and Weymouth pine, to which the soil and climate seemed to be congenial. On the other side were rich meadows, whose vivid green seemed to rival that of the emerald, and corn fields yellow with harvest. Enchanted with the day and the scenery, I envied not the pomp of Cleopatra, although

"The barge she sat in like a burnish'd throne
Burnt on the water; the poop was beaten gold,
Purple the sails, and so performed, that
The winds were love-sick with them."

In this agreeable manner three hours and a half passed away with feathered fleetness, and at the end of a long avenue of trees and a line of water, the spires and elevated buildings of Leyden appeared, We stopped about half way from the Hague at Leydehendam, a very neat pretty village, the neighbourhood of which abounds with pleasure houses and gardens. The country as I approached Leyden appeared to be thickly wooded, and displayed the novel variety of a gentle undulation of ground. After passing through a beautiful boulevard, and crossing some drawing bridges, I entered the elegant city of Leyden through the white gate, and proceeded to a very comfortable hotel in the principal street, called the Broad street, the length, spaciousness, and beauty of which entitles it to the highest admiration: there is no canal in it, and the buildings on each side are very handsome, many of them splendid mansions. This seat of learning is considered to be one of the handsomest in Holland, and next in size to Amsterdam; the entrance to it is through seven, stone gates, at each of which is a draw-bridge: the town is surrounded with a rampart, and a deep, broad canal, and is adorned by beautiful shady walks. The number of bridges in this city is astonishing, they are said to exceed one hundred and forty-five of stone and railed with iron. It has also many canals, the most beautiful of which is the Rapenburg. It has been compared by travellers to Oxford, but I cannot see any resemblance, except

in its being devoted to learning, and consequently presenting many of those features of meditation and consequent tranquillity, which are to be found in places destined to similar objects: but in its fortification, its buildings, streets, and canals, there is unquestionably no resemblance. The channels or gutters of the Broad-street are covered with boards which open like a trap door, into which the moment any dirt is lodged, it is removed by persons appointed for that purpose; and lofty common pumps, with large brass ornaments constantly scoured and kept bright, are placed in different parts of it, to supply the inhabitants and to purify the street, of which they are not a little proud The fame of Lucas Van Leyden made the stadthouse or town-hall the object of my first visit; it is a vast Gothic building, presenting a very long irregular front, in a very uncouth style of architecture, surmounted by a small steeple, which is crowded with carillons, and stands in the centre of the Broad-street. As I ascended the grand staircase, a painter was giving a finishing touch to some stone lions, which by way of blending them with the stone colour of the rest of the building, he had painted. vividly red. In one of the apartments, which was very heavy and gloomy, I beheld the celebrated production of Lucas Van Leyden or Hugens, who was born here in 1749, and died in 1533. This picture is in three divisions, the two external smaller ones being made like folding doors, to close if necessary over the middle one. The subject is the last judgment, for which vast sums of money have been repeatedly offered to the magistrates of the town and refused. I must confess I felt no more pleasure in contemplating this picture than what arose from its great antiquity. There are a great number of figures in it: the females are wholly destitute of beauty, at the same time there is a freedom in the outline: many of their limbs appear to be elongated, and every head seems to have been taken from the same subject, and wholly destitute of expression : however, considering the early period in which the

artist flourished, it is a very curious and valuable production.

In the justice-hall is a celebrated picture of Harel de Moor, who was born in this town in 1656: the subject Brutus condemning his sons, the design, the colouring, and finishing of which are very beautiful." There is also a large picture representing the bravery of its citizens, who are rendered immortal in the page of history for the heroic valour they displayed during a siege, which in the year 1573, for five months, visited this place with all the horrors of war, disease, and famine. The historian can scarcely do adequate justice to these heroes. After the Spaniards had been compelled to raise the siege of Alkmaar, they deter mined upon directing their forces against Leyden, from the trenches of which they were bravely repulsed by Count Louis of Nassau, brother to the then prince of Orange: but having been reinforced, they returned to the attack: when the Spanish general, Francis Valdey, discovering that he could not take the place by storm, resolved upon reducing it by famine, and a scene of horror ensued which baffles the powers of the pen to describe. The Spanish general, Frederic of Toledo, son of the execrable duke of Alva, repulsed a body of English auxiliaries who were coming to the relief of the besieged, in consequence of which the blockade was sovigilantly conducted, that the wretched inhabitants could derive no provisions from without. In this dreadful dilemma, they drew lots to determine which should fall each day to afford sustenance to the rest with their bodies; and it is said that the spirit of patriotism ran so high, that many of them anticipated this desperate alternative, and voluntarily slew themselves to furnish food to their brave fellow-citizens and soldiers. An extraordinary female patriot, of the name of Kenneva, headed the women, led them to the ramparts, where they assisted the nearly exhausted soldiery in working the cannon, and displayed that enthusiastic courage which great occasions will gene

rally find lodged in that bosom which is the seat of every gentle, every tender feeling, and ought only to heave with the tenderest emotions. Many of them stabbed themselves, to assist in preserving the survivors, and expiring exclaimed, "See, my poor valiant friends, your provision for the rest of the day." But notwithstanding these terrible sacrifices, and supplies of human flesh, many thousands of the garrison and burghers perished. The Spaniards, having been informed of their situation, again summoned them to surrender, and allowed a truce of an hour for deliberation, during which a consultation was held, the unanimous determination of which was contained in the following reply: "Tell your arrogant general, that we shall not want the means of life whilst a left arm remains upon any of our shoulders, and with our right we shall continue to fight for our liberties to the last." At length, broken down by their frightful situation, and hopeless of relief, after having exhibited prodigies of valour, and the sublimest acts of patriotism and resignation, the miserable survivors of this ghastly scene of desolation assembled round the house of Peter Adrian de Werf, the chief magistrate of the city, a man of great influence amongst the people, and im plored him to sanction with his fiat the surrender of the place; but this noble being preferring, like Cato, to perish rather than see his country in the possession of a tyrant, thus addressed his emaciated brethren,-"My brave comrades! cut this body in pieces; it is better that I should die for you, than by the enemy-my wounds disable me from further service. Take courage, let me receive death from your hands, and let my miserable frame furnish a wretched meal for some of you-Take me, and may Leyden be victorious, and her glory immortal!" Deeply impressed by such firmness and eloquence, his auditors turned their haggard countenances aside, and with the convulsive energy of expiring nature, rushed again to the rampart, and soon afterwards they were thrown into an agony of

joy by the arrival of two carrier pigeons, to whose feet were tied stalks of corn and hemp, in which letters were concealed, announcing that relief was at hand. The Dutch confederates, having no other mode of relieving the inhabitants of Leyden, broke down the dykes of the Maese and the Yssel, inundated the Spanish camp, and the beautiful country which surrounds Leyden, and enabled Louis Brissot, admiral of Zealand, to send many flat-bottomed boats, well armed, to the succour of the besieged. This desperate measure compelled the Spanish general to evacuate his camp, and to retire with such of his army as did not perish by the waters, into their own country. This seige, which commenced shortly after Easter, was raised the third of October, on which day a supply of provisions was brought to the famished inhabitants, who greedily devoured the food, amidst tears and convulsive inarti culate exclamations to heaven for their delivery, and many of them dropped down dead upon too rapidly satisfying their ravenous appetites. After this signal deliverance, the prince of Orange, although suffering under severe illness, ordered himself to be carried in a litter to Leyden, to condole with and express his admiration of its heroic inhabitants. He gave them their option of being exempted for a certain period from taxes, or of having an university founded in their town; when, with noble and disinterested wisdom, they gave the preference to the latter. Never did any seat of learning originate from a nobler cause: it may be said to have been endowed by the blood of the brave. The clergy of Leyden, in a public oration, still celebrate the anniversary of the glorious 3d of October, in which the story of the siege, and the deliverance of the town are feelingly recapitulated. The picture which led me to mention the above story is, in my humble opinion, unworthy of the subject; the figures are badly grouped, and express no one emotion which can affect the mind. After quitting the stadthouse, the evening being very fine, I ascended