O S T O S T 17 
objects of difguft. Mr. Fufeli, in his edition of Pilking- 
ton’s Dictionary, defcribes him as an artift in the follow¬ 
ing energetic terms: “ He has contented himfelf to trace 
the line which juft difcriminates the animal from the 
brute, and ftamps his aftors with inftinCt rather than with 
paflions. He has perfonified the dregs of vulgarity with¬ 
out recommending them by the moft evanefcent feature 
of tafte; and yet decoys our curiofity to dive with him 
into the habitation of filth, beguiles the eye to dwell on 
the loathfome inmates and contents, and furprifes our 
judgment into implicit admiration, by a truth of charac¬ 
ter, an energy of efteCl, a breadth and geniality of touch 
and finifh, which leave no room for cenfure. If he is lefs 
filvery, lefs airy, than Teniers, he is far more vigorous 
and gleaming; if his forms be more fquat and brutal, 
they are lefs fantaftic and more natural; if he group with 
lefs amenity, he far excels the Fleming in depth and real 
compofition.” 
Oftade long refided at Haarlem, where he attained a 
high reputation. The approach of the French troops in 
167s, drove him to Amfterdam, where he died in 1685. 
His genuine works of his beft time and manner are very 
fcarce, and bear extremely high prices. Thofe of his 
brother IJ'aac, who painted in the fame ftyle, but with 
much inferior excellence, often pafs for his; many of 
them, indeed, are copies of his works. Adrian was fre¬ 
quently folicited by cotemporary landfcape-painters to 
add figures to their pieces, which has given them a great 
additional value. He etched a number of his own de¬ 
signs, and feveral eminent engravers have wrought from 
his pictures. The ciphers he ufed to his own engravings 
may hefeen on the preceding Plate. 
OS'TAKRE, a town of the kingdom of the Nether¬ 
lands : four miles north of Ghent. 
OSTAL'RIC, a town of Spain, on the Tordera. In 
1694, this town was taken by the French, who quitted it 
the year following, after having deftroyed the fortifica¬ 
tions : twenty-two miles fouth-weft of Gerona, and 
twenty fouth-eaft of Vique. 
OSTA'NO, a tcwn of Italy : ten miles north of Como. 
OSTASCH'KOV, a town of Ruflia, in the government 
of Tver, near the lake Seliger : eighty miles weft of 
Tver. Lat. 56. 50. N. Ion. 33. 34. E. 
OST'BY, a town of Sweden, in Angermanland : fixty 
miles north of Hernofand. 
OS'TE, a river which rifes in the fouth part of the 
duchy of Bremen, pafles by Bremervorde, &c. and runs 
into the Elbe, at its mouth, in lat. 53. 54. N. Ion. 8. 54. E. 
OSTELLA'TO, a town of Italy, in the department of 
the Lower Po : fourteen miles fouth-eaft of Ferrara. 
OS'TEN, a town of Germany, in the duchy of Bre¬ 
men : eleven miles north-weft of Stade. 
OSTEN'D, a ftrong feaport-town of the kingdom of 
the Netherlands, in the province of Weft Flanders 5 with 
a good harbour, and well fortified. 
Among the flouriftiing and numerous cities of the Ne¬ 
therlands, Oftend formerly held a diftinguifhed rank. It 
had, however, long declined, though its port continued 
to be frequented. About the commencement of the 
French revolution, it appeared almoft a defolate and de¬ 
ferred place. That event, if it did not reftore it to its 
former opulence, at leaft prevented its utter decay. By 
the various circumftances of the revolutionary war, Of¬ 
tend acquired a partial revival of its commerce and con- 
fequence. In the long line of coaft from the Texel to 
Breft, there is not one good natural harbour; for the 
embouchures of the Rhine and Scheldt, though accefiible 
at all times of the tide in fine weather, yet are fo blocked 
up and impeded by fand-banks and fhifting fands, that 
the approach in bad weather, or during dark nights, is 
very dangerous. The other ports are factitious tide-har¬ 
bours, dry at low water, and fome of them even at half¬ 
tide. Of thefe, Oftend (which word fignifies Enjt Port ) 
is among the beft. The harbour is formed by a natural 
inlet of the fea, which has forced a paflage between two 
Vol. XVIII. No. 1220. 
fand-hills. The fouth-weftern bank, or beach, is of a 
triangular fliape, and poflefles fome degree of elevation 
above high-water mark and the furrounding flat coun¬ 
try, fo that, at half-tide, it is completely peninfulated ; 
and on this bank the town is built. This inlet has been 
improved at different times. The ground has been 
fcooped out fo as to form the interior harbour or bafin, 
which terminates in the great canal of Bruges, to which 
it is connected by fuperb flood-gates, piers, and fluices. 
Externally the channel is confined and deepened by two 
piers or jetties : their conftruCtion is Ample, yet effective, 
being nothing more than double rows of piles driven into 
the fand, and connected by a flooring of ftrong planks. 
Not above a hundred yards from the end of the 
piers there is a bar, which runs acrofs the harbour’s 
mouth, upon which, in neap-tides, there is not more 
than feven or eight feet water; at high-water, in ordi¬ 
nary tides, there are twelve feet; and, in lunar tides, 
twenty-five feet and upwards on the bar. If thefe jetties 
were carried out fo as to reft upon the fand-bank which 
forms the bar, it would deepen the water, and prevent 
the further accumulation of fand, which is conftantly 
thrown by the northern current on the eaft fide of the 
harbour. 
During the period of its commercial profperity, that is, 
between the years 1720 and 1780, the town of Oftend be¬ 
came greatly enlarged. Ramparts were demolifhed to 
make room for buildings, and a new town was regularly 
laid out and completed. It in fome refpeCts refembles an 
Englifh town, being built of brick, with flagged foot¬ 
ways, a convenience not met with any where elfe on the 
continent : yet the inhabitants perfift in walking in the 
middle of the ftreet, amidft heaps of dung, carts, horfes, 
&c. fo inveterate are prejudice and habit. The beauty of 
the new town confifts principally in a fine quay, which 
borders the inner harbour, where the large and handfome 
hotel of the ci-devant Eaft-India Company makes at this 
day a confpicuous figure. 
The old town has a ftiattered and fomewhat fhabby ap¬ 
pearance. It contains, however, two good fquares. The 
Maifon de Ville, or town-houfe, forms the entire fide of 
one of them. It was formerly reckoned among the moft 
magnificent ftruCtures of the kind in the Netherlands, be¬ 
ing ornamented with two, fine towers at each wing, and 
a dome in the centre ; but this fuperb building was nearly 
ruined by the bombardment of 1745. The body of the 
town-houfe ftill fublifts ; but of its dome and two beauti¬ 
ful towers, there only remains the ftump of one of them, 
furmounted by a wooden cupola. The church is a large 
heavy building of brick, without the fmalleft claim to 
architectural merit; but the infide is richly ornamented. 
It has a lofty oftangular fteeple, with a very clumfy 
fpire ; affording, however, an excellent fea-mark, which 
may be feen at a great diftance, when nothing elfe on 
land can be dilcerned. The Pharos is alfo a ftriking ob- 
jeCt. It is a Ample column, Handing folitary, like Pom- 
pey’s Pillar, on the beach. It fupports a large reverbe¬ 
rating lanthorn. Near the Pharos is a flag-ftatf, on which 
a blue flag is gradually hoifted, in proportion as the tide 
flows into the harbour. The fortifications of Oftend are 
more than two miles in circumference. They were dis¬ 
mantled, but had not been eflentially injured. They are 
now undergoing repairs and additions, which will make 
them very formidable. As the place is fituated on an 
elevated beach, the ramparts tower above the flat coun¬ 
try, which, being lower than high-water mark, can be 
fpeedily and extenfively inundated. The only hoftile 
approaches are along the high fand-hills to the north and 
fouth : the former is protefted by a ftrong redoubt, 
built by the late French government, called Fort Napo¬ 
leon; and there are at prefent two thoufand men at 
work conftruCfing another on the fouth fide. By a cen- 
fus made ten years ago, the inhabitants of Oftend were 
found to amount to 10,570 individuals, exclufive of the 
garrifon. 
F 
The 
