They told me that the further I got from
London, the more reasonable and humble I should find the people;
everything would be cheaper, and everybody more hospitable. This
determined me to go in the post-coach from Oxford to Birmingham;
where Mr. Pointer, of London, had recommended me to a Mr.
Fothergill, a merchant there; and from thence to continue my journey
on foot.
Monday I spent at Oxford, but rather unpleasantly, on account of my
headache. Mr. Maud himself came to fetch me, as he had promised he
would, but I found myself unable to go with him.
Notwithstanding this, in the afternoon, I took a little walk up a
hill, which lies to the north of Oxford; and from the top of which I
could see the whole city; which did not, however, appear to me
nearly so beautiful and magnificent as Mr. Maud had described it to
me during our last night's walk.
The colleges are mostly in the Gothic taste, and much overloaded
with ornaments, and built with grey stone; which, perhaps, while it
is new, looks pretty well, but it has now the most dingy, dirty, and
disgusting appearance that you can possibly imagine.
Only one of these colleges is in the modern style.
