de Blois born An. 1681. These six were born him by Frances Athanasia de Roche Chovart Gabriel Prince de Mortemars Daughter and Wife to Henry-Lewis Paidallan Marquess of Montespan The French King has only one Brother viz. Philip Duke of Orleans born Sept. 1. An. 1640. He espoused for his first Wife the Princess Henrietta-Maria youngest Daughter to our late King Charles the First She was born at Exeter Jun. 16. 1644 and died An. 1670. He had by her four Children viz. 1. Maria-Aloisia born March 27. 1662. and married Nov. 17. 1679. to Charles the Second King of Spain She died without Issue by him An. 1689. 2. Philip who died an Infant 3. Another Daughter not named 4. Anna-Maria born Aug. 27. 1669. and Apr. 9. 1684. married to Victor Amadeus the Second the present Duke of Savoy The next year after the forementioned Duchess of Orleans died An. 1671. The Duke married Elizabeth Charlotta Daughter to Charles-Lewis Elector Palatine who was born in May 1652. The Espousals were celebrated at Metz Nov. 26. of the said year he has Issue by her 1. Philip Duke of Chartres born Aug. 2. 1671. 2. Elizabetha-Charlotta Mademoiselle de Chartres born Sept. 13. 1676. The Princes of the Blood BEing to name the Princes of the Blood I shall shew withal how they are descended and allied to the King of France Robert the Fifth Count of Clermont and Lord of Bourbon youngest Son to King Lewis the Ninth as mentioned before was the person in whom the Line of Hugh Capet is continued in the Crown of France Charles Duke of Vendôme lineally descended from him was born An. 1489. And left among other Children two Sons viz. Anthony the eldest who was Duke of Vendôme and King of Navarr Great Grandfather to the present King of France 2. Lewis Prince of Conde Great Grandfather to the present Prince of Conde Henry-Julius de Bourbon born Jul. 29. 1643. formerly stiled Duke D'Enghien and now since his Fathers death Prince of Conde He was married Dec. 11. 1667. to the Princess Anne Daughter to Edward Prince Palatine of the Rhine who was born July 23. 1647. and is since deceased but he has by her the following Issue 1. Maria-Teresa Mademoiselle de Bourbon born 1666. 2. Lewis de Bourbon Duke D'Enghien born 1668. and married 1685. to Aloisia-Frances Natural Daughter to the King of France by Madam de Montespan who was born 1673. 3. Maria-Anna Mademoiselle de Monmorency born 1675. 4. Anna-Maria Victoria Mademoiselle D'Enghien born 1676. 5. Aloisia-Benedicta Mademoiselle de Conde born 1678. The Prince of Conde had also a Brother viz. Armand Prince de Conti born 1629. married to Anna-Maria de Monmorency Cardinal Mazarines Neice by the Sister 1659. Deceased 1666 leaving behind him two Sons viz. 1. Lewis de Bourbon Prince of Conti born 1661. and in 1680 he married Anna-Maria de Bourbon the Kings Natural Daughter by Madam de la Valiere who was made Legitimate He died without Issue An. 1685. 2. Francis-Lewis de Bourbon the now Prince of Conti born 1664 or 8. Besides these Princes of the Blood the King has also three Cousin Germans living Daughters to his Uncle Gaston-John-Baptist late Duke of Orleans 1. Anna-Maria Duchess of Montpensier born An. 1627. unmarried 2. Margarita-Aloisia born An. 1645. and married An. 1661. to Cosmus the Third Great Duke of Tuscany 3. Isabella born An. 1649 and married An. 1667. to Joseph-Lewis Duke of Guise She is now a Widow Note That tho this King of France be but the twenty sixth King inclusively of the Line of Hugh Capet yet he is the sixty first King of France for there preeceded twenty one Kings of the Race of Merovius and thirteen Kings of the Race of Charlemagne before the Line of Hugh Capet came in II. For Arms he bears Azure three Flower de Luces Or two in Chief and one in Base the Escutcheon is environed with the Collars of the Orders of S. Michael and the Holy Ghost It has for Crest an Helmet Or entirely open thereon a Crown Clos'd after the manner of an Imperial Crown with eight Inarched Rayes topt with a double Flower de Luce. The Supporters are two Angels habited as Levites the whole under a Pavilion Royal semè of France lin'd Ermines with these words Ex omnibus floribus elegi mihi Lilium Lilia neque laborant neque nent These words The Lilies do not Spin as a late French Writer tells us import that the Flower de Luces which represent the Crown of France never fall to the Distaff and that the Female Sex cannot inherit according to the Salique Law The same Custom having prevailed among the Chaldeans Egyptians Persians Chineses Turks Tartars and Parthians tho the Daughters have sometimes succeeded in England Spain Sicily Sueden c. The King of France pretending likewise a right to Navarre bears also for that Kingdom Gules a Carbuncle noued Or which having a resemblance to Chains of Gold is Blazon'd by some Chains of Gold Interlac'd parted into Orbes Pales Fesses Counterbands or Saltiers The King of France's Device is Consiliis Armisque Potens or also this Nec pluribus Impar Note That the Arms of France in the days of Pharamond and his three Successors were Gules three Crowns Or. Clovis the Great altered them to Azure semè of Flower de Luces Or and Charles the Sixth who came to the Crown An. 1380 reduc'd the Lilies in his Coat of Arms to three The Kings Livery is of a blew colour He professes the Roman Religion and uses the French Language III. Paris is the Capital City of France which has the pleasant River Seine running thro the midst of it I shall speak concerning the extent and number of the Houses and Inhabitants of this and other Cities when I come to speak of London wherefore I shall pass by these things at present As for his chief Seats of pleasure the chief is that noble Seat at Versailles four Leagues South of Paris of which there being a full and clear description extant in English as also of the Seat of Monsieur at S. Clou and of the Treasury of S. Denis I shall say nothing here of them He has also the noble Seats of Fontainbleau and S. Germains beside the Louvre at Paris celebrated by that famous Distich Non Orbis Gentem non Urbem Gens habet ullam Urbsve domum Dominum nec habet ulla parem 4. The Revenues of the King of France are said to amount to eleven millions of Pounds Sterling being above the fifth part of the Revenues of that Kingdom and the French averr France to contain fifty thousand Parishes The House of England I. WIlliam Duke of Normandy surnamed the Conqueror under the pretence that King Edward the Confessor his Cousin who died without Issue An. 1065. Son of King Ethelred by his Queen Emma had by his last Will and Testament transferred the Kingdom to him made a Descent into England An. 1067. and having slain King Harold in Battle the then
29. 1671. 3. Ernestus-Augustus born Sept. 17. 1674. 4. Sophia-Charlotta born Octob. 20. 1668. and married to Frederick the Third the present Elector of Brandenburg Octob. 16. 1684. by whom he has had two Princes but only one living viz. Frederick-William born Aug. 4. 1688. The other Princes and Princesses that are Roman Catholicks I. ANna Maria the present Duchess of Savoy Daughter to the Duke of Orleans by Henrietta-Maria youngest Daughter of Charles I. born Aug. 27. 1669. Her Children 1. Maria-Adelheid or Adetherd born Dec. 6. 1685. 2. Another Princess born Aug. 30. 1688. II. ELizabeth-Charlotta the present Duchess of Orleans Daughter to Charles-Lewis Elector Palatine Her Children 1. Philip Duke of Chartres born Aug. 2. 1631. 2. Elizabeth Charlotte Mademoiselle de Chartres born Sept. 13. 1676. III. ANN the present Princess of Conde Daughter to Edward Prince Palatine of the Rhine and Grandchild to the King of Bohemia born July 23. 1647. Her Children 1. Maria-Teresa de Bourbon born 1666. 2. Lewis de Bourbon Duke D'Enghien born 1668. 3. Maria Anna de Monmorency born 1675. 4. Anna Maria-Victoria D'Enghien born 1676. 5. Aloisia Benedicta de Conde born 1678. IV. TWO Daughters of Benedicta-Henrietta-Philippina Duchess of Hanover Daughter to Edward Count Palatine and Grandchild to the King of Bohemia 1. Charlotta-Felicitas born March 8. 1671. 2. Welhelmina-Amalia born Apr. 26. 1673 The Princes of the House of Nassau are to be found in the Genealogies of the Princes of the Empire II. The Sovereign Ensigns Armorial of the King of England are as follows In the first place he bears Azure three Flower de Luces Or for the Regal Arms of France quartered with the Imperial Ensigns of England which are Gules three Lions Passant Guardant in Pale Or. In the second place within a double Tressure Counter-flowred-de-Lys Or a Lion Rampant Gules for the Regal Arms of Scotland In the third place Azure an Irish Harp Or stringed Argent for the Royal Ensigns of Ireland In the fourth place as in the first all within the Garter the chief Ensign of that most honourable Order on which is written this Motto Honi soit qui mal y pense Above the same an Helmet answering to his Majesties Sovereign Jurisdiction upon the same a rich Mantle of Cloth of Gold doubled Ermine adorn'd with an Imperial Crown and Surmounted for a Crest by a Lion Passant Guardant Crown'd with the Like supported by a Lion Guardant Or Crown'd as the former and an Unicorn Argent Gorg'd with a Crown thereto a Chain affixt passing betwixt his forelegs and reflexed over his Back Or both standing on a Compartment plac'd underneath and in the Table of the Compartment is his Majesties Royal Motto Dieu mon Droit King William as Earl of Nassau bears Quarterly 1. Azure a Lion Or armed Gules 2. Or a Lion Leopard Gules armed and crown'd Azure 3. Gules a Fesse Argent 4. Gules two Leopards Or armed and membred as the first As Prince of Orange he bears Quarterly 1. Gules a Bend Or. 2. An Hunters Horn Azure stringed Gules The third as c. over all an Escutcheon of Pretence Checquy Or and Azure More briefly thus quarterly Chalons and Aurange under an Escutcheon of Geneva His Motto is Je maintiendray His Majesties Livery is a Red Colour before his coming to the Crown it was blew He Professes the Protestant Religion according to the Church of England and uses now the English Language Note that as Charles the Fifth who came to the Crown of France An. 1364. was the first who in his Fathers life time was stiled the Dolphin So Edward the Second Son of Edward the First King of England was the first Prince of Wales so created An. 1300 to gratifie the Welchmen his Father Edward the First having slain in Battel Leoline the last of the Welsh Princes and united Wales to the Crown of England And perhaps it was in imitation of this that the Donor of Dolphine would have the eldest Son of France stiled the Dolphin The Title of Prince of Wales in the eldest Son of England having preceeded the other for many years The particular Cognizance of a Prince of Wales is a Plumb of Feathers with this Motto Ich-Dien that is I serve III. London seated on the famous navigable River Thames is the Capital City of England and the undoubted most famous Emporium and for ought appears the greatest and most considerable City of the Universe For as to Pequin in China the only City to be brought in competition which by some is imagined to be greater we have no account of it fit to reason upon The late ingenious Sir William Petty having critically examined the capaciousness and populosity of London and its other advantages and compared them with the other chief Cities of Europe according to what accounts could be gotten of them has accurately made out the following particulars viz. that there are contained in London 696000 Inhabitants and 105315 Houses Paris 488000 and 23223 Houses Amsterdam 187000 Venice 134000 Rome 125000 Dublin 69000 and 6400 Houses Bristol 48000 and 5307 Houses Rouen 66000 and about a third bigger than Bristol Lyons 100000 Â Tholouse 90000 Â From the foregoing particulars he makes the following Observations 1. That the people of Paris Rome and Rouen make but 679000 or 19000 less than the 696000 of London alone 2. That the people of the two English Emporiums viz. London and Bristol make 744000 or more than Paris Amsterdam and Rouen these being in all but 741000. 3. That the same two English Cities seem equivalent to Paris Rouen Lyons Thoulose these making in all but 744000. 4. That the King of Englands three Cities viz. London Dublin and Bristol containing 813000 people exceed Paris Amsterdam and Venice containg 809000 people 5. That of the four great Emporiums London Amsterdam Venice and Rouen London alone is near double to the other three viz. above 7 to 4. for the other three make but 387000 London 696000. Sir William Petty farther makes out that the people of London are as many as those of Holland in their twenty eight walled Cities and Towns and in their Dorps and Villages or at least above two thirds of the same He compares London with Paris in several particulars in all which he shews London to exceed the other viz. 1. In the goodness of the Hospitals 2. In the cleanly and more convenient way of living 3. In the richness of the People the number of the Servants and greatness of Equipage 4. In the preference of the River Thames to the River Seine both in pleasantness and navigableness the wholesomness of its water and the Bridge of London being the most considerable of all Europe 5. In the shipping and Foreign Trade London therein incomparably exceeding both Paris and Rouen the City of Bristol appearing by good estimate of its Trade and Customs as considerable as Rouen 6. In the richness of the Lawyers Chambers those of Londen being worth 140000 l. Sterling
them have a thousand or eight hundred Families the People being dispersed in Forests and other places where they have store of Timber to build them Houses and store of Pasturage for their Cattle which is the reason they have not so many great Towns nor so well inhabited as usual in far lesser Countries IV. The Revenues are very great they arising first from Church Lands taken to the Crown Secondly from Mines Thirdly from the Tenths of all Increase as Wheat Rye Barley Fish Oxen and the like Commodities Fourthly from Customs imposed on Merchandises paid in all Haven-Towns for all Commodities imported and exported He has also Contributions and Power of imposing Tax in time of War as occasion may require The House of Portugal I. TOward the latter end of the eleventh Century Alphonso the Sixth King of Castile had very frequent and bloody Wars with the Moors in which a certain Prince named Henry descended as some say from the House of Burgundy as others from that of Lorain was chiefly signalized for his Valour and good Services to the Crown King Alphonso in reward of this Merit gave him Portugal then lately recovered from the Moors under the Title of an Earldom together with his Daughter Teresa to Wife yet with this condition that he should continue a Vassal to Castile This Prince's Son was Alphonso the First who throwing off the Spanish Yoke and having subdued several petty Kings of the Moors caused himself to be proclaimed King of Portugal in the year 1139. His great Grandson Alphonso the Third King of Portugal had Algarve given him in Dowry with his Queen the Princess Beatrix Daughter of Alphonso the Tenth King of Castile whence the eldest Son of Portugal is always called Prince of Algarve Of this Family the present King of Portugal is descended Indeed Philip the Second King of Spain on some pretences made himself Master of the Kingdom of Portugal by Force of Arms ann 1580 but 't was again lost by his Grandson ann 1640 for the Portuguese actually rejecting the Spanish Yoke elected John Duke of Braganza descended as above to be their King in whose Line the Kingdom continues What particularly contributed to the Renunciation the Portuguese made to the King of Spain ann 1640 was the permission that King gave to others beside themselves to trade to the East Indies and the Tax he imposed of the fifth peny on all their Merchandizes and other Revenues It s remarkable that the Deliberation of shaking off the Spanish Yoak was kept private above a year betwixt two hundred persons Don Pedro of the House of Braganza King of Portugal and Algarve was born 1648. His elder Brother Don Alphonso the Sixth King of Portugal c. ann 1667 married the Lady Mary-Frances Elizabeth or Isabella Daughter to Charles Amadeus of Savoy Duke of Nemours She was born June the Twenty first 1648. and after sixteen months living with Don Alphonso she obtained a Declaration of Nullity of her Marriage with him retired to a Cloister And ann 1669 Don Alphonso was deposed as judged incapable either of a second Marriage or of the Government and sent the year following to the Tercera Island where he died in the year 1683. Now the present King upon his Brother Alphonso's being deposed was presently declared Prince Regent and after his death King of Portugal and by a Dipensation from the Pope married his Sister-in-Law abovementioned The Cardinal Deacon Louis de Vendôme in quality of universal Legat à Latere gave them the Dispensation under Pope Clement the Ninth Abbot Bon-Filz the Secretary to the Legation has set forth the particulars and the Conferences he had with his Holiness at the end of the Transaction The King had by this Queen a Daughter named Mary Elizabeth who was born ann 1669 and died ann 1690. And the Queen her self dying Dec. 27. 1683. the King ann 1687 took to Wife the Lady Mary-Sophia-Elizabeth Daughter of Philip-William Elector Palatine who was born Aug. 6. 1666 and Aug. 30. 1688 was brought to Bed of a young Prince who died Sept. 3. in the same year And in Octob. 1689 she was brought to Bed of another Prince named John Prince of Bresil The King of Portugal has but one Sister living viz. Donna-Catharina the Queen Dowager of England concerning whom see in the Head of England II. He bears Argent five Escutcheons Azure placed Cross-wise each charged with as many Besants of the first placed in Saltier and pointed Sable for Portugal The Shield bordered Gules charged with seven Towers Or three in Chief and two in each Flanch The Crest is a Crown Or which is the Crest of Portugal Under the two Flanches and the Base of the Shield appear the Ends of two Crosses the first Flower de luc'd Verte which is for the Order of Avis The second Pattee Gules which is for the Order of Christ The five Escutcheons were born in memory of five Kings whom Alphonso the first King slew at the Battel of Obrique ann 1139. The Border with the Towers or Castles were added by Alphonso the Third on his Investiture into the Kingdom of Algarve by Alphonso the Tenth of Castile ann 1257 whose Daughter Beatrix he then married and so conceived himself to have some Relation to the Arms of that Kingdom This King's Livery is of a Green Colour He professes the Roman Religion and uses the Portuguese Language which is a Dialect of the Spanish III. Lisbon seated on the River Tagus is the Capital City of the Kingdom and the place where his Majesty keeps his Court. It s seven miles in compass and contains above thirty Parishes and above thirty thousand Houses The Portuguese have this Proverb He that has not seen Lisbon has not seen a fine thing The Buildings are neat and elegant and there are seventy six Turrets or Towers on the City Wall and twenty two Gates towards the Sea shore c. It s the Staple for the Commodities for all the Kingdom and thought to be worth more than the whole Realm besides and doubtless the Revenues which accrue to the King from hence and from his Foreign Plantations are very considerable ITALY The Papacy I. INnocent the Twelfth the present Pope was born at Naples in March ann 1615 elected Pope July 12. ann 1671 he is Son to Prince Minerbino of the Family of Pignato the chief whereof is the Duke of Terra Nova a Grandee of Spain II. Having not the particular Arms of the present Popes Family by me I can here only say that the Popes for a Crest to their Gentilitial Arms are wont to put the Arms of the Popedom which are as follow The Papal Escutcheon is Gules and consists of a long Cap or Head-piece Or surmounted with a Cross pearled and garnished with three Royal Crowns with the two Keys of S. Peter placed in Saltier Boniface the Eighth was the first that wore the Tiara with a double Crown and Urban the Fifth made it in the Form of a Cap adorned with
the Emperor should have what he pleased so he might have freedom to see the sight and parted with his House accordingly The Palace of the Seraglio contains three Courts one within another the Buildings yielding unto those of France and Italy for the neat contrivances but far surpassing them for cost and curiousness The Grand Seignior has many other considerable Cities the chief is Grand Cairo in Egypt which is eight miles in compass and being viewed from a high place it presents a most delightful prospect the Mosques being built of various Colours and very beautious and the other Houses tho but two stories high having generally their Roofs raised with Turrets for Coverings and being all surrounded with Palm Trees and Gardens Alexandria also in Egypt has been a considerable Town belonging to the Grand Seignior it s at present full of Ruins and but poorly inhabited the cause is imputed to the illness of the Air during the Months of July August September and October which is thought to proceed from this that the greatest part of the Houses are built on solid Vaults which serve as Cisterns to keep the Waters of Nilus whence the Air becomes corrupted and inclines to Diseases He has also the City of Babylon in Chaldea not the ancient Babylon but another City going by that name situate forty miles more North maintained chiefly at present by the Trade of Aleppo and being seven miles in compass IV. The Turkish Empire being of so vast an extent in three parts of the World viz. Africa Asia and the better part of Europe must of necessity yield an immense Treasure a certain Author says he has under him seventy Kingdoms and three Empires The Revenues consist chiefly in Tributes raised on the People and in Customs and these are paid for the most part in Silver As for the Gold which is raised it proceeds from four Sources whereof two are foreign and two of the Country One of the first is the Trade of the English French Dutch Italians Moscovites and Polanders who bring Ducats from their Countries The other is their annual Tribute of the Cham of the Lesser Tartary the Princes of Transylvania Moldavia Valachia the Republick of Ragusa and a part of Mingrelia and of Russia ought to pay the Grand Seignior in Gold which amounts to considerable Sums One of the two Sources of the Country is the Spoils of the Bacha's all their Monies which for the most part is Gold coming to the Grand Seignior at their Deaths the other the Revenue of Egypt which amounts yearly to twelve millions of Livres Beside this yearly Income the Turk has a secret Treasure consisting of such stores of Gold as have been laid up by the Ottoman Princes and in this private Treasury when Ibrahim this Emperor's _____ came to the Crown there were four thousand Bags of Gold each containing 15000 Ducats of Gold or thirty thousand Crowns which Summ makes three hundred and sixty millions of Livres Some have affirm'd the Grand Seignior to be Proprietor of all the Lands under his Dominions and that Fathers do not leave the Succession to their Children which is a great mistake for the right of inheriting according to the degrees of Blood is not only granted the Turks but likewise to the Greeks they paying the Grand Seignior only about three per Cent. at each change of Heir PERSIA I. HIstorians make eight Dynastyes of Persian Kings The fifth of these Dynastyes was begun in the person of Tangrolipix the first Persian King of the Turkish Race ann 1020 who is mentioned by me in my foregoing Account of Turky This Race failing the sixth Dynasty began in Haalon made King of Persia by Occata the Great Cham of Tartary ann 1260. This Tartarian Dynasty ended also in Persia with the Race of Tamerlane and the seventh Dynasty of the Turcoman or Armenian Race began in Ussan Cassanes ann 1472 he being the Son of one of those poor Armenian Princes dispossessed by Bajazet the First Emperor of the Turks and restored by Tamerlane who grew at length to that power that he overthrew in a pitched Field Zeuzes the last of the Tartarian Race and slew him This Dynasty of the Turcoman or Armenian Race continued till 1496 that Alanat the last King of it was overthrown and slain by Hysmael one of the Sophian Race and Faction The Quarrel and Occasion was thus Mahomet the Impostor and first Emperor of the Saracens by his last Will and Testament bequeathed the Succession of that Estate to Haly his near Kinsman and Husband to Fatima his eldest Daughter but Abudezar Haumar and Osman three powerful Men and the chief Commanders of the Army in the time of Mahomet successively followed one another in the supreme Dignity After their Death 's Hali enjoyed that Honor for a little while supplanted first and afterwards vanquished by Muhavias a great Man of War who succeeded in it and to secure himself slew Hasen or Ossan the Son of Hali and eleven of his Sons a twelfth escaping called Musa Ceredine from whom Hysmael Sophi abovementioned was lineally descended who after his Victory and being crowned King or Shaw of Persia altered the Form of Religion making Hali and himself the sole Successors of Mahomet and condemning Abudezar Haumar and Osman with the Turks as Rebels and Schismaticks Hence proceeded the Bloody Wars betwixt them and the Turks the Persians burning whatsoever Book they found concerning those three and the Turks holding it more meritorious to kill one Persian than seventy Christians This Hysmael Sophi was the Founder of this eighth Dynasty of the Persian Kings ann 1505 from whom is descended Cha Soliman the present King of Persia at his coming to the Crown called Cha Sophi he came to be King ann 1665 his Father great Cha Abas then dying himself at that time being thirty five years of Age. It s a remarkable Passage concerning the change of this King's Name and his being twice crown'd which was on this occasion It happened some time after his being crowned that he grew indisposed in his Health and his Physician had tried several methods on him without success whereupon the King's Mother growing impatient fell severely on the Physician and charged him for being either Fool or Traitor that he did not cure the King The Doctor finding himself so hardly put to it had no way to shift himself but by charging the Fault on the Stars and the Astrologers and told her if the King languished and could not recover a perfect health it proceeded not from any Failure in him or his Medicines but for that the Astrologers had not taken the Aspect of a fortunate Constellation at the time of his Coronation The Physician was back'd by all his Friends at Court and particularly by one of the King's Astrologers who had a secret hatred against the Prince of the Astrologers who had been appointed to observe the favourable hour for the King's Coronation and the former made out the mistake astrologically
not any account thereof to rely on but it s generally agreed that the Houses for the most part are but of one Story and the Sreets being not pav'd so troublesom a dust is rais'd by the Wind in the Summer that it forces those who have not Portative Chairs to cover their Faces with a Linnen Cloth reaching to their Girdles thro which they may see without being seen and the Dirt makes the Streets altogether as offensive in the Winter In this City as they say the King has a Pallace of great Magnificence and Curiosity Nanking is the next chief City of China and not inferiour to the former only in the number of Inhabitants which by reason of the Kings Residence at Peking is there greater The Houses of the chief Merchants are very well built and of many Stories They compute in it a Million of Inhabitants without comprising a Garrison of forty thousand Men kept there by the Tartars under the Command of the Lieutenant General of the Southern Provinces who resides there There are several accounts of the vast numbers of Cities Towns Villages Houses and Inhabitants of China as also of their incredible numbers of Shipping concerning all which we want more perfect accounts to rely on IV. It s said that the Kings of China have ordinarily had an yearly Revenue of above one hundred and fifty Millions of Crowns His Revenues as C ham of Tartary may be what he lists himself he being the absolute Lord of all the Subject has without any thing he can call his own But that which ordinarily accrues to him is the Tenth of the Wooll Silk Hemp Corn and Cattle and he draws into his own Hands all the Gold and Silver which is brought into the Country and which he causes to be melted and preserv'd in his Treasury imposing on his people instead of mony in some places Cockleshells others a black Coin made of the Bark of Trees with his stamp on it and he keeps to himself the whole Trade of Pearl fishing which no Man upon pain of death dares fish for but by leave from him INDIA I. THE Emperour of India call'd the Great Mogul or King of Indostan is nam'd Aureng-Zebe which in the Indian Language signifies The Ornament of the Throne He is call'd the Mogul by reason of his descent from the Mongul Tartars one of the five great Tribes or Nations mention'd in the foregoing Head into which that people was divided deriv'd Originally from the Great Tamerlane The present Emperour began to Reign An. 1660 after the cruel Deaths which he made his own Father and Brothers to suffer he being the third of four Sons of that Prince He has many Children and his eldest Son is call'd Sultan Mahmond II. The Armorial Shield of India is Argent semè with Besants Or his Livery is of a _____ colour He professes the Mahometan Religion which has been long Embrac'd by the Tartars from whom they were originally descended and he uses the Scythian or Tartarian Language from which the Turks a Scythian people differ but in Dialect and a sprinkling of the Persian intermixt with it III. The City where he keeps his Court is call'd Agra He formerly resided at Lahor Agra is esteem'd twice as great as Hispaan The Houses of the Persons of Quality are Magnificent tho they are but of one Story or two at most and are environ'd with very high Walls to keep their Wives from being seen IV. This King has an infinite Treasure in Gold and pretious Stones His yearly Revenue is said to be fifty Millions of Crowns and he is Heir to every Mans Estate that is worth an having the Persons and Purses of his Subjects being at his sole disposal so that he may amass what Treasures and raise what Forces for War he pleases Decan and Cambaia I. THE name of the King of Decan and Cambaia is Idalcansi or Idalschaa II. He bears Verte encompast with a Collar of large precious Stones His Livery is of a _____ colour He professes the Mahometan Religion and uses the _____ Language III. His chief Cities are Decan and Visapore tho he resides ordinarily at Danoger There is much talk of a great Canon he has in his Artillery He has in his Country an Hill encompast with an high Wall and kept by a strong Garrison because of the great store of Diamonds and other Precious Stones which are dug out of it An. 150◠the Portugueses took from a Prince of Decan the Island and Town of Goa which they have since made the Capital of their East India Conquests Golchonda and Orixa I. THE King of Golchonda and Orixa is call'd Cha John II. He professes the Mahometan Religion III. His Capital City is Golchonda which is very fair and strong All the Merchants Lodge in the Suburbs and the Kings Officers and persons of Quality in the Town IV. This Prince has in his Estates a very rich Mine of Diamonds CALICUT I. THE name of the King of Calicut is Zamorin II. He professes the Mahometan Religion III. His Capital City and the ordinary place of his Residence is Calicut It is in length extended upon the Sea shore three Miles and a Mile in breadth containing about six thousand Houses but mean and low built few of them exceeding the height of a Man on Horseback the Soil being so hollow and full of water that it is not capable of a Foundation for an heavier building and for that cause unwall'd so that Merchants Houses are here valued but at twenty Crowns those of the Common sort no more than ten yet it is of great Trading The Portuguese forc'd a Foundation on the shore there for a strong Castle but were so put to it by the King of Calicut that they were fain to demolish it and to quit their Posts The Priests or Bramans there were yellow clothing because they think this colour Consecrated to God by reason of its resemblance to the Sun and to Gold PEGU THE Kingdom of Pegu and the Town of its name are now almost ruin'd Siriangh is at present the most considerable Town of the Kingdom and the ordinary place of the Kings Residence Pegu was once the chief City and was very famous having round about it a Moat in which Crocodiles were kept to keep people from surprising the Town The people of Pegu have white Elephants in great Veneration and think they draw on them a Benediction and that their false Prophet Xaca was Metamorphoz'd into that Animal This King is a Pagan SIAM I. THE present King of Siam is about forty years of Age. II. He is a Pagan tho the people of Siam are generally Adiaphorists that is to say all Religions are indifferent to to them because they believe them all good wherefore they tolerate them all so they may consist with the Laws of their State III. The Capital City is Siam it s said to be one of the finest a Man can look on The buildings are of an admirable Structure and the
THE Present STATE OF THE UNIVERSE Or an ACCOUNT of I. The Rise Births Names Matches Children and near Allies of all the present Chief Princes of the World II. Their Coats of Arms Motto's Devises Liveries Religions and Languages III. The Names of their Chief Towns with some Computation of the Houses and Inhabitants Their Chief Seats of Pleasure and other Remarkable things in their Dominions IV. Their Revenues To which Are added some other Curious Remarks as also an Account of Common-Wealths relating to the foregoing Heads Parvula sic totum pervisit pupula Mundum LONDON Printed and are to be Sold by Randall Taylor near Stationers-Hall 1694. Presented to R. Hooke by his Worthy Friend the Author July 4. 1694. To the HONOURABLE CHARLES COTTINGTON Esquire SIR HIstory being much the Study of a Gentleman I have presum'd a Dedication of these few Praeludia relating to it to your self Not but your own Reading Conversation and Travels may have already furnished you with far more and more accurate Particulars in this kind than my poor Essays may afford but what I have written is chiefly intended for your hopeful Offspring to whom I conceived a brief Idea of the World in this kind relating to those chief Potentates under whose Dominion God at present has put it might be of use for initiating their Understandings till being come to more mature years their own Studies and Observations in Travels may inure them to well digested Thoughts concerning the various Governments of the World whereby they may be rendered serviceable to the Nation in which they live It 's well known how Eminent for Parts and Services to this Nation the late Lord Cottington your Uncle was whose Family a few years since being reduced in the Male-Line only to your self you see Providence by vouchsafing you three flourishing Branches of Male-Issue has given you good Hopes and a fair Prospect of a long Continuance of it And as the many Favours I have received from you have highly engaged me to wish Prosperity to it so whenever any thing shall be suggested to my Understanding whereby I may be a Mean to promote it it shall most readily be put in Execution by Sir Your most Obliged Kinsman and most Humble Servant John Beaumont Jun. THE Present STATE OF THE UNIVERSE c. The House of Austria THE Illustrious House of Austria having the largest extent of Dominions among the European Princes I have thought fit to begin with that This House owes its Original to the Earls of Habsburg whom a late Writer derives from the Counts of Mount Aventine of the ancient Perleonian Family which was formerly of the greatest Repute and Authority of any in Rome and had its seat on Mount Aventine Albertus Dives Anicius Perleonius a person Descended of the said Family was driven out of Rome An. 1144. by the Arnaldistick Hereticks together with his Brother Rudolph in defence of the Roman See Whereupon he travelled into Switzerland and there married the Daughter of Wernerus last Earl of Habsburg of the Anician Perleonian Race This Albertus Dives Anicius was Great Grandfather to Rudolph the fourth Earl of Habsburg the first German Emperour of the Anician Perleonian Family This Rudolph the first was the Common Father of the Austrian Family born May 1. 1218. He was elected Emperour An. 1273. by the unanimous consent of the Princes of the Empire and crowned the same year at Aix la Chapelle and at a Diet held at Ausburg An. 1282. he had Austria settled on his eldest Son Albert who was first Duke of Austria and Schwaben on Rudolph his youngest Son Philip the first descended from Albert was born An. 1478. and An. 1496. he married the Princess Johanna eldest Daughter and Heiress to his Catholick Majesty Ferdinand of Spain in whose right he immediately became possest of the Kingdoms of Castile and Arragon He had for his Sons Charles the fifth and Ferdinand the first betwixt which two Princes there was a division made of the Provinces when the House of Austria became likewise divided into the Spanish and German Lines The Spanish Line I. THE Author of the Spanish Line was Charles the fifth born at Ghent in Flanders An. 1500. At fourteen years of Age he had the Government of the Netherlands given him At sixteen he was Crowned King of Spain At nineteen elected Emperour and Crowned the year following at Aix la Chappelle He annexed the Duchy of Milain to his House for ever He concluded a Peace with the Protestants at Passaw An. 1552 and three years after he Abdicated his Government leaving the Empire to his Brother Ferdinand and the Kingdom of Spain with the Low Countries and its other dependencies to his Son Philip Great Grandfather to the present King of Spain Charles the Second who was born Nov. 6. 1661 and on the 21. of December following was Christened Carolus-Joachimus-Josephus-Antonius-Leonardus He succeeded in the Kingdom at the death of his Father Philip the Fourth who died Sept. 17. 1665. and in the year 1675 being entred on the fifteenth year of his Age he took on him the Government of his Estates whereas during his minority the supream Government was under the Regency of the Queen his Mother named Mary-Anne Daughter of the Emperour Ferdinand the Fourth and is now Dowager of Spain She was born Oct 12. 1631. and married to Philip the Fourth King of Spain Nov. 7. 1649. This King Aug. 31. An. 1679. espoused the Princess Mary-Louise of Orleans eldest Daughter to Philip Duke of Orleans by the Princess Henrietta-Maria youngest Daughter to our late King Charles the First The Prince of Conde espoused her in the Chappel of the House of Fontainebleau in the name of the King of Spain and the Marriage was Consummated Nov. 19. of the said year 1679 near Burgos in Old Castile She was born March 7. 1662. And this Queen dying without Issue An. 1689. he the same year married Maria-Anna Daughter of Philip-William Duke of Newburg and Elector Palatine the present Queen born Oct. 28. 1667. II. For Arms he bears Quarterly the first Quarter Counter-Quartered in the first and fourth Gules a Castle triple towered Or each with three Battlements bordered Azure Purfled Sable for Castile In the second and third Argent a Lion Gules Crowned Langued and armed Or for Leon. In the second great Quarter Or four great Pallets Gules for Aragon Party Or four Pallets also Gules betwixt two Flanches Argent charg'd with as many Eagles Sable membred becked and crowned Azure for Arragon and Sicily These two great Quarters grafted in Base Argent a Pomegranate Verte stalked and leav'd of the same open and seeded Gules for Granada On the whole Argent five Escutcheons Azure placed crosswise each charg'd with five Besants Argent placed in Saltier for Portugal The Shield bordered Gules with seven Towers Or three in Chief two in Fesse and two toward the Base for Algarve In the third great Quarter Gules a Fesse Argent for Austria Coupé and supported
by Ancient Burgundy which is bendy of six pieces Or and Azure bordered Gules In the fourth great Quarter Azure semé of Flower de Luces Or with a border Compone Argent and Gules for Modern Burgundy Coupe Or. supported Sable a Lion Or for Brabant These two great Quarters charged with an Escutcheon Or and a Lion Sable arm'd and langued Gules for Flanders Party Or an Eagle Sable for Anvers the Capital City of the Holy Empire For Crest a Crown trefoiled Or rais'd with eight Diadems or Semicircles terminating in a Mond Or which is the Crest of Spain The Collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece encompasses the Shield and on the sides of it stand the two Pillars of Hercules viz. on each side one with this Motto Plus ultra The foresaid Order was refus'd by Lewis the Eleventh King of France as having been founded by a Duke who was Vassal to the Crown of France viz. Philip surnamed the Good Duke of Burgundy who Instituted it at Bruges An. 1429. It may be worth notice that the Arms of Castile and Leon are the first which have been born Quartered The Ordinary Device of some Kings of Spain has been this Omnes Contra nos nos Contra Omnes The Title of the Most Catholick King was given by Pope Alexander the Sixth to Ferdinand the Fifth and his Successors for having rooted out of Spain the Moors and Sarracens You may also note that the eldest Sons of the Kings of Spain are called Princes of the Asturias as those of the German Emperors Arch Dukes of Austria Those of the Kings of England Princes of Wales Those of the Kings of Portugal Princes of Algarves Those of the Dukes of Savoy Princes of Piemont c. The King of Spain's Livery is of a Yellow colour His Majesty Professes the Roman Religion and uses the Spanish Language III. Madrid situate in New Castile having been the place of Residence of the Kings of Spain since the time of Philip the Second is become from a Village to be the most populous Town of all Spain The Houses are built of Brick and the greatest part four Stories high all having Iron Balcones All the upper Rooms in the Town belong to the King who is allowed for them There are in it several Publick Edifices very beautiful among others the famous Square for the Bull Feast This Town is about the bigness of Bristol and is kept very nastily the filth and excrements lying in the Streets tho on this account excusable because the Inhabitants who drink Well Water there are fearful to sink necessary Conveniencies left the Waters should be tainted thereby About seven Miles North from Madrid is seated the Escurial or Monastery of S. Lawrence built by King Philip the Second It s a Structure so splendid magnificent and sumptuous that some think no Building in times past or at present comparable to it The front towards the West is adorned with three stately Gates the middlemost whereof leads into a most magnificent Temple and a Monastery in which are one hundred and fifty Monks of the Order of S. Hierom and a College That on the right Hand opens into divers Offices belonging to the Monastery That on the left into Schools and Out-houses belonging to the College At the four Corners there are four Turrets of excellent Workmanship and for hight Majestical Towards the North is the Kings Palace On the South parts divers beautiful and sumptuous Galleries and on the East part sundry Walks and Gardens very pleasing and delightful It contains in all thirty seven Court and Cloisters Eleven thousand Windows Eight hundred Pillars and is indeed a most noble Structure There are in it Seven Communities seven Priors and a Grand Prior. The Revenue is above Thirty thousand Crowns per annum and there is a Library in it containing above Eighteen thousand Books and among them a great many Arabick Manuscripts Toledo is the Capital City of New Castile being situate near the midst of Spain on the River Tagus It s about Four Miles in compass and is well fortified and beautified with a good number of stately Edifices and by reason of its situation in the midst of Spain it s well inhabited both by Nobility Merchants and Scholars beside such Soldiers and their Officers who are continually garrison'd in it It s also honored with the See of an Archbishop who is the Metropolitan of Spain and President for the most part of the Inquisition having a Revenue of Three hundred thousand Crowns per annum and Seventeen other Towns under his Jurisdiction both in Spirituals and Temporals Granada is the Capital City of the Kingdom call'd by that name whose whole Circuit is said to be Seven Miles it having contain'd in the time of the Moors Two hundred thousand Souls and where the Houses of the best sort are for the most part built of Free stone with delicate and artificial Masonry shewing their Magnificence Sevil the Capital City of Andalusia in the Kingdom of Corduba is look'd upon by some to be the fairest City of all Spain It is in compass six Miles divided into two parts by the River Baetis on which its seated but joined together by a strong and beautiful Bridge the whole environed with beautiful Walls and adorned with many magnificent and stately Buildings as Palaces Churches and Monasteries It has a flourishing University adorned with a goodly Library furnished by Diego the Son of Christopher Columbus the first Founder of it with Twelve thousand Volumes in several Languages gathered together with extraordinary Care and Charge and endowed with a fair Revenue for the Maintenance and Enlargement of it It s also a Town particularly famous for Traffick here being the publick Emporeum of Spain for Wines Oils and Commodities brought from the Indies and other Foreign Parts So much concerning the Towns of greatest Note in Spain The King of Spain has likewise in Italy the City of Milain being the fairest and biggest City of all Lombardy containing Seven Miles in compass and Two hundred thousand People It s seated betwixt the Rivers Ticinus and Addua which run hard by it to the great Conveniency of the Inhabitants both for having things brought to them at cheap Rates and for vending and dispersing their Manufactures which are of great esteem in most parts of the World It flourishes in all Riches and in the Beauty of its Edifices both publick and private but three especially commended for their Magnificence the Castle the Hospital and the Cathedral It s fortified with Walls Ramparts and deep Trenches and the Castle in it is so strong that it s judg'd impregnable The Trade is so great that private Shops there equal publick Store-houses of other Places and the People are so rich that the Wife of every Mechanick goes in her Silks and Taffaties The King of Spain has also in Italy the City of Naples which is the Capital of that Kingdom and contains Seven Miles in compass It 's honoured
as Hostages for their Fathers Loyalty They ordered also that all such as repaired to Cusco the Imperial City should be attired according to their own Country Fashion so to prevent those Leagues and Associations which otherwise without any Notice or Observation might be made amongst them and many such politick Institutions were by them devis'd As for the Names of the Ingas of Peru Mango-Capac descended of the chief of the first seven Families was the first who laid the Foundation of this puissant Monarchy The Fourteenth Inga of this Race was Atabaliba who was vanquished and taken Prisoner by Francisco Pizarro the Spanish Commander at Caxamalca in the Country of Lima where tho he gave him for a Ransom of his Life and Liberty an House piled up on all sides with Gold and Silver valued as some say at ten Millions of Crowns yet they slew him at last in whose place Pizarro substituted his second Brother called Mango-Capac the Second who was the Fifteenth Inga and who after many Vicissicudes of Fortune was at last slain in the City of Cusco and so the Kingdom of the Ingas began and ended in a Prince of the same Name as it has happened to many Estates Armorial Ensigns for the Distinction of Persons being a thing of common notion among Mankind have been found in some sort from all Antiquity in all Nations more or less and the Gentilitial Arms of the Ingas of Peru on their first Discovery were found to be a Field Argent charged with a Rainbow proper betwixt two Snakes extended also proper As to the Forces and Revenues of these Ingas doubtless they were exceeding great for tho as Heylin says we find no particular Musters which they made of their Men nor what great Armies they drew with them into the Field yet by their great Successes and many Victories we may conclude them to have been Masters of great Bands of Men and skilful in the Arts of Conduct nor can we otherwise conjecture at the Greatness of their yearly Revenues but by the Greatness of their Treasure so infinite and almost incredible that all the Vessels of the King's House his Table and Kitchen were of Gold and Silver Statues of Giants in the Wardrobe together with the Resemblance in proportion and bigness of all the Beasts Birds Trees Plants and Fishes which were found in that Kingdom of the purest Gold Ropes Budgets Troughs Chests all of Gold or Silver Billets of Gold piled up together as if they had been Billets of Wood cut out for the Fire three Houses full of Pieces of Silver all which besides infinite of other Treasures fell into the Hands of a few poor Spaniards In the Northern Division of America called Mexicana the King of Spain has Mexico the chief City of all America It was formerly situate in Lakes and Islands and built on Piles like Venice every where interlaced with the pleasant Currents of fresh and Salt Waters and carrying a Face of more Civil Government than any of America tho nothing if compared with Europe But the Town being destroyed by Cortez it s now built on firm Land on the Edge of the Salt Lake and bordering on a large and spacious Plain It s in compass six Miles and contains six thousand Houses of the Spaniards and sixty thousand of Indians The Inhabitants are so very rich that generally the Merchants Tradesmen and Artificers go in greater State and more splendid Equipage than any People elswhere of the like condition The Inhabitants of that Country were governed by the Chief of their Tribes till the year 1322 that Acamapitzli was elected the first King who with his Successors encroach'd upon their Neighbours till the year 1502 when Montezuma the Second came to be their tenth King who who in the Eighteenth Year of his Reign was subdued by Cortez and the City was taken sacked and burnt by the Spaniards assisted by many Confederates of that Country August 13. 1521 it being in the time of the Emperor Charles the Fifth The Kings of Mexico are said to have worn a Crown resembling that which is now used by the Dukes of Venice And the Name of the first Mexican King being Acamapitzli which in the Mexican Tongue signifies an handful of Reeds as Acosta writes they carried in their publick Ensigns in memory of that great Prince An Hand grasping many Arrows of Reeds and the peculiar Arms of Mexico are a Field Argent charged with an Eagle Proper holding in his Right Foot a Bird the other standing on a Cochinele Tree proper growing out of a Stone The Revenues of the Kings of Mexico are thought to have been almost infinite raised out of all Commodities and paid in kind whether natural or artificial only the King participating of the Fruits of all Mens Labours and sharing with them in their Wealth some paying in Cups full of Powder of Gold of two handfuls apiece some Diamonds and Beads of Gold Plates of Gold of three quarters of a yard long and four Fingers broad Turquois Stones Golden Targets rich Feathers Pictures c. not to mention things of inferior Value all which in such a wealthy and large Estate must needs afford him a Revenue equal to the greatest Monarchs IV. The Revenues of the King of Spain which ordinarily arise out of his Estates are computed to be nine millions of Crowns yearly viz. four from his Dominions in Italy three from the West-Indies and two from his Kingdoms of Spain He receives besides yearly the Revenues of all the Masterships of the great Orders of his Kingdom which amount to an hundred and fifty thousand pounds of yearly Rents beside the opportunity of preferring Servants of the greatest merit Moreover the Free Gifts and Contributions of his Subjects and his Usualties and extraordinary ways of raising Monies supply him with vast Sums and nevertheless this King is not counted to be rich in Treasure his Expences being very great in keeping Forts and Garrisons in many parts of his Estates and in maintaining Frontier Places and an Armada for conducting his Plate-Fleet c. It s observable that the Kingdom of Spain according to the least Computation is said to be five hundred miles in compass more than France and nevertheless France is esteem'd to contain near double the number of Inhabitants which has been occasion'd by the Extirpation of the Jews and Moors and by sending out yearly so many of their Subjects to Foreign Plantations c. they acting herein contrary to the Romans who finding nothing more necessary for great and important Enterprizes than multitudes of Men employed all their Studies to increase their Numbers by Marriages Colonies and such helps making their conquered Enemies free Denisons of their Commonwealth by which means the number of the Roman Citizens became so great that Rome could not be ruined by any Forces but its own The German Line of the House of Austria I. AS Charles the Fifth eldest Son to Philip the First was Author of the Spanish Line
present Count Palatine of the Upper Palatinate Duke of Bavaria Prince and Elector of the Empire Steward to the Imperial House and first of the Secular Electors born Jun. 11. 1662. he succeeded his Father May 16. 1679. and An. 1685 he married Anna-Maria-Josepha the only Daughter of Leopold the present Emperour by his first Empress the Princess Margarida-Maria-Teresa of Austria Daughter of Philip the Fourth King of Spain The Duchess was born Jan. 18. An. 1669. and had a Son by the Duke May 1. An. 1689. but he died the same year The Duke has a Brother named Josephus-Clementius-Cajetanus-Franciscus-Antoninus-Gasper-Melchior-Balthasar-Joannes-Baptista-Nicolaus the present Elector of Cologne beforementioned He has also a Sister named Violanta-Beatrix born Jan. 23. An. 1673. and married to Gaston eldest Son and Heir to the present Duke of Tuscany An. 1688. II. His Arms are three Escutcheons joyn'd together the first Sable a Lion Crown'd Or which belongs to the Palatinate The second Fusilè in Bend Argent and Azure in twenty one pieces which belongs to Bavaria The third Gules with an Imperial Globe Or which belongs to the Electorate His Livery is of a _____ colour He professes the Roman Religion and uses the High Dutch Language III. Saltsburg was formerly the Capital City of this Country at present it is Munchen seated on the River Isar where the Elector Resides It s in a very sweet and delightful Soil among Ponds and Groves daintily interlac'd with pretty Rivulets and embellisht with many excellent Gardens that of the Elector being extraordinary Norinberg is the fairest City in the Upper Palatinate and perhaps of all Germany of figure it is Square environ'd with a tripple Wall of eight Miles in Circuit The Houses are most of Free-stone and six or seven Stories high and divers of them painted on the outside and adorn'd with gilded Balls on the top At Altorff near this Town in the Anatomy-School is the Skeleton of a Bear bigger than an Horse If the Bavarian Branch fails the Palatinate Family are to re-enter into the ancient Electorship and the other newly erected is to be abolished SAXONY ALbert the Third Elector of Saxony descended of the Family of Anhalt coming to an unexpected and accidental end being without issue ann 1422 Frederick the Warlike Marquess of Misnia and Landgrave of Thuringia Son to Frederick the Sttong was invested in the Electoral Dignity by the Emperor Sigismond ann 1425 from whom is descended I. Joannes-Georgius the Third the present Duke of Saxony Landgrave of Thuringia Marquess of Misnia Grand Marshal of the Empire Prince and Elector who was born June 20. 1647 and succeeded his Father Aug. 22. 1680. and in Sept. 1663 he espoused the Princess Anna Sophia eldest Sister to the present King of Denmark but the Marriage was not consummated till Octob. 9. 1666 she was born ann 1647 and he has had by her two Sons 1. Joannes-Georgius the Fourth Heir apparent born Octob. 17. ann 1668. 2. Frederick-Augustus born May 12. 1670. The Duke has no Brother nor Sister living but there are forty two Princes of the House of Saxony alive II. His Arms are quarterly In the first Upper Saxony In the second Thuringia In the third Misnia In the fourth Lower Saxony Over all the Electorate bears Barwise of six pieces Or and Sable a Bend verte His Livery is of a _____ Colour He professes the Protestant Religion according to the Doctrine of Luther and uses the High-Dutch Language III. Dresden seated on the fides of the River Albis by which it is divided into the Old Town and the New join'd into one by a Bridge eight hundred paces in length is the ordinary place of Residence of this Elector the Country round about it being very rich and pleasant When the first Stone was laid to build the Walls of this Town there was placed in the Earth a Silver Cup gilded a Book of the Laws and another of Coins and three Glasses filled with Wine Magdeburg is the greatest Town of the Country but possess'd by the Marquess of Brandenburgh by virtue of the Treaty at Munster The first Turnament in Germany opened at Magdeburg 635 by the Emperor Henry surnamed the Fowler These Pastimes were afterwards deposed upon the emulation they caused between the Princes and Nobility or haply on consideration that many brave Men lost their Lives in these Encounters for at Darmstadt an 1403 at the twenty third Turnament which was held in Germany the Gentlemen of Franconia and those of Hesse drew so much Blood of each other that there remain'd dead on the place seventeen of the former and nine of the latter Wittenberg seated on the Elb whose chief Beauty lies in one chief Street extending the whole length of the City in former times was the Seat of the Duke-Elector till the Electoral Dignity was conferred on the House of Meissen who liking better their own Country kept their Court at Dresden but so that Wittenberg is still acknowledg'd for the Head City of the Electorate IV. This Electors ordinary and extraordinary Revenues may amount to eight millions of Livers yearly It arises out of his Silver Mines Imposts laid upon Beer the Tenths of all sorts of Increase as of Corn Wine c. Salt-Houses and the like BRANDENBURG THAT the Family of Brandenburg is descended from the Counts of Zollern in Schawben is not to be doubted but from whence these Counts drew their Extraction does not so well appear Their opinion seems to be best which gives them the same original with the Guelphi yet so as not entirely to exclude the Colonnas a Family of an Italian Extraction also In the Catalogue of these Counts we find Conrade the First who flourished about the middle of the twelfth Century and married Anne of Vokburg sole Heiress of the last Burgrave of Nurenburg whereupon he obtained of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to be himself invested in that Burgraviate From him was descended Frederick the Sixth the first Elector of Brandenburg of the Family of Zollern This Frederick was born ann 1372 and served the Emperor Sigismond in his Wars by whom in regard of his great merit he was constituted Vicar or Warden of the Marc ann 1411. Afterwards at a Diet held at Constance ann 1415. he obtained the Electoral Dignity of the said Emperor with the general consent of the other Electors together with the Marquisate of Brandenburg paying down in consideration thereof four hundred thousand Hungarian Shillings The Investiture was afterward solemnly performed in Apr. ann 1417 c. From him is descended I. Frederick III. the present Marquess of Brandenburg great Chamberlain of the Empire and Elector Duke of Prussia c. born at Nine of the Clock in the Morning July 1. anno 1657 he succeeded his Father Apr. 29. 1688 Old Style and on the 23d of August ann 1679 he married Elizabetha Henrica Sister to the present Landtgrave of Hesse she died July 27. 1683 leaving one only Daughter nam'd Louisa-Dorothea-Sophia born Sept. 19.
1680. Since the Decease of this Electress in the following year viz. 1684. Oct. 6. he married the Princess Sophia-Charlotta Daughter to Ernestus-Augustus the present Bishop of Osenburg and Duke of Brunswick and Hanover She was born Oct. 20. 1668 the Duke has had by her two Sons but only one living viz. Frederick-William born at two of the clock in the Afternoon Aug. 4. 1688. This Elector has four Brothers and two Sisters living but his Father's Issue by a second Ventre viz. 1. Philip-William born in May 1669. 2. Maria Amalia born Nov. 16. 1670 and first married ann 1687 to Charles eldest Son and Heir apparent to the present Duke of Meckleburg-Gustrow and after his Decease which happened March 15. 1688 to Maurice-William Duke of Saxony and Administrator of Naumburg June 26. 1689. 3. Albert-Frederick born Jan. 14. 1672. 4. Charles-Philip born Dec. 26. 1672. 5. Elizabeth-Sophia born March 26. 1674. 6. Charles or Christian-Lewis born at four of the clock in the Afternoon May 14. or 17. 1677. Note that there are fourteen Princes of the House of Brandenburg alive II. The Duke bears divers Quarterings containing several Alliances and Principalities over all Azure a Scepter in Pale Or which belongs to the Electorship a triple Helm and a triple Crest he has moreover in his Arms a Lion an Eagle crown'd and a Griffin the Shield is componé and contonué His Livery is of a blue Colour He professes the Protestant Religion according to the Doctrine of Calvin and uses the High Dutch Language III. Brandenburg seated on the River Havel is the Capital City of the Marquisate to which it gives the Name His Electoral Highness resides ordinarily at Berlin Spandaw Posdam Berlin is the greatest Town of the Marquisate being seated on the River Suevus it s as big as Montpellier or Beziers in France Magdeburg belonging to this Elector was formerly the Metropolitan City of Germany but scarce half built again since it was sack'd by Tilly and 36000 persons put to the Sword and destroyed IV. His ordinary and extraordinary Revenues are computed to be eleven or twelve and some say fourteen millions of Livers His Territories and Forces are the greatest in Germany next the Emperors and his Court is Royal and the second fairest This Prince may go on his own Land from the Low Countries so far as into Poland and Curland The Elector Palatine THE Palatine and Bavarian Families are known to have had one Rise viz. from Otho Earl of Wittlesbach and Schyre as it s said before in Bavaria who was created Duke of Bavaria by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa ann 1180 and had both the Bavarias as well Upper as Lower granted him for ever His Grandson Otho the Second as 't is said before married Agnes sole Daughter and Heiress to Henry the younger Prince Palatine of the Rhine and by reason thereof obtained of the Emperor Frederick the Second the Investiture of that Palatinate together with the Electoral Dignity ann 1227. his eldest Son was Lewis the Severe born Apr. 13. 1229 who left two Sons viz. Rudolph an 1274 who succeeded his Father Lewis in the Palatinate and Electoral Dignity and was Author of the Rudolphine Line of the Palatinate Family 2. Lewis who was Author of the Bavarian Line of the said Family From the forementioned Rudolph is descended Joannes-Gulielmus-Josephus the present Elector Palatine and Duke of Newburg grand Treasurer of the Imperial House who was born at Dusseldorp Apr. 19. 1650 and married at Newstadt in Austria Octob. 25 new style 1678 the Princess Maria-Anna-Josepha Daughter to the Emperor Ferdinand the Fourth by Eleanor Gonzaga Daughter of Charles Duke of Mantua his third Wife This Electress was born ann 1658. She was brought to bed of a Son but stillborn ann 1683 and ann 1686 she miscarried a second time and continuing indisposed died three years after at Vienna viz. Apr. 7. 1689. The Elector succeeded his Father ann 1690 and his first Wife being dead he married a Daughter of Cosmo the Third great Duke of Tuscany ann 1691. This Elector has six Brothers and six Sisters living born in this order 1. Eleonora-Magdalena-Teresa Empress of Germany born Jan. 6. 1655. 2. Ludovicus-Antonius Greast Master of the Teutonick Order born at Dusseldorp July 9. 1660. 3. Carolus-Philippus born Nov. 4. 1661 and married at Berlin July 24. 168 to Louise Charlotta de Ratzeville Lewis Marquess of Brandenburg's Widow 4. Alexander-Sigismundus Dean of Ausburg and President of the Chapter of Constance born at Neuburg Apr. 16. 1663. 5. Franciscus Ludovicus born at Neuburg July 24. 1664 and elected Bishop of Breslaw Jan. 30. 1683. 6. Fredericus Gulielmus born at Dusseldorp July 20. 1665. 7 Maria-Sophia-Elizabetha born Aug. 16. 1666 and married ann 1687 to Peter King of Portugal 8 Maria-Anna born at Dusseldorp Oct. 28. 1667 and affianc'd to Charles the Second King of Spain Aug. 28. 1689 whose Queen she now is 9. Philippus Gulielmus-Augustus born Nov. 18. 1688. 10. Dorothea-Sophia born July 12. 1670. 11 Hedewig-Elizabetha Amalia born July 18. 1673. 12 Leopoldina Eleanora-Sophia born May 27. 1679. II. The Arms of Charles Count Palatine of the Rhine this Elector's Predecessor in the Electorate who deceased May 16. 1685 were Quartelry In the first and fourth Sable a Lion Or crown'd arm'd and langued Gules In the second and third Lozengys Argent and Azure of one and twenty pieces with a Mond Or which belongs to the Electorate The Elector's Livery is of a _____ Colour and he professes the Roman Religion and uses the High Dutch Language III. Heidelberg is the Capital Town of the Electorate seated on the River Neccar On the Town House is a Clock with divers motions and when the Clock strikes an old Man puts off his Hat a Cock crows and shakes his Wings Soldiers fight with each other c. In a great Building there in the Elector Palatines Palace joining to the Cellars the great Vessel holding two hundred Tuns is famous Ann. 1661 as Dr. Brown has observed in the Account of his Travels about an hundred English came up the Rhine and by the permission of the Elector settled themselves a few miles from Heidelberg living all together Men Women and Children in one House and having a Community of many things they are of a peculiar Religion calling themselves Christian-Jews and one Mr. Poole formerly living in Norwich was their Head They cut not their Beards and observe many other Ceremonies and Duties which they either think themselves obliged to by some expressions in the Old Testament or from some new Exposition of their Teachers Manheim seated on the Confluence of the Rhine and Neccar is the Defence of all the Country there is in it a very fair Palace where the Elector Charles ordinarily resided IV. The Elector Charles beside his own Estates inherited five hundred thousand Livres of yearly Rent after the Death of the Palatine of Simmeren Uncle to Charles-Lewis his Father and formerly his Tutor Philip William Father to the
7. In the wholesomness of the Air. 8. In the cheapness and less stowage of Fuel 9. In the cheapness of all the most necessary sorts of Food and the greater variety and plenty of all sorts of Drinks 10. In the Churches nothing at Paris being so great as S. Pauls has been and is like to be nor so beautiful as King Henry the Seventh's Chapel As to the ground upon which Paris stands in respect of London he says Paris is said to be an Oval of three English Miles long and 2½ broad the Area whereof contains but 5½ square Miles Now tho London measured from Lime house to the end of Tuttlestreet from East to West is above seven Miles and an half and from the farthest end of Blackmanstreet in Southwark to the end of S. Leonard Shoreditch is 2500 Geometrical paces or two Miles and an half yet he says upon a Medium London is seven Miles long and 1¼ broad which makes an Area of near nine square Miles which proportion of 5½ to nine differs little from that of 13 to 23. It s worthy of Observation that before the Restauration of Monarchy in England An. 1660. the people of Paris were more than those of London and Dublin put together whereas now the people of London are more than those of Paris Rome and Rouen The foremention'd Author also makes out by a rational computation that Rome in Nero's time seems not to have been above half as big again as London now is and that now London is near six times as great as the present Rome wherein are 119000 souls besides Jews which he computes at 6000. I know not whether Edinburg the Metropolis of Scotland may deserve noting It s extended from East to West on a rising ground a Mile in length or somewhat more and it s about three Miles in compass The Houses are generally six or seven Stories high and it s greatly peopled according to its bigness several Families living in each House His Majesties chief Seats of pleasure in England are Windsor Castle and Hampton-Court IV. The Revenues settled on the late King Charles the Second by Parliament on his Restauration were 120000 l. per annum which since has been considerably augmented so that his present Majesty has near two millions per annum And we know that in case of a War or the like as at present the Kings of England with a concurrence of their Parliaments are able to raise sums great enough to deal with any Prince or Potentate whatsoever HOLLAND KIng William being Great Stat Holder for Amsterdam I have thought fit to subjoin an account of Holland here I. The Seven Provinces which united themselves at Utrech An. 1579. are generally known by the name of Holland tho Zealand was the first Province which set it self at Liberty The motives which oblig'd these Provinces to depart from the Dominion of Spain were 1. Because Spanish Garrisons were kept in the Low Countries to the discontent of all the Orders 2. The Imposition of the tenth penny on all Merchandises 3. The fear of the Spanish Inquisition which enraged them it being more Politick than Christian for keeping in awe the Nobles and great Persons of the Country 4. The Infraction of their Priviledges 5. The cruelty of Ferdinando-Alvarez of Toledo Duke of Alba joyn'd with his haughtiness and contempt of Persons 6. The endeavours for an alteration of Religion Now the Princes of Orange of the House of Nassau have been the Councel Support and Glory of these Provinces As to the present Prince see England II. The States Arms are Or a Lion Gules holding with one Paw a Cutleas and with the other a bundle of seven Arrows closely bound together by allusion to the seven Confederate Provinces with this Motto Concordia res parvae crescunt The States Livery is of a red colour They profess the Protestant Religion according to the Doctrine of Calvin and use the Low Dutch Tongue III. Amsterdam is the most considerable City of all Holland the Houses are generally built of Brick and it s built on Piles like Venice As to what proportion in bigness this City bears to London I have no exact account but upon comparing the Bills of Mortality in both the Burials of the latter vastly exceed those of the former For An. 1685. the Burials of London were 23222. and those of Amsterdam 6245. From whence and the difference of Air its probable that the people of London are quadruple to those of Amsterdam Dr. Brown having taken a view of this City in his Travels before London was rebuilt gives this handsom account of it Amsterdam for Riches Trade Shipping fair Streets and pleasant Habitations scarce yields to any other City of the World it s seated on the River Ye An. 1470 it was wall'd about with a Brick Wall to defend it against the Citizens of Utrecht The Arms of it are three Crosses on a Pale with an Imperial Crown over all the last given them by Maximilian the Emperour Of late years this City is mightily increaced and encompast with a new Wall and fortified after the modern way And the whole Town being in a low marshy ground the water is let in thro all the considerable Streets and its all built upon Piles or high Firr-Trees driven down perpendicularly so close together that nothing can be forc'd in betwixt them This supports the greatest buildings where no bottom is For the Foundation of one Tower or Steeple alone there were ramm'd into the ground 6334 great Trees The Town House is the noblest building in all these Countries a Pile of free Stone one hundred and ten paces in Front larger than the magnificent Church of S. Peters at Rome and eighty one paces deep or on the sides On the top of it stands Atlas or Columbus holding a Globe on his Shoulders made of Copper of about ten Foot diameter which is as large perhaps as any Globe or Ball whatsoever imploy'd in this Ornamental use The Draw-Bridges at Amsterdam part in the middle and a Vessel tho under Sail may pass them without the help of any one on shore for the Mast Head or break water of the Ship bearing against the Bridge in the middle opens it So far Dr. Brown Harlem also in Holland is a Town of a large extent and the Hague is one of the fairest Villages in Europe it containing above four thousand Houses It s remarkable that the whole compass of the Province of Holland is but one hundred and eighty Miles no part thereof being distant from the Sea above three hours journey and yet it contains twenty three wall'd Towns and four hundred Villages From the Steeple of the Town of Gorcham in this Province a man may behold twenty two wall'd Towns beside a great number of Villages And the Town of Utrech situate within the Province of that name is so miraculously seated among wall'd Towns that a man may go from thence in one day to any of fifty wall'd Towns
the Dukedom of Savoy where the Duke keeps his Court when he is on this side the Alps. The number of the people of the Principality of Piemont and Savoy computed together is thought to be 800000. IV. The Ordinary Revenues of this Dukedom taking in Piemont are said to be above a Million of Crowns per annum but his Extraordinary so Great that Duke Charles-Emanuel during the Wars with Henry the Fourth in a very few years drew out of Piemont only eleven Millions of Crowns beside the charge they were put to in Quartering the Soldiers TUSCANY I. COsmo de Medices a Citizen and whose Ancestors were Merchants was elected Prince by the Populace of Florence An. 1434. But Piero or Peter de Medices his Grandson having without the Senators knowledge entred into a League with the French King Charles the Eighth was ejected by the Florentines who enjoy'd their ancient Liberty till 1512. That Ferdinand the Catholick King restor'd the Medicean Family which nevertheless in the year 1529. was again expell'd by the Florentines and altho the Emperour Charles the Fifth seized on the City and made Alexander de Medices who had married his Natural Daughter Margaret their Governour yet he being slain the Populace made choice of his Kinsman Cosmo de Medices This Cosmo commonly call'd the First was declar'd King of Tuscany by Pope Paul the Fifth An. 1569. But upon the Emperor Maximilian the Second's much opposing it he laid by the Title of King and took that of Great Duke of Tuscany And this man was Great Great Grandfather to the present Cosmo the Third Great Duke of Tuscany born 1642. succeeded his Father 1670. and married by Proxy April 19. 1661 the Princess Louise-Margaret of Orleans Daughter to the late Gaston of France Duke of Orleans and of the deceased Margaret of Lorain by whom he has Issue 1. Prince Gaston born An. _____ and married An. 1688. to the Princess Violanta-Beatrix only Sister to the present Elector of Bavaria 2. The Princess _____ born _____ and married to the present Elector Palatine An. 1691. II. His Arms are Or five Roundles Gules two two and one and one in chief Azure charg'd with three Flower de Luces Or. His Livery is of a _____ colour He professes the Roman Religion and uses the Tuscan Language III. Florence is the Capital City of the whole State and the place of aboad of the Great Duke who resides there in a Palace on the Model of which Luxemburg at Paris was built This City is counted six Miles in compass and is said to have in it 90000 souls The City Piza belonging also to this Duke is five Miles in compass but has not a third part of the Inhabitants of the other His Revenues as a French Author says are conceiv'd to be a Million and an half of Ducats yearly of which 600000 Crowns are raised yearly out of the Dominion of the City of Florence 150000 more out of that of Sienna The Customs arising out of the Port of Legorn amount yearly to 130000 Ducats The Toll of the Mill-Stones only 160000. That of Salt Mines and Iron falls not short of the latter In all a Million and 20000 Ducats He has also his Stock going amongst the Bankers and Trades as much as any in the way of Merchandizing he uses also to buy up almost all the Corn which is brought into the Country out of other parts and to sell it again at his own price forbidding any to be sold till all his be vended The rest is made up by Excise upon all Commodities even unto Herbs and Sallets A late German Author says thus of him His power may be guest at by his yearly Revenues which are estimated at 1800000 shillings MANTUA I. THE Family of the Dukes of Mantua is deriv'd from one Hugo who married one of the Gonzagas a Family of a Noble Extraction in Lombardy which was the reason that his Son Gerhard who was invested in Mantua by his Cousin Adelbert An. 1009 as an immediate Feudatory of the Empire took on him the name of Gonzaga Aloisius or Lewis Gonzaga was the eleventh in descent from Gerhard and created Captain of Mantua by the Emperour Charles the Fourth An. 1329. which Title continued in the Family till John-Francis his Great Great Grandson was created the first Marquess of Mantua by the Emperour Sigismond An. 1433. whose Great Grandson Frederick the Second was created the first Duke of Mantua by the Emperour Charles the Fifth An. 1530. whose Great Great Grandson is Charles the Third present Duke of Mantua of the House of Gonzaga born _____ succeeded his Father An. 1637. and has married Isabella Clara Daughter to Leopold the Fifth Arch-Duke of Austria but has no Issue by her II. His Arms are Argent a Crosse Pattee Gules betwixt four Eagles Sable membred of the second under an Escutcheon in Fesse charg'd Quarterly with Gules a Lion Rampant Or and three Bars Sable His Livery is of a _____ colour He professes the Roman Religion and uses the Italian Language III. His chief City and place of Residence is Mantua seated on the River Sarca being very large strong and pleasant It s said to have been built by Oenus the Son of Manto the Prophetess Daughter to Tyresias and is esteem'd more ancient than Rome by 670 years The Dukes to take their pleasure on the Lakes and Rivers near this City have a Barge call'd the Bucentaure five Stories high and capable of receiving two hundred persons whence it took the name furnisht very richly both for State and Pleasure The Dukes Palace in the City of Mantua is very fair and stately but far short for the pleasures and delights thereof of his Palace at Mirmirollo five Miles from the City which tho it be of a low Roof after the manner of ancient buildings yet it s very richly furnisht and adorn'd with very beautiful Gardens fit to lodge and gratifie any Prince whatsoever IV. His Revenues amount to about 500000 Ducats yearly The House of Modena I. A Late French Author says that the ancient House of Brunswick in Germany and of Modena are of the same Stock and justifie their descent for almost 800 years A late German Genealogist derives the Pedigree of Modena thus The Dukes of Modena are descended from the Ancient Marquesses d' Este whose common Father was Hugo Lord of Padua and Marquess of Este Among the Descendants of this Lord we find one Borsus who was created Duke of Modena by the Emperour Frederick the Third and of Ferrara by Pope Paul the Second He was succeeded by his Brother Hercules the First who died An. 1505. From him is descended Franscisco d' Este the present Duke of Modena and Regio Prince of Carpi and Corregio Marquess d' Este and Rovigni c. born An. 1656. and married a Princess out of the Family of the Barbarini He has a Brother living viz. Almericus Prince of Modena Cardinal d' Este born _____ He has also a Sister living viz.
his Feet Whence its probable that the Venetians by setting up the monumental Pillar having S. Theodore on its top with a Dragon under his Feet would denote Barbarossa's submission to the Pope caus'd by them and that by the Column with the winged Lion on it they would represent their own Naval Force IV. Tho it be conceiv'd that the standing Revenues of the State of Venice are but four Millions of Ducats yearly yet they have many other ways to advance their Treasury by laying new Imposts on Commodities as they see occasion which must arise to vast sums in so extraordinary a place of Trade Beside there is nothing which the people Eat or Drink for which they pay not something to the Publick-Treasury and moreover the poorest Labourer pays his Pole mony Whence it s credibly affirm'd that the Christians live better under the Turk than under the Venetians GENOA I. THE Sieur Antonio Passano was chosen Dogue of Genoa with the ordinary Ceremonies Jul. 16. 1677. He has for his ordinary Guard five hundred Germans His Office is Triennial He Governs the State assisted with eight Senators but in Matters of great Weight they are subordinate to the General Council consisting of four hundred Senators His Palace stands in the midst of the Town adorn'd with an high Tower whose front appears very Antique They are under the Protection of the King of Spain Genoa was under the Government of several Princes till the year 1528 that Andrew Doria establisht there the Form of Government observ'd to this day which is Aristocratical There is seen in the Town the Statue of Andrew Doria mounted on an Horse of Cast Copper with this Inscription on the Pedestal Liberator Populi II. The Arms are Argent a Cross Gules with a Crown clos'd by reason of the Island of Corsica belonging to it which has the Title of Kingdom the Supporters are two Griffins Or. The Livery is of a _____ colour They profess the Roman Religion and use the Italian Language Innocent the Third made it an Archbishoprick The present Archbishop is Father Giulio-Vincenzo Gentile a Dominican who was nominated to it at the beginning of the year 1681. III. The Capital City bears the name of the Republick and is seated on the Sea Coast being incompast with double Walls The Italians call it the Jewel of Italy and stile it the Proud by reason of the stateliness of the Buildings both of the Churches and Nobles Houses It s in Compass about six Miles and of an Orbicular form We find in the London Gazette of the twelf of June 1684 that Genoa within its outmost Walls contains 25000 Houses IV. The Revenue of this Republick beside the Treasury of S. George which is very Rich and manag'd as a distinct Body from the Publick by its own Officers amounts to 430000 Crowns per annum RAGUSA I. THE Dogue of this Republick has the Government but for a month II. It has for Arms the Image of the Virgin Mary The Li very is of a _____ colour It professes the Roman Religion and has the Title of an Archbishoprick and uses the Italian Language III. The chief City is Ragusa seated in Dalmatia on the Gulf of Venice and is inclos'd within the State of the Venetians IV. Its Trade into divers Countries makes it rich it being a Magazine of Merchandises which come from Turky and the Turks make use of those of Ragusa to procure from Europe what Wares and Merchandises they have need of LUCA I. THE Republick of Luca lies in Tuscany under the Protection of the House of Austria A Magistrate call'd the Gonfalonere assisted by a certain number of Citizens Governs the State the former being chang'd every month and the latter every six months II. The Arms are Azure a Bend Or on which is written Libertas betwixt two Cottices Or. The Livery is of a _____ colour It professes the Roman Religion and its Bishop owns none but the Pope he has right to the Pallium and causes the Cross to be carried before him Cardinal Spinosa was nominated to this Bishoprick some years since III. The City of Luca situate on the River Serchius is about three Miles in Compass and contains about 24000 Inhabitants It s call'd the Industrious by reason of the Politeness and Skill of its people in making divers Stuffs and because it has yielded great Men in Painting Architecture Sculpture and in all kinds of Arts. IV. The Revenue of this Republick is 80000 Crowns per annum arising from their Silks Wines Stuffs of Cloth of Gold precious Marble Quarries and famous Olive Groves SWITZERLAND I. THE Switzers conceiving themselves opprest by the House of Austria had long thoughts of shaking off the Yoke and in the year 1307. Verner Stauffacher of Switz Walter Furst of Uren and Arnold Melchtal of Underwal form'd a design for effecting it An. 1308. these three Cantons entred into a League Offensive and Defensive on this account and by surprize made themselves Masters of all the Forts which kept them in awe by taking an occasion to carry New years Gifts to the Governours on New-years-day according to Custom Switz gave its name to the whole Nation because it was the first of the three which propos'd the Confederacy Lucern joyn'd with them An. 1332. Zurich 1351. Glaris and Zug 1352. Bern 1353. Friburg and Soloturn 1481. Basil and Schaffaussen 1501. Apenzel 1513. To range these Cantons according to their Rank and Place and not considering the time of their Confederacy they stand thus Zurick Bern Lucern Uren Switz Underwal Zug Glaris Basil Friburg Soloturn Schaffhaussen Apenzel These Cantons have all their peculiar Coats of Arms which may be seen elsewhere and of them Zurich Bern Basil and Schaffhaussen profess Calvinism Glaris and Apenzal profess both the Roman Religion and Calvinism The others profess the Roman Religion When Berthol the Fifth Duke of Zeringham caus'd the Town of Bern to be built An. 1140. He slew a Bear which came to devour him whence the Duke call'd this place Bern which in the German Language signifies a Bear And since the first Foundation of it the Inhabitants have always kept Bears there in a great Pit by the Gate of the Town for a Remembrance The Canton of Bern is almost of as great extent as all the other Twelve and of greater strength The Town is considerable and neatly built with Freestone The City of Lucern is one of the largest and most pleasant of Switzerland The Pope keeps his Nuncio there for all the Catholick Cantons and the King of Spain his Ambassador for the six Cantons of his Alliance which are Lucern Uren Switz Underwal Zug and Friburg The Town of Basil has the greatest Trade and is the most peopled and the pleasantest of all Switzerland The Town of Soloturn is very beautiful the French King keeps there his Ambassador and many other Foreign Princes ordinarily Reside there The Switzers hold every year at Basil the General Assemblies of all the Country When
1615 and settled this vast Empire and manag'd it in a more constant way of Peace with the Turk Tartar Polonian and Swethlander than any of his Predecessors had done before him At present there are two Brothers that Reign jointly as Czars Great Dukes or Emperours of Moscovy The eldest is nam'd Iwan-Alexeewich born about the year 1667. and has married the Daughter of one Soltikows a Polander The other is nam'd Peter Alexeewich born about the year 1670. Upon the death of the late Czar the elder of these came to the Crown but by reason of his Natural Defects being judg'd by a great party of the Empire unfit to Govern they would have Depos'd him and set up the younger Brother but the former being upheld by a good Interest after much stir they came to this accommodation that they should Reign joyntly II. The Great Seal of Moscovy is an Eagle displaied Sable in a Field Or bearing on its Brest a Shield the Field being Gules charg'd with a S. George Argent holding a Launce with which he kills a Dragon Betwixt the Heads of the Eagle are three Crowns plac'd one over the other which are said to signifie Moscovy and the two Kingdoms of Cassan and Astracan They say it was the Tyrant Iwann Basileewich who first made use of these Arms to raise a belief that he was descended from the Ancient Roman Emperours the word Czar signifying Caesar Heylin makes the Arms of Moscovy Sable a Portal Open of two Leaves and as many degrees Or. His Livery is of a Yellow Colour He is of the Greek Church and the Moscovites have a Bible translated from the Greek and printed in their own Tongue which is the Sclavonian in the Moscovite Characters III. Moscow seated on the River of the same name is the Capital City and Imperial Seat Few Cities in the World have suffer'd so much by Fire An. 1571. the Tartars burnt it and in it 80000 persons it being then 12 Miles in Compass and containing 41500 Families and Houses and above 1500 Convents Churches and Chapels It keeps its Compass still but the number of Houses is not restor'd they not extending above five Miles An. 1611. the Polanders burnt it and An. 1676. the Fire hapning by accident held on for three weeks and burnt as it s said 5000 Houses This Town is apt to Fires because the Houses of the Common People are generally built of Wood with Mortar mixt with Straw and done over with Lime brought from Smolensko and are cover'd with Boards and Barks of Trees having sometimes Turffs laid on them and Fires would happen oftner there but that Soldiers and Guards are appointed to take care of it The Churches and Houses of the Persons of Quality are built with Stone or Brick and some of the chief Churches are cover'd with gilt Copper or Tin and have many Globes of the same Metal on them so that the Prospect of Moscow is very beautiful There is a Bell rais'd on a Tower of Moscow which weighs above one hundred seventy six Tuns Two hundred Tuns of Metal were allow'd for making it It s twenty four Foot in hight the Clapper is twenty one Foot in length and weighs above seven Tuns IV. It s said that this Duke has more Lands than all the Dukes of Europe beside and his Government being Tyrannical so that he has the free and absolute disposal of his Subjects Lives and Fortunes he makes his Revenues what he pleases But beside the extraordinary ways of oppressing his Subjects which he often makes use of he has many ordinary ways for amassing Treasures viz. By Forestalling Homebred Commodities and Engrossing the Foreign selling them at what price he lists and hindring others from Trade till all his are sold By provision of Rent Corn and Victuals rais'd in some years to 20000 Marks Sterling Customs on Merchandize to 800000. Poll-mony to 400000. Rent Wood and Hey to 30000 c. Tartaria Precopensis or the Lesser Tartary I. IT S probable that upon the breaking of the great Empire of the Tartars into pieces upon the death of Tamerlane which hapned An. 1402. The Precopenses or European Tartars submitted to a Prince of their own Nation under the Power and Government of whose Successors they still continue The name of the present Cham of the Lesser Tartary or of the Crim Tartar is Nuradin Kiery He has a Wife call'd the Chamine and four Children to all whom the Emperour of Germany sent Presents some years since He is call'd the Crim Tartar from the Town of Crim the Ancient Seat of the Chams and at that time the fairest and greatest of the Country situate in the midst thereof and fortified with a strong Castle and for the hight of the Walls and depth of the Ditch esteem'd Impregnable The Country is also call'd Tartaria Precopensis from Precopia a chief Town thereof II. He bears Or three Grissins Sable arm'd Gules His Livery is of a _____ colour The Religion there most Embrac'd and Countenanc'd is that of Mahomet mingled with some few of their old Principles of Christianity for they confess that Christ shall be Judge both of the Quick and Dead in the day of Judgment and punish â—â—ose that speak irreverently of him which makes great store of Grecian and Armenian Christians dwell among them The Language which they speak is their own Tartarian but intermixt with much of the Arabick and Turkish Tongues and when they write they use either Chaldean or Arabick Characters III. A late French Writer tells us he resides at Baccasarium which stands in the midst of his Countries perhaps the same with Crim before mention'd But the Court of the Great Cham in the Summer time makes a moveable City built upon Wheel-Houses and Transported from one place to another as occasion serves which Houses at every station are orderly dispos'd of into Streets and Lanes and by the Tartars are called Agara or a Town of Carts They remove also their droves of Cattle up and down with them Within these Territories there is a Town call'd Capha but it belongs wholly to the Turk he keeping there a Governour It was taken from the Genoeses An. 1475. It s six or seven Miles about being in a manner wholly inhabited by Christians The Greeks have twelve Churches there The Armenians thirty two and the Romanists one Dedicated to S. Peter The Town is of great Trade IV. The Revenues of this Prince are uncertain his Subjects having but little mony and living most upon Bartering of their Cattle beside what he has in Lands and Customs and five thousand five hundred Ducats yearly which he receives from the Great Turk he has the tenth of all Spoils which are gotten in the Wars The Male-Line of the Ottoman House failing these Chams are to succeed upon an Agreement made betwixt the two Emperours TURKY I. THE Turks who anciently inhabited about the Fens of Maeotis liv'd a poor and contemptible Nation till Mahomet the Sultan of Persian Rebelling against his
to the Grandees of the Court so that the King and Queen Mother were possessed of the truth of what the Physician had averred The chief Astrologer seeing how things went was forced for fear of drawing on him somewhat worse not only to forbear contradiction but withal to applaud what was said and upon this second Inauguration the King changed his name as is said before which was judged unfortunate to the State and he began as he thought to find himself better afterward Note that the word Cha in the Persian Tongue signifies King and that tho many call all the Kings of Persia Sohpies some modern Accounts say it is an Error so to do and that Sophi is a proper name or rather a name of the Religion of Hali it signifying wise and knowing in the Law II. Concerning this King's Arms there are various opinions According to his Picture to be seen in many places there is a Sun Or in a Field Azure According to some ancient Books of Heraldry the Kings of Persia have a white Banner charged with an Eagle displayed and crowned Or. Another Author assures us they give the Cressent as the Turkish Emperors with this difference that there is an Hand added to it Others maintain that beside their bearing the Cressent they cause it to be carried before them when they walk in Ceremony and that all Mahometan Kings have the Cressent in their Arms and that Blazon and Coats of Arms are not much used in those Countries but that in lieu they make use of some Marks Another says they bear Or with a Dragon Gules and another says Or with a Buffalo's Head Sable Others say they give the Sun and Moon and others a rising Sun on the back of a Lion with a Cressent and in truth this is their Emblem and Hieroglyphick and the Armenians Subjects to the Persian that are at Paris say that these are the Arms of this Crown and our Merchants at London who have lived in Persia many years affirm this to be the great Seal of the King of Persia His Livery is of a _____ Colour He professes the Mahometan Religion according to the Doctrine of Hali the Turks following that of Osman and he uses the Persian Language which is not limited within the Provinces of the Persian Empire but used also in the Court and Camp of the Great Mogul and some parts of Zagathay and where it s not vulgarly spoken it s studied and understood by persons of the more eminent sort as the Latin by the Gentry of these Western parts so that he that has this Language may travel over all the East without an Interpreter III. Hispaan seated on the River Senderut is the Capital City of Persia and the ordinary place of Residence of the Kings The Town and Suburbs are almost of as great extent as Paris but the number of the Inhabitants is much lesser The greatest part of the Houses there are but of one story or two at most they are built of Bricks only dryed in the Sun and generally they have flat Roofs as generally in the East and have Terasses on the tops The Fronts facing the Streets are very mean and the Mens Apartments are very neat as for those of the Women Strangers are no ways permitted to see them Each considerable House has a Garden belonging to it where they do not now suffer the great number of Plane Trees to grow which formerly made the Town at a distance seem like a Forest The streets are narrow oblique and very dark because for the greatest part they have Arches made on each side of them for walking dry They are not paved wherefore the Dirt is very troublesome in the Winter and the Dust in the Summer The Town-Walls are only of Earth He has a Seat of Pleasure at Tawgebawt it s of no great Receipt but for the Cost and Ornaments of it and for the Delightfulness of the Gardens adjoining to it not yielding to any in this large Empire and for Grotto's Ecchoes Labyrinths and other Excellencies of Arts perhaps not fellowed in the World especially considering that it stands in the midst of a Sandy Desert IV. Pontier a late French Writer tells us that the King of Persia has fifteen millions of Crowns annual Rent His Revenues arise from the Fishery of Pearls found on his Coasts from the Mines of the old and new Rocks of Turky Stones from the Customs and the Sale of all sorts of Merchandizes which pay proportionably to the price they are sold at And each publick Hall built for the Entertainment of Travellers pays the King a Tribute The Government of the King of Persia tho it be despotical and severe has a great deal less of the Tyrant in it than any other of the Mahometan Kings or Princes these cherishing their Brethren maintaining Nobility amongst them and encouraging Industry which makes them to be better served than the Turk or Tartar to both whom they are far inferior both in Power and Treasure Their Officers of State and Men of principal Employment for the most part are Eunuchs as generally in all Empires of the East such persons being thought most trusty because abstracted from the Obligation of Wife and Children they study more the Prince's Service than their own Advantages Grand Tartary and China I. THE Chronicles of China tell us of three hundred and forty Kings which for the space of 4000 years there Reign'd and that the Country being without Rule or settled Government before was first reduc'd into Order by one Vitey by whom the people were instructed in Physick Astrology Divination the Arts of Tillage Shipping c. Of this Kings Race there are said to have been two hundred and seventeen Kings who held the State 2257 years The last of them was Tzaintzon who being ill Neighbour'd by the Scythians not yet call'd Tartars is said to have built that vast Wall extended four hundred Leagues in length parting Tartary from China having at the end of every League a strong Rampart or Bulwark continually Garrizon'd and well furnish'd with all warlike Necessaries This Wall in reality is only a continuation made good of a Chain of Mountains dividing the two Countries there being a Work of the like Nature tho not for the same use in the Kingdom of Peru in America of which I have given an account before Now this King Tzaintzon being slain by some of his Subjects who found themselves burthen'd and wasted with this Work the Race of these Kings ended and then several Princes of Chinese Families held the Government one after another and afterwards several Tartar Princes China being Conquer'd by the Tartars and made a Province by them till about the year 1269 when a Chinese nam'd Hugh a mean Person but of great Courage rais'd to himself a strong Party and drove the Tartars out of all and was Crown'd Emperour of China taking to himself the name of Hungus by some Writers commonly call'd Hombu that is a famous Warrior and
in all Barbary which equals Fez in Greatness Beauty and Number of Inhabitants Some count in it twenty eight thousand Housholds and seven hundred Mosques the chief of which is Carnven being a mile and an half in compass the Roof is large and high raised it s one hundred and fifty yards in length and eighty in breadth there is a College called Amadorach a most curious and delicate Building it has three Cloisters of admirable Beauty supported with eight square Pillars of divers Colours the Roof is curiously carved and the Arches of Mosaick Work of Gold and Azure The Gates are of Brass finely wrought and the Doors of the private Chambers are of inlaid Work This College cost the Founder three hundred and eighty thousand Crowns There are about one hundred hot Baths well built with four Halls to each and certain Galleries without where they put off their Cloaths when they go to bath themselves IV. As for his Revenues he is absolute Lord of the whole Estate and of his Subjects Goods and Bodies He has the Tenth and First Fruits of all Fruits Corn and Cattle tho many times contented in the Name of the First Fruits with one in twenty He receives the fifth part of a Ducat for every Acre of Land throughout his Dominions the other four parts for every Fire and as much for every Head above fifteen years of Age. Of Merchandize he receives of every Native two in the hundred of every Alien ten and has a large Impost upon every Mill. When any of his greater Officers or Judges die he is sole Heir of all their Goods and yet advances great Sums by the Sale of those Offices And upon extraordinary Occasions he levies what Taxes he pleases but commonly he is pretty moderate in them HABESSINIA I. THE Emperors of the Habissins and Kings of Upper Aethiopia pretend to be descended from Solomon and Magueda or Nizaule as Josephus names her the Queen of the South or of Sheba The name of the present Emperor is Malec Saghedus The genuine style of an Epistle written by him to the Pope was thus Libellus Epistolae à Malec Saghedo Rege Regum Aethiopiae perveniat ad Sanctum Patriarcham Romanum II. The Arms of this King are usually said to be the same with those of the Tribe of Judah viz. a Lion Rampant in a Field Or with this Motto Vicit Leo de Tribu Judah But others say his Arms to be Luna a cross Portate Mars charged with a Crucifix Sol betwixt two Scourges of the Second He professes the Christian Religion but is a Schismatick and owns the Patriarch of Alexandria He uses the Aethiopick Language which is a Dialect of the Hebrew but the Dialect there used by the Persons of Quality and the Learned is the Amarick III. He has scarce any considerable Town People living there most in Tents IV. His Revenues are not in Ready Mony but consist of the natural Products of his Country by an even way of Tribute some pay Gold others Horses Cows Oxen Sheep Bread Corn Ox-hides and Garments c. MONOMOTOPA I. THE King of this Country was baptized with his his whole Court by one Gonsalvo a Jesuit by the name of Sebastian that being the name of the then King of Portugal ann 1560 but he caused the said Gonsalvo to be put to death afterwards at the solicitation of four Mahometans whom in the end he also caused to be slain II. His Arms are Azure two bearded Arrows in Pale Or. Some give him a Dart and a Pickax III. His Capital City is Monomotopa the Houses are made of Wood and Earth bound together with a sort of Bitumen they are but two stories and are covered with Straw or Branches of Trees the tops are raised like a Tent they are contrived to lie open after such a manner as to be refreshed by the Winds which reign according to the diversity of the Seasons all their Fronts resemble each other and are painted with divers Colours and embelished with many Figures they mix certain Gums with those Colours which make them resist the Injuries of the Weather The Emperor's Palace is not without its Beauty CONGO I. IN the Reign of John the Second King of Portugal ann 1490 the Discovery and Conversion of the Kingdom of Congo happened the then King there being Christened John from whom the present King is descended and continues of the Roman Religion according to a Relation given by the Capucins ann 1665. II. His Arms are Gules a Cross Argent cantoned with four Escutcheons of the same each charged with five Roundles Sable placed in Saltier These Arms having been formerly given one of the Kings of Congo by Don Alphonso King of Portugal Others say these Arms in their beginning were Gules a Cross flowered Argent charged in the midst with an Escutcheon Azure charged with five Besants Argent placed in Saltier within a Border Azure charged in each Angle with two Cockle-Shells Or. Others say his Arms are Mars five Swords meeting in Base Sol which Coat was taken by Alphonso the Second Christian King of Congo because in the Battel which he fought against Panse Aquitine he and his Soldiers saw or fancied they saw such a Number of shining Swords hanging in the Air with their Points turned directly upon the Enemy III. His chief Town is S. Salvador which is of large extent and well peopled the Houses are built with Wood and Branches of Trees bound together with a little Earth mixed with Lime IV. The only Money of this Kingdom is Cockle-Shells tho the King has great Treasures from Mines of Silver and other Metals from the Sale of Slaves from Elephants Teeth c. FINIS Advertisement to the READER AS to the Account here given concerning the Chief Princes of the World and the several Heads relating to them I well know that the last year a small Book was printed in 120 relating to the first Head of mine viz. The Births and Names of the Chief European Princes I know also that a few years since a Book was set forth in Latin by a German Writer giving a Genealogical Account of the Chief Princes of Europe which Book was translated into English and publish'd also the last year But it cannot be said that I transcribe from these for it s well known to many Gentlemen in London that the year before Mr. Gadbury set forth the Births of some European Princes in his Almanack I had a Collection of them ready for the Press Indeed as for what Princes have been born since that time I have now and then made use of those Books tho their Births are also to be found in our Gazettes And as to the Rise of the European Princes I have generally followed the said German Author tho I only briefly intimate the Rise and Descent of each Prince in his direct Line and do not deduce an entire Genealogical Series of them according to the several Branches of their Families as he has done As to the Blazon of the Princes Coats of Arms and some other particulas in the Work I have chiefly followed two French Writers in them viz. Manesson Mallet in his Geographie Universelle and Gedeon Pontier in his Cabinet des Granâ—â— As to the greatness and Populosity of Cities I have chiefly used Sir William Petty's Account of them and some things I have taken from Dr. Brown's Account of his Travels relating to them And as for other Matters I have us'd several Authors according as things have occur'd to me in my Reading and inserted what I have otherwise receiv'd by information Upon the whole I conceive a brief view of the World according to the Heads set down by me may be gratefulâ—â— and usefully instructive to Gentlemen tho I cannot 〈…〉 them with that accurateness or rendred them 〈…〉 as a second Edition set forth by me or some other industrous Hand hereafter may afford FINIS