Ossian Collection > Gentleman's magazine, and historical chronicle > Volume 66, Part 2

l*j^6.] Continuation of a Tour through Holhnd in I'jg 2' 9O9
the South fide, of the quadrangle?
and how many apartments there are,
and how many perfons lodged in them ;
and particularly what ufe is made of
the Eall lide of the court, now in de-
cay, and fuppofed to have been thofe
erefted by Cardinal Beaufort ? A^id,
laftly, which is perhaps more to the
purpofe, what is the bufinefs and em-
ployment for which the mafter receives
fo ampls a fslary ; which, without re-
flefling on the religious eftablifhment
of 'this kingdom, appears the moft
ufelefs finecure in it? -Incjltisitive.
Continuation of a Tour ihrongh Hol-
land in the Autumn of 1793.
Mr. Urban, Leicefier, Nonj. 19.
IN my laft letter you were introduced
to the city of Haerlem, nf which I
now proceed to give you fome farther
particulars. The cathedral is a mag-
nificent ftruflure, and is faid to be the
iargeft church in Holland ; it was built
towards the end of the 15th century,
by Albert duke of Bavana, couni! of
Holland. The tower, which is very
handfome, was built in 1516. This
church Was erefred into a cattiedral, in
1559, by pope Paul JV. at the requell
or k*ng Philip II, The billiopri^k of
Haerlem cooiprehended Aro-Herdsm,
and the fo' lowing towns in North Hol-
land ; Aikmaar, Moniiikendam-Eddm,
Turir.er'rnda, Hocrn, Enkhuigen, and
Mcdanbick: befides many litile towns
ar.d ^illiges, and 72 mon^fteries. Haer-
lem remained an epifcopal fee for 20
yesrs, when the Refornicd or Calvi-
n-.ftic mode of worfliip was eftabliflied :
but the acherenis of the Roman Ca-
ihoUc faith are very, numerous at this
place; and they infcnbe the letter C
on the front of their houks, to fate
the tftdblfii^d clergy the nouble of
knocking at their doers in the courfe
of their paftoral vifits^ fof I was to^d
that the minifters of the eilabiuljed
(;;hu!cli of Holland were very aJiidu"ous
in the bulinefs of pari-chial vifi.atio:),
gr private conference vviiii the people
in iheir ovn houies, an iinportdin
blanch of palloral duty, v.'hich I hear-
tily wiCi were mors genercilly pra£i:iied
auiong us than it is; and then we
might expeft to fee our panfli-chiirches
mere crowded with woilhipers, ar.d our
li'tars wiih cpmiiiunicants, tiian they
fcie at picfeijt. J was info^mtd that
tj^e Anabap'iUs were ver-y numerous at
Hitriem. Tais.feft i» known in Hol-
land by the natTie of Mor.ftctmesa
which appellation they derive from
Menno, a celebrated miHionary of the
Bnptift perfuafion in. the i6th century.
I have ijeen informed, by a clergyman
of the church of Scotland, who fpent
fome years in Holland, that there are
fcarcely any where men of more liberal
fentiments, or who underfland the true
rp-rit of Chriftianity better, than many
of the Dutch Msnnonites.
There is nothing at Haerlem more
deferving the attention of the curious
than the organ in the great chuich,
which is univerfally allowed to be a
chef d'auvre in that fpecies of mtcha-
nifm ; it has flood in the church near
fixty years, end was made by Chiiilian
MiiHer, a citizen of Haerlem. I will
not pretend to take the defcriplion of
this noble in!irument out of the hands
of Mr. Packham, who gives the fol-
lowing account of it :
" It confifls of eight thoufanJ pipes ; the
laigelt are thirty-eight feet long, and Tix-
teen inches in diameter. There are fixty-
eiglit flops, of which the moll wcndei inl
is the -vox- humana, fo exaftiy imitative of
the human voice, hotV. in the bafs, tenor,
and treble, thtt it was fome time before 1
co'.ild ptrfuade myfelf that I was not im-
pofed on by real voices : there were otlier
pipes which were equally wondeiful in the
notes of different birds; a.id the kettle-
drum ftop was beyond all imagination."
The Dutch Prefbvterians have never
declared war againft inftrumental iiiufic
in churches, like their brethien in
Great Britain and Ireland. ChurcU
mufi: is a prime objeft of a'^tention
among Proteitanls of all denoniinalions
on the Contiresst. A reformation in
this branch of public worfhip is a defi-
deratum in th* chuich of England,
efpecially in our village - chutches,
v/here the people, generally fpeaking,
fere- mute, and the celebration of the
diytne praifcs is uluiped by leleft bands,
whole exhibitions are feidom calculated
to kindle the flame of devotion.
The cathedral of Haerlem has only
one reiic to boaft of, namely a cannon-
ball, winch, dur:ng the famous fieg-e
in 1C73, forced its v/ay into the church,
grazed the pulpit in which tl.e inihilkr
was at that niotnent preaching, and
lodged in the wall.
The liege of Haerlem preceded that
of Leyden. It l-,ftcd -ten nioiiths, and
was earned on, to ute lir \V. Temple's
words, '* with all the praitivCs and re-
turns of ignonniiy, cruelty, and (coin,
pn bjth lidcj." The bthcgm^ army
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