port of Rotterdam, and its merchant princes build their villas in the
neighbouring and pleasant woods of Bussum and Hilversum, and near the
brilliantly-coloured bulb-gardens of Haarlem, living in these suburban
places during the summer months, while in winter they return to the fine
old houses in the Heerengracht and the many other 'grachten' through which
the waters of the canals move slowly to the river. But to The Hague the
city magnates seldom come, and the young men consider their contemporaries
of the Court capital wanting in energy and initiative, and very proud, and
so there is little communication between the two towns--between the City
and Belgravia. One knows, as one walks in the streets of Amsterdam, The
Hague, Rotterdam, or Utrecht, that each place is a microcosm devoted to
its own particular and narrow interests, and in these respects they are
survivals of the Italian cities of the Middle Ages. There is, indeed,
great similarity in the style of buildings, and, with the exception of
Maestricht, in the south of the country, which is mediaeval and Flemish,
one always feels that one is in Holland. The neatness of the houses, the
straight trees fringing the roads, the canals and their smell, the
steam-trams, the sound of the conductor's horn and the bells of the
horse-trams, the type of policeman, and above and beyond all the universal
cigar--all these things are of a pattern, and that pattern is seen
everywhere, and it is not until one has lived in the country for some time
that one recognizes that there are differences in the mode of life in the
larger towns which are more real than apparent, and that this practical
isolation is not realized by the stranger.

The country life of the peasant, however, is much more uniform in
character, in spite of the many differences in costume and in dialect. The
methods of agriculture are all equally old-fashioned, and the peasants
equally behind the times in thought. Their thrifty habits and devotion to
the soil of their country ensure them a living which is thrown away by the