ter of
the unworthy king, he assumes the head of affairs, and wisely conducts
the interests of the people throughout a prosperous reign.

The fact that the Princess Mary's marriage with William II. of Orange
was productive of so great a benefit to England gives special interest
to Van Dyck's painting of the betrothed lovers, which may now be seen at
Amsterdam. The princess stands on the left side of the picture, bearing
herself with characteristic dignity. Prince William, beside her, holds
her left hand lightly in his right, and turns his face to meet our gaze
with steadfast, serious eyes. He is a fine, manly figure, in every way
the true Prince Charming for his pretty lady-love. Both children have a
thoughtful, intelligent look, far beyond their years, as if conscious
that England's destiny turns upon their union.

[Illustration: PRINCESS MARY AND PRINCE OF ORANGE.--VAN DYCK.]

From Van Dyck's exquisitely idealized portraits of royal children we
turn to the work of Velasquez, to find a faithful reproduction of the
totally different type of child-life represented at the court of Spain.
Appointed court painter at the age of twenty-four, and retaining this
connection until his death, in 1660, the Spanish artist has left to
posterity a vivid panorama of the royal life at Madrid during a period
of nearly forty years. His delineations are so realistic, his technique
is so masterly, his posing of figures so entirely natural, that his
pictures seem to place the living reality before us. Often representing
the characters he painted as occupied in their customary daily pursuits,
his works are a truthful reflection of the life of his times, and are as
full of historical interest as of artistic merit.

The court to which the young painter was introduced in 1623 might almost
be called A Court of Boys, the king, Philip IV., being but eighteen
years of age, and his two brothers, the Cardinal Infant Don Fernando,
and the Prince Carlos, seventeen and thirteen respectively. The youthful
king was, of course, his first royal patron, and was painted in a
magnificent equestrian portrait, which at once established the artist's
fame.

With the birth of the king's first child, the Prince Balthasar Carlos,
in 1629, the court painter's duties began in earnest; and from that time
on he was most assiduous in portraying the royal family.

Prince Balthasar was represented in almost every imaginable position,
first as a tiny child in frocks, an