Being detained in this Port by Winds that have for these six Days obstinately opposed my Passage to England, without any Prospect of their changing, I am at full Leisure to inform you of such Things as I have seen since the last Letter that I had the Honour to write to you from Amsterdam.
I was carried from that City in the Boat in less than three Hours to Harlem, the second of those Towns that have a Right to send Deputies to the Assembly of the States of the Province. It was for a long Time the Rival of Amsterdam, and actually at War with it, but could not hinder its Aggrandisement. While those Provinces fought for their Liberty, Harlem was besieged, taken and plunder’d by the Spaniards, against whom the very
Women bore Arms. In 1559, Pope Paul IV. erected this Town into a Bishoprick, but it never had more than two Bishops. The Splendor of it is owing to its Manufactures, which consist of Silk-Stuffs, Cambrics, strip’d Dimities, and Thread Stockings. Its Whitsters also bring a great Revenue to this Town. The Florists cannot fail of being agreeably amused here, by reason of Flowers of such Beauty, that I have been assured a Tulip-Root has been sold there for fourteen hundred Florins. But the greatest Honour of Harlem is to have given Birth to Laurence Coster, the Inventor of Printing. I am not ignorant that Mentz disputes with Harlem for the Honour of that Invention, but this being a Controversy which ’tis none of my Province to determine, I sincerely believe, when I am at Harlem, that Coster is the Inventor of this wonderful Art, provided I may be at Liberty to believe the contrary when I am at Mentz, and to be uncertain of the Matter everywhere else. Coster’s House is to be seen here with the following Inscription placed Over the Gate, which denotes, that Printing, the Best Art for perpetuating the other Arts, was first invented here about Anno 1440.
Memoriæ Sacrum.
Typographia,
Ars Artium Optima,
Conservatrix,
Hic Primum Inventa
Circa Annum MCCCCXL.
In order to reconcile the two Towns, I believe it might be granted, that Coster invented the Art of Cutting in Wood, which was formerly made use of, and that John Faustus of Mentz invented the Characters of Metal, that are used now. By this Means the two Parties will have equal Share
in the Glory of the Invention, which after all is disputed with them by the Chinese, who prove that the Art of Printing was known to them two thousand Years ago.
As I walked about in Harlem, my Guide bid me look at certain Cambrick Cockades trimm’d with Lace, which were tied to some of the Doors. He told me, that this was to shew that the Woman of the House was in Childbed; which procures the Husband a Protection, so that he cannot be arrested during six Weeks that his Wife is supposed to lye-in. What was the Occasion of the Grant of this Privilege, I could not learn, nor by what Prince it was granted.
The Walks of Harlem, especially that in the Wood, which is at the Gates or the Town, would be charming, if they were not so sandy. On the other Hand, the Canal which leads from this Town to Leyden, is one of the most disagreeable in the Province, there being scarce any Thing upon its Banks but Meadows and Downs.
Leyden is one of the largest and finest Cities in the Country. It has been subject, as all sublunary Things are, to great Revolutions and Misfortunes. The Spaniards besieged it in 1573, and as they despaired of taking it by Force, they intended to reduce it by Famine. The Inhabitants were drove to the utmost Misery, till they pierced the Dykes of the Maese, and the Issel, by which Means all the great Meadows about Leyden became a perfect Sea of Water, and the Spaniards, in Danger of perishing, raised the Siege: And the 3d of October is annually observed with Rejoicings in Memory of the Deliverance of the Town upon that Day of the Month.
The great Church, dedicated to St. Peter, is one of the finest Structures in Holland. The Roof is supported by three Rows of tall Pillars.