AMSTERDAM; the chief city of Holland; Ion. 

 4* 4O E. ; lat. 52 25' N. ; situated at the 

 mouth of the Amstel, where it falls into an 

 ann of the sea, called Y or IPye, 65 miles from 

 Antwerp, 240 miles north-east of Paris. This 

 famous commercial city, before the late separation of 

 Holland and Belgium, the capital of the Netherlands, 

 though not the usual residence of the king, was, at 

 the beginning of the J 3th century, a fishing village 

 in the possession of the lords of AmsteL About the 

 middle of that century, it became a small town, and 

 obtained a municipal government. In 1296, it was 

 suddenly attacked and plundered by the neighbour- 

 ing Kennemers, on account of the participation of 

 Gysbert of Amstel in the murder of the count Floris 

 of Holland, and Gysbert himself was expelled. In 

 ~this way Amsterdam, together with Amstelland 

 came under the rule of the counts of Holland, who 

 granted the city many privileges. Amsterdam soon 

 acquired an important commerce in the Baltic sea, 

 and, in the 16th century, was a place of considerable 

 commerce. The transition from the bondage of its 

 lords to the state of subjects of the counts of Hol- 

 land was the origin of its prosperity. A second cause 

 was its deliverance from the Spanish dominion. It 

 became, in a short time, the first commercial city in 

 the United Provinces. In 1585, after Antwerp had 

 fallen a second time under the dominion of Spain, 

 ts extensive commerce was transferred to Amster- 

 dam, and the western or new part of the city was 

 built. The city received new accessions in 1593, 

 1612, 1658. Jn 1622, it contained 100,000 inhabi- 

 tants. Its increasing importance awakened the en- 

 vy of its neighbours. In 1587, Leicester attempted 

 to take it by treachery, and prince William II., in 

 1650, by surprise. Both attempts were frustrat- 

 ed by the prudence of the two burgo-masters, 

 Hooft and Bicker. The burgo-masters of Am- 

 sterdam then acquired so much weight in the 

 assembly of the states-general, that their authority, 

 during the first 94 years of the 18th century, rivalled 

 that of the hereditary stadt-holder. During this pe- 

 riod of prosperity, A. acquired so great wealth, that 

 it surpassed every other city in Europe. It was the 

 great market of all the productions of the East and 

 West, and its harbour was always full of ships. The 

 fame of Dutch honesty and frugality increased the 

 flourishing trade of the city. This was obstructed, 

 however, by the sand bank before the Pampus, on 

 account of which large vessels could not enter with- 

 out unloading part of their cargoes into lighters. 

 Vessels, moreover, could not sail from the Zuyder- 

 zee, near the Texel, except with certain winds. 

 Finally, A. has often experienced great depression 

 during the continuance of wars. Even in the glo- 

 rious period of the 17th century, in 1653, the war 

 with England did such injury to its commerce, that 

 four thousand houses in the city were left unoccu- 

 pied, and, it is said, the exchange was overgrown 

 with grass. Commerce, however, afterwards re- 

 vived, and continued, with little diminution, even 

 during the unquiet period from 1790 to 1794, with 

 the exception of the time of the English war, from 

 1781 to 1782. But after the change of Government 

 in 1795, the trade and wealth of A. continually di- 

 minished. The forced alliance of Holland with 

 France, which obliged her to follow the French po- 

 licy, against the powers at war with France, oper- 

 ated to the great disadvantage of A. Louis Bona- 

 parte endeavoured to restore the trade of Holland 

 by means of grants and privileges, and even trans- 

 ferred his residence and the seat of government to 

 A. in 1808 ; but the first measure only irritated Na- 

 poleon against Holland, and the other, though it 

 opened some new sources of trade, was followed by 



AMSTERDAM, 145 



various disadvantages. The complete incorporation 

 of Holland, with France, in 1810, entirely annihi- 

 lated the foreign trade ot A. ; and many other 

 measures, as, for instance, the introduction of the 

 monopoly of tobacco and of the droits rcunis, as they 

 were called, were very injurious to the domestic 

 trade of the city. The revolution of 1813 restored 

 the business of A. Since that time, its commerce 

 lias increased very considerably. Many of the long- 

 established houses are very rich, but, nevertheless 

 for several reasons, less actively engaged in trade 

 than the merchants of Antwerp. Besides the public 

 buildings, Amsterdam contained, in 1732, 26,385 

 dwelling-houses, besides a great number of ship- 

 yards, manufactories of ropes, cordage, tobacco, &c 

 The number of inhabitants was, in 1796, 217,000 ; 

 in 1808, 208,000, among whom were 20,000 Jews, 

 In 1820, however, there were but 180,000,of wl om 

 90,000 were Calvinists, 38,000 Catholics, and 

 30,000 Lutherans. From comparing the censuses, 

 it appears that the proportion of the male to the fe- 

 male sex is about four to five. In 1817, the num- 

 ber of the poor of all degrees amounted to 39,000. 

 On account of the lownessof the site of the city, the 

 greater part of it is built on piles. A, affords a 

 splendid prospect from the harbour, by reason of its 

 numerous steeples ; the view from the Amstel bridge 

 is also very fine. In earlier times, A. was a strong 

 fortress. Its twenty-six bastions, and its means of 

 inundating the country, made even Louis XIV. cau- 

 tious of attacking it ; but, in 1787, when threatened 

 by a Prussian army of only moderate size, it was 

 obliged to surrender, after the capture of the forti- 

 fied villages in the vicinity. In consequence of the 

 changes which have taken place in the mode of con- 

 ducting sieges, A. can be defended only by the 

 inundation of the surrounding country. Yet it is 

 said, that, in the last years of the reign of the ex- 

 king Louis, a plan was formed for the regular for- 

 tification of A. On the side towards Haarlem, the 

 city is, at present, protected by the sluice of Half- 

 wegen, and on the eastern side by the fortress of 

 Naarden. Within the semicircle which the borders 

 of the city describe on the land side, several canals 

 form many smaller semicircles, which all open into 

 the Amstel river, or into the Y, or Wye. A mong 

 the public buildings, the old stadt-house is particu- 

 larly famous. The building began under the super- 

 intendence of the architect Jacob van Kampen, after 

 the peace of Westphalia, in 1648, which fixed the 

 independence of the Dutch republic, and it was fi- 

 nished in 1655. In the vaults under the stadt-house 

 are deposited the treasures of the bank of Amster- 

 dam. This splendid building stands upon 13,659 

 piles, is 282 feet long, 235 feet wide, and 110 feet 

 high, without reckoning the high tower. The in- 

 terior of this magnificent building was decorated by 

 the Dutch painters and sculptors of the 17th century 

 with their master-pieces. The patriotic Dutch were 

 therefore highly offended, when Louis Bonaparte, 

 in 1808, chose the stadt-house for his residence, and 

 his attendants and courtiers occupied the council- 

 rooms of the fathers of the city. The hall prepared 

 for the reception of the throne on this occasion is 

 probably the finest in Europe. The magnificent 

 museum of Dutch paintings, which were exhibited 

 in the stadt-house, is now transferred to the Trippen- 

 house. The present king, also, resides in this pa- 

 lace (the former stadhuijs), when he is at Amster- 

 dam. The public weigh-house, which was opposite 

 to it, was pulled down under king Louis, in ordei 

 to have an open space before the palace, and was 

 transferred to the western market. The magistrates 

 of the city now assemble in the fonner royal hall, 

 The exchange of Amsterdam, which was built be- 



