I might see elsewhere Things succeeded in some Measure according to my Wish I found I could be spar'd from the Family I was in and easily obtain'd leave to be absent for a little while I resolv'd to improve my time as well as I could and directed my Course to such Places within a little Compass as I thought fittest to afford me the Matter of such Observations as I sought for Thus I came to be furnish'd with the Materials which are here put together I now resolve to publish them for several Reasons and hope they may be serviceable to several important Purposes We have indeed especially the Vnlearned Part of the Nation forgotten what the Popish Religion is in Truth And there is an Ignorance of this among us which gives us a great deal of Disturbance and which does a great deal of Harm For hereby some things among us are cried out against with a mighty Ardour and Fierceness as Popish which are truely Innocent and Vseful and which are deriv'd from the most pious and purest Times of Primitive Christianity And on the other side some things both in Doctrine and Practice are fondly hugg'd and stickled for by the same People who make that unreasonable Out cry which were brought in with and do truely belong to the Corruptions of the Roman Church These People want to have their Notions rectify'd and their Idea of Popery corrected and made more accurate and just by a distinct Representation of the Particulars which will give the true Character of it There are very unhappy Consequences and Effects of this Mistake Some of the Reform'd Churches abroad who do not know distinctly the State of ours are prejudiced against us by the Writings and Reports of these foolish People as having a World of the Popish Superstition and Corruption still among us and as being very tenacious and fond of it And they cannot think us fit for their Correspondence in order to our mutual Defence upon that score Besides the Influence which our Church and Nation might have abroad towards the Defence and perhaps the propagating and promoting of the Reformation is hereby much abated at least if I may not say 't is wholly lost while so many among us apply all their Concern and Endeavour in Caballing against and Seeking to undermine and throw down an Imaginary Popery in the Church of England That Influence might be very considerable if there were a Concurrence of all Parties towards it by the Help of our Extensive Trade and with the Advantage in respect of Learning which our Vniversities and Clergy have over the greatest Part of if I may not say all the Church of Rome But especially under the Conduct and Management of an Excellent Prince who has so wise and just and so great a Zeal for the Honour and Interest of the Reformation in General as his present Majesty has and who has the greatest Renown and Glory and the most extended Interest of any Monarch in the World whom God grant long to Reign over us and to have yet more Influence by his Great Wisdom and Glorious Vertues among us It is an Amazement that amidst all our Jealousies especially since they have most abounded we should never to any Purpose fall upon this to suspect that the Jesuits and Romish Emissaries do in Disguise promote our Divisions on purpose to hinder any such Vnanimous Concurrence amongst us against them We have indeed a Zeal against Popery amongst us but as much of it is lost by a Mistake in the Object so I doubt a great deal of the rest in the Wise Men of the World is of less Effect and Extent than it might and ought to be for want of a due and right Principle I wish it be not their only Concern to secure themselves from the Losses they might sustain in their just Liberties and their Properties if it were imposed upon them at home and that they be not too regardless what becomes of the Reformation in other Parts of the World It seems indeed easie to see but even Wise Men sometimes look too intently upon one thing that while the Protestant Religion is destroy'd by degrees abroad and one Part of the Reformation after another is trodden down the common Interest of it must be weaker and weaker and it must be less able to subsist with us at home It is the great Concern of all sorts of Persons on the other side to promote and propagate their own Religion and to extirpate ours Among them 't is not only the villanous Treacheries and Plots of Jesuits that are employ'd in the Work 't is not the Wheedles of the other Missionary Monks alone or the Business of those who seem to make the greatest Gain of propagating their Religion but even Princes have applyed their utmost Power and have hazarded or lost and almost ruin'd their Dominions in their Zeal to serve their Cause And the greatest Statesmen have found time to consider and serve this amidst their most Important Affairs They concern themselves to extirpate the Protestant Religion not only out of the Countries which they govern but even out of the World And what formidable Successes have they had against us with their continued Applications and Endeavours After other mighty Havocks made upon the Reformation we have seen them trample upon it in our Time in Hungary and France and at this present they are making an End with the small Remainders of it in the Palatinate and that by Virtue of Advantages gain'd against it by their extraordinary Vigilance and Application to the matter in a late Treaty They are zealous and industrious while We are indifferent It has been seen that the Wise Men on our side have been too sharp for those of the other in Matters of Trade while the others have been too hard for them in the Matter of the Interest of the Reformation which speaks plainly the Difference of Application and Concern to the Matter One would suspect from these things that the Trick of Representing and Expounding the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome had cheated our Politicians of the true Notions of Popery and had made them believe the Differences between that Church and those who are Reformed to be but small and inconsiderable and this had betrayed them into Indifferency and Neglect to watch and oppose the Designs of Rome against us And that it were necessary to show even to them or at least to call to their Remembrance how Absurd and Vnreasonable how Impious and Wicked many of the Doctrines and Practices of that Church are to be sure if the Spirit of Christian Religion did every where prevail among us As it is a Disposition possess'd and govern'd by the Reverence and Love of God and the Love of our Neighbour none could be unconcern'd that Christian Religion should be so abus'd and Almighty God so much injur'd in his due Reverence and Honour and the Souls of Men so endanger'd with damnable Errours as these
and we went on board the Boat at Four a Clock in the Afternoon knowing that we could come to the Canal of Brussels with Light enough to see that end where we should enter upon it and so to see what it is for 't is all alike At going on Board this Boat we paid for each person eighteen Stivers and receiv'd a small Leaden Ticket mark'd with A for Antwerp and a Figure signifying the day of the Month. We had the Wind very fair but there was but little of it Our Course up the Schelde continued almost half the way to Dendermond We observ'd the Country on our right side as we went up the River which is Flanders to lie all flat and it afforded us no Prospect but of some rows of Trees at a distance In some places our sight on that side was confin'd by a high Dyke or Bank rais'd to defend the Country within from the Inundations of the River But on the other side which is the Province of Brabant we had a very pleasant Prospect For the Ground rises gradually and pretty high in some places and so shews it self to a great distance And it shows a rich enclos'd Country divided into Pastures Corn-fields Gardens and Orchards When we left the Schelde we turn'd Rupell R. on our left-side into another River call'd the Rupell over against a place in Flanders which from its being opposite to the Mouth of this River is call'd Rupelmonde The Rupell is a conjunction of three little Rivers of Brabant the Neethe the Dyle and the Demer The Dyle coming down from Louvain joins the Demer between Louvain and Mechlin They run together under the Name of the Dyle to a littile Village call'd Rumpst below Mechlin where they joyn the Neethe and from thence the whole Stream to the Schelde has the Name of the Rupell In this we sail'd upwards almost as far as it bears that Name to a Village called Willibroeck where the Canal of Brussels enters this River and where we were to leave this our Sailing-Vessel and to go into the Trech-Schuyt or Drawn-boat which passes upon that Canal About Sun-set we arriv'd at this place Canal of Br. went on Board the Trech-Schuyt and in less than a quarter of an Hour went on This is a very large and long Boat divided into several Rooms I believe we could not be less than an hundred Passengers in the several parts of it We thought it necessary to be under cover in the Night and did not care to be of the Company in the common part of the Boat and therefore we went into the Roof which is a clean convenient Room at the Stern end of the Boat where we sate among the cleanest of the Passengers But for this we paid at several times in the several Boats reckoning among them I think what we paid in the Sailing-Ship to Willibroeck for each person seven Stivers and a half We chang'd our Boat on the Canal four times for there are on it five Sluces One is at the entrance of it into the Rupell and the rest were in our way The Canal is planted with rows of Trees on the sides of it It runs always strait for a good way together We had sometimes a very considerable Ascent to mount at the Sluces we came to when we walk'd from one Schuyt to another The several parts of it run level but the Ascents are at the Sluces And there is so much Ascent in the whole that 't is reckon'd the Surface of the Water of the Canall at Brussels is forty Feet higher in a direct perpendicular than it is at Willibroeck The Sluces are not open'd for these Trech-Schuytes because they carry only Passengers who can convey themselves from one Schuyt to another But they are open'd for Ships loaden with Goods of which a great many come up through this Canal to Brussels We pass'd by and met several in our Passage The chief Author or at least the Promoter of this Magnificent and most useful Work is said to have been Johannes Locquenginius Locquenginii Berchemii quelbergiae Dominus The Judge for that time of the Civil Causes at Brussels The Design was form'd by his Ancestors in the time of Margaret of Austria the Aunt of Charles the Fifth whom that Emperour made Governess of these Countries But it was not set about till towards the time of Philip the Second King of Spain and was finish'd in the Year 1560. The Charge of it is reckon'd to amount to about Five hundred thousand Crowns We were five Hours on this Canal and the length of it is reckon'd to be so many Leagues We went the length of three Mile English in an Hour which is the common pace of the Trech-Schuyts and were drawn with two Horses When we came to Brussels we deliver'd our Tickets and were dismiss'd without farther payment We lay down in a House without the City till Morning because the Gates were shut and none could be admitted to go in BRUSSELS THis City by the Latins call'd Bruxella by the French Bruxelles and by the People of the Country Brussel is also very Ancient and the beginnings of it are obscure and unknown It pretends to have been a City from about the Year of our Lord 974 and to have had its utmost encrease and present extent from the Year 1369. It is situate part of it on the side of a little Hill which it runs up to the top of and part in a Valley The encrease of it from what it was at first is very evident by the Remainders of the old and first Wall which with some of its Ports is still standing and appears in several places of the City The outermost Wall was begun to be built in the Year 1357 and was finish'd in the Year 1369. The Compass of this Wall is said to be less than of that of Louvain by 200 Paces but this City within is more built than that and therefore is reckon'd to contain more People It seems indeed to be very full of People The newest Wall has seven Ports and on that side which is at the top of the Hill is a high round Brick Building which is a Watch-Tower from whence they can look over all the City and far about in the Country The Bombarding of the French in the Year 1695 fell most upon the Inner City though indeed it destroy'd the greatest part of that We according to our Design lodg'd not far from the Court near a large and good old Building which belongs to our King and is call'd the Palace of Nassau This is included in the Inner City but escap'd the Bombarding This City is situate in a rich and plentiful Country and stands very Airy and Healthy There is on one side of it a large Tract of Meadows but 't is chiefly encompass'd with Hills that rise gently up and have upon them wide open Fields of Plough'd Ground the Soil ' being very fit for Corn. The Country here
present State 210 Tongeren its History and present State 216. Christian Religion early planted there 219 Trinity Image of it 39. These censur'd ibid. Prayer before a Picture of it encourag'd by an Indulgence of Forty Days 41 U. VIset or Weset its Situation 249 Urns of the Old Romans by Cleve 380 St. Ursula the Story of her and her Companions 375. Relicks of them at Cleve 376 W. WEsel somewhat of its History and present State 363 St. Willibroerd his Story 271. His Head at Aix ibid. Z. ZEeland the Number and Names of the Islands 4. Fertility 5. Inhahitants ibid. Alterations 6. Means of Defence used against the Waves â—bid The END ERRATA PReface Page 3. Line 9. for Desire read Design p. 80. l. 3. for Ordinary read Ordinary Preacher p. 81. l. 8. for are read have p. 97. l. 10. for the Space read not the Space p. 155. l. 24. for erroneously read enormously p. 171. l. 5. for I think read think p. 172. l. 23. for direct read divert p. 174. l. 12. for directed read diverted p. 190. l. 18. for Noveltiesm read Novelties in p. 216. l. 20. for Drostein read Diostein p. 241. l. 1. for Brosier read Crosier p. 242. l. 10. for Vines laid read Wires laid p. 259. l. 19. for furnishing read finishing p. 261. l. 27. for into read in Two p. 272. l. 10. for Inicarensis read Tricarensis p. 350. l. 22. put a full Stop after Divine p. 373. l. 9. for Linden Boom read Linden Boom Books Printed for John Wyat at the Rose in St. Paul's Church-Yard FAmily Devotions for Sunday Evenings throughout the Year In Four Volumes Each containing Thirteen Practical Discourses with suitable Prayers for the Four Quarters of the Year The Second Edition The Excellent Woman described by her True Characters and their Opposites Being a just and instructive Representation of the Virtues and Vices of the Sex and illustrated with the most remarkable Instances in ancient and modern History Consolations to a Friend upon the Death of his Excellent and pious Consort applicable also to a Resentment of the Death of other dear Relations and Friends Family Prayers for every Day in the Week Containing a short Summary of Christian Religion The Second Edition Price 2d These by Mr. Theophilus Dorrington Some Thoughts concerning the several Causes and Occasions of Atheism especially in the present Age. A Demonstration of the Existence and Providence of God from the Contemplation of the visible Structure of the greater and the lesser World In Two Parts The Socinian Creed or A brief Account of the professed Tenents and Doctrines of the Foreign and English Socinians wherein is shewed the Tendency of them to Irreligion and Atheism with proper Antidotes against them Sermons on Special Occasions and Subjects These by Mr. John Edwards sometime Fellow of St. John's College Cambridge A Vindication of the Truth of Christian Religion against the Objections of all modern Opposers Written in French by Doctor James Abbadie Done into English by Henry Lussan M. A. of New College Oxon Two Volumes A Discourse of Fornication shewing the Greatness of that Sin and examining the Excuses pleaded for it from the Examples of ancient Times To which is added an Appendix concerning Concubinage as also a Remark on Mr. Butler's Explication of Heb. 13. 4. in his late Book on that Subject By John Turner M. A. Lecturer of Christ-Church London Some Observations on a Book entituled Municipium Ecclesiasticum and the Defence of it Both written by Mr. Hill of Kilmington An Exposition on the Lord's-Prayer with a Catechistical Explication thereof by way of Question and Answer for the instructing of Youth To which are added some Sermons on Providence and the excellent Advantages of Reading and Studying the Holy Scriptures By Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord-Bishop of London-Derry The Second Edition corrected Dr. Bates's Harmony of the Divine Attributes The Fourth Edition 1697.