out her voluminous satin;
Charles would scarcely be the prince that he is, if lacking his broad
lace collar, and Prince Balthasar would lose much of his charm, deprived
of his red and green bravery. There is, in fact, no detail in any of
these pictures which does not throw light upon the phase of life which
they portray.

Other great masters besides Van Dyck and Velasquez have been called to
the portraiture of royalty,--Titian,[5] Holbein,[6] Rubens,--but for
various reasons they painted but few pictures of royal children, and
these are by no means notable when compared with their other works.

Van Dyck and Velasquez, therefore, stand out the more prominently for
this unique class of court portraits, and so long as their works endure,
they will take first rank as a revelation of the peculiar grace and
charm of the life of children born to the purple.

III.

THE CHILDREN OF FIELD AND VILLAGE.

O for boyhood's painless play,
Sleep that wakes in laughing day,
Health that mocks the doctor's rules,
Knowledge never learned of schools,
Of the wild bee's morning chase,
Of the wild-flower's time and place,
Flight of fowl, and habitude
Of the tenants of the wood;--

For, eschewing books and tasks,
Nature answers all he asks;
Hand in hand with her he walks,
Face to face with her he talks,
Part and parcel of her joy,--
Blessings on the barefoot boy!
WHITTIER.

CHAPTER III.

THE CHILDREN OF FIELD AND VILLAGE.

The most fortunate children in the world are those whose first lessons
in life have been learned on the lap of Mother Nature. Taught by her to
know and love all the beautiful things of the glad green earth; versed
in the mystic language of woodland birds and beasts; trained to the
skilful use of eye and muscle,--they possess the secret of a happiness
which knows no equal. Theirs is a life of perfect liberty, untrammelled
by the false conventions of society, uninjured by over-indulgence,
untainted by contact with vice. Growing up under these conditions into a
healthy and vigorous beauty, the children of field and village have
long been a source of delight and inspiration to both poet and painter.

In _genre_ painting, Holland gave the initiative to the art world in the
works of Jan Steen, the Teniers, and others. The influence of the Dutch
school at length made itself felt in England; and after the renaissance
of