Page:A Tour Through the Batavian Republic.djvu/282

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270
TOUR THROUGH

George will pay for all." — It may be gathered from hence, that inebriety is accounted by the Dutch a vice highly pernicious and dishonourable.

I had frequently to answer enquiries, particularly of French officers, respecting the attempt made by Hadfield on the life of the king. The accounts of that transaction which had reached Holland were imperfect; and from the acquittal of the culprit it was concluded, that the king's life had been in less imminent danger than it really was. The conduct of the English court of justice during the trial of Hadfield had given extremely favourable impressions of its equity, and his acquitment was regarded something like a phenomenon in the history of modern tribunals. It was considered as a consummate act of justice. The subsequent confinement of Hadfield they regarded in a proper view, not as an act of punishment or revenge, but as a necessary precaution against any future mischiefs which his insanity might lead him to attempt.

The Dutch, in general, are to be praised