’Tis certain that the Hague contains a vast Number of worthy Persons of both Sexes, and this State may boast of having as great a Number of Subjects of known Probity, as any other Country perhaps in the World. Were I to name them all to you, Sir, it would be attempting a Work above my Capacity, and require a Volume. I may hereafter give you an Account of such only as make the greatest Figure at the Hague, either on Account of their Employments, or their Birth.
The Hague is the best Place in Europe for a Foreigner to make a good Acquaintance with the greatest Ease, because of the many Societies or Assemblies, public Spectacles and Walks. If a Person appears ever so little in public, he is presently known. The Houses that are most open to Company, and where the most distinguished Persons of both Sexes at this Place are to be seen, are those of my Lady Albemarle, M. de Keppel, and the Count de Welderen. My Lady is Dowager to the Earl of Albemarle, General of the Dutch Infantry, Colonel of the Swiss, Governor of Tournay, and Knight of the Order of the Garter. He was of the Keppel Family, which has for a long time been distinguished in these Provinces. He had been Page to the Prince of Orange, who, when he came to be King of Great Britain, created him a Peer of England, with the Title of an Earl. He heaped Wealth and Honours
upon him, and it may be said, that my Lord Albemarle, and my Lord Portland, were two Noblemen for whom William III. always professed the highest Esteem. My Lord Albemarle maintained himself in Favour by his Assiduity, his Complacency, by a Fund of real Merit, and by his Care not to ask any Thing, but to leave every thing to the King’s voluntary Grace and Favour. This Nobleman has left a Son, who has a Regiment in England. The Lady his Dowager is the Sister of Messieurs Vander Duin, Nobles of this Province. She lives in a very decent Manner, and is always considered as the first Lady of the Hague.
M. de Keppel[111], the Brother of the late Earl of Albemarle, is a Lieutenant-General in the Service of the State, and Colonel of a Regiment of Horse. He was for some time Envoy Extraordinary from their High Mightinesses to the Court of Prussia. He lives very grand at the Hague, his Behaviour is extremely noble, and his Family will always bear a good Character in all the Countries of the World. Madame de Keppel, heretofore Welderen, does the Honours of it with all the Care possible, and she is extremely valued and esteemed. Her Son the Count de Welderen, Deputy of the Province of Guelderland, to the States General, is not inferior to her in Politeness. He was very young when he was admitted a Member of the State in the room of his Father, and was soon after appointed Ambassador to England, in order to congratulate
their Britannic Majesties on their Accession to the Throne. His Expence in England was very splendid, but the English did not so much mind the young Ambassador’s Magnificence, as his prudent Conduct. He brought back with him the Applauses of their Majesties, and the Court of England, the Esteem of honest Men, and the Affection of the Citizens of London. At his Return to the Hague, the Count de Welderen resumed his Seat in the Assembly of the States General. He lives still in a grand Manner, and his House is one of the gayest in the Country. He has a younger Brother a Member of the Council of State, (they call him the Waldgrave) who is a young Gentleman of great Merit.
My Lady Cadogan, the Dowager of my Lord Cadogan, a trusty Friend of the late Duke of Marlborough, and his Successor in his Employments, keeps an Assembly every Sunday Night. She is Mother to the Duchess of Richmond, who is look’d upon at the Court of England, as one of its Ornaments; and she has another Daughter, viz. my Lady Margaret, one of the most amiable Ladies at the Hague.
The Countess de Wartemberg, the Dowager of the Prime Minister of Frederic I. King of Prussia, lives retired at the Hague, much after the same Manner as the Duchess of Mazarine did at London. She turns Night into Day, and Day into Night. Her House is open to all Foreigners, and there is very great[112]Play. But she is not so
fond as the Duchess of Mazarine was, of Pieces of Wit, and Men of Learning. If a St. Evremond wrote or said ever such good Things, I believe she would always give the Preference to a young Alcides.
By the Account I have now given you of the Families, you perceive, Sir, that here are so many, that a Man cannot be at a Loss where to go. There is not a Day but some Assembly is held here at one House or another alternatively. There are no Plays performed here for the present, they being, as I think I have told you, prohibited by the States, by reason of the Worms that infest the Dykes upon the Sea Coasts of this Province. The Comedians continue here nevertheless, and there is an Opera which an Hebrew Anti-Comedian has sent for from Paris, on Purpose to ruin the Comedy, when the Theatres are open. On the other hand, an Anabaptist, a zealous Man for
the Comedy, rather than that the Opera and its Protector should triumph, stands up stifly for the Comedy. All the People at the Hague are Parties in this great Quarrel; but ’tis my Opinion, that in order to reconcile them, the States will permit neither the one nor the other. This Schism would be a very copious Subject for exercising the Pens of the Writers of Comedy; and I am surprised that some Wit or other does not regale the Public with their Thoughts upon it, the rather because they are not here in any Danger of Persecution from the Lieutenant of the Police[113].