Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1907-06-21
THE HALL OF KNIGHTS
History Of Castle Where Peace
Delegates viii Meet.
LARGE. GLOOMY STRUCTURE.
Begun About 1910, II Was Formerly
Used as a Hunting Palsee-interior
Consists Of One Huge Hall and Series
Of Smaller Ones.

Sonstst OF One FFuSc 10" @"s Se''~'
Of Smaller Ones.
The sittings OF the second peace con
ference at The Hague will Ice held In
thirteenth century castle built for the
counts OF Holland in the days when
they. together with the bishops OF
Utrecht and the dukes Of Gueiders
ruled the Low Countries. says the New
York Tribune. Tie House In the
Woods" GIuis ten Boschi. the former
royal villa in the Haagsche forest In
the orange salon OF which the first
peace conference met In 1899. was
found too small TO accommodate the
delegates of the forty-six countries t.
be represented. and the Dutch govern.
ment decided 10 tit up and place at the
disposal of its distinguished guests the
ancient castle known in recent years
as the Hall of knights.
The Hall of knights Is large
gloomy structure of stone and brick
in the heart of an irregular pile Of old
but more modern buildings which
taken together. form the Blnnenhof
the fortress of the city. The Binnen-
hof Is the most historical spot In Hol-
land. about 1t clustering the memories
of the eighty-year struggle which
finally resulted in relieving the Dutch
from the Spanish yoke; the glories of
the republic, when the states general
ruled and the Stockholders lived here
when Dutch commerce was the largest
In the world and triumphant Dutch
warships even assembled the Thames
and threatened London
The building of the old states gen
eral, lying to the north. is now used
by the upper chamber of the Dutch
parliament. while the ballroom OF the
Stockholders residence, TO the south
has become the home OF the lower
house The other buildings inclosing
government departments. Along one
side of the Binnenhof Is an artificial
lake called the Vyver
The Hall OF Knights stands In the
center of paved court and is reached
through half dozen picturesque por-
tails, over which are chiseled the arms
Of the counts of Holland. The moat
and postern lave long since disappear,
ed, and today the old building looks
less like castle than like an ancient
church. Begun about 1910 by Count
William H.. afterward elected emperor
of Germany through the influence OF
Innocent ". the building was extend
ed by his sou Floris, who used II as q
hunting palace. The interior consists
of a single enormous hall, occupying
the entire space within the churchlike
structure In front and series OF small
er halls and rooms in the rear. The
large hall was the great dining room OF
the counts and their knights when they
made their hunting expeditions TO the
North sea marshes. 1t Is here that the
plenary sessions of the conference will
be held.
After the rise Of the republic the cas-.
tie gradually fell into decay Its main
use In those days was for the drawing
OF the national lottery, which took
place in the main hall. where the con.
ference will sit, and the name LOTTERY
: hair still clings TO ii, although dis.
tinctly discouraged by the government
Toward the close of the eighteenth
century a portion of the building was
restored and decorated, and after Louis
Bonaparte was expelled in 1918 it was
used as the seat of the high civil and
criminal courts. The courts were NOV.
ed several years ago. and in 1900 the
work OF restoration began. Since 1902
the main hall has been annually used
by the queen for the ceremony of read.
Ing the address Of the throne to the
houses Of parliament.
The hall is about so by so feet and
Is lofty, but the huge beams and raft
ers of the yaulted roof give 1t cavern
Gus appearance. In preparation for
the conference many electric lights.
hanging from the rafters, have been
Installed to reinforce the dim light
from the high stained glass windows.
The desks for the delegates, arranged
like pews In church and fianked on
either side by two lateral rows, are GOV.
cred with green baize, and each has a
pewter Ink well set In the right hand
corner. In front Is low rostrum for
the presiding officer, with the desks of
the secretaries arranged behind In the
form of semicircle. The whole oh.
Ject apparently is to bring the dele
gates as close together as possible and
permit an easy exchange of IDEAS The
general effect IS one of extreme sim
plicity The committee rooms in the
rear are spacious, but also somber.
Under the shadow of the castle took
place one of the two dark tragedies
which sullied the history of the re.
public--the execution of John van OF.
den Barneveldt, the prime minister.
who was ANONYMOUSLY hanged at the
instigation of Prince Maurice Of Or
ange on the false charge of treason.
A stones throw away. in the prison
where are still shown the torture cham
bers of the Spanish inquisition, occur.
red the other tragedy-the brutal mur
der of the De Witt brothers. who had
devoted their lives to their country and
who were torn to pieces by n mob un.
der the mistaken belief that they had
been guilty of q conspiracy TO assas