league is of 2500 paces Antonius Andrew Resendius Gretserus Merula Rabbi Benjamin Count de Brinne Peter de la Vallée a Roman Gentleman John Baptista de Rocole and others have made Itineraries Some Astrologers speaking of Leagues have taken occasion to say that the Sun goes in an hour 290921 leagues of the greatest of France According to this computation he must go as quick or swifter than an Arrow out of a Bow or as a Bullet shot out of a Musket by reason of the greatness of the way he passes day and night On this ground it has been asserted that in case a Carrier could go post from the Earth to Heaven he would not reach to the Starry Heaven in 1300 years if he went not more than 16 or 17 German leagues each day Hesiod says in his Theogonia that it would require nine days and nine nights for an Anvil of Iron to fall from the Heaven of the Moon to the Earth and that it would arrive on it the tenth Let us leave the consideration of these matters to Astrologers FRANCE LOVIS the Fourteenth King of France and Navarre surnamed the Great came into the World the Fifth of September An. 1638. was declared of Age the Seventh of September 1651. Crowned at Rheims the Seventh of June 1654. was Married at St. Johns de Luz An. 1660. the Ninth of June to Mary Theresa of Austrich Infanta of Spain Daughter of Philip the Fourth and of Elizabeth of France This great Princess is a Mirrour of Piety and the Mother of the People Those that have the honour to behold her Countenance have the happiness to find there all the Graces which have taken pleasure to seat themselves in it The Twenty fourth of August of the same year their Majesties made their Royal Entry into Paris accompanyed with Princes Ambassadors and Forreign Ministers with all the Pomp and Magnificence imaginable Heaven has blest this Marriage by the Birth of Monseigneur le Dauphin Loüis is the Most Christian King and the Eldest Son of the Church He has for Motto Consiliis armisque potens And also this Nec pluribus Impar He bears Azure Three Flower-de-luces Or which formerly were Semè or without number and reduced to Three by Charles the Sixth The Scutcheon is Environed with the Collars of The Orders of S. Michael and of the Holy Ghost Ensigned with a Helmet Or entirely open thereon a Crown closed after the manner of â—n Imperial Crown with eight in arched Rayes topt with a double Flower-de-luce and this is the Crest for Supporters two Angels habited as Levites the whole under a Pavilion Royal Semè of France Lined Ermines with these words Ex omnibus floribus elegi mihi Lilium Lilia non laborant neque nent These terms The Lillies do not spin import That the Flower-de-luces which represent the Crown of France never fall to the Distaff that the Female Sex cannot inherit according to the Salick Law as it is amongst the Chaldeans Egyptians Persians Chineses Turks Tartars and Parthians Women have sometimes succeeded in Spain England Sicily and in Sweden but never in France The Arms of Navarre are Gules Chains of Gold interlaced parted into Orles Pales Fesses Counterbands or Saltiers The Livery of the most Christian King is of a Blew colour This Monarch has a Physiognomy more Divine than Humane which moves a most profound respect and we perceive in his Countenance a sweetness which tempers his Majesty he is gifted with the Sublime Science of Governing he is another Solomon in rendring the Oracles of his Judgments Mounting on Horfeback he puts himself in the head of his Armies which he conducts as another David or as another Alexander the Great whose presence imports more than Millions of Captains and an entire Army He takes whole Provinces in all seasons and in a day Four Towns together there is little difference with him betwixt the Design and the Execution what has he not done before these important places Lille Mastrich Valenciennes Cambray Gaunt Ipres and others for their reducement He has performed the Office of a General and of a Captain and has toyled as a simple Souldier He has been all at once King General of an Army Marshal of the Camp Sergeant of the Battel Captain Souldier Engineer and Cannoneer He holds all his Enemies play and the more he has the more he puts to the Rout. He has gotten so many Palms and Laurels that the fires of joy and publick rejoycings have shewn themselves throughout the whole Kingdom His Adventures are a Concatenation of Victories Triumphs and Prodigies He is worthy the Empire of the whole Earth the great Armies which he keeps on foot and his yearly Revenue above one hundred Millions render him formidable to the opposers of his glory We are sheltered under his Royal Mantle seme de lis which is so long and large that it is capable of giving shelter and security not only to his own State but also to Forreigners If the Kings of Spain glory in the Title of Catholick the Kings of France merited it before them Philip de Valois was honoured with it An. 1329. for having upheld the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Its Loüs the Great particularly who extends Christianity even into the new world by his care in maintaining Evangelical Labourers where they cry Vive le Roy de France We shall observe here that this custom of crying Vive le Roy comes from the Hebrews when Solomon was proclaimed King by the sound of the Trumpet the people cry'd often Let the King live On this occasion the Romans cryed at the Proclamation of their Emperours The Gods protect and keep you for ever Froissard and Enguerand de Monstrelet cited by Peter de Romuald say that it is not yet 200 years since that in France instead of crying Vive le Roy they cryed Noël Noël that is as though they said Hosanna which signifies Salus Gloria Blessed be him that comes in the Name of the Lord. It 's to the Kings of France that Heaven sent the Holy Vial for their Consecration in the person of Clovis An ancient Poet made these Verses on this Subject Remigius sacris Regem dum lavit in undis Attulit è sacro Chrisma Columba polo. It is those who have the power and vertue of curing the Kings Evil by the touch of their Royal hands and making the sign of the Cross on the Patient and saying The King touches and God cures How redoubtable to Infidels has been the Royal Standart or Banner which some think to have been sent from Heaven to Clovis I shall say no more the splendour of the Majesty of Loüis the Great dazles me I have not the Eyes of an Eagle to look fixtly on the Sun. I shall onely add something concerning the Education of Monsieur le Dauphin The Dolphin of France and his Marriage THis Prince came into the world the first day of November 1661. The King has enlightned the steps of his youth
in their harness all cover'd with pretious Stones is an Ornament and many other Rarieties The Metropolitan Church called the Dome dedicated to St. John is the depository of the holy face-cloath on which we see imprinted the face and other parts of the body of the Son of God. The other Towns of Piemont are Vercelli Susa Turée Mondevis Ast Carignan Carmagnolo St. Tas. Susa is the first that is found at the entrance of Italy at the foot of the Alps ten leagues from Turin Pompey established there a Colony which gives testimony of its antiquity It has passed for the Capitol of the small Principality of the little King Coetius This Country is fertile Provisions are cheap and Silver scarce because there is no Trade Susa which is in Persia is more renowned than that before-mentioned because the great Assuerus who commanded from the Indies even to Aethiopia an hundred twenty seven Provinces and other Kings have held there their Court. Piemont has two or three Rivers whose banks afford Gold it is found divided into slender parcels called Threads The way of gathering it is noted in a book intituled Conversations de l'Academie de l'Abbé Bourdelot in the Chapter of the Philosophers Stone which was the subject of a long Conference The principal Towns of Savoy after Chamberry are Anneci St. John de Morienne Monstier in Tarentaise and others Montmebian is the strongest place Savoy was called by this name as who would say Sauve-voye or safe-way and this since it was purged of Way-Robbers and Murtherers who rendered the ways dangerous and unpassable or else from a Village called Sabbatie or Sabaudie which Ptolomy and other Geographers place under the Alps. According to the opinion most followed it took its name from Sabaudus Archbishop of Arles who made it Catholick Its Mountains bring forth many Monkeys These Animals sleep six months of the year they have the mussel and ears of a Squiril and four long and sharp teeth the legs short great nails on their feet and the hair rough Chimney-sweepers bring of them to Paris they are easily taken when they are asleep The Latines call this Animal Mus Alpinus There are a great many in the Mountains of Switzerland Chateauniere deGrenaille tells us that persons that cannot sleep or that are tormented with the Cholick find themselves relieved by rubbing their belleys with their fat Many Mountaineers get Strumous swellings by drinking Snow-water which by its erudity and ill quality causes the glandulous swelling about the throat Mount Cenis and little St. Bernard are the principal passages of the Alps for Italy Great Mount Cenis is the ordinary Road of the Posts of France and little Mount Cenis is a shorter way but more uneasie We find there the invention of a sort of Sled on which a man sitting advances in less than half a quarter of an hour a league by sliding on the Snow from the top of the Mountain to the bottom There are persons trained to this exercise called Sled-drivers who guide the Sled by stopping it when it is necessary with a great Prong of iron which they fix in the way On the top of the Mountain there are houses which they call the Ramass where the Sled-drivers are by whom men cause themselves to be driven on a Sled when they go to Lasueburg We find on the right hand the Chappel into which those persons are carried who are killed by the extremity of the cold in their Journey and on whom is found no mark of their Religion When persons so killed are discovered to be Catholicks they are buried in the next Catholick Church-yard If they are Protestants they are carried into the next Church-yard of theirs Those that go into this Chappel fancy they are in the Kingdom of the Dead the Air is so subtile that those bodies do not putrifie there are many of them entire with their flesh skin and hair without having changed but a very little of their colour They are placed in order upright against the walls of this Chappel a place of sadness and melancholy Mount St. Gothard which is the passage from Switzerland has also a Chappel of persons frozen to death Our Lady of Laghette is very famous two leagues from Nice The greatest part of the Tombs of the Dukes of Savoy are in the rich Abbey of Haute-combe on the Lake Bourget The Dominions of this Prince may be seventy leagues in length and thirty or forty in breadth and in some parts above fifty Spain would have swallowed them up in the minority of Charles Emanuel the Second but France opposing it made them give over the Attempt His Royal Highness has four houses of pleasure about Turin which must not be forgotten to wit that de la Grande Venerie Royal that of Valentin and those of Mirefleur and of Rovili Purpurat must also be added to the number Nor must we omit la Generale which belongs to President Truchy a Minister of State of a great understanding and equally zealous for the service of his Prince At the beginning of the year 1679 the Abbot d Estrade at his return from his Embassie from Venice where he resided three years was sent to this Court with the Character of Embassadour of France his entry was very solemn He succeeded to Duke Villars chosen for the Embassie of Spain where he formerly was and the Marquess Ferrero was appointed Embassadour of Savoy with the most Christian King. The Ratification of the Marriage of the Duke of Savoy with the Infanta of Portugal was at Lisbone the 18th of Aug. 1679. The 19th of September following the Sieur of the Red hat Deputy and first Syndick of the Town of Geneva accompanied with Sieur Pittet and others had Audience of Madam Royal to give her satisfaction concerning some subjects of complaint that she had made against that Town at the beginning of her Regency He gave her to understand in a fine discourse how sorry his Masters were for all that had happened that their-intentions had never been to do any thing that was disagreeable to so great a Princess and that they humbly suppli'd her to forget all that was past by a motion of Generosity and to let them feel the effects of her good will towards them He addressed himself afterwards to his Royal Highness and gave him to understand the desire the Town of Geneva had to merit his good will and the part they took in the glory that the Prince acquired by his Marriage with the Infanta of Portugal Heiress of so great a Kingdom These Deputies were presented each before their departure with a Chain of Gold. The Great Duke of Tuscany Cosmus the Third Great Duke of Tuscany of the House of Medices Cath. He bears Or with five Roundles Gules and one in cheif Azure charged with three Flower-de-luces Or. This Prince is Son of Ferdinand the Second of Victoria de la Roüere he married the 19th of April 1661. by Proxie the Princess Louïse Marguerite of Orleans
Camps and Armies and Colonel-General of the French Cavalry is recommendable for his famous Exploits and for the important Victories that he has gained over the Enemies of the State and more in this happy day that renouncing the Errour in which he was born and in which he had lived he embraced with a sincere heart the Catholick Faith which leads to Eternal Salvation the Church Militant has not had less joy than the Triumphant Though Learning was familiar to this Prince and that he has been heard to say very convincing things for the proof and maintaining of Catholick Truths the Church is obliged to Cardinal de Boâ—illon his Nephew for having contributed to so illustrious a Conquest Italian Princes were heard to say to his Highness at his promotion to the Cardinalship La promotion di vestra Altezza al Cardinalato Colmo d'honore il Sacro Collegio I shall not omit that if the said Henry de la Tour left the Earth the Twenty first of July 1675. to rest from his labours being killed by a Cannon-shot near Satzbach as he went to take a view of a Post of the Imperial Army to the end to give it Battle after the loss of so great a Man the King to comfort himself made Nine Marshals of France the Count d'Estrade the Duke de Navailles the Count de Schomberg the Duke de Duras the Duke de Vivonne the Duke de la Feüillade the Duke de Luxembourg the Marquess de Rochefort and the Count de Lorge His Majesty honour'd them with the dignity of the Marshals staff the Thirtieth of July of the same year of Vicount Turenne's death The Ancientest Mâ—rshâ—ls of France living Anno 1680. are these THe Marshal Duke de Villeroy the Marshal Duke de la Ferte-Seneterre the Marshal de Crequi the Marshal de Bellefond and the Marshal d'Humieres these three last are of the penultimate Promotion The Marshal de Rochefort dyed An. 1676. he quitted the life Military for the glorious The Ministers and Secretaries of State. IF the King be the Soul of the Monarchy his Ministers are the Organs by which he works His Majesty has carried the glory of France to so high a point that it may hope all things and its Enemies fear all Its Ministers and Secretaries of State are indefatigable in their pretious vigilancy and in the cares they take for the rest of the Kingdom They have all signalized themselves their spirit is filled with lights so shining that there is no cloud that they do not pierce nor no Forreign or Domestick Factions which they do not dissipate and subvert their experience is universal A very famous Preacher who is an Archbishop Preaching in Sorbon on the day of St. Vrsula the Patroness Feast of that Colledge in the presence of Anne of Austriche Queen of France said that Cardinal Richlieu had the Spirit of the Prophet Elias and Cardinal Mazarine that of the Prophet Elizeas I believe that these have the Spirit of Elias and Elizeas Richlieu and Mazarine Nor is it to be wondred at all their lights being but necessary and favourable emanations of the great splendour of the Sun who animates and enlightens them The Chancellour MEssire Michael de Tellier Chevalier Chancellour and Keeper of the Seals of France Commander of the Kings Orders Lord of Chavilles Barbezieux and other places excels in Councel Understanding and Integrity he is consummated in the decision of affairs of greatest difficulty Italy has been the Theater of his great Actions as well as France For this reason Loüis the Thirteenth made him Secretary of State and Loüis the Fourteenth Created him Chancellour and Keeper of the Seals for the faithful and important Services that he has rendred his Majesty for above thirty six years in the functions of Minister and Secretary of State. He has the esteem of all great persons and the applause of the people his Memory will be preserved eternally in the Chronicles of France The Arms of his House are Three Lizards which are friendly to Man. That which renders particularly eminent the Office of Chancellour which this person possesses is that he is Chief Minister of the Kings Justice and of his Councel it is he who like another Legislatour Moses ascends into the Mountain he enters into the Cloud which environs the Throne of his Prince where the Rayes and Lightning of Royal Majesty display themselves and where he receives the Laws and Ordinances which he afterwards pronounces to all the people He never wears Mourning because in some sort he deposes his own person to represent for the future nought but Justice it being not decent for this vertue which is wholly Divine to shew a feeling of humane infirmities He has for exteriour mark of his high dignity on his Scutcheon a Cap of Honour of Cloth of Gold faced with Ermines topt with the figure of a Queen the Hieroglyphick of France with the Scepter in the right hand and the Seals of the Kingdom in the left behind the Scutcheon two great Maces of Silver gilt plac'd in Saltier with a Mantle like those of the Dukes and Peers of France adorned with rayes of Gold towards the top and lined with Ermins which encompass all the Scutcheon The door-keepers of the Chancery-Court carrying a Mace of Silver gilt on their Shoulders march before him and the other door-keepers in order In the Book entituled l'Estat de la France Printed An. 1678. pag. 199. I found these following Lords ranged in this following manner as I place them If I have not well followed the order there will be no contest betwixt them for precedency each of them knowing very well his right and duty they teaching them to others M. de la Vrilliere MEssire Loüis Phelipeaux Chevalier Lord of Vrilliere Marquess of Chasteaux-Neuf on Loire and of Tanlai Count de S. Florentin Baron de Hervi and the ancientest Secretary of State was Sworn to his Office An. 1629. He has a great zeal for the welfare of the Church the general affairs of the pretended Reformed Religion are committed to him and many others Languedoc the County of Foix Guienne Rovergne and Quercy Broüage and the Country of Aunis Touraine Anjou le Main and le Perche Normandy Burgundy and Brest and all that is under his charge gives testimony of his Vertue and Merit He has a Son who possesses the See of the Patriarchal Archiepiscopal and private Church of Bourges Messire Pierre Balthazar Phelipeaux de la Vrilliere Marquess of Chasteau-Neuf who has the Reversion of the place of Secretary of State and of the Kings Orders treads in the glorious footsteps of his Father the marks which he daily gives are proofs of what he will be hereafter M. de Louvois MEssire Francois Michel de Tellier Chevalier Marquess of Louvois and of Courtanvau Councellor in ordinary to the King in his Councels Chancellour of his Orders Minister and Secretary of State and of his Majesties commands Vicar-General of the Order of Nostre
Dame du Mount Carmel and of St. Lazarus of Hierusalem great Post-master and Superintendant of the Posts and Stages of France c. has given an infinite number of manifest proofs of his Consummated skill in Military Discipline It seems as though he had exercised himself in it all his life-time this shews that great men are capable of all things his name is known throughout the whole Earth the Hollanders Spaniards and others when the War was at the highest declared that he went like Lightning when the Service of his King and Country called upon him He possesses the eminent qualities of his Father the Chancellour of France Poitou la Marche Lionnois Dauphine Catalognia and Roussillon Pignerol Lorrain Alsatia the places Conquered and yeilded the Fortifications of these Generalities the War the Taxes raised for the support of the Souldiery and the Artillery are things belonging to his Charge M. Colbert MEssire John Baptist Colbert Chevalier Marquess of Seignelay Baron of Moneteau Beaumont Cheni Ormois Sceaux and other places Counsellor in ordinary to the King in his Councils and of the Royal Council General Controuler of the Kings Revenue Superintendant of the Navy Arts and Manufactures of France Minister and Secretary of State. He has acted vigorously for the subsistance of the Armies of the French Monarchy in finding means to raise such Moneys as were necessary which are the Nerves of War. He has the prudence of the Serpent as it is express'd in his Arms. Cardinal Mazarine considering his Desert before he died wisht the King to make use of him as his Minister for his fidelity and for his service His admirable Conduct daily manifests it self both in general and in particular even to the education of his Children and of his Illustrious Relations Messire Charles Edoüard Colbert Marquess of Seignelay is the eldest of the House he makes himself daily admir'd in the diversity of his Employs and Affairs wherewith he is taken up in his Majesties service he is Secretary of State Superintendant of the Maritine affairs both in the East and West I saw Anno 1677. Messire Julius Armandus Colbert Lord of Ormais at the age of fourteen years defend publick and general Theses of Philosophy in the University of Paris under the Presidency of his Brother the Abbot Messire Jacques Nicolas then Prior of Sorbonne to the admiration of all that there is of Great and Learned in the Kingdom I cannot hold from saying of this noble Defender in his Orient what was said of St. John Baptist at his birth Quis putas puer iste erit It 's a rare thing to see a Brother perform that Office under a Brother and with so wonderful a presence of understanding These are Prodigies and Marks of their great Genius It may well be said on this occasion Fortes creantur fortibus and with the Oracle Corona senum filii filiorum gloria filiorum patres eorum I shall not be more large lest I offend the modesty of the Father and of his Children I shall onely say that this wise Manager of the Kings Revenue has in his division Paris the Isle of France and the Country of Soissons as far as Noyon Orleanois Blezois the Kings House the Clergy what regards the Sea Trade and Manufactures As I write this Article the admirable and elegant Sermon which the Illustrious Abbot his Brother made one day on the Feast of St. John Baptist comes into my mind Paris rendered it self that day at Sceaux to hear it This Sermon was followed with many others in the Capital City of the Kingdom and always with excellent success This Abbot is Doctor of the House and Society of Sorbonne and Coadjutor to the Archbishop of Roüen since the second of Feb. 1680. M. Colbert Croissi MEssire Charles Colbert Chevalier Marquess of Croissi Minister and Secretary of State President of the Parliament of Paris formerly Master of Requests and Intendant of Justice has acquired the Political and Geographical knowledge of all the States of the World that of Ancient and Modern History and of all the Interests of the Princes and Potentates of Christendom in his Ordinary and Extraordinary Embassies at Rome in England Spain at Aix la Chappel and in quality of Embassadour and Plenipotentiary at Nimigen for the general Peace of Europe and at Bavaria for the Marriage of Monseigneur le Dauphin with the Electoral Princess and in other important Negotiations Holland shewed him the joy they received after the Peace concluded to see him in their Country and he manifested his by his profuse liberality of his Gold and Silver to the People in some Towns. This Minister having seen so many Countries and Nations and all Courts it may be said of him what Homer said of Vlysses in the beginning of his Odysses according to the translation from the Greek into Latine Multorum autem hominum vidit urbes mores novit Champagne and Brie Provence Britany Berry Limosin Angoumois Xaintonge Bearn Bigorre the three Bishopricks of Metz Toul and Verdun the Principality of Sedan and the Forreign Countries which are also in his division have all a veneration for his Conduct and Generosity He succeeded to Messire Simon Arnaud Chevalier Lord of Pomponne in his Charge of Secretary and Minister of State which he demised in the Month of December An. 1679. The Councels THe Councels are composed of the Chancellour Keeper of the Seals of France of the Marshal Duke de Villeroy Chief of the Royal Council for the Kings Revenue of Twelve ordinary Councellours of State Three Councellors of the Church and Three of the Sword Twelve attending every six Months The King regulating the Councel An. 1673. added the Controuler General of his Revenues and the two Intendants of them to have place in the Councels des Parties as they have in those of the Revenue The Councellours of State are chosen by his Majesty being such as have past the greatest part of all the Offices of the Robe having been Intendants of Justice or Ambassadors or first Presidents of the Parliaments these are at present the best and most sought-for Offices of the Kingdom and which come nearest the King who gives such persons daily the best employs and Commissions of greatest importance for the service of himself and the State. To these Councels the Masters of Request have access which are to the number of Eighty whereof Twenty serve each Quarter after having been honoured with many Commissions and Intendancies they are preferred by his Majesty to Employs of the highest nature where he designs them The two Intendants of the Revenue are Messire Vicount Hotman and Messire Nicholas des Marests Colbert The first has been Councellor in the grand Councel Master of Requests and Intendant of Justice in Guyen and in Tourain Proctor-General of the Chamber of Justice and afterwards honoured by the King with a place in his Councels and with the Commission of Intendant of the Kings Revenue and of Justice in the generality of Paris
full of all kind of Deer Joüin de Rochefort has excellently particulariz'd this Royal House Versailles THere is nothing more agreeable nothing more sumptuous nor magnificent than the Palace of Versailles Silk Gold Silver Pearls and Pretious Stones Paintings and Tapestry enrich it and yet infinitely more the presence of the Master Its Gardens are vast and charming and the water falls the finest that may be seen How admirable is the great Park with the great Channel which is thirty two fathoms wide nine hundred in length the two Horses that stand at its entrance in a fierce posture as those of Montecavallo in Rome draw on them the fixt eyes of the Passengers The Vivarium contains all sorts of wild Animals By the rule conveniunt rebus nomina saepè suis Versailles deserves to be called by this name because his Majesty pours there ordinarily his Favours and Blessings in a profuse manner on those who have the honour to be known to him This place is another Terrestrial Paradise for delights I think I give it its Elogy in saying It 's the work of Loüis the Fourteenth worthy of its Author so I say all The famous Painter Apelles being to represent the greatness of a Giant and considering that he could not include so great a Body in so small a space he be thought himself to represent only the Thumb with this Inscription at the bottom of the Picture Ex ungue Leonem The Lyon is known by his Claw that is to say from the proportion of this Thumb the greatness of the rest of the Body might be known A Greek Orator thought he had made a full Panegyrick on Philip King of Macedon by saying that he was Father of Alexander Cum te patrem Alexandri dixi totum dixi I judge also that the Elogy of Versailles is compleat after having said that it is the Work of our present King because this word in expression drains and consummates all its praises Non datur ultra The Ambassadors of Forreign Princes admiring this House of Pleasure say that it belongs but to a King of France to make the like I do not particularize it because we see on this subject a large Book which gives the entire description of it Paris ALL the Towns of the Kingdom govern themselves according to the motion of that of Paris which they look on as the Primum Mobile and as the Capital It is Royal Sacerdotal and the seat of the Prophets and one of the greatest and most famous of all Christendom They count in this famous City a Million and a half of persons the pleasant River Sein passes through the midst of it and wrests itself in and out at parting from it as though it were unwilling to leave it and to render it yet more agreeable the River Ourques is brought to it to supply the Trenches on the side of Montmartre by the cares of Sieur de Manse Treasurer-General of the Royal Hunting and Hawking Saint Denis Consecrated there the Churches of St. Steven of the Greeks that of Nostre Dame des Champs and that of St. Bennet of the University which was called before of the Trinity those of St. Denis of Charters and of St. Symphorien are very ancient Phillip the Second called August made an end of Building the great and stately Temple of Nostre Dame about the year 1200. It s Structure is admirable this Cathedral Church contains sixty six fathom in length twenty four in breadth and seventeen in heighth one hundred and twenty Pillars forty five Chappels a great many doors over the three chief there are twenty eight Statues of Kings of France of the holy Mysteries of our Religion which excites the Piety of the faithful There are three hundred eighty nine steps to the place where the Bells are the Towers are thirty four fathom in heighth above the Earth This place is lookt upon as the lowest of Paris the Office is there celebrated after a Divine manner Miracles are there wrought Matins are sung at Midnight six of its Canons have been Popes to wit Gregory the Ninth Adrian the Fifth Boniface the Eighth Innocent the Sixth Gregory the Eleventh and Clement the Seaventh fifteen or sixteen Canons of the same Church have been Cardinals Abbot Parfait the ancientest Canon of this Church has composed a fine Book containing the number of Popes Cardinals Bishops and Archbishops that this Metropolis has afforded and other singularities since St. Denis to Messire Francis de Harlay de Chanvalon The late Dean Messire John de Contes Counsellor of State in ordinary consummated in the practice of the Church has often governed this Diocess to the satisfaction of all men He dyed full of years the fourth of July 1679. His most worthy Nephew Abbot Mony who walks in his steps succeeded him as Heir to his Vertues his Actions are accompanied with sweetness prudence gravity and modesty His Brother Abbot Bongueret Canon in the same Church is very learned in the Science of the Canon-Law This Chapter is a Nursery of Bishops This City contains Eleven Chapters a great number of very fair Parishes whereof some are equal to good Bishopricks above sixty Colledges it was once propos'd to have them reduced to six because many of them are one-ey'd so call'd because there is nothing done in them as in many other Kingdoms This Town contains also an infinite number of Religious Houses excellent Fountains Aqueducts many Bridges amongst which Pont-neuf which is all of stone surpasses all the rest We see in the midst of it a Monarch who was in three rang'd Battles which he gain'd in thirty three Rencounters in an hundred and forty fights and in three hundred Sieges of several places it 's Henry the 4th excellently represented on a Horse of cast Copper and at the end of it the Clock of the fair Fountain of the Samaritan and Loüis the Thirteenth on another Horse of cast Copper with excellent Devises on the Pedestal in the midst of the Place Royal which is one of its ornaments with the Queens Tour. The Place Royal was begun to be built Anno 1604. It 's there where Coaches go the Tour where they run the Ring and use other publick Divertisements The new Hôtel Royal of disabled men called otherwise the Hôtel of Mars as large as a Town built for the place of residence and entertainment of Souldiers that are lamed and dismembred in the Army for the service of the State is a Monument of the acknowledgment and gratitude of Lewis the Fourteenth and a subject of the great care that the Marquess de Louvois has taken for the perfection of this Work. The Fort of the Observatory for Astronomers is worthy consideration Before that part of St. Germains formerly called le Fauxbourg St. Germain des Prez and others were taken into the Town there were counted twenty four doors that of Saint Anthony is Royal the figure of the King on Horseback is over the Triumphal Arch. The late
of the great number of Gardens Fields Meadows and Vineyards that are within its precincts Abbeville seems one of the greatest of the Kingdom by reason of the great Ponds and large Gardens that are within it Chastelleraud Thoüars Niort Fontenay-le-Comte Saint Maixant Lusignan Partenay la Roche-sur-You Champigny la Ganache and others are Towns of Poictou Poitiers is the Capital as Xantes is of Xaintonge Alez Anduze Ganges Sumene and Vigan are those of Sevenes Sauve Saint Hippolite de la Planquette S. Jean de Gardonenque la Salle de St. Pierre Varelaugue and Saint Etienne de Valfrancesque in Sevenes are as good as little Towns. Those of Givodan are Mande Marvege Canourgue Florac Quiesac St. Chely and Chanac which is the ordinary place of residence of the Bishops of Mande Messire Sylvestre de Marsillac caus'd the Castle to be fortified I saw there in his time Arms for five hundred men This Prelate contributed to the reducement of Rochelle Meyrvueich and Barre are two Towns in the Neighbourhood The Capuchins have in that Country three houses establisht for the Mission one is at Sauve the other at Vigan and the third at Florac We cannot say of their Churches or Chappels that they are too beautiful which a Father General of their Order said in the course of his Visitation of that of Riom in Auvergne when complaining of the Guardian who had made it stately by what he built he spake in these terms Iste Pater concavit Regulam sancti Francisci Patris nostri Viviers Vans Aubenas Tournon Annonai Privas Villeneufve-le-Berg Pradeles and le Pouzin are of Vivarais Le Puy Saint Paulian Mounistrol Crapone are in Velay In the conquered Countries these are considerable In Flanders Dunkerke Gravelin Hesdin Bapaume Arras Tournay Courtray Lisle Doüay Condé Bouchain Aire Valenciennes Cambray S. Omer Gand Ypres and many others These three last places were conquer'd in the beginning of the year 1677. Maestrich was surrendred to the Hollanders by the Treaty of Peace concluded at Nimeguen the tenth of Aug. 1679. Dunkerke was taken by the Prince of Condé then Duke d'Enguien An. 1646. and by Marshal Turenne An. 1658. It was for some time in the possession of the English because they provided a Naval Army and much contributed to the taking of it and of some other places and therefore five millions were given to his Britanick Majesty for resigning this Town to the Dominion of the French. Before Arras was in the possession of France there was seen in imbost work over one of its gates a Cat pursuing Rats with this Inscription Les Francois prendront Arras Lors que ce Chat prendra ces Rats The French will take Arras When this Cat takes these Rats At present there is onely the letter p of the verb prendront taken away the word rendront remaining which signifies Restore There is seen in the Cathedral Church a fair and antient Library In Alsatia the chief conquer'd Towns are Brisac Colmar Haguenau Schelestad Philipsbourg was retaken by the Imperialists the 17th of September 1676. with an honourable Capitulation Our French-men took in its place Fribourg in Brisgaw Philipsbourg has been under the dominion of France thirty two years In Lorrain the most remarkable are Nancy Metz Toul and Verdun In Franche-Comte Bezancon Dole Grez and Salins In Roussillon Perpignan Colioures Salses Canet the Episcopal See was at Elne Du Chesne Father Boussingaut and A. Jovin de Rochefort have given a particular description almost of all the Towns There has been printed lately in Holland a Book intituled Theatrum Vrbium Rivers FRance as another terrestrial Paradise has four beautiful Rivers viz. the Rhone the Loire the Seine and the Garonne An Author calls them the four Royal Rivers The Rhone takes its rise at the foot of the Mountain St. Godart it comes from the Alps of upper Valois and is not far from the Rhine and Danubius The Germans call it Rhoden from an ancient Town called Rhodays Some count it as one of the three greatest Rivers of Europe It runs through the Lake of Geneva passes at Lyons Vienne Tournon Valence at St. Esprit Avignon Tarascon Beaucaire and Arles The Saone the Doux the Lizaire the Gardan the Durance and other Rivers enter into it The Loire takes its origine at the foot of Mount Gerbier of Jou in the Parish of S. Martial of the Diocess of Viviers it is call'd by this name from a Country-house near its source called Loire which is in the Parish of St. Eulalie of the same Diocess five leagues from the Town of Pardeles in Vivarez and six from that of du Puy in Velay It casts forth water at its rise as big as a mans thigh Mount Gerbier is so call'd because it has the figure of a Gerbier that is a stack of Corn. Those are in an errour who affirm the origine of the Loire to be in Sevenes because Sevenes is not Vivarez though contiguous to it neither is Vivarez Sevenes or Velay These three Regions are entirely distinct and are as it were little Provinces that are incorporated in that of Languedoc The Loire passes at Roanne Nevers la Charité Gien Gergeau Orleans Blois Amboise Tours Saumur Nantes and at the Bridge of Cé This River is the longest of the Kingdom it carries Vessels about a hundred and sixty leagues from Roanne as far as Nantes or to Brevian If it be not very deep it is large and very full of Sand wherefore Vessels often run a ground there It passes through the midst of the Kingdom and divides it almost into two equal parts The source of this and of Alliers are near each other Alliers le Cher Auron Lindre the Saudre the Huine the Loire the Sarthe the Mayenne the Vienne the Clein and other Rivers discharge themselves into this River which has its beginning and end in France The Seine comes from the Mountain Vogesus in the Dutchy of Burgundy S. Seine gave it its name it being the nearest place of note to its source This River passes at Chatillon Nogent Montereau Melun Corbeil Paris Mantes Vernon Roüen and at Pont de Larche Its Rivers are the Marne Yonne the Oyse the Ayne the Eure and others The Ayne enters into the Oyse the River call'd the Loire passes at Montargis and receives the Channel of Briare for the communication of the Loin and the Seine for Paris This Channel was made under Henry the Fourth The Garonne issues from the Pyrenean Mountains near a place call'd Gadeloup Its source is affirm'd to be in the little Valley of Aran. It passes at Tolose at Moissac Agen Marmande Cadillac and at Bourdeaux Its Rivers are the Taru the Lot and the Pordogne The Epithetes of these four Rivers are RHodanus rapidus Ligoris latus Sequanus profundus Garumna obliquus Rhone the rapid Loire the large Seine the profound Garonne the oblique because it wrests in and out The Poets call the Rhone by reason of its rapidity the hasty the swift the precipitate
on Christmas-day This Book treats of the Election of the King of the Romans of the Ceremonies that ought to be observ'd in the Election of the Emperour and of his Authority of the Devoir and Priviledges of the Electors and other Officers of the Empire and also of the means to preserve Peace The Emperour Charles the Fourth of the House of Luxembourg made this Bulle call'd by his name the Caroline in the presence and with the consent of the greatest part of the Princes Lords and other Estates of the Empire This Edict comprehending the Fundamental Laws of the Empire was seal'd with a great round Seal not on Wax nor on Lead nor on Silver but on Gold to shew that as this Metal is incorruptible and the noblest of all so that the Laws which this Bulle contains being the principal of the Empire ought not to be chang'd The Seal is fasten'd to red and yellow Strings of Silk on one side of it there is the Effigies of the Author seated in his Throne vested with the Imperial Mantle the Crown on his head the Septer in one hand and the Globe of the Empire in the other with this Inscription Carolus IV. divina favente Clementia Romanorum Imperator semper Augustus Bohemiae Rex On the other side there is a Castle with two Towns and this Devise Aurea Roma and in the circumference Roma Caput Mundi regit orbis fraena rotundi There is an Inscription on both sides because the Seal is impress'd and engrav'd on both sides on a great Medal hanging beneath the Bulle It is reported of this Prince that in recompensing the Treason of three Captains of Philip of Austria his Enemy as they deserv'd he caus'd them to be paid 600000 Crowns which he had promis'd them but it was in false Coin The Traytors complaining the Emperour said to them Go too false Money is well enough for those who have falsified their Faith to their Prince Prerogatives of the Emperour THe chief Prerogatives of the Emperour are to create Kings to require the Towns of the Empire by Proclamation to attend him on occasion to give the Investiture of Fiefs the Power of Legitimating and other Priviledges Fourteen Emperours of the House of Austria THe Empire has been in divers Houses according to the pleasure of the Electors There are counted fourteen Emperours of the House of Austria to Leopold reigning at present The first was Rodolphus of Alsatia Earl of Habsbourg Writers take notice of him for that before his Election as he was hunting a Priest carrying the Sacrament to a dying Peasant he alighted off his horse and made the Priest get up upon him and afterward taking the horse by the reins he accompanied the Sacrament a long difficult and troublesome way till he came to the Hut of the poor sick person This extraordinary act of Piety and Religion has been so well recompens'd by God that since that time this house is aggrandiz'd and rendred Illustrious throughout the whole Earth The Castle of Habsbourg the original Seat of the Emperours of the House of Austria is two leagues from Bâle there are now onely the Ruines to be seen the Switzers not suffering it to be rebuilt The chief Towns of Germany VIenna Prague Presburg Aix la Chappelle Ratisbonne Erfort Dresden Munic Strasbourg Hambourg Mayence Cologne Tréves Munster Magdeburg Lubec Nuremberg Ausburg Heyldeburg Francfort on the Meine Passau Visbourg Brunsvic Inspruch Bremen Brandenburg Berlin Hanover Francfort on the Oder and others The four Wood-land-Towns Valdshoüet Lauffembourg Seckinge and Reinfeld are so call'd because they are built in Woods The four Rustick Towns are Cologne Ratisbonne Constance and Saltzbourg Vienna is a Bulwark of Christendom against the Turks the Emperour Ferdinand the Third and Leopold Ignatius his Son fortified it with large and deep Trenches growing broader and broader from the bottom to the top with twelve great Bastions and high Ramparts There are but six Gates to pass into this Town and they are always shut before Sun-set those that come late from walking enter by a Wicket at the Gate of Italy which they must open with a silver Key Solyman the Second Emperour of the Turks besieg'd this Town with 300000 men the 26th of September of the year 1529. and was forc'd to raise the Siege the 14th of October following after having lost there a great part of his Souldiers some say fourscore thousand men A great number of Bassa's and other Commanders heads were planted on the Walls of this place which vigorously held out twenty Assaults Notwithstanding this firm Resistance Solyman would not withdraw himself till they had permitted him to cause the Crescent to be set up in Vienna this was accorded him pro bono pacis and as a Memorial of this Siege The Crescent is to be seen on the Pyramidal point of the Steeple of the Cathedral-Church of S. Steven The Town was not then fortified as it is at present being now the strongest of all Germany It s Bishop is Suffragan of the Archbishop of Saltzburg who has eleven The University of Vienna was founded by Albert the Third There are seen in the Emperours Library fourscore and seven Paper-writings hung up where it is exactly treated of the Vniversity of Paris of its Statutes and Priviledges The Plague destroy'd An. 1679. a world of people at Vienna and in all Austria Prague is the Capital City of the Kingdom of Bohemia whereof we shall speak elsewhere Presburg is the Capital of that part of the Kingdom of Hungary which the Emperour of Germany possesses there since the loss of Ofen or Buda occupied by the Great Turk Komorre and Javarrin are two Bulwarks of Christendom on that side This Kingdom contain'd formerly Transylvania Valachia and Moldavia thence it is that the two Emperours of the West and East pretend each that the Princes of these three Estates receive from them the Investiture Attila King of the Huns and Hongarians is very famous in History for using Fire and Sword where-ever he came He stil'd himself Son of Mundizic of the Race of the Great Nimrod Native of Engad and through the divine bounty King of the Huns Goths Medes and Danes the Terrour of the World and the Scourge of God. This Enemy of Mankind march'd with an Army of five hundred thousand men France forc'd him to retreat and kill'd him a hundred and fifty thousand men at Arms under Merovius being seconded by Aetius a Roman Patricius and with Theodoric King of the Westergoths An. 454. In Hongary they call the Horse-men Hussars and the Foot-Souldiers Heiduques Aix la Chappelle has the first place in the Diets of the Empire Charlemagne made it the head of his Empire on this side the Alpes he was there born and there died There are seen without the Town hot and cold Baths which are famed as being Medicinal Its Inhabitants pay no Toll in any place of the Empire Marshal de Crequi made himself Master of this place for his
Andalusia Grenada Murcia Galicia Portugal Algarve the Asturies Biscay Navarre Catalonia is a County and not a Kingdom when the King of Spain makes his first Entrance into Barcelona which is the capital City he enters there in quality of Earl wherefore when he is before the Gate which he finds shut after having knockt they ask from within the Town the name of him that will enter his Catholick Majesty answers twice The King of Spain and they do not open the Gates to him till he says it 's the Earl of Barcelona King of Spain who will come in At these words the Gates are incontinently open'd and they give his Majesty a Reception becoming him Portugal and Algarve have their King. Biscay is a Lordship Navarre belongs to France a part of Biscay is possess'd by the French and the other by the Spaniards Spain may have two hundred and sixty French leagues in length and two hundred in breadth without comprizing what it has in Italy in Flanders and in America and along the coasts of Barbary on the Mediterranean Sea. The chief Towns are MAdrid Toledo Sevil Grenada Sarragossa Valencia Compostella Salamanca Barcelona Cadiz Madrid is increast since that the Kings of Spain have kept there their Court it has no Suburbs It has been said that this Town was wall'd round with Fire by reason of its ancient Walls built in many places with great Stones that strike fire It s Fountain is very famous after that of Palermo in Sicily and of Navona at Rome which are esteem'd the finest of Europe The Fountain Arethusa is celebrated in History it has been the ground of many Roman Fables Toledo is adorn'd with two fair Palaces with that which Charles the Fifth caus'd to be built there and with that of the Archbishop The Metropolitan Church has a Clock resembling that of Strasburg in Alsatia in its height and Architecture the Doors of this Church are of cast Copper the Streets of the Town are very narrow the Moors built the Walls Sevil is the Capital of Andalusia the Spaniards say thus Que no ha vista Sevilla no ha vista la Maravilla He that has not seen Sevil has not seen a Wonder The Duke of Medina Coeli has a fine Palace there It is held that this Town call'd Hispal or Hispalis gave the name of Spain to all the Kingdom Grenada is larger in compass than any Town of Spain the Moors built it The Streets are narrow and the Houses rang'd after such a manner that they resemble the kernel of a Pomegranat The Kingdom has a great number of Mountains Sarragossa is the Capital of the Kingdom of Arragon it has an Archbishoprick Parliament Inquisition and University Valencia call'd the Beautiful and the Great is the Capital of the Kingdom whose name it bears it is honoured with an Archbishoprick Parliament and University Compostella Capital of Galicia is famous for the Relicks of the Apostle St. James the Greater Brother of St. John the Evangelist The Spaniards call Compostella San Jago di Compostella Salamanca is recommendable for its largeness and University which is the most famous of all Spain It has a great House adorn'd with a Court where are the Schools and the Halls where the Acts are made and where Persons are admitted to Degrees Metaphysick is there in its Throne The Preachers there are very full of Gestures to express naturally their Thoughts and Motions they make use of all the parts of their Body of the Head Hands Feet and Eyes Though they said nothing a man might guess very near what they would say Francis Relux a Dominican Doctor of the Faculty of Divinity of Salamanca formerly Confessor of Charles the Second King of Spain and at present Bishop of Placenza has for Successor in his place of Confessor Father Bayono Professor of the University of Alcala Cordona capital City of the Dukedom whereof it bears the name has a Mountain of Salt. Barcelona call'd by the Spaniards Barcino is an important place the French possess'd it under the Reign of Loüis the Thirteenth The Palace of the Duke of Cardona there is August there are seen there some Figures of the Earls of Barcelona This Town which is at present double has a Bishop a Parliament an University Inquisition and a Port where many Ships have often been cast away in the Road. Cadiz is famous by reason of the advantageous scituation of its Port it 's there where the Gallies arrive that come from Peru laden with Gold and Silver This Town is very strong and well peopled in those late Wars its Bishop coming from Italy was stopt at Montpellier and sent afterward from Tholose into his Diocess in exchange for some Prisoner Rivers of ancient Spain TAgus the Ober the Guadian Guadalguivir the Douro and the Minhio the Guadalaiar the Seger the Liuga and others The Tagus famous for its Golden Sand passes at Toledo Villa Franchia and at Lisbon The Iber Iberus at Sarragossa and Tortoza this River gives the name of Iberia to all Spain The Latins call the Guadian Anas and the Guadalaiar Bertis the Douro Durius the Seger Sicoris The Spaniards boast of having a Bridge on which above ten thousand horn'd Beasts may feed together This proceeds from the River Anas which hiding it self for six leagues passes under a great Meadow-ground According to a Map made in Spain which the Sieurs Samsons Geographers in Ordinary to the King have shewn me and which they find good this River loses it self and rises again It is metaphorically call'd Anas because of its entrance and coming forth of the Earth as a Duck does in water Its waters supply Baiados and other places Some Rivers in France lose themselves in like manner and appear again as the River Sumene at the foot of the Sevenes the Rize near Masdazille in the Country of Foix the Vouzeille in Poictou four leagues from Poictiers on the West-side the Bandiat near Angouleme the Rile in Normandy near Beaumont le Roy the River Drome near Bayeux the Venelle which passes at Selongay in Burgundy seven or eight leagues from Dijon on the North-side The Guadalguivir waters Corduba and Sevil The Douro Valladolid and Zamora The Seger descends from the Pyrrheneans into Catalonia passes at Vrgel and Lerida Cesar and Lucan speak of the River Cinga which is by the Pyrrheneans and which has retain'd its name even to this day The Archbishopricks TOledo Sevil Sarragossa Burgos Grenada Valencia Compostella and Taragonia Cardinal Porto Carero is Archbishop of Toledo and Primate of Spain He succeeds Dom Pascal Cardinal of Aragon Archbishop of Toledo who died at Madrid the 28th of September 1677. After having given all he had to the Poor he gave his Nephew onely a Picture of Devotion Cardinal de Porto Carero gave An. 1679. to Dom Francisco Canon of the Church of Toledo the Archdeaconship of Toledo which is worth forty thousand Duckets of Rent Toledo has eight Suffragans Sevil three Sarragossa six Burgos three Grenada two
Valencia three Compostella fifteen Taragon seven Toledo has two hundred thousand Piasters yearly Sevil eighty Sarragossa fifty thousand Burgos thirty thousand Grenada thirty thousand Valencia thirty thousand Compostella twenty four thousand Taragon sixteen thousand The Bishoprick of Ciguenca brings fifty thousand Piasters and Cadiz twelve thousand The Archbishopricks and Bishopricks have a great Revenue in Spain If the number of Archbishopricks be there small it is very great in the Estates of Naples which are possess'd by his Catholick Majesty it is true that these here are very much limited in the extent of Country and in their Rents as in the rest of Italy excepting the Archbishoprick of Milan Naples and Messina They count in the Kingdom of Naples twenty Archbishopricks and a hundred twenty seven Bishopricks Pope Adrian the Fourth granted to the Kings of Spain in the person of Charles the Fifth of whom he had been Tutor the Right of Nomination to Bishopricks and other Consistorial Benefices they have the Nomination but of some in the Kingdom of Naples The same Pope Adrian a Spaniard gave the Conquest of the New World to the Kings of Spain wherein other Nations do not agree Atabalipa one of the Kings of Peru call'd the Incas being told that this Pope had given the King of Spain his Country said with a laughter Who is that man who gives that which belongs to another This Incas being taken Prisoner by the Spaniards offered for his liberty a Chamber full of Gold and pretious Stones which could not save his life Before he died he appeal'd to the Justice of the God of Christians Protector of the afflicted and innocent Pizarre has been blam'd every where for having caus'd him to be strangled he fear'd that if he let him live he would be taken by force from him Philip the Second boasted that he comprehended the course of the Sun within his Dominions by reason of America because the Sun shines there always when it is set in Europe A Grandee of Spain having said on a day to this Prince that a year before the Emperour Charles the Fifth had left to him his Crowns he replied that it was a year since also that he repented of it The said Philip died of the Lowsie Disease after having lost the Kingdom of Tunis and Holland Pope Clement the Seventh ended his life also by the same Disease caus'd through a great corruption Philip the Fourth fell much from his vast Dominion by the loss of Portugal with all its dependancies in the East and West and after the seizure of Jamaica by the English Spain was extreamly dispeopled by the Expulsion of the Moors and Jews it was farther emptied to stock the Indies and these Dominions being disperst in many places cannot easily be reliev'd Its Mountains are barren and its Women not very fertile The Spaniards are grave in their walk and discourse This makes me think of a pleasant passage related by a modern Author he says that a Buffoon with his ridiculous Gestures and Expressions having on a day made the Queen laugh extreamly at Table it was said to her that a Queen of Spain ought to be serious This Princess who was in her Orient newly come from Germany answer'd that they should then take away that Fellow from before her eyes if they would not have her laugh The Spanish Nation has the repute of making Rodomontadoes the following is not mean made by an Officers a Prisoner of War in France Loüis the Thirteenth having askt him wherefore the King of Spain went not to the Wars as the Kings of France he answered with an Exclamation Ho it is not necessary if the King my Master went to the Army he would make the whole Earth to tremble The Spaniards are fit for holding a long Siege because being sober they endure hunger and thirst a long time They fear much the English wherefore they have said La Guerra con toto il Mundo y la pace con los Inglesos War against the whole World and Peace with the English because they are better Souldiers than them on the Sea. All men are not fit for the Sea. There grows not much Corn in Spain because the Lands are ill cultivated France and Sicily are its its Granaries and of the Low Countries Its Mines of Andalusia Estramadura Grenada Murcia and of some other places are very famous They embark at Malaga the Wine of Grenada which is brought to Paris at Alicant that of Murcia and at Cadiz that of Andalusia The white-Wine is there better than the Claret Arragon and Castille produce not much Wine that of Portugal is almost of a Crimson colour Their Oyls of Olives their Woolls their Silks their Horses and their Mines are very considerable The Castilian Language is the finest of all Spain Charles the Fifth said that if he were to speak to God he would speak in the Spanish Tongue by reason of its Gravity to Men in French to Ladies in Italian to Horses in the German Some Castilians have dar'd to say either through a gayness of Spirit or as a Rodomontado that God spake Castilian to Moyses on Mount Sinai They speak grossly in Galicia Agrippa describing the Humour of four chief Nations of Christendom says among other things that in their singing The Spaniards Groan The Italians Bleat The Germans howl The French Quaver The 27th of Decem. 1676. the King of Spain writ a Letter to Don Juan by which his Catholick Majesty signified to him that he judg'd it convenient to have him near him to assist him with his Counsel It is coucht in these terms according to an Extract taken from the London-Gazette of the fifth of Feb. 1677. The Copy of the Letter of the King of Spain writ to Don John of Austria DOn Juan of Austria my Brother of the Council of State Governour and Captain-General of the Spanish Low Countries and Commander General of all our Sea-Forces the Affairs of this Monarchy being at present in such a condition that I find my self oblig'd to seek all sorts of ways for setling them as they ought to be and having considered that you are therein so very much interessed and that I must impart to you the greatest part of my Resolutions I propos'd to my self to require you to repair hither without any delay to assist me in a juncture so important it 's what I promise my self from the zeal which I have always found in you for the good of the State. God keep you in his protection as I wish From Madrid the 24th of Decem. 1676. EGO REX By the Command of our Lord the King D. Hierom de Eguia The Copy of the Letter of the Queen-Mother to Don John. THe King my Son has resolv'd as you may understand by the Letter which he has written to you that you repair hither as soon as may be to assist him in the administration of the Affairs of the Monarchy and I may tell you that there is nothing which can please me more than to see you embrace the direction with all the diligence which the juncture of affairs requires In which I shall rely on your zeal and good intentions assuring you that for as much as shall be in my power I shall always use my endeavours for procuring you all satisfaction From Madrid the 27th of Decem. 1676. The Answer of Don Juan to the Queens Letter Not doubting but your Majesty sees the Answer which I have made to the Letter of the King my Brother whom God preserve it would be to no purpose for me to repeat it to you assuring your Majesty that you never may have had nor never will have any person who wishes and wishes again to your Majesty with a more sincere intention that which I take God to witness to be most beneficial and advantageous for the service of your Majesty At whose feet I cast my self praying God to maintain your Majesty a long uninterrupted course of years in Posterity From Sarragossa the first of Jan. 1671. In the same year the Marquess de Villa Seria lost the Kings Favour His Catholick Majesty arriv'd at Sarragossa accompanied with Prince Don Juan the Duke Medina Coeli Great Chamberlain the Constable of Castille Great Steward of the Kings Household the Count de Talaras the Duke de Montery and with Count d'Arcot The Queen was in her Government of Toledo Some time afterward the new Corrigidor of Madrid or the chief Governour of the Polity for remedying the inconveniencies which ordinarily happen in the night ordain'd the seventh of October conformably to what has been practis'd of late years at Paris and at Amsterdam for the publick good that for the future there should be expos'd throughout the whole Town of Madrid Lights in the Streets by the means of Lanterns and ordered that from five to five houses there should be a Light for which the five houses should contribute proportionally This Sentence has been put in execution At the beginning of the year 1678. the Council gave sentence in the case of Don Ferdinand of Valenzuela Marquess of Villa Seria who was condemn'd to a perpetual banishment and sent to the Philippine Islands Intelligence was given An. 1680. that the King of Spain call'd him back from banishment from the Islands where Don Juan had caus'd him to be banisht The 17th of September Don Juan of Austria natural Son of the late King Philip the Fourth died being fifty years of age His Body was carried to the Escurial This Prince died at the same hour the same day and the same month as the late King his Father 1666. He was a great Captain fearless in War a man of great Reservation a great Minister of State penetrating all things and neglecting nothing The Kings Marriage CHarles the Second King of Spain being given to understand that the King of France had granted him the Princess Mary Louise of Orleans for Spouse made extraordinary Rejoycings at Madrid all the Town appear'd in fire for many days the People cryed with a loud voice That France had always giv'n them good Queens At their Arrival the Patriarch of the Judges gave their Catholick Majesties the second Benediction The 13th of January 1680. the Queen of Spain made her publick and solemn Entrance at Madrid FINIS