are charming and the Air is very pure and from thence we came hither in three hours I will not say one word of the Country into which I am now come for as I know that is needless to you on many accounts so a Picture that I see here in the Stadthouse puts me in mind of the perfectest Book of its kind that is perhaps in being For Sir William Temple whose Picture hangeth here at the upper end of the Plenipotentiaries that negotiated the Famous Treaty of Nimmegen hath indeed set a pattern to the World which is done with such life that it may justly make others blush to copy after it since it must be acknowledged that if we had as perfect an account of the other places as he hath given us of one of the least but yet one of the Noblest parcels of the Universe Travelling would become a needless thing unless it were for diversion since one findeth no further occasion for his curiosity in this Country then what is fully satisfied by his rare performance Yet I cannot give overwriting without reflecting on the resistance that this place made when so many other places were so basely delivered up though one doth not see in the ruines of the Fortification here how it could make so long a resistance yet it was that that stem'd the tide of a progress that made all the World stand amazed and it gave a little time to the Dutch to recover themselves out of the consternation into which so many blows that came so thick one after another had struck them But then the World saw a change that though it hath not had so much Incense given to it as the happy conjuncture of another Prince hath drawn after it with so much excess that all the topicks of flattery seem exhausted by it yet will appear to posterity one of the most surprizing Scenes in History and that which may be well matched with the recovery of the Roman State after the Battel of Canne When a young Prince that had never before born Arms or so much as seen a Campagne who had little or no Council about him but that which was suggested from his own thoughts and that had no extraordinary advantage by his Education either for literature or affairs was of a sudden set at the head of a State and Army that was sunk with so many losses and that saw the best half of its Soil torn from it and the powerfullest Enemy in the World surrounded with a Victorious Army that was commanded by the best Generals that the Age hath produced come within sight and settle his Court in one of the best Towns and had at the same time the greatest force both by Sea and Land that hath been known united together for its destruction When the Inhabitants were forced that they might save themselves from so formidable an Enemy to let loose that which on all other occasions is the most dreadful to them and to drown so great a part of their Soil for the preservation of the rest and to complicate together all the miseries that a Nation can dread when to the general consternation with which so dismal a Scene possessed them a distraction within doors seemed to threaten them with the last strokes and while their Army was so ill disciplined that they durst scarce promise themselves any thing from such feeble Troops after a Peace at Land of almost Thirty Years continuance and while their chief Ally that was the most concerned in their preservation was like a great paralitick body liker to fall on those that it pretended to support and to crush them then to give them any considerable assistance When I say a young Prince came at the head of all this the very prospect of which would have quite dampt an ordinary courage he very quickly changed the Scene he animated the Publick Councils with a generous vigour he found them sinking into a feebleness of hearkning to Propositions for a peace that were as little safe as they were honorable but he disposed them to resolve on hazarding all rather than to submit to such Infamous terms His credit also among the populace seemed to Inspire them with a new life they easily persuaded themselves that as one WILLIAM Prince of ORANGE had formed their State so here another of the same name seemed marked out to recover and preserve it It was this Spirit of Courage which he derived from his own breast and infused into the whole People as well as into the Magistracy that preserved this Country Some thing there was in all this that was Divine The Publick Councils were again setled and the People were at quiet when they saw him vested with a full authority for that time with Relation to peace and war and concluded they were safe because they were in his hands It soon appeared how faithfully he pursued the Interest of his Country and how little he regarded his own He rejected all Propositions of Peace that were hurtfull to his Country without so much as considering the advantages that were offered to himself in which you know that I write upon sure grounds He refused the offer of the Soveraignâ—y of its Chief City that was made to him by a solemn Deputation being satisfied with that Authority which had been so long maintained by his Ancestors with so much glory and being justly sensible how much the breaking in upon established laws and liberties is fatal even to those that seem to get by it He thus began his publick appearance on the stage with all the disadvantages that a Spirit aspiring to true Glory could wish for since it was Visible that he had nothing to trust to but a good cause a favorable Providence and his own Integrity and Courage nor was success wanting to such Noble beginnings for he in a short time with a Conduct and Spirit beyond any thing that the World hath yet seen recovered this State out of so desperate a distemper took some places by main force and obliged the Enemy to abandon all that they had acquired in so feeble a manner And if a raw Army had not always success against more numerous and better trained Troops and if the want of Magazins and Stores in their Alliés Country which was the chief Scene of the War made that he could not Post his Army and wait for favourable circumstances so that he was sometimes forced to run to action with a hast that his necessities imposed upon him yet the forcing of the beginnings of a Victory out of the hands of the greatest General of the Age the facing a great Monarch with an Army much inferior to his when the other was too cautious to hazard an ingagement and in short the forming the Dutch Army to such a pitch that it became visibly Superior to the French that seemed to have been fed with Conquests and the continuing the War till the Prince that had sacrificed the quiet of Europe to his GLORY was glad
Abbey that has One hundred thousand Livreâ— of Revenue there is also a very râ—ch Hâ—use of Nuns that wear the Cupuchins Habit that as I was told had Sixty thousand Livres of Revenue and but Sixty Nuns in it who having thus One tâ—ouâ—and Livreâ— a piece may live in all p ssible plenty in a Country where a very little money â—oes a great way But that which surprises one most at Soloturn is the greaâ— Fortification that they are building of a Wall about the â—own the â—oblest and solidest that is any where to be seen The Stone with which it is faced is a â—ort of courâ—e Marâ—le but of that higneâ—s that many Stones are â—en foot long and two foot of breadth and thickness but tho' this will be a Work of vast expence and great Beauty yet it would signifie little against a great Army that would attack it vigorously The Wall is finished on the side of the River on which the Town stand the Ditch is very broad and the Counterscarp and Glasâ—er are also finished and they are working at a Fort on the other side of the River which they intâ—nd to fortifie in the same manner This has cost them near two Millions of Livres and this vast Expence has made them often repent the Undertaking and it is certain that a Fortification that is able to resist the Rage oâ— their Peasants in the case of a Rebellion is all that iâ— needful This Canton has two Advoyers as Bern thâ— little Council consists of Thirty six they have twelvâ— Bailiages belonging to them which are very profitable to those that can carry them they have one Bursarâ— and but one Banneret All the Cantons have theiâ— Bailiages but if there are Disorders at Bern in the Choice of their Bailiffâ— there are far greater among the Popish Cantons where all things are sold as a Foreign Minister that resides there told me who tho' he knew what my Religion was did not stick to own frankly to me That the Catholick Cantons were not near so well governed as the Protestant Cantons Justice is generally sold among them and in their Treaties with Foreign Princes they haâ—e sometimes taken money both from the French and Spanish Ambassadors and have signed contradictory Articles at the same time Baden has nothing in it that is remarkable except its convenient Situation which makes it the Seat of the general Diet of the Canton tho' it is not one of them but is a Bailiage that belongs in common to eight of the ancient Cantons At last I came to this Place which as it is the first and most honourable of all the Cantons so with relation to us it has a precedence of a higher Nature it being the first that received the Reformation This Canton is much less than Bern yet the Publick is much richer They reckon that they can bring fifty thousand Men together upon twenty four hours warning their Subjects live happy for the Bailiffs here have regulated Appointments and have only the hundredth Penny of the Fines so that they are not tempted as those of Bern are to whom the Fine belongs entirely to strain matters against their Subjects and whereas at Bern the constant Intrigue of the whole Town is concerning their Bailiages here on the contrary it is a Service to which the Citizens are bound to submit according to their Constitution but to which they do not aspire The Government is almost the same as at Bern and the Magistrate that is called the Advoyer at Bern is here called the Bourgomaster The Revenue of the State is here justly accounted for so thaâ—â—he publick purse is much richer than at Bâ—rn the Arseâ—al is much better furnished and the Fortifications are more reâ—ular There is a grâ—at Trade stirring here and as their Lake that is Twenty fâ—ur miles long and about two or three broad supâ—lies them well with provisioâ— so their River carrie their Manufacture to the Rhine from whence it is conveyed as they please One of their chief Manuâ—acturies is Crâ—pe which is in all respects the best I ever saw I will not describe the Situation of the Town but shall co tent my self to tell you that it is extream pleasaâ—t the Country about it is Mountanous and the Winters are hard for the Lake freezes quite over only in some places the â—ce never lies which is believed a mark that some Springs rise there which cause that heat so also in the Lake of Geneva tho' it is never quite frozen yet great boards of Ice lie in several parts but these are never seen in some parts of the Lake which is supposed to flow from the same Cause But to return to Zurich one sees here the true ancient simplicity of the Switzens not corrupted with Luxry or Vanity their Women not only do not converse familiarly with Men except thâ—se of their near Kindred but even on the Streets do not make any returns to the Civility of Strangers for it is only Strangers thâ—t put off their Hats to Women but they make no courtesies and here as in all Switzerland Women are not saluted but the Civility is expressed by taking them by the Hand There is one thing singular in the Constitution of Zurich that is their little Council consists of Fifty Persons but there sit in it only Twenty five at a time and so the two halves of this Council as each of them has his proper Bourgomaster have also the Government in their hands by turns and they shift every six Months at Midsummer and at Christ-Mass The whole Canton is divided into nine great Baliages and 21 Castellaneries in the former the Bailiff resides constantly but the Castellan who is also one of the great Council has so little to do that he lives at Zurich and goes only at some set-times of the Year to do Justice The vertue of this Canton has appeared signally in their adhering firmly to the antient Capitulations with the French and not slackening in any Article which has been done by all the other Cantons where Money has a Soveraign inflâ—ence but here it has never prevailed They have converted the ancient Revenues of the Church more generally to pious uses than has been done any where else that I know of They have many Hospitals well entertained in one as I was told there was Six hundred and fifty Poor kept but as they support the real Charities which belongs to such Endowments so they despise that vain magnificence of buildings which is too generally affected elsewhere for theirs are very plain and one of the Government there said to me very sensibly that they thought it enough to maintain their Poor as Poor and did not judge it proper to lodge them as Priâ—ces The Dean and Chapter are likewise still continued as a Corporation and enjoy the Revenues which they had bâ—fore the Reformation but if they subsist plentifully they labour hard for they have generally two or three Sermons a day and at least one
is said to be the figure of the Body and Blood of Christ here is the language of the whole Church of that time and in the most important part of the divine Office which signifieth more to me than a Thousand Quotations out of particular Writers which are but their private opinions But this is the voice of the whole body in its addresses to God And it seems the Church of Rome when the new Doctrine of the Corporal Presence was received saw that this Prayer of Consecration could not consist with it which made her change such a main part of the Office This gave me a curiosity every where to search for ancient Offices but I sound none in the Abbey of St. Germains that seemed older than the times of Charles the Great so I found none of any great Antiquity in all Italy Those published by Cardinal Bona and since by P. Mabillon that were brought from Heidelberg are the most ancient that are in the Vatican but these seem not to be above Eight hundred Years old There are none of the ancient Roman Offices now to be seen in the Vatican I was amazed to find none of any great Antiquity which made me conclude that either they were destroyed that so the difference between Ancient and Modern Rituals might not be turned against that Church as an undeniable Evidence to prove the Changes that she hath made in divine matters or that they were so well kept that Hereticks were not to be suffered to look into them But to return to the Ambrosian Library there is in it a Manuscript of great Antiquity though not of such great consequence which is Ruffinus's Translation of Josephus that is written in the old Roman hand which is very hard to read But there is a deed in the curious Collection that Count Mascardo hath made at Verona which by the date appears to have been written in Theodosius's time which is the same sort of writing with the Manuscript of Ruffinus so that it may be reckoned to have been writ in Ruffinus's own time and this is the most valuable though the least known curiosity in the whole Library I need not say any thing of the curious Works in Crystal that are to be seen in Milan the greatest quantities that are in Europe are found in the Alps and are wrought here but this is too well known to need any further enlargement It is certain the Alps have much Wealth shut up in their Rocks if the Inhabitants knew how to search for it But I heard of no Mines that were wrought except Iron Mines yet by the colourings that in many places the Fountains make as they run along the Rocks one sees cause to believe that there are Mines and Minerals shut up within them Gold hath been often found in the River of Arve that runs by Geneva The last Curiosity that I shall mention of the Town of Milan is the Cabinet of the Chanoine Settala which is now in his Brothers hands where there are a great many very valuable things both of Art and Nature there is a lump of Ore in which there is both Gold Silver Emeralds and Diamonds which was brought from Peru. There are many curious motions where by an unseen Spring a Ball after it hath rowled down through many winding descents is thrown up and so it seems to be a perpetual motion This is done in several forms and is well enough disguised to deceive the vulgar Many motions of little Animals that run about by Springs are also very pretty There is a Loadstone of a vast force that carries a great Chain There is also a monstrous Child that was lately born in the Hospital which is preserved in Spirit of Wine It is double below it hath one Breast and Neck two pair of Ears a vast Head and but one Face As for the Buildings in Milan they are big and substantial but they have not much regular or beautiful Architecture The Governors Palace hath some noble apartments in it The chief Place of the Town is that of the Homodei which was built by a Bankier There is one inconvenience in Milan which throws down all the pleasure that one can find in it they have no Glass Windows so that one is either exposed to the Air or shut up in a Dungeon and this so universal that there is not one house of ten that hath Glass in their Windows The same defect is in Florence besides all the small Towns of Italy which is an effect of their poverty For what by the oppression of the Government what by the no less squeezing oppression of their Priests who drain all the rest of their Wealth that is not eat up by the Prince to inrich their Churches and Convents the People here are reduced to a poverty that cannot be easily believed by one that sees the Wealth that is in their Churches and this is going on so constantly in Milan that it is scarce accountable from whence so vast a treasure can be found but Purgatory is a fond not easily exhausted The Wealth of the Milanese consists chiefly in their Silks and that Trade falls so mightily by the vast Importations that the East-India Companies bring into Europe that all Italy feels this very sensibly and languishes extreamly by the great fall that is in the Silk-Trade There is a great magnificence in Milan the Nobility affect to make a noble appearance both in their Cloaths their Coaches and their Attendants and the Women go abroad with more freedom here than in any Town of Italy And thus I have told you all that hath hitherto occurred to me that I thought worth your knowledge I am Yours Postscript IN the account that I gave you of Geneva I forgot to mention a very extraordinary Person that is there Mrs. Walkier her Father is of Shaff House she lost her sight when she was but a Year old by being too near a Stove that was very hot There rests in her Eye so much sight that she distinguishes Day from Night and when any Person stands between her and the light she will distinguish by the Head and its dress a Man from a Woman but when she turns down her Eyes she sees nothing she hath a vast memory besides the French that is her natural language she speakes both High Dutch Italian and Latine she hath all the Psalms by heart in French and many of them in Dutch and Italian the understands the Old Philosophy well and is now studying the New she hath studied the body of Divinity well and hath the Text of the Scriptures very ready On all which matters I had long conversations with her she not only sings well but she plays rarely on the Organ and I was told she played on the Violin but her Violin was out of order But that which is most of all is she writes legibly in order to her learning to write her Father who is a worthy Man and hath such tenderness for her that he
some Secular Men and some Churchmen and as the Princes authority is delegated to them so they have a sort of an Episcopal jurisdiction over all the Clergy This Order was a surprise to them as being a direct breach upon their Laws and the Liberty of their Religion so they sent a Deputation to Court to let the Elector know the reasons that hindred them from obeying his Orders which were heard with so much Justice and Gentleness that their Prince instead of expressing any displeasure against them recalled the Order that he had sent them The way from Heidelberg to Frankfort is for the first twelve or fifteen miles the beautifullest piece of ground that can be imagined for we went under a ridge of little Hills that are all covered with Vines and from them as far as the eye can go there is a beautiful Plain of Corn-fields and Meadows all sweetly divided and inclosed with rows of Trees so that I fancied I was in Lombardy again but with this advantage that here all was not of a piece as it is in Lombardy but the Hills as they made a pleasant inequality in the prospect so they made the Air purer and produced a pleasant Wine The way near Darmstat and all forwards to Frankfort becometh more wild and more sandy There is a good Suburb on the South-side of the Main over against Frankfort which hath a very considerable Fortification there is a double Wall and a double Ditch that goeth round it and the outward Wall as it is regularly fortified so it is faced with Brick to a considerable heighth The Town of Frankfort is of a great extent and seemed to be but about a third part less then Strasburg The three Religions are also tolerated there and though the number of the Papists is very inconsiderable yet they have the great Church which is a huge rude building they have also several other Churches and some Convents there There are several open squares for Market places and the Houses about them look very well without Among their Archives they preserve the Original of the Bulla Aurea which is only a great Parchment writ in High Dutch without any beauty answering to its Title and since I could not have understood it I was not at the pains of desiring to see it for that is not obtained without difficulty The Lutherans have here built a new Church called St. Catherin's in which there is as much painting as ever I saw in any Popish Church and over the high Altar there is an huge carved Crucifix as there are painted ones in other places of their Church The Pulpit is extream fine of Marble of different colours very well polished and joyned I was here at a Sermon where I understood nothing but I liked one thing that I saw both at Strasburg and here that at the end of Prayers there was a considerable interval of silence left before the conclusion for all peoples private devotions In the House of their publick Discipline they retain still the old Roman Pistrina or Hand-mill at which lewd Women are condemned to grind that is to drive about the Wheel that maketh the Milstones go There is a great number of Jews there though their two Synagogues are very little and by consequence the numbers being great they are very nasty I was told they were in all above twelve hundred The Women had the most of a tawdry Imbroidery of Gold and Silver about them that ever I saw for they had all Mantles of Crape and both about the top and the bottom there was a border above a hand breadth of imbroidery The Fortification of Frankfort is considerable their Ditch is very broad and very full of Water all the Bastions have a Counter-mine that runneth along by the brim of the Ditch but the Counterscarp is not faced with Brick as the Walls are and so in many places it is in an ill condition the covered Way and glacy are also in an ill case The Town is rich and driveth a great Trade and is very pleasantly scituated Not far from hence is Hockam that yieldeth the best Wine of those parts Since I took Frankfort in my way from Heidelberg to Mentz I could not pass by Worms for which I was sorry I had a great mind to see that place where Luther made his first appearance before the Emperor and the Diet and in that solemn audience expressed an undaunted zeal for that Glorious Cause in which God made him such a blessed Instrument I had another piece of Curiosity on me which will perhaps appear to you somewhat ridiculous I had a mind to see a Picture that as I was told is over one of the Popish Altars there which one would think was Invented by the Enemies of Transubstantiation to make it appear ridiculous There is a Windmill and the Virgin throws Christ into the Hopper and he comes out at the eye of the Milne all in Waters which some Priests take up to give the People This is so course an Embleme that one would think it too gross even for Laplanders but a Man that can swallow Transubstantiation it self will digest this likewise Mentz is very nobly scituated on a rising ground a little below the conjunction of the two Rivers the Rhine and the Main it is of too great a compass and too ill Peopled to be capable of a great defence There is a Cittadel upon the highest part of the Hill that commandeth the Town it is compassed about with a dry Ditch that is considerably deep The Walls of the Town are faced with Brick and regularly fortified but the Counterscarp is not faced with Brick so all is in a sad condition and the Fortification is weakest on that side where the Elector's Palace is There is one side of a new Palace very nobly built in a regular Architecture only the Germans do still retain somewhat of the Gothick manner It is of a great length and the design is to build quite round the Court and then it will be a very magnificent Palace only the Stone is red for all the Quarries that are upon the Rhine from Bazile down to Coblentz are of red Stone which doth not look beautiful The Elector of Mentz is an absolute Prince his Subjects present Lists of their Magistrates to him but he is not tied to them and may name whom he will The Ancient Demeasne of the Electorate is about Forty thousand Crowns But the Taxes rise to about Three hundred thousand Crowns so that the Subjects here are as heavily taxed as in the Palatinate There is Twelve thousand Crowns a year given the Elector for his privy Purse and the State bears the rest of his whole expence It can Arm Ten thousand Men and there is a Garison of Two thousand Men in Mentz This Elector hath three Councels one as he is Chancellour of the Empire consisting of three Persons the other two are for the Policy and Justice of his Principality He and his Chapter