A voyage of an hour and a half brought us here over a canal well
bordered by country houses and gardens, all of which, as in other parts
of Holland, have some inscription upon their gates, to say, that they
are pleasant, or are intended for pleasure. _Fine Sight_, _Pleasant
Rest_, _High Delight_, or some similar inscription, is to be seen over
the door of every country house, in gold letters. On our way, we looked
for Ryswick, where the treaty of 1697 was signed, and saw the village,
but not the palace, which, being of free stone, is mentioned as a
sort of curiosity in the country. It is this palace, which is said to
contain proofs of an extraordinary dispute upon questions of ceremony.
The Ambassadors, sent to prepare the treaty, are related to have
contended so long, concerning their rights of precedence, that the only
mode of reconciling them was to make separate entrances, and to allow
the Mediating Minister alone admission by the principal gate.
From the _trechtschuyt_ we had a long walk to our inn, an handsome
house, standing almost in the midst of palaces, and looking over a
noble sheet of water, called the _Vyver_, which extends behind the
_Court_, for its whole length, flowing nearly to the level of the
lower windows. The _Court_ itself, a large brick building, irregular,
but light and pleasant, was entirely within our view, on the left; on
the right, a row of magnificent houses, separated from the _Vyver_ by a
large mall; and, in front, beyond the _Vyver_, a broad place, bordered
by several public buildings. In this Court all the superior colleges
of government have their chambers, and the PRINCE of ORANGE his suite
of apartments. The fossé, which surrounds it, three drawbridges and
as many gates are the only fortifications of the Hague, which has
been several times threatened with the entrance of an enemy, but has
not been taken since 1595, when the magistrates of the then infant
republic, and all the superior inhabitants, retired to _Delft_, leaving
the streets to be overrun with grass, and the place to become a desert
under the eyes of its oppressors. During the invasion of LOUIS the
FOURTEENTH, it escaped the ravages of the DUKE of LUXEMBOURG'S
column, by the sudden dissolution of the ice, on which he had placed
9000 foot and 2000 cavalry. Yet the advice of WILLIAM the THIRD, who
probably thought money better expended in strengthening the frontier
than the interior of the country, counteracted a plan of fortification,
which was then proposed, for the third or fourth time.
The Court consists of two squares; in the inner of which are the
apartments of the STADTHOLDER, and none but himself and his family can
enter this in carriages, or on horseback. On the northern side, in the
first floor, are the apartments of the STATES GENERAL, which we saw.
The principal one is spacious, as a room, but has not the air of a
hall of debate. Twenty-six chairs for the Deputies are placed on two
sides of a long table: the President, whose chair is in the centre, has
on his right hand, first, a Deputy of his own province, then three
Deputies of Friesland, and two of Groningen; on his left, six Deputies
of Holland; opposite to him, nearest to the head of the table, six
Deputies of Guelderland, then three of Zealand, then two of Utrecht,
and two of Overyssel. The STADTHOLDER, who has a place, but not a
vote, has a raised chair at the upper end of the table; the Secretary
is seated opposite to him, and is allowed to wear his hat, like the
Deputies, during their deliberations, but must stand uncovered, behind
the President, when he reads letters, or other papers. The number of
Deputies is known to be indefinite; about fifty are generally returned;
and those, who are present from each province, more than the number
allowed at the table, place themselves below it. The walls of this room
are covered with tapestry, not representing historical events, but
rural scenery; the backs and seats of the chairs are of green velvet;
and all the furniture, though stately and in the best condition, is
without the least approach to show. These apartments, and the whole of
this side of the Court, were the residence of CHARLES the FIFTH, when
he visited the Hague, and of the EARL of LEICESTER, when he commanded
the troops lent to the Republic by ELIZABETH.
The government of the United Provinces is too well known to permit a
detailed description here, but some notice may reasonably be expected
of it.
The chief depositaries of the sovereignty are not the States General,
but the Provincial States, of whose Deputies the former body is
composed, and without whose consent they never vote upon important
measures. In the States General each Province has one vote; which,
with the reasons for it, may be delivered by an unlimited number of
Deputies; and the first Deputy of each province presides in the States
by rotation for a week. In questions relative to peace or war,
alliances, taxes, coinages, and to the privileges of provinces, no
measures can be taken but by unanimous consent; upon other occasions,
a majority is sufficient. No persons holding military offices can
be Deputies to the States General, which appoints and receives all
ambassadors, declares war, makes peace, and names the Greffier, or
Secretary of State, and all Staff Officers.
The Provincial States are variously composed, and the interior
governments of the provinces variously formed. In the province of
Holland, which contains the most prosperous part of the Republic, there
are eighteen Deputies to the Provincial States, for as many towns, and
one for the nobility. The Grand Pensionary presides in this assembly,
and is always one of the Deputies from it to the States General.
The Council of Deputies is composed of ten members: nine from the
towns, and one from the nobility. This Council, in which the Grand
Pensionary also presides, regulates the finances of the province, and
takes cognizance of the distribution of troops within it.
The Council, called the Council of State, is composed, like the States
General, of Deputies returned from the provinces, and appears to be to
that body, in a great measure, what the Council of Deputies is to the
Provincial States, having the direction of the army and the finances.
As provincial affairs are directed by the Provincial States, so the
affairs of each town are governed by its own Senate, which also returns
the members, if the town is entitled to send one, to the States of
the Province, and directs the vote, which that member shall give.
The Burgomasters in each town are the magistrates charged with the
police and the finances, and are usually elected annually by the old
Council, that is, by those who have been Burgomasters, or _Echevins_.
These latter officers have the administration of civil and criminal
affairs, and are, in some places, appointed by the Stadtholder from
a double number nominated to him; in others, are accepted from the
recommendation of the Stadtholder. The Bailiffs preside in the Council
of Burgomasters and Echevins; and in their name prosecutions are
instituted.
Of the Deputies to the States General, some are for life, and some for
one or more years.
Such is the nicely complicated frame of this government, in which the
Senates of the Towns elect the Provincial States, and the Provincial
States the States General; the latter body being incapable of deciding
in certain cases, except with unanimity and with the express consent
of their constituents, the Provincial States; who again cannot give
that consent, except with unanimity and with the consent of their
constituents, the Senates.
The Stadtholder, it is seen, has not directly, and in consequence of
that office, any share of the legislative power; but, being a Noble
of four provinces, he, of course, participates in that part of the
sovereignty, which the Nobility enjoy when they send Deputies to the
Provincial States. Of Zealand he is the only Noble, all the other
titled families having been destroyed in the original contest with
Spain; and there are no renewals or creations of titles in the United
Provinces. In Guelderland, Holland, and Utrecht, he is President of
the Nobles. He is Commander of all the Forces of the Republic by sea
and land; and the Council of State, of which he is a member, is, in
military affairs, almost entirely under his direction; he names all
subaltern officers, and recommends those for higher appointments to
the States General. In Guelderland, Utrecht, and Overyssel, which
are called _Provinces aux Reglemens_, because, having submitted to
LOUIS the FOURTEENTH, in 1672, they were not re-admitted to the Union,
but with some sacrifice of their privileges, he appoints to offices,
without the nomination of the cities; he is Governor General of the
East and West Indian Companies, and names all the Directors from a
treble number of candidates offered by the Proprietors. His name
presides in all the courts of law; and his heart, it may be hoped,
dictates in the noble right of pardoning.
This is the essential form of a government, which, for two centuries,
has protected as great a share of civil and religious liberty as has
been enjoyed in any other part of Europe, resisting equally the chances
of dissolution, contained within itself; and the less dangerous schemes
for its destruction, dictated by the jealousy of arbitrary interests
without.
Its intricacy and delicacy are easily seen; yet, of the objections made
to it on this account, more are founded on some maxims, assumed to be
universal, than upon the separate considerations due to the condition
of a separate people. How much the means of political happiness depend,
for their effect, upon the civil characters of those for whom they are
designed, has been very little seen, or insisted upon. It has been
unnoticed, because such enquiries have not the brilliancy, or the
facility, of general speculations, nor can command equal attention,
nor equally reward systems with those parts of their importance, that
consist in the immensity of the sphere, to which they pretend. To
extend their arms is the flagitious ambition of warriors; to enlarge
their systems is the ambition of writers, especially of political
writers. A juster effort of understanding would aim at rendering the
application of principles more exact, rather than more extensive, and
would produce enquiries into the circumstances of national character
and condition, that should regulate that application. A more modest
estimate of human means of doing good would shew the gradations,
through which all human advances must be made. A more severe integrity
of views would stipulate, that the means should be as honest as the
end, and would strive to ascertain, from the moral and intellectual
character of a people, the degree of political happiness, of which
they are capable; a process, without which projected advances become
obstructions; and the philosopher begins his experiment, for the
amelioration of society, as prematurely as the sculptor would polish
his statue before he had delineated the features.
Whether the constitution of the United Provinces is exactly as good
an one as the people are capable of enjoying, can be determined only
after a much longer and abler enquiry than we could make; but it seemed
proper to observe, that, in judging this question, it is not enough to
discover better forms of government, without finding also some reason
to believe, that the intellectual and moral condition of the people
would secure the existence of those better forms. In the mean time,
they, who make the enquiry, may be assured, that, under the present[1]
government, there is a considerable degree of political liberty, though
political happiness is not permitted by the present circumstances of
Europe; that the general adoption of the Stadtholder's measures by
the States has been unduly mentioned to shew an immoderate influence,
for that, in point of fact, his measures are often rejected; that
this rejection produces no public agitation, nor can those, who
differ from him in opinion, be successfully represented as enemies to
their country; that there are very few offices, which enable private
persons to become rich, at the expence of the public, so as to have a
different interest from them; that the sober industry and plain manners
of the people prevent them from looking to political conduct of any
sort as a means of improving their fortunes; that, for these reasons,
the intricate connections between the parts of their government are
less inconvenient than may be supposed, since good measures will not
be obstructed, or bad ones supported, for corrupt purposes, though
misconceptions may sometimes produce nearly the same effect; that
conversation is perfectly free; and that the habit of watching the
strength of parties, for the purpose of joining the strongest and
persecuting the weakest, does not occupy the minds of any numerous
classes amongst them.
[1] June 1794.
We saw no other apartments than those of the States General, the
PRINCE of ORANGE being then in his own. The Princess was at a seat
in Guelderland, with her daughter-in-law, the wife of the Hereditary
Prince, who had been indisposed since the surprise of the Dutch troops
at Menin, on the 12th of September 1793, in which affair her husband
was engaged. When the officer, who brought the first accounts, which
were not written, to the Hague, had related that the younger prince
was wounded, the Hereditary Princess enquired, with great eagerness,
concerning his brother. The officer indiscreetly replied, that he knew
nothing of him; which the Princess supposed to imply, that he was dead;
and she has since been somewhat an invalid.
Though the salaries enjoyed by the Prince of Orange, in consequence
of his offices, are by no means considerable, he is enabled, by
his patrimonial estates, to maintain some modest splendour. The
Court is composed of a grand master, a marshal, a grand equerry, ten
chamberlains, five ladies of honour, and six gentlemen of the chamber.
Ten young men, with the title of pages, are educated at the expence of
the Prince, in a house adjoining his _manege_. As Captain-General, he
is allowed eight adjutants, and, as Admiral, three.
We could not learn the amount of the income enjoyed by the PRINCE of
ORANGE, which must, indeed, be very variable, arising chiefly from
his own estates. The greater part of these are in the province of
Zealand, where seventeen villages and part of the town of Breda are his
property. The fortifications of several places there are said to have
been chiefly erected at the expence of the Orange family. His farms in
that neighbourhood suffered greatly in the campaign of 1792, and this
part of his income has since been much diminished. The management of
his revenues, derived from possessions in Germany, affords employment
to four or five persons, at an Office, separate from his ordinary
Treasury; and he had estates in the Low Countries. All this is but
the wreck of a fortune, honourably diminished by William the First
of Orange, in the contest with Spain; the remembrance of whom may,
perhaps, involuntarily influence one's opinion of his successors.
During May, the western gate of the palace is ornamented, according to
ancient custom, with garlands for each person of the Orange family.
Chaplets, with the initials of each, in flowers, are placed under large
coronets, upon green flag-staffs. We passed by when they were taking
these down, and perceived that all the ornaments could scarcely have
cost five shillings. So humble are the Dutch notions of pageantry.
Among the offices included within the walls of the court is a
printing-house, in which the STATES GENERAL and the States of Holland
employ only persons sworn to secrecy as to the papers committed to
them. It may seem strange to require secrecy from those, whose art is
chiefly useful in conferring publicity; but the truth is, that many
papers are printed here, which are never communicated to the public,
the States employing the press for the sake of its cheapness, and
considering that any of their members, who would shew a printed paper,
would do the same with a written one.
In a large square, near the court, is the cabinet of natural history,
of which we have not the knowledge necessary for giving a description.
It is arranged in small rooms, which are opened, at twelve o'clock,
to those, who have applied the day before. One article, said to be
very rare, and certainly very beautiful, was an animal of the Deer
species, about fourteen inches high, exquisitely shaped and marked, and
believed to be at its full growth. It was brought from the coast of
Africa.
The Stadtholder's library was accidentally shut, owing to the illness
of the librarian. The picture gallery was open, but of paintings we
have resolved to exempt our readers from any mention. The former is
said to contain eight thousand volumes, and fourteen thousand prints
in portfolios. Among the illuminated MSS. in vellum is one, used by
the sanguinary Catherine De Medicis and her children; and another,
which belonged to Isabella of Castille, the grandmother of Charles
the Fifth. What must be oddly placed in a library is a suit of armour
of Francis the First, which was once in the cabinet of Christina of
Sweden. Though this collection is the private property of the Prince,
the librarian is permitted to lend books to persons, known to him and
likely to use them advantageously for science.
We passed a long morning in walking through the streets of this place,
which contain probably more magnificent houses than can be found in
the same space in any city of Northern Europe. The Grand _Voorbout_
is rather, indeed, two series of palaces than a street. Between two
broad carriage-ways, which pass immediately along the sides, are
several alleys of tall lime trees, canopying walks, first laid out by
Charles the Fifth, in 1536, and ordered to be carefully preserved,
the _placard_ being still extant, which directs the punishment of
offenders against them. It would be tedious to mention the many
splendid buildings in this and the neighbouring streets. Among the most
conspicuous is the present residence of the British Ambassadors, built
by HUGUETAN, the celebrated banker of LOUIS the FOURTEENTH, and that of
the Russian Minister, which was erected by the Pensionary BARNEVELDT.
But the building, which was intended to exceed all others at the
Hague, is the Hotel of the Prince of NASSAU WEILBOURG; who, having
married the sister of the PRINCE of ORANGE, bought, at an immense
expence, eight good houses, facing the _Voorbout_, in order to erect
upon their scite a magnificent palace. What has been already built of
this is extremely fine, in the crescent form; but a German, arriving
to the expenditure of a Dutch fortune, probably did not estimate it
by Dutch prices. It was begun eighteen years since, and, for the last
twelve, has not proceeded.
Superb public buildings occur at almost every step through the Hague.
At one end of the terrace, on which we were lodged, is the _Doelen_,
a spacious mansion, opening partly upon the _Tournois Veld_, or Place
of Tournaments. The burgesses here keep their colours, and, what is
remarkable, still preserve the _insignia_ of the _Toison d'Or_, given
to them by CHARLES the FIFTH. Our WILLIAM the THIRD being admitted,
at ten years of age, to the right of a burgess here, was invested with
this order by the Burgomaster. At the other end of the terrace is the
palace, built for Prince MAURICE of NASSAU, upon his return from the
government of Brazil, by KAMPFEN, Lord of Rambroek, architect of the
Stadthouse at Amsterdam. The interior of this building was destroyed
by fire, in the commencement of the present century; but, the stately
walls of stone and brick being uninjured, the rooms were restored
by the proprietors, assisted by a lottery. It is an instance of the
abundance of buildings here, that this palace is now chiefly used as a
place of meeting, for the œconomical branch of the society of Haerlem,
and for a society, instituted here, for the encouragement of Dutch
poetry.
The number of public buildings is much increased by the houses, which
the eighteen towns provide for their Deputies, sent to the States of
the Province. These are called the _Logements_ of the several towns;
and there has been a great deal of emulation, as to their magnificence.
Amsterdam and Rotterdam have the finest.
The churches are not remarkable for antiquity, or grandeur. A
congregation of English Protestants have their worship performed, in
the manner of the Dissenters, in a small chapel near the _Vyver_, where
we had the satisfaction to hear their venerable pastor, the Rev. Dr.
M'CLEAN.
The residence of a Court at the Hague renders the appearance of the
inhabitants less national and characteristic than elsewhere. There are
few persons in the streets, who, without their orange cockades, might
not be mistaken for English; but ribbons of this colour are almost
universal, which some wear in their hats, and some upon a button-hole
of the coat. The poorest persons, and there are more poor here than
elsewhere, find something orange-coloured to shew. Children have it
placed upon their caps; so that the practice is carried to an extent
as ridiculous, as the prohibition was in 1785, when the magistrates
ordered, that _nothing orange-coloured should be worn, or shewn, not
even fruits, or flowers, and that carrots should not be exposed to sale
with the ends outwards_.
The distinctions between political classes are very strongly marked and
preserved in Holland. We were informed, that there are some villages,
in which the wearing of a cockade, and others, in which the want of
one, would expose a passenger, especially a native, to insults. In the
cities, where those of both parties must transact business together,
the distinction is not much observed. In Amsterdam, the friends of
the Stadtholder do not wear cockades. For the most part, the seamen,
farmers and labouring classes in the towns are attached to the Orange
family, whose opponents are chiefly composed of the opulent merchants
and tradesmen.
A history, or even a description of the two parties, if we were enabled
to give it, would occupy too much space here; but it may be shortly
mentioned, that the original, or chief cause of the dissension was,
as might be expected, entirely of a commercial nature. The English
interest had an unanimous popularity in Holland, about the year 1750.
In the war of 1756, the French, having sustained a great loss of
shipping, employed Dutch vessels to bring the produce of their American
islands to Europe, and thus established a considerable connection with
the merchants of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Court of Versailles took
care, that the stream of French wealth, which they saw setting into the
United Provinces, should carry with it some French politics; while the
wealth itself effected more than all their contrivance, and gradually
produced a kindness for France, especially in the province of Holland,
through which it chiefly circulated. The English Ministers took all
Dutch ships, having French property on board; and the popularity of
England was for a time destroyed. Several maritime towns, probably
with some instigation from France, demanded a war against England.
The friends of the Stadtholder prevented this; and from that time the
Prince began to share whatever unpopularity the measures of the English
Ministers, or the industry of the English traders, could excite in a
rival and a commercial country.
The capture of the French West India islands soon after removed the
cause of the dispute; but the effects of it survived in the jealousy
of the great cities towards the Stadtholder, and were much aggravated
by the losses of their merchants, at the commencement of hostilities
between England and the United Provinces, in 1780. The Dutch fleet
being then unprepared to sail, and every thing, which could float,
having been sent out of the harbours of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire to
intercept their trading ships, the fortunes of many of the most opulent
houses in Holland were severely shook, and all their members became the
enemies of the Stadtholder.
If to these circumstances it is added, that the province of Holland,
which pays fifty-eight parts of every hundred, levied by taxes, has an
ambition for acquiring greater influence in the general government,
than is bestowed by its single vote, we have probably all the original
causes of the party distinctions in Holland, though others may have
been incorporated with others, during a long series of events and many
violent struggles of the passions.
The Stadtholder, who has had the misfortune to attract so much
attention by his difficulties, is said to be a man of plain manners
and sound understanding, neither capable of political intrigue, nor
inclined to it. His office requires, especially during a war, a great
deal of substantial, personal labour, to which he devotes himself
earnestly and continually, but which he has not the vigour to bear,
without an evident oppression of spirits. We saw him at a parade of the
Guards, and it is not necessary to be told of his labours to perceive
how much he is affected by them. It is scarcely possible to conceive
a countenance more expressive of a mind, always urged, always pressed
upon, and not often receiving the relief of complete confidence in
its efforts. His person is short and extremely corpulent; his air
in conversation modest and mild. This attendance upon the parade is
his chief exercise, or relaxation at the Hague, where he frequently
passes ten of the hours between five in a morning and nine at night in
his cabinet. He comes, accompanied by one or two officers, and his
presence produces no crowd. When we had viewed the parade and returned
home, we saw him walking under our windows towards the _Voorbout_,
accompanied by an officer, but not followed by a single person.
Conversation does not turn so much upon the family of the Stadtholder,
as that we could acquire any distinct opinions of the other parts of
it. Of his humanity and temper, there was sufficient proof, in 1787,
when he returned to the Hague and was master of the persons of those,
who had lately banished him. Indeed, the conduct of both parties, with
respect to the personal safety of their adversaries, was honourable
to the character of the nation. The States of Holland, during the
prevalence of their authority, did not pretend, according to the
injustice of similar cases, to any right of destroying the friends of
the Stadtholder, who were in their hands; the Stadtholder, when he
returned, and when the public detestation of his adversaries was at an
height, which would have permitted any measures against them, demanded
no other retribution, than that seventeen, named in a list, should be
declared incapable of holding offices under the Republic.
One of the best excursions from the Hague is made to the _Maison
du Bois_, a small palace of the Prince of ORANGE, in a wood, which
commences almost at the northern gate of the town. This wood is called
a park, but it is open to the public roads from Leyden, Haerlem and
Amsterdam, which pass through its noble alleys of oak and beech. It
is remarkable for having so much attracted the regard of Philip the
Second, that, in the campaign of 1574, he ordered his officers not to
destroy it; and is probably the only thing, not destined for himself,
of which this ample destroyer of human kind and of his own family
ever directed the preservation. LOUIS the FOURTEENTH, probably having
heard the praises of this care, left the mall of Utrecht to be a
monument of similar tenderness, during an unprovoked invasion, which
cost ten thousand lives.
The apartments of the _Maison du Bois_ are very variously furnished.
The best are fitted up with a light grey sattin, imbossed with Chinese
birds and plants, in silk and feathers of the most beautiful tints; the
window curtains, screens and coverings of the sophas and chairs are the
same, and the frames of the latter are also of Chinese workmanship.
Nothing more delicate and tasteful can be conceived; but, that you may
not be quite distracted with admiration, the carpets are such as an
English merchant would scarcely receive into a parlour. The furniture
of the state bed-chamber is valuable, and has once been splendid; a
light balustrade of curious Japan work, about three feet high, runs
across the room, and divides that part, in which the bed stands, from
the remainder. The Princess's drawing-room, in which card parties
are sometimes held, is well embellished with paintings, and may be
called a superb apartment; but here again there is an instance of the
incompleteness, said to be observable in the furniture of all rooms,
out of England. Of four card tables two are odd ones, and literally
would be despised in a broker's shop in London. The great glory of
the house is the _Salle d'Orange_, an oblong saloon of noble height,
with pannels, painted by nine celebrated painters of the Flemish and
Dutch schools, among whom VAN TULDEN, a pupil of RUBENS, has observed
his manner so much in a workshop of Vulcan and in a figure of Venus
forming a trophy, that they have been usually attributed to his
master. The subjects on the pannels and ceiling are all allegorical,
and complimentary, for the most part, to the Princes of the House
of Orange, especially to FREDERIC HENRY, the son of the first WILLIAM
and the grandson of the Admiral COLIGNY. It was at the expence of his
widow, that the house was built and the saloon thus ornamented.
Almost all the rooms are decorated with family portraits, of which some
have just been contributed by the pencil of the Hereditary Princess. A
large piece represents herself, taking a likeness of the Princess her
mother-in-law, and includes what is said to be an admirable portrait
of her husband. On the six doors of the grand cabinet are six whole
lengths of ladies of the House of Orange, exhibited in allegorical
characters. The doors being covered by the paintings, when that, by
which you have entered, is shut, you cannot tell the way back again.
A portrait of LOUISA DE COLIGNY, the widow of William the First, is
enriched with a painter's pun; she is presented by _Hope_ with a
branch of an _orange_ tree, containing only _one_ orange; from which
the spectator is to learn, that her _son_ was her _only hope_.
The most delightful outlet from the Hague is towards Schevening, a
village on the sea-shore, nearly two miles distant, the road to which
has been often and properly celebrated as a noble monument of tasteful
grandeur. Commencing at the canal, which surrounds the Hague, it
proceeds to the village through a vista so exactly straight, that the
steeple of Schevening, the central object at the end of it, is visible
at the first entrance. Four rows of lofty elms are planted along
the road, of which the two central lines form this perfect and most
picturesque vista; the others shelter paths on each side of it, for
foot passengers.
The village itself, containing two or three hundred houses of fishermen
and peasants, would be a spectacle, for its neatness, any where but
in Holland. There is no square, or street of the most magnificent
houses in London, that can equal it for an universal appearance of
freshness. It is positively bright with cleanliness; though its only
street opens upon the sea, and is the resort of hundreds of fishermen.
We passed a most delightful day at a little inn upon the beach,
sometimes looking into the history of the village, which is very
ancient; then enquiring into its present condition; and then enjoying
the prospect of the ocean, boundless to our view, on one side, and
appearing to be but feebly restrained by a long tract of low white
coast on the other.
The sea beats furiously upon the beach here, which has no doubt been
much raised by art for the defence of the village. There is at least
no other way of accounting for its security, since 1574, between which
year and the latter end of the preceding century, it sustained
six inundations. The first, in 1470, demolished a church; the last
washed away an hundred and twenty houses; notwithstanding which, the
inhabitants built again upon their stormy shore; and their industry,
that, at length, protected them from the sea, enabled them to endure
also the more inveterate ravages of the Spaniards. On this beach lie
occasionally great numbers of herring busses, too stoutly built to
be injured by touching it. We suspect our information to have been
exaggerated; but we heard on the spot, that no less than one hundred
and five belong to this village of little more than two hundred houses,
or are managed by agents in it. About forty were set on float by the
tide in the afternoon, and, being hauled by means of anchors beyond a
very heavy surf, were out of sight, before we left the place.
It was amusing to see the persevering, effectual, but not very active
exertions of the seamen in this business, which could not often be more
difficult than it then was, when a strong wind blew directly upon the
shore. We here first perceived, what we had many other opportunities
of observing, that, notwithstanding the general admiration of Dutch
industry, it is of a nature which would scarcely acquire that name in
England. A Dutchman of the labouring class is, indeed, seldom seen
unemployed; but we never observed one man working hard, according
to the English notion of the term. Perseverance, carefulness, and
steadiness are theirs, beyond any rivalship; the vehemence, force,
activity and impatience of an English sailor, or workman, are unknown
to them. You will never see a Dutchman enduring the fatigue, or
enjoying the rest, of a London porter. Heavy burthens, indeed, they do
not carry. At Amsterdam, where carriages are even somewhat obnoxious,
a cask, holding four or five gallons of liquor, is removed by a horse
and a sledge.
On our way from Schevening, where a dinner costs more than at an hotel
in the Hague, we turned a little to the right to see Portland Gardens,
once the favourite resort of William and Mary; and said to be laid
out in the English taste. They are now a bad specimen even of Dutch
gardens. The situation is unusually low, having on one hand the raised
bank of the Schevening road, and, on another, the sand hills of the
coast. Between these, the moisture of the sea air is held for a long
time, and finally drawn down upon the earth. The artificial ornaments
are stained and decaying; and the grass and weeds of the neglected
plots are capable only of a putrid green. Over walks of a black mould
you are led to the orangery, where there is more decay, and may look
through the windows of the green-house, to perceive how every thing is
declining there. Some pavilions, provided with water spouts, are then
to be seen; and, if you have the patience to wait the conclusion of
an operation, intended to surprise you, you may count how many of the
pipes refuse to perform their office.
Nearer to the Hague, we were stopped to pay a toll of a few doights;
a circumstance which was attended with this proof of civility. Having
passed in the morning, without the demand, we enquired why it should be
made now. The gatherer replied, that he had seen us pass, but, knowing
that we must return by the same way, had avoided giving more trouble
than was necessary. This tax is paid for the support of the bank, or
digue, over which the road passes; a work, begun on the 1st of May
1664, and finished on the 5th of December 1665, by the assistance of a
loan granted for the enterprise. The breadth of the road is thirty-two
yards.
The next day, after seeing the relief of the Stadtholder's _garde
du corps_, the privates of which wear feathered hats, with uniforms
of scarlet and gold, we left the Hague, with much admiration of
its pleasantness and quiet grandeur, and took the _roof_ of the
trechtschuyt for Leyden.