The  tastes  of  the  Dutchman  are  all  directed  to  the  satisfaction
of  some  material  wants.  The  most  strongly  developed  of  these
is  the  love  of  good  cheer,  for  he  has  an  excellent  appetite.  Next
to  peace  of  mind  and  repose,  which  he  loves  above  all  things,  he
enjoys  the  happiness  of  a  comfortable,  neat  home,  a  quiet  hearth,
exempt  from  storms.  He  excels  in  such  works  as  demand  great
patience,  attention,  and  perseverance.  It  is  among  the  Dutch
that  we  meet  with  the  best  diamond-cutters,  —  a  profession  at
which  a  workman  must  be  occupied  for  months  together  in
cutting  and  polishing  a  small  precious  stone  of  insignificant
dimensions.
The  Dutch  feel  no  desire  to  talk  or  to  sing.  It  is  only  during
the  Kermess  that  we  hear  for  a  few  days  in  the  streets  the  songs
which  are  so  frequent  in  our  Soiithern  towns.  Dealers  who  sell
their  wares  in  the  streets  do  not  attract  purchasers  by  their
cries :  they  pass  silently  along,  always  at  the  same  hour,  before
the  houses  of  their  customers.
Tlieir  love  of  cleanliness  has  become  a  mania,  and  the  seem-
ingly incredible  exaggerations  which  we  hear  of  this  quality  are
only  simple  truth.
154  HOLLAND.
The  desire  of  gain  has  induced  them  to  conquer  their  love  of
repose.  Hardy  mariners,  skilful  merchants,  they  have  profited
in  a  remarkable  manner  by  their  intercourse  with  Japan;
squeezing  the  inhabitants  dry,  buying  for  a  trifle  that  which
they  sell  in  Europe  for  gold,  and,  until  lately,  they  were  the
only  people  of  the  Old  World  who  had  a  factory  in  Japan.
