Dikes and Ditches; Or, Young America in Holland and Belgium

by Oliver Optic

The carriage was obtained, and they rode to the park, which, however, had no particular attractions. With the exception of the canals, and the manners and customs of the people, there is little to see in Rotterdam. On the way they met a funeral, the carriages of which were peculiar; and the driver of the hearse wore a black straw hat, with a brim more than a foot wide, and with great white bands at his neck.

At five o'clock the students had all collected at the station of the Hollandsche Spoorweg, or Holland Railroad; and in twenty minutes the train set them down at Delft, the port from which the Speedwell sailed with a portion of the Pilgrim Fathers of New England. The name of the town is derived from "delven," to dig. It contains twenty thousand inhabitants, and was formerly noted for its pottery manufacture, which was called Delft ware, from this place.

The party went immediately to the Prinsenhof, now a barrack, which was the building in which the Prince of Orange was assassinated. The spot where the murder took place was pointed out. A descriptive stone in the wall records the event. From this place they passed on to the Old Church, nearly opposite, which has a leaning tower, and saw the tomb of Van Tromp, the great Dutch admiral, the hero of thirty-two sea-fights. In the New Church is the monument of the Prince of Orange. His statue rests upon it; and at the feet of the great man is represented a little dog. The inscription was translated by Mr. Mapps, and the allusion to the dog afforded the professor an opportunity to tell a story.

"While the prince was asleep in his camp, near Mechlin, the Spaniards attempted to murder him," said he, "and would probably have succeeded had if not been for this little dog. As the assassins approached the tent, the dog discovered them, and jumped upon his master's bed, barking furiously, and tugging at the clothing with his feet and teeth. The prince was awakened, and succeeded in making his escape. When his master was killed, twelve years later, this dog pined away and died."

"Perhaps he died of old age," suggested one of the students.

"The story is, that he refused to eat from grief. I cannot vouch for it; but he was a good dog, and deserves the mention made of him on the tomb. This church contains the burial-vaults of the present royal family of Holland."

At six o'clock the train was off for The Hague, and arrived there in fifteen minutes. On the way, the spire of the church at Ryswick, where the treaty of 1697 mentioned in all the school histories, was framed, was pointed out to the students. Accommodations had been engaged in the city for the company and they remained here over night.

The Hague, or, as the Dutch call it, S'Gravenhage, and the French La Haye, is the capital, and has a population of eighty-one thousand. Though it was the residence of the stadtholders in former times, it was only a small village, and its notable features are of modern origin. Barneveldt was executed and the De Witts murdered here. The Picture Gallery and the Museum were specially opened for the young Americans. The works of art were hastily viewed, and the students passed into the Cabinet of Curiosities, of which there is a vast collection, including an immense number of dresses, implements, and models illustrating life in Japan and in China.

Among the historical relics are the armor worn by the admirals De Ruiter and Van Tromp; the portrait and sword of Van Speyk, who blew up his vessel on the Scheldt; a part of the bed of Czar Peter the Great, on which he slept while working at ship-building; the last shirt and waistcoat worn by William III. of England; the dress in which the Prince of Orange was murdered; the pistol of the assassin, with two of the bullets; a model of Peter's cabin at Zaandam, or Sardam, and many other objects of interest which seemed to bring the distant past before the eye of the beholders.

Early the next morning the students were roaming at will through the city, anxious to see what they could of its handsome streets, the principal of which is the Voorhout, lined with trees, and flanked with splendid edifices. After breakfast the train bore them on to Leyden. On the way, at the suggestion of Mr. Fluxion, the train, which was a special, was stopped, and the students were allowed half an hour to explore some beautiful gardens which abounded in this vicinity. Many of them belonged to the country seats of wealthy gentlemen, and were as magnificent as fairyland itself.