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 pieces of Franz Hals, constituting the highest expression of his art. The city is, moreover, the proud guardian of the banner of the widow Kenau Simons Hasselaer, who, with three hundred of her sex, defended the town against Frederic of Toledo, son of the Duke of Alva, in 1572. To Utrecht is due the honour that within its precincts the Netherlands formed a pact of union against Philip II. The famed Maliebaan, a triple avenue of magnificent lime-trees, which Louis XIV. preserved from the vandalism of his soldiers, is one of the glories of the city. Its Dom Kerk has undergone more transformations than any other religious edifice in the kingdom, and from its lofty tower all the provinces of Holland can be viewed with the aid of a telescope.

Leyden (in Dutch, “Leiden”) is a famed University town, and was at one time