HOLLAND. 



769 



House in which Peter the Great lived. 



seen here, in which Peter the Great of Russia 

 lived, when learning the art of ship-building.* 



12. Jlgriculture. The Dutch, by unwearied 

 industry, have' conquered every disadvantage of 

 climate, soil, and territory. The humidity and 

 coldness of the air are unfavorable to the culture 

 of corn ; the water is equally bad ; the soil by na- 

 ture produces hardly anything except peat, and the 

 very possession of the territory is disputed by the 

 sea. Yet the labors of the patient inhabitants have 

 converted their boggy, insignificant territory into 

 one of the richest spots in Europe. The corn 

 raised is insufficient for home consumption, but the 

 products of the dairy are abundant ; the objects of 

 culture being mostly connected with pasturage. 

 By draining the bogs and marshes, excellent meadows are created, upon which cattle fatten to 

 a vast size ; the utmost attention is paid to their warmth and cleanliness, and even in the sum- 

 mer these animals appear in the meadows clothed with apparently ludicrous care, to keep off the 

 flies. The four provinces of North and South Holland, Groningen, and Utrecht, have pro- 

 duced, in butter and cheese, sometimes 31,000,000 dollars annually. Holland is, indeed, one 

 great meadow, intersected by canals, and traversed by rows and groups of trees. Wheat, rye, 

 barley, oats, peas, beans, and buckwheat are raised for internal consumption ; and madder, rape 

 seed, hops, tobacco, clover seed, mustard seed, flax, hemp, and poppy oil, for consumption 

 and exportation. Much attention is paid to horticulture ; the gardens and orchards are very 

 neat. Culinary vegetables are even exported to Norway and other countries. 



13. Commerce. Holland became at an early period a maritime power, and established set- 

 tlements in various parts of the globe. The Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602, 

 and its prosperity was such, that the shares were afterwards sold at 1,000 per cent advance. 

 The manufacturing industry of the country was one great support of its commerce, and the 

 linens, silks, and woolens of Holland were spread over all Europe. The political revolutions 

 of modern times have been ruinous to the Dutch commerce ; yet the trade is still considerable, 

 and extends to all parts of the world. The large capitals of the Dutch merchants, their central 

 situation, their extensive and valuable foreign possessions, and the considerable surplus of native 

 commodities for exportation, secure to them a large trade. Holland exports, besides its own 

 produce above mentioned, the herring, stockfish, whalebone, and oil furnished by its fisheries ; 

 the coffee, sugar, rum, cotton, and spices of its colonies ; the gin and tobacco-pipes of its manu- 

 factories, and several articles of German produce and manufacture. Much of the commerce is 

 carried on by native vessels. Vast floats of timber are received by the Rhine from Switzer- 

 land and Germany. 



14. Manufactures. The manufactures of Holland have been greatly checked by the rival- 

 ship of the English. Before the French revolution, there was scarcely a manufacture which the 

 Dutch did not carry on. In this they were assisted by the populousness of the country, the 

 cheapness of labor, and, above all, by the water carriage, which gives an immense facihty to all 



* The little village of Brock or Brock, in North Holland, 

 is the admiration of all visiters. Here Dutch cleanliness 

 and nicety seem to be carried to perfection, indeed proba- 

 bly without a parallel in the world. No carriages of any 

 description are allowed to enter the village, one street only 

 excepted, which is considered as polluted, and is but thin- 

 ly inhabited. The streets, with the above exception, are 

 clean beyond all comparison ; not a dog or a cat is to be 

 seen in them at liberty ; and there is a regulation by which 

 no person is allowed to smoke, either in or o\it of doors, 

 without a guard over the ball of the pipe, to prevent the 

 ashes from falling out ! Notice to this effect is posted up 

 at the entrances of the village. Tlie pavement of the 

 street is inlay or mosaic work, formed of pebbles of every 

 shape and color, shells, pieces of glazed brick, &c. The 

 nouses are painted in every part, within and without, of 

 the most costly colors, and their whole appearance be- 

 speaks the most minute attention to neatness ; the windows 

 are without a speck ; everything has an air of freshness, 



97 



and a stranger looks in vain for a grain of dirt, or even a 

 particle of dust. The houses are roofed with tiles so 

 glossy, that, in the sunshine, they glitter like spar. Small 

 gardens extend from one end of a street to the other, all 

 ornamented in a way most suitable to the owner's taste, 

 and not a blade of grass or a withered leaf is allowed to 

 rest on the ground. The town is built partly round the 

 banks of a small, circular lake, and from this lake flow, 

 through most of the streets, small streams in a channel 

 lined with brick on both sides. The numerous bridges 

 over these small canals, afford an opportunity for exhiljit- 

 ing the taste of the inhabitants in fanciful devices, and in 

 the intermixtures of bright colors. The houses have each 

 two entrances, the one of which, generally painted black, 

 is never opened but in the case of death in the family. 

 The internal cleanliness of the houses corresponds with 

 the external, and the people are equally cleanly in their 

 persons, dress, and habits. 



