hills, better cultivated, and better wooded. It is impossible not to
like the villas, so much opulence, and so much ornament is visible about
them; but it is also impossible not to wish that the domestic
architecture of England were in a better taste. Dinner was ready for us
at Nettlebed: it was a very good one; nor was there any thing to
complain of, except the strange custom of calling for wine which you
know to be bad, and paying an extravagant price for what you would
rather not drink. The coachman left us here, and received from each
person a shilling as a gratuity, which he had well deserved. We now
resumed our places in the inside: dinner had made our male companion
better acquainted with us, and he became conversable. When he knew what
countryman I was, he made many enquiries respecting Salamanca, the only
one of our universities with which the English seem to be acquainted,
and which, I believe, they know only from Gil Blas. I do not think he
had ever before heard of Alcala; but he listened very attentively to
what I told him, and politely offered me his services in Oxford, telling
us he was a fellow of Lincoln, and insisting that we should breakfast
with him the following morning.
At Nettlebed we passed over what is said to be the highest ground in
England, I know not with what truth, but certainly with little apparent
probability. We could have ascended little upon the whole since we had
left London, and were travelling upon level ground. About five o’clock
we came in sight of Oxford, and I resumed my place on the roof. This was
by no means the best approach to the city, yet I never beheld any thing
more impressive, more in character, more what it should be, than these
pinnacles and spires, and towers, and domes, rising amid thick groves.
It stands on a plain, and the road in the immediate vicinity is through
open corn fields. We entered by a stately bridge over the Cherwell:
Magdalen tower, than which nothing can be more beautiful, stands at the
end, and we looked down upon the shady walks of Magdalen college. The
coach drove half way up the High-street, and stopped at the Angel-inn.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
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EDINBURGH:
Printed by James Ballantyre and Co.
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● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).