Page:A Tour Through the Batavian Republic.djvu/273

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THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC
261

made, until the consent and approbation of the governors and curators of these benevolent establishments had been previously obtained, and therefore it may be concluded that the vaccine inoculation is extensively adopted in private families.

The Dutch theatre in Amsterdam is a building about the size of the summer play-house in the Haymarket. It can seldom, boast of a numerous audience; but whether this proceeds from a want of taste in the Dutch for dramatic representations, or the calamities of the republic have injured public spectacles and entertainments as well as the fortunes of individuals, I cannot determine; Though plays are only performed in the Dutch theatre three times a week, and a favourite piece was acted on the evening I attended it, scarcely half a dozen of boxes were occupied by company, nor was the audience in the pit and gallery proportionably much more numerous. The house was ill lighted; and it did not appear to have been painted for some considerable time. On one side of the stage is a figure of the