1821.] 



Present State of the Lite^utare of Holland. 



S 



the conduct of the Sovereigns of other 

 countries. A considerable number 

 of periodical works are published 

 in Holland, but tliey are moi'e nu- 

 merous in Brabant ; and being in 

 the French language, are better known 

 than those oif Holland. The best 

 in the Dutch are the Letteroejfen- 

 ing (Exercises in Literature) and the 

 Recetisent. The Dutch Reviewers are 

 not above mediocrity; they deal too 

 mu(;h in verbal criticism, and their 

 opinions are often more pedantic than 

 liberal. There are several Magazines 

 of inferior note, such as the Weegschaal 

 (the Balance), the Euphonia, &c. 



The Dutch, though they lay claim 

 to the invention of printing, cannot at 

 present boast of great perfection or ele- 

 gance in the typographic art. They 

 commonly print on very coarse paper ; 

 their school-books and other elemen- 

 tary works in particular, have always 

 a dirty and disagreeable appearance, 

 forming a complete contrast to those 

 beautiful and elegant works of that 

 kind published in this country, parti- 

 cularly by some eminent booksellers in 

 London. An Almanack, the first of 

 the kind that ever appeared in Hol- 

 land, was published in 1819, by a 

 bookseller at Rotterdam, as a specimen 

 of what (he Dutch can produce in ele- 

 gant typography, and was intended to 

 rival the English, French, and German 

 fancy Almanacks. It contained speci- 

 mens of the M'orks of their living 

 jK)ets, a portrait of Feith, the oldest of 

 them, and several engravings from 

 pictures of eminent Dutch masters, 



The Universities of Holland, though 

 formerly held in great lepute, do not 

 now rank very high, and the number 

 of students is very small. At Leyden, 

 the best attended, they are below three 

 hundred; and at Utrecht there are not 

 two hundred. Their Medical School, 

 formerly so much celebrated, has long 

 given place to that of Edinburgh, 

 which they hold in high estimation. 

 All their Prelections are made in La- 

 tin, which is more in use in the Dutch 

 Universities than ours. About four 

 years since, several improvements were 

 mad(! in tlie studies and arrangement 

 of classes; (ill that time, every thing 

 remained as it had becni from theii- 

 Ijrst establishment, and in a slate by 

 no means corr(\sp(iuding to tiie a<l- 

 vancein(!nt of science and i>Iiilos(ii)hy 

 at tlie j)reseii( day. Classical (!ducati(»i 

 is not general ; at Uoderdani, the se- 

 cond city in, Holland, there are only 



thirty scholars attending the Classical 

 Si^hool, which is the only one in the 

 place. The most celebrated professors 

 are Siegenbeek, Borger, and Van der 

 Palm ; the two last are clergymen, 

 and celebrated for their eloquence. 

 The students attend their classes at 

 the houses of the professors. The 

 clergy are a really useful body of men, 

 and niuch respected. Their salaries 

 are moderate, and often too low ; but 

 as they all reside in their own parish, 

 and are well acquainted witii all the 

 inhabitants, the rich peasants and far- 

 mers vie in shewing their respects by 

 the presents they make to the Domine, 

 the name by which tliey aie addressed. 

 The ministers of dissenting ccmgrega- 

 tions have often an allowance from the 

 Government when their salaries are 

 small; and all places of worship are 

 churches, for example, those belonging 

 called to the. Church of England, 

 though theyare what we call chapels, in 

 Holland are called Idrken (churches). 



The parish s(!hools in the country 

 are upon a footing resembling those 

 admirable institutions in Scotland. 

 The boors or peasants are not so well 

 educated as in Scotland, but certainly 

 better than those of the same class in 

 England and many other countries. 

 They can almost all read and M'rite. 

 Twenty years ago the Grammar of the 

 Dutch language was not taught in 

 schools, and in fact, there was scarcely 

 M-ork on the subject,but it is now regu- 

 larly taught. There is a commission 

 appointed by the Government to exa- 

 mine all teachers of youth. The can- 

 didates are divided into seven classes ; 

 and none are permitted to teach in a 

 higher department than that for which 

 they have been found qualified. h.t 

 eveiy examination they receive a print- 

 ed certificate or diploma. This excel- 

 lent plan, which it is much to be wished 

 were adopted in this country, would 

 answer the end much better, if the 

 commissioners were chosen with more 

 judgment, many of them being mere 

 tradesmen or shopkeepers, quite unac- 

 quainted with tlie business of education. 

 This remark is still more applicable in 

 the case of teachers of foreign lan- 

 giuiges, as it often happens, that many 

 of the examinators are ignorant of the 

 language the foreigner professes to 

 teach. After examination, the teacher 

 of a foreign language must send a }»e- 

 titiou to the burgoniastcu- for i>ermis- 

 sion to exercise his prof<!Ssion, for 

 which he pays a certain sum, as well 



