or, The Silver Skates 17

world than this leaky, springy, little country. There is not a
braver, more heroic race than its quiet, passive-looking in-
habitants. Few nations have equalled it in important discoveries
and inventions; none has excelled it in commerce, navigation,

 

 

 

ON THE DUNES.

learning and science, or set as noble examples in the promo-
tion of education and public charities; and none, in proportion
to its extent, has expended more money and labor upon public
works.

Holland has its shining annals of noble and illustrious men
and women, its grand historic records of patience, resistance
and victory, its religious freedom, its enlightened enterprise, its
art, its music and its literature. It has truly been called “ the
battle-field of Europe:” as truly may we consider it the
asylum of the world; for the oppressed of every nation have

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