UTRECHT. 251 



the gardener informed us are to be planted out within a 

 fortnight : the stems swell so fast in this mild and moist 

 climate, and porous soil, that we were assured they would 

 be ready for use by the end of November. 



We left Mr Seterveldfs with a conviction that we had 

 seen probably the best specimen now remaining of the true 

 old Dutch style of gardening, of which we had read so much 

 in books, but of which no proper example had hitherto oc- 

 curred in our peregrinations through South Holland : and 

 we here enjoyed the advantage of seeing not only striking 

 remains of the more ancient style of the 17th century, but 

 perfect specimens of the taste which prevailed about eighty 

 years ago, when (as we learned) Mr Seterveldt^s place 

 was restored, enlarged, and embellished. This somewhat 

 lessened our regret at losing a sight of Broeck and Alk- 

 maar, where, we believe, this formal style is yet preser- 

 ved, with all the tidiness of modern neatness. 



Ziest. 

 Having hired a carriage, we set off for Ziest, about seven 

 miles distant, thus procuring a general view of the nature 

 of this part of the country. Ziest was once a hunting-place 

 of William the Third, and afterwards became the seat of 

 Count Zinzendorf, by whom it was given to the Society of 

 Moravians. In the groves, walks and canals which sur- 

 round it, many marks remain of the former beauty and 

 grandeur of the place. Some of the beauty, perhaps, still 

 continues, but the grandeur is extinguished, the buildings 

 erected by the United Brethren resembling some great 

 English manufactory. A beech hedge about thirty feet 

 high, and in the most perfect state of health, could not fail 

 lo impress us with a favourable opinion of the soil and cli- 

 mate. Having never seen a Moravian settlement, we rung 



