DUTCH IDEA OF SEA-BATHING. 165 preclude the sight of the ocean, which, when they are surmounted, opens upon the view with uncommon majesty. The beach, which we saw in high perfection on account of its being low water, is very firm to the tread, and forms a beautiful walk of nearly six miles in extent. The ocean was like a mirror, and fishing vessels were reclining on the sand in the most picturesque forms, just surrounded with water; their owners, with their wives and children, were parading up and down in their sabbath suits, and the whole sand for a mile was a fine marine mall, covered with . groupes who appeared as capable of appreciating the beauty of the scene, as the worshippers of the Steyne at Brighton, or of the Parade at Bath. The Dutch are said to have an antipathy to sea-air; but this I found not to be generally true: certain it is, that they are not fond of sea-bathing, otherwise this beach would be crowded with bathing, and the country above it with lodging-houses. Water is no novelty to a Dutchman, and he prefers, and there seems some sense in his preference, his neat, commodious country-house, and his gardens, and all the comforts of life about him, to the pleasure of bathing,and contemplating a waste of waters. from the windows of a cheerless inn or lodging-house. An English frigate, which lay off at a considerable distance, excited a good deal of attention, and added to the beauty of the scene. Upon quitting the beach we entered an inn which overlooked a place of great resort, every room of which was crowded and filled with tobacco smoke. The state of Mr. Fox's health formed the leading feature of the political discourse. "Herr Fock," as he was called, was frequently repeated at every table. Opposite to where we sat a young Dutch couple were making violent love; they kissed, devoured dry salted fish, and drank punch with an enthusiasm, which presented to our imagination the warmest association of Cupid and the jolly God. John Van Goyen, who died in 1656, and was so justly celebrated for the transparency of his colouring of water, made this spot the frequent subject of his charming pencil. Dutch tradition dwells with delight upon a cock and a bull story respecting the celebrated flying chariot which used to sail upon those lands, and on the surrounding country. It was said to have been made by Stevinus, for Prince Maurice : it is thus described and commented upon in a curious old description of Holland: "The form of it was simple and plain: it resembled "a boat moved upon four wheels of an equal bigness, had "two sails, was steered by a rudder placed between the "two hindmost wheels, and was stopt either by letting "down the sails, or turning it from the wind. This noble "machine has been celebrated by many great authors, as "one of the most ingenious inventions later ages have pro"duced, Bishop Wilkins, in his Treatise of Mechanical TRE FLYING CHARIOT. 167 Motions, mentions several great men who described and "admired it. Grotius mentions an elegant figure of it in copper, done by Geyneus; and Herodius, in one of his 66 56 large maps of Asia, gives another sketch of the like "chariots used in China." Incredible as this story appears, one would be disposed to think, that a man of Grotius's celebrity for learning and truth, would scarcely have eulogized the invention, had he doubted its existence. Upon a level, hard, straight road, uninterrupted by trees and buildings, such a piece of ingenuity might perhaps prove successful as a mechanical experiment, but utterly impossible ever to be made serviceable. CHAPTER X. HISTORICAL ANECDOTE OF SCHEVELING-ANECDOTE OF lore Nelson. A MARINE SCENE-PASSION OF DUTCH FOR FLOWERS NOT SUBSIDED -VENERATION OF DUTCH FOR STORKS CAUSES OF IT-QUAILS AND SWANS-HUMOUROUS BLUNDER OF A DUTCH WAITER—UNIVERSAL INDUSTRY-DOGS AND GOATS—THE THEATRE-THÉATRICAL ECONOMY-PRODIGAL PROCREATION PRESENT STATE OF THE HAGUE-STATE OF LITERATURE THERE-BRIEF ANECDOTE OF DANIEL MYTENS---OF JOHN HANNEMAN-OF JOHN LE DUC, or the BRAVE. THE coast of Scheveling is considered very dangerous in rough weather: the spires of the church here, and those of Gravesande and Monster, three leagues to the south, serve for land-marks; yet, owing to the coast of the province of Holland lying very low and flat, they are scarcely discernible three or four leagues at sea: for want of sand-banks to break the force of the sea, the coast is much exposed, and the fishermen are obliged, after their return, to haul their vessels on rollers up the beach beyond the water's reach this labour must be very great, for many of them are from twenty to thirty-five tons burthen. This place has been at different periods subject to dread HISTORICAL ANECDOTES OF SCHEVELING. 169 ful irruptions of the sea, particularly in the year 1574, when it broke in, and carried away 121 houses: Scheveling has its portion of historic celebrity. In 1650, the expatriated Charles II. after a long exile, embarked from this place for Scotland, to which he was invited, with a promise of assistance in recovering the rest of his dominions. Clarendon, in his History vol. iii. p. 287, says, the king went from the Hague to Scheveling, where “the "States of Holland, at infinite hazard to themselves from "Cromwell and England, suffered their ship to transport "him. They gave all countenance to the Scotch merchants "and factors who lived in their dominions, and some cre"dit, that they might send arms and ammunition, and "whatsoever else was necessary for the king's service, into "that kingdom." And this the States did "when the king was at his lowest ebb, and was heartily weary of being in a place (Paris) where he was very ill-treated, " and lived very uncomfortably, and from whence he fore"saw he should soon be driven." Having experienced the most romantic vicissitudes after his escape from Worcester, this monarch, in the disguise of a sailor, escaped to Dieppe in Normandy, in 1651; and he again, in 1660, embarked at Scheveling on board of his own fleet, which was waiting to receive him. The grateful monarch declared war against his Dutch friends in 1672, and entered into a private league with the French king to lay waste 66 Ꮓ |