A Tour Through the Batavian Republic/Letter VII
LETTER VII.
The Hague, November, 1800.
THE fishermen of Scheveling, and the departure of the chiefs of the house of Orange from that village, led me into a digression from which I return with pleasure. If it afforded amusement or information, an apology is unnecessary; if the contrary, the best is to be found in my intentions, which were to contribute, as far as my limited powers would permit, to both.
The road from the Hague to Scheveling is so justly praised by the Dutch, and pointed out as an object of admiration to strangers, that I should be liable to well-founded censure did I not attempt to describe it. The length of this avenue is near two miles, and its breadth about twenty paces, or rather more. It is a perfectly straight line, so that the entrance of the road commands a view of the whole; and happily a picturesque object, the church of Scheveling, terminates the prospect. On each side it is shaded by beeches, limes, and oaks of an astonishing growth, which are so closely and skilfully planted, at the same time without incommoding each other, that they form to appearance an impervious forest. Great care, but certainly not more than it deserves, is taken to preserve this magnificent grove from injury or depredation. Here the fond lover may brood in solitude over his passion, but must not wound the bark of a tree with the initials of his mistress's name; nor must the mischievous boy exercise his agility at climbing in this consecrated wood. Woe be to the miserable wretch who is detected here picking a few sticks to light her fire; the spin-house or bridewell would be the punishment of her offence. At short distances, cautions are fixed up, like those in England, offering rewards to informers, and denouncing the severest penalties against offenders; and that the most illiterate may not be ignorant of these regulations, pictures of indifferent execution, describing the story of a boy transgressing and chastised, are exhibited in conspicuous situations. But it is probable that the veneration which the Dutch have for trees in general, and in particular for these, on account of their peculiar beauty, are the best safeguards of this delightful wood.
The merit of planning this avenue, according to our valet de place, whose authority I believe may be relied upon in this case, since I find it is supported by the printed account of the Hague, belongs to Constantine Huygens, the brother of the celebrated mathematician and mechanist of that name; and the age of the stateliest trees is near a century and a half. The late storm has committed most deplorable ravages here. The person whom I have just mentioned, with that accurate attention which is a characteristic feature of the Dutch nation, counted fifty-six noble trees torn up from their roots by the violence of the wind, and the destruction of branches and underwood was proportionally great. The poor fellow, when he pointed out the beauties of the road, lamented the desolation of the storm with much feeling, and heaved a sigh at every tree of more than ordinary magnitude (and they were numerous) which had been levelled to the earth.
The ocean, which washes the village of Scheveling, is concealed from view by sandhills, until you approach it so near as thirty or forty yards: it then bursts upon your sight with inconceivable grandeur; and though you are acquainted with its proximity, its sudden appearance produces an indescribable effect. The beach here is extremely fine, and forms a beautiful semi-circle of about six miles extent. On this beach was tried the famous flying chariot of Stevinus[1], which my uncle Toby has introduced to the acquaintance of most readers; and I doubt whether the engineer could have found in Europe another plain better suited to his purpose. But, such is the unaccountable prejudice of the Dutch, this beach, which were it in any part of England would create an extensive town in its neighborhood, and be yearly the resort of the gay, the luxurious, the debilitated and infirm, is neglected and avoided by all persons here. We met on the road to Scheveling three or four carriages with company, and expected to find as many on the sand; but neither seeing equipages, nor any marks of wheels on the beech where we wandered, which was as firm and solid as a garden walk, I enquired the cause, and learnt that the Dutch have a strong antipathy to the air of the sea. They equally dislike the use of salt-water for a bath, and consequently there are no machines for that delightful and invigorating exercise. This aversion to the sea air and water is not merely a vulgar prejudice, but obtains the support of their leading physicians; and on this account, though most delightful houses of pleasure might be built on the coast, commanding an exquisite marine prospect, not a villa or even a hovel is to be seen, three or four houses at Scheveling excepted, which fronts the ocean. The ruddy countenances of the Dutch fishermen, and their athletic limbs, might seem to afford an irresistible refutation of this idle prejudice; but persons who have a violent attachment to old opinions, generally overlook facts, and dwell upon theories.
It is dangerous for vessels to anchor off Scheveling, on account of the exposed position of the coast, and the want of sand-banks to break the force of the sea; the fishermen therefore, when they return from their labours, drag their vessels on rollers up the beach, beyond the reach of the tide. In this manner on the sand were upwards of thirty boats, from twenty to five-and-thirty tons burthen; but one half of them were dismantled, and a number of persons thereby deprived of employment. Our appearance drew a crowd of clamorous beggars about us, chiefly of the fisherman tribe, whose looks and gestures bespoke extreme wretchedness; some endeavoured to excite our compassion by offering for sale a few shells which the sea had cast on the beach, others by loudly proclaiming their wants, and all by sorrowful and dejected countenances.
The ruin of the great fisheries of Holland was the inevitable consequence of a war with Great Britain; but as, by the established usage of nations, in former times, fishermen were permitted, notwithstanding hostilities, to follow unmolested their avocation, for the regular supply of the domestic consumption of their country, I was surprised to find sea-fish scarce, and many boats unemployed. The reason I understood is, that the English government, contrary to its practice in former wars, will not permit the Dutch to fish at a greater distance than five miles from their own coast; which is in reality an useless indulgence, for the only banks in the North-sea on which fish is to be caught in any quantities are beyond the allowed limits, and therefore if the fisherman, to follow his trade, goes out so far to sea, he incurs the risque of being taken; a risque which few are disposed to hazard, from the number and vigilance of our cruisers which are on the coast of Holland.
In its more auspicious days, the Hague maintained a troop of French comedians and the performers of the Dutch theatre. It could also boast of an elegant concert, with good Italian voices, and other amusements suitable to the princely and wealthy inhabitants of a great city. At present its public entertainments are reduced to the Dutch theatre, the actors of which, instead of being stationary at the Hague, perform only twice a week, and on the remaining days exhibit their talents to the citizens of Delft and Rotterdam. We therefore saw the same troop of actors which on a former occasion I introduced to your acquaintance, and to our mortification we had also seen the drama which they represented. The farce, however, was new to us, and diverting from excess of ridiculous absurdity. It was the production of a Dutch author, and I shall slightly detail the story to you, not as a specimen of national wit, but of the outrageous fooleries which a Dutch audience can tolerate.
A chimney-sweeper makes his appearance on the stage from a fire-place, and perceiving a fine suit of clothes, he strips off his own sooty garments, and dresses himself in a laced coat, embroidered waistcoat, bag-wig, &c. When he is thus equipped, the servants of the house enter, and mistake him for the person whose dress he wears. Imagining him to be my lord, they bring him a variety of refreshments, which, to the great delight of the audience, he swallows with voracious gluttony, making between every mouthful a hideous grimace, and loudly expressing his satisfaction at the dainties on which he feeds. After the servants retire, the master of the house visits his guest; and also mistaking him for a nobleman, offers him his daughter in marriage age with a large fortune. A bargain is concluded, the daughter appears, and the father gives her hand to the metamorphosed sweeper. At this critical moment the real lord enters, the cheat is accordingly discovered, and the knave in his finery makes his escape up the chimney.
The theatre is smaller than that at Rotterdam, and the decorations inferior. It was impossible to see the scene, which was, dropt between the acts, without smiling. It represented cupids hovering over the altar of Love. The cupids were chubby Dutch children, formed in nature's homeliest mould; the graces were round-faced damsels, with flaxen hair, and the goddess of love an antidote to that passion.
The centre-box, which formerly was appropriated to the use of the stadtholder, now belongs to the Batavian directory, one of the members of which body, with his family, was at the theatre. Nothing in the appearance or reception of this person indicated his rank. He was dressed in a plain suit of black clothes, and appeared to be about fifty years of age. The directorial box has no ornaments to distinguish it from others, and I should not have known to whom it belonged, had I not seen on entering the theatre, a piece of paper pasted on a box-door, on which was writen in an almost illegible hand, "Le logis de directoire Batave" — The box of the Batavian directory. The theatre was miserably attended. I am confident I speak within, bounds, when I say, the whole audience did not amount to one hundred persons. So trifling a collection of spectators at the theatre of a town whose population certainly exceeds thirty thousand inhabitants, either shews that the taste of the people for dramatic exhibitions is feeble, of their poverty extreme. With such receipts, the managers cannot afford to light many candles in their house; and, that none may be unnecessarily consumed, whenever the musicians quit the orchestra, the lights which enable them to read their scores are carefully extinguished until they return. The price of admission to the boxes is rather more than half-a-crown English money, and to the other parts of the theatre in an equitable proportion. The gallery part of the audience, I was informed, was chiefly composed of French soldiers, whose partiality to scenic representations was so strong, as to bring them to a theatre where a language was spoken of which they scarcely understood a single word.
The Hague has certainly sustained a great diminution of wealth and splendour, from the flight of its princes, the dispersion of its nobles, and the general distress in which all classes of society have been involved. Before the revolution, there were to be seen, in almost every street, elegant carriages with valuable horses, footmen with rich liveries, and all the sumptuous trappings of polished opulence and refined luxury. But now few carriages are to be seen except hackney-coaches, which are of the meanest description; and servants are prohibited by law from wearing any ornaments on their dress which shall mark their situation in life. The foreign ministers at the Hague formerly vied with each other in magnificence and expence; but since the republic has ceased to be an efficient state among the potentates of Europe, the grandeur, as well as the number, of the corps diplomatique has been greatly diminished. M. Semonville, the French minister, lives in a princely style; but his establishment, and that of the Spanish embassador, are the only ones deserving of notice.
Before the revolution which precipitated the French directors from their seats, and placed Bonaparte at the head of the republic, the Batavian directory sometime amused the public with state pageants in imitation of their Gallic brethren. Since that event, such displays of vanity have been rarely indulged in. Some weeks ago there were illluminations and other public rejoicings at the Hague, in commemoration of the anniversary of the convention last year between General Brune and the Duke of York: the directors appeared with little ostentatious state, and were received with few testimonies of popular favour. It is expected, that the change which has taken place in France will ultimately produce an alteration in the Batavian government; therefore the directors wisely withdraw themselves, as much as their functions will permit, from public observation, and the envy concomitant on exalted rank.
It is the opinion here, both of his friends and enemies, that the stadtholder will never be restored to the government of the United Provinces; but the former confidently expect that some indemnification will be given him for the loss of his hereditary offices, and the confiscation of his estates. The pensioners of the house of Orange, whose yearly allowance was earned by the merit of actual services, now receive with regularity their salaries from the landed or other possessions of the prince. This humane and benevolent grant of support, which rescued a number of deserving individuals from the severe gripe of poverty, did not take place till two or three years after the settlement of the new government; but to render this act of magnanimous justice complete, each pensioner was paid with interest the arrears of his salary, and he was not, like other persons who tasted the bounty of the republic, obliged to take an oath of hatred to the stadtholder. Delicacy, and a fine sense of religion and honour, would doubtless have prevented many persons from deriving advantage from this national liberality, had conditions been required of them which they could not in conscience submit; to the compassion of the government which provided for their wants, with a tender regard at the same time for their scruples, cannot therefore be sufficiently admired and praised.
Whatever change takes place in the government of Holland, it must first receive the approbation of the rulers of France; but it is not probable that any alteration will be attempted, which shall assimilate the executive administration of the Batavian to that of the French republic. The consular government, as it at present exists in France, is entirely repugnant to the cautious and reserved genius of the Dutch nation, and would be highly offensive to the patriotic party. On the dissolution of the present constitution of the Batavian republic, which can scarcely fail to happen in the course of a few years, from its defects and insufficiency, a government resembling the states-general, but of a more republican character, will probably be established under the auspices of France. Until the restoration of peace, however, it is not likely that any alterations of magnitude will be attempted.
Had the son of the stadtholder survived, who died about two years ago a general in the imperial service, a powerful party would probably have been formed in Holland in his favour, which would have endeavoured, had circumstances arisen to promote their design, to recal him to his country, and invest him with the dignities which his ancestors enjoyed in the republic. He was a young man of singular courage, and engaging manners; his person and talents were thought to resemble those of his great uncle the illustrious Frederic of Prussia[2]; and the Dutch beheld beheld with partial affection in this prince qualities which reminded him of the heroic actions of Maurice and Frederic-Henry of Nassau. At the time when the party most hostile to the house of Orange viewed the other branches of his family with hatred or contempt, this prince was the object of their jealousy and esteem: they saw with pleasure that the measures of the stadtholder were calculated to increase the popular odium which he had already incurred; and the virtues and splendid abilities of his son excited their fears, lest they would revive in the people their ancient attachment to the house of Orange. It is some proof of the regard with which his memory is cherished, that his picture is exhibited with impunity at most of the printshops of the Hague and Rotterdam, while a very severe punishment would be inflicted on the print-seller who would be bold enough to sell portraits of the stadtholder or his surviving family; and the most violent republicans with whom I have conversed concurred in bearing testimony to his character. I saw an elegant engraving of him at the house of a gentleman whose prejudice would not permit a marigold to blow in his garden.
Had this young man, the hopes of the house of Orange, lived, he might have perhaps in time obtained the stadtholderate, or some honourable establishment in the country, where his person was beloved, and his abilities admired. But the survivors of his family possess none of the qualities requisite to create in their favour a party sufficiently powerful to overthrow the present system, and procure their recal. They may indeed recover the territorial estates and rights which belong to the house of Orange, but they can never hope, with any rational prospect of success, to regain that plenitude of power and extensive authority which formerly appertained to their family.
The zealous partisans of the stadtholder, whose inclinations lead them to extol with rapture every shadow which promises to favour their cause, flatter themselves with the hope, that whenever a general peace is made, the King of Prussia, who according to their notions holds in his hands the balance of Europe, and can restore or dethrone, will attend to the interests of his kinsman, and oblige the French and Batavian republics to reinstate him in his offices. This opinion is so wild and baseless, that I would misemploy my time were I elaborately to combat it.
Since the year 1787, when the arms of Prussia overran Holland, and crushed the party which opposed the stadtholder, the character and views of the court of Berlin have been regarded with much attention and anxiety by the Dutch. The patriots, and all true Hollanders in whose bosoms glowed one spark of remembrance of the ancient feats of their countrymen, beheld with indignation a power which had arisen in Europe within the century, giving laws to, and imposing a master on the republic. Since that period, as their interests or partialities have inclined them, Prussia has been viewed by the Dutch with jealousy, fear, or hope. The character of the present King of Prussia excites no alarms in the patriots, and consequently furnishes little hope, that he will espouse their cause, to the stadtholderian party. He is said to inherit the talents which have distinguished the house of Brandenburg for a century and a half, without much of that dangerous passion for military glory which signalised the reigns of some of his predecessors. His ministers differ in their principles and views from those whom his father employed, and he himself is indefatigable in his attention to the cares of government. His chief ambition is to continue to his subjects the blessings of peace, and to promote in his dominions agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. He possesses the hereditary dislike of his family to the house of Austria, and is thought to entertain sentiments unfavourable to Great Britain, on account of her intimate connection with that power. When the English and Russian troops invaded Holland, large offers, amounting to a dismemberment of the United Provinces in his favour, as a reward for his services, were made him, if he would assist to expel the French from the territories of the republic. Had he joined to the Anglo-Russian forces an army equal to that which his father sent into Holland in 1787, or made a diversion in favour of the invaders, the French must have been driven out of the republic, and the Batavians subdued. But he maintained the most cautious neutrality, and thereby lost the best opportunity probably which will ever occur, of reinstating his relatives[3] in their possessions. — In private life he is regular and economical, having neither mistresses nor favourites to dissipate his treasures; and though his reign has yet been undistinguished by any splendid actions, no monarch that ever sat on the throne of Prussia was more respected and beloved by his subjects than Frederic-William III. From this prince it is apparent that the friends of the stadtholder have not much to expect. The present government of Holland is fully recognised by the court of Berlin, and a Prussian minister resides at the Hague. The little trade which remains to the republic is chiefly carried on under the protection of the Prussian flag, and commercial consuls of that nation are established at every considerable port. — As I shall have occasion to speak at large hereafter on the present state of the commerce of Holland, I shall now return to what is strictly connected with the Hague.
During that bright period of French literature, when the writings of Voltaire, D'Alembert, Helvetius, Rousseau, &c. were eagerly sought after by the learned and curious of Europe, the booksellers at the Hague and Amsterdam with great spirit multiplied the editions of these authors, and carried on a lucrative trade with their works, in all parts where they have been permitted to vend them. Of late, however, not a single book above the size of a pamphlet has appeared from the Hague press, and the booksellers venture on few of the costly publications which have lately been printed at Paris. The decay of this trade, the only one of consequence which was ever carried on at the Hague, arises more from the causes which have involved in ruin the commerce of the United Provinces, than from the circumstance that France has not of late years produced literary works of much reputation. At the principal shop in the Hague, that of Du Four, who is also a bookseller at Amsterdam, I saw a catalogue of recent French publications, and some of them I was desirous to purchase, but they could not furnish me with a single book which I wanted: those with which chiefly they were supplied, were the voyages of French navigators, and some novels translated from the English, amongst which I recognised, with sincere pleasure, in a new garb, the productions of some valuable and esteemed friends.
The extinction of the literary traffic of the Hague is scarcely felt, and little lamented by any persons except those immediately concerned in it. But the want of the court, and of the opulent strangers which it attracted to this place, is severely felt by numbers. Before the revolution, the Hague not only contained its own princes of the house of Orange, but several petty princes of the German empire, who spent here the revenues which accrued to them from their territories. These personages are all fled, and the same frugality and simplicity of manners begin to prevail at the Hague, which distinguish other parts of Holland, to the utter ruin of all those whose livelihood depended on the superfluous wants of the great. As the seat of the executive government, and of the representative bodies, the Hague enjoys advantages which other towns of the republic do not possess; but these advantages are vastly inferior to the benefits which it derived from the stadtholder and his court, and most persons, even republicans, sorrowfully complain of its striking and rapid decay. Respectable families, which before the arrival of the French lived in elegant houses cheerfully situated, now retire to lodgings, or inhabit narrow, uncomfortable streets where houserent is cheap, and the abodes which they have quitted are generally without tenants.
We visited, in an obscure street, a widow lady of an advanced age, whose fortune the revolution had dreadfully impaired. She remembered the Hague in its happiest days, and dilated on the magnificence and splendour she had formerly witnessed and enjoyed. Her husband had been tutor to the Prince of Orange, of whom she spoke in terms of almost idolatrous admiration; and therefore her partialities probably led her to exaggerate the former affluent and gay, the present decayed and impoverished, state of the Hague. But it is a general complaint that this beautiful place has suffered much by the revolution, and few believe that it will ever recover its pristine grandeur.
The French troops which are quartered in the Hague amount to about twelve hundred men; and are under the command of General Victor, who distinguished himself greatly at the battle of Marengo. General Victor is commander in chief of the French forces in the service of the Batavian republic, and is out of comparison more respected than his predecessor, notwithstanding the important services which General Brune rendered to the republic. The French troops, which do not exceed at present eight thousand men, receive their pay from, and are wholly maintained by, the Batavian government. The pay of a French soldier is difficult to ascertain, because it varies according to circumstances, the nature of the service on which he is employed, the quarters he inhabits, and the provisions with which he is supplied; but the average of his daily pay is from six pence to ten pence. The delicacy of the subject prevented me from enquiring, of the persons best able to give me information, what pay is allowed to the superior officers; but I learnt with considerable surprise from an officer of high rank, that the third military station in the republic produces only a revenue of six hundred florins a month to the person who holds it[4], and yet is accounted a very desirable command[5]. Economy was always a prevailing feature of the Dutch government, and the recent calamities which have fallen so heavy on the state, have probably caused a more than ordinarily vigilant attention to be paid to the disbursements of the public purse.
- ↑ I could obtain no account of this famous machine, and some persons doubted whether it ever existed but in the fertile imagination of the engineer
- ↑ I use the word illustrious, not in its common sense, to signify eminent for excellence, but to denote a man better known than any king of the same name. I think by no means favourably of Frederic either as a man or a monarch, and the reputation which he enjoys is disgraceful to the discernment of the age.
- ↑ The Princess of Orange is his aunt, ana the hereditary prince his brother-in-law.
- ↑ About fifty pounds English money.
- ↑ Un tres beau commandement.