Epistle | Contents | Part II |
Edward Browne (1677): An Account of Several Travels through a Great Part of Germany, pp. 1-38: From Norwich to Cologne.
JOURNEY
FROM
NORWICH
TO
COLEN in GERMANY.
IN the year 1668. I left the large and pleasant City of Norwich, and went by land to Yarmouth a Port Town in Norfolk, at the mouth of the River Hierus or Yare; large, fairly built and populous, very considerable for the great Herring fishing in the Autumn, and the commerce it maintaineth in the Streights; Baltick, British and German Seas: With Italians, French, Spaniards, Dutch, Danes, and Swedes. I was here nobly entertained by that worthy and obliging person, Sr. Iames Iohnson, who also furnish't me with letters of Credit, to Amsterdam, Franckfort, Venice and Vienna; Whereby I was readily and handsomely accommodated in all Parts where I had afterwards occasion to travel.
August the 14. about six a clock at night I went aboard the Angel-Ketch in Yarmouth Road, a Vessel of about 55 Tuns, and we immediately set sayl for Rotterdam; we left St. Nicholas-Sand on the Larboard, and after that the Nowles, a new Sand, not taken notice of to be raised above twelve years before. We kept our course all night, East and by South and East South East. The Sea burned at the head of the Ship at the beginning of the night, but the Moon rising there appeared nothing but froth. In the morning we discovered Gravesandt Steeple. It is the custom upon all this coast to send out Pylot-boats continually to meet all Ships at Sea, and to furnish them with Pylots to bring them through the sands, and no Ship is to refuse one: Having taken in our Pylot, we soon discovered Goréé Steeple, and then the Briel. We entred the River Mosa, or Maes, a Large and noble Stream, which arising in the Mountaines of Vauge, or Vigesus, passing by Verdun, Dinant, Namur, Liege, Maestricht, Ruremond, Venlo, and many other considerable Places, doth here fall into the Ocean, we had a very pleasant passage up the River, sayling by many neat Villages, as Maese-sluys, Schedam, Delfshaven, and handsome rowes of Trees upon the shore, and arrived at Rotterdam about six at night. This is one of the three chief passages by Sea into Holland, the other being by Flushing and the Texell. the nearest cut out of England into Holland is from Laistoffe Point to Gravesandt, which is 28 Leagues, and the deepest part of the Sea is about 28 Fathoms. There lay two of the greatest Ships in Holland at that time near Rotterdam, the Crane and the Wassenaer; this latter built in lieu of that in which Admiral Opdam was blown up, fighting against his Royal Highness the Duke of Yorke.1 The Heads or Keyes between which we entred the towne by water are handsome, and Ships of great burden are received into the middle of divers streets without difficulty, (their Channels being deep and large) the houses are well built, and the town Populous, they have an Exchange or place for Merchants to meet at, the streets are so clean that the Women goe about in white Slippers, they being paved with Bricks laid edgwise. The Landthuise hath a fair front. In the great Church the Organs, the Tower, and the Monument of De wit, upon the Bridge the Statue of Erasmus, as also the house where he was born, and the Pleasure boats of the States are worth the seeing. It being then the time of their Kermis or Faire, there were played acted and many rarities shewn, as Lions, Leopards, &c., and a great noise was made about a tall Woman to be shewn of seven foot high; but the Boor of Leckerkir'k, not far from this town, was higher. Parsons and Evans, porters to King Charles the first, did also exceed her, but I have seldom heard of any that was taller than Martin Wierwski a Polander, who at the age of forty two years was presented to the Emperour Maximilian the second, as a rarity of nature, and was full eight foot high, whose picture, as big as the life, I saw, near to the Franciscans Convent at Vienna in Austria.
From Rotterdam I passed by Overschee to Delft, by the Powderhouse, which is a handsome one, built now at some distance from the towne to prevent the like accident which befell when the former took fire and blew up part of the town. The Piazza or market-place is a very fair one, having the front of the town house at one end of it, and the high steeple of the new church at the other. In the old church, Van-Tromps Tombe is very well carved upon the side of the Wall, himself lying upon a Canon encompassed with Arms and trophies. In the middle Isle of the new Church there is a noble monument, the Tombe of William of Nassaw Prince of Orange, together with his Wife and Son, Prince Maurice; his Statua in armour with his Dog at his feet, and four Obelisks are supported by ten Marble pillars. In a house of this Town there were shewn me in a Wall the marks of the bullets shot at Prince William, who was thereby murthered 1584. and in another Church which was broad and spacious I saw a handsome Tomb for Sr. Charles Morgans Lady, and the Monument of Peter Hein the Admiral, who took the Spanish Silver-fleet.
The Hague, Haga Comitis, the ancient place of Residence of the Counts of Holland, and now of the States general; is about an hours-going distant from Deflt; in which passage, at some distance, we had a sight of two of the Prince of Orange's houses. This place is well built; the Prince's Court handsome; The Piazza by it full of green trees; many fair Houses. The Course where the Coaches meet, the Pall-mall, the Wood, the Park, do much beautifie it, and the way from hence to Scheveling, from whence his Majesty returned into England, is very remarkable, it being a streight way cut through the Sand-hills, and paved with Brick for three miles, having on each hand four or five rows of Trees, and Scheveling Steeple at the end of it.
The Hague and Madrid in Spain are accounted the greatest Villages, or open unwalled placed, in Europe, and the Hollanders have thought it more honour to be Masters of the greatest Village, than of a place which, if it were walled, would come short of many Cities; but this may prove a dangerous resolution, for formerly upon this advantage, Martin van Rossem, Captain to the Duke of Gueldres, sacked the Hague;2 and it was lately in the like danger when the French Forces lay at Utrecht and Worden, if they had forced a passage into that part of Holland.
Leyden is three hours or three Dutch miles from the Hague, at present one of the neatest Towns in Europe; Well built, hath divers large Streets, beautified with rowes of Trees, and the water passing through the middle of them, and also well fortified after the modern way; I took notice of that Antiquity3 called Hengist Castle, or the Berg, said to be built by Hengist the Saxon, and went up to the top thereof: Upon the top there is now an Arbour, and a Maze or Labyrinth round it, and a Well, out of which, they told us, they took a Fish alive when the Town was almost famished during the siege, which was shewed to the enemy over the wall, endeavouring to make their condition to appear better than it was, and to dishearten the besiegers. There are now handsome stairs from the top to the bottom, and a good house built by it, where they have their publick sales and entertainments. But a nobler Antiquity lieth under the Sea, than any above ground; not far from hence near Carnyck is a square fortress called Arx Britannica, built by Caligula; in the declining of the Roman Empire ruined in part by the Normans, and afterwards neglected, & overwhelmed by the Sea. But in some years, and great retire of the Sea, the ruines have been discovered, and many noble Antiquities brought from it, some having this inscription, Ex. Ger. Inf. ex Germania inferiori. The Stadthuise hath a fair front towards the street. In the Anatomy Schools are a very great number of Skeletons. Two legs of an Elephant. The Skeleton of a young Whale, of a Horse, Deer, Cat, Fox, and many other Animals; divers Skeletons of Men and Women, some bodies preserved with their Muscles, and one intire, the flesh, skin and all parts defended from corruption. I saw also here what Monsieur De Bils pretended towards the preservation of Bodies, but more accurately afterwards at Dr. Ruisch his house at Amsterdam. The Physick-garden, although but small, is well filled with Plants, where are also many other both natural, and artificiall Curiosities to be seen, and many sorts of Optick glasses. Near the garden are the Schools built of Brick with the Officina Elzeviriana on the top. In the Churches I saw the Monuments of many famous men. There is a Picture in the Chamber for the Burgermasters, representing the day of Judgment,4 drawn by Lucas van Leyden, so much esteemed, it is said, the Emperour Rudolphus would have given for it as many ducats of Gold as would have covered it. The Table also upon which John of Leyden wrought whilst he was a Taylor, is a Curiosity, because he proved afterwards so considerable a disturber of Germany, and came to be King of the Anabaptists.
This City endured a hard siege by the Spanish forces, and they were reduced unto great extremity, but they saved themselves by overflowing the Country, and so forcing the Enemies to make away with great loss; and afterwards coyned a memoriall-Medall with this Inscription.
Ut Senacherib à Jerusalem, sic Hispani a Leyda noctu fugerunt, 1574.
From Leyden I came to Haerlem, a neat City, pleasantly seated and having a Grove near it. The great Church is esteemed the largest in Holland, with a very high Lanthorn upon it. Within are many Inscriptions and Monuments, most of which are transcribed and set down in Gotfr. Hegenitii Itinerarium Hollandicum. In the Prince's house are all the Earles of Holland Painted upon the wall, and in the Garden in the Summer-house, the Picture of Laurentius Costerus, who is said to have first invented the art of Printing in this Town;5 but others attribute it to Johannes Gottenberg, a German. On the other side there is a Picture of a Ship with Saws, in memory of the manner how Damiata in Egypt was formerly taken by those of this Town, who, as they report, accompanied Frederick Barbarossa in an expedition against the Saracens, and when the men of Pelusium or Damiata had chained up their Port, by this invention of fastning strong Saws to the keels of their Ships, they cut the chains in sunder, and so took the Town. In the rooms are very good Paintings by Hemskerk, and Goltzius, as his Prometheus and other Peeces; but Cornelius van Haerlem most delighted me, in his peeces of Herods killing the Innocent Children; his feast of the Gods, in which Vulcans foot is esteemed at a great rate; and another Picture of a Frier and a Nun at a Collation, not inferiour to the rest.6
The old Mens house, or an Hospital for sixty aged persons, is large and handsome; having a good Quadrangle and a Garden in it. The hospital also for the sick is very cleanly kept.
Here I first saw the manner of punishing Malefactours by whipping them with rods, which is more severe than I imagined; they lead them to a Post upon a scaffold, their hands tyed and by a pully drawn up as high as they can be extended, and then an Iron fastned about their wast to keep them steady; in which stretched-out posture they receive sometimes fifty or sixty stripes or more, according to the merit of their offence.
Not far from this place there is a great Water, or noted Lake called Haerlem Meere about twenty miles in length, which is frozen over in hard Winters, and men swiftly travel over it by sliding, or in sleds. When Haerlem was besieged there was a Naval fight upon it; The Dutch having about an hundred and fifty Vessels, and the Spaniards not many fewer. The Town was afterwards taken by Composition, but such cruelty was used by the Spaniards that they have not yet forgot it.
From Haerlem I went to Amsterdam, a City at present for Riches, Trade, Shipping, fair Streets, and pleasant habitations, scarce yielding to any other of the World. It is seated upon the River Ye, and hath its name, as 'tis reported, from a Castle appertaining long since to the Lords of Amstel, to whom this place also belonged: At the beginning, the seat of a few fishermen; but afterwards increasing, it received many priviledges from the Counts of Holland, and was made a Town or City by the favour of their Grants and Charters. In the year 1740. it was walled about with a Brick-wall, to defend it against the Citizens of Utrecht, they having been in great danger to have fallen into their hands, if those of Utrecht had pursued their victories. In few Months after also, the whole Town was almost reduced to Ashes by fire, but by the increase of their Traffick they easily overcame these losses, waded through all difficulties, and rendred good services to their Counts, and received the honour afterwards from Maximilian the Emperour to have the Imperiall Crown over their Armes, which are three Crosses on a Pale7
About the year 1525. Gelen, sent from the new King of Munster, passed through Friesland and came to this City; where having made a party, and communicated his design, he resolved to surprize the Town by night, at the time of the sounding of the Bell; to which intent they were already entred the Market place, had set upon the Town-house: and cut in pieces those who resisted them. When by great providence the rope to the great Bell was taken away; the Magistrates had notice of it, and caused all the streets and Avenues leading to the Market-place to be stopped up with Woolsacks and Hopsacks, whereby they were hindred in their design of taking the Town by night, and the next morning being discovered to be inconsiderable, they were set upon, driven into the Stadthuis, and defeated.
Of late years this City is mightily encreased and encompassed within a new Wall, and fortified after the modern way. The new Streets are large and uniform: and the whole Town being in a low Marshy ground, the water is let in through all the considerable Streets. The River Amstel passeth through the City, being let in under a handsome well-contrived Bridge of Eleven Arches, which is so built as to make part of the Wall and Rampart, and is 26 paces broad. The whole Town is built upon Piles, or high Firr-trees, driven down perpendicularly into the Earth so thick together, that nothing more can be forced in between them: And by this means they build Houses in the Sea, and lay Foundations strong enough to support the greatest Buildings whatsoever, in places where no solid bottom is to be found. but they must needs be at a great expence and labour before they can lay the first Stone: And the number of Trees required to each Foundation is considerable; since for the Foundation of one Tower or Steeple alone, over against the Church of St. Katherine, Mr. J. de Parivall, who wrote Les Delices de la Hollande, reckoneth that there was rammed into the ground a Forrest, as he calls it, of Six thousand three hundred and thirty four great Trees. About this manner of work, for the fixing of their Foundations, I saw them employed in divers places, particularly at the East-India-house, and at a place where a Lutheran Church was then designed to be built, So that it was not improbably said, that if a man could see all under this City, he could hardly behold a greater Forrest.
The Stadthuis or Town-house, is the noblest Building in all these Countries.8 A Pile of Freestone of an hundred and ten paces in Front, being larger than the Magnified Front of the Church of St. Peter's at Rome, and eighty one paces deep, or on the sides. The Chambers in it, the Pictures and Statues, are worthy to be seen and admired. The first Room on the righthand, or Judgment-hall, where the Malefactors receive their Sentence, is adorned with large Statues, hanging down their heads in mournful postures, as if concerned or grieving at what was then pronounced. The Floors are of Marble; the Roofs are richly gil't and painted. Upon the top of all stands Atlas or Columbus, holding a Globe upon his shoulder made of Copper, of about ten foot Diameter, which is as large perhaps as any Ball or Globe whatsoever employed to this ornamental use. That upon St. Peter's at Rome, as having been in it, I judge to be less; as likewise that at Florence. The Turkish Ornament to the Tower of their Mosques, is three Balls one above another, and an half Moon over them, but they are less by far, at least such as I have seen: and by relation from Eye-witnesses, the largest of the three noble gilded Balls at Morocco are inferiour to this. But I will say nothing more of this great building, the Stadthuis, since there is a peculiar description of it in Folio, with Cuts and Figures of the most remarkable Curiosities in it. The Exchange is fair and large, and above it are Shops: it is very well frequented, and he that cometh after twelve payeth six stivers.
Divers of their churches are fair: In the new Church, the partition with Ballisters of Brass, and the carved Pulpit, are noble. In the old Church the Tomb of Van Hulse and Heemskerk are remarkable. Heemskerk did his Country great Services in their first attempts upon India: for the King of Spain having confiscated some of the Hollanders Ships, who traded to his Dominions, which were then the Staple for the India Trade. It was resolved by the permission of Prince Maurice and the States, to set out a Fleet of eight ships for the Indies; four of which were to pass by the way of the Atlantick Ocean, and the Cape of Good-hope: and the other four were to search a passage towards the Kingdoms of Cathay and China by the North-east, whereby the passage also into those parts might be expected much shorter than that which was known to the Spaniards.
To this intent these four last vessels sailed out of the Texel, June 5. 1594. and returned in September, not being able to proceed by reason of the Ice. but upon the relation of the Voyage by William Barenson, there were two other Expeditions afterwards to Nova Zembla; in the last of which they wintered there, and Barenson lost his life.9 Heemskerk was the chief of the twelve which returned from that cold habitation, where none but the Bears and Foxes could well endure the Winter, where he had been twice, and afterwards made two rich Voyages into India. Upon whose happy returns the Holland East-India Company was first established, and a prohibition made for any other of that Country to trade thither for the space of One and twenty years.
But to proceed to other publick Buildings in this City. The Tuchthuis or Raspelhuis, or House of Correction for debauched young men, such as are incorrigible and disobedient to Parents or Laws, hath at the entrance of the Gate two Lions bridled, a proper Embleme, with this Inscription,10 Virtutis est domare quæ cuncti pavent. This was formerly a Monastery belonging to the Nuns of the Order of St. Clare, and converted to this use 1595. They who are put in, are forced to work and gain their Bread with hard labour. I saw those who rasped Brazil, having a certain task set them every day, work so hard, that being naked and in a sweat, and the dust of the Brazil wood flying upon them, they were all over painted of a beautiful red colour. Which odd sight made me call to mind the Phansie of my Lady Marchioness of Newcastle, of a Nation wherein the People were of an Orange-tawny colour, and the King of Purple.10a
They told us that some were committed to their charge, and not to be brought to work by blows, they placed in a large Cistern, and let the water in upon them, placing only a Pump by them for their relief, whereby they are forced to labour for their lives, and to free themselves for drowning. One we saw put into a narrow Dungeon, and kept from meat. Some are put into this House for a longer time, some for a shorter. It hath been a punishment for such as have drawn their Daggers, or offered to stab any one. And some Citizens, though able and rich enough, contrive it so, that when their Sons are extravagant and masterless, the Officers seize upon them, and carry them into this House, where they are not forced to any hard labour, but kept in till they see sufficient signs of amending their life.
This way of Correction may seem severe to many, yet is not comparable tot hat which is said to have been formerly used in Germany. Particularly at Colen, in the white Tower, at the North end of Town, near the Rhine; where it is reported, that such Youths who were not otherwise to be reclaimed, were in a barbarous manner shut up in the white Tower. The height and thickness of the walls secured them from escaping, or from their complaints being heard. Near the top was placed out of their reach a loaf of bread, the last remedy against starving, which while their bold necessity forced them to reach at, they executed their last sentence upon themselves, and miserably brake their own necks.
Somewhat like the Raspelhuis is the Spinhuis, or House of Correction, for the young women who live loosely, are taken in the night, or can give no account of their living. They are put in for a certain time, according as their fault meriteth, and are bound to make lace, sew, or employ their time perpetually in some honest labour.
Those of the better sort are permitted to have Chambers apart. In one large Rom I saw about an hundred of them, and some very well dressed and fine, which was an unexpected sight to me, and would sure be more strange to behold in France and England.
The Weeshuis, or Hospital for Children, where there are Six hundred Orphans carefully looked after, and well educated.
The Dolhuis, or a House for such as are Delirious, Maniacal, or Melancholical of both Sexes.
The Gasthuis, or Hospital for the Sick, being large, and hath a great Revenue.
The Mannenhuis, or Hospital for old Men, and such as are no longer able to labour towards their own support.
Besides all which, there are great Sums of mony collected for the poor, so that there is not a Begger to be seen in the Streets, and upon all assignations or appointments of meetings at the Tavern, or elsewhere, and upon many other occasions, whosoever faileth to come at the exact time, forfeiteth more or less to the use of the Poor.
The East-India-houses are remarkable, and the great stores of their Commodities, Cinamon, Green-ginger, Camphire, Pepper, Calecuts, Indico, &c. The ships are of a great burden: their House was then enlarging, although it was great before; and a perfect Town for all Trades within it self.
The Admiralteyt, or Admiralty where their Stores for War and Shipping are laid up, is encompassed with water; near to it there lay then 72 Men of War. In the House we saw their Cables, Grapling irons, Pullies, Oars, Charges for Powder, Lanthorns for ships, &c. At the entrance of the Gate hangeth up a Canoe with a man in it, dryed up, so as to be preserved from corruption, and a Paddle in his hand: he was enclosed up to the waste in the Canoe, in such sort, as the Fish-skins, which were the cover to it, being so sewed together that no water could get in, he might keep the Sea in the greatest Storms without danger. The top of this House, as of divers others in this City, is a Reservatory for Rain-water, which they have the more need of, because they have little good water hereabouts.
The fairest Streets in the Town are Harlem-street, the Cingel, Princes Graft, Kaisers Graft, and the New Buildings in the Island towards Gottenburg. And if they continue to build with Freestone, they will surpass these, which, I'le assure you, are in no small measure beautiful.
I saw a Globe to be sold, made by Vingbomes, between six and seven foot Diameter, valued at Sixteen thousand Guldens: The Meridian alone, being of brass, cost a thousand Guldens. The Globe is made of Copper-plates excellently well painted, with all the new Discoveries in it, as that of Anthony Van Dimons Land, found out 1642. in 42 degrees of Southern Latitude, 170o of Longitude, those towards the Northwest of Japan, and those places both about N.Z. and also in the Tartarian Sea beyond the Streights of Voygats, New-Holland, West-Friesland, Cape d'Hyver, &c. but I have since met with a Book, which doth somewhat contradict this; entituled A Voyage into the Northern Countries by Monsieur Martiniere, who went in one of the three ships belonging to the Northern Company of Copenhagen, in the year 1653. and by that means had occasion to converse with the Norwegians, Islanders, Laplanders, Kilops, Borandians, Siberians, Zemblians, and Samojedes, who are Neighbours to the Tartars and Tingorses, in his 46 chapter he expresseth himself after this manner. " There having fallen into my hands several Geographical Charts of sundry eminent and much celebrated Authors, I am much amazed to see how they are mistaken in the position of Zembla, which they place much nearer the North Pole than really it is; they divide it likewise by the Sea from Greenland, and place it far distant from it, when as indeed those two Countries are Contiguous, the Coasts of Greenland butting upon the Coasts of Zembla, so as did not the great quantity of Snow, and the violence of the cold render those Borders uninhabitable, the passage would be very easie by Land from Greenland to Zembla, and from Zembla passing the Pater-noster Mountains to enter into Samojedia, from thence into Tartary or Muscovy: But of the truth of this we shall be further informed at the return of Captain Wood.
"I was amazed likewise to see they had described the Streight called Voygat, not above ten French Leagues in length, whereas it contains above five and thirty Dutch Leagues, which is six times as much. Again, they would perswade us that through that Streight our ships might pass into the great Tartarian Ocean, which is a mistake. And although they indeed do affirm that in the time of Prince Maurice of Nassau, a Dutch Vessel passed that way into that Ocean, yet it is a manifest errour, that Streight being bounded, as I said before, by the Pater-noster Mountains, which are half a League high, and the tops of them covered with perpetual Snow, which never dissolves. And of this I can give a positive testimony, having been my self in that Streight under those Mountains in the Dog-days, which is the hottest time of the year."11
From the Steeple of the Old Church of Amsterdam, I had a good prospect of the Town, and the great number of ships lying upon one side of it, like a Wood; and all the Towns about it. The Roofs of the Houses being sharp, it is a most uneven Town to be looked upon downward, as it is a handsome one to be looked on upward; and is not so divertising or pleasing to the sight, as some Towns in France and Italy, which have flatter roofs, or else are covered with a fine black Slat or Ardoise. Upon this, and all other Towers of the Town, a Trumpet is sounded at Midnight, and in other parts of the City at six a Clock night and morning. At eleven a clock, the time of going on to the Exchange, there is good Musick at the Stadthuis, given by the Earl of Leicester. They make good Harmony also every hour in playing upon their Chimes and Bells in most Steeples. And there is a Musick-house or Entertaining-house, where any one is admitted for a Stiver, hears most sorts of Musick, seeth many good Water-works, and divers motions by Clock-work, Pictures, and other Divertisements.
During my stay at Amsterdam, I had the opportunity of seeing divers Learned Men, and Persons of Note. Dr. Ruish12 shewed us many Curiosities in Anatomy, as the Skeletons of young Children, and Ftus's of all Ages, neatly set together, and very white; the Lymphatick vessels so preserved, as to see the valves in them. A Liver excarnated, showing the Minute vessels, all shining and clear. The Muscles of Children dissected and kept from corruption: entire Bodies preserved; the face of one was very remarkable, without the least spot or change of colour or alteration of the lineaments, from what might be expected immediately after death: he had then kept it two years, and hoped it would so continue. Dr. Swammerdam shewed us divers of his Experiments which he hath set down in his Treatise De Respiratione; and a very fair Collection of Insects brought from several Countries; a Stagg-fly of a very great bigness; and Indian Scolopendria, or Forty-foot; a fly called Ephemeron, and many other Curiosities. Old Glawber the Chymist shewed us his Laboratory: And we received much civility from Blasius the Physick Professour who hath wrote a Comment upon Veslingius.13
The Jews live more handsomly and splendidly here, than in any other place: Their chief Synagogue is large, and adorned with Lamps of Brass and Silver. We happened to be there at the Feast of their New-year; so that their blowing of Horns, showting and singing was not omitted: Some of the understand divers Languages. I saw one Moses di Pas, a Learned young Man, and Orobio a Physician of Note. And I was sorry to see diver here to profess publickly Jews, who had lived at least reputed Christians, for a long time in other places: One who had been a Franciscan Frier thirty years; and another who had been Professour some years at Tholouze, and before that Physician to the King of Spain. Juda Leo a jew, hath taken great pains in making a Model of the Temple of Solomon, of Solomon's House, the Fort of the Temple, the Tabernacle, the Israelites encamping, and other Curiosities. I was present at the Circumcision of a Child; which is performed by thrusting a Probe in between the Glans and Præputium, and separating it, or dilating the Præputium, so as the inward Skin may be drawn forward as well as the outward; then by applying an Instrument joynted like a Carpenters Rule, or a Sector, the Skin is held fast beyond the Glans, and with a broad Incision-knife, or Circumcision-knife, the Foreskin is cut off close to the Instrument; and what remains of Skin is immediately put back, the blood stopped with Powders, and a Plaister applyed; the Relations and Acquaintance singing all the while, whereby the cries of the Infant are less heard.
Leaving Amsterdam, I passed by a peculiar Burial-place of the Jews, who are not permitted to interr their dead within the Walls, by Overskeerk, Bamburg, and in six or seven hours arrived at Utrecht, in a Boat drawn with Horses through artificial Cuts of Water, which is the way of Travelling in Holland, Utrecht, and divers other Provinces of the Low Countries.
Utrecht is an ancient, large, handsome City, and chief of the Province of the same name, called formerly Antonina, and afterwards Ultrajectum. Long famous for its Episcopal See founded by Dagobert King of France, who endowed it richly with Lands and Possessions: Willebald, or Willebrode and Englishman, was their first Bishop,14 who converted these Countries unto Christianity; and the following Bishops grew so powerful, that they were able to bring many thousand men into the field, and to wage great Wars against the Counts of Holland: Their Succession also continued above Nine hundred years. It is now an University, founded by the States in the Year 1636. I shall not trouble you with the Names of the Professors; the Learned Mr. Ray, whom I had the honour to meet in divers places abroad, having already caused to be printed the Series Lectionum of this and many other Universities in the Low Countries, Germany, and Italy, in his Observations Topographical, Moral, Physiological, set forth 1673. The great Church hath a very high Tower, or three Steeples one above another: From the highest of which I had not only a good sight of the Town it self, which lay under mine Eye like a Platform, but of many others also; Utrecht being in a plain flat Country, and so well seated, and encompassed with so populous a Country, that in a days Journey a man may go from hence to any one of fifty walled Towns and Cities. The English Church here is an ancient Building; the Pillar in the middle of it, whose Foundation could not be laid but upon Bulls-hides, is much taken notice of: It was built in 1099. and hath the Picture of a Bull upon it with this Inscription;
Accipe Posteritas quod per tua sæcula narres,
Taurinis cutibus fundo solidata columna est.
There is an old Library belonging to this Church, which containeth divers old Books and Manuscripts. A large Bible in six Volumes, painted and gilded after a very ancient manner: Two Idols taken (in time of war) long since in Germany, and given to this place by the Emperour Henry the Fourth, are worth the seeing, not so much for their neatness, as their Antiquity and odd shape: As also a Horn made out of a Tooth, said to be given at the same time. There are also three Unicorns Horns, little differing in length; the longest being five foot and a half: I drank out of one of them, the end being tipp'd with Silver, and made hollow to serve for a Cup. These were of the Sea-Unicorn, or the Horn or long wreathed Tooth of some Sea-Animal much like it, taken in the Northern Seas; of which I have seen many, both in Publick Repositories, and in Private Hands. Two such as these, the one Ten foot long, were presented not many years since to the King of Denmark, being taken near to Nova Zembla; and I have seen some full fifteen foot long; some wreathed very thick, some not so much, and others almost plain: Some largest and thickest at the End near the head; others are largest at some distance from the Head: Some very sharp at the end or point, and others blunt. My honoured Father Sir T. B. hath a very fair piece of one which was formerly among the Duke of Curlands Rarities, but after that he was taken Prisoner by Douglas in the wars between Sweden and Poland, it came into a Merchants hands, of whom my Father had it, he hath also a piece of this sort of Unicorns Horn burnt black, out of the Emperour of Russia's Repositorie, given him by Dr. Arthur Dee, who was Son to Dr. John Dee, and also Physician to the Emperour of Russia, when his Chambers were burned, in which he preserved his Curiosities. I have seen a walking Staff, a Sceptre, a Scabbard for a Sword, Boxes, and other Curiosities made out of this Horn, but was never so fortunate as from experience to confirm its Medical Efficacy against Poysons, contagious Diseases, or any other evident effect of it, although I have known it given several times, and in great quantity. But of these Unicorns Horns no man sure hath so great a Collection as the King of Denmark; and his Father had so many, that he was able to spare about an hundred of them, to build a Magnificent Throne out of Unicorns Horns.15
I had the honour to see divers Persons of Note in this City; as D. Cyprianus ab Oostergo, Dr. Regius, Voetius, the only Member then left alive of the Synod of Dort, and others; but missed the sight of the learned Anna Maria Skurman,16 who was then gone out of Town, and was forced to content my self with beholding her Picture, well drawn by her own hand, with this Inscription of hers under it:
Cernitis his pictâ nostros in Imagine vultus;
Si negat ars formam gratia vestra dabit.
The Painters Hall is considerable, wherein are many good pieces to be seen of several Masters: Amongst which there are good Heads by Van Colen and Tuart; Landskips by Soft-lever; and good Drapery, especially in some Turkish Habits, by Van der Mere.
This Town is also beautified with a fair Piazza or Market-place, divers long Streets, and a Pall-mall with five rows of Trees on each side. In the Church of St. Katherine is the Tomb of my Lord Gorge. Though I had seen France and Italy, and the Noble Cities thereof, which are worthily admired by all, yet I was much surprized upon the first sight of the United Provinces, especially of Holland, and the adjoyning places. He that hath observed the easie accommodation for Travel therein, both by Land and Water, their excellent order and regular course in all things; the number of Learned men; the abundance of Varieties of all kinds; the industry, frugality, and wealth of the people; their numerous good Towns; their extraordinary neatness in their Buildings and Houses; their proper Laws and administration of Justice; and their incredible Number of Shipping and Boats, will think it an omission to rest in the sight of other Countries without a view of this. A Country of little extent, and soon travelled over, but so replenished with People, and with good Cities, fair Towns and Villages, as not to be met with upon so little a compass of ground, except perhaps in China.
From Utrecht, in two hours, I came to Friswick, and passed over the River Leck to Vianen, where there is little remarkable besides the House and Gardens of Count Brederode, one of the Ancient Nobility of Holland, or, according to common esteem, of the most Noble Family of all; the Family of Egmonds being formerly esteemed the Richest; the Wassenaer's the most ancient, and the Brederodes the Noblest. The Mount in this Garden serveth for the Rampart to the Town, and on a round Bullwark are divers small brass Guns planted. The Statua's of the twelve Cæsars, of Aristotle the Pyramids and Partitions, with the Paintings upon the wall, are the rest of its Ornaments.
From hence I passed still by Boat through the Land of Arkel, some say, derived from Hercules; belonging formerly to the Lords of Gorchom and Arkeland, till by Mary, daughter to the last Lord of Arkeland, it fell to John Lord of Egmond, and afterwards was sold to William the sixth Earl of Holland. I arrived this night at Gorchom, a Town well seated, near three Rivers, the Ling, the Wael, and the Maes. the Market-place is fair; the Stadthuis is sunk somewhat on one side. The Governour hath a good House, and the Church a very high thick Steeple: the Works are of Earth; the Water-gate is handsome, and over it in Great Letters is this Inscription;
Civitas in quâ maximè Cives legibus parent, & in
pace beata, & bello invicta. 1642.
The more remarkable because it made good its Inscription in the year 1672. when Louis the Fourteenth, King of France, came down with so powerful an Army into the Low-Countries, that in that Summers Expedition he took thirty Walled Towns and Cities, this Water-gate being the Limit to his Conquests this way, beyond which his Forces were not able to attempt anything.
Leaving Gorcum, I passed by Worcum, on the other side of the River, and then by the Castle of Lovesteyn, strongly seated and well fortified; and therefore hath bee often made use of to secure Persons of Note. Sir George Ascue of late years suffered his Imprisonment herein, and formerly Barnevelt; upon which occasion this Castle hath been much spoken of, and hath given the name to that whole party who sided with him, well known at present by the name of the Lovestein Faction. Passing on further up the Maes, I left Proye on the left hand, and Huesden on the right, and the next day morning arrived at the Bosch.
Hertogen Bosch, Sylva Ducis, Boscum Ducis, Boisleduc, Bolduc, takes its name from a Wood belonging to the Dukes of Brabant: It is a strong pleasant city, seated upon the River Disa or Deese, which entreth the Maes, about two Leagues below it; one of the greatest Cities in Brabant; and for its strength, for which 'tis beholden both to Nature and to Art, the States of the United Provinces possess not any one more considerable, and is a very good Frontier against all Enemies on this side: It is encompassed on all sides with Fenns and Marshy Grounds. The Avenues to it are by narrow Causies, made turning and winding, to be commanded in all places by one or other of the six Sconces or Forts built at some distance without the Town for its greater Security. Besides which, the Hollanders having some reason to be jealous of the Inhabitants, whose affections might incline them towards the neighbouring Princes, of whose Religion most of them are, they have built a Citadel within the Town, a Briel or pair of Spectacles to look more accurately into their Affairs. It is a handsom regular Fort of five Bastions, each Curtain is 84 ordinary paces long; the Faces of each Bastion 63; and the Flank or Neck 24. There is a handsome House of Stone for the Centry at the point of each Bastion, and the middle of each Curtain, every one of which cost Seven hundred Guldens. Here is also a Field Canon of an extraordinary length, said to be able to fling a Bullet almost as far as Bommel. The Piazza in this Town is Triangular.
This City was made an Episcopal See, 1559. The Cathedral is Dedicated to St. John. In the Quire are painted the Arms of many of the Knights of the Golden Fleece. And over the upper Stalls or Seats, an Inscription in French, which contains the History of the first Institution, and Model of this Order, by the most High and Mighty Prince Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, Lorain, and Brabant: Besides divers Statua's and Pillars. There are also several Monuments of the Bishops of Bosche and others.
This Town was taken from the King of Spain by the Forces of the Confederate Estates, in the year 1628. after a long and chargeable Siege; in which the little Sconce, one of the Forts towards the South, did excellent Service.
Divers of the Nuns were still alive in this Town, but at Utretcht they were all dead.
From the Bosche we travelled through a plain Country, somewhat Sandy, to Breda upon the River Merck: A place very considerable, pleasantly seated, and well-fortified. It hath formerly had more Outworks than at present: For they have taken away the Crown-works, and left only the Half-moons and Horn-works, and Conserves or Contregards about the Half-moons. There is a large Ditch of Water round the Counterscarp, and a finall Ravelin between each Bastion, joyned to the Rampart within side of the Ditch. There is also a double Haye or Quickset-hedge almost quite round the Town, besides Palisados. The Parapet is very thick, and strengthened with a row of Elms and seconded with another row at three or four yards distance, round the town; the bodies of the Bastions are sunk down or hollowed away, and filled with a thicket of Elms. the Half Moons are the like without the Town, and after all, a brest-work between the Town and the Bastions; and Cavaliers upon several places of the Rampart.
This Town belongs unto the Prince of Orange, unto whom it hath descended by the right of the house of Nassaw, by the Marriage of Engelbert the seventh Earle of that house, with Mary daughter and Heir of Philip the last Lord thereof, about the year 1400.It was taken by the Spaniards in the beginning of the Low Country Wars, and was afterwards Surprised by the Dutch, by a stratagem performed by eighty men hid in a Boat covered over with Turf, and so let into the Castle. In the year 1625. the Spaniards took it again, as by Inscriptions and Chronograms are to be seen in divers places, as that over the door of the Church.
aMbrosispInoLæ VigILantIa breDa eXpUgnata. As also this,
PhILIppUs hIspanIæ reX guBernante IsabeLLa CLarâ EUgenIa Infanta, obsiDente spInoLa qUaternis regIbUs frUstra ConIUrantIbUs breDa VIGtor posItUs.
Afterwards it was besieged and taken by Frederick Hendrick Prince of Orange, as an Inscription at the West end of the Church sets it down.
Auxilio solius Dei, Auspiciis confederati Belgij, Ferdinando Austriaco Hispaniæ Infanta cum ingenii exercitu frustra succurente, a Iulij 23 obsessam ad 19 Augusti oppugnatam. Fredericus Henricus Princeps arUsIUs breDaM eXpUgnat seXta OCtobrIs.
The Church is fair and hath many good Monuments, as Renesse's Tombe; a Monument for Sir Thomas Alesbury set up by the Lord Chancellor Hide; an old Tombe erected 1349. for John Lord of Lech and Breda; the Tombe of Grave Engleberg Van Nassaw and his family on the side of the Wall; the Here Van Horne and his three Wives; but the Principall Monument is that of Grave Hendrick Van Nassaw, whose Armour is supported by four Warriers upon their Knees; he built the Castle of Breda, which is at present both strong and beautiful: I observed the place where the Turfe-Boat came in, and where the Prince came over into the Town. The Gallery, the Garden, the Walks, and Dials are worth the seeing, the Town is handsomely built, populous, and generally hath a great Garrison in it.
Leaving Breda we soon came by Land to St. Gertruydenberg the last Town on the North of Brabant, where it joyneth to the Province of Holland, a small place, but a good Town for fishing, lying upon a Hill near the great broad Water called de Waert, made by the falling of the Maes and many other Rivers into it. This Town is fortified and Garisoned. The Church and Steeple have been large and fair, and the ruines of the latter are observable, in regard that this Steeple was shot down by a Stratagem of the Prince of Orange, while the Governour and chief of the Town were upon it, to observe a false alarm in the Prince's Camp, and so lost themselves and the Town. We passed from hence over a large Water which hath overflow'd a great part of the Country upon one side of it, no less than seventy two Parishes being drowned at once, the Village of Ramsdun onely escaping, and so by an old Tower called the house of Murney, to the Maiden Town of Dort, or Dordrecht.
Dordracum, so called by some from Duri or Dureti forum, at present Dort, being seated in the Waves of those great Lakes made by the Maes and Waal, is not unaptly from its situation compared to a Swans nest, it is reckoned the first and chief Town of South Holland, in respect of its antiquity, as having served to secure Odacer in his retreat almost eight hundred years since, and also in respect of its Priviledges, in having the Mint here, and being the Staple for Rhenish wine and English Cloath.
In this Town are many fair houses and pleasant Gardens. The great Church is large, the Steeple 312 steps high; the top thereof being made of four large Dyalls. There is also an Exchange or Place for Merchants to meet. The English have two Churches, and the French one. The Key or Head to the water side is handsome, and the Country about very pleasant; we saw the Chamber wherein the Synod of Dort was assembled 1611. a large fair room; and took collation in the same house, in a high turret overlooking the Town and Country: Our seats Moving round about the Table continually; so as the diversity of the prospect made it more delightful. The great Vessels round-bellied, which trade between Coln and this City seemed strange; as also the long Luyck or Liege-boats; and the number of People that continually live in them. At my going away from hence I embarked in a Vessel bound for the Island of Walcheren, sayling by most of the Islands of Zealand and in sight of divers good Towns, as Willemstadt, Zirickze, Tergoes; observing in some places where the Sea had overflow'd the Land; and in others where the Industry of the Inhabitants still keep it out, by keeping up their banks, and thatching the Shoars of the Sea. We Landed at Ter-Vere, where there is a good Haven and Harbour for Ships, the Walls were built in the year 1357, towards the Sea are round towers. The Piazza is long. The Scotch have had a Factory here for above two hundred years, and the Marquises of this Place did formerly make one of the three States, by which Zealand was Governed. The Abbot of St. Nicholas in Middleburg representing the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the Towns of Middleburg, Zirickzee, Ter-Veer, Flussing, Tolen, Martins-dike, Romerswal and Tergoes, supplying the Third: over against this place where a Town had formerly sunk into the Sea, the Steeple only remaineth to be seen. From hence to Middleburg the way is Paved with Brick; as it is also from Town to Town in most places of Holland.
Middleburg is the chief Town in the Island Walachria, seated almost in the middle of it, being well built, large, rich, and Populous, it is the fourth Port for the East-India trade: hath a large, broad Water within the Town, and a streight cut through the Land to carry Vessels out to Sea, the whole is very well Fortified, the Officers here are chosen by Strangers or Foreigners, the Churches are many and remarkable, the new Church is of an eight-square figure with a Cupola, the Tower of the old great Church very high, the Stadthuise with the old statuas, about it, the round Piazza, and many private buildings are Considerable, and the whole Country about it is fruitful; either divided into Gardens and Orchards, or Planted with Madder, Pompions, or Grain and Fruits. The Zealanders are generally addicted to the interest of the Prince of Orange, and great Lovers of his Person. I found them not a little delighted that the Prince had been with them some days before, and was made Premier Noble, or chief of the States of Zealand; which was chiefly brought about, as I was informed, by Pensioner Hubert, Le Sage, Duvelaer and Vriebergen, formerly no great friends to the Prince, especially Vriebergen, who was the most earnest of any to bring him in, in despite to the Hollanders, for General Worts his sake, who being set over the Zealand forces by those of Amsterdam, lately affronted Vriebergens Son who was a Colonel, at the head of his Regiment, I was entertained at Middleburg very courteously by Mr. Hill the Minister, who also sent his Kinsman with me to Flussing. Flissinga or Vlussing, hath Stone-Wals towards the Sea, and Mudworks towards the Land; a very good Port, and a strong Town; the waves of the Sea washing its walls; it was one of the first Towns which the Low Country men took from the Spaniards, in the year 1572, and was made Cautionary to Queen Elizabeth together with Rammakins and the Briel 1585. The renowmed Sr. Philip Sidney being the first Governour of it, and surrendered by King James to the United states, 1616. The Sea shoar here abouts is not only faced with rushes, flaggs and reeds staked down as high as the Tide usually ariseth, but it is also strongly bound over with Osiers and hurdles and great Posts driven in to break the force of the Water, and secure the Piles which made the Harbour or Havens mouth. The Town-house is handsomely built, standing in the Piazza, having three rowes of Pillars in the Front one above another; the Lower Dorick, the second Ionick, and the highest Corinthian; and on the top there is a Gallery or Balcony to Discovery ships at Sea. This is the third Port for the East-India trade; Amsterdam and Rotterdam being the first and second: here lay many great ships in the middle of the Town, and considerable men of War, as the St. Patrick, and the Admiral of Zealand: we saw them also building of divers ships, and when the Prince was here, they Launched one to divertise him, to which he gave the name of William Frederick, they also presented him with a Golden Bottle; that being the Arms of the Town:17 the Prince Landed at Armuyden and went from thence to Tergoes, and thence to Breda; they reported his entertainment in Walcheren amounted to fifty thousand Guldens. The Women in this Island wear most of them red Cloth and straw-Hats, if a Man dies a great bundle of Straw is layd at the Door, if a Boy, a little one, if a Woman, the straw lies on the left side of the Door: when any Woman is brought to bed; they fasten a piece of Lawne to the ring and rapper of the Door; and make it up into a little baby or puppet finely pleated, and in such manner, as to distinguish of what sex the young Child is.
Returning to Middleburg by Land I observed there was a row of Trees round the Town between the moat and the rampart, where ordinarily there is only a breastworke or a hedge, and embarked at Middleburg again, and passed down the River by the fort Rammakins, and so for the Schelde, Sayling up that noble River till we had passed the Fort Frederick Henrick and came to Lillo; where we stayd till the Vessell was searched. Over against Lillo, lyeth another Fortification, called Lisgens hoek; the Fort de la croix is the last that belongeth to the Hollanders, and lieth on the North side of the River; the Banks are cut nigh to it, and the Country drowned for its greater security. The Spanish Forts hereabouts to defend the Frontiers, are the Philip, the Pearl, and the Maria.
The River Scaldis or Scheld mentioned by Cæsar18 is a gallant River, affording plenty of fish, and convenience for navigation and passage unto several noted places: It ariseth in the Country of Vermandois, passing to Cambray, Valencienne, so to Tournay or Dornick, Oudenard, Gaunt, Rupelmond and Antwerp, and pursuing its course is afterwards divided into two streams, whereof the Southern is called the Hont; the other runs by Bergen ap Zome, and so into the Sea between the Isles of Zealand.
The next day morning we went on our Voyage still up the Scaldis or Schelde, and arrived at Antwerp. Where I had the good fortune to see Mr. Hartop; one very well known in all those parts and of high esteem for his personal strength and valour. A Gentleman also so courteous that he makes it his business to oblige strangers; he shew'd me many curiosities in this City, carrying me with him in his Coach.
The Walls of Antwerp are very large, faced with Brick and freestone, having divers rows of Trees upon the, broad walks, and conveniences for the Coaches, to make their tour upon. The Bastions are not so large as generally they build now a dayes, yet after the modern way. The Ditch is very broad and deep, the Country about it, all Gardens. The Cittadel is a regular fortification of five Bastions, wherein lies alwayes a Garrison of Spanish Soldiers: upon every curtain there are two mounts or Cavaliers; and between them below, a row of building or lodgings for the Soldiers; the ears of the Bastions are cut down, and Casamates made, and Palisados set round upon the Esplanade; the Walls are lined with excellent Brick and stone, nor is there any where a more regular beautifull Fortification of five Bastions that is finished: it commands the City, the River and the Country: besides this Cittadel there is another Fort within the Town near the Scheld, to command the River, having eight guns in it, called St. Laurence Fort.
The Exchange is handsome, supported by 36 Pillars every one of a different carving, four streets lead unto it, so that standing in the middle we see through every one of them. The Meer or Largest street is considerable for the water running under it, and for the meeting of Coaches upon it every evening to make their tour through the streets of the City, which are clean and beautiful; at one end of it stands a large Brass Crucifix upon a Pedestall of Marble. The Jesuites Church goeth far beyond any of that bigness that I have seen out of Italy. The Front is noble, with the Statua of Ignatius Loyola on the top, A great part of the inside of the Roof was painted by Rubens, and some of it by Van Dyke: there be many Excellent peeces of flowers done by Segers a Iesuite; the Carving and gilding of all the works is exquisite: The Library of the Colledge is great, & the Books disposed handsomely into four Chambers; the Founder hereof was a Godfridus Houtappel, whose Monument, together with his Wife and Children are worth the seeing, in a Chappel on the South side of this Church. In the Church of the Carmelites is a large Silver Statua of our Lady, and models of cityes in stone. Onsar Lieven Vrowen Kerck, or the Church of our blessed Lady is the greatest in the City; and the Steeple one of the fairest in the World, five hundred foot high; one of their feet is eleven of our inches; so as it is 459 of our feet. In this Church there is much Carving, and a great number of Pictures highly esteemed, among which one piece is much taken notice of, drawn by Quintin at first a Smith, who made the neat Iron work of the Well before the West door; and afterwards to obtain his Mistress, he proved a famous Painter; his head is set up in Stone at the entrance of the Church, with an inscription and this verse.
Connubialis amor de Mulcibre fecit Apellem.
I was at the famous Abby of St. Michael, pleasantly seated upon the Scheld; where among other curiosities, I saw a glass, which represented the Pictures of our Saviour and the Virgin Mary, collected from the Putting together of divers other heads: One was represented from a Picture wherein were thirteen faces, and another from one of twelve; over the blessed Virgin was this Inscription.
Diva nitet variis expressa Maria Figuris.
The Countess of Brabants Tombe, who was drowned, and her Statua, as also the Monument of Ortelius, are here shewn. Macarius Simoneus was then Abbot, the Monks 63. Near unto the Wharf-gate is the Church of St. Walburgis an English Saint, who contributed much toward the conversion of these Countries.19
The Town-house is fair, the House built for the East-country Merchants is very stately and large, but runneth now to ruine, in this I saw among other curiosities, divers strange Musical instruments, which at present are not understood, or at least not made use of: The Hessen house hath been also formerly considerable. The water which they make use of in Brewing, is brought by an Aqueduct from Herentall about thirty miles distant from hence; and is conveyed into the Town by a large Channel, peculiarly walled in by it self where it passeth the Ditch; in this City are many good Collections of Pictures both Ancient and Modern, and excellent Miniature or Limning by Gonsol, one fine piece, which I saw was peculiarly remarkable, it being the work of 35 several Masters.
From Antwerp, I passed to Brussels by water, changing Boats five times, and going through divers locks, by reason that the Country is so much higher about Brussels, and the water above two hundred foot lower at Antwerp. At Fontaine a league and half from Brussels, three Rivers cross one another: one of them being carried over a bridg. The Piazza at Brussels is fair, and oblong in figure; upon one of the longest sides stands the Town-house, and over against it the Kings-house, where upon a Scaffold hanged with Velvet, Count, Egmond and Horne were beheaded, the whole Piazza being hanged with Black Cloth. Upon the top of the Town-house, stands St. Michael the Patron of the City in Brass, Count Marsins house formerly belonging to the Prince of Orange; hath a fair Court, and overlooks a good part of the City, but a quarter of it is ruined by Lightning. the Thunder bolt or Stone which they affirm to have effected it, is bigger than two Mens heads, and hangs up upon the door at the entrance. The Iesuites Church is handsome, and in it the fair white Tower is beautifully gilded at the top. The Carmelites Church hath a noble Altar, and near unto the Church is the Statua of a pissing boy, which is a continual Conduit. The Armory was well furnished, as we were informed, before the Governours of the low Countries sold the Arms; and Cassel Roderigo the Governour left it very bare. There remains the armour of Charls the fifth, of Duke Albert, of the Prince of Parma, Ernestus, and of the Duke d'Alva and of the Duke Alberts horse who being shot saved his Master, and died the same day twelve month; Spears for the hunting the wild Boar, one with two Pistols; The Armour of Cardinal Infante, and of an Indian King; A Polish musket which carrieth six hundred paces; Charles the Fifth's Sword for the making the Knights of the Golden Fleece, and Henry the Fourth's Sword sent to declare war; Good Bucklers for Defence, and some well wrought; especially one with the Battel of Pyrrhus and his Elephants; and banners taken with Francis King of France, at the Battel of Pavia.
Somewhat like Godfrey of Bouillons shooting the three Pigeons near the Tower of David, is the shot which Infanta Isabella made, when with an Arrow she killed a Bird, in memory whereof, a Bird pierced with an Arrow is set upon the top of a Tower in the Court, which is large; and if the New Buildings and Design were continued, it would be very handsome. Before the Court stand five brass Statues. The Park is pleasant, with Trees set in order, and adorned with Grotto's, Fountains, and Water-works, which come very near the Italian; one piece somewhat imitating Frascati, in which all Musical instruments are imitated, and a perpetual motion attempted: and on the Front of the Buildings stand the Cæsars heads. But the Eccho is most remarkable; which may perfectly be distinguished to ten or twelve Replies. The greatest Church is that of St. Gudula; in which is her Statua, the Devil striving to blow out the Light of her Lanthorn. Two Chappels therein are remarkable; the one built by Leopoldus, very fair on the outside: the other towards the North, hath been visited by five Kings, in which is the Host which bled being stabbed by the Jews. In the Dominican Church is the Monument of the Duke of Cleve and his Dutchess, in Corinthian brass. But for a New Church that of the Begennes, or Pious Maids, is very considerable; there being Eight hundred of them in this City, who have a particular place allotted to them, where they have built this milk white Church. The Plague was much in this place at that time, three hundred Houses being shut up, and a Garland placed on the doors, in the middle of which was written I saw the English Nunnery, and other considerable Buildings. And after I had refreshed my self at the Fish-Tavern, which is worth the seeing, especially for two Rooms in it, furnished from top to bottom with very good Pictures, I returned to Antwerp.
Octob. 4. I travelled through an open Country, and lodged at Molin bruslè. The Spanish Souldiers met us upon the Road this day, some of them well mounted and armed, and begged of us, and were well satisfied with a small Benevolence. The next day we entred the Country of Liege, and passed great Heaths, and on the Sixth, in the morning, arrived at Maestreicht.
Trajectum ad Mosam, or Maestreicht, is a strong Town, seated upon the Maes, four Leagues below Liege. The Out-works are very considerable; the Wall is old. Towards the South-east lyeth a Hill, which ariseth gently, and overlooks part of the Town. Under this Hill is one of the noblest Quarries of Stone in the World. To secure the Town from the disadvantage it might receive from this Hill, there was formerly a Fort built upon it, but it hath been long since slighted; and they have made out an Horn-work within Musket-shot of it, and the Bastion answering to it is made very high, to cover the Town. On the other side of the River standeth Wicke, very well fortified also, and rather stronger that Maestreicht, into which they might retire if the Town should be taken by Storm, it being united to Maestreicht by a handsome Bridge over the Maes, consisting of Nine Arches. All about Wicke the Country is flat: there are many Inhabitants in it, and a handsome Glass-house.
The private Houses of Maestreicht are generally covered with a black Slat, or Ardoise, otherwise not very beautiful. The town-house is fair, seated in one of the Piazza's, built of white Stone; it hath Nine large Windowes in a row on each side, and within is very well painted by Theodorus van der Schuer, who was Painter to the Queen of Sweden. In another Piazza is a Fountain, rows of Trees, and the great Church. This Town was besieged and taken from the King of Spain by the Confederate States, in the year 1632.
October the Seventh I dined at Gallop, a small place, and came that night to Aken, Aix la Chapelle, or Aquisgrane, an ancient noble city, the Inhabitants Courteous, and much frequented by reason of its hot Baths, of which I shall speak more particularly in my Journey from Colen to London. Leaving Aken I travelled towards Juliers or Gulick, but it being late before we arrived, the Gates were shut up, so as we went only under the Walls, leaving it on our right hand. Near unto Gulick runneth a shallow swift River, called the Roer. At the Mouth of it, where it falleth into the Maes, is seated a considerable Town, called Roermonde, through which I passed in the year 1673. when Sir Lionel Jenkins and Sir Joseph Williamson were sent Plenipotentiaries to Cologne, in our Journey from Antwerp to that City. We then passed the Country of Brabant, by way of Thornhaut, Weert, Roermonde, and the next Night passing by Erkelens, lodged at Castro, or Caster, in Gulickland, where there are still the remains of an old Castle, formerly built for the Defence of that part of the Country. Roermonde is seated upon a rising Hill, near the River Roer, hath a Colledge of Jesuits in it, a handsome Piazza, and an old Abby with divers Monuments very ancient, founded by Gerard Earl of Guelderland. From this Town their Excellencies were saluted with the Guns from their Walls, charged with Bullets. The Spaniards in most places striving to express the highest of their respects.
From Gulick I travelled to Cologne, where I arrived October the 10th, 1668.
NOTES
1. James Stuart, later James II, at Textel in 1665; for more, see Naval Evolutions.
2. In 1528.
3. Presumably this is the Brittenburg, usually said to have been built by British refugees from Henga's invasion.
5. Lourens Janszoon Coster, 1370-1439; the so-called "Dutch claims" to the invention of printing were hotly disputed well into the eighteenth century, and then mysteriously died down.
6. Cornelis van Haarlem 1562-1638, Dutch mannerist; his Massacre of the Innocents of 1591 and Wedding of Peleus and Thetis of 1593, both now in the Franzhalsmuseum. Hemskerk = Maerten van Heemskerck 1498-1574, who painted in the style of the Italian renaissance; Hendrick Goltzius (died 1617), his Prometheus (the image is an engraving after a painting).
7. Sic; no period. The arms are Gules on a pale sable three saltires couped argent (or alternatively three saltorels argent; but it is unclear whether this is accurate, as a saltorel is couped horizontally, whereas the arms of Amsterdam are normally shown with the crosses couped at right angles. Perhaps we're not dealing with a fussy type in the first place, if that be possible in heraldry. The Dutch has "Andrew's cross"). You may see the arms with their imperial crown here, although the crown is not properly drawn (it should look much more like the real crown shown near the bottom of the page). Cf. Parker.
8. The tremendous, impressive, and truly God-awful 17th-century building was, as is the habit in parliamentary monarchies, foisted off on the crown and is now Amsterdam's Royal Palace.
9. I.e., William Barents.
10. The inner gate, by Hendrick de Keyser, is gone, but the lions are in the Rijksmuseum.
10a. In her Natures Pictures, 1656, pp. 231:
[T]hey were not black like Negroes, nor tauny, nor olive, nor ash-colour'd, as many are, but of a deep purple, their hair as white as milk, and like wool; their lips thin, their ears long, their noses flat, yet sharp, their teeth and nails as black as jet, and as shining; their stature tall, and their proportion big; their bodies were all naked, onely from their waste down to their twist was there brought through their legs up to the wast again, and tyed with a knot; 'twas a thin kinde of stuff, which was made of the barks of trees, yet looked as fine as silk, and as soft; the men carried long darts in their hands, spear-fashion, so hard and smooth, as it seemed like metal, but made of Whales bones. But when they landed, the people came so thick about them, as almost smothered them. But the grave and chief of them, which seemed like their Priests, sent them straight to their chief Governors of those parts, as their custome was, as it seemed to them afterwards; for all that was strange or rare was usually presented to their Chiefs, so that they staid not so long as to see the Ceremony of that Sacrifice they were offering, onely they perceived it was a Sacrifice of Fish to some Sea-god; and then setting them on a Creature half fish, half flesh, for it was in shape like a Calf, but a tail like a Fish, a horn like a Unicorn which lives in the River, but yet would lye upon the Sands in great herds or shoals, as Seils do, so as they might take for their use at any time, without the trouble of keeping them up, for they were tame and gentle of themselves.
and 234:
At last, they were brought to the Kings presence, who was laid upon a Carpet made of Thistledoun, with great attendance about him: but he, and all those of the Royal Blood, were of a different colour from the rest of the people, they were of a perfect Orange colour, their hair coal black, their teeth and nails as white as milk, of a very great height, yet well shaped.
11. A New Voyage into the Northern Countries, etc. (1674), pp. 150-153, which had "Patenostres" for "Pater-noster". Perhaps it is needless to point out that Martiniere has gone seriously astray somewhere along the line.
12. Sc. Ruysch. Browne's interest is not morbid; he was a physician, like his father. This book arises from notes probably written for, or at the behest of, Sir Thomas Browne.
13. "Glawber" = Johann Glauber, 1604-1670; "Blasius" = "Gerardus Leonardus Blasius", anatomist who died in 1692; his commentary on Vesling's Syntagma anatomicum.
14. Sc. [St.] Willebrord, Northumbrian apostle to Friesland, who died in 739; [St.] Willebald is his contemporary, the first Bishop of Achstat and the disciple and first biographer of St. Boniface.
15. The structure of this sentence rather obscures its meaning: "he" is Christian V throughout the sentence. Christian V had a throne of narwhals' teeth made for his coronation (along with three silver lions), but it was Christian V's father, Frederick III, who had, Browne says, amassed the requisite number. Christian died in 1699.
16. Anna Maria van Schurman, 1607-1678, whose learned works include the collected Nobiliss. virginis Annæ Mariæ à Schurman Opuscula hebræa, græca, latina, gallica : prosaica & metrica, etc.
17. Not any more, if then; the arms are gules a silver ewer ("Iacobas kruikje", says the Dutch) crowned & chained or.
18. In the Gallic Wars VI.xxxiii.3.
19. Sc. St. Walburga, born in 710 in Devon. According to Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Walburga, "There is a tradition in the Church of Antwerp that, on her way to Germany, Walburga made some stay there; and in that city's most ancient church, which now bears the title of St. Walburga, there is pointed out a grotto in which she was wont to pray. This same church, before adopting the Roman Office, was accustomed to celebrate the feast of St. Walburga four times a year." She is the patron saint of Antwerp.
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