enriched with diamonds, which was given by a dey of Algiers, as a proof of his esteem, or fear, to Admiral de Ruyter; and a park of artillery in miniature, which was made for the instruction of the stadtholder's sons in the art of war.
The furniture of this house, which was sumptuous, as well as of the other palaces which belonged to the stadtholder, was confiscated by the French, and sold for their use, under pretext that the republic had declared war against the Prince of Orange personally. A similar fate would have attended his magnificent collection of pictures, but the Dutch government wisely redeemed this treasure, and, in imitation of their sister republic, founded a national gallery. Since its foundation in ninety-seven, to November, eighteen hundred, three thousand one hundred and twenty tickets of admission only had been issued; a proof that much taste for the fine arts does not exist in Holland, or that few strangers have resorted to the Hague. The price of admission is about one shilling
