Holland, v. 1 (of 2)

Photographs taken expressly for this edition of "Holland" by Dr. Charles L. Mitchell , Philadelphia. Photogravures by A. W. Elson & Co. , Boston. PAGE A Dutch Windmill Frontispiece. Dutch Fishing-boats 26 Dordrecht—Canal with Cathedral in the Distance 48 In Rotterdam 64 Interior of the Church of St. Lawrence 80 On the Meuse, near Rotterdam 94 The Steiger, Rotterdam 110 The Statue of Tollens 126 Near the Arsenal, Delft 134 Monument of Admiral Van Tromp 140 Stairway where William the Silent was Assassinated in the Prinsenhof, Delft 150 Refectory of the Convent of St. Agatha, Delft 156 Old Delft 166 On the Canal near Delft 174 The Binnenhof, The Hague 184 Paul Potter's Bull 198 On the Road to Scheveningen 214 Fisherman's Children, Scheveningen 228 The Main Drive in the Bosch, The Hague 246 The Vyver, The Hague 262 HOLLAND. ONE who looks for the first time at a large map of Holland must be amazed to think that a country so made can exist. At first sight, it is impossible to say whether land or water predominates, and whether Holland belongs to the continent or to the sea. Its jagged and narrow coast-line, its deep bays and wide rivers, which seem to have lost the outer semblance of rivers and to be carrying fresh seas to the sea; and that sea itself, as if transformed to a river, penetrating far into the land, and breaking it up into archipelagoes; the lakes and vast marshes, the canals crossing each other everywhere,—all leave an impression that a country so broken up must disintegrate and disappear. It would be pronounced a fit home for only beavers and seals, and surely its inhabitants, although of a race so bold as to dwell there, ought never to lie down in peace. When I first looked at a large map of Holland these thoughts crowded into my mind, and I felt a great desire to know something about the formation of this singular country; and as what I learned impelled me to make a book, I write it now in the hope that I may lead others to read it. Those who do not know a country usually ask travellers, "What sort of place is it?" Many have told briefly what kind of country Holland is. Napoleon said: "It is an alluvium of French rivers, the Rhine, the Scheldt, and the Meuse," and under this…