The first place my curiosity led me to was the Stadt-house, which is unquestionably a wonderful edifice, considering that Holland furnishes no stone, and that the foundation of the building was boggy; the latter circumstance rendered it necessary to have an artificial foundation of extraordinary construction and magnitude, and accordingly it rests upon thirteen thousand six hundred and ninety-five massy trees, or piles, the first of which was driven on the 20th of January, 1648, and the last on the 6th of October following, when the first stone, with a suitable inscription, was laid; and seven years afterwards the different colleges of magistrates took formal possession of the apartments allotted for their respective offices, but at this time the roof and dome were not completed: the expense of this mighty edifice amounted to two millions sterling. The principal architect was John Van Kampen, who acted under the control of four burgomasters. The area in which it stands is spacious, and was till lately called Revolutie plein; it is disfigured by the proximity of the waag, or weigh-house, a very old shabby building. The form of the Stadt-house is square, its front is two hundred and eighty-two feet, its depth two hundred and fifty-five, and its height one hundred and sixteen. It has seven small porticoes, representative of the seven provinces; the want of a grand entrance is a great architectural defect, which immediately excites the surprise of the traveller; but it was so constructed from the wary precautionary foresight of the magistrates who had the superintendence of the building, for the purpose of preventing free access to a mob, in case of tumult. One of the first apartments which attracts the attention is the tribunal, on the basement floor; in this room, prisoners who have been found guilty of capital offences are conducted to receive the awful sentence of the law; the entrance is through a massy folding door, decorated with brass emblems, indicative of the purpose to which the chamber is applied, such as Jove’s beams of lightning, and flaming swords—under which are two lines from Virgil, “Discite Justitiam moniti “Et non temnere Divos.”