NOTES ON THE NETHERLANDS.

BY CALEB CUSHING.

THE HAGUE: VOORBURG: THE RHYNLAND.

No city in Europe is more celebrated for the general magnificence of its buildings, or the beauty of its promenades and streets, than the Hague. Having been the ancient residence of the old courts of Holland, afterward of the States General of the United Provinces, during the long period of their prosperity and power, and more recently the seat of the new government alternately with Brussels, it has at all times continued to receive those decorations proper to the residence of a court, and the place of resort of the most elevated and select society. While the purposes of the government itself have rendered a large number of public buildings necessary, other cities of Holland, and indeed several foreign nations, have contributed to beautify it by the construction of hotels for the residence of their representatives at a court, where the great interests of Europe so frequently centered. Of course a general spirit of cultivation and refinement, as well in manners as in all other respects, is a distinguishing trait of the Hague. The style of building, the dress and appearance of the inhabitants, the various decorations of the city, are more European than elsewhere in Holland; that is, have more of those peculiarities of taste, which, being characteristic of the upper classes, are substantially the same all over Europe. At the same time, in its canals, in its gardens and walks, and in the people who supply the daily market, you see enough of what is purely Dutch, to satisfy you in what country you are travelling.

What the Dutch particularly prize and admire, at the Hague, is the beauty of its public walks and its places, or squares, as, for want of a better name, they are called in English, and its noble groves and avenues of trees. Indeed, on whatever side you enter the city, you are partly prepared for this feature of it, by the broad and regular avenues of majestic trees by which it is approached but the reality far exceeds the expectations which you will have formed; for nothing can exceed the rich verdure of the Vyverberg and the Voorhout. The Vyverberg is an extensive oblong square, planted with noble trees, and having a beautiful promenade which overlooks a large sheet of water, faced with stone, and having a wooded island in its centre, and beyond it, a pile of buildings connected with the old palace. The Voorhout is a magnificent street, bordered by rich buildings, with its rows of trees, conducting to the Wood, as it is called, of which I shall speak hereafter. The parade, and the park, with its herd of deer peacefully feeding under the trees, follow in the same direction. The Boschkant also deserves to be mentioned in connexion with the rest, it being a broad street, bordering on the Wood, as its name imports, and presenting similar features of blended rural beauty and city magnificence. Indeed, all this part of the Hague has the appearance of a vast garden.

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Of the great edifices of the Hague, the Old Palace is the most ancient, and in other respects the most remarkable. It is a huge pile of buildings, of different ages and styles, put together without much system, yet not unpleasing in its effect. Part of it was the court of the counts of Holland, in the days of their glory. It is a sort of fortress, surrounded by water, to which you enter by three bridges and as many gates. In the central building is a large and lofty apartment, of great height, reminding one of Westminster Hall, in its general character, although not in its details. It was used, when I saw it, for drawing the prizes of the public lottery, and for the bills of the deferred national debt, which were placed in a colossal wheel, of a bold and striking construction. The other buildings contain extensive apartments, of various kinds. Some were occupied by the old States General; others by the Stadhouder; others, more recently built, by the National Assembly and by Louis Napoleon.

The new palace is the residence of the present king of the Netherlands. It was formerly used as the abode of several princes of the house of Orange, but has been greatly altered and improved, to adapt it to its present destination. It consists of a central building of brick, with two wings projecting in front, and with a superb garden in the rear; and although not preeminently beautful as a royal palace, is yet convenient, and not open to particular exception. The king's family being at Brussels, I was enabled to see all the apartments, under the guidance of the house-keeper, who spoke good English. It seems, at first blush, somewhat singular that the private dwelling of a prince should be thrown open to every curious gazer; but a moment's reflection reconciles one to the usage; because the arrangements of the palace are all designed for ostentation, and while the exhibition of it occasions no inconvenience to the occupant, it serves to raise the ideas entertained of him by his subjects and by strangers. To describe minutely the interior of the palace, would be to give details of the color of hangings, and the materials of which the furniture was composed, partaking too much of the style of an upholsterer's inventory of goods and chattels. A few general remarks on the subject will suffice.

I was most agreeably impressed, in the first place, with the good taste which appeared to have presided over all the decorations and furnishing of this royal residence. Every thing in it united elegance with commodiousness, in a remarkable degree, all the comforts of refined life being collected, and it was throughout worthy of a monarch, yet without running into the senseless luxury and prodigality of expense displayed at Versailles by Louis XIV. Chairs and couches of figured satin, carpets of the best Brussels fabrics, hangings of silk, velvet, or gobelin tapestry, mantel ornaments, and clocks in the exquisite style of Parisian workmanship, portraits and other pictures, as usual, such were the contents of the various apartments. Pictures of the royal family abound, comme de raison, and busts of the family and those with whom they are now connected by marriage. Among the rest were fine portraits of two of her children, said to have been painted by the queen herself, and if so, highly creditable to her taste and education. Some few superior paintings, of a miscellaneous kind, are shown here, but they are not numerous, nor does the palace possess many of those master-pieces of art which distin

guish several of the royal residences in Europe. Some of the most beautiful objects in the palace were presents from other sovereigns, and among them a superb font of polished jasper, presented by the Emperor Nicholas, particularly attracted my attention. Some other edifices deserve a passing notice.

The palaces of the present Prince of Orange and of Prince Frederic, situated in another part of the city, are simple and unpretending, but suited to their rank. The Stadhuis contains, according to the custom of the country, a number of portraits of persons distinguished in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and a considerable library. Several of the churches are worthy of notice, especially the principal one, which contains the mausoleum of Admiral De Wassenaar, beside the tombs of many noble families. It is also decorated with the insignia of a number of knights of the order of the Golden Fleece, a chapter having been held here in the time of Philip the Good. Another, called the New Church, is highly esteemed for its architecture, especially the vaulted roof, which is sustained without the aid of pillars. Every friend of liberty will view with interest the spot in one of the public places, where the wise and virtuous De Witt perished with his brother, the victims of an infuriated faction. Of the great establishments of a miscellaneous kind, the cannon foundry is the most curious, and ranked among the best in Europe.

One of the circumstances which distinguishes the Hague, is the value of its collections in literature, science, natural history, antiquities, and the arts. It contains a public library, planned in humble imitation of the Bibliotheque du Roi at Paris, and respectably furnished with books, manuscripts, and medals. Several private associations also possess collections of various kinds. But the most important of all, are the cabinet and museum preserved in the palace called Mauritshuis, so denominated from having been originally the hotel of Prince Maurice, the Dutch governor of Brazil. The museum consists of a fine collection of the Dutch and Flemish masters, with some few specimens of the schools of France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.

The Cabinet of Curiosities fully deserves the name; for it contains an extraordinary collection of antiquities and other curiosities, of the greatest rarity and value, having relation to the manners and customs of different nations and ages. To attempt any satisfactory enumeration and description of its contents would require a volume; and I shall only particularize some few of the most curious articles. There is a large series of articles from China, representing every thing curious in the arts, the agriculture, the trade, the domestic life, and the religion of that singular people; and a similar series, illustrative of the national peculiarities of Japan, forming a collection unrivalled by any thing of the kind to be seen in Europe. Apparel of every description; armor and instruments of warfare; a great variety of services for the table; figures in the costume of religious ceremonies; every article used in the toilet; an extraordinary quantity of specimens of all the delicate workmanship of the Chinese in ivory, shell, pearl, sandal-wood and rice, and other valuable materials; models in colored wax of all the peculiar fruits of the country; paintings representing the mode of cultivating rice and tea; large cases containing groups of figures in various occupations, for the purpose of exhibit

ing the manners of the Japanese to the very life; large models of factories and towers, precisely as they exist; in short, every thing which the singular ingenuity and industry of the Chinese could make, in illustration of the actual state of China and Japan. Many individual articles are also found here, having reference to the people of Hindostan, of the Cape of Good Hope, of the slave coast, of America, and of other parts of the globe, which the commerce of the Dutch enabled them to collect; but not to be compared in variety or value with those things which are of Chinese origin. Among single things of the same nature, the most curious is a large case of tortoise shell, manufactured at Amsterdam, by order of the Czar Peter, at a cost of thirty thousand florins, representing the whole interior of a rich merchant's house, as they were in Holland at the close of the seventeenth century. Another class of interesting curiosities consists of memorials of the great men of Holland. Thus you see the cuirass of the admiral Hein, the large heavy musquetoon of Van Tromp, and the entire military equipments of De Ruyter, consisting of his coat-armor, sabre, chain, gold medal, and baton of command. Interesting as these are, they yield in attraction to the habiliments of William I., at the time he was assassinated by Gerards. While they are invaluable as a memorial of the great man to whom they belonged, they are also curious as specimens of the coarse garb which a prince of that day wore, as compared with the splendid cloth and rich decorations of the present time. In short, this cabinet is emphatically a collection of the most original kind, rich and instructive as it is original, and in its Asiatic articles especially, it bears honorable testimony to the laudable curiosity of the Hollanders.

There is much also in the environs of the Hague to gratify the stranger. What first attracts him is the beautiful Wood, which commences at the city itself, and is a remnant of the vast forest which anciently extended along the coast of Holland. It contains many trees of a great age, and is embellished with winding alleys and meandering streams, which render it a most delightful promenade in the summer months. It is traversed by an excellent road, which leads directly to the Palace in the Wood, a country house built by Amelia de Solms, widow of the stadhouder Frederic Henry. She caused the saloon to be decorated with splendid paintings, representing the principal actions in the life of her husband. A set of apartments is furnished magnificently with hangings and furniture, all of Chinese workmanship, of the richest materials and fabric. Here is the favorite promenade of the inhabitants of the Hague, who regard, with commendable pride, the fine old oaks, clad in all their native luxuriance, which adorn this noble wood.

Another excursion, which affords equal gratification, but of a different sort, is to Zorgvliet, to the fishing town of Scheveningen, or Schevening, and the sea-shore, about ten miles from the Hague. A beautiful road, so straight that the steeple of Schevening is visible at the very entrance, and bordered by four rows of elms, oaks, and lime trees, forms an agreeable walk thither from the Hague. On the left are the celebrated gardens and orangery of Zorgvliet, where the poet and statesman, Jacob Cats, retired from his political labors, and still admired for the beauty of the grounds. Along the magnificent

avenue you meet the fishermen and their wives, going to or returning from the market at the Hague, with their costume so different from that of the city, and their little carts drawn by panting dogs. It was late in the afternoon when I returned from Schevening, and what especially amused me, was to see the fishermen trudging along with huge baskets balanced on their heads, and filled with articles for domestic use or food, which they had bought with the proceeds of their fish; while in many cases the husband rode home in genteel indifference, dragged by his dogs in the little cart, and leaving his wife to go on foot, and to carry the burthen beside. It is the singularity of the dress, appearance, and manners of these people, which renders Schevening an object of interest. The village is sufficiently wretched in appearance, being on the edge of the sandy waste washed by the sea. Children rolling about in the sand, only half covered by miserable rags; old men parading their decrepitude in the dirt, to excite compassion and gather a pittance of alms from the stranger; humble dwellings hardly blessed with the neatness characteristic of the country; such is the spectacle displayed in the streets of Schevening. A neat pavilion for the use of the queen, and a public inn and bathing-house, have recently been constructed near the water. Numerous fleets of small boats are constantly seen moored off the town, engaged in fishing; and larger vessels occasionally appear on the coast, from which there is an extensive view of the ocean. It was in sight of Schevening that De Ruyter beat the combined fleets of England and France, in 1673, gaining one of those great but hard-earned victories, which have immortalized his name.

I left the Hague much pleased with the city and its environs, taking the trekschuyt for Leyden, where I arrived in about three hours. The canal affords charming views, in consequence of the cultivated state of the country; but that part of it which passes through Voorburg, being the direct road from Delft to Leyden, is more delightful still. Along the side of the canal is the post-road with its avenue of trees, and the country is bright and gay, consisting of meadows and pastures, and sprinkled over with farm houses and country seats. Voorburg itself, which is supposed to be the ancient Forum Adriani, is a beautiful village, seemingly made up of country seats, and surrounded by verdant fields. The general style of these dwellings were much alike. A barn of neat construction, often fanciful, sometimes elegant, stood back among the trees, with its appropriate out-buildings. The grounds were curiously laid out, but always with verdant hedges, sometimes trained up to the height of ten feet, at others, clipped down to two or three, sometimes shaved perpendicularly to resemble a thin fence, and occasionally cut off on the summit, and made thick and heavy like a wall. In the gardens and across the fields, were walks laid out in various tastes, generally gravelled, and having small seats or benches here and there under the shade. Oftentimes beautiful villas rose among princely groves and gardens, with long avenues of trees and shrubs opening a magnificent vista to the canal. In almost every case, a summer house stood on the very edge of the canal, showing the strong attachment of the Dutch to the water, which leads to their construction upon the sedgy border of their canals, instead of in the recesses of a grove or a