As It Has Two Provinces, So It Has Two
Archbishops:
The one of Canterbury, Primate and Metropolitan of all
England; the other of York:
Subject to these are twenty-five
bishops, viz., twenty-two to Canterbury, the remaining three to
York.
The soil is fruitful, and abounds with cattle, which inclines the
inhabitants rather to feeding than ploughing, so that near a third
part of the land is left uncultivated for grazing. The climate is
most temperate at all times, and the air never heavy, consequently
maladies are scarcer, and less physic is used there than anywhere
else. There are but few rivers; though the soil is productive, it
bears no wine; but that want is supplied from abroad by the best
kinds, as of Orleans, Gascon, Rhenish, and Spanish. The general
drink is beer, which is prepared from barley, and is excellently
well tasted, but strong, and what soon fuddles. There are many
hills without one tree, or any spring, which produce a very short
and tender grass, and supply plenty of food to sheep; upon these
wander numerous flocks, extremely white, and whether from the
temperature of the air, or goodness of the earth, bearing softer and
finer fleeces than those of any other country: this is the true
Golden Fleece, in which consist the chief riches of the inhabitants,
great sums of money being brought into the island by merchants,
chiefly for that article of trade. The dogs here are particularly
good. It has mines of gold, silver, and tin (of which all manner of
table utensils are made, in brightness equal to silver, and used all
over Europe), of lead, and of iron, but not much of the latter. The
horses are small but swift. Glasshouses are in plenty here.
OF THE MANNERS OF THE ENGLISH.
The English are serious, like the Germans; lovers of show, liking to
be followed wherever they go by whole troops of servants, who wear
their masters' arms in silver, fastened to their left arms, a
ridicule they deservedly lie under. They excel in dancing and
music, for they are active and lively, though of a thicker make than
the French; they cut their hair close on the middle of the head,
letting it grow on either side; they are good sailors, and better
pirates, cunning, treacherous and thievish; above three hundred are
said to be hanged annually at London; beheading with them is less
infamous than hanging; they give the wall as the place of honour;
hawking is the general sport of the gentry; they are more polite in
eating than the French, devouring less bread, but more meat, which
they roast in perfection; they put a great deal of sugar in their
drink; their beds are covered with tapestry, even those of farmers;
they are often molested with the scurvy, said to have first crept
into England with the Norman Conquest; their houses are commonly of
two storeys, except in London, where they are of three and four,
though but seldom of four; they are built of wood, those of the
richer sort with bricks; their roofs are low, and, where the owner
has money, covered with lead.
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