Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/376

 362 HAARLEM HAARLEM MEER sound of h precedes that of w, as in what (hwaf) in who, whom, whose, whole, the w is silent. Many persons drop the h in this com- bination, pronouncing wig for whig, wip for whip, &c. In German music, II denotes the 7th diatonic interval, or the 12th string of the chromatic scale. This note was anciently B, and is so yet in Dutch and English music ; but after the introduction of the chromatics, both itself and its flat (which was first con- trived) being named B, in order to distinguish them, one was made of square shape. From this B quadratum was formed the pj (French be carre) and the German H, while its flat be- came &, whence the sign [, (French "be mol). HAARLEM, Haerlem, or Harlem, a city of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, on the navigable river Spaarne, 3 m. from the sea, 10 m. W. of Amsterdam, and 17 m. N. N. E. of Leyden, with both which cities it communi- cates by canals and railways ; pop. in 1872, 32,- Quay of the Grain Market, with St. Bavon's Church 156. The city is well built, clean, and intersect- ed by canals. A picturesque gateway on the high road to Amsterdam is a part of the old fortifications ; the ramparts have been convert- ed into public promenades. Most of the public edifices are built around a handsome square, in the centre of which is a bronze statue to Laurens Coster, whom the Dutch regard as the inventor of printing. The principal build- ings are the town hall, formerly the residence of the counts of Holland, the palace of the states general containing a gallery of paintings, 12 Protestant and three Roman Catholic churches, and one Old Catholic (Jansenist) church. It is the seat of a Catholic and an Old Catholic bishop. St. Bavon's church, erected in the 15th century, is the largest ecclesiastical edifice in Holland, and is celebrated as containing the great organ constructed in 1738, and which until lately was the largest in the world. The city has a botanical garden, numerous public schools, a gymnasium, an academy of arts found- ed in 1752, and the Teyler institute; and in the S. outskirts are many nursery gardens, re- nowned for tulips, hyacinths, and other bulbous plants, in which an extensive trade is carried on. It possesses manufactories of cotton, silk, linens, velvets, ribbons, damasks, lace, jewelry, sail cloth, and soap, and has refineries of salt, tanneries, and dye works. Prior to the dis- covery of the art of bleaching by chlorine, Haarlem enjoyed celebrity for its bleacheries. Large quantities of linen were supplied to Eng- land, and hence came to be called hollands. Haarlem was a flourishing town in the middle of the 12th century, and figured in the wars between the Dutch and West Frisians. The revolted peasants seized it in 1492, but lost it the same year. Having joined the revolt of the Netherlands against the Spaniards it was be- sieged by the troops of Alva in 1572-'3. The citizens made one of the most heroic defences on record. After seven months' siege, during which the Spaniards lost 10,000 men, and twice breached the walls, but were unable to obtain entrance, they turned the siege into a block- ade, and placed a fleet on the lake to cut off supplies. The defend- ers, who originally num- bered 4,000, including some German auxilia- ries and a corps of 300 women, being reduced to 1,800, and the last mouthful of food eaten, proposed to place the women and children in their centre, fire the city, and cut their way through the besiegers. The Spaniards now of- fered terms if they would surrender. The pro- posal was accepted. Alva's troops marched in, disarmed the inhabitants, and the 57 hos- tages were put to death ; and four execution- ers were kept constantly busy until they ceased from fatigue after 2,000 persons had been butchered, when 300 remaining victims were tied in twos, back to back, and cast into the lake. William of Orange retook the city in 1577. HAARLEM MEER, or Lake of Haarlem, a former lake 14 m. long and 10 m. broad, covering 70 sq. m., communicating N. with the Zuyder Zee by the inlet called the Y, and S. with the Old Rhine, and occupying, with an average depth of water of 13 ft., the area between the cities of Haarlem, Leyden, and Amsterdam. This sheet of water was formed in the 16th century by an inundation which united four ponds into one, and destroyed several villages. It grad- ually encroached on the land, till in the pres- ent century it covered 45,000 acres. It was