THE PALACE, AMSTERDAM.

THIS noble edifice was built for a town-hall, after thedesigns of Jacob van Campen. Its foundation was laid inthe year 1648, and the whole pile was completed in eight years.The form of the building is a right angled parallelogram,282 feet in length and 222 in breadth ; its height, includingthe cupola, 183 feet. It stands isolated on the Dam, a largesquare fronting the great canal called the Damrak, whichopens upon the port.

Until the year 1808, it was always made use of as a Town-Hall, but was then offered to Louis Bonaparte as a royal re-sidence; and, on the recall of the family of Orange, it wasreserved as a palace for His Majesty William the First, whowas proclaimed, from the balcony in front, King of the Pays-Bas, on the 15 th of March, 1815.

Our limits will not admit of a detail of the numerous deco-rations, in sculpture and painting, which adorn this splendidedifice.

The march of the procession celebrating the commencementof the herring fishery has been introduced, to give additionalinterest to the scene.