A few days after his arrival at Amsterdam, the Emperor made several excursions into the country, accompanied by a somewhat numerous suite.  He visited at Saardam the thatched cottage which sheltered Peter the Great when he came to Holland under the name of Pierre Michaeloff to study ship-building; and after remaining there half an hour, the Emperor, as he left, remarked to the grand marshal of the palace.  “That is the finest monument in Holland.”  The evening before, her Majesty the Empress had visited the village of Broek, which is the pride of the whole north of Holland.  Almost all the houses of the village are built of wood, and are of one story, the fronts ornamented with numerous paintings in accordance with the caprice of the owners.  These paintings are cared for most zealously, and preserved in a state of perfect freshness.  Through the windows of clearest glass are seen curtains of embroidered China silk, and of painted muslin and beautiful India stuffs.  The streets are paved with brick and very clean, and are washed and rubbed daily, and covered with fine white sand, in which various figures are imitated, especially flowers.  Placards at the end of each street forbid the entrance of carriages into the village, the houses of which resemble children’s toys.  The cattle are cared for by hirelings at some distance from the town; and there is, outside the village, an inn for strangers, for they are not permitted to lodge inside.  In front of some houses I remarked either a grass plot or an arrangement of colored sand and shells, sometimes little painted wooden statues, sometimes hedges oddly cut.  Even the vessels and broom-handles were painted various colors, and cared for like the remainder of the establishment; the inhabitants carrying their love of cleanliness so far as to compel those who entered to take off their shoes, and replace them with slippers, which stood at the door for this singular purpose.  I am reminded on this subject of an anecdote relating to the Emperor Joseph the Second.  That prince, having presented himself in boots at the door of a house in Broek, and being requested to remove them before entering, exclaimed, “I am the Emperor!” —­“Even if you were the burgomaster of Amsterdam, you should not enter in boots,” replied the master of the dwelling.  The good Emperor thereupon put on the slippers.

During the journey to Holland their Majesties were informed that the first tooth of the King of Rome had just made its appearance, and that the health of this august child was not impaired thereby.

In one of the little towns in the north of Holland, the authorities requested the Emperor’s permission to present to him an old man aged one hundred and one years, and he ordered him brought before him.  This more than centenarian was still vigorous, and had served formerly in the guards of the Stadtholder; he presented a petition entreating the Emperor to exempt from conscription one of his grandsons, the