84 A CONTINENTAL TOUS. 



as it were of the superstitions of our infancy, which, I 

 believe, most men experience while wandering alone and 

 in darkness, among those venerable piles which have been 

 for so many ages consecrated to the purposes of religion. 

 But I must for the present bid adieu to those ' dwellers 

 in the temple/ though what I have said is due to their 

 memory, from the pleasure which they afforded me during 

 one beautiful evening of summer." 



DELFT AND ITS MONUMENTS. 



" Delft is said to be an ancient town, and so it appears ; 

 for the canals are green and stagnant, and the streets 

 narrow, except at the great central square, which is cer- 

 tainly not insignificant. 



"Here I visited the principal church, which is well 

 worthy of inspection for its own intrinsic excellence, and 

 still more so on account of the remains of many illustrious 

 men which it contains, and the superb monuments which 

 a grateful country has erected to their memory. 



" The church itself is very large, and is divided in the 

 interior by two ranges of magnificent arched pillars ; and 

 there are no galleries to diminish the grandeur produced 

 by the great height of the walls and the vaulting of the 

 noble roof. 



"The monuments are worthy of being held in undying 

 remembrance. Indeed, I have somewhere read that Delft 



