A tour through Holland

by Sir John Carr

In the evening we reached the principal inn at Soestdyke, lying at the end of a very long avenue in the forest, chiefly filled with young oaks, a little fatigued with the tedium produced by the heavy roads through which we had waded; however, after some refreshing tea taken under the trees, near the house, we proceeded to view the palace, formerly a favourite sporting chateau of the Orange family. A tolerable plain brick house on the left of the entrance, composed the lodge, and after passing through a large court, we ascended by a flight of steps to the principal entrance of this palace, if palace it may be called, for a residence more unworthy of a prince I have never seen. The only part of the house in any degree deserving of notice was the hall, the sides of which were decorated with the emblems of rural recreation, the implements of husbandry, and all the apparatus of hunting, fishing, and shooting, tolerably well executed. The rooms were principally white-washed, and destitute of furniture: the windows were large, and the panes of glass very small, fastened with lead, such as are used in cottages: in short, the whole palace presented the appearance of a country mansion in England of the date of Charles the First, deserted by the family to whom it belonged, and left to the care of the tenants who rent the estate to which it belongs. Nothing could be more dreary and desolate. The king and queen partook of a cold collation here a short time before I visited it, provided by the family who rented the place of the state, and occupied it when we visited it. I was not surprised to hear that the royal family staid only one hour, during which they scarcely ventured out of a large naked room at the back part of the house, called the grand saloon: one of the young princes gave a son of the gentleman who occupied the premises, an elegant watch set round with brilliants. I could not help reflecting a little upon the disgust this visit must have given to the queen, who had just arrived from Paris, and from all the voluptuous and tasteful magnificence of the new imperial court. The palace is surrounded by a ditch half filled with green stagnant water, the dulness of which was only relieved by the croaking of a legion of undisturbed frogs. The gardens and grounds, which abounded with hares, are very formally disposed into dull, unshaded, geometrical walks. After supper, a brilliant moon and cloudless night, attracted us into one of the most beautiful and majestic avenues of beeches I ever saw, immediately opposite the palace: as we sat upon a bench, looking through an opening upon the bright bespangled heavens, the description of our divine bard stole upon my mind:

—Look how the floor of heaven

Is thick inlaid with patterns of bright gold!

There’s not the smallest orb, which thou behold’st,

But in its motion like an angel sings.

Merchant of Venice, Act I. Sc. 1.

In this wood are several genteel country-houses, many of which were formerly occupied by those who belonged to the Orange court. The inn here is much frequented, the accommodations of which are good, by the people of Amsterdam, who frequently make parties to it; and it is the great resort of those married couples fresh from the altar, until the honey-moon is in her wane.

In the morning about five o’clock we set off for Zeyst, or Ziest, and passed through a large tract of champagne country, interspersed with short brushwood, the dull monotony of which was at last relieved by a vast pyramid, erected by the French troops who were encamped in the immense open space in which it stands, amounting to 30,000 men, under the command of Gen. Marmont. On the four sides are the following inscriptions:

INSCRIPTION ON THE GRAND FRONT.

“This pyramid was raised to the august Emperor of the French, Napoleon the First, by the troops encamped in the plain of Zeyst, being a part of the French and Batavian array, commanded by the Commander in Chief, Marmont.”