and their elegant and stately forms, have a fine effect amidst the confusion of a populous and bustling city. This bird, like the ibis among the ancient Egyptians, is considered sacred by the Hollanders. It is never killed or disturbed, however familiar or troublesome it may prove, and that dwelling is considered as fortunate on which it chooses to take up its summer abode. The young are, however, sometimes captured and sold to slavery, which seems in some degree inconsistent with the veneration which is paid to the personal dignity of the parent bird. I am informed, that they observe an astonishing regularity in the periods of their migrations to and from this country. They usually make their appearance in spring about the end of March, and depart in the autumn about the beginning of September. They are said to winter in Egypt and the north of Africa. Yesterday evening, which was beautifully calm and serene, when the sun had sunk and dim twilight overspread the land, I found myself alone in a church-yard, -not a voice was audible to disturb the utter solitude and silence with which I was surrounded,-a soft and winnowing sound in the air suddenly attracted my attention, and immediately a beautiful pair of storks alighted in the church-yard, within a few paces of the place where I stood. It was a mild and dewy night, and they were no doubt attracted there by the expectation of a plentiful supper on the slugs and insects, which might have left their hiding places. My unexpected presence, however, seemed to disturb them, for in a few seconds they mounted to the steeple of the church, where they sat uttering their wild and singularly plaintive cries, which added greatly to those impressions of loneliness and seclusion which the situation naturally tended to inspire. Besides the usual note, I observe these birds make a singular noise, apparently by striking the two mandibles of the bill forcibly against each other. This too, in the stillness of a summer night, during which it is usually made, and when heard from the top of some lofty cathedral, a name which most of the churches in Holland deserve to bear,-produces a fine effect, and is, indeed, in my mind, already intimately connected with those undefinable sensations, the rem

nants, as it were, of the superstitions of our infancy, which, I believe, most men experience while wandering alone, and in darkness, among those. venerable piles which have been for so many ages consecrated to the purposes of religion.

But I must, for the present, bid adieu to these "dwellers in the temple," though what I have said is due to their memory, from the pleasure which they afforded me during one beautiful evening of summer.

Delft, where I now am, is said to be an ancient town, and so it appears, for the canals are green and stagnant, and the streets narrow, except at the great central square, which is certainly not insignificant. As usual, the canals are numerous, and bordered with rows of trees. A Dutchman, with whom I travelled for a few hours in the trecksschuit, informed me, that the canals of the town might be cleaned, by means of sluices, every day, and that the frequency of this operation accounted for the greater purity to be observed in their waters. He likewise mentioned, that he was a native of the town of Delft, from which circumstance, as I remarked rather the reverse of a superiority in the particular alluded to, I infer that he was inclined to flatter the place of his nativity.

Here I visited the principal church, which is well worthy of inspection for its own instrinsic excellence, and still more so on account of the remains of many illustrious men which have been deposited in it, and the superb monuments which a grateful country have erected to perpetuate their memory.

The church itself is very large, and is divided in the interior by two ranges of magnificent arched pillars; and there are no galleries to diminish the grandeur produced by the great height of the walls and the vaulting of the superb roof.

The monuments are worthy of being held in undying remembrance. Indeed I have somewhere read, that Delft might be considered as the Westminster of Holland, on account of the remains of warriors and of learned men which it contains. In the centre of one compartment of the church stands the splendid mausoleum of William I. Prince of Orange, a man who is justly considered as the found

er of Dutch liberty, and whose memory is revered throughout the land. It is the finest monument in Holland, and is thought by some competent judges, to present one of the most perfect specimens of architectural magnificence in Europe.

It consists of a square base of white marble and bronze, and of a beautiful canopy of similar materials, supported by four alabaster pillars. Between the two pillars facing the great organ, sits a bronze statue of the Prince, in complete armour, seemingly occupied in the administration of justice. On his right side there is a fine statue of the goddess of Liberty, and on his left stands Justice with her scales. The former struck me as being the more beautiful; it is a production of real genius, and the greater is the pity that a work so perfect should be deformed by any thing incongruous or absurd,

"That it is true 'tis pity, and pity 'tis 'tis true."

But either the evil star of the artist has, in an inauspicious hour, darkened the light of his genius,-or some patriotic son of Batavia, avidous of immortality, has generously offered himself as the amender of a work, which, from the improvement suggested by him, he could not possibly understand; for over the left hand of the beautiful creature before mentioned, is placed a ponderous chapeau bras, richly gilded, and sufficiently large, in the eye of taste and feeling, to overshadow one half of the mausoleum itself, though, no doubt, in the opinion of its infatuated manufacturer, spreading a halo light through every corner of the edifice. It is considered, even by well educated Dutchmen, as an elegant emblem of that noble spirit which resisted the oppression of the cruel Spaniard, and worthy of being placed as a glory around the head of their sainted prince. At each corner, on the opposite side, there is a female figure of great excellence. These I believe to be emblematic of Religion and Strength. The one stands upon a pillar of white marble, on which the name of Christ is engraven in letters of gold, and bears the representation of a chureh in her hand; the other holds a book. They are probably meant to perpetuate the memory of the sufferings of the people during the times of religious persecution, and that happy emanci

pation which was the certain consequence of their fortitude and virtue. Between these statues, a little advanced beneath the canopy, there is a statue of Fame. The attitude is common place, but the execution is fine. Above the canopy there is a large and beautiful alabaster urn, on which a suit of armour of white marble, and of most exquisite workmanship, is placed, and near it the Prince is represented stretched upon his tomb. At his feet there is the figure of the dog, which, at a former period having sav ed his life, by awakening him when his tent was beset by Spaniards, is reported to have refused all sustenance after the death of its beloved master. This great Prince, if my memory serves me, was assassinated by a native of Burgundy, who shot him in the breast with three balls, when he was descending his own staircase after dinner. The assassin, whose name was Baltazar Gerard, was supposed to have been instigated on the one hand by the machinations of some diabolical monks, and on the other, allured by the gold and by the promises of the perfidious Philip. Gerard, like many other villains, was well endowed with personal courage, and with a resolution worthy of a better cause ;-he sacrificed his own life in order to destroy this famous restorer and protector of religious liberty.

Besides the ornaments which I have already described, there are several weeping cherubim near the body, of white marble, and in the same masterly style; and many figures of smaller size adorn the base of the pedestal and the frieze work of the canopy, all equally worthy of attention and admiration.

The following is a translation of the inscription, the original of which is not without beauty of sentiment and elegance of expression: "To God, whose power and goodness have. no bound; and to the eternal memory of William of Nassau, Sovereign Prince of Orange, the father of this country, the welfare of which he preferred to his own and to that of his family;-who raised and headed, at two different times, and chiefly at his own expense, a powerful army, with the approbation of the States ;who repulsed the tyranny of Spain ;who re-established the worship of true religion, as well as the ancient laws

the country;-in fine, who left, at his death, his son Maurice, an heir to his many and royal virtues, together with the care of finally establishing that liberty which he had prepared. The confederate Belgian Provinces have erected this monument to the memory of this pious and invincible hero. Philip II. King of Spain, the terror of Europe, dreaded him ;-he never vanquished him, he never intimidated him, but he was base enough to use the hand of an infamous and mean assassin to take away his life."

It is, upon the whole, a most magnificent production, and well worthy the inspection of every one who has eyes to see, and soul to comprehend.

To the left of this beautiful structure is the grave of Grotius, with a monument, but paltry in comparison with the former. It consists chiefly of a large medallion, representing the head of Grotius, in white marble, and a child leaning upon an urn with an inverted torch. As the medallion is considered as very like him, he must have been an ugly man. This city is the place of his birth.

At the other end of the church, in a lonely corner, lie the remains of Leuwenhoeck, famous for his microscopical discoveries. Over his cold earth a plain monument is erected by his daughter, on which there is a head of the naturalist, and a simple, though beautiful, inscription in Latin. I was pleased by the utter stillness and seclusion of this corner of the church; it felt like a place where the person whose ashes it contained would have delighted to pursue his beautiful discoveries unmolested by the world, and in death accorded well with the gentle spirit of him whose life was the life of peace.

Having seen every thing worthy of being seen in the body of the church, I ascended to the top of the spire, and an arduous ascent it was; but the labour was amply repaid by the view which I enjoyed. Few sights will astonish a stranger more than the first view from the top of a Dutch stecple. The immense extent of the prospect without a hill or a valley, a rock or a winding river-is indeed most singular. Every thing is rich and luxuriant, but flat and uniform; the landscape appeared like one prodigious plain, extending on all sides as far as the eye could reach, with green fields,

rows of trees, and canals glittering in the sun. There were farm-houses with groves of chesnuts, villages with spires and poplars, and the fantastic city stretched beneath our feet; the whole appearing more like the gay creation of some whimsical monarch than the habitations of the plodding and phlegmatic Dutchman. After gazing for some time, I became at length quite unconscious of the great extent of the view, and could have believed that the whole visible world was converted into an extensive garden, with walks, and fish ponds, and shady terraces-chinese bridges, and basons for gold fish-with peacocks, painted barnacles, and Mandarins' summerhouses.

From this elevated situation I had a fine view of my old friends the storks, all busily employed in feeding their young. I could even keep them in sight during their excursions to the neighbouring canals, in search of food for their unfledged offspring. The impatience of the callow nestlings, on perceiving the approach of the assiduous parent, was extreme. They stretched their long necks over the nests from the chimney tops, the sooner to enjoy the wished for morsel, and appeared every moment as if about to precipitate themselves into the streets below.

En passant, I may remark, that when in Rotterdam, I questioned a Dutchman concerning the probable origin of the respect and protection which is afforded to this bird; he answered, as I expected, that it was on account of their clearing the canals and marshes of frogs and other amphibious gentry, with which they abound. I had not, however, proceeded ten yards after Mynheer had left me, when I observed an old woman sitting under a tree, with a most excellent supply of frogs in a basket ready for sale; and in fact, before I left her, a girl came up, "nothing loth," and made a purchase. If, therefore, frogs are in request as an article of food, as it is known they have been for centuries, no thanks are due to the storks for their efforts in diminishing their numbers; and as, in as far as I have heard or read, there are no noxious or poisonous animals in the country, it is probable the popular superstition in favour of these birds must have originated in some other cause. Besides, it is generally

admitted, that still waters stagnate sooner when deprived of animal life than when teeming with aquatic myriads, so that their claims to protection, as purifiers of the water, are, at the best, of a dubious nature. They may, however, act as a check to the superabundant production of such creatures during the heats of summer, the increase of which is no doubt favoured by the natural moisture of the soil and climate.

Having descended once more to the habitations of the well fed Dutchman, I found myself in a few minutes in another cathedral. It is named the Oude Kerk (old church), and contains a fine monument to the memory of the renowned Dutch Admiral, Von Tromp. Its most interesting feature is a recumbent statue of the hero himself, in white marble, the head resting upon a pillow of the same material, which, in appearance, has all the delicacy and softness of the finest down. Above the figure are certain allegorical personages, and beneath is a representation of the battle in which he fell. He was killed in a fight against the English in 1653, and is popularly known in Holland by the title of the "Great father of the sailors." Here the tomb of Peit-Hein, Admiral of the Indian Company, is also to be seen.

I may notice, that, in many of the cathedrals and churches of this country, the French, for what reason it is not easy to guess, have obliterated the inscriptions upon a great number of monuments; even those of eminent private persons, merely distinguished, it is said, for their virtue, or piety, or learning, have been erased from the stone. It is difficult to conceive any thing more wretchedly barbarous than this savage 66 warring with the dead." Yet in many places you see a large and stately ornamented marble presenting a universal blank.

Leaving Delft, and travelling through a pleasant district, with smiling cottages and lovely gardens on every side, I found myself at the Hague in the course of an hour. Near Ryswick, in particular, the trees are tall and majestic, and the general scenery most picturesque. Where that branch of the canal, which conducts to the Hague, leaves the great one leading direct to Leyden, the Castle of Ryswick is to be seen, where the treaty of 1697, between Louis XIV. and Hol

land, Spain, England, and Germany," was concluded.

The Hague is the court, though not the capital of Holland. The general appearance of the people here is less characteristic than in the other Dutch There are, towns which I have seen. however, many excellent and amusing figures among the fishermen and country people. On account of its not being surrounded by walls like the other towns in Holland, and being destitute of municipal rights, the Hague has been denominated a village, and in that view is probably the largest in the world. It contains nearly 40,000 inhabitants, and is adorned by many fine public buildings.

I was indeed much struck by the magnificent palaces of which this ele gant city is chiefly composed. I had no where seen so many princely town residences in one place. Having been long the seat of a rich and powerful government, and the residence of the Stadtholder and the Dutch noblesse, the Hague has not the same air of trade and commerce, or, excepting its hotels, any thing connected with the "art of money catching." All is elegance, and splendour, and repose. There is a noble square or place in the centre, adorned with a large bason of water, in which there is a little island covered with flowering shrubs and plants, and inhabited by swans and other aquatic birds, for whose convenience, and that of their young, there are little stairs on the margin of the lake, and shelter for their nests upon the island. These birds are there in perfect safety, the water being very deep; and they are all of course, as to health, and lustre, and plumage, in the "prime of May," and familiar enough.

What pleased me much, in admiring the Hague, was the great number and extent of noble edifices, and these not elbowed and shouldered by mean habitations. In some places kingly palaces are darkened by the gloom of surrounding hovels, and so mingled with each other, that greater magnificence and more slovenly wretchedness can hardly be imagined. It is like passing from Elysium to Tartarus. But here no such objection is to be found.

The palace of the Stadtholder is in a great measure surrounded by canals and drawbridges. It seems a large building, and consists of several divisions, which vary in aspect, and must

have been erected at different times. The principal street is the Voorhout. It is of great length, and contains many houses built in a style of singular elegance.

There are, however, in this town certain attendant evils, which perhaps tend in a considerable degree to diminish those advantages and superiorities which in other respects it may be said to enjoy. The canals, at least during my short stay, were greener and more stagnant than any I had yet seen. The people seem less primitive in their manners, and the doors and windows of the inns are constantly beset by crowds of officious beggars, whom it is impossible to satisfy, as one horde is no sooner dismissed than a fresh swarm arrives, equally rapacious with the former, and rendered more clamorous by the success of their predecessors.

I lodged at the Twee Steden (Two Cities), not the best auberge I believe. But even here I had some difficulty in obtaining access. The preference is always given, as is natural, to any overgrown Englishman who arrives with three or four carriages occupied by a colony. I happened at this time to be alone and on foot, that is, from the treckschuit; and I am, moreover, a little man, with a sallow complexion, and somewhat of a mean appearance.

Here I dined at the ordinary, and was not particularly delighted with the specimen which it exhibited of Dutch manners. The general aspect of the guests was certainly by no means prepossessing, though I trust, for the sake of Dutch refinement, that the picture which it presented was not one which ought to be considered in the light of a characteristic representation.

At the public table I found assembled a motley group of different aspects and professions, and from various climes. The greater proportion, however, were Dutchmen, and these, judging from their external characters, were chiefly merchants and merchants' clerks-lieutenants and ensigns in the army-captains of trading vessels-and gaunt attornies, all equally vociferous and vulgar in their manners: every one whistling, singing, laughing, and talking, and puffing out most elaborate fumes of abominable tobacco to the other side of the table, as he felt inclined, with

out seeming to consider it for a moment possible that any rational being would ever think of accommodating his own pleasures to those of another, or be in the slightest degree guided by any principle or feeling but the immediate gratification of every momentary impulse of his own coarse spirit. After dinner, an interesting Prussian girl came to sing some of her native airs. Her voice was musical in the extreme, but her "sounds of sweetest melody" were constantly interrupted by the hoarse laughs of the Dutchmen, some of whose remarks, I have no doubt, from the merriment they excited, were of a most brilliant and refined

nature.

During my stay in this town, while sitting at the window of a front room, I was treated with a most extraordinary spectacle. A tawdry ill-dressed woman, of a dark complexion and diminutive stature, entered the room, and suddenly adjusting her garments, not in the most delicate manner, she commenced upon the stone floor a long continued series of feats of activity, certainly unparalleled by any thing I had ever before witnessed; bending her limbs and body into every form which it was possible to conceive. It was a painful sight, and is a repulsive subject; but, as a single example of her power, I may mention, that at the close of her performance, when a shilling was thrown to her, she turned herself round, and bending fearfully backwards, till her face touched the ground, and her forehead was within a few inches of her heels, she picked up the shilling with her mouth, and without touching the floor with her hands she resumed the attitude of a human being.

Upon the whole, I was not much gratified by my visit to the Hague. Without doubt there are in it many pleasing squares-magnificent palaces

handsome houses, and fine churches; but the little I saw of its men and manners presented a coarse and unintellectual aspect; and, with the exception of the blue-eyed Prussian, I did not see one person whom I should ever desire to see again.

The House of the Wood (Maison de Bois), belonging to the Sovereign Prince, and the ancient summer residence of the Stadtholders, is placed nearly two miles northward of the city, at the extremity of a noble forest.