HAGUE, or THE Hamm (Dutch, 'sGravenhage), the capital of the Netherlands, and the residence of the king, is a pleasantly situated well-built city in 5. Holland. Pop. '75, 97,565. It is intersected in all directions by canals, and shady avenues of linden-trees, and abounds in palaces, public buildings, and stately houses. It has a good public library, containing 100.000 volumes, and fine galleries of paintings, the choicest of which, containing some of the most precious specimens of the Dutch school, is in the palace of the present king,. contains notable of which is the great founded 130$, and distingtiishbd for Its loftihexagonal towel with a carillon of 38 bells. The Hague is the seat of both chambers of the states-general, and of various tribunals and public offices, in one of which are deposited the archives and state papers which have been preserved by the republican and regal governments of the country for 400 years. In a historical point of view, the most interesting buildings of the Hague are the Gevangenpoort, or the prison gate-house, in which Oldeubarnevelt, the brothers De Witt, and ninny others distinguished in the history of Holland, have at different periods been confined; the Binnenliof, in which the former of these patriots was executed, and which, together with the Buitenhof, forms an irregular mass of public buildings of various ages, inclosed by moats, and approached by draw-bridges. Besides the palace of the king, there are, within the city, several others occupied by different members of the royal family, or with various national collections of interest, the most notable of which is the Mauritz Huis, containing it splendid collection of pictures by the Dutch masters. The palace called 't Huis in 't Bosch (The house in the wood), which
lies on the outskirts of the town, in the midst of a noble wood, is specially worthy of notice for the tapestry, and the frescos and other paintings which it contains by Rubens, who, in conjunction with several of his most distinguished pupils, painted the ceiling and walls of several of the apartments. The Hague is essentially a city of fashion, and its prosperity depends chiefly on the court and nobility. The trade consists principally of book-printing, lithographing, metal-founding, carriage-building, beer-brewing, dis tilling gill, cabinet-work, rope-spinning, making leather, etc.; and the natives of the port (Scheveningen) gain a livelihood by fishing. In the neighborhood are many hand some country seats; and not far off is Ryswick, celebrated for the treaty of peace signed there in 1697. Scheveningen is a favorite bathing-place on the sea-coast, with which the Hague is connected by a broad causeway, bordered with rows of trees. The origin of the Hague is very ancient; and as far back as 1250, William, duke of Holland and emperor of Germany, erected a hunting-seat there, on the site of an older residence of his predecessors. In the 16th c. it was the seat of government of the states-general; and in the next century it became the birthplace of many distinguished members of the house of Orange, and amongst others, of William HI. of England; while as the residence of the stadtholders, it was naturally the center of the numerous important negotiations of European diplomacy, with which they were associated. The Hague is connected by a railway with Amsterdam,,36 m. n., and Rotterdam, 13 m. south.