1821.J 



Present State of the Literature of Holland. 



the futui-Cjgreatness of his name, and 

 the splendour and riclies which Am- 

 sterdam should enjoy in after days. 



BiLDERDiJK has written several tra- 

 gedies, none of which we believe have 

 ever been acted, though they have long 

 been in the liands of the public. His 

 wife, who is almost as celebrated as 

 himself for her poetical productions, 

 lately published a volume of tragedies, 

 one of Avhich she wrote as a competitor 

 for a prize offered by a literary society 

 for the best tragedy in the Dutch lan- 

 guage, but which she did not obtain. 



The Dutch stage cannot at present 

 boast of any actor of great celebrity. 

 The famous Madame Ifafier, the Mrs. 

 Siddons, of Holland, long ago retired 

 from the stage, though she sometimes 

 appeared afterwards on great occasions. 

 Bingley, the manager of the Theatre 

 Royal at the Hague, died about two 

 years since. This actor, who was of 

 English extraction, was considered 

 as by far the best performer on the 

 Dutch stage. His person was large and 

 well made, and his voice strong and 

 sonorous. In such characters as Von- 

 del's Gysbrecht Van Amstel, Lear, 

 Othello, or Macbeth, he was very suc- 

 cessful, and was besides an excellent 

 actor in comedy. 



In Amsterdam there are a French, 

 and German, as well as a Dutch thea- 

 tre. The French theatre is the fashion- 

 able resort in the capital, as well as in 

 every other city, and their own thea- 

 tres are not so well attended by those 

 who consider themselves people of qua- 

 lity. At Rotterdam and Leyden, the 

 French and Dutch companies from the 

 Theatres Royal at the Hague, perform 

 alternately, and much has been done to 

 bring their own stage into favour with 

 the public. Vondel's national tragedy 

 was lately brought forward in the most 

 splendid manner at Amsterdam, and 

 no expence was spared in scenes, ma- 

 chinery, &c. in order to excite and 

 revive the national feelings of the pub- 

 lic. It had a run of fourteen succes- 

 sive nights, an occurrence never known 

 before in Holland, and wliich some of 

 their journals boasted, had never hap- 

 pened in any other country. The low 

 estimation in which the Dutch diama 

 is held, may be considered aspaitly 

 owing to the influence of the French, 

 who always made a point of destroying 

 all nationality among the people under 

 their government ; and the taste for the 

 French opera, tragedies never being 

 acted and comedies not often, is still con- 



tinued by the caprice of fashion, as the 

 taste for the Italian opera is in London, 

 among people wiio wish to be thougiit 

 fashionaI)le. One greatrause, howeve", 

 seems to be the wantof good acting plays 

 of their own. They pretend to be great 

 sticklers for the rules of (he Drama, as 

 they are called, and all tlieir trage- 

 dies are in verse in the French man- 

 ner. Some good speeches are no doubt 

 to be met with, but they are often ex- 

 cessively long, sometimes filling two 

 or three pages of an octavo volume, 

 there is a cold regularity which may 

 please a fastidious taste, but can sel- 

 dom touch the heart or interest the 

 feelings. The Dutch are too fond of 

 imitation, though they will not always 

 avow it, but the great merit of even 

 some of Vondel's passages lies in the 

 nearness of their resemblance to simi- 

 lar passages in Virgil and other ancient 

 poets. , 



Holland contains many societies, 

 some of which resemble our literary 

 clubs and public libraries, though they 

 differ from them in several particulars. 

 The most respectable are called in 

 Amsterdam collegies. The number of 

 members is generally from 150 to 200, 

 and manj' of them meet in very ele- 

 gant buildings, (the property of the 

 society) to smoke, drink coffee, wine 

 or liqueurs, play at cards or other 

 games, and I'ead the newspapers, maga- 

 zines &c. On a large table in the centre 

 of the room are laid all the princi- 

 pal reviews, magazines, pamphlets, and 

 newspapers publislied in Holland, Eng- 

 land, France, and Germany. Among 

 theEnglish publication*, the Edinburgh 

 and Quarterly Reviews, and the old 

 Monthly Magazine, are held in the great- 

 est estimation. There are rooms for 

 billiards, and others contain books for 

 tile use of the members. The custom of 

 taking coffee or liqueurs about twelve 

 o'clock is common inlloUand, and about 

 that hour the rooms are generally full. 

 Some of those societies or clubs consist 

 , of merchants, bankers, &c. but others 

 of a more literary character are com- 

 posed of ])hysicians, lawyers, and some- 

 times divines, besides otiiers whose 

 professions are connected with litera- 

 ture, but they are all mixed with com- 

 mercial men. Strangers are introduced 

 by members, and have their names 

 enrolled in a book, after which they 

 may go when they please for a certain 

 lime, which is generally a month. 

 Men from every part of Europe and 

 Americflr 



