At Leeuwarden is a patriotic society known as the "Vereenigung tot
bevordering van vreemdelingenverkeer," whose ambition, as their
title suggests, is to draw strangers to the town; and as part of
their campaign they have issued a little guide to Leeuwarden and its
environs, in English. It is an excellent book. The preface begins
thus:--
The travelling-season, which causes thousands of people to leave
their homes and hearths, has come round again. Throughout Europe silk
strings are being prepared to catch human birds of passage with. Is
Frisia--Old Frisia--to lag behind? Impossible! Natural condition
as well as population and history give to our province a right to
claim a little attention and to be a hostess. We beg to refer to
the words of a Frenchman, M. Malte-Brun (quoted by one of the best
Frisian authors), the English translation of which words runs as
follows: "Eighteen centuries saw the river Rhine change its course,
and the Ocean swallow its shores, but the Frisian nation has remained
unchanged, and from an historical point of view deserves being taken
an interest in by the descendants of the Franks as well as of the
Anglo-Saxons and the Scandinavians."
It is not often to a Frenchman that the author of this guide has to
go for his purple patches.
Pages:
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