London, "but, like all islanders, by nature weak and tender. They are
generally fair, particularly the women, who all--even to the peasant
women--protect their complexions from the sun with fans and veils, as
only the stately gentlewomen do in Germany and the Netherlands. As a
people they are stout-hearted, vehement, eager, cruel in war, zealous in
attack, little fearing: death; not revengeful, but fickle, presumptuous,
rash, boastful, deceitful, very suspicious, especially of strangers, whom
they despise. They are full of courteous and hypocritical gestures and
words, which they consider to imply good manners, civility, and wisdom.
They are well spoken, and very hospitable. They feed well, eating much
meat, which-owing to the rainy climate and the ranker character of the
grass--is not so firm and succulent as the meat of France and the
Netherlands. The people are not so laborious as the French and
Hollanders, preferring to lead an indolent life, like the Spaniards.
The most difficult and ingenious of the handicrafts are in the hands
of foreigners, as is the case with the lazy inhabitants of Spain.
They feed many sheep, with fine wool, from which, two hundred years ago,
they learned to make cloth. They keep many idle servants, and many wild
animals for their pleasure, instead of cultivating the sail. They have
many ships, but they do not even catch fish enough for their own
consumption, but purchase of their neighbours. They dress very
elegantly. Their costume is light and costly, but they are very
changeable and capricious, altering their fashions every year, both the
men and the women. When they go away from home, riding or travelling,
they always wear their best clothes, contrary to the habit of other
nations. The English language is broken Dutch, mixed with French and
British terms and words, but with a lighter pronunciation. They do not
speak from the chest, like the Germans, but prattle only with the
tongue."