  Chapter vii   THE place which William Henry, Prince of Orange
Nassau, occupies in the history of England and of mankind is so
great that it may be desirable to portray with some minuteness
the strong lineaments of his character.681  He was now in his
thirty-seventh year. But both in body and in mind he was older
than other men of the same age. Indeed it might be said that he
had never been young. His external appearance is almost as well
known to us as to his own captains and counsellors. Sculptors,
painters, and medallists exerted their utmost skill in the work
of transmitting his features to posterity; and his features were
such as no artist could fail to seize, and such as, once seen,
could never be forgotten. His name at once calls up before us a
slender and feeble frame, a lofty and ample forehead, a nose
curved like the beak of an eagle, an eye rivalling that of an
eagle in brightness and keenness, a thoughtful and somewhat
sullen brow, a firm and somewhat peevish mouth, a cheek pale,
thin, and deeply