Diary of John Quincy Adams, volume 1
1781-07-10
This morning at about half past nine o'clock Mr. Dana, his servant and I set away from
Utrecht, and arriv'd at Ni
This is a very convenient method, as five or six hundred men can cross upon one of these machines at a time, and there is but very little trouble in it. But there must be a strong current which runs always the same way; otherwise they cannot go over.
Remarks upon Chapter 4th.
§. 6th. (Page 27. line 9 to 11) Their tradesmen &c.
1
This is certainly a great mistake, for the tradesmen will always ask for a thing the double of what it is worth and if you have any thing made, you will certainly get greatly cheated if you do not make the bargain before hand as the dutch themselves always do.
Do. lines 13 and 14) Smoaking tobacco &c.
2
The men and boys smoak almost universally but the Women never do.
Do. Page 32 lines 18 and 19.) They are &c.3
The dutch it is true skate exceeding swiftly, but with not half that elegance that I expected they wou'd.
§ 9th: (Page 36 line 10 to Page 37 line 2) Onze Vader
&c.4
I have not coppy'd the lords pray'r from Guthrie, because there are several words left out in his book and it is not entire.
§ 17th. (Page 111 line 12 to line 15) And such is &c.
5
In the city of Amsterdam when a Schepen (a Sheriff) is
apointed,6 his name is given to the Stadholder,
and he can reject him and appoint another in his place but after that he cannot change him,
but he can in all the other cities.
(End.)
Passage copied in entry of 15 June (above),
quoting material from Guthrie, Geographical Grammar
, p. 401: “Their Tradesmen are in
general very honest in all their dealings. ...”
P. 401: “Smoaking tobacco is practised by old and young of both sexes. . . .”
From entry of 16 June (above), same, p. 402: “They are the best skaters upon the ice in the world.”
From entry of 17 June (above), same, p. 402–403, concerning Guthrie's rendition of the Lord's Prayer in Dutch.
From entry of 7 July (above), same, p. 406: “The Stadtholder is president of the states of every province; and such is his power and influence, that he can change the deputies, magistrates, and officers, in every province and city.”
These comments on Guthrie's misstatements about the Dutch were more than matched by
JQA's criticisms of Guthrie's account of France (p. 373–399), a country of
which he had had some firsthand knowledge, exclaiming at one point in a marginal note to
his copy of the volume, “how long O Englishmen will be prejudiced against the French” (p.
378). In his copy of
Geographical Grammar
, now at MQA, he labeled many of Guthrie's statements “false,” at one point “horribly
false,” and at another called the author a fool for describing the properties of the French
language as “undoubtedly greatly inferior to the English, but they are well adapted to
subjects void of elevation or passion. It is well accommodated to dalliance, compliments,
and common conversation” (p. 378–381).
At this point in the margin JQA inserted: “there are three appointed every year.”