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their oxen and sheep is of a loose texture , and without flavour . This is owing , I suppose , to the marshiness of their meadows , and the very bad water they are obliged to drink . Indeed , the whole country of Holland does not afford any water that a man can well drink . This circumstance , at least , furnishes them with an excuse for drinking wine and spirituous liquors
in great quantities , and also for smoking tobacco , with which they almost poison every body that comes near them . Indeed , I can hardly express how very low , beastly , and sordid , the manners of the common people in this country are . It is a thing very different from the roughness and brutality of some of the low-bred people of England . In Germany or France , as far as I can observe , neither of those characters , which are the disgrace of human
nature , , " Upon the whole , we were much disgusted with the people of Holland , and their manners ; and were glad to get into the more open air , and more natural and agreeable manners , of Germany . " On leaving Holland we felt ourselves elevated , as if we were emerging
from a low and heavy atmosphere into a superior region , where we fancied that we breathed more freely than before ; and yet J ; he entrance into Germany , after passing Nimeguen , was not very promising , being nothing but heath or wood . The woods , however , began to be very pleasant , especially when the inequality of the ground gave us tolerable prospects /* " On Wednesday we set out early , and got to Coblentz before three o ' clock . The weather was exceedingly wet and unpleasant ; otherwise we
should have had most delightful travelling . " With this inconvenience it was still singularly fine , and afforded views that were exceedingly striking . We had the Rhine to the left , with hills and rocks covered with vines or woods close to it , the vines intermixed with kidney beans and pumpkins . Sometimes the road was cut in a rock almost perpendicular , the river being below us , and houses above us , with chapels neatly cut in the rock .
" Upon our arrival at Coblentz , we waited upon Baron Breidbank , to settle the ceremonial of our visit to the elector , and spent the evening at the inn Thursday , we crossed the river to see the citadel , from which , being situated on a high and craggy rock , at the foot of which , and close to the river , is the palace , we had a most glorious prospect indeed , seeing the course of the Rhine , with all its windings , to an immense distance , especially up the river ; the junction of the Moselle with it , and a fine level country beyond it , in which was a palace of the elector . Being introduced at court , we dined with the elector , a pleasant looking young man , but said to be a great bigot . The Bishop of Hontheim , a very intelligent man , and one of the company , conducted us to a Carthusian monastery , pleasantly situated on the brow of a hill near the city . "
" The cultivation of all the tract of country through which we travelled along the Rhine is excellent , especially about Manheim , and in Alsace it is most excellent , resembling a rich garden . This look is much favoured by the variety of crops , and the divisions of fields , being often distinguished by rows of vines . All our varieties of corn , turkey wheat , canary seed , hemp ,
Untitled Article
Dr . Priestley ' s Journal of a Tour on the Continent . 695
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1831, page 695, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2602/page/43/
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