Another travller! or Cursory remarks and tritical observations made upon a journey through part of the Netherlands, by Coriat junior, Volume 1, Part 1

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Page 134 - ... of those opinions, which we regard as quite characteristic of the author, but of the soundness of which we entertain some doubts. " The shops of booksellers should always be visited by the curious traveller ; since they may be considered as the abstracts of the genius and learning of the country. A well-read, and at the same time a well-bred man, might in half an hour learn to dress his conversation by them ; chusing such subjects as were most for his own information, and best suited to the humour...
Page 135 - ... To strengthen this opinion, and to guard against the fleers of some of my merrily-disposed readers, give me leave to observe, that if I had been hoodwinked, and privately conveyed from London, not knowing whither I was going, and had been set down in Myn Heer Van Praet's shop, at Bruges, as soon as mine eyes had been uncovered, and that I could look about me, I should not have hesitated a moment to pronounce, that the religion of the country was popish, and the bulk of the inhabitants bigots....
Page 150 - Well, be that as it may — I here give it under my hand, that as often as I find men called to a Christian temper, to love mercy, and walk humbly, that I shall not dispute the fitness of their call ; and, if they chuse to walk in some particular habits, (wherever such distinctions are warranted) I shall be apt to say, that, from custom, one habit is as eligible as another, if they prefer solitude...
Page 97 - ... but angels catch the enrapturing music of thy voice ! •' What a pity it is, to see so many delicate young creatures shut up from society ! — the very ends of their being blasted ! — created to charm, to chear, to be admired — to love, and to be loved — to taste the riches of increase — to rejoice in their maker's bounty, not limited to them alone, but extended to their numerous offspring ! " What a perversion of scripture is here? — Virgins and lamps! — vessels of honour, and...
Page 37 - British attitudes to abroad: / beg leave then to proceed in my own way — and tho' it is become so much the fashion among my countrymen of late to decry foreign customs and manners, and to cry up whatever is of British growth, whether right, or wrong; I shall nevertheless take the liberty so far to differ from them, as to commend whatever in my judgment has appeared commendable, without dread of the forfeiture of my allegiance; and even to do justice to a monk where I have found him worthy, and...
Page 135 - ... at it (and they have free leave so to do), that I do not know whether, in some situations, I would not pay the bookseller a visit, even before I had sent for the dresser. " To strengthen this opinion, and to guard against the fleers of some of my merrily-disposed readers, give me leave to observe, that if I had been hoodwinked, and privately conveyed from London, not knowing whither I was going, and had been set down in Myn Heer Van Praet's shop, at Bruges, as soon as mine eyes had been uncovered,...
Page 96 - ... blossoms will wither, thy roses fade, thy lilies shrink from their whiteness ! — thy silken locks for ever be concealed — thy crystal orbs cease to emit their wonted fires ! — thy fragrant breath, which late out-vied the morning's freshness, be thenceforth spent in broken and causeless sighs ! — thine eyes will be directed to turn inwards, there to behold the spotless chamber of thy soul! — wretched conceit! — alas! that thou mightest well do, hadst thou no eyes at all ! — who then...
Page 35 - Boarding the ship for Ostend, Coriat Junior and his companion stand politely back, only to find that every other passenger presses forward, 'and my companion and I were fain to lay, the one upon a bulk, the other upon the cabin floor'.
Page 165 - ... mistake not, after this manner most of my countrymen travel : they set out with prejudices against the natives they are going to visit ; they know their characters before-hand— a Frenchman, is a puppy; an Italian, a cheat; a German, a pedant; and a Dutchman, a brute — for this reason, they chuse to keep their own company, to be waited upon by their own servants, to journey in their own carriages, and to return home almost as wise as they set out.
Page 151 - ... conclude, they find more comfort in contemplation, than in speech — how they cross their arms, some will say, and what odd gestures they use ! — so much the better — I admire attitudes, of all things — especially when they are graceful. "The small remnant of the once flourishing Carthusian abbey of Shene, (I think they are of the foundation of Shene-abbey, but I cannot be positive) are now settled at Nieuport, where they have resided ever since the general wreck of monasteries in England,...

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