The Municipal Museum has little that
is of value. Of most interest perhaps is the Peter van Veen, opposite
"The Last Judgment," representing a scene in the siege of Leyden by
the Spaniards under Valdez in 1574, which has a companion upstairs
by Van Bree, depicting the Burgomaster's heroic feat of opportunism
in the same period of stress.
Adrian Van der Werf was this Burgomaster's name (his monument stands
in the Van der Werf park), and nothing but his courage and address
at a critical moment saved the city. Motley tells the story in a
fine passage. "Meantime, the besieged city was at its last gasp. The
burghers had been in a state of uncertainty for many days; being
aware that the fleet had set forth for their relief, but knowing
full well the thousand obstacles which it had to surmount. They had
guessed its progress by the illumination from the blazing villages;
they had heard its salvos of artillery on its arrival at North Aa;
but since then, all had been dark and mournful again, hope and fear,
in sickening alternation, distracting every breast. They knew that
the wind was unfavourable, and, at the dawn of each day, every eye was
turned wistfully to the vanes of the steeples. So long as the easterly
breeze prevailed, they felt, as they anxiously stood on towers and
house-tops that they must look in vain for the welcome ocean.
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