29 HAGUE.

whereas those other cities have gone on gradually from one improvement to another; and yet as a whole, perhaps none of them far excel it in the splendid magnificence of their exterior. With all the grandeur, however, there is a sombre dullness visible every where, the wide streets scarcely witnessed the passing of any carriages, nor the grand walks the assem- blages of either the busy or the indolent; the shops seemed without customers, and the theatre with a very scanty number of spectators. The removal of the king to this place may have some effect, and the Assembly of the States collecting here may give some animation to it; but the attendants of royalty about the king of the Netherlands, are maintained with an economy wkich forbids much exhibition of splendour, and the members of the Assembly are either too poor or too par- simonious to add greatly either to the gaiety or to the wealth of a place where their residence is but temporary.

The Hague contains about 40,000 inhabitants. It was long considered as a village, because it had no corporation; but when it fell under the dominion of France, Buonaparte thought fit to flatter the people, by conferring on their residence the empty title of a city of his empire. The most remarkable of the palaces, the house in the wood, is a fine building, and its façade would have a grand effect, if the number of trees which approach it too nearly, did not prevent the whole from being seen at once from any moderate distance. The park has some very fine avenues of trees of a large size, but is too much in a style somewhat resembling Hampton Court, and displeasing to modern taste. Two of the churches, St. James’s, and the new church, are very striking objects. The Stadt House is large, and contains a considerable collection of pictures, prineipally from Dutch masters, and on local subjects, particularly the views in