in the greatest period of Dutch history. He dared to stand forth as the fearless leader of a persecuted people in opposition to the mightiest monarch then on earth. William, Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau, was surnamed “The Silent” not because he was gloomy, but because he was able to hide his plans with wonderful discretion. He was born on April 16, 1533. He was a great favorite of Charles V of Spain, who appointed him, when he was only twenty-two years old, governor of the provinces of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht. When the Low Countries came into possession of the Duke of Alva, the Spanish governor, William set out on a short but useless campaign to liberate the southern provinces. Four years later he was invited by Holland and Zealand to command their troops against the Spaniards. Shortly afterward he captured Middelburg and succeeded in raising the siege of Leyden. The Union of Utrecht, the famous defensive league of the North Netherlands, was formed in 1579. Soon afterward William was exiled by Philip II; but the States General defied his authority, and in 1581 formally threw off their allegiance to the Spanish crown.

However, so anxious was Philip to have William out of the way that he offered a reward of 25,000 crowns and a title of nobility to anyone who would assassinate him. Many were the cowardly attacks made against the brave Dutchman, eight attempts being made before the one that finally succeeded.

On July 10, 1584, William, in company with his beautiful young wife, was coming to dinner down the stairway of the Prinsenhof—his house in Delft. Suddenly from the corner of the corridor a man stepped forth holding a petition. The prince asked him to present it later when he was not busy. During the meal William was as usual very cheerful; but his wife seemed to have a premonition of danger. She spoke to him several times of the strange man they had met in the hall, remarking that she had never seen a more villainous face. This did not disturb William in the least, and at the close of the meal he led the way back along the corridor. As he approached the staircase, without a moment’s warning the assassin sprang forth and shot him in the breast. The prince reeled backward a few steps and fell into the arms of his wife. A few minutes later the founder of Dutch liberty had passed into history.

William the Silent was the foremost statesman of his time. He gave up great position, vast wealth, and at last his life, to rescue the Netherlands from the tyrannical power of Spain; and he had the satisfaction of knowing before he died that the cause for which he had suffered so much would succeed.

His murderer, Balthazar Gerard, was executed by having the flesh torn from his body with redhot pincers.

STREET SCENE, AMSTERDAM

 THREE 

Amsterdam has often been called “The Venice of the North.” Between the two cities there is a resemblance; but they also differ from each other essentially. Venice is golden; while Amsterdam is gray. Venice inspires romantic memories and poetical associations; Amsterdam, even with its many attractions, is distinctly practical and commercial.

Amsterdam is a seaport in the province of North Holland. It is one of the chief commercial cities in Europe and the largest city in the kingdom of Holland. It is one of the wealthiest cities in the world.

Amsterdam stands on flat, marshy ground into which piles fifty feet long are driven to form the foundations of brick houses, which are usually six or seven stories high. The form of the city is a crescent, and the arms of its canals project into the Y.

Amsterdam is really a city founded upon islands, ninety in all. It has miles of liquid streets, which are spanned by three hundred bridges. All through the city float heavy barges, many of which are the homes of citizens.

Among some classes of the Dutch it is customary, when a young man has saved or borrowed enough money, to buy a huge, broad-shouldered boat and install therein not only his entire family, but also his poultry, hogs, and even cows. From then on he is independent, and master of his own floating house, stable, farmyard, and express wagon. He transports loads of merchandise from town to town, and is in a small way even a farmer. When he moors his boat to take his wares from house to house he uses a cart, and to draw this cart he employs dogs. When the merchandise is sold the driver calmly seats himself in the cart and makes his patient animals pull him home. If he does not own a dog, he merely puts the yoke upon the shoulders of his wife, and she acts as a willing steed.

The little houses in the vicinity of Amsterdam are thoroughly characteristic of Holland. They have sharply pointed roofs of pretty red tiles, neatly painted walls and blinds, and a monstrous windmill on one side. Within they are scoured and polished so that they almost shine with cleanliness. Even among the wealthy citizens of Amsterdam there is not much display of luxury. The houses are quite plain, but always brightly clean.

To most people who are used to paved streets and plenty of dry land it would not be pleasant to dwell among the watery streets with their narrow sidewalks of Amsterdam; but to a Dutchman it is impossible to have too much water about his house. Even with a canal in front and another on each side he will add, if possible, an artificial pond in his small garden.

STREET SCENE, ROTTERDAM

 FOUR 

Rotterdam, the famous commercial center of Holland, lies fourteen miles from the North Sea at the union of two rivers, one of which is called the Rotte, and with the great dam erected on its banks gives to the town its name. To a visitor the most notable feature of this great Dutch city is its multitude of bridges, most of which are drawbridges, continually rising and falling like parts of a huge machine.

Rotterdam received its first municipal privileges in 1340. Its modern prosperity dates from the separation of Belgium from the kingdom of the Netherlands. The largest seagoing ships can now be admitted to the quays of the town. Great cargoes of oil, grain, coffee, tobacco, and coal pass through it, and its cattle market is the most important in Holland.

It is a remarkable fact that in Rotterdam almost every man one meets has either a cigar or a pipe in his mouth. The Dutch are great smokers. It is said that the boatmen measure distances not by miles, but by pipefuls. Many of the natives are believed to sleep at night with their pipes between their teeth, so that they may have their morning smoke without any delay. The Hollanders call tobacco smoke their second breath, and a cigar the sixth finger of their hands.

In Rotterdam is situated the home of the greatest smoker that the world has ever known, Meinheer Van Klaes. His average consumption was one hundred and fifty grams of tobacco a day. Nevertheless he lived to be ninety-eight years old. His directions as to how his funeral