LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

HOLLAND

The Duke of Alva Deposes Margaret of Parma.

Storming the Barricades at Brussels During the Revolution of 1848.

William the Silent of Orange.

A Holland Beauty.




CHAPTER I

FROM THE INVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS BY THE ROMANS TO THE INVASION
BY THE SALIAN FRANKS

B.C. 50--A.D. 200

The Netherlands form a kingdom of moderate extent, situated on
the borders of the ocean, opposite to the southeast coast of
England, and stretching from the frontiers of France to those
of Hanover. The country is principally composed of low and humid
grounds, presenting a vast plain, irrigated by the waters from
all those neighboring states which are traversed by the Rhine,
the Meuse, and the Scheldt. This plain, gradually rising toward
its eastern and southern extremities, blends on the one hand