tions, and but seldom visited by English travellers, if we find his journey interesting, we will follow him.

Harlingen, the place of our destination, had, with its pointed and its flat towers, been long in sight. At last, towards eleven in the forenoon, we sail between the two light-houses into the harbour. It is a pleasant place, intersected, like most other Dutch towns, with canals, which are shaded with trees. I spent the afternoon in visiting the town school, and proceeded in the evening by the Schuyt to Franeker. The way is delightful and varied, passing at one time through meadows, at another through corn-fields, then again by country houses, villages, and lime-kilns." Vol. II. p. 82.

Let us be pardoned if the mention of Franeker recalls to our recollection the name of a distinguished fellow countryman, the celebrated Congregational Theologian, William Ames, who was Professor of Divinity there. To how many of our persecuted forefathers did Holland, towards the close of the sixteenth century, and during almost the whole of the seventeenth, afford a refuge and a home! There, Robinson and Ainsworth, in the earlier days of Independency, Mead, Howe, and not a few others, during the later sufferings of the denomination, as well as many of the clergy of the Kirk of Scotland during the armed establishment of Episcopacy in that country by the second Charles, far from the noise and rage of the oppressor, were permitted to abide in peace, and exercise in safety the functions of their sacred ministry. May God grant that the churches which remain in Holland, as surviving memorials of the labours of these good men, may continue true to the principles of their illustrious founders!

Franeker no longer possesses an university. This has dwindled into an athenæum, which Mr. Fleidner describes, and which we intend to notice, with the other establishments for education. Our Author also gives a very particular description of the astronomical machinery of the ingenious and excellent Eise Eisinga, which has been purchased by the king for 10,000 guilders, and an annual pension of 200 guilders, to be continued to his son and grandson till the survivor dies. These remarkable works were constructed in the private dwelling-house of the inventor, and, though deemed of such importance as to procure a description of their use and merits from Professor Van Swinden, of Amsterdam, which has gone through two editions, are the production of the leisure hours of a man of business, who had never received a scientific education.

Leeuwarden, the capital of the province, and the next place our Author visited, is described as a well-built town, intersected as usual by canals, and distinguished for its house of correction and a handsome town-hall. Mr. Fleidner here observes:

VOL. XVI.-N.S.

Y

There is a great display of wealth both in town and country, and large sums are expended by females on their dress, which in no other province has remained so distinct, or been so faithfully handed down from generation to generation without alteration, as in Friesland*. One ornament universally adopted by females, a few most fashionable ladies of the higher class excepted, consists of a band of gold worn round the head, very broad over the temples, but narrower round the back of the head, and which costs from one to two hundred guilders [i. e. from nine to nearly eighteen pounds]. Even maid servants wear these, and hoard up their wages for years together, that they may not be destitute of the universal ornament. They are given to female children, though usually of silver only, as early as their fifth or sixth year: these, in the twelfth or thirteenth year, are exchanged for larger; and these again are, in the eighteenth or twentieth year, supplanted by the band which is to be retained for life. Poor people have them of silver, -the very poor even of copper or pewter;-but the latter are not often seen. In cloudy winter evenings it has happened, even in the streets of Leeuwaarden, that these bands, with the lace caps which are worn over them, have been torn from the wearer's heads, and carried off. This having occurred still more frequently in the suburbs and fields, they are often very prudently left at home by those who are out late in the day. The females of the old FlemingAnabaptists either abstain altogether from the use of this ornament, or wear a small one of a very ancient form. Many ladies, however, wear in addition a golden band across the forehead, set with jewels, and fastened with a diamond pin, a necklace of gold or coral with a golden clasp, and valuable ear-rings of the same material; the whole amounting frequently to the value of 2000 guilders [i. e. between 160 and 170 pounds]. . . . . . The heads of the Friesland women are very commonly almost as round as a ball; the cause of which, as I was told upon enquiry, is, that they are pressed into that shape in their infancy, with a view to add to their beauty. The bands also add to this round appearance of the head.' Vol. II. pp. 91-93.

On his way to the free colony of Friedrichsoord, our Author had occasion to travel on the road from Steenwyk to Zwoll, which he describes as being very good. The villages are well built, though not exactly in the Dutch style: the children

* Those of our readers who take an interest in antiquarian re.searches, may thank us for giving, in a note, the title of a work mentioned by Mr. Fleidner as exhibiting a very interesting collection of the older costumes of Friesland and the other northern provinces. It is as follows: Afbeeldingen van de Kleeding, Zeden und Gewoonten in de Bataafsche Republik, met den Aanvang der negentiende Eeuw. &c. [Delineations of Clothing, Manners, and Customs in the Batavian Republic, &c.,] published by Maaskamp, in Amsterdam. The work contains twenty-two copperplate engravings, in 4to, very beautifully coloured, with particular descriptions in Dutch and French.

6

also', he continues, laughed in a more light-hearted, pleasant manner when they saw us, and even the adults were gayer and more talkative than is usual in Holland, so that their character seemed nearer to the German. Soon, however,' he adds:

'we came to extensive, desolate tracks of moor, where neither house, tree, nor bush was to be seen, nor any living voice to be heard, but the loud cry of the lapwing; where, on both sides of the narrow dam along which our road lay, marshy swamps and pools of black stagnant water succeeded each other in wearisome monotony, and only heaps of turf, and here and there a solitary straw shed for the turf-cutter, rose above the barren flat. Never had I imagined such a melancholy wilderness, such an inhospitable waste; and heartily rejoiced was I at night-fall to reach the little town of Heerenveen.' Vol. II. pp. 93, 4.

Into the Author's lengthened description (vol. ii. pp. 95-116) of the free colony itself, as well as of the colonial agricultural school at Wateren (pp. 117–121); the orphan, invalid and pauper colonies at Veenhuizen (pp. 122—132); and the compulsory pauper and convict colonies at Ommershans, with his judgement on the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the free and compulsory institutions (pp. 141-164); it is impossible, with the vast quantity of interesting matter we have yet before us, that we should attempt to enter. We must leave this province with the following draft of a farm-house interior.

'From Veenhuizen I returned to Friedrichsoord. Not far from the former place I was overtaken by the rain, and forced to take refuge in a farm-house which stood near, surrounded by fine spreading oaks. I found the whole family, consisting of an aged couple, with their daughter, son in law, little grandson, maid, and two farm servants, the women being all adorned with silver head-bands, seated at table, drinking their tea out of tiny, old-fashioned cups, and eating bread and butter and boiled potatoes. A brood of chickens were picking busily about the floor, young swallows twittered from their nest in the ceiling, and the dog lay sleeping on the hearth, where a blazing fire crackled. Two ponderous old-frankish presses, rich with wreathed carving, filled up the two extremities of one side of the room, while between them glittered nearly 100 porcelain plates and dishes, arranged with some dozen spoons, in tasteful patterns, on the wall.

My entrance raised their curiosity in a very high degree, as did also my umbrella still more, they having never before seen such a thing. I had to expand it, and explain its construction and use. This mystery cleared, they soon became conversable, and the son-in-law asked me, with some interest, whether pasturage or tillage most prevailed in Germany. I also inquired more particularly into their customs and mode of life, and inspected their beautifully clean, large cattle-stalls, into which we passed immediately through a door opening out of the room in which they lived, and which had a common roof with their own dwelling. Twenty cows were standing there. From all I saw, it was evident that they were hard-working, plain

country people, of a good old stock. When I inquired further, however, respecting the reading of the Scriptures and attendance on Divine worship, I found to my sorrow, that these were strange things to them, and that in the weightiest of all points, faith in the Divine Word, and its necessary fruits, they had departed from the good old way of their forefathers.. I urged them seriously to discharge their duty to God and his Word more faithfully, and left them full of wonder and confusion.' Vol. II. pp. 131, 132.

Connected as the principal notices of distinguished men are with the description of the universities, the sketches of the different ecclesiastical denominations, and the critique of Dutch theology,-subjects which we are obliged to reserve to the next Number, we must content ourselves at present with the following account of a well-known improvisatore."'

Another highly interesting acquaintance which I made, was that of the young merchant, W. de Clercq, a man of learning and a distinguished improvisator. When I first became acquainted with him, he was occupied the greater part of the day in the counting-house, but devoted his mornings and evenings to literature, particularly to the study of languages and the belles lettres. Besides Latin, Greek, and German, he then knew the French, English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese languages, was busying himself with the acquisition of the Danish and Swedish, and contemplated that of the Russian and Polish. He had already written several pieces, and among others a prize essay on the influence of foreign literature upon that of his own country. What most adorns him is the unpretending modesty in which all these acquirements and talents are clothed; so that I felt myself immediately drawn towards him, and his amiable openness admitted me at once into friendship.

One evening I went to his house by invitation. A large company was present, and among them the distinguished German physician, Dr. Kranichfeld, now professor at Berlin, but at that time surgeon to Baron Stroganoff, who had been Russian Ambassador at the Porte. De Clercq, being requested to gratify his friends with an impromptu performance, asked Dr. Kranichfeld for a theme. The following was given him. "In what religious relation do the Greeks stand to the Turks, and is there any reason to expect that the two will ever come to a union? A difficult problem this, said the Poet; you too know the Turks far better than I then stepping back a pace or two, he seemed lost in thought for a minute, at the end of which time he sprang forward, and began with the pathos of one inspired. First he gave a rapid sketch of old Greek story, portraying her art and science in their highest bloom, and afterwards the sublimity of the Christian religion; then he introduced Mohammed as the prophet of that sensual faith under whose all-powerful, seductive influence the Arabs were drawn forth to conquest, Jerusalem was overthrown, the Christians driven from Asia, and Constantinople made a prey. Lastly, he announced his hope that the Mohammedans might be converted to the faith of Christ.

For more than half an hour he delivered himself in rhyming couplets, occasionally varying the metre, but throughout in such a flowing, powerful, and poetic diction, as to call forth the astonishment of all present.' Vol. II. pp. 129–131.

After this, the Improvisator gave utterance to another lengthened essay on the praise of Sappho; the theme being proposed by a Friesish poetess named Fenna Mastenbroek, well known in her native country as the authoress of Zedelyke Verhalen', 'Wilhelmina Noordkerk', and other works. What follows is more interesting.

'In the year 1827, I saw De Clercq again at the Hague, where he now resides. He told me that, tired of speculation, he had accepted a permanent appointment, and was then secretary of the great Society for the promotion of Netherland commerce, with as favourable opportunities as he had before enjoyed for the pursuit of learning. He also related to me how graciously the Lord had drawn him away, as he trusted, from his æsthetic, sentimental, half-belief, to a decided faith in the Redeemer. All this he unfolded with such meek and grateful emotions, that my heart drew closer to him than ever. We felt that we were one in the Lord Jesus.

'His wife is like-minded with himself. She is a member of the French-reformed Church. He formerly belonged to the Mennonites in Amsterdam, who reckoned many other eminent men among their number, and was their pride, but latterly has withdrawn from them on account of the unbelief which prevails in that communion, and has his children baptized in the French-reformed Church.'

Vol. II. pp. 131, 132.

A survey of this prevailing unbelief in the once flourishing churches of Holland will furnish, with the other topics in reserve, sufficient materials for a more extended and adequate consideration in the next Number. We hope then to take up our Author's representation of the establishments for education,his sketches of the different ecclesiastical denominations,-his account of their public services of divine worship,—and the existing state of religion in the country.

(To be continued.)

Art. II. 1. Mammon; or Covetousness the Sin of the Christian Church. 12mo. pp. xvi. 311. London, 1836.

2. On Covetousness. By Richard Treffry, Jun. 18mo. pp. 238. London, (Religious Tract Society,) 1836.

3. Covelousness, its Prevalence, Evils, and Cure. By Esther Copley. 12mo. pp. 127. London, 1836.