The national character, he thought vaguely, is a thing about which a lot of nonsense is spoken and believed. They are very proud of what they call 'sobriety'—spoken of as the national virtue daily. Looking at both-sides-of-the-penny, down-to-earth, you-can't-fool-me... If hypocrisy is the English vice, and vanity the French vice, and obedience the German vice, then surely sobriety is the Dutch vice.