f the secret negotiation between the ministers of Louis
XIV., and the magistrates of Strasburg.

This, was the Franz Holbein of the picture, and if the three _coups de
baton_ are not attributable to his ghost, I can only say, I am totally
at a loss to say where they should be charged; for my own part, I
ought to add, I never heard them, conduct which I take it was the more
ungracious on the ghost's part, as I finished the schiedam, and passed
my night on the hearth rug, leaving the feather-bed with its down
coverlet quite at master Frank's disposal.

Although the "Schwein Kopf" stands in one of the most prominent
squares of Rotterdam, and nearly opposite the statue of Erasmus, it is
comparatively little known to English travellers. The fashionable hotels
which are near the quay of landing, anticipate the claims of this more
primitive house; and yet, to any one desirous of observing the ordinary
routine of a Dutch family, it is well worth a visit. The bucksome Vrows
who trudge about with short but voluminous petticoats, their heads
ornamented by those gold or silver circlets, which no Dutch peasant
seems ever to want, are exactly the very types of what you see in an
Ostade or a Teniers. The very host himself, old Hoogendorp, is a
study; scarcely five feet in height, he might measure nearly nine, in
circumference, and in case of emergency could be used as a sluicegate,
should any thing happen to the dykes. He was never to be seen before
one o'clock in the day, but exactly as the clock tolled that hour, the
massive soup-tureen, announcing the commencement of the _table d'hote_,
was borne in state before him, while with "solemn step and slow," ladle
in hand, and napkin round his neck, he followed after. His conduct at
table was a fine specimen of Dutch independence of character--he never
thought of bestowing those petty attentions which might cultivate the
good-will of his guests; he spoke little, he smiled never; a short nod
of recognition bestowed upon a townsman, was about the extent of royal
favour he was ever known to confer; or occasionally, when any remark
made near him seemed to excite his approbation, a significant grunt
of approval ratified the wisdom of the speech, and made a Solon of the
speaker. His spoon descended into the soup, and emerged therefrom with
the ponderous regularity of a crane into the hold of a ship. Every
function of the table was performed with an unbroken monotony, and
never, in the course o