The Netherlands
that one's visiting-card no longer suffices to secure admission. Visitors must be personally recommended by the Consuls representing their countries.
The Hague, 'S Gravenhage, or den Haag (the Count's enclosure, or hedge), was in olden times a hunting resort of the Counts of Holland. Commercially it has no importance, and in many respects it resembles the capital of the United States. Although not a seaport, it is more cosmopolitan than Amsterdam, the Dutch city par excellence. The Hague's aspirations are modern, and Dutch traditions are to its citizens a negligible quantity; it is striving to fall in with modern Europe. It is a beautiful city, with its wide streets and well-shaded avenues. Its houses have a characteristic feature in their artistic balconies, and bear an imprint of aristocracy; its citizens are prone to display a certain amount of morgue, and
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