how a Theatre for Comedies is now built in that place It is divided into eight Chambers or Rooms which are so well filled that many Books are fain to lye upon the Floor and the Shelves stand so close that there is but just room to pass between them The Manuscripts stand distinct from the printed Books according to their Languages being divided into six Classes Theological Juridical Medical Philosophical Historical Philological There can scarce be a more admirable Collection than the Manuscripts in part of the first Chamber of Hebrew Syriack Arabick Turkish Armenian Aethiopick and Chinese Books It was begun at least the Books began to be placed in this receptacle by Maximilian the First but hath been much encreased by succeeding Emperours most of them since Rodolphus the First being much addicted unto Learning there having been large accessions from many noble Libraries and most upon the cost of the Emperours The choicest Books in the famous Library of Buda of King Matthias Corvinus Son unto Huniades are now in it The notable Library of Wolfgangus Lazius who was Library-Keeper was brought hither and Three thousand Books of Johannes Sambucus are now in this Repository Augerius Busbequius sometime Library-Keeper hereof added much unto it and in his two Turkish Embassies procured great number of noble Greek Manuscripts at Constantinople which are inscribed with his own hand Aug. de Busbeck emit Constantinopoli A great many were added from the Library of the Learned Johannes Cuspinianus Library Keeper and Counsellor unto the Emperour The notable Libraries and Mathematical Instruments of Tycho Brahe Kepler and Gassendus were purchased for it But the largest accession was made by the noble Library of Count Fugger which consisting of sixteen thousand Volumes was purchased by Ferdinand the Third Many were brought some few years past from the Ambrasian Library by Inspruck by the Learned Petrus Lambecius Library Keeper Historiographer and Counsellor unto the present Emperour who hath also an excellent Library which is like to be added unto the Imperial He then reckoned the Volumes in this great Library to amount at least to Fourscore thousand and by this time that number may be increased for he addeth some yearly And the number might almost be endless if they would make use of their priviledge for the Emperour hath a right to have two Books of all that are printed in Germany They have also a great advantage at Vienna to acquire good Manuscripts from the Turkish Dominions for the Emperour is obliged to have a Resident with the Grand Signor wheresoever he moveth or ordereth him to be even at the last sight of St. Godart the Emperour 's Resident was in the Turkish Camp And when I was at Larissa in Thessaly the Resident Signor di Casa Nova was inquisitive after Books to be found among the Greeks in Monasteries and other places And this Emperour like his Father will spare no cost toward such Acquiries By the especial favour of my noble Friend Lambecius I went many times into this Library and he was so courteous as to let me have what Books I desired unto my private Lodging He would shew me divers Books upon what Subject I required and offered me a sight of what Books he thought rare and estimable and amongst others I could not but take notice of these following A Letter of the present Emperour of China in the Chinese and Tartarian Languages unto the present Emperour of Germany weaved in a very fine Roll. Another old Roll written in unknown Letters yet a little resembling the Greek A Book in the Runick Language A very fair Manuscript of Ptolomy with the Mapps drawn in Colours The oldest Manuscript and true Exemplar of Livie in large Letters without distinction of Words or Sentences very uneasie to be read a thousand years old and brought not many years since from the Library near Inspruck An old fair Greek Manuscript of Dioscorides written eleven hundred years since in very large Letters without distance of Words or Accents wherein all the Plants are lively painted also the Pictures of Dioscorides Galen Pamphilus Cratevas and other ancient Physicians bought of a Jew at Constantinople for an hundred Ducats by Busbequius A Book of Geometrical Propositions demonstrated in the China Language Another fair one in the China Tongue with Pictures A noble old Greek Manuscript in great uncial Letters without stops points or distance of words An ancient Greek Manuscript of the Book of Genesis in large Letters without distance or accents thirteen hundred years ago wherein are Forty eight Pictures or Draughts in Miniature or Water colours much conducing to the knowledge of ancient Habits the manner of Feasting postures at Meals waiting of Servants and Musical Instruments Wherein I could not but take notice of the Golden Spot upon Josephs breast and the manner of the Execution of Pharaoh's Baker his Head being put through a forked piece of wood and his Hands tyed behind him A fair Book of Albert Durer wherein are many fine Paintings in Miniature or Limning as also a Sphere and within it a Globe carved and painted by him A fair Book of Michael Angelo wherein besides many rare things in Architecture are all the paintings and designs of the Belvedere in little A fair Alcoran in Arabick interlined with the Turkish to explain it The Bible in the Coptick and Persian Languages Luther's own Bible marked with his own Hand and interlined by him with Notes in many places A fair Greek Manuscript of the New Testament fifteen hundred years ago written in Letters of Gold upon Purple There was also a Magical Glass obtained by the Emperour Rodolphus whereby to see Apparitions and converse with Spirits which some conceive to be the same or of the like nature with that used by Kelly Of ancient Greek Roman and Gothick Medals and Coyns in Gold Silver and Copper to the number of sixteen thousand Among the Copper Coyns they pretend to have two of the Emperour Marcus Otho I let fall some Drops into this Ocean adding some Coyns Intaglia's and Inscriptions not to be found in that large work of Gruterus which having found in the Emperours furthest Dominions and Turkish parts long out of his possession where there had been no great enquiry after them were shewed unto his Imperial Majesty by Petrus Lambecius and so well accepted by him that he said I might have the use of what Books I desired and at my return into England he gave me a formal Pass in Latin for my safe Travel and that my Trunks or Goods might not be searched which takes off a great deal of trouble in passing so many Principalities and free Cities Commanding all in his own Dominions and Requesting all Princes in Germany to favour me and permit me to pass freely without molestation It was thus Subscribed Leopoldus Leopoldus Gulielmus Comes in Kinigseggs Ad mandatum Sacr. Caes Majestatis proprium Beüer The Rarities of the great Duke of Tuscany The Treasure of Loretto
or Bingium was an old Roman Fortress upon the Rhine where the River Navus or Naw entreth into it over which latter there is a handsome Stone-bridge In this Town were many of the Duke of Lorrain's Army sick and wounded who three weeks before had maintained a fight against the Forces of the Elector Palatine near this place From Bing we continued our Journey to Mentz at Rudesheim in Rhinegaw a place noted for good Wine they shewed us a Boy whose hair was thick and woolly like to the African-Moors but of a fine white colour which being somewhat an odd sight I took away some of his hair with me Mentz Moguntia Moguntiacum and by the French Mayence is seated over against the Confluence of the River Main with the Rhine or rather a little below it in a fertile Country abounding in all Provisions and good Wine it lieth at length and is most extended towards the River and that part excelleth the other towards the Land which is not so populous or well-built It is a strong place and well guarded it hath many Churches and Monasteries and some fair Buildings especially those of publick concern as the Palace of the Elector and others But the narrowness of the Streets and many old Houses take away much from the beauty of the City It is an University begun about the year 1486. or as others will have it 1461. This place also challengeth the Invention of Printing or at least the first promotion or perfection thereof And the Territory about it is famous for the destruction of the Roman Legions under Varus by the Germans Gustaphus Adolphus King of Sweden was wonderfully pleased upon the taking of this City 1631. entring into it in State upon the 14th of December it being his Birth-day which began the 38th year of his life and kept his Court and Christmas here where at one time there were with him six chief Princes of the Empire twelve Ambassadours of Kings States Electors and Princes besides Dukes and Lords and the Martial men of his own Army At the taking of the Town they found great store of Ordnance and Powder and the City redeemed it self from Pillage by giving the King a Ransome of Eighty thousand Dollars and the Clergy and Jews gave Two and twenty thousand more of which the Jews paid Eighteen thousand Archbishop Wambold saving himself upon the Rhine and retiring to Colen The King caused also two great Bridges to be made one over the Main founded upon fifteen great flat bottom'd Boats the rest being built upon great Piles of Wood Another over the Rhine supported by sixty one great flat Boats each lying the distance of an Arch from one another and many Families of people living sometimes in the Boats under the Bridge The Bridge over the Main is taken away but that over the Rhine is still continued Upon which I saw the present Elector passing in his Coach a Person of great Gravity of a middle Stature having long grey Hair and was very Princely attended his Name Joannes Philippus of the Noble Family of Schoenburg Elector and Archbishop of Mentz Bishop of Wurtzburg and Bishop of Worms Arch-Chancellour of the Empire for all Germany the first of the Electoral Colledge in all publick Conventions he sits at the right hand of the Emperour and is a Successour of the famous Boniface an English man Bishop of Mentz who so much promoted the Christian Religion in these parts But though his Dignity and Place excelleth the two other Ecclesiastical Electors of Colen and Triers yet his Territories come short and they lye not together but scatteringly with those of the Palatinate Spier Franckfort and divers places in Franconia But of late he hath much encreased his Power by seizing the great City of Erfurdt in Turingia which he hath since much beautified and strengthned by a Citadel built upon St. Peters hill From Mentz I passed by water up the River Main to Franckfort a free City of the Empire called Trajectum Franconum a Passage or Ford of the Franks as serving them for a Retreat when they entred or returned from Gaul at present Franckford upon the Main to difference it from Franckford upon the River Oder which is an University It is a large Town divided into two parts by the River the lesser called Saxonhausen or Saxon-houses united to the other by a Stone-bridge over the Main of twelve or thirteen Arches It is a place of good Trade and well seated for it as having the advantage of the River Main which passeth by Bamberg Schweinfurt Wurtzburg Guemund or Gaudia mundi and also the Tauber and other Rivers running into it affordeth conveniency for Commerce with the remoter parts of Franconia and the Main running into the Rhine makes a large communication both up and down that Stream But this place is most remarkable for the Election of the Emperour which by the Laws of the Golden Bull should be in this City as also for two great Marts or Fairs kept in March and September at which times there is an extraordinary concourse of people from remote parts in order to buying and selling of several Commodities especially for Books as well printed here as in other parts whereof they afford two Catalogues every year and have no small dealings that way by the Factors of the Germans Hollanders Italians French and English although at other times their trading in Books seems not great for when I was there out of the time of the Mart the Stationers Shops being shut up made but a dull show Here are also a great number of good Horses bought and sold and on the North-side of the City there is a spacious place for a Horse-Fair The City is strong and well fortified and most part of the Town are Lutherans In the German wars the King of Sweden having taken Hanaw sent a Messenger to Franckfort to know whether the City would peaceably and speedily set open their Gates unto him and accept fairly of a Garrison or stand to the hazard of a Siege And although they were unwilling to yield yet for fear of the worst they consented That the King should have free passage for his Army through the City and that for the better assurance of it six hundred of his men should be received for a Garrison into Saxonhausen and also that the Magistrates and People should take an Oath unto his Majesty So that upon the 17th of November 1631. the King's Army passed through Saxonhausen over the Bridge quite through the Town Colonel Vitzthumb was left Governour in Saxonhausen and the King himself rode bare-headed through the Streets and by his obliging behaviour did generally win the affections of the beholders and three days after returned thither again with the Landtgrave of Hessen-Cassell and the Landtgrave of Hessen-Darmstadt where they met the Seventeen Earls of the Wetteraw or Veteravia and were feasted in the same room where the Emperours at their Coronation use to be entertained In Saxonhausen there is
AN ACCOUNT OF Several Travels Through a great part of GERMANY In Four Journeys I. From Norwich to Colen II. From Colen to Vienna with a particular Description of that Imperial City III. From Vienna to Hamburg IV. From Colen to London WHEREIN The Mines Baths and other Curiosities of those Parts are Treated of Illustrated with Sculptures By EDWARD BROWN M. D. Fellow of the College of Physicians of London and of the Royal Society LONDON Printed for Benj. Tooke and are to be sold at the Sign of the Ship in St. Paul's Church-yard 1677. Imprimatur G. Jane R. P. D. Hen. Episc Lond. à Sacris Dom. Sept. 26. 1676. TO THE READER HAving given the English World an Account of some remote and seldome travelled Countries of Europe in the Year 1673. I remained indifferent as to the publishing any thing more concerning nearer or better known places a great part whereof hath been delivered by some good and observing Writers upon which consideration though written some years since these Papers have not come abroad and had still remained private had not the desires of Friends solicited this Publication and also a Promise in my former Book oblig'd me to say something of Vienna as likewise my Journey unto that Place from England by the Belgian Provinces and Germany and of my Return from Vienna by Austria Trans-Danubiana Moravia Bohemia Misnia Saxonia unto Hamburg hereof I have therefore given some Account in this Work not much engaging into the Policy and State Government of Places which have been so largely delivered as to make up just Volumes but have rather set down what is Naturally Artificially Historically and Topographically remarkable together with some Customes and Occurrencies which might be acceptable unto the Inquisitive Reader or serve as hints of further Enquiry to such Persons as may hereafter Travel into those Parts A JOURNEY FROM NORWICH TO COLEN in GERMANY IN the year 1668. I left the large and pleasant City of Norwich and went by land to Yarmouth a Port Town in Norfolk at the mouth of the River Hierus or Yare large fairly built and populous very considerable for the great Herring fishing in the Autumn and the commerce it maintaineth in the Streights Baltick British and German Seas With Italians French Spaniards Dutch Danes and Swedes I was here nobly entertained by that worthy and obliging person Sr. Iames Iohnson who also furnish't me with letters of Credit to Amsterdam Franckfort Venice and Vienna Whereby I was readily and handsomely accommodated in all Parts where I had afterwards occasion to travel August the 14. about six a clock at night I went aboard the Angel-Ketch in Yarmouth Road a Vessel of about 55 Tuns and we immediately set sayl for Rotterdam we left St. Nicholas-Sand on the Larboard and after that the Nowles a new Sand not taken notice of to be raised above twelve years before We kept our course all night East and by South and East South East The Sea burned at the head of the Ship at the beginning of the night but the Moon rising there appeared nothing but froth In the morning we discovered Gravesandt Steeple It is the custom upon all this coast to send out Pylot-boats continually to meet all Ships at Sea and furnish them with Pylots to bring them through the sands and no Ship is to refuse one Having taken in our Pylot we soon discovered Goréé Steeple and then the Briel We entred the River Mosa or Maes a Large and noble Stream which arising in the Mountaines of Vauge or Vogesus passing by Verdun Dinant Namur Liege Maestricht Ruremond Venlo and many considerable Places doth here fall into the Ocean we had a very pleasant passage up the River sayling by many neat Villages as Maese-sluys Schedam Delfshaven and handsome rowes of Trees upon the shore and arrived at Rotterdam about six at night This is one of the three chief passages by Sea into Holland the other being by Flushing and the Texell The nearest cut out of England into Holland is from Laistoffe Point to Gravesandt which is 28 Leagues and the deepest part of the Sea is about 28 Fathoms There lay two of the greatest Ships in Holland at that time near Rotterdam the Crane and the Wassenaer this latter built in lieu of that in which Admiral Opdam was blown up fighting against his Royal Highness the Duke of Yorke The Heads or Keyes between which we entred the towne by water are handsome and Ships of great burden are received into the middle of divers streets without difficulty their Channels being deep and large the houses are well built and the town Populous they have an Exchange or place for Merchants to meet at the streets are so clean that the Women goe about in white Slippers they being paved with Bricks laid edgwise The Landthuise hath a fair front In the great Church the Organs the Tower and the Monument of De wit upon the Bridge the Statue of Erasmus as also the house where he was born and the Pleasure boats of the States are worth the seeing It being then the time of their Kermis or Faire there were playes acted and many rarities shewn as Lions Leopards c and a great noise was made about a tall Woman to be shewn of seven foot high but the Boor of Leckerkir'k not far from this town was higher Parsons and Evans porters to King Charles the first did also exceed her but I have seldom heard of any that was taller than Martin Wierwski a Polander who at the age of forty two years was presented to the Emperour Maximilian the second as a rarity of nature and was full eight foot high whose picture as big as the life I saw near to the Franciscans Convent at Vienna in Austria From Rotterdam I passed by Overschee to Delft by the Powderhouse which is a handsome one built now at some distance from the towne to prevent the like accident which befell when the former took fire and blew up part of the town The Piazza or market-place is a very fair one having the front of the town house at one end of it and the high steeple of the new Church at the other In the old Church Van-Tromps Tombe is very well carved upon the side of the Wall himself lying upon a Canon encompassed with Arms and trophies In the middle Isle of the new Church there is a noble monument the Tombe of William of Nassaw Prince of Orange together with his Wife and Son Prince Maurice his Statua is in armour with his Dog at his feet and four Obelisks are supported by ten Marble pillars In a house of this Town there were shewn me in a Wall the marks of the bullets shot at Prince William who was thereby murthered 1584. and in another Church which was broad and spacious I saw a handsome Tomb for Sr. Charles Morgans Lady and the Monument of Peter Hein the Admiral who took the Spanish Silversleet The Hague Haga Comitis the ancient place of Residence
was formerly a Monastery belonging to the Nuns of the Order of St. Clare and converted to this use 1595. They who are put in are forced to work and gain their Bread with hard labour I saw those who rasped Brazil having a certain task set them every day work so hard that being naked and in a sweat and the dust of the Brazil wood flying upon them they were all over painted of a beautiful red colour Which odd sight made me call to mind the Phansie of my Lady Marchioness of Newcastle of a Nation wherein the People were of Orange-tawny colour and the King of Purple They told us that some that were committed to their charge and not to be brought to work by blows they placed in a large Cistern and let the water in upon them placing only a Pump by them for their relief whereby they are forced to labour for their lives and to free themselves from drowning One we saw put into a narrow Dungeon and kept from meat Some are put into this House for a longer time some for a shorter It hath been a punishment for such as have drawn their Daggers or offered to stab any one And some Citizens though able and rich enough contrive it so that when their Sons are extravagant and masterless the Officers seize upon them and carry them into this House where they are not forced to any hard labour but kept in till they see sufficient signs of a mending their life This way of Correction may seem severe to many yet is not comparable to that which is said to have been formerly used in Germany Particularly at Colen in the white Tower at the North end of the Town near the Rhine where it is reported that such Youths who were not otherwise to be reclaimed were in a barbarous manner shut up in the white Tower The height and thickness of the walls secured them from escaping or from their complaints being heard Near the top was placed out of their reach a loaf of bread the last remedy against starving which while their bold necessity forced them to reach at they executed their last sentence upon themselves and miserably brake their own necks Somewhat like the Raspelhuis is the Spinhuis or House of Correction for the young women who live loosely are taken in the night or can give no account of their living They are put in for a certain time according as their fault meriteth and are bound to make lace sew or employ their time perpetually in some honest labour Those of the better sort are permitted to have Chambers apart In one large Room I saw about an hundred of them and some very well dressed and fine which was an unexpected sight to me and would sure be more strange to behold in France and England The Weeshuis or Hospital for Children where there are Six hundred Orphans carefully looked after and well educated The Dolhuis or a House for such as are Delirious Maniacal or Melancholical of both Sexes The Gasthuis or Hospital for the Sick being large and hath a great Revenue The Mannenhuis or Hospital for old Men and such as are no longer able to labour towards their own support Besides all which there are great Sums of mony collected for the poor so that there is not a Begger to be seen in the Streets and upon all assignations or appointments of meeting at the Tavern or elsewhere and upon many other occasions whosoever faileth to come at the exact time forfeiteth more or less to the use of the Poor The East-India-houses are remarkable and the great Stores of their Commodities Cinamon Green-ginger Camphire Pepper Calecuts Indico c. The ships are of a great burden their House was then enlarging although it was great before and a perfect Town for all Trades within it self The Admiralteyt or Admiralty where their Stores for War and Shipping are laid up is encompassed with water near to it there lay then 72 Men of War In the House we saw their Cables Grapling irons Pullies Oars Charges for Powder Lanthorns for ships c. At the entrance of the Gate hangeth up a Canoe with a man in it dryed up so as to be preserved from corruption and a Paddle in his hand he was enclosed up to the waste in the Canoe in such sort as the Fish-skins which were the cover to it being so sewed together that no water could get in he might keep the Sea in the greatest Storms without danger The top of this House as of divers others also in this City is a Reservatory for Rain-water which they have the more need of because they have little good water hereabouts The fairest Streets in the Town are Harlem-street the Cingel Princes Graft Kaisers Graft and the New Buildings in the Island towards Gottenburg And if they continue to build with Freestone they will still surpass these which I 'le assure you are in no small measure beautiful I saw a Globe to be sold made by Vingbomes between six and seven foot Diameter valued at Sixteen thousand Guldens The Meridian alone being of brass cost a thousand Guldens The Globe is made of Copper-plates excellently well painted with all the new Discoveries in it as that of Anthony Van Dimons Land found out 1642. in 42 degrees of Southern Latitude and 170 of Longitude those towards the Northwest of Japan and those places both about N. Z. and also in the Tartarian Sea beyond the Streights of Voygats New-Holland West-Friesland Cape d'Hyver c. but I have since met with a Book which doth somewhat contradict this entituled A Voyage into the Northern Countries by Monsieur Martiniere who went in one of the three ships belonging to the Northern Company of Copenhagen in the year 1653. and by that means had occasion to converse with the Norwegians Islanders Laplanders Kilops Borandians Siberians Zemblians and Samojedes who are Neighbours to the Tartars and Tingorses in his 46 Chapter he expresseth himself after this manner There having fallen into my hands several Geographical Charts of sundry eminent and much celebrated Authors I am much amazed to see how they are mistaken in the position of Zembla which they place much nearer the North Pole than really it is they divide it likewise by the Sea from Greenland and place it far distant from it when as indeed those two Countries are Contiguous the Coasts of Greenland butting upon the Coasts of Zembla so as did not the great quantity of Snow and the violence of the cold render those Borders uninhabitable the passage would be very easie by Land from Greenland to Zembla and from Zembla passing the Pater-noster Mountains to enter into Samojedia from thence into Tartary or Muscovy as one pleased But of the truth of this we shall be further informed at the return of Captain Wood. I was amazed likewise to see they had described the Streight called Voygat not above ten French Leagues in length whereas it contains above five and thirty Dutch Leagues which is
Correspondence and printed their Observations at Leipsick And since my Return into England I have been solicited from Cassovia in Upper Hungary to send the Transactions into those Parts During my stay at Vienna I went unto a publick Anato my of a Woman that was beheaded the Lecture lasted so long that the Body was Nineteen days unburied It was performed by a Learned Physician Dr. Wolfstregel who read in Latin to the satisfaction of all persons What I most particularly observed therein was this The Pyramidal Muscles very plain and large the Uterus larger than is usually observed the Cartilago Ensiformis double the Lungs very black the Eye was very well shown he produced an artificial Eye of Ivory and another large one of Pastboard and Paper contrived and made by himself the Muscles of the Pharynx Larynx Os Hyoides and the Tongue after their dissection he reduced very handsomely into their proper places again to shew their natural situation and position The Anatomy-Theatre was of capacity to receive above an hundred persons and according to the custome of other places to avoid impertinent Spectators a piece of Mony was given for admission Of Anatomy-Theatres until of late there have been few in Germany or none And when I was in the Anatomy-School at Altorff near Nurenburg that learned and civil Professor Dr. Mauritius Hoffmannus told me that the same was the First in Germany Paulus de Sorbait Prime Professor Physician unto Eleonora the Empress Dowager and Knight of Hungary was the Rector Magnificus Zwelfer who writ Animadversions upon the Dispensatory of Ausburg was in great repute in Vienna and had built for himself a noble House in the City but he died some time before my coming thither In fine the University is noble their Advancements considerable their Priviledges great and they have the power of life and death from ancient and latter Concessions of their Dukes and Emperours But the greatest lustre unto Vienna is the Residence of the present Emperour Leopoldus he was born in the year 1638. he was Son unto the Emperour Ferdinand the Third he was baptized by the Names of Leopoldus Ignatius Franciscus Balthazar Josephus Felicianus His eldest Brother Ferdinand King of the Romans died of the Small Pox in his Fathers time His Brother Carolus Josephus Master of the Teutonick Order dyed 1662. He married Margareta Infanta of Spain daughter unto King Philip the Fourth whose Children died Infants a vertuous affable grave and worthy Prince and seemed to me to live very happily here in the love and honour of his People Souldiers and Clergy His Person is grave and graceful he hath the Austrian Lip remarkably his Chin long which is taken for a good Physiognomical mark and a sign of a constant placid and little troubled mind He is conceived to carry in his Face the lineaments of four of his Predecessours that is of Rudolphus the First of Maximilian the First of Charles the Fifth and Ferdinand the First He was very affectionate unto his Empress who though but young was a modest grave Princess had a good aspect was zealous in her Religion and an Enemy unto the Jews He shewed also great respect and observance unto the Empress Dowager Eleonora who was a sober and prudent Princess well skilled in all kind of curious Works and delighted sometimes to shoot at Deer from a Stand or at other Game out of her Coach He was also very loving unto his Sisters beautiful and good Ladies whereof one the eldest was since married unto that Noble Prince Michael Wisnowitzski King of Poland He speaks four Languages German Italian Spanish and Latin He is a great countenancer of Learned Men and delighteth to read and when occasion permitteth will pass some hours at it The worthy Petrus Lambecius his Library Keeper and who is in great esteem with him will usually find out some Books for him which he conceiveth may be acceptable While I was there he recommended a Translation of Religio Medici unto him wherewith the Emperour was exceedingly pleased and spake very much of it unto Lambecius insomuch that Lambecius asked me whether I knew the Author he being of my own name and whether he were living And when he understood my near Relation to him he became more kind and courteous than ever and desired me to send him that Book in the Original English which he would put into the Emperours Library and presented me with a neat little Latin Book called Princeps in Compendio written by the Emperours Father Ferdinandus the Third He is also skilful in Musick composeth well and delighted much in it both at his Palace and the Church which makes so many Musicians in Vienna for no place abounds more with them and in the Evening we seldom failed of Musick in the Streets and at our Windows And the Emperours delight herein makes the Church-men take the greater care to set off their Church-musick for he goeth often to Church and not to one but divers especially the best Conventual Churches and in his own Chappel some of his own Compositions are often play'd He hath also excellent Musick in his Palace both Vocal and Instrumental and his private Chappel is well served where besides the excellent Musick there are always eight or ten Counts Pages to the Emperour who serve at the Altar with white wax Torches in their hands and after the manner of the Italian Princes divers Eunuchs to sing For his Recreations abroad he delighteth much in Hunting especially of the wild Boar in due seasons I have known him bring home six Boars in a morning Some stout persons particularly Count Nicholas Serini would encounter a wild Boar alone but at last he unfortunately perished by one which hath made others more wary since and therefore when the Boar is at a Bay the Huntsmen so stand about him that the Emperour or other great persons may more safely make use of their Boar-spears upon him Surely there are great numbers of them about the Country for they are no unusual or extraordinary Dish in the City though of a delicious and pleasing taste They feed upon Acorns Beech-mast and Chesnuts upon the spring or sprout of Broom Juniper and Shrubs and upon the roots of Fern and will range into Corn-fields and come out of Forrests into Vineyards The Huntsmen are notably versed and skilful in that Game for though they see it not they will distinguish a wild from a common Swine and ghess whether that which they hunt be Male or Female old or young large or small fat or lean and this they chiefly conjecture from their tread or foot and the casting their hindfeet out of the track of their forefeet The Emperour being so good a Huntsman it is the less wonder that he is esteemed a good Horsman Certain it is that he hath a very noble Stable of Horses procured from all parts Turkish Tartarian Polonian Transylvanian Saxon Bohemian Hungarian Naples c. and they are well managed and they ride them
to the satisfaction of the Beholders Having seen the Arsenal at Venice the Stores at Chatham and the Naval Provisions at Amsterdam I am not like to admire any other especially so far from the Sea and looked for nothing of that nature in this place Notwithstanding I found an Arsenal and place for Naval Vessels to be set out upon occasion and some thereof were employed in the last Turkish war when they attempted to destroy the Bridge of Boats which the Turks had made over the Danube a little above Gran and Barehan They are built somewhat like Galleys carry great Guns and a good number of Souldiers and will make a sight upon the broad deep stream of the Danube and may be handsomely brought into the Town behind one of the Bastions when the River is high and hereof there are some at Rab and Komora as I have declared elsewhere The Emperour hath many Counsellors great Souldiers and Courtiers about him among which these seemed of greatest Note Eusebius Wenceslaus Duke de Sagan Prince Lobkowitz Pirme Counsellor Hoff-meister of the Order of the Golden Fleece a person of a grave and sober Aspect somewhat blunt in conversation but of a generous temper and free from all covetousness who spent his Revenues nobly and unto his great reputation He was chief Favorite unto the Emperour and though some had no great opinion of his Abilities yet he was the first that discovered the last Hungarian defection and revolt whereby those Noble Persons Count Peter Serini and Nadasti whom I saw at Vienna were brought unto their ends Henricus Gulielmus Count of Stahrenberg Ober-hoff-Mareschal or Lord Marshal of the Court. Johannes Maximilianus Count of Lamburg Oberst-Kammer-Herr or Chief of the Chamber a Person of great esteem The Gentlemen of the Bed-chamber are numerous and many are in extraordinary there may be an hundred of them all Barons and Counts Every one of them wears a Golden Key before his Breast and the Grooms of the Bed-chamber wear one of Steel Two of each attend every Night Gundakerus Count Dietrichstein Oberst-Stall-Meister or Chief Master of the Horse These are the Chief These following are also considerable Count Sinzendorff Oberste-Jag-Meister Grand Veneur or Hunts-Master a Person in good favour with the Emperour who very much delighteth in Hunting as have most of his Predecessors The Count of Aversberg Oberst Falken-Meister Chief Falconer who hath twelve Falconers under him The Count of Paar Chief Master of the Emperours Post Leopoldus Wilhelmus Marquiss of Baden Captain of an hundred Hartshires who are the Horse-guard and ride with Pistols and Carabines out of the City but within Vienna they cary Launces and Javelins with broad points Franciscus Augustinus Count of Wallensteyn Captain of an hundred of the Foot-guard of a good Personage and well esteemed of by the Emperour Sixty or more Pages for the number is uncertain and not limited most of them Counts and Barons Raymundus Count de Montecuculi was his General President of the Council of War Governour of Rab and the Confines about it and of the Order of the Golden Fleece a tall Person somewhat lean but hath a spirit in his look he is one of the oldest Commanders in Europe and performed good Service in Poland Hungary Germany in many places and is esteemed a prudent valiant and successful Commander The Count de Souches was also a Commander of great Fame and in high esteem with the Emperour He was a Native of Rochelle he first served the Swedes in the German wars and was a Colonel but upon some disgust he forsook the Swedes and served the Imperialists and was made Governour of Brin the second Town in Moravia After the taking of Crembs in Austria General Torstenson besieged Brin and sent word unto the Governour de Souches That if he refused to deliver up the Town he would give him no quarter Who answered him That he would not ask any and also give none and defended the place with such resolution that after many Assaults Underminings and Attempts by Granado's Torstenson was forced to rise after a Siege of four months which was so advantagious unto Austria and the Imperial affairs that the Emperour took especial notice of him made him a Baron and of his Privy Council He commanded also all the Forces in Vienna and did notable Service in the last Turkish wars He took the City of Nitra or Nitria not far from Strigonium or Gran and took and slew six thousand Turks which were sent by the Vizier of Buda against him a worthy Person and of a good Aspect Count Souches the younger his Son an Heroick Commander is Governour of the strong fortified place Leopoldstadt by Freistadt a Person of great Civility unto whom I was much obliged Count Lesly Nephew unto Count Lesly who was sent Ambassadour to Constantinople to the Sultan from the Emperour is a Commander worthy of that esteem he hath with the Emperour a Person of great Courage Civility and Humanity which I must ever acknowledge The Courts of the Empress and of the Empress Dowager are filled with Persons of Note and there are a great number of Souldiers in this place of great Fame as the Marquiss Pio Spork Cops and many more Many of the Clergy and Men of Learning are in good esteem with the Emperour but the Jesuites Milner and Boccabella are his near Favorites Many Strangers both Souldiers and Scholars have built their Fortunes here And surely Strangers of parts and industry so they be of the Roman Church are not like to raise their Fortunes any where better than in these parts Though the Emperour goeth not to war in Person yet hath he been successful in his wars especially in the last Battel with the Turks at St. Godart where the business was handsomly and actively managed to set upon the body of the Turks which had passed the River Rab before the whole Forces of the Vizier could come over to the great slaughter of the Janisaries and Turks who fought stoutly and were first put to a Retreat by the French Cavalry For at first the Turks seemed to prevail and had slain a great part of two Regiments of the Auxiliaries which came out of Franconia and after their custome had cut off their Heads Among the many notable things in Vienna the Imperial Library is very remarkable He who hath seen the Bodleian Library at Oxford and the Vatican at Rome would be much surprised to find such a notable one here as may compare with them especially upon the extreme Borders of the Learned part of Europe The number and nobleness of the Books doth much exceed the receptacle or place which containeth them as making no fair shew at the entrance and somewhat wanting light But as for the number and value of the Books they are of opinion here that it yieldeth unto none but rather excelleth any other Library in Europe There was a place designed for the building of a fit receptacle for them but I know not
in a fruitful Country wherein were many Deer in most parts of the way in sight of the Castle of Pilnitz a strong place and seated high I could not but cast an eye on the Rocks behind us in the Forest of Bohemia which looked like the Ruines of a Wall which formerly enclosed Bohemia which Country is described with a Forest or Woods round about it But I confess I did not really perceive that there was such a Wood round about it as is commonly set forth in Mapps only both within and also in many parts of the Borders there are great Woods which are conceived to have been part of the Hercinian Forest The Bohemians are a strong stout and hardy People make good Souldiers and have made great wars both at home and abroad and Histories are full of their warlike Exploits The chief Magazine of the King is at Egra a strong City accounted the Second of Bohemia The Country affordeth also lusty and strong Horses The common sort of People are boysterous rough and quarrelsome especially in drink whereto they are too much addicted The Nobility and Gentry are civil and kind unto Strangers There are many great Families of the Nobility among which that of Rosenberg and Popel is ancient and of high esteem Since the unhappy accepting of the Crown by Frederick Count Palatine and the ill success upon it there hath been a great alteration in this Country both as to People and their Manners for thereupon many thousands left the Kingdom and many who remained turned their Religion And the Emperours have used the like severity upon others in their Hereditary Dominions The next considerable place we came unto was Dresden in Misnia as well worth the seeing as almost any Town in Germany Dresden is the Seat and Residence of the Elector of Saxony seated upon the River Elbe over which there is a very noble Stone-bridge of Seventeen Arches The City is very well fortified after the Modern way the Bastions Revestues and in each Bastion a Cavallier It hath also a large Trench or Ditch about it in some places double and the River Elbe addeth unto its strength The Walls are very strong and they say that when the first Stone was laid to build them there was placed in the Earth a Silver Cup gilded a Book of the Laws and another of Coyns and three Glasses filled with Wine It hath also three Gates The places most worth the seeing are these The Italian Garden in the Suburbs the Hunters House in the old Town beyond the River the Electors Palace his House for wild Beasts his Stable-house and Arsenal of which I shall set down some things observable in their kind In the Electors Palace the Hall is very large and handsomely painted with Cities Gyants and the Habits of several Nations and set out with seven large branched Candlesticks But that which affordeth the greatest delight is his Kunstkammer Art-Chamber or Collection of Rarities both of Art and Nature In the first Partition are to be seen all manner of well-made Instruments belonging to most Trades as Joyners Turners Barbers Smiths Chirurgeons and other Artificers Instruments to force open Doors Chests c. In the other Chambers these and the like are observable A Tube-glass four Ells long A large blew Turkish-glass Variety of Coral and artificial Works of it Fowls made out of Mother of Pearl Drinking Cups in the shape of Dragons Elephants c. Castles of Gold and Mother of Pearl Many Fowls and Cups made out of Nautili and other Shells and out of Oestrich-eggs A fine Oestrich made out of its Egg with the Feathers of Gold A Cup made out of the Ball taken our of an Oxes Stomach richly set about a foot long A Stone as big as my fist like a Bezoar-stone taken out of a Horse A Purse made out of the Linum Incombustibile Silver Ore from the Mines of Freiberg almost pure in strings and shoots A Natural Cross of Silver Ore One hundred and twenty one Heads carved on the outside of a Cherry-stone A Religious Man or Frier of Japan carved in Box. A Chrystal Cabinet sold by Oliver Cromwell wherein is kept a Ring which hath Stones in it in the shape of a Castle His Majesty King Charles the Second on Horsback carved out of Iron A Head of King Charles the First A Glass Organ Topazes unpolished ten Inches in Diameter A Cup out of a Topaze Emeralds an inch in Diameter as they grow in the Rock resembling the Vitriolum Nativum as I saw it in Paradise-hill by Schemnitz in Hungary Stones named Thunder stones smelling of Fire Rocks made out of all sorts of Ore and the names of the places written upon them from whence they were digged The Figures of Fishes in Stones out of Mansfield the Stones are dark-coloured but the Fishes of a Gold or Copper colour All sorts of Stones which are to be found about Saxony and Misnia polished Two large pieces of pure Virgin Gold out of the Mine A Cabinet of all sorts of Apothecaries Instruments and chief Druggs A Hart with a Cabinet made in his side containing all Medicines taken from a Hart. A white Hart as big as the Life made out of the shavings and filings of Harts horn and looking like Plaister Figures printed in Trees A Spur in part of a Tree Horns in Trees A Chamber of all manner of Mathematical Instruments and Charts A good Library of Mathematical Books An Unicorns-horn which they will have to be of a Land Unicorn being neither wreathed nor hollow A Dart of Unicorns-horn Among the Pictures in the same Chambers these seemed remarkable A Picture by Colier of the Siege of Jerusalem with great number of Figures and highly esteemed Four Heads of the Elements made out of the Creatures which belong to them in Caricatura A painting of Merchants Letters stuck behind green Tape A Storm by Rubens Two Nuns by Lucas van Leyden A Picture of Dr. Luther in the Cloyster in his Gown and after his Death There is also great variety of excellent Clockwork and an attempt for a perpetual motion by a rowling bullet A Cuckow singeth by Clockwork a Horsman rideth a Ship saileth an old Woman walketh a Centaur runneth and shooteth a Crab creepeth upon a Table so well as to amaze and delight but among all the Crab seems to be most naturally imitated In the Stable house besides the extraordinary noble Stable of Horses wherein every Horse eats out of a Rack of Iron and Manger of Copper and on a Pillar by him his Comb Bridle and Saddle and other Necessaries hang besides a handsome Window with a Curtain before him There are observable a very fair Fountain and pond set about with handsome Ballisters where the Horses are watered A long walk arched and painted with Horses over which is a Gallery with the Pictures of all the Dukes and Electors of Saxony both in their Military and Electoral Habits Two Beds of Marble Drinking Cups which seem not great yet