I was now once more left to my own resources, and shortly ascertained, that there were two young Dutchmen on board who were acquainted with English. Their father, I afterward found, was a merchant, retired from business in order to secure, under the present depressed state of trade, the fruits of his former industry. The sons had learnt English, as a necessary accomplishment for the duties of their father’s office, the concerns of which lay chiefly in England.
Haarlem is distant seven miles from Amsterdam, and the journey occupies nearly three hours; about midway we arrived at a village, where we had to change both the canal and barge, walking through the town, our luggage being conveyed by barrowmen. On our arrival at Haarlem, the captain, after arranging with his other passengers, accompanied me to the Lion d’Or, to which I had been recommended. Before entering the inn, I was not a little surprised by the landlord’s daughter inquiring from me in English, where my friend was. I replied that I was alone; and she asked whether I had not had a friend with me; on satisfying her, and saying that he was gone to Hamburg, she offered to take care of me, and in case I was proceeding to the Hague and Rotterdam, to give me letters to houses where I should receive every attention. Of course I endeavoured to learn how she had acquired any knowledge of me, which she explained by stating, that her father had been the day before, at our inn at Amsterdam, and had become acquainted with my intention of visiting Haarlem, and that they looked out for me as an uncommon traveller.
While I was taking refreshment, the gentlemen with a lady, who had been disappointed in their passage by our barge, arrived, and as they were proceeding to Leyden on the following morning, I determined to avail myself of their invitation to accompany them.
We arose early in the morning to walk over the town, which is of great antiquity, having been a flourishing place as early as 1155; but the most interesting object, is the statue of Lawrence Coster, once an alderman of this city, and the asserted inventor of the art of printing, and which stands in the grand place. It is true that the honour of the above invention is disputed with Coster and Haarlem, by various other towns of Germany, as Mentz, Strasburg, &c.; but there is strong ground to consider Coster entitled to the priority of claim, as the dates of some of the books of his printing are anterior to those of Faust, or any other of his competitors. Adrianus Junius, who was born at Hoorn, in 1507, tells us, that Coster hit upon this invention as he was walking in a wood near Haarlem, by cutting the bark of beech-trees into letters, and then stamping them upon paper as a seal; and that he afterwards extended and improved his discovery, and set up a printing office in his house, and that Faust, or Fust, who was a servant of his, one day, while the family were at church, stole away his types and other materials, and fled with them to Mentz, where he commenced business as a printer.
The first book which Coster brought out, and his original types, are preserved in the Stadt-house for the inspection of the curious; we had not, however, time to examine them, nor even to hear the celebrated organ of this city, for we did not arrive on the day before until after evening service had concluded; and to hear it at any other time, is a gratification which must be handsomely paid for.
Immediately after breakfast, we set off to take the treckschuyt for Leyden, to which the landlord’s daughter insisted on accompanying me, notwithstanding I was now kindly assisted by my countrymen. I took leave of her, of course, with feelings and expressions of gratitude for her uncommon attention. The barges on these canals are towed by horses, the rope passing from the top of a mast, in order to carry it clear of the ground, and which mast is fixed on a swivel joint to admit of its being lowered at pleasure in passing under bridges. There were in the present boat three cabins, the aftermost, which is considered the best, being occupied by a private party: we were in the middle one, which was very commodious, and had but few companions, and those not very loquacious, for the natives of this country shew little disposition to enter into conversation with strangers. We had a laugh or two at one of our companions, who, finding his seat too hard, requested a cushion, for which accommodation they afterwards made an extra charge; at another time, he got out to walk on the bank, and had much difficulty to keep up with the boat, before an opportunity offered of getting in again. The day was fine, and the country around us said to be highly luxuriant. At twelve o’clock we arrived at Leyden, being a distance of four leagues.
Both this town and Haarlem are famous for the long sieges they supported against the Spaniards, under Frederic, son of the duke of Alva, in the year 1573.
After ordering dinner at the Golden Lion, we sallied forth to examine the town, of which it is impossible I can give any thing like a description, from so slight a perambulation, as it is said to comprise eight gates, twenty-four canals, fifty islands, one hundred and eighty streets, and one hundred and forty-five bridges. It was here that the electric battery, named the Leyden Jar, was first invented, and that the illustrious Boerhaave, filled with an eclat never surpassed, the professorship of medicine in this celebrated university. This great man was born at Voorhoot, a village near this place, in the year 1688, and died in 1738. There is a proverb of his which deserves a marked attention, “The sparks of calumny will presently be extinct of themselves, unless you blow them.”
I should have felt pleasure in staying longer at this place, but that I was desirous of getting to Brussels without delay. I therefore, in company with Mr. T—, one of the English gentlemen, the other staying behind with his lady, set off by the barge to the Hague. In our way, we passed the village of Leysendam, which we walked through to another barge, on the right of which is Catwick, where the last branch of the Rhine, which retains its original name, loses itself in the sands. At eight o’clock in the evening we reached the Hague, after a journey of three hours, and took up our quarters at the hotel of Marshal Turenne.
On the following morning, Tuesday, Aug. 21st, we arose early, and took a walk through the town before breakfast, and which we afterwards extended to Scheveling. The road to this place is excellent, shaded on both sides by trees. The village itself is large and extremely neat, situated near the sea, and much resorted to as a bathing-place during the summer; the sea, however, is not visible from the town, a sand-hill being interposed between these points.