uerors of Britain crossed over
from Holland. Mynheer Van der Werf and Jaqueline reaching the foot of
the mound, slowly ascended by a flight of winding steps, till they
gained the battlements on the top of the ancient tower, the highest spot
for many miles around. Here they stood for some minutes gazing over the
level country, of which they commanded a perfect panoramic view. Below
them lay the city, surrounded by a moat of considerable width and stout
walls, which had already been proved capable of resisting the attack of
foes eager to gain an entrance. Here and there bridges led over the
moat, protected by forts of no mean strength. In all directions were
silvery threads glittering in the sun, marking the course of the canals
which led to Haarlem and Amsterdam on the north, and Delft, Rotterdam,
Gouda, and many other towns on the banks of the Yessel and the Meuse on
the south, while occasionally wide shining expanses showed the existence
of meers or lakes of more or less extent, while westward the blue ocean
could be seen, and to the south-west Gravenhague, or The Hague, as the
place is more generally called. On every side were smiling villages,
blooming gardens, corn-fields, and orchards, betokening the industry and
consequent prosperity of the inhabitants. The city at this time bore
but few traces of the protracted siege it had endured for a whole year,
and which had been raised only three months before, when the Spanish
force under Valdez, a lieutenant of the ferocious Alva, had been
summoned to the frontier, in consequence of the rumoured approach of a
patriot army under Prince Louis of Nassau.

At the period when our story commences, the heroic Prince William of
Orange, loyally aided by his brothers, Louis, Henry, and John, and by
other noble patriots, had struggled for seven long years to emancipate
Holland from the cruel yoke imposed upon her by the bigot Philip of
Spain and the sanguinary Duke of Alva. Their success had been varied;
though frequently defeated, they had again rallied to carry on the
desperate struggle. Several of their most flourishing cities had been
besieged by the hated foe, some had fallen, and the inhabitants had been
mercilessly slaughtered; others had successfully resisted, and the
Spaniards had been compelled to retire from their walls. Count Louis
had been defeated in a campaign in Friesland, but had escaped into
Germany, where he had lost no time in endeavouring to raise anoth