was dedicated to Hercules as appears by the Effigies over the Gate The Church which is here now is dedicated to the Virgin Mary an Ancient building He mentions and refutes the Opinion of Hubertus Thomas whom he calls a learned Man and who was a Native of this Country who says that in former times the Sea came up to the Walls of Tongeren This Guicciardine reasonably enough asserts to be an impossible thing and most certainly false the nearest part of the Sea is at least an hundred Mile distant from this City and all the whole Provinces of Flanders Zeland and Brabant must have been in the bottom of that Sea which should reach hither It is however certain that this has been a Great Populous and Royal City It was sackt by the Cruel Attila King of the Huns when he Invaded these Countries He put to the Sword as History tell us all that he found in it and threw down among other Buildings more than an Hundred Churches by which we may judge of the bigness of it at that time Being somewhat recover'd and rebuilt after this Calamity tho' it could never attain its former Grandeur it was destroy'd again by the Incursions of the Barbarous Normans in the time of Charles The Bald. This destruction it never recover'd and has now no remains of its former greatness but only in Venerable ruines which show themselves many without and some within the present City Such miseries are the common attendants of War when the just Providence of God le ts loose the Rage and Fury of Men to execute his Vengeance upon one another they prove the most destructive and mischievous things that are And this City should be lookt upon as an Instance of the Uncertainty of this World and the mighty changes which the greatest things on Earth are liable to Tongeren was the first City of all Gaul or Germany that embrac'd the Christian Faith This it did chiefly by the care and Preaching of St. Maternus about the Year of our Lord 101. This Person was born in Lombardy he came hither to Preach the Gospel was the first Bishop of the place and died in the Year 138. The last and 9th Bishop of the Tongriens was Valentinus He died in the Year 308 From which time St. Servatius transfer'd the Episcopal See from hence to Maestricht from thence again it was transfer'd as we shall see hereafter by St. Hubert to Liege in the Year 713. This Afternoon we pass'd through an open Champion Country and pretty high for the most part and from whence we could see Maestricht for a good while before we came to it The Soil is all good an excellent Mold and fit for Corn some was Plough'd and Sown but it was evident that the use of the Country had been neglected for some time And accordingly tho' this is a Corn Country we met several Carts loaden with Corn that were coming up from Maestricht to serve the Country From thence too they are furnisht with Coals for there seems to be little Wood in these parts In these wide Fields we met with frequent little buildings of Brick about the bigness of such as are built sometimes over a Ditch for an occasion not to be mention'd In these we could see through a Grate stood an Altar and over it an Image of the Virgin Mary To these in passing by the People paid their respects By every one of these we should see at least one fair flourishing Tree tho' there was not perhaps another in several Miles round about so that we knew and could expect before we came to it that we should after a while see a Chappel by seeing at first only the top of the Tree This way of honouring a Sacred place with Trees which were Sacred too is an old custom deriv'd from the Heathens who in their notions of the matter had corrupted Religion for they pretended that a sort of Deities were lodg'd in those Trees and dwelt there as long as the Trees lasted For which and perhaps other Corruptions God forbid the Jews the planting any Trees about his Altars The Sky grew dismal black upon us while we were in these naked Fields and Rain'd hard upon us all the way to Maestricht to which we came about half an hour after six It continued raining so that we could not stir out that Evening from our Lodging MAESTRICHT THIS City call'd in Latin Trajectum ad Mosam in the Language of the Country Maestricht deriv'd its name undoubtedly from hence that this was a common place of Passage over the Maese It stands upon this great River which is here much wider than the breadth of the Thames at London and of a depth sufficient to bring up loaded Vessels of a good Burden Writers say that here was formerly a Bridge over this River when it was broken down I know not but at present there is none fixed They make use of what is call'd a Pont Volant but more properly a swimming Bridge which is a sort of great Ferry laid upon several great Boats it carries over many People with Horses and Carriages together I saw it actually going off and People were hurrying down at the time which I suppose may be fixed to take the Opportunity This City is seated within the Bishoprick of Leige but is with some compass about it reckon'd a part of Brabant and as such did formerly belong to the Dukes of Brabant who divided it with the Bishop and Prince of Leige The ground and occasion of this odd division is this Porus Count of Louvain gave part of this City to St. Servatius when he was Bishop of it to be held with some acknowledgment of the Gift for it was He as hath been said who transferr'd the Episcopal Seat from Tongeren hither after he had been Instrumental to Convert the People here to the Christian Faith When after this the See was transfer'd to Leige the right which the Bishop had when he resided here was reckon'd to belong to him when he was remov'd to Leige and does so still But now the Dominion of the City is divided between the States General of the United Provinces and the Bishop of Leige the former being in Possession of the rights of the Duke of Brabant This double Jurisdiction is still continued in the City and as formerly without any distinction by bounds or limits so that the Subjects of one and the other Government lie intermix'd about the City In the same Street there are Subjects to the different Governments A custom has been formerly observ'd and I think is still here That if à Man who is a Subject of one Government takes a Wife that is a Subject of the other His Children by her must all be Subjects to that Government that she was under It is also said that if any Stranger comes to settle in this City he must in the first place chuse which of the two Governments he will be under and must so remain as long as
Juliers to Colen COnsidering them we got up very early the next Morning having a long and tedious Journey as the Ways were to reach to Colen We passed through a Valley for about the space of half an Hour upon a pav'd Cusway from Juliers between rich Pastures and Corn-Fields Then we gradually mounted to a higher Country but the Soil being a sort of Clay it was very wet still Soon after our ascending we enter'd a vast Wood which our Foreman or Charioteer call'd the Wood of Steintrasse from a Village of that Name which Steintrasse we pass'd through at the edge of it There was a very broad Track through the Wood which is the Road and it is pretty strait so that we commonly could see some Miles before us but as broad as the Road was we could hardly pick out a tolerable Path the Ground was every where so soft and full of Water The tall Wood was chiefly Oak and Beach there was a great deal of Underwood for the most part and that was Alder chiefly which grows on moist Grounds best all the Wood seem'd very flourishing and large in its kind There were cut in this Wood many Thousands of Pallisado's I suppose design'd by the Government for the Improvement of some Fortifications In all this Passage which was of several Hours through this Wood we saw to wild Beast though without doubt there are of several sorts here only one Deer walk'd cross the Road at a distance before us We spent I believe at our slow Rate of travelling Three Hours in and by this Wood. This Village of Steintrasse was all over Mud and Dirt. The People trod almost to the mid-Leg in Dirt when they stept out of their Houses The Walls of their Houses were unwhited Clay and the Cover Thatch and Clay mingled We saw on one side some plough'd Grounds belonging to the Village About Eleven a Clock before Noon we came to the River Erpe or Erffe which we Erpe River were to pass to Berghem on the other side of it This River rises on the Frontires of this Dutchy Southward and runs into the Rhine by Nuys in the Bishoprick of Colen It was now exorbitantly swell'd by the Rains and put us in some Care how we should get over it There is a Foot Causway rais'd a little through the Meadows which goes to a small bridge over the River but now Bridge and Causway both were cover'd with Water And though it was common for Charrettes with their Passengers to ford it conveniently enough we could not have done this now without being wet even in our Charrette almost to the Waste and besides our Horse who must for sometime swim would have been hard put to it to have had any thing more to draw besides the Charrette and Driver We therefore with the Company of Two other Charrettes went into a sorry Naken to be ferry'd over The River run very fierce but we went cross on the lower side of the Foot Causway which somewhat defended us from the force of the Stream We got over safe Thanks be to God and went to our Dinner at Berghen while we left our Foreman and his Horse to take theirs on the other side This is a small wall'd City but seems poor and inconsiderable but is the head of a small Jurisdiction about it Here is a Synagogue of Jews publickly tolerated After Dinner we pursued our Journey tho' very slowly because our Horse fell sick And besides this after we had gone a little way upon a Level we began to mount the Hills which we saw when we were on the other side of the River We could see this Ridge of Hills for a great length together both upwards and down the River and it seem'd to go on both Ways beyond our sight Northward and Southward It lies along very steep on this side towards this River which occasions a sudden shoot of the Water from it and by consequence the great swelling of this River These Hills are however in many Places such as that they are plow'd and sown and there are Orchards and Pasture-Grounds upon them to serve the Villages which are thick set upon them And these are shelter'd by frequent Woods which possess the steepest Parts of the Hills When we had mounted upwards above an Hour and observ'd that the Country rose still above us and that our Horse grew more faint we took pity upon him and contented our selves since we could not possibly get to Colen with him this Night to rest here that he might not be too far spent and might be the better able to carry us on the next Morning We were the rather induced to this because the Weather was now clear'd up and we were in hopes the rest of the Afternoon would be fair and we were got a good way up the Western side of the Hill on which the Sun now shone very pleasantly we could have a large Prospect about the Country and were upon a good dry Place for walking And to all this after we had enquired at several Houses in this scattering Village and were denied at length we came to one which promis'd us a Bed It was a new House too and so we supposed might not be so nasty as the old ones seem'd to be Besides we were promis'd here that if our Horse should not be able to travel next Morning the House would furnish us with a good Ichendorp one that should do our Business The Name of this Village is Ichendorp It lies scatter'd about in several Patches of Houses distant from one another on this side of the Hill They have a handsome large Church built of Brick I had a mind to see both the Country Parson and his Church It cost me a Mile's walk to find his Dwelling I came to a sorry House where they told me he lodg'd but he was not within so I could see neither I spent some time of the Afternoon in walking among the Woods which were near our Lodging and from thence had a large View of the Country Here Nightingales and other singing Birds abound and at this time fill'd the Woods with their charming Musick We went by Day-light to our Bed which we found a very sorry one and therefore lay down in our Cloaths as in like Cases we were often forc'd to do in this Journey We had one Relief in the Badness of our Lodging that if we could not sleep we were entertain'd with the Nightingales in the neighbouring Woods who sung sweetly all the Night We roused betimes and found our Horse somewhat recruited and thought able to carry us to Colen and in the space of Six Hours he brought us thither with much ado From our Lodging we ascended a good while Towards the top of the Hill we found our selves in a Wood and had several successive Ascents in that We were some Hours upon this Ridge of Hills before we came to look down on the other side of it and we pass'd through
Archbiship of Colen Elector and Archchancellor of the Empire in Italy to the end that there may be between us and our well-beloved the Burgesses and the City of Colen a friendly Confederacy an entire Confidence and sincere Peace and that it may continue inviolate do make it known by these present Letters that we have promised and assured and do promise and assure in good Faith without any Fraud that we confirm all the Rights and Franchises written and not written old and new within and without the City of Colen which were granted it by the Popes Emperors Kings or Archbiships of Colen without ever endeavouring to contradict them In Testimony whereof we have put the Seal of our Arms to these Presents c. In all this here appears no Engagement of Subjection on one side or Pretence to Authority on the other and the thing looks more like an Agreement between Allies than an Acknowledgment or accepting of Sovereignty It is evident the Archbiship is not to be accounted the Supream Governour or Sovereign of this City but the Sovereign Power is properly lodg'd in the Senate and to them the People make no such conditional Promise of Subjection Indeed it were absurd and unreasonable that any such should be implied or exprest in the Peoples Acknowledgment of the Sovereign For this Fancy in the Heads of the People that they are no longer bound to be subject than while the Power rules them well and preserves all their Rights and Properties gives them the Pride of Censuring the Actions of their Rulers and they will condemn and dislike for the most part and certainly and always whatever they do not understand and there is no wise Government but will do and order many things which the People must not understand till they have their Effects that the Good they design by them may not be prevented This Fancy makes them very apt to be jealous and suspicious of the Designs of their Governours Besides there is no State which is destitute of ill Men some of whom will have Designs of Revenge and Mischief upon others some will have Designs of Covetousness and Ambition and all such for the sake of accomplishing those Designs will be fond of having themselves a share in the Government and to that purpose they will be continually allarming the People with Fears and Jealousies misinterpeting the Actions and Designs of the Governours and representing they do infringe their Rights or tend to get Power to do it and then they form a Faction which by Degrees may grow strong enough for Sedition and Rebellion Thus the Supream Power becomes first too weak to govern and to give the People the Felicity of a good Government and when they design well things shall through the Perversness of the People succeed ill and be imputed to ill Designs and the Good which they do not because they cannot shall be thought neglected because they would not do it Then the People grow mad enough to venture the dangerous Experiment of changing Governours or Forms of Government and then these ill Men gain their own Ends. They are accounted mighty Patriots and Friends of the People for bringing them into Confusion and Disorder and shall be thought the fittest to govern who were the proudest and most unwilling to be govern'd and the just Judgment of God often leaves the infatuated People to be plagued by the Tyranny of their new Governours for their Injustice to their old ones and brings upon them what they unreasonably fear'd by the ill Means which they used to prevent it The City of Colen indeed being upon such Terms as they are with the Archbishops must be justified in their Defences of their ancient Privileges against them Several Archbishops have strugled hard to gain the Sovereignty of this City but the City has hitherto steadily maintain'd their Freedom from that One Archbishop in the Year 1297 thought to make them submit to him by Force and gather'd an Army and was marching towards them for that Purpose The Citizens knowing this put themselves in Arms and met him They laid the Keys of their City in the Field as the Price of the Victory and then bravely fought for the Right to keep them still themselves The Providence of God favour'd their just Endeavour and they utterly defeated the Bishop's Forces and his Design together They return'd with Joy and Triumph to the City and celebrate the Memory of this important Victory still upon the Day on which they gain'd it The Archbishop since he may not reside at Colen has his Residence at Bonne This was formerly call'd Ara Ubiorum and Julia Bonna It is a very ancient City situate upon the Rhine about Four Leagues above Colen 't is encompass'd they say with a good Fortification We were bound now to be returning Homewards so we could not go thither Maternus Bishop of Colen was at the Synod Bishops of Arles held in the Year 314 against the troublesome Schismaticks and Puritans of Africa the Donatists and he is the first that I can find mention'd here This was at first but a Bishoprick and was Suffragan to the Archbishop of Treves In the Eighth Century St. Boniface then Archbishop of Mentz and the first that was so supported by the Authority of Carloman and Pepin the Short obtain'd the transforming Colen into an Archbishoprick in Favour of Agilulf whom he got promoted to it because he had been his Companion and Assistant in preaching the Christian Religion to these Parts of Germany The Prince Joseph Clement younger Brother of the present Electour of Bavaria and Governour of the Spanish Netherlands is the present Archbishop of Colen He was chosen in the Year 1688. The Chapter of Colen is very Noble it Chapter consists in all of Sixty Chanoines It does not admit a meer Gentleman or Baron to be a Member but requires that they be â—rinces or at least Counts The Twenty four of the most ancient Chanoines are those who have the Voices active and passive as they call it in the chusing of a Bishop that is they may chuse or be chosen such The Country call'd the Bishoprick of Colen Bishoprick and Estatâ—s of the A â—bbisâ—op is a Part of Germany included within the Circle of the Four Electours on the Rhine which are Mentz Triers Colen and the Electour Palatine It is bounded on the East with the Dutchy of Westphalia on the North by the Bishoprick of Munster on the West by the Dutchy of Juliers on the South by the Archbishoprick of Treves The River Rhine runs through it but the Estates subject to the Prince and Archbishop of Colen have yet a farther Extent and comprehend besides that which is call'd the Bishoprick the Dutchies of Westphalia and Angria and the County of Arensberg From all together the Prince is said to receive a Revenue of an Hundred and twenty thousand Crowns per Annum and is able to bring into the Field an Army of Twenty five thousand Horse
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
it because this House has been Honour'd with the Presence of our King who several times lodg'd here during the late War Through all this Journey to Maestricht we often saw the miserable Effects of War A Country of a rich and Arable Soil fit to bear Corn but much of it untill'd Many Houses ruin'd and others made uninhabitable And it seem'd to me that the Country is much exhausted of its People It may be supposed that during the War many were forced into the Armies on one side and the other and in them destroy'd and many of the People might be fled into other Countries for the safety of their Lives and be still begging or working there for their lively-hood This Country is generally open Champion Country and but too Commodious for the marching of Armies as the poor Inhabitants have had reason to think About the middle of this Days Journey we came to Thienen or Tilmont which is a little Thienen City scituate upon the River Gheet This Câ—ty to go round it by the Wall is they say about a Mile in compass The Wall seem'd at present but in a ruinous condition we also saw many Ruines within and many Houses almost so The River runs through this City they say under 12 Bridges There are 7 distinct Markets that is Market-places for several things according to the manner of this Country and the City stands in a rich fruitful Country which is able to afford it all things necessary to Humane Life It has been formerly a City of Great Trade and was the Head City of one of the Quarters of Brabant but that dignity has been long transferr'd from hence to Hertogen-bosch and now this City is within that Quarter which acknowledges Louvain for Head of it There are two Churches observable in it which are Stately and Magnificent buildings the only remaining signs perhaps of its former Grandure One is dedicated to the Virgin Mary which stands upon a very wide open place It is not fine within for without doubt the City is but poor There had been a Procession on that day or perhaps on Whitsunday wherein had been carried the Image of the Virgin Mary and that of a Bishop whom I suppose to be St. Germain These Images stood in the Church on the things by which they carry them on mens shoulders They were but little Images but dress'd very fine their upper Garments were both the same of Scarlet-Sattin with many and large flowers of Gold wove in with it By their standing still in the Church I concluded they were to be carried again on some other day of the Octave which is that they sometimes do I went also into the Church of St. Germain who is said to have been Bishop of Paris Here is a Quire wherein they were singing Vespers it seem'd very naked and mean within At some of the Altars in the other part of the Church the Ornament set before them was good fresh Silk with large and frequent Gold Flowers upon it We staid here but an Hour went through the City passing by the end of one Street we saw it wide and the Houses in a pretty good condition but those in our way were all very miserable When we were gone a little way out of Thienen Our Lady of the Stone we saw a Chappel built of Brick with the Rubbish and Ruines of some other building about it This Chappel has an Image of the Virgin Mary call'd Notredame de Pierre or Our Lady of the Stone which is in great Veneration and Esteem with the People of this Country our Honest foreman rode by it with his Hat in his lap for a good way together As we were passing our Company all concurr'd in giving us this following account of this Image It was at first found ready shaped and form'd in a Rock but I asked and they could not tell me when this was But when found first it was not above a span long but it has grown ever since and does grow still for it seems it is not yet got to the full bigness of an ordinary Woman tho' as they represented it she was grown a very great Girl They told us she grows almost an Inch in height every Year and then they did well not to say when she was first found for at that rate of growing if she had been long there the little Chappel would not have held her To this Image People come for relief against the Stone or Gravel and in time of Peace this Chappel is much frequented especially upon particular Days at which times I suppose some Indulgences are the Lure to draw People to it They told us that on Easter Monday last the Country now being quiet there were reckon'd 7000 People who came to pay their Devotions here This silly Story was told us with a great deal of gravity and seriousness and we to encourage them to give us such accounts of things as we pass'd receiv'd it with as much gravity and seeming admiration Upon which a good Man in the Company who came from Berg St. Winoc and was going to the â—aths of Aix told us They have at Bullen an Image of the Virgin Mary which came thither in a Ship alone The same Man when the rest of the Company were telling that it was good to Pray at this Image against the Stone said Yes yes she is the Mother she cannot fail intimating that which 't is without doubt the People generally imagine that she as a Mother may still pretend to have some Authority and Regard with our Saviour Indeed they must needs be betray'd into this Opinion by the extravagant Prerogatives which are given to the Virgin Mary in the Devotions to her which the Priests teach them and by seeing our Saviour for the most part represented as a Child in her Arms As if he were still in a condition of subjection to Her who is now possest of all power in Heaven and Earth and is Head over all things But by the esteem of this Image it is easie to judge whether the Church of Rome reckons there is any Vertue in Images or not and whether or no the Papists put any trust in them Can it be said they believe there is no vertue in this Image when they pretend it Cures the Stone And do they put no trust in it who come an hundred Mile perhaps to this place in hopes to be Cur'd here of this Distemper And can we find any Instances of Veneration paid by the Heathens to their Images beyond what is practised and taught in the Church of Rome The Arch-Bishop of Mechlin in his Pastoral Letter directs That the Images of the Virgin Mary especially those that are famous for Miracles should be frequented that they be carried about after the manner of our Ancestours says he in publick Processions that they be illustrated with lighted Flambeaus and honour'd with stated Eauds Litanies and Prayers A direction which would far better have become a Heathen
Dutchy of Mons and so are under the Dominion of the Duke of Neubourg The Houses of this Village look well and seem as good as those in the common Villages of England After this we pass'd above Zons a little City upon the Rhine on this side which is also in the Bishoprick of Colen We did not go down so far as Nuys on this side but within a near view of it and saw that it is a pretty large and a fortified City When we came to the River there were other Companies had just fill'd and were gone off with the Ferry-Boat so we were forced to be contented with a Naken It was a great deal of trouble to stow upon this three Charrettes one at each end and one in the middle with their Horses This done the Passengers went into another Boat which was fastned to the Naken and so we were conducted over by two sturdy Women and an old Man Each Person paid for himself two Slivers for his Passage The violent Stream carried us I believe almost a Mile down the River in crossing it we got in at a very inconvenient and troublesome place to land at and our Charretes were longer a getting out than in This Passage cost us near two Hours We were glad and thank'd God when we were got safe over this very broad and rapid River in a sorry Boat and with a great deal of encumbrance We had from our Landing-place but an Hour and half to Dusseldorp DVSSELDORP Upon our entrance into this City we were examin'd by the Officer at the Gate he ask'd us several Questions to know what we were and why we came thither We gave him for a general Answer that we were English Men and Students and were travelling only to see the Country He sent a Musquetier with us to the place where we lighted from our Charrette who took us along with him to the Corps du Garde he gave the Officer the Account which we had given at the Gate the Officer talk'd with us in â—ow-Dutch ask'd a few impertinent Questions and then dismiss'd us having first taken notice at what Inn we intended to â—odge This City is situated in a large Plain upon the right side of the Rhine as it descends tho' we left the River as soon as we had cross'd it which makes a turn here it is at this City I believe not much broader than the Thames at Gravesend but this is recon'd one of the narrowest places of the Channel by consequence the Stream runs here very swift and it is they say of a depth like a Sea Dusseldorp in Latin Dusseldorpium has this City Name from a small River call'd the Dussel which runs through it and here falls into the Rhine The Addition of Dorp which signifies a Village seems to intimate that it was at first but such It is now a wall'd City and has a good Fortification 'T is the head City of of the Dutchy of Mons or Berg so call'd from the high and steep Mountains which they say 't is full of I speak thus because we met with none of them in our way We pass'd thro' a plain Country to it and from it full of Corn Fields which prov'd the goodness of the Soil by the richness of the Crops which stood upon it We saw no Hills but at a distance beyond the reach of a distinct view where indeed the Country seem'd to rise very high and the ridge appear'd to us as we were on the other side the Rhine upon that ridge of Hills from whence we look'd down upon Colen We could there see it run as it were parallel to that which we were upon a great way Northward and Southward all the way continued and it seem'd to run both ways beyond our sight This Dutchy of Berg is a part of the Circle of Westphalia it is but of a small extent it lies along the Rhine on the East side between the Country of Mark and the Bishoprick of Colen This City is little at present and so are the Houses they are built some of Timber some of Brick and generally but low a new Street of Brick Houses is lately built with the top of the Fronts after the new Fashion and the Houses are uniform and of an equal height It is likely this will be the Fashion of all the new Buildings intended For 't is said the City at present is too little for its Inhabitants it seem'd indeed pretty full of People but I believe it may cheifly be too little for the Vanity of the Prince He is therefore at present upon the Design of making it bigger The Enlargement will not be round it but on one side The Ditch is already almost finish'd which is to enclose the new Part it is begun at the Rhine upwards from the old Wall and so runs up into the Country as far as the former City reaches with some compass and then turns towards that It seems to include a space as big as that which the present City stands upon We easily walk'd the Compass of the present City almost in half an Hour The Family which has now the Sovereignty Family of the Electors here are but lately come to this Principality They are a Branch of the House of Bavariaâ— and were call'd Dukes of Neubourg from a City of that Name within the Dukedom of Bavaria By Marriage with the House of Cleve they came to pretend to a right to succeed to the Estates belonging to that House upon the Death of John William the last Duke of Cleve Mons and Juliers as hath been said at Juliers and the utter extinction of that Family The Grand-father of the present reigning Prince who was Wolfgang William Duke of Neubourg was the first of the Family that came hither His Father Philip Lewis a zealous Assertour and Friend of the Ausburg Confession bred him in the same way but when he came to contend with the Electour of Brandenburg as has been said about Succession to the Estates of the Duke of Cleve finding the necessity of Assistance from the Spaniards and being supported by them in complaisance to them and to secure them to his Interest he chang'd his Religion and turn'd Papist and made his first publick Profession of his Change in the City of Dusseldorp in the Year 1614 to the great Grief of his Father who was yet living at Neubourg and died in the same Year The Brandenburger on the other side being supported by the States-General of the United Provinces in complaisance to them and to confirm them to his Interest left the Ausburg Confession and turn'd Calvinist This Wolfgang William being chang'd himself fiercely set himself to force all his People who had embrac'd the Reformation to return also to the Follies and Idolatries of the Church of Rome being instigated to this by the Jesuit Reihingius His Son follow'd him in his Religion and Zeal for it and in the Year 1663 went about to Banish all that profess'd