A tour through Holland

by Sir John Carr

The botanic garden is not very large; in the time of Boerhaave it must have been small indeed, as its history represents it to have been considerably enlarged since that period: in the frontispiece of his Index Horti L. Bat. 1710, it is represented to be a petty square piece of ground. It now occupies about four acres, and is in excellent order: the trees and plants are marked according to the Linnæan system; but it is infinitely inferior in value and arrangement to the botanic gardens of Upsala and of the Dublin Society. Amongst the plants, I approached with the reverence due to it, the venerable remains of vegetable antiquity, in the shape of a palm, which stands in a tub in the open air, supported by a thin frame of iron work; it is about fourteen feet high, and was raised from seed by the celebrated Carolus Clusius, who died professor at Leyden in 1609: the professor who attended me, presented me with a bit of its bark, as a little relic. This tree and the pot in which it grows, are also figured in the frontispiece of Boerhaave’s Index before mentioned: it there appears to have been about half as high as at present, and is said to be the palm mentioned by Linnæus in his Prælectiones in Ordines Naturales Plantarum, p. 27, published by Giseke in 1792, at Hamburgh, which Linnæus suspected to be a chamærops, but which, as the ingenious Dr. Smith observes, his editor rightly refers to the rhapis flabelli formis, Ait. Hort. Kew, v. iii. p. 473. It comes from China and Japan: there is a tree of this kind, and about as large, in the botanic garden at Paris, and another at Pisa. In this garden is also the ginkgo of the Chinese, a standard twenty feet high; Strelitzia reginæ, Ait. Hort. Kew, v. i. p. 285, tab. 2, which has never yet flowered in any garden out of England; the olea laurifolia, a new species according to Mr. Van Royen; Royena lucida in flower, as large as a moderate hawthorn tree, and thought to be very handsome; and a singular plant from the Cape, supposed to be an echites, with a large tuberous root raised high above the surface of the ground, two or three weak stems a foot high, and large dark brown flowers. In the university library is Rauwolf’s Herbarium, which is very magnificent, and the plants well preserved; also Boccone’s Herbarium of the plants described in his Fasciculus Plantarum, published by Morison at Oxford, in 1674; these specimens are very poor: Herman’s Collection of Ceylon Plants is also here, which are a part of the celebrated Herbarium, the rest of which is at Copenhagen; also a volume of West India plants, belonging to Herman, which are very scarce in Holland, and a fine collection of mathematical instruments; amongst other things, a most pure and brilliant prism of Brazil pebble, and a two-inch cube of Iceland refracting spar, perfectly clear and free from blemish.

In a very long apartment in the gallery there are some busts and statues in tolerable preservation, but of no great value; the best are busts of Nero and Agrippina, Servilius and a Bacchus: they were presented to the university by a citizen of the town. I was shown into a small room containing some stuffed birds and beasts, which were in very poor condition. The theatre of anatomy is very near the botanic garden; in it is a valuable collection of anatomical and pathological subjects. This hall is well worthy the notice of the traveller, as well for its valuable contents, as for having furnished Europe with some of its best physicians. This library is celebrated throughout Europe, for the many valuable specimens of oriental literature with which it abounds, exclusive of the books before mentioned. Golius, upon his return from the East, and who afterwards filled with great reputation the Arabic professorship of the university, has enriched this valuable depositary of learning with many Arabic, Turkish, Chaldean, and Persian manuscripts. I have before mentioned that Joseph Scaliger bequeathed his valuable collection of Hebrew books to it. The precious manuscripts contained here are said to exceed eight thousand. Since the last war commenced, no addition of English publications has been made to this library, which contains the Transactions of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies of London, and the Histories of Gibbon, Robertson, and Hume. To suffer an inimical disposition between two countries to erect a barrier between intellectual communication is giving additional barbarism to the ferocity of war. To the honour of England and France, they have never permitted those melancholy conflicts which have so long, and so fatally inflamed the one against the other, to check the free and liberal interchange of philosophical discovery and literary investigation. Whilst the respective governments have been engaged in reciprocal schemes of vengeance, the learned societies of both countries have communed with each other in the language of peace and liberality.

The king of Spain has presented this library with some magnificent folios, descriptive of the antiquities of Herculaneum. The books are principally bound in fine white parchment, and are gilded and decorated with considerable taste and splendor. There are in this room several excellent portraits of eminent men who have belonged to the university, or who have been benefactors to it: the head of that elegant and voluptuous poet Johannes Secundus, who died at the age of twenty-five, distinguishable for its dark penetrating eyes, adust complexion, and black hair and beard, is very fine. There are also very interesting portraits of Janus Douse, who during the siege of Leyden exhibited the most admirable heroism, by which he acquired the applause of the Prince of Orange and the government of the town: this hero shone in letters as well as arms; also of Erasmus at different stages of his life; of Hugo Donellus, painted after death, in which all the appearances of mortality are finely imitated with ghastly precision; also of Daniel Heinsius, and a miniature of Sir Thomas More, by Hans Holbein. There are also several medallion likenesses of distinguished Englishmen carved in ivory, such as Milton, Marvel, Ludlow, Wickliffe, Harrington, &c. &c. executed by an English refugee, who took shelter in Holland after the overthrow of the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion. There is a museum of natural history, principally collected by Professor Allemand, containing some fine ores, corals, and pebbles, and also some rare quadrupeds and amphibia: also a young ostrich in the egg; the nautilus with the animal in it, and some papilios. In the anatomical theatre are the valuable preparations of Albinus, amongst them are specimens of the progress of ossification in the fœtus. This university has also to boast of the works of Mr. Pestel, professor of jurisprudence, for his admirable work, entitled Fundamenta Jurisprudentiæ Naturalis. The constitutional regulations of this university are conceived in a noble spirit of liberality. No offensive obligations, no religious tests, no repulsive oaths, are imposed, no insidious attempts at proselytism are exercised. Youths of every religious persuasion mingle together in perfect harmony; like brothers they aggregate to study, and not to quarrel about modes of faith. Whatever may be the rank of the student, or from whatever country he may come, he speedily adopts the decent, gentle, and frugal manners and habits of the inhabitants. The long war and revolution in this country have naturally withdrawn a great number of young men of rank and fortune from this seminary, and prevented others from entering it. The students do not now exceed two hundred. A considerable number of English students, in a period of peace, used to flock to this illustrious academy, which, as well as the beauty, tranquillity, cleanliness, and salubrity of the city in which it stands, and the cheapness and perfect freedom of living, and the charms of the surrounding country, holds out the strongest attractions to the recluse and studious. The examinations for academical honours are more severe than even for those of Trinity College Dublin.

Amongst other circumstances which have concurred to crown Leyden with celebrity, I must not omit to relate that its neighbourhood gave birth to Rembrandt in 1606. His real name was Gerretz, but he is known by the name of Van Ryn, an appellation given to him from the place where he spent the youthful part of his life, on the borders of the Rhine. This illustrious artist is one amongst the many instances which might be produced, of the effect of accidental circumstances in early life determining the character and formation of genius; he derived his peculiarity of shade from the circumstance of his father’s mill receiving light from an aperture at the top, which, and not his studying under Jacob Pinas, gradually led him to use that breadth of shade for which he was so eminently distinguished. At a very early period he exhibited strong proofs of genius for painting, and by his productions astonished his master Jacques Van Zwanenburg, in whose school he continued three years. His father’s mill, and the circumjacent country, first attracted his attention, which, with the heavy living objects with whom he associated, so completely possessed his mind, that he seldom selected any others which were beautiful or graceful. When very young, one of his friends prevailed upon him to go to Amsterdam, and offer one of his pictures for sale, which he did, and sold it to a very able judge of genius in his line for one hundred florins. He went on foot with the treasure under his arm, but returned in a carriage. This trifling circumstance induced him to settle in that city, where he soon became solicited by persons of the first distinction for his works. Here, from the number of pupils who flocked to him, and the great demand for his paintings, wealth poured in upon him copiously. For instructing each of his pupils he received one hundred florins per annum, but becoming avaricious as he became wealthy, he sold a great number of copies made by them for his own pictures, in which he deceived the purchaser by retouching several parts. The swindling tricks and stratagems by which this great artist used to raise money, threw a deeper breadth of shade than his pencil ever cast upon his canvass, over the brighter parts of his genius. It is related that one of his pupils, well knowing his rapacious disposition, painted a number of coins upon some cards which he laid upon his master’s table when he was from home; on his return, he ran eagerly to seize them and recovered the vexation of his disappointment, only by admiring the dexterity of the deception.

Rembrandt was a great humourist. One day when he was painting a large family picture, and one of the subjects was actually sitting to him, his servant informed him of the death of his favourite monkey, which he felt so sensibly, and whimsically, that he immediately ordered the dead body to be brought in, and drew it as one of the group, which he would not expunge, although the family refused to pay for the picture before it was effaced. His finest historical pictures are those of Ahasuerus, Esther and Haman; the woman taken in adultery; and St. John preaching in the wilderness, which are said to be touched with inexpressible fire and spirit. The imagination of this great artist was lively and active, and his invention very fertile: he had a large collection of old draperies, armour, weapons, and turbans, which he used sportively to call his antiques; these he preferred to any of the works of the Grecian artists. He had also a great number of the finest Italian prints, drawings, and designs, many of them taken from the antiques, which afforded him gratification, but do not appear to have ameliorated his taste. His portraits are excellent, and resemble life as near to perfection as possible, but his airs and attitudes are defective of grace and dignity. Many of his heads display such minute exactness, that even the hairs of the beard, and the wrinkles of old age, are given with the most exquisite fidelity. The portrait appears to breathe upon the canvass. It is a curious circumstance that his lights were produced by a colour unusually thick, more resembling modeling than painting, but every tint was so judiciously placed, that it remained on the canvass in full freshness, beauty, and lustre. The etchings of Rembrandt are greatly admired, and are regarded as prime treasures in the cabinets of the curious in most parts of Europe: these productions rival his paintings, every stroke of the graver exhibits expression and life: his genuine works are rarely to be met with, but whenever they are presented for sale, they produce incredible prices. In the splendid collection of Mr. Desenfans, are some exquisite productions of this and other Flemish masters; this collection is, upon the whole, the best in England, and is exhibited to persons of respectability, without cost, by its liberal possessor.

Amongst the curiosities of Leyden, I did not take the trouble of seeing the shopboard of the celebrated John of Leyden, a character distinguishable for its ambition, enterprize, and ferocity: those who have furnished us with an account of this aspiring monster, relate that his name was Bucold; that from being the son of a taylor, and brought up to his father’s trade, he resolved upon becoming a king; that accordingly he first tasted of royalty on the board of a strolling company of comedians in the character of a prince, which affording him much gratification, he connected himself with a baker of Amsterdam, a fanatic, who called himself God’s vicegerent upon the earth, and declared that he was sent to illuminate the world. This fellow, previous to his becoming the associate of John of Leyden, assumed the name of Thomas Munster, and impregnated a number of Germans with his religious phrenzy, which aimed at the demolition of the doctrine of Luther: this fanatic faction spread with incredible celerity, until the Elector of Saxony, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the duke of Brunswick, resolved upon drawing the sword against these furious zealots. The prophet Munster was taken prisoner and lost his head; but soon after, as if inspirited by this blow, John of Leyden took Munster at the head of a troop of sanguinary bigots, and ordered himself to be proclaimed king. After this ceremony was performed he committed the most horrible outrages: in the name of God, he battered down all the churches, and changed the religion of the country; he recommended polygamy, and kept a seraglio of sixteen wives, one of whom endeavoured to assassinate the Bishop of Waldeck, who fortunately seized the poniard from her hand, and plunged it into her own bosom; and another, John himself put to death for hesitation in complying with his wishes. When he appeared in the streets of Munster, he wore a crown upon his head, carried a sword in one hand, and the New Testament in the other, and was preceded on horseback by a group of dancing boys, whilst the sides were by his mandates, crowded with the prostrate terrified citizens, who were punished with instant death if they stood, or remained covered in his presence. The reign of this petty tyrant was brief: the Bishop of Munster besieged the town, which suffered nearly the same horrors which I have described to have occurred at Leyden, when the Spaniards sat down before it; the living fed upon the dead, and a look that intimated a wish to surrender was punished with instant death. The miseries which surrounded him, served only to inflame the fanatical spirit of the monster; at last, however, the town was taken by surprise, and John and the ministers of his bloody ambition were conducted before the victorious prelate, to whom, after being charged with the enormities which he had committed, he is said to have replied, with the craft of a coward, in the following manner: “The possession of my person has cost you much money and much blood, my death will be a loss to you, my life may become a source of profit to you, put me in an iron cage, set a price upon the exhibition of me, and send me through Europe, thus will you in the end be the gainer by me.” The bishop saw through his object which was the dastard preservation of his forfeited life, and accordingly ordered him to be put to death with a refinement of cruelty, at the relation of which human nature sickens, abhorred as the victim was. Two executioners tore his flesh slowly asunder with red hot pincers, and after the mitred conqueror and his followers had glutted their eyes with his writhings, and their ears with his screams, a javelin pierced his heart, and his mangled body was thrown into a cage, and exposed to the birds of the air from the steeple of St. Lambert’s church. It has been observed by some travellers, that the Dutch are much given to a tremulous motion of the head. I saw no instance of this national trait except, where I expected to find it, among old and paralytic persons. The practice of bowing is not confined to the Dutchman, though adduced against him as a sort of blemish by every Englishman who extends his rambles no farther than Holland: throughout Germany the same courtesy is displayed, and even among the common Russian boors the practice of exchanging bows is quite common.

I was not much gratified with the church of St. Peter, the principal one in the city; it is a large ponderous building, in the worst style of gothic architecture. In this structure the English and Russian soldiers were confined when taken prisoners at Alkmaar. The poor Russians, who expected no quarter, looked upon the brass chandeliers which are suspended in the body of the church, as the instruments of execution, to each of which they thought of being fastened by the neck. The Russians, in their first campaigns with the French, entertained the same apprehension, and were most agreeably astonished on one occasion, which presented a memorable display of French sagacity, to find that, instead of being shot or guillotined, they were presented with new clothing of the Russian uniform, and offered their liberty.

CHAPTER XIII.
THE PRESS OF LEYDEN ... ITS STAPLE TRADE ... ANECDOTES OF GERARD DOUW ... OF JEAN STEEN ... HIS SINGULAR PAINTING OF THE DELUGE ... ANECDOTES OF FRANCIS MIERES ... THE PICTORIAL CONTEST ... ANECDOTE OF VANDERWELDE ... THE VILLAGE OF RHYNSBURG ... SINGULAR RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION ... A CURIOUS CUSTOM ... EXPLOSION AT LEYDEN ... CONDUCT OF THE KING ... HAARLEM ... ITS CELEBRATED ORGAN DESCRIBED ... ANECDOTE OF HANDEL ... MR. HENRY HOPE’S HOUSE.

In the streets of Leyden are several very handsome bookseller’s shops, particularly Murray’s in the Braadstraat, where there are many valuable publications, and particularly a fine collection of the classics, which are sold at very reasonable prices. The press of Leyden, in the time of Elzevirs, presented some of the most elegant specimens of typography, in the many correct and beautiful editions which they have given of the most renowned authors of antiquity. In beauty, variety, and profusion, the Leyden press rivalled, and in many instances surpassed, that of the Hague and Amsterdam; but since the period of the above bibliopolists, it has gradually decayed. It may be easily imagined, that with the change which has taken place in the political relations of Holland, the liberty of the press is not what it used to be at Leyden, which was once celebrated for its Gazette, a rival in reputation of that of Brussels: the former was distinguished for its partiality to the Stadtholder, and his well known attachments to the English cabinet; and the latter for supporting the true interests of the country. The editors and proprietors of the Leyden Gazette fled with precipitation, on the irruption of the French into Holland; and the paper which is now issued from Leyden, is of course the organ of the new government, and but little enlivened with political discussion.

The staple trade of Leyden, the woollen manufactory, has suffered very severely from the establishment of extensive looms in various parts of Germany, from the last and present war with England, and from the superiority of the manufactures of Yorkshire, which are in such high estimation in America and Asia, that Dutch merchants trading to those countries, found it more advantageous to send out English cloths. The coarse cloths of Holland had formerly a brisk market amongst the East and West India Companies: but from the above cause thousands of manufacturers have been obliged to renounce their looms, and divert their skill and industry to other sources of support; and in all human probability the woollen manufactures of Leyden will never revive.