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sinate the Bishop of Waldeck, who fortunately seized the poignard from her hand, and plunged it into her own bosom; and another, John himself put to death for hesitation in complying with his wishes. When he appeared in the streets of Munster, he wore a crown upon his head, carried a sword in one hand, and the New Testament in the other, and was preceded on horseback by a group of dancing boys, whilst the sides were by his mandates, crowded with the prostrate terrified citizens, who were punished with instant death if they stood, or remained covered in his presence. The reign of this petty tyrant was brief: the Bishop of Munster besieged the town, which suffered nearly the same horrors which I have described to have occurred at Leyden, when the Spaniards sat down before it; the living fed upon the dead, and a look that intimated a wish to surrender was punished with instant death. The miseries which surrounded him, served only to inflame the fanatical spirit of the monster; at last, however, the town was taken by surprize, and John and the ministers of his bloody ambition were conducted before the victorious prelate, to whom, after being charged with the enormities which he had committed, he is said to have replied, with the craft of a coward, in the following manner: "The possession of my person has "cost you much money and much blood, my death will "be a loss to you, my life may become a source of profit

"to you, put me in an iron cage, set a price upon

the ex

"hibition of me, and send me through Europe, thus will you in the end be the gainer by me." The bishop saw through his object which was the dastard preservation of his forfeited life, and accordingly ordered him to be put to death with a refinement of cruelty, at the relation of which human nature sickens, abhorred as the victim was. Two executioners tore his flesh slowly asunder with red hot pincers, and after the mitred conqueror and his followers had glutted their eyes with his writhings, and their ears with his screams, a javelin pierced his heart, and his mangled body was thrown into a cage, and exposed to the birds of the air from the steeple of St. Lambert's church. It has been observed by some travellers, that the Dutch are much given to a tremulous motion of the head. I saw no instance of this national trait except, where I expected to find it, among old and paralytic persons. The practice of bowing is not confined to the Dutchman, though adduced against him as a sort of blemish by every Englishman who extends his rambles no farther than Holland: throughout Germany the same courtesy is displayed, and even among the common Russian boors the practice of exchanging bows is quite common.

I was not much gratified with the church of St. Peter, the principal one in this city; it is a large ponderous

ST. PETER'S CHURCH.

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building, in the worst style of gothic architecture. In this structure the English and Russian soldiers were confined when taken prisoners at Alkmaar. The poor Russians, who expected no quarter, looked upon the brass chandeliers which are suspended in the body of the church, as the instruments of execution, to each of which they thought of being fastened by the neck. The Russians, in their first campaigns with the French, entertained the same apprehension, and were most agreeably astonished on one occasion, which presented a memorable display of French sagacity, to find that, instead of being shot or guillotined, they were presented with new cloathing of the Russian uniform, and offered their liberty.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE PRESS OF LEYDEN-ITS STAPLE TRADE-ANECDOTES OF GERARD DOUW OF JEAN STEEN-HIS SINGULAR PAINTING OF THE DELUGE -ANECDOTES OF FRANCIS MIERES-THE PICTORIAL CONTESTANECDOTE OF VANDERWELDE-THE VILLAGE OF RHYNSBURG-SINGULAR RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION-A CURIOUS CUSTOM-EXPLOSION AT LEYDEN-CONDUCT OF THE KING-HAERLEM-ITS CELEBRATED ORGAN DESCRIBED ANECDOTE OF HANDEL-MR. HENRY HOPE'S HOUSE.

IN the streets of Leyden are several very handsome booksellers' shops, particularly Murray's in the Braadstraat, where there are many valuable publications, and particularly a fine collection of the classics, which are sold at very reasonable prices. The press of Leyden, in the time of the Elzevirs, presented some of the most elegant specimens of typography, in the many correct and beautiful editions which they have given of the most renowned authors of antiquity. In beauty, variety, and profusion, the Leyden press rivalled, and in many instances surpassed, that of the Hague and Amsterdam; but since the period of the above bibliopolists, it has gradually decayed. It may be easily imagined, that with the change which has taken place in the political relations of Holland,

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that the liberty of the press is not what it used to be at Leyden, which was once celebrated for its Gazette, a rival in reputation of that of Brussels: the former was distinguished for its partiality to the Stadtholder, and his well known attachments to the English cabinet; and the latter for supporting the true interests of the country. The editors and proprietors of the Leyden Gazette fled with precipitation, on the irruption of the French into Holland; and the paper which is now issued from Leyden, is of course the organ of the new government, and but little enlivened with political discussion.

The staple trade of Leyden, the woollen manufactory, has suffered very severely from the establishment of extensive looms in various parts of Germany, from the last and present war with England, and from the superiority of the manufactures of Yorkshire, which are in such high estimation in America and Asia, that Dutch merchants trading to those countries, found it more advantageous to send out English cloths. The coarse cloths of Holland had formerly a brisk market amongst the East and West India Companies: but from the above cause thousands of manufacturers have been obliged to renounce their looms, and divert their skill and industry to other sources of support; and in all human probability the woollen manufactures of Leyden will never revive.

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