POLIСЕ. AMSTERDAM. THE police of Amsterdam is, I believe (1772), superior to that of any city in Europe: every inhabitant is in perfect safety. Now, this to an author who carries his fortune in his pocket is no trifling consideration and advantage. Here then I am secure : here do I wander at pleasure, and without the smallest danger of having my slender and poetical purse at any time seized on by the hand of rapine. How are we to account for the remarkable fact, that in the space of half a dozen years not half a dozen of men have suffered death in Amsterdam; and that not even a beggar is to be seen in the streets? Is this to be attributed to the wholesomeness of the laws-the activity of the magistrates or to the general spirit of industry that prevails among the people? In some degree to each, I think; but principally to the former. * There is little of Dutch cleanliness to be observed in Amsterdam. The large population of the city, indeed, in a great degree forbids it: add to this, that a considerable number of Frenchmen have taken up their residence in the place, whose slovenly habits the Amsterdamers have insensibly adopted. THE ADIEU. AMSTERDAM. I HERE bid adieu to the artificial city of Amsterdam, and in a little time I shall have done entirely with Holland; a country in which, as Sir William Temple observes, a man would rather choose to travel than to live; where there is more sense than wit, and more persons to esteem than to love. All things considered, however, it is perhaps a spot in which the Englishman will find himself more at home than in any other part of Europe, Switzerland only excepted :—and this is principally occasioned by the bluntness and sincerity of the people, who, in that particular, very nearly resemble himself. I was pleased with the thought of returning home; but then I must leave my companions, Messieurs de C and M. This was a painful moment to me, and I experienced something like the emotion when once, O Julia! I was under the necessity of quitting thee, for that eternity in the lover's calendar-a year: and when unable to bid thee adieu with my lips, I contented myself with tenderly pressing thy hand and dropping on it the speaking tear!-Yes, something like this did I experience, at parting from these my friends. Be not offended, fair one; nor deem this apostasy in me; but remember that the heart which is capable of friendship, is the more susceptible of love. * Farewell, then, a long farewell to the Netherlands ! And now let me recommend to you, my dear countrymen, when you mean to visit Holland-to bring with you (among other necessaries) the whole of your philosophy and good humour. They will certainly be put to the test: though I must honestly acknowledge, that during the whole of my travels, I never met with a Dutchman of so very faulty a character as the one described by Swift, in his voyage to Laputa. LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM PITT, IN 1792, FOR RAISING SIX MILLIONS STERLING, AND FOR EMPLOYING THAT SUM IN LOANS TO NECESSITOUS AND |