AMSTERDAM-PALACE-BROEK.

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ble, as the Dutch are a particularly clean and tidy people in their houses. The present population is about two hundred thousand. The canals are said to divide it into ninety-five islands, and to be traversed by two hundred and ninety bridges. The houses are all built upon piles, which are driven down to a great depth before they find a solid foundation. Many of these have settled, and whole rows of houses have thereby lost their perpendicular, presenting a very unsafe appearance; but, having stood so for many years, no apprehension seems to be felt. The palace stands on thirteen thousand six hundred and fifty-nine piles, driven seventy feet in the ground. The ball-room, in the palace, is the most beautiful in Europe, being one hundred and twenty feet long, sixty broad, and one hundred high. The drapery is of India silk, as thick as sail-cloth-a relic of Holland's former times of commercial prosperity. They have some curious customs here. The sermons to be preached on Sundays, in the churches, are publicly announced beforehand, in placards. The congregations sit, during service, with their hats on or off, just as they prefer.

We rode out one day to Broek, a little village in the vicinity of the city, which I cannot omit recording, for some of its singularities. The country here, as well as almost all Holland, is entirely a grazing country, and this little village is the residence of those who keep large herds of cows, and manufacture, very extensively, the small, round, Dutch cheeses, which find their way in considerable quan

tities to this country and to other parts of the world. The houses are situated in the midst of beautiful gardens, and so fastidiously neat and clean are the people, that not a horse is allowed in the place for fear of soiling the streets, which are kept as scrupulously clean as the houses. The stalls even, of the cows, have every arrangement for cleanliness, even to such a nicety as would hardly be believed by those who have never seen them. Another peculiarity of the people, and one which seems to be a relic of superstitious ages, is, that they have two entrance doors to their houses; one of which is used ordinarily, and the other only on marriage and funeral occasions.

All through Holland we were amused with the manner in which their dinners are served. Dinner seems to be a very important and serious business to the Dutch. It consists invariably, at the hotels, of at least a dozen courses, the arrangement of which is very singular. Soup generally comes first, then some kind of meat, followed with pudding; after that, cold fish; then potatoes, then perhaps cauliflower, beans, or other vegetables, each as a different course; then pie or pudding again; then chicken, and so on to the end of the chapter. Never two articles being brought on at once, but each different thing, should it be only a potatoe, as a separate course. The whole meal cannot well be got through with in less than two hours.

CHAPTER XII.

Dusseldorf-Leutze-Cologne-Cathedral, and Church of St. Ursula -Cologne Water-The Rhine, its Scenery, Legends and Superstitions-Coblentz-The Blue Moselle-Stolzenfels-Mayence.

A

T Düsseldorf we visited LEUTZE's studio, and

found him engaged in giving the last touches to his great national picture of "Washington Crossing the Delaware;" a picture which is every way worthy the promise which his former works had given, and which will be an enduring monument to his fame in the United States; the subject, the conception, the treatment and the finish, all combining to make it, what it has already proved to be, one of the most popular pictures in this country. We were indebted to him, also, for many courtesies, which we take pleasure in acknowledging. After having gratified us with a sight of several others of his own pictures, he took us to the studios of LESSING, HUBNER, and ACHENBACH. LESSING was not at home, but we found the others at work, and had the pleasure of conversing with them, and seeing several of their beautiful paintings. He also drove us to the private garden of a friend, who has a fancy for roses, where we saw twenty-three hundred different varieties of roses, all in full bloom. Through the kind attention of LEUTZE, our visit to Düsseldorf was made far more agreeable and interesting than it could otherwise have been.

Cologne was originally a Roman camp, and AGGRIPPINA, the mother of NERO, having been born here, she afterward sent a colony from Rome, to found a city, and gave it the name of " Colonia Aggrippina," -hence its modern name, Cologne. Some of the Roman customs still prevail; such as the Carnival, which is celebrated here, it is said, (and nowhere else in Northern Europe,) with as much spirit and pomp as in Rome or Venice. "The inhabitants were so proud of their Roman origin, that up to the time of the French revolution, the higher citizens styled themselves patricians; the burgomasters wore the consular toga, and were attended by lictors." There are also many traces of the Roman occupation, particularly the remains of the ancient walls of the city. The Cathedral, although still in a very incomplete state, was commenced in 1248. The vastness of the plan, the money necessary to carry it into execution, together with political disturbances and revolutions from time to time, have hitherto prevented its being finished; great efforts are making now, however, by associations all over Europe, to collect subscriptions for its completion; liberal contributions have also been made, from time to time, by the government, so that it has been progressing for some years with considerable spirit. The length of the building is five hundred and eleven feet, and the breadth two hundred and thirty-one feet; it is to have two towers, each five hundred feet high. "The Shrine of the Three Kings of Cologne," (who, the tradition says, were the veritable Magi who came from the East, with presents for the infant Savior,) contains the skulls and some

CHURCH OF ST. URSULA—JEAN MARIA FARINA. 71

other bones of these worthies. It is partly of solid gold, and partly of silver gilt, thickly studded with rich jewels, and is said to be worth over one million of dollars, which is doubtless an exaggeration. There is another shrine here, very rich and costly, in honor of St. Englebert; also various religious ornaments of great value and beauty, presented by Popes and crowned heads. The Church of St. Ursula is very curious, from its antiquity, and from containing the bones of this saint and her eleven thousand virgin companions, who, the tradition says, had been on a pilgrimage from Brittany to Rome, and returning thence were all slaughtered at this place by the Huns, because they refused to break their vows of chastity. The walls are hollow, and filled with bones, which can be seen through grated openings, all around the church, from foundation to roof. The history of this princely saint is depicted in a series of wretched paintings placed on the walls of the church. There are a number of the descendants of JEAN MARIA FARINA in the city, each claiming some peculiar privilege to be considered the true and only genuine representative of the celebrated original inventor of the Cologne water, which their ancestor has made to be so famous throughout the world. All these successors rejoice in the name of JEAN MARIA FARINA, the name being perpetuated in the family, whether the virtues of the Cologne remain equal to the original or not. It was something, however, to carry home a bottle of the fragrant article, purchased on the spot. Most of the guide books describe Cologne as a remarkably filthy city, and travelers generally do not appear to