Comines with the Forts of St. Amour Bleverans and Joux the Towns of Rocroy Catelet and Linchamp which is a small Restitution for the Acquists the French have made by this Treaty As to the Forces of these Provinces it is and hath appeared to be very redoubted the Walloons being excellent Souldiers both for Horse and Foot as they have approved themselves both at Home and Abroad nor are they less numerous besides the Gentry are very ready to the service of their Prince and Country and are most accomplish'd Persons speaking promptly six or seven Languages of which Latine very readily but this reputed to the continuance of the War which brought a Conflux of all Nations into those Parts As to maritime Affairs their Dunkirk Navigations sufficiently tell the World what they were able to do at Sea but now they have but two Port Towns Newport and Ostend and neither of a convenient Station or Harbour for Shipping being very narrow and difficult to come out of with some Winds notwithstanding they will serve well enough for Pyratical Conveniencies but to Fleets let Flanders bid adieu The Revenue of these Provinces was considerable were it not for the constant Charge which the King is at in maintaining them so that they have been said to be the Correlative of the West Indies during the late Wars when they spent and consumed all that Treasure and bankrupted the King of Spain besides And sure it will be a long time and there must be as long a Tract of Peace before their Incomes will ballance the Account and make the King of Spain a Saver However at present he is in hopes of being no further Loser and of reducing his Revenue to some settlement which the late times so perplexed and squandered and the Care and Frugality of the present Governour the Marquess Caracence hath made a fair progress therein already In former times these People would not be content without a Prince of the Blood to be their Governour which made King Philip the 2d send his Daughter Isabella Clara and afterwards invested her and her Husband Albert the Arch-Duke with the Soveraignty and since the Cardinal Infanta the Arch-Duke Leopold and Don John of Austria but such is the present acquiescence under this fair and amicable Government of the Marquess besides such is the paucity of the Princes of the Blood both of Spain and Austria that they willingly accept of soever the King sends but such is his aequality and evenness with the People that the States are interested in the Administration more than ever any Prince would in former times allow but now they are grown up into a mutual Confidence and right Understanding one of another The Marquess of Caracena is supposed to be upon his departure and the Marquess Castel Rodengo is appointed to succeed him As to their Interest it being conjoyned and depending upon that of Spain further than what the Ecclesiasticks will do voluntarily of themselves in this Grand Cause of Religion against the Turks Besides that this People and Clergy especially are mainly devoted to the Imperial Family we will consider it when we come to treat of the Kingdom of Spain FRANCE THe Kingdom of France hath on the East the River Aa the Alps which divide it from Italy the Rhosne which parts it from Savoy Sagona which separates it from Lorrain and the Dutchy of Luxemburg On the South the Mediterranean Sea and Pyrenean Mountains On the West the Atlantick Ocean And on the North the English Ocean The nearer to the North the narrower it is and narrowest of all near Calice The Figure thereof between round and square and therefore bigger than a man would take it It containeth many large Provinces as Picardy Normandy Britain Aquitayn Gascoyn by which Names the two last are better known to Us than by the modern Divisions of them by the French the Isle of France Champayn Auvergn the Dutchy of Burgundy Daulphia Province Languedoc c. The two last lying toward the Mediteranean Sea bringeth forth all sorts of Fruits like that of Italy whereas Picardy Brittain and Normandy bringeth forth little or no Wine and the rest aboundeth with it and other Fruits so that it is under great diversity and various temperature of Air. It containeth in length 520. Miles from the Alps to the Atlantique or West Ocean and in breadth 584. from Marseilles to Calice The whole Land of France is fruitful and fertile and though the Apennine Hills spreading over almost all the South of Italy are barren yet in the Mountains of Auvergue which are the only of note and few else in France stand many good Towns richly seated where Cloathing is exercuted and a good part of the Kingdom served with Butter and Flesh of excellent relish the rest of the Kingdom is almost plain here and there garnished with fruitful Hills and green Valleys whose plenty doth contend with variety fertility with delicacy commodiousness of situation with the beautiful Fabricks and Structures of Cities And herein without controversie Italy giveth place to France for although some one Corner thereof affordeth exquisite Pleasure and delightful Prospects with happy Conveniences of Situation as Rovera d' Sala Campania the Territory of Croton Tarent and some other Cities of Calabria yet those are singular and few in Italy common and frequent in Fra ce especially in Burgundy Brie the Isle of France Turen Anjou Xaintong and Languedoc In each of which Provinces it seemeth that Nature hath set apart and as it were dedicated by allotment some Places to Ceres some to Bacchus some to Pomona and some to Pallas Yea it happeneth very often that the Western or North-west Wind arising from the Sea bringeth the Spring-tide before the Winter be fully expired so decking the Fields with Flowers and the Gardens with Herbs that the Inhabitants of Poitou Bourdeaux the Isle of France c. enjoy as forward a Spring as those of Jago d' Garda in Italy which is reckoned one of the most praecoce Frutages in Europe But there is nothing in France more worthy the noting than the number and pleasure of the Navigable Rivers whereof some as it were gird in the whole Realm as Sagona Rhosne and Mosel some other cut through the middle as the Sequan or Seyn Layre and Garon Into these Streams fall so many other Rivers some from the utmost bounds some from the inmost Parts of the Realm that it maketh the whole Country commodious for Traffique and Exchange of each others Wants Insomuch that by this facility of carriage and intercourse of Merchants all things may be said to be in common to the whole Kingdom In Anjou alone are forty Rivers great and small whereupon Q. Katherin de Medicis was wont to say That this Kingdom contained more Rivers than all Europe besides This indeed was an Hyperbolical Speech yet something of affinity to truth And we see that this easie and ready conveyance with the goodness and luxuriance of the Soyl hath been
barren if we consider each part thereof by it self alone but all being reduced together it aboundeth and is suffiently stored with all Necessaries and is particularly furnished with Minerals It is not very Populous both by reason the Spanish Man is not apt for Generation being more hot than virile in his Lust and the Women are Mothers so young and early that Nature is decayed in them before the half of their Teeming And 2. Because such vast numbers have been drawn thence continually to serve in the Wars and to re-inforce Garrisons as also for that many of his Subjects do excercise Navigation especially in great numbers to the Indies which is peopled what it is with Spaniards only and the Natives for they will not trust other people on shore they are so jealous of their wealth nevertheless the Country is by this means rid of all slothful home-livers Most of those Kingdoms above mentioned were conquered and won from the Moors and the Atchievement made by Ferdinand and Isabel Kings of Castile and Aragon which two Kingdomes with Leon became united by their Marriage at this same time And for Navarre it was seized by the Policy and Valour of this Ferdinand as we shall speak more at large of it because it is the Title of the French King and the House of Bourbon NAVARRE is bounded on the East with the Principality of Bearn in the Kingdom of France and acknowledging the same Soveraignty on the West with the River Iberus which divides it from Castile on the North by the Cantabrian Mountains which part it from Guypuscoa and on the South with Aragon It taketh up some parts of both sides the Pyrences but the sixth part of it lyeth on the French side and is very steril it is called the Base or Low Navarre which Lewis the 13th united with Bearn to the French Crown the other being called the High Navarre lyeth on the Spanish side and is fertile and adorned with Trees In the Reign of John of Albret who had married Catherine Sister and Heir of Francis the last of the House of Foix Kings of Navarre Ferdinand the most Catholique King who had Conquered the Kingdom of Granada from the Moors and united the two Potent Kingdomes of Castile and Aragon to which all the other but this and Portugal were one way or other incorporated resolved to add this also and to compleat the Monarchy of Spain Hereupon in the year 1512. pretending a final and utter Extirpation of the Moors he raised an Army and of a sudden marched towards Navarre demanding of them passage for his Army into France Lewis the 12th the King whereof with all his Subjects were then under Excommunication the Executioner of which Ferdinand undertook to be as his Successors have done ever since which being waved by K ng John and his Queen he immediately en red the Country and without the striking of a blow reduced it the French King being backward to the relief of it then but afterwards endeavouring with all his Power to recover it when it was too late being fortified and secured by the Conquerour Not long after in 1556. by Joan the Daughter and Heir of Henry of Albret this Title with the sixth part mentioned before came to Anthony of Bourbon Duke of Vendosme Father of Henry the 4th of France but the design of regaining this his paternal Inheritance by reason of his tedious War for the French Crown was to him also unfeasible but had he survived that fatal stroke given him by Ravilliac no doubt he would have bid fair for this his just Right to which his Successors have such an appetite as Patrimony is a great Magnetick that in all Treaties with Spain since they insert a salvo jure a saving of their Claim Right and Title to Navarre to be lawful for them to prosecute in an ordinary Course of Justice but that Justice hath no Courts nor have Princes Patience or Hope in the Brawles of Lawyers or those Decrees which cannot give Seizin and Delivery A lucky opportunity for a re-surprize is only worthy of their expectation The other Kingdomes taking up too much room and time in their Limitation and Description we will mention and comprize together giving the Reader to understand that Castile and Aragon are the most noble as who have made all those Acquisitions of the Spanish Greatness and their distinct Titles were these to Arragon belonged Sicily Sardinia Majorca Valentia Catalonia Navarre and Naples To Castile belonged Leon Gallicia Toledo Murcia Biscay Granada and America because Queen Isabel furnished Columbus Nor was Navarre when under its former Princes far behind them in such Atchievements on the French side Note we also that the County of Rossilluon formerly a Member of the Kingdom of Majorca is by the late general Treaty together with the Viguery of Conflans and part of the County of Cerdana as is situate in the Pyrenean Mountains towards France and not belonging to Catalonia assigned by the Spaniard to the French for ever to whom it was long since pawned for 300000. Crowns but remitted by Charles the 8th of France to Ferdinand the Catholique upon condition he should not hinder him in the Conquest of Naples By the same Treaty the French surrendred all his Garrisons and Places he had taken in Catalonia excepting such as should be found to belong to the County of Cerdana aforesaid These 14. Kingdomes are governed by the same Court or Imperial Laws intermix'd with some Customes of the Goths and some additional Constitutions of their Kings and the Government conserved by Justice impartially here executed and the Inquisition in Ecclesiastical Affairs so that there is never like to be a War upon pretence of Reformation in this Kingdom To give the People their due whether it is that that Inquisition hath awed them to it they are very devout and zealous and most Loyal to their Prince whom they will spare no blood nor treasure to aggrandize and of whom they never speak without great reverence and honour and in his service no men can possibly be more patient or endure more misery and hardness than will they even to the utmost and worst of Extremity and as faithful and true they are to him there having been few Traytors of all his Subjects nor any Command or Trust betrayed by any of them Generally of themselves they are very grave and serious in all their Actions and yet notwithstanding so addicted to Pride that they think all the World pittiful Fellows and Fools in comparison of themselves In summ they have effected great and noble things viz. their Conquest over the Moors and the New World together with Philip the Second's Conquest or Possession of Portugal and they have failed of as great viz. their Design upon England in 88. and in their Grand Project of an Universal Empire which hath almost broke the Heart of this Monarchy The Government is Absolute and Royal Matters of several qualities are handled in several Councils
hath been one chief Policy to win them the better it seemeth reasonable that they should equally partake with them in defraying the Charge The Interest of this Kingdom requires that a good Understanding and Correspondence be maintained betwixt the King and the Nobility not to quarrel with the Turk to preserve Friendship with the Swede to make Alliance with the Persians and to keep the Tartars at home to ruine the Muscovite to have an eye upon the House of Austria and to respect France as that which can put a stop to the Imperial Armes if they should enterprize upon that Kingdom CURLAND BEfore we dismiss this Kingdom we must mention the Dutchy of Curland being one third part of Livonia the other two being called Eastland and Lettenland and a Soveraignty of it self but held in Fee of the Crown of Poland upon this account Gothardus Ketler a Noble Dane the last of the Dutch great Masters in Livonia having surrendred the Province to Sigismond Augustus in 1562 conditioned for his Investiture in this Dutchy to him and his Heirs but to be holden of that Crown Since which time the Nobility having accepted him as their Haereditary Prince the succeeding Princes have continued Feudatories unto Poland but are not reckoned as Parts or Members of the Body thereof for they come not to the Diets nor have any Voice in the Election of the King nor are lyable to any Taxes but are accounted as indeed they are Strangers and not natural Lords or Peers of that Kingdom The present Prince of the same Family of the Ketlers is neer allyed to the Marquess of Brandenburg whose Sister is his Mother so that for want of Issue all those great Estates of the Elector in the Ducall Prussia Germany and Cleve c. will come to this Duke as his next Heir During the late Danish War in 1658. the Swede expecting some Invasions of this Duke as being so interested in both his Enemies Cause and Quarrel ordered General Dowglas to secure him who surprized him in his Residence at Mittaw by some Boats full of Souldiers pretending for the Pole and carried him and his Dutchess away Prisoners in which condition they contiued till the Peace was made and concluded between all Parties so that he hath no great affection to that Nation He is a Prince of little Power as his Subjects of Trade although his Country border upon the Sea but it affords no convenient Harbour for Traffique any where in his Coast Yet so much must be said for his Honour that he supplyed our late Soveraign Charles the 1st with two Ships loading of Armes upon his own account during those unnatural Wars in England and was ready to do him any further Offices of Respect and Friendship I should next speak of the Europaean Tartars and the Circassians as confining to the Eastern parts of Poland but I will reserve the discourse of them to the succeeding Chapter of the Russians with whom they will best sute and agree RUSSIA THis spacious Empire is bounded on the East by Tartary on the West with Livonia and Finland from which divided by great Mountains and the River Poln on the North by the frozen Ocean and some part of Lapland and on the South by Lituania and the Tartars and Circassions inhabiting the Lake Maeotis and the Euxine Sea It is partly seated in Asia and Europe distinguished by the River Tanais the common Boundary of those Parts of the World It stretcheth in length 3660 English Miles from Cola in the North to Astrachan in the Caspian Sea and in breadth 3300. which is 4400. Versts to adjust which to English Miles we deduct one fourth part From the Narve in Livonia West to the Province of Severia East a vast Extent but nothing so populous as spacious especally since it was drained of so many Men by the continual Wars of Vasilowich the Great Tyrant and his Predecessor the Great Duke John who took the great Dutchyes of Severia and Smolensko Nielchess Plescovia Novogorod Jaroslaw most part or indeed all Livonia with the Kingdoms of Casan and Astrachan from the Tartars as the other from the Polanders but for want of supplyes to reinforce their Armies lost them all again except some few Places and the two Asian Kingdoms which yet they maintain The Tartars have formerly as much nay more plagued this Country than the Christian Enemies thereof for by their frequent Conquest and Invasions they made the Great Duke their Tributary with this kind of service to be performed by him to the Emperour of the Praecopenses or the Great Chrim Tartar that is to say every year the Russian on foot fed the Chrim's Horse he sitting thereon with Oats out of his Fur Cap 1140. in his Castle of Musco for commonly every year the Tartar bordering nearer to him than seven dayes journey at which distance he now stands progressed thither as in State whereas of late times he comes every other year likely like a sudden Tempest and having wasted and ruined the Country and made up the number of his Captives departs as hastily unless the Sultan in person make it an Expedition Royal or when the business comes to battel where if the Russian prevails the War and Ravage is carried as far into the Tartars Country But to prevent this danger the Russian doth all he can to be at Peace with him both by Bribes and Presents And it will not be unworthy the relation as I my self in 1654. have been particularly informed in that Country from the Deputy Governour of the Castle of Archangel how the Tartar came to lose that Claim his Hold and Soveraignty in this Kingdom which the Russians ascribe to a certain Boyar in the Reign of Basilius some a 100. years since or Nobleman intrusted with a strong Castle of the Great Dukes which the Tartar upon the last reduction and subjugation of Russia having compelled the Great Duke to sign an Instrument of Vassalage and Fealty to him his supreme Lord in his return besieged no other Place then standing out against him This Fortress he therefore strenuously attempted withall intimating to the Governour when he saw Force would not presently do that his Master had himself yielded and submitted and that it was to no purpose for him to resist unless he had a mind to draw upon himself the Punishment of Treason and to this purpose he had such a Writing c. to produce To this the prudent noble Governour made present answer that if such a thing were real and he might see it for his Justification to his Prince upon the surrender it should bind and conclude him which the unpractised Tartar had no sooner sent into the Castle but the Governour caused it presently to be torn into pieces before the Messengers face whom he returned with a more resolute defiance than at first And in fine so long delayed him and so wasted his Army that the Great Duke resuming his Spirit was making to his relief when the
as the King is a Prince of the Empire He is also a Prince and Member of the Circle of the Rhine made so by the aforesaid Treaty at Munster he is obliged and hath accordingly sent away his Aides into Hungary but so unwelcome is the Nation to the Germans that they had like to have been engaged and set upon in their passage near Erford by those whom they came to assist so that they have little encouragement to that service Besides He is in League or some rude manner of Friendship with the Tartar who merited of him well in the Polish War and he himself is so great an Invader and Souldier of Fortune that Religion or its Interest weighs little with him however our Puritans cried up the Great Gustavus for a Zealot All therefore that will be done by him in this Affair will be more out of necessity and the Laws and Decree of the Empire and the Example of other Princes than his own Choice and Generosity And so we pass to his Neighbour the Dane DENMARK DENMARK is bounded on the East and South with the Baltique Sea On the North with Norwey bounded on the West and North with the German and Frozen Sea and Sweden and on the West the said German Ocean The entire Body of this Kingdom was made up principally in form of three Parts The First is the Realm of Denmark containing both the Jutlands part of Scandia adjoyning upon the Swedes Country as Halland and Schonen which is now in the Swedes possession and the Islands of the Baltique Sea 2. Norwey To which must be added the Islands of Iceland and Freezeland in the Northern Ocean where such abundance of Cod is taken by the Dutch the Danes and Us of large extent but of little benefit to this Crown 3. The Dukedome of Holstein containing 4. Provinces but now exempt from the Kingdom and other Jurisdictions added to the said Dukedom which are likewise aliened from Denmark of which more hereafter The Kingdom of Denmark lyeth partly in the Cimbrick Chersoness adjoyned to the Dukedom of Holstein as both the Jutlands out of which some part is newly borrowed to adde to the said Dutchy divided into several Districts and partly in Scandia but principally in the Islands As for the Dutchy of Holstein it hath of late years been unfortunate to the Danes being over-run by the Imperialists in 1628. in the Reign of Christiern the 4th but honestly restored by the Emperour upon easie Conditions Then it was harrassed by the Swede in 1643. and 4. and now finally freed by them from the Crown of Denmark only the best part of Jutland remaines in its pristine obedience In Scandia Schonen being gone Halland and Blecking is all he holds there and indeed they are fine Provinces but the unkind separation of their Sister of Schonen which signifies Beautiful renders them a little unpleasant to the Kings view and prospect So that his chiefest strength of his Dominions lies in the Islands in number 35. two of which Zeland and Fuenen or Fionia are most considerable and made more eminently famous by the late Swedish War the Latter for the Passage of the King of Sweden over to it upon the Sea on the Ice with Horse Foot and his great Artillery with the loss only of two Troops and the Defeat of his Forces there afterwards by the Confaederate Armies The Other for the Castle of Cronenburg that guards the Sound and Copenhagen the Royal Residence of the Kings of Denmark and which for almost two years space withstood a most perrillous Siege and finally beat off the Swedes with great loss and thereby overthrew all their Designes which proved in effect the death of that King It is a low Town ordinarily built and hath nothing of Magnificence in it but the Spirit of the Inhabitants the Kings Palace being no extraordinary Building save that its covered with Copper The Kingdom of Norway toward the North is separated from Lapland by high and craggy Rocks and the Eastern and Western Parts are hard to travel for the same reason The Land is not very fruitful of Corn and therefore the Inhabitants the meaner sort eat Stockfish which transported into other Parts is exchanged for Corn. The Inhabitants are naturally honest and not a Thief among them and very Civil to Strangers and formerly very Martial for these People were first called Normans and were Ancestors to our Conquerours but such is the hard Condition under which they are kept by the Danes though in appearance Fellow Subjects ever since the Union of the two Kingdomes by the Marriage of Aquinus in 1359. with Margaret the Daughter and Heir of Waldemar the 3d. of Denmark the Issue of which Marriage died and left this Kingdom to the Usurpation of his Mother Margaret whose Successors have continued it to this day that the Norwegians have wholly lost their Courage and former Valour not being suffered to go out of the Kingdom to traffique their own Commodities which besides Fish are rich Furrs Tallow Butter Tann'd Leather Train Oyl Pitch Clap-board Masts Deal-boards and Fire-wood from the Custom whereof ariseth the Kings greatest Profits being received for him at Bergen and Wardhouse but this Revenue is very inconsiderable The whole Realm is divided into five Lieutenancies or Governments which in this uncultivated remote Country will not concern us in any particulars no more than the appendixed Islands above mentioned Having thus summarily discoursed of the Parts of this Kingdom we will briefly mention the Government which having been placed in an Haereditary Monarchy from the Foundation of this Estate was challenged as Elective by the Usurped Power of the Nobles and People by their Deposing of Ericus about 1420. and Electing his Cosen Christopher Count Palatine of the Rhine who dying without Issue they again chose Adolph Duke of Holstein who excusing himself by reason of his age by his advice they chose his Nephew Christiern Earl of Oldenburg who brought both those Estates to this Crown Since when they continued the fashion of an Election but never passed by the next Heir until the year 1660. when in consideration of this Kings extraordinary Care Valour and Vigilance in defence of his People against the Swedes they resolved to restore what they had so long detained by returning the Government into the old Channel and making it again Haereditary in the Family of this Prince although with much reluctancy and discontent of many of the Grandees By which change so lately made there can no perfect account be given of the present administration being solely at the Kings disposal as it is with other absolute Monarchs As to the Nobles they are reputed the most antient of all Europe and the Gentry the like and to preserve and maintain that honourable Esteem they never match into Plebeian Families but keep their Blood unmix'd and pure in its first Current The Gentry are neither so fierce nor so subtle as their Neighbours and are very generous
the original of so many great Cities and good Towns in this Kingdom and those most commonly seated upon the Banks of Rivers And although it have many goodly Havens yet the Up-land Towns are fairer and richer than those that stand near the Sea Marseilles excepted which argueth their wealth to be their own and not brought from foreign Countries for there the Sea Towns excell those of the Land as Genoa Venice Ragula but where the prosperity of Cities dependeth wholly upon the Land there it is otherwise as in Millain Nurenberg and most of the Towns of Germany Flanders and Hungary All this notwithstanding although almost like goodness of Soyl be proper to the whole Realm of France as likewise the situation of the Rivers commodious yet Paris excepted whose largeness proceedeth from the Kings Court the Parliament and the University the Towns there are for the most part but small and mean yet beautiful commodious and very populous so that in a Description of the Number of this People written in the Reign of Charles the 9th it is asserted that the Number of the Inhabitants exceeded 15. Millions And as the Cities and Towns in France may boast of their Rivers so the Castles and Villages of Noblemen are no less pleasured and favoured with the pleasure and strength of Lakes and Marishes which although they may not be compared to those of Italy and Switzerland yet are they so many and so fall of excellent Fish that the numbers of the one may aequal the largeness of the other The same may be spoken of Woods not so well as thick grown out of those Woods in times past the Kings Revenue did arise and the Noblemen do make great profit by selling great quantities thereof for fire-wood but greater by sales of Timber Trees which they use for want of Stone in the greatest part of their Buildings In regard of the commodious situation and current of these Rivers serving so fitly for the transportation of Victuals from one place to another this Kingdom is so abundantly furnished with all plenty of Provision that it is able to nourish an Army in the Field how multitudinous soever When Charles the 5th entred France first by Provence and afterwards by Champaign it maintained One hundred and fifty thousand Souldiers besides the ord nary Garrisons In the Reign of Charles the 9th and since that in the time of the League a greater number there were maintained in this Kingdom 20000. Horse 30000. Footmen Strangers and of French 25000. Horse and 100000. Foot Besides this plenty there is enough to spare being four wayes or Loadstones to draw Riches from foreign Nations 1. Corn carried into Spain and Portugall 2. Wines transported into England Scotland the Low Countries and the Inhabitants of the Baltique Sea Together with Salt wherewith the whole Kingdom and the bordering Nations are plentifully stored This Salt s made in Provence of the salt water of the Mediterranean Sea and at Brouage in Xaintong where the heat of the Sun ceaseth his vertue of making getting and boyling Salt of Sea water not daring to yield so great a favour any farther Northward I mean of Sea water because further North there is Salt found also but made either of some special Spring water as in Lorrain or compound of some Mineralls mix'd with fresh waters as in Poland England Germany or else taken forth of some Salt Mines as were once in Sweveland but of this Merchandise of Salt something more shall be said hereafter The 4. and last Commodity is Canvass and Linnen Cloth whereof what profit ariseth is hardly credible to those who have not made an inspection into it what abundance thereof is carried into Spain and Portugal and England and Holland also to make Sayls for the furnishing of Shipping There groweth also Woad Saffron and other Merchandise of smaller value which though they arise not to aequalize the above-said Commodities yet they arise to a competent summ so that the Emperour Maximillian used to say That France was a continual flourishing Medow which the King did mow as oft as he listed And Foreigners from the mouth of Maximillian the Emperour who Charactered the several Princes and Subjects of Europe call him Rex asinorum for the continual Burdens and Pressures he layes upon his People so that in Normandy the Peasants wear wooden Shooes and neither eat nor drink Flesh Wine or Beer throughout the year Having intimated before that we should not travel this Country for that it is so generally known we will survey only those places that are of modern concernment Omitting therefore the names of some eminent places which have given title to the Kings of France as Valois Bourbon which aspect the History but are far deducible and supposed to be generally known here also to pass by the Sabique Law which admits no female to a Scepter under pretence whereof our Edward the 3d. was put from his title to France by Philip the first King of the House of Valois we will mention only three places which of all the Members and Provinces of France keep themselves yet distinct and absolute Soveraignties notwithstanding that the French Kings in all times endeavoured the Union of the like parcels to the Crown witness the Dutchy of Britany of some late Ages and now the Principality of Aurange the County of Venascine or the Papal Jurisdiction of Avignon and lastly the Dutchy of Nivernois all which are totally exempt from any dependance on the Crown The Principality of Orange did belong to the County of Provence as did Avignion being Tributaries thereto and made 2 parts of 3 the other being for many years in the Kings possession by the resignation of the last Earl of Provence who died issue-less and is governed by a Parliament held at Aix This Principality was once in the Possession of the noble family of Chaalons who had it in marriage with an Heir General and obtained the absolute Soveraignty thereof from the Earl of Province with the Priviledge of Coyning and all other Royalties added to the Title of Prince of Orange by the Grace of God To this Family succeeded the House of Nassaw by their marriage of the Heir General likewise about the year 1500. in which House it hath ever since continued without any disturbance until the year 1660. In the beginning whereof the Cardinal Mazarine seeing the Restitution of our Government resolved to seize it into the French Kings hands before any stop might be put to his proceedings by our Kings Intervention and accordingly by menaces to the Count of Dhona the Governour and other artifices upon pretence of misdemeanours and outrages committed by those Protestant People upon their Catholique Neighbours to the endangering the Peace by a Treaty managed by Monsieur Jure Millet the Kings Commissioner possessed himself of the Town Castle and Principality upon Condition to render it with all the stores c. to the Prince at his Majority or in case of his decease to the
have well feathered their Nests therewith There hath nothing of Feud passed in this Circle since the Treaty And so we proceed to Wetteraw WETTERAW is bounded on the East with Franconia 11. Wetteraw on the South with the Lower Palatinate on the West with Colen and on the North with Hassia It consists of several petty Estates confederated together viz. Of the Counts of Nassaw the Earls of Hanaw and Solins the Baron of Lichteberg and two Imperial Cities The County of Nassaw is a most pleasant fruitful Place and the Original of that Noble Family who by Marriage of Engelbert the 7th Count of this Title with Mary the Daughter and Heir of Philip Lord of Breda became possessed of the City and Castle and a large Territory into the bargain improved by many additions by which means his Successors became first Subjects to the Dukes of Burgundy and after to the King of Spain who endangered the Head of Prince William the 2d and afterwards caused him to be assassinated Concerning their Title of Orange which is of above a 100. Years more modern Title we shall speak of it in our view of France but it is also here to be remembred that the Counts of Nassaw are of late years also Earls of Buren by the Marriage of Philip eldest Son of the abovesaid Prince William kept Prisoner by the Spaniard to his death with the Heir of the Earl of Egmond to whom this Buren seated as before in Gelderland did belong The Reader is to understand that there are three several Branches of this Family as that of Count William Governour of Freisland and the other of Weilborough yet notwithstanding in case this present Prince Son of the late Lady Mary Sister of our Soveraign and Prince William the 3d. should dye without Issue the greatest part of all these noble Estates but this of Nassaw together with the Title of Count Catzenbogen a Town seated herein but sold after much difference and contest to the Lantgrave of Hassia who pretended a right to it goes to the Marquess of Brandenburg who married a Daughter of the Family of Orange as by Contract with the French King he is certain of that Principality This Family is allyed to the greatest in Europe The Earldom of Hanaw and Lordship of Lichteberg belong to the first and second Branches of the same House and are a very Illustrious Family for Descent and Territory but must give place to the Count of Solins for Antiquity and in all times highly esteemed for their personal worth much advanced in reputation of late by the Marriage of one of the late Earls thereof with one of the Sisters of Prince Maurice and afterwards with the Widow of the Earl of Egmond and very recently by the Marriage of a Daughter of that House to Prince Henry who proved the Mother of William the Father of this present Prince of Aurange As to the two Imperial Cities Friberg and Wetzelaer they comply with their Neighbours in the same Combination the Religion profess'd here being Calvinian altogether but the Discipline and Pride thereof mollified and accommodated to the Government and the Peoples temper as it is served in most places of Germany where it hath been received We pass now to the Dutchy of Wittenburg 12. Wittenburg and the Marquisate of Baden and will suffer them to go joyned together as we find them in Geography and they are thus bounded on two parts South and East with Swevia on the West with the Rhine and Brisgow another part of Swevia on the North with the Lower Palatinate they are divided from one another by a high ridge of Hills Wittenburg is for the most part a plentiful Country but towards the edges and hath been the Dominion of many Martial Dukes to which the present is no way inferiour For want of Military Employment at home he would have served the French in the late War against the Spaniard and should have been General of the Horse being highly caressed by that King but that War being composed he is now engaged in the service against the Turks His Revenue is very considerable for the Earldom of Montletgard in Alsatia omitted there purposely as to be reduced to this Estate to which it hath belonged for many Ages but lately some part thereof hath been seized by the French who after they had got Lorrain and Alsatia stick'd at the Strong Holds of this Country the Principal whereof viz. Montletgard being strongly seated on the top of a Mountain under pretence of securing it for some younger Descendent of this Family whose right it was they yet keep in their hands as they do the Principality of Aurange upon the same score But his Towns are very deficient in all furniture of Ammunition and warlike Provision otherwise he would not be inferiour to most of the Princes And yet a Magazine should concern this Prince for he is alwayes in Fend with the free Cities of which there are six in his Dutchy of Wittenburg as Wimpten Hailbran on the Neccar c. But it is hazardous to begin new Troubles in Germany The Marquisate of Baden is a great deal less considerable although it have the Earldom of Hochberg joyned to it but that advantage is reciprocated by a disadvantage that the Patrimony is parted between two Families this of Baden and the younger that of Baden Durlach who by the Imperial Constitution is a Field Officer against the Turks this Campagnia Concerning the Interests of these Princes little is to be said for all things were so lulled and secured by the Treaty at Munster that scarce any Seeds remain of any Discontent but if any such there be Prudence will conceal them Having thus traversed a great part of the Midland we will make a transition to the Eastermost parts of Germany and in our return thence take in all the rest of the Country being hindred from a methodical Conjunction of it by the omission of the Hereditary Dominions and therefore we shall next survey Brandenburg This Province is bounded on the East with the Kingdom of Poland on the South with Lusatia 13. Brandenburg Silesia and Misnia on the West with Saxony and on the North with Pomerania It contains 180. English Miles in length and as much in bredth which makes up 410. Miles in compass plentiful of Corn but not thick inhabited nor well furnished with other accommodation It is called the Marck of Brandenburg because they were the antient Marcks of the Empire divided into the old Marcks and the middle or upper Marcks in which is Berlin the Marquess's Residence extending from the River Odera which distinguisheth another Frankfort abounding in Corn and Wine to the Borders of Poland Besides this he is possessed of the Ducal Prussia and the share of the Dukedomes of Cleve the reversion of the Bishopricks of Magdeburg the possession of Halberstadt Minden and Camire with Title of Prince and Duke thereof which he had in lieu of his resignation of the
now of the Turkey thereof Having surveighed our own State and what we may hope take we a view of the Mahumetans and what we may fear whose Dominion is placed most conveniently for the Universal Monarchy he aimed at being evenly situated between Europe and Asia as some think on the Center of the habitable World whereby he is ready on all Occasions to stretch his Conquest every way being able to conveigh Recruits Supplyes and Armies into either Coast His own Seat Constantinople the boundary of both Parts of the World lying on the shore of the Seas of either the Euxine and the Mediterranean which command the Plenty of each Region to the very Walls of the Seraglio and then conveigh the Power of that mighty Place to both those Countries As 1. To Europe and there 1. to Sclavonia lying so obnoxious Eastward to Macedon and Epirus whence their great Lord pours forth over the River Drinus his numberless Slaves upon all Occasions when either Germany threatneth them Westward by the way of Carniola Venice by the way of Histria or Hungary by the way of BOSNIA Formerly united to that Kingdom till Mahomet the Great having taken Constantinople and with it most part of Greece in the Year One thousand four hundred sixty and four seized it and its new King whom he stead alive annexing his Kingdom to his own Empire and setling a Bashaw over it with order to alter the Constitution of that Place as the North of Dalmatia along the Adriatique where the Venetians pay Custom to the Grand Seigniour for all their Merchandize wherewith to conjure him to Peace setling the People of Bosnia in the Garrisons of Dalmatia and those of Dalmatia in the Strong Holds of Bosnia which is bound to send 1500. young Ladds a year into the Seraglio as a token of their subjection and a security for their good behaviour Besides that no Inhabitant must be a Field Officer without a special Licence of the Grand Vizier within an hundred Mile of his Native Country save at Ragusa a Place the Turk keeps from the Usurpation of the Venetians and the Venetians keep from the Oppressions of the Turk as the little Republique of Geneva is kept by the Duke of Savoy from Spain and by Spain from France and by France from both the former And in the Isles Curzola Zara and Coreym Places too remote for this great Potentate to pass and yet too near to trust especially since the Republique of Venice possesseth the greatest part of the Islands and all the Sea-coasts from the River Arisia to the Bay of Calthaw And the Emperour as King of Hungary the Inland parts of Windischland and Croatia He himself having only Bosnia some Cities in Windischland and among the Croates with a little share of Dalmatia only from the Bay of Calthaw to Albania which would be quickly lost had not Solyman in the unseasonable Dissentions between Ferdinand Arch-Duke of Austria and John Sepusio Vayvod of Transylvania seized with other Towns which seizure is now so farr improved by the possession of Newhausell and divers other Places which the Turk keeps upon the last Peace so farr that no eminent Places save Presburgh Gomorrah Raab and Tockay are reserved to the House of Austriae the whole Country besides lying open to the Power of that mighty Monarch not to be checked but by new Fortresses upon the Borders and Frontiers of that Kingdom especially towards Belgrade a strong Place upon the Confluence of the Dravus and Danow by the former whereof it is walled in Northward and Eastward by the later formerly the Bulwark of Christendom lost for want of succours to Solyman the Magnificent and now the Strong Hold of Turkey especially since it is re-inforced by Gran Newhausell and Novigrad DACIA And the stronger for the absolute Power and Command the great Sultan hath in Dacia on the East of Hungary which contains not only Transylvania of which at large before but Moldavia Wallachia Rascia on the North side of the Danow together with Servia and Bulgaria on the South MOLDAVIA Guarded by the dangerous and miscalled Euxine Sea Eastward with unsetled Transylvania Westward with the turbulent Niiestru and the more turbulent Podolia Northward and with Wallachia Southward More plentiful in Provision than in People and more abundant in People than in Habitations for them and in more Habitations for Men than the thousand heads of Cattel that run for want of Owners from the fat Pastures of this untilled Country to the better peopled Parts towards Crakow on the one hand and Constantinople on the other So rich a Country but for the sad Neighbourhood of the depopulating Tartars and Cossacks that the Turk dares not trust it to its own People for fear of a Revolt nor to the Neighbourhood for fear of a War but keeps it for 300. Miles round as broken in its Constitution as it is in its Religion the one being but the Image of Government allowed at Constantinople and the other but the Shape of Religion professed in the Greek Church He that gives most Money at the Seraglio hath the tributary Vayvodship of this Place and he that drives most Cattel hath the most Money One whereof was so Potent I mean John who was Vayvod 1570. that assisted by Peter his Neighbour of Wallachia he shaked off the Turshish Yoak As did likewise Aaron another Vayvod confederate with the Prince of Transylvania and sheltered by the King of Poland and the Emperour till all these weary of the daily Incursions of the Turks rendred it up a Prey to their fury 1622. Since which Year it submits peaceably to its great Masters and attends their service most dutifully in all their Wars so that they never marched into or traversed over this miserable Coast which wants nothing but a resolved number of Inhabitants such as over-stocked Europe would easily afford backed by the Pole and Muscovite who might be this way better employed than they are at present to garrison fortifie and husband it in order to that Freedom to which the Turkish Dissetledments give no little Opportunities especially to a Place utterly unaccessible to the Ottoman Army which never durst attempt any farther than its Borders where it rather Frighted than Conquered it to that Vassalage that is unworthy of Humane Nature either to Impose or Submit to A Vassalage no part of the World groans under but this and its next Neighbour WALLACHIA Distinguished from it only by a ridge of Mountains otherwise so near a kin in barbarism and misery that they went under one sad Name of Moldavia till their last Devastation more merciful on this side that Place than on the other That there should be a Country in so civil a Place as Europe five hundred Miles in length an hundred and twenty in bredth so plentifull as to be the Granary of the wasted Confines of Asia and to give as much Reputation to the River Ister as it borroweth Fertility from it That admits neither a
do well Favours are derived to merit and Preferments to worth and a man may be as good as he will and as great as he deserveth The Honour of Religion and its Clergy is asserted the Levity and Petulancy of the Populacy is restrained and every one knoweth his own place where they serve one God in one Faith by one Baptism in one Spirit in one hope of one common Salvation Its Fourth Interest is Unity the Head whereof is an excellent Prince made up of power and sweetness who is feared and loved whose Veins swell with all the Royal Blood of this Kingdom and whose Soul is thronged with all the Virtues of its Kings so that his Right is as undoubted as his Possession and his Merit as his Right And the awe upon all men arising from the three Wonders of his Escape 1651. His Restauration 1660. and his Success ever since Great is our happiness in him multiplyed it is in Relations Uno avulso non deficit alter Aureus On his Throne he sits with a Gracious Queen on his right hand his Excellent Mother before him his Royal Brother on his left hand his Grave and Honourable Council at his Feet his Reverend Bishops about his Throne his Loyal Nobility near his Person his Unanimous Gentry attending his Pleasure and that August Council called a Parliament made up of all these as one man reconciling his Prerogative and his Peoples Liberties to the Envy of most Neighbours and the Amazement of all Look we into their Debates they are dutiful into their Counsells they are rational loyal and resolute into their Expedients they are seasonable into their Supplyes they are honourable and into their Unanimity and as one man they are resolved to live and dye with their dear and dread Soveraign If we return to the Court it 's full thrifty wary and strict If to the Exchequer it 's full with a Revenue double that of former Kings 1200000 l. per Annum besides the Resolution of the People to spend their Lives and Fortunes for the defence and honour of the King and in him of the Kingdom and themselves If to the Courts of Justice they are filled with most reverend and famous Men. If to the Church it 's full of venerable learned and prudent Churchmen If to the Officers of State they are honourable and experienced If to the Cabals there was never Prince or Council since the Constitution of Empires a safer Preserver of secrets and yet none whose secrecy and silence we less may fear where the chief Prelates cast Reverence and the chief Nobility of both Kingdoms Dignity and all knowing in Forein Affairs abroad and Domestique Constitutions at home If into the Church Disputations are silenced Pulpits are modest Presses are regulated Learning is encouraged Debauchery is discountenanced Faction is suppressed and Schism is made ridiculous If into the City the Lord Mayor and Major General are active and vigilant the Aldermen and Common Council are liberal and free 200000 l. at at time the Companies Officers and Vestries are setled If into the Country the Forts Strong Holds and Havens are secure the Militia is setled and reduced to excellent Rules for the ease and service of the Country the Lords Lieutenants and their Deputies are powerful and honest made up of the choicest Gentry the Sheriffs that command the Power of the Country faithful and well affected the Justices of Peace Men of Estates Wisdom Interest Repute and known Integrity who execute Justice regulate Disorders discover Plots disperse Conventicles promote the honour and security of the Kingdom and these hold some their Estates others their Places and all their Honour of his Majesty under whom Tillage and Husbandry prospereth Manufactures are encouraged Native Commodities are promoted all People are employed in the Necessities or Conveniencies of the Kingdom every man under his own Vine every one under his own Figtree If we look back upon the Pretences Methods or Principles of the former Rebellion they are cut off by Acts of Parliament If forward on the Opportunities for a future Disturbance they are all vacated by Acts of State If men pretend Religion for Disturbance England knoweth it's Hypocrisie If Liberty our People is too sensible it is Licentiousness If Propriety we have been taught that the meaning of that is Taxes Plunder and Free-quarter If Conscience English Men have learned to Obey and not Disobey for Conscience sake If Oppression none to that of Disorder Universal Liberty and a standing Army If Looseness in Manners every man among us saith It cannot be so bad as when there is no King in Israel and every man may do what is good in his own Eyes If the Errours of a Statesman we see men aim at the Kings head through the Statesmens sides No colour for Disturbance among us and all reason for Peace in a Nation to the Government whereof the grave learned and prudent Persons of all sides submit wherein no man doth or suffereth but what he consenteth to himself We hear indeed of War upon the Borders of the Empire but we have Peace in our Borders being walled in first with the Ocean and that Ocean secured by as strong a Navy as is this day in Christendom We read of mutual Challenges of Right between Spain and Portugal but we are the People to whose Land none so much as pretendeth Right save our dread Soveraign We observe others failing in their Designs upon forein Parts we great in our own Possessions maintain our own Right to the full and forbear others equally famous for our Justice and our Power They talk of Kingdoms like to expire in their dying Princes when we are secured in a Royal Family not more a Blessing to us that it is good than that it is numerous If Neighbour States have provoked the World we pity them for we are at Peace with it If other Princes throw away their People with vain and ambitious Attempts we are onely employed to secure our own Borders to promote our own Interests and Honour Some Republiques have the miserable choice of either an intollerable War or an unworthy Peace we give the Law to Africa and Europe in utrumque parati a prosperous War or an honourable Peace We stand to no Nations Courtesie having made our Friendship and our Enmity the most Considerable this day in the World Our Kingdom is Populous our Ground Fertile our Gentry Expert our Yeomen Trained our Scholars Learned our Noblemen Active our Magazines Full our Money Ready our Court Vnanimaus our Genius Warlike and in a word every Particular amongst us sensible of the Concerns of the Whole Prayeth for His most Excellent Majesty the Breath of our Nostrils that his Counsels may prosper his just Cause may succeed his Enemies may be ashamed and upon his Head his Crown may Flourish All that love their King and Country saying AMEN FINIS