reach only to the Baltick Sea and even here the King of Denmark has deprived it of a considerable part of the Promontory of Jutland which he claims as a part of his Kingdom tho' it lieth on this side of the Sound or Mouth of the Baltick Sea But then by way of Reprisals she has enlarged her Borders to the The present Bounds South-East beyond the Danube to the Borders of Italy and Illyrica and beyond the Rhine to the West and North she has gained both the Alsatia's Lorrain and the 17 united Provinces which last were formerly called Gallia Belgica 2. This vast Tract of Land was in The ancient State of it those early times possessed by various Peoples and Nations who were much celebrated on the account of their numbers and valour yet each of them was under a distinct Regiment very different from that used by their Neighbours but then they had one common Original and the same Language and there was a great similitude in their Manners The greatest part of them were under popular Governments some had Kings but that were rather to perswade their Subjects by their Authority than to command them by the Soveraign Power for that Nation was never able to brook an Absolute Servitude This Ancient Germany was never reduced into one Empire or Kingdom wherein it was like the rest of her Neighbours Italy France Spain Greece and Britain before they were conquered by the Romans But then as Germany never was reduced by a Conquest so it retained more lively traces and marks of the Primitive State of Mankind which from separate and distinct Families by degrees united into larger Bodies or Kingdoms But then tho' The old German state dangerous weak this Independent Knot of States and small Kingdoms by reason of its freedom was very grateful to the Germans of those times yet it was absolutely necessary they should frequently be engaged in mutual and destructive Wars when they were so many and so small This again exposed them to the Invasions of their neighbour Nations though they were a warlike People because their scattered Forces were not united in one Empire for their defence Neither had the greatest part of these small States so much Politicks as in due time to unite in Leagues against the dangers of their potent Enemies but they perceived the Benefit of such a Concord when it was too late and they by fighting separately for their Liberty were one after another all conquered 3. The first that reduced Germany The Franks the first Conquerors of Germany of an unknown extraction from that ancient state were the Franks which Nation is of so controverted an Origine that it is not easie to determine whether it were of Gallick or of German extraction For tho' we should grant that all those Nations which the Greeks comprehended under the title of Celtae that is the Illyrians Germans Gauls Old Spaniards and Britains did as it were flow from the same Fountain yet it is very notorious they afterwards much differed each from the others in Language and Manners so that no man that is any thing versed in Antiquity can in the least doubt of it The foolish Pride of some of the Gauls occasioned this difference who being ignorant that many of the Gallick People in the first Ages had ambitiously boasted they were of Gâ—rman extraction did in the later times envy Germany the honour of having been the Mother of the Franks These men pretend that great multitudes of men out of Gaule invaded Germany in ancient but unknown times and passing beyond the Rhine possessed themselves of all the Countries upon the River Mayn to the Hercynian Forest and that after this they returned and conquering the Parts on the West of the Rhine recovered the possession of their ancient Country but so that a part of their Nation still inhabited on the Mayn and left their Name to that Country For the confirmation of this Opinion they cite Livy lib. 5. c. 134. Câ—sar de bello Gallico lib. 6. Tacitus de moribus â—ermanorum c. 28. 4 But to all this the Germans may The Franks were a Germ. People truly reply That the Testimony of these Latin Writers is not without just exceptions because they testifie very faintly of a thing which hapned long before their times and concerning a People too whose Antiquities were not preserved in any written Records Nor is it at all probable when the 1 Trebocci Alsatia the chief Towns of which were Breuco-magus Bruomat and Elcebus Schelstat Trebocci 2 Nemetes the Inhabitants of the Bishoprick of Speyr Nemetes 3 Vangiones the Inhabitants of Worms and Strasburg Vangiones 4 Treveri the Inhabitants of the Archbishoprick of Triers Treveri and some other People who in those times lived on the West side of the Rhine and yet owned themselves to be of German extraction That the Franks should on the contrary pass the Rhine and out of Gaul make a Conquest in Germany And yet after all though we should grant that the Franks were at first a Gallick Colony yet seeing they lived about 800 years in Germany and both in their Language and Customs differed from the Gauls and in both these agreed exactly with the Germans they are for that cause to be reckon'd amongst the German Nations This is certain in the mean time that till about CCC Years after Christ there is scarce any mention of the Franks made in any ancient History From hence there arose two very different Opinions whilst some believe those People who are by Tacitus call'd the 5 The Chauci were the Inhabitants of East-Friesland Groeningen Breme Lunenburg and Hamburg as they are placed by Ptolemy Chauci changed that name in after times and call'd themselves the Franks and others think that a number of German People or some parts of them united in this name and out of a vain affectation of Liberty took up the name of Franks for in the German Tongue Frank signifies free And to this purpose they produce the Testimonies of Francis I and Henry II Kings of France who in their Letters to the Diet of Germany say they are of German Extraction Tho' it is very well known at the same time to all wise men to what purposes such ancient and overworn Relations of Kindred are for the most part pretended 5. But however this be the Franks The Franks conquer Gaul now France and after it Germany for certain first passed the Rhine upon the Vbii or Inhabitants of the Archbishoprick of Cologne and after they had conquered the far greatest part of Gaul now call'd France turning as it were the course of their victorious Arms back again they conquered the greatest part of Germany and subdued all the Countries between the Mayn and the Danube and went Northward as far as Thuringia After this Charles the Great extended his Conquests much further by subduing the Saxons and Tassilon King of the Bavarians so
and Obedience to the new King than a Free Election for they rarely departed from the Order of a Lineal Succession but when there were Factions or the next Heir in the Line was wholly unfit for Government A part of Germany was before this time united by Conquest to the Crown of France and the rest of it was subdued by the victorious Arms of Charles the Great Whether any part of this Country freely and willingly submitted to him out of Reverence to his Greatness is very uncertain He also by his Arms conquered the Kingdom of the Lombards in Italy the Pope of Rome affording him a Pretence for it after which he was by the Pope and People of Rome saluted Emperor of Rome and Augustus Now what he gain'd by this Title we shall by and by inform you 8. Thus under Charles the Great Germany Germany a part of the Kingdom of France became a part of the Kingdom of France and was sufficiently subject to the Absolute Empire or Soveraignty of those Princes During this state of Affairs it was divided into divers Provinces which were governed by Counts or Earls and Marquesses who were for the most part of French extraction yet in these times the Saxons enjoy'd a greater shew of Liberty because Charles the Great had not been able to reduce them without a long and tedious War and was at last to perfect the Work and establish his Soveraignty necessitated to admit them to a participation of the Priviledges enjoy'd by the Franks and to unite them into one Nation with their Conquerors That he might further assure himself of this fierce Nation which was so impatient of Servitude he call'd in the assistance of the Priests who were ordered to teach them the Christian Faith and to inculcate into them how much they were obliged to those who had shewn them the way of obtaining Eternal Life On this account many Bishopricks and Abbies in Germany were founded by Charles the Great Germany was in the same estate under Saint Lewis the Son of Charles but that the Authority of the Prefects or Governours of the Provinces began to grow greater 9. But afterwards when the Children of The Children of St. Lewis divide their Father's Kingdom this Lewis had divided their Father's Kingdom amongst them which was the first and principal cause of the Ruin of the French Power and of the Caroline Family Germany became separated from the French Empire and was a distinct Kingdom under Lewis II. Son of St. Lewis To it was afterwards added a great part of the Belgick France or of the Low Countries as it is now called which lies towards the Rhine which for the most part was inhabited by German Nations which from Lotharius another of the Sons of St. Lewis was then called the Kingdom of Lorrain though at this day only a very small part of that Kingdom retains the old name During the destructive Wars which followed after these times between the Posterity of Charles the Great not only the German Nobility gained exorbitant Power but the very Family of Charles was at last totally extinguished or at least deprived of the Crown of France for to this day the Dukes of Lorrain and the Electors Palatine pretend to be descended of that Family and the Germans chose themselves Kings out of the Nobility of their own Nation from which times Germany became again a free State and Germany a free State had no dependance on the Crown of France Now because the German State is commonly call'd the Sacred Roman Empire I think it will be worth my pains to enquire How it first obtained this Title what it has gained by it and by what Right it now enjoys that Name for the clear understanding of which it will be necessary shortly to recapitulate the state the Roman Empire in the West was reduced to before the times of Charles the Great 10. It is very well and commonly known A short account of the Roman Empire after what manner the People of Rome after they had by the Success of their Arms subdued the noblest part of the then known World were at last by the ambition of a few over-potent Citizens engaged in Civil Wars and at length brought under the Dominion of a single person But then Augustus the Founder of the Roman Empire or Monarchy when he had by the assistance of the Army gained the Empire perswaded himself that he should easily keep it by the same way Therefore tho' from thenceforward he seemed to leave some of the Affairs of the State to the disposal of the Senate that it might still seem to have a share in the Government yet he wholly kept in his own hands the Care and Government of the Army But then it was his principal care to conceal from the Rabble of the Army That the Souldiers were the men who could set up and pull down the Emperors which Secret when it was once discovered the State of the Empire became as miserable as the Condition of the Emperors for the Empire being weakened by frequent intestine Wars found it self also often exposed to the worst of men by a covetous and turbulent Rabble which oftentimes most wickedly murdered her best Princes to her great damage and sorrow Nor could any of her Emperors after this entertain any hopes of firmly settling the Empire in their Families but was necessitated to be contented with a precarious Title amongst a parcel of mercenary Souldiers So that in truth the whole power of making the Emperors was in the Army which is the common Attendant of all Military Monarchies where a strong and perpetual Army is kept together in any one place and the Senate and People of Rome were weak and vain Names made use of to delude the simple common People as if the free and voluntary consent of the whole Body had constituted the Emperor That Kingdom thus founded on a Military Licence as it was unfit for continuance was by Constantine the Great and Theodosius hastened to its fatal period the first of these making Byzantium now called Constantinople the Seat of the Empire and withdrawing the Armies which had till then been maintained on the East of the Rhine for its preservation and the later by dividing the Empire between his two Sons Arcadius and Honorius soft lasie Princes and neither of them fit for such a Command From thence forward there were two Kingdoms for one and this Division was no way useful but only for the fitting the Western part by separating it from the Eastern to be the more easie Prey to the barbarous Nations and accordingly not long after this an end was put to the Western Empire and Rome was taken and sack'd by the Goths which before that had been deprived of all her Provinces by as good Right as she had got them and now in her turn lost her beloved Liberty and became a part of the Gothick Kingdom 11. After this the Gothick Power being Rome for
Onolzbeck 8. Next after the Electors follow some Of the other Princes of the Empire other Princes whose Houses are still extant and because amongst these there are various Contests for the Precedence I would not have the Order I here observe give any prejudice to any of them in these their vain Pretences The Dukes of Brunswick The Dukes of Brunswick and Lunenburg and Lunenburg possess a very considerable Territory in the Lower Saxony they are divided into two Branches to the first of these belongs the Dukedom of Brunswick now enjoyed by an ancient Gentleman two Brothers have divided the Dukedom of Lunenburg between them one of which resides at Zel the other at Hannover and the third Brother is now Bishop of Osnaburg The Dukes of Mechlenburg have a Mechlenburg small Tract of Land belonging to them which lies between the Baltick Sea and the River Elbe and this Family is now divided into two Branches Swerin and â—ustrow The Duke of Wurtemburg has in Franconia Wurtemburg a great and a powerful Territory his Relations have also in the extreamest parts of Germany the Earldom of Montbelgard in Montpelgart Hassia Alsatia The Lantgrave of Hassia has also a large Country and is divided into the Branches of Castel and Darmstad The Marquesses of Baden have a long but narrow Baden Country on the Rhine and are also divided into two Lines that of Baden properly so called and that of Baden Durlach The Dukes of Holstein possess a part Holstein of the Promontory of Juitland which by reason of the Seas washing its Eastern and Western sides is very Rich That part of Holstein which belonged to the Empire is possessed by the King of Denmark and the Duke of Holstein Gothorp which last has also the Bishoprick of Lubeck The Dukedom Lubeck of Sleswick doth not belong to the Empire The Duke of Sax-Lawemburg has Sax-Lawemburg a small Estate in the Lower Saxony and almost equal to that of the Prince of Anhalt in the Upper Saxony 9. These are the ancient Princes of the Savoy and Lorrain Empire for the Dukes of Savoy and Lorrain though Fees depending on the Empire and so having Seats in the Diet yet by reason of the Situation of their Countries they are in a manner separated from the Empire and have different Interests Ferdinand II who as many believe Ferdinand II. encreased the number of the Princes designed the subduing the Power of the German Princes and to gain an Absolute Authority over them amongst other Arts by him imployed brought into the Diet many Princes which depended entirely on him he intended by their Votes to equal if not overballance the Suffrages of the ancient Princes if he should be at any time forced to call a Diet which yet he avoided as much as was possible or that he might shew at least that there was no reason why the ancient Princes should so much value their Power seeing he was able when he pleased to set as many as he pleased on the same Level with them And the Princes of the old Creation had without question been very much endangered if the Emperor could have created Lands as easily as he could give Titles Amongst those however that then gained Places in the Diet are these the Prince of Hoenzolleren The Titles of Eleven of his creation Eggenburg Nassaw-Hadmar Nassaw-Dillenburg Lobkowitz Salm Dietrichstein Aversberg and Picolomini But then this Project of Ferdinand miscarrying and the Estates of the new Princes bearing no proportion with that of the ancient Families their advancement to this Dignity has never been found as yet of any use to them and they have also been much exposed to the Reproaches of the ancient Princes as the new Nobility is ever slighted by the old and they have taken it up as a Proverb against them That they have got nothing by this Exaltation but of Rich Counts or Earls to be made Poor Princes Yet it is to be considered That the most ancient Nobility had a beginning and that these Families in time may get greater Estates though the easiest way is now foreclosed against them by restraining the Emperor from disposing of the vacant Fees as he thinks fit 10. The Next Bench in the Diet belongs The Ecclesiastick States to the Bishops of Germany and Abbots Though this Order consists of men of no very great Birth as being but Gentlemen or at best the Sons of Barons or Earls and advanced to this Dignity by the Election of their Chapters yet in the Diet and other publick Meetings for the most part they are placed above the Temporal Nobility For since the Fortunes of the Churchmen in these latter Ages has been so vastly different from what it was in the beginning of Christianity it were very absurd to expect they are now bound to observe those Laws of Modesty our Saviour at first prescribed them and perhaps those Laws too were by him designed only for the Primitive Times For in truth it would have been ridiculous for Fishermen and Weavers ambitiously to seek the Precedence of Noblemen who were to earn their Bread with the labours of their Hands or to subsist on voluntary Contributions Now the Authority and Revenues of the Churchmen is very great in all those Countries that ever were under the Papacy yet their Riches and Power are no where so great as in Germany there being few of them in the Empire Oâ—â— very rich and powerful whose Dominions and Equipage is not equal to that of the Secular Nobility and their Power and Authority over their Vassals is of the same nature and many of them are also more fond of their Helmets than their Miters and are much fitter to involve their Country in Wars and their Neighbours in Troubles than to propagate true Piety But however in these later Ages there are more than there were in former times who are not ashamed to take Orders and once or twice in a year to shew the World how expert they are in expressing the Gestures and representing the Ceremonies of the most August Sacrifice But then whereas of old their Estates Now much diminished equalled if not exceeded that of the Secular Princes the Reformation of Religion which was embraced by the greatest part of Germany and the Peace of Westphalia in the year 1648 have strangely diminished them for in the Circles of the Upper and Lower Saxony the Churchmen have very little left But then in the Upper Germany if you except the Dukedom of Wurtemburg they escaped better Now the reason of this is this The Saxons being more remote did not fear the Efforts of Charles V. so much as the other Princes who were awed by his Neighbourhood to them and oppressed by his Presence Besides in Saxony their Dominions were intermixed with Potent Secular Princes and consequently lay exposed to their Incursions but in the Upper Germany they were seated They possess the greatest part of
Husbandmen most wanted partly to the Thirty years War by which Germany was most miserably desolated and partly because the Countrymen are of that Temper that as soon as they arrive at any considerable Estate they put out their Children to Trades as thinking those that live in the Cities much more happy than themselves Though I can scarce think that any Man had so much leisure as to take an exact account of the Cities and Burroughs of Germany yet I believe no man would be suspected by one that knew that Country if he should say that an Army of Two Hundred Thousand Men might be levied by A vast Army may be easily levyed taking out of every City five men and out of every Burrough-Town one or two at most For a Specimen of this there are some Authors that say That in the Ten Circles there are 1957 Cities Towns and Castles besides the Kingdom of Bohemia in which in the Reign of Ferdinand I. there were 102 Cities and 308 Towns and 258 considerable Castles 171 Monasteries and of Villages 30363. In Silesia there are 411 Cities 863 Towns and 51112 Villages In Moravia there are 100 Cities 410 Towns 30360 Villages and before the Protestants destroyed them there were 11024 Monasteries Priories Abbies and Nunneries Thus Ferdinand II. is by his Zeal for the Church of Rome said to have brought into her Communion One hundred thousand men This Nation is not only thus wonderfully Populous but from all times of which any memory has been preserved it has been ever The Inhabitants as warlike as numerous famous for War and greedy of Military Glory spending freely for a little Money its Blood in all the Nations of Europe As they are not over-hot in their Passions so they are very constant and have Souls very capable of Discipline and Instruction Nor is this Nation less to be admired and commended for their Mechanick Arts and Ingenious Manufactures And which crowns all Steddy and constant in their Humours and tends wonderfully to the Security and Welfare of Societies they are not at all inclined to promote Changes in their Governments and can with Patience and Submission endure the most Rigid Government I cannot forbear saying the English The Temper of the English different Nation has all the German Virtues which they brought over with them but these last for no Government will long please us being too much addicted to hope for better days in other Publick Circumstances And we are certainly the Nation in the whole World that can the worst bear an overloose remiss Government or a rigid severe one especially if not regulated exactly by Laws 2. Amongst the things in which the In the point of Strength the Country first to be considered Strength of a Nation consisteth the first that is to be considered is the Country it self As to the extent of it that may easily be known by travelling from Cassuben upon the Baltick Sea in the further Pomerania to Montpelgart upon the River Alain 33 Miles from Basil to the West or from the furthest parts of Holstein N. W. to the farthest part of Carniola S. E. or from Liege in the W. to the utmost Eastern Border of Silesia In this vast-extended Region if you except the top of the Alps there are very few places which produce nothing useful to the Life of Man but there are every where that Plenty of Necessaries that it wants nothing from abroad but what may promote Luxury and Superfluous Pleasures The Mines and some Rivers afford a little Gold and all its Precious Stones are of small value But then there is some Silver and great plenty of Copper Tin Lead Iron Quicksilver and other Metals of less price digged out of the Earth in very many places The Fountains afford as much Salt as the Country needeth though in all the Countries bordering on the Sea and the Navigable Rivers they generally use Salt brought from France Portugal and Holland They have great Plenty of Corn and Fruits of all sorts Wood Cloathing both Linen and Woollen as also Horses great Cattel and small and Wild Beasts and they want not those Liquors that will make them drunk So that in the whole Germany may be esteemed a Wealthy Region because it not only produceth those Metals of which Money is minted but all other things too which are required to the Support or Pleasure of Humane Life in that plenty that it can serve all its own Inhabitants and afford great quantities to be transported to Foreign Nations and those that are imported from abroad are either much less in value or such things as the Germans might conveniently live without if they knew how to suppress their Luxury or lay by their Laziness and Folly As for example How easie were it for them to be well content with their own Wine and Beer Or if they are not sufficient to make them drunk enough they might quicken the operation thereof with the hellish steams of Brandy and in the mean time never know or regard the Spanish and French Wines How easie were it for the Germans to cloath themselves with their own Cloth made of their own Wools and leave the Spanish English and Hollanders to wear theirs too Or if they are taken with the beauty and fineness of them then they ought to have encouraged their own Workmen to mend the Manufacture Nor would it be any Grievance to the Germans to want the Italian Silks Or if they must needs be well and finely clad the parts about the Rhine produce sufficient quantities of Mulberry Trees and so they might have Silk too if the Inhabitants could once perswade themselves to mind something besides their Vineyards Thus having Mulberries and Silkworms they might if they pleased learn the Art of making Silks And though it may perhaps be reasonable to impute the Germans affecting the French Fashions to the simplicity of this Nation as believing it becomes them much more than their own Yet it cannot be denied but it is a piece of intolerable Folly to fetch their Stuffs which are not fit for us nay the very Name of French Goods enhaunceth the value and esteem of what would otherwise be slighted The Frenchmens varying so often the Figures and Forms of their Stuffs is not an Argument of their Levity and Inconstancy as some think but a very crafty Design for by this means they prevent the German Workmen from ever imitating them though in truth the greatest part of the Artificers of Germany think it a Sin to vary from the received method they have once setled in their Trades nor can they possibly perswade themselves that there is any thing in the new Inventions which is good or to be imitated because forsooth it was not known to their Grandsires Lastly If Germany could possibly command and rule its own Luxury much less Sugar and Spices which with other things of that nature are brought from the East and West Indies would then serve it 3.
that not only the Countries possess'd by the old German Nations were all reduc'd under his Obedience but all those that lay upon the Baltick Sea and that part of Poland which lies on the West of the Vistula which was then inhabited by the Sclaves for History saith They also were either Tributaries to that Prince or majestatem comiter coluisse were Homagers to his Crown 6. The greatest part of the German Of what Nation Charles the Great was Writers have very fondly endeavoured to have it believed he was their Countryman as being born at Ingelheim a Town in the Bishoprick of Mentz but now under the Elector Palatine and in an ancient Charter of the Abby of Fuld the Lands upon the River Unstrut in Thuring are call'd The Lands of his Conception And that he us'd the German Tongue is apparent by the names of the Months used in his time which are still retained in Germany and are thought to have been introduced by him But if the Germans would suffer me a Foreigner to pass my judgment in this Affair tho' I am not at all disposed to favour the French in their other pretences to the damage of the Germans yet I would perswade them here freely and willingly to renounce their Pretences to Charles the Great and the rather because it can bring no injury to their present Empire for it is certain the Franks placed the Seat of their Empire in Germany and it is no less A Frank certain that the Father of Charles the Great By his Father was King of France and all his Progenitors had for many Ages lived in great Honour and managed great Employments in that Kingdom Besides those parts of Germany And born in France which lie on the West of the Rhine and were then subject to the Crown of France were possess'd by them as Accessions acquired to that Kingdom by Conquest and were looked upon as conquered Provinces and every man is esteemed to be of the same Nation his Father was and in which he has placed the Seat of his Fortunes and Hopes after his Father and Ancestors The sole consideration That a man was born in this or that Country will hardly be allowed to make a man of a different Nation from his Father unless we can believe that if the present King of Sweden had been born in Prussia he had been to have been esteemed a Prussian and not a Swede Nor was that part of Germany which lieth on the West of the Rhine esteemed a part of France till under Charles the Great it was united to that Kingdom And in the first timeâ— that followed when his Posterity had divided their Ancestor's Dominions amongst them the Historians frequently distinguish between the Latin or Western France and the German or Eastern France which is the same with Germany And it is observed that after the times of the Otho's that name of Germany by degrees grew out of use The objection made on the account of the use of the German Language by Charles the Great may be thus easily Tho' he used the German Tongue answered The Gauls having been long subject to the Romans by degrees lost their own Tongue and embraced that of their Conquerors so that at last there were scarce any footsteps of the old Celtick left amongst them But then the Franks brought their German Tongue along with them and without doubt did not presently forget it But then as the Franks neither destroyed nor expelled the Gauls but only assumed the Government and Soveraignity of the Country from whence it came to pass that those who were descended of the Franks were employed in the great Affairs and the Gauls as a conquered People were kept under but then as two Rivers of different colour uniting in one stream may for some time preserve each his proper colour but at length the greater stream will certainly change the lester into its own colour so in the beginning the Gauls had their Tongue and the Franks theirs till in length of time a third was made out of both mixed and twisted together in which yet the Latin is the predominant the plain cause of which is That the Gauls were more numerous than the Franks and it was much harder for them to learn the German than it was for the Franks to learn the Gallick Latin for with what difficulty Foreigners learn the German Tongue I my self know by experience From hence it proceeds that the most ancient Writers of this Nation call the vulgar Latin the Rustick or Countryman's Tongue because the Nobility and Gentry still used the German whilst the Countrymen and the rest of the Gauls had no knowledge of any other than the Latin And thus we see it is in our own times in Livonia and Curland where the old Inhabitants are by the Germans reduced into the condition of meer Rusticks for all the Nobility and the Inhabitants of the Cities speak the Sclavonian Tongue and the German but the Countrymen do scarce understand one German word of ten Thus Charles the Great might easily understand the German Tongue because the Franks who were a German Nation had not quite laid aside the use of it and also because the Franks before his time had conquered a great part of Germany and he went on with the work and reduced all the rest under his Dominion Nor was it possible in that unlearned Age to converse with the Germans in any other than their own Language But then he that observes that there is two very different Questions confounded into one will very accurately determine this Controversie for if the Question be Whether Charles the Great were of a Gallick or a German Original without doubt it will be answered That he was not a Gaul but a German or which is all one a Frank. But if the Question be What Countryman he was France and not Germany is to be assigned him and therefore in this respect he was no German but a Gaul or Gallo-Frank I fear I shall make the Reader think I take him for a stupid person if I should dwell any longer on so plain a thing and yet I will presume to give the Germans a known example If you fall upon a Nobleman of Livonia and ask him what Countryman he is he will reply a Livonian and not a German but then if you still insist and ask him of what Lineage he will say he is descended of the Germans and not of the Livonians 7. This Prince Charles the Great had The Titles of Charles the Great to his several Dominions under him divers Nations which he had acquired by very different Titles He enjoy'd France as his Inheritance devolved to him from his Father by Succession For though we read in their Histories that the ancient Franks had lodged in the Nobility and People of that Nation some Authority in the constituting their Kings yet I conceive it was rather a solemn Inaguration and an acknowledgment of their Loyalty
the Charges of the Empire for he well considered that all was to be spent on the Turkish War and the Preservation of the Austrian Dominions and when the Accounts of the Moneys expended in the Turkish War were to be in the hands of the Princes of this Austrian Familys the Low Countries were not likely to be overcharged nor to be very ill treated if they proved slow in the payment So that it was easie to observe That Charles V. by this Promise only encouraged the Germans to spend their Treasures the more freely in the defence of his Territories when they saw him so freely consent to bring his own Patrimony under the same Burthen tho' perhaps there might be another reason too at the bottom of it viz. That whereas his Son Philip then aspired to the Empire it might not be objected against him that he had no Dominions in the Empire those belonging before to the House of Austria being then assigned to his Brother Ferdinand Or perhaps that the Germans might think themselves the more obliged to defend these Provinces if they were at any time invaded by the French King At this time that Line is reduced The Males of this House to two Males Leopald Emperor of Germany who has since our Author wrote had a Son named Joseph and Charles King of Spain who has no Issue I have heard many of the Germans wish this Prince a numerous Male Posterity out of meer fear that the failing of the Line in this Family may cause dreadful Convulsions in Europe 5 The Family of the Counts Palatine of the The Counts Palatine of the Rhine and the Dukes of Bavaria Rhine and of the Dukes of Bavaria are as to Antiquity equal to the best and it enjoys a vast Tract of Land which extends from the Alps to the River Moselle and two Dukedoms in the Borders of the Low Countries It is divided into two Lines the Rudolfian and William one of these is possess'd of the Dukedom of Bavaria Bavaria and has ever been thought very Rich and in the last tedious Civil War it got also the Electoral Dignity from the Palatinate Family and for almost an hundred years it has possessed the Electorate of Cologne Prince Clement who was lately chosen being likely still to continue it in this Family tho' powerfully opposed by the King of France his Predecessor also possess'd the Bishopricks of Liege and Hildisheim The Rudolfian The Palatine Family Line is divided into many Branches the Principal of which is the Elector Palatine and it enjoys the Lower Palatinate on the Rhine a Country which for its strength pleasantness and fertility was equal to the best parts of Germany before the French with Fire and Sword barbarously laid it desolate not only demolishing but burning down to the Ground the greatest part of its Towns Cities Palaces and Churches The Count Palatine of Newburg The House of Newburg possess'd heretofore the Dukedoms of Juliers and Montz and some Dominions on the Danube and in the year 1685. Charles Lewis the last Elector dying without Issue Philip William of the House of Newburg succeeded in the Electorate too which in the year 1688. he resigned to his Son John William being grown very old and sorely oppressed by the French Besides these The other Branches of this House there are the Palatines of Sultzback Simmeren Deuxpont or Zuibrucken as the Germans call it Birkenfield and Lawtreck The Family of Deuxpont produced Charles Gustavus King of Sweden who The King of Sweden of this Family His Dominions in Germany now reigns in that Kingdom who by the Peace of Osnaburg has obtained in Germany the Dukedoms of Breme Ferden and the upper Pomerania together with Stetin the Principality of Rugen and the Barony of Wismar This Family enjoys now also Princes of great worth and virtue for as the Bavarian Line are celebrated for their great Piety so the Electoral Family have been much esteemed for their Prudence which character will belong equally to the House of Newburg the last of this Family was on that account thought worthy of the Crown of Poland tho' he was no way related to the Families that had worn it And Prince Rupert a Branch of the elder House of the Palatinate who died in England was a Person of great Valour and Worth and famous over all Christendom for the Wars he had managed by Sea and Land 6. The Dukes of Saxony possess almost the The House of Saxony middle parts of Germany to whom belongs Misnia Thuring and a small Country on the Elbe called the Vpper Saxony Lusatia and in Franconia the Dukedoms of Coburg and the Earldom of Henneburg a Country celebrated in some parts for its Fertility and in others for its Mines This Family is divided in to two Branches viz. Albert and Ernest the last of these is in possession of the Electorate and the second Son is to be Bishop of Magdeburg of the first are the Dukes of Altenburg Gotham and 4 Brothers of the Family of Wimar and a numerous Posterity besides 7. Next these are the Marquesses of Brandenburg The House of Brandenburg the Head of which Family is one of the Electors who has large Dominions in Germany besides Prussia which is placed now out of the Empire which also he lately obtained from the Crown of Poland he has Mark the further Pomerania gained from the Swedes tho' it belonged to him by Inheritance upon the death of the last Duke without Issue Halberstad Minden and Camin three Bishopricks given him as an Equivalent for the hither Pomerania and he was also to have that of Magdeburg after the death of Augustus the present Possessor of the House of Saxony These Dominions are large and fruitful yet some believe he would have chosen the two Pomerania's entire before all the rest I remember when I was in my return from Germany being at an Entertainment at Padoua in which were present some Italian and French Marquesses I had an occasion to say the Marquess of Brandenburg could travel 200 German miles in his own Dominions without lying one night in any other Prince's Country though in some places it was indeed interrupted whereupon many that were present began to suspect I was guilty of the common fault of Travellers and my Faith was much questioned but that an old Souldier who was present and had served long in Germany and had been one of my Acquaintance in that Prince's Court delivered me from their Suspicions They could not but blush thereupon when they considered that some prided themselves in this Title in Italy and France who were scarcely Masters of Two Hundred Acres of Land So little did they understand that our German Marggraves are more considerable than their Marquesses There is another Branch of this Family in Franconia who if I am not mistaken possess the old Inheritance of the Burggraves of Norimburg and are divided into two Lines that of Culemback and that of
the Hellespont into Asia from whence they first came if the French King who began the present War by his Arts had not to prevent their utter ruine in the year 1688 began as destructive a War on the other side of the German Empire which will in all probability force the Emperor to sit down contented with Hungary Transylvania Wallachia Servia and Bosnia and leave the Turks in the Possession of Bulgaria Thrace and Macedonia and a part of Albania and Dalmatia but much sunk in Courage Reputation Strength and Wealth so that he is never likely to recover his Loss again 5. Italy is very much inferiour to Germany Germany compared with Italy both as to Men and Wealth and being divided into many small impuissant States is not in a condition to offer any Violence to its neighbour Nations so that the Italians are very well pleased if the Emperor will but sit down with the loss of his ancient Pretences to their Country especially now that the Pope's Thunderbolts which heretofore were very dreadful are now for want of the former Zeal become weak and contemptible Nor is Poland in a condition And Poland to compare her self in any respect with Germany and seeing the Interest of the Polish State is rather to defend what they have than to make any Conquests upon their Neighbours and that the Necessity of the German Affairs must needs teach them the selfsame modesty There can hardly be supposed any Case in which the German Princes can be tempted to make a War upon Poland except any of the Emperors should intermeddle with their private internal Quarrels and Civil Wars The Danes were never yet in a With the Danes condition to subdue their neighbour Hamburgers much less are they able to attack the Forces of all Germany who tremble at every motion of the Swedes The Germans are nothing concerned to see the English Masters of her own Ocean and as it were folly in the English to attempt With England the subduing the Continent so the Germans have no Naval Forces that can dispute their Soveraignty of the Ocean or ought at all to be compared with the English Royal Navies The United States of With the Hollanders Holland have neither Will nor Power to attempt any thing against the Empire of Germany for these Water-Rats are altogether unfit for Land-service and although they have Money in abundance yet it is not for the Security of their own Liberty to maintain too great a Land-Army So that they are well pleased if the Germans will but suffer them to enjoy the Forts and Cities they have taken and garrison'd to defend themselves from the Spaniards though belonging to the Empire These Towns belonged to the Dukedoms An Addition of Cleves and Juliers and to the Archbishoprick of Cologne and were all taken by the French in the year 1672 and in the Treaty of Nimmegen restored all to their proper Owners except Maestriect which yet belongs rather to the Spaniards than the German Empire which having happened since our Author wrote was here to be taken notice of The Spaniards With Spain have no Territories which border upon Germany which are worthy to be compared with it and Spain it self is so very remote and her Forces so exhausted that she is not able to reconquer the small Kingdom of Portugal Even Charles V. when Spain was in the height of all its Glory and Power though Master of it and all the Austrian Dominions and Emperor of Germany too yet after all he was not able to oppress the rest of Germany As to Sweden though you consider all those With Sweden Provinces she has conquered on the South side of the Baltick Sea yet she is not to be compared to Germany in Men or Monies For whereas some men have been so much mis-led on the account of the old Proverb which called Scandinavia now Sweden Vagina Gentium the Sheath of Nations and on the score also of the late great Victories obtained by the Swedes in Germany under the Conduct of Gustavus Adolphus their King as to think it is superiour or at least equal to Germany in Men yet wise men do very well see and understand the true Reasons of those great Successes and that they proceeded neither from the Numbers nor extraordinary Valour of the Swedes for in the space of Eighteen years there was not brought over out of Sweden into Germany above Seventy thousand men the far greatest part of which returned back again and yet during that War there was scarce ever less than an Hundred thousand men of the Germans in pay so that the true cause of that wonderful Progress was the Discord of the Germans the opportunity of the Times which favoured the Swedes and because all the Protestants being oppressed ☞ by the Austrians looked upon Gustavus Adolphus as a Deliverer sent to them for their Preservation from Heaven But as to the now most flourishing Kingdom of France we may with greater probability With France doubt whether it be not a Match for Germany and yet if the Forces of both Nations be well considered without their Advantages or Weaknesses France being the stronger for being a regular Kingdom and Germany the weaker for being a knot of Independent States Germany is certainly the strongest of the two for 1. It is much greater than France and though we should suppose it only equal to France in point of Fertility yet even then it would excell France as to its Minerals 2. It has more Men than France and the Germans have on many occasions proved themselves the better Souldiers of the two 3. As to the quantity of Money it is very difficult to determine on which side the Advantage lieth for it is not to be guessed how much Gold the present King of France has squeezed out of the old Horseleaches of his Kingdom and how much he has encreased his Revenues which is not to be taken into consideration without wonder But then at the same time it is to be observed that the People of France are much more harass'd oppress'd and ruin'd by their excessive Taxes than the People of Germany are and that all the Wealth of France runs in one Channel whereas in Germany it is divided amongst many Princes and so it will not so easily be computed or estimated as it might if it were paid all into one Prince Since An Addition this Author wrote there have been two Wars between Germany and France and the second is now depending In the first the Germans were ever too hard for the French whilst they fought them in the Field but the French drawing on the War the Germans were at last worsted for want of Money and much more worsted in the Treaty and after it by the Treachery of the French But now the Turks are reduced to such an ebb and all Christendome is united against France so that all their Trade is cut off The Germans have