772 



HOLLAND. 



the front walks are scrubbed, sanded, and marked out in fanciful figures. The doors ana 

 porches are burnished, and the trees that shade them do not escape the brush. Little admit- 

 tance is granted at the front door ; and even at the back entrance, a shoe not perfectly satisfac- 

 tory to the genius of the place, must be laid aside, and a slipper, which is kept for this purpose, 

 worn during the visit. 



The Dutch are profuse of time, but economical of money. All their conveyances, by sea 

 or land, are slow, and " Dutch speed," has grown into a saying for tardiness. The economy, 

 however, is not to be discovered in the public establishments, which are on a princely scale. 



24. Amusements. The principal of the peculiar amusements of the Dutch are skating, and 

 dancing at the licensed houses, where the most infamous class resort. It is common, for staid 

 and respectable people, in family groups, to mingle in the dance, with those who have neither 

 character nor modesty to lose. Skating is followed by both sexes ; it is a graceful and health- 

 ful amusement. The females are generally dressed in white, and each one is attended by a 

 man ; generally they move with each a hand resting on the other's shoulder. They step simul- 

 taneously, as in marching. It is an interesting spectacle, to see many females, with florid com- 

 plexions, and dressed in white, moving swiftly, and apparently without effort, like Camilla, 



" When, like a passing thought, she fled 

 In light, away." 



25. Education. There are 3 universities ; one at Leyden, another at Groningen, and a 

 third at Utrecht. There are several athenaeums or gymnasiums, and many high schools. 

 There are elementary schools in all towns and villages, and there are in many places mechanic 

 institutions. 



26. State of the Arts, Sciences, and Literature. Painting, only, has been cultivated with 

 great success ; and the Dutch School is distinguished by the most faithful and exact imitation 

 of nature. The greatest painters are Rembrandt, Wouvermann, Gerhard Douw, Ruisdael, 

 Mieris, Ostade, &c. Erasmus was the great restorer of literature in the West, and Grotius is 

 a great name in jurisprudence, theology, history, &c. The Dutch, however, have little htera- 

 ture, though they have done much for the sciences. Many of their most popular books, are 

 imitations of English, French, or German authors. 



27. Religion. This is Protestant, and in the Calvinistic form. The church government is 

 somewhat similar to that of Scotland. There are many Walloon churches, belonging to Flem- 

 ish Protestants, who have a Synod of their own. There are, besides, Lutherans, Baptists, 

 Jews, Quakers, Arminians, and Greeks. The Sabbath is observed in many places, nearly as 

 strictly as in New England. 



28. Government. The government is a constitutional monarchy ; the crown is hereditary 

 in the house of Nassau Orange. The two legislative chambers are styled the States-General ; 

 the upper house is composed of members nominated by the king for life, like the Chamber, of 

 Peers in France, and the lower house consists of deputies chosen by the provincial estates, or 

 local assemblies of the 3 orders or estates of the realm ; viz. the nobility, the citizens, and the 

 landholders. 



29. Colonies. The Dutch colonies, though less extensive than formerly, are still important, 

 compi'ising a population of nearly 10,000,000. They are the Islands of Curacao, and St. 

 Eustatia, and part of St. JMartins, with Surinam, on the coast of Guiana, in America ; a 

 number of forts and factories on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, in Africa ; and the islands 

 of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, Timor, the Moluccas, &Lc., in Oceania. 



30. Population, &c. The population of Holland is 2,820,000. From the confusion into 

 which the affairs of the kingdom have been thrown by the recent revolt of Belgium, nothing 

 satisfactory can be stated in relation to the finances. 



The army of the Netherlands has been kept on a large footing, owing to the unsettled 

 relations with Belgium ; but as these troubles have lately been quieted, it is impossible to state 

 what the peace establishment will be. Besides the regularly paid, there is Schuttery, which is 

 a conscription of individuals in places containing 2,500 persons, who are called into service 

 by the king, and this is a protection to all places where such a population is not congregated. 

 The Schuttery may be termed the Dutch National Guard, and the call of these troops gives 

 the king of Holland 29 battalions, or 40,000 men. They are called at the pleasure of the 

 king only, but the Landsturm, which is a levy m masse, can only be made by consent of the 

 Chambers. 



