Meritis is the principal public institute; it is supported by private subscriptions; no money is paid upon admission ; foreigners are admitted with a subscriber's ticket, but no native can be received unless he is a subscriber. This place is a large building, containing some fine apartments, particularly the music-room, which, during the concerts, is much resorted to by the most opulent and fashionable families, many of whom play, with the assistance of professional performers. There are also rooms devoted to philosophy and the arts. In the painting-room I was shewn some works of the modern Dutch painters, which were not above mediocrity; they appear to have lost that exquisite art of colouring, which so eminently distinguished their predecessors. This circumstance is very singular, considering how many ingenious artists this city has produced, amongst whom may be enumerated the three Does, Griffier, Schellinks, the celebrated Adrian, and William Vandervelde, &c. M. Smit, and Mr. De Winter, very opulent merchants, have a fine collection of paintings. Mr. Van Brenton has also a valuable cabinet, in which are the only Venetian pictures supposed to be in Holland; and in the surgery is a noble picture by Rembrandt.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE DUTCH THEATRE THEATRICAL TRAFFIC-THE RONDELL-SIN GULAR VILLAGE OF BROCK--SAARDAM--COTTAGE OF PETER THE GREAT-CLIMATE, DIVISIONS, AND POPULATION OF HOLLANDJOURNEY TO ZEYST--DUTCH FOND OF COFFEE- -SMALL FARMS-PICTURE OF A DUTCH PEASANT'S NEST-EFFECTS OF INDUSTRYPALACE OF SOESTDYKE PYRAMID RAISED IN HONOR OF BONAPARTE --SOCIETY OF HERRENHUTHERS--THEIR HOUSE AND INTERNAL ARRANGEMENTS DESCRIBED.

THE Dutch theatre is large and handsome, and has a noble front. On the night I was there, Madam Wattier performed: she occupies the same place in the public estimation in Holland as the immortal Siddons does in that of England: she is advanced in years, but still continues to display great tragic qualities: at the same time her manner is rather too vehement for an English auditor. The principal dancer in the ballet was Mademoiselle Polly, who dances with great agility. The scenery is good. During the interval between the acts, the people quit the house, to take refreshments and walk in the open air: upon these occasions the national spirit is again displayed: as there is no half-price, little boys hover round the doors, and bid upon each other for the purchase of the re-admission tickets of those who come out, for the

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purpose of re-selling them at a profit. The French theatre is small but neat, and tolerably well supplied with performers. After the play it is usual to go to the Rondell, where the higher classes of the women of the town assemble to waltz. This assembly-room, like the spill-house of Rotterdam, is frequented by tradesmen, their wives and their children. After hearing so much of this place, I was greatly disappointed on viewing it. The assembly-room is small and shabby, the music wretched, and adjoining is a small square court, with three or four trees in it, scantily decorated with about a dozen lamps. Such is the celebrated Rondell of Amsterdam, which the Dutch who have never visited England contend is superior to our Vauxhall.

With a large and very agreeable party, I made an excursion into North Holland, where we visited Brock, one of the most curious, and one of the prettiest villages in Holland. The streets are divided by little rivulets; the houses and summer-houses, formed of wood painted green and white, are very handsome, though whimsical in their shape, and are all remarkably neat. They are like so many mausoleums, for the silence of death reigns throughout the place. The inhabitants, who have formed a peculiar association amongst themselves, scarcely ever admit a stranger within their doors, and hold but little intercourse with each other. During our stay, we saw only the faces of two of them, and those by a stealthy peep. They are very rich,

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so much so, that many of their culinary utensils are of solid gold. The shutters of the windows in front of the houses are always kept shut, and the principal entrance is never opened but on the marriage or the death of one of the family. The pavement of the street is tesselated with all sorts of little pebbles and cockle-shells, and are kept in such exquisite order, that a dog or a cat are never seen to trespass upon it; and it is said, that formerly there was a law which obliged all passengers to take off their shoes in the summer when they walked upon it; that a man was once reprimanded for sneezing in the streets; and latterly, a clergyman, upon being appointed to fill the church on the demise of a very old predeccessor, was treated with great shyness by his flock because he did not (unwittingly) take off his shoes when he ascended the pulpit. The gardens of this village produce deer, dogs, peacocks, chairs, tables, and ladders, cut out in box. Such a museum of vegetable statuary I never witnessed before. Brock represents a sprightly ball-room well lighted up, without a soul in the orchestra or upon the floor. From Brock we proceeded to Saardam, which at a small distance seems to be a city of windmills. The houses are principally built of wood, every one of which has a little fantastic babysort of garden. Government has discontinued building ships of war here, which used to be a source of great prosperity to the town; however, its numerous paper and saw

ing mills employ a vast number of hands, and produce great opulence to the place. We paid our homage to the wooden cottage where Peter the Great resided when he came to this place to learn the art of ship-building; it is very small, and stands in a garden, and is in tolerable preservation. The women in North Holland are said to be handsomer than in any other part of the country. As I was very desirous of commencing my tour on the Rhine, I was glad to return to Amsterdam.

The climate of Holland is moist, but far from being unpleasant or unwholesome, although some travellers have thought proper to say it consists of six months of rain and six months of bad weather. The principal divisions of the country are at present the same as they were during the republic, namely, Holland, Overyssel, Zealand, Friesland, Utrecht, Groningen, Guelderland, and Zutphen, besides the Texel and other islands; but the king has it in contemplation, it is said, of speedily dividing the kingdom into ten departments. Holland contains 113 cities. or large towns, 1400 villages, and nearly 2,800,000 inhabitants. The military force of Holland amounts to about 40,000 cavalry and infantry. A population and a force which cannot but astonish the reader, when he reflects upon the size, soil, and position of the country.