"My worthy friend W--- and I went to a popish mass-house. The superstition of the poor wretches, who frequently kissed the floor; the inexpressibly ridiculous fopperies of the priest, and the indecent filthiness of the place, gave us such an abhorrence of popery, as excited in us a mixture of indignation, pity and contempt. O popery, what hast thou to answer for, in thus fettering and enslaving the human mind!"
First published in 1781, A Month's Tour in North Wales, Dublin, and Its Environs is the account of a gentleman traveller as he makes his way through North Wales, from an obscure village in Lancashire to Dublin, his desired destination, where he spends most of his tour. Along the way we are treated to complaints about the food supplied at the inns, the slothfulness of the locals, the legs of the women, the racket of drunkards, and the blush-inducing displays of public indecency. Particular attention is paid to religious service attendance, monumental architecture, and hospitals, as well as efforts to deal with paupers, orphans, and fallen women. Needless to say the author's prejudices are on full display, be it in the form of condescension or ironic comments. A short but enormously entertaining travelogue that delivers in spades.