marble, heavy with ornament and
supported by slender columns, in the midst of which rise four statues
representing Liberty, Prudence, Justice, and Religion. Above the
sarcophagus is a recumbent statue of the prince in white marble, and
at his feet the effigy of the little dog that saved his life at
Mechlin by barking one night, when he was sleeping under a tent, just
as two Spaniards were advancing stealthily to kill him. At the foot of
this statue rises a beautiful bronze figure, a Victory, with outspread
wings, resting lightly on her left foot. At the opposite side of the
little temple is another bronze statue representing William seated. He
is clad in armor, with his head uncovered and his helmet at his
feet. An inscription in Latin tells that this monument was consecrated
by the States of Holland "to the eternal memory of that William of
Nassau whom Philip II., the terror of Europe, feared, yet whom he
could neither subdue nor overthrow, but whom he killed by execrable
fraud." William's children are laid by his side, and all the princes
of his dynasty are buried in the crypt under his tomb.

[Illustration: Monument to Admiral Van Tromp, Delft.]

Before this monument even the most frivolous and careless visitor
remains silent and thoughtful.

It is well to recall the tremendous struggle of which the hero lies in
that tomb.

On one side was Philip II., on the other William of Orange. Philip
II., shut up in the dull solitude of the Escurial, lived in the midst
of an empire which included Spain, North and South Italy, Belgium, and
Holland, and, in Africa, Oran, Tunis, the archipelagoes of the Cape
Verde and Canary Islands; in Asia the Philippine Islands; and the
Antilles, Mexico, and Peru in America. He was the husband of the queen
of England, the nephew of the emperor of Germany, who obeyed him as if
he were a vassal; he was the lord, one may say, of all Europe, for the
neighboring states were all weakened by political and religious
disorders; he had at his command the best disciplined soldiers in
Europe, the greatest generals of the age, American gold, Flemish
industries, Italian science, an army of spies scattered through all
the courts--men chosen from all countries fanatically devoted to him,
conscious or unconscious tools of his will. He was the most sagacious,
most mysterious prince of his age; he had everything that enchains,
corrupts, alarms, and attracts the world--arms, riches, glory, genius,
religion. W