Gardens can yield for the Service of a Family than this They have in the Seasons excellent good Flesh-Meats of all sorts The People are some of the most generous and sincere in their Dealings that one can easily meet with yet is this place so forsaken There are on the Ramparts several large Bastions planted with rows of tall Lime-trees which give a wholsome and pleasant Shade All the rest of the Ramparts are so planted round the City and in some parts they are so broad that they have two broad Walks run parallel upon them and both of them have on each side a Row of tall Trees which by mingling their Boughs at the top make a very pleasant Arbour which is strait and of a good length These Ramparts are rais'd so high that we have from them a good large Prospect over the adjoyning Countrey where one sees a very pleasant mixture of Corn-fields Villages Rows of Trees Gardens Meadows and Woods which lie in the Countrey about Indeed all the Countrey about looks like a Garden the Roads and waste Places are adorn'd with Rows of Trees and the near Husbandman dresses up his Corn-field just as if it were a Garden They make the Ridges very high and broad and form the Furrows at last when 't is plow'd and sown with a Spade so that the Ridges look like the Beds of a Garden The Compass of this City is reckon'd to be Extent about 4700 Paces and if the Plain which leads to the Cittadel be taken in with that also the whole Compass amounts to about 6000 Paces The Area of the whole City is about half of a Circle the Diameter of which is the River and the Wall the Circumference The largest Reach of it from side to side is along the River which is reckon'd to be beginning at the Slyck-Port on the North-side and ending at the Bridge which goes into the Cittadel on the South 1800 Paces It is reckon'd to have in it 220 Streets great and small some of them are very long and straight and broad the Mere is the broadest and is a very stately Street In the broadest part of it stands upon a large Pedestal a great Crucifix gilded all over to which one shall often see Devotions paid by those who pass by On the left side Burse of this is one of the Passages on to the Burse or Exchange which is near There are Four short Passages into it from other Streets which enter about the middle of the four sides of it the Area is almost square and seems as big as ours at London if not bigger It has a Piazza round it which is on the out-side supported with Marble Pillars these were curiously wrought but the Beauty of them is now much decay'd by Time and Weather The chief Trade of this City now seems to be in Lace the making of which employs some thousands of People In the time of its Prosperity was built at the Charge of the City their Magnificent Stadt-House which has a large and stately Town-house Front adorn'd with several Marble Pillars and Statues among which that of the Virgin Mary is Eminent and Conspicuous This Building shews it self upon a very spacious open place which they call The great Market near the Cathedral-Church There are several Canals which enter the City out of the River and rise and fall with the Tides the largest of these is towards the North-side of the City which is big enough to entertain a Hundred good Merchants Ships Near this stands a great Building call'd The Oosterling or Easterling-House it stands about a large Court round about it on the out-sides are several great Doors for the Entrances of Warehouses within the Court below are some Rooms for Habitation and above at the first Story there is an open Gallery which goes round the Court and lets in to the several large Lodging Rooms This House was built by Merchants of Denmark and the Hanse-Towns of Germany whose Factors dwelt here together and kept here their Stores of Goods and Effects This now begins to decay tho' there is a Family in it to look after it and the same Towns are still at the Charge to support it as if they were in hopes that a time might come to use it again as before The occasion of the great Alteration in this Decay City is said to be this In the beginning of the Reformation when many People were disturb'd for falling in with it in Germany and France and England they fled many of them hither thinking to live unobserv'd in such a great heap and concourse of People or to be quiet and safe by reason of the great Privileges which the City enjoy'd But these People recommended and spread their Opinions here and in the neighbouring places This was observ'd and would not be endur'd by the Government which was then under the Direction of a Prince very zealous for the Church of Rome Among other things done with a Design to prevent the spreading of the Reformation Philip King of Spain their Sovereign as Duke of Brabant publish'd an Edict about the Year 1565. importing That all Hereticks should be put to death without Remission That the Emperor's Edicts and the Council of Trent should be publish'd and observ'd and commanding that the utmost Assistance of the Civil Power should be given to the Inquistion This and other things which disgusted the Nobility of these Provinces were done by the Government and all Orders of this sort were rigorously executed by the Duke D' Alva which things put the whole Seventeen Provinces under the Spanish Dominion into a Commotion it came to a bloody Civil War and ended in the total Defection of the present United Provinces from Subjection to Spain In the times of these Troubles many Merchants went away with their Goods and Effects to places where they could be more safe and quiet many to be undisturb'd in their Religion went to Amsterdam and to London Queen Elizabeth being now come to the Throne and so the Fall of this City was a means of the Grandeur of those two It is said That an Account was taken in those times and it was found that at once within the space of a few days an hundred thousand Men had forsaken this and other Trading Cities of these Provinces with all that they could carry away with them to avoid the Rigours and Severities of the Government and the greater Hazards and Dangers of Losses and Mischief from the Confusion and License of the Civil Wars There is no publick Exercise or Profession of Religion permitted here but what is conform'd and subject to the Practice and Authority of the Church of Rome The Church of this Diocese is govern'd by Johannes Ferdinandus de Berghem who is the present Bishop of Antwerp and has his dwelling there He is a very grave and venerable Person exemplary in his Conversation and in great Reputation for his Charity and Zeal But in Conjunction with the Archbishop
Coats was almost hid with the broad Silver Lace laid upon it The Cloathing of the Kettle-Drums as I remember is Cloth of Silver a deep Fringe of Gold and Silver went round the Drum at the top and a lesser one round about the edge of the Cloathing I never saw any thing of the kind so fine as these all were And this is a particular Affectation of this Prince The reigning Religion here is the Popish Popish Religion here and the Papists are in Possession of the publick Churches We went into some of their Churches and saw nothing in them very fine nor any thing peculiar or worth taking notice of In the Yard belonging to the great Church stand Three Crucfixes with Bodies on them as big as the Life to represent the Crucifixion of our Saviour between Two Thieves There is a large Penthouse over them By the side of another Church we saw the same Representation To these many People in passing by paid a profound Respect but without a distinct Interpretation of these Books the People must be liable to pay the same Respect to those which represent the Thieves as to that which is design'd for our Saviour so that in these Books there are certainly some things as dangerous and as liable to betray People into damnable Error and mortal Sin as are pretended to be in Scripture If that be then an Argument for taking the Scripture out of the Peoples Handâ— it is an Argument for taking their extravagant Pictures and Images out of their Sight Or if any Preference may be allow'd of the Ordinance of Jesus Christ himself before that of his Pretended Vicar the Scriptures should be given to the People and this sort of Books taken away because Christ has given the Holy Scripture for their Instruction and only the Pretended Vicar has instituted these When we came to the City after we were enter'd within the new Ditch we saw several of those little Oratories or Chappels mention'd before standing about in the Fields in each of which is an Altar and Image and for the most part of the Virgin Mary Among the Papists in these Parts the Controversie is now hotly pursued about the Immaculate Conception Immaculate Conception of the Bâ—essed Virgin of the Virgin Mary the head Managers of which are the Franciscanâ— and the Do minicans This has been a long Controversie in the Church of Rome and is likely to continue for both Sides pretend to Miracles Visions and Revelations to confirm their Opinion yea both Sides have drawn the Blessed Virgin to testifie for them and so against her self Besides the infallible Guide of the Church cannot tell what to do in this Case and Bishop Meaux says The Church has not yet defin'd whether the Virgin was born in Original Sin or not The contending Parties are indeed so hot upon their Opinion that they would either of 'em be apt to despise the Pope's Authority if he should venture to decide The Pope's Authority is for a Scare-crow set up against the Protestants but upon Occasion the Papists can make little account of it themselves as Scare-crows are never wont to fright them that set them up Bishop Meaux says 'T is neither Heresie nor mortal Sin not to believe the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin and yet he says 't is Pious to believe it But if this be Pious surely the contrary must be impious If any Proposition be true the direct and full Contradiction to it must needs be false and if any Opinion be pious another which fully contradicts it must deserve a contrary Character and consequently be accounted impious Such poor Shifts is tâ—is shuffling Expounder of the Church of Rome put to that he may render its Doctrines and Practices plausible There are in this City Two Congregations of the Reformed Religion the one Calvinist the other Protestant or Lutheran We spent Lutherans here the Morning of the Lord's-Day in the Protestant Congregation They have not a very large Church but it was well fill'd It stands a little inward from the Street I think they call their People together by a Bell. The Place is Oblong with the Altar or Communion-Table at the East end and a good Gallery over the Entrance at the West end Above that is a little Gallery set up for a small Organ that they might lose no Room by it The Church was very neat but not fine There were but Three distinct Pictures in it and all very free from Popery or Superstition On the South Wall hung a Picture of Moses holding the Two Tables of Stone on which there was only a Scrawl to represent the Writing of the Ten Commandments The Communion-Table was large and very high It stood against the Wall upon a flat of Boards raised a little Step above the Stone Floor of the Church and which goes out at a good distance from the Table Over this Communion-Table or Altar is a good Picture which represents our Blessed Saviour in his Agony in the Garden with an Angel come to encourage him There are Three of the Apostles asleep not far from him and at a distance the tops of the Torches of those who are coming to apprehend him appear from behind a Hill The History is well represented Behind the Picture of our Saviour are black Clouds well drawn and amidst them appears a bright round thing which looks almost as if they design'd to represent the Sun veil'd with these Clouds but it being a Night Piece it must be understood as it is intended to represent the Wafer which they give and receive in celebrating the Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper for they administer the Bread in that Form Over this great Piece of Painting is another lesser one which represents our Saviour with a Glory about him as rising from the dead and treading upon a Dragon to signifie that he had now overcome Death and him that had the Power of Death as the Scripture speaks that is the Devil This is a fit Representation of our Saviour but it is an impudent Blasphemy to attribute this to the Virgin Mary as the Papists do in Pictures and Images of her with which I have often seen a Snake or Dragon put under her Feet as dead The Pillars on each side of these Pictures were wreath'd their Chappiters handsomely carv'd all the Work is very neat and decent but the matter is not Marble but Wood painted in Imitation of Marble some of black and some of white Marble streak'd and it is very well done The Altar or Communion-Table was cover'd with a large Velvet Cloth which reach'd to the Ground of a deep blew Colour Before the Worship began I had time to see what Books lay at the Reading Desk and at the Desks of the People The Reader had before him a great Folio Bible in High Dutch and another Book in Folio which had for its General Title Spiritual Songs I look'd into it and observ'd there the Book of Psalms and other of the
to establish any where these Brotherhoods And for this Reason they say this Fraternity is united with so strong a Bond to this Order that they cannot in any wise be separated the one from the other Neither can any Chappel of the Rosary be erected by any other Person excepting the General of this Order or those who shall be thereto deputed by him And if any should presume to do this it would be to very little purpose for their Chappel should be destitute of all the Indulgences which are granted to this Order or Brotherhood And every of the Fathers Provincial have this leave and powder from the General That they may erect a Brotherhood each one in his own Province And these Fathers may erect these Brotherhoods in what City Town or Village they please in the Churches Chappels or Oratories of the Dominicans and also in the Churches of the Secular Clergy But it must be understood that these Chappels shall be serv'd only by Dominicans or perhaps some other Priests who at least are of the Brotherhood of the Rosary And this is a bold Invasion upon the Rights of the Secular Clergy but this was a thing made very light of in former days though now the Secular Clergy begin to lift up their Heads and get from under the Oppression of these useless Drones Indeed they are directed to ask leave of the Bishop where they do this that this Brotherhood may be the more acceptable and may bear the more Fruit but 't is said the Bishop may not refuse nor hinder them from doing this Only the Fathers the Dominicans too have the Authority of admiting any of the Believers into this Brotherhood The manner of entring this Society and some Rules of it Those that enter themselves in this Association or Brotherhood are said to put themselves into the number of the Servants of the Holy Maid Mary and are directed in doing it to make a firm Resolution in this following form I N. N. Acknowledge and Confess that I do with all my Heart put my self under the defence of the most H. Maid Mary the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and Queen of the Holy Rosary whom in the best manner that I can out of a sincere Love and Affection of Heart I chuse for my principal Patroness firmly resolving that I will through her help and that of Almighty God diligently perform these things following 1. When my appointed hour is come I will immediately if it be possible either in the Church or elsewhere as I can best do it either on my bended Knees or as Opportunity and Convenience will allow begin to read the Rosary of 15 Tens and at the same time Meditate upon the 15 Mysteries of the Life and Death of our good Lord Jesus Christ 2. I shall offer the first part of the Rosary that is the first 50 Aves to God for the Union of Christian Princes the Extirpation of Heresie and the Conversion of Sinners The 2d part I shall offer up to God for the present Necessities of my Country and for the Necessities of all those who are in their last Extremities The 3d. part I shall offer up for the spreading and advancement of the Glory and Honour of the most Holy Maid and Mother of God Mary and for the releasing of the poor Souls in Purgatory Then I will add to this the Litany of our good Lady on the behalf of all those who have given themselves up to this Exercise There are some few further Resolutions mention'd concerning the care that the Person will take to have these matters perform'd for him when he is lawfully hindred which I need not insert Dominick at first order'd that all the Brothers and Sisters should read a whole Psalter of Mary that is 15 times 10 Ave Mary's with the due Pater Nosters every day This was something a troublesom Task and so after times have mitigated it And now this Task must be performed once a Week to the Glory of God and of the Holy Maid they say And it needs not now be read all at once or kneeling in the Church at any particular time but 't is enough that it be finish'd by the end of the Week If any Brother be desirous to be a Partaker in the devout Laud and Salve Regina which every day immediately after Compline is sung in the Churches of the Dominicans with a solemn Procession he must be present at the Laud and Procession or else read 7 Ave Mary's in what Place soever he is for himself and for the other Brothers Forasmuch as the Holy Widow Anna has brought forth this honourable Fruit the holy Maid Mary therefore that we may be in some measure thankful the Founder of this Brotherhood has wish'd and desir'd that the Brothers and Sisters would to the Honour of these three namely the holy Mother Anna her Daughter Mary and Christ the Son of God and of Man read on every Tuesday three Pater Nosters and three Ave's For the Souls of the Brothers departed after the four principal Feasts of our good Lady which are the Purification the Annunciation the Assumption and Birth four yearly Solemnities shall be held at the Altar of the Rosary at which Solemnities all the Brothers and Sisters ought to be present and to which they are invited by great Indulgences where they must however drop their Offerings as well as their Beads or else there is no Indulgence for them Moreover 't is said there are especially three Feast-days which all of this Society ought to solemnize which are the Feast of our good Lady's Annunciation on the 25th of March the Feast of the Rosary on the first Sunday in Octber the Feast of the H. Dominick on the 4th of August and this must be done in the Chappels belonging to this Order The H. Mother of God Mary her self has will'd that the Feast-day of the H. Dominick should be celebrated with particular Devotion and she has reveal'd this her self to the B. Alanus de Rupe and has order'd that the Brothers should acknowledge St. Dominick for the second Patron of this Brotherhood because he first establish'd preach'd and promoted it but they must acknowledge the most H. Maid Mary for the principal Patroness An Admonition to All Men to enter themselves in the Brotherhood of the H. Rosary I think fit to produce this because the Reader will hereby understand from themselves of what Extent and Esteem this Brotherhood is in the Church of Rome and what are the Baits that catch Fools into this sort of Snares The Admonition was thus It were very fitting that among good Christians not to say among the Lovers of Mary there should not any one person be found who is not enter'd into the renown'd Society of the holy Rosary or who will not suffer himself to be perswaded to do this as soon as may be as well for the Abundant Indulgences therein to be enjoy'd as also for the following Reasons 1. Because the H.
one we past however by many scattering Houses that had been very ill used in the time of the War and were become uninhabitable On the way to Louvain we see on the Left-hand at a distance from us and somewhat below us the City of Mechlin which is too considerable Mechlin a place not to be taken notice of in this Relation since it can be said we saw it as we did for a good part of our way tho' our intended Progress directed us from going to it This is one of the chief Cities of the Low-Countries or the Belgick Provinces and a very ancient one Tho' it is seated almost in the middle of Brabant yet it is reckon'd with a Compass about it subject to its Jurisdiction distinct from Brabant and to be one of these 17 Provinces It is said to be a very neat City it seem'd of a considerable bigness It is strongly fortify'd and surrounded with a very good Ditch It stands upon the River Dyle foremention'd and and Tide runs through the City and rises to a League above it There are reckon'd here 17 Colledges of Tradesmen who have right to sit in the Senate and to vote in matters deliberated The Supreme Power is exercised by 12 Schepins six of which are chosen from the Gentry and six from the Colledges of Tradesmen The Trade of Tanning has been very great in this City their Company was honour'd with Noble Priviledges among others with the Freedom of Hunting and Fowling Here was formerly a great Woollen Manufacture and then there were reckon'd at once 3200 Shops of Weavers in this City The Founders Trade was here considerable also and formerly there was a great Magazine of all things necessary for War At present the trifling Trade of making Lace employs many People here as well as in other Cities hereabout But tho' we in England have given the name of Mechlin-Lace to the best it is not here that better is made than in other places of this Country The City is favour'd with a very good Air and is very healthy In it were educated Philip the first King of Spain and his Son Charles who was afterwards Emperour under the Name of Charles V. Because in those times as it had been for some time before this City was the ordinary Seat of the House of Burgundy The Lady Margaret of Austria Aunt of Charles V. Emperor when he made her Governess of the Low Countries made this the place of her Residence and kept her Court here till she died which was in the Year 1530. The great Council Royal have their Seat here still which was instituted in the Year 1473. by Charles the last Duke of Burgundy who was kill'd before Nancy It consisted at first of 30 persons including the Prince but has been somewhat alter'd since these Countries became subject to the King of Spain This City is the Seat of an Archbishop who has a large Jurisdiction he who fills it at present calls himself Gulielmus Humbertus à Precipiana a Man of more Zeal than Wisdom and who has suffer'd himself to be drawn into ridiculous Extreams in opposition to the Phantom of Jansenism These Provinces formerly in Ecclesiastical Matters were under the Jurisdiction of Bishops who liv'd at a distance from them and who therefore took the less care of them and had the less Influence among them The Archbishop of Cologne had Authority in Nimeguen and the Jurisdiction belonging to it The Bishop of Utrecht had Authority in some other parts and was the only Bishop that had his Residence among them The Bishop of Liege had Authority in Roermonde and the Countrey about that and he with the Bishop of Combray divided the Province of Brabant The Bishop of Munster had some Authority in the Province of Zutphen This State of the Church here was thought an Advantage to the spreading of the Reformation among these People and therefore to prevent this the King of Spain resolved to establish several Bishops among them Accordingly in Conjunction with Pope Paul IV. he erected three Archbishopricks which were Cambray Utrecht and this Mechlin under these he set several Bishops For Brabant there was one at Antwerp and one at Hertogen-bosch For Guelderland there was a Bishop set at Roermonde For Flanders there were Bishops at Ghent and Ipres at which last place the first Bishop was the famous Gornelius Jansenius the Restorer of the Doctrine of St. Augustine in the Church of Rome tho' cruelly persecuted in his Memory since his Death and in his Friendâ— and Followèrs by the new Pelagians the Jesuits upon that Account For Holland there was a Bishop to have been at Haeâ—lem For Zeeland at Middleburg For Over-Yssel at Daventer Then also were Bishops establish'd at Groninguen Namur Tournay and Audomar for the Provinces and Country about them The Cathedral Church at Mechlin is dedicated to St. Rumbold whom the Legend makes to have been the Son of David King of Scots who by Prayers had obtain'd of Heaven this Son but could not keep him when he had him For when he was grown up nothing would serve him but to be a Priest he left his Father despising his Crown and Kingdom and was guided by an Angel into Ireland where he became Bishop of Dublin When his Father was dead it was now known where he was and the People attempted to take him by force and make him their King but he slipt through their Fingers and was again guided by an Angel to Rome From thence he came into Brabant preach'd the Gospel here and was the Apostle or Converter of these Countries He by his Prayers they say obtain'd a Son for Count Ado and when the Child was grown up and drown'd he brought him to Life again He was busie in building a great Church when some wicked Fellows kill'd him thinking he had by him a great Hoard of Money for the Work he was about They took what he had and threw his Body into the River But the Body discover'd it self there and shin'd in the Dark like rotten Pork found by the Glory that it cast it was taken up by Fishermen This tho' but a silly Story and not well agreeing with it self is yet a very modest one in comparison to a multitude of others which the Papists tell of the Lives and Miracles of their Saints who by the lying Wonders they have shamm'd upon the World have imitated and serv'd the Father of Lyes more than the God of Truth and by feign'd Stories of Saints and Miracles evidently false have discredited the true ones which the Church has really been furnish'd with so have they disparag'd and weakned by this means some of the great Confirmations of Christianity and promoted Atheism-and Infidelity in the Christian Church When we came near Louvain we pass'd by a large and magnificent Building which is a Augustine Nuns House of the Augustine Nuns they were now upon the Peace return'd to it again but liv'd in the City during the War because
the Sovereign of this and some Neighbouring Provinces It is encompass'd with a Wall but it seems that it cannot well be made defensible by Reason of the Hill that lies over it It stands very airy and has its Streets of a good breadth Our Lodging was in a handsome Street near the Reform'd or Calvinâ—â—t Church This is a lofty and large Brick Building We did not go into it having seen enough of the manner of those Churches in Holland and we were not told of any thing worth our Observation there But from our Lodging our way in ascending towards the Castle was through a large Stone Building which stands across that Street which they call the middle Port. This is pretended to have been built by Eumenius Rhetor who was the Roman Governour over the Gauls here This is said by an Inscription on the upper side of the Gate but there is no Date added to express the time of this Over the Inscription stands carv'd in the Stone the Effigies of this Eumenius His Habit is close to his Body down to his Waste from thence it hangs loose in Folds to his Feet The Sleeves of it are also close to his Arms and reach to his Wrists He has a Ferula in his Left Hand which was a Symbol of Authority and in his Right Hand he holds up a little Dish which seems heap'd full with Pieces of Gold From hence we still ascended very considerably to the Castle This is a very large Building Castle of Cleve and possesses a great deal of Ground We were told it contains of all sorts at least Three hundred and fifty Rooms We saw the best of them which did not amount to twenty The Audience-Chamber the Dining-Room the Bed-Chamber belonging to the Electour aâ—d several others The finest Rooms which they show'd us they call'd our King's Chambers these were his Bed-Chamber and his Audience-Chamber The outward Curtains of the Bed were blew Velvet the inward were white Satin curiously embroider'd with Silk with a Cover-lid and the top of the Bed of the same Here were the liveliest and the best Tapestry Hangings that I ever saw One Piece represented a Winter where one sees a Gentleman driving his Mistress in a Traino and others skateing upon the Ice In another there is a Feast in another a Landschape with Shepherds and Shepherdesses making merry by their Flocks All the Figures on these were so lively and so well shaded and proportion'd that it does not seem easie to excel them in a Picture The next Room to this is his Majesty's Audience-Chamber which is hung with excellent Tapestry too The State is Scarlet Velvet the Seams where the several Breadths of the Velvet are join'd are cover'd with a broad Gold Galoone The Fringe round the Canopy consisted of a multitude of little Knots of Gold Thread tied up in a great Number of Bows The Curtains over the Doors were of the same Velvet with a Gold Galoon and such Knots round at the Edge of them In these and the other best Rooms of the Castle we were divided between the Finery of the Furniture within and the Beauty of the Prospects out at the Windows Below are Gardens belonging to the Castle and beyond them one looks either towards the Hill above the City which is planted with Trees that stand in Rows up to the top from the View of the Castle or else one sees a great length of the Rhine with the Country about it From these Chambers we descended a little and went through a long Gallery and at length under a wide Arch we went down some Steps into a great Hall This Arch is of Marble of several Colours and the several Ranges of it severally wrought It seems to be old Work but intelligent People say it is not so old as is pretended For this was shown us as a Relick of the old Building of Julius Caesar On one side of it there stands a little Image in a Niche much defaced which seems to be just of the same Figure with that on the Gate foremention'd and I believe was made for the same Eumenius but the People told us this is the Effigies of Julius Caesar himself and over it accordingly there is this Inscription in the Wall Anno Urbe Romana condita Sexcentissimo Nonagessimo Octavo Caius Julius Caesar Dictator hisce partibus in deditionem redactis arcem Clivensem aedificavit Which tells that in the Year 698 after the City of Rome was built Caius Julius Caesar the Dictatour built the Castle of Cleve after he had brought these Parts of the Country into Subjection to the Roman People There are many very pleasant Sights about the City of Cleve such as Fountains Gardens Walks planted with Trees the beautiful Linden Boom or Lime Tree one of the fairest in the World And indeed I never any where saw this kind of Trees so fair and beautiful as they are here The Place seems to be peculiarly agreeable to them It were too long a Task to mention every thing particularlarly that is entertaining here but I must not omit the finest Prospect perhaps in the World which they have from the top of the Hill above the City which they call Sterrenberg We Sterrenbeâ—g mount about half a Mile above the City to the top of this It is a round Hill and from the top descends pretty quick almost every way It is all cloath'd with fine flourishing Lime Trees and though it be too steep in some Parts to be passâ—d up or down yet there it is cover'd with Mould and bears good Grass and these Trees Among the Trees planted here there are left Thirteen Alleys which run strait down the Hill and meet all in the Center at the top From thence these Alleys point and direct the view to some considerable Place in the Country round about And one sees all the beautiful Country round as far as the Eye can reach with a distinct View from Nimmeguen downwards to Wesel upwards with all the Valley upon the Rhine the Cities and Villages in that and upon the Hills which bound the Sight on the other side A finer Country cannot be seen and the Prospect is as much as the Eye can reach so that if any where in the World an Exception could be found to Solomon's Maxim it is here that the Eye must be satisfied with seeing At the bottom of this Hill where it stands as it were in Two Stories almost upright and shows its self from the bottom to the top cover'd with Trees that seem to hang over our Heads the Electour has chosen a Place to make some new Water-Works The Hill there affords a plentiful Spring of Water for the purpose There are but Two of the Designs finish'd In one of them the Water was drove up form'd into the Shape of a huge taper'd Drinking-Glass the Cavity is big enough if it were a Glass to hold I believe a Gallon of good Liquour and so affords a Speculation very