Selected quad for the lemma: woman_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
woman_n	church_n	keep_v	silence_n	2,518	5	9.9816	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30476	Dr. Burnet's travels, or Letters containing an account of what seemed most remarkable in Switzerland, Italy, France, and Germany, &c written by Gilbert Burnet ...	Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715.	1687 (1687)	Wing B5934; ESTC R9984	167,242	250

the Capitulation he was confined to one of the midland Provinces of France as I remember it was Limosin and thus he that hath been thought the chief cause of this Towns failing under the power of the French is the first Man that hath felt the effects of it The Library here is considerable the Case is a great Room very well contrived for it is divided into Closets all over the body of the Room which runs about these as a Gallery and in these Closets all round there are the Books of the several Professions lodged apart there is one for Manuscripts in which there are some of considerable Antiquity I need say nothing to you of the vast heighth and the Gothick Architecture of the Steeple and of the great Church nor of the curious Clock where there is so vast a variety of motions for these are well known The bas reliefs upon the tops of the great Pillars of the Church are not so visible but they are surprizing for this being a Fabrick of Three or Four Hundred Years old it is very strange to see such representations as are there There is a Procession represented in which a Hog carrieth the Pot with the Holy Water and Asses and Hogs in Priestly Vestments follow to make up the Procession there is also an Ass standing before an Altar as if he were going to Consecrate and one carrieth a Case with Reliques within which one feeth a Fox and the trains of all that go in this Procession are carried up by Monkies This seems to have been made in hatred of the Monks whom the Secular Clergy abhorred at that time because they had drawn the Wealth and the following of the World after them and they had exposed the Secular Clergy so much for their ignorance that it is probable after some Ages the Monks falling under the same contempt the Secular Clergy took their turn in exposing them in so lasting a representation to the scorn of the World There is also in the Pulpit a Nun cut in Wood lying along and a Frier lying near her with his Breviary open before him and his hand under the Nuns habit and the Nuns feet are shod with Iron Shoes I confess I did not look for these things for I had not heard of them but my Noble Friend Mr. Ablancourt viewed them with great exactness while he was the French Kings Resident at Strasburg in the company of one of the Magistrates that waited on him and it is upon his credit to which all that know his eminent sincerity know how much is due that I give you this particular From Strasburg we went down the Rhine to Philipsburg which lieth at a quarter of a miles distance from the River it is but a small place the Bastions are but little there is a Ravelline before almost all the Cortines and there lye such Marishes all round it that in these lieth the chief strength of the place The French had begun a great Crown-work on the side that lieth to the Rhine and had cast out a Horn-work beyond that but by all that appears it seems they intended to continue that Crown work quite round the Town and to make a second Wall and Ditch all round it which would have Enlarged the place vastly and made a compass capable enough to lodge above Ten Thousand Men and this would have been so terrible a Neighbour to the Palatinate and all Franconia that it was a Master-piece in Charles Lewis the late Elector Palatine to Engage the Empire into this Siege He saw well how much it concerned him to have it out of the hands of the French so that he took great care to have the Duke of Lorrain's Camp so well supplied with all things necessary during the Siege that the Army lay not under the least uneasiness all the while From thence in three Hours time we came to Spire which is so naked a Town that if it were attacked it could not make the least resistance The Town is neither great nor rich and subsisteth chiefly by the Imperial Chamber that sitteth here though there is a constant dispute between the Town and the Chamber concerning Priviledges for the Government of the Town pretends that the Judges of the Chamber as they are private Men and out of the Court of Judicature are subject to them and so about a year ago they put one of the Judges in Prison on the other hand the Judges pretend that their Persons are sacred It was the consideration of the Chamber that procured to the Town the neutrality that they injoyed all the last War I thought to have seen the forms of this Court and the way of laying up and preserving their Records but the Court was not then sitting The Building the Halls and Chambers of this Famous Court are mean beyond imagination and look liker the Halls of some small Company then of so great a body and I could not see the places where they lay up their Archives The Government of the City is all Lutheran but not only the Cathedral is in the hands of the Bishop and Chapter but there are likewise several Convents of both Sexes and the Jesuites have also a Colledge there There is little remarkable in the Cathedral which is a huge building in the Gothick manner of the worst sort The Tombs of many Emperours that lie buried there are remarkable for their meanness they being only great Flag-stones layed on some small Stone ballisters of a foot and a half high There are also the marks of a ridiculous Fable concerning St. Bernard which is too foolish to be related yet since they have taken such pains to preserve the remembrance of it I shall venture to write it There are from the Gate all along the Nef of the Church up to the Steps that go up to the Quire Four round Plates of Brass above a foot Diameter and at the distance of Thirty foot one from another laid in the pavement on the first of these is ingraven O Clemens on the second O Pia on the third O Felix and on the fourth Maria The last is about Thirty Foot distant from a Statue of the Virgins so they say that St. Bernard came up the whole length of the Church at four steps and that those four plates were laid where he stept and that at every step he pronounced the word that is engraven on the Plate and when he came to the last the Image of the Virgin answered him Salve Bernarde upon which he answered let a Woman keep silence in the Church and that the Virgins Statue has kept silence ever since this last part of the Story is certainly very credible He was a man of Learning that shewed me this and he repeated it so gravely to me that I saw he either believed it or at least that he had a mind to make me believe it and I asked him as gravely if that was firmly believed there he told me that one had lately writ a

drawn in some that would have been otherwise more moderate and that it did likewise precipitate that barbarous action yet it was afterwards found out that the Plot had been formed long before so that the industry and rage of the Priests managed by Spanish Emissaries working upon the bigotry of the people was the real cause and this was only made use of as a pretext to give some more plausible colours to the Massacre vvhich was executed some months after this Chamber was dissolved It began while the Protestants were at Church there were some hundreds destroyed the rest got all up to the Mountains and so escaped into the Countrey of the Grisons and those of Chavennes got likewise up to the Hills for they are scituated just at the bottom of them I shall not prosecure the rest of that War the French savv of vvhat advantage it vvas to them not to let this pass from Italy into Germany fall into the hands of the Spaniards so Bassompiere was sent to Madrid and obtained a promise that all things should be put in the same state in vvhich they vvere before the year 1618 but vvhen that order vvas sent to the Governour of Milan it vvas plain he had secret orders to the contrary for he refused to execute it so a War follovved in vvhich the Grisons found it vvas not easie for them to support the charge of it vvithout imploying the assistance of the French But the Spaniards pretended to have no other interest in the affairs of the Valteline then the preservation of the Catholick Religion and to shevv their sincerity they put the Countrey into the Pope's hands knovving that he could not preserve it but by their assistance nor restore it vvithout securing it from all change of Religion The French vvillingly undertook the cause of the Grisons and because the Duke of Rohan vvas like to be the most favourable General as being of the Religion he vvas sent to command some forces that marched thither But he savv that if the French once made themselves Masters of the passes of the Countrey it vvould turn to their ruine and finding the Grisons reposed an intire confidence in him he thought it unbecoming him to be an instrument in that vvhich he savv must be fatal to them The Spaniards seeing the French ingage in the quarrel and fearing lest they should possess themselves of the passes offered to restore all the Territory in Italy for Chavennes and Bormio had likevvise revolted only the Pretestants got avvay so quick upon the disorders in the Valteline that they prevented the rage of the Priests The Spaniards ask'd these conditions that an Amnesty should be granted for vvhat vvas past that there should be no exercise of the Protestant Religion tolerated in the Countrey and that even the Bailiffs and other Magistrates of the Religion that came to be sent into the Valteline should have no exercise of their Religion and as for other persons that none of the Religion might stay above six vveeks at a time in the Countrey The Duke of Rohan seeing that conditions of so much advantage to the Leagues vvere offered to them did underhand advise those of the Religion to accept of them at the same time that he seemed openly to oppose the treaty set on foot on those terms and that he might get out of this imployment vvith the less dishonour he advised their clapping him up in prison till they had finished their treaty vvith the Spaniards So that they very gratefully to this day ovvn that they ovve the preservation of their Countrey to the vvise advices of that great Man Many that vvere of the Religion returned to their Houses and Estates but the greatest part fearing such another Massacre have since changed their Religion others have sold their Estates and left the Country some stay still and go tvvo or three hours journey to some of the Protestant communities vvhere they have the exercise of the Religion And tho they may not stay in the Valteline above six weeks at a time yet they avoid that by going for a day or two out of the Countrey once within that time nor is that matter at present so severely examined so that there is a calm among them as to those matters But when it comes to the turn of the Protestant communities to send one of the Religion to those imployments he is often much embarassed by the Bishop of Como to whose Diocess those Territories belong for if the Bishop fancies that they do any thing contrary to the Ecclesiastical immunities he excommunicates them and tho this may appear a ridiculous thing since they are already in a worse state by being Hereticks yet it produces a very sensible effect for the people that are extreamly superstitious will not after that come near such Magistrates so that about three years ago a Bailiff found himself obliged to desire to be recalled tho his time was not out since being excommunicated he could no longer maintain the Government in his own person Among the Grisons the Roman Lavv prevails modified a little by their Customs One that vvas a little particular vvas executed vvhen I vvas there A Man that hath an Estate by his Wife enjoys it after her Death as long as he continues a Widovver but when he marries again he is bound to divide it among the Children that he had by her The Justice is short and simple but it is oft thought that Bribes go here tho' but meanly in proportion to their Poverty as well as in other Places The married Women here do scarce appear abroad except at Church but the young Women have more Liberty before they are married There is such a plenty of all things by reason of the gentleness of the Government and the industry of the People that in all the ten days in which I stayed at Coire I was but once ask'd an Alms in the Streets There are two Churches in Coire in the one there is an Organ that joyns with their Voices in the singing of the Psalms and there was for the honour of the Diet while we were there an Anthem sung by a set of Musicians very regularly In all the Churches both of Switzerland and the Grisons except in this only the Minister preaches covered but here he is bare-headed And I observed a particular Devotion used here in saying of the Lord's Prayer that the Ministers who wear Caps put them off when it was said The Women here as in Bern turn all to the East in time of Prayer and also in their private Devotions before and after the publick Prayers many also bow at the Name of Jesus They Christen discovering the whole Head and pouring the Water on the hind-head using a trine Aspersion which is also the practice of the Switzers It vvas matter of much Edification to see the great Numbers both here and all Switzerland over that come every day to Prayers morning and evening They give here in the middle of

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 ●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