Amsterdam, 17th Aug.
My Dear Father,
We left Göttingen on Saturday[2] at 5 in the morning and so slow were the trains that though we had no stoppage of more than ten minutes or so except when a train was late we did not get into Utrecht till past 7 at night. This did not prevent us however from having a walk about the streets in the evening and admiring the beautifully clean way in which the town is laid out and the splendid old tower.[3] We stayed in Utrecht over Sabbath ascending the tower on Monday morning and thereby obtaining a wide but not very interesting view.
We did not make much of the Service in the Cathedral; but it was delightful to be again in a full church, all seats being occupied and some people standing. During the Service indeed a good many who had seats stood up and leaned forward in the old Scotch style. A curious thing was that as soon as the psalm had been sung and sermon began a number of men put on their hats and sat covered till the sermon ended.
Leyden. Afternoon.
I have just heard from Sepp that the Utrecht preacher was no doubt Kuyper[4] a celebrated Orthodox preacher and very learned historian. You will of course ask who Sepp is. I imagine my last letter did not mention that when we called to take leave of Ritschl and told him we were going through Holland he proposed that we should go to Leyden and make the acquaintance of Scholten (Professor) and Sepp (Baptist Preacher and Church historian). To the best of my recollection this took place after I last wrote and I did not mention as the possible consequence a delay of a day or two in getting home. Our next plan was to go by Harwich on Thursday morning getting into Edinburgh probably as soon as if we had sailed for Leith on Wednesday. We are not quite certain whether we shall leave Rotterdam till the Leith steamer sails on Saturday. The reason is that on getting to Leiden this evening (Tuesday) we have unluckily found that Scholten is not at home but on the other hand have found Sepp excessively cordial. I may mention that Sepp has written a very able book (according to Ritschl) on the Church history of Holland in recent times. He is I regret to think a Mennonite;[5] but Ritschl says that the Dutch Baptists are much less objectionable than those elsewhere and are hardly sectarian.
At all events Sepp who has a warm admiration for Ritschl received us warmly, gave us tea, went a bit along with us to show us the way home and promised to call for us at ten tomorrow and go with us to the most interesting places in Leiden (not a misspelling the Dutch spell ei not ey).[6] Of course this was better than our previous plan to go to Hague to-morrow forenoon but will either cost us our visits to Hague or prevent us from starting on Thursday.
In case of going via Harwich I shouldn’t be able to get home on Saturday so would go to Kirkcaldy[7] over Sabbath and come home on Monday. In the other case I would not be in Edinburgh till Monday and come home on Tuesday. If you don’t get a letter from England or Edinburgh at the latest on Monday morning you will know that we have gone by Leith which in fact is now most probable.
To go back to our adventure. Utrecht we enjoyed much. The town is well built, wonderfully clean and surrounded by very pretty grounds planted with fine trees and well laid out. The only feature that is unpleasant is the high hotel charges about as high as in London.
From Utrecht we went to Amsterdam where we stayed on Monday night. Amsterdam is a very striking town of course and some parts it must be conceded are really very fine but as a whole the effect is rather strange than fine. The houses of dark brick with stucco window-mouldings are rather funereal and all streets not intersected by canals — not excluding the very swellest — are very narrow.
The most curious thing perhaps is the vast number of Windmills. Standing on a dyke beside the Y[8] we counted taking in the Zaandam side of the Channel no fewer than 150 at once.
In Amsterdam we saw a great collection of pictures and also the International Exhibition of Domestic Economy — the last not very striking. Details I fear I can’t write now.
From Antwerp on Tuesday morning (17th Aug.) to Haarlem where we saw the great Church and heard the famous organ[9] played, being fortunate in arriving on a day of the week when there is a public performance gratis from 1 to 2. In Haarlem are also pictures by living masters well worth seeing. We lost a long time in Haarlem searching for de Liefde[10] to whom we had an introduction from Mrs Menzies’ sister Mrs Thomson. At length we found that he had left the town just this month. For this disappointment however the glorious playing of the great organ which at its fullest notes made the whole church tremble more than compensated even me.[11]
In Leiden as I said we were very kindly received by Sepp and today (it is now Wednesday) he and his son walked about with us for three hours and showed us the Museum of Antiquities, the University Library and the Senators’ Room which, with its portraits of all the Leiden Professors, Scaliger,[12] Ruhnken,[13] Cocceius, Arminius,[14] Salmasius[15] &c, &c., is according to Niebuhr[16] the most notable sanctuary of learning in Europe.[17] The library was also exceedingly interesting with many fine MSS and rare books. Sepp carried us thro’ all, paying several fees for us I am sure and ended up by giving us lunch in a public garden. It was really very kind and our visit to Leiden has quite delighted us.
Tonight we go off to Hague and thence to Delft and Rotterdam. I suppose it is fixed now that we don’t sail till Saturday.
I shan’t spin out more just now [as] I hope soon to be able to relate all our adventures in person.
We have great reason to be thankful for all our experiences in this journey, and I hope have got instruction as well as entertainment from it.
Finally, I am quite well & am
Your aff. Son,
Wm Robertson Smith
[1] CUL ADD 7449 C121a TS
[2] WRS and Black set out on Saturday, August 14 and the long letter was written between Tuesday and Thursday of the following week. The detailed reference to travel arrangements suggests that Smith’s family were anxious to have him back home.
[3] The Domtoren (cathedral towers) were then the highest viewpoint in Holland.
[4] Kuyper, Abraham (1837–1920): was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church and founder of the Free Calvinistic University in 1880. As Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1901 to 1905 he adopted strongly rightwing policies.
[5] After Menno Simons (1492–1559): a leading opponent of infant baptism from whom stemmed the many Mennonite communities in Switzerland, Holland and later the U.S.A.
[6] WRS is correct of course in giving the modern spelling of Leiden, though inconsistent himself within the letter. His tendency towards pedantry in such small details is most evident in the letters to his father.
[7] Kirkcaldy in Fife was Black’s home town.
[8] The Y or IJ: the harbour region of Amsterdam, now connected by a channel woth the North Sae. The town of Edam (Ydam) lies at the mouth of the Y.
[9] The organ, originally built from 1735 to 1738, had just been restored in 1868.
[10] Possibly John de Liefde, author of Among the Charities of Europei.
[11] Smith had a poor ear for music: cf. B&C p.19.
[12] Scaliger, Joseph Justus (1540–1609) remains an iconic figure in the history of classical and historical scholarship. He was invited to accept an honorary chair at Leiden University (founded in 1575) and remained there from 1593 until his death.
[13] Ruhnken, David (1723–1798): was one of the most illustrious Dutch scholars of the 18th century, teaching at Leiden from 1757 onwards.
[14] Arminius, James (1560–1609): Dutch theologian who occupied the chair of theology at Leiden from 1603 and fiercely opposed Calvin’s doctrines of predestination, asserting that the freedom of the human will was entirely compatible with divine sovereignty. Hence the term Arminian, used dismissively by hyper-orthodox Calvinists to refer to their less strict brethren.
[15] Salmasius, Claudius or de Saumaise (1586–1653): was reputedly the most eminent classical scholar of his day. Born in Burgundy, he was converted to Protestantism at Heidelberg in 1606 and moved to an honorary chair at Leiden in 1631. His Defence of the Reign of Charles I — essentially an attempt to vindicate absolute monarchy — was vehemently attacked by John Milton in the latter’s Defence on behalf of the English People (1651).
[16] Niebuhr, Barthold Georg (1776–1831): the eminent classical historian whose History of Rome was translated into English in 1827.
[17] This was no exaggeration: Leiden was a focal point of classical scholarship for several centuries and Smith’s evident fascination with these figure is wholly understandable, Indeed the characters and tribulations of many of the great Leiden scholars are mirrored in Smith’s own life history.