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in general charadierize the climate of Holland. Many na¬ 
tural ifts have aflerted, that the extreme moifture of Hol¬ 
land contributes materially to fhorten human life. The 
celebrated baron Haller advances boldly, that “ Holland 
is an unhealthy country, and life is fhort.” The affer- 
tion is -refuted however by fadls ; in Holland, as in other 
countries, we have feen accounts of individuals who have 
lived to a very advanced age ; and a judicious writer of 
our day, M. Walcknaer, obferves, that the fobriety and 
regular uniform life of the inhabitants give them a longer 
duration of years than in many other countries where 
the air is more falubrious. 
The agriculture of Holland confifts almoft exclufively 
in the cultivation of meadows and gardens 5 its low, damp, 
fpong)', foil, joined to an atmofphere loaded with vapours, 
often rainy, and for a long time cold, leaves fcarcely any 
other refource : it is carried to a very high perfedlion, and 
gives confiderable profits. ' Horticulture is in great elteem 
in Holland ; for the Dutch are fond of both fruit and 
flowers. Their gardeners excel in the art of producing a 
great deal from a little ground. Without the help of ar¬ 
tificial heat, they would be deprived of many things which 
give a fuperiority to other countries. By this help, Hol¬ 
land fupplies what fhe otherwise could not; and in the 
midft of winter affords every thing which can contribute 
to the luxury of the rich. In the month of January, 
grapes are fold as high as forty florins the pound. In a 
country fo little favoured by nature, it is eafy to judge 
Bow neceffary induftry mull: be to the fupport of the in¬ 
habitants. Notwithftanding its llerility, Holland is, per¬ 
haps, with refpedf to its extent, (only 1918 fquare leagues, 
of which 303 are overflowed, or covered with water,) the 
country moft thickly peopled. Its population is efti- 
mated at two millions; the province of Holland alone 
contains nearly one half,of that number. Monf. Walck¬ 
naer (from wh&m thistcalculation is taken) makes 1380 
inhabitants to every fquare acre. A third of this popula¬ 
tion fubfifts by commerce and navigation. The two other 
thirds are compofed of people employed in cultivation, 
and in rearing cattle, and in trades and'manufactures. 
When we enter the habitation of a Dutch peafant, we 
are as much furprifed at the cleanlinefs, as at the com¬ 
fort, which reigns in it; it is chiefly in Holland, properly 
fo called, in that part known by the name of the Beem- 
fter, and in Weft-Friefland, that we are the more ftruck 
with this Ipedlacle, which forms Inch a contrail: with the 
Hate of poverty and humiliation to which this interefting 
clals of fociety is even now reduced in moft countries of 
Europe. 
The manufacture of linens in the provinces of Gron¬ 
ingen, Overylfel, and Friefland, occupies the firlt rank 
in this principal branch of induftry. Thole linens, which 
receive the name of Holland, are diftinguifhed by their 
finenefs, whitenefs, and evennefs. It is not however the 
cafe, that all the linens which the Dutch export, are made 
amonglt themfelves. A very principal part is manufac¬ 
tured in the duchy of Berg, Weftphalia, Ofnabruck, and 
that neighbourhood, particularly Munfter; but as all thefe 
linens go to the bleach-fields at Haarlem, where they re¬ 
ceive their finifhing dreflings, the Dutch profit by this 
circumftance, to fell them as their own. Thele bleach- 
fields-extend from Haarlem to Aikmaar; and the extreme 
whitenefs which they give their linens, is attributed to the 
quality of the waters of the downs, and of the earth on 
which they are expoied. 
Paper was a veiy confiderable article of trade in Hol¬ 
land ; the Dutch were in the habit‘of fupplying France, 
Spain, and Portugal, with confiderable quantities; but at 
prelent, owing to leveral can fas, they fcarcely ule any 
other than French paper for books of a fmall lize, and 
frequently for thofe of a larger. The fervices rendered 
to printing by the Dutch, are well known. The editions 
of Virgil and Terence, from the.prels of the Elzeviers, 
are a chef d’ceuvre in this art; but, fince that, printing 
lias been on the decline in Holland. Amfterdam, how- 
v A N D. 
ever, and fome few other towns, ftill have fome difiin- 
guifhed prelfes. Bookfelling was, for more than a cen¬ 
tury, a very chief branch for trade in Holland ; but this 
advantage, which Ihe derived from peculiar circumftances, 
has difappeared with the liberty of the prefs which firft 
brought it there. 
Holland derived confiderable revenues from feveral 
branches of commerce, which now, owing to the ftate of 
Europe, are almoft, if not wholly, annihilated. Her 
fifheries were carried on to a great extent. That of the 
whale affords but the poor remains of what it formerly 
was: in 1771, from the different ports in Holland, one 
hundred and ten velfels were fitted out for Greenland, and 
forty for Davis’s Streights : in 1785 there were no more 
than fixty-eight; and the filhery continued on the decline 
till 1799, when the Englifli intercepted the convoy on its 
return from Greenland, and completed its deftiuiftion 
Amfterdam and Rotterdam enjoyed the greateft Ihare of 
the whale-fifheries. The wealth of this commerce is now 
chiefly enjoyed by the Englifh and Americans ; fome few 
other powers have a fmall part; of this number are the 
Danes, and the Portuguele and Spaniards in their colonies 
in North and South America. The produce of the fifh- 
eries was important to Holland; it.is afeertained, that it 
fupported at leafi: twenty thoufand families ; the number 
of velfels which failed annually from the feveral ports em¬ 
ployed in the filheries, was eftimated at from five to fix 
hundred. The Eaft and Weft India trade was aifo a mine 
of wealth'to Holland; they had a confiderable Ihare .of it. 
The Eaft and Weft India Companies ftill exift; but 
deprived of her colonies by the Englilh, as well as of her 
fleet, Holland derives no benefit from the New World. 
The principal trade of Holland, is now that with Ger¬ 
many. The navigation of the Rhine, luckily, gives the 
Dutch an opportunity of engroffing the trade with the 
different countries that river palfes, and alfo of the other 
rivers in Germany, which empty their waters into the 
Rhine. It opens to them an eafy communication with 
the departments of the Saarre, the Rhine, and Mofelle, 
Mount Tonnerre, and Frankfort, which, before the war, 
they fupplied with the produblions of the north and fouth 
At that period, Cologne engroffed the principal traffic of 
the Rhine: from that river the Dutch received their tim¬ 
ber for building, which came down in immenfe floats 
every year from Andernach to Dort. The confumption 
of this article in Holland may eafily be gueffed, by giv¬ 
ing a glance at its fliipping, at the buildings which ftand 
upon piles, at the dykes, and the multitude of mills which 
ferve for lb many different purpofes. 
Tobacco is an article of lome confequence, even now; 
that of Amersfort, and its vicinity, in the department of 
Utrecht, is of a luperior quality, and holds the firft place 
in trade after that of Virginia. The leaf is large, foft, 
unctuous, and of a good colour. It has the rare advan¬ 
tage of communicating its flavour to tobaccos of an infe¬ 
rior quality ; there is a great deal of this latter fort in 
Holland, but that which grows in the department of Guel- 
derland palfes for the worft. The Dutch are not, how¬ 
ever, confined to the tobacco which their own foil pro¬ 
duces; they confume a great quantity beiides, which they 
get from North America, principally from Maryland ; and 
fome from the Carraccas. The tobacco, both in leaf and 
manufabiured, is exported in confiderable quantities to 
Germany, and the north of Europe. The manufabfory 
of it was for a long time an objeft of great importance to 
Holland ; the city of Amfterdam alone, at one period, em¬ 
ployed no lei’s than three thoufand hands; but this branch 
of trade has alfo much decayed from what it originally 
was. Pipes, pens, tiles, bricks, and earthenware, are the 
chief articles now manufactured in Holland ; the pottery 
of Bergen op Zoom is in great eftimation ; and that of 
Delft likewile, which gives its name to the^yellow ware. 
If we attentively examine what were the fources from 
which Holland derived her riches, it is e^fy to obferve, 
that, befides the principal cauies which have contributed 
j to 
