A tour through Holland

by Sir John Carr

Their perch, and not their terror.

Measure for Measure, Act III. Scene 5.

The stranger will find nothing to detain him in this melancholy town long. In Holland every traveller naturally becomes amphibious: the constant contemplation of so much water quickly engenders all the inclinations of a webfooted animal, and he soon feels out of his proper element when out of a canal. Right merrily did I follow my commissionary and his wheel barrow with my baggage through the whole town, until I reached the Hague gate, when my favourite conveyance, the treckschuyt, was ready to start. The boat-bell rung, all the party got on board, and away we glided, passing on each side of us the most lovely close scenery. Instead of seeing, as had been represented to me in England, a dull monotonous scene of green canals, stunted willows, and from a solitary house or two, foggy merchants stupidly gazing in fixed attention upon frog water, the canal was enlivened with boats of pleasure and traffic continually passing and repassing, the noble level road on the right, broad enough to admit four or five carriages abreast, thickly planted with rows of fine elms, the number of curricles and carriages, and horses, driving close to the margin of the water, the fine woods, beautiful gardens, country-houses, not two of which were similiar; the eccentricity of the little summer temples hanging over the edges of the canal; the occasional views of rich pasture land, seen as I saw them, under a rich, warm sky, formed a tout ensemble as delightful as it was novel, and very intelligibly expressed our approach to the residence of sovereignty. The single ride from Delft to the Hague would alone have repaid the trouble and occasional anxiety I experienced in getting into, and afterwards out of the country.

All the principal country-houses have a wooden letter-box standing upon the margin of the canal, into which one of the boatmen, upon the treckschuyt being steered close to the adjoining bank, without stopping, drops the letters and parcels directed to the family residing there. In no part of the continent is social intercourse and communication so frequent, cheap, and certain.

For keeping the dams and roads in repair, turnpikes are established at proper distances, and the care of their repair is confided to directors, who are always gentlemen of high respectability, and receive a fixed salary for their services. The principal roads are kept in good condition; and, on account of the flatness of the country, are very easy for the horses, but the bye roads are intolerably bad.

In the steerage I found three very handsome and well-bred Dutch young ladies seated, one of whom spoke English very well: they all insisted upon my being an Englishman the moment I entered the boat; how they could think so, the spirit of physiognomy, if there be such a spirit, must explain; for in my best hours of health and delight, John Bull would scarcely acknowledge me for one of his family.

My charming companions talked much of Shakspeare and Milton, with both of whom they seemed to be familiar. They entered with much ability on Desdemona’s wish, alluding to her passion for Othello, “that Heaven had made her such a man.” Two of the three fair disputants contended that she would have been more happy had Providence made her a man, and such a man as Othello; the other observed that was impossible, for as she was deeply in love with the Moor it would have been irreconcileable to her passion to wish to be of his own sex, by which she could have felt only friendship for him. I was so pleased with my fair voyageurs, who talked, sung, and laughed, with so much talent, taste, and vivacity, that our two hours or six miles, the distance from Delft to the Hague passed rapidly away, and tempted me not to quit the vessel to visit the village of Ryswick, which lies about half way, and is only about half a mile from the canal, and, I am told, abounds with beauty and richness of scenery. It is known to the political world for the celebrated peace concluded there at a little palace of William III. called the House of Neubeurg, after a nine years’ war, on the 20th September, 1697, between Louis XIV. and the confederate powers, called the Treaty of Ryswick. I mention this as a guide for strangers who may follow me, and who may not be fascinated as I was by my situation in the boat and content with the highly cultivated and embellished scenery around me. A man must be in bad humour with nature indeed, who can pass, in the summer, from Delft to the Hague without emotions of strong delight.

As we approached the Hague, the scenery became more refined and beautiful, and the last light of a setting sun purpled the lofty edifices of that celebrated city; it was quite dusk as we passed the water-houses, in which the royal yachts are contained, the rich gilded carving of which was just visible through the grated doors; and after gliding along the suburbs, which were well lighted though not in this respect comparable with London, I disembarked, bade adieu to my charming companions, and proceeded with my usual attendant, through the greater part of the city to the Mareschal de Turenne, an excellent hotel, but at a most inconvenient distance from the place where the Delft boats stop, and where those for Leyden or Haarlem start from.

The morning after my arrival there was a grand review of the Dutch troops, who presented a very soldierly appearance; that of the body-guard, both horse and infantry, was very superb in military appointments. I was well informed that the king felt so secure in his government, that there were not at this time twenty French soldiers in the country, and that, accompanied by his queen, he was attending to his health at the waters of Wisbaden, in the south of Germany. The French interest, however, was predominant, and it was indispensably necessary that the passport of every foreigner should be countersigned by the French consul, whose fiat upon all such occasions was final.

The king had been at the Hague, or rather at his palace in the wood adjoining, only about six weeks, in the course of which, I was credibly informed, he had displayed uncommon activity and talent in the discharge of the great duties of his station. Although an invalid, he was at his bureau with his ministers every morning at six o’clock, which he never quitted until the business of the day was completed. The poor-laws occupied much of his attention, and they are, I hear, to undergo a considerable amelioration. I have already mentioned his abolition of useless offices, sinecures, and unmerited pensions, the reduction of excessive salaries, and an extension of the time devoted to the service of the state in the public offices. These advantages could only be expected to flow from that vast power which revolutions, after their effervescence has subsided, generally deposit with some fortunate individual, who, if he has talent and good inclination, is enabled to consult the prosperity of a state, by measures at once prompt, summary, and efficacious, unretarded by forms, clashing interests, or hoary prejudices. The first of the new has ever this advantage over the last of an old dynasty.