f PLC "UN I VLKbH f " LTbrtHR i ill iiiiii in h m P39002025007122B YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Bought with the income of the ALFRED E. PERKINS FUND "ICTUIRESQFE through OLLANB, BMABAN ana/sa/f of C l JLJ 9. ( ^ /uff /// ///r <¦ /// ' /// /// /? - over. which is a bridge of -curious, conftruction, open- ( » ) opening in the middle by means of brafs wheels turning on an axle, which is moved with great facility. The dock and admiralty magazine are well worth attention ; and a walk round the ramparts will not prove un- pleafant, THE'houfes are built on a lin gular conftruction : they are all pyramidical, which renders the upper rooms very fmall, and al moft ufelefs j exemplifying the pro verbial fatisf action of the Dutch with old ha bits, and their indifpofition to novelty, either in objects of convenience, or tafte. The fronts are painted at leaft once a year j their neatnefs, and variegated colours have a whim- fical and pretty effect -. the ftreets are paved with clinkers ; and the cleanlinefs of the people, both within and without their houfes, is aftonifhing. The infides of their churches. are very plain, adorned only with efcutcheons* with neither monument or epitaph- The B z men ( 12 ) men At with their hats on ; for1 in the ri gour of Calvinifm it is a principle, that the- Deity is not to be won by external forms. The ftore-houfes are very large and extenfive : their Atuation is on theright, at the entrance of the harbour, The late King (George the Second) on his return from one of his ex- curfions to Hanover, being detained fome weeks by contrary winds, fixed his refidence in one of them in preference to every other accommodation the town afforded. In one of his rambles, meeting a pretty Dutch girl en the quay, he accofted her with a Good mor row ! what have you in your bafket, child ? Eyeren, Mynheer > eggs, Sir. And what is the price, my dear ? A ducat a piece. What ! are eggs fo fcarce then in Holland ? Nq, Sir, replied, the girl, but Kings ar^. Having breakfafted, and dis charged all demands, among which the land ing our baggage was not the moft reafon- able •. ( 13 ) able, we ordered a carriage, called a ftate waggon, to the Briel. A bell was immediate ly rung, and the charioteers fummoned to attend : and the fate of the driver being de termined by throwing a dice, that no undue partiality might prevail, every Dutch forma lity was now adjufted ; and, the boor of a driver with folemnity having lighted his pipe, we prepared to take our departure for the Briel; where, I flatter myfelf fomething more worthy your attention may be found, and compenfate for the brevity and barren- nefs of fubject in this epiftle. Adieu ! LET- 'i V ^ .^ T a ^ V £ ^ u •u -4 ^ V 1 N w „*N ^ 5 \>S i p ( *5 ) LETTER III. SR1EZ. DEAR SIR, AN hour and a half has brought us to this place through an indif ferent road, as you may fuppofej the dif tance from Helvoet being only feven miles. We twice in our route croffed the Maas. The profpect* fo very flat and unintereffing^ reminds me of a remark made by the Duke of Alva,, who fpeaking. of Hol land,, faid of its inhabitants — " that the£ * The annexed drawing of Briel was made from the Ifland of Rofenburg, acrofs the Maes. " were ( 16 ) « were the neareft neighbours to Hell of while in the convent at Emaus ; near Gouda, painted feveral pictures ; among which was a eruciAxion in miniature, much efteemed by the connoifleur. It is at prefent in the col lection of Mr. Cornelius Ploos Van Amftel, at Amfterdam ; and was formerly in the pof- feflion of the learned Cornelius Mufius, prior of a convent at Delft. We vifited the Dutch and French playhoufes. At the latter we were not ill en tertained with the Deferter, and the School for Fathers, as an after-piece. The houfe is rather plain, but commodious ; and you may be ferved in any part, even in the pit, with coffee, lemonade, or any refrefhment you can wifh, C 33 ) wlfh, without inconvenience to yourfelf or neighbbur : this advantage arifes from the feats being all numbered,' which prevents crouding or' diffatisfaction. The players, all wearing-orange cockades, made rather a whirri- ficaT appearance ; but at this time, party run ning very high, every one is obliged to pro vide himfelf with this paffport; even the tails of the horfes are adorned with this prince ly appendage. A person is now in confinement' for ftabbirig another becaufe his orange cock ade was hot fo large as it fhould be : this fure- by-'Was not the " reproof valiant," and is likely to be attended with very ferious confequences. To conftitute the crime> and fubject to the puhifhment of murder, the laws of Holland require, that the death of the party wounded muft follow within a limited time after the wound received : fliould he furvive that period ' and die after; how clear1 fo ever it may be, ' E that ( 34 ) that he died in confequence of the wound* the fentence of the delinquent is mitigated. Shoe-ftrings are deemed a mark of oppofi- tion to the Prince, and are as fuch, unfafe to be worn, and never feen but on the feet of a ftranger ; among whom I was one, and I af- fure you did not pafs unnoticed, Many of the merchants have their country retreats in the neighbouring vil lages, feldom at a greater diftance than two miles from the city; ftill clinging, as it were, to the fpot which was the fource of their wealth ; and hourly cafting a " longing, " ling'ring look behind." Thefe retreats from the fogs of the climate are only habitable about two months in the year ; and their Ac tuation and approach are feldom found to accord, either in tafte or ftyle, with the eye of an Englifhman. The true art of gardening, or having " Nature to advantage dreft," has, in a very fmall degree, found its way to this coun-» ( 35 ) country. Long, ftraight alleys of monftrouf- ly diftorted trees, with hofts of heavy gods and thick-legged goddeffes, too often obtrud ing as the principal ornaments ; while " The fuff'ring eye inverted nature fees, " Trees cut to ftatues, ftatues cut to trees } " With here a fountain never to be play'd, " And there a fummer-houfe that knows no fhade." I do not advance this ftricture on Dutch gardening as univerfal; but it cer tainly appears to me, that the luxuriancy of vegetative nature is more reftricted in this country than in any I have ever feen, as their object feems rather to be formal exactnefs than true Amplicity or grandeur. Habits are as inveterate in the arts as in the paflions of men; and furely this truth was never fo for cibly demonftrated as in the Dutch, who, roving and collecting from every corner of the world whatever is rare or valuable* and adminiftering to the wants and embellifh- E z ments ( 3? -j. ments of all nations, ftill adhere to their own peculiarities, however Angular .or ab- furd. Among many excellent artifts to whom Rotterdam has given birth, I fliall mention the Chevalier Vander Werf, born January 21ft, 1653. The excellence of his works is in fome degree to be meafured by the high prices they now bear. Portrait- painting was his Arft purfiiit ; in which he fo highly excelled as to attract the particular attention and even friend fhip of the Elector Palatine, by whom he was knighted in 1703, and his defcendants ennobled : he likewife prefented him with his portrait fet in dia monds, a chain of gold, and a medal of con fiderable value. Yet, at an early period, he almoft entirely abandoned portrait- painting for the nobler ftudy of hiftory, in which the fweetnefs and delicacy of his pencilling, and roundnefs of his figures, ftan,d unrivalled ; though C 37 ) A^agh it asraufl: be owaaed, ibis bigh finifhing Sometimes becomes hardnefs, and impreffes £he mind more .with tiie idea of ivory than of animated fiefli : and there is in genera? too much coldnefs in the effect: of his pic tures. From the year 1 697 to the year 1716, tie was engaged in the fervice of the Elector Palatine, for whom he painted thirty-two pictures ; from that period to 1722, he painted for Sir Gregory Page twelve ; and for die Duke of Tufcany and others twenty- four ; which feem to have formed the whole of his works. His own portrait, with that of his wife and daughter, were fent as a pre sent to Sir Gregory, in return for his great liberality to this artift. This celebrated paint er died in 1727, aged 68, Peter Vander Werf, brother to the Chevalier, but much inferior in his art, was born here in 1665. Her- ( 38 ) Herman Sachtleven, a land- fcape-painter of much celebrity, born here in 1609, was a difciple of John Van Goyen. His pictures, though much laboured, pro duce a happy effect from his faithful attention to truth. His touch was free and light ; and the aerial tints judicioufly arranged. His drawings are not in lefs eftimation among the connoifleurs than his works in oil. Cornelius SachtleveNj his bro ther, a very inferior artift, was alfo born at Rotterdam. I shall mention only one. other painter, a native of this city, Abraham Hon- dius, born in 1638, and famous for huntings and converfations. The fpirited characters of his ani mals, particularly dogs, the fquarenefs of his pencilling, with the freedom of touch, and C 39 ) and manner peculiar to himfelf, muft ever render his works pleaflng to the amateur. It may be obferved, that in many of his pk> tures the fkies are remarkably red : the caufe affigned for this is, a heavy bill too often with the colour-man, and credit fo low that ultra marine was no longer to be obtained. Of living artifts here are a few of fome eminence, particularly Mr. Van Ny- megen, the father, who paints hiftory, and the fon, landfcape, in the ftyle of Pyna- ker : Mr. Langendyck, who deflgns battle- pieces, &c. ; and Mr. Molyn, horfes and cattle. I shall now conduct: you to a few private collections, in the poffeflion of gentle men who will be gratiAed in giving pleafure to an amateur of the fine arts ; and to whomv as fuch, you will find little difficulty of accefs ; Mr: f 4° ) Mr. Vanderpot* j; Seigneur deCro^ cneveld,' who? has been banifhed- on account of the late civil commotiorisj' Mr. Cramer,* Mr. Loekhorftj and Mr. Heybrock; Having a wifh to vifit Dorty a? place fo much noticed in the works of the famous Dutch artifts, we intend making a ihort excurfion -thither to-morrow^ In the interim, Adieui LET- 1 Si ( 4i ) LETTER V. DORT. DEAR SIR, Ag R E E A B L E to our intention; we have made an excurfion hither this day, after crofling the Maes to Zwyndregt; a pleafant village on the river Merwee, com manding a very picturefque view of this city, which is about nine miles from Rot terdam. The entrance to Dort, or, more pro perly, Dordreght, is through the great ,Hooft-gate, a large handfome building. This city is of great antiquity, and has been a place of conflderable ftrength : it is F de- ( 42 ) defended by baftions, and furrounded by a ftrong wall. It ftill holds a flrft rank in the ftates of Holland, and had formerly the fole privilege of coining money for all the provinces. It is recorded, that the infular fitua- tion of this place was formed from an in undation of the fea, on the 7th of July 1421 ; which fwallowed upwards of feventy villages, and near a hundred thoufand per- fons. The caufe of this calamity is faid to heve arifen from the malice of a peafant who, with the view of wreaking his own vengeance upon a neighbour that was ob noxious to him, opened a dyke towards the fea, which led to his houfe. . The current became fuddenly fo powerful by the influ ence of the wind, that every attempt to flop it's progre'fs proved ineffectual, and left to the humanity of thofe who bewailed a de luged province, no better confolation, than that ( 43 ) that the author of this ruin was himfelf fwept away by the general wreck. The trade of this place is inconfldera- ble, fifh being the chief article, among which falmon is in great plenty. There are two principal canals in Dort, the old and new : acrofs the former is a bridge of brick (called the new bridge) near which is the town houfe. The great church is a large heavy mafs of building, with little more than its an tiquity to render it worthy of remark. Dort was one of the firft cities that at tempted to fhake off the Spanifh yoke, and embrace Calvinifm. Here was held in 161S the famous Proteftant Synod, affifted by deputies from all the Proteftant nations. It terminated in the execution of the famous Barnevelt and of Gilles Van Ledenburg, fe- cretary to the ftates of Utrecht ; and in a F 2. fen- ( 4+ ) fentence of perpetual imprifonment in the caftle of Louveftein upon the learned Hu go Grotius and Hoogerbeets, the penfionary of Leyden. This city has produced fome great and learned men, particularly the celebrated Junius and Voflius, To painters of emi nence it has been rather propitious, at the head of whom ranks Albrecht Cuyp, fon of Jacob Geritze Cuyp, born here in 1606: a name that muft be held dear to every lover of the arts. His clofe attention to nature in his landfcape, and nice difcrimination of character in his cattle, ftand unrivalled; the mifts of the morning, clear light of noon, and fombre tints of the evening, are all delicately marked in his pictures. His fketches were principally made from the neighbourhood of Dort; and are all faithful copies of nature, whom, he has evidently not fued in vain, Va- ( 45 } Valuable as this great artift's works now are in the eftimate of the connoifleur, I am informed, it is not more than thirty years, fince a room full of his beft cabinet pictures were purchafed by the late Mr. Blackwood for feven or eight pounds a piece, Such are the viciflitudes in the works of art, and the labours of genius, and fuch the baneful influence of fafhion and caprice, even on minds beft cultivated and inform ed ! Nor is the palm fure to be received from the hand of pofterity: the moft flgnal ex cellence cannot command it, Milton's great work has taught this difcouraging leffon; and his labours were much lefs fubject to accident, and the poffeffion of them not confined to the cabinets of individuals. It was only by the efforts of a popular Law yer, that he was at length refcued from ob livion : and he might have been involved in this obfcurity by the prejudices of party, or the more barbarian mandates of defpotifm. a; That 46 ) That excellent engraver, Jacob Hou- braken was likewife born here about the year 1698. From whence he drew the principles of his art we know not, as it is not recorded that he had a mafter : his excellence feems to have been attained by application ; that in fallible fource of perfection, where Nature has not been niggard in her gifts. He was the fon of Arnold Houbraken, an hiftorical painter, born likewife at Dort ; and who held fome eminence in his profeflion. Godfrey Schalken, a painter of great celebrity, was likewife born here, in 1643 : he was fon of the rector of the college, un der whom he ftudied the claflics ; but foon changed this for his favourite purfuit of painting, and at length became a difciple of Gerard Douw. From the works of Rem brandt he feems firft to have caught that paffion for the ftrong effect: of light and fbadow, which induced him to play thofe tricks ( 47 ) tricks in the art, which we fee produced in his candle light and other pictures : ftill, it muft be allowed, that in fome of his works, his ftrong lights have a very pleaflng effect ; and this is ftrikingly exemplifled in the glow of fun-fhine darting through a thjn curtain on the face of a lady, whofe portrait he has painted in fmall. His Arft merit was cer tainly high-flnifhing : in deflgn and compo- fition he. was frequently deAcient. Yet, with all his defects, his fmall pictures are much fought after, and bring conAderable prices. The fame and fortunes of other foreign ar tifts, of Kneller, Dahl, &c. encouraged him to viflt England, where he attempted por traits as large as life, but failed of fuccefs. If the ftory is true, that he fuffered King William, when fitting for his picture with a candle in his hand, to burn his fingers, without offering affiftance, one is at a lofs to fay; whether we fliould judge moft correctly fmi- ( 48 ) fmiling at the phlegm, or admiring the per- feverance of the Monarch ; but however in tent upon his fubject, no one will hefitate in condemning the uncourtly negligence of the artift. That he did not owe his emi nence to his addrefs, or a dextrous attention to the foibles of his patrons by flattering their vanity in the difplay of every petty excellence they might poflefs, is manifeft from the following circumftance. Having finifhed the head of a lady, more admired for a beautiful hand than a handfome face, fhe afked him, if fhe fhould take off her glove, that he might infert the hand in the picture : to this he replied, that he always painted the hands from thofe of his valet. In London he became rich, and was much efteemed as an artift: returning to his own countiy, he retired to the Hague where he died in 1706. I shall (' 49 ) I shall not go farther into the detail of painters who were natives of this city; but clofe my letter with the names of two living artifts, whofe merits intitle them to a place in this recital; Mr. Verftelg, who paints converfations in the manner of Schal- ken, a good fpecimen of whofe works is to be feen in the cabinet at the Hague; and Mr. Kuiper, famous for painting flowers. We fliall now return to Rotterdam, in our way to Delft, whence I fliall date my next. Adieu! G LET- ( 5° ) LETTER VI. DELFT. DEAR SIR, THE pleafure we firft found in travelling through this country by water has not diminiflied. We yefterday hired the roof of the trekfchuit for this place, which is about fix miles diftant. The trek fchuit is a large boat or barge, with a flat top, about fifty feet in length ; and is capa ble of containing forty perfons. The cabin, or as the Dutch term it, roof, will accom modate conveniently about eight people; and. fhould always if poflible, be previoufly enga ged •. fhould you not be fo fortunate as to pro cure yourfelf a place there (the extra expence of which is very trifling) you will incur the 1 §> ( 5i ) the rifle of fuffocation, by mixing with the company within ; where the men all fmoke, and the women (ftrange to tell) fit motion- lefs. The fcene has all the ftillnefs of a quaker's meeting, with all the ftupidity of downright idiotifm. The beauties of travelling cannot, you will conclude, be within, but without the barge; on which, if the weather proves fine, as at prefent, nothing can exceed the mode of conveyance. The country around being flat, your view is uninterrupted. The canals, which are eight or ten feet deep, are tranfparent, bordered with trees, and interfperfed with fmall pleafure-houfes, which form a moft delightful fcene. The trekfehuit is drawn by one horfe, whofe pace is regularly three miles an hour ——you will obferve, the mode of calculating diftances here is by the hour, not by the G 2 mile: ( 52 ) mile : in two hours, then, we reached this place. The boat is fort eady in its motion, that you may write or draw, without the leaft inconvenience. A number of wind mills are interfperfed on the banks and neighbourhood for fawing timber, cutting tobacco, and other purpofes : the land con tiguous is all pafture. About the midway to Delft, we paffed a very pretty village, called Overfchie. Clofe to the canal runs the high road, bordered with a row of lofty elms. The city of Delft is the capital of Delft- land in the province of Holland, and is about two miles in circumference. In the fquare or market-place, facing the church, is the town-houfe, the facade of which is worthy attention. The fteeple of the new church is efteemed the moft beautiful of any in the low countries ; and has a re markable fet of chimes, conflfting of four or ( 53 ) or five hundred bells, which play every quarter of an hour. This is a fpecies of muAc the Dutch are univerfally fond of: the bells are fo difpofed on the outAde of the fpire, as to add much to the beauty of the building. Within the church is fhewn a marble tomb of William, the firft Prince of Orange. It is a work of much merit ; and the execution, in parts, well deferves a critical attention. The murder of this firft Prince of Orange, in the fifty-fecond year of his age, is related to have been perpetrated at the Old Palace in this town ; on the ioth of July, 1584, where is feen, at the bottom of the flair-cafe, a hole, faid to be the mark of the piftol ball, which paf- fed through his body. The affaffln was Balthazar Girard, who had for fome years premeditated this maffacre. It is extraordinary that, about two years before, an attempt was made to af- ( 54 ) affaflinate this Prince at Antwerp by a vil lain of the name of Jaureguy; who was to bave been rewarded with twenty-five thou- fand ducats : but, the piftol miffing fire, his fanguinary purpofe was not effected. In the old church are fhewn the tombs of Admiral Van * Tromp, and Admiral Heine, his contemporary. The Spin-houfe, or Bridewell, where poor female culprits are kept, fhould be no ticed, and that with an eye of commifera- tion. — Surely, twenty or even ten years con finement is much too fevere a punifhment for a fault, which if modern divines were * I have applied the epithet Van, as he is generally called, in England, Van Tromp j yet I have reafon t© believe it has nothing to do with his name. to ( 55 ) to reform our Litany, would hardly be de nominated a deadly fin ; " Through tatter'd clothes fmall vices do appear." Two fpacious ftreets, having broad canals bordered with trees, as at Rotterdam, form the principal part of the town. It has but little trade : the Delft manufactory, once fo famous, is, by the intercourfe with China and the modern improvements in the manu facture, rendered fo trifling, as to be fcarcely an object: of commerce. Hence it may be obferved, how little reliance fhould be had on the permanency of traffic in any art, in which we fancy we excel. — The Delft-ware, once held all over Europe in fuch eftimation as to be a fubject worthy the embellifliments of the pencils of Van Goyen, Vandevelt and other eminent artifts, is now confined merely to the purpofes of the kitchen ; and it is not impoflible, but that Britifh tafte, now em ployed ( 56 ) ployed in imitating the claflic treafures of Herculaneum, may in time fo improve on their originals, as to take from the antique its boafted fuperiority. To afcertain, in fome meafure, the value of earthen ware, there is at the feat of Brigge Fountaine, Efq. of Narford, in Norfolk, a cabinet of it, painted by the divine Raphael ; for which, they tell you, his prefent Majefty offered the family no lefs a fum than five thoufand pounds. This town is exceedingly dull, being principally inhabited by perfons who have acquired fortunes fufficient to retire from bufinefs, and wifh to make no farther noife in the world. The pavement before moft of the houfes is black and white marble. In the back part of our inn, which is the largeft I have yet feen in Holland, is a fpa- cious hall ; fet apart for the Burghers, who are formed into a corps of archers, among thefe ( 57 ) thefe the beft fhot, is made King of the Society for a year. In this apartment is a large well-painted picture by Mireveltr, who was born in this city ; containing many por traits of the Burgo-mafters and principal of ficers, who made reflftance againft the Spa niards in the 1 6th century : thofe of the famous penfioner De Witt and Hugo Gro- tius, when young, are confpicuous in the picture. Of Hugo Grotius, a native of this town, I can fcarcely be juftified in mentioning farther particulars ; efpecially to you, who are fo well verfed in the biography of the learned : but, as the information came to me on the fpot and differs a little from what has been generally faid on the fubject, I fhall, without reference to books, give ;t you verbatim. Vol. I. H When ( 58 ) When very young, his abilities were in fuch efteem, that he was engaged by the States, to accompany the Dutch Ambafla- dor, Barneveldt, to the court of France; where, though Henry the IV- had difcern- ment enough to fliew him much attention, he could not help exprefling to Grotius him felf, his aftonifliment, that the States fhould fend as an affiftant in an embafly, a youth without a beard. But he was no lefs afto- nifhed with the youth's reply. " Had the " States conceived your Majefty meafured ,{ abilities by the length of beard, they " would have fent, in my ftead, a he-goat " of Norway." On his return from France in 1607, at the age of twenty-four, he wag made Advo cate-general ; and in May 16 19, was ar retted and condemned to perpetual imprifon- ment in the caftle of Louveftein: but in, about ( 59 ) about a year and a half, after much feverc treatment, he accomplifhed his efcape.*- He retired to France, where he met with a very kind, reception ; though much artifice was ufed, by the Dutch Ambaffadors, to pre judice the King againft him. He was after wards made Counfellor to Queen Chriftina of Sweden; from whofe fervice, he, with much difficulty, obtained permiffion to re- * The manner of which is thus related— His wife, Maria Van Reygerfbergen, a woman of much learning and accompliftiment, had fo ingratiated herfelf with the Governor's Lady, as to obtain permiffion, during the ab sence of the Governor, to return to a friend at Gorcum fome books which her hufband had borrowed. Grotius was conveyed in the trunk which was provided for the books, and by the addrefs and good management of a maid fervant, who accompanied this learned treafure ; was fafe- ly landed, but not without fome danger of being drilled through the body, from the curiofity of the porters, who on carrying him down ftairs, had fufpicion, that the weight of the trunk was too great for wafte paper. H 2 tire: ( 6o ) tire : but this favour was accompanied with feveral confpicuous marks of her efteem. On quitting Sweden he was caft away in a ftorm on the coaft of Pomerania : thence he continued his journey by land, till ill'nefs obliged him to flop at Roftoc, where he died on the 28th of Auguft, 1645 ; and from whence he was conveyed to this place, where he was interred among his anceftors. In the Town-houfe, and in private hands, are here found fome of the beft pictures of Frank Hals. Of painters, this city has produced ma ny of much eminence : Leonard Bramer, a difciple of Rembrandt and painter of hif- tory ; and Peter Bronkhorft, who painted buildings and ffgures with much fuccefs. In the council chamber are two good hiftori- cal pictures by this mafter; the judgment of Solomon , ( 61 ) Solomon, and Chrift driving the money changers out of the temple : Charles Fabricius, efteemed a good mafter of portrait and perfpective : High expectation was formed of this artift by the connoiffeurs of his time ; but by an unfor tunate exploAon of a gunpowder magazine in his neighbourhood, he was blown up while at work in his chamber, together with his difciple, Matthias Spoors. A painter of very conAderable merit in hiftory and portrait, Cornelius De Maan, paffed much of his time in Italy ; from whence he returned to Delft, greatly improv ed in tafte and defign. A fine fpecimen of his fuperior excellence is preferved in the great hall of the phyficians and furgeons : it contains portraits of thofe of the Arft rank of that time, is well grouped, and coloured much in the ftyle of Titian, and in parts not in- ( 62 ) inferior; and is, on the whole, a picture worthy of admiration, and a model for artifts. I cannot clofe this letter without men tioning the name of Michael Jan Mirevelt, a portrait painter of very conflderable merit, born here in 1568. He was early placed with Jerome de Weirinx, an engraver ; un der whom he made confiderable progrefs, and at the age of twelve produced feveral well-engraved plates : but he foon quitted the graver for the pencil, and under the tui tion of Blocklandt, became eminent as a painter. He was invited to England by (Charles I. but the plague, breaking out at the time, prevented his acceptance ©f the offer. He was principally employed at the Hague, and is faid to have painted more than ten thoufand portraits,, for which he received a very good price ; for a three-quarter por trait one hundred and fifty florins, and for other ( 63 j other fizes in proportion. The fweetnefs of colouring in his heads, and free manner of touching the hair, much refembling Hol bein, fully juftifies the high rank which he held, as a portrait painter : he died in this city in 1641, aged 73. Befides the pictures I have mentioned in the room where the Burghers meet, there is another in the Sur geon's Hall by this mafter, of very confider able merit. We are preparing to embark for the Hague. Adieu J LET- ( 64 ) LETTER VII. HAGUE. DEAR SIR, W E left Delft by our favourite mode of conveyance, the trekfchuit, for the Hague. The diftance is about fix miles. In the village of Ryfwyk, about half way from-Delft, nothing can furpafs the beauty of the fcene. I would advife you to leave the trek fchuit at the bridge (as defcribed in the drawing), and walk to the village, about half a mile diftant. It was a palace of William III. called the houfe of Neubeurg ; and is rendered famous from the peace concluded there, after a nine years war, on the 20th of September 1697, between the confederate powers S ^ * ( 65 } powers and Louis XIV. called the peace of Ryfwyk. As the trekfchuit waits not a moment, you have a pleafant walk to the Hague, where we arrived in very good time for din ner. The fcenery here became richer ; and nature, as we got nearer to the Hague, feem- ed to grow refined, and breathe more the air of a court. You will perhaps fmile at the opinion, but it is a truth ; that nature may be foft- ened and embellifhed by the hand of art, and derive fuch variegated tints from tafte- ful culture, as to produce a beautiful effect, feldom found in Dutch landfcape. Thus it is with the cultivations and embellifliments about the Hague, which certainly give the country a new and elegant appearance. The annexed fketch was made between Vol. I. I Ryfwyk ( 66 ) Ryfwyk and the Hague, or, as the Dutcfe term it, Graven Hague or Earls Grove, it having been formerly inhabited by the Earls of Holland. Though only a village, it is made the feat of Government, and the refi dence of foreign Minifters ; and contains, perhaps, more elegant buildings than any other fpot, of the flze, in Europe. Its ele vated Atuation and contiguity to the fea, the purity of the air and diverAty of landfcape, give it pre-eminence over every other town in Holland. The ftreets are fpacious, elegantly built, well fhaded with trees, and amply fupplied' with water. The fquares and public buildings are numerous, but the moft beautiful part of the Hague is the Vyverburg ; on one flde of which is an elegant row of hou fes, and on the other a large bafon of water, called the Vyver, 3 ^ >v ^ \ b> T V ' 5 H 5\ « SS' - 1 <> ¦31 'k flowers and fea-pieces — Mr. Prins excels in high-finifhed landfcapes and buildings, in the ftyle of Vander Hyde — Mr. Tiefpyn and Mr. BoUemais, in hiftory — and Mr. Rudig is excellent in flowers. The Hague has produced many artifts of eminence. John Le Due, a difciple of Paul Potter, was born here in 1636. He had great facility of pencil and excellence in de fign ; but his greateft merit was his clofe imi tation of the ftyle of his mafter. We are led to regret his having quitted the pencil for the purfuit of arms, in which he obtained a company, and acquired the epithet of brave ; after which he neither painted or deAgned. His etchings are juftly efteemed. He was director of the academy at the Hague, in 1 67 1, but the time of his death is not afcer- L 2 tained- ( 8+ ) tained. A difciple of Van Dyck, Adrian Hanneman, was born and principally refided here: he had infinite merit as a portrait painter, and did honor to his mafter. He was chiefly employed by the Prince of Naflau, for whom he painted many pictures, and fome in hiftory highly deferring applaufe. There is a delicacy of colouring in his portraits, not much inferior to Van Dyck : his beft works are to be found at the Hague : he was director of the academy there in 1665. Daniel Mytens, as an excellent ar tift, likewife does credit to the place of his nativity: he was born in 1636: he early viflted Rome, and gained much information from the fociety of Carlo Maratti and Carlo Lotti. After refiding a long time in Italy he returned to the Hague, where he was much careffed by the lovers of the arts. An early tafte for pleafure and expence, not lef- fened by his refidence abroad, feemed to in- creafe ( 8S ) creafe with his years ; and at the age of fifty- two he totally neglected the noble purfuit of excellence in the arts, and funk at once into a ftate of debauchery, fatal to his health and fortune. The period in which he flourifhed moft as a painter feems to have been foon af ter his return from Italy : which may be ob ferved in the excellence of the fketch in the ceiling of the painters gallery, at the Hague. He died in 1688. For a father account of painters pro duced here, I refer you to the biographers on the fubject. Adieu. LET- { 86 ) LETTER VIII. LEYDEtf. DEAR S/R, JtLFTER a pleafan* paffage in the trekfchuit, of about three haws and a half, we arrived at this city. Abowt half way from the Hague we flopped to change boats at an exceeding pretty village, called Leydfchendam ; in the neighbourhood of which the pleafure-houfe and gardens appear to more advantage as the borders of the canals are enriched with a lux uriancy we had not before experienced. We entered the city by what is called the Whitegate, which leads to the Broad-ftreet, a handfome fpacious avenue, paffing quite through ( 87 ) through the city, in a curve line to the Utrecht-gate. a' Leyden is efteemed one of the band- fomeft cities in Holland, and next in fize to Amfterdam : it is furrounded with a rampart and fpacious canal, adorned wkh trees; which fhade a pleafant walk, encompaffing the town and commanding an extenfive view over the adjacent meadows. The entrances to the city are through feven handfome ftone gates, at each of which is a draw-bridge. In the centre of the town is a tumulus, furrounded by a high wall, which commands a fine view of the city. On this eminence, which is called the Burgt, there formerly ftood a caftle, faid to have been built by Hengift, King of the Weft Saxons, on his conqueft in England ; or, with more probability, by one of the former Counts of Holland. This city feems to rival Venice ( 88 ) Venice in canals and bridges : of the latter there are faid to be one hundred and forty- five, all of ftone, and railed with iron. The moft beautiful of the canals is called the Rapenburg; acrofs which ftands the uni- verfity and public library, well ftored with books, and enriched with many curious ma- nufcripts. The learned Scaliger, who was born here, bequeathed to this univerfity, in which he was a ftudent, his valuable Hebrew library. In this apartment is a portrait of Eraf mus, faid to be by Holbein. And in the profeflbrs room are likewife portraits of Ar- minius, Junius, Boerhavius, Van Swieten, Albinus, and other diftinguifhed men of this univerfity. The old Rhine runs through this city, and lofes itfelf at a fmall village in the neighbourhood, called Catwyk. The univerfity is famous all over Eu rope: K ^ |v ( 89 ) rope : it was founded by the States in i $j$. The profeffors, when they appear in public, wear a black filk gown or toga, bordered with velvet, on which the word Leyden is impreffed in fitver. The ftudents are not diftinguifhed by any regular habit, and board indifcrimi- nately in the town. Their number at pre fent is but fmall ; and it is a fact highly honourable to our feminaries in Great Bri tain, that Leyden is no longer the refort of Englifli ftudents in medicine, though it for merly held fuch diftinguifhed pre-eminence : not one individual from our own country is now to be found here. In the upper part of the univerfity the ingenious Elfevier had his printing-rooms. The phyAc gardens are mentioned as worth notice, but I cannot fpeak to their excellence. A fmall collection of ftatues are fhewn, as prefented to the univerfity, by a burgo-maf- ter of Amfterdam, named Gerard Papen- Vol. I. M broek; ( 9° ) broek ; but it is of no great confequence by whom given, they are of little efteem. The afbeftos fliewn here is not uncom mon, both paper and linen are made from it, and it is not confumeable by fire. Here are feveral curious fpecimenS of petrifactions ; but I was moft ftruck with fome pieces of chryftal, formed by nature into angles, as accurately as if they were the niceft works of art. The toad of Surinam, which brings forth its young from its back, where they are contained in fmall valves, is an object of much curio Aty. This fpecies of toad is about twice as large as thofe in England. A Afh, called the Medufa's head, is worthy notice : it has a number of fmall fibres darting like rays from its body. A beautiful hyacinth in full bloom, preferved fifty years in fpirits, now appears as ( 9i ) as if frefh gathered: it is certainly a great curiofity, and well deferving attention, as is an Egyptian fliirt without a feam. The Stadt- houfe, in the centre of the Broad ftreet, is a very large building, ftriking in its appearance, but in a very uncouth ftyle of architecture. In one of the apartments is the famous picture, reprefenting the laft judgment, by Lucas Van Leyden or Hugens, who was born here in 1494 : it confifts of an infinite number of figures. The compo- Ation in general is good, and fome of the female Agures are pencilled with great fpirit; but the reprefentation of beautiful nature is not here to be found. There is great incor- rectnefs in the drawing, a want of keeping in the Agures, the draperies are hard, and in the heads there is too much Amilarity ; yet with all its defects it is, confidering the early time in which it was painted, a work yery defervedly admired. Before he was twelve M 2 years ( 92 ) years old this artift is faid to have been a good painter, and at fifteen to have made an admirable picture of the Hiftory of St. Hubert. A picture by the Chevalier De Moor, the fubject, Brutus feeing judgment executed on his fons, and another, the ftory of Scipio* &c. are worthy notice. This excellent painter, born here in 1656, was the fon of a picture merchant; and, though his father bellowed much atten tion on all parts of his education, every thing elfe was facrificed to his feeling paffion for deffgn : he was therefore placed with Gerard Douw, as a difciple; then with Francis Mieris» and afterwards with Schalken. He painted the portrait of the Grand Duke of Tufcany ; by whom he was rewarded with a gold medal, and valuable chain. For the Emperor he executed alfo portraits of Prince Eugene, and the s > ? ? x- H^ ( 93 ) the Duke of Marlborough, on horfeback; in confequence of which he was made knight of the holy Empire. He likewife painted Peter the Great, who was fo much pleafed with the performance, that he ordered it to be fhut up with care, after every fltting. His works are very numerous, and much admired : he lived to the age of eighty-two, without any diminution of his talent as an artift, and died in high efteem with thofe beft able to judge of his excellence. About three miles from Leyden, be tween the villages of Leyderdorp and Kou- kerk, was born the famous Rembrandt Van Ryn. His father was a miller, named Her man Gerretfz, whofe mill and the adjacent country were the principal objects of the fon's ftudy. Rembrandt having, when young, flnifhed a picture of great merit, conveyed it by the advice of his friends to Amfterdam, where ( 94 ) where he fold it for one hundred florins. He took it under his arm ; but, proud of the fum he had received, he became too great a man to return home on foot, and he rode back in his carriage, a waggon. But the wealth, obtained by his intenfe application, brought with it alfo its ufual attendant, ava rice and a difpofition to endure no controul. He once carried the extravagance of his hu mour to fuch an extent ; that, when he was employed in painting a large family picture, and while one of the family was actually Atting to him, upon information given by his fervant of the death of a favorite monkey, he without ceremony ordered the dead animal to be brought in, and immediately fketched him in the picture : difgufting as this muft have been, he could never be induced to obli terate it, though frequently requefted by the family. He refided principally at Amfter dam, where he obtained very high prices for his works ; and his commiffions were fo nu merous, ( $5 ) merousj that many of his portraits were flighted, and left mere fketches. The ftrong lights produced in his pictures were effected by being admitted through a hole or aperture calculated for the purpofe : and, fo fond was he of great maffes of light, that a nofe in one of his pictures was abfolutely fo embodied with colour, as to produce all the prominence of nature. So eager was he after gain, that his prints were fold in every ftate, from the etched outline, to the laft flnifhing ; and the prices given for them fo enormous, that even at that time it was deemed a madnefs. The company he ufually affociated with were thofe of the loweft order, though much pains were taken to introduce him to perfons of a fuperior rank. Parsimony and inveterate narrow ha bits had long difqualified him for any better fociety : boors were his conftant compa nions, and a red herring and cheefe his daily repaft: ( 9& ) repaft : he is faid to have made three hundred pounds a year by his difciples. Could he have come forward in higher life, what might not have been expected from fuch extraordi nary talents and application ? He died in great affluence at Amfterdam, at the age of fixty-eight, in the year 1674. Leyden boafts having given birth to a numerous lift of other painters of high emi nence; among thefe that inimitable artift, Gerard Douw, who was early placed as a dif ciple with an engraver of fome eminence, holds the firft rank. The exquifite high- finifhing of this wonderful artift is won derful ; and his neatnefs, fpirited touch, and minute attention to nature render him al together the moft beautiful painter, in the lift of thofe famed for elaborate execution. He would frequently paint fix or feven days, on a hand, and what is ftill more aftonifhing^ twice the time on the handle of a broom. Yet ( 97 ) Yet with all this minutiae; nature was his object ; and, the object attained, in fpite of the vaft encomiums on the effect of fketches in the art, it muft be confeffed, that the higheft finifhed pictures, if touched with fuch fpirit, come the neareft to the works of nature ; who can alone be truly reprefented by fevere and unremitted labour and applica tion, however rare and fingular the talent of the artift. In fuch high reputation were the works of this mafter held; that Mr. Spie- ringer, refident of the King of Sweden, at the Hague* prefented him with one thoufand florins annually to have the choice of his works. He lived to a great age. The mi- nutenefs of his performance fo affected his fight, that he wore fpectacles at the age of thirty. His works are numerous and in various hands ; but his beft productions are in the collection of the Elector Palatine at Duffeldorff. Vol. I. N Fran- ( 98 ) Francis Mieris, a, difciple of Gerard Douw, born here in 1635, was the fon of a goldfmith ; and fhewed an early inclina tion to the ftudy of the arts, by marking forms on paper and on the walls, with more than common dexterity. He ftudied under feveral artifts of eminence ; but the fuperior manner of this mafter ftruck moft forcibly on his imagination. His eminence in the purfuit introduced him to the fociety of perfons of the firft rank and quality; amongft whom the Grand Duke of Tufcany fhewed many marks of regard and efteem, and for one picture paid him a thoufand rix dollars. This excellent artift Was fre quently paid a ducat per hour for his works. His intimacy and friendfhip for Jan Steen, that excellent painter and bon vivant, feem to have led him into much inconvenience. After a night's debauch, quitting Jan Steen, he fell into a common drain; whence being extricated by a poor cobler ( 99 ) cobler and his wife, and treated by them with much kindnefs, he repaid the obliga tion, by prefenting them with a fmall pic ture; which, upon the recommendation of his name, was fold for a confiderable fum* to a gentleman of the name of Paats. The manner of returning the obligation feems to have afforded as ftrong a proof of the gratitude as of the merit of this admirable artift ; who in the freedom and fweetnefs of manner in his painting, is, I think, fuperior to his mafter. Having mentioned Jan Steen, as the friend of Mieris, may I be permitted, in the hiftory of this place, to fay fomething far ther of this excellent painter, and very fin gular character? He was born in 1636, was the fon of a brewer, and, by marriage, the fon-in-law of John Van Goyen. He was firft placed in a brewery at Delft, but not fucceeding there, became an alehoufe-keeper : N 2 in ( IOQ ) in this occupation he was himfelf his beft cuftomer, and having drunk his cellar dry, took down his fign, and went hard to work at his profeflion of painting, till his cafks were again filled; and for a long time his works were only to be found in the hands of dealers in wine, or other liquors, His productions are principally in that line of the art in which he moft delighted — Nature in djfguife; and yet are fo exqui- fitely managed, that the fubject, however difgufting, is loft in the excellence of the artift. He died at the age of fifty- three. A whimfical ftory is related of this humourift, Having painted a crucifixion, he introduced at the foot of the crofs a numerous group of figures, confuting of monks, old women, and dogs. On being afked, what he meant by fuch a grotefque aflemblage ? he replied, that when any thing curious occurred, it was always to be obferved, that the clergy and ( I« ) and old women were moft eager in their en quiries. Being commiflioned to paint the gene ral deluge, he reprefented it by a large fheet of water, and in the middle a huge Dutch cheefe floating, with the arms of Leyden impreffed upon it: this, he faid, would prove that all the world was drowned ; and no trace of Noah or the ark was to be feen to prove the contrary. Thefe, in the artift's phrafe, were to be confidered as out of the pic ture. This fingular work, I am told, was fome years ago publickly fold in Amfterdam. John Van Goyen, the father-in-law of this whimfical perfon, was an artift of eminence, and native of this place. His ftyle is very different from thofe I have juft mentioned; yet the facility of his pencil, and his picturefque choice of fubject, muft ever ( IQ2 ) ever render him adniirable in the eye of the judicious obferver in the fine arts. His works are numerous, and well merit a place in the cabinet of the amateur. He was born here in 1596, and died at the Hague in 1656. I shall clofe this letter with mention ing the name of Otho Van Venius, whom I cannot omit, as the mafter of the celebrated Rubens. He was born here, of a good fa mily, in 1556. He paffed moft of his early time in Italy, where the fchool of Frederic Zuchero became his particular ftudy. Re turning thence, he received many marks of efteem from the JSmperor of Germany at Vienna, and the Electors of Bavaria and Cologne. Partiality for his native coun try brought him nearer home j and he made Antwerp, which he has enriched With many fpecimens of his art, . his fa vourite ( *c>3 ) vourite reAdence. He was well - read -in poetry and hiftory, as well as excellent in painting. Being under fuch aufpices, we have lefs rqafon to wonder at the extraor dinary accomplifhments of his pupil Ru* bens, in the Ane arts. Of private collections, there are here but few. The late Baron Van Leyden's moft extenflve cabinet of prints, whicb are of the beft imprefflons, and confidered as the firft and moft valuable in Holland, together with his collection of well chofen pictures, ftill remain entire, and are in the pofleflion of a near relation. Mr. Van Bur en has likewife fom©«fine^ cabinet pictures, the remains of a moft feiife. perb collection, formed by the late Ms. Vanv Snakenburg; among which is a charming- picture, of landfcape, and cattle* by Paul". Potter, highly deferving attention. Mr* Dibbel's ( i04 ) Dibbers cabinet of drawings, coins, and rne"-' dais, you muft not omit vifiting. Among other curiofities, you will notice three du- catoons, with the impreffion of William* the fiEfl: Prince of Orange, as Count of Hol land. They are faid to be the only calls exifting in that ftate, and to have been found in his pocket at the time of his affaf- fination at Delft : if this be fo, it proves hisf intention of making himfelf Count of that Province. Amongst the living artifts of excel lence, I fliall fubjoin the following; Mad. Ruppe, a good painter of con- ¦ verfation, in the ftyle of Oftade, and whofe drawings and etchings are juftly admired by every lover of the arts : Mr. Thier, a good painter, in the ftyle of Paul Potter; and Meflrs. Janfons, excellent in converfations and cattle-pieces. In ( 105 ) In having faid fo much, I hope you will not think me tedious. When the fubject is pleafurable, we are apt to dwell upon it. Adieu ! Vol. I. O LET- ( io6 ) LETTER IX. HAERLEM. DEAR SIR, UUR partiality for water convey ance induces us to embrace every opportu nity of travelling by that mode, while the weather continues favourable; and, though; we find an eternal famenefs in the profpect, yet fomething is perpetually occurring to keep the imagination employed. About two miles from Haerlem the annexed fketch was made, to which fpot the road and canal run parallel, and increafe in verdure and woody fcenery. The villas and gardens that adorn the banks of the river, rife with ad ditional tafte and expence as we approach Amfterdam, whofe wealthy merchants are the principal owners. We ( i<>7 ) We fixed our refidence oppofite the great church, where the fynod of preachers was held ; who were fo numerous, that they oc cupied every room in the houfe, and render ed our accommodation veiy uncomfortable. This fynod, which is compofed of a deputa tion of elders and priefts from each church, is annually held in fome town of both South and North Holland. Haerlem is Atuated about four miles from the ocean, twelve from Leyden and about the fame diftance from Amfterdam, has many fpacious ftreets and canals, and is faid to contain about thirty thoufand per- fons. Its fortiAcations are no longer of confequence. Here is a conAderable manu facture of filks and camblets, but the prin cipal trade is bleaching thread and cam- bricks. Some Ane Scots and Irifh linens are likewife fent here for that purpofe, the quality of the water of Haerlem-Meer, O 2 which ( io8 ) which is about four miles diftant, being deemed fuperior to that of any other water for bleaching. The Cathedral is faid to be the largeft in the provinces. It was built in 1472 : the fteeple is beautiful, and added in 1515. The church is rendered famous by its organ, which was built by Chriftian Muller of this city in 1738 : it confifts of eight thoufand pipes, fome of which are thirty- eight feet in length, and Axteen inches in diameter, and has Axty-four flops : the moft extraordinary is the vox humana ; which is fo clofely imitative, that even a nice ear might be deceived. The harmony and fweetnefs of this inftrument are inexpreffible; and we had only to regret the want of ear and finger in the player. When Handel fat down to this organ, many ( 109 ) many years ago, the then organift was fo amazed, that he took him either for an An gel or Devil in human fhape. One day in the week (I think it is on a Wednefday) a voluntary of an hour is played, which may be heard gratis : at other times a ducat is the price. Under this inftrument is a handfome piece of marble fculpture by Xavery, repre- fenting Gratitude, aflifted by Poetry and MuAc, offering to Piety. The fervice on a Sunday begins at nine, when the doors are inftantly fhut, and not opened again till ele ven ; in which time you will, have a fufficient fpecimen of the Dutch drum ecclefiaftic. In the wall, at the eaft end of the church, is ftiewn a cannon ball ; faid to have been Ared into it by the Spaniards, in the Axteenth century, during the time of divine fervice. Haerlem claims the invention of the art ( "© ) art of printing. It is attributed to Lawrence Kofter, an Alderman of this city in 1440; whofe houfe is yet ftanding in the Market place, oppoflte the church. In the front of the houfe is his portrait, in a fmall fculptured figure. Amufing himfelf one day in the neighbouring wood, with cutting the bark of trees into the letters that formed the initials of his name, he is faid to have laid them on paper and, falling afleep, when he awoke obferved ; that from the dew their form was impreffed on the paper : this accident induced him to make farther experiment : he next cut his letters in wood, and dipping them in a glu tinous liquid, impreffed them on paper, which he found an improvement ; and foon after, fubftituting leaden and pewter letters, erected a prefs in his houfe : thus laying the foundation of this noble art which has thence gradually arifen to its prefent excel lence. The ( "I ) The art, it is faid, was ftolen from him by his fervant, John Fauftus, who conveyed it to Mentz, and from the novelty of the difcovery foon acquired the title of doctor and conjuror. The original fpecimens are now fhewn at the library in the Town-hall. The flrft is on a leaf of parchment ; and the fecond and third on paper, printed only on one fide, and the corners left blank for capitals : at the top are wooden cuts, reprefenting the creation, and, as it is called, Lucifer's fall. I would have enclofed a fac Amile of the type and prints, but that their originality has been a fubject of much controverfy among the learned, and is yet undecided. The environs of this city are exceedingly pleafant, particularly the adjacent wood; which has a noble walk, near three miles in length, rich in fcenery and lofty thickets of fha- ( I" ) fhadowy dms. In any other country this wood might claim pre-eminence, how much more fo in this, where it ftands unrivalled and almoft alone ! In this pleating fituation Mr. Hope has erected a manfion, at a vaft expence (not iefs^ it is faid, than fifty thoufand pounds fter- ling) and worthy its liberal owner. The en^ clofed fketch, which I made on the fpot, will give you a faint idea of its beauties. With in, is a cabinet of pictures, felected with much tafte and expence, and which may be viewed upon an application to Mr. Hope at his refidence in Amfterdam ; his extenfive and important concerns feldom allowing him to enjoy this elegant retreat more than two days in the week. This manfion is frequently honored with a vifit by the Prince of Orange ; who feels himfelf much indebted to the exertions of its owner, during the critical oppdfition made to his government in X, ^ ( "3 y in the year 1788 : at which time, after de claring publickly his intention to efpoufe the caufe of the Prince, fuch was his dangerous fituation, that it was not thought prudent that he fhould walk the Exchange without the protection of the military. He was the firft perfon who appeared there in an orarige- coloured cockade. Mr. Hope has taken of the city of Haerlem, a leafe of about forty acres of land contiguous to his houfe, for one hundred years, at the rent of fifteen hundred florins^ which is about one hundred and fifty pounds fterling, per annum. I could not but regret its being left in fo uncultivated a ftate, as to leave the ftranger in doubt whether it could be any other than common land. Haerlem is famous for its curious pro duction of flowers; particularly the tulip; Vol. I. P which ( "4 } which is in its zenith of beauty about the month of May. " When morn awakes the tulip from her bed, " Ere noon in painted pride fhe decks her head r " Rob'd in each dye fhe triumphs on the green, " And every flow'r does homage to their Queen." The inordinate paflion of the Dutch in this purfuit, you are not unacquinted with ~ and to fuch a degree of profufenefs has this tafte led them, that the ftates have thought it neceflary to interfere, and by fumptuary law limit the prices of flowers and roots : a thou- fand ducats having, it is faid, been given for a tulip. Haerlem has produced many excellent painters ; among whom that truly elegant artift, Philip Wouvermans, ranks flrft. He was born in 1620, and placed early under the tuition of John Wynants, a native of this city. To point out the particular beau ties ( "5 ) ties of Wouvermans is to you almoft need- lefs; yet fuch is my love for tse works of this mafter, that to be filent were a crime. His refined tafte in the choice of fubjects, which are frequently enriched with fountains and magnificent edifices, the drawing and grouping of his horfes, graceful attitudes of his human Agures, together with the tafte in his draperies, place him at once fo high in the line of the arts, as in my judgment, to leave him without a rival. Yet with all this excellence and elegance of mind, he encoun tered great difficulties in the early part of his life, from the narrownefs of his circumftances. Happily, however, in his his riper years, he was relieved from his in digence, and dependance on picture-dealers, by the charity of a prieft, a brother Catholic, for he was himfelf of the communion of the Church of Rome. His friend advanced him fix hundred guilders : and this capital, fmall as it was, was fufficient to extricate him from P 2 his ( "6 ) his embaraffment, and place him in a ftate q£ independence, th,at enabled him cjuly to ap- pretiate his own inerits. He now increafed his price to double the fum he had ufually before been paicl and became foon after pof- fefled of fufficient wealth to give his daugh ter, as a portipn in marriage, twenty fhpufand guilders. In return for his confeffor's libe rality, he painted his portrait in fmall, kneel ing before his hoffe, in the character of St. Hubert; and, prefented it to him, accom panied with the fum fo gracioufly lent. This picture fhould be noticed by every con- npiffeur who paffes through this city : the drawing and colouring are in his beft ftyle, and the picture is exquifltely finifhed : it may he termed a chef d'ceuvre, in which grati tude has effected all, that the jealoufy of mo dern ftatuaries, confcious of their fuperiority, afcribes to piety in the fculptures of the Gre cian artifts : the picture may be fouud in a chapel near the hpufe, where Wouvermans refided, 5> 1 ^ 1 No v Is 41 i ^ Pi ( n7 ) refided, fituated in the Bakeneffegragt, not far from the great church. Of the houfe the an* nexed fketch is a faithful reprefentation.* This feems to be a fpot favoured by Genius ; for, it is fomewhat fingular that the houfe has been occupied hy artifts of emi nence ever fince his time. Decker, a land fcape painter of high efteem, was its firft tenant, after Wouvermans, and Mr. Meyer, a painter of much excellence, now in Lon don, was its laft. The biographers of our artift mention, that a fhort time before his death (which happened in his forty^eighth year) he burnt 9 box filled with his drawings. At Haerlem, * The neft at the chimney tap will ferve to (hew the caj« which the Hollander takes of the ftork, by providing a frame for the reception of its neft ; but I {hall give you a further defcription of this bird in a future letter. it ( "8 ) it is faid, a box was burned; but that it con tained the drawings of Bamboccio, and not his own. John Wynants, whom I have juft mentioned as the mafter of Wouvermans, deferves farther notice : he was born here in 1600; and his excellence, as a landfcape painter, ranks him defervedly high in the -efteem of the connoiffeur. His happy felec- tion of fcenery, freedom of pencil, and pe culiarly rich diverfity of fore ground, render his landfcapes univerfally pleafing. His fmall pictures are ufually his beft produc tions, and were of his latter time. His early performances were of a larger Aze; and are diftinguifhed by a loofe fketchy manner, and a difagreeable red tint in the fkies. His works receive great additional value from the infertion of the Agures by Oftade, Wouvermans, Lingleback, &c. Of Nicholas Berghem, a native of this place, too much cannot be faid in com mendation ; ( II9 ) mendation : he was born in 1624, and ac quired the rudiments of the art from his father, a painter of no great eminence. His family name was Van Haerlem, but, from a whimAcal circumftance told of him, was changed to Berghem. — While he was a dif ciple of John Van Goyen, with whom he was a great favourite, his father was one day purfuing him in the ftreet, clofe at his heels, to give him correction for fome mif- demeanor. His mafter feeing it, fo far in- terpofed in his behalf, as to call out to his other fcholars, Berg-hem! which AgniAes hide him : and from hence he is faid to have obtained the name. After he left Van Goyen, he ftudied under feveral other mat ters ; and had the misfortune to make a matrimonial connexion with the daughter of one of them, whofe name was Willis. She was an avaricious termagant, and led our artift a moft wearifome life; keeping him at home to his eafel, without intermif- fion ( *20 ) fion from morn till night, and, after all, never leaving him a fous in his pocket. Amidft thefe domeftic misfortunes, which above all others in general prevent the mind from afferting its powers, he preferved his ufual ferenity, and whiftled and fung in defiance of care and labour. But thefe ef- fufions of good humour and content be came the fources of Hill farther difquietude; for no foortef did he ceafe his fong, than flie began- to raife her note; and he found, either from jealous enquiry, or from tart reproach, that he was- fafpected of being napping or idling, and neglecting his bufi- nefs. In this unhappy ftate were thofe glorious effufions of this artift's pencil pro duced—works, in which we find all the ex cellencies of painting, beautiful compofi- tion, grandeur of fcenery, fmartnefs of pen cilling, and clearnefs of colouring. In his %-ores we frequently view with regret more &£ the FfefiMfh than the Grecian form. His facility ( *« ), li facility in painting, according to VanHuv- fum, his difciple,- was wonderful; he ob- ferves, that he feemed to play with his pen cil, and that he had feen him begin and finifh his picture with a fong. The high prices his works now univerfally produce will beft determine his excellence in the aft. He died at Haerlem, aged $g. , Jacob Ruysdael was born here in, 1636, and is faid, by Houbraken, to have been bred to phytic and furgery ; but, from his great excellence in the art of painting at the early age of Axteen*, I conjecture4 that he paffed more time at the eafel than in the fchool of Galen. . • ; , ,j j His great intimacy with Berghem in * I can fpeak with certainty of his excellence at that •period; having had in my pofieffion a charming landfcape, painted by him, with the figures by Philip Wouvermans, and dated 1652. Vol. I. Q_ all allpiobabilify^orrti^utea to hi's excellence in' the art, yet, from the peculiar touch of p'elf- cil in kuy^'ael, 1 fee ho reafon tb prefume that Berghem ever "Worked oh bis pictures, 6riMed him farther than as giving a hint, or as a friendly monitor. Ru'ys-dael feems to have ttudidd Na ture even in her deepeft recefles, to have marked1 arid oUfcrfmihate'd the delicate dif- tihction in the "varfdus ifoiiages arid leanngs of her trees, 'and to have given the bappieft effect of fight afld:fftadow; as if to Ihdw tier in ffienioft auVaritagebu's point of view. Of bis oVn figures much cannot be faid : but in his greater WOrks the ngures were generally added by fome mafters of emi- frerice in that departrnent of 'the art,1 Which gives additional value to his works. His pictures are riot "more known than admired.} and are to be Ycra«d in every 'cabinet *wbere the fine arts have obtained a place. Irte - 'died djed; here at fo e$rly a. period, as the age of forty-five; paying the imagination with; regret,! to foggeft to itfelf what might have been acepn^plifhed, had he lived {o a, greater I fear I fhall expqff myfelf to cenfure for not mentioning feveral other artifts, whpfe names are certainly well intitled to a place in this memorial; but, however it might gratify myfelf, I muft decline it, as exceeding the limits qf this work. I recommend the following coljec- fionsj in which will be found fome cabi net pictures of the firft clafs, to the notice of every traveller; thofe of Mf. Cops, Mr. Hoofdman, and Mr. Heemf- kirk; and alfo that formed by the late Mr. Teyler Vander Hulft, for the accom modation of young artifts and connoiffeurs in general. Qj* It ( "4 j It is ilrange, and not to be accounted' for upon dny common principles (for we are not informed that he was either by nature or education any way allied to the arts), that the purchafer of this collection; who died about fix years ago, was reputed to have been one of the greateft mifefs in Holland, and to have, by his avarice and induftry, amaffed the immenfe fum of half a million fterling. Of living artifts of eminence, Mr. Hen dricks, a painter of portraits and flowers; "Mr. Van Liender, of buildings, in the ftyle of Vander Heyden; and Mr. Overbeek, in 'landfcape, will claim your particular at tention. • Adieu 1 LET- 1 k ¦- ^ ^ \ \ i <\ * s* nt \ 0 \t ^ N \ ^ - •C \ V ( i as ) LETTER X. AMSTERDAM VV E left Haerlem on Sunday, with every additional pleafure that a fine morning •and picturefque fcenery could afford. The canal is fpacious, and runs nearly in a ftraight line for the firft three or four miles $ and, though ftraight lines cannot be deemed beautiful in landfcape, yet here the tout en- femble has a charming effect. The city re maining in full view for a confiderable diftance, and beautifully diminifhing in flow grada tion, formed fo pleafing a fubject; that from this fpot I was induced to make the fketch of " Haerlem from the Amfterdam road," as enclofed in my laft. At ( t*6 ) At Haerlem-Meer, about midway to Amfterdam, we changed boats, and croffed the fluices, whieh are enormoufly large. Here is a fpacious manfion, called the Caf- Ifc ZwantmfetKg* occupied by the directors of the dykes and water- works of Rhineland. It is in the fineft fituation imaginable : be- fcjnd it lies HaerJejo^Mes r, and in the front $he river Y» fo called from its forni: it i§ an arm of the £,uydejr £ee, Tfee high road rutis between the two waters ; and you^ niay judge of its beauties, when I tell you th^t it overlooks a lake of prodigious, extent on one fide* and on the other a river of the firft .confequence in Holland. j the water of which, it is worthy pi remark, generally rifes (to ap.- pgarance.) four or five feet hjgher than tjie country around it. This famous city, and, as it is termed, mart of the world, is fituated on the rir vers Amftel and Y; from the firft of which ( **1 ) which it derives its name, JIt is nine mile* in circufnferefice, enclofed ^wfth a "flery d&p fbfle about eighty feet wide, and a rampart, fated "with brick, 'defended ivith twenty-frX baftions ; and it is remarkable, that it has as many windmills. It has eight handfome gates of ftone. The city is built in a femi- circular form, and from its marfhy fifeuatton is raifed on piles 5 an undertaking that hardly any other than Dutch induftry arid perfe- verance could have accoriiplifhed. Carriages with wheels, except for the Hxk of fhe ii©binty;'andJgeritry, were riot #£• *fered tferefor many 'years^after Its tftalffife- trMit. A ftey, as the ©Wch'ltefm it %&b Frtrich ^ trkmeau'of p6f'de^hiftntfre) is tttW «irrru£h in ufe : it is the "borly of a coach, *wrth- Vnft Wheels/drawn Walfc%eWfth^boTie, ^nd goes at the rate of threentfles'an hotrr. The driver walks clofe to the'dO&r,* holding^ rope, as axein to guide the horfe, and a pipe, as ( 1a* ) as he fays, to purify the air. The following fketch will explain the nature of this car riage, a mode of conveyance better fuited to the gravity of the Hollander than the fbns of the whip in our country. The vehicle will hold four perfons, but not very commodrbufly. The fare is reafon- able, being only eight ftivers to any part of the city till ten at night, twelve ftivers till midnight, and fixteen from thence till day break : if kept in waiting, the price is eight Olivers per hour. The ( 129 ) The beft ftreets are Keyfers or Emperors .Graft, Heere or Lords Graft, and Princes Graft : they are chiefly inhabited by bankers and principal merchants. Moft of the ftreets are exceedingly narrow ; fome of great traffic not more than Axteen or feventeen feet wide. The fquares hardly deferve the name. An inAnite number of ftone bridges are thrown acrofs the canals, which interfect the town at right angles. They are in general deep ; but the flench arifing from them, in fummer is infufferably offenfive : and hence that immo derate ufe of tobacco with which they eter nally fumigate themfelves, in the hope of pu rifying the air and correcting the noxious quality of their damps. From thefe caufes and the fogs to which a Atuation in the midft of a morafs, muft neceflarily be fubject, a Dutchman's taciturnity forbids his com plaining ; fo that all his waking hours are fi- lently employed in caftirig forth the Althy puff of this weed to fecure himfelf againft Vol. I. R the ( *3° } the more blafting flench of the canal : thus in philofophy, one poifon is employed as the antidote to another. I mean to apply this re mark only to the lower order of the people. Of the bridges, that crofs the Amftel, the handfomeft is built of brick : it has thirteen arches, and commands a fine view of the city as well as of the river, which is wide and. handfome towards Utrecht.* The Admiralty, dock, ftoresr and maga zines for various purpofes, are well deferving your attention. The great clufter or foreft of fhipping to be feen from the quay, which is a full mile in length, makes a magnificent appearance. The houfes are very inferior to the Bombpies at Rotterdam, Since the year 1600 the. commerce of • See the view at the beginning of this letter. this, ( >3* ) this city has encreafed with a rapidity almoft, beyond belief: it was about this time that their firft fleet failed for the Eaft Indies, and many other parts of the world, to which be fore they had been ftrangers. This city is faid to contain near three hundred thoufand perfons, and was the laft town of this province that embraced Calvi nifm. In 1204 a fmall caftle only, called Amftel, flood on this fpot, afterwards it be came a Afhing village, and by induftry and contingent eircumftances, (among which the fhutting Up the navigation of the Scheld is not the leaft) it ruined the trade of Antwerp, and gradually became the great mart that it now is. At night we were entertained with a Dutch play, which fof aught I know Was well enough : the houfe is very plain, and but ill lighted. I felt myfelf unfortunate in R 2 not ( i32 ) not arriving here one night fooner, to have enjoyed the Aght of the Dutch Hamlet, a character which was performed laft Saturday ; and, according to the country report, is better filled and much fuperior to ours. Judge what improvement the elegant and fublime paffages of our immortal bard can derive from the guttural rumbling of the Dutch language ! By what means they contrive to excel us in the reprefentation of thefe interefting and natural fcenes, I do not pre tend to conjecture ; but an admirer of the mode, in which the Englifli drama is con ducted, will not be eafily made to believe that it can be effected, by thofe mechanical aids, under which, they tell us here, the im- paflioned fcene between Hamlet and his mother is exhibited ; when the hero ftarts at the imagined appearance of his father, his wig, by means of a concealed fpring, jumps from " the feat of his diftradted brain," and leaves poor Hamlet as bare as a Dutch willow in ( '33 ) in winter. I do not vouch for the truth of this ftory, but, certain it is, the character of the Ghoft is entirely omitted in the reprefen tation : he is either above or below their no tice. It reminds me of a flmilar licence taken in one of our country theatres in which it muft be admitted, that we fairly beat them. The hero of the night being indifpofed, when Hamlet was to be performed, an apology was made, accompanied with a requeft that the audience would permit the play to go on without the character. In our return we vifited one of the Mu- fico's or licenfed Brothels. Our flay was but fhort, the uglinefs and impudence of the women foon caufing us to make a precipitate retreat. The number of thofe houfes is in credible. A chandelier is lighted up in the middle of the room, at the farther end of which are placed a fleepy fidler and harper, who play, if neceflary, till morning: you pay ( 134 ) pay a florin at entrance, and fee all that is neceflary through immenfe clouds of tobacco fmoak. No indecency is permitted ; and I am told it is not uncommon to meet a fober citizen and his wife (particularly at the time of the annual fair) introducing a virtuous young woman, their daughter, merely to fhew the horrid tendency of immorality ; imagining with the poet, that " Vice is a monfter of fo frightful mien " As to be hated, needs but to be feen." This may be Dutch policy, but the ex periment is furely dangerous ; as the follow ing couplet of the fame elegant author more fully illuftrates : " Yet feen too oft, familiar with her face, "' We firft: endure, then pity, then embrace;" It is true that the Spartans publicly ex hibited their flaves when drunk, to expofe the de- ( i3S ) deformity of drunkennefs and deter their youth from the practice of it. With a loath- fome object before their eyes, the dignity of our nature humiliated and nothing to invite, no pafiion could be inflamed : but the cafe of intoxication and the fpecies of licentiouf- nefs before alluded to is widely different. The fituation of thefe wretched females is lamentable beyond defcription : immured within the walls for fife, and only permitted! to breathe a purer air one day in the year, they are then attended by their tyrant keeper, who never fuffers them out of his fight. But fomewhat too much of this. We retired' to our hotel. The Rafp^houfe or Bridewell is worthy notice : here the wretched culprit is chained to a block, and employed in cutting and rafping Brazil wood. In paffing we faw a mifefiaMe creature, whoafked charity through, a barri- ( 136 ) a barricadoed cellar window ; he had before been imprifoned in the houfe and was now fentenced to fix weeks additional confinement in this cellar for ftealing fome of the wood, piled in the yard to make his fire, where he was inceflantly to pump or drown, as the water was generally up to his fhoulders. Dreadful as this punifhment appears, (and to intimidate and deter is one of the firft ends of punifhment) it is even more juft than for fo flight offences and by which the peace of fociety is fo little difturbed, to fubject to the pain of Death ; a law in theory at leaft, however tempered with humanity in practice, difgraceful to the criminal code of our own country. The entrance to this building is worthy notice : it is adorned with fculptured figures well executed by Keyzer of Amfter dam ; and is faid to be the beft piece of work- manftiip of the kind in this city. We looked into the new church, which is a large hand fome building : the organ is inferior only to that ( »*7 ) that at Haerlem : the founding board and pulpit are moft laborioufly decorated with carving in the Gothic ftyle, but deAgned with little tafte. To this redundancy of ornament might be added much more; as I am informed- there are many bafkets-full yet inapplied. The fcreen which divides the chancel is of Corinthian brafs, and is really handfome. The monument of the famous De Ruyter is in this church: it is a cumbent Agure in marble, of indifferent workmanfhip. A fmall monument is likewife erected to the me mory of the famous poet Vondel, called the Dutch Shakfpeare. The work-houfe contains near twelve thoufand perfons, who are admitted of all nations; the neatnefs and good manage ment of this place is beyond defcription. In one of the apartments is a large picture, very finely painted, by Rembrandt, con taining portraits of the firft promoters of Vol. I S this ( 138 } this charity; and another equally fine, of the fame fize and fubject, intended as a companion, by Van Dyck. Part of this building is devoted to the reception of poor females; not thofe who have only deviated from the nicer rules of virtue, and whofe ftars, perhaps, " were more in fault than " they;" but thofe, who loft to all fenfe of fhame, had abandoned themfelves to an open ftate of proftitution. In the Surgeons-hall is a fine picture* by Rembrandt ; the fubject, a diffection :¦ It contains portraits of the profeffors and principal members of the college, large as life, in half length ; and is executed in his beft manner. The effect of it is aftonifh- ing; and yet, judicious and indeed indif- penfible as it was to make fuch a fubject the ornament of fuch a place, we cannot but regret that fo noble a fpecimen of art $annot be dwelt upon without difguft by any, { J39 } any other than a medical eye. There are feveral other pictures of merit in the fame apartment, particularly fome by Cornelius Trooft The exchange is an oblong of two hun dred feet by one hundred and twenty-four, and will contain from fix to feven thoufand people. It is built on two thoufand piles, and has galleries all round, fupported by forty-five pillars of the Doric and Ionic or ders. From a window above we faw it full. The appearance of fo many perfons, with each an orange cockade in his hat, had ra ther a whimfical effect. There is no other theatre on the globe, in which fuch an he terogeneous mixture of nations could be pre fented, each tugging at the property of his neighbour, while " With equal hafte to feveral ways they run " Some to undo, and fome to be undone." S 2 Yet ( 14° ) Yet to fliew, that avidity of wealth is not always the predominant paflion of a Dutchman, I am informed that about a twelvemonth ago, on the Prince and Prin cefs of Orange appearing at a window with in the Exchange, fuch was the real or fup- pofed amor patriae, that the merchants, ex cept a few Englifh and Jews, inftantly quitted the place and their purfuits, and left the Prince and Princefs in quiet poffeflion. We are now preparing for the French Play or College, where we have tickets from a fubfcriber, without which you can not be admitted; but as a ftranger you will find no difficulty in being accommo dated. Adieu ! LET- ( *4l ) LETTER XI. AMSTERDAM. DEAR SIR, AFTER having determined laft night on going to the French play, we ordered a traineau (which I defcribed in a former letter) to convey us thither. The novelty of the vehicle excited in us fome laughter; and at the play we were well entertained. The petite piece was Midas; which, though well performed, is in point of poetical compofition, much inferior to ours. The pit or parterre is very commo dious, having comfortable feats with con venient low backs ; and, thefe being, as we have aheady obferved at Rotterdam, regu larly numbered, all crowding and diffatif- faction is prevented. This theatre is un der ( 142 ) der the controul of the fubfcribers; who, after defraying the expence of the houfe and the players falaries, which, in comparifon with ours, are very trifling, apply the re- fidue to charitable purpofes. No inhabi tant of the city, who is not a fubfcriber, can be admitted ; tickets being transferable only to ftrangers. This morning after breakfaft we viewed that ftupendous building, the Stadt-houfe. It is built from a defign of Jacob Van Campen, a famous Dutch architect. The firft ftone was laid October the 28th, 1648, and it was finifhed in 1655. Its firft foun dation is on piles, which are faid to confift of fourteen thoufand ; and coft one hun dred thoufand pounds fterling. The build ing is of a fquare form, two hundred and eighty-two feet in front, two hundred and fifty-five in depth, and one hundred and fixteen in height. It has feven fmall por ticos, ( !43 ) ticosj reprefenting the feven provinces.! Wanting a grand entrance, its general effect is much diminiflied; and its facade is equally hurt by the contiguity of the Weigh-houfe. In the front are three enor mous bronze Agures, reprefenting Juftice, Strength, and Wealth. On the top of the pediment is the ftatue of Atlas, bearing a globe on his fhoulders. Within the pedi ment is a handfbme hiftoric baffo relievo in marble. The apartments within are fpa- cious, elegant, and expenflve ; having a vaft profufion of marble pillars, inlaid floors, cornices, richly carved, feftoons of flowers, and bas reliefs finely executed in different coloured Italian marble. The various parts of this building are well adapted to the fe veral objects of its intention. It has with in itfelf all chambers and offices calculated for the difpofal of every branch of bufinefs relative to the State ; fuch as the Treafury, Senate; and alfo the Courts of Juftice in which ( 144 ) which the magiftrates fit every day from ten till one. At the top of the building are feveral cifterns, with conveyances for water to every apartment, in cafe of Are. Beneath this ftructure, within a vaulted labyrinth, is the famous Bank ; which is never opened but in the prefence of a bur- go- mafter. The immenfe wealth of this bank has been rated at upwards of thirty millions fterling, in cafh, bullion, and jew els. It is a Angular circumftance, that the old Stadt-houfe, with many of its ar chives and regifters, was deftroyed by Are in 1655, the year in which this edifice was completed. The coup d'ceuil from the top of the building is very extenfive : a full view of the city, diftant rivers, and villages, with a beautiful profpect of the fea, amply repay the trouble of afcending to fuch a height. Here is an excellent fet of chimes, confifting of ( 145 ) of about forty bells, that play eveiy quarter of an hour. Within are fome good pictures, by Vanderhelft, an artift of extraordinary me rit, and in many refpects equal, if not fu perior, to Van Dyck : they are principally portraits, or fubjects in which little more is neceflary than excellence in that line. One, which contains fome capital portraits, reprefents a league of amity or friendly in- tercourfe between the States and Spain; in which the ambaffador of the latter comes forward to fhake hands with a burgo-maf- ter : another is upon the fubject of military exploits; both much in the ftyle of Van Dyck. In the fame apartment is a charm ing picture by Rembrandt. By Philip Van Dyck, a native of this city, here is a large work, very juftly ad mired. It was painted about the middle Vol. I. T of ( '46 } of the laft century, and confifts of por traits of all the principal perfons of the town, moft admirably grouped : in the back ground is a portrait of an old man, the head of which is in an excellent ftyle, and nearly animated. A very great fum has been ' offered for this chef d'ceuvre. • In the burgo-mafters apartment is a charming picture, by John Lievens, repre fenting Fabius Maximus getting off his horfe to receive his fon on being created a burgo-mafter. In the adjoining room are two very good hiftorical pictures by Ferdinand Bol. The immenfe fum expended upon this ftately pile is fcarcely credible : it is faid to have been more than two millions fter- ling; which confiderably exceeds the coft of our cathedral of St. Paul's, or of the palaces of Verfailles, or the Efcurial. But expence ( '47 ) expence was not here the confideration : for, in this national undertaking, the fpi rit even of the Hollander was roufed; and with becoming ambition he was fo eager to xhfplay the magnificence of commerce, that •" Gold and his gains no more employ'd his mind." In this city you will find many collec tions of cabinet-pictures, well deferving at tention, among which is that of Mr. Gel- dermafter, the Portugueze Conful; at whofe houfe we were elegantly entertained, and whofe collection is formed with more tafte than any I have yet feen: indeed from a view of his own charming drawings it is impoffible he can exhibit an indifferent picture. His politenefs and attention can only be equalled by the happy felection he has made : in the number of them are three exquifite flower-pieces by Van Huy- fom, perhaps the beft he ever painted; a fine landfcape, by Paul Potter; feveral by T 2 Gerarp ( M8 ) Gerard Douw; an exquifite fea -piece by Vandeveldt in his beft Dutch ftyle; and a landfcape by Teniers, &c. At the houfe of Mr. Cornelius Ploos Van Amftel, ftrangers are received with the greateft politenefs, and the palate of the amateur will have a rich repaft. His collection confifts of about a hundred pic tures, forming a cabinet of the firft excel lence in merit and prefervation : amongft the moft diftinguifhed I would point out a converfation, by Terburgh; and the church of Delft, by Emanuel De Witt, furpafling any thing I have feen of thofe matters ; the brilliancy of light breaking through the windows, and interfering the pillars of the building, produces a won derful effect ; five pictures by Vander Hyde, in his beft manner; a view of Amfter dam, acrofs the Y, by Jacob Ruyfdael; a converfation by Peter de Hooge ; and feve ral ( 149 ) ral by the old matters, particularly a Saint Nicholas, faid to be painted in the begin ning of the ninth century. The whole forms an aflemblage worthy their owner, whofe tafte and love of the fine arts have given him place as an honorary profeffor in the gallery at Dufleldorp, and made him director of the academy of drawing in this city. Among his drawings, which confift of about fix thoufand, will be found the beft works of the Italian, Flemifh, Dutch, French, and Englifh fchools; particularly of Raphael, Julio Romano, Van Huyfum, and Trooft; whofe daughter this gentle man obtained in marriage. Among his numerous collection of prints are the beft works of Berghem, Both, Vifchier, Marc Antonio Goltzius, Albert Durer, Michael Angelo, and Rembrandt. The works of the laft artift are complete, and were form ed by that great mafter for his own col lection. We ( 15° ) We were likewife introduced to the houfe of Mrs. Hope, a widow lady ; who has an excellent collection of cabinet pic tures, all by the beft matters, and in fine prefervation. In Baron GolPs collection among many beautiful pictures, will be found the portraits of the Kings of England in chiaro fcuro by the Chevalier Vander Werff, on paper, in oil, moft exquifitely finifhed : he has likewife two drawings of flowers by Van Huyfum about five inches fquare, of fuch exquifite quality, that he paid feven thoufand guilders for the two. Baron De Smeth has an extenfive ca binet of the beft matters, particularly Wil liam Vandevelt, Vander Hyde, &c. all of which are happily chofen. The cabinet of Mr. De Vos confifts principally of the Dutch and Flemifti fchools, and is extenfive and well chofen. Here is alfo a picture ( i5i ) a picture by Hobbima, in his beautiful filver tone of colouring, of ineftimable value. Mr. Versteig's collection is formed from the Italian and Dutch mafters of the firft clafs : his drawings by Grand Jean, a native of this city, fomewhat in the ftyle of Both, confift of views from nature ; and are well deferving the admiration, of the connoiffeur. Mr. Tersteeg has an extenfive col lection of pictures and drawings by the beft mafters. Mr. B. De Bosch, and his brother Mr. I. De Bofch, have each fome beautiful cabi net pictures : in the collection of the former will be found a moft charming drawing of Adrian Oftade, and two by Van Huyfum, perhaps the beft he ever made. Mr. [ 152 ) Mr. Clemens Van Hal's collection is formed of fome good modern, as well as the beft of the old mafters, in the Dutch and Flemifh fchools. Mr. Van Eyl Sluiter's cabinet con tains many fine pictures and drawings. Mr. Van Dyck's is principally formed of drawings. Mr. Maarseveen, to his cabinet of well chofen drawings, has added fome choice Delft ware, painted by Ruyfdael, Verboom, &c. &c. To thefe collections you will find eafy ad- miffion, as a ftranger and admirer of the fine arts. The following names are among the firft living artifts of eminence here. Mr. C 153 ) Mr. Buys, excellent in hiftory painting, and a director of the academy; Mr. Vin- keles, an engraver of great merit, a director likewife of the academy; Mr. Van Bruffel, a painter of very great excellence in flowers, in the ftyle of Van Huyfum ; Mr. Van Drielft, eminent in landfcape, in the ftyle of Ruyfdael ; Mr. Cats, landfcape and cattle, in the manner of Adrian Vandevelt ; Mr. Ekles, converfation, in the ftyle of Metzu ; Mr. Dupre, a native of this city, whofe drawings are much admired, is now at Rome; and Mr. Meyer, a painter of landfcape, whofe deflgns and drawings would credit any artift, a native alfo of this place, but now refident in London. I shall clofe this letter with a brief fketch of the lives of a few mafters of high eminence, who were born here ; felected from a long lift of names, moft of whom had very confiderable merit in their profeflion. — ¦ Vol. I. U William ( »54 ) William Vande Velde, who ranks firft in efteem as- a painter of fea views, was born here in 1633: he received his earlieft rudi ments in the art from his father, who, though of fome eminence, was much his in ferior. When the father quitted Holland for England, the fon was placed under that elegant painter, Simon De Vlieger ; but he foon outftripped his matter; and on his works being fent to the Court of London, James the Second was fo pleafed with them, that he fettled a confiderable penfion on this young artift, who foon followed his works to England. His pictures are fo well known, that it is almoft needlefs to point out their beauties. Truth in the reprefentation, and tafte in the choice of his fubjects, form their grand characteriftics. Beautiful tranfparency of colouring, and charming grouping in his figures, conftitute all together fuch complete fpecimens of art, as are, and probably ever • will remain, unrivalled. This exquifite paint-* - er ( i5S ) er died in London on the 6th of April, 1707. John Van Huysum, a firft rate painter of fruit and flowers, was born in this city on the 5th of April, 1682. The celebrity of his works drew the attention of moft of the princes in Europe ; whofe cabinets are enriched at a very great expence with the pro ductions of this artift : and they are no lefs admirable for their exquifite high finifhing, than for their great truth, and clofe fimili- tude to nature. His flowers were fo like the priginals, that the Dutch connoiffeurs, who furnifhed him with their rareft roots, began to think the merit of their purfuit in that way would be leffened by his fkill in copying them. It is not unreafonable to fuppofe, that the prevailing tafte for flowers and the high excellence of their cultivation in this country, were eircumftances that contibuted towards giving him that fignai fuperiority U 2 which ( 156 ) which he attained in this branch of the art ; He died at the age of fixty-feven. A very Ane painter of landfcape, Ifaac Moucheron, was born here in 1670. He received his inftructions from his father, Fre deric, whom he greatly excelled ; and, having loft him at an early age, he determined on vi- fiting Italy, where his tafte and knowledge in the art foon increafed; and he eftablifhed a fame in reprefenting and embellifhing na ture, which will ever infure his works a place in the cabinets of the curious. He died at the age of feventy-four. An artift as Angularly eminent in his profeflion as unfortunate in the whole hiftory of his life was John Griffler, born here in 1656. The accident of birth and fortune placed him in a carpenter's fhop ; but his genius and ambition leading him to higher purfuits, his firft efforts in art were made in the ( '57 ) the humble character of a painter of Dutch tiles. But his fkill having attracted no tice, he foon met with patronage, and was put under the tuition of Roeland Rogman, here, by the affl fiance of Lingleback, Adrian Vande Velde and others of great eminence, he foon became mafter of his profeflion, and being of a rambling turn, embarked for England, where he painted many pictures, and acquired both reputa tion and property. Having married there, and afterwards with his family fet fail for Holland, in a veffel he had purchafed at a great price, he was in his voyage fhip- wrecked, and with his family reduced to beggary. A feries of misfortunes after wards attended this ill-fated artift; and he quitted this world at the age of feven- ty-three, as full of miferies as of years, and as diftinguiflied by his poverty as his talents : He left behind him a fon of very con- ( 158 } confiderable -merit as a painter, who was born in England. That charming artift, Adrian Vande Velde, was a native of this city, born in 1639. He was a difciple of Wynants.; and his biographers fay of him, that he never paffed a day without making a de- ifign or painting on fome fubject from na ture. His excellence in landfcape and fi gures verifies this affertion ; for more truth, tafte, and brilliancy of effect are not to be found in any other painter' in that branch of the arts. The high prices his pictures now bring fhew the great efteem, in which they are held by the connoifleur. It is extraordinary, that a landfcape painter fhould have produced fo many works of merit in hiftory, as are to be found by this artift. I fliall only particularize a de- ( 159 ) a- defcent from the crofs, which he paint ed for an altar in the Catholic church at Amfterdam. With fuch rare talents in his profeflion, and ftill more to be ad mired purity of morals, and amiable qua lities in fociety as a man, we cannot but regret his early death at the age of thirty- three. I cannot clofe this letter without mentioning another artift of very diftin guifhed talents in landfcape, particularly-5 moonlight fcenery, Eglon Vander Neer* born here in 1643, Nature performed much for him, but neceflity feems to. have added a fpur, and to have had a fhare in his improvements. Twice left a widower, and encumbered with no lefs than twenty- five children, it was neceflary that great- application to his profeflion fhould make- him, as it did, equally fuaefsful in every"' branch of the art that he undertook: his flowers ( 160 ) flowers and plants, portraits and conver- fations (which he painted in the ftyle of Terburgh) are all equally efteemed, and admitted into the choiceft cabinets in Eu rope. He died at the age of fixty, having had the honour of producing as a pupil, that great painter the Chevalier Vander Werff. I have written till I have become me lancholy almoft, as well as weary, and begin to look upon my epiftle in the light of a chronicle of mortality, for fuch it is, and of the moft painful nature; fince its principal office has been to bear record to the difficulties and diftreffes which envied genius too often ftruggles with in paffing through life, and to the humiliating truth that it is confounded at laft without dis tinction in the common mafs, and muft wait the hour that is appointed to all men. This honeft Prior knew (and for the fake of ( 161 .) of giving you, at leaft, two good lines in one letter, I will conclude with his own words), •¦¦¦* - ** AUke muft ev'ry ftate, and ev'ry age, " Suftain the univcrfal tyrant's rage." Adieu ! > Vol. I. X LET. ( 162 ) LETTER X. SAARDAM. DEAR SIR, W E rofe early this morning ; and, though the weather was not very promiflng, it did not put us from our purpofe; we therefore walked to the quay, and taking a boat, croffing the Y, about a mile in width, to a fmall Ferry-houfe, called in Dutch, Tolhuis ; firft ordering a carriage to con vey us to Broek, a village in North Hol land, about nine miles diftant. The milts of the morning difpelled apace, " And earth relenting felt the genial ray." We purfued our journey with encteaf- ing pleafure, till we reached Buykfloot, a fmall hi I901 'X) & -iy••1 X ^ X ( i63 ) fmall neat village, commanding £ charming view of Amfterdam. A little farther" 6»J we pafied a large mill and magazibe for gunpowder; which introduced a converfa tion and fome ridicule, pointed! at the in- terefted' character of the Butch/ who, un able to refift the temptation of gain, fup» plied us^ cVuring the laft war with that ar* tide againft themfelves: on this occafion the fagacious driver olrfervedV with Dutch cunriing.; that it was* true, they hadrfblduS gunpowder, but- it was' equally trifle? that it had lain' in- their warehou&s fd" long a rime, thatr it was goodf he nothingi Mi ter a very fine" ride upon an excellent r©ad£ commanding a deEghtfui profpect aadt full view of Saardam* on difr leiti v«ith;itsJ army of winiMiills^ and on trie right'the riizer Y, richly crouded" with* fhippingy we aflriffeti at Broeki the weafehieft" viliageriu Holland^ and in; fcenery the nipfl: picturefque' anu1 whimficai r have everT feeri^ otf thai* perhaps X 2 is ( iB+ ) js any where to be found : and being di vided by fmall canals and neat bridges, it reminds one. more of the gaudinefs of a village in China, than any thing fo near home. The houfes ftand feparate, and are principally of wood, fluted and paint ed in variegated colours: they have fmall gardens before the doors, which are moft grotefquely difpofed and decorated with: va rious coloured tiles, fhells, glafs beads, &c. and the walks in them are of deep fand and not paflable, but laid out merely for (hew. The houfes are .covered with glazed tiles, and are regularly painted every year. The trees are cut into moft ample order. Carriages feldom pafs through the ftreets, except thofe of the inhabitants ; and, fhould a horfe leave any trace behind, a fervant regularly comes out with a fleve and fand, to wipes out the injury. A ftranger at firft fight would imagine the place uninhabited: J do not recollect, in . two •'( 16-5 ) two hours, feeing more than feven or eight females, and thofe too old for the eye to dwell long upon. The young ones immedi ately retreat to their houfes, on the appear ance of a ftranger. A singular cuftom is obferved, not only in this village, but ali over North Holland; that in the front of each houfe they have . a door, which is never opened but on the day of their marriage, and on the day when the folitary inhabitant is re moved to *' That undifcover'd country, from whofe bourn ** No traveller returns." I Must obferve to you, that in no part of Holland is the funeral fervice faid over the deceafed; but here the clerk be comes the parfon, and, laying the Bible on the coffin, proceeds to read fome chapters relative ( i66 ) relative to the briefnefs ©f man's exiftenee.' The body is then placed in a boat on the canal, and attended to the place of inter* ment by a folemn proceffion of relations^ friends and acquaintance. We procured admiffion to the infide of one of the houfes of this Angularly whimfical people, and found it in trimnefs and exactnefs quite of a piece with the out— In its furniture there was the fame neatnefs, and it was fo tricked- out with baubks> of ornaments be yond number, Alining fto©rs?, fhining tables and chairs ; in fhort, every thing fo vieing with the looking-glafs in reflection, that it puts you in fear of broken bones every ftep you take. After making a fketch: of the prin cipal part of this village* which commands a fine view of Amfterdam; we, left this fingular fpot,. and returned to- Bifikfloot m our way to Saardam, which '& about eight miles. ( i«7 ) miles.. It is a very confiderable village, in North Holland, faid to extend fix miles on the bank of the river; and is perhaps one of the greateft magazines of fhip-tim- ber and naval ftores in Europe: of wind* mills it certainly is, as it contains near three hundred : fome of them are employ ed hi fawing timber, at which forty or fifty boards can be cut at the fame time ; others are ufed for making paper, in which the whole proeefs, from cutting the rags and cleaning them, to their application through the mould, and picking out the flaws, which is the work of women and children, is compleated; and others for cutting to bacco-leaves : thefe are laid in large troughs ranged in the mills, and, by the falling of perpendicular pieces of timber, with a chop per fixed at one end3 ami cogs at the other, are caught in a wheel as it turns, and divid ed into fmall particles. - This ( 16S } This place, though lefs quiet than Broek, partakes of all its Angularities. . The inhabitants are very. rich, and very retired, yet live with much hofpitality, and indulge in the richeft exhilarating .wines, and moft luxurious tables. The drefs of the women is plain and neat, but with a profufion of gold ornaments about the neck, forehead* and hair, which is formed into fmall fpiral ringlets, not unlike the head-drefles of Sir Peter Lely. The Angularity pf this fafhion* added to a regular and pleafing fymmetry of features, with great fimplicity and unaffect* ed manners, renders them by no means un- pleafing: yet the inordinate ufe of coffee* which they take from fix in the morning till ten at night, gives them a pallidnefs of countenance, which greatly diminifhes their attractions. Laughable as it may feem, a fafe expedient to infure the affections of the lower clafs of thefe laffes, is to provide ypur-5 felf with gingerbread. The firft queftion the o \.. X XX u ( 169 ) the lover is afked after knocking at the door, when the parents are fuppofed to be in bed, is, " Have you any gingerbread ?"' If he re plies in the affirmative, he Ands little diffi culty in gaining admiffion ; a fecond vifit in- fures his fuccefs, and the lady yields. The drefies of the men are generally black and dark brown. I have endeavour ed in the enclofed fketch to give you a clearer idea of the appearance of both fexes. Two hundred bridges are faid to. be thrown acrofs the canals here. The church is very neat; and a large picture over the weft door of it perpetuates a fingular fubject. A woman is reprefented in the air, as having been toffed by a bull, when far gone with child, and delivered in that fituation ; the child lying dead on the ground. The hufband, in coming to the Vol. I. Y afflft- ( *7° ) affiftance of his wife, was likewife attacked by the bull ; and all the parties are faid to have been killed in the conflict. By the pains taken to perpetuate this ftrange anecdote, it certainly was, and it now is credited. On a flat ftone beneath is a Dutch epitaph on the fubject. Hier onder 1yd de Moer en Vaar, En't ongebooren by Mai Kaar. Observe, my dear friend, I do not vouch for the truth of this wonderful hif tory. This place is rendered famous by the refidence of Peter the Great, Czar of Muf- covy, about the year 1 696, in the humble character of a fhip-builder. As the ftory cannot better be told, I will give it you in Voltaire's own words, from I'Hiftoire de l'Empire de Ruffle fous Pierre le Grand, ch. ix. « Le ( i7« ) " Le Czar prit un habit de pilote, en " alia dans cet equipage au village de Saar- " dam, ou Ton conftruifait alors beaucoup " plus de vaiffeaux encore qu'aujourd'hui. " Ce village eft auffi grand, aufli peuple, " auffi riche, & plus propre que beaucoup " de villes opulentes. Le Czar admira cette " multitude d'hommes toujours occupes; " l'ordre, l'exactitude des traveaux; la ce- " lerite prodigieufe a conftruire un vaifleau, " et a le munir de tous fes agres ; & cette " quantite incroyable de magaflns, de ma- § ^ ^ ^ ( 193 ) nutely touched that the characters on the leaves were diftinctly legible. The works of this eminent painter bring immenfe prices. During his refidence in Amfterdam in 1672, he is faid to have been the inventor of pipes for fire engines, as they are now in ufe. Be fore they were introduced into this city, the annual damage from fire, according to his computation, amounted to three hundred and forty-one thoufand fix hundred and feventy guilders, and now, on the average, not more than three thoufand fix hundred and fe venty. Having ordered a carriage to take us to Breda, we walked to the ferry-houfe, on the banks of the Maes ; where the fcene was fo beautiful and interefting as to induce me to give a faint reprefentation of it in the en clofed drawing. In crofling the river, which was a fail of Vol. I. B b about ( *94 ) about twenty minutes, the fleeting objects on the water could not fail to attract the pic turefque eye. The church, feen in the dif tance, is in the city of Workum. Should you feel the pleafure in contemplating thefe feeble attempts to reprefent what I enjoyed from the fcenery, my utmoft wifh i$ gra tified. Landing on the oppofite fhore, alas! how changed the fcene ! Through a dreary -road, without profpect, or the fight of a, hu man being for near four-and-twenty miles, which took us feven hours to accomplifh. Not a fingle houfe to afford the leaft accom modation in the journey, till we reached Breda; the entrance to which is by croffing three wide fofses, over which are drawbridges . leading to. a handfome ftone gate. Breda, the capital of Dutch Brabant, is wefl fortified, and encornpaffed by the .rivers ^ r V s> ( 195 ) rivers Aa and Merck. The citadel is built in a triangular form, and is well garrifoned* The caftle is a handfome fquare building with four towers, furrounded by the two rivers. It was built by King William. The rooms are fpacious and lofty : their principal ornament is tapeftry, which contains a feries of the Princes of Orange on horfeback, as large as life; each feeming to vie with the other who fhould firft ftart from his dreary^ thread-bare abode. The pictures here are beneath notice. The gardens and park iri the vicinage are not unpleafarit. The en trance, or court-yard to this building* is fpa cious and magnificent. The church is a large, handfome ftfudture: its fpire is lofty and beautiful. Within is a handfome mo nument in black and white marble, erected to .Ariglebert, the fecond Count of Naffau; and his Countefs : they ?tfe lying on a mat of marble* well executed. Over the figures js a marble flab, bearing trophies and en- B b 2 fign* ( '96 ) figns of war, fupported by four kneeling figures ; faid to be Julius Caefar, Hannibal, Philip of Macedon, and Metellus Regulus. I doubt the information of our oracle ; as, with all due refpect to Count Anglebert, I queftion whether the four great characters above alluded to would condefcend to go on their knees to bear either boots or fpurs, for all the combined greatnefs of the Houfe of Naflau. Imagination may trace " the " noble duft of Alexander, till he find it " flopping a bung-hole ;" and indeed there is no faying " to what bafe ufes" a Dutch courtier might be difpofed to make thefe great men ftoop. The fculpture of the mo nument is faid to be by Michael Angelo Buonorati : this I much doubt, for though there are parts, particularly the extremities of the figures, not unequal to him, yet other parts are fo inferior, that I conceive that divine artift could not have executed the work. The ( 197 ) The circular building to the right of the church, as defcribed in the annexed draw ing,* is the caftle here mentioned as built by King William ; the ftyle of the architecture befpeaks the period of its erection. Being Sunday, the people are flocking to the church, which is facing our inn. The women's drefs is very fingular, being covered with a long black cloth veil, fur rounding the head, and reaching to the ground ; the reft of their apparel is extremely neat. Here are many Roman Catholics, though the eftablifhed religion is Protef- tantifm. This place feems more famed for arms * It was with fome difficulty I prevailed on myfelf to attempt the inclofed fketch, as the military are exceedingly jealous on thefe occafions ; and, I believe, had the centi- nel, who was near me, been a veteran in the fervice, in- ftead of a raw recruit, I muft have defifted. than ( 19* ) than arts; as I have in vain endeavoured to inform myfelf of either collections of pic tures or artifts. We fliall therefore quit this fcene, as foon as poflible, for Bergen-op- Zoom ; which I fear will be equally barren of that information which I know affords you the moft pleafure. Adieu ! LET-; t^ "rt r° * "Tj ^ -a P Oh d o -d 2#i' { 199 ) LETTER XV. BERGEN.QP.ZOOM. DEAR SIR, 1 H ROUGH a very heavy Tain, and roads, if poflible, worfe than any we had before pafled, we are fafe arrived at this place, perfectly in union with ourfelves.1 The rugged ways and ills of life may fometimes tend to humanize and temper the mind ; as, in a picture, a rude fore-ground, well managed, gives additional beauty to the ferenity of the diftance, and harmonizes the whole. You will obferve, this opinion is form ed before a good fire, not in a dangerous road, furrounded by a thick, hazy atmofphere; yet, bad as the road is, I muft return (in my mind's eye) about fix miles, merely to men tion a whimfical fign we faw at a fmall vil lage ( 2QO ) lage called Rofendael. It was a tree, bear ing fruit, and the branches filled with little naked urchins, feemingly juft ripened into life, and crying for fuccour. Beneath a wo man holds up her apron, looking willfully at the children, as if intreating them to jump into her lap. On inquiry, I found it to be the houfe of a fworn midwife, with this Dutch infcription prefixed to her name: « VANG MY, IK ZAL ZOOT ZYN." That is, « Catch me— I'll be a fweet boy." This true mode of procreation, fo truly whimAcal, pleafed me not a little. I took the pencil, and beginning to make a fketch of this laughable fubject, was, in an inftant, furrounded by all the gaping boors in the village, who, by their diftorted countenances, feemed as if the " Frightfull'ft grinner " Should be the winner." Being ( 201 ) Being Sunday, I believe there were not lefs than three hundred of thefe merry faces affembled on the occafion. Bergen-op-Zoom is a large town in Dutch Brabant, fituated near the eaftern fliore of the Scheld. It ftands on a fmall eminence, well difpofed by nature, as by art, for defence. It derives its name from Berg, a hill, and Zoom* a river, which runs through the town, and overflowing the neighbouring country, renders it a morafs : the Latins call it Berga fupra Zomam. ' As the fortiffca- tions are the only objects worthy notice in this place, we loft no time in difpatching a card to the commandant for permiffion to fee them, which he politely granted, and fent it by the hands of a little merry ferjeant, who was to be our guide. He had all the gaiete de cceur of Sterne's La Fleur, with all the military integrity of Corporal Trim ; had himfelf ferved during the Aege in 1747, when Vol. I. C c it ( 2S2 ) it was taken by Count Lowendahl, mot by conqueft, but by the treachery of jthe old Dutch general, Baron de Cronftrom, againft whom our little ferjeant juftly levelled his whole artillery of abufe, for his bafenefs in betraying his (charge. We 'wers led through fuhfcerraneous pafiTages, I 'know not whither, extending, as it is faid, a great diftance be yond -the extremity of the fortifications; where, at every {tap, our little hero fhouU dered his cane, renewed his battles, and <" thrice he routed all Ms foes, and thrice he " Hew the flajn." In recital, he artfully drew on the French troops, and as happily repulfcd them; in fhort, we had the flege renewed, and every military manoeuvre dif- played, without the lofs of a man. The great Dutch engineer, Cohorn, who con- ftructed thefe works, would have himfelf re* joked to have found fuch an auxiliary. Finding the fubterraneous Atuation ra ther ( 203 ) flier damp and uncomfortable, we w-ifhed, like the treacherous governor, to come as quick as poffible to the furrende-r; therefore, facing right about, we made a precipitate re treat, in order to enjoy the fair day-light, and a view of the outAde of this aftonifhing fortification, which is deemed impregnable. On the fide towards Antwerp is a grand demi-lune, terminated by a fort, flanked with four redoubts mounted with large cannon. It has the advantage of a canal from the fea, whence they may receive ' fuccours without interruption from the befiegers. Between this town and the fea there are eleven forts, with many redoubts and palifados on the dyke. Such was the ftrength of this place in 1538, that it repulfed the Duke of Parma with a numerous army, and in 1622, the Marquis Spinola, who in the attempt loft the bulk of his army. I muft tell you, that the treachery of the old governor, Cron- C c 2 ftrom, ( 204 } ftrom, was rewarded by a dofe confinement for the reft of his life ; a fentence not equal to the enormity of his crime, if my infor mation be true. Adieu ! end of the first volume. C a°5 ) LIST OF ARTISTS, &c, p.OTTERDA]Vf. Names. Dates. Branch of the Art. L^OLONIAdam .... $634. Cattle and landfcape, Dullart Heyman ....... 1636. Hiftory and portrait. (-Landfcape, animals, and Hondius Abraham .... 1638. < L converfation. Muflcher Michael Van 1645. Portrait and converfation. (" Markets, fairs, landfcapes, and converfation. Penteman Peter 1650. Still life. (" Landfcape, drolls, a.nd Sachtleven Cornelius < {_ corps du garde, S.achtleven Herman.... 1609. Landfcape. Sorgh Hendrick Mar- 1 f Hiftory, converfation, tin J L fairs, and markets. Verwilt OfTenbeck N 1627. Storms. Vol. I. D d Rozee ( 210 ) Names. Dates. Branch of the Art. _ „„ , .,„ , r Hiftory, landfcape, por- Rozee Mademoifelle 1632. \ L trait, and flowers. Slingeland Peter John 7 J 1640. Portrait and converfation. Van 3 Sluys Jaques Vander 1660. Converfation. Steen Jan 1636. Converfation and drolls. Torenfliet Jacques .... 1641. Portrait and converfation. Vandervelde William, 7 J 16 10. Sea pieces and fea fights. the old i Van Gogen John .... 1596. Landfcapes and fea views. Venius Otho, or Van 7 > 1556. Hiftory and portrait. Veen J Voys De Ary 1641. Ditto. Van Egmont Juftus 1602. Hiftory. HAERLEM. Baan John De 1633. Portrait. „ ,. , r Landfcape, cattle, and Begu Cornelius 1020. it converfation. Berghem Nicholas ... 1624. Landfcape and cattle. _,,,,., , c Landfcape, converfation, Eerkheyden Job 1637. < t and portrait. „,,,_, C Perfpeclive views of pa- Berkheyden Gerard ... 1645. \ I laces and churches. Blekers ( 211 Names. Dates. Blekers 1635. Brakenbury Reinier Bray Solomon De .... 1597. Bray Jacob De Brouwer Adrian 1608. Druiverftein Janze Aart ) Branch of the Art. Portrait and hiftory. Portrait. Hiftory. Drolls and converfations. Dufart Cornelius i 1564. Landfcape and animals. r Converfations and merry- l makings. Landfcapes, battles, &c. Hiftory. Hiftory and portrait. Hiftory. Hiftory and portrait. Hiftory, Gaal Barent 1650. Gerrard of Haerlem Grebben Peter 159°- HaerlemTheodoreVan 1410. HaerlemCornelitzVan 1562. Helmbreker Theodore 1624. Helft Bartholomew") ? 1613. Portrait and hiftory, Vander J Hemfkerck Egbert .... 1645. Drolls, Holftein Cornelius .... 1653. Hugtenburgh John Van 1646. Kumpen Jacob Van 1658. Koogen Leonard Van der Laftman Peter 1581. Hiftory Maas Dirk , 1656. Molyn Peter 1637. Moftaert John , 1499* Dd 2 Hiftory. Battles. Hiftory. 16 10. Converfation. Landfcape and battles. Landfcape. Hiftory and portrait. Nikkelen ( «1 ) Names. Dates. Branch of the Art. Nikkelen John Van -1649. Landfcape and flowers. Ouwater Albert 1444- Hiftory. c Hiftory, portrait, and Pinusjohn 1596. ] l landfcape. f Landfcape, and views of the Weft ladies. Roeftraeten Peter .... 1627. Portrait and ftill life. Ruyfdael Jacob 1636. Landfcape. Ruyfdael Solomon .... 1616. Ditto. Scky.ndal Bernard .... 1659. Hiftory and converfation. Torrentius John .... 1589. Still life. Hiftory, portrait, conver fation, and landfcapes. Poft Francis "j VinneVincent Vander 1629. \ Vinne Lawrence Van- ( 1658. Flowers. der J Vroom Henry Cor- 7 r Sea ports, calms, and V 1566. -J nelius J t- ftorms. r Cattle, landfcape, and Vandenbergen Dirk- iL portrait. Wouvermans Philip 1620. Landfcape, and cattle. AMSTERDAM. r Hiftory,. kitchen utenfils, Aerften Peter 1519. < „ L &c. r Landfcape, portrait, and Appel Jacob 1680. I v *L hiftory. Barent ( 213 ) Names. Dates. Branch of the Art. Barent Dieterick ... 1534- Hiftory and portrait. Bent John Vander .... 1650. Landfcape. Bofch Jacob Vanden 1636. Still life. „ , , f Landfcape, cattle, hunt- Carre Henry 1656.^ . I ings and converfations. Carre Michael 1666. Landfcape and cattle. Dalens Dirk 1659. Landfcape. Does Jacob Vander 1654. Hiftory. |" Landfcape, cattle, and Does Simon Vander .. 1653. \ I portrait. Ducart Ifaac 1 630. Flowers. Eeckhout G. Vander 1621. Portrait and hiftory. Edema Gerrard 1652. Landfcape. Gerrards 1607. Hiftory and converfation. Graat Barent 1628. Landfcape and portrait. Grieffier John the old 1645. Landfcape, ruins, &c. Hackaert John ^ZS' Landfcape. Hooyzaat John J654« Hiftory. f Flowers, fruit, and land- Huyfum John Van .... 1682. < L fcape. f Copied his brother's Huyfum Jacob Van 1680. K L works. JanfTen Cornelius .... Portrait. Jarden Karel Du .... 1640. Converfation. Kalf William 1630. Still life. MarcellisOtho 1630. ( Me^ rePtileS' and L plants. Moucheron I 1670. Landfcape, Neer Arnold Vander ( 11* ) Names. Dates, Branch of the Aft, Moucheron Ifaac, the young Myn Herman Vander 1684. Hiftory,portrait,andfruit. f Landfcape and moon- y L light. Neer Hendrick Eglon -j f Hiftory, portrait, land- Vander J I fcape,andconverfation. Paulin Horatius 1648. Hiftory and converfation. f Converfation, landfcape, Peters Gerrard , 1580. i L and portrait, in fmall, Plaas David Vander .. 1647. Portrait. Pool Rachel Van or 7 Ruifck 1 l664" Pool Juriaen 1666. Rademaker Gerard .... 1673. Fruit and Flowers, Rademaker Abraham Roghman Roland .... Schellinks William .. 1675. [ 1631.^ 1666, 1646 Schellinks Daniel . Spiers Albert Van . Spilberg Adriana . Stork Abraham 1708. Streeck Jurian Van .. 1632 Streeck Henry Van .. 1659 Tombe La 1616 Portrait. Hiftory and architecture, Landfcapes and views of towns in Holland. 1597. Landfcape. Hiftory, landfcapes, and. fea ports. 1633. Landfcape,Hiftory. Portrait. Sea pieces and fea ports. Portraits and ftill life. Hiftory and architecture, Portrait and converfation. Trooft ( MS*) Names. Dates. Branch of the Art. Trooft Cornelius .... 1697. Converfation and portrait. Valkenburgh Theo- 7 J 1675. Portrait and game. Vandyck Philip 1680. Portrait and converfation, Tr , , . . , . , C Landfcape, animals, and Vandervelde Adrian .. 1639. )t hiftory. „.,,.- S Hiftory,portrait,andcon- Verkolie Jan 1050. 1 verfation. Voorhout John *647- Hiftory and converfation. Wit Jaques De 1695. jl62I.£ WeeninxJohnBaptift, 7 C Landfcape, portraits, ani- \ 1621. ) called the old J L mals, and flowers. Weeninx John, the 7 £ Landfcape, animals,hunt- i l644- 1 . young J *¦ ing, &c. Wollers Henrietta .... 1692. Portrait in miniature. UTRECHT. Bemmel William Van 1630. Landfcape. Both John 1610. Ditto. Breenberg Bartholo- 7 C Landfcape, hiftory, and mew ¦* ' converfation. Bronchorft John Van 1603. Hiftory and landfcape. Bunnik John Van .... 1654. Ditto ditto. Drillenberg William 7 f 1626. Landfcape. Van ¦* Gaud ( 216 Names. Dates. Gaud Hendrick 157°- Gellig Jacob 1636. Glauber lohn 1636. Haanfbergen John Van 1 6 42 . Heem John David De 1600. Heem Cornelius De .. 1623. Heufch William De 1638. Heufch Jacob De .... 1657. Hondekoeter Gilles .. 1583. Honthorft Gerard .... 1592. Inghen William Van 1651. More Chevalier An- 7 1 I5I9- thonio J Polenburgh Cornelius 1586. Willaerts Abraham .... 1613. ) Branch of the Art. Landfcape and figures. Fifh and ftill life. Landfcape. Landfcape. Fruit, &c. Still life. Landfcape. Ditto. Ditto. Hiftory and portrait. Hiftory. Portrait and hiftory. Landfcape, caves, and grottos. Landfcapes and figures.^ GORCUM. r Landfcape, cattle^ hiftory, Blomart Abraham .... 1564. < L and portrait. Camphuyfen Raphael 7 -, C Landfcape, cattle", and Theodore Dirk .... ^ " *¦ moon-light. Heyden John Vander 1637. Landfcape. r Italian fea ports and mar- Neft Jacob Vander .... 1627.} c kets. Verfchuring Names. Verfchuring Henry .. Wytman Matthew .... 1650. \ ( M7 ) Dates. Branch of the Art. r Battles, landfcape, and . 1627.} L huntings. Converfation, landfcape, fruit, and flowers. BREDA. Kay William 1568. Portrait and hiftory. LeurN. Vander 1667. Hiftory and portrait. Lis John Vander .... 1601. Hiftory. BERGEN-OP-ZOOM. Bofichart John Willi- 7 \ 1613. Hiftory and portrait. borts J Fouckier Bertrand De 1609. Portrait. ZZIL