Page:A Tour Through the Batavian Republic.djvu/207

Rh I could not learn with any degree of certainty; and it is now generally thought they have been appropriated by some silent act of government to the relief of the urgent necessities of the state.

At Haerlem there are considerable manufactures for the fabrication of fine linen cloths, dimity, satins; &c. which; though not in so flourishing a state as formerly they were, give employment to a number of workmen, and still carry on a profitable trade with Brabant and Germany. The bleacheries of Haerlem are famous for the delicate whiteness which they give to linen cloths, large quantities of which are brought hither yearly from all parts of the United Provinces and Germany to undergo this operation, and before the war with Great Britain much was sent from Ireland and Scotland. The superior whiteness of the bleacheries of this town is attributed to a peculiar quality in the water of the lake of Haerlem, which cannot be imitated by any chemical-process Which has yet been discovered.