30/41 But the Dutch are better still; the Dutch are truly a nation of shopkeepers. [4] If one would see the Amsterdam merchant as the satirist sees him, the _locus classicus_ is Multatuli's famous novel _Max Havelaar_, where he stands delightfully nude in the person of Mr.Drystubble, head of the firm of Last and Co., Coffee-brokers, No. _Max Havelaar_ was published in the early sixties to draw attention to certain scandals in Dutch colonial administration, and it has lived on, and will live, by reason of a curious blend of vivacity and intensity. Here is a little piece of Mr.Drystubble's mind:-- Business is slack on the Coffee Exchange. |