On Sunday morning, we visited the new church, the organ of which is said to be the largest in Europe, and to exceed the celebrated one at Haarlem. After this, we went to the Stadt-house, one of the most magnificent buildings in Europe; the foundation-stone of which, was laid in the year 1648; it is built of freestone, two hundred and eighty-eight feet in length, two hundred and thirty-five broad, and one hundred and sixteen in height, to the top of the roof. The grand saloon is one hundred and twenty feet long, and one hundred high. We ascended the tower, the view from whence my friend C⸺ described to be most extensive, and extremely beautiful, commanding the whole of the town and harbour, and a considerable surface both of land and water. We were anxious to have visited the dock-yard, and a variety of other places in this interesting city, but it became necessary that we should prepare for our respective departures, as I had determined to set off to Haarlem, on my way to Brussels, at five in the evening; and much of our time was frittered away in the unavoidable arrangements for conveyances, &c. I was induced, in preference to taking the diligence for Rotterdam, to pass by the barge through the Hague, as this would afford me the better opportunity of gaining an acquaintance with the country and its inhabitants. I shall not attempt to enter into any particular description of the city of Amsterdam, but merely observe, that I was forcibly impressed with an idea of its similarity to Venice; both are situated on marshy grounds, in the immediate vicinity of the sea, and intersected by canals, which divide them into innumerable small islands; but the farther parallel is certainly in favour of the latter; for although Pope tells us, that “Venice from dirt, and sea-weeds rose;” yet I think the natural salubrity of its climate, as well as the general superiority of its buildings, and more extensive display of specimens of the fine arts, would prove greater attractions in the eyes of the stranger. With respect to the point of salubrity, the canals of Venice are more uniformly covered with water than those of Amsterdam, which offer a surface of mud, and hence fewer noxious exhalations are here generated; not that I am ignorant that Venice is far from being a healthy summer residence, in consequence of injurious miasmata, raised from its very foundations, by the intensity of the solar ray. The atmosphere of Amsterdam is greatly impregnated with moisture, and the place necessarily very damp, which must favour the production and aggravation of rheumatic disease; the liability to which, is perhaps the best excuse that can be made for the general use of tobacco by its inhabitants.