are the semi-circular Oude and Nieuwe Grachts, with their moat-like
canals laving the walls of serene dignified houses, each gained by
its own bridge.

At the north end of the Maliebaan is the Hoogeland Park, with a
fringe of spacious villas that might be in Kensington; and here is
the Antiquarian Museum, notable among its very miscellaneous riches,
which resemble the bankrupt stock of a curiosity dealer, for the most
elaborate dolls' house in Holland--perhaps in the world. Its date is
1680, and it represents accurately the home of a wealthy aristocratic
doll of that day. Nothing was forgotten by the designer of this
miniature palace; special paintings, very nude, were made for its
salon, and the humblest kitchen utensils are not missing. I thought
the most interesting rooms the office where the Major Domo sits at
his intricate labours, and the store closet. The museum has many
very valuable treasures, but so many poor pictures and articles--all
presents or legacies--that one feels that it must be the rule to
accept whatever is offered, without any scrutiny of the horse's teeth.



Chapter IV

Delft

To Delft by canal--House-cleaning by immersion--The New
Church--William the Silent's tomb--His assassin--The story
of the crime--The tomb of Grotius--Dutch justice--The
Old Church--Admiral Tromp--The mission of the broom--The
sexton's pipe--Vermeer of Delft--Lost masterpieces--The wooden