the Indies but let us see what Figure they make in Europe And first to begin with them in Amsterdam where they have two large stately Palaces one being in the old part of the City and the other in the new in that of the old part of the City they keep their Court and there sits the Resident Committee of the Company where also they make the Sales of the Companies Goods There for six years the grand Council or Assembly of the Seventeen do meet and after six years are expired the grand Council of the Seventeen do assemble at Middelburg in Zealand for two years and then again return to Amsterdam the other lesser Chambers of Delft Rotterdam Horne and Eâ—chuysen never having the Assembly of the Seventeen in their Chambers so that only Amsterdam and Zealand have the Honour of that grand Council I will therefore crave leave to describe unto you the Chamber of Amsterdam it being the most considerable of the Chambers belonging to this Famous Company In their House or Palace within the old City are many large Offices or Apartments as first on the lower Floor is their Parliament Chamber where the Seventeen do sit next to this Chamber are several fair Chambers for the Committees to sit in They have also a Chamber of Audience where they do receive Princes or Ambassadors or other great Men as have occasion to speak with them In one of these Chambers are the Arms of several Indian Princes they have Conquered On the same Floor is their Treasury Office where their Receivers sit and receive Money and Pay out the Orders or Assignments of the Company near to that Chamber sits their grand Minister the Heer Peter van Dam who is said to be a second John de Wit for Parts tho' not so in Principle This great Minister is a Man of indefatagable Industry and labours Night and Day in the Companies Service he Reads over twice the great Journal Books which come from the Indies and out of them makes Minutes to prepare matters of Concern necessary to be considered by the grand Council of Seventeen and by the inferiour Committees of the Company and prepares Instructions and Orders to be sent to their Chief Ministers in the Indies I could say many more things of his great Worth and Virtues but shall forbear lest I should be judged a Flatterer Over-against this great Ministers Office sit in a Chamber many Clarks or under Secretaries who receive from this Minister their Orders of Dispatches in the Affairs of the Company and next to this Chamber is a Register Office where are kept the Journal Books of the Indies where you may see the Names of all the Men and Women that have ever served the Company in the Indies with the time of their Death or departing the Companies Service Then next to that is a Council Chamber where the Residing Chamber or Committee of the Company always sits then assending up Stairs there sit their Book-holders who keep the Accounts of all the Transactions of those that buy or sell Actions of the Company and over against this Office sits the Heer Gerbrand Elias who is the second Advocate of the Company On this Floor are several large Rooms in which are great Stores of Pack'd Goods and also a Room with all sorts of Drugs Tea Wax Ambergreace and Musk and on the same Floor is a Chamber where the Commissioners sit who govern the Pack-houses and next to them sit their Clerks who keep the Registers of the Sales of the Companies Goods And on the same Gallery or Floor is a Chamber where are kept the several Books of Divinity Printed in the Indian Language that are sent to the several Colonies of the Company And at the end of this Gallery is a Magazine full of Medicaments and Instruments for Barber Chirurgeons Chests to furnish the Companies Ships and Garisons in the Indies Then assending up another pair of Stairs there are several large Magazines of Nutmegs Cloves Mace and Cinnamon and in a long Gallery are many Men at Work sorting of Spices fit for Sale Then ascending up another pair of Stairs there are many Rooms full of Spices then descending into the Court-yard there is Guard Chamber where every Night the House-keeper hath a Watch and on the other side of the Gate there is a Chymist who with his Men prepares Medicaments for the Indies adjoyning to this Court-yard is their Ware-house and Pack-house for Pepper and Gross Goods but before I leave this House in the old part of the City I must say something of the manner or method used in the Transactions of the Jews and others who make a Trade of Buying and Selling the Actions of the Company the which is a great Mystory of Iniquity and where it inricheth one Man it ruins an hundred The Jews are the chief in that Trade and are said to Negotiate 17 parts of 20 in the Company These Actions are bought and sold four times a day at 8 in the Morning in the Jews-street at a 11 on the Dam at 12 and at one a Clock upon the Exchange and at six in the Evening on the Dam and in the Colleges or Clubs of the Jews until 12 at midnight where many times the crafty Jews and others have contrived to coin bad News to make the Actions fall and good News to raise them the which Craft of doing at Amsterdam is not taken notice of which is much to be wondred at in such a Wise Government as Amsterdam is for it is a certain Truth they many times spread Scandalous Reports touching the Affairs of State which pass amongst the Ignorant for Truth I shall now in the next place say something of their Palace or Magazine in the new part of the City the which may more properly be called an Arsenal It is a Building so superb that it looks more like a Kings Palace than a Magazine for Merchants I have measured the Ground on which this Arsenal stands which I find to be 2000 Foot and square every way reckoning the Motes or Burgals about it I remember the Ingenious Sir Joseph Williamson measured the two Rope-Alleys by telling the Stone-Figures in the Wall and found them to be 1800 Foot long the like whereof is not to be seen in the World On the backside of this Rope-Alley lies a store of Five Hundred large Anchors besides small ones in this Arsenal they build the Ships belonging to this Chamber And here are all sorts of Work-houses for the Artificers that serve the Company And in a Chamber next to the Joyners Office is a model of a Ship they now build their Ships by which cost 6000 Gilders When a Man beholds the great Stores of Timber Cordage and the Provisions of War in their Magazine a Man would think there were enough to furnish a whole Nation In this Arsenal the Ships unload their Goods laid up in several Apartments in the grand Magazine and afterward is removed to the House in the old
Rubbish that remained was thrown together into a Corner which made up Sweden and Norway And indeed the French seem to have no great liking to the Country whatever kindness they may have for the People for a French Ambassador as an Author of that Country relates being by order of Queen Christina Treated in a Country House four Swedish Miles from Stockholme and upon the rode going and coming with all the Varieties and Pleasures that the Country could afford on purpose to make him have a good Opinion of the same made answer to the Queen who asked him upon his return What he thought of Sweden That were he Master of the whole Country he would presently Sell it and Buy a Farm in France or England which under Favour I think was a little Tart and Sawcy Having stayed a considerable time in Swedeland and most part at Stockholme I set out from thence to go to Elsenbourg by Land and went a little out of my way to see a small City called Eubrone Famous for a Coat of Arms which it got in this manner A certain Masculine Queen of Denmark who had Conquered a great part of Sweden coming to this City asked the Magistrates What was the Arms of their City Who having her that they had none she plucked up her Coats and squatting upon the Snow bid them take the mark she left there for their Arms its pity she did not give them a suitable Motto to it also What that Figure is called in Blazonery I know not but to this Day the City uses it in their Arms and for marking their Commodities This Queen came purposely into Sweden to pay a visit to a brave Woman that opposed a King of Swedeland who in a time of Famine would have put to Death all the Men and Women in his Country above 60 years of Age. The Country all the way I travelled in Swedeland is much of the same quality of the Land about Stockholme until I came near the Province of Schonen which is called the Store-house and Kitchin of Sweden where the Country is far better It was formerly very dangerous to Travel in this Province of Schonen because of the Snaphances who were a kind of Bloody Robbers now utterly destroyed by the King so that it is safe enough Travelling there Entering into Schonen I saw 29 of these Rogues upon Wheels and elsewhere in the Country ten and twenty at several places The King used great severity in destroying of them some he caused to be broken upon the Wheel others Spitted in at the Fundament and out at the Shoulders many had the Flesh pinched off of their Breasts and so were fastened to Stakes till they Died and others again had their Noses and both Hands cut off and being seared with a hot Iron were let go to acquaint their Comrades how they had been served The King is very severe against Highway-Men and Duellers In above a 100 Miles Travelling we found not a House where there was either French Wine or Brandy which made me tell a Swede of our Company who was Travelling to Denmark that I would undertake to shew any Man 500 Houses wherein a Traveller might have Wine and other good Accommodation in the space of an Hundred Miles upon any rode from London There are several small Towns and fertile Land in this Country of Schonen lying upon the Sâ—undt at the narrowest part whereof lies Elsenbourg burnt down by the Danes in the last War Here I crost over to Elsenore the passage being but a League broad The King of Denmark has a Castle at Elsenore which commands the narrow passage of the Soundt where all Ships that enter into or come out of the Baltick Sea must pay Toll Having visited this Castle and staid about a Fortnight with the English Consul and Sir John Paul late Resident at the Court of Swedeland I went to the Danish Court at Copenhagen COpenhagen is the Capital City of Zecland Jutland or Denmark and place of Residence of the King It stands on a Flat encompassed with a pleasant and delightful Country much resembling England The Streets of the City are kept very neat and clean with Lights in the Night time for the convenience and safety of those who are then abroad a Custom not as yet introduced into Stockholme where it is dangerous to be abroad when it is dark The Kings Men of War lie hear very conveniently being orderly ranged betwixt Booms after the manner of Amsterdam and near the Admiralty House which is a large pile of Building well furnished with Stores and Magazins secured by a Cittadel that not only commands the City but also the Haven and entry into it The Court of Denmark is splendid and makes a far greater figure in the World than that of Sweden though not many years ago in the time of Carolus Gustavus the Father of the present King of Swedeland it was almost reduced to its last when the Walls of Copenhagen saved that Crown and Kingdom That Siege was Famous carried on with great vigour by the Swede and as bravely maintained by the Danes The Monuments whereof are to be seen in the Cannon Bullets gilt that still remain in the Walls of some Houses and in the Steeple of the great Church of the Town The Royal Palace in Copenhagen is but small and a very ancient Building but his Majesties House Fredenburg is a stately Fabrick of Modern Architecture and very richly Furnished Denmark is at present a flourishing Kingdom and the King who hath now made it Hereditary surpasses most of his Predecessors in Power and Wealth He hath much enlarged his Dominions as well as Authority and by his Personal and Royal Virtues no less than the eminent qualities of a great many able Ministers of State he hath gained the Universal Love of his Subjects and the esteem of all Foreign Princes and States The Court is much frequented every day but especially on Sundays where about Eleven of the Clock in the Morning the Nobility Foreign Ministers and Officers of the Army assemble and make a glorious Appearance There one may see many Knights of the Order of the Elephant of Malto but I never saw any Order of the like Nature as that of Sweden that King rarely appearing in his George and Garter but on days of publick Audience I have observed at one time above 150 Coaches attending at the Court of Denmark which are ten times more than ever I saw together at that of Sweden The King is affable and of easie access to Strangers seen often abroad by his Subjects in his Gardens and Stables which are very large and well furnished with all sorts of Horses He is a great lover of English Horses and Dogs and delights much in Hunting as his Eldest Son the Prince with his Brothers do in Cock-â—ighting insomuch much that the English Merchants cannot make a more acceptable present to those Princes than of English Game-Cocks The standing Forces of Denmark are
as had on the 27th the Sieur Haxhuysen from the Elector of Saxony March the 5th the Earl of Devonshire Treated the Elector of Brandenburgh the Landtgrave of Hesse the Prince Commercy and divers other Persons of Quality with great Magnificence where His Majesty was pleased to Honour his Lordship with His Presence On the 11th the Duke of Zell arrived at the Hague and the Duke of Wolfembuttel on the 14th During all this time the Congresses had been held almost every day with great Secrecy His Majesty always Honouring them with His Presence when at last the matters being fully Concerted and all Things agreed upon to the mutual Satisfaction of all the Princes this great Council broke up and the Princes returned to their respective Homes to put in execution the Designs here agreed upon the good Effects whereof we doubt not but to see this Campagne notwithstanding the unhappy accident of the loss of Mons. His Majesty having given Orders to all the Troops to be in a readiness to take the Field by the first of April was pleased on the 16th to depart for Loo being accompanied with the Duke of Zell who Rid in the same Coach with Him and lay that Night at the House of Monsieur Zullestein where he was met by the Elector of Bavaria who likewise accompanied His Majesty to Loo where they arrived the next Evening having been Complemented as they passed along with all Demonstrations of Respect and Affection by the City of Utrecht and the several Towns he pass'd through and accompanied every where with the loud Acclamations of the People who were almost overwhelm'd with Joy at the extraordinary Honour they received by the Presence of this most illustrious Monarch But His Majesty had not been long there before he received the unwelcome Tidings of the Siege of Mons an Express arriving at the Hague on the 16th in the Evening that the French Troops had suddenly invested the Town of Mons their Horse having taken Possession of all the Avenues on the 15th of March and that the Foot were marching up with all Diligence The Prince of Steeâ—huysen and the Marquis Bedmar being sent from the Governor of Flanders arrived at the Hague the 17th and after a short Conference with Prince Waldeck went Post to Loo to give His Majesty an account of the State of the Affair Who being resolved Himself to Head the Army in order to raise the Siege returned to the Hague from whence having dispatched Prince Waldeck with necessary Orders for Flanders set forward Himself the 26th for Brussels the Army in the mean time preparing with all imaginable diligence to Muster at Hall whither His Majesty went on the 6th of April intending to have marched the next day at the Head of the Army which consisted of 30000 Foot and 16000 Horse with a Train of Artillery of 71 pieces of Cannon and 14 Mortars But the Carriages not being all come up was obliged to defer His March for two or three days The French had all this time very vigourously attacked the Outworks of the Town but were as vigourously repulsed by the Besieged to the great loss of the Enemy who paid dearly for what he gained insomuch that it was not doubted but the Town would have been able to have held out till the Army came up to its Relief but the French King who was himself all the while at St. Gislain near the Camp the Dauphin Commanding in Chief according to his old Methods had found means of gaining a Party among the Burghers and Clergy in the Town who prevailing upon the rest by the terrifying Destruction the Bombs and Cannon made in their Houses and persuading them that by a timely Surrender of the Town they might obtain Honourable Conditions made them basely desert the publick Good and altogether unexpectedly even to the French themselves on the 8th of April beat a Parley and sent out three Officers as Hostages for three French Offices who immediately entred the Town to Treat upon Articles of Surrender the Governor the Prince de Bergue oppos'd the Surrender and refus'd to deliver the Gate to the French as the Burghers had agreed endeavouring to disswade them from this their Resolution alledging he could still hold out till the Relief came but all would not do the Burghers wre resolved and they being stronger than the Garison who were all employed in the Outworks the Honourable Governor was forced to submit and about Midnight the Capitulation was Signed on both sides and the next day April the 9th a Gate of the Town was deliver'd up to the French Guards and on the 10th the Garison marched out being about 4000 Foot and 400 Horse with Arms Baggage Drums beating Colours flying six pieces of Cannon two Mortars c. and were conducted to Tubiese a few Miles from Mons towards Brussels The King having received this surprizing News just as he was ready to march to their Relief was forced to alter his Measures and understanding that the French King had seperated his Troops and dispos'd 'em into Garisons and that he with the Dauphin c. were return'd to Versailles broke up the Camp and having sent Reinforcements to Charleroy Aeth Namur and the other Frontier Garisons went to Brussels and from thence to the Hague where he was pleased to Honour the Duke of Zell who was likewise return'd thither from the Camp with the Noble Order of the Garter who was invested with the Garter and George by the King Himself assisted by the Dukes of Norfolk and Ormond and the Earl of Devonshire This was perform'd privately in the Kings Bed-Chamber the 18th of April And the next day Garter King at Arms presented to his Highness the rest of the Ensigns with the whole Habit and Ornaments of the Order which his Highness having Received was pleased to make a very Noble Present to the King at Arms and to all the Retinue he had brought with him upon this Occasion April the 22d His Majesty having taken leave of the States General and been Complimented by them with all the Expressions of sincere Affection took Shiping in the Maese in order to his Return for England and the Wind being fair the next Morning made the English Shore and that Evening viz. April the 13th 1691. O. S. about Eight of the Clock landed at Whitehall having been Saluted by the Fleet as he passed along with all their Guns and the repeated Huzza's of the Seamen who Demonstrated the most extraordinary Joy imaginable and by the Guns of the Forts of Tilbury Gravesend and the Tower also by the Ships that lay in the River and the Joyful Acclamations of the People who crowded in great Numbers upon the Shore and in Boats to see His Majesty and express their Joy upon his happy Return continually Repeating God Save King William and Queen Mary and Prosper their Arms by Sea and Land Thus have we finished our short Journal of His Majesties Voyage into Holland wherein we have been as particular as was convenient and as brief as possible we have all along carefully avoided all manner of Reflections and Animadversions of our own and given only a true Relation of the matter of Fact as it occur'd wherein if we have the good Fortune to please the Reader we have our End FINIS * A Fouder contains 4 Hogsheads
fall to decay through Losses and unavoidable Accidents which they could not prevent find a more speedy and easie way of Compounding and Finishing Matters with their Creditors if they be over-strict than the Custom or Law of England doth afford for the suing out of Statutes of Bankrupts in England doth prove many times so pernicious both to Creditor and Debtor through the tediousness of the Proceedings and the expensiveness of Executing the Commissions that what by Commissioners Fees Treats and other incident Charges the Creditors are put to such Expences as to be utterly disappointed of their Debt and the Poor Debtors for ever ruined and undone I shall therefore in this place give a short Relation of the method used in Amsterdam in the case of Bankrupts which perhaps may be taken notice of by our King and Parliament for the preventing Disorders and sad Abuses that daily happen in Executing the Statutes of Bankrupts The Magistrates of Amsterdam every year Name Commissioners for Bankrupts out of those that make up a Judicature like to our Courts of Aldermen in London These meet certain days in the Week in a distinct Chamber in the Stadthouse over whose Door is cut in Marble the Emblem of Fortune flying away with Wings and round Chests turn'd upside down with Mice and Rats Eating the Money-Bags Pens Inkhorns and Paper-Books There they receive Petitions from Debtors and Creditors and as occasion requireth summon the Parties to appear before them and to lay open the true State of the matter this done they either by Authority seize the Bankrupts Books and Effects or else without any stir and noise leave all remaining in the Debtors Houses and send thither two Committees to examine the Books and make an Inventory of the Estate with power to compose the matter without giving much trouble to the Parties If the Commissioners find that the Debtor is come to decay by unexpected Losses and unavoidable Accidents to which he did not at all contribute it is their usual way to propose to the Creditor such amicable and easie Terms as the Poor Man may be able to perform alotting sometimes the half of the Estate left to the Debtor sometimes a third part and sometimes perswading the Creditors to advance to the Poor Man a Sum of Money to help him up again in Trade upon Condition that he do oblige himself to pay the Creditors all he oweth them when God shall be pleased to make him able but on the contrary if the Commissioners find that a Trader hath dealt Knavishly and broken with a design to Defraud and Cheat his Creditors as if it appear that a Bankrupt hath kept false Books and counterfeited Bills of Exchange Bills of Loading or pretended Commissions from Foreign Parts in such a case they are very severe and not only seize all the Books and Effects of the Bankrupt but also Imprison him and also punish him Corporally and if the cheat be of an heinous Nature Sentence him sometime to Death whereas if the Debtor be only Unfortunate and no ways Knavish then the Commissaries use all the Power they have to force the Creditors to accept the Poor Mans Terms the which is better for the Creditors than to use the rigour of the Law in committing the Poor Man to Prison seeing in that case the Creditors must maintain him in Prison according to his Quality where if he lies a certain time and the Creditors be not able to prove the Prisoner hath an Estate then the Debtor is admitted to his Oath to Swear he is not worth 40 Gilders besides his wearing Cloths and working Tools and then he is set at liberty but in the mean time let the Prisoner have a care not to make a false Oath for then he is punished without Mercy an instance of which happened in my time The States having admitted a certain Jew to come and make such an Oath before them were at the same time informed by the Goaler that this Jew had been seen through the chinks of the Door quilting Ducats of Gold and some Diamonds in his Cloaths to the value of 5000 Gilders The States hereupon admonished the Jew to take heed to what he was about to Swear because the Law was very strict against such as made false Oaths before them and at the same time caused the Oath and the Law to be Read unto him nevertheless the Jew offered to take the Oath but the Lords not suffering him to Swear because then he must die by Law caused him to be taken out into another Room and searched where they found about him the Ducats and Diamonds This being told the Lords they sent for him in and then Sentenced him to have 60 Lashes under the Gallows and to be Banished the Country yet because the Jew had many Children they gave the third part of what was taken about him to his Wife and Children and a third to the Poor and the other third to the Creditors which was enough to pay them their Debt These Commissioners are paid by the States and have not a Doit from Debtors or Creditors for all what they do These Commissioners are also much to be commended for their readiness to do good Offices to those Poor Merchants who having lived honestly are brought to decay by Losses and Crosses in their Trade who when they find any such so Poor that they can neither pay their Creditors nor maintain the charge of their Families it is their constant Custom to take their Children from them and maintain and bring them up in their Hospitals yea often also solliciting the Burghermasters on their behalf to bestow some small Office upon them for their Relief and Subsistance And here I must not omit to acquaint you that as the Compounding of Matters in Holland betwixt Debtor and Creditor so as hath been said is very easie and equitable so is also their way or method of suing for Debts very favorable which is after this manner In the first place a Note or Summons is left at the Debtors House and if he neglect to appear a second Summons is sent but then if he neither appear himself or send his Proctor the Sheriffs order an Arrest against him and at last when he is brought before them if the matter be difficult it is referred to two or three good Men of the City and time given him but if the Plaintiff make Oath that he apprehends the Debtor hath a design to run away then must the Prisoner either give Bail or return to Prison It is a Remark that I have made in my Travels that excepting France and Flanders I never saw in any Prison above forty Prisoners for Debt at one time and in some great Towns as in Haerlem and others sometimes not one and the Reason hereof is plain for you cannot lay a Man in Prison for an Action or Debt small or great but you must maintain the Prisoner so that many times the Charges exceed the principal Debt and after all
at 8 in the Evening From the 15 of September to the 11 of March at 8 in the Morning at 1 in the Afternoon and at 7 in the Evening And From Utrecht to Amsterdam at the same Hours From Amsterdam to Gouda or Tergoes as 't is corruptly called From the first of April to the last of September in the Morning at 7 and in the Evening at 8. In October November and March Morning and Evening at 8. From Gouda to Amsterdam In the Morning at 11 and in the Evening at 8. In December January and February no Boat goes in the Morning from either place and only one at 8 in the Evening From Tergoes you may go by Wagon to Rotterdam or from Rotterdam to Tergoes for about 12 or 14 Stivers which is a convenient Passage for Strangers there being the least shifting of Boats From Amsterdam to Rotterdam and from Rotterdam to Amsterdam The Market-Boat for carrying Goods goes off at 12 at Noon every Day From Amsterdam to the Hague and from the Hague to Amsterdam the same at 12 at Noon From Amsterdam through Muyden to Naerden In the Summer from the first of April to the last of September Morning at 6 8 and 10 Afternoon at 2 4 and 6. In the Winter Mornings at 7 9 and 11 Afternoon 1 3 and 5. This is a Fortification very well worth seeing From Naerden through Muyden to Amsterdam In the Summer at 5 7 and 9 Mornings and at 2 4 and 6 Afternoons In the Winter Mornings 7 8 and 10 Afternoons 1 3 and 5. From Leyden to Gouda Every Day a Boat goes at 11 in the Fornenoon and on Saturdays at 2 in the Afternoon From Gouda to Leyden Every Day at 11 in the Forenoon and on Thursdays at 12. From Leyden through Woerden to Utrccht In the Morning at 9 Afternoon at 12 1 2 and Evening at 9. From Utrecht through Woerden to Leyden Mornings at 8 and 12 Evenings at 8. From Rotterdam to Dort and from Dort to Rotterdam Every Day a Boat as the Tide serves as also to Antwerp the same It will be unnecessary to particularize any more these being all that Englishmen have occasion for for whom these Remarks are made though it will not be improper if I insert the Order for the Post-Wagons which some for Expedition make use of The Order of the Post-Wagons which go between Amsterdam and the Hague Every Day except Sundays from the 26 of February to the 29 of September there goes a Post-Wagon at 6 in the Morning From the first of October to the sixth of November at 7 in the Morning From the 8 of November to the 19 of January at half an Hour past 7 in the Morning From the 21 of January to the 24 of February at 7 in the Morning In the great Vacation of the Courts of Holland which is all the Month of August there goes no Wagon in the Morning At 12 at Noon there goes a Wagon every Day Sundays and all throughout the Year The Passage in the Post-Wagon for each Person is 4 G. 3 St. besides Passage-Gelt And if any hire a whole Wagon they may go at what Hour they please and pay 24 G. 18 St. and Passage-Gelt provided there be no more than 6 Persons And if you are set down by the way you shall be abated proportionably of the Passage but then you must give notice of it before Hand and be content to take your place after those that go quite out And now having said so much of the States Government and of Amsterdam in particular it will not be amiss to take notice of some bad Customs and Practices now in vogue in Holland and leave it to the Reader to judge what they may portend There are Tollerated in the City of Amsterdam amongst other abuses at least 50 Musick-houses where lewd Persons of both Sexes meet and practise their Villanies There is also a place called the Long-Seller a Tollerated Exchange or publick Meeting House for Whores and Rogues to Rendezvous in and make their filthy Bargains This Exchange is open from six a Clock in the Evening until nine at Night every Whore must pay three Stivers at the Door for her Entrance or Admission I confess the Ministers Preach and exclaim from the Pulpit against this horrible Abuse but who they be that protect them I know not yet I have heard some plead for the Tolleration of these wicked Meetings upon pretext that when the East-India Fleets come home the Seamen are so mad for Women that if they had not such Houses to bait in they would force the very Citizens Wives and Daughters but it is well known that as Money does countenance so Discipline might suppress that abuse The old severe and frugal way of living is now almost quite out of date in Holland there is very little to be seen of that sober Modesty in Apparel Diet and Habitations as formerly In stead of convenient Dwellings the Hollanders now build stately Palaces have their delightful Gardens and Houses of Pleasure keep Coaches Wagons and Sleas have very rich Furniture for their Horses with Trappings adorned with Silver Bells I have seen the Vanity of a Vintners Son who had the Bosses of the Bit and Trapping of his Horse of pure Silver his Toot-Man and Coach-Man having Silver Fring'd Gloves yea so much is the humour of the Women altered and of their Children also that no Apparel can now serve them but the best and richest that France and other Countries affords and their Sons are so much addicted to Play that many Families in Amsterdam are ruined by it not that England is less extravagant then the Dutch who as I said before got such great Estates by their Frugality whilst they were not addicted to such Prodigality and Wantonness as the English are whose excess I cannot excuse nevertheless the grave and sober People of Holland are very sensible of the great alteration that now is in their Country and as they say Paracelsus used to Cure his Patients of their Disease with a full Belly so a good Burghermaster desirous to convince his Amsterdammers of their dissolute kind of Life invited the 36 Magistrates and their Wives to a Feast who being come and the Ladies big with Expectation of some rare and extraordinary Entertainment sat down at Table where the first Course was Buttermilk boil'd with Apples Stock-fish Butter'd Turnips and Carrots Lettice Sallat and Red Herrings and only small Bear without any Wine at this the Ladies startled and began to whisper to their Husbands that they expected no such Entertainment but upon removing of the Dishes and Plates they found underneath Printed Verses importing That after that manner of living they began to thrive and had inlarged their City The Second Course consisted of Bocke de kooks Quarters of Lamb Roasted Rabbits and a sort of Pudding they call a Brother here they had Dort and English Beer with French Wine yet all this did not please the Dainty Dames