supporting the Credit of their Order which was much â—unk in the Opinion of the People and for bearing down the Reputation of the Franciscans Four of the Juncto undertook to manage the Design for they said since the People were so much disâ—osed to believe Dreams and Fables they must dream on their side and endeavour to Cheat the People as well as the others had done They resolved to make Bern the Scene in which the Project should be put in Execution for they found the People of Bern at that time apt to swallow any thing and not disposed to make severe enquiries into extraordinary matters When they had formed their Design a fit tool presented it self for one Jetzer came to take their habit as a Lay-brother who had all the dispositions that was necessary for the execution of their Project For he was extream simple and was much inclined to Austerities so haviâ—g observed his temper well they began to execute their Project the very Night after he took the habit which was on Lady Day 1507. One of the Friers conveyed himself secretly into his Cell and appeâ—red to him as if he had been in Purgatory in a strange fâ—â—ure and he had 〈◊〉 Box near his mouth upon which as he blew fire seemed to come out of his mouth He had alâ—o some Dogs about him that apâ—eared as his tormentors in this posture he came near the Frier while he was a Bed and took up a celebrated Story that they used to tell all their Friers to beget in them a great dâ—ead at the laying aside their habit which was that one of the Order who was Superiour of their House at Soloturn had gone to Paris but laying aside his Habit was killed in his Lay-habit The Frier in the Vizar said he was that person and was condemned to Purgatory for that Crime but he added That he might be rescued out of it by his means and he seconded this with most horrible Cries expressing the miseries which he suffer'd The poor Frier Jetzer was excessively frighted but the other advanced and required a promise of him to do that which he should desire of him in order to the delivering him out of his torment The frighted Frier promised all that he asked of him then the other said he knew he was a great Saint and that his Prayers and Mortifications would prevail but they must be very great and extraordinary The whole Monastery must for a week together discipline themselves with a Whip and he must lie prostrate in the form of one on a Cross in one of their Chappeâ—s while Mass was said in the sight of all that should come together to it and he â—dded That if he did this he should find the â—ffects of the Love that the B. Virgin did bear him together with many other extraordinary things and said he would appear again accompani-with two other Spirits and assured him that all that he did suffer for his dâ—liverance should be most gloriously rewarded Morning was no sooner come than the Frier gave an account of this Apparition to the rest of the Convent who seemed extreamly surprised at it they all pressed him to undergo the discipline that was enjoyned him and every one undertook to bear his share so the poor deluded Frier performed it all exactly in one of the Chappels of their Church Tâ—is drew a vast number of Spectators together who all considered the poor Frier as a Saint and in the mean while the four Friers that managed the imposture maâ—nified the Miracle of the Apparition to the Skies in their Sermons The Friers Confessor was upon the Secret and by this means they knew all the little passages of the poor Frier's Life even to his thoughts which helped them not a little in the Conduct of the matter The Confessor gave him an Hostie with a piece of Wood that was as he pretended a true piece of the Cross and by these he was to fortifie himself if any other Apparitions should come to him since evil Spirits would be certainly chained up by them The night after that the former Apparition was renewed and the masqued Frier brought two others with him in such Vizards that the Fâ—ier thought they were Devils indeed The Fâ—ier presented the Hosty to them which gave them such a check that he was fully satisfied of the vertue of this Preservative The Friar that pretended he was suffering in Purgatory said so many things to him relating to the secrets of his Life and Thoughts which he had from the Confessor that the poor Friar was fully possessed with the Opinion of the reality of the Appâ—rition In two of these Apparitions that were both managed in the same manner the Friar in the Mask talked much of the Dominican Order which he said was excessively dear to the B. Virgin who knew her self to be conceived in original sin and that the Doctors who taught the contrary were in Purgatory that the Story of St. Bernard's appearing with a spot on him for having opposed himself to the Feast of the Conception was a Foâ—gery but that it was true that some hideous Flies had appeared on St Bonaventure's Tomb who taught the contrary that the B. Virgin abhorred the Cordeliers for making her equal to her Son that Scotus was damned whose Canonization the Cordeliers were then soliciting hard at Rome and that the Town of Bern would be destroyed for harbouring such Plagues within their Walls When the injoyned Diâ—cipline was fully performed the Spirit appeared again and said He was now delivered out of Purgatory but before he could be admitted to Heaven he must receive the Sacrament having died without it and after that he would say Mass for tho e who had by their great Charities rescued him out of his pains The Friar fancied the Voice resembled the Priors a little but he was then so far from suspecting any thing that he gave no great heed to this suspicion Some days after this the same Friar appeared as a Nun all in glory and told the poor Friar that she was St. Barbara for whom he had a particular Devotion and added that the B. Virgin was so much pleased with his Charity that she intended to come and visit him He immediately called the Convent together and gave the rest of the Friâ—rs an account of this Apparition which was entertained by them all with great joy and the Friar languished in desires for the accomplishment of the Promise that St. Barbara had made him After some days the longed for delusion appeared to him cloathed as the Virgin used to be on the great Feasts and indeed in the same Habits there were about her some Angels which he afterwards found were the little statues of Anâ—els which they set on the Altars on the great Holidays There was also a pulley fastned in the Room over his head and a Cord tied to the Angels that made them rise up in the Air and flie about the Virgin which increased the Delusion The
the first bâ—gins at Five a Clock in the mâ—rning For at Geneva and all Switzerland over there are daily Sermons which were substituted upâ—n the Reformation to the Mass But the Sermons are generally too long and the Preachers have departed from the fiâ—st dâ—sign of these Sermons which were intended to be an explication of a whole Chapter and an exhortation upon it and if this were so contrived that it were in all not above a quarter of an hour long as it would be heard by the people with less Weariness and more Profit so it would be a vast advantage to the Preachers For as it would oblige them to study the Scriptures much so having once made themselves Masters of the practical parts of the Scripture such short and simple discourses would cost them less pains than those more labâ—ured Sermons do which consume the greatest part of their time and too often to very little purpose Among the Archives of the Dean and Chapter there is a vast collection of Letters written either to Bullinger or by him they are bound up and make a great many Volumes in Folio and out of these no doubt but one might discover a great many particulars relating to the History of the Reformâ—tion For as Bullinger lived long so he was much esteemed He procured a very kind reception to be given to some of our English Exiles in Queen Maries Reign in particular to Sands afterwards Arch-bishop of York to Horn afterwards Bishop of Winchester and to Jewel Bishop of Salisbuâ—y He gave them Lodgings in the Close and used them with all possible kindness and as they presented some Silver Cups to the Colledge with an Inscription acknowledging the kind reception they had found there which I savv so they continued to keep a constant Correspondence with Bullinger after the happy re-establishment of the Reformation under Queen Elizabeth Of which I read almost a whole Volume while I was there Most of them contain only the general News but some were more importanâ— and relate to the Disputes then on foot concerning the Habits of the Clergy which gave the first beginnings to our unhappy divisions and by the Letters of which I read the Originals it appears that the Bishops preserved the ancient Habits rather in compliance with the Queens inclinations then out of any liking they had to them so far they were from liking them that they plainly exprest their dislike of them Jewel in a Letter bearing date the Eighth of Februury 1566. wishes that the Vestments together with all the other remnants of Popery might be thrown both out of their Churches and out of the minds of the Peoâ—le and laments the Queens fixedness to them so that she would suffer no change to be made And in January the same year Sands writes to the same purpose Contenditur de vestibus Papisticis utendis vel non utendis dabit Deus his quoque finem Disputes are now on foot concerning the Popish Vestments whether thâ—y should be used or not but God will put an end to those things Horn Bishop of Winchester went farther for in a Letter dated the Sixteenth of July 1565. he writes of the Act concerning tha Habits with great regret and expresses some hopes that it might be repealed next Session of Parliament if the Popish Party did not hinder it and he seems to stand in doubt whether he should conform himself to it or not upon which he desires Bullinger's Advice And in many Letters writ on that Subject it is asserted That both Cranmer and Ridley intended to procure an Act for abolishing the Habits and that they only defended their Lawfulness but not their Fitness and therefore they blamed private Persons that refused to obey the Laws Grindal in a Letter dated the Twenty seventh of August 1566. writes That all the Bishops who had been beyond Sea had at their Return dealt with the Queen to let the matter of the Habits fall but she was so prepossessed that tho' they had all endeavoured to divert her from prosecuting that matter she continued still inflexible This had made them resolve to submit to the Laws and to wait for a fit opportunity to reverse them He laments the ill effects of the opposition that some had made to them which extreamly irritated the Queens Spirit so than she was now much more heated in those matters than formerly He also thanks Bullinger for the Letter that he had writ justifying the lawful use of the Habits which he says had done great Service Cox Bishop of Ely in one of his Letters laments the Aversion that they found in the Parliament to all the Propositions that were made for the reformation of Abuses Jewel in a Letter dated the Two and Twentieth of May 1559 writes That the Queen refused to be called Head of the Church and adds That that Title could not be justly given to any Mortal it being due only to Christ and that such Titles had been so much abused by Antichrist that they ought not to be any longer continued On all these Passages I will make no Reflections here for I set them down only to shew what was the sense of our chief Church-men at that time concerning those matters which have since engaged us into such warm and angry Disputes and this may be no inconsiderable Instruction to one that intends to write the History of that time The last particular with which I intend to end this Letter might seem a little too learned if I were writing to a less knowing Man than your self I have taken some pains in my Travels to examine all the Ancient Manuscripts of the New Testament concerning that doubted Passage of St. John's Epistle There are three that bear Witness in Heaven the Father the Word and the Spirit and these three are one Bullinger doubted much of it because he found it not in an ancient Latin Manuscript at Zurich which seems to be about eight hundred years old for it is written in that hand that began to be used in harles the Great 's time I turned the Manuscript and found the Passage was not there but this was certainly the error or omission of the Copier for before the General Epistles in that Manuscript the Preface of St Jerom's is to be found in which he says that he was the more exact in that Tâ—anslation that so he might discover the Fraud of the Arrians who had struck out that Passage concerning the Trinity This Preface is printed in Lira's Bible but how it came to be left out by Erasmus in his Edition of that Father's Works is that of which I can give no Account for as on the one hand Erasmus's Sincerity ought not to be too rashly censured so on the other hand that Preface being in all the Manuscripts ancient or modern of those Bibles that have the other Prefaces in them that I ever yet saw it is not easie to imagine what made Erasmus not to publish it and it is in the
as it was among the Florentines who though they value themselves as a size of Men much above the Venetians whom they despise as a phlegmatick and dull race of People yet shewed how little they understood with all their vivacity to conduct their state since by their domestick heats they lost their liberty which the Venetians have had the wisdom still to preserve This Faction of the Case Ducale was perhaps willing to let the matter fall for they lost more than they got by it for the ancient Families in revenge set themselves against them and excluded them from all the other advantagious imployments of the State For the others being only united in that single point relating to the Dukedom the ancient Families let them carry it but in all other Competitions they set up always such Competitors against the pretenders that were of the Ducal Families that were much more esteemed than these were so that they shut them out of all the best Offices of the Republick Such a Faction as this was â—f it had been still kept up might in conclusion have proved fatal to their Liberty It is indeed a wonder to see the Dignity of the Duke so much courted for hâ— is only a prisoner of state tied up to such rules so severely râ—strained and shut up as it were in an apartment of the Palace of St. Mark that it is not strange to see some of the greatest Families in particular the Cornara's decline it All the Family if ever so numerous must retire oâ—t of the Senate when a Duke is chosen out of it only one that is next to him of kin sits still but without a Vote And the only real Priviledge that the Duke hath is that he can of himself without communicating with the Savii propose matters either to the Council of Ten to the Senate or to the Great Council whereas all other propositions must be first offered to the Savii and examined by them who have a soâ—t of Tribunitian power to reject what they dâ—slike and though they cannot hinder the Duke to make a proposition yet they can mortifie him when he hath made it They can hâ—â—der it to be voted and after it is voted they can suspend the execution of it till it is examined over again And a Duke that is of an active Spirit must resolve to endure many of these afflictions and it is certain that the Savii do sometimes affect to shew the greatness of their Authority and exercise a sort of Tyranny in the rejecting of Proâ—ositions when they intend to humble those that make them Yet the greatest part of the best Families court this Honour of Dukedom extreamly when Segrado was upon the point of being chosen Duke there was so violent an outcry against it over all Venice because of the disgrace that they thought would come on the Republick if they had a Prince whose Note had miscarried in some unfortunate disorders the Senate complyed so far with this Aversion that the People testified That though the Inquisitors took care to hang or drown many of the chief of the Mutineers yet they let the design for Sagredo fall Upon which he was so much disgusted that he retired to a house he had in the Terra firma and never appeared more at Venice During which time of his retirement he writ two Books the one Memorie Ottomaniche which is Printed and he is accounted the best of all the Modern Authors The other was Memoirâ—s of the Government and History of Venice which hath never been Printed and some say it is too sincere and too particular so that it is thought it will be reserved among their Archives It hath been a sort of maxim now for some time not to chuse a married Man to be Duke for the Coronation of a Dutchess goes high and hath cost above Hundred thousand Ducats Some of the ancient Families have affected the Title of Prince and have called their branches Princes of the Blood and though the Cornara's have done this more than any other yet others upon the account of some Principalities that their Ancestors had in the Islands of the Archipelago have also affected those vain Titles But the Inquisitors have long ago obliged them to lay aside all those high Titles and such of them that boast too much of their Blood find the dislike which that brings on them very sensibly for whensoever they pretend to any great Employments they find themselves always excluded When an Election of Ambassadors was proposed or of any of the chief Offices it was wont to be made in those terms that the Council must chuse one of its principal Members for such an Employment But because this lookt like a term of distinction among the Nobility they changed it Five and twenty Years ago and instead of Principal they use now the term Honourable which comprehends the whole body of the Nobility without any distinction It is at Venice in the Church as well as in the State that the Head of the Body hath a great Title and particular Honours done him whereas in the mean while this is a meer Pageantry and under these big words there is lodged only a light shadow of Authority for their Bishop has the glorious Title of Patriark as well as the Duke is called their Prince and his serenity and hath his name stampt upon their Coin so the Patriark with all his high Title hath really no Authority For not only St. Mark 's Church is intirely exempted from his jurisdiction and is immediately subject to the Duke but his Authority is in all other things so subject to the Senate and so regulated by them that he hath no more power than they are pleased to allow him So that the Senate is as really the supream Governor over all Persons and in all Causes as the Kings of England have pretended to be in their own Dominions since the Rrformation But besides all this the Clergy of Venice have a very extraordinary sort of exemption and are a sort of a Body like a Presbytery independent of the Bishop The Curats are chosen by the Inhabitants of every Parish and this makes that no Noble Venetian is suffered to pretend to any Curacy for they think it below that Dignity to suffer one of their Body to engage in a Competition with one of a lower Order and to run the hazard of being rejected I was told the manner of those Elections was the most scandalous thing possible for the several Candidates appear on the day of election and set out their own merits and defame the other pretenders in the foulest language and in the most scurrilous manner imaginable the secrets of all their lives are publisht in most reproachful terms and nothing is so abject and ridiculous that is not put in practice on those occasions There is a sort of an Association among the Curats for judging of their common concerns and some of the Laity of the several Parishes assist in those
there are about a hundred Convents in Naples so every one of these if it were in another place would be thought well worth seeing tho the riches of the greater Convents here make many of them to be less visited Every year there is a new Governour of the Annunciata who perhaps puts in his own Pocket twenty thousand Crowns and to make some compensation when he goeth out of Office he giveth a vast piece of Plate to the House a Statue for a Saint in Silver or some Coloss of a Candlestick for several of those Pieces of Plate are said to be worth ten thousand Crowns and thus all the Silver of Naples becomes dead and useless The Jesuits are great Merchants here their Wine Cellar is a vast Vault and holds above a thousand Hogsheads and the best Wine of Naples is sold by them yet they do not retail it out so scandalously as the Minims who live on the great Square before the Viceroys Palace and sell out their Wine by retail They pay no duty and have extraordinary good Wine and are in the best place of the Town for this retail It is true the Neapolitans are no great Drinkers so the profits of this Tavern are not so great as they would be in colder Countries for here men go only in for a draught in the mornings or when they are a thirst Yet the House groweth extream rich and hath one of the finest Chappels that is in all Naples but the Trade seems very unbecoming men of that Profession and of so strict an Order The Convents have a very particular Priviledge in this Town for they may buy all the Houses that lye on either side till the first street that discontinueth the Houses and there being scarce a street in Naples in which there is not a Convent by this means they may come to buy in the whole Town And the progress that the wealth of the Clergy makes in this Kingdom is so visible that if there is not some stop put to it within an Age they will make themselves Masters of the whole Kingdom It is an amazing thing to see so profound an ignorance as Reigns among the Clergy prevail so effectually for tho all the Secular Persons here speak of them with all possible scorn yet they are the Masters of the Spirits of the people The Women are infinitely superstitious and give their Husbands no rest but as they draw from them great presents to the Church It is true there are Societies of men at Naples of freer thoughts than can be found in any other place of Italy The Greek learning begins to flourish there and the new Philosophy is much Studied and there is an Assembly that is held in D. Joseph Valleta's Library where there is a vast Collection of well chosen Books composed by men that have a right taste of true learning and good sense They are ill looked on by the Câ—ergy and represented as a set of Athâ—ists and as the spawn of Pomponatius's School But I found no such thing â—mâ—ng them for I had the Honour to meet twice or thrice with a considerable number of them during thâ— short stay that I made among them There is a lâ—â—rned Lawyer Francisco Andria that is câ—nside eâ— as one of the most inquisitive men of the Assâ—mâ—ly There is also a Grand-child of the Great Alciat who is very curious as well as learned Few Churchmen come in to this attâ—mpt for the reviving of Learning among them On the contrary it is plain that thâ—y dread it above all things Oâ—ly one Eminent Preacher Rinaldi that is Arch-deacon of Capua Associates himself with them He was once of the Jesuites Order but left it and as that alone served to give a good character of him to me so upon a long conversation with him I found a great many other things that possessed me with a high value for him Some Physitians in Naples are brought under the scandal of Atheism and it is certain that in Italy men of searching understandings who have no other Idea of the Christian Religion but that which they see received among them are very naturally tempted to disbelieve it quite for they believing it all alike in gross without distinction and finding such notorious cheats as appear in many parts of their Religion are upon that induced to disbelieve the whole The Preachings of the Monks in Naples are terrible things I saw a Jesuite go in a sort of a Procession with a great company about him and calling upon all that he saw to follow him to a place where a Mounte-bank was selling his Medicines near whom he took his Room and entertained the people with a sort of a Farce till the Mountebank got him to give over fearing least his action should grow tedious and disperse the compâ—ny that was brought together There are no famous Preachers nor men of any reputation nor learning among the Jesuites I was told they had not men capable to teach their Schools and that they were forced to hire Strangers The Order of the Oratory hath not that reputation in Italy that it hath gainâ—d in France and the little Learning that is among the Clergy in Naples is among some few Secular Priests The new method of Molinos doth so much prevail in Naples that it is believed he hath above twenty thousand followers in this City And since this hath made some noise in the World and yet is generally but little understood I will give you some account of him He is a Spanish Priest that seems to be but an ordinary Divine and is certainly a very ill Reasoner when he undertakes to prove his opinions He hath writ a Book which is intituled Il Guida Spirituale which is a short abstract of the Mystical Divinity the substance of the whole is reduced to this that in our Prayers and other Devotions the best methods are to retire the mind from all gross Images and so to form an act of Faith and thereby to present our selves before God and then to sink into a silence and cessation of new acts and to let God act upon us and so to follow his conduct This way he prefers to the multiplication of many new acts and different forms of Devotion and he makes small account of corporal austerities and reduces all the exercises of Religion to this simplicity of mind He â—hinks this is not only to be proposed to such as live â—n Religious Houses but even to secular persons and by this he hath proposed a great Reformation of mens minds and manners He hath many Priests in Italy but chiefly in Naples that dispose those who confess â—hemselves to them to follow his methods The Jesuits have set themselves much against this conduct as foreseeing that it may much weaken the Empire that Superstition hath over the minds of people that it may make Religion become a more plain and simple thing and may also open a door to Enthusiasms They also pretend that his
those this Decree concerning the Superiority of the Council is not named this seemed to be of much more importance and therefore I desired to see the Original of the Bull for their seem to be just reasons to apprehend a forgery here He promised to do his endeavours tho he told me that would not be easie for the Bulls were strictly kept and the next day when I came hoping to see it I could not be admitted but he assured me that if that had not been the last day of my stay at Rome he would have procured a Warrant for my seeing the Original so this is all I can say as to the Authenticalness of that Bull But supposing it to be genuine I could not agree to M. Schelstrate that the General Bull of Confirmation ought to be limited to the other that enumerates the particular Dâ—crees but since that particular Bull was never diâ—covered till he hath found it out it seems it was sâ—cretly made and did not pass according to the forms of the Consistory and was a fraudulent thing of which no noise was to be made in that Age and therefore in all the dispute that followed in the Concel of Basil between the Pope and the Council upon this very point no mention was ever made of it by either side and thus it can have no force unless it be to discover the Artifices and fraud of that Court that at the same time in which the necessity of their affairs obliged the Pope to confirm the Decrees of the Council he contrived a secret Bull which in another Age might be made use of to weaken the Authority of the General Confirmation that he gave and therefore a Bull that doth not pass in due form and is not p oâ—ulgated is of no Authority and so this Pretended Bull cannot limit the other Bull. There were some other things relating to this debate that were shewed me by M. Schelstrate but thâ—se being the most important I mention them only I will not give you here a large account of the learned men at Rome Bellori is dâ—servedly Famous for his knowledge of the Greek and Aegyptian Antiquities and for all that belongs to the Mythologies and superstitions of the Heathens and hath a Closet richly furnished with things relating to those matters Fabrelti is justly celebrated for his Understanding of the Old Roman Architecture and Fabricks Padre Fabri is the chief Honour of the Jesuit's Colledge and is much above the common rate both for Philosophy Mathematicks and Church History And he to whom I was the most obliged Abbot Nazari hath so general a view of the several parts of learning tho he hath chiefly applied himself to Philosophy and Mathâ—maticks and is a man of so ingaging a civility and used my self in so particular a manner that I owe him as well as those others whom I have mentioned and whom I had the Honour to see all the acknowledgments of esteem and gratitude that I can possibly make them One sees in Cardinal d'Estrees all the advantages of a high birth great parts a generous civility and a measure of knowledge faire above what can be expected from a person of his rank but as he gave a noble protection to one of the leardnest men that this Age hath produced Mr. Launnoy who lived many years with him so it is visible that he made a great progress by the conversation of so extraordinary a pe son and as for Theological learning there is now none of the Colledge equal to him Cardinal Howard is too well known in England to need any character from me The Elevation of his present condition hath not in the least changed him he hath all the sweetness and Gentleness of temper that we saw in him in England and he retains the unaffected simplicity and humility of a Frier amidst all the dignity of the Purple and as he sheweth all the generous care and concern for his Countreymen that they can expect from him so I met with so much of it in so many obliging marks of his goodness for my self that wenâ— far beyond a common civility that I canâ—oâ— enough acknowledge it I was told the Popes Confessor was a very extraordinary man for the Oriental Learning which is but little known in Rome He is a Master of the Arabick Tongue and hath writ as Abbot Nazari told me the learned'st Book against the Mahometan Religion that the World hath yet seen but it is not yet Printed He is not so much esteemed in Rome as he would be elsewhere for his Learning is not in vogue and the School Divinity and Casuistical Learning being that for which Divines are most esteemed there He whose Studies lead him another way is not so much valued as he ought to be and perhaps the small account that the Pope makes of learned men turns somewhat upon the Confessor for it is certain that this is a Reign in which Learning is very little encouraged Upon the general contempt that all the Romans have for the present Pontificate one made a pleasant reflection to me he said those Popes that intended to raise their Families as thâ—y saw the censure that this brought upon them so they studied to lessen it by other things that might soften the Spirits of the people No man did more for beautifying Rome for finishing St. Peters and the Library and for furnishing Rome with water then Pope Paul the V. tho at the same time he did not forget his Family and tho the other Popes that have raised great Families have not done this to so eminent a degree as he did yet there are many remains of their Magnificeâ—ce whereas those Popes that have not raised Families have it seems thought that alone was enough to maintain their reputation and so they have not done much either to recommend their Government to their Subjectâ— or their Reign to posterity and it is very plain that the present Pope taketh no great care of this His life hath been certainly very innocent and free of all those publick scandals that make a noise in the World and there is at present a regularity in Rome that deserveth great commendation for publick Vices are not to be seen there His personal sobriety is a so singular One assured me that the expence of his Table did not amount to a Crown a day tho this is indeed short of Sisto V. who gave order to his Steward never to exceed five and twenty Bajokes that is eighteen pence a day for his Diet. The Pope is very carefull of his health and doth never expose it for upon the least disorder he shuts himself up in his Chamber and often keepeth his Bed for the least indisposition many dayes but his Government is severe and his Subjects are ruined And here one thing cometh into my mind which perhaps is not ill grounded that the poverty of a Nation not only dispeoples it by driving the people out of it but by weakning the natural
four of Huss's Letters that he writ to the Bohemians the day before his death which are very devout but excessively simple The Manuscripts of this Library are far more numerous than those of Bern which were gathered by Bongarsius and left by him to the publick Library there They are indeed very little considered there and are the worst kept that ever I saw But it is a Noble collection of all the ancient Latine Authors they have some few of the best of the Roman times writ in great Characters and there are many that are seven or eight hundred years old There is in Basile one of the best collections of Medals that ever I saw in private hands together with a Noble Library in which there are Manuscripts of good antiquity that belong to the Family of Fesch and that goeth from one Learned Man of the Family to another For this Inheritance can only pass to a Man of Learning and when the Family produceth none then it is to go to the publick In Basile as the several Companies have been more or less strict in admitting some to a Freedom in the Company that have not been of the Trade so they retain their priviledges to this day For in such Companies that have once received such a number that have not been of the Trade as grew to be the majority the Trade hath never been able to recover their interest But some Companies have been more cautious and have never admitted any but those that were of the Trade so that they retain their interest still in Government Of these the Butchers were named for one so that there are always four Butchers in the Council The great Council consisteth of Two Hundred and Forty but they have no power left them and they are only assembled upon some extraordinary occasions when the little Council thinketh fit to communicate any important matter to them There are but six Baliages that belong to Bazile which are not Employments of great advantage for the best of them doth afford to the Bailif only a Thousand livres a year They reckon that there are in Basile Three Thousand Men that can bear Arms and that they could raise Four Thousand more out of the Canton so that the Town is almost the half of this State and the whole maketh Thirty Parishes There are Eighteen Professors in this University and there is a Spirit of a more free and generous Learning stirring there then I saw in all those parts There is a great decency of habit in Bazile and the garb both of the Counsellers Ministers and Professors their stiff Ruffs and their long Beards have an Air that is August The appointments are but small for Counsellers Ministers and Professors have but a Hundred Crowns a piece It is true many Ministers are Professors so this mendeth the matter a little But perhaps it would go better with the State of Learning there if they had but half the number of Professors and if those were a little better incouraged No where is the rule of St. Paul of Women having on their heads the badge of the authority under which they are brought which by a phrase that is not extraordinary he calleth power better observed than at Bazile for all the Married Women go to Church with a coif on their heads that is so folded that as it cometh down so far as to cover their eyes so another folding covereth also their Mouth and Chin so that nothing but the nose appears and then all turns backward in a folding that hangeth down to their midleg This is always white so that there is there such a sight of white heads in their Churches as cannot be found any where else The unmarried Women wear hats turned up in the brims before and behind and the brims of the sides being about a foot broad stand out far on both hands This fashion is also at Strasburg and is worn there also by the Married Women I mentioned formerly the constant danger to which this place is exposed from the neighbourhood of Huninghen I was told that at first it was pretended that the French King intended to build only a small Fort there and it was believed that one of the Burgo-masters of Bazile who was thought not only the wisest man of that Canton but of all Switzerland was gained to lay all Men asleep and to assure them that the suffering this Fort to be built so near them was of no importance to them but now they see too late their fatal error For the place is great and will hold a Garrison of Three or Four Thousand Men it is a Pentagone only the side to the Rhine is so large that if it went round on that side I believe it must have been a Hexagone the Bastions have all Orillons and in the middle of them there is a void space not filled up with earth where there is a Magazine built so thick in the Vault that it is proof against Bombs The Remparts are strongly faced there is a large Ditch and before the Cortine in the middle of the Ditch there runs all along a Horn-work which is but Ten or Twelve foot high and from the bottom of the Rampart there goeth a Vault to this Horn-work that is for conveying of Men for its defence before this Horn-work there is a half Moon with this that is peculiar to those new Fortifications that there is a Ditch that cuts the half Moon in an Angle and maketh one half Moon within another beyond that there is a Counter-Scarp about Twelve foot high above the Water with a covered way and a glacy designed though not executed There is also a great Horn-work besides all this which â—uns out a huge way with its out-works towards Bazile there is also a Bridge laid over the Rhine and there being an Island in the River where the Bridge is laid there is a Horn-work that filleth and fortifieth it The Buildings in this Fort are beautiful and the Square can hold above Four Thousand Men the Works are not yet quite finished but when all is compleated this will be one of the strongest places in Europe There is a Cavalier on one or two of the Bassions and there are half Moons before the Bastions so that the Switzers see their danger now when it is not easie to redress it This place is scituated in a great Plain so that it is commanded by no rising ground on any side of it I made a little Tower into Alsace as far as Mountbelliard the Soil is extream rich but it hath been so long a Frontier Country and is by consequence so ill peopled that it is in many places over-grown with Woods In one respect it is fit to be the seat of War for it is full of Iron-works which bring a great deal of Money into the Country I saw nothing peculiar in the Iron-works there except that the sides of the great Bellows were not of Leather but of Wood which saves much Money
Book to prove the truth of it as I remember it was a Jesuit he acknowledged it was not an Article of Faith so I was satisfied There is in the Cloister an old Gothick representation of our Saviours Agony in Stone with a great many Figures of his Apostles and the Company that came to seize him that is not ill Sculpture for the Age in which it was made it being some Ages old The Calvinists have a Church in this Town but their numbers are not considerable I was told there were some ancient Manuscripts in the Library that belongeth to the Cathedral but one of the Prebendaries to whom I addressed my self being according to the German custom a man of greater quality than learning told me he heard they had some ancient Manuscripts but he knew nothing of it and the Dean was absent so I could not see them for he kept one of the keys The lower Palatinate is certainly one of the sweetest Countries of all Germany It is a great Plain till one cometh to the Hills of Heidelberg the Town is ill scituated just in a bottom between two ranges of Hills yet the Air is much commended I need say nothing of the Castle nor the prodigious Wine Cellar in which though there is but one celebrated Tun that is seventeen foot high and twenty six foot long and is built with a strength liker that of the ribs of a ship than the Staves of a Tun yet there are many other Tuns of such a prodigious bigness that they would seem very extraordinary if this vast one did not Eclipse them The late Prince Charles Lewis shewed his capacity in the peopling and and settling this State that had been so entirely ruined being for many years the Seat of War for in four years time he brought it to a Flourishing condition He raised the Taxes as high as was possible without dispeopling his Country and all mens Estates were valued and they were taxed at five per cent of the value of their Estates but their Estates were not valued to the rigour but with such abatements as have been ordinary in England in the times of Subsidies so that when the Son offered to bring the Taxes down to two per cent of the real value the Subjects all desired him rather to continue them as they were There is no Prince in Germany that is more absolute than the Elector Palatine for he layeth on his Subjects what Taxes he pleaseth without being limited to any forms of Government And here I saw that which I had always believed to be true that the Subjects of Germany are only bound to their particular Prince for they swear Allegiance simply to the Elector without any reserve for the Emperor and in their Prayers for him they name him their Soveraign It is true the Prince is under some ties to the Emperor but the Subjects are under none And by this D. Fabritius a learned and judicious Professor there explained those words of Pareus's Commentary on the Romans which had respect only to the Princes of the Empire and were quite misunderstood by those who fancied that they favoured Rebellion for there is no place in Europe where all rebellious Doctrine is more born down than there I found a great spirit of moderation with relation to those small controversies that have occasioned such heat in the Protestant Churches reigning in the University there which is in a great measure owing to the prudence learning and the happy temper of mind of D. Fabritius and D. Miek who as they were long in England so they have that generous largeness of Soul which is the Noble Ornament of many of the English Divines Prince Charles Lewis saw that Manheim was marked out by Nature to be the most important place of all his Territory it being scituated in the point where the Neckar falleth into the Rhine So that those two Rivers defending it on two sides it was capable of a good Fortification It is true the Air is not thought wholsome and the Water is not good yet he made a fine Town there and a Noble Cittadel with a regular Fortification about it and he designed a great Palace there but he did not live to build it He saw of what advantage Liberty of Conscience was to the peopling of his Country so as he suffered the Jews to come and settle there he resolved also not only to suffer the three Religions tolerated by the Laws of the Empire to be professed there but he built a Church for them all three which he called the Church of the Concord in which both Calvinists Lutherans and Papists had in the order in which I have set down the exercise of their Religion and he maintained the peace of his Principality so entirely that there was not the least disorder occasioned by this tolleration This indeed made him to be lookt on as a Prince that did not much consider Religion himself He had a wonderful application to all affairs and was not only his own chief Minister but he alone did the work of many But I were Injust if I should not say somewhat to you of the Princely vertues and the Celebrated probity of the present Prince Elector upon whom that Dignity is devolved by the extinction of so many Princes that in this Age composed the most numerous Family of any of that rank in Europe This Prince as he is in many respects an honour to the Religion that he professes so is in nothing more to be commended by those who differ from him than for his exact adhering to the promises he made his Subjects with relation to their Religion in which he has not even in the smallest matters broke in upon their establisht Laws and though an Order of Men that have turned the World upside down have great Credit with him yet it is hitherto visible that they cannot carry it so far as to make him do any thing contrary to the established Religion and to those sacred promises that he made his Subjects For he makes it appear to all the World that he does not consider those as so many words spoken at first to lay his people asleep which he may now explain and observe as he thinks fit but as so many ties upon his Conscience and Honour which he will Religiously observe And as in the other parts of his life he has set a Noble Pattern to all the Princes of Europe so his exactness to his promises is that which cannot be too much commended of which this extraordinary Instance has been communicated to me since I am come into this Countrey The Elector had a Procession in his Court last Corpus Christi day upon which one of the Ministers of Heidelberg preacht a very severe Sermon against Popery and in particular taxed that Procession perhaps with greater plainness than discretion This being brought to the Elector's ears he sent presently an Order to the Ecclesiastical Senate to suspend him That Court is composed of