In the seven provinces which comprise the Netherlands there are
considerable differences in scenery, race, dialect, pronunciation, and
religion, and therefore in the features and character of the people.
United provinces in the course of time effect a certain homogeneity of
purpose and interest, yet there are certain fundamental differences in
character. The Frisian differs from the Zeelander: one is fair and the
other dark, and both differ from the Hollander. And not only do the
provincials differ in character, dialect, and pronunciation from one
another, but also the inhabitants of some cities differ in these respects
from those of other cities. An educated Dutchman can tell at once if a man
comes from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, or The Hague. The 'cockney' of these
places differs, and of such pronunciations 'Hague Dutch' is considered the
worst, although--true to the analogy of London--the best Dutch is heard in
The Hague. This difference in 'civic' pronunciation is certainly very
remarkable when one remembers that The Hague and Rotterdam are only
sixteen miles apart, and The Hague and Amsterdam only forty miles. Arnhem
and The Hague are the two most cosmopolitan cities in the kingdom, and one
meets in their streets all sorts and conditions of the Netherlander.

[Illustration: A Zeeland Woman--The Dark Type.]

All other towns are provincial in character and akin to the county-town
type. Even Amsterdam, the capital of the country, is only a commercial
capital. The Court is only there for a few days in each year; Parliament
does not meet there; the public offices are not situated there; and
diplomatic representatives are not accredited to the Court at Amsterdam
but to the Court at The Hague; and so Amsterdam is 'the city,' and no more
and no less. This Venice of the North looks coldly on the pleasure seeking
and loving Hague, and jealously on the thriving and rapidly increasing