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Hague (H g the capital)

THE (hãg), the capital of the Netherlands, 2 miles from the North Sea and 15 N. N. W. of Rotterdam. It is one of the handsomest cities in the country, being intersected by canals and shady avenues of lime-trees, and having many fine public buildings and private houses. In the center of the city is the Vijver, or fish pond, to the S. of which stands the old castle of the counts of Holland. It consists of two courts, an outer and an inner; in this latter are the 13th-century Gothic knight's hall and the chambers in which the Dutch parliament holds its sittings. On one side of the outer court stands the gate tower, which was formerly a state prison, in which the brothers De Witt were confined till torn to pieces by the populace (1672). The most noteworthy public buildings and institutions are the picture gallery, with a splendid collection of works by native painters (Paul Potter's "Bull" and Rembrandt's "Lesson in Anatomy"); the royal library, with 200,000 volumes, 4,000 MSS., and collections of coins and gems; the municipal museum, with several HAGUE Dutch pictures; the Museum Meermanno- Westreenen, containing a collection of early printed books; the ethnographic museum, rich in Chinese and Japanese objects; the town-house; and the royal palaces. The church of St. James is the most important ecclesiastical edifice; it dates from the 14th century, and is Gothic in style. The Hague is the seat of several learned societies, as the Indian Society and the Institute for the Language, Land, and People of the Dutch Indies. Among the numerous statues are those of William I. (two in number), William II., Spinoza, Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar, and the monument which commemorates the deliverance from the French. Near the town is the beautiful pleasure park called "The Wood" in which stands a royal residence (1647) with the magnificent so-called "Orange Hall."

Ryswick, where the treaty of 1697 was signed, is in the immediate vicinity. The Hague is connected by beautiful roads with Scheveningen, a fashionable bathing place on the coast of the North Sea, which is incorporated municipally with The Hague. The city owes its importance mainly to the fact that it is the residence of the court and the capital of the country; but it has also considerable manufacturing industry, as iron founding, copper and lead smelting, cannon founding, printing, furniture and carriage making, and the manufacture of gold and silver lace. From 1250 a hunting lodge of the Counts of Holland, The Hague did not acquire importance till the 16th century; in 1527 it became the seat of the supreme court in Holland, in 1584 the place of assembly of the States of Holland and of the States-general; and it was also the residence of the stadtholders. There, too, numerous treaties have been signed and diplomatic conferences held, especially the Triple Alliance of 1668 and that of 1717. Here also was held the International Peace Congress of 1899, and 1907, and the Hague Conference of 1907. A magnificent Peace Palace was erected for the meetings of the Peace Conference by Andrew Carnegie. Pop. (1918) 352,079.