THE MARINE SCHOOL.

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with me. The melons in Holland are remarkably fine; and as a proof of their cheapness, I need only mention, that one morning, when strolling through the streets, I gave no more than the value of tenpence for a very large one, exquisitely flavoured.

I was much pleased with seeing the marine school, which, although its object is to form a nursery for naval officers, was, strange to relate, much neglected by the stadtholderian government, and was originally instituted, and afterwards supported, by the patriotic spirit of private individuals. The pupils are the children of citizens of all classes, and are received from seven to twelve years of age, upon the payment of a very moderate yearly stipend. Their education and treatment are the same as in similar institutions here and in other countries. In the yard is a brig completely rigged, for the instruction of the boys.

In the north-east part of the city stands the Rapshuys, or rasp-house, in which criminals, whose offences are not of a capital nature, are confined. A narrow court receding from the street, in which are the keeper's lodge and apartments for the different officers, form the entrance of this prison. Over the gate are some insignificant, painted, wooden figures, representing criminals sawing logwood, and Justice holding a rod over them. The gaoler, apparently a good natured, merry fellow, shewed me into the

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inner court, forming an oblong square, on three sides of which the cells of the prisoners, and on the fourth side the warehouses, containing the ground dying wood, are arranged. This yard is very much encumbered with piles of log-wood, which sadly reduce the miserable pittance of space allotted for the prisoners to walk in. In one corner, in terrorem, is a whipping-post, with another little figure of Justice holding a rod. In this yard I saw some of the men sawing the Campeachy-wood, with a saw of prodigious large teeth, which appeared to be a work of extreme labor; and upon my so expressing myself to the gaoler, through my lacquais de place, he informed me, that at first it required a painful exertion of strength, but that the prisoners by practice were enabled to saw it with ease, and to supply their weekly quota of two hundred pounds weight of sawed pieces, and also to make a variety of little articles in straw, bone, wood, and copper, to sell to those who visited the prison. The prison dress consists of a jacket, or surtout of white woollen, white shirts, hats, flannel stockings, and leather shoes. The conduct of these unfortunate persons is annually reported to the magistrate, who regulates the period of their confinement, where the case will admit of an exercise of discretion, by such report.

In a corner of the yard I was shewn a cell, in which, if the person who is confined in it does not incessantly pump

out the water let into it, he must inevitably be drowned; but the gaoler informed me, that it had not been used for many years, and that it was now only an object of terror. In the warehouses, which are very shabby, were piles of rasped wood for dying of various colours; amongst others, the Evonymus Europæus, the Morus Tinctoria, and the Hæmotoxylum Campechionum. I was informed, that women who are attached to the prisoners, are permitted to visit them at stated periods, without any restraint, by which one of the great political objects of Holland, the encouragement of population, does not suffer by this wholesome separation of the faulty from the blameless members of society. The number of prisoners amounted to 124; they were far from looking healthy; this I attributed more to the height of the walls enclosing the yard, which, as well as the number of logwood piles, 'must greatly impede the circulation of the air, than to excess of toil and severity of treatment. The prisoners are not encumbered with irons, and I should think an escape from such a prison might be easily effected.

From the rasp-house I proceeded to the work-house, in the east quarter of the city, close to the Muider and Prince Gragts, an establishment which I believe has no parallel in the world. It is a vast building: the purposes to which it is applied are partly correctional and partly charitable. The

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THE WORK-HOUSE.

number of persons within its walls, when I saw it, amounted to seven hundred and fifty of both sexes, and the annual expence is about one hundred thousand florins. In the rooms belonging to the governors and directresses, are some exquisite pictures by Vandyke, Rembrandt, and Jordaens. In a vast room very cleanly kept and well ventilated, were an immense number of women, occupied in sewing, spinning, &c.; amongst them was a fine, handsome, hearty looking Irish woman, who had been confined two years at the instance of her husband, for being more fond of a little true Schidam gin than of her liege spouse. In another vast apartment, secured by massy iron railing and grated windows, were about seventy female convicts, who appeared to be in the highest state of discipline, and were very industriously and silently engaged in making lace, &c. under the superintendency of a governess. From the walls of the room were suspended instruments of punishment, such as scourges, irons for the legs, &c. which, we were informed, were not spared upon the slightest appearance of insubordination. These women are always kept apart from the rest. The wards of the men, and the schoolFooms for a great number of children, who are educated and maintained under the same roof, as well as the dormitories, were in the highest state of neatness. In another part of this building, never shewn to strangers, were confined about ten young ladies, of very respectable, and

some of very high families, sent there by their parents or friends for undutiful deportment, or some other domestic offence-they are compelled to wear a particular dress as a mark of degradation, obliged to work a stated number of hours a day, and are occasionally whipped: they are kept apart by themselves, and no one but a father, mother, brother, or sister, can see them during their confinement, and then only by an order from one of the directors. Husbands may here, upon complaint of extravagance, drunkenness, &c. duly proved, send their wives to be confined and receive the discipline of the house; and wives their husbands, for two three, and four years together. The allowance of food is abundant and good, and each person is permitted to walk for a proper time in the courts within the building, which are spacious. Every ward is kept locked, and no one can go in or out without the especial permission of the proper officer.

Close to this place is the plantation, a very large portion of ground within the city, laid out in avenues, and a great number of little gardens, formed into several divisions by streets of pretty country and summer-houses; and the whole is surrounded by canals. To this rus in urbe, such of the citizens and their families repair in the summer to dine or drink tea, whose finances, or spirit of economy will not admit of their having a house in the