nelson, that of beating
against the centre of an enemy’s line until they penetrate it; this they
have several times successfully effected, by that almost endless
reinforcement which the arbitrary levies furnish, and which in a moment
supply the vacancy made by the bullet and the bayonet. To prevent any
ill consequences from the impetuous temerity which might attend the
first attack, a considerable corps of reserve is always formed of the
more experienced troops, who are able to support their comrades in the
front, when too severely pressed, or of forcing them to rally, should
they discover any disposition to fly. To their flying artillery, which
are served by their best soldiers, wherever the ground will best admit,
they are also eminently indebted for their success: yet, with all those
advantages, striking and eminent as they are, and the negative
assistance which she derived from the frequently imbecile conduct of the
enemy, France would perhaps never have been crowned with the success
which has marked her march, had not her population been enormous, and
had not the stupendous idea of placing a great portion of that
population, by the novelty of a conscription, at the disposal of her
ruler, been developed by the mighty monster[4] whose name I have before
mentioned. If she had had twenty thousand men on the plains of Maida,
she would have been spared the disgrace of seeing 7,000 of her chosen
soldiers fly before 4,795 of the British arms under the gallant Stuart.
Footnote 4:
For this sanguinary tyrant the following epitaph was well penned.
Passant, ne pleure point son sort;
Car, s’il vivait, tu serais mort.
Ye who pass by his grave, need not weep that he’s gone,
Had he liv’d, ye would now be as cold as this stone.
To comprehend the present political state of those cities on the right
and left banks of the Rhine, which I visited in my way to the south of
Germany, it is necessary to lay before the reader the following
memorable document, and letter of abdication, by which the Germanic
empire is annihilated, and Bonaparte is raised to be imperial chief of a
mighty _feudatory_ confederation, in the organization of which new
sovereign dignities have been conferred, and new dominions allotted, for
securing his conquests in Germany.
_Ratisbon, August 2._
Whereas, his Majesty the Emperor of the French, and their Majesties
the Kings of Bavaria and Wirtemberg, their Electoral Highnesses the
Arch-chancellor and the Elector of Baden, his Imperial Highness the
Duke of Berg, and their Highnesses the Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt,
the Princes of Nassau Weilburg and Nassau Usingen, of
Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Siegmaringen, Salm-Salm, and Salm-Kyrburg,
Isenburg, Birstein, and Lichtenstein; the Duke of Ahremberg, and the
Count of Leyen; being desirous to secure, through proper stipulations,
the internal and external peace of southern Germany, which, as
experience for a long period and recently has shown, can derive no
kind of guarantee from the existing German constitution, have
appointed to be their plenipotentiaries to this effect; namely, his
Majesty the Emperor of the French, Charles Maurice Talleyrand, Prince
of Benevento, minister of his foreign affairs; his Majesty, the King
of Bavaria, his minister plenipotentiary, A. Von Cetto; his Majesty,
the King of Wirtemberg, his state-minister the Count of Wintzingerode;
the Elector Arch-chancellor, his ambassador extraordinary the count of
Beust; the Elector of Baden, his cabinet minister the Baron of
Reitzenstein; his Imperial Highness the Duke of Berg, Baron Von
Schele; the Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt, his ambassador extraordinary
Baron Von Pappenheim; the Princes of Nassau, Weilburg, and Usingen,
Baron Von Gagern; the Princes of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and
Siegmaringen, Major Von Fischer; the Prince of Isenburg-Birtsein, his
privy-counsellor M. Von Gretzen; the Duke of Ahremberg, and the Count
of Leyen, Mr. Durand St. André, who have agreed upon the following
articles:
Art. 1. The states of the contracting princes (enumerated as in the
preamble) shall be for ever separated from the Germanic body, and
united by a particular confederation, under the designation of “_The
confederated States of the Empire_.”
2. All the laws of the empire, by which they have been hitherto bound,
shall be in future null and without force, with the exception of the
statutes relative to debts, determined in the recess of the deputation
of 1803, and in the paragraph upon the navigation to be funded upon
the shipping tolls, which statutes shall remain in full vigour and
execution.
3. Each of the contracting princes renounces such of his titles as
refer to his connexion with the German empire; and they will, on the
1st of August, declare their entire separation from it.
4. The Elector Arch-chancellor shall take the title of Prince Primate
and Most Eminent Highness, which title shall convey no prerogative
derogatory to the entire sovereignty which every one of the
contracting princes shall enjoy.
5. The Elector of Baden, the Duke of Berg, and the Landgrave of Hesse
Darmstadt, shall take the titles of grand Dukes, and enjoy the rights,
honours, and prerogatives belonging to the kingly dignity. Their rank
and precedence shall be in the same order as mentioned in Article I.
The chief of the houses of Nassau shall take the title of Duke, and
the Count of Leyen that of Prince.
6. The affairs of the confederation shall be discussed in a congress
of the union (Diète), whose place of sitting shall be in Francfort,
and the congress shall be divided into two colleges, the kings and the
princes.
7. The members of the league must be independent of every foreign
power. They cannot, in any wise, enter into any other service, but
that of the states of the confederation, and its allies. Those who
have been hitherto in the service of a foreign power, and choose to
adhere to it, shall abdicate their principality in favour of one of
their children.
8. Should any of the said princes be disposed to alienate the whole or
any part of his sovereignty, he can only do it in favour of the
confederates.
9. All disputes, which may arise among the members of the league,
shall be settled in the assembly at Francfort.
10. In this the Prince Primate shall preside, and when it shall
happen, that the two colleges have to deliberate upon any subject, he
shall then preside in the college of Kings, and the Duke of Nassau in
that of the Princes.
11. The time, when the congress of the league, or either of the
colleges, shall have particularly to assemble, the manner of the
convocation, the subjects upon which they may have to deliberate, the
manner of forming their conclusions, and putting them in execution,
shall be determined in a fundamental statute, which the Prince Primate
shall give in proposition, within a month after the notification
presented at Ratisbon. This statute shall be approved of by the
confederated states; this statute shall also regulate the respective
rank of the members of the college of princes.
12. The Emperor shall be proclaimed protector of the confederation. On
the demise of the Primate, he shall, in such quality, as often name
the successor.
13. His Majesty the King of Bavaria cedes to the King of Wirtemberg,
the Lordship of Wisensteig, and renounces the rights which he might
have upon Weiblingen, on account of Burgan.
14. His Majesty the King of Wirtemberg makes over to the Grand Duke of
Berg, the country of Bondorff, Brenlingen, and Villingen, the part of
the territory of the latter city which lies on the right bank of the
Brigoetz, and the city of Tuttlingen, with the manor of the same name
belonging to it, on the right bank of the Danube.
15. The grand Duke of Baden cedes to the King of Wirtemberg, the city
and territory of Biebrach, with their dependencies.
16. The Duke of Nassau cedes to the grand Duke of Berg, the city of
Deutz and its territory.
17. His Majesty the King of Bavaria shall unite to his states the city
and territory of Nuremberg, and the Teutonic comitials of Rohr and
Waldstetten.
18. His Majesty the King of Wirtemberg shall receive the Lordship of
Wisensteig, the city and territory of Biebrach, with their
dependencies, the cities of Waldsee and Schettingen, the comitial
lands of Karpfenburg, Lancheim, and Alchausen, with the exceptions of
the Lordship of Hohenfeld, and the abbey of Weiblingen.
19. The grand Duke of Baden shall receive the Lordship of Bonndorff,
the cities of Vrenlingen, Villingen, and Tuttlingen, the parts of
their territories which are given to him in Article 14; and along with
these the comitials of Bolken and Freyburg.
20. The grand Duke of Berg shall receive the city and territory of
Deutz, the city and manor of Koningswinter, and the manor of Wistich,
as ceded by the Duke of Nassau.
21. The grand Duke of Darmstadt shall unite to his states the
burgraviat of Freidberg, taking to himself the sovereignty only during
the lifetime of the present possessor, and the whole at his death.
22. The prince Primate shall take possession of the city of Francfort
on the Maine, and its territory, as his sovereign property.
23. The Prince of Hohenzollern Seigmaringen shall receive as his
sovereign property the lordships of Aschberg and Hohenfels, depending
on the comitial of Alchausen, the convents of Klosterwald and
Haltzthal, and the sovereignty over the imperial equestrian estates
that lie in his dominions, and in the territory to the north of the
Danube, wherever his sovereignty extends; namely, the lordships of
Gamerdingen and Hottingen.
24. The members of the confederation shall exercise all the rights of
sovereignty henceforward as follow:
His Majesty the King of Bavaria, over the principality of
Schwartzenberg, the county of Castell, the lordships of Speinfeld and
Wissenheid, the dependencies of the principality of Hohenlohe, which
are included in the margraviate of Anspach, and the territory of
Rothenburg, namely, the great manors of Schillings furstand Kirchberg,
the county of Sternstein, the principality of Oettingen, the
possessions of the Prince of La Tour to the north of the principality
of Neuberg, the county of Edelstetten, the possessions of the Prince
and of the Count of Fugger, the burgraviat of Winteriedden; lastly,
the lordships of Buxheim and Tannhansein, and over the entire of the
highway from Memmingen to Lindau.
His Majesty the King of Wirtemberg, over the possessions of the Prince
and Count of Truchess Waldberg, the counties of Baindt Egloff
Guttenzell, Hechbach, Ysuy, Koenigsek Aullendorff, Ochenhausen, Roth,
Schussenried, and Weissenau, the lordships of Mietingen and Sunningen,
New Ravensburg, Thanheim, Warthausen, and Weingarten, with the
exception of the lordship of Haguenau, the possessions of the Prince
of Thurn, with the exception of those not mentioned above; the
lordship of Strasburg, and the manor of Ostraiz, the lordships of
Gundelfingen and Neussen, the parts of the country of Limburg
Gaildorf, which his Majesty does not possess, all the unalienated
possessions of the princes of Hohenlohe, and over a part of the manor
formerly belonging to Mentz, Krautheim, on the left bank of the Jaxt.
The Grand Duke of Baden over the principality of Furstenberg, with the
exception of the lordships of Gundelfingen and Neussen; also over
Trochtelfingen, Jungenau, and part of the manor of Moeskirch, which
lies on the left bank of the Danube, over the lordship of Hagenau,
county of Thuengen, landgraviate of Klettgau, manors of Neidenau and
Billigheim, principality of Leiningen, the possessions of Lowenstein
Wertheim, upon the left bank of the Maine (with the exceptions of the
country of Lowenstein), and the lordships of Hailack, Bonnberg, and
Habitzheim; and lastly, over the possessions of the Princes of
Salm-Reiser-scheid Krantheim, to the north of the Jaxt.
The grand Duke of Berg over the lordships of Lymburg-Styrum, Brugg,
Hardenberg, Gimborn, and Neustadt, Wildenberg; the counties of
Homburg, Bentheim, Steinfurt, and Horstmarn, the possessions of the
Duke of Looz; the counties of Siegen, Dillenburg (the manors of
Werheim and Burgach excepted) over Stadamar, the lordships
Westerburgh, Schadeck, and Beilstein, and the properly so called, part
of Runkel, on the right bank of the Lahn. In order to establish a
communication between Cleves and the above-named possessions, the
grand Duke shall have a free passage through the states of the Prince
of Salm. His Highness the grand Duke of Darmstadt over the lordships
of Brenberg, Haibach, the manor of Habizheim, county of Erbach,
lordship of Illenstadt, a part of the county of Kodigsheim, which is
possessed by the Prince of Stolberg Gedern; over the possessions of
the Baron of Riedefel, that are included in, or lie contiguous to his
estates, namely, the jurisdictions of Lauserbach, Stockhausen, Mort,
and Truenstern, the possessions of the Princes and Counts of Solms, in
Weterrau, exclusive of the manors of Hohen Solms, Braunsels, and
Grietenstein; lastly, the counties of Wittgenstein, and Berleberg, and
the manor of Hessen-Homburg, which is in possession of the line of
that name.
His most serene Eminence the Prince Primate, over the possessions of
the Princes and Counts of Lowenstein Wertheim, on the right bank of
the Maine, and over the county of Rheneck.
Nassau Usingen, and Nassau Weilburg, over the manors of Diersdorf,
Alteneveid Neursburgh, and the part of the county of Bassenburg, which
belongs to the Prince of Wied-Runkel, over the counties of Neuweid,
and Holzappel, the lordship of Schomburg, the county of Deiz and its
dependencies; over that part of the village of Metzselden, which
appertains to the Prince of Nassau Fulda, the manors of Werhem and
Balbach, that part of the lordship of Runkel, situate on the left bank
of the Lahn, over the knightdoms of Kransburg; and lastly over the
manors of Solms, Braunsels, Hohen Solms, and Griesenstein.
The Prince of Hohenzollern-Siegmaringen, over Trochtelfingen,
Jungenan, Strasburg, Manor Ostrach, and the part of the lordship of
Moeskirch which lies on the left bank of the Danube.
Salm Kyrberg, over the lordship of Gehmen.
Isenburg-Burstein, over the possessions of the Counts of Isenburg,
Budingen, Wechtersbach, and Mehrholz, without any pretensions on the
part of the branch in the present possession being urged against him.
Ahremberg, over the county of Dulmen.
25. The members of the confederation shall take the sovereignty of the
imperial knightdoms included within their boundaries. Such of the
lands as are between the states of two of the confederates, shall be
with respect to the sovereignty, partitioned as exactly as possible
between them, that no misunderstanding with respect to the sovereignty
may arise.
26. The rights of sovereignty consist in exercising the legislation,
superior jurisdiction, administration of justice, military
conscription, or recruiting, and levying taxes.
27. The present reigning Princes or Counts, shall enjoy as patrimonial
or private property all the domains they at present occupy, as well as
all the rights of manor and entail, that do not essentially appertain
to the sovereignty; namely, the right of superior and inferior
administration of justice, in common and criminal cases, tenths,
patronage, and other rights, with the revenues therefrom accruing.
Their domains and chattels, as far as relates to the taxes, shall be
annexed to the Prince of that house under whose sovereignty they come;
or if no Prince of the house be in possession of immoveable property,
in that case they shall be put upon an equality with the domains of
Princes of the most privileged class. These domains cannot be sold or
given to any Prince out of the confederation, without being first
offered to the Prince under whose sovereignty they are placed.
28. In penal cases, the now reigning Princes and Counts, and their
heirs, shall preserve their present privileges of trial. They shall be
tried by their peers. Their fortune shall not in any event be
confiscated, but the revenues may, during the life time of the
criminal, be sequestrated.
29. The confederate states shall contribute to the payment of the
debts of their circle, as well for their old as their new possessions.
The debts of the circle of Suabia, shall be put to the account of the
Kings of Bavaria and Wirtemberg, the grand Duke of Baden, the Princes
of Hohenzollern, Hechingen, and Siegmaringen, the Prince of
Lichtenstein, and Prince of Leyen, in proportion to their respective
possessions in Suabia.
30. The proper debts of a Prince or Count who falls under the
sovereignty of another state, shall be defrayed by the said state
conjointly with the new reigning Prince, in the proportion of the
revenues which that state shall require, and of the part which by the
present treaty is allotted to attach to the attributes of the present
sovereigns.
31. The present reigning Princes or Counts may determine the place of
their residence where they will. Where they reside in the dominions of
a member or ally of the confederation, or in any of the possessions
which they hold out of the territory of the confederation, they may
draw their rents or capitals without paying any tax whatever upon
them.
32. Those persons who hold places in the administration of the
countries, which hereby come under the sovereignty of the
confederates, and who shall not be retained by the new sovereign,
shall receive a pension according to the situation they have held.
33. The numbers of military or religious orders who shall lose their
incomes, or whose common property shall be secularised, shall receive
during life a yearly stipend proportioned to their former income,
their dignity, and their age, and which shall be secured upon the
goods of the revenues of which they were in the enjoyment.
34. The confederates renounce reciprocally, for themselves and their
posterity, all claims which they might have upon the possessions of
other members of the confederation, the eventual right of succession
alone excepted, and this only in the event of the family having died
out, which now is in possession of the territories and objects to
which such a right might be advanced.
35. Between the Emperor of the French and the Confederated States,
federatively and individually, there shall be an alliance, by virtue
of which, every continental war in which one or either parties shall
be engaged, shall be common to all.
36. In the event of any foreign or neighbouring power making
preparations for war, the contracting parties, in order to prevent
surprise, shall, upon the requisition of the minister of one of them
at the assembly of the league at Francfort, arm also. And as the
contingent of the allies is subdivided into four parts, the assembly
shall decide how many of those shall be called into activity. The
armament, however, shall only take place upon the summons of the
Emperor, to each of the contracting parties.
37. His Majesty the King of Bavaria, binds himself to fortify Augsburg
and Lindau; in the first of these places to form and maintain
artillery establishments, and in the second to keep a quantity of
muskets and ammunition, sufficient for a reserve, as well as a baking
establishment at Augsburg, sufficient to supply the armies without
delay, in the event of war.
38. The contingent of each is determined as follows:
France 200,000
Bavaria 30,000
Wirtemberg 12,000
Baden 8,000
Berg 5,000
Darmstadt 4,000
Nassau, Hohenzollern, and others 4,000
39. The contracting parties will admit of the accession of other
German princes and states in all cases where the union with the
confederation may be found consistent with the general interest.
40. The ratification of the present treaty shall be exchanged between
the contracting parties, on the 25th of July at Munich.
Done at Paris, July 12, 1806.
The resignation of the high office of Emperor of Germany, by Francis,
Emperor of Austria.
_Vienna, August 7._
We, Francis Second, &c.
Since the peace of Presburgh all our attention and all our care have
been employed to fulfil with scrupulous fidelity all the engagements
contracted by that treaty, to preserve to our subjects the happiness
of peace, to consolidate every where the amicable relations happily
re-established, waiting to discover whether the changes caused by the
peace would permit us to perform our important duties, as chief of the
Germanic empire, conformably to the capitulation of election.
The consequences, however, which ensued from some articles of the
treaty of Presburgh, immediately after its publication, which still
exist, and those events generally known, which have since taken place
in the Germanic empire, have convinced us that it will be impossible,
under these circumstances, to continue the obligations contracted by
the capitulation of election; and even if in reflecting on these
political relations it were possible to imagine a change of affairs,
the convention of the twelfth of July, signed at Paris, and ratified
by the contracting parties, relative to an entire separation of
several considerable states of the empire, and their peculiar
confederation, has entirely destroyed every such hope.
Being thus convinced of the impossibility of being any longer enabled
to fulfil the duties of our imperial functions, we owe it to our
principles and our duty, to renounce a crown which was only valuable
in our eyes whilst we were able to enjoy the confidence of the
electors, princes, and other states of our Germanic empire, and to
perform the duties which were imposed upon us. We declare, therefore,
by these presents, that we, considering as dissolved the ties which
have hitherto attached us to the states of the Germanic empire; that
we, considering as extinguished by the confederation of the states of
the Rhine, the charge in chief of the empire; and that we, considering
ourselves thus acquitted of all our duties towards the Germanic
empire, do resign the imperial crown and the imperial government. We
absolve, at the same time, the electors, princes, and states, and all
that belong to the empire, particularly the members of the supreme
tribunal, and other magistrates of the empire, from those duties by
which they were united to us as the legal chief of the empire,
according to the constitution.
We also absolve all our German provinces and states of the empire from
their reciprocal duties toward the German empire; and we desire, in
incorporating them with our Austrian states as Emperor of Austria, and
in preserving them in those amicable relations subsisting with the
neighbouring powers and states, that they should attain that height of
prosperity and happiness which is the end of all our desires, and the
object of our dearest wishes.
Done at our residence, under our imperial seal,
Vienna, the 6th of August, 1806. FRANCIS.
We, Francis Second, &c. In abdicating the imperial government of the
empire, we, considering it as the last effort of our care, and as an
absolute duty, do express thus publicly a desire equally reasonably
and just, that the persons who have hitherto been employed in the
administration of justice, and in diplomatic and other affairs, for
the good of the whole empire, and for the service of the chief of the
empire, should be suitably provided for:
The care which all the states of the empire took of those persons who
lost their places by the affair of the indemnity in 1803, induces us
to hope that the same sentiments of justice will be extended to those
individuals who have hitherto been employed in the general service,
who have been chosen in all parts of the Germanic empire, and many of
whom have quitted other profitable places, looking forward to an
honourable subsistence for life, and which should not be wanting to
them on account of their fidelity, and the integrity and capacity with
which they have executed their functions:
We have, therefore, taken the resolution of preserving to those of our
imperial servants, who have hitherto drawn their salaries from our
chamber, the same appointments, reserving to ourselves to place them
in employments in the service of our hereditary states; and we hope,
with so much the more confidence, that the electors, princes, and
states will provide for the imperial chamber of justice of the empire,
and the chancellerie of the chamber of justice, by charging themselves
voluntarily with this expense, as it will be trifling in amount, and
will diminish every year.
As to the chancellerie of the aulic council of the empire, the funds
destined for its support will be employed to provide for the wants of
those individuals who have hitherto drawn from thence their salaries;
this will serve them until other measures may be taken.
Done in our capital and residence of Vienna, under our imperial seal,
the 6th of August, 1806.
FRANCIS.
CHAPTER XXII.
IMPERIAL REGULATION NECESSARY TO BE KNOWN ... THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU
DES DILIGENCES PAR EAU ... SINGULAR ADVENTURE ... A SCRAPE ... A
STRATAGEM ... PASSAGE TO BONN ... A DISCOVERY ... EXCELLENT EFFECT OF
BRANDY ... THE CITY OF BONN ... THE MALL ... EFFECT OF BLACK ... PRESENT
STATE OF BONN ... THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS ... THE MONASTERY ... ANECDOTE OF
THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE ... BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.
In consequence of having been informed the preceding evening that an
imperial decree had passed, by which strangers entering the French
empire were permitted to bring as much money into it as they chose, but
were not suffered to take out of it more than what certain officers
appointed for that purpose considered necessary for the prosecution of
their journey, the surplus passing in the nature of a forfeiture to the
crown, I concealed about thirty ducats, which fell within this
description of overplus, in my cravat, and at five o’clock in the
morning, marched from my hotel to the bureau des diligences par eau, a
distance full two English miles, to be searched for this superfluity of
cash, previous to my ascending the Rhine. At this house a scene took
place which perhaps has not often occurred to travellers, in consequence
of the temporary apprehension which it excited, the ridiculous situation
in which it placed me, and the retributive chastisement which it
inflicted for thus venturing upon an hostile shore. I was introduced
into a room looking upon the Rhine; at the bureau sat the Director, a
man who wore spectacles, with a strongly marked, expressive countenance,
apparently about fifty years of age; upon my bowing to him he demanded
of me, in German, who I was? I requested him to address me in French,
which he did, repeating the question. I told him I was an American going
to the Francfort fair, upon which he put down his spectacles, and
running up to me, squeezed my hand with a violence of compression
infinitely more painful than agreeable, and exclaimed in very good
English, “How happy is this day to me! for I too am an American.” I was
obliged to return the affectionate salutation, and also to express my
delight in having, so far from our native home, met with a countryman.
He then asked me from what part of America I came? “From Baltimore,” was
the answer. “Happier and happier!” cried he renewing his embrace, “for I
was born there too.” At this moment I wished, for the first time in my
life, all the force of the _amor patriæ_ at the devil; but there was no
time to be lost in meditating upon the peril and awkwardness of my
situation. To prevent, as much as possible his interrogating me further
about my adopted country, I addressed with all possible fluency, as many
questions as I could suggest respecting Cologne, the Rhine, the war; in
short, I touched upon every subject but what had an American tendency.
To my observations he bowed, to my questions he gave very brief answers,
and continued expressing his delight in seeing me, a delight which was
very far from being reciprocal. After ordering his servants to bring
breakfast for me, which I did not decline, although I had already taken
that meal at my hotel, for fear of offending him, he made many inquiries
after some persons whom he named, and mentioned to be of the first
consequence in Baltimore. I gave him to understand that I had left the
city when quite a boy; but upon his assuring me that I must remember or
have heard of the persons he had named, I gave him to understand that my
recollection of them was very imperfect, but that I believed they had
perished by the yellow fever; upon hearing which he expressed great
affliction, observing they were the dearest friends he had in Baltimore
before he quitted it, about fifteen years since. In this uncomfortable
situation I sat vis-à-vis with my tormentor, who continued, during
breakfast, to overload me with expressions of kindness. At last the
skipper of the Rhine boat made his appearance, with the welcome
information that the boat was ready, upon which the director ordered him
to make up a bed for me on board if I wished it, and to show me every
possible attention, adding, that I was his particular friend and
countryman. I now thought the hour of my deliverance was arrived, and
that an adventure which promised so adversely would terminate in the
display of the civilities I have enumerated; but it was determined that
my correction was not yet sufficient, for as the director looked out of
the window, he exclaimed, “here comes my secretary, a very steady young
man, who can attend to the office for the day,” and then turning round
to me, added, “and I can now have the happiness of going half a day’s
journey with you, which I am resolved to do; yes, I will show to you how
dear my countrymen are to me, by going as for as Bonn with you.”
Distressed and embarrassed beyond measure at this fresh proof of his
provoking and perplexing regard for America and me, I tried in vain to
prevail upon him not to think of carrying his politeness so far, and
expressed my strong sense of the attentions with which he had already
_completely overwhelmed_ me: all that I urged appeared only to redouble
the warmth of his expressions, and to confirm him in his determination.
With a heavy heart and a light countenance we walked arm and arm down to
the shore, and ascended the boat, over which, as well as all the other
Cologne passage boats, it appeared he had complete sovereignty by virtue
of his office, and in a minute afterwards the towing horse advanced at a
rate of about two English miles and an half in an hour on the French
side of the river. The director made me sit next to him in the cabin,
telling the passengers, who appeared to be very respectable, that I was
an American and his countryman, and that that was the happiest day he
had experienced for fifteen years. In the course of conversation with
him, from the gasconade stories which he related of his own exploits, I
was induced to entertain suspicions of his character; he told me that he
was one of the most conspicuous characters in the French revolution;
that General Custine owed all his glory in the field to him; that he had
long resided at Berlin, where he had, by his intrigues, maintained for
some time a complete ascendency in the Prussian cabinet; that he was
engaged in a vast literary work, in which all the great events that had
agitated the world for the last ten years, would be unfolded in a manner
never before developed; that he had entered into the service of the
French Emperor, solely to promote the interest of the empire. He
observed, after engaging my word to keep the matter secret until I
reached my own country, that the Emperor was abhorred throughout the
empire, that he was a remorseless tyrant, and that _he_ could prove him
to be a coward.
To the latter part of his assertion I took care to offer no remark, but
under the pretence of wishing to view the city of Cologne at a distance,
the river and the country, and also to gain a little respite from such a
rapid succession of untoward circumstances, I ascended the top of the
cabin and refreshed myself by making the sketch engraved. The tower, the
mighty mass of the unfinished cathedral, the numerous spires, the shores
on either side, the rapid motion of the vessel descending the Rhine, the
singing of those on board, the clear brilliancy of the sky, afforded
reanimating delight to my mind.
About ten o’clock my persecutor raised his head through the cabin door,
to announce that dinner was ready, and to request my company: upon
descending I found some soup, and beef roasted after the German fashion,
and that the director had, while I was above, been taken ill, from the
occasional agitation of the boat, that to allay his sickness he had
asked one of the gentlemen on board for some brandy, and of which he had
evidently taken a great deal too much: the spirit rapidly operated upon
his head, and a more abominable nuisance in the shape of man I never
beheld: incapable of sitting at table with such a miscreant, I resumed
my old place where I had not been seated long before I heard him abusing
all the passengers, except myself, for whom he again expressed “the
assurance of his high consideration,” and threatening to order them all
to be thrown overboard, which he seemed to be perfectly able to do
himself, for he was one of the most powerful men I ever beheld: upon
which they relinquished the cabin to himself, and, excepting a very
pretty French girl, came upon deck. Upon hearing her scream violently, I
went below to see what _influence his countryman_ could now have over
the director: as I was handing her out of the cabin, he forcibly pulled
me back, closed the door, and said, in a manner which was perfectly
intelligible, though occasionally interrupted by the spasms of
intoxication, “I know you, though you think I do not; you are _no
American_, you are an Englishman, and a son of Mr. Erskine the orator;
you are here on a secret mission, and your life is in my hands, but I
will not betray you.” The reply I made was, “I am engaged in no secret
mission, my soul would revolt at it, nor can I be the son of my Lord
Erskine, for he is now upon the ocean, as ambassador from the court of
Great Britain to my country;” to which I added, “that it was in vain for
him to attempt to deceive me any longer, for I was satisfied, by his
observations respecting America, that he had not been born in that
country:” to which, to my no little consternation, he replied, “No, nor
have I ever been there, I am a German by birth, I was educated by an
Englishman who lived at my father’s, and I am now in the service of one
of the greatest heroes, and the most illustrious of men.”
I know not whether my life was in peril, but it is certain my liberty
was, and to preserve it, I thought that something should be immediately
done; accordingly I ascended the top of the cabin, where all the
passengers were assembled in a state of considerable uneasiness, from
one of whom I borrowed a bottle of brandy and a coffee-cup, with which I
returned to the director, and insisted upon drinking his health in some
excellent spirit, and raising my hand and the bottle in a manner which,
in his state, prevented him from seeing what I poured out, I affected to
fill and drink it off; I then gave him a bumper, which I several times
repeated in a similar manner, until the miscreant dropped under the
table, where he continued in a state of utter insensibility, and with
little appearance of life, until we arrived, which we did in about six
hours, at Bonn, when he was taken out of the vessel by some men,
conveyed to a house near the banks of the river, and, thank heaven! I
saw no more of him, but proceeded with the rest of the passengers to a
very neat inn a little way in the city, where we had an excellent dinner
and some good white Rhine wine. The stream of the Rhine became less
rapid as we approached Bonn, where its waters are shallower than in the
neighbourhood of Cologne, where all large vessels ship their cargoes
which are destined for any of the towns higher up, into craft
constructed peculiarly for the purpose, and which draw much less water.
As I determined to sleep at Bonn, I had a favourable opportunity of
seeing this beautiful little city, which enabled the former Electors of
Cologne to display their taste by selecting it for their residence. It
was elegantly and justly observed by a French lady on board of the boat
as we approached the city, _Voilà Bonne! c’est une petite perle!_ no
expression could describe it better; when I made my view of it, the dark
clouds behind it set off the pearl-like appearance of the palace and
buildings. I saw no spot on the Rhine in the shape of a town with which
I was so much delighted; it consisted of little more than 1000 houses
and 8000 inhabitants. In the neighbourhood the country begins to
undulate, and the vines make a luxuriant appearance. The wine made here
and in the adjacent parts is tolerably good; that which grows upon the
black basalt hills, further to the southward, is infinitely preferable,
black being a powerful agent to attract and retain heat; hence the rents
of hills are rather high. So powerful is this colour in attracting and
retaining the heat, that a very intelligent friend of mine, who resided
for some time in China, informed me, that for the purpose of ripening
their fruits as early as possible, the Chinese gardeners paint their
garden walls black, and lately in some parts of England this plan has
been followed. Everything in and about the city bears testimony to the
enlightened liberality and refined taste of the last of the Electors of
Cologne, who was cordially beloved and admired by all classes of his
subjects. The building which was once his palace, is very extensive; it
stands just without the city upon an elevation of ground, and commands a
most enchanting prospect, embracing the windings of the majestic Rhine,
part of the village of Poppledorff, the ci-devant monastery of Gruizberg
crowning the summit of a hill, and at a distance the Seven Mountains,
clothed with vineyards, and the spires of Coblentz. This beautiful
building is now applied to government purposes; in the left wing towards
the orange garden, which is prettily disposed, the French Emperor has
preserved the Lyceum for instructing boys in Latin, Greek, German,
French, mathematics, and philosophy: the professors are very able men,
and the institution is in a flourishing condition: this is one amongst
the many noble establishments founded by the last Elector, which in his
reign was kept in another quarter of the city: this elegant pile of
building, which is now stripped of all its valuable ornaments, was
raised by the elector Clement Augustus in 1777, upon the same site on
which no less than four preceding palaces had fallen victims to the
flames: there is a beautiful walk under a quadruple row of lime trees,
which leads to a small country palace: this walk forms the fashionable
parade of the city, and was graced by a number of beautiful and
elegantly dressed ladies. Some very pleasant French officers, with whom
I was walking in this place, expressed their surprise at seeing an
Englishman amongst them, and I was obliged to find refuge again in my
American adoption.
Through a beautiful and romantic country, by a short walk a little
beyond Gruizberg, towards the south, is the picturesque hill of
Godesberg, or Godshill, so called from a sanative mineral spring flowing
close to it, which contains fixed air, iron, magnesia, and salt: the
last Elector who never omitted any thing which could add to the comfort
and happiness of his people, erected an assembly and other rooms, and
also pleasure gardens for recreation close to the spring, and by some
very wise regulations, encouraged the building of lodging-houses. At
this place, many of the unhappy French emigrants, after the revolution,
found a little relief from the miserable recollections of their fallen
fortunes and altered fate: the court of the prince bishop was remarkable
for the elegance, hospitality, and refined freedom which reigned
throughout it, and in return in every visitor he beheld a friend. The
influence of this scene of courtly felicity upon the manners of the
people had not as yet subsided. A peculiar air of refinement
distinguished the deportment of the inhabitants: after an exquisite
ramble, I returned through the square, a spacious irregular area, where
the French troops quartered in the place were exercising, and where a
very ancient Gothic town house stands, to supper at my hotel, at the
table d’hote of which I again smarted for the temerity of trespassing
upon this delightful spot. During our repast, which abounded with a
great variety of choice and excellent dishes, and which was attended by
many French officers, a German lady who sat opposite to me, always
addressed and alluded to me by the perilous name of “_Monsieur
Anglois_,” which excited some considerable attention amongst the company
towards me; at last a French officer whose physiognomy did not present
the most pleasing collection of features, rose up, eyed me all over, and
went out: I expected nothing less than being obliged to take shelter
once more under my American alliance, but after waiting in the room an
hour, I saw nothing more of him, and went to bed. Whilst a cruel and
savage state of hostility between man and man thus embarrassed the
progress of a traveller, whose only object was to contemplate the
beautiful face of nature, never did the divine object of his pursuit
appear more arrayed in the smiles of _peace_ and loveliness. The
government of Bonn, as well as Cologne, and all the other cities on the
left bank of the Rhine is vested in a governor appointed by Napoleon,
and is purely military. Under a clear and cloudless sky I bade adieu to
Bonn with great reluctance, and embarked on board of the passage-boat
bound to Cassel. As we passed the lofty towers of Plittersdorff, on our
right, the Rhine unfolded itself in all its glory. On our left the seven
mountains (Sieben Geburge) called the Drakenfels, Wolkenbourg,
Rolandsekke, Löwenburgh, Nonnenstromberg, Hoke Ochlbey, and Hemmerick,
arose with uncommon grandeur, crowned with convents and the venerable
ruins of castles. In distant ages, many a German baron bold resided in
rude dignity with his martial followers upon the summit of these
mountains, from whence they waged war against each other, and many of
their remains of antiquity are the work of Valentinian in the fourth
century, who overthrew the Germans, and who fell a victim to his
inordinate passion, for when the Quadi sent to him to make a peace, the
_awkward appearance_ of some of the ambassadors so enraged him, that in
his anger he burst an artery.
Drackensels has infinitely the advantage of situation; it rises
perpendicularly from the river to a stupendous height, crowned with the
roofless remains of an ancient castle, brown with antiquity; midway it
is covered with luxuriant vines, whilst all above is red and gray rock.
The other mountains, which recede to a great distance, appeared to be
clothed with the clustering grape, on the opposite side the vineyards,
sloping close to the water’s edge, extended as far as they could reach;
every where the genius of this terrestrial Paradise seemed as if with
tasteful finger he had
——led the vine
To wed her elm——she spoused about him twines
Her marriageable arms! and with her brings
Her dower, the adopted clusters, to adorn
Her barren leaves. MILTON.
As we advanced, a beautiful island in the centre of the river, covered
with poplars, walnut-trees and elms, from the bosom of which arose the
roof and belfry of the monastery of Nonen Werth, or Worthy Nuns, formed
the back scene: the bosom of the river was enlivened with the peasants
of the neighbourhood moving in boats worked and steered with paddles,
and the banks of the French territory with groups of French soldiers
bathing, and singing their national songs.
As we passed the monastery the matin bells rung, and gave a romantic
interest to the scene: this pious seclusion is included in the French
line of sovereignty, and was condemned by Bonaparte to change its owners
and its nature for ever; but at the earnest intercession of the Empress
Josephine, he consented to suffer the sisterhood to enjoy it during
their lives, after which it will devolve to the empire. Wherever power
could effect and policy justify the measure, Bonaparte has displayed his
decided hostility to monastic establishments of every description; he
considers them as so many sinks of sloth, in which all the noble
principles and purposes of life become stagnant. In Paris only one
convent, that of the Blue Nuns, is permitted to remain. The numerous
convents which adorn the French side of the Rhine with the most
picturesque appearance, are either converted into fabrics, or suffered
to run to dilapidation: the river, from its meanderings, is land-locked
all the way, every turning of which surprised and captivated me with
some new beauty. Here, behind a line of walnut, lime and beech trees,
just skirting the margin of the river, a stupendous pyramidal cliff
appears, with every projection upon which the cultivator could lodge a
layer of vegetable mould, supporting a little growth of vine: there,
mountains of vineyards, relieved by mouldering castles, and convents
rising from masses of rock shooting forwards, or piercing the sky from
their pointed pinnacles, arrest the attention. Sometimes a torrent
brightens before the beholder, and distantly roars upon the ear; at
others the naked bed of one appears, or a rude gap through which the eye
penetrates into ranges of other vine-clad mountains, variegated with
majestic ruins, is seen. At the base of the hills on the sides of the
river numerous towers and villages constantly appear, defended by
ancient walls and turrets, adorned with venerable churches, brown with
age, surmounted with lofty spires, every where inviting the reflection
of the moralist, the investigation of the antiquary, the song of the
poet, and the pencil of the painter.
CHAPTER XXIII.
BASALT MOUNTAINS ... ANDERNACH ... ANECDOTE OF GENERAL HOCHE ... RHENISH
FLOATS ... SINGULAR ACCIDENT ... FRENCH POLICE ... NEUWEID ... THE RHINE
BOAT ... TOMB OF GENERAL MARCEAU ... ANECDOTE OF FRENCH HEROISM ...
COBLENTZ ... ITS SURRENDER TO THE FRENCH ARMS ... ANEDOTE OF FRENCH
VIVACITY ... THE ROCK AND FORTRESS OF EHRENBREITSTEIN ... THE
GRIFFON ... STUPENDOUS FRENCH ROADS ... BOPPART.
Almost all the immense mass of mountains which extend from Bonn to
Andernach, is composed of the basalt and slate; the former has a more
artificial appearance than almost any other mineral production. In no
form can it puzzle the philosopher more than at the Giant’s Causeway, in
Ireland, where it assumes a columnar shape, which has every appearance
of having been chisseled by the hand of a skilful mason, and of having
been regular granite cooling after fusion, and formed into regular
masses by crystallization. In the small cavities of these mountains the
martins and swallows find refuge, and in a comfortable state of
torpidity pass through the cold and cheerless weather of winter. The
children of the peasantry amuse themselves in discovering their
retreats, at an apparent exposure of their own lives.
In an amphitheatre of vast dusky basalt mountains, the sombre gates,
towers and pinnacles of Andernach appeared: in consequence of the river
making a long sweep, I landed with an intention of rejoining the boat at
a village named by the skipper; a more solemn scene of gloom and
grandeur, I never contemplated: the ruins of this town towards Coblentz
are of great antiquity. The inhabitants insist upon it, that the remains
of the Emperor Valentine are deposited in one of their churches, and
that Julius Cæsar when he so victoriously fought against the Suabians,
passed over the Rhine at this spot, where Drusus the general of
Augustus, built one of those fifty castles which are erected on the
banks of the Rhine: but the French, who narrowly investigated every part
of the river which their victorious arms enabled them to visit, with
great acuteness, and with the assistance of history, believe that this
celebrated landing was effected a little higher up the river, a short
distance from Engers, at a place called the White Tower (der Weisse
Thurm), the venerable front of which I saw as I afterwards advanced on
our right, in the centre of a sudden recess of the river, where it has
the appearance of having served the united purposes of a castle and a
watch tower; at its base is a considerable village, which formerly
belonged to the Elector of Treves: this situation is from a combination
of local advantages, peculiarly favorable to the completion of such a
passage, and in confirmation of the opinion, a great number of Roman
antiquities have been found there. General Hoche, at the head of an
immense army, aided by the obscurity of the night, crossed the Rhine at
this place in 1797, and astonished the imperial troops the next morning
by their presence.
This was the last exploit of that general. Near this tower there are
deposited his remains, over which a mausoleum has been erected. This
young commander died of an enlargement of the heart at Wetzlar. His
funeral was conducted with uncommon military pomp. The procession moved
from the place where he died, across the Rhine to the White Tower,
amidst the discharge of cannon, which were fired every quarter of an
hour.
The trade of the Rhine is here very flourishing, for exclusive of the
neighbouring vineyards which produce fine wines, and the basalts of the
adjoining mountains used for building and paving, this city derives
considerable wealth from the lapis tophaceus or tuf stone, the harder
sort of which form excellent millstones; vast quantities are shipped for
Holland, to construct or repair its dykes with, and the more friable is
used for building, whilst its powder mixed with lime forms the hardest
and most durable cement. I saw the cabins of several treckschuyts in
Holland covered with it, which were perfectly impervious to the rain:
the Germans also use it to floor their houses with. This stone is
considered to be a species of the pumice-stone, or imperfect lava, and
of volcanic production.
On the banks leading to this city, I saw part of one of those amazing
floats of timber which are formed of lesser ones, conveyed to this city
from the forests adjoining the Rhine, the Moselle, the Maine, &c.; these
floats are attached to each other, and form a platform generally of the
enormous dimensions of eight hundred feet in length, and one hundred and
sixty in breadth, upon which a little village containing about eighty
wooden houses is erected for the accommodation of those who are
interested in, and assist in navigating this stupendous raft, frequently
amounting to seven and eight hundred persons, men, women, and children;
besides these buildings, there are stalls for cattle, slaughtering
houses, and magazines for provisions: the float is prevented from
striking against the shores, where the turnings are abrupt, by the
application of thirty or forty anchors, which with the necessary cables
are conveyed in fourteen or fifteen boats which precede it, and its
course is safely directed by German and Dutch pilots, who are hired for
the purpose.
After great rains when the current is rapid, the whole is entrusted to
its propelling force, otherwise several hundred persons are employed in
rowing, who move their oars at a given word of command. The whole of
these wonderful moving masses is under the entire direction of a
governor or superintendant, and several officers under him. Sometimes
they are months in performing their voyage, in consequence of the water
being low, in which case they are obliged to wait till the river is
swelled by the rains. In this manner they float from the _high_ to the
_low_ countries, and upon their arrival at the place of destination, the
whole is broken up, and finds a ready market. About twelve of them
annually arrive at Dort, in Holland, in the months of July and August,
where these German timber-merchants having converted their floats into
good Dutch ducats, return to their own country with their families, to
enjoy the produce of their labour and enterprize.
The clergy and monks in Andernach used to be, to use a good humoured
homely expression of a late illustrious statesman, upon an application
made to him for a place under his administration “as thick as five in a
bed;” beside six vicars belonging to a large parish church, there were
no less than five crowded convents, and the population did not exceed
four thousand souls: the convents are now converted into garrisons for
French soldiers, and storehouses for tradesmen. After viewing the city,
I set off on the road to Coblentz, with a view of meeting the boat at
the place appointed, and after walking about two miles, I lost all
traces of the river; however, observing about three parts of a mile off,
the tops of a long semicircular line of poplars, I concluded the river
flowed by them, and I accordingly endeavoured to penetrate to the bank
through a large willow wood, in which I soon lost myself. At last,
however, I succeeded in forcing a way into a little footpath, in
pursuing which I suddenly came upon a Frenchman, poorly clothed in
green, with a book in his hand; he courteously addressed me, remarked
that I looked rather warm, and conducted me to a recess in the wood,
close to the water, where there was a bed of straw and a gun: at first I
regarded him as a robber, but he soon gave me to understand that he was
a link in a vast chain, composed of forty thousand soldiers, placed in
this sort of ambuscade at the distance of a gun shot from each other, by
the orders of the government of France, to guard the left bank of the
Rhine from smugglers; and that to prevent contraband practices, no boat
is suffered to pass either up or down the river after sunset, without
being fired upon; that they are always clothed in a sombre dress, to
prevent observation, and are concealed in this manner wherever the sides
of the river will admit of it. Upon my informing him that I had lost my
way and my boat, he politely assured me that it had not yet ascended the
river, and hailed a little punt passing by, which enabled me to regain
the vessel, then very fortunately just approaching. Notwithstanding the
vigilance of the French police, the rafts I have described carry on a
considerable contraband trade in the Rhine wines and Seltzer water.
Opposite to the spot where this occurrence took place, at the bottom of
a range of hills, is the delightful town and palace of Neuwied, built of
white stone, at one end of the line of poplars which I have mentioned,
and almost the only town I saw without walls or any sort of
fortification on the Rhine. Nothing could exceed the air of happiness
and prosperity which seemed to reign in this delectable little capital,
which looked perfectly fresh and new, the prince of which receives,
because he deserves, the affections of his subjects; every one on board,
with great vivacity, spoke of the toleration, the liberal extension of
the rights of citizenship to foreigners, and the public spirit of its
ruler. The place is enriched by several flourishing iron works, steel,
paper, and cotton manufactures (the latter, the first introduced into
Germany), printing, watch, and ingenious cabinet-making. Before the last
war, in the forges and founderies, and different fabrics, not less than
four thousand persons were employed, and their circulation at a fair has
been known to amount to forty or fifty thousand florins. There is an
establishment of Moravian brethren here more numerous than that at
Zeyst. The last and the present wars have of course considerably reduced
the number of workmen, by forcing many of them into the army; but,
notwithstanding, there is no town on the Rhine in a more enviable
condition, for every thing which can impart content and felicity to man.
It was a curious and highly interesting circumstance to see in Neuwied
and Andernach, almost opposite to each other, the most modern and the
most ancient city on the Rhine. The price of freight upon the Rhine is
rather high: before the French united together so many petty
sovereignties it was much higher, owing to the number of tolls which
were paid to each; previous to that event there were no less than twelve
tolls to discharge between Cologne and Amsterdam.
We had a very good table d’hote on board, at a moderate price, abundance
of Rhine crabs, excellent grapes, and a variety of other fruits, which,
as well as the most delicious bread I ever tasted, we purchased at the
different towns where we stopped. I had the comfort of being attended by
an intelligent, animated fellow, who had been in the service of the
immortal Nelson on board of one of the ships which he commanded, and
afterwards with the English army in Egypt, who offered his services on
board the boat at a very reasonable rate. The richness, novelty, and
majesty of the scenery, kept me constantly on the roof of the cabin,
from the early hour of starting till the hour of nine at night, when,
for the reason stated, we always stopped at some town or village till
morning. In these stoppages we entirely depended upon the variable
velocity of the current, not to say a word of the caprice of our
skipper, or the influence which the residence of any particular
favourite or friend might have upon him; the consequence of which was,
that we arrived at places to sup and sleep where we were not expected,
and of course our patience was put to a little, but never a considerable
trial. Within three or four miles of Coblentz, on our right in ascending
the river, we passed a pyramidical mausoleum, erected to the memory of
the French general Marceau, who distinguished himself at the battle of
Mons and Savenai, and died of the wounds which he received at the battle
of Altenkirchen in 1796.
At Bendorf, a romantic village on our left, upon a branch of the river,
a terrible battle was fought between the French army, commanded by Gen.
Hoche, and the Austrians, after the former had effected the passage I
have before mentioned, from the white tower, which, after a tremendous
slaughter on both sides, terminated in the retreat of the imperial
troops. In this battle an extraordinary instance of prowess and
enthusiasm occurred, which is said to have decided the fate of the day;
the French had frequently attacked an Austrian redoubt, the possession
of which was of great consequence to them, and had as often been
repulsed with great carnage; at last a French general rode up to the
granadiers commanded by Captain Gros, and exclaimed, “Soldiers, swear to
me that you will make yourselves masters of that redoubt.” “We swear,”
replied Gros, holding up his hand, and his soldiers doing the same: they
returned to the attack with redoubled fury, and the havoc became
dreadful: the French troops were upon the point of again giving way,
when their leader had his right arm crushed by a grape shot, upon which,
with a smile of triumph, he grasped his sabre with his left, rallied his
men and carried the redoubt. As we turned a considerable meander of the
river by Neuendorff, one of the grandest spectacles I almost ever
contemplated opened upon me: the mighty rock of Ehrenbreitstein,
formerly called the Gibraltar of the Rhine, with its dismantled
batteries and ruined castles, rose with awful and unexampled majesty on
the south; at its base was the palace formerly belonging to the Elector
of Treves, and the town bearing the name of this wonderful
fortification; and immediately opposite to it, as we advanced a little
farther, the beautiful city of Coblentz appeared. Here we were obliged
to be separated from our horse, on account of the Moselle, which
discharges itself into the Rhine at this place, the mouth of which we
crossed by the assistance of our boatmen’s poles. Over this river there
is a handsome stone bridge of many arches, and formerly there was a
bridge of boats from this city to Ehrenbreitstein, which has been most
judiciously removed, and succeeded by one of the flying bridges before
described, by which a more convenient communication is kept completely
open, and the navigation is not impeded. Coblentz is a very ancient
city; it was the seat of the Roman emperors, and of the kings of the
Franks, and a favourite residence of the archbishops and electors of
Treves, who, in ancient times of broil and peril, resided in the castle
which crowns the majestic rock opposite to the city. Before the
revolution there were three parish churches, two colleges, a church
belonging to the Jesuits, four convents of monks, dominicans,
carmelites, franciscans, and capuchins, and three nunneries. At that
period the population of the inhabitants, of the garrison, and the vale
of Ehrenbreitstein, was calculated at 13,000 souls; at present it is not
supposed to exceed nine thousand. The city has many good and some
handsome buildings, and it is further recommended by its supplies of
excellent mines, pit-coal, wood, and lime. Its best square is the
Clemenstadt; there are several handsome hotels, of which the ancient
hotel, the vast rock which formerly protected it, and the antiquity of
its buildings, cast a gloomy grandeur over the whole place, which never
exhibited so much gaiety as in the winter of 1791, when the French
princes and their followers were nobly entertained and protected here by
the Elector, before they marched to Champagne, to experience those
disasters which finally confirmed the overthrow of their devoted house.
Coblentz derives its name by not a little meander of etymology, from the
confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle at its base. Ausonius, one of
the most celebrated of the Latin poets of the fourth century, wrote five
hundred verses in commemoration of this river, which, compared with the
majesty of the river into which it rolls and is lost, is scarcely worthy
of such an honour: the view from its banks is also in an equal degree of
comparative inferiority, and by the unceasing agitation of its
confluence, it has the reputation of having alarmed the tender nerves of
the river-fish, of which the inhabitants of this city are not so well
supplied as the neighbouring towns.
One of the most beautiful objects in this place is the new palace, built
to the south of the city, close to the Rhine, by that splendid and
amiable prince, the Elector Clemont Vencelas; it is of brick stuccoed,
to resemble stone, has a noble Ionic portico, and including its wings,
extends one hundred and eighty yards. A further description of its
exterior, as I have made a drawing of it, and moreover as it is now
converted into an hospital, were useless. Its grand staircase, its
apartments consisting of a chapel, an audience-hall, concert-room,
library, cabinet, dining-room, besides an immense number of other rooms,
excited the admiration of every visitor, by their magnitude,
magnificence, or elegance. Its furniture, its mantle-pieces, its
tapestry, and inlaid floors, all corresponded in taste and splendor with
the rest of the building; now not a vestige of its consequence or
original destination remains, but what its walls display. Most of the
windows are broken, stuffed with hay, or further disfigured by having
linen hanging out to dry from them; the area before the grand front,
which was formed into an elegant promenade, is now broken, and its
graceful plantation totally destroyed. A little way further to the
southward, on the opposite side, under the impending rocks of
Ehrenbreitstein, is the old palace, a sombre building, which the Elector
Clement quitted almost entirely on account of its gloom, and the
humidity of its situation.
The Elector of Treves excited the indignation of the French against him
very early in the French revolution, by encouraging the expatriated
French princes to reside and hold their counterrevolutionary councils at
Coblentz. In September, 1794, General Jourdan, with his accustomed
energy, compelled the Austrians to retreat to Hervé, and afterwards to
Aix la Chapelle, when, supported by the main body of the army, the
French attacked all the enemy’s posts from Ruremonde to Juliers: at this
eventful period, General Clairfayt having occupied a strong position
upon the Roer, resisted the French for some time, but their ardor and
numbers at length compelled the Austrians to retire into Germany,
leaving behind them ten thousand of their comrades, killed or taken
prisoners, in the short space of three days; and soon afterwards a
detachment of the French army, under the command of General Moreau,
entered Coblentz as victors, Cologne being already in their possession,
and Mainz, or Mayence, the only city in the possession of the allies on
the left bank of the Rhine.
I was informed by some French officers who were in the boat with me,
that the society in Coblentz was very elegant; that a number of families
lived in splendor; and also, that Bonaparte had continued with some
modifications the colleges, and most of the public institutions, which
the Electors of Treves had at various times established in that city.
The vast and celebrated monastery, called in German Karthaus, or La
Chartreuse, situated on a high mountain, in the neighbourhood to the
west of Coblentz, from which the countries of Treves, Mayence, Cologne,
Darmstadt, d’Anspach, and Wied, may be seen, is converted into an
observatory, and a place of very agreeable recreation.
Upon my return, in descending the Rhine, I had an opportunity of more
closely seeing Ehrenbreitstein, which I was enabled to do from the
following circumstance: the Rhine schuyt was uncommonly crowded, and
late in the evening we arrived at a hamlet on the right bank of the
river to sleep: the house in which we were to pass the night was not
able to furnish beds more than barely sufficient for the ladies on
board, which at once determined a French officer, one of the party, who
had not placed his head upon a pillow for three preceding nights, and
who was a wretched invalid, apparently in the last stage of a decline,
to hunt amongst the cottagers for a fiddler, to whose miserable sounds
this epitome of his nation, with several other officers and petty German
merchants, danced till the dawn of day, _pour passer le temps_, and the
boat was ready to proceed. Having found by moon-light a nook in a
peasant’s nest, in the most romantic situation under heaven, I lay down,
and never awoke till an hour after the boat had departed, in which
dilemma I was obliged to hire a punt with two paddles, and by the
assistance of a couple of sturdy peasants overtook the passage-boat,
which lay off Coblentz, during which I visited Ehrenbreitstein. At its
base there is a pretty town and an excellent hotel; opposite to the
palace is a walk of limes, close to which was moored the electoral state
yacht, or barge, in shape and size resembling our Lord Mayor’s, but not
quite so gaudy. The ascent to this stupendous rock, which is eight
hundred feet in a perpendicular line above the level of the river, is by
a very narrow, steep, and winding path: the noble fortification on its
sides, and the castles, arsenals, barracks, and batteries upon its
summit, from whence the eye can behold the mountains of Lorraine, the
meanders of the Rhine, and the countries through which it flows to a
vast distance, and from which the beholder might almost think he could
step into the clouds, are all roofless and dismantled. The citadel was
erected by the order of the Prince Bishop Herman Hillinus, in the 12th
century, upon the ruins of an ancient Roman building.
In the centre of the square, or parade upon the top, was formerly
mounted the celebrated cannon, called “the Griffon,” as well known to
the Germans as that called “Queen Anne’s pocket-piece” is to the
English. The former merits the national pride which it has excited. It
was cast at Francfort by the order of the Elector, Richard Greifenklau,
weighed thirty thousand pounds, and was capable of projecting a ball of
one hundred and eighty pounds, to a distance of sixteen miles. Close to
the touch-hole there was the following inscription: “Vogel Grief heis
ich, meinem gnädigen herrn von Trier dien ich, wo er mich heist
gewanten, da will ich Thoren und mauren Zerspalten. Simon gos mich,
1528.” In English—“Griffon is my name, I serve my gracious master of
Treves, I shatter gates and walls, whenever he commands me to exert my
force. Simon cast me, 1528.” This rock was supplied with water from a
well 280 feet deep, which occupied three years in digging, in the year
1481, and has a subterranean communication with Coblentz, dug out of the
solid rock: the fortress was justly deemed, when properly garrisoned,
impregnable. In the time of the Swedish war, the attacks of eighty
thousand French troops on the southern side of it, and of forty thousand
on the northern, could make no impression upon it; however, still
maintaining its invulnerable character, it was destined to bend to a
foe, before which all local advantage is useless, and all enterprise
unavailing: after bravely sustaining a blockade for a whole year, by the
troops of the French republic, the garrison having endured with the
greatest fortitude almost every description of privation and misery,
were obliged to surrender to _famine_, and capitulated on the 28th
January, 1799; soon after which the French covered this mighty rock with
the ruins of those wonderful fortifications, which had employed the
skill of the ablest engineer to complete, and which, but for the want of
food, would have defied the force of her assailing enemy to the end of
time. The thal, or valley below, is justly celebrated for its fertility
and romantic beauty.
Soon after our departure from Coblentz, we passed the island of
Obewerth; and a little further on, on our left, the disemboguement of
the river Lahn, which flows between two ancient and picturesque towns,
called the Upper and Lower Lahnsteins, where the Rhine forms a
considerable curve, and expands into the resemblance of a placid lake,
adorned with two vast mountains, one crowned with a hoary watch tower,
and the base of the other half encircled by a village, and the whole
adorned by the captivating combinations of forest scenery, rich meadows,
and hanging vineyards and orchards, amidst which, half embosomed in
their foliage, the peasant’s peaceful dwelling every now and then
gladdened the eye. This lovely view was soon exchanged for one of gloomy
magnificence; before we reached Boppart, we entered a melancholy defile
of barren and rugged rocks, rising perpendicularly from the river to an
immense height, and throwing a shade and horror over the whole scene;
here all was silent, and no traces of man were to be found but in a few
dispersed fishermen’s huts, and crucifixes. Fear and superstition, “when
the day has gone down, and the stars are few,” have long filled every
cave with banditti, and every solitary recess with apparitions.
In the course of my passage I frequently, when the boat came very near
the land, sprung on shore with two or three other passengers, and varied
the scene by walking along the banks for a mile or two, and during these
excursions had frequently an opportunity of admiring the astonishing
activity and genius of the French, who have, since they became masters
of the left bank of the Rhine, nearly finished one of the finest roads
in the world, extending from Mayence to Cologne, in the course of which
they have cut through many rocks impending over the river, and triumphed
over some of the most formidable obstacles Nature could present to the
achievement of so wonderful a design. This magnificent undertaking,
worthy of Rome in the most shining periods of her history, was executed
by the French troops, who, under the direction of able engineers,
preferred leaving these monuments of indefatigable toil and elevated
enterprize, to passing their time, during the cessation of arms, in
towns and barracks, in a state of indolence and inutility.
The sombre spires of Boppart, surrounded by its black wall and towers,
presented a melancholy appearance to the eye, relieved by the rich
foliage of the trees in its vicinity, and the mountains behind it
irregularly intersected with terraces covered with vines to their very
summits. The antiquity of this city is very great; it was one of the
fifty places of defence erected on the banks of the Rhine by Drusus
Germanicus, and in the middle ages was an imperial city.
Not far from Boppart we saw, on the right bank of the river, a
procession of nuns and friars returning to a convent, the belfry of
which just peeped above a noble avenue of walnut-trees; they were
singing, and their voices increased the solemn effect of the surrounding
scenery. We put up for the night at a little village, amid mountains
half covered with vineyards, tufted with forests, and chequered with
convents and ruined castles. The evening was stormy, and a full moon
occasionally brightened the scene: frequently we were enveloped in
solemn gloom,
When the broken arches are as black as night,
And each shafted Oriel glimmers white,
When the cold light’s uncertain show’r,
Streams on the ruin’d central tow’r.
_Lay of the last Minstrel._
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE YOUNG CONSCRIPT ... SINGULAR FRENCH ANECDOTE ... ST. GOAR ... ITS
HISTORY ... OBERWESEL ... THE PALATINATE ... A CELEBRATED VINEYARD ... A
REGALE ... BACHARACH ... BACCHUS ... THE RHYNGAU SONG ... RÜDESHEIM ...
ROMAN DERIVATIONS ... THE PRIORY OF JOHANNESBERG ... VINEYARDS
CLASSED ... GRAPES CLASSED.
I have before mentioned the excellent accommodations which I have every
where experienced at the different towns we stopped at. Although at the
last place where we slept there were not above three or four houses, and
we were not expected, we had an excellent supper, and clean comfortable
beds. After our repast, as we were drinking some excellent hock, many of
the company present communicated the object of their voyage, and amongst
the rest an elegant young Frenchman, about nineteen, who had charmed us
all the way by his politeness and inexhaustible flow of spirits, told
us, to my no little surprise, that the object of his excursion would not
admit of his returning when he pleased, for he was on his way to join
part of the French army at Maynz, or Mayence, as a conscript; for which
he had been drawn; and as his father who was a man of fortune at
Aix-la-Chapelle, but was very fond of his money, would not put himself
to the expense of paying the substitution money for him, “par
conséquence,” said he with a smile of good humour, “il me faut aller en
personne.” He told us that he had no hopes of raising himself from the
ranks but by good conduct and equally good fortune, although his uncle
was a general in the service, and commanded that part of the army into
which he was soon to be incorporated. Whenever we stopped, he bestowed
his money with liberality to beggars and chambermaids, alleging, that as
he was about to be a soldier, he ought to live, when he became one, on a
soldier’s pay, and that to have more till he was promoted, would only
make him uncomfortable; adding, that on his arrival at head quarters, he
should order a noble dinner, and give his clothes to the waiters, and
surrender himself up to the captain of his company. He neither blamed
the cruelty of his father, the tyranny of the conscription, nor repined
at his unlucky fate, but filling a bumper, exclaimed, “Tout ce qu’il me
faut maintenant, c’est, de devenir bon soldat.” “All that I have to do
is to make myself a good soldier.” I never saw a point more easily and
comfortably settled in my life. Our young conscript had the best wishes
of us all, for his happiness and speedy promotion. This elastic spirit
of vivacity seems to be the common property of every Frenchman, and
never did it appear more striking than in the following circumstance:
upon an English surgeon some years since visiting a hospital at Paris,
he saw in one of the wards three Frenchmen who had received some very
severe contusions by the fall of a scaffold a few days before, lying in
bed; upon approaching them he found one dead, another dying, and the one
in the middle sitting upright in the bed, fiddling to several invalids,
who were dancing at the foot of it as well as they were able.
After a refreshing sleep we were called, upon the first intimation of
the day’s approach, and early in the morning arrived at St. Goar, after
passing by the ancient gothic tower of Welmich, the white and venerable
palace of Thurnburg, crowning the mountain behind it, and through most
delicious and romantic scenery, every where profusely embellished with
the hoary remains of piety and war, under the various tints of
progressive day. In a minute after the boat had stopped, all the
passengers disappeared to attend matins, it being Sunday, and left me to
gaze in amazement upon the stupendous rock of Rheinfels, or the rock of
the Rhine, which rises most majestically behind the town, and supports
the remains of a vast fortress which bears its name, and which the
French demolished in the last war. This fortress was next in strength to
that of Ehrenbreitstein; it was in the year 1245 converted from a
convent to a fortress, by Count Diether le Riche. In 1692 the Hessians,
who were in possession of it, made a gallant defence, headed by Colonel
Goerz, against the French, who were in superior force under the command
of the celebrated Mareschal de Tallard, who was compelled to give up the
siege. In the last war it experienced a different fate: the French
troops took quiet possession of it, and though it ranked next to
Ehrenbreitstein in strength and advantage, it partook not of the glory
of a similar resistance. At the foot of this enormous rock is a large
barrack lately built, but now deserted. There was also a flying bridge
here, but it has been removed.
In a bay of the river a little before we approached Oberwesel, there is
a vast rock, which the passengers on the river never fail to address,
for the purpose of hearing their own voices very closely imitated by its
echoes. Almost all the way from St. Goar to Oberwesel, we were environed
by enormous dark rocks covered with shattered fragments, impending over
and embrowning the face of the river with their awful shadows. The gloom
of the scene was enlivened only by a few fishermen’s huts here and there
interspersed, protected from the intense heat of the sun retained by and
reflected from the rocks rising above them, by the foliage of scanty
groups of trees. This melancholy defile prepared us for Oberwesel, a
venerable city, filled with the solemnity of ancient churches and
deserted convents. In the time of the Emperor Henry the Seventh, this
city was an imperial one; afterwards, and till the French seized it, it
was in the possession of the Elector of Treves. The church of the
Minorites had once a fine copy of Rubens’ Descent from the Cross, by a
disciple of his, which upon inquiry I found had been removed. Nothing
can exceed the beauty of the situation of this town; the scenery to the
south of it is luxuriant and romantic beyond imagination. Close to it,
rising from an avenue of stately walnut-trees, is a prodigious rock,
supporting the celebrated chateau de Schoenberg, which gave birth to the
illustrious and ancient family of the name of Belmont, afterwards
changed for the German name of Schoenberg or Beaumont: this place and
the neighbourhood abound with slate quarries. Immediately opposite, on
the eastern bank, lofty mountains clothed with hanging vineyards, and
attended by the usual association of mural ruins perched upon their
pinnacles, and of monastic buildings projecting from their sides, or
rising from their base, presented their majestic forms to the Rhine.
From Oberwesel we crossed over to Kaub, a fortified town a little way
further to the south. Previous to this we had kept, during the whole of
the passage, on the left bank. In crossing the river we passed close to
a large massy fortified tower, or fort, standing in the middle of the
Rhine upon a rock, called the Pfalz or Palatinate. In distant times the
Countesses of the Palatinate, when they were far advanced in that state
which
“Ladies wish to be who love their lords,”
used to remove to this insulated spot of gloom for the purpose of
lying-in; afterwards it was used as a state prison, and a place to watch
the vessels ascending or descending the Rhine, to prevent their eluding
the tolls; it is now disused, but not likely very soon to run to decay
for want of inhabitants. Enthusiastically as I admire the scenery of
this part of the Rhine, I think I never saw a place where man or woman
would less prefer to be _confined_ in, than the Pfalz.
At Kaub, a very ancient but neat town, which stands at the base of a
lofty mountain, in a handsome inn close to the river, we tasted some
delicious wine, the produce of the neighbouring vineyards, for which we
paid about ten pence English the bottle: and we were regaled
_gratuitously_ with some of the finest grapes, which a pretty girl
produced as naturally as pipes and tobacco are introduced in similar
places in Holland. The vineyards of Oberwesel, Kaub, and Bacharach, and
the two hills of Vogtsberg and Kühlberg near the last city, which abound
with blue slate, produce a vine remarkable for its odour and muscadelle
flavour, and form one of the distinguished vine divisions of this
enchanting region.
Upon leaving the Kaub we proceeded through a scene of transcendent
richness and beauty, where
Palmy hilloc, and the flow’ry lap
Of some irriguous valley spread her store,
Flowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose:
On either side umbrageous grots, and caves
Of cool recess, on which the mantling vine
Lays forth her purple grape.
_Milton’s Paradise Lost._
Our ears were delighted with the solemn choruses of the inhabitants of
the villages returning in large crowded boats from their churches, and
the bells of the convents, while the shores on either side were
enlivened by the peasants in their sabbath dresses going to or returning
from their respective places of worship. At length the hoary battlements
of _Bacharach_ opened upon us; part of this town slopes from the
vine-clad mountain behind it, and the remainder is close to the water.
This town is also very ancient, and as a proof of its antiquity, derives
its name from _Bacchus_, to whom tradition relates an altar was raised
upon a rock in the centre of the Rhine. Indeed we might have supposed
that he had been worshipped here in all the marvellous pomp ascribed to
his original adoration, and that his priestesses, by striking the earth
with their thyrsi, had caused rivers of milk, and honey, and wine to
flow
Et te, Bacche, vocant per carmina, læta, tibique
_Oscilla_ ex altâ suspendunt mollia pinu.
Hinc omnis largo pubescit vinea fætu.
_Virgil, 4 Georg._
This insulated rock was admirably adapted for bearing upon one of its
trees, if ever one grew upon it, those little wooden or earthen images
of Bacchus, which from the smallness of their mouths were called
_Oscilla_, and were considered as so many watch towers, from which the
god might look after the vines, to prevent their receiving injury. I
know of no situation where he could have performed his tutelar duties
better than in this very spot.
The vine here has been long celebrated for its excellence; the Emperor
Venceslas preferred four fuder of this wine (a fuder is equal to three
hundred and sixty gallons) to ten thousand florins offered to him by the
inhabitants of Nuremberg, to redeem their sequestered privileges; and
even Pope Pius the Second imported for his table a fuder of this wine
annually. These are illustrious authorities in favour of the Bacharach
wine, but the best is its flavour.
My laquais, a merry, good humoured fellow, and having no bad ear for
music withal, announced our being opposite to Lorch, the first town
where, in ascending the Rhine, the Rhingau commences, in which district
the finest wines are produced, by singing a national song in honour of
this vine-covered region, in which every person on board joined most
cordially. It was a very long one, but the following stanzas will serve
as a specimen of it.
Bekräntzt mit laub den liebe vollen becher,
Und trinkt ihn frölich leer;
In Ganz Europa ihr herren zecher,
Ist solch, ein wein micht mehr.
Ihn bringt das vaterland aus seiner fulle,
Wie wär er sonst so gut?
Wie wär er sonst so edel, stille,
Und doch voll kraft und muth?
Am Rhein, am Rhein, da wachsen unsre reben:
Gesegnet sey der Rhein!
Da wachsen sie am ufer hin, und geben
Uns diesen labe wein.
So trinkt ihn dann, und lasst uns alle wege
Uns freun, und frölich seyn;
Und wüsten wir, wo jemand traurig läge,
Wir gäben ihm den wein.
With vine-leaves crown the jovial cup,
For, search all Europe round,
You’ll say, as pleas’d you drink it up,
Such wine was never found.
Such wine, &c.
Our _Father’s land_ this vine supplies,
What soil can e’er produce
But this, though warmed with genial skies,
Such mild, such generous juice?
Such mild, &c.
Then shall the Rhine our smiles receive,
For on its banks alone,
Can e’er be found a wine to give
The soul its proper tone.
The soul, &c.
Come put the jovial cup around,
Our joys it will enhance,
If any one is mournful found,
One sip shall make him dance.
One sip, &c.
Every child in this part of Germany knows this song by heart.
Fronting the august ruins of the castle of Sannek, the Rhine presents
the appearance of an ample lake, and the mountains, which hitherto were
numerous and lofty, recede as we approach the pretty village of
Drgeckshausen, a little beyond which the river expands, and forms a
noble curve near Asmanshausen, at the foot of a forest, celebrated for
the convent of Aulenhausen, much frequented by devotees. Asmanshausen is
known for the fine blecker which it produces.
Nearly opposite to Ruppertsberg the navigation of the Rhine becomes very
much impeded, and rendered hazardous by some vast rocks which just raise
their heads above the surface of the water, and which our boatmen
informed us had frequently occasioned the loss of lives. Here the
country again becomes rude and rocky, occasionally covered with forest
oak, and profusely ornamented with dilapidated castles, where the
steel-clad chieftains of other times used to blow their
——war note loud and long,
Till at the high and haughty sound
Rock, wood, and river rang around
_Lay of the last Minstrel._
A visible change in the scenery to which we had been accustomed,
commenced as we approached Bingen: the hills retire farther from the
banks of the river, more modern towns, yet occasionally chequered with
the remains of antiquity, attract the eye, the trees of the forest
succeed to the vines of the mountain, and in the room of stupendous
rocks, rich meadows and corn-fields present their novel charms.
Bingen, which I visited upon my return, stands at the base of a lofty
mountain, on the summit of which the ancient castle of Klopp is erected:
the river Nohe disembogues itself by this city into the Rhine, over
which there is a handsome stone bridge, called Druses, from its having
the reputation of having been constructed by Drusis Germanicus: this
confluence of the two rivers enables Bingen to carry on a considerable
trade in Rhenish wines, grain, and timber.
As the shades of evening descended, we passed Ehrenfels, and a little
before nine arrived at Rüdesheim, where we supped at a very handsome
hotel, and drank copiously of its wine, which is said to be superior to
every other part of the Rhingau. Very early in the morning I visited the
remains of a magnificent castle, which has the appearance of a Roman
origin: this opinion is countenanced by the strong evidences of the same
character which attach to the antiquities to be found in towns within
the Rhingau. The situation of this august ruin, which is close to the
river, is commensurate to its grandeur: the town of Rüdesheim is large,
clean, and cheerful, and has few of those features of awful gloom which
characterise several of the cities on the lower sides of this river,
which here widens to a great breadth, and is dotted over with luxuriant
little islands. Upon quitting this town we were more frequently retarded
than we had been before, by the obstructions which terraces projecting
into the river, and islands, offered to our towing horse, who, with the
driver, was frequently belly deep in the water, which often forced our
boatmen to the tedious application of their poles. The towns of
Geisenheim, St. Bartholomaï, and Winkel, presented the same sprightly
and agreeable aspect as Rüdesheim. I have observed that many towns in
the Rhingau are of Roman derivation, in corroboration of which, many of
their names are unquestionably so: as Winkel from Vinicella; Eltivil,
from Alta Villa; and Lorch, or as the Germans pronounce it, Lorricke,
from Laureacum, &c.
After quitting Rüdesheim, the noble priority of St. Johannesberg,
proudly placed upon the summit of a vast mountain, surrounded with
villages, hamlets, convents, nunneries, and other stately buildings, and
having a back ground of distant hills covered with vines, commanded the
admiration of all on board. This priory was founded in 1102, by Ruthard,
second archbishop of Mayence, and in the devastating war of thirty years
under Gustavus Adolphus, was rased to the ground. The land was
afterwards sold to the abbot of Fuld, who rebuilt it in its present
modern style, and afterwards it was given to the late Prince of Orange
as an indemnity, and now forms a part of the rich territory of the
Prince of Nassau Usingen. In a cave or cellar belonging to the priory,
several thousands of hogsheads of the choicest wines are kept. The red
blecker of Johannesburg is celebrated all over the world, and is the
juice of the vineyard of the priory only; but the finest produce of the
Rhingau is from the grape of Asmanshausen; Ehrenfels, and Rüdesheim, and
particularly of some very small vineyards contiguous to them, called
Rodtland, Hauptberg, and Hinterhausen, which rank the highest; and in
this class also are included the numerous vineyards on the steep hills
of Bingen, on the opposite shore. The second class embraces the vines of
Rothenberg, Geisenheim, and Kapellgarten. The third class includes the
grapes of Johannesberg, and the Fuldische Schlossberg. The fourth, the
vines of Hattenheim, and Marker Brunner. The fifth, those of the
cloister of Eberbach. Sixthly, those of Kitterich and Grafenberg; and
the seventh, those of Rauenthal, and the hills and spots adjacent. All
these classes are included in the district of the Rhingau.
The celebrated hock, is the produce of the vineyards of Hockheim, or
High-home, above Mayence, to the eastward. Of the grape, that called the
Reislinge, the longest known to these regions, ranks the highest; the
Orleans grape, the orange or red Burgundy, and the Lambert, occupy the
next place in the public estimation; and the Muscadelle and Kleimberg,
which are frequently cultivated in private gardens, the third.
We still continued our course on the left bank of the Rhine, and passed
by many beautiful villages, and the handsome towns of Haltenheim,
Erbach, Elfeld, Steinheimerhof, Nieder or Lower Wallauf, where ancient
churches and convents are interspersed amongst many handsome modern
houses. We reached Nieder Wallauf, the last town of the Rhingau to the
east, and afterwards Schierstein, a pretty town where, as our progress
was so frequently delayed by the numerous islands which lie close to the
bank, in company with a very pleasant, intelligent German, I quitted the
boat, and walked to Biberich: the day was remarkably fine, and our road
lay through luxuriant corn and pasture fields, vineyards, orchards,
every where profusely adorned with castles, religious houses,
picturesque cottages, and beautiful chateaus, behind which the vast
forest of Landeswald extends to an immense distance: at length the
numerous spires, and the lofty towers and palaces of Mayence opened upon
us, from the opposite side of the river, and had a very venerable, and
majestic effect.
CHAPTER XXV.
BIBERICH ... CHARLEMAGNE’S PALACE ... BRIDGE OF BOATS ... MAYENCE ...
HORRORS OF WAR ... THE ART OF PRINTING ... THE HOCKHEIM HILLS ...
REMARKS ON OLD HOCK ... THE TOOTH-BRUSH ... FRANCFORT ... SPLENDID TABLE
D’HOTE ... INAUGURATION OF THE PRINCE PRIMATE ... ANECDOTES OF THE
FRENCH ... THE FAIR.
Our entrance into an avenue of nearly a mile and a half in length,
thickly lined with walnut, apple, pear, and plum trees, loaded with
fruit, announced our approach to Biberich, the superb palace of the
Prince of Nassau Usingen. As I made a drawing of this palace and the
adjacent town when I descended the Rhine, and the boat was in a central
part of the river, it will be unnecessary to describe it. I had no time
to view the apartments, but my laquais informed me, that they were
grand, and furnished in a princely manner: the town is modern, small,
and very handsome. As we skirted Ingelheim, we were informed that the
illustrious Charlemagne, the great prototype of Bonaparte, selected this
place for his favourite residence, where he built a magnificent palace,
which was supported by a hundred columns of Italian marble, and had an
immense number of apartments, in which synods and the most important
councils of state were held: that his son Louis le Debonnaire died
broken-hearted here, in consequence of the rebellions of his sons
Lotharius and Louis.
Not a vestige remains of this celebrated pile to prove that it once
existed: but in the life of Louis le Debonnaire, Nigellus thus
consecrates this building:
Est locus ille situs rapidi prope flumina Rheni,
Ornatus variis cultibus et dapibus.
Quo domus alta putet, centum perfixa columnis,
Quo reditus varii tectaque multimoda,
Mille aditus, reditus, millenaque claustra domorum
Acta magistrorum artificumque manu.
No doubt is entertained that that august pile once embellished this
spot. Charlemagne could not have chosen a place more advantageous with
regard to his political relations, or more beautiful in richness and
variety of scenery, where Nature every where saluted him with wine, with
fruit, and every desirable production of a genial soil, fit to make glad
the soul of an emperor.
In less than an hour after quitting Ingelheim we reached Cassel,
immediately opposite Mayence, to which it communicates by an amazing
long bridge, formed of a moveable platform, placed upon fifty-six
lighters, two or three of which draw out at pleasure by means of ropes
and pullies, to open a passage for vessels ascending or descending the
Rhine, and is 3830 feet long; one very similar to this was built by
order of Charlemagne at the same place: here our voyage terminated. On
account of the search of the custom-house officers being very severe on
the French side, the passengers prefer being landed at Cassel: where all
the bustle of a populous city, and a great military station, presented
itself. The bridge was crowded with beautiful and elegantly dressed
women, French officers, soldiers, and various other persons, in
carriages and on foot, going to or returning from Mayence, which, with
its venerable cathedral and splendid buildings, extending themselves
along the river, had a very grand effect. Our luggage was searched by a
German custom-house officer, who behaved very politely; and I proceeded
to a good hotel in Cassel, and sat down with several French officers to
some excellent refreshments.
In my description of the Rhine as I ascended it, I have, from the desire
of not fatiguing my reader, only noticed the principal towns and
objects, some of which I visited then, and others on my return. I felt
myself abundantly rewarded by the unparalleled beauty and grandeur of
those scenes, which so often excited my admiration and amazement, for
any little inconvenience, and perhaps some little hazard, to which I was
occasionally exposed, and I regret that I can only convey a very
imperfect impression of them to those who have never had the good
fortune to form their personal opinion of them.
Having been previously warned not to attempt to enter Mayence, which, as
it is now incorporated with France, I shall call by that name, on
account of the unusual rigour exercised by the police towards strangers,
in consequence of the city being the great military depot of the French
on the Rhine, and the greatest skill of their engineers having been
lavished on its fortifications, I was content to view it from Cassel,
and to receive some little account of it from a very intelligent German,
who had resided there some years, as we looked upon the city from our
hotel window. The electoral palace, of red brick, by the side of which
the Rhine flows, where Bonaparte resided during his stay in Mayence, in
1804, presented a very noble appearance. The dome or cathedral, which
rose with awful dignity before us, is a vast gothic pile, having four
unequal towers: it had once a lofty spire, but a thunder-storm, many
years since, beat it down with lightning, and burnt a considerable part
of the edifice. Few cities have suffered more than this by the ravages
of war; most of its civil and sacred buildings have been at one period
or another damaged or destroyed by cannon, the ruins of which still
remain. My intelligent friend informed me that this city was celebrated
for the great beauty of its female inhabitants, and that before the
French took possession of it the electoral court threw a brilliant
lustre over the place, which was unrivalled by any city on the Rhine for
its gaiety, elegance, and splendor; characteristics which have been
impaired, but far from annihilated. It contains colleges, lyceums, a
theatre, and ball and concert rooms, all of which continue to be well
attended.
Mayence, from its having been always considered as one of the great
bulwarks of Germany, suffered most dreadfully in the last war. In
October, 1792, General Custine compelled it to surrender after a slight
bombardment, and under his administration the majority of the
inhabitants who did not fly entered cordially into the views of the
French revolutionists: he augmented the fortifications of the city, and
placed a strong garrison in the suburbs of Cassel, which has always been
considered as a place of great importance, and raised a number of
redoubts and batteries there. In July, 1793, the Prussians, after
seizing on Costheim, and defeating an army under General Houchard, which
was marching to succour the garrison of Mayence, reduced both that city
and Cassel, the miserable inhabitants of which endured the greatest
horrors, and many of the finest and most venerable buildings of the
former were fired, and nearly destroyed, during the siege. Merlin, who
acted as one of the commissioners to the French army during the siege,
stated to the convention, that such was the scarcity of provisions, _a
pound of horse-flesh had been sold at two, and a dead cat at six
livres_, and that five thousand men had perished in defence of the
place. Although Custine had no choice left but to capitulate, Barrere,
by his report of the siege, led to his being denounced and decapitated.
During this siege the palace of the provosts suffered terribly; the
celebrated electoral palace called La Favorite, and seven churches, were
totally destroyed; and scarce a house escaped without being pierced with
cannon balls. Mutton sold for sixty sols a pound, and beef one hundred
sols; and at last bell-metal and paper money were used: the following
was the superscription of the latter:
“Monnoye de siége.
“10 sols,
“à changer contre billon
“ou monnoye du metal de siége.
(Signed) “REUBELL.
“_Siége de Mayence_, “HOUCHARD.
“Mar. 1793—2de. de la Rep. Fran.”
And, what an epicure will perhaps more regret, the whole vineyard of
Hockheim was destroyed.
The French were highly indignant at the loss of so important a place,
and resolved upon attempting the recovery of it from its victors, as
soon as the mighty objects which claimed on all sides the activity and
energy of their rulers and generals, were accomplished; and accordingly,
in June 1795, the French army again blockaded this devoted city, during
which it sustained a renewal of its suffering, from which it again was
relieved by the successful operations of Mareschal Clairfayt, at the
head of the Austrians against the revolutionary troops, who were
attacked and routed upon the heights of Mornbach, when the Mareschal
appeared before Mayence, attacked and carried the entrenched camp of the
enemy, upon which the skill of their ablest engineers had been exerted
for eleven months to render it invulnerable. General Schaal, who
occupied this strong position, on the retreat of Jourdan, with fifty-two
battalions of infantry and five regiments of cavalry, was obliged to
retire with great loss in cannon, ammunition and men. In this
bombardment some Tyrol sharp-shooters displayed their wonted skill in an
amazing manner, by killing, from the banks of Cassel, several French
officers with their rifle-pieces, who were walking on the ramparts on
the opposite side of the river, the breadth of which I have already
ascertained by the length of the floating bridge. In the beginning of
the year 1797 a better destiny smiled upon the French arms in this
region, and Moreau and Hoche made both sides of the Rhine resound with
their victories, when the troops which garrisoned Mayence, to prevent
the entire and unavailing demolition of the city, relinquished its
possession, and the French remained masters of it.
Volumes have been written upon the superior pretension of Mayence to the
original invention of the art of printing, and to transfer the honours
of the discovery from Lawrence Coster of Haarlem to John Guttenburg, a
citizen of this place. A vast deal of special pleading has been
displayed on both sides; and, to use a jockey phrase, these racers for
the merited gratitude and admiration of all who followed them, reached
the goal almost “neck and neck,” but the majority of judgments given
appropriate the glory to Coster: his mode was the simplest, and
therefore thought to be the earliest; his moulds were made of wood and
immoveable, and he stamped the paper only on one side: Guttenburg
printed on both sides of the leaf with moveable metal types.
The extremity of the bridge towards Cassel, and all the ramparts and
redoubts of the town, which are very strongly fortified, were occupied
by French soldiers. With two German gentlemen and a Dutch officer, I set
off for Francfort, distant eight stunder or hours, or four German miles,
under a scorching sun, which did not seem to have any effect upon a
large party of monks and priests, and followers, bearing the host, who
were walking bare headed in procession to a monastery which we had just
passed, near which I left the carriage to make a sketch of Mayence, upon
a projecting bank of the river Maine, where I bade adieu to the Rhine.
Our road lay through an avenue of walnut, apple, and pear trees, loaded
with fruit, to which passengers helped themselves whenever inclination
disposed them to do so; and part of the Hockheim hills, covered with the
renowned vineyards, which produce what in England is called old hock. As
many a saint, high in superstitious veneration, must have had at least
ten skulls and one hundred toe nails, as if no illusion has been
practised by those who have exhibited them to the credulous in different
eras and various regions, so nothing short of the power of transmuting
water into wine, could produce from these vineyards the immense quantity
of wine which passes under the title of hock. Certain it is, that the
greater quantity of wine honoured with that name, is from the grapes of
both sides of the lower part of the Rhine. In the district where it is
produced, very old genuine Hockheim wine is sold at the rate of three,
and sometimes five, shillings a bottle.
At the first stage we stopped at a village where there is a noble
building upon an eminence, commanding a beautiful prospect, which I at
first took for a palace, but it proved to be a tobacco manufactory,
warehouses, and the residence of the proprietor and his family; the
front is five hundred feet long, and the whole exterior infinitely more
princely than Buckingham-house. After passing this place the road became
level, and the country presented corn-fields, pasture, and orchards in
great abundance. For many miles round, this country had been often the
theatre of hostilities; and though Nature had long since effaced their
melancholy impressions from her fields by reviving verdure, yet
prostrate cottages and battered convents displayed the march and ravages
of the demon War! Happy, thrice happy my own country, where the sound of
cannon is never heard but to announce a victory, or to augment the
gaiety of some festive occasion!
The suburbs of Francfort are very delightful, and after passing over a
draw-bridge, and through a deep, gateway, we entered the city, the
streets of which are crowded and full of gaiety and bustle, in
consequence of the great autumnal fair which was holding there. All the
best inns were brimful, and with great difficulty the Dutch officer and
myself procured a miserable double-bedded room, at an inferior inn,
filled with petty merchants and their families, whom the spirit of
traffic had led to this celebrated mart, and was half choked up with
cases and boxes containing their merchandize. This town swarms with
French soldiers, about thirty of whom slept in rooms adjoining to ours,
where they deported themselves with great order. My companion had just
returned from the Cape, in consequence of its surrender to the British
arms. He spoke with liberal rapture of gallantry of the English troops.
In Germany, as in Holland, time is taken by the forelock, and at six
o’clock the stiefelputzer, or boot-cleaner, knocked at the door,
followed by the chambermaid with a composition of frankincense and other
gums of a pyramidal shape, and about an inch high, much used in Germany,
called a Räucher-kerz, for perfuming rooms, which she placed upon our
candlestick and left smoking. My Dutch companion annoyed me at this
hour, first by begging that I would hear him read one book of Milton’s
Paradise Lost, a little English edition of which he had in his pocket,
which he achieved in an incongruous mêlange of various languages; and
secondly, by begging me to lend him my tooth-brush for a few minutes,
observing, that he preferred an English tooth-brush to any other, and at
the same moment applying it to his teeth with equal alacrity and
gratification. After he had paid such a compliment to English
tooth-brushes, and had done me the honour of using mine, the least I
could do was to beg that he would favour me with keeping it for my sake,
with which he was much pleased, and accordingly introduced it to a party
of combs and razors in his shaving-case. In all other respects he was an
agreeable man, and I am sure a liberal-minded soldier. This city, which
was till lately imperial, is one of the most ancient towns in Germany,
and has several handsome streets and noble buildings: it is particularly
celebrated for the splendor of its hotels, which are reported to be the
most magnificent in Europe, particularly those called the Rothen Haus or
Red House, and the Rörniskchen Kaiser or Roman emperor, where the King
of Prussia lodged when he visited this town; and the Darmstadter Hof, in
which Mareschal Augerau and his suite resided whilst I was at Francfort:
so crowded was the city, that it was with great difficulty and some
interest I procured apartments at the Weiden-hof, or Willow-Court, a
second rate inn, but of great magnitude. Our table d’hote, at which
between two and three hundred persons of respectability sat down every
day, was held in a noble room; it was splendidly served, and an
excellent band seated in an elevated gallery, performed during dinner.
The principal houses are built of red and white stone: the cassino, to
which I was admitted by a card of introduction from one of the principal
bankers, is very elegant. There are also several other clubs and
assembly rooms. The theatre is spacious and very handsome, the
performers were good, and the band is large and select. Opposite to the
theatre is a mall, formed by several rows of trees, which in the evening
is much frequented, where many a lover may exclaim with Moore,
Oh, Rosa! say “good night” once more,
And I’ll repeat it o’er and o’er,
Till the first glance of dawning light
Shall find us saying still “good night.”
Before the Rhenish confederation the town was split into two religious
sects, the Lutherans and Calvinists, which are now blended in perfect
harmony by the liberal influence of toleration. A grand discharge of
cannon one morning announced the ceremony of the members of the senate
and the colleges being about to assemble in the Römer, or town-hall, to
complete the investing the Prince Primate with the sovereignty of the
city, the keys having been delivered up before to the representative of
the prince, under a similar discharge of artillery, agreeable to certain
provisions contained in the act of the Rhenish confederation.
Curiosity induced me to visit the place of this meeting, which is a very
large and ancient gothic pile, situated in a narrow street. In this
building are several chambers, which have been applied to memorable
purposes; one in particular, which before the late revolution in the
German empire, was used by the Electors upon the august occasion of
making choice of a new Emperor: there are some good paintings in some of
these apartments. The ceremony of the installation of the Prince Primate
was over in a very short time; the mob, which was a small one, soon
dispersed; and scarcely any one mentioned the matter three days
afterwards.
The cathedral church of St. Bartholomew, which belongs to the catholics,
is another venerable relic of antiquity: it is reported to have been
built by Pepin, king of France, in 756, enriched by Charlemagne, and
plundered by Lewis of Bavaria, on account of its chapter adhering to the
Pope. Strange to relate, although the coronation of the Emperor used to
take place in it, there is not one object within its walls, either of
sacred splendor, or monumental celebrity, worthy of notice. In the year
1792, when the French entered this city as conquerors, their commanding
officers went with great military pomp to this cathedral; where, being
attended by the senators, the commander in chief closed an address by
exclaiming, “Under the roof of this venerable temple have not many of
you witnessed the coronation of the Emperor of the Romans?” to which no
answer was given. “I demand a reply to my question,” exclaimed the
general with some warmth; “Yes” was faintly answered; “Then,” replied
he, “you will never see him more in this place.” This prophecy issued
from an oracle which possessed the means of consummating its prediction.
I was pleased with the fair, although it fell far short of my
expectation; the principal booths which were erected near the Römer, and
also parallel with the river Maine, formed a very agreeable and
sprightly street, entirely covered with canvass awnings: here all sorts
of goods, the productions of various parts of the globe, were exposed to
sale; and here were also several booksellers’ stalls, where the most
eminent works are sold folded in sheets, for the purchase of lesser
merchants in the trade. No press in the world is so prolific as the
German: the number of ingenious works which it annually yields, amongst
which are many able productions, are astonishing. I was informed that
the fair had wasted almost to nothing, in consequence of the various
injuries it has sustained from the war, and the severe policy of
Bonaparte respecting the introduction of English manufacture, very
little of which was to be found at this mart. In the printers’ stalls,
which used to be well supplied from the English school of engraving,
were very few prints worthy of attention. I saw several execrable
imitations of some from the exquisite pencil of Westall. At the end of
the principal street of the fair, close to the river, were rows of
immense tubs, in which, like Diogenes, many poor German tradesmen and
their families very sagaciously eat and slept, for want of a better
habitation.
CHAPTER XXVI.
BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE OF OFFENBACH ... BRAVERY OF THE HESSIANS ... ANECDOTES
OF MARESCHAL AUGERAU ... EXCURSION TO DARMSTADT ... MINUTE-POSTS ...
DARMSTADT ... LAW’S DELAY IN GERMANY ... AGREEABLE MANNERS OF THE
GERMANS ... NATIONAL ANTIPATHIES ... RETURN TO FRANCFORT ... GLOOMY
APPEARANCE OF THE CONTINENT ... FRENCH ARMY ON ITS MARCH AGAINST THE
PRUSSIANS ... RETURN TO LONDON.
An excursion to the beautiful and elegant little sovereign town of
Offenbach, about five English miles from Francfort, enabled me to admire
the great progress which the Germans have made in the tasteful art of
carriage-building. In a very large depot of carriages there, I saw
several which would have been distinguished for their lightness and
beauty in London. There are several other fabrics, viz. of jewellery,
pocket-books, tobacco, toys, &c. The society of this place, where the
prince who bears its name has a little court, is very refined and
accomplished. The suburbs of Francfort are formed of beautiful and
romantic walks and vineyards, enlivened by handsome country-houses. On
the road near the entrance to the west, adjoining the splendid chateau
of Mr. Beatham, the celebrated banker, at whose town house the present
King of Prussia became enamoured with his Queen, is a monument, composed
of a helmet, a lion’s skin, and emblems of war, in bronze, made out of
the cannon taken by the King of Prussia from the French at Mayence,
mounted upon a stone pedestal, rising from an artificial rock, upon
which are inscriptions commemorative of its having been raised by Prince
Williamstadt to the memory of the gallant Prince of Hesse-Phillipsthal
and three hundred brave Hessians, who perished on this spot, when the
French were obliged to evacuate the town in the year 1792. The French
had taken quiet possession of it a few months before, under the command
of General Neuwinger and Colonel Houchard, when they levied two millions
of florins upon pain of military execution on the opulent classes of the
inhabitants. The most distinguished personage in Francfort was Mareschal
Augerau, whom I frequently met. The heroic valour and skill which he
displayed in the campaigns of Italy, particularly at the battle of
Arcole and before Mantua, and afterwards in Germany, will render his
name illustrious in the military annals of France: he is a highly
polished and accomplished gentleman, and was equally admired and
esteemed by the inhabitants of Francfort; he lived in a style becoming
his dignity, without ostentation, and was upon all occasions very
accessible.
Linglebach, the celebrated painter, was born here in 1625. His subjects
were fairs, mountebanks, sea prospects, naval engagements, and
landscapes, in which he eminently excelled. In company with my two
friends from whom I parted at Rotterdam, and who rejoined me here, I set
off for Darmstadt, about eighteen English miles from Francfort. We
crossed a noble bridge over the Maine, and passed through a
considerable, and fortified town, called Saxenhausen. Our road, which
was sandy, was for a considerable way lined with luxuriant
nursery-grounds and vineyards. About four miles from Francfort we passed
a plain oaken post, about six feet high, upon which, under a painted
star and crown, was written (in German), “Sovereign Territory of the
Prince Primate of the Rhenish confederation.” Upon this road I saw, for
the first time, a great number of little posts, painted white and
numbered; they are called minute-posts, by which the pedestrian
traveller is enabled to ascertain with great exactness the progress he
makes in his journey. A very handsome avenue of stately poplars, of
nearly two English miles, forms the approach to the city, which is
nearly surrounded by a lofty wall, not capable of affording much
protection against an enemy. The suburbs contain some handsome houses,
in which, as the principal hotel in the city was full, we took up our
quarters at the post-house, a very excellent inn.
For a capital, Darmstadt is small, and its palace infinitely too large:
of the latter the Emperor Joseph sarcastically observed, that it was big
enough to accommodate himself and the nine electors. However, very
little of the internal part is finished, and most of the windows are
boarded up. The Grand Duke and his family reside in a part of a new
palace, projecting from the old one, looking towards the gardens. That
immense structure is built in imitation of the Thuilleries, and
surrounded by a broad deep dry ditch. The hereditary Prince, who married
the youngest daughter of the House of Baden, and whose sisters share the
thrones of Russia and Sweden, has a large and handsome house at a little
distance from the old palace; exclusive of this prince, his Royal
Highness the Grand Duke, Louis the Tenth, has several other children. He
is turned of fifty years of age, is an enlightened, brave, and amiable
prince, and a celebrated engineer. He was the last of the German princes
who in the last war sheathed the sword he had drawn against the French;
a power which the preservation of his dignity and his dominion compelled
him to coalesce with. Bonaparte, when he was digesting the Rhenish
Confederation, wished to invest him with the kingly dignity, but the
Grand Duke declined the offer. Darmstadt has produced many valiant and
distinguished officers. At the parade I had the pleasure of seeing
General Von Werner, the governor of the city, who at the head of the
chevaux legers, or light horse, performed prodigies of valour in the
Netherlands in the last war, where in one battle he was surrounded by
seven French chasseurs, from whom he received the most desperate wounds
in various parts of his body before he surrendered. The late General Von
Düring, a name, on account of the heroic courage of the person to whom
it belonged, for ever embalmed in the memory of the English who served
in the last war in the Low Countries, in the years 1793, 4, 5, was born
in this dutchy. The troops were good looking men, and presented a very
soldier-like appearance: the uniform of the officers of the infantry is
a blue coat faced with scarlet, a large cocked hat, richly trimmed with
deep silver lace, and has a very handsome appearance. The dragoons wear
a casket, a light green jacket, and are well mounted. The pay of a
soldier is about the value of twopence a day. Several captains in the
army are princes (princes appanages), or princes of a distant branch,
who have but little property.
The principal object to attract the attention of a traveller is the
Exercierhaus, or house for manœuvering the troops in the winter: it
forms one side of the space of ground allotted for the parade, is three
hundred and fourteen feet long, and one hundred and fifty-two broad, and
has been erected about thirty-five years.
The ceiling of this enormous room is self-supported by a vast and most
ingenious wooden frame-work, without the assistance of either pillar or
arch below. Above this ceiling are a great number of apartments. In a
part of the room below, the artillery of the Grand Duke is deposited,
which is kept in high military order. About four thousand troops can be
manœuvred in this room with ease. The gardens adjoining to the
exercise-house are laid out in the English style, are very spacious, and
would be very beautiful if the ground undulated a little more; much
taste has been displayed in their arrangement, and the house of the
chief gardener is very pretty. These gardens are liberally opened to the
public, form the principal promenade, and were embellished on the day I
visited them with several lovely and elegantly dressed women. In one
part is a neat but simple mausoleum, erected by the order of Frederic
the Great to the memory of one of the landgravines of Darmstadt, a
princess remarkable for the powers of her mind and the beauty of her
person: upon which is the following elegant inscription, composed by
that great Prince:
“Hic jacet Ludovica Henricæ, Landgrafia Hessiæ,
“sexu fœmina, ingenio vir.”
“Here lies Louisa Henrietta, Landgravine of Hesse,
“a woman in form, in mind a man.”
A short distance from the garden is a park in which wild boars are kept
for hunting. The religion of the dutchy is Lutheran. The affairs of the
state are conducted by a court of regency, and other courts, composed of
counsellors and a president, who regulate the military, administer the
laws, digest the finance, and superintend all matters that relate to
religion. Those who complain of “the law’s delay” in England, would be
speedily reconciled to the tardity of its progress were they to commence
a suit in Germany, where it excited considerable surprise that the
procrastination of Mr. Hastings’ trial, which lasted _seven years_ and
_three months_, should have caused any murmurs amongst us, that period
being thought a moderate one by almost every German. Living in this
dutchy is very cheap: a bachelor can keep a horse, dine at the first
table d’hôte, and drink a bottle of wine a day, and mingle in the best
circles, upon one hundred pounds per annum. The society in Darmstadt is
very agreeable. As the minds of the men and women are so highly
cultivated and accomplished in Germany, every party presents some mode
or other, equally delightful and blameless, to make Time smile, and to
strew over his passage with flowers. The country round Darmstadt is very
beautiful, and abounds with corn and various sorts of fruit-trees, which
are frequently unprotected by any fence, and the common path winds
through avenues of them. Amongst other delicious fruit, there is a red
plumb called zwetschen, peculiar to the south of Germany, which grows in
great richness and luxuriance in this dutchy. As a proof of the
profusion in which it grows, in one of my rambles with some friends, I
met a boy laden with a basket full of them, who sold us 130 for some
little pieces, amounting to a penny English; and the little rogue looked
back with an arch smile as we separated, as if he had made a highly
profitable bargain. As I was walking in the principal street with a
friend of mine, I was struck with the following expression: “Look at
that officer; would you believe it that with so fine a person, and a
mind to correspond with it, he has received _two baskets_?” My surprise
at the expression was dissolved by being informed, that when a lady
refuses an offer of love, she sends the luckless lover a little basket
as a token of her disinclination to receive his addresses.
The French interest is powerful in Darmstadt, although amongst all the
princes of the Rhenish confederation, no one has displayed more energy
and spirit than the Grand Duke. A striking instance of this occurred to
one of my companions: in this dutchy, and I believe in other parts of
Germany, there is a law that renders it penal to drive off the road upon
the grass, but the postillion who drove him, having, to spare his
horses, offended against the law, archly turned round to him and said,
“Pray, Sir, in case I should be prosecuted, say you are a Frenchman, and
then they will not make me pay the penalty.”
The antipathy between the natives of Darmstadt and their neighbours of
Hesse Cassel, is as inveterate as that between the English and French.
As I was preparing to set off for Heidelburg, we heard that the troops
of Darmstadt were expected to march at a moment’s notice to seize upon
Hanau, a town belonging to Hesse Cassel, which has afforded frequent
subject of broil between the two countries; but upon inquiry, we were
privately informed, that Bonaparte was expected to call upon the Grand
Duke to march his contingent to the field of battle against the
Prussians, with whom immediate hostilities were thought to be
inevitable. I much regretted that this approaching storm, which began to
spread a deep shade over the political horizon, prevented me from
extending my excursion further into Germany, a country to which Nature
has been very bountiful, where the women unite refined accomplishments
to the charms of person, and where the men are distinguished for their
genius, probity, and indefatigable industry, and both for an unaffected
urbanity of manners.
Upon my return to Francfort, part of the French army rushed in like a
torrent, on its way to give the Prussians battle. It had rained very
hard all the day on which the advance guard entered; but every soldier,
although covered with mud, and wet to the skin, went, or rather danced,
singing merrily all the way, to the house where he was to be quartered.
This city has been dreadfully drained at various times, by the immense
number of French troops which have been billeted upon the inhabitants:
at one time they had fifty thousand to support, and to supply with
various articles of clothing for six months. Every house had a certain
number billeted upon them, according to its size and the opulence of the
family. Upon their march the French are as little encumbered as
possible; in their way they compel the farmer, butcher, baker, &c. to
furnish them with what they want, for which notes are given by the
proper officers, if they have no cash, to the seller, according to the
price agreed upon, which is generally a very fair one, and which the
paymaster in the rear of the army discharges upon coming up.
As the gathering tempest prevented me from penetrating into the south of
Germany beyond Darmstadt, I applied to M. Bacher, the French minister,
for permission to return _pour changer_ to Rotterdam, by the way of
Brussels, Antwerp, &c. but the old, shrewd politician, in a very crabbed
manner refused, and ordered me to keep on the right bank of the Rhine.
Thus was I obliged to retrace my steps; however, it enabled me again to
contemplate the sublime and beautiful scenes of the Rhine, which I did
in a boat, the cabin and roof of which were crammed with passengers to
various cities on different sides of the river: the wind was against us,
but the stream was strong, of which our boatmen availed themselves by
placing the vessel transversely, and, without rowing or towing, in two
days and a half we bade adieu to our voyageurs, a little before we
reached Cologne, where we landed at Duitz, and retrod our steps, which
enabled me here and there to correct errors and supply omissions. At
Wesel we arrived at half past six o’clock in the evening, and found the
gates shut, which compelled us to sleep upon straw at a little inn in
the suburbs. At six the next morning, we beheld a sad massacre
perpetrating by the engineers and soldiers of the garrison, upon all the
trees in the neighbourhood that could conceal or assist an enemy in
approaching the town, and for a similar reason several houses in the
suburbs were marked for destruction. Such is the commencement of the
horrors of war! The Prussians were expected to lay siege to this
strongly fortified town in a few days, which induced the Grand Duke of
Berg, who was in the citadel at the time, to have recourse to these
severe preparations.
After pursuing our route through Amsterdam, where the great fair was
holding, during which the Dutch character became absolutely lively,
through Leyden and Rotterdam, at the last of which we were sadly annoyed
about our necessary passports of departure, which require the signature
of the King’s secretary at the Hague, and the countersign of a Dutch
commissioner, appointed, during my absence, for such purpose at
Rotterdam, in consequence of the French ambassador’s power over such
matters having been withdrawn, we at length, like hunted hares, arrived
at the spot from whence we started, viz. Maesland-sluys, where, after
undergoing the vexation of more forms and ceremonies before our old
friend the commodore, on board of his guard-ship, we embarked in the
identical dismal galliot which brought us to Holland, and after
expecting every moment an order of embargo, we got out to sea, where we
endured no common misery for six days and nights, after which I landed
again upon my beloved native country:
That water-walled bulwark, still secure
And confident from foreign purposes.
_King John_, Act I. Scene 2.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in
spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
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