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In several parts of the city, memorials of the inroads of the Spaniards are traceable, not only in the forms of several of the buildings, but in several mottos and inscriptions in their language, which are still legible in many of the old buildings, in this and in other cities.

The number of Jews in Rotterdam is very great, and many of them are of high respectability, and as much distinguished for their integrity, as their industry and opulence.

Soon after my arrival I had the pleasure of dining with one of the first families of that persuasion: our host, a very amiable man, gave us a true Dutch dinner, consisting of nearly fifteen different sorts of fish, exquisitely dressed, and served up with vegetables of various kinds. In Holland, in preparing the fish for the kettle, the head, fins, and tail, are generally cut off. In this city port wine is scarcely ever drank; it is by no means gratifying to a Dutch palate. Some was presented to me at a dinner where I was, but it was so old that all its flavour had evaporated. The principal wines drank are Claret, Madeira, and the Rhine wines. I found the bread in Holland every where excellent, and the coffee every where bad. I soon found that the received opinion of there being no beggars in Holland is perfectly erroneous. I was frequently beset by these sons and daughters of sorrow or idleness, who preferred their petition with indefatigable pursuit, but in so gentle a tone, that it was evident they were fearful of the police. They are abundant, but orderly. It was observed by some English in Holland, that a Dutch beggar is too wise to waste his breath by asking alms of a Dutchman, and that relief is only sought from strangers: the fact is, there are so many asylums for paupers, that a Dutchman acquainted with the legislative provision made for them, always considers a beggar as a lawless vagabond.

For this reason, and this alone, Charity seldom takes an airing in Holland: towards the wretched, in the streets, the rich in this country

"Resemble sweet instruments hung up in cases,

"That keep their sounds to themselves."

Timon of Athens, Act. I. Sc. 5.

In no country of its size, as will appear in the course of this journal, are there more charitable institutions, and at the same time a stronger appetite for accumulation. To make a good bargain is considered by many a Dutchman as the highest achievement of the human mind. As a proof that they never suffer their national animosities to interfere with individual interest, the reader may rely on the following anecdote.

In an early stage of the last war, when the Dutch government rigorously prohibited the importation of English manufactures, some members of the executive body entered into an agreement with a mercantile house in Rotterdam, to supply the requisition for the clothing of the French army, by a clandestine importationof cloth from England, and the looms of Yorkshire accordingly clothed ten thousand French soldiers.

The same commercial spirit was observed by the Dutch many years since to us, when, in a severe battle between the fleets of the Republic and Great Britain, during a cessation of the fight, for the mutual accommodation of repairing the damages sustained, some of the officers of the Dutch ships actually offered the captains of some of ours, supplies of gunpowder at an advanced price, in consequence of understanding that two or three of our ships had nearly exhausted their stores of it.

The Dey of Tunis made a more whimsical offer; when the heroic and immortal Nelson threatened to blow his capital about his ears, the Dey sent to his lordship to know the cost of every shot that would be fired, the answer was nearly a pound sterling; upon which the Dey said, if his lordship would calculate how many shots would be necessary to demolish his capital, and send him half the amount in good bills, he would destroy it himself.

I nowhere saw, except amongst the skippers, that mighty mass of breeches, in which my expectation had in part clothed every Dutchman's frame: but the appearance of many of the men in long flowered waistcoats, and trunk hose, and the females in short plaited petticoats, blue stockings, and large round silver buckles projecting over either side of the foot, was very whimsical. Many of their dresses are hereditary; and grandfather,

father, and son, have in regular succession proceeded to the altar in the same nuptial breeches. The quays of Rotterdam are very spacious, and every where embellished with trees; and the canals deeper and cleaner than in any other of the large cities in the kingdom.

In consequence of the features of every street being so similar, a stranger finds uncommon difficulty in reaching the place of his destination, or in returning to his hotel, without a guide.

After having secured a bed-room and deposited our luggage at the Mareschal de Turenne, kept by Mr. Crabb, an Englishman, who renders the character of a maitre d'hotel eminently respectable, by his attention to foreigners of every description, and to his own countrymen in particular, by moderate charges and excellent accommodations, we proceeded to the Exchange at two o'clock, when the merhants assemble.

This building is an oblong square with a covered walk on each side, and is plain and handsome. It was finished in 1736. I was astonished to find it crowded in every part, and presenting, in the activity and bustle which were displayed, every appearance of a great commercial country in a high state of prosperous tranquillity.

In this Babel assembly the greatest interest for a successful termination of the negotiation between France and England seemed anxiously to prevail; and induced a stranger like myself to think that the interests of Holland were pretty closely interwoven with those of England.

The arrival of English papers, and of couriers from Paris, never failed to excite a strong sensation from one end of the city to the other. Upon the exchange I saw several Englishmen transacting business; and such is the respect which the Dutch bear towards us, that we soon found the suspicion of our being English rather increased than damped the civilities we experienced.

As Rotterdam may be considered, as Bonaparte has recently described the city of Hamburg, une ville Anglaise, in consequence of so many English families having settled there before the revoFution, and also of the proximity of its port to England, it was

with surprise I found that the new ruler and form of government were so popular as they are in this city.

In the years 1794 and 1795 the progress of the French arms excited uncommon consternation in this city, in which a higher veneration for the stadtholderian government, as established under the influence of England and Prussia in 1787, existed, than in any other city in the United Provinces.

As the French advanced, the principal English families fled with great precipitation, and were followed by many of the Dutch: their flight was in the most inclement part of a winter remarkably rigorous, and they were obliged to pass over frozen canals, rivers and deep snows, many by the most wretched open conveyances, in their way to Helvoetsluys, where they embarked for that country, which, since the time of the first Charles, has, thank Heaven! been neither the seat of war, nor of revolutionary phrenzy.

A short time before we visited Rotterdam, we heard that the king and queen had visited that city, the only one which they had then honoured with their presence, except the seat of the royal residence at the Hague.

Upon their arrival in the city, their majesties and the two princes, in their carriages, attended by their suite and an escort of horse, proceeded to the Exchange, where they were waited upon by the principal functionaries and a deputation of the most opulent merchants of the city. Their majesties appeared to be much affected by the very flattering manner in which they were received.

The queen, who is always mentioned by those who have had the honour of knowing her before and since the wonderful elevation of so many branches of her family, as a most amiable, enlightened, and accomplished woman, very much gratified some of the members, and the nation at large, by observing upon the Exchange: "We are deeply penetrated by the cordiality with which we have been received in the country; as strangers we could/not, and did not expect such a reception; but we hope to remain long enough amongst you to secure your esteem, by doing all the good in our power." This short address, delivered with that grace and manner, which, I am informed, are so characteristic of her ma

jesty, captivated all the Dutchmen present, and spread with great celerity through every part of the city, and contributed to raise her very high in the public estimation.

From the Exchange their majesties proceeded to the Admiralty, and were gratified, for the first time in their lives, with seeing a man of war, a seventy-four, launched; and after partaking of a splendid collation, they passed through the principal streets in a single carriage, unattended by their body guard. On this public occasion, the only external ornament which the king wore was the star of the legion of honour.

In the department of the admiralty, the king has effected many wise and salutary regulations. He has abolished all the sinecure offices attached to it, reduced overgrown salaries, and doubled the hours of labour of the clerks, who were before almost receiving the wages of idleness from the country. By this firm and sagacious conduct, the king has already produced a saving to the state of two millions sterling a year.

Before the new constitution, which will be given hereafter, was finally adjusted, the king declared, that the national debt should be most sacredly respected, and its guarantee forms accordingly a permanent feature in that system, and measures have been adopted for its speedy liquidation. The king has also chosen two gentlemen of high respectability from the body of the merchants of Rotterdam to be members of his council.

Before these circumstances, and the previous unsettled condition of the country are known or reflected upon, it would appear somewhat paradoxical, that as the interests of the Dutch have a bias in favour of England, and as their government is of French construction, the ruler who has been placed over them by events little less than miraculous, could ever, and especially in so short a time, have made himself popular; but to the fact I pledge myself, upon the authority of some of the most respectable and enlightened Dutchmen in different parts of Holland, repeatedly renewed to me.

It is a subject of congratulation with every Englishman, that a similar spirit of economy and retrenchment animates the minds

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