AMSTERDAM, the principal city in Holland, though not the scat of government, i4 situated at the conflux of the river .Amstel with a branch of the Zuyder-Zee, which, from its form, is called the Y, or Wye. Its name was originally Amstelredam, the damn or dyke of the Am stel. With the exception, perhaps, of Petersburgh, there is not a city in Europe, which from a very slender ori gin, has risen so lately and so rapidly to the height of opulence and grandeur as Amsterdam. Not more than six centuries ago, it consisted of a few miserable huts, inhabited by fishermen. Its situation, however, was so favourable to commercial enterprize and activity, that it soon became of sufficient importance to be distinguished by the earls of I Tolland with the title and the privileges of a city. To defend it from the assaults of the r •ople of Utrecht, who were perpetually at variance witn the Hollanders, and jealous of the rising prosperity of their city, Mary of Burgundy surrounded it, in the year 1490, with a wall of brick, which was soon afterwards burnt to the ground. Not many years after, it was besieged by an army from Guelderland, which set lire to the shipping in the harbour, though the town itself with stood their attacks. Au insurrection was excited in this city about the year 1525, by a party ol ianatics, led on by John of Leyden, the pretended king of Munster. At tacking the tu•n-nouse in the night-time, they easily overpow wed its delenders ; but were, in their turn, de feated by the citizens, and put to the sword. About ten years alter, a more alarming commotion was raked by the anabaptists, who had entered into a deep-laid scheme for wresting the government out of the hands of the magtstrates. On a day appointed, these enthusiasts, with Van Geelen at their head, marched to the town house, where they fixed their head-quarters. They were immediately attacked by the inhabitants, aided by regular troops, and, being completely surrounded, were massacred in the cruellest manner.
Amsterdam was one of the last cities that embraced the reformed religion ; and when, alter a siege of ten months, it was reduced by the Hollanders, an express article of capitulation was, that the Roman Catholics should be allowed the unmolested exercise of their re ligion. This condition was immediately violated, how ever, by the Protestants, who, in the fury their zeal, broke down the images, subverted the altars, and ex pelled from the city the priests, the monks, and the nuns. The advantageous situation of Amsterdam now atir_!ct ed crowds ol strangers, not only from the other United Provinces, but from all the countries of Europe. This
influx of new inhabitants rendered it necessary, at dif ferent times, to enlarge the city, and about the year 1675 it was increased by one half more than its former size. At present, it covers a surface of about 18,790 geo metrical feet, and is said to be larger than Haarlem, Leyden, Delft, Rotterdam, and Dordrecht, inclusively, though these are all considerable towns. It is of a se micircular form, about nine miles and a half in compass, surrounded with a ditch 80 feet wide, full of running water, and with a rampart faced with brick, having 26 bastions ; on each of which there has been placed a Towards the laud, it has eight magnificent gates of stone, and one towards the shore.
Nowhere is the power of human industry more stri kingly displayed than in Amsterdam. The adjacent country, along the banks of the Y, is four or five feet below the level of the river, from which it is preserved by massy and prodigious dikes ; and the town itself is secured from inundation by an immense damn of the same kind. So marshy, too, is its situation, that almost the whole of it is built upon piles of wood ; and the ca nals, which intersect it, form eighty-two islands, joined to one another by nearly three hundred bridges. These canals, though extremely convenient in the capital of such a commercial country as Holland, are in summer so feculent as to be intolerable nuisances. The green ness, common to stagnant waters, covers their whole surface, chequered only by the carcasses of animals, and putrifying vegetables of every description. A boat-hook drawn from the bottom, leaves at the top a circle of slime, which remains visible for many minutes. Some of them, however, are less offensive titan the rest, and, shaded on both sides with lofty trees, give the town a picturesque and pleasing appearance. Most of these canals are filled by the Amstel, which is itself naviga ble for ships of considerable burden. Upon this river there is a magnificent bridge, which commands a fine prospect of the city, the .harbour, and the sea. This bridge, called the Pont Neuf, is 600 feet long, and 70 broad, lilt ing iron balustrades on both sides. Of its arches, eleven are very lofty, and eight are entire ly shut up. Beyond the Pont Neuf is a terrace, or quay, n hick is one of the few pleasant walks enjoyed by the inhabitants of Amsterdam. On this terrace stands the Admiralty ; an immense building, in the interior of w hick is the (lock-yard : here, like:Wise, is the magazine of the East India Company ; whose perfume affords a grateful contrast to the fetid odour of the canals.