228 
for they are all large, and, fome - them 
beautiful buildings. Among the reft, the 
houfe belonging to the fociety know by 
the name ot Fehx Meritis is particularly 
diftinguifhed by ‘its noble ftyle of archi- 
tecture. 
On the other hand there is a total want 
of beautiful and fpacious public places or 
fquares. ‘That in which the Town-houfe 
and now likewife the tree of liberty— 
- ftand, Is very irregular, and too much 
crowded with buildings. The market- 
places, as the butter-market, the water- 
market, &c. fcarce deferve to be men- 
tioned.— The moft pleafant fpot in the 
whole city, I found on the bridge known 
by the name of Pont des Amowr ena, where 
there is an excellent. profpect. On the 
one fide I glanced over the river down 
upon the city, and the bufy buftle of its 
Jaborious inhabitants ;—1 overlooked ma- 
ny of the bridges fituated Wyse and the 
houles, i ham with the row of trees on 
the Amftel fat two beautiful fide-lines, 
end in the back-ground in the fhape of an 
amphitheatre, to which the lofty fpires, 
that emuloufly rife at a greater diftance in 
the city, give a picture{que appearance. 
On the other fide, the eye glides adown 
_ the filver ftream of the Amftel, dwells 
upon a thouland {mall boats, trek{chuyts, 
and larger veflels, with which the river is 
covered, repofes on the fhades of the trees 
that dere its banks, delights i in the buftle 
of the bufy multitude, in the {plendor of 
the horfemen, the coaches, and the ya chts, 
till, with the fream, it lofes itfelf in the 
oblcurity of diftance. 
This is the moft charming {pot in Am- 
fterdam, and, I am almoft tempted to fay, 
the only one which can have any charms 
fora ftranger. Public walks there are 
None, except what are called Plantagen be 
reckoned fuch: but thefe confit ot only 
fome reQtilinear ftiffrows of trees, planted, 
however, at fo great a diftance from one 
another, that they only ferve to excite-an 
unfatisfied longing after fhade. He who 
has accuftomed himlelf to feek for delignt 
and refrefhment in the charms of nature— 
to awaken his flumbering faculties, and 
raife his depreffed a by the fight of 
the various and grand creations of her-une 
ceafing activity,—or to animate his heart 
with trefh courage and hope by her foft 
and blifsful pitures—he muft not choo!e 
Amfterdam for his place of abode. The 
greateft uniformity reigns in the cirecum- 
jJacent country—every where meadows, 
water, dykes, painted houtes, tiff oar- 
dens, few’ trees, and, where there are any, 
planted i in reétilinear rows !~eale who can- 
Sketch of Amfterdam 
as | OSober Ty 
not view every thing with the re ee 
and calculating eye of the inhabitants of 
this city, he who cannot furrender his 
whole foul to a defire of gain, let him 
avoid this place, where the felfith {pirit of _ 
commercial fpeculation, and a corrupt 
tafe, blaft all the buddings of nature, and 
render the mind callous to every impref- 
fion of the fablime and beautiful. 
Certainly, though Amifterdam furpafs 
Hamburg 1 in externa | beauty,. yet it is far 
behind the latter as to the beauty of the 
furrounding couftry, and the ftate of fo- 
ciety. 
All that makes a refidence in Hambur& 
agreeable, is wanting here, where there 
are neither public nor private entertain- 
ments, which can have any charms for a. 
man of a cultivated mind. ~ 
Public infitutions for the By Ep ct 
of knowledge there are very few. A well-» 
known one is the Athenzum: but what 
intereft can a public {choel excite, whofe 
profeffors poffefs, indeed, a great deal of 
knowledge; but that, only partial, and 
who, at the fame time, are full of the moft 
ridiculous felf-conceit. I converfed with 
one of them about the Critical Philofophy: 
he owned to me that he had not ftudied it; 
<¢ for,’ faid he, ‘*it has caufed the dif- 
afters of our country!”"—meaning the laft 
revolution.—What intentional ignorance ° 
and pertinacious intolerance!—It would 
lead me too far, if I attempted to give 
you an idea of the poverty of the Amfter- 
damers in the endowments of a cultivated, ’ 
mind: 
it altogether furpaffed my expefta- 
tion. Not tha at I would deny that I have 
met with individuals who polleffed a. WA 
riety of elegant knowledge,efpeciallyin phy- 
fics and natural hiftory, which are without 
doubt the favourite {ciences of the Dutch. 
A laudable proof hereof is the celebrated 
fociety Felix Meritis, which caufes public 
lectures to be read on fubjects relative to 
thefe {ciences by fome of its members— 
who are divided’ mto active and paflive. 
In their aflembly-houfe, where all the 
members daily meet to read the newfpa- 
pers and to play, they have a cabinet of 
natural hiftory, which is not .yet very con- 
fiderable, but a good foundation is laid 
for a more complete collection. In the 
houfe, of the fociety Felix Meritis young 
‘painters likewife receive inftructions in 
their art. 
damers are fond of painting and drawing: 
and at the houfe of every man of rank and 
box ton you may be certain of meeting 
with a more or Jefs good colleétion of en— 
gravings and pi ictures, the latrer common- 
ly of the Flemith School, Since the re- 
yolution 
In general, indeed, the Amfter- | 
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