a town of the United Provinces, in Holland, situated in E. Long. 4. 10. N. Lat. 48. 49.—In Latin it is called Haga Comitis; in French, La Hague; in Dutch, der Haag, or 's-Gravenhage, i.e. the Earl's Grove or Wood, from the wood near which it is built, and in which the earls of Holland had a country-house. Though it sends no deputies to the States, it is one of the most considerable towns in Holland, pleasantly situated, and exceeding beautiful. It may indeed compare with almost any city in Europe, though geographers account it but a village. The inhabitants also breathe a better air than those of the other cities, as it stands on a dry soil, somewhat higher than the rest of the country. It has no gates or walls, but is surrounded by a moat over which there are many draw-bridges. Two hours are required to walk round it, and it contains about 40,000 or 50,000 souls. It is a place of much splendor and business, being the seat of the high colleges of the republic and province of Holland, and the residence of the stadtholder and foreign ambassadors; and there are a great many fine streets and squares in it. In the Hague inner court, all the high colleges and courts of justice hold their assemblies; there also the foot-guards do duty, as the horse-guards in the outer, when the States are sitting. De Plaats is an open airy place, in form of a triangle, adorned with neat and beautiful buildings: the Vyverberg is an eminence, laid out into several fine shady walks, with the Vyver, a large basin of water, at the bottom: the Voorhout is the most celebrated part of the Hague, and consists of the mall, and three ways for coaches on each side, planted with trees, being much the fame as St James's park at London: the palace of Opdam, or Waalknaar, is built in a very elegant taste: the Prince and Princelins Grafts are fine streets: the Plan, in Dutch Het Pleyn, is a beautiful grove, laid out in several crofs walks, and surrounded with stately houses. The Jewish synagogue is well worth being seen by a curious traveller; and also the palaces of the prince of Orange, the hotel of Spain, the new Woorhout, the mausoleum of the baron of Opdam in the great church, and the several hospitals. The environs of the Hague are exceedingly pleasant. Among other agreeable objects are the wood, with the palace of Orange at the extremity of it, called the house in the wood; the village of Scheveling; and the sand-hills along the north sea; with the village of Voorburg, and the charming seats and fine gardens round it. Two miles from the Hague is Rijswick, a village: and, a quarter of a mile from that, a noble palace formerly belonging to the prince of Orange, famous for the treaty of peace concluded there in 1697. Loofduyuen, where Margaret, countess of Henneburg, and daughter of Florence IV. count of Holland and Zealand, is said to have been delivered of 365 children at a birth in 1276, is above five miles from the Hague. Five miles beyond Loofduyuen, and not far from the beautiful village of Gravefande, is Honflardyck, another palace belonging to the prince of Orange, and one of the finest structures in the Low Countries.

HAI-NAN. See HAINAN.