another All that the Elector could say to compose them was either not heard or not valued nor could any thing satisfie and reassure them till they saw the Actors come marching out of their Den. Had not many Persons of Quality and Travellers seen this Fat as well as my self who know that what I say of its incredible bigness to be true I should be afraid the Reader might think I imposed upon his Credulity From Heidleberg I went to see that impregnable Fort or Cittadel of Manheim allas Fredericksberg built by the Elector Frederick Brother to Prince Rupert a Prince of as good a Head as any Germany afforded who though some have too partially judged of him by his Misfortunes yet by the wisest of the Age was accounted the Cato of Germany The Wisest and best Men of the World have been unfortunate which makes some to be of the Opinion That God in his Wisdom thinks fit it should be so lest otherwise they might attribute their Prosperity rather to the wise direction of their own Conduct than his All-seeing Providence And indeed daily Experience seems to evince the Truth of this since we see Knaves and Fools advanced to Preferment and Riches when Men of Virtue and Parts die neglected and poor in the Eyes of the World though rich in the enjoyment of a contented Mind But this is a digression which the Honour I have for the memory of that great Man hath led me into and therefore I hope will be pardoned by the Reader In the Cittadel of Manheim I saw some of the Records of that Illustrious Family which without dispute is the most ancient of all the Secular Electors being Elder to that of Bavaria which sprung from one and the same Stock to wit two Emperors of Germany Many Writers derive them originally from Charlemain by the Line of Pepin King of France There have been several Emperors of that Race one King of Denmark and four Kings of Sueden one of which was King of Norway also besides many great Generals of Armies in Germany Hungary France and other Countrys Since I can remember there were five Protestant Princes Heirs to that Electoral Dignity alive which now by their Death is fallen to the Duke of Newbourg the present Prince Elector Palatine a Roman Catholick whose Daughter is Empress of Germany and another of his Daughters Married to the King of Portugal a third to the King of Spain and a fourth to Prince James of Poland BEing so near Strasbourg I had the curiosity to go see what figure that Famous City now made since it had changed its Master for I had been thrice there before when it flourished under the Emperors Protection with the liberty of a Hansiatick Town And indeed I found it so disfigured that had it not been for the stately Cathedral Church and fair Streets and Buildings I could scarcely have known it In the Streets and Exchange which formerly were thronged with sober rich and peaceable Merchants you meet with none hardly now but Men in Buff-Coats and Scarffs with rabbles of Soldiers their Attendants The Churches I confess are gayer but not so much frequented by the Inhabitants as heretofore seeing the Lutherans are thrust into the meanest Churches and most of the chief Merchants both Lutherans and Calvinists removed to Holland and Hambourg Within a few years I beleive it will be just such another City for Trade and Riches as Brisac is It was formerly a rich City and well stockt with Merchants and wealthy Inhabitants who lived under a gentle and easie Government but now the Magistrates have little else to do in the Government but only to take their Rules and Measures from a Cittadel and great Guns which are Edicts that Merchants least understand I confess Strasbourg is the less to be pittied that it so tamely became a Slave and put on its Chains without any strugling Those Magistrates who were Instruments in it are now sensible of their own Folly and bite their Nails for Anger finding themselves no better but rather worse hated than the other Magistrates who did what they could to hinder the Reception of their new Masters the French I quickly grew weary of being here meeting with nothing but complaints of Poverty and paying exorbitant Taxes I therefore soon returned to my Petty-London Francfort and from thence went to Cassel the chief Residence of the Landtgrave of Hesse This Prince is a Calvinist as most of his Subjects are very grave and zealous in his Religion He Married a Princess of Courland by whom he hath an hopeful Issue to wit three Sons and two Daughters King Charles II. was God-Father to one of his Sons 〈◊〉 was Christened by the Name of Charles Captain William Legg Brother to the Lord Dartmouth representing his Majesty as his Envoy The Court of this Prince does indeed resemble a well-governed College or Religious Cloister in regard of its Modesty and Regularity in all Things and especially in the Hours of Devotion He is Rich in Money and entertains about Nine Thousand Men in constant Pay under the Command of Count Vanderlip a brave and expert Soldier his Lieutenant General but can bring many more upon occasion into Field This Family hath been very happy both in its Progeny and Alliances many Wise Princes of both Sexes having sprung from it and the Mother of this present Landtgrave may be reckoned amongst the Illustrious Women of the present and past Ages After the Death of William V. Landtgrave of Hesse her Husband she not only supported but advanced the War wherein he was engaged did many signal Actions enlarged her Territories and at the conclusion of the Peace kept under her Pay 56 Cornets of Horse in five Regiments 166 Companies of Foot besides 13 Companies of Dragoons and 14 Independent Companies in all 249 Companies of Horse and Foot She was a Princess extreamly obliging to Strangers especially virtuous and learned Divines I had the Honour a good many years ago to kiss her Highnesses Hand at which time she was mighty Zealous in promoting an Accommodation amongst different Religions as the Roman Catholick Lutheran and Calvinist but especially betwixt the two latter and therefore entertained Doctor Duris at her Court in Cassels who wrote several pieces upon that Subject of Reconciliation and with some of his Friends had a Conference with a Learned Priest that came from Rome to forward the Project whereupon the Doctor Published his Book of the Harmony of Consent which is highly esteemed in Germany FRom this Princes Court I directed my Journey to Hanouer taking Lambspring in my way a place where there is a Convent of English Monks and there I met with a very aged worthy and harmless Gentleman Sir Thomas Gascoigne a Person of seeming great Integrity and Piety the Lord Abbot and several of the Monks I had seen there formerly This Monastery is very obliging to all Strangers that Travel that way as well as to their own Country-men and is highly respected by
to go into a Tap-house or Tavern for which at another time he would be counted a Wine-Bibber and the worst of Reprobates At this time while these Ministers and Elders go about the City on their Visitations the People take an occasion to give to the Poor And here I ought not to omit telling you of their great Charity to the distressed French Protestants who are here in great Numbers They maintain no less than 60 French Ministers and unto many Handicraft Tradesmen and makers of Stuffs and Cloth they lend Sums of Money without Interest to buy Working Tools and Materials for their Work but this is no other then they formerly did to the Poor distressed Protestants of Ireland and Piemont and their Charity was not a little that they gave to Geneva towards the Building their Fortifications and here give me leave to tell you what King Charles II. said of the Charity of Amsterdam when the Duke of Lotherdal hearing that the Prince of Orange's Army was not able to oppose the French from advancing so near to Amsterdam the Duke jearingly said That Oranges would be very scarce in Holland after Amsterdam should fall into the French Hands to plunder To which His Majesty said That he was of Opinion that God would preserve Amsterdam from being destroyed if it were only for the great Charity they have for the Poor the which put the Duke out of Countenance I will say no more of their Charity only this that they leave no Stone unturned to bring Monies into the Poors Stock they make the Stage-players pay 80000 Gilders a year to the Poor there is not a Rope-Dancer Poppet-Player or any of that sort of unnecessary Vermin which frequent Fairs but pay the third Penny to the Poor which is carefully looked after by placing an Alms-man at the Door of the Booths to see that they cheat not the Poor of their share I shall now in the next place say something of the Clergy I mean those called The States Clergy for the States are absolutely Head of their Church and when any Synod of Divines meet two of the States are always present to hear that they debate nothing relating or reflecting on the Government or Governors if they do presently the States cry Ho la mijâ— Heeren Predicanten and if their Ministers meddle with any thing relating to the Government in their Pulpits they send them a Brief which some call a pair of Shooes to quit the City and sometimes Imprison them to Boot but if they behave themselves quietly and well as they ought to do they then are respected by the People as Gods upon Earth They have a Form of Prayer sent them how they shall Pray for the States and Stadholder nor must they meddle with any other Religion in the Country because all sorts are Tollerated at least Connived at by the Magistrates All those called the Presbiterian Ministers or States Clergy are obliged under a Forfeiture to have done Preaching and Praying by Eleven of the Clock in the Forenoon on Sundays because then the Scheepens go to the Stadthouse to Marry the Jews Papists and Lutherans and others that may not marry after the Calvinistical Form and the reason why the States thus marry them first according to Law is to render their Children Legitimate but they may marry again afterwards as they please themselves None may marry until they have made their appearance at the Stadthouse before the Lords where if the Parties be agreed the Preachers marry the Calvinists and the Scheepens marry all the rest who differ from the Religion established by Law When one dies the Friends dare not bury the Corps until it hath lain three days open in the Coffin that the Friends and Relations of the deceased may be satisfied that the Party hath not been murdered or reported to be dead when alive after three days the Corps must be brought to the Church before the Bell ceaseth tolling which is at two for if you keep the Body untill half three then the Church Doors are lock'd and for the first half hour must be paid 25 Gilders and for the second 50 and so until six then they may amerse you as much as they please There are many rich people who make that default on purpose that they may have solemn occasion of giving to the Poor as I knew once an English Merchant did The next thing I shall speak of is the method which the States observe in ordering their Maritime Affairs one of the greatest Mysteries in their Government The States General divide their Admiralty into Five Courts which they call Chambers The First is Rotterdam which is the Chamber call'd the Maese and hath the Admirals Flag Then Amsterdam which hath the Vice-Admiral's Flag and Zealand hath the Rear-Admiral's Flag the other Two Chambers are those in North-Holland and Fricsland Each of these Five Chambers have their Admirals Vice-Admirals and Rear-Admirals apart from the States-Generals Flags so that when the States have occasion to set out a Fleet of an Hundred Ships more or less every Chamber knows the number they must provide for their proportion though in regard of its Opulency Amsterdam frequently helps her Neighbours and adds two or more Ships than their share comes to These Chambers have lately built 36 Men of War and now are building of 7 more and all this is done without noise every one building their proportion And they have admirable methods in preserving their Ships when built and their Magazines are in good order every Ship having an Apartment to lay up all its Equipage in and at the top of their Magazines are vast Cisterns which are kept constantly full of Water having Pipes into every Apartment to let it down upon any accident of Fire And there is in their Magazines a Nursery Room where a Woman keeps an Office to feed at certain hours of the day a great number of Cats which afterward hunt among the Stores for Mice and Rats This great Magazine in Amsterdam was built in the time of Cromwell in the space of 9 months and 14 days in which time the Lords of the Admiralty gave the Workmen drinkgelt as they call it to incourage them to work more than at an ordinary rate At this time the biggest Man of War the States had was the Amelia in which the famous Admiral Trump was kill'd she was a Ship of no more than 56 Guns afterward made a Fire-ship But the States quickly discovered their want of great Ships and therefore built the same year 20 Men of War from 50 to 80 Guns But the great Ships built at Amsterdam had like to have proved of no use had not the ingenious Pensionary de Wit found out a device to carry them over the Pampus betwixt those they call Water Ships The Admiralty have an excellent method in setting out their Fleets they neither press Soldiers nor Seamen all go voluntary at the beating of a Drum each Captain providing Men and Provisions for his Ship
To this the King replied That he Thank'd his Electoral Highness That he should always endeavour to promote the common Interest and therefore would joyn with the Elector and that He was Oblig'd to his Highness for this Trouble and lastly that his Person was very acceptable Then the Envoy presented his Gentlemen to the King who kissed his Hand and afterwards the Envoy was carried back in the same manner to his Lodgings as he was brought up Then the Envoys of Mentz Cologne Munster and Hambourg had their publick Audiences after whom came the Elector of Brandenburgh who had a private Audience of near two Hours The Duke Administrator of Wirtenbergh with his Brother who were there incognito were admitted without Ceremonies Also the Deputies of the Cities and Countries who were obliged to go home to give an account of their Affairs had their Audience of Congé of His Majesty And afterwards the Pensionary Secretaries and Deputies of the States of Zealand had their Audiences and Complemented the King The Count of Erbagh came from Prince Waldeck and several Foreign Ministers from the Emperor the King of Spain the Duke of Savoy had their Audiences The 12th in the Evening Count Winditsgratz Ambassador Extraordinary from his Imperial Majesty arrived and had his Audience at Ten a Clock The 14th at Noon the King went into the Council of the States and after some Affairs were dispatched he went with the Lords Commissioners into the Assembly of their High and Mightynesses where the State of the War for the Year 1691. was presented which the Deputies were to send down to their respective Provinces afterwards the King went to Court and gave Audience to several Foreign Ministers and General Officers and among the rest to General Delwich The 15th the King with the Duke of Norfolk the Earls of Portland and Devonshire with several other Noblemen Dined with the Elector of Brandenburgh The Elector received the King without and Conducted him to the Dining-Room The King went away at Four a Clock and gave Audience afterwards to the Elector Palatine's Minister Mr. Berensdorff came hither also from the Duke of Zell and Mr. Klenck from the Duke of Hanouer to Complement His Majesty in their Masters Names Prince Waldeck came also to Court and had Audience of the King immediately And Mr. Chaâ—gagne came from the Elector of Treves The 16th the Elector of Bavaria arriv'd who acquainted the King of his arrival at Ten a Clock by one of his Gentlemen he Lodged in his Envoys House Next Morning my Lord Portland and the Elector of Brandenburgh went to Complement him The Elector was met at the Entrance of the House About five in the Evening he went privately to the King and staid about an Hour and half and the next day the King returned his Visit The 18th in the Evening the Marquis de Gastanaga Governor of the Spanish Netherlands arrived with a very splendid Equipage As soon as he arriv'd he went to Court and was Received with the Honour due to his Character the Swiss Guards being placed in Ranks with their Officer posted at the Head of them He had a particular Audience of the King an Hour long the Elector of Bavaria being by the Swiss Guards appeared then in Arms it being the first time that the Elector of Bavaria had appeared at Court publickly The same day also the Elector of Brandenburgh had his Audience Next Morning the Marquis de Gastanaga was at the Kings Rising and then paid a Visit to the Elector of Brandenburgh the King was that day above two Hours in the Committee of the Council of State and Dined with the Elector of Brandenburgh at my Lord Portlands Mr. Arnauld Preacher and Head of the Vaudois who Commanded them so bravely against the French last Summer came also to the Hague and had an Audience of the King concerning their Affairs The 19th in the Afternoon the King went a Hawking near Sorgvliet with the Elector of Brandenburgh and several other Persons of great Quality Next Morning he went a Hunting with the Elector of Bavaria and the Marquis of Gastanaga near Hounsâ—â—erdyke where they Dined and came back again in the Evening to the Hague The 20th the Prince of Courland with another Prince of the House of Holstein arrived here The 21st the Landtgrave of Hâ—sse came hither with his Envoy and several other Lords He immediately went to Court and staid some time with the King and the next day he paid a Visit to the Electors of Brandenburgh and Bavaria The Duke of Zalâ—sbach came also with General Dautel as it 's believed to Complement the King in the Elector Palatine's Name The Congress was now often kept Colomna the Spanish Envoy had a Conference on the 23d in the Morning with the Deputies of the States General and afterwards assisted in the Congress where was also the Count Winditsgratz the Emperors Plenipotentiary and the Count de Berka and the Chevalier Crampricht the other Imperial Ministers were by when he show'd his Credentials and the States assured him that he should have Audience with the usual Ceremonies in two or three days The Counsellor Mean who was sent by the Prince and Chapter of Liege assisted also in the Congress and the Emperors Minister with most of the other Ministers waited upon his Majesty This extraordinary Concourse has made the Court at the Hague so very Splendid that it has out-done any thing else in any other Court of Christendom Above 30 Sovereign Princes were there besides Marquesses Earls Barons and Gentlemen without Number The Elector of Bavaria and the Marquis de Gastanaga kept publick Tables The 24th about Ten in the Morning the Count de Winditsgratz had publick Audience of the King Conducted by the Master of the Ceremonies with all the usual Solemnities He Congratulated His Majesties happy Successes and assured him that the Emperor his Master esteemed himself very much obliged to His Majesty for that Care and Concern which he show'd for the common Cause and he further added that his Master look'd upon His Britannick Majesty as the principal moving Cause upon whom every thing else depended that might be for the advantage of the Confederacy The Elector of Saxony's Envoy had Audience of the King the same day The 25th in the Morning the King with the Elector of Brandenburgh and the Landtgrave of Hesse went to the great Church where they heard a Sermon Preached by Mr. Ulier who towards the latter end said several moving Things to His Majesty In the Afternoon the King with the Electors of Bavaria and Brandenburgh and the Landtgrave of Hesse all four in a Coach took three or four turns round the Voorhout with the Glasses down upon the Kings side who was received by the thronging Multitudes with all imaginable Demonstrations of Affection and Joy The 26th the Count de Prela Doria Envoy Extraordinary from the Duke of Savoy Count d' Autel with the same Character from the Elector Palatine had Audience of His Majesty
And I thought it might very well deserve the Name of Petty-London because of its Privileges and the Humour of the Citizens It is a Hansiatick and Imperial Town and Commonwealth the Magistrates being Lutherans which is the publick established Religion though the Cathedral Church belongs to the Roman Catholicks who also have several Monasteries there The City is populous and frequented by all sorts of Merchants from most parts of Europe and part of Asia also because of the two great Fairs that are yearly kept there Many Jews live in this City and the richest Merchants are Calvinists who are not suffered to have a Church in the Town but half an hours Journey out of it at a place called Bucknam where I have told Seventy four Coaches at a time all belonging to Merchants of the City It was in ancient times much enrich'd by Charlemain and hath been since by the Constitution of the Golden-Bull Amongst other Honours and Privileges it 's appointed to be the place of the Emperor's Election where many of the Ornaments belonging to that August Ceremony are to be seen It is strongly fortified having a stately Stone-bridge over the Mayne that joyns it to Saxe-housen the Quarter of the Great Master of the Teutonick-Order The Government is easie to the People they not being taxed as other Cities are and had it not been for the Alarms the French gave them during the last War they had not been much troubled but being forced to keep 3 or 4000 Men in constant Pay to defend their Fortifications the Magistrates were constrained to raise Money by a Tax Besides that of the Emperor they are under the Protection of some Neighbouring Princes as of the Landtgrave of Hesse-Cassel Landtgrave of Armstadt the Count of Solmes and the Count of Hanau who are either Lutherans or Calvinists amongst whom the late Elector Palatine was also one but whether the present who is a Roman Catholick be so or not I cannot tell This City takes great care of their Poor and in their Charity to poor Travellers exceed Holland I have seen a List of Seven thousand whom they relieved in one year Their great Hospital is a large Court or Palace where the English Merchants formerly lived in the time of Queen Mary's Persecution of the Protestants who when they were recalled by Queen Elizabeth were so generous as to give the whole Court with all their Pack-houses and Lands to the Poor of the City It was my fortune to be there in that cold Winter in the year 1683 and saw a Ceremony performed by the Wine-Coopers of the City who are obliged by Law that when ever the Maine lies fast frozen over for 8 days together to make a great Fouder Fat Hoops and Staves and set it up compleat upon the Ice It was very good diversion to see so many Hands at Work and to observe the jollity and mirth of the many Thousands of Spectators who wanted not plenty of Rhenish Wine to Carouse in I had the curiosity afterward to go to the Court of the Landtgrave of Armestadt a Lutheran Prince who lives in part of the richest Soil in Germany His Highness is a very courteous and obliging Prince to Strangers and his Subjects are in a pretty good Condition again though they have been great Sufferers by the last War between the Landtgrave of Hesse and this Family FRom thence I went to Heidleberg a City I had been formerly in in the Life time of that Wise though unfortunate Prince Elector Elder Brother to Prince Rupert Here I had the Honour to pay my Dutiful Respects to the Elector the Son of that great Prince whose Commissary I had the Honour to be for two years together in Amsterdam This Prince since my being there is Dead and left behind him the Reputation of having been a zealous thorough paced Calvinist and so constant a frequenter of the Church that some Sundays he went thrice a day to Sermon but never failed if in Health to be once a day at least at the Garison Church where he took particular notice of such Officers as were absent He was Married to a most Virtuous Lady the Royal Sister of the King of Denmark and his Brother Prince George During his Life time the University of Heidleberg flourished exceedingly so that the number of Students was so great that Chambers and Lodgings in the City were scarce and Spanhemius was about quitting Leyden to return to his Professors place in Heidleberg but how matters stand since his Death I am as yet ignorant This Country is called the Paradise of Germany for its fruitfulness in Wine Corn and all sorts of Fruit. I my self have seen growing in one Plain at the same time Vines Corn Chestnuts Almonds Dates Figs Cherries besides several other sorts of Fruit. And as the Country is fertile in yielding the Fruits of the Earth so the People are careful in providing Store Room for them This I take notice of because of the prodigious Rhenish Wine Fat 's which are to be seen there amongst which there are Seven the least whereof holds the quantity of 250 Barils of Beer as I calculated but the large and most celebrated Fat is that which goes by the name of the great Tun of Heidleberg and holds 204 Fouders of Wine and cost 705 l. Sterling in Building for which one may have a very good House built This Fat I have seen twice and the first time was when the Elector Treated the French Ambassadors that came to conclude the Match betwixt his Daughter and Monsieur the French Kings Brother who Married her after the Death of Henrietta his first Wife at which Treat there happened an adventure that I shall here please the Reader with In a Gallery that is over this Fat the Elector caused a Table to be placed in the middle exactly above the Bunghole of this Monstrous Vessel and to be covered with a costly Banquet of all sorts of Sweat-Meats The day before all the Wine being emptied out of this Tun into other Fat 's a little before the Ambassadors with other Foreign Ministers and Persons of Quality mounted the Stairs to come to the place of Entertainment the Elector caused twelve Drummers with as many Trumpeters some Kettle-Drums and other Musick to be lodged in the Belly of the Tun with orders to strike up upon a signal given when the Elector drank the French Kings Health All being sat down at Table and merrily Feeding the Elector drank the Health and the Signal was given whereupon the Musick began to play its part with such a roaring and uncouth Noise out of that vast Cavity below that the French and other Persons of Quality who were unacquainted with the design looking upon it to be an infernal and ominous Sound in great astonishment began to cry out Jesu Maria The Worlds at an end and to shift every one for himself in so great Disorder and Confusion that for haste to be gone they tumbled down Stairs one over
the Neighbouring Princes of all Perswasions as the Princes of the House of Lunenburg the Landtgrave of Hesse and Elector of Cologne who as Bishop of Hildersheim is their Ordinary The Town of Lambspring is Lutheran though under the Government of the Lord Abbot and his Chapter who constantly chuse Lutheran Magistrates and Officers for the Civil Administration and live together in that Love and Unity that as yet there hath never the least debate happened amongst them and indeed this Harmony is now to be observed in most parts of Germany where different Religions are professed When I considered so many goodly Faces both of Monks and Students in that Abbey I could not forbear to make a serious Reflection on the number of the English whom I had seen in the Colleges and Cloisters abroad as at Rome Ratisbonne Wirtzburg in Lorrain at Liege Louvain Brussels Dunkirk Ghent Paris and other places besides the Nunneries and withall on the loss that both King and Kingdom suffered thereby when so many of our Natives both Men and Women should be constrained to spend their own Estates and the Benevolence of others in a strange Land which amounts to more Money than at first one may imagine and this thought I confess made me wish it were otherwise I would not have the Reader to mistake me here as if I Espoused or Pleaded for any particular Party no I plead only for the Sentiments of Humanity without which our Nature degenerates into that of Brutes and for the love that every honest Man ought to have for his Country I am as much a Friend to the Spanish Inquisition as to the persecuting of tender Conscienced Protestants provided there be no more but Conscience in the Case And I could heartily wish that Papists and Protestants could live as lovingly together in England as they do in Holland Germany and other Countries for give me leave to say it I love not that Religion which in stead of Exalting destroys the Principles of Morality and human Society I have met with honest Men of all Perswasions even Turks and Jews who in their Lives and Manners have far exceeded many of our Enthusiastick Professors at home and when ever this happened I could not forbear to love the Men without embracing their Religion for which they themselves are to account to their great Master and Judge In my progress towards Hanouer I touched at Hildersheim a City whose Magistrates are Lutheran though Roman Catholicks have the Cathedral Church and several Monasteries there The Court of Hanouer makes another kind of Figure than that of Cassels it being the Court of a great Prince who is Bishop of Osnaburg Duke of Brunswick Lunenburg Hanouer c. Here I had the Honour to Kiss the Hands of the Princess Royal Sophia youngest Sister to the late Prince Rupert Her Highness has the Character of the Merry Debonnaire Princess of Germany a Lady of Extraordinary Virtue and Accomplishments and Mistress of the Italian French High and Low Dutch and English Languages which she speaks to Perfection Her Husband has the Title of the Gentleman of Germany a graceful and comely Prince both a Foot and on Horseback Civil to Strangers beyond compare infinitely Kind and Beneficent to People in Distress and known in the World for a Valiant and Experienced Soldier I had the Honour to 〈◊〉 his Troops which without Controvâ—â—â—â—â— are as good Men and Commanded by as expert Officers as any are in Europe Amongst his Officers I found brave Steel-Hand Gordon Colonel of an excellent Regiment of Horse Grimes Hamilton Talbot and others of our Kings Subjects God hath blest the Prince with a numerous Off-spring having six Sons all gallant Princes of whom the two Eldest signalized themselves so bravely at the raising of the Siege of Vienna that as undoubted proof of their Valour they brought three Turks home to this Court Prisoners His eldest Son is Married to a most beautiful Princess sole Heiress of the Duke of Lunenburg and Zell's Elder Brother as the lovely Princess his Daughter is Married to the Duke of Brandenburg He is a gracious Prince to his People and keeps a very splendid Court having in his Stables for the use of himself and Children no less than Fifty two sets of Coach-Horses He himself is a Lutheran but as his Subjects are Christians of different Perswasions and some of them Jews too so both in his Court and Army he entertains Gentlemen of various Opinions and Countries as Italian Abbots and Gentlemen that serve him and many Calvinist French Officers Neither is he so Bigotted in his Religion but that he and his Children go many times to Church with the Princess who is a Calvinist and join with her in her Devotion His Country is good having Gold and Silver Mines in it and his Subjects live well under him as do those also of his Brother the Duke of Lunenburg and their Cozen the Duke of Wolfembuttel which are the three Princes of the House of Lunenbourg of whom it may be said that they have always stuck honestly to the right side and befriended the Interests of the Empire so that no by-Respect neither Honour nor Profit could ever prevail with them as it has with others to make them abandon the publick Concern FRom this Princes Court I went to Zell the Residence of the Duke the elder Brother of the Family This Prince is called the Mighty Nimrod because of the great delight he takes in Horses Dogs and Hunting He did me the honour to let me see his Stables wherein he keeps 370 Horses most of them English or of English Breed His Dogs which are also English are so many that with great care they are quartered in several Apartments according to their Kind and Qualities there being a large Office like a Brewhouse employed for boyling of Malt and Corn for them It is this valiant Prince who took Trieves from the French and made the Mareschal de Crequi Prisoner He is extreamly obliging to Strangers and hath several brave Scotish Officers under his Pay as Major-General Erskin Graham Coleman Hamilton Melvin and others His Lieutenant-General is one Chavot a Protestant of Alsatia an excellent and experienced Commander I shall add no more concerning this Prince his Officers or Country but that he with the other two Princes of the House of Lunenbourg Hanouer and Wolfembuttel can upon occasion bring into the Field 36000 Soldiers whom they keep in constant Pay and such Men as I never saw better in my life AFter some stay at the Court of the Duke of Zell I went to Hambourg a famous Hansiatick Town It is a Republick and City of great Trade occasioned partly by the English Company of Merchant Adventurers but much more by the Dutch Protestants who in the time of the Duke of Alba forsook the Low-Countries and settled here and the Protestants also who were turned out of Cologne and other Places in Germany who nevertheless are not now allowed Publick Churches within
as had on the 27th the Sieur Haxhuysen from the Elector of Saxony March the 5th the Earl of Devonshire Treated the Elector of Brandenburgh the Landtgrave of Hesse the Prince Commercy and divers other Persons of Quality with great Magnificence where His Majesty was pleased to Honour his Lordship with His Presence On the 11th the Duke of Zell arrived at the Hague and the Duke of Wolfembuttel on the 14th During all this time the Congresses had been held almost every day with great Secrecy His Majesty always Honouring them with His Presence when at last the matters being fully Concerted and all Things agreed upon to the mutual Satisfaction of all the Princes this great Council broke up and the Princes returned to their respective Homes to put in execution the Designs here agreed upon the good Effects whereof we doubt not but to see this Campagne notwithstanding the unhappy accident of the loss of Mons. His Majesty having given Orders to all the Troops to be in a readiness to take the Field by the first of April was pleased on the 16th to depart for Loo being accompanied with the Duke of Zell who Rid in the same Coach with Him and lay that Night at the House of Monsieur Zullestein where he was met by the Elector of Bavaria who likewise accompanied His Majesty to Loo where they arrived the next Evening having been Complemented as they passed along with all Demonstrations of Respect and Affection by the City of Utrecht and the several Towns he pass'd through and accompanied every where with the loud Acclamations of the People who were almost overwhelm'd with Joy at the extraordinary Honour they received by the Presence of this most illustrious Monarch But His Majesty had not been long there before he received the unwelcome Tidings of the Siege of Mons an Express arriving at the Hague on the 16th in the Evening that the French Troops had suddenly invested the Town of Mons their Horse having taken Possession of all the Avenues on the 15th of March and that the Foot were marching up with all Diligence The Prince of Steeâ—huysen and the Marquis Bedmar being sent from the Governor of Flanders arrived at the Hague the 17th and after a short Conference with Prince Waldeck went Post to Loo to give His Majesty an account of the State of the Affair Who being resolved Himself to Head the Army in order to raise the Siege returned to the Hague from whence having dispatched Prince Waldeck with necessary Orders for Flanders set forward Himself the 26th for Brussels the Army in the mean time preparing with all imaginable diligence to Muster at Hall whither His Majesty went on the 6th of April intending to have marched the next day at the Head of the Army which consisted of 30000 Foot and 16000 Horse with a Train of Artillery of 71 pieces of Cannon and 14 Mortars But the Carriages not being all come up was obliged to defer His March for two or three days The French had all this time very vigourously attacked the Outworks of the Town but were as vigourously repulsed by the Besieged to the great loss of the Enemy who paid dearly for what he gained insomuch that it was not doubted but the Town would have been able to have held out till the Army came up to its Relief but the French King who was himself all the while at St. Gislain near the Camp the Dauphin Commanding in Chief according to his old Methods had found means of gaining a Party among the Burghers and Clergy in the Town who prevailing upon the rest by the terrifying Destruction the Bombs and Cannon made in their Houses and persuading them that by a timely Surrender of the Town they might obtain Honourable Conditions made them basely desert the publick Good and altogether unexpectedly even to the French themselves on the 8th of April beat a Parley and sent out three Officers as Hostages for three French Offices who immediately entred the Town to Treat upon Articles of Surrender the Governor the Prince de Bergue oppos'd the Surrender and refus'd to deliver the Gate to the French as the Burghers had agreed endeavouring to disswade them from this their Resolution alledging he could still hold out till the Relief came but all would not do the Burghers wre resolved and they being stronger than the Garison who were all employed in the Outworks the Honourable Governor was forced to submit and about Midnight the Capitulation was Signed on both sides and the next day April the 9th a Gate of the Town was deliver'd up to the French Guards and on the 10th the Garison marched out being about 4000 Foot and 400 Horse with Arms Baggage Drums beating Colours flying six pieces of Cannon two Mortars c. and were conducted to Tubiese a few Miles from Mons towards Brussels The King having received this surprizing News just as he was ready to march to their Relief was forced to alter his Measures and understanding that the French King had seperated his Troops and dispos'd 'em into Garisons and that he with the Dauphin c. were return'd to Versailles broke up the Camp and having sent Reinforcements to Charleroy Aeth Namur and the other Frontier Garisons went to Brussels and from thence to the Hague where he was pleased to Honour the Duke of Zell who was likewise return'd thither from the Camp with the Noble Order of the Garter who was invested with the Garter and George by the King Himself assisted by the Dukes of Norfolk and Ormond and the Earl of Devonshire This was perform'd privately in the Kings Bed-Chamber the 18th of April And the next day Garter King at Arms presented to his Highness the rest of the Ensigns with the whole Habit and Ornaments of the Order which his Highness having Received was pleased to make a very Noble Present to the King at Arms and to all the Retinue he had brought with him upon this Occasion April the 22d His Majesty having taken leave of the States General and been Complimented by them with all the Expressions of sincere Affection took Shiping in the Maese in order to his Return for England and the Wind being fair the next Morning made the English Shore and that Evening viz. April the 13th 1691. O. S. about Eight of the Clock landed at Whitehall having been Saluted by the Fleet as he passed along with all their Guns and the repeated Huzza's of the Seamen who Demonstrated the most extraordinary Joy imaginable and by the Guns of the Forts of Tilbury Gravesend and the Tower also by the Ships that lay in the River and the Joyful Acclamations of the People who crowded in great Numbers upon the Shore and in Boats to see His Majesty and express their Joy upon his happy Return continually Repeating God Save King William and Queen Mary and Prosper their Arms by Sea and Land Thus have we finished our short Journal of His Majesties Voyage into Holland wherein we have been as particular as was convenient and as brief as possible we have all along carefully avoided all manner of Reflections and Animadversions of our own and given only a true Relation of the matter of Fact as it occur'd wherein if we have the good Fortune to please the Reader we have our End FINIS * A Fouder contains 4 Hogsheads