in his possession. Such books are named in the catalogues and sold at public sales without any remark being made, and indeed it is looked upon as a matter of perfect indifference. Of what is usually called light reading, there is so little original in Holland, that the number of their novels and romances does not exceed half a dozen, and so seldom do the public look for any thing really Dutch in this depart ment, that the author, in order to heighten his celebrity as well as to distinguish his property, places conspicuously on his title page niet vertaald, (not translated.) This practice, though it may appear singular to us, is not confined merely to novels and romances. But while the Dutch are careful to distinguish their own productions, it must be confessed that they are sometimes guilty of neglecting to inform the reader that the work he is about to peruse is vertaald and not original.

It

The state of the drama in Holland does not differ much from that of the departments of literature we have mentioned. The Dutch have several dramatic writers whom they hold in much repute, but none of their works have possession of the stage, which is entirely occupied with translations from the French, German, and English. The latter are in general not taken immediately from the English, but translated from the French translation, and Lear, Othello, and Macbeth, are exhibited in a Dutch mould after passing through a French crucible. will readily be believed that Shakspeare is scarcely" himself" after going through such a process. VCONDEL is the Shakspeare of Holland, and is called the prince of poets by his countrymen. He died in 1679, at the age of 92 years. To perpetuate his memory a medal was struck with the inscription D'Oudste en grootste Poëet, (the oldest and greatest poet.) A monument was also erected in 1772, in the New Church at Amsterdam, on which was inscribed the word VONDEL as the highest eulogium of that great man. Of the many tragedies he wrote, only one is now occasionally acted, and like George Barnwell at the London theatres, it is only brought forward at the Christmas holidays. It is always followed by a national inter ude called De Bruiloft van Kloris and Roosje (The Wedding of Kloris and Rose.) This piece is an exact representation of a Dutch wedding, such as it was several centuries

ago, and indeed such as it is in many parts of Holland at this day. The characters are dressed in the different costumes of the seven united provinces, the extreme neatness and variety of which, produce a pleasing and novel effect upon a foreigner. The music is simple and natural, and therefore pleasing; one of the airs, which is very old, resembles very much the beautiful Irish air called the legacy. The plot is so simple that it is not necessary to describe it.

The Dutch are well known to be by no means delicate in certain matters, an instance of which occurs in this national piece. At weddings it is the custom for the friends of the happy pair to present them with some article of housekeeping, not forgetting the cradle for the children and pipes and tobacco for the husband, accompanied with an appropriate speech.Among other things a pot de chambre is actually produced on the stage, and made a present of to the husband, with a description of its use.

The tragedy above mentioned is called Gysbrecht Van Amstel, and is founded on the siege of Amsterdam by the Spaniards. Gysbrecht Van Amstel, the commander of the garrison is informed by a messenger, in a speech of two octavo pages, that the enemy intends to take the city by surprise, and gives orders immediately to prepare for the assault. The scene changes to the inside of a convent, where the nuns are seen through windows of painted glass. After a solemn pause they commence chaunting the midnight service. The music is very appropriate, and the whole produces a very fine effect. In the midst of this solemnity, shouts and sounds of war are heard at a distance, and as they advance, the agitation of the nuns increase, but the chaunting continues, till the convent gates are heard to burst open, the Spaniards enter sword in hand, and assault the nuns, the noise and tumult increases and the curtain falls while the nuns are throwing themselves on their knees to im plore mercy; but it instantly rises again to exhibit the Spaniards in the act of plunging their swords into their breasts. The attack having succeeded, Gysbrecht Van Amstel is obliged to evacuate the city after having performed prodigies of valour. While he is retiring with his family from the place, an angel descends in a cloud and consoles him, by foretelling

the

the future greatness of his name, and the splendour and riches which Amsterdam should enjoy in after days. BILDERDIJK has written several tragedies, none of which we believe have ever been acted, though they have long been in the hands of the public. His wife, who is almost as celebrated as himself for her poetical productions, lately published a volume of tragedies, one of which she wrote as a competitor for a prize offered by a literary society for the best tragedy in the Dutch language, but which she did not obtain.

The Dutch stage cannot at present boast of any actor of great celebrity. The famous Madame Watier, the Mrs. Siddons, of Holland, long ago retired from the stage, though she sometimes appeared afterwards on great occasions. Bingley, the manager of the Theatre Royal at the Hague, died about two years since. This actor, who was of English extraction, was considered as by far the best performer on the Dutch stage. His person was large and well made, and his voice strong and sonorous. In such characters as Vondel's Gysbrecht Van Amstel, Lear, Othello, or Macbeth, he was very successful, and was besides an excellent actor in comedy.

In Amsterdam there are a French, and German, as well as a Dutch theatre. The French theatre is the fashionable resort in the capital, as well as in every other city, and their own theatres are not so well attended by those who consider themselves people of quality. At Rotterdam and Leyden, the French and Dutch companies from the Theatres Royal at the Hague, perform alternately, and much has been done to bring their own stage into favour with the public. Vondel's national tragedy was lately brought forward in the most splendid manner at Amsterdam, and no expence was spared in scenes, machinery, &c. in order to excite and revive the national feelings of the public. It had a run of fourteen successive nights, an occurrence never known before in Holland, and which some of their journals boasted, had never happened in any other country. The low estimation in which the Dutch diama is held, may be considered as partly owing to the influence of the French, who always made a point of destroying all nationality among the people under their government; and the taste for the French opera, tragedies never being acted and comedies not often, is still con

tinued by the caprice of fashion, as the taste for the Italian opera is in London, among people who wish to be thought fashionable. One great cause, however, seems to be the want of good acting plays of their own. They pretend to be great sticklers for the rules of the Drama, as they are called, and all their tragedies are in verse in the French manner. Some good speeches are no doubt to be met with, but they are often excessively long, sometimes filling two or three pages of an octavo volume, there is a cold regularity which may please a fastidious taste, but can seldom touch the heart or interest the feelings. The Dutch are too fond of imitation, though they will not always avow it, but the great merit of even some of Vondel's passages lies in the nearness of their resemblance to similar passages in Virgil and other ancient poets.

Holland contains many societies, some of which resemble our literary clubs and public libraries, though they differ from them in several particulars. The most respectable are called in Amsterdam collegies. The number of members is generally from 150 to 200, and many of them meet in very elegant buildings, (the property of the society) to smoke, drink coffee, wine or liqueurs, play at cards or other games, and read the newspapers, magazines &c. On a large table in the centre of the room are laid all the principal reviews, magazines, pamphlets, and newspapers published in Holland, England, France, and Germany. Among the English publications, the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, and the old Monthly Magazine, are held in the greatest estimation. There are rooms for billiards, and others contain books for the use of the members. The custom of taking coffee or liqueurs about twelve o'clock is common in Holland, and about that hour the rooms are generally full. Some of those societies or clubs consist of merchants, bankers, &c. but others of a more literary character are composed of physicians, lawyers, and sometimes divines, besides others whose professions are connected with literature, but they are all mixed with commercial men. Strangers are introduced by members, and have their names enrolled in a book, after which they may go when they please for a certain time, which is generally a month. Men from every part of Europe and

America

America may be met with, and strangers find these societies a very agreeable and convenient place of resort. The Dutch, however, generally spend too much time in them, particularly in the evening when they might be with their families; a Dutchman indeed is scarcely ever seen drunk, though they drink considerable quantities from the time they commence with their morning whet.

There is another kind of clubs or societies which differ from those we have been describing, in being exclusively devoted to literary purposes. The members consist of people of every profession, but most of them are supposed to have some taste for letters. They meet once a week or fortnight, but foreigners are not often present. The business of the evening commences with a lecture or essay being read by a member who always belongs to some profession connected with literature. The first is succeeded by several others, sometimes to the number of five or six in the same evening, who treat the audience with their own poetical effusions. In no country are people fonder of making verses than in Holland, and these assemblies afford the opportunity of reciting them without running the risk of being hissed.

After the audience have been treated with an essay on some subject connected with ancient or modern literature, by a professor from Leyden or Utrecht, they are perhaps entertained by a woollen-draper or upholsterer, who recites an ode of his own composing, on the greatness of Holland, the fame of its authors, &c. and he again may probably be succeeded by his clerk, who with appropriate gestures, gives a translation of some German ballad, or perhaps a short piece of Southey's, if his own muse has not been favourable. An old merchant next makes his appearance, who gives a long account in verse, of the changes and revolutions in commerce and politics he has witnessed in the course of his life. But the privilege of pleasing, for nobody ever seems displeased, is not wholly engrossed by the male part of the assembly, as ladies not unfrequently mount the rostrum and astonish and delight the audience with their softly flowing strains; but these strains are sometimes delivered with a force and emphasis which appear to belong rather to the rougher than the gentler sex, as the Dutch use a great deal of action

when speaking in public. Perhaps it would be better were those poetical flights less indulged in, and prose essays, &c, more encouraged, as from being always applauded, though they seldom rise above mediocrity, and are generally mere trash, a spirit of selfconceit and vanity is engendered, and these makers of verses actually think themselves poets. Dutch patience is strongly exemplified in the calmness with which they listen to such effusions, and wait for the signal to appland, which is always given by one of the directors, commonly a clergyman, who also delivers an eulogium on the performance. At these assemblies smoking is allowed till the commencement of business, before which the room is always so completely filled with fumes of tobacco, that the first performer is heard long before he can be seen, except by those quite near. Wine, punch, and confectionary constitute no inconsiderable part of the evening's entertainment.

We must not omit to mention Newspapers-a subject so interesting to Englishmen. A Dutch Journal, however, differs much from an English one, as it contains nothing more than the political intelligence copied from the continental or English papers, with any occurrence that has taken place in their own politics. The Gazettes of Brussels and the Hague have alone the privilege of reporting the speeches in their two Houses of Parliament. No editor, in any of the Seven United Provinces, ever takes upon him to make any political reflections, or to discuss subjects of any kind; and nothing of that description ever appears in any Newspaper published in Holland. There is scarcely any domestic intelligence given, and no notice whatever is taken of trials or punishments. While Holland was under the dominion of the French, the nation enjoyed the invaluable privilege of trial by jury, and the Courts of Justice were open to the public; but the trial by jury was abolished on the King's return from England, and the Courts now sit with shut doors. The press in the Netherlands is not subject to any direct censorship; but the Editors of some of the Flemish journals have been severely punished for what we would call very slight offences. There are severe penalties to prevent the Editors of newspapers and other periodical works, from permitting any thing to appear in their journals reflecting upon

the

the conduct of the Sovereigns of other countries. A considerable number of periodical works are published in Holland, but they are more numerous in Brabant; and being in the French language, are better known than those of Holland. The best in the Dutch are the Letteroeffening (Exercises in Literature) and the Recensent. The Dutch Reviewers are not above mediocrity; they deal too much in verbal criticism, and their opinions are often more pedantic than liberal. There are several Magazines of inferior note, such as the Weegschaal (the Balance), the Euphonia, &c.

The Dutch, though they lay claim to the invention of printing, cannot at present boast of great perfection or elegance in the typographic art. They commonly print on very coarse paper; their school-books and other elementary works in particular, have always a dirty and disagreeable appearance, forming a complete contrast to those beautiful and elegant works of that kind published in this country, particularly by some eminent booksellers in London. An Almanack, the first of the kind that ever appeared in Holland, was published in 1819, by a bookseller at Rotterdam, as a specimen of what the Dutch can produce in elegant typography, and was intended to rival the English, French, and German fancy Almanacks. It contained specimens of the works of their living poets, a portrait of Feith, the oldest of them, and several engravings from pictures of eminent Dutch masters,

The Universities of Holland, though formerly held in great repute, do not now rank very high, and the number of students is very small. At Leyden, the best attended, they are below three hundred; and at Utrecht there are not two hundred. Their Medical School, formerly so much celebrated, has long given place to that of Edinburgh, which they hold in high estimation. All their Prelections are made in Latin, which is more in use in the Dutch Universities than ours. About four years since, several improvements were made in the studies and arrangement of classes; till that time, every thing remained as it had been from their first establishment, and in a state by no means corresponding to the advancement of science and philosophy at the present day. Classical education is not general; at Rotterdam, the second city in Holland, there are only

thirty scholars attending the Classical School, which is the only one in the place. The most celebrated professors are Siegenbeek, Borger, and Van der Palm; the two last are clergymen, and celebrated for their eloquence. The students attend their classes at the houses of the professors. The clergy are a really useful body of men, and much respected. Their salaries are moderate, and often too low; but as they all reside in their own parish, and are well acquainted with all the inhabitants, the rich peasants and farmers vie in shewing their respects by the presents they make to the Domine, the name by which they are addressed. The ministers of dissenting congregations have often an allowance from the Government when their salaries are small; and all places of worship are churches, for example, those belonging called to the Church of England, though theyare what we call chapels, in Holland are called kirken (churches).

At

The parish schools in the country are upon a footing resembling those admirable institutions in Scotland. The boors or peasants are not so well educated as in Scotland, but certainly better than those of the same class in England and many other countries. They can almost all read and write. Twenty years ago the Grammar of the Dutch language was not taught in schools, and in fact, there was scarcely work on the subject, but it is now regularly taught. There is a commission appointed by the Government to examine all teachers of youth. The candidates are divided into seven classes; and none are permitted to teach in a higher department than that for which they have been found qualified. every examination they receive a printed certificate or diploma. This excellent plan, which it is much to be wished were adopted in this country, would answer the end much better, if the commissioners were chosen with more judgment, many of them being mere tradesmen or shopkeepers, quite unacquainted with the business of education. This remark is still more applicable in the case of teachers of foreign languages, as it often happens, that many of the examinators are ignorant of the language the foreigner professes to teach. After examination, the teacher of a foreign language must send a petition to the burgomaster for permission to exercise his profession, for which he pays a certain sum, as well

as

as for his examination. He must also take out a yearly patent; and every person exercising any trade or profession, from the merchant to the shoeblack, pays for this patent in proportion to his supposed income. The Dutch are extremely fond of "posts and pensions," and commonly shew a great deal of the "insolence of office," when they are happy enough to "get in." The members of the School Commission are commonly striking examples of this: nothing can exceed the Consequential gravity and ridiculous solemnity of this conclave, when they have got a teacher at their bar; and particularly if he is a foreigner.

Holland has never, perhaps, at any former period, produced more writers than at the present day; but we shall notice only a few of those whose works are likely to reach posterity. FEITH is a man of some property in Guelderland, and is called the father of the living poets, from his great age. His works are chiefly of the sentimental kind, or what is sometimes called the "Germanic:" Ferdinand and Julia, a sentimental romance in prose; and Het Graaf (the Grave), a poem: his principal productions are quite in this style. BILDERDIJK is considered as the chief of Dutch poets, and not unfrequently the high epithet of "Prince of Poets," is bestowed upon him. He was bred to the bar, and is certainly a man of considerable learning. The style of his poetry, and the disposition of his mind seem to have more resemblance to Lord Byron's than any other of our great poets, (we do not mean to make any comparisons). But whatever learning or genius he may possess, is certainly exceeded by his extreme vanity and self-conceit, as he seems to affect to hold the greatest writers of every other country in perfect contempt :-many examples of this might be given from his works, did our limits permit. He resided some England, where, he says, he did much good, by instructing young authors in the art of poetry. The statue of Dr. Johnson was erected in St. Paul's when he was in London, upon which he remarks, "to erect a monument to the memory of such a man as their half-learned, dull, and stupid Johnson, is a sufficient proof of the low state of learning in England." He was once a great favorite at Court; but his presumption and vanity made him fall into disgrace, and he was obliged to leave the country.

TOLLENS, a colour-merchant in Rotterdam, is held as the second in poetical fame; but his attachment to the Muse does not seem to interfere with the concerns of commerce, as he attends regularly on change, and appears prosperous. His smaller pieces are his best productions; and he has written some popular national songs, at the desire, it is said, of some of the Royal Family, which are well calculated to reanimate the patriotic feelings which are almost extinct in the breasts of his countrymen. All the principal authors, except Bilderdijk, have been created Ridders, that is, Knights of the Dutch Lion, an order instituted by the present King, for the purpose of rewarding his adherents, and as a substitute for pensions and places. They wear the medal of the order constantly at their button-hole.

VAN KAMPEN is a prose-writer of much repute, though almost wholly self-taught. He was lately, and perhaps is still, a journeyman printer at Leyden. One of his best works is the History of the French Empire in Europe, in 3 vols. 8vo.

LOOSJES, a respectable printer at Haarlem, died about three years since; he wrote a great deal, both in poetry and prose. His Adventures of Susannah Bronkhorst, a novel in 6 vols. 8vo. is the best in the Dutch language, and certainly worthy of being translated into English, as well as other works by different authors, among which may be included some of the late voyages and travels performed by natives of Holland.

For the Monthly Magazine. DESCRIPTION of the RETORT-HOUSE of the GREAT GAS MANUFACTORY, in BRICK LANE, LONDON, with a view taken at the time of drawing the coke, or exhausted charge, and recharging with fresh coal.

singular

of the proce character of this port picturesque effect, will powerfully engage the attention of distinct classes of spectators; it furnishes a scene which is equally interesting to the uninformed and the learned observer. The man of science contemplates it with a feeling of exultation: he sees in the retort-house, the heart, the living principle which gives effect to a magnificent system, alike honourable in its place among the discoveries of the age, and excellent for its usefulness to the community.

The