which seemed very strange for since that defence is made upon so small an expence it was amazing to see Bridges so naked and that was more surprizing in some places where the Bridges are both high and long yet I never heard of any Mischief that followed on this but those are sober Countries where drinking is not much in use After two days journey we came to Coire which is the chief Town of the Grisons and where we found a general Diet of the three Leagues sitting so that having staid ten days there I came to be informed of a great many particulars concerning those Leagues which are not commonly known The Town is but little and may contain between four and five thousand Souls it lies in a bottom upon a small brook that a little below the Town falls into the Rhine It is environed with Mountains on all hands so that they have a very short Summer for the Snow is not melted till May or June and it began to Snow in September when I was there On a rising grounâ— at the East-End of the Town is the Cathedral the Bishop's Pallace and the Close where the Dean and six Prebendaries live all within the Close are Papists but all the Town are Protestants and they live pretty Neighbourly together Above a qâ—arter of a mile high in the Hill one goes up by a steep ascent to S. Lucius Chappel my Curiosity carryed me thither tho' I gave no Faith to the Legend of King Lucius and of his coming so far from home to be the Apostle of the Grisons His Chappel is a little Vault about ten Foot square where ther is an Altar and where Mass is said upon some great Festivites it is situated under a natural Arch that is in the Rock which was thought proper to be given out to have been the Cell of a Hermit from it some drops of a small Fountain fall down near the Chappel the Bishop assured me it had a miraculovs vertue for weak eyâ—s and that it was Oily but neither Tast nor Feeling could discover to me any Oilyness I believe it may be very good for the Eyes as all Rock-water is but when I offered to shew the good Old Bishop that the legend of Lucius was a Fable in all the parts of it but most remarkably in that which related to the Grisons and that we had no Kings in Brittain at that time but were a Province to the Romans that no ancient Auâ—hors speak of it Bede being the first that mentions it and that the pretended Letter to Pope Eleutherius together with his Answer has evident Characters of Forgery in it all this signified nothing to the Bishop who assured me that they had a Tradition of that in their Church and it was inserted in their Breviary which he firmly believ'd He also told me the other legend of King Lucius's Sister S. Emerita who was burnt there anâ— of whose Veil there was yet a considerable remnant reserved among their Relicks I confess I never saw a Relick so ill disguised for it is a piece of worn linnen Cloth lately washt and the burning did not sâ—em to be a month old and yet when they took it out of the Case to shew it me there were some there that with great Devotion rub'd their beads upon ir The Bishop had some Contests with his Dean and being a Prince of the Empire he had proscribed him the Dean had also behaved himself so insolently that by an order of the Diet to which even the Bishop as was believed consented he was put in Prison as he came out of the Cathedral By the common consent both of the Popish and Protestant Communities a Law was long ago made against Ecclesiastical Immunities this attempt on the Dean was made four years ago as soon as he was let out he went to Rome and made great Complaints of the Bishop and it was thought the Popish Party intended to move in the Diet while we were there for the Repealing of that Law but they did it nor The foundation of the quarrel between the Bishop and Dean was the Exemptions to which the Dean and Chapter pretended and upon which the Bishop made some invasion Upon which I took occasion to shew him the novelty of those Exemptions and that in the Primitive Church it was believed that the Bishop had the Authority over his Presbyters by a Divine Right and if it was by a Divine Right then the Pope could not exempt them from his Obedience but the Bishop would not carry the matter so high and contented himself with two maxims the one was That the Bishop was Christ's Vicar in his Diocess and the other was That what the Pope was in the catholick-Catholick-Church the Bishop was the same in his Diocess He was a good natured man and did not make use of the great Authority that he has over the Papists there to set them on to live uneasily wth their Neighbours of another Religion That Bishop was antiently a great Prince and the greatest part of the League that carries still the Name of The House of God belonged to him tho' I was assured that Pregallia one of these Communities was a Free-State above Six hundred years ago and that they have Records yet extant that prove this The other Communities to this League bought their Liberties from several Bishops some considerable time before the Reformation of which the Deeds are yet extant So that it is an impudent thing to say as some have done That they shook off his Yoke at that time The Bishop hath yet reserved a Revenue of about One thousand pound sterling a year and every one of the Prebendaries hath near Two hundred pound a year It is not easie to imagine out of what the Riches of this Countrey is raised for one sees nothing but a tract of vast Mountains that seem barren Rocks and some little Vallies among them not a mile broad and the best part of these is washed away by the Rhine and some Brooks that fall into it but their weâ—lth consists chiefly in their Hills which afford much Pasture and in the hot Months in which all the Pasture of Italy is generally parched the Cattle are driven into these Hills which brings them in a Revenue of above Two hundred thousand Crowns a year The Publick is indeed very poor but particulâ—r persons are so rich that I knew a great many there who were believed to have Estates to the value of One hundred thousand Crowns Mr. Schovestein that is accounted the richest man in the Country is believed to be worth a million I mean of Livres The Government here is purely a Common-wealth for in the Choice of their Magistrates every man that is above sixteen years Old hath his voice which is also the Constitution of some of the small Cantons The three Leagues are the League of the Grisons that of the House of God and that of The Ten Jurisdictions They believe that upon the incursions
the same Church they have both Mass and Sermon so equally that on one Sunday the Mass begins and the Sermon follows the next Sunday the Sermon begins and the Mass comes next without the least disorder or murmuring But in the year 1656 some of the Canton of Schwitz changing their Religion and retiring to Zurich their Estates were confiscated and some others that had also changed but had not left the Canton were taken and beheaded Zurich demanded the Estates of the Refugies but instead of granting this the Canton of Schwitz demanded back their Subjects that they might proceed against them as Delinquents and they founded this on a Law by which the Cantons are obliged to deliver up the Criminals of another Canton when they come among them if they are demanded by the Canton to which they belong but those of Zurich and Bern thought this was both inhumane and unchristian tho' the Deputy of Basil was of another mind and thought that they ought to be delivered up which extreamly disgusted those of Zurich Those of Schwitz committed some Insolencies upon the Subjects of Zurich and refused to give Satisfaction Upon all which a War followed between the Protestant and Popish Cantons The Cantons of Bern and Zurich raised an Army of Twenty five thousand Men which was commanded by Mr. d' Erlack but was dispersed in several Bodies And the Papists had not above Six thousand yet they surprised Mr. d' Erlack with a Body not much superiour to theirs both sides after a short Engagement run The Canon of the Canton of Bern was left in the Field a whole day at last those of Lucern seeing that none stayed to defend the Canon carried them off This loss raised such a Tumult in Bern that they seemed resolved to sacrifice Mr. d' Erlack but he came with such a Presence of Mind and gave so satisfying an Account of the Misfortune that the Tumult ceased and soon after the War ended Upon this many thought that tho' the Papists acted cruelly yet it was according to their Laws and that no other Canton could pretend to interpose or quarrel with those of Schwitz for what they did upon that occasion Within these few Years there were some Quarrels like to arise in the Canton of Glaris where it was said the equal Priviledges agreed on to both Religions were not preserved but on this occasion the Pope's Nuntio acted a very different Part from that which might have been expected from him for whereas the Ministers of that Court have been commonly the Incendiaries in all the Disputes that concern Religion he acted rather the part of a Mediator and whereas it was visible that the Injustice lay on the side of the Papists he interposed so effectually with those of Lucern which is the chief of the Popish Cantons that the difference was composed But to return to Bern The Buildings have neither great Magnificence nor many Apartments but they are convenient and suited to the way of living in the Country The Streets not only of Bern and the bigger Towns but even of the smallest Villages are furnished with Fountains that run continually which â—s they are of great use so they want not their Beauty The great Church of Bern is a very noble Fabrick but being built on the top of the Hill on which the Town stands it seems the ground began to fail so to support it they have raised a vast Fabrick which has cost more than the Church it self for there is a Platform made which is a Square to which the Church is one side and the farther side is a vast Wall fortified with Buttresses about a hundred and fifty foot high They told me That all the Ground down to the bottom of the Hill was dug into Vaults This Platform is the chief Walk of the Town chiefly about Sun-set and the River underneath presents a very beautiful Prospect for there is a Cur taken off from it for the Mills but all along as this Cur goes the Water of Aar runs over a stoping bank of Stone which they say was made at a vast Charge and makes a noble and large Cascade The second Church is the Dominicans Chappel where I saw the famous Hole that went to an Image in the Church from one of the Cells of the Dominicans which leads me to set down that Story at some length for it was one of the most signal Cheats that the World has known so it falling out about 20 years before the Reformation was received in Bern it is very probable that it contributed not a little to the preparing of the Spirits of the People to that change I am the more able to give a particular account of it because I read the Original Process in the Latin Record signed by the Notaries of the Court of the Delegates that the Pope sent to try the matter The Record is a hundred and thirty Sheets writ close and of all sides it being indeed a large Volume and I found the Printed Accounts so desective that I was at the painâ— of reading the whole Process of which I will give here a true Abstract The two famous Orders that had possessed themselves of the esteem of those dark Ages were engaged in a mighty Rivalry The Dominicans were the more learned They were the eminentest Preachers of those Times and had the Conduct of the Courts of Inquisition and the other chief Offices in the Church in their hands But on the other hand the Franciscans had an outward Appearance of more Severity a ruder Habit stricter Rules and greater Poverty all which gave them such advantages in the eyes of the simple multitude as were able to ballance the other Honours of the Dominican Order In short The two Orders were engaged in a high Rivalry but the Devotion towards the Virgin being the prevailing Passion of those Times the Franciscans upon this had great Apvantages The Dominicans that are all engaged in the Defence of Thomas Aquinas's Opinions were thereby obliged to assert that she was born in Original Sin this was proposed to the People by the Franciscans as no less than Blasphemy and by this the Dominicans began to lose ground extreamly in the minds of the People who were strongly prepossessed in favours of the immaculate Conception About the beginning of the fifteenth Century a Franciscan happened to preach in Francfort and one Wigand a Dominican coming into the Church the Cordelier seeing him brake out into Exclamations praising God that he was not of an Order that profaned the Virgin or that poisoned Princes in the Sacrament for a Dominican had poisoned the Emperour Henry the Seventh with the Sacrament Wigand being extreamly provoked with this bloody Reproach gave him the Lye upon which a Dispute arose which ended in a Tumult that had almost cost the Dominican his Life yet he got away The whole Order resolved to take their Revenge and in a Chapter held at Vimâ—sen in the Year 1504. They contrived a method for
the Prayer a good interval of Silence for the private Devotions of the Assembly The Schools here go not above Latin Greek and Logick and for the â—est they send their Children to Zurich or Basil The Clergy here are very meanly provided for most part they have nothing but the benevolence of their People they complained much to me of a great coldness in their People in the matters of Religion and of a great Corruption in their morals The Commons are extream insolent and many Crimes go unpunished if the Persons that commit them have either great credit or much money The poor Ministers here are under a terrible slavery for the Grisons pretend that in all times they had not only the Patronage of their Churches but a power to dismiss their Châ—rch-men as they saw cause How it is among the Papists I cannot tell but the Dean of the Synod of the House of God told me they had an ill custom of ordaining their Ministers without a Title upon an Examination of their Qualifications and Abilities which took them up generally six or seven hours and when this Tryal was thus dispatched if the Person was found qualified they ordained him and it was too ordinary for those that were thus ordained to endeavour to undermine the Ministers already in Employment if their people grew disgusted at them or as they became disabled by Age and often the Interest and Kindred of the Intruder carried the matter against the Incumbent without any colour or pretence and in that case the Synod was bound to receive the Intruder In one half of the Country they preach in High Dutch and in the other half in a corrupt Italian which they call Romanish that is a mixture of French and Italian In every League they have a Synod and as the People chuse their Ministers so in imitation of the Switzers every Synâ—d chuses their Antistâ—s or S. perintendant he is called the Dean among the Grisons and hath a sort of an Episcopal Power but he is accountable to the Synod The Office is for life but the Synod upon great cause given may make a change The people of this Country are much more lively than the Switzers and they begin to have some tincture of the Italian Temper They are extream civil to Strangers but it seems in all Commonwealths Inn-keepers think they have a right to exact upon Strangers which one finds here as well as in Holland or in Switzerland I shall conclude what I have to say concerning the Grisons with a very extraordinary Story which I had both from the Ministers of Coire and several other Gentlemen that saw in April 1685. about five hundred persons of different Sexes and Ages that past through the Town who gave this account of themselves They were the Inhabitants of a Valley in Tirol belonging for the greatest part to the Archbishoprick of Saltsburg but some of them were in the Diocesses of Trent Bresse they seemed to be a Remnant of the old Waldenses they worshipped neither Images nor Saints and they believed the Sacrament was only a commemoration of the Death of Christ and in many other Points they had their peculiar Opinions different from those of the Church of Rome they knew nothing neither of Lutherians nor Calvinists and the Grisons tho' their Neighbours had never heard of this nearness of theirs to the Protestant Religion They had Mass said among them but some years since some of the Valley going over Germany to earn somewhat by their labour hapned to go into the Palatinate where they were better instructed in maâ—ters of Religion and these brought back with them into the Valley the Heidelberg Catechism together with â—omâ— other German Books which un over the Vâ—lley and they being before that in a good diâ—position those Books had such an effect upon them that they gave over going to Mass any more and began to worship God in a way more sutable to the Rules set down in Scripture some of their Priests concurred with them in this happy Change but others that adhered still to the Mass went and gave the Archbishop of Saltsburg an account of it upon which he sent some into the Country to examine the truth of the matter to exhort them to return to Maâ—s and tâ— threaten them with all severity if they continued obstinate so they seeing a terrible Storm ready to break upon them resolved to abandon their Houses and all they had rather than sin against their Consciences And the whole Inhabitants of the Valley old and young Men and Women to the number of two thousand divided themselves into several Bodies some intended to go to Brandenburgh others to the Palatinate and about five hundred took the way of Coire intending to disperse theâ—â—elves in Switzerland The Ministers told me they were much edified with their Simplicity and Modesty for a Collection being made for them they desired only a little Bread to carry them on their way From Coire we went to Tossane and from that through the way that is justly called Via Mala. â—t is through a bottom between two Rocks through which the Rhine runs but under ground or a great part of the way The Way is cut out in the middle of the Rock in some places and in several places the steepness of the Rock being such that a Way could not be cut out there are beams driven into it over which Boards and Earth are laid this way holds an hour After that there is for two hours good way and we past through two considerable Villages there is good Lodging in both From thence there is for two hours Journey terâ—ible Way almost as bad as the Via Mala then an hours Journey good way to Splagen which is a large Village of above two hundred Houses that are well built and the Inhabitants seem all to live at their ease tho' they have no sort of Soil but a little Meadow ground about them This is the last Protestant Church that was in our Way it was well endowed for the Provision of the Minister was near two hundred Crowns Those of this Village are the Carriers between Italy and Germany so they drive a great Trade for there is here a perpetual Carriage going and coming and we were told thâ—t there pass genâ—rally a hundred Horses through this Town one day with another and there are above five hundred Carriage-Horse that belong to this Town From this place we went mounting for three hours till we got to the top of the Hills where there is only one great Inn. After that the way was tollerably good for two hours and for two hours there is a constant descent which for the most part is as steep as if we were all the while going down Stairs At the foot of this is a little Village called Campdolcin and here we found we were in Italy both by the vast difference of the Climate for whereas we were freezing on the other side the hear of the
half Diameter and about a foot and a quarter thick and they work it in a Mill where the Chizzels that cut the Stone are driven about by a Wheel that is set a going by VVater and which is so ordered that he who manages the Chizzel very easily draws forward the VVheel out of the course of the VVater they turn off first the outward Coat of this Stone till it is exactly smooth and then they separate one Pot after another by those small and hooked Chizzels by which they make a nest of Pots all one within another the outward and biggest being as big as an ordinary Beef-pot and the inward Pot being no bigger than a small Pipkin these they arm with hooks and circles of Brass and so they are served by them in their Kitchins One of these Stone-pots takes heat and boils sooner than any Pot of Mettle and whereas the bottoms of Mettle-pots transmit the heat so intirely to the Liquor within that they are not insufferably hot the bottom of this Stone-pot which is about twice so thick as a Pot of Mettle burns extreamly it never cracks neither gives it any sort of taste to the Liquor that is boiled in it but if it falls to the ground it is very brittle yet this is repaired by pâ—â—ching it up for they piece their broken Pots so close tho without any cement by sowing with Iron-wire the broken Parcels together that in the holes which they pierce with the Wire there is not the least breach made except that which the Wire both makes and sills The passage to this Mine is very inconvenient for thâ— must creep into it for near half a mile through a 〈◊〉 that is so hard that the passage is not above three foot high and so those that draw out the Stones creep all along upon their Belly having a Candle fastned in their forehead and the Stone laid on a sort of Cushion made for it upon their hips The Stones are commonly two hundred weight But having mentioned some falls of Mountains in those parts I cannot pass by the extraordinary fate of the Town of Pleurs that was about a league from Chavennes to the North in the same bottom but on a ground that is a little more raised The Town was half the bigness of Chavenness the number of the Inhabitants was about two and twenty hundred pâ—rsons but it was much more nobly Built for besides the great Palace of the Francken that cost some millions there were many other Palaces that were built by several rich Factors both of Milan and the other parts of Italy who liked the scituation and Air as well as the freedom of the Government of this place so they used to come hither during the heats and here they gave themselves all the Indulgences that a vast wealth could furnish By one of the Palaces that was a little distant from the Town which was not overwhelmed with it one may judge of the rest It was an out-house of the Family of the Francken and yet it may compare with many Palaces in Italy and certainly House and Gardens could not cost so little as one hundred thousand Crowns The voluptuousness of this place became very crying and Madâ—m de Salis told mâ— that she heard her Mother often relate some passages of a Protestant Ministers Sermons that preached in a little Church which those of the Religion had there and warned them often of the terrible judgments of God which were hanging over their heads and that he believed would suddenly break ouâ—â—â—on them On the 25th of August 1618 Anâ—â—â—bitant came and told them to be gone for he saw the Mountains cleaving but he was laughed at for his pains He had a Daughter whom he perswaded to leave all and go with him but when she was gone out of Town with him she called to mind that she had not locked the Door of a Room in which she had some things of value and so she went back to do that and was buried with the rest for at the hour of Supper the Hill fell down and buried the Town and all the Inhabitants so that not one person escaped The fall of the Mountains did so fill the Channel of the River that the first news those of Chavennes had of it was by the failing of their River for three or four hours there came not a drop of Water but the River wrought for it self a new course and returned to them I could hear no particular character of the Man who escaped so I must leave the secret reason of so singular a preservation to the great discovery at the last day of those steps of Divine Providence that are now so unaccountable Some of the Family of the Francken got some Miners to work under ground to find out the wealth that was buried in their Palace for besides their Plate and Furniture there was a great cash and many Jewels in the House the Miners pretended they could find nothing but they went to their Countrey of Tirol and built fine Houses and a great wealth appeared of which no other visible account could be given but this that they had found some of that treasure The chief Factors of Italy have been Grisons and they told me that as the Trade of Banking began in Lombardy so that all Europe over a Lombard and a Bank signified the same thing so the great Bankiers of Lombardy were Grisons and to this day the Grisons drive a great Trade in money for a Man there of a hundred thousand Crowns Estate hath not perhaps a third part of this within the Countrey but puts it out in the neighbouring States And the liberty of the Countrey is such that the Natives when they have made up Estates elsewhere are glad to leave even Italy and the best parts of Germany and to come and live among those Mountains of which the very sight is enough to fill a Man with horror From Chavennes we went for two hours through a plain to the Lake of Chavennes which is almost round and is about two mile Diameter This Lake falls into the Lake of Como over against the Fort Fuentes when we passed there the Water was so low that the Boat could not easily get over a Bank that lay between the two Lakes The Lake of Como is about eight and forty miles long and four broad it runs between two ranges of Hills I did not stay long enough in Como to give any description of it for I thought to have returned that way from a â—ittle Tour that I made into the Baâ—iaâ—es that the Switzers have in Italy of Lugane Locarmo and Bellinzona But I took another course so I saw nothing in Como the best thing in it is a fine Chappel which the present Pope who is a native of Como is building From Como we went eight miles to Codelago which belongs to the Switzers and from thence to Lugane we had eight miles of Lake this Lake doth not run in an
The Convent of S. Victor that is without the Town is by much the richest it is composed of Canons Regular called in Italy the Order of Mount Olive or Olivetan that of the Bernabites is extream rich there is a Pulpit and a Confessional all inlaid with Agates of different colours finely spotted Marbles and of Lapis Lazulis that are thought almost inestimable S. Laurence has a noble Cupulo and a Pulpit of the same form with that of the Bernabites The Jesuits the Theatines the Dominicans and S. Sebastians are very rich The Cittadel is too well known to need a description it is very regularly built and is a most effectual restraint to keep the Town in order but it could not stand out against a good Army three days for it is so little and so fâ—ll of buildings that it could not resist a showr of Bombs The Hospital is indeed a Royal Building I was told it had Ninety Thousand Crowns Revenue The old Court is large and would look noble if it were not for the new Court that is near it which is Two Hundred and Fifty foot square and there are three rows of Corridors or Galleries all round the Court one in every stage according to the Italian manner which makes the lodgings very convenient and gives a Gallery before every door It is true these take up a great deal of the Building being ordinarily Eight or Ten foot broad but then here is an open space that is extream cool on that side where the Sun doth not lie for it is all open to the Air the Wall being only supported by Pillars at the distance of Fifteen or Twenty foot one from another In this Hospital there are not only Galleries full of Beds on both sides as is ordinary in all Hospitals but there are also a great many Chambers in which Persons whose condition was formerly distinguished are treated with a particular care There is an out-house which is called the Lazarette that is without the Walls which belongs to this Hospital it is an exact quarter of a mile square and there are Three Hundred and Sixty Rooms in it and a Gallery runs all along before the Chambers so that as the service is convenient the sick have a covered walk before their Doors In the middle of this vast square there is an Octangular Chappel so contrived that the sick from all their Beds may see the elevation of the Hostie and adore it This House is for the Plague or for infectious Feavers and the Sick that want a freer Air are also removed hither As for the devotions of this place I saw here the Ambrosian Office which is distinguished from the Roman both in the Musick which is much simpler and in some other rites the Gospel is read in a high Pulpit at the lower end of the Quire that so it may be heard by all the People though this is needless since it is read in a Language that they do not understand when they go to say high Mass the Priests comes from the high Altar to the lower-end of the Quire where the Offertory of the Bread and the Wine is made by some of the Laity they were Nuns that made it when I was there I heard a Capucin Preach here it was the first Sermon I heard in Italy and I was much surprized at many Comical expressions and gestures but most of all with the conclusion for there being in all the Pulpits of Italy a Crucifix on the side of the Pulpit towards the Altar he after a long address to it at last in a forced transport took it in his Arms and hugged it and kissed it But I observed that before he kiss'd it he seeing some dust on it blew it off very carefully for I was just under the Pulpit He entertained it with a long and tender caress and held it out to the People and would have forced tears both from himself and them yet I saw none shed But if the Sermon in the Morning surprized me I wondred no less at two discourses that I heard in one Church at the same time in the afternoon for there were two bodies of Men set down in different places of the Church all covered and two Lay-men in ordinary habits were entertaining them with discourses of Religion in a Catechetical stile These were Confrairies and those were some of the more devout that instructed the rest This I never saw any where else so I do not know whether it is peculiar to Milan or not My Conductor could not speak Latin and the Italian there is so different from the true Tuscan which I only knew that I could not understand him when he was engaged in a long discourse so I was not clearly informed of this matter but I am apt to think it might have been some institution of Cardinal Borromees The Ambrosian Library founded by Cardinal Frederick Borromee is a very noble Room and well furnished only it is too full of School-men and Canonists which are the chief studies of Italy and it hath too few Books of a more solid and useful learning One part of the disposition of the Room was pleasant there is a great number of Chairs placed all round it at a competent distance from one another and to every Chair there belongs a Desk with an Ecritoire that hath Pen Ink and Paper in it so that every Man finds tools here for such extracts as he would make There is a little Room of Manuscripts at the end of the great Gallery but the Library-keeper knows little of them a great many of them relate to their Saint Charles I saw some fragments of Latin Bibles but none seemed to be above Six Hundred Years old there are also some fragments of Saint Ambroses works and of Saint Jerom's Epistle that are of the same antiquity I was sorry not to find St. Ambrose's Works intire that I might have seen whether the Books of the Sacraments are ascribed to him in ancient Copies for perhaps they belong to a more modern Author It is true in these Books the Doctrine of a sort of a Corporal Presence is asserted in very high expressions but there is one thing mentioned in them which is stronger against it than all those citations can be for it for the Author gives us the formal words of the Prayer of Consecration in his time which he Prefaces with solemnity Will you know how the change is wrought hear the Heavenly words For the Priest saith but whereas in the present Canon of the Mass the Prayer of Consecration is for a good part of it very near in the same words with those which he mentions there is one essential difference for in the Canon they now pray that the Hosty may be to them the Body and Blood of Christ which by the way doth not agree too well with the notion of Transubstantiation and approacheth more to the Doctrine of the Lutherians whereas in the Prayer cited by that Author the Hosty
those this Decree concerning the Superiority of the Council is not named this seemed to be of much more importance and therefore I desired to see the Original of the Bull for their seem to be just reasons to apprehend a forgery here He promised to do his endeavours tho he told me that would not be easie for the Bulls were strictly kept and the next day when I came hoping to see it I could not be admitted but he assured me that if that had not been the last day of my stay at Rome he would have procured a Warrant for my seeing the Original so this is all I can say as to the Authenticalness of that Bull But supposing it to be genuine I could not agree to M. Schelstrate that the General Bull of Confirmation ought to be limited to the other that enumerates the particular Dâ—crees but since that particular Bull was never diâ—covered till he hath found it out it seems it was sâ—cretly made and did not pass according to the forms of the Consistory and was a fraudulent thing of which no noise was to be made in that Age and therefore in all the dispute that followed in the Concel of Basil between the Pope and the Council upon this very point no mention was ever made of it by either side and thus it can have no force unless it be to discover the Artifices and fraud of that Court that at the same time in which the necessity of their affairs obliged the Pope to confirm the Decrees of the Council he contrived a secret Bull which in another Age might be made use of to weaken the Authority of the General Confirmation that he gave and therefore a Bull that doth not pass in due form and is not p oâ—ulgated is of no Authority and so this Pretended Bull cannot limit the other Bull. There were some other things relating to this debate that were shewed me by M. Schelstrate but thâ—se being the most important I mention them only I will not give you here a large account of the learned men at Rome Bellori is dâ—servedly Famous for his knowledge of the Greek and Aegyptian Antiquities and for all that belongs to the Mythologies and superstitions of the Heathens and hath a Closet richly furnished with things relating to those matters Fabrelti is justly celebrated for his Understanding of the Old Roman Architecture and Fabricks Padre Fabri is the chief Honour of the Jesuit's Colledge and is much above the common rate both for Philosophy Mathematicks and Church History And he to whom I was the most obliged Abbot Nazari hath so general a view of the several parts of learning tho he hath chiefly applied himself to Philosophy and Mathâ—maticks and is a man of so ingaging a civility and used my self in so particular a manner that I owe him as well as those others whom I have mentioned and whom I had the Honour to see all the acknowledgments of esteem and gratitude that I can possibly make them One sees in Cardinal d'Estrees all the advantages of a high birth great parts a generous civility and a measure of knowledge faire above what can be expected from a person of his rank but as he gave a noble protection to one of the leardnest men that this Age hath produced Mr. Launnoy who lived many years with him so it is visible that he made a great progress by the conversation of so extraordinary a pe son and as for Theological learning there is now none of the Colledge equal to him Cardinal Howard is too well known in England to need any character from me The Elevation of his present condition hath not in the least changed him he hath all the sweetness and Gentleness of temper that we saw in him in England and he retains the unaffected simplicity and humility of a Frier amidst all the dignity of the Purple and as he sheweth all the generous care and concern for his Countreymen that they can expect from him so I met with so much of it in so many obliging marks of his goodness for my self that wenâ— far beyond a common civility that I canâ—oâ— enough acknowledge it I was told the Popes Confessor was a very extraordinary man for the Oriental Learning which is but little known in Rome He is a Master of the Arabick Tongue and hath writ as Abbot Nazari told me the learned'st Book against the Mahometan Religion that the World hath yet seen but it is not yet Printed He is not so much esteemed in Rome as he would be elsewhere for his Learning is not in vogue and the School Divinity and Casuistical Learning being that for which Divines are most esteemed there He whose Studies lead him another way is not so much valued as he ought to be and perhaps the small account that the Pope makes of learned men turns somewhat upon the Confessor for it is certain that this is a Reign in which Learning is very little encouraged Upon the general contempt that all the Romans have for the present Pontificate one made a pleasant reflection to me he said those Popes that intended to raise their Families as thâ—y saw the censure that this brought upon them so they studied to lessen it by other things that might soften the Spirits of the people No man did more for beautifying Rome for finishing St. Peters and the Library and for furnishing Rome with water then Pope Paul the V. tho at the same time he did not forget his Family and tho the other Popes that have raised great Families have not done this to so eminent a degree as he did yet there are many remains of their Magnificeâ—ce whereas those Popes that have not raised Families have it seems thought that alone was enough to maintain their reputation and so they have not done much either to recommend their Government to their Subjectâ— or their Reign to posterity and it is very plain that the present Pope taketh no great care of this His life hath been certainly very innocent and free of all those publick scandals that make a noise in the World and there is at present a regularity in Rome that deserveth great commendation for publick Vices are not to be seen there His personal sobriety is a so singular One assured me that the expence of his Table did not amount to a Crown a day tho this is indeed short of Sisto V. who gave order to his Steward never to exceed five and twenty Bajokes that is eighteen pence a day for his Diet. The Pope is very carefull of his health and doth never expose it for upon the least disorder he shuts himself up in his Chamber and often keepeth his Bed for the least indisposition many dayes but his Government is severe and his Subjects are ruined And here one thing cometh into my mind which perhaps is not ill grounded that the poverty of a Nation not only dispeoples it by driving the people out of it but by weakning the natural
as the last hath a Noble square before it with two great Fountains in it so the Statue of Hercules and the Bull that are below and the Gallery above Stairs are unvaluable the Roof of the Gallery is one of the best Pieces of Painting that is extant being all of Carrachio's hand and there are in that Gallery the greatest number of Heads of the Greek Philosophers and Poets that I ever saw together That of Homer and that of Socrates were the two that struck me most chiefly the latter which as it is without dispute a true Antick so it carrieth in it all the characters that Plato and Xenophon give us of Socrates the flat Nose the broad Face the simplicity of Look and the mean appearance which that great Philosopher made so that I could not return oft enough to look upon it and was delighted with this more then with all the wonders of the Bull which is indeed a Rock of Marble cut out into a whole Scene of Statues but as the History of it is not well known so there are such Faults in the Sculpture that tho it is all extream fine yet one seeth it hath not the exactness of the best times As for the Churches and Convents of Rome as the number the vastness the riches both of Fabrick Furniture Painting and other Ornaments amaze one so here again a Stranger is lost and the Convent that one seeth last is alwayes the most admired I confess the Minerva which is the Dominicans where the Inquisition sifieth is that which maketh the most sensible Impression upon one that passeth at Rome for an Heretick tho except one committeth great follies he is in no danger there and the poverty that reigns in that City maketh them find their interest so much in using Strangers well whatsoever their Religion may be that no man needs be affraid there And I have more then ordinary reason to ackowledge this who having ventured to go thither after all the liberty that I had taken to write my thoughts freely both of the Church and See of Rome and was known by all with whom I conversed there yet met with the highest civilities possible among all sorts of people and in particular both among the English and Scottish Jesuites tho they knew well enough that I was no friend to their Order In the Gallery of the English Jesuites among the Pictures of their Martyrs I did not meet with Garnet for perhaps that name is so well known that they would not expose a Picture with such a name on it to all Strangers yet Oldcorn being a name less known is hung there among their Martyrs tho he was as clearly convicted of the Gun-pouder Treason as the other was and it seemed a little strange to me to see that at a time in which for other reasons the Writers of that Communion have not thought fit to deny the truth of that Conspiracy a Jesuit convicted of the blackest crime that ever was projected should be reckoned among their Martyrs I saw likewise there the Original of these Emblematical Prophecies relating to England that the Jesuits have had at Rome near sixty years and of which I had some time ago procured a Copy so I found my Copy was true I hapned to be at Rome during St. Gregory's Fair and Feast which lasted several dayes In his Church the Hosty was exposed and from that all that came thither went to the Chappel that was once his House in which his Statue and the Table where he served the poor are preserved I saw such vast numbers of people there that one would have thought all Rome was got together They all kneeled down to his Statue and after a prayer said to it they kissed his foot and every one touched the Table with his Beads as hoping to draw some vertue from it I will add nothing of the several Obelisks and Pillars that are in Rome of the celebrated Chappels that are in some of the great Churches in particular those of Sixtus the V. and Paul the V. in Santa Maria Maggiore of the Water works in the Quirinal the Vatican and in many of the Vineyards Nor will I go out of Rome to describe Frescati for Tivoly I did not see The young Prince Borgese who is indeed one of the glories of Rome as well for his Learning as for his Virtue did me the Honour to carry me thither with those two learned Abbots Fabretri and Nazari and entertained me with a magnificence that became him better to give than me to receive The Water-works in the Aldobrandin Palace have a magnificence in them beyond all that I ever saw in France the mixture of Wind with the Water and the Thunders and Storms that this maketh is noble The Water-works of the Ludovisio and the Monte Dragone have likewise a greatness in them that is natural and indeed the riches that one meets with in all places within Doors in Italy and the poverty that one seeth every where abroad are the most unsuitable things imaginable but it is very likely that a great part of their moveable Wealth will be ere long carried into France for as soon as any Picture or Statue of great value is offered to be sold those that are imployed by the King of France do presently buy it up so that as that King hath already the greatest collection of Pictures that is in Europe he will very probably in a few years more bring together the chief Treasures of Italy I have now given you an account of all that appeared most remarkable to me in Rome I shall to this add a very extraordinary piece of Natural History that fell out there within these two years which I had first from those two learned Abbots Fabretti and Nazari and that was afterwards more authentically confirmed to me by Cardinal Howard who was one of the Congregation of Cardinals that examined and judged the matter There were two Nuns near Rome one as I remember was in the City and the other not far from it who after they had been for some years in a Nunnery perceived a very strange change in Nature and that their Sex was altered which grew by some degrees a total alteration in one and tho the other was not so entire a change yet it was visible she was more Man than Woman upon this the matter was looked into That which naturally offereth it self here is that these two had been alwayes what they then appeared to be but that they had gone into a Nunnery in a disguise to gratifie a brutal appetite But to this when I proposed it answer was made that as the breasts of a Woman that remained still did in a great measure shake off that objection so the proofs were given so fully of their having been real females that there was no doubt left of that nor had they given any sort of scandal in the change of their Sex And if there had been any room left to suspect a
keep his faith to them so that instead of censuring him I must only lament his being bred up in a Religion that doth certainly oblige him to devest himself of humanity and to violate his faith whensoever the cause of his Church and Religion requireth it Or if there is any thing in this conduct that cannot be entirely justified from the principles of that Religion it is this that he doth not put the Hereticks to death out of hand but that he forceth them by all the extremities possible to sign an abjuration that all the World must needs see is done against their Consciences and this being the only end of their miseries those that would think any sort of death a happy conclusion of their sufferings seeing no prospect of such a glorious issue out of their troubles are prevailed on by the many lingring deaths of which they see no end to make Shipwrack of their faith This appearance of mercy in not putting men to death doth truly verifie the character that Solomon giveth of the tender mercies of the wicked that they are cruel But I will stop here though it is not easie to retire from so copious a subject that as it affordeth so much matter so upon many accounts raiseth a heat of thought that is not easily governed I will now lead you to a Scene that giveth less passion I past the Winter at Geneva with more satisfaction that I had thought it was possible for me to have found any where out of England though that received great allaies from the most lamentable Stories that we had every day from France but there is a sorrow by which the heart is made better I ought to make the most publick acknowledgments possible for the Extraordinary Civilities that I met with in any one particular but that is too low a Subject to entertain you with it That which pleased me most was of a more publick nature before I left Geneva the numbers of the English there was such that I found we could make a small Congregation For we were Twelve or Fourteen so I addressed my self to the Councel of Twenty five for liberty to have our own worship in our own Language according to the English Liturgy This was immediately granted in so obliging a manner that as there was not one person that made any exception to it so they sent one of their body to me to let me know that in case our number should grow to be so great that it were fit for us to assemble in a Church they would grant us one which had been done in Queen Maries reign but till then we might hold our assemblies as we thought fit So after that time during the rest of my stay there we had every Sunday our devotions according to the Common Prayer Morning and Evening and at the Evening Prayer I preacht in a Room that was indeed too large for our small Company but there being a considerable number in Geneva that Understand English and in particular some of the Professors and Ministers we had a great many strangers that met with us and the last Sunday I gave the Sacrament according to the way of the Church of England and upon this occasion I found a general joy in the Town for this that I had given them an opportunity of expressing the respect they had for our Church and as in their publick Prayers they always prayed for the Churches of Great Brittain as well as for the King so in private discourse they shewed all possible esteem for our Constitutions and they spoke of the unhappy divisions among us and of the Separation that was made from us upon the account of our Government and Ceremonies with great regret and dislike I shall name to you only two of their Professours that as they are Men of great distinction so they were the Persons with whom I conversed the most The one is Mr. Turretin a Man of great Learning that by his Indefatigable Study and Labour has much worn out and wasted his strength amidst all the affluence of a great plenty of Fortune to which he was born one discerns in him all the modesty of a humble and mortified temper and of an active and fervent charity proportioned to his abundance or rather beyond it and there is in him such a melting zeal for Religion as the present conjuncture calls for with all the seriousness of piety and devotion which shews it self both in private conversation and in his most edifying Sermons by which he enters deep into the consciences of his Hearers The other is Mr. Tronchin a Man of a strong head and of a clear and correct Judgment who has all his thoughts well digested his conversation has an engaging charm in it that cannot be resisted He is a Man of Extraordinary virtue and of a readiness to oblige and serve all Persons that has scarce any measures His Sermons have a sublimity in them that strikes the hearer as well as it edifies him His thoughts are noble and his Eloquence is Masculine and exact and has all the Majesty of the Chair in it tempered with all the softness of persuasion so that he not only convinces his Hearers but subdues them and triumphs over them In such Company it was no wonder if time seemed to go off too fast so that I left Geneva with a concern that I should not have felt in leaving any place out of the Isle of Brittain From Geneva I went a second time through Switzerland to Basile At Avanche I saw the Noble fragments of a great Roman Work which seems to have been the Portico to some Temple the heads of the Pillars are about four foot square of the Jonick Order The Temple hath been dedicated to Neptune or some Sea god for on the fragments of the Architrave which are very beautiful there are Dolphins and Sea-horses in bas-reliefs and the neighbourhood of the place to the Lakes of Iverdun and Morat maketh this more evident there is also a Pillar standing up in its full height or rather the corner of a building in which one seeth the rests of a regular Architecture in two ranks of Pillars If the ground near this were carefully search'd no doubt it would discover more rests of that Fabrick Not far from this is Morat and a little on this side of it is a Chappel full of the bones of the Burgundians that were killed by the Switzers when this place was besieged by the famous Charles Duke of Burgundy who lost a great Army before it that was entirely cut off by the besieged the inscription is very extraordinary especially for that Age for the bones being so piled up that the Chappel is quite filled with them the inscription bears that Charles Duke of Burgundy's Army having besieged Morat Hoc sui Monumentum reliquit had left that Monument behind it It cannot but seem strange to one that views Morat to imagine how it was possible for a Town so situated and so
Book to prove the truth of it as I remember it was a Jesuit he acknowledged it was not an Article of Faith so I was satisfied There is in the Cloister an old Gothick representation of our Saviours Agony in Stone with a great many Figures of his Apostles and the Company that came to seize him that is not ill Sculpture for the Age in which it was made it being some Ages old The Calvinists have a Church in this Town but their numbers are not considerable I was told there were some ancient Manuscripts in the Library that belongeth to the Cathedral but one of the Prebendaries to whom I addressed my self being according to the German custom a man of greater quality than learning told me he heard they had some ancient Manuscripts but he knew nothing of it and the Dean was absent so I could not see them for he kept one of the keys The lower Palatinate is certainly one of the sweetest Countries of all Germany It is a great Plain till one cometh to the Hills of Heidelberg the Town is ill scituated just in a bottom between two ranges of Hills yet the Air is much commended I need say nothing of the Castle nor the prodigious Wine Cellar in which though there is but one celebrated Tun that is seventeen foot high and twenty six foot long and is built with a strength liker that of the ribs of a ship than the Staves of a Tun yet there are many other Tuns of such a prodigious bigness that they would seem very extraordinary if this vast one did not Eclipse them The late Prince Charles Lewis shewed his capacity in the peopling and and settling this State that had been so entirely ruined being for many years the Seat of War for in four years time he brought it to a Flourishing condition He raised the Taxes as high as was possible without dispeopling his Country and all mens Estates were valued and they were taxed at five per cent of the value of their Estates but their Estates were not valued to the rigour but with such abatements as have been ordinary in England in the times of Subsidies so that when the Son offered to bring the Taxes down to two per cent of the real value the Subjects all desired him rather to continue them as they were There is no Prince in Germany that is more absolute than the Elector Palatine for he layeth on his Subjects what Taxes he pleaseth without being limited to any forms of Government And here I saw that which I had always believed to be true that the Subjects of Germany are only bound to their particular Prince for they swear Allegiance simply to the Elector without any reserve for the Emperor and in their Prayers for him they name him their Soveraign It is true the Prince is under some ties to the Emperor but the Subjects are under none And by this D. Fabritius a learned and judicious Professor there explained those words of Pareus's Commentary on the Romans which had respect only to the Princes of the Empire and were quite misunderstood by those who fancied that they favoured Rebellion for there is no place in Europe where all rebellious Doctrine is more born down than there I found a great spirit of moderation with relation to those small controversies that have occasioned such heat in the Protestant Churches reigning in the University there which is in a great measure owing to the prudence learning and the happy temper of mind of D. Fabritius and D. Miek who as they were long in England so they have that generous largeness of Soul which is the Noble Ornament of many of the English Divines Prince Charles Lewis saw that Manheim was marked out by Nature to be the most important place of all his Territory it being scituated in the point where the Neckar falleth into the Rhine So that those two Rivers defending it on two sides it was capable of a good Fortification It is true the Air is not thought wholsome and the Water is not good yet he made a fine Town there and a Noble Cittadel with a regular Fortification about it and he designed a great Palace there but he did not live to build it He saw of what advantage Liberty of Conscience was to the peopling of his Country so as he suffered the Jews to come and settle there he resolved also not only to suffer the three Religions tolerated by the Laws of the Empire to be professed there but he built a Church for them all three which he called the Church of the Concord in which both Calvinists Lutherans and Papists had in the order in which I have set down the exercise of their Religion and he maintained the peace of his Principality so entirely that there was not the least disorder occasioned by this tolleration This indeed made him to be lookt on as a Prince that did not much consider Religion himself He had a wonderful application to all affairs and was not only his own chief Minister but he alone did the work of many But I were Injust if I should not say somewhat to you of the Princely vertues and the Celebrated probity of the present Prince Elector upon whom that Dignity is devolved by the extinction of so many Princes that in this Age composed the most numerous Family of any of that rank in Europe This Prince as he is in many respects an honour to the Religion that he professes so is in nothing more to be commended by those who differ from him than for his exact adhering to the promises he made his Subjects with relation to their Religion in which he has not even in the smallest matters broke in upon their establisht Laws and though an Order of Men that have turned the World upside down have great Credit with him yet it is hitherto visible that they cannot carry it so far as to make him do any thing contrary to the established Religion and to those sacred promises that he made his Subjects For he makes it appear to all the World that he does not consider those as so many words spoken at first to lay his people asleep which he may now explain and observe as he thinks fit but as so many ties upon his Conscience and Honour which he will Religiously observe And as in the other parts of his life he has set a Noble Pattern to all the Princes of Europe so his exactness to his promises is that which cannot be too much commended of which this extraordinary Instance has been communicated to me since I am come into this Countrey The Elector had a Procession in his Court last Corpus Christi day upon which one of the Ministers of Heidelberg preacht a very severe Sermon against Popery and in particular taxed that Procession perhaps with greater plainness than discretion This being brought to the Elector's ears he sent presently an Order to the Ecclesiastical Senate to suspend him That Court is composed of
vast a quantity and then to bury all this under ground especially in an Age in which so much gold was ten times the value of what is at present for it is judged to have been done about Four or Five Hundred Years ago The Prince went out a hunting while we were there with a very handsome Guard of about Fourscore Horse well mounted so we saw the Palace but where not suffered to see the Apartment where he lodged There is a great Silver Casolette gilt all set with Emeralds and Rubies that though they made a fine appearance yet were a Composition of the Princes own making His Officers also shewed us a Bason and Ewer which they said were of Mercury fixed by the Prince himself but they added that now for many Years he wrought no more in his Labouratory I did not easily believe this and as the weight of the Plate did not approach to that of Quick-Silver so the Medicinal Virtues of fixed Mercury if there is any such thing are so extraordinary that it seemed very strange to see Twenty or Thirty Pound of it made up in two pieces of Plate A quarter of a mile without the Town the best Garden of those parts of Germany is to be seen in which there is a great variety of Water-works and very many Noble Allies in the French manner and the whole is of a very considerable extent but as it hath no Statues of any value to adorn it so the House about which it lieth in is in ruines and it is strange to see that so rich and so great a Prince during so long a Regence hath done so little to Enlarge or beautifie his Buildings Bonne and Coblentz are both poor and small Towns Collen is three Hours distant from Bonne it is of a prodigious extent but ill built and worse Peopled in the remote parts of it and as the Walls are all in an ill case so it is not possible to fortifie so vast a compass as this Town maketh as it ought to be without a charge that would eat out the whole Wealth of this little State The Jews live in a little Suburb on the other side of the River and may not come over without leave obtained for which they pay considerably There is no exercise of the Protestant Religion suffered within the Town but those of the Religion are suffered to live there and they have a Church at two miles distance The Arsenal here is suitable to the Fortifications very mean and ill furnished The Quire of the great Church is as high in the roof as any Church I ever saw but it seemeth the Wealth of this place could not finish the whole Fabrick so as to answer the heighth of the Quire for the Body of the Church is very low Those that are disposed to believe Legends have enough here to overset even a good degree of credulity both in the story of the three Kings whose Chappel is visited with great devotion and standeth at the East end of the great Quire and in that more copious Fable of the Eleven Thousand Vrsulins whose Church is all over full of rough Tombs and of a vast number of Bones that are piled up in rows about the Walls of the Church These Fables are so firmly believed by the Papists there that the least sign which one giveth of doubting of their truth passeth for an infallible mark of an Heretick The Jesuites have a great and noble Colledge and Church here And for Thauler's sake I went to the Dominicans House and Church which is also very great One grows extreamly weary of walking over this great Town and doth not find enough of entertainment in it The present subject of their discourse is also very melancholy The late Rebellion that was there is so generally known that I need not say much concerning it A report was set about the Town by some Incendiaries that the Magistrates did eat up the publick Revenue and were like to ruine the City I could not learn what ground there was for these reports for it is not ordinary to see reports of that kind fly through a body of Men without some foundation It is certain this came to be so generally believed that there was a horrible disorder occasioned by it The Magistrates were glad to save themselves from the storm and abandoned the Town to the popular fury some of them having been made sacrifices to it and this rage held long But within this last year after near two years disorder those that were sent by the Emperor and Diet to Judge the matter having threatned to put the Town under the Imperial Bann if it had stood longer out were received and have put the Magistrates again in the possession of their Authority and all the chief Incendiaries were clapt in Prison many have already suffered and a great many more are still in Prison they told us that some executions were to be made within a week when we were there Dusseldorp is the first considerable Town below Collen it is the Seat of the Duke of Juliers who is Duke of Newburgh eldest Son to the present Elector Palatine The Palace is old and Gothick enough but the Jesuits have their a fine Colledge and a noble Chappel though there are manifest faults in the Architecture the Protestant Religion is tolerated and they have a Church lately built here within these few years that was procured by the intercession of the Elector of Brandenburgh who observing exactly the liberty of Religion that was agreed to in Cleve had reason to see the same as duly observed in his Neighborhood in favour of his own Religion The Fortification here is very ordinary the Ramparts being faced but a few foot high with Brick But Keiserswart some hours lower on the same side which belongeth to the Elector of Collen though it is a much worse Town then Dusseldorp yet is much better fortified it hath a very broad Ditch and a very regular Fortification the Walls are considerably high faced with Brick and so is the Counterscarp which is also in a very good condition The Fortification of Orsoy is now quite demolished Rhineberg continueth as it was but the Fortification is very mean only of Earth so that it is not capable of making a great resistance And Wesel though it is a very fine Town yet is a very poor Fortification nor can it ever be made good except at a vast expence for the ground all about it being sandy nothing can be made there that will be durable unless the foundation go very deep or that it be laid upon Piloty In all these Towns one sees another air of Wealth and Abundance than in much richer Countries that are exhausted with taxes Rees and Emmerick are good Towns but the Fortifications are quite ruined So that here is a rich and populous Country that hath at present very little defence except what it hath from its scituation Cleve is a delicious place the scituation and prospect