Struggles and Triumphs by P.T. Barnum — Read

The Finest and Flattest Country in the World -- Super-Cleanliness -- Habits and Customs -- "Kremis" -- The Albino Family -- The Hague -- August Belmont -- Japanese Museum -- Manufactured Fabulous Animals -- A Generous Offer -- Valuable Pictures -- An Astonished Superintendent -- Back to England -- Exhibitions in Manchester -- I Return Again to America -- Fun on the Voyage -- Mock Trials -- Barnum as a Prosecutor and as a Prisoner -- Cold Shoulders in New York -- Preparing to Move Into My Old Home -- Careless Painters and Carpenters -- Iranistan Burned to the Ground -- Next to No Insurance -- Sale of the Property -- Elias Howe, Jr.

Holland gave me more genuine satisfaction than any other foreign country I have ever visited, if I except Great Britain. Redeemed as a large portion of the whole surface of the land has been from the bottom of the sea by the wonderful dykes, which are monuments of the industry of whole generations of human beavers, Holland seems to me the most curious as well as interesting country in the world. The people, too, with their quaint costumes, their extraordinary cleanliness, their thrift, industry and frugality, pleased me very much. It is the universal testimony of all travellers that the Hollanders are the neatest and most economical people among all nations. So far as cleanliness is concerned, in Holland it is evidently not next to, but far ahead of godliness. It is rare, indeed, to meet a ragged, dirty, or drunken person. The people are very temperate and economical in their habits; and even the very rich -- and there is a vast amount of wealth in the country -- live with great frugality, though all of the people live well.