and many other superstitions they seem to have borrowed from the Romans who came into this country under the conduct of Palaemon Hence they used to burn their dead expecting saith Cajalowicz part I. Hist Lithv lib. 5. p. 140. a resurrection out of the ashes at the coming of a strange God to judge the whole earth from the top of one of their mountains From these Idolatrous practises they were first converted to Christianity by Vladislaus Jagello their Great Duke who A. D. 1386 upon his marriage with Hedvig Queen of Poland turned Christian and was baptized at Cracow by John Bishop of that See He is said to have been a very pious and zealous Prince and exceeding diligent in bringing over the whole Dukedom of Lithvania to the Christian religion At the first he met with no small opposition but when the King had cut down their tall trees the Temples of their Heathenish Gods and no mischief befell him the people begun to think their Idols would never take this affront if able to revenge themselves and therefore they were resolved to listen to their Princes advice Whereupon the King immediately built a Cathedral and founded a Bishoprick at Vilna and the Queen furnished seven parish Churches in the neighbourhood with Chalices vestments and all other necessaries for divine service The Russians at that time as most of them are still were members of the Greek Church so that the King thought good to forbid marriage with a Russ that would not conform to the Church of Rome At this day many Lithvanians are of the Greek Church tho more of the Roman In Vilna and several other great Towns vast numbers of the Inhabitants are Lutherans The whole Dukedom is divided into ten Palatinates the Metropolis and chief of which is Vilna The next is the Palatinate of Troki 3. Minsko 4. Novogrod 5. Breste 6. Volhinia 7. Kiow 8. Miecislaw 9. Vitebsk 10. Poloxko Vilna called by the Inhabitants Vilensski by the Germans die Wilde has its name from the river upon which 't is seated The houses are generally low and mean all of wood excepting only in some streets where Merchants of other nations that resort hither for trade have built themselves more then ordinary gentile ones of stone Most of the Churches are of stone some of wood The suburbs are not built here as at other Cities in Europe but round the walls in a confused and disorderly manner every man placing his house which is nothing else but a wooden booth where he pleases The citizens are exceeding poor and idle slaves to their Nobles and their belly They are taken notice of for great lovers of onions and garlick which kind of diet help'd by their smoaky houses blinds half of them before they arrive at any considerable age Their excessive intemperance in drinking breeds continual quarrels among them If a stranger be kill'd in any such broil the murderer pays only sixteen dollars as a mulct If a Lithvanian be slain and the murderer fly 't is usual to preserve the dead corps embalmed till they can apprehend the fugitive whom they cannot condemn without shewing him the carcase of him he slew There is not one public hospital in the whole City though it stands in more need of such a provision then any place in Europe if we might judge by the swarms of beggars every street affords The only peice of neat building is the Monastery of Bernardine Monks all of hewn stone The Moscovian company of Merchants have also a considerably handsome structure built for a repository of Furrs Ermines and other rich merchandise brought from Mosco The great Dukes Palace has nothing of note in it but the armory which is admirably furnished with all sorts of arms and armour considering that Lithvania it self affords no mines of brass or iron About two English miles from Vilna the great Duke has another Palace called from its situation Wersupa that is near the water built by Sigismund King of Poland all of wood and beautifyed with a Park and pleasant orchards and gardens The rest of the Cities of Lithvania have little in them observable save that they give titles to Palatines and Dukes What numbers there are of these last may be easily guess'd by what is reported of Vitoldus once Great Duke That he had no less then fifty Dukes at once in his army Samogitia THis country has its name from its situation which is low and wet Samogitz in the language of the inhabitants signifying a marshy ground Whence the Moscovite calls it Samotzkasemla It is bounded on the North with Liefland on the East and South with the great Dukedom of Lithvania on the West with the Baltic sea and some parts of Prussia A great part of the country is continually overflown with rivers and Lakes unpassable but in a frost The rest of it is full of woods which afford good store of hony purer and better then any in Lithvania or Liefland The inhabitants differ little from the Lithvanians either in manners habit or language They are sottishly ignorant grosly superstitious and easy to be imposed upon They use no plough in tilling their ground but dig it up with spades or sticks as it is usual in some parts of Moscovy When one of their governours having observed how far his countrymen were outdone in their husbandry by other nations endeavoured to teach them the art of plowing it chanced that for two years after their crop was not so rich as formerly it had been whereupon the people attributing the miscarriage to the new device grew so enraged that the governour was glad to decry the experiment for fear of an insurrection When Vladislaus Jagello had converted the greatest part of Lithvania he endeavoured to bring the Samogitians to the Christian faith In pursuance of this resolution he goes himself into this country and burning up their hallowed groves and destroying the serpents and other creatures they worshipped with threats and promises made them vow to abandon their former Idolatry and worship the true God And for fear that when his back was turn'd they might relapse into their former heathenism he founded a Bishoprick at Mzdniki endowing it with a revenue sufficient for the maintenance of a Bishop and twelve Prebends who were to officiate at so many parish Churches in and about the City Howbeit the good King was not so successful in his undertaking nor his successours so vigilant in the prosecution of his designs but that to this day many poor ignorant Idolaters may be found in the desart parts of this country These like the Lithvanians spoken of before worship a four footed serpent about three hands long called in their tongue Givosit Without one of these houshold gods you shall scarce find a family If any mischief befalls them they think 't is because the little deity has not been well attended Another piece of heathenish superstition is still retain'd by the Rusticks in the following manner About the latter end of
and over-reaching one another in bargaining They especially the women are jealous of all strangers whatsoever and being conscious how much their simplicity exposes them to the craft of others they are revengeful and desperate endeavouring to prevent any mischief that may seem to threaten them by the destruction of the person that caused the suspition And this they do frequently by the assistance of Magick and the help of the Devil as is said of one who attempting often to mischieve his Enemy who was secur'd by his Countercharms after long lying in wait for him at last watched his opportunity and finding him asleep under a great Rock by his Spel split it upon him and so buried him under it They are also noted to be of a censorious and detracting humour covetous and yet lazy withal so that where the soyl might be improv'd they often through idleness let it lye barren and uncultivated They seldom take pains so much as to hunt or fish till pinch'd by want and necessity Consequent to these qualities they are stubborn undutiful to Parents when old lustful all except the married people lying promiscuously together in one Hut without any difference of age sex or condition and subject to whatever vices attend an idle and unthinking life Yet in the midst of these enormities and depravations of manners some good qualities are to be found amongst them as their great veneration and respect for marriage which they seldom or never violate their abhorrence of theft which is remarkable in that they do keep their hands from pilfering having so good opportunity to the contrary there being no secured Magazines nor Locks and Keys in the whole Country but Merchants leave their goods oftentimes in the open fields defended by some covering from the weather not at all from the treachery of any dispos'd to be theevish Their hospitality to Strangers and those in distress is very remarkable they receiving them into their Huts liberally affording them the best chear they have and often charitably supplying them with stock to traffick lending money gratis without any usury and such like good deeds which seem to be happy fruits sprung up in some of them since the plantation of our holy Religion amongst them the ignorance and gross superstition among the natives very much disappearing since the light of the Gospel was known to them Concerning the Religion of the Laplanders we may observe what progress they have made in Christianity since it was planted amongst them as also what was the antient manner of worship proper to these Northern Nations for the reliques of heathenish superstition amongst some of them to this day seem to be only rak'd up under the embers ready to flame out were it not for the strict Government of the Swedes They worshiped they knew not what but they call'd him Jumala or Jomala a word which they use now for the true God as they did before for the supream Entity Another God also they worship'd under the name of Turrisas or Turris-As the prince of the Ases or Asiaticks whence it does appear that they conserved some knowledg of their migration together with the rest of the Scandians out of Asia under Woden Several other distinct Gods they had on different occasions as to preside over Ry Barley Oates and all sorts of fruits whom they worshiped in Finland but had not any occasion for after their banishment one also for Tempests one to protect their Cattel another to command Wolves Squirrels and such like ridiculous Deities Jumala was represented under the image of a man sitting upon an Altar with a Crown upon his head adorn'd with twelve Gems and a golden Chain about his neck to which was fastned a large Jewel called from its figure Mens or Mene i. e. a Moon upon his knees stood a large golden dish into which they cast their offerings and this dish they are supposed to have brought out of Finland for when they lost it they could never procure another His Temple was in the woods not built with any roof but only a piece of ground fenc'd as the old Roman Temples were this God being in time found useless was at last casheard and the Deities in greatest reputation amongst them at this day are those things from which they think they receive the greatest benefits as the sun fire and such like of which more by and by All the Heathenish Religion the Laplanders retain to this day may be reduc'd to two heads Their Heathenish Gods Magical and Paganish or Superstitious and Diabolical Those superstitions they intermix with Christianity we shall speak of under Religion as 't is Christian Of their Gods some are publick and common to the whole Country other private and belonging only to a Division neighbourhood or some one particular Family all which have their several names Those of Lapponia Pithensis and Luhlensis have their greater and lesser Gods the greater to whom they pay especial worship are Thor Storejunkare the Sun and some add Fire which may seem not a distinct Deity but only an emblem of the Sun The lesser common also to the Tornenses are worshipp'd under one name except only that which they call Wira Accha signifying a Livonian old woman which at first was only an old stump of a tree but now its Godship is quite rotten and moulder'd away They worship also the Ghosts of men their friends especially departed and think some Divinity to be in them as the Romans fancied to be in their Manes Spectres also and Demons are ador'd by them which they say wander amongst Rocks Woods Rivers and Lakes as the Roman Fauni Sylvani and Tritones are said to have done The Genii also good and bad which they suppose to fly in the air about Christmas and they call them Juhly from Juhl a word still in use among the Northern English denoting at present Christmas but formerly the New-year Some Gods also there are common to the whole Country the chief of which is Thor or as the Swedes call him Thordoen and the Lapps themselves sometimes Tiermes i. e. Thunderer or noise-maker His proper place is thought to be in the clouds and winds rain thunder good as well as bad weather to be at his disposal The Romans could not have greater thoughts of their Jupiter then the Laplanders have of their Thor whereupon they give him many great and honourable titles as Aijeke great-grand-father c. To him belongs the arbitrement of life and death health and sickness he can also restrain whatsoever is injurious and give whatever is beneficial or advantageous to men So as the thred of mans life was supposed by the Ancients to be tyed to Jove's chair they fancy it to be in the power of this God to lengthen and shorten it as he pleases that they cannot dye except he give leave nor could have had a being but by his permission that 't is he that drives away those Daemons from the rocks and mountains that are enemies
seems plain from the arguments and authorities of learned men before alledged 't will be no difficult matter to evince the truth of this assertion That the Getes and Goths together with all the inhabitants of the Danish Isles in the Baltic Sea are originally one and the same Nation 'T is true in some small Islands in and near the Finnic Gulph the people use a language altogether unintelligible to a true Dane or Swede but further westward the languages spoken in all the Baltic Islands are so many dialects of the Gothic tongue And the old Runic monuments daily found in most Provinces of the Danish and Swedish dominions prove manifestly the same words and characters to have been used in Schonen Jutland and the intermediate Islands From the difference of manners customs habits c. in these Isles no more can be conclucluded then that some wanting the convenience of traffick and correspondence with other Nations are forced to content themselves with the rude and ungentile ways of living taught them by their homebred Ancestors whilst others who lay more in the road of Merchant-ships must needs insensibly admit of a daily alteration both in manners and language NORWAY WHat the Edda Name and other Mythological writers tell us of Nor son of their God Thor Grandchild to Woden the first grand Captain of the Norwegians from whom that people and their Country fetch say these men their names merits just as much credit as the Danish stories of their King Dan. The truth is Norway or Norweg as the Germans write it whence the Latin word Norwegia is only via seu tractus septentrionalis i. e. a country situated towards the North. Hence in the Danish Swedish Norvegian tongues 't is to this day called Norrike or the Northern Kingdom Pliny's Nerigon is only a corruption of this word and we find that anciently all the Cimbrian Kingdoms were named Regna Norica By Helmoldus the Norwegians are called Nordliudi which word is not as Dr. Heylin guesses derived from the Dutch word Nordt and the French lieu for Nordliod or Nordtleut in the Northern languages is no more then the people of the North. In the Preface to our King Aelfred's Anglo-Saxonic Version of Orosius this Kingdom is stiled Norðh manna land the Country of the Normans Adam Bremensis calls it Normannia And we know Rollo brought his Normans out of these parts This Kingdom is bounded on the South with the Baltic Straits Bounds which separate it from Jutland on the North and West with the Northern Ocean on the East with Sweden and Lapland The whole length of it from the Baltic Sea as far as Finmark is reckoned to be about 210 German miles The Eastern part of Norway is very thin peopled Soil being a Country of nothing but inaccessible and craggy mountains Towards the South there is greater store of inhabitants who dwell in pleasant valleys encircled with barren and rocky hills The rest of the Country is overspread with woods which furnish the greatest part of Europe with Deal-boards and Masts for Ships The long ridge of high mountains which divide this Kingdom from Sweden where Pliny places his Sevo are continually covered with snow whence intolerable sharp winds are sent down into the valleys beneath which by this means become desolate and unfruitful But more Southerly and all along the Western coasts the air is much more temperate and would be healthful enough if not corrupted by the putrefaction and stench of a certain kind of Rats called by the inhabitants Lemmer which infect the whole Country with the Epidemical disease of the Jaundice and a giddiness in the head which is most especially apt to seize on strangers unacquainted with the danger and unarm'd against the distemper In the valleys there are good breeds of Cattel Commodities insomuch that the inhabitants export yearly great quantities of Butter Tallow Hides and Cheese Their chief Grain is Barley The woods afford Timber Pitch Tar rich Furs and great store of Filberds Besides these commodities they have a good trade from their Stock-fish and Train-Oyl which is vended all Europe over Christian IV. King of Denmark employ'd several Artists in the search of some Silver and Gold Mines in the year 1623. And 't is said some lumps of the Oar of both those mettals were here found and presented to the King But this discovery never turned to any considerable account For the Natives were utterly ignorant of the art of refining any kind of Minerals themselves and altogether unwilling to admit into their Country any foreigners skill'd in that way The inhabitants are much of the same complexion and humour with the Danes 〈…〉 They are generally effeminate and lazy not so much thro any fault of nature as the want of employment For the King of Denmark seldom or never makes use of this Nation in his wars as being loth to trust them with arms The ancient Norwegians as well as their neighbours are every where reported to have been notorious Pyrats but at this day the Seas are scarce in any place in Europe so secure from robbery as on the coasts of Norway The cause of this alteration can scarce be attributed to the modern honesty of this Kingdom so far excelling that of former days but rather to the general poverty and mean spiritedness of the inhabitants into which the Danish rigor has forc'd them For they have little or no Shipping allow'd them and are too low kept to pretend to hector and domineer Their diet is what they furnish other Countries with Stockfish 〈◊〉 and a coarse kind of Butter and Cheese Their usual drink Rostock Ale In this they commonly drink three draughts one in remembrance of God the second to the Kings health and the third to the Queens As Norway is still reckon'd a distinct Kingdom from Denmark 〈◊〉 so it had formerly its own independent Kings who sometimes Lorded it over the Monarchs of Sweden and Denmark Nevertheless the account we have of these Princes from the Chronica Norvagica published by Johannes Slangerupensis in the year 1594 and Olaus Wormius in the year 1633 and the relations of other Historians is so imperfect and incredible that 't would but waste paper to give the Reader a catalogue of them The last King that sway'd the Scepter in Norway was Haquin who in the year 1363 married Margaret eldest daughter of Waldemar III. King of Denmark thereupon uniting the two Kingdoms Now tho King Haquin had only one son by Queen Margaret Olaus for some while King of Denmark who dyed without issue yet the Danes having once got footing in this Kingdom were resolved to keep their station and therefore to secure themselves from all future insurrection and rebellion they immediately put strong Garrisons into all the Cities and Forts of consequence in the Nation Since it is manifest from the language manners c. of the inhabitants that the Norwegians and Islanders are both one
of a piece of Cloth an apt name for a City which being seated on the frontiers of the Marquisate of Brandenburg is the furthest Boundary and Bulwark of the Dukedom of Silesia 'T is a comly old City seated in a pleasant plain and in a good air The Duke's Palace Town-Hall and some Citizens Houses are built with a neat and well polish'd stone The neighbouring Hills are cover'd with Apples Pears and other sorts of Fruit. Some Wine they have growing but exactly such trash as Altmarck and some other parts of the Elector's Dominions are wont to produce II. The City and Dukedom of GLOGAW THIS City is usually known by name of Great Glogau City to distinguish it from a much more inconsiderable Town of the same name in the Dukedom of Oppelen Cureus fancies it to be the same place with Ptolomy's Lugidunum which as he probably enough conjectures had its name from the Lugii the ancient inhabitants of this part of the Country It s present name is of Wendish extraction and signifies properly a Thorn-bush so call'd from its situation amongst Thickets or in a Copse Glogaw was made a true City by Conrad Duke of the place about the year 1260 at which time the City and Cathedral the only strength and ornament of the Town were built and the City stock'd with Germans who establish'd here the Laws and Customs of their own Country The Palsie is an epidemical disease in this Town which is thought to proceed from the extraordinary intemperance of the Burgers in drinking a sort of bitter and muddy but withal wonderful strong and heady Beer They are also commonly tormented with the Stone and Gravel in the Kidneys a distemper partly ascribed by their Physitians to the same cause with the former and partly to their feeding chiefly on Pork Cheese c. To this Dukedom belong the petty Towns of Guhrau Dukedom Sprottau Grunberg Schwibussen Beuthen Pulkwitz Koben Newstatt Warienberg and Primnikaw The people of this Province have this peculiar Anti-Salic Law amongst them that upon failure of Issue male a Daughter inherits the Estate of her Father before any of the nearest of his male Relations III. The City and Dukedom of SAGAN SAGAN once one of the best and most populous City and still one of the largest Cities in Silesia 'T was in the Civil Wars of Germany several times taken by the Swedish forces and retaken by the Imperialists There is now little remarkable to be seen upon that large spot of ground whereon this City is placed except only the Castle St. Mary's Church and two Monasteries and these are rather venerable for age then commendable for any thing of rarity that 's in them The Dukedom called by the Polish writers Ducatus Zeganensis is of no large extent in length or bredth Duâ—â— 'T is bounded on the West with Lusatia and the Barony of Sora which is reckon'd a part of rhe Marquisate of Brandenburg on the South with the Dukedom of Javer on the East with the Dukedom of the greater Glogaw and on the North with Crossen 'T was once a part of the Dukedom of Glogaw but afterwards it was subjected to Princes of its own sometimes three or four at once whence we read of the Dukedoms of Sagan in the plural number There are some large and rich Corn-fields in this Province which are well water'd with the Rivers Bober Queiss Tschirn and Neisse Pribus Naumburg and Freywald three small Cities are all subject to the Dukes of Sagan IV. The Town and Dukedom of WOLAW NOtwithstanding that Wolaw was anciently accounted a part of the Dukedom of Lignitz Duâ—â— and has always been subject to the same Laws and Government yet the petty Princes of Silesia whether it be to multiply their Titles or for what other reason I shall not determine have of late years made it a Dukedom of it self And because thus separated from Lignitz 't is still too large to be guided and govern'd by one man being near as big as either of our English Counties of Huntingdon or Rutland they have subdivided it into six larger Circles or Hundreds which have their names from the chief Towns in them viz. Wolau Hernstadt Winzing Ruten Raude and Steinaw none of which are worth the describing To these they add two more Enclosures no bigger then one of our small Parishes in England whereof the one goes by the name of Koben and the other Breubawischer hald both which the Reader may see in the Map and thence be able to take an estimate of their true bulk and value Wolau it self which in this Country makes a shift to give Title to a Duke City might pass for a Market-Town in England but would never merit as here it does the name of a City 'T is every way mean and inconsiderable The buildings in it are contemptible and the Citizens for so they will needs stile themselves hardly able to provide bread for their Families out of the little or no trade of the place The neighbouring Lake der Gross Teich furnishes them indeed with Fish enough for the support both of themselves and their children or otherwise they would not I think have any possibility of subsisting And yet this mean place was for some time the seat of the German Civil Wars nay the Swedish Lieutenant Gortzke thought it no small piece of honour that he bravely maintain'd himself and a Garrison in the Town for some months when God knows no Commander of note would so far undervalue himself as to attack it DVCATVS SILESIAE GLOGANI Vera Delineatio Notarum Explicatio Vrbs. Oppidum Pagus cum templis Pagus cum Sede nobile Pagus Arx. Monasterium Vinetorum Colles Fedina et Officina Ferri Lacus sive Stâ—â—â—um Paludes Ducatus SILESIAE WOLANUS Notularum explicatio Urbs Oppidum Pagus cum templo Pagus Arx Molindinum Vinetum Mons notabilis Bona Ecclesiastica DUCATUS BRESLANUS sive WRATISLAVIENSIS Sumptibus Janssonio-Waâ—sbergiorum Mosis Pitt et Stephaâ—â—â— Swart Notularum explicatio Vrbs. Oppidum Pagus cum templo Pagus Molendinum Arx. W â—â—YAL DEVOIR To the … be Honourable Sr GEORGE CARTWRIGHT Bar. vice Câ—â—â—berline of the kings househould 〈◊〉 Mapp is humbly â—â—â—dicated BRESLAW totius SILESIAE METROPOLIS Ducatus SILESIAE LIGNICIENSIS Ex Officina Janssonio-Waesbergiana Mosis Pitt et Stephani Swart Notularum explicatio Vrbs. Pagus cum templo Pagus Arx. Molendinum Mons notabilis Locus vbi dimicatum FV̈RSTLICHE STADT LIGNITZ Schloss Closter Zu Vaser liebeÌ„ Frawen S. Iohans S. Peter vnd Paul V. The Dukedom and City of OELSE OELSSE is seated in the Lower Silesia about sixteen miles distant from Breslaw first made a City out of a poor Village by the Emperor Henry I. in the year 936. The Country round this Town is pleasant enough and the air wholesom The Gates Walls Turrets and other Fortifications of the City were handsom and noble before the late Wars but the Swedish General Wittenberg's Troops demolish'd the greatest part of
dry land till it meet with an obstacle strong enough to coerce it From hence some do imagine that the Mountains and Valleys were then also formed the Earth being before equal and smooth which is very probable in as much as the Scripture saith that the dry land then first appeared Others also imagine that the height of the highest Mountains equals the depth of the deepest Seas Which indeed may be so but is not evidently deduced from what hath been hitherto observed It is more considerable what Olearius mentions that examining with an instrument the height of the waters of the Caspian Sea he found them level with the top of the bordering Mountains p. 142 of his Travels where he makes no doubt but that the Sea is higher then the Land His experiment supposing it truly made if not to be solved by the greatness of the refraction I know not what to say to it as neither can I resolve Whether the Earth be in the center or middle of the whole world The place of the Earth and that all heavy bodies descend to it as their proper place which is the reason of its stability and unmoveableness tho it seem to hang in the air Or as others think that heavy things descend to the Earth as by a magnetical virtue drawn to it from such a distance But this opinion declares not how the Earth keeps its place in the Air. Or as others say that the Earth is but a shell of no great thickness perhaps of three or four miles and within it is quite hollow by which means the weight is so inconsiderable that it is susteined in the Air as lighter bodies are in the Water and that this cavity is the place of punishment for wicked Angels and men The parts of the Ocean receive different names The parts of the Ocean according to their greatness or their shoes Fretum a Strait is a narrow Sea contain'd between two opposite but not much distant shores and giving opportunity of passing from one Sea to another as the Straits of Gibralter of Magellan Davis the Sound in Denmark c. Sinus a Bay is a part of the Sea running up into the Land and almost encompassed by the shore If but a little one 't is called a Creek if large a Gulf. And in these are Havens or stations for Ships as Roads are in the open Sea but defended from some winds The vast body of the Sea is called the Ocean and the Sea is ordinarily called some lesser part of it let into the Land by a Strait as the Mediterranean Baltick Sea c. A Lake is a large collection of waters enclosed within land some of which have no known or visible communication with any Sea as the Mare Caspium Lacus Asphaltites or Dead Sea Others have Rivers running from them or thro them as the Lacus Lemanus Benacus c. Rivers are made up by Brooks these by Springs Of Springs and Fountains So that their originals are from these Springs but whence that water comes which supplies so many Springs is somewhat dubious 1. Some imagine great caverns in the Earth which being very cold condense the air into drops of water and those being collected make a Spring It is true indeed that all or most of the famous Caves as Ooky-hole c. in this Country have Rivers in them of considerable bigness but those seem not to be there generated but to cross only the passage And in others such as that famous Cave sometimes serving for the quartering of an Army call'd Cavola de Custoza near Vicenza there are in many places continual droppings but whether from coagulated air or vapours or from water draining thro the Earth I know not There are also little Pools made by such droppings and some also that have fish in them but very many such must go to the making up one small Spring 2. Others attribute it to the great abysse mentioned in the Holy Scriptures and doubtless he that made the world best knows the frame and constitution of it if that be his meaning as that very learned man Mr. Lydyat thinks he hath proved There seems indeed to be water in all or most places within the Earth but not in every place at an equal depth Which water runs along in that bed or vein of gravel which lies sometimes higher and sometimes lower Below this I never heard that any one hath digged nor do I think it hardly possible to dig under it Whence this water proceeds i. e. whether from the Sea or Rain or concreated in it is hard to affirm only the Well-diggers do observe that in this gravel also there is a current or stream of the water Why this gravel lies unequally high and how the water ascends in it is a difficult question which some solve by saying that 't is contained in the gravel as the blood in the veins of an humane body and moves with the like vital motion others imagine that because the gravel is an opener mass of bodies not closely contiguous together the water runs in them and is forced into higher places by some other causes as by the motion of the Sea violently impelling it in those narrow and crooked passages but these being only conjectures we must not enlarge too much upon them 3. Most men think that all Springs proceed from the Sea-water dulcified by percolation thro the gravel or other convenient passages of the Earth The difficulty that oppresseth this is that it is not easie to imagine how the Sea-water should rise to the tops of mountains yet even there are often found Sea-plants naturally growing which perswade many men of the truth of that opinion tho they cannot justifie the manner And there are also divers Lakes upon the highest hills amongst the Alps as particularly upon Splugen which notwithstanding the top of the water be frozen in winter yet do Trouts and other fish live very well in them which perswade the inhabitants that there is communication betwixt those Lakes and other fresh waters 4. Others are of opinion that the water that furnishes Springs is that of Rain or Snow which comes from the clouds and consists either of drops of Rains or of smaller Dew-drops whereof many together make Rain And these Clouds hanging commonly upon the hills furnish them chiefly with moisture which being reserved in Cisterns or sometimes in mosses break or spring forth where they find the easiest passage Sometimes the summity of the hill is either a Lake or a Bog and keeps the water as in a Pond lined with Clay till it come to such a height as it overflows And this is the reason both of the continuance of Springs and why there are so few in Plains because the Rain-water that falleth there goes down by the seams of the Earth so deep that it cannot spring up again nor are there mountains so near as to supply them from their Caverns Whether any or all of these opinions are false
doth extraordinarily temperate the heat which else would extremely infest them And tho nothing of the Southern Frigid Zone be yet discover'd yet much which lyeth within the Northern is as Greenland Lapland and divers other places which are spoken of in the beginning of this Volume Which shews that tho the other be unknown to us yet it may notwithstanding its cold be inhabited as well as this The inhabitants of these Frigid Zones are call'd Periscii because when the Sun by its annual motion is risen to them it moves round about them without setting and so casts their shadow towards every part of the Horizon Those of the Temperate ones are Heteroscii because their Noon shadows are always cast only one way ours Northward the others Southward Those of the Torrid one are Amphiscii because their Meridional Shadows are sometimes North sometimes South Nor is the division of the Earth into Climes Climates by lesser Circles parallel to the Equator of much more use then the former for by saying that a Country lyeth somewhere within 8 deg 25 min. of the Equator where the longest day is above twelve hours and less then twelve and an half which is the first Clime its situation is but little better described then if we should say it was in the Torrid Zone The like may be said of the rest of the 24 Climes which are nothing else but a subdivision of the Zones into such unequal spaces that the longest day in that part of it which is next to the Equator is shorter by half an hour then it is in the other part which is towards the Pole So that look how many hours the longest day in any Country doth exceed twelve the double of that is the number of the Clime where it lyeth as because in England the longest day is about sixteen hours and an half therefore it is in the ninth Clime or eighteenth Parallel for one of the other makes two of these And thus we may reckon in the Southern as well as our Northern Hemisphere till we come to the beginning of the Frigid Zones where the Climes end for here the longest days being twenty-four hours i. e. the entire revolution of the Sun they encrease so fast that they must be distinguished by the difference of weeks and months as a degree and an half within the Polar Circles the longest day is a month three degrees and an half two months six deg 50 min. three months 11 deg 50 min. four months 17 deg 30. min. five months 90 deg six months Those who inhabit the opposite points of the same Clime have summer and winter together but not day and night and are called Perioeci Those who inhabit the same points of Climes equally distant from the Equator have day and night but not summer and winter together and are called Antoeci The Perioeci and Antoeci therefore agree in neither but are Antipodes to each other living under points diametrically opposite But the most exact and now most usual description of the situation of places is by their Longitude and Latitude The Latitude of any point is its nearest distance from the Equator as E 10 E 20 c. towards P. It is measured by the Arc of the Meridian intercepted betwixt them This directs to the very Circle under some part of which the place lies and so gives a better account of its sitethen Zones and Climes do therefore some formerly describ'd the situations of Countries by this only But to render the direction compleat 't is necessary that the Longitude also be added unto it This is the distance of the Meridian of the place from the first Meridian to be numbred in the Equator from 1 to 360 as in the Scheme E 10 20 c. towards E. But where to fix this first or great Meridian Geographers could never yet well agree from whence many confusions have been occasioned and are still continued in this science and will not be thorowly redress'd till they concur in the determination of this point which tho it may be fixt indifferently in any noted place yet they have all thus far agreed as to place it in some of the most Western parts of the Earth because the Sun and the rest of the Planets move by their proper motion fromward the West towards the East Ptolemy and other ancient Geographers fixt it in Hera or Junonia which is one of the Fortunate or Canary Islands and as 't is probable that which now is called Teneriff Hence the Arabians translated it about ten degrees Eastwardly Some of our later Geographers transferr'd it to the Azores or Insulae Flandricae thinking that a Meridian drawn over these did pass thorow the Poles towards which the Loadstone pointeth as well as thorow those of the World because here they observ'd no variation of the Needle But they differ in assigning thorow which of these Isles it ought to be described Some place it in St. Michael which is about 9 deg more West then Teneriff because here they say the Compass varyeth least Others say that the variation is less in Corvo which lies about 6 deg Weft of this i. e. 15 of Teneriff and therefore fix it here But some of the latest finding the great inconvenience that there is in having different Longitudes applied to the same place and also experimenting a far greater variation in the Azores then was pretended have reduced it again to Teneriffe and suppose it describ'd over the top of El Pico or the Peak which being the most noted and accuminate mountain in the Western parts of the World is better fitted for such a purpose then any shore or whole Island can be because it is not likely to be at all removed as shores sometimes by the encroachments of the Sea for a good space are and the top of it being but of a very small compass and as it were a point hence Longitudes may be computed even to a minute which from the forenamed Terms can scarce be done to a degree From hence all the Longitudes in the Maps of this Atlas are reckon'd And we wish that in all the new ones which shall be drawn henceforward it may be so to or at lest that it may particularly be express'd in them from what Meridian it is that they compute that so the account of Longitudes may become more intelligible and useful then for want of such direction it commonly is in most of our Maps Having the Longitude and Latitude of any place given to find it in the Map reckon the Longitude among the Meridians which commonly are described from the upper to the lower side thereof and the Latitude among the Parallels which are always drawn the contrary way and where you see or guess that these two Lines intersect each other is the place sought for The Latitude may be found out either in the day by the Sun How to find the Latitude or in the night by the Stars The elevation
of the Equator above the Horizon is the complement of the Latitude to 90 degrees as may be collected from what has been said before If therefore the height of the Sun be taken at noon about the tenth day of March or twelfth of September and subducted from 90 the remainder is the Latitude The same may be found at any other time of the year if the distance of the Parallel wherein the Sun moveth from the Equator be first known for this being added to or subtracted from the Meridional altitude according as the Sun that day is below or above the Equinoctial makes the case all one with the former In the night the elevation of the Pole may easily be taken by the Pole-Star and this is always equal to the Latitude of the place for because under the Equator where the Latitudes begin both the Poles of the World are in the Horizon therefore so far as we remove from thence towards either Pole so much it must be elevated that the distance between the Zenith and the Horizon may be 90 degrees Or else the Meridional altitude of any other Star whose declination is known may be observed and the Latitude hence collected after the same manner as from that of the Sun 's But no such certain and easie method for the finding out the Longitudes hath yet been invented How to find the Longitude tho very many Mathematicians have long employed their wits in the search after it being encouraged hereunto not only by the apprehension of that great advantage and perfection which this Science and Navigation would receive from such a discovery but also by several other great rewards which have been proposed to it The principal means whereby it has been hitherto attempted and whereby it seems most likely to be effected is the observation of some one Celestial Appearance at divers places Such as are Eclipses the entrances of the Moon into the Ecliptic its Latitude or distance from the Ecliptic its approximation to or distance from some fixt Star The conjunction and opposition of Jupiters Satellites c. for if the moment of time when any of these do happen were exactly observed in any two distant places the Longitude of the one from the other will be found out by resolving the difference of time that the appearance happens in one place sooner then the other into degrees allowing fifteen degrees for an hour and fifteen minutes of a degree for a minute of an hour From the observation of the beginnings middles and ends of Eclipses of the Moon especially the Longitudes of places have hitherto for the most part been determined as because the same Eclipse which at London was observed at twelve a Clock began not at Brandenburgh till one hence 't was collected that this later City had fifteen degrees Longitude more then the other This is one of the best methods that has yet been found out and if all Artists who are able would be constant and diligent in their observation of it in such Countries where they are and then free in publishing these their observations we should after a while hereby know the exact situation at lest of all great Cities and other such noted parts of the Earth which lovers of Science usually visit But this indeed gives but very little direction to Mariners when they are in any unknown part of the Sea for whose sakes principally an easie method of finding out Longitudes is so earnestly sought after For 't is difficult to observe the beginning or end of an Eclipse exactly at Sea by reason of the fluctuation of the Ship and tho it were not yet they happen so seldom in the whole year that they cannot be of any considerable use to them who must sometimes examine whereabouts they are several times in a day Other appearances therefore which happen more frequently must be proposed to their observation the usual ones are 1. The Moons entrance into the Ecliptic for the Line of her proper motion intersects it as the Equator doth only its greatest distance from it is but about five degrees If the hour when this happens in any unknown place be compared with the hour set down in the Ephemerides which are calculated for any known Meridian the difference of time being resolved as before gives their differece of Longitude But besides the difficulty that there is of observing this appearance exactly it happens but once in a fortnight and so is not frequent enough to serve the present turn Therefore to this is added 2. The Moons place in the Zodiac especially when she is in the Meridian the time of night when this happens in any unknown place being by any of the fixt Stars found out and then compared with the time when the same point is in the Meridian for which the present Ephemerides are calculated the difference betwixt them doth likewise discover their distance in Longitude But because the Moon for some days before and after the change cannot be seen at all and for several more cannot be seen in the Meridian therefore this method hath almost the same inconveniences attending it as the former which some think are fully redress'd in this other which is 3. The Conjunctions Eclipses or any such appearance of Jupiters four Satellites The time when they will happen in any known place being first computed and then compared with the time when they are observ'd in an unknown one will also as before discover its Longitude These Planets are so far distant from the Earth that they have no considerable Parallax and so their appearances are more easie to be observed then those of the Moon commonly are And they move so swiftly about the body of Jupiter that in a very little time a sensible alteration of their places is made and so the moment of their conjunctions and other appearances may be the more accurately observed and Longitudes hence more exactly determined But because these Satellites are every year for many weeks together so near the Sun that by reason of its rays they cannot be seen and at other times cannot be discerned without the assistance of a very good prospective and a very clear air therefore neither can this be a constant direction 4. The appulse of the Moon to any of the fixt Stars is by some thought an appearance of the most universal use in this concern because it may be observed at all times but about the new Moon And indeed did not the double Parallax and the refraction of the Moon render the calculation of its true place somewhat nice and subject to mistakes this method would be better liked and more serviceable then any of the precedent Since therefore each of these Celestial appearances has some difficulty or other attending it which hinders it from being observed constantly or without greater skill and care then Mariners usually adhibit the fittest method I think is not to chuse one of them from the rest and always to make use of
the opinion of the foresaid Author were but the same Nation differently called The Venedi we find mentioned by Ptolomy as a great people long before seated in Sarmatia upon the coast of the Sinus Venedicus now Baltick Sea which from them probably took its name as did likewise the Venedic mountains scituate in their territories And Hartknoch supposes the Bulanes Gythones Phinni c. placed also by Ptolomy over against these Venedi in the inland countries of Poland to be of their colonies Perhaps this people after they had made themselves considerable by their conquests took the name of Slavi from Slava in their language signifying fame or glory which their descendents saith Cromerus still retain in their compounded names as Stani-slauus Wenceslauus c. tho now writ commonly Stanislaus Wenceslaus Some writers would have the Venedi to be originally a German Nation yet they are by Cromerus and others sufficiently proved to be of the old Sarmatae or Sauromatae which were of Scythian extraction and probably brought forth in the neighbourhood of the Lake Maeotis the fruitful womb of so many puissant Nations The name of Poland belongs properly to two Provinces alone Situation the Greater and the Lesser Poland from which as the principal parts the whole Kingdom hath taken its denomination It lies saith Starovolscius between the 38th and 54th degrees of Longitude counting from the Marquisate of Brandenburgh to the Nieper or Boristhenes which amounts to 250 Polish leagues every league containing about four English miles but the Podolian and Russian are somewhat longer The highest elevation of the Pole in the most northern parts of Livonia subject to this Crown is about 58 deg The lowest in the Palatinate of Poccuce in Red Russia 48 deg So that the whole Country being situated between the seventh and thirteenth Climats hath to its longest day from 16 to near 18 hours This Kingdom is bounded on the North by the Baltick Sea and the Swedish Livonia Bounds On the East by the Muscovian Russia and the Desarts of Tartary On the South by Moldavia Transilvania and Hungary from which the Niester and the high and woody Carpathian mountains divide it On the West by Silesia the Marquisate of Brandenburgh and the further Pomerane Poland is an even champain country Tho the Lesser Poland the nearer it approaches to the confines of Hungary the more hilly and woody it is but the farther it lies from thence the more open and level In the very middle also of the Kingdom the Palatinate of Sandomir is mountainous and rocky Formerly the country was all overgrown with woods but by the care of Sigismund the elder and Sigismund Augustus his son and the advantage of the long peace they both enjoyed husbandry was cherished and the Provinces improved in tillage and pasturage so that it is now accounted the Egypt of Europe as having supplied the wants of most parts thereof with corn whilst the Vistula being navigable serves to conveigh all the commodities of the country to Dantzick Yet this good husbandry doth not hinder but that it is well stored with Trees as Oaks Beech Fir c. not only profitable for the common advantages of Woods but also for the vast quantities of Honey and Wax which they yearly afford the hollow trees supplying hives and the leaves and wild flowers nourishment to innumerable swarms of Bees The air is cold even to that extremity Air. that trees are oftentimes parch'd to the very roots and water pour'd down freezes ere it fall to the ground The Lakes and Rivers are often frozen five or six months together and are passable by Coaches and Carts laden at the end of March This vehement sharpness of the air we may rationally impute to the largeness of the continent and the opacousness of the over-spreading woods Yet notwithstanding Orchards and Gardens are very frequent and plentifully stored with Fruits and Flowers as excellent in their kinds as in any other part of Europe This country being for the most part plain Mines abounds not in Minerals yet some Mines there are as of Lead and Iron in divers places of Quicksilver at Tustan in red Russia of Vitriol near Biecz in Cracovia But the most considerable of all are the Salt-Mines at Bochnia and Velisca in the Lesser Poland which are the great enrichment not only of the country but of the Kings Exchequer also They descend into the Mine with long Ropes as we into our Coal-pits and there dig out great masses of Salt in streets leaving so much interstitium as is sufficient to sustain the earth 'T is generally of a blewish colour yet some is white and transparent like crystal when it is newly got it hath a bitterish taste but being exposed to the air becomes sweeter as also more heavy and brittle In these Mines are small fountains of salt water which boil'd with pieces of the Rock yeild great quantities of excellent Salt They have also some veins of Sal Gemmae and of another mineral resembling hard Pitch call'd by them Carbunculus as Cromerus saith which taken in powder purgeth In the deep caverns of the Mines the workmen are said sometimes to hear voices like those of Cocks Dogs and other animals which they esteem a bad omen The chief rivers of Poland are 1. Rivers The Weissel mentioned in authors under the different names of Vistula Visula Visla Justilla Istula and Vandalus it rises in the Dutchie of Teschen in Silesia out of the mountain Carpathus now Crapack in the confines of Hungary whence running to Cracow the chief City of the Lesser Poland and there becoming navigable by the accession of other streams it continues its course Eastward to Sandomiria and thence Northward to Warzaw in Masovia afterwards winding for some leagues westward to Thorn in Prussia it turns again to the North and at the Island Grosswerder is divided into two streams emptying it self by the one into the Bay Frisch-Haff and by the other into the Baltick Sea The head of this river lies in 49 deg 20 min. of Latitude and its mouth in 54 but both in 41 deg of Longitude its course is above 100 Polish miles It divided antiently the European Sarmatia from Germany 2. The Warta rising near Cromolow in the Palatinate of Cracovia under 40 deg 50 min. of Longitude and 50 deg 30 min. of Latitude and from thence taking a winding course to the North-west washes the Towns of Olstin Warta Posna c. in the Greater Poland and near Costrin falls into the Oder 3. Notez which flows out of the Lake Goblo in the Greater Poland and after a long course to the Southwestward near Dresen discharges it self into the Warta 4. The Niester or Tyras of the ancients which takes its rise out of the Sarmatian mountains near the head of San running at first to the North then winding Eastward and enlarged with many lesser Rivers waters the Province of Pocutia separates both the upper and lower
and set up a Government for himself in this Province and Helsingia which lyes Northward in Suecia properly so call'd having on the East part of the Province of Medelpadia on the West the Dofrine Mountains on the North Angermannia and on the South part of Helsingia and Medelpadia This Province did anciently belong to the Kings of Norway though in the reign of Olaus Scotkonung it is said to have revolted from Olaus Crassus then King of Norway and become Tributary to the Crowns of Sweden In the year 1613 by a peace concluded between the Northern Crown it was by Gustavus Adolphus yielded up to the King of Denmark but A. 1642 repossess'd by the Swedes Pontanus in his Map of Scandia reckons up some places of note in it viz. Alsne Ron Aus Lidh Hamer-dal Vndersaker Oviken c. In the time of Olaus Magnus this Province was under the jurisdiction of the Arch-Bishop of Vpsal Near a small Village in this Country there are says Messenius several large stones with Gothick Inscriptions which are a prophesy of what for the future would befall the Scandians 5. Herrndalia Herrndalia call'd by Pontanus Herdalia and by most Authors reckon'd as a part of Helsingia contains the Territories of Nomedal Hellegeland Frostena Indera Heroa with some others all which belong to the Dioeceses of the Bishop of Nidrosia and are in the possession of the King of Sweden Of the Baltic Sea the Finnic and Bothnic Bays and the Swedish Islands contain'd in them THe Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea so called says Pontanus from the Saxon and English word Belt because it encompasseth the Kingdom of Sweden after the manner of a belt or girdle or as Jornandes would have it from Baltia or Basilia i. e. Queen of Islands the ancient Greek name of Scandia or Scandinavia or as Adam Bremensis is of opinion from the Wiso-Goths who inhabited upon the Coasts of it usually call'd Balts i. e. a stout and valiant people is the largest of any Sea in Europe except the Mediterranean containing in it five and thirty Islands of considerable bigness besides an infinite number of lesser note The whole Bay as some are of opinion is call'd by Mela Sinus Codanus q. Gothanus or Gothicus from Gothia that borders upon it or Caudanus from Cauda because it comes from the main Ocean after the manner of a tail of a beast by Strabo the Venedic Bay from the Venedae a people of Germany who liv'd upon the Coast of it and by the Danes and Swedes the Oost-Zee because as may be gather'd out of the History of Eric Eigod King of Denmark the Danes who went pilgrimage to the Holy Land used to pass into Russia and the Eastern parts by this Sea It beginneth at the narrow place call'd the Sund and interlacing the Countries of Denmark Sweden Germany and some part of Poland extendeth it self to Livonia and Lithvania It either by reason of the narrowness of the passage by which the Ocean flows into it or because of its Northerly situation whereby the Celestial influences have less power over it never ebbs nor flows From the several Countries and places that it washes it has diverse names given it and is distinguished into different Bays the most remarkable are 1. The Bothnic Bay The Bothnic Bay counted from the Island Alandia Northward to the River Kimi which falls into it at the very furthest Cape It has its name from Both signifying in the Swedish Language a Fenny Country or a Land overflown with water 2. The Finnic Bay The Finnic Bay so call'd from the Principality of Finland which it waters Some will have the Sinus Venedicus of Strabo and the Mare Amalchium of Pliny particularly to denote this Bay The Swedish Islands in this Sea concerning those that are under the Danish Power see Denmark to begin with the most Southerly first are 1. Rugen upon the Coasts of Pomeren given to the Swedes by the great Treaty of peace at Munster and Osnaburg A. D. 1649. Of which consult the Volume of Germany 2. Bornholm is situate more Northward then Rugen and lyes opposite to Blekingia it has one City in it nam'd Santwyk and thirty-two small Villages This Island was by a Ratification of Peace held at Copenhagen A. D. 1660 given up to the Danes under certain conditions of which mention is made in Denmark 3. Huena or Hueen a very small Island in the Oresundic Bay famous for the City Vraniburg built by that excellent Mathematician Tycho Brahe where the Pole is elevated 55 deg 54 min. This Isle was yielded up to the Swedes by vertue of the foremention'd Peace concluded betwixt the two Northern Crowns A. D. 1660. 4. Vtklippa 5. Vtlengia both lying over against Blekingia 6. Oelandia a fruitful and pleasant Island in which are said to be the best breed of Horses that are in all the Swedish Dominions This Island A. D. 1526 was taken by Christiern King of Denmark and shortly after regain'd by Gustavus I. King of Sweden A. D. 1613 it was put into the hands of Gustavus Adolphus and ever since retain'd by the Swedes See more concerning it amongst the Provinces of Gothia 7. Gotland lying over against Ostro-Gothia in length seventy-two miles and in breadth twenty For a long time almost torn in pieces by the continual Arms of Denmark and Sweden till 1648 by a Treaty of Peace betwixt Christina Queen of Swedeland and Christiern IV. of Denmark it with the City Wisbuy of which see amongst the Gothic Provinces was wholly yielded up into the hands of the Swedes to be held by them as a perpetual possession 8. Oselia call'd by Pliny Oserica opposite to Liefland and reckon'd by some as a District of Esthonia fifty-six miles in length and twenty-eight in breadth In it is the City Arnsburg fortifyed with a strong Castle 9. Daghoe Dachden or Dagheroort parted from Oselia by a very narrow Bay 10. Alandia lying in the middle Sea betwixt it and Vpland reckon'd by some as a part of Finland in it is the Fort Castleholm 11. Hogland in the Finnic Bay with severalothers of less note and importance REGNI DANIAE Accuratissima delineato Nobilissimo Amplissimo Consultissimoque Viro D. GERARDO SCHAEP I. V. D. Inclyti et Celeberrimi Ansterodamensium Emporii Consuli ac Senatori et ad Serenissimos SVECIAE DANIAque Reges Legato Dignissimo Fidelissimo D. D. D. Ioannes Ianssonius DENMARK SAxo Grammaticus deduces the name of Denmark Danmark or Dania from Dan 〈◊〉 the son of Humblus a Prince of these parts many years before the coming of our Saviour This opinion seems to have been an ancient tradition amongst the Danes and is confirmed by one of the old Chronicles of their Kings published by Wormius out of a manuscript copy of the Scanian Laws writ in Runick characters in the beginning of which we read Dan heet den forste cunung i Danmurk der var fore Christus borth Af hannom call is Danmurk i. e. The first
Humours Manners c. of the Modern GERMANS SEneca long since observed Intellectuals that men of extraordinary large Bodies had commonly narrow Souls And he gives this reason for 't because says he grand abilities of both Soul and Body are too great a happiness for one man to enjoy 'T is probable the same considerations mov'd the Historians of old to represent the ancient Germans who as we have told you were a people of a larger growth then other men as a Nation of a dull and phlegmatic constitution Tacitus tells us they were generally ignorant of the use of letters And other writers would perswade us to believe that they were incapable of Learning Some of our modern Satyrists endeavour to make the present Germans answer the character which those men give of their Ancestors and strive to make the world believe that Germany is to this day a Country of Gothamites It has for some years been a proverb in the mouth of several French-men Pour faire un bon temperament il faut mesler le vif argent de France avec le plomb d' Allemagne i. e. That the Leaden temper of a German is to be helpt by mingling the French Quicksilver with it Jos Scaliger in his posthumous piece entituled Scaligerana will not allow the best of the High Dutch writers to be men of parts but rails at them all as a pack of senseless Loggerheads But we all know how much that great man was pufft up with the sense of his own merit and how unapt he was to confess the least grain of scholarship in a foreigner Our whole Island under went his censure when Mr. Lydiat ventur'd to contradict his dogmatical positions and the incomparable Sir Henry Savil to confute his gross errors in Geometry It is doubtless an unpardonable rudeness in any man to accuse a whole Nation of folly And he that will take the pains to peruse several of the High Dutch writers and reflect upon the many ingenious inventions for which the world is beholding to this Nation of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter will confess this But their Morals as well as Intellectuals Morals undergo the sharp censure of our modern Scriblers who accuse all Germans of intemperance and make drunkenness a vice proper to that Country 'T is grown an ordinary proverb Germanorum vivere est bibere 'T is hard to excuse them all of this fault nor are they themselves able to deny the accusation but commonly rack their brains to find out reasons why large draughts should be more pardonable in them then other men The sharp air they live in is they tell us of so parching a nature that without a continual supply of new moisture their bodies would shrink into nothing Nothing more ordinary in this Country then Trinck-bruder men that have created a brotherhood or intimacy of acquaintance by being drunk together It is the fashion to bring a stranger an unreasonable great vessel of drink to the Table which they call your welcome And this you are obliged in civility to take off at one or more draughts in a health to the good man of the house tho you run the hazard of being drunk in cancelling the obligation Ph. Melancthon was used to say Wir Teutschen essen uns kranck wir essen uns in die Holle i. e. We Germans eat our selves sick we eat our selves into Hell Long meals might probably occasion distempers but gluttony is not so ordinary a vice among them as drunkenness It is indeed no extraordinary thing to sit at Dinner from twelve at noon till five in the evening or at Supper from seven at night till two or three in the morning but then the greatest part of that time is spent in drinking of healths However 't is best to wave this accusation least in arraigning them we condemn our selves There are as sober and temperate men in Germany as in any Nation of Europe For tho the Court of Saxony of which in its place has been of late years eminent for this sort of exercise 't is unreasonable to bring the whole Empire into the Inditement I know no Dish of general use in Germany Diet. which is any great rarity in England except Snails From Michaelmas till almost Easter these are eaten as a great delicacy You shall scarce come at a Nobleman's Orchard or Garden in which you shall not find a Snail-house which furnishes his Table all the winter with this Dish They boil them in the shells and so serve them up Their other food is Beef Mutton Fowl c. none of which are ever brought to Table in such large quantities as in England Tho the High Dutch have a proverb Travel Wer wol leben und wol Schlaffen wil der bleib zu hauss i. e. He that has a mind to live and sleep well stays at home yet no Nation in the world is more given to travelling then they Not a Court in Europe but is full of them and they are easier met with on the road then Scotchmen This general itch of seeing foreign Countries does doubtless strangely impoverish their Nation and carries out yearly more money then all their Silver Mines can afford them For 't is below the spirit of a German Nobleman to appear in a foreign Court without a Retinue answerable to his Quality which piece of state will quickly swallow up a larger sum then the rent of his small Lordship amounts to There was not many years ago a small Book published under the title of Itinerarium Germaniae Politicum wherein the Author earnestly advises his Country-men never to go beyond the bounds of the German Empire except on public occasions And questionless he that shall with circumspection view all the rarities and Princes Courts in Dutchland taking the Netherlands into the circuit will return sufficiently qualified for a States-man without making any further progress 'T is the peculiar commendation of the Germans to be true and upright in their dealings with every man Integrity Teutschhertziger or Dutch-hearted is an Epithet which with them is usually apply'd to an honest and just man that scorns flattery or dissimulation A Frenchman gives this character of them La parole d'un Alleman vaut un obligagacion i. e. A German's word is as good as another man's bond Which is no more then what Tacitus observed of their Ancestors That no Nation under Heaven went beyond them at keeping their word Another excellent quality they have Hospitality which many of their neighbours want To be exceeding obliging to strangers Julius Cesar gives this character of the ancient Germans Hospites violare fas non putant qui quaque de causa ad eos venerunt ab injuria prohibent sanctosque habent Iisque omnium domus patent victusque communicatur i. e. They look upon it as a piece of injustice to affront a Traveller and esteem it a part of their Religion to protect those that come under their Roof
have this City look'd upon as a place of the greatest antiquity of any in Saxony esteeming it the same with Ptolomy's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tho I think the Longitude and Latitude which Ptolomy assigns to that old Town being 29 deg of Long. and 51 deg 20 min. of Lat. will scarce come near this City This large and ancient City was formerly subject to Earls and Marquises of its own and thence we find the inhabitants in and about the City named by the Latin Historians Stadenses Stadingi or Stedingii as a people distinct of themselves and independant upon any of the neighbouring Princes Of these Earls and Marc-Graves the Reader may meet with a Catalogue in Crantzius or Angelius a Werdenhagen In the year 1234 the Stadenses were the occasion of a bloody and terrible war in the Archbishopric of Bremen which happening in the very infancy of Christianity in these parts had like to have stifled Religion in its Cradle This bloodshed was occasion'd by a revolt of the Citizens of Stade from their obedience to the See of Bremen Whereupon the Clergy of that City being resolv'd to keep by a strong arm what their enemies had endeavour'd to wrest from them took up arms and engaged several of their neighbours in the broil But this expedient did not meet with the expected success having after a long quarrel only weaken'd both parties and in no wise vindicated the Archbishop's Title At last a volley of curses and excommunications from the Bishop of Rome frighted the Citizens of Stade into submission and obliged them to yield obedience as formerly to the Archbishop's of Bremen Hereupon Philip Duke of Schwaben and Earl of Stade annex'd the whole County to the Archbishopric reserving only to himself the City with its ancient priviledges and immunities In which state it continued till in the Civil wars of Germany it fell into the hands of the Swedes and was confirm'd to that Crown as a part of the Dukedom of Bremen by the Treaty of Munster And possibly we may have some reason to call this the Metropolis of the whole Country which is now subject to the King of Sweden as Duke of Bremen since the City of Bremen it self was exemted from the Homage payable to that Monarch from the Archbishopric by vertue of that Treaty and is to this day a free Imperial City immediately subject to the Emperor and to him only Notwithstanding the vast Rampires and Bulwarks wherewith this City is fortified and the natural strength of the place it was besieg'd and taken in one day April 13 1645 by the Swedish General Count Coningsmark who having at the first assault taken the Fortress on the mouth of the Zwinge betwixt the City and the Elb press'd forward with his whole Army to the Gates of Stade and forc'd his way into the City Whereupon the Burgers were glad to surrender up the Castle and other strong Forts upon any conditions the Conqueror was pleas'd to propose The Town is at present in a flourishing condition being seated in a wholesom Air and a pleasant rich Country The Burgers who have the character of the most civil and courteous people in this part of the Empire have commonly Orchards and Gardens of pleasure without the walls of the City well stockt with all manner of Fruits and Flowers Their Haven is large and commodious and Ships of larger carriage and burthen come up to Stade then are able to reach Hamburg The Market-place Rahthauss or Town-Hall Exchange and several of their Churches are Buildings worthy a Traveller's sight Many and great have been the priviledges by several Emperors granted to this City It was always reckon'd a Sanctuary for fugitives insomuch that all manner of malefactors whether Germans or Foreigners that could reach Stade before vengeance overtook them were sure to find shelter here and be secure from the hand of justice Besides the priviledg of coining money authority to hunt in the neighbouring Forests and the like prerogatives challeng'd by all Imperial Cities they have power to demand a certain Toll or Custom of every Merchant-man that passes up the Elb to Hamburg every such Vessel being oblig'd to strike anchor at the mouth of the Zwinge and there to tarry till dismiss'd by the Masters of the Custom-House These pretensions occasion'd not many years ago a quarrel between the Citizens of Stade and the Hamburgers the later pretending that 't was an infringement of their prerogative who were absolute Masters of the Elb below their own City for Stade to lay claim to any such priviledg But the controversie soon after was amicably compos'd and each City has since peaceably enjoy'd its own peculiar Regality This ancient Hans-Town being one of the first that was enroll'd into that noble society was once reduc'd to a mean and beggarly condition by the overgrown trade and riches of the Hamburgers insomuch that it was forc'd to sell almost for bread the public stock not amounting to ninety pounds sterling a year to these upstart thriving Merchants its ancient priviledges and put it self under the protection of the Archbishops of Bremen But in this low condition it did not long continue before the English Merchants upon some affront the Hamburgers had offer'd them remov'd their commerce to Stade By which means this City in a short time recover'd its former grandeur and grew on a sudden rich and populous VI. BREMER-VERDEN A wall'd Town Bremer-Verden on the road betwixt Bremen and Stade distant from the later about twelve English miles and from the former near twenty-eight It was first built by Luder Duke of Saxony and afterwards made a Palace for the Archbishops of Bremen who had here their usual residence In the Castle which commands a great part of the adjacent plain the Swedes have commonly a strong Garrison The Town would otherwise be of little note not having the convenience of any trade except what is brought by the resort of passengers that travel this way to Bremen or Stade THE DUKEDOM OF LUNENBURG THE Dukedom of Luneburg Bounds or Lunenburg is bounded on the South with the Dukedom of Brunswic on the South-East with Magdeburg on the East with Brandenburg on the North with Lauwenburg and Holstein on the North-West with Bremen and on the West with some part of Westphalia The Metropolis which gives name to the whole Dukedom is thought by some to have had its name from the Moon Lunus or Luna worshipp'd by the ancient Idolatrous Inhabitants of this Land Others derive the word from the name of the River Elmena or Ilmenow on which the City of Luneburg is seated which they tell us was formerly call'd Luno from Isis the Egyptian Goddess who coming into Germany to visit her Kinsman Gambrivius who was in those days Lord of that part of the Country where Hamburg now stands was here Deified and worshipp'd under the Image of an Half-Moon Several of the Saxon Chronologers report that this Idol was first brought hither by
people what the Reader misses in the general description of Norway may possibly be met with in the following one of Island The Prefecture of Masterland THis Prefecture takes its name from the chief City in it seated on a rocky Peninsula and famous for its great trade in Herrings and other Sea-fish This City with two more of less note Congel and Oddawald and the adjoining Country are commanded by the strong Castle of Bahus now in the hands of the King of Sweden It was first built by Haquin IV. King of Norway about the year 1309 upon a steep rock on the bank of the river Trollet and was then look'd upon as the best Fort that King had in his dominions and a sufficient Bulwark against the daily assaults and incursions of the Swedes and Westro-Goths The Bishopricks of Anslo and Staffenger with the Province of Aggerhuse ANslo called by the inhabitants Opslo and by some Latin writers Asloa was first built by King Harold cotemporary with Sueno Esthritius King of Denmark who frequently kept his residence in this City Here is held the chief Court of Judicature for all Norway wherein all causes and suits at Law are heard and determined before the Governor who acts as Vice-Roy of the Kingdom The Cathedral is dedicated to St. Alward who took great pains in preaching the Gospel to the Norwegian Heathens In this Church is to be shew'n the Sword of Haquin one of their ancientest Kings a signal testimony if the stories they tell of it be true of the strength and admirable art of some Norwegians of former ages The hilt of it is made of Crystal curiously wrought and polished whence Olaus Magnus will needs conclude that the use of Crystal was anciently much more ordinary in Norway then it is at this day in any part of Europe Not far from Opslo on the other side of the Bay stands the Castle of Aggerhusen memorable for the brave resistance it made the Swedish Army in the year 1567 which besieg'd it hotly eighteen weeks together but was at last beat off and forced shamefully to retire About twenty German miles Northward of Opslo lies the City Hammar formerly a Bishops See but at present under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Opslo Near this Town is the Island Moos where if we believe Olaus Magnus a huge and monstrous Serpent appears constantly before any grand alteration in the State or Government of the Kingdom of Norway In this Province besides the places already mentioned stand the Cities of Tonsberg Fridericstadt Saltsburgh and Scheen which have all a considerable trade from the Copper and Iron Mines which hereabouts are in greater numbers then in any other part of the Kingdom 'T was in this Province that the Silver Mines mention'd before were first discover'd at the expence of Christian IV. King of Denmark and some of the adjoining hills are by the neighbourhood to this day called Silver-bergen or the mountains of Silver To these Mines and the lofty woods of Pines and Fir-trees with which this part of the Country is overspread the Kingdom of Norway owes the greatest part of if not all its trade The City of Staffenger lies in 59 degrees some reckon 60 and a great many odd minutes of Latitude It is seated in a Peninsuia upon a great Bay of the Northern Ocean full of small Islands and guarded by the strong Castle of Doeswick which lies about two English miles from the Town In Civil affairs this City is under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Bergenhusen tho it has its own peculiar Bishop constantly residing in the Town The whole Bishopric is divided into the several Districts of Stavangersteen Dalarne Jaren Listerleen Mandalsleen Nedenesleen and Abygdelag Thomas Conrad Hvegner Bishop of this Diocess in the year 1641 took the pains to collect a great number of Runic inscriptions which lay scatter'd up and down his Diocess some of which are published by Wormius who further informs us that this Conrad's predecessor whose name he omits writ a Topographical description of this City and Bishoprick Beyond the Bay appears the Island Schutenes three German miles in length but scarce half an one in breadth Between this Island which has in it several considerable Villages and the Continent runs up a narrow Frith to Bergen which is called by the Dutch Merchants T' Liedt van Berghen To the Bishopric of Staffenger belongs the Province of Tillemarch or Thylemarch which gave Procopius the first grounds for that assertion of his which he defends with so great vehemency viz. that Scandinavia taken in its largest extent of which Thylemarch is a very inconsiderable part is the ancient Thule The Parish of Hollen in this Province is very remarkable for a Church-yard or burying place on the top of a Church dedicated to St. Michael which is cut out of a great high rock call'd by the Vicenage Vear upon the Lake Nordsee half a mile distant from Scheen Wormius thinks 't was formerly an Heathenish Temple but converted to Christian uses upon the first planting of the Gospel in this Kingdom The Prefecture and Bishoprick of Berghen THis Bishoprick the most fruitful and pleasantest part of all Norway lies to the North of Aggerhusen in the middle or heart of the Kingdom It derives its name from the fair and noble Emporium or Mart-Town of Berghen or else from the strong Castle of Berghenhusen the usual seat of the Vice-Roy of Norway at a small distance from Berghen Northward Berghen an ancient and famous Sea-Port Town mentioned by Pomponius Mela and Pliny is the Granary and Magazine of the whole Kingdom of Norway It lies distant from Bahusen about an hundred German miles by Sea and sixty by land from Truntheim as many from Schagen the outmost Promontory of Jutland almost eighty Some have fetcht its name from the Norwegian verb Bergen which signifies to hide or conceal because the Haven being surrounded with hills seems to be a kind of sculking-place for Ships where Vesfels of two hundred Tun and upwards ride in a spatious and most secure Harbour free from all danger of wind and weather But we need not trouble our selves any further for the derivation of the name then to consider that Berghen in the Norwegian language signifies mountains and Berghen-husen a company of houses among the hills The buildings in this City till within these few years were exceeding mean and contemptible most of them of wood cover'd with green turf and therefore frequently burnt down But of late the Hamburghers Lubeckers Hollanders and others that trade this way have beautified the Town with an Exchange and a great many private houses of credit The most peculiar trade of this City lies in a kind of Stock-fish catcht upon these coasts and thence called usually by the Norway Merchants Berghenvisch This the Fishermen take in winter commonly in January for the conveniency of drying it in the cold and sharp air Besides hither Furs of all sorts and vast quantities of dry'd
Fish Butter Tallow Hides c. are brought from all parts of Norway to be shipt off into other Countries The Townsmen not many years ago observing the daily encrease of their trade and the great concourse of strangers which it drew from all parts and fearing they themselves might at last be prejudiced by an unlimited and general admission of foreign Tradesmen and Merchants into their City made an order that whoever would after such a time be admitted a freeman of the Town should either be whipt at a Game instituted upon this occasion and call'd by them Gantenspill or rowl'd in mud and dirt or lastly hung in a basket over some intolerable and filthy smoak This hard usage quickly diminished the number of foreigners who fancied it scarce worth their while to purchase their freedom at so dear and scandalous a rate But of late the industry and skill as well as number of the inhabitants encreasing these barbarous customs are laid aside and the Citizens themselves are now able to export what was formerly fetcht away from them The Bishop of this Diocess was heretofore under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Truntheim To the Governor of Berghen are subject the Prefectures of Sudhornleen Nordhornleen Soghne Sudfiord Norfiord and Sundmerleen The Prefecture and Bishoprick of Nidrosia or Truntheim THE fourth Castle and Government in Norway is that of the City Nidrosia as it was anciently called from the river Nider on which 't is seated or Truntheim formerly the Metropolis of the Kingdom and the seat of the King and Archbishop of Norway Pontanus somewhere calls this City the Cabinet of all the Norwegian monuments but Wormius found no great reason to confer so honourable a title upon it when after a diligent search into the Antiquities old monuments and reliques of the primitive inhabitants of this Kingdom he met with no more then three Runic inscriptions in this whole Diocess The conveniency of the Haven makes this place resorted to by some Mariners and Merchants to this day but the ruines are so great that it looks more like a Village then City not having had any opportunity of recovering its former splendor since it was burnt down in the year 1522. Its houses are a company of old fashion'd and rotten buildings and the Kings Palace is decay'd below the meanness of an English Cottage However something of its ancient grandeur still appears in the Cathedral dedicated to St. Olaus which tho almost consumed by fire yet by the ruines shews it self to have been one of the most magnificent and largest structures in the world In this Church the Huntsmen were wont to make a yearly offering of the skins of the largest and stoutest white Bears which they kill'd for the Priest to tread upon at Divine Service Groneland and Iseland were formerly parts of the Diocess of Truntheim but now this Bishoprick is not of so large an extent In the Castle resides the Governor of the whole Prefecture of Truntheim who has under him several other Governors of lesser Provinces In the Country a little beyond this City there grows no wood at all But instead thereof the inhabitants make use of fish-bones as well to build their houses and for several implements of housholdstuff as fuel and with the fat of the same fish they feed their Lamps in winter The Prefecture of Truntheim in the year 1658 was by the Danes surrendred up to the Swedes by a publick Treaty of Peace The next year they wrested it again out of the hands of the Swedish King but resign'd it back at the Treaty of Roschild Halgoland the Country of Ohther King Aelfred's Geographer is a part of this Prefecture Of which that Author gave this account to the King his Master ê§ nan man ne bude be Nor ðh an him i. e. That no inhabited Country lay further North then this But the great fishing trade upon these Coasts have made the English better acquainted with these parts then this Gentleman was with his own Country The Prefecture of Wardhus THE Castle of Wardhus the seat of the fifth and last great Governor in the Kingdom of Norway has its name from the Island Warda in which it stands This Isle lyes about two German miles from the main land of Finmark being near twelve English miles in compass The inhabitants of this and the two adjoining Isles which in Finmark go all under the general name of Trunsolem live only upon Stockfish which they dry in the frost They have no manner of Bread nor drink but what is brought them from other places Some small stock of Cattel they have but only such as can make a shift to live of their masters diet dryed fish Finmark or Norwegian Lapland ON the North of Norway lies Finmark or as the Natives use to call it Taakemark which perhaps was the ancient habitation of the Finni mentioned by Tacitus For the character which that Historian gives us of those people is very applicable to the modern Finmarkers The Finni says he are a people extraordinary savage and miserably poor They have neither Horses Arms House nor Home but feed upon roots and such provision as their Bows and Arrows can procure and are clothed with the skins of wild beasts To this day Finmark is not divided as all other Countries generally are into distinct Lordships and Inheritances but as in Mr. Hobbes's state of nature every private man pretends a right and title to every part of the Land and the strength of the Arm is the only Judge of controversies When fishing season comes in they throng to the Sea-coasts and when that is over retire again into the uplands Only the Islanders in Heymeland keep their stations and have their Churches in Trom Suro Maggero and other places The language manners and habits of the people are the same as in the Swedish Lapland of which an account has been already given Of the ancient Commerce between the old Britains English and Norwegians THo the relations which our English writers give us of the prowess and brave exploits of the valiant British King Arthur savour too much of Romance yet in the main our best Historians agree unanimously in this that no Prince ever conquer'd more of the Northern Kingdoms then this King W. Lambert in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assures us that all the Islands Nations and Kingdoms in the North and East Seas as far as Russia were tributary to him And Geoffry of Monmouth says King Arthur at one time summon'd no less then six Kings to appear before him at his Court in Britain viz. 1. Guillaumur King of Ireland 2. Malvase King of Iseland 3. Doldaff King of Gothland 4. Gunnase King of Orkney 5. Lot King of Norway And 6. Aschile King of Denmark Upon these conquests the Kingdom of Norway was annexed to the Crown of England and the Norwegians incorporated into one Nation with the Britains But this amity was of no long continuance for Norway was at too great a distance